UK

Revealed: Claims of bullying, misogyny and harassment in Young Fabians

Daniel Green, Cathleen Clarke & Tom Belger
23rd April, 2024, LABOUR LIST

The Fabian Society’s chair has said it is “deeply sorry” after its own report said a “culture of misogyny and marginalisation”, abuses of power and sexual harassment had developed within the Young Fabians, with some current and former members calling it “toxic”.

A leaked report seen by LabourList reveals the findings of an investigation for the Labour-affiliated think tank into claims of “unacceptable behaviours and troubling practices”, convened in November last year.

It highlights “troubling reports of unchecked misconduct: of bullying, of sexual harassment, of poorly understood safeguarding requirements, of marginalisation and abuses of power, occurring in a climate of clique-ism, sexism and opaqueness”.

The Fabian Society recently re-launched its youth branch, and has committed to implementing changes on the basis of the review panel’s findings “in full” and shared them internally, though the report has not been published.

‘Culture of misogyny’

The report, which saw several committee members and one independent contributor speak to current and former members of the Young Fabians, said that while many praised the organisation as “helpful” and “welcoming”, issues “repeatedly” raised included a “culture of misogyny and marginalisation” within the organisation and claims power is “regularly misused”.

Some said the Young Fabians had been dominated by white, male university graduates.  One said some men had shown “toxic and misogynistic behaviours”.

According to the report, the “culture of misogyny” within the organisation existed on a ‘spectrum’ from being overlooked to salaciousness and through to sexual harassment, though members noted misogyny was part of politics and society more widely.

The panel heard reports of incidents and behaviours of sexual harassment, which included physical contact and even sexual assault.

The authors said there were “profound safeguarding concerns” over having members as old as 30 socialising with children under the age of 18.

Current or former members also reported a lack of trust in and clarity around the complaints procedure, with some fearful about making a complaint about such behaviour.

One member is quoted in the report as saying: “I didn’t know that the person who abused me would know I made a complaint against them.”

‘Race and class-based inequality’

The panel also said there was a “poor” culture, described by some as “toxic”, and a lack of accountability throughout the organisation, “from not completing high quality work in a timely fashion, through to unchecked misconduct”.

Some members told the panel they had experienced and observed race and class-based inequality, with one member reporting that the idea of creating a Black and Minority Ethnic group within Young Fabians was met with “laughing dismissal”.

Other claims by current or former members included “many examples” of “self-aggrandising” behaviour, such as taking credit for others’ work, and a “climate of clique-ism”.

Recommendations for ‘cultural change’

The report listed six areas for action on “cultural change”, with a number of recommendations, calling on the Fabian Society to do more as the “parent organisation” to foster an environment that “nourishes rather than depletes or harms”.

The recommendations also called for a shake-up of the Young Fabians, with multiple co-chairs with at least one woman, a three-year maximum term limit for members of the group’s executive committee and restrictions on the age range for membership.

The executive committee will also require at least six of its 12 members to be women and “should be populated in significant part by those less rooted in experiences of power”, including disabled people, people from working class backgrounds, LGBTQ+ people and “racially minoritised” people.

The report’s authors say problems identified should be “understood as environmentally driven or enabled, not only a matter of policy or procedures and certainly not a matter of a few ‘bad apples’”.

The investigation came after the Fabian Society suspended in-person activities and elections of Young Fabians last autumn following a complaint about several of its members, including “allegations of behaviours that breach the society’s code of conduct”.

Praise from members too

The report did find many current or former members “wanted to share their good experiences” as well.

Some called it “really helpful” in their learning and political journey, while others said it was “very welcoming” to them, and there was apparently relief among some respondents that positives were being noted as well as problems.

One said: “I met some incredible friends for life. I fervently believe the Young Fabians can be a force for good and promote active free thinking to develop the future of the left.”

Fabians ‘deeply sorry’ as new youth committee planned

Sara Hyde, chairwoman of the Fabian Society, said the organisation takes “all complaints extremely seriously” and took “swift action” to suspend the Young Fabians in order to commission the review.

She said: “The Fabian Society executive committee is deeply sorry that this Young Fabian culture developed and apologise to members affected.

“The recommendations the review panel made are wide-ranging, timely and have been developed with the participation of members past and present – including those who made complaints. They have been accepted by the Fabian Society and are now being implemented in full.

“Every part of the Fabian Society should be a place where people can thrive. We now look forward to working with the Young Fabians in close partnership to foster an atmosphere of open debate and development, where all members can participate fully, equally and safely.

“We are delighted that more than 60 people have applied to serve on a new Young Fabian executive which will relaunch the organisation and set it on a new path.”

