Friday, July 18, 2025
The seriousness of date leak becomes apparent
The paper quotes defence sources as saying that the highly sensitive document contained names and email addresses belonging to people sponsoring or linked to some individual cases. Personal information about MI6 officers was also included:
The identities of members of the SAS and MI6 are a closely guarded secret, and the possibility that following the leak such information could have ended up in the public domain was a source of significant official concern.
SAS and other special forces officers were involved in assessing whether Afghans who said they were members of the elite 333 and 444 units, known as the Triples, were allowed to come to the UK.
Defence sources said the dataset also referred to a “secret route” that Afghans could use to come to the UK.
The paper adds that the leaked data included the names, email and phone numbers for thousands of Afghans who had applied to come to the UK under an existing relocation scheme designed for those who had helped the British military:
In some instances the data contained further written information about their case and status of their application – focused on whether they had in fact helped the UK or British forces in Afghanistan – but it did not contain addresses or photographs.
This week Afghans affected by the breach received a message addressed from the UK government, and sent in English, Pashto and Dari, that warned the recipient’s email address had been used to make a resettlement application and that some personal data may have been compromised.
Details of the breach were limited, but recipients on the email – some of whom remain in hiding from the Taliban in Afghanistan – were advised “not to take phone calls or respond to messages or emails from unknown contacts” and to limit who could see their social media profiles.
Lives could be lost as a result of this leak. Did the government close the relocation scheme prematurely?
Thursday, July 17, 2025
Is Starmer losing his grip on the Labour Party?
The paper says that the four MPs who have lost the whip are Rachael Maskell, Neil Duncan-Jordan, Brian Leishman and Chris Hinchliff. They were informed on Wednesday afternoon and told their positions would be kept under review. Apparently, the whip has been removed because they are “persistent rebels”:
All four MPs facing suspension have been openly critical of several government policies, including the welfare bill and cuts to the winter fuel allowance.
MPs who lose the whip are no longer considered part of the parliamentary party, though they retain party membership unless that too is revoked. The suspension is usually for a set period, and then reviewed.
Three other Labour MPs who have rebelled against the whip – Rosena Allin-Khan, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Mohammad Yasin – had their trade envoy roles removed. Trade envoys are parliamentarians who help the government promote trade and investment with specific regions, and can be drawn from opposition as well as government.
One Labour MP on the left of the party said those suspended had been told they faced an inquiry lasting a few months and that the decision to suspend them had come from Downing Street.
The MP said the move was intended to create a “climate of fear” in the party and made the government look “brittle”. “What those MPs, what we all did, were to defend Labour values. The fact that the government was humiliated was all of their own making. There are elements around No 10 who now want to lash out vindictively rather than acknowledge the mistakes that were made. This is now frankly a punishment beating … They’ve learned nothing.”
Another Labour MP said: “The trade envoy sackings are particularly weird … There are Tory and Lib Dem trade envoys who vote against the government all the time and that’s OK, but a Labour one gets sacked for one rebellion? Make it make sense.”
These sackings come following similar action taken against seven Labour MPs who rebelled over the two-child benefit cap a year ago.
Starmer and his advisors may feel that these sort of disciplinary measures make him seem like a strong leader, but the reality is that the MPs concerned are far more representative of the wider Labour Party than he is. Not being able to take all of the Labour Parliamentary Party with him the PM is resorting to these suspensions instead.
If anything it makes him look weak and isolated within an increasingly narrow managerial mindset. When will this government start to bring in the changes voters expected of them?
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Extraordinary cover-up of leak that could have cost lives
They add that fears that the individuals named would be at risk from reprisals from the Taliban led the previous government to set up a secret relocation scheme, the Afghan Response Route (ARR), involving 20,000 people at a cost in the order of £2bn.
But the most astonishing thing about this whole story are the lengths that the government went to in an effort to cover up this whole mess, involving securing an unprecedented superinjunction in August 2023 preventing the leak and secret relocation scheme to be reported and denying those in the know to even disclose the existence of the court order:
“Members of this house, including you, Mr Speaker, and myself, have been subject to this superinjunction. It is unprecedented, and to be clear, the court has always recognised the parliamentary privilege of proceedings in this house, and ministers decided not to tell parliamentarians at an earlier stage about the data incident as the widespread publicity would increase the risk of the Taliban obtaining the dataset.”
Healey said the leaked spreadsheet also included details of MPs, senior military officers and government officials.
