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Monday News Review

07/02/2011, 06:26:04 AM

Stop it or we’ll take your ‘bling’

Thugs will have their stereos, iPods and other ‘bling’ items seized by police if they refuse to behave. Ministers will today announce the scrapping of Asbos, the anti-social behaviour orders which have become a badge of honour among hooligans. Instead, they will be hit with new ‘criminal behaviour orders’ banning them from town centres or street corners for up to two years. Under the ambitious initiative, troublemakers will face the same asset seizure powers as major criminals. They would be likely to lose personal items such as stereo systems and electronic gadgets. Previous ideas to target young tearaways with financial penalties – such as Tony Blair’s much-derided plan to march violent drunks to the nearest cashpoint – have been attacked as ‘gimmicks’. Opponents say that taking cash or property from criminals makes them more likely to carry out muggings or burglaries. But the Home Office believes that confiscating items which are hugely important to youngsters, such as their music systems, will ‘hit them where it hurts’. A Government source said: ‘We want punishments that are meaningful and useful.’ – Daily Mail

A range of measures to tackle anti-social behaviour will be unveiled as the Government pledges to crack down on minor crime. Among the proposals to be outlined on Monday are plans to compel police to investigate any incidences of anti-social behaviour reported by at least five people. The “community trigger” is one of a raft of proposals which form part of a government consultation on anti-social behaviour, a Home Office source said. Other measures will see police given powers forcing culprits to make amends for nuisance behaviour immediately. The move comes as the Anti-Social Behaviour Order (Asbo) is overhauled. Instead police will be able to apply for a court order to tackle low-level nuisance behaviour. The new measures will be called criminal behaviour orders. – Daily Mirror (more…)

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Sunday News Review

06/02/2011, 06:50:43 AM

10,000 Police to go

The Labour party has released data collated from police forces across England and Wales that shows 10,190 police officers are to be cut during the coming two years. In addition thousands of staff jobs will be cut or have already gone – meaning more administrative work must be carried out by police officers. Labour’s research of all police authorities (except City of London Police and non-geographical forces) has found that thousands of full time police officers are set to be axed, or have already been cut, from police forces across the UK. The research showed that 40 of the 42 forces surveyed had announced the numbers of officers likely to be cut with Gwent and Essex Police yet to declare the size of reductions to be seen. Labour says the figures expose the claim from the Tory-led Government that they can cut the Police budget by 20 per cent and still protect the frontline as false. Yvette Cooper MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, said: “These figures show the shocking and brutal reality of the 20 per cent police cuts. Far from protecting frontline policing as Ministers promised, over 10,000 police officers are being cut in the next few years alone. – professionalpolice.com

Police numbers in England and Wales will fall by more than 10,000 by the end of next year, according to new research by the Labour Party. That total will almost certainly rise as a third of forces have yet to complete their calculations. Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “These figures show the shocking and brutal reality of the 20 per cent police cuts.” But Police Minister Nick Herbert questions her findings, and insists police numbers would have fallen under Labour’s plans. He also says that by making efficiency savings, forces can prioritise the frontline “so that service to the public is maintained and improved”. However, Labour has garnered its information from published material from individual police forces. – Sky News

No money for tax cuts

The Prime Minister says the growing demand to reduce the tax burden for millions of families, facing higher prices and the threat of job losses, “does not add up” in the current climate. He also rules out a “Plan B” on economic policy in the wake of official figures showing the economy shrinking by 0.5 per cent in the final quarter of last year, which sparked fears of a double-dip recession. The Prime Minister also suggests the government will not take further action against bankers’ bonuses, arguing that he is not interested in giving banks a “kick in the pants” – but in getting them lending again, particularly to small businesses. Bob Diamond, the chief executive of Barclays, is set to get a £9 million bonus this year. Stuart Gulliver, the new chief executive of HSBC, is also expected to get a bonus of as much as £9 million later this month. Mr Cameron points out his government is protecting the poorest and lifting tens of thousands out of tax altogether by changing tax thresholds. He insists he leads a “pro-enterprise government”. – Daily Telegraph

