Israelis stage 'Day of Disruption' protest in Tel Aviv

Euronews
Sun, 7 July 2024 

Israelis stage 'Day of Disruption' protest in Tel Aviv

Thousands of Israelis have staged a mass protest, blocking roads in Tel Aviv in what they're calling a 'Day of Disruption'.

Marking nine months since the war in Gaza began, the rally started at 6:29am local time, the exact moment when Hamas launched its first rockets ahead of its incursion into Israel on October 7.

Hamas members killed some 1,200 people in the surprise attack and took 250 others hostage.

Chanting 'Deal now', they're demanding more action from the Israeli government to strike a ceasefire deal and secure the release of the remaining Israelis still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.

"Fair and Eitan were kidnapped on October 7 from Kibbutz Nir Oz, under Netanyahu's watch. Now it’s his responsibility, for nine months he is wasting time. We demand a deal now. It is the only way," said protester Dalia Kushnir-Horn, whose sister was one of the people taken captive by Hamas.

Tel Aviv has seen such mass protests on a weekly basis which also have a political dimension. Many protesters demand Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu call fresh elections and step down.

Demonstrators wave Israeli flags during a protest in Tel Aviv marking nine months since the start of the war in Gaza, July 7, 2024 - Leo Correa/Copyright 2024 The AP All rights reserved

They accuse him of putting his political survival ahead of the lives of the Israeli hostages.

Meanwhile, Israel and Hamas have inched closer to a possible ceasefire deal after Hamas appeared to drop its demand that any deal include a complete end to the war.

Both sides have often blamed each other for the lack of progress in ceasefire negotiations and significant gaps still remain.

One of Hamas' key demands was a permanent cessation of hostilities and the complete withdrawal of the Israeli military from Gaza. Israel on the other hand only agreed in principle to temporary pauses in fighting, saying its priority was the complete destruction of Hamas.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 38,000 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

About 120 hostages remain captive in Gaza after more than 100 hostages were released as part of a November ceasefire deal.

Israel has concluded that more than 40 of the remaining hostages are

UK Children’s watchdog to look into young asylum seekers’ treatment at Manston

Diane Taylor

 THE GUARDIAN
Sun, 7 July 2024 

The entrance to the Manston short-term holding facility in Thanet, Kent

.Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA


The children’s commissioner for England is due to visit Manston, the Home Office centre in Kent where small boat arrivals are processed, after concerns were raised about the treatment of children there, the Guardian has learned.

It is not the first time the children’s commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, has intervened over the welfare of child asylum seekers. In a letter in January 2023 to the then home secretary, Suella Braverman, she raised concerns about reports that children had gone missing from Home Office accommodation.

The Guardian understands that De Souza now has concerns about how children are processed at Manston – both those who are part of family units and those who are unaccompanied and are determined by Home Office officials to be adults despite insisting they are children.


“The Home Office’s own guidelines on processing children at Manston are not being followed,” one source working at Manston told the Guardian. “There is a narrative that it is only young single men crossing the Channel in small boats but there are families, children who have been told by the Home Office that they’re adults, and pregnant women. It’s almost as if they’re pretending that there aren’t any children at Manston.

“Just a few days ago, I heard a child insisting to officials that he was 16 but he kept being told that was wrong and he was an adult. Children are not being properly age-assessed.”

Other concerns include the way children are processed alongside people that the source said may be traffickers. There has recently been an influx of young Vietnamese women arriving in small boats and some are believed to be accompanied by people who have brought them to the UK intending to exploit them here.

“It’s a very hostile environment for children at Manston,” the source said. “The new arrivals often haven’t slept for days, but small children here with parents are woken up in the night to do Home Office screening interviews and are sometimes forced to listen to harrowing accounts of rape and torture their parents give to officials when they are interviewed.”

A second source at Manston said: “I have never before worked in an environment where the most vulnerable people are mixed with others who are potentially dangerous, such as traffickers. I have written to managers about the toxic environment at Manston but nothing ever seems to get done.”

