Maureen Lipman says royal wedding news provides ‘great week to hide injunction story’ The journalist Andrew Marr must have longed, if not for a gagging order, at least for an actual gag, as guests on his own television show tormented him over the superinjunction whose existence he publicly admitted last week. “It’s a great week to hide an injunction story, say one wanted to,” mused the actor Maureen Lipman, one of the guests invited to review the Sunday papers on the BBC1 news programme, as she surveyed the acreage of royal wedding coverage crowding out almost all other topics. “You cheeky woman … yes, this is true,” Marr responded. It was his first show since he revealed the existence of the injunction, which barred any coverage of his affair with another journalist and the child he believed was his own, or of the existence of the injunction. Marr said he had become “uneasy” as a journalist at having obtained it. Chris Bryant, former Labour Europe minister, told the Observer the controversy would “hobble” his capacity as a journalist, as politicians and other interviewees could use it as an excuse to evade any probing questions. Bryant said: “People will certainly look askance at him. He is not going to be able to ask the personal questions without people, including politicians, sticking their tongues out at him and saying ‘superinjunction’ and refusing to answer.” In the event Marr seemed more acutely embarrassed than hobbled as he returned to the screen five days after admitting that he had taken out the superinjunction. Another of his guests, the historian Simon Schama, discussed with Lipman the profile in the Sunday Times headed “Old Jug Ears, daddy of the super-secret”. Marr conceded that “the superinjunction issue is not going to go away”. But he also described the Sunday Times profile as “a slightly disobliging piece but the worrying thing is the picture is both rather unpleasant and also entirely accurate, so there we go”. Schama said the issue of balancing the right to privacy against free speech was a big one: “It’s obviously going to be something, presumably, parliament has got to consider.” Marr agreed: “It’s something clearly parliament is going to have to look at again. MPs are going to have to look at this.” While the Andrew Marr Show focuses on parliamentary and policy issues, in recent years Marr has posed questions about the vexed personal lives of several prominent guests. When John Prescott went on the show at the end of his career as an MP, Marr referred explicitly to the affair the former deputy prime minister conducted with a colleague. When the foreign secretary, William Hague, was prompted to deny publicly rumours that he was having an “improper relationship” with a male aide and went on to reveal that his wife Ffion had suffered several miscarriages, Marr raised the issue on the show with one of Hague’s cabinet colleagues, education secretary Michael Gove. Andrew Marr Privacy & the media Superinjunctions Privacy Maev Kennedy guardian.co.uk
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• Hit F5 for the latest or select our auto-refresh button below • Follow Birmingham v Wolves updates with our match centre • Stats centre: the latest Premier League table and more • Email your thoughts to rob.bagchi@guardian.co.uk 45 min: ALmost had a Gilbert O’Sullivan reference to Carol back there. I might have gotten away with it if it hadn’t been for those pesky kids. Mark Gillies writes: “Newcastle fans were singing One Greedy Bastard at Michael Owen last week, now they’re singing it at Carroll. This would suggest they can’t count, or have very short memories.” Very good, Mark. 42 min: Enrique goes down in a tackle and Liverpool use the gap up the left, or Kuyt does, to set up Meireles. The Dutchman squeezes his pass through Coloccini’s legs and Meireles has to stretch to make a lunging shot which Krul gets down to save. “Can’t believe all the guff I’ve read this weekend on how well NUFC have done without Carroll,” writes Simon Lindsay. “In fact, we’ve won twice since he left in January.” 41 min: “I get the sense Jose Enrique is having a good audition,” writes Linda Howard. He’s playing well, Linda. Guitierrez then hits a cross towards the penalty spot from the left and it goes to Ameobi at an awkward height. He lifts his leg high to shoot and shins it off back whence it came. 39 min: A pair of Newcastle free-kicks in what has been a better spell from them. The second is awarded when Barton, much to the Kop’s delight, wears a boot in his face. They win a corner when the cross is blocked, taken by Barton. Out it flies to the left wing where Tiote scarpers over to retrieve and win a throw. 37 min: Super strength from Suarez to win a header on the left and set up Meireles who completely miskicks it and the ball almost goes behind him. But Liverpool recover and cross from the right where Lucas heads and Krul saves. 34 min: Barton takes a corner for the second time after Meireles gets too close the first time. He blocks the second again from about six yards, having charged the corner but the ref lets him get away from it. Then Flanagan is tested by Gutierrez again and hand balls. He’s going to be off if he’s not careful. The free kick from Barton fizzes across the box and Johnson makes a good defensive header from a very dangerous centre. Newcastle cut the corner back to Nolan running in from the edge of the box and he scoops his shot over. 32 min: Andy Carroll starts warming up and gets a predictable response from both sets of supporters of the “One Andy Carroll” and “One greedy ba$tard” variety. 