MEXICO

Baroque church emerges from drought-stricken reservoir


Daniel Esparza - published on 06/28/23

A 16th-century Catholic church emerged from a reservoir in Mexico, after water levels dramatically fell due to an intense, ongoing drought.

A16th-century Catholic church emerged from a reservoir in Mexico, after water levels dramatically fell due to an intense, ongoing drought.

The structure, built by Dominican friars led by Bartolomé de las Casas in the mid 1500s, and originally dedicated to the Apostle James, sits in the Nezahualcoyotl Reservoir in Chiapas – a dam built on the Grijalva River in 1966. The reservoir is currently just at 29% capacity.

People visit the Quechula church that emerged from the Malpaso Dam due to a drought that dried up the Grijalba River in Nuevo Quechula, Chiapas, on June 16, 202
RAUL VERA/AFP/East News

The ruins of the baroque church, which was abandoned in the mid 18th century due to a plague, often partially emerge when water levels are low, and it is customary that tourists arrive by boat to visit it. But this year’s drought has left it totally exposed – so tourists can now just walk or drive to its very doors.

A devastating heatwave

High temperatures and the absence of rain have already claimed eight lives across Mexico in the past week. The low water level in the Nezahualcoyotl Reservoir is affecting the local fishermen, who also engage in tilapia fish farming.

“About five months ago, the water started to recede excessively, going beyond the normal levels,” Darinel Gutiérrez, a local fisherman, told Euronews. “How am I supposed to support my family? Right now, I have nothing.”

UK

Stephen Flynn asks 'near billionaire' Rishi Sunak 'when was the last time he struggled to pay a bill'

The SNP Westminster leader said that the Prime Minister was 'out of touch' and that the Tories were 'soon to be out of time'


Andrew Quinn

 28 JUN 2023

Stephen Flynn has slammed "near billionaire" Rishi Sunak for having "patronised the public" over mortgage rate rises during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday. The SNP Westminster leader said that the Prime Minister was "out of touch" and asked him "when was the last time he struggled to pay a bill".

He also had a go at the PM and Labour for not committing to public sector pay rises which were recommended by independent review bodies. Sunak came under fire earlier this week after he urged the public to “hold our nerve” over an increase in interest rates which have left mortgage-holders bracing for a big jump in their monthly repayments.

Flynn first paid tribute to SNP legend Winnie Ewing and former Scotland manager Craig Brown who passed away recently.

He said during PMQs: "On Sunday, the Prime Minister patronised the public when he told them that, in the face of ever increasing mortgage bills, that they simply need to hold their nerve. What a nerve. So may I ask him, the near billionaire, when was the last time that he struggled to pay a bill?"

Several Tory MPs groaned when Flynn mentioned Sunak's wealth. Sunak replied: "The reason that mortgage rates are rising is because of inflation. That is the root cause which is why it's absolutely the right policy to tackle high inflation and reduce it back to target.

"Now, that does mean that we do have to make difficult decisions. It does mean we have to be patient while the impact of those decisions actually has an impact.

"But in the meantime as I was explaining previously, we are taking practical steps to support mortgage holders across the United Kingdom, particularly through the SMI scheme and the new mortgage charter."

Flynn then had a go at Sunak over public sector pay rises. He said: "That answer confirms what we already know, that this Prime Minister's out of touch and the Tory Party is soon to be out of time.

"What the public really want is change. But in a week where the Conservative Party and indeed the Labour Party both refused to accept proposals for public sector pay raises, whilst at the same time, accepting the economic damage of Brexit, is it not the case the Westminster does not offer the people real change nor real hope for the future?"

NHS staff sickness hits record high in England

IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES

By Nick Triggle

BBC

Health correspondent

Staff sickness in the NHS in England has reached record levels.

Figures for 2022 show an absence rate - the proportion of days lost - of 5.6%, meaning the NHS lost the equivalent of nearly 75,000 staff to illness.

This is higher than during the peak pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 - and a 29% rise on the 2019 rate.

Mental health problems were the most common cause, responsible for nearly a quarter of absences, the Nuffield Trust analysis of official NHS data shows.

Big rises were also seen in cold, coughs, infections and respiratory problems, likely to be linked to the continued circulation of Covid as well as the return of flu last year.

There were three categories covering these types of illnesses. If combined, they would be responsible for more sickness than mental health.

