Scotland Yard contacts IPCC over claims that officer took part in criminal trial under false name Scotland Yard will call in the police watchdog over allegations that an undercover officer took part in a criminal trial under a false name. Jim Boyling, a specialist operations detective constable with the Metropolitan police, is accused of maintaining an alias throughout court proceedings after being arrested following a demonstration in 1996. Scotland Yard contacted the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) on Thursday with a view to making a formal referral to them on Friday, a Metropolitan police spokesman said. The spokesman said the decision to contact the IPCC “follows consideration of allegations relating to historic covert police deployments”. The allegations forced the postponement of the publication of a review of the future of undercover policing. The review was scheduled for Thursday and was compiled by the new Scotland Yard commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe, before he took the force’s top job last month. The defence solicitor Mike Schwarz, of the law firm Bindmans, said he had discovered that he represented Boyling, under the name Jim Sutton, along with other protesters. The undercover officer went on trial for public order offences with other activists from the pro-cycling campaign group Reclaim the Streets following a demonstration at the headquarters of London Underground in 1996. The lawyer said the revelation raised concerns about the “confidentiality” of discussions between the officer’s co-defendants and their legal representatives. He told the Guardian: “This case raises the most fundamental constitutional issues about the limits of acceptable policing, the sanctity of lawyer-client confidentiality, and the integrity of the criminal justice system. “At first sight, it seems that the police have wildly overstepped all recognised boundaries.” John Jordan, an activist who was convicted of assaulting a police officer and given a conditional discharge after being arrested with “Jim Sutton”, is appealing against the verdict following the allegations. He told the BBC’s Newsnight: “It was totally outrageous what happened. I’m a lecturer, I have a job where I’m working with students, and to have assault of a police officer on your record was pretty difficult.” On Thursday, Scotland Yard admitted the allegations were “serious matters” but added: “We are confident that the current legislative and regulatory framework governing the deployment of undercover officers ensures that all such deployments conducted now are lawful and appropriately managed.” In January, Boyling was placed on restricted duties and an investigation was launched by the Directorate of Professional Standards following allegations that he married an activist he was supposed to be spying on. Police said the inquiry was ongoing. The latest allegations led to the delay of the findings of a review into what went wrong after the case against six protesters accused of planning to invade the second largest power station in the UK collapsed in January. They claimed an undercover officer offered to give evidence on their behalf. Mark Kennedy, who spent seven years posing as Mark “Flash” Stone, a long-haired drop-out climber, also had sexual relationships with at least two women during the operation. He has since said he fears for his life, describing the world of undercover policing as “grey and murky” and adding: “There is some bad stuff going on. Really bad stuff.” The review, launched by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in January, was reportedly set to rule out tough judicial oversight of the deployment of undercover officers – a measure wanted by some police chiefs. It was also expected to find that a failure of supervision contributed to the problems and that police chiefs should ensure undercover officers are not left on covert assignments for too long in future. Questions were raised about the proportionality of covert tactics and of such a lengthy and costly operation targeting green campaigners planning to invade Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station near Nottingham. The policing minister, Nick Herbert, told MPs in January it was clear something had “gone very wrong” with Kennedy’s operation. Police Independent Police Complaints Commission Metropolitan police London Protest Activism guardian.co.uk
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Varying accounts claim former Libyan leader was caught in crossfire, died from earlier wounds or was shot in head at close range Muammar Gaddafi is set to be buried at an undisclosed location on Friday as Nato meets to discuss the end of the military campaign that hastened the end of his 42-year rule over Libya. Authorities from the National Transitional Council (NTC), the interim authority which led the revolt against Gaddafi and ultimately supplanted him, reportedly remain uncertain about where and when the funeral should take place. Gaddafi’s death on Thursday – which, according to conflicting reports, ultimately came when he was caught in crossfire , bled to death from earlier wounds or was executed at close range – is likely to bring an imminent end to the Nato aim campaign, which decisively turned the military campaign in the NTC’s favour. The French foreign minister, Alain Juppe – whose country’s planes, operating under the Nato remit, are believed to have attacked Gaddafi’s convoy as it fled his besieged home town of Sirte – said