UK - England, Wales, N.Ireland, Scotland

[RTH10260]

Privacy laws could be rolled back, UK government sources suggest
Rules making it harder for media to name those under criminal investigation could change when Human Rights Act replaced

Jim Waterson Media editor
Sat 19 Feb 2022 07.00 GMT

Privacy laws that make it harder for the media to name individuals under criminal investigation could be rolled back as part of ministers’ plans to replace the Human Rights Act, government sources have suggested.

The claim follows concerns raised by media outlets over this week’s landmark Bloomberg v ZXC supreme court ruling. Judges concluded that Bloomberg News was wrong to name a businessman facing a criminal investigation relating to his work activities because he had a reasonable expectation of privacy.

The verdict makes it more difficult for the media to report that individuals are under criminal investigation if they have not been charged with any offence.

John Micklethwait, the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, said the ruling meant Britain was “stumbling toward a system in which tabloids can still peek into celebrities’ bedrooms but serious journalists cannot report on potential wrongdoing at public companies by powerful people”.

He said the ruling would benefit those able to afford enormous legal bills, rather than ordinary members of the public, adding: “The courts have now presented the powerful with a path to keep their names out of print for years … This right to privacy is only for those who can afford it; strangely enough, these often tend to be those who have the most to hide.”

Ministers are reluctant to directly criticise judges but a government spokesperson said they were looking at the ruling.

“A free press is one of the cornerstones of any democracy. The government recognises the vital role the media plays in holding people to account and shining a light on the issues which matter most. We will study the implications of the judgment carefully,” they said.

Ministry of Justice sources pointed towards an ongoing consultation on replacing the existing Human Rights Act. The existing law, which was introduced by Tony Blair’s Labour government in 2000, is based on the European convention on human rights. Ministers want to replace it with a new British Bill of Rights as part of their post-Brexit policies – a move that has been criticised by many in the legal profession.




https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... es-suggest?

[RTH10260]

UK driver shortage ‘eases’ as testing backlog begins to clear and number of younger recruits rises
18 February 2022 (0 Comments)
Posted by: Noelle McElhatton

Numbers of HGV drivers in the UK are “stabilising” as driver tests have increase by more than half, according to the body charged with testing new applicants.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) carried out 27,144 HGV vocational tests in the last quarter of 2021, representing a 53.5% increase on Q4 2019, according to research from Logistics UK.

Although there were still 49,000 fewer HGV drivers in the workforce in Q4 2021 compared with 2019, the figures show the DVSA is catching up on the testing backlog which grew out of the pandemic, reports the Loadstar.

Younger recruits

Office of National Statistics (ONS) data released yesterday also showed a gain in the number of HGV drivers under 45 years of age – up to 37% from 33.6% two years ago.

In the 34-39 age bracket, there are more than 30,000 drivers compared with about 25,000 two years ago.

A further 30,000 drivers entered or re-entered the profession in the third quarter of last year.

Resilient logistics

Elizabeth de Jong, director of policy at Logistics UK, said: “The new ONS data shows that attracting new entrants to the profession, and ensuring sufficient tests are available, are key to the resilience of the logistics sector.”

The figures back an assessment by driver recruitment agency Driver Require that the industry had reached a turning point where the driver shortage crisis was ‘severe’ rather than at ‘crisis’ levels, as previously covered in the IOE&IT’s Daily Update.

Younger drivers required

SHD Logistics reports that with 150,000 drivers approaching retirement age, there is still time for the situation to evolve and that younger drivers are required.

With EU nationals leaving the UK, more needs to be done to attract them back to work in the UK following limited uptake of the temporary visa scheme, SHD Logistics adds. Those who have left the industry altogether must also be tempted back.



https://www.export.org.uk/news/596129/U ... -rises.htm

[RTH10260]

UK passes first step to join Pacific trade bloc
Trade secretary describes move as a ‘a major milestone.’

BY EMILIO CASALICCHIO
February 18, 2022 10:01 am

LONDON — U.K. Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan will tour three Asian nations next week after Britain passed a crucial hurdle to join an 11-nation trade bloc.

It was confirmed last night that the U.K. had passed the first stage of the accession process for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, meaning its overall approach to trade was approved.

It means London moves on to the second and final phase of the process, the actual negotiations on market access to the trade group.

“CPTPP is one of the largest and most exciting free-trading clubs in the world,” Trevelyan said in a statement. “Today’s announcement is a major milestone for us joining this dynamic group of economies and means the finish line is in sight.”

She will visit Indonesia, Japan and Singapore next week to oversee the launch of the negotiating process.

