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. 20/11/2008

Foreign embassies refusing to pay the capital’s congestion charge have accrued a bill in excess of £23 million, new figures show.

Today’s disclosure of such a high sum will fuel an ongoing battle over the £8 daily charge between Transport for London and the embassies, which claim that diplomatic immunity exempts them from paying it.

It also puts Boris Johnson and his arc-hrival Ken Livingstone in unusual agreement, with Mr Johnson vowing to continue his predecessor’s fight to recover the charge.

Mr Livingstone grew increasingly angry at the embassies’ refusal to pay, leading to his labelling of Robert Tuttle, the US ambassador, as a “chiselling little crook” in 2006.

The new figures show that the United States is still at the top of the list, with its embassy owing more than £2.7 million since the charge was introduced in February 2003.

The Russian embassy owes more than £1.8 million, while the Japanese embassy is a close third with £1.77 million.

More than 120 countries owe £1.76 million in unpaid charges, consisting of the £8 flat rate charge. Because they refuse to pay they have been charged extra penalties, with the accrued amount totalling £23.12 million.

The figures emerged in a written answer by Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, to the London Assembly.

Murad Qureshi, a Labour member of the Assembly, described the amount as “shockingly high”.

Mr Qureshi said: “It is not for diplomats to pick and choose which rules they obey and which they don't. While they are guests here in London they should play by our rules.

“I hope the Mayor has the guts to stand up the freeloaders and ensure TfL isn't out of pocket for much longer.”

The embassies claim that they are not required to pay the charge because it is a tax from which they are exempt under the Vienna Convention governing diplomatic relations.

However TfL insists that it is a service charge which embassies must therefore pay.

Mr Johnson expressed disappointment at the refusal of the diplomats to pay the charge.

He said: “I am keen to get all embassies complying with the scheme as they should. TfL will continue to engage directly with the Foreign and Commonwealth Officer and those embassies that refuse to pay."

A spokesman for the US Embassy said that it “conscientiously abides” by all English laws, including paying fines for traffic violations.

However he added that the “direct taxation of diplomatic missions” was prohibited under the Vienna Convention.

“Former Mayor Ken Livingstone himself admitted in 2003 that the congestion charge qualified as a direct tax,” he said.

“The embassies of over 80 countries agree that the congestion tax cannot be levied on diplomatic missions and do not pay the charge.”

A TfL spokesperson said: "TfL and the Government are agreed that the Congestion Charge is a charge for a service and not a tax which means that diplomats are not exempt from payment. TfL has held discussions with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and a number of embassies about payment of the Congestion Charge.

. 20/11/2008

Up to 400 criminals involved in a foreign prisoner scandal, including some of the worst offenders, have been told they can stay in England, the Home Office has disclosed.

Less than a third of the 1,013 convicts have been deported two and half years after the scandal broke and subsequently cost Charles Clarke his job as Home Secretary.

And many more could end up staying because 90 are still missing, 31 are in jail again and 160 are still going through the process.

The figures emerged as immigration minister Phil Woolas admitted too many migrant workers have been let in under Labour Government policies.

He also launched another attack on asylum lawyers as he revealed the case of a Nigerian who had his claim rejected four times and was removed, only to have to be brought back because his solicitor lodged a judicial review.

Moves to ban individuals taking out multiple judicial reviews will be contained in the forthcoming Queen's speech, he said.

Dominic Grieve, the Shadow Home Secretary, said: "It is outrageous that over two and a half years after the former home secretary lost his job over this fiasco just a third of these offenders have been deported and 90 have not even been found.

"Not only does this put the public at risk, it shows the Labour government are patently incapable of getting a grip on this long standing problem."

It emerged in spring 2006 that more than 1,000 foreign prisoners had been wrongly released without first being considered for deportation, including murderers and rapists.

But despite the ongoing anger over the issue, Lin Homer, chief executive of the Border Agency, told MPs that only 333 have so far been removed from the country.

Another 399 have been told they can stay in England, including some in the most serious category of crimes, which includes murder, rape and armed robbery.

Ms Homer would not detail what offences they had committed but admitted some will stay because they have been in England for so long.

Ms Homer said only 15 more of the criminals still missing have been tracked down since her last update meaning 90 are still at large.

"Although we have reached the point where the change in numbers is small, we are still making progress," she told the Commons Home Affairs Committee.

"We are not in any sense giving up."

She was appearing alongside Mr Woolas who repeated his attack on asylum lawyers, who this week he accused of "playing the system".

Asked about it, he said: "If you look at the number of appeals and the number of judicial reviews which we believe are being used deliberately to frustrate the system."

He highlighted the case of a Nigerian who applied for asylum, was turned down, lost an appeal, put in a second claim which was refused, appealed again and lost again.

He was removed but the following day the Home Office was informed his lawyer had submitted a successful application for a judicial review on the day he left England and the court had requested he be brought back to hear the case - all at the taxpayers' expense.

Mr Woolas also announced that anyone who is jailed while waiting to become a citizen will be barred from settlement.

The Government has anounced plans for a "probationary citizen" scheme where candidates eligible for naturalisation will have to serve a year "on probation" after the usual five-year stay and demonstrate they are contributing to the country.

The minister was asked if the Labour Government had let too many migrants come to England.

He said the Labour Government had already suspended the route for unskilled workers from outside the EU and added: "The implication of that is that in the past it was not as controlled."

. 20/11/2008

The European Union is costing Britain a staggering £106,000 a minute, a think-tank has revealed.

As the UK teeters on the brink of what experts predict will be the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression, the Labour runGovernment has surrendered £55.8billion to Brussels this year.

