Red Wall Reporting Around Spring Statement Overshadowed by Martin Lewis

Thematic breakdown of ‘red wall’ media coverage related to spring statement and cost of living crisis since 21st March 2022.

As the dust settled from the Chancellors Spring Statement, the data team at Trafalgar Strategy took a closer look at how local media in the ‘red wall’ constituencies reacted to the news.

Over a three day period, we tracked and analyzed local media articles in this key electoral battleground, filtering out the background noise, and focusing on stories related to the cost of living crisis and the spring statement.

The government’s big announcement regarding a cut to income tax was eclipsed by two dominant themes to emerge around the spring statement – the first was a bit of a home goal as it related to the Chancellors cut to fuel duty. However, ultimately even this was overshadowed by the second key theme, Martin Lewis – the so-called money savings expert – who warned about the dire consequences of the cost of energy on Sunday. Before attacking the spring statement on Wednesday for not doing enough to reduce the energy burden on voters.

By hinting at the cut to fuel duty over the weekend, the Chancellor was clearly hoping to put drivers at ease, given spiraling fuel costs. Unfortunately for him and the conservative party, they didn’t get everything their own way, as comment from the RA fuel spokesman Simon Williams suggesting such a cut would not be enough to “make a real difference” was also circulated by local media. In further damning news, such articles received very little engagement when shared by their respective papers on social media.

More damaging from a Conseravtive party perspective was coverage related to energy bills. Despite the Chancellor’s best efforts to appease potential voters by abolishing the tax on energy saving materials, Martin Lewis’s interjection over weekend – specifically his interview with the BBC on Sunday – cast a negative light over much of the reporting in the run up to the spring statement. When shared on social media, such articles received significantly more engagement when compared to articles on any other theme.

Initially, local media either picked up his comments related to the cost of living being the “worst” in over twenty years or his calls on the Government to do more to specifically reduce the burden of rising energy costs.

To make matters worse, in the immediate aftermath of the spring statement, Martin Lewis appeared to dig the knife in with local papers claiming “Lewis slams Rishi Sunak’s spring budget” after he suggested the new energy measures would do nothing to help the majority of people.

Commenting on the report Giles Kenningham, Founder of Trafalgar Strategy said: “With so much uncertainty surrounding the economy given the war in Ukraine and increasing inflation the government fumbled a golden opportunity to use the spring statement to steady the ship and ease consumer fears. If they want to retain the red wall in a general election they need to start listening and should start by addressing some of the issues around energy prices raised by Martin Lewis.”

Any gains made by the Conservative party in the red wall in 2019 could easily be wiped out at the next general election. As the cost of living crisis gets worse, and its impact is felt more broadly, political parties across the board should start paying closer attention to how regional and local media report on key issues. Not only are such papers considered more trustworthy than their national counterparts – but they provide a unique snapshot into the local issues impacting important potential voters.

Under The Radar – 25 March

Source: American Public Power Association via Unsplash

This week we discuss:

1. An ESG Dilemma

2. Lab made meat: the beginning of the end for livestock farming? 

3. Taliban backtrack on opening schools for girls

An ESG Dilemma 

What happened?

Save the Children charity has turned down a $1m donation offered by Neptune Energy (a North Sea gas producer) to help with Ukrainian relief efforts, due to a conflict on climate change grounds. 

What Does It Mean?

In a highly contentious move, Save the Children has turned down a significant donation to help humanitarian efforts in Ukraine. The charity refused to take the million-dollar donation from oil and gas company, Neptune Energy, stating that they were conflicted due to their commitment to working on climate change issues.

Charities are usually applauded for holding firm on ethical grounds and turning down donations that conflict with these, however, Save the Children’s decision has prompted backlash. 

Whilst ESG issues have been ubiquitous for charities, businesses and the media alike in recent years, there has been more emphasis placed on the E – environmental, and considerably less on social and governance issues. 

The unprovoked war in Ukraine, and the humanitarian disaster that has followed, undoubtedly showcase major social and governance crises on a scale not often seen, provoking questions as to whether a charity meant to deliver humanitarian assistance was right to turn down a donation on environmental grounds.

Criticism of the charity has predominantly centred around the fact that the Ukrainian humanitarian crisis is ravaging the country right now and turning down offers to help is putting people in direct danger. However, across the world we have seen humanitarian disasters – from floods to forest fires – that have climate change at their root cause, and the number of these disasters is only set to increase.

