UK Politics

Unions have warned of “fierce and prolonged resistance” if the new Conservative prime minister clamps down on the right to strike, as the latest round of industrial action caused delays to millions of rail travellers.There was a furious reaction to a set of “draconian” proposals for new restrictions set out by transport secretary Grant Shapps in response to the walkout by members of the RMT rail union.Mr Shapps’ package – which includes a 60-day cooling-off period after each strike – goes further than the tightening of the law promised by leadership candidate Liz Truss, which has already sparked warnings of a general strike.It comes amid expectations of a “summer of discontent” as workers ranging from nurses to postmen and barristers protest the failure of pay to keep pace with inflation, which is expected to reach 11 per cent by the end of the year.Writing in the Daily Telegraph today, Mr Shapps – a prominent supporter of Rishi Sunak’s bid to succeed Boris Johnson as PM – said he wanted to complete the “unfinished business” of Margaret Thatcher by reining in union power.RecommendedAfter legislating to allow the use of agency workers as strike-breakers, he said he wanted a slew of additional measures, including: – A ban on strikes by different unions in the same workplace within a set period.- A limit of six pickets at critical sites and a ban on intimidatory language.- Requirements for new ballots on every bout of industrial action, with specific reasons and format for action spelt out and a minimum 50 per cent threshold, compared to 40 per cent of those eligible to vote now.- A right for employers to respond to issues cited on ballot papers and an increase in the minimum notice for strike action from two to four weeks.- Minimum service levels during strike action on critical infrastructrure, like the railways.“The default strategy adopted by the RMT and others in industrial relations – their casual, habitual, brutal resort to the strike weapon – must end,” said Mr Shapps. “Only then will this country progress to a high-productivity, high-wage 21stcentury economy benefitting all workers.”TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady described Mr Shapps’s package as “an attack on the fundamental right to strike… anti-democratic and anti-worker.””While millions are struggling to get by, ministers are falling over themselves to try to find new ways to limit workers’ ability to bargain for higher pay,” she said.”It’s time for the transport secretary to focus on ending this dispute instead of looking for new ways to distract from his failure.”Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “If Grant Shapps had his way we would all still be in the workhouse.“Whilst this outbreak is clearly framed by a fashion parade within the Conservative Party, it is also deeply serious and shows just how out of touch our political class are.Describing the current cost-of-living crisis as “the latest episode in a long-term war on the living standards of workers”, Ms Graham said: “I will not apologise for demanding and winning fair pay rises for my members and any action to effectively remove the ability to strike will be met with fierce and prolonged resistance.”And the leader of the Unison union,Christina McAnea, accused ministers of wanting to “turn the clock back to Victorian times when children were sent up chimneys and working people ruthlessly exploited”.“Curbing the right of employees to strike would be the green light for a return to the worst workplace abuses of the past,” said Ms McAnea.“Disputes should be a red warning to Government that key services are being mismanaged. Instead of ramping up the rhetoric, ministers must talk to unions and work out ways to fix the problems together.”Earlier this week, Ms Truss promised “tough action to prevent trade unions from paralysing the country” if she becomes PM, including legislation to be introduced within 30 days to impose minimum service levels on critical national infrastructure.She also promised to raise ballot thresholds from 40 to 50 per cent to make it more difficult for union bosses to secure support for industrial action.RMT leader Mick Lynch said Ms Truss’s proposals would “effectively outlaw collective action”.“I think that’s a turn to the extreme right on behalf of the Conservatives, and they’re playing to their reactionary base,” said Mr Lynch. “I think there will be an enormous response from the trade union movement.”RecommendedMr Lynch told the i newspaper that he would back a general strike if Ms Truss’s plans went ahead, but acknowledged that this would be a decision for the TUC. More

