Saturday, October 01, 2022

PATRIARCHY IS MISOGYNY & FEMICIDE









Hazara women in Afghanistan protest for better security one day after suicide bombing killed dozens

Demonstration quickly broken up by Taliban police

The Associated Press · Posted: Oct 01, 2022
A 19-year old Hazara girl on Saturday sits on the bench she was sitting on during Friday's suicide bomber attack in Kabul. Afghanistan's Hazaras, who are predominantly Shia Muslims, have been the target of a brutal campaign of violence for the past several years. 
(Ebrahim Noroozi/The Associated Press)


A group of Afghan women on Saturday protested a suicide bombing that killed or wounded dozens of students in a Shia education centre in Kabul a day earlier, demanding better security from the Taliban-run government.

The demonstration was quickly broken up by Taliban police.

The bomber struck an education centre Friday packed with hundreds of students in a Shia neighborhood, killing 19 people and wounding 27. Among the casualties were teenagers taking practice university entrance exams, a Taliban spokesman said.

The morning explosion at the centre took place in Kabul's Dashti Barchi neighborhood, an area populated mostly by ethnic Hazaras, who belong to Afghanistan's minority Shia community. The Islamic State group has carried out repeated, horrific attacks on schools, hospitals and mosques in Dashti Barchi and other Shiite areas in recent years.

About 20 protesters Saturday gathered in the Dashti Barchi area for about 45 minutes before their rally was broken up by Taliban security. They carried banners in English and Dari reading "Stop Hazar Genocide."

19 dead after blast in Kabul hits education centre

"We are asking the Taliban government, when they claim that they have brought security, how they cannot stop an attacker from entering an educational centre to target female students. In this incident, one family has lost four members, why is it still happening," said demonstrator Fatima Mohammadi.

Staff at the Kaaj education centre spent Saturday cleaning up the wreckage caused by the attack, while victims' family members searched through items covered with blood belonging to their loved ones.
No responsibility claimed for attack yet

Hussain, who goes by one name, witnessed the attack. He said he believed the death toll was significantly higher, based on the large number of bodies he saw.

"First the attacker just over there, where a huge crowd of students was standing, opened fire. At least 40 people were killed there," he said.

Zahra, a student who survived the attack, was unharmed because she went out just minutes before to buy a pen. She said she lost her friends in the attack and also her hope for a better future.

"I am not even sure if there is a future for us anymore or not," she said.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. The Islamic State group — the chief rival of the Taliban since their takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 — has in the past targeted the Hazara community, including in Dashti Barchi, in a brutal campaign of violence.

Militants have carried out several deadly attacks in Dashti Barchi, including a horrific 2020 attack on a maternity hospital claimed by the Islamic State group that killed 24 people, including newborn babies and mothers.

The family of one of the victims of a suicide bombing mourns in Kabul on Friday.
 (Ebrahim Noroozi/The Associated Press)

Kabul attack: Death toll rises to 35 mostly ‘girls, young women’

Dozens of women have protested to call for more protection for the ethnic Hazara community in the wake of the attack.

A suicide bombing has killed at least 35 people at a learning centre in the Dasht-e-Barchi area of Kabul [AFP]

Published On 1 Oct 2022

The death toll from a suicide bombing at an education centre in the Afghan capital has risen to 35, according to the United Nations mission to the country, as women reportedly took to the streets to protest against the targeting of the Hazara ethnic minority.

At least 82 others were wounded in Friday’s attack at the Kaj education centre in Dasht-e-Barchi, home to a large Hazara community located in western Kabul, according to the UN mission.

The toll is higher than the casualty numbers Kabul authorities have so far released.

“Majority of casualties are girls and young women,” the mission tweeted on Saturday. “All names need documenting and remembering and justice must be done.”

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred in a women’s section of the centre where young people had gathered to take a mock university exam.
Afghan women display placards and chant slogans during a protest following a suicide bombing at an education centre in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood in Kabul [AFP]

However, the local ISIL (ISIS) affiliate, a rival to the Taliban, has claimed responsibility for similar attacks on education centres in recent years, including a suicide attack on an education centre in the same neighbourhood that killed 24 in 2020.

At least 85 people were also killed in another unclaimed attack near a school in Dasht-e-Barchi in May 2021.

The Taliban, which swept to power amid a foreign troop withdrawal in August 2021, has promised to bring stability to the country after 20 years of war, but a spate of recent violence has undermined that narrative.

The family of a 19-year-old woman who was a victim of a suicide bomber at an education centre in Kabul is seen mourning
 [Ebrahim Noroozi/The Associated Press]

On Friday, the AFP news agency reported that more than 50 women defied a Taliban ban on rallies to call for an end to violence against the Hazara people, who have alleged years of persecution by the ruling Taliban while being repeatedly targeted by ISIL attacks.

