Health secretary expected to deny that altered reforms represent Lib Dem victory, claiming Tory red lines have not been crossed Andrew Lansley, the health secretary, has issued a private plea to angry Conservative MPs to stand by him as he prepares to push through a heavily amended version of his NHS reforms. The government will accept a series of changes proposed by an independent panel. But amid anger on the Tory benches at Liberal Democrat claims that they have secured a major victory by forcing Lansley to back down, the health secretary has told Tory MPs that the core principles of his reforms will remain in place. “Andrew is saying stick with me because the Tory red lines have not been crossed and his main aims – to give GPs commissioning powers and to encourage greater competition – will remain,” one Tory said. “Andrew can carry on. He will just have to move at a slower pace.” The government will put on a show of unity when David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Lansley give their formal response to the Future Forum report on the NHS reforms in a joint appearance at a London hospital. The three men will endorse the main proposals of the report, which was formally presented to the government by Professor Steve Field, the chairman of the Future Forum. These are: • The health and social care bill should be amended to ensure that the primary duty of Monitor, the health service regulator, is not to promote competition. “Monitor’s role in relation to competition should be significantly diluted in the bill,” the report said. • The membership of new GP-led consortiums, which are designed to take control of 65% of the NHS budget, should be widened to ensure there is “effective multi-professional involvement in the design and commissioning of services”. • The original 2013 deadline for the completion of the reforms should be relaxed. The new consortiums should only “take on their full range of responsibilities when they can demonstrate that they have the right skills, capacity and capability to do so”. • Private providers should not be allowed to “cherry pick” patients and the government “should not seek to increase the role of the private sector as an end in itself”. • The health secretary “must remain ultimately accountable” for the NHS, in contrast to Lansley’s original proposal in the bill which made him mainly responsible for the promotion of public health. In a letter to ministers, Field said the government had slipped up in its original plans. “We heard genuine and deep seated concerns from NHS staff, patients and the public which must be addressed if the reforms are to be progressed,” he wrote. Clegg told his parliamentary party that the Lib Dems should be proud of their efforts after their demands, tabled at their spring conference in March, were “handsomely met”. The deputy prime minister said: “Our overall demands: slow the pace of change, don’t give preference to the private sector and proper accountability – all of these things have been very, very handsomely met. The bill is now a whole lot better and will make sure decisions are taken in the best interests of patients. It’s been a fantastic collective effort. This is still a major reform of the NHS. We’ve never been against reform. We’ve always been in favour of the right kind of reform.” Clegg will be able to claim another win on Tuesday when Cameron agrees that amended parts of the bill will be considered at committee stage in the Commons again. But there was barely concealed anger in Downing Street over what was seen as gloating by the Lib Dems, who declared victory at the weekend. The delight among Lib Dems has alarmed Tory MPs who believe that Downing Street has wrongly caved in at a time when the Lib Dems are weak. The mood among many Tories towards the Lib Dems is said to be “sulphurous”. But Lansley has calmed the backbenchers by saying that their key red lines – that competition should be allowed and the need for a quick pace of reforms – have not been crossed. One senior Tory said. “I think I am going to bite my tongue and go along with this out of respect for Lansley.” Andrew George, one of only two Lib Dem MPs to abstain when the health and social care bill received its second reading in January, said: “There is a risk that the bill merely becomes a trojan horse to reintroduce all of the same damaging Tory policies through the back door later on.” The anger on Tory backbenches and Cameron’s language to the newly elected MPs will raise questions about whether the change in gear on the NHS marks a decisive turning point for the coalition. One Tory cabinet minister said the conflict between the Lib Dems and Tories meant that people were overlooking a decisive voice demanding changes to the NHS reforms – George Osborne. The chancellor, who was alarmed by private polling which showed that the Tories’ work in neutralising the NHS as an issue was being jeopardised by the presentation of the reforms, was highly influential in persuading Cameron to introduce the pause. The cabinet minister said: “Nick Clegg is busy claiming all the credit for effectively carrying out George’s work.” Health policy NHS Health Public services policy Andrew Lansley Conservatives Liberal Democrats Nicholas Watt guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …An 8-year-old girl in Northern California has survived rabies—without receiving antiviral inoculations immediately after becoming infected. She’s only the third person in the US to have conquered the disease without getting the usual series of shots, hospital officials say. Precious Reynolds was likely bitten by a feral cat in…
