NHS costs squeeze means longer waiting lists – and growing numbers of patients opting to pay for operations, say private firms Private healthcare firms are experiencing an increase in business caused by the financial squeeze across the NHS in England, a new report on the sector shows. Independent providers are benefitting from the growing number of patients who are choosing to pay for their own care after having treatment delayed or denied altogether by an NHS primary care trust (PCT). In a survey of 101 influential industry figures – including chief executives, investors and advisers – 34% said budgetary pressure in the NHS had led to increased demand for private healthcare. While the reasons were not given, experts said the NHS’s need to cut costs was prompting patients to fund their own hip or knee replacement, hernia repair or cataract removal. “We are certainly picking up that some patients are being asked to wait longer than they would have expected and are therefore deciding to pay for themselves rather than wait,” said David Worskett, chief executive of the NHS Partners Network , which represents more than 30 firms – both for-profit and not-for-profit – that work with the NHS. Worskett said “misguided” decisions of many PCTs to force patients to wait many months for treatment, often until the next financial year, lay behind the growing trend. Many PCTs are rationing access to care as the NHS struggles to adjust to a 0.1% annual increase in its budget, after years of big rises, and the need to make £20bn of efficiency savings by 2015. The trend is a boost for a UK private health market which that was hit hard by the downturn in 2008 and for which recovery since has lagged behind that seen elsewhere in Europe, according to Credit Suisse. It is contained in HealthInvestor magazine’s annual study of the industry’s fortunes in conjunction with law firm Nabarro, called The Healthcare Industry Barometer 2011, which is published today. Mark Varian, of Ramsay Healthcare, which has more than 3,500 staff and runs 34 hospitals and treatment centres, said business was growing because of tighter NHS budgets. Hospital trusts unable to treat patients within the 18-week deadline set by the government have been paying Ramsay to treat NHS backlogs. “They are using us as an overflow. [NHS] Waiting lists are extending and of course some hospital trusts are talking to us about helping them achieve their 18-week target,” Varian said. All 34 of their facilities in England have signed contracts since June with hospital trusts, and growing numbers of trusts are doing the same in order to get people treated on time, he said. The expansion of patients’ right to choose where they are treated, between NHS and private centres, was another reason for Ramsay seeing more state-funded patients. Private firms receive only the same amount as an NHS hospital, called the “tariff”, when they reach such agreements, whereas usually prices in the commercial sector are higher. Private acute healthcare in the UK is worth an estimated £7.2bn, with independent hospitals contributing £5.1bn of that, said HealthInvestor’s editor-in-chief Vernon Baxter. But the survey also reveals that 76% of those questioned agreed or strongly agreed that “continued political uncertainty around the fate of [health secretary] Andrew Lansley’s reforms is now harming companies active in this sector. Over 80% believe the public and medical backlash against Lansley’s NHS shake-up has prompted many investors to leave the sector because of the risks involved. There is deep disappointment that the coalition’s NHS policies have not produced more opportunities for the sector. Only 22% of industry figures agree that “the coalition has supported the recovery of the UK independent healthcare market”, while 39% disagree. However, while 42% are not optimistic that the coalition will accelerate the private sector’s role in the NHS, 55% are quite or very optimistic. But 55% think that handing control of £60bn of the NHS budget to GP-led clinical commissioning groups in 2013 will ultimately produce a more plural and competitive market in healthcare. “The current lack of optimism in the healthcare industry is seen by some as a natural consequence of high expectations for rapid reform a year ago being dashed by current political uncertainty,” said Warren Taylor, head of healthcare at Nabarro. “However, for those taking a longer term view, there’s much to merit cautious optimism. The direction of NHS reforms under the coalition remains positive for the sector.” Healthcare industry NHS Health Denis Campbell guardian.co.uk
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Actual report : “Nikon understands that some article appeared in the media regarding Nikon’s imaging product. Please note that Nikon has made no announcement in this regards.” Translation : “We don’t always reject rumors. But when we do, we reject ones you’ve never heard of.” The exhaustive press release can be found in its entirety after the break. [Thanks, PJ] Continue reading Nikon announces that it has announced nothing Nikon announces that it has announced nothing originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Sep 2011 01:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Click here to view this media Why isn’t the mainstream media saying anything about a so-called objective media outlet partnering with a mainstream Republican organization like the Tea Party Express? I’m watching the debate right now but I’ve got to tell you all…this intro was insulting and beneath our political process.
