In response to soaring hemlines some headteachers are now forcing girls to wear trousers. But have dress codes ever really improved education and discipline? For the war against inappropriately short school-uniform hemlines, it is the nuclear option. Like the war on drugs or the war on terror, the struggle between implacable authorities and their tirelessly inventive foes over what is worn in schools is perennial and almost certainly futile. Pupils have hitched and rolled up their skirts since time immemorial and teachers have been forced to brandish tape measures and, ultimately, suspend or expel recalcitrant teens. Now, however, as those unwelcome back-to-school posters go up in shop windows, female students are finding their autumn-term shopping lists are skirtless. Northgate School in Ipswich is the latest in a growing number of secondary schools to make girls wear trousers. “Unfortunately, despite contacting specific parents, sending some girls home to change, requiring others to wear a school-owned skirt for the day and repeatedly asking others to unroll their skirts at the waist, we still had some girls coming to school in inappropriate skirts,” explained headteacher David Hutton. “I have therefore introduced a trousers-only policy, which will enable my staff to focus their time and effort on providing pupils with the best education possible.” Debates over uniform are a timeless and neverending distraction for teachers, parents and pupils. A thick blue woollen trench coat over a white shirt, breeches and yellow knee-length socks is claimed to be the first uniform in Britain, worn by the poor pupils of Christ’s Hospital school in London. More than 450 years have passed and Christ’s Hospital has relocated to leafy Horsham but its pupils still sport a remarkably similar uniform – breeches, yellow socks and all. Last September, pupils even voted to keep their ancient uniform which, unusually, the school buys for them. Uniforms were introduced at charity schools during the reign of King Henry VIII to instil discipline and that, roughly, is where the debate in Britain remains today. Except that teenage ingenuity continues to push the boundaries. “Girls’ skirts are getting shorter by the minute or should I say the second they leave my form room,” says one year 10 tutor. “If their skirts aren’t being rolled up by the means of a carefully crafted process on the way to their next lesson, they get their parents to buy elastic bands to wrap around their tiny waists.” As one piece of apparel is criminalised, another way round it is skirted. Some pupils take a principled stance against discrimination. Male pupil Chris Whitehead, 12, wore a girls’ knee-length skirt this summer in protest against Impington Village College, Cambridgeshire, which banned shorts for boys but allowed girls to wear airy skirts. Other students deploy more timeless logic. In Scotland, one group responded to headteachers’ calls for stricter uniform rules with panache: “It’s not fair. Why should old men in terrible suits tell us how to dress?” Popular culture has long dramatised our uniform battles. The ultimate goal of Grange Hill’s rebellious Student Action Group was to abolish uniform. (“Uniform’s a drag, go with SAG,” as their protest posters daringly suggested. Uniform disputes are often students’ first experience of the power of collective action – 100 pupils at Upton-by-Chester high school joined a protest in 2009 against its new mandatory trousers-for-girls policy.) At Grange Hill, the SAG won and uniforms were abolished for about half a series until new headmistress Mrs McClusky struck back. In my Grange Hill-era schooldays we wore our ties with 4cm of the thin end on display. More recently, Catherine Tate’s bovvered schoolgirl, Lauren Cooper, copied contemporary teen trends by wearing her tie short, wide and with a fat knot. Some schools have suppressed knot subversion with clip-on ties. Just like weaponry, the rules and regulations over school uniforms have got more formidable in recent years. The trend is definitely for more uniform. The girls-must-wear-trousers rule seems bizarrely topsy-turvy to those who were schooled in the 80s, when girls had to fight for the right to wear trousers. In my day, we got away with more or less anything at Reepham high school in Norfolk, provided it was black, grey or white: black jeans, trainers, polo shirts, chunky-knit cardigans, hippie skirts, miniskirts. But those were bucolic, innocent times: no one had a tattoo and tramlines were as radical as a haircut got. Now Reepham has been revamped as a specialist science, mathematics and vocational school, with an outstanding Ofsted report to boot, and the pupils even wear blazers. Uniforms have also been reintroduced in some sixth forms – in one case because girls were trying to outdo each other with the pyjamas they wore each day. Schools argue they need strict uniforms for all sorts of reasons: modern favourites are health and safety and the fear that teenage girls are vulnerable in an increasingly sexualised world, swayed into degeneracy by the sort of short-skirt look peddled in that Britney Spears video. The most acceptable liberal argument is that uniforms are an egalitarian “instrument of social levelling”, as the Schoolwear Association, which represents schoolwear manufacturers, points out. Uniforms probably do reduce competitive dressing although one kid in uniform can still assess the parental income of another