Responding to the news that Gordon Brown has recommended the Labour Party make social rights a key plank of their next manifesto, Jennifer Nadel, Co-Director of Compassion in Politics, said:

“We back Gordon Brown’s recommendation and call on the Labour Party to make social rights a cornerstone of their manifesto. We cannot continue to have a situation in which companies make record profits while people struggle to pay their bills or feed their families. We cannot continue to live in the sixth largest economy in the world while more and more people rely on foodbanks. It’s time to change the economic rules so our nation’s vast wealth can be used to benefit everyone. That means establishing a basic right to food, housing and income - the foundations of a decent and healthy life.”

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Compassion in Politics polling with Opinium shows that the public overwhelmingly support the building of new windfarms to help tackle the climate crisis.

The polling comes as Conservative MPs seek to overturn their leadership's current ban on new onshore windfarms.

Asked which source of energy they would prefer to see boosted in the UK, three in four (74%) said they would support building more wind-farms. Close to one in two (45%) said they would also support investment in nuclear power.

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Responding to the commitment by new prime minister Rishi Sunak to govern with compassion, Jennifer Nadel, Co-Director of Compassion in Politics said:

"We congratulate the new prime minister on his selection and welcome his commitment to governing with compassion. In recent weeks and months, no doubt in response to both the scandals we've witnessed and the crises we face, politicians from all parties have been calling for compassion to be at the heart of politics. We look forward to working with them to ensure that the PMs statement is borne out in reality through policies to address inequality, prevent hardship, and ensure everyone leads a good and happy life."

Commenting on the alleged bullying that took place during last night's Commons vote on fracking, Co-Director of Compassion in Politics Jennifer Nadel said:

“The worrying reports we’re hearing about the use of physical coercion and intimidation in the lobby last night just shows we need a total change in the culture of our politics. 

“One immediate step that must be taken is, as so many parliaments across the world have done, to introduce electronic voting. That allows members to cast their vote in a professional manner without undue influence from colleagues. 

“We also need a complete review of the Whipping system in parliament. We have repeatedly called for this system - which in its present style and form is a type of institutionalised bullying - to be either scrapped or significantly reformed. The public needs to know that their representatives are making decisions in good faith, not because they have been threatened, cajoled, or extorted.

“And more generally we need MPs, party leaders, and the Speaker to come together to undertake a thorough review of the culture of our politics - inside and outside Westminster - to ensure that it is working to the highest standard of inclusion, cooperation, and compassion.”

Responding to the government’s u-turn on the top rate of income tax, Co-Director of Compassion in Politics Jennifer Nadel said:

“This is a victory for compassion and fairness. The overwhelming opposition this policy has faced has shown that the public want to see economic policies aimed at supporting the common good, not the interests of a minority. With this in mind, the government needs to re-evaluate its priorities. It ought to look at the support that it can provide to those in the most vulnerable circumstances - by, for example, raising the minimum wage and increasing social security - as well as empowering public bodies across the country to take action in the name of reducing inequality by finally adopting the socio-economic duty.”

Around 50 charities, academics, and campaigners have written to Conservative leadership contenders Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak asking them to support a public right to housing, food, and income.

The letter, sent as forecasters predict UK inflation will hit 18% next year and companies warn of “catastrophic” energy prices, calls for “era-defining solutions” to the cost-of-living crisis.

It argues that the offers of one-off payments to households, while welcome, will do nothing to fix the structural problems facing the UK economy including rising prices, falling wages, and insufficient social security payments.

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