The Prince of Wales received £1,962,000 from taxpayers last year, up from £1,664,000 the year before The Prince of Wales’s funding from the taxpayer increased by nearly 18% last year, official accounts show . Prince Charles’s income from grants-in-aid and government departments rose 17.9% from £1,664,000 to £1,962,000. He also saw his private funding from the Duchy of Cornwall – the landed estate given to the heir to the throne – go up by nearly 4% to £17,796,000. The prince’s tax bill soared by more than £900,000 last year, rising 26.2% to £4,398,000. Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall travelled some 34,000 miles to and from official engagements in 2010/11, including more than 14,000 miles on overseas trips. Spending on official travel by air and rail came to £1,080,000, up £388,000 or 56% from the previous year. Prince Charles Monarchy guardian.co.uk
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Young specialists with broadcasting flair were sought by BBC Radio 3 and research council to bring fresh voices to the public They are, in theory, the brightest of our bright young things: 10 academics chosen in an X Factor-style talent search with specialist subjects that range from the history of fan mail to the significance of the desert in modern culture. The Guardian can name the winners of a competition to find a new generation of thinkers and communicators, pictured as they gathered on Monday at the BBC. The talent search was a collaboration between Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Matthew Dodd, head of speech programming at Radio 3, said they wanted to find academics with a flair for broadcasting earlier in their career. “We felt that the people in academia we were dealing with were often very established with published books who were on air regularly,” he said. “We are looking for people with the most interesting ideas who want to share their knowledge and can make fantastic programmes.” It began with whittling down more than 1,000 applications – “far in excess of what we expected,” says Dodd – to select 57 finalists at a series of day-long workshops and auditions. He said: “It was a revelation to us how media savvy they were. The notion of being in an ivory tower was a long, long way away. They were all brimming with ideas and eager to spread their knowledge. There was none of the gaucheness that a stereotype of the scholar might throw up.” The list was then whittled down to the 10 winners. One is Alexandra Harris, who won last year’s Guardian First Book award for Romantic Moderns, her revisionist work on culture between the wars. Harris, an English lecturer at Liverpool University, got through with her specialist subject on how the weather – and more specifically being cold – has influenced English art, music and literature, although she admitted “it is research which is very new and I’m just starting.” She called the New Generation Thinkers scheme a fantastic opportunity and added: “I’ve never been a believer in the ivory tower university and all the people who have inspired me have been just terrific communicators who have made their research buzzing and relevant. “It also felt like a breath of hope at this point where it’s just cuts, cuts, cuts and this sense of academia being irrelevant and the government turning its back on the humanities. In a way, I wanted to apply just to say, ‘I love the sound of this scheme.’” Another of the 10 is Philip Roscoe, a lecturer at University of St Andrews school of management, who is looking at how economics shapes the moral landscape in everyday settings, including internet dating, an industry he called “social engineering on a massive scale”. He said much academic research is important and interesting but is a hard-sell in terms of generating headlines. “The prospect of being able to make some programming about the ideas and the concepts behind the research and take some time and do it properly was very appealing.” The others and their specialist subjects are Corin Throsby, Cambridge University, the history of fan mail; David Petts, Durham University, the commercialisation of British archaeology; Jon Adams, London School of Economics, on crowding in the modern city; Laurence Scott, Kings College London, on the image and significance of the desert in modern culture; Lucy Powell, University College London, a literary exploration of prisons; Rachel Hewitt, Queen Mary, University of London, on the 1790s: the Age of Despair; Shahidha Bari, also Queen Mary, on the Arabian Nights; and Zoe Norridge, York University, on cultural responses to the Rwandan genocide. All 10 can be heard on the next 10 editions of Night Waves from tonight and they will then develop their broadcasting ideas further with Radio 3 as well as appear in special New Generation Thinkers debates. Radio 3 Higher education BBC Lecturers Entertainment Mark Brown guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Young specialists with broadcasting flair were sought by BBC Radio 3 and research council to bring fresh voices to the public They are, in theory, the brightest of our bright young things: 10 academics chosen in an X Factor-style talent search with specialist subjects that range