Nutritix

Category: Media

  • Blinken’s Jerusalem visit offers few solutions

    Blinken’s Jerusalem visit offers few solutions

    When Antony Blinken landed at Ben Gurion airport on Monday he said he had arrived at a “pivotal moment”.

    By the end of his two-day visit, it is clear he had more than one moment in mind. 

    Israel and the occupied West Bank are currently gripped by a level of violence unmatched in years, which shows signs of slipping much further out of control.

    But there are several “pivotal moments” converging and the Americans are worried. Their top diplomat might have been referring to any or all of them as he spoke on the tarmac with aviation fumes still blurring the air behind him.

    It is a long list. First is the accelerating rate of bloodshed. Next comes the most radically nationalist governing coalition in Israel’s history, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (who is on trial on corruption charges, which he denies). 

    The coalition is asserting “exclusive” Jewish rights to all the land (ie ending any idea of a future independent Palestinian state). It also proposes to change fundamentally the nature of Israel’s legal system (a full attack on Israeli democracy say those pouring on to the streets in protest). 

    Then there is a near complete collapse in control by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in parts of the occupied West Bank (seeing waves of Israeli military raids and helping create a new generation of armed militants), an aging and unpopular PA leader (whom this year marks Year 18 of his four-year elected term in office), and his announcement last week to ditch so-called security coordination with the Israelis (a move that could lead to a complete security collapse in the West Bank). 

    Much of this has been years in the making. And after the US made a series of unprecedented announcements for the region under former President Donald Trump, the Biden administration has been winding many of them back. It is left able to prioritize only what it thinks is possible in the immediate term. 

    Forget any sudden talk of pursuing a two-state solution – the long-held international formula for peace. This is crisis management. Mr. Blinken kept using two phrases, “calling for calm” and “upholding our shared values”. 

    On the first point, the death toll is among the worst in years. In the last 10 months, there have been waves of lethal Israeli military search and arrest raids in the occupied West Bank, a deadly round of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, and a spate of deadly attacks by Palestinians against Israelis. More than 200 Palestinians and 30 Israelis were killed in 2022. In January alone this year, more than 30 Palestinians and seven Israelis have been killed.

  • Green projects are boosting UK growth

    Green projects are boosting UK growth

    The transition to a greener economy is worth £71bn and has brought jobs and investment to parts of the UK experiencing industrial decline. 

    Those are the key findings of a new report written by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

    The drive to reach net zero emissions involves more than 20,000 businesses, it calculates. 

    Some 840,000 jobs are linked to sectors ranging from renewable energy to waste management, it adds.

    Titled Mapping The Net Zero Economy, the report looked at the parts of the UK that have benefited most from policies aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions. 

    Scotland and English regions, such as Tyneside, Teeside, Merseyside and the Humber, had all done better than average, with the green economy being stronger and contributing more to growth than in London and the South East. 

    Green jobs also pay significantly more, the report says, with the average wage (£42,600) significantly above the national average (£33,400).

    “The net zero economy is addressing levelling up and the UK’s productivity problem,” says Peter Chalkley, the director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) who commissioned the research.

    “But if the UK doesn’t build on the good work that has already been done, we will lose out and lose jobs.”

    The UK has long been seen as a leader in green technology, in particular offshore wind, but this position is at risk. 

    “Other places (in the world) are really setting out their stalls for how they’re going to capture that investment,” says Tom Thackeray from the CBI who carried out the analysis, adding that there is now a “global competition” for green funding. 

    The passing last year of landmark legislation in the United States called the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has, analysts say, changed the global dynamic for green investment. The Bill puts aside $369bn (£297bn) for action related to tackling climate change and many companies now see America as the best destination for their money. 

    “There’s an excitement [about the US since the IRA], so the challenge for us is to reignite the excitement back in the UK,” says Chris Stark, the chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, a public body that advises the UK government on its green policies.

    The view that the UK is losing momentum was also in Tory MP Chris Skidmore’s Mission Zero report last month in which he said the UK was falling behind in the net zero race.

    Restrictive planning regulations for onshore wind and solar, and a lack of consistency in policy were among many issues Mr Skidmore cited as holding back investment from the private sector.

    “We need to really speed up planning and consent for renewables and for network connections and for vehicle charging,” says Emma Pinchbeck, the chief executive of trade association Energy UK. 

    “It takes 12 years to build a wind farm in this country, when it should take one.”

    Responding to the report and the criticism of policy, a government spokesman said the UK was leading the world on tackling climate change.

