A roundup of progressive news...

1.Think tank behind Truss’s budget shouldn’t be a charity, says ex-watchdog official-openDemocracy

OpenDemocracy has a brilliant piece on how the influential think tank behind Liz Truss’s low tax, small, non-interventionist vision of the state should not be a charity.

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), which is closely connected to Liz Truss, laid claim to how it was behind the policy to abolish the 45p rate of income tax, which in conjunction with other measures in the disastrous mini-budget, caused panic on the markets, before the Tories were forced into a humiliating U-turn.

Now a former charity official regulator has said that the IEA should be stripped of its charity status.

Andrew Purkis, who served as a board member on the Charity Commission between 2007 and 2010, has accused the IEA of breaching the regulator’s rules on political lobbying.

“The very purpose of the IEA – shrinking the state – is political, and their version of ‘education’ is promoting a predetermined and controversial point of view and cannot be charitable education,” wrote Purkis for Civil Service Media.

2. Government Denies £4 Million Cost of Living Support from Sanctioned Welfare Claimants-Byline Times

Thousands of vulnerable people on Universal Credit have been denied £4 million pounds of vital financial support because of sanctions imposed by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), Byline Times reveals.

According to data obtained via a Freedom of Information request, ‘12,400 people claiming Universal Credit were denied the first £324 of the Government’s £650 Cost of Living payment in July due to being sanctioned’.

The site states: “All individuals on Universal Credit were entitled to receive £324 unless they had a ‘nil award’ during the qualifying period (26 April to 25 May), meaning that their monthly benefit payment was reduced to zero over this time.”

“It’s disgraceful that tens of thousands of people are being denied crucial funds – especially now, in this climate, where people cannot put food on the table or heat their homes,” Marc Francis, Z2K’s Director of Policy and Campaigns, told Byline Times.

3. College Workers Are Fighting for Education’s Future-Tribune

Tom Whittaker, a UCU rep at Bristol College, has written a piece for Tribune Magazine setting out why ‘unprecedented’ strikes are under way at a number of FE colleges across the country over low pay, poor working conditions and workloads.

Tom writes: “UCU estimates that since 2009, the pay of FE lecturers has lost 35 percent of its value, and that on average it’s now £9,000 behind that of schoolteachers. At this same time, around 25,000 jobs have been slashed from the sector, resulting in course cuts for students and increased workloads for staff.”

Despite restrictive trade union laws, staff at colleges are now organising, following the UCU’s National Pay Campaign in FE colleges, as they seek to get a better deal for their  members than the 2.5% being recommended by the Association of Colleges.

At the heart of the struggle are low-paid learning assistants.

4. Together, we can move from crisis to co-operation-LabourList

Joe Fortune, the general secretary of the co-operative party has written a piece for LabourList on some of the fantastic initiatives that the party is working on to help communities amid the cost of living crisis.

Winning new protections for retail workers, developing food justice champions in councils across the country, nurturing fairer financial services through credit unions, developing community-owned renewable energy projects or championing fair tax are amongst just some of the initiatives the party has been involved in local communities.

Joe writes: “Co-operative growth isn’t a ‘nice to have’ – it is an economic necessity. The co-operative movement offer a vision of how to create a fairer economy which spreads ownership and tackles inequality.

“Our ideas will help bring about a new economic settlement. One which sweeps away a system geared to encourage a race to the bottom and short term extraction, and leaves the wealth we all create in the hands fewer and fewer. We know there’s a better way – and together we can build a different future. Together, we can move from crisis to co-operation”.

5. Prime Minister Liz Truss Accepted £5,000 From Climate Denial Funder-DeSmog

DeSmog highlights how a life-time peer, who has ‘helped finance the UK’s main climate denial group donated £5,000 to Liz Truss in the run-up to her election victory’.

According to the latest register of MPs’ financial interest, Lord Nigel Vinson made the donation towards transport costs for Truss’s campaign.

Vinson, a supporter of the late Margaret Thatcher, has previously donated nearly £50,000 to the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) through his own charity.

The GWPF was founded in 2009 by climate denier Nigel Lawson, the ex-chancellor, to combat “extremely damaging and harmful policies” designed to mitigate climate change.

It comes after environmental campaigners hit out at Truss’s lack of commitment to tackle climate change, with protesters disrupting Truss’ speech at her first Conservative party conference, accusing her of “U-turns” on fracking and environmental protections.

Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward

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