Department for Education figures show average of 13 permanent exclusions a day, prompting concerns that schools are not taking special educational needs into account School suspensions and exclusions in England have fallen for the sixth year running but still see a daily average of 878 children taken out of class for abuse or assault on fellow pupils or teachers. Education groups are concerned that the level of violence, which leads to the permanent exclusion of 13 students a day, suggests a continuing failure to recognise special educational needs (SEN) among persistent offenders. The figures also prompted warnings that government plans to remove the right of independent appeal tribunals to order the reinstatement of expelled pupils may be an over-reaction. The Advisory Centre for Education, which handles many appeals, said: “The evidence is there to suggest that alternatives to exclusion and school partnerships to improve behaviour have contributed to this fall.” Department for Education figures show students were suspended on 166,900 occasions in 2010 for assault or abuse, with 2,460 expulsions. The data includes 1,210 suspensions and 20 permanent exclusions of children under five, where timely SEN intervention is seen as crucial and usually effective. The statistics coincide with separate forecasts from the department predicting an extra half million pupils in English state primary schools and nurseries by 2018. The 12% increase to 4.35 million, a total last seen in the 1970s, will add to stress on buildings, staff and pupils, with the highest rises in inner-city catchments. An average 5% fall in the number of students aged 15 and under at secondary schools will give some slack, but a department spokesman said the figures showed the need to target funds. He said: “We know that many schools across the country already face real concerns about how to provide every child with a school place when in some areas, school places far outweigh rising demand.” The disciplinary figures, including 3,020 suspensions and 40 expulsions of five-year-olds, show boys were three times more likely to be suspended than girls and four times more likely to be expelled. Physical attacks took place 80,400 times, threats or verbal abuse 82,600 and there were 3,900 records of specifically racist abuse. Permanent exclusions for all disciplinary offences were down by 810 on the previous year and there were 31,900 suspensions or limited-period exclusions. But the most common cause of exclusion remained persistent disruptive behaviour, which accounted for 23.8% of suspensions and 29% of expulsions. Edward Duff, of the Children’s Legal Centre at Essex University, said: “Every case of persistent disruption in my experience has led to SEN involvement and we need to find out more about how much screening for behavioural difficulties and special needs is going on. We also need to keep a special eye on ‘zero tolerance’ discipline, which some of the new academies make much of, to be sure that checking for special needs and other problems is part of the approach.” The schools minister, Nick Gibb, said: “Weak discipline remains a significant problem in too many of our schools and classrooms, and tackling poor behaviour and raising academic standards are key priorities for the coalition government. We will back headteachers in excluding persistently disruptive pupils, which is why we are removing barriers which limit their authority. “We have already introduced a series of measures to put headteachers and teachers back in control of the classroom – including clearer guidance and increased search powers. Through the education bill we are introducing further measures to strengthen teacher authority and support schools in maintaining good behaviour.” Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said the figures showed schools were using exclusion where appropriate and it was “disingenuous and worrying” for Gibb to claim that the coming bill would empower schools to use exclusion more. She said: “Whilst it is absolutely right that teachers and support staff should be able to do their jobs without fear of assault, exclusion should always be a last resort. “There needs to be far more support and resources provided by government to prevent such serious incidents from occurring, investment in staff development and support for pupils so that behaviour problems are dealt with effectively rather than allowed to escalate into serious incidents.” Sara Gadzik, of the Association for School and College Leaders, said: “The figures prove that schools are already tough on discipline and that poor behaviour is not tolerated in classrooms. Pupils who disrupt the learning of their classmates are dealt with firmly and, in many cases, a short suspension is an effective way of nipping bad behaviour in the bud.” Chris Keates, general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, said: “It’s what lies behind the figures, rather than the figures themselves, which should be the focus of attention. There is a danger that exclusion will be used more and more by schools as local authority behaviour support and pupil support services and early intervention strategies are savagely cut and school budgets are reduced.” Schools Classroom violence Teaching Pupil behaviour Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk
