Cost of Living crisis

Tory government’s ‘authoritarian’ anti-strike legislation slammed by human rights and civil liberties groups

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Members of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) on the picket line outside London’s St Thomas’ Hospital as they go on strike for the first time over pay

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/tory-government-authoritarian-anti-strike-legislation-slammed-by-human-rights-and-civil-liberties-groups

MORE than 50 human rights and civil liberties groups slammed the Tory government’s new anti-strike legislation today as an attack on the fundamental right to take industrial action.

An open letter, penned by groups including Liberty, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam, said the proposals would allow “a further significant and unjustified intrusion by the state into the freedom of association and assembly.”

Ministers prepared to rush the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill through its final stages in the Commons last night, claiming public services need safeguarding amid the biggest strike wave in decades.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/tory-government-authoritarian-anti-strike-legislation-slammed-by-human-rights-and-civil-liberties-groups

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Nearly 20% of Brits already living in poverty before cost-of-living crisis, report finds

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/nearly-20-of-brits-already-living-in-poverty-before-cost-of-living-crisis

Image of banknotes and prepayment meter key

MILLIONS of people in Britain, including 3.9 million children and 1.7m pensioners, were in living in poverty even before the cost-of-living crisis hit, damning figures revealed today.

Around 20 per cent of the population, equating to 13.4m people, were living in poverty in 2020/21, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s annual poverty report found.

The report warned that there are elements in the benefits system that increase poverty, including the two-child limit, five-week wait for universal credit payments and unaffordable debt deductions.

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About 7.2m people are skipping meals, showers and heating, it found.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/nearly-20-of-brits-already-living-in-poverty-before-cost-of-living-crisis

Continue ReadingNearly 20% of Brits already living in poverty before cost-of-living crisis, report finds

Ambulance workers stage another day of strike action as dispute over pay for overstretched staff shows no sign of ending

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/ambulance-staff-stage-another-day-strike-action-dispute-over-pay

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THOUSANDS of ambulance workers staged more strike action today as the bitter dispute over pay for overstretched NHS staff showed no sign of abating.

Nearly 2,000 paramedics, emergency care assistants, call handlers and other staff across north-west England downed tools for 12 hours from midday, their union GMB said.

The walkout, which followed industrial action by thousands of GMB, Unite and Unison ambulance employees on Monday, came ahead of what could be biggest-ever NHS strike on February 6, when all three unions are due to strike alongside nurses.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/ambulance-staff-stage-another-day-strike-action-dispute-over-pay

Continue ReadingAmbulance workers stage another day of strike action as dispute over pay for overstretched staff shows no sign of ending

Energy firms face Ofgem investigation over number of households forced onto pre-payment meters

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/energy-firms-face-ofgem-investigation-forced-prepayment-metres

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

ENERGY firms face an Ofgem investigation over a “concerning” rise in the number of struggling households being forced onto prepayment meters.

The regulator said yesterday that it would also consider taking legal action if firms are found not to have taken due care when moving customers onto the more costly meters.

Customers who fail to keep the devices topped up with money have their electricity and gas cut off.

In recent months, hundreds of thousands of households have been switched onto prepayment metres, often unwillingly, after falling behind on their bills.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/energy-firms-face-ofgem-investigation-forced-prepayment-metres

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Zahawi’s tax evasions point to a more fundamental problem for the Tories

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/e/zahawis-tax-evasions-point-more-fundamental-problem-tories

TORY chairman Nadhim Zahawi’s tax problems are a bigger headache for the Prime Minister than he has yet acknowledged.

Zahawi pleads that it was mere carelessness that saw him forced to pay HMRC nearly £5 million in unpaid tax (inclusive of a penalty) while he was, er, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Financial sloppiness isn’t a great look for a chancellor, but in Zahawi’s defence he’s admitted to it before. It was after all a “genuine mistake” that saw him claim thousands in expenses to heat the stables for a horse-riding school on his Warwickshire estate.

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Labour rails at Conservative “corruption and cronyism,” but the fundamental issue is more basic still. This is a government of the rich, for the rich, by the rich and it is making us poorer.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/e/zahawis-tax-evasions-point-more-fundamental-problem-tories

Continue ReadingZahawi’s tax evasions point to a more fundamental problem for the Tories