Friday 31 July 2009

Bid to Clarify Assisted Suicide Law

A terminally ill campaigner wins her long legal battle to clarify the law on assisted suicide, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Debbie Purdy, a woman with multiple sclerosis was told the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) will issue urgent guidance on what is and is not legal on assisted suicide.

Ms Purdy brought the case against the DPP because she wanted to know if her husband, Omar Puente would be prosecuted if he were to help her commit suicide overseas.

On Monday 27 July, the highest court in the land – the House of Lords - agreed that the law on assisted suicide was unclear, and then three days later, 30 July, the same court issued a historic judgement that could finally remove the fear of prosecution from people who travel abroad to support relatives seeking an assisted suicide, the Guardian reports.

Speaking outside the House of Lords after the judgement, Ms Purdy, from Bradford, said she was “ecstatic”.

“I am eagerly awaiting the DPP’s policy publication so that we can make an informed decision to make sure what we do does not risk prosecution, I feel like I have my life back,” she said.

“I want to live my life to the full, but I don’t want to suffer unnecessarily at the end of my life. This decision means that I can make an informed choice, with Omar, about whether he travels abroad with me to end my life because we will know exactly where we stand,” said the Daily Telegraph.

In a unanimous ruling, five law lords backed a call by Purdy for the DPP to immediately draw up a policy that would spell out when prosecutions would and would not be pursued.

It is reportedly the first time that the DPP has been asked by the courts to outline the circumstance under which he would prosecute, the Guardian reports.

The Daily Telegraph said under the 1961 Suicide Act, aiding and abetting suicide is a crime punishable by up to 14 years in jail.

Though no one has been prosecuted so far, many people have been questioned by police after helping relatives to end their lives at Clinic Broad.

To date, 115 people have committed suicide at Swiss Digintas clinic.

Last October, the High Court rejected Ms Purdy’s call for a clarification of the law and in February she lost an appeal.

However, after a two-day hearing in June, five Law Lords ruled in her favour. They said it would be a breach of her human rights not to allow her to end her life with respect and dignity and also criticised the DPP’s refusal to advise on when a prosecution would be brought.

In the judgment, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, Lord Hope of Craighead, Baroness Hale of Richmond, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood and Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury said: “The House of Lords unanimously allowed the appeal of Ms Purdy. First, they held that the present law interfered with her right to respect for her private life.

“Everyone has the right to respect for their private life and the way that Ms Purdy determines to spend the closing moments of her life is part of the act of living,” they said.

“Ms Purdy wishes to avoid an undignified and distressing end to her life. She is entitled to ask that this too must be respected,” the Daily Telegraph reports.

In addition, the five Low Lords required the DPP to prepare an offence-specific policy that identified the facts and circumstances that he would take into consideration in deciding, in a case such as Ms Purdy’s, whether or nor to prosecute.

They said: “At present, there is simply not sufficiently clear or relevant guidance available as to how the discretion given to the Director is to be exercised,”

“In a highly unusually and extremely sensitive case of this kind, the Code for Crown Prosecutors offers almost no guidance at all. A custom-built policy statement is required.”

The Law Lords added that changes in the law on assisted suicide would have to be decided upon by Parliament.

On the other side, some of the religious leaders and disability campaigners opposed the amendment of the law related with assisted suicide, as they express their fear it would put pressure on vulnerable people to kill themselves.

Barack Obama’s beer summit

The Black Harvard scholar and the white police sergeant who arrested him got together at President Obama’s beers summit, the Daily Mail reports.

While the President desperately in an attempt to walk away from the heated race row involving the black Harvard scholar and white policeman, he has suffered poll damage recently, says the Indian Times.

Obama got into trouble over the debate on whether Crowley was justified in arresting Gates at his Cambridge home when the President said that the police officer had “acted stupidly”.

The president then quickly condemned by the police through their complaints and acknowledged he should have used different language to express his concerns, and invited the two men to join him for a beer.

“I have always believed that what brings us together is stronger than what pulls up apart” Obama said after the highly anticipated 40-min conversation, according to the Daily Mail.

“I am confident that has happened here tonight, and I am hopeful that all of us are able to draw this positive lesion from this episode.”

Henry Louis Gates Jr., The Harvard scholar said he hoped the entire experience would prove to be an “occasion for education, not recrimination”.

He adds now the burden rests on him and Crowley to use the opportunity to foster wider awareness of the dangers facing police officers and the fears that some blacks have about racial profiling, says Daily Mail.

Crowley responded later that he and the professor agreed to move forward.

“I think what you had today was two gentlemen agreeing to disagree on a particular issue. I do not think that we spent too much time dwelling on the past. We spent a lot of time discussing the future,” the Daily Mail reports.

According to the Indian Times, Obama significantly damaged his standing with voters, especially with those white voters when he handling the incident “impulsively” by saying the white policeman “acted stupidly”.

The newly released polling figures found 41 per cent of all voters disapproved of Obama’s handing of the affair while just 29 per cent approved the incident.

The survey was released by the Washington-based-Pew Research Centre, the Indian Times has learnt.

The data was released just hours before the President as well as the Vice-President Joe Biden had a glass of beer with the Professor Henry Gates and police sergeant James Crowley, who had arrested the Harvard scholar for “disorderly conduct”.

According to the Daily Mail, during their beer summit, neither the two men nor the President offered apologies for their roles in the affairs.

Nigeria islamist death sparks human rights row

A Nigerian government minister has expressed relief at the death of an Islamic sect leader, Mohammed Yusuf, the BBC reports.

The Islamic sect leader’s body has shown to journalists on Thursday just hours after police said they had captured him, but the human rights campaigners alleged he had been executed by the police, who said Yusuf died in a shoot-out following days of bloody fighting.

Regarding Yusuf’s death, the Daily Telegraph’s foreign staff wrote to the paper and said the senior leader of the Boko Haram sect, which adheres to Taliban-style sharia law, was killed in a dawn attack along with some 200 followers as they attempted to flee Maiduguri, a northern city in Nigeria.

The Daily Telegraph went on to write: “The deputy leader of the Taliban by the name Abubakar Shekau was in the early hours of today killed along with 200 followers by Nigerian troops," an official said.

The BBC's Bilkisu Babangida reports the militant group let by Yusuf has been blamed for days of violence unrest in which hundreds of people died in clashes between his followers and security forces.

The violence reportedly sparked because Boko Haram wants to overthrow the Nigerian government and impose a strict version of Islamic Sharia law.

After the 39-year-old died, as Bilkisu Babangida continues, the city is back to normal with shops and banks re-opening and she says many residents are happy that Mr Yusuf is dead.

Dora Akunyili, Information Minister told the BBC’s Network Africa that she was concerned about the death and that the government would find out “exactly what happened”, though as previously set out by the Daily Telegraph that Mr Yusuf was killed in an attack, and did not mention his execution in the police custody.

She also adds Yusuf’s demise was a “positive” thing for Nigeria.

“What is important is that Yusuf has been taken out of the way, to stop him using people to cause mayhem.”

Human Rights Watch staff said there should be an immediate investigation into the case.

Eric Guttschuss, a New York-based rights group said to the BBC: “The extrajudicial killing of Mr Yusuf in police custody is a shocking example of the brazen contempt by the Nigerian police for the rule of the law.”

Another Human Rights Watch researcher, Cornnie Dufka, told AP news agency, according to the BBC: “The Nigerian authorities must act immediately to investigate and hold to account all those responsible for this unlawful killing and any others associated with the recent violence in northern Nigeria.”

Britain ends troops presence in Iraq

Britain’s troop presence in Iraq formally ends on Friday 31 July, which concludes six years of controversial military involvement in the country beginning with the US-led invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein administration, the AFP news reports.

The last British troops, according to the Daily Telegraph, up to 150 naval personnel have had to withdraw to Kuwait, where they had been left in the country to protect oil platform and provide training to Iraqi forces.

The mandate allowing British troops to stay in Iraq until 31 July, and a new deal has yet to pass its third reading in the Iraqi parliament, says the Daily Telegraph.

Jawwad Syed, British Embassy spokesman in Iraq, said it was a procedural delay and the forces would pull back to Kuwait until the issue was resolved.

“The guys who were doing the training are temporarily moving out to Kuwait while we talk to the Iraqi government about what we might do in the interim.

“We have general broad support for our agreement. We’re hopeful that when we have the next parliamentary session, we should achieve a ratification,” says the Daily Telegraph.

British troops in Iraq withdrawal comes a day after Britain launched an inquiry into its role in the war.

The inquiry will examine Britain's involvement in the war from summer 2001 to the end of July 2009, in the meantime, it will also quiz key decision-makers, including former prime minister Tony Blair, said the Financial Times.

Under Blair administration, Britain was a key ally of the United States when President George W. Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 to topple Saddam, in the belief he was developing weapons of mass destruction, the AFP news has leant.

Britain’s decision to take part was opposed from the start by a large of population including cabinet minister Robin Cook.

Since then, unfortunately, London’s troop numbers in the campaign were the second largest, and reached its peak of presence around 46,000 in Iraq in March and April 2003.

Eventually, the US and UK-led troops not only overthrew the dictator from the country, but also executed crimes against humanity, the AFP news reports.

Until last year, Britain decided to switch its military emphasis to the struggle against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Baghdad and London then signed a deal that all British soldiers in Iraq would withdraw completely by the end of July 2009 once they had completed their mission, which in recent months focused on Iraqi army training.

Thursday 30 July 2009

Committee says 'no persuasive evidence' on draft anti-bribery bill

Committee finds 'no persuasive evidence' security and intelligence services should be given 'special permission' not to subject to the anti-corruption laws, says the Guardian.