29 min: Flanagan floors Gutierrez as the Argentinian tries to skip past him and the full-back is booked. A minute later he has another run at him and Speariung comes back to help. He thinks he’s saved the ball from rolling out for a corner but the ref reckons it crossed the line. Barton swings it in to Ameobi who connects well but can’t get his header through the massed traffic in the box. 27 min: Lucas fouls Nolan and Newcastle get a chance to build. Their passing has been rather harum scarum so far, trying to get rid too soon. They may need to rejig their formation, perhaps go with one upfront. “Today marks Jamie Carragher’s 665th appearance for Liverpool, that’s a long time in the same job,” writes Johnny Mac. Aye, salutes were given by KK and Steve McMananaman on ESPN. 24 min: Gutierrez crossed from the left, having beaten Flanagan, but he hit it too early and didn’t make the angle difficult for Reina who comes out to claim it off Ameobi at the far post. 21 min: Jeremy “maxi-man” says the goal is Maxi’s too. Fine. They’ve just replayed it and it was on target. I thought his shot would have hit the post from first viewing but I was wrong. Newcastle were having a better spell but then they let Spearing shoot from 25 yards, a low, powerful shot to Krul’s right. The keeper dives and manages to hold on but Kuyt and Suarez were inches away from pouncing on a potential rebound and no Newcastle players tracked their runs. 19 min: Tioté and Lucas challenge each other in the air to the right of the centre circle and Newcastle get the free kick though Lucas will have the larger egg on his temple. Simpson then gets up the right and has a fine opportunity to find Ameobi after good work from Barton puts the full back into the optimum position, but his cross is low and poor and Johnson clears for a throw. 17 min: “You can give the goal to whomever you choose, but if the shot was on target then it is awarded to the attacking player regardless of which way the keeper is diving,” writes John Dove. “So the key issue here, is whether the shot was on target.” It was, John. Suitably chastened I will give it to Maxi then. I’m sure he’ll be relieved. 14 min: The ball actually struck Simpson on the left hand, which was down by his side, so ESPN reckon Maxi should have the goal because it would have been a penalty had it not gone in. Hmm. Not sure. Anyway Liverpool are fizzing the ball about, using the right flank to have a charge at Jose Enrique, perhaps trying to test whether it’s worth making a bid in the summer. 12 min: Some thoughts on Newcastle’s unfamiliar kit. “Must wear white shirts because of a contractual obligation? To whom? White polyester manufacturers? Black dye boycotters? Masochistic Spurs fans? What a strange arrangement,” writes Robin Hazelhurst. To Real Madrid or Don Revie, I suspect. Ryan Dunne reckons: “Surely it’s even worse when teams bring out a kit, loyal punters snap it up, and then it’s hardly ever worn? For example, I think Everton’s pink number is fabulous, and would love to see the Glorious Glasgow Rangers rocking a similar away look, but it’s hardly been worn this season, presumably because the off-cream nomin ally third strip is butcher. Rip-off.The ASA should step in.” It’s a scandal, Ryan. Call Anne Robinson. GOAL!! Liverpool 1-0 Newcastle (Simpson og) I’m giving it to Simpson rather than Maxi because the deflection took it past Krul. It came from an excellent cross by Flanagan on the right that Williamson managed to head out, not very convincingly, and Maxi’s shot clipped Simpson’s foot and went into the middle of the goal while Krul was diving in the initial direction to his right. 8 min: Kuyt and Suarez switch positions with the Dutchman hogging the trouchline on the right and Suarez wandering infield. Nice chipped pass from Kuyt finds the Uruguayan on the edge of the area who offloads first time for Spearing to run on to and shoot from 25 yards. He slices it wide. 6 min: Spearing hits a ball 60 yards or so up for Maxi to run on to and Krul decides to rush out of his area to deal with it and makes a bit of a hash of it so Liverpool get the throw, from which Meireles scuffs a shot wide. 4 min: Newcastle corner after Gutierrez gives Flanagan a test and the young full-back goes safety first. Barton hits a near post centre that Reina comes to claim, drops it and Lovenkrands almost turns on it but Reina gets down sharpish to gather second time. 2 min: Late switch for Newcastle on the bench, Perch injured in the warm-up and Tavernier included at the last minute. Lucas, Kuyt and Suarez team up on the right and the Uruguayan turns sharply and runs outside José Enrique who recovers well to shepherd the ball out for another goalkick. And we’re off: Liverpool kick off and knock it back to Flanagan who gives Suarez a run against Coloccini with an overhit chipped pass up the right touchline that skips out for a goalkick. The problems with modern football #1,224: Newcastle are wearing an all-white strip because of a contractual obligation that they would wear this particular one at least twice this season. Ridiculous. Stanley Victor Collymore: I see we’ve been furnished with the definitive picture from the epic 4-3 in April 1996. Didn’t he finish that beautifully? I doubt Kevin Keegan, one of ESPN’s punditry team, will need reminding of that. I’ll never forget him slapping the advertising hoardings after it went in nor the scenes of the incredibly dignified old Newcastle supporter, Sky’s go-to picture target for much of that traumatic run-in. ESPN have just pointed out that Kenny Dalglish played his last ever match for Liverpool 21 years ago against Derby. That makes me feel old. Afternoon all: On a glorious day when this part of London is thronging with Arsenal and Manchester United fans en route to the Emirates. History suggests that this match at Anfield is a banker for Liverpool. Newcastle haven’t won there since Andy Cole and Rob Lee scored in a 2-0 victory in March 1995 and the Reds have won 14 and drawn one of the past 15 meetings at Anfield. This is a hard-working Newcastle team, though, with Lovenkrands, Barton, Tioté and Nolan having excellent seasons and the unsung defence coping far better than many had expected. Kenny Dalglish’s rejuvenation of Liverpool has been remarkable and Dirk Kuyt and Luis Suarez are bound to give the Toon’s back four the stiffest test. I’ve enjoyed watching both sides, Liverpool more since January than before and we may just get a cracker. Teams Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Flanagan, Carragher, Skrtel, Lucas, Spearing, Maxi, Meireles, Kuyt, Suarez. Subs: Gulacsi, Kyrgiakos, Robinson, Shelvey, Cole, Ngog, Carroll. Newcastle: Krul, Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini, Enrique, Barton, Nolan, Tiote, Gutierrez, Ameobi, Lovenkrands. Subs: Harper, R Taylor, S Taylor, Perch, Ferguson, Kuqi, Ranger. Referee: Peter Walton Premier League Liverpool Newcastle United Rob Bagchi guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …• Hit F5 for the latest or select our auto-refresh button below • Follow Birmingham v Wolves updates with our match centre • Stats centre: the latest Premier League table and more • Email your thoughts to rob.bagchi@guardian.co.uk 45 min: ALmost had a Gilbert O’Sullivan reference to Carol back there. I might have gotten away with it if it hadn’t been for those pesky kids. Mark Gillies writes: “Newcastle fans were singing One Greedy Bastard at Michael Owen last week, now they’re singing it at Carroll. This would suggest they can’t count, or have very short memories.” Very good, Mark. 42 min: Enrique goes down in a tackle and Liverpool use the gap up the left, or Kuyt does, to set up Meireles. The Dutchman squeezes his pass through Coloccini’s legs and Meireles has to stretch to make a lunging shot which Krul gets down to save. “Can’t believe all the guff I’ve read this weekend on how well NUFC have done without Carroll,” writes Simon Lindsay. “In fact, we’ve won twice since he left in January.” 