Sunday, August 17, 2025
Heavy-handed policing of Palestine protests under attack
The paper says that in the letter to Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, and Mark Rowley, the head of the Metropolitan police, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said the perception that peaceful protest could attract disproportionate police attention “undermines confidence in our human rights protections”:
Kishwer Falkner, the EHRC chair, wrote that it was vital that any policing of protests was both proportionate and based on clear legal tests.
The letter raised concerns about “reports of police engagement with individuals participating in forms of protest that are not linked to any proscribed organisation”.
It cited as an example the case of Laura Murton, first revealed by the Guardian. Kent police threatened her with arrest under the Terrorism Act for holding a Palestinian flag and having signs saying “Free Gaza” and “Israel is committing genocide”.
Murton filmed police telling her that even such general statements “all come under proscribed groups, which are terror groups that have been dictated by the government”.
During the exchange, one officer said the phrase “Free Gaza” was “supportive of Palestine Action”, that it was illegal “to express an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation”, and that she had committed that offence with her signs.
Falkner wrote: “Whilst we acknowledge police expertise in assessing security risks, we want to emphasise that any interference with protest rights must be lawful and assessed case by case.
“Heavy-handed policing or blanket approaches risk creating a chilling effect, deterring citizens from exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and assembly through fear of possible consequences.
“This concern extends beyond those directly affected by police engagement to the broader health of our democracy, because the perception that peaceful protest may attract disproportionate police attention undermines confidence in our human rights protections.”
Falkner urged ministers and police to make sure all officers were given “clear and consistent guidance on their human rights obligations in relation to protest”, which should “ensure that the appropriate balance is maintained between public safety and the protection of essential human rights”.
Murton told the Guardian last week that her solicitors had issued a letter of claim on her behalf to the chief constable of Kent police, in what was also said to be a move to remind other police forces of their responsibilities towards peaceful protests.
Falkner said in a statement: “The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy and must be protected even when dealing with complex and sensitive issues.
“We recognise the genuine challenges the police face in maintaining public safety, but we are concerned that some recent responses may not strike the right balance between security and fundamental rights.
“Our role as the national human rights institution is to uphold the laws that safeguard everyone’s right to fairness, dignity and respect. When we see reports of people being questioned or prevented from peaceful protests that don’t support proscribed organisations, we have a duty to speak out.”
This suppression of legitimate protest and the undermining of democratic rights is the responsibiity of Labour ministers and their unjustified proscription of Palestine Action. Labour have always had an authoritarian streak and it is becoming more evident in their actions since coming to power.
Saturday, August 16, 2025
A fortified home in a stunning location
The only problem was that whoever had put together the itinerary had obviously never been to Gower, because there is no way that a 52-seater coach can get anywhere near the castle on the narrow roads in that part of peninsular.
The castle is located in a dramatic location on the windswept coast of the Gower peninsula,` overlooking marshes and mudflats with the wild Llwchwr estuary beyond.
This fortified manor house was raised in stages by the wealthy de la Bere family, stewards to the lords of Gower, 700 years ago.
As the Cadw site says, mostly the de La Beres wanted to create an elegant family home in which to entertain high society guests:
The grand hall, guest chambers with indoor latrines and the lord’s solar, or private withdrawing room, all suggest considerable splendour.
But the watchtower, military-style crenellated wall-tops and a south-west tower raised to battlement height show that these were still dangerous times. Luxury and defence had to go hand in hand.
Nevertheless it was a century later before Weobley suffered serious damage during the uprising of Owain Glyndŵr in the early 15th century.
Welsh soldier Rhys ap Thomas picked the right side at the Battle of Bosworth when he placed his army of 2,000 men at the disposal of Henry Tudor, soon to become Henry VII.
His reward was a knighthood and a reputation as one of the up-and-coming men in the Tudor court. Weobley passed to the powerful Sir Rhys at the end of the 15th century. Although his main seat was at nearby Carew Castle, he still found the time to upgrade his manor house beside the mudflats.
In particular he added the two-storey porch block to provide a more stately entrance to the hall and private quarters. His lofty position in society demanded no less.
