Unison boss Dave Prentis says his 1.2 million members will be balloted on industrial action unless a meeting with the government on 28 June leads to a deal The UK’s largest public sector union has warned that it is gearing up for strike action in the autumn unless ministers pull back from controversial pension changes. Dave Prentis, the general secretary of Unison, said huge numbers of local government workers and NHS staff are “on the road” to long-term industrial action over pension changes that would lead to public sector workers paying more into the schemes, receiving less in retirement and working longer. Balloting of around 1.2 million workers will start soon unless a crunch meeting with the government on 28 June leads to a deal, Prentis said, accusing the government of preventing proper negotiations over the controversial plans. Speaking ahead of the union’s annual conference next week, Prentis signalled that members would be balloted for a sustained period of industrial unrest unless the government alters course. “If we are prevented from reaching agreement we will move to a ballot in the summer or early autumn,” Prentis told reporters. “It will not be one day of action – it will be long-term industrial action throughout all our public services to prevent destruction of our pension schemes.” He said the pension reforms had been driven by a desire to help “cowboy private companies” take over public service delivery by making it cheaper for them to tender for work by not having to pick up the pension bill. While Prentis said he fully expected the government to “drive a wedge” between public and private sector workers, he expressed confidence that the public would back his members in a dispute. “I’ve got no doubt whatsoever that this is being done to get the public services in a state for wholesale privatisation, and I don’t think there are many people in the electorate who want their public services privatised,” said Prentis. “It is very clear we are on a collision course unless the government changes its policies.” Strike action over pensions is already planned by three unions on 30 June after 750,000 teachers and civil servants were balloted. Unions seem unperturbed by the prospect of a government clampdown on strike action as they prepare to battle the pension changes. Last week Vince Cable, the business secretary, warned that the threat of widespread industrial action over spending cuts could ratchet up pressure on the government to make it harder for workers to strike. Asked about this, Prentis said: “Yes , I take it seriously but it really is off-the-wall stuff that you can have millions of people worried about retirement and their pensions that they have paid into all their lives and if they try to do anything to show their anger, the only response from this coalition is, we are going to take away your right to strike.” The union leader warned also of the possible effects of some of the pensions changes. A 50% increase in contributions matched by reduced benefits would not only lead to greater poverty in many households, but would also make the pensions schemes themselves not viable, he warned, especially the local government scheme, which has 2 million members. Prentis said that in some areas such as Merseyside as much as 23% of all investment is from local government pension funds: “If people leave [the scheme] because contributions are too high, and benefits too low, it will seriously affect the economy of this country and especially our northern cities,” he said. “These are the unintended consequences of what this government is attempting to do on public service pensions.” He dismissed as “nonsense” weekend media reports that suggest unions are frustrated with Ed Miliband’s leadership in fighting the cuts. Prentis said it was “early days” for the new leader, but he believed he was on the right course. “He is saying the right things and he understands the seriousness of what the coalition is doing to public services,” he said. Trade unions Public sector cuts Public services policy Public finance Public sector pay Public sector pensions Dave Prentis Local government Hélène Mulholland guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Unison boss Dave Prentis says his 1.2 million members will be balloted on industrial action unless a meeting with the government on 28 June leads to a deal The UK’s largest public sector union has warned that it is gearing up for strike action in the autumn unless ministers pull back from controversial pension changes. Dave Prentis, the general secretary of Unison, said huge numbers of local government workers and NHS staff are “on the road” to long-term industrial action over pension changes that would lead to public sector workers paying more into the schemes, receiving less in retirement and working longer. Balloting of around 1.2 million workers will start soon unless a crunch meeting with the government on 28 June leads to a deal, Prentis said, accusing the government of preventing proper negotiations over the controversial plans. Speaking ahead of the union’s annual conference next week, Prentis signalled that members would be balloted for a sustained period of industrial unrest unless the government alters course. “If we are prevented from reaching agreement we will move to a ballot in the summer or early autumn,” Prentis told reporters. “It will not be one day of action – it will be long-term industrial action throughout all our public services to prevent destruction of our pension schemes.” He said the pension reforms had been driven by a desire to help “cowboy private companies” take over public service delivery by making it cheaper for them to tender for work by not having to pick up the pension bill. While Prentis said he fully expected the government to “drive a wedge” between public and private sector workers, he expressed confidence that the public would back his members in a dispute. “I’ve got no doubt whatsoever that this is being done to get the public services in a state for wholesale privatisation, and