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Shia Muslims travelling to holy shrine in Syria shot by gang at fake security checkpoint in western province Gunmen killed 22 Shia pilgrims in an ambush in Iraq’s western province of Anbar on Monday, a police official said. They were travelling from Karbala, amongst the holiest of Shia cities, on a trip north to another holy shrine in neighbouring Syria. The bodies were discovered late on Monday night, hours after the gang of gunmen stopped the bus at a fake security checkpoint and told all the women to get off, according to one official who interviewed a survivor. The gunmen drove the bus a few miles off the main highway in the Sunni-dominated Anbar province. The pilgrims were ordered off the bus and shot one by one. “There was a big bus and a mini bus containing 30 people, including 22 men and eight women,” Major General Hadi Razij, head of Anbar police, told Reuters. “They took the men and they left the women. They killed the 22 men.” Security officials and a political leader from Karbala confirmed the shooting details. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to release information. While violence has dropped in Iraq from the height of sectarian fighting in 2006-07, killings and bombings remain a daily occurrence more than eight years after the 2003 US-led invasion. The sprawling desert province of Anbar was the heartland of a Sunni Islamist insurgency after the invasion, and its main cities, Ramadi and Falluja, saw some of the fiercest fighting of the war. In April 2007, some 110 people were killed and hundreds injured in bombing attacks on holy sites in Karbala, considered the second most important city for Shia Muslims. Iraq Middle East Global terrorism guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Shia Muslims travelling to holy shrine in Syria shot by gang at fake security checkpoint in western province Gunmen killed 22 Shia pilgrims in an ambush in Iraq’s western province of Anbar on Monday, a police official said. They were travelling from Karbala, amongst the holiest of Shia cities, on a trip north to another holy shrine in neighbouring Syria. The bodies were discovered late on Monday night, hours after the gang of gunmen stopped the bus at a fake security checkpoint and told all the women to get off, according to one official who interviewed a survivor. The gunmen drove the bus a few miles off the main highway in the Sunni-dominated Anbar province. The pilgrims were ordered off the bus and shot one by one. “There was a big bus and a mini bus containing 30 people, including 22 men and eight women,” Major General Hadi Razij, head of Anbar police, told Reuters. “They took the men and they left the women. They killed the 22 men.” Security officials and a political leader from Karbala confirmed the shooting details. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to release information. While violence has dropped in Iraq from the height of sectarian fighting in 2006-07, killings and bombings remain a daily occurrence more than eight years after the 2003 US-led invasion. The sprawling desert province of Anbar was the heartland of a Sunni Islamist insurgency after the invasion, and its main cities, Ramadi and Falluja, saw some of the fiercest fighting of the war. In April 2007, some 110 people were killed and hundreds injured in bombing attacks on holy sites in Karbala, considered the second most important city for Shia Muslims. Iraq Middle East Global terrorism guardian.co.uk
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Lady Eliza Manningham-Buller says dialogue with terror groups, including al-Qaida, requires courage but ‘is necessary’ The former head of MI5, Lady Eliza Manningham-Buller, has delivered an impassioned defence of talking to terrorists, even to elements of al-Qaida. “Dialogue, even with terrorists, is necessary”, she told an invited audience at the recording of her third and final BBC Reith lecture, on the theme Securing Freedom, in the British Library in central London. “Talking doesn’t mean approval”, she said. “It’s a way of exploring peaceful options, what compromises, if any, can be reached”. She added it required courage by governments. She continued: “Not all terrorist are evil, though their acts are”. There were people in al-Qaida who were tired of terror and already prepared to help the west. She said she was not suggesting “rushing off to do it tomorrow” but to consider which “components” of al-Qaida western interests could speak to. She has already provoked some of her former political masters in Tony Blair’s government by attacking the invasion of Iraq and decrying the term “war on terror”, in her earlier Reith lectures. On Monday, she went further, saying it was important “to try and reduce terrorism by talking to its advocates”. It was important, she said, to keep a “rational perspective” about the risks of terrorism. Politicians “lose their way” if they become too apprehensive about how the media would respond to terrorist attacks, she said. Attacking the many anti-terrorist laws passed by the Labour government, she spoke of “unnecessary” and “unproductive” measures. “The rush to legislation after an atrocity is often a mistake.” British governments, she said, had talked to the Provisional IRA in Northern Ireland. She said she would not exclude talking now to dissident Republican groups there. Asked