Rescue mission under way at Immingham to free 30ft minke calf stranded in one of UK’s biggest docks Fire crews are digging a trench in mudflats to try to rescue a young whale which has become stranded in one of Britain’s biggest docks. Hopes that high tide would raise the 30ft (9.1 metre) minke calf enough to ease its 15 tonnes off the estuary bed have been revised with the water level not expected to rise enough. A watch is also being kept on the whale’s mother, which is circling the area off Immingham docks where the pair became separated at around 4am. Emergency services think the calf may have been startled by ship movement in the busy seaway and became disoriented. Police and firefighters have been joined by vets from the RSPCA and the British Divers Marine Life Rescue Unit. A tweet from the RSPCA warns of previous failures at refloating the creatures: “Being realistic, they often do not survive.” Mike Puplett, of Humber coastguard, said 50 people were involved in the rescue attempt, which began at 8am when a passing ship raised the alarm. Low tide hampered initial approaches and the water level sank to cover only about a tenth of the whale. Puplett added: “At the moment, we believe the whale’s still alive. There’s signs of life, there’s still movement with it. We’ve got a lot of people down there and standing by to provide safety cover because it’s a dangerous area for people.” The main fear is that the calf will be crushed by its own weight, which is normally supported by water. Minkes prefer the open sea but are occasionally drawn close to land where they become vulnerable to unfamiliar tidal movements. Animals Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk
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Bomb-threat man who took 12-year-old daughter into Sydney law office is taken into custody A man who marched into a Sydney law office with his daughter and said he had a bomb in his backpack has been taken into custody after a 12-hour standoff with police . The man’s 12-year-old daughter was released and reunited with her family, New South Wales police said. She was distressed but otherwise unharmed, police said. Police did not immediately say whether explosives had been found in the man’s backpack. “Towards the latter part of the time we’ve been here, those negotiations have started to break down and then deteriorate to a stage where police have taken action to break into the premises and take a 52-year-old man into custody,” Police Assistant Commissioner Denis Clifford said. “He’s currently assisting police with their ongoing inquiries.” Police have not released the man’s name. Television footage had earlier shown the man looking from a second-floor window shirtless and wearing the same kind of wig as worn in Australian courts by judges and lawyers. At one point he spat on the wig. He had also swung a bottle like a hammer to smash a plate-sized hole in the office window and yelled through the hole. He threw the bottle, then a telephone handset, which was left dangling by its cord. Betty Hor said she was working at the reception desk when the man approached on Tuesday morning. She said he asked to see someone she had never heard of. The man went upstairs briefly then returned to the reception desk and repeated his request. She repeated that she had never heard of the man. She said he then threw a book on the desk and told her to call the unknown man and the state attorney general’s department and said: “Tell them I’ve got a bomb in my backpack.” Hor called the police as the man walked upstairs to a lawyer’s office with the girl, who called him dad. The standoff came a month after an extortionist broke into a Sydney home and fastened a fake bomb around the neck of a millionaire’s teenage daughter . She spent 10 hours with the device strapped to her before police determined it was harmless and freed her. A man has been arrested in the US in connection with the incident and is awaiting extradition. Australia guardian.co.uk
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Two accused of plotting to ‘assault and murder’ Celtic manager and two others in sectarian campaign Two men are to stand trial accused of plotting to “assault and murder” the Celtic manager Neil Lennon and other prominent people in a sectarian parcel-bombing campaign. Trevor Muirhead, 43, and Neil McKenzie, 42, are alleged to have sent the suspect devices to Lennon, the Celtic lawyer and QC Paul McBride, Trish Godman, the former deputy presiding officer of the Scottish parliament earlier this year, and an Irish republican group in Glasgow. The prosecution alleges that the improvised explosive devices (IED) used a potentially lethal combination of nails, an explosive substance or petrol and that both men embarked on a sectarian conspiracy. The devices could have caused “severe injury and death”. The pair are accused of buying the ingredients for the bombs – nails, envelopes, plastic travel bottles, digital watches and other items – at shops near their homes in Stevenson, Ayrshire, including a branch of B&Q. They are also accused of acquiring cream peroxide containing triacetone triperoxide (TATP), after inducing another man to buy it. The two men also face an alternative charge contrary to the Explosive Substances Act of “unlawfully and maliciously conspiring” to endanger life or cause serious injury. All the charges are said to have been aggravated by religious prejudice. In several other charges, they are accused of sending an item to Lennon in early March at Celtic’s home ground with the intention of inducing him to believe that it would “explode or ignite”. The men are further accused of threatening to plant an IED outside a police station in May knowing the bomb allegations were being investigated, of trying to destroy evidence and possessing the peroxide chemical with the intent to endanger life. Both men pleaded not guilty. Their trial is due to start in November. Crime Severin Carrell guardian.co.uk
