Dating can be hard, but luckily there are services like eHarmony out there to help make finding Mr. Right a little easier. One lady named Debbie recently decided to dip her foot in the online dating waters to see what all of the fuss was about, and we’ve gotta say, she lead with her strong foot. Things go well until she starts talking about how much she loves cats. Then all hell breaks loose. And by hell we mean tears. We have a feeling that this is a troll job, but if Debbie is serious, the internet is probably the only place for her to find a cat-lover of her caliber. WATCH: Via Viral Viral Videos
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Big Fish, the Tim Burton film based on Daniel Wallace’s 1998 novel of the same name, will make its musical debut on Broadway in spring 2012. Though the cast has not yet been announced, a star-studded production team features several “big fish” working behind the scenes of this adaptation. (LIST: See TIME’s “Not-the-Tony Awards”) Five-time
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Zimbabwe ready to bury decades of hostility towards Britain following Cameron’s election says senior Zanu-PF MP Robert Mugabe’s chief spin doctor has signalled that Zimbabwe is ready to bury decades of hostility towards Britain following the election of David Cameron. Jonathan Moyo , a senior MP in Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party, credited the British prime minister with reducing tensions between Zimbabwe and its former colonial master. “The fact of the matter is, sooner or later Zimbabwe and the UK should engage each other,” Moyo told the Guardian during a visit to South Africa. “There are many reasons why that should be possible.” Once knighted by the Queen, Mugabe has reserved his most embittered rhetoric for Britain, accusing it of neocolonial meddling that he blames for the country’s ills more than 30 years after independence. But Moyo said last year’s general election result in the UK created space for a shift in relations. “For one, we can all see that David Cameron is not as loquacious as [Gordon] Brown or, worse, Tony Blair. Definitely not. He’s kept his views on Zimbabwe to himself. He’s not even as loquacious as [William] Hague, who sometimes gets carried away, because of what he imagines is the success he’s having in Libya, to say ridiculous things. “But, by and large, they are behaving as the Conservatives we historically have known. It is a historical fact that the independence process was in colonial terms made possible by the Conservatives. The approach of the Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher was very different from the approach of Labour.” Moyo did criticise Cameron for being a “cheerleader” in the military intervention in Libya, but added: “Re: Zimbabwe, I think an objective assessment would be that he has managed to lower down the levels of noise which in turn has contributed in lowering levels of tension. We don’t make as much noise ourselves against the UK as we did because we think that there’s an opportunity that was squandered by Brown and Blair. “Also, I think it is safe to say there have been attempts by both sides to reach out and there have been some re-engagements and there have even been attempts to solve things on the cricket front, which would be one useful entry point.” He deployed a colourful image to suggest Britain might now be willing to climb down from its former position. “I think the British problem is that they behaved like a drunkard who climbed a tree overnight only to wake up in the morning naked and unable to come down, and so conjures up all sorts of stories to justify why they are there, and it takes time to get down,” Moyo said. “We are prepared to give them a ladder. What we don’t know is will they want to use it at night or during the day.” Moyo, 54, is a former information and publicity minister seen as the architect of Zimbabwe’s harsh media laws. He fell out with Zanu-PF in 2004 and became an independent MP and outspoken critic of Mugabe , only to return to the fold in 2009. He is likely to be the mastermind of Zanu-PF’s next election campaign, which, opponents say, will include propaganda aimed at demonising the rival Movement for Democratic Change . Moyo has been described as “the dictator’s most notorious henchman” with a “deviously brilliant mind”. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Zimbabwean civil society groups and countless media reports have accused Zanu-PF of killing, torturing and beating its opponents and rigging elections. Last week finance minister Tendai Biti of the MDC, whose home had been bombed, compared the mood in Zimbabwe with Rwanda on the eve of its 1994 genocide . But Moyo said: “Not to say we have not had violence in Zimbabwe because we’ve conceded that, and all the political parties have conceded that. But the way it’s blown out of proportion and there’s harrowing tales of torture chambers, I think it’s unfortunate.” Alleging a gigantic conspiracy, he went on: “It’s going to collapse because sooner or later you will hear completely different stories. I don’t deny there have been cases of violence but the way they have been told and the extent of the incidents told has been exaggerated beyond what is rational. “I’m not denying that you guys get told all sorts of horror stories, I’m just saying most of those stories, especially told by people who are refugees, are fictitious. They are looking for economic opportunity – these are economic refugees.” Asked for an honest assessment of Mugabe’s weaknesses as a leader, Moyo replied: “Contrary to the public image, I think he’s too tolerant of things and people. I always wish we could get him to sometimes be more decisive in dealing with misfits than he often is. He doesn’t have a history of firing people. I wish he could fire people more often.” Robert Mugabe Zimbabwe Africa David Cameron David Smith guardian.co.uk
