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Category: UK News

  • Deaths outstrip births in UK for first time in nearly 50 years

    Deaths outstrip births in UK for first time in nearly 50 years

    The figures continue to show a growing population, up 1% in the year to 68,265,209 people, due to net international migration of 677,300….reports Asian Lite News

    Deaths have outstripped births in the UK for the first time in nearly half a century, excluding the start of the pandemic, official figures showed on Tuesday.

    Declining fertility and the demise of baby boomers means there are now more funerals than baby celebrations, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. There were an estimated 16,300 fewer births than deaths in the UK in the year to mid-2023, the first time this has happened since the 1970s “baby bust”, if excess deaths during Covid are stripped out.

    But the figures continue to show a growing population, up 1% in the year to 68,265,209 people, due to net international migration of 677,300. The dominance of deaths over births was described by economists as “a stark reminder of Britain’s demographic challenges”.

    With student- and migrant-friendly cities ageing more slowly or even getting younger, and rural villages ageing faster, policymakers will face divergent demands to provide more social care in some areas and more school places in others, said Charlie McCurdy, an economist at the Resolution Foundation thinktank.

    The total fertility rate across England and Wales fell to 1.49 children per woman in 2022, from 1.55 in 2021, according to the ONS. The “replacement rate” to maintain a population needs to be at least 2.1 children per woman, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says.

    However, demographers said births could again trump deaths in the near future, as the UK appears to be going through a transition whereby people will routinely have babies later, facilitated by advances in medical technology. “Younger generations are postponing their childbearing, and so while fertility rates might be declining, there’s a chance that this could rebound,” said Dr Andrea Tilstra, a research fellow at Oxford University’s Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science.

    “That could happen as these cohorts enter into their 30s, maybe even early 40s, and the ability to have children later in one’s life becomes the norm, supported by technology like IVF.”

    Deaths outnumbering births was driven by Scotland, where the deficit was the largest on record and it was the ninth year in a row that more people died than were born. The overall population of Scotland grew, although only by 43,100 people, and this was down to immigration, figures from the National Records of Scotland showed.

    Wales also recorded more deaths than births, while England and Northern Ireland recorded slightly more births than deaths, the mid-2023 population figures showed.

    The baby deficit comes after several years of mothers leaving it later to have children, one of the common reasons given being financial pressures, including housing costs. Women born in the 1940s gave birth on average to almost two children before turning 30. That fell steadily to one child for women born in the mid-1970s, and plateaued before starting to fall again in recent years. Women born in 1993 – who turned 30 last year – had 0.8 children, on average.

    At the other end of life, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease have been the most common causes of death in England and Wales since 2015, when they overtook heart disease (apart from two years at the start of the Covid pandemic).

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  • ‘UK immigration laws cannot be uncoupled from racism’

    ‘UK immigration laws cannot be uncoupled from racism’

    Ahead of the new border security and immigration bill, MPs called for “urgent reflection” on how its narratives could foster racism….reports Asian Lite News

    Twenty-five black, Asian and minority ethnic MPs have written to the home secretary telling her that the framing of Britain’s immigration legislation “cannot be uncoupled from racism and the exclusion of people of colour”.

    The MPs were responding to the publication last month of a previously suppressed Home Office report on the origins of the Windrush scandal, which highlighted how three decades of British immigration legislation between 1950 and 1981 were “designed at least in part to reduce the number of people with black or brown skin who were permitted to live and work in the UK”.

    In advance of the new government’s border security, asylum and immigration bill, the MPs called for “urgent reflection” on how the narratives around legislation could become “enabling environments for racism”.

    The letter to Yvette Cooper, written by the Labour MP Clive Lewis and signed by Labour and independent MPs, calls for “action to acknowledge the links between racism and hostile migration policies” and urges “a commitment to building a fair and compassionate system, which ensures that another Windrush scandal cannot happen again”.

    Signed by Diane Abbott, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Marsha de Cordova among others, the letter says the government needs to address the “deep-seated institutional and cultural failures” of the Home Office, which led to officials burying the department’s own research paper, titled The Historical Roots of the Windrush Scandal.