41 min: “I get the sense Jose Enrique is having a good audition,” writes Linda Howard. He’s playing well, Linda. Guitierrez then hits a cross towards the penalty spot from the left and it goes to Ameobi at an awkward height. He lifts his leg high to shoot and shins it off back whence it came. 39 min: A pair of Newcastle free-kicks in what has been a better spell from them. The second is awarded when Barton, much to the Kop’s delight, wears a boot in his face. They win a corner when the cross is blocked, taken by Barton. Out it flies to the left wing where Tiote scarpers over to retrieve and win a throw. 37 min: Super strength from Suarez to win a header on the left and set up Meireles who completely miskicks it and the ball almost goes behind him. But Liverpool recover and cross from the right where Lucas heads and Krul saves. 34 min: Barton takes a corner for the second time after Meireles gets too close the first time. He blocks the second again from about six yards, having charged the corner but the ref lets him get away from it. Then Flanagan is tested by Gutierrez again and hand balls. He’s going to be off if he’s not careful. The free kick from Barton fizzes across the box and Johnson makes a good defensive header from a very dangerous centre. Newcastle cut the corner back to Nolan running in from the edge of the box and he scoops his shot over. 32 min: Andy Carroll starts warming up and gets a predictable response from both sets of supporters of the “One Andy Carroll” and “One greedy ba$tard” variety. 29 min: Flanagan floors Gutierrez as the Argentinian tries to skip past him and the full-back is booked. A minute later he has another run at him and Speariung comes back to help. He thinks he’s saved the ball from rolling out for a corner but the ref reckons it crossed the line. Barton swings it in to Ameobi who connects well but can’t get his header through the massed traffic in the box. 27 min: Lucas fouls Nolan and Newcastle get a chance to build. Their passing has been rather harum scarum so far, trying to get rid too soon. They may need to rejig their formation, perhaps go with one upfront. “Today marks Jamie Carragher’s 665th appearance for Liverpool, that’s a long time in the same job,” writes Johnny Mac. Aye, salutes were given by KK and Steve McMananaman on ESPN. 24 min: Gutierrez crossed from the left, having beaten Flanagan, but he hit it too early and didn’t make the angle difficult for Reina who comes out to claim it off Ameobi at the far post. 21 min: Jeremy “maxi-man” says the goal is Maxi’s too. Fine. They’ve just replayed it and it was on target. I thought his shot would have hit the post from first viewing but I was wrong. Newcastle were having a better spell but then they let Spearing shoot from 25 yards, a low, powerful shot to Krul’s right. The keeper dives and manages to hold on but Kuyt and Suarez were inches away from pouncing on a potential rebound and no Newcastle players tracked their runs. 19 min: Tioté and Lucas challenge each other in the air to the right of the centre circle and Newcastle get the free kick though Lucas will have the larger egg on his temple. Simpson then gets up the right and has a fine opportunity to find Ameobi after good work from Barton puts the full back into the optimum position, but his cross is low and poor and Johnson clears for a throw. 17 min: “You can give the goal to whomever you choose, but if the shot was on target then it is awarded to the attacking player regardless of which way the keeper is diving,” writes John Dove. “So the key issue here, is whether the shot was on target.” It was, John. Suitably chastened I will give it to Maxi then. I’m sure he’ll be relieved. 14 min: The ball actually struck Simpson on the left hand, which was down by his side, so ESPN reckon Maxi should have the goal because it would have been a penalty had it not gone in. Hmm. Not sure. Anyway Liverpool are fizzing the ball about, using the right flank to have a charge at Jose Enrique, perhaps trying to test whether it’s worth making a bid in the summer. 12 min: Some thoughts on Newcastle’s unfamiliar kit. “Must wear white shirts because of a contractual obligation? To whom? White polyester manufacturers? Black dye boycotters? Masochistic Spurs fans? What a strange arrangement,” writes Robin Hazelhurst. To Real Madrid or Don Revie, I suspect. Ryan Dunne reckons: “Surely it’s even worse when teams bring out a kit, loyal punters snap it up, and then it’s hardly ever worn? For example, I think Everton’s pink number is fabulous, and would love to see the Glorious Glasgow Rangers rocking a similar away look, but it’s hardly been worn this season, presumably because the off-cream nomin ally third strip is butcher. Rip-off.The ASA should step in.” It’s a scandal, Ryan. Call Anne Robinson. GOAL!! Liverpool 1-0 Newcastle (Simpson og) I’m giving it to Simpson rather than Maxi because the deflection took it past Krul. It came from an excellent cross by Flanagan on the right that Williamson managed to head out, not very convincingly, and Maxi’s shot clipped Simpson’s foot and went into the middle of the goal while Krul was diving in the initial direction to his right. 