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Regime deploys riot police and militia to disperse demonstrators protesting against 2009 election result Iranian security officials have used baton charges and tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters at a silent rally in central Tehran marking the second anniversary of the country’s disputed presidential election. Riot police and plainclothes basij militia were deployed in various locations in the capital, arresting at least tens of protesters. Supporters of the opposition green movement marched in groups along Vali-e-Asr street – the city’s main commercial thoroughfare and a rallying point for protesters in recent years. A protester told the Guardian that demonstrators mainly marched on the pavement, and – as requested by the organisers – did not shout any anti-regime slogans. “People were pretending that they were in the streets for a walk but it was obvious that they were out in protest to mark the rigged election in 2009,” he said. “They were silent but their numbers were ten times more than an ordinary day in Vali-e-Asr street, I think around 30,000 people were out there in total,” the protester said in a phone interview from Tehran. Kaleme, the website of the opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, said that protesters clashed with riot police near Saei Park in Vali-e-Asr and Sahamnews, the website of Mehdi Karroubi, another leader of the opposition, said the police attacked people with electric batons. Mousavi and Karroubi have been placed under house arrest since mid-February when they called for street protest in solidarity with the Arab uprisings. “Security forces attacked the crowd with electric batons … in the Vali-e Asr street to disperse the demonstrators,” Sahamnews said. “Shopkeepers were ordered to close their shops … hundreds of people have gathered in other areas of Tehran,” the website added. Another protester told the Guardian: “The riot police panicked and although people were silent, they arrested people without any charge or suspicion just to intimidate them.” The protester continued: “Plain-clothes basijis were riding past on fast motorbikes to spread panic among protesters.” News of the protests came as it emerged that a leading journalist and opposition figure had died of a heart attack after spending 10 days on hunger strike in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. Hoda Saber, a 52-year-old political activist from the opposition Nationalist-Religious movement, was taken to the Modarres hospital in the city after a cardiac complication, which his wife claims was brought on by his hunger strike. Speaking from Tehran, Saber’s wife, Farideh Jamshidi, told the Guardian: “My husband died two days ago, but we were unaware of his death until today when someone in the hospital informed one of our friends.” She said Saber stopped eating food and later stopped drinking water in protest at the death of his fellow dissident Haleh Sahabi, She died of a heart attack during scuffles with security forces at the funeral of her father, Ezatollah Sahabi, the leader of the Nationalist-Religious alliance of politicians, on 1 June. Several human rights organisations have issued statements coinciding with the anniversary of the election and many have expressed concerns for those political prisoners arrested since 2009. The foreign secretary, William Hague, also issued a statement, saying: “Two years after people took to the streets to demand reform, I want it to be known that our attention has not been diverted and we will continue to call on Iran to implement its international human rights obligations.” Iran Protest Middle East Saeed Kamali Dehghan guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Junrey Balawing stopped growing 17 years and 10 months ago, and today, on his 18th birthday, was named the world’s shortest man for his trouble. Guinness World Records swooped into his Philippine hometown, measured Balawing up at a whopping 23.5″ inches, and gave him a certificate that stands nearly…
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LUSAKA, Zambia — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday warned Africa of a creeping “new colonialism” from foreign investors and governments interested only in extracting the continent’s natural resources to enrich themselves and not the African people. Clinton said that African leaders must ensure that foreign projects are sustainable and benefit all their citizens, not only elites. A day earlier, she cautioned that China’s massive investments and business interests in Africa need to be closely watched so that the African people are not taken advantage of. “It is easy, and we saw that during colonial times, it is easy to come in, take out natural resources, pay off leaders and leave,” Clinton said. “And when you leave, you don’t leave much behind for the people who are there. We don’t want to see a new colonialism in Africa.” Clinton said the United States didn’t want foreign governments and investors to fail in Africa, but they should also give back to the local communities. “We want them to do well, but also we want them to do good,” she said. “We don’t want them to undermine good governance, we don’t want them to basically deal with just the top elites, and frankly too often pay for their concessions or their opportunities to invest.” Clinton said that American development aid and infrastructure projects come with good governance conditions and that the Obama administration is interested in Africa and the African people. Their success, she said, is in the long-term interest of both the African people and the U.S. She spoke in a pan-African television interview in the Zambian capital. Her interview followed the handover of a U.S. built pediatric hospital in Lusaka to the Zambian government. Earlier, at the inaugural meeting of the U.S.-Zambia Chamber of Commerce, Clinton laid out the U.S. strategy for helping Africa. “We want a relationship of partnership not patronage, of sustainability, not quick fixes,” she said. “We want to establish a strong foundation to attract new investment, open new businesses … create more paychecks, and do so within the context of a positive ethic of corporate responsibility.” “We think it’s essential that we have an idea going in that doing well is not in any way a contradiction of doing good,” she said. Clinton is the first secretary of state to visit Zambia since Henry Kissinger came in 1976 to lay out the Ford administration’s policy for southern Africa as revolts against white minority rule in South Africa and what was then Rhodesia were intensifying. Clinton, on the first leg of a three-nation tour of Africa, arrived in Zambia from the United Arab Emirates, where she attended an international conference on Libya. After Zambia, she heads to Tanzania and Ethiopia before returning to Washington next week.