But the family’s influence was short-lived. His grandson Rhys ap Gruffudd was executed for treason in the reign of Henry VIII and the castle reverted to the Crown.
Nowadays, the castle is a visitor attraction, open all year round, even boasting a gift shop. It is also the home of the Gower Folk Festival in the second weekend of June. And the nearby beaches and pubs are well worth visiting as well.
Friday, August 15, 2025
Claims of an exodus not substantiated
That was certainly suggested when the current government scrapped the non-domiciled tax status, which allowed wealthy individuals with connections abroad to avoid paying full UK tax on their overseas earnings. In fact, there were predictions that so many would leave that the Treasury would actually be worse off.
The Guardian reports that claims of an exodus of wealthy “non-doms” in response to tax rises may be overblown, according to a report that suggests the number leaving the country is in line with official forecasts.
The paper says that early monthly payroll data from HM Revenue and Customs appears to indicate that the number of non-dom departures is in line with official predictions, according to sources cited by the Financial Times:
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast in January that 25% of non-doms with trusts would leave the UK in response to the abolition of the tax status, while 10% of those without trusts would leave. Official data suggests this prediction was broadly correct, people briefed on the findings told the FT.
Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor’s Conservative predecessor, first announced moves to phase out the 225-year-old non-dom status that protected overseas earnings from being taxed in exchange for a flat annual fee. However, Labour took the proposals a step further by replacing them with a regime that will include overseas assets in the UK’s 40% inheritance tax rate.
Many non-doms earn income from work or their pensions in the UK, which means they appear in the PAYE (pay as you earn) figures in the payroll data that businesses send to the tax office each month. If they fall off PAYE figures, that suggests they have left the country.
The FT reported that some of those briefed on early HMRC data said payroll figures suggested that fewer people were leaving than projected by the OBR, while others said the departures were in line with forecasts.
The numbers do not capture the movements of those non-doms who do not work in the UK, which could include some of the richest, but with a shortage of reliable data they will provide some relief to Reeves amid a debate about whether the policy could backfire.
Payroll data is now a more helpful indicator of potential non-dom movement as more than 120 days have passed since the start of the tax year, which started on 6 April. It is likely that anyone who did not want to be considered as a UK tax resident would have left the country.
HMRC has said previously that it will not have official data on how many non-doms who earn UK income have left until January 2027, when people submit self-assessment tax returns for the year 2025-26.
So now that those predictions have been debunked, how about that wealth tax?
The Guardian reports that claims of an exodus of wealthy “non-doms” in response to tax rises may be overblown, according to a report that suggests the number leaving the country is in line with official forecasts.
The paper says that early monthly payroll data from HM Revenue and Customs appears to indicate that the number of non-dom departures is in line with official predictions, according to sources cited by the Financial Times:
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast in January that 25% of non-doms with trusts would leave the UK in response to the abolition of the tax status, while 10% of those without trusts would leave. Official data suggests this prediction was broadly correct, people briefed on the findings told the FT.
Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor’s Conservative predecessor, first announced moves to phase out the 225-year-old non-dom status that protected overseas earnings from being taxed in exchange for a flat annual fee. However, Labour took the proposals a step further by replacing them with a regime that will include overseas assets in the UK’s 40% inheritance tax rate.
Many non-doms earn income from work or their pensions in the UK, which means they appear in the PAYE (pay as you earn) figures in the payroll data that businesses send to the tax office each month. If they fall off PAYE figures, that suggests they have left the country.
The FT reported that some of those briefed on early HMRC data said payroll figures suggested that fewer people were leaving than projected by the OBR, while others said the departures were in line with forecasts.
The numbers do not capture the movements of those non-doms who do not work in the UK, which could include some of the richest, but with a shortage of reliable data they will provide some relief to Reeves amid a debate about whether the policy could backfire.
Payroll data is now a more helpful indicator of potential non-dom movement as more than 120 days have passed since the start of the tax year, which started on 6 April. It is likely that anyone who did not want to be considered as a UK tax resident would have left the country.
