Last remaining train maker in UK halves its workforce and calls on government for rethink after losing £3bn contract Four months ago David Cameron brought his “march of the makers” to Derby in a morale-boosting exercise for Britain’s blue-collar sector. Now more than 1,400 manufacturing jobs have walked out of the city as Bombardier, the last remaining train maker in the UK, announced plans to cut nearly half its workforce in the wake of the government’s decision last month to select Siemens of Germany for a £3bn contract. Trade union leaders and local politicians rounded on the prime minister, who had brought his cabinet to Derby amid talk of weaning the economy off financial services and pledging to “do everything we can” to help local businesses create jobs. The criticism was particularly stinging from Bombardier employees and executives, who are cutting 1,429 staff, comprised of 446 full-time workers and 983 agency employees. The Canadian engineering group said it needed the £3bn Thameslink contract to have a hope of retaining the bulk of its 3,000-strong workforce at the former British Rail factory in central Derby, which survived a zeppelin bombing in 1916 but according to the government has fallen foul of a new continental menace: European Union procurement rules. Ministers believe their hands were tied by Brussels guidelines that forbid favourable treatment of domestic manufacturers. Standing in front of freshly minted commuter trains at the 172 year-old plant, one Bombardier executive was scornful of the cabinet visit and its immediate legacy. “What makes it most inexplicable for me is David Cameron being in Derby of all places a few months ago talking about hi-tech manufacturing and moving the UK away from financial services in London,” said Francis Paonessa, head of Bombardier’s UK passenger division. “This would have been the perfect opportunity to put some actions behind those words. As a taxpayer I find it very difficult to see how this decision makes any economic sense for the UK.” Paonessa added that the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills had invited Bombardier to a conference on transferring hi-tech jobs at risk in the wake of the defence budget cuts to other sectors such as car and train manufacturing. “We are now adding to the problem,” said Paonessa. Asked if he still plans to attend the BIS seminar he said: “Funnily enough, I will not.” Bombardier’s UK chairman, Colin Walton, said the jobs announcement was “the worst day in my entire career.” Walton started out on the railways as a 15-year-old but last week closed the door on youngsters seeking to emulate him when he was forced to cancel Bombardier’s annual apprenticeship intake. Despite government claims that Siemens could not be unseated as preferred bidder for the Thameslink contract, the executive said there was still hope for Bombardier as the second choice. “The department could bring us back to the table and that would in no way infringe on European laws.” Labour’s shadow business secretary, John Denham, also urged the government to break off with Siemens and install Bombardier as preferred bidder. The transport secretary, Philip Hammond, said his department had no choice but to select Siemens in a tender drawn up by the previous government. Vince Cable, the business secretary, set up an “economic response task force” on Tuesday to mitigate the impact of the job cuts in Derby, as the government hit back against Bombardier’s claim that the cuts were directly linked to the Thameslink contract. They pointed to a recent letter to Hammond in which Bombardier warned that 1,200 jobs were at risk even if the company did not win the order. Industry sources said the company would have had to scale back as orders began to deplete. From September four of Bombardier’s five production lines, still thrumming with activity, will be idle. Bombardier said that it would not have axed permanent staff, while securing the £3bn deal would have put the business in pole position to make rolling stock for the £16bn Crossrail route. The talk among shell-shocked staff in Derby was of a full plant closure. Bombardier is reviewing its UK operations in the wake of the Thameslink decision and it has not ruled out closing Derby by 2014, when its last contract ends. Paul Stead, 49, a Derby resident who oversees production of nearly 1,400 tube carriages, said: “This is the last of the train manufacturing sites in the UK and it will probably be dissolved. There are no orders. The whole principle of Thameslink is it would have lasted us until Crossrail. A place of this size needs a big order.” He added: “We are prepared to take the skills into another country and pay them to do it instead of doing it here. Our apprentices and trades people will be obsolete.” Siemens has confirmed that the carriages will be made in Germany, but has claimed that 2,000 jobs will be created in the UK. Asked what will become of the Derby plant, Stead said: “Most likely they will put houses on it,” adding that the Royal Ordnance Factory site in Derby where he used to work is now a B&Q store. Others spoke glumly of re-employment prospects. The head of the factory’s works committee, John Pearson, said Derby’s flagship industrial player, Rolls Royce, would struggle to absorb more than 1,000 jobless workers, while internet bank Egg is preparing to cut 650 posts in the City. “Derby has had a bad time lately. There is Royce’s but it will not be able to take everybody.” Jane Moss, a 35 year-old agency worker who has been doing fitting work at the plant, said: “It is a bit frightening because there is not much in industry in England anyway. It is just dwindling away.” Bombardier Job losses Transport policy Manufacturing sector Rail transport Transport Dan Milmo guardian.co.uk
