Labour and Tory MPs attack prison plans to limit remand in custody and tackle explosion in use of indeterminate sentences The justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, faces another embarrassing U-turn over his controversial sentencing reforms on Wednesday as the Labour frontbench combines with rightwing Tory MPs to further attack his prison plans. Tory backbenchers and Labour spokesmen served notice on Tuesday night that they would fight Clarke’s plans to limit the use of remand in custody and tackle the explosion in the use of indeterminate sentences for public protection (IPPs). Clarke’s Commons opponents scent fresh blood after last week’s U-turn when Downing Street disowned his plan to introduce a 50% maximum discount for early guilty pleas, although it would have stabilised the growth in the record 85,000 prison population in England and Wales. The move took out 3,400 of the 6,000 prison places Clarke was hoping to save over four years as part of his “rehabilitation revolution” and left him with a £140m hole in his spending plans. A fresh revolt against his plans to limit the use of remand in custody would lose a further 1,300 saved places and mean he would have to find a further £40m from his justice budget. The IPP reforms would have saved 600 prison places and £10m. Clarke is expected to battle on Wednesday to save what remains of his reforms when he opens the Commons second reading of his legal aid, sentencing and punishment bill. He further infuriated the Tory right on Tuesday when he insisted the only change in the law on self-defence – hailed last week by the tabloids as a “bash a burglar charter” when announced by Downing Street – would be a further clarification of the law. It comes as a supreme court justice, Lady Hale, warned that £350m legal aid cuts in the bill would hit the “poorest and most vulnerable in society” and amid predictions that more than one-third of law centres in England and Wales would have to close as result. In a speech to the Law Society on Monday, she said: “There is a well-known ironic saying … that in England, justice is open to all – like the Ritz. Courts are and should be a last resort but they should be a last resort which is accessible to all, rich and poor alike. The big society will be the loser if everyone does not believe that the law is there for them.” Labour’s shadow justice secretary, Sadiq Khan, gave Clark a taste of the argument to come on Tuesday when he cited the opposition of victims and witnesses commissioner Louise Casey, circuit judges and magistrates to the plan to take away from courts the option of remanding in custody defendants who are unlikely to receive a prison sentence if convicted. Defendants on domestic violence charges have already been exempted from the move. Khan said that banning the use of remand in this way was simply a cost-cutting measure to reduce prison numbers which undermined a vital tool of the courts. Khan also served notice that Labour would oppose any plans to “water down the protection given to the public” by IPPs, claiming the government’s proposal to review their use showed it was out of touch with public concerns. The rightwing Tory MP for Shipley, Philip Davies, Clarke’s self-appointed bugbear on the Tory backbenches, also weighed in against any reform of IPPs, describing the sentences as “the single best part of the criminal justice system”. Clarke strongly defended his plans, saying there were now 6,000 IPP prisoners without a definite release date. The IPP system, which has been condemned as a national scandal by prison governors, includes more than 3,000 prisoners who had already passed their tariff indicative release date: “They’re only released when they can demonstrate to the Parole Board that they are a minimal risk to society, which is the present test, but in a prison cell they will find it almost impossible to satisfy that test. We need long, determinate sentences for serious criminals. That is the way the criminal justice system works,” Clarke told MPs. He said Labour’s 10-year IPP experiment had “undoubtedly failed” and one in 10 prisoners would soon be serving indefinite sentences unless a better alternative was found. David Cameron has suggested that a new “two strikes and you’re out” mandatory sentence for repeat serious sexual or violent offenders should be introduced instead. Hale’s comments came as figures provided by Julie Bishop, director of the Law Centres Federation, showed that at least 18 of the 52 centres in England and Wales would have to shut, because three-quarters of their income comes from legal aid that will no longer be available. Last year, law centres helped 120,000 people, Bishop said. Soon, because of the government’s determination to slice £350m out of its annual £2.1bn legal aid budget, the number who can be helped will fall by two-thirds to 40,000. Hale, who is the patron of Hammersmith and Fulham’s law centre, noted in her speech that legal aid was now being removed from “most civil and legal cases”. But providing legal advice at an early stage, she said, could often save greater costs for government agencies at a later stage when problems spiralled out of control. Prisons and probation UK criminal justice Kenneth Clarke Alan Travis Owen Bowcott guardian.co.uk
