Left Foot Forward's roundup of the progressive news you might have missed this week...

In no particular order… PS: Got a story tip? Email us: editor@leftfootforward.org

10. The SNP has condemned the UK government for their decision not to replace safe legal routes for unaccompanied child refugees stranded in Europe and seeking sanctuary in the UK.

Immigration minister, Chris Philips, has confirmed that despite claiming to take “responsibility for the welfare of children very seriously”, they would no longer offer a legal route to the UK for asylum seeking children who do not qualify under strict family reunion rules.  

Passed in May 2016, the Dubs amendment required ministers to relocate and support a share of asylum-seeking children in Europe who had fled war-torn countries, but this agreement has now ended – and is not to be replaced. 

Meanwhile, with the end of the transition period, EU ‘Dublin’ rules no longer apply, closing down another route for children to reach the UK.  Resettlement programmes remain paused.

The news follows huge concerns about the treatment of asylum seekers in the UK, with people detained in crowded disused military barracks and others left for months on end in hotel rooms with no financial support.

SNP Immigration spokesperson Stuart McDonald MP said: “This is just the latest in a long list of disgraceful decisions made by the Tory government. SNP MPs have repeatedly raised concerns over the treatment of asylum seekers, but have consistently been ignored.”

9. The Lib Dems have responded with anger to news that the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office aid budget is to be cut by over 25%.

Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson Layla Moran MP said the cuts are ‘incredibly concerning’: “The Foreign Secretary has assured us of the Government’s priorities, but I just don’t see how we can continue to deliver for the world’s poorest if FCDO’s aid budget allocation alone is being cut by over 25% compared to 2019/20.”

“These cuts tell us what the Conservatives really think, and the lack of any detail on how these decisions were made and what they mean for programmes and initiatives is troubling. In the middle of a global pandemic we need to be stepping up and leading internationally to help the world build back better from this crisis. Instead, we’re cutting money from core aid, research and development and more. 

8. The Government must give working parents right to paid leave and furlough, after school re-openings were delayed until the 8th March, the TUC has said.

Responding to today’s announcement by the Prime Minister that school re-openings will be delayed, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The safety of school staff and children must always come first. But the government needs to wake-up to the huge stress working parents are under. Many are losing out on hours and pay because of the lack of support available to them.

“Ministers must urgently give all parents the temporary right to furlough, plus at least ten days’ paid parental leave each year. It’s simply not sustainable to expect mums and dads to work as normal, while looking after their children and supervising schoolwork. 

“As ever this burden is falling hardest on women and the low paid. Without action now many risk being pushed out of the labour market”

A TUC survey of 52,000 working mums published earlier this month revealed that 9 in 10 had experienced higher levels of anxiety and stress levels during this latest lockdown. 

Nearly three-quarters (71%) of those who had applied for furlough following the latest school closures have had their requests turned down.

7. Howard Rees from HS2 Rebellion says he is expecting a drawn-out standoff between protesters who are underground Euston in London, and bailiffs. “I’d would anticipate we’ll be there for weeks rather than days” he told Left Foot Forward.

‘Tree protectors’ have dug and are ready to occupy tunnels underneath Euston Square Gardens in Central London. 

They say they are defending the park and its trees against HS2, which intends to destroy this green haven in order to build a temporary taxi rank, before selling the land off to developers. They are prepared to stay underground for as long as it takes to stop HS2.

Protesters also hope to draw attention to ‘similar behaviour’ by HS2 all along the line between London and Birmingham. HS2 Rebellion say 108 ancient woodlands are being destroyed and ‘countless people being forced from their homes and businesses by HS2, as part of the biggest land grab in modern British history’. HS2 disputes the figures. 

The 100 foot tunnel network, code-named Calvin, has been dug in secret over the last few months. Its entrance is concealed by an enormous fortified stronghold built from pallets, complete with towers, affectionately nick-named Buckingham Pallets.

Tunnelers have worked around the clock, using pickaxes, shovels, buckets, and shifts of 2-12 people at a time.

Asked what HS2 Rebellion wants to see happen, Howard Rees said: “We would like HS2 scrapped. The whole Hs2 project is another prime example of how the system of government in the country is utterly failing us, not rep of the people and driving us further into calamity. We’d like to see a Citizens’ Assembly to decide what needs to be done, and how that £230bn would be best spent.”

6. Thousands of European key workers risk losing their right to live in the UK this year, as the June deadline for applying to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) fast approaches.   

A new report from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants shows that thousands of EU care workers are at risk of slipping through the cracks and losing their right to live in the UK overnight when the scheme closes, because the Government has not done enough to make sure that everyone who needs to apply is aware of the scheme and understands how it works.  

The report found that 1 in 7 care workers surveyed online did not know or were not sure what the EUSS was and 1 in 3 care workers did not know about the deadline to apply.

5. Labour has responded with anger to allegations that DVLA staff in Swansea were told to come into work amid a mass Covid outbreak there.

Jim McMahon MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, said it was a source of shame that a government office has effectively become a Covid-19 superspreader hub, putting lives at risk.

Allegations include employees being coerced into turning off test and trace apps and given warnings for taking time off sick must be investigated fully.

“The Transport Secretary must now come to the House to explain why he ignored warnings about this, and how a government agency appears to have become the site of the largest workplace outbreak of the virus.”

4. New figures from the Crown Prosecution Service show that 1,688 people were charged with assaulting an emergency worker in ways that were linked to Covid in the six months to 30 September last year.

Examples included emergency workers being coughed on or spat at. Assaults on emergency workers was the most common reason that people were charged for offences linked to COVID-19.

The GMB union – which represents many ambulance workers – has warned that the true number of assaults will have been much higher as many assailants have not been charged, and that employers could do more to support workers in taking complaints to the police.

3. New polling has shown a strong public appetite for extensive government action to reduce poverty and inequality and help those in receipt of benefits.

The survey, carried out by Opinium with Compassion in Politics, found that over half (56%) want the government to extend the Equality Act to include socio-economic inequalities, in an effort to create a more equal society. This provision – the so-called “socio-economic duty” – is already on the statute books as part of the Equality Act but has never been properly implemented.

In addition, two in three people (65%) want to see benefit payments set a level that guarantees recipients can pay their bills and buy food. The finding comes after a recent report showed 4 in 5 people receiving Universal Credit cannot meet the cost of living.

2. Cat Smith MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Voter Engagement has responded with anger to news from the Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham confirming that the Conservatives broke the law by racially profiling 10 million voters in 2019.

“The Conservative Party’s illegal misuse of ethnic race data – a characteristic protected by law – is deeply concerning.

“With the government’s discriminatory Voter ID laws due to come into law this year, such racial profiling by the Party that is in charge of upholding our data protection laws raises serious alarm bells,” she said.

1. Unite members at Heathrow Airport will take fresh strike action next month in the increasingly bitter dispute over the company’s decision to fire and rehire its entire workforce.

The workforce took four days of strike action last December and have now announced that they will take strike action on Friday 5 February.

Different groups of workers will be striking at different times on this date. Unite members recorded an 84 per cent yes vote for strike action and the targeted action will involve: firefighters, engineers, campus security, baggage operations, central terminal operations, landside and airside operations.

The dispute is a result of HAL firing and rehiring its entire 4,000 strong workforce on vastly inferior contracts, resulting in workers facing pay cuts of up to 25 per cent (£8,000 per annum).

A recent TUC survey suggested fire and rehire tactics had become rife during the pandemic.

Josiah Mortimer is co-editor of Left Foot Forward.

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