I don’t think there are many people in the electorate who want their public services privatised,” said Prentis. “It is very clear we are on a collision course unless the government changes its policies.” Strike action over pensions is already planned by three unions on 30 June after 750,000 teachers and civil servants were balloted. Unions seem unperturbed by the prospect of a government clampdown on strike action as they prepare to battle the pension changes. Last week Vince Cable, the business secretary, warned that the threat of widespread industrial action over spending cuts could ratchet up pressure on the government to make it harder for workers to strike. Asked about this, Prentis said: “Yes , I take it seriously but it really is off-the-wall stuff that you can have millions of people worried about retirement and their pensions that they have paid into all their lives and if they try to do anything to show their anger, the only response from this coalition is, we are going to take away your right to strike.” The union leader warned also of the possible effects of some of the pensions changes. A 50% increase in contributions matched by reduced benefits would not only lead to greater poverty in many households, but would also make the pensions schemes themselves not viable, he warned, especially the local government scheme, which has 2 million members. Prentis said that in some areas such as Merseyside as much as 23% of all investment is from local government pension funds: “If people leave [the scheme] because contributions are too high, and benefits too low, it will seriously affect the economy of this country and especially our northern cities,” he said. “These are the unintended consequences of what this government is attempting to do on public service pensions.” He dismissed as “nonsense” weekend media reports that suggest unions are frustrated with Ed Miliband’s leadership in fighting the cuts. Prentis said it was “early days” for the new leader, but he believed he was on the right course. “He is saying the right things and he understands the seriousness of what the coalition is doing to public services,” he said. Trade unions Public sector cuts Public services policy Public finance Public sector pay Public sector pensions Dave Prentis Local government Hélène Mulholland guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Unison boss Dave Prentis says his 1.2 million members will be balloted on industrial action unless a meeting with the government on 28 June leads to a deal The UK’s largest public sector union has warned that it is gearing up for strike action in the autumn unless ministers pull back from controversial pension changes. Dave Prentis, the general secretary of Unison, said huge numbers of local government workers and NHS staff are “on the road” to long-term industrial action over pension changes that would lead to public sector workers paying more into the schemes, receiving less in retirement and working longer. Balloting of around 1.2 million workers will start soon unless a crunch meeting with the government on 28 June leads to a deal, Prentis said, accusing the government of preventing proper negotiations over the controversial plans. Speaking ahead of the union’s annual conference next week, Prentis signalled that members would be balloted for a sustained period of industrial unrest unless the government alters course. “If we are prevented from reaching agreement we will move to a ballot in the summer or early autumn,” Prentis told reporters. “It will not be one day of action – it will be long-term industrial action throughout all our public services to prevent destruction of our pension schemes.” He said the pension reforms had been driven by a desire to help “cowboy private companies” take over public service delivery by making it cheaper for them to tender for work by not having to pick up the pension bill. While Prentis said he fully expected the government to “drive a wedge” between public and private sector workers, he expressed confidence that the public would back his members in a dispute. “I’ve got no doubt whatsoever that this is being done to get the public services in a state for wholesale privatisation, and I don’t think there are many people in the electorate who want their public services privatised,” said Prentis. “It is very clear we are on a collision course unless the government changes its policies.” Strike action over pensions is already planned by three unions on 30 June after 750,000 teachers and civil servants were balloted. Unions seem unperturbed by the prospect of a government clampdown on strike action as they prepare to battle the pension changes. Last week Vince Cable, the business secretary, warned that the threat of widespread industrial action over spending cuts could ratchet up pressure on the government to make it harder for workers to strike. Asked about this, Prentis said: “Yes , I take it seriously but it really is off-the-wall stuff that you can have millions of people worried about retirement and their pensions that they have paid into all their lives and if they try to do anything to show their anger, the only response from this coalition is, we are going to take away your right to strike.” The union leader warned also of the possible effects of some of the pensions changes. A 50% increase in contributions matched by reduced benefits would not only lead to greater poverty in many households, but would also make the pensions schemes themselves not viable, he warned, especially the local government scheme, which has 2 million members. Prentis said that in some areas such as Merseyside as much as 23% of all investment is from local government pension funds: “If people leave [the scheme] because contributions are too high, and benefits too low, it will seriously affect the economy of this country and especially our northern cities,” he said. “These are the unintended consequences of what this government is attempting to do on public service pensions.” He dismissed as “nonsense” weekend media reports that suggest unions are frustrated with Ed Miliband’s leadership in fighting the cuts. Prentis said it was “early days” for the new leader, but he believed he was on the right course. “He is saying the right things and he understands the seriousness of what the coalition is doing to public services,” he said. Trade unions Public sector cuts Public services policy Public finance Public sector pay Public sector pensions Dave Prentis Local government Hélène Mulholland guardian.co.uk