The trade department claims CPTPP is a £8.4 trillion market. Britain hopes to join before the end of 2022 as part of its wider foreign policy agenda to deepen ties with the Asia-Pacific region.




https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-pass ... rade-bloc/

[RTH10260]

One source mentions that Trudeau rescinded his veto after the UK promised market access for Canadian hormon raised beef.

[RTH10260]

Hundreds of U.K. ferry workers were laid off in a 3-minute Zoom call. They’re now refusing to get off the boats

BY SOPHIE MELLOR
March 17, 2022 7:45 PM GMT+1


Leading U.K. ferry operator P&O Ferries has fired 800 members of its crew, replacing them with cheaper labor.

Now the laid-off employees are refusing to get off the boats.

On Thursday morning the ferry operator, owned by Dubai-based DP World, canceled all of its services and laid off 800 workers over Zoom—a “very difficult but necessary decision,” a spokesperson for P&O Ferries said, made to secure the future viability of the business.

After major changes and costs incurred with Brexit, along with COVID-19 lockdowns battering the company's finances, P&O Ferries said it sustained a £100 million ($131 million) loss year on year, which has been covered by the parent company, DP World.

"In its current state, P&O Ferries is not a viable business,” the company said in a statement. “This is not sustainable. Our survival is dependent on making swift and significant changes now."

The laid-off crew members now refusing to disembark from the boat have created a standoff between U.K.’s left wing and the private boat company seeking to get everyone off the boat as soon as possible.



https://fortune.com/2022/03/17/hundreds ... the-boats/

[Volkonski]

Dover: Council will declare 'major incident' if travel disruption persists

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-ken ... %40BBCNews

Traffic chaos has left some travellers queuing for hours since the start of the Easter break at the weekend.

In an open letter Dover District Council (DDC) leader Trevor Bartlett said the town would "not tolerate another weekend of gridlock".

Freight traffic continues to queue on the M20 and A20 in Kent..



A 23-mile (37km) stretch of the M20 remains closed to accommodate queuing freight between junction eight (Maidstone) and eleven (Westernhanger/Hythe).



But East Kent Highways say the system is holding 4,500 lorries, when it "normally has capacity for around 2,000".

[Volkonski]

‘Meltdown’ at UK passport renewals forces travellers to cancel Easter breaks
Frustrated travellers complain of backlog at HM Passport Office prompting many to cancel breaks

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/ ... 1649481055

Travellers are being forced to cancel Easter travel bookings because of a backlog at HM Passport Office which is delaying renewals.

Some passengers have been left hundreds of pounds out of pocket because their new passports failed to arrive before their departure date.

The Passport Office is currently advising travellers to allow up to 10 weeks for applications to be processed, up from an average turnaround time of three weeks before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, service failings with the government’s official courier, TNT, mean some applicants are waiting weeks for delivery after their passport has been issued.

[Ben-Prime]

‘Meltdown’ at UK passport renewals forces travellers to cancel Easter breaks
Frustrated travellers complain of backlog at HM Passport Office prompting many to cancel breaks

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/ ... 1649481055

Travellers are being forced to cancel Easter travel bookings because of a backlog at HM Passport Office which is delaying renewals.

Some passengers have been left hundreds of pounds out of pocket because their new passports failed to arrive before their departure date.

The Passport Office is currently advising travellers to allow up to 10 weeks for applications to be processed, up from an average turnaround time of three weeks before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, service failings with the government’s official courier, TNT, mean some applicants are waiting weeks for delivery after their passport has been issued.

I can vouch that Her Majesty's Government is not the smoothest on passport and visa applications. My own ordeal with getting my damn exempt vignette (what the Brits call the special visa in my U.S. diplomatic passport) from HMG and their third party vendor was nerve-wracking.

