Babak Belurs

Senin, 27 September 2021

Police arrest 53 people after M25 blocked near Heathrow as Insulate Britain stage climate protests - Sky News

Police have arrested 53 people after climate protesters blocked a section of the M25 sparking chaos for motorists on Monday morning.

Officers say the "road has been cleared and traffic is flowing again" after activists descended on the major motorway near a roundabout leading to Heathrow Airport in London.

A police spokesperson said: "We made 53 arrests as we worked to minimise disruption motorists.

"Where possible, we opened up lanes to ensure traffic could continue to move. Those arrested are being taken to custody."

Insulate Britain said in a statement: "This morning 52 people that have been involved in Insulate Britain's two weeks of motorway protests blocked the M25 in breach of the injunction granted by the High Court last Tuesday."

According to the injunction granted to National Highways Ltd, those involved "may be held to be in contempt of court and may be imprisoned, fined or have their assets seized".

Campaigners said last week that they were "more scared of climate change than we are of breaking an injunction", adding "there are times when we have to step up and do what is right".

Liam Norton, a spokesperson for the group, said this morning: "You can throw as many injunctions at us as you like, but we are going nowhere. You can raid our savings and confiscate our property. You can deny us our liberty and put us behind bars.

"But that is only shooting the messenger. The truth is that this country is going to hell unless you take emergency action to stop putting carbon into the air."

It's the sixth time the group has targeted the motorway.

The Metropolitan Police earlier confirmed it was "attending a protest" at junction 14 of the M25 and said "arrests are being made".

Insulate Britain members have already brought chaos to the M25 five times in the past fortnight - and had been threatened with imprisonment if they returned to the motorway.

National Highways had been granted an injunction against the M25 protesters to prevent further sections of London's orbital motorway from being blocked.

Following the announcement, Insulate Britain activists blocked a road outside the Home Office in central London.

The injunction came into force last week and means anyone breaching the order could face a prison sentence.

Protests were also carried out surrounding the Port of Dover, which led to the government being granted an extra injunction to try to prevent further disruption.

The High Court ruling in favour of National Highways means protesters will be prevented from occupying the A20 and strategic roads linked to the Port of Dover.

Police have made dozens of arrests since the beginning of the campaign.

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2021-09-27 10:52:30Z
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Fuel supply crisis: Brexit 'obviously a contributory factor' to shortage of HGV drivers, shadow chancellor says - Sky News

Brexit is "obviously a contributory factor" to the shortage of HGV drivers that is having a knock-on effect across the economy, the shadow chancellor has told Sky News.

Speaking to Kay Burley from the Labour Party conference in Brighton, Rachel Reeves said: "To deny that I think flies in the face of reality.

Fuel supply crisis: Live updates as drivers queue outside petrol stations and cause congestion on roads

"There are other problems as well, an ageing workforce, problems with the pandemic.

"But when you cut off a supply of labour which we did when we left the European Union then you are of course contributing and adding to problems."

She was responding to comments from Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, who told Sky News last week: "I've seen people point to Brexit as if it's the culprit here. In fact, they're wrong."

The HGV shortage, which has been estimated at more than 100,000 drivers, has led to fuel supply issues and in turn sparked instances of panic buying of petrol.

Supermarkets have also in some cases struggled to fill their shelves.

The government is considering using the army to help with fuel deliveries as some petrol brands report as many as 90% of their sites running dry.

One petrol station reported a 500% spike in demand compared to last week, with motorway service stations being given refill priority.

Downing Street announced on Sunday that it would temporarily suspend competition laws to allow the fuel industry to target petrol stations most in need of fresh supplies.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng met industry executives on Sunday to try to find a way through supply chain pressures that have led to panic-buying of fuel.

It estimated around 30% of its 1,200 UK sites do not currently have either of the main grades of fuel.

Ms Reeves accused ministers of failing to "get a grip on the crisis" and "we're now seeing that play out on garage forecourts and in our supermarkets".

She continued: "The government, instead of denying the problem and blaming others, which is what Grant Shapps was doing at the weekend, they need to get a grip and sort out these problems.

"Because frankly it's not fair and it's not right that ordinary working people are queuing for hours on end to get petrol to go about their day-to-day business."

London mayor Sadiq Khan echoed his Labour colleague's criticism, telling Sky News that "we knew for some time that this was going to happen" and the government had "taken their eye off the ball and it's ordinary people who are suffering".

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He said some care workers, NHS staff and taxi drivers have been unable to fill up.

"We are working with the DfT [Department for Transport] to do what we can to make sure we have fuel being provided particularly for those key workers across our city," Mr Khan said.

