Daily Archives: 28 August 2024

Angela Rayner warned she must end ‘national scandal’ of unsafe buildings after Dagenham inferno

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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/angela-rayner-unsafe-buildings-dagenham-fire-b2602565.html

Exclusive: Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack told The Independent that it was ‘a miracle’ nobody was killed in the blaze in Dagenham over the bank holiday weekend

Fire Brigade Union general secretary Matt Wrack has described a blaze which destroyed a block of flats in Dagenham, east London, as a national scandal which should not be able to happen.

Mr Wrack spoke to The Independent after touring the site of the disaster in Freshwater Road, Dagenham, with deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, who is also in charge of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

The veteran union boss and former firefighter said he has been at the site of many fires before but described the burnt-out block of flats as one of the worst he had seen.

He said his warning to Ms Rayner was that the blaze was the consequence of years of deregulation on building regulations under the Tories and massive cuts to the council departments responsible for checking building standards.

Fire Brigade Union general secretary Matt Wrack has described a blaze which destroyed a block of flats in Dagenham, east London, as a national scandal which should not be able to happen.

Mr Wrack spoke to The Independent after touring the site of the disaster in Freshwater Road, Dagenham, with deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, who is also in charge of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

The veteran union boss and former firefighter said he has been at the site of many fires before but described the burnt-out block of flats as one of the worst he had seen.

He said his warning to Ms Rayner was that the blaze was the consequence of years of deregulation on building regulations under the Tories and massive cuts to the council departments responsible for checking building standards.

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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/angela-rayner-unsafe-buildings-dagenham-fire-b2602565.html

Continue ReadingAngela Rayner warned she must end ‘national scandal’ of unsafe buildings after Dagenham inferno

Two months after elections, Macron refuses to nominate progressive prime minister

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Original article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

NFP representatives ahead of talks with President Macron, August 2024. Source: Lucie Castets/X

Emmanuel Macron continues to block the formation of a New Popular Front-led government, sparking outrage over his disregard for democratic processes

Almost two months have passed since the snap election in France, and President Emmanuel Macron is still avoiding to nominate a new prime minister. His behavior has sparked outrage, particularly in left and progressive circles, who accuse him of usurping power and showing a gross lack of respect for democratic processes.

Following consultations with representatives of all parliamentary parties between August 23 and 26, Macron refused to nominate Lucie Castets, the candidate put forward by the New Popular Front (NFP), claiming he is acting to preserve “institutional stability.”

The NFP emerged as the group with the largest number of parliamentary seats in the election, despite not securing an absolute majority. This lack of an absolute majority has been exploited by political opponents, ranging from Macron’s liberals to the far-right led by Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, who argue that there was no clear election winner and seek to block a progressive government from taking office.

Read: Macron calls for ‘political pause’ amid post-election transition

Both liberals and right-wing factions have vowed to block an NFP-led government, especially if it includes ministers from the left-wing party France Unbowed (LFI). However, these threats have been denounced by NFP representatives as attempts to prevent the coalition from implementing its program, which aims to break with the neoliberal policies championed by the liberals and supported by the right.

“Emmanuel Macron understands that our priority, as the French people expect, will be to reverse his unfair pension reform and restore public services,” said Lucie Castets. “He is looking for excuses to prevent us from doing so.”

The President’s latest statements have been described as “a disgrace” and “lunatic” by leaders of the parties united in the NFP. “The President of the Republic has just created a situation of exceptional gravity,” summarized Jean-Luc Mélenchon, announcing that LFI will be calling for Macron’s impeachment.

“Anger. That is what millions of us are feeling this morning. Emmanuel Macron is telling us that elections are worthless. So, does democracy mean nothing to the President? That’s extremely dangerous,” Castets pointed out in an interview.

Meanwhile, Macron continues to insist that the only way forward is to find a candidate for prime minister who enjoys cross-party support, raising questions about the purpose of elections in the first place. According to the President, an NFP government would face an immediate vote of no confidence from the liberals and the right wing, leaving it completely ineffectual. Instead, he announced another round of conversations with parliamentary groups to define a way forward—talks that the NFP has already declared they will not attend, deeming them illegitimate.