after her lecture whether the west should talk to Hamas, the militant group governing Gaza, she replied: “I believe talks are going on. I’m not going to say more than that”. She described the use of intelligence agencies in “deniable” operations as “quite useful”. MI6 carried out back-channel talks with the IRA under the Thatcher government though it is unclear exactly what ministers knew about them. It is also unclear what ministers knew about MI6 involvement in “rendering” Libyan dissidents and terror suspects to Muammar Gaddafi’s security forces in 2003. There is a question, Manningham-Buller, who was head of MI5 at the time, said “whether the UK supped with a sufficiently long spoon”. She made it clear in an earlier Reith lecture that, in her view, the activities of MI6 were wrong. She is expected to give evidence to the Gibson inquiry into allegations of British collusion in the torture and the abuse of detainees. Her lecture, the third on the theme, Securing Freedom, will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 20 September. UK security and terrorism Global terrorism Terrorism policy al-Qaida MI5 MI6 IRA Hamas Palestinian territories Labour Libya Middle East Africa Richard Norton-Taylor guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Lib Dems’ fugitive donor named his dog Charles (Kennedy) as a bitter joke
September 12, 2011 No Comment
Convicted fraudster Michael Brown traced to Caribbean while his multiple identities raise questions for UK officials Waiters in the hotels along Punta Cana beach, a curve of white sand on the easternmost tip of the Dominican Republic, say the Scottish man in bermuda shorts is known as the owner of Charlie, a rottweiler-alsatian cross which is usually by his side. The pair have been seen in the Caribbean surf where Charlie liked to gnaw at discarded coconut shells. Last month, they were spotted in a gold Porsche Cayenne 4×4 as it bounced along the potholed roads to an exclusive golf course. But the dog’s owner, the Liberal Democrats’ fugitive donor Michael Brown, could not let the opportunity pass for a bitter joke at the expense of the party he once bankrolled. A former business associate claims Brown’s pet is named after Charles Kennedy, the ex-leader of the Liberal Democrats who accepted his gift. “He told me that he had given money to a political party and that his puppy was named after the leader. He thought it was funny,” said the one-time friend. Today the Guardian can reveal that fraudulently acquired legal documents enabled Brown to escape justice and begin a new life in the Caribbean. Brown, who gave the Lib Dems £2.4m of stolen money before being convicted of theft in his absence, duped the British authorities into giving him a passport under the name of Darren Patrick Nally in June 2008. At the time he was on bail in connection with a £60m fraud. The passport allowed him to leave Britain for a new, anonymous life in the Dominican Republic. Flitting between at least three properties nestled on white sand beaches and manicured golf courses, he applied for temporary residency and even enrolled on the country’s electoral register. Disclosure of the false passport raises serious questions for the Identity and Passport Service. At the time, images of Brown had featured in dozens of news articles and television programmes because of his sizeable gift to a political party. He already had a conviction from 2006 for obtaining a passport by deception. His fake passport enabled him to acquire the false Dominican documents. It is understood that police are investigating claims that he has acquired other British passports under stolen identities. The documents also show how Brown has changed his appearance while at the top of the City of London police’s most wanted list and on Crimestoppers’ most wanted list. While on the run, Brown was convicted and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for the theft of £8m, although the court was told he had stolen around £60m. Despite a court ruling that found that Brown’s donor firm 5th Avenue Partners was wholly fraudulent, Nick Clegg has refused to return the money that came from it. The Lib Dems have claimed that it was accepted in good faith. In his passport photograph, applied for in June 2008, Brown has grown a beard and his temples have gone grey. He had previously been clean-shaven and used to dye his hair strawberry blond. He may have been attempting to look a little older. Brown was then aged 42, while the real owner of his new identity was 47. Brown persuaded a judge that he was not a flight risk and should no longer have to wear an electronic tag. Living under strict bail conditions in Hampstead, north London, he had been forced to hand over his real passport and was expected to check in with police twice a week. In fact Brown had gone to great lengths to acquire a number of documents bearing false names while awaiting trial. He used the name Michael Brown when his local council registered him in August 2007, but in September he returned a document to Camden electoral services stating that his surname should be registered as Campbell-Brown. He used this name to set up bank accounts with Capital One and NatWest at a time when his assets were frozen by a court order. The Dominican documents show that by February 2010, he was sporting a deeper tan. Government officials said Brown’s false British passport