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Liberal Democrats in House of Lords are likely to let legislation be passed after accepting safeguards Plans to bring in elected police commissioners are likely to go ahead with peers expected to announce a compromise on Tuesday lunchtime, the Guardian has learned. Lib Dem peers had been delaying the policy in the House of Lords but have now accepted safeguards added to the legislation and government sources expect the bill to be passed, paving the way for a radical overhaul of policing authorities. Concerns about the cost of the policy will however grow as the compromise will see the first elections delayed until the autumn of 2012 rather than May as had been planned. This is intended to allay fears that any setbacks in their implementation could affect the successful staging of next summer’s Olympic games. Labour had suggested that the policy was too costly at a time of police cuts, gleaning government estimates that the staging of elections would cost around £100m. Those concerns are likely to increase with the decision to hold the elections during a period when none are currently planned, which may increase the cost. However, the policy’s main obstacle had been objections by Lib Dems in the House of Lords. Lib Dem peers had been concerned that the election of a single individual to the role of police commissioner would distort the job of policing because that person would have to chase popularity in order to win and later secure re-election. They feared this would mean individuals would focus on seeking headlines and play to the most voluble parts of the electorate. In May Lib Dem peers defeated the legislation but because of a commitment in the coalition agreement, party managers have been under pressure from the Conservatives to manage this concern in the Lords. Now the compromise will see the first elections of police commissioners delayed from being held on the same day as next May’s local election and held instead in the autumn. Lib Dems feel they have also improved the legislation by ensuring that local authorities will have a part to play in the police commissioner’s role. Conservatives cherish the election policy and in the aftermath of the riots, David Cameron and the home secretary, Theresa May, increased the frequency and ardour with which they referred to the introduction of elected individuals. They suggested that elected figures would have reacted with more alacrity to public concerns over the riots when in the first hours of rioting the police appeared to stand back. Tories also believe the issue to be one of trust for the Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg, who was obliged to deliver his peers into supporting the policy as part of the coalition agreement. Liberal Democrats Police House of Lords Conservatives Labour David Cameron Theresa May Nick Clegg Metropolitan police Allegra Stratton guardian.co.uk
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High winds and heavy rainfall predicted across the UK Flood warnings were in place and some travellers faced difficult journeys as heavy rain and strong winds whipped across parts of the UK on Tuesday. Winds of up to 50mph were predicted on the south and south-east coasts of England and up to 50mm or rain was expected to fall within 24 hours in some areas of the north-east of the country and north Wales. The wet and windy weather is expected to continue throughout the week as a series of low pressure systems move through. Flood warnings (meaning flooding is expected) were in place on the River Conder in Lancashire and in parts of the Dyfi Valley in north Wales. The Environment Agency also put in place 20 flood alerts (flooding is possible) mainly in the north-east of England and north Wales. Some ferry services were delayed or suspended because of the poor weather across the south of England. Flights in the far south-west of England were also disrupted. Speed restrictions were imposed on the old Severn Bridge because of the high winds and drivers were being warned of difficult conditions along the M4 through south Wales. Fallen trees also caused delays in Monmouthshire and Swansea. Dan Williams, a spokesman for the Met Office, said the south-east of England was likely to bear the brunt of the strongest winds while the Lake District and Snowdonia were due to be the soggiest places. “It is likely to stay windy throughout the week with fast moving low pressure systems moving through,” he added. Sixteen sailors were rescued from a vintage ship on Monday evening after its mast snapped in the strong winds. The 120-year-old ketch, a training ship, was off the coast off Portland Bill, Dorset, when it was caught up in 40mph gusts. Its wooden 9m (30ft) tall mast broke in half and the sail and rigging fell into the sea. The crew, all young adults, were unable to retrieve the stricken mast in the poor conditions and called coastguards for help. They were towed to shore by the Weymouth RNLI lifeboat and none of the crew members were injured. Southend pier in Essex – the longest pleasure pier in the world – will be closed on Tuesday to allow engineers to assess damage from a contractor’s barge tethered to the pier. A statement on Southend-on-Sea Borough Council’s website said the barge was forced into the pier by high winds and a heavy swell. A council spokeswoman said the vessel had been moored alongside the pier to carry out scheduled maintenance work. “The pier is not about to fall down, or anything like that, but it has caused some damage,” she said. Weather Flooding Wales Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
