26 November 2015

Week in Brief: UK

AUTUMN STATEMENT: In his autumn statement, the Chancellor claimed that the public finances had improved and that accordingly government expenditure would not need to be cut as much as previously envisaged.  Inter alia, he announced:

• the abandonment of his plan to cut tax credits;
• an increase in the budget for affordable housing, committing £4 billion over the next four years to subsidise shared ownership and a further £2.3 billion for starter homes;
• an injection of £4 billion into the national health service. That goes towards the government’s commitment to increase health spending by £8 billion a year by the end of the decade; and
• that police spending would rise in line with inflation.

Changes in defence spending, including the deferral of the replacement of the submarines which will carry Trident, are mentioned below.

NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY AND STRATEGIC DEFENCE AND SECURITY REVIEW: In the Defence review published on Monday, the government topped up the £166 billion equipment budget by a further £12 billion. At the same time it announced that one third of the land held by the Ministry of Defence will be disposed of and 18,000 jobs will be cut by 2020. The cuts will fall on civilian staff, army numbers remaining at their current level of 182,000 and an additional 700 servicemen to be recruited by the Navy and RAF.  Money is also being saved through a number of deferrals and cuts. It was announced that:

• the estimated cost of the four replacement submarines to carry Trident had increased by £6 billion to £31 billion, a total of £41 billion if you include the £10 million put aside to cover overruns. Completion of the project has been deferred from 2028 to the early 2030s;
• Britain will buy 9 Boeing P8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to replace the Nimrod programme. The aircraft, which will be deployed to protect the nuclear submarines and carriers, will not be delivered until 2020 and will probably cost in the region of £4 billion;
• 8 Type 26 anti-submarine frigates will be built instead of the 13 previously suggested. However an additional 5 frigates of lower specification will be acquired before 2030;
• the life of Britain’s Typhoon squadrons has been extended to 2040;
• 138 US built F-35 aircraft will be acquired at $104 million a throw to fly from the new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers. The first twenty-four will be in service by 2023.
• a fleet of twenty killer drones should come into service by 2020;
• £2 billion is to be spent on weapons and helicopters for the SAS and other special forces;
• 1900 new spies will be recruited. Also an additional £1.9 billion will be spent on cyber security; and
• the BBC World Service budget will be increased by £34 million for 2016/17 and £85 million per annum thereafter.

In addition to the above, 10,000 troops will be trained to deal with terrorist incidents and, by 2025, two strike brigades, each comprising 5,000 troops, will be formed by reorganising existing personnel.

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY: Cambridge University has dropped David Starkey from a marketing video on the grounds that people were offended by his inclusion because of his views on race and sex. See comment article.

MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT: Following the UN Security Council resolution in favour of international intervention in Syria, it seems likely that Mr Cameron will be able to muster a Commons majority for UK airstrikes.

The government has offered to make RAF Akrotiri, the UK’s Cyprus airbase, available to the French air force. British personnel will assist with the refuelling of French aircraft there.

LONG HAUL JET: The government is proposing to spend some £10 million in refitting an RAF Voyager A330 jet for the Prime Minister to use for long haul travel. It will also be available for use by the Royal family and for refuelling duties for the RAF. It is thought that the move from chartering aircraft to using an RAF plane will save some £775,000 a year. The Prime Minister will continue to use the Queen’s flight for shorthaul travel.

HEATHROW: The chief executive of Heathrow airport, John Holland Kaye, has said that the existing pattern of night flights should not be given away lightly. Currently there are about sixteen flights arriving before 6 AM, largely from the Far East, but the recommendation of the airports commission that Heathrow build a third runway contains the condition that no flights arrive before that time. According to Mr Holland Kaye the flights are necessary to enable people arriving to do a full days work and also to connect with outgoing flights where Heathrow is used as a transit hub. The decision on whether Heathrow or Gatwick will get the extra runway is expected in a number of weeks.

SCOTTISH NATIONALISTS: Natalie McGarry, the SNP MP for Glasgow East has been suspended from the party while police investigate missing political donations. The MP for Edinburgh West, Michelle Thomson is also suspended pending a criminal investigation into property deals. The SNP won fifty-six MPs in the general election but only fifty-four of them are still subject to the party whip.