would have been one of two documents he used to apply for permission to live in the country. His temporary residency card appears to show that Brown’s adopted identity of Nally is Irish. Brown was in fact born in Scotland and is a UK citizen. Brown’s electoral identity card was registered at Sea Horse Ranch, an exclusive resort in the north of the country where he lived in an £882,000 villa protected by armed security guards. He is said to have lived there for several months at least. Two men suspected of helping him flee Britain and adopt a false identity were arrested and questioned on Friday. The former friend, who says he lost hundred of thousands of dollars in a venture with Brown under his assumed name of Nally, said Brown was angered about the lack of support he had been given by politicians. “Darren gave them money, and they did not look after him,” he said. Marta Palomo, an estate agent who rents a four-bedroom house to Brown in a guarded estate a few hundred metres from the sea, said that she saw him two weeks ago. “I saw him in the house, and have spoken to him in the last week. He is busy, spends a lot of time in the capital city. He has had a place here for years,” she said. “He lives with his dog and a maid comes by and sometimes his wife comes over to visit,” she said. Brown’s wife Sharon Campbell lives in Mallorca. Brown told Palomo last week that he would be going away for a short time because a friend has been in hospital, she said. “I think he is out at the moment because his friend is ill, he has gone to see him in hospital. But I am sure he will be back,” she said. Manuel Angella, a local taxi driver who has driven Brown to the capital city of Santo Domingo, said: “Darren is a very good man. There are many worse people in this world,” he said. City of London police are negotiating to secure Brown’s return. No Briton has ever been forced to return from the Dominican Republic and there is no extradition treaty between the two countries. Liberal Democrats Dominican Republic Party funding Crime Rajeev Syal guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Murder and torture ‘carried out by both sides’ of uprising against Libyan regime
September 12, 2011 No Comment
Amnesty International report is filled with horrific abuses and killings by pro-Gaddafi forces as well as opposition fighters Rebels as well as pro-Gaddafi forces have perpetrated killings, torture and other abuses during the uprising against the Libyan regime, say human rights investigators. The civil war that brought down Muammar Gaddafi has been marked by widespread atrocities on both sides, according to Amnesty International. In one of the most comprehensive reports yet on the human cost of the six-month conflict, Amnesty offers harrowing testimony of the war crimes, killings of unarmed protesters and arbitrary detentions by Gaddafi’s security forces. But it also lifts the lid on a catalogue of reprisal attacks that have gained less international attention during the revolution. “Opposition fighters and supporters have abducted, arbitrarily detained, tortured and killed former members of the security forces, suspected Gaddafi loyalists, captured soldiers and foreign nationals wrongly suspected of being mercenaries fighting on behalf of Gaddafi forces,” Amnesty says. “No independent or credible investigations are known to have been carried out by the NTC [opposition National Transitional Council], nor effective measures taken to hold to account those responsible for these abuses.” One chapter of the report, the Battle for Libya: killings, disappearances and torture , focuses on opposition abuses which, though on a “smaller scale” than those of the regime, are said to have been often ruthless and deadly. The report says that in the first days of the uprising, groups of protesters killed captured soldiers and suspected mercenaries in al-Bayda, Derna and Benghazi. “Some were beaten to death, at least three were hanged, and others were shot dead after they had been captured or had surrendered,” the report says. Those who tried to distance themselves from Gaddafi’s military apparatus were often shown no mercy, Amnesty’s researchers found. A former member of Libya’s internal security agency, Ibrahim Khalifa al-Surmani, a father of six, was found dead on 10 May in the outskirts of Benghazi. “He had been shot in the head. His hands and feet were bound and a scarf was tightly tied around his neck. He was missing a piece of flesh from his right calf and marks on his trousers indicated that he had been kneeling. A bloodstained note bearing his name was found by the body; it read: ‘… a dog among Gaddafi’s dogs has been eliminated’.” Amnesty also found more recent unlawful killings “perpetrated by organised groups who operate freely, openly and with impunity”. Victims’ families were generally unwilling to protest for fear of reprisals and to avoid the stigma of being labelled Gaddafi loyalists or “anti-revolutionary”. In addition, opposition groups have detained hundreds of people in areas they control since the end of February, Amnesty says. These include people accused of “subverting the revolution,” who say they were never shown an arrest warrant or any other document. “In most cases, the manner of detention is better described as abduction rather than arrest,” the report argues. “They were seized by groups of heavily-armed men, some of them