19 November 2015

Week In Brief: UK NEWS

PARIS:  Britain has been stunned by the terrorist killings in France and there has been widespread public sympathy.  The Duke of Cambridge attended the friendly football match between England and France at Wembley to demonstrate solidarity with the French.  The stadium was lit up in the French colours of red, white and blue and the Marseillaise was sung by both sets of fans before the match.  England won 2-0.  British casualties in Paris included Nick Alexander, merchandising manager for Eagles of Death Metal, the band which was playing in the Bataclan Hall at the time of the attack.

Mr Cameron is to make further attempts to secure a parliamentary majority for RAF operations over Syria. He has discussed action to be taken against Isis with Mr Putin at the G20 summit at Antalya. The talks are said to have been constructive. Britain will provide military assistance to France under the EU Mutual Defence Pact but the exact nature of that assistance has yet to be determined.  See comment article.

SECURITY:  the Prime Minister, David Cameron has announced that the further £2 billion will be made available over five years to special forces to pay for equipment necessary to deal with terrorist incidents.  There will also be a refocusing of the aid budget onto politically fragile states and increased funding of groups which put across the views of moderate Muslims.  At the same time, George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer has promised to double the investment in cyberwarfare by £1.9 billion over the next five years with a view to accelerating the development of cyberattack capability.

In a major policy change, the previous approach of containing and negotiating with terrorists has been abandoned in favour of a shoot to kill policy. The previous approach is ineffective against terrorists who simply wish to kill and are prepared to sacrifice their own lives. The change in policy was initially questioned by Mr Corbyn although he has now withdrawn his opposition in the face of criticism from Labour MPs.

LABOUR:  Mr Corbyn has now become a member of the Privy Council and is entitled to be addressed as “The Right Honourable”.

SPORTS MINISTER:  Tracey Crouch, the Sports Minister has caused controversy with a suggestion in the Spectator magazine that those under financial pressure should review their expenditure and possibly give up such luxuries as Pay-TV.  Ms Crouch, who made the comments in the course of a wide ranging interview apologised for any offence caused.  The Shadow Treasury Minister branded her comments as offensive.

TRIDENT:  George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has said that his support for the £40 billion Trident submarine project is dependent on its being overseen by a new body which will report to the Treasury.  He is concerned that the Ministry of Defence has a poor record in relation to delivery times and overspending, although they delivered the original Trident project within the budget.  Since then, however, a number of projects such as the Astute submarines, Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers and type 45 destroyers have run into financial difficulties.  See comment article.

HEALTH:  The National Institute for Help and Care Excellence has issued guidance encouraging doctors to offer hormone replacement therapy during menopause.  Apparently they are reluctant to do so because of a minor increase in the risk of breast cancer.

Junior doctors are expected to vote heavily in favour of strike action in a poll conducted by the British Medical Association. The dispute concerns pay and working conditions under a proposed NHS contract and action is currently proposed for 1 December, 8 December and 16 December. Sarah Wollaston, chairwoman of the Health Select Committee has described it as indefensible.

It appears that the NHS will suffer £1 billion in lost rebates following the abolition of the second state pension. Currently employers with final salary schemes receive a special rebate to reflect the fact that their employees will not need the second pension.

The Care Quality Commission has overspent its 2014-2015 budget by four times. Information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act indicates that one reason is the accommodation of inspectors at expensive hotels during inspections. Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association has described the expenditure as ridiculous and asked why the CQC could not use local teams for inspections.

FLOOD DEFENCES:  Severe flooding in Cumbria, Northumberland and Yorkshire has led to a series of flood alerts.  Troops from the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment helped the Environmental Agency to erect flood barriers to protect homes.  However the rainfall was not quite as bad as predicted and the troops were stood down.

CUTS:  It is believed that Mr Duncan Smith, the Secretary for Work and Pensions, has agreed cuts to his departmental budget with the Treasury.  It is unlikely that this will involve cuts to the Universal Credit itself.  11 out of 20 departments have now agreed cuts to their day to day spending to 2020.  The full package will be announced in next week’s spending review.

EMPLOYMENT FIGURES:  The level of unemployment has dropped to 5.3%, its lowest level since 2008. This is well below the European average of 9.3% and the figure for 16 to 24 year olds is now down to 14.2%. Wage levels have, however, only increased by 3% compared to the 3.2% expected. The employment figures have been boosted by a 300,000 increase since last year in the number of EU nationals working in the UK.

MURDER: Nathan Matthews has been convicted of the murder of Becky Watts, his stepsister, and his accomplice Shauna Hoare has been convicted of manslaughter.

DRUG CONVICTIONS:  Operation Camaro, a crackdown on organised crime by Merseyside Police has led to the conviction of forty-six gang members.  The sentences, relating to firearms and drugs charges, run for up to 25 years.

SEXUAL ASSAULT:  Gayle Newland has been jailed for eight years at Chester Crown Cord for sexual offences against a female friend whom she seduced by pretending to be a man.  She kept up the pretence during sexual encounters by persuading the victim to wear a blindfold, deepening her voice and taking steps to conceal the shape of her body.  The truth was only revealed when the victim took her blindfold off.

MODI:  Mr Modi, the Prime Minister of India, has completed a state visit to the UK.  He was entertained by the Queen and the Prime Minister and addressed Parliament; however his visit was contentious because of his extreme Hindu stance and his failure to condemn sectarian rioting in Gujarat in 2002.  He addressed an audience of 60,000 at an event in Wembley Stadium.