UK Politics Thread X: Immigration, Housing, Strikes oh my

[The Archregimancy]

Westminster Voting Intention (26 June):

LAB: 41% (–)
CON: 33% (+1)
LDEM: 15% (+2)
GRN: 4% (-1)
SNP: 4% (–)
RFM: 3% (-2)
OTH: 1% (-1)

Changes +/- 22 June

(Image)

Search your feelings; you know it to be true.

[Armeattla]

Someone failed their maths class so hard they instantly got a new job.

[The Huskar Social Union]

The NI Protocol Bill has passed its first stage in the House of Commons

[Emotional Support Crocodile]

The NI Protocol Bill has passed its first stage in the House of Commons

I'm disappointed that the majority was as large as 74 for something that breaks the law.

Still, it has a long and rocky road ahead.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Craigavon dispute: Workers at Interface flooring firm begin strike action

About 100 production workers at the Interface flooring company in Craigavon, County Armagh, have started strike action.

The Unite union said the strike would continue until workers "get the respect from the company they deserve".

It says the dispute arose after management rejected the workers' pay claim for 11%.

The company said it had been working "to understand the specific needs and concerns of our Craigavon members".

Unite says the company offered a pay increase of 5.25%, with an extra 2% to shift premiums for hourly employees.

"Our representatives have been in pay negotiations for months," Unite regional officer Neil Moore said.

"There have been years of pay suppression - last year workers only took a 1.5% increase.

"Workers say this strike is a long time coming; it is to do with the cost of living and having to pay bills.

"We are obviously seeing huge challenges with the cost of living, it is turning into a cost of surviving crisis."

=CONTINUES=

More Strikes, this time in Northern Ireland as workers at a flooring company in Graigavon have initiated a stike action over pay.

Also it seems Postal Workers might join in on the strike action with over 100k workers being balloted on holding a strike this summer

Potential disruption to the postal service could take place this summer with 115,000 workers balloted for strike action.

According to the Communication Workers Union (CWU) which represents workers, ballots have been sent to posties on Tuesday.

The CWU said the ballot was a result of pay demands, as they called on Royal Mail to negotiate a “straight, no-strings pay increase for employees” and rejected a 2% pay rise.

They claimed such a rise would represent a “dramatic real-terms wage cut” and warned industrial action could be the “biggest” this summer.

Earlier this month Unite the Union confirmed managers at Royal Mail were also being balloted for industrial action.

=CONTINUES=

[Emotional Support Crocodile]

Talking of strikes, both The Daily Mail and The Telegraph had front page stories about doctors threatening to strike.

[Souseiseki]

https://unherd.com/2022/06/stop-pretend ... s-america/

“We will not rest until your rights are restored,” Stella Creasy tells her American sisters. But what does that mean? How much influence does the Labour MP for Walthamstow have over the American judiciary? Can you truly measure something so small?

lmao

were i not so paranoid i'd write her a letter every 3-6 months asking her how the progress on the great battle is going

[The Nihilistic view]

https://unherd.com/2022/06/stop-pretending-britain-is-america/

“We will not rest until your rights are restored,” Stella Creasy tells her American sisters. But what does that mean? How much influence does the Labour MP for Walthamstow have over the American judiciary? Can you truly measure something so small?

lmao

were i not so paranoid i'd write her a letter every 3-6 months asking her how the progress on the great battle is going

Don't worry mate it's nearly August, we'll burn Washington again by then.

[Hirota]

https://unherd.com/2022/06/stop-pretending-britain-is-america/

“We will not rest until your rights are restored,” Stella Creasy tells her American sisters. But what does that mean? How much influence does the Labour MP for Walthamstow have over the American judiciary? Can you truly measure something so small?

lmao

were i not so paranoid i'd write her a letter every 3-6 months asking her how the progress on the great battle is going

I mean, she's hardly the first one to make a fetish out of importing American issues.

[Emotional Support Crocodile]

Don't worry mate it's nearly August, we'll burn Washington again by then.

That'll teach those Northumbrian separatists.

