Proposed overhaul of Labour party’s structures includes creating registered supporters’ group to vote in leadership elections Ed Miliband has tabled proposals billed as the biggest change to the party’s structures for 20 years, including a registered supporters’ group to vote in elections for the Labour leader and deputy leader. The supporters’ group, to be administered by local parties, would vote in the union section, so diluting the unions’ influence. Unions currently hold a third of the vote in the leadership electoral college, with MPs claiming another third and constituency party members the remaining third. Tens of thousands of registered supporters would need to be recruited to counterbalance the 3.5 million people who pay union levies. However, as few levy payers actually vote, registered supporters might represent half the union section within five years. Miliband has been forced to defer plans to change the voting powers at the Labour conference, leaving unions to keep 50% of the vote. In practice, Unite, Unison and the GMB control 40% of the vote at conference, making it almost impossible for constituencies to defeat them. Miliband has proposed a review, due to be completed in the spring, to make conference voting more democratic. Options considered include giving Labour’s national policy forum a larger vote at conference. The Liberal Democrats described the changes as fiddling round the edges. The Conservative chairwoman, Lady Warsi, said: “It’s no surprise Ed Miliband has failed to curb the unions’ power over Labour leadership elections and Labour conference. After all, he’s only Labour leader because of trade union votes, and his party is only solvent because of trade union money. This failure to reform Labour’s relationship with the unions is a real blow to Ed Miliband’s credibility.” Miliband is a genuine believer in the union link, but he would like to breathe life into the relationship between the party and political levy payers. He is also proposing to curtail multiple voting. MPs in the leadership election will only be allowed to vote in their section, and not in the party membership section of the college. Union affiliates will be able to vote twice if they are party members: once in the union section and once in the party membership section. Union leaders are likely to be pleased that they have not felt forced to give ground yet. They fear any dilution of their power at conference, believing it might open the way for a long-term programme that will see their power dismantled. The registered supporters’ scheme will be run by local parties, but it remains to be seen whether there is a group of people interested in supporting but not joining the party. Previous efforts to set up registered supporters’ schemes foundered both in the Conservative party and Labour. But if the scheme took off, some Labour officials believe registered supporters could open the way to US-style primaries. Party sources said the unions had agreed that local parties would be able to communicate directly with union levy payers in their constituencies. They might be expected to pay a nominal sum, rather than the full cost of membership. At present, local parties do not have access to union political levy membership lists, leading to complaints that unions are controlling their members and not letting them be contacted by leadership candidates directly. During the last leadership election, David Miliband’s team complained that once a union executive decided to back his brother Ed, the union remained closed to their campaign team. Unions have been resisting handing over membership lists to local parties on the basis that it might breach the data protection act, arguing that names and addresses cannot be handed to a separate external organisation without the permission of the membership. The proposals are due to be discussed by the national executive, and will go before the party conference next week. Research from academics at the University of Bristol claims the 2010 Labour leadership election did not meet the definition of a “free and fair democratic election”. It claimed that the trade unions created a “block vote” in favour of their preferred candidate, Ed Miliband. Labour Ed Miliband Labour party leadership Trade unions Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk
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Truce, negotiated by Yemen’s vice-president, follows worst violence since protests against President Saleh began An uneasy ceasefire in the Yemeni capital has followed a day of gruesome fighting in which government forces shelled a protest encampment, killing six people and injuring dozens. The truce, negotiated by Yemen’s vice-president Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and several foreign envoys, follows the worst bout of violence seen in Yemen since protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh began in earnest in February. Sixty-two people, most of them young men, have been killed and hundreds wounded in three days of violence in Sana’a. International attention is once again fixed on the Arab world’s poorest country and its eight-month fight to oust Saleh. At dawn, the muezzin’s call to prayer was drowned out by the sound of mortar fire as troops loyal to Saleh fought with a division of