8 min: Kuyt and Suarez switch positions with the Dutchman hogging the trouchline on the right and Suarez wandering infield. Nice chipped pass from Kuyt finds the Uruguayan on the edge of the area who offloads first time for Spearing to run on to and shoot from 25 yards. He slices it wide. 6 min: Spearing hits a ball 60 yards or so up for Maxi to run on to and Krul decides to rush out of his area to deal with it and makes a bit of a hash of it so Liverpool get the throw, from which Meireles scuffs a shot wide. 4 min: Newcastle corner after Gutierrez gives Flanagan a test and the young full-back goes safety first. Barton hits a near post centre that Reina comes to claim, drops it and Lovenkrands almost turns on it but Reina gets down sharpish to gather second time. 2 min: Late switch for Newcastle on the bench, Perch injured in the warm-up and Tavernier included at the last minute. Lucas, Kuyt and Suarez team up on the right and the Uruguayan turns sharply and runs outside José Enrique who recovers well to shepherd the ball out for another goalkick. And we’re off: Liverpool kick off and knock it back to Flanagan who gives Suarez a run against Coloccini with an overhit chipped pass up the right touchline that skips out for a goalkick. The problems with modern football #1,224: Newcastle are wearing an all-white strip because of a contractual obligation that they would wear this particular one at least twice this season. Ridiculous. Stanley Victor Collymore: I see we’ve been furnished with the definitive picture from the epic 4-3 in April 1996. Didn’t he finish that beautifully? I doubt Kevin Keegan, one of ESPN’s punditry team, will need reminding of that. I’ll never forget him slapping the advertising hoardings after it went in nor the scenes of the incredibly dignified old Newcastle supporter, Sky’s go-to picture target for much of that traumatic run-in. ESPN have just pointed out that Kenny Dalglish played his last ever match for Liverpool 21 years ago against Derby. That makes me feel old. Afternoon all: On a glorious day when this part of London is thronging with Arsenal and Manchester United fans en route to the Emirates. History suggests that this match at Anfield is a banker for Liverpool. Newcastle haven’t won there since Andy Cole and Rob Lee scored in a 2-0 victory in March 1995 and the Reds have won 14 and drawn one of the past 15 meetings at Anfield. This is a hard-working Newcastle team, though, with Lovenkrands, Barton, Tioté and Nolan having excellent seasons and the unsung defence coping far better than many had expected. Kenny Dalglish’s rejuvenation of Liverpool has been remarkable and Dirk Kuyt and Luis Suarez are bound to give the Toon’s back four the stiffest test. I’ve enjoyed watching both sides, Liverpool more since January than before and we may just get a cracker. Teams Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Flanagan, Carragher, Skrtel, Lucas, Spearing, Maxi, Meireles, Kuyt, Suarez. Subs: Gulacsi, Kyrgiakos, Robinson, Shelvey, Cole, Ngog, Carroll. Newcastle: Krul, Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini, Enrique, Barton, Nolan, Tiote, Gutierrez, Ameobi, Lovenkrands. Subs: Harper, R Taylor, S Taylor, Perch, Ferguson, Kuqi, Ranger. Referee: Peter Walton Premier League Liverpool Newcastle United Rob Bagchi guardian.co.uk
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National Association of Head Teachers on course for first-ever national strike in protest at cuts to public sector pensions Headteachers have voted overwhelmingly for a ballot over whether to hold their first ever national strike. Members of Britain’s biggest headteachers’ union – the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) – agreed to vote over whether to take industrial action in protest at proposed changes to their pensions at their annual conference in Brighton. From 386 votes, 99.6% wanted a ballot, while 0.4% abstained. The NAHT said it was “highly likely” that heads would now ballot for a strike – a move that would close thousands of primary and secondary schools in England and Wales. The proposed pension changes have set headteachers and teachers on a collision course with government. Last month, two of the country’s main teaching unions voted to ballot members for a national strike over the reforms. The National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers are likely to strike in June and again in autumn. Lecturers staged a walkout over the same issue in March . A government-commissioned report in March by the former Labour minister Lord Hutton called for final salary pension schemes to be scrapped and replaced by career averages. He recommended that teachers should pay higher monthly contributions and a rise in the retirement age to 68. At the moment, most heads retire aged between 60 and 65. The government has forecast that the cost of teachers’ pensions will rise from about £5bn in 2005 to almost £10bn by 2015, as more staff retire and life expectancy increases. Russell Hobby, the NAHT’s general secretary, said the proposed pension reforms would amount to a “major pay cut” and encouraged his 28,000 members to vote in favour of a strike. He said it was essential the career average pension remained and predicted a “mass exodus” from the profession, if it did not. Last time the teachers’ pension scheme was changed, in 2007, there was a spike in the number of retirements. Chris Howard, headteacher of Lewis secondary school in Caerphilly, said a pension was an “integral part of the pay bargain that every public sector worker makes with the government”. “We do jobs that other people don’t want to do. The bargain we make is that we give ourselves and our service as public servants for our life and in the end we expect some time where we can accrue public benefit for that. If the government proceeds down this path of pension changes then the bargain will be broken and our society will be the poorer for it.” Chris Hill, headteacher of Hounslow Town primary in London, said that if the pension changes go ahead, heads should look into refusing to cooperate with the government over new initiatives. “We can be very effective in getting our way,” he said. David Fann, headteacher of Sherwood primary in Preston, Lancashire, said teachers pensions were “not gold-plated”. He said heads on £50,000 would have to increase their pension contributions by £1,700 a month and if they retired at 55, they would lose 42% of their pension. Stephen Kirkpatrick, a 36-year-old deputy headteacher in Salford in Greater Manchester, said that although he loved teaching, he would be prepared to quit if the reforms go ahead. “That is a mindset common to people who are young in the profession.” The government is expected to announced its proposals for pensions in June following negotiations with the Trades Union Congress. A spokesman from the Department for Education said no