David Cameron has ruled out ‘significant’ tax cuts while the Government is cutting spending to reduce the deficit. The Prime Minister said he wanted to offer people ‘relief’, but suggested that would only be possible ‘at the end of this hard road’. His comments came ahead of the much anticipated March 23 Budget. David Cameron has ruled out ‘significant’ tax cuts in the forthcoming Budget, despite wanting to offer people ‘relief’ Chancellor George Osborne is facing calls to reduce the burden on hard-pressed voters as inflation spirals. Tory Mayor of London Boris Johnson urged him last month to set out ‘a clear direction of travel’ on how taxes could be reduced. But Mr Cameron insisted there was no ‘Plan B’ on the coalition’s deficit-reduction strategy and said tax cuts would only undo the work of painful curbs in public spending. ‘I would love to see tax reductions. I’m a tax-cutting Tory and I believe in tax cuts, but when you’re borrowing 11 per cent of your GDP, it’s not possible to make significant net tax cuts. It just isn’t,’ he said in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph. ‘It’s no good saying we’re going to deal with the deficit by cutting spending, but then we’re going to make things worse again by cutting taxes. I’m afraid it doesn’t add up.’ Later in the interview, he added: ‘Do I want to see, at the end of this hard road, relief and lower taxes for hard-working people? Yes I do.’ – Daily Mail

Anti AV campaign gathers pace

Campaigners against electoral reform are to distribute six million leaflets taunting Nick Clegg for describing the proposed alternative vote (AV) system as a “miserable little compromise” before the last general election. The No to AV campaign, whose push to maintain the “first past the post” system is backed by David Cameron, believes that Clegg’s assessment of AV last April fatally undermines his case for adopting the method as it shows that even he is unenthusiastic. The leaflet campaign is part of a push by the cross-party “no” camp to associate AV in the public mind with the Liberal Democrat leader and his party, whose popularity has plummeted since the pre-election upsurge of “Cleggmania”. The “no” campaign includes veteran Labour veterans and street-fighters such as John Prescott, Margaret Beckett and John Reid, and is expected to adopt a ruthless approach in its attempt to deprive the Lib Dems of a trophy that would cement the coalition and boost the party’s chances of playing “kingmaker” in future governments. In another sign of the “go for Clegg” strategy, Joan Ryan, deputy director of No to AV, who is a former Labour MP, accused advocates of the new system of trying to hide the Lib Dem leader before the campaign proper has even begun. – the Guardian

Livermore has another life

Ed Miliband has offered a job to a former aide of Gordon Brown who claimed to have been unfairly blamed along with the new Labour leader for 2007’s on-off Election fiasco. Spencer Livermore, Mr Brown’s Director of Political Strategy, visited Mr Miliband’s Commons office last week for talks on a new role. Mr Livermore resigned from No 10 following Mr Brown’s disastrous decision to call off a snap Election in the autumn of 2007. The aide was said to have been reduced to tears by the notoriously hot-tempered Prime Minister. Although Mr Livermore denied the claim, sources say he was badly scarred and had to be comforted by friends. Labour insiders say Mr Miliband wants Slough-born Mr Livermore, 35 – judged by Pink News as the most powerful gay man in Britain when he worked at No 10 – to join his team.‘He has one of the sharpest brains in politics. He’d be a tremendous asset,’ said a source. ‘He understands voters’ instincts better than anyone.’ Mr Livermore originally worked alongside Mr Miliband when they were advising Mr Brown as Chancellor. Later the pair were among the few aides in the room when Mr Brown aborted his November 2007 Election proposal. Mr Livermore said that immediately after the meeting Mr Miliband observed: ‘I bet within 20 minutes we find we’re going to get the blame for this.’ – Daily Mail