Ministers should scrap plans contained proposed anti-corruption legislation to give MI5 a “licence to bribe”, a committee of MPs and peers said in an interview with the Guardian.

The security service, often known as MI5, is the UK's national security intelligence agency.

The Committee said there was "no persuasive evidence" for MI5 to be given an exemption from the provisions of a draft bill tightening up the laws against bribery.

As the Guardian reveals the committee aims to scrutinise the draft anti-bribery bill, published in an attempt to produce legislation combating international corruption in 2003.

From what Guardian has understood, the bill was heavily criticised since the year it had been published. Justice Secretary Jack Straw wants the new bill to become law before general election.

The draft anti-bribery bill grants agents working for MI6 to exempt from anti-bribery laws under the Intelligence Service Act 1994, which gives the service a general licence to commit crimes abroad, though not within the UK.

MI5 would for the first time be able to get permission to bribe. This exemption, same apply to MI6, would cover acts committed anywhere in the world, the Guardian reports.

The draft anti-bribery bill, as the Guardian states, was long criticised by international organisations, such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

One of its official told the committee, according to the Guardian, when it was taking evidence that he was not aware of any other country in the world where the law specifically sanctioned bribery in the way proposed by straw.

The committee said in its report: “We heard no persuasive evidence of a need for the domestic intelligence to be granted an authorisation to bribe, and neither are we persuaded that this draft bill is the appropriate vehicle to extend the security services' powers to contravene criminal law.”

Anti-corruption pressure group, Transparency International said the government should accept the committee's recommendation.

Chandu Krishnan, the group's executive director said: “The exemptions for the security services are an unnecessary provision in a bill of this nature whose primary purpose is combating bribery.”

According to the ePoliti.com, Straw now justified the proposal on the grounds that the security services were subject to “a very high degree of statutory control”, in evidence to the committee.

The bill would create two new offences of bribing and being bribed, according to the Guardian, making bribing foreign officials a specific offence.

It would also create a new offence for firms that negligently fail to prevent bribery by people working on their behalf.

Insufficient teaching funding affects university U-turn plan

The government said today universities could provide 10,000 extra places next year but refused to offer any extra funding to cover teaching costs, the Timesonline reports.

Previously, as a surge in application and a freeze on student numbers had meant 50,000 students were likely to miss out on a place this autumn.

However, the government now said there is a U-turn which will allow 10,000 extra places to enter universities, according to the Timeonline.

Top universities such as the most prestigious ones, including Oxbridge have said they do not want their share of 10,000 additional student places, the BBC reports.

In addition, other six universities have said they want fewer, and 13 want none at all.

The 13 that have declined the offer are: Bristol, Cambridge, Exeter, Imperial College London, King's College London, Leeds, Liverpool, London Metropolitan University, Nottingham, Oxford, Southampton, University College London and Warwick, said the BBC.

Dr Wendy Piatt, the director general of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities, said in an statement: “Maintaining quality is sacrosanct and the Russell Group is concerned about underfunded extra students - there is already a funding shortfall for teaching at our universities.”

According to the Timesonline, the government has now said it will allow 10,000 extra places, but there will no more to finance the teaching though student support in fee loans and grants will be available.

The additional places are also available only in maths, science and technology, which are the most expensive courses for university to run, the Timeonline has learnt.

University vice-chancellors welcomed the ideas of providing extra places but warned that the lack of extra funding could jeopardise standards.

Sir Martin Taylor, vice-president of the Royal Society, said: “Building the next generation of scientists requires not only financial support for the students but also for the institutions that will be responsible for educating them.

“Failure to recognise this and to provide the core funds needed will ultimately lead to an unsustainable higher education system that simply cannot cope with the demands placed upon it.”

On the other side, university leaders also fear that arts subjects could suffer as a result of the concentration on science.

As the Timesonline continued, ministers said that the government had held discussions with the higher education sector about the increase in places and universities had said they would be able to recruit more students without compromising the quality of courses.

Lord Mandelson, the Skills Secretary said that science subjects gave young people the skills they need for their future jobs. The costs of supporting the extra students would be met be “reprioritising” existing budgets.

David Willetts, the Shadow Skills Secretary welcomed the government’s belated U-turn, he said the extra 10,000 places long overdue and reverse ministers’ own reduction in extra places.

“Around 40,000 more applicants are likely to be rejected this year than last. And there is nothing for those whose A-Levels stop them from applying for courses. We still face a summer crisis,” the Timesonline reports.

US Democrats make healthcare deal reports say

Democrats in the US House of Representatives have reached agreement on proposals to reform the American healthcare system, the BBC reports.

The deal, brokered between fiscally conservative Democrats and party leaders, means the House could be in a position to pass a bill in the autumn, says the BBC.

The agreement, revealed by Representative Mike Ross, leader of the so-called Blue Dog Democrats on Capitol Hill, is described as a boost to Barack Obama in the Independent, as the president held two back-to-back town hall meetings in North Carolina, and in Virginia.

However, the BBC says the US Senate will also need to agree on a bill before a final version can pass.

Although the exact details of the deal have yet to emerge, reports suggest the House's bill will include a public insurance option.

After much lobbying from the House Blue Dog Caucus, the cost of the $1tn (£600bn) bill will be cut by $100bn though.

Speaking at a town hall meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina, Mr Obama said healthcare reform would provide Americans with “more stability and more security”.

“What we need, and what we will have when we pass these reforms, are health insurance consumer protections to make sure that those who have insurance are treated fairly and insurance companies are held accountable,” he said, according to the BBC.

The BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington says Mr Obama's references to security and consumer protection represent a change in tack for the president.

Adam went on to write the US president is trying to shift the discussion away from dry policy debates and instead persuade Americans that his reforms will benefit them personally.

According to the Independent, after making healthcare reform his top legislative priority since taking office, Mr Obama has made him a virtual hostage of the fraught negotiating on Capitol Hill as liberals have found themselves symied.

It is not only the Republicans but also some of the conservative Democrats are suspicious of the likely costs of reform and dislike the idea that government is inserting itself into the private healthcare market.

As the BBC states, earlier this year, Mr Obama called on both chambers of Congress to pass bills before the beginning of August, but lawmakers now say that will not be possible.

There is disagreement about the details of the proposed reforms, worked by a number of different committees

Lawmakers are divided on whether to set up a public health insurance scheme for Americans without employer-sponsored coverage.

Other disagreement is about how to raise revenue to fund the proposed expansion of healthcare coverage.

The current healthcare situation in US is that 47 million Americans do not have health insurance, and rising healthcare costs are a major contributing factor to America's spiralling budget deficit.

Wednesday 29 July 2009

US top envoy visits Iraq

Robert Gates, US Defence Secretary said on a visit to Iraq its security situation has improved "amazingly" in the past three years, according to the BBC.

His visit to the country aims to see how US troops are adapting to their new non-combat role since withdrawing from all urban areas at the end of June this year, and all American troops are due to leave Iraq by 2011.

Mr Gates, a top US envoy, was trying to revive the Arab-Israeli peace process when he was in Jerusalem earlier on, said the BBC.

Mr Gates met troops at a base in the south before travelling to the capital Baghdad, where he had talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.

Other main issue raised during his visit, according to the AFP news, is to urge the Iraq's Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities to settle their political differences before the withdrawal of US troops by the end of 2011.

He was trying to persuade Iraqi Arab and Kurdish officials to take advantage of current US troops to resolve disputes over power-sharing, internal boundaries and oil revenues, a senior US defence official said, a senior US defence official said in AFP news.

The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse reports from Baghdad that today’s Iraq is a very different place, but Gabriel declined it is a peaceful one, he says attacks still daily plague many towns and cities.

Gabriel then went on to say US forces continue to patrol in some urban areas, but the Pentagon - headquarters of the United States Department of Defense - would prefer its troops to focus on training and supporting Iraqi forces.

Regarding the disputes between the three local communities, as the AFP news continues, the Obama administration has called for stepped up bids to tackle the quarrels that threaten to revive ethnic and sectarian strife.

The administration believes that "all sides have to take an approach in both words and actions that commits them to a peaceful political process," one official said.

According to the AFP news, the Kurds particularly have an interest in forging reconciliation promptly while US forces remain on the ground.

On the other side, the official said Washington has longstanding ties to the Kurdish former rebel factions which run an autonomous regional government in northern Iraq, so former Kurdish faction could act as an "honest broker" between the Kurds and the Shiite-led central government, the AFP has leant.

Gabriel’s trip to Kurdistan comes after presidential and parliamentary elections in the region on Saturday, which regarded as a new reform-minded opposition group to hail a major breakthrough against the long-dominant ex-rebel factions.

Back to the US troops withdrawal issue, the BBC reports US-led combat operations are due to end by September 2010 with the complete troop withdrawal by the end of the 2011.

However, at a new conference after his talks with the Iraqi prime minister, Mr Gates recommends better leave the matter on whether some US troops could stay on beyond a 2011 deadline for withdrawal until end of 2010 or even 2011.

University cuts may fail equality report says

Universities cuts could disproportionately affect women, black and disabled students and staff, the lecturers’ union says the BBC.

The University and College Union (UCU) claims 21 out of 43 institutions planning cuts have not met rules requiring them to assess their impact on minority groups, according to the BBC.

The claim comes as the government is calling on universities to widen access for poorer groups, and very recently Lord Mandelson also tells the Timesonline universities must stop failing working class.

However, Universities UK rejected the claims, and accused the union of scaremongering.

As the BBC reports university have a duty to promote equality and are required to assess the impact of policy on the ground of race, gender and disability.

Besides this, the BBC went on to say they are required to make a "thorough and systematic" assessment on whether any changes they are making to services, staffing levels and courses could have a detrimental impact on these groups.

