11 May 2017
Week In Brief: UK
Royal news
DUCAL RETIREMENT: Prince Philip has announced that he will step down from his public role at the end of the summer, shortly after his 96th birthday. From then on, although he may himself decide to attend public events from time to time, other members of the Royal family will take over his work in supporting the Queen. The Duke, who gave up a promising career in the Royal Navy in order to support his wife, was praised by the Prime Minister, by Jeremy Corbyn and by other leading politicians for his public service. He, like the Queen, is a great-great-grandchild of Queen Victoria. He is also worshipped as a god on the island of Tanna. Educated at Gordonstoun, then run by its founder, the German Jew Kurt Hahn, the Duke has always been interested in outdoor activities and his charitable work includes the creation of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
Election news
LOCAL ELECTIONS: The Conservative party made considerable gains in local elections outside London with an increase of 563 seats, giving them control of 11 councils, in addition to their previous total of 17. Against that, Labour lost 382 seats and control of 7 councils, reducing the number which they control to 9. The Liberal Democrats lost 42 seats, UKIP 145 seats and the Scottish Nationalists 7. None of those parties controlled any councils before the election so they have not lost any. The other winners were Plaid Cymru, who picked up 33 seats and the Green party who picked up 6. Plaid Cymru continues to control one council, the Greens none.
In Scotland Labour lost three councils, including Glasgow, and the Scottish Nationalist party lost Dundee. That means that out of the 32 Scottish councils none is under the control of any one party although three are under the control of groups of independents.
In the mayoral elections, the Conservatives won West Midlands, West of England, Cambridge and Peterborough, and Tees Valley. Labour won Manchester and Liverpool.
It is wholly unclear to what extent the pattern of voting in the local elections will be reflected in the general election on June 8 when the issues will be different. It does seem, however, that UKIP’s voters are deserting it, generally in favour of the government, and that the Conservatives are likely to replace Labour as the main opposition to the SNP in Scotland.
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: The Liberal Democrats have said that they will campaign on the basis of a 1 penny rise in income tax to provide an additional £6 billion for the NHS. The policy contrasts with the Government’s insistence that it has no plans to raise income tax, although it will not pledge not to raise income tax or national insurance.
ENERGY CAP: It is understood that the Conservative manifesto will include a cap on domestic energy prices. That will benefit those on the standard tariffs, although those on the cheaper tariffs will pay more. The proposal has been criticised on the basis that it will interfere with the market but, at a domestic level, the market wasn’t working anyway, with two thirds of households being on the most expensive tariff. The Prime Minister has indicated that she expects the changes to save families on standard tariff as much as £100 a year. From a political perspective, the resetting of the cap every six months will involve the government in pricing decisions for which it could be criticised. The energy companies, who have lobbied against proposal, say that it may well impact their profits.
JUNK FOOD: The Labour Party has said that, if elected, it will extend the ban on advertising food high in fat, salt or sugar, from children’s television time to the 9 PM watershed. That should reduce children’s exposure to such advertisements by 82%. The party would also earmark £250 million for a Children’s Health Scheme.
ASSORTED OTHER PLEDGES: Labour has said that it will restrict tax rises to the wealthiest 5% of the population, will recruit 10,000 more police officers, will renationalise rail, will abolish hospital parking charges, will build 1,000,000 new homes and will introduce four more bank holidays. The Liberal Democrats and Labour are each committed to retaining the triple lock on pensions. The Conservatives have indicated that they will retain the immigration target of 100,000 per annum net. They have also promised a free vote on hunting.
See comment Pledges and Promises.
Other politics
NETWORK RAIL: £2 billion worth of cash to be generated through the sale of land, rail arches and shops in stations, which had been earmarked to finance upgrades to the rail system, may now be used for deficit reduction. Network Rail is in talks with the Treasury and the Department for Transport regarding the change, which would mean postponing electrification projects.
SURVEILLANCE: Draft regulations leaked by the Open Rights Group would allow the security services to monitor in real time and prevent full encryption. Experts say that a total ban on encryption is impracticable because of its effects on online security. The new surveillance powers would be limited to 1 in 10,000 users and would need judicial sanction. The new rules would come in by regulation made under the Investigatory Powers Act. It is understood that the draft regulations have been discussed with the Technical Advisory Board, which includes representatives of O2, BT, BSkyB, Cable & Wireless, Vodafone and Virgin.
CLEAN AIR: The draft air quality plan published by the government has been criticised for being short on specific commitments. Possible measures identified include reducing motorway speed limits to 60 miles an hour, the removal of speed humps, higher taxes for drivers of diesels, and the targeted scrappage of diesel cars. The plan, which the Government was forced to publish by a High Court ruling, passes the responsibility for measures to reduce nitrogen dioxide to councils, suggesting that charging zones should only be used as a last resort. It is estimated that nitrogen dioxide is responsible for 40,000 deaths a year.
Health and welfare
STROKES: Early trials suggest that attaching a patch costing 39p to the shoulder or back of stroke victims travelling to hospital, could halve death rates and also improve the prospects of recovery. The patches contain glyceryl trinitrate and are being trialled by the East Midlands Ambulance Service.
SWEARING: A study presented to the British Psychological Society concludes that people perform better at physicals tasks if they are swearing. Apparently those swearing gripped harder and cycled faster than those who were not allowed to blaspheme. The research headed up by Richard Stevens of Keele University follows an earlier project which indicated that those swearing could deal better with pain. For example they could hold their hands longer in buckets of iced water. It is thought that the use of words which are normally taboo gives a release from restrictions on performance. See Chin Chin.
ELDERLY COUPLES: Sir James Mumby, President of the Family Division, has said that the practice of splitting elderly couples when they move to a care home has to cease. Addressing the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, he criticised social workers for relying too much on procedures and too little on humanity, empathy and decency. His comments were supported by the director of Age UK.
Misc
WATER SHORTAGE: Affinity Water has advised its customers to take showers rather than baths, to use less water brushing their teeth, and to use watering cans instead of hoses, to save water following the driest winter in 20 years. The Environmental Agency says that although rivers and reservoirs are low, there are no supply issues at present although plans are being drawn up in case dry weather persists.
REGENT’S PARK: The Planning Inspectorate has reversed a decision of Camden Council rejecting an application by developer Christopher Candy to create a garden in front of one of the Nash terraces. Apparently the garden was part of the original scheme as proposed by Nash and therefore will not conflict with the architecture of the area.
GROUND RENTS: The Nationwide Building Society has tightened its lending criteria on new build properties. Minimum leasehold terms are to be reduced to 125 years for flats and 250 years for houses, but in addition it will require ground rents to be restricted to 0.1% of value and not to increase by more than inflation.
FORENSIC SCIENCE: Thousands of convictions had been thrown into doubt after it appeared that employees at Randox Testing Services had tampered with samples to obtain positive results. A team of scientists has been brought together to supervise retesting. The number of cases affected could be as high as 6000. Randox was one of the firms which moved into the business after the abolition of the Forensic Science Service in 2012.
TEACHING POSTS: A survey run by headteachers and Fair Funding for Schools across 14 counties indicates that 1161 teaching posts and 1595 teaching assistant posts will disappear in the new academic year. Cuts totalling 7% of the budget over the next three years will result in larger class sizes and parents being asked to fund some activities.
FROME KNOCKED OFF: Cyclist Chris Froome has been deliberately knocked off his bicycle whilst training in France. He was not injured but the bicycle was destroyed. The driver is being sought by French police.
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