The Italian PM’s embattled government survives after winning an absolute majority – of one Silvio Berlusconi’s embattled government scraped through a confidence vote on Friday, winning what even one of his own deputies called a “pyrrhic victory”. The 316 to 301 result left him with an absolute majority of just one in the lower house of the Italian parliament. But it was a better outcome than had been feared minutes earlier as three of the prime minister’s supporters unexpectedly announced they were deserting him. Constitutionally, Berlusconi could have survived with a simple majority of votes cast. But government whips wanted an outright majority to stem mounting dissidence within the ranks of the prime minister’s Freedom People (PdL) movement and convince the electorate that his administration could continue to govern. Recent weeks have seen the emergence of a rebel faction, led by Claudio Scajola, a former minister. Though Scajola, who resigned in an alleged corruption scandal last year, voted for the government, several of his fellow rebels decided to abstain. Among others who abandoned Berlusconi was Santo Versace, the brother of the designers Donatella and the late Gianni Versace. With majority whips alternately cajoling and haranguing doubters, everything possible was done to bring out the vote in favour of the prime minister and his beleaguered administration. One of Berlusconi’s deputies went through the division lobby on crutches with a leg in plaster. The prime minister sought the confidence vote after his government failed on Tuesday to secure approval for the 2010 public accounts. Berlusconi has been struggling to get legislation through the lower house ever since last year when his former lieutenant, Gianfranco Fini, walked out of his party, taking with him several other deputies previously loyal to the government. Before the vote, Italy’s billionaire prime minister had appealed to the chamber to back him, saying Italy needed stability at a time of economic crisis. But his pledge to battle on helped send share prices tumbling on the Milan stock exchange and raised the already unsustainably high interest rate on Italian government debt. The reaction in the markets was a clear sign that investors are less concerned now about stability than government paralysis. With a fragile majority and his credibility in shreds because of the numerous scandals and trials in which he is involved, Berlusconi has appeared incapable of reacting effectively to the simmering debt crisis in the eurozone. Many of the potential rebels among his followers and allies would nevertheless prefer to bring him down in January. That would open the way for an election in the spring – a better moment than mid-winter for persuading sceptical voters Italy can make a new start under the right. Berlusconi returned to power in 2008 promising his government would never “put its hands in the pockets of the Italian people”. But as the eurozone debt crisis has spread, it has been forced to approve a string of austerity packages that have raised taxes and other levies, including VAT. The austerity packages may reduce the government deficit. But they risk constraining Italy’s already weak potential for economic growth. Berlusconi’s government has so far been unable to come up with a credible plan for reanimating the economy. Its policy – or lack of one – has been fiercely criticised by both trade unions and employers’ groups. One of Berlusconi’s serving ministers, Giancarlo Galan, who holds the culture and heritage portfolio, said he wanted to see the prime minister embark on a programme of reforms to free up the economy. “If he doesn’t manage it, it would be better to have elections,” he told a local newspaper. The president, Giorgio Napolitano, has said he will not dissolve parliament for as long as Berlusconi’s government enjoys the confidence of parliament. In an effort to underline the seriousness of the political crisis in Italy, the main opposition parties boycotted Berlusconi’s speech to the house on Thursday. Silvio Berlusconi Italy Europe John Hooper guardian.co.uk
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Scientists ask for names to be removed after mentions of climate change and sea-level rise taken out by Texas officials Officials in Rick Perry’s home state of Texas have set off a scientists’ revolt after purging mentions of climate change and sea-level rise from what was supposed to be a landmark environmental report. The scientists said they were disowning the report on the state of Galveston Bay because of political interference and censorship from Perry appointees at the state’s environmental agency. By academic standards, the protest amounts to the beginnings of a rebellion: every single scientist associated with the 200-page report has demanded their names be struck from the document. “None of us can be party to scientific censorship so we would all have our names removed,” said Jim Lester, a co-author of the report and vice-president of the Houston Advanced Research Centre. “To me it is simply a question of maintaining scientific credibility. This is simply antithetical to what a scientist does,” Lester said. “We can’t be censored.” Scientists see Texas as at high risk because of climate change, from the increased exposure to hurricanes and extreme weather on