Click here to view this media If nothing else, the Republicans’ hostage taking over the U.S. debt ceiling is fu ll of ironies . After all, Republicans voted seven times to boost the borrowing limit and double the national debt under George W. Bush. The biggest deficit drivers going forward – the Bush tax cuts, two unfunded wars, and the Medicare prescription drug plan – all enjoyed GOP support. And as it turns out, simply by doing nothing and leaving current laws (most of all, the 2013 expiration of those Bush tax cuts) on the books, annual deficits will disappear well before 2020. Regardless, despite all their grandstanding, every GOP budget proposal, including the draconian Paul Ryan spending cuts backed by 98% of Congressional Republicans , will require the United States to raise the debt ceiling repeatedly in the years to come. All of which means that the GOP’s threats of national economic suicide over the looming August 2 default deadline are about slashing government spending and gutting the social safety net. Appearing on the Charlie Rose show, Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn provided a case in point. Coburn, as you may recall, walked out on the so-called Gang of Six deficit negotiations. At a time when the federal tax burden is at its lowest since 1950 , Coburn like his GOP colleagues refused to countenance raising new tax revenue. And when fellow Gangsta Dick Durbin balked at Coburn’s demand to slash another $150 billion from Medicare on top of the $400 billion pledged by President Obama, Coburn stormed out . Now, Coburn is back, pushing his plan co-authored by Joe Lieberman to drain $600 billion from Medicare over the next decade. Those savings come from raising the eligibility age from 65 to 67, means-testing wealthier beneficiaries, adding new co-pays and a $550 deductible, and instituting a new $7,500 maximum for “out of pocket” expenses. On Monday, Dr. Coburn tried to explain why his plan is necessary: ROSE: You resigned from the Gang of Six because there was an impasse. What happened? COBURN: Well, look, the whole purpose for bringing three on each side together was to actually come up with a plan that we could sell to an equal number of Senators on each side that would actually fix the problem. And we got to a point where we could not get to a point at which we could actually fix the problem… ROSE: In the end are we talking about Medicare? COBURN: We’re talking about Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. A lot of people want to discount Social Security, but we’re going to have to borrow $2.6 trillion to fund Social Security over the next thirty years. And that’s what we’ve stolen from it and spent on other things. And even if you have all that money and even if you have the capability of borrowing it, which I doubt seriously we have the capability to borrow right now, even if you’ve done that you still have to reform it because our life expectancy has gotten longer and the number of people supporting each person on Social Security has gotten much smaller. And so it doesn’t work. There are so many problems with Coburn’s sales job, it’s hard to know where to begin. For openers, it’s worth noting that since its inception in 1965, Medicare has been the major factor in the dramatic reduction of poverty among the elderly . But raising the eligibility for Medicare threatens to reverse some of those gains. For starters, life expectancy varies significantly by income, by geography and for minorities . Worse still, as the Incidental Economist noted in a review of studies of the topic, “Those without insurance prior to Medicare eligibility spent much more money on health care after they became Medicare eligible. In other words, people wait to get care until their Medicare kicks in. This is bad both for health and for the federal government’s bottom line.” And the federal government’s bottom line will be impacted for another reason: private insurance simply costs more . As Paul Krugman lamented in reviewing the Coburn-Lieberman proposal: The idea of Medicare as a money-saving program may seem hard to grasp. After all, hasn’t Medicare spending risen dramatically over time? Yes, it has: adjusting for overall inflation, Medicare spending per beneficiary rose more than 400 percent from 1969 to 2009. But inflation-adjusted premiums on private health insurance rose more than 700 percent over the same period. So while it’s true that Medicare has done an inadequate job of controlling costs, the private sector has done much worse. And if we deny Medicare to 65- and 66-year-olds, we’ll be forcing them to get private insurance — if they can — that will cost much more than it would have cost to provide the same coverage through Medicare. (It’s worth noting that Coburn’s plan is only made possible by the Affordable Care Act , which makes it possible for older Americans to qualify for and afford private health insurance.) Sadly for Coburn, the math and the market belie his assertions regarding the Social Security trust fund. As the continued low rates on U.S. Treasuries reflect, Coburn is wrong that “I doubt seriously we have the capability to borrow right now.” And as Krugman again explains , “Rising Social Security benefit payments might be one reason for that [budget] crisis, but it’s hard to make the case that it will be central.” But those who insist that we face a Social Security crisis want to have it both ways. Having invoked the concept of a unified budget to reject the existence of a trust fund, they refuse to accept the implications of that