Power Shift: Elections in UK Undermine Traditional Parties in Push for Change
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Power Shift: Elections in UK Undermine Traditional Parties in Push for Change
UNITED KINGDOM
Fresh from making big gains in local elections earlier this month, the United Kingdom’s populist, far-right Reform Party recently pledged to lift the government’s ban on new oil drilling projects in the North Sea if they win control of parliament in the next general election in 2029.
The pledge was an example of the party’s plan to advance fossil fuels, promote job creation and energy independence, and block “net stupid zero” infrastructure, including renewable energy projects that require subsidies to be financially viable, the Guardian reported.
“We will attack, we will hinder, we will delay, we will obstruct, we will put every hurdle in your way,” said Richard Tice, Reform’s deputy leader, addressing green energy advocates. “It’s going to cost you a fortune, and you’re not going to win. So give up and go away.”
Tice’s comments are reflective of how a large portion of British voters feel today, analysts said.
Vowing to improve public services, decrease rising living costs, and sharply cut immigration – party leader Nigel Farage led the campaign to withdraw the UK from the European Union in 2016 – the Reform Party won 677 of 1,600 local council seats up for grabs in the May 2 vote, according to the BBC.
It was a historic victory for the far-right, said commentators, adding that it showed a shift in the political power in the UK: For most of the past century, power in the country has been held either by the Labour Party, currently in power under Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, or the Conservatives.
But now, with nearly one in three voters choosing Reform UK, that two-party system is looking shaky.
The party’s candidates mostly defeated Conservatives but also took seats from the Labour Party. Reform also won a fifth parliamentary seat in a special election and won two mayoral elections.
The results were a devastating rebuke to Starmer and his Labour allies, who have hiked taxes, cut benefits for seniors, and proposed deeper cuts to the social-welfare safety net, Al Jazeera noted.
Observers at the Economist posited that the elections demonstrated how the British electorate was fragmented. The question, they asked, was whether Reform can win a majority in 2029. If they join forces with the Conservatives, the British magazine estimated that they would have an 83 percent chance of assuming power.
But Hannah Bunting, an elections expert at the University of Exeter, pushed back against that analysis in the Conversation. Like the US, Britain has a first-past-the-post electoral system where winners must only secure a majority of votes. Reform winners often won their local elections by receiving less than half the total number of voters who cast ballots. They might not garner sufficient votes in a national election when more people flock to the polls.
That said, Reform leaders now have a chance to show what they can do, say observers.
In Kent, newly elected Reform politicians said removing a Ukrainian flag and a rainbow Pride flag from the local government building would be among their first actions, the Daily Express wrote.
Linden Kemkaran, Kent’s Reform leader, said her new administration had little time for “special interest groups” or the flags that represent them.
Analysts said that Reform UK is recruiting voters hungry for change, and that was reflected in the local election.
“These results are part of a global shift away from the center-left toward the populist right, who are increasingly seen as the ‘go-to’ parties of change,” wrote the London-based Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). As a result, “center-Left parties such as Labour are in danger of extinction and must ‘reinvent or die.’”
THE WORLD, BRIEFLY
Argentina Leaves World Health Organization, Wants New Club
ARGENTINA
Argentina finalized its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) this week, citing concern that the United Nations agency is driven by political and bureaucratic interests rather than by science, the Guardian reported.
The South American country’s withdrawal makes it the first country on the continent to leave the organization and follows in the footsteps of the United States, which announced its intention to exit the WHO in late January.
The announcement followed a visit by US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the capital of Buenos Aires on Tuesday. Both Kennedy and Argentine President Javier Milei are critics of the WHO and say they want a new international health organization based on scientific evidence and national sovereignty, according to MercoPress.
Milei insists that the international community needs to reconsider the authority of supranational organizations and instead prioritize each country’s right to national health policies.
Argentina has previously criticized the WHO for how it handled the Covid-19 emergency, calling the management “disastrous” with its “caveman quarantine.”
During the meeting with US officials, Argentine Health Minister Mario Lugones announced the intention to impose stricter rules on food, medicines, and vaccines. He added that clinical studies for vaccines will require placebo groups, referring to the Covid-19 vaccine’s exceptional approval without these.
Zimbabwean Approves Tax to Support State Broadcaster’s ‘Propaganda’
ZIMBABWE
Zimbabwe passed a law this week forcing motorists to pay a radio tax in order to register and insure their vehicles, in an attempt to support a state broadcaster that many call a mouthpiece for the governing party, the Associated Press reported.
The new measure, an amendment to the country’s Broadcasting Services Act, will mean that Zimbabwean drivers will have to pay $92 annually to renew their insurance or obtain a license for their vehicle.
The funds collected by the tax will go to the state broadcaster, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corp. (ZBC), a public broadcaster that has been accused of disseminating propaganda on behalf of the ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), especially during elections, the BBC noted. The ZBC also receives government grants.
Nick Mangwana, a senior official in the ministry of information, called the new law “necessary” and “fair.”