renegade soldiers for control over strategic parts of the capital. As the conflict raged through the morning, mortars crashed into Change Square, causing havoc in the tented shanty town, where protesters have been camping out since February. In the doorway to a restaurant lay a blood-soaked rag and a pair of sandals. “My friend was sleeping under that blanket,” said a young man, pointing at the spot. “The mortar, it just crushed him.” Tariq Noman, a doctor working in a nearby field hospital, said five others were killed by the shelling. The past three days of violence have left Yemen reeling. A 10-month-old boy and a young cameraman were among those shot dead on Tuesday. Doctors say the gaping wounds they have observed in some of the bodies indicate that heavy weaponry, such as anti-aircraft weapons, is being used on protesters. But the bloodshed did not seem to have fazed those who returned to Change Square. An elderly man with a Yemeni flag draped around his shoulders was among those pushing toward the front, shouting: “We fear Allah only!” The heart of the conflict is a roundabout at the edge of the protest encampment called Kentucky, a busy intersection that divides the north and south of the capital. What began as a government crackdown on a march on Sunday is shifting into a fierce military showdown between the Republican Guard – an elite force headed by Saleh’s son Ahmed – and defected soldiers loyal to Ali Mohsen, a powerful general who joined the opposition in March. A spokesmen for Mohsen, a relative of the president, said: “We’re defending, not attacking. We will not sit and watch government troops attacking innocent protesters – our job is to help them.” But opinion among the inhabitants of Change Square remains divided over the role of the renegade troops, with some touting them as “heroes and protectors of the revolution” and others deriding them for derailing their peaceful protest. “We had no say in this. Ali Mohsen and his solders are giving them more of a justification for the crackdown,” said Ahmed Al-Sarbi, a 24-year-old activist. Saleh, who has been recuperating in Saudi Arabia since surviving an assassination attempt in early June, has so far rebuffed calls to hand over power. On Monday King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia met with Saleh in Riyadh, infuriating demonstrators who took it as a sign that the kingdom was supporting the beleaguered leader. UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon’s office has said he is “gravely concerned” and has called on all sides to exercise the utmost restraint and desist from provocative actions: “He strongly condemns the excessive use of force by government security forces against unarmed protestors in the capital Sana’a, resulting in scores of people killed and many more injured.” Yemen Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest Tom Finn guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Need some good news today? Here you go. Elizabeth Warren has jumped into the lead in the Massachusetts Senate race over Scott Brown. Granted, it’s very early in the race, but initial polls had her down 9 points over Brown, and now she leads 46-44. Via PPP : Warren’s gone from 38% name recognition to 62% over the last three months and she’s made a good first impression on pretty much everyone who’s developed an opinion about her during that period of time. What was a 21/17 favorability rating in June is now 40/22- in other words she’s increased the voters with a positive opinion of her by 19% while her negatives have risen only 5%. The surprising movement toward Warren has a lot to do with her but it also has a lot to do with Scott Brown. We now find a slight plurality of voters in the state disapproving of him- 45%, compared to only 44% approving. We have seen a steady decline in Brown’s numbers over the last 9 months. In early December his approval was a +24 spread at 53/29. By June it had declined to a +12 spread at a 48/36. And now it’s continued that fall to its current place. Brown’s position has always been a little tenuous as a Republican in a strongly Democratic state, making him very dependent on the support of Obama voters to stay above ground. In June he was at 72/17 with McCain voters and now he’s at 74/18, pretty much the same. But with Obama voters he’s gone from 35/48 to 27/62, accounting for the entire drop in his overall approval numbers. It’s a similar story when you look at the horse race numbers. Last time Brown led Warren 87-6 with McCain voters and now it’s 87-9. But with Obama voters Warren’s turned what was only a 47-24 lead into a 68-20 one. Despite his difficulties with Warren, Brown does continues to hold a wide advantage over the rest of the Democratic field. He’s up 15 points on Alan Khazei at 48-33, 15 on Setti Warren as well at 47-32, 18 on Bob Massie at 49-31, and 19 on Tom Conroy at 50-31. The non-Elizabeth Warren Democratic contenders have only 19-36% name recognition so they could conceivably become more competitive if one of them were to win the nomination and become better known- but primary numbers we’ll release later this week show that the contest for the Democratic nod might be over before it’s even really started. Blue America has a page to support her campaign . Please help us help her defeat Scott Brown.