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Saturday News Review

05/02/2011, 06:44:06 AM

More damning evidence on Coulson and Cameron

In written evidence to the Commons Home Affairs Committee, which is investigating allegations of widespread hacking by the Sunday tabloid, Paul McMullan, a former features editor, said that the practice was widespread and “easy”. He insisted that Mr Coulson, who finally left No. 10 on Tuesday and denies knowledge of any phone tapping during his time as editor of the paper, knew that “a lot of people did it” at both the News of the World and its sister paper, The Sun. “The real scandal is [David] Cameron would have been briefed ‘We can probably get away with this one,’ when hiring Coulson, so Mr Cameron is either a liar or an idiot,” he went on. Mr McMullan, who has left journalism and now runs a pub in Dover, Kent, also claimed that employees of the mobile phone company Vodafone, “people at the tax office” and doctors’ receptionists would telephone reporters offering to “sell numbers and codes of stars’ phones”. Admitting that he himself frequently hacked into phones, he claimed that Mr Coulson would have been aware of what he and others were doing. – Daily Telegraph

Andy Coulson was aware that phone hacking was taking place at Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper empire and “told others to do it”, a former executive at the News of the World told MPs. In written evidence given to the home affairs select committee and published for the first time today, Paul McMullan, a former features executive and investigative journalist at the title, said former editor Coulson “knew a lot of people” used the technique when Coulson worked at sister paper the Sun. He joined the News of the World in 2003, where he worked alongside McMullan for 18 months. McMullan said: “As he sat a few feet from me in the [News of the World] newsroom he probably heard me doing it, laughing about it … and told others to do it”. McMullan told the Guardian last year that Coulson must have been well aware the practice was “pretty widespread”. Coulson has continued to deny this. The director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer, also confirmed in written evidence to MPs he has instructed the Crown Prosecution Service to adopt a far broader definition of what constitutes illegal phone hacking. This decision makes fresh prosecutions more likely. The CPS announced a new investigation into phone hacking last month. News International says McMullan’s evidence is unreliable and will demand evidence is withdrawn or corrected. The home affairs committee will publish its report into unauthorised phone hacking in the spring. David Cameron was, meanwhile, accused tonight of “breathtaking arrogance” for refusing to answer questions about his links to Murdoch’s media empire, which owns the Sun and News of the World. – the Guardian

Sorry Sally

A Government minister yesterday told the publicity-mad Speaker’s wife “to shut up and cover up” after she posed in just a bedsheet in an interview on her sex life. Children’s Minister Tim Loughton hit out as Sally Bercow defended the controversial snap. Mrs Bercow, 41, admitted she was “a fool” to pose but insisted the snap was tasteful. Sally, whose outbursts have built her a profile to rival hubby John, 48, added: “I’m a personality, I’ve got ambitions.”Responding to Mr Loughton’s tweet, she wrote on Twitter: “I always pass on good advice. It’s never of use to oneself.” Earlier, she told BBC Radio 5 Live her husband was “not exactly thrilled” about her interview with a London paper. But she dismissed critics who said her actions belittle the dignity of his Commons role. She said: “Should I be a wife who walks dutifully three paces behind my husband, keeps her mouth shut and makes cucumber sandwiches? It was a bit of fun, but it backfired.” – the Sun

Sally Bercow, the wife of the House of Commons Speaker, John Bercow, today admitted a newspaper photo of her wearing a bedsheet had made her look a “complete idiot” and that her attempt at a bit of harmless fun had “completely backfired”. But despite her apparent contrition, Bercow insisted the revealing photo was “tasteful” and that she found the situation quite funny. She attracted criticism for a photoshoot, in which she stood by a hotel window, clad in a white sheet with the House of Commons in the background. The photo was taken to accompany an Evening Standard interview, due to be published today, in which she described the aphrodisiac effect on the couple’s life at the Palace of Westminster. She told the paper’s magazine section that she found living in a grace-and-favour apartment in the building “sexy”, and that both she and her husband had been “hit on” more since he was elevated from a Tory backbencher to the Speaker’s role in June 2009. Today, Bercow went on Victoria Derbyshire’s BBC Radio 5 Live show and admitted she was “probably stupid” to do the interview and had been a “fool” to agree to be photographed in the sheet as part of the newspaper’s Valentine’s Day coverage. – the Guardian