HMRC has said previously that it will not have official data on how many non-doms who earn UK income have left until January 2027, when people submit self-assessment tax returns for the year 2025-26.
So now that those predictions have been debunked, how about that wealth tax?
Thursday, August 14, 2025
Are the Labour government in a hole on Palestine Action?
The paper says that the warning by Peter Hain, who opposed proscription, came as a Labour backbencher who supported it said the issue would arise again when parliament returned in September:
Lord Hain, who was a leader of the anti-apartheid movement and the Anti-Nazi League in Britain during the 1970s and 1980s, was lacerating about the response to recent protests in support of Palestine Action.
“It will end in tears for the government,” he said. “We are seeing retired magistrates, retired and serving doctors and all sorts of people being arrested and now effectively being equated with terrorists such as al-Qaida, which is absolutely wrong.”
He said if a legal challenge to the proscription was successful, it “would be a mercy to all concerned, including the government”.
The peer was one of three Labour members of the Lords to vote against banning the group in July. Lord John Hendy, the barrister and employment law expert, and Frances O’Grady, the former TUC general secretary, also opposed the move, as did 10 Labour MPs.
“It’s going to get worse [for the government] because I don’t see people from that ‘middle Britain’ background who have joined these protests in such large numbers to suddenly decide that all is OK,” he said.
“In fact, I think more are going to come out and face arrest because the approach to Palestine Action is contrary to every form of peaceful protest in British history, whether that’s the chartists and suffragettes or anti-apartheid and anti-fascist protesters.”
The government has come under pressure to justify the detention of 532 people arrested over the weekend under the Terrorism Act – half of whom were 60 or older – on suspicion of showing support for Palestine Action.
He cited his experience as a secretary of state for Northern Ireland and cabinet minister to challenge the equation of the group with terrorists.
“There is a battery of other crimes that could be applied to Palestine Action but terrorism is not one of them, while you also devalue the charge of terrorism by equating it with the protests we have seen,” Hain said.
“I … worked with the intelligence services and others to stop dissident IRA groups from killing. I have signed warrants to stop other real terrorists, Islamist terrorists, bombing London. So I am not soft on terrorism. But I am a strong believer that you have to know what it looks like.”
Hain said that a lot of Labour MPs and peers were now having “second thoughts” about proscribing Palestine Action.
With more demonstrations planned against this proscription, in addition to the legal challenge, and with heavyweights like Peter Hain speaking out against the government's action, it is clear that Ministers are coming under increasing pressure over this ban. They are in a hole and digging. Surely, it is time for a rethink.
Wednesday, August 13, 2025
UK Government digs its heels in
They say that the Crown Estate is a collection of marine and land assets and holdings that belong to the monarch. It includes the seabed out to 12 nautical miles, which is around 65% of the Welsh foreshore and riverbed, and a number of ports and marinas. On land the Crown Estates owns 50,000 acres of common land in Wales. The value of the estate in Wales is more than £603m of land.
Since 2019 responsibility for management of the Crown Estate’s assets in Scotland has been devolved but that is not the case in Wales. The Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales, the Welsh Government and all twenty-two Welsh councils want the estate devolved to Wales. However, the UK Government has ruled it out:
In response to a letter sent by campaigners Yes Cymru to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Welsh secretary Jo Stevens has said that is not the position of her party colleagues in London.
In it, she writes: "It is this government's view that devolving the Crown Estate and introducing a new entity would risk market fragmentation, complicate existing processes, and delay further development offshore.
"Furthermore, devolution would mean Wales losing access to Crown Estate investment that comes from its revenues in England. It would also risk undermining investment in floating offshore wind, which is needed to provide lower bills, cleaner energy, and better jobs. This government is focussed on delivering these objectives and so does not support the devolution of the Crown Estate in Wales," the Cardiff East MP says.
"Even if devolution could be done without risking the revenues the Crown Estate generates, this would not automatically lead to an increase in the funding available to the Welsh Government. This is because any revenues retained by the Welsh Government in a devolved system would likely be offset through reductions to their block grant as is currently the case in Scotland.
"Creating an artificial border through the Celtic Sea would also complicate crucially important work to develop the floating offshore wind industry, particularly as floating offshore wind lease areas straddle the Wales/England border."