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NEW YORK — Keith Olbermann is showing off his office to a visitor. His office is in the cozy production and editorial headquarters from where, starting June 20, he will originate “Countdown With Keith Olbermann” on Current TV every weeknight. He and his team had taken residence just days earlier at the still-under-renovation building, which, situated on Manhattan’s West 33rd Street, Olbermann has dubbed Studio 33. The set for his show hasn’t been delivered yet. But he has just finished taping his first “Worst Persons” Web video (today’s winner – ta-da! – Sarah Palin) in the newsroom. His office is bare. Its lone amenity so far is a desk chair he used to have at MSNBC, a chair he says once belonged to Brian Williams that he somehow kept after exiting in January. But on the newly refinished hardwood floor, a dotted outline of Post-its clearly indicates where his desk will go. Olbermann has similarly vivid outlines in mind for how “Countdown” will fit into his new Current TV home. As he is quick to point out, “Countdown” is only the opening act. “The idea that it’s just me coming over and putting a show on in the middle of this network is correct,” he says, “but temporary.” As a more enduring plan, Olbermann, 52, has empire-building in mind. He’s got Current’s prime-time landscape, not just a nightly hour, in his sights. Hobbling with the aid of a retractable cane (he is nursing a stress fracture in his left foot), he leads the way to another office already equipped with two chairs, and lowers his 6-foot-3-inch frame into one of them. He explains that “Countdown” will be much the same show it became at MSNBC during its eight-year evolution. “Countdown” was a smart, progressive refuge and a reliable rebuke to rival Fox News Channel pundits where Olbermann would chronicle the day’s events, interview guests, deliver blistering commentaries in filigreed prose, needle hand-picked scoundrels (as in his Worst Persons fixture), and wrap the whole package with literate trappings and pop-culture wit (his readings from James Thurber short stories were a regular feature). It was the most popular show on MSNBC, averaging more than a million viewers, and it served as the prime-time template for a left-leaning lineup at a network that, until “Countdown,” had been plagued by an identity crisis. Then, on the night of Jan. 21, Olbermann told his viewers he was leaving. He said, a bit cryptically, that “there were many occasions, particularly in the last two and a half years, where all that surrounded the show – but never the show itself – was just too much for me.” Five months later, he wants to assure his fans that the new “Countdown,” back in its customary 8 p.m. Eastern time slot, will pick up where the old one left off, but “without all those limitations on me,” to which he furnishes his own wry comeback: “You WEREN’T free to say whatever you wanted to, back then?!’” Suffice it to say there was ongoing friction between the brash Olbermann and his NBC bosses – just as there had been at earlier jobs as far back as Olbermann’s star-making, often stormy turn as a “SportsCenter” anchor at ESPN in the 1990s. The problem for a TV journalist, as he sees it, is systemic with ever-growing media consolidation by conglomerates whose myriad other business interests can potentially clash with editorial independence. Just this past January, Comcast Corp., the giant cable operator, acquired a controlling stake in Olbermann’s already huge former employer, NBCUniversal. But he sees the dilemma as spanning the media landscape. “It became evident to me,” he says, “that at some point there would be a critical mass reached when I would not be able to continue to work anywhere in that structure. They just would not be in the position to have someone as risky to their other business interests as I am.” Last fall, he began mulling options for a berth outside such media colossuses as NBCUniversal, Walt Disney Co., News Corp. and Time Warner. And going further, he figured, “There had to be at least one television network looking to identify or reidentify itself that had a news and public affairs base” – a