Monthly Archives: May 2023

May the 4th be with you: Darth Vader, Dr Evil and Thanos seek alliances at deep sea mining summit

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Three of the world’s most infamous supervillains – Darth Vader, Dr Evil and Thanos attend the deep sea mining summit in central London. The terrible trio are excited by the prospect of meeting like-minded people who they felt would share their passion for large-scale destructive machinery and wiping out entire ecosystems. Deep sea mining would strip bare vast areas of the deep ocean floor – one of the last untouched ecosystems on earth, causing irreversible damage to marine life.

London, Star Wars Day, 2023 – Three of the world’s most infamous supervillains – Darth Vader, Dr Evil and Thanos – convened today at a deep sea mining summit in central London.

VIDEO HERE

The terrible trio were reportedly excited by the prospect of meeting like-minded people who they felt would share their passion for large-scale destructive machinery and wiping out entire ecosystems. Darth Vader had insisted the three attend the conference instead of ‘making a fuss’ over him for Star Wars Day. 

Known for his strong track record of destroying whole planets with his death star, Darth Vader said of the conference: “Light doesn’t penetrate the bottom of the ocean so it’s the perfect place for the dark side to operate.”

Dr. Evil flew in directly from his volcano-lair to tell conference goers that he felt the ocean could undoubtedly be exploited for personal gain “in excess of one million dollars”. He urged those in attendance to join him in his quest for global domination, promising riches and power beyond their wildest dreams.

Thanos was quieter, possibly a little overwhelmed by the number of attendees, but sources say he was overheard asking delegates for the location of the “precious stones”. 

Walking onstage with Dr Evil and Thanos to address conference attendees during a Q&A, Darth Vader said: “I’m delighted to be here and to learn more about deep sea mining because together, we can destroy the oceans!”

The three left the conference to the sound of The Imperial March from Star Wars, played on the kazoo, and laughter from the audience. 

Andrew Tobert, Greenpeace UK Oceans campaigner, said:
“Monetising the seabed might seem like a far-fetched, dastardly plan, but it’s worryingly real and the people trying to do it don’t wear obvious, villainous costumes. We have explored just 1% of the deep sea, on each visit discovering fascinating species found nowhere else on Earth – it’s one of our last untouched ecosystems. But it would be stripped bare by deep sea mining, causing irreversible damage to marine life. There’s no way it can be done sustainably. 

“Companies from Samsung to Renault have called for a moratorium on deep sea mining. And governments from Europe to the Pacific are doing the same. It’s no surprise when the proposals read less like a business plan and more like a masterplan for ecological destruction. Deep sea mining poses untold threats to our already plundered oceans. It’s got to be stopped before it starts.”

The International Seabed Authority will meet in July where it faces commercial pressure to allow deep sea mining to start. From July any deep sea mining company can submit an application to start mining despite the absence of any rules or regulations to govern it and, thanks to the invocation of a controversial loophole, governments are legally obliged to “consider” it. The Metals Company, one of the most prominent and determined deep sea mining companies in the race, has stated it will put in an application this year. 

Deep sea mining is a dangerous distraction from creating a truly green economy by profit-hungry companies wanting to make a quick buck. Vast areas of the deep ocean floor – one of the last untouched ecosystems on earth – would be stripped bare by deep sea mining, causing irreversible damage to marine life. 

The UK government is currently supporting research into deep sea mining having approved exploratory deep sea mining licences 10 years ago to UK Seabed Resources (UKSR). The UK now sponsors some of the largest areas for deep sea mining exploration, covering 133,000km2 of the Pacific Ocean, through UKSR. That’s an area larger than the size of England.

But the rest of the world is waking up to the significance of the threat from deep sea mining. As well as leading green tech companies calling for a pause, many governments are saying no to deep sea mining. Recent months have also seen Indigenous advocates reject deep sea mining, scientific warnings of the risks grow ever stronger, and the longest-standing and biggest corporate backer of the industry call it quits. And just this week Maersk announced it was jumping ship, selling its stake in The Metals Company, and becoming the latest big name to divest from deep sea mining.

Continue ReadingMay the 4th be with you: Darth Vader, Dr Evil and Thanos seek alliances at deep sea mining summit

Greens win big in UK local elections

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Image of the Green Party's Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.
Image of the Green Party’s Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.

Preliminary results are showing that the Green Party has made huge gains in UK local elections increasing their share of elected councillors by about 60%.