    “Our plans will support up to 480,000 jobs by 2030,” they said. “We are driving an unprecedented £100bn of private sector investment by 2030, backed by around £30bn in funding from the government since March 2021 to achieve 

  • Shell reports the highest profits in 115 years

    Shell reports the highest profits in 115 years

    Profits hit $39.9bn (£32.2bn) in 2022, double last year’s total and the highest in its 115-year history.

    Energy firms have seen record earnings since oil and gas prices jumped following the invasion of Ukraine.

    It has heaped pressure on firms to pay more tax as households struggle with rising bills.

    Opposition parties said Shell’s profits were “outrageous” and the government was letting energy firms “off the hook”. They also called for the planned increase in the energy price cap due in April to be scrapped. 

    Energy prices had begun to climb after the end of Covid lockdowns but rose sharply in March last year after the events in Ukraine led to worries over supplies.

    The price of Brent crude oil reached nearly $128 a barrel following the invasion but has since fallen back to about $83. Gas prices also spiked but have come down from their highs.

    It has led to bumper profits for energy companies, but also fuelled a rise in energy bills for households and businesses. 

    Last year, the UK government introduced a windfall tax – called the Energy Profits Levy – on the “extraordinary” earnings of firms to help fund its scheme to lower gas and electricity bills.

    Despite the move, Shell had said it did not expect to pay any UK tax this year as it is allowed to offset decommissioning costs and investments in UK projects against any UK profits.

    However, on Thursday it said was due to pay $134m in UK windfall tax for 2022, and expected to pay more than $500m in 2023.

    This may look small compared to its profits but Shell only derives around 5% of its revenue from the UK – the rest is made and taxed in other jurisdictions.

    However, critics point out that Shell is a UK-headquartered company and has been paying more to its shareholders than it spends on renewable investments.

    The government is currently limiting gas and electricity bills so a household using a typical amount of energy will pay £2,500 a year.

    However, that is still more than twice what it was before Russia’s invasion, and the threshold is due to rise to £3,000 in April. 

    The government’s windfall tax only applies to profits made from extracting UK oil and gas. The rate was originally set at 25%, but has now been increased to 35%.

    Oil and gas firms also pay 30% corporation tax on their profits as well as a supplementary 10% rate. Along with the new windfall tax, that takes their total tax rate to 75%.

    However, companies are able to reduce the amount of tax they pay by factoring in losses or spending on things like decommissioning North Sea oil platforms. It has meant that in recent years, energy giants such as BP and Shell have paid little or no tax in the UK.

  • British Gas admits agents break into struggling customers’ homes

    British Gas admits agents break into struggling customers’ homes

    The boss of British Gas owner Centrica has said he is horrified that debt collectors have broken into vulnerable customers’ homes to fit energy meters.

    The Times found debt agents working for British Gas expressed excitement at putting meters in the homes of people who had fallen behind on energy bills.

    “This happened when people were acting on behalf of British Gas. There is nothing that can be said to excuse it,” Chris O’Shea told the BBC.

    The firm has suspended installations.

    The suspension follows an undercover investigation by the Times whose reporter went with agents working for Arvato Financial Solutions’ – a company used by British Gas to pursue debts – to the home of a single father with three children. 

    After establishing the property was unoccupied, the reporter observed the agents work with a locksmith to force their way in and install a prepayment meter.

    It reported that the locksmith said: “This is the exciting bit. I love this bit.”

    Mr O’Shea told BBC Radio 4’s Today program: “The contractor that we’ve employed, Arvato, has let us down but I am accountable for this.

    “This happened when people were acting on behalf of British Gas. There is nothing that can be said to excuse it.”

    Agents also fitted a prepayment meter by force at the home of a young mother with an infant baby, the newspaper said.

    Others who experienced similar treatment, according to materials seen by The Times, include a mother whose daughter is disabled and a woman described as having mobility problems.

    Centrica said the suspension – where it applied to the court for a warrant to install a pre-payment meter – would last “until at least after winter” and that protecting vulnerable people was its priority.

    Business Secretary Grant Shapps said he was “horrified” by the findings.

    “Switching customers – and particularly those who are vulnerable – to prepayment meters should only ever be a last resort and every other possible alternative should be exhausted,” he said.

    “These findings suggest British Gas are doing anything but this.”

    Energy firms are required to have exhausted all other options before installing a prepayment meter, and should not do so for those “in the most vulnerable situations”.

    It comes amid the rising cost of living and as household bills soar in part due to mounting energy costs.

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