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• Libyan rebels plan major offensive in the Nafusa mountains • Libya: embassy expulsions ‘stain on the forehead of UK’ • Activists say 2,918 ‘forcibly disappeared’ in Syria • Read the latest summary 4.22pm: Here’s a summary of today’s events: • Libyan rebels launched a major offensive in the Nafusa mountains. Early indications were the campaign was going well, but Gaddafi’s forces later pushed the fighter out of the town of Al-Jawsh. Amateur footage of the campaign showed a rag tag army of scores of fighters moving to the front in pick-up trucks. • Confusion surrounds the fate of Libyan rebels military commander Abdel Fatah Younis. According to some reports he was arrested after an investigation into unauthorised trips to Tripoli, but Younis himself has dismissed the story as a rumour spread by the Gaddafi regime. • In a new video message Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri praise protesters in Syria hailing them as of an Islamic jihad. It is feared president Assad’s regime will use the video to give credence to its claim that violence in the Syria is work of armed terrorist groups. Britain’s foreign office Zawahiri’s statement highlighted al-Qaida’s desperation and increasing irrelevance. Syrian activists also condemned the statement. • Egypt’s ousted president Hosni Mubarak is healthy enough to stand trial next week, the justice ministry announced. 4.17pm: Rebel commander Abdel Fatah Younis AP has been arrested, according to AP. The rebels said they had detained their own top military commander for questioning on suspicion his family might still have ties to regime. Rebel military spokesman Mohammed al-Rijali said the commander, Abdel Fatah Younes, was taken from his operations room near the front to the main rebel stronghold, the eastern city of Benghazi, for interrogation. Younes, who served as Gadhafi’s interior minister but defected at the beginning of the fighting, was being questioned about suspected secret ties of his family to the Libyan regime, said two rebel security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue with the media. On today’s fighting in the Nafusa mountains, AP said the rebels had seized three small towns and advancing on others to secure a major supply route near the Tunisian border. Four rebel fighters were killed and several wounded in what the spokesmen described as the biggest push in the area since the start of Libya’s civil war five months ago. They said rebels captured 18 government soldiers, as well as weapons and ammunition. In Thursday’s fighting, hundreds of rebels descended from their stronghold in the Nafusa mountains at dawn and advanced in several areas along a stretch of more than 100km, said Badees Fessato, a rebel spokesman. 4.11pm: The Local Coordination Committees in Syria have condemned al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri for praising for the protest movement in Syria as part of Islamic jihad. Mohammad Al-Abdallah, the spokesman of Local Coordination Committees in Syria, said: Zawahiri is trying to convince the world that he has supporters in Syria, which will provoke the international public opinion against us and give the regime the right to commit crimes against our people. We condemn such statements that are irrelevant to the revolution, Syrians chose the non-violent way for their revolution and they won’t change it, they refuse any practices or speeches containing sectarian or violent properties. 4.01pm: Bell Pottinger, the British public relations firm, is working for the government of Yemen, the company’s chairman Lord Bell confirmed to Robert Booth. The PR firm is carrying out communications work for an unnamed special entity that has been created within the Yemen government to ensure a transition to newly elected government. It is unclear which part of the government the firm, but the goal of the communications campaign appears to be in line with a proposal by the Saudi-led Gulf Co-operation Council for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to stand down in return immunity from prosecution. The firm is understood not to be working for Saleh, who is recovering in Saudi Arabia following a bomb attack on his compound last month. Bell stressed that the objective of his firm’s contract is to assist the government through negotiations and within the Yemeni constitution to achieve a peaceful transition to a new government. Bell Pottinger recently worked with US PR firm Qorvis to handle a visit by Yemen’s finance minister to the US. “All appropriate authorities are aware of the work we are doing in Yemen,” said Lord Bell, who declined to comment further. Bell denied reports that the firm was involved in producing recent televised appearances by Saleh , or that it was involved in helping arrange pro-government demonstrations. 3.48pm: Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is healthy enough to stand trial next week, Egypt’s justice minister announced today, AP reports. Earlier this week hospital official said Mubarak was frail and refusing food. 3.37pm: Confusion reigns on Younis. A source in Benghazi claims he has been arrested and that special forces loyal to him are threatening to use guns to get him out of jail. Again this is unconfirmed. 3.02pm: Hold fire on that Younis story for now. Younis told the rebel site Thawralibya.com [Arabic] that reports of his arrest are false rumours being spread by Gaddafi’s forces. “They are trying to falsify the truth… the Libyan people will not be fooled by such nonsense,” he said in a telephone call. 2.33pm: The commander of the rebel Libyan forces, Abdel Fatah Younis, has been arrested, according to unconfirmed reports by al-Jazeera’s James Bays and Ali Hashem . It is unclear why, but is reported to have followed an investigation into unauthorized trips by Younis to Tripoli. Younis is a former interior minister in the Gaddafi regime who defected at the beginning of the uprising. Hashem provided these Twitter updates: Btw when i was in Benghazi i was told by a senior military source that Gen. Younis is under suspition. i made a tweet then #libya #feb17 Military source in Benghazi told us the story i tweeted about Gen. Younis #libya #feb17 He was arrested today morning by a military force headed by Gen. Jala Dogheili in benghazi. #libya #feb17 Gen. Abdulfatah Yunis is under arrest, i dont know why but this piece of news was confirmed to me by sources in Benghazi. #libya 2.19pm: Attitudes to gender equality are radically shifting amid the fighting in Misrata, Chris Stephen discovered from nurses at the city’s main hospital. For parallels, think of England on the outbreak of the first world war. With the men at the front women were pressed into service, earning status they fought to keep after the guns went silent. Something of the same is happening in Misrata. Before the war, the city was prosperous enough to have foreign nurses, mostly from the Philippines. When Gaddafi sent in the tanks they fled, along with local nurses who lived in nearby towns. The authorities scrambled to fill the gaps, offering an undreamed of chance for female medical students. The result has been a mini-revolution. Normally, female medical students are not allowed near a patient for the first three years of study, unlike their male counterparts. All that has now changed. “When I came here I didn’t know anything, not the names of the instruments, nothing,” said Hannin Mohammed, 21. “Now I know so much. I am working with the patients.” War has brought other benefits. “Before the war we could not go to a café. Big trouble,” explains 21-year-old student Faten Abd. “If you went to a café there would be too many eyes looking at you. They would be talking bad things. Now we can do it, nobody minds.” 