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Richest 1% of people in UK now wealthier than 70% of population combined

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/richest-1-of-people-in-uk-now-wealthier-than-70-of-population-combined-341998/

The richest 1 per cent of people in the UK are now wealthier than 70 per cent of the population combined, according to analysis by Oxfam.

A report by the charity highlights how the 685,500 richest people in Britain are worth a total of £2.8 trillion, compared with 48 million people in the UK whose combined wealth totals £2.4 trillion.

Oxfam’s report, called Survival of the Richest, builds a picture of widening worldwide inequality, after extreme poverty and extreme wealth increased simultaneously over the past two years for the first time in quarter of a century.

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https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/richest-1-of-people-in-uk-now-wealthier-than-70-of-population-combined-341998/

Continue ReadingRichest 1% of people in UK now wealthier than 70% of population combined

Keith Starmer offers up ‘dangerous false solutions’ to crisis-hit NHS, campaigners warn

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/sir-keir-offers-up-dangerous-false-solutions-to-crisis-hit-nhs-campaigners-warn

NHS sign
NHS logo

LABOUR’S leadership is offering “dangerous false solutions” to the crisis-hit NHS, campaigners warned today after Sir Keir Starmer said the health service must “reform or die.”

Jeremy Corbyn’s successor told the BBC that the NHS should always be free at the point of use, but that there is also a “role for the private sector,” including with help clearing massive waiting lists.

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The Socialist Health Association, Labour’s affiliated socialist society for healthcare and medical professionals, said Sir Keir is “right that the Tory-damaged NHS is in urgent need of repair.”

But the group stressed that his solutions “are all wrong.

“After over a decade of Conservative austerity, with staff leaving in droves amid real-terms pay cuts of up to 26 per cent since 2010, the NHS is desperately in need of more funding.

“Instead, the Labour leadership is offering bromides and dangerous false solutions. For Keir Starmer to advocate self-referrals for internal bleeding is a recipe for disaster that will waste resources and cost lives.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/sir-keir-offers-up-dangerous-false-solutions-to-crisis-hit-nhs-campaigners-warn

Continue ReadingKeith Starmer offers up ‘dangerous false solutions’ to crisis-hit NHS, campaigners warn

Scottish Greens call on Westminster to ‘wake up to the reality of the climate crisis’

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/scottish-greens-call-on-westminster-to-wake-up-to-the-reality-of-the-climate-crisis

Image: Chris LeBoutillier / Creative Commons

THE Scottish Greens called on Westminster today to “wake up to the reality of the climate crisis” and change course on fossil fuels instead of “dragging us towards environmental disaster.”

The challenge followed publication of the Scottish government’s draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition document, which calls for a halt to new oil and gas exploration licences and outlines plans for Scotland to lead a transition to renewables.

The strategy includes ideas to increase the country’s renewable electricity generation capacity by 20 gigawatts (GW) over the next seven years, equivalent to nearly 50 per cent of current demand, the Scottish Greens said.

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“Even as the world burns, the UK government has committed to approving 100 new oil and gas exploration licences and is opening the first new coalmine for 30 years.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/scottish-greens-call-on-westminster-to-wake-up-to-the-reality-of-the-climate-crisis

Continue ReadingScottish Greens call on Westminster to ‘wake up to the reality of the climate crisis’

The Brexiteers promised shorter A&E waiting times after Brexit …

Continue ReadingThe Brexiteers promised shorter A&E waiting times after Brexit …

Sunak under fire over second jet flight for UK trip in a week

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jan/13/sunak-under-fire-over-second-jet-flight-for-uk-trip-in-a-week

Rishi Sunak has been accused of wasting taxpayers’ money and making a mockery of the government’s strategy for tackling the climate crisis, after chartering a second private jet for a UK trip within a week.

The prime minister took a roughly 90-minute ride in an RAF plane to Scotland for a two-day visit, where he held a meeting with the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, and announced the opening of two new freeports.

Both leaders met in Inverness, before Sunak headed to nearby Port of Cromarty Firth to mark the announcement about plans for a green freeport there. He headed back to Downing Street on Friday afternoon.

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Continue ReadingSunak under fire over second jet flight for UK trip in a week