Festive Greetings

                                                        Image: Recolor

Dear readers,

I wish you all a joyful and relaxing Christmas time and a rocking new year 😉

Most of my stories can now be found on: 

• https://www.clippings.me/insidethenews

Thank you for visiting,

Federica

Autumn updates

Downloading... Source: https://pixabay.com

Dear readers,

Some of you may have noticed that the blog has been updated on an irregular basis over the last few months. 

Most of my stories can now be found on:  

·       https://www.clippings.me/insidethenews

Recommended shortcuts:

·       https://www.fairplanet.org/author/federica-tedeschi

·       http://magazine.storebrands.info/i/677274-spring-2016/21

·       http://www.theaccountant-online.com/search?q%5B%5D=federica+tedeschi

·       http://www.elgazette.com/features/comments/375-el-latin-america-2016-latin-americans-head-to-malta.html

Thank you for visiting my blog,

Federica Tedeschi

Your work is worth zero

Zero hours contracts on the rise. Source: https://www.hrgo.co.uk

There are currently 883 thousand people on a zero-hour contract in the UK, which correspond to 2.8 per cent of the entire working population, according to data released in August by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Labour Force Survey (period April-June 2017).

Since 2014 there has been a huge increase in the number of people reporting that are on a zero-hours contract as ten years ago only 0.6 per cent of the workforce had to deal with such unstable work conditions.

Those on this kind of contract are not guaranteed a minimum number of work hours during the week, but must be always available, otherwise their name will be removed from the ‘flexible workers’ list. It does not come by surprise that they are not entitled to holidays or sick leave.

Zero-hours contracts are extensively used by retailers, hotels and restaurants all over the country and the problem is affecting 3.4 per cent of women against 2.2 per cent of men, while the under 25s are those who have to bear the brunt of the market crisis, according to statistics.

Unite, which is Britain’s largest union, has urged the Government to ban zero-hour contracts and put workers’ welfare first.

“Staff are treated  as throwaway workers with throwaway rights”, said TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady, highlighting a serious need to improve rights and conditions in the workplace.

During last week TUC Congress in Brighton, Ms. O’Grady has raised concerns about the new technology that allows different ways of exploitation: in fact, casual workers can currently be fired via apps by bosses they never met or spoke to.

Back in September

Summer time in London. Source: http://www.australiantimes.co.uk

Dear readers,

The blog will be up and running again in September, due to a new writing project.

Meanwhile, please follow me on: https://www.clippings.me/users/insidethenews

I wish you all a very pleasant Summer time.

Thank you for visiting,

Federica Tedeschi

Operation Sceptre to tackle knife crime in London

                               Knife crime scene. Source: www.rateyourmusic.com

The number of fatal stabbing in London this year rose to 32 last week.

The recent scale of lethal knife attacks in the capital is shocking, with most people stabbed to death between April-May. Half of them were children and teenagers.

The Metropolitan police launched the Operation Sceptre in 2015, with the objective of reducing knife crime across the capital, by targeting not only those who carry and use knives, but also the supply, access and importation of weapons.

The launch coincided with new legislation according to which those convicted of carrying a knife for the second time will face a mandatory custodial sentence.

The operation has so far resulted in over 2,000 arrests, 473 of which were for possession of a knife or weapon, and the recovery and removal of nearly 1,500 weapons.

Tackling the problem through stop and search action plans is essential, but what about detecting and managing the symptoms to prevent these appalling crimes, currently on the rise in London?

In order to focus on why youngsters arm themselves and those around them, officers from the Trident & Area Crime Command have created and delivered a set of educational packages in schools across the capital. The aim is to persuade young students to think about the decisions they make and the consequences of violent actions to eventually deter them from joining gangs.

Earlier this year the Met had released an alarming report showing that between 2015 and 2016 the number of children carrying knives at school rose by a whopping 50 per cent.

Despite the effort in reducing the percentage of families affected by knife crime across the whole of London, they have also recorded an increase of 24 per cent in the number of knife offences in the capital.

It is worth questioning if their efforts are hindered by a lack of funding, which would lead to a lively and controversial political debate.

Unscrupulous landlords will be named and shamed

                                        The new City Hall database. Source: www.citizensadvice.org.uk

Councils across London will be able to share an online database set up to protect London’s two million private renters from unscrupulous landlords.

The measure was announced by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan at the beginning of the week and the new database will be published on his website this Autumn to report suspected dishonest landlords and agents whose accommodations and services fall below acceptable legal standards.

Britain has one of the oldest stocks of housing in Europe, with many homes leaking heat and letting in cold air and water.

According to the Mayor of London ‘Housing in London 2015’ report published by the Greater London Authority (GLA) at the end of 2015, ‘around 21 per cent of homes in London are below the official Decent Homes Standard and the proportion has fallen slightly faster in London than in the rest of England since 2006’.