A group of UN special rapporteurs recently raised concerns about rapid age assessment of newly arrived child asylum seekers leading to some children being treated as adults.

Manston hit the headlines in the latter part of 2022 over a catalogue of problems, including an outbreak of diphtheria – one man processed through Manston died after contracting it – severe overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, people being dumped on the streets of central London after being moved out, and claims of assaults by some of the guards.

Although asylum seekers are only supposed to spend 24 hours at Manston, some spent more than a month there during that period. At least 96 asylum seekers who were at Manston at that time are bringing claims for false imprisonment, misfeasance in public office and human rights breaches.

Maddie Harris, of Humans for Rights Network, which works with unaccompanied asylum-seeker children, said: “Since Manston opened, hundreds of children wrongly treated as adults have spent days and previously sometimes weeks held there. Children have told us that despite repeatedly telling staff there they are children, they are ignored, placed in tents, and exposed to significant harm and trauma.

“These children, whilst having their screening interviews at Manston, are again telling immigration officers that they are children. However, no steps are taken to safeguard or protect them.”

The office of the children’s commissioner for England confirmed that they were due to visit Manston imminently after a series of concerns were raised with them about the welfare of children.

The Home Office has been approached for comment.

 

UK Government rejects Blair’s call for digital ID cards to help control migration

07 Jul 2024 

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper. Photo Maja Smiejkowska/PA Wire

The Government has ruled out the introduction of digital ID cards after former premier Sir Tony Blair called for the documents to help control migration.

Sir Tony, who championed ID cards when he was in office only for the idea to be killed off after Labour lost power, said the world was moving to a digital form of the document.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds initially said Home Secretary Yvette Cooper would look at “all sources of advice” on the issue.

Sources close to Ms Cooper said ID cards were not Labour policy and that has not changed, with Mr Reynolds later publicly ruling them out.

‘Game-changer’

Writing in the Sunday Times, Sir Tony said: “The only game-changer is the full embrace of the potential of technology.”

He added: “We need a plan to control immigration. If we don’t have rules, we get prejudices.

“In office, I believed the best solution was a system of identity so that we know precisely who has a right to be here.

“With, again, technology, we should move as the world is moving to digital ID. If not, new border controls will have to be highly effective.”

Mr Reynolds told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “The new Home Secretary will be looking at all sources of advice when it comes to that.

“But I would just say we have backed the points-based immigration system, we made difficult decisions, particularly when we thought legal migration was too high and it has to come down.”

Pressed again on ID cards he said: “Well look, my colleague Yvette Cooper and the rest of the home affairs team will be looking at all sorts of things.

“I’m not going to pre-empt things they may or may not want to do.”

Mr Reynolds later told Times Radio: “We can rule that out, that’s not something that’s part of our plans.”

MAGGIE THATCHER IN DRAG

Tony Blair calls for Keir Starmer to be tough on immigration, crime and ‘wokeism’

Ben Duncan-Duggal   7th July, 2024

© 360b/Shutterstock.com

Tony Blair has called for “a plan” for immigration control, tougher action on crime and for the new government to avoid “any vulnerability on wokeism”. 

In a lengthy opinion piece for The Times, the former Prime Minister also called for the new Labour government to embrace AI. 

Blair outlined the need for “a plan to control immigration”, stating “if we don’t have rules, we get prejudices”. He also argued for a “tough new approach to law and order”, pointing to criminal modernisation outstripping that of law enforcement. 

Blair also said “There is also clearly a challenge in part of the Muslim community, but that is a topic requiring its own special analysis.”

Blair said that in office he believed the best solution on immigration “was a system of identity, so we knew precisely who had a right to be here”, stating “we should move as the world is moving towards digital ID”. Blair’s government u-turned on ID cards following a lengthy and controversial attempted roll-out. 