Long story overall, but the salient details are that the British High Commission in Bangladesh and their third-party vendor actually doing the processing all washed their hands of my situation and let my passport sit on a storage shelf with nobody at the vendor's office willing to risk violating the lockdown laws across Bangladesh and none of the British diplomatic staffers who COULD do so wanting to risk 'violating their contract with the vendors to go and claim it from them; so my passport literally just sat there, *with the damn visa already in it and me living a 10 minute walk from the collection office* but nobody willing to give it to me. I had to leave the country without it, which required a letter from the U.S. Ambassador *and* our law enforcement attache being on standby to talk to *both* the general and immigration police at the airport since my diplomatic passport had my *Bangladeshi* visa in it, and still spending 30 minutes talking to everyone from the rank-and-file border officer to the Director of Airport Security *who had our attache on his Bluetooth earpiece confirming every word of my story* so that I could leave the country; then I had to FedEx at my own expense my hardcopies of the original application back to Dhaka so the acting head of our Political Affairs section there (she was like a big sister to me throughout my First Tour with the Foreign Service and I still owe her a Michelin-starred meal somewhere for this) could hand-walk those copies over to the British High Commission the day the lockdowns ended, *get in a car* with her BHC counterpart to drive to the vendor's office, *take physical custody of my passport* and DHL it back to me. It then arrived so late on the day of delivery that it was literally placed in my hands as my originally scheduled plane to the UK was *taking off*, and I had to re-book my tickets and arrive late to my assignment. The Embassy paid for shipping back to me from Dhaka, but DHL was the only vendor doing international deliveries due to lockdown -- even my inbound FedEx had to 'bridge' from FedEx to DHL -- and then only twice a week, it seems; further, because the hundred dollar expense of doing the FedEx/DHL 3-day express of documents from Florida to Bangladesh was not *explicitly listed* on my travel orders, I had to eat that.

My bosses all the way up the chain of command here in London were all very understanding and nobody held it against me, and we all kind of laugh about it now, but at the time, with my ink literally not even dry on the document awarding me tenure in the Foreign Service, I was trying not to be a problem child and my stress livel spiked.

But, on the other hand, these people a) know that between Brexit and Pandemic issues, there may be grit in the gears, or they should unless they are deliberately ignoring all the news about how both have cocked up this country's bureaucracy; and b) have so many great places in the UK itself to vacation. Hell, I plan to take another extended weekend this summer and head either out to Cornwall or up to Edinburgh, because getting to spend weekends exploring London isn't enough.

[RTH10260]

‘Meltdown’ at UK passport renewals forces travellers to cancel Easter breaks
Frustrated travellers complain of backlog at HM Passport Office prompting many to cancel breaks

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/ ... 1649481055

Meanwhile, service failings with the government’s official courier, TNT, mean some applicants are waiting weeks for delivery after their passport has been issued.

Hint: remember the new UK (non-EU) passport is produced in the EU

[RTH10260]

From non-dom to green card: questions still facing Rishi Sunak
The chancellor remains under pressure after controversy over the tax affairs of his wife

Rowena Mason Deputy political editor
Sun 10 Apr 2022 19.13 BST
The “non-dom” status: why will Rishi Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, not give it up?

Murty has agreed to pay UK tax on her worldwide earnings in future and for the last tax year, but she will continue to be a non-domiciled citizen. This potentially still confers inheritance tax advantages on her overseas wealth. Some critics are also still calling for her to pay UK tax on her worldwide earnings on a backdated basis.

The green card: why did Sunak cling on to a US “permanent resident” card even when UK chancellor?

There has still not been an adequate explanation as to why Sunak kept his US green card for six years while an MP, including 19 months as chancellor. It does not seem that the move gave him tax advantages, but it does suggest he was keeping his options open in terms of a move back to the US in case his political career did not work out.

US lawyers, though, have queried how he would have presented himself to US immigration officials when returning to his Santa Monica apartment in California, questioning whether they would have been misled about his true residence while a British MP. It is also understood that his wife gave up her green card before Sunak became chancellor, so it is not clear why he did not do so earlier.

The “blind” investments: why will Sunak not tell the public what he owns?

Sunak has so far avoided publicly declaring what companies or funds he holds investments in and where these investments are based. His spokesperson would not say what jurisdiction his holding was in, nor when his “blind management arrangement” was set up.

It is not unlikely that he could still have a holding in Theleme, the Cayman Islands-based hedge fund that he co-founded. But the public has no idea, because he is refusing to say.

His wife’s investments: where are they and how much does she own?

Likewise, Sunak has not declared all his wife’s shareholdings on his register of ministerial interests entry. It is public that she owns a shareholding worth an estimated £690m in Infosys, which has UK government contracts. She may own large chunks of other companies as well, but there is no transparency over what she has a stake in.

The decision about disclosure of his family’s financial interests is one for the independent adviser of ministerial interests, and questions have been raised in the past about why Murty’s substantial holdings do not appear on the register.



https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ishi-sunak

[raison de arizona]

Wot?

Priti Patel finalises plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda
Deal to outsource process described by Labour as ‘unworkable, unethical’ policy that will cost UK taxpayers billions

People seeking asylum in the UK will be flown 4,500 miles to Rwanda as part of a government crackdown on unauthorised migrants to be announced by Boris Johnson.