kid in uniform with a bat of their eyelid. And studies show that children still get bullied because of their appearance, even when dressed in uniform. The evidence that school uniforms improve discipline and behaviour is not conclusive. The Bash Street Kids have worn uniform ever since they first appeared in the Beano in 1954 and that has not made them behave any better. In the US, economists at the University of Houston recently found that attendance among students who wore uniforms improved by between 0.3 and 0.4%. But the researchers, Elisabetta Gentile and Scott Imberman, concluded: “We find little evidence that uniforms have lasting impacts on achievement [or] grade retention … In terms of discipline we also find little evidence of uniform effects.” Is getting tied in knots over uniform a peculiarly British problem? “There is something extremely peculiar about the British obsession with uniforms, which is part of something bigger,” agrees Professor Efrat Tseëlon of Leeds University. Uniforms are far less common in almost every European country although they have increased dramatically in the past 20 years in the US, linked to attempts to control gang culture. Tseëlon, a social psychologist specialising in visual appearance, says the British devotion to uniform reflects “a general etiquette towards children” defined by power, control and a lack of trust. There is no evidence that uniforms increase discipline and arguments about “levelling” are just “conscience laundering” – uniforms are used for precisely the opposite purpose by fee-paying (and an increasing number of specialist state) schools: as a badge of distinction. What about tussles over uniform being irrelevant distractions from learning? “The only party who is obsessed with it to the point of distracting schooling is the school itself,” says Tseëlon. “By excluding pupils or sending them home they are the ones disrupting the education, not the children themselves.” Most parents would probably agree that trousers for girls at least won’t increase the sexualisation of teenagers. But Tseëlon argues that such rules are not for the pupils but for the adults – because British teachers and parents are so uncomfortable with expressions of teenage sexuality. “They want to create these barriers – the barrier of uniform,” she says. Ultimately, she argues, look at uniformless European schools: have teenage morals disintegrated because they are not wearing ties and blazers? Those who hope that moving girls into trousers is the final solution for pupil v school battles over uniforms will be sadly disappointed come September. One head has already had to blacklist Miss Sexy-branded trousers because they were considered too tight and revealing. Uniform lawmakers may possess the power to make rules and punish those who break them but they lack the logic-challenging genius of teenagers to bend rules to their will. The struggle of schools to grapple with pupils’ uniforms mirrors the struggle of every adult to comprehend the teenage mind. This is wonderfully displayed in the clumsiness of the language of uniform regulation. “Large fashion-type trainers with high ankle support are NOT acceptable,” says my old school’s PE uniform policy. What, so hi-tops are, like, banned, Sir? Pupils’ ties must be “worn properly”. But who says a fat tie ain’t proper, Miss? It is not hard to imagine the excuses come September. Schools Young people Patrick Barkham guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …In response to soaring hemlines some headteachers are now forcing girls to wear trousers. But have dress codes ever really improved education and discipline? For the war against inappropriately short school-uniform hemlines, it is the nuclear option. Like the war on drugs or the war on terror, the struggle between implacable authorities and their tirelessly inventive foes over what is worn in schools is perennial and almost certainly futile. Pupils have hitched and rolled up their skirts since time immemorial and teachers have been forced to brandish tape measures and, ultimately, suspend or expel recalcitrant teens. Now, however, as those unwelcome back-to-school posters go up in shop windows, female students are finding their autumn-term shopping lists are skirtless. Northgate School in Ipswich is the latest in a growing number of secondary schools to make girls wear trousers. “Unfortunately, despite contacting specific parents, sending some girls home to change, requiring others to wear a school-owned skirt for the day and repeatedly asking others to unroll their skirts at the waist, we still had some girls coming to school in inappropriate skirts,” explained headteacher David Hutton. “I have therefore introduced a trousers-only policy, which will enable my staff to focus their time and effort on providing pupils with the best education possible.” Debates over uniform are a timeless and neverending distraction for teachers, parents and pupils. A thick blue woollen trench coat over a white shirt, breeches and yellow knee-length socks is claimed to be the first uniform in Britain, worn by the poor pupils of Christ’s Hospital school in London. More than 450 years have passed and Christ’s Hospital has relocated to leafy Horsham but its pupils still sport a remarkably similar uniform – breeches, yellow socks and all. Last September, pupils even voted to keep their ancient uniform which, unusually, the school buys for them. Uniforms were