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Youngsters, who say they were detained for more than six hours, launch legal challenge in high court Metropolitan police officers illegally detained children as young as 11 for more than six hours during a “kettling” operation against tuition fee protesters, the high court has been told. Three of those held last year are challenging the decision by senior officers to contain youngsters – some of whom were wearing school uniforms – among masses of demonstrators on Whitehall. The case focuses attention on police use of the tactic to prevent groups of people moving through the streets. It has been criticised for its indiscriminate punishment of everyone present. Lawyers for Adam Castle, 16, his sister Rosie, 15, and Sam Eaton, 16, all from north London, argued the police operation was unlawful because no release plan had been prepared to cope with the presence of children. Martin Westgate QC, counsel for the children, said the police failure constituted a breach of their obligations under section 11 of the Children’s Act and of their responsibilities to respect human rights. The children had, with their parents’ permission, joined the National Student Walkout demonstration against the rise in university fees on 24 November. “The claimants were entirely innocent of any misconduct,” Westgate said. “Other children were also prevented from leaving. One 11-year-old was told to ‘get back’ at a fairly late stage in the containment.” The “kettle” operation began at 12.30pm and children repeatedly presented themselves at the police lines asking to be allowed to leave. They showed Oyster cards and offered other proof of their age but were not allowed to depart. “Children … were reasonably capable of being identified as non-violent participants,” Westgate said. “There’s no suggestion there were a significant number of violent children.” Radio logs of the police operation showed that officers feared some protesters had knives or, in one case, a gun. “It seems that the release took longer … because the police wanted to secure evidence for arrests,” Westgate said. “That’s not a lawful use of containment.” The children were among 10 friends who joined thousands of students, lecturers and teachers in Trafalgar Square to march towards the Houses of Parliament. Rosie was trapped for about six hours and the boys, who were in court, for seven-and-a-half hours. Westgate said he accepted the decision to impose the kettle was lawful because of police fears breaches of the peace were imminent but added that the operation became unlawful because of the failure to have a release plan communicated to frontline officers. Lawyers for the Met police argued that the containment had not been pre-planned, that there was no expectation that schoolchildren would join in and that provision had been made to help vulnerable people caught up in the protests. Requiring the police to record every possible consideration in preparation for large operations would be a “sterile exercise”, the force added. Two portable toilets were provided, but only five hours after protesters had been penned in. Outside court Sam said: “I just felt like we were being punished for demonstrating, as opposed to us doing anything illegal.” Adam added: “I hope the judges see that kettling broke our rights. We were punished for protesting and everyone was left demoralised. It was one of the coldest days of the year and we had not been prepared for being held into the night. “As children we can’t vote, so one of the best ways for us to voice our opinion is through protest and if that’s stopped or inhibited by kettling then where are we left?” His sister Rosie was released earlier and separated from her brother. Adam said: “She knew where she was, but she didn’t know how to get home. She didn’t expect to be separated and left out in the middle of London in the evening. No one was prepared for that.” The hearing continues. Kettling Police Metropolitan police Tuition fees Higher education Students Children Human rights Owen Bowcott guardian.co.uk
