Month: June 2022

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told the Sunday Telegraph a potential change in legislation could allow companies to hire temporary workers to cover some roles and prevent disruption.

Any intervention would not affect the rail strikes across Britain this month.

But Mr Shapps said changes could be brought in quickly to minimise future action in rail or other sectors.

A war of words between rail unions and ministers has been escalating since the RMT union announced three days of strikes, after talks about pay, terms and conditions, and redundancies fell through.

Mr Shapps said should the action continue then “further measures certainly would come in during this particular dispute, if it can’t be resolved”.

“We will be looking at the full suite of modernisation that’s required,” he told the Telegraph. “The country must not continue to be held to ransom.”

The transport secretary said any change could involve secondary legislation, which can be signed off by ministers “very fast”.

Meanwhile, writing in the Sun on Sunday, Mr Shapps warned rail workers who plan to strike this month that they will not be able to work overtime on subsequent days to top up pay they will lose as a result of taking part in the action. It is is understood this is because rail companies may decide to run restricted timetables after the strike days.Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the country “must not continue to be held to ransom”

Mr Shapps’ comments come less than a month after rail unions reacted with fury to a government threat to make strike action illegal unless a minimum number of train staff remained working during a walkout.

In response, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said “any attempt” by Mr Shapps to “make effective strike action illegal on the railways will be met with the fiercest resistance from RMT and the wider trade union movement”.

More than 40,000 RMT members working for Network Rail and 13 train operating companies across Britain will strike on 21, 23 and 25 June.

In a separate dispute over pensions and job losses, the RMT’s London Underground members will also strike on 21 June.

The RMT is calling it the biggest dispute for over three decades and put the industrial action down to the “inability of the rail employers to come to a negotiated settlement”.

Train and tram drivers, part of the Aslef union, are also set to strike in three locations this month.

The annual inflation rate rose to 8.6% in May, the Labor Department said, after easing in April.

The rising cost of living has been squeezing households and putting pressure on policymakers to bring the issue under control.

The US central bank has been raising interest rates since March.

Analysts had hoped that the moves were starting to work to cool economic activity, easing the price pressures. But the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has driven up the price of oil and commodities like wheat as it disrupts exports from the two countries, has made tackling the problem more difficult.

Food prices were up more than 10% last month compared to May 2021, while energy surged more than 34%.

But Friday’s report showed the increases continue to spread throughout the economy, pushing the cost of everything from airline tickets and clothing to medical services higher.

“So much for the idea that inflation has peaked. Consumer prices blew past expectations – and not in a good way with the 8.6% annual increase the fastest in more than 40 years,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com.

“Worse the increases were nearly ubiquitous. Just no place to hide.”

The US has been grappling with rising prices since last year, when an unexpectedly strong economic rebound from the shock of the pandemic – driven by large doses of US government spending, including direct cheques to households – overwhelmed supplies, prompting companies to raise prices.

Now the war in Ukraine has spread the problem around the world, with Covid-related shutdowns in China this spring contributing.

As the rising costs hit household purchasing power and prompt a pullback in spending, officials are warning that growth in many countries is at risk of a sharp downturn.

“The war in Ukraine, lockdowns in China, supply-chain disruptions, and the risk of stagflation are hammering growth. For many countries, recession will be hard to avoid,” World Bank President David Malpass said this week.

US stock markets fell in the wake of the inflation reports, with all three major indexes dropping more than 2%. The falls added to weeks of declines in US shares, as investors become nervous about the path for the economy.

“Even if inflation peaks soon, it’s unlikely to decelerate quickly.” said Richard Flynn, managing director of Charles Schwab UK. “High prices may put pressure on consumer spending into the medium term.

“Add ongoing supply-chain problems and the economic impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the threat of inflation, and it’s easy to see why fears of a downturn have risen swiftly.”

For now, the US labour market has continued to add jobs, a sign that growth is continuing.

But wages have not kept pace as prices climb. The rising cost of living has especially hit lower income households, for whom basics like food and energy make up large portions of spending.

Polls show a majority of Americans see inflation as the top problem facing the country. Consumer sentiment has plunged and US President Joe Biden’s approval ratings have sunk as Republicans criticise him over the issue.

Over the month, prices gained 1%, driven by the rising cost of petrol, which has hit new records in the US, approaching an average of nearly $5 a gallon.

In hearings in Washington this week, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said bringing down prices was the “number one priority”.

In a statement, Mr Biden said “we must do more – and quickly – to get prices down here in the United States”.