1.57pm: Syrian activists are preparing a response to al-Qaida’s praise for anti-government protests against the Assad regime. In a video message, the terrorist network’s new leader Ayman al-Zawahiri claimed protesters were part of an Islamic jihad. Syrian activists, who have been keen to stress the secular and peaceful nature of the protests, say they fear the video will be used by the regime both to justify its crackdown and blame more of its own violence on activists. Assad’s government has repeatedly accused “terrorist groups” of causing the bloodshed. A spokeswoman for the Local Co-ordination Committee of Syria, which is publicising the protests, said a statement would be issued within the next two hours. Earlier the Foreign Office said Zawahiri’s message highlighted al-Qaida’s desperation and increasing irrelevance ( see 12.01pm ). 1.42pm: Lawyers have filed papers in Belgium accusing Nato of killing 13 civilians, including 3 children, by bombing a residence in Libya, AP reports. Marcel Ceccaldi, a Paris-based lawyer, said Thursday he also has asked the Brussels District Court to send two experts to Libya to assess the physical and psychological damages of the attack near Tripoli in June so that he can determine what monetary compensation to seek from Nato. Nato is based in Brussels, and its spokeswoman, Carmen Romero, said that all Nato air strikes in Libya are aimed at military targets and that great care is taken to avoid civilian casualties. 12.55pm: Rebels fighters in the Nafusa mountains appear to have been forced out of the town of al-Jawsh by Gaddafi’s rockets and snipers, according to the latest battle tweets from al-Jazeera’s James Bays . LIBYA opp fighters say they did not retreat from Al Jawsh. It was “a strategic withdrawal” #LIBYA opp fighters now in a position close to Al Jawsh, but Grads landing nearby. #LIBYA Fighters say in the town they were prevented from fighting back because of “human shields” #LIBYA opp fighters have all pulled out of Al Jawsh. They say they were targeted by snipers. 12.42pm: Guma el-Gamaty, the UK coordinator of the national transitional council [NTC], hit out this morning at what he called the “silly” idea that Muammar Gaddafi might be able to stay in Libya, writes Lizzy Davies. “I think we are coming to the end of all these silly political initiatives and all this talk about Gaddafi staying in Libya,” he said at a briefing for reporters. He added: “Will he be allowed to stay in Libya, will he not be allowed, will he resign, will he not resign? All these political initiatives, if they are not based on Gaddafi and all his sons leaving power and leaving Libya, these are political initiatives that are not even worth talking about.” El-Gamaty said the idea of Gaddafi staying in Libya and willingly giving up power was a “contradiction in terms”. On Monday the British foreign secretary William Hague suggested that Britain was prepared to agree to a settlement that would allow Gaddafi to stay in the countr y after giving up power. But, he added, it was “ultimately” a question for Libyan people to decide. El-Gamaty said that Hague had recognised correctly that such a question should not be “dictated” by another country. “You know if a foreign minister of a foreign country starts saying that ‘Gaddafi cannot stay in Libya’ or ‘Gaddafi can stay in Libya’ it will sound like dictating to another country, to another people, and I think even in diplomatic talk, in political talk that doesn’t sound right…So what he said was that it was up to the Libyan people.” He did acknowledge that there were possibly differences of opinion within the NTC on the thorny issue of Gaddafi’s fate. Earlier this week the Libyan rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil told the Wall Street Journal that Gaddafi and his family could stay in the country if they gave up power. But he appeared to withdraw the offer on Wednesday, saying the deadline for acceptance had passed. El-Gamaty said the offer was valid “only for a limited period” and would only be workable under strict conditions akin to house arrest. But he added that Jalil and he might disagree on the subject. “He might say it’s conceivable, I say it’s not conceivable that Gaddafi would accept that. And that would be a difference of opinion which happens in any political organisation. It’s healthy. That’s what democracy’s all about.” 12.21pm: The NTC UK spokesman Guma el-Gamaty has repeated his opposition to allowing Gaddafi to remain in Libya as part of a negotiated settlement. Speaking to journalists in London he said the idea was silly and unworkable, according to AP. El-Gamaty says he and rebel leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the head of the rebels’ council, probably disagreed on whether it was realistic to expect that Gaddafi would take up an offer to stay in the country after stepping down. But he says such differences were a part of any healthy democracy. Jalil, appeared to withdrawn his offer to allow Gaddafi to stay in Libya by saying on Wednesday that the deadline for acceptance had now passed . 