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Sir Richard Dearlove says al-Qaida may have passed its zenith but could still muster a spectacular outrage Al-Qaida is facing a “crisis of credibility” and the Arab Spring is “complete anathema” to it, a former head of MI6, Britain’s secret intelligence service, declared on Tuesday. The organisation spawned by Osama bin Laden, killed in May in Pakistan by US special forces, may have already passed its zenith in the Arab world, Sir Richard Dearlove, told an audience in London. But he warned that, as a result, al-Qaida had a “pressing need to pull off a spectacular”. He stressed: “Clearly there is a high risk of a spectacular.” Dearlove, chief of MI6 at the time of the 11 September attacks on the US and the invasion of Iraq, made clear he believed it was time to reduce the proportion of their resources – about 70% – that Britain’s security and intelligence agencies currently devoted to countering terrorism. More important now, he suggested, were political developments in the Middle East following what he called the “Arab awakening”. What was the actual threat, he asked, adding that events in Arab countries suggested that intelligence agencies were facing a world on the cusp of a hugely significant change of direction. He added that in Afghanistan a clear distinction had to be made between al-Qaida and the Pashtuns who, he indicated, were fighting an insurgency inspired more by nationalist and tribal ambitions than extreme ideological ones. Dearlove was speaking at a meeting sponsored by the Global Strategy Forum, chaired by Lord Lothian, the former Conservative frontbencher Michael Ancram. He suggested more resources should be diverted from the defence budget to Britain’s intelligence agencies. He observed that one of MI5 and MI6′s roles set out in statutes was to protect Britain’s “economic well-being”. Dearlove said: “We should not be squeamish about using all means at our disposal to protect ourselves economically.” One question was the extent to which Britain’s intelligence budget – about £2bn annually – should be used to protect the country’s financial and energy security, he said. Dearlove added that there was a “strong argument” for MI5 and MI6 to help the new National Crime Agency tackle serious and organised crime. The security and intelligence services had that role before the 9/11 attacks triggered a massive switch of resources to countering terrorism. Dearlove’s suggestion that al-Qaida has passed its peak chimes with the view of many serving intelligence officers and independent analysts. It reflects the stance of MI6 and now of Britain’s defence chiefs too that the time has come to talk to the Pashtun-led Taliban, and that al-Qaida has been seriously weakened in Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, al-Qaida “franchises or surrogates, are increasingly active, in Yemen, Somalia, and in pockets of north Africa, and could carry out a spectacular attack there or in Europe, including Britain, intelligence sources agree. al-Qaida MI6 Middle East MI5 Iraq Pakistan Osama bin Laden Taliban US military Arab and Middle East unrest Richard Norton-Taylor guardian.co.uk
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Cali Swag District, the group behind “Teach Me How to Dougie,” remember their slain friend and bandmate M-Bone as they prepare to release their debut album. (July 5)
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The initial cleanup along the oil-fouled Yellowstone River could be tested Tuesday as rising waters make it harder for Exxon Mobil Corp. to get to areas damaged by the crude spilled from a company pipeline. (July 5)
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Speaking just for myself, I think that President Obama tapping into America's strategic oil reserve was an extremely unwise and dangerous move. They can say that the didn't do it for political purposes, but until the cows come home and set up housekeeping, I still won't believe it. The reason being that, at best, it is a temporary measure which will be nothing more than a blip on the radar screen of the world's crude oil prices. Whatever fleeting effect it causes will do absolutely nothing to ease our real problem of depending on people who hate our guts to keep our cars and industries running. Why has it been impossible for all our presidents and both political parties to face the fact that the only energy supplies we can really rely on are the ones that exist below the lands and the waters of The United States of America? I have come to believe that there is something much more sinister than the Sierra Club and Greenpeace that prevents us from exploiting our plentiful energy resources, something organized and dirty with the strings being pulled in the highest political offices and the most prestigious corporate boardrooms in the world. But that's another subject for another time. Let's get back to the one at hand. The oil we take out of our reserves will have to be replaced at whatever the price happens to be at the time we replace it, which could very well be higher than it is now. And even worse than that, was this truly a strategic need or a political need? I personally opt for the latter. I think it was political and foolish. Our strategic oil reserves are supposed to guard against a time when something happens that critically disrupts our flow of oil and threatens to shut the country down. To provide fuel so our planes can fly and our defenses can be maintained. Fuel to be used to harvest and move food around the nation in case of a worldwide breakdown, which looks entirely possible in the next few years. What do we do when the fanatics close down the Persian Gulf or blow up the pipelines in Saudi Arabia? What if we sustain a major domestic attack? Our strategic oil reserves should be for the defense of this country, not to bolster the sagging poll numbers of a reckless president. What do you think?
