6 August 2015
Week In Brief: UK NEWS
CALAIS: Blame is the game as migrants continue to besiege the Calais terminal of Eurotunnel, with: Mr Cameron being criticised by Nigel Farage and others for referring to the migrants as a swarm; Eurotunnel criticising the French authorities for providing an insufficient number of police; Keith Vaz commenting that the additional 120 police which France is providing on a temporary basis will not solve the problem; Bernard Cazeneuve, the French Interior Minister, calling on Eurotunnel to improve its security; and Harriet Harman demanding that the government put pressure on the French authorities. Meanwhile Eurotunnel say they have blocked 37,000 immigrants this year; the number is now running at 1,700 a day; there are calls from UKIP and others for the army to be deployed at British ports; and consideration has been given to joint efforts by the UK and France to return migrants to their home countries. This may be difficult to achieve in practice as they often destroy their papers.
IMMIGRATION FIGURES: One in seven people in the UK was born overseas according to figures produced by the Office of National Statistics. In 2012, the UK admitted 7.84 immigrants per 1000 of population, the equivalent figures for Germany and for France being 7.37 and 5.01 respectively. According to the director of the Migration Observatory at Oxford University the UK is attractive to migrants because of the large number of low level jobs available and the welcome from existing minority communities.
NICER VOICE: Tesco are to make the voice used to customers using their self-service checkout less “shouty” and “irritating”. Trials of a nicer voice are already under way in Edinburgh, Hatfield and Kensington. It is understood that customers will be thanked for shopping at Tesco.
EU REFERENDUM: leadership of the “no” campaign in the Euro Referendum is likely to be disputed as it emerges that the multimillionaire Aaron Banks, a financial supporter of UKIP, is to set up a new group, “theknow.eu,” with a view to displacing the cross party group of MPs including Owen Patterson, Bernard Jenkin and Kate Hoey, which he describes as “a turnoff to the public”. Leadership of the campaign carries the right to broadcast speeches, free delivery of leaflets, £600,000 in public funds and the right to spend £5 million in campaigning. Mr Banks has written to the Electoral Commission asking how the designation will be made.
French government sources have expressed frustration at the lack of clarity about the reforms to the EU being sought by the British government. In fact it seems unlikely that details of the reforms will be available until the culmination of talks between Britain and the EU in October.
There are indications that the referendum may be held as early as next summer which would keep it well clear of the French and German domestic elections to be held in the following year.
CRICKET: England beat Australia by eight wickets in the third test match at Edgbaston to put themselves 2-1 up in the five match Ashes series.
CYCLING: Campaigners have called for the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, to which the Government is now committed by law, to be completed as soon as possible. The plan needs to include adequate funding, put by campaigners at £10 per head of population per annum.
LITERARY HACKING: According to the security company Cisco UK, hackers have been concealing malware within sites giving quotes from Jane Austin. Once the malware has been installed the hackers will generally require a fee to return the site to the registered owner, often with a threat that if the money is not paid the content will be deleted.
PORN SITES: David Cameron has said that unless under aged users are prevented from using pornographic websites by a lock out mechanism he will take action to close down the sites by legislation. A lock out mechanism might involve requiring the use of a credit card to access the site and requiring payment. It is hard to see how he would apply the new rules to sites operated from overseas.
CAMERON NOT APPROACHED BY KGB: According to two Russian papers including Moskovsky Komsomolets, the KGB made no attempt to recruit Mr Cameron in his gap year and the two men who approached him in a black sea resort were merely gay blackmarketeers. It is thought that the approach was made in their black market capacity.
CHARITIES: William Shawcross, chairman of the Charities Commission has indicated that regulation may have to be introduced under the Charites Act 2006 if charities do not themselves rout out abuses. Among areas of concern which he identified are fund raising methods, the channelling of money to terrorism; and the management of, and espousal of quasi-political causes by, the RSPCA. The conclusions of a review by Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, which was commissioned by the Government in response to the suicide of poppy seller Olive Cooke, is currently awaited. Mrs Cooke who was 92 had been under pressure from charity fund raisers.