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Much of the media made fools of themselves with their excited obsession over the release of Sarah Palin’s gubernatorial e-mails, but NBC News went the furthest, sending, as did CNN, reporters to Juneau as the network uniquely led its Friday night newscast by hyping the non-news as a major event. “On the broadcast tonight,” anchor Lester Holt heralded, “mail call. Thousands of pages of e-mail from Sarah Palin's time as Governor. What we're learning about her tonight.” Following a story from “national investigative correspondent” Michael Isikoff in which “MSNBC.com investigative reporter” Bill Dedman had the gall to complain “we waited longer for these records than Sarah Palin was Governor, almost a thousand days,” NBC’s David Gregory recognized, in an understatement: “As Mike and his team are finding, not a lot of bombshells here.” ABC also got into the act, but didn’t send any on-air personnel to Juneau. On Saturday’s World News , however, John Berman trumpeted his big discovery proving Palin’s hypocrisy: “While these days Palin is criticizing parts of Michelle Obama’s national battle against obesity…she once e-mailed an aide asking for ‘low carb foods…just don’t want the kids to have too much sugar/white carb stuff.’” That should pretty much discredit her. CBS showed the best news judgment, not mentioning the Palin e-mails on Friday or Saturday’s CBS Evening News. Isikoff’s find – Palin once praised something candidate Barack Obama said: “Among the e-mails, this exchange from Palin to an aide written a few weeks before she was picked by McCain, praising then-candidate Obama’s energy policy speech. ‘He gave a great speech this morning in Michigan – mentioned Alaska,’ adding, ‘we need to take advantage of this and write a statement saying he's right on.’ Then in a later e-mail telling an aide, ‘he did say ‘yay’ to our gas line. Pretty cool. Wrong candidate.’ Palin later became one of Obama's fiercest critics on energy policy.” From the top of the Friday, June 10 NBC Nightly News: LESTER HOLT: Good evening, I'm Lester Holt, in tonight for Brian. Sarah Palin's short rise from obscurity to a source of endless political fascination reached a new level today as reporters lined up to scour thousands of pages of e-mails from her time as Alaska Governor. Looking for deeper insight and clues into her political ambitions. Responding to media requests, the state of Alaska released 24,000 pages of e-mails covering the period from December 2006, when she was sworn in as governor, to September 2008 when she was named John McCain's running mate. With Palin a potential presidential challenger, the question tonight is: Could her foes try to use them to try and define her candidacy? NBC’s national investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff has been examining some of those e-mails. He joins me now from Juneau, Alaska, with more. Michael, good evening. MICHAEL ISIKOFF: Good evening, Lester. News organizations have waited nearly three years to get access to these documents. Stacks of e-mails from Palin's time as Governor. Palin and the state of Alaska fought having to make them public. But now that they are, a Palin spokesman said today that they show she was a very engaged Governor and that everybody should read them. A media frenzy Alaska hasn't seen since 2008. Journalists jockeying to get their hands on thousands of pages of e-mails sent by Sarah Palin to more that 50 top aides and officials in Alaska. The 250 pounds of documents contain e-mails from Palin's first two years as Governor and continue through September 2008, including the chaotic first weeks after John McCain thrust her into the national spotlight as his running mate. As Governor, Palin was a frenetic BlackBerry user, firing off e-mails but using her personal Yahoo e-mail account rather than government accounts to conduct state business — all in an effort to keep her communications private. News organizations like MSNBC.com first requested the e-mails in 2008, but prying them loose from state archives hasn't been easy. BILL DEDMAN, MSNBC.COM INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: The state public records law calls for a ten day release of public records. We waited longer for these records than Sarah Palin was Governor, almost a thousand days. ISIKOFF: Among the e-mails, this exchange from Palin to an aide written a few weeks before she was picked by McCain, praising then-candidate Obama’s energy policy speech. “He gave a great speech this morning in Michigan – mentioned Alaska,” adding, “we need to take advantage of this and write a statement saying he's right on.” Then in a later e-mail telling an aide, “he did say ‘yay’ to our gas line. Pretty cool. Wrong candidate.” Palin later became one of Obama's fiercest critics on energy policy. Palin says the e-mails won't be a distraction. SARAH PALIN, ON FOX NEWS SUNDAY, JUNE 5: I'm sure people are going to capitalize on this opportunity to go through 25,000 e-mails and perhaps take things out of context. They'll never truly know what the context of each one of the e-mails was or each one of the issues were that I was working on that day. ISIKOFF: The e-mails have lots of redactions, and so far, there are no bombshells, but they do show Palin's irritation with what she calls the “lamestream media.” Writing from the McCain campaign trail, she writes in one e-mail: “It drives me crazy to catch all the corrections.” And in an earlier e-mail, “I feel like I'm at a breaking point with hurtful gossip.” Lester?
