UK

Labour says jobless cannot ‘live a life on benefits’ as it pledges to be ‘party of work’

RED TORIES SAY: ARBEIT MACHT FREI

Daniel Martin
Sun, 3 March 2024

Liz Kendall said Labour will fight the next election as the 'party of work' 

- Heathcliff O'Malley/Heathcliff O'Malley

PARTY OF WORK NOT WORKERS

Labour will fight the next election as the “party of work” and warn the jobless they will not be able to live a “life on benefits”, the party’s shadow work and pensions secretary said.

Liz Kendall said young people will be told they have a “responsibility” to accept jobs or training opportunities when they are offered.

In an interview with The Telegraph, she made a direct appeal to life-long Conservative voters, saying: “If you believe in hard work, responsibility, taking care of yourself and your family… then take a look at us.”

And as Jeremy Hunt prepares to deliver his Budget, she accused the Chancellor of having “failed” on work - overseeing a huge increase in the numbers off work through sickness.

The shadow work and pensions secretary accused the Chancellor of overseeing a huge increase in the numbers off work through sickness - UNPIXS/UNPIXS

Ms Kendall will today unveil a new offer for young people, including better mental health support in schools, and improved work experience and careers advice to help them enter work or training.

She will point out that one in eight young people are now not in work, education or training (NEET), the highest level since 2016 - costing the taxpayer billions in benefits.

There are now 851,000 so-called NEETs, an increase of 20,000 in a year.

“We will not write them off like the Conservatives,” she said. “In return for those new opportunities, young people will have a responsibility to take up work or training when it’s offered.

“Because under a changed Labour Party, if you can work there will be no option of a life on benefits.

“And that’s not just because the vast majority of the British public think rights and responsibilities go hand-in-hand. But because if you’re out of work or you lack basic qualifications, that could have a lifelong impact.

“That is not good enough for young people and it’s not good enough for our country. We believe that you should have the chance to fulfil your potential and live your hopes and dreams, no matter where you’re born, no matter what your parents did, no matter what your gender or the colour of your skin.”

She added: “Labour is the party of work… Labour was founded by working people for working people, it is our name, and under Keir Starmer and the changed Labour Party, work will absolutely be at the heart of what we do.

“We believe in the value of work, and that that goes beyond a payslip.

“For millions of families across Britain, holding down a job and providing for themselves and their family gives them a sense of dignity and self respect, and good work is good for mental health. Good work gives you pride and purpose and sense of fulfilment, and for many women, it gives them freedom and independence too.”

The Labour party has changed under Sir Keir Starmer, she said - Reuters/Reuters

The shadow minister said the Tories had “failed” over 14 years by not tackling Britain’s worklessness crisis, and Mr Hunt had also failed to tackle the issue despite making big promises in previous Budgets.

She pointed out that the UK has a record high in the number of people out to work due to long-term sickness: 2.8 million people.

“For all the Tories’ talk about being tough on benefits, if you look over the next five years, there’s going to be 600,000 more people on sickness and disability benefits, and it’s going to cost an extra £33 billion,” she said. “So they have failed on work.

“I know many of your readers are lifelong Conservative voters - but I would say to them: Take a look at Labour, we have changed.

“If you believe in hard work, responsibility, taking care of yourself and your family; if you believe in being careful with taxpayers’ money - because it’s not the government’s money, it’s your money; if you want a leader and a chancellor who will build everything on the rock of fiscal credibility, then take a look at us, because we we want your support.

“We know we’ve got to work hard to convince Conservative voters that we share those values, those decent British values. And we’re going to work day and night to convince people to trust us at the next election.”

Bringing down the number of inactive people will not only benefit individuals and taxpayers, it will help business, she said.

“Every single day I’m speaking to my businesses who say the number one barrier for them growing is they can’t recruit,” she said. “So we’ve got to sort out everything from the apprenticeship levy and other skills to make sure our businesses can recruit.”

She said Labour would bring in 1,000 new careers advisers, specialist mental health support in every school and a new growth and skills levy to boost apprenticeships.

New technical excellence colleges will improve young people’s skills, there will be new employment advisers for young people after they have left school, and more help for the disabled.

 

VALUE = $$$$$

Young people valued but must take opportunities to learn and work, Labour to say


Samuel Montgomery, PA
Mon, 4 March 2024 

Young people will be told they are valued and “important” but have a responsibility to take up the work or training that is being offered as part of Labour’s plan to invest in their future.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall will say there is “no option of a life on benefits” for those able to work as she unveils the party’s plan to reduce the number of young people out of work, education or training in a speech on Monday.

Labour’s plan focuses on recruiting thousands of mental health professionals and career advisers to encourage young people to work, which it would fund by targeting tax breaks for private schools and closing tax loopholes used by some private equity fund managers.

In a speech to the Demos think tank in central London, Ms Kendall is also expected to say: “Under our changed Labour Party, if you can work there will be no option of a life on benefits.”

The speech comes as new figures revealed almost 851,000 people aged 16-24 are not in education, employment or training (Neet), an increase of 20,000 in a year and the highest level since 2016.

Ms Kendall has pledged to recruit 1,000 new career advisers in schools and the creation of new employment advisers in Labour’s Young Future hubs, which have been billed to provide tailored specialist support.

She is expected to say: “The Labour Party was founded by working people, for working people.

“And that core belief, that Labour is the party of work, is at the heart of Keir Starmer’s changed Labour Party today.

“This is our commitment to young people. We value you. You are important.

“We will invest in you and help you build a better future with all the chances and choices this brings.

