Latest news with #Labour-run
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Council's housing firm sees profits rise by 18%
A council-owned housing company has seen its profits rise by 18% in the last year. The profits allowed Labour-run Telford and Wrekin Council to put an extra £302,000 into its budget, a meeting was told. Since Nuplace was formed in 2015 the council has built 608 homes, with a further 276 planned or in delivery. Conservative councillor Rachael Tyrrell said she was supportive of the provision of homes, but added: "The rental yield is well below par." She pointed out the council had spent £93m on the company over the last 10 years. Richard Overton, the Labour councillor responsible for housing, said creating Nuplace in 2015 had been a "bold decision". It was done, he said, to "try to improve the private rented market and offer a good quality tenure," but it had also provided a dividend for the council, its sole shareholder. Labour councillor Nathan England said the council also benefited from more people living in local homes and paying council tax. This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. 'Huge interest' in town centre eco-homes Rental homes plan passed amid opposition Telford and Wrekin Council
The National
3 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Why you won't hear about child poverty improving in Scotland
A study carried out by The Big Issue magazine reports that the incidence of child poverty in Scotland has dropped by 12% since the Scottish Government introduced reduction targets into law in 2017. This is equivalent to 21,000 children who are no longer living in poverty. However, over the same time period, the incidence of child poverty in England and in Labour-run Wales increased by 15%. The magazine writes that England and Wales must follow the lead of Scotland and set legal targets to reduce child poverty. READ MORE: Nato chief calls Donald Trump 'Daddy' during press conference An analysis of UK child poverty statistics which was conducted alongside the publication of a new Big Issue report, highlights the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017, which introduced statutory targets for reducing child poverty, as marking a divergence in the trajectories of the issue of child poverty in the various nations of the UK. Since the passing of the Act in Scotland, there has been a 27% divergence in the incidence of child poverty between Scotland on the one hand and England and Wales on the other. The Scottish government's landmark act, which received royal assent and passed into law in December 2017, was the cause of the start of a significant divergence in child poverty levels between the home nations. Before 2018, Scotland had seen similar rises in relative child poverty to England and Wales. Child poverty in Scotland rose by 19% between 2015 and 2018, only marginally slower than England and Wales at 23%. The Big Issue is calling on the UK Government to introduce similar statutory targets for reducing child poverty in England and Wales, citing Scotland as an example of how significant progress can be made. (Image: PA) The rise of poverty in the UK over recent decades is a shameful story of government failure and the capitulation of the British government to the interests of the wealthy. Currently in the UK, 3.8 million people are living in destitution, the most extreme form of poverty. This is defined as when people struggle to keep themselves warm, clean, fed, and clothed. Shockingly, this number is rising markedly; destitution has more than doubled in the UK over the last 7 years. Meanwhile, income inequality has grown more rapidly in the UK than in other developed economies. The UK is now the ninth most unequal economy out of the 38 OECD countries. Wealth inequality in the UK is far worse than income inequality, figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the top fifth of the population take 36% of the UK's income and hold 63% of its wealth, while the bottom fifth of the population have only 8% of the income and a mere 0.5% of the wealth. It is categorically not that there is no money to tackle poverty, it's that the rich are jealously hoarding it like a dragon curled up on a pile of gold and jewels, and governments are full of politicians who are in effect clients of the dragons, bought and paid for with political donations. (Image: PA) Scotland's government lacks the full powers of an independent state, but even with the limited economic levers at its disposal, the Scottish Government has achieved a remarkable success in reducing the incidence of child poverty in Scotland. As part of the UK, Scotland is subject to the economic constraints imposed upon it by the government in Westminster, but has still managed to reduce child poverty in Scotland. What this proves is that the rise in child poverty in the rest of the UK is a political choice, a damning political choice which tells us that Westminster is morally bankrupt. A report on the findings of the latest British Social Attitudes survey has laid bare the disconnection between the Labour government, the main British political parties and what people actually want. This disconnection