Sanctions on Russia must stay till all troops leave Ukraine, says Liz Truss
Russia must now face the “maximum level” of sanctions in response to the atrocities in Ukraine, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said, urging European allies to go even further. On Monday, a cabinet minister called for more weapons of the type demanded by Kyiv, while criticising Western funding for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “war machine.” Ms. Truss condemned the “butchery,” citing evidence of rape and indiscriminate killing of civilians in Bucha, Ukraine, where Moscow’s troops have been pushed back. She and her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, discussed how the UK can take the “maximum approach” to supply weapons. “The idea that we should wait for something else bad to happen is just completely wrong. The worst has already happened, we’ve already seen appalling atrocities committed in Ukraine with complete impunity,” she told a press conference recently.
Ms. Truss urged allies to commit to “a tough new wave of sanctions” ahead of G7 and Nato foreign ministers’ meetings later this week in Brussels. “The reality is that money continues to flow from the West into Putin’s war machine – and that has to stop,” Ms. Truss said. She stated that she would work with allies to go even further in banning Russian ships from Western ports, cracking down on Russian banks, going after industries “filling Putin’s war chest, like gold,” and agreeing on “a clear timetable to eliminate our imports of Russian oil, gas, and gold.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has requested fighter jets and tanks to assist in repelling Russian forces, but the request has been met with some skepticism from Nato allies wary of inciting a wider conflict. “We also need even more weapons of the type the Ukrainians are asking for,” Ms. Truss said, without specifying what arms she supports sending.
Speaking beside the Foreign Secretary, Mr. Kuleba called for the “most severe” sanctions to be levelled against the Putin regime, including over the SWIFT banking system. “Half measures are not enough anymore. I demand from our partners, on behalf of the victims of Bucha and the people of Ukraine, to take the most severe sanctions against Russia this week,” he said. “It is time to put all hesitation, reluctance, business-wise arguments aside and think about human suffering and the need to stop the Russian war machine until it kills and destroys more on its way.” Boris Johnson described the discovery of mass graves in areas where Russian forces had withdrawn from around Kyiv as “sickening” and promised, “we will not rest until justice is done”. “The UK will not stand by this indiscriminate and unforgivable slaughter,” the Prime Minister said. Ms. Truss called for Russia to be suspended from the United Nations Human Rights Council and pledged a £10 million civil society fund for Ukraine, including support for organisations dealing with sexual violence.
Mr. Johnson, who spoke with Mr. Zelensky over the weekend, used a social media video to express his support for the country’s efforts to repeal the Russian invasion. “All the tanks and guns in Vladimir Putin’s arsenal will never break the spirit of the Ukrainian people or conquer their homeland,” he declared. Mr. Johnson emphasised the New and Javelin anti-tank systems, as well as the Starstreak anti-air missiles, that the UK has already supplied to Ukraine, as well as protective helmets and body armour. However, in his discussions with Mr. Zelensky on Saturday, he indicated that additional assistance would be available. Mr. Zelensky stated that there will be a “new package” of “very, tangible support,” while No. 10 said the Prime Minister has “committed to continuing to step up defensive support.” No. 10 would not comment on specifics, but the Prime Minister’s official spokesman described the weekend scenes as “barbaric.”
Sources: The Guardian, Wimbledon Guardian.
The government expected to sell Channel 4 as public ownership is 'holding it back'
Following a consultation, ministers decided to proceed with the sale, despite the broadcaster’s disappointment and Labour’s description of the move as “vandalism.” The government has decided to proceed with plans to privatise Channel 4, according to the culture secretary. Nadine Dorries stated that she had concluded that “government ownership is preventing Channel 4 from competing with streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon.” A Channel 4 spokesperson expressed “disappointment” with the decision but stated that the company would “continue to engage” with the government on the process to “ensure that Channel 4 continues to play its unique role in Britain’s creative ecology and national life.”
