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Category: UK

  • Boris Johnson apologises for jokes about the party that he claims never happened

    Boris Johnson has ordered an investigation into claims Downing Street staff broke lockdown rules by holding a Christmas party last year. And he told MPs he was “furious” about footage apparently showing aides joking about it. It comes as people continue to question what Johnson did or didn’t know about the alleged party.

    ‘No party and no rules broken’

    The prime minister apologised “unreservedly” for the offence caused by the footage of his then-spokesperson Allegra Stratton at a mock press conference. But he insisted he had been repeatedly assured “there was no party and that no Covid rules were broken”.

    Johnson said he had asked Cabinet secretary Simon Case:

    to establish all the facts and to report back as soon as possible – and it goes without saying that if those rules were broken then there will be disciplinary action for all those involved.

    At Prime Minister’s Questions, Johnson said:

    I understand and share the anger up and down the country at seeing No 10 staff seeming to make light of lockdown measures, and I can understand how infuriating it must be to think that people who have been setting the rules have not been following the rules because I was also furious to see that clip.

    I apologise unreservedly for the offence that it has caused up and down the country and I apologise for the impression that it gives.

    The prime minister’s intervention followed a week of official insistence that no party took place on 18 December 2020, when London was under Tier 3 restrictions. The denial came despite reports that staff drank alcohol and exchanged secret Santa gifts.

     

    Jokes

    Leaked footage from No 10’s £2.6m press briefing room emerged on the night of 7 December which showed former press secretary Stratton laughing as she appeared to rehearse answers to questions over a lockdown-busting Christmas party. The video, which is reported to be from 22 December 2020, refers to a party on “Friday” – which would have been 18 December. This was the same day the Daily Mirror reported that there was a staff party where games were played, food and drinks were served, and revelries went on past midnight.

    The footage shows Stratton and aides joking about how to respond to questions on the party. Its emergence has fuelled anger on the Tory benches about Johnson’s Number 10 operation.

    MPs unhappy

    Charles Walker, a former vice-chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs, said the government is likely to now find it “almost impossible” to introduce “very proscriptive” coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions due to the saga. It comes amid suggestions ministers are considering moving to Plan B measures in England, such as calling for people to work from home and implementing vaccine passports.

    Walker told Times Radio:

    I think now that, going forward, any measures will be advisory. I think it would be very difficult to enshrine them in law and then once again ask our poor police forces to enforce them.

    Former minister Tracey Crouch, Conservative MP for Chatham and Aylesford, demanded an apology, Kent Online reported. She said:

    I am fuming. My constituents have every right to be angry.

    Fellow Tory Peter Aldous, MP for Waveney, said the leaked footage looks “very bad” and casts “the situation in a different light”.

    Tory peer and former Conservative Party chairwoman Sayeeda Warsi said all those present at any party should quit.

    Chairman of the Commons Education Committee and Tory MP for Harlow Robert Halfon said:

    I certainly think that those who were doing the video should apologise for the insensitivity of it when people were suffering and struggling all through that time.

    Badly scripted

    In the footage obtained by ITV News, Stratton and adviser Ed Oldfield, along with other aides, were filmed joking about what was at one point described as a “fictional” Downing Street party. Oldfield can be heard asking Stratton:

    I’ve just seen reports on Twitter that there was a Downing Street Christmas party on Friday night, do you recognise those reports?

    Stratton replied “I went home”, before appearing to consider what the correct answer should be.

    During the rehearsal, filmed as part of a subsequently-abandoned plan for Stratton to lead televised press briefings, one aide is heard saying:

    It wasn’t a party, it was cheese and wine.

    “Is cheese and wine all right? It was a business meeting,” Stratton replied, to laughter in the room.

    Stratton then noted “this is recorded”, adding:

    This fictional party was a business meeting… and it was not socially distanced.

    The Metropolitan Police confirmed officers are reviewing the leaked video in relation to “alleged breaches” of coronavirus regulations.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Omicron R-rate could be three times higher than current infection rate

    The R-rate for the Omicron coronavirus (Covid-19) variant could be as high as 3.47, preliminary research suggests. The ‘R-rate’ is the “average number of secondary infections produced by a single infected person”.

    High R

    Professor Alastair Grant, from the University of East Anglia, has predicted the reproduction rate of the new variant based on figures from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). He said the high figure for Omicron is due to “a mixture of it being good at transmitting itself and being a partial vaccine escape”. And he added that it’s likely to become the next dominant strain.

    HEALTH Coronavirus
    (PA Graphics)

    Grant projected Omicron’s R-value at between 2.75 and 4.4. This compares with a current overall R-rate of between 0.9 and 1.1 in England, according to the government’s latest figures.

    ‘Very likely’ that Omicron will dominate cases

    Grant added that as a worst case scenario, there may already be 2,500 Omicron cases in England. And 2% of positive swabs taken on 4 December were likely to have been Omicron.

    He said:

    These numbers are very preliminary. They are likely to be overestimates as testing has focused on people at higher risk of infection because of their travel history or contact with confirmed Omicron cases.

    But it is very likely that Omicron will quickly come to dominate cases in England, and that overall case numbers will increase from their current levels.

    England’s latest overall R-number means that on average, every 10 people with coronavirus will infect between nine and 11 others. A total of 437 Omicron cases had been confirmed in the UK as of 7 December – 333 in England, 99 in Scotland, and five in Wales.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Tories laugh during parliamentary debate about disabled people

    Tory MPs have been recorded groaning and laughing in parliament when a Labour MP was talking about disabled people. The Labour MP shared the video in which you can hear the Tories’ contempt on his Twitter – not that contempt from these people is anything new.

    DWP: ‘ignoring legacy benefit claimants’

    During the pandemic, the DWP increased Universal Credit by £20-a-week. But it did not do the same for people on so-called legacy benefits. These include social security like the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). Disability rights activist Paula Peters previously told The Canary:

    the Tories completely overlooked and ignored legacy benefit claimants during the pandemic… Some were also shielding. Living costs rose and disabled people couldn’t afford the most basic standard of living. …

    We just want to live with dignity and respect.

    A court case

    Currently, claimants are waiting for a court decision on whether the DWP and government acted unlawfully by not also uplifting the social security payments for legacy benefits. As Disability News Service (DNS) reported, one of the claimants in the case, who is a disabled person, said of the situation:

    It’s like we don’t even exist. I just think it’s disgusting.

    It’s that feeling of erasing a minority group – sick and disabled people – from any help, from the public consciousness, and feeling like we don’t matter and don’t exist.

    That’s how it made me feel.

    Sadly, judging by the conduct of some Tory MPs in parliament recently, the claimant may well be right. Because on Tuesday 7 December, when a Labour MP raised the issue in parliament, the response from the Tory benches was contemptible.

    Laughing at you

    Former shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon asked a question of chancellor Rishi Sunak about the lack of an uplift. He said:

    Disabled people have been disproportionately attacked by Tory governments over the past decade… most recently through a cruel lack of support during Covid. Nearly two million disabled people were not given the £20 uplift in benefits

    Burgon then asked Sunak if he would backdate the uplift for legacy benefit claimants.

    In the background you can hear Tory MPs firstly groaning when Burgon starts his question. At around 45 seconds, someone actually laughs:

    Sunak’s response to Burgon was mealy-mouthed at best. He said, among other things, that the government was increasing spending on accessible toilets. That’s cold comfort to the 42% of people living in a family relying on disability social security who are in poverty and probably can’t afford ‘days out’.

    Contempt

    Tory contempt for chronically ill and disabled people is no surprise. As The Canary previously reported, Sunak made clear that the £20 Universal Credit uplift was just for ‘workers’ anyway. As we said at the time:

    In other words, the Tories think sick and disabled people don’t need extra money due to the pandemic.

    Yet the pandemic hit chronically ill and disabled people claiming social security hard. A report by the Disability Benefits Consortium found:

    • 82% of disabled claimants have had to spend more money than they normally would during the pandemic. …
    • two thirds (67%) of disabled claimants have had to go without essential items at some point during the pandemic.
    • almost half (44%) of disabled claimants are reporting being unable to meet financial commitments such as rent and household bills.

    The Tories have shown contempt for these people for many years. Now, the pandemic has further exposed it for all to see.

    Featured image via Parliament TV – screengrab

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Frontline healthcare worker ‘incandescent’ at lockdown-breaking No 10 party

    Video has emerged of Boris Johnson’s senior aides joking about a Downing Street Christmas party just days after the unlawful gathering. An NHS England staffer has said she’s “incandescent” with anger at the revelations.

    Footage obtained by ITV News showed the prime minister’s then-press secretary Allegra Stratton and adviser Ed Oldfield, along with other aides, joking about a “fictional” party in December 2020.

    All fun and games

    In the video, Stratton is seen answering questions at a mock press conference. The video is from 22 December 2020, and Stratton is questioned about a party the previous Friday. This is the date of the alleged unlawful gathering. The party is said to have been attended by dozens of colleagues while social mixing indoors was banned in London under Tier 3 restrictions.

    Johnson is expected to face questions over whether he has told the truth about an alleged lockdown-busting Christmas party on 18 December 2020. The Conservative Party leader will be under the spotlight at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday 8 December.

    “I’m incandescent”

    A frontline healthcare worker told the PA news agency she was working with coronavirus (Covid-19) patients that month, when her mother was admitted to her hospital following a fall.

    Due to health protocols, the staffer was unable to visit her mother, who caught Covid-19 in the hospital. She later died from bacterial pneumonia. The staffer said:

    To say I’m angry… I’m incandescent. It’s the disrespect, it’s the one rule for us and another rule for them, that’s what’s the worst…

    I see Allegra Stratton laughing up there and I feel sick, I feel disrespected, (like) I’ve been taken for a mug.

    I can’t put enough words together right now as to how appalling that behaviour is. It should have consequences.

    Downing Street again insisted on Tuesday 7 December that there was no Christmas party and coronavirus rules had been followed at all times.

    Scrutiny

    Labour leader Keir Starmer has called on Johnson to “come clean and apologise”. He added that for aides “to lie and to laugh about those lies is shameful”. But he failed to acknowledge that members of the public were fined, arrested, and manhandled by the police for suspected violations of coronavirus rules.

    The healthcare worker, however, provided greater scrutiny than Starmer, saying:

    If it’s proven to be a cover-up, there have to be some actual consequences – people will have to be sacked.

    I don’t think ministers and MPs should be able to go on TV and say ‘there was no party’ then later say ‘it was within the rules’ when London had tier three restrictions – and there be no consequences.

    You have to hold the country’s trust if you’re in a position of authority.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • An FOI reveals a rot at the heart of parts of the medical establishment

    A Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed the rot at the heart of parts of the medical establishment. It shows text messages and emails where individuals from not only the NHS but also supposedly prestigious Royal Colleges were trying to interfere and exert influence over decisions at the non-departmental, independent public body the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The revelations were uncovered by a chronically ill writer, and they paint a picture of attempted subversion of NICE procedures and potentially even corruption.

    NICE: a complex story

    As The Canary previously wrote, NICE has been at the centre of a storm over its myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME, sometimes called chronic fatigue syndrome, CFS) guidelines. It had not updated them since 2007. In short, NICE has been drawing up new treatment guidelines. But the process has proven contentious. This is because NICE planned to remove a treatment called graded exercise therapy (GET). It’s been shown to cause harm to ME patients. NICE was also shown to be downgrading the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for ME patients. You can read the full background on GET and CBT here.

    NICE was due to publish the final version of the guidelines on 18 August, but it pulled them at the last minute. This was due to organisations like Royal Colleges and NHS England not agreeing with the new guidelines. So, NICE held a round table event with stakeholders on 18 October to try and reach an agreement. It then published the final guidelines on Friday 29 October. But some of the Royal Colleges still objected to the new guidelines. This is because there are parts of the medical profession which still believe GET and CBT should be used on ME patients.

    “External interference”

    At the time, it was clear that the Royal Colleges and NHS England were trying to stop NICE removing GET and CBT from its new guidelines. As former barrister and person living with ME Valerie Eliot Smith wrote about NICE pulling the 18 August publication:

    It became clear that this eleventh-hour development was the result of external interference by representatives of the Royal Colleges and NHS England who were opposed to the new guideline. This is in direct contravention to NICE’s own prescribed procedure and such an action at this late stage should have been impossible.

    Now, thanks to an FOI from an independent journalist and person living with ME – we know exactly what some members of the Royal Colleges and NHS England were telling NICE – via emails and text messages.