from the history of fan mail to the significance of the desert in modern culture. The Guardian can name the winners of a competition to find a new generation of thinkers and communicators, pictured as they gathered on Monday at the BBC. The talent search was a collaboration between Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Matthew Dodd, head of speech programming at Radio 3, said they wanted to find academics with a flair for broadcasting earlier in their career. “We felt that the people in academia we were dealing with were often very established with published books who were on air regularly,” he said. “We are looking for people with the most interesting ideas who want to share their knowledge and can make fantastic programmes.” It began with whittling down more than 1,000 applications – “far in excess of what we expected,” says Dodd – to select 57 finalists at a series of day-long workshops and auditions. He said: “It was a revelation to us how media savvy they were. The notion of being in an ivory tower was a long, long way away. They were all brimming with ideas and eager to spread their knowledge. There was none of the gaucheness that a stereotype of the scholar might throw up.” The list was then whittled down to the 10 winners. One is Alexandra Harris, who won last year’s Guardian First Book award for Romantic Moderns, her revisionist work on culture between the wars. Harris, an English lecturer at Liverpool University, got through with her specialist subject on how the weather – and more specifically being cold – has influenced English art, music and literature, although she admitted “it is research which is very new and I’m just starting.” She called the New Generation Thinkers scheme a fantastic opportunity and added: “I’ve never been a believer in the ivory tower university and all the people who have inspired me have been just terrific communicators who have made their research buzzing and relevant. “It also felt like a breath of hope at this point where it’s just cuts, cuts, cuts and this sense of academia being irrelevant and the government turning its back on the humanities. In a way, I wanted to apply just to say, ‘I love the sound of this scheme.’” Another of the 10 is Philip Roscoe, a lecturer at University of St Andrews school of management, who is looking at how economics shapes the moral landscape in everyday settings, including internet dating, an industry he called “social engineering on a massive scale”. He said much academic research is important and interesting but is a hard-sell in terms of generating headlines. “The prospect of being able to make some programming about the ideas and the concepts behind the research and take some time and do it properly was very appealing.” The others and their specialist subjects are Corin Throsby, Cambridge University, the history of fan mail; David Petts, Durham University, the commercialisation of British archaeology; Jon Adams, London School of Economics, on crowding in the modern city; Laurence Scott, Kings College London, on the image and significance of the desert in modern culture; Lucy Powell, University College London, a literary exploration of prisons; Rachel Hewitt, Queen Mary, University of London, on the 1790s: the Age of Despair; Shahidha Bari, also Queen Mary, on the Arabian Nights; and Zoe Norridge, York University, on cultural responses to the Rwandan genocide. All 10 can be heard on the next 10 editions of Night Waves from tonight and they will then develop their broadcasting ideas further with Radio 3 as well as appear in special New Generation Thinkers debates. Radio 3 Higher education BBC Lecturers Entertainment Mark Brown guardian.co.uk
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Food must be imported and water use tightly regulated to protect dwindling supply, a leading groundwater expert has warned China needs to reduce food production on its dry northern plains or aquifers will diminish to a “dire” level in 30 years, the country’s leading groundwater expert has warned. Zheng Chunmiao, director of the Water Research Centre at Peking University, said the world’s most populous country will have to focus more on demand-side restraint because it is becoming more expensive and difficult to tap finite supplies below the surface. “The government must adopt a new policy to reduce water consumption,” Zheng told the Guardian. “The main thing is to reduce demand. We have relied too much on engineering projects, but the government realises this is not a long-term solution.” Zheng’s comments are based on his studies of the aquifers under the North China plain, one of the country’s main wheat growing regions. He said the water table is falling at the rate of about a metre a year mainly due to agriculture, which accounts for 60% of demand. “The water situation in the North China plain does not allow much longer for irrigation,” Zheng said. “We need to reduce food production even though it is politically difficult. It would be much more economical to import.” The government will be reluctant to accept such a radical step, which could weaken the country’s ability to feed itself. But it may not have a choice. Over the past 10 years, Zheng estimates