18 August 2016
Week In Brief: UK
Government
POST-BREXIT FUNDING PLEDGE: Science University research and infrastructure projects will have their levels of EU funding guaranteed after Brexit under a Treasury plan which will cost £4 billion per year. Payments to farmers will also be guaranteed for four years.
BREXIT DELAY: The government had been expected to trigger Article 50 in January, leading to 2 years of formal talks, but the new Brexit and International Trade departments may not be ready, pointing to us leaving the EU late in 2019. The Prime Minister has told Liam Fox and Boris Johnson to end their turf war over the control of the foreign office. Boris Johnson has been effectively in charge of the country, being the most senior politician here while the prime minister is on holiday.
COUNTER EXTREMISM PLAN FAILING: The plan has eroded trust within the Muslim community, says Maria Miller, the Chair of the Parliamentary Women and Equalities Committee.
NEW CHILD ABUSE CHAIR: Alexis Jay has become the fourth Chair of the Child Abuse Inquiry, despite the committee still not having taken any evidence. She previously produced the report on the Rotherham grooming scandal, which criticised police and social care leaders. She is not a qualified lawyer, but has a background in social work.
ELECTION ID CHECKS: A report by Sir Eric Pickles has recommended tougher checks on electoral registration and making voters produce their driving licence, passport or utility bill.
RAIL STRIKES: The strike could spread to 10 rail networks. The RMT has been criticised for striking based on a balance of only 55 managers. The union has amassed a £50 million war chest as a result of taking in 5 times more in dues than it has paid in benefits. 7 days of strikes were announced for Eurostar, but were called off to allow talks, as were strikes on Southern Rail. Virgin Trains say that their timetable will not be affected by 3 one-day strikes as they will utilise staff from elsewhere in the business. The Rail Safety and Standards Board has said that there is no justification for the action as the system of driver door management was completely safe, and possibly safer than having a conductor in charge.
RAIL FARES: Annual season ticket prices are to rise on average by £52 (1.9%) despite overcrowding and strikes. Since 2010 fares have risen by 25%, which is twice the speed of wages.
INFLATION EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS: CPI rose by 0.6% in the year to July, up from 0.5% last month. Analysts now expect CPI to hit 1.5% by Christmas and 2% next spring.
BUILDING RECESSION: Output from the building sector fell by 0.7% in Q2 after a 1.1% fall in Q1. The RICS reported a sharp fall in the number of house sales in July, and Zoopla said that a third of those selling in July had to reduce prices by an average of £25,000 to do so. Homeowners and developers are experiencing severe delays, with almost 250,000 planning applications not processed on time since 2010.
MIND YOUR GRAMMAR: New Grammar Schools will be limited to just 20, in working class areas.
Opposition
NEW MEMBERS CAN’T VOTE: The Court of Appeal overturned the decision to allow 130,000 new Labour members to vote in the leadership election. The new members are seen as largely supporters of Jeremy Corbyn. Labour officials have been identifying up to 1,000 “entryists” a day – members of rival parties and the hard left who have been trying to join. Officials have reportedly been going through the social media accounts of 180,000 registered supporters. 3 members of the Shadow Cabinet have been paying a cut-price membership fee of one quarter of the normal rate – this is usually reserved for the unwaged.
BACK TO THE ’80s: A far left leader expelled from the Labour Party by Neil Kinnock 30 years ago, Peter Taaffe, a member of the Militant Tendency, believes that Jeremy Corbyn will let him back in. Dave Nellist and Derek Hatton are also reported to be looking to return.
BLAIRITES PREPARE: A war chest of £250,00 has been raised by Labour Tomorrow, launched by Lord Blunkett and Baroness Dean to boost mainstream Labour causes and re-energise the centre of the party.
Health
NHS FUNDING CRISIS: Patients have been warned to expect hospital closures and a fall in the number of beds as the NHS tries to cut its deficit, say the Nuffield Trust. Cataract, hip and knee operations and IVF are most likely to suffer.
PRIORY SPENDING: The 10s of millions of pounds spent by the NHS on the Priory Group is being questioned due to concerns regarding patient deaths and standards of care.
BED BLOCKING: An estimated 6,000 elderly patients are trapped needlessly in hospital beds as nursing homes, social services and their families are failing to provide adequate care. The cost is estimated at £820m per year (corrects earlier £6 billion per year entry).
PAEDIATRICIAN SHORTAGE: Children and new-born babies are being put at risk by a shortage of paediatricians, according to the Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health. Potential students can, for the first time, apply to medical school via clearing, at least at St George’s, part of the University of London.
MORE STRIKES: Junior doctors have pledge to “ratchet up” strike action, with rolling strikes starting as early as next month.
ALZHEIMERS HOPE AND FRUSTRATION: A drug prescribed to ease period pain has completely reversed Alzheimer’s in mice and could soon be tested on humans. A blood test costing just £25 has been developed that can identify those at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s. It produces results within 3 hours. A report showed that 4 times as many patients suffer from poor dementia care in some parts of the country.
Sport
OLYMPIC SUCCESS CONTINUES: In cycling, Bradley Wiggins won his 8th Olympic medal with gold in the team pursuit, Laura Trott became the most successful UK female athlete by winning her third and fourth gold medals, and her fiancée Jason Kenny won his sixth gold medal. Katherine Grainger won her 5th medal in 5 Olympics. Bryony Page won our first ever trampolining gold medal. Justin Rose won the first Olympic gold at golf since 1904. Charlotte Dujardin won her third gold in the dressage. Giles Scott won a sailing gold in the Finn Class, and Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark gold in the 470. Chris Mears and Jack Laugher won gold in the synchronized diving. Sophie Hitchen won our first medal in a women’s field event (hammer) since 1988. Max Whitlock won our first ever gymnastics gold medals on the floor and pommel horse. Joe Clarke won Britain’s first solo kayak gold. Britain got to second in the overall medal table, but are expected to be overtaken by China.
FOOTBALL RETURNS: The new Premier League season kicked-off with the winners and second placed teams from last season, Leicester and Arsenal, both losing their opening fixtures.
TEST TIE: Pakistan won the fourth and final test at the Oval to tie the series with England at 2-2.
Other news
NEW DUKE: The Duke of Westminster has died at the age of 64, leaving an estimated fortune of £9.3 billion, which is protected from inheritance tax by being in a series of trusts. His 25 year old son inherits the title.
RIPPER RETURNS TO PRISON: Peter Sutcliffe, currently in Broadmoor, has been declared fit to return to prison.
TASER CONCERNS: A former Premier League footballer, Dalian Atkinson, died from a heart attack after being tasered by police.
HATE PREACHER JAILED: Anjem Choudary was convicted of promoting and supporting terrorism, 20 years after his links to terrorism first emerged.
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