on Friday that the operation was over. “I think we can say that the military operation is finished, that the whole of Libyan territory is under the control of the National Transitional Council and that, subject to a few transitory measures in the week to come, the Nato operation has arrived at its end,” he told Europe 1 radio. Nato chiefs are due to gather in Brussels to discuss arrangements for the end of the campaign. The organisation’s secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen. has said only that it will be halted “in co-ordination with the United Nations and the National Transitional Council”. The British foreign secretary, William Hague, has said this should only happen once the alliance is certain that no significant pockets of Gaddafi support remain. While Gaddafi’s death has brought global reactions ranging from jubilation to quiet relief, little is certain about how the 69-year-old met his end other than that he was alive when first held by NTC forces near Sirte. Shakily filmed mobile phone video footage shows a dazed, bloodied but conscious Gaddafi being dragged off the bonnet of a vehicle as someone shouts: “Keep him alive!” Other footage, also broadcast around the world, shows his lifeless body, drenched in more blood, being paraded through the nearby city of Misrata. What happened between is the subject of several contradictory versions. A reasonably coherent and consistent account has emerged of what led Gaddafi to the moment of capture. It seems that early on Thursday morning, as it became clear that forces protecting the former leader could not hold out much longer, a convoy of vehicles carrying him, his army chief, Abu Bakr Younis Jabr, and a few dozen bodyguards, drove out of the blockade and headed west. Soon after leaving Sirte, the convoy was devastated by a Nato raid carried out by French fighter jets. Reporters who witnessed the aftermath of the attack saw more than a dozen burned-out armed pickup trucks, with up to 50 bodies lying in or near the vehicles. It seems Gaddafi was caught up in this strike, but survived. One of his personal bodyguards, Mansour Daou, told al-Arabiya television that the survivors “split into groups and each group went its own way” after the attack. He added: “I was with Gaddafi and Abu Bakr Younis Jabr and about four volunteer soldiers.” Daou said he did not know what eventually happened to Gaddafi, as he had been wounded and knocked unconscious by a shell blast. It seems Gaddafi and his dwindling band of protecters ran through trees and sheltered inside a pair of rubbish-filled drainage pipes, where they were attacked by NTC forces. “At first we fired at them with anti-aircraft guns, but it was no use,” one NTC fighter, Salem Bakeer, told Reuters. “Then we went in on foot. “One of Gaddafi’s men came out waving his rifle in the air and shouting “surrender”, but as soon as he saw my face, he started shooting at me. Then I think Gaddafi must have told them to stop. ‘My master is here, my master is here,’ he said. ‘Muammar Gaddafi is here and he is wounded.’ “We went in and brought Gaddafi out. He was saying: ‘What’s wrong? What’s wrong? What’s going on?’ Then we took him and put him in the car.” By this time, the deposed dictator had gunshot wounds to his leg and back, Bakeer added. The confusion comes next. According to an official version of events by the interim prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril , the vehicle transporting Gaddafi to hospital was “caught in crossfire” as NTC and pro-Gaddafi forces fought further. A post-mortem report showed that the fatal shot had hit Gaddafi in the head, Jibril said, adding that it was not clear which side had fired the bullet. However, Fathi Bashagha, a spokesman for the Misrata Military Council, which commanded the fighters who captured him, said Gaddafi died from his wounds as an ambulance took him the 120 miles (193km) to Misrata. Another NTC official, Abdel Majid Mlegta, said: “He was bleeding from his stomach. It took a long time to transport him. He bled to death.” A further NTC official, who asked not to be named, told the agency: “They (NTC fighters) beat him very harshly, and then they killed him. This is a war.” In yet another possibility, the New York Times said later photographs of Gaddafi dead showed what forensic experts said appeared to be wounds to the head caused by bullets fired at close range, indicating that he might have been executed in this way. Amnesty International has urged the NTC to carry out “a full, independent and impartial inquiry to establish the circumstances of Colonel Gaddafi’s death”. As yet, there has been no similar pressure from world leaders. The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, speaking in Islamabad, said Gaddafi’s death “has brought to a close a very unfortunate chapter in Libya’s history”. She continued: “It also marks the start of a new era for the Libyan people, and it is our hope that what I saw in Tripoli on Tuesday first hand, the eagerness of Libyans to building a new democracy, can begin in earnest.” Muammar Gaddafi Arab and Middle East unrest Libya Middle East Africa Peter Walker guardian.co.uk