masked, who did not identify themselves. They were then taken away in unmarked vehicles, usually pick-up trucks with anti-aircraft machine-guns mounted at the back.” It continues: “None of the detainees, whether Libyan or foreign civilians, or Libyan soldiers, have had access to a lawyer, been formally charged, or been given the opportunity to challenge their detention before a judicial authority.” Several detainees, including Libyan and foreign civilians, as well as captured soldiers, told Amnesty that they were tortured. Most commonly reported methods included beatings all over the body with objects such as belts, metal bars, sticks, rifle butts and rubber hoses (at times directly on exposed flesh); electric shocks; and threats – including rape. The report states: “Victims are subjected to beatings and other abuses seemingly to extract confessions and to punish them for their alleged ‘crimes’. In some cases, detainees are forced to sign or thumb-print statements under torture or duress without being allowed to read them. In fact, several detainees told Amnesty International that they were interrogated while blindfolded.” Amnesty was shown video footage of a group of rebels taunting captured soldiers at the al-Jalaa hospital in Benghazi, forcing them to repeat “I am a Gaddafi dog,” and chew paper. A detainee at the Saadoun secondary school detention centre in Misrata claimed he was often beaten with a metal bar or belt or given electric shocks. “It is very painful,” the man was quoted as saying. “He wants me to confess that I have killed, raped and stolen; at least one of these crimes. When I say that I didn’t do any of these things he tortures me more harshly.” Amnesty says NTC officials have shown willingness to take steps to improve prison conditions and avoid future abuses, but seemed reluctant to investigate and bring those responsible to justice. The NTC sought to distance itself from the alleged violations. A spokeswoman for the NTC said: “The Amnesty report is overwhelmingly filled with the horrific abuses and killings by the Gaddafi regime. However, there are a small number of incidents involving those opposed to Gaddafi; the NTC strongly condemns any abuses perpetrated by either side.” She added: “The NTC is firmly committed to upholding human rights and the rule of law, both international and local. The violation of rights no longer has a place in Libya. The NTC is putting its efforts to bring any armed groups under official authorities and will fully investigate any incidents brought to our attention.” The findings are largely based on Amnesty’s visit to Libya between 26 February and 28 May, including to the cities of al-Bayda, Ajdabiya, Brega, Benghazi, Misrata and Ras Lanouf. The report claims foreigners have been targeted by both sides, particularly individuals with dark skin. But the report adds: The report says people with dark skin were targeted by both sides, but “the allegations about the use of mercenaries proved to be largely unfounded”. The report chronicles in depth the atrocities committed by Gaddafi loyalists, including artillery, mortar and rocket attacks against residential areas and use of indiscriminate weapons such as anti-personnel mines and cluster bombs. Civilians not involved in the fighting were killed and extra-judicial executions carried out. Amnesty found an extensive campaign of enforced disappearances of perceived opponents across the country, including journalists, writers, online activists and protesters. Thousands of Libyans were abducted from their homes, mosques and streets, or captured near the frontline, frequently with the use of violence. Among the disappeared were children as young as 12. Libya Middle East Africa Muammar Gaddafi Arab and Middle East unrest David Smith guardian.co.uk
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Reduction in number of constituencies will see high-profile figures face election battle as seats are merged A series of clashes between high-profile MPs from the main political parties will take place at the next general election, after the boundary review unveiled bigger than expected changes to England’s parliamentary constituencies. As anxious Conservatives warned their whips on Monday night of a rebellion against the changes, which will have to be approved by the Commons, MPs across the house were ready for bruising battles. Vince Cable leads a list of senior Liberal Democrat MPs who face major changes to their constituencies. Large chunks of Cable’s Twickenham will be joined with Richmond, setting up a possible clash at the election between the business secretary and Zac Goldsmith, Tory MP for Richmond Park. Cable may decide to stand in the new seat of Teddington and Hanworth which takes in much of his old seat of Twickenham. The main changes in the review by the Boundary Commission for England, which is designed to reduce the size of the commons from 650 MPs to 600, include: • A clash between two rising stars of the Labour: shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan and shadow business minister Chuka Umunna. Their seats of Streatham and Tooting are combined into one. • Major changes to the Chingford and Woodford Green seat held by Iain Duncan Smith, work and pensions secretary. Three strong Labour wards from Edmonton will be added to the seat, which becomes Chingford and Edmonton. • A “significantly reconfigured” seat