decisions had been taken on changes to the teacher pension scheme, but that the Hutton report “made it clear that pensions reform was needed”. “A major factor is that people are living longer,” he said. “In the early 1970s, the life expectancy of a 60-year-old was around 18 years, now it is around 28 years. The government will set out proposals in the autumn that are affordable, sustainable and fair to both the public sector workforce and taxpayers.” Meanwhile, the NAHT voted overwhelmingly to ballot its membership over whether to repeat last year’s boycott of national exams for 10 and 11-year-olds unless the government radically reform the tests. The government is conducting a review of the tests in maths and English, known as Sats, and will publish its findings next month. Heads said that unless the government changed the tests so that teachers marked their pupils’ papers, they would repeat the boycott. At the moment, external markers correct the tests, rather than pupils’ teachers. Some 99.2% of delegates voted to ballot the membership over a boycott. Teaching Public sector pensions Education policy Public sector cuts Public services policy Public finance Public sector pay Cuts and closures Jessica Shepherd guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …National Association of Head Teachers on course for first-ever national strike in protest at cuts to public sector pensions Headteachers have voted overwhelmingly for a ballot over whether to hold their first ever national strike. Members of Britain’s biggest headteachers’ union – the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) – agreed to vote over whether to take industrial action in protest at proposed changes to their pensions at their annual conference in Brighton. From 386 votes, 99.6% wanted a ballot, while 0.4% abstained. The NAHT said it was “highly likely” that heads would now ballot for a strike – a move that would close thousands of primary and secondary schools in England and Wales. The proposed pension changes have set headteachers and teachers on a collision course with government. Last month, two of the country’s main teaching unions voted to ballot members for a national strike over the reforms. The National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers are likely to strike in June and again in autumn. Lecturers staged a walkout over the same issue in March . A government-commissioned report in March by the former Labour minister Lord Hutton called for final salary pension schemes to be scrapped and replaced by career averages. He recommended that teachers should pay higher monthly contributions and a rise in the retirement age to 68. At the moment, most heads retire aged between 60 and 65. The government has forecast that the cost of teachers’ pensions will rise from about £5bn in 2005 to almost £10bn by 2015, as more staff retire and life expectancy increases. Russell Hobby, the NAHT’s general secretary, said the proposed pension reforms would amount to a “major pay cut” and encouraged his 28,000 members to vote in favour of a strike. He said it was essential the career average pension remained and predicted a “mass exodus” from the profession, if it did not. Last time the teachers’ pension scheme was changed, in 2007, there was a spike in the number of retirements. Chris Howard, headteacher of Lewis secondary school in Caerphilly, said a pension was an “integral part of the pay bargain that every public sector worker makes with the government”. “We do jobs that other people don’t want to do. The bargain we make is that we give ourselves and our service as public servants for our life and in the end we expect some time where we can accrue public benefit for that. If the government proceeds down this path of pension changes then the bargain will be broken and our society will be the poorer for it.” Chris Hill, headteacher of Hounslow Town primary in London, said that if the pension changes go ahead, heads should look into refusing to cooperate with the government over new initiatives. “We can be very effective in getting our way,” he said. David Fann, headteacher of Sherwood primary in Preston, Lancashire, said teachers pensions were “not gold-plated”. He said heads on £50,000 would have to increase their pension contributions by £1,700 a month and if they retired at 55, they would lose 42% of their pension. Stephen Kirkpatrick, a 36-year-old deputy headteacher in Salford in Greater Manchester, said that although he loved teaching, he would be prepared to quit if the reforms go ahead. “That is a mindset common to people who are young in the profession.” The government is expected to announced its proposals for pensions in June following negotiations with the Trades Union Congress. A spokesman from the Department for Education said no decisions had been taken on changes to the teacher pension scheme, but that the Hutton report “made it clear that pensions reform was needed”. “A major factor is that people are living longer,” he said. “In the early 1970s, the life expectancy of a 60-year-old was around 18 years, now it is around 28 years. The government will set out proposals in the autumn that are affordable, sustainable and fair to both the public sector workforce and taxpayers.” Meanwhile, the NAHT voted overwhelmingly to ballot its membership over whether to repeat last year’s boycott of national exams for 10 and 11-year-olds unless the government radically reform the tests. The government is conducting a review of the tests in maths and English, known as Sats, and will publish its findings next month. Heads said that unless the government changed the tests so that teachers marked their pupils’ papers, they would repeat the boycott. At the moment, external markers correct the tests, rather than pupils’ teachers. Some 99.2% of delegates voted to ballot the membership over a boycott. Teaching Public sector pensions Education policy Public sector cuts Public services policy Public finance Public sector pay Cuts and closures Jessica Shepherd guardian.co.uk
