29 September 2016

Week in Brief: UK

Brexit Blues

NEWS FROM THE FRONT: As Mrs May remains taciturn, speculation continues as to the position the government will take in the negotiations over Brexit.  International Trade Secretary Liam Fox favours the “Hard Brexit” option under which priority would be given to limiting free movement of people, even at the risk of excluding the UK from the single market. The assumption here is that because the EU is a net exporter to Britain, they will allow us access in any event. The approach has, however, caused nervousness in the City because it jeopardises the passport arrangements under which financial services can be sold throughout the EU by British firms. The Office for Budget Responsibility is to draw up a revised forecast for the autumn statement on the assumption that less revenue is generated by the banking sector. It is thought that the reduction in tax collected could be as much as £10 billion.

Meanwhile,

• Mr Dopfner, chief executive of the German publisher, Axel Springer, suggests that freedom from EU rules would enable Britain to bring in a talent-oriented immigration policy, something which he believes will result in the British economy outperforming that of the continent within five years;

• the Office for National Statistics has concluded that Brexit has had no effect on the UK economy to date;

• the OECD has increased its forecast for this year’s growth from 1.7% to 1.8% but has dropped the forecast for next year to 1%; and

• according to the Bank of England, retailers are planning to reduce packet sizes in order to avoid increasing prices to reflect the fall in the pound.

BREXIT REVELATIONS: A new book by Cameron’s former director of communications reveals that Mrs May persuaded him to drop an emergency brake on immigration in the face of opposition from Angela Merkel. The softer line of cutting benefits for new arrivals did not prove sufficient to persuade the British public to vote Remain.

Labour

LABOUR LEADERSHIP: Jeremy Corbyn secured re-election as leader of the Labour Party with 62% of the vote.  He says that he will reach out to his critics who he regards as part of the Labour “family”.  He has refused, however, to interfere in the way in which constituencies select their candidates for the next election, pointing out that it is not his decision. Tension remains between Mr Corbyn and the moderate Labour MPs.  Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, has warned that continuing division risks splitting the party. Owen Smith, who opposed Mr Corbyn, will not be serving under him.

LABOUR CONFERENCE: Among other things:

• the opposition to Fracking announced by the shadow energy secretary has been criticised by the trade union GMB, which says that that it would make  Britain dependent on unsavoury Middle Eastern regimes;

• a dispute has broken out over the party’s policy on nuclear disarmament, with Clive Lewis, the shadow defence secretary, having parts of his speech rewritten on the autocue by Seamus Milne just as he was about to deliver it. He was not pleased;

• Mr Corbyn proposes to fight the next election on an open door EU immigration policy. He says that Labour is not concerned about numbers but would provide extra cash for public services which came under stress as a result of a growing population.

• Motions adopted include tax increases for high earners, nationalisation of the railways and the energy sector, limits on the use of the private sector by the NHS, enhanced union power, full employment, the abolition of University fees, and an end to the waging of “aggressive wars of intervention”.

General Politics

CALAIS: President Hollande, who has undertaken to dismantle the jungle camp at Calais, is to call on Britain to take more unaccompanied children with relatives in the UK.

IVORY: Andrea Leadsom, the Environment Minister, has announced a ban on sales of ivory, apart from antiques made before 1947.  London Zoo points out that this is short of the total ban on ivory promised in successive Tory manifestos. It is also short of the measures taken by the US.

TURKISH KILLING: The results of an investigation by The Times into files which alleges a link between the murder of Turkish dissident Mehmet Kaygisiz in 1994 and Turkish Intelligence, has raised concerns that Turkey might be involved in a black operations in Europe. Three female members of the Kurdistan Workers Party were shot dead in Paris in 2013.

Spooks

HACKERS: According to David Anderson QC, the Independent reviewer of terrorist legislation, British Intelligence thwarted an attempt by Kremlin-sponsored hackers, Fancy Bear, to close down all government websites and major UK broadcasters at the time of the general election. The hackers had previously succeeded in closing TV 5Monde, one of France’s biggest television networks.

MI6: MI6 is to recruit 1000 new spies, increasing the size of the force to nearly 3500 by the 2020s. The total rise across the intelligence services will be 1900.

Health

MENTAL HEALTH: According to data obtained by “the Times”, about two thirds of the Clinical Commissioning Groups within the National Health Service are proposing to cut the proportion of their budgets which is spent on mental health. That conflicts with government commitments that mental health spending should rise in line with overall budgets.

NURSING MISCONDUCT: The Nursing and Midwifery Council will no longer publish details of allegations against nurses and midwives in advance of disciplinary hearings . Its approach contrasts with that of the General Medical Council where allegations are published in advance.

DOCTORS STRIKE: Groups within the British Medical Association are seeking to intensify resistance to the new doctors’ contract following the collapse of the BMA’s strike programme.  The BMA Junior Doctors’ Committee has been criticised for calling strikes and then having to cancel them.

GP LISTS: Figures published by the NHS disclose that 57.3 million people are registered with English GPs, more than the 54.3 million population shown by the 2011 census.  Much of the discrepancy arises because of failures to remove people from lists when they move away, but it is expensive as practices receive £141 a year for each patient.  Capita will be writing to patients who have not seen their GPs for 5 years to ascertain whether they should still be listed.

Other News

LLOYDS FRAUD: Feezan Choudhary has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for his role as mastermind of a £113 million fraud under which bank details were obtained from small businesses and money drained from their accounts. He was supplied with details of customers accounts by Lloyds bank staff and the bank is now in dispute with its customers as to its liability to reimburse them. It is said to have required some of them to sign confidentiality agreements, presumably as a condition of reimbursement.

UNIVERSITIES: The Times Higher Education World University Rankings shows Oxford at number one, ahead of Caltech and Stamford. Cambridge is rated four and Imperial College, London is rated eight.

ROLLERCOASTERS: Merlin Entertainments, which operates the Alton Towers amusement park, has been fined £5 million for breaches of Health and Safety legislation following the crash of the Smiler ride on 2 June. Two young people each lost a leg in the accident

NO DYCE: Sam Allardyce has stepped down as England manager after only one game following a sting by reporters from the Daily Telegraph.  He was recorded negotiating a deal to work for what he believed to be an agency and discussing bypassing rules on third party ownership of players.

 

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