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Thorntons joins growing list of casualties in a week of retail misery that could cost 10,000 jobs More than 10,000 retail jobs face the axe as the British high street faces one of its most painful bouts of contraction since the second world war amid the biggest squeeze on household budgets for decades. As the government’s austerity measures take hold, experts warned that the number of retailers going bust would continue to rise this year with a number of household names facing insolvency. The confectioner Thorntons emerged as the latest high street casualty when it said on Tuesday it would close up to 180 stores, putting more than 1,000 jobs at risk. The flooring chain Carpetright followed suit, saying 50 stores could close as consumers shun purchases amid fuel and food price inflation and rising job insecurity, especially in the public sector. Over the last week, a clutch of high street names announced they were in trouble. Habitat was among several to call in the administrators, putting 750 jobs on the line. The electronics retailer Comet is also shutting stores. The department store chain TJ Hughes said it was planning to appoint an administrator after a slump in sales, raising a question mark over the future of 4,000 employees who work at its 58 stores in England and Wales. The retail carnage will intensify the debate around the coalition’s spending cuts and, on Thursday, 750,000 teachers and civil servants hold a one-day strike to protest at reforms to pay and pensions which they claim will leave them worse off despite having to pay more to into their retirement plans. In parliament, Labour is lobbying for a cut in VAT payments to bring relief to consumers and cushion shops from spiralling rent bills. Underlining the difficulties, final figures on growth in the first quarter of this year released on Tuesday showed it remained at 0.5%. With growth in the last quarter of 2010 at -0.5%, this means zero growth between the end of September last year and the beginning of April. Data also showed households ate into savings to make up for a squeeze on incomes. The Bank of England governor, Sir Mervyn King, told the Treasury select committee: “I am definitely concerned by … the squeeze on real income. This is the way in which we as a country are adjusting to the consequences of a crisis, and the macro economic rebalancing that is necessary to get through that.” There was some better news for workers when the administrator to the women’s fashion chain Jane Norman sold 33 of the company’s stores to Edinburgh Woollen Mill, saving hundreds of jobs. However, more than 1,000 staff at other shops face redundancy adding to a toll that includes nearly 3,000 staff and related employees at Homeform, which controls Moben Kitchens, Sharps Bedrooms and Dolphin Bathrooms, and which called in administrators last week. Several thousand jobs are also going at Focus DIY. Maureen Hinton, senior retail analyst at Verdict Research, said: “It feels every bit as bad as at the height of the credit crunch when Woolworths collapsed. We are going through a retrenchment that is probably as severe as we have seen since the war.” Supply was outstripping demand, she said, and weak operators were at a high risk of going to the wall. “If you are not covering your costs and you are subject to upward-only rent reviews on leased properties, you are in dire straits,” she said. Analysts said the British retail sector was at “saturation point” and companies were able to make money only by poaching custom from rivals as the underlying market was not growing. Other operators viewed as vulnerable were specialists selling stationery or kitchenware, or those who confined themselves to footwear or other products when general retailers were diversifying. Hinton said: “Even the supermarkets can see there are limits to how much they can expand in Britain, which is why they are looking to open businesses abroad.” Mike Jervis, a restructuring expert at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said that firms with mediocre management or who bought the wrong stock at the wrong time of the year “are probably toast”. He added: “I think the sector is going to have a very rough time over the next six months.” Carpetright, Britain’s biggest floor coverings retailer, said it expected tough trading conditions to continue over the next two years as it posted a 40% fall in profits and axed the final dividend. “Looking forward, over the next two years we expect the consumer environment to remain difficult and have adapted our plans accordingly,” said its chairman, Philip Harris. Carpetright, which trades from about 700 stores in