The group chanted “stop Hazara genocide, it’s not a crime to be a Shia”, as they marched past a hospital in Dasht-e-Barchi where several victims of the attack were being treated, according to an AFP correspondent.

Protesters later gathered in front of the hospital and chanted slogans as dozens of heavily armed Taliban, some carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers, kept watch, according to the news agency.

Al Jazeera however, could not independently verify the reports of protests.

Women’s protests have become increasingly risky since the Taliban came to power, with numerous demonstrators detained in past rallies or broken up by Taliban forces firing shots in the air.

Rights groups have called on the Taliban to better protect the country’s residents.

Amnesty International described Friday’s attack as a “shamefaced reminder of the inaptitude and utter failure of the Taliban, as de-facto authorities, to protect the people of Afghanistan”.

Meanwhile, the organisation’s South Asia campaigner, Samira Hamidi, said the Taliban has done little to protect ethnic minorities since taking power.

“Their actions of omission and commission have only further aggravated the risk to the lives of the people of Afghanistan especially those belonging to ethnic and minority communities,” she said in a statement on Friday.

The Norwegian Refugee Council also condemned the attack, calling on the authorities to take steps to ensure that educational facilities are protected.

“An education centre filled with youth preparing for exams should be a venue for joy, focus and excitement – never awash with blood and horror,” Neil Turner, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s country director in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

Afghans protest after dozens killed in Kabul college attack

A suicide bomber attack on an education centre in western Kabul has left at least 100 people killed and injured, most of them young women.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast at the education centre (AFP)

Dozens of women from Afghanistan's ethnic Hazara community protested in the capital after at least 100 people were killed and injured in a suicide bombing.

The attack happened on Friday at 0300GMT (7:30 am local time) at the Kaj educational institution in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood of western Kabul, a predominantly Shia Muslim area home to the ethnic Hazara community - the target of some of Afghanistan's most deadly attacks.

READ MORE: Deadly blast hits educational centre in Kabul's Shia neighbourhood

Police said at least 20 people were killed but the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has put the number at 35, with an additional 82 wounded.

The death toll is expected to rise, UNAMA said.

On Saturday about 50 women chanted, "Stop Hazara genocide, it's not a crime to be a Shia", as they marched past a hospital in Dasht-e-Barchi where several victims of the attack were being treated.

Dressed in black hijabs and headscarves, grieving protesters carried banners that read: "Stop killing Hazaras", an AFP correspondent reported.

They later gathered in front of the hospital and chanted slogans as dozens of heavily armed Taliban fighters kept watch.

Since the Taliban returned to power last August, women's protests have become risky, with numerous demonstrators detained and rallies broken up by Taliban forces firing shots in the air.

'Serious measures'


The bomber shot dead two security guards before entering the gender-segregated classroom, student Ali Irfani, who escaped the carnage, said.

"Not many boys were hit because they were at the rear end of the classroom. The bomber entered from the front door where girls were sitting," he said.

The Taliban's official twitter account put out a statement condemning the attack, expressing sympathy for the families of the victims, saying "Serious measures will be taken to find and punish the perpetrators".

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast at the education centre, however, Daesh has claimed previous attacks in the area targeting girls, schools and mosques.


'Onslaught on education'

The United Nations' special rapporteur on Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, condemned the attack and demanded justice.

"Onslaught on education for Hazaras & Shias must end. Stop attacks on Afghanistan's future, stop international crimes," he said on Twitter.

READ MORE: US admits to killing 12 civilians last year, all in Afghanistan

Afghanistan's Shia Hazaras have faced persecution for decades, targeted by the Taliban during their insurgency against the former US-backed government and by Daesh - both of which consider Shias heretics.

In April, two deadly bomb blasts on the same day at separate education centres in Dasht-e-Barchi killed six people and wounded at least 20 others.

Daesh has emerged as a key security challenge for the Taliban, but officials claim their forces have defeated the armed group.


Front-runner Lula close to outright win in Brazil election, poll shows


BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva maintains a solid lead going into Sunday's presidential race against far-right incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro and is within sight of an outright victory, a fresh poll showed on Saturday.


Brazil's former President and presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva leads a silent march, in Sao Paulo© Reuters/MARIANA GREIF


Brazil's former President and presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva leads a silent march, in Sao Paulo© Reuters/AMANDA PEROBELLI

Brazil's most polarized election in decades will decide whether to return to power a former president who spent time in jail on corruption convictions or a right-wing populist who has attacked the voting system and threatened to contest defeat.


Brazil's former President and presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva leads a silent march, in Sao Paulo© Reuters/MARIANA GREIF

A CNT/MDA poll published on Saturday said Lula would win 48.3% of the valid votes, putting him statistically within reach of taking half of the votes, which would avoid a bruising run-off. The poll has a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points.

If no one among the 11 candidates gets more than 50% of votes, excluding blank and spoiled ballots, the two front-runners - almost certainly Lula and Bolsonaro - would go to second round vote on Oct. 30.