    “The research demonstrates how immigration policy and legislation has been designed to exclude and other people of colour in the UK for decades,” the letter states. “Following the shocking events of racist violence this summer, the government has an important opportunity to recognise the conclusions of this report and shift the dial. This means action to acknowledge the links between racism and hostile migration policies.”

    It also calls on the government to remedy the “continued failures” of the Windrush compensation scheme, which has been repeatedly criticised for its slowness in delivering payments to those affected by the scandal, in which thousands of long-term UK residents were misclassified as being in the country illegally.

    A Home Office spokesperson said: “The home secretary is determined to put right the appalling injustices caused by the Windrush scandal, making sure those affected receive the compensation they rightly deserve, and ensuring cultural change is embedded permanently into the fabric of the Home Office. We will ensure victims of the Windrush scandal have their voices heard and that the compensation scheme is delivered efficiently.”

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  • Tugendhat knocked out of Tory leadership race

    Tugendhat knocked out of Tory leadership race

    In the previous round, Cleverly had finished joint fourth with Tugendhat on 21 votes…reports Asian Lite News

    James Cleverly has shot to the top of the latest MPs’ vote in the Conservative leadership contest, as Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick face a battle to reach the final two.

    In the third round of MP voting, Cleverly took 39 of the 120 votes, above Jenrick on 30 and Kemi Badenoch on 29. Tom Tugendhat came fourth, with 20 votes, becoming the latest candidate to be eliminated.

    In the previous round, Cleverly had finished joint fourth with Tugendhat on 21 votes. He now seems a near-certainty to reach the final two in Wednesday’s final choice by MPs, with Tory members then selecting the winner in a ballot. The result will be on 2 November.

    Jenrick had topped the previous two MPs’ votes and was seen as a virtual shoo-in for the last two. But after an underwhelming Conservative conference last week, his support among MPs fell from 33 to 31. He now has a desperate fight to recover some momentum and see off Badenoch, who gained two votes, as the representative of the Tory right.

    Badenoch, the shadow housing secretary, seized on Jenrick’s faltering campaign, with a spokesperson saying: “There are three candidates left in this contest, two are gaining votes and one is going backwards and losing support. The right of the Conservative party now needs to coalesce around Kemi.”

    A source in Jenrick’s campaign insisted, however, that he was “in prime position to make the final two”, stressing the endorsements he had received from MPs on the right and the centre of the party. But with Tugendhat eliminated, Cleverly is the sole remaining centrist, and seems likely to pick up a number of the shadow security minister’s supporters. With 121 Tory MPs in all, and Rishi Sunak having said he will not vote, even gaining two more MPs would guarantee Cleverly a place in the last two.

    In a tweet after the result, Cleverly thanked colleagues for their support, adding: “The job’s not finished. I’m excited to keep spreading our positive Conservative message.” Tugendhat said: “To everyone who backed our campaign – thank you! Your energy, your ideas and your support have shown a vision of what our party could become. Our campaign has ended but our commitment to our country continues.”

    In her post-vote message, Badenoch expressed her commiserations to Tugendhat and sought to play up the idea that she was the members’ favourite, saying it was “clear from every independent poll and survey, the support from members for my Renewal 2030 campaign is surging”.

    With Cleverly so near to guaranteeing a space in the last two, there will be speculation he could lend some votes to Jenrick, seen as more beatable than Badenoch in a head-to-head vote by party members. However, such moves are risky, and it is likely he would want to present himself to members as the clear choice of MPs.

    Cleverly’s campaign gained significant impetus during the Conservative conference in Birmingham, where he was generally considered as having performed best in set-piece events such as a Q&A in front of members, and the candidates’ speeches on the final day.In another boost, Cleverly was formally endorsed on Monday by Mel Stride, the shadow work and pensions secretary, who was eliminated in the previous round. Stride – who said the former home secretary was the “standout candidate” – had the backing of 16 MPs, a number of whom seemingly shifted to support Cleverly.