Blair said AI application in the private sector – and encouragement by government – “is the only answer to Britain’s productivity challenge”. He also called for AI deployment in healthcare, education and government processes. 

Blair previously warned that AI “will change everything” in 2023 and his Tony Blair Institute for Global Change has a large body of work on the topic. 

He has also made recent comments on social issues, stating “biologically, a woman is with a vagina and a man is with a penis” in June and stating Labour must avoid the “cul-de-sac of identity politics” in 2020. He had previously urged Starmer to drop “woke” politics in 2022. 

Labour rejects Tony Blair's call for ID cards

By Becky Morton, 

@beckyrmorton, 

Political reporter

Getty Images
Sir Tony Blair tried to introduce ID cards when he was prime minister

The government has ruled out the introduction of digital ID cards, after former Labour Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair said they could help control immigration.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds initially said the home secretary would "be looking at all sources of advice" on the issue.

However, he later told Times Radio ID cards were not part of the government's plans.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said ID cards were not in the party's election manifesto and added: "That’s not our approach."

Sir Tony brought in legislation for compulsory identity cards when he was in office but the scheme was scrapped by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Sir Tony said: "We need a plan to control immigration. If we don't have rules, we get prejudices.

"In office, I believed the best solution was a system of identity so that we know precisely who has a right to be here.

"With, again, technology, we should move as the world is moving to digital ID. If not, new border controls will have to be highly effective."

But asked if she could rule out introducing digital ID cards, Ms Cooper said: "It’s not in our manifesto. That’s not our approach."

Instead, she said the government was setting up a new enforcement and returns unit, as well as targeting people-smuggling gangs to prevent small boats crossings.

Asked about the possibility of introducing digital ID cards, Mr Reynolds told Times Radio: "We can rule that out, that's not something that's part of our plans."

Opponents of identity cards have raised concerns about the potential impact on civil liberties and what they see as unnecessary data collection by the state.

Getty Images

Tony Blair watches the fingerprinting of an asylum seeker in 2003

Tackling illegal immigration is one of the major challenges facing the new government.

So far this year, more than 13,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats.

The figure is higher than numbers for the same period last year, although in 2023 as a whole there was a drop compared to 2022.

The previous Conservative government had hoped to send people who arrived in the UK illegally to Rwanda to deter small boat crossings.

However, no migrants were sent to the country under the scheme before the Tories lost power.

On Saturday Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the Rwanda scheme was "dead and buried".

Labour had branded the plan an expensive "gimmick" and pledged to scrap it.

Instead the party has promised to set up a new Border Security Command, bringing together Border Force officials, police and intelligence agencies, and use counter-terror powers to tackle people-smuggling gangs.

The government said recruitment for the leader of the command would kick off on Monday, with the post likely to be taken up in the coming weeks.

The last Labour government got as far as issuing the first ID cards to UK citizens and 15,000 were in circulation when the scheme was scrapped by the coalition government in 2011 and the database destroyed.

Compulsory ID cards for foreign nationals were issued to about 200,000 people before being rebranded as biometric residence permits.

Lord Blunkett, who launched the ID cards plan when he was home secretary, claimed they had already started to make a difference to illegal immigration when they were scrapped.

Earlier this year, he told The Daily Mail: "The gangs realised it wasn't worth their while to traffic people into the UK if migrants found they were unable to work or claim benefits without an ID card, and thus would be liable to deportation."

New British prime minister seeks to improve on ‘botched’ trade deal with European Union


British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, right, and Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar during an event in Edinburgh to welcome new Labour MPs in Scotland, following Labour’s victory in the 2024 General Election, Sunday July 7, 2024. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech following his first cabinet meeting as Prime Minister, in London, Saturday July 6, 2024. (Claudia Greco/Pool via AP)

Incoming Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy leaves Downing Street in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Britain’s Labour Party swept to power Friday after more than a decade in opposition, as a jaded electorate handed the party a landslide victory, but also a mammoth task of reinvigorating a stagnant economy and dispirited nation. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)

BY BRIAN MELLEY
July 7, 2024

LONDON (AP) —

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is seeking to reset relations at home and abroad.