The MDA poll commissioned by the national transport lobby CNT shows Bolsonaro has chipped away at half of Lula's lead, which is now down to 7.9 percentage points point (44.2% for Lula and 36.3% for Bolsonaro).

Related video: Lula vs Bolsonaro: Two markedly different visions for Brazil's future
Duration 11:37
View on Watch



Two other major pollsters Datafolha and IPEC have projected Lula winning outright and will publish their last polling at 6 p.m. (2100GMT).

Bolsonaro, a former army captain who spent 28 years as a Congressman who is pro-gun, anti-gay and against abortion, was swept into office in 2018 on a wave of conservative sentiment and opposition to Lula's Workers Party.

On Saturday, he will close his re-election campaign with two rallies by motor-bike supporters in Sao Paulo and Joinville, Santa Catarina state.

Lula's Workers Party, meanwhile, has booked space on Sao Paulo's main Paulista Avenue on Sunday night to celebrate victory by the 77-year-former union leader and party founder.


Bolsonaro leads a motorcade with his supporters in Sao Paulo© Reuters/CARLA CARNIEL

Brazil's electronic voting system, which Bolsonaro has repeatedly criticized as vulnerable to fraud without providing evidence, allows the national electoral authority, the TSE, to quickly tally results within hours after polls close at 5 p.m. (2000GMT).

The head of the TSE, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes called on Brazilians by Twitter to celebrate the country's democracy by turning out to vote "in peace, security and harmony, respect and freedom."



Bolsonaro leads a motorcade with his supporters in Sao Paulo© Reuters/CARLA CARNIEL

Due to Bolsonaro's attacks on the voting system and the prospect of conflict, the TSE has invited an unprecedented number of international observers to this year's election.



Elections in Brazil© Reuters/RICARDO MORAES

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; editing by Diane Craft)

MYSTERY REMAINS

Mass fish deaths in European river blamed on toxic algae


Picture used for illustrative purposes only.

















The recent mass fish deaths in the Oder river that runs through Poland and Germany were caused by the proliferation of brackish water algae, which in turn was triggered by a sudden increase in the river's salinity levels, according to a report.

Fishermen first discovered dead fish in the river near the Polish town of Olawa at the end of July, reports Xinhua news agency.

The fish deaths down the river in Germany were only reported around two weeks later.

Tonnes of dead fish have been pulled from the Oder river as the micro-algae at issue -- known as Prymnesium parvum, or golden alga -- produces a toxic substance that is lethal to fish and other aquatic organisms.

A Polish-German expert group was subsequently set up to investigate.

The fish deaths in the Oder are a "serious environmental catastrophe", Germany's Minister for the Environment Steffi Lemke said on Friday, stressing that it was "caused by human activities".

Alongside attempts to fully understand what happened, the focus now is on the regeneration of the Oder river.

The exact cause of the high salinity level could not be determined "due to a lack of available information", the Ministry for the Environment (BMUV) and the German Environment Agency (UBA) said in a statement.

It also remained unclear about how the algae, which naturally occurs in salty brackish water near coasts, reached the Oder river.

Salinity levels in other rivers in Germany are also too high without the phenomena occurring.

Indo-Asian News Service

UK 

Royal Mail workers continue strike over pay and conditions

1 October 2022, 


Postal strike. Picture: PA

Members of the Communication Workers Union walked out on a 48-hour strike on Friday.

Royal Mail workers will mount picket lines outside Royal Mail delivery and sorting offices again on Saturday in a continuing dispute over pay and conditions.

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) walked out on a 48-hour strike on Friday, hitting deliveries of post across the country.

Talks between the two sides were held on Thursday but there was no sign of any progress being made and the union is planning to step up industrial action in the coming weeks.

The union said the walkout by around 115,000 of its members is the biggest strike of the year amid long-running disputes in other sectors.

A further 19 days of strikes have been announced on different days throughout October and November in a major escalation of the dispute.

CWU general secretary Dave Ward told the PA news agency that the union will be offering Royal Mail a way to get back into “serious talks”, offering the chance to suspend industrial action if progress is made.

He said it would be “useful” if the Government explained its position about the future of Royal Mail amid union fears that the company is being positioned for a takeover.

Mr Ward said new Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg had told the union it could meet one of his department’s officials.

“Postal workers across the UK now face the fight of their lives to save their jobs and the service they provide to every household and business in the UK.

“We call on everyone to stand with their local postal worker.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “The CWU can be in no doubt of the impact its reckless pursuit of 19 days of industrial action has on our weakened financial position and the job security of its members.

“Royal Mail is losing £1 million a day. We operate in a competitive market, and our customers have choices. Continued strike action will force our customers to make those choices sooner rather than later.

“Our invitation to enter into talks through Acas remains open. Our people need the CWU leadership to recognise the reality of the situation Royal Mail faces as a business, and to engage urgently on the changes required to adapt to customer demands in a highly competitive market.