    The extent of the interference revealed

    Dom Salisbury is a scientific researcher and editor who lives with ME. He has been ill with the disease since at least 2016 and had to give up his chosen profession. Now, he writes on his own website. And recently, he has taken on the situation with the Royal Colleges and NHS England’s lobbying of NICE. Salisbury sent NICE an FOI. He asked it for all correspondence between it and “professional bodies or individuals (guideline stakeholders or otherwise)” that related to NICE’s decision to halt publication of the guideline. Salisbury asked NICE for this between 29 March and 17 August 2021. After a delay from NICE and Salisbury having to ask it to conduct an internal review, it finally released the documents to him.

    They document communications sent by people to NICE CEO Gillian Leng as well as its director of the centre for guidelines Paul Chrisp. Communications were sent to Leng and Chrisp by unnamed individuals from:

    • The Royal College of Psychiatrists (RcPscych).
    • NHS England/NHS Improvement.
    • The Royal College of Physicians (RCP)
    • The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).

    This shows the extent to which individuals in these organisation were concerned about NICE’s new guidelines. But it’s the detail contained in the FOI which really shows what can only be described as attempts by individuals to corrupt and/or derail NICE’s guidelines – and its impartiality on the issue.

    Damning revelations

    You can read Salisbury’s full analysis here, and the links to the documents NICE released are here. Some of the headlines from Salisbury’s analysis include:

    • Someone from NHS England/NHS Improvement texting Chrisp on 11 August, saying “the least worst option is to delay it or pull [the guidelines] altogether”.
    • A RCP member asking Chrisp on 13 August if there was “actually any chance that anything we might say could still change things at this stage”.

    One of the most damning parts is an individual from the RcPscych sending a lengthy text message to Leng. In it, they said [ED: from image below] that she should “hold back with the evidence” NICE based the guidelines on; that she should “over rule” (sic) the guideline committee, and called the new guidelines “opinion based”:

    A text message sent from an individual at the Royal College of Psychiatrists to the CEO of NICE

    NHS England: exerting power?

    Then, there’s an email from the same individual at NHS England/NHS Improvement. They said that they thought it was “extraordinary” NICE approved the guidelines; that the committee excluded trials (presumably relating to GET, the PACE trial) for “spurious” reasons, and that the resulting guideline was “fundamentally biased”. They also said the guidelines:

    Appallingly… tell patients… there is nothing to ‘cure’ ME

    NICE said this because so far there is no recognised cure for ME. Moreover, the person from NHS England/NHS Improvement goes on to say that they themselves have “no interests in the condition (ME/CFS)”, anyway. For someone who has no interest in the disease, they seem to have strong opinions on it – so far as peddling false information about a cure.

    Who says what?

    The Canary asked NICE for comment. A spokesperson said they “won’t be making any comment on this”.

    A RcPscych spokesperson told The Canary:

    The RcPscych… has 19,000 members worldwide. But only elected officers are entitled to speak on its behalf. As the person or persons who apparently made these comments are unnamed – the College is unable to comment.

    Us and other colleges have been open and consistent in expressing concerns regarding the evidence review and other aspects of the guidance. These concerns were expressed through official channels during the consultation, and can be found here.

    The Canary also asked the RCP for comment, along with NHS England and NHS Improvement. None of these organisations had responded, despite two requests, at the time of publication.

    A “small cabal”

    Salisbury told The Canary:

    I’m not shocked. There’s an almost tedious, comical predictability to the information revealed as it shows exactly the type of activism, lobbying, and influence the ME community has been up against for decades. As patients, we ask only for a level playing field; let (good) evidence speak for itself. Instead, we’re up against a small cabal of highly-placed individuals, including researchers and clinicians, who are concerned not with the guideline recommendations per se, but rather with protecting what’s left of their reputations and their disastrous trials, and with further embedding the overreach of psychology and psychiatry in the so-called ‘treatment’ and ‘care’ of patients with ME/CFS and other poorly-understood chronic conditions.

    I’m glad NICE made the right decision in the end, but I worry that this sort of interference may have influenced the outcome of guidelines for other conditions such as chronic pain and long-Covid.

    A sordid tale of attempted subversion and corruption?

    The revelations from Salisbury’s FOI cannot be described as anything but individuals trying to subvert the processes of a non-governmental, independent public body. You could say that this was potential corruption, given that the individuals concerned were specifically targeting the bosses of NICE’s guidelines committee.

    This level of interference and attempts at corrupting NICE procedures and processes is shocking. But moreover, it provides a snapshot into what goes on behind the scenes of supposedly independent public bodies. And it all begs the question: if this is the kind of behaviour from individuals that we now know about – what on Earth has gone on that we’re not privy to?

    Read Salisbury’s full analysis here.

    Featured image via Dom Salisbury and Edmond Wells – Flickr

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • A Labour council is trying to force a family out of their home on Boxing Day

    A Labour council is trying to force a family to permanently leave their home on Boxing Day. But the two brothers in question have done nothing wrong. Because the council is telling them to leave on a technicality – even though one of the brothers lives with Asperger’s syndrome. And to make matters worse, the effective eviction comes after both their parents died.

    A family, broken

    Sean and Andrew Brogan live in West Lancashire. The home is a council property, managed by Labour-led West Lancashire borough council. Andrew, who lives with Asperger’s syndrome, has always lived there. But they now face the prospect of the council kicking them out – essentially because both their parents died.

    The brothers’ father passed away at the start of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Brogan had moved in at this point to help his family. As he wrote:

    This in its own right was an extremely difficult time as our mother was suffering quite severely with long Covid-19 as a result.

    Fast forward to the 14th of November, my mother unfortunately passed away from a massive heart attack.

    Losing both parents within a short space of time is trauma enough for anyone to deal with. But then, West Lancashire borough council piled more stress on top of this.

    “Notice to Quit”

    Brogan wrote that:

    Due to my mother being the only named tenant on the tenancy, the council have issued a “Notice to Quit” which effectively runs out on the 26th of December.

    The Canary has seen the council’s letters to the brothers. Website the Tenants Voice describes a Notice to Quit as:

    a legal tool, which the landlord can use to regain possession from a property which is let under an Assured Shorthold Tenancy. It gives the landlord the right to request you to leave the property… This is the first step of the eviction process, but it itself is not considered an eviction.

    So, the brothers don’t have to leave on Boxing Day. But if they don’t, the council can then get a court order to formally evict them. Brogan has started a petition, which you can sign here.

    “Devastated”

    The brothers got the Notice to Quit on 29 November. Brogan told The Canary:

    I felt utterly devastated that nobody in the council seemed to be listening. For Andrew, he felt distraught, betrayed, worried and scared about what was about to happen.

    Andrew’s situation is exacerbated by the fact he lives with Asperger’s syndrome. This means he needs to stay in familiar surroundings for his wellbeing. Brogan wrote that:

    the only suitable place that he can reside in is within the home he has lived in since he was born as it is familiar and safe to him. This has been the family home since 1958.

    ‘Appalling’ treatment

    Trying to kick the brothers out on Boxing Day seems unconsciously cruel. But the council legally can. This is because the family’s tenancy was originally a joint one between the brothers’ parents. When their father died, their mother inherited it though a process called “succession“. This process of inheriting a tenancy agreement can generally only happen once. So, in theory, Andrew doesn’t have any right to the tenancy. Brogan confirmed that the council refused their request for a further tenancy succession.

    He told The Canary that if the council do evict them:

    I’ve not really thought that far ahead. I guess we’d have to stay with my sister and apply for overcrowding.

    He feels let down by the council and that it has treated him and his brother:

    Appallingly, to be honest. The communication has been terrible and we are no closer to knowing what is happening

    West Lancashire borough council said…

    The Canary asked the West Lancashire borough council for comment. It had not responded at the time of publication.

    The brothers’ situation is not really uncommon. For example, this writer knows someone who was also in the same situation where their landlord tried to kick them out after their mother died. They challenged the landlord and won.

    Brogan said of his and his brother’s situation:

    I hope the things that are being done to us can be used in a good way to promote change for those who go through a similar situation.

    The brothers’ situation is awful. And while the Labour-run council is acting within the law, it clearly should take their circumstances into account. West Lancashire borough council must now do the right thing and let the brothers stay in the family home.

    Featured image via Evelyn Simak – Geograph and Sean Brogan

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Mistakes and missed opportunities created environment for Grenfell disaster

    Mistakes and missed opportunities by the government to learn from previous fires created the environment for the Grenfell Tower blaze, the public inquiry into the disaster has heard.

    “Failures”

    The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities apologised for past failures in oversight of the system regulating safety within the construction industry and the supervision of building control bodies. A lawyer for the department said the government will continue to engage “proactively, openly and fully” with the inquiry. Meanwhile, people are pointing out that while all this goes on, significant change has not materialised since the tragedy:

    Phase two of the probe is examining how the block of flats in west London came to be coated in flammable materials that contributed to the spread of flames, which shot up the tower in June 2017, killing 72 people. Module six of this phase is concerned with building regulations and the published guidance on fire safety, including detailed consideration of government policy in this area.

    Jason Beer QC, representing the department, said it believes it “must examine its own conduct and candidly accept mistakes, errors and omissions when the inquiry identifies them”. He told the inquiry on 7 December:

    The Department is deeply sorry for its past failures in relation to the oversight of the system that regulated safety in the construction and refurbishment of high-rise buildings.

    It also deeply regrets past failures in relation to the superintendence of the building control bodies, which themselves had a key role in ensuring the safe construction and refurbishment of such buildings.

    It apologises to the bereaved residents and survivors of the fire for such failures.

    He said the government, as well as the public and residents of the tower, had trusted that “those constructing and approving high-rise blocks and supplying the products used in them were following the law and doing the right thing”.

    This trust was “both misplaced and abused”, he said, adding:

    The Department greatly regrets that it took the Grenfell Tower tragedy to lay bare this misplaced and abused trust.

    He said it is accepted that the Department “should have done more to take on board the learnings and recommendations triggered by other fires” as well as addressing “in a timelier manner” correspondence from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Fire Safety which had raised issues.

    Beer said:

    Individually, these errors and missed opportunities from the Department and across industry may not have caused the fire at Grenfell Tower, but cumulatively they created an environment in which such a tragedy was possible.

    He added:

    Had there been a functional enforcement system with efficient assurance built in, non-compliance to the extent that gave rise to the Grenfell Tower tragedy may not have been possible.

    Deregulation blamed

    The inquiry has previously heard from a lawyer for the families of survivors and relatives of the bereaved who stated that the Grenfell fire occurred partly as a result of an “unbridled passion for deregulation”, with a desire to boost housing construction having led to the industry being allowed to exploit regulations.

    Matthew Butt QC, for the National House Building Council (NHBC), said it is “crucial” that the construction industry learns from the Grenfell fire.

    NHBC was not involved in the refurbishment of the tower but its role within the house building industry is being explored as part of module six. Butt said it is the organisation’s view that “more should have been done by the house building industry as a whole and by both national and local government to ensure the strictest compliance with building regulations and to promote fire safety”.

    The body acknowledged it should have acted more swiftly “and been more assertive” with manufacturers, and accepted that some industry assessments had not been “as rigorous as they should have been”, he told the hearing.

    The Building Research Establishment (BRE), which also features in module six, is prepared to learn from any findings which show it could have done things better, the inquiry heard.

    Samantha Leek QC, representing the organisation, said health and safety “are in essence at the very core of what BRE does – to some extent they are its very raison d’etre”.

    She added:

    Where this module shows that there are matters which could have been done better, BRE will acknowledge them, accept them and learn from them.

    In 2020, the BRE was accused of “helping manufacturers to misleadingly market their insulation products as safe for high-rise buildings”.

    The inquiry was adjourned until Wednesday at 10am.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Education watchdog says nearly all children have fallen behind with education during pandemic

    Nearly all children in England have fallen behind in their education and suffered as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) has warned. The watchdog has called on schools to offer pupils sport and extra-curricular activities to ensure children “regain a sense of normality” in their lives.

    Chief inspector Amanda Spielman warned that many of the youngest children’s progress and development “faltered” amid the pandemic, with some regressing in basic language and social skills. Loneliness, boredom and misery became “endemic” among the young – and the loss of education, disrupted routine – and fewer activities led to physical and mental health problems for many children, she said.

    The younger generation should not be “denied” its chance to enjoy childhood and fulfil its potential in the year ahead, Spielman has urged.

    Disruption to education

    Her comments come after the latest Department for Education (DfE) figures show that the number of children and staff off school for Covid-related reasons in England has risen in recent weeks. Education unions have warned that disruption to schooling is likely to worsen following the emergence of the newly-identified Omicron coronavirus variant.