During a visit Sunday to Edinburgh, that he billed as an “immediate reset” with the regional governments of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, Starmer said he would also seek to improve the U.K.'s “botched” trade deal with the European Union.

“I do think that we can get a much better deal than the botched deal that (former Prime Minister) Boris Johnson saddled the U.K. with,” he said in reference to the pact negotiated after Brexit.

Starmer said there were many discussions ahead to strengthen trading, research and defense ties with the EU. But he said those talks had begun as his top diplomat made his first visit abroad to Germany, Poland and Sweden.

With two of Starmer’s ministers in Europe ahead of a NATO meeting next week, the premier made a point of visiting the leaders of the regional governments in the U.K. following his party’s landslide victory last week.

Starmer, who said he has a “mandate to do politics differently,” met with Scottish First Minister John Swinney in an effort to “turn disagreement into cooperation.”

“We will serve every single person in Scotland,” Starmer told a group of enthusiastic supporters. “Performance, self-interest: they’re the politics of the past. The politics of this Labour government of 2024 is about public service, restoring standards of making sure that we always, always have in our mind’s eye the people who elected us into government.”

While each of the devolved nations in the U.K. elects members to the House of Commons in London, they also have their own regional parliaments.

Starmer’s Labour Party trounced Swinney’s Scottish National Party for seats in Parliament. But the SNP, which has pushed for Scottish independence, still holds a majority at Holyrood, the Scottish parliament.

Swinney said after meeting the prime minister that he believed there’s an opportunity to work together to make a difference for the Scottish people.

The trip to build better working relations across the U.K. comes as Starmer’s government faces a mountain of problems.

The Labour government inherited a wobbly economy that left Britons struggling to pay bills after global economic woes and fiscal missteps. It also faces a public disenchanted after 14 years of chaotic Conservative rule and fiscal austerity that hollowed out public services, including the revered National Health Service, which Starmer has declared broken.

Starmer said he wants to transfer power from the bureaucratic halls of government in London to leaders who know what’s best for their communities.

After his two-day tour, he’ll return to England, where he plans to meet with regional mayors, saying he would engage with politicians regardless of their party.

“There’s no monopoly on good ideas,” he said “I’m not a tribal political.”

Starmer continued to speak with other world leaders, having separate calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

He spoke with both about his priorities for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, the return of hostages to Israel, and an increase in humanitarian aid, a spokesperson said.

He told Abbas that the recognition of a Palestinian state as part of a peace process was the “undeniable right of Palestinians” and told Netanyahu it was important to ensure the long-term conditions for a two-state solution, including ensuring financial means for Abbas’ Palestinian Authority to operate effectively.

Labour’s initial refusal to call for a ceasefire last year is blamed for costing it support and some seats in Thursday’s election.

In advance of Starmer’s attendance Tuesday at a NATO meeting in Washington, Foreign Secretary David Lammy reiterated an “unshakeable” commitment to the alliance during his first trip abroad.

Lammy said that the U.K. government would tighten relations with the European Union and remains “ironclad” in its support for Ukraine.

“European security will be this government’s foreign and defense priority,” Lammy said in Poland. “Russia’s barbaric invasion has made clear the need for us to do more to strengthen our own defenses.”

However, Lammy reiterated Starmer’s pledge not to rejoin the EU single market after British voters in 2016 voted to break from the political and economic union.

“Let us put the Brexit years behind us,” Lammy told The Observer. “We are not going to rejoin the single market and the customs union but there is much that we can do together.”

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said Sunday on Sky News that the U.K. should look for ways to improve trade with the EU and that removing some trade barriers was sensible.