LABOUR: It is understood that Mr. Corbyn has taken a commanding lead in the leadership contest among constituency parties, the score being: Mr. Corbyn – 152; Mr. Burnham – 111; Ms. Cooper -106 and Ms. Kendall – 18. On this showing Mr. Corbyn has a good chance of becoming leader.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Mr. Balls, the former shadow chancellor, said that he had been opposed to Labour’s core election policy of freezing energy prices because it portrayed the party as anti-business. He thought that people had been uncomfortable with language demonising the energy companies with whom a future labour government would have had to have worked. Mr. Balls lost his seat at the election and is understood to have turned down an invitation to appear on “I‘m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!”
BA HAND LUGGAGE: BA has announced that it will restrict the size of a passenger’ second piece of hand luggage to 40 x 30 x15 cms. That is less than the current limit of 45 x 36 x20 cms. The limit for the first piece of hand luggage at 56 x 45 x 25 cms (and a weight limit of 23kgs) will stay the same.
HOUSE OF LORDS: The speaker of the House of Lords, Lady D’Souza, has suggested that either a retirement age should be introduced for peers or that they should be appointed for a specified time.
There is concern that further appointments of peers by the government could increase the size of the House of Lords to more than 800 members.
AI WEIWEI: A six-month Visa has been granted to Ai Weiwei, the Chinese dissident artist. His Visa had previously been limited to a single month but the restriction was reviewed by the Home Secretary who decided on the extension.
CILLA BLACK: Pop Idol Cilla Black died in Spain at the age of 72. It is understood that she had suffered a stroke.
BORDER FORCE: It has emerged that hundreds of passengers are passing through Heathrow Terminal 5 without customs checks, something which is contributing to the illegal trade in drugs, tobacco and endangered animals. According to Lucy Moreton, general secretary of the Immigration Service Union, there are simply not enough staff to carry out checks for contraband in addition to monitoring immigration. Either further resources will need to be provided or a decision will have to be made as to which controls should be abandoned.
HEATH INVESTIGATION: The Independent Police Complaints Commission is setting up an investigation into the handling of abuse claims against the former Prime Minister, Sir Edward Heath. Mr. Heath, who died in 2005, led the Conservative party from 1965 to 1975. Friends expressed disbelief at the suggestion that he had been involved in child abuse.
LIBOR SCANDAL: Tom Hayes, who formerly worked at UBS and Citigroup, has been sentenced to 14 years imprisonment by Southwark Crown Court for his involvement in rigging interest rates through the manipulation of LIBOR. Six brokers face trial next month for conspiring with Mr. Hayes.
STRIKES: The Rail, Maritime and Transport union proposes to stage walkouts on First Great Western in a dispute over the introduction of new trains which will reduce the role of guards and the provision of buffet facilities. The action will be focused on the August bank holiday weekend in order to maximise disruption. Meanwhile the four unions representing Tube workers continue their dispute with London Underground over all night trains.
BOMBERS: 12 (bomber) Squadron is to remain operational until March 2017 so that it can play its part in action against Isis. The squadron is equipped with the Tornado GR 4, which has been in use since the 1970s.
ASSISTED DYING: Gill Pharaoh, a retired nurse aged 75, arranged to die by lethal injection in Switzerland on July 21 because of her concerns about growing old and frail. Ms Pharaoh, a firm believer in assisted dying, is understood to have been in good health but was concerned at the possibility of a stroke.
EVEN POLICING: In a three month test scheme Leicestershire police instructed their officers only to attend the scenes of burglaries where the house concerned had an even number, the rationale being that little useful information is collected in the course of such visits. The force claims that there was no noticeable effect on victim satisfaction. It is hard to imagine how those whose premises were not attended completed their questionnaires.