    In Ofsted’s annual report, Spielman said the message around the “harm” that lockdowns cause children – and the importance of in-person schooling – “needs repeating now”. She added:

    Although many children are necessarily out of school because of Covid or other illness, it is important that they attend every day that they possibly can,

    “Children struggled with a hokey-cokey education”

    The watchdog’s report assesses education and children’s social care over the 2020-21 academic year. During this period much of Ofsted’s routine inspection work was suspended – but the inspectorate undertook monitoring visits to see how schools, colleges, nurseries, and social care providers responded to the pandemic.

    Ofsted found that, despite the best efforts of many thousands of parents, teachers, social workers and carers, the challenges of the pandemic were so great that nearly all children fell behind in their education. The report said:

    In primary and secondary schools, children struggled with a hokey-cokey education: in the classroom, at home, separated in bubbles, isolating alone.

    Further education (FE) students and apprentices saw their classroom doors closed, their placements curtailed and their job prospects limited.

    And prisoners seeking a second chance through education were unable to leave their cells to learn.

    Children with special education needs or disabilities (SEND) were unable to access the local support services they rely on, while many vulnerable children “disappeared” from teachers’ line of sight, the report said.

    NAHT conference
    (Martin Rickett/PA)

    “Increased levels of anxiety led to self-harm or destructive behaviour”

    Spielman said:

    The education and social care sectors have been under tremendous strain since the pandemic began, and their staff have worked tirelessly in children’s interests.

    Their efforts deserve the highest praise. But the challenges of Covid-19 were so great that nearly every child has felt the impact of the resulting restrictions.

    Many young children’s progress and development faltered.

    She added:

    In order to protect older generations, we asked the youngest generation to put their lives and education on hold. As we look forward to the year ahead, we must strive to redress the balance.

    In its annual report, Ofsted also raised concerns about children in care feeling less safe due to lockdown restrictions and broken relationships with staff. It added:

    In the worst cases, increased levels of anxiety led to self-harm or destructive behaviour,

    Leaders told inspectors that some children in  alternative provision (AP) settings had become more involved in criminal exploitation, including gang violence, and child sexual exploitation amid the pandemic. The watchdog is calling for the support for the most vulnerable children and those with SEND to rapidly return to pre-Covid levels.

    In her commentary in the annual report, Spielman added:

    Where some children need a little extra help, they should get it. And children who need specialist care and support must not be left wanting.

    Every generation gets one chance to enjoy its childhood and fulfil its potential. We must do all we can to make sure this generation is not denied its opportunity.

    Featured image via – Unsplash – NeONBRAND

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Omicron cases in UK expected to exceed those in red list nations, scientist says

    Cases of the Omicron variant in the UK are soon expected to be higher than in some African countries placed on the travel red list, a scientist has warned.

    Omicron

    Professor Tim Spector said early data suggests cases of the coronavirus mutation are doubling every two days, putting it on course to overtake some of the 11 countries from where travellers to the UK are now required to quarantine to try to stymie community transmission. New rules came into force in the early hours of 7 December, requiring all travellers to take a pre-departure test before heading to England. They will not be able to travel if they test positive.

    Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, told BBC Breakfast there was “very little point” in having travel restrictions if case numbers exceeded those in red list countries.

    HEALTH Coronavirus
    (PA Graphics)

    He said:

    The official estimates are about 350-odd Omicron cases, and because the current testing is missing a lot of those, it’s probably at least 1,000 to 2,000 I would guess at the moment. And we are expecting this to be doubling about every two days at the moment, so if you do your maths – assume it’s 1,000 at the moment, and you think it’s going to be doubling every two days, you can see that those numbers are going to be pretty (high) certainly in about 10 days’ time.

    By that time, we’ll probably have more cases than they will in some of those African countries.

    So I think these travel restrictions do perhaps have their place initially, when cases are really low here and really high in the other country, but when we reach that equilibrium, there’s very little point in having them in my opinion.

    Early data suggests Omicron is more transmissible than the Delta variant, which is currently dominant in the UK. At the same time, there is some evidence to suggest the symptoms may be milder.

    Coronavirus – Sun Dec 5, 2021
    Travellers arriving from red list countries will have to quarantine from today (Aaron Chown/PA)

    Varying factors

    Spector added:

    If early reports pan out – we don’t absolutely know this, we’ve got hardly any data in this country where we have high rates of vaccination – but if we assume that it is not more severe and possibly milder than Delta, but it’s much more transmissible. So it means that perhaps twice as many people are going to pass it on from when someone gets it in a crowd.

    That’s going to be good news for the individual because we have less cases going to hospital, and partly this is due to our high vaccination rates. But it also means that eventually you will get more deaths and problems, because nearly everyone is infected or reinfected.

    And so, this means that for the country as a whole, it could be worse news but better for the individual. So it’s absolutely no reason for complacency.

    Health secretary Sajid Javid told MPs on 6 December that none of the Omicron variant cases identified to date had resulted in hospital admission. It comes as pressure continues to mount on No 10 to explain reports in the Daily Mirror over alleged parties in Downing Street last Christmas, including Boris Johnson giving a speech at a leaving do during November’s lockdown, and a staff gathering in December.

    The prime minister is expected to give an update on whether any further restrictions are necessary within the next two weeks. Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, said on 7 December that the government does not believe its Plan B on coronavirus (Covid-19) is required “because of the success of the vaccine programme”.

    Featured image via – Pixabay – geralt

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Mighty Bags Extra £4.5 Million To Develop Precision Fermentation Milk In The UK

    3 Mins Read A recent £4.5 million seed plus round brings alternative dairy startups Mighty’s total funding to £8 million. Funds are being earmarked for international expansion, alongside bringing a new precision fermentation-based plant milk to market in early 2022. The latest funding for Mighty was led by two of Germany’s leading brewing families. Bittburger Ventures and Schadebery […]

    The post Mighty Bags Extra £4.5 Million To Develop Precision Fermentation Milk In The UK appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Rape victims say they are ‘belittled’ as number of withdrawn reports rises

    Rape victims in London have said they were “not believed” and were “belittled” by police, according to a new review which showed the number of people withdrawing reports within a month of making them has risen sharply.

    “Belittled”

    London’s independent victims’ commissioner Claire Waxman said the London Rape Review showed just 1% of people who said they were raped in the capital saw their case reach trial and two thirds of alleged victims withdrew their complaints. Conducted by the mayor’s office for policing and crime, the report looked at 450 allegations of rape made across London, alongside consultation from independent sexual violence advisers (ISVAs) and a surgery of rape victims in London.

    The review found that 64% of alleged victims withdrew their complaint within the first 30 days of reporting the rape – an increase from 18% in previous research from 2019. Thirty-eight per cent of alleged victims withdrew their complaints within seven days of making them.

    The review found victim responses to a survey and testimonies from independent sexual violence advisers (ISVAs) suggested complaints were withdrawn because “police officers may be inadvertently influencing victim/survivor confidence and decisions to withdraw”.

    One alleged victim said reporting that they had been raped was the “biggest mistake” they had ever made, as they claimed they were “belittled” and their experiences “minimised.”

    In the report, they said:

    They didn’t believe me, they belittled me, questioned my lifestyle and minimised my experiences.

    I felt worse for months compared to before my experience of reporting, and then to so quickly be told that my case had no merit and wasn’t prosecutable was the most invalidating experience.

    Another case study included in the report involved a male who reported a rape, in which he said officers told him “they would definitely need to take his phone, to see if there was evidence on it which discredited him, repeatedly emphasised how long and intrusive the justice process would be and how low conviction rates are”. The report said:

    They also made reference to the ‘gay cruising lifestyle’ and the gay dating app Grindr, as the attack had taken place in a car. A senior officer also told the survivor, ‘My wife and I sometimes get drunk and have sex and don’t remember it, that doesn’t make it rape’.

    ISVAs said that almost all of those they had worked with and had reported a rape in the capital had had their phone requested by police, despite them needing to follow reasonable lines of inquiry to request a phone.

    “Disproportionate requests”

    The report says that ISVAs described some cases where alleged victims were “explicitly told at the time of the request that the investigation will not be able to move forward if they don’t provide the phone”. It added:

    When challenged on potentially disproportionate requests, police officers often state that they are just pre-empting what the CPS will ask for.

    One alleged victim said:

    I was informed on a top line level that they wanted seven years of data from my phone, and that it may help the case but not any actual reason why. I had told the police that the perpetrator and myself had no contact and did not have each other’s details, but was still asked to hand my phone over.

    The review said that 50% of people who had been asked to give in their phones had consented to it.

    The review recommended improvements for the Metropolitan Police, including that information on victims’ phones, when requested, be downloaded and returned to them within 24 hours, and a replacement phone be provided if it “absolutely” has to be held for longer.

    It also said:

    The Government should amend the Policing, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill to safeguard a victim’s right to privacy when intrusive requests are made for third-party materials.

    Responding to the review, the Metropolitan Police said it is “absolutely determined to increase the number of perpetrators brought to justice”.

    Commander Melanie Dales, the Met’s lead on public protection, said reports of rape and sexual offences have increased in recent years, and the force has worked hard to meet the demand while providing support to victims. She said:

    Sexual offence investigations are some of the most complex police deal with. We know there is more to do to increase the number of cases brought before the courts.

    Dales said the Met has already taken “significant” steps to increase its performance which relates to the review’s recommendations and added: “Last month we announced that the Met is investing £11m in digital forensics to help us bring criminals to justice and deal more effectively and efficiently with victims of crimes”.

    She also claimed a “new agreement” between police and the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) to “work much closer in the very early days of an investigation will mean stronger cases from the start and should lead to a faster charging decision”.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Inciting hostility on basis of sex or gender should become hate crime – review

    People who stir up hostility on the basis of sex or gender should be prosecuted for hate crimes in an attempt to combat the “growing threat” of extreme misogyny, the Law Commission has recommended.

    Incel culture

    The legal review body said so-called “incel” culture – found among “involuntary celibate” people in an “overwhelmingly male online community” which believes society is defined by physical appearance – had the potential to lead to serious criminal offending.

    Its 550-page report to the government contains 34 recommendations, and makes passing reference to the case of Jake Davison, who murdered five people in a shooting spree in Plymouth in August this year, amid claims he had “sought out Incel material and posted videos online expressing Incel sentiments”.

    The Law Commission said existing hate crime offences should now be extended to cover hatred on grounds of sex or gender where “stirring up” – or incitement – is involved. It also suggested the government undertakes a review of the need for a specific offence of public sexual harassment.

    Plymouth incident
    Floral tributes left in Plymouth, after five people were killed by gunman Jake Davison, who was thought to be a member of the Incel community (Ben Birchall/PA)

    Other recommendations include reforming hate crime legislation to ensure that disabled and LGBTQI+ victims receive the same protections as victims with other protected characteristics, such as race and religion.

    Professor Penney Lewis, Law Commission spokesperson, said:

    Hate crime has a terrible impact on victims and it’s unacceptable that the current levels of protection are so inconsistent. Our recommendations would improve protections for victims while also ensuring that the right of freedom of expression is safeguarded.

    In England and Wales, “hate crimes” are generally used to refer to the aggravation of the seriousness of existing criminal offences, such as assault, harassment, or criminal damage, because there is an additional “hostility” element. Racial hate crime laws were introduced following the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence in 1993, and have since been further expanded to include religion, disability, sexual orientation, and transgender identity.

    Serious crimes

    The Law Commission said its recommendations “would not criminalise ‘offensive’ comments”, nor criminalise those who told sexist jokes. The review said:

    They (the proposed changes) would not stop people discussing differences between the sexes or articulating views on the suitability of women for positions in religious or secular authority.

    What we are referring to is threatening or abusive material which incites and glorifies violence, including sexual violence, against women and girls, and praises men who murder women.

    It also suggested the government ought to consider whether a “bespoke public sexual harassment offence” should be created, rather than a hate crime offence. It said:

    Existing offences which currently apply to abuse and harassment of women in public spaces are quite heavily focused on threatening and abusive words, and disorderly behaviour.

    A specific offence addressing public sexual harassment might be crafted in a way that better captures the degrading and sexualised nature of the behaviour that frequently occurs in these online and offline contexts.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • The government faces pressure over ‘harmful’ NHS treatments

    A new campaign aims to get the government to put mechanisms in place for reporting harms caused by controversial medical treatments. You’d be forgiven for thinking something like this already exists. Except that it doesn’t – at least not for non-pharmaceutical treatments like exercise therapy. So, the campaign wants to change things. And the implications of this could be far-reaching – not least for long Covid patients.

    The campaign founder’s specific area for the government to look at is the disease known as ME.