Volodymyr Zelensky has said he hopes Boris Johnson will maintain a position in politics after quitting as prime minister in order to continue his support for Ukraine.The Ukrainian president said he happy to maintain “the same close relationship” with either of the candidates to replace Mr Johnson as PM, Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss.Speaking to Piers Morgan in an interview to be broadcast on his Uncensored programme on Talk TV at 8pm on Wednesday, Mr Zelensky said that he did not want Mr Johnson to “disappear” after he leaves office in September.But he declined to offer his support to a campaign launched by former Tory treasurer Lord Cruddas to keep Mr Johnson as PM, saying: “I have no right to play in politics inside the UK.”His comments came after Ukrainian MP Oleksii Goncharenko called for Johnson to be made Nato secretary general when Jens Stoltenberg steps down next year.RecommendedMr Zelensky was not asked what future role he envisaged for Mr Johnson, but told Morgan: “What I can say is he is a big friend of Ukraine. I want him to be somewhere in politics in a position to be someone.“I don’t want him to disappear, but the decision is in the hands of the British people.“But I am sure that whatever position he is going to take he is always going to be with Ukraine. This is from the heart.”Asked about the battle for the Tory succession between Mr Sunak and Ms Truss, Mr Zelensky said: “I would be happy to co-operate very closely like we used to have with Boris. The same close relationship with the UK and Ukraine.“I know those two candidates are very respectful and they have the support of the people and the society from the UK. We know about this support. We know about the positive strength of those leaders.“We would be happy to co-operate with whoever is elected as leader. I used to have contact with Liz Truss. Whoever is the leader, the highest level of support will be provided from the Ukraine.”RecommendedThe Ukrainian leader also said he would welcome a visit to capital Kyiv by US president Joe Biden as “the strongest signal” of American support for the country’s fight against Russian invaders. More

Bulgaria is heading to a new parliamentary election this fall after the three largest parties in parliament failed to find common ground for a coalition government. Socialist Party floor leader, Georgi Svilenski, told reporters on Wednesday that efforts to form a viable coalition failed as a proposed governing strategy did not muster the needed approval in the National Assembly. “In this situation, tomorrow we’ll return the mandate to the president unfulfilled,” said Svilenski. Earlier, the two main groups in parliament — the reformist We Continue the Change party and the center right GERB party — failed to end the European Union and NATO member’s latest political crisis amid soaring tensions with Russia. The ouster of the pro-Western Cabinet of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, who took office last December pledging zero tolerance for corruption, helped pave the way toward a new election, which analysts expect will bring a stronger presence of nationalist and pro-Russia groups into parliament. RecommendedLast month, Bulgaria ordered the expulsion of 70 Russian diplomatic staff from Bulgaria, exacerbating tensions between the two historically close nations. Petkov, who took a strong stance against Russia after it invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, has claimed Moscow used “hybrid war” tactics to bring down his government. In April, Russia cut off gas supplies to Bulgaria after officials refused a Moscow demand to pay gas bills in rubles, Russia’s currency. Bulgaria’s defense minister was ousted in early March for referring to Russia’s war as a “special military operation,” the Kremlin-preferred description. One of Petkov’s main goals was to halt Moscow’s almost total energy grip by diversifying sources of supplies. In one of his last moves as prime minister, Petkov on Wednesday discussed with experts from U.S. company Westinghouse possibilities to receive nuclear fuel for one of its two Russian-designed reactors. “I am concerned about what is happening in Europe and my forecast is that the war (in Ukraine) will continue for five more years, which is why I hope we will manage to continue (on) our path to diversification,” Petkov said. RecommendedPolitical analysts expect that the new vote, likely to be held in October, could again produce a fragmented parliament, and deepen the political impasse that has gripped the EU’s poorest member for months. The country’s president must now dissolve parliament, appoint a caretaker government, and set a date for Bulgaria’s fourth parliamentary vote since April 2021. More