12.01pm: The Foreign Office has accused the new head of al-Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahri, of desperation by claiming anti-government protesters in Syria were part of an Islamic jihad. Syrian activist have repeatedly stressed the secular nature of the protests, but in his first video message since the death of Osama bin Laden, Zawahri praised Syria protesters as “the sons of the Levant, the front for jihad and martyrdom” . A spokesman for the Foreign Office told the Guardian that said Zawahri was “clutching at straws”. He said: This is yet another example of how al-Qaida is grasping to remain relevant in light of the Arab Spring. We have seen al-Qaida struggle to show that its message of violent jihad is relevant to the Arab Spring where people have found a different voice and a different way to bring about change they desire. People are demonstrating that there is no place for al-Qaida’s brand of violence and murder of people of any faith. 11.40am: New amateur footage from Nalut gives an idea of the scale of the rebel offensive in the Nafusa mountain , but also how poorly equipped the fighters are. NTC spokesman Guma el-Gamaty said this was the biggest offensive in two months ( see 9.50am ) and he claimed the rebels were armed with tanks and cannon. There’s is no sign of such weapons in this five minute clip – it shows scores of casually-dressed fighters making their way to the front line in trucks and on quod bikes. The nearest thing to a tank is a gun turret welded on to a pick-up. _ 11.18am: Gaddafi’s forces in the Nafusa mountains appeared to have launched a counter offensive in Al-Jawsh , according to the latest update from al-Jazeera’s James Bays. But the rebels claim grad missile are being fired as Gaddafi’s forces retreat from the area, Bays reports. _ Reuters has more on the battle: At a checkpoint outside the nearby rebel-held town of Nalut, they sounded optimistic as the fighting began. “We are confident we can beat Gaddafi now, we have captured more weapons from the Libyan army, mostly AK-47s,” said Mohammed Ahmed, 20, a market trader turned fighter. Basim Ahmed, a fighter coming back from the front, said rebels had taken control of parts of three villages and many government troops had fled, but this was not possible to verify. As sustained bombardments could be heard in the distance, an ambulance raced to Nalut hospital. A rebel with a gunshot wound to the shoulder was brought into the emergency room, where he lay semi-conscious. Minutes later a commotion could be heard in the parking lot. A government soldier who had been captured was led to a hospital bed a few feet away from the rebel. He was missing a hand and was barefoot. The soldier, who gave his name as Hassan, told Reuters that the army was losing the will to fight. “We don’t want to keep fighting. Everybody is against us.” he said. Blood seeped through the bandage bound around the stump of his missing hand but a rebel nonetheless tried to interrogate him, asking him his unit and where he was from. Eight wounded combatants lay in the hospital in total – four rebels and four Gaddafi soldiers. Six other Gaddafi soldiers had been taken prisoner, witnesses said. _ 10.48am: China’s ambassador to Damascus took a parting swipe at his US counterpart as he was garlanded by Assad’s regime at the end of his term in Syria . Li Huaxin didn’t mention US ambassador Robert Ford by name, but the diplomatic dig was clear. Ford infuriated the Assad regime by travelling to the rebellious city of Hama to show solidarity with the protesters. Ambassador Li has sided firmly with the regime. He is quoted by the Syrian state news agency Sana as saying: What is happening in Syria is an internal affair, and it has been one of our principles in foreign relations not to interfere in the internal affairs of countries, which is also a primary principle in the international law.” We believe that the Syrian people are the most capable of addressing these events without foreign interference. Hence, we disapprove of foreign interference or imposing anything on Syria…We hope that security and stability will return to Syria as soon as possible. Such sentiments earned him the “Syrian Order of Merit”. Ford won’t get the same treatment when he leaves, but he seems to have become something of a hero in the US. Bloomberg praised his “creative diplomacy ” and use of the US Embassy’s Facebook page to criticise the regime. Ford has doggedly reached out to the Syrian opposition. Although his recall would demonstrate US disapproval of Assad’s crackdown, it would prevent using him as a symbol of US support for the Syrian people. To get his message out, Ford has bypassed the government-controlled news media, using his Facebook page to condemn the government’s killing of prisoners, expose its lies and endorse what he describes as “the right of all Syrians — and people of all countries — to express their opinions freely and in a climate of mutual respect. Ford’s creative diplomacy and bravery have become symbols of US opposition to Assad. 10.19am: Gaddafi’s intelligence chief, Abdullah Senussi, who is wanted for war crimes , appeared on Libyan state TV on Wednesday . _ Last week some Libyan opposition figures claimed Senussi had been killed . His TV appearance is a reminder to treat claims from Libyan activists with caution. 10.13am: More war reporting on Twitter from al-Jazeera’s James Bays in the Nafusa mountains. Here are his last five updates on the battle from the last 50 minutes: #LIBYA opp forces are on edge of Badr, but still battles in al Jawsh. They say they are “cleaning it” #LIBYA Just seen four Gaddafi prisoners captured – all Libyans – not injured. Taken on edge of Badr. #LIBYA Grads came in close to our truck. Temporarily retreated, but mainly to catch our breath. #LIBYA Just seen a body of opposition fighter on back of truck leaving Al Jawsh. But no idea yet of overall casualty figures. #LIBYA Grads being fired back by Gaddafi forces. 