Yearly Archives: 2023

Extinction Rebellion UK target Wood Group for “utter contempt” for UK taxpayers

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Extinction Rebellion UK protest at Wood Group Aberdeen 3 July 2023
Extinction Rebellion UK protest at Wood Group Aberdeen 3 July 2023

Extinction Rebellion are protesting the Wood Group’s Aberdeen and Staines offices after Wood Group significantly reduced it’s renewables operations and expanded it’s fossil fuel operations weeks after receiving a £430m government-backed “green transition loan” in 2021.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/07/scottish-firm-expands-oil-and-gas-business-after-green-transition-loan

… After receiving the £430m loan, Wood grew its upstream oil and gas business by 17% so that it accounted for more than $3bn (£2.4bn) in revenue in 2022, up from $2.6bn in 2021, according to an analysis of the company’s financial results by the Guardian and the investigative journalism organisation Point Source.

Over the same period the company reduced the size of its renewable, hydrogen, and carbon capture business units by 35% so that they only accounted for revenues of $222.8m in 2022, down from $344.6m in 2021.

The five-year loan, which was the first of its kind and was designed to help Wood transition away from fossil fuels, was announced in August 2021 by Liz Truss when she was international trade secretary.

At the time, Truss said the engineering company had “already made great strides in repositioning its business for a low-carbon future”.

After being awarded the loan, Wood announced a string of at least 20 major contract awards for work on oil, gas and petrochemical infrastructure.

…

Continue ReadingExtinction Rebellion UK target Wood Group for “utter contempt” for UK taxpayers

AOC Calls Out ‘Dangerous Authoritarian Expansion of Power in the Supreme Court’

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Original article republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks in front of the U.S. Capitol on July 28th, 2022. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks in front of the U.S. Capitol on July 28th, 2022. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

‘There also must be impeachment on the table’

US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Sunday warned of an “authoritarian expansion of power” by the Supreme Court and demanded that lawmakers on Capitol Hill use all of their oversight authority to probe and stop the corruption inside the Supreme Court.

“The courts, if they were to proceed without any check on their power, without any balance on their power, then we will start to see an undemocratic and, frankly, dangerous authoritarian expansion of power in the Supreme Court,” Ocasio-Cortez said on CNN’s “State of the Union.’

“Which is what we are seeing now, from the overturning of abortion rights to the ruling that discrimination and, frankly, stripping the full personhood and dignity of LGBTQ people in the United States. … These are the types of rulings that signal a dangerous creep towards authoritarianism and centralization of power in the court,” the New York Democrat said.

CNN’s Dana Bash asked, “Are you saying that the justices’ power should somehow be limited?”

Ocasio-Cortez said, “I truly do. And this is not new; this is not a new development in history. This is part of our system of checks and balances. The courts, if they were to proceed without any check on their power, without any balance on their power, then we will start to see an undemocratic and frankly dangerous authoritarian expansion of power in the Supreme Court, which is what we are seeing now from overturning abortion to the ruling for discrimination and frankly stripping the full dignity and personhood of LGBTQ people in the United States.”

She added, “There also must be impeachment on the table. We have a broad level of tools to deal with misconduct, overreach, and abuse of power and the Supreme Court which has not been receiving the adequate oversight necessary in order to preserve their own legitimacy. And in the process, being themselves have been destroying the legitimacy of the court, which is profoundly dangerous for our entire democracy.”

Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joins CNN’s Dana Bash to respond to the Supreme Court’s decisions on …

[Twitter refuses to embed]

Original article republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Continue ReadingAOC Calls Out ‘Dangerous Authoritarian Expansion of Power in the Supreme Court’

Millions of households’ face fuel poverty as government support scheme ends, warns charity

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https://leftfootforward.org/2023/07/millions-of-households-face-fuel-poverty-as-government-support-scheme-ends-warns-charity/

‘Without more support too many will continue to rack up unmanageable debts or try and survive in unheated homes causing ill health, misery, and avoidable death.’

