UK

Solidarity with Barnet UNISON’s mental health social worker strike!

13th September 2024Leave a Commenton Solidarity with Barnet UNISON’s mental health social worker strike!

“Barnet UNISON mental health social workers’ dispute with Barnet Council since 1 September 2023 has been over the failure to agree a recruitment and retention payment due to high turnover of staff across three mental health social worker teams.”

From Barnet UNISON

Background

There are three mental health social work teams in this dispute.

• Mental Health Social Work North Team = 13 staff
• Health Social Work South Team = 14 staff
• Approved Mental Health Professional Team (AMHP) = 5 staff

Barnet UNISON mental health social workers’ dispute with Barnet Council since 1 September 2023 has been over the failure to agree a recruitment and retention payment due to high turnover of staff across three mental health social worker teams.

On Monday 15 July 2024 UNISON wrote to Barnet Council suspending strike action and agreeing to go into talks to try and resolve the dispute.

Unfortunately talks broke down, as it became clear in the meeting that Barnet Council were not prepared to reconsider their position.

This report seeks to provide information about the dispute which is now one of the longest running disputes in UNISON’s history.

Leavers’ data

1. Did you know 50% of the permanent workforce will have left the three mental health social work teams workforce since 1 January 2024?

2. Did you know that 31 mental health social workers will have left one of the mental health social work teams in the last two years?

3. Did you know that 12 mental health social workers have left the mental health social work team North in the last two years?

4. Did you know that 17 mental health social workers have left the mental health social work team South in the last two years?

5. Did you know that the mental health social work team South has no AMHPs?

6. Did you know that mental health social work team North has no AMHPs as of 1 September 2024?

7. Did you know that only one out of a mental health social work team management team of four is an AMHP?

8. Did you know that two out of four managers mental health social work teams have no previous experience of working in mental health services?

9. Did you know that by the end of August 2024 of the four Lead Practitioner (LP) posts across North and South mental health social work teams there will be two vacancies, leaving only one LP with experience working as a mental health social worker and one LP with no previous experience working as a mental health social worker?

10. Did you know that 40% of AMHPs have left the AMHP team in the last two months?

11. Did you know that there are only 3 AMHPs across the three mental health social work team team?

12. Did you know that there are only 3 social workers left out of 14 who were in the mental health social work team North on 11 August 2022? Nine of the social workers have left. This represents 80% of the team. Please note that this team only employed social workers. Barnet Council introduced unqualified staff into the team in 2023 when social workers started to leave.

13. Did you know that there are only 3 social workers left out of 14 who were in the mental health social work team South on 11 August 2022? Nine of the social workers have left. This represents 80% of the team. Please note that this team only employed social workers. Barnet Council introduced unqualified staff into the team in 2023 when social workers started to leave.

Service user issues

1. Did you know that every time a social worker (either permanent or locum) leaves this means further disruption for mental health service users?

2. Did you know that there is still a 17-month waitlist for service users with mental health problems?

Barnet Council

1. Did you know that Barnet Council were asked to provide staff leaving data in July 2023 and only brought some data at a meeting with UNISON in March 2024? The data provided was not evidence of recruitment and retention issues.

2. Did you know that in July 2023 Barnet Council informed UNISON that they had a budget of £266k to resolve this dispute?

3. Did you know in a meeting with Acas in March 2024 with UNISON they doubled that figure to £532k?

4. Did you know that Barnet Council said they could easily settle our dispute because it was cheaper?

5. Did you know that it would cost £150k to settle this dispute?

6. Did you know that it took Barnet Council seven months before they would agree to a meeting with UNISON and Acas?

7. Did you know that in July 2024 UNISON wrote to Barnet Council suspending strike action? In that meeting with the knowledge that another 25% of permanent social workers had handed in their notice, Barnet Council brought no revised offer to the negotiating table.

8. Did you know that Barnet Council used a recruitment agency to strike break? They deny it was strike breaking, arguing that they outsourced the service. There has been no consultation about outsourcing services with UNISON.

9. Did you know that Barnet Council carried out a restructure of mental health social work teams? A report entitled “Adults Social Care Mental Health Service Restructure Consultation Report and Final Proposals, July 2022” was shared with staff.

Two years on and this is the list of their 17 outstanding actions:

• There will be further consultation and engagement with staff to review team criteria; improve processes and pathways; and ensure there are effective ways to work alongside health colleagues for the benefit of the residents we support.
• Move of MH Front Door to SCD – suggested this is postponed until referrals criteria are confirmed and training for SCD staff is provided on this basis
• To develop and implement a retention strategy for mental health social work staff
• To review existing staffing ratios in mental health service to ensure sufficiency and that teams can operate safely and will not be at risk of burn out.
• Further need for data cleansing (those noted on Mosaic as having a mental health as a primary need are accurately recorded as such) and addressing backlog of updating contacts in Mosaic
• Co-production with people we support to find out what they think and what changes are necessary.