“But in return for these new opportunities, you will have a responsibility to take up the work or training that’s on offer.

“Under our changed Labour Party, if you can work there will be no option of a life on benefits.”

(PA Graphics)

The party plans to expand the provision of specialist mental health support for young people by recruiting 8,500 more mental health professionals.

Ms Kendall will accuse the Tories of having “failed on the economy – and that’s because they have failed on work”.

Labour plans to overhaul the Tories’ apprentice levy with new technical excellence colleges and a growth and skills levy for those who did not achieve the required qualifications at school

The party will also pledge to improve access to work for young disabled people by ensuring they know what equipment, adaptations or personal support they will get before they start work so they feel more confident.

Some 281,500 people aged 18-24 are claiming unemployment related benefits, which is 14,800 more than a year ago, according to ONS figures.

Life on benefits will not be an option under Labour, says Liz Kendall

Ben Quinn Political correspondent
Mon, 4 March 2024 

Liz Kendall, centre, meets students at the Euston Skills Centre in north London after delivering a speech during an event hosted by thinktank Demos.Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Under a Labour government there would be “no option of a life on benefits”, the party has said, as it set out plans to reduce the number of young people not in work, education or training.

The shadow work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, said the party would recruit 8,500 more mental health workers and promised that the sickness benefits bill would fall under Labour.

Kendall did not specify what form the tougher measures on universal credit would take.

“Under our changed Labour party, if you can work there will be no option of a life on benefits,” she said in a speech to the centre-left Demos thinktank in London, where she sought to outline Labour’s commitment on “investing” in young people.

“Not just because the British people believe rights should go hand in hand with responsibilities. But because being unemployed or lacking basic qualifications when you’re young can harm your job prospects and wages for the rest of your life.”

The tough language on welfare – reminiscent of 90s-era New Labour – prompted concern about the implications of sanctions for those struggling with mental health issues.

Kendall also spoke of overhauling jobcentres to end a “tick-box culture” and devolving employment support to local areas “because the man – or even woman – in Whitehall can never know what’s best for Leicester, Liverpool and Leeds”.

She took aim at what she described as “Tory claims about being tough on benefits”, and said that over the next five years there would be 600,000 more people on incapacity and disability benefits, costing an extra £33bn.

Kendall made the speech as new figures revealed that almost 851,000 young people aged 16-24 were not in education, employment or training (Neet) – an increase of 20,000 in a year. It was largely driven by the increase in young men who are Neet.

Kendall was challenged in a question-and-answer session by Ollie Steadman, a policy and campaigns manager at the charity Mind, who prefaced his comments by welcoming her emphasis on the need for “quality” work.

But he added: “Many of the same people might feel a bit concerned about the talk around responsibility, and potentially for it to lead to sanctions and a kind of wider system or harsher system that doesn’t get mental health.”

Steadman said afterwards: “Supporting disabled people to find long-term, fulfilling work can only be achieved by taking a supportive approach. Punitive action does not work and only pushes disabled people further into poverty. Whoever forms the next UK government should restore trust in the benefits system by establishing a commission led by disabled people to redesign benefits assessments.”

Kendall responded to his question by saying there was clear evidence that having a good job was very good for mental health, adding: “We know that if you’re in good work, your relapses can be cut by a third or even half. That’s better for you. It’s better for the NHS, it’s better for taxpayers.”

Other concerns were expressed by Dr Michael Orton, of the Institute for Employment Research at the University of Warwick, who welcomed much of what Kendall had outlined, in particular around devolving employment support.

“But there are questions as to how this differs from programmes going back to the 1980s and which the evidence shows have marginal impact at best,” he said. “Some critical issues weren’t mentioned including fluctuating health conditions, which standard jobs can’t accommodate, and the need to update our social security system to meet new challenges not repeat punitive approaches which do more harm than good.”

Mark Winstanley, the chief executive of Rethink Mental Illness, welcomed Kendall’s plans to help tear down obstacles that prevent people from getting into and staying in employment, but he added: “We also need reform of an overly punitive benefits system which too often has harmed the very people it was set up to help.”

Labour promises crackdown on benefits payments to inactive young people


Harry Stedman and Samuel Montgomery, PA
Mon, 4 March 2024 

Labour has promised tougher measures on handing out benefits payments as it sets out plans to reduce the number of young people out of work, education or training.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said the party would recruit 8,500 more mental health workers and reform the Government’s “failed” apprenticeship levy to solve inactivity.

But Ms Kendall did not specify what form the tougher measures on universal credit would take.

She added Labour would give young people “chances and choices” as they were “chomping at the bit” to take up new opportunities.

Labour’s plan focuses on recruiting thousands of mental health professionals and career advisers to encourage young people to work, which it would fund by targeting tax breaks for private schools and closing tax loopholes used by some private equity fund managers.

New figures revealed almost 851,000 people aged 16-24 are not in education, employment or training (Neet), an increase of 20,000 in a year and the highest level since 2016.

Ms Kendall was promoted to shadow work and pensions secretary in a Labour cabinet reshuffle last September.

In a speech to the Demos think tank in central London on Monday, she said: “This is our commitment to young people – we value you, you are important.

“We will invest in you and help you build a better future, with all the chances and choices this brings.

“But in return for these new opportunities, you will have a responsibility to take up the work or training that’s on offer.

“Under our changed Labour Party, if you can work there will be no option of a life on benefits, not just because the British people believe rights should go hand in hand with responsibilities, but because being unemployed or lacking basic qualifications when you’re young can harm your job prospects and wages for the rest of your life.