The shadow chancellor was speaking ahead of her speech to conference, in which she will promise that a future Labour government would scrap business rates as part of "the biggest overhaul of business taxation in a generation".

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2021-09-27 08:33:16Z
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Minggu, 26 September 2021

NHS waits: More people feeling forced into private healthcare - BBC News

"To be put in a position where you're basically begging off people, it's infuriating."

Last October, 12-year-old Hayden Kildea was diagnosed with severe scoliosis, a condition where the spine twists and curves to the side. Left untreated, it can become a dangerous and life-limiting condition.

The Kildeas, who live in Strabane, Northern Ireland, say they were told Hayden would need urgent surgery - but that because of the backlog caused by the pandemic, he would have to wait more than two years.

His mum Shauna found a clinic in Turkey that was able to carry out the operation immediately, but it would cost £50,000 - money the family didn't have.

So in the summer, they turned to crowdfunding and campaigning to raise the money.

She says: "It's really, really frustrating that we're in our own country and we can't get Hayden the surgery he needs."

Millions of people across the UK are currently on NHS waiting lists - in Northern Ireland there are over 465,000 people, while in England, 5.6m are queuing for treatment.

Chart showing that the long wait for operations is continuing

Data shared with BBC Panorama shows that on average, waiting lists have grown by 50% in the most deprived parts of England since the start of the pandemic, compared with nearly 35% in the most affluent areas.

The research, conducted by the King's Fund, also shows that people on waiting lists in poorer areas are nearly twice as likely as those in wealthier areas to wait more than one year for treatment.

The data looks at waiting lists from April 2020 to July 2021 (the latest available data) and includes planned hospital treatments such as knee and hip replacements, cataract surgery and other common procedures.

Hayden Kildea's family reached their target. He has now had the operation in Turkey and is recovering back at home.

The Health and Social Care Board in Northern Ireland said patient demand continued "to exceed capacity across a range of specialties". It added: "As a result, even before the pandemic, the number of people waiting longer than the target waiting times was increasing."

Sofia Jones, 36, has endometriosis - a gynaecological condition that leads to severe pelvic pain. Some days she could barely walk, having to stay in bed all day.

Sofia, who lives near Dundee, says she was told she'd have to wait two years for an NHS operation. But that felt too long to wait, so she and her partner decided to take out a £7,000 loan to pay to have the surgery in a private hospital.

'It was a really tough decision to go private," she says, "because we were having to put ourselves into debt. And that's a lot of money. But you have to have some quality of life."

A Scottish government spokesman said: "We're sorry the unprecedented impact of the pandemic has lengthened waiting times for some patients. The pandemic has been the most significant challenge the NHS has faced in its 73-year history, and as in many health care systems across the world, the unavoidable pausing of non-urgent elective procedures has resulted in some delays."

According to Anita Charlesworth, chief economist at the Health Foundation think tank: "The big worry about long waits leading people to have to go private is that it will increase inequalities, but also that many people will be forced to make awful trade-offs over their finances in order to be able to get access to the care that they need when they need it.

"And that goes against every grain of why we set up the health service," she said.

Brenda Pugh, 61, from Petersfield in Hampshire, had to give up work in a law firm in 2019 after being diagnosed with arthritis. She was unable to work due to the pain caused by her arthritis which was first diagnosed five years ago.

As the pandemic began, she was told she needed a double hip replacement and now has to use crutches. When she moves she says it's like "walking on jagged glass".

The pain is so severe she has written to her consultant, begging him for the operation. She says: "I can't carry on like this. My life just isn't worth living."

The cost to have the surgery privately would be about £10,000 per hip - and she says there's no way she can afford that.

Brenda is one of 62,000 patients who've been waiting more than 12 months to get joint replacement surgery.

New research conducted by charity Versus Arthritis and given exclusively to BBC Panorama reveals that half (54%) of people with arthritis who are currently waiting for surgery are facing an average cost of £1,739 a year to keep their pain at bay, through things like private physio appointments and over-the-counter painkillers.

Inevitably, GPs are the ones patients turn to for help managing their pain as they wait. One of them, Dr Leora Harverd, from a practice in north London, says she's overwhelmed by her current caseload.

Some of her patients are anxious about long delays for treatment, and says it's not unusual that people go private, but "it's not how it should be".

Chart showing that large numbers of people are still waiting for services

This month the government announced they would be investing £36bn in NHS and social care for all four home nations up to 2025.

Analysis of their plans by the Health Foundation shows that £10bn has been committed to address the backlog in England over the next three years.

