Cross-party body seeks to tackle divisions in wake of 2024 summer riots
An independent commission aimed at tackling community divisions across Britain in the wake of last summer's riots will hold its first meeting on Wednesday.
The cross-party body, led by former Tory home secretary Sir Sajid Javid and Labour MP Jon Cruddas, says it will seek to examine what the Prime Minister last year called the 'cracks in our foundation'.
It has support from across the political spectrum, including the backing of Sir Keir Starmer's Government.
The group will develop a series of evidence-based recommendations for measures to build more social cohesion across the four nations.
Former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas, ex-Tory mayor of the West Midlands Sir Andy Street, and former counter-extremism tsar Dame Sara Khan are among its members.
Sir Sajid, who served in the Cabinets of David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson, said successive administrations had treated social cohesion as a 'second-tier' issue.
He said governments had responded 'only when tensions spill over and too often ignoring the root causes.'
'This commission has been established to do what governments alone cannot: take a long view, propose radical policy changes and — crucially — help forge a cross-society consensus about how we want to live together now and in the future,' Sir Sajid said.
Former veteran Labour MP for Dagenham and Rainham Mr Cruddas said the commission would seek to respond to one of 'the most pressing and persistently neglected issues' facing Britain.
He said: 'This won't be a top-down exercise. Over the next year, we'll be listening directly to people across the UK – drawing on their experiences to help shape practical, long-term answers to the forces pulling us apart.'
The commission is being facilitated by the Together Coalition founded by Brendan Cox, the husband of the Labour MP Jo Cox who was murdered by a far-right extremist.
It was established in the aftermath of a wave of violent disorder that swept across parts of the UK last summer following the Southport stabbings.
False information spread on social media about the identity of the attacker, later found to be 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana, was widely seen as playing a role in fuelling the unrest.
The disturbances, which saw mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers targeted, were denounced at the time as 'far-right thuggery' by Prime Minister Sir Keir.
Although not officially Government-sponsored, the commission is being supported by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
A spokesperson for the ministry said: 'We want to put an end to community division, which is why we are driving £15 million into towns and cities across the country through the Community Recovery Fund.
'This will provide vital support to areas affected by recent unrest – such as £5.6 million for Southport to help rebuild the town.
'We are supportive of the work that the Together Coalition is undertaking, and we look forward to following the commission's progress.'
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Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
Sir David Murray vows to save Dalzell steel mill as he reveals masterplan
SIR David Murray vowed to be a 'big customer' of Dalzell steel mill if his masterplan to save it becomes reality. The ex-Rangers owner and metal magnate, 73, says he is ready to play a major role in providing Scottish steel for North Sea wind turbines to power the nation's future energy. 4 Sir David Murray vowed to be a 'big customer' of Dalzell steel mill Credit: Andrew Barr 4 The plant in Motherwell is currently mothballed due to cheap Chinese steel imports and a drought in orders Credit: Getty 4 Some 140 workers were furloughed or placed on maintenance duties in April this year Credit: Reuters 4 New Liberty owner Sanjeev Gupta with Nicola Sturgeon Credit: Alan Ewing The plant in Motherwell is currently mothballed due to cheap Chinese steel imports and a drought in orders, with some 140 workers furloughed or placed on maintenance duties in April this year. Sir David has been in talks with Holyrood ministers for a decade over halting the industry's decline. He has now revealed he has held hush-hush negotiations with the UK Government to rescue the mill. His latest intervention comes after PM Sir Keir Starmer and Scottish Secretary Ian Murray blasted SNP ministers in May for allowing the nation's last remaining steel plants — Dalzell and Clydebridge in Cambuslang — to cease production. The Scottish Government orchestrated a takeover of the sites in 2016, putting taxpayers' cash on the line. And Sir Keir insisted last month it was important to 'get those plants up and running again'. Now Sir David has told The Scottish Sun on Sunday: 'There is a lot of political stuff going on over Dalzell. I've been heavily involved in trying to save the plate mill. 