    While Jenrick was highly visible and an energetic presence at the conference, with a consistent and strongly right-leaning message that included framing the idea of quitting the European convention on human rights as “leave or remain”, he was viewed as doing slightly less well than Cleverly. Badenoch faced some difficulties at the conference, including condemnation of comments in a radio interview in which she said maternity pay was “excessive” and people should exercise “more personal responsibility”. She also told a fringe event that up to 10% of civil servants were so bad they should be in prison.

    She must now try to persuade MPs to put her through to the members’ vote, citing polling of party members which has tended to show that she is their favourite, although this seems to have narrowed recently.

    Boris Johnson calls Starmer ‘greedy’  

    Keir Starmer’s decision to accept clothing freebies “looks greedy”, according to Boris Johnson. The former prime minister criticised his Labour successor’s decision to accept gifts of clothing and glasses, saying Starmer “must be worth a bob or two” as a result of his legal career.

    Johnson made the remarks as he defended his government’s decision to award contracts for personal protective equipment (PPE) to inexperienced suppliers during the Covid pandemic, some of which had close links with ministers.

    Speaking to LBC on Tuesday, the former MP said: “I want you to know, I have no donors paying for my suits. Or spectacles. Who pays for your spectacles? You pay for your spectacles, don’t you? It’s unbelievable.

    “I mean, the guy (Sir Keir), he’s a silk, right? I mean, he must be worth a bob or two. Why has he got some guy paying for his spectacles?” Johnson, who is promoting his memoir, Unleashed, questioned why Starmer had accepted lavish gifts from the Labour peer and donor Lord Alli when he was “on a perfectly good salary from the government anyway”.

    He added: “You know, that looks greedy, right? But if you then give the guy a pass to No 10, that looks corrupt. And so I just don’t get it. I don’t know why he’s still wearing those spectacles. “Well, apart from the fact he can’t see. He can’t see what a mess he’s making of things.”

    Johnson has received numerous donations towards his lifestyle. He received a donation worth £23,853 from the longtime Conservative benefactor, the JCB boss Anthony Bamford, towards his wedding to Carrie Symonds in 2022. The donation covered the cost of hiring a marquee, Portaloos, waiting staff, flowers, a South African barbecue and an ice-cream van.

    Bamford’s wife, Carole, also donated luxury food from her business, Daylesford Organic, to the former prime minister. He also notoriously received contributions from Lord Brownlow towards the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat – the Electoral Commission ultimately fined the Tory party over the donation as it was not declared properly.

    Elsewhere in the LBC interview, Johnson was asked if he would apologise for initiating wasteful and dubious Covid contracts related to PPE during the pandemic.

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  • ‘Indian voters drifting rightward on economy’

    ‘Indian voters drifting rightward on economy’

    The report examines voting patterns and values during the 2019 and 2024 UK general elections. Historically, Labour has performed well among ethnic minorities….reports Asian Lite News

    British Indian and Chinese voters in the UK are increasingly leaning towards the Conservative Party, especially on economic issues, according to a new report.

    The study, titled ‘Minorities report: the attitudes of Britain’s ethnic minority population,’ was released by UK In a Changing Europe and Focaldata. It highlights that these groups often hold political views that differ from the broader UK population and even among themselves.

    The report examines voting patterns and values during the 2019 and 2024 UK general elections. Historically, Labour has performed well among ethnic minorities. However, British Indians and Chinese voters now show more right-wing economic views compared to other minority groups. “British Indians and British Chinese voters tend to be right wing on the economy, expectations of the nation state, and views on welfare. Other minority groups sit much more firmly on the left,” the report finds.

    The analysis reveals that British Indian, Chinese, and Hindu respondents were most likely to vote Conservative in 2019, a trend continuing into 2024. These groups also share concerns about government competence. They prefer politicians who are strong and effective rather than intellectual or fair.