Britain, Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands, has suffered from fragile consumer confidence. Julie Palmer, partner at Begbies Traynor, said the struggles of discount chains like TJ Hughes indicate that no retailer was immune to the problems facing the high street. She said: “The discount end of the retail market was previously thought to be recession-proof but now it is starting to show cracks as consumers cut down on even life’s little luxuries to pay for necessities like food.” Kevin Green, chief executive at the recruitment and employment confederation, said the “feelgood factor in April and early May caused by the royal wedding and the bank holidays that gave retail a much-needed boost has now evaporated.” Retail industry Recession Thorntons Economics Consumer spending Richard Wachman guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …As Eric Cantor last week negotiated an increase in the federal debt ceiling, he had between $1,000 and $15,000 invested in a fund that aggressively shorts US bonds, according to his latest financial disclosure statement. If Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling and the US defaults, the…
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Thousands of Greeks brave police teargas to march against austerity measures, as protesters vow to continue the ‘big battle’ There is a ritual to Greek rallies. They start out quiet, then get rowdy, and then violent. this ritual jumped gear when violence broke out before the rowdy stage as thousands marched against austerity in Athens during a general strike triggered by tomorrow’s parliamentary vote on some of the toughest economic measures in modern Greek history. Witnesses said it began on Filellinon street just after midday. “Without any provocation riot police began firing off rounds of teargas,” said Fotis Fieris, a student holding a handkerchief to his mouth. “They fired and fired until we had to disperse.” So ferocious was the volley that soon pungent smoke had wafted down through the alleys of Plaka, the ancient district beneath the Acropolis, sending teary-eyed tourists running for cover. By then, the action had moved to Syntagma Square, site of the Greek parliament and seat of the people’s assembly, the body behind the growing movement of “indignant citizens” that has been the focus of protests for the past month. Within minutes the square resembled a battlezone, plumes of acrid smoke rising from burning rubbish bins as youths in bandanas, hoods and crash helmets lobbed marble slabs, rocks, broken bits of pavement, incendiary devices – anything they could find – at police. “Our aim,” said Pavlos Antonopoulos, a ponytailed teacher who had marched through Syntagma Square with thousands of trade unionists hours before, “is to demonstrate peacefully. “If there is violence it may well be deliberately provoked because we have heard that the aim of the government is to clear the square before Wednesday’s vote on the measures. “That’s when we will fight the big battle, when we will try to blockade the parliament, when we will do everything humanly possible to stop parliamentarians voting through the measures.” A new spirit is stalking Greece. Chaos, too, is also present amid power cuts (engineered by militant trade unionists protesting the partial privatization of the public power corporation), lawlessness and a growing sense that the debt-stricken country is not only headed for economic collapse but social disarray. Increasingly, Greeks fear there is no one to turn to, no leader or moral authority that they can trust. In the absence of hope, solidarity has grown. Eighteen months after the crisis erupted and barely a year after Athens received €110bn in emergency loans – in exchange for draconian budget cuts and reforms — Greeks are united as never before in the battle against further austerity. Many believe the latest €28bn package of spending cuts, privatisations and tax increases – deemed vital if Greece is to secure further aid from the EU and IMF – will wipe out society’s great connector, the middle class. “After a year of austerity where have we got?” asked Antonopoulos, who in 1990 staged a 25-day hunger strike in an attempt to improve teachers’ rights and standards in schools. “What have politicians done to earn this debt? We live in a country with no productive base, whose economy is in tatters, which after 30 years as a signed-up member of Europe has no infrastructure to speak of. That’s why we’re now demanding that the government goes, that the debt be written off and that Greece leaves the EU. Otherwise generations will be forced to live under a regime of austerity on the poverty line.” At 61, the wiry teacher embodies the people power now surging through Syntagma Square. Unsettlingly for the government, his views appear to be echoed by an ever greater number of Greeks. Olli Rehn, the EU’s economic affairs chief, made it clear that if the radical measures were not ratified by Athens’s 300-member parliament, there was “no plan B”. After a