Tom Watson MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, commenting on the news that Disney are to buy most of 21st Century Fox, said:

“This is the end of an era for the Murdochs who after decades of aggressive empire expansion are now in retreat.

“The decision to sell off key assets follows their UK business being engulfed in a phone hacking scandal, and ongoing revelations about sexual harassment at Fox News in the USA – scandals which have been in sharp focus recently thanks to the Murdochs’ attempted takeover of Sky.

“It’s important for Disney, a highly respected global media brand, that they do not allow the toxic corporate culture we have seen in the Murdoch empire to contaminate their business and tarnish their reputation.

“We hope that the company will ensure that no one who still has questions to answer over criminal conduct or corporate governance failure in the Murdochs’ businesses is allowed into the new entity.

“We wait to see what impact this proposed merger will have on the attempt by 21st Century Fox to buy Sky, but the Competition and Markets Authority needs to continue its investigation and ensure that the proposed deal does not threaten media plurality or broadcasting standards.”

14 December 2017

Deputy Leader of the Green Party Amelia Womack says that campaigners are winning the fight to stop fracking for good ahead of her visit to the proposed fracking site at Kirby Misperton [1].

A decision to allow fracking to start at the Yorkshire site was expected last month but the Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy Greg Clark, who has faced heavy lobbying from campaigners, has delayed giving the green light.

Womack believes a vital point in the fight to stop fracking across the UK has been reached as momentum is now with environmental protesters.

Womack said:

“To the people on the frontline against fracking in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and across the country I say thank you and just look at what you have achieved. A delay of even a few days or weeks might not seem like a great deal but it is so so important. It shows hesitation on the government’s part. It’s given us more space to make the arguments against fracking. It’s shown that the likes of Third Energy and Cuadrilla who are determined to get rich off the destruction of communities and ecosystems cannot have it all their own way. It shows we are winning.

“We might look back at this moment in future as a time when the tide turned against the frackers. I’m looking forward to thanking you in person and to being with you once again in the fight to stop fracking.”

Both Cuadrilla and Third Energy have faced legal challenges against their attempts to frack in Lancashire and Yorkshire respectively [2]. Local residents have raised concerns that the companies are not carrying out necessary environmental monitoring and in Lancashire the government’s move to force through fracking against the wishes of the local council has caused outrage.

Notes

[1] Amelia Womack will arrive at Kirby Misperton at 12.30pm on 15th December 2017

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/29/campaigners-launch-last-ditch-appeal-to-stop-fracking-in-lancashire

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/09/04/no-uk-fracking-this-year-as-yorkshire-legal-challenge-drags-on/

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Labour
reveals “shocking” impact of cold snap with 27% increase in patients stuck in
ambulances for over an hour

Labour’s
analysis of the latest weekly winter data (4 December to 10 December) released
today by NHS England reveals almost 2,500 patients were stuck in ambulances for
over an hour in just one week.

Labour’s
analysis of the latest NHS England combined performance data also reveals a
shocking 62% increase in the number of patients waiting longer than 18 weeks
for operations in just seven years.

Jonathan
Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to
the latest NHS Weekly Winter and Monthly Combined Performance statistics, said:

“Last
week’s cold snap demonstrated once again the crisis facing our NHS this winter
and Government inaction will only make the challenge facing the NHS that much
harder.

“Patients
will be deeply concerned that despite the heroic efforts of our brilliant NHS
staff, there was a shocking 27% increase in the number of patients stuck for
over an hour in the back of an ambulance in just one week.

“Despite
the pressures which all frontline NHS staff were warning of, the winter fund
announced in the Budget has still not been fully allocated to struggling
Trusts. Patients expect ministers to urgently get a grip.”