• British Prime Minister’s Theresa May’s compromise plan for Brexit, which maintains customs and travel ties with the Eurozone, sparked a political crisis in the United Kingdom as pro-Brexit Foreign Minister Boris Johnson resigned along with Brexit minister David Davis. Only hours earlier, May’s cabinet rejected a white paper on Brexit written by Davis calling for a clean break with the European Union. May later drew heavy criticism from visiting US President Donald Trump who blasted May’s handling of Brexit in an interview with The Sun newspaper, owned by Rupert Murdoch.
(“Brexit White Paper Seeks Free Movement for Skilled Workers and Students,” The Guardian, July 12, 2018; “Brexiters Plan to Force Release of David Davis’s Rival White Paper,” The Guardian, July 11, 2018; “Brexit White Paper Won’t Win Over MPs or the EU,” The Guardian, July 12, 2018)
• Connecticut inmate Robert Pratt shared a special ceremony at his community college graduation with fellow prisoners, in a program funded by the Obama era Second Chance Pell Grants, which provides financial aid to inmates. Twenty seven states now offer these Pell grants, with the goal of ending the cycle of prison recidivism.
(“Next Up for Prison Reform: How Best to Use Education as a Path Forward,” Christian Science Monitor, June 8, 2018)
• With the recent Janus Supreme Court ruling which disallows public sector labor unions from charging non-union members fees to cover the cost of collective bargaining and addressing workplace grievances, the rightwing network that brought the case, is now canvassing union households, urging members to opt out of paying union dues and save hundreds of dollars a year.
(“How Corporations Plan To Use Janus To Turn Workers Against Their Own Unions,” In These Times, July 2, 2018)