“This isn’t good enough for young people or for our country.”

Ms Kendall pledged to recruit 1,000 new career advisers in schools and the creation of new employment advisers in Labour’s Young Future hubs, which have been billed to provide tailored specialist support.

She said Labour would create specialist mental health support in every school to intervene at earlier ages with young people, and said she wanted to see job centres working in partnership with the NHS.

Ms Kendall said: “Under Labour, the Department of Work and Pensions and Job Centres will do what they say on the tin.

“We will have a relentless focus on helping more people get work and get on at work, and on making workplaces healthier and more productive places to be.”

(PA Graphics)

The party plans to expand the provision of specialist mental health support for young people by recruiting 8,500 more mental health professionals.

Ms Kendall accused the Tories of having “failed on the economy – and that’s because they have failed on work”.

Labour plans to overhaul the Tories’ apprentice levy with new technical excellence colleges and a growth and skills levy for those who did not achieve the required qualifications at school

The party will also pledge to improve access to work for young disabled people by ensuring they know what equipment, adaptations or personal support they will get before they start work so they feel more confident.

Some 281,500 people aged 18-24 are claiming unemployment related benefits, which is 14,800 more than a year ago, according to ONS figures.

UK

Labour: Young people will be expected to take up work and training

RED TORIES SAY 

HEY KIDZ; ARBEIT MACHT FREI

SEAN SEDDON - BBC NEWS
March 4, 2024 

Liz Kendall

There will be "no option of a life on benefits" for young people under Labour, its shadow work secretary will declare in a speech on Monday.

Liz Kendall is expected to say the party will invest in careers and skills training but warn young people have a "responsibility" to take them up.

The party warned the number of people aged between 16-24 who are not in work, education or training is rising.

A Tory spokesman said Labour has an "abysmal" record on youth employment.

According to Office for National Statistics estimates, there were 851,000 young people not in employment, education or training between October to December 2023.

That number has risen by 20,000 compared to the same period in 2022 and accounts for 12% of all 16-24-year-olds.

In a speech to the Demos think tank in central London, Ms Kendall will say the Tories have "failed on the economy - and that is because they have failed on work".

She is expected to add: "This is our commitment to young people. We value you. You are important. We will invest in you and help you build a better future with all the chances and choices this brings.

"But in return for these new opportunities, you will have a responsibility to take up the work or training that's on offer. Under our changed Labour party, if you can work there will be no option of a life on benefits."

The party has not detailed whether it would introduce enforcement measures to back up its stance.

Speaking to BBC's Today programme ahead of her speech, Ms Kendall said young people were "desperate to work" but struggled to get a job without experience, and experience without a job.

She said Labour would ensure jobseekers had access to careers advice, work experience, employment support and early mental health support.

Labour has previously pledged to invest in 1,000 new careers advisers, specialist mental health support in every school and so-called Young Future hubs in every area to provide a range of services to vulnerable young people.

It says it would fund the changes by removing tax breaks for private schools and closing tax loopholes used by some private equity fund managers.

The party plans to reform the apprenticeship levy - a 0.5% tax on large employers - to invest in skills training.

Ms Kendall is further expected to say on Monday that Labour would "overhaul access to work" for disabled young people if it wins the next election.

In response, a Conservative Party spokesman pointed towards the previous record of Labour governments on youth employment.

The Tories have also attacked Labour's plan to reform the apprenticeship levy in order to fund its policies, saying it would lead to a reduction in the number of people getting on-the-job training.

A Conservative Party spokesman said: "Under the last Labour government, youth unemployment almost doubled and the number of people seeking out-of-work benefits soared - their abysmal record speaks for itself."

'Working is duty': French PM tells rail workers ahead of holiday strike

FRENCH FOR "ARBEIT MACHT FREI"

Paris (AFP) – French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on Wednesday warned train controllers against disrupting travel during school holidays as ticket inspectors geared up to strike this weekend.


Issued on: 14/02/2024 - 

Train controllers plan to strike on Friday, Saturday and Sunday 

© MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP/File

"The French know that going on strike is a right," Attal said, while adding pointedly that "working is a duty".

Every time rail workers strike during holidays the image of the SNCF rail company "takes a hit", he said, lamenting what he said was becoming a "kind of habit".

Train controllers plan to strike on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Christophe Fanichet, SNCF's passengers division chief, said the action meant that one out of two trains would be cancelled between Friday and Sunday.

"Not all trains are going to leave," Fanichet told broadcaster Franceinfo.

He encouraged travellers to postpone their travel until Monday or Tuesday, adding that the rail company planned "exceptional compensation" for those hit by the action.

Fanichet condemned the strike as "incomprehensible".

The action was announced after a Christmas strike in December, 2022 affected some 200,000 holidaymakers.

The unions say the company has been slow to fulfil the terms of the agreement negotiated at the end of 2022, but Fanichet disputed that.

"We promised additional jobs, and those jobs are there," he said.

SNCF head Jean-Pierre Farandou has said the company has promised to pay bonuses and is also raising wages.

"I don't see why we should have to respond by disrupting the lives of French people who want to go on holiday," he has said.

tsz-ys-bpa-gbh-as/sjw/jj

© 2024 AFP

Nazi death camp survivors mark anniversary of Auschwitz liberation on Holocaust Remembrance Day

A group of survivors of Nazi death camps marked the 79th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp during World War II in a modest ceremony Saturday in southern Poland.

Issued on: 27/01/2024 - 

Holocaust survivors and relatives arrive at the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, Poland, January 27, 2024. 

