The Green Party MP has said the PM can use the King’s Speech to reverse the damage he’s caused on UK climate and nature policy
Green Party MP Caroline Lucas has written to the prime minister Rishi Sunak setting out five pieces of legislation the government ought to introduce to address the climate and nature emergencies, Left Foot Forward can exclusively report. The letter, seen by Left Foot Forward, was sent in advance of the state opening of parliament on November 7, when the government is expected to set out its legislative agenda through a King’s Speech.
In her letter, Lucas wrote: “This year has already been one of climate extremes – September smashed through previous records and was a staggering 1.75 degrees hotter than pre-industrial levels, causing profound alarm to both scientists and citizens. We have seen climate impacts, from deadly flooding in Libya, to the Cerberus heatwave in Europe and the devastating wildfires in Maui and, as it stands, 2023 is on track to be the hottest year on record.”
She went on to argue that the government must “take this opportunity to reclaim the UK’s climate leadership and set out a bold legislative agenda that responds to the urgency of the climate and nature emergency”.
…
Lucas told Left Foot Forward: “In just 12 short months in the job, Rishi Sunak has set a torch to the UK’s climate agenda – approving new morally obscene fossil fuel projects, ditching vital regulations to improve energy efficiency, and dragging the climate into a dangerous culture war. The King’s Speech is a critical opportunity for the Prime Minister to start reversing this damage and tackling the climate and nature emergencies head-on – our country and our planet can’t wait.”
A damning new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) on the scale of destitution in the UK, has found that more than a million children experienced the most extreme form of poverty last year, with the figure almost trebling since 2017.
The report – the fourth in a series of Destitution in the UK studies published regularly in recent years, also revealed that almost 4 million people experienced destitution in 2022. Destitution is when people cannot afford to meet their most basic physical needs to stay warm, dry, clean and fed.
The damning figures shame us as a nation, with the rise in levels of destitution down to the cost of living crisis, low incomes as well as high levels of debt. The JRF report also highlighted how the social security system is failing to protect people from destitution, with almost three quarters (72%) of those destitute being in receipt of benefits.
The number of people experiencing destitution has increased by 61% since the last Destitution in the UK survey in 2019, an increase of almost two-and-a-half times (148%) compared to 2017. The report stated: “Single people of working age continue to be the worst-affected group by far, but for the first time in 2022 around a million children were living in households that experienced destitution. The shocking statistics revealed in this report reflect a social security system now so full of holes that it falls to charities – such as food banks – to try to prevent people from experiencing the worst of destitution, but the task is too great for them.
The study findings emphasise the need for urgent action to address the profoundly detrimental impact of living in destitution and prevent more people experiencing this most severe form of material hardship. Destitution impacts on health, mental health and people’s prospects. At a societal level, it puts strain on
already overstretched services. It is morally unacceptable that people have to rely on food banks and other voluntary efforts to meet their basic physical needs. We need a stronger state safety net providing crisis support to everyone experiencing destitution, regardless of where they live or who they are, with cash-first assistance and ready access to free high-quality advice. While this would make an immediate difference to those most in need, we need bolder action to address the drivers of destitution, starting with a commitment to ending destitution in the UK and moving on to ‘design out’ destitution from our social security and immigration systems.
I didn’t invite him or even know who he was, says disgusted imam of South Wales Islamic Centre after outrage over Starmer photo stunt
Skwakwbox’s image of Keir Starmer attempting to ‘mosque-wash’ his comments supporting and encouraging Israeli war crimes against Gaza at South Wales Islamic Centre, Oct 2023.
Keir Starmer’s attempt to mosque-wash his support for Israeli war crimes against Palestinian civilians has backfired enormously, after Muslims reacted with outrage to his appearance in the South Wales Islamic Centre – and the centre’s imam disowned him and said he didn’t even know who he was when Starmer turned up.
In a conversation related on a socialist WhatsApp group, the imam said that he had not invited Starmer – Starmer’s team had called the centre and said he wanted to visit – and had no idea beforehand that it would be cynically exploited for a photo opportunity. Moreover, he was asking the mosque committee to put out another statement about the visit and would never ‘betray the Palestinians’ by knowingly associating with a supporter of Israel’s war crimes against the Palestinians.
The message relayed from the Muslim scholar who spoke to the imam was as follows:
Starmer has been trying to repair his relationship with the Muslim community through a surprise visit to a mosque in Wales. The following was shared by a scholar friend of mine this morning:
I spoke to the imam of the South Wales Islamic Centre, Shaykh Muhammad (Egyptian), over the phone about these images which are being used by Keir Starmer as propaganda and PR to dilute and sanctify his statement in support of war crimes and genocide. I don’t know this imam personally; I didn’t know anything about him and had not spoken to him before this telephone conversation.