unified budget going forward. Instead, having changed the rules to make the trust fund meaningless, they want to change the rules back around 15 years from now: today, when the payroll tax takes in more revenue than SS benefits, they say that’s meaningless, but when – in 2018 or later – benefits start to exceed the payroll tax, why, that’s a crisis. Huh? I don’t know why this contradiction is so hard to understand, except to echo Upton Sinclair: it’s hard to get a man to understand something when his salary (or, in the current situation, his membership in the political club) depends on his not understanding it. That describes Tom Coburn and his Republican Party perfectly. As Nancy Pelosi concluded in rejecting the Coburn-Lieberman plan, “It is unfair to ask seniors to get less in benefits and wait longer to get onto Medicare — all while Republicans back tax breaks for big oil and corporations that ship American jobs overseas.”
Continue reading …I try not to post when I’m upset about something because I prefer to write semi-reasoned analysis instead of crazed emotional heaving. But there comes a time when crazed emotional heaving is a perfectly rational thing to do. We are now in one of those times. Why am I so freaked out, you ask? Because I think the GOP is really, really, really going to let the United States default. They’ve figured out that holding the debt ceiling hostage is the perfect way to achieve all of their ideological goals. This is their big shot to drown government in a bathtub and they are not going to miss it. And the only reason they can get away with this is because our supposed Democratic “leadership” does not have the guts to come right out and say that the Republicans are threatening to destroy the economy unless they get everything they want. You know that things have gotten bad when David Frum actually wishes Obama would be a more forceful in standing up to the GOP: “Call me naive,” President Obama invited viewers of today’s press conference. Mr. President, invitation accepted: Unless that performance today conceals some unimagined occult plan, yes, you are naive. Congressional Republicans have refused to raise the debt limit unless the Obama Administration agrees to large and immediate spending cuts. They have their finger on the nuclear button and are threatening to detonate unless they get their way. It seems crazy that they would actually do it, but congressional Republicans have done a pretty good job of convincing the Administration (if not yet the financial markets) that they just might do it. Obama has responded by entering into negotiations with the congressional Republicans. These negotiations have not gone well, largely because Republicans are united upon an all-spending-cuts, no-tax-increases approach to deficit reduction.
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Fertility worldwide dropped but UK population rose by 470,000 in 2010 because, say experts, less educated had more children Highly educated young women in many rich countries have delayed having children because of the global recession, and may on average wait for a further five-to-eight years if governments slash public spending, say leading demographers. A study for the European Union by the Vienna Institute of Demography shows a steep decline in fertility rates in the US and Spain in 2009-10, and stagnation in Ireland and most European countries. However the report coincides with UK government figures that show Britain’s population rose by 470,000 in 2010, the highest annual growth rate for nearly 50 years. It rose 0.8% on the previous year and stands at 62.2m – a rise caused by natural change rather than immigration for the third consecutive year, according to the Office for National Statistics. “If this is the case, then Britain joins the very few countries who are increasing their fertility rate despite the recession,” said Tomáš Sobotka, one of the Austrian report’s authors. “It is possible this is because the educated women are choosing to delay having while the less educated are having more.” According to the report: “Highly educated women react to employment uncertainty by adopting a ‘postponement strategy’, especially if they are childless. In contrast, less-educated women often maintain or increase their fertility under economic uncertainty.” But it adds that the patterns differ for men. “Those with low education and low skills face increasing difficulty in finding a partner or in supporting their family, and often show the largest decline in first child birth rates.” Rising unemployment, failing consumer confidence, tighter credit and falling house prices have all affected the birth rates, says the study. In the year before the recession started, 26 out of 27 EU countries had rising birth rates, but by 2009, 13 countries saw their fertility rates decline and another four countries experienced stable fertility rates. The massive cuts in social spending in Greece, Britain, Ireland, Spain and elsewhere are likely to further arrest birth rates, it predicts. “This may prolong the fertility impact of the recent recession well beyond its end. It could lead to a double dip fertility decline,” said Sobotka. “A typical result of a recession in the past was [a lower birth rate for] 2-5 years. Put together with cuts in public spending and you could get [declines] of 5-8 years.” But whereas in previous recessions women have mostly postponed having children until better economic times, the present recession could have a more permanent effect on birth rates. “Women’s age at first birth has reached around 28 in most European countries and Japan,” Sobotka said. “This leaves women and couples less flexibility to postpone parenthood until a later age.” Population Recession Economics John Vidal guardian.co.uk