However, UCU claims nearly half of those planning cuts have failed to do so.

UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said in an interview with the BBC that these figures show a “systematic failure of our universities to comply with the law”, and she says “it is a simply shocking state of affairs”.

“We urge the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to urgently investigate why universities are failing in their duties and will be closely monitoring all universities, especially with daily news of greater job cuts.”

UCU’s head of equality Rachel Curley said there was a legal obligation to eliminate and minimise the impact of such changes on these particular groups, according to the BBC.

She says there are a number of areas where we have very serious concerns about the impact on staff and students.

She then said the closing workplace nurseries, crèches for students, libraries and the whole range of areas may disproportionately affect different ethnic groups, women and disabled staff and students.

She gave the London Metropolitan University as an example. The university is planning to close its nursery, which could have a high impact on female staff and students.

According to the BBC, the lecturers’ union has been protesting at London Metropolitan's cuts plans, which it claims could mean the loss of the more than 500 posts.

The cuts were followed by the University funding loss of £50m, because of the students’ drop-out numbers.

Among the losses highlighted by the union, were cuts planned in Irish studies, Asia Pacific studies and women's studies.

However, a university spokeswoman declined the university cuts failed equality and said it was confident that it had met all the legal requirements on equality impact assessments.

A spokeswoman for Universities UK also said “UCU's latest scaremongering tactic does nothing for the higher education sector but undermine confidence and increase staff anxieties.” the BBC reports.

Tuesday 28 July 2009

Criticism on Tony Blair EU presidency

The last Westminster Hall debate examining the UK’s relationship with the European Union before the recess is looked back by Parliamentary researcher Michael Courtney, says the ePoliti.com.

The ePoliti.com says according to Daniel Kawczynski, Conservative MP for Shrewsbury & Atcham, if the Lisbon Treaty comes into force, “the next Conservative government will veto Tony Blair’s candidacy for president of the European Union”.

Daniel and other Tory backbenchers at the Westminster Hall debate last Tuesday argued that Blair is the wrong choice to bring transparency and accountability, and Labour is the reason for cold relations between the UK and the EU.

Daniel Kawczynski, with support from Nigel Evans and Mark Francois, Conservative MP for Ribble Valley and Rayleigh respectively, says Tony Blair quipped about his “outrageous conduct” in the Commons, his decision to go to war despite widespread condemnation from the public, as well as he often “looks bored in European Union meetings”.

The ePoliti.com went on to say Evans condemned the former Labour prime minister’s failure to honour the promise of a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty was the “worst display of democracy” in this country.

Evans was further supported when Kawczynski pointed out that 20 to 40-year-old born British and presently living in the UK have never been consulted on relations with the EU, as there has been no public vote on the issue since 1975.

Apart from the above opinions, Kawczynski continued to raise another issue of a decaying UK dairy industry thanks to the EU.

Liberal Democrat spokesman on foreign affairs Ed Davey also supported the backbencher’s argument that Labour gold-plates legislature from Brussels produced mixed results.

It is not only the ePoliti.com who has published Conservative’s criticism on Tony Blair. Daniel Hannan, both a Conservative MEP for South East England and a journalist, also wrote to the Daily Telegraph saying he is wondering if Tony Blair bought the EU presidency with British taxpayers’ money.

Five years ago on the last EU budget negotiation, Tony Blair had initially pledged not to surrender the British rebate in any circumstances, but then he said he might agree to a slight reduction in return for a comprehensive reform of the Commons Agricultural Policy (CAP).

In the event, Daniel Hannan wrote Tony Blair gave the rebate for nothing. Far from streamlining the CAP, the EU raised the budget percentage dedicated to agriculture from 50 to 58 per cent.

Daniel Hannan continued as the Britain had an absolute right of veto, the deal could not be approved. There was no reason whatsoever to sign away Brits’ billions of pounds to the EU.

The Conservative MEP asked what made Blair do it?

He then went on to say at precisely that moment, EU leaders were creating the post of President of Europe instead of the current rotating presidency.

According to Daniel Hannan, Tony Blair might think the rebate would bolster his claim for the top job after he had handed over his premiership following the coming general election.

Though the Conservative MEP also wrote he hoped what was in his mind was wrong, otherwise Tony Blair effectively betrayed his country for money.

However, more interestingly, an article from the Economist persuades readers to take a deep breath and calm down, the Charlemagne columnist declined Tony Blair has launched an EU presidency bid.

He blamed Glenys Kinnock, a new minister after years as an MEP, had messed things up as she puts “The UK government is supporting Tony Blair's candidature for president of the council” during the interview with British media.

The Charlemagne columnist said when Lady Kinnock had been asked about this question, the columnist assumed Kinnock was in a surprise, and she then meant to be enthusiastic but let the fact go too far as the way she answered the press.

What Kinnock meant, according to Economist, if Tony Blair were to become the candidate, then logically the Labour government would lobby for him.

New expenses rules raise scepticism

MPs are able to claim up to 9,125 a year without producing any receipts under amended expense rules, the Daily Telegraph reports.

MPs have ignored public anger over the expenses system by quietly introducing the new rules system, the Daily Telegraph comments.

According to the BBC, MPs were previously criticised by making claims for food up to £400 per month and without receipts, even when Parliament was in recess.

Under the amended rules, MPs will still be able to make some claims for food without producing receipts.

The amendments allow MPs to claim £25 for each night while away from their constituency home. Alternatively, they are eligible to claim up to 9,125 a year without producing any receipts, as the Daily Telegraph states.

From the BBC report, it indicates under the new rules, if MPs were to claim for every day Parliament sat during the 128-days session this year, they could get a maximum of £3,200.

Previously under the old system, MPs could claim up to £4,800 a year, regardless of how many days Parliament was sitting.

As the Daily Telegraph’s Holly Watt and Robert Winnett wrote the updated Green Book governing MPs’ expenses, has been published discreetly on Parliament’s website.

It has been agreed only by a small commit of MPs chaired by John Bercow, the new Speaker, and including Harriet Harman, the Leader of House of Commons and Alan Duncan, the Tory Frontbencher.

They went on to write that the new system has been approved without any public announcement or debate in Parliament as MPs on their leave for the summer holidays, and this fact is certain to anger voters further.

Another issue highlighted by the Daily Telegraph, it says in the wake of the expenses scandal, Gordon Brown and David Cameron both pledged to clean up the system of parliamentary expenses.

Mr Bercow had campaigned to replace Michael Martin by promising reform and Miss Harman and Mr Duncan had both said that expense claims which were not backed up by receipts would be unacceptable.

Miss Harman said in the spring: “There would need to be receipts for all claims. I really do think that that is something sensible which we could decide for ourselves now.”

Mr Duncan previously also said: “The second home allowance was often just paid once a month without receipts, which is an unacceptable system in the modern age.”

Nevertheless, under the new rules, it states “no receipts are necessary” for the subsistence payments and it is “for members to decide” how the money is spent.

In this case, the Daily Telegraph assume that MPs will simply have to state how many nights they have spent away from their main home “on parliamentary business” to receive the flat-rate sum, and there is no way for the information to be independently verified.

When confirming the issue with Harriet Harman and Alan Duncan, they declined to comment, according to the Daily Telegraph.

On the other hand, the BBC says Senior Labour backbencher Sir Stuart Bell denied the system could be abused, saying MPs would be expected to keep a record of nights spent away from home.

As the Daily Telegraph continued the subsistence payments are likely to raise concerns that MPs are seeking to limit public exposure of how they spent their allowances.

Under Freedom of Information Law, MPs have to publish receipts accompanying expense claims.

However under the new system, how they spend the money will not be subject to public scrutiny, said the Daily Telegraphy.

Britons want to withdraw troops from Afghanistan poll says

An opinion poll shows more than half of Britons think military operations in Afghanistan are futile and they want troops to be withdrawn immediately, the AFP says.

The pool result was found a day after the military had completed the first phase of a bloody offensive against the Taliban.

According to the Independent, the result displays 58 per cent see the offensive against Taliban extremists in Afghanistan as futile, whereas 31 per cent believe the conflict is winnable.

52 per cent, more than half of the 1,008 respondents said they want the troops out, while 43 per cent want them to stay.

75 per cent believe British troops lack the adequate equipment they need to perform their role in Afghanistan safely, compared to 16 per cent who think they have enough resources to fight Taliban in Afghanistan.

On the issue of weather the government should deliver more troops and resources to Afghanistan, 60 per cent of those polled do not think there is a need, according to the ConRes survey conducted over the phone earlier this month, the AFP said.

The findings, as AFP news states, were published a day after Gordon Brown had announced the end of the first phase of Operation Panther’s Claw, an offensive in the southern Helmand province launched last month.

Brown claimed success in the operation and praised the “heroic” efforts of troops in Helmand province. “The efforts of our troops in Helmand have been nothing short of heroic,” Brown said, “There has been a tragic human cost. But this has not been in vain.”

He also said troops would now focus on holding ground before bringing development to the province.

His comments came as two more soldiers were killed in the region, which has raised the death toll up to 191 that the British troops killed in Afghanistan since late 2001, and the toll was higher than in Iraq.

The surge in deaths has previously sparked a political row over the troops “lack of adequate equipment” and different UK publications reported the same issue.

The Timesonline earlier reported Sir Richard Dannatt had flown around Afghanistan in an American helicopter as the General later made it clear because there is no British helicopter available.

As the Reuters continued, Britain has around 9,150 troops in Afghanistan, the vast majority fighting Taliban militants in troubled Helmand.

According to the Timesoneline and the AFP, Foreign Secretary David Miliband reassures the public about British operation while urging NATO allies to carry more of the burden.