Ms Charlesworth says it's a lot of money but won't necessarily be enough: 'If we want the waiting list to come down by the next election, we would need to spend at least £13bn; if we wanted to meet the target to treat people within 18 weeks, we need to be spending £17bn - and the government has committed £10bn."

But even the prime minister has admitted that "waiting lists will get worse before they get better".

NHS England said: "Caring for more than 450,000 seriously ill Covid patients has inevitably had a knock-on effect on non-urgent care.

"NHS staff have stepped up and made effective use of additional resources helping carry out millions more tests, checks, treatments and operations this summer compared to last."

BBC Panorama - NHS: Wait or Pay is on BBC One on Monday 27 September at 19:35 BST, and available afterwards on BBC iPlayer.

Additional reporting by Caroline Parkinson

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2021-09-26 23:21:12Z
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Storm over 'Tory scum' jibe as Labour is branded the 'true nasty party' - Daily Mail

Storm over 'Tory scum' jibe as Labour is branded the 'true nasty party' after Keir Starmer refuses to order Angela Rayner to apologise and she doubles down on her abusive tirade

Labour Deputy Leader Angela Rayner described the Tories as racist 'scum'
The 41-year-old former care worker doubled down on her claims yesterday
Sir Keir Starmer looked visibly discomfited when quizzed on her remarks on TV

By Jason Groves, and Harriet Line and Daniel Martin for the Daily Mail

Published: 23:36 BST, 26 September 2021 | Updated: 00:37 BST, 27 September 2021

Labour was branded the 'true nasty party' last night after Sir Keir Starmer refused to discipline his deputy for describing the Tories as racist 'scum'.

The Labour leader said he would not have used the hate-filled words aimed at the Tories by his deputy and bitter rival Angela Rayner. But he refused to say she should apologise.

In a late-night rant at Labour's annual conference on Saturday, Mrs Rayner said she was 'sick of shouting from the sidelines' at 'a bunch of scum, homophobic, racist, misogynistic, absolute pile of... banana republic... Etonian... piece of scum'.

The 41-year-old former care worker doubled down on her claims yesterday, singling out Boris Johnson, Priti Patel and other members of the Cabinet who have 'said appalling things'.

Labour was branded the 'true nasty party' after Angela Rayner described the Tories as racist 'scum'

A defiant Mrs Rayner said her 'post-watershed' comments were designed to put 'fire in the belly' of party activists during a conference reception.

She claimed that her language was the kind 'you would hear very often in northern working-class towns, we even say it jovially to other people, we say 'it's a scummy thing to do' and that to me is my street language'.

And she told Sky News she would not apologise unless the Prime Minister first said sorry for 'comments he has made that are homophobic, racist and misogynistic'.

Sir Keir looked visibly discomfited when quizzed about her remarks during a setpiece TV interview which he had hoped to use to set out his stall as this week's conference got under way.

'Angela and I take different approaches and that is not language that I would use,' he told the BBC's Andrew Marr show.

Sir Keir said her comments were part of 'a fizz of ideas, there are arguments, disagreements, comings together'.

Keir Starmer said he would not have used the hate-filled words aimed at the Tories by his deputy Angela Rayner. He is pictured posing for a selfie yesterday

Asked whether she should apologise, he said it was 'a matter for Angela, but I would not have used those words'. He said he would 'talk to Angela about it later on'. Labour officials later declined to comment on the details of his meeting with his fiery deputy.

Mrs Rayner was more restrained during appearances on the conference fringe, telling laughing delegates: 'I'm choosing my words very carefully.' Labour's deputy has made little secret of her belief that she would make a more effective leader than Sir Keir.

Senior figures fear the tension could now overshadow a conference seen as a 'make or break' event for Sir Keir's leadership.

Senior Tories yesterday condemned Mrs Rayner's language, pointing out it is just two years since she lectured fellow politicians on their 'responsibility to look at making sure our discourse and disagreements are done in a respectful way'.

Oliver Dowden said Angela Rayner's comments were further evidence that 'today's Labour Party exudes a sense of looking down on people who believe in this country'

Conservative Party chairman Oliver Dowden said her comments provided further evidence 'today's Labour Party exudes a sense of looking down on people who believe in this country, including the many millions who voted Conservative at the last election'.

Mr Dowden said: 'For all the Left's talk about kindness and compassion they tend to produce the worst vitriol, abuse, intolerance of other views. It's in hardline elements… that you find the true nasty party.'