    Years of harm

    For years, myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) patients have reported that non-pharmaceutical treatments have harmed them (some people refer to ME as chronic fatigue syndrome, CFS). This has often been from two treatments: graded exercise therapy (GET) and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Recently, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) updated its treatment guidelines for ME. It removed GET as a recommended treatment. It said this was because:

    the committee considered the benefits and harms associated with graded exercise therapy that had been reported with ME/CFS across the quantitative and qualitative evidence, alongside their own experiences.

    NICE also downgraded the use of CBT. But some doctors groups were unhappy about NICE removing GET and downgrading CBT, and there’s concern that doctors will still offer exercise as a treatment.

    Now, Sally Callow who founded the not-for-profit ME Foggy Dog has decided enough is enough. She has launched a campaign to pressure the government to create a proper, centralised reporting system for patients to log harm caused by things like GET and CBT. And it’s already gaining traction.

    Nothing changing

    Callow told The Canary:

    Since the guideline was published by NICE in October 2021, it has been very clear to me that… the harm from these non-pharmaceutical ‘treatments’ wouldn’t stop.

    In the absence of adherence to NICE’s guideline, patients need a reporting system that is official and centralised so reports of harm can be collated and counted.

    For decades, patients have complained to their NHS Trust, GP practice… and sent anecdotal ‘evidence’ to ME/CFS charities, but the complaints have not lead to change. The harmful ‘treatments’ continue to be recommended to ME/CFS patients across the UK today.

    There is research evidence that backs up Callow’s assertion.

    Majority harm

    A 2011 paper by researcher and person with ME Tom Kindlon reviewed various studies into the use of GET and CBT for ME patients. It found that across various pieces of research, people’s physical and mental health worsened after both treatments. The extent of patients reporting worsening in health varied. One study found that 78.7% of people ‘deteriorated’ after a form of graded exercise. Another put the figure at 33.1% for GET and 27% for CBT. Overall, when Kindlon pooled all the research he included, the data showed:

    • GET (or similar) harmed 51.24% of 4,338 patients – with the range varying between 28.1-82%.
    • CBT harmed 19.91% of 1,808 patients – with the range varying between 7.1-38%.

    Kindlon concluded in his 2011 report that:

    It is hoped that this paper will lead to a greater focus on the reporting of harms in ME/CFS, not just those that might be associated with GET or CBT, but from any posited treatment. Interventions should not be presumed to be harmless when there exists evidence of potential harm and there have not been well-planned systematic methods to track and assess harms both within and outside trials.

    Sadly, ten years later little has changed.

    The NHS: ‘it’s up to the individual’

    One example is in the form of an email from late November Callow gave to The Canary. It’s from the assistant to the CEO of NHS England Amanda Pritchard. Callow asked how patients could report harm caused by ME treatments and also in the case of long Covid. The CEO’s assistant said:

    The NHS has a patient/public reporting route for patient safety incidents. However, given the therapy will depend to a large degree on the individual’s own situation and tolerance, it may not be appropriate to use this for CFS/ME. If a patient believes that a treatment they have received has not been effective or has had side effects, their normal first route to report this should be to the organisation that provided the treatment through the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS). This should enable adjustment of the treatment. It also provides feedback to that organisation that may enable them to adjust the treatment they offer for other similar patients.

    “Not trying hard enough”

    Responding to that email, Callow told The Canary:

    Patients have been complaining to their NHS Trust… and PALS for decades. Treatments are not ‘adjusted’ for other similar patients. Clinics are resistant to negative feedback and insist that the patient simply is not trying hard enough or doing it correctly. With GET or any ‘therapy’ that involves increasing activity levels, patients do not experience ‘side-effects’ – many are left house or bedbound for months, years, or even decades. Patients tend to not want to return for more ‘treatment’ once their health has deteriorated to that degree of severity.

    In my opinion, the status quo allows the NHS (and ‘partners’) to mark their own homework with regards to ME/CFS, they have been giving themselves an undeserved A* for too long and too many patients have been harmed.

    So, it seems that change is sorely needed within the NHS. This is where Callow’s campaign comes in.

    Shake It Up

    She’s launched a campaign called Shake It Up. It began with Callow emailing the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). She said:

    I am writing to ask if you would consider creating a reporting mechanism for anything that is heralded as a ‘treatment’ or ‘cure’ by the NHS, in this particular case GET and CBT. A mechanism in which patients to log their name, address, the date, and healthcare professional/clinic that recommended these treatments as well as the effects of these ‘treatments’ – somewhere to scan appropriate paperwork if possible.

    Now, she’s broadened the campaign. There’s a petition people can sign. Callow also wants people to write to/email their MP to ask them to support the campaign. She says you can additionally contact lord Kamall, parliamentary under-secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). So, what would a harm reporting system look like?

    A “Yellow Card” scheme

    The MHRA currently has a “Yellow Card” scheme. This is for reporting harm from treatments which are pharmaceutical, like medicines, medical devices, and even e-cigarettes. As the MHRA states:

    The purpose of the scheme is to provide an early warning that the safety of a medicine or a medical device may require further investigation. It is important for people to report problems experienced with medicines or medical devices as these are used to identify issues which might not have been previously known about. The MHRA will review the issue and if necessary, take action to minimise risk and maximise benefit to the patients.

    Yet nothing exists for non-pharmaceutical treatments. Currently, if an ME patient is harmed by exercise therapy prescribed by a doctor, then all they can do is complain. This means there is no central database of everyone who has reportedly been harmed by the treatment. So, it’s this which Callow wants the MHRA and government to change.

    Not just ME

    This issue is not confined to ME. Callow told The Canary:

    ME/CFS patients are not alone in being harmed by non-pharmaceutical ‘treatments’, some of the petition signatures have come from other patient groups who have also experienced harm. This campaign is tackling the widespread false belief that non-pharmaceutical ‘treatments’ cannot, and do not, harm patients. This is simply not true.

    Long Covid is another example. As The Canary previously reported:

    medical professionals are still using exercise therapy in post-viral illness – namely post-and-long Covid. There are already clinics that are using this treatment – one using GET is funded directly by Public Health England.

    And it’s not just ME and long Covid where doctors use non-pharmaceutical treatments on patients. Fibromyalgia and the Ehlers-Danlos syndromes all have exercise therapy as an NHS recommended treatment. Medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) has CBT.

    A very economic problem?

    Callow thinks she knows why some of the medical establishment might be against a harms reporting mechanism. She told The Canary:

    I believe that much of the resistance to acknowledging non-pharmaceutical harms has origins in economics. Non-pharmaceutical often means cheap and cost-effective for medical organisations who would rather offer exercise and CBT to patients than invest in biomedical research that could lead to pharmaceutical treatments and possibly a cure.

    I’m hopeful that my Shake It Up campaign will lead to positive social change for a number of patient groups, including ME/CFS and long Covid, who are also offered GET and CBT despite many experiencing post-exertional malaise – the reason GET and CBT are not to be recommended for ME/CFS.

    So far, Callow’s petition has nearly 5,000 signatures. She’s also had a response from Kamall. Callow asked her MP Penny Mordaunt to contact Kamall to ask if the DHSC would implement the harm reporting system. But his response failed to even mention Callow’s question about harm reporting – effectively ignoring the issue:

    It seems unfathomable that there is currently no centralised mechanism to report harms from non-pharmaceutical treatments. Yet that is the reality. Despite the prevelance of exercise therapy, it does cause people harm. This is not just an ME problem either. Therefore, anyone affected by the issues raised in Callow’s campaign would do well to put their full-weight behind Shake It Up. Change is needed – and quickly.

    Featured image via Tumisu – Pixabay and ITV News – YouTube

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Two sudden defections and a Tory Party pearshaped calamity? The run up to the North Shropshire by-election.

    A councillor and deputy mayor in North Shropshire has defected from the Conservatives 10 days before a by-election in the seat. Recent polling, however, suggests the Tory Party is still on track to win.

    The post-Brexit ‘Brexit Party’

    Mark Whittle, deputy mayor of Market Drayton, joined Reform UK in what he said was “the most difficult decision I have ever made”. Whittle said he joined the party, which was previously the Brexit Party, after meeting the Tory candidate in the race Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst. Whittle said:

    As chairman of the Market Drayton Conservative Party and member of Shropshire Conservative executive, this is the most difficult decision I have ever made. Made only after a great deal of soul searching.

    He said he could not “possibly back a candidate from Birmingham who has zero knowledge of North Shropshire and the challenges our community faces”.

    Richard Tice, Reform UK’s leader, said:

    I am delighted that Mark has joined us, he has a history of 30 years public service and is utterly committed to his town and North Shropshire.

    It’s also reported that another Conservative concillor in North Shropshire – Anthony Allen – has defected to Laurence Fox’s Reclaim Party:

    Reclaim and Reform are both right-wing parties which could create confusion given the similarity of their names:

    The poll will be held on 16 December and was prompted following the resignation of former MP Owen Paterson. Paterson resigned after he was found to have breached lobbying rules and after the government U-turned in a bid to save him from immediate suspension.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Boris Johnson rinsed for this ludicrous interview

    People on social media have rinsed Boris Johnson for an interview with Sky News. It was over the government’s new drugs policy. The reforms hardly got off to a flying start – as the dishevelled and frankly ludicrous PM made a fool of himself live on TV. But Johnson’s performance also undermined the seriousness of the subject in hand.

    The Grange Hill government

    As The Canary previously reported, Johnson is shaking up the government’s drugs policy. He already got off to a bad start, with a monologue to the Sun which would have been more at home in 80s kids TV show Grange Hill‘s “Just Say No” campaign:

    [drugs] not going to make you cooler. They’re bad news.

    Sound familiar?

    More criminal justice

    The detail of the government’s reforms are now available. The Canary noted that measures would include police confiscating cocaine user’s passports and driving licences

    As the Guardian reported, these include:

    • Contacting clients based on drug dealers’ seized phones with a range of messages to discourage their drug use and direct them to getting support.
    • Dismantling more than 2,000 county lines and making thousands more arrests.
    • Investing up to £145m in the county lines programme, targeting the road and rail networks and protecting those exploited and supporting them to rebuild their lives.
    • Expanding drug testing on arrest – supporting police forces to test more individuals.

    But on Monday 6 December, you’d think the very serious issue of drug use in England was a bit of a joke for Johnson. Because the PM used the story as a shambolic photo-op.

    PC Dickwad

    He gave an interview to Sky News dressed as a cop:

    More images of Johnson’s ridiculous appearance emerged on social media:

    Johnson himself even shared one – clearly not in a self-deprecating way, though:

    Needless to say, people on social media were unimpressed – at best. Sara Cureton said:

    Dressing up box out again. What utter madness is this? Can’t people see how ludicrous it is?

    Steve Smith said:

    The cosplay prime minister returns. I thought it was against the law to dress like a cop?

    Someone else pointed out about it being illegal to impersonate a fed – and as Steve Nicholls wryly came back with:

    But while Johnson’s shambolic dressing-up party antics may be amusing, his drug reforms aren’t.

    The drugs crisis: not a laughing matter

    There are an estimated 300,000 opiate or crack users in England, and around one million people using cocaine per year. Meanwhile, drug poisoning deaths are at a record high, having increased by nearly 80% since 2012.

    Johnson’s reforms serve little more than to continue the failed criminal justice approach to drugs. And his contemplable photo-op undermines the seriousness of the situation.

    Featured image via Sky News – screengrab 

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Grenfell fire consequence of ‘unbridled passion for deregulation’, inquiry told

    The Grenfell Tower fire occurred partly as a result of an “unbridled passion for deregulation”, the inquiry into the deadly blaze has heard. Additionally, it also heard that a desire to boost housing construction led to the industry being allowed to exploit regulations.

    A lawyer, representing some of those who survived the fire as well as the loved ones of some who did not, said there had been a

    prolonged period of concealment by Government which should properly be regarded as one of the major scandals of our time.

    The latest stage of the inquiry

    Module six of the inquiry’s second phase is looking at the regime for the testing, certification and classification of materials for use in external cladding systems, and examining the role of central government in establishing the legislative regime and formulating guidance on how to comply with it.

    Counsel to the inquiry, Richard Millett QC, said the module will look at four “essential” questions. He listed these as:

    • Whether the risks from fire in high rise buildings were properly understood by Government before the Grenfell blaze?
    • Whether lessons had been learned from previous relevant incidents in the UK and overseas?
    • Which steps had or had not been taken by Government to address the risks from fire in high rise buildings?
    • What motivated Government in its approach to fire safety before the 2017 disaster?

    Phase two of the inquiry is examining how Grenfell Tower came to be coated in flammable materials which contributed to the spread of flames, which shot up the tower in June that year, killing 72 people.

