Author: Miles Donavan

Lammy says the government will make the UK ‘a hostile environment for the corrupt’ The government has named peer Baroness Margaret Hodge as the new anti-corruption champion, vowing that it will make the country ‘a hostile environment for the corrupt’.  Yesterday, the foreign secretary also announced that the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) International Corruption Unit will receive up to £36 million in new funding over the next five years. The government has also introduced additional sanctions aimed at combating illicit financial flows, with a particular emphasis on tackling the illegal gold trade. The foreign secretary, David Lammy, said: “This government…

Strategy of ‘not being the Tories’ was enough to get Labour elected, but is a timebomb, says Compass Labour’s strategy of ‘not being the Tories’ may have delivered a large majority, but is “a timebomb”, according to a new report by think tank Compass.  The report argues that Labour should mobilise the country’s latent progressive majority and win on a mandate for real change which makes future election victories more likely, rather than relying on courting centre-right voters. Polling by Compass reveals that four in ten people who voted Labour in July 2024 either don’t identify as very strong Labour…

“I’m not defecting to ­Reform … This is the 21st century and not the 18th — my husband does not speak for me nor does he control my political affiliations. Suella Braverman’s husband, Rael Braverman, has defected to Reform UK, forcing the former Home Secretary to reject claims that she too is considering defecting to Farage’s party. Rael, a businessman, says it was “nice to believe in something again” following his defection, with the Times reporting that he was out campaigning over the weekend for his new party ‘after he jumped ship from the Conservatives on Saturday, the third notable…

Such a strategy was tried in 1970s and came to grief in the mid-1970s secondary banking crash. Prem Sikka is an Emeritus Professor of Accounting at the University of Essex and the University of Sheffield, a Labour member of the House of Lords, and Contributing Editor at Left Foot Forward. The UK government has pinned its hopes of economic rejuvenation on the growth of the finance industry.  Such a strategy was tried in 1970s and came to grief in the mid-1970s secondary banking crash. It deepened economic crises and paved the way for the rise of neoliberalism. The government tried…

Union leaders stress that statutory sick pay in the UK is ‘set at one of the lowest levels in the industrialised world’ Trade union general secretaries have voiced concerns about the government’s “inaction” on statutory sick pay.  Bosses from 24 trade unions have written to the prime minister saying that the current rate of statutory sick pay (SSP), which is set at one of the lowest levels in the industrialised world, is currently too low for many workers to safely recover from illness. Addressing the Trades Union Congress in Liverpool last year, Angela Rayner said that a Labour government would…

‘Forgetting Jamal’s case does not align with the values of justice and democratic and human rights in your country.’ Jamal Khashoggi’s widow has called on Keir Starmer to confront the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about the murder of her husband at a meeting with the Saudi Arabian leader later today. Keir Starmer will meet with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this afternoon to discuss strengthening trade ties with Saudi Arabia, despite concerns about the regime’s poor human rights record.  These concerns include the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.…

According to reports in the London Gazette, five others were stripped of their honours A Tory donor who donated over a million pounds to the party as well as a tech entrepreneur are among those who have been stripped of their UK honours. Conservative donor Lord Rami Ranger was stripped of his CBE on Friday following allegations he made derogatory comments about Pakistanis and harassed a journalist. Ranger becomes one of a small group of people to have lost their honours, including Paula Vennells, the former Post Office boss, who lost her CBE this year after the Post Office Horizon…

As right-wing populist movements gain ground, we’re witnessing a deliberate undermining of climate science and policy at a time when extreme weather events, such as floods that  claimed hundreds of lives in Spain and hurricanes that ravaged communities in Florida, confirm the need for urgent and bold action. The shift in attitudes towards climate action within right-wing political circles has been striking. Whatever we think about Boris Johnson, at least he ‘talked the talk’ about climate change. Then again, he liked to talk the talk about most things and how genuine he was about the cause, given that he once…

‘That’s disgusting, being fined for breaking the law. We’re British it’s not fair.’ In another example of ‘poor us’ journalism coming from the pro-Brexit press, the Express railed against the “fury” of British motorists who have received French driving fines post-Brexit. “Thousands of British road users have been issued driving fines after holidays to France even after the UK’s withdrawal from the EU,” it claimed in an article entitled: “Brexit fury as frustrated British motorists sent 60,000 French driving fines.” Yes, the number of fines sent to UK drivers has increased over the past 12 months, with tickets up from 59,836…

‘Sadler’s Wells must choose: uphold the values of art and humanity, or remain complicit in the destruction and greed that threatens us all.’ Fossil Free London drew attention this week for staging a protest on the opening night of Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in Islington. The protestors called on the venue to cut ties with Barclays, one of the world’s largest investors in fossil fuels. The right-wing media quickly seized on the story, with the Daily Mail headline reading: ‘Moments eco-zealots dressed as ballerinas douse themselves with ‘oil’ at opening night of Swan Lake in protest…