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Overall crime levels are flat or starting to nudge upwards, British Crime Survey and police figures appear to show The 16-year fall in overall crime in England and Wales seems to have been halted by the impact of cuts and rising unemployment, with an apparent 10% rise in household burglary. Overall crime levels appear to have remained flat or started to nudge up, with the latest British Crime Survey (BCS) showing a 2% rise and police recorded crime figures a 4% fall over the 12 months to this June. The quarterly crime figures, which cover the 12 months to the second quarter between April and June, do not include the summer riots. But they show a 13% rise in “other household theft”, which covers thefts from gardens and sheds, the apparent 10% rise in burglary, according to the BCS, and rises in robbery (3%) and the most serious sexual offences (2%) on police figures. The police figures, however, show continuing falls in most other categories of crime, including a 12% drop in criminal damage, 8% falls in violence against the person and car crime, and a 3% fall in domestic burglary. All categories of BCS crime rose except for vandalism, which dropped by 9%. Home Office statisticians were cautious about the figures, saying that, taken together, the two measures – BCS and police figures – show crime to have been stable in the 12 months to June with no statistically significant change in the crime rate. The Home Office said the apparently alarming 10% rise in burglary on the BCS was not statistically significant and came alongside a 3% fall in police recorded burglaries. “The latest figures suggest it is still too early to be confident there has been a real change in the medium-term trend for BCS burglary, which has been relatively stable since 2004-05,” the crime figures bulletin says. However, the statisticians said there was evidence of an increase in lower-level offences such as pickpocketing, shoplifting and theft of unattended property. Police recorded “other theft” rose by 5% and BCS “other household thefts” are up 13%. The 2% rise in serious sexual offences follows increases in reporting and recording such crime since 2009, but this rate of increase seems to be slowing. Provisional statistics show that gun crime fell by 16% on the police figures. Public confidence in the ability of the police and local councils to deal with antisocial behaviour in their area rose from 52% to 54%. Paul McKeever, the chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “The latest crimes statistics show that burglary and robbery continue to rise and, unfortunately, this comes as no surprise to us. “Of particular concern is the rise in knife-related crime by some 7%. The statistics collated across England and Wales support a trend we were already seeing in London. “We have warned again and again that property crime and robbery will rise during times of economic hardship, and today’s figures paint a bleak picture. “The government simply must heed the warnings and reconsider the planned 20% cuts to policing. We can only protect the public if we have enough police officers on our streets. Therefore the prospect of losing 34,000 officers and police staff by 2015 cannot be ignored.” Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said: “These figures are a worrying sign that crime is now increasing after years of coming down. It shows this is a terrible time to cut 16,000 police officers. “Figures for the last nine months show police recorded crime going up with wider increases, too. “And it is extremely concerning that robbery offences involving a knife or sharp instrument are up 7%, yet there is not a squeak from the Home Office about rethinking the huge cuts to police forces across the country. “Crime fell by over 40% while Labour was in government, – but people want it to fall further, not go back up again.” She said people were “seeing evidence of crime rising under this Tory-led government”, adding: “They need to take urgent action to cut crime instead of just cutting police.” But the crime and justice minister, Nick Herbert, said: “Today’s crime figures show a mixed picture, with differences across offences and police force areas. “The police do a fantastic and difficult job, and we want to support them. We know the police want to be out in their local communities stopping crime, catching criminals and helping victims. “That’s why we have swept away central targets and red tape to help police forces focus on their one core mission – to cut crime. “And it is why we are shifting power from Whitehall to local communities, through elected police and crime commissioners and the publication of local crime data online, to make policing more accountable and responsive to local concerns.” Jon Murphy, of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said the increase in robberies at knifepoint was partly driven by demand for mobile phones. “While there were falls in most police recorded crime and particularly in violence against the person, the increase in robbery and robbery with knives is a cause for concern,” he said. “We believe this is in part driven by demand for mobile phone handsets, which can fetch more than double their worth on the black market abroad. “Worryingly, a large proportion of phone owners still do not have passcodes on their phones, leaving them vulnerable to possible ID theft and fraud. Phone owners are encouraged to set passcodes and look into anti-crime phone functions such as remote wipe technology. “Police forces will want to focus actions to combat these offences and offer crime prevention advice.” Crime Police Yvette Cooper Public sector cuts Public finance Emergency services Unemployment Liberal-Conservative coalition Labour Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