Staff leaving

The think tank warned the NHS was stuck in a "seemingly unsustainable cycle" of increased work and burnout, which was contributing to staff leaving.

The analysis, exclusively for BBC News, comes ahead of the publication of the government and NHS England's long-awaited workforce plan.

Nuffield Trust senior fellow Dr Billy Palmer said: "The health service is grappling with a difficult new normal when it comes to staff sickness leave.

"There has been a lot of focus on recruitment but we need more endeavour to improve the working conditions of existing staff and protect them from illness.

"The workforce plan needs to have concrete support to enable employers to improve NHS staff experience if the service is to break this cycle of staff absences, sickness and leaving rates."

'Psychological strain'

The NHS sickness rate, the highest since records began, in 2010, is above the public sector average of 3.6%.

The Nuffield Trust warned it was likely to be an undercount of the true figure as not every absence would have been recorded.

And while recording systems differed in Wales and Scotland, it was clear those nations were also seeing increased levels of sickness in the NHS.

Miriam Deakin, of NHS Providers, which represents health managers, said the findings "laid bare the psychological strain on staff".

She said the absences came on top of 110,000 vacancies in the health service and warned the situation was having a "knock-on effect on patient care".

Unison head of health Sara Gorton said the rise in illness was due to the "unrelenting pressure" on the NHS.

"Until the NHS has sufficient employees to care for and treat all the people needing its help, absence levels will keep going through the roof. If there's to be a healthy NHS, it first needs a healthy workforce."

UK

Illegal Migration Bill: Government accused of ignoring international law during House of Lords defeats

Peers put forward four amendments on the government's Illegal Migration Bill, with votes on more expected next week. Conservative MPs will get the opportunity to overrule the upper chamber when the legislation returns to the House of Commons but the government will have to explain itself.

Tim Baker
Political reporter
Wednesday 28 June 2023

Demonstrators protesting against the Illegal Migration Bill in Parliament Square, London earlier this year


Defeats in the House of Lords mean the government will need to make the case about why it should not be legally bound by international refugee conventions.

The government suffered a series of setbacks on its Illegal Migration Bill in the House of Lords on Wednesday, amid fierce opposition from peers.

One of the amendments passed by the ermined legislators included a requirement for the government to abide by a series of international agreements such as the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights, the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The bill seeks to prevent people who cross the Channel from claiming asylum, instead looking to deport them to where they originated or to a third country like Rwanda, and will also introduce caps on the number of people entering the UK.

But the Lords called for changes to the government's proposed law.

Peers voted to say the bill should only apply from when it is brought into law - rather than it being backdated to 7 March.

The upper house went on to vote to change the law to allow unaccompanied children to claim asylum, and to ensure alleged victims of people trafficking are not detained or deported before they can apply to a referral system for protection and support.

After these four votes, the balloting system in the House of Lords failed, meaning the session will resume on Monday.

Peers will be deciding whether they want to attempt to force Home Secretary Suella Braverman to consider asylum claims from people who have not been removed from the UK within six months, as well as limiting the destinations where LGBTQ people can be deported.

Once the amendments have been voted on, the bill will return to the House of Commons, where government MPs could vote to strip out the changes made by the other House.

Read more:
Cost of sending each migrant to countries such as Rwanda is £169,000

Children detained under Illegal Migration Bill at risk of PTSD and suicide

Government plans to house migrants in marquees across country

From May: Migration bill an 'utter failure'

However, the government will still have to explain why it does not think a legal requirement to abide by international refugee charters is necessary after the votes in the Lords.

"Stopping the boats" is one of Rishi Sunak's five priorities as prime minister.

Home Office minister Lord Murray of Blidworth accused peers of trying to derail the bill, branding the change a "wrecking amendment" that would make it unworkable.

Explained:
Is the government's new Illegal Migration Bill legal?

But Conservative Baroness Helic said: "The government say they believe it is compliant. A great number of others, including some of the bodies tasked with implementing these conventions, say that it is not.

"What is clear is that disobeying or disapplying international agreements which bear the name of the United Kingdom is not acceptable.

"If the government is unhappy with international obligations, then they are free to seek to renegotiate them, but simply ignoring our international legal commitments in pursuit of domestic expediency puts us in very bad company."

When it comes to children, the government's plans would only allow people to stay in the UK until they turn 18, and they would not be able to stay in the country.

The amendment to allow youngsters to make claims to stay was championed by Labour peer Lord Dubs, who fled the Nazis as a child on the Kindertransport scheme.

