Labour votes to plunge pensioners into poverty
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/labour-votes-plunge-pensioners-poverty
SUPINE Labour MPs have voted to plunge pensioners into poverty, after approving winter fuel benefit cuts for millions of older people.
The Commons backed Sir Keir Starmer’s austerity move by 348 votes to 228, with many Labour MPs abstaining.
A larger-than-expected 53 Labour MPs seem to have not backed the government in the vote, although some may have had permission from the whips to skip the debate.
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John McDonnell, speaking in the brief debate which preceded the vote, said that the cut “flies against everything I believe in as a Labour MP about tackling inequality and poverty within our society.”
He slammed the government’s claim that those with the “broadest shoulders” should bear the burden of the crisis, saying that it was the poorest who have been hit hardest.
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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/labour-votes-plunge-pensioners-poverty
Morning Star Editorial: The labour movement should call out Chancellor Reeves’ economy con
RACHEL REEVES is having us on. She is not prolonging austerity for the reasons pretended.
The Chancellor claims that it is imperative to balance the books to avoid a collapse in international money market confidence in the British economy. The ghosts of Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng are conjured to underline the point.
It is for this reason that pensioners are to shiver in unheated homes this winter as their fuel allowance is cut, and it is for this that hundreds of thousands of children are to remain in poverty, thanks to the maintenance of the two-child benefit cap.
But even in its own terms — and this column would argue that the speculators should be faced down rather than pandered to under any circumstances — the argument is bogus.
The City itself, no less, has blown the whistle on Reeves and other Cabinet members who have echoed her line, including Commons leader Lucy Powell. Powell told the media that the new austerity was vital to stop a run on the pound.
A what? The Financial Times quotes a Paul Dale at Capital Economics as saying: “If there was a risk of a run on the pound I completely missed it.”
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Unions urge Starmer not to deliver more austerity as TUC Congress heckler tells PM to ‘tax the rich’
UNIONS urged Sir Keir Starmer not to deliver more austerity after he told TUC Congress to expect pay and public investment restraint.
National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede said the Prime Minister failed to announce a change of course after “decades of division, austerity and underinvestment in public services.
“Instead of setting out a positive vision to rebuild the economy and our society, he served up more of the same,” he added.
“The politics of austerity will only be ended in practice, not in fine words.”
Public and Commercial Services union general secretary Fran Heathcote added: “We’ve had enough of being told about ‘tough decisions.’
“You cannot solve the problems caused by austerity with more austerity.
“That’s why the TUC has voted overwhelmingly for a campaign of pay restoration across the public sector, which will boost living standards and strengthen the economy.”
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Greens become first political party in England and Wales to recognise Israeli government conduct as ‘Apartheid’ and ‘Genocide’
The Green Party has voted at its Manchester conference to recognise the Israeli government as an “apartheid” state, as defined by international treaties such as the International Convention on Apartheid (1973) and Rome Statute (1998).
The conference also voted to recognise Israeli military operations in Gaza as a “genocide” as defined under the UN Genocide Convention (1948).
Ellie Chowns, Green Party MP for North Herefordshire, said: “We don’t use terms like genocide or apartheid lightly, but they are a sad reflection of the atrocities being carried out by the Israeli State.
“This motion reflects International Humanitarian Law, including the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, and it is essential that British political parties unequivocally uphold these basic minimum standards of international law.”
The conference also reaffirmed support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.
Ellie Chowns said: “We will only see an end to the escalating violence in the Middle East when there are clear incentives for all involved in the war in Gaza to agree to a ceasefire, the release of all hostages and an end to the occupation.
“We will press the UK government to step up its actions, including suspending all arms export licenses to Israel, and full co-operation with the actions of the international courts.
“Without an agreement, the intolerable death toll in Gaza will continue to rise, the hostages will be at greater risk and there will be an increased chance of sleepwalking into a larger regional war.”