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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Pauline Hanson's urgent wake up call for Anthony Albanese: 'I will not stand by while Australia is driven into the ground'
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson will introduce an urgency motion calling on the government to ditch its 'disastrous' net zero emissions target. Senators are expected to vote on the motion on Monday afternoon, adding pressure to calls from within the Coalition to scrap the policy. Ms Hanson wrote to Senate President Sue Lines on Monday morning, advising of her intention to introduce the motion 'as a matter of urgency.' 'I recently spoke to a small business owner who told me they're paying $10,000 a month just for electricity, on top of rent. It's no wonder 30,000 small businesses have shut their doors in just three years,' she said. 'Net zero is a scam. It's destroying our industries, gutting our manufacturing, crippling farming and food production, driving up the cost of living and pushing families into poverty, homelessness and despair,' she said. 'We are being led by fools. Shame on every politician who continues to push this madness. I will not stand by while Australia is driven into the ground.' While the motion is expected to be defeated, Ms Hanson said it was about forcing Coalition senators onto the record. 'We know where Labor and the Greens stand, but I want to hear where those in the Coalition stand on this,' she said. 'It's an urgency motion and anyone who abstains from this is a coward.' Net zero has emerged as a fracture point within the recently reconstituted Coalition, with Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce teasing a private members bill to do away with it. On Wednesday, The Australian reported Nationals leader Michael McCormack would support Barnaby Joyce's bid, undermining the Coalition's ongoing net zero review. It was a shot across the bow for the senior Coalition partner, signalling to its more moderate members the Nationals were not prepared to retire the issue. Ms Hanson said welcomed the move by the two Nationals MPs, adding her party had known 'all along' that net zero was a 'bad idea'. 'While some National Party members have come to the realisation that net zero has been a bad idea that has hurt productivity, cost of living, and the agriculture sector, we've been saying this all along,' she told the Daily Telegraph. 'Barnaby Joyce to his credit seems to have turned the leaf and recognised that these issues are having an impact and he's attempting to reverse the damage he and his Coalition did in government.' In place of the policy, she wrote the government should 'prioritise providing Australian families, farmers, businesses and industry with cheap and reliable energy.' She said it would help to 'protect jobs, ensure energy security, lower the cost of living and restore Australia's economic competitiveness'. Ms Hanson added Australia's ambitious target of carbon neutrality by 2050 was difficult to square with its relatively minor impact on overall global emissions. 'While China and India are exempt from cutting emissions until 2060 or 2070, and the USA refuses to play ball, we're punishing our own country for contributing just one per cent of global emissions,' she wrote. 'Between them, those three nations emit over 50 per cent but it's Australians who are made to suffer.' According to the CSIRO, Australia contributes just over one per cent of global emissions while China, India and the US comprise a combined 52 per cent.
Times
2 hours ago
- Times
How to make Great British Railways a success
Before Labour ministers choose slick slogans for their new state-run trains they should recall Henry Ford's words: 'Nothing happens until somebody sells something.' Contrary to what some in the rail sector and Whitehall seem to think, rail services cannot exist without their passengers — what they want and what they are prepared to pay. A herculean effort to win more customers from the airlines and road users is essential. Britain's railways are at a watershed. Under privatisation, passenger journeys almost doubled. By the 2010s, private franchises were running three times as many trains between London and Manchester as the old British Rail (BR) had in the early 1990s. During the two decades between privatisation and the pandemic, passenger journeys increased by 107 per cent and services by 32 per cent. Passenger satisfaction in Britain was higher than for any other major European railway. Revenue increased by 145 per cent in real terms, compared with only a 16 per cent rise in operating costs, and £14 billion of private investment went into improving the train fleet. • Ministers heading for union clash in bid for hi-tech rail travel Privatisation introduced innovations in marketing, ticketing and operational efficiency. The volume of rail travel in Britain rose to a level not seen since the 1930s, on a network half the size and with a very good safety record. The pandemic was devastating for rail. It wasn't just that train travel collapsed during the lockdowns, requiring subsidies of £20.5 billion in 2023-24 prices) to cover losses. People's travel and working behaviour changed, probably for ever. Traditional flows of revenue from business travel, first class and five-day commuter season tickets, particularly in London and the southeast, have fallen away. In the year to March only 13 per cent of journeys were made using season tickets, compared with 34 per cent before the pandemic. Even though passenger numbers are close to 100 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, revenue is still down by £1.4 billion, at 89.1 per cent. Passengers are paying less to travel outside the old peaks. The taxpayer continues to cover an unacceptably high annual subsidy of £12 billion for a sector that only delivers 2 per cent of all journeys taken by the public. Consequently, ministers must now prioritise growth as they prepare to introduce the bill to create the state-owned Great British Railways (GBR), almost 80 years after Clement Attlee first nationalised rail. Without a ruthless focus on what passengers want alongside a demand-led model, a spiral of decline — higher subsidy and fares — could easily take root. GBR risks being a solution in search of a problem and morphing into the ghost of BR unless ministers develop a viable long-term vision. New research from the Centre for Policy Studies highlights four key areas which, if supported, would deliver more passengers, more income and better services for passengers. • Great British Railways 'won't be run by civil servants' First, ministers should support a mixed model across the intercity high-speed network so GBR trains faces competition from non-subsidised 'open access' operators. For 25 years this model has successfully delivered passenger growth and satisfaction on the East Coast Main Line between London, the northeast and Scotland. It has meant better services, more routes, faster trains and