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• Athens parliament passes austerity package amid violent protests • Trade unionist killed as police use tear gas to break up fighting Greece’s attempt to reform itself was marked by death, violence and chaos as mass demonstrations against austerity measures demanded in return for international aid were eclipsed by fierce fighting outside the Athens parliament. As lawmakers debated the package of job and spending cuts, which was approved on Thursday night, a trade unionist died in clashes only metres away. The man, identified as Dimitris Kotsaridis, a 53-year-old construction worker, was pronounced dead shortly after being tear-gassed in running battles between rival groups that were eventually broken up by police. “Enough is enough, society is despairing, the country is collapsing,” said MP Vasso Papandreou, giving voice to widespread fears that Greece is on the verge of imploding. “I will vote in favour [of the measures] but this is the last time. I am struggling with my conscience,” added the deputy, a prominent member of the ruling Pasok party, although no relation to prime minister George Papandreou. The EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which have been keeping Greece afloat with funds drawn down from a €110bn bailout put together in May 2010, have said that without the new package of cuts and tax increases, further aid will be withheld. But with the governing socialists divided over the cutbacks, following a relentless wave of similar measures that have thrown Greece into deep recession, the debate inside the 300-seat house was unusually heated. After voting against a measure abolishing collective wage agreements, Louka Katseli, the former Pasok economy minister, was reportedly expelled from the ruling party. Outside the parliament, in Syntagma Square, 80,000 protesters had gathered in bright sunshine to denounce the policies, before the area was turned into a war zone. In scenes not seen since the collapse of military rule, Greeks turned on Greeks, with some throwing petrol bombs and rocks, others wielding wooden batons and clubs. Television showed black-clad youths, many wearing helmets and gas masks, attacking members of the Communist-affiliated trade union, Pame, which had been attempting to lead a peaceful protest by forming a human chain around the parliament building. Kotsaridis, who was taken to the hospital with scores of other protesters injured in the clashes, is the fourth victim of the crisis so far. Three employees died last year after the bank in which they worked in central Athens was fire-bombed by self-styled anarchists. The unrest, which saw hooded youths setting light to rubbish bins in a wave of destruction around the capital, coincided with the second day of a crippling 48-hour strike called by unions to protest against the new round of austerity cuts. On Wednesday 100,000 protesters gathered in Syntagma. “The message we want to send both abroad and here at home is that we are not going to accept these policies lying down,” said Evangelos Fotio, a private sector employee, sitting on a kerb as he took a respite from chanting himself hoarse. “The government seems to have forgotten to speak to us. All it does it speak to the troika [the EU, the IMF and the European Central Bank] and enforce what they tell it to do.” Ordinary Greeks hit by the cuts have seen their purchasing power halved in the last year. Addressing parliament before the make-or-break ballot, Evangelos Venizelos, the finance minister, said Greeks confronted a choice between “a difficult situation and a catastrophe”. The sacrifices they were being asked to make were “huge” but nothing compared to the crisis they would face if Greece was forced to declare bankruptcy and default on its debt. “There will be absolutely no point in either me attending tomorrow’s euro group meeting or the prime minister attending the EU summit in Brussels on Sunday if this bill is not passed,” he said. But with resistance to the reforms unlikely to abate, unions warned that the passage of the bill would amount to an empty victory. “Our European friends should know that our prime minister will go to the EU summit naked, because the promises he will make will have no backing in his country. The measures will be impossible to implement,” said Ilias Iliopoulos, secretary general of the civil servants’ union, ADEDY. Greece European debt crisis Europe Helena Smith guardian.co.uk
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Queen discusses difficulties of forming minority governments with Tony Abbott in Canberra Australia’s turbulent political landscape and minority government were the topics of conversation when the Queen met the country’s opposition leader. The monarch told Tony Abbott, head of the Liberal party, that forming minority governments was always problematic. The sovereign was referring to the experiences of Australia’s prime minister Julia Gillard, who experienced weeks of political wrangling before she was able to form a government after elections last year produced no overall winner. The politician had to rely on a handful of independent members of parliament finally backing her before she could take up office at the head of a minority government. The Labor party leader had called a snap election after taking over from prime minister Kevin Rudd who was deposed in a party coup less than three years after becoming prime minister. The Queen rarely speaks about her personal views in public and her words were recorded by the