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Racing driver found at fault for flying recklessly and causing crash in which he and three others died, by judicial inquiry The former world rally champion Colin McRae has been held totally to blame for a helicopter crash that killed himself, another man and two children, including his son, after a judicial investigation. Sheriff Nikola Stewart said the racing driver was guilty of “imprudently” and “unnecessarily” taking the helicopter on a dangerous low-level flight into a heavily-wooded valley in 2007 to thrill his passengers, despite having no pilot’s licence for the aircraft. The crash in Mouse valley near Larkhall, Lanarkshire, killed McRae, his five-year-old son John “Johnny” McRae, a six-year-old family friend and neighbour, Ben Porcelli, and another friend, Graeme Arthur Duncan, aged 36, leaving wreckage scattered across the hillside. Ben Porcelli’s distraught parents, Mark and Karen Porcelli, said at the time that McRae had never asked permission to take their son on the flight. Police investigators at the crash site said the impact was so severe, it was difficult to tell that a helicopter was involved. In a lengthy and damning ruling following a fatal accident inquiry into the crash, Stewart found that McRae, 39, was guilty of a series of dangerous, reckless and unjustified manoeuvres during the flight, including flying at very low level and failing to follow basic rules of airmanship. She confirmed the driver, who became world famous for endorsing the hit computer racing games Colin McRae Rally and Dirt, did not have the correct flying licence or authorisation for operating that type of helicopter, and was flying illegally. She recorded how the flight had been partially filmed by Duncan, which showed that McRae had flown as low as 275 ft , apparently to buzz some farm buildings, and then banked the helicopter sharply in a series of aerial stunts. “He undertook significant manoeuvring at low level and the helicopter seems to have encountered significant g-loading as a result, to the evident enjoyment of his passengers,” the sheriff recorded, in a judgment issued on Tuesday. “The episodes of extremely low-level flying and the excessive manoeuvre parameters, particularly the descent into the valley by Larkhall, all as captured on the video recording, are indicative of an aircraft being flown imprudently, without due regard to the principles of good airmanship, and in such a way that normal safety margins would be reduced. “The deaths and the accident resulting in the deaths might have been avoided had Mr McRae not flown his helicopter into the Mouse valley. Such a precaution would have been entirely reasonable. There was no necessity to enter the Mouse valley. There were no operational or logistical reasons to enter the Mouse valley. “Mr McRae chose to fly the helicopter into the valley. For a private pilot such as Mr McRae, lacking the necessary training, experience or requirement to do so, embarking upon such demanding, low-level flying in such difficult terrain, was imprudent, unreasonable and contrary to the principles of good airmanship.” The families of McRae and Ben Porcelli have not yet responded to the findings. Scotland Severin Carrell guardian.co.uk
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Move – which effectively devalues the Swiss franc in an attempt to protect the economy – sparks fears of new currency war Switzerland sparked fears of a new currency war on Tuesday after it pegged the Swiss franc against the euro in an attempt to protect its economy from the European debt crisis. The Swiss National Bank in effect devalued the franc, pledging to buy “unlimited quantities” of foreign currencies to force down its value . The SNB warned that it would no longer allow one Swiss franc to be worth more than €0.83 – equivalent to SFr1.20 to the euro – having watched the two currencies move closer to parity as Switzerland became a “safe haven” from the ravages of the eurozone crisis. The move stunned currency traders, and sent the Swiss franc tumbling against other currencies. Jeremy Cook, chief economist at currency brokers World First, said it was “intervention on a grand scale”, and the start of a “new battle in the currency wars”. “That was the single largest foreign exchange move I have ever seen … The Swiss franc has lost close on 9% in the past 15 minutes. This dwarfs moves seen post Lehman brothers, 7/7, and other major geo-political events in the past decade,” Cook said. The SNB pledged to enforce a “substantial and sustained weakening of the Swiss franc”, adding that it might move to an even lower exchange rate against the euro if needed. “The current massive overvaluation of the Swiss franc poses an acute threat to the Swiss economy and carries the risk of a deflationary development,” said Switzerland’s central bank. The Swiss franc settled around SFr1.2026 against the euro, having earlier hit SFr1.1020. Stock markets rallied on the news, with the FTSE 100 jumping 87 points or 1.7%. The main Swiss stock market gained more than 5%. Jennifer McKeown of Capital Economics, said the SNB’s intervention was a “bold move”, but warned that Swiss exports will probably still suffer as the franc still remains strong in historical terms. Giles Watts, head of equities at City Index, warned that Switzerland could find itself in a battle with currency speculators to hold the value of its currency down. “Most interventions in the currency markets by the authorities of late have only helped prices in the short term at best. If the euro crisis intensifies there is every chance the market could test the SNB’s resolve to hold the cross rate above the 1.20 level,” Watts said. Back in April, one euro was worth SFr1.32. The strength of the Swiss franc has made the country’s exports much more expensive and harmed its tourism business, and also encouraged some Swiss residents to cross the border into Germany to do their shopping . Currencies Euro Switzerland Europe Europe Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk
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Full coverage as the culture select committee questions four former News of the World executives including Colin Myler and Tom Crone, plus the Leveson inquiry’s first hearing 11.19am: Philip Davies is now asking the questions. Who authorised News International to pay for Clive Goodman’s legal costs, at a time when this chap is defending himself against allegations that could have led him to be sacked? he asks. Surprise, surprise. Neither Cloke or Chapman know. 11.17am: Cloke insists there was absolutely no reason to widen the investigation following Goodman’s appeal letter alleging widespread phone-hacking: “The central issue was his conduct. Was his conduct gross misconduct…? It was not a forensic wide-ranging investigation, it was purely in the context of that employment dispute”. 11.15am: Coffey asks why News International’s internal investigation was so narrow. Cloke, now says they did look at a few other things other than the emails (but not many other things). “We did look at invoices from memory. ..I think Mr Myler and his team looked at invoice payments, from memory. Some of the other documents Mr Goodman had requested were matters of public record”. 11.14am: Dan Sabbagh is not impressed with the committee’s questioning. dansabbagh Dan Sabbagh One day these 2,500 ‘hacking emails’ will be published and we can see if Chapman and Cloke were asleep or carefully chose the wrong bits 11.12am: Therese Coffey is now questioning. ‘What would it have taken for something to stand out?’ she asks Chapman. If there was something ‘indicative of something criminal’ he would have done something. ‘If something stood out and looked suspicious I would have done something about it.’ 11.06am: Collins wonders why the News International executives are adamant that the phone-hacking investigation was ‘purely an employment issue’ and that the Harbottle & Lewis report didn’t raise the possibility that a criminal investigation should have been launched “I’m amazed that wasn’t considered you didn’t discuss that with Les Hinton [the former News International chief executive],” says Collins. 11.04am: Cloke denies allegations that he said ‘good news, there is no smoking gun’ when he say the Harbottle & Lewis report on the emails. . 11.01am: Collins is grilling the two executives on the Harbottle & Lewis investigation into the emails. Chapman says there was ‘normal to-ing and fro-ing’ between the legal firm and News International about the parameters of the investigation and it ended up being ‘very narrow’ because this is what external legal advisers normally tend to do – this narrowing practice, he says, is designed to limit their legal liability, 10.56am: Chapman is now being questioned by Damian Collins. He says the investigation into the email was a ‘reactive’ inquiry rather than a ‘proactive’ inquiry. Again, he says News International treated the inquiry as an employment matter not a matter of crimininal investigation. 10.55am: No one admitted “any wrong-doing at all”, says Cloke during the investigation into the email correspondence. Chapman points out the questioning was done by Colin Myler and Tom Crone. 10.52am: Louise Mensch asks on what basis were the 2,500 emails chosen for review. Chapman says he didn’t select the emails – the emails chosen were determined by the Clive Goodman letter. Cloke says the parameters set by the Goodman letter involved emails “between four or five people” over a six month period before Goodman’s allegations. 10.51am: Louise Mensch turns to Cloke – you said that you and Les Hinton (the former head of News International) were ‘shocked’ by the apparent evidence of wider phone-hacking. Was this information kicked up to James or Rupert Murdoch? ‘Not to my knowledge’ says Cloke. 10.50am: “No other illegal activity stood out at the time,” he says. So there was no evidence of payments to police, asks Whittingdale? No, says Chapman. 10.49am: Again, Chapman says he has ‘no recollection’ of specific emails that would have pointed to obvious criminality. 10.48am: We looked carefully at the emails and came to the conclusion there was nothing there that indicated reasonable evidence of the matters that we were looking for which was knowledge of voice mail interception, says Chapman. 10.48am: He says he and Cloke conducted a “thorough exercise” when presented with the file of emails. 10.48am: Chapman says he can’t really recollect certain emails because the emails that may or may have not indicated widespread phone-hacking date back four and a half years ago. 10.45am: Jon Chapman, the former head of the legal affairs at News International is now being questioned 10.44am: I interviewed Tom Crone along with Colin Myler to ask him for his recollection of events. Tom basically said this was a surprise to him as irt was to everyone else. 10.44am: He says he did discuss the letter with the managing editor Stuart Kuttner 10.43am: They are talking about the bombshell Clive Goodman letter which was submitted to the Committee last month and claimed that phone-hacking was widespread at the News of the World 10.43am: 10.42am: Daniel Cloke is on now and being questioned by committee chairman John Whittingdale 10.34am: Josh Halliday tweets that reporters have been given permission to tweet from the Leveson Inquiry, so we’ll keep you up to speed with developments as they come. 10.24am: My colleague Dan Sabbagh, head of media and technology, has just filed this report on the redundancies at News International. Tom Mockridge, News International’s new chief executive, has emailed staff this morning talking about an “extremely testing time” for everybody at the former publisher of the News of the World. He says 89 people have taken redundancy in the wake of the Sunday tabloid’s newspaper, while the company has made 23 jobs around the business for those who used to work there. Mockridge does not mention him, but amongst those staying on is “fake sheikh” Mazher Mahmood. He adds that a new “digital business” will provide a further 21 jobs. The memo goes onto talk about job cuts across News International, noting that 100 vacancies have not been filled out of the last year. A further 110 jobs will go over the company’s next financial year to June 30, a fairly modest reduction given the total NI workforce is 3000. He doesn’t spell out the areas affected, but the early word is that it will affect the company’s commercial departments, but not its editorial functions. He follows by talking about NI’s products for the future, noting that the company is investing in a new editorial systems, plus web and app development. But for all the talk of investment in internal technology is no talk about launching a