Aug142017

Latest incoherent and inadequate proposals on customs arrangements are designed to gloss over Cabinet divisions – Starmer

Labour

Keir
Starmer MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union,
commenting on the Government’s latest proposals on customs arrangements, said:

“These are incoherent and
inadequate proposals designed to gloss over deep and continuing divisions
within the Cabinet.

“Businesses, trade unions and the
country need certainty about our future trading and customs arrangements. They
also need a pragmatic and considered approach that delivers the best deal for
Britain.

“Instead, the Cabinet remain split
on key issues and cannot decide between two very different but equally
unachievable options. The first proposal suggests “a new customs border with
the EU” could be introduced without disrupting trade; the second suggests a new
borderless customs partnership could somehow be agreed while Britain also signs
external trade deals.

“These fantastical and
contradictory proposals provide no guidance for negotiators or certainty for
businesses. The proposals also make it less likely that necessary transitional
arrangements will be in place by March 2019.

“Labour is clear that we need to
retain the benefits of the Customs Union and avoid a cliff-edge for the British
economy. That means committing now to strong transitional arrangements on the
same basic terms we currently enjoy – including the Single Market and the
Customs Union.”

Ends

Aug142017

Fighting famine: ‘unprecedented crisis’ putting 20 million people at risk, warns UN agency

United Nations

14 August 2017 – Twenty million people risk dying of hunger in South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and the north-east of Nigeria, including 1.4 million children suffering from severe malnutrition, the United Nations food relief agency said, spotlighting today its worldwide campaign to fight famine.

&#8220Famine is declared when there is evidence of extreme conditions regarding food access, child malnutrition and an increase in the death rate,&#8221 stated the UN World Food Programme (WFP), while launching in Spain a global Fighting Famine campaign in Spain to warn about this unprecedented food crisis.

Commending &#8220the intense response mounted by the humanitarian community,&#8221 WFP said the famine declared in two counties of South Sudan in February had been overcome and, to date, Somalia, Yemen and northeast Nigeria have averted it.

&#8220Nonetheless,&#8221 the agency cautioned, &#8220the situation is still critical.&#8221

WFP pointed out that apart from Yemen, the other three countries are entering the lean season &#8211 the time of year when the previous season’s harvest has run out and food stocks are at their lowest. Also, the rains are making access by land difficult, and even impossible. While air transportation may sometimes be possible, it costs up to seven times more.

The severe food crisis in Yemen is caused by the consequences of armed conflict devastating the country, according to the UN agency.

WFP has implemented emergency response mechanisms that include food airdrops in remote areas in South Sudan and trucking in supplies to areas where people have fled from Boko Haram in Nigeria.

In June, agency assisted 11.8 million people in the four famine-facing countries, underscoring that &#8220almost half of them are in Yemen, where lack of funding has meant that WFP has been forced to make the difficult decision to reduce the amount of food each person in order to stretch resources further.&#8221

To shine a spotlight on the unprecedented food crisis, WFP is taking part in a worldwide #FightingFamine campaign.

The UN agency noted that in Spain, Mastercard and MediaCom have donated resources and advertising space so that the initiative is channeled through press, online media, digital screens and street furniture.

WFP is funded entirely by voluntary contributions, and with this campaign, it urges &#8220the private sector and individuals to take action to help prevent a looming humanitarian disaster.&#8221

As WFP depends on the generosity of donor governments, supporters and partners to quickly deliver food to affected people in these four countries, it urgently needs $900 million to meet immediate needs and avoid the spread of famine for the period of August to January 2018.

Aug142017

Education must be the top priority

Scottish Labour

15 August 2017

This week marks two years since I became Scottish Labour leader. Three elections, a referendum on the EU and the near constant campaign around the constitution in Scotland has been packed into that time – now it’s time to take a breath and focus on what really matters.

I made education my top priority when I became Labour leader because I believe the transformative power it can have on people’s lives. Giving people the skills they need to compete for the jobs of the future will cut the levels of poverty that scar our communities and grow our economy.

One of the first headline policies I announced as leader was a Fair Start Fund –  extra funding for each of the poorest pupils  in our primary schools, paid directly to head teachers.

Sound familiar? The SNP adopted the policy and rebranded it the ‘pupil equity fund’.

I’m all for the SNP government taking Labour’s advice when it comes to closing the gap between the richest and the rest. The problem is SNP ministers copied our policy – but not how to pay for it.

Labour would introduce a 50p top rate of tax on the richest to fund this extra investment in our young people – instead the SNP took it from central funding.

That is central funding for schools that has already been hammered by £1.5 billion of cuts since 2011. It is the definition of giving with one hand and taking away with the other.

The Scottish Parliament has the powers to do things differently now. Thanks to the new powers over tax delivered by the Vow there is no excuse for the Scottish Government to fail to give our schools the investment they need.

This week Labour’s summer campaign, For The Many, adopts a ‘Back to school’ theme, as we highlight our plans to reform and increase investment in education. We’ll highlight the SNP’s failures too.

It’s more than two years since Nicola Sturgeon took to the pages of the Daily Record to declare she had a ‘sacred responsibility to ensure every young person has the same chance to succeed’.

Big words, but the numbers don’t add up. The percentage of spending going to education and skills since the SNP has come to office has fallen, as it has pushed down the list of priorities for public spending.

In fact the SNP currently plan to spend more money cutting tax for frequent flyers than they plan to spend closing the attainment gap in our classrooms.

In 2016 the SNP lost its majority in the Scottish Parliament, and in 2017 it lost its direction.

Ministers can’t bulldoze their plans through parliament anymore. They have to work with other parties. 

That’s why, I’ll be making the case in parliament to push Labour ideas through on education.

Nicola Sturgeon promised Scots she was going to make education her top priority. I’m going to make her keep that promise.
—–
Kez Dugdale is the Scottish Labour leader. This article first appeared in the Daily Record on 15 August 2017.