9.50am: The rebel offensive in the Nafusa mountains is aimed at taking out Gaddafi’s missile launchers as well as opening up supply routes, the UK’s spokesman for national transitional council ,Guma el-Gamaty, said in an Audioboo interview . “If the freedom fighters make victory today and take over all these towns and villages then it will be a significant strategic shift,” he said. It is the biggest offensive in the last two months el-Gamaty claimed, but he declined to say how many fighters were involved. The attack started around five hours ago, and the earlier reports bode well for the rebels, el-Gamaty claimed. It is going very well, they have already captured one or two of these villages … by the end of the day we could see a major victory for the freedom fighters … It is not wishful thinking, the freedom fighters have put together a massive force in terms of numbers of fighters and arms. They have multi-rocket launchers, they have tanks, they have heavy cannon and they are well prepared and have put together a very detailed plan. _ 9.30am: The Libyan rebel offensive today is the largest so far in the Nafusa mountains , according to al-Jazeera. It has footage of hundreds troops gathering for what it reports to be a wave of attacks from Yifrin in the east to Nalut in the west. The aim is to open up a supply route from Ghezai near the Tunisia border to al-Jawash, the TV network says. _ 9.11am: More on that offensive in the Nafusa mountains. • Reuters reports: Libyan rebels launched on Thursday an offensive against a strategic government-held town near the Tunisian border, a spokesman said. “We have started attacking Ghezaia with rockets and tanks,” Mohammed Maylud told Reuters, adding that rebels had also hit four other villages along Libya’s western mountains. • NTC UK spokesman Guma el-Gamaty tweeted: Breaking news Libya heavy fighting now by FF 2 liberate AlGazaya & Tkut towns near Nalut west mountain if FF win they get closer 2 tripoli! • Al-Jazeera’s James Bays photographed a group rebel fighters heading towards the frontline in vans and pick-ups . • This Google Map (via @FromJoanne ) marks the positions of Nalut (A), Takut (B) and Ghezaia (C). _ 8.21am: Welcome to Middle East Live. Here’s a round-up of the latest developments: Libya • Libyan rebels fighting in the western mountains are preparing a major offensive in the Nafusa mountains. “We are reinforcing the position around Nalut and we will attack Ghezaia [on Thursday] or the next day for sure. We plan to take it,” Omar Fakkan, a rebel commander, told Reuters. Al-Jazeera’s James Bays recorded this AudioBoo on the way to the frontline of the battle . _ • Mahmoud al-Nakou, the man being lined up as the new Libyan ambassador to London talked to the Guardian following the expulsion of Muammar Gaddafi’s eight remaining diplomats. “They all knew me … I think they chose me because of my history (as an anti-Gaddafi dissident) and because … of what I offer to my country,” he said. He was ready, he said, to see “a new stage in the history of Libya” marked by “freedom of thinking, freedom of political parties and freedom for journalists.” • Libyan government spokesman Khaled Kaim condemned the UK for recognising the NTC as the “sole governmental authority” in Libya. He said the decision was “unprecedented in diplomatic history” and that he considered it “a stain on the forehead of Britain” . • News of the diplomatic expulsions spread fast through the networks of radio stations in the besieged city of Misrata, Chris Stephen reports from the besieged port. “When I heard about London I was screaming in my house, I felt so good,” said rebel fighter Ahmed Laga. • NTC president, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, appears to have withdrawn his offer to allow Gaddafi to stay in Libya as a free man if he agreed to leave power. Jalil issued a new statement on Wednesday, saying that his offer of what amounted to immunity had come with a timeline, and that the deadline for acceptance had now passed. Syria • A sweep by government forces has seized one person every hour during the five-month Syrian uprising and detained them in secret, leaving their families no way to locate them, says a human rights group. The group, Avaaz, claims 2,918 people have been “forcibly disappeared” since anti-government demonstrations began in Syria on 15 March. Most are accused of being involved in the rebellion that continues to undermine a regime long renowned as the Middle East’s most formidable police state. • Around 20 people were killed in a a series of raids against suspected anti-government protesters in and around the capital Damascus . The renewed clampdown came just days before the start of Ramadan on Monday when protests are expected to intensify. Two 10-year-olds were among those killed. • A rare coalition of Republican and Democratic members of a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee criticised the US State Department for failing to call for Bashar al-Assad to go, the LA Times reports. “How many must die before we have the courage to stand up and say that Assad is illegitimate and he must go?” asked Republican Steve Chabot the subcommittee’s chairman. Iran A senior commander of Iran’s revolutionary guards, who is subject to comprehensive international sanctions, has been nominated as the country’s oil minister, a position that currently includes the presidency of Opec . Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, sent a list of four ministers, including Rostam Ghasemi, commander of the revolutionary guards’ Khatam al-Anbia military and industrial base, to the parliament for approval, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest Libya Muammar Gaddafi Syria Bashar Al-Assad Egypt Bahrain Yemen Nato US foreign policy Iran Matthew Weaver guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Dan Savage’s New Threat to Rick Santorum from Dan Savage If Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum isn’t careful, he could have a new Google problem on his hands. In a Funny or Die video released Wednesday, sex columnist Dan Savage threatened to unleash a new definition for the word “rick” if Santorum decided to attack gays during his presidential campaign. In 2003, Savage launched a successful campaign to get his definition for “santorum” at the top of Google search results after the then-Pennsylvania senator compared homosexual sex acts to polygamy and sodomy. “I’ve already come up with a new definition for ‘rick’ just in case you don’t behave yourself,” Savage warned. “If you can get all the way through this campaign without man-on-dogging us, I will tear this definition up.” “So, the ball is in your court, Richard John Santorum. Leave us gays alone or I change the definition of ‘rick.’ It’s not like you can start going by Dick Santorum, is it?”
