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Category: UK

  • Amnesty International calls out the ‘chilling effect’ of AI facial recognition surveillance on Palestinians

    Amnesty International secretary general Agnes Callamard has called out the “chilling effect” of Israel’s use of facial recognition surveillance on Palestinians.

    Speaking to Middle East Eye, Callamard pointed out the human rights violations inherent in Israel’s discriminatory use of this technology. Her interview follows a detailed report on the issue which Amnesty published in May.

    Automated Apartheid

    In May, Amnesty published an 81-page report titled Automated Apartheid. It documented how the “previously-unreported” Red Wolf facial recognition system formed:

    part of an ever-growing surveillance network which is entrenching the Israeli government’s control over Palestinians.

    Callamard told Middle East Eye that the Red Wolf system used by Israeli authorities at military checkpoints in Occupied Palestinian Territories:

    has major problematic dimensions. The first one is that it is discriminatory, [it] targets Palestinians only. The second is that it has a chilling effect on freedom of movement, freedom of assembly, possibly, by implication, freedom of speech. It has allowed the Israeli authorities to maintain an enormous database of personal data, all of that in the name of… national security.

    Callamard also emphasised that:

    Crucially, crucially, that form of surveillance, automated surveillance as we call it, is part and parcel of the way Israeli authorities are maintaining and imposing a system of apartheid. It is part and parcel of the system of control and oppression and discrimination against one racial group, Palestinians, by the Israeli authorities. That is why… we have said this amounts to automated apartheid.

    Blue Wolf, Red Wolf

    Amnesty’s Automated Apartheid report also noted the ‘gamification’ of surveillance against Palestinians through another system called ‘Blue Wolf’. Operated via a phone app, Blue Wolf incentivised Israeli soldiers to constantly surveil Palestinians.

    The Red Wolf system, meanwhile, is being deployed at checkpoints to severely restrict the movement of Palestinians. In June, Amnesty met with the EU Commission in Brussels to discuss Israel’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) to surveil Palestinians. Speaking to Al Jazeera at the time, Amnesty’s Matt Mahmoudi said:

    What’s particularly chilling about the way that it’s deployed in the context of the [Occupied Palestinian Territories] is the ways in which it is governing movement, so literally stifling individuals from being able to access basic rights and services… it’s very clear that Palestinians now have to contend with the additional calculus of fear involved in just engaging in everyday activities… We have accounts and testimonies of Palestinian families… noting how in Hebron the incursion of facial recognition technologies is effectively destroying any form of social life.

    Facial recognition: ‘a new layer of control’

    Breaking the Silence, an Israeli group, collaborated with Amnesty on the report published in May. Former Israeli Defence Force (IDF) soldier Ori Givati from Breaking the Silence told Al Jazeera in June:

    When we started hearing about the use of these systems, we are hearing about basically a new layer of control… so, if until now, we have been controlling them only in the physical space… we added another layer which is controlling Palestinians’ digital space… So Palestinian today in the occupied territories is not only feeling like his home might be invaded any moment but also that his most private… information is being controlled by the military

    In other words, the use of pervasive electronic surveillance and facial recognition has entrenched even deeper Israel’s military occupation of Palestinians. It has further restricted the freedoms of Palestinians and added yet another level of fear and intrusion as they just try to go about their daily lives.

    The discriminatory and disproportionate application of these systems against Palestinians leaves little doubt that what they achieve is not security, as Israel claims. It is, by definition, apartheid.

    Featured image via YouTube/ Middle East Eye

    By Afroze Fatima Zaidi

  • The Tories have been publishing fake newspapers to try and fool voters

    Byline Times has revealed that the Conservative Party has continued to publish fake newspapers in a bid to trick voters – after the independent media outlet previously called them out over the tactic. Moreover, this news about fake news comes at a time when Tory MPs have also been ‘green washing’ their leaflets – quite literally.

    Politicians’ dodgy ads littering our democracy

    Chief reporter at Byline Josiah Mortimer has been following the story. You can read his latest report here.

    Back in May, Byline wrote about a report by campaign group Reform Political Advertising. It criticised the Tories, Labour, and the Lib Dems over they way they all used campaign materials. One example was the Lib Dem’s dodgy bar charts – the below, for example, failed to mention the Green Party had 14 councillors:

    Lib Dem leaflet

    As the report stated, the Lib Dems did this to:

    turn the vote into a two-horse race; any means by which Green votes can be reduced, including misleading by omission, similarly reduces the chance of a Labour/ Green alliance and controlling position.

    Labour didn’t fair much better, with the report slamming the party’s “attack” ads on Rishi Sunak and Johnny Mercer. However, it was the Tories that came off worse. One example was, as Byline reported:

    sending a ‘newspaper’ style A4 political leaflet to voters’ homes in Herefordshire, resembling the local Herefordshire Times publication. The Chair of the North Herefordshire Conservative Association defended the literature, saying that it “clearly identifies” it as being from the Conservatives. While there is a legal requirement for parties to include the name and address of origin, the Reform Political Advertising report notes that in this case it was done in “type so small as to be essentially invisible”.

    Moreover, the article also noted that the Tories in North Tyneside had set up a Facebook page posing as a news outlet. It seems that the Tories are unconcerned with coming across as literal fake news – as Byline found they’d been up to these tricks again.

    In the three by-elections held recently, the Tories repeated their fake news tactics:

    • In Selby and Ainsty they distributed election propaganda posing as the “North Yorkshire Chronicle”.
    • Over in Somerset, it was the “Somerton and Frome Chronicle”.
    • In Uxbridge, the Tories published the “Uxbridge and South Ruislip People”.

    A fake Tory newspaper

    But if you’re a Tory, why stop there?

    Byline: the ‘Lincoln Chronicle’ is not all that it seems

    On Wednesday 16 August, Mortimer reported via Byline that:

    Lincoln Conservative MP Karl McCartney has issued a leaflet to residents branded as the ‘Lincoln Chronicle’ – the same name as a weekly newspaper in the seat that was closed 15 years ago, and which many residents remember.

    Tories fake newspaper in Lincolnshire

    Of course, none of this is new – as Mortimer and Byline noted that the Tories, Labour, and the Lib Dems also used fake newspapers during the 2019 general election.

    However, this also comes at a time when Tory MPs are dressing up their constituency leaflets in green:

    As the Canary previously wrote:

    Now, we don’t know about you, but when it comes to political branding, the party we associate with the colour green is the Green Party. Initially, we weren’t sure why that was, but when we had a good, hard think about it, we realised that it’s literally in the fucking name.

    Broken democracy, thanks to politicians

    So, it seems there’s no level of manipulation to which the three main parties won’t stoop to try and dupe people into voting for them. The Tories are, of course, the worst offenders. However, it seems the public aren’t daft – which poses a huge problem in itself. This century, voter turnout at general elections has been the lowest since 1918:

    Statistic: Voter turnout in general elections and in the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom from 1918 to 2019 | Statista
    Find more statistics at Statista.

    This shows just how the political class has disenfranchised many of us – little wonder when all three parties are quite happy to manipulate the public without shame.

    Featured image and additional images via Byline Times, with an additional image via Reform Political Advertising

    By Steve Topple

  • A court banning a landlord for just five years after he housed 40 people in a semi sums up our rotten housing system

    A landlord in Brent, London, was renting a four-bedroom semi-detached house out to 40 people – with one person even sleeping outside under a tarpaulin in the garden. Yet when he was caught and tried, all a court did was fine him around £40k and ban him from renting for five years.

    40 people in one semi-detached house in Brent

    As Brent and Kilburn Times reported:

    Jaydipkumar Rameshchandra Valand… has been slapped with Brent Council’s first ever banning order and cannot engage in any property management work in the country for the next five years.

    The landlord, 48, was one of four people found guilty of raking in £360,000 by cramming 40 tenants into a single semi-detached home in Napier Road, Wembley, in 2018.

    In 2022, a court fined Valand £30,000 and £3,347 in costs, plus an extra £6,190 in fines and costs for lying about not owning a UK business.

    Since then, a judge has placed the property management ban on Valand. However, he wasn’t the only one involved. As Property Industry Eye reported in 2018:

    Mother and daughter Harsha and Chandni Shah, along with Mrs Harsha Shah’s brother Sanjay Shah, were pocketing around £112,000 a year from the property.

    The council fined them all. Property Industry Eye described how:

    Enforcement officers from Brent Council found appalling conditions in the ‘shanty’ style house.

    They also found a woman living in a lean-to shed in the back garden of the property. The shack had no lighting or heating and was made out of wood offcuts, pallets and tarpaulin.

    the lean to in the brent property

    It also noted that:

    During a raid, enforcement officers… found some residents sharing a single bed, with night workers swapping sleeping shifts with those who worked during the day.

    Moreover, it’s not the first incident like this in Brent. As the Guardian reported in 2018:

    Vispasp Sarkari, 56, another landlord in the area, was fined last year for squeezing 27 people into a four-bedroom semi-detached house that had been converted into seven tiny flats. He was ordered last month to pay a record £1.5m penalty for breaking planning laws on that and other properties which he had illegally converted into bedsits. One of the properties where families were found paying £650 a month was infested with cockroaches, rats and damp.

    However, these scandals come off the back of a countrywide rotten industry – which has recently caused the deaths of two people.

    A deadly industry

    Two-year-old Awaab Ishak died because of his racist housing association. As the Canary previously reported, a:

    coroner ruled that Awaab died due to mould exposure that RBH failed to deal with. The housing association repeatedly ignored Awaab’s family’s desperate pleas for help.

    Then, Luke Brooks died after developing breathing difficulties linked to his “heavily mould-infested” rented accommodation. As the Canary previously reported, the classist council:

    instructed [the landlord] to make some improvements, but crucially they were not told to address the mould issue. This is despite the inspectors finding mould in Luke’s room.

    However, in Luke’s case, a coroner ruled that “evidence was not sufficient to determine the source of the aspergillus” that lead to his death.

    Only the end of for-profit housing will do

    In both Awaab’s and Luke’s cases of discrimination and neglect, no one has been personally held accountable. The government has introduced the Social Housing Act under which, as BBC News reported:

    Rogue landlords can be given unlimited fines and social housing managers are required to have qualifications.

    Big deal. In both Awaab’s and Luke’s cases, it wasn’t simply rogue landlords that were the problem – but the entire system, which failed them both.

    Moreover, take for example notorious-yet-huge social housing associations like Clarion. A fine means little when they rake in over £1bn each year. As the Canary previously reported, Clarion is the second most complained-about housing association.

    What is really needed in order to stop deaths like those of Awaab and Luke – and to stop disgraceful, greedy, and classist landlords like Valand – is an end to the notion of for-profit rented housing. However, that is nowhere on the horizon. So, the best we can hope for is communities and tenants taking it upon themselves to fight back against landlords – whether that be individuals, councils, or housing associations.

    Featured image via Brent Council

    By Steve Topple

  • Thanks to the Lionesses, people are discussing more bank holidays – if only someone had thought of this before…

    People are calling on the government to grant an extra bank holiday if England’s Lionesses win the football World Cup. However, the “mean-spirited” Tories have refused. This has prompted the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to say we should have four extra bank holidays a year, regardless. However, a certain former Corbyn-shaped Labour leader said this before.

    Where’s our Lionesses’ bank holiday?

    The TUC said in a press release that it:

    called on the government “to do the right thing” and grant a special bank holiday if England’s women win the football World Cup.

    The union body says people should be given at least an extra day off if the Lionesses are victorious against Spain.

    Millions of households across the country are expected to watch the final that kicks off at 11am on Sunday.

    But ministers said… that no plans were in place for an extra day off if the Lionesses triumph.

    Over on Twitter, people weren’t happy that the Tories weren’t planning a bank holiday in the event of a Lionesses win. A lot of people commented that if it was the men’s team, maybe things would have been different:

    Of course, former PM Boris Johnson was reportedly considering an extra bank holiday if the men’s team won the Euros in 2021.

    Others noted the extra royal bank holiday:

    We shouldn’t be surprised really though, as the sexism and patriarchy is strong here. As BBC News said of the World Cup final:

    The match looks set to be played without the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak or the Prince of Wales – who is chair of the Football Association – in the stadium, with neither expected to make the journey to Australia.

    So, just so we understand: Sunak can get spend nearly half a million in less than two weeks on private jets (including a one-day trip to Egypt) but can’t charter one to take him to Australia for a few days? And where’s Wally – sorry, William? Who knows.

    Fewest bank holidays in Europe

    Meanwhile, the TUC also made a point of stressing “how workers in England and Wales get just eight bank holidays a year, fewer than any EU country”:

    Fellow World Cup finalists Spain get the European average of 12 public holidays.

    Meanwhile workers in France get three additional public holidays a year, while workers in Sweden get 13 days – equivalent to an extra week off. Slovakia, Slovenia and Finland top the table with 15 days each, enjoying nearly twice as many public holidays as their British counterparts.

    The TUC believes that all UK workers should get 12 days of public holiday a year – an extra four days.

    Its general secretary, Paul Nowak, said:

    UK workers get far fewer bank holidays than their Spanish counterparts and most other workers in Europe. That is not right.

    The TUC has long called for more public holidays and it’s time to make this happen.

    Great – but if only someone had planned to do something about this before.

    Could’ve had Corbyn

    Of course, someone did! It was Jeremy Corbyn. In 2019, Labour’s proposed four extra bank holidays across the UK. A press release at the time stated:

    Labour will work with the governments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to agree four more UK-wide public holidays. These would be held on St David’s Day (1st March), St Patrick’s Day (17th March), St George’s Day (23rd April) and St Andrew’s Day (30th November).

    Corbyn said:

    I am patriotic about the UK and what that means to me is caring for the entire society.

    Patriotism is about supporting each other, not attacking somebody else.

    Labour will work with the devolved governments to introduce four bank holidays for the whole of the UK, one for each of our patron Saints.

    Labour would bring the number of public holidays workers enjoy in line with countries across Europe and give people more time with their families and friends.

    But we all know how that ended. Yet now, much like ‘communist‘ free broadband, suddenly everyone thinks Corbyn’s ideas were good.

    This is what you get

    Summing up, Nowak said:

    We all hope our amazing Lionesses can get over the line on Sunday.