its long coastline to this summer’s season of wildfires and drought. However, Perry, in his run for the Republican nomination, has elevated denial of science, from climate change to evolution, to an art form. He opposes any regulation of industry, and has repeatedly challenged the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency. Texas is the only state to refuse to sign on to the federal government’s new regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. “I like to tell people we live in a state of denial in the state of Texas,” said John Anderson, an oceanography at Rice University, and author of the chapter targeted by the government censors. That state of denial percolated down to the leadership of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The agency chief, who was appointed by Perry, is known to doubt the science of climate change. “The current chair of the commission, Bryan Shaw, commonly talks about how human-induced climate change is a hoax,” said Anderson. But scientists said they still hoped to avoid a clash by simply avoiding direct reference to human causes of climate change and by sticking to materials from peer-reviewed journals. However, that plan began to unravel when officials from the agency made numerous unauthorised changes to Anderson’s chapter, deleting references to climate change, sea-level rise and wetlands destruction. “It is basically saying that the state of Texas doesn’t accept science results published in Science magazine,” Anderson said. “That’s going pretty far.” Officials even deleted a reference to the sea level at Galveston Bay rising five times faster than the long-term average – 3mm a year compared to .5mm a year – which Anderson noted was a scientific fact. “They just simply went through and summarily struck out any reference to climate change, any reference to sea level rise, any reference to human influence – it was edited or eliminated,” said Anderson. “That’s not scientific review that’s just straight forward censorship.” Mother Jones has tracked the changes . The agency has defended its actions. “It would be irresponsible to take whatever is sent to us and publish it,” Andrea Morrow, a spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. “Information was included in a report that we disagree with.” She said Anderson’s report had been “inconsistent with current agency policy”, and that he had refused to change it. She refused to answer any questions. Campaigners said the censorship by the Texas state authorities was a throwback to the George Bush era when White House officials also interfered with scientific reports on climate change. In the last few years, however, such politicisation of science has spread to the states. In the most notorious case, Virginia’s attorney general Ken Cuccinelli, who is a professed doubter of climate science, has spent a year investigating grants made to a prominent climate scientist Michael Mann, when he was at a state university in Virginia. Several courts have rejected Cuccinelli’s demands for a subpoena for the emails. In Utah, meanwhile, Mike Noel, a Republican member of the Utah state legislature called on the state university to sack a physicist who had criticised climate science doubters. The university rejected Noel’s demand, but the physicist, Robert Davies said such actions had had a chilling effect on the state of climate science. “We do have very accomplished scientists in this state who are quite fearful of retribution from lawmakers, and who consequently refuse to speak up on this very important topic. And the loser is the public,” Davies said in an email. “By employing these intimidation tactics, these policymakers are, in fact, successful in censoring the message coming from the very institutions whose expertise we need.” Climate change scepticism Rick Perry Sea level Climate change Texas Climate change Oceans Virginia Utah United States Suzanne Goldenberg guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Under mounting pressure from the courts, where he is a defendant in three trials, the Italian prime minister leads an increasingly fractious party into today’s vote • Read all tweets from John Hooper • Follow John Hooper on Twitter Silvio Berlusconi Italy John Hooper guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The funniest thing over the last couple of weeks in the world of politics is no longer the Republican Presidential nomination, which for several months in a row has been the best sitcom on TV. But the building panic from conservatives about Occupy Wall Street has replaced the presidential race as the most delightful show to watch. Eric Cantor is talking about mobs in the street , and Glenn Beck is doing maybe his best meltdown ever (and that’s saying something, because Beck has had some doozies). Conservatives by the truckload are freaking out all over the place. What makes it even more fun for me is that their panic exactly echoes the kind of panic conservatives have always shown about the idea of democracy and taking on the monied interests throughout American history. In my book on the history of the American political debate, The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be , I discussed how conservatives throughout our history have always echoed each other on these subjects no matter what the era. Here’s