“The gravity of the moment calls for a firm response from French society against the incredible abuse of power to which it is being subjected,” LFI said in a press statement. As a first step, the left party, along with student organizations and unions, has called for protests on September 7.

Original article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Continue ReadingTwo months after elections, Macron refuses to nominate progressive prime minister

Israel lobby funded 15 new MPs before election

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https://www.declassifieduk.org/israel-lobby-funded-15-new-mps-before-election/

A Labour Friends of Israel trip last year. (Photo: LFI)

Parliamentary candidates went on paid-for trips to Israel ahead of the general election, Declassified has found.

Over a dozen new MPs accepted funding from pro-Israel lobby groups before they were even elected to parliament.

The donations were provided by the Labour and Conservative Friends of Israel groups, which aim to promote Israel’s interests in Britain but do not disclose their own sources of funding.

Twelve successful Labour candidates and three Conservatives travelled to Israel with these organisations in the year leading up to Britain’s general election.

The total cost of the trips was over £30,000, with some of them taking place amid Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and being described as “solidarity” missions.

The revelation comes in the first MPs’ register of interests for the new parliament, which was released this month.

Andrew Feinstein, an arms trade expert who stood as an independent candidate against Keir Starmer, told Declassified: “It is deeply disturbing that the Friends of Israel organisations are attempting to cultivate politicians in Britain even before they are elected”.

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https://www.declassifieduk.org/israel-lobby-funded-15-new-mps-before-election/

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‘A bleak vision of Britain’

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Keir Starmer says pensioners can freeze to death and poor children can starve and be condemned to failure and misery all their lives.
Keir Starmer says pensioners can freeze to death and poor children can starve and be condemned to failure and misery all their lives.

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/a-bleak-vision-of-britain

Left MPs and trade unionists accuse Sir Keir of choosing austerity, pain and poverty instead of taxing the super-rich

LEFT MPs warned today that pain and poverty are on the way after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told the country that “things will get worse.”

Responding to a keynote speech by the PM warning of a “tough” Budget coming in October, the group of five independent left MPs warned that “politics is about choices — and the government is choosing to inflict pain and poverty across the country.”

And Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said “a bleak vision of Britain is not what we need now. It is time to see the change that Labour promised.”

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The left MPs, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, ridiculed this stance, pointing out that when “the government said it would lower energy bills, it cut winter fuel allowances for pensioners instead.

“The government said it wanted to reboot our economy, it wants to cut public investment instead.

“The government said it would put an end to 14 years of Tory failure, it voted to keep the two child benefits cap instead.”

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Perfecting the State

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Returning to the racist riots, Starmer said that these were unmistakably inspired by the far right (but no words on those who fanned the flames), but there was an element of opportunism at work – an opportunism born of the Tories’ dereliction of duty. Those who rioted knew the criminal justice system was teetering on the brink and prison places were at a premium, and acted as though there wouldn’t be any arrests, let alone jail terms. Thanks to Tory recklessness. And, to a degree, Starmer corrected his reluctant earlier response by condemning efforts at trying to burn down hotels full of human beings (a rare moment of humanising asylum seekers in British politics) and praising communities who came together in the riots’ aftermath to rebuild. Note he didn’t go as far as the King, but again thanked the police and first responders for their service. Starmer therefore condemns the riots as a failure of Tory statecraft, passes over the role of communities and anti-fascists in defending themselves, praises the spirit of resilience, and then returns to the agents of the state as the legitimate saviours of the situation.

The second part was focused on the state itself. Starmer talked a lot about the £22bn “black hole” in state finances which, in reality, only exists because of how the Chancellor has chosen to frame public spending. Hence the tough decision of scrapping the Winter Fuel Allowance for all pensioners not in receipt of pension credits. This is being taken away so the NHS can be fixed. Likewise, when challenged on above inflation pay rises for public sector workers and railway workers, Starmer’s defence owed nothing to the injustices these deals partly correct and everything to economic efficiency, getting the health service working, and so on. It was the right decision not by the workers, but by the state.

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Continue Reading‘A bleak vision of Britain’