introduced at charity schools during the reign of King Henry VIII to instil discipline and that, roughly, is where the debate in Britain remains today. Except that teenage ingenuity continues to push the boundaries. “Girls’ skirts are getting shorter by the minute or should I say the second they leave my form room,” says one year 10 tutor. “If their skirts aren’t being rolled up by the means of a carefully crafted process on the way to their next lesson, they get their parents to buy elastic bands to wrap around their tiny waists.” As one piece of apparel is criminalised, another way round it is skirted. Some pupils take a principled stance against discrimination. Male pupil Chris Whitehead, 12, wore a girls’ knee-length skirt this summer in protest against Impington Village College, Cambridgeshire, which banned shorts for boys but allowed girls to wear airy skirts. Other students deploy more timeless logic. In Scotland, one group responded to headteachers’ calls for stricter uniform rules with panache: “It’s not fair. Why should old men in terrible suits tell us how to dress?” Popular culture has long dramatised our uniform battles. The ultimate goal of Grange Hill’s rebellious Student Action Group was to abolish uniform. (“Uniform’s a drag, go with SAG,” as their protest posters daringly suggested. Uniform disputes are often students’ first experience of the power of collective action – 100 pupils at Upton-by-Chester high school joined a protest in 2009 against its new mandatory trousers-for-girls policy.) At Grange Hill, the SAG won and uniforms were abolished for about half a series until new headmistress Mrs McClusky struck back. In my Grange Hill-era schooldays we wore our ties with 4cm of the thin end on display. More recently, Catherine Tate’s bovvered schoolgirl, Lauren Cooper, copied contemporary teen trends by wearing her tie short, wide and with a fat knot. Some schools have suppressed knot subversion with clip-on ties. Just like weaponry, the rules and regulations over school uniforms have got more formidable in recent years. The trend is definitely for more uniform. The girls-must-wear-trousers rule seems bizarrely topsy-turvy to those who were schooled in the 80s, when girls had to fight for the right to wear trousers. In my day, we got away with more or less anything at Reepham high school in Norfolk, provided it was black, grey or white: black jeans, trainers, polo shirts, chunky-knit cardigans, hippie skirts, miniskirts. But those were bucolic, innocent times: no one had a tattoo and tramlines were as radical as a haircut got. Now Reepham has been revamped as a specialist science, mathematics and vocational school, with an outstanding Ofsted report to boot, and the pupils even wear blazers. Uniforms have also been reintroduced in some sixth forms – in one case because girls were trying to outdo each other with the pyjamas they wore each day. Schools argue they need strict uniforms for all sorts of reasons: modern favourites are health and safety and the fear that teenage girls are vulnerable in an increasingly sexualised world, swayed into degeneracy by the sort of short-skirt look peddled in that Britney Spears video. The most acceptable liberal argument is that uniforms are an egalitarian “instrument of social levelling”, as the Schoolwear Association, which represents schoolwear manufacturers, points out. Uniforms probably do reduce competitive dressing although one kid in uniform can still assess the parental income of another kid in uniform with a bat of their eyelid. And studies show that children still get bullied because of their appearance, even when dressed in uniform. The evidence that school uniforms improve discipline and behaviour is not conclusive. The Bash Street Kids have worn uniform ever since they first appeared in the Beano in 1954 and that has not made them behave any better. In the US, economists at the University of Houston recently found that attendance among students who wore uniforms improved by between 0.3 and 0.4%. But the researchers, Elisabetta Gentile and Scott Imberman, concluded: “We find little evidence that uniforms have lasting impacts on achievement [or] grade retention … In terms of discipline we also find little evidence of uniform effects.” Is getting tied in knots over uniform a peculiarly British problem? “There is something extremely peculiar about the British obsession with uniforms, which is part of something bigger,” agrees Professor Efrat Tseëlon of Leeds University. Uniforms are far less common in almost every European country although they have increased dramatically in the past 20 years in the US, linked to attempts to control gang culture. Tseëlon, a social psychologist specialising in visual appearance, says the British devotion to uniform reflects “a general etiquette towards children” defined by power, control and a lack of trust. There is no evidence that uniforms increase discipline and arguments about “levelling” are just “conscience laundering” – uniforms are used for precisely the opposite purpose by fee-paying (and an increasing number of specialist state) schools: as a badge of distinction. What about tussles over uniform being irrelevant distractions from learning? “The only party who is obsessed with it to the point of distracting schooling is the school itself,” says Tseëlon. “By excluding pupils or sending them home they are the ones disrupting the education, not the children themselves.” Most