A round up of progressive news...

1. Bus workers are driving the fight for fair pay – Tribune

Workers across the country are fighting back against below inflation pay deals. With the cost of living crisis biting, the biggest wave of industrial action for a generation has swept across the UK.

Writing for Tribune, Taj Ali has chronicled the battle that bus workers in Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire are facing over a real terms pay cut being imposed by Arriva. Ali details the issues the workers are facing, their resilience and the solidarity they have received on the picket line.

2. Senior Liz Truss adviser worked at lobbying firm for energy supplier – openDemocracy

Since Boris Johnson handed over the prime ministerial reins last week, Liz Truss has been busily appointing her team of frontbenchers and advisers. One of the key appointments was Iain Carter – Truss’ new head of strategy.

Carter took unpaid leave as a partner of Hanbury Strategy to join her leadership campaign. Now, openDemocracy has revealed that during Carter’s time at the PR agency, the firm was paid to lobby senior political figures on behalf of the ailing energy supply company Bulb Energy.

3. Continuing with our privatised energy system is not a serious long-term option – LabourList

Last week saw the government announce its plans to address the cost of living crisis and the unprecedented rises in energy bills. Liz Truss confirmed the government would be freezing the energy price cap for two years, meaning the energy bills of the typical household would remain static at £2,500.

The move has faced extensive criticism from across the left. Among the critiques has been that the government has ruled out taking energy into public ownership as part of a wider package to address rising bills.

This case was made by the economist James Meadway this week. Writing for LabourList, Meadway argued, “continuing with the privatised energy system, particularly when we urgently need to switch out of volatile, insecure and carbon-intensive fossil fuels, is not a serious long-term option. The government’s own attempts to prop the market up are evidence of that. There is a solid case, if assistance is still being provided to privatised energy suppliers, for a quid pro quo of equity stakes and nationalisation to be pushed through. And a publicly-owned, renewable-focused energy company could put rocket boosters on decarbonisation of our energy supply.”

4. The human rights gaps in the Rwanda scheme revealed – Byline Times

A three-part investigation by the Byline Intelligence Team has revealed major human rights concerns in the government’s Rwanda deportation scheme.

The most shocking revelation was the killing of a 13th refugee and the injuring of a child refugee by Rwandan police during protests at Kiziba camp in 2018.

Other findings include that a monitoring committee designed to oversee the treatment of deported asylum seekers was not in place before the first deportation flight was set to take off, and that the UK has no legal ability to act if people deported to Rwanda are mistreated.

5. I was arrested after asking “who elected him?” at the proclamation of King Charles – Bright Green

This weekend brought numerous reports of small-scale protests against the proclamation of King Charles leading to arrests. One of these was Symon Hill, who was arrested in Oxford after heckling “who elected him?” at the proclamation service.

Hill has written a lengthy account of his arrest and what it means for democracy in Bright Green. Concluding, Hill wrote, “This isn’t about me. It’s about our freedom to choose our own system of government, to elect our own leaders and to express our own views. I’m not asking you to support me. I’m asking you to support democracy.”

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