    “An unbridled passion for deregulation”

    Stephanie Barwise QC, representing some of the bereaved, survivors and residents, told the inquiry:

    The Grenfell disaster is a predictable, yet unintended, consequence of the combination of the laudable desire to reduce carbon emissions, coupled with an unbridled passion for deregulation, in particular a desire to deregulate and boost the housing construction industry.

    Government’s dependency on that industry resulted in Government becoming the junior partner in the relationship, thereby permitting industry’s exploitation of the regulations.

    Government’s response, on realising the extent of the problem, was to react by concealment, instead of candour.

    The result is a prolonged period of concealment by Government, which should properly be regarded as one of the major scandals of our time.

    Ahead of Monday’s hearing Grenfell United said the “the spotlight will finally fall on the Government” in this part of the inquiry. In a statement, the group for bereaved and survivors said:

    Government’s indifference to safety has been going on for decades and, had it not been for the loss of our families in the most public way, people would still be oblivious to how deadly their homes really are.

    While Grenfell United has campaigned for safer homes and the banning of deadly materials, Government ministers were all too happy to be wined and dined by the same companies responsible for Grenfell.

    The group said the line “between lobbying and corruption is dangerously thin and the grey area has left 72 dead”.

    They added:

    This ugly reality is more evident than ever, so we need to know how far the rot goes – as no-one should be exempt from real accountability.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • A resident faces an eleventh night without power as Storm Barra approaches

    A man whose home has been affected by power cuts has said he has “no hope left at all” as he faces an eleventh night without central heating. Stewart, who lives in Alnwick, Northumberland, is one of thousands of people still living without power in the aftermath of torrential rain and gale-force winds which battered the north-east at the end of November.

    Storm Arwen affected power supplies to more than one million households 10 days ago, and Storm Barra threatens to bring further disruption as it moves in from the west on Tuesday. Stewart, who wanted to be known only by his first name and lives with his partner, said Northern Power Grid has promised his power will be restored within 24 hours every day since it cut on November 26.

    Storm Arwen damage
    Damage from Storm Arwen in Northumberland, one of the regions where residents are facing their eleventh night without power (National Trust/PA).

    “It’s exhausting, it’s wearing us down”

    He told the PA news agency:

    It’s exhausting, it’s wearing us down, and it’s a constant worry. Every day seems to bring a new problem.

    On day nine there was torrential rain and our village started to flood. That was mainly because of the storm debris.

    What happened was that then flooded our village water works – it flooded our sewage system. Our neighbour couldn’t use his toilet without it flooding.

    I had to clear standing water from the road, which got my clothes wet, and then return to a house without heating.

    From my window I can see a snapped telegraph pole and cables lying on the ground.

    The weather forecast is dreadful. We have not got any hope at all. It’s awful, it’s the futility of it.

    Stewart said he has been showering using water heated on a wood-burning stove in his living room, and by travelling 12 miles to his sister’s home. He said his village has had little support, with no sign of re-enforcements from the Army, fire service or council, and their main form of sustenance has been from a van providing free fish and chips at sporadic times over the weekend.

    Northern Power Grid has handed out survival packs, consisting of a small blanket, hot water bottle, mug, pair of socks, glove and hat – but “no logs, candles or batteries”, he added.

    Storm Barra weather warnings December 7
    (PA Graphics)

    Still homes without electricity with another storm on the way

    The majority of those affected live in the north east of England where there are still 1,600 homes without electricity, the ENA said. Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said power had been restored to all 135,000 of its affected customers by Sunday evening.

    Storm Barra will hit on Tuesday, following on from wet and windy weather on Sunday night and throughout Monday, the Met Office said.

    While the west of Ireland will receive the worst of the storm, yellow wind weather warnings are in place across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Yellow snow warnings are also in place in southern and western Scotland.

    Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge warned that gale force winds of 45-50mph on Tuesday and into Wednesday would not make it “easier” for Northern Power Grid engineers trying to reconnect the remaining homes. He said:

    It’s certainly not going to aid things with those sorts of wind strengths, and a mixture of rain and snow in there as well,

    It’s not going to make working conditions any easier for those out and about.

    A spokesperson for the ENA said that operators were “working together” to prepare for the storm. He said:

    Energy network operators are working together to prepare for the developing Storm Barra,

    We’re monitoring forecasts regularly, coordinating response plans and preparing to share resources if required.

    Energy secretary visits the region

    Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng visited the North East on Sunday to survey the damage done by the storm.

    Winter weather Dec 3rd 2021
    Thousands of people have been without power for more than a week following Storm Arwen (Jane Barlow/PA)

    During a visit to a Northern Powergrid call centre in Penshaw, near Sunderland, Kwarteng told the PA news agency:

    I think we can make the system a lot more resilient.

    I had an experience on August 9 2019 when a million people in the South East were commuting and they had a power outage.

    Immediately after that we had a review and we looked at the system and we held the transport and train companies’ feet to the fire and we have got a more resilient system.

    That’s exactly what I want to happen this time.

    We will have a review, we will see if the distributor companies have enough infrastructure, we may even have enforcement action if necessary.

    Winter weather Dec 4th 2021
    Boris Johnson said he had held calls with those leading the response to Storm Arwen (Ministry of Defence/PA)

    Long delays led to the regulator getting involved

    Speaking at the call centre, Kwarteng said he did not accept that the power cuts would have been resolved quicker in the South. He said:

    The physical infrastructure, layout and landscape is very different,

    One of the particular reasons why we haven’t got people back on the power supply is the weather conditions and they are very challenging (with) people in sparsely populated, very rural areas and that represents a challenge.

    On Saturday, Boris Johnson said he had held calls with those leading the response to Storm Arwen and the government was ready to further support the recovery work “in any way we can”. The long delays have prompted energy regulator Ofgem to warn it will take enforcement action against network companies who failed to restore power to customers quickly enough.

    It has also agreed with firms to lift the £700 cap on compensation which could be offered to those stuck without power. The change will allow those affected to claim £70 for each 12-hour period they have no electricity, after an initial £70 for the first 48 hours of any cut.

    Featured image via – Flickr – Daniel Arrhakis

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Police officers to face jail over ‘inappropriate’ WhatsApp images

    Two police officers who took pictures of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman will later be sentenced. PC Deniz Jaffer and PC Jamie Lewis were assigned to guard the crime scene overnight after Bibaa Henry, 46, and Nicole Smallman, 27, were found dead in bushes in Fryent Country Park, Wembley, north-west London.

    Instead, they breached the cordon to take “inappropriate” and “unauthorised” photographs of the bodies, which were then shared on WhatsApp. Lewis even superimposed his face onto a picture with the victims in the background.

    Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman taken from Bibaa’s phone
    Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman taken from Bibaa’s phone (Metropolitan Police/PA)

    “Degrading and sexist”

    He sent the doctored image to Jaffer, who forwarded it to a female officer at the scene. Jaffer went on to show one of the photos to a male officer as they left the park and sent others to three friends on WhatsApp.

    Lewis, who used “degrading and sexist” language, also shared crime scene pictures with a WhatsApp group of 40-plus officers called the “A Team”. The pair, who were attached to the Met’s North East command unit, were suspended from duty following their arrests on June 22 last year.

    Jaffer, 47, of Hornchurch, east London, and Lewis, 33, from Colchester, Essex, pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office. They will be sentenced by Judge Mark Lucraft on Monday at the Old Bailey.

    Already found guilty of gross misconduct

    Previously, the sisters’ mother Mina Smallman called on the Metropolitan Police to “get the rot out once and for all”. Last month, a tribunal found the officers had committed gross misconduct.

    Lewis was dismissed from the Metropolitan Police immediately and Jaffer would have been sacked too, had he not already quit the force.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Campaigners demand 100% tax rise on second homes to tackle housing shortage

    A lack of affordable housing in Wales is pushing people into homelessness. The Welsh independence movement UNDOD reported that in 2018 and 2019 nearly 12,000 households became homeless in Wales. In May, The Canary reported that second home ownership in Wales is making housing unaffordable. And the root cause is a neoliberal housing policy in Wales and the UK.

    Some councils in Wales are taking action by increasing the council tax premiums on second homes. These premiums are a levy paid in addition to and as a proportion of council property tax. The hope is that this measure will bring more properties back into use and therefore make housing more affordable. However, on 15 November a Conwy Council working group recommended that premiums for second homes remain at 25%. This would mean a reversal of a previous determination to increase these premiums to 50%. Conwy councillors then voted to keep premiums at 25%.

    So on Saturday 4 December, Welsh language and community campaign group Cymdeithas yr Iaith (CYI) organised a picket in Conwy in the north of Wales. The campaign group wants to pressurise the local council to increase second-home premiums by 100%. One of the picket organisers Osian Jones said:

    The high proportion of second homes in the county [Conwy] and housing being bought as investments is depriving many of our young people of the right to a home in their own community, and we are rapidly losing Welsh-speaking communities. This is immoral, unjust and puts the benefits of second home owners above people’s rights to live in their communities.

    Housing crisis picket in Conwy, north Wales
    Dealing with the crisis

    In May, an UNDOD housing campaigner told The Canary that parts of the north of Wales have been “really badly affected by the housing crisis”.

    The Canary also reported that on 25 August 2021, the Welsh government launched a consultation on how second homes had led to a housing crisis in Wales. CYI claimed that this consultation was “patronising” and downplayed the seriousness of the housing crisis. Additionally, CYI said it needed more “radical steps” to deal with this crisis.

    As Golwg360 reported, some Welsh councils have taken steps to make housing more affordable. One such step is increasing the council tax premium on second homes. This could encourage second home owners “to bring empty properties back into use”. And this, in turn, could lead to an increase in affordable housing. Gwynedd and Pembrokeshire councils have already raised the council tax premium by 100%. And Anglesea is considering raising its premium further. Gwynedd and Anglesea are also in the north of Wales.

    Programme for government

    The protest comes only days after Plaid Cymru and Welsh Labour made a “cooperation agreement” to govern Wales for the next three years. This agreement pledges to deal with the housing crisis. And it specifically says it will:

    Take immediate and radical action to address the proliferation of second homes and unaffordable housing, using the planning, property and taxation systems.

    It also plans to:

    Establish Unnos, a national construction company, to support councils and social landlords to improve the supply of social and affordable housing.

    So the plan, at least at a national level, is about providing affordable homes. And it’s also about tackling the problems caused by second home ownership.

    Deprived of the right to own a home

    CYI is also calling on the Welsh government to create a property act during this Senedd (Welsh parliament) term. And as there will be local elections in May 2022, Jones has vowed to keep up the pressure on councils to:

    ensure that this issue becomes a major issue, and we will particularly target the Conservative Party which has shown, here in Conwy and nationally, that they represent the privilege and power of money over people’s need for a home.

    Featured image with permission from Nid yw Cymru ar Werth/Wales is not for Sale

    By Peadar O'Cearnaigh

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Boris Johnson’s drug reforms are straight out of the 80s

    Boris Johnson’s reforms to drugs policy will mean nothing “without radical overhaul”. That’s the warning from one campaign group – as the government looks set to shake up its approach to drug use. But will measures such as taking passports off people convicted under drug laws really improve the situation? Or is it harking back to the attitudes of the 1980s?

    Drug use UK: a multibillion-pound issue

    As PA reported, the government review into drugs comes off the back of an independent review by dame Carol Black. It estimated there were 300,000 opiate or crack users in England, and around one million people using cocaine per year. Meanwhile, drug poisoning deaths are at a record high, having increased by nearly 80% since 2012. Black’s review also determined the drugs market in the UK is worth £9.4bn a year. But it claimed that if health considerations, the cost of crime and societal impacts are combined, the total cost of illegal drugs is £19bn annually.

    So, Johnson wants to change things. But his language on the issue seems draconian at best. He told the Sun that:

    Drugs are driving a lot of misery and we can fix it. They’re not going to make you happier.

    They’re not going to make you more successful. They’re not going to make you cooler. They’re bad news.

    You’d be forgiven for thinking the government had turned the clock back four decades, returning to the time of kids TV show Grange Hill‘s “Just Say No” campaign:

    But as one campaign group summed up, the “devil [is] in the detail” when it comes to Johnson’s proposals.

    Blah, blah, blah?

    The BBC reported that it understands the government has accepted 31 of Black’s 32 recommendations and will invest £700m over three years. The BBC noted that:

    Measures will include a large focus on diversion, a tactic designed to remove drug users from the criminal justice system and get them into healthcare.

    This includes court orders forcing people into recovery programmes as well as short prisons. This appears to be aimed at people using heroin and crack cocaine. But some parts of government policy are even tougher. Johnson told the Sun that regarding people using “lifestyle drugs”, presumably, for example, cocaine:

    We need to look at new ways of penalising them. Things that will actually interfere with their lives.

