The corporate greed that has ravaged the US has wrecked Britain too | Letters

Robert Reich’s account of how the holy writ of corporate profit has bought about the near disintegration of US society will be familiar to students of UK political history (Americans are waking up. A grand reckoning awaits us, 29 January).I grew up with the capitalism of Harold Macmillan and Edward Heath, in a society where the NHS worked, our industry and transport remained a vibrant reflection of British pride and ingenuity, the population were housed, and rents and mortgages were within the reach of ordinary wage earners.Reich notes that the rot in the US began with Ronald Reagan, while in our case, Margaret Thatcher’s juggernaut of deregulation, the assault on union membership and the replacement of our industrial base with an economy trumpeting shopping, house prices and the stock market has resulted in a brutally unequal society where food banks, shoddy high streets and zero-hours contracts have become the norm.Reich believes that Trump’s acceleration of the US nightmare is being confronted by protest

Labour to protect existing MPs above winning more seats at next election, deputy leader says

Labour will switch to an “incumbency first” model to protect MPs at the next election rather than targeting seats, the deputy leader, Lucy Powell, has told Labour MPs.Powell said the party would support MPs to become “leaders in their communities” and learn how to benefit politically from changes made by the government, which MPs have so far gained little credit for.But she also told MPs in the first parliamentary Labour party (PLP) meeting of the year that they needed to stop infighting amid continued discontent with Keir Starmer’s leadership.MPs will be offered workshops by organisers in Labour HQ on how to “take credit” for improvements in the local area or for policies directly helping constituents that have been implemented by the Labour government, including frozen rail fares, local community and high street funding and the warm home discount extension.“It’s a big switch organisationally and politically,” a Labour source said

Starmer prepares for parliamentary battles over imminent EU ‘reset’ bill

Keir Starmer is set to face fresh battles over his EU “reset” as the government plans to lay a bill which could hand ministers significant powers to forge closer ties with BrusselsThe legislation aims to introduce an alignment mechanism for the agrifoods and electricity trading deals agreed with EU leaders but still under negotiation.The bill will hand ministers powers to go beyond what the UK has agreed so far, giving future administrations the power to potentially align standards in other sectors and keep pace with new EU regulation.The government plans for the bill to run in parallel with the negotiations with Brussels, meaning MPs will start voting on it before the deal is finalised.Government sources said they were braced for major battles but it would be an opportunity for Starmer to defend closer ties with Europe as a way of reviving the UK economy. The bill is expected to be introduced in the next few months and carried over into the next parliamentary session

‘We have a new role’: mayors across the world increasingly taking on society’s biggest challenges

In Budapest, it was a call to flout the Hungarian government’s ban on Pride that catapulted the city’s mayor into the headlines. In Barcelona it was a bold plan to rid the city – one of Europe’s most visited – of tourist flats by late 2028. And in Paris, it was a drastic makeover; one that included making the Seine swimmable and turning its car-clogged riverbanks into pedestrian-friendly areas.The mayors’ actions – and the global conversation they elicited – hinted at how, in much of the world, the role of mayor has been recast. Gone are the stereotypes of endless ribbon cutting ceremonies and flesh-pressing events; instead mayors are increasingly being thrust on to the frontlines of some of society’s thorniest challenges

No 10 suggests UK would not vote for UN security council resolution condemning US arrest of Maduro – as it happened

The Downing Street lobby briefing was mostly taken up with questions about Venezuela. Here are the main points.The PM’s spokesperson did not contest the Times report claiming that, if the UN security council votes on a resolution criticising the US intervention in Venezuela, the UK will abstain. (See 12.11pm

Let me explain why we can’t stand Keir Starmer | Letters

Polly Toynbee writes of Keir Starmer: “The venom against a man who is serious and decent, with an impressive tally of good done, is a mystery to me” (Labour could oust Starmer, he could elegantly step aside – but without a plan, it will all be for nothing, 30 December). Let me enlighten her: all those good things are overshadowed and obscured by the more conspicuous contemptible ones.This includes sucking up (other phrases are available) to a particularly changeable and untrustworthy head of a foreign state; appeasing the financial markets at the cost of unrelieved austerity for our public services; continuing to underfund and privatise the NHS, the single thing almost all of the electorate value most highly; approving sales of arms which he must be aware may be used for war crimes; selectively criminalising protest; equivocating towards our European friends; not only failing to call out but actively seeking to appease the far right; and, in short, not leading a Labour government.Dr Katy Jennison Witney, Oxfordshire Polly Toynbee can’t understand why Starmer is so unpopular. How about the fact that he junked his platform policies shortly after members like me elected him