But he said the Labour government was not open to the free movement of people that was required as a member of the union.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary John Healey met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Odesa and said the U.K. would provide a new package of support to Ukraine, including more artillery guns and nearly 100 Brimstone missiles.

Healey also said he would make sure the remaining military commitments to Ukraine by the previous government would be delivered within 100 days.

UK government prioritizing job retention in Tata Steel talks

Tata Steel aims to shut down several carbon-intensive blast furnaces, resulting in job losses

ByAkash Pandey

Jul 07, 2024

What's the story

The new British government is focusing on preventing job losses in its ongoing discussions with Tata Steel, the largest steel producer in Britain.Business Minister Jonathan Reynolds confirmed this priority during the talks, which are centered around government support for a transition to lower-carbon technologies."We see this as a major priority," Reynolds told the BBC, adding, "I'm going to make sure that job guarantees are part of the negotiation that we're having."

Greener switch

Transition to lower-carbon technologies

Tata Steel has initiated the process of shutting down one of its carbon-intensive blast furnaces, with another closure scheduled for September.This move toward lower-carbon technologies could potentially result in the loss of up to 2,800 jobs at Port Talbot in South Wales.The company's shift is part of a broader industry trend toward more sustainable production methods to prevent climate change.

Support package

Support package for Tata Steel

The new British government is expected to approve a £500 million ($635 million) support package for Tata Steel.This package, agreed upon by the previous administration, aims to assist in the construction of a lower-carbon electric arc furnace.However, unions are hoping for a more favorable deal with Tata that could potentially prevent some job losses.

Unite will keep Labour's ‘feet to the fire’ over steel investment pledge


Unite general secretary Sharon Graham

PETER LAZENBY

SUNDAY, JULY 7, 2024
MORNINGSTAR

UNITE general secretary Sharon Graham warned today that she would “keep [Labour’s] feet to the fire” over its manifesto pledge to invest billions to save Britain’s struggling steel industry.

She was speaking on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg after Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said “job guarantees” would be part of the negotiations between the government and steel giant Tata about its Port Talbot site in South Wales, where 2,800 jobs are under threat.

Ms Graham said Labour would have to borrow to invest in British industry — “we do not have time to wait for growth.”

She said: “There is no doubt that Labour coming in and the intent of what they want to do is a good thing. I am glad we have a Labour government.

“But I am the leader of a trade union and my focus is on jobs, pay and conditions for workers.

“The problem we have is that when investment is spoken about in Britain, there are never job guarantees attached.

“The devil will be in the detail and I am going to keep an eagle eye on what that detail means.”

Mr Reynolds said on the BBC show: “There is a better deal available for Port Talbot and the steel industry as a whole.

“I do want things in exchange for money — we’ll co-invest with the private sector around jobs and technology.”

Ms Graham added: “I am going to be seen as either a critical friend or a pain in the proverbial.”

The Labour manifesto has committed to provide £2.5 billion to “rebuild our steel industry,” with Mr Reynolds noting this was on top of the £500 million committed by the previous government.

Starmer will have ‘no honeymoon period’ warns boss  LEADER  of UK’s biggest union


Keir Starmer’s new Labour government is facing an immediate challenge from the trade unions on the left to tear up his promises over economic stability

David Maddox
Political editor

THE INDEPENDENT
JULY 7, 2024

Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham tells Starmer she will 'hold his feet to the fire'

The leader of Britain’s biggest union has thrown the gauntlet down to Sir Keir Starmer and his government over economic policy just 48 hours into his government.

Sharon Graham, the general secretary of the Unite union, has demanded that Labour “borrows to invest” and brings in a protectionist policy of only using British steel for public sector projects in the UK.

She told BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that “there will be no honeymoon period” for Starmer and his government.

The discussion came as the new business secretary Jonathan Reynolds answered questions on Tata Steel’s plant in Port Talbot, which is in danger of being closed down in days, with 2,800 jobs at risk.