“We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience the CWU’s continued strike action will cause.

“We are doing all we can to minimise any delays and keep people, businesses and the country connected.”

By Press Association

WORSE POLLING THAN BIDEN, OR TRUMP

Truss Should Resign as UK Prime Minister, More Than Half of Britons Say

CALL AN ELECTION



Alex Morales
Fri, September 30, 2022 
(Bloomberg) --

More than half of Britons think Liz Truss should quit as UK premier, according to a YouGov poll that adds to her woes less than a month into the job.

The survey on Friday underscores the damage done to Truss’s standing and that of her Conservative Party by the huge package of unfunded tax cuts her government unveiled a week ago, triggering a selloff in the pound and government bonds and leaving her party trailing the opposition Labour by a record distance.

Some 51% of almost 5,000 Britons surveyed said the prime minister should quit, with 54% saying Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng should resign.

Even in the face of a backlash from markets, Tory Members of Parliament and the electorate, Truss and Kwarteng so far have stood firm behind their fiscal package -- which benefitted the wealthiest more than lower earners -- insisting they’ll come forward with a medium-term plan for the economy and a set of independent economic forecasts on Nov. 23.

The beleaguered prime minister now heads into her Conservative Party’s annual conference on Sunday with the challenge of restoring her standing among her MPs and persuading the financial markets that the Tories still stand for the responsible management of the economy.

The YouGov poll also showed Truss is hemorrhaging support among those who voted Conservative in the last general election in 2019. Some 36% of Tory voters said Truss should go and 41% called for Kwarteng’s departure.

The latest survey piles the misery on the Tories after a YouGov poll of voting intentions on Thursday gave Labour a record 33-point lead.

SIR KEIR'S LUCKY DAY

UK's Labour has 33-pt lead over ruling Conservatives -YouGov poll

Britain's Labour Party annual conference in Liverpool

Thu, September 29, 2022 

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's opposition Labour party has surged to a 33-point lead over the ruling Conservatives, according to a YouGov poll on Thursday, after days of chaos in financial markets triggered by the government's planned tax cuts.

The lead was a record high share for Labour in any YouGov poll as well as the highest figure the party has ever recorded in any published survey since the late 1990s, YouGov said.

Earlier on Thursday, British Prime Minister Liz Truss defended her controversial plan to reignite economic growth after huge tax cuts unveiled last week hammered the value of the pound and government bond prices.

The YouGov poll of voting intention conducted over Wednesday and Thursday showed 54% support for Labour and 21% for the Conservatives. It was a survey of more than 1,700 British adults.

Another YouGov poll earlier this week had shown 45% of voters backing Labour compared to 28% support for the Conservatives.

Truss took office on Sept. 6 after defeating former finance minister Rishi Sunak to win the Conservative Party's leadership contest. The next national election is likely to be held in 2024.

At least two Conservative lawmakers - both of whom had backed Sunak during the party leadership race - publicly criticised Truss's economic plans following the release of the poll.

"This is now a serious crisis with a lot at stake," Conservative lawmaker George Freeman said on Twitter. "The economic package of borrowing & tax cuts announced last week clearly can't command market or voter confidence."

Another lawmaker from Truss's party, Julian Smith, urged the government to reverse the abolition of the 45% top rate of income tax.

Three other polls on Thursday also showed large leads for Labour - Survation put Labour's lead over the Conservatives at 21 points; Deltapoll showed Labour 19 points ahead; and Redfield & Wilton Strategies had Labour 17 points ahead.

Opposition leader Keir Starmer said during his party's annual conference this week that it was Labour's best chance to win power since 2010, following four straight election defeats.

(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar; editing by Michael Holden, Kirsten Donovan)


BUYERS REMORSE

Rishi Sunak would be a better PM than Liz Truss, say Tory voters


Nick Gutteridge
Fri, September 30, 2022

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss - Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Europe

Conservative voters think Rishi Sunak would have made a better prime minister than Liz Truss, new polling for The Telegraph reveals.

The survey, on the eve of the Tory conference in Birmingham, shows just a third of those who backed the party in 2019 think she is a good leader.

Over half think she has made a bad incumbent in No 10 - almost as high as the number who would say the same about Sir Keir Starmer.

The results will lead to further soul-searching within the party about the decision by members to elect Ms Truss rather than the former chancellor.

Tory MPs in a mutinous mood over the fallout from the mini-Budget have discussed returning to a system where they pick the leader in future.

It has also emerged some rebel Conservatives are in talks with Labour over voting down her economic plan, especially the abolition of the 45p income tax rate.

After a dramatic week, Labour now holds a colossal lead on nine key criteria, including who the public trust more to manage the economy.

Amongst those who voted Conservative at the last election, a mere 34 per cent said they thought Ms Truss made a good Prime Minister.

That compares with 60 per cent for Boris Johnson, her predecessor, and 45 per cent for Mr Sunak, who she vanquished in the leadership race.

