Sir Hugh Orde wins support of two panels for Met police commissioner job
September 12, 2011 No Comment
Home Office-convened group and special panel of the MPA back Sir Hugh Orde, who has been critical of government policy Sir Hugh Orde has been ranked as the best suited candidate to be the next Metropolitan police commissioner by both of the official panels that have interviewed the contenders, the Guardian has learned. The first panel to reach a conclusion was convened by the Home Office and composed of top civil servants and experts. It was chaired by Helen Ghosh , who serves as permanent secretary at the Home Office, and met on Friday 2 September. Last Tuesday, a special panel of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) met and also ranked Orde as best for the job, placing Bernard Hogan-Howe second. On Monday the home secretary, Theresa May, and the London mayor, Boris Johnson, are interviewing the four candidates, and it is expected that Orde’s vocal opposition to the government’s plans for reforming policing will be a significant obstacle to him getting the job. But Orde has been able to convince the two panels that he would be able to work sufficiently well with the Conservatives who run central government and local government in London, raising the prospect that his rejection by May would be seen as party political. By law the selection of the Met commissioner is the responsibility of the home secretary, who merely has to have “regard” for the views of the mayor and the MPA. Orde, who is president of Association of Chief Police Officers, has criticised the government over plans for elected crime commissioners, funding cuts and its response to the August riots, and dismissed the prime minister’s idea that the Met could be run by a foreign police chief as “stupid”. The favourite for the £260,000 a year job is Hogan-Howe, the Met’s acting deputy commissioner, with Stephen House in second place. House, the chief constable of Strathclyde police, was invited to apply by the Home Office after his force won praise for its work on gangs in Glasgow. The other candidate is the acting Met commissioner, Tim Godwin. The government believes that policing needs radical reform. A source with knowledge of government thinking said: “[Orde] is the chief spokesman for the way things have been, and the government wants to shake things up. What anybody else says, such as the MPA, is not binding on the home secretary.” The last two Scotland Yard commissioners have resigned mid-term and one Whitehall source said: “Orde is not the candidate for a quiet life.” Hogan-Howe, a former head of Merseyside police, was seconded into the force by May after Sir Paul Stephenson was forced out as commissioner over errors of judgment in the phone-hacking case. He was viewed on Merseyside as having performed well in tackling gangs and crime, as well as modernising the force. He previously worked for Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary. House has also modernised his force and is a favourite to be the first head of the single Scotland-wide force if he fails to get the Met job. Hogan-Howe and House have another factor in their favour: both their tenures in charge of forces outside of London saw a reduction in crime despite working with tighter budgets. Godwin, like Orde, is seen to be ill at ease with the government’s desire for wholesale changes in policing. David Lammy, MP for Tottenham, told the Guardian that the most important task for the new commissioner was to boost the numbers of minority ethnic officers in the force. Policing by consent was no longer possible unless there was a surge in recruitment of black and Asian officers, he said. “The police in London have got to start looking like the police in New York,” said Lammy. “We have stalled in relation to ethnic minority recruitment. How can you establish consent in this environment?” Minority ethnic officers represent 9.6% of the force, in a city where at least a quarter of the population are from minority backgrounds. Metropolitan police London Police Theresa May Boris Johnson London politics Vikram Dodd guardian.co.uk
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Blaze rages through densely populated Embakasi slum in Kenya’s capital after an explosion in a petrol pipeline More than 100 people were burned to death after a petrol fire broke out in a densely populated slum in Nairobi, local media said. Television channels aired images of smouldering skeletons as the fire raged through the slum, according to Reuters. The Associated Press said its reporter had counted at least 40 dead bodies in the remains of burning shacks up to 300 metres (1,000ft) from the site of an explosion. Other bodies were floating in a nearby river filled with sewage. Witnesses said people had jumped into the river after catching fire. Residents said homes had been built right up to a petrol pipeline that runs through the heavily populated slum of Embakasi, between the city centre and the airport. Police said they were still counting bodies. They said some of those killed had been trying to scoop up spilled petrol. Kenya Africa Oil Energy Fossil fuels guardian.co.uk