Ideas to explore further in transformation process:

• A multi-agency crisis team
• Staff specifically dedicated to conducting Care and Support Plan reviews
• Specialist worker for carrying out CHC checklist or using existing resources in CHC.

Risk highlighted:

• End of Think -Ahead Students placements impacting negatively on capacity (students are currently holding large number of cases)
• Backlog of reviews.
• Gaps in service availability need to be addressed by the commissioning plan.
• Additional business support resource was added to the original proposal.
• The transfer of the MH front door to SCD has been postponed until September, to ensure criteria are clear and staff have been trained on this basis.
• Further work will be undertaken as part of the workforce strategy and business planning process to look at the capacity of teams across adult social care given the pressures of demand that the service faces.
• Duty arrangements will need to be finalised and discussed with managers and staff to reflect the move of initial contact to SCD.
• Mental Health Teams wished to maintain access to Rio.

Publicity about the dispute

1. Did you know that Community Care published 15 articles about this dispute which you can read here on our website?:

2. Did you know that UNISON wrote to CQC outlining our serious concerns about the crisis unfolding across mental health social work teams? 

https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/FINAL-LETTER-TO-CQC.pdf

3. Did you know that UNISON wrote to Association of Directors of Social Services (ADASS) outlining our serious concerns about  the crisis unfolding across mental health social work teams?

 https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/FINAL-LETTER-TO-ADASS.pdf

4. Did you know that UNISON wrote to Social Work England outlining our serious concerns about the crisis unfolding across mental health social work teams?

https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/FINAL-LETTER-TO-SWE.docx

5. Did you know that UNISON wrote to Executive Director of Adult Social Care Dawn Wakeling outlining our serious concerns about the crisis unfolding across mental health social work teams?

https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2023/11/16/open-letter-to-executive-director-of-adult-social-care-mental-health-social-work-dispute/

6. Did you know that UNISON wrote to Director of Adult Social Care James Mass outlining our serious concerns about the crisis unfolding across mental health social work teams? 

https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2023/11/16/open-letter-to-director-of-adult-social-care-mental-health-social-work-dispute/

7. Did you know that UNISON wrote to Leader of Labour controlled Barnet Council Barry Rawlings outlining our serious concerns about the crisis unfolding across mental health social work teams?

 https://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2023/11/15/open-letter-to-cllr-barry-rawlings-leader-of-barnet-council/

8. Did you know that UNISON produced a community newspaper (Barnet VOICE) for Barnet residents outlining our serious concerns about the crisis unfolding across mental health social work teams?

Click to access Barnet-Voice-4-v08.pdf

9. Did you know that 20,000 community newspapers were delivered to Barnet residents?

10. Did you know that Guardian Journalist Aditya Chakrabortty wrote an article about this dispute entitled Euphoria felled by reality and scant ambition – I have seen what could be Labour’s future? 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/02/euphoria-reality-labour-future-thatcher-tory

11. Did you know the Tribune newspaper covered the dispute in this article?

‘It’s Soul Destroying’: Why Barnet Social Workers Are on Strike https://tribunemag.co.uk/2024/06/its-soul-destroying-why-barnet-social-workers-are-on-strike

12. Did you know that an Early day motion was submitted about the Barnet UNISON mental health social worker dispute, which you can view here?:

https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/61831/barnet-mental-health-union-dispute

13. Did you know that hundreds of trade union members have signed a public statement calling upon the Leader of Barnet Council, Cllr Barry Rawlings to stop the use of agency workers to strike break? View statement here:

https://bit.ly/barnetstrike

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• This article was originally published by Barnet UNISON on 4/9/2024.
• You can follow Barnet UNISON on Twitter/X and Facebook, and UNISON nationally on Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram and TikTok.

 

In Our NHS, in-house is best

13th September 2024NHS, Trade Unions, UNISONLeave a Commenton In Our NHS, in-house is best

“Private contractors run services as cheaply as they can: cutting corners and slashing staff pay and conditions so that they can make a profit.”

Labour Outlook is sharing this petition from UNISON opposing the outsourcing of NHS support staff in East Suffolk and North Essex- it is crucial that we build opposition to proposals like these which are directly opposed to the interests of both staff and patients.

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust has announced plans to sell hundreds of cleaners, caterers, porters, security and other support staff out of the health service.

It means facilities services will be run by a private company responsible to their shareholders, not patients. Private contractors run services as cheaply as they can — cutting corners and slashing staff pay and conditions — so that they can make a profit.

Colchester services are currently in house, but at Ipswich facilities services are outsourced.

The £50m contract runs out in April 2025. Instead of taking the chance to bring everything in house and run directly for the benefits of patients, the trust board has decided to privatise all services as a job lot.

Sign the UNISON petition to send a message to the trust board: we want NHS services to be delivered by the NHS!

You can add your signature here.

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• This petition has been initiated by UNISON– you can follow them on Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram and TikTok. 