© Czarek Sokolowski, AP

By: NEWS WIRES


About 20 survivors from various camps set up by Nazi Germany around Europe laid wreaths and flowers and lit candles at the Death Wall in Auschwitz.

Later, the group will hold prayers at the monument in Birkenau. They were memorializing around 1.1 million camp victims, mostly Jews. The memorial site and museum are located near the city of Oswiecim.

Nearly 6 million European Jews were killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust — the mass murder of Jews and other groups before and during World War II.

Marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the survivors will be accompanied by Polish Senate Speaker Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska, Culture Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz and Israeli Ambassador Yacov Livne.

The theme of the observances is the human being, symbolized in simple, hand-drawn portraits. They are meant to stress that the horror of Auschwitz-Birkenau lies in the suffering of people held and killed there.

Holocaust victims were commemorated across Europe.

In Germany, where people put down flowers and lit candles at memorials for the victims of the Nazi terror, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that his country would continue to carry the responsibility for this “crime against humanity.”

He called on all citizens to defend Germany’s democracy and fight antisemitism, as the country marked the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

"Never again’ is every day,” Scholz said in his weekly video podcast. “Jan. 27 calls out to us: Stay visible! Stay audible! Against antisemitism, against racism, against misanthropy — and for our democracy.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose country is fighting to repel Russia's full-scale invasion, posted an image of a Jewish menorah on X, formerly known as Twitter, to mark the remembrance day.

“Every new generation must learn the truth about the Holocaust. Human life must remain the highest value for all nations in the world," said Zelenskyy, who is Jewish and has lost relatives in the Holocaust.

"Eternal memory to all Holocaust victims!” Zelenskyy tweeted.

In Italy, Holocaust commemorations included a torchlit procession alongside official statements from top political leaders.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said that her conservative nationalist government was committed to eradicating antisemitism that she said had been “reinvigorated” amid the Israel-Hamas war. Meloni’s critics have long accused her and her Brothers of Italy party, which has neo-fascist roots, of failing to sufficiently atone for its past.

Later Saturday, leftist movements planned a torchlit procession to remember all victims of the Holocaust — Jews but also Roma, gays and political dissidents who were deported or exterminated in Nazi camps.

Police were also on alert after pro-Palestinian activists indicated that they would ignore a police order and go ahead with a rally planned to coincide with the Holocaust commemorations. Italy’s Jewish community has complained that such protests have become occasions for the memory of the Holocaust to be co-opted by anti-Israel forces and used against Jews.

In Poland, a memorial ceremony with prayers was held Friday in Warsaw at the foot of the Monument to the Heroes of the Ghetto, who fell fighting the Nazis in 1943.

Earlier in the week, the countries of the former Yugoslavia signed an agreement in Paris to jointly renovate Block 17 in the red-brick Auschwitz camp and install a permanent exhibition there in memory of around 20,000 people who were deported from their territories and brought to the block. Participating in the project will be Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia.

The gate with "Arbeit macht frei" (Work sets you free) written across it is pictured at the Auschwitz-Birkenau former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp during events marking the 79th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau camp in Oswiecim, Poland on January 27, 2024. 

© Bartosz Siedlik, AFP

Preserving the camp, a notorious symbol of the horrors of the Holocaust, with its cruelly misleading “Arbeit Macht Frei” (“Work Makes One Free”) gate, requires constant effort by historians and experts, and substantial funds.

The Nazis, who occupied Poland from 1939-1945, at first used old Austrian military barracks at Auschwitz as a concentration and death camp for Poland’s resistance fighters. In 1942, the wooden barracks, gas chambers and crematoria of Birkenau were added for the extermination of Europe's Jews, Roma and other nationals, as well as Russian prisoners of war.

Soviet Red Army troops liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau on Jan. 27, 1945, with about 7,000 prisoners there, children and those who were too weak to walk. The Germans had evacuated tens of thousands of other inmates on foot days earlier in what is now called the Death March, because many inmates died of exhaustion and cold in the sub-freezing temperatures.

Since 1979, the Auschwitz-Birkenau site has been on the UNESCO list of World Heritage.

(AP)

Tens of thousands of Germans mark Holocaust Memorial Day

Berlin (AFP) – Tens of thousands of Germans turned out across the country on Saturday to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, just days after a string of protests against right-wing extremists.


Issued on: 27/01/2024 - 

Holocaust Day, marking the Nazis' murder of six million Jews, falls on the date the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp was liberated  (ITS IN POLAND)

© BARTOSZ SIEDLIK / AFP

Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who earlier this month joined a march against the far right, on Saturday welcomed what he said were "millions of fellow citizens marching in the streets" of Germany.

"Never again," Scholz vowed Saturday as police in the western city of Duesseldorf said about 100,000 people joined the peaceful protest there.

Demonstrations were planned in 300 towns and villages across the country this weekend, according to the alliance "Together against the extreme right".

In the northern city of Kiel, police said 11,500 people had gathered before midday.

"Democracy is not for the timid", read placards alongside others saying, "Red card for the AfD" party of the extreme right.

Physiotherapist Johannes Boecker, aged 29, told AFP, "It was important to demonstrate in memory of the victims of national socialism and also against the rise of the extreme right."

In Stuttgart, where a couple of thousand people gathered, 60-year-old Margrit Walter told AFP: "I want to create a Nazi-free zone for my grand-daughter."
'Never again is every day'

Scholz, who had turned out at a protest two weeks ago in Potsdam, close to the capital, said he was delighted to see people "stand up".

"Never again requires everybody's vigilance. Our democracy is not a gift from God, it is made by men," the chancellor said. "Never again is every day."