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Mitch Winehouse believes his daughter died after suffering a seizure brought on by alcohol withdrawal Amy Winehouse’s father has blamed her death on her efforts to quit drinking. In an interview to air on Monday, Mitch Winehouse said he believes his daughter died after suffering a seizure brought on by alcohol withdrawal. “Everything Amy did, she did to excess,” he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “She drank to excess and did detox to excess.” Almost two months after she was found in her north London home, the cause of Amy’s death has still not been identified. While a toxicology report showed there were no illegal substances in the singer’s system, Mitch told CNN there were traces of Librium, a prescription drug used to fight anxiety and alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Some alcohol was also found in her bloodstream. This was part of a pattern Mitch said he had seen before. Although he insists his daughter quit hard drugs in December 2008, alcohol was still a problem. “The periods of abstinence were becoming longer, and the periods of drinking were becoming shorter,” he said. “It was heading in the right direction.” Withdrawal caused seizures, Mitch said, and he believes one of these seizures killed her on 23 July. “There was nobody there to rescue her.” CNN also spoke to Amy’s mother, Janis Winehouse, her stepmother, her aunt, and Reg Traviss, the singer’s boyfriend. Two days before Amy died, Traviss said, they spent a quiet evening watching DVDs. They were planning a holiday in St Lucia in September. “She was a really clever girl,” he said. “She knew what she was doing.” Traviss said he wanted to talk to her more about her drinking problem but feared he would be seen as “nagging”. A full inquest into the singer’s death will begin next month. Amy Winehouse Pop and rock Sean Michaels guardian.co.uk
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Speculation is growing that Greece is sliding towards the eurozone exit World stock markets fell on Monday as the growing prospect of a Greek default sent banking shares tumbling across Europe. The escalating financial crisis wiped 144 points off the FTSE 100, sending the index of blue-chip stocks down 2.6% to 5,071 at one stage. There were heavier losses in other European markets, with Germany’s DAX index falling more than 3% to its lowest level since July 2009. France’s three biggest banks all plunged by more than 10%, after senior German politicians appeared to accept that Greece may be forced to quit the eurozone. Speculation swept the City that Greece is sliding towards the eurozone exit, despite imposing a new property tax in an attempt to keep its fiscal plans on track. “Eurozone officials have appeared to be taking a hardline stance on Greek in recent sessions suggesting that the country may not see the next tranche of its bailout funds without more austerity, said Jane Foley of Rabobank. “The hardline position being taken against Greece has fed speculation that perhaps Germany is preparing for a Greek exit from the eurozone. Reports that Germany is increasingly focusing on ways to protect its banks in the event of a Greek default are circulating.” The prospect of Greece exiting the eurozone were fuelled by a senior member of Angela Merkel’s German government openly discussing the prospect that Athens might not receive its next slice of bailout cash. “The situation is very serious, more than some had thought,” said Peter Altmaier. “Exclusion from the eurozone is not legally possible at the moment. That means the Greeks must decide themselves if they stay in the eurozone or if an exit is better for them.” Lehman collapse could be repeated Amid the uncertainty, the euro fell to $1.36 against the dollar and hit a 10-year low against the Japanese yen. The major Asian stock markets all fell into the red, with the Nikkei falling 2.3% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index losing 4.2%. Traders were disheartened that last weekend’s meeting of G7 finance ministers did not produce a detailed new plan to solve the European debt crisis . This helped to push the cost of insuring debt issued by Italy to a new all-time high. According to Markit, it now costs over €500,000 (£427,000) a year to insure €10m of Italian sovereign debt, a euro-era record. Credit ratings agency Moody’s is rumoured to be planning to cut the French banking sector’s credit rating, due to its exposure to Greek debt. In Paris, BNP Paribas’s shares fell 12%, with Société Générale losing 11.7% and Credit Agricole down 11.1%. The heavy falls came despite SocGen pledging to sell €4bn of assets to strengthen its balance sheet. “These fears are likely to manifest themselves in the form of further strains within the whole European banking system, as banks remain reluctant to lend to each other in a possible repeat of the 2008 Lehman crisis,” warned Michael Hewson, market analyst at CMC Markets. UK government debt remained a “safe haven” on Monday, with the yield – or interest rate – on 10-year sovereign debt dropping to 2.21%. European debt crisis European banks Greece Europe Stock markets Market turmoil Global economy Europe Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk