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US state department encouraging discussion of draft document which circulated at opposition talks, sources say The US is promoting a “roadmap” for political reforms in Syria which would transform the regime of Bashar al-Assad but leave him in place for now – despite demands for his overthrow during the country’s bloody three-month uprising. Syrian opposition sources have revealed that the US state department has been discreetly encouraging discussion of the unpublished draft document which circulated at an unprecedented opposition conference held on Monday in Damascus. The US ambassador is urging dialogue with the regime, the sources say. Assad would oversee what the roadmap calls “a secure and peaceful transition to civil democracy”. It calls for tighter control over the security forces, the disbanding of “Shabiha” gangs accused of atrocities, the legal right to peaceful demonstrations, extensive media freedoms, and the appointment of a transitional assembly. The carefully phrased 3,000-word document demands a “clear and frank apology” and accountability for organisations and individuals who “failed to accommodate legitimate protests”, and compensation for the families of victims of repression. The opposition says 1,400 people have been killed since mid-March. The government says 500 members of the security forces have died. It does not attack the president or other regime figures by name. It calls for the ruling Ba’ath party to be subject to a new law on political parties – though the party would still provide 30 of 100 members for a proposed transitional national assembly. Seventy others would be appointed by the president in consultation with opposition nominees – which will still leave Assad in a powerful position. Several of the proposed measures have already been mentioned in public by Assad, fuelling speculation he is at least partially following through on some of the document’s recommendations. The roadmap is signed by Louay Hussein and Maan Abdelsalam, leading secular intellectuals in a group called the National Action Committee. Both men met the vice-president, Farouk al-Sharaa, before Assad’s most recent speech, diplomats said. On Monday they chaired the Damascus conference, which had official permission, was attended by 150 people – and was publicly welcomed by the US. Wael Sawah, another member of the group, is an adviser to the US embassy in Damascus but did not sign the text, apparently so as not to discredit it in the eyes of Syrians suspicious of foreign meddling. Quiet US backing for the roadmap dovetails with public demands from Washington that Assad reform or step down. Robert Ford, the US ambassador, has been urging opposition figures to talk to the regime, said Radwan Ziadeh, a leading exile who insisted the strategy would not work. “They are asking Bashar to lead the transition and this is not acceptable to the protesters,” he said. “It is too late.” Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has said Assad is losing legitimacy and is not indispensable because of his country’s strategic position in the Middle East. But the US has not called openly for his overthrow – in striking contrast to policy towards Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. “It would be a big mistake if the Americans tried to influence this initiative and a mistake for the opposition to let them,” warned a prominent Syrian intellectual with close links to the regime. “I would advise them to distance themselves from the US.” A US state department spokesman said: “We are encouraging genuine dialogue between the opposition and the regime but we are not promoting anything. We want to see a democratic Syria but this is in the hands of the Syrian people.” Opposition figures are deeply divided over the way ahead, though even those arguing for engagement with the regime are far from certain it will work: “The situation may be at such an impasse that it precludes opportunities for co-operation and political dialogue and the feasibility of any proposal for reconciliation,” the text warns. Worries are growing that the regime may be recovering its poise in the absence of significant defections from the military, government or business elite. Joshua Landis, a Syria expert at the University of Oklahoma, said: “The US approach makes sense. Sanctions are a slippery slope and they’re not going to intervene militarily in Syria. They have to explore what this regime is capable of.” Others warn Assad may be flirting with these ideas to buy time and improve his battered image. “This is a blueprint for reform in Syria that would leave the regime in place,” warned one opposition figure. “It’s the minimum to keep the west happy. The regime wants to co-opt the opposition and independent intellectuals to create an official opposition and sideline others and paint them as being in collusion with foreign enemies. How can I give legitimacy to Bashar al-Assad when there are a million people on the streets demanding he be removed?” Syria Bashar Al-Assad US foreign policy Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East United States Ian Black guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Wisconsin Deja Vu: PA Republicans Ram Through Draconian Budget, ‘Unprecedented’ Power Grab. Voters, Wake Up!
