conservatives

Morning Star: As the general election looms, the left has choices to make

Spread the love

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/editorial-left-and-election

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Stammer, December 27, 2023

2024 is almost certainly a general election year. Westminster rumours of a May poll are rife, but the autumn remains the more likely option for beleaguered premier Rishi Sunak.

An essential function of a democratic election is to offer the possibility of a change of government. The forthcoming contest, however, seems to offer little more than a shift in administrators of the same anti-popular policy.

The problem facing voters wanting significant change — the majority of the electorate one can assume — is the state of the Labour Party. On the most pressing international issues — Palestine and Ukraine — its policy is identical with the Tories: war and more war, as Washington directs.

Domestically its priority is sticking within the narrow parameters of Treasury orthodoxy. Anything involving spending public money is, even after 13 years of austerity, ruled out. So too tax rises on the rich.

The Green New Deal is diluted further by the day, and privatisation looks like extending its tentacles into the NHS.

Even more positive Labour policies, like extending trade union rights, are clouded by a scepticism as to Keir Starmer’s sincerity, given his well-earned reputation for dissimulation and double-dealing.

…

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/editorial-left-and-election

Continue ReadingMorning Star: As the general election looms, the left has choices to make

First-time buyers fall to ‘lowest level in a decade’

Spread the love

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/first-time-buyers-fall-lowest-level-decade

Woman looking at advertisements in an estate agents window, July 20, 2023

CAMPAIGNERS have blasted a lack of regulation in the housing market that leaves people trapped with no choice but to hand over their wages to landlords.

Today’s condemnation came as new figures revealed that the number of first-time buyers had plunged to its lowest level in a decade.

Figures issued by the Yorkshire Building Society showed that the number of first-time buyers in the mortgage market in 2023 stood at 290,000, shrinking by a fifth compared with 2022.

The decrease in first-time buyers followed a string of now-paused interest hikes first made by the Bank of England in December 2021, which pushed up borrowing costs, including mortgages.

…

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/first-time-buyers-fall-lowest-level-decade

Continue ReadingFirst-time buyers fall to ‘lowest level in a decade’

Energy price cap rise will ‘hammer households even harder’ this year, union body warns

Spread the love

https://leftfootforward.org/2024/01/energy-price-cap-rise-will-hammer-households-even-harder-this-year-union-body-warns/

Image of cash and pre-payment meter key
Image of cash and pre-payment meter key

The leading trade union body has slammed government policy for benefiting corporate profiteering at the expense of household bills, leading renewed calls to nationalise the energy sector after the 5% energy price cap rise.

Households will be ‘hammered even harder’ in 2024 the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has said, as the Ofgem price cap rise came into effect from January 1, which will see households across the country face a 5% increase in their energy bill.

It has led to further warnings from charities about struggling households facing another cold start to the year and renewed calls for government support to help households struggling with their energy bills.

“No one should struggle to get by in one of the richest countries in the world,” said TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak.

“But 13 years of wage stagnation and cuts to social security have left millions badly exposed to sky-high bills this winter.”

With energy bills already 50% higher than two years ago, Nowak said the price cap rise will only “hammer households even harder in the coming year”.

…

Warm This Winter, a coalition of 50 leading UK charities, warned of the effects the government’s inaction at tackling the energy crisis will have across services.  

“Failure to avert this cold homes crisis will lead to pressure on the NHS, a mental health catastrophe and additional winter deaths caused by living in cold damp homes,” said Fiona Waters, Warm This Winter spokesperson.

…

https://leftfootforward.org/2024/01/energy-price-cap-rise-will-hammer-households-even-harder-this-year-union-body-warns/

Continue ReadingEnergy price cap rise will ‘hammer households even harder’ this year, union body warns

Rishi Sunak slammed over ‘barefaced lie’ after claiming asylum backlog has been cleared

Spread the love
One of the many occasions climate destroyer and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak uses a private jet.
One of the many occasions climate destroyer and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak uses a private jet.

https://leftfootforward.org/2024/01/rishi-sunak-slammed-over-barefaced-lie-after-claiming-asylum-backlog-has-been-cleared/

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is being condemned for his ‘barefaced lie’ after claiming, incorrectly, that the government had met its pledge to clear the backlog of so-called legacy asylum claims.

The prime minister posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the Home Office had dealt with 112,000 “legacy cases” – relating to claims made before June 2022 – by the end of last year.

However, thousands of asylum cases are still awaiting a final decision, with Downing Street forced to admit that 4,500 “complex cases” remain outstanding. That means that the government has not cleared the “legacy” backlog of pre-June 2022 asylum claims.

Furthermore, the Home Office has revealed that there are more than 98,000 asylum applications still awaiting a decision, largely consisting of claims made since June 2022. 17,000 claims have also been withdrawn by the Home Office, with Yvette Cooper saying that the government has ‘no idea where those people are’.

To add to the humiliation for the PM, his post on X was community noted with the message “the backlog has not been cleared” and a link to a BBC report confirming the target has not been met.

…

https://leftfootforward.org/2024/01/rishi-sunak-slammed-over-barefaced-lie-after-claiming-asylum-backlog-has-been-cleared/

Continue ReadingRishi Sunak slammed over ‘barefaced lie’ after claiming asylum backlog has been cleared