parents would probably agree that trousers for girls at least won’t increase the sexualisation of teenagers. But Tseëlon argues that such rules are not for the pupils but for the adults – because British teachers and parents are so uncomfortable with expressions of teenage sexuality. “They want to create these barriers – the barrier of uniform,” she says. Ultimately, she argues, look at uniformless European schools: have teenage morals disintegrated because they are not wearing ties and blazers? Those who hope that moving girls into trousers is the final solution for pupil v school battles over uniforms will be sadly disappointed come September. One head has already had to blacklist Miss Sexy-branded trousers because they were considered too tight and revealing. Uniform lawmakers may possess the power to make rules and punish those who break them but they lack the logic-challenging genius of teenagers to bend rules to their will. The struggle of schools to grapple with pupils’ uniforms mirrors the struggle of every adult to comprehend the teenage mind. This is wonderfully displayed in the clumsiness of the language of uniform regulation. “Large fashion-type trainers with high ankle support are NOT acceptable,” says my old school’s PE uniform policy. What, so hi-tops are, like, banned, Sir? Pupils’ ties must be “worn properly”. But who says a fat tie ain’t proper, Miss? It is not hard to imagine the excuses come September. Schools Young people Patrick Barkham guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Carolinas brace for direct hit from possible Category 3 storm after Hurricane Irene pounds Caribbean East coast US residents are bracing for a direct hit from Hurricane Irene as the storm gathers pace and strength after roaring through the Caribbean. Irene regained force as a Category 2 storm, with top winds of 100 mph, the US National Hurricane Center said. “Irene could become a major hurricane within the next day or so,” it said. Even as the first hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic season pounded the Turks and Caicos Islands and the south-east Bahamas with winds, rain and a dangerous storm surge, people in the Carolinas on the south-eastern US coast were readying for its approach. At 2am local time, Irene was about 400 miles south-east of Nassau and about 975 miles south of Cape Hatteras in North Carolina. Irene, the ninth named storm of the June-through-November season, looks set to be the first hurricane to hit the US since Hurricane Ike pounded the Texas coast in 2008. But forecasts showed it posing no threat to oil and gas installations in the Gulf of Mexico. Irene had weakened on Tuesday to a Category 1 hurricane but could strengthen into a Category 3 storm with winds over 111mph. The storm is forecast to approach the coast of the Carolinas on Saturday morning. After that, the already saturated New England region could be at risk from torrential rains, high winds and flooding. Major eastern cities such as Washington and New York could be affected. In North Carolina, Governor Bev Perdue urged residents to ensure they had three days worth of food, water and supplies. Voluntary evacuations were to begin on Wednesday for parts of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, a stretch of barrier islands and beaches that are popular summer holiday spots. The first death from the storm was reported on Tuesday in Puerto Rico, where a woman was swept away. Natural disasters and extreme weather United States North Carolina South Carolina guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Carolinas brace for direct hit from possible Category 3 storm after Hurricane Irene pounds Caribbean East coast US residents are bracing for a direct hit from Hurricane Irene as the storm gathers pace and strength after roaring through the Caribbean. Irene regained force as a Category 2 storm, with top winds of 100 mph, the US National Hurricane Center said. “Irene could become a major hurricane within the next day or so,” it said. Even as the first hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic season pounded the Turks and Caicos Islands and the south-east Bahamas with winds, rain and a dangerous storm surge, people in the Carolinas on the south-eastern US coast were readying for its approach. At 2am local time, Irene was about 400 miles south-east of Nassau and about 975 miles south of Cape Hatteras in North Carolina. Irene, the ninth named storm of the June-through-November season, looks set to be the first hurricane to hit the US since Hurricane Ike pounded the Texas coast in 2008. But forecasts showed it posing no threat to oil and gas installations in the Gulf of Mexico. Irene had weakened on Tuesday to a Category 1 hurricane but could strengthen into a Category 3 storm with winds over 111mph. The storm is forecast to approach the coast of the Carolinas on Saturday morning. After that, the already saturated New England region could be at risk from torrential rains, high winds and flooding. Major eastern cities such as Washington and New York could be affected. In North Carolina, Governor Bev Perdue urged residents to ensure they had three days worth of food, water and supplies. Voluntary evacuations were to begin on Wednesday for parts of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, a stretch of barrier islands and beaches that are popular summer holiday spots. The first death from the storm was reported on Tuesday in Puerto Rico, where a woman was swept away. Natural disasters and extreme weather United States North Carolina South Carolina guardian.co.uk