June 30, 2011 No CommentPa. state Rep. Mike Sturla debates the Republican’s 2011/12 budget bill on the House Floor, which imposes historic and inequitable cuts to education, slashes health and welfare programs and fails to adequately fund the state’s environmental agency so they can supervise fracking in the Marcellus Shale. The GOP-dominated PA state house approved their new budget last night , and thanks to a lot of tricky last-minute bills , amendments and little public input, it looks like a right wing Christmas list — with Gov. Tom ” I’m Owned by The Gas Industry ” Corbett as Santa Claus. About the only bright spot in this mess is that a last-minute push for school vouchers failed — but Corbett says he’ll bring it back in the next session. The other highlight is that the budget displaces many, many costs to the local municipalities under the guise of “preventing” tax increases: Corbett got most of what he wanted – deep spending cuts, no new taxes on natural gas or anything else – but only after his administration pushed through a last-minute Senate measure to shift control of billions in welfare funding from the legislature to his administration. His welfare secretary said budget needs necessitated the change. “We have a savings target to meet, and we can’t wait months and months to do it,” Gary Alexander told The Inquirer Wednesday night. But the measure set off alarms among advocates for the poor, who portrayed it as a power grab by the executive branch that would shred the safety net for hundreds of thousands of people – most of them women and children – who depend on government assistance. Richard Weishaupt, a lawyer with Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, said past administrations had been given temporary authority over a narrow range of welfare services, but nothing so sweeping as what the Corbett administration is seeking. “It is unprecedented that a state agency is given this kind of discretion without any checks and balances,” Weishaupt said. The amendment to the welfare code would let the welfare department change benefit rates, including reducing cash assistance payments, and increase co-payments for child care and health care. The measure passed by a 35-15 vote, with five Democrats joining the Republican majority , and is expected to receive final approval Thursday. The bill then goes to the House for consideration and could take effect as soon as Friday, the first day of the new fiscal year. I’d like to point out that two Philadelphia Republicans, Reps. Dennis O’Brien and John Taylor voted against the spending plan. (Taylor is my local rep, and I called up and screamed at his aide yesterday. I hope it helped.) But wait, there’s more: The 2011-12 budget contains no new taxes or Marcellus Shale levies and spends 4 percent less than the current budget, channels $5.3 billion in state instruction subsidies to school districts, provides $2 million through a new funding source for the Commonwealth Medical College in Scranton , cuts public welfare spending by $400 million from what the governor proposed in March and leaves an anticipated $700 million state tax revenue surplus mostly untouched. The House rejected a parliamentary move to add $34.5 million to the state Department of Environmental Protection’s budget and cut a similar amount from the Commonwealth Financing Authority, an economic development arm. And just as WI Gov. Scott Walker’s budget did, this includes an increase in funding for state police. (Have to have at least one group of state employees that’s not mad at him, you know!) Also included in the budget: A law that, in most circumstances, would require voter approval for school budgets that grow larger than the inflation rate, which of course will result in underfunding. (Even if state legislators weren’t known for slapping unfunded or underfunded mandates on school districts.) Oh, and $1.9 million in funding for a new “independent” fiscal office sponsored by Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh, that’s intended to serve as a political counterweight to the governor’s Budget Office. You