Peter Lazenby
Morning Star
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Past articles by Peter:
West Midlands ambulance workers ‘won’t be fobbed off’ as almost 1,000 strike
AMBULANCE workers are continuing their battle for fair pay and the future of the NHS with new waves of strike action as almost 1,000 walked out in the West Midlands today. Welsh workers have announced more stoppages on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week. In the West Midlands, the GMB union said that the workers will not be “fobbed off” by the government which is refusing to negotiate on… → Read More
Striking rail workers lead solidarity march in Manchester
RAIL workers headed a march organised by hundreds of trade unionists through Manchester city centre on Saturday in a show of solidarity with them and other strikers. With banners and flags raised, they took their message to the streets and pledged support for workers taking industrial action across the north-west, including nurses, rail workers, paramedics, postal workers and Civil Service… → Read More
Sunak urged to sit down to public sector pay talks
THE government came under increasing pressure today for pay negotiations to reach a settlement with striking health and other public-sector workers. Paul Nowak, the TUC’s new general secretary, called for urgent talks with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and an end to ministers’ intransigence which is forcing hundreds of thousands of nurses, ambulance paramedics, rail workers, civil servants and… → Read More
Incoming TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak slams Tory attack on workers
WORKERS’ strikes against the government’s decade-long attack on their living standards must be backed by a “bigger, stronger and more diverse” trade union movement, the incoming TUC general secretary declared today. As tens of thousands of workers and their unions prepare to intensify their industrial action in the new year, Paul Nowak accused the government of “sabotaging” efforts to settle… → Read More
Small firms and van drivers will be caught off guard by tax increase, survey suggests
SMALL firms and self-employed van drivers are to be hit by a £15 million-a-year tax raid by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt — and most of them do not know about it. A rise in tax paid by firms and one-person van operators on their vehicles was part of Mr Hunt’s Autumn Statement in which he sought to pass on some of the financial damage caused by the disastrous mini-budget inflicted on Britain’s economy… → Read More
Job centre staff strike against office closure, job transfers and redundancies
WORKERS at four northern offices of the Department for Work and Pensions walked out on strike today, joining rolling national industrial action by civil servants over pay, pensions and job cuts. Civil servants’ union PCS launched strikes in Doncaster in South Yorkshire and at three department offices in Merseyside: Toxteth, Duke Street and Liverpool city centre. Over 1,000 jobs are at risk at… → Read More
Austerity 2.0: Cash-starved education ‘on the ropes’
Tories' funding attacks hit kids and college students the most → Read More
SNP’s broken promises on GP numbers is failing staff and patients, warn Scottish Labour
LABOUR has accused the Scottish government of breaking a pledge to increase the number of GPs. Doctors’ union the British Medical Association (BMA) echoed the criticism, saying that the failure had caused a “vicious circle” of rising workloads driving even more GPs out of the profession. In 2017 the SNP-run government pledged to increase the number of GPs by 80, but Scotland now has 3,493 — 81… → Read More
Fuel poverty campaigners stage ‘warm up’ protests across Britain
FUEL poverty campaigners staged “warm up” protests and occupations across Britain on Saturday in a day of action which included climbing into beds on display in Harrods department store in London. More than 40 protests were staged over the effects of rampant increases in energy bills which are leaving 6.9 million disabled and vulnerable people unable to heat their homes. Fuel Poverty Action and… → Read More
Refugee on 28th day of hunger strike accuses Serco of 'inhuman and degrading treatment' of asylum-seekers
A REFUGEE on the 28th day of a hunger strike has demanded an end to the “inhuman and degrading treatment” of asylum-seekers in hotels run by disgraced security firm Serco. Backed by a campaigning refugee support group in Manchester, Shay Babagar told an online media conference today that residents suffered poor hygiene, infections, lack of basic toiletries, inadequate food and abuse by staff. He… → Read More
