Ministers will make an unprecedented intervention in water bills and how companies prioritise investment, directing bosses to bring down costs and stop leaks and sewage overflows.
Angela Eagle, the environment secretary, has told suppliers in England and Wales she plans to intervene in the next price review – conducted by the water regulator, Ofwat.
Andy Burnham has stockpiles of beans, soup and Twiglets in case of a civil emergency, he has said, adding that a new government campaign was not reason for panic buying.
The prime minister was questioned on his domestic supply situation after the Be Ready campaign advised households to have enough bottled water and long-life food to keep going in case of an emergency, such as one caused by a weather event or cyber-attack.
New PM has prioritised small fixes to show voters Labour can make a real difference, and government insiders are delighted at the public’s reaction
In the first episode of Armando Iannucci’s political satire The Thick of It, the hapless minister Hugh Abbot is in the back of a taxi, frantically brainstorming for an on-the-hoof policy he can announce to the assembled national press.
“So you want something sexy and eye-catching, and that is free and universally popular and instantly applicable. No one can possibly object to it,” says the addled junior adviser Ollie Reeder. “Well, really, you should have said something before then, because I’ve got a file about that fucking thick of that back in the office.”
Andy Burnham's doomsday prepping campaign descended into farce today as he was forced to play down Angela Rayner's joke about stockpiling wine amid questions of why a Government skimping on defence is lecturing the public.
Officials will call on UK to ‘step up’ financial support at Brussels summit – with post-Brexit issues also on agenda
EU leaders will press Andy Burnham at a summit in Brussels to contribute more to Ukraine’s defence effort in 2027.
EU officials argue that the UK, Canada and Japan should do more to support Ukraine, but entreaties to these G7 countries for extra financial aid at recent international meetings have not been answered, Brussels says.
Officials will call on UK to ‘step up’ financial support at Brussels summit – with post-Brexit issues also on agenda
EU leaders will press Andy Burnham at a summit in Brussels to contribute more to Ukraine’s defence effort in 2027.
EU officials argue that the UK, Canada and Japan should do more to support Ukraine, but entreaties to these G7 countries for extra financial aid at recent international meetings have not been answered, Brussels says.
“We’ve all been on the train when someone starts blasting music or videos from their phone,” Burnham said in a statement. “It gets on your nerves and can quickly spoil the journey.”
Andy Burnham has said he will not “abandon the responsibility” of fighting the climate crisis after the government approved the Jackdaw gasfield, pledging to block new North Sea licences and keep Britain on track for net zero by 2050.
The comments are the prime minister’s most forthright yet on net zero, after many MPs have privately cast doubt on the authenticity of his commitment to tackling the climate crisis.
PM will also announce funding for specialised protective gear and the deployment of military aircraft
The UK government is to create an AI Cobra unit to spot wildfires after this year’s record-breaking summer saw devastating blazes across the country.
The country experienced its hottest-ever summer this year, with prolonged dry periods and extreme heat fuelling wildfires that triggered an emergency alert to mobile phones in England and Wales. Figures released on 8 October showed a clear upward trend in the number of fires recorded each year.
No 10 says Russian president ‘has killed thousands of people, both innocent Ukrainians and his own people’
Downing Street has rejected the description of Vladimir Putin as a “humanitarian” made by Donald Trump’s chief negotiator on the Ukraine war.
Steve Witkoff met the Russian president in St Petersburg on Wednesday as he sought to make a new push to end the invasion of Ukraine, with the US putting pressure on Kyiv to agree to a settlement.
The PM is heard having a long discussion about crisps in the trailer to the show, which is in aid of Stand Up To Cancer
From ranking his favourite crisps in the pub to complaining about people watching TikToks out loud on the train, Andy Burnham has made efforts to show he has the common touch.
Now he will become the first prime minister to appear on the TV show Gogglebox, in a special charity episode on Friday.
Andy Burnham has been urged by one of his most senior former advisers to tax internet sales more heavily than in-store purchases to help “level the playing field” for struggling high streets.
As the prime minister and his chancellor, John Healey, prepare for their first budget next week, Andy Haldane joined calls for action to stop more shops closing across the UK.
The former England footballer Paul Scholes and the actor Steve Coogan stare out from beside a fish and chip shop in Middleton, near Manchester. Looming over a mural of the pair – and the whole town – is an enormous former cotton mill that powered its economy a century ago.
The deafening looms and spindles of Warwick Mill fell silent decades ago, replaced in recent years by TikTok “urban explorers” who share videos of themselves crawling through its abandoned shell.
