General view of the Job Centre Plus on Benalder St in Glasgow
UNIONS hit out at an “epidemic of insecure work” as the economic fallout from the Iran war was revealed for the first time today.
Youth unemployment has risen to its highest rate in more than a decade with one in seven (14.7 per cent) 16 to 24-year-olds looking for work.
Zero-hours contracts have hit a record high of 1.23 million — up 65,000 on the year.
The first official statistics since the war broke out in late February also showed job vacancies down to their lowest level for 11 years outside of the pandemic. They fell by 28,000 to 705,000 in the three months ending in March.
Youngsters looking for their first job face a fiercely competitive jobs market with 22.7 per cent now out of work for more than a year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found.
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TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “The ongoing economic fallout from Donald Trump’s illegal war in Iran risks dashing hopes of a stabilising jobs market.
“There is an epidemic of insecure work in this country.
“That’s why the government needs to deliver on its promise to give all workers a right to a contract which reflects their regular hours and end the scourge of insecure work for good.”
The main driver for the increase in the forecast energy price cap is rising wholesale gas and electricity prices. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
Cornwall Insight predicts rise in price cap of nearly 13% in Great Britain as Iran war pushes up gas costs
Energy bills for households in Great Britain could increase by more than £200 a year to almost £1,900 from this summer in “a kick in the teeth” for millions struggling with the cost of living crisis.
A typical gas and electricity bill is forecast to rise to the equivalent of £1,850 a year from July under the industry regulator Ofgem’s quarterly price cap, according to analysis by the energy consultancy Cornwall Insight.
The expected level is nearly 13% higher than the £1,641 cap on energy bills set for April to June, adding £209 to a typical annual bill, after the Iran war caused the UK’s gas market price to double earlier this year.
The main driver for the increase is rising wholesale energy prices, according to Cornwall. Prices climbed sharply in February and March after Tehran effectively cut off Gulf energy supplies to the global market by shutting the strait of Hormuz in response to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
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Cornwall said that, even if the Iran war ended tomorrow, “the physical damage to infrastructure, and lingering effect of disrupted supply, means a fall back to April’s price cap levels in the autumn looks unlikely”.
Its principal consultant, Craig Lowrey, said: “If the cap stays at a similar level as July, that is when the government will need to think seriously about targeted support for the most vulnerable.
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
The editor of an independent local news outlet, which has been shunned by Reform UK, says Nigel Farage’s party is borrowing ‘straight [from] the Trump playbook’ in its approach to the press.
Oliver Rouane-Williams, the founder and editor of Ipswich.co.uk, an independent local title in Suffolk, is warning of US-style attacks on independent journalism by Nigel Farage’s party, after the Reform chairman in his patch reportedly ordered Ipswich candidates not to engage with reporters – directing them towards GB News instead.
Media freedom groups are worried it is part of a trend. Last week, Clacton MP Farage published the name and photograph of a photographer who had been undertaking his duties in a public place near the Reform leader’s home, in a move condemned by his employers at The Guardian.
Rouane-Williams told Byline Times that his publication has no working relationship with Reform UK locally following an edict from the Ipswich party chairman.
The local news chief said his outlet had attempted to engage Reform candidates ahead of the elections through a standard ‘meet the candidate’ format, putting the same five questions to every candidate of every party, but received nothing back from Reform.
The publication subsequently faced pushback from Reform voters who felt the coverage was biased – forcing Rouane-Williams to explain the absence of Reform voices was not down to editorial bias but to the party’s refusal to engage.
The Ipswich.co.uk founder says he then learnt that Shayne Pooley, the chairman of Reform in Ipswich, had instructed all of the party’s candidates in the town not to engage with the media, and had specifically told them not to answer questions from Ipswich.co.uk.
Nigel Farage explains the politics of Reform UK: Racism, Fake anti-establishmentism, Deregulation, Corporatism, Climate Change Denial, Mysogyny and Transphobia.Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.Nigel Farage blames the Muzzies.
Yvette Cooper proscribed Palestine Action last June (Photo: Alamy)
Exclusive: Former home secretary was told proscribing Palestine Action within six months of key Filton hearing could prejudice the case but went ahead anyway.
Britain’s former home secretary Yvette Cooper was warned that proscribing Palestine Action could prejudice the trial of six activists but went ahead anyway, it can be revealed.
Internal documents seen by Declassified show the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) advised Cooper not to proscribe Palestine Action within six months of any Filton hearings.
The Filton 24 are pro-Palestine activists accused of breaking into a factory owned by Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms firm, in Bristol in August 2024.
The CPS was concerned that proscribing Palestine Action within six months of the hearings would prejudice their right to a fair trial.
Yet Cooper went against this advice and announced the proscription of Palestine Action less than five months before the first of those trials began in November last year.
Last week, the Guardian also revealed that Cooper risked being in contempt of court by justifying the proscription of Palestine Action in a column published in the Observer.
In that article, Cooper said the charges against the defendants involved a “terrorism connection” and accused the group of “intimidation, violence, weapons, and serious injuries to individuals”.
Defence lawyers sought to argue in court that Cooper had committed an “abuse of process” by discussing details of the case that were under reporting restrictions.
Mr Justice Johnson dismissed that application despite acknowledging that Cooper was “specifically advised that going ahead with the article might prejudice these proceedings”.
Taken together, the revelations suggest Cooper prioritised securing and justifying the proscription of Palestine Action over respecting due process.
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/Keir Starmer says that he’s banning words and phrases now as well as placards.Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’.
Reform UK gave no response when asked about the whereabouts of Nigel Farage. Photograph: Jack Taylor/Reuters
As campaigners take to the streets for what could be the most significant byelection for decades, the Reform leader’s absence remains a mystery
It has been six days since Nigel Farage cancelled a scheduled appearance at a Reform UK rally in Sunderland, a key election target in Labour’s heartlands.
The reasons given – chaos in government and what appeared to be an impending Labour leadership race – seemed logical. After all, as a quotation sometimes attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte goes: never interfere with an enemy while he is in the process of destroying himself.
Yet as the days have passed, the continued absence of a politician who has in recent years seemed almost omnipresent has become all the more stark.
Reform was contacted to ask about Farage’s whereabouts but gave no response.
Of course, the elephant in the room has been the investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog into a £5m gift given to Farage by the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.
Climate science denier Nigel Farage explains that it’s simple to blame asylum-seekers or Muslims for everything.Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.Nigel Farage reminds you that he’s the man that brought you Brexit and asks what could possibly go wrong.
General view of the Job Centre Plus on Benalder St in Glasgow