    This preference is more pronounced among Indian Hindus, where Labour’s support was only slightly ahead of the Conservatives in 2019. Despite Labour’s overall lead among ethnic minority religious groups in 2019, their advantage was narrowest among Indian Hindus. In contrast, Indian Sikhs showed strong support for Labour, being less inclined to vote Conservative.

    The report suggests that Labour cannot depend on ethnic minority voters as a unified support base in future elections. Challenges for Labour The study indicates that British Indian and Chinese voters’ reluctance to support Labour stems from doubts about the party’s competence, particularly its economic management.

    This sentiment is echoed by Caribbean voters who also value government effectiveness. The findings are based on an extensive online survey involving thousands of participants across various ethnic backgrounds.

    The report concludes that political, social, and economic values among British Indians, Chinese, and Black African voters differ significantly from other minority groups like British Caribbeans and Muslims. Although these differences are not fully reflected in voting behaviour due to the Conservatives’ poor performance in 2024, they are expected to become more apparent over time as voting trends shift.

    As these dynamics evolve, political parties may need to reassess their strategies to engage with diverse ethnic communities effectively. Understanding these nuanced perspectives could be crucial for shaping future electoral outcomes in the UK.

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  • McCallum highlights surge in children linked to terror plots

    McCallum highlights surge in children linked to terror plots

    Under-18s represent 13 per cent of people being investigated by the spy agency for possible involvement in terror activities…reports Asian Lite News

    The chief of Britain’s domestic intelligence service on Tuesday blamed extreme right-wing ideologies for a “staggering” rise in the number of children being investigated for terrorism.

    MI5 boss Ken McCallum also said that Russian intelligence was seeking to cause “mayhem” in Britain because of its support for Ukraine and that his agency had investigated growing numbers of Iran-backed plots.

    Under-18s represent 13 per cent of people being investigated by the spy agency for possible involvement in terror activities, McCallum said.

    He told reporters at MI5’s Counter Terrorism Operations Centre in London that the number marked “a threefold increase in the last three years”. McCallum said the internet was the “biggest factor” driving the rise, describing how easily youngsters can access “inspirational and instructional material” from their bedrooms.

    He said the intelligence service was seeing “far too many cases where very young people are being drawn into poisonous online extremism” and singled out “canny” internet memes. “Extreme right-wing terrorism in particular skews heavily towards young people, driven by propaganda that shows a canny understanding of online culture,” he added.

    “It’s not really a consistent single ideology on the extreme right-wing side and that is what has skewed the numbers most heavily.” The terrorist threat level remains at “substantial” — the third highest of five — meaning an attack is likely.

    MI5 and the police have disrupted more than 40 late-stage attack plots since March 2017, saving “numerous lives”, McCallum said. He added that the Islamic State group had “resumed efforts to export terrorism” and that in the last year inquiries into plots by hostile states had surged by 48 percent.

    According to McCallum, Russia’s intelligence service had tried to cause “mayhem” in the UK because of Britain’s support for Ukraine. Meanwhile, MI5 has responded to 20 Iran-backed plots since January 2022 that presented potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents, he added.

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  • Starmer rules out ban on Israel arms exports  

    Starmer rules out ban on Israel arms exports  

    Responding to questions in Parliament, including from some Labour MPs and Jeremy Corbyn, the PM ruled out a blanket ban while also supporting Israel’s right to defend itself…reports Asian Lite News

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would “never” ban all arms sales to Israel as he faced down demands from MPs on the first anniversary of the Oct 7 attacks.

    Responding to questions in Parliament, including from some Labour MPs and Jeremy Corbyn, the Prime Minister ruled out a blanket ban while also supporting Israel’s right to defend itself.

    “If the sale of weapons for defensive use by Israel were banned, that is a position I could not countenance a year after Oct 7. It’s not a position I could countenance in the face of attacks by Iran,” he said.

    “The idea that we could say we support Israel’s right to defend herself, and at the same time deprive her of the means to do so, is so wholly inconsistent that it will never be my position.”

    Last month, the Government announced that it had suspended 30 out of 350 arms export licences to Israel after finding a “clear risk” that the equipment could be used to commit serious violations of international law.

