23 June 2016
Week in Brief: UK
Jo Cox
ASSASSINATION OF JO COX: The murder of Jo Cox, the MP for Batley and Spen, outside her surgery in Birstall, near Leeds, has been met with revulsion and sadness on all sides of British politics. Parliament was recalled to pay tribute to Mrs Cox on Monday and the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and UKIP have indicated that they will not oppose the Labour candidate in the by-election caused by her death. Mrs Cox, who was the mother of two children and an outspoken opponent of far right extremism, was about to launch a report on the dangers it posed. Thomas Mair, aged 52, who is charged with her murder, gave his name at the committal proceedings as “Death to Traitors, Freedom For Britain”. He is alleged to have shouted “Britain First” during the attack. Politicians have called for a review of the security of MPs working in their constituencies. Funds raised for charity in response to Mrs Cox’s death now exceed £1,000,000.
EU Referendum
CAMPAIGN PAUSED: All campaigning was put on hold following the news of the murder of Jo Cox on Thursday. It resumed at the weekend.
DEFECTION: Baroness Warsi, formerly the Conservative Communities Minister, has defected from Leave to Remain, suggesting that Leave has been peddling lies and spreading hate. She said that the breaking point was a poster unveiled by Nigel Farage showing refugees trudging across Europe under the slogan “Breaking Point”. Mr Gove said that he had shuddered when he saw the poster and Chris Grayling, another Brexit campaigner, said that it was the wrong view.
ROMANIAN CORRIDOR: An investigation by “The Times” newspaper has revealed that Russian, Ukrainian and other non–EU nationals have been provided with fake documents which allow them to acquire Romanian citizenship and to live and work in the EU. The gang charges about £1,000 for the service and makes use of the fact that Romania offers citizenship to residents of Moldova, which was part of Romania until separated by Stalin.
ITALIAN AND PORTUGUESE CORRIDORS: A similar scam is being operated by gangs in Brazil where the descendants of Italians and Portuguese refugees who emigrated there in the last 200 years are entitled to Italian or Portuguese citizenship. Criminals provide bogus family histories and documents.
LABOUR PARTY: Mr Corbyn, who is campaigning for Remain, has said that his support for the EU was “not unconditional by any means” as he attacked the EU’s shortcomings. He said, however, that despite his reservations he felt that the best course was to work for change from within the union.
BUSINESS LEADERS: In a final salvo from Remain, the leaders of 1285 companies, including more than fifty out of the FTSE 100, have written to “The Times” supporting Remain. They point to the economic uncertainty and reduction in trade which would follow a Brexit vote.
POSTERS REMOVED: Each side now accuses the other of vandalising its posters. In Wales one “Vote Leave” Poster was amended to read “Vote Beaver”. The poster, which was posted on Twitter, was subsequently sold for £53 for charity.
POLLS: After lagging Leave by as much as 6% in the polls, the latest poll by Survation shows Remain 1% ahead.
Health
ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY: Janet Youd, chairwoman of the Emergency Care Association of the Royal College of Nursing, has warned at the RCN annual congress that staff pressures mean that those working in A&E departments often do not have the training to assess whether a patient is seriously ill.
BMA: The BMA has voted to lobby government against the policy of reducing beds in hospitals, which it believes has gone too far and should be reversed. Figures show that Britain has about half the beds it had thirty years ago.
DRUGS: The Royal Society for Public Health and the Faculty of Public Health have proposed that the taking of drugs and the possession of them for personal use should no longer be criminal offences, but rather a matter for the NHS. Selling drugs would still be an offence. Apparently the approach has been successful in Portugal
Energy
OFGEM: The energy regulator Ofgem has found no evidence of overcharging in the energy sector despite disparities in charges by different companies.
GREENHOUSE GASES: According to the European Environment Agency, emissions across the European Union have dropped by 25% since 1990. The drop of 34.3% in UK emissions is the highest in Western Europe. In Eastern Europe omissions have dropped further as industries closed following political change.
Transport
AIRLINES: The Civil Aviation Authority is to enquire into additional charges levied by airlines to check whether they comply with the Consumer Rights Act as being proportionate, easily understood and clearly displayed. Where that is not the case legal action may be taken against the airline concerned.