Type your email…

UK

Wera Hobhouse MP: Labour must engage local communities on transition to net-zero

Chris Jarvis Yesterday


Left Foot Forward spoke to Wera Hobhouse at the Liberal Democrat conference

The Liberal Democrats are currently holding their autumn conference in Brighton – the first to take place since the 2024 general election saw the party win a record 72 seats in the House of Commons, and – of course – the first to take place under a Labour government for 15 years.

This context is the backdrop to the conversation Left Foot Forward had with Wera Hobhouse – the Lib Dem MP for Bath – at the conference. Hobhouse is the party’s spokesperson on climate and transport, and our conversation centred on these two big issues which the new government has already made major policy announcements on.

Hobhouse is clear that there is a marked difference between the new Labour government and the Tory one that preceded it. Branding the record of the Tories on climate “abominable”, Hobhouse told Left Foot Forward that the first steps from Labour have been “very welcome”.

She said: “We just needed something fresh and new, and I’m glad that the Labour government has come in with a mission. Ed Miliband has set out immediately – and we’ve already done the second reading – of the GB Energy Bill. So clearly the government is pushing forward and that is very welcome.”

“Two months is obviously not enough to make any judgement really on their record. But what has definitely changed is the whole atmosphere and the way government is talking about the climate emergency and the need to have the energy transformation in order to avert all the things that we have been talking about in the past. So it’s a fresh start. It’s welcome. What we hear is absolutely right.”

Despite this positive tone, Hobhouse also has a strong critique of elements of Labour’s plans. Saying that she intends to spend the next year “scrutinising” the government on its action on the climate.

In particular, Hobhouse told Left Foot Forward that she is concerned about the government’s willingness to engage local communities in its development of the infrastructure needed to transition to net-zero.

“They haven’t really looked at any process of how they can gain local consent”, Hobhouse said, adding: “I think if they’re not careful, then they are running into trouble.”

She went on to argue that without engaging local communities around the development of new infrastructure, the government risked people turning towards the political right and to campaigners who oppose taking action the climate crisis.

Hobhouse told Left Foot Forward: “We do have very strong local democracy campaigners and advocates for having their voices heard. And unless a Labour government recognises this and understands that these decisions also have to be made from the bottom up rather than the top down, I think that is the greatest danger that we currently see – that it’s going to all be top-down decisions and we’re building up a large group of discontent people which will then only fall into the hands of anti-climate campaigners and the right wingers – we’ve already seen that. So it’s a big challenge for the government to contain that.

Building on this, Hobhouse suggested that the Liberal Democrats could play a role in supporting the government to garner support in local communities for this transition.

She said: “I think we Liberal Democrats are best placed to support the Labour government in that we are on board with their overall aims, but we are also strong advocates for localism and decision making from the bottom up. And I see my role particularly as making sure the government engages with myself – if I continue as a spokesperson – but also the Liberal Democrats, on how can we strengthen community energy, how can we strengthen a new devolution settlement with funding for net zero for local authorities”.

This isn’t the only time that Hobhouse mentioned community energy. When discussing the areas she wants to influence the government on, community energy comes up again. She said: “My amendments to the GB Energy will be on community energy because it’s completely missing. And that’s a little bit disappointing since Labour in opposition has talked a lot about community energy, and now it’s missing.”

While she has critiques on some areas of Labour’s policy programme like this, in other areas, Hobhouse is almost wholly positive. One such area is the government’s proposals that local authorities should be given powers to regulate and franchise their buses – powers which are currently only held by combined authorities with metropolitan mayors such as Greater Manchester.

She said: “We have been arguing for local authorities franchising their own buses. So it shouldn’t only be mayors, it should also be local councils so that’s absolutely gone into our direction. So, no further things things to say. That’s positive, we support it, fantastic. Bus services couldn’t be more on their knees than they already are.”

But that uncritical support doesn’t extend to Labour’s other flagship transport policy – bringing the rail operators back into public ownership. Describing the Liberal Democrats’ position as “agnostic” on renationalisation, Hobhouse told Left Foot Forward that her priority was “improvements of rail services”, irrespective of the ownership question.

She said: “On what is called renationalising the railways, we have said that we are ultimately agnostic about whether it’s in private or public ownership. We can wait and see whether the government is correct in saying that all the problems that we have with the railway system is because it’s private. That is, of course, a particular argument. What we’ve been saying is we just want to see the improvements of rail services for passengers – and that is around more affordable journeys, that’s about a more reliable service, and that’s about a much more transparent ticketing system.”

Overall, Hobhouse struck a clear tone throughout the conversation – relief that the Tories are no longer in office, optimism about some elements of Labour’s programme, and determination to push for changes to government policy where her party has disagreements with it. Expect much more of that from the Liberal Democrats in the coming five years.

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

Image credit: Wera Hobhouse – Creative Commons

UK

Opinion

Inside the Lib Dem election celebration rally that showed the party has never been happier

Chris Jarvis 

Yesterday
 Left Foot Forward

Stand-up routines. Confetti cannons. AI generated images of Ed Davey in a wet suit. This rally had it all.