year of Greece’s failing to deliver on promised reforms, mandarins in Brussels are too mistrustful. Greece would not receive the next infusion of cash – €12bn crucial to paying wages and pensions in the coming month – and would automatically default on its €355bn (about £320bn) debt pile, he said. “The only way to avoid immediate default is for parliament to endorse the revised economic programme … they must be approved if the next tranche of financial assistance is to be released.” There is a growing consensus that the measures will be passed. Despite the chorus of criticism from austerity-weary MPs in the ruling socialist party, sources close to prime minister George Papandreou said they were confident that when the vote is held, dissidents would rally and “do the right thing.” “They know that the country’s future hangs on it and they know that if Greece goes under it will throw Europe into unprecedented financial turmoil,” one aide said. But even if the measures are passed, the battle will be only partly won. The real fight begins when the government actually starts streamlining the country’s profligate public sector and implementing the sort of reforms now viewed as urgent if Greece is to catch up with the rest of the western world. “The measures will pass but the government’s victory will be pyrrhic,” said Nikos Dimou, author of the bestselling The Misfortune to be Greek. “The challenges ahead are enormous.” Greece European debt crisis European banks Europe Economics Global economy Helena Smith guardian.co.uk
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Taliban militants with at least one suicide bomb attack popular Kabul hotel, with Afghan police reportedly locked in gun battles A famous hotel in Kabul is under attack from a commando squad of Taliban militants armed with small arms, at least one suicide bomb and rocket propelled grenades. The assault on the old Intercontinental, which is popular with Afghan politicians and foreign visitors, began late on Tuesday night when it is thought at least two receptions were taking place. Although details about the ongoing assault are still unclear, a Taliban spokesman, contacted on the phone by journalists, was quick to claim credit for the assault. A Kabul police chief, Mohammad Zahir, said the assault involved “several gunmen shooting”, and that a “number” of police had been wounded. According to a tweet by Bette Dam , a Dutch journalist at the scene, the attackers also appeared to be armed with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). Dam reported seeing at least four RPGs being launched from the hotel into the nearby house belonging to Mohammad Qasim Fahim, one of Afghanistan’s vice-presidents. Reuters reported that a wedding party was in progress at the 1960s hotel, which is no longer part of the Intercontinental chain, at the time of the assault. The attack on such a well-defended hotel, which is impossible to approach without going through at least two security checkpoints, is embarrassing for the Afghan government as it prepares to take responsibility for security in Kabul province, as part of much-vaunted “transition” strategy. Afghan authorities have already been nominally in charge of the capital city for some time. Attacks in Kabul have been relatively rare, although violence has increased since the 2 May killing of Osama bin Laden in a US raid in Pakistan, and since the start of the Taliban’s annual spring offensive. On 18 June, insurgents wearing Afghan army uniforms stormed a police station near the presidential palace and opened fire on officers, killing nine. Afghanistan Jon Boone guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Michele Bachmann still thinks minimum wage needs a review—and she says John Quincy Adams was a founding father. Noting that Politifact says she’s gotten more “facts” wrong than any other GOP hopeful, George Stephanopoulos asked her if she wanted to “clear up” some past comments, like her suggestion that…
Continue reading …Sex sells even when the target audience isn’t human, according to a primatologist and two ad execs cooking up the first-ever ad campaign aimed at monkeys. The team plans to create two “brands” of food for capuchin monkeys and heavily advertise one in advance to see if advertising will influence…