    And if they do bring it home the government should do the right thing and allow the country to celebrate with a special bank holiday.

    It would be mean-spirited not to do so.

    Of course it would be mean-spirited – so of course the toxic Tories won’t give us one.

    Featured image via BBC Sport – YouTube and Newsnight – YouTube

    By Steve Topple

  • Health secretary caught both lying and making up figures about striking NHS workers

    The health secretary Steve Barclay has been caught out by Full Fact – twice – over claims about NHS consultants. It comes as the NHS prepares for more strikes. Full Fact exposed that Barclay not only lied over pensions, but he repeatedly plucked figures seemingly out of thin air as well.

    NHS consultants: everybody out

    As the Canary‘s Maryam Jameela previously reported, consultants who are British Medical Association (BMA) members took strike action in July over pay. As Jameela wrote, consultants walked out for two days on 20 and 21 July, making this:

    only the third time the senior specialist doctors have taken industrial action.

    Little wonder they’re striking. As Jameela wrote:

    The BMA says take-home pay has fallen by 35% since 2008. The consultants… earn annual salaries of around £88,000-£119,000

    So July’s action caused serious disruption – which, as Jameela said, was the point. NHS medical director Stephen Powis said:

    This could undoubtedly be the most severe impact we have ever seen in the NHS as a result of industrial action, with routine care virtually at a standstill for 48 hours.

    Consultants will not only stop seeing patients themselves, but they won’t be around to provide supervision over the work of junior doctors, which impacts thousands of appointments for patients.

    Now, BMA members are set to walk out again on 24 and 25 August. This is because the Tories haven’t budged on pay. As the Guardian reported:

    The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said a pay offer for consultants of 6% for 2023-24 was “final” and that industrial action was hampering efforts to cut waiting lists.

    It’s unsurprising the Tories are shifting the blame for waiting lists onto NHS staff, given record NHS waiting times are actually their fault. Just to continue this manipulative theme, Barclay has been making some interesting statements in the media – which Full Fact has ripped apart:

    Lying: all in a day’s work for Barclay

    First, on Monday 14 August Barclay claimed on BBC Radio 4‘s Today programme that:

    Consultants, when they retire now at 65, will get a tax-free pension of £73,000 a year

    This is literally a lie – or a mistake, if you’re a Tory and/or feeling generous. As Full Fact noted:

    This is incorrect, as pensions are considered a form of income and are therefore subject to tax rules like other forms of income. This means tax is due on any sum above an individual’s personal allowance.

    Then, Barclay has also been bandying around figures over just how much NHS consultants’ pensions are worth a year. He told:

    • BBC Radio 4 Today it was £73,000.
    • The Sunday Times it was “£60,000-plus”.
    • Mail Online £78,000.

    Again, Full Fact had to correct this, saying the BMA told it:

    it was “misleading” to suggest the figure of £73,000 was typical, as “pensions are highly individual and will depend on factors such as retirement age, working patterns etc.”

    The BMA did a spicy Twitter thread on it, too:

    Overall, Full Fact noted that:

    If an MP makes a false or misleading claim on broadcast media they should take responsibility for ensuring it is appropriately corrected, and make efforts to ensure the correction is publicly available to anyone who might have heard the claim

    As of 3pm on Wednesday 16 August, Barclay has not done this – not that anyone should expect him to. Recent Tory governments have perhaps been the most vicious and mendacious in recent memory. Barclay lying and making up figures, to manipulate the public into not supporting striking workers, is par for the course.

    Featured image via UK government – Flickr, resized to 1910×1000 under licence CC BY 2.0

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • The World Transformed is back at a time when ‘no one is coming to save us’

    Organisers of The World Transformed (TWT) have announced the programme for their annual festival in Liverpool. They’re claiming that activists in attendance will be ‘the real opposition’ to the Tories – as well as any future Labour Party government that continues their policies. Overall, the TWT says that one of the talks planned sums up the situation – because it’s called “No One is Coming to Save Us”.

    The world transformed (again)

    As the Canary previously reported:

    Labour group Momentum and others launched The World Transformed (TWT) in 2016. It took place alongside the Labour Party conference in Liverpool. More than 5,000 people attended over 150 workshops, talks, gigs, and exhibitions. It was the largest fringe event at the 2016 conference.

    Since then, the yearly programme of culture and politics continues to run alongside the Labour conference. However, it has come to contrast starkly with the party’s policy platform. Delegations from militant climate campaigners Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion – as well as from trade unions, including the National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT) – are expected at the event.

    The TWT festival will feature talks with titles like “The Coming Climate Insurrection” and “General Election 2024: No One is Coming to Save Us”. It will also include training sessions on how to stop an immigration raid and how to intervene in stop and search. Every session seems at odds with Starmer’s ‘authoritarian’ approach.

    Labour Party Conference: “tricky” for Starmer

    Conference season could be a tricky time for Starmer. He’s likely to find himself confronted by those he’s betrayed. The Labour leader has U-turned on almost all of the ‘ten pledges’. These formed the basis of his campaign to succeed Jeremy Corbyn. This includes backtracking on commitments on climate, an about-turn on migrants rights, and a shift away from support for public ownership.

    Last year Starmer shifted from his 2020 promise that his Labour Party would:

    work shoulder to shoulder with trade unions to stand up for working people.

    He ordered his shadow ministers not to appear alongside workers on picket lines. More recently he has refused to support the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap. This is despite him having vowed to scrap it while standing to become leader.

    Since Starmer’s election, the Labour Party has also blocked left-wingers from standing and even re-standing for election, including North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll and Corbyn himself.

    Resisting the purge

    A spokesperson from TWT said:

    Those who dare to demand social and economic transformation are purged from political life.

    Under the authoritarian leadership of Keir Starmer and his Blairite enforcers, the Labour Party has ceased to offer a genuine alternative to the Tories. Donations from working class people and trade unions have been replaced by billionaire cheques. Policies that championed economic and social reform have been replaced by a commitment to maintaining the status quo.

    We must start by recognising that no one is coming to save us. If left to their own devices, the politicians will do nothing to solve the crises we face. If we want something we have to fight for it. As we approach the next General Election and the possibility of a status quo-defending Labour Government, it is vital that those who recognise the necessity of transforming our economy come together to discuss how we can fight together and win.

    Featured image via TWT

    By The Canary

  • UCU digs in and prepares for more strikes in the new academic year

    The University and College Union (UCU) has said that its members will strike once again in September. The current marking boycott will also continue. It’s all over the ongoing, protracted dispute with the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) over pay and working conditions.

    Moreover, the trade union has said that unless bosses return to negotiations, it will also issue members with a fresh strike ballot. This could see action continue at universities into 2024.

    The UCU: not having it

    The Canary has been documenting the ongoing dispute between the UCU and bosses. At first, it was over pay, conditions, and pensions – resulting in nationwide strikes. The union and the organisation responsible for pensions came to an agreement in April. However, away from this, members voted to reject the UCEA pay offer of derisory and imposed increases of between 5-8%.

    So, UCU members began a marking boycott in April, known as action short of a strike. It’s been going on ever since. Suffice to say, it has caused chaos. There have been varying reports of how many students have been affected. The UCEA claims it’s around 13,000 – while the UCU had previously accused it of downplaying the impact. Moreover, some bosses are docking UCU member’s wages if they take part in the boycott:

    However, some students haven’t been concerned – and have supported the UCU in its actions. It’s of little wonder, really – when university bosses are also hitting them with sky-high rents, poor accommodation, and an iron fist if they dare to protest.

    More strikes incoming

    Now, the UCU has announced that more strikes will happen when the new academic year starts in September. It said on its website on Monday 14 August:

    The union’s Higher Education Committee… voted to take further strike action before the end of September and to begin preparations for a new ballot in order to renew UCU’s industrial mandate in the pay and working conditions dispute, meaning disruption could continue this year and well into 2024.

    The marking boycott will also continue. It began at 145 universities on Thursday 20 April but UCEA has responded by refusing to improve its offer and employers have punitively docked the pay of staff taking part. UCU has agreed to UCEA’s proposal for a joint review of sector finances.

    The UCEA is being deliberately provocative, by all accounts. The UCU said UCEA bosses refused to debate the union’s general secretary Jo Grady on Sky News:

    That should come of little surprise. One Twitter user reminded us of something one vice chancellor said in 2021 about the UCU:

    Plus, the intervention of a Tory education minister has hardly helped the situation (surprise surprise). Education minister Robert Halfon (you’d be forgiven for asking ‘who?’) said both sides need to get back to the negotiating table. Grady was unimpressed:

    UK higher education: world-beating (in being a capitalist shambles)

    Grady said in a statement that overall:

    We will not be bullied into accepting gig economy universities, nor will we accept employers imposing punitive pay deductions.

    And she noted that:

    Vice-chancellors have decided that crushing their own workers is more important than seeing students graduate after years of hard work. This is a national scandal.

    The UK’s higher education sector is a national scandal. The privatised, corporate capitalist model of profiteering-led education is a detriment to staff and students alike. It only benefits the government and bosses. So, the UCU is right to continue to take a stand – and as the UCEA digs its heels in, so should the union.

    Featured image via the UCU

    By Steve Topple

  • Britain’s workers abused by the Tories and bosses – from racism to zero-hours contracts

    The UK’s labour market is little more than an insecure, racist aberration – not that that’s anything new. However, what is new is that it’s actually getting worse, as two analyses from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) found.

    Structural racism in the UK labour market

    First up, the TUC has found that the number of Black and Brown workers in insecure work more than doubled between 2011 and 2022 – from 360,200 to 836,340. Their chance of being in an insecure job has also increased. One in six Black and Brown workers are now in this position, versus one in eight in 2011.

    Overall, the TUC’s research found that the UK’s labour market was structurally racist. It noted that between 2011 and 2022:

    • The proportion of Black and Brown people in insecure work increased from 12.2% to 17.8%. This is compared to the proportion of white people barely changing (10.5% to 10.8%).
    • Black and Brown men were almost twice as likely as white men to be in insecure work (19.6% versus 11.7%).
    • Black and Brown women were “much more likely” than white women to be in insecure work (15.7% versus 9.9%).
    • 27% of the increase in Black and Brown employment was in insecure work. For white people, the increase was 16%.
    • Black and Brown people made up two thirds of the overall growth in insecure work. This is despite them only making up 14% of the overall workforce.

    TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said:

    too many Black and ethnic minority [BME] workers are trapped in low-paid, insecure jobs with limited rights and protections, and treated like disposable labour.

    The massive and disproportionate concentration of BME workers in insecure work – like in the gig economy – is structural racism in action.

    Across the labour market, and at every stage, BME workers face discrimination and persistent barriers at work.

    From not getting the job despite being qualified for the role, to being passed over for promotion, to being unfairly disciplined at work.

    A ‘nation of insecure jobs’

    Then, the TUC also looked at the overall growth in insecure work across the labour market. It concluded that the UK is becoming a “nation of insecure jobs”, with precarious and low-paid work widespread in all regions and nations of the UK. It said in a press release that:

    Insecure work is typically low-paid, and those in insecure jobs have fewer rights and protections. This means their hours can be subject to the whims of managers and they can lose work without notice…

    There are 3.9 million people in insecure employment – that’s 1 in 9 across the workforce.

    London (13.3%) and the South West (12.7%) have the highest proportion of people working in insecure jobs.

    The industries with the highest proportion of insecure work are the elementary occupations, caring, and leisure services, and process, plant and machine operatives.

    Low-paid work is increasingly insecure work – in 2011, 1 in 8 low paid jobs were insecure, but by the end of 2022, 1 in 5 low paid jobs were insecure.

    It’s not just the TUC saying this, either. The latest employment figures backed the organisation’s claims up.

    Employment chaos

    The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released its latest labour market data on Tuesday 15 August . It found that:

    Of course, this isn’t the full story. As the Independent reported, what the ONS actually found was:

    • Unemployment was up.
    • Real-terms pay (adjusted for Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation) was down 0.6% – despite headline regular pay growth apparently being 7.8%.
    • The number of job vacancies has dropped.
    • People off work with long-term sickness has reached a record high.

    That is, more people are out of work, there’s less jobs to go round, and people who are in work still aren’t earning enough to cover rising prices.

    Nowak said of the ONS figures:

    The government has nothing to celebrate. They are presiding over the longest pay squeeze in modern history with real wages still worth less than in 2008.

    The only group of workers enjoying a serious bump in their pay are high-earners in the City. Household budgets for the vast majority of Britons remain under intense pressure.

    Meanwhile Britain’s jobs market is showing real signs of weakening with unemployment on the rise.

    The Uberisation of regular work: racial capitalism at its heart

    What’s more, the ONS also found that zero-hours employment had also hit a record high. Bosses are now employing 1.2 million people on these dodgy contracts. Nowak said:

    This is a badge of shame for the Conservatives. Insecure work has reached epidemic levels under their watch.

    Zero-hours contracts should have no place in the modern labour market. They allow workers to be treated like disposable labour.

    That’s why we need stronger rights at work to give everybody dignity and respect at work.

    Of course, there’s also structural racism at the heart of zero-hours contracts, too. As the Canary previously reported in 2021, Black and Brown women:

    are over-represented in this [zero-hours] figure at nearly twice the percentage of white men on such contracts.

    So, not only is the world of work looking more and more precarious for poorer people – it is inherently and structurally racist, too. All this used to be referred to as the ‘gig economy‘. However, what we’re seeing is the ‘Uberisation‘ of regular employment too in terms of workers rights, pay, and conditions.

    At the heart of this is racial capitalism – where the system exploits Black and Brown people for profit. Our political, economic, and social structures are built on this, off the back of colonialism. As such, in the current climate the situation is unlikely to change – and Black and Brown people will bear the brunt of the effects of collapsing labour markets.

    Feature image via BBC London – YouTube

    By Steve Topple

  • RMT taking the fight over ticket office closures to Rishi Sunak’s front door

    The National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT) will be taking the fight to stop ticket office closures right to PM Rishi Sunak’s front door at Downing Street. So, save the date, as it’s going to be an important protest – not least for chronically ill, disabled, and older people.

