Left Foot Forward EXCLUSIVE: Poll shows huge support for nationalisation of key industries and utilities

https://leftfootforward.org/2023/11/exclusive-poll-shows-huge-support-for-nationalisation-of-key-industries-and-utilities/

Privatisation has failed.

Image of an East Coast train
An East Coast train at King’s Cross station

An exclusive poll for LFF shows huge public support for nationalisation of key industries and utilities, with the public having little confidence in the private sector, showing just how badly privatisation has failed.

Our poll shows that a majority of the public support public ownership of key industries and utilities like energy, water, railways, buses and the postal service – including among Conservative voters.

Buses: 67% want public ownership

67% of voters want to see buses in public ownership, with just 23% wanting private sector involvement. Support for public ownership of buses is highest among 18-24 year olds at 77%, with 64% of those aged 65 and over also supporting public ownership.

When it comes to party affiliation, a majority of Conservative Party voters want to see buses in public ownership (61%) as do Labour voters (72%) and Lib Dem voters (66%).

Water: 73% want public ownership

When it comes to water companies, 73% of voters want public ownership of water companies, compared to 18% who want them to be run by the private sector. Once again, a majority of Tory voters also want to see public ownership (70%) as do Labour voters (81%) and Lib Dem voters (77%). 88% of Green Party voters also want to see water companies taken into public ownership.

Railways: 70% support for public ownership

Energy: 65% want public ownership

Postal service: 70% want public ownership

NHS: 81% want public sector involvement only

https://leftfootforward.org/2023/11/exclusive-poll-shows-huge-support-for-nationalisation-of-key-industries-and-utilities/

Continue ReadingLeft Foot Forward EXCLUSIVE: Poll shows huge support for nationalisation of key industries and utilities

Shadow minister Imran Hussain quits Labour front bench over Gaza

https://leftfootforward.org/2023/11/shadow-minister-imran-hussain-quits-labour-front-bench-over-gaza/

Shadow minister Imran Hussain quits Labour front bench over Starmer’s failure to call for a ceasefire in Gaza

“Over recent weeks, it has become clear that my view on the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza differs substantially from the position you have adopted.”

Labour leader Keir Starmer has so far resisted calls for a ceasefire from within his own party, including from members of his shadow cabinet as well as from the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham. The Labour leader said that the terrorist group Hamas would be “emboldened” by a ceasefire, four weeks after it killed 1,400 people in Israel.

Announcing his resignation on X, formerly Twitter, Hussain wrote in his letter: “Over recent weeks, it has become clear that my view on the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza differs substantially from the position you have adopted.

“A ceasefire is essential to ending the bloodshed, to ensuring that enough aid can pass into Gaza and reach those most in need, and to help ensure the safe return of the Israeli hostages.”

He added that the cutting of food, water, power, and medicine to Palestinians in Gaza is an act of collective punishment that violates international law and is a ‘clear war crime’.

https://leftfootforward.org/2023/11/shadow-minister-imran-hussain-quits-labour-front-bench-over-gaza/

Continue ReadingShadow minister Imran Hussain quits Labour front bench over Gaza

Theresa May urges government ‘not to roll backwards’ on net zero commitment

Image of former UK Prime Minister Theresa May
Former UK Prime Minister Theresa May

https://www.politics.co.uk/news/2023/11/08/theresa-may-urges-government-not-to-roll-backwards-on-net-zero-commitment/

Theresa May has said the “best long-term decision” the government can make is on climate change because action is integral to the “long-term future” of the UK.

Speaking in the debate on the King’s Speech yesterday, the former prime minister suggested the government was not being sufficiently “strong in ambition” to meet the 2050 net zero target.

The King’s Speech contained plans to have licences for oil and gas projects in the North Sea awarded annually. 

There have recently been questions raised about the government’s ability to meet its 2050 net zero target, with its climate advisers warning the UK risks falling behind without much faster action.

In its latest progress report, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) said the “expansion of fossil fuel production is not in line with net zero“.

https://www.politics.co.uk/news/2023/11/08/theresa-may-urges-government-not-to-roll-backwards-on-net-zero-commitment/

Continue ReadingTheresa May urges government ‘not to roll backwards’ on net zero commitment

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed 10,000 people

Over 26,000 people have been injured and around 1.5 million displaced out of a total population of 2.3 million since Israel started its war on Gaza on October 7. Israeli forces have also killed over 150 people in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

November 06, 2023 by Peoples Dispatch

The debris following an Israeli airstrike in Jabalya. Photo: Quds News Network

Gaza faced yet another communications black out on Monday, November 6 even as reports emerged of Israeli planes bombing more residential areas and killing dozens of civilians on the 31st day of its war. 