is starkest when it comes to the issue of Brexit. A large majority of people in the UK, 63%, would support rejoining the EU if the issue was put to them in a referendum. This figure is even higher in Scotland where some polls have put the figure at 70%. Most of those who voted Labour in last year's Westminster general election supported rejoining the EU. Yet despite this Labour doggedly doubles down on Theresa May's red lines and refuses to countenance even rejoining the European single market and customs union. Meanwhile, new polling from YouGov finds that voters who have deserted Labour since last year's general election are much more likely to vote Green or Lib Dems, than Reform. Green and Lib Dem defectors are also much more likely to consider switching back to Labour than Reform voters who overwhelmingly say they're committed to Farage's party. But Starmer continues in his quixotic and damaging pursuit of Reform UK, adopting policies which ramp up the performative cruelty against migrants and asylum seekers and throwing the LGBT community under the bus. Today, Labour government figures are still insisting that they intend to follow through on their deeply damaging cuts to benefits payments to the disabled, some of the most vulnerable in society, in the face of a growing rebellion amongst its own backbenchers. Yesterday 108 Labour MPs had signed an amendment to the government's bill, which would effectively kill it. In response, the government reportedly called Labour MPs to tell them that the vote would effectively be a vote of confidence in Keir Starmer, whereupon the number of Labour MPs who signed the amendment rose to 120. It is believed senior cabinet ministers, including Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Health Secretary Wes Streeting, called MPs who had signed the amendment to try to convince them to vote with the government, with very little success. Never mind being a government that is disconnected from its voters, Starmer's government is disconnected from its own MPs. Pressure is also growing on Anas Sarwar, who had expressed his support for the cuts, after a tenth Labour MP representing a Scottish constituency signed the amendment opposing the cuts. Glasgow North East MP Maureen Burke added her name to the amendment yesterday, joining fellow Labour MPs Patricia Ferguson, Brian Leishman, Tracy Gilbert, Scott Arthur, Richard Baker, Lilian Jones, Elaine Stewart, Kirsteen Sullivan, and Euan Stainbank.
New Statesman
18-06-2025
- Politics
- New Statesman
Keir Starmer's grooming gang cowardice
Photo by Lauren Hurley / No 10 Downing Street A prime minister who only acts when forced to do so by others inspires neither confidence nor respect. But this is something we have seen repeatedly with Keir Starmer and this Labour government. The latest – and arguably most egregious – example is the U-turn on holding a full national inquiry into grooming gangs. In January, Starmer accused politicians calling for such an inquiry of jumping on the 'bandwagon of the far right'. Robust debate, he said, 'can only be based on the true facts'. But the facts today are as they were six months ago; as they have been for years. Thousands of vulnerable girls have been groomed and raped by groups of men, disproportionately of Pakistani heritage. We knew from Alexis Jay's report in 2014 – 11 years ago – that 1,400 children were sexually exploited in Rotherham alone between 1997 and 2013. And that was a 'conservative estimate'. Stories first appeared in the media in 2007, by Julie Bindel in the Sunday Times Magazine. The late Andrew Norfolk of the Times published hundreds of articles from 2011 on child rapes perpetrated across England. Some of those closest to the Prime Minister privately warned him last year in stark, emotional terms about the scale of the collective failure to protect the most vulnerable girls; that some of the responsibility lay with Labour-run or Labour-dominated local authorities – in Rotherham, Rochdale and elsewhere; that this was one of the most shameful episodes of British history. And yet. As Louise Casey points out in her National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, released on 16 June, 'we are talking about multiple sexual assaults committed against children by multiple men on multiple occasions; beatings and gang rapes'. Earlier this month, survivors of the abuse spoke to BBC Newsnight. Kate (not her real name) was raped 'almost daily' by 'multiple men a day'. Fiona was plied with drugs and violently raped from the age of 14, shortly after she was taken into care. Chantelle was also in the care system when she was first abused and drugged at 11 years old. The perpetrators of these crimes were all gangs of British Asian men. That Starmer had to ask troubleshooter-in-chief Casey to decide whether a national inquiry was needed is cowardice. For the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, to declare on the day Casey's report was published that the systematic rape of girls marked 'a stain on our society and a failure of those who were meant to protect them' – only after someone else gave the government permission to say so – was pure chutzpah. Even when confirming his change of heart, the Prime Minister made no compelling case of his own for why these crimes needed proper examination. Rather, Casey had 'come to the view there should be a national inquiry' and he would 'accept her recommendation'. But this shameful U-turn is part of a wider pattern of this government effectively subcontracting out difficult decisions to others. It looks weak, directionless and lacking in conviction as a result. