ANOMALY (OR GUY WITH CAR)

Dead fox found on island with no known population of animal

The young female animal was discovered in Kirkwall next to the Balfour Hospital on Tuesday.

SHE WAS LOOKING FOR HELP

iStockThe council confirmed the discovery was reported to police.

Andrew Stewart
8 hours ago
Posted in Orkney Islands
Wildlife & Animals

A dead fox has been discovered in Orkney, which is believed to have no known population of the animal.

The young female animal was discovered in Kirkwall next to the Balfour Hospital on Tuesday by NHS staff as they arrived for work.

Orkney Islands Council removed the animal and took it to a local vet where a post-mortem showed it had likely been hit by a vehicle and had been dead for at least a day.

The council confirmed the discovery was reported to police.

LDRSThe young female animal was discovered in Kirkwall next to the Balfour Hospital on Tuesday
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Katie Walker who works at the hospital told the LDRS she was “surprised and confused as to why a fox would be on the pavement in the middle of Kirkwall.”

Rhona Ley, a vet who was involved in the process of carrying out a post-mortem, said: “It wasn’t freshly dead.

“There were changes there that suggest it’s been dead for a wee while, probably due to a road traffic accident.

“It has at least three broken legs but they were broken after it died. When the legs are broken before death they get a lot of bruising but there was nothing.”

Orkney isn’t known to be home to the animals but a dead fox was found on the island in 2007, with the belief that it died on the mainland.

It was thought to have been brought to Orkney, and then dumped on the roadside.
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Orkney Islands Council’s Trading Standards Manager, Gary Foubister said: “It is a serious offence to release non-native species, dead or alive.

“Anyone with information should get in touch with Police Scotland on 101.”

UK

Mick Lynch: Partial ban on arms sales to Israel like wanting to abolish only ‘some slavery’

Chris Jarvis 

Yesterday

 Left Foot Forward

The RMT General Secretary made the comments at a fringe meeting at the TUC Congress


RMT general secretary Mick Lynch has slammed the government’s decision to only suspend some arms sales to Israel, suggesting it is akin to someone in the 1840s saying they only intended to ‘abolish some slavery’. Lynch made the remarks at a fringe meeting hosted by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) at this year’s TUC Congress in Brighton.

Speaking at the meeting, Lynch said: “We’ve got to put the Labour government under pressure. I saw David Lammy making this major intervention last week – some licenses will not be renewed or will be revoked. Some licenses – what was it 30 out of 150 or something of that number?

“This is like somebody standing up in front of you in the 1840s and saying ‘I’m going to abolish some slavery. I’m going to liberate some people. I’m going to do this measure, but it’s only going to apply in a very small way.”

At the meeting, Lynch and other leading trade unionists explained what they think the labour movement should be doing to act in solidarity with the Palestinian people in response to Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza. UCU general secretary Jo Grady, PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote and NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede all spoke on the panel. There was a broad consensus among the speakers that the government should be ending all arms sales to Israel.

Heathcote told the meeting: “We should be asking our government: Where are the sanctions? Where is the arms embargo? Where is the expulsion of Israeli diplomats? Our PCS members work in government departments that grant weapons licenses and if the government doesn’t respect international law, we will continue to explore the possibility of taking legal action in defence of those members.”

Kebede, meanwhile, said “we should all welcome” the partial suspension of arms sales to Israel, but acknowledged that the suspension does not include British made parts for F-35 fighter jets that have been used in operations in Gaza. He went on to say “the UK must also implement a complete ban on the sale of arms to Israel”.

At another point of the meeting, Grady – who’s union represents academic staff – said: “Israel has systematically, physically eliminated the Palestinian higher education system – deliberately destroying every single university in Gaza, assassinating leading Palestinian intellectuals. It is a core strategy of destroying education.”

Closing the meeting was Palestine Solidarity Campaign director Ben Jamal, who opened his remarks by saying: “I will always say that as a Palestinian and as a director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign I am grateful for the solidarity of the trade union movement and never take it for granted”, but called on trade unions to do “more” to campaign in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward

UK

Labour gives renters the right to have pets as it ends no-fault evictions

In the biggest set of reforms of the sector for three decades, Labour is ending no-fault evictions and will give tenants the right to request a pet

Archie Mitchell

THE INDEPENDENT

Sept. 10,2024

Labour will give renters the right to have pets and end no-fault evictions as it revives a package of rental reforms abandoned by the Tories.

In a major overhaul of renters rights to be introduced to Parliament on Wednesday, the government has vowed to “clean up the mess” in the rental market left behind by the Conservatives.


Sir Keir Starmer’s party will abolish Section 21 so-called no-fault evictions, under which tenants can be removed from rented housing when a fixed-term tenancy ends or during a rolling tenancy.

Angela Rayner said renters have been let down for too long as the government published plans to ban no-fault evictions (PA Wire)

Last year alone, nearly 26,000 households faced homelessness as a result of a Section 21 eviction orders and were forced to turn to their local councils for support.