YesCymru has pledged to intensify the campaign in response to Westminster’s refusal, which started with a protest at the Eisteddfod.
Chair Phyl Griffiths said: "The Crown Estate proves that the practice of extraction is still alive in 21st century Wales and has resulted in all 22 authorities speaking with one voice, underlining the fact we're a nation.
"The London government's response to our call to transfer control of the Crown Estate to Wales, however, only proves that they see us as nothing more than a region of the UK."
So much for two Labour governments working together for the common good.
Tuesday, August 12, 2025
Labour reaps consequences of NI rise
The paper says that the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has said that just 57 per cent of private sector employers plan to recruit staff in the next three months, down from 65 per cent last autumn, as they battle rising costs:
The influential monthly report by accountants KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Federation (REC) also showed a "further steep decline" in permanent worker appointments last month, with recruiters blaming weak confidence in the economy and higher payroll costs.
Anna Leach, the chief economist at the Institute of Directors, warned the trend “could undermine the UK’s weak growth outlook further, hitting both living standards and tax revenues”.
The CIPD survey of 2000 employers found 84 per cent of UK businesses said their employment costs had risen since changes to NICs took effect in April 2025, while half of care and hospitality employers said those costs had risen to a large extent.
Ben Caswell, senior economist at leading think tank the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), said the findings suggest firms are dealing with the NI hike by cutting staff rather than raising prices, but warned these were now being driven upwards by the chancellor’s minimum wage rise, which came in in April.
The news will come as a blow to Ms Reeves just days after the Bank of England warned the public of months of sharp price increases ahead, driven by higher food costs.
The central bank also blamed Ms Reeves’s NI raid and the rise in the minimum wage for helping to push up the cost of the supermarket shop, as it slashed interest rates to 4 per cent in a bid to boost the UK’s sluggish economy.
Ms Reeves has also been warned of a £50bn black hole in the government’s finances, which leading economists say means she may have to raise taxes, cut public spending, or tear up her fiscal rules in order to fill.
Labour are asking us to be patient, but that is not going to put food on the table. This is not a something they inherited, it is situation they created with their first budget.
Monday, August 11, 2025
Proposed change to court guidance risks fuelling “reactionary politics”
The Trust has claimed that “hostile language” from politicians and the media towards immigration is fuelling “reactionary politics”, and say that the proposals risk framing violence against women and girls as an issue of ethnicity instead of misogyny:
The debate was reignited after George Finch, the Reform UK leader of Warwickshire county council, accused police of a “cover-up” over the migration status of two suspects charged after the alleged rape of the child, claiming they were asylum seekers. The force strongly denies a cover-up, saying it merely acted in line with national guidance.
The details of suspects before trials are routinely limited to ensure the fairness and legal safety of proceedings. But Downing Street has called for “transparency” to rebuild public trust after false rumours spread after 2024’s Southport murders.
However, campaigners warn that politicians and media are emboldening the far right by linking migration to crime.
This month, the Runnymede Trust released a report that – after analysing more than 63m words from 52,990 news articles and 317 House of Commons debates on immigration between 2019 and July 2024 – found the word most strongly associated with migrants was “illegal”.
After Cooper’s remarks that “more information should be provided … including on some of those asylum issues”, Dr Shabna Begum, the chief executive of the Runnymede Trust, said: “These proposals do nothing to address the urgent issues of male sexual violence, divert attention away from women and girls and fixate on nationality and asylum status – as part of an increasingly aggressive far-right agenda.
“Instead of recycling age-old tropes about men of colour as inherently threatening to white British women, we should be centring victims and survivors of all backgrounds.
“We all deserve better than this pantomime politics that offers us easy villains but deals with none of the wider conditions where misogyny has increased.”
Runnymede’s recent report said there were “many” examples of media “stories about distressing crimes that emphasise the immigration status of the perpetrator”, claiming they were used to frame asylum seekers as a potential threat to women and “the British way of life”.