“I’m doing everything in my power to blunt Putin’s price hike, and bring down the cost of oil and food,” the president later pledged at a speech at the Port of Los Angeles in California.

Roberto Perli, head of global policy research at Piper Sandler investment bank, said he expected prices to come under control as America’s central bank, the Federal Reserve, increases interest rates. But he warned that raising borrowing costs will hurt economic growth.

“For now, the US economy is very healthy and you see it reflected in the fact that there is such a strong demand for pretty much everything, goods and services. But the Fed has to take care of the problem,” he said.

“The result will be not now but in the quarters ahead a significant slowdown in the US economy, induced in large part by the Fed.”

But with the election of a new government in his native Australia last month, his supporters hope he has a new, powerful ally.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously spoken against Mr Assange’s incarceration, and the activist’s family are counting on him to put pressure on the UK as the deadline for a critical deportation decision looms.

The Wikileaks founder is wanted in the US over classified documents leaked in 2010 and 2011, which it says broke the law and endangered lives.

But Mr Assange’s supporters say the reports exposed US wrongdoing in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and were in the public interest.

After a long legal battle in the UK, the courts in April referred the US extradition request to the Home Secretary for her final decision.

Priti Patel has until 19 June – exactly 10 years since Mr Assange was last free – to make it.

“At this point, until Priti Patel signs off, it is entirely political. And so it’s open to a political solution,” says Mr Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton.

Mr Albanese – a signatory to the Bring Julian Assange Home Campaign petition – last year said the 50-year-old should be freed.

“Enough is enough,” he said at a party room meeting.

“I don’t have sympathy for many of his actions but essentially I can’t see what is served by keeping him incarcerated.”

But since taking office Mr Albanese has been coy on what action his government will take on the matter.

When asked about Mr Assange at a press conference last week, he said “not all foreign affairs is best done with the loud hailer”.

The comment has buoyed Mr Assange’s family, with Mr Shipton saying it represents a huge shift from the position of previous governments.

“[They] have always said ‘Julian is receiving consular assistance’ and said things like ‘this as a matter of for the UK courts and the government cannot interfere’.”

“[They] have become complicit in Julian’s persecution and imprisonment by sitting on their hands.”

He says the family is finally confident Australia is having conversations “behind closed doors”, which they hope could be pivotal.

Donald Rothwell, a professor of international law, agrees the Albanese government’s election presents a “reset” opportunity and says any intervention could have sway.

Though there has been little transparency, Australia’s previous government seemingly did not seek to raise the matter at a high level, he says.

It’s a particularly sensitive problem as it involves two of Australia’s closest allies and – as the previous government often pointed out – it is a legal matter.

“To degree, they’re right,” says Prof Rothwell, from Australian National University.

“That doesn’t mean to say that – at this very pointy end – the Australian government is not able to start to make political representations.”

Mr Albanese is seen as likely to quietly appeal to both the UK and US through diplomatic channels.

“There was some speculation that the Biden presidency could see the government take a different view on Assange,” Prof Rothwell says.

“There’s really been no indication. But it needs to be understood that the power to halt this matter clearly rests with President Biden. The US could end it tomorrow.”

In 2000 the UK decided that former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet should not be extradited to Spain to face charges over human rights violations on health grounds.

So regardless of any Australian pressure “there is a significant precedent in another very, very high profile matter,” Prof Rothwell says.

And in 2012, the UK refused a US extradition request for British computer hacker Gary McKinnon, judging it to be “incompatible with his human rights”.

“He had similar depression and Asperger’s syndrome as Julian and Theresa May rejected that extradition because the care that he needed he would not be able to get in the US prison system,” Mr Shipton says.

But the expectation of Mr Assange’s legal team is that Ms Patel will sign off on the extradition order anyway, he adds.

Mr Assange is still able to appeal to the High Court and raise his case at the European Court of Human Rights.

In 2012 Mr Assange sought asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, fearing US prosecution.

But after seven years confined to the embassy, he was removed and arrested in 2019 after Ecuador withdrew his asylum status – citing alleged bad behaviour.

He has since been held in London’s Belmarsh Prison, where his health has deteriorated. His legal team argues he will die if he’s sent to the US.

In January 2021, a judge sided with Mr Assange’s team, ruling he could not be extradited because there was no guarantee that American authorities could look after him.

The High Court then reversed that decision last December, saying that the US had since provided sufficient assurances that Mr Assange could be safely cared for.

