Living in the shadow: #fear of #America policies

To #UK readers

Debates about #NHS & social programmes aren’t trivial

I’ve seen what happens when #privatisation & #political #cruelty masquerade as #reform (no pun). Fight for your public programmes

- Cherish your NHS
- Protect disability rights

Once they are gone, people most dependent on them don’t just fall through the cracks they disappear

https://bylines.scot/politics/world-politics/living-in-the-shadow-fear-of-america-policies/

I’ve voiced #ScotRail trains for 20 years. No one told me AI was replacing me

THE woman who has been the voice of ScotRail trains for 20 years only learned she was being replaced after a friend heard the new #synthetic #voice onboard.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/25204424.voice-scotrail-20-years-replaced-ai/

Tax the super rich to stop cuts to public services

#UK is the 6th largest economy in world. But huge amount of wealth is held by very small proportion of the population

Average wealth of top 10 richest people UK is now £21 billion, up nearly 50% in 5 years

If you earn £3600 every hour, it would take you over 665 years to save this amount

2% #wealth #tax on assets over £10 million could raise up to £24 billion/yr - just 20k of wealthiest

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/tax-the-super-rich-to-stop-cuts-to-public-services-1

Why Is Cancer Drug Revlimid So Expensive?

When I was diagnosed with #cancer, I set out to understand why a single pill of #Revlimid cost the same as a new iPhone.

I’ve covered high drug prices as a reporter for years. What I discovered shocked even me.

https://www.propublica.org/article/revlimid-price-cancer-celgene-drugs-fda-multiple-myeloma

England GPs will be able to claim £20 per patient for seeking specialist advice

GPs will be paid £20 each time they decide not to send a patient to hospital under a government scheme

GPs will be able to claim money if they instead seek advice from a #hospital doctor or specialist before a decision is taken about referring #patients for tests & treatment in out-of-hospital setting

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/17/gps-in-england-will-be-able-to-claim-20-for-every-time-patient-is-not-sent-to-hospital

Key lessons of Covid are being forgotten UK scientists warn

The government promised to learn from the #pandemic but appears to be suffering from #Covid amnesia, forgetting devastating cost of an underfunded #health service & public services cut to the bone

There's no evidence the health service would be any better prepared today should another #lethal #virus appear in the near future, scientists said.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/23/key-lessons-of-covid-are-being-forgotten-uk-scientists-warn

Expert weighs in on Streeting’s mental health ‘overdiagnosis’ claims

Wes #Streeting’s claim there is an overdiagnosis of mental #health conditions is a “distraction” from the “chronic #underfunding” of #MentalHealth services, a psychiatry expert has said.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/25014344.expert-weighs-streetings-mental-health-overdiagnosis-claims/

Donald Trump says no right of return under his Gaza proposal

US President Donald Trump has said Palestinians would not have a right to return under his plan to #ethnically #cleanse Gaza.

#Trump’s comments contradict other officials in his administration who have sought to argue he was only calling for the temporary relocation of #Gaza’s population.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24924670.donald-trump-says-no-right-return-gaza-proposal/

Staggering energy bill hike sparks calls for overhaul of market

#NotLabourAsWeKnowIt (Jim)

#Electricity #bills rose by staggering 101% between 2010 & 2024, figures from House of Commons library show

But the rate of inflation over the period was just under 48%

Dave Doogan, the SNP’s #energy spokesperson, pointed out that #Labour had given a “cast-iron guarantee” during the election that they would cut bills by £300.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24916749.staggering-energy-bill-hike-sparks-calls-overhaul-market/

Streeting appoints health privatiser to oversee NHS slash-and-burn plan

Wes #Streeting, Health Secretary said he’ll let the NHS #die if the UK people don’t accept his ‘reforms’, has appointed a closure advocate who used to work for McKinsey – one of the key firms behind the #Tories’ assault on the #NHS – to formalise the implementation of a ‘ten-year plan’ of #cuts, #closures & #privatisation.

https://skwawkbox.org/2025/02/04/streeting-appoints-health-privatiser-to-oversee-10-year-nhs-slash-and-burn-plan/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=streeting-appoints-health-privatiser-to-oversee-10-year-nhs-slash-and-burn-plan

UK Govt urged to condemn Trump’s ethnic cleansing

#UK Government urged to condemn comments by #Trump endorsing ethnic cleansing of #Palestinians saying the US would “take over” #Gaza & “own it”.