And it will give tenants the right to request a pet, with landlords unable to “unreasonably refuse” and able to request insurance to cover potential damage from pets if needed.

Other measures in the Renters’ Rights Bill include moves to strengthen tenants’ rights, with renters empowered to challenge unfair rent increases and plans to outlaw rental bidding wars by landlords and letting agents.

Under the bill, Labour will also make it illegal for landlords to discriminate against tenants in receipt of benefits or with children when choosing to rent out their property.

The party accused the Tories of having “repeatedly refused to stand up fro private renters”, with a ban on no-fault evictions first announced by Theresa May in 2019.

Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said: “Renters have been let down for too long and too many are stuck in disgraceful conditions, powerless to act because of the threat of a retaliatory eviction hanging over them.

“Most landlords act in a responsible way but a small number of unscrupulous ones are tarnishing the reputation of the whole sector by making the most of the housing crisis and forcing tenants into bidding wars.

The Renters Rights’ Bill will seek abolish so-called ‘no fault’ evictions by removing Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 (PA Wire)

“There can be no more dither and delay. We must overhaul renting and rebalance the relationship between tenant and landlord.”

The Renters Reform Coalition praised ministers and officials for ensuring the bill was one of the first major overhauls pursued by the new government.

Group chairman Tom Darling said: “We renter groups have been consistent in calling for these, and though there are still areas for improvement, the fact that this government has listened means that a lot of renters will benefit from increased security of tenure.”

The government said the bill is a crucial step toward ending the UK’s housing crisis, linking it to a drive to deliver 1.5 million new homes over the course of the parliament.

Labour also says the bill will also drive up standards in the rental sector, with a “decent homes standard” implemented to ensure tenants can expect safe, well-maintained, and secure living conditions.

It hopes the change will prevent rogue landlords from undercutting the market with substandard rental properties. And the Renters’ Rights Bill will apply Awaab’s Law, which will set a legal timeframe within which landlords must make homes containing serious hazards safe.

The National Rental Landlords Association (NRLA) said it is vital the measures contained within the bill are fair to both tenants and landlords.

Chief executive Ben Beadle said the ending of no-fault evictions is the biggest change facing the sector for three decades, warning that it could lead to backlogs in courts as landlords need to file repossession claims where landlords have legitimate reasons to evict tenants.

He added: “Once the Bill is passed, it is vital that sufficient time is provided to enable the sector to properly prepare.”

And Mr Beadle welcomed plans to ensure rented housing meets a minimum standard, adding: “Too often the actions of a minority of rogue and criminal landlords have brought the sector into disrepute.”

WASTED CAPITAL

UK arms donated to Ukraine would cost £2.71bn to replace, says watchdog

Dan Sabbagh
Tue 10 September 2024 

Weapons donated by the UK to Ukraine include 14 Challenger 2 tanks.Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images


Britain has donated arms and equipment to Ukraine that would cost £2.71bn to replace, largely in addition to the £7.8bn committed by prime ministers since Russia’s full-scale invasion, according to a National Audit Office report.

The cost of replacing missiles, artillery and other munitions also significantly exceeds their £171.5m value on the government’s books, because the Ministry of Defence wants to replace the old weapons supplied at current prices.

But, the auditors add, the rate of UK weapons donations has slowed dramatically because surplus stockpiles are nearly exhausted. The Army warned in January last year that donations risked leaving it “temporarily weaker”.


Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said the MoD now has to “balance the UK’s strategic interests with maintaining the UK’s own military capabilities” – and ensure there are appropriate stockpiles in case of any future military crisis.

The figures are contained in the first audit into UK military spending in support of Ukraine, in a review of the cash and donations allocated by successive prime ministers since the full-scale invasion by Russia in February 2022.

It does not ask whether the war in Ukraine represents value for money, as that would amount to a commentary on government policy beyond the audit office’s remit, but it does highlight the additional costs of replenishing stockpiles.

The value of the donations is not included in previously announced Ukraine war budgets, and the costs are only accounted for as replenishment contracts are issued. That means that the UK will have spent more than the £2.46bn budgeted for Ukraine in 2022/23, because that year only included £75m for replacing kit donated.

Using a different calculation, the cash cost of all military operations was £2.9bn in 2022/23. That is the largest sum spent on war by the UK in any year since 2011/12, a high point of the fighting in Afghanistan. In the year after, when the UK was also engaged in bombing Houthi rebels in Yemen, the total dipped to £2.57bn.

Weapons donated by the UK to Ukraine include 14 Challenger 2 tanks, 700 armoured vehicles, 140 howitzers, at least 3,100 missiles – though the number of long range Storm Shadow weapons is a secret – and more than 10m rounds of ammunition.

Donations of arms to Ukraine have tumbled since the start of the invasion. The value fell from £130m in 2022/23 to £15.9m in 2023/4 and in future the UK will have to manufacture the bulk of any weapons it wants to send to Ukraine.