    Ticket office closures: capitalist chaos

    As the Canary has been documenting, the Tories and train operators have been in cahoots to close ticket offices across the country. However, people have hit back furiously – including chronically ill and disabled people. This is because, as we previously wrote:

    23% of disabled people are internet non-users. Ticket vending machines are often inaccessible. Plus, wheelchair users can only get their 50% discount on tickets from an office.

    Train operators are counter-claiming that they’ll redeploy ticket office staff on stations. However, research by the Association of British Commuters (ABC) has shown this not to be true.

    Then, there was the issue of the government and train operators’ consultation. Previously, it was set to last only 21 days, and was due to close on Wednesday 26 July. However, two disabled people started one legal challenge, and five Mayors started another. The end result was the government and train operators caving in and extending the consultation. People now have until 1 September to submit their objections. The list of train operators’ consultations is here.

    Meanwhile, the RMT has been taking the fight up and down the country. There was one national day of action on 9 August, and another will follow on Wednesday 16 August:

    However, this isn’t all the trade union is doing.

    RMT: taking the fight to Downing Street

    RMT has organised a rally for 31 August. It will start at the Department for Transport, and is set to end at Downing Street:

    It’s not the first time this year that the RMT has gone to Sunak’s front door to protest. It also organised a demo in January over the Tories’ anti-trade union laws:

    The RMT’s protest at Downing Street may well reflect public opinion. A poll by the Mirror found that only 21% of people actually support ticket office closures. As of 3 August, the consultation had recieved 315,000 responses. The union’s general secretary Mick Lynch said:

    That so many people have responded to the consultations shows that there is mass public opposition to the Government and Train Companies’ proposals.

    These damaging plans are not just about ticket office closures; they are a smokescreen for a widespread dehumanising of our railways.

    Interestingly, it’s not just trade unions and campaigners coming out against the plans. The West Midlands Combined Authority voiced its objections:

    Little wonder, really – as the Canary previously reported, under the plans:

    West Midlands Trains would have a total of 137 unstaffed stations (94% of its network), and East Midlands Railway would have 90 (87% of its network).

    Ticket office closures are ‘government vandalism’

    Lynch summed up by saying:

    Our railway stations are at the heart of communities around the country and if these closures go ahead the Tories will pay a heavy political price at the next election with boarded up ticket offices and de-staffed stations being a permanent reminder of the government’s vandalism of our railways.

    We are urging the public to continue spreading the word about these cuts and to have their say in the consultations before September 1.

    Indeed, the Tories’ “vandalism” of the railways has been ongoing since before their privatisation of them in the early 1990s, leading to a perpetual state of chaos. Now, ticket office closures are the thin end of a very corporate capitalist wedge – and the RMT and its supporters intend to make that crystal clear to Sunak on 31 August.

    Featured image via the RMT and Rishi Sunak – YouTube

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • The Tories are already talking about more benefit cuts – and blaming public sector pay rises for them

    The Tories are already coming up with proposals for more cuts to benefits. It comes as the government says inflation is going to go up again in August – blaming public sector pay rises. So, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has responded accordingly. It’s already looking for where it can save money. Clue: it’s chronically ill, disabled, and non-working people – not pensioners – and it’s likely fall under Universal Credit.

    DWP: more cuts on the horizon

    On Sunday 13 August, the Times reported that the Tories are eyeing up slashing benefits again. To cut an overly wordy article short, it said that:

    • The government thinks inflation (the rate at which prices are rising) is going to go up this month, after falling in July. It’s blaming public sector pay rises.
    • This has panicked the Treasury (the government department responsible for money) – because increases in the state pension are linked to the rate of inflation.
    • Overall, the DWP is likely to breach its benefits spending cap former chancellor George Osborne brought in by around £4bn.
    • If this happens, work and pensions secretary Mel Stride has to go in front of parliament and say what he’ll do to get spending down.

    The idea that public sector pay rises are causing inflation to go up is nonsense. Regardless of that, the Treasury and DWP are already in cahoots as to what they’ll do about this. Given it’s the Tories (whose core voter base is pensioners), it’s unlikely they’d touch the state pension. Therefore, some people think health and disability benefits, and Universal Credit, are in their sights.

    Universal Credit and PIP in the firing line

    ITV News‘s deputy political editor Anushka Asthana thinks that benefits like the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will be the first to face the chop. She noted that:

    sources in the disability sector tell me they are worried that benefits – and there are concerns that PIP in particular – could be the next target for the government because of the big rise in claimants.

    Another big spend is the work capability assessment, which will be abolished in the future but not yet. Tightening eligibility for out of work and disability benefits would save money.

    Every April, the government increases benefits, usually in line with the inflation rate the previous September. With means-tested benefits like Universal Credit, it doesn’t legally have to do this. However, with non-means tested ones like PIP it does. So, the Tories couldn’t just cut the rate of PIP without changing the law.

    It seems more likely that:

    1. They’ll cut other benefits like Universal Credit.
    2. Do as James Taylor, Scope’s director of strategy, suggested and make the processes for PIP, as well as the Work Capability Assessment (WCA), harder.

    As one person said on Twitter:

    Disabled people are always the easiest and socially acceptable targets. Out of sight, out of mind.

    Cuts on top of cuts

    Of course, two important points in the debate around further DWP cuts are that:

    1. It already doesn’t pay people enough to properly live on – particularly under Universal Credit.
    2. It has repeatedly either frozen or cut benefits in real terms for years.

    As the Canary has documented, successive governments have hammered people on benefits. As we previously wrote, April 2023’s DWP benefits increase wasn’t really an increase at all. It merely took Universal Credit, for example, back to the value it was in April 2022:

    That is… your money will only be worth what it was a year ago. This is because everything is now more expensive.

    Moreover, all this came on top of years of benefits freezes, as well as over 1.5 million people not getting the DWP cost of living payments. Plus, health and disability benefits are already a minefield for claimants to navigate – with the rate of successful tribunal appeals over DWP wrong decisions consistently high.

    Benefits cuts: the Tories’ easy option

    However, the Tories planning benefit cuts next year isn’t a new thing. In July, the Canary reported that the DWP was already considering it – just for different reasons. At the time, it was because earnings were going up more slowly than inflation. So, the Tories were planning on increasing benefits like Universal Credit in line with wages. This at the time would’ve saved the government money.

    Now, that situation has reversed. What it shows is that, regardless of the economic and fiscal reasons for the government claiming it needs to save money, the axe always falls in the same place: on chronically ill, disabled, and non-working people’s pockets.

    Featured image via the DWP – YouTube

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Edinburgh festivals are facing protests – from Israel’s apartheid to fossil fuel sponsorship

    Two festivals in Edinburgh have faced the anger of both campaigners and artists alike, over their respective platforming of an Israeli dance company and a fossil fuels investor. People’s objections, however, point to a larger problem: the corporate capitalist capture of culture.

    Protesting Israeli cultural propaganda

    The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and Edinburgh Action 4 Palestine organised two nights of protest over the Edinburgh International Festival hosting an Israeli dance company. In a letter to the festival’s director Nicola Bendetti, the groups said:

    L-E-V are promoted by Israeli government embassies, most recently by the Israeli Consulate in Toronto last year, and are scheduled to perform in the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) on Sunday 13th and Monday 14th of August. The inclusion of L-E-V in the Festival is being used by Israel as cultural propaganda to cover its crimes against the Palestinian people. With the current escalation of Israeli violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, EIF risks considerable reputational damage if L-E-V are not excluded from the programme.

    The Israeli State has been named as an apartheid state by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and even Israel’s own major human rights group, B’Tselem. Faced with human rights abuses at the hands of the occupying Israeli military, Palestinian civil society has called on people of conscience to isolate the apartheid state as we did with apartheid South Africa.

    Last year the Festival representatives announced it was joining the international boycott of Russian conductor Valery Gergiev “in sympathy with and in support of” the citizens of Kiev. [We] believe that Palestinians citizens deserve the same sympathy and support.

    According to Edinburgh Action 4 Palestine’s Facebook page, the festival replied to the groups’ letter. It said:

    The Festival does not hold artists accountable for the actions or policies of their governments or assume that all artists are able to speak freely about their political views.

    Of course, the idea of Israeli cultural propaganda is not new – nor a conspiracy. The group Artists For Palestine, in quoting from the booklet The Case for a Cultural Boycott of Israel, noted that:

    In 2008, Israeli poet Yitzhak Laor published a copy of the contract Israeli artists going abroad with Foreign Ministry funding were by then required to sign. The contract was between the Israeli artist or company (‘the service provider’) and the State of Israel, via the Foreign Ministry’s Division for Cultural and Scientific Affairs. Its terms made explicit the promotional requirements attached to government funding for foreign tours: ‘The service provider is aware that the purpose of ordering services from him is to promote the policy interest of the State of Israel via culture and art, including contributing to creating a positive image for Israel.’ And yet this relationship was to remain secret: ‘The service provider will not present himself as an agent, emissary and/or representative of the Ministry.’

    On top of all this, one of the sponsors of the Edinburgh International Festival is a company called Baillie Gifford – and it’s been causing problems elsewhere.

    Taking money from fossil fuels

    The Edinburgh International Book Festival has faced a backlash from over 50 authors. They’ve published an open letter in conjunction with Friends of the Earth Scotland. It calls on the festival to drop investment management company Baillie Gifford as a sponsor. In a press release, Friends of the Earth Scotland said:

    Through an open letter, high profile authors such as Ali Smith, Zadie Smith, and Gary Younge, as well as literature professionals facilitating this year’s festival events, demand that the institution put pressure on their main sponsor, Baillie Gifford investment firm.

    Baillie Gifford has, according to its own report, up to £5bn invested in corporations that profit from fossil fuels…

    The authors of the letter state that they stand in solidarity with those harmed by the climate crisis, including people in the Global South and the UK who have lost their homes, their livelihoods, and been forced to migrate. They also point out the injustice of corporate greed and profit from the fossil fuel industry at a time when millions across the UK suffer from fuel poverty and the cost of living crisis.

    The authors aren’t the first ones to take action over the book festival’s partnership with Baillie Gifford. Activist Greta Thunberg pulled out of appearing at the festival. She said of Baillie Gifford’s sponsorship of the Edinburgh International Book Festival:

    Greenwashing efforts by the fossil fuel industry, including sponsorship of cultural events, allow them to keep the social license to continue operating.

    I cannot and do not want to be associated with events that accept this kind of sponsorship.

    Baillie Gifford’s greenwashing doesn’t stop in Edinburgh, though. It also sponsors/has sponsored the following literary festivals:

    • Hay.
    • Cheltenham Literature.
    • Stratford Literary.
    • Henley Literary.

    The company also runs a non-fiction book prize. Without irony, Baillie Gifford has short-and long-listed books in both nature and science categories, with works such as The Planet Remade (about the climate crisis and geoengineering) by Oliver Morton, which judges long-listed in 2015.

    ‘OK with burning the planet’

    Author of It’s Not That Radical: Climate Action To Transform Our World, Mikaela Loach noted that:

    Edinburgh International Book Festival wouldn’t burn books, so why are they ok with burning the planet? Baillie Gifford’s whopping £5 billion in investments in corporations making money from the fossil fuel industry is unjustifiable in a climate crisis caused and exacerbated by these same companies who have invested more into climate denial and delay than they have into green energy. Edinburgh International Book festival must stand by their “Climate Positive” commitment and drop Baillie Gifford as a sponsor.

    Oddly, there’s not been much of a stir over other sponsors of the Edinburgh International Book Festival – like Apple TV. Its parent company is one of the most notorious corporations on the planet – from using child labour in its supply chain, to union busting, via tax avoidance and (you guessed it) a rather dodgy record on climate.

    Moreover, the idea of ‘progressive’ culture and arts events cosying up to the corporate capitalist world is hardly a shock. As the Canary previously reported, the allegedly eco-friendly Latitude Festival was sponsored by planet-killing Barclays. Baillie Gifford also sponsors the Edinburgh Fringe. And everyone’s favourite middle-class hipster fest, Glastonbury, this year partnered with (alleged) diesel emissions-cheater Land Rover.

    Edinburgh: a microcosm of the problem

    The larger problem here is supposed progressive and/or cultural festivals marrying themselves with the worst aspects of colonial corporate capitalism. As anti-capitalist art collective Autonomous Design Group told Shado Mag:

    There’s a long history of radical art and aesthetics being co-opted for the maintenance and reproduction of capitalism. Quite a lot [of] the art world pretends to be making these radical critiques of the status quo, whilst in reality only really serving to legitimise that society.

    While neither of these festivals may be co-opting artists’ work for the furthering of the capitalist system, by blurring the lines between the creative and the corporate colonialist, either via sponsorship or by platforming state-sanctioned acts, these Edinburgh festivals tread that distinctly tepid line of ‘the greater good’ and a ‘means to an end’.

    After Thunberg pulled out of the book festival, the Guardian‘s chief culture writer Charlotte Higgins handwringingly summed it up by saying corporate capitalist sponsorship versus the planet burning was a bit “messy” in “reality”, because:

    in the meantime, the book festival is left to sweep up the debris, and arts leaders in Edinburgh and beyond to the endless daily worry about where on earth the next untarnished penny’s to come from.

    When you’re hosting huge international festivals which host some of the biggest names in the arts, it’s not a bit messy. Either you stand with oppressed peoples and against the human-induced climate crisis – or you openly admit that you’re happy to sell out to pay your mortgages under the guise of the arts. But say it with your chest, either way – because anything else is a cop-out.

    Featured image via Jim Barton – Geograph, resized to 770×403 under licence CC BY-SA 2.0

    By Steve Topple

  • ‘Spot the difference’ as Labour, the Mail, and GB News all shame themselves over refugee Channel deaths

    Six refugees from Afghanistan died in the Channel when the boat they were travelling to the UK on capsized. Predictably, the Mail on Sunday ran a suitably horrid front page, while GB News screamed about ‘taxpayer cash’ – and less predictably (but becoming more the norm), the Labour Party under Keir Starmer gave both of them a run for their money.

    Six refugees dead, yet who’s to blame?

    As Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported, on Saturday 12 August, six people died and 61 others were rescued including children. They were mostly from Afghanistan, with some coming from war-torn Sudan.

