Labour’s disdain for conducting impact assessments on the effects of its cuts and austerity reaches the ‘MSM’ – 11 months after Skwawkbox exclusively revealed it
The Telegraph has today reported that right-wing Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves carried out ‘no impact assessment’ before ‘withdrawing winter fuel payments for 10 million pensioners, the Telegraph can reveal’.
The right-wing rag is a little late to the party. Skwawkbox revealed exclusively eleven months ago that Labour undertook no impact for any of its plans on vulnerable people, whether pensioners, the disabled, the poor, the ill or children.
Boeing, Palantir and Babcock listed as sponsors for fringe events run by New Statesman Media Group
Boeing FA-18F Super Hornet Fighter Aircraft | Getty Images / Boeing.
Weapons manufacturers, fossil fuel companies and a spy-tech firm are among those sponsoring events at this year’s Labour Party conference.
Boeing and Babcock, manufacturers of missiles or missile compartments, and Palantir, a controversial spy-tech firm funded by the CIA, will sponsor fringe events hosted by centre-left media company the New Statesman Media Group.
Fossil fuel companies, private health firms, major banks and the International Airlines Group, which owns British Airways, are also among those paying to have a presence at the party’s annual conference in Liverpool, which will host politicians and policy makers – and is Labour’s third in person since Keir Starmer took over as leader.
The party has been slammed for playing host to these industries by environmental groups and anti-weapon groups, who call the sponsorships “disgusting and disappointing.” Its own MP Clive Lewis has also questioned why Labour is “cosying up” to some of the organisations involved.
The events, announced today, boast “Labour Party’s biggest names and most exciting talents,” and cover subjects such as the move to net zero, the housing crisis and healthcare. Speakers include shadow health secretary Wes Streeting, as well as Labour’s chair of the levelling up committee Clive Betts and deputy London mayor Tom Copley.
UK-based Babcock, which has arms deals with the government and has recently signed a deal with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), will sponsor a talk entitled “Sovereign capability: How can we make, buy and sell British?”. Speaking on the panel will be Babcock’s chief corporate affairs officer, John Howie, alongside Labour’s shadow minister for defence procurement Chris Evans and the party’s shadow international trade minister Nia Griffith.
Spy-tech firm Palantir, whose owner has donated to Donald Trump’s political campaign, will sponsor a talk on Ukraine called “How can we hold aggressors accountable for war crimes and deter future conflict?” Its executive vice president for the UK and Europe will appear on the panel.
Palantir, which has built software to support drone strikes and immigration raids, is tipped to win a £480m deal this year to build a single database that will eventually hold all the data in the NHS.
Energy company SSE, which has been accused of misleading the public over “green investments,” is sponsoring a “Delivering net zero” talk. Its own managing director of corporate affairs, regulation and strategy, will speak on the panel.
Cadent Gas will sponsor an event entitled “How can the energy sector support customers on the journey to net zero?”. Its chief strategy and regulation officer will speak on the panel.
Other events at next month’s conference will be sponsored by companies such as Offshore Energies UK (formerly known as Oil and Gas UK), National Gas, Ovo Energy and housing developer Taylor Wimpey.
Clive Lewis MP told openDemocracy that “people want change under a Labour government” and hosting some of these firms signals that “the same palms are going to be greased”.
“I do not think that organisations like Palantir and others are necessarily the kind of organisations that Labour in the year before a general election should be cosying up to,” said Lewis. “I think they should be saying: ‘Look, we’ll deal with you but frankly, some of you are part of the problem’.
“I think it’s entirely possible to be on the side of entrepreneurs…without necessarily having to get into bed with big oil companies, big corporations or the likes of Palantir – and the Labour Party should be really clear about that.”
He added: “I think there are questions there for the New Statesman and why they’re accepting sponsorship and funding from some of these ethically and morally questionable corporations.”
Campaigners against the arms industry have condemned the decision to allow weapons manufacturers to have a presence at the conference.
“It is disgusting and disappointing to hear that arms companies will be sponsoring talks at the Labour Party conference,” Emily Apple, media coordinator at Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), told openDemocracy. “These companies should not be given this legitimacy or the opportunity to lobby policy makers in order to continue making profits for their shareholders from a deadly trade that causes destruction and misery around the world.”
She added: “Accepting sponsorship from these companies sends a bleak message to anyone thinking a future Labour government will adopt any kind of ethical stance towards the arms trade.”
Environmental groups have also spoken out, warning Labour against forming relationships with oil and gas companies.