Still the preposterous “Russians are coming” narrative is being pushed in the UK. And yet this time it’s not from top military figures or those in the intelligence community, but the PM himself – albeit in a subtle way, days ahead of a first-ever UK-EU Summit. Andy Burnham, a man who you might think would be more at home on a used car lot than in the political arena, dropped a bombshell recently when he announced that he was told by the security services that Russia had in fact “sought to interfere” with the UK’s Brexit referendum of 2016. Remarkably, 10 years after the event, Britain’s own secret service have come up with such a conclusion when almost every single year previous to this announcement they have said the opposite. So what is really going on?
Burnham has a major challenge ahead. How does he stay in power and succeed at the polls against the Conservatives, who are growing, and Reform UK, which still holds an impressive support base, when he doesn’t actually have any policies himself to fix anything in broken Britain? His answer is to look backwards at the past and try to win voters’ hearts and minds by fixing it. Even if it doesn’t need fixing. One of the policy areas is Britain’s relationship with the EU and the possibility of another referendum to rejoin it, despite his promises to the contrary – which is, in part, where the statement about Russia is coming from. There is actually no evidence at all to suggest Russia interfered with the Brexit referendum, and even opposition MPs have asked him in recent days to provide it, to back up his sensational claims. Burnham is building a case to move the UK back to Brussels, and the lie about Russian interference is one component of that case. But it’s an important one.
On another parallel, he is aligned completely with the EU idea that all European member states should be spending much more on defence in preparation for a war with Russia. Like Merz and Macron, though, he too doesn’t mention to the British public that the impending war with Russia is one which is going to be manufactured entirely by him, Merz and Macron as part of a political renaissance to keep them and their support bases in power. The rationale isn’t very complicated. Successive governments have done terrible jobs on the economy, energy and investing in longer-term projects to create jobs. They have sold off everything that was worth selling and are now running their countries on an impossibly high borrowing model which even the most stupid know cannot continue. They also cannot afford the fallout of NATO collapsing and a scandal of Western officials exposed at skimming off billions from the Ukraine war racket when it ends – and so the Ukraine war must go on at all costs. They have, more or less, boxed themselves into the ‘Russia war’ plan.
Rather than wait for the economic meltdown and tyranny to take over most towns in the UK, in particular in the north, the elites like Burnham believe that a war – or as close to the imminent threat of one – will serve its purpose from distracting the angry crowds away from burning and looting and focus them on supposedly fighting for their own country. It’s a scam. And sadly, it’s one which seems to be working, as it is supported by the billionaires who own the media in the UK, so, broadly speaking, the working classes have swallowed the ‘war with Russia’ ruse.
Furthermore, the industrial military complex also gets a massively needed shot in the arm of public money which under normal circumstances would not be possible. Most of this is U.S. money, of course, but the UK has also a defence industry of its own which is in need of new cash. And as we have seen with Boris Johnson, it also works on the same ‘gratuity’ basis for paying off politicians huge amounts for helping with their orders. Part of the sweetener of getting the country to prepare for war with Russia is that the huge contracts that have to be given to the defence business also come with the same brown envelopes for those who presided over them. It beggars belief how our politicians in the UK have resisted so far not to bang on the Russian war drum more when the rewards are considerable.
There is nothing remarkable about our leaders any more – only that they are no longer leaders. Burnham has the on-screen charisma of a provincial school teacher whom you meet in a train compartment and instantly regret engaging in conversation, as he really has nothing to say. No new ideas. No new plans. He is stuck in the past and has no choice but to remain there while apparently fixing Britain. His problem is that the country and the world have changed and are rapidly changing. The EU that Britain left is not the same EU today. The economies of France and Germany are in tatters due to years of poor governance, atrocious foreign policy stunts like Ukraine, and too many poor domestic policy decisions that have backfired, like energy. The EU itself under von der Leyen has turned into an Orwellian superstate, corrupt to the core, which also has exactly the same scam to save their own political necks: war with Russia. The U.S. is in rapid decline, BRICS nations are emerging as the new global economic powerhouse to balance the old world order. All Burnham has is old ideas which belong in the past. And lies. Even his own ministers have admitted that there is no truth whatsoever in the Russian interference hoax, and yet he is peddling it, like an old comedian recycling someone else’s old jokes. The truth is that while Burnham is under some pressure from, in particular, Germany’s leader Merz, to push this narrative that the far right is funded by Russia (which of course works for Burnham in the UK as well), in reality the only ‘foreign interference’ is the dark power of the Israeli lobby and its cash in Westminster. And why doesn’t even one single UK journalist or commentator point out the patent hypocrisy of this election meddling accusation which all superpowers indulge in anyway? In 2014, the Americans boasted that they had spent $5bn USD on social media influencing in Ukraine to install a Westernised leader in power. Was that not “meddling”?