The Liberal Democrats are in high spirits. Following their record-breaking election results earlier this year, that’s no surprise.

There are now more Lib Dem MPs in parliament than ever before. July saw the party jump from 15 to 72 seats, and the membership is over the moon. Joy among the party faithful has been on full display as they gather in Brighton this week for their autumn conference.

On the conference’s first night, a packed-out auditorium played host to the Lib Dems’ post-election celebration. It was billed as a ‘rally’, but in reality the event was more a slightly surreal hour of light entertainment hosted by an assorted cast of the party’s new MPs.

Complete with light shows, audience participation, confetti cannons, stand-up routines and AI generated images of Ed Davey in a wetsuit, the rally saw newly elected MPs tell the story of the Lib Dem general election campaign and thank the activists that helped deliver it.

The elation in the room was palpable. Not just among the MPs, who grinned their way through their scripted jokes, canvassing anecdotes, amateur dramatics, and highlight reels of Ed Davey’s antics from the campaign trail. But also among the audience, who whooped and cheered their way through the event. Whenever the number ’72’ was mentioned, the room burst into spontaneous applause.

Clearly the Lib Dems are chuffed with themselves. And they have every reason to be. For a party that since the demise of the coalition government has been treated as a footnote by the bulk of the media and regarded – until recently – as an afterthought by much of the electorate, becoming established as a major parliamentary force again is something they are understandably keen on celebrating.

However, what was missing from the rally was any clarity on what it was all for – any clarity on what those 72 MPs are planning to use their new found influence to change. For a political rally, it was pretty devoid of politics.

What little we did get in that regard came from the party’s deputy leader Daisy Cooper. But even that didn’t go much beyond slogans. She told the audience: “After almost a decade of the worst Tory government of our lifetime, the British public deserve a fair deal,” later saying: “Until every single person in this country can see a doctor or a dentist when they need one, until every hard-working family does not have to chose between heating and eating, and until water companies stop pumping raw sewage into our rivers and seas, we will continue to fight on these issues.”

But perhaps it doesn’t matter that we don’t yet know a huge amount about what these MPs plan on doing, beyond being ‘local champions’ – as every speaker in the auditorium seems keen on repeating. There’s still plenty of time at the conference and in the coming months for the party to set that out.

The Lib Dem leader Ed Davey – closing the rally to a standing ovation – certainly didn’t think that was the key question. Instead, he asked the audience: “Do you like winning?” and “Are we gonna keep on winning, and winning more?”

For the Lib Dems, winning has been elusive for some time. So it’s not hugely surprising that winning is the big thing on their mind and the big thing that’s made them happier than they’ve ever been.

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

UK
Poll shows that the Greens are the only party with a positive favourability rating

Chris Jarvis

13 September, 2024 
Left Foot Forward

The Tories also have the most negative favourability tarting

Polling firm Ipsos has released its latest Political Pulse – a monthly tracker of public attitudes on political parties, major politicians and the big issues facing the UK. The data has revealed what the public think about the major political parties in the UK.

Ipsos asked a representative sample of the British public whether they had an favourable or unfavourable view of each of the parties.

These are the figures:

Labour: Favourable – 32%, Unfavourable – 46%, Neither – 15%. Net = -14

Tories: Favourable – 24%, Unfavourable – 52%, Neither – 20%. Net = -28

Lib Dems: Favourable – 28%, Unfavourable – 34%, Neither – 32%. Net -6

Green Party: Favourable – 30%, Unfavourable – 29%, Neither – 33%. Net +1

Reform UK: Favourable – 28%, Unfavourable – 47%, Neither – 18%. Net -19

That means that of the UK’s political parties, only the Greens currently have a positive favourability rating, where more people have a favourable opinion of them than have a negative one.

It also means that the Tories have by some distance the most negative favourability rating…

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

UK
Activists kick off week of climate protests with banner drop on Westminster Bridge

Over 200 protests are set to take place across more than 50 countries

Chris Jarvis

 13 September, 2024 

On the morning of September 13, a group of climate activists marked the start of a week of protests by dropping a giant banner reading “#EndFossilFuels – Fast, fair, forever” on Westminster Bridge. The week of protest is billed as a ‘global week of action for climate financ and a fossil free future’.


From 13-20 September, activists from across the UK will join people in over 50 countries for more than 200 protests. Campaigners are using the week of action to call for governments to implement a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels and to provide finance to mitigate the damage already caused by the climate crisis.

Tyrone Scott, Senior Movement Building and Activism Officer at War on Want, said: “The UK government’s reliance on oil and gas is worsening climate breakdown with the UK already the second largest oil and gas producer in Europe — whilst continuing to expand fossil fuel operations.

“Now, with a new government in place, we need to raise pressure to ensure they make adequate commitments to tackle the climate crisis. This new government might be better at saying some of the right words when it comes to climate, but their actions must speak louder. We’re taking action over the next week to stand in solidarity with our global movements and partners — some of which are facing the worst effects of climate breakdown.”

