Labour Party

Politicians are blaming disabled people for the inequalities they face

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/04/politicians-are-blaming-disabled-people-for-the-inequalities-they-face/

It’s time the Government gives disabled jobseekers and employees the support they need – rather than demonising people who can’t work.

On Friday, Rishi Sunak pledged to tackle Britain’s so-called ‘sick note culture’. Saying that the ‘spiralling’ benefits bill was unsustainable, he promised to ‘control welfare’ if re-elected.

This rhetoric is nothing new. Disabled people have faced an ongoing onslaught of negative headlines over the past few months.

The Prime Minister has previously spoken about ‘[squeezing] benefits to fund more tax cuts for workers’, pitting disabled people against the rest of society. Commentators, too, have taken to arguing that our benefits system ‘invites abuse’.

And this harmful attitude towards welfare is not partisan; Labour too have implied that there are too many people claiming disability benefits.

But disability benefits are not a problem that needs to be ‘controlled’. At its best, our welfare system enables disabled people to lead more independent and meaningful lives, offering them vital support to overcome the barriers they face. That is something people across the political spectrum should celebrate.

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/04/politicians-are-blaming-disabled-people-for-the-inequalities-they-face/

Continue ReadingPoliticians are blaming disabled people for the inequalities they face

Public ownership campaigners urge Labour to go further and commit to renationalising rolling stock companies

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/04/public-ownership-campaigners-urge-labour-to-go-further-and-commit-to-renationalising-rolling-stock-companies/

Image of an East Coast train
An East Coast train at King’s Cross station

Labour announced this week that it will renationalise the railways, if elected. The party referred to the move as the ‘biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation.’

Under Labour’s proposals, train companies would be brought back into public ownership and run by a new body, Great British Railways, as their privatised contracts expire.

While the announcement has been broadly welcomed, with RMT general secretary Mick Lynch saying a publicly owned rail network is in the “best interests of railway workers, passengers and the taxpayer,” public ownership campaigners We Own It warn it doesn’t go far enough.

Following Labour’s announcement, Johnbosco Nwogbo, lead campaigner at public ownership campaign group We Own It, said it was time to “decommission the gravy train.”

“With delays and cancellations rife and some of the most expensive fares in Europe, polls show that over two thirds of us want our railways to be brought into public hands. Labour have rightly identified that the ownership of our public services will be a key issue for voters at this election.

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/04/public-ownership-campaigners-urge-labour-to-go-further-and-commit-to-renationalising-rolling-stock-companies/

Continue ReadingPublic ownership campaigners urge Labour to go further and commit to renationalising rolling stock companies

Green Party reaction to Labour’s rail ‘nationalisation’ plans 

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Image of the Green Party's Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.
Image of the Green Party’s Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.

In response to Labour’s announcement that it plans to renationalise most passenger rail services within five years co-leader of the Green Party, Carla Denyer, said: 

“Greens give an amber light to these proposals. We have long called for full public ownership and significant investment in our railways. The passengers left stranded after cancelled or delayed services or sitting on floors next to closed train toilets are testimony to the failed privatisation experiment of our railways.  

“These proposals though are only for partial public ownership and make no mention of the significant investment that our railways need. They would leave rolling stock and freight in private hands. This should be the first step to completely integrate all our railways into public ownership followed by significant investment that both the rail industry and passengers are crying out for.  

“Too often Labour makes grand policy announcements that are followed by a screeching U-turn weeks or months later. This is why a Labour government will need Green MPs to help keep them on the right track and pushing them to be bolder and do better.”  

Continue ReadingGreen Party reaction to Labour’s rail ‘nationalisation’ plans 

Stop arms race, campaigners tell politicians

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/stop-arms-race-campaigners-tell-politicians

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (right), Defence Secretary Grant Shapps (left), and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak look at weapons at the Warsaw Armoured Brigade in Warsaw, Poland, April 23, 2024

ANTI-WAR campaigners demanded a stop to the new arms race today, after Tories and Labour united in support of boosting military spending to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product.

The Establishment embraced a new spasm of militarisation as PM Rishi Sunak announced in Warsaw that Britain would crank up its arms bill to the new target by the end of the decade.

This would put an “additional £75 billion into defence spending over that period,” Defence Secretary Grant Shapps told MPs.

Mr Shapps claimed a “much more dangerous world” made the commitment necessary, citing alleged threats from Russia, Iran and China.

Both he and Mr Sunak spoke of the arms industry going onto a “war footing” and urged all Nato member states to match Britain’s new target.

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“Labour will always do what is required, spend what is required, on defence” shadow defence secretary John Healey assured the Commons.

Both parties are out of line with public opinion on the issue.

An Opinium poll released today revealed more military spending ranked last out of nine priorities for voters, with the NHS being first.

Stop the War Coalition convener Lindsey German pointed out that “the UK already spends over 2 per cent of our total GDP on arms, the highest in Europe.”

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/stop-arms-race-campaigners-tell-politicians

Continue ReadingStop arms race, campaigners tell politicians

Pressure grows on Starmer to restore Diane Abbott’s whip a year on

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/04/pressure-grows-on-starmer-to-restore-diane-abbotts-whip-a-year-on/ Many articles from LeftFootForward today.

Petition to restore Diane Abbott’s Labour whip surpasses 12,000

Over 12,000 people have now signed a petition calling on Keir Starmer to restore the whip to Diane Abbott, as this Tuesday marks one year since her whip was suspended. 

Trade unions, campaigners and MPs have joined the call to reinstate her Labour whip using the anniversary of her suspension as a call for action from the Labour leader. 

Diane Abbott lost the whip following an article she wrote which suggested Irish, Jewish and Traveller people are not subject to racism “all their lives”, distinguishing between anti-black racism. She went on to withdraw her remarks and issued an apology. 

She has subsequently sat as an independent MP while an internal investigation continues. With over a year passed, campaigners have questioned why the investigation has taken so long, with the grassroots socialist Labour movement Momentum labelled Starmer’s investigation “a sham”.

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/04/pressure-grows-on-starmer-to-restore-diane-abbotts-whip-a-year-on/ Many articles from LeftFootForward today.

Continue ReadingPressure grows on Starmer to restore Diane Abbott’s whip a year on