'I have spoken to the British Government in the last week and there's a meeting in a few weeks' time. 'The workforce has stayed at home for months and got 80 per cent of their wages. But it could be sorted in a week. We need people in management to work with me. 'I'd be the chairman, I'd help the management, I'd help the business, we'd be a big customer. Former Rangers owner Sir David Murray vows to save Dalzell steel mill with masterplan 'At the time it closed, I was one of its biggest customers. 'At our peak we'd be selling 550,000 tonnes of steel a year. 'That's five Forth rail bridges in weight. Today it's just over one because the fabrication business is diminishing — it's ridiculous that Britain does not have the capacity to roll a steel plate.' Sir David told how there is one mill in the north-east of England which is Ukrainian-owned. He went on: 'The wind turbines being made for the North Sea are much bigger now. 'It's a heavier plate, ideal for Dalzell. There are 50,000 tonnes of steel coming to Teesside this week from Korea to be made into turbines. 'The Scottish Government don't own one wind turbine. Look at the cost of energy. We are buying power from other people who put in these turbines. We need to create growth, jobs and prosperity in this country.' We told last July of fears the Dalzell operation would be mothballed amid a slowdown in work. A report in March by the Community Union, which represents workers at the two plants, said low-cost steel from China and high UK energy prices were hitting British steel production. The union said Dalzell needed investment to become a 'world-leading producer' of a key turbines component. Sir David has long called for an inquiry into the Scottish Government's involvement in the 2016 sale of the Lanarkshire plants to tycoon Sanjeev Gupta and Liberty Steel. The sale was backed by a £7million loan from Scottish Enterprise. MURRAY'S HEART SCARE OP EXCLUSIVE by Rodger Hannah SIR David Murray has lifted the lid on a secret heart op after he was diagnosed with a potentially-fatal medical condition. The businessman fell ill shortly before selling Rangers to Craig Whyte in 2011 — to be told he had an aortic aneurysm. He revealed: 'I was driving home over the Forth Road Bridge and I thought I was having a heart attack. I went into Dunfermline Hospital. I had a scan. It's basically your main blood vessel and the aneurysm makes it expand. 'If it bursts, you've got about half an hour.' Sir David believes the pressure of Rangers' financial issues and the global recession could have contributed to his health scare. He added: 'They told me I needed an operation, which I had in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. 'I shared the information with Craig Brown a few years ago. 'He had an identical thing. His burst but they managed to get him in on time.' Former Scotland manager Brown needed life-saving surgery in 2020. He told the Scottish Sun at the time: 'They say only about three out of ten survive it.' Brown died in 2023 aged 82. But Sir David claims ministers rejected his rival bid because it was potentially incompatible with state aid rules, and has criticised Mr Gupta's management since. He said: 'Ten years ago, I met the Scottish Government and the First Minister [Nicola Sturgeon]. I put a proposal to them and I was told they couldn't do it because they couldn't give state aid. 'Then they lent somebody else £7million who hasn't paid it back.' Mr Gupta, executive chairman of GFG Alliance which owns Liberty Steel, is being prosecuted by Companies House for failing to file accounts for more than 70 companies listed in Britain. He denies any wrongdoing. Ayr-born Sir David spoke exclusively ahead of this Thursday's July publication of his autobiography 'Mettle: Tragedy, Courage and Titles. He remains chair of his family firm, Murray Capital Group, albeit his son, also David, runs day-to-day operations as managing director. He reveals in his new book that some of his teenage grandkids have already attended board meetings. He added: 'There is an opportunity for young people but you better come to the table with a skill. 'You're not coming, as my great friend Sean Connery said, as a member of The Lucky Sperm Club.' The UK Government confirmed Sir David had met with MP Ian Murray. A source said: 'David Murray has met Ian Murray to discuss his concerns about the Dalzell works being mothballed because the SNP cut a bad deal. We encourage the SNP Government to take advantage of the trade deals the UK Labour Government has cut and the industrial strategy which present a huge opportunity for Scottish steel.' Liberty Steel declined to comment. The Scottish Government said its 2016 intervention 'sustained over 100 jobs at Dalzell and retained steelmaking capacity in Scotland.' Scottish Enterprise confirmed: 'We remain in discussion with Liberty Steel regarding repayment of the loan funding.'
