Flagship Labour plan to be replaced with six-month threshold after Peter Kyle vows to not let businesses ‘lose’ under new law The government is to ditch its flagship policy from the workers’ rights bill, removing the right to protection from unfair dismissal from the first day of employment and replacing it with a six-month threshold. The move comes after the business secretary, Peter Kyle, told businesses at the CBI conference this week that he would listen to concerns about the effects of the law change on hiring. A trade union source told the Guardian: “They’ve capitulated and there may be more to come.” Continue reading...

Amazon Web Services owns the basic infrastructure for other businesses to operate online, turning even governments into its serfs. But now some people are fighting back For the past six years, every Black Friday – that made-up carnival of consumption – Amazon workers and their allies have mobilised across the world in coordinated strikes and protests. At first glance, these disputes look like the standard struggle between a giant capitalist employer and the people who keep it running. But Amazon is no ordinary corporation. It is the clearest expression of what I call technofeudalism: a new economic order in which platforms behave like lords owning the fiefs that have replaced markets. To appreciate Amazon’s extraordinary power, we must recall the system it is helping to bury. Capitalism relied on markets and profit. Firms invested in productive capital, hired workers, produced commodities and lived or died by profit and loss. But the emerging order is one in which the most powerful capitalist firms have exited that market altogether. They own the digital infrastructure that everyone else must use to trade, work, communicate and live. Yanis Varoufakis is the leader of MeRA25 and the author of Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism Continue reading...

Week 13: Detroit v Green Bay from 6pm GMT, 1pm local Dallas v Kansas City starts at 9.30pm GMT, 3.30pm local Hello and happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate! I am just going to come out and say it, I am so very thankful for midweek football on at a decent hour in the UK and having the pleasure of bringing it to you, wherever you might be on this beautiful blue marble. I just hope we feast as well on the turf as lots of you will around your tables. Thanksgiving is all about tradition so our starter is served piping hot from Detroit, as it has been since 1934, and it could be a classic between the (7-4) Lions and the (7-3-1) Green Bay Packers. The records look pretty but they are both still a win behind the Chicago Bears at the NFC North’s summit while Detroit would just miss out on a wildcard as it stands owing to Green Bay’s draw. So victory is the only option, if it wasn’t already, as these great rivals gear up for their 193rd meeting. The Packers hold a significant edge all-time with a 107-78-7 record. Continue reading...

Fashion designer whose idiosyncratic mix of glam and DIY couture was worn by Björk, Siouxsie Sioux and Taylor Swift The designer Pam Hogg stayed faithful for life to the principles, practices, provocations and politics of the art school, music and club scene of her youth around 1980. The fashion industry metamorphosed over the decades since, but she went on believing in individuality and drama, painstakingly achieved. Debbie Harry, Siouxsie Sioux, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Björk, Lily Allen, Kylie Minogue and Taylor Swift, among others, bought her garments, which were auditorium-dominating mixes of sex, eccentricity and intellect. Hogg’s catsuits in Latex and PVC became the glam workwear of the rock and pop stage. They never dated. When a star strides on stage in one, the audience knows the action is about to kick off. Yet to the end of her life, Hogg, who has died, aged perhaps 66 (she refused to reveal her age publicly), remained a struggling artist. She hoped to arrive at the same safe destination as her long-term friend Vivienne Westwood, with an atelier equipped with pattern cutter and couture seamstresses, plus financial backing for a ready-to-wear line that would not betray her nonconforming philosophy of dress. Continue reading...

The two-child benefit cap was a totem of 14 years of failed ideology. Now it is gone Lucy Powell is deputy leader of the Labour party Yesterday the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, delivered a Labour budget. People have been asking for Labour’s purpose and values to be more clearly expressed. Through the choices made – a shift to a fairer tax system, targeting wealth to pay for tackling child poverty, good public services and the cost of living – we have clearly set out what we stand for. That’s why Labour MPs cheered in the Commons, and it’s why we are up for the fights to come. And it’s why the cries from the right began immediately. Lucy Powell is MP for Manchester Central and deputy leader of the Labour party Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Amber Milnes, five, who had cyclical vomiting syndrome, was not kept in hospital overnight after tonsillitis operation A five-year-old girl with a rare syndrome that caused her to vomit repeatedly should have been immediately readmitted to hospital following a tonsillitis operation when she suffered a bout of sickness, a coroner has said. The family of Amber Milnes, who had cyclical vomiting syndrome (CVS), have expressed concern that she was not kept in hospital overnight after the procedure because of her condition and say she ought to have been readmitted next morning when she began vomiting. Continue reading...