    A spokesperson for the Utopia56 humanitarian group blamed border “repression” for the tragedy. They told AFP that the difficulty of securing legal passage only:

    increases the dangerousness of crossings and pushes people to take more and more risks to reach England.

    Previously, five people died at sea and four went missing while trying to cross to Britain from France last year. In November 2021, 27 people also died when a boat capsized in the Channel.

    Of course, this is also a Europe-wide problem. As the Canary‘s Afroze Fatima Zaidi recently wrote:

    almost 2,400 refugees have died or gone missing so far in 2023 while trying to reach European shores via the Mediterranean Sea. Moreover, as the BBC reported:

    “The United Nations has registered more than 17,000 deaths and disappearances in the central Mediterranean since 2014, making it the most dangerous migrant crossing in the world”.

    The Tories (and their mates in the corporate media) in the UK are quick to blame anyone except themselves, of course. The Mail on Sunday‘s front page on 13 August was a case in point. It ran with the headline:

    Was French patrol boat to blame for migrant drownings?

    AFP reported that Dover MP Natalie Elphicke blustered that:

    These overcrowded and unseaworthy deathtraps should obviously be stopped by the French authorities from leaving the French coast in the first place.

    It shouldn’t need saying, but as a reminder, people are fleeing Afghanistan because of the mess the UK helped create:

    So, the Tories and the Mail on Sunday‘s responses were predictable. But what of the Labour Party?

    Labour: courting the right

    Sky News interviewed the shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson. Her response to the deaths of six people from Afghanistan? First, blame the Tories:

    And next, say Labour would do everything except open legal routes for refugees to get here by:

    Oh, and she dropped everyone’s favourite right-wing talking point on right-wing GB News – that the asylum system is costing the good-old British taxpayer a “fortune”:

    The same line former Brexit Party MEP Ben Habib used:

    The fact Labour are now sending front-bench members onto GB News says a lot about the kind of voter it wants to attract.

    Colonialist UK: where Ukrainians matter more than Afghans

    Back in the real world, the six people who drowned will likely have families mourning in Afghanistan. It didn’t have to be this way. The government has a resettlement scheme for Afghans in place – yet it has barely let anyone in:

    Compare the six people from Afghanistan the government has resettled with the 10,000 Ukrainians that we accepted a week in May 2022. As LBC host Sangita Myska summed up regarding the Tories detaining refugees on the Bibby Stockholm barge:

    if they were 39 white men from Ukraine walking up that gangplank into that barge, I’m telling you now there would be a hue and cry, the like of which you have never seen.

    As always, at the heart of this story is the underbelly of racism and colonialism that pervades UK society. As the Canary‘s Maryam Jameela previously wrote:

    It’s almost as though people in the UK don’t value and respect the lives of Black and brown people. They merely tolerate us. They don’t value us as human beings; they see us as cockroaches to keep out of the way. Ukrainian people are considered as a whole – their culture, their traditions, their communities. Black and brown people don’t get that luxury. This is because white people only consider fellow white people to have inalienable rights.

    You’d expect the Mail on Sunday and GB News to push these racist, colonialist mindsets. But Labour? Well, that’s where we’re at, now.

    Featured image via GB News – screengrab

    By Steve Topple

  • The problem with Just Stop Oil (and how to start fixing it)

    In my day-to-day life, I don’t encounter many people who are politically active. As such, whenever I’m in a conversation about Just Stop Oil, it’s with someone who’s unimpressed at best, and downright incensed at worst. This has put me in an interesting position. Although I agree with the position that we need to just stop oil, I’ve also found these protests to be more annoying than anything. So why is that?

    After a year or so thinking about it, I’ve  got my thoughts in order. My verdict is that Just Stop Oil is fighting to make people aware of the issue, but a lack of awareness isn’t the problem.

    Intentions

    Specifically, I’m talking about the Just Stop Oil protests which involve halting (or slowing) traffic. My understanding is these protests are enacted to raise awareness of the issue, and the Just Stop Oil site seems to confirm this. On the donate page, you see:

    Interestingly, the same page features this quote from James Özden (director of Social Change Lab):

    THE EXPERTS WHO STUDY SOCIAL MOVEMENTS NOT ONLY BELIEVE THAT STRATEGIC DISRUPTION CAN BE AN EFFECTIVE TACTIC, BUT THAT IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TACTICAL FACTOR FOR A SOCIAL MOVEMENT’S SUCCESS.

    Just Stop Oil is undoubtedly getting a lot of coverage, but how “strategic” are their actions? This drive to get coverage seems to hinge on the idea that people are largely uninformed about the situation we find ourselves in, and that if the masses only understood, they would rise up and take action. I’d argue, though, that people are actually very informed about climate change, and the issue is they simply feel powerless to enact change.

    I’d also argue that Just Stop Oil’s protests are – if anything – reinforcing this sense of powerlessness.

    The informed masses

    Firstly, let’s look at the statistics.

    In July 2022, Ipsos Political Monitoring polling showed that:

    strong levels of concern about climate change amongst the British public. Overall, 84% are concerned about climate change, with more than half (52%) ‘very concerned’. Levels of concern overall have increased 8 points since April [2022] but are consistent with findings in July 2019 and August 2021 (both 85% concerned).

    Concern about climate change

    Similarly, when we ask when Britain will start feeling the effects of climate change, 72% say we are already feeling the effects. This is up 5 points from April but matches the 73% that said the same in both July 2019 and August 2021.

    The people who are “very concerned” – 52% – is a percentage great enough that any political party able to command it would have a super majority in parliament. So if people are rightly worried about climate change, why isn’t that translating into political action? I’d argue it’s because people feel powerless to affect change, and polling supports that too. According to the Electoral Reform Society in 2021, a:

    poll for the Politics for the Many campaign and the Electoral Reform Society [found] that just 5% of people feel they have a lot of opportunities to influence decision in Westminster

    Studies have also shown that people feel specifically powerless on the issue of climate change.

    The question then is are Just Stop Oil protests making people feel like they have the power to influence political change, or are they doing the opposite?

    Just stop…

    Put yourself in the mind of a commuter. You know that climate change is destroying the planet, but you try not to think about it because you have more immediate problems – problems you have some degree of control over (even if these problems do keep getting worse by and large). Now imagine you’re on your way to your shitty job when you get stuck behind a slow march protest. Two things happen at this point:

    1. You find yourselves unable to tackle the daily challenges of your own life.
    2. You’re forced to confront a problem you have no idea how to fix – a problem these people want you to personally solve somehow.

    When people see a Just Stop Oil protest, they put themselves in the mind of commuters because they can imagine what it must feel like to be in that position. They don’t put themselves in the minds of the protesters because they can’t imagine what it would be like to stand up to the powers that be, and neither can Just Stop Oil – that’s why they’re standing up to commuters instead.

    If you want to inspire people to feel empowered, you need to show them you have power – to show them we all have power. Instead, Just Stop Oil are forcing people to confront their own powerlessness, and they’re doing so in a manner which is proving counterproductively visceral for those watching.

    So what does a more effective protest look like?

    …and just start

    To my mind, the recent Greenpeace protest covering Rishi Sunak’s house in black fabric was a significantly more effective protest because it:

    1. Showed the power we have to act.
    2. Targeted the people with the ability to enact change.
    3. Made said people panic.

    (As an added bonus, it also showed that we know where these politicians live):

    Another recent UK protest was the action against arms manufacturer Elbit Systems. Elbit Systems has (and in many instances now had) various sites across the UK. Unlike climate change, most people are blissfully unaware of Elbit’s presence, but the protesters didn’t attack the problem by trying to raise awareness; they attacked the problem by attacking the problem:

    As reported in the Canary, Palestine Action targeted sites directly – including sites of affiliated companies such as Elbit’s accountants. If they’d instead shut down traffic in the town’s surrounding Elbit sites, the government would have used their actions as a means to turn the public against the movement, and they’d undoubtedly have been very successful. The government will always do this, of course, but to get away with it they need to have a convincing argument. You counteract this by not giving them that argument.

    Just stop oily politicians

    Increasing voter awareness is good, but it’s not enough. Of course voters need to feel empowered, but that needs to coincide with politicians feeling de-powered  – and not just de-powered – they need to feel scared – to feel terrified, even. These scumbags should be waking up every day in fear of what will happen if they fuck things up, because nothing will get done unless they – and the oil companies they’re protecting – feel that way.

    I’m not going to say how we achieve that, but it won’t be through traffic jams the rich (including politicians) can simply avoid in their private jets.

    Featured image via Alisdare Hickson – Wikimedia (cropped to 770 x 403)

    By John Shafthauer

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Wildlife campaigners demand an end to snares as the grouse-killing season begins

    Campaigners for wildlife are calling on the government to ban the use of snares in the UK. The demand comes on the first day of the grouse shooting season, also known as the Glorious Twelfth.

    Snares are indiscriminately cruel

    The League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) is calling on Westminster to ban the use of snares by gamekeepers. Snares are specially designed loops of wire that gamekeepers use to trap animals. Snares are usually intended to catch foxes, but research has shown that up to 70% of creatures caught in the devices are so-called ‘non-target species’. They include badgers, hares, deer, dogs, cats and even lambs.

    Wales banned the devices in June, making it the first part of the UK to do so. Scotland is considering a similar course of action as part of its Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill. However, as the Canary previously reported, Westminster has pretty much laughed in the face of the idea.

    Nonetheless, polling commissioned by LACS revealed that there’s widespread support for a ban on snare use. A survey conducted in June 2020 showed 73% of people in the UK want snares banned. As a result, the head of public affairs at the charity – Will Morton – said:

    It’s time for change and for the UK Government to emulate the Welsh Government and implement a ban on these cruel animal traps, a move which would be welcomed by the majority of the public.

    Millions of snares set each year

    Grouse shooting estates are no exception to snare use. Exactly how many snares are set each year is unknown, as gamekeepers are not obliged to report such numbers. However, LACS Scotland estimated in 2020 that about 57,000 similar devices were deployed each day during the grouse shooting season.

    12 August marks the beginning of the grouse shooting season across the UK. That’s why LACS is demanding an end to snares now. Morton said:

    The grouse shooting industry litters the nation’s moorland with deadly snares which cause so much suffering to our wildlife.

    It would be a popular animal welfare measure to ban snares and end the cruelty caused by these barbaric devices – like landmines they kill and maim indiscriminately.

    Other organisations have made similar statements. Anti-hunting and shooting organisation Protect the Wild said:

    There is nothing remotely ‘glorious’ about August 12th. It’s a date which is synonymous with killing birds and mammals on a vast scale.

    As well as the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Red Grouse, untold numbers of animals are killed in snares and traps, and the whole sad and sorry industry is underpinned by wildlife crime.

    And animal rights organisation Animal Aid has said:

    Grouse moors are often intensively managed in order to boost populations of grouse ahead of the shooting season. The killing of birds of prey has also been linked to some grouse moors, as well as the permitted persecution of other wild animals through the use of traps and snares.

    Ecologically damaging

    LACS also highlighted other harms grouse shooting inflicts on the countryside. It said other issues include the illegal persecution of raptors (birds of prey) as well as the controversial practice of burning heather, which releases greenhouse gas emissions.

    Morton summed up well by saying:

    The grouse shooting industry can no longer justify the cruelty it inflicts on wildlife and the damage it causes to the environment, simply so it can blast hundreds of thousands of grouse out of the sky every year.

    Featured image via FieldsportsChannel TV/Flickr

    By Glen Black

  • Junior doctor tells GMB that Sunak is ‘spaffing billions’ in money that could have stopped strikes months ago

    Junior doctors across England are on strike today. It’s the first of four days in what is now the fifth wave of strikes. And, one trainee GP on Good Morning Britain (GMB) showed how the government’s position is an ideological – and not financial – one.

    ‘Purely ideological’

    The British Medical Association (BMA) is demanding the government give junior doctors fair pay. That includes pay restoration in line with inflation since 2008/9, which some – including health secretary Steve Barclay – have maliciously framed as a 35% pay increase.

    The government has so far refused anything even close to that figure. A pay review body recommended an average of just 8.8% in July. As a result, BMA members started their fifth strike across England on 11 August.

    Illustrious morning chat show GMB interviewed one trainee GP at the start of the strikes. Robert Laurenson told the hosts that:

    We’ve heard today that Rishi Sunak has wasted £1bn over the last 15 days of strike action. That £1bn was the cost of full pay restoration last October.

    Host Ranvir Singh then cut in to ask what absolutely none of us were thinking: “Why was it a waste?”

    In a moment of a complete lack of self-awareness, she then answered her own question by saying:

    [NHS providers] are paying extortionate amounts… for people to cover for your strikes.

    Laurenson explained to Singh that £1bn is better spent on retaining existing doctors and training up new doctors than on ferrying already overworked doctors around to fill in gaps. The trainee GP then said:

    At the moment, Rishi Sunak is spaffing… billions of pounds up the wall because of this dispute.

    As Laurenson had earlier said, the BMA had previously estimated full pay restoration for junior doctors would cost £1bn. That means the amount the government has spent on just 15 days of strikes could have prevented strikes from taking place altogether. Laurenson then gave a spot-on diagnosis:

    This dispute no longer makes sense. It’s purely ideological from Rishi Sunak’s perspective.

    Junior doctors on pickets nationwide

    Tens of thousands of junior doctors are on strike, with picket lines set up across England:

    The timing of the strikes means thousands of picketing doctors are in their first weeks of practice. Raymond Effrah, one such newly placed doctor, said in a BMA press release:

    When I chose medicine as my career, never did I imagine my second week in the job would see me going on strike.

    As a medical student I have now gone through a pandemic, a cost-of-living crisis, and now have student debts of almost £100,000…

    It makes me question why I started on this path in the first place: good will and a desire to help will take me only so far.  We need to feel valued, and pay is an integral part of that.

    However, it’s clear the government doesn’t value the work of people like Effrah. It had enough money to resolve the problem before it began, but it chose not to do so. Moreover, it continues to deny these healthcare workers fair pay for hard work.

    All of this mess has come about precisely because Laurenson is right: the government is waging an ideological war against public services.