He said: “The biggest shift must now be towards the Afghan state taking more responsibility,” the Foreign Secretary said in a speech at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, aimed mainly at the British Public.

He then went on to warn Afghan leaders their next government must do more to defeat the Taliban and drive a wedge between the insurgents.

According to the AFP, there are about 90,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan helping local forces stabilise the country, with thousands deployed in the south to secure the restive area ahead of presidential polls on 20 August.

The vote, a key test of US-NATO backed efforts to install democracy in Afghanistan after decades of war and conflict, reportedly will be only the second time that Afghans elect a president.

Although President Hamid Karzai is favourite to win a second term, he has come under fire as his rivals opposed him for not doing more to improve security sine assuming office after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, the AFP reports.

Arab Human Rights Group barred for year by UN reports say

The United Nations decided on Monday to bar an Arab human rights group for a year after Algeria argued that the group brought in a “known terrorist” to speak on its behalf at a meeting in Geneva, Robert Evans said in Reuters.

The decision was taken without a vote, according to the Reuters, despite reservations voiced by Western countries.

However, at the 54-member Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), an official from the barred Arab group said there was a move to silence its voice.

The Paris-based Arab Commission for Human Rights(ACHR) was condemned by its fiercely critical of Israel and its growing oppression in Arab countries, deprived its right to speak in UN bodies, said the Human Rights Tribune.

Speaking with the body’s Geneva representative Abdel Wahab, he said: “This was a move taken to silence us. We upset everybody, including the Europeans and Americans by criticising them too, so there was no one to stand up for us.”

The suspension of recognition, as Reuters reports, formally known as “Consultative status” was recommended in January by the UN’s 19-nation Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in New York.

The ACHR will now be barred from the Human Rights Council, which is a major focus from the UN.

The Arab Commission is reportedly founded in 1998 and run by 15 human rights lawyers who mainly live in Arab countries, although some are based in western Europe.

In a complaint to the UN’s 19-nation Committee, as Robert Evans wrote in the Reuters, Algeria said the Arab Human Right Group violated rules last year by putting up as a speaker Swiss-based lawyer Rachid Mesli, against whom Algiers has issued an arrest warrant as a member of an “armed terrorist group”.

Hani said Mesli was a lawyer who fled Algeria after being prosecuted for defending members of the now defunct Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) which fought the state in the 1990s.

However, western countries expressed their concerns the Committee has increasingly acted to keep out genuine NGOs in recent years.

Monday 27 July 2009

Global Protests over Iranian Rulers

There has been a wave of protests on 25 July in major cities across the world in support of Iranian activists, who are demonstrating against the country’s disputed election held on 12 June, the Timesonline has learnt.

Around 100 cities, including London, Islamabad, Brussels, Sydney, Tokyo, Seoul and Amsterdam, Berlin took part in the event, which was backed by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders, said the CNN International.

According to the Timesonline, Ayatollah Khamenei, who has been Supreme Leader of Iran in 1989 and was president of Iran from 1981 to 1989, ordered an end to demonstrations against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last month.

Apart from Ayatollah Khamenei’s command, thousands of demonstrators have continued to take part in the protest on the streets in Iran, prompting the arrests of activities and violent clashes with riot police, military and Ahmadinejad’s supporters, said the Timesonline.

During one protest, a 27-year-old onlooker, named Neda Agha Soltan was killed, which prompted many of the protesters waved his printed picture placards outside the Iranian embassy in London on the global protests day, 25 July.

British demonstrators wanted to show solidarity for those Iranians “who feel too intimidated, too fearful” to go back out on the streets to protest, reported CNN Correspondent Paula Newton in London.

Demonstration in front of the UN’s European headquarters in Geneva, about 80 people wearing headbands, wristbands or bandanas in green – the colour of Iran’s Protest movement, said the Timesonline.

The sea of green also appeared in Washington, where hundreds of Iranian-American demonstrators marched from the United Nations Information Centre to the US Capitol building to call on the United Nations to take a more active role in addressing alleged human rights abuses inside Mahaoud Ahmadienjad’s government.

“This is a show of solidarity with the people inside Iran,” protester Khosrow Akbari said. “Iranians all over the world are united to send the message that they will not tolerate the human rights abuses inside the country.”

Speaking in Amsterdam, Iranian Nobel Peace prize laureate Shirin Ebadi urged the international community to reject the outcome of the Iranian election and called for a new vote monitored by the United Nations, the Timesonline reports.

Shirin said: “We are all working for the same Iran, where is our homeland and let us be united.”

According to the CNN International, Roxanna Saberi, the Iranian-American journalist who spent four months in an Iranian jail earlier this year, addressed a crowd in Chicago, Illinois.

Roxanna said she is very touched because all of the protesters turned out on this very important day, and spoke for those Iranians whose voices cannot be heard.

The demonstrations in the United States and Europe called for Western government to be more vocal about the reported human rights violations in Iran.

“Enough is enough,” said Parviz Shahi, a demonstrator in London. “How many people do they have to sacrifice?”

Meanwhile, in German capital Berlin, around 2,000 people turned out to rally for Iranians. A moment of silence was held, and about 40 people have been participating in a hunger strike over the past three days, the CNN Correspondent Frederik Pleitgen in German reports.

A protestor named Sahand Zamani, whose 19-year-old cousin Sohrab Aarabi was reportedly shot dead on June 15 during one of the bloody protests that followed the presidential elections, told the CNN International “We are watching Iran, hoping the government come to their senses and realise that this is their own people they’re shooting at”.

Sahand added: “I certainly think Sohrab is standing for a lot of young people and his death is national tragedy in Iran, as well as I think a tragedy worldwide. A 19-year-old boy getting shot because of his opinion – this has a meaning, but I hope he can find rest and peace and this won’t happen again.”

Germany is one of Iran’s major trade partners, prompting the Berlin protesters to call on their government to get tough with the Islamic republic’s human rights record and nuclear ambitions.

Barack Obama regrets his “Stupid” Comment

US President Barack Obama has told the press he should not have described the arrest of a black Harvard Professor as “stupid”, the BBC reports.

The president makes a surprise appearance at the daily White House press briefing and said he should have chosen words more carefully at this Wednesday news conference.

Alex Spillius, the Daily Telegraph Correspondent in US wrote that he had spoken to Sgt Crowley on the telephone and described him as an “outstanding police officer and a good man”.

In an attempt to diffuse the row over Professor Henry Gates Jr who was arrested at his own home, and followed by the president Obama himself commenting on the Cambridge police officer acted “stupidly” afterwards, the President said that “in my choice of words I think I unfortunately gave an impressive that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sergeant Crowley specifically – and I could have calibrated those words differently. And I told this to Sergeant Crowley”.

He then said he continued to believe that Professor Gates’ arrest was “an overreaction”, but “Professor Gates probably overacted as well”.

The comments came as the president faced calls from American police unions to apologies after he accused an officer of “acting stupidly” for arresting Mr Gates, as well as from attracted criticism in conservative circles.

Police representatives queued up at a press conference to insist race had played no part in the incident and the president should retract his “disgraceful” comments and apologise to Sgt James Crowley, said Alex Spillius in the Daily Telegraph.

The arrest of Prof Henry Louis Gates happened in the middle of July at Cambridge, Massachusetts, home to the top university where he leads the African American research centre, said the BBC.

Police were called after a woman reported she saw two black males with backpacks trying to force entry.

Indeed it was the Prof and his driver who had just returned home from an overseas trip, and found his front door jammed.

When Sgt James Crowley arrived, Professor Gates presented his identity card and indicated that he was the owner of the property, and he reportedly began accusing Sgt Crowley of racism.

Sgt Crowley then arrested him for disorderly conduct, prompting Professor Gates to allegedly start shouting: “This is what happens to black men in America.”

However, study shows he may have a point indeed.

A recent study by Professor Ian Ayres of Yale University found that African-Americans are nearly three times as likely to be stopped by the Los Angeles Police Department as whites.

“These disparities are not justified by crime rates in different neighborhoods where people of color live,” Professor Ayres writes. “Nor do the disparities arise because more police are assigned to black or Latino neighborhoods.”

Anther state-sponsored study in Illinois, revealed that black and Hispanic motorists were more than twice as likely as white motorists to be subjected to "consent searches" by the police, yet white motorists were twice as likely to be found with contraband as a result of the searches.

According to the BBC, President Obama has a personal connection to the Illinois statistics.

He sponsored the Illinois Traffic Stops Statistics Act that empowered the state authorities to collect the data on traffic stops.

It is apparently an issue that Mr Obama feels strongly about. During his presidential campaign, he pledged to "ban racial profiling", and his Attorney General, Eric Holder, has indicated that ending the practice is a "priority" for the administration.

Half of the Brits back ‘right to die’ law says Metro

Half of the Brits say they would consider helping their beloved one die if they became terminally ill, the Metro reveals.

Most of the people oppose the present law banning assisted suicide. The Royal College of Nursing officially changed its policy recently and no longer opposing the right to die.

An exclusive Metro/Harris poll reveals that half of the Britons would consider helping a friend or family member die if they were terminally ill and wanted to end his/her life, but only 18 per cent said they would not.

According to the Sunday Sun, it previously reported that Since Lord Falconer, the former Lord Chancellor tried to relax the law on Associated Dying, however Opposition to changing the law comes from all parts of the society.

The majorities of the medical profession are opposed, and so are all the faith groups in this country, the Sunday Sun reports.

The Bishop of Newcastle, the right reverend Martin Wharton said he agreed with the prime minister who said that allowing assisted suicide would place intolerable pressure on sick or elderly people to agree to end their life.