of Eastleigh, Hampshire, held by Chris Huhne, energy and climate change secretary. • Changes to George Osborne’s Tatton seat. He is said to be relaxed because he believes his seat remains largely intact under the new name of Northwich. • Hugh Robertson, sports minister, loses his seat in Faversham and Mid Kent. • Nadine Dorries, the Tory abortion campaigner, loses her Mid Bedfordshire seat. Tim Farron, Lib Dem MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, will face a widely redrawn seat to be renamed Kendal and Penrith. This prompted speculation that Farron, seen as a future Lib Dem leader, would face a fight to remain in parliament. However, Tory sources feel the changes are gloomier for Rory Stewart, MP for neighbouring Penrith and the Border. All MPs with English seats were given personal copies of the Boundary Commission for England report in parliament’s Portcullis House at midday on Monday before its publication at midnight. Separate reports by the commissions for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be released later. MPs sat in groups in Portcullis House poring over maps of the changes that will see the number of constituencies cut from 533 to 502. Tory MPs, who had been led to believe by their party leadership that the review would favour their party, were involved in tense discussions with their whips about the changes, which went further than they expected. “We are not happy about this,” one senior Tory said. “There are MPs who gave up a lot to come here and now it looks like they face real fights. Whips have been coming up to us and asking how we are taking this. Not well is the message.” The MP said it was possible that the changes might be dropped. “This is far more wide-ranging than anyone had thought. It wouldn’t surprise me if this is dropped. They’ll just say it is all too complicated and they’ll come back to it after the election.” Downing Street sources said the prime minister, whose Witney constituency remains unchanged, was adamant that the changes will go ahead. The Tories and Lib Dems both pledged in their manifestos to cut the size of the Commons. Cutting the number of seats from 650 to 600 is designed to save £12m a year and even up the size of seats. The Tories believe that Labour has an unfair advantage. The average size of the electorate in a Labour seat is 68,487, compared with 72,418 in Conservative seats. The average size of a Lib Dem seat is 69,440, mainly because it has proportionally more seats in Scotland where constituencies tend to be smaller. Under the changes, a parliamentary constituency must have an electorate that is no smaller than 72,810 and no larger than 80,473. There will be exemptions. The Isle of Wight, which has an electorate of just over 100,000 and is currently one constituency, is to be broken into two seats. Orkney and Shetland will be one seat. Na h-Eileanan an Iar, formerly the Western Isles, will remain as one seat even though it has an electorate of just over 20,000. Tory, Labour and Lib Dem strategists were working late into the night to assess the impact of the changes. Sources said it would take time to make a proper assessment. But in initial conclusions the Tories feared they had been handed many more marginal seats, though that could work in Cameron’s favour at the next election if there is a swing to the Conservatives. The Lib Dems will face a challenge because changes to seats stretch the resources of a smaller party. But they point to the success of Sarah Teather, the education minister, who held on in the new seat of Brent Central. None of the main parties commented publicly in detail on the Boundary Commission review but Ed Miliband criticised the government’s plans to cut the size of the Commons. “We have serious concerns about the government’s decision to change the boundaries, which we believe was an act of gerrymandering by the Conservative party,” the Labour leader said. “However the Labour party now intends to take time to examine the initial proposals before making our formal response.” Pete Reeve, the Ukip local government spokesman, said: “It weakens the already tenuous link between the MP and his or her constituents. By increasing the size of the constituencies it will have the effect of pushing people away, rather than drawing them into the political process. Each MP will have to look after even more people, and there are precious few today who look after those they have very well.” Electoral reform Liberal Democrats Conservatives Labour Vince Cable Nicholas Watt guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media Speaking to reporters after touring a Boeing plant in South Carolina Monday, Republican presidential candidate Mitt (corporations are people, my friends) Romney pledged to pursue legislation that would prohibit unions from contributing dues to political campaigns. “We have a very unusual circumstance in this country,” Romney said, “and that is that we allow union bosses to collect dues from union members and then to use that money as the union boss sees fit to elect people who might do their bidding. It’s unseemly at best.” “I will pursue and hopefully enact legislation which inhibits taking money in the form of dues and putting it behind political campaigns. That should not happen.” The candidate added that he had “no problem with unions.”
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