Scotland made to pay for Westminster's ‘financial implosion’ with stealth taxes and cuts
SCOTLAND is being made to pay for Westminster’s “financial implosion” with stealth taxes, cuts and insufficient aid for the vulnerable, Scottish unions and campaigners warned today. The Scottish TUC said Scotland’s workers were “being held to ransom” by the Tories’ self-inflicted economic disaster. And child poverty campaigners said the little aid that was being made available in Chancellor… → Read More
Increasing number of Scottish kids coming to school hungry, finds survey
INCREASING numbers of children in Scotland are arriving at school hungry, wearing ragged clothing and with no energy for learning, according to a survey of teachers published today. More than two-thirds of those questioned said that they had helped individual families with money, food and clothing. At some schools, pupils have organised clothing banks for poorer classmates. The devastating… → Read More
Two million people on Universal Credit forced to skip meals
TWO million people are now so deep in poverty that they are skipping meals and even going without food for a day, foodbank charity the Trussell Trust has revealed. New research by the organisation, published today, shows that the cost-of-living crisis is forcing families into hunger even before next month’s government-approved 80 per cent rise in energy prices takes effect. The trust said the… → Read More
Big Pharma bosses fight legal move to disqualify them for allegedly colluding to drive up NHS drug prices
BOSSES at four Big Pharma companies are fighting a legal move to remove them for allegedly rigging drug prices to the NHS. Their companies were fined for allegedly bleeding the NHS of millions in taxpayers’ cash when they colluded in supplying a drug to treat nausea, migraine and dizziness. By limiting supplies, prices soared by 700 per cent. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has… → Read More
Energy crisis a 'Dunkirk moment' requiring drastic overhaul and end to privatisation, say lords
BRITAIN’S energy crisis is a “Dunkirk moment” demanding radical action – and demonstrating that privatisation has failed, two veteran politicians will say today. Ex-Labour MP Lord Frank Field and former Tory pensions minister Baroness Ros Altmann blame privatisation for the crisis and are urging the next prime minister to admit the failure of the policy. They warn against “poorly targeted… → Read More
Two-thirds of public support nurses striking for better pay, survey shows
ALMOST two-thirds of the public support strike action by nurses, a new survey has shown. The Royal College of Nurses (RCN), the nurses’ biggest union, commissioned the YouGov poll as the union prepares to ballot its 300,000 members on strike action over pay for the first time in its history. The RCN said public support for strike action by nurses has risen to nearly 64 per cent, while 75 per… → Read More
Unison's wealth tax blueprint 'would fund inflation-matching pay award across public sector'
Public-sector union Unison commissions an economic analysis that also gives public-sector workers a pay rise in line with inflation → Read More
Scottish Labour vow to tackle ‘culture of secrecy’ at Holyrood
SCOTTISH LABOUR has accused Scotland’s government of creating a “culture of secrecy and cover-up,” including delaying responses to freedom of information (FOI) requests beyond statutory limits. Labour says that the SNP has created “a secret Scotland” and pledged to end it by strengthening the Freedom of Information Act and extending it to all bodies that provide services to the public. It said… → Read More
Protesters gather across Britain against Rwanda deportations
PROTESTERS across Britain shouted with one voice yesterday to demand that the government’s plans to send refugees and asylum-seekers to Rwanda be stopped. Revulsion turned into nationwide action against the plans as the Trade Union Congress joined forces with campaign groups Care4Calais and Stand Up To Racism to organise protests. Supporters included RMT general secretary Mick Lynch, actor Ricky… → Read More
Mass social housing building needed, campaigners urge as house prices rocket 7.1 times annual average earnings
A MASS building programme of social housing is desperately needed, campaigners urged today after new figures showed that house prices were “rocketing” and reaching unaffordable levels. Mortgage lender Halifax said that a “typical” UK home now costs 7.1 times annual average earnings. It estimated that the “average earnings” of a full-time worker are £39,402, and the average house price is… → Read More