“The fossil fuel lobby is no stranger to cosying up with policymakers – they’ve had a lot of success and made a lot of cash from doing so in the past,” Greenpeace UK’s policy director, Doug Parr, told openDemocracy. “But Labour must not make the same costly mistakes as the Conservatives by giving these self-serving climate-wreckers the opportunity to launder their political reputation.
“The next government must have bold policies and a strong commitment to tackling the climate crisis, not another one that ends up in the back pocket of polluters and dodgy operators.”
The New Statesman’s events arm advertises a partnership with the media company as an opportunity to “showcase your brand, generate leads, nurture relationships,” with “policy makers and politicians.”
It also hosts private round table events that are not publicly advertised, which openDemocracy understands can cost a sponsor over £15,000.
openDemocracy has approached the Labour Party and New Statesman Media Group for comment.
Update, 24 August 2023:This article has been amended to reflect that Babcock does not make missiles but missile components and launch systems.
Campaigners fear increase by £149 in energy price cap by Ofgem will put more pressure on household
…
Households in Great Britain will begin the run-up to winter with a 10% increase in their energy bills after the industry regulator increased its cap on gas and electricity prices from October.
Under the new price cap, the average annual dual-fuel energy bill will rise to £1,717 a year, up £149 from its current level of £1,568, which has been in place since July.
The price cap is set every quarter by Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, and imposes a maximum on how much suppliers can charge their 28 million household customers per unit of gas and electricity.
It is expressed in terms of how much the average home would pay at this rate for their typical annual energy use, which means a cold autumn and winter could push bills even higher if households need to keep the heating on for longer.
Households in Great Britain will begin the run-up to winter with a 10% increase in their energy bills after the industry regulator increased its cap on gas and electricity prices from October.
Under the new price cap, the average annual dual-fuel energy bill will rise to £1,717 a year, up £149 from its current level of £1,568, which has been in place since July.
The price cap is set every quarter by Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, and imposes a maximum on how much suppliers can charge their 28 million household customers per unit of gas and electricity.
It is expressed in terms of how much the average home would pay at this rate for their typical annual energy use, which means a cold autumn and winter could push bills even higher if households need to keep the heating on for longer.
Labour leader Keir Starmer (centre) with then US secretary of state Mike Pompeo (R) and then US ambassador to Britain, Woody Johnson, in London, 21 July 2020. Pompeo said in 2019 “we will do our level best” to stop Jeremy Corbyn getting elected. (Photo: US State Department)
The figure is significantly down from its peak of 564,443 in 2017.
While the party maintains the largest membership of any UK political party, the dip marks the first time Labour’s membership dropped below 400,000 since 2015, the year Jeremy Corbyn became party leader. That year, the party reported a total membership of 388,262, up from 193,754 in 2014.
Record fall in membership despite earlier claims of increases from right-wing figures
Labour has admitted it is only kept afloat by the money of the mega-rich, after yet another massive fall in party membership numbers – to a level lower than its peak under Ed Miliband and far below the almost 600,000 when Jeremy Corbyn was leader.
According to its latest official figures, the party suffered a net loss of 37,000 members, 9% of its total, by the end of 2023 compared to a year earlier – the biggest year-on-year loss since 2003 when Labour haemorrhaged members during Tony Blair’s illegal war in Iraq. Even the claimed latest membership of 370,000 is suspect according to party insiders, as Labour under Keir Starmer has long padded its figures by continuing to count lapsed members – and its records were long in chaos after outsourcing led to a massive hack and the freezing of its membership administration systems.
Leading right-wing Labour figures have repeatedly briefed that members were pouring in and numbers were rising, attributing this to Starmer. In fact, given Starmer’s deep personal unpopularity, it makes far more sense to attribute the collapse in membership to him, his support for Israel’s genocide, his cowardly assault on left-wing MPs and members and his dog-whistle red-Tory ‘policies’.
And the party has inadvertently admitted that it is only propped up by donations from the super-rich. Party general secretary David Evans has said that the party losing less than the expected £2.5m during the general election campaign was because of “an increase in high-value donations”. Under Corbyn, large numbers of ordinary people chipped in what they could afford – so many that Labour’s debts, grown huge under previous leaders, were wiped out.
Now, even kept afloat by billionaires – and clearly beholden to them, given Labour’s atrocious announcements penalising the poor since Starmer was ushered into Downing Street by the fascist Reform ‘party’ – Labour is still losing money, just less than it would have without the huge donors wanting payback for their investment.
Vote For Genocide Vote Labour.Zionist Keir Starmer is quoted “I support Zionism without qualification.” He’s asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.
