Daily Archives: 23 September 2023

‘Climate villain’: scientists say Rupert Murdoch wielded his media empire to sow confusion and doubt

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Image of InBedWithBigOil by Not Here To Be Liked + Hex Prints from Just Stop Oil's You May Find Yourself... art auction. Featuring Rishi Sunak, Fossil Fuels and Rupert Murdoch.
Image of InBedWithBigOil by Not Here To Be Liked + Hex Prints from Just Stop Oil’s You May Find Yourself… art auction. Featuring Rishi Sunak, Fossil Fuels and Rupert Murdoch.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/sep/23/rupert-murdoch-climate-change-denial

The tycoon, who is stepping down from News Corp and Fox, has used his outlets to promote denial and delay action, experts say

Scientists have described the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch as a “climate villain” who has used his television and newspaper empire to promote climate science denial and delay action.

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Prof Michael Mann, a climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, said Murdoch had been “one of the most destructive forces in modern history when it comes to climate action”.

“He has wielded his global media empire as a cudgel to sow confusion and doubt about the science and the solutions. He will go down in history as one of the greatest climate villains,” said Mann.

Dr Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London, said: “There’s no doubt that the Murdoch empire has played an important role in letting the public believe that there was any scientific doubt that the burning of fossil fuel causes the climate to warm and that it is detrimental for society and ecosystems. It is a terrible legacy he leaves, that many people paid for, and are paying for, with their lives and livelihoods.

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https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/sep/23/rupert-murdoch-climate-change-denial

Image: Boris Johnson confirms his thumbs up from Rupert Murdoch
Boris Johnson confirms his thumbs up to be UK prime minister from Rupert Murdoch
Continue Reading‘Climate villain’: scientists say Rupert Murdoch wielded his media empire to sow confusion and doubt

‘The worst kind of culture war’: Tories attack Rishi Sunak’s reversal on net zero

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/23/the-worst-kind-of-culture-war-tories-attack-rishi-sunaks-reversal-on-net-zero

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and former Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Grant Shapps.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and former Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Grant Shapps. Credit: Simon Dawson / 10 Downing Street, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The prime minister’s attempts to turn the climate emergency into a US-style wedge issue have dismayed veteran MPs who champion green policies

Rishi Sunak’s decision to drive a “green wedge” between the Conservatives and Labour will take the UK into dangerous new political territory and “the worst kind of culture wars”, not seen for more than 30 years, senior Tory figures and political observers have warned.

Reversals and delays to net zero policy announced last week will be just the start of a general election campaign in which the UK’s longstanding cross-party political consensus on climate will be increasingly at stake. Emails sent to journalists from the Conservative campaign headquarters revealed lines of attack on targets including the independent Climate Change Committee and Labour’s proposed £28bn investment in a low-carbon economy.

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Lord Goldsmith, a former Tory minister, told the Observer: “It’s not so much the individual measures he’s announced. It’s more about the language and politics. This is a clear attempt to turn the environment into a wedge issue, as it is in the US. We have managed to avoid that until now, with disagreements mostly being about means, not ends. Sacrificing the environment to culture wars is cynical, devastating and wildly irresponsible.”

Sunak repeated many times that he was still committed to the UK’s legally binding target of reaching net zero by 2050, though experts said the policy changes were more likely to hamper than help. But Chris Skidmore, the Conservative ex-minister and author of the government’s net zero review, accused the prime minister of misleading voters. “It’s especially worrying that false claims and disinformation are being made about meat taxes that have never existed, or compulsory car sharing, or having seven bins. This is completely untrue, and is the worst kind of culture war politics, attempting to deliberately mislead,” he told the Observer.

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/23/the-worst-kind-of-culture-war-tories-attack-rishi-sunaks-reversal-on-net-zero

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Brazil’s supreme court rules in favour of Indigenous land rights

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/brazil-supreme-court-rules-favour-indigenous-land-rights

Indigenous people celebrate a Supreme Court ruling to enshrine Indigenous land rights, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023.
Indigenous people celebrate a Supreme Court ruling to enshrine Indigenous land rights, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023.

INDIGENOUS people in Brazil were celebrating this week after the Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit to restrict native people’s rights to reservations on their ancestral lands.

The justices had been evaluating a lawsuit brought by Santa Catarina state, backed by farmers, seeking to block an Indigenous group from expanding the size of its territorial claim.

Nine out of 11 of the high court’s justices voted to support the Xokleng on Thursday.

The group were the victims of one of the most brutal land grabs in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Mercenaries were hired to drive them away from their lands, collecting the ears of those they had killed to claim their reward.

There are some 2,300 Xokleng people living in Santa Catarina, south Brazil, in the Ibirama La-Klano lands alongside two other indigenous groups.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/brazil-supreme-court-rules-favour-indigenous-land-rights

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Abbott vows to fight back after Labour’s ‘fraudulent’ investigation

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/abbott-vows-to-fight-back-after-labour-fraudulent-investigation

Union leaders and MPs demand justice for first black woman MP

Image of Dianne Abbot
Dianne Abbot MP

DIANE ABBOTT has called on Sir Keir Starmer to prove his commitment to fighting anti-black racism amid growing anger over Labour’s “fraudulent” investigation into the left-wing MP.

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, TUC president Matt Wrack and scores of socialist MPs and activists have joined the campaign to restore Britain’s first black female MP’s Labour whip.

Speaking to the Morning Star, Ms Abbott said: “I appreciate the support. But this is all about much more than me.

“The issues are Labour Party democracy and the leadership’s commitment to recognising and fighting anti-black racism.”

Labour faces increasing pressure to conclude its investigation into the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP’s comments about racism after she branded the process “fraudulent” in a statement earlier this week.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/abbott-vows-to-fight-back-after-labour-fraudulent-investigation

Continue ReadingAbbott vows to fight back after Labour’s ‘fraudulent’ investigation

BBC Question Time: Nurse takes apart the government over NHS strikes

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https://leftfootforward.org/2023/09/bbc-question-time-nurse-takes-apart-the-government-over-nhs-strikes/

‘The government needs to get real and address the situation.’

A nurse nails the government's refusal to negotiate in NHS strikes. BBC Question Time
A nurse nails the government’s refusal to negotiate in NHS strikes. BBC Question Time

A nurse has been praised after taking apart the Tory government’s response to ongoing NHS strikes, as she defended the strikes over poor pay and conditions.

Junior doctors and consultants chose to take joint industrial action for the first time in history this week, with more walkouts planned across October.

While Tory MP and panellist Kevin Hollinrake MP sought to defend the government’s refusal to negotiate over pay, the nurse exposed just how awful the government’s position is.

Joining in on the debate on what should be done differently to resolve the doctors pay dispute, the audience member said: “I’m a nurse, I voted to strike in the last ballot, when I’m balloted again, I will vote to strike again, and I’ll do that continually until pay talks open and they’re realistic.

“We are striking for pay, we are striking because we feel undervalued but we are also striking for patient safety, so when we’re accused of putting patients at risk, I say, patients are at risk every single day of the week.

“We’ve got 7 million people on waiting lists, we’ve got 140,000 vacancies, people are dying on waiting lists, people are dying in the back of ambulances, and this cannot go on.

″The government needs to get real and address the situation.”

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https://leftfootforward.org/2023/09/bbc-question-time-nurse-takes-apart-the-government-over-nhs-strikes/

More at Left Foot Forward blog

Continue ReadingBBC Question Time: Nurse takes apart the government over NHS strikes