Mr Assange faces a possible jail term of up to 175 years in the US, his lawyers have said.

However the US government told the High Court the sentence was more likely to be between four and six years – and it would even consider sending him to an Australian jail.

Mr Shipton argues much is at stake – including global press freedoms.

Mr Assange’s supporters say he is a publisher and a journalist and his extradition would have a chilling effect.

“People should be able to expose war crimes, they should be able to publish about government corruption or torture.

“Julian’s prosecution means that… journalists can’t do their job, and that’s a threat to democracy.”

Speaking about his brother, he adds: “This endless Snakes and Ladders legal situation takes its toll on him. It’s punishment by process.

But could Scots passengers be facing delays when the summer holiday season kicks in later this month?

The Covid pandemic led to thousands of workers being laid off when international travel was halted.

Airports and airlines are suffering staff shortages as they struggle to recruit replacements.

For example, in June 2020 Swissport halved its 8,500-strong UK workforce of baggage handlers and security personnel. The company has since rehired thousands of people but 1,200 of them still don’t have security clearance.

Since Covid restrictions were fully lifted in March, demand has bounced back quicker than predicted.

Scotland’s airports were warning as late as January this year that it could be 2026 before passenger numbers recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

But terminals are already seeing huge footfall and holiday giant Tui said it expected summer bookings to “almost reach” 2019 levels.

Senior figures here in Scotland have told me they usually kick off the summer recruitment campaign in November but due to coronavirus travel rules chopping and changing, the process was delayed and prolonged.

Another factor, according to Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary, could be fewer European workers to fill gaps as a result of Brexit changes.

Glasgow Airport told me it has been a “significant challenge” responding to the boom in air travel as it clambers to bring in workers.

Before coronavirus, the UK airline industry employed about 140,000 people – but since then thousands of jobs have been cut, including about 2,000 at Glasgow Airport alone.

An indication of the desperation to recruit is that some jobs within Scotland’s airports come with a £500 joining bonus.

Edinburgh Airport has been holding a series of recruitment fairs to entice workers but the industry is competing with big bucks in other sectors which are seen as more attractive.

Cancellations are very seldom planned very much in advance.

It is a live system, which adds to the fury from passengers on the receiving end of bad news as they stand inside the airport terminal.

Airlines say “the vast majority” of flights are operating as scheduled but Tui, Wizzair, EasyJet and British Airways are among those who have been forced to cancel some services.

They blame “operational difficulties” which have seen some left high and dry as they are about to board.

Sources explained the reasons could include the knock-on impact of wider delays in the system – for example, a plane not being in the correct place or staff working longer the day before.

Another illustration could include flight attendants arriving for their shift but as the duration of a delay grows, the longer the day becomes for the crew and, in turn, it becomes unsafe to reasonably fly the aircraft to its destination and back.

Mike Dodgson and his family faced a chaotic scene at Glasgow Airport recently when their Tui flight to Turkey was cancelled as they arrived at the gate with their passports in hand.

The dad-of-two described his anger when airport staff were forced to break the news.

He told BBC Scotland: “There was a Tui plane docked next to us but half an hour later, staff came over the tannoy to say that the flight was cancelled.

“There was a big reaction because everyone had been waiting all day. We asked when the next flight was but they told us the entire holiday was cancelled.

“They initially said it was staffing issues. There were no staff to conduct the flight.

“After a lot of shock and talks with the poor airport staff who had to take the brunt of everyone’s questions, we were told to go to baggage claim and then told ‘on your way’.”

Tui has apologised to Mike and issued a full refund.

Scotland’s airports have been clear that people should not arrive early after large queues formed in recent weeks.

Bosses told me some panicked passengers were arriving five hours before their flight was due to take off, which meant the staff rotated on for the peak period were out of kilter.

As a general rule you should be at the airport two hours before your flight for a domestic UK flight, three hours before for European flights and four hours for long-haul flights.

It would be a shock if they weren’t.

It is less than two weeks before Scotland’s schools begin to break up for summer.

One advantage of the summer break is that the travel peak is not limited to a single week, as happens at half-term, so delays may not be as bad.

The airports are pleading with people to not arrive earlier in a bid to avoid unnecessary crowds.

Europe’s largest airline association, Airlines for Europe, expects the problems in the UK and Europe to persist “for a good chunk of the summer season”, reported the Financial Times.

Edinburgh Airport say they will have a full complement of accredited staff ready to go by the end of this month as the summer stampede ramps up.