She fares even worse among the wider public, with only one in five thinking she is a good leader and 63 per cent calling her a bad one.
Sir Keir has positive rating

Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak both fare better with the electorate, scoring 31 per cent each, but by far the most choice is Sir Keir on 46 per cent.

The Labour leader is the only one with a positive net rating scoring +14, while Mr Sunak is on -21, Mr Johnson on -31 and Ms Truss on -43.

In a dire set of results for the Tories, the study shows how their reputation for competence has been shredded over the last 21 months.

The poll by JL Partners asked voters to rate the two main parties on nine key areas including the economy, NHS, and social equality.

It reveals in January 2020 the Conservatives held a commanding 22-point lead in terms of who the public thought was “best for the economy”.

That had halved to nine per cent by January of this year and has now been overhauled, with Labour sitting a comfortable 13 points ahead.


Ratings plummet

It is a similar story on who voters see as “competent and capable”, with the Tories slumping from a 20 per cent advantage to trailing by 13 points.

The Conservatives held a 15-point lead on which party would “move the country in the right direction” and are now 16 per cent behind Labour.

When it comes to who is “best for protecting and creating jobs” they have also plummeted from four per cent ahead to 19 points in arrears.

Meanwhile Sir Keir has widened the gap on who most shares voters’ values, is best for the NHS and will “stand up for people like me”.

In contrast, the number of people who see the Tories as “out of touch” has tripled to 37 points ahead since the start of 2020.

Back then Mr Johnson had just won a huge majority while Labour, led by Jeremy Corbyn, was seen as the most divided party by a 46-point margin.

But by January of this year the tables had reversed entirely, with the fallout from partygate seeing the Conservatives surge to a 21 per cent lead.
Electability ‘lost overnight’

The impression of the Tories as fractured has only grown since the ousting of the former prime minister and now stands at 27 per cent ahead.

James Johnson, who ran polling in Theresa May’s Number 10, said: “The drastic changes we are seeing in the fortunes of the Conservatives can be explained by this Telegraph poll.

“Labour now has a double-digit advantage on the economy, the first time it has led on this measure in this Parliament.

“And, since last month, the blame for economic woes has pivoted away from Russia and onto the Government itself.

“When the Conservatives lose their edge on the economy, they lose their electability overnight - and all signs are that we have seen exactly such a shift in the last few days.”

Half of voters want Truss to resign

Separate polling by the firm YouGov published on Friday afternoon painted an equally bleak picture for Ms Truss ahead of the conference.

It showed 51 per cent of Britons think the Prime Minister should resign, including 36 per cent of those who voted Conservative at the last election.

A third survey released by Stonehaven revealed Labour is now on course to win an outright majority at the next election.

The MRP poll - the same kind which correctly predicted the 2019 result - puts Sir Keir’s party on 332 seats and the Tories on 228.

Pandora Lefroy, the insight director at Stonehaven, said: “It has been a turbulent year for the Conservative party and that is being reflected in our election modelling which is showing, for the first time in 18 months, Labour having a path to an outright majority.

“A lot can change between now and the next General Election, but today we are seeing Red Wall voters are going back to their roots.

“Interestingly our data shows it is not their values that have changed, it’s simply that Labour is now seen as the party that best represents those values.”
Mini-budget not ‘executed competently’

Ms Truss faced a further backlash from angry Tory MPs on Friday with one grandee saying she has already lost the party at the next election.

Sir Charles Walker, a veteran backbencher, warned the Prime Minister she will face a “difficult time” getting the mini-Budget through Parliament.

He accused her and the Chancellor of “naivety” and “hubris” over the way it was announced, suggesting it was not “executed competently”.

“I don’t think I’ll be voting for these measures per se,” he told Times Radio when asked whether he was ready to rebel.

“I think the Government has learnt its lesson and will be amending them and doing some more thinking. If it doesn’t, it’s going to have a difficult time.”

Sir Charles warned that regardless the Tories have suffered a “cliff-edge collapse” and must start thinking about how to leave “some form of legacy” to Labour.

“I think it’s hard to construct an argument now that the Conservatives can win that general election. I suspect the conversation is how much do we lose it by?” he said.

Steve Double, a former environment minister, said he “can’t explain” the decision to axe the 45p tax rate to his constituents and Ms Truss “should reverse” it.

“At this particular moment, when so many households are facing huge pressures on their finances in the coming months…quite frankly I think it's a mistake,” he told BBC Cornwall.

The MP for St Austell said he won’t be attending this year’s conference, adding that he has “never known the party to be as divided as it is right now”.


THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR

Liz Truss admits £45bn mini-budget tax cuts did cause ‘disruption’

The Prime Minister has warned the country faces a “difficult winter” ahead.

George McMillan
SENIOR DIGITAL PRODUCER
PUBLISHED Saturday 01 October 2022 - 

Liz Truss has admitted Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget caused “disruption” but insisted they were right to act to get the economy moving and to protect families from soaring energy bills.