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As Cairo’s biggest football clubs – Zamalek and Ahly – prepare for the local derby, the revolution is bringing change to the sport Ahmed can remember the moment with perfect clarity. It was in Tahrir Square on 2 February, and the young Zamalek “ultra” – the term given to the fanatical hardcore supporters of Cairo’s two biggest football clubs – found himself side by side with fans of Ahly, his team’s hated rivals, as the Mubarak regime sent thugs on horses and camels marauding into the crowd. “We were together on the frontline, defending the revolution and putting football behind us,” he recalls. “It was the moment I realised that everything had changed.” On Wednesday Ahmed will come face to face with those Ahly fans again, though in very different circumstances. Five months on from the uprising that toppled Egypt’s dictatorship, Zamalek and Ahly will clash in one of the world’s most hotly contested sporting derbies, commanding a television audience of 40 million in Egypt alone. Parts of the capital will be put into lockdown as thousands of armed police and army soldiers attempt to keep opposing supporters apart. “It’s not just a game,” says Hassan Almstkawy, a columnist for Al Ahram newspaper and the country’s premier sporting pundit. “Apart from war, only two things can bring millions and millions of people onto the streets: revolution and football. Now we have both at the same time.” The run-up to this crunch meeting could not have been more dramatic; Ahly, historically the more successful of the two teams, had been trailing Zamalek at the top of the Egyptian league by six points when an anti-government uprising broke out in late January and the football calendar was suspended. Yet since matches resumed in April, Ahly – who were named “African club of the century” last decade and are only two titles away from overtaking Barcelona as the most trophy-winning team of all time – have enjoyed a sensational run of form, and last week climbed above Zamalek just as the season was drawing to a close. With four games to go, most Egyptians believe Zamalek have to win on Wednesday to keep their dream of winning the championship in 2011 – their centenary year – alive. “Football is a religion here; when things are bad elsewhere in society this is what we turn to,” says Karim Sabet, a 34-year-old Ahly supporter. Mido, a Zamalek striker who formerly played for Ajax and a number of English Premier League clubs, agrees. “This is a massive event for the whole of the Egyptian people,” he said. “I’ve played in the Tottenham-Arsenal derby but honestly this is different – you’ve got the same intense atmosphere but with a bigger stadium and crazier fans. People live for this match.” But as 75,000 people pack Cairo International Stadium, the action on the pitch isn’t the only thing football fans will be watching out for. In a year when political change has penetrated every corner of Egyptian society, the Middle East’s two most powerful sporting outfits have not remained immune from revolutionary fervour – no surprise considering the history of the clubs, which both emerged out of the early 20th-century nationalist struggle against British colonialism. “Ahly was born from a movement of students, doctors, farmers and engineers who came together to establish a forum in which Egyptians could discuss politics for themselves,” says Hanan El-Zainy, a member of the Ahly management team and currently the only woman working inside Egyptian football. “Our former presidents have included government ministers and officers who helped Gamal Abdel Nasser win independence in 1952; our history is the history of a nation.” As Nasser cracked down on opposition and established a one-party state, Ahly and Zamalek assumed the role of proxy representatives for a wide stratum of Egyptian society and became, in Almstkawy’s words, “the two biggest political parties in Egypt”. “The government used football to distract the masses from political failures; Egyptians compensated for their absence in the political process with fanatical support for one of the two big teams,” says the pundit. “Politics and football here have always been interlinked. Inevitably then the fans of these clubs played a critical role in this year’s uprising – without their strength on the battlefield in resisting Mubarak’s forces, the 25 January revolution would have been defeated early on.” As Egypt’s revolution continues, the country’s football fans have continued to make the pro-change cause their own. Ongoing demonstrations against military rule and institutional corruption regularly feature the distinctive jerseys of both clubs, and recent Zamalek fixtures against the national army and police teams have seen Zamalek fans singing in no uncertain terms about what they think of the latter in the new, partially liberated Egypt. Now the spirit of Tahrir is also dissolving old certainties inside the clubs. Players and coaches who were perceived to have been close to the old regime have been placed on blacklists by fans; this month the formerly popular coach of the national team Hassan Shehata was forced out, ostensibly due to a bad run of results which prevented Egypt from qualifying for the African Cup of Nations – a competition they have won seven times – but also thanks to his staunch support of Mubarak. More significantly, pressure from supporters has encouraged some teams to challenge the hegemony of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA), a long-time hotbed of corruption allegations, and this week a third of the nation’s sides issued a vote of no confidence in the Mubarak-appointed EFA board. “Of course the revolution has touched the sporting world