Defence Minister Boris Pistorius joined the protesters in his northwestern hometown of Osnabrueck, where he was born.

"There are three times as many demonstrations as last week, particularly in the east of Germany," said in a statement the citizen's alliance Campact, which is among the organisers of the protest movement.

It is in the east, formerly communist East Germany, where the AfD finds its biggest following.

Holocaust Day, commemorating the murder of six million Jews during World War Two, falls on the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp by Soviet troops on January 27, 1945.

In Poland, site of the former camp, Auschwitz survivor Halina Birenbaum, aged 95, lamented anti-Jewish protests around the world and the "barbaric and long Russian attack against Ukraine... the barbaric terrorist attacks by Hamas and war on every side.

"For me it makes the Holocaust go on," she said.

In Germany, this year's 79th Holocaust anniversary came shortly after a report by investigative outlet Correctiv that revealed that AfD members had discussed the mass expulsion of immigrants and "non-assimilated citizens" at a November meeting with extremists.

The news sent shockwaves across Germany at a time when the AfD is soaring in opinion polls, just months ahead of three major regional elections in eastern Germany where their support is strongest.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser compared the extremist meeting on foreigners with the 1942 Wannsee conference when the Nazis plotted to exterminate European Jews.

© 2024 AFP

Opinion: Another Volkswagen CEO bites the dust

Herbert Diess is stepping down as CEO of VW after just four years. The reason? Bad communications skills apparently. But his problems while helming the German giant went much deeper, argues DW's Henrik Böhme.

VW has cycled through its CEOs in recent years

Leading Europe's largest carmaker, Volkswagen, means being in the hot seat. The announcement that current CEO Herbert Diess will be stepping down after only four years is just the latest proof of that.

Diess took over the position in 2018 from Matthias Müller. The latter had himself taken on the job from Martin Winterkorn in 2015 after the Dieselgate scandal broke. Today, the 75-year-old Winterkorn continues to fight with all legal means to keep from going to court.

Then again, Diess' departure is not all that surprising. His position has seemed uncertain for some time now. The 63-year-old Austrian had previously managed to unite all the major players in this game — the Porsche and Piëch families — behind him, thereby securing his power at Volkswagen fro some time. 

Herbert Diess will be stepping down as VW CEO at the start of September 2022

From one misstep to another

But things were already looking shaky for him around three years ago, when Diess was trying to get company management to back tough financial targets. Doing this, he used the sentence, "Ebit macht frei," or "Ebit makes you free" — a combination of a business acronym for earnings before income tax, and the notorious Nazi phrase "Arbeit macht frei," or "work sets you free." The Nazi slogan was written above the gates of numerous concentration camps. Clearly, this was totally inappropriate for the CEO of a major global company. Diess called it a "slip of the tongue." 

Or, the same year, when he was asked about the human rights situation in the Chinese province of Xinjiang, where VW has a plant and where there were rumors of forced labor using Uighur people, he said he knew nothing about the so-called reeducation centers that are really internment camps.

Then there was also the unpleasant way he dealt with the workforce at the main plant in Wolfsburg, where he, possibly with the best of intentions, repeatedly highlighted the successes of pioneering electric car company Tesla — only to then raise the possibility of some 30,000 job cuts.  

Rivals and buddies: VW's Herbert Diess (left) and Tesla's Elon Musk

Volkswagen is a special kind of company. In terms of ownership structure, the German state of Lower Saxony is the largest stakeholder, sits on the board of directors and has right of veto. Then there's the powerful German metalworkers' union IG Metall, which often plays the role of opponent. And finally there's the even more powerful Porsche and Piëch founding family members, all breathing down the necks of every VW executive.

The holding company in Salzburg is where the strings really get pulled. Just think back to early 2015 and the statement from former VW patriarch Ferdinand Piëch, about keeping his distance from Winterkorn. That caused a veritable earthquake at VW, a whole half a year before the Dieselgate scandal came to light.

So what caused Herbert Diess to fail?

Obviously, Diess' miserable communications skills played a role. Yes, he is undeniably a consummate professional in the car industry. That's precisely why VW's most powerful pried him away from BMW and lured him to Wolfsburg. And credit must be given where credit is due. In the aftermath of the Dieselgate scandal, he set Volkswagen firmly on the path toward electromobility, overseeing the transformation, shifting whole factories from combustion engines to electric cars, and also arranging for the huge billion-dollar investments VW needed in order to do this.

DW Business Editor Henrik Böhme

Diess didn't shy away from telling workers that significantly fewer personnel would be needed either, telling them it took Tesla 10 hours to build a car whereas it takes VW 30 hours. That didn't go down well. It seems Diess' soft touch is mainly reserved for the steering wheel of his car. 

New CEO, same old software problem

Now it's up to the head of one of VW's other brands, Porsche, to put things in order. Though Oliver Blume, who is succeeding Diess, is nine years younger than his predecessor, he has the same automotive industry genes. He'll be CEO of VW and also continue to head up the sports car brand, Porsche. That's if things go well. Blume will first have to prove that he can do at least one thing better than Diess: communicate. 

But — and this is likely to be the real challenge — Blume will also need to get a grip on VW's software needs.

Among Diess' failures was his inability to develop a proprietary software system at the German carmaker. Tens of thousands of IT workers are trying to develop a VW operating system that can be installed in all the company's car brands. Tesla already has this, Google and Apple do too.

