More than 50,000 NHS jobs could be axed

False Economy – the cuts campaign website that formally launches today (Wednesday) – reveals that more than 50,000 NHS staff posts are set for the axe, destroying government claims that the NHS is in safe hands. David Cameron then famously claimed before the election that he would “cut the deficit, not the NHS”. However less than 10 months into the coalition government, the reality couldn’t be more different, with NHS cuts across the country. The national total is already twice the previous estimate of 27,000 job cuts, published by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) last November. False Economy’s figures have been collated for the most part from NHS trusts themselves under the Freedom of Information Act but also include figures sourced by the RCN Frontline First campaign, as well as press reports and foundation trusts’ annual plans published by the national regulator Monitor. – Liberal Conspiracy

In response to a series of Freedom of Information requests, officials confirmed that 53,150 posts are due to be lost across 155 hospital trusts, 126 primary care trusts, 23 ambulance trusts and 54 mental health trusts in England, as well as 15 Scottish trusts, nine Welsh trusts and six trusts in Northern Ireland. Nearly every trust in the country admitted that they planned to shed staff over the next four years, with some losing up to one in five employees, according to the study. More than a dozen hospitals failed to respond to the requests, meaning the true level of job losses could be substantially higher. The requests were submitted by the TUC as part of its False Economy campaign against public spending cuts, which is launched today. – the Telegraph

More than 50,000 NHS jobs face being axed, including doctors, nurses and dentists, because of Government spending cuts, “destroying” claims about the funding of the health service, according to a new report. A study by False Economy, an anti-cuts campaign group, found that health trusts across the country were cutting staff or warning of job losses. The report detailed a series of cuts at trusts including East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust; Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust; Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust. False Economy said the total number of confirmed, planned and potential NHS staff cuts across the country was more than 53,000, adding that more NHS trusts were expected to announce staff cuts over the next four months, including all Wales’ health boards. – PA

1.6 million children living in severe poverty

Ministers should draw up an emergency plan to tackle extreme levels of poverty as new research showed that more than one in four children live in penury in some major UK cities. The figures, compiled by Save the Children, show that 1.6 million youngsters live in severe poverty, which the charity condemned as a “national scandal”. With unemployment rising and a radical shake up of the welfare system seeing £18bn wiped from benefits, the charity fears the number of children living without the basics will rise unless action is taken. The government’s survey defines severe poverty as a household with half the average income – for a family of four this would be pay of less than £12,500 – and also suffering from material deprivation. For example, they might not be able to pay for repairs to appliances or afford insurance. – the Guardian

In some areas, one in four children lives in a home which brings in less than £12,500 a year and goes without things most of their peers take for granted, such as having friends round for tea. Save The Children said it was a ‘national scandal’ that so many were suffering and warned the situation would only deteriorate as unemployment rises and the welfare system is reined back. ‘Children are going to sleep at night in homes with no heating, without eating a proper meal,’ said Sally Copley, the charity’s head of policy. ‘At the moment these children are hidden from official view and their plight unrecognised. If these children are to have a future, we must acknowledge their desperate need and urgently target government help towards them.’- Metro

Yes/No

With just ten weeks and one day left before the country votes in the referendum a new survey of members of the YouGov polling panel found that YES has dropped to 34% with NO edging up to 41%. The firm used what has been its standard question which when put last produced a 37-37 response. So with this week’s two polls both showing a move to NO it looks as though those opposed to change have got the initiative. The question is whether they can sustain it? The key group are Labour supporters and NO has recruited many of the party’s star names from the past in order to reach this audience. Ed Miliband is campaigning for YES. The normal way of expressing voting intention polling numbers is to strip out the won’t votes/wont say/don’t knows and quote the percentages of those expressing a firm view. For the sake of consistency I’m going to do the re-percentage calculation myself in order that all AV surveys are described in the same manner. So last night’s 34-41 becomes 45-55 – a healthy NO lead. – Political Betting

Coalition planning for summer strike breakers

Ministers are drawing up plans to deal with a wave of co-ordinated public sector strikes across the country this summer. A special unit of civil servants has been set up in the Cabinet Office to “war game” areas of vulnerability in key services and infrastructure. They are also investigating how they can draft in private-sector “strike breakers” to cross picket lines. Services identified as vulnerable to strikes include transport, energy, prisons and the health service. Ministers fear that the trigger for such co-ordinated action will be plans to increase the amount that public-sector workers have to contribute to their pensions – and could come as soon as the summer. – the Independent

Labour hits back at MigrationWatch report

Labour has hit back at the report by MigrationWatch claiming its points based system was bringing down net migration. Gerry Sutcliffe, Shadow Immigration Minister, said: “This is an unbalanced, misleading and highly political report. Migration levels increased initially because of the strength of the British economy over many years and must be seen in the context of increases globally. “However the most recent figures show net migration from outside the EU was coming down as a result of the new points based system and over a third of “long-term migrants” were in fact students, the vast majority of whom study, pay their fees, and then return home. “Labour introduced a tough Australian-style points based system to ensure that only those with the skills Britain needs could come here.” – the Telegraph

