Month: August 2022

Thangam Debbonaire, the shadow leader of the House of Commons, has written to the prime minister asking him to recall MPs two weeks early on 22 August.

She said new policies were needed before a rise in the energy price cap in October.

But the government said it was already supporting people now – and new fiscal decisions will be for the next PM.

Experts expect the energy price cap – the maximum amount suppliers can charge their customers in England, Scotland and Wales – to hit £3,582 in October.

The average bill was £1,400 a year in October 2021.

And by January 2023, the next time the cap is due to be changed, energy industry analysts Cornwall Insight predict it will go up again to £4,266.

In her letter, Ms Debbonaire told Mr Johnson that the country faces an “urgent choice”.

She said: “Across Britain, people are having to make unthinkable choices about how to pay their bills, causing endless worry for households and businesses.

“That is why I am writing to you today to urge you to bring Parliament back early on Monday 22 August so that we can freeze the energy price cap now ahead of winter.

“Families deserve a government that is on their side, and is ready to take the action needed now to meet the scale of this national emergency.”

Labour is calling for the energy price cap to be frozen for six months, funded by an increased windfall tax – and has claimed his proposals would save the average household £1,000. But economists have said it would be a very expensive plan.

The two contenders for Conservative Party leader, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, have indicated they are not keen on extending the windfall tax on oil and gas companies – or freezing the price cap – meaning it is unlikely to happen unless they have a change of heart.

Ms Truss says she will tackle the crisis by reversing the National Insurance rise, suspend the green levy part of energy bills and cancel a planned rise in corporation tax.

Mr Sunak says getting control of inflation is the most pressing issue and has promised to reduce VAT on domestic energy bills from 5% to zero, and to cut 3p off income tax by late 2029.

The increase in the cost of living is putting a squeeze on people’s finances, as wages fail to keep up.

This week figures showed UK inflation rose above 10% in July for the first time in 40 years.

The Bank of England’s governor Andrew Bailey has said “the Russia shock is now the largest contributor to UK inflation”.

But pay increases for many aren’t keeping up with rising prices, sparking the fastest fall in real pay on record.

It comes as consumer confidence has hit a record low, according to market research company GfK.

Their long-running Consumer Confidence Index fell three points in August to -44, its lowest figure since records began in 1974.

The index provides a snapshot of how UK consumers view their finance and the economy.

The blast is thought to have occurred during evening prayers, killing at least three people and injuring dozens more, according to the NGO Emergency.

Khalid Zadran, the Taliban’s Kabul police spokesman, was quoted by local media as saying there had been an explosion in the city’s north-west.

Reports say the Siddiqi mosque’s imam was among the dead.

It is unclear who was behind the attack, which comes the week after a prominent pro-Taliban cleric was killed in a suicide bomb blast, also in Kabul. The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the earlier attack.

Security forces have arrived at the scene, in a northern Kabul neighbourhood, the spokesman added.

Italian NGO Emergency – which operates in Kabul – said three deaths have been recorded so far.

The NGO also tweeted to say it had received 27 people wounded in the blast, including children. “Five children [were] among them, including a seven-year-old,” it said.

A Taliban intelligence official told news agency Reuters that as many as 35 people may have been wounded or killed, and the toll could rise further.

Witnesses described hearing a powerful explosion which shattered windows in nearby buildings.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the explosion took place at a mosque among worshippers in the Khair Khana area of Kabul.

Intelligence teams were at the blast site and investigations are ongoing, they added.

A spokesman for the Taliban said it strongly condemned the attack.

The mosque was crowded, the bomb powerful, and another cleric seems to have been in the sights of IS (Islamic State), the group which has emerged as the Taliban’s most potent enemy.

In the past month, three prominent religious leaders were targeted in Kabul and there were assassinations in other cities.

Last week it was Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani, known to be close to the Taliban. This time it’s Amir Muhammad Kabuli, said to be an adherent of the more moderate Sufi faith.

Video posted on social media showed a scene of carnage.

One religious student who was just outside the mosque told the BBC he saw the bodies of the dead and injured sprawled inside, including children attending evening prayers.

IS’s signature has been its devastating attacks on the minority Shia Hazara community. But their focus now seems to be widening just as the Taliban celebrate their one year in power – a takeover which ended one chapter of a long bloody war but only ushered in yet another.

Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union members oat National Rail will be striking over jobs, pay and working conditions on Thursday and Saturday.

Some services will operate on a limited number of routes between 07:30 and 18:30 each day.

ScotRail staff are not involved in the strike, but many of the Network Rail staff involved work in rail safety.

The disruption will also impact the day following each strike day, so services will be still be affected on Friday and Sunday.

The RMT union announced industrial action across the UK’s railway network last month and 40,000 workers across Network Rail are expected to walk out.

This dispute does not involve ScotRail staff, however it will affect the train operator’s ability to provide services.

A ScotRail spokesperson said many of the Network Rail staff due to take part in the strikes work safety-critical roles, which means ScotRail cannot run the majority of its services.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said members were determined to protect their pensions, pay, job security and working conditions.

Services will run on 11 routes across the Central Belt, Fife and Borders on the days of strike action.

Emmanuel Moine is the general manager of the Glen Mhor Hotel in Inverness.

