Daily Archives: 26 December 2024

US business leaders set to break record on donations to Trump inaugural fund

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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/dec/25/us-business-leaders-trump-inaugural-fund

Meta, led by Mark Zuckerberg (left), and Amazon, led by Jeff Bezos, gave $1m each. Photograph: Getty Images

Donations, not restricted by campaign finance laws, come as industries seek favor with incoming administration

US business leaders are spending big on Donald Trump’s second inaugural fund, which is predicted to exceed even the record-setting $107m raised in 2017.

The donations, which are not restricted by campaign finance laws, come as industries and business leaders seek to curry favor with the incoming administration after the president-elect decisively won a second, non-consecutive term in November.

Some of the planned donations reportedly include $1m each from Jeff Bezos’s Amazon, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Facebook parent company Meta, led by Mark Zuckerberg.

Hedge-fund manager Ken Griffin has said he plans to donate $1m, Bloomberg reported; Uber and its CEO Dara Khosrowshahi are reported to be chipping in $1m each; and Toyota, Ford and General Motors are each peeling off $1m. Ford is also reportedly coupling its donation with a fleet of vehicles.

“EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE MY FRIEND!!!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Thursday.

Many senior executives in US industries and finance have already made the trip to Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s transition team headquarters, or are planning to, according to reports, as they seek to gain influence and access to the incoming administration that’s threatening to shake up international trading norms.

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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/dec/25/us-business-leaders-trump-inaugural-fund

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1984: how the miners saved Christmas from Thatcher

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/1984-how-miners-saved-christmas-thatcher

Picketers decorate a Christmas tree outside Rossington Colliery, while police transit vans line the roadway, December 11, 1984

CHRISTMAS 1984 was potentially a desperate time for the families of miners who had been on strike against pit closures for nine months. It turned out to be the opposite for many striking mining communities.

France’s communist-led union group CGT sent a convoy of 30 lorries, driven by volunteers and packed with food and toys, across the Channel. The union had mounted a “toy drive” among its members, and thousands had flooded in.

The convoy arrived at Dover, and the lorries journeyed to struggling mining communities in Wales and northern England.

Hundreds of miners’ support groups across the country redoubled their solidarity efforts — and the public responded generously.

The result for many striking miners and their families was the best Christmas they had ever had. And the solidarity is remembered today across the former coalfields.

In the north-east, Ian Lavery, now Labour MP for Blyth and Ashington, was a 20-year-old miner at Ellington Colliery in Northumberland. He lived with his parents and siblings. His father was a striking miner, as were two of his three brothers.

He told the Morning Star: “It was one of the best times of my life.

“At Christmas time 1984, none of us had a ha’penny — no money at all. But one thing about miners and working-class people is that they will do anything to make sure the kids have a good Christmas. Whatever the situation — on strike for seven or eight months — we would not let the kids down.

“It was fabulous to see the juggernauts arriving from France. They provided every striking miner’s kid with a toy at Christmas. Honestly, there was juggernaut after juggernaut come all the way from France. Absolutely amazing. Then there were the chickens and the turkeys. They were on the Christmas table of every striking miner. It was just fabulous.

“There were Christmas parties in every village and community.

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/1984-how-miners-saved-christmas-thatcher

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Revealed: Thames Water diverted ‘cash for clean-ups’ to help pay bonuses

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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/dec/23/revealed-thames-water-diverted-cash-for-clean-ups-to-help-pay-bonuses

Thames Water, the UK’s largest such firm, is fighting for its survival after years of poor performance, fines and hefty dividend payouts Photograph: Gill Allen/REX/Shutterstock

Guardian Exclusive: UK’s biggest water company assessed risks before cutting back on cost of environmental work, investigation shows

Thames Water intentionally diverted millions of pounds pledged for environmental clean-ups towards other costs including bonuses and dividends, the Guardian can reveal.

The company, which serves more than 16 million customers, cut the funds after senior managers assessed the potential risks of such a move.

Discussions – held in secret – considered the risk of a public and regulatory backlash if it emerged that cash set aside for work such as cutting river pollution had been spent elsewhere.

This could be seen as a breach of the company’s licence commitments and leave it vulnerable to accusations it had broken the law, according to sources and material seen by the Guardian.

Thames Water continued to pay staff bonuses worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, and also paid tens of millions in dividends as recently as March this year, while cutting back on its spending promises. The company did so despite public claims from its leaders that improvements to its environmental performance, including on pollution, were a priority.

Wildlife presenter Liz Bonnin and naturalist and TV presenter Chris Packham join thousands of environmental campaigners from more than 130 organisations in a March for Clean Water on 3 November 2024 in London. Photograph: Mark Kerrison/In Pictures/Getty Images

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Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/dec/23/revealed-thames-water-diverted-cash-for-clean-ups-to-help-pay-bonuses

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