Not there yet on the AV Bill

Labour’s Lord Falconer has said there is still “work to do” if a bill setting up a referendum on the Westminster voting system is to get through.It follows a marathon 15-day debate on one stage of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill. A compromise was reached to end it but the bill returns to the Lords next week. It must be law by 16 February if a referendum is to be held on 5 May. Lord Falconer told the BBC’s Record Review: “There isn’t a deal yet.” The shadow justice minister said agreement had been reached on “certain aspects” of the bill – but added: “There is still work to do.” – the BBC

Campbell stands up for Scottish school

He was renowned for piping up for the New Labour cause. But now Alastair Campbell, the bagpipe-playing former spin doctor to Tony Blair, has become the latest high-profile figure to join the growing chorus of condemnation against the threatened closure of a traditional school of music in the Highlands. The National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music at Plockton High School is facing the axe following the announcement that Highland Council plans to withdraw its funding of £317,000 for the facility as part of a package of spending cuts. The centre opened in 2000 after receiving £650,000 from the Scottish Executive and has produced many award-winning musicians over the last decade. Mr Campbell said yesterday that he had been made aware of the threat facing the school by a friend and had been highlighting its plight on his Twitter and Facebook pages. The former director of communications at Downing Street, whose father is a Scot, said: “I wanted to support this because I think it is important. It looks to me like an easy target in a way. “And it’s one of those things that, unless enough people raise their voices in support of it, it could just go without a fight and I think that would be wrong.” – the Scotsman

Every little (vote) counts

Labour surged from bottom of the poll to the top when it snatched a surprise council by-election breakthrough. Candidate Brian Oosthuysen won Gloucestershire’s Rodborough division by a margin of three over the Tories, with a votes share surge of nearly 20% for the party since the last county contests in 2009. This is particularly encouraging for Labour’s chiefs since it trailed a poor fourth last time. Rodborough is part of marginal Stroud constituency, lost to the Tories at the General Election. – the Independent

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Friday News Review

04/02/2011, 06:45:02 AM

Ed fights for ‘betrayed generation’

Young people today will be the first generation for 100 years who will end up worse off than their parents. So the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, will say in a speech today. It is a profound insight into what could become the defining political issue of the decades to come. The generation which shaped the modern world grew up in an era in which, as the then prime minister Harold Macmillan put it, people had “never had it so good”. So it proved. Average incomes soared, life expectancy rose, infant mortality rates plummeted. Modern medicines staved off cancer, heart disease and countless other diseases. Universities were free. Jobs were plentiful. Pensions were sound. House prices climbed inexorably, creating nice equity nest-eggs for owners who sat back and did nothing. The unwritten covenant – that parents create better lives for their children, and in return those children finance the care of their parents in their old age – has been broken. Mr Miliband has put his finger on something here which the nation intuitively knows to be true. Polls show a deep sense of pessimism among voters. Almost three-quarters of the nation believes life will be harder for children. Yet having crystallised this perception, Mr Miliband now needs to formulate the policies to deal with a world in which Britain is going to have a lot more older people who will need a lot more looking after – and far fewer younger folk to pay for it. That long-term demographic imbalance could prove a more grievous legacy than our current economic predicament. – the Independent

Mr Miliband will claim today the ‘British promise’ that each generation will do better than the last has been broken. But he will refuse to acknowledge that Labour failed to reverse a decline in social mobility during its 13 years in power. Instead, he hopes to attract the votes of younger people by pinning the blame on the Coalition, highlighting the increase in tuition fees and the scaling back of the educational maintenance allowance. Mr Miliband will warn that for the first time in more than a century there is a risk that young people will find it harder than their parents to continue in education, get a decent job and own their own home. In a speech in Gateshead, he will highlight ‘the British promise’ that ‘each generation will pass on to the next a life of greater opportunity, prosperity and happiness. There is now a legitimate fear the British promise will be broken and the next generation will have fewer opportunities and find it harder to get on than the last,’ Mr Miliband will say. A Labour source added: ‘Ed will not thoughtlessly defend everything Labour did in power. ‘We wish we had done more to address inequalities.’ – Daily Mail (more…)