The National
2 hours ago
- The National
The UK's definition of controversial is way off balance
Mike always manages to see the wood from the trees and clearly, like me, abhors the dripping hypocrisy of governments, the media and press. In this instance, the English Labour government gets so het up by folk having the temerity to spray red paint on two precious military planes, yet is just so unforgivably cold-hearted about death and destruction in Gaza, which, as Mike says, it's complicit in. So, to witness at the NATO summit in The Hague the leaders of European countries, including the AI-generated abomination that is Keir Starmer, being so obsequious to the leader of the country that is basically funding the mass destruction of humans and infrastructure in Gaza was sickening! READ MORE: Scottish manufacturing firm announces 90 jobs face redundancy I'm no daft! Obviously this totally insincere behaviour is a form of self-protection. The type of self-protection, however, that is more akin to those in one of my favourite films, The Godfather, that grovel and simper to the don, Vito Corleone, then after his death to his youngest son, Michael. The world has gone mad! Those that, quite rightly, have a conscious and a heart that spray paint a military aircraft involving zero harm tae onybody, no even a cut finger in sight, are portrayed as evil monsters! Yet it's imperative to still sell arms to a nation whose government is involved in ethnic cleansing and to defend that country's right to 'defend' itself! Even the term 'perverse' doesn't cut it! Glastonbury is now upon us and a group called Kneecap are playing there much to the overwhelming disgust of politicians, the media and the press, apart from The National, to its great credit! Somebody needs tae hae a brain! Kneecap care about the plight of Palestinian bairns that get blawn tae bits and quite rightly display this in a very blunt, 'controversial' way. However, what the hell could be mair controversial than blawing a poor innocent bairn tae bits! Aye, the world has definitely gaun mad! Ivor Telfer Dalgety Bay, Fife LAST week the Scotland 2050 conference took place in Edinburgh. Swinney spoke, and his big idea for solving Scotland's myriad of problems isn't independence. It's reforming the National Performance Framework (NPF), the aim of which is to 'create a framework that better drives public sector reform, improves collaboration between the national and local governments and empowers communities'. Stirring stuff! When I tried to learn more about the NPF, I found the website was archived. Swinney also wants Scotland to rejoin the increasingly authoritarian, neo-liberal and warmongering EU. That isn't up to him but to the Scottish people, and they can't decide it until Scotland leaves the failing UK. He references independence, but provides no strategy for achieving it. He plans to complement the NPF with 'full fiscal autonomy'. That means instead of the block grant, Holyrood would receive all taxation levied in Scotland – business, employment, environmental and consumption taxes – although VAT remains reserved to Westminster. Scotland would still pay Westminster a population share for 'Union services'. That means it would have to shell out money for nuclear weapons that Westminster insists be located in Scotland, as well as expensive UK embassies and a Foreign Office that cheerleads US-instigated foreign wars and backs the Zionist entity to the hilt. Full fiscal autonomy is not independence but just another form of devolution. No central bank or a Scottish currency. No control over energy policy, which would still be dictated by London. No say over immigration or trade policy. Holyrood would still be on a fiscal leash that Westminster could yank to pull it back into line at any time. (Image: PA) It's managerialism, something at which Swinney excels and it shows that he and the other Holyrood career politicians have settled comfortably into their devolutionist straitjacket. Moreover, it's unlikely that Westminster would ever agree to it. Devolution has failed Scotland yet it's all the SNP and Swinney are offering. The Scottish people will continue to live with falling living standards, worsening physical and mental health, crumbling public services and rising poverty all because they don't have the courage and confidence to run their own affairs and tell Westminster to take a hike. Leah Gunn Barrett Edinburgh ACCORDING to that self-proclaimed fountain of wisdom, Dame Jackie Baillie (right), the latest figures on NHS Scotland cancer waiting times are 'disastrous and an indication