United Kingdom

Archived

This Saturday, 8 February, nearly 30 human rights groups, including Hong Kongers, Tibetans, Uyghurs, Taiwanese, and Chinese allies will gather outside the Royal Mint Court to protest at the proposed new site for the Chinese Embassy in London. The action, dubbed ‘Space for Free Speech’ opposes the establishment of what would be the largest Chinese embassy in Europe, at a site of strategic vulnerability in the heart of London.

The embassy has previously been opposed by the local council and municipal authorities. The NGO ARTICLE 19 calls on the Metropolitan Police to guarantee enhanced protections for the right to protest and freedom of expression considering the risk of Chinese transnational repression against activists and organizers before, during, and after the demonstration. Parliament should also consider the specific holistic risks surrounding protest events as it launches its inquiry into transnational repression in the UK.

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The UK's Stop Killing Games petition is finally back up!

Link to petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/702074/
Link to campaign: stopkillinggames.com
Link to the campaigner’s initial video

The previous one was closed due to the general election, and it never got the revised response that was requested.
Previous petition.
Previous thread for it.

Update: Link to the campaigner’s video on the response

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29029612

Archived

UK campaign group Stop Uyghur Genocide (SUG) will seek a judicial review of the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) decision if it greenlights the initial public offering (IPO) of ultra-fast fashion giant Shein on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

Shein is poised to pursue a listing on the London Stock Exchange in the upcoming half-year contingent to receiving regulatory consent.

The UK activist group alleges that Shein’s supply chain is tainted by cotton produced through Uyghur forced labour in China.

It asserts the FCA should reject the listing application as so-called use of forced labour in supply chains is unlawful under the Modern Slavery Act, so it says Shein would have to explain company profits in light of proceeds of crime laws.

The FCA has refrained from commenting on speculative listings, while Shein did not respond to Just Style’s request for comment but last month it maintained that it enforces a strict prohibition of forced labour within its global supply chain.

SUG has imposed a two-week ultimatum on the FCA to address its sixth formal communication in under seven months, which also marks the start of the judicial review process.

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Hundreds of thousands of British workers are on zero-hours contracts despite being with the same employer for years, according to analysis from the TUC.

The majority of zero-hours contract workers have been with their employer for more than 12 months, while one in eight have not been granted regular employment rights after more than a decade working in the same place, the organisation said.

More than a million people are working on a zero-hours contract basis, and the TUC said a clear majority of them, about 720,000 workers, have been with their current employer for over a year, based on ONS labour force data.

About 130,000 people were still retained on zero-hours contracts after 10 years with the same employer, it found.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/24946997

https://archive.is/xpale

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/17862588

Archived

In a landmark move reinventing the working week in the United Kingdom, at least 200 British companies have signed up for a permanent four-day working week for all their employees without any loss of pay.

Together, these 200 companies employ over 5,000 people, and among these charities, marketing and technology firms are the best-represented, a report by The Guardian said quoting the 4 Day Week Foundation.

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The change was first adopted by around 30 marketing, advertising and press relations firms. The suit was followed by 29 charity, NGO, and social care industry-based organisations, and 24 technology, IT and software firms. Later, another 22 companies in the business, consulting and management sectors also joined the bandwagon and permanently offered four-day weeks to staff, according to The Guardian report.

The most popular form of surveillance was monitoring active work hours, with 54 percent saying this was going on, and employees' emails and chat logs were also examined by employers (36 percent and 28 percent, respectively).

One in five confirmed they track the locations from which employees are working – bad news for the digital nomads

The rise - higher than stated last month - will see the average annual bill rise to £603, but there are significant variations between regions.

Water companies have committed extra money for investment in infrastructure, such as reservoirs, and more help for struggling customers.

However, consumer groups are warning the rise means more households will fall into debt.

Regulator Ofwat outlined forecast bill rises in December, which would cover the next five years.

But the bill rises for the year from April, external, announced by industry body Water UK, are higher than those announced by Ofwat as the calculations now include inflation - so account for rising prices that suppliers face.

The average bill increase equates to around £10 a month, from £40 to £50, but millions of households face even steeper rises.

Southern Water customers told they will see a 47% increase to £703 a year while Hafren Dyfrdwy and South West Water bills are rising by 32%.

Thames Water customers have been warned they will see a 31% hike and Yorkshire Water is raising bills by 29%.

Bournemouth Water customers will also see a 32% increase to their bills.

Other factors, such as whether a customer is metered and how much water they use, means the bill changes will vary considerably for customers depending on their circumstances.

Bill rises for the next five years are being front-loaded, with a big increase this April so that spending on new infrastructure, such as new reservoirs, can get going.

Gen Z’s in their teens or in their twenties are far less likely to be atheists than their parents and grandparents, with many more identifying as “spiritual”, a new study has revealed.

The research counters assumptions that spirituality is on the decline and in fact implies God is “making a comeback”, with the younger generation the least likely to call themselves atheists, while middle-aged Generation X proving the most.

The survey of 10,000 people found only 13 per cent of under 25s identified as atheists, whereas 62 per cent of 18 to 24 year olds said they are “very” or “fairly” spiritual.

Comparatively, the poll conducted by OnePoll showed as many as a quarter of those aged between 45 and 60 called themselves an atheist.

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Christopher Gasson, who commissioned the research, called the results “gobsmacking” and told The Times they imply that God is “making a comeback” in the UK.

But Mr Gasson, who is the author of The Devil’s Gospels: Finding God in Four Great Atheist Books, did add: “I imagine many church leaders will be rubbing their hands thinking this is the answer to their prayers but unfortunately for them, it isn’t... Whatever the survey might say about young people being more spiritual and religious than old people, it is equally clear that they are put off by established religion.”

Gen Z’s responses to how they “feed” their sense of the spiritual included “enjoying nature” and “mindfulness”, not “participating in religious practices”.

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According to a report last week, Gen Z are in fact more likely to be interested in astrology, with social media platforms such as TikTok seeing a boom in astrology-based feeds. Co-Star, an American app combining Nasa data and content from astrologers, rocketed from 7.5 million global users in 2020 to 30 million in 2023, while spending on astrology-related products is projected to grow to $22.8bn by 2031, up from $12.8bn in 2021.