know, just in case voters get any funny ideas and vote in another Democratic governor. Here’s what one Scranton columnist wrote: While claiming to hold the line on taxes, Sheriff Corbett imposed a massive tax hike on every Pennsylvanian who owns property and works for a living. By cutting a combined $810 million in K-12 and early childhood education funding, Sheriff Corbett ensured that school districts will raise property taxes to stay afloat. Not to worry, Sheriff Corbett assured. State law requires school districts to put to a referendum any tax increase beyond the rate of inflation. True, but there are many exceptions to the rule and even if they are removed, school districts would be asking taxpayers to vote for tax increases. They are more likely to approve bans on television, booze and chocolate. On to the gas drillers, who along with corporations in general and our esteemed Legislature are the big winners in Sheriff Corbett’s budget. The plan does not address the “Delaware loophole,” so named because it allows more than 70 percent of corporations doing business in Pennsylvania to evade state taxes. Instead, it lowers corporate taxes and contains no severance tax on the Marcellus Shale gas boom. You may recall the Legislature’s vow to enact a severance tax by Oct. 1 of LAST YEAR. They “balanced” the 2010-11 budget with that empty promise. Try that with your mortgage payment. In other words, this budget is as “fiscally responsible” as an all-night party with hookers and blow. And as the whipped cream on top, Corbett also just signed the laughably-named Fair Share Act , which limits which limits legal liability for defendants in product liability or alleged malpractice lawsuits. (Because it’s so awful that those poor, powerless corporations are picked on by those horrible plaintiffs.) If you’d like to show your displeasure, please contact your state legislator. If you’re close to Philadelphia, there will be an action this Friday: Friday, July 1st, 12–1pm Philadelphia Office of Governor Corbett 200 S. Broad St. Philadelphia, PA And continue to watch this space. I’m sure there will be more Pennsylvania horror stories to report.
Continue reading …When (not if, but when) Rick Perry declares his candidacy for President, he will try to run on his jobs record. He will position himself as the state executive who created more jobs in his state than any other governor. His record will be indisputable in terms of numbers. It’s only when you look closer at how those jobs were created, and under what conditions, that the entire argument falls apart. Chron.com: But how could corporations get people to agree to something so patently unfair and weighted so heavily in their favor? Rick Perry. Under his administration, Texas unapologetically bars the courthouse door to average citizens. Courts in this state say that just working for a company that has an arbitration clause in its employee manual deprives you of your Constitutional right to access justice. It’s not even a contract, they acknowledge, but you kept working there, so you consented to it. Having a governor who does whatever businesses want — including appointing compliant judges who will freely disregard the law to serve the interests of large corporations regardless of what they do to people like Cathie Williams makes Texas extremely attractive to business. Corporations don’t generally care about miscarriages of justice. They care about being given free passes so they can earn more money. So Perry has made Texas a state with lots of new jobs because it has a court system weighted in favor of corporations against its citizens. Rick Perry’s secret to job creation is no secret at all: It’s the same recipe used in places like Mexico and Malaysia. Here, companies save millions they would otherwise have had to spend on responsibility. It’s a tradeoff: Give up on public schools, healthy air, and your Constitutional rights and you can have a job. Yippee! And if we read Texas textbooks, we can all be ignorant, too. Let’s also remember that Texas had a $27 billion shortfall under Perry. But hey, there were jobs. Right?