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Thursday News Review

03/02/2011, 06:59:51 AM

Coulson out Oliver in

Craig Oliver, 41, the controller of BBC global news, was hailed by the Prime Minister as a ‘formidable journalist’. He made his name overhauling the BBC News at Ten and is one of very few television executives to have worked at the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. Mr Oliver’s appointment – understood to have been engineered chiefly by Mr Coulson – was a surprise, since his name had not featured in the frenzied speculation that has been going on in Westminster since Mr Coulson resigned last month. Former colleagues described Mr Oliver as ‘sharp’ and a ‘workaholic’, though some expressed surprise at the appointment because they said he had previously displayed no obvious political leanings. Educated at a Scottish comprehensive school, he has never been a member of the Conservative Party, and is not expected to become one now. His appointment is an indication of the importance placed by Downing Street on broadcast coverage. As a former editor of the News of the World, Mr Coulson’s background and contacts were chiefly in the newspaper industry. By contrast, Mr Oliver has links to all the major broadcasters. He will be employed as a special adviser and paid £140,000 a year, the same salary as Mr Coulson. – Daily Mail

Oliver, 41, is a career broadcast journalist who grew up in Scotland, the son of a former chief constable of Grampian. He attended a comprehensive school before reading English Literature at St Andrew’s University. In the BBC news room he was known as a film buff. “He never gave a sense that he was party political,” said a long-standing colleague and close friend. “His views, as far as I could see, were fairly centrist. He’s not an ideologue by any means. I would imagine he’s fairly mainstream on most issues.” Oliver arrived at the BBC from ITN, after applying to be controller of the BBC News Channel. He lost out on that job but sufficiently impressed BBC News executive Peter Horrocks to be hired to bring the same visual dynamism to the BBC’s 10pm bulletin that he had introduced at ITN. During the recent BBC strike, Oliver, like other senior managers, crossed the picket line and stood in as a newsreader on the World Service. He recently oversaw the sackings of 650 World Service staff. His appointment is an indication of Downing Street’s acknowledgement of the importance of television. Oliver does not enjoy Coulson’s press contacts, but he knows broadcast news inside out. – the Independent

David Cameron yesterday marked a break with the era of Andy Coulsonby appointing a senior BBC TV news editor with no links to the Murdoch empire as the new No 10 communications director. Craig Oliver, who made his name revamping the News at Ten and who ran the BBC’s general election coverage last year, will be paid £140,000 a year and will act as a political special adviser. The recruitment of a senior BBC figure shows that Cameron and George Osborne, who met Oliver over the weekend, recognise that they need to place some distance between Downing Street and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. Downing Street said that No 10’s relations with News Corp had nothing to with the decision to hire a BBC executive. One source said: “Craig was simply the best candidate.” – the Guardian

Go easy on Murdoch

An email, forwarded on behalf of Ed Miliband’s director of strategy, Tom Baldwin, to all shadow cabinet teams warns Labour spokespeople to avoid linking hacking with the BSkyB bid, to accept ministerial assurances that meetings with Rupert Murdoch are not influencing that process, and to ensure that complaints about tapping are made in a personal, not shadow ministerial, capacity. The circular, sent by a Labour press officer on 27 January, states: “Tom Baldwin has requested that any front-bench spokespeople use the following line when questioned on phone-hacking. BSkyB bid and phone-tapping . . . these issues should not be linked. One is a competition issue, the other an allegation of criminal activity.” It goes on: “Downing Street says that Cameron’s dinners with Murdoch will not affect Hunt’s judgement. We have to take them at their word.” Referring separately to the phone-hacking allegations, the memo states: “We believe the police should thoroughly investigate all allegations. But this is not just an issue about News International. Almost every media organisation in the country may end up becoming embroiled in these allegations.” It adds: “Front-bench spokespeople who want to talk about their personal experiences of being tapped should make it clear they are doing just that – speaking from personal experience.” The guidance concludes with the warning, “We must guard against anything which appears to be attacking a particular newspaper group out of spite.” – New Statesman