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Spreadsheet put out by Department of Health as part of revised business plan says cost of transition is now £1.49bn. The cost of the government’s plans to reform the NHS is rising by almost £1m a day, the Guardian has learned. The information – in a spreadsheet put out by the Department of Health as part of its revised business plan last week – saw officials admit that the cost of transition was now £1.49bn. The figure is £160m more than the previous estimate, issued six months ago when the reforms bill was first published. In January, the department estimated the total cost of the structural change to be £1.33bn. The health bill was amended following suggestions by the Future Forum, a committee set up by David Cameron to head off criticism over the wide-ranging reforms. But the effect appears to have been to increase significantly the cost of the changes to the taxpayer. A new impact assessment will be completed by the Department of Health following the forum’s recommendations. Analysis by the Health Service Journal revealed that the transition to placing health budgets in the hands of GPs has already cost £228m since last July. The size, scale and cost of the reforms have long troubled MPs and health service professionals. Trade unions claim three-quarters of the estimated cost of the transition will go towards redundancy payments to 20,000 staff, suggesting average settlements of more than £45,000. John Healey, the shadow health secretary, said: “People will be shocked at the scale of wasted cost due to David Cameron’s NHS upheaval. “These new figures, slipped out by the Department of Health, show that the costs of this unnecessary reorganisation are spiralling out of control. “The government is forcing these changes without knowing how much they will cost and before they have been approved by parliament. The last year has been a wasted year for the NHS, with services being cut back and long waiting times returning.” Alan Maynard, the professor of health economics at York University, said the “delays and time taken for the reforms have really begun to affect morale and work ethic”. He added: “People just won’t work if they don’t know where they will be next year or whether they have a job.” The Department of Health said the benefits of the changes would “far outweigh” the costs. At the time the bill was published, ministers pointed out that NHS Information Centre figures showed that between 1999 and 2009 under Labour, the number of health service managers increased from 23,378 to 42,509, adding that the difference was close to the number of expected redundancies. Andrew Lansley, the health secretary, said the new, slimmed-down NHS would reap a financial bonanza of more than £11bn – mostly down to reduced “administrative” spend. NHS Health Health policy Andrew Lansley Randeep Ramesh guardian.co.uk
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Prosecution asks for Stuart Mungall to be jailed after the ‘mercy killing’ of his terminally ill wife A retired actor who found fame in the 1970s as the lorry driver in the Yorkie bar TV ads has admitted to killing his terminally ill wife. Stuart Mungall, 71, denied murdering Joan, 69, also a former actor. The prosecution accepted his plea of guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. He smothered her with a pillow at their home in Tooting, south London, on 3 December, in what he saw as a mercy killing, then took tablets to kill himself, the Old Bailey was told. The case was adjourned for sentencing, but the prosecution asked for a jail term because his wife – who suffered from the neurodegenerative Pick’s disease, leaving her unable to move and with a life expectancy of months – had not asked to die. The judge told him: “You took the law into your own hands and you took a life in doing so.” Mungall was suffering from depression as he struggled to care for his wife of 43 years. He thought he saw an “expression” in her eyes, “like an animal who needs to be put down and cannot say it”, the court heard. He told police: “She’s not in pain any more. She was in such pain last night. Doctors say do this and that but they cannot make it better, so I made it better.” Mark Dennis, QC, prosecuting, said that Mungall’s wife told a nurse the day before her death that she was “taking it all in her stride”. The couple, who ran a garden centre after retiring from acting, were said to be devoted to each other. Despite being housebound, mostly bedridden and almost entirely dependent on her husband, Joan remained mentally alert and adopted a “realistic and sanguine approach to her condition”, said Dennis. “There is no suggestion that his wife wanted to end her life prematurely, nor had she encouraged the defendant to act as he did.” Mungall, who appeared in Casualty, The Bill and other television series, was said to have shunned offers of help in looking after his wife, who had worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and was a friend of the actor Jane Asher. She did receive some medical support at home but Mungall had failed to accept his wife would need palliative care at a local hospice, the court heard. He developed a depressive illness that led him to “snap” on that morning, said Dennis. The night before the killing, Mungall told his brother he was “thinking about placing a pillow over her face” but after an hour-long conversation Mungall’s brother did not think he would “do anything silly”. At 3pm Mungall made three phone calls to his brother, daughter and a close friend, to admit what he had done. “This was a deliberate killing. It was not assisted suicide, nor did it even come close to that,” said Dennis. “There is no evidence she asked that morning to be killed or asked the day before to be killed. “The most the defendant has said is that morning he looked into her eyes and she gave a look that he took to mean he should do what he went on to do. “He had chosen to do what he did. No doubt in his own mind doing what he thought in his state was best for him and for her. He has therefore cut short a life.” The prosecution asked for a sentence of less than one year’s imprisonment. Mungall had served the equivalent of six months in custody before being granted bail. Adjourning sentencing until 23 September Peter Beaumont, the recorder of London, said: “I am not making any promises but I want to explore every angle.” He told Mungall: “You present a difficult sentencing exercise because you took the law into your own hands and took a life in doing so.” Miranda Moore QC, defending, said: “He took the life of the woman he loved.” After his wife’s death, Mungall told a friend: “At last Joan is out of pain and free from it all.” Crime Caroline Davies guardian.co.uk
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Evidence found in private detective’s notes believed to relate to phone which Rebekah Brooks gave to Sara Payne as gift Sara Payne, whose eight-year-old daughter Sarah was abducted and murdered in July 2000, has been told by Scotland Yard that they have found evidence to suggest she was targeted by the News of the World’s investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who specialised in hacking voicemail. Police had earlier told her correctly that her name was not among those recorded in Mulcaire’s notes, but on Tuesday officers from Operation Weeting told her they had found her personal details among the investigator’s notes. These had previously been thought to refer to a different target. Friends of Sara Payne have told the Guardian that she is “absolutely devastated and deeply disappointed” at the disclosure. Her cause had been championed by the News of the World, and in particular by its former editor, Rebekah Brooks. Believing that she had not been a target for hacking, Payne wrote a farewell column for the paper’s final edition on 10 July, referring to its staff as “my good and trusted friends”. The evidence that police have found in Mulcaire’s notes is believed to relate to a phone given to Sara Payne by Rebekah Brooks as a gift to help her stay in touch with her supporters. One of Payne’s close colleagues said: “We are all appalled and disgusted. Sara is in bits about it.” Coming after the disclosure that the News of the World hacked and deleted the voicemail of the murdered Surrey schoolgirl Milly Dowler, the news will raise further questions about whether News Corporation is “fit and proper” to own TV licences and its 39% share of BSkyB. It will also revive speculation about the possible role in phone hacking of Rebekah Brooks, who was personally very closely involved in covering the aftermath of Sarah Payne’s murder and has