In the UK, actions are will be led by groups including the Climate Justice Coalition, War on Want, Friends of the Earth Scotland, Fossil Free London, Fossil Free Parliament and Biofuelwatch. Demonstrations are set to take place in London, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Glasgow, Bradford, Manchester and other locations across the country.

The global week of action comes as world leaders and representatives embark on a series of crucial international summits. Campaigners see the upcoming UN General Assembly, the UN Summit of the Future and the Global Renewables Summit all taking place one after the other in September as crucial opportunities for global movements to push governments, international institutions and corporations to take action on the climate crisis.

Sally Clark, Divestment Campaigner at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “With record temperatures and extreme weather around the world, it’s never been more urgent for our councils and the Government to stop funding fossil fuel companies like BP, Shell and TotalEnergies that are driving climate breakdown and injustice around the world.

“For the sake of our planet, it’s vital for our politicians to divest from fossil fuels and say no to climate-wrecking projects like the Rosebank oil field and the proposed new gas power station in Peterhead.

“By instead investing in genuine climate solutions like social housing and wind and solar power, we can protect communities and ensure a liveable future for everyone.”

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

Nurseries in England say new rules have reduced care to ‘crowd control’

Anna Fazackerley
Sat 14 September 2024


Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson at a nursery in Croydon.Photograph: PA Images/Alamy

The first major study into the Conservatives’ controversial shake-up of childcare has revealed that nursery staff are often doing more “crowd control” than education, because of the increased number of children they are looking after.

Since September last year, nurseries in England have been allowed to increase child-to-staff ratios, so one adult now looks after five two-year-olds rather than four. The change was intended to help deliver the party’s pledge of 15 hours’ free childcare a week from this month for working parents of children aged from nine months to three years.

But according to the study, shared with the Observer, a third of staff (32%) at nurseries that followed the new guidelines feel that quality has been hit.

The survey of 152 early-years settings by researchers at Northampton and Nottingham Trent universities, heard from staff who felt they were now “simply firefighting”, with some admitting that arrangements for two-year-olds were no longer safe.

The findings will increase pressure on Labour, which has committed to double the number of free hours a week to 30 next September. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson has promised a “sea change” in early-years education, but critics warned that the situation will get worse unless nurseries can hire more staff.

Aaron Bradbury, lecturer in early childhood studies at Nottingham Trent University, who co-authored the research, said: “We found those who increased their ratios are often experiencing real problems, with children left to cry or hurting themselves because staff are overwhelmed.”

He said that many providers had “stuck to their principles” and refused to increase the number of children per adult, but with the sector in deep crisis and many nurseries closing, others had had to take more children “just to keep the lights on”.

Calling on the Labour government to conduct an urgent review following these “damning” results, Bradbury said: “This was only ever about cost-cutting, but parents want their children to be nurtured and safe.”

One practitioner who responded to the anonymous survey said: “It makes my role impossible.

“Instead of educating, I’m simply crowd control.”

She added that older pre-schoolers were often left to their own devices.

Another said: “We often find it difficult to give children the attention they need.”

She said that if one staff member had to go and change a nappy or help an injured child, their colleague would often be left in charge of so many children that it was “unsafe”.

A nursery director with 20 years’ experience agreed.

Staff were “more obviously stressed” under the new ratio, which meant they interacted with the children differently and, as a result, “­children are less happy and less engaged in play”.

Over a quarter of respondents (27%) said the change had harmed staff wellbeing, with many nursery heads reporting staff absent with sickness or stress, and more staff leaving. One director said staff were lasting an average of four to five months.

Another nursery director said: “Why would you work in such an incredibly stressful environment when you can stack shelves for more money?”

Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, which represents 14,000 providers of care and education to under-fives in England, said: “The sector is on its knees, and we have a recruitment and retention ­crisis worse than ever before, so ministers were out of their minds to increase ratios.”

Leitch said: “The [Conservative] government made this announcement about two-year-olds being entitled to 15 hours of free childcare a week and then thought, ‘How the hell are we going to deliver this?’.

“Nurseries shouldn’t just watch over children; we should help them develop.”

David Wright, co-founder of the Paint Pots group of 13 nurseries and pre-schools in Hampshire, which hasn’t increased ratios, said: “You’ve only got one pair of arms and can only respond to one child at a time.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We hear the concerns from the sector about the balance between managing finances, staffing and offering the places parents need.”

The spokesperson added that the staff-to-child ratios “are a minimum requirement – there is no obligation to adopt them”.

UK Boxing's shameful past retold in play

Neil Prior
BBC News

Theatr na nÓg
Kev McCurdy taught boxing moves to the cast

One of boxing's most shameful chapters will be retold in a new play.

Cuthbert Taylor was born in Merthyr Tydfil in 1909 and competed for Great Britain in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.

But he was denied the right to fight for the British title because of the colour of his skin and, because his father was of Caribbean heritage, the British Boxing Board of Control, (BBBoC) deemed him "not white enough" to be British.