Rumours of a reshuffle

Spare a thought for Vince Cable. The disgruntled Business Secretary, whose “nuclear option” turned out to be more of a suicide vest, is the odds-on favourite to be the next minister to leave the coalition cabinet, according to the online betting exchange Smarkets. Or perhaps it will be Ken Clarke. “Is it time to give this disloyal, pro-Europe old bruiser the boot?” read the headline in the Daily Mail on 12 February. Paddy Power has him as 7/2 fav­ourite on its “next to leave the cabinet” list. Then there’s Tom Strathclyde. Tom who? The Leader of the House of Lords, exposed as an old-fashioned Tory adulterer by a Sunday paper last month, is second-favourite on both the Smarkets and Paddy Power lists. Away from the betting shops, Tory MPs and peers congregate in the bars and tearooms of Westminster to whisper about the future of William Hague, his personal life and his foreign policy (or lack thereof); about the Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman’s disastrous decision to sell off the nation’s forests; about Cheryl Gillan’s “Where’s Wally” performance at the Welsh Office and the persistent rumours of her impending departure from government. – New Statesman

Defence spending out of control

Weapons projects that have been written off or delayed have cost the taxpayer more than £8bn, a cross-party committee of senior MPs said in a withering critique of waste in the Ministry of Defence. The decision to cancel the Nimrod MRA4 and Sentinel reconnaissance aircraft will lead to greater operational risks as well a write-off of nearly £5bn, the Commons public accounts committee says in a report which also sheds new light on the row over the decision to go ahead with the contract to build two new large aircraft carriers for the navy. The RAF spent an extra £2.7bn on the Eurofighter/Typhoon project, including the purchase of 16 additional aircraft it did not need, to honour contractual commitments to other countries assembling the planes. The MoD assumed other partner nations would also not wish to purchase the final tranche of aircraft, so the requirement would be waived, says the committee. – the Guardian

Defence Secretary Liam Fox today outlined plans to tackle the financial mismanagement that blew a £36 billion hole in his department’s budget. He said “fantasy projects” which make their way into the defence programme have to stop, and the department’s biggest projects will be regularly assessed. Speaking to the BBC, he said: “One of the criticisms by the public accounts committee was that projects get started with no real budgets to follow through. “So I have asked the new Chief of Defence Materiel in the MoD to ensure that no projects begin unless we’re sure that there’s a budget for development and in procurement and deployment, because otherwise we end up with fantasy projects which are not much more than a wish list, and that has to stop.” Dr Fox laid the blame for overspending squarely on Labour, saying it had created a “conspiracy of optimism”. – the Independent

Cameron takes aim at public sector

A week ago, I made clear that while the urgent priority of this Government is clearing up the mess Labour made of our economy, my mission in politics is to repair the breakdown in our society: the family breakdown and community breakdown that has done so much damage to people’s lives – not to mention the costs that our deep social problems load on to the state. The idea at the heart of this – the Big Society – is about rebuilding responsibility and giving people more control over their lives. But that doesn’t just apply in areas like volunteering. It’s as relevant when it comes to public services and the decentralisation of power. Indeed, I would argue that our plans to devolve power from Whitehall, and to modernise public services, are more significant aspects of our Big Society agenda than the work we’re doing to boost social action. – David Cameron, the Telegraph

The reforms mark a step change because the new “presumption” of public services being open to outside providers means that the Government will not have to legislate again in most areas every time it wants to involve the private sector in future. It will also be an alternative revenue stream for charities that have lost state funding under the Coalition’s programme of cuts. Mr Cameron says the era of “old-fashioned, top-down, take-what-you’re-given” public services will be ended. Downing Street believes the plans represent the biggest shake-up in public service provision for 50 years. – the Telegraph

Clarke and Clegg: We need ECHR reform

The government is to try to reform the relationship between theEuropean court of human rights and national parliaments when it assumes chairmanship of the Council of Europe in November after controversial rulings on sex offenders and votes for prisoners. The pro-European Kenneth Clarke, the justice secretary, told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show that the government intended to scrutinise the relationship. This follows calls from a large number of Conservative backbenchers for the UK to walk away from the ECHR because they are unhappy with its rulings. MPs recently voted to maintain a ban on voting by prisoners despite an ECHR ruling that it was illegal. Many MPs have also been outraged by the UK supreme court’s ruling that the ECHR would uphold the right of sex offenders to appeal against having to register with the police for the rest of their lives. – the Guardian

There is no prospect of the current Government pulling Britain out of the European Convention on Human Rights or defying the rulings of the Court in Strasbourg, Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke has revealed. But Mr Clarke said that he will seek to initiate reform of the European Court of Human Rights to rebalance its relations with national courts when the UK takes over the chairmanship of the Council of Europe in November. Rows over prisoners being given the right to vote and the right to appeal for removal from the sex offenders register have revived calls from some Conservative right-wingers for the UK to withdraw from the Convention. But Mr Clarke said it would be “startling” for any British Government to say that it will not comply with the rulings of any court whose jurisdiction it recognises. – the Mirror

Not out of the woods yet

Some forests could be stripped of protection under planning reforms being considered by the Government, the Woodland Trust has warned. The conservation charity says the changes to planning guidance could slip through unnoticed in the aftermath of the row that forced the Government into a U-turn over its plans to privatise public forests. According to the trust, a review that aims to consolidate the 25 clauses in the current legislation as part of an attempt to hand power back to local communities, could leave ancient woodlands without sufficient safeguards. Currently, one of the planning policy statements explicitly recognises that ancient woodland is important for wildlife and says local authorities should not grant planning permission for development that will lead to its loss or damage. The trust fears this ban could be weakened if authorities believed the benefits of development outweighed loss of habitat. – the Independent