Sunday Sun, or any other references to editorial product. Nor is there any other reference to phone hacking in his memo – but it is safe to say that company executives, James Murdoch included, will be watching what its four former employees say. 10.21am: The culture select committee hearing clashes with another important hearing on rioting and won’t be broadcast live. You can watch it being streamed live on parliamentary TV here 10.16am: With minutes to go before the culture committee kicks off, News Internationally announces it will be reducing staff numbers NOTWGolfGirl Hayley Barlow In email to staff CEO Tom Mockridge announces ‘we expect to reduce the News International workforce by 110 staff positions’ 10.15am: Former News of the World PR boss has just tweeted that the new boss of News International Tom Mockridge that 89 of the 200-odd journalists who lost their jobs as a result of the closure of the paper aren’t hanging round for new jobs at the newspaper group. NOTWGolfGirl Hayley Barlow 89 NotW ‘people have opted to take up the enhanced redundancy terms on offer’ according to Tom Mockridge. 10.09am: Media lawyer Mark Stephens is one of the first to arrive at the Leveson Inquiry, reports Josh Halliday from the Royal Courts of Justice Good morning. It’s another big day in the phone-hacking scandal. At 10.30am four former executives from News of the World face a fresh round of questioning by the parliamentary select committee that quizzed Rupert Murdoch and his son James in July. The former editor, Colin Myler, and the paper’s former head of legal affairs, Tom Crone, have been called in after they accused James Murdoch of “misleading” the committee about what he knew about the phone-hacking at the defunct tabloid. Also set to testify is News International’s head of legal affairs, Jon Chapman, and the former head of resources at the company, Daniel Cloke, who now works at Vodafone. Also today is the first preliminary hearing of the Leveson inquiry – Josh Halliday will be reporting from the Royal Courts of Justice. Amelia Hill is down at the Portcullis House. Roy Greenslade, who knows Colin Myler and Tom Crone well, will be on hand for instant analysis, as will as the rest of the Guardian’s phone-hacking team. Phone hacking News International Leveson inquiry Newspapers & magazines News of the World Live video Lisa O’Carroll guardian.co.uk
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Rolling coverage of all the day’s political developments including live coverage of David Cameron before the liaison committee and Boris Johnson at the home affairs committee 11.20am: David Winnick is asking the questions now. Q: Do you accept that the relatives of Mark Duggan were not properly informed about his death? Godwin says there was “confusion” about who should have spoken to them. He can understand how this happened, but it was wrong. There were “errors”. He says the local commander has apologised to the family. 11.14am: Boris Johnson has finished giving evidence. The committee is now taking evidence from Tim Godwin, the acting commissioner of the Met, and Lynne Owens, one of his assistant commissioners. Keith Vaz asks the first questions. Q: Was David Cameron right to say the initial police tactics were wrong? Godwin says that if he had had the benefit of hindsight, he would have had “lots” more officers on duty on the Sunday and on the Monday. He says it was “unprecedented” to have disorder in so many locations. Q: The Met has said the riots will cost £74m. Is that just the cost to the Met? Godwin says that is just the cost for London. Q: Is there an ongoing cost? Godwin says 500 officers are still investigating the offences. There is lots of CCTV to be examined. Crime has to have consequences, he says. Q: Do you agree with Kenneth Clarke’s claim in the Guardian today that the criminal justice system is at fault? Godwin says this should be a “wake up call” for the criminal justice system. Q: Will you write to the Treasury asking for the £74m to be reimbursed? Godwin says he will present figures to the Metropolitan Police Authority. They will take it up with the Treasury. 11.08am: Keith Vaz is asking questions now. He says that Theresa May said she had told police to cancel leave. (This proved controversial, because Sir Hugh Orde, the ACPO president, later said she had no power to issue operational orders of this kind.) Q: Did May issue an order of this kind? Kit Malthouse, the deputy mayor, says there were discussions about this issue. Mark Reckless, a Conservative, says the Guardian performed a public service by exposing the phone hacking scandal. Why did the Metropolitan police authority fund legal action against the Guardian? Malthouse says the MPA was keen to protect the reputation of the Met. Reckless says that funding legal action of this kind was illegal. He says that he is referring to John Yates, who sent a legal letter to the Guardian claiming that he had been defamed. Malthouse says that the sum of money involved was very small. It was only about £1,500, he says. 11.02am: Labour’s Steve McCabe asks if the Met will be reimbursed by the government for the amount it needs to spend paying compensation to people affected by the riots. Johnson says the Met has received 100 claims, costing £9.3m. He says Cameron told MPs that the Met would have the money it needs. That assurance needs to be honoured, he says. Keith Vaz asks if Johnson will be asking the Treasury to reimburse all the costs of the riots. Q: How much did the riots cost the Met? Johnson says £35.5m. Vaz says he has a figure of £74m. Johnson says that the police operation cost £35.5m. But, if you include the “opportunity costs” (the costs incurred because officers on riot duty were not available for other work), the cost rises to around £74m, he says. Q: And will you be asking the Treasury to pay this in full? Yes, says Johnson. 