Now his story and that of the boxing's colour bar is being brought to life by director Kev McCurdy in The Fight.

Under the BBBoC’s colour bar, which ran from 1911 to 1948, boxers had to have been born to two white parents.

In a 20-year professional career Cuthbert won 151 bouts, drew 22 and lost 69.

The bantamweight and lightweight sold out Liverpool’s Anfield stadium for a drawn fight against US world champion Freddy Miller in aid of the 1935 Gresford Colliery disaster.

Yet even at the Olympics a referee officiated one of Cuthbert’s fights from outside of the ring as he did not want to come into contact with a black man.

Family photo
Cuthbert fought at the 1928 Olympics and had about 250 professional bouts

Cuthbert’s grandson, Nick Taylor, said the pain of the injustice lingers to this day.

"It was bad enough that it happened then, but the fact that the BBBoC still refuse to apologise for it to this day is utterly shameful," he said.

"It shows that they just don’t get the harm their predecessors did.

"We’re not after money or compensation, all we want is an acknowledgement that the colour bar was wrong, so we can allow Cuthbert to rest in peace."

BBBoC has been asked to comment.

Boxer's family want historical colour bar apology

'The black sporting heroes who changed our lives'

The black sportswomen you should know more abou


Written by Geinor Styles and directed by McCurdy, The Fight, produced by Theatr na nÓg, will play to more than 5,000 school children across south Wales from September to November at Swansea’s Dylan Thomas Theatre and Theatr Brycheiniog in Brecon.

McCurdy, a fight choreographer, has worked on Hollywood blockbusters, Netflix programmes and the West End version of hit series Stranger Things.

Now, he is set on righting a century-old wrong with his production.

Theatr na nÓg
Kev McCurdy has choreographed fight scenes in Hollywood, for TV and on the West End

McCurdy – the only person of colour to become a qualified combat choreographer in the UK – has worked on films including Disney’s John Carter and TV series such as Doctor Who, Torchwood and Hinterland.

He hopes The Fight will "shake the dust out" of this story.

“It’s gone on far too long and it’s not just Cuthbert, it’s the same with quite a few of the other boxers of that era, such as Len Johnson," he said.

"That level of injustice because of the colour of your skin went to the very top of society. The policy was even endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Winston Churchill.

"I’m a glass half-full person but seeing as the BBBoC have failed to respond to three statements in Parliament, I’m not holding my breath."

McCurdy, who was fostered as a baby to a white family, believes Styles was wise to target her script at school-age children aged nine and above.

"Kids need to see people like them and to think critically about the effects of racism on all of us, while their minds are still open enough to entertain ideas," he said.

"We haven’t softened or dumbed down the story at all. We’re dealing with injustice, grief, love and social friendships. My kids have grown up now, but it's a fact, young people can actually handle a lot more than what we think."

Theatr na nÓg
Simeon Desvignes, who plays Cuthbert, got boxing training as part of his preparation for the role

The bouts depicted in the play have been painstakingly reconstructed from newspaper reports of Cuthbert’s style, as well as the limited remaining photos and film.

But one of the biggest challenges was making the boxing scenes as believable as possible on stage.

"It's a lot easier in cinema and TV because you have body doubles and clever edits in post-production, but on the stage there’s nowhere to hide," said McCurdy.

"Of course we’re not fighting for real, but the actors all need to know how to box and understand the key moments so if they go wrong they can get back to a point where they can pick up the sequence again."

He added that performers do not hit each other hard, but the sound of the gloves aims to add realism.

Family photo
Although injured in later life, Cuthbert remained a jolly character until his death

For Nick, there will always be a grampy behind the boxer - who died in 1977 when Nick was seven.

"I remember him as such a kind, loving grandfather," he said.

"My grandmother ran the local shop, so there’d always be plenty of sweets and even though Cuthbert had badly injured his legs in an accident at the Hoover factory, he was still a happy, uncomplaining family man."

The Fight has been developed in consultation with Show Racism the Red Card and - if successful - there has been tentative interest about turning it into a film.

‘Inhumane’ treatment of migrants rounded up in UK’s failed Rwanda plan revealed

Aaron Walawalkar and Harriet Clugston

THE GUARDIAN
Sat 14 September 2024


Home Office immigration officers carry out a detention operation of migrants in May 2024. Photograph: Home Office/PA

The “inhumane” treatment of migrants rounded up in a “futile” operation for the now scrapped Rwanda scheme, has been laid bare in testimonies from Home Office staff that reveal force was used against distressed detainees.

Internal documents disclosed to the Observer and Liberty Investigates under the Freedom of Information Act also reveal four recorded instances of migrants attempting to harm themselves after being apprehended.

Dozens of migrants facing removal to Rwanda under the previous Conservative government were detained as part of a surprise initiative, Operation Vector, launched days before the 2 May local elections in England and Wales in what critics say was an “act of political theatre”.

The arrests continued until at least a week before Rishi Sunak announced the snap general election on 22 May. He said the next day that no flights would take off until after the election on 4 July. The Labour government subsequently scrapped the scheme.

