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10. Cycling instructors in the London borough of Enfield are protesting against a 12 year pay freeze and worsening terms and conditions.

The pay freeze is equivalent to a 30% real terms pay cut, or £172 per week. Instructors are also subject to ‘unfair’ cancellation policies, where they can lose all income from booked lessons with 24 hours’ notice, their union says.

Labour-controlled Enfield Council has failed to engage in meaningful discussions with cycling instructors and their trade union, the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) says.

The instructors teach children and adults how to ride bikes safely and are responsible for teaching more than 5,000 pupils every year. The IWGB says the council has refused to engage in a union recognition process.

Ben House, Enfield cycling instructor, said: “The pay freeze has meant for many instructors that rent is now barely affordable at all, and a mortgage is out of the question. Work which has been booked for months can be cancelled at the drop of a hat, just one working day before a week-long course is about to start.

“With such short notice I have almost no chance to plug the £500 hole that makes in the month’s finances. Enfield Council and Cycle Confident benefit from total flexibility but we’re the ones paying the price.”

9. Labour’s Shadow International Development, Preet Kaur Gill MP, has written to the Foreign and Development Secretary Dominic Raab MP raising a series of concerns about the way the government has been ‘consistently trying to hide cuts to the aid budget,’ designed to help some of the world’s poorest. 

So far, there has not been a single announcement from the government that clearly shows a comprehensive list of the countries or projects which face these devastating cuts. 

Ahead of Wednesday’s debate on the aid budget in the House of Commons, Labour is pressing the government to stop sneaking out announcements of cuts and come clean on how much aid it is spending.    

The Shadow Development Secretary has raised concerns that by hiding key information, it has ‘hampered the ability of Parliament to actively scrutinise decision-making on development issues’ which has ultimately ‘resulted in the loss of life’.   

She went on to ask a series of questions to address the ‘litany of failures’ under this Foreign and Development Secretary. One question included asking why in November 2020, the government said it needed to bring forward legislation to make changes to the aid budget, yet, ministers have since refused to bring forward this legislation or give Parliament an opportunity to have a meaningful vote.  

8.  Masonry industry workers are to receive a ‘monumental’ pay increase.

The Unite union has secured an inflation busting pay rise for monumental masons, who look after Britain’s headstones and monuments.

Monumental masons and labourers are covered by the National Monumental Masons Industry (NAMM) agreement. Their whose members undertake various roles in the funeral and burial industry, in particular skilled work sculpting and erecting headstones.

In recent years, the industry has suffered a series of problems relating to overseas competition, the image of the industry and low pay.

Unite has been seeking to ensure that low pay rates were addressed to attract workers into the industry.

As part of this year’s negotiations, labourers rates will be increased from £8.30 an hour to £9.50 (in line with the real living wage), which equates to a 13 per cent increase. The rates for skilled craftworkers will also increase from £8.81 an hour to £10.20, a 14 per cent increase.

Industry sick pay, which is paid in conjunction with statutory sick pay, will also rise.

Unite regional coordinating officer Shaun Lee, who negotiated the pay deal, said: “This years’ monumental pay increase should be used as the basis to banish low pay from this sector once and for all.”

7. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has revealed that billions of pounds of taxpayer’s money may have been lost in fraud from coronavirus support schemes.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Business and member of the PAC Sarah Olney MP said: “The PAC’s revelations are eye-opening about the scale of the government’s failure to ensure that taxpayer money is directed to those that need it.

“While it was essential that businesses and families were given support to get through this pandemic, the public still expect ministers to not be so negligent with their money. These are funds that could have gone to struggling people and small businesses.

“As we attempt to recover from Covid, the government should really pay closer attention to who they give our cash to, or they face making our economic recovery even harder.”

6. Labour’s Tulip Siddiq MP has presented a cross-party Flexible Working Bill to Parliament, to guarantee the right to flexible working in the UK.

The Flexible Working Bill, which is cosponsored by MPs from the Conservative, Labour, Lib Dem, Green, SDLP and SNP parties, would give all workers a right to flexible working from the first day in a job and ensure that employers advertise flexibility in job adverts.