I shared my thoughts on Keir Starmer and the South Wales Islamic Centre propaganda before my conversation with the Centre’s imam. My thoughts on this issue have not changed. We all know that mosque imams in the UK are employees of mosque committees and have zero decision-making powers.
Since my phone conversation with the Imam of South Wales Islamic Centre was private, I asked for his permission to share on Facebook and with others the details I am going to share now, and he granted me his permission to do so. He was crying and upset as he explained to me the following:
1) South Wales Islamic Centre did not invite Keir Starmer. He was in Wales and his people made a phone call to South Wales Islamic Centre expressing their desire to come and visit the Centre.
2) The imam did not know who Keir Starmer was before he met him at the South Wales Islamic Centre. He’s Egyptian, can barely speak or read English and doesn’t follow local politics. He was also not aware of what Keir Starmer had said in support of genocide and war crimes. He wishes he had researched online before agreeing to meet him. Even if he had, he doubt that he would have found anything in Arabic. [It seems that the old issue of imams who are not familiar with the local context has still not been resolved. With notable exceptions, Al-Azhar graduates have not always been known to be politically and socially literate and aware. So, I was not surprised]
3) The imam was unaware that this visit would be exploited for propaganda and public relations. He was shocked when the angry phone calls starting coming in from various communities, and disappointed to see how the pictures from the visit were being used by Keir Starmer on social media for propaganda purposes.
4) He will ask the mosque committee to meet and draft ANOTHER statement to clarify what happened and state South Wales Islamic Centre’s position.
5) He cried as he explained that he would never betray Palestinians by associating or collaborating in the propaganda of anyone who supports war crimes and genocide against them. I believe everything he told me. The South Wales Islamic Centre and its committee should clean this mess.
Keir Starmer is complicit in Israel’s murders and starvation of Palestinian civilians and in the whole oppression, occupation and apartheid inflicted on the people of Palestine. No amount of white-, mosque- or any other kind of wash can cover or erase that.
The UK Foreign Office chartered a jet used by billionaires and pop stars to take Cleverly and 18 members of his staff to Latin America and the Caribbean in May.
James Cleverly visits Cartagena, Colombia where he meets English language students, May 2023 (Credit:Rory Arnold / No 10 Downing Street, Flickr)
In May 2023, UK foreign secretary James Cleverly travelled to Latin America and the Caribbean in an effort to rekindle Britain’s historically close relations with the region.
Cleverly visited Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Jamaica, with the issue of climate breakdown high on the agenda.
In Chile, Cleverly declared that: “Climate change is the most urgent and obvious example” of the “rapidly increasing transnational flights threats” facing the world.
At the UK-Caribbean Forum in Kingston, Jamaica, the foreign secretary announced additional funding for the region’s “security and climate resilience”. In Brazil, Cleverly signed “a wide-ranging climate partnership” on “Green and Inclusive Growth”.
And in Colombia, Cleverly outlined new plans “tackling climate change by protecting the Amazon”. During a trip to the Amazon rainforest, he said: “The fate of our planet rests on what happens here”.
A ‘Succession-style jet’
Newly released Foreign Office data shows that Cleverly spent over £420,000 in public money on travel during his one-week trip to the region.
The money corresponds to the Foreign Office’s chartering of the Embraer Lineage 1000E – a “Succession-style” jet which is frequently used by billionaires and pop stars.
The jet “includes a lounge area with big-screen TV and a master suite for its main VIP, complete with a queen-size bed, private bathroom and shower”, and was used to accommodate Cleverly and 18 members of his staff.
Israeli prime Benjamin Netanyahu and UK prime minister Rishi Sunak, March 2023.
Rishi Sunak has given Britain’s full approval to the flattening of Gaza.
Late on 7 October, the prime minister tweeted “we stand unequivocally with Israel”. Sunak had expressed “full solidarity” to Benjamin Netanyahu, the tweet added.
As Netanyahu had promised “mighty vengeance” following the Hamas-led offensive that morning, there was no room for doubt about the signal which Sunak was sending.
In a few words, Sunak took Britain’s foreign policy to a new extreme.
Israel’s “mighty vengeance” is shaping up to be its most destructive bombardment ever of Gaza and its 2.3 million inhabitants.
A “mighty vengeance” endorsed by 10 Downing Street.
There is a long history of the UK supporting Israel’s wars.