as well, especially football,” says Ashraf Sobhi, a director at Zamalek. In the aftermath of the uprising some of Zamalek’s non-playing staff went on strike as part of a wave of industrial action sweeping the country, and forced concessions from senior management. Since then the team has made more of an effort to engage with fans and recently organised a number of events to promote tourism to the country and commemorate this year’s martyrs. “It’s our role as a sporting club to serve Egypt; each Egyptian should be proud of the revolution and think about how they can best help build the country right now, and we as a football team are doing the same,” argues Sobhi. “We have a responsibility to use the power and popularity of Zamalek to serve the community.” Teams are also attempting to break free from government control; most are currently obliged to have a series of government-appointed directors on their boards and state regulations governing private investment in sporting clubs remain highly restrictive. “We need the freedom to expand and take on the biggest sides in the world,” adds Sobhi. “Egypt has changed, and we must do the same.” One reality that is unlikely to be transformed any time soon, though, is the exclusive membership structure of the clubs themselves. Both teams boast sprawling leisure complexes in the heart of Cairo featuring lush grass, high-end cafes and a series of swimming pools, all open to members who, theoretically at least, hold democratic control of the organisation. But it’s a democracy accessible to only a fraction of the two teams’ millions of fans – prospective Ahly members must be of “good reputation”, educated to university level and capable of paying $23,000 (£14,400), and there are no plans yet to soften the criteria. “Our members are decision-makers so of course they have to be carefully selected,” says El-Zainy in what could be a summary of the elite attitude towards public political participation in the Mubarak era. “We are a national movement but we have to make sure any new member is right for us.” And so on Wednesday, as the battle for Egyptian football supremacy kicks off, a broader struggle is playing out behind the scenes. “It will take time, but corruption and the remnants of the old regime that remain entrenched inside the sporting world will eventually be removed,” predicts Almstkawy. “A revolution is like a volcano: when it explodes it covers everywhere in ash and nothing – not even football – can escape it.” Egypt Middle East Africa Arab and Middle East unrest Hosni Mubarak Jack Shenker guardian.co.uk
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GP who led government reform bill’s ‘listening exercise’ says changes could leave hospitals vulnerable to EU competition law The government is facing renewed pressure over its health bill after the GP who led its “listening exercise” admitted he should have done more to flag up concerns about private patients in NHS hospitals, and grassroots doctors meeting in Cardiff demanded further changes. Labour warned that the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, was still planning to create a “full-scale market” after Steve Field acknowledged that the government would leave hospitals vulnerable to European Union competition law due to the presence of private patients in NHS hospitals. Concerns about a backdoor privatisation of the NHS prompted David Cameron and Nick Clegg to appoint Field to lead the Future Forum review. As Field was addressing MPs, who are considering the bill again at committee stage, doctors in the British Medical Association defied their leadership to pass a motion at their annual conference criticising the “respray” of the health and social care bill. Field said a majority of NHS staff who attended his meetings had raised concerns about government plans to lift a cap on the number of private patients using NHS hospitals. Labour said lifting the cap, which was introduced in 2006, would help foster a free market approach in the NHS. Field said: “If you wanted a gut feeling from what was happening in the listening exercise – the feeling was actually the private cap should stay because people felt that would provide the protection. But it should be reviewed and put at a reasonable level.” He admitted he had second thoughts about failing to mention the cap in his report. “To be honest, we didn’t put as much in our report as perhaps we could have done. In fact, it was one area, when we reread the paper at the end, we might have been stronger on.” Field said he had decided not to address the cap because of mixed feedback from hospitals – at University Hospital Birmingham the cap is set at 1% while the Royal Marsden in London’s cap is set at about 30%. “So University Hospital Birmingham couldn’t bring money in which would actually help its NHS services,” Field said as he pointed out that lifting the cap would leave hospitals more vulnerable to competition law. “On the other hand, if you opened the cap it may be more