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Family-owned company responds to downturn in sales by cutting half its workforce – and selecting only women for redundancy An engineering firm in northern Italy has sparked a controversy after making almost half its workforce redundant – and selecting only women. A union official quoted the company as having reported to the small businesses association: “We are firing the women so they can stay at home and look after the children. In any case, what they bring in is a second income.” No one at the company, Ma-Vib, which is based in Inzago near Milan, could be reached for comment. With Italy’s prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi , on trial for paying an underage prostitute, there is a continuing and lively debate over the status of Italian women, which some international surveys suggest is abnormally low in comparison with the rest of Europe. In February, there were demonstrations in more than 250 cities around the world in defence of the dignity of Italy’s women. “In this country, at the government and company level, there is always the same old thinking – that it is preferable that women stay at home”, said Maria Sciancati, general secretary of the FIOM engineering union. There was condemnation too from the equal opportunities councillor in Milan’s conservative-led administration. Cristina Stancari, who once worked in Berlusconi’s press office, said the firm’s action showed “discrimination and an utter lack of respect for women – a return to the past that cannot in any way be justified”. Ma-Vib, a family-owned company, makes electric fans and blowers for air conditioning, refrigeration and heating equipment. According to the FIOM, it employed 12 men and 18 women before the redundancies. Faced with a downturn in sales, the firm decided to get rid of 13 of the women. The FIOM called a strike to protest at the move. But, in a development that raised further criticism, only one of the men whose jobs had been saved heeded the strike call. The women who have lost their jobs are all aged between 30 and 40. They were employed in the assembly of Ma-Vib’s products. Italy has one of the EU’s lowest female employment rates, partly because of pressure on women to give up their jobs when they become pregnant. One in five does not return to work after the birth of her first child. Italy Europe Gender Women Redundancy Equality Work & careers John Hooper guardian.co.uk
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PCS leader says unions will keep up protests until reform plans are dropped as doctors back ballot on industrial action Thursday’s 24-hour walkout by teachers, lecturers and civil servants over plans to overhaul public sector pensions should serve as a “wake-up call” for the government, said the leader of the Public and Commercial Services union. Mark Serwotka warned that the unions were determined to keep protesting until ministers change those plans as he claimed the strike was the “best we have seen for 10 years”. He hailed the turnout as proof of the anger felt towards the government by public sector workers, but Downing Street insisted disruption to the public had been “minimal”. The action by four unions came on the day that doctors overwhelmingly backed a ballot on industrial action over NHS pensions reform plans. The leader of the Royal College of Nursing, representing more than 400,000 members, warned that it may end up doing the same. The threat of further and more widespread industrial action loomed after thousands took part in a huge rally in central London, with others staged in towns and cities around the country. The London rally heard union officials and teachers criticise the government, while Labour leader Ed Miliband was branded “a disgrace” for failing to support the action. But the Cabinet Office countered the claim with figures suggesting that just under 100,000 civil servants – around one in five of the workforce and less than half of the 250,000 balloted-membership – had taken part in the action. Serwotka said the protest should jolt Francis Maude, the minister for the Cabinet Office spearheading the pension reform talks on behalf of government. “Maybe this is the wake-up call he needed,” said Serwotka. “What they now need to do is get around the negotiating table and try to negotiate an agreement. They haven’t done that yet, but hopefully having seen how strongly feel today they will have a change of heart. “It’s a very, very clear signal to the government that they have been rumbled. This is not about pensions, this is about making public sector workers pay for the economic problems, and we are determined to keep going until they change direction.” The PCS leader said 85% of his members had been on strike today, that MPs had refused to cross picket lines and staff in Downing Street had taken action. Maude claimed the turnout was lower than the 2004 and 2007 strikes against Labour’s pension reforms. “”I am not at all surprised by the very low turnout for today’s action – less than half of PCS’s own members chose to take part. Very few civil servants wanted this strike at all – less than 10% of them voted for it – and they are right. “It is simply wrong for their leader to be pushing for walkouts when serious talks, set up at the request of the TUC itself, are still ongoing.” More than 11,100 schools in Britain closed or cancelled lessons, forcing parents to stay at home or make other arrangements for their children. Kevin