He argued he believes in controlling and killing the pain, but not the patient. He believes people in this country must never abandon the vulnerable and must never treat the suffering by ending the sufferer’s life.

He believes people should get on with working for patients to live as well as possible until a natural dignified death.

Back to the Metro report, it says after the revelations came out from the exclusive Metro/Harris poll, campaigners for the right to die welcomed the result.

They are calling for a swift change in the law, though again, critics were worried that the elderly and vulnerable could feel pressured into committing suicide.

Jo Cartwright, from campaign group Dignity in Dying, said: “The law is clearly out of step with public opinion. This poll uniquely shows this is a choice the majority of people want for themselves and would risk their liberty to provide for others.”

Nevertheless, Independent MP Andrew Pelling has campaigned against legalizing euthanasia, and said people would feel ‘pressured’ into dying instead of felling like ‘burden’.

The Croydon Central MP agreed with Andrew Pelling and went on to say that “Many people worry about being a burden to their families and doctors.

“It would be very sad if such people did not believe they were deserving of the care and attention which can prolong their lives in comfort.”

The Metro also reports that the House of Lords rejected proposals which would allow relatives to help terminally ill people travel abroad to die.

Assisted suicide is a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Mugabe urges violence ending during national reconciliation process ceremony

Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe called for an end to political violence and committed his party to campaigning peacefully as the country marked the start of a national reconciliation process during the three days celebration in Harare, said the Reuters.

Zimbabwe was plunged into violence last year as Mugabe fought to reclaim power in a run-off vote after being defeated by Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai, now prime minister in a new unity government.

As the Reuters reports, though the formation of the new administration in February has eased political tension, the MDC says some of its members continue to be targeted by Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) members in the countryside.

Mugabe said during the ceremony of making three days to observe national healing and reconciliation “there are still reported cases of political violence and these must stop”.

Followed President Mugabe’s speech, a veteran leader also said “We will commit members of our party in observation of the principles of non-violence. You should not succeed through violence but the efficacy of your political theory and your campaign”.

Zimbabwe has long battled its political violence from the colonial days as well as after independence in 1980 when a special unit led a crackdown against what it branded an insurgency in the Western parts of the country leaving thousands dead.

Civic groups says, according to the Reuters, up to 20, 000 people and mostly civilians were killed, but president Mugabe denies it by saying the figures were exaggerated.

He also previously described the period as “a moment of madness”.

Twenty yeas later, since 2000, unfortunately the country was once again plunged into political violence when liberation veterans started seizing white-owned commercial farms, killing dozens of farmers and opposition supporters during the process.

Most recently during the “cheated” election in 2008 as mentioned before, MDC said more than 200 of its members were killed to death in a violent run-off campaign which Mugabe won his opponent Tsvangirai, who indeed defeated Mugabe in the first round presidential election.

Tsvangirai said at the same ceremony: “These three days of dedication must herald the beginning of a genuine open and frank process that includes and incorporates the concept of transitional justice.


“Zimbabwe has suffered so many phases of trauma, upheaval and conflict that there must be agreement on defining the scope of the healing process.”

He added that the reconciliation process should also include the pre-independence period during which the former white colonial government was accused of atrocities against nationalist politicians challenging its rule.

The weekend or three days of national dedication to celebrate newly-found peace and unity was part of the program of the Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration’s activities over the next six months, the Zimbabwe Times reports.

John Nkomo, the Minister of State responsible for National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration made the remarks when he addressed the Zimbabwe Council of Churches held in Harare on the role of the Church as a reconciler, healer and peace builder.

He said the Church had a critical role to play in the healing and reconciliation process, pointing out that the majority of Zimbabweans were Christians, said the Zimbabwe Times.

Last British WWI vet says war was boring

The Australian newspaper says Britain’s last surviving World War I veteran has shrugged off his achievement and even described the conflict was boring.

Claude Choules, 108, who lives in a nursing home in Perth, Australia, reacted calmly when was told he had become Britain's only survivor from the Great War. “Everything comes to those who wait and wait,” he said.

Claude’s 80-year-old daughter Anne Pow told him over the weekend the death of 111-year-old Harry Patch, Britain’s last soldier who fought in the 1914 – 1918 war, had made him the country’s sole WWI survivor, Reuter reports.

Claude had fought in the Great War’s infamous trenches and served on HMS Revenge during a 41 years naval career, which spanned both world wars.

He also witnessed the surrender of the German Imperial Navy in 1918, as well as scuttled in the fleet in Scapa Flow, the Australian said to the Reuter.

He was seconded to the Australian navy in 1926 and remained in the force for 30 years.

Pow also mentioned her father had always said war was mostly very tedious punctuated by moments of extreme danger.

Back to the British news reported by the Daily Telegraph, the latest death of WWI vet Harry Patch occured in his sleep at a nursing home in Wells, Somerset on Saturday.

Harry had opposed to a state funeral suggestion before but Gordon Brown has promised that his sacrifice, and those of the millions who fought alongside him, will be remembered in a national memorial service.

The 111-year-old did not discuss his war experiences publicly until he reached his 100th birthday.

He did speak out in his last decade, telling of his haunting memories and his firm belief that those on all sides should be remembered, and that war was never worthwhile.

In 2007 he returned to Passchendaele, where he was almost killed in 1917, to lay two wreaths – one for the British dead and another for Germans killed in the battle.

His funeral will be held in Wells Cathedral but a date has yet to be fixed.

Mr Brown said in the aftermath of Harry Patch's death: “The noblest of all the generations has left us, but they will never be forgotten.”

He went on: “I think it's right that we as a nation have a national memorial service to remember the sacrifice and all the work that was done by those people who served our country during World War One and to remember what we owe to that generation – our freedom, our liberties, the fact that we are a democracy in the world.

“Those men and women during World War One did a huge amount and it's right that we have a special commemoration of what they have done.”

27/07/2009

Sunday 26 July 2009

Tories' victory in the Northwich North by-election

The Tories has defeated Labour in Norwich North by-election and have taken the constituency with a majority of more than 7,000 votes in the first Westminster by-election since the MPs expenses row, the BBC has learnt.

Tory candidate Chloe Smith won with 13,591 votes, which is more than twice as many votes as Labour candidate Chris Ostrowski.

The Daily Telegraph said Labour opponent was struck down by swine flu and represented at the count by his Wife. It seems these days even the H1NI virus votes Tory.

As the BBC continued, there was a swing from Labour to the Tories of 16.5% on turnout of 46%.

The Tories say the by-election victory puts them firmly on the road to win the upcoming general election while the Labour said it was “disappointing” but the vote took place in “unprecedented circumstances”.

Gordon Brown has acknowledged the by-election result was affected by the anger of many local Labour supporters as the party executive's treatment of their former MP, he also claimed none of the main parties could take “any cheer” from the result, with only the fringe parties picking up more votes than previously.

David Cameron added the victory was only the Tories' second by-election win in a Labour seat for 27 years and it showed people “want change in our country”.

He then accused Labour of running an “utterly despicable” campaign full of allegations about policies which were “not ture”

Different publication, including the Timeonline, the Guardian and the Independent all report the by-election was triggered by popular Labour MP Ian Gibson quitting after he was barred from standing again for the party over his expenses – sparking anger among some constituents.

According to the BBC, ex-home secretary Charles Clarke blamed Gordon Brown's “incompetent” treatment of popular MP Dr Ian Gibson.

He said what happened to Ian Gibson was not fair, and many people felt that, the party need the transparency, need a comprehensive approach, fairness and the prime minister need it to be done quickly, but these things did not happen.

Senior backbencher Barry Sheerman said the result was a “self-inflicted wound” and warned Mr Brown had until the end of the summer to reconnect with voters. He said morale among Labour members was low and that the party was in a "desperate situation".

The Tories newly elected MP Ms Smith was only 27 and will be the youngest MP in the House of Commons. She paid tribute to Dr Gibson in her victory speech and wished her Labour rival Chris Ostrowski a speedy recovery.

She will officially take her seat starting from October, the BBC reports.

Friday 24 July 2009

UK anti-semitism records rise

Anti-Semitic attacks in the UK have doubled in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2008, prompted by Israel’s invasion of Gaza, Jewish groups told the BBC.

The Jewish Community Security Trust (CST) recorded 609 anti-Semitic incidents between January and June – up from 276 last year.

From the Daily Telegraph, much of the surge took place in January - there were up to 286 incidents occurred in January alone.

The security body said in the BBC a disproportionately higher monthly number of attacks and abuse continued into spring.

There were more than nine incidents happened since February in the UK every single day. Most of the incidents were abusive behaviour, but there were also 77 violent acts.

The CST said the rise of anti-Semitism had been driven by anger over Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza last year.

The conflict between December 2008 and January 2009 was followed by an almost immediate rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the UK.

The CST added, according to the BBC, the total number of incidents for the first six months of this year was worse than the previous record of 598 incidents for the whole of 2006, apart from a big rise compared to 276 incidents happened in 2008, as previously said in the article.

The attacks recorded so far, include 77 acts of physical violence and two life-threatening assaults, one of which was an attempt to run over with a car.

Mark Gardner, of the CST said in an interview with the BBC: “British Jews facing ever higher levels of racist attack and intimidation that threaten the well-being of our otherwise happy and successful Jewish community.

“There is no excuse for anti-Semitism, racism and bias, and it is totally unacceptable that overseas conflicts should be impacting here in this way.”

Liberal Democrats Home Affairs spokesman Chris Huhne told the Daily Telegraph: “Britain is setting a shameful new record in anti-Semitic incidents this year, which are running at double the annual rate of the previous record.

“It is completely abhorrent that anyone should be intimidated on the grounds of their race, colour, gender, sexuality or creed.