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Referendums see huge votes against PM’s plans – a second setback in under two weeks The anti-nuclear movement won a crushing victory in Italy on Monday when well over 90% of voters rejected Silvio Berlusconi’s plans for a return to nuclear power generation. The result represented an overwhelming setback for the prime minister, who had tried to thwart the outcome by discouraging Italians from taking part. The referendum needed a turnout of at least 50% to be binding. Interior ministry figures projections indicated that more than 57% of the electorate had taken part. Greenpeace called it a historic result. Quorums were also reached in three other referendums held simultaneously – the first time in 16 years that a quorum had been achieved in any referendum in Italy. Official projections showed more than 95% of voters rejecting water privatisation and a law allowing Berlusconi and other ministers to cite government business as a reason for delaying trials in which they were defendants. The expected majority against nuclear power was 94%. For the prime minister it represented a second, bitter setback in under two weeks. His government, which yokes his Freedom People movement to the regionalist and Islamophobic Northern League, first ran into serious trouble on 30 May when his candidate for mayor of Milan lost in a local election runoff. Milan is Berlusconi’s home city and traditionally a weather-vane accurately pointing to Italy’s future political direction. Acknowledging defeat even before the polls closed, Berlusconi said: “We shall probably have to say goodbye to nuclear [energy].” He told a press conference in Rome that his government would now throw all its energy into developing renewable sources. The outcome was a huge success for the anti-nuclear movement in the world’s first nationwide vote on the issue since Japan’s Fukushima disaster. The ballot was also the latest, and most persuasive, evidence that a majority of Italians have turned against their flamboyant prime minister. The government, which appealed to the courts for the vote to be scrapped, did all it could to keep turnout low. Berlusconi boycotted the vote and Italian television, largely under his sway, almost ignored the approaching ballots until the final days of a poorly funded, low-profile campaign. Following the defeat in Milan, many rank-and-file Northern League supporters have been urging their leader, Umberto Bossi, to cut himself free of Berlusconi. The party leadership has so far remained wedded to the coalition while pressing for a radical change in economic policy that would deliver tax cuts to its lower middle-class electoral base. But as the results of the two-day ballot became known on Monday, it was clear that even some of the League’s top officials were losing patience. Roberto Calderoli, a cabinet minister, said: “In the local elections two weeks ago we took the first hit. Now, with the referendum, has come the second. I would not like taking hits to become a habit.” Italy abandoned its nuclear programme following a similar referendum in 1987. The government of the day opted to phase out all the country’s existing plants. The last one shut down in 1990. Berlusconi had planned to generate a quarter of Italy’s electricity with French-built nuclear plants. Construction of the first was due to start between 2013 and 2015. Vittorio Cogliati Dezza, president of the environmental organisation Legambiente, said: “The era of nuclear [energy] is coming to an end today. Definitively. A new season of development for the country is beginning.” Recalling Italy’s first and most famous legislative referendum in 1974, when voters were asked whether divorce should be outlawed, the leader of the biggest opposition group, Pier Luigi Bersani of the Democratic party, said the latest ballot had also been a referendum on divorce. But this time, said Bersani, it was about “the divorce between the government and the country”. Silvio Berlusconi Nuclear power Energy John Hooper guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Referendums see huge votes against PM’s plans – a second setback in under two weeks The anti-nuclear movement won a crushing victory in Italy on Monday when well over 90% of voters rejected Silvio Berlusconi’s plans for a return to nuclear power generation. The result represented an overwhelming setback for the prime minister, who had tried to thwart the outcome by discouraging Italians from taking part. The referendum needed a turnout of at least 50% to be binding. Interior ministry figures projections indicated that more than 57% of the electorate had taken part. Greenpeace called it a historic result. Quorums were also reached in three other referendums held simultaneously – the first time in 16 years that a quorum had been achieved in any referendum in Italy. Official projections showed more than 95% of voters rejecting water privatisation and a law allowing Berlusconi and other ministers to cite government business as a reason for delaying trials in which they were defendants. The expected majority against nuclear power was 94%. For the prime minister it represented a second, bitter setback in under two weeks. His government, which yokes his Freedom People movement to the regionalist and Islamophobic Northern League, first ran into serious trouble on 30 May