As Tories prepared to head to Birmingham for their annual conference, the Prime Minister warned the country faced a “difficult winter” ahead as she indicated she had no plans to reverse her tax-cutting agenda.

“I recognise there has been disruption but it was really, really important we were able to get help to families as soon as possible,” she said in a pooled interview with broadcasters on Friday.

“This is going to be a difficult winter and I am determined to do all I can to help families and help the economy at this time.”

Her comments came at the end of a tumultuous week which saw the pound slump to an all-time low against the dollar and the Bank of England forced to spend billions buying up government debt to prevent a collapse of the pensions industry.

The sell-off of sterling prompted fears that millions of mortgage holders could face crippling rises in their repayments as the Bank moves to ratchet up interest rates to shore up the currency and put a lid on inflation.

Prime Minister Liz Truss during a visit to the British Gas training academy Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror

The Chancellor insisted he will produce a “credible plan” to get the public finances back on track with a “commitment to spending discipline”. Owen Humphreys

The Chancellor insisted he will produce a “credible plan” to get the public finances back on track with a “commitment to spending discipline”.

“The British taxpayer expects their Government to work as efficiently and effectively as possible, and we will deliver on that expectation,” he said.

“Not all the measures we announced last week will be universally popular. But we had to do something different. We had no other choice.”

The turmoil erupted after markets took fright at Mr Kwarteng’s £45 billion package of unfunded tax cuts – the biggest in 50 years – while committing billions to capping energy bills for the next two years.

With the Tories tanking in the opinion polls – one showed Labour opening up a hitherto unthinkable 33-point lead – some Conservative MPs have been pressing for a change of course.

Despite having been in Downing Street for less than a month, some have questioned whether Ms Truss can now survive to the end of the year as the party has seen its reputation on the economy shredded.

The Prime Minister, however, insisted that Mr Kwarteng was right to cut taxes as part of their plan to drive up the UK’s sluggish rate of economic growth.

“What is important to me is that we get Britain’s economy back on track, that we keep taxes low, that we encourage investment into our country and that we get through these difficult times,” she said.

With some analysts warning of a squeeze on public spending to get debt under control, the Prime Minister again refused to commit to the annual uprating of benefits in line with inflation – something Rishi Sunak had promised to do when he was chancellor.

Pressed in her interview, Ms Truss said only that it was “something the Work and Pensions Secretary (Chloe Smith) is looking at”.

She added: “What is important to me is that we are fair in the decisions we make, but most importantly that we help families and businesses at this very difficult time with their energy prices.”

A key ally of the Prime Minister, Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke, however, went further suggesting the Government was looking to shrink the overall size of the state.

“I think it is important that we look at a state which is extremely large, and look at how we can make sure that it is in full alignment with a lower tax economy,” he told The Times.

Mr Kwarteng is due to publish a medium-term fiscal plan setting out how he intends to get debt falling as a proportion of GDP alongside an updated set of economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) on November 23.

The absence of new projections from the independent OBR was seen as one of the key reasons why the markets reacted so badly to the Chancellor’s mini-budget.

Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror

Some Tory MPs have been pressing him to bring forward the date of publication so as to restore market confidence in the Government.

After a highly unusual meeting on Friday with both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, the head of the OBR, Richard Hughes, confirmed they would deliver their preliminary forecasts to the Treasury at the end of next week.

However, Mr Kwarteng has made clear that he wants to stick to the November 23 date to allow ministers to set out a series of supply side reforms to support the growth plan.



Liz Truss can go from zero to hero if she holds her nerve, says Mark Dolan


They include changes to the financial sector regulations, immigration and the planning rules, with Mr Clarke hinting they could include changes to the green belt.

“The fact the green belt is larger today than it was when Margaret Thatcher came to power is an extraordinary state of affairs,” he said.

“We need to look at a planning system where we make sensible adjustments which don’t threaten communities and most fundamentally are about going with popular consent, and actually creating incentives that allow local areas to back growth.”


UK
Brilliant Led by Donkeys graphic puts Tories’ tax-cutting budget in perspective

Liz Truss warned the country faced a “difficult winter” ahead as she indicated she had no plans to reverse her tax-cutting agenda.


LONDON ECONOMIC EYE


Liz Truss has admitted Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget caused “disruption” but insisted they were right to act to get the economy moving and to protect families from soaring energy bills.

As Tories prepared to head to Birmingham for their annual conference, the Prime Minister warned the country faced a “difficult winter” ahead as she indicated she had no plans to reverse her tax-cutting agenda.

“I recognise there has been disruption but it was really, really important we were able to get help to families as soon as possible,” she said in a pooled interview with broadcasters on Friday.


“This is going to be a difficult winter and I am determined to do all I can to help families and help the economy at this time.”