[Ifreann]

https://unherd.com/2022/06/stop-pretending-britain-is-america/



lmao

were i not so paranoid i'd write her a letter every 3-6 months asking her how the progress on the great battle is going

Don't worry mate it's nearly August, we'll burn Washington again by then.

The way climate change is going it'll probably burn down on its own.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Catholic couple forced to flee home brand PSNI 'a disgrace'

A Catholic man who fled his east Belfast home with his partner after being targeted by a loyalist mob has described the PSNI as a "disgrace" after it took officers almost an hour to respond to their pleas for help.

The couple, who were branded "Fenian b*******s" during the terrifying ordeal, say they have now been left homeless and are living with relatives.

During the attack, which police have described as a "hate crime", the female victim was hit on the head with a traffic cone.

The pair, who do not want to be identified, believe they were singled out because the man, who is a member of a GAA club in the greater Belfast area, may have been seen playing hurling in nearby Ormeau Park.

He said he and his partner were "besieged" in their home on London Street, off the lower Ravenhill Road, as they waited for help to arrive.

The couple's terrifying experience began on Friday after their car was attacked outside their home by a group of youths.

Days earlier the front door was kicked in while they were on holidays but they dismissed the incident "as kids messing about".

After their car was attacked the man and his partner spoke to police located close to the nearby Belsonic concert.

As they waited for officers to arrive at their home, the mob returned and surrounded their car before causing more damage.

After going outside to challenge the gang, the man was surrounded and as he and his partner tried to make her way back to the house she was hit on the head with a traffic cone.

"We had to close the door, lock the door, we were effectively besieged," he said.

The man said he thinks he phoned police up to six times but it still took a further 50 minutes for officers to arrive.

When police did turn up he and his partner fled their home.

He said that the following day police agreed to accompany them back to the property to collect their belongings after they contacted the office of East Belfast MLA Naomi Long.

The man last night said that while individual officers have been helpful "the police as an institution has been a disgrace frankly".

In footage captured of hooded youths outside the couple's home as they waited on police the words "f*****g Fenian b*******s" can be heard.

Justice minister Naomi Long condemned those behind the "mindless attack".

"The victims have been in contact with my office and the case is now being dealt with," she said.

"Everyone has a right to feel safe in their home and as a community we must stand together against hate crime."

The PSNI said it received a report of a car being damaged in the London Street area shortly after 8pm.

A spokesman said enquiries "are ongoing to establish the circumstances of this incident which is currently being treated as a hate crime".

The occupants of the house were assisted by police to leave the property and officers continue to monitor the area.

It is understood that the response time was just under an hour and other callsigns who were in the area were tied up with a Belsonic concert.

"Anyone with a complaint regarding police actions should contact the office of the Police Ombudsman."

Its a premium article but thankfully someone had it copy and pasted on reddit. But yeah so yet another case of an Irish Catholic family being driven out of their home after last years incidents involving the UVF threatening families out of a mixed housing estate in North Belfast. And i can tell this shit is only gona get worse with how things are going in NI.

The "crime" of playing a fucking sport gets your property destroyed and vandalised, your partner attacked and you and her forced to leave your home after a group of youths surround your house calling you fenian bastards.

---

Manchester barrister on strike claims he earned 49p per hour during trial

A barrister who is among thousands across the UK who have staged a walkout amid a dispute over legal aid funding, has claimed he earned 49p an hour during one of his trials.

Dozens of barristers, dressed in their wigs and gowns, turned out at Manchester Crown Court on Monday, 27 June, to protest against pay and workload.

They claim the justice system in the UK is "broken" as they take part in strike action held across several days, over the coming weeks.

Aarif Abraham, a barrister in Manchester, told ITV News that the rate of pay for barristers is "unsustainable" and is having huge implications on the justice system.

He said: "I have done cases where, when you've added in the preparation work, often which you don't get paid for, you could be earning in certain cases 49p an hour.

"That's a real case that I've done in the past. That's not just unsustainable, it's unfair and discriminatory and has huge impacts on the rule of law and the criminal justice system.

"Barristers cannot live sustainably on that level of pay."