10.59am: Bridget Phillipson, a Labour MP, asks about the rioters. Johnson says 83% of those convicted had already had some contact with the police, and 75% of them already had a criminal record. Q: Do you agree with Kenneth Clarke’s description of them as members of a “feral underclass”. Johnson says he largely does agree with this. Keith Vaz suggests that labelling people in this way will encourage them to break the law. Johnson says he does not think people will use an article in the Guardian as an excuse for rioting. Q: Those 83%/75% figures – are they London figures or national figures? Johnson says they are Ministry of Justice figures. 10.54am: Johnson says he wants to extend the police cadet scheme. If people join the police cadets having been an offender, they do not offend again. Q: Do you accept that race was not a factor? Johnson says race was not a factor. What the rioters had in common is that they had already had contact with the police. (This is the point Kenneth Clarke makes in his Guardian article today.) 10.47am: David Winnick asks when Johnson first learnt of the death of Mark Duggan. Johnson said he learnt by text message on the day it occurred. Q: Were you told the full circumstances? Johnson says he was given a rough account of what happened. The incident is now being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Q: Do you have any views on the use of rubber bullets and water cannon? Johnson says the police contained the disturbances using robust policing in a commonsense way. I am not being lobbied by the police for a greater panoply of weapons. But the police want society to support them by ensuring that offenders are punished properly and “go behind bars”. At the moment, that is not happening, he says. (He seems to be making a general point, not a point about the way the courts are sentencing rioters.) • Johnson says the police do not need rubber bullets or water cannon. (For the second time, he’s made a point of distancing himself from David Cameron. See 10.33am.) 10.43am: Michael Ellis, a Conservative, is asking the questions now. He asks about the Met’s plans to get more officers on the beat. Johnson says the Met is “way ahead” of other forces in this area. In relation to riots, we as a society need to think about what what we ask of the police, he says. (He is trying to change the subject.) He says police officers are worried about being criticised for excessive use of force. Ellis says there are 32,000 officers in the Met. Q: Is it right that there were about 3,000 officers on duty on the first night? Johnson says that figure is roughly right. He does not have the exact number. Q: A report some years ago said 90% of officers were not available to the public at any one time. Do you think this needs to be addressed? Johnson says “good must come” out of the riots. 10.39am: They are now talking about the riots. Keith Vaz says David Cameron said that the Met initially deployed too few officers. Q: That’s a serious criticism, isn’t it? Johnson says that with “20/20 hindsight” you can make this comments. But he defends the work of the Met. Johnson says “more and more” people will be arrested and charged. Q: But do you agree with Cameron? Johnson says it is “self-evident” that there was a crisis that caught people unaware. Q: Why did it take you so long to return from your holiday in Canada? Johnson says he was in a camper van in the Rocky Mountains. As soon as it became obvious that events were not dying down, he came back. 10.33am: David Winnick, a Labour MP, is asking the questions now. Q: Do you have any feeling of responsibility for the fact that two commissioners have resigned during your mayoralty? Johnson says the top team at the Met are doing a “remarkable job”. Crime is down in London. Mark Reckless, a Conservative, is asking questions now. Q: Wouldn’t it be best to allow foreign candidates to apply? Johnson says there is a “very good range of candidates”. There is no shortage of excellent police officers, he says. I see no need to widen it to people of other nationalities. Q: Isn’t the argument that the job has to go to a Briton because of its anti-terrorist responsibility invalid? Johnson says he does not think that is the reason why foreigners have been excluded. It is more to do with practical reasons, he says. • Johnson defends the decision to stop foreigners like Bill Bratton from applying for the Met commissioner’s job. (David Cameron, of course, was in favour of allowing Bratton to apply. Boris watchers won’t be surprised to hear the mayor saying he doesn’t agree.) 10.30am: Nicola Blackwood, a Conservative, is asking the questions now. Q: Is it true that he will veto any candidate who does not have a compelling plan to tackle gang violence? Johnson says he and the home secretary both have an effective veto over the appointment. 10.24am: Boris Johnson is giving evidence. He says he “regretted” the fact that Sir Paul Stephenson had to resign as commissioner of the Met. Stephenson thought the News International controversy was going to “go on and on”. They had a long conversation about it, Johnson says. But Johnson could see the “logic” of Stephenson’s argument. Q: Did you want him to stay on? Johnson says: “I accepted his analysis.” The News International story would go on, distracting Stephenson and undermining his ability to do his job. Keith Vaz says the decision about Stephenson’s replacement will be made next Monday. Q: Are there still four people on the shortlisted? Or has it already been whittled down? Johnson says he does not want to discuss the process. He and Theresa May will make the final decision. Q: Who has the final say? Johnson says this is an important question. At the moment the home secretary must “have regard to” what the mayor says. In practice, that means it’s a joint decision, he says. “With good will and common sense”, that can work. 10.21am: The home affairs committee hearing has just started. Keith Vaz, the chairman, opens it by showing a short video about the riots. (Select committee chairmen are becoming more and more like theatre impresarios. They are dreaming up ever more inventive ways of making their hearings audience friendly.) 