likely to be under EU law and from competition and from Monitor. So when we weighed up the proposals and the problems that might arise we chose not to go into any great detail.” John Healey, Labour’s shadow health secretary, said: “Steve Field is right and this was a serious omission from the Future Forum report. Removing the private patients’ cap is a vital feature of the government’s plans to turn the health service into a full-scale market, which will see NHS patients waiting longer and open up hospitals to greater challenge under competition law.” Sue Slipman, the director of the Foundation Trust Network, said it was right to lift the cap. Slipman told MPs: “Depending upon the range of patient choices, it isn’t necessarily the case that there would be fewer NHS patients if you expand the facilities as a result of the money you can [raise]. It depends where you invest that money. “The term ‘private patient cap’ is a misnomer. This is all money that can be brought into the system as a result of any service which may derive from private patients. So, for example, if you run laundry in your hospital and any of that laundry is used by those who supply services to private patients, this counts against the cap. We believe that the lifting of the private patient cap would enable public providers to being more money into the NHS to benefit NHS patients.” The BMA membership rejected leader Dr Hamish Meldrum’s attempts to reassure them that key elements of the bill should not damage the NHS. Their motion said there was still anxiety about: • The role of the NHS regulator Monitor. They fear it will still promote competition between hospitals, even though Meldrum insisted that “competition has gone” as Monitor’s main duty as a result of changes following the NHS Future Forum. • Competition potentially being forced on the NHS through an extension of patients’ right to choose where they are treated. • The health secretary’s legal duty to provide a comprehensive health service in England. Dr Clive Peedell, a member of the BMA’s ruling council, said: “Grassroots doctors have seen through the smoke and mirrors of this government, which pretends that it has made major changes to the bill but hasn’t. Despite David Cameron’s claims that they have listened to our concerns and made significant changes, the main levers for the marketisation and privatisation of the NHS remain intact in the nill.” Dr Jacky Davis, a council member, said: “We are being sold a respray job, two write-offs welded together, and we need to look under the paintwork to see what’s there.” The overhauled bill would still allow “any qualified provider” – including private healthcare firms – to treat NHS patients, while competition would simply be rebranded as patient choice, she claimed. The vote is a setback for Meldrum, who also saw delegates vote to mandate the BMA to campaign for the withdrawal of the bill, which the BMA leader had warned would make negotiations with government difficult, especially after the union helped secure some key concessions. A Department of Health spokesman said: “This vote is disappointing because, only a few weeks ago, the doctors’ union said there was much in our response to the listening exercise that addressed their concerns, and that many of the principles outlined reflected changes they had called for. “The bill has changed substantially since the BMA first voted to oppose government policy. Our plans have been greatly strengthened in order to improve care for patients and safeguard the future of the NHS.” A separate call to scrap the bill altogether was defeated by 54% to 45% after Meldrum pleaded with members to “vote with your heads, not your hearts” and not take action that would leave the BMA marginalised and unable to influence the bill’s remaining parliamentary stages. NHS Health policy Health Public services policy Nicholas Watt Denis Campbell guardian.co.uk
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South Korean military preparing new rules of engagement for troops as Seoul threatens tough response to any attack Around the edge of the baseball field at Camp Bonifas, South Korean marines under the United Nations Command are busy building four bomb shelters. The American and Korean troops at the camp are just 400 yards from the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) that has divided North from South Korea since the 1953 armistice. It has always been a tense place, ringed by razor wire and minefields, but now there is a particular urgency to the military spadework. North Korea has carried out two major military attacks on the South in the past 15 months, and is widely believed in Seoul to be planning a third, in an attempt to extract diplomatic and economic concessions. What makes the current situation so fraught with danger – some say the most perilous moment on the Korean peninsula for a generation – is South Korea’s hardline stance. The government of President Lee Myung-bak, facing elections next year and criticism