A roundup of progressive news...
1. In a Climate Crisis, Privatised Water Is a Disaster – Tribune
The recent heatwave and the ensuing drought is the latest example of the extreme weather we’re going to experience more and more as a result of the climate crisis. One of the key responses has been to introduce schemes of water rationing through hosepipe bans.
But, as climate justice activist Chris Saltmarsh writes in Tribune this week, “the necessity of water rationing is not just down to the shock of climate change-induced heat. It is also a result of the water companies’ own negligence.”
Highlighting that the private water companies are currently allowing over 2bn litres of water leak out of the system every single day as a result of failing to invest in infrastructure, he goes on to argue that the water companies need to be taken into public ownership in order to ensure we have a water system that is resilient to the climate crisis.
2. UK Heatwave: How can we safeguard workers? – Green World
The heatwave has also prompted conversation about workplace health and safety. Writing in Green World this week, Ben Gladwin argues that the UK’s workplaces are currently ill-equipped to provide a safe working environment in extreme heat.
In light of this, he goes on to argue, “Action needs to be taken to ensure that workers are safe to work in environments which are conducive to such extremes. This needs to include ventilation in areas such as classrooms, as well as a legal maximum temperature beyond which it is no longer considered reasonable to work. The TUC has already called for measures to be taken, but it is up to workers to organise if they want to protect themselves in an age of climate extremes.”
3. Six key takeaways from the first stage of Labour parliamentary selections – LabourList
Rumbling below the news agenda, the Labour Party has been selecting parliamentary candidates in target seats for the next general election. 34 Constituency Labour Parties have now selected their candidates.
LabourList has run down some of the key lessons from the selections. Their assessment suggests that the successful candidates mostly align politically with Keir Starmer.
LabourList has also highlighted that only 9 per cent of the selected candidates are BAME, and that the proportion of candidates that are women is lower than the proportion put forward by the party in the 2019 general election.
4. MPs charged public £1.3m to foot their tax bills – openDemocracy
The next expenses scandal? openDemocracy reports that MPs have charged the public £1.3m to pay for council tax on their second homes.
According to the report, the council tax claims are on top of the £11.2m claimed for rent on second homes in the last year.
5. Liz Truss will be a Prime Minister for the Super-Rich – Byline Times
Following Liz Truss saying profit is not a “dirty word” and suggesting those who think it is want to “undermine our way of life”, Adam Bienkov wrote a scathing piece in Byline Times.
Bienkov writes, “That a potential Conservative Party leader should be defending some of the wealthiest companies in the world, at the expense of the vast majority of people in the country, is not hugely surprising. Under Boris Johnson, corporate profits have soared – while the wages of most working people flatlined and slumped.”
He goes on to conclude, “For our likely next prime minister, the number one priority will not be helping the public through that storm – but protecting the bottom lines of those who most stand to benefit from it.”
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
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