In recent months, the government has pushed the idea of privatising Channel 4. Ms. Dorries confirmed the sale, saying, “A change of ownership will give Channel 4 the tools and freedom to flourish and thrive as a public service broadcaster for the foreseeable future.” She stated that the broadcaster’s plans would be outlined in a white paper. “I will seek to reinvest the proceeds of the sale into levelling up the creative sector, putting money into independent production and creative skills in priority parts of the country – delivering a creative dividend for all,” Ms. Dorries said. The broadcaster is state-owned but receives no public funding, with more than 90% of its revenue coming from adverts. Labour’s shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell said: “Selling off Channel 4, which doesn’t cost the taxpayer a penny anyway, to what is likely to be a foreign company, is cultural vandalism.”
Some senior Conservatives, including former health secretary Jeremy Hunt, have also criticised the move. “I’m not in favour of it because I think that as it stands, Channel 4 provides competition to the BBC on what’s called public service broadcasting, the kinds of programs that are not commercially viable – and I think it’d be a shame to lose that,” Mr. Hunt told Sky News on Tuesday. Former Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson also tweeted that the move is “the opposite of levelling up.” “Channel 4 is publicly owned, not publicly funded. It doesn’t cost the taxpayer a penny. It also, by charter, commissions content but doesn’t make/own its own. It’s one of the reasons we have such a thriving indy sector in places like Glasgow. It is the opposite of levelling up,” she said.
While former Conservative minister Helen Grant, the current trade envoy, also warned against the move. “Disappointed and unconvinced by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport’s decision to privatise Channel 4 notwithstanding sustainable alternatives,” she said. A government source said: “C4 is a great business with a strong brand built around it being creative, innovative, and distinctive but a change of ownership will remove its straitjacket, giving C4 the freedom to innovate and grow so it can flourish and thrive long into the future and support the whole of the UK creative industries.” Channel 4 will continue to be a public service broadcaster, with the government ensuring that it “continues to make an important social, economic, and cultural contribution to the UK,” including a commitment to prime time news. Ministers believed that to compete with the growing power of US streaming giants such as Netflix it must have more freedom to borrow money or raise private sector capital to invest.
Sources: Daily Mail, iNews.
Global food price fears as Ukraine farmers forced to reduce crop planting
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is causing a dramatic drop in crops planted by Ukrainian farmers this spring, raising concerns about domestic and global food safety. Ukraine, known for its fertile soils, is a major exporter of wheat, barley, sunflower seeds, and maize, primarily to North Africa. However, farmers and analysts have told the Guardian that a lack of fertiliser, a lack of gasoline for tractors, the closure of ports, and a navy exercise have all disrupted planting, harvest, and export. At least one-third of the land typically used for spring crops like maize and sunflower will remain unplanted. Furthermore, it is possible that one-third of the wheat harvest from the crop planted last autumn was misplaced.
A small amount of wheat held in storage is reportedly being exported by rail and road via Poland and Romania, but this is only a “tiny fraction” of what was previously exported via the Black Sea ports of Odesa and Mykolaiv before the invasion, according to analysts. Ukrainian officials have stated that alternative export routes via the Danube River, railways, and highways are hampered by insufficient services and, in the case of railways, the difference in track and inventory width between Europe and Ukraine. Due to the disruption in exports, global cereal prices reached a new all-time high in February. The World Food Programme, a UN agency that provides emergency supplies to countries in conflict or experiencing natural disasters such as famines, announced this week that rising food prices have forced it to reduce rations. While most of the Ukraine’s wheat is planted in the autumn, other crops, such as maize and sunflower, are planted in the coming weeks.
Serhiy Ivaschuk runs a combined dairy and arable farm with slightly less than 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres) in the Khmelnytskyi area of western Ukraine, 350 kilometres southwest of Kyiv. He stated there were no hostilities in his area, but planting had been slowed this year because he had misplaced workers and farm vehicles to the Ukrainian navy. Ivaschuk stated he had corn and wheat in storage ready to sell but was unable to export them due to logistical constraints on utilising the railway, with his crops typically shipped by rail across the Polish border. The restrictions on promoting stored wheat aren’t just a risk to international food safety, according to Andrii Dykun, chair of the Ukrainian Agri Council, which represents about 1,000 farmers across the country. Ukraine will get most of its diesel supplies from Belarus and Russia, according to Dykun, but is now looking for alternative sources in Europe.