He said: “This official mistakenly believed that they were sending the names of 150 applicants. However, the spreadsheet in fact contained personal information associated to 18,714 Afghans who had applied either to the ex gratia or the Arap [Afghan relocations and assistance policy] scheme on or before the 7th of January 2022.
“It contained names and contact details of applicants and in some instances information relating to applicants’ family members. And, in a small number of cases, the names of members of parliament, senior military officers and government officials who were noted as supporting the application. This was a serious departmental error.”
He added: “To date, 900 ARR principals are in Britain or in transit, together with 3,600 family members, at a cost of around £400m.”
The safety of the individuals was of course paramount, but as Lewis Goodall of The Newsagents podcast reports, the government did not swing into action as one might expect to get these Afghans out of danger. Instead, they effectively sat on their hands:
Months went by, yet we heard nothing. To my surprise, given that by now I was aware the breach had taken place in early 2022 and had been discussed openly in an Afghan Facebook forum, there wasn’t any wider reporting in the media. Eventually, we were summoned to another hearing, where I expected news that the super would be discharged, or at the very least a date where that would happen. To my astonishment, there was no prospect of this- instead the government was changing the rules of the game. It became clear, via the court documents that initially at least, the then Sunak government was not proposing to help very many people as a result of the breach at all- around 200 principals, perhaps up to 1000 in all including family members- 1% of the total number potentially affected and at at least some risk.
...
The government has spent a huge amount of money on this case. Defending its right to secrecy over our right to know, cloaked under Afghans right to life, but not to know. I worry about where this leaves our democracy, I worry about what precedent it sets, I worry about how easy it is in our system, for the executive to act without restraint. For all of its problems, this could never have happened in the United States, with its first amendment rights, and constitutionally bound freedom of expression. So many times I sat in court 27 and wondered- what else don’t we know? Might there be other courts like this, in other cases? In my view, there never ever should. This case, is about a question as old as politics itself- who guards the guardians?
He has a valid point.
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Reform u-turn after tasting reality of power
As the Guardian says, while Reform does not have a definitive national position on this issue, the general approach set out by Farage and his fellow MPs has been to push repeatedly for a significant fall in overall migration and curbs to work visas:
In May, Farage said care staff were not skilled and overseas care workers should only be allowed in on strictly time-limited visas. More widely, he has called for zero net migration, meaning there can be no more arrivals than departures.
Richard Tice, Reform’s deputy leader, has said Britons should do care work rather than what he termed “a never-ending stream of cheap, low-skilled labour from overseas”.
Perhaps they should tell their new cohort of councillors, because those of them who are now having to face up to the responsibility of actually running things are finding that the reality is far different from the rhetoric being spouted by the Reform leadership.
The Guardian reports that Linden Kemkaran, the leader of Reform-run Kent council, has written to the government to express “grave concern” about a planned tightening of visas for health and care workers, despite the party’s wider commitment to significantly reducing net migration.
She told Ministers that the changes, including an imminent end to the specific visa route for care workers, could have a significant impact on local care homes:
In a letter to Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, and Stephen Kinnock, the care minister, they said that about 20% to 25% of the county’s social care workforce was from overseas and able to work via licensed sponsorships from employers.
This route expires on 22 July, part of a wider tightening of migration rules, including on health and care visas, announced by the government in May. The Reform councillors’ letter warned about the impact on “a number of displaced social care workers who may have lost their jobs, or the sponsoring provider has lost their licence”.
When care workers’ existing visas expire, they wrote, to keep a visa they would need to earn at least £41,000 a year, the new minimum salary for skilled worker visas. Added to the NICs rise, “this is totally unsustainable, and the risk is that many care workers at this level will go home and leave providers on a cliff edge”, the letter said.
They added: “Due to the challenges facing the adult social care system in general, and care providers in particular, we urge you to reconsider these changes and look forward to your support in addressing these urgent pressing matters.”
Nothing better illustrates the fantasy politics being spouted by Farage and his minions, than the fact that his own councillors think they are unworkable and will plunge health and social care into crisis. Don't believe what Reform say, judge them by what they do.
In a letter to Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, and Stephen Kinnock, the care minister, they said that about 20% to 25% of the county’s social care workforce was from overseas and able to work via licensed sponsorships from employers.
This route expires on 22 July, part of a wider tightening of migration rules, including on health and care visas, announced by the government in May. The Reform councillors’ letter warned about the impact on “a number of displaced social care workers who may have lost their jobs, or the sponsoring provider has lost their licence”.
When care workers’ existing visas expire, they wrote, to keep a visa they would need to earn at least £41,000 a year, the new minimum salary for skilled worker visas. Added to the NICs rise, “this is totally unsustainable, and the risk is that many care workers at this level will go home and leave providers on a cliff edge”, the letter said.