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Police vehicles set on fire during Guangdong clashes which began after fracas between security officers and vendor Rioters burned police and fire vehicles in a third day of unrest in southern China’s manufacturing heartlands, witnesses have reported. Hong Kong broadcasters reported that armed police fired teargas as they sought to disperse the crowd and detained at least a dozen demonstrators. The clashes, which began on Friday after a fracas between security officers and a pregnant street vendor in Xintang, Guangdong province, highlight Chinese authorities’ struggle to control social frustrations. It is thought that most protesters were migrant workers like the vendor. Last week hundreds of migrant workers clashed with police in Chaozhou, also in Guangdong, following a dispute over unpaid wages. In Lichuan, Hubei, as many as 2,000 protesters attacked government headquarters last Thursday after a local politician who had complained about official corruption died in police custody. Inner Mongolia recently saw its biggest street protests for 20 years, over the killing of a Mongolian herder who sought to halt coal trucks trespassing on grasslands. Although the causes seem to have been very different in each case, the spate of incidents underlines the challenge that authorities face in preventing widespread grievances bursting out. Unrest is thought to have become increasingly frequent, although data is hard to come by. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has estimated that there were more than 90,000 mass incidents in 2006, with further increases in the following two years. China has increased its domestic security budget by 13.8% this year, to 624.4bn yuan (£59bn). Police in Guangdong said on Sunday they had arrested 25 people after violence broke out on Friday night following a row between chengguan – low-level law enforcement officers – and a pregnant vendor during a crackdown on street stalls. State news agency Xinhua said that Wang Lianmei fell during the dispute, while other accounts said that the chengguan had shoved her. The officers have a reputation for thuggish behaviour. Other migrant workers from her province, Sichuan, quickly gathered, with some attacking police vehicles called to the scene with bottles, bricks and stones. Another crowd gathered on Saturday as rumours spread that police had killed Wang’s husband, Tang Xuecai, and that she had been seriously injured. Local media said he appeared at a press conference on Sunday to say that his wife and their baby were fine and that he was happy with the government’s handling of the case. “The case was just an ordinary clash between street vendors and local public security people but was used by a handful of people who wanted to cause trouble,” said Ye Niuping, the local mayor, urging residents not to spread “concocted rumours”. The South China Morning Post said Xintang appeared to have calmed down on Sunday afternoon, with armed police and armoured vehicles patrolling the area, but that as many as 1,000 later gathered despite the heavy police presence. “There were many people out on the streets late last night, shouting and trying to create chaos. Some of them even smashed police vehicles,” said a worker from the nearby Fengcai clothing factory, adding that bosses barred employees from leaving the plant. An employee at a hotel in the area said police had told them to stay indoors. State news agency Xinhua reported on Monday that officials had sent work groups to villages, factories and residential communities to set the record straight. Guangdong police headquarters declined to comment and calls to the local police station rang unanswered. “There is a lot of pent up anger and frustration among ordinary people – not just migrant workers,” said Geoff Crothall of Hong Kong’s China Labour Bulletin, noting the different causes behind the recent outbreaks of unrest. But he added: “There are many towns in Guangdong which are still very much [divided between] locals and outsiders. Migrant workers are still doing the lowest paid, dirtiest jobs and suffer discrimination on a daily basis. That’s going to cause resentment and anger to build up.” China Tania Branigan guardian.co.uk
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When on today's Morning Joe, Mika Brzezinski tried to report the comments of RNC Chairman Reince Priebus on Weinergate, Joe Scarborough shouted her down and shut the comments out.