O governo do Reino Unido aprovou o desenvolvimento de um novo e importante campo de gás no Mar do Norte, chamado de Jackdaw, que poderá iniciar a produção ainda este mês, em um momento em que a guerra no Oriente Médio intensifica as preocupações globais com a segurança energética.
A decisão, alvo de duras críticas por parte de grupos ambientalistas, ocorre três meses após o presidente dos Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, classificar as reservas de petróleo e gás do Reino Unido no Mar do Norte como “inestimáveis” e manifestar apoio a eventuais planos que permitissem a exploração na região.
Manifestantes se reuniram em Londres contra o início dos trabalhos de Jackdow nesta quarta-feira (21).
Manifestantes se reúnem em Londres contra o campo de gás de Jackdaw. • REUTERS
O anúncio coincide com a divulgação, nesta quarta-feira (21), de um novo relatório da ONU sobre o clima, o qual aponta que o planeta ultrapassará, inevitavelmente, a meta de aquecimento de 1,5 grau celsius estabelecida pelo Acordo de Paris nos próximos anos — um dado que evidencia os efeitos cada vez mais acentuados das mudanças climáticas.
O governo britânico afirmou que a decisão de autorizar o campo de gás Jackdaw — situado a cerca de 241 quilômetros a leste de Aberdeen, na Escócia — está alinhada ao seu compromisso legal de reduzir as emissões de carbono e alcançar a neutralidade nas emissões de gases de efeito estufa até meados desta década.
“Espera-se que a decisão sobre o projeto Jackdaw aumente a produção nacional de gás em cerca de 6% no seu auge — reforçando o suprimento de gás do Reino Unido ao longo de sua vida útil, que pode chegar a 11 anos, fortalecendo nossa segurança energética, protegendo centenas de empregos e acrescentando cerca de £ 2,9 bilhões (aproximadamente R$ 19,5 bilhões) a economia britânica”, informou o governo em um comunicado nesta quarta-feira (21).
O campo de gás Jackdaw “começará a fornecer gás para residências e empresas britânicas já a partir do final deste mês”, acrescentou o comunicado.
No pico de produção, o Jackdaw poderá produzir gás suficiente para aquecer o equivalente a cerca de 1,4 milhão de residências no Reino Unido, segundo a Adura — a joint venture entre a Shell e a Equinor responsável pelo desenvolvimento do projeto.
O governo também anunciou a criação de um novo Fundo de Riqueza Energética (Energy Wealth Fund), que, segundo o comunicado, utilizará receitas fiscais provenientes do petróleo e gás do Mar do Norte para investir em projetos de energia renovável e de baixo carbono.
O fundo começará com um aporte inicial de 2 bilhões de libras esterlinas (13 bilhões de reais).
Jackdaw terá impacto limitado nas contas de energia
O governo britânico tem enfrentado críticas, por parte de alguns setores, de que suas políticas climáticas prejudicaram a indústria e a segurança energética.
O primeiro-ministro do Reino Unido, Andy Burnham, afirmou nesta quarta-feira (21) que o governo adotou uma abordagem “pragmática” em relação ao Mar do Norte.
“Em um momento em que as pessoas estão passando por grandes dificuldades, é correto que busquemos, de forma responsável, maximizar as reservas de energia existentes no Reino Unido que poderiam ajudar”, acrescentou ele.
Na realidade, contudo, é improvável que um aumento na produção de petróleo e gás no Mar do Norte contribua de forma significativa para ampliar a oferta de energia ou reduzir os preços.
“O projeto Jackdaw reduziria a dependência de importações e melhoraria a resiliência do abastecimento, mas apenas até certo ponto”, afirmou Sam Street, diretor da consultoria Frontier Economics e coautor de dois relatórios recentes sobre a produção de petróleo e gás no Mar do Norte. “O Reino Unido continuaria dependendo de importações, inclusive da Europa.”
Um aumento na produção interna também teria pouco impacto na redução das contas de energia. “Os preços do gás no Reino Unido estão fortemente atrelados aos preços europeus, que, por sua vez, são influenciados pelo custo (global) do gás natural liquefeito”, disse Street à CNN.
“Aumentar a produção interna de gás não cria uma fonte adicional de energia barata para os consumidores do Reino Unido”, acrescentou ele. “Os produtores nacionais não têm motivo para vender a preços substancialmente inferiores aos que poderiam obter nos mercados europeus.”
Impulso a empregos e à arrecadação de impostos
Pelo lado positivo, o projeto Jackdaw deve gerar receitas fiscais adicionais para o governo e também pode impulsionar a atividade econômica e o emprego na cadeia de suprimentos de petróleo e gás, segundo Street.
