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29 October 2015

Week in Brief:UK

TAX CREDITS:  The disagreement between the Government and the House of Lords over the Chancellor’s plan to cut tax credits by £4 billion per annum from next April came to a head on Tuesday with peers voting to delay the cuts until, firstly, the government has responded to an analysis of the consequences by the Institute of Fiscal Studies and, secondly, the government has come forward with full transitional protection for three years. There are now two issues. The first is constitutional. The convention that the House of Lords does not interfere with budgetary decisions has been broken. The Government will need to react to that and has appointed Lord Strathclyde to find ways of ensuring the supremacy of the Commons in financial matters The second issue goes to the substance of the change to tax credits. There has been widespread concern that their withdrawal will penalised low paid workers, possibly leaving 3 million of them short by £1,300 a year. Here the Chancellor has indicated that he will set out proposals for helping those affected in the autumn statement at the end of November.

AFGHANISTAN:  Michael Fallon, the defence secretary has said that a training detachment of some 450 UK troops will remain in Afghanistan until the end of next year. In practice they will be there until the end of the US involvement which will probably be longer.

CHINESE VISIT:  One of the agreements between Britain and China made during the state visit is that neither side will support the theft of intellectual property or trade secrets from the other. The deal is similar to one reached between China and the US recently. The visit also saw an agreement that China would participate in the new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point, along with the French company EDF; there are also agreements on infrastructure investment, action against smuggling, research on new technology and new energy. Mr Xi has stated that China wants to see a prosperous and united EU which includes the UK.

ROYAL INSTITUTION:  The Royal Institution is to sell part of its library in order to repay debt incurred in its 2008 refurbishment, which cost a total of £22million. The book sale, which is to be held at Christie’s on 1st December, will include a sixteenth century anatomical guide and first editions of works by Darwin and Newton. Sir Andre Geim, the Nobel prize winning physicist has said that there must be better ways of raising the money and has suggested reconsideration of a plan to merge the Royal Institution with the Royal Society.

SUGAR TAX:  A report by Public Health England calls for a 20% tax on fizzy drinks and chocolate bars as well as the removal of sugar bowls from restaurant tables. The report was published despite previous opposition from the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, who has promised draconian action to reduce childhood obesity. The report estimates that about 4700 lives and over £500 million per year could be saved if Britain reduced its sugar intake to recommended levels. Jamie Oliver, who is taking a leading role in the campaign for sugar tax, has already increased the price of sugary drinks in his restaurants by 10p. Other restaurants have followed his lead. Mr Oliver says that since the price increase the sale of the drinks has reduced by about 7%.

TALK TALK:  A cyber attack on the telephone company Talk Talk has resulted in customers’ details being stolen, including names, addresses, dates of birth, bank account numbers etc. Concern has been expressed at the possibility that the hacked information will be used to access customers’ bank accounts. A fifteen year old schoolboy has been arrested.

COURT FEES:  High Court judges of the Family Division have criticised the increase in court fees for divorce which will now often exceed the cost of the hearings. There is also concern at the level of high court fees generally where a claim for £90,000 could involve fees of £4,500 and claim for £300,000 could attract fees of £20,000. The Justice Minister has said that the fees are necessary to cover current deficits.

SINKHOLE:  There is concern that a new giant sinkhole may be hidden beneath the streets of St Albans and that it could be three times as large as the one which recently openedthere. Those evacuated from the area will not be allowed back until early 2016.

CYPRUS:  Cyprus has agreed to house 114 refugees who claimed asylum at the British base on the Island provided that Britain will meet the cost. The base is sovereign British territory but the Home Office has said that no one who arrives there will be given asylum in Britain.

PAEDOPHILE BISHOP:  The Church of England has paid compensation to a man abused by George Bell, who was Bishop of Chichester during the war. Bishop Bell took an active role in rescuing Jews and Christians from the Nazis. He also took a stance against saturation bombing on the grounds that it was barbarous to make unarmed women and children targets. He died in 1958.

STOP AND SEARCH:  There is a dispute between the Home Office and the Metropolitan Police over the use of stop and search with Mrs May disputing, in a speech to the National Black Police Officers’ Association, that knife crime had risen as a result of the drop in the number of searches. She is also concerned at the low number of black officers. The Metropolitan Police have asked for a change in the law so that they can give preference to black candidates when recruiting.

CANCER AND SAUSAGES:  A report by the World Health Organisation says that eating bacon, burgers and sausages is as dangerous as smoking. The report identifies processed meat as being the most likely substance to cause cancer with red meat generally not far behind.

WEST LOTHIAN QUESTION:  Proposals restricting voting on issues which will only have effect in England and Wales to English and Welsh MPs have passed the House of Commons. Pete Wishart, the SNP’s leader in the Commons, has warned that the change may cause resentment in Scotland.

RUSSIAN SURVEILLANCE: Defence sources are concerned at apparent surveillance of fibre optic cables which run beneath the sea by Russian submarines and surveillance ships. Russian interest could be focused on intelligence gathering or possibly on cutting the cables at a time of international tension.

TAX ON TAMPONS:  The government has undertaken to campaign in Brussels for VAT to be removed from sanitary products. Currently the rate is 5%, the lowest rate permissible under EU law.

CENOTAPH:  A move to shorten the service at the Cenotaph by arranging for the opposition parties to lay their wreaths together has been abandoned. Party leaders will lay their wreaths separately as in previous years.

DEFECTION:  Labour stalwart Lord Grabiner, who is a barrister and also the master of Clare College Cambridge, has resigned the Labour whip because of concern about their economic policies. He will remain a member of the party and will sit on the cross benches.

AGINCOURT:  Sunday was the 600th anniversary of the battle at Agincourt, the victory over the French which is immortalised in Shakespeare’s play, Henry V.

CALAIS:  Consideration is being given to increasing the staffing of the Channel Tunnel by Border Force officers before Christmas in order to enable lorries carrying Christmas deliveries to get through.

DIESEL EMISSIONS:  Research presented on Friday indicates that diesel cars made by Vauxhall produce more pollutants than diesel cars of other makes. Last month Vauxhall admitted that it had fitted cars with devices intended to defeat pollution checks.
It has emerged that Whitehall was aware that emission tests were being manipulated as early as 2009.

CARDIFF UNIVERSITY: Students at Cardiff University have started a petition to prevent the academic Germaine Greer from giving a lecture “Women and Power: the Lessons of the Twentieth Century” on that the basis that Ms Greer is a dangerous exponent of “problematic and hateful views”. The views in question are her comments that a man who undergoes a sex change does not become a real woman. The University is keen that the lecture goes forward.

CITY PROTEST: UEFA are taking disciplinary action against Manchester City because its fans booed the Champion’s League anthem in protest against rules which limit expenditure by new benefactors. Supporters groups have questioned whether the action, if it goes ahead, would breach the right to freedom of expression guaranteed by article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights.

RUGBY: New Zealand will play Australia in the final of the rugby World Cup. South Africa will play Argentina to establish third place.

CRICKET: Pakistan beat England by 178 runs in the second of three tests to take a one nil lead in the series. The match was played in Dubai due to concern about safety in Pakistan.

MOTOR RACING: Lewis Hamilton won the US Grand Prix to take his third world championship.