UK News and Discussions

[Time_Traveller]

Bibby Stockholm residents’ mental health at risk from overcrowding, MPs say

Fri 2 Feb 2024 13.20 GMT

Overcrowded conditions on the controversial Bibby Stockholm barge, where up to six men are sharing a room designed for one person, may be putting the mental health of asylum seekers at risk, MPs have said.

Last month a delegation of MPs and peers from the cross-party home affairs committee and the joint committee on human rights visited the barge, which accommodates about 300 people in Portland, Dorset, and spoke to residents and staff.

After the visit, the group wrote to Michael Tomlinson, the illegal migration minister, to set out serious concerns about the wellbeing of men on the barge.

The group of MPs and peers said “many asylum seekers expressed mental health concerns”, with one man telling them he had suicidal thoughts as a result of being housed on the barge.

Leonard Farruku, a 27-year-old Albanian man, was found dead on the barge on 12 December 2023 after a suspected suicide.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... ng-mps-say

[weatheriscool]

Northern Ireland gets its first Sinn Fin first minister in historic shift

Source: New York Times

BELFAST — After two full years without a functioning government, Northern Ireland’s Parliament Buildings opened their doors on Saturday and lawmakers returned to work — and one of their first acts will be to name Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill as first minister.

O’Neill, 47, will make history as Northern Ireland’s first republican leader, from a party that wants north and south to come together, someday, as a single country.

“It represents truly historic change in the north and across the island of Ireland,” she said in a statement to The Washington Post.

Calling it a “good day for democracy,” O’Neill noted that the restoration of government “respects the result” of the May 2022 election — when Sinn Féin for the first time won the largest share of seats in the assembly and the right to hold the first minister job under Northern Ireland’s delicate power-sharing agreement.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/20 ... le-oneill/

[Time_Traveller]

Northern Ireland's new first minister Michelle O'Neill 'contests' claim Irish unity is 'decades' away

Saturday 3 February 2024 21:59, UK

Northern Ireland's new first minister has told Sky News she "absolutely contests" the UK government's claim that a referendum on Irish unity is decades away.

Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill, the first nationalist to occupy the office, described her elevation at Stormont as "a historic day, truly representing a new dawn".

In a document, outlining the basis of the DUP's return to power-sharing, the UK government said it saw "no realistic prospect of a border poll".

But Ms O'Neill said: "I would absolutely contest what the British government have said in that document, in so far as my election to the post of first minister demonstrates the change that's happening on this island.

"That's a good thing. It's a healthy thing because this change I think can benefit us all.

https://news.sky.com/story/northern-ire ... y-13063691

[Time_Traveller]

Protesters climbing war memorials could face jail and £1,000 fine

3 hours ago

Protesters climbing on war memorials could face up to three months in prison under plans being proposed by Home Secretary James Cleverly.

Last year No 10 said it would look into giving police new powers after a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators scaled London's Royal Artillery Memorial.

Now the government has said it intends on making climbing on war memorials a specific public order offence.

Mr Cleverly said scaling memorials was "an insult" and "cannot continue".

He added that a change in the law would punish activists "insulting those who paid the ultimate price for their freedom to protest".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68196289

[Time_Traveller]

Rishi Sunak begins Northern Ireland visit marking power-sharing's return

1 hour ago

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has arrived in Northern Ireland for a visit to mark the return of power-sharing government.

He is due to attend Stormont on Monday with Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar.

Mr Sunak is set to meet ministers, including First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly.

Power-sharing government was restored in Northern Ireland for the first time in two years on Saturday.

Ms O'Neill made history in becoming Northern Ireland's first nationalist first minister.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern- ... s-68199790

[wjfox]

UK state pension age will soon need to rise to 71, say experts

Mon 5 Feb 2024 05.00 GMT

The retirement age will have to rise to 71 for middle-aged workers across the UK, according to research into the impact of growing life expectancy and falling birthrates on the state pension.

The UK pension age of 66 is set to rise to 67 between May 2026 and March 2028. From 2044, it is expected to rise to 68.

But the research suggests that this is not enough, and that anyone born after April 1970 may have to work until they are 71 before claiming their pension.

This age limit may need to be set even higher, say experts, thanks to the high rate of workers exiting the workforce before they reach state pension age, predominantly due to preventable ill health.

Les Mayhew, associate head of global research at the International Longevity Centre and author of the report State Pension Age and Demographic Change, said: “In the UK, state pension age would need to be 70 or 71 compared with 66 now, to maintain the status quo of the number of workers per state pensioner. But if you bring preventable ill health into the equation, that would have to increase even more.”

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2024/ ... ay-experts

[firestar464]

Could this be avoided by taxing the rich?

[wjfox]

Could this be avoided by taxing the rich?

Probably. But neither of the main parties seem at all interested in that.

The Tories will always be the party of the rich, and Labour are clearly petrified of announcing even slight deviations from Tory policy.

And by 2050 or thereabouts, I wouldn't be surprised if it's raised to 75+.

[Time_Traveller]

Probably. But neither of the main parties seem at all interested in that.

The Tories will always be the party of the rich, and Labour are clearly petrified of announcing even slight deviations from Tory policy.

And by 2050 or thereabouts, I wouldn't be surprised if it's raised to 75+.

At the moment I retire in 2055, so are they planning working until you die?

[weatheriscool]