Brexit has brought “zero benefit” to UK business, says Brewdog boss

Leaving the EU has “massively handicapped UK companies that do business in Europe", James Watt has said

Stacks of BrewDog beer cans at their brewery in Ellon, Scotland (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

The CEO of brewery and pub chain Brewdog has poured a pint of the sourest beer possible all over Brexit.

James Watt told Bloomberg that Britain’s departure from the European Union has brought about a “significant negative impact” on his own company’s operations and “massively handicapped UK companies that do business in Europe, with zero benefit at all.”

Watt went on the attack after identifying Brexit as one reason behind Brewdog’s latest financial figures, which show an operating loss of £24million. He said his company’s operations in EU countries had been hampered by red tape incurred by both the decision to leave and the subsequent implementation of that decision.

He said: “We sell so much beer in mainland Europe. We own and operate our own buyers in France, Germany, Italy and Holland. Just getting our beer to those buyers is significantly more expensive and significantly more difficult.

“For me, it’s just massively handicapped UK companies that do business in Europe, with zero benefit at all. I think it’s been tragic for UK business and a lot of the economic issues the UK is facing – more inflation than other places, being harder to do business, is a result of the catastrophic decision to leave the EU. It’s really crippled businesses in the UK.”

Watt also claimed the government’s “sheer incompetence” had helped to create conditions in which the cost of producing a case of beer was almost 40% more expensive than it was 18 months ago.

He said: “That’s at a time where consumers have less disposable income, so we’ve had to absorb the vast majority of that cost increase, which has made things really challenging.”

Watt’s view is diametrically opposed to that of Wetherspoons CEO Tim Martin, who told LBC last week that he had no regrets about backing Brexit with beermats and magazines in his pubs prior to the 2016 referendum.

Martin told Andrew Marr he was still “amazed by the depth of emotion but I don’t think many people have changed their minds.

“Have I regrets? No, I think, for humanity to survive, I think we need democracy… and my bons to pick with the EU is you don’t elect the president by universal suffrage and MEPs can’t initiate legislation and the ECJ, the court, isn’t accountable to Parliament.

“I think the most powerful elixir for economics and for personal freedoms is democracy. And when you start reducing it, the level of economic performance eventually declines.”

Alas, as Watt might tell him, Brexit seems to have started a decline in economic performance that is anything but gradual…

UK

Cambridgeshire businesses named and shamed by the government for not paying workers minimum wage

By Paul Gallagher

 29 JUN 2023

Firms have been named and shamed by the government (Getty)

Cambridgeshire workers were among more than 63,500 staff who were underpaid by a total of nearly £5 million because their employers failed to pay them the minimum wage. Two Cambridgeshire firms have been “named and shamed” by the government for breaking the minimum wage law.

They join retail giants WH Smith, Marks & Spencer and Argos on the government list. Many of the businesses named are small companies including hotels, hairdressers, restaurants and pre-school nurseries.

Kevin Hollinrake, minister for enterprise, markets and small business, said: “Paying the legal minimum wage is non-negotiable and all businesses, whatever their size, should know better than to short-change hard-working staff.

“Most businesses do the right thing and look after their employees, but we’re sending a clear message to the minority who ignore the law: pay your staff properly or you’ll face the consequences.”

Tangerine Properties in South Cambridgeshire and the Peterborough-based United Church Schools Trust are among over 200 firms that have been outed.

Tangerine Properties, a hospitality firm that dissolved in 2020, underpaid five staff by a total of £743, or an average of £148 per worker over seven months in 2018. The United Church Schools Trust underpaid two workers a total of £554, or an average of £277 each, also in 2018.

The employers have been made to pay back what they owed, and in addition, were fined around £7 million.

The area with the most firms listed is Westminster, with eight companies, followed by Armagh and Leeds, both with five firms. Four companies are listed in Manchester, Glasgow and Wokingham. There are 26 hotels on the list, 15 hairdressing or beauty salons, 13 restaurants, and ten providers of pre-primary school education.

The list includes Blackpool Pleasure Beach Limited, which underpaid 12 staff, and Warrington Wolves rugby league club, which had to pay 34 staff a total of over £7,500. High street retailer WH Smith was the worst offender, according to HMRC, with the new figures claiming it failed to pay around £1 million to 17,607 workers.

