The motion expresses ‘incredulity’ that the government hasn’t assessed correlations between the two-child limit and child poverty levels
A motion signed by 24 MPs has called on the two-child limit to be reconsidered while expressing disbelief that the government has not assessed the correlation between child poverty and the Tories benefit cap as new research came to light.
Tabled by Labour MP Mary Kelly Foy, the Early Day Motion highlighted research from the End Child Poverty Coalition which revealed how some of the most vulnerable families are those hardest hit by the two-child limit.
Introduced in April 2017 by the Tories supposedly as an incentive to get parents into work, the policy prevents households from claiming universal credit or child tax credit for a third or subsequent child.
Concerns were raised by the government’s own Work and Pensions Committee in 2019 which recommended that the policy be abandoned, warning that the limit would increase the number of children in poverty and disproportionately affect minority groups.
Part of the proposals include divisive plans to treat trans people in separate rooms
Proposals announced by the UK Government to adjust the NHS Constitution in England have been ‘made in a parallel universe’ to the realities of NHS workers, the UK’s leading nurses’ union has said.
New government plans which could see transgender people treated in separate rooms in hospitals in England have been taken apart by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), as equality organisations raised concerns about how the proposals will impact trans patients and healthcare professionals and NHS bosses accused the government of dragging the NHS into “pre-election culture wars”.
Under the proposed NHS Constitution changes, trans people may be treated in single rooms if patients request single-sex wards. RCN Chief Nursing Officer and Deputy Chief Executive, Nicola Ranger, said patients are already able to request intimate care from staff of the same sex, however this is “nigh-on impossible to accommodate with any consistency” due to a staffing crisis seeing a shortfall in tens of thousands of nursing staff.
“Much of this announcement sounds like it was made in a parallel universe to the everyday experience of nursing staff working in the NHS,” said Ranger.
“Nursing staff are caring for people in corridors, doorways and even store cupboards. They will have little faith in ministers’ supposed commitment to the ‘privacy, dignity and safety’ of patients.
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Amnesty UK said today: “No one’s health should suffer because of who they are or where they live. The government must strengthen the NHS constitution to ensure everyone’s right to healthcare.
“We need real solutions, not distractions from government failures that have left people waiting too long for care.”
“He is well aware what those weeks of national TV exposure have done for him – and the position he could be in to help Reform.”
Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage is set to announce a return to frontline politics it has been reported, as he seeks to capitalise on the increased media exposure he has gained following his appearance on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
The Mirror reports that the former UKIP politician, 60, who retired in 2021, ‘is understood to want to stand as a parliamentary candidate this year. And it comes after sources say he is determined to make the most of the exposure he gained in the I’m A Celebrity jungle.’
There have previously been rumours that Farage was considering joining the Tory party, after his appearance at the party’s conference and after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hinted that he could be welcomed in the ‘broach church’ of the Conservative Party.
However, sources have told the Mirror that he wanted to capitalise on the recent media exposure he has gained, including on GB News.
Activists with the Communist Party of Israel and Hadash made ceasefire and an end to occupation the central demands of their May Day 2024 actions. | Photo via Hadash
NAZARETH—Determined to derail a planned May Day rally centered on ceasefire and anti-occupation demands, heavily-armed police forces raided the office of the Nazareth branches of the Hadash coalition (Democratic Front for Peace and Equality) and Communist Party of Israel (CPI) on Friday evening. April 26.
Israeli police raid the Nazareth branch office of Hadash, the Communist Party of Israel, and Zo Haderekh newspaper. This photo is a screengrab from a video taken by a member of Hadash during the raid. | @hadash.front via Instagram
When police stormed the building, activists from Hadash, the CPI, and the Young Communist League were involved in preparations for the central May Day demonstration being organized by Hadash and the CPI. At least two activists were arrested.
“We won’t let the fascists silence us!” declared Ofer Cassif, the CPI parliamentarian that the government has repeatedly attempted to suppress.
“Come to the demonstration, to raise a loud and clear voice against the criminal massacre in Gaza, against the ethnic cleansing of the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, against the raging tide of fascism and in support of justice for all, before it’s too late!” he continued.