UK

WAIT, WHAT?!

Haigh: Labour won’t shut ticket offices or cut jobs – or nationalise water

Daniel Green

25th April, 2024

LABOUR LIST

Labour has pledged to protect ticket offices and staff if elected to power, as part of its planned radical overhaul of the rail network.

Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh unveiled the party’s proposals to bring Britain’s railways back into public ownership on Thursday at an event at Trainline HQ in central London. She vowed to crack down on delays and make the service better value for money for passengers.

She said that the overhaul, the “biggest in a generation”, would work to address the root causes of the “deepening crisis” in the rail network, with Labour’s “fully-costed” plans ensuring services are reliable, affordable, efficient, safe and accessible.

Under Labour’s plans, private operators will be brought into public ownership as contracts expire, with Great British Railways (GBR) controlling the nation’s railways in the interest of passengers. Haigh said that those operations would be folded into GBR “well within the first term” of a Labour government.

While people will say “same old Labour”, neither passengers nor taxpayers can afford for the current arrangements to continue, she added.

Haigh explained she would serve as “passenger-in-chief”, setting the strategy and objectives for the new state-owned operator and holding it to account.

She also promised to deliver simplified fares and ticketing, with a “best fare guarantee” across the rail network, as well as resetting industrial relations following a series of strikes under the Conservative government.

“Labour will take a consciously different approach: we will see our workforce as an asset, rather than a liability. We will work with them – and where there are disagreements, we will get around the table and work them out.”

When asked to guarantee no ticket offices would close at a launch event at Trainline’s HQ in Holborn, Haigh said Labour had “absolutely no plans to close or change staffing levels”.

The shadow cabinet member played down the idea of public ownership of water too.

While Labour has committed to nationalise the nation’s rail network by taking contracts in-house when they expire, Haigh said that nationalising water would cost the taxpayer “billions” because there is a different settlement with firms.

She said: “In a constrained fiscal environment, we don’t think that’s immediately the right priority.”

She instead highlighted Labour’s plans for “tough” regulation, legislation and the threat of criminal sanctions, tackling sewage and ensuring firms pay for infrastructure upgrades.

Despite the plans to implement nationalisation over the course of the first term of a Labour government, Haigh said she believes that Labour could enact basic improvements to services “from day one” and said customers would start to see changes “very early on” in Labour’s time in power.

While Haigh said she could not set out plans to lower fares, she did say Labour would simplify tickets for passengers to make them “more accessible, more transparent and more trustworthy”.

“Passengers have to contend with a dizzying array of different types of tickets and fares, which means they simply don’t trust they are getting the best value for the journey,” she said.

“We will deliver a best fare guarantee so they can always trust they are getting the lowest fare for their journey, just as people currently experience with Transport for London when they tap in and tap out of the system.”

Read our coverage of the 2024 local elections here.

Lou Haigh to reveal ‘roadmap’ for public ownership of railways within first term

Katie Neame 

 24th April, 2024

LABOUR LIST

Kings Cross station. Photo: pio3 / Shutterstock.com

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Labour’s Louise Haigh has pledged to deliver the “biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation” ahead of the launch of the party’s “thorough and detailed roadmap” to take Britain’s rail network into public ownership.

At a launch event in central London on Thursday as part of Labour’s local election campaign, the Shadow Transport Secretary is expected to say Labour would “expect” to complete nationalisation within the first term of a Labour government.

Ahead of the event, the party shared a series of endorsements its plans have received from industry experts and others, including the chair of a recent government review into the railways, who said he welcomed Labour’s intention to take forward the “substance” of his recommendations.

The plans were also welcomed by the leader of Labour-affiliated train drivers’ union ASLEF who said the “stunning Labour vision for rail” would deliver “for the economy, for the taxpayer, for passengers and for staff”.

Haigh: ‘Biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation’

Labour said in a press release it would deliver a Railways Act to establish Great British Railways and “enable the full benefits of a unified railway”. The party said its rail reforms would have six key objectives: delivering rail services that are “reliable, affordable, efficient, quality, accessible and safe”.

Speaking ahead of Thursday’s launch event, Haigh said: “Labour will deliver the biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation. Whilst the Conservatives are content to let Britain’s broken railways fail passengers, Labour will deliver root-and-branch reform.

“After years of dysfunction and waste, our broken railways are unfit to meet the needs of modern Britain. Passengers and taxpayers alike are being failed, and our economy is being held back. Doing nothing is simply not an option.

“With Labour’s bold reforms, a publicly-owned railway will be single-mindedly focused on delivering for passengers and will be held to account on delivering reliable, safe, efficient, accessible, affordable and quality services.