The retailer blamed this on an error related to its company uniform policy. A spokesman for WH Smith said: “Following a review with HMRC in 2019, and in common with a number of retailers, it was brought to our attention that we had misinterpreted how the statutory wage regulations were applied to our uniform policy for staff working in our stores.

“This was a genuine error and it was rectified immediately with all colleagues reimbursed in 2019.”

Marks & Spencer failed to pay £578,390 to 5,363 workers, the report said. In response, an M&S spokesman said: “Like many other organisations, M&S is only named in the list because of an unintentional technical issue from over four years ago.”

Cromer's Cliftonville Hotel failed to pay staff minimum wage

25th June

The former owners of a clifftop Cromer hotel failed to pay the minimum wage to its lowest paid workers.

North Norfolk Hospitality Limited, which previously owned The Cliftonville Hotel in Cromer before current owners City Pub Group took over the business in 2021, did not pay three members of staff at the hotel the legal minimum wage.

North Norfolk Hospitality Ltd were named and shamed in a list of more than 200 companies that failed to pay staff the minimum wage, which was published by the government earlier this week.

According to Companies House, North Norfolk Hospitality Ltd was wound up last year.

The company failed to pay three people a combined £908.56 – but it has since paid back the staff.

Built in 1897, the Edwardian Cliftonville Hotel is a Grade II listed building with 30 sea-view bedrooms.

A total of 202 UK businesses were ordered to repay workers the money they were owed and face penalties of almost £7 million after breaches left 63,000 workers out of pocket.

It comes after a 9.7pc rise in the National Living Wage and minimum Wage paid to almost three million workers.

City Pub Group, which currently owns The Cliftonville Hotel, in Runton Road, said it is aware of the failings of the hotel’s previous owners, which took place in a three-year period between 2015 and 2018.

A City Pub Group spokesperson said: “The matter brought to our attention today precedes our ownership by almost three years. As such we have no knowledge of the details involved.”

Of the 202 businesses included in the list, 39pc of employers deducted pay from workers’ wages.

Another 39pc of employers failed to pay workers correctly for their working time, and 21pc paid the incorrect apprenticeship rate.

Thames Water’s Debt Woes Raise Specter of UK’s Energy Crisis

Todd Gillespie, Priscila Azevedo Rocha and Irene García Pérez, Bloomberg News

Engineers from a Thames Water leak hunting team put equipment in place during the crew's night shift in London, UK, on Wednesday, May 2, 2023. Thames Water has more than 800 workers either pinpointing the locations of suspected leaks or fixing the ones that get discovered, as the UK now pressures its water industry to reduce waste as lack of supply threatens water security. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- The UK is facing a potential water sector crisis as it considers a temporary takeover of Thames Water Ltd, a rare move that was used for the first time during the recent energy crunch to protect customers of a failing supplier.

Possible intervention to rescue Thames Water’s recalls unprecedented action taken to prop up Bulb Energy Ltd., the government’s first special administration in November 2021. But England’s privatized water companies have historically relied on the public debt markets to fund their operations, making the plan for Thames Water potentially reverberate further.

The cost of nationalizing Thames Water would be passed to the taxpayer at a time when inflation is running high and living standards are dropping. Investments needed to improve water infrastructure are likely to push up bills further, according to Investec Bank Plc. Added costs for consumers will be difficult for the ruling Conservative party to defend coming into an election next year.  

Like energy, water is a sector that’s considered too important to fail. A layered corporate structure, with billions of pounds of debt spread among different holders, makes Thames Water complicated for the government to take over. However, unlike energy suppliers, water companies own the pipeline infrastructure and they supply customers, making a state takeover more significant.

Thames Water has issued bonds through different layers of the company, each offering different security to investors. Depending on how an administration proceeds, that could trigger a variety of outcomes for different investors. In a debt offering in 2021 the company already warned that government intervention in the industry could impact the company’s ability to meet its obligations.

“A special administration regime would facilitate a transfer to new owners, but leave ring-fenced bondholders unable to enforce any security and with no guarantee of being made whole in a new financial structure,” Paul Vickars, senior credit analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence said. 

The water company had £13.9 billion of debt as of September, according to the latest company filings. That includes £2.8 billion of bonds linked to UK inflation. Some, but not all, are backed by the regulated assets owned by the company. Any hit to the company’s credit rating might also impact the value of its bonds.