Labour frontbenchers have been warned by Ed Miliband’s office not to single out Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper group over the hacking scandal. In a leaked memo, Labour’s strategy director, Tom Baldwin, indicated that many media groups, not just News International, could become embroiled in the row over the interception of mobile phone messages. He also ordered the party’s senior politicians to avoid linking hacking to Mr Murdoch’s £7bn bid for control of Britain’s biggest commercial broadcaster, BSkyB. The memo appears to be designed to avoid a re-emergence of the historically-strained relationship between Labour and News International, whose biggest selling title, The News of the World, is at the centre of a new Scotland Yard investigation into hacking. Dated 27 January and apparently emanating from Mr Baldwin, previously a News International journalist for more than a decade, the memo advised Labour frontbench teams: “On phone hacking, we believe the police should thoroughly investigate all allegations. But this is not just an issue about News International. Almost every media organisation may end up becoming embroiled in these allegations.” The shadow Justice Minister Chris Bryant and the former defence minister Tom Watson have criticised police for failing properly to investigate the allegations. There have been suggestions that Scotland Yard had an unhealthily close relationship with News International. A Labour spokesman said the memo was intended to ensure MPs “didn’t confuse two separate issues”. He added: “There’s no suggestion of us going soft or going hard.” – the Independent

DFID money spent on Papal visit

Pope Benedict XVI’s official visit to Britain last September was partly funded by money meant to be spent on international aid, it has emerged. MPs analysing the Department for International Development’s (DfID) accounts said they were surprised to notice that £1.85 million had been transferred to the Foreign Office for the papal visit. They are demanding an explanation from ministers about what the money was spent on and how this was compliant with rules governing what overseas development aid money should be spent on. Malcolm Bruce, chair of the Commons’ international development committee, told politics.co.uk he thought many people would be surprised by the news that UK aid money was used to fund the Pope’s visit. “I’m finding it extremely difficult to see how paying for the visit of the Pope from Rome to the United Kingdom as overseas development assistance (ODA) which is aimed at delivering the poorest people in the world out of poverty, that’s its prime objective,” he said. Mr Bruce said DfID was entitled to spend every penny on ODA, but people would expect its funding to be “overwhelmingly focused” on aid money. It has been suggested that some DfID money could be spent on propping up the BBC World Service, he added. “People have mixed views about that, but it would be easier to see a case for that [than for funding the papal visit].”But Mr Bruce said the £1.85 million “does not really fit any criteria that could obviously be seen as ODA”. A government spokesperson said “DFID was one of a number of government departments part funding the Pope’s visit to the UK.” – politics.co.uk

Money intended to alleviate poverty in the world’s poorest countries was used to help fund the Pope’s visit to the UK, MPs have revealed. The government is facing a storm of criticism after it emerged that it raided the international aid budget for almost £2 million to cover some of the cost of the papal visit last year. A report published today by the Commons international development select committee has questioned why £1.85m was taken out of international aid to fund the visit despite a pledge by Prime Minister David Cameron that the budget would be protected. The move has been described as “shocking” by MPs, while the Church of Scotland said it was “utterly unacceptable”. The money was part of the overall £10m cost to the taxpayer of the visit by Pope Benedict. The trip should have been funded by the Foreign Office because it was partly a state visit.
Lib Dem Gordon MP Malcolm Bruce, who chairs the international development select committee, said voters would struggle to understand why DfID money was involved. The Church of Scotland Church and Society Council convener the Rev Ian Galloway said the raiding of the international aid budget would undermine the good work done by the visit. Mr Galloway said: “This is an extraordinary confession by the government. It is utterly unacceptable and hard to explain to those whose suffering would be alleviated had this money been used as it was intended.” Anas Sarwar, the Labour MP for Glasgow Central, who also sits on the select committee and was involved in raising money for the Pakistan floods, described the findings as “shocking”. – the Scotsman