Unite boss Sharon Graham warned that the Labour government will not have a honeymoon period (PA)

She said:”I am glad we have a Labour government [but] I am the leader of a trade union and my main focus is jobs, pay and conditions for workers.

“So I am either going to be seen as a critical friend or a pain in the proverbial.”

Ms Graham and Unite had refused to back Labour’s manifesto believing it did not go far enough on workers’ rights and protecting jobs in an early shot across the bows for Sir Keir.

Ms Graham said: “It’s my job to make sure we have feet to the fire on this.”

She warned the “devil will be in the detail” and claimed “the problem is that when we talk about investment there is never a jobs guarantee attached.”

In a full frontal attack on new chancellor Rachel Reeves’s promises to keep a tight control of public expenditure to avoid inflationary pressures, she warned that Labour will need to rip up the fiscal rules.

Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds leaving BBC Broadcasting House in London, after being interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg (PA )

“We will have to borrow to invest in British industry; that is going to have to happen.”

Sir Keir and Ms Reeves have insisted investment can only come with economic growth but Ms Graham said there is not time to wait for that.

She said: “Since 1997 the fiscal rules have changed nine times, when we change them then there is opportunity. We are going to have to borrow to invest, we cannot wait for growth.”

Unite wants the UK to borrow up to the same limits as the US: 127 per cent of GDP rather than the UK’s 99 per cent.

Former Tory leader Michael Howard warned that this is only possible in the US without a spike in inflation because the US dollar is a reserve currency.

Earlier, Mr Reynolds said that “job guarantees” would be part of the negotiations between the government and steel giant Tata about its Port Talbot site.

Tata has shut down one of two blast furnaces at its biggest plant under its plans to switch to a greener form of production. The second blast furnace is due to be shut down in September.

Mr Reynolds said: “There is a better deal available for Port Talbot and the steel industry as a whole.” He told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “I do want things in exchange for money we’ll co-invest with the private sector around jobs and technology.

“I think that’s a reasonable way to make sure public money is being well spent and I believe there are things, capacities, the steel industry needs in future that could be part of that conversation and that’s what I’ll be having in the next few days.”

He added: “I’m going to make sure that job guarantees are part of the negotiation that we’re having.”

‘Better deal available’ for Port Talbot steel jobs, says Business Secretary


Sunday 7 July 2024 

The steelworks in Port Talbot is seeing an end to traditional steel-making at the site.

Credit: PA Wire/PA Images

The UK Government will press for “job guarantees” in return for taxpayer-funded investment during talks with steel giant Tata over the future of Port Talbot.

The new Business Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, said he believes there is a “better deal available” for the South Wales site and the steel industry as a whole, as he confirmed negotiations with Tata were continuing on Sunday.

Tata has shut down one of two blast furnaces at its biggest plant under its plans to switch to a greener form of production.

The second blast furnace at Port Talbot is due to be shut down in September.

Unions are opposed to the changes, which will lead to the loss of around 2,800 jobs, although Tata has argued its restructuring programme is designed to stem “unsustainable” losses of more than £1 million a day.

Mr Reynolds described the situation at Tata as a “major priority” and insisted the approach is “not about underwriting loss-making businesses” but being a “partner for investment in the future”

.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds leaving BBC Broadcasting House in London, after appearing on Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg

Credit: Jeff Moore/PA

He told BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “There is more money available for the steel industry under our plans for government.

“But that’s about making sure we meet this transition with the private sector together and recognise…it is a good exemplar of how we have to make sure that decarbonisation is not deindustrialisation and we’ve got to do that together.

“But there is a better deal available for Port Talbot and the steel industry as a whole, I’m sure of that.”

Mr Reynolds added: “I do want things in exchange for money we’ll co-invest with the private sector around jobs and technology.

Blast Furnace 5 winds down with steam and loud noises expected in Port Talbot


Strike at Port Talbot steelworks called off

“I think that’s a reasonable way to make sure public money is being well spent and I believe there are things, capacities, the steel industry needs in future that could be part of that conversation and that’s what I’ll be having in the next few days.”

