A key coalition partner of Netanyahu is quitting, leaving him with minority in Israeli parliament
The Shas ultra-Orthodox party said it was leaving over disagreements surrounding a proposed law meant to grant wide military draft exemptions to its constituents.
A second ultra-Orthodox party quit earlier this week over the same issue.
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Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Unite votes to suspend Angela Rayner over Birmingham bin strike
Labour's largest union donor, Unite, has voted to suspend Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner over her role in the Birmingham bin strike row. Members of the trade union, one of the UK's largest, also "overwhelmingly" voted to "re-examine its relationship" with Labour over the issue. They said Ms Rayner, who is also housing, communities and local government secretary, Birmingham Council's leader, John Cotton, and other Labour councillors had been suspended for "bringing the union into disrepute". There was confusion over Ms Rayner's membership of Unite, with her office having said she was no longer a member and resigned months ago and therefore could not be suspended. But Unite said she was registered as a member. Parliament's latest register of interests had her down as a member in May. The union said an emergency motion was put to members at its policy conference in Brighton on Friday. Unite is one of the Labour Party's largest union donors, donating £414,610 in the first quarter of 2025 - the highest amount in that period by a union, company or individual. The union condemned Birmingham's Labour council and the government for "attacking the bin workers". Mountains of rubbish have been piling up in the city since January after workers first went on strike over changes to their pay, with all-out strike action starting in March. An agreement has still not been made. 2:58 Ms Rayner and the councillors had their membership suspended for "effectively firing and rehiring the workers, who are striking over pay cuts of up to £8,000", the union added. 'Missing in action' General secretary Sharon Graham told Sky News on Saturday morning: "Angela Rayner, who has the power to solve this dispute, has been missing in action, has not been involved, is refusing to come to the table." She had earlier said: "Unite is crystal clear, it will call out bad employers regardless of the colour of their rosette. "Angela Rayner has had every opportunity to intervene and resolve this dispute but has instead backed a rogue council that has peddled lies and smeared its workers fighting huge pay cuts. "The disgraceful actions of the government and a so-called Labour council, is essentially fire and rehire and makes a joke of the Employment Relations Act promises. "People up and down the country are asking whose side is the Labour government on and coming up with the answer not workers." Sir Keir Starmer's spokesman said the government's "priority is and always has been the residents of Birmingham". He said the decision by Unite workers to go on strike had "caused disruption" to the city. "We've worked to clean up streets and remain in close contact with the council [...] as we support its recovery," he added. A total of 800 Unite delegates voted on the motion.
Times
2 hours ago
- Times
Superinjunctions must never be used to shroud mistakes
British forces in Helmand province SUNDAY TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE I n September 2023 a High Court judge granted the British government its first superinjunction. The order by Mr Justice Knowles prevented not only reporting of a terrible data breach but any reference even to the existence of restrictions. The unprecedented measure, extended several times at the request of Conservative and Labour governments, finally lapsed last week, allowing the public to learn that the details of 19,000 Afghans who had worked with the UK before the Taliban retook power had been released on Facebook, putting them and others at risk of torture or death. The mistake by an official in the UK special forces headquarters led the government to launch a secret refugee scheme that relocated to the UK more than 16,000 people compromised by the leak, at a cost of £850 million. The incompetence of the original act, which involved a spreadsheet containing hidden data being shared via email, should not cloud the argument over whether the superinjunction was reasonable. It would have been worse had the individuals affected suffered reprisals from the Taliban. Ben Wallace, then the Tory defence secretary, was undoubtedly terrified of costing lives when he first requested an injunction in August 2023. But as the injunction became a superinjunction, its very existence became a secret. Its lifespan then stretched into two years. Government officials warned the Commons and Lords Speakers not to allow any parliamentary questions hinting at it. The Labour opposition was not informed; nor was the intelligence and security committee or the defence committee. There came an indeterminate point when the interests of the Afghan breach victims faded and the interests of Whitehall officials grew stronger. Mr Justice Chamberlain, who took over the case and ruled in favour of maintaining the restrictions in November 2023, said the superinjunction was 'likely to give rise to the understandable suspicion that the court's processes are being used for the purposes of censorship'. It fell away at midday on Tuesday after a retired deputy chief of defence intelligence, Paul Rimmer, completed a review that concluded the leaked data had not spread as widely as feared and its value to the Taliban, and risk to those named in it, had diminished. Media organisations were allowed to reveal that the resettlement scheme had been hidden even from councils responsible for providing housing at considerable cost to the taxpayer, and that the Ministry of Defence's annual report had been massaged to avoid mentioning that a data incident had been reported to the Information Commissioner's Office. All this is a disgraceful abuse of the original argument over national security and the safety of the Afghans affected. The 2022 breach was a blunder rather than a systemic problem such as the infected blood or Post Office scandal. In those cases elaborate and long-running institutional cover-ups were exposed only thanks to media scrutiny, which eventually forced the government to take responsibility. As Heather Brooke brilliantly argues today, UK officialdom nearly always tends towards obfuscation and non-disclosure. Ministers and civil servants dodge embarrassment wherever they can. We must ensure that the original decision to grant the government a superinjunction is a one-off, not a precedent — and that those who rule us cannot again abuse such a powerful tool.