“Labour’s detailed plans will get our railways back on track; driving up standards for passengers, bringing down costs for taxpayers, driving growth and getting Britain moving.”

Haigh to set out roadmap to deliver Great British Railways

Haigh will set out details of Labour’s plan to establish Great British Railways, pledging that her party would “put the passenger first” by delivering a best-price ticket guarantee and rolling out automatic delay repay and digital season tickets across the network within its first term in office.

The Labour frontbencher is expected to commit to the creation of a “powerful” new passenger watchdog, the Passenger Standards Authority, “to hold Great British Railways to account for passengers”.

She will promise to deliver “significant savings” to the taxpayer by “eliminating fragmentation, waste, bureaucracy and by stopping profits leaking out to private operators”, announcing that Great British Railways would be “unified, publicly-owned, accountable and arm’s length” and “led by rail experts, not Whitehall”.

Photo: Labour

Haigh is expected to announce that a Labour government would give devolved leaders, including metro mayors, a statutory role in the rail network.

She will also confirm that a Labour government would support “successful” open access and freight operators to continue to deliver, setting clear objectives and targets for passenger services and freight growth.

The Shadow Transport Secretary is likely to tell attendees that Labour would “expect” to complete the transition to public ownership within its first term, by folding existing private passenger rail contracts into the new body as they expire, without the taxpayer paying compensation costs.

Labour’s plans for the freight sector and train manufacturing

Labour said it will also announce plans on Thursday to harness the “huge economic potential” of rail freight and deliver a long-term strategy for train manufacturing.

It said its proposals would deliver more certainty for investors and manufacturers to plan for the long-term in rail manufacturing, as well as crowd in private investment to stimulate innovation. The plans will include a statutory duty on Great British Railways to enable the growth of rail freight.

Rail freight would remain within the private sector under a Labour government, but targets for increasing the use of rail freight would be set by the Transport Secretary, in addition to the statutory duty on Great British Railways.

Plans welcomed by industry experts and union leaders

Businessman Keith Williams – who chaired a recent government review of Britain’s railway – said: “I welcome Labour’s intention, if they are elected, to take forward the substance of my recommendations to deliver a better railway for passengers and freight by creating a rail body with an integrated profit and loss account, at arm’s length from government.

“Running a better railway and driving revenue and reducing costs will deliver economic growth, jobs and housing by delivering better connectivity.”

Jurgen Maier – the former UK head of Siemens who was recently appointed by Labour as an adviser on rail infrastructure policy – said the proposed reforms were a “significant step in the right direction”.

He added: “It is clear that there is no plan and no ambition for our UK railway at the present time. Creating a long-term strategy is exactly what we need and will begin to restore confidence across the network – especially for passengers.”

ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan said: “We have seen more positivity in this stunning Labour vision for rail than anything at any time from the Tories during all the years of the failed Tory privatisation of our industry and their subsequent, and incoherent, rail reform programme.

“The Labour commitment delivers for the economy, for the taxpayer, for passengers and for staff. We welcome the Labour Party reaffirming that it will bring our railways back into the public sector – which is where they belong – and we welcome Lou’s vision for freight.”

“Bringing our railways back into public ownership means we can invest properly in rail and build a greener, cleaner, more sustainable transport network which, in turn, will help the economy and build a brighter future for Britain,” he added.

UK

The public have had enough of Tory neoliberalism. The case for collectivism has never been greater

'Working class solidarity is the very opposite of the law-of-the-jungle values promoted by Conservative ideologues'

Jon Trickett 

23 April, 2024 
Columnists Left Foot Forward Opinion
Jon Trickett is Labour MP for Hemsworth

Given the explosive growth in our country of poverty and deprivation in recent years, how do Conservative politicians sleep at night with a clean conscience? What kind of reasoning has led the Prime Minister to believe that doctors ought not to decide whether their patient is well enough to work.

Simple. They blame the poor for their own poverty. Easy as that. Self-exculpatory thinking. Others are to blame, but not the Tory government.

Don’t believe me? Take a look at various statements made by senior Conservative politicians in the modern era.

On a visit to Glasgow, David Cameron told the poor in that impoverished city that their situation was – in part at least – the product of the decisions which they had made. He argued that: “Social problems are often the consequence of the choices that people make.” Ignoring the evidence that poverty causes obesity, he said that a significant factor was the individual’s personal choices.

Cameron’s comments were in 2008 but this is not the thinking of a bygone era. Just a few weeks ago the Deputy Chair of the Conservative party said of his own constituents: ‘Most of the kids who struggle in Bury are the products of crap parents.’