    Starmer has been under increasing pressure to ban all arms sales to Israel, with some MPs and activists arguing that the Government’s current position does not go far enough.

    Responding to his statement in Parliament on Monday, Zarah Sultana, the Labour MP for Coventry South, asked whether the Prime Minister would do what is “morally and legally right” and ban “all arms sales” to Israel, including components for F-35 fighter jets. He said: “No. Banning all sales would mean none for defensive purposes.”

    Other Western nations have also faced pressure to ban arms sales to Israel, including France, where Emmanuel Macron, the president, called for a halt to arms deliveries to Israel after it invaded Lebanon.

    “I think that today, the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza,” Macron said on Saturday. It came as Israel was being attacked on three fronts by terror groups in Gaza, Yemen and Lebanon as it marked one year since the Oct 7 massacre.

    Hamas launched rockets at border communities in Gaza from around 6.30am, setting off sirens in Kibbutz Kfar Azza, forcing residents who had just begun a memorial service to take cover in a shelter. Meanwhile, Abu Obeida, a Hamas spokesman, promised that the Iran-backed terror group would continue attacking Israel. “The longer [the military operation in Gaza] persists, the greater the risk to the hostages,” he said.

    Hezbollah fired more than 140 rockets at northern Israel on Monday, while Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed to have fired two missiles at central Israel.

    As Israel continued to pound Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that two Israeli special forces soldiers had been killed fighting on the Lebanese border.

    The soldiers were killed in a mortar attack, according to an initial IDF investigation. They were named as Warrant Officer Aviv Magen, 43, from Herut, and Master Sergeant Etay Azulay, 25, from Oranit.

    Later on Tuesday, Israeli fighter jets struck more than 120 targets in southern Lebanon “within an hour”, the IDF said. The Israeli military also conducted a “targeted strike” on the Hezbollah-dominated southern suburbs of Beirut, it said.

    Starmer told Parliament that a year on from Oct 7, there was “no military solution” to the crisis in the Middle East as he called for greater diplomatic efforts. “Make no mistake, the region can’t take another year of this. All sides must step back from the brink and find the courage of restraint,” he said.

    Joe Biden also spoke to Isaac Herzog, Israel’s president, promising that the US would “never give up until we bring all of the remaining hostages home safely”. The US president repeated his commitment to the “safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel, and its right to exist” and defend itself against Iran-backed terror groups. Israel is expected to launch a “significant” attack on Iran in retaliation for the 200-strong missile attack last week.

    Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, told Iran it made a big “mistake” by attacking Israel with ballistic missiles for the second time in six months, but Tehran vowed to give a “firm response” to any retaliatory attack.

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  • Lammy defends Chagos Islands deal

    Lammy defends Chagos Islands deal

    The government announced last week that it was going to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, ending years of bitter dispute…reports Asian Lite News

    David Lammy has hailed the decision to return the Chagos Islands to Mauritius as a deal to save a strategically important UK-US military base, after accusations from opposition MPs that a key asset was being given away.

    The government announced last week that it was going to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, ending years of bitter dispute over Britain’s last African colony, but the military base on Diego Garcia will remain under UK control.

    In a statement to parliament, the foreign secretary said the deal had to be agreed as the status quo was clearly not “sustainable”. Citing US support for the agreement, Lammy told MPs: “It’s critical for our national security. Without security of tenure there will be no base. The deal benefits us, the UK, the US and Mauritius.”

    He added: “This is a victory for diplomacy. We saved the base, it has been secured for the long term.”

    Lammy said the deal did not signify similar deals that would be in the offing for Gibraltar or the Falklands. “British sovereignty on the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and the sovereign base areas is not up for negotiation,” he said. “The situations are not comparable. This has been acknowledged across our overseas territories.”

    Five years ago the international court of justice issued an advisory opinion condemning the UK’s continued control over the Chagos Islands. Lammy said that if the government had not agreed the deal, a binding judgment against the UK seemed inevitable and it would risk losing the base or breaching international law.