In an era of intense reputational scrutiny, perhaps the charity was wise to air on the side of caution in the long-term, but it continues to be a rather difficult sell in the face of the harrowing images pouring out of Ukraine.

Lab made meat: the beginning of the end for livestock farming? 

What happened?

The Good Dog Food company, a collaboration between Agronomics and Roslin Technologies, has created ‘cultivated pet food’ in an attempt to increase sustainability in the industry. pet food. The lab grown meat is set to land on British supermarket shelves in the next 18 months.

What does it mean?

In recent years we have witnessed heightened attention on the impact of livestock and meat consumption on the environment. In 2020, double the amount of people gave up meat compared with the previous year, with roughly one fifth of Gen Z following a meat-free diet. What might be surprising to some is that pets consume roughly 20% of all the meat produced on the planet, significantly contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.

With sustainability and ESG at the forefront of many minds across sectors, the food industry has undeniably come under greater scrutiny to innovate in more sustainable ways. It was seemingly only a matter of time until lab-grown food alternatives entered the mainstream market. 

Cultivated meats are certainly one way of moving to more sustainable food production.  It provides high-quality meat alternatives by taking a biopsy from an animal and replicating the cells – a process which can produce 3,000kg of meat in 40 days, the equivalent of about eight cows, as opposed to the 28 months it takes to rear a singular cow for slaughter. 

If successful, The Good Dog Food company’s entry to the market could spark a transformation in wider meat production and provide a sustainable alternative to our favourite meats without the drawbacks currently associated with a carnivorous diet. While the planet may thank companies like Agronomics and Roslin Technologies for such developments, cattle farmers and the like, whose livelihoods depend on being able to sell the meat from their livestock, will not be so welcoming of the news. 

Taliban backtrack on opening schools for girls

What happened? 

Widely condemned by the international community, the Taliban have made a last-minute U-turn and reversed their earlier decision to reopen secondary schools for girls in Afghanistan. Girls have been barred from going to school since the Taliban takeover in the country in August last year. 

What does it mean?

The Taliban’s decision to keep secondary schools shut has shocked the country and the wider international community alike. Since their forced takeover in August, the new government has asked for multiple criteria to be fulfilled for girls to be able to go back to school. These demands included a strict observance of a modest, ‘Islamic’ dress code, as well as a ban on gender mixing in schools. Up until now, the government has stated that if all the criteria are met, schools for girls will reopen. It has now become clear that this was an empty promise.

During the Taliban’s previous rule in the country, between 1996 and 2001, education for girls was completely banned. During the US occupation, education resumed, and girls were able to go to school as they pleased.

Immediately after the US’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban shut down secondary level education with assurances that they would reopen institutions later on. Women and girls in the country are now saying they have lost all remaining trust in the current government. An 18-year-old student from Kabul told the Telegraph that she “thought that the Taliban had changed but they are unchangeable.”

Education for girls has long been an issue in the region with certain fundamentalist groups believing that it opposes Islamic law. The assassination attempt on Malala Yousafzai by the Pakistani Taliban for campaigning for girls’ right to schooling was a gunshot heard all around the world. The depressing news of schools remaining shut is a stark reminder of life in Afghanistan under Taliban rule as well as highlighting how women around the world continue to suffer oppression, with fundamental human rights like education ripped away at will.

This Week’s Must Reads

1. “Turkey’s dilemma: whose side is Erdogan on?” by Owen Matthews for the Spectator

2. “How Big Tech lost the antitrust battle with Europe” by Javier Espinoza for the Financial Times

3. “Oligarchs, power and profits: the history of BP in Russia” by Tom Wilson for the Financial Times

4. “I tried to give Britain a different narrative”: Tony Blair and Michael Sheen in conversation” by Michael Sheen and Tony Blair for The New Statesman

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Digital Digest – 18 March

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In this week’s Digital Digest we take a look at a move to ban cyberflashing as part of the online safety bill and a UK chip designer cutting 1000 jobs.

We then take a look at big tech as Chinese tech giants put investors in a difficult position, plus Elon Musk’s US court dealings.

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Closer To Home

Cyberflashing to be banned in the revised Online Safety which is due to be published at the end of the week. 

The government is expected to ban cyber flashing in a move to strengthen the Online Safety Bill. Cyberflashing, which involves the sending of unsolicited sexual images to victims through social media, dating apps or through sharing services such as Bluetooth and Airdrop, is to become a criminal offence, with perpetrators facing up to two years in jail. The practice will now hold the same punishment as indecent exposure. Recent research reveals the extent of the issue, with Professor Jessica Ringrose finding that 76% of girls between the ages of 12-18 had been sent unsolicited images of boys or men. 