Her comments came at the end of a tumultuous week which saw the pound slump to an all-time low against the dollar and the Bank of England forced to spend billions buying up government debt to prevent a collapse of the pensions industry.

The sell-off of sterling prompted fears that millions of mortgage holders could face crippling rises in their repayments as the Bank moves to ratchet up interest rates to shore up the currency and put a lid on inflation.


The turmoil erupted after markets took fright at Mr Kwarteng’s £45 billion package of unfunded tax cuts – the biggest in 50 years – while committing billions to capping energy bills for the next two years.

Campaign group Led by Donkeys has put the numbers in the mini-budget in perspective with a brilliant graphic.


Check it out below:

UK

THIS IS THE STATE TRUSS WANTS TO CUT

Civil servants relying on food banks amid cost-of-living crisis – report

30 September 2022, 


Foodbank stock. Picture: PA

The PCS union has delivered a dossier to the Government on how its members are suffering.

A leading trade union is delivering a dossier to ministers, revealing the “depths of poverty” being suffered by the Government’s own employees.

The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) said civil servants are now relying on foodbanks for the first time in their lives.

The 156-page dossier is being sent to Work and Pensions Secretary Chloe Smith, along with increased calls for a pay rise to help workers cope with the cost-of-living crisis.

In a letter to the minister, the union said: “Our members have been plunged into ever-increasing depths of poverty.

“They should not have to rely on food banks to feed their children or be forced to make the choice of either working from home because the journey into work is too expensive, or working in the cold under blankets because the cost of heating is too expensive.”

The dossier was compiled after the PCS asked members working for the Department for Work and Pensions what the cost-of-living crisis meant to them.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “These testimonies are a damaging indictment of the cruel effects of years of austerity and pay restraint imposed on our members.

“They are heart-breaking stories from government employees who have become the working poor.

“Struggling to pay for petrol, struggling to pay train fares, struggling to buy food, nappies and medication. Worn down by never being able to afford small treats.

“We call on Chloe Smith to study these testimonies carefully and to reopen negotiations on pay.”

The PCS is currently balloting more than 150,000 civil servants working in 214 Government departments for strike action over pay, pensions, jobs and redundancy payments.

Comments from PCS members include:

– I don’t sleep worrying about the cost of energy, food and wanting to live a full life in the years I have left.

– I have to rely on my mother-in-law to plug the gap and buy things the kids need, like shoes.

– To work five days out of seven and not feel able to light my flat or have a hot shower is the unimaginable reality in which I have found myself.

– I’m worried sick about how I’m going to afford heating and food this winter. I live on my own and my wage does not cover all my bills. I already cut down as much as I can. I don’t know what I’m going to do.

– As a family of four, we are unable to afford a social life anymore and are staying home the majority of time.

– I am barely scraping by, usually relying on my parents to help us out.

A DWP spokesman said: “We recognise these are anxious times, which is why we’ve brought forward a huge package of support for families through our Energy Price Guarantee and other measures.

“We are focused on delivering growth and cutting the tax burden to provide quality public services for people who are struggling.

“This year’s pay award was set at the highest level permitted within the Civil Service guidance, recognising the vital importance of public sector workers while providing value for the taxpayer.”

By Press Association

'When winter comes, I don’t know how we'll cope': DWP staff struggle to pay for essentials amid cost-of-living crisis


Civil servants describe being "let down, seriously underpaid and undervalued" as they choose between basics and visit foodbanks



Image: hrp_images now/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0

By Tevye Markson
29 Sep 2022
Exclusive

Civil servants at the Department for Work Pensions are having to go without showers, heating, food, and social lives as they cope with soaring inflation, rising energy bills and “paltry” wage increases.

The hardships suffered by officials working in the department amid the cost-of-living crisis are revealed in a 156-page dossier compiled by PCS, which the union will deliver to DWP’s Whitehall headquarters tomorrow afternoon.

The document, seen by CSW, includes testimonies from around 150 PCS members in the department who deliver key public services such as jobs and pensions support and who have received average pay rises of just 2%.

They tell of civil servants cutting down drastically on energy use and commuting costs, sometimes at the expense of their health; having difficulty sleeping; visiting foodbanks; running into overdrafts buying essentials; and turning to parents and payday loans to buy childrens’ clothes and other basics.

The union says the response underlines why it is balloting members nationwide on strike action over pay, pensions, redundancy compensation and jobs.

One work coach quoted in the dossier, a mother-of-three who has worked at DWP for six years, said this is the worst financial situation she has ever been in.

“With the cost-of-living crisis I have had to choose between heating my home for children or buying myself new work clothes. Mine are about four years old and are in bad condition (thank God for hybrid working),” Eve said.
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by Tevye Markson

“I had to buy school uniforms on my salary and still had to feed my children. I have a car which I am now contemplating giving up so I can keep my fridge fully stocked but will have to walk to and from my children’s school which is about a 20-minute walk then probably a 40-45-minute walk to work with a mobility disability – it’s not ideal.