    Conservative MPs heckled Lammy over the deal on Monday despite the previous government having taken part in 11 rounds of negotiations, the last held just weeks before the general election. Negotiations were initiated in November 2022 and the former foreign secretaries James Cleverly and David Cameron took part.

    The shadow foreign secretary, Andrew Mitchell, said that the government “proposes to give away a key military asset”, saying this “gives succour to our enemies in a dangerous world”.

    The former immigration minister Robert Jenrick also condemned the deal, saying: “We’ve just handed sovereign British territory to a small island nation which is an ally of China, and we are paying for the privilege, all so the foreign secretary can feel good about himself at his next north London dinner party. In whose interests does he think he serves: those of the global diplomatic elite, or those of the British people and our national interest?”

    Lammy said that in return for Mauritius having sovereignty over the islands including Diego Garcia, base operations will remain under UK control into the next century – initially for 99 years with the UK having a right to extend.

    The agreement will allow a right of return for Chagossians, whom the UK expelled from their homes in the 1960s and 70s in what has been described as a crime against humanity and one of the most shameful episodes of postwar colonialism. “The manner in which Chagossians were forcibly removed in the 1960s was deeply wrong,” Lammy said.

    Asked about the fate of more than 60 Tamil refugees stranded on the island of Diego Garcia for the last three years, Lammy said: “On signing the treaty this is now a matter for Mauritius.”

    Yasmine Ahmed, the UK director of Human Rights Watch, which supported a protest by some Chagossians opposed to the deal outside parliament on Monday, said: “Chagossians have a right to be consulted about their homeland but they were not in fact consulted. The government must bring the Chagossians into these negotiations. They cannot negotiate away their responsibility towards the Chagossians.”

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  • £7 mn to tackle antisemitism in education confirmed

    £7 mn to tackle antisemitism in education confirmed

    The funding will aim to educate people about antisemitism and better equip schools, colleges and universities to stamp out antisemitic abuse…reports Asian Lite News

    The Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson has announced that the government is resuming the procurement of £7 million worth of funding to tackle antisemitism in schools, colleges and universities.

    The commitment comes after the number of incidents of antisemitic abuse nationwide more than doubled in the first five months of 2024, compared to the same period a year earlier. On university campuses, the number of incidents grew by 465%.  

    The funding will aim to educate people about antisemitism and better equip schools, colleges and universities to stamp out antisemitic abuse.

    To mark the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in Israel’s history, the Education Secretary is visiting a Jewish school in North London to meet with students and staff and demonstrate her support for the Jewish community.

    £500,000 of the £7 million funding has been awarded to the University Jewish Chaplaincy for welfare support for Jewish students in universities.

    Writing for the Daily Telegraph, the Education Secretary said the government was “resolutely committed” to tackling antisemitic abuse.

    She said: “It is completely unacceptable for Jewish students to feel they cannot fully participate in university life out of fear for their safety. All students, regardless of race or religion, should be free to focus on their studies rather than worry about their safety.”

    Some of the funds will go towards funding a project to upskill teachers and university staff in tackling antisemitism. It will also pay for an innovation fund to tackle antisemitism in Education, with a slightly broader focus on settings building resilience to mis-information.

    The Education Secretary said it was “vitally important that staff in our education system have the confidence and skills to act quickly to root out antisemitism as soon as it emerges.”

    To support this, the Department for Education also plans to launch an innovation fund that will offer opportunities to support work at all levels of education on tackling antisemitic misinformation on social media alongside the Curriculum and Assessment Review.

    The Education Secretary also voiced her outrage at the “shocking” acts of violence and Islamophobia seen after the Southport attacks earlier this year, with anti-Muslim incidents more than trebling in the months after October 7.

    She said: “With a foundation of knowledge about history and the world, critical thinking, logical reasoning and empathy, we can build children’s resilience not just to antisemitic hate, but all other forms of hate too. A child who is equipped to dismantle antisemitic conspiracy theories is ready to reject Islamophobic ones as well.”