“The order of the day: Unite against fascism!”
Several rallies against the deadly war in Gaza and the occupation of the Palestinian territories will be held across Israel for May Day—in Tel Aviv, Nazareth, Kufr Yassif, Western Galilee, Jerusalem, and other locations.
This is the third assault on the branch in Nazareth in the past year. Police raided the office on Nov. 10, tearing down political posters and spray-painting over murals. “The Ben-Gvir police continues its political persecution and attempts to intimidate and silence the Arab public and other forces opposing the war,” Hadash said in a statement, referring to Itamar Ben-Gvir, Netanyahu’s national security minister.
“We will not put up with these provocations. We will continue to lead the joint Arab-Jewish struggle against fascism, war and persecution,” Hadash said.
A year ago, on April 28, 2023, just before the May Day demonstration in the city, in another raid police took down the red flags and the Palestinian flag at the Nazareth branch and arrested the secretary of the Communist Party in the city.
“There is absolutely no reason for Biden to be involved in this,” said one analyst. “But once again, Biden steps in to protect Netanyahu from the consequences of the war crimes he commits.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly growing increasingly concerned that the International Criminal Court is preparing to issue arrest warrants for him and other top government officials for committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
The Times of Israel reported Sunday that the Israeli government, in partnership with the U.S., is “making a concerted effort to head off” possible arrest warrants from the ICC, which first launched its war crimes investigation in the occupied Palestinian territories in 2021.
Israel does not recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction and has refused to cooperate with the probe. The ICC says it has jurisdiction over Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
Citing an unnamed Israeli government source, The Times of Israel reported that “a major focus of the ICC allegations will be that Israel ‘deliberately starved Palestinians in Gaza.'” Other officials who could face arrest warrants are Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.
The Times of Israel‘s reporting came shortly after Israeli journalist Ben Caspit wrote that Netanyahu is “under unusual stress” over the possibility of arrest warrants and is leading a “nonstop push over the telephone” to forestall ICC action.
Like Israel, the U.S. is not a party to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC in 2002. The legal body is tasked with investigating individuals, not governments.
The U.S., Israel’s leading arms supplier, has opposed the ICC’s Palestine investigation from the start, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying in a 2021 statement that the court “has no jurisdiction over this matter” because “Israel is not a party to the ICC.”
Seeing commentary that ICC arrest warrants against Israeli officials would create a dangerous precedent because Israel isn’t a party to the Rome Statute.
Guess who else isn’t a party to the Rome Statute?
Russia.
ICC already crossed that bridge with warrant for Putin.
The Israeli government has been accused of committing numerous war crimes in Gaza since the October 7 Hamas-led attack, including genocide, ethnic cleansing, and using starvation as a weapon of war. Late last year, the human rights group Democracy for the Arab World Now submitted to the ICC the names of dozens of Israeli military commanders who are believed to have been directly involved in violations of international law.
Reports of potentially imminent ICC action have sparked alarm among conservatives in the United States.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wrote on social media Friday that the court should “should stand down on this immediately.”
In an editorial published that same day, The Wall Street Journal suggested the U.S. and United Kingdom could “risk finding Americans and Britons under the gun” next if they don’t warn ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan against issuing arrest warrants for Israeli officials. Human rights organizations and legal experts have said Biden and other U.S. officials could be held liable under international law if they continue supporting Israel’s war on Gaza.
“Mr. Khan’s candidacy was championed by his native Britain and supported by the U.S.,” continues the Journal editorial, “so both countries may have influence if they warn Mr. Khan of what will happen if he proceeds.”
The Times of Israel noted Sunday that according to reports in several Israeli media outlets, the U.S. is “part of a last-ditch diplomatic effort to prevent the International Criminal Court from issuing arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials.”
Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, argued Sunday that “there is absolutely no reason for Biden to be involved in this.”
“But once again,” Parsi added, “Biden steps in to protect Netanyahu from the consequences of the war crimes he commits, which Biden claims he privately is frustrated about.”