7.40am. I wrote the previous statement at about 6.25am. It’s early and there are only a few results in yet. The Tories (Conservatives) have lost 50% of their seats, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Independents are gaining 20%, the Green Party are gaining roughly 60%.

11.35am Greens have currently increased their number of elected councillors over 100%.

1.35pm. Only 37% of results have been announced so far. The Green Party has doubled their number of elected councillors from 43 to 86. Not many I know, but certainly the best result for any political party.

1.45pm. Tories (Conservatives) are losing roughly 33% of their seats, not 50% as reported above. The rest of my calculations / claims look correct ;)

3.30pm. Just over half the results are in. Tories (Conservatives) are losing about 30% of their seats, Labour gaining just under 25%, Liberal Democrats gaining 16/17% or so, Independents losing seats, Green Party still about 100% gain.

5.25pm. 77/78% of results are in. Green Party’s vote is currently increased by 119%, Labour 25% gain, Liberal Democrats 28% gain. ed: Just to be clear, I’m discussing elected councillors here.

12 midnight. I’ve been waiting for all the results to come in. We have results from 228 of 230 councils, elected councillors.

Labour 2,662 +25% (seats, swing), Conservative 2,288 -28.5%, Liberal Democrats 1,613 [8.30am 6/5/23 +33% not +43.5%], Independents 872 -8.5%, Green Party 479 +101%, Residents’ Association 88 -21%. Turnout appears to have been very low. There is a narrative promoted about Starmer’s Labour likely to win a general election.

Continue ReadingGreens win big in UK local elections

Just Stop Oil supporters pledge to continue in wake of 23 arrests for peacefully marching from Downing Street to Parliament.

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Just Stop Oil protesting in London 6 December 2022.
Just Stop Oil protesting in London 6 December 2022.

Just Stop Oil are peacefully marching in defiance of new anti-protest legislation that came into effect yesterday. They state that they will immediately halt their campaign when the government makes a meaningful statement to end licensing and consents for any new fossil fuel projects in the UK.

From around 8:00 am, over 30 Just Stop Oil supporters began marching from Queen Victoria Street in the City of London. Just Stop Oil supporters have been slow marching in the capital every day since the 24th April.

Yesterday 23 Just Stop Oil supporters were arrested for peacefully marching from Downing Street to Parliament Square. The police were acting with new powers granted by the Home Office following the commencement of the ‘public order’ bill yesterday. This is the third piece of legislation in two years designed to silence legitimate dissent. The introduction of this bill has been described as ‘alarming’ by Amnesty International and ‘deeply troubling’ by the U.N High Commissioner for Human Rights. 

The home secretary has also used a controversial ‘statutory instrument’ to grant extra powers to the police, in a bid to ban ‘slow walking’ demonstrations. In doing so, the home secretary has evaded the usual democratic process, as these measures were previously rejected from the ‘public order’ bill by the House of Lords.

A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said:

“Yesterday, 23 good people were arrested for peacefully marching between Downing Street and Parliament, in accordance with their fundamental human rights. Rights that are protected under international law. All legal avenues for dissent have now been banned by this illegitimate, criminal government. ”

“In licensing new fossil fuels, they are overseeing the destruction of our homes, livelihoods and food supply. This will lead to the collapse of ordered society. This is treason. Regardless of our divergent political beliefs, it is imperative the citizens of this country wake up to what is happening, and get onto the streets to resist. It is what our children and the next 10,000 generations demand of us. Any less is a betrayal of our loved ones and the hundreds of millions currently experiencing climate collapse around the world.”

Continue ReadingJust Stop Oil supporters pledge to continue in wake of 23 arrests for peacefully marching from Downing Street to Parliament.

Shell slammed over eye-watering profits amidst cost of living crisis

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https://leftfootforward.org/2023/05/shell-slammed-over-eye-watering-profits-amidst-cost-of-living-crisis/

“One of the corporate scandals of our times”

Earlier this week, BP announced it had secured £4 billion in profits in the first three months of 2023. Today, another fossil fuel giant has confirmed its staggering profits. Shell made record breaking profits of £7.6 billion in the first quarter of the year.

The news has been met with outrage from trade unions who have slammed the government for not taking action on energy firm profiteering in the middle of a cost of living crisis partially driven by high energy bills.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “These sky-high profits beg the question – will the government ever have the backbone to tax the energy giants properly? While families across Britain have struggled to heat their homes, Shell have enjoyed a record cash bonanza.

“Our energy market is fundamentally broken. Struggling households shouldn’t be lining the pockets of shareholders and fat cat CEOs. We could all have lower bills if government taxed excessive profits, introduced a social tariff and created public ownership of new clean power. It’s time to end the energy racket.”