a sampling: Written in 1776 by a pro-British Anglican Bishop: “If I must be enslaved let it be by a King at least, and not by a parcel of upstart lawless Committeemen. If I must be devoured, let me be devoured by the jaws of a lion, and not gnawed to death by rats and vermin.” In the 1790s, friend of the big New York bankers of his day Alexander Hamilton was at a dinner party, and yelled at a pro-democracy advocate: “Your people, sir – your people is a great beast.” An ally of Hamilton’s wrote: “A democracy is scarcely tolerable at any period of natural history. Its omens are always sinister. … It is always on trial here, and the issue will be civil war, desolation, and anarchy. No wise man but discerns its imperfections, no good man but shudders at its miseries. No honest man but proclaims its frauds, and no brave man but draws his sword against its farce.” In the 1830s, conservative hero John C. Calhoun (who first forged the bond between the idea of states’ rights and conservative politics) wrote: “The will of the majority is the will of a rabble. Progressive democracy is incompatible with liberty.” In the post-Civil War era, where the right-wing philosophy of Social Darwinism reigned supreme, conservatives were distressed about the idea of poor and working people voting and then taking from the rich. Charles Adams wrote, “Universal suffrage can only mean in plain English, the government of ignorance and vice – it means a European, and especially Celtic, proletariat on the Atlantic Coast; an African proletariat on the shores of the Gulf, and a Chinese proletariat on the Pacific.” And his contemporary Francis Parkman added, “There is probably no sweeter experience in the world than that of a penniless laborer … when he learns that by casting his vote in the right way, he can strip the rich merchant … of a portion of his gains.” These anti-democratic sentiments certainly did not cease in the modern era — all you have to do is look at all the Republican efforts to deny the right to vote to so many citizens to understand that. And their fears of demonstrators are vivid. Look at this quote, which certainly reflected the views of people in power like Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover, from conservative author Samuel Huntington in a report he wrote in the 1970s: “Some of the problems of governance in the United States today stem from an excess of democracy. … A democratic political system usually requires some measure of apathy and non-involvement on the part of some individuals and groups.” From the anti-American Revolution Tories of the 1770s to the Glenn Beck/Eric Cantor conservatives of today, conservatives always have been on the side of the wealthiest and most powerful in society, and always have been absolutely panic stricken when people get out in the streets to protest the abuses of the rest of us by the economic elites. Conservatives don’t like democracy; they don’t want the poor or the young or people of color to vote; they don’t like demonstrators raising hell about the powers that be. The panic by these conservatives is, as I said at the beginning of this post, as funny as can be: you can’t make up stuff as genuinely unhinged as Glenn Beck’s reaction to Occupy, he is far funnier than any satire of him could be. More importantly, though, the reactions of these conservatives — so like the reactions of conservatives throughout American history who have been on the wrong side of every big issue — give reassurance that the folks at Occupy Wall Street are on the right side of history.
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The power of celebrity certainly carries more weight than any care a public radio station in New York City might have about looking fair and balanced. WNYC radio has signed up leftist actor Alec Baldwin — “Occupy Wall Street” supporter, Cheney-death-joking potential Democratic candidate for Mayor or Congress — to do a podcast called “Here's the Thing.” WNYC's selling this dabbling podcast as potentially surprising: “Alec sidesteps the predictable by taking listeners inside the dressing rooms, apartments, and offices of people such as comedian Chris Rock, political strategist Ed Rollins and Oscar winner Michael Douglas….Here’s the Thing: Listen to what happens when a man you think you know surprises you .” Baldwin claimed to Dave Itzkoff at The New York Times he wouldn't have an agenda — including that possible political candidate thing? Mr. Baldwin, who also hosts “The New York Philharmonic This Week” on WQXR and has been a guest host of “Studio 360 With Kurt Andersen,” said in a phone interview that his “number one” interest in creating the podcast “was to find a way where you could talk to people and you don't feel like you have an agenda, and then they wind up saying everything you hoped they would say.” He added: “I don't mean in a way to hang themselves or trip themselves up. Nothing embarrassing. I'm going to talk to Ed Rollins, and I'm going to say to him: 'Convince me. Convince me that I should be voting for your candidates.'” Baldwin's debut podcast on October 24 will feature Douglas. WNYC said that coming guests will also include Kathleen Turner; Erica Jong and her daughter, Molly Jong-Fast; long-forgotten talk show host Dick Cavett; and the reality-TV personality Kris Kardashian Jenner.
