The Reason Review — January 2018
As far as new year’s resolutions go, January only had one; the second annual Women’s March to promote equality, diversity and inclusion— which as a statement of intent was a pretty positive way to kick off 2018. Unfortunately, other resolutions—to repatriate Myanmar’s Rohingya refugees, to re-open dialogue between North and South Korea, the UK Government’s environmental plan—were a little less inspiring.
Diplomacy on Thin Ice
“The Olympics gesture may represent the last olive branch that Seoul ever extends to Pyongyang.”
After months of increasing tension and nuclear tests (not to mention bellicose rhetoric from the leader of the free world), January saw a dramatic boost in diplomatic relations between North and South Korea. The first sign of progress arrived on January 3, when North Korean officials made contact using a dedicated North/South hotline — a phone line that was last used in February 2016.
Soon afterwards, Pyongyang expressed interest in sending athletes to the forthcoming Winter Olympics in Seoul. The reclusive North accepted a proposal from the South that the two nations should field a dual-nation ice hockey team, registered simply as “Korea”. Communication difficulties and public distrust have subsequently cast some doubt on the joint venture, but for now there’s still hope that this may lead to improved relations between the two countries. As The Atlantic points out, further chances for peace may not be forthcoming.
Closedown on Capitol Hill
“A long-simmering dispute between Democrats and Republicans over immigration has finally boiled over.”
The US government ground to a halt at midnight on January 20 as Congress failed to pass a bill on its funding plans before the previous legislation expired. The shutdown resulted in the temporary closure of several non-essential federal agencies. Among the main drivers of the shutdown were Republican plans to scrap the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program, which offers deportation protection for unauthorised immigrants who were brought into the US in their early life.
In support of this demographic (nicknamed “DREAMers”), and in protest against the apparent reversals of the guarantees agreed under President Obama, the Democrats used their voting power to block the passing of the funding bill. After three days of gridlock, the Democrat’s Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer, agreed to a Republican offer to temporarily extend government funding by two and a half weeks. However, unless the disagreements over DACA are resolved during this buffer period, it’s quite possible that a second shutdown could loom within a matter of days.
Women’s March Mark Two
“Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched once again in continued opposition to the administration of President Donald Trump, to promote women’s rights, health issues, equality, diversity, and inclusion.”
January 21 marked the anniversary of the seismic event that was the 2017 Women’s March. An estimated 5 million people across the world took to the streets to promote women’s rights, advocate for healthcare and immigration reform, and to raise awareness around a plethora of equality and diversity issues. Fuelled largely by the election of Donald Trump, the march was the largest single-day protest in US history — though the 673 marches that took place across the remaining six continents were also impressively large-scale feats.
One year on, and the crowds were out in full force again, no doubt galvanised by 12 months of antagonistic Trump tweets, governmental disarray, and horror-story revelations emerging from a post-Weinstein Hollywood and beyond.
Myanmar Urges Rohingya Repatriation
“Five months after the violence began, Burma and Bangladesh were on the brink of repatriating up to 1,500 Rohingya people last week, with plans to return all “eligible” refugees over two years…”
Since the outbreak of yet more violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State in late August, the number of Rohingya refugees fleeing to neighbouring countries has skyrocketed. It’s now estimated that between 650,000–800,000 of the 1.1 million-strong Rohingya population have been driven from their homes and forced into makeshift camps in neighbouring Bangladesh — most notably, the Kutupalong refugee camp in the Cox’s Bazar district. The UN have recently taken to describing the crisis as “the most urgent refugee emergency in the world” while statements from UN officials claim it has “hallmarks of genocide”. This insightful article from The Washington Post details the staccato progress and the potential resultant pitfalls of ongoing talks between Burma and Bangladesh regarding the repatriation of Rohingya refugees.
A Green Future?
“Its goals are simple: cleaner air and water; plants and animals which are thriving; and a cleaner, greener country for us all.”