Rishi Sunak’s plan to cut VAT from energy price bills would be “a move in exactly the wrong direction” for climate change, an influentical economic thinktank has warned.The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the removal of the 5 per cent levy, proposed by the Tory leadership candidate today, would be “bearable” if limited to a single year, as Mr Sunak proposes.But the IFS said that, once removed, it would be “politically difficult” for the new prime minister to restore in 12 months’ time, when prices are likely to remain high. Over the long term, it would make it harder for the UK to hit its Net Zero target for carbon emissions in 2050, and would make any reductions “more costly overall to households than it need be”.Mr Sunak’s promise of a one-year VAT holiday from October if the annual price cap rises above £3,000 represented a screeching U-turn after months in which the former chancellor resisted Labour demands for the move.RecommendedBut IFS senior economist Stuart Adam said that the richest households would gain most in cash terms from the change, while others would be encouraged to use more energy rather than cut back.Households across Britain are facing tough decisions on heating their homes this winter, with regulator Ofgem predicted to increase the price cap by more than £1,200 to £3,250 for a typical user from October, following a similar increase of £700 in April.Contrary to earlier warnings from the former chancellor, the IFS said there was no danger that energy companies would fail to pass on any VAT cut to customers, who could expect to save an average £154 at a cost of £4.3bn to the Treasury.But the thinktank described the 5 per cent saving as “small beer” compared to the massive 154 per cent increase expected to be confirmed in October, compared to the £1,277 cap the year before.And, unlike Mr Sunak’s earlier package of cost-of-living help which was targeted at the most vulnerable, the VAT cut will benefit the richest – who use most energy -more than the less well-off in cash terms.The IFS said the move would “slightly” add to inflationary pressures, at a time when Mr Sunak has opposed tax cuts offered by his leadership rival Liz Truss because of the danger of fuelling price rises.But Mr Adam said the real risk of the one-year VAT holiday is that the new prime minister would be under intense political pressure to extend it in October 2023, facing accusations of imposing a tax on heating bills if it ends as planned.“If it were genuinely temporary, the fiscal and environmental costs of the policy would be bearable,” he said.“The biggest risk with the policy is that it would prove politically difficult to restore VAT on energy bills at the end of the 12 months.“As a permanent policy, removing VAT on energy bills would be a move in exactly the wrong direction: distorting households’ choices towards more energy use, making it harder to meet the UK’s ‘net zero’ targets and meaning that any reduction in emissions happened in a way that was more costly overall to households than it need be.”A spokesperson for Mr Sunak’s campaign said: “Energy bills are expected to rise to more than £3,000 in the autumn. Temporarily cutting VAT on these bills for a year will help millions of families across the country, on top of the support already provided. “As chancellor, Rishi helped the most vulnerable families with up to £1,200 worth of assistance and as prime minister he will continue to support those that need it most.Recommended“This policy will not encourage higher levels of energy use, particularly at a time when people are looking to cut back on their usage. We do not therefore recognise the characterisation that cutting VAT on bills will threaten climate change targets.’” More

Boris Johnson and wife Carrie are to hold a delayed wedding party at a billionaire Tory donor’s country house this weekend, it has been reported.The prime minister had to cancel plans to hold the lavish bash at his official country residence Chequers after allegations he was using the event to delay his departure from office.But now The Mirror reports that JCB chairman Lord Bamford has stepped in to offer use of his Grade I listed home Daylesford House in the Cotswolds.Lord Bamford, who backed Mr Johnson’s leadership bid in 2019, has given more than £10m in donations and gifts to the Conservatives since 2001.And Mr Johnson has regularly mentioned the construction equipment firm in speeches and events, and visited its Gurajat plant during a visit to India earlier this year.RecommendedHe famously crashed a digger displaying the words Get Brexit Done through a wall of fake bricks marked Gridlock during a visit to a JCB factory during the 2019 general election campaign.And he received £10,000 from the company shortly before delivering an address at its HQ while a backbencher after his resignation as foreign secretary.Mr and Mrs Johnson are understood to have organised a marquee in the 1,500-acre grounds of Bamford house.The couple married secretly at Westminster Cathedral in May 2021, with only a handful of guests attended. And Covid rules restricted to 30 the number joining them to celebrate in the Downing Street gardens afterwards.A No10 spokesman said: “We do not comment on speculation regarding private or family matters which do not involve any ministerial declarations or taxpayer funds.” More

A Conservative cabinet minister who is paid well over £100,000 a year has called for workers to accept “pay restraint” to control inflation.On the eve of strike action by rail workers Simon Clarke, the chief secretary to the Treasury, attacked workers’ demands for wages to keep pace with the cost of living. Mr Clarke, 37, is paid £31,680 for his ministerial job on top of £84,144 he gets as an MP, with his combined £115,794 salary putting him in the UK’s top few per cent of earners. Taking aim at opposition leader Keir Starmer, Mr Clarke hit out on Tuesday at Labour calls for a negotiated settlement between unions and employers“Zero pay discipline and a licence to entrench and inflame inflation,” the Tory minister said. “This is where a Labour government would take us.”RecommendedThe RMT union is asking for rail workers’ salaries to keep up with inflation – which last month hit 9.1 per cent.Boris Johnson last year promised a “high wage economy”, but the top Treasury minister’s comments endorsing a real-terms pay cut appear to suggest the plan is on hold.Prior to becoming an MP for Middlesborough Mr Clarke was chair of the Oxford University Conservative Association, before training as a lawyer and then working for various Conservative MPs.Inflation is currently at a 40-year high, with rising fuel costs prompted by the war in Ukraine the main factor driving prices.But economists have warned that Britain has been particularly badly hit because the governemnt has disrupted supply chains by leaving the EU.If workers’ wages do not keep pace with inflation they will effectively be taking a pay cut in real terms.RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said on Wednesday as the rail strike got underway: “Working people are being held to ransom by not being paid enough wages.Recommended“It’s more of a ransom that you can’t feed your children or pay your bills.“People are being made almost destitute in some cases. There are private sector and public sector workers who simply cannot afford to exist in this society.” More