RAILWAYS: The Rail Delivery Group, representing train companies and Network Rail, has proposed that the period of grace under which a train is regarded as being on time if it is only five minutes late, or ten minutes late in the case of inter-city trains, should be abolished. The proportion of late trains which would give rise to penalties under franchise agreements would presumably be adjusted accordingly.
Miscellaneous Political
GALLOWAY APOLOGY: George Galloway has apologised for defamatory accusations made against his former assistant Aisha Ali-Khan. The allegations include feeding disinformation to the press, misusing email addresses, acting as a police agent and sleeping with a policeman in Mr Galloway’s house.
TOOTING BY-ELECTION: Rosena Allin-Khan, the Labour candidate, was elected for Tooting, the seat vacated by Sadiq Khan on his becoming mayor of London.
Police and Courts
SIR CLEMENT FREUD: Yet another woman has come forward with allegations of abuse by Freud, this time when he was rector of the University of Dundee. A recent ITV documentary interviewed two women who claim to have been abused by him when children, one being the child of a family friend.
CLIFF RICHARD CLEARED: The Crown Prosecution Service has announced that there is insufficient evidence to prosecute Sir Cliff Richard for child abuse following a two-year police enquiry by the South Yorkshire force. South Yorkshire Police are already beset by controversy following the report into Hillsborough and their failure to take action in relation to child abuse in Rotherham. It appears that they tipped off the BBC that Sir Cliff’s premises were to be searched. The Police and Crime Commissioner is said to be considering the future of David Crompton, the former Chief Constable who is already suspended following the Hillsborough enquiry.
PEOPLE SMUGGLING: Two more men have been intercepted as possible people smugglers after their boat ran into difficulties off Dover. The Port of Calais was closed for two hours after migrant swimmers sought to board a car ferry.
TRUMP ASSASSIN: A British boy from Dorking is currently on trial in Washington to answer allegations that he planned to murder Donald Trump in Las Vegas. Michael Sandford, who had been living in the US, is said to have tried to grab a gun from a police officer and was immediately arrested.
MURDER: Ben Butler was yesterday convicted of murdering his nine-year-old daughter, eleven months after high court judge Mrs Justice Hogg ruled that she should be returned to him because his previous conviction for assaulting her had been quashed by the Court of Appeal. The judge’s instruction that agencies should be informed of Butler’s exoneration on the earlier charge obstructed subsequent attempts to intervene. Butler was jailed for a minimum of twenty-three years. His partner, Jennifer Grey, was jailed for forty-two months for child cruelty and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
FOOTBALLER RE-EMPLOYED: Ched Evans who previously played for Sheffield United and whose conviction for rape was quashed in April has been signed by Chesterfield. Mr Evans is due to be retried in October.
General News and Sport
MISS GREAT BRITAIN: Zara Holland, previously crowned Miss Great Britain, has forfeited her title after sexual activities in the reality TV show “Love Island” which the organisers of the Miss Great Britain contest regarded as incompatible with her status.
MICROSOFT: The Sunday Times has revealed details of an advance pricing agreement between HMRC and Microsoft, setting the basis on which profits are allocated between UK and Irish subsidiaries from 2011 to 2017. The left-leaning Tax Justice Network has suggested that the agreement does not properly reflect Microsoft’s real activity, although the basis for that suggestion is unclear. The rate of Corporation tax in Ireland is 12.5%, as compared to 20% in the UK.
ASTRONAUT RETURNS: Tim Peake, the British astronaut, has returned to Earth, landing in Kazakhstan after 186 days in space.
TENNIS: Andy Murray won the men’s championship at the pre-Wimbledon tournament at Queens for a record fifth time, beating Canadian Milos Raonic 6-7,6-4,6-3.
RUGBY UNION: England beat Australia 23 -7 to take a 2 -0 lead in the current series of three internationals.
EURO 2016: England went through to the knockout stage of the competition after a goal-less draw with Slovakia, which left it second in Group B. Wales, which topped the group, beat Russia 3-0.
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