The report also cited comments made by the former home secretary Suella Braverman, in the context of 2023’s illegal migration bill, which linked people arriving on boats to “heightened levels of criminality” and Robert Jenrick’s X post this year that spoke of “importing hundreds of thousands of people from alien cultures, who possess medieval attitudes towards women”.
Runnymede’s report said the “long-term effects” of such claims would be to “normalise” violence against women and girls by making it seem as if it is “determined by ethnicity rather than the perpetuation of misogynist practices in society”.
In my view, releasing this sort of information would just add to the hysterical anti-immigrant rhetoric that is pervading public debate in this country. It would also undermine the fairness of the justice system. There is no legal reason for such information to be made public.
This effort by Labour ministers to try and assuage the far right is only going to make things worse.
Sunday, August 10, 2025
MPs under fire over rental properties
Their warning comes after Guardian analysis revealed four cabinet ministers – including the chancellor, Rachel Reeves – have declared rental income from property in the MPs’ register of interests:
The disclosure, which comes after the resignation of the homelessness minister Rushanara Ali over the eviction of tenants from her London property, has drawn strong criticism from campaigners and backbenchers.
One senior MP said the fact that frontbenchers made money from private property ownership undermined the government’s credibility when it comes to reforming the rental sector.
One said: “The perception that MPs are profiting from the same system we’re supposed to reform isn’t helping … there’s a real risk voters will see this as hypocrisy and question our credibility on renters’ rights.”
Alongside Reeves, the foreign secretary, David Lammy, and the Scotland secretary, Ian Murray, have declared rental income exceeding £10,000 in the most recent register of members’ interests.
Lucy Powell, the leader of the House of Commons, is also included but is understood to have a single lodger and receives less than £10,000 in rent.
Reeves’s disclosure relates to a London house jointly owned with her partner, meaning at least some of the rent is paid to another person. Hers is one of 31 properties listed by MPs where at least some portion of the rent was paid to another person.
The Guardian’s analysis found one in eight Westminster MPs – including 10 with government posts – declared a rental income from property in the last year.
This includes almost a quarter of the Conservative parliamentary party (27 MPs), just 11% of Labour MPs (43 MPs) and 10% of Liberal Democrats (7 MPs).
The two MPs with the largest declared property incomes are both from Labour. Jas Athwal, MP for Ilford South, rents out 15 residential and three commercial properties in London. Last year, he was criticised by Keir Starmer after he was accused of renting out flats with black mould and ant infestations.
Athwal was followed by the former chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who rents out seven flats in Southampton, and has half a share in a holiday home in Italy and an office building in London.
Most of the 169 properties rented out by MPs were residential, but some MPs also let out business and commercial premises. More than two in five (43%) of the properties rented out by MPs were in London.
The figures have intensified scrutiny of Ali’s case, which has cast new light on the debate over landlord interests in parliament. Ali resigned on Thursday night after it was revealed she had ended her tenants’ fixed-term contract in order to sell the property, but re-listed it for rent at a higher price within six months.
The practice is one the Labour government is seeking to ban under its flagship renters’ rights bill. The bill will end “no fault” evictions under section 21, which allows landlords to throw out tenants without reason.
Since the policy was first proposed in April 2019 under Theresa May, 123,889 section 21 claims have progressed to court, and 124,360 households in England have been threatened with homelessness as a result of being served a notice.
The paper quotes one senior figure on the left of the Labour party as saying: “We can’t claim to fight for renters while half the PLP are landlords collecting rent from people struggling through the housing crisis. Rushanara’s case is only the tip of the iceberg. Voters see the hypocrisy and it’s killing our credibility on housing.”
Exactly.
Saturday, August 09, 2025
Badfinger
He will probably be best remembered for writing "Without You" which enjoyed world-wide success when recorded by Harry Nilsson in 1972.
The plaque was attached to the exterior of High Street Train Station because of its proximity to the adjacent Ivey Place where the band would meet to practice. Before they became Badfinger the band took the name The Iveys after this place name.
Wikipedia records that Ham grew up in Gwent Gardens, at the foot of the Townhill estate:
He attended Gors Junior School, and showed early signs of musical talent. He frequently played harmonica on the school playground. His older brother John was a jazz trumpeter, and encouraged young Ham to enter the Swansea music scene. One of Pete's first jobs was as an apprentice television and radio engineer.