Truss and Sunak eviscerate Tory legacy all by themselvesThe Labour leadership is on a “direct collision course” with trade union chiefs who have been left “absolutely fuming” by the sacking of Sam Tarry from the party frontbench for joining a rail strike picket line. Junior shadow transport minister Sam Tarry attended a demonstration at Euston Station in London – defying the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s order to stay away from rail worker demonstrations.“The Labour party is born out of the trade union movement, and if we’re not able to show solidarity and have a constructive dialogue with trade unions, then I think we have a real problem,” Mr Tarry told LBC.“I think it’s wrong to say that any Labour poltician – if it be a councillor, if it be an MP, if it be a shadow minister – shouldn’t be showing solidarity, and I think that we are going to see that hit breaking point over the next few months.”RecommendedShow latest update

1658975400Sam Tarry ‘proud’ to have support from John Prescott after sackingEmily Atkinson28 July 2022 03:301658971800Rishi Sunak: I was hoping for holiday after quitting as chancellorRishi Sunak has denied quitting as chancellor in order to force a leadership contest, insisting that he was “looking forward to a nice holiday” after dramatically resigning earlier this month.The former chancellor’s bid to succeed Boris Johnson has been undermined by the reluctance of many Tory members to vote for the man they believe “wielded the knife” to oust the prime minister.Johnson himself has made little secret of his feeling that Sunak’s resignation was a betrayal, and suspicion over his motives have been fuelled by reports that allies were discussing social media strategies for a leadership bid months ago.Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has more: More

Labour’s transport’s spokesman has defied Keir Starmer by joining striking rail workers on their picket line, prompting a call for him to be sacked.Sam Tarry showed his support for the RMT union’s walkout over pay and redundancies at London’s Euston station – just 24 hours after his party leader ordered all frontbenchers to stay away.“If we don’t make a stand today, people’s lives could be lost,” Mr Tarry said, adding: “It can’t be accepted anymore, that people just have to accept that inflation is out of control.”Asked if he fears the sack, the shadow minister replied: “I’ve no idea what Keir will decide to do but I know this – if Keir was in government right now, this dispute wouldn’t be happening.”Anneliese Dodds, Labour’s chair, said: “Ultimately it’s a decision for that individual, but I’m sure that the whips will be looking at this in terms of it being a disciplinary matter.”RecommendedGrant Shapps, the transport secretary, said: “He is clearly in direct defiance of Sir Keir Starmer. No doubt he’ll want to remove him from his job.”He said nobody should be joining the strikers in “stopping hardworking people” getting to work, adding: “If Labour frontbenchers are going to join them on the picket line, people will come to their own conclusions.”Passengers are suffering fresh travel chaos because of the worsening disputes over jobs, pay, pensions and conditions, with more strikes planned for the coming days.Only around one in five trains will run on Wednesday, on around half the network, with passengers are being urged to only travel if it is really necessary and to allow extra time for journeys.RMT general secretary Mick Lynch condemned the employers, saying: “Network Rail have not made any improvement on their previous pay offer and the train companies have not offered us anything new.“In fact, Network Rail have upped the ante, threatening to impose compulsory redundancies and unsafe 50 per cent cuts to maintenance work if we did not withdraw our planned strike action.”But Mr Shapps stepped up threats to curb rail workers’ right to strike, condemning “about 160 disputes” threatened up union as “not normal in any industry”.“That is why, I’m afraid, we need to do more to remove the power of these very militant, extreme left unions from disrupting everyday lives of ordinary people,” the transport secretary told Sky News.On Wednesday, Sir Keir told his senior MPs: “The Labour party in opposition needs to be the Labour party in power. And a government doesn’t go on picket lines, a government tries to resolve disputes.”RecommendedBut Mr Lynch attacked the stance, saying: “The Labour Party have got themselves in a pickle. They don’t seem to know what direction they are facing in.”He said the Labour leader must “get in tune with where working class people are”, adding: “People fear there is no balance in the workplace.” More