UK News and Discussions

[Time_Traveller]

About damn time. It's the 21st century and we still have an unelected upper chamber.

This would be a huge change!

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Keir Starmer: I will abolish House of Lords to ‘restore trust in politics’

Sat 19 Nov 2022 19.30 GMT

Keir Starmer will abolish the House of Lords and replace it with a new elected chamber as part of plans to “restore trust in politics”, the Observer understands.

In a sweeping constitutional overhaul, the Labour leader has told the party’s peers that he wants to strip politicians of the power to make appointments to the Lords as part of the first-term programme of a Labour government. Starmer said that the public’s faith in the political system had been undermined by successive Tory leaders handing peerages to “lackeys and donors”.

It is understood that Labour will hold a consultation on the composition and size of a new chamber as well as immediate reforms to the current appointments process. Final proposals will be included in the party’s next election manifesto.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... n-politics

I was reading this on Mastodon but he is going to keep our old fashioned FPTP voting system though.

[wjfox]

Scottish government loses indyref2 court case

2 minutes ago

The Scottish government cannot hold an independence referendum without UK government's consent, Supreme Court rules.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland- ... s-63727562

[erowind]

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[wjfox]

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[Time_Traveller]

Qatar ‘reviews London investments’ over advertising ban on Tubes and buses

1 day ago

Qatar is reportedly reviewing its investments in London in retaliation for the capital’s transport authority banning the Gulf State’s advertising over its anti-homosexuality laws.

Transport for London (TfL) tightened its prohibition on buses, taxis and Tubes amid an outcry over LGBTQ rights and the treatment of migrant workers in the run-up to the World Cup.

This has triggered Doha to reconsider its “current and future investments” in London, according to the Financial Times.

London mayor Sadiq Khan told TfL to “review how it treats advertising and sponsorship from countries with anti-LGBT+ laws” in 2019.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/p ... 33562.html

[Time_Traveller]

Cotswolds constituency split 'will create a mish-mash' where voters from different counties share MP

06:00, 28 NOV 2022

There are concerns plans to split the Cotswolds constituency into two will lead to a “mish mash” of residents sharing the same MP but who live in different counties and districts.

The Boundary Commission for England is planning to divide the current constituency. But the proposals will see a South Cotswolds constituency include parts of North Wiltshire.

Under the current proposals, the Stroud district wards of Bisley, Hardwicke and Painswick and Upton wards will be transferred to The North Cotswolds constituency. But the Wotton-under-Edge ward will be transferred from the current Cotswolds constituency to Stroud. And Kingswood ward will be transferred to the South Cotswolds constituency.

The Tewkesbury constituency wards of Churchdown, Brockworh, Badgeworth, and Shurdington will form part of the North Cotswolds constituency. The parts of Wiltshire which have been earmarked to join the South Cotswolds constituency are Brinkworth, By Brook, Cricklade and Latton, Kington Malmesbury, Minety Purton and Sherston.

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/n ... te-7863920

Oh goody, Gloucester has the joys of seeing the Cotswold MP on our doorstep.

[wjfox]

SNP leader Ian Blackford just announced he is stepping down:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... estminster

[Time_Traveller]

Boris Johnson will stand again at next general election, source says

Boris Johnson will stand again to be elected as an MP at the next general election, a source close to the former prime minister has confirmed.

Johnson, who has been on the backbenches since leaving No 10, will run for re-election in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency at the next poll, expected to be in 2024. He has been an MP in the west London constituency since 2015, winning it with a majority of 5,034 in 2017 and 7,210 in 2019, by which time he was prime minister. It has been a Tory seat since its creation in 2010.

The source confirmed Johnson’s decision to stand for a fourth time after the Telegraph first reported that he told his local Conservative party of his intention.

But if a Commons investigation finds him to have been in contempt of parliament by misleading MPs over lockdown-busting parties in Downing Street, Johnson could first face a fight for his seat in a byelection.

Since leaving No 10, Johnson appears to have embraced life as a backbencher, tweeting about a number of constituency visits including to Ruislip Synagogue and Uxbridge high school this week.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ource-says

Fingers crossed, he'll be voted out at the next general election

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

This is complete insanity. I hope it's challenged in the courts.