The same document reads: ‘More than two thirds of all moves in London in the last years were either into or within the private rented sector’.

As if it was not enough, rents across the capital are high-priced. According to the Citizens Advice (2015), there are more than 100,000 households who pay more than £900 per month to live in an unsafe private home.

Therefore, not only an increasing number of Londoners is renting while struggling to get on the housing ladder, but also affordable and decent accommodations are extremely hard to find. In fact, high demand means some landlords exploit tenants by putting them in uncomfortable and often unsafe homes and the new City Hall database intends to bring together details of acceptable places to rent or buy.

The scheme, which will be built in partnerships with London Boroughs and will initially involve six councils, Newham, Brent, Camden, Southwark, Kingston and Sutton, will also provide details about landlords and letting agents who have been previously prosecuted for housing offences.

Brexit: where is the deal?

Brexit is happening. Source: http://www.thedailybell.com

Prime Minister Theresa May will trigger Article 50 tomorrow, starting the two- year process of leaving the European Union.

Britain, which has been in a state of unprecedented uncertainty since the outcome of the referendum last June, has now to honour its commitments to the European budget by paying a hefty divorce bill of £50bn.

However, the country may fail to meet one of three negotiating priorities, as it is willing to pay only a fraction of that amount.  

Mr Barnier, the EU chief who leads the Brexit negotiations and set the criteria, has warned of the possibility that the EU and Britain could fail to strike a deal with painful consequences for both economies.

His other priorities are not undermining the peace in Northern Ireland and deciding the status of the over 3 million EU nationals living in Britain.

The government should put into place an action plan aimed at protecting the rights of millions of people who have built a career and a life in Tanland, by not forcing them to move elsewhere. The act would help to maintain the current skilled and varied workforce and perhaps encourage more people from overseas to move to the UK and contribute to the economy, as it has been for many decades.

Otherwise, how is the British labour market going to cope with fewer and fewer EU workers choosing to move to the UK? The overall number of people in the European Union looking for a job in Britain has fallen by almost a fifth since January (Indeed, 2016), while the NHS hospitals have seen a sharp fall in number of EU nurses after Brexit vote, aggravating an already strained healthcare system.

To immediately guarantee the immigrants’ rights would make even more sense in the light of data revealing that 1,2 million British-born people reside in Europe and they hope not to be negatively affected by the Brexit agreement (United Nations, 2015).

A bad deal or no deal at all could be disastrous and cause severe delays at airports and long queues at Dover, as well as the suspension of the deliveries of nuclear material, not to mention the impact on the food industry. In fact, as many companies import ingredients from the EU and related costs are expected to rise even further in the short-term, companies need to decide whether to absorb that additional payment or change to a UK supply.

On top of the necessity to support  fair competition, Mr. Barnier has highlighted the tremendous importance of Great Britain and the EU co-operating on security and defence. Not by chance the European Union has helped avoid war between its members since 1945.

Wheelchair vs buggy

This January the Supreme Court of UK has ruled that bus companies must end first come first served policies and do more to accommodate wheelchair users.

Wheelchair user boarding a bus. 

 Source: http://www.rica.org.uk/content/buses

Disabled activist Doug Paulley from West Yorkshire brought his case after he was denied access to a bus in 2012, when a mother with a pushchair refused to make space for him and the driver did nothing to force her to move.

It has not been a straightforward journey, though. Doug Paulley’s appeal, which has been funded by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, was upheld after the successful county court case outcome against FirstGroup in 2013 had been overturned by the court of appeal the following year.

                                                                

 “It has been amazing the amount of support that I have had of so many people, disabled people, organisations, lawyers, families, LAs. This hopefully is going to make a major difference to disabled people’s travels”, said Mr. Paulley. 

A ruling on the case is expected before the end of 2017 and the brave traveller hopes that the Supreme Court will finally make the right legal and moral decision that supports the major objective of social inclusion for physically impaired people who are too often left in distress while travelling:

 “Not all the justices agreed (…). There was a significant disagreement on some details (…). What this judgment means is that the drivers have to make their own decision as to whether or not the person has been unreasonable in refusing to move. If they are, the driver has to tell them they are required to shift and if necessary refuse to continue the journey until they move over”.

Wheelchair and mobility scooter-users are highly dependent on buses to get around and while a buggy can be easily folded, the same solution does not apply to wheelchairs, especially when the disabled passengers are travelling alone.

Those who are physically impaired face challenges while travelling in London, too.   
Insufficient wheelchair-friendly transport is a widespread problem in the capital, where only few tube stations have step-free access. 

The Transport for London (TFL) website reads: “Around a quarter of Tube stations, half of Overground stations, most piers, all tram stops, the Emirates Air Line and all DLR stations have step-free access”.  

However, some of these stations still have a gap and step between the platform and the train.