for its cautious response to the previous two incidents, is threatening to unleash a far more punishing response to any further “provocation”, setting the scene for an unpredictable tit-for-tat escalation. South Korean islands along the western maritime border, the scene of the two earlier incidents, are bristling with new weapons. Government officials in Seoul confirmed that those new defences will include Israeli-made Delilah missiles, with a range of 150 miles – enough to hit Pyongyang. The South Korean military is meanwhile preparing new rules of engagement for its frontline troops which would allow it to respond “robustly” to an attack without immediately consulting the government in Seoul. Security officials talk of “proactive deterrence”, saying any future response would no longer be proportionate, but rather punitive enough to dissuade the Kim Jong-il regime in Pyongyang from making further attacks. A South Korean counterattack would target not just the North Korean units involved in any future military action but command posts as far away as the North Korean capital. Officials in Seoul even talk of a future incident as “an opportunity” that would allow them to “restore” a working level of deterrence. But it is a high-risk strategy. “We are now in the most dangerous moment in Korean history over the last 25 years,” said Andrei Lankov, a Russian professor at Seoul’s Kookmin University. “South Korea has already committed itself to a strong reaction to a future North Korean provocation so many times and so loudly that if they don’t do it they will lose elections and be shamed. “So they will probably react. North Korea is not getting what they want [diplomatically] so they will probably use their usual trick of rising escalation. My advice to war history fans is you should think of buying a map of the Korean peninsula.” Government officials in Seoul, speaking off the record, agreed that they were braced for a North Korean “provocation”, because Pyongyang’s peace overtures of the past few months have failed to persuade Seoul, Washington or Tokyo to enter a dialogue. All three capitals insist on a North Korean apology for the two previous incidents, the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan, and the bombardment of the western island of Yeonpyeong, as well as concrete steps towards dismantling the North Korean nuclear programme, as preconditions for talks. “North Korea has been trying this peace offensive for the past seven months. Now is the time for the North Koreans to change their mode towards more a conflictual approach,” a former South Korean official and government adviser predicted. Another reason Seoul expects another incident is that the regime in Pyongyang appears to be seeking to enhance the martial credentials of the heir apparent, Kim Jong-un, by flexing North Korea’s muscles. Seoul’s bellicose language and heavy investment in border defences is clearly aimed at dissuading Pyongyang from trying a repeat of the Cheonan or Yeonpyeong attacks. However, some observers doubt whether South Korea’s political leaders and military commanders, when the moment came, would actually order a response that risked triggering a full-scale war. “I don’t know if there is real political will,” the former official said. “The new order being given to commanders is ‘shoot first and then call’ [Seoul]. But I don’t know if the field commanders will shoot. Also, while the rules of engagement have changed to more proactive deterrence, looking at the current deployment of forces, I don’t think we have the ability to execute that plan.” North Korea’s next move to grab Washington’s attention may also come in another form, a third nuclear test. South Korean government experts believe Pyongyang is fully capable of carrying out such a test and argue that the decision will ultimately be political: whether it would be more likely to force concessions from a concerned international community, largely in the form of food aid, or tighten the sanctions screw on North Korea still further. In response to a nuclear test, Seoul would have no military response, and would instead have to hope that China, North Korea’s neighbour and protector, would agree to further sanctions. “China’s record so far is not encouraging,” an official conceded. While there is widespread apprehension in the region that Korea’s frozen conflict will turn hot once more in the near future, there is also general agreement that all the parties to the conflict will do their utmost to ensure there is no return to full-scale war. “Both sides are afraid of war and if they see that the probability is real they will go to a lot of highly humiliating concessions to prevent it,” Lankov said. “That is because North Korea knows that it is going to lose, and South Korean knows it is going to win but at a cost that is unacceptable, and it doesn’t know what to do if it does win.” South Korea North Korea Julian Borger guardian.co.uk
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