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Jimmy Mubenga died while being restrained by private security contractors as he was being deported to Angola. One year on, his widow Makenda Kambana talks about life without Jimmy Johnny Howorth Christian Bennett
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Focus switches from Wall Street to London as thousands plan to demonstrate against global banking industry After four weeks of focus on Wall Street , the fast-moving campaign against the global banking industry is coming to the UK this weekend, with the biggest event aiming to “occupy” the London Stock Exchange. Organised by Facebook and Twitter pages which between them have picked up more than 15,000 followers, campaigners are to gather outside St Paul’s Cathedral at midday on Saturday before marching the short distance to Paternoster Square , the business development housing the London Stock Exchange, as well as the UK HQ of investment bank Goldman Sachs. It is one of a series of planned events around the UK, which are in turn part of a wider global day of action spanning a thus far promised 800-plus protests . It remains to be seen how many of the online supporters will turn up in London, with estimates ranging from a few hundred to a couple of thousand. It is also unclear whether City police, the small force which operates in London’s financial district, will permit activists to mimic the Wall Street protests by pitching their tents. Paternoster Square is a private development, giving police more powers to remove activists. Among its tenants are a number of high-end shops and restaurants which may take a dim view of having trade disrupted by a semi-permanent encampment. A City police spokesman refused to discuss whether protesters would be moved on, saying only that “appropriate policing preparations are in place”. The Stock Exchange and Goldman Sachs declined to comment. While the roots of the current wave of protests, which combine anger at the bail-out of the financial sector with disquiet at the faltering global economy and increased inequality, has its roots in mass marches earlier this year in Spain, it attracted global attention with the camp in Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park, which is scheduled to be cleared by authorities on Friday . The first UK event took place in Manchester earlier this month, timed to coincide with the Conservative Party conference in the city. Up to 30 people remain in tents in the city’s Peace Gardens square . Around a dozen other events are officially planned for Saturday around the UK, including Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol, Norwich, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Among events in other countries, 1,300 people have pledged via Facebook to occupy a central plaza in Sydney, with similar events planned for Saturday in Melbourne, Taipei, Seoul and Hong Kong, among others. The global movement has issued a manifesto, endorsed by Naomi Klein and Noam Chomsky, among others, calling for a democratisation of the global finance system and mentioning the Arab spring as an inspiration for mass action. One protester planning to take part in London said the campaign, which is not allied to any political party, began with a series of Facebook pages in early September. Once people gathered at the Stock Exchange there would be mass votes to decide the next course of action, said Spyro Van Leemnen, 28. “All decisions on the occupation, and how we’re going to take it forward, will happen then. If people decide they don’t want to stay then that’s it, we won’t stay,” he said, adding that he was bringing a tent in the expectation of staying for some time. “The idea is to stay there as long as it takes to see some substantial change. No one said it would be easy,” he said. “Since 2008 these ideas have been building up, and I think people realise there will be no governments who will represents their interests against the banks, unless the people themselves raise their voices.” Another activist planning to go to St Paul’s, Peter Vaughn, 24, said the aim was to set up a “rolling camp” of protesters as a permanent symbol of people’s concerns. “When the crisis began I think people were patient. They were told, ‘We need to bail out the banks, this is the only way to save our economy’. And now the whole European economy is in crisis, while banks continue to pay bonuses. The situation is untenable.” Vaughn said he hoped police would permit them to remain but was aware that TV footage of protesters being dragged away could publicise the campaign: “We’re not going there for a fight with the police. This is about legitimate concerns that we have.” A history and politics graduate who had worked for two years as a bicycle courier because of a lack of better options, Vaughn said there was also a personal element to his participation: “I feel like graduates were sold a lie. We’re not the ones that are suffering the most, but from a personal view, we were told, ‘You take on this debt but you’ll get a job and pay it off.’ I’m still more than £10,000 in debt.” There has been little response thus far from the global finance industry, although the US-based chief executive of Citigroup, Vikram Pandit, said this week he would meet the Wall Street occupiers, calling their views “completely understandable”. Brian Mairs of the British Banking Association said he knew of no similar plans in the UK. However, he said his organisation did not rule out engaging with protesters: “If there is a forum to have a sensible discussion we would be happy to do it.” Protest London Stock Exchange Global recession Economics Global economy Banking Peter Walker Shiv Malik guardian.co.uk