the annual water deficit in northern China at 4bn cubic metres. This is increasingly made up from underground sources, which account for 70% of water supplies. Although some aquifers remain 500 metres thick, others are emptying at an alarming rate. This has created depletion cones, the deepest of which is at Hengshui near Xizhuajiang. Before trimming agricultural production, the government will try to improve usage efficiency. Plans are now being drawn up to measure and centrally manage the remaining resources, which are currently under the control of regional governments that often tend to draw up water unsustainably for the short-term benefit of the local economy. The Yellow River Conservancy Commission – which has the nation’s most advanced river management network – is expected to serve as a model. “The government is considering a system similar to ours that will collect data on underground water resources and connect it to our Yellow River monitoring system,” said Pei Yong, director of the water regulation division. “I think it will start three or four years from now.” Even before this begins, controls on underground water use are slowly being tightened. Well digging – once a lucrative, ubiquitous and poorly regulated business – is already feeling the pinch. Kaifeng Well Drilling – a company in Henan – charges 100-500 yuan for each metre drilled, but it has recently laid off workers because it gets permission for only two wells a year now, compared to about 30 in the 1980s. “Business is very bad. Many firms have had to change business,” said the director, who only gave his surname, Wang. “The controls are very tight now. You only get permission to drill in areas with severe water shortages.” Such restrictions are said to have slowed the rate of aquifer depletion, but the situation remains critical. Zheng said much more needs to be done, including demand reduction, water transfers and greater use of desalination plants. “We will get there because we have to,” he said. “If nothing changes, then in 30 years, we will face a dire situation.” Water Food Drought China Jonathan Watts guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Food must be imported and water use tightly regulated to protect dwindling supply, a leading groundwater expert has warned China needs to reduce food production on its dry northern plains or aquifers will diminish to a “dire” level in 30 years, the country’s leading groundwater expert has warned. Zheng Chunmiao, director of the Water Research Centre at Peking University, said the world’s most populous country will have to focus more on demand-side restraint because it is becoming more expensive and difficult to tap finite supplies below the surface. “The government must adopt a new policy to reduce water consumption,” Zheng told the Guardian. “The main thing is to reduce demand. We have relied too much on engineering projects, but the government realises this is not a long-term solution.” Zheng’s comments are based on his studies of the aquifers under the North China plain, one of the country’s main wheat growing regions. He said the water table is falling at the rate of about a metre a year mainly due to agriculture, which accounts for 60% of demand. “The water situation in the North China plain does not allow much longer for irrigation,” Zheng said. “We need to reduce food production even though it is politically difficult. It would be much more economical to import.” The government will be reluctant to accept such a radical step, which could weaken the country’s ability to feed itself. But it may not have a choice. Over the past 10 years, Zheng estimates the annual water deficit in northern China at 4bn cubic metres. This is increasingly made up from underground sources, which account for 70% of water supplies. Although some aquifers remain 500 metres thick, others are emptying at an alarming rate. This has created depletion cones, the deepest of which is at Hengshui near Xizhuajiang. Before trimming agricultural production, the government will try to improve usage efficiency. Plans are now being drawn up to measure and centrally manage the remaining resources, which are currently under the control of regional governments that often tend to draw up water unsustainably for the short-term benefit of the local economy. The Yellow River Conservancy Commission – which has the nation’s most advanced river management network – is expected to serve as a model. “The government is considering a system similar to ours that will collect data on underground water resources and connect it to our Yellow River monitoring system,” said Pei Yong, director of the water regulation division. “I think it will start three or four years from now.” Even before this begins, controls on underground water use are slowly being tightened. Well digging – once a lucrative, ubiquitous and poorly regulated business – is already feeling the pinch. Kaifeng Well Drilling – a company in Henan – charges 100-500 yuan for each metre drilled, but it has recently laid off workers because it gets permission for only two wells a year now, compared to about 30 in the 1980s. “Business is very bad. Many firms have had to change business,” said the director, who only gave his surname, Wang. “The controls are very tight now. You only get permission to drill in areas with severe water shortages.” Such restrictions are said to have slowed the rate of aquifer depletion, but the situation remains critical. Zheng said much more needs to be done, including demand reduction, water transfers and greater use of desalination plants. “We will get there because we have to,” he said. “If nothing changes, then in 30 years, we will face a dire situation.” Water Food Drought China Jonathan Watts guardian.co.uk