Funding for replenishment will come in future years, at least initially, from contingency reserves allocated by the Treasury. So far, replenishment contracts to replace £1bn of arms have been allocated out of a total request of £2.71bn.

The UK has also trained more than 46,000 Ukrainian soldiers, though the auditor noted there have been complaints of a lack of training in drones. Military and civil aviation restrictions largely prevent the use of large numbers of drones in the UK, even on military sites.

The MoD wants to replace equipment at a time when there are shortfalls in its overall equipment budget of £3bn this year and £3.9bn in 2025/6, part of a cumulative £16.9bn 10-year deficit the auditors have previously described as “unaffordable”.

Labour is expected to hold its first budget on 30 October, with the MoD also facing a further cost pressure of about £1.1bn to meet a 6% pay deal announced by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in late July. The Treasury may fund those cost pressures, though this has not yet been announced.

John Healey, the defence secretary, told MPs that Labour “will increase spending on defence” from the existing level of 2.32% of GDP to about 2.5% of GDP, in a debate on Ukraine held before the report was published. But he would not commit to extra spending on Ukraine if Donald Trump was elected to the White House in November.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY

UK

Call to boost agriculture budget to ‘value’ food security amid fears of cuts

National Farmers’ Union says sector needs £5.6 billion a year UK-wide to produce sustainable, affordable food and deliver for nature and climate.


Farming leaders have called for a boost to agricultural budget (Steve Parsons/PA)

Emily Beament

 Evening Standard

Farming leaders have called on the Government to “truly value” food security by raising the UK’s agricultural budget to £5.6 billion a year, amid concerns over potential cuts.

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU), which is holding a reception in Parliament on Wednesday to mark Back British Farming Day, is urging ministers to deliver a “renewed and enhanced” multi-year agricultural funding pot in the Budget in October

The NFU says increased funding – of £4 billion for England, equating to £5.6 billion UK-wide – is essential to give farmers the confidence to invest in the future, produce sustainable and affordable food and deliver for nature, energy security and climate-friendly farming.


Under the previous government, there was a £2.4 billion annual agriculture budget for England, which was being shifted from EU-era subsidies mostly for land farmed, to environmental land management scheme (Elms) payments for public goods such as healthy soil and water and habitat creation.

This budget is essential in giving Britain’s farmers and growers the confidence they desperately need to invest for the future

Tom Bradshaw, NFU president

The NFU’s call follows reports that a £100 million underspend in the budget could be handed back to the Treasury, as part of efforts to fill what the Government has labelled a £22 billion “black hole” in the country’s finances.

It comes as Labour criticised the former Tory government for failing to provide farmers promised funding after the Environment Department (Defra’s) farming and countryside programme’s annual report revealed a £130 million underspend in the budget in 2023/2024.

That comes after under-spending of more than £100 million in each of the previous two years.

Daniel Zeichner, minister for food security and rural affairs, said: “Time and time again the previous Conservative government broke their promises to farmers.

“They sold them out in dodgy trade deals and then failed to pay them the funds they were promised.”

“The Labour Government will restore confidence and stability to farmers to boost rural economic growth and strengthen our food security,” he pledged.

But ministers have also warned of the dire state of the UK’s finances, setting up a clash with countryside organisations over agricultural funding, as wildlife groups line up with farmers to call for an increase in the budget for nature-friendly farming and delivering goals to tackle the nature and climate crises.

Speaking ahead of the reception, NFU president Tom Bradshaw said British farmers and growers were “proud” to produce the raw ingredients for the UK’s £148 billion food and drink sector, but there were huge challenges for the industry.

“Over the past 18 months we have seen a collapse in farmer confidence, driven by record inflation, falls in farm income and a changing climate with unprecedented weather patterns delivering relentless rain which left thousands of acres of farmland under water,” he said.

“While in opposition we heard consistently from Labour that food security is national security.

“The Prime Minister, speaking at NFU conference last year, pledged that Labour ‘aspires to govern for every corner of our country, and will seek a new relationship with the countryside and farming communities on this basis, a relationship based on respect and on genuine partnership’.”

“We now need to see those ambitions realised,” he urged.

Farmers say a boost to the budget is needed to deliver environmental and economic goals (Steve Parsons/PA)
PA Archive

“Today we’re calling on Government to truly value UK food security by delivering a renewed and enhanced multi-annual agriculture budget of £5.6 billion on October 30.

“This budget is essential in giving Britain’s farmers and growers the confidence they desperately need to invest for the future and deliver on our joint ambitions on producing more sustainable, affordable homegrown food while creating more jobs and delivering for nature, energy security and climate-friendly farming,” he said.


The NFU says independent work it has commissioned from the Andersons Centre suggests an annual budget of £4 billion is needed for England.

That includes £2.7 billion to meet the Government’s environmental goals, as well as £615 million for driving productivity and £720 million to support the economic stability of agricultural businesses.

The NFU estimates that would translate to a UK-wide budget of around £5.6 billion.