when his candidate for mayor of Milan lost in a local election runoff. Milan is Berlusconi’s home city and traditionally a weather-vane accurately pointing to Italy’s future political direction. Acknowledging defeat even before the polls closed, Berlusconi said: “We shall probably have to say goodbye to nuclear [energy].” He told a press conference in Rome that his government would now throw all its energy into developing renewable sources. The outcome was a huge success for the anti-nuclear movement in the world’s first nationwide vote on the issue since Japan’s Fukushima disaster. The ballot was also the latest, and most persuasive, evidence that a majority of Italians have turned against their flamboyant prime minister. The government, which appealed to the courts for the vote to be scrapped, did all it could to keep turnout low. Berlusconi boycotted the vote and Italian television, largely under his sway, almost ignored the approaching ballots until the final days of a poorly funded, low-profile campaign. Following the defeat in Milan, many rank-and-file Northern League supporters have been urging their leader, Umberto Bossi, to cut himself free of Berlusconi. The party leadership has so far remained wedded to the coalition while pressing for a radical change in economic policy that would deliver tax cuts to its lower middle-class electoral base. But as the results of the two-day ballot became known on Monday, it was clear that even some of the League’s top officials were losing patience. Roberto Calderoli, a cabinet minister, said: “In the local elections two weeks ago we took the first hit. Now, with the referendum, has come the second. I would not like taking hits to become a habit.” Italy abandoned its nuclear programme following a similar referendum in 1987. The government of the day opted to phase out all the country’s existing plants. The last one shut down in 1990. Berlusconi had planned to generate a quarter of Italy’s electricity with French-built nuclear plants. Construction of the first was due to start between 2013 and 2015. Vittorio Cogliati Dezza, president of the environmental organisation Legambiente, said: “The era of nuclear [energy] is coming to an end today. Definitively. A new season of development for the country is beginning.” Recalling Italy’s first and most famous legislative referendum in 1974, when voters were asked whether divorce should be outlawed, the leader of the biggest opposition group, Pier Luigi Bersani of the Democratic party, said the latest ballot had also been a referendum on divorce. But this time, said Bersani, it was about “the divorce between the government and the country”. Silvio Berlusconi Nuclear power Energy John Hooper guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Herman Cain is the latest Republican to state that Obama “was raised in Kenya,” though he quickly backtracked on the mistake. When interviewer Jeffrey Goldberg pointed out that the president actually spent four years in Indonesia, not Kenya, Cain—who has dallied in birtherism, Goldberg notes—replied, “Yeah, Indonesia.” The…
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Labour leader wanted to talk about policy but instead faced questions about the ‘plot’ against him and brother David Miliband Ed Miliband answered the questions that have kept Britain awake at night during the depth of recession. When did he murder his brother? And where exactly has he buried the body? Actually, the Labour leader did no such thing. He took a short bus ride across the Thames to the thriving community centre in Coin Street (next to the National Theatre) to warn welfare scroungers, parasitic bankers and anyone speculating in Southern Cross’s elderly residents that he’s on their case. Watch out, there’s a Miliband about and he’s tough! This was a difficult pitch for two reasons. One, that the media is not as interested in Labour’s welfare policy as its warfare policy. Two, there isn’t a Miliband about, there are two, Ed and David; also a second Ed (Balls). They are all supposed to be knifing each other like Borgia popes. Apart from the fratricide, it must be a benefit office’s nightmare. Is the Miliband with a wife and two children in NW3 the same as the one living in similar circumstances in NW5? Which one has been on jobseeker’s allowance since losing the leadership? Does Ed Balls deny plotting more than 16 hours a week against Tony Blair for fear of losing housing benefit? Do parasitic bankers claim multiple bonuses from different banks using faked national insurance numbers? And when Labour leaders bury their brother under the political patio, do they carry on claiming their child benefit? Leader Ed’s wholesome audience, mostly voluntary sector workers, clapped him warmly before asking earnest questions that were even longer than his speech about leading “the party of grafters”. They wanted to discuss immigration, disability hate crimes and other real-world issues. No one watching on TV could actually see them, but they could hear their applause. Whenever a TV reporter asked Ed about his missing brother and his own leadership problems they whooped supportively while he dismissed Westminster village “gossip and tittle tattle” irrelevant to most people in the real world. It was all a bit like Ryan Giggs’ love life: no one cares except those who do. Grafter Ed managed to be cheerful and gracious under pressure. He ignored the fish and chip shop owner from Herne Hill who mistook him for his brother, the one he hasn’t