Powys County Times
3 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Environment Secretary pledges to halve sewage pollution by 2030
The Environment Secretary has pledged to cut sewage pollution from water companies in half by 2030 compared to 2024 levels. Steve Reed will announce the target as he speaks to the media on Sunday morning. The Government said it marks the first time ministers have set a clear target on reducing sewage pollution to which they will be held accountable. It also aims to cut phosphorus from treated wastewater in half by 2028 – a pollutant that causes algae blooms which are harmful to wildlife. The pledge comes as part of ongoing Government efforts to respond to widespread public anger over record sewage spills and rising bills, against a backdrop of poor governance at debt-ridden water firms. Mr Reed said: 'Families have watched their local rivers, coastlines and lakes suffer from record levels of pollution. 'My pledge to you: the Government will halve sewage pollution from water companies by the end of the decade.' It comes as ministers brace for the publication of the Independent Water Commission's landmark review into the ailing water sector on Monday morning. The commission was set up by the UK and Welsh governments as part of their response to systemic failures in the industry, although ministers have ruled out nationalising companies. The Government will respond to the recommendations in Parliament on Monday. On Friday, the Environment Agency revealed that serious pollution incidents caused by water firms across England increase by 60% last year compared with 2023. The watchdog said companies recorded a total of 2,801 pollution incidents in 2024, up from 2,174 in 2023. Of these, 75 were categorised as posing 'serious or persistent' harm to wildlife and human health – up from 47 last year. Ministers have vowed a 'root and branch reform' to the industry and has introduced a package of measures over the last year to cut pollution levels. They have banned unfair bonuses for 10 bosses this year and threatened prison sentences for law-breaking executives. The Government has also hailed plans for £104 billion to be invested into upgrading crumbling pipes and building new treatment works as well as ringfencing consumer bills for upgrades instead of companies using money for shareholder payouts of executive bonuses. Meanwhile, the Environment Agency has received a record £189 million to support hundreds of enforcement offices for inspections and prosecutions, with fines from companies footing the increase in funding. Ministers hopes this will help to reach its newly announced targets on sewage pollution, which can cause harm to swimmers, loss of aquatic live and destruction to ecosystems. 'One of the largest infrastructure projects in England's history will clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good,' Mr Reed said. The new pledge also includes working with devolved governments to ban wet wipes containing plastic across the UK, continued work on pre-pipe measures, such as sustainable drainage systems and the start of trials by water companies of nature-based solutions, such as constructed wetlands. It comes alongside the storm overflow discharge reduction plan, which has set targets on reducing spills, including a 75% reduction in discharging into high priority sites, such as rare chalk streams, by 2035. There is also an already existing statutory target to reduce phosphorus loadings from treated wastewater by 80% by 2038 against a 2020 baseline as well as an interim goal of a 50% reduction by the end of January 2028 under the environmental improvement plan (EIP). Conservative shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins said: 'Labour came to power with big promises to reform the water system, but so far, they have simply copied previous Conservative government policy and have done nothing to stop water bill rises. 'Labour must be transparent about where the £104 billion investment is coming from as some will come through customer bill rises. 'They claim this while they have failed and hindered attempts to secure the funding needed to stabilise Thames Water. 'Labour's water plans must also include credible proposals to improve the water system's resilience to droughts, without placing an additional burden on bill payers and taxpayers.'