“We must stand firm against intolerance shown to any minority if we are to preserve a civilized society.”

Foreign Office minister Ivan Lewis said: “I am deeply concerned by the rise in the number of anti-Semitic indicents as reported by the CST today.

“The British government is firmly committed to tackling and reducing all forms of racism including anti-Semitism.

“We simply cannot tolerate those who seek to use foreign conflicts to justify racism and criminal acts against any UK citizen.

“The UK’s Jewish community is an integral part of the rich fabric that makes up modern Britain and must be able to live free from fear of verbal or physical attack.

“The Government was in regular contact with senior community figures and the CST during the Gaza conflict and remain alert to their concerns.”

The BBC and the Daily Telegraph both published the comment made by Shahid Malik, Minister of Cohesion, one of two Muslims in government.

He said: “This rise in anti-Semitism is not just concerning for the British Jewish communities but for all those who see themselves as decent human beings

“It may be legitimate for individuals to criticise or be angry at the actions of the Israel government but we must never allow this anger to be used to justify anti-Semitism.

Earlier this year, Muslims leaders issued a joint statement denouncing anti-Semitism, amid fears that violent elements from within their own communities were responsible for the increase in attacks, the BBC has learnt.

Thursday 23 July 2009

Government overspends on art projects funding

Some of the most prestigious cultural grand projects’ funding in Britain is in jeopardy as a £100m black hole has been discovered in the budgets of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Whitehall source revealed, according to the Guardian.

These funding are designed to help iconic locations such as the British Museum, Tate Modern, Stonehenge, and London’t South Bank Centre to improve its facilities.

However, these ambitious plans are at risk as the government discloses the DCMS’s overspending on its budget, the AFP reports.

The shortfall has emerged in the capital budget for the financial years 2009-10 and 2010-11, said the Guardian.

Senior arts sources called the funding crisis “quite astonishing”. One source said in the Guardian: “It’s hopeless management. Everyone will blame the DCMS for being hopeless, and they are fairly hopeless, so it’s not unjustified.”

Another source in the Guardian said: “Financial director of interested bodies received a letter saying they were £100m overspent on capital and seeking contributions from unspent capital money.”

The DCMS refused to comment on why it had overspent the amount of money designed to fund the major art projects.

Nevertheless, according to the Guardian, the issue was noted several weeks ago and was addressed by ministers.

A DCMS spokesperson said: “Our capital budget is currently overcommitted. Ministers are examining the reasons for this and looking for solutions. It is possible that difficult decisions will be needed, but none has been taken yet.”

Then another senior arts source said: “They will solve it by scrabbling around, and delaying things here and there. But my goodness, it’s no way to run a railroad.”

However, the Guardian said if critical funding was held up to get the DCMS out of financial trouble, major projects may be mothballed.

Guardian reports the Tate Modern’s redevelopment would increase the size of the gallery by 60%. It is supposed to receive a £50m one-off grant from the government towards its £ 215 budget.

The redevelopment of Tate Modern will “act as a firm symbol of the government’s commitment to this amazing project,” said former culture secretary James Purnell in 2007.

At the time, the plan had been to open the new Tate building in time for the London Olympics in 2012, which has been described as the most important new building for culture in Britain since the British Library in 1998 and the Barbican Centre in 1982, said the Guardian.

Charlotte Higgins, chief arts writer wrote on the Guardian, approximately a third of the required funding is in place, but the £50m from the government is now under review, like all the other capital projects, because of the problems of the DCMS.

The government funding forms the bedrock on which private funds can be raised as well, but in the current economic climate, it is increasingly difficult to raise private funds.

Flu trigger hugs in British church and NFS goes live

Some British parishioners are being advised to hug each other rather than shake hands “as a sign of peace” measured by churches in order to stop the spread of H1NI swine flu, according to the AFP news.

The Church of England has introduced the measure in it Southwark diocese in southeast London as people are concerned about the increasingly spread of
swine flu in Britain, according to the Financial Times.

Some churches in England have also begun to allow “intinction” or dipping bread in communion wine rather than sharing the chalice.

Others have stopped providing wine altogether, said the AFP news.

A British bishop has already advised his diocese to suspend holy water from churches in a bid to halt the spread of the Swine flu.

The AFP added the measures have also been introduced to other countries, including Portugal where church goers are to take communion by having the host placed in their hands rather than their mouth.

The Swine flu has already reach 31 deaths around UK while 700 deaths worldwide, World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a press conference reported by the BBC.

Latest update from the BBC website, it says the National Flu Service is expected to go live later, which will give thousands of swine flu sufferers access to drugs without needing to consult a GP.

The phone and website service will only cover England, which is the first of its kind in the world, said the BBC.

The service is designed to relieve pressure on the NHS, which will use a checklist to diagnose the cases.

Expectant mother, people with underlying health problems and young kids will still all be referred to GPs, said the BBC.

However, the Department of Health said the service could be abused by people giving the answers they believe they will be given access to anti-flu drugs.

Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson said it is a price worth paying to help the NHS cope with its “biggest challenge in a generation”.

He told the BBC the flu service might just be the first step in how the health service responds to a pandemic.

He continued, according to the BBC, non-emergency operations can be cancelled under contingency plans, and doctors can be moved around the health service to help flu hotspots cope.

The flu service does have some security checks the report says. Those who are diagnosed with swine flu are given a voucher number as a flu friend to collect their drugs from a collection point.

Each person has their own unique number therefore the service will know if an individual is trying to get more anti-viral drugs than he or she is supposed to have.

The flu friend will also need to present ID for the patient when they collect his or her drug.

Police raids Jackson doctor’s office

Los Angeles police and federal drug agents searched the Houston clinic of Michael Jackson’s doctor on 22 July investigating the singer’s possible manslaughter, the Independent reports.

The police and agents are from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), they were searching Dr Conrad Murray’s Clinic in north Houston, Los Angeles Police Detective Dan Myers said, according to the Independent.

From the BBC news, DEA Officers entered Dr Conrad Murray's office and removed several items, meanwhile Houston police surrounded the building.

Dr Murray's spokeswoman Miranda Sevcik told the BBC the raid was a surprise to them and it was a surprise to the attorneys as well.

She went on to say the agents were looking for Murray's records, not drugs, but would not specify further. She declined to say how the search related to Jackson's death.

In the meantime, investigators in California are also sought more information from Murray, according to Edward Chernoff, Dr Murray’s attorney, the Independent reports.

Mr Chernoff then posted a statement on his law firm’s website, and said investigators from the Los Angeles County coroner’s office have asked for medical records in addition to those already provided by Murray.

He continued: “The coroner wants to clear up the cause of death; we share that goal. Based on Dr. Murray's minute-by-minute and item-by-item description of Michael Jackson's last days, he should not be a target of criminal charges."

According to the BBC, when speaking a few days after Jackson’s death, Mr Chernoff denied Dr Murray administered painkilling drugs that could have contributed to the singer’s death.

He said any drugs Dr Murray had given to Jackson were in response to a specific health complaint, and “he just happened to find him in his bed, and he wasn’t breathing.”

Mr Chernoff then said Dr Murray had received unwelcome attention from those angry fans since the singer’s untimely death.

"Dr. Murray was the last doctor standing when Michael Jackson died and it seems all the fury is directed toward him," Chernoff said, according to the BBC, "Dr. Murray is frustrated by negative and often erroneous media reports, he has to walk around 24-7 with a bodyguard. He can't operate his practice. He can't go to work because he is harassed no matter where he goes."

According to the Independent, investigators found the powerful anesthetic propofol in Jackson’s home, they are now working with the DEA and California attorney general’s office to determine how the medications got there.

Previous source shows police detectives have already spoken to Murray twice – once immediately after the singer’s death and then again two days later, according to the Independent. Police say Murray is cooperating with their investigation.A cause of death has yet to be determined for the pop star. The coroner's office is expecting to release autopsy results next week, said the independent.

Barack Obama defends healthcare reforms says report

President Barack Obama has defended his plans for health reform in a live news conference broadcasted in US on 22 July, the BBC has learnt.

According to the BBC, Mr Obama has pledged to launch a reform package by the end of the year that would reduce health costs, increase choice and widen coverage.

The president has made passing a healthcare reform bill the top priority of his first year in the White House.

BBC’s Jane O’Brien in Washington says this is the first big test of Mr Obama’s political strength and a measure of how far he is prepared to bend to achieve his agenda.

Failure on the issue will be seen by his opponents as a major personal defeat, Jane O’Brien reports.

The healthcare debate now towers above many of the other issues facing the president, as the US is the only major industrialized nation to lack a comprehensive health care plan, according to the Guardian.

The president said the America need to guarantee healthcare for its tens of millions of American citizens who are without insurance, and to stabilise the financial system of the US.

In his opening remarks at Wednesday’s press conference, the president said the debate is not a game “This isn’t about me – I have great health insurance and so does every member of Congress.”

He went on to say now Americans are looking to Congress for leadership, and the debate is about ordinary Americans who had been forced to “shoulder the burden of a problem that Washington has failed to solve for decades”, said the BBC.

He then said: “We will pass reform that lowers cost, promotes choice and provides coverage that every American can count on, and we will do this year.”

“I’m rushed because I get letters everyday from families that are being clobbered by health care costs, and they ask me can you help.” the BBC reports.

President Obama argued making health coverage affordable and sustainable is so crucial that anything less would erode the economic stability of families, business and even the government, the Associated Press said.

He also said Americans spend much more on healthcare than any other nations but they are not any healthier for it.

However, according to the Guardian, the opposition party says Obama’s push and emerging congressional bills are rushed and risky, some conservative members of the president’s Democratic party are also uncertain.