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Barclays says all customers who complained before 20 April about PPI mis-selling will receive a full refund Barclays has announced it will compensate all customers who complained they had been mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) before 20 April on a “no questions asked” basis. The payments, which the bank says are intended as a “gesture of goodwill”, will comprise all premiums paid plus any added interest. A spokesman refused to say how many customers had complained by that date, but several tens of thousands are believed to be in line for substantial payouts by the end of August: the bank set £1bn aside earlier this year to meet PPI compensation costs. Customers who complained after this date will have to wait up to 16 weeks before their complaint is resolved, following a temporary extension given to Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and RBS to deal with a backlog of “stayed” complaints and a high volume of new ones. PPI is a type of insurance designed to pay out if a policyholder is unable to pay credit card and/or other monthly debt payments because he or she has suffered redundancy or ill heath. However, many of the people sold PPI found they were not eligible to claim, others did not understand that purchase of the policy was voluntary, and some did not even realise they had bought the cover. Last December the banks regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), issued guidelines defining when a customer should be compensated for being mis-sold such a policy: these included that PPI sellers should talk customers through the key features of a policy rather than assuming they would read relevant documentation, and make it clear the cover was optional. But the banks claimed it was unfair to apply these rules retrospectively, and most refused to deal with claims of mis-selling until a court case that ended on 20 April ruled the banks must adopt their regulator’s guidelines . In a statement about its decision to compensate existing claimants, Barclays said: “We have said before that when we get things wrong, we apologise and work hard and work fast to put them right as quickly as possible. “Working in close co-operation with the FSA and the Financial Ombudsman Service , and in recognition of the delay customers have experienced whilst awaiting the outcome of the high court judgment, we can confirm that we are contacting customers whose complaint was put on hold on or before 20 April with an offer to settle their complaint in full as a gesture of goodwill.” The time extension granted by the FSA to the three banks will not affect claims made to other banks, which still have to respond within eight weeks of receiving the complaint. Customers who believe they may have been mis-sold a PPI policy can complain directly to their bank using the Guardian’s template letter . Andrew Hagger of product comparison website Moneynet.co.uk said: “The decision from Barclays to pay out on all PPI claims submitted before 20 April is a common sense move and hopefully one that other lenders will follow. Not only will the ‘no quibble’ policy enable compensation to be paid more quickly, it will also slam the door in the face of the growing band of claims management companies looking to make a fast buck at consumers’ expense.” Which? chief executive, Peter Vicary-Smith, added: “Banks have a lot to do to rebuild their reputation after more than a decade of mis-selling PPI and then mishandling complaints about it. “It’s fantastic to see Barclays stepping up in this way, acknowledging their mistakes and refunding customers what they are owed, no questions asked. Hopefully this will have a domino effect and other banks will follow suit – the sooner the banking industry can consign the PPI mis-selling scandal to the history books, the better.” Which? advises anyone who thinks they have been mis-sold PPI to complain direct to their bank and avoid costly claims management companies. Payment protection insurance Insurance Banks and building societies Consumer affairs Consumer rights Barclays Banking Jill Insley guardian.co.uk
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David Cameron says aid will help to save 1.4m lives from preventable conditions such as pneumonia and diarrhoea Britain will donate an additional £814m to vaccinate more than 80 million children, helping to save an estimated 1.4m lives from common conditions such as pneumonia and diarrhoea, the prime minister, David Cameron, has announced. “Britain will play its full part,” he told the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) conference in London, where politicians, charities, private companies and philanthropists including Bill Gates of Microsoft are gathering to plan funding the protection of children in countries too poor to pay for vaccination. Richer countries are being asked to give an extra £2.3bn by 2015. Gates, who is jointly hosting the conference with Cameron, is pledging $1bn (£600m) towards the campaign. Cameron said: “In addition to our existing support for Gavi, we will provide £814 million of new funding up to 2015. This will help vaccinate over 80 million children and save 1.4 million lives.” “That is one child vaccinated every two seconds for five years. It is one child’s life saved every two