cheaper tickets while also bringing more passengers to the route. This has led to new, popular rail operators entering the market, which has pushed the dominant, government-run train operator, LNER, to deliver better services for its customers. European railways that have copied this successful model have seen a 40 per cent increase in passengers and fare reductions of between 20 and 60 per cent. Second, GBR should not regulate itself, especially as the white paper proposes taking key sector powers away from the independent Office of Rail and Road. In no other regulated sector does the dominant market operator also control and deliver key elements of its own regulation, such as decisions on market access and charging. This could have huge implications for growth, open access and more rail freight. Only last week the environment secretary slammed the water companies for 'marking their own homework' and pledged to end 'operator self-monitoring'. But there is a risk that this will become the case on the railways. Third, GBR must adopt an unforgiving focus on making train travel as easy, cheap and user-friendly as possible, not least when designing a new GBR ticketing app to replace those of existing train companies. In addition to competing with popular ticketing sites it must be designed by the world's leading retail software companies rather than civil servants. GBR should deliver a 'Rail Miles' loyalty scheme, which is years overdue and could be linked with purchases made in the hospitality and retail sectors. • The Times View: Prejudice against private train operators is misguided Fourth, the vast 52,000-hectare railway estate can and must generate much more income. Commercial and residential development, renewable energy generation, light parcel freight, health hubs at stations alongside a higher-quality retail offer are all underused sources of income. We must learn from countries such as Japan, where railways earn at least one third of their revenue from non-ticket sources. Rail can and must be at the centre of Britain's industrial, employment, housing and regeneration strategies. The ghost of BR hangs over GBR. But if the passenger is put first and proven models are embraced then the future could be very different. Rail might not get another chance. Tony Lodge is a research fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies and author of Rail's Last Chance, published today by the CPS
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Now shut migrant protest hotel: As demonstrators clash again in Epping, Tories demand that Labour listen to local concerns and move asylum seekers
Labour faced mounting pressure last night to shut the asylum hotel at the centre of angry protests. But ministers stayed silent as senior Tories joined demands for migrants to be removed from The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, over 'legitimate' concerns about crime. As frustrated organisers of the growing demonstrations said they would not stop until it was closed, fresh clashes broke out outside the hotel yesterday, despite a heavy police presence to separate rival groups of protesters. The demonstrations were triggered after Ethiopian man Hadush Kebatu was charged with sexually assaulting a schoolgirl just days after he arrived in Britain in a Channel dinghy. Police chiefs have already described the unrest at The Bell as a 'signal flare' for another summer of disorder. Epping Council voted unanimously last week to urge the Government to close it. But Treasury minister James Murray refused to comment yesterday when asked why the Government has not listened to the demands. He told Sky News: 'I'm not going to comment on specific cases, but I do understand people's frustration. 'And whilst, obviously, there can never be any place for criminal violence, there's absolutely a right for people to protest about this.' It came after polling found that immigration has overtaken the economy to become voters' biggest concern about the country after the NHS. The survey by Opinium found 49 per cent of people put immigration among their top three concerns – a seven-point increase since May. Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer could also come under pressure to act from Donald Trump when they meet in Scotland today, after the US President said he had 'sealed our borders' in America and urged Europe to follow suit. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told the Mail: 'Ministers must recognise the strength of feeling from the public about this hotel, listen to their genuine and real concerns, and shut it down. 'The Government has lost control of our borders. They need to listen to the public anger on this issue and deport all illegal immigrants immediately upon arrival. 'I am furious we are being overwhelmed by illegal immigrants. What has happened at The Bell is a consequence of that.' Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch said 'agitators' were coming in to whip up trouble, telling GB News: 'The Conservatives have been calling for that hotel to be closed down, because you have to show people there is a response when they have legitimate concerns.' Kebatu, 38, is due to be tried for allegedly trying to kiss a schoolgirl as she ate pizza in Epping on July 7, eight days after he arrived in the UK. He denies sexual assault, inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity and a charge of harassment. There were more ugly scenes outside The Bell yesterday when up to 1,000 demonstrators clashed. Around 400 protesting against the migrants – mostly locals – gathered after lunch, with counter-protesters, including of pro-Palestine groups and trade unions, arriving at around 4pm, and staying for barely an hour. Despite police from 31 forces including Merseyside and Lancashire separating them, at least three people were arrested. Sarah White, 40, who organised the protest against the hotel, said: 'We won't stop. Today has been a great opportunity for our voices to be heard. We've got the message out there that we don't want these hotels. 'This, I think, has been the biggest – there's more to come. We need to feel safe – we don't currently. It's shocking. We won't stop until that hotel is closed.' Maureen Chapman, 73, said she felt 'under threat', adding: 'I have grandchildren living locally. We want this closed and we won't stop until it is. Despite police from 31 forces including Merseyside and Lancashire separating them, at least three people were arrested 'These people moaning, would they want it at the end of their street?' The Home Office said: 'The Government is reducing expensive hotel use as part of a complete overhaul of the asylum system. 'From over 400 asylum hotels in summer 2023, costing almost £9million a day, there are now less than 210. We want them all closed by the end of this Parliament. 'People rightly want to see a robust and effective asylum system and we have a duty to support people who would otherwise be destitute and sleeping rough while their case is decided.'