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More than 5,000 police officers to guard central Athens as striking workers plan to march on parliament Greece is facing major disruption on Tuesday as unions begin a 48-hour general strike before a parliamentary vote on harsh austerity measures demanded in return for international rescue loans. Protest rallies in Athens are due to converge on parliament as industrial action called in protest against tax hikes was expected to disrupt or halt most public services. More than 5,000 police have been deployed to guard central Athens where anti-austerity demonstrations earlier this month ended in scenes of violence as protesters clashed with riot officers. “We expect a dynamic and massive participation in the strike and the march to the centre of Athens. We will have 48 hours of working people, unemployed, young people in the streets,” Spyros Papaspyros, leader of public sector union ADEDY, told Reuters. Doctors, paramedics, journalists, postal workers and private sector employees were all expected to join the protest. Stoppages by Greek air traffic controllers are likely to disrupt flights and ferry departures from Athens are also expected to be hit. The unions are angry that the proposed austerity package would raise taxes on minimum wage earners and other Greeks in addition to earlier cuts that have driven unemployment past 16%. Parliament must approve and implement the programme this week if Greece is to receive a scheduled bailout loan of €110bn from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Without the loan Greece risks becoming the first eurozone country to default on its debts – an event that could trigger a crisis in other economically weak European countries and have major global consequences. “These measures are a massacre for workers’ rights. It will truly be hell for the working man. The strike must bring everything to a standstill,” Thanassis Pafilis, a member of parliament for the pro-strike Greek Communist party, told Associated Press. The three-day parliamentary debate over the austerity package came as France, among eurozone nations scrambling to prevent a default, suggested rolling over some Greek debt for 30 years. The proposal by the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, offered hope to Greece’s socialist prime minister, George Papandreou, before the debate. “I call on you to vote for survival, growth, justice, and a future for the citizens of this country,” Papandreou told politicians. Unable to offload its sovereign debt, Greece is dependent on bailout loans and is banking on a new rescue package to cover a 2012 financial hole. Although any further assistance is likely to be dependent on approval of austerity measures, Papandreou said he hoped the terms of a second bailout would be better than the first. “I call on Europe, for its part, to give Greece the time and the terms it needs to really pay off its debt, without strangling growth, and without strangling its citizens,” he said. Theodoros Pangalos, the deputy prime minister, rejected suggestions Greece might be forced to abandon the euro and return to its old currency, the drachma. “There would be riots everywhere, shops would have empty shelves and people would be jumping out of windows … It would also be disastrous for the entire economy of Europe,” he told the Spanish daily El Mundo. Greece Europe Protest European debt crisis European banks Barry Neild guardian.co.uk
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Higher education white paper promises to give students more power to ensure they get their money’s worth, but Labour brands reforms a ‘complete shambles’ University courses with a poor track record of employment will be “named and shamed” under government proposals to give students a clearer choice of degree and curb the costs of tuition fee loans. Measures to open up the sector and give more power to students to ensure they get their money’s worth are reforms tied to the government’s plans to triple tuition fees to £9,000 from 2012, due to be outlined in the government’s long-awaited white paper on higher education on Tuesday. In what is seen as the most radical shakeup of the higher education system in decades, the white paper is expected to contain measures to allow popular universities to take in any student who gains at least two A grades and a B at A-level, allowing these institutions to grow. Universities charging low fees, including higher education colleges, could also be told that they can increase their numbers in a move that will be seen as a way to encourage institutions to lower their fees. The proposals were criticised