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Stranglehold on southern city at the heart of uprising tightens after storming of key mosque and death toll rises to 535 Syrian army tanks have shelled the old quarter of Deraa, the southern city at the heart of the six-week-old uprising, said a witness on Sunday. Daraa has been without water, fuel or electricity since Monday, when the regime sent in troops backed by tanks and snipers to crush protests seeking an end to President Bashar al-Assad’s authoritarian rule. Tanks and armoured personnel vehicles have cut off neighbourhoods, and snipers on rooftops throughout the city have kept residents pinned in their homes. Other areas of the country have also come under military control, but Deraa has come under the most serious stranglehold as the death toll has soared to 535. Tanks fired shells into the heart of Deraa’s ancient Roman quarter, said a resident who lives on the outskirts of the city. He said he could identify the weaponry because he was a former soldier. Men were forbidden to leave their homes but women were allowed out in the early morning to search for bread, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear that Syrian forces would identify him. Residents have responded to the crackdown by shouting the traditional rallying cry “God is great!” from their homes over the past several evenings, he said. “It was like a wave from quarter to quarter, it raises our spirits,” he said. “Our houses are close to each other, so even though we can’t go outside, we stand by the windows and chant it. Our neighbours can hear us and they respond.” The witness’s account could not be independently verified. Syria has banned nearly all foreign media and restricted access to trouble spots, making it almost impossible to confirm the dramatic events shaking one of the most authoritarian regimes in the Arab world. On Saturday, Syrian troops killed four people while storming a mosque that has become a focal point for protesters in Deraa, and security forces in Damascus kept dozens of women from marching on parliament to urge Assad to end his crackdown. The military raid on the Omari mosque came a day after 65 people were killed, most of them in Deraa, near the border with Jordan. Friday was the second deadliest day since the uprising began in mid-March in Deraa, sparked by the arrest of a group of teenagers who scrawled anti-government graffiti on a wall. The protest movement quickly spread and is now posing the gravest threat to the 40-year rule of the Assad family. The president has responded with overtures of reform coupled with a brutal crackdown , although in the past week, the regime has intensified its attempts to crush the revolt by force. David Cameron has condemned the Syrian government’s “completely disgraceful and unacceptable” crackdown. The prime minister said international pressure on Assad’s regime needed to be stepped up. Speaking on BBC1′s Andrew Marr Show, Cameron said: “It is a completely disgraceful and unacceptable situation, to see the regime killing so many of its own people.” Pressed on why the UK and international allies had intervened in Libya but were not taking action against Syria, Cameron said: “There are some differences. In Libya we were asked by the Arab League to go into that country, we were asked by the Libyan people, we were backed by a United Nations resolution. Clearly in Syria we need to do more to step up the pressure on that regime to show, internationally, that is not acceptable. We have started that process in the European Union but I think we have further to go and more to do.” Syria Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Bashar Al-Assad guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Stranglehold on southern city at the heart of uprising tightens after storming of key mosque and death toll rises to 535 Syrian army tanks have shelled the old quarter of Deraa, the southern city at the heart of the six-week-old uprising, said a witness on Sunday. Daraa has been without water, fuel or electricity since Monday, when the regime sent in troops backed by tanks and snipers to crush protests seeking an end to President Bashar al-Assad’s authoritarian rule. Tanks and armoured personnel vehicles have cut off neighbourhoods, and snipers on rooftops throughout the city have kept residents pinned in their homes. Other areas of the country have also come under military control, but Deraa has come under the most serious stranglehold as the death toll has soared to 535. Tanks fired shells into the heart of Deraa’s ancient Roman quarter, said a resident who lives on the outskirts of the city. He said he could identify the weaponry because he was a former soldier. Men were forbidden to leave their homes but women were allowed out in the early morning to search for bread, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear that Syrian forces would identify him. Residents have responded to the crackdown by shouting the traditional rallying cry “God is great!” from their homes over the past several evenings, he said. “It was like a wave from quarter to quarter, it raises our spirits,” he said. “Our houses are close to each other, so even though we can’t go outside, we stand by the windows and chant it. Our neighbours can hear us and they respond.” The witness’s account could not be independently verified. Syria has banned nearly all foreign media and restricted access to trouble spots, making it almost impossible to confirm the dramatic events shaking one of the most authoritarian regimes in the Arab world. On Saturday, Syrian troops killed four people while storming a mosque that has become a focal point for protesters in Deraa, and security forces in Damascus kept dozens of women from marching on parliament to urge Assad to end his crackdown. The military raid on the Omari mosque came a day after 65 people were killed, most of them in Deraa, near the border with Jordan. Friday was the second deadliest day since the uprising began in mid-March in Deraa, sparked by the arrest of a group of teenagers who scrawled anti-government graffiti on a wall. The protest movement quickly spread and is now posing the gravest threat to the 40-year rule of the Assad family. The president has responded with overtures of reform coupled with a brutal crackdown , although in the past week, the regime has intensified its attempts to crush the revolt by force. David Cameron has condemned the Syrian government’s “completely disgraceful and unacceptable” crackdown. The prime minister said international pressure on Assad’s regime needed to be stepped up. Speaking on BBC1′s Andrew Marr Show, Cameron said: “It is a completely disgraceful and unacceptable situation, to see the regime killing so many of its own people.” Pressed