They added: “Due to the challenges facing the adult social care system in general, and care providers in particular, we urge you to reconsider these changes and look forward to your support in addressing these urgent pressing matters.”
Nothing better illustrates the fantasy politics being spouted by Farage and his minions, than the fact that his own councillors think they are unworkable and will plunge health and social care into crisis. Don't believe what Reform say, judge them by what they do.
Monday, July 14, 2025
Unions and campaigners opposing ban on Palestine Action
The Observer reports that the singer Charlotte Church and veteran peace campaigners are among hundreds who have signed a letter describing the move to ban the group Palestine Action as “a major assault on our freedoms”.
They add that trade unionists, activists and politicians have also added their names to the letter opposing the group’s proscription under anti-terrorism laws last week:
Church said: “I sign this letter because history shows us that when people stand up to injustice, those in power often reach for the same old playbook: label dissent as dangerous, criminalise protest, and try to silence movements for change by branding them as extremists or terrorists.
“From the suffragettes to the civil rights movement, what was once condemned as radical disruption is now celebrated as moral courage. We must remember this pattern – and refuse to let our rights be eroded by fear. This is not new, and we will not be silenced.”
“By signing this letter I am not inviting support for any proscribed organisation – people can make their own minds up – but I am making a clear and strong stand against the abuse and misuse of terrorism laws to malign direct action protest.”
A ban on Palestine Action, which uses direct action to mainly target Israeli weapons factories in the UK and their supply chain, was voted through by parliament this month. Being a member of, or showing support for the group is now a criminal offence after a last-minute legal challenge to suspend the group’s proscription failed.
The open letter states: “Peaceful protest tactics which damage property or disrupt ‘business-as-usual’ in order to call attention to the crimes of the powerful have a long and proud history. They are more urgent than ever in response to Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people.”
Other signatories to the letter include the environmental and human rights campaigner Angie Zelter, who was acquitted after disarming a BAE Hawk Jet and who also destroyed infrastructure supporting Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons system.
She said: “Effective protest often disrupts ‘business as usual’. Halting the cruel arms trade and the dangerous militarisation of our society is really important to me. I have been involved in peaceful civil resistance for decades. I am in full support of civil resistance and of people involved in upholding international law.”
Elected representatives who have signed the letter include James Dornan, the Scottish National party MSP for Cathcart who last week put a motion to the Scottish parliament calling for the proscription of the Israel Defense Forces as a terrorist organisation.
It was also signed by Gerry Carroll, the socialist activist and member of the legislative assembly for West Belfast, along with Plaid Cymru, Labour and Co-operative councillors.
A spokesperson for Glasgow Trades Union Council, which is collectively backing the letter, said: “As the UK government is attacking our civil liberties, we must ask ourselves if not now, then when?”
One of the organisers of the letter was Anne Alexander, a researcher and UCU activist at the University of Cambridge, who said more than 900 people had signed. She said: “The response to this open letter shows that people up and down the country want to stop arms going to Israel and that they don’t agree that a direct action group are ‘terrorists’ because they tried to disrupt the supply chain fuelling a genocide.”
Other signatories include Leanne Wood, the former leader of Plaid Cymru, and Suresh Grover, the veteran civil rights and anti-racist campaigner who was a founder of the Southall Monitoring Group and led campaigns to help the families of Stephen Lawrence, Zahid Mubarek and Victoria Climbié.
In the meantime, protestors opposed to this government's 'abuse' of the terrorism legislation, and who are determined to test the law, are being arrested, including an 83 year old priest. We have yet to see how the courts will treat those protesters but if others follow their example I imagine that the government will have an embarrassing problem on their hands.
Sunday, July 13, 2025
The growing number of children in poverty affected by two-child benefit cap
The Independent reports that new figures have revealed that more than 1.66 million children are living in households affected by the cap. This new data brings the total number of children affected by the cap since Labour came into power a year ago to 300,000:
New figures have revealed that more than 1.66 million children are living in households affected by the two-child benefit cap as campaigners ramp up calls for the controversial measure to be scrapped.
There are nearly 470,000 households facing benefit reductions due to the policy, the latest official figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show, housing nearly 1.7 million children.
The government has faced intense pressure from campaigners, charities and opposition parties over the measure, which experts say is a chief driver of child poverty in the UK.