Pluralists vs tribalists

The divide between pluralists and tribalists remains one of the most significant in the Labour Party. It underlines the increasingly fractious debate over electoral reform. With this in mind, the decision by Compass, the influential Labour faction, to ballot its members on whether to offer members of other political parties full membership status is an important development. At present, members of other parties are only entitled to associate membership and cannot stand for the management committee or vote in internal elections. One reason why the result is worth watching is the ongoing debate about Labour’s own membership rules. At the end of last year it was reported that Ed Miliband plans to refom the party’s electoral college to give 25 per cent of the vote to non-party members who register as Labour supporters. In addition, as I’ve noted before, having once joked that he wants to make the Lib Dems “extinct”, Miliband has adopted a more conciliatory tone in recent weeks. In his speech to the Fabian Society last month, he declared his respect for those Lib Dems who have “decided to stay and fight for the progressive soul of their party”, and pledged to campaign for the Alternative Vote, having previously only promised to vote for it. If, as seems likely, Compass members approve the proposed reforms, we could see Labour and Lib Dem members working far more closely together on areas such as constitutional reform, climate change and inequality. With hung parliaments likely to become more, not less, common in the future, it is not just desirable but essential to heal the progressive divide. – New Statesman

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Wednesday News Review

02/02/2011, 06:59:21 AM

Another one bites the dust

Former Labour MP Jim Devine is set to go on trial on Wednesday accused of fiddling his parliamentary expenses. The former MP for Livingston is accused of falsely claiming costs for parliamentary duties in March 2009. The first count alleges that, between July 2008 and April 2009, Mr Devine dishonestly claimed £3,240 for cleaning services using false invoices. The second count alleges that, in March 2009, Mr Devine dishonestly claimed £5,505 for stationery using false invoices. Mr Devine, 57, of West Main Street, Bathgate, West Lothian, is on bail. He will appear before Mr Justice Saunders at London’s Southwark Crown Court. – Press Association

Former Labour MP Jim Devine’s trial over his expenses claims is due to start at Southwark Crown Court later. Mr Devine, 57, faces two charges of dishonestly claiming for cleaning and stationery, involving claims totalling £8,745. Mr Devine, who denies the charges, became MP for Livingston at a by-election in 2005, triggered by the death of Robin Cook. He stood down as an MP at the 2010 general election. Before becoming an MP, Mr Devine was the late foreign secretary’s election agent between 1983 and 2005. – BBC News (more…)

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Tuesday News Review

01/02/2011, 06:59:26 AM

Even Cameron’s family disagree with NHS reforms

David Cameron’s health plans suffered a devastating blow yesterday when his brother-in-law blasted the Government’s ruthless dismantling of the NHS. The Prime Minister admitted his sister Tania’s husband Dr Carl Brookes had said: “You’re giving too much power to GPs, and hospitals will be disadvantaged.” Dr Brookes refused to comment when The Mirror approached him at his Basingstoke office. But by 7pm, No.10 issued an astonishing U-turn statement on his behalf, saying: “I am supportive of the reforms of the NHS. Clinicians should be more closely involved in decisions about where the money goes. I support the aim of reducing the overall management costs of the NHS and the measures designed to allow that.” The Prime Minister’s initially damning admission came as the Tory-led Coalition tried to force the Health and Social Care Bill through Parliament in the face of mounting opposition. On a day of blunders, Mr Cameron also admitted that district hospitals could close as market forces are unleashed throughout the health service. He said: “People like their local hospital and as long as they go on using it, it will remain open.” But in opposition, he had promised to keep hospitals open, saying: “We believe in them, we want to save them.” Shadow health secretary John Healey said: “The Prime Minister’s brother-in-law is one of three in four doctors who don’t believe this high risk, high cost reorganisation will improve services for patients.” – Daily Mirror (more…)

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Monday News Review

31/01/2011, 07:31:11 AM

Ed doesn’t repeat Nick’s mistake

Ed Miliband has hit upon the easiest and most obvious way to avoid what might be called the Clegg-over Trap: you do not have to answer certain questions, and any answer you give will make you look a twit, so pass. He was put to the test soon after becoming Labour leader when he was interviewed by Piers Morgan for an article in a men’s magazine. Morgan put the predictable questions – “How many women have you slept with?” and “When did you lose your virginity?” – both of which Mr Miliband brushed away, somewhat immodestly, by saying he “would not boast about his sexual prowess”. His reply contained a hidden dig at the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, who once told the same magazine, GQ, that he had slept with “no more than 30” women, to the horror of his advisers who were sitting in on the interview. The reply was meant as a joke, but landed the Liberal Democrat leader with the embarrassing nickname “Clegg-over”. – the Independent