always denied any knowledge of voicemail interception. On 15 July Brooks resigned as chief executive of News International and was arrested and interviewed by police. The Labour MP Tom Watson, who has been an outspoken critic of News International, said of the Payne revelation: “This is a new low. The last edition of the News of the World made great play of the paper’s relationship with the Payne family. Brooks talked about it at the committee inquiry. Now this. I have nothing but contempt for the people that did this.” Friends of Sara Payne said she had accepted the News of the World as a friend and ally. Journalists from the paper attended the funerals of her mother and father and visited her sick bed after she suffered a severe stroke in December 2009. In the wake of the Guardian’s disclosure on 4 July of the hacking of Milly Dowler’s phone, there were rumours that Sara Payne also might have been a victim. Police from Operation Weeting, which has been investigating the News of the World’s phone hacking since January, checked the names of Payne and her closest associates against its database of all the information contained in the notebooks, computer records and audio tapes seized from Glenn Mulcaire in August 2006. They found nothing. The News of the World’s sister paper, the Sun, was quick to report on its website, on 8 July, that Payne had been told there was no evidence to support the rumours. The next day the Sun quoted her paying tribute to the News of the World, whose closure had been announced by News International. “It’s like a friend died. I’m so shocked,” she told them. In the paper’s final edition on Sunday 10 July, Payne registered her own anger at the hacking of Milly Dowler’s phone: “We have all seen the news this week and the terrible things that have happened, and I have no wish to sweep it under the carpet. Indeed, there were rumours – which turned out to be untrue – that I and my fellow Phoenix charity chiefs had our phones hacked. But today is a day to reflect, to look back and remember the passing of an old friend, the News of the World.” Since then, detectives from Weeting have searched the Mulcaire database for any reference to mobile phone numbers used by Sara Payne or her closest associates or any other personal details. They are believed to have uncovered notes made by Mulcaire which include some of these details but which had previously been thought to refer to a different target of his hacking. Police have some 11,000 pages of notes which Mulcaire made in the course of intercepting the voicemail of targets chosen by the News of the World. Friends of Sara Payne today said that she had made no decision about whether to sue the paper and that she wanted the police to be able to finish their work before she decided. Operation Weeting are reviewing all high-profile cases involving the murder, abduction or assault of any child since 2001 in an attempt to find out if any of those involved was the target of phone-hacking. Phone hacking News of the World Rebekah Brooks Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers Nick Davies Amelia Hill guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …John McCain rips Tea Party politicians over making foolish and bizarre demands over Debt Ceiling
July 28, 2011 No CommentSen. John McCain rips Jim DeMint and his Rand Paul colleagues over their insistence to pass balanced-budget amendment before raising the debt ceiling. Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, on Wednesday ripped Tea Party lawmakers and other conservatives pushing to pass a balanced-budget amendment before raising the debt limit. In a Senate floor speech, McCain said it is “foolish” and “deceiving” for Republican colleagues to claim a balanced-budget amendment has a chance of passing by next week. He read aloud a Wall Street Journal editorial depicting conservatives holding out for a constitutional amendment as living in a fantasy world, such as J.R.R. Tolkien, author of “The Hobbit,” might imagine. Members of the Senate Tea Party Caucus including Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have continued to demand a balanced-budget amendment. — What is really amazing about this is that some members are believing that we can pass a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution in this body with its present representation — and that is foolish,” he said. “That is worse than foolish. That is deceiving many of our constituents.” Huff Po writes: Speaking on the Senate floor on Wednesday, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had some harsh words for lawmakers on Capitol Hill insisting their demands be met before supporting any potential agreement to raise the debt ceiling. A plan put forth by House Speaker John Boehner to lift the deficit limit has left some congressional Republicans at odds with members of their party. In the upper congressional chamber, Tea Party-affiliated members such as Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) have come out against the proposal. In the House, GOP lawmakers such as Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) have vowed to cast a vote against any measure to raise the debt ceiling. All three Republicans stand behind a “Cut, Cap, and Balance” pledge, which entails opposing any debt limit increase without significant spending cuts, enforceable spending caps and congressional approval of a balanced budget amendment. “What is really amazing about this is that some members are believing that we can pass a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution in this body with its present representation — and that is foolish,” said McCain on the Senate floor, according to The Hill . “That is worse than foolish. That is deceiving many of our constituents.” Conservatives have been trying to destroy the federal government for a very long time and with the added tea Party element they many accomplish the Norquist goal and believe me—they won’t stop here. You know it’s bad when McCain is going after them, but since he just won reelection he doesn’t have to worry about a primary challenger and can speak more openly about the Televangelists.
Continue reading …The only thing worse than a liar is a deadbeat liar, and Joe Walsh qualifies. It seems that while he’s had money to loan his campaign $35,000 and gallivant around with his girlfriend, his ex-wife and children haven’t received anything from him. Yeah, this from the same guy who had the nerve to open up his video with this: “President Obama, quit lying. Have you no shame, sir? In three short years, you’ve bankrupted this country.” Chicago Sun-Times: Before getting elected, he had told Laura Walsh that because he was out of work or between jobs, he could not make child support payments. So she was surprised to read in his congressional campaign disclosures that he was earning enough money to loan his campaign $35,000. “Joe personally loaned his campaign $35,000, which, given that he failed to make any child support payments to Laura because he ‘had no money’ is surprising,” Laura Walsh’s attorneys wrote in a motion filed in December seeking $117,437 in back child support and interest. “Joe has paid himself back at least $14,200 for the loans he gave himself.” Walsh’s attorneys responded in court filings: “Respondent admits that funds were loaned to his campaign fund. . . . Respondent admits that the campaign fund has repaid certain loans.” He personally wrote in court filings that he thought he and his ex-wife were coming to an agreement on the money he owes. He noted that the children have lived with him for part of the last nine years. Walsh lives with his new wife and children in McHenry. He has not paid any of the $117,437 yet, Laura Walsh’s attorney, Jack Coladarci, said Wednesday. There’s lots more in the article but I could have written it myself because I was a kid with a dad just like Walsh. Never do they pay for what kids really need, and then they swoop in like Superman to be the dad-hero and take you somewhere that seems really cool with their girlfriend who they’re really trying to impress so you just once again sort of sit on the sidelines. I can feel Walsh’s ex-wife’s frustration in those court filings. Joe Walsh clearly lies whenever it suits him to avoid obligations, he gets away with all sorts of exceptions others wouldn’t. Others would get their license suspended or their wages garnished. But Walsh seems to manage to stay one step ahead of it whenever he can. This is the Tea Party writ large right now. Lie, cheat, steal, and then walk away from moral and financial obligations as though they were nothing to worry about. And he has the nerve to call President Obama a liar.