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said: “The forthcoming online safety bill will force tech companies to stop their platforms being used to commit vile acts of cyberflashing. We are bringing the full weight on individuals who perpetrate this awful behaviour.”

Whilst the proposed changes are a welcome start, there are some who say the government’s bill does not go far enough. Clare McGlynn, a professor of law at Durham University and an expert in the legal regulation of image-based sexual abuse, said that, ”the current proposal will only cover offences where you can prove that the person sent the image for sexual gratification or to cause distress … what we need is a comprehensive straightforward law that’s much more easy to prosecute.”

Arm to cut up to 1,000 jobs as the UK chip designer prepares for public listing next year

The UK chip designer confirmed that 1,000 jobs, representing around 15% of its workforce, would be axed as the company seeks to streamline the business ahead of an IPO next year. The Cambridge-based designer employs more than 6,500 people globally but confirmed that the proposed cuts would be to their UK and US workforce and with the majority of the jobs cuts to be within administrative and other non-engineering functions. 

Arm commented that, “like any business, Arm is continually reviewing its business plan to ensure the company has the right balance between opportunities and cost discipline. Unfortunately, this process includes proposed redundancies across Arm’s global workforce.”

The announcement comes just a month after Softbank, the Japanese owners of Arm, failed to seal a $40bn sale of the company to US rival Nvidia. The deal would have been the largest in the semiconductor industry but collapsed due to “significant regulatory challenges preventing the consummation of the transaction, despite good faith efforts by the parties”.

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Big Tech

Pro-Putin Chinese tech giants put foreign investors in a difficult position 

China’s private technology groups, such as Tencent, Sina Weibo and ByteDance, are playing a critical role in spreading official misinformation about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The pro-Putin position of these tech companies is problematic for their foreign investors, as such sentiment conflicts with corporate and social responsibility commitments and public statements condemning the war. 

At the beginning of the conflict false reports of Ukraine’s president Zelensky fleeing Kyiv and Ukrainian troops surrendering were widely disseminated across the internet platforms of these tech giants, whilst this week Russian disinformation reports of US-run biological laboratories in Ukraine with “large quantities of dangerous viruses” were widely repeated. 

Tech companies find themselves in a unique position in this conflict as their services have become invaluable resources and their platforms virtual battlegrounds. Whilst Western tech giants such as Apple and Meta have restricted their services and publicly condemned the war, their Chinese counterparts are refusing to do the same. Foreign investors in the Chinese market undoubtedly face difficult decisions in the weeks ahead.

Musk wants to break free

Tesla boss Elon Musk has reportedly filed documents to federal court in the US, asking a judge to terminate the agreement he had previously agreed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Musk is now waging a legal battle against regulators to remove the decree – which has meant having to consult a Tesla lawyer every time before issuing written communications about anything pertaining to the finances of the company.

However, lawyers and legal analysts suggest his efforts may be in vain. According to a partner at one New York City law firm, agreeing to a consent decree usually means being stuck with the terms of the agreement. Courts tend to favour the SEC, which is perhaps not surprising, given that Musk has a history of interpreting the terms of the agreement loosely, as well as having repeatedly mocked the regulatory body in his posts. Given that the SEC is acutely aware of the power his tweets have over the finances of Tesla, it is unlikely that we will see him tweet without constraints anytime soon.

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Also In The News

1. Intel is pouring €30bn into boosting chip manufacturing in Europe. The EU is seeking to become less dependent on Asian chipmakers. See here.

2. The Home Office is under investigation for extracting data from hundreds of migrants’ phones, this could result in a £17m fine. See here.

3. Spotify has struck a deal to sponsor Barcelona Football Club. This will see the Spanish giant’s stadium renamed as the Spotify Camp Nou. See here.

4. Scientists are launching a trial of an artificial intelligence technology that could reduce the risk of stillbirths and other conditions. See here.

5. The US astronaut Mark Vande Hei now faces the difficult task of riding a Russian capsule back to Earth in the midst of tension between the two countries. See here.

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Worth A Read

1. Financial Times: Russians bid hasty farewell to Instagram

2. Daily Telegraph: Nick Clegg walks the Facebook free speech tightrope

3. Wired: China’s Gig Workers Are Challenging Their Algorithmic Bosses

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