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Japan has the highest debt-to-GDP ratio of any country in the world, with its borrowings estimated to hit 233% of annual economic output in 2011 Credit ratings agency Moody’s criticised the instability at the top of Japanese politics on Tuesday as it slashed the country’s credit rating and warned that its mountain of debt needed to be tackled. Moody’s cut Japan’s rating by one notch to Aa3, its fourth highest rating, and said a tougher deficit reduction plan was urgently needed. The move came just hours before Japan took fresh steps to help corporations cope with the strength of the yen, including a $100bn (£60bn) fund to help fund overseas acquisitions. Japan has the highest debt-to-GDP ratio of any country in the world, with its borrowings estimated to hit 233% of annual economic output in 2011. Moody’s said the rapid turnover of Japanese prime ministers – five different men have held the job since the credit crunch began in August 2007 – had prevented the government from turning “long-term economic and fiscal strategies into effective and durable policies”. Naoto Kan, the current prime minister, is expected to resign next week, triggering yet another leadership battle – and potentially dealing another blow to Japan’s debt-reduction plans. “A divided Diet [the Japanese parliament] and tensions within the ruling Democratic party of Japan risk both the timing and implementation of the reform plan. Indeed, the imminent change in the party’s presidency and the election of a new prime minister reflect the factious nature of the country’s politics,” Moody’s warned. Kan had proposed a fiscal consolidation plan this year, after March’s devastating earthquake added to the country’s economic problems . This included doubling the sales tax later this decade. Moody’s argues that more needs to be done to achieve a primary budget surplus by 2020. Otherwise, it said, “even under the government’s more vigorous and optimistic economic growth scenario, a decline in the debt-burden trajectory would remain elusive”. The downgrade did not alarm traders as most of Japan’s debt is bought by domestic investors, meaning it is less reliant on the international credit markets. The Nikkei 225 closed 1.07% lower at 8639.61. Moody’s told reporters in Tokyo that it did not see the eurozone debt crisis spreading to Japan, and maintained a “stable” outlook on the country’s debt. Recent twists in the financial crisis have driven up the value of the yen to record levels, hurting Japanese exporters. Finance minister Yoshihiko Noda pledged to take “decisive action” to prevent speculators pushing the yen higher, as he announced that $100bn of credit will be made available to countries to help them borrow cheaply and invest overseas. Noda also stepped up the monitoring of foreign exchange positions held by currency dealers. “We decided to compile the package to show our strong determination that we will act if current yen rises persist, or if the yen rises further,” Noda said. The package received a lacklustre reception in the financial markets, though, where there was disappointment that Japan had not intervened in the foreign exchange markets to actively push its currency lower, as it did three weeks ago . The yen rose slightly, hitting ¥76.53 to the dollar. Ratings agencies Yen Japan Currencies Global economy Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk
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Ousted leader calls retreat a ‘tactical move’ and urges Libyans to ‘cleanse the capital of traitors’ in audio recording Muammar Gaddafi has vowed “martyrdom or victory” hours after Libyan rebels swarmed into his fortified compound in Tripoli. Following a day of heavy fighting in the Libyan capital, opposition fighters broke into Gaddafi’s walled citadel, Bab al-Aziziya , where they were seen stamping on a gilded bronze head of the deposed despot and setting fire to his famous tent in a cathartic end to his 42-year rule. But in an audio recording released to a Libyan television station, the dictator called his retreat from the compound a “tactical move”. Gaddafi, who has not been seen in public for weeks, told al-Rai TV that Libyans must “cleanse the capital”, and claimed he had made a discreet tour of Tripoli and felt the city was not in danger. “All Libyans must be present in Tripoli, young men, tribal men and women must sweep through Tripoli and comb it for traitors. I have been out a bit in Tripoli discreetly, without being seen by people, and … I did not feel that Tripoli was in danger,” he said. Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim, said 6,000 volunteers had arrived in Libya to join Gaddafi’s cause, and warned that loyalist forces were ready and capable of fighting on for months, if not years. In an audio recording, he warned they would turn Libya into “volcanoes, lava and fire against the imperialism”. If the military strikes continued, he warned, Gaddafi forces would transform Tripoli into “a death trap”. “I don’t think that the rebels will stand that fight because they haven’t got the facilities to do that. They always ask Nato to help them and to intervene in their actions all the time. But I think Tripoli will be in two days or three days back to us,” he said. Rebel leaders said 400 people had been killed and 2,000 injured during the fighting, and there were reports of sporadic looting in the capital. But the whereabouts of the Libyan leader and his family remain unknown. Tripoli was calmer on Wednesday morning, although pockets of loyalist resistance remain, including around the Rixos Hotel, where many foreign journalists are still trapped. Loyalist strongholds also remain in the coastal town of Sirte, Gaddafi’s birthplace, and the southern desert city of Sabha, while overnight pro-Gaddafi forces launched a number of Scud missiles towards rebel-held Misrata. But the fall of Gaddafi’s fortress-like city within a city, and the trampling of his likeness under the feet of Libya’s new rulers, represented a symbolic moment of victory after a six-month civil war. Earlier in the day, loyalist snipers and mortars had held the rebels at bay in the streets around Bab al-Aziziya. The rebels responded with every weapon in their possession: artillery, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, sending plumes of thick black smoke into the sky. By afternoon, bolstered by waves of opposition fighters who had streamed in from Libya’s western mountains and Misrata to the east, they began to move forward on Bab al-Aziziya. They massed at the pale green outer walls and blew the gates off, pouring into what had once been the regime’s inner sanctum on foot, in cars, even in requisitioned golf carts. Another two layers of fortifications were quickly breached and, as the sun set, the rebels reached Gaddafi’s residence, climbing on the statue of a fist clutching a US warplane, a symbol of his defiance after an American bombing raid in 1986. A handful of rebels also tore the golden face off Gaddafi’s statue, throwing it to the ground, prodding it with rifles and kicking it, while others climbed on to the roof of the building, little more than a shell after repeated Nato bombing sorties, and unfurled the red, black and green flag of pre-Gaddafi Libya. A few yards away, Gaddafi’s trademark tent, where he would receive visiting dignitaries, burned furiously. Outside, a rebel fighter had donned one of Gaddafi’s grey and gold ceremonial caps and draped a gold chain around his neck. “Libyans will shock the world,” he promised Sky News. “We want to start a new life, a new Libya.” But in the midst of the triumph, it soon became clear that the man who had ruled Libya for 42 years had slipped away, as had his sons, who had helped maintain his grip on the country and who had expected to inherit his power. On Monday, the rebels claimed to have detained two of his sons, Saif al-Islam and Muhammad, as they swept into the capital. But that boast soon crumbled. Loyalists stormed the villa where Muhammad was being held under house arrest and freed him, while Saif al-Islam appeared at Tripoli’s luxury Rixos hotel on Monday night and took journalists on a tour of nearby streets. The staged photo opportunity turned out to be a last hurrah for a regime that had always been skilled at manipulating the media. By the morning, the pro-Gaddafi crowd had evaporated. But the manhunt for Gaddafi went on. Abdel-Salam Jalloud, one of the leader’s closest lieutenants until he defected earlier this month, told al-Jazeera he thought Gaddafi was moving around the outskirts of Tripoli, taking shelter at private homes, small hotels and mosques. Others thought he might be in Sirte or in Sabha; most observers, including the Pentagon, believed Gaddafi was still somewhere in Libya. In the sky above Tripoli, Nato planes flew sorties. The coup de grâce to the Gaddafi regime was left to Libyan rebel fighters on the ground. But the pause was not expected to last long and the bombing of what strategic targets are left in Tripoli was expected to resume, alliance officials said. On Tuesday night there were reports of more explosions being heard around Tripoli. Meanwhile, a number of serving British special forces soldiers, as well as ex-SAS troops, are advising rebel forces , although their presence is officially denied, the Guardian has learned. The rebels started the day tentatively, but then a convoy of pickups arrived with anti-aircraft guns mounted at the back, and the offensive accelerated. Overnight, the rebels had been reinforced by hundreds of fighters from the opposition enclave of Misrata, who had broken through government lines along Libya’s coastal road near the town of Zlitan, after months of trying, and driven under rocket fire the rest of the way to the capital. Leaders of the National Transitional Council (NTC) who had orchestrated the anti-Gaddafi campaign from the eastern town of Benghazi had been taken aback by the speed of the offensive, and were struggling to keep up with the pace and prevent a power vacuum developing in Tripoli after the initial euphoria faded. Mahmoud Shammam, an NTC spokesman, told the Guardian from Tunisia: ” The swift movement of the battle has left our officials a little bit behind, but we are trying hard. ” Mahmoud Jibril, deputy leader of the NTC, later told a press conference: “There should be no settling of scores. We should not besmirch the last page of the revolution. We have to concentrate on rebuilding and repairing our moral and physical wounds.” Jibril added that some “security measures” would be needed to stabilise the situation in Tripoli and elsewhere. He said the NTC had taken the decision to form a security council that would be composed of Libyan army and police