    Featured image via Saul Staniforth/Twitter

    By Glen Black

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Aberdeen community to lose last green space in energy transition land-grab

    On Wednesday 9 August, campaigners from Climate Camp Scotland, This is Rigged, and Scot.E3 demonstrated outside the headquarters of Ironside Farrar in Edinburgh. Campaigners held the peaceful demonstration in solidarity with residents of Torry, Aberdeen. Torry is to be the site of a large-scale industrial development that threatens a precious local park and wetland.

    The project developer has commissioned Ironside Farrar to produce a master plan for the site. The coalition of climate groups and energy workers were protesting the advancing implementation of Scotland’s so-called Energy Transition Zone (ETZ).

    However, as this deprived community in Aberdeen is finding out first hand, the supposed shift to a green energy future to tackle the climate crisis is far from just.

    The Energy Transition Zone

    If you’re wondering what the hell an ETZ is, the PR jargon from its proponents won’t provide a clearer picture.

    In its 2020 ‘feasibility study’, oil and gas consultancy firm Barton Willmore acknowledged that ETZ “isn’t a universal term”. The company then proceeded to explain that the term:

    is a vehicle to promote a particular City to end users who specialise in this market and to prepare the necessary sites and infrastructure required to support that development.

    Of course, this is insipid industry-speak for industrial expansion. In this instance, companies are purportedly developing the site to draw in ‘green’ manufacturing. Specifically, this will be for wind power and the nascent green hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies.

    Conversely, a community campaign group fighting the project has offered a different definition. Friends of St Fittick’s Park argued that:

    An “energy transition zone” is, in short, a marketing ploy, a bit of rhetoric dreamed up by a lobbying/consultancy firm to make a dishonest land-grab in a poor area sound more palatable, by selling it as an essential initiative to mitigate man-made climate change.

    Their scathing view reflects a soon-to-be lived reality: the new zone will gobble up a local neighbourhood’s final green space. Moreover, it will invite new polluting projects into a community overburdened with harmful industries.

    In other words, the council and opportunistic corporations see this deprived and already heavily-polluted area as ripe for the industrial land grab.

    Sacrifice zone

    The new industrial development will occupy close to a third of St Fittick’s Community Park. Crucially, this is the last remaining greenspace in Torry. As a result, local residents have vociferously fought the project.

    Torry is among the 500 most deprived areas in Scotland. Moreover, according to Scotland’s Index of Multiple Deprivation in 2020, Torry held three out of ten of the most deprived neighbourhoods in Aberdeen City.

    In 2021, 22 medical professionals from across Northeast Scotland issued an open letter against the project. In it, they highlighted that the life expectancy of residents in Balnagask – the area of Torry closest to the park – was already 13 years shorter than in another neighbourhood in Aberdeen, which happened to have a mature woodland on its doorstep.

    Worse still, Torry residents’ healthy life expectancy – the period of time a person stays in good health – was 20 years lower.

    What’s more, residents in Torry face an eight-fold greater risk of admission to hospital due to chronic lung disease than the longer-lived neighbourhood. This is unsurprising given the high presence of polluting infrastructure in the area. For example, this includes a sewage works, a regional waste centre, and an industrial business estate.

    Separately, local retired paediatrician Mike Down said that the addition of the ETZ would:

    further sicken and impoverish the people who live in Torry.

    This is a story familiar to the marginalised communities from the industrial hellscapes of the US’s ‘Cancer Alley’, through to the poor, Black, Brown, chronically ill, and disabled residents breathing in the toxic fumes of waste incinerators across the UK.

    In short, the council has designated the area a sacrifice zone, and the people living there as disposable.

    ‘Just transition’ for workers?

    Trade unionists representing offshore workers were among the campaigners protesting outside Iron Farrar’s offices. Trade unionists and climate campaigners founded Scot.E3 to call for climate action in their workplaces, and a just transition.

    Separately, in March, a coalition of nonprofits collaborated on a report to call for a just transition for North Sea oil and gas workers.

    Ironside Farrar’s draft master plan details how the ETZ will help to facilitate a just transition for workers in Scotland. In particular, it is creating a “Skills Campus” to provide education and the upskilling of the local workforce.

    However, the project will generate just 2,500 full-time-equivalent jobs by 2030. Comparatively, the offshore oil and gas sector in Scotland currently hosts over 70,000 jobs. The ETZ will therefore offer just over 3.5% of the required transition employment.

    Moreover, there’s currently no indication of exactly how many of these jobs will go to local North Sea workers. The draft master plan touts an accompanying jobs and skills plan to support “inclusive job creation”. The jobs and skills plan promotes the meek commitment that investors will be “encouraged to adhere” to “creating local employment and business opportunities”.

    What’s more, one ETZ project already throws cold water at the idea that the zone will provide a just transition for local workers. The gas-fired Peterhead Power Station CCS development will create limited jobs for Aberdeenshire’s workforce. The project boasts that it will create 776 jobs during the construction phase. However, it anticipates that it will source up to 75% of employees from outside the area. Moreover, during operation, it will create just 45 direct jobs for people in the local authority.

    If the new industrial zone can even claim to be bringing forward an energy transition for workers and communities in Aberdeen, it’s already abundantly apparent that it won’t be just.

    Feature image via Climate Camp Scotland, This is Rigged, and Scot.E3

    By Hannah Sharland

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Diane Abbott offends the establishment again, this time by calling out a Tory MP’s racism

    MP Diane Abbott has once again come under fire in the mainstream media. Unsurprisingly, it has less to do with what she did than it does with the establishment media and politicians’ misogynoir, combined with their dislike for her politics.

    Nothing worse than criticising a Tory

    What’s worse than 41 people desperate for safe haven drowning in the sea before Western governments recognise the value of their lives? Criticising a Tory politician’s xenophobia, apparently. At least if the reactions of mainstream media, along with centrist and right-wing politicians, are anything to go by.

    On 9 August, in response to the news that 41 refugees had drowned in the Mediterranean en route to Italian shores, Abbott said in a now-deleted tweet:

    The migrants have indeed fucked off. To the bottom of the sea

    Abbott was referring to Conservative MP Lee Anderson’s comments, made earlier in the same week, that asylum seekers complaining about being housed on the Bibby Stockholm barge should “fuck off back to France”.

    But in a move that probably surprised no one who’s been paying attention, the establishment media jumped at the chance to depict Abbott in an unflattering light.

    Deliberately misplaced outrage

    Marcus Daniel, former editor-in-chief at Media Diversified, said:

    Many people saw right through the establishment narrative and highlighted the message behind Abbott’s tweet:

    And suggestions that Abbott shouldn’t have deleted the tweet received considerable support:

    Author Steve Howell noted:

    Diane Abbott and misogynoir

    Journalist Lorraine King called out the misogynoir – the combination of anti-Black racism and misogyny – faced by Black women in particular, which was evident throughout the entire debacle:

    Obviously, this isn’t the first time Abbott has faced public outrage that is entirely disproportionate to her actions:

    So recent events have been nothing if not predictable. It’s a crying shame that in a country where refugees are told to fuck off back to where they came from, Diane Abbott’s outrage is what made the headlines – and for all the wrong reasons.

    The Labour Party has already suspended Abbott over antisemitism, despite the party’s general and persistent tolerance for racism and misogynoir. What more do these people want? Just let a Black woman express her compassion and anger in peace, I beg you.

    Featured image via YouTube

    By Afroze Fatima Zaidi

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • St Mungo’s workers made a lot of noise outside the notorious charity’s HQ – and rightly so

    The increasingly notorious homelessness charity St Mungo’s saw striking workers take the fight for fair pay right to its front door on Thursday 10 August. Trade union Unite had organised a rally – and staff made their feelings over bosses’ treatment of them very clear.

    St Mungo’s: a charity doing capitalism

    St Mungo’s bosses have been locked in an ongoing industrial dispute with workers. Little wonder, really, when you realise just what staff have been putting up with. As the Canary previously reported, Unite housing Workers said that:

    Staff have been doing very badly – the average amount the charity spends on each employee fell in cash terms by 2% in 2022, and by more than 10% after allowing for inflation.

    Leigh Fontaine is a manager at St Mungo’s, who’s also gone out on strike with workers. He told the BBC:

    Never in my four years as a manager have I sat in a supervision with a staff member who is in tears over whether they can afford to eat next week.

    But guess what? The CEO’s pay went up by 5% last year – to £189,000. That’s almost five times more than the average worker earns. Moreover, as the Canary recently reported, a ban on bosses using employment agencies to send scab staff in to cover for striking workers came into force on 10 August. As we also reported, St Mungo’s had previously been doing this. Unite said in a press release:

    Up to now, St Mungo’s has been using a number of agencies to try to break the strike. Now management is tying itself in knots, wasting money in a desperate attempt to transfer agency workers on to short term contracts.

    Yes, you read that right. As Novara Media reported, bosses at St Mungo’s are giving agency staff short-term contracts instead, to get around the new law. Unite said:

    The charity’s actions are creating an expensive and administrative nightmare. Meanwhile Unite has recruited 350 new members since the start of the dispute. Workers are not believing the misinformation being peddled by the employer.

    So, Unite members who work at St Mungo’s have been on indefinite strike since 27 June – after walking out for the four weeks prior to that. On Thursday 10 August, they took their campaign to the front door of the charity’s head office – holding a mass rally there.

    A bunch of rats

    Dozens of workers and supporters turned out:

    A rat was present; the Canary is unsure if this is a visual representation of the St Mungo’s CEO or not:

    Workers certainly made their presence known (and heard):

    They also sent support to striking comrades at Amazon:

    Stop strike-breaking and give workers fair pay

    Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said in a press release:

    Companies and organisations had already begun to use agency workers as a way to break legal strikes. Pitting worker against worker in an attempt to union bust. As of 10 August, this will no longer be an avenue hostile employers can use.

    St Mungo’s now needs to focus on solving this long running dispute. They need to stop looking for ways to break the strike and start looking for ways to solve it.

    According to the BBC, St Mungo’s bosses have made a new offer to Unite – which they’ll be negotiating “over the coming days”. Given that the bosses’ last offer was 3.7%, and the offer before that 2.25%, it’s unlikely they’ll offer workers anything near a decent pay rise. So, get set for the strike to continue for the foreseeable future.

    Featured image via Unite the Union

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • A Guardian hack getting a job at Murdoch’s Times sums up the cesspit that’s the UK corporate media

    The Guardian‘s senior political correspondent has just landed a senior job at Rupert Murdoch’s the Times. Predictably, the stenographers in the press pack are having a field day over his appointment. However, it sums up the state of the cesspit that is the UK corporate media – where a journalist can go from working for the supposedly left-wing Guardian to a top job at the climate denying, racist, and transphobic Times.

    Allegretti inducing a corporate hack circle jerk

    Aubrey Allegretti is currently the Guardian‘s senior political correspondent – having worked there since February 2021. However, he excitedly announced on Twitter on Tuesday 8 August that he’d got a new job. Aubrey is moving to the Times to be its chief political correspondent:

    Congratulations were apparently in order from other corporate hacks, like the Sunday Times‘s ‘Whitehall editor’ (whatever the hell that is) Gabriel Pogrund:

    Former BBC and Sky News journalist Lewis Goodall (who’s recently come out as a raging centrist) also sent Allegretti best wishes:

    In fact, it seemed half the UK press pack ceremoniously descended onto Twitter to fawn over this guy’s new job:

    One person warned us to have plenty of Kleenex at the ready:

    One big club

    However, for normal people (that is, non-members of the UK’s official establishment stenography club) Allegretti’s new job was a source of fury; the main point being that it showed that the UK corporate media was one big, homogenous swarm of hacks:

    Non-corporate journalist Jonathan Cook noted that the Guardian and the Times were effectively two cheeks of the same arse:

    Another Twitter user summed up the situation by saying:

    This is classic media self absorption, this is a huge change of allegiance but it’s clear you don’t actually care, politics is just words for you. This at a time of unparalleled corruption in government and politics. Zero responsibility but happy to take money from anyone.

    It shouldn’t be a surprise that Allegretti has switched from the Guardian to the Times. A cursory browse of his LinkedIn shows he previously worked for Sky News, HuffPost, and briefly for the Times before, as a researcher for four months. These kinds of job swaperoos are just common place in the corporate media.

    For example, everyone’s favourite former BBC political editor, now prime-time BBC Sunday morning host, Laura Kuenssberg used to be ITV News’s business editor. Last year, the Guardian made Anna Isaac its city editor – after she previously worked at the Daily Telegraph.

    Then you have the corporate media’s watchdog, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). This is, you guessed it, chock-full of former corporate hacks – like the ex-Metro editor who recently joined. Plus, three companies own 90% of the UK’s national newspaper market.

    We still need a revolution

    Overall, as the Canary‘s Curtis Daly previously wrote:

    Media pundits sit in their nice comfy chairs, in their fancy studios, lowering the political discourse to utter babble.

    They purposely distract us by attacking wokeness and cancel culture, all while throwing minority communities under the bus.

    They won’t talk about their mates’ tax-dodging, undisclosed political donors, or the rigged financial system.

    Without a functioning media, our politicians, including opposition parties, don’t feel the need to address the problems.

    Allegretti’s job move sums up the problem. When you have journalists who are happy to move from a left-wing to right-wing publication, it’s clearly just job to them. This means money – not public good – is these people’s primary motivation. As one Twitter user summed up:

    The corporate media in the UK functions only to serve the rich and powerful, and to line the pockets of the journalists working within it. We wrote in 2016 about the need for a “media revolution” – and nothing has changed since.

    Feature image via Michael Brunton-Spall – Flickr, resized to 770×403 under licence CC BY 2.0

    By Steve Topple

  • Around a third of chronically ill people are now in debt and struggling to pay bills

    A survey has shown that just under a third (30%) of chronically ill people, or those who are injured and off work, are now in debt to the tune of over £1,500. Moreover, over a third (34%) of them say they are struggling to keep on top of their bills. The results of the survey show that benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are failing to support people when they need it.