Mr Moine said: “We have had some cancellations and the hotel is 60 or 70% full when we should be fully booked.

“We are in August so obviously it has an impact on the tourism.”

Mr Moine is also the chairman of the Highland Hotels Association which represents 20 chain and independently-operated hotels.

He said other hoteliers have noticed similar downturns in business.

“We are suffering from guests not able to travel,” he said.

“I’ve been speaking to every hotelier in Inverness and we have the same problem.

“We had a great tourist season, but we do our best to correct the problem and it’s not helping.

“We need to adapt and react as quickly as we can depending on cancellations and how the strike will be on these days.”

ScotRail said double the number of services will be provided compared to the previous strike by RMT members of Network Rail on 27 July.

It will operate 378 services on 18 and 20 August compared to 189 on 27 July.

However, the railway will only operate between 07:30 and 18:30 on 18 and 20 August.

Final trains are expected to depart well before 18:30, so passengers are urged to plan in advance.

The following services will run during the strike days:

•Edinburgh Waverley – Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk High: two trains per hour

•Edinburgh Waverley – Helensburgh Central: two trains per hour

•Glasgow Central – Hamilton/Larkhall: two trains per hour

•Glasgow Central – Lanark: two trains per hour

•Edinburgh Waverley – Glasgow Central via Shotts: one train per hour

•Edinburgh Waverley – Inverkeithing: two trains per hour

•Edinburgh Waverley – Tweedbank: two trains per hour

•Edinburgh Waverley – North Berwick: one train per hour

•Glasgow Queen Street – Larbert: one train per hour

•Glasgow Queen Street – Falkirk Grahamston: one train per hour

•Milngavie – Springburn: two trains per hour

Passengers are urged to consider alternative travel options if they can.

ScotRail service delivery director David Simpson said:  ”It is very unfortunate to see such widespread disruption across the whole of the Great Britain rail network and we know this will be frustrating for ScotRail customers.

“Regrettably, this strike action by RMT members of Network Rail means that we will not be able to operate the vast majority of our services during the period of strike action.

“Customers should expect significant disruption to services on strike days, as well as the following day.

“We are able to operate on more routes than on the previous day of strike action, however, we are still only able to run a very limited number of services on these routes, so we’re advising customers to seek alternative means of transport and to only travel if they really need to.”

Mr Sarwar said the economic crisis was a national emergency like the Covid-19 pandemic and required a radical response.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said “significant action” was already being taken.

Both Mr Sarwar and Ms Sturgeon have warned that lives could be lost without more support.

Scottish Labour has published its proposals for action on the cost of living around housing, transport costs, debt and reducing bills for households and businesses.

These include a temporary rent freeze, a winter evictions ban, cancelling school meal debt, temporarily halving rail fares and capping the cost of bus journeys.

The party wants emergency cost of living legislation brought before the Scottish Parliament in the first week after Holyrood returns from recess in September.

It says addressing the cost of living crisis must be the “first priority” of both the Scottish government and the Scottish Parliament.

Labour has also called on the UK government to take action, including freezing energy prices for six months, which would save a typical household £1,000.

Speaking to BBC Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, Mr Sarwar said the cost of living crisis was a “national emergency” that should be viewed on the scale of Covid-19.

He warned that without more action “lives could be lost as we push more and more people into poverty”.

Last week the Scottish government announced it would carry out an emergency budget review in light of the cost of living crisis, but Scottish Labour says it has failed to produce concrete actions using the powers available.

Mr Sarwar told Good Morning Scotland there was a reserve of £241m in the Scottish budget.

He called for a “genuine” emergency budget review that “gets the eyes open” on where money is available and what support can be given to people right now rather than “hoarding money for later down the road”.

“The rainy day has arrived,” he said. “We need to support people.”

But the Scottish government’s business minister Ivan McKee told Good Morning Scotland that Mr Sarwar was “not understanding the numbers very well” and the remaining money was needed to “smooth things over” through the year and make sure the Scottish government didn’t run out of money.

He said the Scottish government was “absolutely having a look at all measures that could make an impact” and “what possibility there is to free up additional cash to be able to support the most vulnerable on top of all the work and funding we’ve put in place”.

Nicola Sturgeon told the BBC the Scottish government was “already taking significant action”, but the key levers lie with the UK government.

This week the Scottish government announced it will hold an energy summit, to be chaired by Nicola Sturgeon, that will bring together energy companies and voluntary sector organisations working around poverty.

Ms Sturgeon told the BBC she wanted to make sure that the Scottish government was “genuinely doing everything we can” to help, but she also wanted all those involved to come together to call on the UK government to take action.

“There is a looming disaster that is already unfolding, but it is going to get worse,” she said. “This is going to cause destitution and devastation.”

She warned: “This will cause loss of life if real action is not taken to stem this crisis”.

Asked for her views on renationalising energy companies, Ms Sturgeon said it should be “on the table”.

She said: “Cancel the price cap increase. Do that first of all and then, yes, how is that then funded, what is the contribution from energy companies and the UK government, what does it mean in terms of the ownership profile of energy companies, all of that has to be on the table.

“But first and foremost, this increase in people’s energy bills – further increase in people’s energy bills – can’t be allowed to go ahead”.