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The Big Three networks unequivocally celebrated the end of the military's “don't ask, don't tell” policy as a ” historic moment ” on their Tuesday morning programs. CBS's “Early Show” turned to a discharged Air Force major who pushed for further recognition of same-sex couples by the military. NBC's “Today” brought on a homosexual playwright to promote his one-man movie on the policy. ABC's “GMA” only had a news brief on the development, but still highlighted how a magazine is ” publishing photos of more than 100 active duty gay and lesbian troops who served in silence until now .” None of the programs brought on dissenting voices to advocate the continuation of the policy. “The Early Show” devoted the most amount of air time to the expiration of the policy, and led the 7 am Eastern hour with a slanted report from correspondent David Martin. Martin played sound bites from President Obama and outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen, both opponents of the ban on open homosexuals from serving in the military, but none from supporters: DAVID MARTIN: After 18 years of controversy, 'don't ask, don't tell' died at the stroke of midnight. From now on, gays can serve openly in the military, and the 13,000 who were discharged under 'don't ask, don't tell' can re-enlist. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA (from December 22, 2010 speech): No longer will our country be denied the service of thousands of patriotic Americans who were forced to leave the military because they happen to be gay. MARTIN: President Clinton first tried to repeal the ban on gays, but ran into the objections of then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Colin Powell. A generation later, President Obama had the chairman of the Joint Chiefs on
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Berlin has seen an explosion in traditional British cafes as Germans fall in love with bacon butties and clotted cream teas “My friends think I am a total freak,” said Christina Franz, as she washed down her full English with a mug of milky tea on Tuesday. “They cannot understand why I like British food so much – Sunday roasts, scones and clotted cream, cooked breakfasts of course.” Even white sliced bread, she added cheerfully, to the visible disgust of her boyfriend, Kai. The 33-year-old German was delighted when she heard that a cafe serving British cuisine had opened up in Berlin in May. She had been suffering withdrawal symptoms following a two-year spell in the UK when East London – subtitled God Save Brit Food – started serving scotch eggs, bacon and egg butties and steak and ale pies in the trendy Kreuzberg district. Franz has become a “Stammkunden” – a regular – and is one of a growing band of Germans who see British cuisine not as a bad joke but a treat. Until recently, homesick Brits in the German capital had to fill their suitcases full of baked beans and proper tea whenever they returned home – or scuttle off to the niche shop, Broken English, which recently expanded to include a third branch. Now, though, there is an increasing number of bars and cafes in Berlin offering British produce as their USP. East London is no greasy spoon, but a high-end caff touting British food as an upmarket delicacy. A full breakfast costs an eyebrow-raising €9.50 (£8.30) and a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale will set you back €4.50 (£3.90). A humble cup of English breakfast tea is €2.90 (£2.50). Nadine Sauerzapfe, the 31-year-old German owner, said she chose the name because “East London is the most hip part of London”. While many fashion-following Shoreditch and Dalston hipsters consider Berlin to be their spiritual home, it seems the pull works the other way around too. Anyone craving Irn-Bru can head to Das Gift, a new pub in the rapidly gentrifying Neukölln district run by Barry Burns, a musician in the Glaswegian band Mogwai, along with his Scottish wife, Rachel. Popular bar snacks include salt’n’vinegar crisps and Tunnock’s Caramel Wafers. Das Gift offers a large range of Scottish ales from breweries such as Williams Brothers and Brewdog. “The majority of customers who buy them are German, and they are very enthusiastic about trying them since they aren’t very common in Germany at all,” said Rachel. The beer is authentic but for one crucial difference. “I know some Scottish ales are recommended to be served at room temperature but summers in Berlin are sometimes just so hot and humid that a cold beer is necessary.” Back in Kreuzberg, Jim Hudson spends a good part of each day explaining to curious customers exactly what clotted cream is. “As I understand it, it’s like a cross between butter and cream,” said Annekatrin Trautmann, a dancer and actor, after polishing off two scones lathered in the mysterious dairy product. “Anyway, it was delicious.” Hudson’s, the corner cafe Jim runs with his wife, Katie, specialises in British baking. Encouraged to set up the business after Katie’s cakes were so well-received by their German neighbours, Hudson’s is now so popular that tables for the famous cooked breakfasts on the weekends must be booked ahead first – a relative rarity in laissez-faire Berlin. Katie says she sees herself “a little bit” as an ambassador for the much-maligned British cooking. “Every time we are interviewed by a German journalist they always say that British food has a terrible reputation, but that’s usually