Yearly Archives: 2023

Business as usual as Starmer proves his loyalty with every rightward move

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Image of Keir Starmer sucking up to the rich and powerful at the World Economic Forum, Davos
Image of Keir Starmer sucking up to the rich and powerful at the World Economic Forum, Davos

https://www.counterfire.org/article/business-as-usual-as-starmer-proves-his-loyalty-with-every-rightward-move-weekly-briefing/

Lindsey German on … [Keith Starmer] , the establishment’s friend …

The fate of Thames Water should be the end of the privatisation model pioneered by Thatcher in the 1980s. The major utilities and public companies were sold off at undervalued prices, their shares rapidly snapped up by big corporations and investors, prices for consumers rose rapidly, and profits went to shareholders, not to investment. That’s why today the common refrain about most parts of public life in Britain is that nothing works. And it is epitomised by Thames Water drowning in debt and likely to be taken back into public ownership temporarily.

But any form of nationalisation is going to be resisted to the bitter end, not just by the greedy privatised companies themselves, but by the Tories and the increasingly right-wing Labour Party under Keir Starmer. The cheek of the privatised companies was illustrated when the head of another, Severn Trent, convened a meeting of all the water firms to explicitly discuss ways of resisting nationalisation. And it’s no use going to the supposed regulators for help. As the Observer reported, ‘27 former Ofwat directors, managers and consultants [are] working in the industry they helped to regulate, with about half in senior posts.’ So a number of those regulating the industry have moved over to take lucrative positions in…. the privatised water companies.

While investors take the money and run, working class people are left with dire and expensive services that fail frequently because there is no investment. The water companies are publicly disgraced because of their dumping of sewage in rivers and seas, rather than invest in new treatment plants. But in London (and no doubt elsewhere) there have been several burst water mains, risking lives as they cause disruption sometimes for months, because of lack of investment. In the southeast of England, drinking water supplies have failed ‘because of the hot weather’, in what must be the lamest excuse from a company supposed to provide just that.

The answer from government and industry alike is that future investment will have to be paid for by us, through much higher bills and higher taxes. Already gas and electricity is beyond affordable for millions. But the energy companies will set the benchmark for other industries as profits are protected. No wonder nearly 13 million adults struggle to pay bills.

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https://www.counterfire.org/article/business-as-usual-as-starmer-proves-his-loyalty-with-every-rightward-move-weekly-briefing/

dizzy: Under Capitalism failing companies would normally go bankrupt so that the companies’ debts would be transferred to it’s creditors. This is not the case with the banks in the banking crisis of 2008, the energy companies failures of recent years and it looks like failing water companies now. Instead of the companies creditors shouldering the debt as part of the normal process, the poor public is instead burdened with it. This is great for the banks of course because it means that they can borrow without any risk of default, knowing that they will profiteer from the public regardless.

Dianne Abbott: The idea of renationalisation refuses to die

Take Thames Water into public ownership petition amasses tens of thousands of signatures

Continue ReadingBusiness as usual as Starmer proves his loyalty with every rightward move

Future generations will regard climate inaction like sending children up chimneys, says Wildlife Trusts chief

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Image contains protest banner readng You will die of old age, our children will die of climate change - Melbourne climate strike
Craig Bennett says the way recent and current older generations have allowed environmental degradation will be viewed harshly by people in the future who will have to live with consequences that, in many cases, will be increasingly devastating. Image: A1Cafel Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic via wikimedia.

https://inews.co.uk/news/environment/future-generations-regard-climate-inaction-sending-children-up-chimneys-wildlife-trust-chief-2448662?ITO=newsnow

Future generations will look at current older generations in the same way older generations now view those who sent children up chimneys, according to the head of The Wildlife Trusts.

Craig Bennett says that the way that recent and current older generations have allowed environmental degradation – from climate change and nature degradation to plastic and air pollution – will be viewed harshly by people in the future who will have to live with consequences that, in many cases, will be increasingly devastating.

“Future generations will look back at current older generations and the way we treat the environment in the way that we now all look back at Victorians and wonder how on earth they could send children up chimneys,” Mr Bennett told i.

“I’ve no doubt that the way we treat the environment now, living in an utterly unsustainable manner will, before long at all, be seen for the true horror it is,” he said.

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https://inews.co.uk/news/environment/future-generations-regard-climate-inaction-sending-children-up-chimneys-wildlife-trust-chief-2448662?ITO=newsnow

Continue ReadingFuture generations will regard climate inaction like sending children up chimneys, says Wildlife Trusts chief

Climate activists block holes on Spanish golf courses over water use

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https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230702-climate-activists-block-holes-on-spanish-golf-courses-over-water-use

Madrid (AFP) – Climate activists said Sunday they had plugged the holes on 10 golf courses across Spain to protest at the sport’s excessive water usage as Europe lives through a severe drought.

Some activists blocked holes with cement while others filled the holes with seedlings, Extinction Rebellion said © Handout / Extinction Rebellion/AFP
Some activists blocked holes with cement while others filled the holes with seedlings, Extinction Rebellion said © Handout / Extinction Rebellion/AFP

Activists from Extinction Rebellion (XR) filled in the holes under cover of darkness in Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, the Basque Country, Navarra and the Balearic Island of Ibiza to denounce “the waste of water during one of the worst droughts Europe has ever suffered”.

“Golf has no place in a world without water,” said a statement from the group, which uses direct action to underline its warnings about the dangers to the planet.

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“Just one hole of a golf course consumes more than 100,000 litres of water a day to maintain the surrounding green,” XR said, citing figures from the Spanish NGO Ecologists In Action.