Thames Water may need to raise more capital from investors soon, but its debt-to-equity ratio is the highest among its peers. That makes it more challenging for the company to raise the capital needed to make the required improvements on its infrastructure. Meanwhile, tapping the debt markets to refinance upcoming maturities would also prove challenging.

Thames Water said it is working with shareholders to raise more equity, in a statement published in response to media coverage about its position. Regulator Ofwat said it is in discussions with Thames Water on the need for a “robust and credible plan”.

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.

UK water firms drowning in £65bn of debt with cost of repayments set to soar due to inflation (but they're still paying shareholders huge dividends)

By LUKE BARR FOR THE DAILY MAIL
28 June 2023

Britain's beleaguered water sector is creaking under the weight of a £65billion debt mountain that could rise even further due to inflation.

The staggering combined debt pile built up by the UK’s 12 water companies means that huge swathes of cash are being spent on interest payments – money that could be spent cleaning up polluted rivers or fixing leaky pipes.

And they face falling deeper into the red as a big chunk of the debt is linked to inflation, which has been rising sharply.

Concern over the financial health of water companies – many of which are foreign-owned – has jumped amid fears that Thames Water, which has 15m customers, is close to collapse.

This has followed the sudden departure of its chief executive Sarah Bentley, who resigned on Tuesday after just three years in the role.

Exploited: The staggering debt pile built up by the UK’s 12 water companies means cash is being spent on interest payments and not cleaning up polluted rivers or fixing leaky pipes

The company, which is in talks to secure extra funding, gave no explanation for Bentley’s exit.

Last year she was paid more than £2million despite facing criticism for dumping sewage into waterways and implementing a hosepipe ban.

The Government is on stand-by to deal with any fallout from the company’s potential failure, which includes possibly nationalising the business on a temporary basis.

Emergency talks have been taking place between Defra – the environment ministry – and industry regulator Ofwat to consider options for Britain’s biggest water supplier if it cannot raise enough cash.

There have been growing fears around Thames Water’s financial health over the past 12 months after its debts rose to roughly £14billion, which is far greater than any other supplier.

Last year it raked in £2.2billion in revenues but posted losses of nearly £1billion.

Business and trade minister Kemi Badenoch said yesterday that she was ‘extremely concerned’ and that the Government had to ‘make sure that Thames Water as an entity survives’.

Thames Water sought to calm investors yesterday by saying it had a ‘strong liquidity position’, with £4.4billion of cash.

It also highlighted a £500million cash injection in March from its shareholders, who include the state-backed China Investment Corporation and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

 


But market experts warn this is unlikely to make a dent in its mountainous debt pile. Thames Water is not alone is racking up huge debts in an industry which was privatised by Margaret Thatcher back in 1989.

United Utilities and Severn Trent, which are both listed on the London Stock Exchange, have £8.2billion and £7.16billion debts respectively.

They have also recently handed shareholders a combined £562million in dividends.

Other companies including Anglian Water, Southern Water and Yorkshire Water all have individual debts of more than £5billion.

Privatisation of the industry paved the way for foreign investors to seize control of companies, extracting billions in dividends and piling up debts.

Analysis by ratings agency Moody’s last December revealed that more than half of the sector’s debt is linked to inflation, which has risen sharply since the loans were taken out.

‘The water sector relies more on inflation-linked debt than other regulated UK networks such as power and gas,’ Moody’s said.

Last week figures showed that inflation in the UK had remained stubbornly high – at 8.7 per cent.

Martin Young, a utilities equity analyst at international bank and wealth manager Investec, said that the challenges facing the highly leveraged water companies were ‘stark’.

A Government spokesman said yesterday: ‘The sector is financially resilient. Ofwat continues to monitor the financial position of all the key water and wastewater companies.’

 

The once-bold UK has begun to look like a climate laggard

28 Jun 2023

Live Mint

The UK, once a climate champion, is now jeopardizing its global standing by failing to meet climate targets and lacking leadership in tackling the climate crisis, according to the UK's Climate Change Committee. Delays in policy development and implementation, as well as a narrow approach to solutions, are cited as reasons for the country's failure. The committee warns that urgent action is needed to quadruple emissions reduction outside the electricity supply sector. The UK risks falling behind other major economies in green investment and market share if it does not act quickly.