because they once went on a school exchange and were served beans on toast every night,” she said. “Jim always says, well, no one exactly says ‘I’m going out for a German tonight’, either.” Deborah Gottlieb, an editor at Der Feinschmecker, Germany’s top food magazine, said British chefs were to thank for the improving reputation of British cuisine. “Jamie Oliver – and not only him – has helped increase the popularity of British cooking,” she said. “For German gourmets, London has long been a favourite destination because of the large selection of top-class food from around the world.” Fergus Henderson’s “Nose to Tail” philosophy of eating has also been adopted by many top German restaurants, she added. Oliver is a big star in Germany: three years ago the Essex chef even endorsed a Jamie Oliver cabaret show , which sold tickets for €89 (£78) a pop. But his recipes are nowhere to be seen in Kreuzberg’s East London. “Delia we are influenced by,” said Sauerzapfe. “Gordon Ramsay too. But not Oliver. His dishes are too Mediterranean for us.” Germany Food & drink Jamie Oliver Delia Smith Gordon Ramsay Europe Helen Pidd guardian.co.uk
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Berlin has seen an explosion in traditional British cafes as Germans fall in love with bacon butties and clotted cream teas “My friends think I am a total freak,” said Christina Franz, as she washed down her full English with a mug of milky tea on Tuesday. “They cannot understand why I like British food so much – Sunday roasts, scones and clotted cream, cooked breakfasts of course.” Even white sliced bread, she added cheerfully, to the visible disgust of her boyfriend, Kai. The 33-year-old German was delighted when she heard that a cafe serving British cuisine had opened up in Berlin in May. She had been suffering withdrawal symptoms following a two-year spell in the UK when East London – subtitled God Save Brit Food – started serving scotch eggs, bacon and egg butties and steak and ale pies in the trendy Kreuzberg district. Franz has become a “Stammkunden” – a regular – and is one of a growing band of Germans who see British cuisine not as a bad joke but a treat. Until recently, homesick Brits in the German capital had to fill their suitcases full of baked beans and proper tea whenever they returned home – or scuttle off to the niche shop, Broken English, which recently expanded to include a third branch. Now, though, there is an increasing number of bars and cafes in Berlin offering British produce as their USP. East London is no greasy spoon, but a high-end caff touting British food as an upmarket delicacy. A full breakfast costs an eyebrow-raising €9.50 (£8.30) and a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale will set you back €4.50 (£3.90). A humble cup of English breakfast tea is €2.90 (£2.50). Nadine Sauerzapfe, the 31-year-old German owner, said she chose the name because “East London is the most hip part of London”. While many fashion-following Shoreditch and Dalston hipsters consider Berlin to be their spiritual home, it seems the pull works the other way around too. Anyone craving Irn-Bru can head to Das Gift, a new pub in the rapidly gentrifying Neukölln district run by Barry Burns, a musician in the Glaswegian band Mogwai, along with his Scottish wife, Rachel. Popular bar snacks include salt’n’vinegar crisps and Tunnock’s Caramel Wafers. Das Gift offers a large range of Scottish ales from breweries such as Williams Brothers and Brewdog. “The majority of customers who buy them are German, and they are very enthusiastic about trying them since they aren’t very common in Germany at all,” said Rachel. The beer is authentic but for one crucial difference. “I know some Scottish ales are recommended to be served at room temperature but summers in Berlin are sometimes just so hot and humid that a cold beer is necessary.” Back in Kreuzberg, Jim Hudson spends a good part of each day explaining to curious customers exactly what clotted cream is. “As I understand it, it’s like a cross between butter and cream,” said Annekatrin Trautmann, a dancer and actor, after polishing off two scones lathered in the mysterious dairy product. “Anyway, it was delicious.” Hudson’s, the corner cafe Jim runs with his wife, Katie, specialises in British baking. Encouraged to set up the business after Katie’s cakes were so well-received by their German neighbours, Hudson’s is now so popular that tables for the famous cooked breakfasts on the weekends must be booked ahead first – a relative rarity in laissez-faire Berlin. Katie says she sees herself “a little bit” as an ambassador for the much-maligned British cooking. “Every time we are interviewed by a German journalist they always say that British food has a terrible reputation, but that’s usually because they once went on a school exchange and were served beans on toast every night,” she said. “Jim always says, well, no one exactly says ‘I’m going out for a German tonight’, either.” Deborah Gottlieb, an editor at Der Feinschmecker, Germany’s top food magazine, said British chefs were to thank for the improving reputation of British cuisine. “Jamie Oliver – and not only him – has helped increase the popularity of British cooking,” she said. “For German gourmets, London has long been a favourite destination because of the large selection of top-class food from around the world.” Fergus Henderson’s “Nose to Tail” philosophy of eating has also been adopted by many top German restaurants, she added. Oliver is a big star in Germany: three years ago the Essex chef even endorsed a Jamie Oliver cabaret show , which sold tickets for €89 (£78) a pop. But his recipes are nowhere to be seen in Kreuzberg’s East London. “Delia we are influenced by,” said Sauerzapfe. “Gordon Ramsay too. But not Oliver. His dishes are too Mediterranean for us.” Germany Food & drink Jamie Oliver Delia Smith Gordon Ramsay Europe Helen Pidd guardian.co.uk
