Under TheThe RadarLabour Leadership While the media landscape is preoccupiedContest by COVID-19, 2020 politics and business grinds on. ‘Under the Radar’ provides a concise overview and thoughtful analysis of critical stories currentlySummary being &overlooked. Analysis May Day Revolts at And while much of the debate so far has concerned hate speech, political Amazon advertising and illegal content, the latest developments show that regulators are awakening to concerns over physical What happened? goods too. Tim Bray, Amazon’s top engineer as well This is likely to be too little too late as one of its Vice Presidents, resigned for the brick and mortar shops who from the company over its “chickenshit” for years have been undercut by their - his word - treatment of employees. under-regulated digital competitors. But Bray stressed that this goes beyond the politicians and regulators will be under company’s treatment of employees during pressure to heed the call of Tim Bray and COVID-19 and extended his criticism to ensure that new competition laws are at how Amazon treats humans as “fungible least paired with stronger employment units of pick-and-pack potential”. regulations too. As Bray pointed out in his resignation blog post, recent And Amazon’s bad news day did not conditions in Amazon warehouses have end there. The EU’s largest consumer only magnified a pre-existing problem group, Beuc, accused online platforms – Amazon’s pursuit of relentless growth like Amazon of selling a wide range has produced an inherent blind spot to its of goods that do not comply with EU human costs. And while he was speaking safety standards. Beuc cited a recent test of the Amazon work force, Beuc’s report showing that two thirds of goods posed shows it applies to consumers too. a risk to consumers. Following on from these revelations, the EU’s competition Bray’s intervention should not be commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, underestimated. By speaking so brutally vowed to press ahead with the new Digital and publicly from the inside, he has Services Act that threatens to curtail the shown that there is a growing awareness, activities of the Internet giants. and even solidarity, in the upper echelons of the industry. Much of the high-skilled What does it mean? big tech workforce is also socially and politically liberal, and so Bray isn’t likely While Amazon’s value continues to to be the only notable figure dismayed by balloon, so too does momentum for Amazon’s treatment of its warehouse staff. wide scale reform of the digital services And while sales have never been stronger, sector. The proposed Digital Services Act Amazon has never been weaker in the will replace twenty year old e-commerce court of public opinion or more exposed regulation, which has proven manifestly to regulators – a revolt in the warehouses unfit-for-purpose in the age of big tech. and the boardroom, combined with dangerous products potentially harming consumers, is a PR crisis that will demand some concessions. A Lack of candour at What does it mean? NBC? The long tail of 2017’s #MeToo movement appears to have claimed another victim in Lack, months after Weinstein himself was What happened? convicted and sentenced to 23-years in a New York State prison. Andy Lack, the Chairman of NBC and MSNBC news, announced he was Lack’s sudden departure and the short- standing down after five years in charge transition period to fresh leadership is at the broadcaster. Or, rather, it was a clue the move to replace Lack with announced Lack was being stepped Conde wasn’t part of some long-planned down in favour of Cesar Conde, the NBC restructuring. Stoking the fire, Farrow executive responsible for Latin America’s tweeted yesterday that “Andrew Lack Telemundo network and all of NBC’s is stepping down, after public protests overseas assets. calling for leadership change and a unionization effort within the company NBC positioned the 72-year old Lack’s demanding more transparency about move as part of a broader restructuring of harassment issues there.” NBC’s news division, but that didn’t stop some in the industry from speculating The ‘harassment issues’ at NBC referred that Lack was retired (in part) for his to by Farrow are long-standing. In his controversial handling of reporting book, Farrow portrays the NBC news done several years ago by Ronan Farrow division as a sort of sexual playground, (then of NBC) on film mogul Harvey where powerful male executives and on- Weinstein, reporting that was never air talent took numerous liberties with its aired by NBC. Farrow subsequently (often junior) female staff. Lack was at the took his reporting to the New Yorker helm when former Today Show host Matt Magazine, which ended