    Chronic illness: sweeping the UK

    As the Canary has documented, chronic illness is a major issue in the UK. 2.5 million working-age people are classed as economically inactive due to long-term sickness – with 38% of them living with five or more health conditions. This is an increase of over 400,000 people since the start of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

    Much of the increase may be due to long Covid. There’s also been an increase in people living with mental health issues. There’s also been changes in people’s health. As the Office for National Statistics (ONS) wrote:

    Between 2016 and 2019, there was a small fall in the proportion of people who reported no health conditions, decreasing from 71% to 69%. However, from the onset of the… pandemic, this downward trajectory accelerated so that in January to March 2023, only 64% of working-age people reported having no health conditions. This is an absolute drop of 2 million since the same period in 2019. Conversely, the number of people who reported having one or two health conditions has steadily increased over time, from 8.5 million (21%) in 2016 to 10.6 million (25%) in 2023.

    That is, people who are sick have been getting sicker. Now, a survey has found that many of these chronically ill people are struggling financially.

    Financial chaos

    Credit management company Lowell ran a survey of people who were either chronically ill or off work injured in May. The results were stark. It found that in terms of finances:

    • 43% have seen increased energy bills due to rising prices.
    • 37% cannot work.
    • 36% say the cost of medical bills have made their finances worse.

    Then, in terms of family finances:

    • 45% have had to claim benefits.
    • 34% have struggled to pay bills, including mortgages.
    • 21% said their family has built up debt to support them.
    • 21% say a family member/members have had to cut down hours or stop working to care for them.
    • 20% say someone in the family has taken on a second job.

    Overall, 30% of respondents said they were now in £1,500 or more worth of debt due to their health. Of course, all this comes as the DWP has failed to make benefits sufficient to keep people out of poverty.

    The DWP: failing chronically ill people

    As the Canary has documented, for years the DWP either froze benefits rates, or failed to make them enough to cover the rising cost of everything. Think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies said that for Universal Credit and other benefits:

    Compared with their pre-pandemic… levels, real benefit rates were 7.6% lower in 2022… and will be 6.2% lower in 2023… and still 2.0% lower in 2024

    That is, the DWP is not giving chronically ill people enough money to live on. So, it is of little wonder that Lowell’s survey found so many people were struggling.

    Being chronically ill in the UK is a perfect storm of state-sanctioned chaos. Often, the NHS fails to give people the support and treatment they need. Then, they can’t work. When they turn to the DWP, it fails to provide them with enough to live on. So, they then get into debt or their families have to work more.

    A worsening situation

    The situation is only projected to get worse. As the Health Foundation wrote:

    9.1 million people in England are projected to be living with major illness by 2040, an increase of 2.5 million people compared to 2019.

    Unless the government, the NHS, and other public bodies take action quickly, what Lowell found in its survey will end up being the tip of the iceberg.

    Featured image via Horacio Olavarria – Unsplash

    By Steve Topple

  • As the ban on scab agencies sending staff to break strikes begins, the TUC has issued Sunak an ultimatum

    The short-lived move by the Tories which allowed agency workers to fill in for strikers came to an end on Thursday 10 August. The ban on this practice of agencies effectively scabbing had been lifted by Boris Johnson’s government. However, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has issued an ultimatum to Rishi Sunak’s government in case it was thinking of trying to reverse the ban again.

    Kwarteng: allowing agencies to scab at will

    In 1976, it was made unlawful for an employer to pay an agency to provide staff during a strike. However, Johnson’s business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng reversed the ban last July. As Sky News reported:

    The change in law was introduced as a statutory instrument – meaning there was less scrutiny than on typical legislating…

    It amended the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003.

    Some unscrupulous bosses have made use of it – like those at homelessness charity St Mungo’s. As the Canary previously reported, striking workers there have been protesting outside the scab agencies involved.

    However, the TUC and 11 trade unions weren’t having this law change. They took the government to court over the issue – and won.

    A judge says ‘no’

    At the time, the TUC argued that Kwarteng’s law change served to “undermine the fundamental right to strike“. It warned that it put the public in danger, and that it made disputes between workers and bosses even worse. Even the agency industry body, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, criticised the Tory minister’s plans, saying they were “unworkable”. Plus, a House of Lords committee that looked over the law said of it that:

    the lack of robust evidence and the expected limited net benefit raise questions as to the practical effectiveness and benefit

    Overall, the judge agreed Kwarteng’s actions were unlawful. This was because he’d breached the Employment Agencies Act 1973 by not consulting trade unions before making the change. As Sky News reported:

    Mr Justice Linden was scathing in his written judgement.

    He said the minister – who went on to become Liz Truss’s ill-fated chancellor – was “not sufficiently” interested to ask for analysis from civil servants so he could assess how the law change would actually be implemented.

    Mr Justice Linden said the “decision was to proceed at exceptional speed” despite concerns from the civil service about the “effect on parliamentary scrutiny” and “without any further consultation at all”.

    However, as the TUC noted in a press release:

    The government recently decided it would not appeal the judgment, but hasn’t confirmed its longer-term plans for the law.

    So, it’s calling on ministers to guarantee they won’t try to pull another fast one on workers, like Kwarteng tried (but failed) to.

    Enough is enough, thank you

    The TUC says the High Court overturning Kwarteng’s law was a “major blow” to the Tories’ “attempts to undermine the right to strike”. It has also said they are adopting the same “reckless approach” with the latest anti-strike legislation. It said in a press release that:

    Like the agency worker regulations, the Strikes Act, which passed last month, has been widely criticised by employer groups, politicians and lots more. And ministers rushed the legislation through parliament.

    The Act could lead to workers being forced to work even when they have democratically voted to strike, and workers facing the sack if they refuse to comply.

    TUC general secretary Paul Nowak added that:

    Ministers know they broke the law when they tried to push through unworkable, shoddy legislation on agency workers covering for strikers. That’s why they have done the right thing and decided not to appeal against the High Court’s judgment. Bringing in agency staff to deliver important services in place of strikers risks endangering public safety, worsening disputes and poisoning industrial relations

    The government railroaded through this law change despite widespread opposition from agency employers and unions. That’s why the Court were right to rule the change unlawful.

    It’s time for clear commitments from ministers that they won’t overturn the ban on using agency workers during strikes.

    And they should scrap the Strikes Act too – another piece of legislation that has been rushed through parliament, which will only sour industrial relations and drag out disputes.

    Given that Sunak’s is one of the most toxic Tory governments in living memory (which is saying something) it’s unlikely to heed the TUC’s warning. However, trade unions will be ready to fight whatever this current shower of anti-worker, right-wing capitalist goons throw at them next.

    Featured image via Sky News – YouTube

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • People have been out in force protesting rail ticket office closures

    As the scandal around ticket office closures rumbles on, the National Union of Rail, Transport, and Maritime Workers (RMT) has staged a day of action to highlight just why the Tories’ and train operators’ plans are such a bad idea.

    Ticket office closures: Tories and train operators in cahoots

    As the Canary has been documenting, the Tories and train operators have been in cahoots to close most ticket offices across the country. However, people have hit back furiously – including chronically ill and disabled people. This is because, as we previously wrote:

    23% of disabled people are internet non-users. Ticket vending machines are often inaccessible. Plus, wheelchair users can only get their 50% discount on tickets from an office.

    Train operators are counter-claiming that they’ll redeploy ticket office staff on stations. However, research by the Association of British Commuters (ABC) has shown this not to be true. Plus, the government and train operators tried to get away with only performing a 21-day public consultation on the issue – which, after more public outrage and threats of legal action, they had to back down over.

    Amid all this, RMT has also been central to the fight back. General secretary Mick Lynch said the union would:

    bring into effect the full industrial force of the union to stop any plans to close ticket offices

    So, the RMT has been actively campaigning around the issue – to the point where train operators have threatened its members with disciplinary action over their activism. Not that the RMT and workers are shook – instead, they held a day of action over the issue on Wednesday 9 August.

    The RMT: fighting back across the country

    The union said in a press release that it:

    has called two days of action this month for tomorrow and August 16 after the government extended the flawed consultation process to September

    The RMT and other groups coordinated actions around the country. Lynch was at Penzance station in Cornwall, where dozens of people came out to participate:

    Campaigners gave out postcards which people could write their comments about ticket office closures on. Then, they could send them into passenger group Transport Focus, which would submit them to the official consultation. Disability rights campaigner Paula Peters did this in Bromely, South London:

    People also highlighted the problems with only having ticket machines:

    Action extended as far north as Glasgow:

    There was a health dose of sarcasm in York:

    However, this is not the end of the RMT’s campaign. As well as the second national day of action on 16 August, the union is holding a rally outside Downing Street. This will take place on Thursday 31 August at 6pm:

    There’s also two separate petitions that people can sign here and here.

    Ticket office closures: further regression of the rail network

    As Lynch summed up:

    Together we need to mobilise to defeat these plans which are part of the Tory government’s agenda of dehumanising the railway on behalf of the private operators and their shareholder.

    It seems that there’s strong public opinion against ticket office closures – although it’s difficult to gauge via social media alone. However, what is clear it that the Tories’ and train operators’ plans would be terrible for chronically ill, disabled, and older people. It would represent the further degradation of our rail service – which has successively regressed since the disastrous Tory privatisation of the 1990s.

    So, all power to the RMT for its opposition. Now, more people need to join it in fighting these dire plans.

    Featured image via the RMT 

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • A local mayor is taking the Tories to court over the Bibby Stockholm – in her capacity as a resident of Portland

    The Bibby Stockholm refugee detention barge continues to dominate the news. It has been subject to numerous protests over recent weeks. However, a local resident in Portland – where it is now docked – is taking the Tories to court over the situation. She also happens to be the local mayor.

    Bibby Stockholm: encapsulating Tory racism

    As the Canary has documented, the Bibby Stockholm has been at the eye of the storm over the Tory government’s immigration policies. We previously wrote that:

    the Home Office is planning to forcibly detain around 500 male refugees on the Bibby Stockholm. This is despite Dutch authorities’ alleged human rights abuses aboard the vessel when its government used it to detain refugees in the 2000s. The UK government’s plans have also prompted outrage from groups like Amnesty International.

    The barge was previously moored at Falmouth in Cornwall, for refurbishment. There, it and the companies operating on it saw multiple protests from local people and groups. On 18 July it reached its final destination at Portland Port in Dorset. There, the Bibby Stockholm also saw protest from people opposed to its presence – some right-wing, some not.

    On 7 August, as Sky News reported:

    The first 15 asylum seekers are now on board the controversial Bibby Stockholm barge, according to the Home Office – although the government was unable to put another 20 on the vessel.

    Support group Care4Calais had managed to help the 20 refugees resist the government forcing them onto the barge. According to Sky News, Care4Calais claimed that this number included:

    people who have disabilities, people who have had traumatic experiences crossing the sea and victims of torture and modern slavery.

    Protests have continued in Portland. However, so far the local authorities involved have failed to put up any resistance. So, Portland’s mayor has taken it upon herself (in a personal capacity) to take the government to court over the Bibby Stockholm.

    A legal challenge

    Carralyn Parkes is the mayor of Portland, a Labour councillor on Portland Town Council, and a local resident. She previously hit out at the Tories’ plans for the Bibby Stockholm. As the Guardian reported, Parkes said:

    I think it’s appalling that this government would consider putting some of the most vulnerable and traumatised people on a barge in Portland port… There isn’t the infrastructure to care for them. We don’t have a hospital. We have a GP that covers up to about 14,000 people. Portland is cut off with one road on and one road off.

    If they do house these people here, our council will treat them with love and respect, but it’s disgraceful that in the 21st century the government is thinking about housing asylum seekers on a barge.

    Now, after Dorset Council chose not to go ahead with a legal challenge, and with Portland Town Council having no statutory authority to do so, Parkes is doing it herself.

    Law firm Deighton Pierce Glynn is representing her. She will be applying for a judicial review of the Bibby Stockholm, in which the High Court will look at the evidence and decides if the government acted lawfully. Deighton Pierce Glynn said in a press release that Parkes’ legal challenge centres around the issue of planning permission. It noted that:

    Dorset Council have said publicly that they consider that planning permission is not necessary for the installation, operation and use of the barge in Dorset to accommodate asylum seekers, because the barge lies below the mean low water mark, and is therefore not within the local planning authority’s jurisdiction.

    Parkes disagrees. This is because the:

    1. Idea of a ‘low water mark’ as a boundary for planning permission should be “interpreted flexibly”. Parkes argues that in this instance, the Bibby Stockholm is in the local planning authority’s jurisdiction as it’s in the harbour.
    2. The Bibby Stockholm is attached to the land for electricity, sewage, and so on. Therefore, it is “effectively a permanent structure” like a pier, so does fall under planning rules.

    So, she is is seeking a judicial review on the grounds that planning permission was neither sought nor granted. Parkes has published a CrowdJustice page to raise the money she needs to do this. You can read and donate to that here.

    The Tories and the Bibby Stockholm: “inhuman”

    Overall, as Parkes noted:

    I think containing people on the barge is an inhumane way to treat those fleeing from war, conflict or persecution. The people who will be placed on the barge are NOT ILLEGAL because their asylum claims have already started to be processed by the Home Office. These people are asking for our protection, not our cruelty.

    It is as simple as that. Of course, it would be too much to ask the Tory-run Dorset Council to take the government to court. So, it is down to Parkes – and the public she needs support from.

    Featured image via Ashley Smith – Wikimedia, resized to 1910×1000 under licence CC BY-SA 4.0

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Staff at a homelessness charity are holding a ‘mega rally’ against their toxic bosses

    Staff at St Mungo’s homelessness charity have been in a protracted dispute with their bosses for months. It’s over pay and working conditions. Now, their trade union, Unite, is taking further action – organising a mass rally on Thursday 10 August.

    St Mungo’s: treating staff like shit for years

    St Mungo’s and its bosses have been causing problems for their staff for years. For example, in 2014 staff took industrial action at one hostel after St Mungo’s pulled out of managing it. More recently, in 2020 – as the Canary previously reported – staff voted for industrial action over threats to jobs, working conditions, and homeless peoples’ services.

    Regarding the most recent round of industrial action, Unite Housing Workers wrote on its website:

    Staff have been doing very badly – the average amount the charity spends on each employee fell in cash terms by 2% in 2022, and by more than 10% after allowing for inflation.

    Meanwhile the CEO’s pay increased in 2022 to £189k, a 5% increase on the previous year, and almost five times the pay of the average worker at the charity!

    This 2022 increase comes on top of other rewards for the highest paid staff. In 2020-21 the pay of the 9 highest paid members of staff increased by an estimated 16%, costing an additional £150,000!