We should be developing hydrogen and other solutions to replace coking coal, instead of finding ways to further destabilise our climate.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63892381

[Time_Traveller]

Catholics Outnumber Protestants for First Time in Northern Ireland
by Dominic Glover
September 23, 2022

Introduction:

(Courthouse News) — Census results released on Thursday in the United Kingdom have revealed that Northern Ireland’s Catholic population now outnumbers the Protestant community for the first time in the country’s 101-year history.

According to the data collected last year nationwide, 45.7% of Northern Ireland’s population are Catholic or have a Catholic background. This compares to 43.4% stating they are Protestant or from a Protestant background.

Conclusion:

The (polling) data supports the view that the younger generation regard the debate over Northern Ireland’s status as a civil and political question, rather than pertaining to religious identity.

Such a shift is equally noticeable among Northern Ireland’s political parties. The new generation of Sinn Féin’s leadership have proved themselves willing to be far more critical of the Catholic Church’s historic influence over Ireland. Equally, public schisms between the Democratic Unionist Party and the Free Presbyterian Church – traditionally sister organizations both founded by the Reverend Ian Paisley – have become more common in recent years.

In short, Northern Ireland’s complicated and sensitive politics are increasingly hard to simply map onto religious identity. Though the demographic shift announced this week is hugely significant in terms of future political direction, it has also been a long time coming. The more uncertain decline of sectarianism is perhaps of greater importance, as it points towards a polity that can maintain cross-community relations and prevent a return to violence.

Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/catholi ... -ireland/

Here is something more indepth to add on this: -

[wjfox]

[ººº]

This is complete insanity. I hope it's challenged in the courts.

We should be developing hydrogen and other solutions to replace coking coal, instead of finding ways to further destabilise our climate.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63892381

Now that's a weird mine

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

Great piece by James Murray, which totally and utterly demolishes the case for Woodhouse Colliery going ahead –

The incomplete list of costs that will result from this decision reads: higher carbon emissions at a time when the UK is already not on track to meet its legally binding climate targets; a signal to investors the government is not interested in the transition to a modern green steel industry; an increased global carbon capture and storage requirement; a stranded asset risk for investors; the undermining of the very concept of net zero emissions; and huge damage to the UK's international reputation and moral authority at future climate talks.


It is this last point that is arguably the worst. The UK has rightly been regarded as something of a leader in global climate circles. It has helped many other countries develop their own climate laws and net zero strategies based on the UK's pioneering model. British diplomats have invested countless hours in trying to convince governments with far more severe energy security and development challenges than the UK to eschew coal in favour of clean alternatives. And now this. As Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama asked this morning: "Is this the future we fought for under the Glasgow Pact? Fossil fuels should be phased OUT - not up."


In the face of this litany, what then are the benefits? The list is short. Given there is no obvious shortage of coking coal that needs rectifying and several UK steel firms have said they are unlikely to use the fuel, the main benefit is provided in the form of around 500 jobs in west Cumbria and exports that could lead to some short to medium term returns for Australian private equity investors. And it is in these jobs and exports that we find the main benefit for the government: the ability to paint the Opposition and other critics of the project as 'anti-growth'. The UK's credibility on the international stage and its economic competitiveness in the industries of the future is being sacrificed on the altar of short-term electoral triangulation in the service of the high priests of culture war polarisation.


The government could have provided Cumbria with a large-scale hydrogen hub, energy efficiency upgrades, and a revived nuclear industry. It could have provided the north of England with a functioning rail network, world leading zero carbon industrial hubs and green steelworks, and low-cost wind farms. It could have provided the UK with a clean tech blitz, energy security, and a green industrial revolution. Instead, having failed to deliver any of that, it served up 500 jobs digging up a fuel the world has to stop burning to avert catastrophe. It provided flat-lining wages and soaring energy bills. It provided international hypocrisy and an uncontestable sense that nothing works as well as it did a decade ago. It could have provided a beacon to the world, instead it torched its reputation.

UK coal mine approval: Is this the worst ever climate policy decision?

James Murray

08 December 2022

https://www.businessgreen.com/blog-post ... y-decision

[wjfox]

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