waiting media who were given access to the first few moments of the audience. But her comments were also formed by recent experiences as there were a number of anxious days before David Cameron was able to form a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats last year. Abbott met the Queen in the morning room of Canberra’s Government House on Friday after the sovereign had held discussions with Gillard. The Queen wasted no time raising the issue of the precarious state of Australian politics saying: “It is an interesting time.” Australia’s minority government is the first in decades and commentators have said it could easily be threatened by a ministerial misdemeanour or by-election. Abbott replied to the Queen’s opening statement saying: “It is never dull, we play our politics tough in this country and give no quarter, Australian society is always dynamic.” He made the Queen laugh when he added: “We like to think we’re the happening place, Your Majesty.” The monarch replied: “A minority government is always a difficult thing to organise,” before talks continued behind closed doors. Gillard has faced criticism for deciding not to curtsey to the Queen when the pair first met, and on Friday she again bowed her head, twice, to the monarch as she walked into the room. Australia Monarchy Julia Gillard guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Downing Street pressed for more detail of donors named in Liam Fox report
October 21, 2011 No Comment
The report naming six companies has raised questions about their identities and links to the Pargav slush fund Downing Street faces growing pressure to definitively identify a company named in the report by the cabinet secretary, Gus O’Donnell, into Liam Fox’s links with his best man, Adam Werritty. The former cabinet minister Peter Hain demanded that ministers clarify who is behind the company, IRG Ltd. The report’s publication on Tuesday was intended to draw a line under the furore around Fox’s links with Werritty, which led to Fox resigning as defence secretary. But the report, which named the six companies and individuals that funded Werritty’s Pargav “slush fund”, has raised more unanswered questions. Among the Pargav donors, including the mining tycoon Mick Davis, private investigations firm G3 and billionaire property mogul Poju Zabludowicz, is a company referred to as simply “IRG Ltd”. More than 30 companies and organisations use the same initials, including an Iraq-focused charity, an executive recruitment agency linked to the former Tory minister Virginia Bottomley and a pizza restaurant in Basildon. On Thursday , Hain put down a parliamentary question for the Cabinet Office minister, Francis Maude, demanding he “explain the nature and purpose of IRG Ltd”. Hain said: “The tentacles of this scandal spread even further and the government must come clean on what IRG is. There is no reason for the Cabinet Office to say it knows what IRG is, but not to admit it in public.” Among those being scrutinised is International Resources Group, a US company that claims it “organised and synthesised Afghanistan’s constitutional and religious, secular, and customary laws” after the fall of the Taliban. International Resources Group has refused to return the Guardian’s calls for the last three days. The Guardian visited IRG’s offices at a New York skyscraper and was refused entry by security guards. Its website, IRGltd.com , says it is “an L-3 company”. L-3 has denied that International Resources Group is the same IRG Ltd that funded Pargav. L-3 is a hi-tech telecommunications company in which the Tory donor Michael Hintze’s CQS hedge fund has had a $34m investment. In July, Fox told parliament that the Ministry of Defence would go ahead with plans to award a contract to L-3 to provide the MoD with new rivet joint aircraft to replace Nimrod. A spokesman for CQS, which has been extensively linked to Werritty, said Hintze had “no idea” whether the IRG company named by O’Donnell was the same IRG that is owned by L-3 in which CQS holds an investment. Hintze’s charitable foundation was the biggest single donor to the Atlantic Bridge, the now-defunct charity that appears to have supported Werritty’s jetset lifestyle before the creation of Pargav. Werritty ran the Atlantic Bridge from inside CQS’s plush offices over looking Buckingham Palace. Oliver Hylton, one of Hintze’s closest aides and the manager of his charitable foundation, arranged for Werritty to be given a desk in CQS’s HQ. Hylton, who has been suspended by CQS, was the company secretary of Pargav, which funded Werritty’s first class flights and five star hotels on trips to accompany Fox on official visits abroad. Last week Hylton handed over details of Pargav’s funding to the media. CQS declined to ask Hylton to identify IRG. Another IRG Ltd is a UK company which trades as Odgers Berndston, an executive recruitment agency and it counts former Conservative health secretary, Virginia Bottomley, as a director. It too has denied any connection to Pargav. A third organisation, the Iraq Research Group, said to be led by Stephen Crouch, the former chairman of the Tory Party’s Camarthen West and South Pembrokeshire constituency, has been identified in media reports as a possible candidate. The Guardian has been unable to contact Crouch. Simon Hart, the MP for Camarthen West, said Crouch used to make frequent trips to Iraq and said it was understood locally that he had a background in the military or intelligence. “We always thought he was working