Courtney, deputy general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: “We realise that’s very disruptive for parents, and we do regret that. We had hoped to reach a settlement before the industrial action, but the government isn’t serious about talks.” Michael Gove, the education secretary, said the strikes were “disappointing and unnecessary”. Downing Street insisted that Britain’s borders and essential services had remained “open for business”, with air travel unaffected. David Cameron suffered no disruption to his working day at No 10, where fewer than five civil servants took part in the strike action, according to a Downing Street spokeswoman. “The prime minister thinks these strikes are premature,” she said. “There has been minimal impact on services.” She added: “The civil service put rigorous contingency plans in place and essential public services are up and running.” In Wales, around 40,000 public sector workers joined the strike. An estimated 1,000 Welsh schools closed, and dozens of government buildings and services were also shut. The Met police put in place to police the march estimated to have drawn a crowd at least 20,000-strong. There were picket lines outside government buildings in Whitehall as well as well as schools, tax offices, courts and jobcentres across the country. Around 350 colleges and 75 universities also closed or operated a scaled-back timetable. Miliband denounced the strikes in a speech to the Local Government Association. “These strikes are wrong at a time when negotiations are still going on but parents and the public have been let down by both sides because the government has acted in a reckless and provocative manner,” said the Labour leader. “After today’s disruption, I urge both sides to put aside the rhetoric, get round the negotiating table and stop it happening again.” Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, told the London rally that his comments were a “disgrace”. “We are here because of our force of reason, not the Government’s reason of force.” Bousted, whose union has never before gone on strike, said Miliband should be ashamed of himself. “If our strike is a mistake, what has he done to oppose this devastating attack on our pensions?” Public sector pensions Public services policy Public sector cuts Public finance Protest Trade unions Civil service Schools NHS Doctors Local government Hélène Mulholland guardian.co.uk
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Unidentified officials arrest documentary maker and women’s rights activist Mahnaz Mohammadi at her home A prominent Iranian documentary film-maker and women’s rights activist, whose work includes banned films about Iran’s society, has been arrested by unidentified officials. Mahnaz Mohammadi, 37, was picked up from her home in the capital Tehran by security officers who refused to show a warrant for her arrest and was taken to Evin prison, where many activists are being held. Speaking by phone from Tehran, her lawyer told the Guardian that Mohammadi had been denied access to her family or proper legal representation and was being kept incommunicado. News of her arrest comes two weeks after another women’s rights campaigner and photojournalist, Maryam Majd , was arrested before departing Tehran as she tried to fly to Germany, where she intended to cover the Fifa Women’s World Cup. Majd, 25, had campaigned for women in Iran to be allowed to enter stadiums to watch football matches. She had been expected to join Petra Landers, a former German national footballer, to work on a book project about women’s sport but was detained and transferred to Evin before her departure. She has also been denied access to her lawyer and family. The arrests of both activists have prompted criticism among human rights groups, which for a long time have condemned Iran for its ongoing crackdown targeting artists and activists. Amnesty International raised serious concerns about both arrests and asked Iran to clarify the reasons behind their detentions. “We’re very concerned about these arrests, and we are following up with their lawyer to ascertain their legal status,” Amnesty said. “The reasons for the arrest of Mahnaz Mohammadi and Maryam Majd have still not been clarified. It appears to be part of an ongoing crackdown on journalists, film-makers, activists and lawyers – anyone whom the authorities fear may challenge their narrow view of what the Islamic Republic of Iran should be.” Amnesty urged Iranian authorities to protect Mohammadi and Majd from torture and give them access to their families and lawyers. “If they are being held solely for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression – as is likely to be the case – then they should be released immediately and unconditionally,” Amnesty said. Maziar Bahari, an Iranian documentary film-maker who was arrested in the aftermath of Iran’s 2009 post-election unrest and is the author of the recently published book, Then They Came for Me, said: “The difficulty after such arrests is that you don’t know where they have been taken to, what charges they are facing or even which authority has held them in jail.” He added: “Documentary makers are in direct contact with the society and show what’s out there, sometimes negative, sometimes positive, but in Iran, where the regime thinks it has the right to intrude in all aspects of the citizens’ lives, everything is politicised, and the work of film-makers can be interpreted as a threat to the so-called national