on why the UK and international allies had intervened in Libya but were not taking action against Syria, Cameron said: “There are some differences. In Libya we were asked by the Arab League to go into that country, we were asked by the Libyan people, we were backed by a United Nations resolution. Clearly in Syria we need to do more to step up the pressure on that regime to show, internationally, that is not acceptable. We have started that process in the European Union but I think we have further to go and more to do.” Syria Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Bashar Al-Assad guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Walid Makled, known as ‘The Turk’, faces trial in Caracas after Hugo Chávez wins diplomatic tussle with Washington An alleged druglord who has implicated senior Venezuelan officials in cocaine-trafficking is bound for Caracas after President Hugo Chávez won a high-stakes extradition tussle with the United States. Walid Makled, currently in a high-security jail in Colombia, is expected to be flown to Venezuela this week to be tried – and some say muzzled – for trafficking drugs through Venezuela’s state-run ports. Makled, known as ‘The Turk’, told reporters from prison that for years he paid senior Venezuelan government figures and 40 military officers, including the head of the navy, to let him smuggle cocaine from the port of Puerto Cabello. Colombia rebuffed US efforts to gain custody of Makled , 44, who promised to reveal all if tried there, and said he would instead go to Venezuela, which asked first. He is likely to be flown to Caracas this week once Venezuelan officials submit documentation guaranteeing his human rights, his lawyer, Miguel Ramirez, told El Nuevo Herald. “Once that has been presented there is nothing more to be done.” The imminent extradition prompted laments in Washington at a “lost” opportunity to expose alleged corruption in Chávez’s government. Richard Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate foreign relations committee, said the US could use the testimony to “dismantle some of the most important drug networks in the world today”. As a sop to his Washington ally, President Juan Manuel Santos allowed US officials to question Makled in jail, but it remains unclear to what extent he cooperated given the Americans’ lack of leverage. Experts doubted such testimony could be used in a US court. Makled, a Venezuelan of Syrian descent, has turned into an unlikely catalyst for detente between Bogotá and Caracas, neighbours with a stormy relationship. Chávez has granted important economic and political concessions in what many have linked to the government’s desire to get Makled on Venezuela’s side of the Andes. Chávez has infuriated his radical leftwing base by extraditing an alleged member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) to Colombia, a reversal from when he used to affirm solidarity with the leftist rebel group and castigate Bogota as a US poodle. Activists who normally count themselves as fervent “chavistas” cried betrayal, burned ministers’ effigies and said the Farc suspect, Joaquin Pérez Becerra, who from Sweden ran a website sympathetic to the guerrilla, had been sacrificed so Caracas could get Makled. “This is terrible and dangerous for the whole international revolutionary movement,” said one protester. Aporrea.org , a leftist Venezuelan website, evoked Judas Iscariot and Pontius Pilate. “It’s a swap for Makled.” In a combative speech on Saturday night, Chávez said Venezuela had complied with an Interpol “red alert” to detain Pérez and took responsibility for the decision to deport him. “Don’t burn effigies of my ministers. I am the one in charge. Burn me.” He accused the ultra-left of having been infiltrated by the CIA. Pérez’s name did not appear on Interpol’s “red notice” website. Interpol did not immediately respond to a query seeking to clarify his status. Sweden demanded an explanation for why it was not notified that Pérez, who holds Swedish citizenship, was to be extradited. He flew from Sweden, via Germany, to Caracas. Santos phoned Chávez requesting his detention before the plane landed. There will be even heavier security awaiting Makled when he lands in Caracas. He rose to prominence in Venezuela for having an airline and contract at Puerto Cabello and became infamous when authorities seized cocaine at his ranch and accused him of links to two murders. A fugitive, he was named by President Barack Obama in 2009 as among “significant foreign narcotics traffickers”. Colombian authorities caught him on the border with Venezuela last August. Chávez said Washington wanted to use the alleged druglord to smear Venezuela’s socialist revolution. “The empire’s game here is to offer who knows how many opportunities to this man, including protection, so that he may begin to vomit out all he wants against Venezuela and its president.” Chávez lobbied for Makled’s extradition soon after his arrest, saying he must face charges in Venezuela. Santos agreed last November and Colombia’s supreme court upheld the extradition in March. Venezuela Colombia Drugs trade US foreign policy Hugo Chávez Rory Carroll guardian.co.uk
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Pope Benedict XVI bestows title of ‘blessed’ on predecessor in Vatican City ceremony watched by 200,000 Catholics Pope Benedict XVI has beatified Pope John Paul II before several hundred thousand people packed into St Peter’s Square and surrounding streets, moving his predecessor one step closer to sainthood. “From now on Pope John Paul shall be called ‘blessed’”, Benedict proclaimed in Latin, establishing that the late pontiff’s feast day would be October 22 – the day of his inauguration in 1978. Waving national flags and singing, the faithful momentarily banished the scandals and controversies that have rocked Catholicism since John Paul’s death to celebrate an inspirational figure who, for many, was their church’s greatest modern leader. The red and white flag of his native Poland predominated, but the crowd also included Roman Catholics from as far away as Australia. Some had camped out in the area around St Peter’s, others had spent the night in prayer and contemplation of the life of works of the late pope. Alessandra Verdura, age 18, from Northamptonshire, was among some 200,000 people who joined a vigil in the Circus Maximus. At 4am, she and her father