minutes. That is what the money that the British taxpayer is putting in will give.” He said the idea of children dying of preventable conditions such as pneumonia and diarrhoea should be “unthinkable” in 2011. “To those who say fine but we should put off seeing through those promises to another day because right now we can’t afford to help: I say – we can’t afford to wait.” The UK is already committed to giving £2bn over the next 30 years. In an article in the Observer Cameron defended the decision against backbench Tory unease about increasing overseas aid at a time of such sharp domestic cuts. It was a controversial decision, he said, but it was right both morally and in the national interest to invest in countries “before they become broken”, preventing spending far more on the problems that could result. Health experts estimate that three times as many children under five die from the conditions as from malaria and HIV/Aids combined. Vaccines and immunisation Health Bill Gates David Cameron Aid London guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Juror allegedly contacted a defendant online during a multi million-pound drugs trial Contempt proceedings will take place this week against a juror who allegedly contacted a defendant through Facebook during a multi million-pound drugs trial, causing it to collapse, it emerged on Sunday night. Attorney General Dominic Grieve will open the proceedings on Tuesday in the High Court in London, his office confirmed. Monday’s edition of The Times said the case was against Joanne Fraill and an acquitted defendant, Jamie Sewart. The case, to be heard by Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice, coincides with an appeal by another defendant in the trial who is challenging his conviction because of the alleged conversation, the newspaper reported. The aborted trial involving Ms Fraill, 40, of Blackley, Manchester, and Ms Sewart, 34, of Bolton, took place in Manchester last year and involved multiple charges and defendants. It was one of a series of four trials estimated to have cost £6 million and had run for 10 weeks. One of the defendants, convicted drug dealer Gary Knox, is appealing against his conviction on the basis of alleged jury misconduct, with the appeal also to be heard by Lord Judge, the newspaper said. Ms Sewart also faces contempt proceedings because she is alleged to have asked Ms Fraill for details of the jury’s deliberations in relation to a charge they were still considering, it added. Knox, 35, was jailed for six years for conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office, the newspaper said. The court was told that he bought sensitive information on drug dealers from police in return for a £20,000 BMW and Premier League match tickets. A police officer, Phil Berry, 44, who received the gifts and admitted the same charge, was jailed for four years, the newspaper added. Crime Facebook Internet Social networking guardian.co.uk
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War Horse takes best play prize and Mark Rylance named best actor at Broadway ceremony The Broadway production of the British play War Horse has won the top prize at the Tony Awards in New York. The best play award was one of five Tonys for the acclaimed puppet-based staging of the popular first world war story, adapted for stage by Nick Stafford. Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris were awarded the best director prize. Briton Mark Rylance won the best acting award for a play for his performance as Johnny “Rooster” Byron in Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem following up his success three years ago when he won for Boeing-Boeing, Rylance quoted a poem by US poet Louis Jenkins. “Unlike flying or astral projection, walking through walls is a totally earth-related craft, but a lot more interesting than pot-making or driftwood lamps,” he said in his acceptance speech. When asked later why he had recited the poem, Rylance said, “I don’t know. I was getting a little bored.” The Book of Mormon was the most fèted production at the gilttering Broadway gathering. A spoof musical from the creators of South Park, about two traveling Mormon missionaries, The Book of Mormon won the Tony for best musical and eight other prizes. The top Tonys Best musical: The Book of Mormon Best original score, music and lyrics: The Book of Mormon Best play: War Horse (Nick Stafford) Best revival of a musical: Anything Goes Best revival of a play: The Normal Heart Best actress in a musical: Sutton Foster (Anything Goes) Best actor in a musical: Norbert Leo Butz (Catch Me If You Can) Best actress in a play: Frances McDormand (Good People) Best actor in a play: Mark Rylance (Jerusalem) Best featured actress in a musical: Nikki M Jones (The Book of Mormon) Best featured actor in a musical: John Laroquette (How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying) Best featured actor in a play: John Benjamin Hickey (The Normal Heart) Best featured actress in a play: Ellen Barkin (The Normal Heart) Best direction of a musical: Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker (The Book of Mormon) Best direction of a play: Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris (War Horse) Tony awards Theatre Toby Manhire guardian.co.uk
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