Foreign Office minister James Cleverly said voters would see a Tory party which has had two female prime ministers and the 'most diverse government' and 'they'll know she's talking c***'. Some senior Labour figures also questioned Mrs Rayner's tactics, amid fears they could further alienate 'red wall' voters who defected to the Tories.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy and former leader Ed Miliband both declined to defend her comments. Former Labour Cabinet minister Lord Adonis said Mrs Rayner's intervention had been designed to trigger a leadership contest – and called on Sir Keir to sack her if she refused to resign.

Michael Dugher, former Labour frontbencher, said: 'Actually, lots and lots of people in 'northern working class towns' don't call Tories 'scum'. They vote for them. Labour need to face up to that reality and rise to the challenge.'

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2021-09-26 22:36:29Z
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Labour conference: Sir Keir Starmer says MP Rosie Duffield wrong to say 'only women have a cervix' - Sky News

A Labour MP was wrong to say that "only women have a cervix", party leader Sir Keir Starmer has said.

Rosie Duffield has been criticised for her opposition to transgender women being able to access single-sex spaces such as domestic violence refuges, school toilets and prisons.

The Canterbury MP is not attending Labour's conference in Brighton on security advice after allegedly getting threats.

In a tweet last year she questioned why she was being called a "transphobe" for "knowing that only women have a cervix".

Asked about the issue during an appearance on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Sir Keir said there needed to be a "mature and respectful debate" around trans rights.

He said trans individuals are among the "most marginalised and abused communities".

And on Ms Duffield, he declined to call her remarks transphobic, but added: "It is something that shouldn't be said. It is not right.

"I spoke to Rosie earlier this week and told her conference is a safe place for her to come, and it is a safe place for her to come.

"We do everybody a disservice when we reduce what is a really important issue to these exchanges on particular things that are said."

Sir Keir added: "We need to have a mature, respectful debate about trans rights and we need to bear in mind that the trans community are amongst the most marginalised and abused communities, and wherever we've got to on the law, we need to go further."

Angela Rayner, Labour's deputy leader, said it was a "concern" that Ms Duffield felt unable to travel to Brighton for conference and promised "robust" action against any party member who targets her.

"Rosie deserves our full support and protection against that and she would get that," she told Sky's Trevor Phillips on Sunday programme.

"If she had come to conference, we would have risk-assessed and made sure that she had every bit of support that she needed to be here."

Reacting to Sir Keir's remarks, Health Secretary Sajid Javid accused the Labour leader of displaying a "total denial of scientific facts".

"And he wants to run the NHS," he wrote on Twitter.

The NHS website, under the heading - "Should trans men have cervical screening tests?" - states: "Trans men who still have a cervix should have cervical screening to help prevent cervical cancer."

It adds: "Trans men who have had a total hysterectomy to remove their cervix do not need cervical screening."

In a speech to conference on Saturday, Labour's shadow equalities secretary Annelise Dodds said Labour was committed to reforming the Gender Recognition Act, making it easier for trans people to change their legal documents, to match their gender assigned at birth to their current identity.

She also committed to the 2010 Equality Act, which states that trans people have the right to access gendered services appropriate to their identity, except in rare circumstances.

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2021-09-26 17:18:21Z
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Many UK petrol stations run dry amid panic buying - Financial Times

At least half of UK petrol stations outside of the motorway network have run out of fuel after Britons engaged in panic buying in response to disruption to fuel supplies caused by a lack of tanker drivers.

Brian Madderson, chair of the Petrol Retailers Association, a trade body, said a survey of members on Sunday indicated 50 to 85 per cent of all independent service stations had now run dry, excluding motorway forecourts and some supermarket sites that have been prioritised by oil companies.

Madderson said what had been a “manageable issue” of localised shortages at a small number of retail sites last week had quickly spiralled after media reports of supply problems had set off panic buying by motorists, with some members stating demand had surged “500 per cent above the normal level” on Saturday, quickly draining forecourt fuel tanks.

The UK has about 8,000 petrol stations, and the majority are run by independent retailers, some of whom operate franchises using the big oil companies’ brands.

Madderson told the Financial Times that while the short-term issue was “panic buying”, the root cause was “a government that’s been dragging its feet over the issue of the number of haulage drivers on the ground”.

Ministers bowed to business pressure on Saturday and announced they would issue temporary visas to 5,000 foreign heavy goods vehicle drivers to help tackle major labour shortages in the logistics industry.

The government move came after panic buying followed BP saying last week that as many as 100 service stations had been disrupted and several forecourts closed because of a shortage of tanker drivers.

Grant Shapps, transport secretary, on Sunday urged people to be “sensible” and said there was plenty of fuel at Britain’s six refineries and 47 storage facilities.

