Daily Archives: 19 September 2023

Dutch Climate and Energy Minister estimates NL’s fossil fuel subsidies at up to €46.4 billion a year, more than 4% of the Netherlands’ GDP. Campaigners call for phase-out plan

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Today the outgoing Dutch Minister for Climate and Energy Policy, Rob Jetten, published an analysis of the Netherlands’ fossil fuel subsidies, estimating these at between €39.7 and €46.4 billion a year, more than 4% of the Netherlands’ GDP. According to campaigners the analysis underlines the importance of an urgent phase-out plan, in line with the Dutch government’s long-standing promise to end these subsidies by 2025. 

Recent research by Dutch research and environmental organizations shows that this would allow the Netherlands to reduce its CO2 emissions by up to 20% by 2030, while creating space for innovative and sustainable businesses and freeing up billions that can be reinvested in climate justice and social protection measures. The conclusions of the impact analysis for companies of subsidy removal that were also covered in today’s government publication mainly emphasize the short-term impacts for a select group of large energy-intensive companies that run on cheap fossil energy. Researchers and campaigners say this is too limited a perspective and should not stand in the way of an urgent phase-out plan.

Continue ReadingDutch Climate and Energy Minister estimates NL’s fossil fuel subsidies at up to €46.4 billion a year, more than 4% of the Netherlands’ GDP. Campaigners call for phase-out plan

Braverman stopped immigration centre inspections despite safeguarding warnings

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Image of Fascists Mussolini and Hitler
Image of Fascists Mussolini and Hitler

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/sep/19/suella-braverman-stopped-immigration-centre-inspections-despite-safeguarding-warnings

Inspector says home secretary halted annual review of ‘adults at risk’ days after he raised concerns

Suella Braverman halted annual inspections of immigration detention centres such as Brook House last year, shortly after ministers received direct warnings that vulnerable people such as torture victims had been left unprotected, the immigration watchdog has disclosed.

In an article for the Guardian, David Neal, the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration (ICIBI), said the home secretary stopped his annual review of “adults at risk” held in removal centres last September.

The decision came days after Neal specifically warned the immigration minister, Robert Jenrick, that protections must be put in place for “vulnerable detainees” and necessary reforms were moving at a “glacial pace”, he wrote.

His comments come as a major inquiry reveals that people detained at Brook House immigration removal centre in 2017 were mistreated in “prison-like” conditions, with staff making dehumanising and racist comments and quick to use force.

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https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/sep/19/suella-braverman-stopped-immigration-centre-inspections-despite-safeguarding-warnings

Image quoting Suella 'Sue'Ellen' Braverman reads ‘Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati’.
Image quoting Suella ‘Sue’Ellen’ Braverman reads ‘Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati’.
Continue ReadingBraverman stopped immigration centre inspections despite safeguarding warnings

Campaigners win permission to appeal against building of Sizewell C

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3D-generated image of the Sizewell C Nuclear Power Plant Photo: Public Domain
3D-generated image of the Sizewell C Nuclear Power Plant Photo: Public Domain

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/campaigners-win-permission-appeal-against-building-sizewell-c

CAMPAIGNERS have won permission to appeal against the building of Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk because the government did not ensure there was a sufficient water supply to meet its demands.

The Court of Appeal overturned a refusal by the High Court to grant a judicial review into the decision by Kwasi Kwarteng, the then-business secretary, to give the station on the Suffolk coast the go-ahead.

The case was brought by the Together Against Sizewell C (Tasc) campaign group.

Tasc’s case included an argument that because of the power station’s need for huge quantities of water for its cooling system, the development should include a desalination plant to avoid endangering local domestic water supplies.

Court of Appeal judge Lord Justice Coulson said that given that Mr Kwarteng gave permission for the power station against the advice of the planning authority, and because of Tasc’s arguments about the need for a water supply, the appeal had “a real prospect of success.”

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/campaigners-win-permission-appeal-against-building-sizewell-c

Continue ReadingCampaigners win permission to appeal against building of Sizewell C

8 million people especially private renters and the young are not properly registered to vote, warns Electoral Commission

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Image of a polling station sign. secretlondon123, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic licence.
Image of a polling station sign. secretlondon123, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic licence.

https://leftfootforward.org/2023/09/8-million-people-especially-private-renters-and-the-young-are-not-properly-registered-to-vote-warns-electoral-commission/

Up to 8 million people across the United Kingdom are either incorrectly registered to vote or missing completely, according to research published today by the Electoral Commission, with young people, private renters and those who have recently moved house most affected.

The sheer number of people denied a right to vote thanks to an ‘outdated registration system’, would be equivalent in number to more than 100 UK Parliament constituencies.

The Commission is calling for urgent reforms to electoral registration rules, including the passing of legislation ‘to create clear legal gateways for government departments and public bodies to share data on potentially eligible voters with electoral administrators’. The Commission says that this would enable electoral registration officers to register voters directly, or to send them invitations to register.

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https://leftfootforward.org/2023/09/8-million-people-especially-private-renters-and-the-young-are-not-properly-registered-to-vote-warns-electoral-commission/

Continue Reading8 million people especially private renters and the young are not properly registered to vote, warns Electoral Commission

Ofcom says GB News broke impartiality rules after chancellor interviewed by Tory MPs

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https://leftfootforward.org/2023/09/ofcom-says-gb-news-broke-impartiality-rules-after-chancellor-interviewed-by-tory-mps/

Media watchdog Ofcom has found that GB News broke impartiality rules after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was interviewed by fellow Tory MPs Esther McVey and Philip Davies, with the channel ‘failing to represent and give due weight to an appropriately wide range of significant views on a matter of major political controversy’.

Hunt was interviewed by McVey and her husband Davies on Saturday 11 March for their weekly show, with the episode being aired before the spring budget.

Ofcom said in a statement: “Given this programme featured two sitting MP presenters from one political party interviewing the chancellor of the same political party about a matter of major political controversy and current public policy, we consider, in these circumstances, that GB News should have taken additional steps to ensure that due impartiality was preserved.

“Our investigation therefore concluded that GB News failed to represent and give due weight to an appropriately wide range of significant views on a matter of major political controversy and current public policy within this programme, in breach of [the] rules.”

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https://leftfootforward.org/2023/09/ofcom-says-gb-news-broke-impartiality-rules-after-chancellor-interviewed-by-tory-mps/

Continue ReadingOfcom says GB News broke impartiality rules after chancellor interviewed by Tory MPs