    So we will look at taking away their passports and driving licences.

    We’re keeping nothing off the table.

    PA reported that the government was also considering football-style travel bans, harsher sentences for drug dealers and measures to break up county lines gangs. This all feels like a criminal justice approach – not a health one. But behind closed doors, the BBC claimed the Tories are saying something different.

    Drug reform: electioneering with people’s lives?

    It noted that:

    One source heavily involved in forming the review told the BBC “ministers have now accepted this [problem drug use] is a chronic health condition”.

    However, they added that because of concerns over how that would be viewed by the public and Conservative voters, it was unlikely the government would want it to be the focus of the announcement.

    So the government appears to be playing electioneering with drugs policy – and ultimately people’s lives. Campaign group Release Drugs said on Twitter that the government approach still didn’t include drug consumption rooms (DCRs). This is where people can take drugs in a controlled environment to try and get off them. It seems to have worked in other countries.:

    And it noted that:

    The government will launch the plan properly next week. But whether or not, as Release Drugs said, the “harms of prohibition will continue” remains to be seen.

    Featured image and additional reporting by PA

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Campaigners welcome proposals to outlaw harassment of women

    Campaigners have welcomed reports that harassing women in the street or in bars and making lewd comments at them could become an offence under proposals to be published next week.

    A review by the Law Commission will call for “public sexual harassment” and inciting hatred against women to be made criminal offences, the Daily Telegraph reported.

    However, the newspaper quoted Whitehall sources as saying the commission will reject calls for misogyny to be made a hate crime, arguing it would be ineffective.

    ‘Gaping holes’

    The commission advises the government on reforms to the law. Its review of hate crimes was originally ordered three years ago by Sajid Javid when he was home secretary.

    The issue has since become the focus of intense public interest following the murder of Sarah Everard by Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens, which led to a national debate on violence against women.

    Gemma and Maya Tutton, co-founders of Our Streets Now campaign, said the government should move urgently to implement the commission’s reported recommendation. They said in a joint statement:

    The recognition of existing legal gaps by the Law Commission makes it clear that the Government should urgently make public sexual harassment (PSH) a specific criminal offence…

    Our current legal framework to address PSH is fragmented, antiquated and has gaping holes which means that many behaviours fall through the cracks.

    Our laws reflect our society, and it is crucial that Government send a clear message that public sexual harassment will no longer be tolerated in this country.

    “No girl should have to fear for her safety”

    Rose Caldwell is chief executive of the children’s charity Plan International UK, which has also campaigned on the issue. Caldwell said a new law would send a clear message that such conduct is not acceptable:

    The Government must act swiftly on this recommendation and introduce a new, comprehensive law designed to protect women and girls from the relentless threat of public sexual harassment…

    Girls as young as 10 are being harassed, followed and touched, and this is having a serious impact on their mental and physical health.

    A new law will send a clear message that this is not acceptable in our society. No girl should have to fear for her safety in our public spaces.

    A Home Office spokesperson said:

    The Government asked the Law Commission to conduct a wide-ranging review into hate crime to explore how to make current legislation more effective, and if additional protected characteristics should be added to the hate crime legislation.

    We will respond to their recommendations once published.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Stop blocking vaccine access for poorer countries, Blackford tells Boris Johnson

    The SNP Westminster leader has challenged Boris Johnson to “do the right thing” and help ensure the world’s poorest nations can produce coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines.

    Ian Blackford demanded that the UK prime minister “stop blocking” the vaccine intellectual property waiver so that developing nations can manufacture vaccines themselves.

    The SNP MP raised the issue in a letter to the Conservative leader. He stressed that there needs to be a “truly effective global vaccine strategy” if coronavirus is to be defeated.

    Access to vaccine patents

    While the UK is rolling out booster vaccines to the population, the proportion of those in the Global South who have been jabbed is much lower.

    At the end of November it was reported some 54.2% of the global population had had at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine. But in low-income countries this falls to just 5.8%.

    Blackford insisted:

    We will not defeat this virus if developing nations are left to rely on vaccine donations alone…

    All countries must have the tools to allow them to produce Covid vaccines on home soil and ramp up production if we are to have a truly effective global vaccine strategy. That means ensuring they have access to the vaccine patents.

    So I am urging Boris Johnson to do the right thing and stop blocking the vaccine intellectual property waiver – at least temporarily – to allow developing nations to manufacture the vaccines themselves.

    ‘Blocking the waiver’

    The SNP Westminster leader added:

    This is a matter of global leadership, and with over 100 states, including the USA supporting the proposal, it is clear the UK is becoming increasingly isolated in blocking the waiver to support access to vaccines around the world.

    Indeed, it is the least the UK Government can do after it brutally slashed aid and hindered humanitarian projects around the world.

    The emergence of the new Omicron variant has shown us that, until we achieve vaccine equality, new variants could continue to appear.

    Therefore, it is in everybody’s interests that we share vaccine patents – it will be an essential step in beating Covid-19.

    23 million out of 100 million

    In June 2021 at the G7 summit, the government pledged to donate 100 million vaccine doses by mid-2022. But a No 10 spokesperson claimed the goal for this year was to donate “30 million doses”. 23 million have been donated so far, which leaves around 77 million doses still outstanding to be donated between now and June 2022.

    The Independent also reported last month that the UK discarded 600,000 vaccine doses at the end of August. These doses were allowed to expire instead of being donated.

    The No 10 spokesperson said:

    The UK has been a world leader in ensuring developing countries can access vaccines, through our early support to the Covax scheme and commitment to donate surplus vaccines.

    We are on track to meet our goal of donating 30 million doses by the end of this year, and more next year. We have donated 23 million doses already, of which 18.5 million have gone to Covax to distribute to developing countries.

    The UK is engaging constructively in the Trips waiver debate at the World Trade Organisation and we continue to be open to all ideas that have a positive impact on vaccine production and distribution.

    ‘The wrong side of history’

    Meanwhile Oxfam Scotland welcomed Blackford’s letter to the prime minister. Jamie Livingstone, head of Oxfam Scotland, said:

    It’s hugely significant that the SNP’s Westminster Leader has answered our call, by adding his voice, to the growing chorus of those who are demanding urgent action to stop pharmaceutical companies from artificially rationing global vaccine supply, by holding lifesaving vaccine recipes and technologies hostage.

    Vaccine inequality is both morally wrong and it places people across Scotland at additional risk from the emergence of dangerous new variants, like Omicron, with epidemiologists warning all along that no one is safe until we all are.

    The UK Government is looking more and more isolated as it continues to stubbornly stand on the wrong side of history by choosing to put protecting patents and big pharma’s profits above saving people’s lives.

    The Prime Minister must now act: a failure to do so would be short-sighted, self-defeating and shameful.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Apart from helping climate and biodiversity, more trees could mean better mental health

    The boost to mental health and wellbeing caused by people spending time in the UK’s woodlands saves the health service and employers around £185m each year according to new research.

    Published during National Tree Week, the research is the first attempt to quantify the benefit to mental health and wellbeing of the UK’s woodlands. It found woodlands save £141m in mental health care costs in England, £26m in Scotland, £13m in Wales, and £6m in Northern Ireland.

    Nature’s pleasures

    Annual NHS spending on mental health treatment will be £14.3bn in 2020/21, according to NHS England data.

    The government funded company Forest Research, which authored the report, said the total savings figure was likely to be an underestimate. Its research excludes people who visit woodlands regularly only in some months of the year but not in others, for example summer and spring but not in winter.

    One of the main drivers of the boost to wellbeing is likely to be the increased physical exercise, the researchers said. But other factors that are more difficult to measure are also likely to be at play. They cite the example of “forest bathing” – the practice of mindfulness in woodlands, often while walking, accompanied by activities such as meditative breathing exercises.

    Benefits to mental health

    The Forestry Commission, Scottish Forestry, and the Welsh Government funded the study. It was based on 2016 research that found weekly visits of at least 30 minutes to outdoor green spaces can reduce the prevalence of depression in the population by 7%. Using this starting point, the researchers compared this to data gathered by the Public Opinion of Forestry Survey. This survey has been conducted by Forest Research every two years since 1995.

    In 2019, 37% of respondents in England and Northern Ireland visited woodland at least several times a month. Meanwhile in Wales this figure was estimated at 44%, rising to 51% among people in Scotland. Around 3.3% of UK adults have a diagnosis of depression. And 5.9% suffer from anxiety, while a further 7.8% have a common, unspecified mental health disorder, according to NHS data.

    In 2020, it cost the NHS an estimated £1,640 to treat a patient with depression and £705 to treat someone with anxiety. This takes into account visits to the GP, prescription costs, inpatient care, social services and the number of working days lost to mental health issues.

    Greening cities

    The report also considered the value of trees in streets. It found that trees potentially shave £16m off the cost to the NHS each year of treating poor mental health.

    The report predicts that over the next 100 years, the mental health benefits of visits to woodlands will save £11bn. While street trees will save a further £1bn.

    Stephen Buckley, head of information for mental health charity Mind, said:

    Spending time outdoors – especially in woodlands or near water – can help with mental health problems such as anxiety and mild to moderate depression.

    He added:

    Although many of us feel like hibernating in winter, getting outside in green spaces and making the most of the little daylight we get can really benefit both your physical and mental health.

    Forestry Commission chairman William Worsley said:

    This report demonstrates just how vital it is to invest in healthy trees and woodlands.

    It makes medical sense, because it will mean better health for all; economic sense, by saving society millions of pounds; and it makes environmental sense, helping us to tackle the twin challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss.

    The research found almost half the UK population say they’re now spending more time outside than before the pandemic. And a majority agreed they felt happier when in woodlands and nature.

    Tree-planting targets

    The UK government has pledged to increase tree-planting to 30,000 hectares per year by the end of this Parliament. In 2020, Ovo Energy director of sustainability Kate Weinberg said:

    While the UK has a good tree planting target, it does not have a track record of meeting it.

    In August this year, the Independent reported:

    The rate of tree planting is falling in England despite the intensifying climate emergency and a government promise to dramatically increase it.

    Forestry Commission data shows planting is currently on course to hit a three-year low in 2021-22, with the number of trees put in the ground down 14 per cent so far this year.

    The revelations, which come just days after the UN’s climate authority warned of “code red for humanity”, were branded “shameful” by opposition politicians.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Court released documents reveal the cost of keeping private energy firms afloat

    The process that the government used to prop up failed energy supplier Bulb could be £400m more expensive than its alternative. That’s according to a newly released estimate from the energy regulator. It’s being argued that the cost is necessary to stop other energy firms going bust in future. However, people have criticised the situation as one in which private energy companies reap the profits but taxpayers cover the losses:

    This recent chain of events has led one Bulb employee to write for the i newspaper that the company’s:

    fate has convinced me the energy sector should be nationalised

    Dominos falling

    Court documents filed last week, as Bulb entered special administration, show that Ofgem recommended the more expensive route as it worried about the domino effect that the supplier’s collapse could otherwise set off.

    Ofgem usually deals with failed companies by moving their customers to a new supplier. This is called the Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) process. But Bulb’s size qualified it for the Special Administration Regime (SAR), which means it will run as normal but with an administrator in charge.

    On 3 December, Ofgem released documents showing it estimates that the SoLR process would have cost the new supplier £1.28bn. In comparison, administrators last week estimated that it would cost around £2.1bn to keep Bulb trading until April. The government has unlocked £1.7bn for the administrators to use to cover these costs.

    If Bulb is unable to repay any of this loan, ministers will hike energy bills for households across the country to recoup the Treasury’s money. Ofgem previously refused to share the court documents with several publications including the PA news agency. They were only released after the Financial Times and Bloomberg applied to a judge.

    In the documents, Ofgem said it couldn’t be sure that all of Bulb’s 1.6 million customers could be transferred to a new supplier successfully. And the regulator couldn’t guarantee that the new supplier would not buckle under the costs. Moving them in this way may “precipitate another, larger … failure in due course”, the regulator said.

    The company that took over Bulb’s customers would eventually have been able to claim back any costs.