According to the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB), one of the country’s largest agricultural associations, farmers who face shortages of fertiliser, seeds, and plant protection merchandise may see lower yields. It is estimated that roughly one-third of the acreage typically used for spring crops will remain unplanted this year. The wheat crop planted last autumn had a favourable winter climate, but approximately 40% of it is in areas with active hostilities. In western Ukraine, another farmer who co-manages a 2,000-hectare (4,940-acre) farm near the town of Lviv stated that they had begun planting peas and a few kinds of wheat but that they were only supposed to sow “about two-thirds of what we planned a month ago.” Many farmers in Ukraine’s north and east had tanks, navy equipment, and even missiles on their property. Some have reported Russian soldiers occupying their farms and stealing food and equipment.
Sources: The Guardian, FastBull.
Despite heavy lobbying by Amazon, workers in New York City voted to form the company’s first union
For the first time in the company’s history in the United States, Amazon workers voted to unionise, securing a sweeping and unexpected victory in a National Labor Relations Board election for a group of around 8,000 workers at a warehouse in Staten Island, New York. Amazon Labor Union received 2,654 yes votes compared to Amazon’s 2,131 no votes. The union won the election with 55 percent of the vote, a 523-vote margin. Friday morning, both the union and Bloomberg declared victory for unionisation. Labor experts did not predict a victory in the election, which was held in person at the facility last week. The union election victory will not be legally recognised until both parties can file objections with the National Labor Relations Board, which will then review those objections. Next month, Amazon will face off against the Amazon Labor Union in a second election at another Staten Island facility.
Despite being the country’s second-largest employer, Amazon has become a notoriously difficult place to unionise workers. The Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union attempted to form a formal union in a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, in 2020, the first serious attempt since 2014. Last year, the union lost its first election attempt by more than a two-to-one margin to Amazon, and it appears on track to lose its second election in the coming weeks. With just over 400 contested ballots still uncounted, the union is trailing by more than 100 votes, and it could be several weeks before a hearing date is set for those ballots to be read. Unlike the Bessemer fight, the Amazon Labor Union, a group of workers unaffiliated with any national union, is leading the Staten Island union election. The group formed around worker activism and protests over unsafe working conditions and retaliation in Staten Island warehouse facilities, led by activists Chris Smalls and Derrick Palmer.
Despite the difficulties in Alabama, RWDSU President Stuart Applebaum praised Smalls’ leadership and cheered signs of victory in Staten Island at a press conference held yesterday after the vote counting concluded in Bessemer. Applebaum also credited New York City’s long history as a union town for at least part of the Staten Island workers’ unexpected success. “Amazon is a corporation with massive essentially unlimited resources which it has deployed to stop workers from exercising their right to organise, and that nonetheless, the workers have been able to do it. And they deserve enormous credit for that,” Benjamin Sachs, a labor and industry professor at Harvard Law School, told Protocol immediately after the Staten Island victory was announced.
If Amazon does not successfully object to the election proceedings, the union will be certified by the NLRB and will then be able to bargain collectively with Amazon on behalf of JFK8 warehouse workers. Unions that are not affiliated with any national group are uncommon, and national unions may attempt to absorb the Amazon Labor Union by offering their collective bargaining experience on a first union contract. Moving forward, the timeline for the election certification process and collective bargaining will be heavily influenced by Amazon’s decision on how to deal with union workers. “Companies have the discretion to fight unionisation and collective bargaining at any time, from the beginning of the organising campaign to the end of the bargaining process,” Sachs said. Sachs compared today’s union victory to the start of the autoworker unionisation movement.