Image of cash and pre-payment meter key
Image of cash and pre-payment meter key

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The National Energy Action (NAE), which works to provide support to those who cannot afford to heat their home, says around 6.6 million households across Britain will be in fuel poverty. The charity warns that despite cost-of-living payments for households on mean-tested benefits, vulnerable families will not receive any government support.

The charity cautions that households who aren’t on qualifying benefits – or aren’t on benefits at all – will miss out. This may include people who are severely in debt, those on low incomes who need to spend more energy at home due their disability or the inefficiency of their homes, unpaid carers, households on low incomes who have seen a drop in their incomes due to a recent bereavement, or households that, until this year, were eligible for wider assistance from programmes like the Warm Home Discount but are now no longer able to access energy rebates. 

Adam Scorer, chief executive of the NEA, warns that despite retail prices falling from July, many of the people the charity helps are still struggling. Scorer notes how two-thirds of households across Britain will no longer benefit from any assistance to offset the impacts of the energy crisis and Ofgem’s price cap will offer ‘limited protection to these households.’

“Millions of vulnerable people miss out on cost-of-living payments as they aren’t on the right benefits or no benefits at all. These people need additional help but are being left to manage bills that are still on average over £1,000 per year more expensive compared to the start of the crisis,” said Scorer.

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https://leftfootforward.org/2023/07/millions-of-households-face-fuel-poverty-as-government-support-scheme-ends-warns-charity/

Continue ReadingMillions of households’ face fuel poverty as government support scheme ends, warns charity

Doctors’ confidence in Tories reaches new low

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/doctors-confidence-in-tories-reaches-new-low

BMA survey reveals breakdown of trust as junior doctors brace for biggest walkout in NHS history

People take part in a rally in Trafalgar Square in London, in support of striking NHS junior doctors, as the British Medical Association holds a 96-hour walkout in a dispute over pay. Picture date: Tuesday April 11, 2023.
People take part in a rally in Trafalgar Square in London, in support of striking NHS junior doctors, as the British Medical Association holds a 96-hour walkout in a dispute over pay. Picture date: Tuesday April 11, 2023.

THE loss of trust between doctors and Tory ministers is the “worst it has been for at least three decades,” the British Medical Association (BMA) has warned.

In a damning intervention ahead of the 75th birthday of the NHS on Wednesday, the union’s council chairman Dr Phil Banfield stressed that he has never known such a breakdown of trust in his 30 years as a medic.

It is an “absolute travesty” that doctors feel they have no other choice but to strike following more than a decade of plummeting take-home pay, he added.

The warning came as junior doctors prepare to stage the biggest walkout in the history of the health service between July 13 and 18.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/doctors-confidence-in-tories-reaches-new-low

Continue ReadingDoctors’ confidence in Tories reaches new low

Sophy Ridge Leaves Steve Barclay Squirming Over Tories’ NHS Spending Plans

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https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/sophy-ridge-leaves-steve-barclay-squirming-over-tories-nhs-spending-plans_uk_64a18325e4b028e647317f2b

NHS sign

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Rishi Sunak unveiled the long-awaited NHS workforce plan on Friday.

Asked by Ridge how the government would find the money, Barclay would only say it would be “through the Treasury” but refused to give any specifics.

Ridge responded: “What does that mean though? Is that more money for your department or are you going to have to find it from existing NHS budgets or is it borrowing? Where is it coming from?”

In a rambling answer, Barclay said: “This is additional money, it will be announced in the usual way through fiscal events.”

Ridge hit back: “I haven’t heard any new tax rises or spending cuts so I’m assuming it sounds like it must be extra borrowing.

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https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/sophy-ridge-leaves-steve-barclay-squirming-over-tories-nhs-spending-plans_uk_64a18325e4b028e647317f2b

Continue ReadingSophy Ridge Leaves Steve Barclay Squirming Over Tories’ NHS Spending Plans