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Strauss-Kahn has been interviewed by French police investigating alleged attack on journalist Tristane Banon Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been interviewed by French police investigating a second attempted rape allegation. The former head of the International Monetary Fund was questioned on Monday morning by officers carrying out a preliminary inquiry into allegations he attacked the novelist and journalist Tristane Banon when she went to interview him in 2003. Banon, now 32, claims Strauss-Kahn, 62, leapt on her and behaved like a “rutting chimpanzee”, accusations his lawyers describe as “fantasy”. Strauss-Kahn was quizzed by police just over a week after he arrived back in France from New York. Charges that he had sexually assaulted and attempted to rape a New York hotel maid, Nafissatou Diallo, were dropped after questions about her credibility were raised when it was revealed she had lied to immigration officers in order to stay in the United States. Diallo is now bringing a civil suit. In a statement, Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers said he had asked to be interviewed by police as a “witness” in the Banon case. Friends of the former socialist presidential hopeful said he wanted to “close the [Banon] affair”. The prosecutor’s office has until next month to decide whether to formally put Strauss-Kahn under investigation. In a recent message on her Facebook page, Banon said she was full of “nausea” since Strauss-Kahn’s return to France. Several women protested outside his home in the chic Place des Vosges in Paris at the weekend, demanding that he does not return to politics. Dominique Strauss-Kahn France Europe Kim Willsher guardian.co.uk
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On opening day of TUC’s annual conference, Brendan Barber says government’s case for public sector pension reform has been ‘comprehensively blown out of the water’ The leader of the TUC has refused to rule out further widespread industrial action over “utterly unacceptable” reforms to the pension schemes of around 6 million workers. Brendan Barber warned the prospect of mass walkouts was “finely balanced” because of the lack of progress in the talks. Barber, who is due to address delegates at the opening day of the TUC conference, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme he believed unions would get broad public support if forced to resort to industrial action, because the government’s case for reforms had been “comprehensively blown out of the water”. His comments came as leaders of the heavyweight unions made clear they were prepared to lead millions of workers on mass walkouts unless serious negotiations began to take place. As delegates representing 55 unions under the TUC umbrella gather in central London for the first day of their annual conference, Barber said: “We are in the middle of difficult negotiations at the moment on the issue of public service pensions. “Six million public service workers [are] fearful that their pensions are to be stripped down in a way that is utterly unacceptable. I hope that negotiations will be able to reach a settlement without the need of further industrial action, but it’s very finely balanced at the moment and as things stand we are a long way away from reaching that settlement and therefore we could see further widespread industrial action.” He cited figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility and Lord Hutton’s report on public sector pensions, which pointed to the fact that the cost of pensions as a proportion of GDP was set to fall over the coming decade. “So the changes they want to make are not driven by fears of affordability,” he said. Len McCluskey, the leader of the Unite union, told the Observer this weekend that “every conceivable form of protest and action should be carefully considered” in protest at coalition cuts to pensions and public services, from civil disobedience through to co-ordinated industrial strikes. Dave Prentis, leader of the country’s largest public sector union, Unison, conceded on Monday that the failure to make progress in the talks was building up to a “serious issue”. He told Today his union was prepared to ballot over 1 million public sector workers if talks failed, though striking was the last resort for members. “This is really building up to be a serious issue,” said Prentis. “We have got time to negotiate, we’ve still got I think two to three months to try and sort things out; we want to sort things out, we want sustainable viable schemes that give dignity to people.” On the prospect of taking strike action, Prentis said: “We represent nurses, we represent workers who look after very vulnerable children. In all the caring services in our society, it’s actually our members who provide those resources but you can’t have a year of talks and have not moved one iota in those talks. “Because at some point if it goes on like this … I can see a stage where the government will just impose by diktat and we will move to industrial action and that day will come ever closer.” Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, said pressure from public sector workers will mean the government will “have to have a rethink” on their plans for pensions and spending cuts. Serwotka, who claimed last week that unions were preparing to co-ordinate strike actin in November, told Today: “We’re in for a very, very bumpy ride if that remains the government position. However, we hope that as they see more and more professional public sector workers, we think supported by many, many people in the country, stand up and say ‘this is wrong’ that they’ll have to have a rethink.” He said the coalition government did not have a mandate for its plans. “The Liberal Democrats opposed most of these measures in the last general election and we think the lack of mandate, the lack of popular support for what they’re doing will become more and more apparent as we see people prepared to take industrial action, campaigns spring up locally to defend local services.” Serwotka added: “We think that can create enough opposition to force the government to have a rethink.” The 143rd annual Trades Union Congress is set to focus on the economy. Barber said ahead of his keynote speech there were fears unemployment would rise because the economy was “flatlining”. Barber, who makes his speech on the same day that the government-commissioned Vickers report outlines plans for reforming UK banks , will urge unions to “shift the debate” away from deficit reduction and on to building a new economy. “We have virtually no growth in the economy,” Barber told BBC news. “Our fears are that unemployment will rise further and for a lot of ordinary families their living costs are facing a real squeeze. “The government’s approach of having these huge cuts and focusing on austerity rather than growth is taking us in the wrong direction. We need to change course and that argument will be coming through in our debate today.” TUC Trade unions Brendan Barber Len McCluskey Dave Prentis Conferences Pensions Public sector careers Public sector cuts Public services policy Public finance Public sector pay Public sector pensions Hélène Mulholland guardian.co.uk
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Human Rights Watch report catalogues groups acting with impunity, undermining key plank in Nato troop reduction plans US-backed Afghan militias are committing murder, rape, torture and extortion, risking increasing support for the insurgent groups they were designed to fight against, a prominent human rights group said on Monday. Militias including the Afghan Local Police (ALP) – seen as a key plank in Nato’s troop reduction plans – suffer from poor oversight, and no accountability, and are prone to act with impunity, Human Rights Watch said. The ALP programme was introduced by the former commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, despite opposition from a sceptical President Hamid Karzai, who had it “forced down his throat like a foie gras goose”, a military official told the Guardian. One of Petraeus’s predecessors, General Dan McNeill, had rebuffed British attempts to arm militias after warning in 2008 that “there has been some good work here to get those things back in the box”. The year-old ALP scheme is the latest attempt by the Nato-led mission in Afghanistan to create local militias in areas where the country’s security forces are lacking. According to Petraeus, it was “arguably the most critical element in our effort to help Afghanistan develop the capability to secure itself”. It is supported by US special forces and overseen by the Afghan ministry of the interior and is being expanded after initial success in some areas where the local militias beat back insurgents. But Human Rights Watch’s 102-page report Just Don’t Call it a Militia, released on Monday, details how the US-funded “high risk” and “quick fix” solution has been plagued by poor design, a lack of oversight and insufficient vetting of the 7,000 recruits, some of whom are either criminal or insurgents. The US has approved funding for a further 23,000 ALP recruits. Human Rights Watch says the ALP has improved security in some areas but it has uncovered multiple examples of shocking human rights abuses that threatens to undermine its worth. In one of the worst examples of brutality, ALP militiamen detained two teenage boys on suspicion of planting roadside bombs in the district of Shindand in Herat province. An elder told Human Rights Watch: “Other elders and I went to the ALP base to collect (one of the boys). He had been beaten and nails had been hammered into his feet.” The most serious cases of abuse involve the killing and gang rape of child suspects, beatings, land grabs and the forcible collection of ushr , an informal tax. None of the cases had resulted in any action against the perpetrators, often because of the ALP’s links to powerful figures, the report says. “Patronage links to senior officials in the local security forces and the central government allow supposedly pro-government militias to terrorise local communities and operate with impunity,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. The report details the expansion of Afghan government-backed militias, which are known as arbakai , in the northern province of Kunduz that was done to “prevent a Taliban takeover”. But the district governor of Khanabad, Nizamuddin Nashir, told Human Rights Watch the groups were operating lawlessly. “They collect (taxes), take the daughters of the people, they do things against the wives of the people, they take their horses, sheep, anything,” he said. Human Rights Watch called for the disbandment of such irregular armed groups and for the US and Afghan governments to tighten vetting procedures and provide better oversight of the ALP. It also wants to ensure that allegations of abuse are investigated in accordance with the Leahy Law that forbids US military assistance to any foreign security force involved in human rights abuses for which it is not held accountable. “While there is a need for more security at the village level, the Afghan and US governments should be very careful not to repeat the mistakes of militias past,” Adams said. “If quick corrections are not made, the ALP could end up being just another militia that causes more problems than it cures.” The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force is yet to respond to the report but has previously described the ALP as successful at combating insurgents. Afghanistan US military Nato United States US foreign policy guardian.co.uk