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Berlin has seen an explosion in traditional British cafes as Germans fall in love with bacon butties and clotted cream teas “My friends think I am a total freak,” said Christina Franz, as she washed down her full English with a mug of milky tea on Tuesday. “They cannot understand why I like British food so much – Sunday roasts, scones and clotted cream, cooked breakfasts of course.” Even white sliced bread, she added cheerfully, to the visible disgust of her boyfriend, Kai. The 33-year-old German was delighted when she heard that a cafe serving British cuisine had opened up in Berlin in May. She had been suffering withdrawal symptoms following a two-year spell in the UK when East London – subtitled God Save Brit Food – started serving scotch eggs, bacon and egg butties and steak and ale pies in the trendy Kreuzberg district. Franz has become a “Stammkunden” – a regular – and is one of a growing band of Germans who see British cuisine not as a bad joke but a treat. Until recently, homesick Brits in the German capital had to fill their suitcases full of baked beans and proper tea whenever they returned home – or scuttle off to the niche shop, Broken English, which recently expanded to include a third branch. Now, though, there is an increasing number of bars and cafes in Berlin offering British produce as their USP. East London is no greasy spoon, but a high-end caff touting British food as an upmarket delicacy. A full breakfast costs an eyebrow-raising €9.50 (£8.30) and a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale will set you back €4.50 (£3.90). A humble cup of English breakfast tea is €2.90 (£2.50). Nadine Sauerzapfe, the 31-year-old German owner, said she chose the name because “East London is the most hip part of London”. While many fashion-following Shoreditch and Dalston hipsters consider Berlin to be their spiritual home, it seems the pull works the other way around too. Anyone craving Irn-Bru can head to Das Gift, a new pub in the rapidly gentrifying Neukölln district run by Barry Burns, a musician in the Glaswegian band Mogwai, along with his Scottish wife, Rachel. Popular bar snacks include salt’n’vinegar crisps and Tunnock’s Caramel Wafers. Das Gift offers a large range of Scottish ales from breweries such as Williams Brothers and Brewdog. “The majority of customers who buy them are German, and they are very enthusiastic about trying them since they aren’t very common in Germany at all,” said Rachel. The beer is authentic but for one crucial difference. “I know some Scottish ales are recommended to be served at room temperature but summers in Berlin are sometimes just so hot and humid that a cold beer is necessary.” Back in Kreuzberg, Jim Hudson spends a good part of each day explaining to curious customers exactly what clotted cream is. “As I understand it, it’s like a cross between butter and cream,” said Annekatrin Trautmann, a dancer and actor, after polishing off two scones lathered in the mysterious dairy product. “Anyway, it was delicious.” Hudson’s, the corner cafe Jim runs with his wife, Katie, specialises in British baking. Encouraged to set up the business after Katie’s cakes were so well-received by their German neighbours, Hudson’s is now so popular that tables for the famous cooked breakfasts on the weekends must be booked ahead first – a relative rarity in laissez-faire Berlin. Katie says she sees herself “a little bit” as an ambassador for the much-maligned British cooking. “Every time we are interviewed by a German journalist they always say that British food has a terrible reputation, but that’s usually because they once went on a school exchange and were served beans on toast every night,” she said. “Jim always says, well, no one exactly says ‘I’m going out for a German tonight’, either.” Deborah Gottlieb, an editor at Der Feinschmecker, Germany’s top food magazine, said British chefs were to thank for the improving reputation of British cuisine. “Jamie Oliver – and not only him – has helped increase the popularity of British cooking,” she said. “For German gourmets, London has long been a favourite destination because of the large selection of top-class food from around the world.” Fergus Henderson’s “Nose to Tail” philosophy of eating has also been adopted by many top German restaurants, she added. Oliver is a big star in Germany: three years ago the Essex chef even endorsed a Jamie Oliver cabaret show , which sold tickets for €89 (£78) a pop. But his recipes are nowhere to be seen in Kreuzberg’s East London. “Delia we are influenced by,” said Sauerzapfe. “Gordon Ramsay too. But not Oliver. His dishes are too Mediterranean for us.” Germany Food & drink Jamie Oliver Delia Smith Gordon Ramsay Europe Helen Pidd guardian.co.uk