“The most important thing is that actually people carry on as they normally would and fill up their cars when they normally would, then you won’t have queues and you won’t have shortages at the pump either,” he told Sky News.

But the government’s appeals to the public to exercise restraint were not enough to halt a rush to petrol stations by motorists spooked by warnings that oil companies may need to restrict deliveries due to a lack of HGV drivers.

Long lines could be seen at many service stations at the weekend. BP, which operates one of the UK’s largest fuel networks, including many motorway sites, said on Sunday that it estimated 30 per cent of its branded service stations “do not currently have either of the main grades of fuel”.

BP and Royal Dutch Shell, which also operates a large fuel network, both said that they were working flat out to replenish supplies.

But industry insiders said there was little that energy companies could do when faced with panic buying, beyond waiting for it to fizzle out.

Shell said it was replenishing sites that ran out “quickly, usually within 24 hours”.

BP said: “We continue to work hard with our haulier supplier, Hoyer, to optimise fuel distribution and to minimise the level of disruption.”

The scenes of petrol stations running dry have increased the pressure on the government, which is also grappling with energy suppliers collapsing following a surge in wholesale gas and electricity prices.

Households are braced for much higher energy bills — one of several factors that has prompted warnings of a cost of living crisis this winter.

Madderson welcomed the government’s plans to ease visa requirements for foreign workers but said the biggest problems were at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, a branch of the Department for Transport, where there was a significant backlog of lorry driver applicants looking to start training.

“Getting the DVLA sorted out is a number-one priority,” said Madderson.

Industries that are heavily reliant on fuel supplies said there were growing fears for what would happen in the coming days.

Steve Wright, chair of the Licensed Private Hire Car Association, a trade body, said he had asked the transport department to grant emergency-service status to licensed vehicles, which would give them priority access to fuel.

He added that fuel shortages would have a “catastrophic effect” as private hire vehicles were heavily used for transporting hospital patients and disabled students.

Additional reporting by Nic Fildes and Jim Pickard

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2021-09-26 16:59:48Z
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Labour conference: Starmer should fight election on Brexit, says Hilary Benn - BBC News

Labour should promise to fix the "mess" caused by Brexit at the next general election, a former minister has said.

Hilary Benn said people "can see what is happening in front of their eyes" and it was time argue for "a new relationship with the EU".

But the idea could open old wounds, with Labour's Brexit policy blamed by some on the left for its heavy 2019 general election defeat.

Sir Keir Starmer has not made Brexit a priority since becoming leader.

It was mentioned just five times in his 11,500 word essay on the future of the party, with the Labour leader saying: "We would fix the holes in the shoddy Brexit deal - but we also need to think more broadly about how government and business interact."

A group of MPs who like Sir Keir campaigned for another Brexit referendum, including frontbenchers Alex Sobel and Alison McGovern, got together at Labour's conference in Brighton to call for the party to speak out more on the issue.

Vocal Remain campaigner, Lord Adonis, said the leadership should go further and campaign to rejoin both the single market and customs union at the next election - key parts of membership of the EU.

'Fanciful excuses'

He said the party needed to move "step by step towards rejoining" the bloc as the UK's "destiny is to be European", adding: "The only thing that is stopping us... is an absence of imagination and real passion in campaigning."

Mr Benn said: "Let's just say it, Brexit is a mess.

"The truth is, bit by bit, the British people can see what is happening in front of their eyes - the queues, the shortages... the threat to peace and security that a Labour government achieved after many years with the Northern Ireland [peace agreement]."

The former minister said the only people who did not want to talk about Brexit anymore were the government, who were coming up with "fanciful excuses" to problems in the country.

"We see the problems that Brexit has created for British economy, British people, jobs, investments," he added.

"For our future, we have to start the process of building a new closer economic relationship. That is what we have to do. bit by bit, step by step.

"It makes enormous sense to say we need to build a new relationship with those friends and partners across the Channel and that should be the message we take to the people at the next election."

After the speech, Mr Benn would not say if he had discussed his campaign proposals with Sir Keir.

Instead, he told the BBC that the leader was "a very busy man".

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2021-09-26 15:31:50Z
52781893581163

Senin, 27 September 2021

What are the protesters calling for?

More on Supply Crisis

Related Topics:

Minggu, 26 September 2021

Storm over 'Tory scum' jibe as Labour is branded the 'true nasty party' after Keir Starmer refuses to order Angela Rayner to apologise and she doubles down on her abusive tirade

More from Politics

'Fanciful excuses'