11 June 2015
Week in Brief: UK NEWS
TONY BLAIR: Mr Blair is to become chairman of the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation, an organisation which works to oppose anti-Semitism and campaigns for laws to criminalise denial of the Holocaust.
IMMIGRATION: The ending of transitional restrictions on migrants from Romania and Bulgaria in January 2014 has led to an influx of workers from those countries. According to figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions, for the year to March 2015 there were 152,360 national insurance registrations by Romanians, an increase of 223% from the 47,120 for the year to March 2014, and 40,580 registrations of Bulgarians, up 128% from 17,810. These figures can be compared with a total registration of 629,410 EU nationals (up 43% from 440,090) and 192,990 non-EU nationals (up 19% from 162,620).
Sixty-eight starving migrants were found in lorries as a result of a search carried out at Harwich on Thursday. Fifteen of them were children. The lorries had crossed by ferry from the Hook of Holland. The drivers, who were Polish, have been arrested.
NHS: Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, has told the NHS Confederation conference that regulators are to take control of health services in Essex, North Cumbria and Northern, Eastern and Western Devon under the new “success regime” program, to correct system-wide failure.
CELEBRITY COOKING: Gordon Ramsay is to take charge of the cooking at the prestigious Pressoir d’Argent restaurant in Bordeaux.
CHIMPANZEES: Research by Harvard University has shown that chimpanzees prefer cooked food and are prepared to put food into a cooking device rather than eat it raw. It is thought that cooking may not have taken off among chimpanzees because they like to monopolise rather than share resources.
SURPLUS FOOD: A new app introduced by Fair Share will assist in the efficient distribution of surplus unsold food to charities and is designed to make the food much simpler to collect.
LABOUR LEADERSHIP: Jeremy Corbyn, MP for Islington North, has joined the Labour leadership race on an anti-austerity platform. The four main candidates, Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Liz Kendall and Mary Creagh have confirmed their support for retaining Britain’s nuclear deterrent.
TELEPHONE HACKING: The High Court in Edinburgh has acquitted Andy Coulson of perjury after a twelve day hearing. The judge threw out the charges on the grounds that the allegedly false evidence which Mr Coulson had given at the Sheridan perjury trial was not sufficiently relevant to the outcome to amount to perjury by Mr Coulson.
TEENAGE SUICIDE: More than 400 people turned out to light candles and support the family of 13 year old Mansfield schoolgirl Amber Peat, who left her parent’s house after a row last week and was found hanged.
HADRON COLLIDER: The Large Hadron Collider at Cern which accelerates particles through 17 miles of underground tunnels, has been re-opened following two years of upgrading and maintenance. It is expected to be used for experiments over the next three years.
ALLERGIES AND MALNUTRITION: Speaking at The Times Cheltenham Science Festival, Tracey Brown of the charity Sense about Science has blamed malnutrition among middle-class children on their parents’ mistaken belief that they suffer from allergies. In particular she suggested that home-testing kits were encouraging minor intolerances to be treated as allergies with a consequent limiting of diet.
COCAINE: The annual report of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction indicates that, based on waste water analysis, Britain has the highest rate of use of Class A drugs in Europe.
SECONDARY DROWNING: Alan Gough, an estate agent, died of drowning although he had driven his car for forty-five minutes after falling into Ullswater from his canoe. Apparently he had inhaled water which had remained in his lungs.
ANTI SMOKING: A beach in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, is expected to be the first in Britain on which smoking is banned. Also, proposals to be introduced in the Welsh assembly would, if enacted, restrict smoking of e-cigarettes in line with general smoking laws on the basis that they represent a way of renormalizing smoking.
EUROPEAN LAW: The European Court of Justice has ruled that the giving of discounts on “energy-saving materials” is not permitted by the VAT directive. That will result in an increase from 5% to the standard rate of 20% of VAT on installation materials, solar panels etc.
BADGER CULL: Café Nero is reversing its policy of not buying milk from farmers in cull zones.