The fee is part of an initiative to increase revenue streams for the broadcaster: The ZBC has been struggling with declining advertising revenue, which opponents say is because both its audience and its advertisers gain little from its content. Meanwhile, Zimbabweans say they already pay for radio and television fees if they own a TV or radio at home or at a workplace.
Also, most Zimbabweans don’t consume news from the ZBC but rely on the independent press, WhatsApp, and the Internet, said Kudzai Kadzere, a lawyer in the capital, Harare. “This is too much for the already overburdened taxpayer,” he told the AP. “Now we are being forced to pay for propaganda.”
In 2016, an opposition lawmaker filed a lawsuit against the fees with the Zimbabwe Constitutional Court, arguing that the public broadcaster was biased and that the fee should be abolished. However, the court dismissed it.
Turkey’s Leader Moves to Rewrite Constitution To Avoid Term Limits, Opposition Says
TURKEY
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appointed a legal team this week to begin drafting a new constitution, a move critics say is an end-run around constitutional term limits that will allow him to remain in office past the expiration of his current term in 2028, the Associated Press reported.
On Tuesday, Erdoğan told members of his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party that he had assigned 10 legal experts to create a new charter to replace the current constitution, which was drafted following the 1980 military coup.
Although the 1982 constitution has undergone numerous amendments, Erdoğan claims it still reflects the influence of military rule, the Daily Sabah noted.
However, opposition parties and critics warned that the proposed changes are designed to bypass constitutional term limits and pave the way for Erdoğan to seek re-election in 2028. Under the current constitution, he is barred from running again unless early elections are held or the legal framework is altered.
Erdoğan has served as president since 2014 and was prime minister for more than a decade prior to that. He rejected accusations that the constitutional overhaul is self-serving, saying, “We want the new constitution not for ourselves, but our country.”
Still, analysts noted that Erdoğan’s AK Party and its nationalist allies lack the parliamentary majority needed to pass a new constitution on their own. Observers said his recent overtures to end the decades-long conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party may be part of a strategy to win the support of pro-Kurdish lawmakers in parliament.
The constitutional push also follows the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu – Erdoğan’s key political rival – on corruption charges earlier this year. Imamoglu’s detention triggered weeks of nationwide protests, with critics and opposition parties calling the charges politically motivated.
Last week, Turkish authorities banned all media content featuring Imamoglu, citing concerns over political propaganda, Bloomberg reported.
The ban came just days after tens of thousands of supporters from Imamoglu’s Republican People’s Party marched in Istanbul demanding his release.
Last week, police detained at least 44 people as part of a corruption investigation into the Istanbul city government, Al Monitor added.
DISCOVERIES
The Sun Factor
The obsession with sunscreen and sun-protecting gadgets is not new: Ancient Homo sapiens had already learned to fear the harsh rays of the sun tens of thousands of years ago.
In fact, our human ancestors used sunscreen, tailored clothing, and cave shelters to hide from harmful solar radiation during the shifting of the magnetic North Pole over Europe about 41,000 years ago, according to a new study.
At the same time, researchers say they believe Neanderthals didn’t protect themselves, probably because they couldn’t, and disappeared around that time.
As Earth’s outer molten core moves, it creates electric currents, which in turn generate a magnetic field that acts like a shield and protects Earth from dangerous cosmic radiation. Currently, this field is strongest near the two poles, the North and South Poles, which is where auroras manifest, New Atlas wrote.
However, the poles are not constant and can be located elsewhere in a phenomenon known as geomagnetic excursion, which has happened over 180 times in Earth’s history. The latest instance of this event, about 41,000 years ago, is known as the Laschamp excursion.
Although the magnetic reversal didn’t fully occur that time, with a 3D reconstruction of Earth’s geospace system, researchers concluded that the Earth’s magnetic field weakened to 10 percent of its usual strength. This caused auroras to be visible across much of Earth and allowed more harmful ultraviolet (UV) and cosmic radiation to reach the planet.
“In the study, we combined all of the regions where the magnetic field would not have been connected, allowing cosmic radiation, or any kind of energetic particles from the sun, to seep all the way in to the ground,” said lead author Agnit Mukhopadhyay in a statement.
The 3D reconstruction indicated that the Laschamp excursion happened in a brief window of time when H. sapiens and Neanderthals co-existed. The consequences of the excursion posed serious health risks to those populations, from eye problems to birth defects. As a result, researchers say this study could offer a new theory to explain why around 41,000 years ago, H. sapiens thrived while Neanderthals disappeared.
“Having protection against solar radiation would also have conferred a significant advantage to anyone who possessed it,” said study author Raven Garvey in the statement.
Archaeological data show an increased use of caves and tailored clothing, which trapped warmth while blocking dangerous rays, and allowed H. sapiens to leave their shelters to find food.
Researchers say that the ancient humans also used red and yellow ochre pigments more frequently in this period. Ochre, made up of iron oxide, clay, and silica, is not only used as paint for art, but, when ground and applied to the skin, has the property of a mineral-rich sunscreen.