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Centrica seems to benefit whether energy costs are high or low, says Consumer Focus The row over household energy prices was ignited again on Thursdaywhen Centrica, the parent group of British Gas, unveiled operating profits of £1.3bn in the first half of the year. These “adjusted” profits, achieved on revenues of £11.5bn, were 19% lower than 2010 – but they were enough for Centrica to unveil a 12% increase in the dividend payment for shareholders, to 4.29p per share. The company said that the residential arm of British Gas recorded a 54% slump in operating profits and argued that business would have been driven into loss in the second half of the year without the recently announced 18% increase in gas prices and 16% rise in electricity bills to some of the company’s 9 million UK consumers. Nick Luff, Centrica’s finance director, said that domestic energy prices were largely driven up by rising wholesale costs, while the group needed profits to invest in the future. He said: “We made operating profits of £1.3bn but we also invested £1.3bn and if we are not going to invest in future oil and gas projects then the country will only see even higher energy prices.” Luff added that British Gas’s profit margin fell to between 6% and 7% in the first six months of 2011, down from around 8% a year ago. It is expected to remain between 6% and 7% for the next six months, as the higher prices kick in. But Audrey Gallacher, director of energy at Consumer Focus, said energy companies such as British Gas always seemed to benefit when the British householder did not. “Centrica seem to win whether wholesale costs are high or low. Retail profits margins may have been reduced by recent increases in wholesale prices – but as they are also major gas and electricity wholesalers, they can still make healthy profits at the other end.” “Consumers will be more worried by their increasing bills than which part of an energy company makes the most money. Given that Centrica profits remain strong, consumers are bound to question whether recent large price hikes were necessary,” said Gallacher. The energy regulator, Ofgem, is currently undertaking a review into whether the dominance by the big six energy providers, including British Gas, EDF and E.ON, distorts the market and allows for profiteering . Luff denied this was the case, adding: “We have had 15 different reviews in the last 10 years and none have concluded Britain was anything other than a competitive market.” Centrica Utilities Gas Inflation Household bills Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk
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Norwegian police conclude search of waters around island where Anders Behring Breivik killed 68 of his 76 victims Police have ended the search for bodies in the waters surrounding the island where Anders Behring Breivik killed 68 of his 76 victims last week. “The search at Utøya has been completed, ” the police chief-of-staff, Johan Fredriksen, told a press conference on Thursday. The conclusion of the search came the same day as Georgian officials said the body of a young Georgian woman, who was at the youth camp on Utøya, had been found. Tamta Liparteliani’s parents travelled to Norway with Georgian foreign ministry officials to look for her in the hope they might find her alive. But the deputy Georgian foreign minister, Nino Kalandadze, announced on Thursday that Liparteliani’s body had been found on the bottom of the lake with gunshot wounds in the back. On Wednesday afternoon, police sources had suggested that only one person remained unaccounted for. Fredriksen said that the names of those who had died would be released by police at 6pm (5pm BST) each day as their identities were confirmed, with many names expected to be released on Thursday. Before the identification of Liparteliani, police had released the names of 13 people who died in last week’s twin atrocities. A police lawyer, Paal-Fredrik Hjort Kraby, told the news conference that police would interview Breivik again on Friday, but did not indicate what information they would be seeking from him. Breivik has confessed to the killings but claimed they were justified as part of a “war” and has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. He said he was trying to save the western world from Muslim colonisation, attempting to justify his actions in a 1,500-page anti-immigrant manifesto. Police have interviewed him once so far, in a seven-hour session the day after the attacks. Fredriksen said that Breivik, who is being held in solitary confinement, had had no contact with the outside world aside from meetings with his lawyer and the police. Norway was “getting back to normality” and it was time to end restrictions on security, he added. He said that there had been a number of bomb threats since the attacks but described them as “unspecific”, adding that it was “normal” that some people would seek to create more fear in the aftermath of such a tragedy. A senior EU counterterrorism official also said on Thursday that there was a risk “somebody may actually try to mount a similar attack as a copycat attack”. Fredriksen showed impatience at criticism of the police response to the attacks on Utøya, which has seen questions raised over the time it took officers to reach the island. Referring to the fact that the crew of the sole helicopter available to police was unavailable, he said the police had been asked questions about the helicopter “10 times” and that he did not wish to be asked them again. In response to a question about the police uniform Breivik was wearing, Fredriksen said the indications were that it was bought legally abroad. Although the search for bodies is now complete, police remain on Utøya as the investigation continues. Norway Europe Anders Behring Breivik Haroon Siddique guardian.co.uk
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