He formed a local rock group called The Panthers circa 1961. This group would undergo several name and line-up changes before it became The Iveys in 1965. In 1968, The Iveys came to the attention of Mal Evans (The Beatles' personal assistant) and were eventually signed to the Beatles' Apple Records label after approval from all four Beatles, who were reportedly impressed by the band's songwriting abilities.
The Iveys changed their name to Badfinger with the single release of "Come and Get It", a composition written by Paul McCartney that became a worldwide top-ten hit.
Ham had initially protested against using a non-original to promote the band, as he had gained confidence in the group's compositions, but he was quickly convinced of the springboard effect of having a likely hit single. His own creative perseverance paid off eventually, as his "No Matter What" became another top-ten worldwide hit in late 1970. He followed up with two more worldwide hits in "Day After Day" and "Baby Blue".
Ham's greatest songwriting success came with his co-written composition with bandmate Tom Evans called "Without You" – a worldwide number-one when it was later covered by Harry Nilsson and released in 1971. The song has since become a standard and has been covered by hundreds of singers, most notably Mariah Carey who made it a worldwide hit again in 1994. An Ivor Novello award for Song of the Year was issued in 1973 along with Grammy nominations.
George Harrison used Ham's talents for a number of album sessions, including on the All Things Must Pass album and for other Apple Records artist's recordings. This friendship culminated with Ham's acoustic guitar duet on "Here Comes the Sun" with Harrison at The Concert for Bangladesh in 1971, documented in the theatrical film of the concert.
I met Pete Ham's brother John once, I believe in Pentrehafod Comprehensive School, which serves my community. For years, the Ham name lived on in Swansea through the John Ham Music Shop on Mansel Street, which sold musical instruments.
Friday, August 08, 2025
UK Homelessness minister resigns after embarrassing claims
An earlier report said that Rushanara Ali, who has previously criticised "unreasonable rent increases" reportedly gave the renters four months notice that their lease would not be renewed. They say that it has been subsequently claimed that the East London home was subsequently re-listed for rent within weeks of them moving out at a massively increased price:
The four were sent an email saying they would have to leave in November last year, the i newspaper reports. But it is understood they were offered the opportunity to stay on a rolling basis while the house was on the market. When it failed to sell, it was re-listed for rent, it is believed. Ms Ali, MP for Bethnal Green and Stepney, faces calls to step down.
One of the tenants, Laura Jackson, told the newspaper that she saw the four-bedroom townhouse had been put up for rent at nearly £4,000 a month shortly after moving out. Previously Ms Ali charged £3,300 a month for the home close to London's Olympic Park, it is claimed.
Ms Jackson said: “It’s an absolute joke. Trying to get that much money from renters is extortion”. Shadow Housing Secretary James Cleverly said the allegations "would be an example of the most extreme hypocrisy and she should not have the job as homelessness minister”.
However sources close to the minister say it was a fixed-term contract, and the house was put on the market for sale while the tenants were there. The people living there were told they could stay on a rolling basis, but opted to leave, the BBC reports. It was only re-listed for rent because it did not sell, according to the i.
A spokesperson for Ms Ali said: “Rushanara takes her responsibilities seriously and complied with all relevant legal requirements.”
The house, one of two rental properties Ms Ali has declared in her register of interests, is currently listed for sale at £894,995. It had originally gone up for £914,995 last November - but the price was reduced in February.
Under the Renters Rights Bill, which is making its way through Parliament, landlords who end a tenancy to sell a home will be banned from re-listing it for six months. The Bill will also end fixed-term tenancies. Landlords will also be required to give four months' notice if they plan to move tenants out in order to sell it.
In September last year Ms Ali said renters would be given more powers to challenge "unreasonable" increases. In a written answer she said: "More widely, we are taking action to tackle the root causes of homelessness.
Ali has now resigned saying in a letter to the Prime Minister that remaining in the role would be “a distraction from the ambitious work of this Government”.