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Dutch engineer, who has admitted manslaughter of Yeates but denies murder, attends pre-trial hearing in person The parents of landscape architect Joanna Yeates have come face to face for the first time in court with their daughter’s killer. David and Teresa Yeates were at Bristol crown court for a pre-trial hearing for Vincent Tabak. The couple have not seen Tabak in person in court before as the defendant has appeared by video link from prison at the previous hearings they attended. The couple arrived and left court hand in hand, accompanied by two police officers. Tabak, a Dutch engineer, has admitted the manslaughter of Yeates, 25, but denies her murder. The charge states that Tabak “unlawfully killed” Miss Yeates between December 16 and December 19. Four security guards escorted Tabak into the dock of courtroom six. The greying 33-year-old wore glasses, a white shirt, blue tie and dark suit for the 30-minute hearing before Judge Martin Picton. Yeates’s parents sat in the second row of the public gallery and Mrs Yeates occasionally looked over her shoulder towards Tabak. Detective Chief Inspector Phil Jones, who led the Avon and Somerset investigation, sat behind the barristers and immediately in front of the defendant. Tabak, who sat hunched in the dock, spoke only once. The clerk asked him: “Are you Vincent Tabak?” He replied: “Yes I am.” The hearing was being held to finalise arrangements for the four-week trial, which is due to begin on October 4 before Mr Justice Field. The case was adjourned until the trial and Tabak was remanded into custody. Miss Yeates, who lived in Clifton, Bristol, disappeared on December 17 after going for Christmas drinks with colleagues. Her body was found on a verge in a lane in Failand, north Somerset, on Christmas Day. Joanna Yeates Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
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Civil servants trying to answer questions on free schools had requests blocked by adviser to education secretary Civil servants attempting to answer parliamentary questions about the Tories’ free schools programme had their requests blocked by a key adviser to education secretary Michael Gove, leaked emails reveal. Civil servants feared they would be “seen as … obstructing parliament” if they failed to respond to the MP’s inquiry, the emails show. The questions related to the New Schools Network, a charity set up to provide advice and guidance to the schools. Labour MP Caroline Flint had asked Gove how many “expressions of interest” in setting up free schools the New Schools Network had received in her constituency, Don Valley, and in Doncaster. She also asked how many private schools had made either expressions of interest or formal proposals to become a free school. Dominic Cummings, a confidant of Gove who was freelancing for the charity at the time, told a senior civil servant: “NSN is not giving out to you, the media or anybody else any figure on ‘expressions of interest’ for PQs, FOIs or anything else. Further, NSN has not, is not, and will never answer a single FOI request made to us concerning anything at all.” Cummings is now at the centre of a row over the use of private emails by Gove’s closest advisers when conducting government business. The Information Commissioner’s office is investigating claims that civil servants were unable to find these emails when asked to retrieve them under the Freedom of Information act. Emails seen by the Guardian show that Cummings directed civil servants not to comply with the parliamentary question. An official at the department replied to this by saying, in an email: “Our advice is clear: we need to respond as fully as possible to parliament.” The purpose of parliamentary questions is to hold ministers accountable, obliging them to explain and defend government policy to MPs. In response to Flint’s questions, schools minister Nick Gibb said : “New Schools Network does not receive expressions of interest.” Gibb also told parliament that there had been one free school proposal in Doncaster and 45 private schools seeking to convert. At the time of the email exchange, in July last year, Cummings was freelancing at the New Schools Network. He was appointed as one of Gove’s special advisers in February this year. Prior to that appointment, he was closely involved in government work. In response to an FOI request, the Department for Education has disclosed that “prior to his appointment, Mr Cummings attended a range of meetings at the department to allow him to become familiar with the portfolio of a special adviser”. Charities are not subject to the FOI act, which applies only to public authorities. However, critics say the email raises fresh questions about Gove’s advisers and their “secretive” attitude to official business. Andy Burnham, the shadow education secretary, said: “These extraordinary exchanges shed further light on the murky dealings around Michael Gove. We already know that Dominic Cummings lobbied for cash to be given to the New Schools Network ‘without delay’ , an organisation he went on to work for. We now learn that on arrival he sought to implement a restrictive and secretive approach to dealing with parliamentary enquiries. “It would seem that Dominic Cummings holds an arrogant disregard for government processes and accountability to parliament. I have asked the cabinet secretary to investigate the actions of Dominic Cummings and other advisers to Michael Gove.” Shortly after the election, David Cameron declared that the government must “set new standards” for transparency. In a letter to government departments , he wrote: “Greater transparency across government