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On one-day visit to Moscow, Cameron strikes conciliatory tone but also urges Russia to stamp out corruption, and reiterates demand for extradition of Andrei Lugovoi David Cameron has called for Russia to redouble its efforts to stamp out corruption and said there would be no let-up in UK demands for the extradition of the man suspected of killing a Russian spy in the UK. In a speech to Moscow State University, Cameron broadly broached some uncomfortable issues for the two countries but his tone was conciliatory, saying he wanted to “rebuild” the relationship and put an end to the “tit-for-tat” behaviour of the two countries. He said: “I accept that Britain and Russia have had a difficult relationship for some time. And we should be candid about the areas where we still disagree. But I want to make the case for a new approach based on co-operation.” There were “sceptics” in both countries, he said, “who will doubt whether we can ever get beyond the competitive ideological instincts of our past”, but he said he would take on those groups. The prime minister has arrived in Moscow for a one-day bout of intense diplomacy, and will be afforded the first face-to-face contact for a British prime minister with the Russian, prime minister, Vladimir Putin, since 2007. His speech is intended to begin a modest rapprochement between the two countries, with officials acknowledging there remains an “impasse” on many major issues. Relations have been strained since the murder in London in 2006 of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko and the Russian government’s refusal to extradite the man Britain suspects of the murder, Andrei Lugovoi, now state deputy in the Russian parliament. In his speech on Monday morning, Cameron tackled this head on for the first time on Russian soil. He said: “Our approach is simple and principled. When a crime is committed, that is a matter for the courts. It is their job to examine the evidence impartially and to determine innocence or guilt. The accused has a right to a fair trial. The victim and their family have a right to justice. “It is the job of governments to help courts to do their work and that will continue to be our approach.” Cameron had also been under pressure to mention human rights infringements, including the fate of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and the prosecution of former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khordokovsky, but made no reference to them in his speech. The government insists relations between the two countries could be more cordial than they currently are and the emphasis is on improving conditions for business. On Sunday four former British foreign secretaries wrote to the Sunday Times to urge Cameron caution in this area, saying corruption was still rife in Russia. Travelling with the prime minister is Bob Dudley, CEO of BP, and an exemplar of the constraints on British and Russian businesses attempting to operate in the country. On 31 August court marshals raided BP’s Moscow office in connection with a lawsuit, one day after BP’s rival – the US oil major Exxon Mobil – struck a deal with Russian state-owned Rosneft for an Arctic exploration. Cameron tackled this in his speech: “I’ve talked to many British businesses. I have no doubt about their ambition to work in Russia … but it’s also clear that the concerns that continue to make them hold back are real. “They need to know that they can go to a court confident that a contract will be enforced objectively … and that their assets and premises won’t be unlawfully taken away from them. In the long run the rule of law is what delivers stability and security.” UK goods exports to Russia are already worth £3.5bn, up 50% in the last year and, according to officials, growing by almost another two-thirds in the first half of this year. By the end of the trip, Downing Street hopes £215m worth of trade deals will have been struck – part of its attempt to galvanise inward investment in the UK and boost an export-led recovery. The prime minister said Britain would support Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organisation. He also acknowledged the different perspectives between the two countries over UN action in Libya. Russia feels the UK and France went beyond the remit of the UN resolution 1773. In his speech, Cameron said: “Let me put my cards on the table. The view I have come to is that the stability of corrupt and violently repressive dictatorships in Middle Eastern states like Gaddafi’s in Libya is false stability. “The transition to democracy may well have its difficulties and dangers … but it is the best long term path to peaceful progress … and is a powerful alternative to the poisonous narrative of Islamist