What begins as a harmless scroll through the secondhand app quickly turns into a window on our anxieties, ambitions and alter egos • Don’t get Fashion Statement delivered to your inbox? Sign up here This week’s newsletter idea stemmed from where all good ideas stem from – procrastinating while on a deadline. All it took was for one person to reveal what was on their Vinted Favourites list and suddenly everyone was whipping out phones to compare. The Lithuanian resale platform launched in the UK just over 10 years ago, but really revved up during 2021 when many of us ran out of excuses to avoid clearing out our wardrobes. Today, “it’s from Vinted” has become a humblebrag indicating you are the type of person who can track down a great deal and don’t buy new from mass retailers. Continue reading...

Author tells high court her public support for group means her books could disappear from UK stores altogether The Irish author Sally Rooney has told the high court that she is highly unlikely to be able to publish new work within the UK while the ban on Palestine Action remains in effect because of her public support for the group. On the second day of the legal challenge to Palestine Action’s proscription, the effect on Rooney, who said her books could disappear from UK stores altogether, was held up as an example of its impact on freedom of expression. Continue reading...

Most of money earmarked to fix ‘systemic’ problems expected to pay for officials needed to reassess overpayments Ministers have set aside £75m to fix systemic failures that caused hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers to be hit with huge bills after unwittingly breaching complex and confusing benefit rules. A damning independent review, published on Tuesday, found that outdated technology, unclear guidance and a failure of leadership by ministers and senior welfare officials had led to punitive sanctions on vulnerable families. Continue reading...

We’ve cut through the noise to find genuinely good Black Friday discounts on Filter tried-and-tested products across home, tech, beauty and toys • How to shop smart this Black Friday • The best Black Friday beauty deals Like Christmas Day, Black Friday has long since ceased to be a mere “day”. Yuletide now seems to start roughly whezn Strictly does, and Black Friday seemed to kick off around Halloween. But now, at last, we’ve reached the day that puts the “Friday” into Black Friday. Black Friday is a devil worth dancing with if you want to save money on products you’ve had your eye on. Some of the Filter’s favourite items spent most of November floating around at prices clearly designed to make them sell out fast. Other deals have been kept back until now, and some won’t even land until the daftly named Cyber Monday (1 December). Continue reading...

Experts lay out scale of changes needed in ‘first-of-its-kind national emergency briefing’ in Westminster A host of eminent scientists have warned politicians, business and community leaders that the UK risks severe climate-related risks to its economy, public health, food systems and national security. According to its organisers more than 1,000 corporate bosses, senior civil servants and civic leaders were set to assemble in the Methodist central hall in Westminster for the “first-of-its-kind national emergency briefing” on Thursday morning. Continue reading...

S&P Global Ratings warns Lord Rothermere’s RCHL could face credit downgrade as it seeks funding for £500m deal The Daily Mail’s parent company has been warned it could face a credit downgrade if it loads up with debt to fund its £500m takeover of the Telegraph titles. The US credit ratings agency S&P Global Ratings said Rothermere Continuation Holdings Ltd (RCHL) – the Jersey-based parent company of Lord Rothermere’s assets including the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Metro and the i Paper – had been put on “credit watch” as it seeks to put a funding package in place to table a formal deal in the coming weeks. Continue reading...

Thinktank predicts backloading may force Labour to abandon tax rises or spending cuts Rachel Reeves has positioned Labour to fight the next general election with tax increases and spending cuts that resemble a work of “fiscal fiction”, an analysis by leading economists has warned. In its verdict on the chancellor’s budget, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the chancellor had chosen a high-risk strategy by backloading her plans to start just before voters go the polls in 2029. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Unknown culprit suspected of spraying glyphosate on protected trees hoped to stop peat erosion and flooding Trees planted as part of a nature restoration project on Prince William’s land in Dartmoor national park have been deliberately poisoned with herbicide, sparking outrage and a hunt for the culprit. The willow trees, on Duchy of Cornwall land, were planted as part of a project to stop peat erosion, store carbon and reduce the risk of flooding. Continue reading...