is at the heart of our shared commitment to enable the public to hold politicians and public bodies to account.” Critics say the free schools programme has been characterised by a lack of transparency. The government has refused to disclose details of applications to set up free schools next September. The department has declined an FOI request by the Association of Colleges, which represents further education and sixth form colleges, to see the list of applications to open free schools for 16-19-year-olds. Martin Doel, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “It is the Secretary of State’s statutory duty to consider the impact of new schools on other local providers. “New schools need to start with the support of the local community, other local schools and Colleges. If this information is not made public, we could see the unnecessary duplication of some good College provision for 16-19-year olds. Some Colleges may have to close particular courses if class sizes became unsustainable.” The Financial Times has reported that Gove and his advisers conducted government business on private emails. Civil servants were then unable to find these emails, which included discussions of replacing DfE personnel, when asked to retrieve them under the FOI Act. In response, a spokesman for the DfE said: “The Cabinet Office is clear that private email accounts do not fall within the FOI Act and are not searchable by civil servants. Neither the secretary of state nor special advisers have been asked to disclose emails sent from private accounts.” Maurice Frankel, director of the pressure group Campaign for Freedom of Information , said: “If [Gove] or his special advisers used their private email accounts to carry out government business, those emails are subject to the FOI Act.” The DfE spokesman added that Sir David Bell, the permanent secretary, is looking into the FT allegations, and added: “The permanent secretary is satisfied that ministers and special advisers act within the law.” Michael Gove Free schools Education policy Jeevan Vasagar guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Dems Relieved by Obama’s Deficit Reduction Plan…But There’s Still That Super Committee
September 20, 2011 No CommentDemocrats were of course relieved by Obama’s proposed deficit reduction plan, since they were concerned about him taking down the party with cuts to Medicare and Social Security. But they know it’s only an opening gambit, one that’s unlikely to be accepted by House Republicans — and the real power now shifts to the Super Committee. The president, after all, is only promising to veto their agreement if they decide to cut Medicare without raising taxes on the wealthy . That’s an opening you could drive a Mack truck through, and it’s difficult to trust the man who played the public option shell game: Even those who have traditionally urged moderation from Democratic politicians were complimentary about — if not a touch emboldened by — the president’s new tone. “It was an effective opening bid,” said Matt Bennett, Senior Vice President for Public Affairs at the centrist-Democratic think tank Third Way. “He definitely planted a flag in the ground. He definitely communicated to his base and it was an opening bid in what is going to be a long negotiation.” The tone of an opening bid may, of course, change after a period of high-stakes negotiations. And while Bennett may be willing to stomach the compromise that will inevitably be struck, others were more nervous. The president’s initial proposal, for example, leaves Social Security alone while calling for $240 billion in Medicare savings, including means-testing for additional areas of the program. Dean qualified such reforms as “not at all disabling,” but other liberals saw a window opened. “We don’t feel like we can rest,” said Nancy Altman, co-director of Social Security Works. “But from where we started … this is a major improvement. We want to push him a little bit further so he really understands that Social Security is a pension plan and that it is not simply a negotiating tactic.” Clouding the response to Obama’s debt reduction plan is the recollection that not too long ago, he offered Boehner a deal that would have changed Social Security’s payment structure while raising the eligibility age for Medicare. Senior administration officials explained that those provisions weren’t included in the current proposal because this plan reflects “his vision, and not a legislative compromise being crafted to garner some number of votes in the House and the Senate.” But implicit in that statement is the recognition that Obama would be willing to make the same deal again, provided it could move a bill through Congress. And yet, the political landscape now is drastically different than the one that existed during the peak of the debt ceiling negotiations. And it seems likely to change even further. Mike Lux, a progressive strategist who has been critical of the administration in the past (despite working for the president during his transition to the White House) argued that progressive groups have and continue to create “a magnetic pole … that Obama is starting to move to.” As the election nears, Lux and others argue, political realities will only further compel the president to both campaign on raising tax rates on very wealthy Americans and speak out against deep cuts to popular entitlement programs.
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