UK Politics
www.bbc.co.uk
> Health Secretary Wes Streeting has dismissed suggestions that plans to provide weight loss jabs to unemployed people with obesity are "dystopian". > >The UK government is partnering with pharmaceutical giant Lilly who are running a five-year trial in Greater Manchester to test if the weight-loss drug Mounjaro can help get more people back to work and prevent obesity-related diseases to ease the strain on the NHS in England. > >The announcement prompted a backlash, with accusations that the government was stigmatising unemployed individuals and reducing people to their economic value. > >Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Streeting said the jabs were part of a broader healthcare plan, adding that he was "not interested in some dystopian future where I involuntarily jab unemployed people who are overweight".
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/21598108 > cross-posted from: https://hcommons.social/users/adachika192/statuses/113339925768240423 > > > Pro-Palestine protesters shut down London's Tower Bridge > > (Jerusalem Post, 2024-10-20) > > > > [https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-825262#825262](https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-825262#825262) > > ——— > > > > “Pro-Palestine protesters shut down Tower Bridge in [#London](https://hcommons.social/tags/London) on Saturday, shortly after thousands attended a mass protest in Trafalgar Square and Whitehall.” > > > > “… the Met Police stated that the groups had been dispersed and several arrests had been made.” > > > > “A group named Youth Demand claimed to have been part of a coalition that organized the event and shut down the bridge. > > “Youth Demand said it demanded that the UK government stop arming Israel…” > > > > “The other groups involved were the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Prayers4Gaza, Palestine Pulse, Thanet 4 Palestine, and Ealing Friends of Palestine.” > > > > [@palestine@lemmy.ml](https://lemmy.ml/c/palestine) > > [@palestine@a.gup.pe](https://a.gup.pe/u/palestine) > > [@israel](https://a.gup.pe/u/israel) > > [\#YouthDemand](https://hcommons.social/tags/YouthDemand) [#StopArmingIsrael](https://hcommons.social/tags/StopArmingIsrael)
www.mirror.co.uk
>Nigel Farage's fans have been offered tours of Parliament with an MP for £300. > > A fundraising email was sent out by Reform UK inviting supporters to a Christmas party at a central London bar and nightclub, with an option to purchase expensive tours around Parliament as an extra. There are restrictions on MPs using their access to Parliament, with the invite appearing to be a breach of House of Commons rules. > >In 2020 Green MP Caroline Lucas was found to have breached parliamentary rules by giving a tour of the Commons for a £150 contribution to a fundraising campaign. An investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner found she had breached the Code of Conduct for MPs. > > Reform UK's MPs are understood to have been unaware of the event or tours until someone who bought a ticket contacted them. The party said the email, first seen by *the Times*, was incorrectly sent out by a local branch that wasn't aware of the rules. Those who have bought a ticket are now being offered a refund.
Original (paywalled) link: https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/anti-zionism-protected-under-equality-law-judge-rules-7zscc630d
www.theguardian.com
Full list of investments can be found on the [government website](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/record-breaking-international-investment-summit-secures-63-billion-and-nearly-38000-jobs-for-the-uk). > Investors attending the Labour government’s first International Investment Summit have announced pledges totalling £63bn today, which will create an estimated 38,000 jobs. > > Spending commitments include £20bn from ‘Vampire kangaroo’ Macquarie, on projects including a rollout of fast-charging electric vehicle infrastructure at motorway service stations, over £6bn of new data centres by US tech firms, an expansion of Stansted airport, and a tie-up with US pharma firm Eli Lilly. > […] > The government also secured a £1bn expansion of London Gateway port, after the row over transport secretary Louise Haigh’s criticism of its owner’s poor business practices was defused. > > Opening the event, Sir Keir Starmer said the government and investors were bound together, in the “shared endeavour of prosperity”. > > Growth, Starmer argued, was “vital…if we are to steer our way through a great period of insecurity and change”. > > Having ‘celebrated’ 100 days in office on Saturday, Starmer pledged to fix the UK’s public service and stabilise the economy quickly, and also repair Britain’s brand “as an open, outward-looking, confident, trading nation”. > > In comments that have caused alarm, Starmer pledged to “get rid” of regulations that are holding back investment, such as building homes, data centres, warehouses, grid connectors, roads, and trainlines. > > Both the Green Party and the RSPB have voiced concerns about what this will mean for Britain. > > Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, told delegates that UK corporation tax would be capped at 25% for the lifetime of this parliament, in an attempt to give bosses some certainty. > > She also warned that the government faces ‘difficult choices’ as she draws up the budget, and hinted that she is planning to raise employer national insurance contributions. > > Reeves also announced that the UK Infrastructure Bank has been converted into the National Wealth Fund, which will be capitalised with £27.8bn to catalyse private investment in the market.