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! When Liverpool players are put out to pasture, it is not uncommon for them to be given a warm Anfield send-off, a ceremonial microphone and a high-profile media platform from which to endlessly pontificate. Such has been the proliferation of old boys in the punditry ranks since Alan Hansen famously announced “you can’t win anything with kids”, it now seems nigh on impossible to sit through any major Premier League or Bigger Cup match without hearing at least one Liverpool alumnus chipping in from the sidelines. Whether it’s Carra or Crouchy or Didi or Danny or Jamie or Robbie or Souey or Macca or Coley or Stephen Warnock, this feedback loop can prove a source of great irritation to the sensitive ears of other clubs’ fans. But when things go off the rails and the crisis analysis hits peak screech, that’s when their irate pronouncements become appointment viewing. Continue reading...

Macron says plan to introduce 10 months’ service among 18- and 19-year-olds will help France respond to ‘accelerating threats’ Europe live – latest updates France is to introduce voluntary military service of 10 months aimed mainly at young people aged 18 and 19, as concern grows in Europe about the threat from Russia. In a speech to troops in Varces-Allières-et-Risset in the French Alps, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said the service would begin by mid-2026 and would help France respond to “accelerating threats” on the global stage. Continue reading...

Research group More in Common spoke to former ‘blue wall’ constituents unimpressed by ‘chaotic’ U-turns “It’s all sort of stacked against you … The people that are working hard and earning a decent wage, trying to get childcare costs under control … you sort of question why you’re doing what you’re doing,” was how Hayley, an assistant headteacher in our focus group in Aldershot, described the economy, shortly after the budget was announced. Hayley’s not alone: a record 57% of Britons now say they are unsure that the cost of living crisis will ever end. But what was so revealing about Wednesday’s focus group was that they were all in what we would normally see as relatively high-paid jobs, they owned their own homes – not the type of voter you’d normally think of as struggling. As Martin, a product manager in the automotive industry, put it, “on paper, we should be feeling really well-off”. Continue reading...

Irish actor, who had first amputation after football injury, shows off new wheelchair in TikTok video The actor and Celebrity Traitors star Ruth Codd has announced that she is recovering after a second leg amputation operation. The 29-year-old Irish performer had her first amputation six years ago after injuring her foot playing football as a teenager, which led to years of surgeries and chronic pain. Continue reading...

Tognetti/Australian Chamber Orchestra (ABC Classic) Under Richard Tognetti the ACO has established itself as world-class and this 50th anniversary live recording of these two great concertos are a wonderful souvenir of a remarkable group Over the past quarter of a century the Australian Chamber Orchestra has become a regular visitor to Europe, establishing itself as one of the world’s foremost chamber bands. The group was founded in 1975, and this pairing of perhaps the two greatest violin concertos in the repertory is being released to mark the ACO’s 50th birthday. The soloist and conductor in both works is Richard Tognetti, who has been the orchestra’s leader and artistic director for the past 35 years. Both recordings are taken from concerts given in Sydney’s City Recital Hall, the Beethoven concerto in 2018, the Brahms last February. The close recorded sound very faithfully reproduces the intensely involving approach of the ACO when heard in the flesh, with its amalgam of modern playing techniques with the use of historical instruments (gut strings, period wind). For both concertos the orchestra’s permanent core of 20 players was more than doubled with guest instrumentalists from other Australian orchestras, but the suppleness and coherence of its textures are as persuasive as ever. Continue reading...

Leader lost valuable points after disqualification McLaren team insist did not take ‘excessive risk’ Lando Norris has insisted nothing has changed in terms of his focus on sealing his first Formula One world championship after both he and his McLaren teammate were disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix, a result which catapulted Red Bull’s Max Verstappen back into contention for the title. McLaren’s team principal Andrea Stella however has denied the team took “excessive risks” with their car in Las Vegas. The race in Nevada last weekend was won by Verstappen but Norris took a strong second and Piastri fourth. However, four hours afterwards, following an investigation by the FIA, both were disqualified after the skid blocks on the floor of their cars were found to have been worn down below the 9mm limit defined in the rules. Continue reading...