by Labour and the National Union of Students, who warned that the reforms would see the quality of degree courses suffer and leave students open to “market chaos” in the higher education sector. The government also wants to see courses that are not valued by employers either scrapped or overhauled. Ministers will ask for the publication of detailed information about the employment and earning outcomes of specific degrees, to limit losses to the taxpayer from students who fail to repay their loans. At present, two-thirds of universities are seeking to charge the maximum £9,000 fee from next year, despite wide variations in employability. Universities will be required to publish comparable data on teaching hours and accommodation costs, and to account for how fee income is spent. In a round of broadcast interviews given ahead of the publication of the white paper, David Willetts, the universities minister, said the government was looking for a “transformation” in the amount of information students receive. “There are some courses that are far better at preparing young people for the world of work than others. At the moment, the student finds it very hard to get that information,” he told BBC Breakfast. “In future, they are going to be able to see ‘if I do biological sciences at one university, I have got a much better chance of a job in a pharmaceutical company than if I do biological sciences at a different university’. Yes, all that information should be out there and we are insisting for the first time that it should be available for prospective students.” Willetts said he wanted to see education institutions compete both on fees, but also on the “quality of the experience” for students as the government dismantles the system of quotas on student places. He told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme that UK universities should dispense with the public sector “mindset”. “They are not, they do not belong to the public sector. What they do receive is a large amount of public money … what we will be saying today is if there are alternative providers that come in they may be FE colleges, of course should have the opportunity of offering higher education but they should be regulated on the same basis as everyone else and I think there’s a great opportunity here. “Existing universities have been over-regulated so we’re going to cut back the burden of regulation The ones outside the system often have not been regulated at all.” John Denham, the shadow business secretary, branded the reforms a “complete shambles” and accused the government of “making it up as it goes along”. “Whatever we get this afternoon wasn’t any part of the proposals that were put to the House of Commons last December,” Denham told Sky News. “Remember, the government cut higher education funding by 80%, which is why we have this huge increase in fees. They then said very few universities would charge £9,000 – most of them want to charge £9,000. “So what’s happening here is that they’re trying to drive down the cost of some courses, but I fear very much at the expense of quality of higher education and the stability of some universities and we will do our students no favours if we give them a cut-price, low-quality degree when what they need is a really good quality higher education.” Aaron Porter, president of the National Union of Students, said the reforms would leave the majority of students facing “complete market chaos”. “To use proposals for more information as a justification for lifting the cap on fees to £9,000 is outrageous and will not fool students and their families. It’s the price, rather than educational standards, that will have tripled,” said Porter. “Ministers are at risk of creating stability for the perceived best but complete chaos for the rest. The vast majority of university entrants, who don’t get the very best grades, will be treated to complete market chaos and real uncertainty about their universities and courses.” The white paper comes as research revealed that graduates are facing record levels of competition for jobs, with more than 80 fighting for every position, research suggests. Employers are now receiving 83 applications on average for each job – almost double the numbers of two years ago (49), and nearly treble compared with three years ago (31) according to the Association of Graduate Recruiters. Higher education Students Student finance David Willetts University funding Jeevan Vasagar Jessica Shepherd Hélène Mulholland guardian.co.uk
