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And my experience of an urbanisation in the southern Costa Blanca is that there are plenty of Germans, Norwegians and Swedes to take the place of the Brits.
The more time goes on the more I realise that I have very little in common with the current Labour Party and that my decision to leave the party in the autumn was absolutely right.
The war in #Gaza continues to be a war on women.@UN_Women reports that 10,000 women, including 6,000 mothers, have lost their lives.
The situation is dire for over 1 million displaced women, who struggle to access clean water, food, & basic sanitary supplies. pic.twitter.com/lf73vQSGx4
Staggering. The number of children reported killed in just over 4 months in #Gaza is higher than the number of children killed in 4 years of wars around the world combined.
A new poll suggests that Israeli PM Netanyahu is now trailing his main opponent in popularity by a much smaller margin compared with three months ago.
The poll, carried out by Maariv and published by the Lazar Institute, found that 42 percent of respondents would prefer Gantz as Israel’s PM, while 37 percent still support Netanyahu.
While still trailing Gantz, the poll marks an upward trend for Netanyahu, who has drawn widespread public criticism for failing to secure the release of Israeli captives still in Gaza. In a January poll conducted by Channel 12, only 29 percent of respondents said Netanyahu was best suited to be PM.
Access to justice in England and Wales continues to be severely hampered by budget cuts and political decisions made over a decade ago, according to a new report by the Bar Council released today.
‘Access denied: The state of the justice system in England and Wales in 2022’ reveals the current state of the courts, legal aid and law reform twelve years on from the court closures of the ‘court estates reform programme’ and ten years on from the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) 2012, which significantly restricted access to civil legal aid.
The Bar Council is drawing on the evidence presented in the report to call on the Government not to make funding cuts to the justice system in the Autumn statement that will further restrict access to justice and cause additional problems in the years ahead.
The report combines data from the Bar Council’s Access to Justice dashboard with powerful testimony from barristers and other practitioners working in crime, civil, and family law who took part in a Justice Week workshop earlier this year.
The report paints a worrying picture of the current state of access to justice in England and Wales. Key findings include:
1. 239 courts closed since 2010 leaving clients extremely anxious that they won’t be able to get to their hearings
2. Cuts to legal aid funding having a catastrophic impact on the ability of people to access justice
3. A mixed experience of remote justice that requires further investigation
4. Crumbling court buildings that are not fit-for-purpose, including leaks, infestations, and a lack of basic facilities
5. An increase in litigants in person, due to reductions in the availability of civil legal aid, resulting in cases taking longer and costing more – the opposite of what LASPO set out to do
6. Barristers diversifying away from legal aid work due to workload pressures and poor remuneration, further reducing the capacity of the system
7. Worrying political attacks on the rule of law and anti-lawyer rhetoric that undermines confidence in the justice system and contributes to burnout and stress
To counter these issues, the report calls for adequate funding across the justice system and a greater focus on early intervention and diverting people away from the system.
The report also includes direct quotes from those who took part in the Justice Week workshop, providing important insight into the daily experiences of those working in the justice system:
On access to courts: “We have to remember that the people we represent do not have money by and large. The cost of travelling to court added an extra burden and the court does not keep any data on why people don’t turn up to the hearing. Anecdotally, people don’t show up as they can’t afford it.”
On the rule of law and political rhetoric: “We are in a serious moment for the rule of law in this country. It is breaking down, to the extent that it could lead to all sorts of things… people just challenging the most basic democratic system… All those things, we know we have the tools to try to tackle and push back, but it’s the language and discourse that has been building up about activist lawyers which is the most dangerous of all… It is a time to be scared.”
On funding cuts: All parties in this unusual, complex, bizarre situation are scared, anxious, angry. The judges are having to manage this. There is increased pressure on the Bar. We are doing more pro bono work, keeping the system afloat by assisting.”
On access to legal aid: “Prices rise, the cost of living is up, legal advice costs a lot. The threshold [for eligibility for legal aid] is quite high. Universal Credit is so low, people are expected to make it work on very little. There is a huge national crisis about the working poor.”