John Boehner, the top Republican in the House of Representative, said of the healthcare legislation: “Mr President, it’s time to scrap this bill. Let’s start over in a bipartisan way.

Congress is currently debating various proposals, and lawmakers are struggling to reach agreement, and Obama said he now saw “broad agreements” on passing a reform.

He said he would not rule out any ideas proposed in Congress, except any proposal that was “primarily funded through taxing middle class families”, said the BBC.

At the moment lawmakers are divided to set up a public health insurance scheme for Americans without employer-sponsored coverage.

There is also much disagreement about how to raise revenue to fund the proposed expansion of healthcare coverage, said the BBC.

Mr Obama has called on both chambers of Congress to pass healthcare reform bills by the end of the first week in August, so he could sign a final combined bill in October.

One Senate committee has passed a bill, and three House of Representatives committees have published a joint proposal.

Both of these bills would require all Americans to take out health insurance, and would provide subsidies to help make coverage affordable, the BBC reports.

They would also give Americans without employer-provided coverage the option to join a public insurance scheme.

Following information is the healthcare condition in US according to the BBC: 45 million uninsured while 25 million under insured.

Healthcare costs represent 16% of GDP, and the reform plans would require all Americans to get insurance.

Some people propose public insurance option to complete with private insurers.

Wednesday 22 July 2009

Non-muslims appear at Sharia court

According to the Timesonline, 21 July, an increasing number of non-Muslims are turning out at Sharia courts and use it as a legal solution to resolve commercial disputes and other civil matters.

In a case last month, the Timesonline reports, a non-Muslim Briton took his Muslim business partner to the Sharia court to sort out a dispute over the profits in their car fleet company.

The tribunal found out because of certain things the Muslims had done, the agreement claimed by the non-Muslim indeed existed.

The non-Muslim claimed on the trial there had been an oral agreement between the pair, and the court eventually awarded £48,000, according to the Timesonline.

The Muslim Arbitration Tribunal (MAT), established in 2007, has legal legitimacy under the Arbitration Act 1996, says it operates “within the legal framework of England and Wales”, according to the Daily Telegraph.

The MAT told the Timesonline 5 per cent of its cases involved non-Muslims who were using the courts because they were less troublesome and more informal than the English legal system.

Freed Chedie, a spokesman for Sheikh Faiz-ul-Aqtab Siqqiqi, a barrister who set up the tribunal told the Fiona Hamilton, London correspondent from the Timesonline they put weight on oral agreements, whereas the British courts do not.

He went on to say the tribunal had adjudicated on at least 20 cases involving non-Muslims so far this year, the Timesonline reports.

The timesonline has also learnt the MAT is planning to triple the number of its courts by setting up in ten new British cities by the end of the year.

So far, the body operates court-like arbitration hearings under influence of Sharia law often count only in London, Manchester, Bradford, Birmingham and Nuneaton, said the Daily Telegraph.

Although Sharia courts have been operating in the civil jurisdiction since the early 1980s, they have been doing so only in the shadows and in an ad-hoc fashion, Fiona Hamilton said in the Timesonline.

A report by independent think-tank Civitas said there were at least 85 Sharia tribunals operating in Britain, the Daily Mail has learnt.

According to the Timesonline, if the MAT was successful in bringing number of the exisiting Sharia councils into line with its own courts, it would in effect create Britian’s largest national co-operative of tribunals.

Anti-Sharia campaigners expressed their alarms the Islamic system is radical and biased against women, , according to the Timesonline.

Denis MacEoin, who wrote a recent report for Civitas examining the spread of Sharia in Britain, said MAT’s claims about non-Muslim clients “raises all sorts of questions”.

He said in an interview with the Timesonline: “You really need to ask why. What advantages could that possibly have for them going to an Islamic court? Any Sharia court is going to be implementing aspects of a law that runs contrary to British law, because of the way it treats women for example.”

Inayat Bunglawala, a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, said that organisations should be free to conduct arbitration under Sharia law, provided that it did not infringe British law and was on a voluntary basis.

Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion and Social Action, Baroness Warsi, who is Muslim, told the Timeseonline there were many forums for arbitration and alternative dispute resolution in Britain.

She said there is no problem with that and as long as it is always subject to English law.

The spread of Sharia law has become increasingly controversial since last year, after the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams saying the role for Sharia law seemed “unavoidable”, according to the BBC.

The Lord Chief Justice, who stepped down last October told the Guardian after Dr Rowan’s controversial claiming and backed Sharia law, said there was no reason Sharia law’s principles could not be used in mediation as long as it is subject to the “jurisdiction of the English and Welsh court".

UK police force needs to fight racism

A committee of MPs has warned racist discrimination still exists in the UK police, said the BBC.

The Commons home affairs committee report said police forces had met 67 out of 70 targets on discrimination.

However, it still failed to employ 7% if its officers from ethnic minorities, according to the BBC.

10 years ago, Stephen Lawrence's stabbing in London led an inquiry to call the Metropolitan Police "institutionally racist".

10 years later, the MPs are welcoming the “tremendous strides” in countering racist officers since the death of Stephen Lawrence, said the Daily Telegraph.

But the MPs went on to say forces had made slow progress on meeting their target of the number of ethnic minority officers they employed, as mentioned in the article earlier.

The MP told the Daily Telegraph they were concerned at “apparent discrimination” in the promotion of black and other ethnic minority officers.

According to the Keith Vaz, Committee Chairman said: “We congratulate the police on
the strides they have made in tackling the institutional racism identified by the Macpherson Report ten years ago.

“However, while there is such blatantly disproportionate representation of particularly black people in the criminal justice system – in the use of stop and search or on the DNA database – there will continue to be damage to community relations which in turn undermine police work.

“Any gains made by the use of stop and search, which we know can be very useful, risk being offset by its impact on community relations.”

On the other hand, Keith Bristow, an Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) spokesman told the BBC there was no racial discrimination within the police forces.

She went on to say in an interview with the BBC Radio 5 Live attitude within the police reflected those of wider society, where “of course there are some people that have racist views, the same as there are some people who have views about women”.

He then added: “But I’d say as a service we have worked as hard if not harder than anyone else to make sure that we have the most balanced, fair and ethical workforce possible.”

The 1993 case, reportedly an unprovoked racist assault in Eltham, south-east London left a vacancy that no-one has ever been convinced of his killing, according to the BBC.

Almost six years later, a judicial inquiry led by Sir William Macpherson, found out the police investigation into Stephen’s murder “marred by a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism and a failure of leadership by senior officers”, the BBC has learnt.

During the ten years, the committee said, 67 of the inquiry's recommendations had been implemented - at least in part.

Mr Vaz praised the work of the police to tackle these failings, but he said the target to recruit 7% of officers from the ethnic minorities was among those still outstanding, roughly in proportion to the composition of the UK’s population.

"We are also particularly concerned at the discrimination which apparently persists within the force, in recruitment and promotion of black and minority ethnic officers," he said in an interview with the BBC.
"The police service must now focus its efforts on tackling these issues within its own workforce."

UK helicopters insufficient “clarified”

Foreign Office minister Lord Malloch Brown has clarified a comments he made in a Daily Telegraph interview that the UK did not have enough helicopters, the BBC has learnt.

He said there was "without doubt sufficient resources" for current operations in his "clarification statement” issued by the Foreign Office.

Mr Brown, who is leaving the government at the end of this week, said in the statement: "It is important that I clarify the comments that are reported in today's Daily Telegraph.

"On the issue of helicopters in Afghanistan, I was making the point - as the prime minister and commanders on the ground have also done - that while there are without doubt sufficient resources in place for current operations, we should always do what we can to make more available on the frontline." The BBC reports

Chancellor Alistair Darling has said the Treasury had never refused requests for more equipment or troops.

Mr Darling’s statement was the latest in a string of government statements insisting the Army has the necessary equipment for its role in the campaign, as part of a Nato-led coalition, said the BBC.

Previously, Lord Malloch Brown laid down an ‘astonishing’ challenge to the government that Britain need more helicopters in Afghanistan, according to his interview with the Daily Telegraph.

Andrew Porter and Mary Riddell from the Daily Telegraph wrote Mr Brown admitted the public were not warned sufficiently about Britain and the US going on the offensive in Helmand before the recent rise in casualties.

Meanwhile, he also questioned Gordon Brown’s insistence that the war was being fought to stop Afghan terrorists carrying out attacks on Britain, and he also said Gordon Brown’s future looked “bleak”, said the Daily Telegraph.

Lord Malloch Brown’s intervention in ‘the lack of helicopters row’ for British troops is particularly damaging for the Prime Minister, because his role as Foreign Office minister includes responsibility for Afghanistan.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Professor Michael Clarke, director of defence think tank the Royal United Services Institute, said Lord Malloch-Brown's comments were an 'astonishing' challenge to the Government to rethink its Afghanistan strategy.

In the BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Clarke said the helicopters row had assumed a “totemic” significance.

He said: “Everyone agrees it would be better if there were more lift helicopters ... in Afghanistan because they give you the flexibility to move people around.
"But on their own, helicopters are no silver bullet for winning wars."

He then went on to say it is astonishing to him that Malloch-Brown has said this before he steps down from the Government because Mr Brown seems to be throwing down a challenge, which is to say 'we have to rethink our strategic priorities over Afghanistan and what we are trying to achieve there'.

"That is something a number of people have said, but for a Government minister to say this at this time is very interesting."

The latest casualty in Afghanistan, according to the Daily Telegraph, was a bomb disposal expert had who had become the latest victim of the conflict with the Taliban, the 18th British soldier’s death since the start of the month.

It takes the death toll up to 186 from the start of operations in Afghanistan since 2001.