Ministers have so far resisted calls to scrap the Tory-era policy, with prime minister Keir Starmer saying it could only be done when fiscal conditions allow. Shortly after Labour’s landslide victory last July, seven of the parties MPs were suspended for voting with the SNP to scrap the cap.
Speculation has grown that the government may announce an end to the measure in autumn when it is due to publish its delayed child poverty strategy. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said earlier this month that such a move was “not off the table,” adding that ministers are “looking at every lever” to reduce child poverty.
The two-child benefit cap prevents parents from claiming universal credit or tax credit for their third child. It was introduced by the Conservatives and came into place in April 2017. It only affects applies to children who were born after 6 April 2017.
The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) said its analysis suggests an estimated 400,000 children would be lifted out of poverty immediately if the policy was scrapped, with 109 more children pulled into poverty by the measure every day.
The charity’s chief executive Alison Garnham said: “The government’s moral mission to tackle child poverty will make our country a better, stronger place, but families urgently need action not just words.
“Giving all kids the best start in life will be impossible until government scraps this brutal policy - and a year after the election families can’t wait any longer for the help they desperately need.”
Labour's inaction on this issue is a disgrace and has real consequences. Isnt it time they grew some cojones and started to live up to their 'Change' electiom slogan?
Saturday, July 12, 2025
A remarkable politician
As the site says, Val Feld’s plaque, the first Purple Plaque in Wales, is located on the Senedd building in Cardiff Bay, and was unveiled by her daughters and granddaughters on 6th March 2018:
Val was born Valerie Breen Turner in Bangor on 29 October 1947 and died in Swansea on 17 July 2001.
She was one of the most highly regarded members of the National Assembly for Wales across the political spectrum, as one of the leading architects of devolution, achieved in 1997. She promoted women’s participation in Welsh politics. At the time the Welsh Cabinet was the first in the world to have a majority of women members, which was remarkable in a very traditional, macho political culture.
Val became the first Director of Shelter Cymru in 1981, independent from the English organisation for the first time. After completing a Women’s Studies course in Cardiff, she was appointed Director of the Equal Opportunities Commission in Wales. Val was instrumental in ensuring that the Government of Wales Act 1998 included clauses requiring due regard to equal opportunities.
All Val’s work was underpinned by her commitment to equality and social justice, and she was a powerful force for women and minority groups, including Swansea Women’s Centre, Jazz Heritage Wales, Women’s Archive of Wales, Multi Ethnic Women’s Network (MEWN Swansea) and Chwarae Teg.
I served in the National Assembly for Wales with Val, who represented Swansea East, the constituency I lived in. She was a force to be reckoned with.
Val was born Valerie Breen Turner in Bangor on 29 October 1947 and died in Swansea on 17 July 2001.
She was one of the most highly regarded members of the National Assembly for Wales across the political spectrum, as one of the leading architects of devolution, achieved in 1997. She promoted women’s participation in Welsh politics. At the time the Welsh Cabinet was the first in the world to have a majority of women members, which was remarkable in a very traditional, macho political culture.
Val became the first Director of Shelter Cymru in 1981, independent from the English organisation for the first time. After completing a Women’s Studies course in Cardiff, she was appointed Director of the Equal Opportunities Commission in Wales. Val was instrumental in ensuring that the Government of Wales Act 1998 included clauses requiring due regard to equal opportunities.
All Val’s work was underpinned by her commitment to equality and social justice, and she was a powerful force for women and minority groups, including Swansea Women’s Centre, Jazz Heritage Wales, Women’s Archive of Wales, Multi Ethnic Women’s Network (MEWN Swansea) and Chwarae Teg.
I served in the National Assembly for Wales with Val, who represented Swansea East, the constituency I lived in. She was a force to be reckoned with.
As I said in the Plenary session following her death, her work on homelessness and equal opportunities, and in other fields was pioneering. She was a builder of opportunity for those who had been unable to find their own voice.
Friday, July 11, 2025
Details needed on Welsh rail investment
Wales-on-line reports that there is currently no date for when rail improvements promised by the UK Government will start, nor any indication of where the first works will take place.
The Treasury's paperwork said the following was being promised: "£300m for rail investment in Wales, including for the Burns Review stations, North Wales Level Crossing, Padeswood Sidings and Cardiff West Junction.
"This [spending review] and the upcoming 10-year infrastructure strategy will recognise Wales’ long-term infrastructure needs and will deliver at least £445m of rail enhancements to realise them."
But in terms of what will be delivered and when there was no more detail available then. In the following days we had tried to get details from the Welsh secretary, the Department for Transport, and the Treasury about what would take place when and exactly what the money was to be spent on.
