Daily Archives: 6 March 2024

Ice-free summers in Arctic possible within next decade, scientists say

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/05/ice-free-summers-in-arctic-possible-within-next-decade-scientists-say

The first ice-free day in the Arctic could occur more than 10 years earlier than previous projections, the study finds. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Home of polar bears, seals and walruses could be mostly water for months as early as 2035 due to fossil fuel emissions

The Arctic could have summer days with practically no sea ice within the next decade due to emissions from burning fossil fuels, a study has found.

This would transform the unique habitat, home to polar bears, seals and walruses, from a “white Arctic” to a “blue Arctic” during the summer months, scientists said. The calculation used for “ice free” means less than 1m sq km, in which case the Arctic would be mostly water.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Reviews Earth ­­& Environment, suggest the first ice-free day in the Arctic could occur more than 10 years earlier than previous projections.

The authors said consistently ice-free Septembers could be expected by 2035 to 2067. The exact year within that period is dependent on how quickly the world reduces the amount of fossil fuels burned.

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/05/ice-free-summers-in-arctic-possible-within-next-decade-scientists-say

Continue ReadingIce-free summers in Arctic possible within next decade, scientists say

Damning report warns UK on course for second ‘lost decade’ ahead of Budget

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/03/damning-report-warns-uk-on-course-for-second-lost-decade-ahead-of-budget/

Tories devastating record set to continue unless Budget delivers ‘desperately needed measures’ to recover living standards

In a bleak assessment of the Tories track record, the 2020s are on course to be the ‘second lost decade’ in living standards, a leading charity has warned the Chancellor ahead of his Spring Budget announcement. 

Leading anti-poverty charity, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) published the damning report on Monday, warning that, without political intervention, this Wednesday’s budget risks condemning Britain to another decade of declining living standards. 

Based on current government spending plans, working families could be £1,900 a year worse off by 2029 than in 2021. While essentials are predicted to remain less affordable relative to post tax earnings until 2029.

The cutting analysis of the UK’s economic trajectory is a warning to Jeremy Hunt that if he fails to deliver immediate measures to support living standards in the coming budget, then this will be the result. 

Decisive intervention from policy makers is what the charity has urged, as it warned that many families will be poorer by the end of the 2020s than at the start. While the Chancellor must prioritise providing long-term economic security for households requiring “the right political will” to turn the situation around. 

Currently, post-tax earnings are £2,400 a year lower for the average working family than they were in 2021, while essential goods and services for the average family are £270 a year more expensive than at the beginning of 2021, the JRF research found.

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/03/damning-report-warns-uk-on-course-for-second-lost-decade-ahead-of-budget/

Continue ReadingDamning report warns UK on course for second ‘lost decade’ ahead of Budget

Ofcom finds GB News broke broadcasting rules after Laurence Fox’s misogynistic comments about journalist

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/03/ofcom-finds-gb-news-broke-broadcasting-rules-after-laurence-foxs-misogynistic-comments-about-journalist/

Media watchdog Ofcom has once more found GB news to be in breach of broadcasting rules.

The regulator ruled that an episode of Dan Wootton Tonight on GB News in which the former actor Laurence Fox questioned who would want to “shag” a female journalist broke broadcasting rules.

Fox’s disgraceful comments about JOE Media’s political correspondent Ava Evans led to 8,867 complaints being made.

In a statement, Ofcom said: “We found that Mr Fox’s comments constituted a highly personal attack on Ms Evans and were potentially highly offensive to viewers. They reduced her contribution to a broadcast discussion on mental health – in her professional capacity as a political journalist – to a judgment on whether she, or women like her who publicly expressed their political opinions, were sexually desirable to men.

“As such, we considered that Mr Fox’s comments were degrading and demeaning both to Ms Evans and women generally and were clearly and unambiguously misogynistic.”

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/03/ofcom-finds-gb-news-broke-broadcasting-rules-after-laurence-foxs-misogynistic-comments-about-journalist/

Continue ReadingOfcom finds GB News broke broadcasting rules after Laurence Fox’s misogynistic comments about journalist

‘Common Sense Minister’ blasted out of touch after tirade against 4-day week 

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/03/common-sense-minister-blasted-out-of-touch-after-tirade-against-4-day-week/

The Tory MP has been taken apart after deeming support for a 4-day week ‘socialist madness’

People have found it hard to see the common sense in Esther McVey’s recent attack on the four-day week, as Britain’s unofficially designation ‘common sense tsar’ has been taken apart for blasting support for the scheme as “socialist madness”.

In an opinion piece for the Express, Esther McVey attempted to demonise trade unions which she accused of “calling the shots over Labour” and took aim at the PCS union representing civil servants over its calls for a four-day working week. 

She wrote that the “last thing the country needs” is a return to the “bad old days of union dominance with a weak Labour leader appeasing them”. Ironic given the current state of affairs 14 years of a Conservative government has left the country in.

The 4 Day Week Campaign organisation wrote a scathing response to McVey, blasting the MP for Tatton as out of touch with public opinion, whilst also thanking her for showing how many people actually want a four-day week through the responses to the article. 

“Sometimes you can judge the success of an idea by the kind of person who rejects it,” the organisation wrote on X.

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/03/common-sense-minister-blasted-out-of-touch-after-tirade-against-4-day-week/

Continue Reading‘Common Sense Minister’ blasted out of touch after tirade against 4-day week 

Rishi Sunak & Co expected to engage in dirty racist general election campaign

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Parody remarks attributed to Sadiq Khan highlights the hypocrisy and double standard applied to Antisemitism and Islamaphobia.
Parody remarks attributed to Sadiq Khan highlights the hypocrisy and double standard applied to Antisemitism and Islamaphobia.

Based on Rishi Sunak’s recent ‘mob rule’ comments, his extremism speech and Lee Anderson’s comments – which are universally not recognised as Islamaphobia or anti-Muslim racism – I expect Rishi Sunak and the UK Conservative Party to engage in a dirty racist general election campaign. They’ve started how they intend to continue. I suggest that the response to it should be to insist that the police prosecute cases of anti-Muslim racism as they should.

Continue ReadingRishi Sunak & Co expected to engage in dirty racist general election campaign