    That is to say that bosses at an alleged ‘charity’ have been raking it in, while staff and service users suffer. So, Unite members have been striking.

    Latest trade union action

    As Socialist Worker reported, by Thursday 3 August:

    St Mungo’s workers [were] on their tenth week of strikes – and sixth of indefinite action. Some 500 Unite members walked out for four weeks on Tuesday 30 May to demand a 10 percent pay increase. Now union membership is up to around 800, and the strikers have escalated to indefinite action until management caves.

    This indefinite action began on 27 June after a paltry pay rise offer of 3.7%. Meanwhile, bosses have been using scab agencies to cover for striking staff. So, Unite members up and down the country have carried out consistent action:

    Unite boss Sharon Graham has been supporting them:

    Meanwhile, former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn also joined the picket line:

    Now, Unite are taking things up a gear.

    The union and its members are holding a mass rally on 10 August:

    Guardian columnist Owen Jones will be speaking:

    St Mungo’s bosses: profiting off misery and homelessness?

    However, the problems with St Mungo’s run far deeper than just its shitty treatment of its workers. As the Canary reported in 2017:

    A new report shows homelessness charities are working with the Home Office to deport non-UK rough sleepers.

    The investigation by Corporate Watch found that outreach teams from the charities St Mungo’s, Thames Reach, and Change, Grow, Live (CGL) have all been working with Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) officers on patrols that target rough sleepers in London.

    Charity outreach teams should help rough sleepers to access support. Instead, by teaming up with the Home Office, they expose vulnerable people to detention and deportation.

    Moreover, the homelessness charity sector itself is hardly a beacon of righteous egalitarianism. At the end of last year, bosses at Shelter left workers with no choice but to strike after their dire pay offer:

    The Shelter workers’ battle may give hope to their St Mungo’s colleagues, though – as bosses there backed down in the end, tabling a half-decent pay offer, which staff accepted.

    The St Mungo’s branch of Unite tweeted how you can support the striking workers:

    Join a union, charity workers

    The behaviour of so-called charities is sadly often akin to the corporate sector – St Mungo’s and Shelter being two examples. This clearly shows the need for workers in this sector to organise themselves. As one St Mungo’s staff member told the website Angry Workers:

    I guess just really to remind people that without coming together and unionising we wouldn’t be at the point where we’re at now, and we just have to continue to do this. Because even if we get something, just looking back at the past we know we could be at risk of losing it at any time. It’s only if we stand strong and we know what our rights are and what the history is, and what’s been stripped away, that we’ll be able to fight it.

    St Mungo’s staff are fighting not just for themselves but also for the homeless people they provide essential services for. So, if you’re in London on 10 August, support their protest for better pay and conditions in any way you can.

    Featured image via Andy Watson – screengrab

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Unlike the UK, France kind of knows how to deal with its violent, racist cops

    Prosecutors in France have arrested five cops over the death of a man linked to the use of a police weapon which fires ‘blast balls’. Cops using them in France is commonplace. However, just as the French man’s death has been revealed, in the UK we’ve found out that London cops have been using a similar weapon – but only at events led by Black people.

    France: a summer of protest

    As Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported, French prosecutors arrested five of their own cops on Tuesday 8 August, over the death of a 27-year-old man in the southern city of Marseille in early July. This was during the nationwide protests over the police killing of 17-year old Nahel M. by during a traffic check.

    As the Canary reported at the time:

    The incident has sparked huge protests across France. Police initially reported that an officer had shot at the teenager because he was driving at him. However, this was contradicted by a video circulating on social media and authenticated by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

    The footage shows the two policemen standing by the side of a stationary car. One had a weapon pointed at the driver.

    A voice says:

    “You are going to get a bullet in the head”.

    The police officer then appears to fire as the car drives off.

    Nahel’s killing resulted in protests across France. Cops arrested hundreds of people, and injured countless others. But so far, no-one had reportedly lost their life due to the cops – until now.

    Cops investigating cops?

    The five police officers, all members of the elite Raid unit, were detained in Marseille for questioning in the probe over the death of Mohamed Bendriss. Several civilians and police are also giving evidence as witnesses.

    The incident took place during the night of 1-2 July, during protests in the centre of Marseille. Bendriss was a married father of one, whose widow is now expecting a second child. He lost his life after feeling unwell while riding a scooter. His autopsy showed traces on his chest of what could be the impact of a shot from a blast ball. These are commonly used by the country’s police. As Le Monde wrote:

    Also known as rubber ball grenades, blast balls are sometimes used by police in riot situations.

    The investigation is only the latest violent incident from Marseille police. In July, doctors had to amputate part of a 22-year-old man’s skull. This was after cops beat him up and fired a blast ball at him. Prosecutors charged four Marseille cops over the incident.

    Back in the UK, and an investigation has found that the Met Police use a similar weapon – ‘baton rounds’ – exclusively at Black-led events.

    The UK Met Police: more institutional racism

    The Guardian reported that the group Liberty Investigates has discovered another example of the Met’s institutional racism. It wrote:

    The only events for which Metropolitan police chiefs authorised the potential use of baton rounds in the past six years were black-led gatherings, documents show.

    The weapons, intended to be a less lethal alternative to regular firearms, have been cleared for use at Notting Hill carnival since 2017 and the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.

    Known as plastic bullets, baton rounds have never been fired during public order incidents on the British mainland, but have been used in Northern Ireland, where earlier versions of the weapons led to deaths.

    UK baton rounds are similar to French blast balls – they’re supposedly non-lethal rounds of either plastic or rubber projectiles, to be fire from guns. Moreover, the Guardian reported that cops didn’t bother deploying baton rounds at (white) far-right protests – where there was actual violence.

    As many people pointed out on social media, this shows the Met’s institutional racism once more:

    Both the UK and French states actively work to aid police institutional racism and violence. However, in France at least the state attempts to give the impression of some sort of system of accountability when cops kill or injure people. In the UK, this literally doesn’t exist – as the many deaths of people at the hands of police, with near-zero repercussions for those officers responsible, show.

    Featured image via Nerban Del Burn – Wikimedia, resized to 770×403 under licence CC BY-SA 2.0 FR

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Chris Packham’s warning to UK politicians is good – but it needs to go much harder

    So far, the year 2023 has done its upmost to prove that the catastrophic climate crisis is the new normal. This has manifested in the form of devastating wildfires, boiling seas, and record lows of Antarctic sea ice. Despite this, Rishi Sunak has vowed (threatened?) to “max out” our oil and gas reserves – even though fossil fuels are one of the primary causes of the ongoing catastrophe.

    While Labour has criticised Sunak’s plan to suck as much death-juice out of the Earth as possible, Keir Starmer has also said the party will continue sucking it up when it’s in power – i.e., it won’t revoke any of the 100+ North Sea licences that the PM plans to issue. Given this complete lack of political opposition to the climate apocalypse, it’s understandable why people like Chris Packham are taking a stand:

    However, it’s arguable that the ambitions of this campaign don’t go anywhere near far enough.

    Chris Packham: no ‘new’ oil?

    If the above image isn’t clear, the flyers read:

    WARNING

    [POLITICAL PARTY NAME]

    if you do not include an unambiguous

    assertion that you will not

    sanction any future licencing of

    OIL AND GAS

    and immediately cease subsidies to

    OIL AND GAS

    companies in your manifesto

    YOU WILL NOT GET MY VOTE

    The obvious problem is that these manifestos will almost certainly be written after Sunak’s 100+ licences are issued – i.e., Labour could promise no ‘future’ licences without promising to revoke any. Given that, it’s unclear why Packham has adopted a position which would allow for catastrophic climate change to continue at the current pace. The No New Oil site isn’t much clearer on this, with this being all it has to say:

    This week the Conservative government, our elected leaders, approved the licensing of 100 new oil and gas fields. Westminster is focused on votes over the biggest crisis to ever face humanity. But we, the people, hold the power with our votes.​

    This is a warning to our current and potential future political leaders – we won’t vote for new oil and gas. The ballot box is our voice and louder than ever we are calling for no new fossil fuels.​

    This is a call to action – use your voice, use your vote. Print the posters, post them far and wide. We, the people, vote for the long-term survival of ourselves and future generations, not for short-term political gain.​

    The oil party is over.

    Hopefully the movement will come up with a clearer stance between now and the sky catching fire.

    Greenpeace joins Packham: #NoNewOil

    Greenpeace is also using the #NoNewOil hashtag, like Packham. However, the group is it least being clear that the 100+ new licences cannot happen full stop:

    Greenpeace’s open letter, however, isn’t significantly better – stating:

    Fossil fuels need to become a thing of the past. That means no new oil and gas and no more unjust profits for fossil fuel bosses. The biggest polluters must be taxed for the destruction they’re causing to our planet. And workers in polluting industries must be supported into good green jobs.

    As Greenpeace UK noted, these oil and gas licences are held by private companies, so none of this would stop them from extracting as much as they like and selling it to whoever stumps up the cash. It might technically be illegal to revoke these licences once they’re issued, but given that there’ll be no one left to put on trial should we continue extracting fossil fuels, who cares?

    Sunak’s (self) interests

    An important point to factor into this story is that renewables have actually been reliably cheaper than gas, and the government predicts this situation will persist:

    An equally important bit of information is this:

    This highlights what’s obvious to us all already – that the fossil fuel industry is a pyramid scheme designed to enrich a handful of billionaires while the rest of us choke.

    Preventing the expansion of oil extraction is something, but it’s not enough. We salute Chris Packham – but also say ‘please go further’.  If we’re going to hold our politicians’ feet to the fire, it should really be to the fire that’s already raging – not some smaller fire from the future that will barely be noticeable in the inferno that current emissions have whipped up. 

    Featured image via Chris Packham – screengrab

    By The Canary

  • Tory MPs have discovered the most Tory way of ‘going green’

    What does ‘going green’ mean to you? On a personal level, it could mean making an effort to recycle more, cutting back on meat, or favouring public transport. On the national level, it could mean expanding renewable energy production, planting more trees, or launching the nation’s top fossil fuel executives into the sun. But what does it mean when a Tory MP ‘goes green’?

    Would you be surprised to learn that it’s none of the above?

    By the way: if the second tweet down says ‘potentially sensitive content’, it’s not unsafe to view: it’s just more Tory flyers. Why the website formerly known as ‘Twitter’ considers these Tories and their lying Tory faces to be something decent people might not want to see unexpectedly we couldn’t tell you, but they’re absolutely correct to think that.

    The ‘Green’ party

    Now, we don’t know about you, but when it comes to political branding, the party we associate with the colour green is the Green Party. Initially, we weren’t sure why that was, but when we had a good, hard think about it, we realised that it’s literally in the fucking name.

    The tweet above was from Jenny Jones of the Green Party, who also had this to say:

    Tory MPs’ green flyers

    Twitter/X user Ian Collins helpfully rounded up a selection of the UK’s greenest Tories. Not all of them are recent, but to be fair Tory-membership has always been embarrassing.

    Siobhan Baillie is so green that she blends in with this pastoral landscape:

    James Cleverly has cleverly avoided any mention of the words ‘Tory’ or ‘capitalist swine’ in his leaflet. With smarts and green credentials like that, it’s no wonder he’s the MP for Braintree:

    Marco Longhi MP is offering advice at his MP’s surgery – chief among that advice presumably being to never, ever admit you’re a Tory:

    Collins also had to issue a retraction, as it turns out Greg Hands MP isn’t completely embarassed to admit he’s a Tory – just mostly embarassed:

    Tory Excuses

    We know that none of you believe the Tories have gone green, but would you believe they have an excuse for their blatant greenwashing? Here’s Chris Clarkson MP to explain why anyone confused on the matter of Tory MPs’ green flyers is simply a “lunatic”:

    Ah yes – rules – those things that British politicians are famous for following.

    According to Wales Online, there have only been a handful of instances in which UK politicians bent their rules to their advantage. Oh no – we read the article wrong – these are just a selection of the worst ones that have happened since 2020. Wales Online summarised each scandal as follows:

    1. ‘I drank far too much’ and ’embarrassed myself and other people’ (the scandal in which a Tory MP was accused of groping various men).
    2. Tractorgate (the scandal in which a Tory MP was caught watching porn in the Commons chamber).
    3. Owen Paterson (the scandal in which a MP seemingly went on a speedrun to break all of the lobbying rules).
    4. David Cameron (the scandal in which our former prime minister went to work for Greensill Capital and used his position to – unsuccessfully) influence the government).
    5. Partygate (the scandal in which a bunch of Tories of all stripes partied like it was Covid-1999 while the rest of us got on with dying).

    Wales Online lists a further 17 scandals, but let’s not forget other big scandals such as MP’s expenses (a scandal which arguably never ended). Given all this, it’s clearly very easy for politicians to get away with bending the rules. Even if it wasn’t, Labour MP Karl Turner has disputed Clarkson’s account:

    Green in the face

    Turner also got in on the fun by calling out Suella Braverman:

    To be fair to Braverman, she has been spending a lot of time on sea vessels of dubious structural integrity, so the green on her flyers might simply represent her sea sickness:

    We’re sure most of these Tories can come up with a hundred reasons why they’re using the colour green on their promotional materials. Unfortunately for them, they don’t seem to have any reasons why you should vote Tory.

    Featured image via Greg Hands – screengrab

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Brighton University’s summer of discontent: from greylisting to graduations.

    Graduation season at Brighton University, and in higher education overall, is usually a time for celebration. It’s the perfect way to round off the academic year: universities coming together to congratulate the graduating class on their hard work and successes.

    Unfortunately for the graduating students in the class of 2023, this jovial mood is tainted. They started their degrees in the midst of a global pandemic and transitioning to online teaching. Then, intermittent strikes from the University and College Union (UCU) followed – and now they’re in the midst of a national marking and assessment boycott (MAB). So, the class of 2023 has been extremely unlucky.

    However, at Brighton University, the sentiment among staff and students is one of outrage.

    Brighton University redundancies: effectively sacking respected staff

    As the Canary has been documenting, Brighton University management has been intent on forcing through redundancies. Around 80 of these have been voluntary. However, bosses are forcing out 25 professors. 

    On a personal note, discovering who has been selected by management for compulsory redundancy has been heartbreaking.