extremism. “And I believe that Britain and Russia – and the whole international community – have a role to play in helping to support peace, stability and security across the Arab world.” Despite Cameron’s words, a Russian newspaper on Sunday reported a top Kremlin aide as saying no “reset” loomed, a reference to the word used by the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, to describe recent US attempts to restart their relations with Russia. The aide, Sergei Prikhodko, a top foreign policy adviser to the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, said: “I think that the visit will be pragmatic and calm. No one is expecting any breakthroughs, and in fact they are not needed. Why fight? It is not necessary for us to have a reset with Britain. We will continue to work the way that we have been working in the past.” Describing his first visit to the country, Cameron said: “I first came to Russia as a student on my gap year between school and university in 1985. I took the Trans-Siberian Railway from Nakhodka to Moscow and went on to the Black Sea coast. There two Russians – speaking perfect English – turned up on a beach mostly used by foreigners. “They took me out to lunch and dinner and asked me about life in England and what I thought about politics. When I got back I told my tutor at university and he asked me whether it was an interview. If it was, it seems I didn’t get the job! My fortunes have improved a bit since then. So have those of Russia.” He finished his speech by appearing to make a link between the two periods. “In the last 20 years Russia and Britain have both come a long way but each largely on their own. In the next 20 years I believe we can go very much further as we prove that ‘Вместе мы сильнее’ [we are stronger together].” David Cameron Foreign policy Russia Europe Alexander Litvinenko Vladimir Putin Dmitry Medvedev Allegra Stratton guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Chemotherapy breakthrough could could dramatically reduce side-effects
September 11, 2011 No Comment
Scientists have developed ‘smart-bomb chemotherapy’ which can isolate and destroy tumours without damaging healthy cells Cancer researchers have developed a “smart bomb” treatment that can target tumours with drugs while leaving healthy body cells intact. The technique means that patients will suffer fewer side-effects from the toxic drugs used in chemotherapy. The side-effects of cancer therapy – including hair loss, nausea and suppression of the immune system – can be debilitating. In many cases, the effects of the drugs can contribute to the ultimate cause of death. In experiments on mice, Laurence Patterson of the University of Bradford found that he could localise a cancer drug to the site of tumours and thereby limit its toxic impact in the body. All the animals, which had been implanted with human cancer cells responded to the targeted treatment and saw their tumours shrink. In half the animals, the tumours disappeared altogether. Professor Patterson will present his work at the British Science Festival in Bradford on Monday. “We’ve got a sort of smart bomb that will only be active in the tumour and will not cause damage to normal tissue,” he said. “It’s a new cancer treatment that could be effective against pretty much all types of tumour – we’ve looked at colon, prostate, breast, lung and sarcoma so far, and all have responded very well to this treatment.” The drug is based on a modified version of an existing cancer drug called coltrazine. In normal situations, this drug is delivered as part of a patient’s chemotherapy regime and, in addition to attacking cancer cells, it can kill healthy cells, too. “There are many agents currently used in the clinic for the treatment of cancer that are essentially poisons,” said Patterson. “Normal chemotherapy can often be the cause of death of the patient as opposed to dying from the tumour growth itself. Any treatment that is a poison that can be retained and is only active in the tumour is clearly very attractive.” Patterson’s team has designed a way to make the coltrazine active only when it comes into contact with a tumour. They did this by attaching a string of specific amino acids to the coltrazine, which made the drug inert. In this state, it can wander through the body freely and will not kill any cells it comes into contact with. But when the drug reaches the site of a solid tumour, the chain of amino acids is removed by an enzyme present on the surface of the cancer, called MMP-1. At this point, the coltrazine becomes active and can do its work in killing nearby cells. MMP1 is used by tumours to break down the cellular environment around itself and to enable the tumour to dig a path through normal tissue. It also gives the tumour access to nutrients and oxygen by encouraging the normal blood supply of a person to grow towards it. “If you can starve that tumour of that blood supply, then you shut off its ability to grow and move around the body,” said Patterson. In the experiments, he said, all the mice responded to the treatment. “Sometimes, the treatment is so effective, you remove the ability of that tumour to grow – you appear to cure the mouse. In some studies, we were able to cure half the mice: these animals no longer had any tumour growing in them and they appeared healthy for the 60 or so days of the trial.” An important