People eligible for removal to Rwanda will be those judged “inadmissible” under the rules of the UK asylum system. The rules, introduced in January 2021, apply to those who arrived in the UK via another “safe” country, such as France, and therefore their asylum claim is considered their responsibility. Boris Johnson claims that “tens of thousands” of people who have arrived in the UK without authorisation could be given a one-way ticket to Rwanda.

The Refugee Council said that last year of the 8,593 people only 172 people could have been sent to the east African country had a deal been in place. It estimates that this year the number is not likely to be much higher.

So far only 2% of people considered under the rules are ultimately served with decisions classifying them as inadmissible.

Enver Solomon, the CEO of the Refugee Council, said: “This analysis shows the real impact this bill will have on desperate men, women and children who are simply trying to find safety when fleeing the dangers of war and persecution.

“Punishing people, treating them like criminals and human cargo to be expelled to Rwanda is not only inhumane, cruel and nasty but it will do nothing to address the reasons why people take perilous journeys to find safety in the UK. It will do little to deter them from coming to this country, but only lead to more human suffering and chaos – at a huge potential expense of nearly a billion pounds each year.”

Refugee data analysis casts doubt on Boris Johnson’s Rwanda claim | Immigration and asylum | The Guardian

 The Socialist Party learned of election hustings to which its candidate in Lambeth had not been invited. The reason offered was that it was to be limited to those deemed by the organisers as “major parties”. Naturally, this is unacceptable and we insisted upon being permitted to participate. To no avail. 

 Danny Lambert, the Socialist Party candidate in Clapham East ward, has now issued a statement that we fully expect to be read out at the commencement of the meeting. 

“I make no apology for raising the nature of the present world economic system – capitalism – in a local election. Local councils have to run things inside the framework of capitalism and that restricts what they can do. They are also restricted in that most of their money comes from central government.

The priority under capitalism is profit-making. Having to respect this priority means that what the central government can make available for local social services and amenities takes second place. That’s why they are never as good as they should be, in spite of the efforts and promises of the other parties. Capitalism simply cannot be made to work for the benefit of all. Only a society based on the common ownership and democratic control of productive resources can do that.

If you like to know more about Socialism as the alternative to capitalism, call in at our Head Office in Clapham High Street or visit spgb.net.”

 Not just about a miners’ strike but also about racism and sexism.

 According to the President of the World Bank, David Malpass, the world is facing a “human catastrophe” from a food crisis arising from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Malpass warned that record rises in food prices would push hundreds of millions people into poverty and lower nutrition, if the crisis continues.

“It’s a human catastrophe, meaning nutrition goes down. But then it also becomes a political challenge for governments who can’t do anything about it, they didn’t cause it and they see the prices going up,” he said.

The World Bank calculates there could be a “huge” 37% increase in food prices, which is “magnified for the poor”, who will “eat less and have less money for anything else such as schooling. And so that means that it’s really an unfair kind of crisis. It hits the poorest the hardest.” The price rises are broad and deep, he said: “it’s affecting food of all different kinds oils, grains, and then it gets into other crops, corn crops, because they go up when wheat goes up”.

There was enough food in the world to feed everybody, he said, and global stockpiles are large by historical standards, but there will have to be a sharing process to get the food to where it is needed.

Party Politics

The law’s the law, without fear or favour

Or it’s no law at all, merely the whim

Of law makers who feel they’re free to trim

Statutes to suit themselves. How they savour

The power of impunity they presume

Is theirs by right as they’re elevated

Above the common herd who are fated

To be the law’s dupes. There is always room

For any self-promoting succeeder

To cross fingers and then apologise

If caught breaking his own rules or telling lies,

Especially the Prime Misleader.

The blindfold on Justice slips and, too late,

Sees herself as a hostage of the state.

D. A.

Oxfam report, entitled “First Crisis, Then Catastrophe,” estimated that at least a quarter of a billion more people could be pushed into extreme poverty, defined as receiving below $1.90 per day, bringing the total to 860 million.