He added: “I’m going to make sure that job guarantees are part of the negotiation that we’re having.”

Mr Reynolds said he would not put a particular figure on the Government’s aims, saying: “Blast furnaces employ more people than some of the newer technologies available, whether that is electric arc furnaces or what is called DRI, so there’s a range of things you have to understand.

“But I absolutely agree with the point that we have to make sure this is a transition that works for working people and that they’re part of that and you can’t simply give money out without guarantees in exchange for that.

“But there is a negotiation and I’m going to have to keep a little bit of that information to myself while I engage with the company.”

Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham on the BBC One current affairs programme, Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg

Credit: Jeff Moore/PA

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham told the same programme: “There’s no doubt that Labour coming in and the intent of what they want to do is a good thing.”

She added: “My main focus is jobs, pay and conditions for workers so I’m going to either be seen as a critical friend or a pain in the proverbial, whichever they want to take that, because it’s my job to make sure feet to the fire on this.”

Ms Graham said the “devil will be in the detail” when it comes to a jobs guarantee on investment.

The Labour manifesto has committed to provide £2.5 billion to “rebuild our steel industry”, with Mr Reynolds noting this was “on top of” the £500 million committed by the previous government.

Tata has said it would make every effort to mitigate the impact of the transformation on affected employees and the local community.

It said it had put forward the most favourable financial package of support it had ever offered, including facilities for training and upskilling, alongside finance for small and medium-sized businesses through the UK Steel Enterprise regeneration and job creation scheme.

Gulf BDS groups launch boycott campaign against British universities over war on Gaza

Boycott groups from Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait announced a campaign to boycott British universities that are complicit in Israel's war on Gaza.

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
07 July, 2024

Gulf CAN say their initiative has cost British universities losses of £600,000 so far 

A pro-Palestine coalition group based in the Gulf states has launched a campaign to boycott universities in Britain that are allegedly contributing to what they call the genocide in Gaza.

The Gulf Coalition Against Normalization (Gulf CAN) is calling on students not to enrol in the targeted universities, contracted agents to terminate relationships and ministries of education to remove the universities from scholarships and end their relations with arms companies that supply weapons to Israel and withdraw their investments.

Gulf CAN is an umbrella organisation comprised of activist groups from Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. It aims to coordinate campaigns within the Gulf states to "resist Zionism" and normalisation with Israel within the region.

"British universities are not only complicit in refusing to acknowledge the genocide in Gaza, but also play a direct role in financing and developing weapons supplied to the Zionist occupation army," the statement reads.

Gulf CAN is calling on local education stakeholders to boycott the following list of UK universities: Newcastle University, University of Liverpool, University of Nottingham, University of Leeds, Northumbria University, Queen Mary University of London, University of Portsmouth, University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and Coventry University.

The institutions on Gulf CAN's list have invested over £34 million in Israel-linked companies, according to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

"These universities take an explicit position in protecting the occupation by suppressing demonstrations by students demanding an end to their participation in the genocide in Gaza," the statement adds, highlighting that "the suppression has included the use of physical violence, sexual harassment, and the removal of the hijab".

The organisation says the universities have lost £600,000 due to their campaign so far, noting that scholarship programmes and partnerships with local universities in the Gulf are an "indispensable source of income for British universities."

The British Council found that Gulf countries, including Kuwait and Qatar, are among the largest markets for sponsored UK study visas in 2018. The UK saw an almost six percent increase in T4 visas from Kuwait.

At the same time, the UK remained Bahrain's number one destination for students leaving the country, with over 15,000 students.

Universities across the globe, especially institutions in Britain, have been facing pressure to divest from companies linked to Israel with protests and encampments.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) found that UK Universities collectively invest almost £430 million in companies complicit in the state's war on Gaza, which has since killed over 38,000 Palestinians.