UK swine flue death toll hits 31 while 700 worldwide WHO says

The World Health Organisation (WHO) warns the number of people who have died after contracting H1NI swine flue in UK has reached at least 31, the ITN reveals.

According to ITN news, the latest patient died in the West Midlands and has yet to be identified. The individual had tested positive for swine flu but a cause of death has not yet been established.

The Daily Mirror said the 30th British swine flue victim died in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow was a young teen, aged 15, who had reportedly underlying medical conditions.

Nicola Sturgeon, Health Secretary passed on condolences to her family, said: "For the vast majority of people who have H1N1, they will experience relatively mild symptoms and make a full recovery." The ITN news said.

According to the BBC, WHO director-general Margaret Chan warned the virus was spreading faster than nay previous flu pandemic, and it will become the biggest flu pandemic ever seen.

WHO reported the swine flu has already killed more than 700 people worldwide sine the outbreak began four months ago, which represents a jump of at least two-thirds from the last official death toll figure of 429, published on 6 July, the BBC has learnt.

However, WHO went on to say the overwhelming majority of patients usually recover, even without medical treatment after their failing ill, said the BBC.

Compared to previous pandemics, WHO told the BBC the flu viruses have needed more than six months to spread, but the new H1N1 virus has spread in less than six weeks.

Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, WHO spokesman said a group of experts, including mathematicians, epidemiologists, and virologists, were examining various measures countries could take to slow the spread of the disease, the BBC has learnt.

Ms Bhatiasevi added school could close following the closure recommendation, but it entirely depends on every single country to take the appropriate step which is mostly suitable for them.

Experts predict that there will be a significant surge of new cases of swine flu in the northern hemisphere when the weather begins to cool in the autumn, said the BBC.

While the flu pandemic continues, The Department of Health (DoH) advises in order to practise good hygiene, people need to wash hands and surfaces regularly, according to the BBC.

The DoH also corrected “all expectant mothers should avoid crowded places and unnecessary travel” said by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), the BBC reports.
The DoH told the BBC only the “particularly concerned” should consider the advice.

Tuesday 21 July 2009

Nato general pay tributes to British soldiers in Afghanistan

The general secretary of Nato has paid tribute to the “critical job” British forces are doing in Afghanistan as he warned failure there would boost al Qaida’s terrorist ambitions, said the Daily Express.

Mr Scheffer, who stands down next week after five years at the helm of Nato said failure in Afghanistan would give a free run for al-Qaeda global terrorist ambitions.

Military alliance cannot afford to walk away from the country no matter how dangerous or expensive the campaign becomes, the Daily Telegraph reports.

In a speech at the Chatham House foreign affairs think tank on Monday night, he said: "If we were to walk away, Afghanistan would fall to the Taliban, with devastating effect for the people there - women in particular.

“Pakistan would suffer the consequences, with all that implies for international security. Central Asia would see extremism spread.”

"This is not conjecture. This is fact. Those who argue otherwise - who say we can defend against terrorism from home - are simply burying their heads in the sand." The Daily Express reports.

Mr De Hoop Scheffer also acknowledged it had been a "tragic period" for the UK and he paid tribute to the "critical job" that British forces were doing in the country.

The Ministry of Defence previously revealed soldier from The 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers had been killed on Sunday in an explosion while taking part in a foot patrol in Sangin in northern Helmand province.

He was the 17th British soldier to die in Afghanistan since the start of the month and his loss took the total UK death toll to 186 since the start of operations in the country in 2001, said the Daily Telegraph.

Mr Scheetter emphasized however the British soldier were part of an international team fighting the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. Other countries had also suffered losses in the course of the campaign.

He went on to say if people read any national press, they could be thinking that their forces were fighting in Afghanistan alone. But the soldiers are not. All the soldiers are part of a team, he said at the Chatham House.

The General also issued a stark warning that NATO could not succeed in addressing the security challenges of the 21st century with a “20th century mindset” based on the old certainties of the Cold War.

He went on to argue, according to the Daily Express, during the Cold War, the main purpose of the alliance’s military forces was deterrence and not actually to be used, in the current environment forces had to be used.

"You cannot deter civil wars or suicide terrorists, nor can you deter states from collapsing," Mr De Hoop Scheffer said.

End old-school-tie elitism over jobs says Alan Miburn

A report into social mobility said top professions such as medicine and law are increasingly occupied by people growing up in affluent families, the BBC said.

Alan Miburn, Former minister and Chairman of a study on widening access to high-status jobs, said bright children from middle and working class families are missing out on professional jobs because of continuing “elitism”, Gavin Cordon wrote on Press Association.

The study found out more than half of all the top professional jobs were still taken by candidates who were independently schooled, even though they accounted for just 7 per cent of all schoolchildren.

The study continued failure to break this pattern will mean the opportunity of achieving the most significant wave of social mobility since the Second World War will be lost, said Press Association.

In an interview with the BBC, Alan said young people in England should have access to much better careers advice to boost their ambitions.

Mr Miburn said: "We have raised the glass ceiling but I don't think we have broken through it yet."

He said the professions had a "closed shop mentality" and "have become more and not less exclusive over time”.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Mr Milburn called for "a second great wave of social mobility" like that of the 1950s and 1960s to match a projected growth in the number of managerial jobs.

He added it is not Britain does not have talent; to coin a phrase that Britain has lots of talents.

However, Daily Mail journalist Quentin Letts told the BBC that Mr Milburn was presenting an "Edwardian" view of the class system.

He argued: “If you only brought back selection into state schools and you had grammar schools again and you had a decent education system, people would be able to power though this.

“We have a country in which a former circus manager's son, John Major, became prime minister - don't talk about glass ceilings.”

The study was originally set up by Gordon Brown to examine the barriers to entering the professions, according to Press Association.

In more than 80 recommendations, it will argue enhancing social mobility must be the top social priority for any government, now and in the future.

The report will also show jobs currently from a relatively narrow section of society will increase in the future, up to nine out of 10 new jobs will coming from these professions.

According to the Press Association, the report will disclose the typical professional of tomorrow will be growing up in a family that is better off than seven out of 10 families in Britain, while occupations such as the law and finance are still dominated by people from independent schools.

Currently 75 per cent of judges and 45 per cent of senior civil servants were independently educated.

Monday 20 July 2009

University funding cuts affect jobs and recruitment

The government unveiled a plan for deep cuts in the higher education budget, which in the worst would slash a fifth from university finance, the Sunday Times reports.

If implemented, it would lead to the widespread closure of university departments, and could cause some institution to shut altogether.

According to the Daily Telegraph, at least 100, 000 students face larger class sizes, and less time with tutors as university and colleges job cuts.

Figures published by the University and College Union (UCU) showed universities have already begun preparing for cuts in funding, and suggested almost 6,000 jobs are at risk.

Previously, the government maintains the higher education spending will rise while contingency plans drawing up 20% cuts in public spending across Whitehall, said the Sunday Times.

Vice-chancellors at universities fear their £8.5 billion budget will be among the first to suffer, whichever party wins the next general election.

Richard Pike, chief executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry, told the Sunday Times: “We were told by staff at the funding bodies that this was the worst-case scenario they were working on.

“Later another member of staff was in contact with us to confirm the 20% scenario. These is a terrible risk to science.”

Graeme Paton, education editor said in the Daily Telegraph, eight out of 10 of the cuts are being made at universities.

This comes from existing fears over a lack of degree places combined with pressure to deliver greater “value for money”, as well as the following imposition of 3,100-a-year student tuition fees.

Graeme Paton went on to write “the elite Russell Group” members such as Sheffield and Leeds universities are among those considering making redundancies, the UCU source revealed.

Sally Hunt, UCU general secretary, told different publications: "In difficult economic times we need to be doing everything we can to help education and the countless potential students who see education as a vital lifeline to improve skills and their opportunities of finding work. The Government may have said it would not let education become a victim of the recession, but those warm words look rather hollow when put up against the hard facts.”

A study by the UCU said 5,891 positions were at risk in the UK - 4,593 at universities and 1,298 at colleges. Over a third of these will be lost in London alone, said the Daily Telegraph.

The study by UCU continuously showed job cuts would be felt across higher education, it warned established institutions would be affected as well as the newer universities, such as London Metropolitan.

At Sheffield University, there would be 340 job cuts, while 100 could go at York and 187 would be cuts at Leeds. A further 160 positions are at risk at Reading University, according to the Daily Telegraph.

However, a spokesman for the department of Lord Mandelson, who is responsible for universities, told the Sunday Times 20% Whitehall plan had not been instigated by minister.

He said: “We remain committed to investing in our world-class higher education system. Funding will increase by over 4% next year and by 25% in real terms since 1997.”

Even if the most drastic option is not imposed, the Sunday Times continues the number on a secret official list of institutions “at high risk” of financial failure is expected to grow from the current seven to as many as 30 next year. This is nearly one fifth of the total.

Figures gathered by The Sunday Times show some universities are tried to resolve financial problems by recruiting more overseas undergraduates.

Those from outside the European Union pay the full cost if tuition – often above £10,000 a year.

University College London spokesman said they had a long-term plan to cut British students and increase its foreign intake.

Another way of helping to plug the financial gap is to increase tuition fees. Minsiters have refused to discuss the issue of raising the £3,225 fee cap in advance of a review by Mandelson, according to the Sunday Times.

The Tories confirmed they were discussing whether tuition fees could be increased.

One option would be for students to pay the extra charge up-front rather receiving taxpayer-subsidised loans, as happens now.

David Willetts, the shadow universities secretary told the Sunday Times: “We will not decide on fees before the review. There are various ideas people are floating and this is one of them.”

20/07/09