inews.co.uk
> Conservative leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch has faced criticism after a report she endorsed suggested people with autism get “economic advantages and protections” and “better treatment or equipment at school”. > > The pamphlet, which Badenoch had launched at a campaign event, covers ways the Conservative Party can get “back on track” and includes contributions from 24 of her supporters. > >It claims that “the socialisation of mental health so everyone has to treat you differently has failed to improve people’s mental health outcomes” and that this has “created costs and failed to improve people’s mental health”. > >The section specifically references autism and anxiety as two examples of this, stating that people diagnosed with either of them get “economic advantages and protections” not afforded to their peers. > >“If you have a neurodiversity diagnosis (e.g. anxiety, autism), then that is usually seen as a disability, a category similar to race or biological sex in terms of discrimination law and general attitudes,” it states. > […] > Former Conservative justice secretary Robert Buckland, who published the Buckland review earlier this year into employment rates among autistic people, said the section appeared “muddled”. > > He added that the report shouldn’t be “stigmatising or lumping certain categories in with each other”, adding: “Anxiety is not a neurodiverse condition… autism is not a mental health condition.” > […] > Before the election, former education secretary Gillian Keegan admitted that special needs support in schools – which can be accessed by autistic children – was in “crisis” with many parents having to “fight to get the right support”.
news.sky.com
> Sir Keir Starmer is marking his first 100 days in office. When his press spokesperson was asked ahead of the big day if the prime minister thought it had been a successful start, he simply said: "It's up to the public to decide that." > >The verdict is in, and it isn't good: Sir Keir's approval poll ratings last week fell to -33 - a drop of 44 points since his post-election high, while one poll put Labour just one point ahead of the Tories. > >A poll out this weekend by YouGov finds nearly half of those who voted Labour in the last general election feel let down so far, while six in 10 disapprove of the government's record so far, against one in six who approve of the Starmer government. > >Sir Keir will no doubt say it's not about the first 100 days, it's about the "next decade of national renewal". And perhaps he has a point. How can you foretell the fortunes of a political leader from 100 days? > >The great late Alistair Cooke in one of his Letter from America dispatches said making a big deal out of the first 100 days was a "foolish custom".
>Industrial strategy can accelerate growth and create good jobs, says TUC
news.sky.com
That must have been some frantic back pedalling by the government to win back that billion £ investment.
transkidsdeservebetter.org
LONDON, 11 October 2024, 3:50 PM—6 young trans activists infiltrated the LGB Alliance’s annual conference at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Hall in Westminster, some of whom fled quickly after while others were held by security for a period before being let go. They did so with intentions of ending the conference early, which they describe as a horrendous breeding ground for fervent and violent transphobia. The group released approximately 6,000 crickets from bags hidden on their persons which they snuck through security just before a talk on the “dangers” of medical transition. They made sure to spread the crickets (which do not infest and pose no danger to humans) across the entire hall, in order to ensure the conference could be safely brought to an end. The speech was postponed and later speeches were cancelled. They filmed some of the earlier speeches using hidden cameras in order to “expose the fact that this group really has no interest whatsoever in promoting the rights of cis LGB people, and exists entirely to hurt the trans community as much as they possibly can”. Speakers at the anti-trans event told the audience to “Squash them, kill them, kill the buggers!” One bug carrier said they’ve “been feeling physically ill with nerves, mentally cycling through all the possibilities and worst case scenarios, a thousand times over. I’m scared. But I fear more for the outcomes if we don’t go through with this action.” The LGB Alliance claims to stand for the rights of lesbians, bisexuals, and gay men, but a challenge from Mermaids and the Good Law Project against their charitable status objects that they “dedicate most of their output to denigrating trans people”. The crick-kids say that “the LGB Alliance’s hate and cruelty resonates out into the political sphere”. They believe the result of the conference, if it had gone ahead as planned, would have been an acceleration of transphobic hate and misinformation, which drives much of the attack on their healthcare and dignity in all other parts of their lives. Speaking hours before entering the conference: “It makes me really angry to see trans kids being talked about like a bunch of brainless children who can’t make decisions for or speak for themselves. I’m sick of having our voices taken away by bigoted people like the LGBA who speak over us instead of listening.” “Whilst we, the trans community, cobble together what little support we can to keep each other safe, this group claiming to stand for social progress spends hundreds of thousands of pounds annually to keep us down. We are trans kids, we are loved, and we deserve dignity.” “They may try to ‘sound the alarm’ on trans youth accessing life-saving healthcare but we cannot and will not let them. Trans youth are powerful and we will let them fucking know it.” All trans youth apprehended by attendees have been released and returned safely home.