…

https://leftfootforward.org/2023/05/shell-slammed-over-eye-watering-profits-amidst-cost-of-living-crisis/

Continue ReadingShell slammed over eye-watering profits amidst cost of living crisis

Management consultants raking in £3,000 a day from NHS

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Original article by Adam Bychawski republished from Open Democracy under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence.

NHS sign

Campaigners question why huge sums are being handed to multi-billion pound companies over local health experts

NHS England is paying management consultants day rates of up to £3,000, despite the government claiming it cannot afford to give nurses and junior doctors a real-terms pay rise.

Some executives from top consulting firms including Deloitte and PA Consulting are being paid the equivalent of an annual salary of more than £600,000 by NHS England for their services – more than double what its own CEO is reportedly paid.

Deloitte, which charged the most for its consultants last year at up to £3,000 a day, was ironically hired to help NHS England improve how it keeps track of its spending on private companies.

The findings come after a deal was struck between health unions and the government for a 5% pay rise for more than a million NHS workers. Ministers had dismissed demands for an above-inflation rise on the grounds that it would be unaffordable.

Unite and the Royal College of Nursing rejected the offer, with the former saying that it fell well short of the current rate of inflation. Both are planning to continue with strike action, while the British Medical Association (BMA), which represents junior doctors, is continuing negotiations. The BMA is looking for a 35% pay rise to make up for 15 years of below-inflation pay increases.

Unite’s national lead officer Onay Kasab called the figures “a damning indictment of a government that seems intent on destroying the NHS and has learnt nothing from the pandemic, when it allowed the health service to be plundered by private sector profiteers”. He added: “The money would be much better spent providing a proper pay rise for NHS staff to end the recruitment and retention crisis that is crippling health services.”

The day rates were disclosed to openDemocracy through a Freedom of Information request only after the Information Commissioner’s Office warned NHS England that it could be taken to court if it continued delaying its response.

The figures also show consultants from PA Consulting were paid up to £2,500 a day to provide NHS England with support for its Covid vaccination programme between December 2022 and March 2023.

More than a dozen consultants from Ernst and Young were paid up to £2,343 a day last year to give NHS England recommendations for a system that would make it possible to share patient health records electronically between trusts.

The health service also forked out up to £2,350 a day on consultants from KPMG to support improvements to its digital services.

NHS England told openDemocracy that the rates are negotiated centrally by the government.

“It is absolutely appalling to see huge sums of money syphoned off into consultancy firms in this manner,” Julia Patterson, chief executive of NHS campaign group EveryDoctor, told openDemocracy. “At the very least, there should be published reports annually demonstrating the added value provided by contracting strategic advice.

“Local healthcare experts – such as the NHS clinicians, who are woefully underpaid – would be much better placed to offer advice about the planning and processes within their respective areas.”

The sums raise questions about whether the government has learnt from its disastrous NHS Test and Trace scheme, which was criticised for relying too heavily on private sector consultants. Deloitte staff were paid up to £6,000 a day to work on the programme despite an inquiry later finding that it failed to slow the pandemic.

At the time, the ballooning spending prompted a Cabinet minister to warn that consultants waste taxpayer money and “infantilise” civil servants.

Then cabinet secretary Michael Gove defended the use of consultants during the pandemic but conceded the government needed to reduce its overall spending on them.

In February, openDemocracy revealed NHS England quadrupled its budget for outsourced consultancy work to £83m – enough to train more than 1,600 new nurses or pay for almost 14,000 hip operations.

Tamzen Isacsson, chief executive of the Management Consultancies Association, said: “There are strict regulations for how the government procures management consultants and firms need to show they meet stringent cost and value criteria.

“The charge from consulting firms, which operate in a highly competitive market includes various operating costs that goes well beyond consultant salaries. The per day cost charged by consulting firms working in the NHS will include security system and technical requirements, product development costs, solution developments, legal costs, overheads, training and recruitment costs.”

An NHS spokesperson said: “The NHS is one of the most efficient health systems in the world, spending 2p in the pound on admin compared with 4p in Germany and 6p in France.

“NHS England uses Crown Commercial Service frameworks with government negotiated rates for management consultancy where it is necessary, and seeks to negotiate additional discounts to ensure best value for taxpayers.”

Original article by Adam Bychawski republished from Open Democracy under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence.

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Continue ReadingManagement consultants raking in £3,000 a day from NHS