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (PTI)

Once upon a time, the UK was a climate champion, setting the pace in tackling the world’s most urgent crisis. But the current administration is squandering that lead and putting Britain’s global standing at risk as others move ahead with bold economy-shaping climate policies. It’ll soon be too late to make up lost ground. There are plenty of past successes to be proud of: The Climate Change Act, passed by parliament in 2008 by a big cross-party majority, was revolutionary— the first legally binding mitigation target set by a country. In 2019, the UK became the first major economy to enshrine a net-zero emissions commitment in law. At the 2021 United Nations Climate Summit in Glasgow, the UK laid out an ambitious intermediary target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68% by 2030, to align with the Paris temperature goal of no more than 1.5° C of warming.

Those commitments helped: In 2022, the country emitted 46% less than it did in 1990, thanks largely to eliminating coal from most of the UK’s power generation. In 2018, a 10-year review of the Climate Change Act by the Grantham Research Institute found that it had helped to reduce emissions without an economic slump.

Today, the picture is bleaker. In 2022, the high court ruled that the government’s net-zero strategy was unlawful and inadequate. In March, the government defogged the windows on its climate policy with loads of detail. But rather than reassuring us that the country’s ambitions were on track, it had the opposite effect: In its latest progress report, the UK’s Climate Change Committee (CCC), an independent advisory body, says its confidence in the government meeting the 2030 target has dropped markedly: “The recent rate of emissions reduction outside the electricity supply sector must quadruple. Time is now very short to achieve this change of pace."

The report notes continued delays in policy development and implementation, as well as an overly narrow approach to solutions. The cause? A failure of leadership, the committee concludes.

Producing almost 3,000 pages of material on climate and energy strategies requires a huge underlying work program in the pipeline. But nothing on the agenda is a political priority. In a media briefing, Chris Stark, chief executive officer of the CCC, accused the government of taking a “wait and see" approach and being unwilling to tackle demand-side policies, such as shifting people to more sustainable diets and reducing air and car travel. That might allow it to avoid making tough decisions, but it’s a risky strategy that makes the job harder down the line.

The UK government is doing itself and the country a disservice by not tackling decarbonization with greater urgency. For starters, people really do care. Polling shows 82% of people are concerned about the climate crisis; 85% agreed with the statement “If everyone does their bit, we can reduce the effects of climate change."

Joined-up thinking could allow several issues to be tackled at once. Stark uses energy pricing as an example: Electricity is currently more expensive than gas, due to green taxes that add about 12% to its cost. Rebalancing this would make low-carbon choices, such as switching over to electric cooking and heat pumps, easier for people to make—and reduce their bills in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

The UK is looking increasingly un-credible on the world stage. A new coal mine is set to open in Cumbria, and approval is imminent for Rosebank, the UK’s largest untapped oil and gas field which, ironically, could be developed using wind-powered drilling rigs. Such moves go against the scientific consensus that any new oil and gas will blow through the UK’s carbon budget, as well as undermining the careful language that the country managed to negotiate during its CoP-26 presidency in the Glasgow Climate Pact.

Meanwhile, the US, EU and China have moved ahead with bold climate policies aimed at spurring green investment. UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has promised a response in the autumn budget. In the meantime, the UK risks falling behind as other major economies increase their market share in key products and services. “Urgency is the word we have to hold on to," CCC Chairman Lord Deben said in a press briefing. “These chances won’t come again."

The UK’s climate targets aren’t simply aspirations—they’re the law. We’re already getting a taste of what a warmer world will bring, from dangerous heat waves and water shortages to food insecurity. June will be the hottest in the UK since records began almost 140 year ago, the Met Office has said. Continuing on the current path will be perilous for the government and the nation it serves. 

©bloomberg

Lara Williams is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering climate change.

UK

Unison announce they are extending bin strike until September

JUNE 27, 2023

PEOPLE are being told not to put out recycling or food bins for collection during strikes by South Gloucestershire’s bin crews.

The council has advised residents that it is prioritising fortnightly collections of black bins and nappy sacks by those staff still working during strike action.

Union Unite announced on June 27 that it was extending the strike – originally planned to run until July 9 – throughout the summer to September 3, saying bin contractor Suez and South Gloucestershire Council had “ignored repeated requests by Unite to engage in talks to resolve the dispute”. 

The action followed a one-week strike earlier in June, staged by 150 workers in response to a pay offer described as a “significant real terms pay cut”.

As the second strike began on June 26, the council said there would not be “sufficient staff” to collect recycling or green bins and urged people not to put them out.

It is still advising residents to put out black bins on scheduled days and report missed collections.

