George Monbiot exposes Starmer’s hollow victory
Pressure mounts on Labour to scrap cruel ‘sibling penalty’
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/pressure-piles-labour-scrap-cruel-sibling-penalty-campaigners-warn-most-large. Many articles from the Morning Star today.
PRESSURE piled on Labour to scrap the government’s cruel “sibling penalty” today as campaigners warned it’s set to push the majority of large families below the poverty line by the end of this parliament.
The two-child benefit limit, introduced in 2017, stops parents from claiming universal credit or child tax credit for more than two children.
But figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show 1.6 million children are now affected by the policy, rising by 100,000 in a year.
The Resolution Foundation warned the policy will push most large families below the breadline by the end of the parliament and said abolishing it would lift 490,000 children out of poverty.
Sir Keir Starmer pledged to reduce child poverty at Labour’s manifesto launch, but failed to commit to scrapping the cap.
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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/pressure-piles-labour-scrap-cruel-sibling-penalty-campaigners-warn-most-large. Many articles from the Morning Star today.
Morning Star Editorial: Water disgrace: Labour’s contortions keep the privatised gravy train rolling
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/water-disgrace-labours-contortions-keep-privatised-gravy-train-rolling. Many articles from the Morning Star today.
CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves is right to say that steep increases in our water bills are a “bitter pill to swallow” — especially since her government could stop them if it wanted to.
Maybe its reluctance to take the obvious step — nationalisation — is linked to the lucrative rewards waiting for former ministers who play ball. After all, Water UK, the trade association lobbying for still steeper rises, is headed by former Labour minister Ruth Kelly.
Water UK slams Ofwat’s refusal to endorse its own proposed increases as “the biggest-ever cut in investment.”
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No other country has surrendered its water to private companies in this way and it is unlikely that any will, given that the outcome here has been poisoned waterways, sewage-strewn beaches and soaring bills. Earlier this year, over half the people polled said the sewage scandal would affect their vote. It may well have driven the Tory collapse across swathes of southern and coastal England. An even higher proportion, 69 per cent, want water back in public hands.
Labour says the cost of renationalisation is prohibitive and lands the public with private-sector debt.
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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/water-disgrace-labours-contortions-keep-privatised-gravy-train-rolling. Many articles from the Morning Star today.
Amnesty launches tells new Labour government ‘a lot needs fixing’
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/amnesty-launches-ads-tell-government-lot-needs-fixing. Many articles from the Morning Star today.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL launched an ad campaign featuring yellow and black hazard tape on the London Underground today, telling the government that “a lot needs fixing.”
The posters, set to run until the end of the month at Westminster station, also say that “human rights are the answer.”
A to-do list has been made by the group for the first 100 days of the new Labour government, which includes an immediate suspension of arms to Israel, addressing homelessness and the housing crisis, and a major overhaul of the asylum system.
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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/amnesty-launches-ads-tell-government-lot-needs-fixing. Many articles from the Morning Star today.
Welsh First Minister accused of lying
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/welsh-first-minister-accused-of-lying. Many articles from the Morning Star today.
News outlet Nation.Cymru says Vaughan Gething is ‘unequivocally’ lying about Hannah Blythyn being its source
NEWS outlet Nation.Cymru said today that Hannah Blythyn was not the source of its deleted texts story that led to her sacking from the Welsh government — and accused First Minister Vaughan Gething of lying.
Nation.Cymru’s chief executive Mark Mansfield said Mr Gething had failed to behave with integrity by suggesting he had “incontrovertible evidence” that the former social partnership minister was the source of their story.
He said that following his response on Wednesday to her personal statement to the Senedd, “in this unprecedented situation, the board of Nation.Cymru does not consider we can stand by and see Ms Blythyn’s reputation unjustly besmirched by the First Minister.”
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“We can state unequivocally that Mr Gething is not telling the truth when he suggests that he has incontrovertible evidence that Ms Blythyn was our source,” Mr Mansfield said.
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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/welsh-first-minister-accused-of-lying. Many articles from the Morning Star today.