up publishing the Lauer was forced to resign after a number Weinstein allegations several days after of junior staff reported that Lauer had the New York Times published their own sexually assaulted them. bombshell report. Lack denies he and fellow NBC executive Noah Oppenheim And while NBC management backed ‘killed’ Farrow’s report, as alleged by Lack and Oppenheim over Farrow’s Farrow in his 2019 book ‘Catch And Kill’. allegations and through the messy sacking of Lauer, new NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Lack’s tenure wasn’t without other Shell appears to be using his arrival on controversy. He previously received scene as an occasion to clean house. criticism for his decision to hire high- profile Fox News host Megyn Kelly, a As well Shell should. Because if the move that backfired spectacularly, with media are going to lead the charge on Kelly’s show eventually being cancelled in uncovering abuse, they need to take their 2018. own medicine. Cutting family ties For the country famed for Borat, there has been little to laugh about over recent years. After gaining independence from What happened? the Soviet Union in 1991, Nursultan Nazarbayev ruled with an iron fist - A significant change has been made at propped up by sham elections (first put in the top level of Kazakhstan politics with power with 98.8% of the vote), an abject President Tokayev sacking the chair human rights record, and an inherently of the senate. Dariga Nazarbayeva was corrupt judicial system. A lack of greater widely seen as the nation’s heir apparent, scrutiny from the Western world may or following in the footsteps of her father may not have had something to do with Nursultan Nazarbayev who stepped down the likes of the UK being one of the six last year after three decades in power. largest investors in the Kazakh economy. (NB. he remains the spiritual ‘Leader of President Tokayev’s election last year the Nation’ and holds a lifelong veto of was supposed to welcome a new dawn government policies) for democracy in Kazakhstan but key decisions will continue to rest with the Nazarbayeva has spent the last year now god-like ‘Leader of the Nation’. For embroiled in a High Court legal battle context, Nazarbayev’s relationship with after the National Crime Agency froze Tokayev has a distinct Putin/Medvedev three of her family’s London properties flavour, circa 2008. (worth a whopping £80 million) using unexplained wealth orders, ie McMafia Linking Nazarbayev’s dictatorial laws. Although a judge has now dismissed tendencies to his daughter’s removal from NCA claims that the properties were parliament is not hard. She was given the bought using proceeds from criminal chop shortly after daring to recommend activity, Nazarbayev was reportedly that parliament should hold more power unhappy at the unwelcome attention over political decision-making. And while drawn to the family’s wealth and the high-profile UK court case was indeed sanctioned his daughter’s removal. an inconvenience, it was surely not reason enough to jeopardise the dynastic line. What does it mean? Nazarbayev has proven he is willing to throw his own flesh and blood under the Nazarbayeva escaping charges, after bus if it ensures that his power remains only the second implementation of the untainted and the voice of a democratic McMafia laws in British history, is news parliament suppressed. in itself. But perhaps more importantly the case shines a light on a controversial yet oft-overlooked political system. What Trafalgar Is Reading Labour’s leaks reveals a party still in self-destruct mode GQ “This is not total proof that all this material comes from Corbynites attempting to scorch the earth behind them and to distract from the incoming EHRC report, but it is circumstantial evidence of a concerted attempt from somewhere to muddy the waters” - Glen O’Hara on Labour’s leaked dossier on anti-Semitism. To Trump, ‘Complete and Total Exoneration’ Is Always Right Around the Corner The Atlantic “In a world with only one hoax—the hoax intended to slime Trump—it all goes back to the Russia investigation.” - Quinta Jurecic and Benjamin Wittes on Trump’s fixation on the Russia investigation. But if you must read about Coronavirus The world stopped another Chernobyl by working together. Coronavirus demands the same The Guardian “The only effective responses to international disasters, no matter which state they occur in, are international” - Serhii Plokhy explores why coordinated action is the only effective response to the pandemic. What we do For more information about Trafalgar Strategy and our services, get in touch: Email: Phone: [email protected] +44 (0)207 043 1308 Or visit: www.trafalgar-strategy.co.uk Twitter: @trafalgarstrat.