On Sunday night and on Monday morning, Israeli forces bombed over 450 Palestinian locations in the besieged Palestinian territory, killing dozens of Palestinians, including children and women. 

The total number of Palestinians killed has crossed the 10,000 mark and over 26,000 have been injured in Israel’s indiscriminate bombings and ground offensive. Over 1,000 Palestinians are also reported missing and are likely to be buried in the debris created by Israel’s war planes targeting residential areas, hospitals, schools, and other civilian infrastructure. 

Israel has also launched a ground offensive inside Gaza. Its forces claimed on Monday that they have divided the besieged Palestinian territory into two. They also repeated their ultimatum asking all residents to leave northern Gaza.

66 Palestinians were reportedly killed when Israel bombed residential buildings in Deir al-Balah and al-Zawayida in central Gaza on Monday.

Internet services and telecommunications shut down in Gaza for the third time since October 7. Israel on Monday once again disrupted the power supply to Al-Shifa hospital. The largest hospital in Gaza has faced repeated attacks in its vicinity and is running out of fuel, medicine, and space, caused both by the Israeli blockade and due to the surge in the number of patients. 

There are over 40,000 people seeking refuge in the hospital at the moment according to Al-Jazeera.

More killed in occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem

Israeli occupation forces have also killed 155 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since October 7, two of them on Monday.

One of the Palestinians killed was just 16 years old. Israel alleged that he attacked two of their soldiers, wounding them seriously with a knife before he was shot dead, Wafa reported.

Over 70 other Palestinians were arrested from different parts of the occupied West Bank by Israeli occupation forces in late night raids conducted on Sunday and early morning on Monday. 

The arrested include activist Ahed Tamimi who was arrested from her house near Ramallah in a raid. 

On Sunday evening, an Israeli drone attacked a car in southern Lebanon, killing three children and injuring an elderly woman, Al-Mayadeen reported

Hezbollah responded to the death of Lebanese children by firing rockets inside a northern Israeli town killing at least one person.

Blinken threatened countries and groups in the region against any attempts to intervene in the war in Gaza. The US also announced the deployment of a nuclear submarine in the region on Monday.

The US has already increased the presence of its armed forces in the region following Israeli aggression in Gaza and has supplied armaments to Israel for the war.

Original article by peoples dispatch republished under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Continue ReadingIsrael’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed 10,000 people

How did we get to this Rishi Sunak & Co mess

later: The King’s speech is today whereby King Charles reads a speech prepared by the UK government with details of what the government intends for the new parliamentary session. The UK government must call a general election before 17 December 2024.

One of the many occasions climate change denier and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak uses a private jet.
One of the many occasions climate change denier and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak uses a private jet.

Briefly, Liar and cheat Boris Johnson won the 2019 general election with a huge majority. He achieved this by lying and misleading the UK electorate promising to “Get Brexit done” and an oven-ready deal and similar associated lies. The UK electorate were tired of the Tories Brexit BS and wanted it finished. It’s still unfinished of course.

Image of Elmo and former Prime Minister Tory idiot Boris Johnson
Image of Elmo (left) and former Prime Minister Tory idiot Boris Johnson (right)

Boris was deposed as a result of the Partygate Scandal – repeatedly lying that there were no parties at Downing Street when there were so many at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when such social meetings were forbidden.

Then we briefly had Liz Truss replacing Boris. She trashed the UK economy with her and Kwasi Kwasi Kwarteng’s bonkers budget. It may be worth investigating who has benefited financially from that budget.

Lettuce complains about being compared to Liz Truss. The lettuce says "It's bd enough getting compared to a Tory, never mind an imbecile"
Lettuce complains about being compared to Liz Truss.

Sunak replaced Liz Truss as Conservative Leader and therefore UK Prime Minister. His government has made huge assaults on the right to protest and is in thrall to the fossil fuel industry pursuing a climate-denying programme of fossil fuel expansion with huge fossil fuel subsidies. Many regard his climate-denying actions as criminal. He must be aware of the effects of his actions.

We have idiots like Lee Anderson repeatedly attacking the poor, Sue-Ellen Braverman wanting to take tents away from homeless people so that they die of exposure, open sewers full across the UK with UK abandoning EU pollution regulations.

Continue ReadingHow did we get to this Rishi Sunak & Co mess