“I have thought about foodbanks in the past, but my children are well fed and looked after; my needs come after theirs.”

An earlier survey by PCS found around one in 12 civil servants have visited foodbanks.


Kerry, an administrative officer working on Universal Credit, said she had started visiting foodbanks because after paying her bills and buying some groceries, “I’m left with no money for the rest of the month.”

“I live in overdraft to cover my family’s other needs, which has a knock- on effect. With the price hike in energy I am really scared of using the gas.... I often go without a meal, so my children have food,” she said.

A full-time AO in the department earns between £21,495 and £21,688. For the next grade up, executive officers, pay ranges from £23,700 to £28,117; while at the bottom end of the scale, pay for administrative assistants is set at £21,245. As in other government departments, grades are tied to job roles rather than years served.

Another AO, Jane, said she asked her MP to lower the age she could access her pension “so I can eat and keep warm in winter”.

“I am cutting back everywhere. I eat two meals a day. I have no treats. I have candles on at home, so I don’t switch the lights on. I am desperately doing all I can to survive,” she wrote.

“I am cutting back everywhere. I eat two meals a day. I have no treats. I have candles on at home, so I don’t switch the lights on. I am desperately doing all I can to survive

Tracey, a retirement pensions executive officer, said she is regularly putting food shopping on her credit card, and this year's £30-a-month pay rise has not helped. "I have no idea how I’ll survive Xmas and the winter months. I used to be proud to work for DWP, but I don’t anymore and feel insignificant,” she wrote.

Emma, a work coach, said she may have to turn off her fridge if her energy bills go up further, despite often working overtime.

“To work five days out of seven and not feel able to light my flat or have a hot shower is the unimaginable reality in which I have found myself," she said.

Employees of all ages have spoken out about their struggles.


Esme, a 23-year-old work coach who is pregnant, said: “I honestly don’t know how I am going to survive when my baby is born.

"I undoubtedly will end up in debt. But I have no other choice."

Meanwhile Tracey, a work coach who has been a DWP employee for 40 years, said: “I don’t sleep worrying about the cost of energy, food and wanting to live a full life in the years I have left without this cost-of-living struggle.”

A number of union members who supplied testimonies described having health conditions that make it difficult to cope with the changes they are having to make to cut down on costs.

Mina, a work coach who needs to work from home because she has a suppressed immune system, said she worries about not being able to keep warm after her energy bills have doubled.

“My pay has recently been uplifted to the national living wage and after more than 40 years of service I feel let down, seriously underpaid and undervalued,” she wrote.

Another longtime employee, Zoe – a jobcentre administrative officer also on the minimum wage – said she does not intend to put the heating on despite suffering from a health condition which is exacerbated by the cold. The "sheer worry" of rising food and utility prices is making her feel "very anxious, irritable and stressed, often resulting in sleepless nights", she added.

“My pay has recently been uplifted to the national living wage and after more than 40 years of service I feel let down, seriously underpaid and undervalued"

“I cannot believe that after spending a lifetime working for the department, that I now find myself in this position. It is truly shocking,” she said.

Others spoke of feeling "ashamed" and "anxious" at having to rely on others to help meet their needs – including Paula, a work coach and parent who described having to borrow her bus fare from an elderly neighbour to get to work.

"Life is a chore at the moment, and we take no joy from living and I just worry for the future as when winter comes, I really don’t know how we will cope," she said.

One respondent said they "no longer have any quality of life as we are working to not even be able to afford to pay for food and heating costs, let alone have any social life"; and another said she is lucky if she can afford to eat out with friends once a month and “works to pay bills, nothing more”.

“My attitude now is the heating is going on and they can chase me to the grave for payments of bills," she said.

‘A damning indictment of the cruel effects of austerity’

PCS has written to work and pensions secretary Chloe Smith and DWP permanent secretary Peter Schofield urging them to meet its delegation tomorrow to accept the dossier in person and to reopen negotiations on pay immediately. The union said the department has rejected the invitation.

PCS will ask DWP to study the testimonies closely and agree to reopen pay negotiations.

In an introduction to the document, PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said the testimonies are a “damning indictment of the cruel effects of years of austerity and pay restraint imposed” on DWP officials.

“As inflation hits a new 40-year high we know many PCS members are struggling on wages that have not kept pace with inflation for decades as prices soar.

“These testimonies are all from DWP staff. They are heartbreaking stories from government employees who have become the working poor. Struggling to pay for petrol, struggling to pay train fares, struggling to buy food, nappies, medication. Worn down by never being able to afford small treats.”

A DWP spokesperson said: “We recognise these are anxious times which is why we’ve brought forward a huge package of support for families through our energy price guarantee and other measures. We are focused on delivering growth and cutting the tax burden to provide quality public services for people who are struggling.

“This year’s pay award was set at the highest level permitted within the civil service guidance, recognising the vital importance of public sector workers while providing value for the taxpayer.”