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Having refused to take a consistent position on the clash between women's rights and the rights of trans people, it was left to the Supreme Court to rule that 'sex' in the Equality Act meant 'biological sex'. The official Labour line had been that no clarification was needed, even when the case was scheduled to be heard. Senior party figures saw the issue as a 'distraction'. The best Starmer could muster in response to the judgement was to say he was pleased it had brought 'clarity'. But what about the issue, Prime Minister? Where do you stand? Do you support the judgement, or does it prompt a rethink in the law? If Starmer and senior cabinet ministers think the ruling was wrong, they should say so. Stop hiding behind process. Lead. Into this mix of inaction, we can throw in the decision to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Had the government not done so, the Defence Secretary, John Healey, said, 'Within weeks, [it] could face losing legal rulings.' Framing it this way – in effect, 'the courts made us' – hardly screams political conviction. It's the same on Palestinian statehood. Recognition of a Palestinian state is a manifesto pledge, but according to Sky News's Sam Coates, 'the UK will only recognise a Palestinian state once other countries also do so'. And then there's the cut to pensioners' winter fuel allowance: despite insisting it was the right thing to do – for 11 months – Chancellor Rachel Reeves later bowed to public pressure to reverse it. Politicians must be allowed to change their minds. Admitting you were wrong, being open-minded and receptive to new evidence are signs of strength. But that is not what's happening with this Prime Minister and his government. Time after time, they seem unable to make a positive argument for either action or inaction. Each Labour government since the war has made a strong moral case for its reforms. Attlee and Bevan with the NHS. Wilson and Jenkins on decriminalising homosexuality. Blair and Brown on international development and child poverty. When will this government do the same? The danger is that into the void come others – Reform especially – who seem more 'authentic', better in touch with what many Britons think and feel. With a big majority, Labour can afford to be bold and principled. To govern is to choose. But those choices should be choices of direction and policy – not of who to ask to make those decisions for you. [See more: Is Trump the last neoconservative?] Related
Scottish Sun
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Scottish Sun
National grooming gang probe ‘must be extended to Scotland'
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THE national criminal investigation into grooming gangs must be extended to Scotland to avoid a 'missed opportunity', the peer in charge of a damning report into the scandal has said. Baroness Casey's report found victims were failed by cops and officials who were in 'denial' about the rape and abuse of white girls by disproportionately Asian men and called for a major UK-wide criminal probe into the issue. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 Baroness Casey's damning report laid bare how the State was in 'denial' over the rape and abuse of white girls. Credit: PA 3 A national inquiry into grooming gangs has been announced Credit: Getty Asked whether Scotland should be part of it, she said: 'I would be disappointed if the opportunity of the national criminal investigation [was missed]. 'I can move from Scotland to England pretty easily and criminals do, so that would be a missed opportunity.' Sir Keir Starmer bowed to pressure at the weekend and ordered a national inquiry into mass child sex abuse ahead of the publication of Baroness Casey's review. Her devastating report on Monday laid bare how the State was in 'denial' over the rape and abuse of white girls. Dame Louise Casey found perpetrators — disproportionately involving Asian men, many of Pakistani heritage — got away with it because of fears about inflaming community tensions. And the Scottish Tories demanded the public inquiry into the scandal must also be expanded to cover Scotland. Shadow Scottish Secretary Andrew Bowie yesterday/today said: 'Now that the Labour Government has finally bowed to the huge public demand for a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal it is essential that it is truly national in scope. 