use of the technique is that it can reach tumours that have spread throughout the body. Paul Workman, head of cancer therapeutics at the Institute of Cancer Research, said: “This is an interesting new approach to targeting tumour blood vessels that solid cancers need for their growth. The project is still at quite an early stage, but the results so far look promising in the laboratory models that have been studied. If confirmed in more extensive laboratory studies, drugs based on this approach could be very useful as part of combination treatments for various cancers.” The Bradford scientists hope that, with adequate funding, their drug delivery system could enter phase 1 clinical trials on people within 18 months. Cancer Medical research Cancer Health Alok Jha guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Vickers report: banks get until 2019 to ringfence high street operations
September 11, 2011 No Comment
• ICB stops short of recommendation for full break-up • Osborne promises legislation in this parliament • Up to £2tn of assets could be behind firewall • Barlays and RBS likely to be most affected Britain’s biggest banks are to be given until 2019 – longer than had been expected – to implement radical reform of their operations to prevent another taxpayer bailout of the system. The Independent Commission on Banking – issuing its report almost three years to the day after the collapse of Lehman Brothers which led to the major 2008 bank bailouts – said that banks should ringfence their high street banking businesses from their “casino” investment banking arms. The much anticipated final report by Sir John Vickers admitted its proposed reforms would cost between £4bn and £7bn but were more practical and less expensive than the full-scale separation of the kind that business secretary Vince Cable had called for in opposition. The ICB conceded that its reforms were “deliberately composed of moderate elements” but insisted “the reform package is far-reaching”. It said: “Together with other reforms in train, it would put the UK banking system of 2019 on an altogether different basis from that of 2007. In many respects, however, it would be restorative of what went before in the recent past – better-capitalised, less leveraged banking more focused on the needs of savers and borrowers in the domestic economy. Banks are at the heart of the financial system and hence of the market economy. The opportunity must be seized to establish a much more secure foundation for the UK banking system of the future”. George Osborne welcomed the report and said: “The government will now get on with implementing the report.” He promised legislation would be passed before the end of this parliament – but would give banks the time frame recommended by Vickers. The chancellor is to address parliament on Monday afternoon. Up to £2tn of assets could end up inside the fire wall – including all domestic high street banking services – as the ICB said that the aggregate balance sheets of the UK’s banks was over £6tn and that between one sixth and one third of these should be protected from investment banking operations. While the ICB makes it clear that it does not believe that the current crisis in the eurozone should delay the reforms, it also sets a deadline of 2019 for implementation of the changes to coincide with the international capital rule changes being introduced by regulators in Basel, Switzerland. “Postponement of reform would be a mistake, as would fail to provide certainty about its path. However, it is important that the current economic situation be taken into account in the timetable for implementation of reform. The Commission’s view is that setting 2019 as the final deadline for full implementation provides ample time to minimise any transition risks.” The ringfencing is expected to have the biggest implications for Barclays and the bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland. But the ICB provided some relief for bailed-out Lloyds Banking Group by back-tracking on an idea that it be forced to sell off an extra tranche of branches in addition to the 632 currently up for sale to meet EU demands on state aid. However, it said that the high street banking businesses – dominated by Lloyds since the rescue of HBOS in September 2008 – should be referred for a full competition investigation in 2015. Lloyds, which had lobbied hard against the proposal, said on Monday it is “currently assessing the full implications”. The British Bankers’ Association said: “UK banks are well on the way to implementing the sweeping reforms already brought in and expected to be brought in by UK, EU and global authorities to make banks and the system safer and to ensure that banks can fail in the future with savers and taxpayers protected and the supply of finance to the economy maintained. The ICB’s recommendations cover the same important issues. Any further reform measures adopted by the UK authorities need to be carefully analysed and compared with those agreed internationally. It is vital that the full impact any further reforms will have on the economy, the recovery and banks’ ability to support their customers in the UK is understood.” Banking reform Banking Financial sector Barclays Royal Bank of Scotland Lloyds Banking Group George Osborne Jill Treanor guardian.co.uk
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