The Labour leader insisted he would not be bullied into marrying Ms Thornton, the mother of his two young sons, before quipping: “Thank God for that, probably”. Mr Miliband, who is the first leader of a major political party to live with his family out of wedlock, has been criticised for not marrying Ms Thornton, a 40-year-old Cambridge- educated barrister. Traditionalists have also attacked Mr Miliband for not putting his name on the birth certificate of his eldest son, Daniel. He claimed he was so busy he forgot. During an interview for GQ magazine, which is out on Thursday, Morgan teased the Labour leader by continually referring to Ms Thornton as his “wife”. Asked for his views on marriage during the interview, which took place on the day he returned from paternity leave last November, Mr Miliband explained his decision. “It’s a good institution and part of having stable families, but there are also people in unmarried relationships with stable families. I don’t think politicians should order people to get married,” he said. He insisted he would eventually tie the knot. “But the more people who challenge me on it from a political standpoint, the more resistant I will become,” he added. Mr Miliband said he never took drugs at university, claiming he was a “bit square” in his youth. – the Scotsman (more…)

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Sunday News review

30/01/2011, 06:59:24 AM

Ed meets the troops

Ed Miliband vowed yesterday he would not play “party politics” with British troops as he made his first visit to Afghanistan as Labour leader. Speaking in Helmand province, Mr Miliband backed PM David Cameron’s timetable to end combat operations there by 2015. He told troops: “Our mission is not a matter of party politics. It is about doing what is right for our country. A more stable Afghanistan will lead to a more safe Britain. You have our support, our respect and our admiration.” Mr Miliband toured Camp Bastion base, meeting the injured. He then went to Shawqat, scene of fierce fighting, with defence spokesman Jim Murphy and Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander. – Sunday Mirror

Ed Miliband pledged yesterday not to play ‘party politics’ with the military campaign in Afghanistan after making his first visit to the war-torn country. Addressing British troops in the volatile Helmand province, the Labour leader insisted that Britain was ‘united’ behind the military effort. But he also backed the Coalition’s plans to end UK combat operations by 2015, saying: ‘It is right that this is not a war without end.’ Mr Miliband said: ‘I want you to know that our mission in Afghanistan is not a matter of party politics. It is about doing what is right for our country. A more stable Afghanistan will lead to a more safe Britain. ‘Above all, I want you to know that you have our support, our respect and our admiration for what you are doing for our country.’ Accompanied by Shadow Defence Secretary Jim Murphy and Douglas Alexander, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, the Labour leader toured the British forces’ main base at Camp Bastion and met injured soldiers. He then travelled to Shawqat, which has seen some of the fiercest recent fighting. Mr Miliband also met General David Petraeus, the American commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, and later held talks with Afghan president Hamid Karzai in Kabul. – Mail on Sunday (more…)

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Friday News Review

29/01/2011, 07:28:47 AM

The ‘net’ goes wider

Nick Brown, the former chief whip and key political ally of former prime minister Gordon Brown, became the latest public figure yesterday to say that he believes his private calls and messages were eavesdropped. The Newcastle MP revealed that he believes his landline was the subject of an “amateurish” bugging operation around the time his homosexuality was made public in 1998. Five years later, he was also approached by police investigating voicemail hacking claims and warned that his mobile phone may have been illegally accessed. The former Cabinet minister is the latest senior Labour figure to come forward with claims that his phone calls and messages were hacked. Tessa Jowell, the former culture secretary, revealed that her phone may have been accessed as recently as this week and she has hired lawyers to discover who hacked into her messages on 29 separate occasions in 2006. Although it is not known in both cases who was responsible for the hacking, the claims will further fuel the phone hacking scandal engulfing the News of the World (NOTW), which is now the subject of a new police investigation following the decision of the Sunday paper to sack its head of news, Ian Edmondson. – the Independent (more…)

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