30 million in UK ‘priced out of decent standard of living by 2024’

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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/dec/12/30-million-in-uk-priced-out-of-decent-standard-of-living-by-2024

Thirty million people in the UK will be unable to afford what the public considers to be a decent standard of living by the time the current parliament ends in 2024, according to a study.

The New Economics Foundation, a left-leaning thinktank, said rising prices, below-inflation increases in earnings and projected increases in unemployment would result in 43% of households lacking the resources to put food on the table, buy new clothes or treat themselves and their families – a 12 percentage point rise compared with 2019.

The NEF said its calculation that by 2024 almost 90% of single parents and 50% of workers with children would fall below a minimum income standard showed the need for a radical overhaul of the welfare system.

Continue Reading30 million in UK ‘priced out of decent standard of living by 2024’

John Kerry examining likely impact of new UK coalmine

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/10/john-kerry-examining-likely-impact-of-new-uk-coalmine

John Kerry, the US climate official, has said he is closely examining the UK government’s approval of a new coalmine, over concerns that it will raise greenhouse gas emissions and send the wrong signal to developing countries.

Kerry, Joe Biden’s special envoy for climate, said he was taking a close interest in the mine, the first to get the go-ahead in the UK for 30 years, and that he would speak out publicly against the approval if it did not meet strict criteria.

“I’m asking my people to give me a better download on exactly what the emissions implications are going to be,” he said in an interview on Friday evening.

“Coal is not exactly the direction that the world is trying to move in, or needs to move in. What I want to know is the level of abatement here [such as whether the resulting greenhouse gases will be captured and stored] and the comparison of this particular process in the production of steel,” he said.

Continue ReadingJohn Kerry examining likely impact of new UK coalmine