Priti Patel, the home secretary, travelled to the central African country on Wednesday after finalising a “migration and economic development partnership”.

The initiative comes as the prime minister prepares to disclose further plans on Thursday to break up the business model of people-smuggling gangs and increase UK operations in the Channel.

Referring to UK’s referendum vote to leave the EU, he will say: “We cannot sustain a parallel illegal system. Our compassion may be infinite, but our capacity to help people is not.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... -to-rwanda

[Phoenix520]

Taking lessons from Greg Abbott?

[RTH10260]

I guess Rwanda will soon be under pressure from the world community on human rights. I can't believe that Rwanda will be able to keep those exported migrants in any camp for any period of time.

It's also my guess that the EU will put pressure on the UK directly. And I guess that France will drop all cooperation with the UK in screening for unwanted migrants. The screening points in France may get closed down and the UK asked to establish them on their soil.

[keith]

Taking lessons from Greg Abbott?

No.

John TONY Abbot, ex Prime Minister of Australia

EDIT: Oops. Tony not John.

[Suranis]

Or Tony Abbot, Ex President of the USA of Australia.

[Volkonski]

[RTH10260]

https:// twitter.com/guardiannews/status/1516457588384309249?s=20&t=67qDP4qIjYh3O-wCnmCUUQ

The UK supply chain bottleneck

However, P&O’s ferry services remain suspended on the main Dover-Calais crossing, contributing to huge queues of lorries trying to cross the Channel in recent weeks, and frustrating holidaymakers who had booked for Easter and were unable to book alternative operators.

[Volkonski]

https:// twitter.com/guardiannews/status/1516457588384309249?s=20&t=67qDP4qIjYh3O-wCnmCUUQ

The UK supply chain bottleneck

However, P&O’s ferry services remain suspended on the main Dover-Calais crossing, contributing to huge queues of lorries trying to cross the Channel in recent weeks, and frustrating holidaymakers who had booked for Easter and were unable to book alternative operators.

This is what happens when you suddenly replace experienced crews with cheap contractors.

[RTH10260]

Development of UK food prices discussed by a UK farmer

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

https://www.treehugger.com/expanded-rig ... nd-5267975?

Expanded 'Right to Roam' Law Shelved in England
Ninety-two percent of the country remains inaccessible to the public—for now.

Efforts to expand public access to green open spaces in England have stalled, with a recent review of current laws by the UK’s Treasury department shelved indefinitely.

“I think we are blessed in this country with hundreds of thousands of miles of public footpath to allow people to access the countryside,” Mark Spencer, leader of the House of Commons, explained when questioned on the decision. “We have to recognize the countryside is not just a place of leisure, but it is also a place of business and food production.”

Outrage from campaigners in favor of enhanced access quickly followed, with many reiterating that present laws allow public access to only 8% of the English countryside.1

When the pandemic hit and lockdown encouraged Britains to seek outdoor activities, lack of access was once again brought to the forefront.

“A large body of research, endorsed by the government, suggests that our mental health is greatly enhanced by connection to nature,” wrote George Monbiot in August 2020. “Yet we are forced to skulk around the edges of our nation, unwelcome anywhere but in a few green cages and places we must pay to enter, while vast estates are reserved for single families to enjoy.”

[RTH10260]

[dan1100]

So, what's up with the election in Northern Ireland?

What happens next?

[Suranis]

Honestly, a lot of shouting and blaming one another for everything, so pretty much no change at all. The big factor, never mentioned, is that Unionists have been sending their children to England to get educated for years, and when the children realize the world outside Northern Ireland is not fucking insane they decide to stay in England. This has resulted in the lessening of the Unionist population.

The actual Big story is the doubling in strength of the Alliance party, which doubled its seats to 17. This could mean the formation of a third block in NI politics, which means Sinn Fein will start personal attacks on them now to distract from their own lunatic policies.

And that is the reason nothing will change. Sinn Fein had gotten this far by not having to actually govern and proposing stuff they wold never have to implement. They are pretty much a bunch of Fascists so having them in a position of power is very dangerous, but they do not have an overall majority. So they will blame everyone else for things getting worse under their incompetent administration

Ya, I'm pretty cynical about the whole thing up there. The only thing that gives me hope is that the Alliance party is growing.

[dan1100]

Sorry I missed your response.

Thanks...

[Suranis]

Sorry I missed your response.

Thanks...

Your welcome.

As predicted the Opening of Stormont has stalled, and they are shouting at one another, waiting for the British government to intervene so they can be mad at them.