In fact, this is one of the greatest fears of established car companies like VW. That, in the end, they will only build the things that wrap around the software, and the IT will actually be what makes the difference and the money. This would mean that whoever provides the software gets all the driver data, along with the cash that comes with it. 

And that would be the end of an era for classic car manufacturers. This is really what Diess failed at — and there is no guarantee that his successor will do any better.  

This article was translated from the German.

Nearly a quarter of young Americans believe the Holocaust didn’t happen or has been exaggerated


Gustaf Kilander

THE INDEPENDENT
Mon, June 21, 2021

A picture taken in April 1945 depicts Auschwitz concentration camp gate, with the inscription ARBEIT MACHT FREI; Work Makes You Free.

One in 10 young Americans believes that the Holocaust never happened, while 23 per cent think it’s a myth or that the number of those killed has been exaggerated.

In a 50-state survey of Americans aged between 18 and 39, 12 per cent said they had never heard, or thought they had never heard, the word “Holocaust” before.

Some younger Americans appear to have bought into conspiracy theories being shared on social media and some can’t name a single concentration camp.


Almost half of the survey respondents, 49 per cent, said they had seen Holocaust denial and distortion content on social media, with 11 per cent saying they thought Jews, not the Nazis, were responsible for the Holocaust. That number goes up to 19 per cent in New York state.

New York has the highest share, just over nine per cent, of the US Jewish population, with almost 1.8 million people identifying as Jewish in the state.

More than a third of respondents, 36 per cent, thought fewer than two million Jews were killed during the Holocaust, and 63 per cent were unaware that the actual number of Jews killed was six million.

Almost half, 48 per cent, couldn’t name a single one of the 40,000 concentration camps and ghettos in Europe during the Holocaust.

While most of the killings took place between 1941 and 1945, the persecution of Jews started much earlier, with the first concentration camp, Dachau outside Munich, being built in 1933, initially intended to hold political prisoners.

Only six per cent of respondents said they were familiar with the Dachau camp.

The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany commissioned the survey. The president of the organisation, Gideon Taylor, said in a statement: “The results are both shocking and saddening, and they underscore why we must act now while Holocaust survivors are still with us to voice their stories.”

“We need to understand why we aren’t doing better in educating a younger generation about the Holocaust and the lessons of the past,” Mr Taylor added. “This needs to serve as a wake-up call to us all, and as a road map of where government officials need to act.”

To establish where in the country lack of knowledge was the biggest issue, the survey was done state by state with a “knowledge score” being devised to measure awareness.

The score was calculated by taking the percentage of respondents who had heard of the Holocaust and could name at least one concentration camp, death camp, or ghetto, and was aware that six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.

Arkansas came at the bottom of the list, with fewer than two in 10 – some 17 per cent – of Millennials and Gen Z individuals meeting the knowledge criteria. Mississippi at 18 per cent and Florida at 20 per cent also came in the bottom three.

Wisconsin was at the top of the list with 42 per cent, Minnesota at 37 per cent and Massachusetts at 35 per cent made up the rest of the top three.

Holocaust denial is thriving on social media, with a study from August last year showing that Facebook’s algorithm was “actively” pushing this kind of content.

Facebook spokesperson Dani Lever told USA Today in January: “We’ve made major progress in fighting Holocaust denial on Facebook by implementing a new policy prohibiting it and enforcing against these hateful lies in every country around the world.”

“It is clear that we must fight this distortion of history and do all we can to ensure that the social media giants stop allowing this harmful content on their platforms,” the executive vice president of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, Greg Schneider, said in a statement.

Authorities: Man in 'Camp Auschwitz' shirt at riot arrested

© Provided by The Canadian Press

NORFOLK, Va. — A man photographed wearing a “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt during the U.S. Capitol riot was arrested Wednesday in Virginia, authorities said.

Robert Keith Packer, 56, was arrested in Newport News, where he lives. He was charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and unlawfully entering a restricted building.

President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building last week after a rally the president held to repeat baseless election grievances. Five people died during the siege, including a Capitol police officer, a woman shot by police and three people who had medical emergencies.

Packer entered the Capitol wearing a sweatshirt with the name of the Nazi concentration camp where about 1.1 million people were killed during World War II, according to a criminal complaint. The sweatshirt also bore the phrase, “Work brings freedom,” a translation of “Arbeit macht frei,” the German phrase that appeared on the camp’s entrance.

The photograph of Packer in the sweatshirt caused an uproar on social media, and the images ultimately helped authorities track him down. The complaint said an FBI agent confirmed Packer’s identity by comparing rally photos to his driver’s license and security footage of him wearing the shirt at a store near where he lives.

During a federal court hearing Wednesday, a prosecutor said the government would not be seeking Packer's detention. A federal judge said Packer would be released promptly on a personal recognizance bond that bars him from visiting Washington unless it’s for a court appearance.

Packer said he intends to hire his own lawyer, instead of a court-appointed attorney. He did not identify who would represent him in the case.

Two police officers from Rocky Mount, Virginia, face the same charges. Sgt. Thomas “T.J.” Robertson and officer Jacob Fracker were both placed on administrative leave by the Rocky Mount Police Department after they attended the rally while off-duty.

A statement of facts written by a U.S. Capitol Police special agent and unsealed Wednesday said Robertson and Fracker were photographed in the Capitol Building “making an obscene statement” before a statue of John Stark, an American Revolutionary War officer from New Hampshire famous for writing the state's “Live Free or Die” motto.

In social media posts, Robertson is quoted as saying: “CNN and the Left are just mad because we actually attacked the government who is the problem and not some random small business … The right IN ONE DAY took the f------ U.S. Capitol. Keep poking us.”

