12 May 2016

News in Brief: UK

Referendum

TRUMP: Republican nominee Donald Trump has said that Britain is better off outside the EU, citing the EU’s role in pushing migration.

BANKING LAWS: The Deputy Governor of the Bank of England has said that Britain’s only ability to influence EU Banking laws is a right to have its views discussed.

HOUSE PRICES: The Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has said that Treasury figures will show that Brexit would result in a drop in house prices and an increase in mortgage costs.

US DEFENCE AND SECURITY CHIEFS: A group of 13 US foreign affairs, defence and security chiefs, including Madeleine Albright and an ex-director of the CIA, have published a letter to The Times stating that Brexit would reduce British influence in the world and dangerously weaken Europe; they also make the point that the special relationship would not compensate Britain for the loss of clout caused by leaving the EU.

NATO: Five former secretaries-general of NATO have published a letter in The Daily Telegraph supporting Remain.

DONATION: It is understood that Liberty Global, the owner of Virgin Media, plans to contribute £500,000 to the Remain campaign. The gift, which requires shareholders’ approval, is being considered because of the effect which Brexit could have on the business.

POLLS: According to a Yougov poll last week, 42% proposed to vote Remain, 40% to vote Leave, with the remainder not proposing to vote or being undecided.

See also Letters From Abroad.

Local Election Results

SCOTLAND: The SNP remained the largest party at Holyrood with 63 seats whilst losing its overall majority. The Conservatives, at 31 seats, have now taken the lead over Labour, at 24, in a result which is seen as a triumph for Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, who claims to embrace blue-collar John Major style conservatism. The Greens took 5 seats and the Liberal Democrats 5.

WALES: Labour, with 29 seats, led Plaid Cymru, with 12, and the Conservatives with 11. UKIP won their first seven seats in the Welsh Assembly and the Lib Dems won 1. Neil Hamilton and Mark Reckless each took a UKIP seat.

LONDON: Sadiq Khan was elected mayor of London, beating Zac Goldsmith by 1,310,143 votes to 994,614.

ENGLISH COUNCILS: Labour won 58 Councils against 38 for the Conservatives and 4 for the Liberal Democrats. Overall the changes in Councillors elected from 2012 were : Conservative – down 48, Labour – down 18, Lib Lib Dems – up 48, UKIP – up 25.

POLICE AND CRIME COMMISSIONERS IN ENGLAND AND WALES: The number of independent PCCs dropped from 12 to 3 with gains for the Conservatives and Labour of 4 and 3 respectively. PlaidCymru gained 2.

See comment The Local Elections.

Education

ACADEMIES: The Department of Education has announced that it will no longer seek to convert all schools to academies. Instead it will only be able to insist on conversion where schools are failing or almost all the schools in the area are already academies. New rules will ensure that academies in rural areas will only be closed with the agreement of the local authority.

Health

JUNIOR DOCTORS: The government has agreed to defer the imposition of new contracts on Junior Doctors for five days in order to allow talks to restart. Katherine Murphy of the Patients Association has urged the two sides to find a solution, pointing out that it is patients who are losing through the dispute.

CHOLESTEROL: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has approved two drugs, alirocumab and evolucomab, for those suffering from rare conditions which make the use of statins extremely painful. The new drugs cost £4000 per annum per patient against a cost of statins of £350 a year.

CAESARIAN: The NHS is to hold a clinical trials for “Natural Caesarians” where the baby remains longer in the womb, with a view to making the procedure generally available.

HEART ATTACKS: A study published in ‘European Heart Journal: Acute Cardiovascular Care’ indicates that one third of deaths from common types of heart attack could be avoided if patients received all the treatments laid down in NHS guidance. Frequently, however, treatment such as anticlotting drugs and advice on diet and smoking are omitted.

HOSPITAL DISCHARGE: A report by Dame Julie Mellor, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, highlights the growing problem of elderly patients being discharged from hospital without checks being made that they can cope at home. Investigations have uncovered poor planning and communication between hospitals and welfare authorities and revealed cases where guidance to avoid unsafe discharge has not been followed.

Miscellaneous

INTERPRETERS: The High Court has ruled that the British Government is entitled to exclude interpreters whose employment ended before December 2012 from a relocation scheme because Afghanistan is not covered by equality legislation. Although the interpreters could still apply for relocation if they are intimidated, campaigners say that that is not adequate to deal with the risk if they are deported.

BIOMETRIC PASSPORTS: Under new US rules, travellers who do not have biometric passports must obtain visas from a US embassy or consulate before entering the USA.

RURAL BROADBAND: Government attempts to deliver superfast broadband at 25 Mb per second throughout the country are being abandoned. Instead 5% of homes will only receive broadband at 10 Mb per second, the level which has to be provided under the universal service obligation. A government consultation document suggests that those in remote areas would not want the higher speed.

CROWN COURTS: 50% of Crown Court time is now taken up by cases relating to sex offences.

WORMWOOD SCRUBS: The Prison Officers’ Association has described Wormwood Scrubs as flooded with drugs, mobiles and weapons, following a walk-out by prison officers. Prison Governors were drafted in to deliver food and deal with emergencies while all visits were cancelled. Following the walk-out two prison officers were assaulted by inmates.

McBOATFACE: The new £200 million Arctic research vessel is to be called the RRS David Attenborough rather than BoatyMcBoatface as suggested by a public poll.

MORTGAGES: The Halifax, Scottish Widows and Lloyds Banking Group are all due to increase their age limits for new applications so that mortgage terms can run to the borrower’s 80th birthday. The previous limit was seventy-five. The change reflects the demographics of an older population.

MUSLIMS: Rulings published by the Blackburn Muslim Association that women should not travel more than 48 miles without a male chaperone have given rise to complaints to the Muslim Council of Britain. The mosque also states that Facebook is a vicious network.

SEGREGATION: Trevor Phillips, formerly the head of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, has warned that a much tougher approach is needed towards integrating racial minorities if potentially catastrophic tensions are to be defused.

OVERHEARD: Mr Cameron has been overheard on camera telling the Queen that some “fantastically corrupt” countries had been asked to the anti-corruption summit, and specifically identifying Afghanistan and Nigeria.

LABOUR: Ken Livingstone has been dropped from the slate of candidates for election to the National Executive Committee of which he was previously a member. His place is taken by Rhea Wolfson, a former member of the Jewish Leadership Council.

RAPIST: The Polish rapist who was identified when Derbyshire police failed in an application to have the addition of his name to the sex offenders register kept secret, is now returning to Poland.

MURDER: Christopher Hampton, who was sentenced by Bristol Crown Court to serve a minimum of twenty-two years in jail for the murder of Melanie Road in 1984, was trapped after a link was found between the killer’s DNA and that of his daughter. An arrest has also been made in connection with the “Babes in the Wood” murders of a nine-year-old and a ten-year-old girl which took place in 1986.

FRINTON: The security firm DGS has withdrawn its patrols from Frinton after admitting exaggerating crime figures to market its security services. In fact Frinton has little crime.

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