    Those due to be sacked include Dr Tom Bunyard and Dr Cathy Bergin, with whom I have had the privilege of working with in lectures and seminars. Tom and Cathy’s expertise (philosophy and critical theory, and cultural histories of anti-racism and anti-colonialism, respectively) are integral to Brighton’s celebrated and longstanding humanities department. Both academics are well respected among their colleagues.

    After years of hard work and dedication to their students, how senior management is treating them is simply abhorrent. It is also the height of hypocrisy that an institution which prides itself on its equality, diversity and inclusion policies wants to sack an anti-racism scholar. However, we are keeping the momentum going on our campaign. We are committed to defending the jobs of our colleagues and the quality of education for our students.  

    No accountability or support from management

    For post-graduate researchers (PGRs), this has been an incredibly difficult time. Those who have lost their supervisors have been forced into the over-bureaucratic process of finding a replacement. The ‘support package’ that management promised PGRs will only apply to those who have lost supervisors.

    PGRs have informed me about supervisors having to take extended sick leave due to chronic stress. However, under the support package guidelines the university will not agree to an extension. We still have no idea when the new academic year will start because of the indefinite strike. Even when it does begin, we are faced with the prospect of our supervisors being overworked with unsustainable workloads. We are stuck in limbo.

    The university management team fails to acknowledge how the redundancy process has hindered all PhD researchers. Its lack of accountability has only made the stress and uncertainty of the situation worse. We have dealt with consistent stonewalling and silence for the last few months. PhD researcher Maia Brons told the Canary:

    The way senior management team (SMT) have communicated through this all has been incredibly disappointing, and at times terrifying.

    Disappointing in the sense that vice chancellor (VC) Debra Humphris has not addressed us a single time since all this started, and time for questions or concerns with other SMT has been limited to two online sessions, which left us feeling deflated and more concerned than ever.

    Terrifying how all our concerns have been either ignored or met with “Out of Office” automatic replies.

    It is clear as day that many forms of education, not to mention staff morale and educational quality, will be wrecked after the summer, and it is frankly heartbreaking that SMT continues to deny this. It is frightening to have to think how far management will go along this path of managed decline.

    I personally feel that a lot of time and the quality of my PhD have already been robbed since all this started, and thus far, there has been no accountability from the university to make up for this.

    Brighton and solidarity: two words that go well together

    In the last couple of weeks, there has been no shortage of action from the Brighton UCU branch, and the campaigns UoB Solidarity and PGR’s Brighton. Branch secretary of Brighton UCU Dr Ryan Burns told the Canary:

    In the last week, UCU pickets in Brighton have been visited by Caroline Lucas MP, Lloyd- Russell Moyle MP and Jo Grady, UCU general secretary. They all expressed their shock at the punitive actions of the University of Brighton management and support for our strike action. With UCU recently declaring Brighton’s redundancy situation “a dispute of national significance”, our fight has the backing of the whole union. The announcement of a global academic boycott of the University of Brighton will add further pressure to management.

    The VC is clearly feeling the heat. She failed to attend most of this year’s graduation ceremonies and instead instructed some of her deputies to face the public. She will presumably be relieved that she stayed away: the scenes at graduations this week, including students spontaneously chanting ‘pay your workers‘ and ‘no cuts’, made it obvious to everyone that our students support our fight. Students blame the university management for the fact that hundreds of graduates received only fake ‘pending’ degree certificates due to work not being marked under the national MAB.  

    Graduation Protests

    Dr Jenna Allsopp graduated with a PhD in Humanities. She protested during her graduation ceremony by holding up a sign that read ‘Solidarity with the Brighton 25’. Allsopp told the Canary:

    I wanted to attend my graduation to enjoy my achievement with my friends, peers and colleagues, but I know the ceremony couldn’t go ahead as if nothing happened at Brighton University over the last months. I protested the horror show that was the redundancies process and the knock-on effect this has had on students’ education. I originally wanted to personally attack Debra Humphris on my banner but instead settled on a simple message of solidarity for the 25 tutors who are to lose their jobs and have bore the brunt of this brutal and distressing attack on education. A lecturer came up to me afterwards to say thank you. So, I’m glad I went through with it, though I was really nervous.

    Scenes such as the ones described at graduation ceremonies are not unique to Brighton.

    The University of Edinburgh students ripped the apology letters the university gave them instead of finalised degrees. Students at Sussex University handed out fake money with their vice chancellors face edited on. Manchester and Sheffield University are trying to appease students by dishing out £500 in compensation to those who are graduating without finding out their actual degree grades. But students have called this ‘laughable’ and ‘not worth it’. 

    It is evident that students are not buying the narrative that management teams are doing all they can to resolve the dispute and get their grades finalised. If bosses want to ensure students get their grades, they must pay their staff properly, improve working conditions, and call on the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) to negotiate with UCU. It is that simple. 

    Boycott Brighton University

    The biggest development recently is general secretary of the UCU Jo Grady confirming its Higher Education Committee has decided to grey list Brighton University until further notice. This is not a decision that is taken lightly, as what makes Brighton University brilliant is the network that the staff have developed with national and international institutions. But, during such unprecedented times we are asking all UCU members (as well as members of other unions), national and international scholars to do the following things; or rather, do not:

    • Apply for jobs advertised at Brighton University.
    • Speak or take part in academic conferences or other conferences organised at Brighton outside of your contract.
    • Accept new invitations to give lectures at Brighton.
    • Take positions as visiting professors or researchers at Brighton.
    • Accept invitations outside of your contract to produce research articles with Brighton or any new contracts for external examiners.
    • Collaborate on any new contracts with projects at Brighton.  

    As staff are still facing punitive deductions of 100% from their pay slips for taking part in the MAB, we are still fundraising for staff and campaign materials. If you can afford it, you can donate to our solidarity fund here. 

    Featured image via Brighton UCU

    By Kathryn Zacharek

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • The Mail on Sunday just invented a new way to be racist

    The British media has long subjected Black people to all manner of racism. While these attacks are often blatant, there are also the more ‘excusable forms’, such as when an outlet ‘accidentally’ mixes up two different Black women (‘excusable’ as in these outlets always have the same excuse – namely that it was a ‘mix up’):

    Now, the Mail on Sunday has invented a new form of ‘accidental’ racism: claiming that Damson Idris is somehow Idris Elba’s “younger brother”:

    Family names – easily confusing when it comes to Damson Idris

    Presumably writer Caroline Graham has some grasp of both the English language and English culture given that she arranges words in an English newspaper for a living. Accordingly, she almost certainly understands that this is not how naming works in Britain:

    • You give your first son your surname as his surname.
    • You give your second son your surname as his first name and make something up for his surname.
    • You give your third son your second son’s surname as his first name, and… etc, etc.

    So what did she actually think? Presumably one of the following:

    Potentially she was just in a massive rush, and both she and her editors were partaking in some sort of ketamine binge. Whatever went wrong, it didn’t go down well on the website formerly known as Twitter:

    Even more embarrassingly for the Mail on Sunday, it’s not even the first time this issue has come up:

    Progress?

    The Mail on Sunday has now re-published the article – this time with a picture of three white men who are presumably brothers if their divergent surnames are anything to go by:

    As embarrassing as this saga is for the Mail on Sunday, there is at least some progress here. Not long ago, an article talking about a Black James Bond would have had the following somewhere in the headline:

    NOOOOOOOOO! GAGGGGHHHH!!$@$%@£%

    Undoubtedly the majority of Mail writers are still equally as fearful about the prospect of a made up character being played by a less pale actor, but they are at least worried about voicing that so clearly.

    Another surprising sign of progress comes from the comments section where only about 70% are explicitly racist – a significant dip for the famously virulent website.

    At this rate, the Mail group might be considered ‘woke’ by today’s standards at some point in the next 1,000 years. Who knows – by then, naming your children in the most confusing manner possible might actually be the norm.

    Featured image via lukeford.net – Wikimedia / Celebrity Myxer, LLC – Wikimedia (images cropped to 770 x 403)

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Exciting left-wing candidates like Emma Dent Coad & Jamie Driscoll fill a Starmer-shaped political vacuum

    The longer Labour has enjoyed a poll lead over the Tories, the more Keir Starmer has lurched to the right. So, enter Emma Dent Coad as the latest (former) Labour politician to say she’ll stand as an independent at the next general election – challenging her old party, and exposing its creeping rightward shift at the same time.

    Lurching to the right: not clever, and not big

    People will tell you swinging right is a clever political tactic and that Starmer will actually enact a left-wing policy platform when in office – specifically the sort of people who couldn’t identify a clever political tactic if it was written on the side of a double-decker bus.

    Obviously, what we’re witnessing is Starmer using Labour’s polling majority to test how Tory-like he can go before voters get turned off. So far, Labour has retained its lead despite Starmer U-turning on the majority of the policy platform which saw him win the leadership. This means the party is rapidly moving from Tory-lite to Tory-full-fat-with-a-side-of-gammon.

    For those of us who couldn’t stomach voting for New Labour, this obviously leaves the question: will there be anyone worth voting for in the next election?

    There may not be a political party which can threaten Labour or the Tories on a national scale, but we are seeing a host of independent candidates rising to the challenge on a local level. Because – as it turns out – nature hates a vacuum even more than it hates Labour’s environmental U-turns:

    ‘The hunger’

    Dent Coad is a former Labour MP – and current independent councillor – who’s been vocal about the party’s shift to the right. After leaving Labour in April this year, she told Socialist Worker:

    It’s been brewing for quite a long time. It’s been more and more difficult to be in the party. We were given a list of things from the local Constituency Labour Party of what we can and can’t talk about and affiliate to.

    It includes Stop the War, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Republic, Palestine Solidarity Campaign and various other groups that mean a lot to local people.

    Dent Coad became the Labour MP four days before a fire devastated Grenfell Tower in her seat of Kensington. In a conversation with the Canary six months after the fire, she was critical of councils – including Labour-run councils – okaying regeneration plans that compelled social tenants and leaseholders to move out of their areas:

    It’s a huge shame that we have this legacy of Labour policy that has allowed these massive developments in some areas of London… I don’t see any social message there at all. And it’s attracted developers who are very greedy.

    Speaking to Socialist Worker after she left Labour, she said:

    What tipped me this week was that, with the six-year Grenfell anniversary coming up, we found out the Labour leader had accepted hospitality from a contractor. It was involved in mass Grenfell-style refurbishment of buildings in Portsmouth.

    The contractor broke every rule and breached every contract and was forced to pay out £10.8 million. Starmer accepted £1,000 of hospitality for football tickets. I was really shocked.

    Socialist Worker noted that she “prepared a statement with councillors in the Notting Dale ward where Grenfell is” to criticise Starmer for accepting the money. However, Dent Coad said:

    But there was outcry from the Labour group who believed we’d all be suspended or thrown out for criticising the leader.

    I thought that is probably exactly what would happen, but I had to stand up for my residents who were appalled. That was the final straw—the idea that I can’t even criticise or challenge the leader at a time like that.

    She added:

    Labour is a scary place for a lot of people.

    She also said that Labour:

    has no vision or hope. We have nurses coming to food banks in tears, humiliated because they can’t feed themselves. The shadow cabinet isn’t providing positive, inspirational leadership—we’re going backwards and more rightwards and turning our back on people who need us.

    Fighting back

    Despite Labour’s lack of “hope”, Dent Coad has not lost hope herself. Instead, she’s announced plans to stand as an independent in her old seat of Kensington:

    The text on her crowdfunder page is written by activist Walter Menteth, and it reads:

    We need people like Emma in Westminster, her understanding of the built environment is more important than ever at a time of climate change, housing crises and high air pollution. She is well known and trusted in Kensington, has pledged to work beyond party politics with all communities and has proven experience, commitment, and diligence in the service of the people of the borough.

    A video from Dent Coad accompanies it:

    It opens with her saying:

    Kensington is a place of fabulous wealth and of grinding poverty. In between there are people of different income levels; ages; aspirations; politics; values, and beliefs. They should all be represented. But I can’t see any evidence that either major political party is up to the challenge, or – indeed – cares.

    Her crowdfunding efforts are so far developing at a pace:

    Standing together

    Dent Coad isn’t the only political figure going independent. The sitting mayor of North of Tyne Jamie Driscoll quit the party earlier this month after being blocked from representing the party in future. The Guardian wrote at the time that Driscoll:

    was excluded from the race in a move linked to an onstage appearance with Ken Loach, the film director and expelled Labour member.

    A letter published in the Canary from reader Alan Marsden said of the matter:

    The justification for barring Jamie Driscoll from Tyneside’s mayoral election is so bananas that it would only evoke hysterical laughter if it wasn’t so disturbing. He shared a platform with Ken Loach who has made numerous films on Tyneside, the area of which Driscoll is presently a highly successful and admired mayor.

    Simultaneously with this Loach received a 15-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. The Labour Party has not stated clearly what is so heinous about sharing a discussion about British film with the UK’s foremost film director. They have lost all sense of proportion. They owe all fair-minded electors a full, smear-free explanation.

    Following his expulsion, Driscoll tweeted:

    Driscoll’s crowdfunding efforts have also proven incredibly successful, as he’s currently overshot his initial target by £100k.

    Endless headaches for Labour

    Starmer could have ran on the 10 Pledges he made during his leadership bid. He could have used it to keep a broad coalition of voters and activists on the same side. In reality, there was nothing particularly radical in those 10 Pledges – especially not given the state of how bad things have gotten since then. Starmer’s new platform, however, is so unambitious – so dreary – so absolutely fucking useless that even the dullest Guardian columnists are calling for something a bit more radical:

    The Tories have fucked things up so badly there’s every chance it becomes impossible for Labour to lose the next election. This is despite Starmer remaining a deeply unpopular politician:

    Given this, Labour is going to start its next run at power as a well-deservedly unpopular party. That’s before it attempts to solve our many ongoing crises with a big old heap of ‘fuck all’.

    Among the problems Labour will have are independent candidates like Dent Coad and Driscoll standing up, capturing the public attention, and explaining in clear detail where Starmer is failing. It’s a problem that Labour could have easily avoided by simply not being a total vacuum of a political project.

    Featured image via BBC – YouTube / Emma Dent Coad – YouTube

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.