Of course, you might think these comments are just the ravings of a few individual Conservative outliers. In fact, they are reflective of a deeply held Tory philosophy. In government they have deliberately fostered an economy which has driven up poverty and then set about redistributing public funds to the more affluent areas. In seeking to be Prime Minister, Sunak told Tory party members that he had reversed the policy of funding deprived urban areas. He told a summer gathering of Conservative party members in Tunbridge Wells that as Chancellor he had instead ‘managed to start changing the funding formulas to make sure that areas like this are getting the funding they deserve’.

No doubt there is an element of poverty in Tunbridge Wells, but the constituency is one of the most prosperous areas in the whole country. The latest figures available show that residents have an average weekly income of £771. In my constituency in West Yorkshire the equivalent weekly figure is £608. Sunak wasn’t promising more funding for public services for reasons of need. He was saying there would be more funding for having returned a Tory MP.

Conservative governments have adopted economic and fiscal politics which sought to create a hard-faced selfish country based on division and greed. In this ‘neoliberal’ worldview, everyone is in competition with each other. If you can believe that the poor are responsible for their own poverty, then you can have a conscience-free life if you are wealthy.

Mrs Thatcher once remarked that “Economics is the method. The object is to change the soul.” 45 years on from her first election, we can say that our country has changed dramatically but has neoliberal economics really changed the souls of the British?

I do not believe the British soul has not been captured by Tory values. Indeed the reverse is the case and we can measure this by the growing tide of dissent in the country.

The right to protest is an ancient British liberty. Many millions of people in our country are making use of this right, whether its trade unionists, environmental campaigners or community activists.

The Government has reacted to public displays of opposition with alarm. Rather than retreating from their reactionary principles, they have embraced increasingly authoritarian solutions.

There are numerous examples of this process. Anti-trade union legislation, strengthening of police powers, limits on the right to demonstrate and so on. They are even seeking to undermine the principle of universal suffrage with voter ID requirements.

In the face of the most stringent attack on working class living standards in decades, workers turned to their trades unions and we have seen the renaissance of industrial action in the last 2 years. The strikes have been of long duration but the members remained solid and met with many notable victories.

This working class solidarity is the very opposite of the law-of-the-jungle values promoted by Conservative ideologues. There are other examples of solidarity in almost every community in Britain. When people come together to either donate food or to volunteer in one of the thousands of food banks, they are operating collectively to remedy the failure of the so-called ‘free market’ and the withdrawal of public services under the impact of austerity. The same applies to the clothes banks and furniture banks designed to assist families who can’t afford clothing and furniture.

Opinion polls, too, show huge concern about inequality in Britain, with 74% of voters expressing concern about inequality of wealth and income. ⁠Only 18% say it is a small or non-existent problem. By far the biggest concerns in the opinion polling is about the NHS whose very design embeds the principles of mutuality, reciprocity and collectivism.

Decades on from the inception of the neoliberal era we can see that not only has its economic promises failed. But the very foundational principles of its value system have failed to convince people. The values of the Left remain deeply embedded in the national psyche.

As we enter the long election period some Labour elders are advising the Opposition that we ought to reduce the scale of our offer. They say our offer to the electorate ought to be that we are simply more competent than the Tories. This would not be a difficult thing to achieve

But would it be enough? I don’t think so. Acting within the same value system won’t work any more. The electorate wants real change. They are ahead of us.

We should be confident that it is our values which remain the strongest in the battle for the hearts and minds of the electorate. Solidarity, mutuality, collectivism, liberty, justice and fairness. These are deeply rooted principles. And they are the values of the Left. It’s time to make our case in simple, straightforward, confident and indeed fearless language.

UK
Angela Rayner takes Oliver Dowden apart at PMQs over Tory failure to end no-fault evictions

“This week the housing minister said there is no solid date for banning no-fault evictions, the housing secretary says it won’t happen before an election."

Basit Mahmood 

Yesterday
Left Foot Forward

Angela Rayner took apart the Tories during PMQs today, over their failures to tackle no-fault evictions and the housing crisis.

The Labour Deputy leader stepped in for Keir Stamer and faced Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden at the despatch box, where the Tories tried to attack her over her living arrangements, using the police investigation into Rayner’s tax affairs as a deflection strategy. Greater Manchester Police is looking into claims Rayner may have broken electoral law in the early 2010s.

The MP for Ashton-Under-Lyne was registered on the electoral roll at her Stockport council house from 2007 until 2015 and says this was her principle property. Her husband was listed at another address around a mile away. Tory critics have claimed that she may have broken electoral law by declaring her own home, Vicarage Road, to be her main residence rather than her then husband’s home and have also alleged that she may owe capital gains tax on the 2015 sale of her Stockport home. However, Rayner has insisted that she has done nothing wrong and has received legal advice that no rules have been broken.