The union also wants to see the Defra be more transparent, publishing its impact assessment for the transition, including the uplands which could be particularly adversely affected, sharing annual budget plans and urgently reviewing Elms to make sure they can be accessed by all farmers.

Mr Bradshaw described the £130 million underspend as a “kick in the teeth”, and warned it had not been spent not because it was not needed, but because the new land management schemes were not completed in time.

He urged the Government to roll forward the unspent funding into the future budget to invest in sustainable food production and deliver legislated environmental targets.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed acknowledged confidence among farmers was at “record lows, with costs spiralling, flooding hitting their bottom line and red tape holding them back”.

He said: “The new Government will restore stability and confidence in the sector, introducing a new deal for farmers to boost rural economic growth and strengthen our food security.

“We will protect farmers from being undercut in trade deals, cut energy bills by switching on GB Energy, better protect them from flooding and use the Government’s own purchasing power to back British produce.”

The Government said there were “difficult decisions” ahead, and spending on Defra’s priorities would be confirmed as part of the forthcoming spending review.


Tom Bradshaw

Millions of Brits struggle to buy enough food for their children, research finds


As child poverty in the UK remains high, Barnardo's has found 8% of parents have used food banks in the past year

Greg Barradale
11 Sep 2024

One in four children in the UK live in poverty.

 Image: Unsplash

The cost of living is far from over, Barnardo’s has warned, with a quarter of parents still struggling to provide enough food for their children.

This equates to 3.4 million children whose parents have struggled to afford food in the past year, an increase of 5% from October 2022, new research by the charity found.

With energy prices expected to rise by 10%, the charity said difficulties would continue. Its polling also found two in 25 parents – or 8% – used a food bank in the past 12 months.

“We know families have to make gut-wrenching choices every day, prioritising feeding their children and heating their homes over buying other essential items,” said Lynn Perry, chief executive of Barnardo’s.

“Many families can’t wait any longer for support and next month’s budget is an opportunity for the government to take bold steps, like ending the unfair two-child limit on benefits.”

Perry’s comments came as the boss of Aldi UK said customers were “trading up” to premium products as inflation tailed off.

As the Labour government says “hard choices” are needed on the economy, battles rage over the support on offer to those living in poverty.

It extended the household support fund this month, with the temporary extension welcomed but branded a “last-minute, poorly designed sticking plaster”.

Under pressure to end the two-child benefits limit, the government has established a Child Poverty Unit as part of what Keir Starmer called an “ambitious child poverty strategy”.

Calling the two-child limit a “sibling penalty”, Perry said ending it could lift 490,000 children out of poverty.

“We know from our frontline work that this policy penalises children who happen to have more than one brother or sister and means some families can’t put food on the table or the heating on when it is cold,” said Perry.

“The chancellor should take the opportunity in next month’s budget to commit to a long-term scheme for local crisis support and lift the two-child limit on benefits.”

Research by the Trussell Trust found existing benefits are failing those in poverty, with 1.6 million people claiming universal credit also using food banks.

Over two-thirds of households claiming the benefit had gone without essentials such as food in the previous six months.

One in four children in the UK live in poverty, with the impact of this poverty making children shorter, fatter, and sicker.

Opinion

Cost of living crisis is over? Try telling that to millions of Brits struggling to feed their kids

Millions in the UK still face cost of living woes

Lynn Perry
11 Sep 2024



Image: Unsplash
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News this week that wagyu steak and premium cheese are making their way into more shopping baskets might signal to some that the cost of living crisis is on its way out.

But although lower inflation means some shoppers can afford to treat themselves more, the fact remains the crisis continues to have a devastating impact for millions of children and families across the UK.

New research published by Barnardo’s today (11 September) shows a quarter of parents in Great Britain with children aged 18 and under say they’ve struggled to provide sufficient food for their children over the past 12 months. Why the natural human failure of imagination stops us from relieving children’s suffering
I’m a single mum living in poverty. Worrying about how it affects my children keeps me up at night

This is up 5% since October 2022 and starkly illustrates that the cost of living crisis is far from over.

At Barnardo’s, we know families have to make gut-wrenching choices every day, prioritising feeding their children and heating their homes over buying other essential items.

This is set to become even worse with energy prices about to rise by as much as 10%.

Our new report Empty plates and cold homes: What it’s like to grow up in poverty in 2024  estimates that there could be around 3.4 million children – three times the population of Birmingham – whose parents have struggled to provide sufficient food for them over the past 12 months.

Two in 25 parents (8%) surveyed by Barnardo’s and YouGov said they’ve had to use a food bank in the last year.

All over the country there are people like Sonia from Carlisle who, come the end of the month, has to rely on food banks to feed her two boys and prioritises food and heating over other essentials like Wi-Fi for her sons’ schoolwork.

The government’s new child poverty taskforce, announced in the summer, is a glimmer of hope for Sonia and the thousands of families Barnardo’s supports. It’s a tangible opportunity to find lasting solutions to these issues, and we hope to work closely with ministers to tackle the underlying causes of poverty.

