1/5 The attack on the freedom of workers in the Anti-Strikes Bill is part of a longer-term project.
That project aims to take political and economic power away from the many so that it is held only by the few.
This is why the Government is really attacking trade unions.
2/5 This legislation puts beyond a shadow of a doubt whose side this Government is really on.
It's not the side of the public. Because this Government is taking away the public's democratic rights. #RightToStrike
3/5 It's workers, not the Govt, who are defending public services.
Workers fight for safe and accessible railways, a strong NHS, and an education system with good conditions for students & teachers.
This Govt sides with the practitioners of poverty pay and a race to the bottom.
4/5 The Anti-Strikes Bill is just the latest addition to a long raft of anti-democratic legislation passed by the Tories.
It is part of a project to transfer power away from workers and citizens, and eliminate the limited rights and freedoms we have in the workplace and society.
5/5 This Government wants us to believe that there is no alternative.
That NHS crisis, water pollution, food banks, and political corruption, are inevitable.
This is a grim 50 year-old ideological experiment, and it is in tatters.
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The dangers of deregulation in the UK financial sector 🚨
Last month, Rachel Reeves proposed loosening financial regulations to “unshackle” the City of London and boost growth. But could this come at the cost of economic stability?
A thread 🧵…
1/10
Post-2008 regulations were designed to prevent another financial meltdown.
The 2008 crisis showed what happens when banks & financial firms take unchecked risks. Reeves argues these regulations “stifle growth,” but they’ve been essential in protecting the economy from reckless behaviour.
2/10
Plans could cut compliance costs and ease reporting rules.
This includes:
•Reducing trade-reporting requirements for capital markets.
•Replacing the certification regime for junior employees with something “less burdensome.”
The cost of compensation is often cited as the main barrier to bringing water companies back into public ownership, with claims it could cost £90bn.
But this argument is built on major legal economic errors. Let’s break it down 🧵
1/12
2/12
First, English law doesn’t require compensation for nationalisation unless specifically provided for. And even then, there’s no obligation for it to be based on market value.
3/12
Moody’s, a leading credit ratings agency, confirmed that compensation lies within Parliament’s discretion. The European Court of Human Rights also supports this:
Water profiteers get: £85bn in dividends. You get a 40% bill hike?!
We refuse to pay for their mess. Sign here: 🧵actionnetwork.org/petitions/tell…
On 19th December, OFWAT, under pressure from water profiteers, is expected to announce its decision on whether to approve the largest water bill increase in the history of five-year reviews - an average 40% hike, with some areas facing shocking rises of 84%. 1/4
This is twice the rise that OFWAT had provisionally approved in July - a report published this month shows 40% of us will already struggle to afford that.
Millions more will be hit hard with further price hikes while polluters line their pockets. 2/4
After the failure of #COP29, it's time to face a hard truth: mitigation alone is no longer enough. We need deep adaptation – preparing for inevitable climate impacts while addressing systemic injustices. Those two imperatives are significant parts of what my Water Bill attempts to do. 🧵
Global warming is locked in. Even if we halted emissions today, past greenhouse gas levels ensure rising seas, extreme weather, and food insecurity. Billionaires know it, that’s why they’re building bunkers. But we need deep adaption for everyone. 1/12
#ClimateActionNow
COP29’s failures highlight a systemic flaw: the gap between promises and action. Vulnerable nations can't afford to wait for Global North commitments that rarely materialise. Deep adaptation puts local resilience first. 2/12
1. For those attempting to make sense of Trump’s victory and the rise of the far-right across Europe - look no further than the PMs statement below.
Whether you like it or not, the far-right has a set of common narratives. We can probably all recite them…
2. Something like, ‘the reason you’re in an overpriced, damp rental; your gran lives in squalor; your job is low paid/insecure &your public services crumbling - is because elites declared war on workers, favoured immigrants & made your life more expensive with their ‘green crap
3. ‘Vote for us and we will deport the immigrants, stop the elites, cut the green crap & declare war on woke, Britain will be great again.’
1/5 Trump's victory shows the authoritarian right can win even with rising GDP and supposedly 'good' economic figures. We must do three things if we don't want them to win here.
2/5 Firstly, accept that 'growth' alone is not a panacea. It has to be fairly distributed. That means significantly raising living standards and fixing our public services.
The quickest and fairest way to do that is to tax and redistribute excessive wealth and profits and find ways to stop profiteering on essentials like housing, energy, and food.
3/5 Second. Tell a story. Whether we like their stories or not, the authoritarian right has several - and they work. Even if you can get economic activity redistributed, you still need a narrative which explains to people what has gone wrong (neoliberalism), how you're fixing it (see above) and what the future will look like (narrative vision).
It also needs villains and heroes: extractive, price-gouging corporations, banks, and exploitative employers vs institutions that can rebuild social cohesion, devolved democracy and a sense of empowerment.