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Experts say parts of Spain — which is the world’s biggest exporter of olive oil and a key source of Europe’s fruit and vegetables — are the driest they’ve been in a thousand years, with the prolonged drought depleting reservoirs to half their normal capacity.

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Extinction Rebellion said it was part of a series of international protests “targeting the richest 1 percent of the population” through their golf courses, private jets and high-end cars to make clear that “the rich and their leisure activities that waste essential resources are a luxury we cannot afford”.

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It should be clear – if you bother to engage your brain – that the climate crisis is already affecting inflation and the cost of living crisis. Less precipitation (rain) and disrupted weather [patterns] through climate change mean less crops and increased prices in the supermarket for your fruit and veg, vegetable and olive oil, all those goods made from wheat, corn, beans, etc. The Capitalists will tell you it’s all because of the war in Ukraine. Bollocks, climate change is adversely affecting crops everywhere, Ukraine is not the only place growing crops. Climate change is affecting everyone now.

It’s also noted that the rich are specifically addressed targeted.

Related: Climate change crisis: Golf courses on borrowed time as Earth’s weather patterns become wilder

Continue ReadingClimate activists block holes on Spanish golf courses over water use

Labour led by right-wing illiberal group engaged in witch-hunt says MP

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dizzy: This is not news to anyone who has been paying attention.

Image of Labour Party Dictator Keir Starmer.
Image of Labour Party Dictator Keir Starmer.

KEIR Starmer’s Labour party has fallen under the control of a “right-wing, illiberal” faction undertaking a “witch hunt” against the left and others, a senior MP has said.

In a staggering intervention, MP for Dagenham and Rainham Jon Cruddas, said that moves to discipline and possibly expel Neal Lawson are a “disgrace”.

Lawson, a former speechwriter for Gordon Brown who now heads the pressure group Compass, claimed in the Guardian last week that he was facing expulsion after sharing a post from a LibDem MP to back Green candidates during the local elections.

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https://www.thenational.scot/news/23627719.labour-led-right-wing-illiberal-group-engaged-witch-hunt-says-mp/

Continue ReadingLabour led by right-wing illiberal group engaged in witch-hunt says MP

‘Pinkwashing’: Just Stop Oil Blocks London Pride Parade in Sponsorship Protest

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

‘These partnerships embarrass the LGBTQ+ community at a time when much of the cultural world is rejecting ties to these toxic industries’

Just Stop Oil disrupt London Pride 2023.
‘Pinkwashing’: Just Stop Oil activists from the LGBTQ community sprayed pink paint and blocked the Pride In London Parade by sitting in front of a Coca-Cola truck taking part in the parade, in protest against Pride working with industries linked to the climate crisis and in protest against Coca-Cola, seen as the world’s biggest plastic polluter, Saturday, July 1, 2023. Image by Just Stop Oil.

Just Stop Oil protesters temporarily blocked London’s Pride Parade Saturday afternoon to protest the event accepting sponsorship money from “high-polluting industries.”

Pride faced accusations of “pinkwashing” over its decision to make United Airlines the headline sponsor of this year’s event.

Seven protesters were arrested at 1:30 pm after blocking the road in front of a Coca-Cola truck. Coca-Cola is seen as the world’s biggest plastic polluter.

LGBTQ+ members of Just Stop Oil called on organizers to condemn new oil, gas, and coal licenses and stop allowing the inclusion of floats from these corporations in the parade.

James Skeet, a Just Stop Oil spokesperson, said in a statement:

“Pride was born from protest. It speaks to how far we’ve come as a community, that high-polluting industries and the banks that fund them, now see Pride as a useful vehicle for sanitizing their reputations, waving rainbow flags in one hand whilst accelerating social collapse with the other. It is queer people, and particularly queer people of color in the global south, who are suffering first in this accelerating social breakdown. What would those who instigated the gay liberation movement during the Stonewall riots in 1969, make of the corporatized spectacle Pride has now become?”

“These partnerships embarrass the LGBTQ+ community, at a time when much of the cultural world is rejecting ties to these toxic industries. We call on Pride to remember the spirit in which it was founded and to respect the memory of all those who fought and died to secure the rights we now possess whilst taking the necessary steps to protect our community long into the future.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan speaking before the parade said:

“I agree with protesting in a way that is lawful, safe, and peaceful. I think that Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil are really important pressure groups trying to put power on those who have power and influence.”

“I fully support the right to protest. It’s really important to recognize the joy of democracy is protest.”

“I am somebody who feels quite passionately that we have to tackle the climate emergency. And I feel quite passionately about encouraging people to join the movement to tackle the climate emergency. In my view, protest should be peaceful, lawful, and safe.”

Peter Tatchell, the legendary LGBTQ+ rights campaigner, and prominent member of the Gay Liberation Front and the civil resistance group OutRage! Said:

“I helped organize the first Pride in the UK in 1972 and have attended every Pride London march since then. Pride was always meant to be both a celebration and a protest. From the outset, we stood in solidarity with other struggles for freedom and social justice, against corporate pinkwashing and all forms of exploitation. We saw queer liberation as just one aspect of a wider liberation movement.”

“Climate destruction is destroying communities, jobs, homes and lives across the world, especially in poorer countries. Fossil fuels are endangering the survival of humanity – including LGBTQ+ people. Our community must not collude with environment, species and climate destroying companies.”

[4 twitter threads that twitter is refusing to embed, see Original article ]

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

Continue Reading‘Pinkwashing’: Just Stop Oil Blocks London Pride Parade in Sponsorship Protest