But many families can’t wait any longer for support and next month’s budget is an opportunity for the government to take bold steps, like ending the unfair two-child limit on benefits.

We know from our frontline work that this policy penalises children who happen to have more than one brother or sister and means some families can’t put food on the table or the heating on when it is cold.

Ending this ‘sibling penalty’ could immediately lift 490,000 children out of poverty, granting struggling families another £3,455 per third or subsequent child in 2024/25.

Currently, more than one in four children in the UK lives in poverty – that’s nine in every classroom – because too many families are struggling to make ends meet. ​

It can mean going to school hungry and returning to a cold home.

It affects children’s physical and mental health well into adulthood and can affect them for the rest of their lives.

The average height of a five-year-old in the UK has slipped 30 places in the world rankings due to poor diet and living standards. The cost of living crisis is exacerbating the impact of poverty on children’s health, leading to more children needing hospital treatment for issues including malnutrition and poor oral health.

Even before the cost of living crisis, there were already strong links between poverty and child health, with children living in poverty more likely to require hospital admission, 72% more likely to be diagnosed with a long-term illness, or have other conditions like poor mental health.

Families facing the struggle to heat their homes, put food on the table and provide essentials for their children over winter at least have a safety net in the form of the household support fund, which was due to end later this month.

The announcement last week by the secretary of state for work and pensions of another extension was a welcome one. But what’s desperately needed is a long-term settlement and strategy for local crisis support after the new extension ends in April 2025.

Every year Barnardo’s supports thousands of struggling children and families across the UK to access the basics like food, fuel, beds, suitable accommodation and longer-term financial advice.

We help them keep the power on and the fridge stocked so they can be safer, happier, healthier and more hopeful.

But charities like Barnardo’s can only do so much – the government needs to take urgent action to end child poverty.

The chancellor should take the opportunity in next month’s budget to commit to a long-term scheme for local crisis support and lift the two-child limit on benefits.

Families in crisis need and deserve urgent action and sustainable solutions.

Lynn Perry is chief executive of Barnardo’s.

UK farming's 'net zero' climate target in doubt

Malcolm Prior

BBC
Rural affairs correspondent•@NewsMPrior

The NFU had set a "national aspiration" for farming to produce net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040

Ambitious plans to make farming ‘net zero’ by 2040 - 10 years ahead of the UK’s legally-binding national target – may not be achieved, the National Farmers' Union (NFU) has told the BBC.

Reaching net zero means no longer adding to the total amount of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere. The NFU said a lack of investment in climate-friendly farming measures by the previous government had made doing that by 2040 “tricky” but insisted that the deadline would not be dropped.

Meanwhile, the Soil Association warned that UK agriculture would not be able to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions “without radical changes".

The government said it was “committed to reducing emissions in the farming sector”.

NFU president Tom Bradshaw believes farming remains a key part of efforts to decarbonise the UK economy


The UK has a legally-binding target under the Climate Change Act to be net zero by 2050.

In 2019, the NFU set its own target for agriculture in England and Wales to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

Farming is currently responsible for around 12% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions, predominantly nitrous oxide from fertilisers and manure and methane from ruminant livestock, as well as carbon dioxide - to a much lesser extent - from energy and fuel.

The drive to net zero in farming has focused on helping farmers to develop more efficient and sustainable production methods, changing how land is managed in order to capture more carbon in the soil and boosting on-farm renewable energy schemes.

When it was launched, the 2040 target was described as “a national aspiration, not an expectation that every farm can reach net zero”.

But, while work to reduce emissions is largely left to individual farms, the industry has pilot projects under way to monitor and record that work and help form a national picture of progress made towards net zero.


The NFU has called for the UK’s total agriculture budget to be increased from £3.5bn to £5.6bn


The government says it is helping farmers reduce greenhouse gases through the post-Brexit farm payments system, known as environmental land management schemes (ELMs).

But the NFU said that its target would now be “tough to hit” because the previous government had not put enough investment into “climate-friendly measures” under ELMs.

Tom Bradshaw, NFU president, told the BBC he still believed farming was “very much part of the solution to decarbonising the UK economy” but that more investment was needed.

“Net zero is never going to be an ambition farmers can deliver alone,” he said.

To mark Back British Farming Day on Wednesday, Mr Bradshaw called for the UK’s total agriculture budget to be increased from £3.5bn to £5.6bn.

He said that was what was needed for farmers to produce more food while “delivering for nature, energy security and climate-friendly farming”.


'Real urgency'


The call for greater funding comes amid fears the government is looking to cut £100m from its farming budget.

Both Defra and the Treasury declined to comment on any proposed cuts but the government has acknowledged there was a £358m underspend in the agricultural budget over the past three years.

Richard Benwell, CEO of environmental coalition Wildlife and Countryside Link, said any cut in the nature-friendly farming budget would “seriously endanger the transition to net zero in farming”.

Brendan Costelloe, the Soil Association’s policy director, said cuts would be a mistake “that would cost the environment, wildlife and the taxpayer more over the long-term”.