news.sky.com
Get in Keir!
www.theguardian.com
I'm expecting an increase in capital gains tax to get heavily attacked in the media and by the free market (pro-inequality imo) crowd, for predictable reasons. And they may even be right that in the long term the amount of direct revenue it raises is not significant. BUT if a secondary consequence of this is an offloading of assets (particularly houses) I think it could be great. As the article reports; "Wealth managers have reported a flurry of investors rushing to sell second homes and other assets before the budget." Am I right in reading this policy as a disincentive to hoarding and rent-seeking? I don't think Labour will have the guts to come out and say this is something they're actually aiming for. What do you think?
news.sky.com
> The chancellor will need to raise taxes by £25bn if she wants to keep spending in line with a key indicator of the nation's economic health, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). > >In its annual 'Green Budget' analysis, the IFS warned that the government would have to dramatically increase the £9bn of tax rises outlined in its manifesto to meet the pressures on public services. > >The chancellor is likely to stick to her fiscal rule, which requires day-to-day spending to be met by tax revenues. This means she cannot increase borrowing to fill the gap. > >Rachel Reeves will present her first budget in the Commons on 30 October. Paul Johnson, director of the IFS, said this budget could be "the most consequential since at least 2010".
inews.co.uk
> Sir Keir Starmer has promised “no more talking shops of the past” when he meets regional mayors and leaders of the devolved nations on Friday as part of his programme to transfer power away from Westminster. > > But despite the rhetoric, some mayors are concerned Treasury officials are already putting the brakes on a project designed to give locals greater say over housing and adult education. > > Downing Street said the meeting in Scotland is intended to bring together First Ministers John Swinney, Michelle O’Neill and Eluned Morgan; 11 English metro mayors; and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to discuss “shared challenges” and “opportunities” to boost inward investment across the country. > […] > However, without spending clout there is a limit to what they can achieve, sources said. While the mayors broadly welcome how Sir Keir has promoted devolution, some say they are frustrated by the Treasury, which they say is hoarding power by putting national priorities for growth and jobs creation ahead of giving local leaders control. > > “The Treasury is saying to the mayors, ‘This is the national strategy; we see you as just implementing our strategy,’” one mayor told *[I]*. “They don’t see it as devolution or, ‘You have control, and you decide.’ They just see us as a mechanism for delivering their national plans. And the mayors hate it. > > “It’s not a fight yet, but there’s a big, very, assertive discussion going on at the minute about the strings that the Government is still trying to attach to all the pots of money that we’re going to get.” > […] > “It’s a Treasury orthodoxy issue rather than a political one with Angela [Rayner] or Rachel [Reeves]. > > “What’s the point of mayors, if you’re just basically going to tell us what to do and how to do it without giving us the freedom of having devolution? At the moment the mayors are not getting devolution, it’s decentralisation because it’s all linked to the national industrial strategy.” > > The mayor said that “the Government rhetoric on devolution is really good, but they love central control. So how do you deliver devolution without giving us more control over jobs and skills or our local industrial strategy? Instead, you have a national industrial strategy, you have a national jobs plan.”