The best we could get was from the Department for Transport (DFT). "We will be working with industry partners such as Network Rail and Transport for Wales in the coming months to agree the programme of further work to deliver the investment. This work will update will confirm the costs and delivery schedule for the overall programme," we were told.
Neither Network Rail nor Transport for Wales were able to give details and our questions were directed to the Welsh Government's transport minister, Ken Skates and our repeated requests to sit down with him to ask questions have also been unfulfilled.
"I think that's absolutely right because obviously the Welsh Rail Board has produced the priority list that went into the spending review to get that money They'll now look at how how it is delivered."
She was then asked by Mrs Jones if there was a "timeline for their timeline" and the Welsh secretary said there was not.
She added: "Not that I'm aware of. I know that work is starting on it pretty imminently and so I would hope it would not be too long because now we've got the funding secured, we've got to get on with delivering it.
All-in-all this funding announcement sounds rushed and not very well planned out. Given the previous track record of government railway projects, I will be surprised if there will be a single spade in the ground before the next Senedd election.
Thursday, July 10, 2025
Have we lost the ability to build infrastructure?
A perfect example of that is HS2 (or any railway project for that matter), which is taking far longer to build and costing far more than was ever envisaged for it.
The Guardian reports that the boss of the high-speed rail project has told MPs that HS2 construction contracts priced at £19.5bn have already cost £26bn despite being “just over halfway done”.
The paper adds that the transport select committee heard that the civil engineering to build tunnels and cuttings for the 100-mile line should be almost finished but is closer to 60% complete, while only a third of the wider project – including laying tracks and wiring – is done:
Mark Wild, chief executive of HS2 Ltd, told the committee that the rush to start work in 2020 without balancing the risks in the contracts was the major reason for costs spiralling upwards.
Contracts were signed off in April 2020 and construction formally began five months later, before designs were finalised and local planning consents were in place, he said.
Wild, who started work last December, is currently engaged in a “reset” of construction, which he said would include reshaping his direct staff at HS2 Ltd, coming up with a credible schedule and budget, and renegotiating contracts in the autumn.
He said: “The bottom line is that, at the notice to proceed, the contractors could not price the risk. What we’re seeing is the crystallisation of risk: they should have cost £19.5bn, and we’ve already spent £26bn and we’re just over halfway done … Between 50% and 100% is the likely overspend.”
The line between London and Birmingham – initially designated phase one, but now the entirety of HS2 – was originally planned to open in 2026.
The schedule was subsequently postponed to between 2029 and 2033. But on Wild’s advice, Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, told parliament last month that there was “no route” to full HS2 services until after 2033.
Wild said Covid and inflation caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had both had a significant impact on time and costs, but that HS2 had failed to manage costs.
He said the company was “unbalanced” and had “a significant gap” in its frontline workforce managing contractors, as well as having “too many consultants who’ve been there for too long”.
“We’ve ended up … locked in our own bureaucracy,” he added.
I'm almost sure that Joseph Chamberelain didn't come across any of these obstacles when he performed a civil engineering feat like no other and transformed public health in Birmingham.
Wednesday, July 09, 2025
UN panel raises concerns about impact of Labour's welfare bill
The paper says that n a rare intervention, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities asked about the legislation after receiving “credible information” that it seemed likely to worsen the rights of disabled people:
A letter from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, on behalf of the committee, said it “respectfully requests information” about the bill, and in particular the extent of any impact assessment.
It also sought information on “any measures to address the foreseeable risk of increasing poverty rates amongst persons with disabilities if cuts are approved”.
According to an impact assessment by the Department for Work and Pensions released on Monday, the revised bill will mean 50,000 fewer people are in relative poverty after housing costs in 2030. An assessment of the original plans found the measures would have pushed an additional 250,000 people into poverty, with some charities saying this figure would have been higher.
The letter also requests information on the extent of consultation with disabled people and charities ahead of the bill being presented, and whether the House of Lords would be able to give only “limited scrutiny” if, as expected, it is designated as a money bill, limiting the upper house’s powers.
The UN committee called for scrutiny of politicians and others in the UK “portraying persons with disabilities as making profit of social benefits, making false statements to get social and disability benefits or being a burden to society”.
Pointing to previous UN reports criticising the UK for its record over the rights of disabled people, the committee said it had “received credible information indicating that, if approved, the universal credit and personal independent payment bill will deepen the signs of regression” found in earlier reports.
Whatever this bill turns out to say after all the concessions to Labour MPs, there is no hiding the inevitablity that a large number of disabled people will be worse off.