He added that Gaza could become the “Riviera of the Middle East” while refusing to rule out sending #US #troops to occupy the territory.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24911054.uk-government-urged-condemn-trumps-ethnic-cleansing-comments/

Fight the Rich

Kshama Sawant

"I served as the only socialist on the Seattle City Council for ten years. In that decade, my council office led movements of working people to win historic victories, including the highest minimum wage in the country. I also saw firsthand how every part of the political establishment, led by big business and the Democratic Party, viciously opposed virtually every pro-worker piece of legislation we fought for. I saw how all the cogs of the capitalist machine — the establishment politicians, the courts, the police, the NGO leaders, and sadly many labor leaders — all work in concert together against the interests of workers.

I can tell you from my experience — and it is increasingly evident to working people — that this system is completely irredeemable, as are both U.S. political parties."

[Kshama Sawant is a revolutionary socialist, a founding member of Workers Strike Back, and a former Seattle City Councilmember who helped win the first $15/hour minimum wage in a major city and the Amazon Tax on wealthy corporations to fund affordable housing.]

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/01/27/fight-the-rich/

Royal Mail accused of faking deliveries

#RoyalMail #managers accused of #faking deliveries to keep their yearly #bonuses

#Postal #workers say they've been told to record some #parcel #deliveries as “inaccessible”, even if they never attempted to deliver it

Thus operations managers still receive their bonuses, understood to be based in part on hitting targets for the number of parcels that leave Royal Mail depots

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/royal-mail-accused-of-faking-deliveries/ar-AA1wnVFO

I can't believe the government are letting our #water bills go up by as much as £220 a year

I've just emailed my MP asking them to intervene. It only too about 30 seconds.

Use this link:

https://weownit.org.uk/act-now/stop-the-bill-hikes

[video 3 mins] Troy Hawke takes on the water companies - British Comedy Guide

Troy #Hawke is on duty at a Water Company Conference (WCC) in Brighton to congratulate the English water #executives on a water-tight business model.

https://www.comedy.co.uk/videos/27086/troy-hawke-takes-on-the-water-companies/

#Ofwat is due to announce that it is giving in to #water firm #lobbying meaning bills could increase by as much as 84% by 2030!

I've written my (worthless) MP to attend a briefing next week on the state of the water sector

If you're worried about bills rising by up to 84% while our rivers and seas still face daily #sewage spills, send this template to your MP.

https://weownit.org.uk/ask-your-mp-stand-water-bill-payers

#Ethical #Consumerism #EthicalConsumerism #capitalism #future #Green #GreenWashing #BCorp #Environmental #Environment #Exploitation #workers #ethics #PeopleNotProfits #FossilFuels

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR_hf0XHHTI&list=WL&index=9

1 year on, we know this: #Sweden’s trade unions are more than a match for Elon Musk

It's the first & only #strike against #Tesla anywhere in the world. It has now become the longest-running strike in Sweden for a century. In April, six months into the dispute

#Musk said: “Actually, I think the storm has passed on that front, I think things are in reasonably good shape in Sweden.” That was not true then, and it is not true now

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/01/one-year-on-we-know-this-swedens-trade-unions-are-more-than-a-match-for-elon-musk

Ethical alarms should be ringing over jabs for the jobless

#SameOldGovt

Would taking a drug be voluntary or would it be mandatory for entitlement to #benefits? Recalling Labour’s previous support for conditionality & sanctions, one can see which way it would go

Would giving #drugs for obesity be precedent for other medical conditions?

Many #unemployed become #depressed. Will #DWP mandate #antidepressants, or lose benefits?

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/oct/17/ethical-alarms-should-be-ringing-over-weight-loss-jabs-for-the-jobless

Labour sticks with Tories £1.3bn benefits #cuts branded shameless

#Labour expected to retain changes to “work capability assessment” that were introduced last year by #Tories with critics saying they “should be utterly ashamed of themselves”

#Disability rights activists called on Kendall to reverse changes, as they pose severe risks to vulnerable people with mental and physical conditions

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24663294.labours-plans-stick-tories-1-3bn-benefits-cuts/