officials who had allied themselves with the rebels in recent months. Members of the rebels’ Tripoli brigade, made up of city residents and specially trained in Qatar, had been assigned to guard the national museum in Tripoli and other cultural sites, although Shammam was unsure how many locations were secure. The NTC broadcast repeated public messages urging the population to stay calm, and not to loot or carry out reprisals. Police officers had been quietly approached in the weeks running up to Tripoli’s fall and urged to stay at their posts. Shammam said half the members of the NTC executive board, now functioning as an interim cabinet, would arrive in Tripoli on Wednesday morning to begin the work of reconstruction and the painful transition from an autocracy that had lasted longer than most Libyans’ lifetimes. He appealed to the international community to unblock Libyan funds frozen in western bank accounts since the fighting started, so that the new administration could pay civil servants and the police. The EU said it was poised to unfreeze the money as soon as it was approved by the United Nations, which will host a meeting of regional organisations on Friday. Libya Muammar Gaddafi Middle East Africa Arab and Middle East unrest Julian Borger Luke Harding guardian.co.uk
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Select committee report critical of Payments Council’s proposal to abolish cheques and wants return of cheque guarantee cards The Payments Council was wrong to announce the abolition of cheques in December 2009 and should consider reinstating cheque guarantee cards, the Treasury select committee has said. Its report, greeted warmly by consumer rights groups, condemned the Payments Council , calling it an industry dominated organisation, which should no longer have the “unfettered power to decide the future of cheques or other payment methods that directly affect millions of people”. In 2009 the Payments Council announced that cheques would be phased out by October 2018 , claiming they were in “terminal decline”. It also abolished the cheque guarantee card scheme from 1 July 2011, meaning it is now no longer be possible to guarantee a cheque up to a maximum of £250 by handing over a card featuring the scheme’s logo or hologram. In response, the Treasury launched an inquiry in February 2010, saying it would examine the organisation’s structure and performance , including whether it was sufficiently accountable for the way its decisions impact on consumers. The Payments Council performed a U-turn on cheques in mid-July 2011, ahead of the Treasury select committee report’s publication, claiming it would not seek to kill them off. In the final report, the select committee’s chairman, Andrew Tyrie, has called for the Payments Council to be regulated, recommending that banks send it “advance sight of any material related to the future availability of cheques that the banks send to their customers”. Tyrie’s report also recommends that all banks be required to write to their customers stating that cheques will continue to be in use for the foreseeable future, that the Payments Council should examine the reintroduction of the cheque guarantee card, and changes be made to the composition of the board of the Payments Council to strengthen the voice of consumers. Tyrie said: “Cheques have been saved, for the moment, but we need to remain vigilant. The incentives for the industry to get rid of cheques has not gone away. Neither have we. “The Payments Council is an industry dominated body with no effective public accountability. Its decision caused great and unnecessary concern among bank customers. And during the course of the Treasury committee’s inquiry it became clear that the Council’s plans did not have the confidence or support of the public, parliament or the government.” He added: “The decision of the Payments Council [to abolish cheques] was taken without an assessment of the costs and benefits and without providing any indication of what alternatives to cheques would be put in place. Banks have also given many customers the impression that the abolition of cheques was a foregone conclusion. This type of behaviour is unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue.” Consumers groups have welcomed the report. Sarah Brooks, director of financial services at Consumer Focus , said: “We echo the committee’s calls that cheques must not face an unmanaged decline. While use may be declining, around two-thirds of people still cash and write cheques, with over a billion processed every year. “Payment systems can be seen as a utility in the same way as the railway network or National Grid. They should be subject to effective regulation and decision-making to make sure the system works well for everyone who needs them to pay for goods and services.” Richard Lloyd, Which? executive director, said it was “unacceptable that the Payments Council, as an unregulated, industry dominated body has the power to make unilateral decisions about payment methods that affect millions of people. The structure of the Payments Council now needs to be reviewed, and the voice of consumers strengthened on its board.” Gary Hocking, acting chief executive of the Payments Council, said the council would look at how it could ensure that consumers received consistent information about payments. He added: “While we don’t believe increased regulation is required, as part of an existing