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According to terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna, Ayman al-Zawahiri is even more lethal than Osama bin Laden. ‘Goal-orientated, systematic, secretive and forward thinking’, Zawahiri’s accession as al-Qaeda’s leader marks the return of al-Qaeda with a vengeance. Certainly, Zawahiri has applied his discipline and notable intellect to the cause of jihad since he was 16 years old. A prolific propagandist, he has penned some of the most influential extremist tracts, including important theological justifications for suicide bombing. His charisma, however, is more open to doubt – as are his battlefield credentials. The veteran jihadi Abdullah Anas argues that Zawahiri has no credibility. During the…
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Surely by now you’re mighty familiar with Samsung’s Android-conquering Galaxy Tab 10.1 , but we’re still here waiting on that slate’s promised TouchWiz update . Now it’s on display, courtesy of an official video posted by the company. Whilst listening to some incredibly jazzy music that will make racing fans think they’ve accidentally booted into Gran Turismo 5 , watch a disembodied hand show off some of the Honeycomb customizations that, for the most part, look fairly unobtrusive, including a bigger, friendlier settings screen. More interesting, though, is a look at the Mini Apps that are accessed by what looks to be a gesture from off the bottom of the display. Six proggies will be available at launch: a calendar, task manager, clock, note pad, calculator, and music player. We’re still not sure just when the OTA update will filter out to enable these suckers, but more importantly we’re not sure what to call them when it does. Mini Apps isn’t doing it for us, and sadly Java already has “applets” locked up tight. [Thanks, Marc] Continue reading Galaxy Tab 10.1 demo video shows TouchWiz on Honeycomb, Mini Apps Galaxy Tab 10.1 demo video shows TouchWiz on Honeycomb, Mini Apps originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jul 2011 14:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Click here to view this media CNN host Ali Velshi gave Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum some math advice Tuesday after the former Pennsylvania senator claimed President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus had resulted in 30 million fewer jobs. “[Obama] passed a huge stimulus package that now we know, over the past two quarters, has actually cost American jobs, and that’s from the report of his own administration,” Santorum asserted. “They claimed in December that by the end of last year that they created 280 million jobs, and now they’re saying that they created only 240 million jobs.” “Senator, I’m going to ask you to restate that, I’ve never heard that in my life,” Velshi interrupted. “If you look at the report that came out on Friday, the President’s own economic advisers said that the jobs stimulus package actually created fewer jobs over the period of time, since the stimulus package went in place than it did when they reported back in December. In other words, there’s 30 million less jobs as a result of the stimulus package,” Santorum explained. “That’s not a loss of jobs, Senator, that’s a smaller aggregation of jobs,” Velshi noted. “You can’t go on a campaign, a national campaign with this kind of math Senator. It’s just incorrect.” “One report says that there were 280 and now there are 240,” Santorum insisted. “I know you’ve got a lot of interviews to do. You might want to check that math,” Velshi advised. “It’s dangerous to go around saying that the stimulus didn’t create jobs.” “Look it up,” Santorum said. “Let’s not make a campaign slogan out of something that’s incorrect. I think you might thank me for the guidance but it’s your campaign so you do what you see fit,” Velshi added. “Let’s just be clear: that’s just not right information.” Think Progress pointed out that there are currently 13.9 million people unemployed, and only 153 million in the entire U.S. labor force. “If the Obama administration had created 240 to 280 million jobs, the unemployment crisis would have been solved several times over, and America would have so many jobs that it would need to start employing workers from all over the world just to fill all the available positions,” Think Progress’ Pat Garofalo wrote.
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MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. — A Michigan jail inmate says he’s being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment because he can’t have pornography. In a handwritten lawsuit, 21-year-old Kyle Richards claims his civil rights are being violated at the Macomb County Jail. Richards says denying his request for erotic material subjects him to a “poor standard of living” and “sexual and sensory deprivation.” The Michigan Department of Corrections tells The Detroit News that prisons allow some pornographic material, though it’s banned at the jail. The American Civil Liberties Union says prisons have a lot of leeway. Richards was charged with bank robbery after police followed a trail of snowy footprints and dropped money to his apartment from a bank robbery scene in January in Fraser, north of Detroit. Richards pleaded guilty. Sentencing is Aug. 2.
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