'That means extending the remit to include Scotland, where there have been well-documented cases of gangs responsible for the rape and sexual abuse of young women.' The MP called on Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to work with Nats chiefs on what is covered by the inquiry to all the 'voices of Scottish victims of these vile gangs' to be heard. Mr Bowie added: 'We already know that vulnerable young women were appallingly let down by Labour-run councils, where it appears that partisan political considerations led to the cover-up of the issue. Ethnicity of child sex abuse suspects will be logged after truth about Asian grooming gangs was 'dodged for YEARS' 'It's essential to uncover if sensitivities over the racial make-up of the perpetrators was a factor in the Scottish cases too.' In 2020, it was revealed cops kept secret a huge asylum seeker grooming gang in Glasgow which had at least 44 victims. All the perpetrators were asylum seekers from the Kurdish, Afghani, Egyptian, Moroccan, Turkish, Pakistani or Iraqi communities. Speaking in Westminster, Baroness Casey said it was a 'matter for Scotland to decide' whether to take part. She added: 'Criminals move to wherever they can get their prey. And with the internet, they do that even quicker and easier. I mean, it's an issue internationally, not just between the devolved nations. 'I think it is really important that across certainly Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England, there's some join up around these sorts of issues.' Baroness Casey also urged Scots not to think grooming gangs could not be taking place in Scotland. She said: 'Don't just read this report and think it may not happen to you.' The Home Office was contacted for comment.
The National
17-06-2025
- Politics
- The National
Scottish Tories join Labour MP in call for Scottish grooming inquiry
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced an official probe into group-based child exploitation on Monday after the UK Government rejected calls for this earlier this year. Now the Scottish Tories have written to Cooper warning that 'victims of grooming gangs in Scotland must not and cannot be overlooked'. It comes after Scottish Labour MP Joani Reid also called for John Swinney to launch a grooming inquiry. Shadow Scottish Secretary Andrew Bowie said: "Now that the Labour Government has finally bowed to the huge public demand for a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal it is essential that it is truly national in scope. READ MORE: Scottish Government names date for ditching two-child cap 'That means extending the remit to include Scotland, where there have been well-documented cases of gangs responsible for the rape and sexual abuse of young women. 'The Home Secretary must work with the Scottish Government to agree the scope of the inquiry because it's imperative that the voices of Scottish victims of these vile gangs are heard and appropriate lessons learned for the future. 'We already know that vulnerable young women were appallingly let down by Labour-run councils, where it appears that partisan political considerations led to the cover-up of the issue." Reid said there was "less understanding about the scale of this problem in Scotland" and this was "unacceptable". 'If the Scottish Government does not intend to hold its own dedicated inquiry, we need clear reasons why – not the vague responses we've had so far. This issue is too serious and urgent to leave unanswered," she said. The UK Government rejected calls for a public inquiry earlier this year and instead said it was focusing on putting in place the recommendations already made in a seven-year national inquiry by Professor Alexis Jay. But the Prime Minister announced on Saturday a full probe would be held after a review by Baroness Louise Casey. READ MORE: Cuts to PIP will plunge families further into poverty, research says The review found suspects were often 'disproportionately likely' to be Asian men. Speaking to journalists on Monday, First Minister Swinney said: 'The Prime Minister has obviously taken his own decision on grooming gangs. 'We established some years ago the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, which has got extensive scope and ability to explore many or all of these issues. "I would give every consideration to an issue of this type if I felt it was necessary to be undertaken and obviously we will do that in the fullness of time.' A Scottish Government spokesperson said: 'Child sexual abuse and exploitation has a devastating impact, which is why we are taking action to ensure that children are protected from harm. 'The independent Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry is undertaking an extensive review of child protection policy and practice in Scotland and will report with recommendations for further development in due course. We have also established a national multi-agency Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Strategic Group, of which Professor Alexis Jay is a member, to consider all UK and Scottish work and make recommendations to Ministers accordingly. 'In Scotland, all healthcare and education professionals already have a duty to report child abuse. The case for introducing mandatory reporting more widely remains under active consideration, and we are continuing to engage closely with key partners, including Police Scotland, Social Work Scotland and Child Protection Committees Scotland, on this important issue.'