The Operation Vector reports record how Home Office immigration enforcement officers used force 60 times between 30 April and 15 May, giving a rare glimpse into the dawn raids or detention of migrants as they showed up for routine reporting centre appointments.

The documents also include testimonies from security staff at the Harmondsworth immigration removal centre in west London that detail two cases of force being used on detainees who remained locked up weeks after the Rwanda scheme was postponed by Sunak.

The new government could be hit by costly compensation claims, with the charity Bail for Immigration Detainees preparing to mount legal action, arguing the detention of about 150 migrants the government wanted to send to Rwanda was unlawful, against Home Office policy, as it could not imminently remove them, and “political theatre”.

Home Office accounts show the department paid out £56.8m in compensation for more than 2,700 wrongful detentions in the five years before the Rwanda raids.

Fran Heathcote, general secretary for the Public and Commercial Services union, whose members include immigration enforcement officers, said the union “opposed the Rwanda scheme from the start because we knew it was inhumane as well as impractical”.

She added: “What also concerns us is the likelihood Rishi Sunak knew full well the Rwanda scheme was futile and causing distress to individuals but continued to push it ahead of the general election to make a political point.”

Campaigners say further physical and mental harm could be inflicted under Labour home secretary Yvette Cooper’s plan to increase deportations to 2018 levels – with a goal to remove thousands of migrants and refused asylum seekers by the end of the year.

Measures she announced last month include redeploying hundreds of caseworkers to process their cases and moving ahead with Conservative plans to reopen two immigration removal centres. Steve Smith, chief executive of the refugee charity Care4Calais, warned that Labour’s plans “simply means more despair”.

The Operation Vector documents reveal cases of officers restraining detainees and of others being held while in clear distress.

One enforcement officer wrote of intervening to prevent a man tying his coat around his neck while “screaming and crying” in the back of a van transporting him to a detention centre. In two other cases, officers described restraining detainees who were banging their heads against the walls of transportation vans, while a third was handcuffed after reportedly headbutting a windowsill.

In one case, the wife of a man being detained was described as becoming “very erratic/hysterical”. An officer wrote:“She was shouting and screaming on and off the floor […]A few of us needed to collectively push her out of the room… We collectively blocked the doorway so she wouldn’t get back in.”

On 29 April – the first day of the roundup – an officer reported striking an asylum seeker with a palm heel martial arts technique, pinning him to the ground and putting him in a wristlock after he attempted to escape while being escorted to a cell van.

Two weeks later, another officer wrote of using a pain-inducing wristlock technique on a vulnerable man who resisted being handcuffed after he turned up at a reporting centre.

One man became severely distressed after being handcuffed inside a reporting centre and sustained a cut to his wrist as he struggled, asking repeatedly to call his brother while “dry heaving and spitting on the floor”, according to a report.

The documents also offer an insight into how frustrations mounted inside Harmondsworth, where inspectors recently said conditions are the worst they have seen.

A spokesperson for Mitie, the private security contractor that runs the centre, said it has since taken “significant action” to address inspectors’ concerns and thatimprovements had “already been made”.

Related: Home Office ‘mostly consulted Rwandan officials’ in asylum plan safety report

Custody officers employed by Mitie used force on detainees who the government planned to send to Rwanda in two incidents as recently as 11 and 12 June – nearly three weeks after the scheme was paused before the election. Many migrants held across the country before potential deportation to Rwanda have reportedly since been released.

A spokesperson for Mitie said: “Use of force is only used as a last resort, and our accredited detention custody officers [DCOs] have all undergone specialist use-of-force training in line with Home Office guidance. With this accreditation, DCOs are lawfully permitted to apply use of force when it is reasonable, necessary and proportionate.”

Smith of Care4Calais said: “There is little doubt that the last government used the survivors of war, torture and modern slavery as political pawns as their polling plummeted.

“The Rwanda plan may have been scrapped, but the anxiety it caused will live with those who were forcibly detained by politicians willing to use human suffering as an electioneering tool.”

Sunak and the Conservative party were approached for comment. The Home Office declined to comment.

Gen Z leads drive to reverse Brexit


Exclusive: New poll shows support for taking a fresh look at Britain’s decision to leave the EU. Voters believe nearly everything has got worse as a result of Brexit, from the economy and cost of living to the NHS

Simon Walters
THE INDEPENDENT

Polling shows the public thinks Brexit has harmed the country (Getty)

If another referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU was held today it would result in Brexit being reversed, according to a new poll.

A clear majority of all voters say they would opt to rejoin the EU.

Strikingly, support for overturning the UK’s decision to cut its ties with Brussels among Generation Z – who were too young to take part in the 2016 referendum – is by a two-to-one margin.

The public thinks Brexit has made almost everything worse, from the economy to immigration, cost of living, NHS, wages, exports and Britain’s standing abroad to hopes of keeping Scotland and Northern Ireland in the union.

While Brexit has slipped in the league table of public concerns, a second referendum is seen as likely at some point.