The number of people estimated to be living below the poverty line of $5.50 per day is already 3.3 billion, almost half the world’s population.

At the same time, billionaire wealth “has seen its biggest increase ever” with more accumulation at the top to come.

“Large corporations appear to be exploiting an inflationary environment to boost profits at consumers’ expense: soaring energy prices and margins have pushed oil company profits to record levels, while investors expect agriculture companies to rapidly become more profitable as food prices spiral,” Oxfam stated, adding, inflation is rising rapidly and will far outstrip wages growth this year.

Poorer countries are being bled white by the international banks, multilateral lending institutions, including the IMF, and investment houses. Debt servicing for all the world’s poorer countries is estimated at $43 billion for this year, equivalent to nearly half their spending on food import bills, healthcare, education and social protection combined. For the lowest-income countries, in 2021 the amount spent on debt servicing and repayments was 171 percent of their combined spending on healthcare, education and social protection.

The report warned, “Several developing countries are likely to default on their debts in coming months, and will try to stave off bankruptcy as they try to maintain vital imports…”

Oxfam Report: Poorer Countries Going From Crisis To Catastrophe| Countercurrents

 The conditions of nearly 90% of the International Monetary Fund’s pandemic-related loans are forcing developing nations suffering some of the world’s worst humanitarian crises to implement austerity measures that fuel further impoverishment and inequality, an analysis published  by Oxfam International revealed. 13 out of the 15 IMF loan programs negotiated during the second year of the pandemic require new austerity measures such as taxes on food and fuel or spending cuts that could put vital public services at risk.

This stands in stark contrast with IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva’s advice to the European Union last year that the wealthy bloc should not endanger its economic recovery with “the suffocating force of austerity.”

“This epitomizes the IMF’s double standard,” Oxfam International senior policy adviser Nabil Abdo said in a statement. “It is warning rich countries against austerity while forcing poorer ones into it.”

The IMF has reverted to its highly controversial practice of requiring nations to impose the type of austerity measures that have exacerbated poverty and inequality, stymied countries’ efforts to meet climate goals, fueled global unrest, and even played a key role in sparking revolutions. For example,  the conditions of a 2021 loan of $2.3 billion to Kenya compelled the country to freeze public sector pay for three years while mandating higher taxes on food and cooking gas. More than three million Kenyans are facing acute hunger as the driest conditions in decades spread a devastating drought across the country.  Oxfam notes, “Nearly half of all households in Kenya are having to borrow food or buy it on credit.”

Meanwhile, Sudan has had to end fuel subsidies, a policy that has disproportionately affected the nearly 50% of the population that is impoverished. Over 14 million people need humanitarian assistance (almost one in every three people) and 9.8 million are food insecure in Sudan, which imports 87% of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine.

Nine nations including Cameroon, Senegal, and Surinam must introduce or increase the collection of value-added taxes (VAT), which often apply to everyday products like food and clothing, and fall disproportionately on people living in poverty; and

Ten countries including Kenya and Namibia are likely to freeze or cut public sector wages and jobs, which could mean lower quality of education and fewer nurses and doctors in countries already short of healthcare staff. Namibia had fewer than six doctors per 10,000 people when Covid-19 struck.

87% of IMF Loans Forcing Austerity on Crisis-Ravaged Nations: Analysis (commondreams.org)

 A law prohibiting the “discrediting the Russian Armed Forces” has been in force for a little more than a month now. Since then, courts across Russia have investigated more than 300 allegations. Criminal prosecutions have been brought in at least 21 cases. In some instances, the defendants had boisterously called for peace and an end to the bloodshed in Ukraine, in others they held silent protests against the war.

Activists have been holding peace protests in various cities across Russia since the invasion of Ukraine. They display green ribbons in public squares, or wear them as a sign of silent protest against the war.

Cracking down on peace: How Russian anti-war protesters face persecution | Europe | News and current affairs from around the continent | DW | 20.04.2022