 With over 5,000 people having written to their MPs in recent days encouraging them to support Tulip Siddiq’s Ten Minute Rule Bill, pressure is increasing on the government to implement the changes.

While home working has increased during Covid-19, a recent report by the TUC found that this has disproportionately benefitted those on higher-incomes. All other forms of flexible working – including the most popular form of flexibility which is flexi-time – have decreased since the start of the pandemic.

The government has said that it will consult on making flexible working the default later this year, but campaigners want to overhaul the current right to request flexible working – which can be easily rejected – so that all workers can have flexibility at work as we emerge from the pandemic.

Commenting on her Ten Minute Rule Bill, Tulip Siddiq, Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, said: “There’s a misperception that the country has enjoyed a year of flexible working. The reality is that the majority of workers – and particularly those on lower incomes – have not felt the benefits of home working and all other forms of flexibility have declined since last March.

“Four in five workers want to work flexibly, but a shockingly high proportion of requests for this are rejected by employers – often with little or no justification. The current law is outdated and we need new legislation to make flexible working a right for all rather than a perk for the few. My cross-party Flexible Working Bill would also give a huge boost to productivity, women’s employment and the economic recovery.”

5. Labour has demanded that the Prime Minister comes clean and tells the truth about the use of private emails by government Ministers after a Cabinet Office Minister contradicted statements made by the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesperson and the Department of Health and Social Care.

Responding to questions from Labour’s Deputy Leader and Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Angela Rayner, Cabinet Office Minister Julia Lopez said: “A huge volume of correspondence was coming to Ministers via their personal email addresses…” regarding PPE contracts.

However, two hours previously, the Prime Minister’s Spokesperson had told reporters: “Both the former health secretary and Lord Bethell understand the rules around personal email usage and only ever conducted government business through their departmental email addresses”.

On Sunday, the Department of Health and Social Care said: “All DHSC ministers understand the rules around personal email usage and only conduct government business through their departmental email addresses.”

Speaking in the Commons, Rayner produced minutes from a departmental meeting in the Department of Health and Social Care in which senior civil servants report government contracts being approved from Health Minister Lord Bethell’s private email address.

Rayner, Labour’s Deputy Leader and Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said: “Who is telling the truth, the Cabinet Office Minister and the Department of Health and Social Care civil servants, or the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesperson?

“The Prime Minister needs to come clean and tell us the truth and we need a fully independent public inquiry.”

4. Almost 24,000 children of EU families have been waiting more than three months for their right to remain in the UK to be decided, according to new Home Office figures revealed by IPPR  – and 285 have faced uncertainty for more than a year. 

They are among more than 100,000 EU citizens and family members who were waiting over three months for their applications to be decided, revealed under a freedom of information (FOI) request by IPPR. In all, 7,500 people have faced delays of more than a year. 

The new figures on delays raise concerns over the situation of EU citizens who apply to remain after 30 June (Wednesday), the official deadline. Anyone who can show “reasonable grounds” for missing the deadline may apply late – but could lose their legal right to work, rent or make new benefit claims, for what could be many months, while they wait for their cases to be decided. 

They will join others also at risk of facing the full force of the ‘hostile environment’ set up to deter illegal immigration, which contributed to the Windrush scandal when long-standing residents of the UK were wrongly shut out of key services and some were forced to leave.  

The IPPR report notes that in many respects the EU settlement scheme has been a “great success”, with more than 5 million applications submitted and concluded, many within a week. However, amid a last-minute rush to apply before the deadline, there is a growing backlog now reported to be more than 400,000 outstanding cases. 

The report recommends a series of key reforms to safeguard those who apply late, to streamline the process in future, and to prevent a ‘hostile environment’ applying to EU citizens and their families. It includes adding legal protections to prevent all EU citizens being classed as ‘overstayers’ while waiting for their application to be decided, particularly those making valid late applications. This would mean protecting their rights to work, study and reside in the UK. 

3. The proposed UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) risks “seriously harming” the viability and sustainability of the Welsh farming and agricultural sectors, Plaid Cymru has said.

Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for agriculture and rural affairs Cefin Campbell said the Welsh government should outline how they will support Welsh farmers to ensure the “continued economic viability of Welsh farmers” following the agreement.

The proposed trade deal could see sixty times as much beef and four times as much lamb as imported last year flooding into Wales.

Plaid Cymru argues that the zero tariff access, particularly for beef and lamb, could undermine Wales’ animal welfare standards by packing shelves with imports reared at much lower standards, as Australian standards on transport, slaughterhouses and feedlots are all lower than permitted in Wales.

Spokesperson Mr Campbell said that it was “unacceptable” that neither the Senedd nor the House of Commons would be permitted to ratify and vote on new trade deals that would have “long lasting imapcts on Welsh farming”. He added that Welsh famrers could no longer trust the Tories to stand up for their interests.

The agriculture and rural affairs spokesperson and Member of the Senedd for Mid and West Wales said that Plaid Cymru would “always” put the sustainability of family farms “at the heart of our work” and would “stand up to Westminster Tories’ threats to Welsh  farming” and fight for economic stability to Welsh farms in the face of “ever increasing uncertainty” post-Brexit.

Welsh farms help support Wales’ food and drinks sector which is worth £7.5billion to the nation’s economy, and is Wales’ biggest employer.

2. The Green Party has called for the new rules governing public subsidy for industries – state aid – to be used to accelerate action on the climate and ecological emergencies.

Molly Scott Cato, Green Party finance and economy spokesperson, said: “As an MEP I tried to ensure that, rather than a level playing-field, the EU state-aid regime was tilted in favour of the industries that will build our sustainable future. Outside the EU, the government has the power to make this vision a reality. They claim that our ‘bespoke’ subsidy system can be ‘nimble’ but we insist that it is also sustainable.

“Public money should be allocated according to a system of ‘economic triage’ to ensure that state finance is directed towards businesses that have a future in the zero carbon world beyond 2030 and are based in areas of lower economic performance.

“Favouring industries that can manufacture wind turbines or electric vehicles, or that are building the skilled green workforce for the future, is the best way to make sure the UK meets net zero carbon as quickly as possible, which is essential for a sustainable future economy and society. This is not about picking winners but asking the government to put its money where its mouth is over climate and biodiversity.

“It is also essential that the Subsidy Control Bill should include a system of mandatory notification and an independent statutory regulator to prevent the government indulging in any more pork-barrel politics. Without this, we can expect to see a rush of legal claims from companies who are being disadvantaged relative to their competitors.

“We must see an end to the shameless use of public money officially intended to support jobs in areas that need ‘levelling up’ instead being spent to protect the jobs of Conservative MPs in marginal seats. This sort of politically motivated public spending must have no place in government subsidy of industry.”

1. The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has urged the government to conserve and restore UK biodiversity and ecosystems amid grave concern that of the G7 countries, the UK has the lowest level of biodiversity remaining. 

The EAC found that existing government policy and targets were inadequate to address plummeting biodiversity loss. This is made worse by nature policy not being joined up across government.

The government is not on track to improve the environment within a generation, and due to a lack of clear statutory targets, its 25 Year Environment Plan does not provide sufficient direction to change this, the committee says.

The government’s pledge to protect 30% of the UK’s land and seas by 2030 is welcome, but UK-protected areas are currently poorly managed, the MPs argue. For seas, a timetable should set out management plans and monitoring for all Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), with destructive bottom trawling banned or restricted and effective monitoring introduced to establish if habitats are recovering. 

The EAC found that all too often, governments spend more on practices that exploit the natural environment than conserving it. The Committee also called on the government to explain how it intends to move beyond GDP as the primary measure of economic activity and towards an additional measure which includes consideration of the UK’s natural capital. A new fiscal rule would be set focused on balancing our demands on nature with nature’s supply.  

Overall, the EAC found that biodiversity loss was not being treated with the same urgency and ambition as climate change.

Josiah Mortimer is co-editor of Left Foot Forward.

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