Dois importantes sindicatos do Reino Unido, o GMB e o Unite — que vinham pressionando o governo a dar prosseguimento às perfurações no Mar do Norte —, manifestaram apoio à decisão em comunicados separados, divulgados nesta quarta-feira (21).
“O governo de Andy Burnham merece verdadeiro reconhecimento por fazer a coisa certa pelo nosso país”, afirmou Gary Smith, secretário-geral do sindicato GMB, mencionando a segurança energética.
Sharon Graham, secretária-geral do sindicato Unite, disse que a decisão abrirá espaço para garantir novos empregos aos trabalhadores do Mar do Norte. “Embora, naturalmente, apoiemos a meta de emissões líquidas zero, não podemos permitir uma transição que resulte em desemprego”, acrescentou.
Campo de petróleo de Rosebank é o próximo
O governo do Reino Unido precisará agora decidir se aprova o campo de petróleo de Rosebank, situado ao largo da costa das ilhas Shetland, na Escócia, que possui reservas estimadas em cerca de 300 milhões de barris de petróleo.
O argumento a favor da aprovação é “igualmente sólido”, segundo Neil McCulloch, CEO da Adura.
No entanto, Jess Ralston, analista sênior de energia da Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit — uma organização sem fins lucrativos voltada para as mudanças climáticas —, afirmou que 90% do petróleo e gás da bacia do Mar do Norte já foram extraídos. “O único caminho para a segurança no emprego a longo prazo é realizar a transição para a energia eólica e outros setores de energia limpa”, acrescentou ela em um comunicado.
O grupo ambientalista Uplift alertou que novos campos de petróleo e gás são incompatíveis com limites climáticos seguros. “As ondas de calor severas, as secas e os incêndios florestais que afetaram o Reino Unido neste verão, assim como os fenômenos meteorológicos cada vez mais extremos ao redor do mundo, demonstram a rapidez com que o risco climático aumenta a cada fração de grau”, declarou a Uplift em um comunicado.
“Seria extremamente irresponsável por parte do governo do Reino Unido agravar, de forma consciente, esses impactos ao autorizar o projeto Rosebank.”
Andy Burnham es partidario de tomar decisiones, en vez de aparcar los problemas, algo que muchos críticos achacaban a su antecesor, Keir Starmer. Aunque esas decisiones provoquen polémica y ruido. El Gobierno del Reino Unido ha anunciado este miércoles a las siete de la mañana (ocho, en horario peninsular español) que da luz verde al inicio de la actividad en la plataforma de gas de Jackdaw, situada en el mar del Norte, a unos 250 kilómetros de Aberdeen, en la costa escocesa.
Zia Yusuf claims undercover investigation broke the law as broadcaster stands by its journalism
Here is an explainer by Jill Ambrose about the Jackdaw decision.
But environmental groups have condemned the decision. Ami McCarthy, head of politics for Greenpeace UK, said:
Approving Jackdaw shows the toxic grip fossil fuel lobbyists still hold over our energy policy. Andy Burnham promised pragmatism [see 8.40am], but there is nothing pragmatic about rubber-stamping a project that won’t lower energy bills, won’t boost energy security and will create just 27 full-time jobs …
True pragmatism means severing our reliance on expensive oil and gas that leaves British households broke, supercharges extreme weather, and leaves our energy security at the mercy of petrostates.
Is the prime minister living in a parallel universe? One where we haven’t just endured our hottest summer on record, with droughts, wildfires and, in all likelihood, the most heat-related deaths on record? And where the UN hasn’t warned that we’re on the brink of breaching the all-important 1.5 degree warming limit?
Shell will be cheering this decision but it won’t knock a penny off our energy bills, which is what’s keeping people up at night, or make a meaningful difference to our gas supply.
Jackdaw will provide around just 2% of our gas demand for roughly ten years. It has been oversold and won’t stop the decline in North Sea jobs, as it will be largely unmanned and operated remotely.
Alex Tait on a proposed amendment to the representation of the people bill, and Dr Joseph Mullen on Russian interference in the Brexit referendum
Andy Burnham’s comments about Russian interference in Brexit (Report, 11 October) and the warning by the MI5 chief, Ken McCallum, against exaggerating its impact (Report, 13 October) risk overlooking another serious threat to electoral integrity: disinformation from our own political parties and campaigners.
Foreign interference deserves scrutiny, but misleading factual claims in electoral advertising are unregulated, unlike in commercial advertising. We have four sets of rules to ensure an advert for a packet of sausages is accurate, but none for the most important advertising of all – ads that influence how we vote.
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