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• Thorntons to halve its portfolio of 364 stores • Chief exec blames ‘significant changes’ in consumer behaviour • Carpetright profits slump 70% • Jane Norman and Homeform have gone into administration More than 10,000 jobs are now at risk across the UK retail sector as Thorntons announced the closure of up to 180 stores on Tuesday, threatening around 1,000 jobs. Carpetright also added to the gloom, axing this year’s dividend and warning that it sees “no respite” from the challenges that have forced several high street names into administration in recent weeks. Thorntons plans to almost halve its portfolio of 364 UK stores. Some 120 will definitely close over the next three years, as their leases expire, and a further 60 could also be shuttered. The move comes less than two months after Thorntons suffered its second profits warning of 2011 . At the time, the company blamed the unusually sunny Easter. On Tuesday, chief executive Jonathan Hart said Thorntons needed to close stores in response to “significant changes in consumer shopping behaviour”. He admitted that the high street was suffering badly. “Our goal is to refocus the business across all channels and seek to deliver industry competitive returns over the next three to five years. Although we see the prospect of weakness in high street footfall and consumer sentiment continuing, I am confident that this strategy is right,” said Hart. Under Hart’s strategy, Thorntons will attempt to find a franchisee to run stores which it closes, although it admitted this will not be possible everywhere. Floorings chain Carpetright told its shareholders that consumer demand was weak across its markets, with profits slumping by 70% to £6.6m. It also hinted that stores will close. “With leases on 94 stores in our estate due to expire in the next five years, we have ample opportunity to reshape the portfolio, reduce the size of store footprints and lower our ongoing rent roll,” the company said. The store closures at Thorntons mean that more than 10,000 UK retail workers have been hit with the threat of unemployment in the last week. On Monday, womenswear chain Jane Norman fell into administration, leaving its 1,600 staff facing an uncertain future. Discount department store chain TJ Hughes, which employs around 4,000 staff across its 57 shops, filed an intention to appoint an administrator. Homeform, the owner of Kitchens Direct, Dolphin Bathrooms and Moben Kitchen, went into administration last Thursday . It employs 1,300 people across its 160 showrooms, and also uses the services of 1,500 self-employed fitters and designers. A further 750 jobs are at risk at Habitat, with restructuring firm Zolfo Cooper trying to find a buyer for its 30 stores outside London . Thorntons Retail industry Job losses Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk
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In an effort to avert Thursday’s strikes, the prime minister will call on unions to keep negotiating after talks failed to reach a settlement to avoid this week’s walkouts David Cameron is to appeal directly to public sector workers not to go on strike this week, telling an audience of local government leaders that the current pension arrangements are “not fair to the taxpayer”. The prime minister will intervene in the furious row between the government and unions over pension reforms after talks on Monday failed to negotiate a settlement to avoid Thursday’s walkouts. Up to 750,000 teachers, lecturers and civil servants are preparing to strike over the reforms. He is expected to say, during a speech to the Local Government Association in Birmingham on Tuesday, that the current system is “unsustainable” and reforms inevitable. Downing Street sources said that the language would be “non-confrontational” and that he would urge unions to keep negotiating before moving to strike action. Monday’s talks failed to reach any firm agreement, despite the government appearing to offer a significant compromise over local government pensions. Two hours of talks left the unions and government still fundamentally divided with major unresolved gaps in opinions, according to Brendan Barber, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress. Unions said they had made no progress on the most contentious proposals – to increase public sector workers’ contributions, change the system of uprating schemes, and raise the pension age for government employees. But the biggest public sector union, Unison, indicated the government had given enough ground on local government pensions to delay their strike ballot until later in the summer, in the hope of further concessions. The government described the talks as constructive and indicated that it was preparing to offer concessions on the local government scheme, which is funded and has 3.5 million mostly low-paid members. There have been warnings that higher contributions could tip the scheme into surplus while forcing low-paid workers out. Lord Hutton, the Labour former business secretary who drew up the blueprint for the coalition’s pension reforms, last week warned that the proposed three percentage point increase in contributions might trigger a mass opt-out, jeopardising the viability of the scheme. The minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, and the chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, said in a joint statement that the talks would now continue into July – although one Whitehall source also suggested that there was no pressing deadline to end the talks before the pension contributions are due to kick in next April. “We recognise that the funding basis for the local government pension scheme is different. There are important implications for how the contributions and benefits interact, as both Lord Hutton and the unions have set out. On that basis, we have agreed