network that would be game to take a successful cable-TV host and build itself around him. Among possible destinations, Olbermann says he thought of Current, the privately held network co-founded in 2005 by former Vice President Al Gore and Joel Hyatt. Although available in 60 million homes after just five years, it has struggled to redefine itself after ditching its original concept as the go-to site for viewer-generated short videos, a great idea explosively pre-empted with the advent of YouTube. Current has persevered nonetheless and been honored for the investigative newsmagazine “Vanguard,” now beginning its fifth season. Even so, the network operates on the margins with a minuscule audience. It clearly needs an attention-getter – someone to goad viewers into finding Current on their dial, and, if it’s not there (roughly one-third of the nation’s TV homes still can’t get it), demanding it from their cable provider. “What Current has lacked is some sort of centerpiece,” says Olbermann. “Both my experience and my ego tell me I can be that centerpiece.” Al Gore must have thought so, too. The day after Olbermann left MSNBC, he heard from Gore. The offer included not just salary but also equity in the company. “And then,” says Olbermann, “we made up this crazy title of Chief News Officer,” which, despite its tinge of ironic grandiosity, represented a blend of trust and responsibility that appealed to Olbermann. His deal with Current was unveiled Feb. 8. “We’re independent, and that’s what Keith prizes,” Gore told the AP at the time. “We are not part of a conglomerate. We don’t answer to anyone but ourselves.” And with Olbermann’s arrival, he added, “We are poised for a real breakout.” The breakout, according to Olbermann, will extend far beyond “Countdown.” “We’re starting with this show, but we will be expanding,” he says. “More than likely, we will have a second prime-time show within a year, maybe sooner than that.” Maybe Olbermann will find himself another Rachel Maddow, the liberal host who clicked with viewers on MSNBC after Olbermann brought her aboard for a companion show to his at that network. Sure, nods Olbermann. “Or conceivably,” he says suggestively, “I might just find the SAME Rachel Maddow. You never know.” He also looks to place the scrappy “Vanguard” correspondents at the heart of the network’s new emphasis on newsgathering. The new “Vanguard” season will premiere July 20 at 9 p.m. EDT, riding on the coattails of Olbermann’s debut, with a follow-up to Mariana van Zeller’s 2009 Peabody Award-winning report on black-market sale of prescription pain killers, which now is fueling a surge in heroin addiction. “Keith Olbermann’s hire is going to bring a whole new bunch of viewers to the channel,” van Zeller predicts, “and a lot of people are going to be introduced to the long-form kind of journalism that we do.” “I think we’ll become a very important home base for independent, progressive thinking on television,” says Current CEO Mark Rosenthal. “Our goal is to get every last one of the viewers who watched Keith before – and then some. And I think we can do it.” Olbermann says plans already are afoot for the 2012 presidential race, including coverage of the primaries, debates and election night. “Eventually, the network is going to be all news, information and analysis – certainly in prime time,” he says. “Initially, we hope to sneak up on people. But the ultimate goal is, to be the provider of news analysis for more people than any other cable outlet. “The goal,” he declares with a confident smile, “is world domination.” ___ EDITOR’S NOTE – Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore(at)ap.org and at http://www.twitter.com/tvfrazier
Continue reading …Mormons, Superheroes and Stephen Colbert: Why This Year’s Tony Awards Will Be Different
June 12, 2011 No CommentWith the curtain about to go up on the 65th Annual Antoinette Perry Awards, NewsFeed takes a break from singing in the shower to reflect on Broadway’s big night (with an admitted musical bias). (MORE: “TIME’s Not-the-Tony Awards”) The stage loves tradition, but the 2011 Tonys will be unique for several reasons. Among them: 1.