of the SNP's mismanagement of the NHS'. If that is indeed the case, and not just another disingenuous Dame Baillie anti-SNP soundbite, then how would Dame Baillie describe the situation in Wales, perhaps 'catastrophic?' In Wales, the devolved Labour Government has not only given up (since 2019) on reporting the 31-day target for the start of treatment, which NHS Scotland is achieving in 94.1% of cases and NHS England in 91.3% of cases. NHS Wales is only achieving the 62-day target for initial referral to start of treatment in 60.5% of cases. On the 62-day target, NHS Scotland at 68.9% is performing 13.9% better than Wales and NHS England at 69.9% is performing 15.5% better. Of course, the broader picture is that across the UK the NHS is struggling as cancers are increasingly suspected earlier and people are living longer (NHS Scotland has seen 17.5% and 6.3% increases in 62-day and 31-day referrals since the pandemic) while staffing levels continue to suffer as a result of Brexit and hostile UK Government immigration policies. If the SNP Scottish Government stands accused of 'mismanagement' then presumably the Labour Welsh Government stands accused of 'gross negligence'? Despite her patronising rhetoric, don't expect broad assessment and honest objectivity from Dame Baillie and the Labour Party on Scotland's NHS within the confines of UK Government policies any time soon. Besides more deceitful soundbites, one should expect more desperate references in the Scottish Parliament to relatively few poor experiences plucked from the hundreds of thousands of daily interactions with patients who are generally appreciative of the high quality of overall service delivered by NHS Scotland. Stan Grodynski Longniddry, East Lothian THE median waiting time for cancer treatment in Scotland being 52 days comes as a surprise to those waiting for their initial appointment with a plastic surgeon in Ayrshire and Arran to begin their cancer treatment. Two plastic surgeons have left the health board and appointments are being deferred while they bring in an external consultant to help alleviate the situation, with current referrals being given from initial diagnosis in June cited as a possible August appointment. This is leaving patients worried about accelerating conditions where early treatment is imperative, causing stress and anxiety which may further accelerate their cancer. Giving median statistics is great for those having a speedy journey through their treatment. At the opposite side there are many waiting unacceptably long times for appointments and treatment to begin, yet if you enquire about private treatment there appear to be consultants working and available for a fee. Personally, I have been waiting for an appointment with a general surgery consultant for a non-urgent appointment, though the issue is of concern to me, for a year for a hospital appointment with no end to the wait in site while they try to manage their waiting lists. Ayrshire and Arran have a huge problem and someone needs to be looking deeper into the statistics for all departments. Name and address supplied IRAN'S military surrender, as US president Donald Trump had demanded earlier this month, may also mean soon surrendering access to much of its vast fossil fuel reserves to American, and perhaps even British, 'energy' corporations. Those big business interests, and maybe even Israel's government, know there's still much to be effectively appropriated from the nation long demonised by the West. The 1979 Iranian Revolution's expulsion of major Western nations was in large part due to British and American companies exploiting Iran's plentiful fossil fuel. The expulsion may have been a big-profit-losing lesson learned by the 'energy' corporation heads, one that they, via intense lobbyist influence over the relevant governments in Washington DC and London, would resist reoccurring anywhere. The 2003-11 US/British invasion and prolonged occupation of Iraq may also have been partly motivated by such Western insatiable corporate greed. There has been a predictable American-UK proclivity for sanctioning Iran, its officials and even their allies since the Revolution, resulting in, among other negative impacts, reduced oil production revenue by the nation. It would be understandable if those corporate fossil-fuel interests would like Iran's government to fall thus re-enabling their access to Iran's resources. It may be that, if the relevant oil company heads were/are in fact against Iran's post-revolution government(s), then so were/are their related Western governments and, via general mainstream news media support, national collective citizenry. Frank Sterle Jr White Rock, BC, Canada If Westminster taxed the rich cheats who threw money at Brexit so they could avoid the new EU tax laws on tax havens, they would bring in way more cash than they will get from hitting the poor and disabled. They could close the loopholes the government deliberately creates and make everyone pay their tax. Loopholes are actually government created corruption. Labour could recover if they taxed the rich, as long as Israel doesn't mind, of course. Bill Robertson via email
Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Starmer vows Labour will not 'take away safety net' vulnerable people rely on
In a speech to the Welsh Labour conference that came after a major U-turn on reforms in the face of a backbench rebellion, he said fixing the "broken" system must be done in a "Labour way" Keir Starmer has vowed Labour will not "take away the safety net" vulnerable people rely on - but said "everyone agrees" the welfare system needs to be fixed. In a speech to the Welsh Labour conference that came after a major U-turn on reforms in the face of a backbench rebellion, he said fixing the "broken" system must be done in a "Labour way". "We cannot take away the safety net that vulnerable people rely on, and we won't, but we also can't let it become a snare for those who can and want to work," the Prime Minister said. "Everyone agrees that our welfare system is broken: failing people every day, a generation of young people written off for good and the cost spiralling out of control. "Fixing it is a moral imperative, but we need to do it in a Labour way." He called Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan a "fierce champion" and "the best person to lead Wales into the future" to applause and cheers from the audience. Baroness Morgan had publicly criticised the welfare plans and called for Sir Keir to change tack on restrictions on winter fuel payments, which he also eventually reversed. Mr Starmer told the BBC she was "right to raise concerns" and promised to "deliver on those as far as we can". In her speech to the conference, Baroness Morgan said she was pleased the Government listened to her concerns and reversed planned welfare cuts. "I'm glad the UK Government is a listening government and they heard our concerns and changed their approach to welfare cuts," she said. "We were really concerned about the impact these changes could have on some of our poorest and most vulnerable communities, and we made that clear to our colleagues in Westminster. "And I am really glad they listened because that decision brings huge and welcome relief to thousands of people in Wales who rely on this support to live with dignity." Farmers gathered outside the conference in Llandudno to protest ahead of Sir Keir's speech, with about 20 tractors parked on the promenade in the north Wales resort town by late morning. Later, some 150 protesters joined a march for Palestine outside the conference, walking solemnly to the venue where they stood for a few minutes to the beat of a drum. A small group of pro-Israel protesters shouted "free the hostages" and held signs saying "free Gazans from Hamas". Sir Keir also said any deal between the Tories, Reform UK and Plaid Cymru at next year's key elections in Wales would amount to a "backroom stitch-up". The elections to the Senedd will use a proportional system for the first time, meaning coalitions are likely. The Prime Minister said it would risk a "return to the chaos and division of the last decade" and risk rolling back the progress his party is starting to make. He told the Llandudno conference it would be "working families left to pick up the bill". "Whether that's with Reform or with Plaid's determination to cut Wales off from the rest of the country, with no plan to put Wales back together," he said. "I know that these are the parties that talk a big game, but who is actually delivering?" Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has not ruled out making deals with Plaid Cymru or Reform at the next Senedd election. Reform UK is eyeing an opportunity to end Labour's 26 years of domination in the Welsh Parliament. Labour performed poorly in this year's local elections in England, which saw Nigel Farage's party win a swathe of council seats. Sir Keir also took aim at Nigel Farage, calling him a "wolf in Wall Street clothing" who has "no idea what he's talking about". He said the Reform UK leader "isn't interested in Wales" and has no viable plan for the blast furnaces at Port Talbot.