for the programme rebuilding Iraq and that he was working for an American company,” Hart said. Hart said Crouch once helped arrange a £5,000 donation to the local party from Tony Buckingham, an oil tycoon with interests in Kurdistan. A search of company records shows that almost 30 companies registered in the UK use the initials IRG. A Cabinet Office spokesman said: No 10 knows which organisation it is, but will not make it public. “We are not going to go into the detail of the people or organisations that are in the report.” A spokesman at Conservative central office said: “The Conservative party has no idea who IRG is.” Liam Fox and Adam Werritty links Liam Fox Adam Werritty Rupert Neate Robert Booth Karen McVeigh Gus O’Donnell guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Downing Street pressed for more detail of donors named in Liam Fox report
October 21, 2011 No CommentThe report naming six companies has raised questions about their identities and links to the Pargav slush fund Downing Street faces growing pressure to definitively identify a company named in the report by the cabinet secretary, Gus O’Donnell, into Liam Fox’s links with his best man, Adam Werritty. The former cabinet minister Peter Hain demanded that ministers clarify who is behind the company, IRG Ltd. The report’s publication on Tuesday was intended to draw a line under the furore around Fox’s links with Werritty, which led to Fox resigning as defence secretary. But the report, which named the six companies and individuals that funded Werritty’s Pargav “slush fund”, has raised more unanswered questions. Among the Pargav donors, including the mining tycoon Mick Davis, private investigations firm G3 and billionaire property mogul Poju Zabludowicz, is a company referred to as simply “IRG Ltd”. More than 30 companies and organisations use the same initials, including an Iraq-focused charity, an executive recruitment agency linked to the former Tory minister Virginia Bottomley and a pizza restaurant in Basildon. On Thursday , Hain put down a parliamentary question for the Cabinet Office minister, Francis Maude, demanding he “explain the nature and purpose of IRG Ltd”. Hain said: “The tentacles of this scandal spread even further and the government must come clean on what IRG is. There is no reason for the Cabinet Office to say it knows what IRG is, but not to admit it in public.” Among those being scrutinised is International Resources Group, a US company that claims it “organised and synthesised Afghanistan’s constitutional and religious, secular, and customary laws” after the fall of the Taliban. International Resources Group has refused to return the Guardian’s calls for the last three days. The Guardian visited IRG’s offices at a New York skyscraper and was refused entry by security guards. Its website, IRGltd.com , says it is “an L-3 company”. L-3 has denied that International Resources Group is the same IRG Ltd that funded Pargav. L-3 is a hi-tech telecommunications company in which the Tory donor Michael Hintze’s CQS hedge fund has had a $34m investment. In July, Fox told parliament that the Ministry of Defence would go ahead with plans to award a contract to L-3 to provide the MoD with new rivet joint aircraft to replace Nimrod. A spokesman for CQS, which has been extensively linked to Werritty, said Hintze had “no idea” whether the IRG company named by O’Donnell was the same IRG that is owned by L-3 in which CQS holds an investment. Hintze’s charitable foundation was the biggest single donor to the Atlantic Bridge, the now-defunct charity that appears to have supported Werritty’s jetset lifestyle before the creation of Pargav. Werritty ran the Atlantic Bridge from inside CQS’s plush offices over looking Buckingham Palace. Oliver Hylton, one of Hintze’s closest aides and the manager of his charitable foundation, arranged for Werritty to be given a desk in CQS’s HQ. Hylton, who has been suspended by CQS, was the company secretary of Pargav, which funded Werritty’s first class flights and five star hotels on trips to accompany Fox on official visits abroad. Last week Hylton handed over details of Pargav’s funding to the media. CQS declined to ask Hylton to identify IRG. Another IRG Ltd is a UK company which trades as Odgers Berndston, an executive recruitment agency and it counts former Conservative health secretary, Virginia Bottomley, as a director. It too has denied any connection to Pargav. A third organisation, the Iraq Research Group, said to be led by Stephen Crouch, the former chairman of the Tory Party’s Camarthen West and South Pembrokeshire constituency, has been identified in media reports as a possible candidate. The Guardian has been unable to contact Crouch. Simon Hart, the MP for Camarthen West, said Crouch used to make frequent trips to Iraq and said it was understood locally that he had a background in the military or intelligence. “We always thought he was working for the programme rebuilding Iraq and that he was working for an American company,” Hart said. Hart said Crouch once helped arrange a £5,000 donation to the local party from Tony Buckingham, an oil tycoon with interests in Kurdistan. A search of company records shows that almost 30 companies registered in the UK use the initials IRG. A Cabinet Office spokesman said: No 10 knows which organisation it is, but will not make it public. “We are not going to go into the detail of the people or organisations that are in the report.” A spokesman at Conservative central office said: “The Conservative party has no idea who IRG is.” Liam Fox and Adam Werritty links Liam Fox Adam Werritty Rupert Neate Robert Booth Karen McVeigh Gus O’Donnell guardian.co.uk