ROYAL CHRISTENING: On 5 July, Princess Charlotte will be christened at St Mary Magdalene Church, the church near Sandringham which the Queen traditionally attends on Christmas Day. It is understood that the water to be used would be drawn from the River Jordan.
SCHOOLS MINISTER: Nick Gibb, the schools minister, is to marry his male partner of twenty-nine years.
ALTON TOWERS: The amusement park at Alton Towers has now reopened following last week’s accident in which a member of the public lost a leg, although the “Smiler” ride, on which the accident occurred, remains closed.
GLOBAL WARMING: A new study by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicates that, contrary to previous evidence, global temperatures have continued to increase over the last fifteen years and that there was no hiatus in global warming.
“MERCY” KILLING: Heather Davidson was jailed for life by Teeside Crown Court for the murder of her friend David Paterson, who was terminally ill with cancer. Mr Patterson, who was on morphine and generally comfortable, had religious objections to euthanasia. Ms Davidson will serve a minimum of nine years.
EU REFERENDUM: Clarifying earlier comments on whether Cabinet ministers would be expected to support the “yes” campaign, Mr Cameron has said that they will be expected to support him in his attempts to secure reform but did not commit himself on whether they would be required to campaign for a “yes” result in the referendum itself.
FOREIGN AID: Mr Cameron said at the G-7 summit that Britain would use its foreign aid budget to stabilise and improve some of the countries from which migrants originate. This would involve meeting some costs which would formerly have fallen on the defence budget out of the ring-fenced foreign aid budget.
MPS’ SALARIES: Wealthy Conservative MP Adam Afriyie, a previous chairman of the committee on MPs expenses, criticised party leaders for opposing the increase in MPs’ pay recommended by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, claiming that it would restrict MPs to career politicians and those with independent wealth. The proposals by IPSA would increase pay from £67,060 to £74,000, after which it would increase in line with national average earnings. It is estimated that this could take the figure to £86,000 in 2019. Mr Cameron remains committed to cutting the overall number of MPs from 650 to 600 as part of boundary changes. Although the changes favour the Conservatives, they are deeply unpopular with those MPs who may lose their seats.
DRIVING LICENCES: The paper counterpart of the driving licence has now been abolished. Instead motorists may log onto a website and obtain a code which proves that they are entitled to drive and gives details of points etc. The change is already causing havoc with car hire companies as the website proves incapable of dealing with current demand and the AA have suggested that motorists keep the paper part of their licence to prove that they are licenced to drive.
PRESCOTT BANNED: Grantham magistrates have banned Lord Prescott from driving for 6 months after he exceeded 12 points as a result of a speeding charge. He was driving a Jaguar.
DOPING ALLEGATIONS: Alberto Salazar, coach to the British athlete Mo Farah, was accused of being involved in doping by a BBC Panorama documentary last week. He denies the allegations.
SLAUGHTER OF ANIMALS: The British Veterinary Association is campaigning for meat products to bear labels which indicate whether animals were stunned before slaughter. Although EU law contains provisions which require stunning there is an exception where the meat is being slaughtered for consumption by communities where this would conflict with religious beliefs. Kosher meat falls into this category and also some halal meat.
FLAT JOKE: Nobel laureate Sir Tim Hunt is reported to have told a conference hosted by female Korean scientists that the trouble with working with women is that “you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you and when you criticise them they cry”. It is understood that the joke fell very flat.
CHARITIES: The Fundraising Standards Board is to amend its guidance by removing a clause which allows charities to use reasonable persuasion, in response to concern about pressure being put on the elderly by fundraisers.
RIGHT TO DIE: Labour MP, Robert Marris is to introduce a private member’s bill allowing doctors to prescribe a lethal dose to anyone with only six months to live who shows a clear and settled intention to end their life. This will revive a bill introduced in the last Parliament. The government has agreed to give its MPs a free vote.
CRICKET: Following the drawn test series, England beat New Zealand by 210 runs in the first of the five games of the one-day series.