security.” Mohammadi, who was also arrested in 2007 and 2009, has directed a handful of films including Women without Shadows (2003), about homeless and deserted women, and The Soul’s Children (2004), which was banned. Among her documentaries, Travelogue (2006) shows a train that departs full of passengers every Thursday from Tehran to Istanbul, and returns home empty. The film discusses issues of immigration, the contradictions of Iran’s modern society and homosexuality. Many film-makers and women’s rights campaigners have been arrested and sentenced to long prison terms in Iran in recent years, including the acclaimed director Jafar Panahi , film-maker Mohammad Rasoulof and celebrated lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh . Despite the crackdown on the country’s film industry, Iran’s film-makers have won international recognition. A Separation , a drama by Asghar Farhadi which won the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin film festival, is released on Friday in London cinemas. Iran Human rights Middle East Journalist safety Women Saeed Kamali Dehghan guardian.co.uk
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Home Office review of counter-terror strategy concerned at how to deal with convicted terrorists after release Thirty-six recently released terrorists are being “managed in the community” with a further 34 expected to leave prison over the next four years, according to Home Office figures. A record 123 prisoners are now serving sentences for terrorism-related offences in jails in Britain. But nearly 10 years after 9/11 the number being freed is starting to rise and Whitehall security chiefs are increasingly concerned about the lack of preparations to deal with them. The official review of the Prevent counter-terrorism strategy found that slow progress has been made turning prisoners away from terrorism. The review says there is “no proven methodology” and the bespoke programmes developed so far have “only reached a small proportion of the target prison population and have not kept pace” with the number of releases. The 36 convicted terrorists who have been released and are living in the community are managed under the multi-agency public protection arrangements used for convicted sex offenders. “We note that existing programmes and other tactical measures have also been used with those terrorist offenders who have already been released. But there remains a significant risk that prison fails to enable terrorist prisoners to re-evaluate their views,” the review concludes. The figures show 123 terrorism-related prisoners were being held on 30 December 2010 in the UK’s eight high-security prisons. They included 96 convicted under terrorism legislation including those linked to al-Qaida or groups influenced by them. A further 22 are classified as domestic extremists or separatists and five are “historic cases” whose convictions date from the 1970s to the 1990s. They include some with a track record of radicalisation and recruitment who may have targeted other prisoners. Counter-terrorism officials believe further research is needed on radicalising influences in jail and how they endure after release. Harry Fletcher of Napo, the probation union, echoed official concerns. “By 2014 virtually all convicted terrorists given determinate sentences will have been released onto parole. All are deemed to be high risk and require intensive supervision and liaison with the police,” he said. “The 27 convicted terrorists who were given life or indeterminate public protection sentences will remain in jail. Many of those released will be housed in probation hostels. Cutting probation and hostel budgets will be counterproductive.” The annual Home Office bulletin on the operation of police counter-terrorism powers shows the number of terrorism arrests is down 40%, from 209 in 2009 to 125 in 2010. There have been 1,945 terrorism arrests in Britain since 9/11. Use of section 44 stop and search powers has been abandoned after the European court of human rights ruled them illegal. There were 23,882 searches under these powers in 2010. Only one led to a terror-related arrest. This compares with 160,000 searches the year before. The justice ministry said extremist offenders could be recalled to custody if they breached their licence conditions. “It is crucial that we prevent those who have been involved in terrorism returning to these activities — that’s why we work closely with specialist organisations in both custody and the community to prepare offenders for their release.” The figures were published as the interception of communications commissioner, Sir Paul Kennedy, revealed that the police, security services and other public bodies submitted a total 552,550 requests for access to the communication data of members of the public last year. He said Such requests have risen steadily at the rate of 5% a year for the past three years, partly reflecting the growth in communications technology but also the increasing awareness of the usefulness of such personal data to intelligence officers and detectives. Kennedy also reports 27 cases last year of officers from the security services and the Serious Organised Crime Agency tapping the wrong phones because they had written down the wrong numbers or wrong dates. Terrorism policy Prisons and probation Global terrorism UK security and terrorism UK criminal justice Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
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