10.18am: I’ll be focusing on the home affairs committee and the riots for the next two hours or so. If you want to follow the phone hacking hearing, our media team are running a live blog. 10.12am: The home affairs committee hearing on the riots, with Boris Johnson first up giving evidence, will be starting shortly. You can watch it on the parliament website here. 10.07am: You can read all today’s Guardian politics stories here. And all the politics stories filed yesterday, including some in today’s paper, are here. As for the rest of the papers, here are some stories and articles that are particularly interesting. • Robert Winnett and Christopher Hope in the Daily Telegraph say David Cameron may water down Vince Cable’s plans to implement the agency workers directive. The Prime Minister’s office secretly commissioned its own legal advice on the Agency Workers Directive, which concluded that the impact of the new laws could be moderated. The directive, to be introduced under EU law, will give temporary agency workers the same rights as full-time workers to pay, holiday and maternity leave after 12 weeks of employment. The laws are expected to cost British businesses almost £2 billion a year. But Downing Street has been told by lawyers that the Business Secretary’s department has “gold-plated” the legislation with additional rules that need not have been included, despite a pledge by the Coalition not to introduce unnecessary regulation that undermines business. Mr Cameron’s advisers are weighing up whether to strip out some of these provisions. • Gideon Rachman in the Financial Times (subscription) says Germany should resist demands to do whatever is necessary to save the euro. Saying that the German chancellor should do “whatever it takes” to save the euro, assumes that we know what it would take. Eurobonds are the latest panacea, recommended by many of the same people who assured us years ago that the euro would be a secure currency. Ms Merkel has no real idea whether they would work. But we do know that expanding the bail-out fund (as will almost certainly happen), or creating eurobonds, would mean piling more and more potential costs and liabilities on to the German taxpayer. • Andrew Grice in the Independent reports on a ComRes poll showing that a majority of voters think scrapping the 50p tax rate would be unfair. Most people (57 per cent) agree that abolishing the 50p rate would show we are not “all in it together” – as the Chancellor has claimed when defending the Government’s spending cuts. This view is shared by 67 per cent of Liberal Democrat supporters, 64 per cent of Labour supporters and 54 per cent of Conservative supporters. Overall, only 31 per cent disagree. The finding will increase the fears among some allies of David Cameron that Mr Osborne’s proposal to cut the tax bills of the 300,000 top earners could alienate millions of others facing a squeeze in their living standards. But the poll also suggests Mr Osborne might be able to persuade some of the doubters to support scrapping the 50p rate, which applies to earnings above £150,000 a year. Some 56 per cent of people believe its abolition would encourage entrepreneurs to stay in Britain and stimulate growth, while 34 per cent disagree. • In a letter to the Times (paywall), Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the British Medical Association, as well as the heads of four medical royal colleges and two other professional medical associations publish a letter criticising the health bill. Our organisations believe that the Bill could still potentially destabilise the NHS as we know it. This is despite some positive amendments that the Government made to the legislation. Though the language may have changed, the Government remains committed to opening up the NHS further to market forces as a priority. Without building in appropriate safeguards, extending choice to any qualified provider risks seriously destabilising existing, mainly NHS, providers and making it much harder to develop the integrated care patients want and need. • Paul Boissier, chief executive of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), tells the Times (paywall) that David Cameron’s “Big Society” idea has not helped the voluntary sector. This is what he told the paper: If I understand the Big Society, it is about engaging members of the public to get involved in their communities. Well, the public has been doing that for a long time. Of course, we and other charities would say more volunteers are very welcome, but to be quite honest we don’t need the assistance of politicians to do that. The people who are motivated to do it are doing it already and I’m not sure what the value added has been in making it part of political debate … I’m not saying [politicians] should keep quiet about it, but I’m not terribly interested in what they say. They can say what they like and I will get on with running the RNLI. 9.59am: Margaret Moran, the former Labour MP, will find out today whether she will be prosecuted over her expenses claims, the Press Association reports. This is from its story. Margaret Moran, the former Labour MP for Luton South, claimed more than £20,000 for the treatment of dry rot at her Southampton home. The Crown Prosecution Service said it will make an announcement at 11am after the case was held up amid Ms Moran’s claims of ill-health. The decision comes more than two years after revelations surrounding illegal claims by MPs came to light. Miss Moran faced allegations she repeatedly “flipped” her designated second home, making claims for properties in London, Luton and Southampton over a four-year period. The former MP, who was forced to step down at the last election, claimed more than £98,000 in second home expenses between 2004 and 2009, documents showed. 