commitment to the Office of Fair Trading, we are due to review our governance arrangements before the end of the year. We will take the select committee’s recommendations particularly on the role of our independent directors into account.” The financial secretary to the Treasury, Mark Hoban MP said: “In response to public opinion the Payments Council ultimately did the right thing by abandoning its plans to abolish cheques. However, the way they handled this decision does raise questions about the governance of the Payments Council. The Treasury select committee’s report highlights these questions and we will look at its recommendations carefully and respond in due course.” It is thought the government will back the report’s recommendations when it reports to parliament later this year. Cheques Consumer rights Consumer affairs Banks and building societies Mark King guardian.co.uk
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Roll-out of scheme that monitors patients for 24 hours could cut hypertension rates and save the NHS £10m a year More than a quarter of patients may have been misdiagnosed for high blood pressure, a finding that will see the way doctors identify hypertension changed for the first time in more than a century. Guidelines published on Wednesday by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) recommend that patients should be monitored for 24 hours to determine whether they have high blood pressure rather than having a measurement taken in a doctor’s surgery. The 24-hour process, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM), involves wearing a cuff and a box on a belt for a day. The patient then brings it back the following day for the recording to be downloaded on to a computer and an automatic report generated. Currently patients have a number of appointments to have their blood pressure checked, and it is estimated that 25% suffer from “white-coat hypertension” – a syndrome in which people show elevated blood pressure in a surgery or hospital but nowhere else. Bryan Williams, professor of medicine at the University of Leicester, who chaired the Nice hypertension guideline committee, said any patients who had been misdiagnosed would be identified as the system was adopted across the NHS. He said: “Everybody on treatment is under periodic, usually annual, review and that is the opportunity to consider whether or not the original diagnosis was the right one.” He added that 10% of the NHS could introduce “this tomorrow … Our modelling showed that for every 100,000 people this new method would cost £2.5m in the first year. But by year five you would see savings of £10m a year.” The guideline panel expect that the new process will take about a year to introduce and that the cost of the machines, currently around £1,000 each, could halve. The new advice also recommends that people over 80 are treated for high blood pressure. In the past there has been debate over whether this will cause more harm than good. But Williams said that patients would benefit. In the UK 12 million people have high blood pressure and almost half are undiagnosed. It is estimated that the condition costs the NHS £1bn a year in drugs alone. Managing high blood pressure is the most important thing patients can do to lessen their risk of a stroke – the third most lethal condition after cancer and heart disease and leading cause of severe disability. It is estimated that 20% of hospital beds are occupied by stroke victims. Cathy Ross, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “The number of people with high blood pressure in the UK is staggering. It’s a major risk factor for heart disease and strokes so it’s crucial we do all we can to get people diagnosed and properly treated as soon as possible.” Although there is no debate over the existence of white coat syndrome, some researchers argue that even mild exercise can influence readings and patients should be at home when an assessment is made. A study in Finland five years ago concluded that the home approach “is more convenient and better accepted by the patients for long-term use and also less costly compared to ambulatory monitoring.” However, a study accompanying the Nice guidelines found that ambulatory monitoring was the most cost-effective way to diagnose hypertension among men and women of all ages. For women aged 40, the saving was £323 for each patient. The health minister Anne Milton said: “Hypertension is a serious public health issue that affects up to a third of the population and needs to be better managed in primary care. “Getting the diagnosis right is vital in order to make sure that all patients who need treatment get it before they go on to develop a more serious condition.” NHS Health Randeep Ramesh guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …An Alaska woman was convicted of misdemeanor child abuse today, after showing off the weird punishments she inflicted on her son on an episode of Dr. Phil . Jessica Beagley, 36, was arrested earlier this year after footage of her squirting hot sauce into her 7-year-old son’s mouth and forcing him…
Continue reading …As you may have heard, the East Coast was rocked by a 5.9-magnitude earthquake today, generating much consternation, some property damage, and a lot of shaky videos. We’ve put some of the best of those videos below, starting with an ad taping for a Virginia auto shop that goes…
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