Campaigners failed in an initial legal bid to halt the removals to the east African country, but have confirmed they will take the case to the Court of Appeal on Monday.

Under the policy, some of those entering the UK illegally will be flown to Rwanda to apply for asylum there.

About 31 people have been told they may be on the first flight.

There will be a full judicial review, where the High Court will hear a challenge to the policy as a whole, before the end of July, it heard.

In his decision, the judge Mr Justice Swift accepted there was a “material public interest” in Home Secretary Priti Patel being able to carry out her policies.

Ms Patel praised his judgement and said the government would go ahead with its plans, while Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the ruling as “welcome news”.

However, campaigners who brought the case expressed concern for the welfare of people set to be “forcibly deported”.

It comes as the Times newspaper reports the Prince of Wales has been privately critical of the government’s policy – quoting a source saying he thinks the approach is “appalling”.

Prince Charles is to represent the Queen in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, at a Commonwealth summit later this month. His office reiterated he remains “politically neutral”.

The government hopes the scheme will discourage asylum seekers from crossing the English Channel, by making it clear many cases will now be dealt with by Rwanda.

More than 10,000 people have made the dangerous sea journey so far this year.

While their application is considered by Rwanda those affected will be given accommodation and support and, if successful, will be able to remain there with up to five years’ access to education and support.

Those who fail in their asylum bids in Rwanda will be offered the chance to apply for visas under other immigration routes if they wish to remain in the country, but could still face deportation.

Campaigners had sought to block the flight from leaving, as well as individual people being placed on it.

The case was brought by lawyers representing asylum seekers set to be deported, alongside the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) – which represents more than 80% of UK Border Force staff – and migration charities Care4Calais and Detention Action.

Their lawyers raised concerns about shortcomings in the Rwanda asylum system and the possibility that people could be sent on to countries where they would be persecuted – a process known as refoulement.

Home Office lawyers had told the court the plan must not be stopped by legal challenges because it was in the public interest, and also urged the judge to reject challenges on behalf of individual asylum seekers.

At the hearing, the UN’s refugee body, the UNHCR, also intervened to distance itself from the policy amid claims the Home Office has misrepresented its position on the scheme.

Lawyers for the UNHCR also said it had warned the Home Office twice that its arrangement with Rwanda was unlawful.

In his judgement, Mr Justice Swift ruled against a temporary block on the deportation flights before the full hearing on the policy in July.

He said he did not consider there was any evidence there would be “ill-treatment, refoulement” or anything that violated their rights under article three of the UK’s Human Rights Act.

Article three protects people from torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and deportation or extradition to a country where there is a real risk they will face torture or inhuman or degrading treatment.

Mr Justice Swift said part of the case to block the initial flights focused on the argument that Ms Patel’s “decision to treat Rwanda as a safe country is either irrational or based on insufficient investigation”.

He said this argument, along with other parts of the case, would be heard with evidence at the full judicial review – to be held across two days before the end of July.

But Mr Justice Swift noted that, while the campaigners had enough evidence for a review, their claim was “not conspicuously strong”.

He also denied interim relief to two people who face removal on Tuesday, one from Syria and another from Iraq, who are still set to be on the plane to Rwanda.

“I accept that the fact of removal to Rwanda will be onerous,” he added.

However, the judge granted the campaigners and migrants the right to appeal against his decision and said the Court of Appeal would be able to hear their case on Monday.

Following the judgement, Ms Patel said the government would “continue to deliver on progressing” the plan.

She said: “People will continue to try and prevent their relocation through legal challenges and last-minute claims, but we will not be deterred in breaking the deadly people smuggling trade and ultimately saving lives.

“Rwanda is a safe country and has previously been recognised for providing a safe haven for refugees – we will continue preparations for the first flight to Rwanda, alongside the range of other measures intended to reduce small boat crossings.”

Mr Johnson tweeted: “We cannot allow people traffickers to put lives at risk and our world leading partnership will help break the business model of these ruthless criminals.”

James Wilson, deputy director of campaign group Detention Action, said it was disappointed, but added there were “some positives” from the case – noting that six of the eight original claimants had their removal orders withdrawn by the Home Office in advance of the judgement.

Clare Moseley, founder of Care4Calais, said the charity was “deeply concerned for the welfare of people who may be forcibly deported to Rwanda, a fate that could profoundly harm their mental health and future”.

The PCS union has called for urgent talks with Ms Patel to discuss the removal policy following the ruling.