were to pray in one of eight churches in Rome staying open all night for the occasion. “He has gone”, said the Anglia Ruskin university student, who was only 12 years old when he died. “But still people feel he is with them, and that shows how much of a great pope he was.” Representatives of five royal houses, including the Duke of Gloucester, were expected for the occasion. So too were at least six heads of government and 16 heads of state, including Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe who flew into Rome on Saturday. As part of an elaborate security operation, the area around St Peter’s Square had been cordoned off for more than 16 hours before the first pilgrims were given access early this morning. Beatification is the last step on the road to sainthood, though not all those who are beatified are finally canonised. Before conferring the title of “blessed”, the Roman Catholic church requires evidence of at least one miracle. John Paul, who died in 2005, is deemed to have interceded with God to bring about the inexplicable cure of a French nun, Sister Marie Simon-Pierre Normand, who was dying of Parkinson’s disease, the same illness that took his own life. On Saturday, Sister Marie Simon-Pierre was among the speakers in the Circus Maximus, where images of John Paul were shown on giant screens and against a background of sacred music. The crowd also heard eulogies of the late pontiff from his former secretary Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, and press officer, Joaquin Navarro-Valls. The charismatic John Paul is widely credited with having hastened the collapse of communism in Europe. But some in his church have questioned the speed with which such a controversial figure has been fast-tracked toward sainthood. John Paul is accused by victims’ groups of having turned a blind eye to sex abuse by his clergyman. Some traditionalists believe he made unacceptable compromises with other religions; many progressives argue he fatally weakened the innovative legacy of the Second Vatican Council. Pope John Paul II Religion Catholicism Christianity Pope Benedict XVI John Hooper guardian.co.uk
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Libya accuses west of trying to assassinate Muammar Gaddafi, who was unharmed in attack on villa complex in Tripoli A Nato air strike has killed Muammar Gaddafi’s youngest son and three of his grandchildren, a Libyan official in Tripoli said, while accusing the alliance of trying to assassinate the Libyan leader. It was the first time someone from Gaddafi’s inner circle has been killed in six weeks of Nato air strikes. Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, 29, was “martyred” in the attack on his villa in Tripoli, where his father had been staying the night. Saif al-Arab, described by Ibrahim as a student who had studied in Germany, is one of Gaddafi’s less prominent sons. He is said to have had only a minor role in the country’s power structure. “[Muammar Gaddafi] is in good health. He wasn’t harmed,” Ibrahim told a news conference, shortly after foreign journalists were shown the site of the attack. “His wife is also in good health.” He added: “This was a direct operation to assassinate the leader of this country.” “What we have now is the law of the jungle,” Ibrahim said. “We think now it is clear to everyone that what is happening in Libya has nothing to do with the protection of civilians.” David Cameron told the BBC that Nato targeting policy in Libya was clear and “in line with UN resolution”. British foreign office minister Alistair Burt insisted the attack did not represent a change of tactics and insisted that Nato was still acting within the remit of the UN security council resolution authorising use of force to protect civilians. He told the BBC that air attacks were targeting military capabilities and not individuals. A Nato statement said: “Nato continued its precision strikes against regime military installations in Tripoli overnight, including striking a known command and control building in the Bab al-Aziziyah neighbourhood shortly after 6pm GMT Saturday evening.” Nato forces are permitted, under UN resolution 1973, passed in March, to use “all necessary measures” to protect civilians from pro-Gaddafi forces, but Nato leaders have repeatedly insisted that directly targeting Gaddafi is not a goal. Ibrahim added: “This is not permitted by international law. Nato does not care to test our promises, the west does not care to test our statements. Their only care is to rob us of our freedom.” Reports said the complex of one-storey buildings appeared to have been hit by at least three missiles. The roof had completely caved in in some areas, exposing mangled steel rods and hanging chunks of concrete. A table football machine stood outside in the garden of the house, which was in a wealthy residential area of Tripoli. The blasts were heard across the city late last night. Gaddafi had seven sons and one daughter. He also had an adopted daughter who was killed in a 1986 American airstrike on his Bab al-Aziziya residential compound. That strike came in retaliation for a deadly bomb attack on a German disco blamed on Libya. Rifle fire and car horns rang out in Benghazi, the rebel stronghold in eastern Libya, as news of the attack spread. Just hours earlier, Gaddafi had delivered a rambling, defiant speech on state television, in which he declared that he was “more sacred [to Libyans] than the emperor of Japan is to his people”, and called for talks with Nato. “The door to peace is open,” he said. “You are the aggressors. We will negotiate with you. Come, France, Italy, UK, America, come, we will negotiate with you. Why are you attacking us?” In an echo of comments by another son, Saif al-Islam, who said on Friday that the regime would fight on for 40 years if necessary, Gaddafi said his own future would not be up for discussion in any talks. “No one can force me to leave my country, and no one can tell me not to fight for my country,” he said. A Nato official told Associated Press that Gaddafi’s call for an end to hostilities lacked credibility. “The regime has announced cease-fires several times before and continued attacking cities and civilians. All this has to stop, and it has to stop now,” said the official. Libya Middle East Muammar Gaddafi Nato Barry Neild Xan Rice guardian.co.uk
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