    The argument for nationalisation

    Writing in the i newspaper, a Bulb employee said of nationalisation:

    The fact that the company’s continued operations are being paid for by the UK government shows how straightforward the process could be

    They also noted:

    Since the privatisation of the energy sector back in 1990, energy companies have funnelled billions of pounds back to private shareholders. Since then, the price people pay for their energy bills has continued to increase despite the argument that a privatised energy sector would be more efficient and therefore cheaper

    And they added:

    The decisions made in the last week, where Bulb’s continued operations will be paid for by the UK government – via a “special administrator” – shows how straightforward nationalisation could be. We can look to the temporarily nationalised Eastern Railway as an example of how this could work. In the five years that the railway was nationalised and run by the Department for Transport, the railway generated £1 billion for the UK taxpayer. A nationalised Bulb, run by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, could focus on ensuring Bulb members aren’t negatively affected and have an initial aim of becoming profitable. If a nationalised Bulb continued to operate for the next 10 years, how much could it earn for the taxpayer? Initially, it could repay any debts accrued throughout this winter. Any further income generated could be re-invested to upgrade cold, drafty homes, making them both warm and affordable.

    They concluded:

    If the taxpayer can absorb the cost during a crisis, the taxpayer should also reap the rewards once the current crisis subsides.

    The public is paying again

    The SoLR process allows Ofgem to hike bills for all the UK’s consumers in order to reimburse the new supplier for its losses. The supplier would have been out of pocket for many months before it was paid back. Moreover, the new costs are applied to household bills all in one go.

    Bills will likely go up to cover the cost of Bulb’s special administration. But this could be spread out so it hits households at a time when energy prices are not as high as today. Energy bills are already set to rise by between £80 and £85 per household in the next financial year. This is to cover the cost of a series of failed suppliers entering the SoLR process. Adding Bulb to this would have meant an extra £45 hike, Ofgem estimated.

    It acknowledged that the energy price cap is likely to be hiked by “several hundred pounds” next year due to rising gas prices. Ofgem was also concerned that by shifting 1.6 million customers to a new supplier, it might face an investigation from the competition regulator.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Unvaccinated mothers with harrowing ordeals urge those who are pregnant to get jabbed

    Unvaccinated women who suffered with coronavirus (Covid-19) during their pregnancies have told “terrifying” stories of having the virus, from being rushed to hospital to having emergency C-sections.

    The women appear in a video sharing their experiences of severe Covid-19 during pregnancy. It’s part of a new campaign encouraging expectant mothers to get the vaccine.

    The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said 98% of pregnant women in hospital with symptomatic Covid-19 are unvaccinated.

    The video features three women who experienced serious complications after contracting coronavirus before they were vaccinated. It also features the doctors and frontline staff who treated them, to warn of the dangers of the virus for pregnant women and their babies.

    “It was terrifying”

    Christina, a mental health therapist from Guildford who was admitted to hospital with Covid-19 in her third trimester, said:

    I had to give birth via emergency C-section because there was concern that I could have a stillbirth. It was terrifying.

    I don’t know what the future holds for me and my baby; I’m still suffering with symptoms now along with the anxiety of not knowing how or when I’ll recover.

    I would urge pregnant women to get vaccinated because I don’t want anyone to experience what I went through.

     

    ‘Not everyone’s as lucky as I am’

    Tanviha, who works in anaesthesiology and research in Manchester, spent two months in hospital with Covid-19 following an emergency C-section. She said she caught Covid-19 during her second pregnancy in February, adding:

    At the time, the vaccine wasn’t available to me and I quickly took a turn for the worse.

    I was rushed into hospital and went straight into intensive care where my condition deteriorated and my son was delivered by emergency C-section.

    I was put to sleep and intubated, and my family were told it was unlikely I’d survive and to prepare for the worst.

    The day after I was intubated, the nurse told them they were going to switch the machine off, but instead I was transferred to an Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, which is a last resort for patients with severe heart and lung failure, and it saved my life.

    The first time I saw my son he was two months old. It’s the scariest experience of mine and my family’s life but I’m just grateful that me and my son are alive.

    If you’re unsure about getting vaccinated please come forward and get your jab, not everyone’s as lucky as I am.

    Tanviha, who works in anaesthesiology and research
    Tanviha, who works in anaesthesiology and research, speaking about her experiences after she suffered with Covid-19 during her pregnancy (UKHSA/PA)

    “I just wish I’d been vaccinated sooner”

    Joanne, a make-up adviser from Lincolnshire, suffered complications with her pregnancy after catching Covid-19. She said:

    I had been unsure what was the right thing to do about getting vaccinated while pregnant.

    I was planning on having the jab after my daughter was born but I caught Covid-19 when I was 35 weeks pregnant and became seriously ill, I couldn’t get out of bed for a week.

    I had nearly recovered but something just didn’t feel right. I couldn’t feel my baby kicking so I made an urgent appointment to see my midwife.

    The team at the hospital quickly spotted the baby’s growth had dropped and her fluid was low.

    Her heartbeat was going down and down so the consultant rushed me off for an emergency caesarean when Mollie-Ann was born.

    I’m so grateful to the maternity team for keeping me and my baby safe and I just wish I’d been vaccinated sooner.

    Joanne suffered complications with her pregnancy
    Joanne suffered complications with her pregnancy after contracting Covid-19 (UKHSA/PA)

    ‘Book in your vaccine without delay’

    The DHSC said nearly one in five coronavirus patients who are most critically ill are pregnant women who have not had the vaccine.

    Of those pregnant women in hospital with symptomatic Covid-19, 98% are unvaccinated. And no fully vaccinated pregnant women went into intensive care with Covid-19 in England between February and September 2021.

    Around one in five women admitted to hospital with the virus need to be delivered preterm to help them recover. Moreover, one in five of their babies need care in the neonatal unit, the DHSC said.

    Since April 2021, around 84,000 pregnant women have received one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. More than 80,000 have received two doses.

    Professor Lucy Chappell, chief scientific adviser at the DHSC and honorary consultant obstetrician, said:

    The stories shared as part of this film are heartbreaking and provide invaluable, first-hand insight into why accepting the offer of a Covid-19 vaccine is so important for mothers and their babies.

    Getting the vaccine is one of the most vital ways in which you can protect yourself and your baby from Covid-19, which can be really dangerous for pregnant women – of those pregnant women in hospital with symptomatic Covid-19, 98% are unvaccinated.

    Watch the film, speak to your clinician or midwife if you have any questions or concerns, and book in your vaccine without delay.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • FOI requests reveal which police forces use crime prediction software

    A number of freedom of information (FOI) requests carried out by The Canary have revealed the number of police forces in the UK that use crime prediction software or predictive policing models. Coverage of predictive policing, also known as pre-crime, is part of our #ResistBigBrother series. Data Justice Lab researcher Fieke Jansen specialises in data-driven police operations. Jansen told The Canary that predictive policing has a couple of different strands:

    the first is location policing. It looks at where crime is most likely to occur in the near future. And the other one is predictive identification which is seeing who is potentially most likely to be engaged in a certain criminal activity in the near future.

    This type of policing strategy is notorious for being discriminatory and setting a worrying trend for data mining. Civil liberties organisation Liberty explains:

    The predictive programs aren’t neutral. They are trained by people and rely on existing police data, and so they reflect patterns of discrimination and further embed them into police practice.

    Author of The Rise of Big Data Policing Andrew Ferguson points out that police could hold information on people who have not committed a crime, and the use of data could encourage police violence, amongst other problems:

    the growing web of surveillance threatens to chill associational freedoms, political expression and expectations of privacy by eroding public anonymity… even with the best use policies in place, officers have access to vast amounts of personal information of people not suspected of any crime… without carefully chosen data inputs, long-standing racial, societal and other forms of bias will be reified in the data.

    Predictive policing is relatively sophisticated in the United States. The Los Angeles Police Department recently came under criticism for its use of predictive policing:

    newly revealed public documents detail how PredPol and Operation Laser, the department’s flagship data-driven programs, validated existing patterns of policing and reinforced decisions to patrol certain people and neighborhoods over others, leading to the over-policing of Black and brown communities in the metropole

    What’s the situation in the UK? Our investigations unit sent out FOI requests to police forces asking them if they used any data-driven techniques, what type of software they used, and how much it cost.

    West Yorkshire Police

    West Yorkshire Police told us that they receive support form the College of Policing to use “advanced technology” called Patrol-Wise which is funded by the Home Office and developed by University College London. They explained to us that crime data is analysed in Patrol-Wise and communicated to officers on handheld devices.

    Humberside Police

    Humberside Police told us that:

    As part of a predictive policing programme Humberside Police is currently trialling a predictive algorithm.

    There is currently no further information available.

    West Midlands Police

    West Midlands Police told us:

    WMP have developed (and are in the process of developing) some predictive models – notably around most serious violence (locations and number); knife crime – used where causing injury (location and number) and estimating the probability of individuals moving from low / middling levels of harm into high harm.

    The policing of knife crime is notorious for racially targeting Black and Brown people. Incorporating data algorithms into an already racist structure is a prime example of how data-led strategies for police imbed racism even further into forces.

    Avon and Somerset Police

    Avon and Somerset Police told us they use:

    Data visualisation/dashboards

    – Production reporting/ad hoc querying

    – Predictive analytics/risk models/ETL (extraction-transformation-loading)

    – Social network analytics

    Hampshire Police

    Hampshire Police told us they use Demar Forecasting owned by Process Evolution.

    Data-led techniques

    Police forces in Scotland, Cumbria, Lancashire, Cheshire, Kent, North Wales, Gloucestershire, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Derbyshire, Bedfordshire, West Mercia, Surrey, Northumbria, Hertfordshire, Sussex, Wiltshire, Lincolnshire, South Wales, the Thames Valley, and the Metropolitan Police all returned responses that said they either held no information on predictive policing or that they did not use predictive policing. A number of police forces had not responded to the FOI request at the time of publication – in spite of the fact that public authorities are required to respond to FOI requests within 20 working days.

    Liberty

    In a 2019 report from Liberty, a number of these above police forces are listed as using predictive policing. The Canary reached out to these police forces to ask why their responses to our FOIs claimed not to use predictive policing, but they were listed in the report from Liberty as using predictive policing. Kent, Warwickshire, and Cheshire police all explained that they had used predictive policing in the past and did so no longer.

    Kent Police said:

    The article you mention does say that we did use Predictive Policing in 2013 but in 2018 we decided not to renew the contract, this information is correct.

    Warwickshire Police said:

    Historically, Warwickshire Police was briefly involved in a project as part of its strategic alliance with West Mercia.  However, we no longer have an active role as a stand-alone force.

    Cheshire Police said:

    Cheshire Constabulary took part in a short trial back in 2015 and a decision was taken not to use the software.

    This tracks with what data expert Jansen told us:

    police budget cuts in the UK have meant a lot of predictive policing models stop and start frequently.

    Level of sophistication

    It’s clear that predictive policing in the UK is perhaps not as widespread or sophisticated as in the US. There is also a pattern of predictive policing models being taken up by forces in the short-term and then dropped due to funding. This stop-start landscape means that forces rely on government funding and development from university departments. This in turn means that influences on policy can change the threat to civil liberties.

    As the Network for Police Monitoring’s (Netpol) Kevin Blowe points out:

    predictive technology is better at identifying patterns than individuals and is only likely to work at all if it involves gathering vast amounts of data over a long period of time. As people from poorer communities are more likely to have data held about them by public services, this is likely to mean they are more likely to become classified as a risk.

    Predictive policing itself requires the police holding data on individuals, but the abuse of technology is not a problem with the technology itself but a problem with racist structures in policing. As Blowe explains:

    The problem is that these are simply tools – and bias comes from the choices made about what crimes to focus on and where. Essentially, if the police’s perception of a problem (and therefore the data it goes looking for) is about ‘gang crime’ then it it likely to replicate the preexisting racial bias on this issue with policing.

    Why does any of this matter?

    Events in 2021 have highlighted the institutional sexism and racism in the UK police force: the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer; police officers taking pictures with the murdered bodies of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry; crackdowns in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill; the promise of further restrictions in amendments to the Official Secrets Act.

    These restrictions come in the context of increasing privatisation of the NHS, deep cuts to the welfare state, the botched handling of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, and anti-immigrant rhetoric. A swing to far-right policies spells grave trouble for all our civil liberties.

    The level of sophistication is not necessarily the problem when it comes to predictive policing. The problem is institutionally racist and corrupt police using data as another tool in their arsenal that can be used to suppress dissent, and to control and surveil citizens. There are already concerns about police leaning on the NHS and mental health services for data. Crackdowns on civil liberties almost always pave the way for a smoother road to even more regressive policies. Resisting police violence means resisting the use of data and technology that infringe privacy rights.

    Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/Tony Webster

    By Maryam Jameela

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • It’s time to take to the streets before the government removes our right to do so

    The government’s draconian Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill will enter the report stage in the House of Lords on Wednesday 8 December. On 2 December, the Home Office formally announced further amendments to its authoritarian bill. On 18 November, The Canary‘s Emily Apple explained that, if implemented, amendments before the House of Lords would clamp down even harder on our right to disruptive protest – the backbone of a democratic society.