On litigants in person: “We hear from LiPs that the process looks like it should be straightforward and simple. When they get towards court, they find it is complex. It’s the horror of your life and your family’s life and you only have some leaflets to advise you.”
On barrister flight: “People love the job. However, it’s unsustainable – they can’t afford it. We’re losing a lot of talent.”
Launching the report, Mark Fenhalls KC, Chair of the Bar, said:
“Justice is a vital public service that has been starved of funding and political support over the last decade. The results are clear for anyone working in the sector – a system stripped of experience and expertise, systems and buildings that aren’t fit for purpose, and a tired and cynical workforce increasingly looking for a way out.
“This report comes at a critical time as the Government is due to announce billions of spending cuts in the Autumn statement. Through the evidence presented in this report, we make a special pleading that access to justice is properly recognised as a necessary pillar of a fair and just society. The improved funding that has been available in the last two years cannot now be reversed without causing irrevocable damage to this vital public service.
“The consequences of cuts are not only a failing system, but one that ultimately costs more – both in terms of money and in human terms. The Government must commit to long-term planning and resourcing of the system to provide people with the legal redress to which they are entitled.”
For my own part, this thread has since Christmas tended to be much less fractious than before, but sadly it does on occasions (like to day) flare up and almost take on a life of its own, at which point I tend to switch off. But it has to be pointed out that this also happens on other threads, even purely football ones.
"They tell us that under a Starmer government, the wealthy will never be asked to pay their fair share in tax. When pushed, it is those with the least – poor, sick and disabled people – who will be expected to give the most."
The director of strategy at disability equality charity Scope has said that today’s speech by Rishi Sunak about his plans for welfare reform “feels like a full-on assault on disabled people.”
In a statement, James Taylor said:
These proposals are dangerous and risk leaving disabled people destitute. In a cost of living crisis looking to slash disabled people’s income by hitting Pip is a horrific proposal. Calls are pouring into our helpline from concerned disabled people.
Life costs more for disabled people. Threatening to take away the low amount of income Pip provides to disabled people who face £950 a month extra costs isn’t going to solve the problem of economic inactivity. Sanctions and ending claims will only heap more misery on people at the sharp end of our cost of living crisis.
Much of the current record levels of inactivity are because our public services are crumbling, the quality of jobs is poor and the rate of poverty amongst disabled households is growing.
Interestingly, the traditional staunchly Labour background of Leave voters doesn't really hold up to scrutiny in places like Scotland, Liverpool and Manchester, places with amongst the highest levels of deprivation in the UK. And it's interesting to note that the vote for Leave in the East (never fertile Labour territory) was about three percentage points higher than in the North West.
Give me your hungry, your tired, your poor I'll piss on 'em That's what the Statue of Bigotry says Your poor huddled masses Let's club 'em to death And get it over with and just dump 'em on the boulevard
Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (Unrwa), told the UN security council on Thursday that “Unrwa personnel detained by Israeli security forces” had “shared harrowing accounts of mistreatment and torture in detention”. Lazzarini demanded an independent investigation and “accountability for the blatant disregard for the protected status of humanitarian workers, operations, and facilities under international law.”
Lazzarini also told the UN security council that Unrwa is “under enormous strain” and said that “an insidious campaign to end Unrwa’s operations is under way”. He said calls for the UN agency’s closure are “not about adherence to humanitarian principles”. Instead, he said, the calls are “about ending the refugee status of millions of Palestinians”.
Leaving aside that we have had record net migration since Brexit (much of it from outside the UK), your comment fails to take into account the limitations on our own citizens.
My son, next academic, will be studying in the EU for one year of his course, and has to go through the time-consuming and far-from-straightforward process of obtaining a visa, something that would have been completely unnecessary before Brexit.
In addition, my daughter, a teacher, would like, when she has more experience, to teach at an international school in the EU, but since Brexit such jobs are only open to EU citizens because schools don't want to go to all the effort and expense of obtaining visas.
Of course, you counter by saying she could go to Australia or the US, but she doesn't want to be that far from the UK.
And let's not forget those (often of limited means like many in places like the southern Costa Blanca) who will never be able to move to places like Spain to work or retire.
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