The minimum wage for workers over the age of 23 or over in the UK is £9.50 (as of June 2022).

The Criminal Bar Association (CBA), which represents barristers in England and Wales, said around 81.5% of more than 2,000 members who voted in the ballot supported walking out of court.

As part of the strike, they will refuse to accept new cases and to carry out “return work” – stepping in and picking up court hearings and other work for colleagues whose cases are overrunning.

Dominic Raab said the barrister strikes are 'regrettable' and will 'only delay justice for victims'.

In a statement released ahead of the first day of strikes, the Justice Secretary said: "It’s regrettable that the Criminal Bar Association is striking, given only 43.5% of their members voted for this particular, most disruptive, option.

"I encourage them to agree the proposed 15% pay rise which would see a typical barrister earn around £7,000 more a year. Their actions will only delay justice for victims."

And barristers are on strike over poor pay and its implications for the justice system, with one barrister claiming he was earning a mere 49p per hour for a case he worked on in the past.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Ukraine is UK’s new ‘1937 moment’, British army chief says

Britain is facing a new “1937 moment” after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and must be prepared to “fight and win” to prevent the spread of war in Europe, the new head of the army has said.

The warning comes as Boris Johnson prepares to join other Nato leaders in Madrid for a summit at which they are expected to agree the biggest overhaul of the Western military alliance since the end of the Cold War.

General Sir Patrick Sanders, the chief of the general staff, is expected to tell the annual army conference on Tuesday he will focus on mobilising the army to prevent the spread of war in Europe by being “ready to fight and win alongside our Nato allies and partners”.

“In all my years in uniform, I haven’t known such a clear threat to the principles of sovereignty and democracy, and the freedom to live without fear of violence, as the brutal aggression of President Putin and his expansionist ambitions,” he is expected to say.

“This is our 1937 moment. We are not at war – but must act rapidly so that we aren’t drawn into one through a failure to contain territorial expansion.

----

A defence source did not deny reports that Mr Wallace asked Mr Johnson in a letter to lift the annual military budget from the current Nato minimum target of 2 per cent of GDP to 2.5 per cent by 2028.

=CONTINUES=

Here is the video of him speaking if anyone wants to watch, its 23 minutes long

[Heloin]

Scotland plans to hold a 2nd independence referendum on the 19th of October 2023.
https://twitter.com/yesscot/status/1541 ... 5taxwoHn_A

[Ifreann]

Scotland plans to hold a 2nd independence referendum on the 19th of October 2023.
https://twitter.com/yesscot/status/1541 ... 5taxwoHn_A

Oh referendum
When will we see
Your like again

[The Huskar Social Union]

Scotland plans to hold a 2nd independence referendum on the 19th of October 2023.
https://twitter.com/yesscot/status/1541 ... 5taxwoHn_A

Doubt it will actually happen as its a proposed date and im near certain the UK government can just say "Nah"

[Uan aa Boa]

Scotland plans to hold a 2nd independence referendum on the 19th of October 2023.
https://twitter.com/yesscot/status/1541 ... 5taxwoHn_A

Doubt it will actually happen as its a proposed date and im near certain the UK government can just say "Nah"

The Scottish government is asking the UK supreme Court to rule on whether it can hold an advisory referendum without UK government consent. Nicola Sturgeon is saying that if that decision is unfavourable the plan will be to make the next Scottish Parliament election into a de facto referendum by making independence the sole point in the SNP manifesto.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Doubt it will actually happen as its a proposed date and im near certain the UK government can just say "Nah"

The Scottish government is asking the UK supreme Court to rule on whether it can hold an advisory referendum without UK government consent. Nicola Sturgeon is saying that if that decision is unfavourable the plan will be to make the next Scottish Parliament election into a de facto referendum by making independence the sole point in the SNP manifesto.

Ah okay, cheers

[Emotional Support Crocodile]

Doubt it will actually happen as its a proposed date and im near certain the UK government can just say "Nah"

The Scottish government is asking the UK supreme Court to rule on whether it can hold an advisory referendum without UK government consent. Nicola Sturgeon is saying that if that decision is unfavourable the plan will be to make the next Scottish Parliament election into a de facto referendum by making independence the sole point in the SNP manifesto.