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Four men who were being held on charges of spying and terrorism have been released after five months in captivity Four British men held on spying and terrorism charges in the Horn of Africa state of Eritrea have been freed after five months in captivity. The two ex-Marine guards and two civilian crew members, working for an anti-piracy security firm, were expected to land at Heathrow airport late tonight. But questions remained over the security contractors’ activities in the isolationist country, including official allegations that they set up a “military base” on a remote island and stashed sniper rifles, silencers, pistols and “poison-tipped” bullets “intended for perpetrating acts of terrorism and sabotage”. The men worked for British maritime security company Protection Vessels International, which said they made an unscheduled stop in Eritrea last December owing to rough weather while en route to provide security for ships in an area where piracy is rife. PVI claimed they were arrested because of “confusion over fuel payments”. But Eritrea’s government insisted that the men were detained as they tried to leave Eritrean waters without permission, and said its searches then uncovered a weapons cache on the island of Romia. The government alleged that a total of 21 PVI employees were involved in crimes “against Eritrean sovereignty”, and that four were caught while trying to escape. “On 19 December, 21 members of the PVI (including those four detained) infiltrated and deployed different types of weapons, poison-tipped bullets, bulletproof vests, specialised communication equipment and infrared night-vision binoculars in the sovereign Eritrean island of Romia,” a government press release said last week. “There is high possibility that such military hardware is intended for perpetrating acts of terrorism and sabotage. Hence, the members are accountable for infiltrating into the sovereign Eritrean island of Romia and stashing weaponry, for orchestrating acts of espionage and terrorism.” The statement also claimed that 11 seamen stayed in hiding on Romia for four days, along with military hardware, equipment and communication facilities. “These seamen were given directives to keep guard in twos and to pose as ‘tourists keen to observe sharks’,” it said, proving that the PVI had been using Romia “as its military base and arms depot”. PVI employs former British marines to provide armed on-board security and escort vessels for shipping operating in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. It has denied Eritrea’s claims. Paul Gibbins, a company spokesman, said this was the worst event in the company’s two-year history and a full investigation would be conducted into what had gone wrong. “We need to find out what the pinch point was. Was there a confusion over the fuel? Was there an issue over the vessel’s departure? We just don’t know at this stage,” he said. “The whole episode has been a series of unfortunate events.” Gibbins denied that the company was involved “any espionage or acts of assassination”. He said that the ship had been forced to stop in Massawa for a crucial fuel resupply and equipment repair. But, he insisted, the company had worked hard before it docked to ensure that the ship’s presence was not regarded “as a threat or hostile action”. “Christopher Collison was dispatched to Massawa to liaise with the local shipping agent and the port authority,” he said. “He was there for four days, explaining and negotiating. We had only intermittent contact with him during that time, because mobile phones don’t work in that area. We worked very hard to ascertain if it was safe to enter the port.” Gibbins said that, despite the lack of contact, the company was eventually forced to make the decision to give the ship permission to enter the port. However, he said, it had tried to “desensitise” and “detune” the presence of both the ship and its crew by unloading the weapons they carried as part of their regular duties on Romia, an outlying and uninhabitated island, before landing. “We did everything we could to make it clear our presence was not misconstrued as a hostile act,” he said. The ship spent five days at Massawa, but was eventually forced to leave before it had fully refuelled. “We needed 15 tonnes of fuel but could only get 1,500 litres before we were forced to leave to meet an engagement to provide security for clients,” said Gibbins. “In hindsight, it’s true we could have done things better but, given the time constraints and the immediacy of the decisions that needed to be made, we worked hard to facilitate safe entry to the port. We do regret those unfortunate events and apologise to everyone concerned.” Eritrea Africa David Smith Amelia Hill guardian.co.uk
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Tories accuse deputy PM of ‘kindergarten politics’ after Lib Dems briefed he would toast amendment successes Nick Clegg has been accused by the Tories of resorting to “kindergarten politics” after the Liberal Democrats briefed that the deputy prime minister would declare victory when the amended health service reforms are published on Monday. In a sign of growing resentment among Tory backbenchers, whose newest members will express their frustration to David Cameron at a meeting, an influential voice turned on the Lib Dems. Nick de Bois, the Tory MP for Enfield North, the 1922 committee’s unofficial voice on the NHS reforms, told the Guardian: “The NHS is too serious a policy issue to warrant all the kindergarten politics witnessed this weekend from our partners. We should focus on the policy not the politics and from what I have seen so far I am encouraged and am looking forward to seeing the detail of the reforms.” The Future Forum report by Professor Steve Field is due