The statement also describes a now-deleted Facebook post by Fracker containing the caption, “Lol to anyone who's possibly concerned about the picture of me going around...Sorry I hate freedom? ...Not like I did anything illegal...”

The statement cites comments Robertson made to news outlets in which he said he broke no laws, did not know about the violence and that he had been escorted into the building by the Capitol Police.

“Moreover, at that date and time, the United States Capitol was on lockdown and the defendants' presence inside was without lawful authority,” Special Agent Vincent Veloz wrote.

Robertson told The Roanoke Times that he does not support the violence that occurred.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “For it to go like that is absolutely ridiculous.”

A federal judge said at a hearing Wednesday that he would release Fracker and Robertson on unsecured bond. A condition of their release is that they cannot visit Washington, unless it’s for a matter related to the case against them.

FBI spokeswoman Christina Pullen said another Virginia man, Douglas Allen Sweet, of Grimstead, also was arrested Wednesday on charges including violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Sweet was charged along with five others who police said were on the upper level of the United States Capitol Visitors Center.

The criminal complaint against Sweet and five others described a scene in which several dozen people were “making loud noises, and kicking chairs, throwing an unknown liquid substance at officers, and spraying an unknown substance at officers.”

Capitol police ordered the crowd to leave, and the crowd responded by shouting and cursing at the officers, the complaint states. Police said Sweet and the five others “were positioned towards the front of the crowd, close to the Capitol police officers who were responding.”

“The six individuals, like others in the larger crowd, wilfully refused the order to leave,” the complaint says.

One of Sweet’s daughters, Robyn Sweet, said in a Facebook message to a reporter that her father "doesn’t mean any harm and is a good person at heart.”

"I think he truly believes that what he is doing is the right thing. But I feel he has become terribly misguided and disillusioned by the far-right groups he involves himself with,” she said.

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Lavoie reported from Richmond, Virginia. Associated Press writer Michael Balsamo in Washington contributed to this report.

Ben Finley And Denise Lavoie, The Associated Press

Decoding the extremist symbols and groups at the Capitol Hill insurrection

Flags, signs and symbols of racist, white supremacist and extremist groups were displayed along with Trump 2020 banners and American flags at Wednesday's riot at the US Capitol.

© CNN Illustrations/Jim Urquhart/Reuters

The pictures tell part of the story of the beliefs of some of those who chose to show up on that day -- from passionate and peaceful Trump supporters to extremists who showed their hate with their symbols as well as their actions.

The mixing of the groups is one issue that experts who track extremism and hate have long been concerned about.

The certification of the election results proved to be exactly the type of event that brought together various groups and could have led to radical ideas being shared, they say. The initial event, which was heavily promoted and encouraged by President Trump, gave all of these groups something to rally around.

"This was an event designed to oppose the results of a free and fair democratic election and the transition of power that would naturally follow," Mark Pitcavage, a historian and expert in extremism with the Anti-Defamation League said.

© CNN Illustrations/Samuel Corum/Getty Images

CNN spoke with him to identify the symbols and understand the chilling messages of tyranny, white supremacy, anarchy, racism, anti-Semitism and hatred they portray.


Noose and gallows

While a noose on its own is often used as a form of racial intimidation, Pitcavage says he believes in this context the gallows were to suggest punishment for committing treason. "It is suggesting that representatives and senators who vote to certify the election results, and possibly Vice President Pence, are committing treason and should be tried and hanged," he explains.

That treason rhetoric was seen on right-wing message boards in days leading up to the event.


Three Percenters flag

© CNN Illustrations/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

The Three Percenters (also known as III%ers, 3%ers or Threepers) are part of the militia movement in the United States and are anti-government extremists, according to the ADL.© CNN Illustrations/Brendan Gutenschwager




Like others in the militia movement, Three Percenters view themselves as defending the American people against government tyranny.

"Because many adherents to the militia movement strongly support President Trump, in recent years, Three Percenters have not been as active in opposing the federal government, directing their ire at other perceived foes, including leftists/antifa, Muslims and immigrants," according to the ADL.

The group's name comes from an inaccurate claim that only three percent of the people in the colonies armed themselves and fought against the British during the Revolutionary War.

The flag seen above is their logo on the traditional Betsy Ross flag. Pitcavage says right-wing groups (mainstream or extreme), which think of themselves as patriotic, sometimes co-opt America's first flag.

"Release the Kraken" flag

© CNN Illustrations/ITV

The flag references former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell's comments that she was going to "release the Kraken." Powell falsely said she had evidence that would destroy the idea that Joe Biden won the presidency.

The "Kraken," a mammoth sea creature from Scandavian folklore, has turned into a meme in circles that believe the election was stolen. The Kraken, they say, is a cache of evidence that there was widespread fraud. On social media, QAnon conspiracy and fringe sites #ReleaseTheKraken has been widely shared along with false theories of fraud.


The Proud Boys and the OK sign

The far right has co-opted the OK sign as a trolling gesture and, for some, as a symbol of white power. The ADL added that symbol to its long-standing database of slogans and symbols used by extremists.

"They are wearing orange caps to identify each other; in past rallies they wore identifying shirts and other gear, but they ditched that for this event after their leader was recently arrested," Pitcavage explained.

The Proud Boys has been supportive of President Trump and present at "Stop The Steal" rallies in Washington, DC. The Proud Boys' leader, Henry Tarrio, who goes by Enrique Tarrio, was released from police custody Tuesday on charges related to allegedly burning a Black Lives Matter banner taken from a Black church last month during protests in the city after a "Stop the Steal" rally last month. He was ordered by a local judge to stay out of DC as he awaits trial, including during this week's protests.


