08 June 2017
Week In Brief: UK
Terrorism
LONDON ATTACKS: On Saturday night three terrorists murdered seven people and injured another 48 in an attack on London Bridge and Borough Market. It began when they drove their white rental van into pedestrians on the bridge. The van was abandoned just outside Southwark Cathedral, the men using large knives to kill and wound people who had been enjoying their evening in the area. Police arrived some eight minutes later and the three attackers were shot dead. Political campaigning was suspended for Sunday and the Prime Minister, speaking from Downing Street, identified four ways in which things must change: first, she emphasised the importance of persuading people of the superiority of British values over what was being offered by hate preachers; second, she stressed the importance of controlling cyberspace to deprive extremism and terrorism of the communications on which they depend; third, military action was required to destroy Isis; fourth the counter terrorism and security strategy needed to be reviewed to ensure that the police and security services have the powers they need and to provide longer sentences for terrorist offences.
There is concern at the failure by MI5 to head off the attack following the revelation that one of the attackers, Butt, was under investigation while another, Zaghbawas, was on an Italian watchlist to which MI5 had access. The third attacker, Redouane, had previously been refused asylum in the UK but came here following his marriage to a British woman in Ireland. Mr Corbyn has called on the prime minister to resign over the drop in police numbers when she was Home Secretary.
General Election and Westminster
CONSERVATIVES: Remarks by the defence secretary, Sir Michael Fallon, have been construed as suggesting that the Conservatives will not raise taxes for top rate earners in any circumstances. That conflicts with the position in the manifesto where no undertaking is given not to raise taxes, national insurance or VAT so that the government has the flexibility to meet contingencies. The party’s position is that, although it is a low tax party with no intention of raising taxes for ordinary working families, no concrete undertakings have actually been given.
LABOUR: Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornbury has said that if they get the opportunity to form a government following a hung election, Labour will put forward a Queen’s Speech without doing deals with other parties. Mr Corbyn has said that in the event of a Labour victory, he will open discussions with the SNP on a Scottish Independence Referendum, although suggesting that it be delayed until after Brexit.
POLLS: The polls are currently all over the place suggesting leads varying between 1 and 12 percentage points for the Conservatives. No one really knows what the result will be, from a possible hung parliament to a possible landslide.
EXPENSES CHARGES: The Crown Prosecution Service has said that it will charge Craig MacKinlay, MP and candidate for Thanet, in relation to his expenditure at the last election. His election agent and a campaigner are also to be charged. The case relates to allegations that expenditure on hotels and on a “battle bus” were wrongly allocated to national rather than local expenditure. The threshold for national expenditure is high whereas allocating the expenses to the local campaign would result in a breach of statutory limits.
Health
GENERAL PRACTITIONERS: The Office of National Statistics has predicted that on the basis that there will be 3 million more people in Britain in five years’ time and that, the population being older, people will need to see their GPs more often, the average GP will have to spend 28.3 hours a week with patients, rather than the current total of 22.9
CRIMINAL SURGEON: A surgeon who manipulated patients, mainly women, into unnecessary surgery, particularly mastectomies, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by Nottingham Crown Court on charges of wounding with intent and unlawful wounding.
BREAST-CANCER TREATMENT: A new drug Abemaciclib developed in the US has had considerable success in shrinking and in some cases clearing tumours. Taken twice a day with other hormonal therapies it has been found to work in about 50% of cases.
Police, Crime and Road Safety
DRIVERLESS CARS: Research by the University of the West of England indicates that when a driverless car hands back steering to a human, it may take almost a minute for the latter to resume control. That means that motorists should only take back control when travelling at very low speeds as there will be a period when the car is not being controlled at all.
DETECTIVE RECRUITMENT: The Metropolitan Police are to recruit some 80 trainee detectives who will never work as beat officers. The aim is to help fill 600 detective vacancies and applicants will be required to have a degree and to have lived in London. They will do 18 weeks of training and their starting salary will be just below £30,000 (see Chin Chin).
KNIFE CRIME: Two boys, both aged 17, were stabbed to death in London last week. That brings the total of teenagers murdered to 12, the total for last year.
CRIMINAL HOLIDAYMAKERS: Claims by UK holidaymakers against travel companies to be compensated for gastric illness while on holiday have increased by more than four times in the last four years. This is understood to be because solicitors and claims management firms have been encouraging fraudulent claims. The City of London police are expected to bring prosecutions this summer.
General Politics
CALAIS: Would-be immigrants into the UK are again gathering in the Calais area, setting up the first burning barricade since the Jungle was demolished last year.
TRADE UNIONS: The number of employees who belong to trade unions dropped by 275,000 last year to 6.2 million. That is the lowest level since the war. Most union members are women and membership was highest among middle income workers (£25,000-£50,000 a year).
Miscellaneous
BRITISH AIRWAYS: It is believed that the power surge which cause the problem at British Airways was a result of the supply being switched off by accident. According to a leaked email, it was then turned back on again (presumably in panic) in an uncontrolled fashion which caused damage to the system.
SEA LICE: More than 1 million wild salmon died of sea lice infestation in Loch Fyne last year. The plague of lice has spread to the wild stock from farmed fish which are protected by the use of delousing chemicals. The RSPCA certified 8 out of 10 farms in Loch Fyne as having high welfare standards but were not aware of the effects of the lice.
UNIVERSITY RETIREMENT: An attempt by Oxford academics to remove the retirement age of 67 has been rejected by “The Congregation” which governs the University. A postal ballot of all Congregation members will follow. Retirement ages are in force at both Cambridge and St Andrews.
TREE HUGGING: Tree specialist Peter Wohlleben has claimed that streetlights damage trees by interfering with their sleep patterns. Speaking at the Hay Festival, he commented that urban trees missed the support mechanisms available in the forest. Asked whether trees like to be hugged, he said that one might have to wait quite a long time for a hug to be reciprocated as trees move slowly.
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