January was another contradictory month for the UK government where environmental issues were concerned. In December 2017, the secretary of state for the environment, Michael Gove, voiced his support for the reintroduction of deposit schemes for plastic bottles, then later admitted he had no strategy for dealing with China’s decision to cease imports of the UK’s recyclable waste. “I don’t know what impact it will have,” he said. “It is… something to which — I will be completely honest — I have not given sufficient thought.”
On January 11, Theresa May unveiled a detailed 25-year environmental plan that included the establishment of an environmental watchdog, creating and preserving more habitats for wildlife to improve biodiversity, and designating new protected coastal areas nationwide. While certainly an ambitious plan, no mention was made of Gove’s proposed bottle deposit schemes, nor was there a comprehensive plan to tackle recycling.
Worse still, the government has opposed targets submitted by the European council for member states to recycle 65% of their urban waste by 2035 — in the UK, that figure would save close to £10bn over a decade in associated costs. In a final embarrassing turn, on January 19, Gove was summoned to Brussels to explain why the UK’s air still breaches legal limits of pollution, before heading back to London’s High Court to address a legal challenge to his national air quality plan that has already been branded inadequate.
Read the Government’s full environmental pan below.
The Carillion Crisis
“There is now a sense, growing with every successive scandal, that the privatisation of the everyday has gone too far…”
On Monday January 15, construction firm Carillion crashed into liquidation leaving the future of its 43,000 employees in uncertainty and bills to some 30,000 small contractors unpaid. Although the private firm issued profit warnings in July 2017 that caused its share price to tumble 39%, the government still awarded it valuable public contracts including a £1.4bn deal for work on the HS2 rail project.
Later in the month it was revealed that Carillion had racked up a £1bn pension deficit across 13 schemes representing 27,000 members, simultaneously accruing debts totalling £1.3bn. It nevertheless managed to pay shareholder dividends and executive bonuses. Questions have been raised as to how the pensions regulator permitted this situation to continue given its close scrutiny of the firm from 2008 onwards, and accountancy firm KPMG faces investigation by the Financial Reporting Council for its failure to flag Carillion’s insolvency while auditing it between 2014–2016 and signing off on its accounts.
In addition to construction projects, Carillion was engaged in the provision of multiple public services, including the preparation of meals at 230 UK schools. Its liquidation leaves a number of large-scale public projects unfinished, with corporations like Serco and Kier group expected to step in to pick up the slack. As yet the cost to the taxpayer is unknown.
Read Something
“In a little over a generation the bones and sinews of the British economy — rail, energy, water, postal services, municipal housing — have been sold to remote, unaccountable private owners, often from overseas.”
Journalist and author James Meek explores the history of Britain’s transition from public to private ownership, demonstrating how successive governments have paved the way for crises like Carillion’s to become commonplace.
See Something
“The Landworkers Alliance is a grassroots union of farmers, growers and land-based workers from across the whole of the U.K. We are a member led organisation campaigning for the rights of small-scale producers and a better food system for everyone.”
Last month the LWA raised over £25,000 to support their campaign of lobbying for more sustainable farming after Brexit. It’s too late to donate, but you can watch their campaign video and find out why theirs will be an important agenda to support in the months and years to come.
Do Something
“Hello, we’re Glimpse. A collective of creative people who want to use our skills for good. Instead of talking about the problem, we create ‘glimpses’ of a better world that’s just out of view.”
In the last two months of 2017, Glimpse and its team of 60 volunteers raised nearly £1m for charity by creating a shop that sold vital supplies for refugees. Their next project will look at creative ways to deal with marine pollution. If you’ve got time to spare and a creative mind, sign up and get involved.
The Reason Review aims to go beyond the headlines and find the stories and angles the newspapers have missed. We give you the extra context behind the bigger stories, explain to you why some seemingly smaller events matter and offer you something more interesting and informative than the simple facts.