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The headteacher was courted by Michael Gove after achieving spectacular results at Mossbourne academy in Hackney A headteacher hailed as a “miracle worker” for dramatically improving failing inner-city schools will be the new head of Ofsted. Sir Michael Wilshaw, renowned for showing “tough love” to pupils and their parents, will start his new job in January 2012. He will have a pre-appointment hearing in front of MPs on the cross-party education select committee and his appointment is subject to the approval of the privy council. The 64-year-old will fill a role left vacant in June when the former head of Ofsted, Christine Gilbert, left early. Gilbert was said to have been under pressure to leave after the coalition government came to power. Wilshaw, who was knighted in 2000 for services to education, is said to have been courted for the role for some time. Michael Gove, the education secretary, has called him “my hero”. The son of a postman espouses views that are similar to Gove’s. He argues strongly for a return to traditional subjects, strong discipline, extended school days and no excuses. Wilshaw turned St Bonaventure’s Catholic boys school in Forest Gate, east London, into one of the most improved schools in the country as headteacher between 1985 and 2003. But he is most famous for his current role as executive principal of Mossbourne academy in Hackney. The school, less than one mile from the Pembury estate – the scene of the largest confrontation during the riots in London this summer – achieves results of which many fee-paying schools are envious. It replaced Hackney Downs school, which was described as the worst in Britain before closing in 1995. This summer, after its first A-level results, seven of Mossbourne’s pupils got places at Cambridge , one went to the Royal College of Music and 65% went to Russell Group institutions – the 20 most prestigious universities in the UK. Some 85% of Mossbourne pupils achieved five A* GCSEs including English and maths. The school’s catchment is very disadvantaged, with 40% on free school meals and 30% on the special needs register. Wilshaw, who was born in India and came to Britain as a child, has taken out restraining orders on badly behaved parents and thinks nothing of sending pupils home for wearing the wrong coloured shoes. At the start of each class, children pledge aloud in unison to maintain an “inquiring mind, a calm disposition and an attentive ear”. Wilshaw pays staff extra to come into school at the weekend. He will take the helm at a time when the country’s education landscape is radically changing. One in three pupils now attend academies and a new tranche of free schools is expected to be announced shortly. Ofsted’s brief is slimmer than it was for Wilshaw’s predecessor. From January, it will concentrate more on pupils’ behaviour, teacher quality and children’s reading. It intends to make it harder to give schools a rating of “outstanding”. Gove said he could not think of a better person to lead Ofsted. “He is one of the best educators of his generation … He has transformed the fortunes of thousands of children during his time as a headteacher. “He truly understands what success looks like and knows how to achieve it – even in the most challenging circumstances. This role will allow more heads, teachers and other professionals to be influenced by this talented and inspirational leader. “I have every confidence that his appointment will help to raise standards in education and children’s services in England.” Wilshaw said he would try to provide a commentary on educational standards, but also to “challenge the service to provide consistently high-quality provision for young people and adults”. In an interview with the Guardian last month , Wilshaw said there were “a lot of coasting schools out there, particularly outside urban areas, that are underachieving”. He said too many schools were told they were good and outstanding by inspectors. “I was shocked to read that only 4% of schools are judged outstanding in teaching, yet 20% are outstanding overall … Have we gone for the soft option too often? Yes we have we. At 15, we’re two years behind China in maths. We as a nation should be alarmed.” Ofsted Schools Education policy Hackney London Jessica Shepherd guardian.co.uk
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Watch the trailer for sex addiction drama Shame – Steve McQueen’s second collaboration with Michael Fassbender
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Asos’s UK retail sales growth slowed to 1% in the second quarter from 15% in the first quarter of 2011 The head of British online fashion retailer Asos said he underestimated what impact UK macroeconomic headwinds would have on the firm’s second-quarter sales. “We all underestimated what was going to happen in the UK and it hasn’t got any better, it is challenging,” chief executive Nick Robertson told Reuters on Friday after the firm posted a slowdown in its phenomenal sales growth for the three months to 30 September. “So hands up, we probably underestimated that headwind in the UK, but there’s still growth there, so it’s not a complete train crash,” he said. Asos’s UK retail sales growth slowed to 1% in the second quarter from 15% in the first quarter. “Even to support this kind of level of growth we are pulling levers that we didn’t think would have to be pulled,” said Robertson, pointing to increased promotional and marketing activity. He said he expected full-year UK retail sales growth to be “somewhere between flat and low single digit”. But the CEO stressed the real prize for Asos is international growth, where second quarter sales increased 141% and now represent 59% of the total. “The story continues to be, we’ve just got to keep internationalising and internationalising quickly because that’s where we’re going to find the growth,” he said. During the second quarter Asos launched three more country specific sites in Australia, Italy and Spain, taking the total number of sites to seven. Robertson said he hoped to have a Chinese language website up and running in 18 to 24 months. He noted that China is already a top six country for Asos, with Chinese customers using the UK site. Shares in Asos reached a 12-month high of £25.08 in June, fuelled by buoyant trading and bid speculation, but have since lost 40% of their value as the overall market has corrected, directors have sold shares and investors have fretted about the financial health of the younger UK shopper. The stock was down 7.3% at £13.94, valuing the business at about £1.10bn . Asos Retail industry guardian.co.uk
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