Anticipating the Tory attack lines, Rayner began PMQs by telling Dowden: “I know this government is desperate to talk about my living arrangements, but the public wants to know what they’re going to do about theirs. When will he get a grip and end no fault evictions?”

The much watered-down renters reform bill, in which the government has made concessions to landlord groups and “pro-landlord Conservative MPs”, bans no-fault evictions in name only.

The bill does not give a date for when no-fault evictions will end.

Rayner went on to add that Dowden hadn’t even bothered to read up on his own government’s bill: “The reality is he caved in to vested interest on his backbenches.”

She added: “This week the housing minister said there is no solid date for banning no-fault evictions, the housing secretary says it won’t happen before an election.

“So, if he can give us a date, can he name it now.”

Rayner then turned her attention to leasehold, asking Dowden why the ban on new leaseholds doesn’t apply to flats – when it is mostly flats that are leasehold. She added: “Their ban on leasehold won’t apply to the majority of people… it’s like banning non-doms, but exempting Tory Prime Ministers..”

It’s now been over five years since the Conservatives promised to get rid of no-fault evictions and the failure to do so has put more than 80,000 households at risk of homelessness over the last five years.

Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward

Campaigners slam rent reforms ‘a failure’ if landlord MP lobbyists get concessions

'The government’s failure to stand up to self-interested landlord MPs has created a version of the Renters Reform Bill that betrays renters'  

Hannah Davenport

Yesterday

Left Foot Forward

A coalition of groups representing renters have issued a joint statement blasting the UK Government’s concessions to landlord lobbyists warning the Renters (Reform) Bill will be ‘a failure’ in its current form.

As the bill returns to the Commons today, the Renters Reform Coalition has said the bill is set to fail due to the influence of pro-landlord MPs pushing through damaging concessions that have “fundamentally weakened” the bill.

Michael Gove caved to pressure from Tory landlord backbenchers by watering down the long-promised rent reforms, including to abolish section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions which Housing Minister promised to do before a general election.

The government first promised to ban them five years ago. Since then, a number of amendments to the bill that are likely to pass offer wide loopholes to the legislation.

Renters groups say the bill now “abolishes section 21 in name only” and that, while the bill gives the impression of improving conditions for renters, it fundamentally preserves the “central power imbalance” in renting.

The coalition of renters groups accused ministers of meeting with landlord and estate agent lobbyists twice as often as groups representing renters and said their concerns had not been taken seriously.

Housing charity Shelter said the bill would be a “colossal failure” without “serious amendments”.

Shelter CEO Polly Neate said: “The government’s failure to stand up to self-interested landlord MPs has created a version of the Renters Reform Bill that betrays renters.”

Levelling Up Minister Jacob Young has insisted that the bill strikes the “right balance” in ensuring “fairness for landlords” and protections for tenants as ministers claim it will end no-fault evictions.

As it enters its third reading in the House of Commons, Politico reported that a group of 50 Tory MPs including Suella Braverman, Priti Patel and Robert Jenrick have signed an amendment seeking to allow tenants and landlords to be able to agree to sign fixed-term contracts, which are meant to be abolished.

Renters Reform Coalition warned: “If we do not see a change in this government’s approach, it will likely fall to whoever forms the next government to introduce the change that renters demand and so desperately need.”

(Image credit: London Renters Union)

Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward, focusing on trade unions and environmental issues

Amnesty condemns UK for ‘appalling’ domestic policies in damning report

‘The UK is deliberately destabilising the entire concept of universal human rights’

Hannah Davenport 

Yesterday
Left Foot Forward

The world’s leading human rights organisation has issued a damning condemnation of the UK government’s domestic policies and failure in Gaza, accusing the UK of “deliberately destabilising” global human rights.

In a truly bleak assessment, Amnesty International said Britain had breached international human rights commitments at a “perilous” time in global history, as a result of the UK government’s policies targeting asylum seekers and protesters.

Amnesty’s 2024 annual global report notes Britain’s weakening global and domestic human rights protections for the sake of the government’s own political gain, and at a time when the global community is failing to uphold international law.

Amnesty also accused the UK Government of ‘grotesque double-standards’ for bolstering the actions of Israel and the US in Gaza, as the UK continues to arm Israel while failing to condemn Israel’s actions in the region which ‘likely amounts to war crimes’.

The UK’s weak support for the international criminal court (ICC) investigation into human rights violations in Israel and Palestine was also condemned, along with its failure to stand up as a strong voice in the UN to stop human rights violations in Gaza.

Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s chief executive said: “There’s no doubt in my mind that the UK will be judged harshly by history for its failure to help prevent civilian slaughter in Gaza.”

When it comes to the ability to defend human rights at home, Amnesty lists the UK among countries affected by new laws which restrict citizens’ rights to freedom of expression.

Furthermore the universal application of human rights had in effect been ended by the UK government, as Amnesty said the Illegal Migration Act, and government rhetoric around it, were in conflict with the UK refugee convention and European convention on human rights – “switching off” protections for refugees.

The report also noted the increased use of facial recognition technology to police public protest and sporting events in the UK, along with India, Brazil and Argentina, and how this discriminates against marginalised communities.

In the hard-hitting review Deshmukh said: “The UK is deliberately destabilising the entire concept of universal human rights through its appalling domestic policies and politicking.”

What a legacy the Tory government will leave behind.

Amnesty International’s 2024 State of the World’s Human Rights report documents human rights concerns last year in 155 countries.

(Image credit: Richard Potts / Flickr)

Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward

Baroness praised for cutting takedown of Rwanda bill and Tory attacks on the vulnerable

'With a desperate flailing government bereft of ideas, and philosophy without principles, this house will keep being tested'

Hannah Davenport 

23 April, 2024 

Left Foot Forward News

Last night MPs and representatives from the House of Lords made impassioned speeches regarding the controversial Safety of Rwanda Bill as it was eventually passed through.

With widespread condemnation and outrage from human rights groups and politicians, the plan to remove asylum seekers and send them to the east African country has provoked powerful words from those defending the rights of the people who will have their lives severely affected as a result of the bill.

Addressing members of the House of Lords on Monday evening, former leader of the Green Party Baroness Bennett was praised for her “magnificent” takedown of the policy, as she also heeded a warning to MPs to “stand up” and defend their principles.

In her speech to the chamber, Baroness Bennett said: “I rise with a heavy heart given the lack of further amendment to this dreadful, international law busting bill.

“I note that Amnesty International warned airline companies that many members of the public take an extremely negative view of the content of the policy.

“Those were unnecessary words, because no company of any repute whatsoever is going to take part in implementing this dreadful policy, that’s a measure of this bill and the disgraceful, despicable actions it represents.”

Speaking of their role in the House of Lords, Bennett argued that, just because it is an unelected chamber of parliament, “does not mean this house is without moral or legal responsibility”.

“I have asked this house a number of times, if not now when, what will it take to make this house say here we take a stand?”

Bennett then went on to lay into the Tory government’s record of legislative attacks on vulnerable people in society.

“We’ve had the abomination of the elections act, the elements of the policing act that targeted Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people explicitly, we’ve had multiple indefensible restrictions on the right to protest. Now, we are letting through an attack on some of the most vulnerable, desperate people on this planet.

“What more will we let through? I suggest to noble lords as they leave this chamber tonight to ask themselves that question.

“With a desperate flailing government bereft of ideas, and philosophy without principles, this house will keep being tested.

“So I ask these empty benches, you might be waiting for an election, but what kind of country will it be if you don’t stand up now?”

You can watch the full video here.

(Image credit: Twitter screenshot)

Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward, focusing on trade unions and environmental issues

‘A stain on the UK’s moral reputation’: How human rights groups have reacted to the passing of Rwanda bill

'A national disgrace'

Basit Mahmood 

23 April, 2024 

Left Foot Forward

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The passage of the Rwanda Bill late last night, after a parliamentary showdown ended between the Commons and the Lords, has been met with condemnation and outrage by a number of human rights groups.

Rishi Sunak’s emergency Rwanda Bill finally passed, with the Prime Minister saying that the first flights removing asylum seekers who arrive illegally to the UK to the east African country are due to take off in 10-12 weeks time.

Sunak’s Safety of Rwanda Bill, which forms a key part of his plan to stop small boat crossings across the channel, has faced a number of legal setbacks, after the Supreme Court ruled last year that it could lead to human rights breaches. Sunak has brought forward emergency legislation, in a bid to force the policy through, compelling judges to treat Rwanda as a safe country and giving ministers the powers to disregard sections of the Human Rights Act.

Forcing courts to treat Rwanda as a safe country and to disregard evidence to the contrary, while also ignoring the UK’s commitments to human rights laws has caused major concern.

The legislation orders the courts to ignore key sections of the Human Rights Act in an attempt to sidestep the Supreme Court’s existing judgment. It also orders the courts to ignore other British laws or international rules – such as the international Refugee Convention – that stand in the way of deportations to Rwanda.

Reacting to the passage of the legislation, Amnesty International called it a ‘national disgrace’.