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  • UK steel industry calls for protectionist measures  

    UK steel industry calls for protectionist measures  

    UK Steel, a lobby group, said the global industry has 543m tonnes of excess steel, 70 times more than the UK uses each year, in analysis published on Monday…reports Asian Lite News

    The UK steel industry has called for the government to consider further protectionist trade measures as it braces for a flood of imported steel amid a global glut driven by China.

    UK Steel, a lobby group, said the global industry has 543m tonnes of excess steel, 70 times more than the UK uses each year, in analysis published on Monday. It said the UK faces a “cliff edge” in 2026 when current protections run out.

    China’s steel industry is going through a brutal recession amid a years-long crisis in the country’s property industry that has dragged down domestic steel demand. In August, the chief executive of the world’s biggest steelmaker, China Baowu Steel, said the industry was going through a “harsh winter” that could be worse than the 2008 financial crisis or the 2015 crash in demand, when thousands of British steel jobs were cut. The Chinese glut has resulted in falling prices around the world.

    Gareth Stace, UK Steel’s director general, said the UK needed to “balance international obligations with the national interest” and act to protect the industry, or else face the prospect of recent British investments in the steel industry being “all for naught”.

    The UK currently has so-called steel safeguards in place that limit the diversion of cheap steel to Britain. They were brought in in 2018 to prevent the diversion of Chinese steel after Donald Trump imposed tariffs on imports to the US. However, the safeguards expire in 2026, and may not be extended under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. However, the industry wants the UK to consider protecting its steel industry regardless.

    Russell Codling, the director of marketing and business development in the UK for Tata Steel, said: “The scale of excess supply to the global market from China is just swamping every corner. The trade protection mechanisms that are in place aren’t sufficient to deal with these circumstances.”

    Lower prices benefit steel users, including construction projects and major infrastructure. However, steel industries tend to be politically influential and the ability to produce steel domestically is also prized as an indicator of industrial strength and geopolitical power.

    The UK government under the Conservatives and now Labour has committed £500m towards the switch from blast furnaces to cleaner electric arc furnaces at Tata Steel’s plant in Port Talbot, south Wales. Indian-owned Tata shut down its last blast furnace last week, with the loss of 1,900 jobs, but the government argues that its investment will help sustain a British steel industry. Chinese-owned British Steel is also trying to negotiate state support to switch to electric arc furnaces.

    Deciding whether to impose protectionist measures could prove tricky for the Labour government. Other countries – notably the US – have essentially ignored the WTO, while pressure is building within the EU to push the boundaries of what the rules allow.

    UK Steel argued that Britain will face greater trade diversion if it does not act. It suggested that the UK should consider imposing tariffs on steel imports above a certain level. Carbon border adjustments, which put a price on carbon emissions from dirty blast furnaces, could also help the UK industry, it said.

    “Rising global excess capacity driven and sustained by non-market forces is one of the biggest challenges of our time for the global steel industry,” said Stace. “It has the potential to redraw the map of global steelmaking, as there is no longer fair competition.”

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  • 17 European countries call for a ‘paradigm shift’ on asylum seekers

    17 European countries call for a ‘paradigm shift’ on asylum seekers

    This new approach, they say, should entail “consequences” for those who are handed a return order but never leave the continent…reports Asian Lite News

    The European Union has struggled to improve the deportation rate of asylum seekers whose applications have been turned down.

    A group of 17 European countries has called for a “paradigm shift” in migration policy to ensure asylum seekers whose applications have been declined are effectively and speedily sent back to their home countries.

    This new approach, they say, should entail “consequences” for those who are handed a return order but never leave the continent.

    “People without the right to stay must be held accountable. A new legal basis must clearly define their obligations and duties,” the countries have written in a non-paper. “Non-cooperation must have consequences and be sanctioned.”

    The document was led by Austria and the Netherlands and endorsed by Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovakia and Sweden. Norway and Switzerland, two non-EU member states part of the Schengen Area, also lent their signatures.

    The group asks the European Commission to treat the matter “expeditiously” and put forward a “state-of-the-art framework that responds to real challenges and developments,” building upon the discussions of a working party meeting in June.