Lib Dem surge!

[The Huskar Social Union]

The Scottish government is asking the UK supreme Court to rule on whether it can hold an advisory referendum without UK government consent. Nicola Sturgeon is saying that if that decision is unfavourable the plan will be to make the next Scottish Parliament election into a de facto referendum by making independence the sole point in the SNP manifesto.

Lib Dem surge!

DAVEY RISING

[Shamhnan Insir]

Doubt it will actually happen as its a proposed date and im near certain the UK government can just say "Nah"

The Scottish government is asking the UK supreme Court to rule on whether it can hold an advisory referendum without UK government consent. Nicola Sturgeon is saying that if that decision is unfavourable the plan will be to make the next Scottish Parliament election into a de facto referendum by making independence the sole point in the SNP manifesto.

If things don't go the way I want I'll invent other ways of forcing my small-minded nationalistic poison on them anyways....

[The Nihilistic view]

The answer doesn't really matter either because pro Union parties will refuse to take part in the event they try a referendum anyway. So you get nowhere.

[Uan aa Boa]

If things don't go the way I want I'll invent other ways of forcing my small-minded nationalistic poison on them anyways....

If a majority support independence, whatever the format of the vote that expresses that, it becomes difficult for the UK government to chose to block the process.

The answer doesn't really matter either because pro Union parties will refuse to take part in the event they try a referendum anyway. So you get nowhere.

If a referendum is held then it would still go ahead even if the unionist parties for some reason chose not to campaign.

[The Archregimancy]

Doubt it will actually happen as its a proposed date and im near certain the UK government can just say "Nah"

The Scottish government is asking the UK supreme Court to rule on whether it can hold an advisory referendum without UK government consent. Nicola Sturgeon is saying that if that decision is unfavourable the plan will be to make the next Scottish Parliament election into a de facto referendum by making independence the sole point in the SNP manifesto.

The likely tactic is to gain Supreme Court approval for an advisory referendum, on the basis that this doesn't need a Section 30 order, and then argue that since all UK referendums are by nature only advisory, then this second referendum is de facto just as legally binding as the Brexit referendum even if it lacks the same de jure status as a referendum held under a Section 30 order. Thread participants will likely remember much ultimately pointless discussion over whether the Brexit referendum was legally binding or merely advisory. De jure it was the latter; de facto it was the former.

Note that I'm not offering an opinion on the validity of the tactic, merely outlining the likely approach.

The real danger is that we end up with a repeat of the 2017 Catalonia independence referendum, where the legitimacy of the referendum process is rejected by the anti-independence forces, who refuse to participate, and the SNP-led Scottish executive then tries to claim a mandate for independence on the basis of a referendum where almost the only people who vote are pro-independence. That's not really where I think any of us would want to be.

Committing to run on a purely pro-independence platform in the next Scottish Parliament referendum is realistically the main plan since Ms Sturgeon is far too canny not to have anticipated the challenges arising from a disputed referendum. There's a growing body of pro-independence opinion in Scotland that a pro-independence majority at Holyrood should simply issue a unilateral declaration of independence on the argument that 'Ireland didn't hold a referendum to declare independence'. The First Dáil simply declared independence in January 1919 after independence was the core pledge of its 1918 election manifesto, where it went on to win 73 out of the 105 Irish seats at Westminster.

This is true up to a point, but it rather seems to ignore the fact that First Dáil's declaration was followed by a vicious civil war and partition, the impacts of which are still very much felt today. And while fully conceding the dual points that the sociopolitical circumstances in Scotland in 2022-23 are very different from those in Ireland in 1918-19, and that you'd also like to think we've learned a thing or two over how not to manage this sort of process in the intervening century, Ireland isn't really the happy precedent here that independence ultras seem to think it should be.

[Emotional Support Crocodile]

The answer doesn't really matter either because pro Union parties will refuse to take part in the event they try a referendum anyway. So you get nowhere.

It'll be worth it for the tartan passports and being able to buy a joug of ale.