The Canadian electroclash icon on No Lube So Rude, her first album in a decade, the state of global politics, the ‘punk energy’ of the older generation and her love of ping-pong Why is your forthcoming album your first in over a decade and who is/are the “you” in comeback single Not in Your Mouth None of Your Business? k4ren123 I’ve been very busy – touring, working with dance troupes, performance art, sculptures, playing the lead role in a production of Bertolt Brecht’s The Seven Deadly Sins in Stuttgart, and on and on. Then, finally, I started on new music. The “you” in the single are people who feel they have the right to have autonomy over other people’s bodies and make it unsafe for people to be who they want to be. I’m especially talking about queer and mostly trans rights. The song’s like a mantra or chant, a way to empower people in only a few sentences. As a fan of your concert costume design as much as your music, what can we expect from the upcoming tour? Kelechica I was thinking about sustainability and went to a costume sale at the Berlin opera and bought a bunch of opera costumes. I’m working with Charlie Le Mindu, who is transforming them into weird new creations. In the video for Not in Your Mouth, I’m wearing my sister’s leather jacket. It’s just been the fifth anniversary of her passing, and I wanted to keep something of her, so I kept her leather jacket that she wore the crap out of since the 90s. So, in a way, she’ll be in the show. Continue reading...

Andy Serkis revels in his narration of the first murder mystery from the author of This Is Going to Hurt, which showcases Kay’s signature pitch-black humour Dr Eitan Rose is stark naked in a gay sauna when he is called upon to perform CPR on an elderly man and fellow patron who is having a heart attack. When arriving paramedics ask Eitan for his details, he declines to give his real name, instead giving them the name of his work supervisor and nemesis, Douglas Moran. Eitan is a hard-partying consultant rheumatologist who has just returned to work after several months off following a mental health crisis, and who uses liquid cocaine secreted into a nasal inhaler to get through the working day. When Moran dies in unexpected circumstances, Eitan suspects foul play and sets about finding the culprit. Soon he is performing illicit postmortems and impersonating a police detective so he can cross-examine a suspect. But when he tries to blow the whistle, his colleagues and the police decline to take his claims seriously. Eitan may work among medical professionals, but they are not above stigmatising a colleague diagnosed with bipolar disorder and taking his outlandish claims as evidence of his instability. Continue reading...

Don’t panic if you’ve left it late to plan your gathering – follow these tips for whipping up an instant party atmosphere At this time of year, when there’s enough going on to make the most vivacious person occasionally look forward to the financial and social drought of January, it’s all too easy to forget things. I cannot be the only person who’s ever been shocked back into consciousness at my desk by a message from a friend asking, “What time do you want us later?” Fear not; whether you’re absent minded, or just prone to last-minute invitations, I have your back. Firstly, and I cannot stress this enough, whether you’ve been planning for a year or 15 minutes, the best parties are the simplest. All anyone is hoping for is a good chat, something to drink, and enough to eat that they don’t feel like gnawing an arm off on the bus home. Unless you’re Jay Gatsby, no one expects a full bar, Michelin-starred catering or a live band. That said, a theme is helpful for disguising the fact you’ve just thrown this thing together on the way home from work … And by theme, I mean something like, for instance, Christmas. Getting slightly more specific (Scandinavian Christmas, say, with glögg, spiced punch, smoked fish and rye crackers, Nordic beats playlist; or Mexican Christmas, with ponche navideño, cold beers or margaritas, and heaps of tortilla chips, salsa and guacamole, and Luis Miguel on the stereo) will focus your options on the inevitable supermarket sweep. Continue reading...

Equality Trust study shows how House of Lords appointments, big donations and media concentration affects political decision Structural corruption and the rise of “conduits for unelected power” are reshaping British politics, according to a stark report from the Equality Trust. Unelected influence has surged over the past two decades, the report claims, driven by the growing political clout of the ultra-rich and the institutions that enable it. Continue reading...

Graduates in relatively low-paid jobs earning close to minimum wage will have to repay ‘more, much sooner’ The National Union of Students (NUS) has warned that a new three-year freeze on the salary threshold for loan repayments could leave new graduates struggling to afford food, rent and bills. In Rachel Reeves’s budget on Wednesday it was announced that from April 2027, the salary at which graduates must begin to repay their student debt is being frozen at £29,385 for three years. Continue reading...