“British farming will not be able to reach net zero by 2040 without radical changes to how we produce and eat food”, he added.


The government's independent advisers, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), have already warned that progress in reducing emissions in agriculture has been slow and needs “substantial acceleration”.

The latest government figures show total agricultural greenhouse gas emissions have decreased, with nitrous oxide emissions down by 23% and methane down by 15% between 1990 and 2022.

Meanwhile, carbon dioxide from farming accounted for only 2% of total UK emissions in 2022.

Tom Lancaster, land analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said there was a “real urgency” for government to help the sector cut emissions further and to support farmers in becoming more resilient to climate extremes.

A spokeswoman for Defra said the government was still “committed to reducing emissions in the farming sector and restoring confidence amongst farmers which is at a record low".

"That is why we will restore stability and confidence by optimising our schemes and grants, to ensure we protect our food security, assist nature’s recovery and drive down emissions.

“But we will go further to support our farmers by protecting them from being undercut in trade deals, making the supply chain work more fairly and preventing shock rises in bills by switching on GB Energy,” she added.

 UK

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announces £8 billion Amazon Web Services investment, to support around 14,000 jobs per year

HM TreasurySeptember 11, 2024

The Chancellor Rachel Reeves has today [11 September] confirmed an £8 billion investment from Amazon Web Services which is estimated to support thousands of jobs across the UK.

• Chancellor Rachel Reeves secures a planned £8 billion investment from Amazon Web Services which is estimated to support around 14,000 jobs per year across the UK.
• The Chancellor will welcome the announcement as part of the Government’s mission to boost growth, unlock investment and make every part of Britian better off.
• Reeves will say the Government’s mission to ‘fix the foundations of our economy has only just begun.’

The Chancellor Rachel Reeves has today [11 September] confirmed an £8 billion investment from Amazon Web Services which is estimated to support thousands of jobs across the UK.

The Chancellor secured the planned five-year investment last week at a meeting with Amazon Web Services. The investment is estimated to support around 14,000 jobs per year at local businesses, including those across the company’s data centre supply chain such as construction, facility maintenance, engineering and telecommunications, as well as well as other jobs within the broader local economy. AWS estimates that these investments in the UK will contribute £14 billion to the UK’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 2024 to 2028.

Rachel Reeves will welcome the announcement as part of the government’s long-term mission to boost growth, unlock investment and make every part of Britain better off.

Making the announcement from a University Technical College in Silverstone

Speaking from a University Technical College in Silverstone today, which works with Amazon Web Services to introduce students to the skills required to enter the digital infrastructure industry, the Chancellor will warn that ‘change cannot happen overnight’ and ‘two quarters of positive economic growth will not make up for fourteen years of stagnation under the previous government.’

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves said:  

“I am under no illusion to the scale of the challenge facing our economy and I will be honest with the British people that change will not happen overnight. Two quarters of positive economic growth does not make up for fourteen years of stagnation under the previous government.

“However, this £8 billion investment marks the start of the economic revival and shows Britain is a place to do business. I am determined to go further so we can deliver on our mandate to create jobs, unlock investment and make every part of Britain better off. The hard work to fix the foundations of our economy has only just begun.”

Amazon Web Services Vice President and Managing Director, Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA), Tanuja Randery said:

“The next few years could be among the most pivotal for the UK’s digital and economic future, as organisations of all sizes across the country increasingly embrace technologies like cloud computing and AI to help them accelerate innovation, increase productivity, and compete on the global stage.

“AWS is proud to announce our plans to invest £8 billion in digital and AI infrastructure over the next five years to help meet the growing needs of our customers and partners, and support the transformation of the UK’s digital economy.”

Today’s investment announcement comes ahead of this year’s UK International Investment Summit on 14 October, where the UK will bring together the world’s most important companies and investors, demonstrating how the UK’s offer is the best in the world, with political and economic stability, a strategic government partnering with businesses, a proper trade strategy, and policies designed to enable growth.

Amazon Web Services  ‘to invest £8bn in UK

 over  next five years’

Martyn Landi, PA Technology Correspondent
Tue, 10 Sept 2024, 

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is to invest £8 billion over the next five years building, operating and maintaining data centres in the UK, the company has announced.

The technology giant said the growth of cloud computing and artificial intelligence was key to the increasing investment, which the firm said could contribute around £14 billion to the UK’s GDP and help support around 14,000 jobs each year.

The development and maintenance of new AI tools requires increasingly large amounts of computing power and server space, meaning firms such as AWS are well placed to benefit from the rising demand for cloud computing capacity.

Many of the world’s largest companies use AWS data centres, and in the UK includes Deliveroo, easyJet, EDF, Just Eat, Monzo, NatWest, Sainsbury’s and others, as well as government agencies, educational institutions and public sector firms.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “I am under no illusion to the scale of the challenge facing our economy, and I will be honest with the British people that change will not happen overnight.

“Two quarters of positive economic growth does not make up for 14 years of stagnation under the previous government.