    The Kill the Bill coalition will be holding a celebration of our right to protest outside the Lords on 8 December.

    An increasingly draconian bill

    From its inception, the draconian PCSC bill has threatened to crack down on our fundamental right to protest, and target marginalised and over-policed communities. Owing to its repressive nature, the bill sparked large-scale protests nationwide.

    The bill sets out a series of new offences, sentences, and draconian anti-protest measures, such as penalties of up to 10 years for damaging a statue. The case of the ‘Colston four‘ – who stand accused of toppling the statue of Edward Colston – offers a vignette into our future under the PCSC bill.

    It also threatens to further expand stop and search powers (which already disproportionately impact over-policed Communities of Colour), and criminalise rough sleepers, as well as Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities’ nomadic way of life.

    After the bill passed its final reading in the House of Commons and its second reading in the House of Lords, home secretary Priti Patel quietly added 18 pages of amendments.

    Stifling disruptive protest

    As reported by The Canary, proposed amendments include the introduction of a new offence called “locking on” – i.e. protesters attaching themselves to another person or object, or carrying ‘equipment’ to do so. According to the Home Office, offensive equipment could include glue. Protesters found to be “locking on” could face up to 51 weeks in prison.

    This amendment specifically targets groups such as Insulate Britain which recently staged a number of roadblocks to raise public concern about the existential threat of the climate crisis. Due to their attempts to sound the alarm on environmental devastation, some of these activists are facing criminal proceedings.

    On 9 November, we saw ‘Stop the Plane’ activists held in overnight custody having blocked authorities from transporting detainees to a deportation flight by locking on. While activists stalled proceedings, it became clear that a number of detainees bound for deportation had the right to remain in the UK, with another deemed unfit to fly. Moments such as this demonstrate just how essential disruptive protest is to the pursuit of justice and freedom.

    Hacking away at our fundamental rights

    One proposed amendment would empower police to stop and search anyone if they believe a protest may be taking place in the area. Police wouldn’t need a reasonable suspicion. According to human rights charity Liberty, offensive materials could include placards, flyers, or banners. Anyone who refuses to cooperate with officers could face up to 51 weeks imprisonment.

    This amendment would further marginalise Black protesters, who already experience excessive and disproportionate stops and searches. In the meantime, the UK government can continue to unabashedly breach its human rights obligations to take action against race disparities.

    Perhaps most concerning of all is that the Home Office now seeks to introduce serious disruption prevention orders. This civil order would empower police to impose restrictions on anyone who has been convicted of two or more protest-related offences. Under such orders, police could ban them from certain places, seeing certain people, or even encouraging protest online. This would effectively remove their rights to freedom of speech and assembly.

    On 2 December, the Home Office announced some of these amendments which seek to ‘crack down on highly disruptive protest tactics’. As Liberty’s Jun Pang highlights, the home secretary leaves the meaning of “serious disruption” unclear and open to interpretation. This will only play into the oppressive state’s hands.

    Let’s kill this authoritarian bill

    The government’s attempt to push through the PCSC bill is nothing short of authoritarian. Due to the government’s sustained attempts to curtail our civil liberties, civic freedom monitoring organisation CIVICUS has added the UK to its watchlist. Additionally, the proposed Nationality and Borders bill, the Health and Care bill, updates to the Official Secrets Act, plans to introduce voter ID, and threats to overhaul the Human Rights Act are all tell-tale signs that the UK is an increasingly fascist state. We must fight in any way we can to stop the government’s tyrannical agenda.

    Human rights charity Liberty is calling on anyone seeking to challenge the proposed PCSC bill to sign its petition. The petition urges home secretary Priti Patel and secretary of state for justice Dominic Raab to scrap the bill. It has 66,937 signatures at the time of writing. The next milestone the organisation is aiming to reach is 75,000 signatures.

    The bill will enter the report stage in the House of Lords on Wednesday 8 December. The Kill the Bill coalition will be holding a noisy demonstration in Westminster to coincide with this:

    The government is trying to stifle our right to challenge the advancing fascist state. If passed, the PSC bill would criminalise anyone seeking to disrupt and dismantle the increasingly unjust and unequal status quo. We must fight tooth and nail to defend our right to protest and hold this authoritarian government to account. If we let the Tories take away our fundamental rights, they could be lost forever.

    Featured image via Kyle Bushnell/Unsplash

    By Sophia Purdy-Moore

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Unite’s cut in funding to Labour could benefit several other projects

    Union leader Sharon Graham has said Unite plans to withdraw a big chunk of Labour Party funding. Going forwards, the money will be used to help workers by other means. The union will still pay £1m in affiliation fees, but Graham said other cash will go on more valuable causes.

    Unite’s firebrand general-secretary told the Guardian, “there’s a lot of other money that we use from our political fund where, actually, I’m not sure we’re getting the best value for it”.

    She added:

     The fact that I am being quite robust is because Labour needs to talk about workers, needs to defend workers and needs to defend communities.

    And there are quite a number of other projects that could benefit from union backing.

    Labour

    Graham called Labour’s recent reshuffle “white noise”. She had strong words for Labour:

    I don’t know what world they’re living in, but [they] don’t live in the one in I’m living in, because [in] the one I’m inhabiting, people are frightened.

    And this isn’t the first time. The Unite leader recently clashed with London mayor Sadiq Khan after he attacked striking transport workers:

    Turning away

    As workers turn away from Keir Starmer’s increasingly right-wing party, other projects could be in line for union support. Sharon Graham mentioned the idea of a national care service in Scotland:

    If we can get in a national care service in Scotland, if we can drive that through, then let’s put the resource in Scotland, let’s get some campaigning going on there properly.

    Westminster, Graham said, “isn’t the font of everything, you know, and actually, there’s other ways to try and get things in, by pace-setting”.

    New horizons

    And it is true. Any number of actual pro-worker initiatives could be energised by more union funding. Post-Corbyn, the Labour Party has shifted back towards a Blairite position: pro-capitalist and pro-war. Recent appointments like David Lammy as shadow foreign secretary prove this beyond doubt – at least if his hawkish record is anything to go by. But where could the money go?

    Well, there are any number of projects which could benefit from union backing. Perhaps these could include new and existing left media platforms to counter the influence of private and state broadcasters. One outcome of Corbynism was a new network of channels and organisations. The Canary, Skwawkbox, Double Down News, and Declassified UK – to name just a few. And none of them enjoy billionaire backers like the Tory press.

    Pro-worker

    Worker’s education programs like the WEA are needed more than ever so that worker’s can access education and expand their minds. It’s high time initiatives like this were properly funded.

    The unions could increase funding to training programmes for activists and organizers on everything from climate change to antiracism. And these fit snugly with refugee and migrant solidarity efforts to help desperate and displaced people affected by Priti Patel’s hostile environment

    And all of these have an international aspect. From solidarity campaigns with workers in Latin American and the Middle East, to support for oppressed people from Palestine to Europe.

    Rejuvenation

    It’s for Unite to decide where it puts cash freed up from Labour. But there are plenty of worthy causes outside Starmer’s floundering party which could do with a hand. And let’s hope the money gets used where its needed.

    Featured image via – Wikimedia Commons/Office of US Speaker of the House

    By Joe Glenton

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • The movement to ensure musicians receive fairer pay is picking up cross-bench support

    The government will change the law to make sure musicians get more money from streaming only if an “industry-led” solution cannot be found, a minister has said. At the same time, the movement to ensure musicians receive fairer pay is picking up cross-bench support.

    The “problem”

    Business minister George Freeman told MPs the Government’s first instinct was to “avoid legislation”, as he acknowledged there was a “problem” of musicians not receiving a substantial cut of streaming revenues. His comments came as MPs debated the Copyright (Rights and Remuneration of Musicians) Bill, sponsored by Labour MP for Cardiff West Kevin Brennan.

    Kevin Brennan with Rebecca Ferguson in Parliament Square
    Kevin Brennan with Rebecca Ferguson in Parliament Square (Jonathan Stewart/PA)

    The Private Member’s Bill, which did not receive backing from the government, sought to introduce a right to “equitable remuneration” for streaming income, where performers have a right to receive a share without reference to their label contracts. It would also give musicians more of a say over how their music is used, with MPs hearing that dame Vera Lynn could have reclaimed ownership rights to her music, receiving royalties after We’ll Meet Again and other favourites experienced a revival in recent years.

    Freeman told MPs:

    If we can avoid legislation but solve the problem in some other way, that’s our first instinct. But indeed, I want to make very clear if we conclude that legislative changes are the only way to achieve what the House is looking for, then that is very much open to us.

    We want to work very closely with the industry, and let me just take this opportunity to make clear to the industry, who will be watching this closely, that we do think there is a problem, we want to make sure we get it right and we want to work with them to get the right measures in place.

    George Freeman
    George Freeman (Victoria Jones/PA)

    Labour MP Brennan told MPs that “wonderful British artist” Vera Lynn would have been able to reclaim rights to her music if his proposals were made law.

    He later said:

    If, after a period of 20 years, they are dissatisfied with the efforts being made by record labels or publishers – and this would apply to Dame Vera Lynn, I am glad to say, were she still with us – if they are dissatisfied with the efforts being made by record labels or publishers, musicians could give notice of their intention to reclaim their rights to exploit their music or transfer that right to another label or publisher who might do a better job than the existing one.

    He was responding to Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke (Dover), who described Dame Vera as “one of our most loved entertainers and icons across the country”, adding:

    Yet she found herself with a revival of some of her most famous and beloved songs, and not receiving royalties from a contract that was conceived and signed before the internet had even been considered and built.

    Dame Vera Lynn
    Dame Vera Lynn (Zak Hussein/PA)

    Brennan insisted his Bill’s efforts to remunerate musicians for streaming was “not about anarchy in the UK”, adding:

    This Bill is about equity in the UK music industry.

    Conservative former cabinet minister Esther McVey gave her backing to the Bill, and said the taxpayer should have not picked up the bill for big labels who did not pay their artists “correctly” during the pandemic. McVey said:

    Covid shone a spotlight into this area. In the past, artists could go out and earn extra money through performing at live events. Not now, they couldn’t, and they would rely far more heavily on what was coming through from streaming.

    Why should the taxpayer pick up the bill for these international giants who aren’t paying their contributors, creators, writers, correctly?

    That is wrong.

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Regulator begins an ‘urgent’ review into energy companies following their response to Storm Arwen

    Regulator Ofgem has launched an “urgent” review into the response of energy network companies to Storm Arwen which has left some people without power for a week. A £700 cap on compensation has also been lifted, allowing those affected to claim £70 for each 12-hour period they are left without power, after an initial £70 for the first 48 hours.

    The Army has been deployed to help residents in Scotland and England who have been off supply for a week since the storm on Friday November 26 caused “catastrophic damage” to the electricity network. Ofgem said that around 10,500 people are still without power in some parts of Scotland and the North of England.

    Winter weather Dec 3rd 2021
    Members of the armed forces have been carrying out welfare checks in affected areas (Danny Lawson/PA)

    “A really worrying time for people”

    The regulator said its review will establish the facts about the response and if necessary it will pursue further enforcement action.

    Jonathan Brearley, Ofgem’s chief executive, said:

    We understand this is a really worrying time for people who are without heat and power as the severity of Storm Arwen has hit homes and businesses in the North of England and Scotland. The effects of Storm Arwen are still being felt with 10,500 homes still without power.

    We accept the network companies have been working in challenging conditions, but until every home in Britain has power restored, that relentless effort must continue.

    We are launching a review into how the storm has been handled. We have strict rules on how network companies need to operate in these circumstances and we will take action if needed.

    He added:

    I’ve launched an urgent review to see if there are things that the industry could learn from this response in order to improve our support to consumers in the future.

    Reviewing the response

    The review will focus on the role of the network companies in maintaining the resilience of the system and their emergency response, including their communications with customers.

    Around 130 troops have been sent to carry out door-to-door checks and offer welfare support in north-east of Scotland, where around 1,600 Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) customers remained off supply at 10am on Friday.

    South of the border, Durham County Council said around 100 servicemen and women will be based in Weardale to help local people. Northern Powergrid, the electricity distribution network operator for the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire, said 6,000 customers remained off supply at 11pm on Thursday, though power has been restored to 234,000 others since Storm Arwen swept across the country on Friday November 26.

    SSEN said it expects to restore power to 1,100 homes throughout the course of Friday and into the evening, where it remains safe for work to continue and subject to no unforeseen difficulties with ongoing repairs. Around 500 customers are expected to be reconnected throughout the course of Saturday.

    Featured image via – YouTube – ITV News

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on The Canary.