26 May 2016
Week in Brief: UK NEWS
EU Referendum
INAPPROPRIATE COMMENTS: Pat Glass, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Europe, was overheard referring to a voter as a “horrible racist”. UKIP claimed that these remarks showed disdain for voters and Ms Glass has said that she regrets them.
TRANSATLANTIC TRADE AND INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP: The Government has been forced to accept an unprecedented amendment to the Queens’s speech expressing regret at the absence of a bill excluding the NHS from the effect of TTIP. Although both the European Commission and UK government say that public services will be exempt from the scope of the provisions giving access to markets, there is concern that, if the exemption is ineffectual, American companies might be able to insist on UK public services being put out to tender.
RYANAIR: The Ryanair offer of cheap flights on Referendum Day so that Brits living abroad can come back and vote for Remain, has been reported to the police on the basis that it may constitute “treating”. The flights will be available to everyone, however they propose to vote.
MIGRATION: Official Figures show that 2,210,000 UK workers were born outside Britain but in the EU. That compares with 3,030,000 workers born outside the EU. Last year’s figure for EU born workers was 1,958,000. The increase is mainly down to arrivals from old EU countries such as Spain, Portugal, Italy and France.
JUNCKER: The President of the European Commission has told the French newspaper Le Monde that Britain will not be “handled gently” if it leaves the EU.
NHS: Former heads of the NHS Lord Crisp and Sir David Nicholson described in the Sunday Times how Brexit would mean it would be harder to recruit staff from Europe, be more difficult for UK citizens to work in healthcare in Europe and that there would be a major loss of EU grants for medical research. The current head of the NHS, Simon Stevens, told Andrew Marr that he was in favour of staying in the EU.
TURKEY: David Cameron stepped in to correct the Armed Forces Minister, Penny Mordaunt, who had said that the UK was not able to veto Turkey joining the EU, which he said was “absolutely wrong”.
TREASURY: An 82-page report was published by the Treasury suggesting that a messy Brexit would reduce 2018 GDP by 6%, increase unemployment by 820,000 and reduce house prices by 18% vs forecasts. The report was widely criticised by Brexit supporters. Iain Duncan Smith suggested that Sajid Javid, who supported the Treasury report, secretly backs leaving the EU. Whitehall sources responded by saying: “This is simply not true”.
OPINION POLL: An ORB poll showed Remain on 55% and Leave on 42%, among people who definitely intend to vote. Among all voters Remain had a 20 point lead.
VETERANS FOR BRITAIN: 10 senior military figures have voiced their support for Brexit, with former SAS commander Sir Michael Rose arguing that NATO is being undermined and weakened by the EU.
Health
ZIKA-VIRUS: The World Health Organisation has warned that eighteen EU countries are at risk of the virus this summer. France, Italy, Malta, Croatia and Spain are the highest risks. There is no likelihood of people In Britain being infected by zika carrying mosquitoes.
HOSPITAL DEFICITS: Last year 65% of NHS trusts were in deficit, creating a total shortfall of £2.5 billion. NHS Providers, the trade association of the trusts, puts this down to a combination of large increases in admissions, shortfalls of funding and the fact that available savings have largely been made already. Although some further savings can be made by an amalgamation of A&E departments, they say that the real issue is low funding. France, Germany and Holland spend about 11% of GDP on healthcare. We spend 8.5%
LOCUMS: Locums are overpaid for three-quarters of hospital shifts, with some doctors getting twice as much as they should despite the introduction of pay caps according to data gathered by Liaison.
SEVEN DAY NHS: Progress towards a 7-day NHS was made following an agreement to scrap the right for hospital consultants to opt out of weekend working.
ISIS: A registered doctor, who spent seven years working for the NHS, has been revealed as an Islamic State recruit. His current whereabouts are unknown.
General Politics
IMMIGRATION: The French Navy is to patrol the Channel in an attempt to prevent the smuggling of migrants in small boats following the tightening of security at Calais. The National Crime Agency has reported the arrest of Rekawt Kayani, an asylum seeker granted British citizenship in 2003, on suspicion of facilitating the illegal immigration of thousands of people.
EFFICIENCY DRIVE: According to the National Audit Office, a programme to save money by merging back office services within the Civil Service has been undermined by a failure of government departments to participate. So far the scheme has cost £94 million but has only saved £90 million.
LABOUR MODERATES: Erstwhile leadership campaigner Andy Burnham is to seek the Labour nomination for the mayoralty of Greater Manchester. Another contender is Ivan Lewis who previously served as shadow Northern Ireland secretary. It is thought that they may be the vanguard of a movement by moderate Labour politicians seeking to build power bases outside Parliament.
CHILCOTT REPORT: Sources close to the report have said that Tony Blair, Jack Straw and Sir Richard Dearlove will face severe damage to their reputations when the report is released on 7th July.
EDUCATION: A report by the all-party parliamentary group on financial education for young people wants primary pupils to learn about tax and banking.
CHILDREN’S SERVICES: Birmingham City Council’s children’s services will be run by a trust after years of failings, with the department called a “national disgrace” by inspectors. Separately, a report by the University of Central Lancashire showed that up to 150,000 pre-school children had been reported to social services over fears of abuse or neglect.
SUEING THE MOD: Hundreds of soldiers are likely to sue the MOD over being administered controversial anti-malarial medication without receiving psychiatric screening.
SNP RESIGNATION: Stewart Hosie has stepped down as deputy leader of the Scottish National Party after revelations about his private life. He will not stand for re-election as an MP.
Miscellaneous
TERROR RULING: The European Court of Justice has held that individuals banned from entering the UK must be given the reasons for the decision.
FRACKING: Councillors in Yorkshire have approved the first fracking scheme in the last five years. Production could start within months. Fracking tests have begun in Lancashire, North Yorkshire and Cheshire.
GM CROPS: are safe to eat and cause no more damage to the environment than conventional strains according to a report by the Royal Society.
KISS AND TELL: The Supreme Court has, by a majority of 4 to 1 overturned the previous decision of the Court of Appeal by upholding the injunction in the “three in a bed” case on the basis that there was no public interest to justify the intrusion of privacy. It was not enough that the victims were well known. Had the story had a bearing on performance for public office or had it corrected a misleading impression cultivated by the person involved, the answer could have been different.
FOOTBALL LEAGUE: The Football League is proposing the addition of a fifth division which would increase the number of clubs to 100. Each division would have twenty clubs. The idea is to reduce the number of games in an overcrowded fixture list. Any change would take effect from the 2019/20 season.
FA CUP: Manchester United beat Crystal Palace 2-1 to win the English FA Cup. However, they then sacked their manager, Louis van Gaal and appointed Jose Mourinho. Hibernian’s first Scottish FA Cup win for 112 years was marred by pitch invasion.
WOMEN GOLFERS: Muirfield, the Edinburgh golf club, has rejected women membership. Although the majority of members were in favour of changing the rules, they fell just short of the requisite two thirds majority. Muirfield has been removed from the list of clubs eligible to host the Open.
PALACE INTRUDER: It has emerged that an intruder who broke into the grounds of Buckingham Palace before being arrested seven minutes later had previously been convicted of murder. It is not suggested, however, that he had any malicious intent in climbing into the gardens.
GARDENS: Britain is suffering from a lost generation of gardeners, according to the RHS, because baby-boomers have not bothered to teach their children. They also bemoaned the loss of front gardens which has been the result of the buy-to-let boom.
PALME D’OR: Ken Loach won in Cannes for his film ‘I, Daniel Blake’ – a film that focuses on the cruelty of bureaucracy in the welfare system.
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