murdered. He kept insisting that we each have a duty to look out for each other and bind up the fraying bonds of society; not easy when you’re accused of knifing your bro’. Reporters refused to believe that everything is normal in the Miliband family. Why isn’t David in the shadow cabinet? “Totally unfair.” He just decided it wasn’t right for him, replied Grafter. Do they never talk any more, as a new biography claimed this week? No, ” we talk all the time”. Only the spoilsport Guardian asked (unhelpfully) about mere policy. Throughout the proceedings Grafter Ed waved his hands in an expressive and animated way which, under the TV lights, cast shadows on the white wall behind him. To a friendly audience it must have looked as if he was making bedtime rabbits on his kids’ bedroom wall. But to the hacks it looked like Eisenstein’s film about Ivan the Terrible, all shadowy conspirators queuing up behind Ed, plotting to do away with him. It said much for Ed’s inner confidence that he didn’t have the room searched in advance to make sure the other Miliband (or the other Ed) wasn’t hiding inside the podium with an axe. Ed Miliband Labour party leadership Labour Ed Balls Michael White guardian.co.uk
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Assad’s forces use scorched earth policy to round up hundreds they claim to be in armed gangs in area north of Jisr al-Shughour Syrian troops have moved closer to the Turkish border as they sweep through villages north of Jisr al-Shughour, rounding up hundreds of people they claim are linked to armed gangs. Turkey was on Monday assembling a fifth refugee camp in its southern border towns, but with the number of Syrians who have crossed the boundary topping 7,000, these camps may not be sufficient to deal with the fast-increasing number of people in need of help. “There are 7,000 people across the border, more and more women and children are coming towards the barbed wires,” said Abu Ali, one of those who left Jisr al-Shughour. “Jisr is finished, it is razed,” he told Associated Press. Several thousand more Syrians remain within sight of the Turkish border fence but appear to be trying to wait out the crisis in the hope that they can return to their properties in their home town. Many have brought with them livestock and worldly possessions that they would have to leave behind if they crossed the frontier. Residents who fled the army onslaught on Jisr al-Shughour said soldiers were pursuing a scorched-earth policy, pouring petrol on farmlands and setting them alight. All men who had stayed behind aged between 18-40 were being arrested, reports said. Strident international criticism over the Jisr al-Shughour operation, which appears to have been sparked by a large mutiny of soldiers on 5 June, has done nothing to quell the violence in the north. Damascus continues to claim it is fighting armed gangs backed by foreign powers who ambushed regime forces, killing 120 of them, then stayed behind to fight the advance by thousands of troops and up to 200 tanks and artillery pieces. The Turkish prime minister, Recap Tayyip Erdogan, has joined the condemnation of Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, but has not moved to change the historically close ties between the countries. Analysts in Beirut said a turning point for Ankara may come if the uprising in northern Syria spreads to Kurds in the country’s north-west, who share a border with south-east Turkey, where Kurdish rebels have fought a protracted insurgency against the government. Assad has not accepted Erdogan’s calls over the past week, according to reports from the Turkish capital. Nor has he been prepared to deal with the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon. However, Assad did find time to congratulate the Lebanese president, Michel Suleiman, and the prime minister-elect, Najib Miqati, for forming a cabinet after five months of wrangling within Lebanon’s feuding political groups. The mooted new government got off to a bad start, with several key players including a Druze leader and a Hezbollah official, suggesting Lebanon faces more troubled days alongside its dominant neighbour to the east. Britain says it is moving ahead with plans to seek a UN resolution condemning Syria, but is not confident about winning over Russia, a long term ally of Damascus, which has said it would veto any such move. Syria Bashar Al-Assad Turkey Arab and Middle East unrest Martin Chulov guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …A new FBI manual makes it easier for agents to check databases, send out surveillance teams, and rifle through people’s trash—often as part of a kind of investigation that gives agents the OK to look into people without having solid evidence that they are involved in terrorist or criminal…
Continue reading …His country is being bombed and he’s now a legitimate target of NATO , but Moammar Gadhafi nonetheless took time out of his busy schedule last night … to play chess. The Libyan leader appeared on state television playing against World Chess Federation President and Russian provincial governor Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the…
Continue reading …LeBron James gave his detractors a whole new reason to hate him in his post-game press conference last night, essentially telling them that he’d rather have his life than theirs. “At the end of the day, all the people that was rooting on me to fail … they gotta wake…
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