9.34am: For the record, here are the latest YouGov GB polling figures. Labour: 43% (up 13 points since the general election) Conservatives: 37% (no change) Lib Dems: 9% (down 15) Labour lead: 6 points Government approval: -25 ComRes has also published a poll today, in the Independent. Here are its figures. Labour: 38% Conservatives: 37% Lib Dems: 11% Labour lead: 1 point 9.06am: Therese Coffey, a Conservative member of the Commons culture committee, told Radio 5 Live this morning that it was “highly unlikely” that Rupert Murdoch would be recalled to give evidence to the committee. But, according to PoliticsHome, she hinted that James Murdoch would be asked to appear again. Rupert Murdoch was very much at the top of the empire and covering a vast range of activities. I think it’s clear that James Murdoch was the key figure in the negotiation of the payoff for Gordon Taylor, and I think that’s where some of the aspects of the allegations of cover-up focus around that kind of activity, rather than any involvement of Rupert Murdoch. 8.47am: In an ideal world, news would arrive in a steady flow. But we don’t live in an ideal world and there are some days when it arrives in a torrent. Today’s going to be one of them. Here’s what’s coming up. 10.15am: Boris Johnson , the London mayor, and Kit Malthouse , his deputy, give evidence to the Commons home affairs committee about the riots . The hearing is going to go on all morning and I’ll be covering it in full. At 11am Tim Godwin , the acting commissioner of the Metropolitan police, will appear with Lynne Owens , an assistant commissioner. At 11.30am Sir Hugh Orde , president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, and Tim Hollis, the Acpo vice president, will be questioned. And at 12pm representatives of the Independent Police Complaints Commission will appear. 10.15am: Environmental and aviation groups give evidence to the Commons transport committee about High Speed Rail . 10.30am: Four former News International executives give evidence to the Commons culture committee on phone hacking. Two of them, Colin Myler , the former News of the World editor, and Tom Crone , the paper’s former legal manager, will be asked about evidence they have already given claiming that James Murdoch did know about a key email suggesting phone hacking was widespread at the paper – contrary to what Murdoch claimed when he appeared before the committee in July. They will also be asked about the letter from Clive Goodman, the royal reporter who went to jail, saying that phone hacking was so routine that it was regularly discussed at editorial meetings . My colleagues at Media Guardian will be covering the hearing on a live blog, and you should go there for full coverage, but I’ll report the key points in my lunchtime summary. 10.30am: The Leveson inquiry meets to consider applications from groups or individuals wishing to be given “core participant status” in the inquiry. 10.30am: Andy Burnham , the Labour former health secretary, gives evidence to the Mid Staffs NHS Foundation Trust public inquiry . 2.30pm: George Osborne , the chancellor, answers Treasury questions in the Commons. 4pm: David Cameron gives evidence to the Commons liaison committee . The session will last for about 90 minutes and the first half will focus on the eurozone crisis, and the second half will focus on “government, politics and the media” (ie, phone hacking). I’ll be covering it in full. Today I’ll be focusing on the home affairs committee hearing and the liaison committee hearing, but I’ll also be picking up all the political news, as well as looking at the papers and bringing you the best politics from the web. I’ll post a lunchtime summary at around 1pm, and an afternoon one after Cameron has finished. House of Commons David Cameron UK riots Boris Johnson Andrew Sparrow guardian.co.uk
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President Giorgio Napolitano says urgent action is needed to restore trust in Italy’s public finances Workers across Italy began a strike on Tuesday as Silvio Berlusconi’s government scrambled to secure parliamentary backing for a package of austerity measures. The eight-hour strike called by the CGIL, Italy’s largest union, is expected to disrupt public transport including air traffic, underlining a sense of emergency in the eurozone’s third largest economy. The strike, called to protest the €45.5bn (£40bn) austerity measures, coincides with the opening of a debate in the senate, which the government hopes will see swift approval before the package moves to the lower house. In an unusual statement that highlighted the gravity of the situation after a sell off of Italian bonds on Monday, President Giorgio Napolitano said urgent action was needed to restore trust in public finances. “It is a sign of the persistent difficulty in regaining trust as is urgently and indispensably required,” he said, adding that he urged all parties not to block measures needed to restore credibility. He said there was time to insert measures “capable of reinforcing the efficiency and credibility” of the austerity package passed in parliament last month. It is currently undergoing revision. Business daily Il Sole 24 Ore said an increase in VAT, a measure so far resisted by the economy minister, Giulio Tremonti, may be included in the package as well as a possible delay to retirement ages. The senate debate was due to take place on Tuesday afternoon, with upper house approval possible as early as Wednesday after the centre-left opposition Democratic party said on Monday it was willing to allow a swift vote. The package would then move to the lower house before final approval, originally expected by 20 September. The European Central Bank (ECB) has been shielding Rome from the full force of the market by purchasing Italian bonds to try to hold down yields and stop borrowing costs from reaching unsustainable levels. But its patience has been stretched by the chaotic manner in which the austerity package has been handled and by the absence of concrete steps to meet the government’s pledge of balancing the budget by 2013. On Monday, Mario Draghi, who takes over as head of the ECB in November, stepped up calls for Italy to act, delivering a pointed warning that the central bank’s willingness to continue buying bonds “should not be taken for granted”. Italy Europe Euro European Union Economics Europe European banks European Central Bank European debt crisis guardian.co.uk
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