Trade unions could see a boost in membership due to new workplace rights that come into force today.

As of 30 October, union representatives have the right to request in-person or digital access to workplaces where at least 21 people are employed – even if the union isn’t recognised by the employer or it has no members there.

Home secretary’s colleagues fear homelessness will rise as a result of changes to the asylum system

Sources say the home secretary has repeatedly refused to reveal how much she expects homelessness to rise as a result of changes to the asylum system.

Mahmood announced her changes to the asylum system last November, including ending permanent leave to remain and the government’s duty to support people who would otherwise become destitute.

In an impact assessment released this month, however, her department admitted homelessness could rise.

“There is a risk that, if repayments materially reduce disposable income, some individuals could experience financial hardship or destitution,” the document said.

“This may increase demand for homelessness services and rough sleeping support, creating additional cost pressures for local authorities.”

Sad news...

The UK’s tax authority is assigning dedicated “customer compliance managers” to more than 200 billionaires as part of a crackdown meant to raise £500m for the public purse.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said it had for the first time compiled a list of billionaires who are required to pay tax in the UK, regardless of whether they formally live in the country, to tackle a “wealthy tax gap” caused by those who do not pay what they ought.

Reminder that apart from being a moronic brown-noser for the rich who failed to last two months as Prime Minister, Liz Truss is also a huge transphobe who did a bunch of damage during her time as Minister for Women and Equalities and continues to strive to take away trans rights.

https://www.redpepper.org.uk/society/lgbtqplus/this-government-is-failing-trans-people-labour-must-take-a-stronger-stand/

https://outfrontmagazine.com/uk-equalities-minister-liz-truss-transphobic/

https://news.sky.com/story/liz-truss-furious-after-mps-accused-of-blocking-transgender-reform-bill-13095370

Truncated the title as it doesn't give me much hope yet. Until we actually tax the rich, I won't be happy.

Early indicators are that this Labour administration won't do it either.

The article effectively says:

• The ultra rich run the media, and pretend that taxing the rich is a bad thing.
• Basically everyone wants to tax the rich apart from the rich.
• MPs and governments are cowards, for the most part.

That's my read on it anyway.

TLDR; A Zionist organization is mad that other people don't agree with it's views, so it calls them racist.

A resolution passed by 118 votes to one on Sunday declared that the Greens "by adopting an antisemitic platform become a racist party".

Board of Deputies president Phil Rosenberg said: “By adopting an antisemitic platform, the Green Party of England and Wales has become a racist party. We will treat it accordingly.

From the Wikipedia page for the Board of Deputies:

Notably, while Lord Rothschild was President of the Board of Deputies, the Balfour Declaration was addressed to him and eventually led to the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine.

In 2018, over five hundred British Jews signed a letter from Yachad saying that the Board had "deeply misrepresented" their views after the board criticised Hamas for "repeated violent attempts at mass invasion" but did not call for Israeli restraint or acknowledge that the IDF may have acted disproportionately in massacring Palestinians at the Great March of Return. Liberal Judaism said that "the Board's credibility as the voice of British Jewry depends wholly on its willingness to listen to, hear from and reflect the values of all sections of the community".

In 2019, following Jeremy Corbyn's decision to resign as leader of the Labour Party [...] the Board asked candidates for the leadership to sign up to ten pledges in order to "end the antisemitism crisis". The pledges included a resolution of outstanding disciplinary cases, lifetime membership bans for some individuals, an independent disciplinary process, full and unconditional adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism

So they're a Zionist organization. No surprise that they are against this motion. They should be ignored.

A good article. The TLDR;

• Cutting red tape is a neoliberal / right-wing / capitalist talking point.
• It may or may not save money for businesses, but it will often remove important protections for the public.
• Often, the red tape exists because we have privatised something that we should not have, and if it's important enough to do right perhaps the state should do it.

I'll also add that red tape is often soaked with blood. It's there because when we didn't have it in place, there was a catastrophe and we finally added it to protect ourselves.

Blaming a moribund economy on too many rules is a hackneyed neoliberal trope – UK plc needs smarter regulation, not less regulation

In the run-up to the chancellor John Healey’s high-stakes Commons address, the government issued a press release last week promising his plans would include measures to “slash the red tape choking firms”.

Getting the interfering state out of the way of the wealth creators was a trope of Thatcher and Reaganite economics, and on this side of the pond it has been repeated ad nauseam by every government since.

Thatcher unleashed the City with her “big bang” deregulation drive, and her successor John Major was enthusiastic about “hacking back the jungle of red tape”.

Boris Johnson wanted to unfetter Britain’s businesses from “Brussels bureaucracy” and waffled on during the Brexit campaign about bendy bananas. Yet, after Brexit, business groups said their members would rather comply with longstanding EU standards in many areas than adopt an entirely new UK regime. And bananas are no more or less bendy than before.

There is nothing wrong with ensuring the interaction between business and the state is smooth. But even during the early years of neoliberalism, the free market good, regulation bad dichotomy was always unhelpful, for several reasons.

First, good regulation – a robust competition regime, for example – is essential to make markets work well. And even most enthusiasts for a laissez-faire approach would acknowledge the need for some basic quality standards – for food and medicines, for example.

“The neoliberal illusion, that privatisation liberated markets from state interference, obscures the reality that the state already significantly controls our privatised utilities, but through a maze of arm’s length regulatory agencies which operate outside democratic influence.”

For the water sector, privatised in 1989, these include Ofwat, which sets bills (with the Competition and Markets Authority acting as an appeals body in the event of a dispute); the Drinking Water Inspectorate; the Environment Agency; and the Consumer Council for Water.

Yet, as Yang points out, none are responsible for drawing up a coherent plan for the sector as a whole. “Everyone knows how this story ends: with our rivers polluted and our water infrastructure dangerously lacking.”

Hacking away at the regulatory thicket fails to deal with the structural features of the economy that make the rules necessary in the first place.

“Regulators continue to be labelled as ‘blockers’ despite the vital work they do keeping us safe and protecting our natural environment,”

Open 9 days a week 9a-11pm 24h

I genuinely don't know if the quality will get worse or improve.

It may get less transphobic and vile, unless they specifically train their AI to be so.