The findings of a survey by Redfield & Wilton follow moves by Sir Keir Starmer to boost Britain’s connections with the EU.

Despite having been a strong opponent of Brexit, the prime minister has made it clear he has no intention of reviewing the decision based on a 52-48 majority in the referendum eight years ago.

Speaking to reporters in Wales, two days before July’s general election, Sir Kier said: “I’ve been really clear about not rejoining the EU, the single market, or the customs union, or returning to freedom of movement.

“I’ve been equally clear that I do think we can get a better deal than the botched deal we got under Boris Johnson – on the trading front, on research and development, and on security.”

Sir Keir’s supporters say a second referendum would be divisive and a distraction from his main target of repairing public finances and public services.

Other prominent Labour figures have been more outspoken.

In an interview with The Independent editor-in-chief Geordie Greig, former prime minister Sir Tony Blair said Brexit had failed and triggered “unprecedented mass immigration”.

Former PM Tony Blair told Independent editor-in-chief Geordie Greig the UK has weakened itself with Brexit (Independent)

The Redfield & Wilton survey gives fresh ammunition to those who say Brexit has not been a success.

A total of 56 per cent say they would vote to rejoin the EU if another referendum were to be staged today.

This includes nearly one in four (23 per cent) of those who voted Leave in 2016.

A total of 44 per cent say they would vote to stay out. This includes 17 per cent who voted Remain eight years ago.

In fact, the number wishing to rejoin has been even higher in the past. It has fallen by five per cent since June, before the election took place.

Among 18- to 24-year-olds, which includes Gen Z, a total of 61 per cent would vote to rejoin. Only 28 per cent would vote to stay out.

There is similar backing for re-entering the EU among 25- to 44-year-olds. Support for staying out of the EU is most prominent among the over-55s.

More than half (52 per cent) of voters want another Brexit referendum within five years, including 73 per cent of those who backed Remain in 2016.

A total of 34 per cent are opposed to a second referendum.

Among Gen Z, 61 per cent would vote to rejoin the EU (PA Archive)

For the first time since Redfield & Wilton began conducting such polls in 2021, voters think another referendum is likely in the next 10 years.

A total of 34 per cent said they expect a second referendum within a decade; 31 per cent disagreed.

Regardless of whether people want another referendum, they overwhelmingly believe things in Britain have deteriorated as a direct consequence of Brexit – right across the board.

Asked whether the economy is stronger or weaker than it otherwise would be had Brexit not occurred, 43 per cent said it is weaker; 22 per cent said it is stronger.

When questions were couched in similar terms on a wide range of other issues, it produced the same picture of a Brexit-induced decline:
39 per cent said immigration is higher because of Brexit against 21 per cent who said it is lower
58 per cent said the cost of living is higher against 18 per cent who said it is lower
31 per cent said wages are lower against 18 per cent who said they are higher
41 per cent said it had made it harder for Britain to sell goods abroad against 17 per cent who said it had made it easier
40 per cent said Britain had less influence on the world stage against 21 per cent who said it had more

By a small margin, voters think Brexit has made it more likely that Scotland will become independent (PA Archive)

Revealingly, the survey suggests voters believe they were misled by Brexiteers like Boris Johnson, who famously toured the nation in a red bus emblazoned with a slogan stating the NHS would get an extra £350m per week once the UK left the EU.

A total of 45 per cent say the NHS has got worse thanks to Brexit against just 13 per cent who say it has improved.

Asked whether Brexit had had a negative or positive effect on the UK so far, 34 per cent said it was negative against 31 per cent who said it was positive.

By a small margin, voters think Brexit has made it more likely that Scotland will become independent at some stage and that Northern Ireland will join the Republic of Ireland.

Notwithstanding the mainly downbeat poll verdict on Brexit, 35 per cent said it had given the UK more say over its affairs against 30 per cent who said the country had less say, in line with the Brexiteers’ “take back control” mantra.

And fewer than one in four regard Brexit as an “extremely” important issue.

Furthermore, although its current impact is viewed as negative, 38 per cent said they believe Brexit would have a positive outcome for Britain in future against 33 per cent who said it would be negative.

A total of 44 per cent said they viewed the 2016 referendum as the last word on Brexit against 40 per cent who said they did not believe it settled the matter.

Philip van Scheltinga, of Redfield & Wilton, said: “The poll numbers are certainly favourable for ‘rejoin’ but they do not suggest a slam dunk.

“While voters are mostly disappointed by Brexit, they have other priorities in mind.

“It’s up to the government to judge whether seeking to change the UK’s relationship with the EU is aligned with those higher priorities.”


Mr Van Scheltinga questioned whether Sir Keir would want to use his “hard-earned political capital” on reopening the Brexit debate and running the risk of getting “seriously bogged down” by it.

Redfield & Wilton interviewed 2,000 adults in Britain online on 19 August.

THE INDEPENDENT IS ANTI BREXIT AND PRO NEW REFEREDUM TO REJOIN EU