“However, this £8 billion investment marks the start of the economic revival and shows Britain is a place to do business.

“I am determined to go further so we can deliver on our mandate to create jobs, unlock investment and make every part of Britain better off. The hard work to fix the foundations of our economy has only just begun.”

AWS said the investment was part of the company’s long-term commitment to support growth and productivity across the country.

Tanuja Randery, vice president and managing director for AWS in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said: “The next few years could be among the most pivotal for the UK’s digital and economic future, as organisations of all sizes across the country increasingly embrace technologies like cloud computing and AI to help them accelerate innovation, increase productivity, and compete on the global stage.

“We’re proud to announce our plans to invest £8 billion in digital and AI infrastructure over the next five years to help meet the growing needs of our customers and partners, and support the transformation of the UK’s digital economy.”

 

Urgent Request For Support – Media Lens In Financial Crisis

10th September 2024 Alerts

Media Lens is a UK-based media watchdog. It is our response to the increasingly centralised, corporate, state-subservient nature of the mislabelled ‘mainstream’ media system (‘MSM’). We argue that the ‘MSM’, in fact, acts as a de facto propaganda system for the state, corporations (notably, the ‘defence industry’), the security services and other establishment interests. The costs incurred as a result of this propaganda – in terms of human and animal suffering, climate catastrophe and environmental degradation – are incalculable.

When Media Lens started in July 2001, we were a miniscule operation with zero funding, no office, doing what we could in our spare time. Media Lens consisted of just two writers and editors: David Cromwell and David Edwards, assisted by a tech-savvy webmaster: initially Phil Chandler, then Olly Maw and, more recently, Keyvan Minoukadeh.

Our objective has been to raise public awareness of the deep, systemic bias in the major news media; very much including those outlets we are supposed to regard as the most fair, balanced and authoritative: notably BBC News, the Guardian, the Observer and the Independent. We have been happy to also dismantle the propaganda profusions of the right-wing press.

We have tried as far as possible to root our work in rationality, hard fact, and reliable sources, while maintaining a deeply-held commitment to the principles of non-violence and compassion. In 2007, we were honoured to receive the Gandhi Foundation International Peace Award.

In the days before Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), we relied solely on our mailing list to reach readers. Initially, media alerts were just sent to a handful of friends and a few contacts with an interest in the media and human rights. The mailing list grew steadily, and we unexpectedly started receiving donations from the public. On a couple of occasions, we successfully applied for small grants provided by progressive funding organisations.

By 2003, public donations were sufficient to enable David Edwards to work full-time on Media Lens. David Cromwell joined him in 2010.

We have published hundreds of media alerts, dozens of more philosophical and spiritual ‘cogitations’, and three jointly written books via Pluto Press: ‘Guardians of Power’ (2006), ‘Newspeak’ (2009) and ‘Propaganda Blitz’ (2018). We have also written two solo books during our time with Media Lens: ‘Why Are We The Good Guys?’ (Cromwell, Zero Books, 2012) and the forthcoming, ‘A Short Book About Ego… And The Remedy Of Meditation’ (Edwards, Mantra Books, 2025). After over 23 years, Media Lens remains solely the work of the same two writers.

In 2016, on our 15^th anniversary, Noam Chomsky endorsed our work:

‘For 15 years, Media Lens has provided incisive critical analysis of media coverage of major events of current history while also offering a valuable corrective to distortion, misrepresentation, and crucial omissions.  A major contribution for those seeking a realistic understanding of what is happening in the world.’

John Pilger, who sadly died last December and whose invaluable website has just been relaunched, was a great friend and supporter of Media Lens from the very beginning. He praised our work thus:

‘At a time when journalism has become anti-journalism — the facade behind which powerful vested interests control much of our lives — Media Lens is a beacon, a whistleblower, unflagging in subverting lies, spin and hypocrisy, inspirational in its truth-telling.’

He added:

‘Not since Orwell and Chomsky has perceived reality been so skillfully revealed in the cause of truth.’

We are tremendously grateful to everyone who has supported us and anyone who continues to do so. Unfortunately, despite such valued contributions, Media Lens is now in the direst financial crisis of our existence. Funds are due to run out before the end of the year and the future looks highly uncertain.

A significant factor behind our predicament is the rise of social media. While we always had grave misgivings about using profit-maximising, global corporate platforms like Facebook and X, they did initially seem like a powerful way to reach a wider audience. Almost everybody else thought so, too, which is why almost all left-green progressives use them to send and receive information and views that challenge the ‘mainstream consensus’.

But it is no surprise that the social media ‘revolution’ has turned out to be a poisoned chalice. The reactionary corporate imposition of algorithms, shadow banning, downranking, untagging, debanking and other dissent-crushing mechanisms mean that most people who chose to follow us simply never see our posts, media alerts and cogitations. The situation has become so farcical, with posts reaching such a tiny handful of people, that it hardly seems worth our posting at all.

