11 February 2016

Week in Brief: UK

EU NEGOTIATIONS: Debate has begun over the terms which David Cameron has negotiated with the EU.  However, the terms are still only in draft form and may not represent the final conditions which EU institutions and countries will be prepared to agree.  The draft has already sparked debate over the merits of leaving or staying in the EU.

SHOREHAM AIR CRASH: The pilot of the plane which crashed at Shoreham air display last year was prevented from continuing a display in 2014 when organisers noticed that he was flying too low, in contravention of regulations drawn up by the Civil Aviation Authority. The police investigating the tragedy at Shoreham said that the incident the year before would be taken into account as part of their inquiries into the cause of the accident.

HS2: Concerns have been expressed that ancient woodlands may be destroyed or damaged in the construction of the HS2 railway line.  Woodland Trust, in evidence to a Commons select committee, alleged that the company responsible for the construction of the line had omitted to mention 14 ancient woods when carrying out an environment assessment.  The total number of woods at risk was estimated to be 63, and one of the trees at risk includes an ancient pear tree in Warwickshire which is thought to be 250 years old and was once voted the best tree in England.

ZIKA VIRUS: The World Health Organisation has warned that the Zika virus could spread to Europe later this year and has declared a global health emergency.  Countries in Europe which border the Mediterranean have been advised to use insecticides to kill the mosquitoes now before they start becoming active after the Winter cold.

LORD LUCAN: Lord Lucan has been officially declared dead by the High Court and his eldest son has formally inherited the title.  The ruling was made by the judge under the provisions of the Presumption of Death Act 2014.  Lord Lucan disappeared after his children’s nanny had been found beaten to death in 1974.

FROMELLES: A memorial service will be held in France on 19 July to remember the battle of Fromelles in 1916 in which the Australians suffered heavy casualties and the British 1,500 lost or wounded.  The commemoration is being organised by the Australian Department for Veterans Affairs, and the Director of the Department has ruled that only relatives of Australians will be allowed to attend and not relatives of the British soldiers who died in the battle.  Australian war veterans have condemned the decision.

AGE UK: The charity Age UK has come under criticism over its commercial operations.  It is claimed that it made £6 million from an arrangement with E.ON by which it sponsored an expensive dual-fuel tariff to old people.  There are concerns over the equity release programme, also supported by the charity, by which pensioners can borrow against the value of their property; the debt is then repaid from the estate after the death of the pensioner.  The interest charged is 6%.  The charity receives a commission from the mortgage brokers Just Retirement.

DEPORTATION: Concern has been expressed at a decision of the European Court of Justice which has ruled that a woman, who has served 12 months in prison for terrorist related offences, cannot be deported to Morocco because her child, a son, was born in the UK.  He is therefore an EU citizen, and cannot be deported because his mother is the sole carer.

STATE SCHOOLS: A Sunday Times analysis has revealed that top state schools are producing “A” level results which are as good as those achieved by pupils in the private sector.

There has been a dramatic change since 1999 when the Sunday Times reported that the state system was failing children because the number of pupils obtaining top grades at “A” level was woefully low.

BREXIT: The Bank of England has increased its emergency fund by US$25 billion in what commentators believe is a precaution against a decision by the UK to leave the EU.  The funds could be used to bolster the pound if there is heavy selling in the event that a vote to leave takes place.

FRACKING: The charity, Friends of the Earth, is under investigation after allegations that it was engaged in political activities over fracking.  The Times has claimed that the charity deceived the charity regulator by saying that “Friends of the Earth Limited” had been engaged in lobbying against fracking and not the charity itself.  The charity said that there had been a technical glitch on its website.

ABUSE: 11 men have been sentenced to terms of imprisonment after being found guilty of grooming and raping a schoolgirl when she was 13/14 years old.  Another man was jailed for sexual activity with the girl.  The jail terms range from 3 ½ years to 20 years.  One of the men, Khalid Raja Mahmood, received an extended sentence and another, Yasser Kabir, received the longest sentence, 20 years.  He was also sentenced for 12 sexual offences against two other young girls.