A spokesperson said the authority was “aware of residents’ concerns over food waste not being collected for some time, especially in the hot weather”.

People were being advised to use a plastic bag or double bag food waste and ensure it is tightly tied up to minimise smells.

Recycling centres in Yate, Thornbury and Mangotsfield were being kept open, with extra facilities set up to deposit food waste. Union Unite said 89% of workers who took part in a ballot voted to strike, after rejecting an 8% per cent pay offer from he council’s waste contractor Suez.

The union said: “With the real rate of inflation, RPI, at 11.4%, this is a significant real terms pay cut. 

Unite says Suez made profits of £80.8 million in 2021. The company’s South Gloucestershire bin loaders earn £11.53 per hour – equivalent to around £460 for a five-day week at eight hours per day, or just under £24,000 a year.   

Unite regional officer Ken Fish said: “Our members have been forced to take action because Suez refuses to table a reasonable pay offer.

“This is a lucrative contract and the council needs to intervene and force Suez to put forward a fair offer to our members.”

Suez says its two most recent pay offers, this year and last, together represent a pay increase of up to 16.75%.

A spokesperson said: “Industrial action is the very last outcome we want to see – we still believe our offer is a competitive one and our door remains open to Unite Trade Union.

“However, with talks currently stalled, we are developing contingency arrangements with the council so that we can minimise disruption for local communities.”

UK 

Government prepared to ignore independent pay review bodies
Rishi Sunak has set halving inflation by the end of the year as his top priority ahead of a likely general election in 2024.

 by Patrick Daly
2023-06-27
in News

Credit;PA


The Prime Minister has warned he will not shy away from making decisions “people may not like” to control inflation as he again refused to commit to accepting recommendations for public sector pay rises.

Ministers have suggested they could choose to ignore advice by independent review bodies to hike public sector pay as part of UK Government attempts to calm the rate of rising prices — an option the Prime Minister has refused to take off the table.

Rishi Sunak has set halving inflation by the end of the year as his top priority ahead of a likely general election in 2024.

But inflation has stayed stubbornly high, with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation remaining at 8.7 per cent in May despite experts forecasting it would fall.


“Responsible decisions”

Mr Sunak, speaking to broadcasters during a trip to Nottinghamshire on Monday, argued that, with inflation “higher than we’d like”, it was important to “make the right and responsible decisions on things like public sector pay”.

He said further walkouts being planned by junior doctors were “very disappointing” and claimed this would “make it harder” to bring down NHS waiting lists – another of his five key pledges to the electorate.


Junior doctors in England are due to stage a five-day strike next month as their row with the Government over pay and staffing rumbles on.

Mr Sunak, addressing the scheduled junior doctors’ industrial action, said: “It’s just going to make it harder to bring waiting lists down and I think people should recognise the economic context we’re in.

“I’m going to make the decisions that are the right ones for the country.

“That’s not always easy, people may not like that, but those are the right things for everybody that we get a grip of inflation.”
“Consider” advice

Earlier on Monday, social care minister Helen Whately refused to say whether the Government would accept pay review recommendations, saying only that it would “consider” any advice given.

On Sky News, the senior Conservative MP said she did not recognise a suggestion put to her that ministers had previously committed to abiding by the independent panels’ counsel, replying: “I don’t believe that is what we’ve always said.”

She added: “I can’t say here and now what the outcome of the whole process is going to be.

“We know we have a number one priority of bringing down inflation and actually the job in Government and of the Prime Minister is to make tough decisions.”

Pay review body recommendations are not legally binding on the Government and, although they are typically accepted, ministers can generally choose to reject or partially ignore the advice.
Below-inflation rises

But this would be a controversial move after the Government defended last year’s below-inflation pay rises by saying it had followed the bodies’ advice.

It could further inflame ongoing disputes with unions and lead to more industrial action.

Kate Bell, assistant general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), said any decision to ignore pay review body advice would be “driven by politics, not economics”.

She said public sector wages had fallen “well behind inflation” and that there had been a “15-year wage squeeze where wages haven’t kept up with inflation”.

“We had the Government, back in the winter when they were refusing to negotiate with NHS workers — eventually, of course, they did come to the table — relying very heavily on the pay review bodies, saying we had to take into account this independent process,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“It is a bit rich to hear them now saying, ‘Well, we’re going to overturn those independent recommendations’ when we haven’t even seen them be published yet.”