The public’s attention has been largely captured by corporate social media. While it might look for all the world that lively debate is taking place, progressives like us have been increasingly pushed out of the conversation. It is naturally difficult for readers to muster enthusiasm for supporting voices that are being drowned out by corporate-approved messages and who hardly appear to exist. 

Many people donate, or have donated, to us via regular PayPal subscriptions. However, currently a whole slew of these subscriptions has been ‘suspended’. This normally happens when your registered credit or debit card expires. You may not even be aware that you are no longer financially supporting us.

Please check if your PayPal subscription is still active. If not, and you wish to continue supporting us, please activate a new subscription with a new card. It is not possible to ‘reactivate’ an old subscription. Please visit our donate page to support us by credit/debit card or PayPal.

You can also support us via a standing order from a UK bank. Please contact us directly at editor@medialens.org for our bank details (which the bank has advised us we should not share online for security reasons).

We have never been comfortable issuing appeals for donations. This is especially true now, when there is an ongoing Israeli genocide of Palestinians, and a vital need to support the victims of that genocide. There are, of course, many deserving causes in the UK and abroad that also need support.

We are simply asking, if you are in a sufficiently comfortable financial position, to consider supporting our work into the future. Thank you.

DC & DE

ASSASSINATED BY ZIONIST SNIPER

‘No one should be shot for a protest’: US’ Blinken warns Israel after ‘unprovoked and unjustified’ killing of American activist

WAGGING HIS FINGER FIERCELY


Palestinian security forces carry the body of slain Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, covered with a chequerred keffiyeh and the Palestinian flag, during a memorial service starting from the Rafidia hospital in Nablus. — AFP pic
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Wednesday, 11 Sep 2024 

LONDON, Sept 11 — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday urged Israel to make “fundamental changes” in its operations in the occupied West Bank after the military acknowledged its fire likely killed a US citizen activist there.

US President Joe Biden later said he thought the killing of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was an “accident”, but Blinken called it “unprovoked and unjustified”.

After an initially measured response to Eygi’s death on Friday, pending a fact-finding exercise, Blinken said the United States would raise it at senior levels with its key ally.

The investigation, and eyewitness accounts, make clear “that her killing was both unprovoked and unjustified”, Blinken told reporters on a visit to London.

“No one should be shot and killed for attending a protest,” he said.


“In our judgement, Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way that they operate in the West Bank, including changes to their rules of engagement.

“We have the second American citizen killed at the hands of Israeli security forces. It’s not acceptable. It has to change.”


Biden told reporters hours later however that the killing appeared to have been an accident.

“Apparently it was an accident — it ricocheted off the ground, and she got hit by accident,” Biden said, without elaborating.

Ceasefire push

Eygi, who was 26 and also held Turkish citizenship, was killed as she attended the site of weekly demonstrations against Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law but supported by right-wing members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

The Israeli military said it had found that it was “highly likely that she was hit indirectly and unintentionally by IDF (Israeli army) fire”.

It added that the fire “was not aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator of the riot”.



Palestinians and international activists lift portraits of slain Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi as they arrive for her final farewell at the Rafidia hospital morgue in Nablus in the occupied West Bank on September 8, 2024. — AFP pic

It said Eygi was killed “during a violent riot in which dozens of Palestinian suspects burned tyres and hurled rocks towards security forces at the Beita Junction”.

But Eygi’s family rejected the military’s version of events and called its preliminary inquiry “wholly inadequate”.

“She was taking shelter in an olive grove when she was shot in the head and killed by a bullet from an Israeli soldier,” they said in a statement.

“This cannot be misconstrued as anything other except a deliberate, targeted and precise attack by the military against an unarmed civilian.”

‘Peaceful’ demonstration

Eygi was a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a pro-Palestinian organisation.

On Saturday it dismissed claims that ISM activists threw rocks at Israeli forces as “false” and said the demonstration was peaceful.

The United Nations’ rights office had earlier said Israeli forces killed Eygi with a “shot in the head”.

The mayor of Beita, the Palestinian official news agency Wafa and her family also reported that Israeli soldiers killed her.

Turkey said she was killed by “Israeli occupation soldiers”, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — a fierce critic of Israel despite his country’s ties with the country — condemning Israel as “barbaric”.

The United States is the crucial supporter of Israel, providing billions of dollars in weapons and diplomatic support.

It has maintained its support despite concern over the deaths of several US citizens.

Blinken also has been at the forefront of efforts to seek a ceasefire in the 11-month war.

He acknowledged that “very hard” differences remained, but said that all sides would benefit from a deal that would “turn down the temperature” in Gaza.

“It’s clearly in Israel’s interest,” he said.

Speaking next to Blinken, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy voiced outrage at a different Israeli strike on Tuesday in a designated safe zone that officials in Hamas-run Gaza said killed 40 people.

Israel said it targeted a Hamas command centre.

“We’re meeting at a critical moment — a critical moment for securing a ceasefire in Gaza, with the shocking deaths in Khan Yunis this morning only reinforcing how desperately needed that ceasefire is,” Lammy said. — AFP