"Kekistan" flags

The green, white and black flag was created by some members of the 4chan online community to represent a made-up joke country named for "Kek," a fictional god they also created. It has long been present at right-wing and far-right rallies.

Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. Trump supporters gathered in the nation's capital today to protest the ratification of President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory over President Trump in the 2020 election.

 (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)



© CNN Illustrations/Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post/Getty Images

"The Kekistan flag is controversial because its design was partially derived from a Nazi-era flag; this was apparently done on purpose as a joke," Pitcavage explained. "Younger right-wingers coming from the 4chan subculture (both mainstream right and extreme right) often like to display the Kekistan flag at rallies and events."

Altered historic flags

Altered Confederate and Gadsden flags were seen throughout the crowds at the Capitol. One Confederate battle flag variation included an image of assault rifle and the slogan "Come and take it" to convey an anti-gun control message. The phrase "come and take it" paraphrases the "come and take them" retort uttered by Spartan King Leonidas at the Battle of Thermopylae when the Persian King Xerxes told him and his people to lay down their spears in return for their lives, Pitcavage said.

The Gadsden flag, which is known to many as the "Don't Tread on Me" flag, is a traditional and historical patriotic flag dating to the American Revolution. The flag and symbol are also popular among Libertarians. But it also has been co-opted by right wing groups. Pitcavage explains that while some fly it as a symbol for patriotism, others use it as a "symbol of resistance to perceived tyranny."

Oath Keepers

A man is seen wearing an Oath Keepers hat inside the Capitol after it was breached. The Oath Keepers is a pro-Trump, far-right, anti-government group that considers itself part of the militia movement charged to protect the country and defend the constitution. The group tries to recruit members from among active or retired military, first responders, or police.

© CNN Illustrations/Roberto Schidt/AFP/Getty Images

Their leader has spouted vast conspiracy theories on his blog, accused Democrats of stealing the election, previously threatened violence if it was necessary on Election Day during an interview with far-right conspiracist Alex Jones and said his group would be armed to protect the White House if necessary, according to the ADL.

The Confederate flag

During the United States' long Civil War, no Confederate battle flag came within the shadow of the US Capitol, but on Wednesday, an insurrectionist carried one right through its halls.

© CNN Illustrations/Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images

Photographers captured a man carrying it past the portraits of abolitionist Charles Sumner and slaveholder John Calhoun.

The flag was always a symbol of support for slavery. After World War II, it became a prominent symbol of Jim Crow and segregation, Pitcavage says not surprisingly, it is a popular symbol among white supremacists -- even outside the United States.


America First flag

A rioter cloaks himself in an America First flag with the logo of the podcast by far-right commentator Nick Fuentes. Fuentes attended the event at the Capitol, but was photographed remaining outside the Capitol building.

© CNN Illustrations/Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

"America First" was also a slogan President Trump used in describing his foreign policy. Its adoption was criticized by the ADL, which said it had an anti-Semitic use seeking to keep the US out of World War II.

The ADL says Fuentes is part of the "groyper army," which the ADL calls a white supremacist group.

"While the group and leadership's views align with those held by the white supremacist alt right, groypers attempt to normalize their ideology by aligning themselves with 'Christianity' and 'traditional' values ostensibly championed by the church, including marriage and family," the ADL explains. "Like the alt right and other white supremacists, groypers believe they are working to defend against demographic and cultural changes that are destroying the 'true America' -- a white, Christian nation."


"Camp Auschwitz"

A rioter inside the Capitol wore a "Camp Auschwitz" sweatshirt. The bottom of the shirt reads "Work brings freedom," which is the rough translation of the words "Arbeit macht frei" on the gates of the Nazi concentration camp. Auschwitz was the largest and most infamous Nazi concentration camp, where about 1.1 million people were killed during World War II.

Pitcavage says he believes the shirt came from the now-defunct website Aryanwear. The design, which has been around for about 10 years according to Pitcavage, has been popping up on differing websites in recent weeks, though it is often taken down when a complaint is made.

© CNN Illustrations/Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images


Nationalist Social Club stickers

© CNN Illustrations/Telegram

A social media image shows Nationalist Social Club stickers on what appears to be US Capitol Police equipment It's unclear when the photo was taken, but it was posted Wednesday in a Telegram chat the group uses, which includes a Nazi symbol as part of their name.

NSC, apparently a word play on the National Socialists or Nazi party, is a neo-Nazi group that has regional chapters in both the United States and across the globe, according to the ADL. It is unclear if the sticker on the right refers to a New England chapter, or because the group originally called itself the New England Nationalists Club.

"NSC members see themselves as soldiers at war with a hostile, Jewish-controlled system that is deliberately plotting the extinction of the white race," according to the ADL. "Their goal is to form an underground network of white men who are willing to fight against their perceived enemies through localized direct actions."


MAGA Civil War January 6, 2021 shirts

There are still many questions about how exactly the attack on the Capitol happened and who led the charge. But the calls for overthrowing the government and for a civil or race war have long been rallying cries in far-right circles.

The shirts worn by these men on the Capitol grounds on Wednesday show there was at least an intention to commemorate the day. They wore pre-printed shirts, referencing Trump's signature Make America Great Again slogan, alongside the words Civil war and the date of the event that turned into insurrection.

Many commenters in far-right forums have written since the attack, that this is just the beginning of that civil war that many of them have long desired.

© CNN Illustrations/Tess Owens/Vice News