    The conclusions of that meeting floated several ideas to address the bloc’s low rate of effective deportations, which stubbornly hovers around 30% with no significant change. The ideas included using trade and visa policies as “leverage” to compel countries of origin to take back their nationals after their asylum applications are rejected. (This lack of cooperation has been cited as a major reason for the low return rate.)

    The June meeting also proposed the establishment of a “common European return decision” to address another recurring problem: member states sometimes do not recognise the return orders issued by another member state.

    These specific proposals, however, are not mentioned in the new non-paper, which mostly serves as a call-for-action on the Commission and a display of strong political support: the 17-strong group encompasses all regions of Europe, from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean, and governments from the hard right to the centre left.

    The joint call comes as interior ministers are set to gather in Luxembourg on Thursday, the first meeting of its kind since Germany re-introduced controls in all its land borders, Hungary threatened to instrumentalise irregular migrants against Belgium, and the Netherlands asked for an opt-out clause of the EU asylum rules.

    Migration should also feature on the agenda of a two-day summit of EU leaders next week.

    The rapid succession of events has raised serious concerns about the viability of the Schengen Area and the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, the legislative overhaul the bloc completed in May.

    The New Pact foresees provisions to close the gap between the asylum and the return procedures, but, as the non-paper reflects, member states want a separate piece of legislation to deal with the issue of deportations.

    A proposal to reform the 2008 Return Directive has been stuck in the European Parliament since 2019. For the 17-country group, a brand-new text is now needed.

    In the guidelines for her second term, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has promised a “new common approach on returns, with a new legislative framework to speed up and simplify the process, ensure that returns take place in a dignified manner, digitalise case management and ensure that return decisions are mutually recognised across Europe.”

    U-turn call on free bus travel for asylum seekers

    The Scottish Greens will use a vote at Holyrood this week to try to persuade ministers to u-turn on free bus travel for asylum seekers. The Scottish government axed the policy in August as part of a series of cuts to public spending.

    The Greens will use their debating time on Wednesday to argue the commitment should be restored. They believe opposition parties could unite to defeat the minority SNP administration.

    The government said it is committed to supporting refugees and people seeking asylum. Ministers suffered a double defeat last month when MSPs voted for plans to extend free school meals and continue off-peak rail travel to be reinstated.

    The votes are non-binding, meaning ministers do not need to act on them. Speaking ahead of the debate, Scottish Greens’ transport spokesman Mark Russell described the decision to drop the pledge on free bus travel as “shameful and deeply disappointing”.

    He said: “The Scottish government has chosen to break a promise to some of the most marginalised people in our society. “The UK’s asylum system leaves people seeking asylum in state-sanctioned poverty – forced to survive on barely £50 a week and banned from working whilst waiting for a decision on their application for protection.

    “Free bus travel would be a small and compassionate change that would make a big difference to the lives of people seeking sanctuary in Scotland. “There has been a long standing cross party support for this change, and I hope that MSPs from all parties will stand together this week in calling for it to be restored.”

    The former First Minister Humza Yousaf confirmed the scheme last November and said £2m had been set aside to pay for it. The commitment followed a long campaign by refugee-rights organisations and a pilot programme in Glasgow in 2023.

    However, during the summer, Finance Secretary Shona Robison said spending cuts were unavoidable and ministers were ordered to “constrain all but essential” spending to help pay for public sector pay deals. A Scottish government spokesperson said: “We are having to make very difficult decisions to deliver balanced and sustainable spending plans for the 2024-25 financial year.”

    They highlighted that some people seeking asylum in Scotland are still be eligible for concessionary travel schemes, including those under 22 and over 60 years old, as well as those with disabilities. The spokesperson said: “We remain committed to supporting people seeking asylum, refugees and communities through the New Scots refugee integration strategy approach.”

    They added that SNP minsters wanted to work with the UK government on making “tangible improvements” for refugees and people seeking asylum. A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are fully compliant in meeting our legal obligation to support asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute.”

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