to be published on Monday. Field was appointed to lead the “listening exercise” on the NHS reforms after the health and social care bill was paused. Clegg is planning to tell his MPs and peers that the Lib Dems have secured a famous victory after ensuring that their “loud voices” have been heard. Field is expected to announce that: • The main duty of Monitor, the health service regulator, will be promoting patients’ interests and not competition. It will promote competition only if that helps patients. • A 2013 deadline for the creation of new GP-led consortiums, initially designed to take control of 65% of the NHS budget, is to be relaxed. • The membership of the consortiums is to be opened up to include hospital doctors and nurses. Clegg will tell his parliamentary party: “We have achieved all we set out to achieve. It is a job well done.” The Tories were irritated when the Lib Dem leadership published a “scorecard” showing the party has secured 11 of the 13 changes its conference demanded. A source close to Clegg said: “Nick will now be able to present his colleagues with the scorecard and tick off each of their 13 objectives. They’ll be there for all to see. We’re expecting the parliamentary party to be pretty pleased with the result. We have won.” But the party later toned down its rhetoric. Norman Lamb, senior parliamentary adviser to Clegg, said it was not talking about winning. Lamb, the former health spokesman who threatened to resign unless changes were made, told BBC1′s Politics Show: “It’s not a question of people winning things, I just think we raised a number of very serious concerns, concerns that were shared by many people within the health service and the health policy world. I’m satisfied the concerns raised have been met. It’s been a very constructive process.” Field will publish his report on Monday afternoon. Clegg, Cameron and the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, will give the government’s formal response at a joint event at a hospital at midday on Tuesday. De Bois made clear that a series of “red lines” he emailed to colleagues last month must remain in place: GPs must take charge of commissioning, and the 2013 target must be met to avoid creating a two-tier health service. De Bois, who was involved in the committee stage of the health and social care bill, said: “I am hopeful the fundamentals will remain in place. While the early indications are that there are positive improvements, it is critical to the future of the NHS that the main pillars of the reforms are kept in place because we are talking about the future of our health service here.” Lib Dem scorecard Nick Clegg claims that he has secured eleven of the 13 changes demanded by his party at its spring conference in March. This is his scorecard: 1. More democratically accountable commissioning. Secured. 2. A much greater degree of co-terminosity between local authorities and commissioning areas. Secured. 3. No decision about the spending of NHS funds to be made in private and without proper consultation, as can take place by the proposed GP consortia. Secured. 4. The complete ruling out of any competition based on price to prevent loss-leading corporate providers under-cutting NHS tariffs, and to ensure that healthcare providers ‘compete’ on quality of care. Secured. 5. New private providers to be allowed only where there is no risk of “cherry picking” which would destabilise or undermine the existing NHS service relied upon for emergencies and complex cases, and where the needs of equity, research and training are met. Secured. 6. NHS commissioning being retained as a public function in full compliance with the Human Rights Act and Freedom of Information laws, using the skills and experience of existing NHS staff rather than the sub-contracting of commissioning to private companies. Secured. 7. The continued separation of the commissioning and provision of services to prevent conflicts of interests. Secured. 8. An NHS, responsive to patients’ needs, based on co-operation rather than competition, and which promotes quality and equity not the market. Secured. 9. Uphold the NHS Constitution. Secured. 10. Ensure full scrutiny, including the power to require attendance, by elected local authorities of all organisations in the local health economy funded by public money, including foundation trusts and any external support for commissioning consortia; ensuring that all such organisations are subject to FoI requirements. Secured. 11. Ensure health and wellbeing boards (HWBs) are a strong voice for accountable local people in setting the strategic direction for and co-ordinating provision of health and social care services locally by containing substantial representation from elected local councillors; and by requiring GP commissioning boards to construct their annual plans in conjunction with the HWBs. Secured. 12. Ensure commissioning of health services has some degree of accountability by requiring about half of the members of the board of commissioning consortia, alongside GPs, to be local councillors appointed as non-executive directors. Alternative secured: Instead, we will strengthen the accountability of commissioning through health and wellbeing boards (which will have a majority of councillors if that is what local councillors want). This has the support of the movers of the conference amendment. 13. Offer additional freedoms only to foundation trusts that successfully engage substantial proportions of their local populations as active members. Alternative secured: Monitor, rather than the foundation trusts themselves, will retain a supervisory role. Nick Clegg Liberal Democrats Health policy Public services policy Liberal-Conservative coalition Conservatives NHS Health Nicholas Watt guardian.co.uk
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