It said in a statement: “The UK parliament has passed a bill that takes a hatchet to international legal protections for some of the most vulnerable people in the world and it is a matter of national disgrace that our political establishment has let this bill pass.

“The bill is built on a deeply authoritarian notion attacking one of the most basic roles played by the courts – the ability to look at evidence, decide on the facts of a case and apply the law accordingly. It’s absurd that the courts are forced to treat Rwanda as a ‘safe country’ and forbidden from considering all evidence to the contrary.

“Switching off human rights protections for people who the Government thinks it can gain political capital from attacking sets an extremely dangerous precedent.”

Enver Solomon, CEO of the Refugee Council, said the passage of the bill was an Orwellian Act which will simply exacerbate chaos in the asylum system.

He continued: “Even on the Government’s best-case scenario, the Rwanda scheme will remove no more than 5,000 people a year out of the tens of thousands of people shut out of the asylum system. Inexplicably, the Government would rather pay to look after them indefinitely than simply grant them a fair hearing on UK soil to decide who can settle here. “What’s more, the Government has never been able to produce any evidence that the Rwanda scheme will deter refugees coming to the UK. The Prime Minister reportedly believed the ‘deterrent won’t work’ when he was Chancellor.”

The Council of Europe’s human rights watchdog has also condemned Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda scheme, saying it raises “major issues about the human rights of asylum seekers and the rule of law”.

The body’s human rights commissioner, Michael O’Flaherty, was cited in the Guardian warning that the UK was prohibited from subjecting, even indirectly, people to “refoulement” – the act of forcing a refugee or asylum seeker to a country or territory where he or she is likely to face persecution – including under article 3 of the European convention on human rights, under the refugee convention, and under “a range of other international instruments”.

Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward

'Pretending to be president': Trump slammed for gifting White House 'key'

Kathleen Culliton
April 24, 2024 


Donald Trump gives former Japanese prime minister Taro Aso 

a ceremonial “key to the White House” on April 23. (Trump campaign)

Former President Donald Trump received a digital tongue-lashing Wednesday after a post-hush money trial photo-op saw him hand Japan's former prime minister a White House "key."

Trump invited Taro Aso to Trump Tower's golden lobby on Tuesday, just hours after he left Manhattan's criminal court, to present his guest with a golden key.

The resultant photo — which shows Trump and Aso, the deputy head of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, beaming into the camera — caused NBC executive Mike Sington to raise the proverbial eyebrow on X.


"Not sure what gives him the right to do this," Sington wrote. "Probably Citizen Trump once again pretending to be President."

Sington was hardly alone.

"Did he steal that key?" replied @SojournadaTruth. "Only a lunatic like Trump would do this."

Trump's New York City trial — in which he stands accused of falsifying business records to hide hush money payments ahead of the 2016 presidential election — is one of three in which prosecutors contend he broke the law to claim residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

While Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg focuses on Trump's initial White House bid, special counsel Jack Smith and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis levied charges linked to the 2020 loss he baselessly has claimed was a victory.

This contention spurred much mockery from those who saw Trump handing out the White House "key."

"Still pretending to be president," replied William Buecker. "This is actually kind of sad."

"He will never let go," added X user CarrieT. "He believes he is president for life."

Another viewer poked fun at Trump's recent bids to funnel funds into dwindling campaign coffers that have included selling $59.99 Bibles and $399 golden sneakers.

Replied X user Covfefe — also the "bizarre" Trump typo that went viral in 2017, "I’m guessing he’ll sell Trump keys soon at $39.95."

THE GUARDIAN 2016

WAIT, WHAT?!

‘I’m kind of shocked’: Amy Coney Barrett backs up Sonia Sotomayor in abortion case

David Edwards
April 24, 2024 

Amy Coney Barrett (Photo by Susan Walsh for AFP)


Conservative Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett appeared to briefly take the side of liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor on abortion rights Wednesday.

The high court was hearing oral arguments on the conflict between Idaho's stringent abortion ban and a federal law that mandates emergency medical care standards in hospitals, including for pregnant women.

Sotomayor asked Idaho lawyer Joshua Turner about a woman who was brought to the emergency room at 14 weeks of pregnancy

"This particular patient, they tried, had to deliver her baby," the justice said. "The baby died. She had a hysterectomy, and she can no longer have children. All right, you're telling me the doctor there couldn't have done the abortion earlier?"

"Again, it goes back to whether a doctor can, in good faith, medical judgment," Turner replied before he was interrupted.

"That's a lot for the doctor to risk," Sotomayor noted. "When Idaho law changed to make the issue whether she's going to die or not, or whether she's going to have a serious medical condition, there's a big daylight by your standards, correct?"