to have a more in-depth discussion with local government unions and the TUC about how we take these factors into account,” the statement said. “While the talks are ongoing it is obviously disappointing that some unions have decided on industrial action. But what the recent ballot results show is that there is extremely limited support for the kind of strike action union leaders are calling for. Less than 10% of the civil service workforce has voted for strike actions and only about a third of teachers.” Barber said: “In some areas it’s clear that there is the possibility of agreement, but in terms of some of the key issues there is clearly a major gap between our position and that of the government. “The strikes will be taking place on Thursday. Four unions balloted their members and reached that decision and that reflects the degree of anger and worry and real fear there is across everyone who works for public sectors that their pensions are under threat.” Dave Prentis, the head of Unison, which has 1.2 million members in the pension scheme, said his union would not now ballot until after further talks in the summer, indicating that they went into the talks fully expecting to do so. “There was a sense that today we were in real negotiations,” he said. The Association of Teachers and Lecturers, the National Union of Teachers, the University and College Union and the PCS all confirmed they would go ahead with Thursday’s strike. Some unions have privately said they will stick with the talks – despite believing they are doomed – to avoid the public relations disaster of being perceived to be responsible for negotiations collapsing. Unions and government are eager to win over public opinion ahead of strikes. One ComRes poll suggested that although 55% of people believe the public will not support co-ordinated strikes, 78% agree it is unfair for low-paid public employees to “pay the price for mistakes made by bankers before the financial crisis”. David Cameron Trade unions Public sector cuts Public services policy Public finance Public sector pay Public sector careers Public sector pensions Local government Polly Curtis guardian.co.uk
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Officer taken to hospital with hand injuries as Met launches investigation after dogs die on hot day An investigation has been launched into the deaths of two police dogs who were left in a car on one of the hottest days of the year. The Metropolitan police animals, a working Belgian malinois and a German shepherd puppy, were found collapsed in an unventilated vehicle at the force’s training centre in Keston, Kent, on Sunday. A Met police officer, believed to be their handler, was found by colleagues following the incident in the Newham area of London suffering from hand injuries. It is not known if his wounds were self-inflicted. He was last night still receiving medical treatment, police said. The Directorate of Professional Standards has launched a probe into the circumstances of the incident, which took place as temperatures soared to as high as 29C in the south-east. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “On Sunday June 26 at approx 11am staff at a Metropolitan police service (MPS) building were alerted to two police dogs having been left in an unventilated private vehicle. “Entry was forced to the vehicle and two MPS dogs, a working Belgian malinois and a German shepherd pup, were found in a state of collapse. “Both were taken to an emergency vets where they subsequently died. “An investigation by the Directorate of Professional Standards into the circumstances of this incident has begun.” Police refused to name the officer linked to the incident, but confirmed a policeman was found with injuries following the discovery of the dead canines. The Scotland Yard spokesman added: “The officer was located in Newham Borough suffering a hand injury. He was taken to an East London Hospital as a precaution and is currently receiving medical treatment.” The deaths follow those of two German shepherd police dogs, who were left to die in a baking hot car outside Nottinghamshire police headquarters in July 2009. A spokeswoman from the Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, said it was “saddened” to hear of the two latest deaths. She added: “Whilst the cause of death is still to be determined, the charity would like to remind dog owners and police dog handlers that leaving your dog in a car can prove rapidly fatal, particularly during a heatwave. “It can take just 20 minutes for a dog to die and temperatures can reach over 40C in some vehicles.” Police dog handler PC Mark Johnson was handed a six-month conditional discharge after he was found guilty of animal cruelty in relation to the deaths of the two dogs in Nottinghamshire. During his trial in February last year, Nottingham magistrates’ court was told he suffered from depression and obsessive compulsive disorder, which led to him forgetting that he had left the dogs in his car outside Nottinghamshire police’s Sherwood Lodge headquarters near Arnold as temperatures reached 29.3C. Metropolitan police Police Animals London guardian.co.uk
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