KEN LIVINGSTONE:  Mr Livingstone has apologised for suggesting that the shadow defence minister, Kevan Jones, might need psychiatric help following an argument about Trident. Mr Jones is known to suffer from depression and has referred to it in the House of Commons.

HEALTH: 90% of the junior doctors taking part in the BMA ballot supported strike action. The turnout was 76%. Strikes are planned for 1 December, 8 December and 16 December.  The first of the strikes will leave emergency cover in place.  Sir Bruce Keogh, medical director of NHS England, has asked that staff should continue to work wherever emergency cover cannot be provided.

George Osborne has agreed to inject a further £4 billion a year into the national health service to stabilise the pressure on hospitals.

According to a study published by Professor Walsh of Cardiff University in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, a new gene, mcr-1, found in animals and also humans in China has resulted in bacteria becoming resistant to colistin, an antibiotic used when other antibiotics prove ineffective. There is a concern that the gene could affect other bacteria so that antibiotics cease to be effective in treating common ailments.

Research by the Universities of Leicester and Oxford indicate that some 60% of stillbirths are avoidable. The report indicates that guidance is regularly ignored and that many stillbirths could have been avoided if labour had been induced earlier. The same mistakes were identified in a previous enquiry in 1997 but it appears that they are still being made.

CHILD ARRESTS: The number of arrests of children under seventeen has dropped from 245,763 in 2010 to 112,037 last year. The Howard League for Penal Reform, which obtained the figures, believes that the drop has occurred because police have more discretion to deal with minor offences informally as arrest targets have ceased to be used.

LORDS DEFEAT: The government was defeated in the House of Lords which voted to extend the franchise in the EU referendum to 16 and 17 year-olds. This may result in the Referendum Bill being thrown back to the Commons, which could defer the referendum to 2017. Generally it is believed that young people tend to be more inclined to vote for the UK to remain part of the EU.

LASER TAGS: 168 aircraft landing at Heathrow last year were targeted by lasers used to dazzle the pilots. In most cases laser pens were responsible but in one case in April a much heavier laser was used, causing damage to the pilot’s eye.

LORD’S PRAYER: Odeon, Vue and Cineworld have been much criticised for their decision to refuse an advertisement from the Church England which featured the Lord’s Prayer. Apparently the advertising agency Digital Cinema Media took the view that the advertisement could not be screened because it might give offence to those of different religions. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has pointed out that there is no right not to be offended in the UK. The Church has also been supported by Liberty, the Mayor of London, Stephen Fry and the Prime Minister but the point has also been made that which advertisements to accept is a commercial decision for the cinemas concerned.

MURDER: Two men have been held on suspicion of murdering teenager Kayleigh Haywood, whose body was found in a field near Ilkeston last week.

JAIL DEATH: Vicky Thomson, who had been born a man but had changed sex, has been found dead in Leads Prison. The prison is for male offenders and spokesmen for transgender people say that a prison for female offenders would have been more appropriate. There will be an enquiry into Vicky’s death.

YVONNE FLETCHER: A man has been arrested in connection with the murder of WPC Fletcher in 1984. The officer was shot from the Libyan Embassy in St James’s Square while policing a demonstration against Gaddafi. The demise of Gaddafi has given the police access to further information.

CONSERVATIVE PARTY:  Mark Clarke, who headed the Road Trip 2015 group, has been expelled from the Conservative Party amongst allegations of bullying, blackmail and other inappropriate behaviour. The row, which was triggered by the suicide of activist Elliot Johnson, involves a number of allegations against senior party members. The party has set up an investigation to be chaired by barrister Edward Legard.

WENTWORTH WOODHOUSE: The sale of the eighteenth century mansion built for the first Marquis of Rockingham has fallen through because of current litigation against the Coal Authority relating to subsidence. The house has 365 rooms and is thought to need some £42 million of repairs. How these are funded will depend on the outcome of the litigation.

JONAH LOMU: All Blacks star Jonah Lomu has died at the age of forty. He is particularly remembered for scoring four tries against England in the semi-final of the 1995 World Cup. In all he played sixty-three internationals and scored thirty-seven international tries.

RUGBY: Australian Eddie Jones will replace Stuart Lancaster as the England coach. He has indicated that he intends to occupy the position for four years.

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