"It is very case-by-case," Turner insisted.

"That's the problem," Sotomayor pushed back before Barrett weighed in.


"I'm kind of shocked, actually," the conservative justice reacted, "because I thought your own expert had said below that these kinds of cases were covered, and you're now saying they're not?"

"No, I'm not saying that," Turner responded.

"Well, you're hedging," Barrett observed. "I mean, Justice Sotomayor is asking you, would this be covered or not? And it was my understanding that the legislature's witnesses said that these would be covered."

"Yeah, and those doctors said if they were exercising their medical judgment, they could, in good faith, determine that life-saving care was necessary," Turner explained.

"But some doctors — couldn't doctors might reach a contrary conclusion, I think is what Sotomayor is asking you," Barrett pointed out.

Watch the video below from C-SPAN.

CLIMATE CRISIS

Thousands in heatwave-hit Bangladesh pray for rain

Agence France-Presse
April 24, 2024 

Muslims offer special prayers for rain in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka as an extreme heatwave hit the country (Abdul Goni/AFP)

Thousands of Bangladeshis gathered to pray for rain on Wednesday in the middle of an extreme heatwave that prompted authorities to shut down schools around the country.

Extensive scientific research has found climate change is causing heat waves to become longer, more frequent and more intense.

Bangladesh's weather bureau says that average maximum temperatures in the capital Dhaka over the past week have been 4-5 degrees Celsius (7.2-9 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the 30-year average for the same period.

Muslim worshippers gathered in city mosques and rural fields to pray for relief from the scorching heat, which forecasters expect to continue for at least another week.

"Praying for rains is a tradition of our prophet. We repented for our sins and prayed for his blessings for rains," Muhammad Abu Yusuf, an Islamic cleric who led a morning prayer service for 1,000 people in central Dhaka, told AFP.

"Life has become unbearable due to lack of rains," he said. "Poor people are suffering immensely."

Police said similarly sized prayer services were held in several other parts of Bangladesh.

The country's largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, issued a statement calling its members to join the prayer services planned for Wednesday and Thursday.

- 'All linked to climate change' -


Authorities ordered all schools last week to cancel classes until the end of the month.

The UN children's agency said it was "urging parents to be extra vigilant in keeping their children hydrated and safe" through the heatwave.

"The severity of this heatwave underscores the urgent need for action to protect children from the worsening impacts of climate change," UNICEF said in a statement.


Temperatures across Bangladesh have reached more than 42C (108F) in the past week.

"April is usually the hottest month in Bangladesh. But this April has been one of the hottest since the country's independence (in 1971)," government forecaster Tariful Newaz Kabir told AFP.

Kabir said fewer rainstorms than average for the period had contributed to the heat.

"We expect the high temperature will remain until the end of this month," he said.

Hospitals in the southern coastal district of Patuakhali had recorded local outbreaks of diarrhoea due to higher temperatures and the resulting increased salinity of local water sources, state medical officer Bhupen Chandra Mondal told AFP.

"The number of diarrhoea patients is very high this year," he said. "This is all linked to climate change."

Hundreds of thousands march in Argentina against education austerity

dpa
2024/04/24

People take part in a protest against the cuts being made to education and science by President Milei's ultra-liberal government. Numerous people demanded financial support for state colleges and universities. 

Cristina Sille/dpa

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in Argentina to protest against cuts in the higher education sector.

According to the University of Buenos Aires, more than 500,000 demonstrators protested in the capital alone on Tuesday against the strict austerity programme of President Javier Milei's ultra-liberal government.

"We are defending the public, open and free university, which is one of the great achievements of our people and which we will not give up," said Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel at the central rally in front of the Casa Rosada, the seat of government.

"We are defending our right to live in dignity."

The education system in Argentina is considered to be one of the best in Latin America. Studies at public universities are free of charge and many young people from other countries in the region also come to the country to study.

As part of its austerity policy, the Argentinian government recently cut the budget of public universities by 71%. If the funds are not increased, the University of Buenos Aires will no longer be able to pay the salaries of its staff from the middle of the year, newspaper La Nación reported.

Argentina has been in a severe economic crisis for years. The ultra-liberal Milei has imposed harsh austerity measures on the country, cutting thousands of jobs in the public sector, reducing subsidies and winding down social programmes.

On Monday, he announced the first quarterly budget surplus in more than 15 years. However, critics say Milei's harsh austerity programme is plunging many people into poverty and is putting the country's future at risk, including with the cuts in the education sector.

People take part in a protest against the cuts being made to education and science by President Milei's ultra-liberal government. Numerous people demanded financial support for state colleges and universities. Cristina Sille/dpa