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Scottish National party leader tells conference: ‘This can be the independence generation’ Support for home rule is growing among Scots of all ages and backgrounds, Alex Salmond has told the Scottish National party conference as he proclaimed: “This can be the independence generation.” Salmond was speaking as the SNP gathered in Inverness at its first annual conference since securing a historic majority in elections to the Scottish parliament this year. The result means that a poll on Scotland’s continued membership of the more than 300-year-old union is now expected in or before 2015. In an attempt to display the differences between the government in Edinburgh and that in Westminster, Salmond pounced on this week’s announcement that a multimillion-pound carbon capture project in Fife had been shelved by the coalition. He said the SNP’s Scottish government was committed to securing the future of the country’s energy resources. “Scotland’s vast energy reserves can power our future as an independent nation. Fuel poverty amid such energy plenty in Scotland makes it essential that our national parliament gains responsibility for the nation’s abundant resources,” he added. Announcing inward investment for a tidal energy project for Orkney, he said: “The SNP government’s efforts to secure such investment from around the world stand in stark contrast to the lack of commitment to Scotland’s energy future from the UK government – as with their shameful decision to pull out of the Longannet carbon capture project.” He sought to portray the SNP as the guardian of Scotland’s energy interests, whether of the fossil fuel or renewable variety. Revenues from oil “bestowed upon us by the creator of the universe” were running at record levels. Salmond cited a recent comment by the prime minister on a trip to Scotland that North Sea oil was “set to be around for many, many years to come”. This was in contrast to what David Cameron’s “geography teacher had told him at Eton”. The first minister added: “We are leading the global revolution in clean, green renewable energy. All of that massive potential means Scotland must gain responsibility for our own resources with independence.” The mood among the SNP faithful was confident and upbeat, despite the possibility that the coming referendum may offer Scots a third option of greater devolution that stops short of independence. Recent polls have indicated that such a “devo-max” alternative may prove popular. After a burst of a cover of Brian Ferry’s “Let’s Stick Together” and video footage of May’s electoral triumph, Salmond, who is to deliver his main speech on Saturday, told them: “The SNP gather in great spirits as the first ever majority government in Scotland, with an unprecedented mandate based on our record, team and vision for Scotland which won us the historic election. We thank the people of Scotland for the faith and trust they have placed in the SNP in government.” Looking ahead to the referendum, which could hail the breakup of the British state, he said: “As well as our renewed mandate, and our record membership, the SNP now has all the momentum in Scottish politics as we build towards the independence referendum. “A change is coming, and the people are eager for progress for Scotland – something that none of the unionist parties acknowledge or allow for.” Alex Salmond Scottish National party (SNP) Scottish politics Scotland Stephen Khan guardian.co.uk
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Basque separatist group renounces use of arms after year in which it has observed unilateral ceasefire Read the full text of Eta’s ceasefire statement Half a century of bloodshed in the Basque country has come to a historic close after the separatist group Eta finally renounced the use of arms and sought talks with the Spanish and French governments. Three leaders in masks announced that the group was calling a final halt to the use of bombs and bullets in a video obtained by the Guardian and other news media. “Eta has decided the definitive cessation of its armed activity,” they said. Eta was following a peace script put together with the help of mediators led by the former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, after a year in which it had observed a unilateral ceasefire. The Guardian revealed exclusively on Monday that a definitive end to Eta’s armed campaign, one of Europe’s bloodiest, was due to be announced this week, in response to a petition from Annan’s group and following pressure from Eta’s political allies in the so-called “Basque separatist left”. Annan’s group made its petition late on Monday, urging Eta to make “a public declaration of the definitive cessation of all armed action”. Leaders of the separatist left publicly backed the call the next day . Eta’s swift response indicates that separatist-left politicians such as Rufino Etxeberria and Arnaldo Otegi, both of whom have served Eta-related prison terms, exercise growing power over the group, according to sources close to the negotiations. It also suggests that Eta has lost not just power over political allies, but also the support they once enjoyed among the 10%-20% of Basques who traditionally voted for pro-Eta parties. Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero welcomed Eta’s statement as a victory of democracy over terrorism. “For many, too many, years, we have suffered and battled against terror,” he said. “We have done so until democratic reason has won out definitely.” “Ours will be a democracy without terrorism but with memory; the memory of 829 victims and their families, of so many wounded who suffered the unjust and hateful blow of terrorism,” he added. While Zapatero said the task of deciding what happens next should be left to the administration formed after the general election on November 20, it was not immediately clear how the governments of Spain and France would react to Eta’s request for negotiations that it said should address “the resolution of the consequences of the conflict … to overcome the armed confrontation”. That is taken to mean, among other things, talks about the future of the 600 Eta members in Spanish and French jails. The Spanish government will also come under immediate pressure to legalise the Batasuna party and other separatist organisations that were banned for being Eta fronts. Although Zapatero’s government did not meet Annan when it travelled to San Sebastian on Monday, observers speculated that group members – including former Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland – would not have gone to Spain without government consent. The regional prime minister of the Basque country, fellow socialist Patxi López, has already suggested that Eta prisoners be moved to prisons closer to their families. The centre-right People’s party, led by Mariano Rajoy, which has traditionally been tough on Eta, is expected to win a landslide in the general election. If it does it will come under fierce pressure from Eta victims, including the families of PP politicians it has killed, not to concede anything to the group. While other members of Rajoy’s party have insisted that they will accept nothing less than Eta’s surrender and dissolution, he has not commented publicly. “He is a perceptive, intelligent and responsible person,” said Brian Currin, the South African lawyer who has done much of the mediating work. “I am sure he will take the step to lead this process to its natural conclusion.” The announcement came 53 years after Euskadi ta Askatasuna, which means Basque homeland and freedom in the region’s Euskara language, was founded by young separatists while Spain was ruled by the military dictator General Francisco Franco. The group claimed its first victim, a civil guard police officer gunned down in Adona, near the northern Basque city of San Sebastian, in 1968. Most of its victims, however, died in the years after Spain’s transition to democracy and the approval of a statute of partial self-government for the region in 1979. The group has been seriously weakened by police action in recent years, and some observers claim it has simply been
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Murdochs face ranks of investor critics at LA event as Labour MP claims type of snooping distinct from hacking Tom Watson, the Labour MP who has been a leading figure in parliament’s investigation into the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, plans to make dramatic allegations about News Corporation’s use of surveillance at the company’s annual shareholder meeting. Watson, who sits on the Commons culture, media and sport committee which has investigated the scandal, said he would be giving News Corp’s shareholders details of previously undisclosed surveillance methods used by the firm that were technologically quite distinct from the phone hacking carried out by NoW staff. He refused to go into details about the allegations he would be making or to offer any evidence to corroborate them. He said: “I want to leave investors in no doubt that News Corporation is not through the worst of this yet and there are more questions for the Murdochs to answer.” Watson has flown to Los Angeles to attend the shareholders meeting, which he will gain access to having been given a proxy vote by the US trade union umbrella group, the AFL-CIO. News Corporation is bracing itself for independent shareholders to vote in considerable numbers at the meeting against the reappointment of Rupert Murdoch and his sons, James and Lachlan, in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal. The scale of the protest outside the Murdoch family is expected to be substantially over 20% of independent shareholders, with several expected to raise questions at the meeting at Fox studios. But their protest will not be enough to topple the family, because Rupert Murdoch controls 40% of the voting shares. Nevertheless, before the meeting there were clear signs of tension at the upper levels of News Corp, with particular emphasis on security at the event and worries about what sort of tone the 80-year-old media mogul will strike in front of those who, alongside him, have a stake in the empire he built. Murdoch’s opening address is expected to show less of the contrition than in London in July, when he told MPs: “This the most humble day of my life.” Instead he is expected to strike a more combative tone, although there are worries that this will alienate some investors and outsiders. The language is understood to reflect the sentiments expressed 10 days ago in a stock exchange filing in which News Corp, in response to the growing army of concerned shareholders, accused its critics of having a “disproportionate focus on the News of the World matter” which
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