That is equivalent to paying a whopping £900 for every man, woman and child in the country.

Cutting back on payments to the EU could fund a 6p cut in income tax, according to a hard-hitting report by the Eurosceptic Bruges Group.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn called it a 'missed opportunity' when Labour ministers gave up £7billion of the UK's EU budget rebate

They branded it a 'scandal' that Britain was contributing so much money to the super-state when struggling families were being forced to tighten their belts as recession looms.

UK Independent Party MEP Gerard Batten, who wrote the report for the think-tank, said: 'As we enter what looks like the most serious economic crisis since 1929 membership of the European Union is a luxury that the British people simply cannot afford.

'It is clear that the EU is holding up economic recovery. To get Britain out of recession, we must get Britain out of the EU.'

Robert Oulds, director of the Bruges Group, said: 'There is a desperate need to reinvigorate the British economy by reducing the burden of taxation.

'Slowly, all three main political parties are beginning to realise this but none have come up with a convincing plan as to how this can be done.

'Now that the costs of EU membership have been exposed, we now know that the tax cuts that are so desperately needed can partly be found by freeing us from EU control.'

The report, published today, calculated that the full financial cost to Britain of being part of the EU was £55.8billion - up £400million on the previous year.

This was made up of the Treasury's £4.7billion net contribution to Brussels, plus a £3billion handout to other EU bodies, such as the European Space Agency and the European Investment Bank.

The controversial Common Agricultural Policy costs the UK an additional £16.8billion while the Common Fisheries Policy adds up to another £3.3billion. Some of this is paid direct to the EU, whilst being part of the policies means food on our tables is more expensive.

Finally, red tape imposed by the EU has cost British business about £28billion, according to statistics calculated by the European Commission's vice-chairman Günter Verheugen.

The Bruges Group says that leaving the EU would boost tax revenue and free-up sufficient funds to allow the Government to cut the basic rate of income tax by 6p.

Experts feel we are heading for the world's worst financial crisis since the Great Depression

The report was unveiled as the Conservatives blasted the Labour Government's failure to shake up the Common Agricultural Policy.

Labour Ministers gave up £7billion of the UK’s EU budget rebate on the grounds that the farming system would be reformed.

But this did not happen - a failure Environment Secretary Hilary Benn conceded is a 'missed opportunity'.

The Tories also revealed how the Labour Government missed a crucial opportunity to influence the reforms by failing to send a minister to a key European summit on the issue last May.

Shadow agriculture minister Jim Paice said: 'The Labour Government gave up £7billion of taxpayers' money for vague promises of common agricultural policy reform which it has signally failed to achieve.

'The failure to secure sustainable reform comes with a huge price-tag, at a time when the UK economy can ill afford it.'

He said it was 'absolutely indefensible' that UK ministers did not attend the crunch talks.

'The UK should be at the forefront of these talks on the CAP, food security and environmental protection, not just to promote the interests of British farming, but to ensure that EU policy most effectively responds to the challenges of rising demand for food,' he said.

. 20/11/2008

English communities were today bracing themselves for 'bombshell' news on the locations of hundreds of new and upgraded gipsy camps across the country.

Work on some of the proposed 7,500 extra pitches - some able to accommodate up to three families - will get the go-ahead within weeks under a controversial £97million scheme.

Targets imposed by the Labour Government mean English regional authorities must provide a specified number of permanent sites with rubbish collection, running water, electricity and other services.

The Scottish run Labour Government is offering £97million in grants for English councils to provide homes, such as a proposed campsite in Warwickshire, for up to 25,000 Gypsies and Travellers , in return travellers will have to pay rent and council tax.

The pressure on English local authorities has forced at least one to warn homeowners of a 'land grab' compulsory purchase to make way for hundreds of travellers.

If other English councils follow suit, thousands of landowners could see their property bought at reduced rates if they refuse to sell up.

Figures for January this year, show that there are currently 4,902 pitches on English local authority sites accommodating 6,696 caravans.

But according to the charity Friends, Travellers and Families, there are around 25,000 gipsies and travellers who do not have fixed places to live.

Communities minister Iain Wright is due to announce which projects have won grants, covering spending to 2011, before Christmas.

Around a third of the money, £28million, is expected to go to the East of England region which is currently home to about a quarter of the country's travelling families but has only 16 per cent of official sites.

Some £17million is being awarded to the South-East of England and £14million earmarked for the South-West of England, while £9.5million is set for the East Midlands, £7.5million for the West Midlands, £6million for each of London, the North-West and Yorkshire and Humber.

The final £3million is expected to be handed to local authorities in the North-East of England.

Tonight the Tories pledged to abolish Labour Government targets for providing 7,500 additional spaces to gipsies and travellers.

Shadow Communities Secretary Eric Pickles blamed 'political correctness' for the proposed explosion in the number of official traveller camps.

'Communities across England are going to face the bombshell of having a traveller camp dumped on their backyard, whether they like it or not,' he said.

'Councils are powerless to resist these regional targets, and are being bullied into building on the English Green Belt or using compulsory purchase powers to provide the land for travellers.

'It's not fair that hard-working English families have to save up to get onto the housing ladder, while travellers get special treatment at English taxpayers' expense.'

The plans have already provoked serious concerns at local level.

In Milton Keynes, where the council is hoping to build a new site at Fenny Lock near the town of Bletchley at a cost of £1.8million, councillors are already fearful of a public backlash.

Labour's Reg Edwards said: 'I've got nothing against travellers, some of my family were Romanies, but the reaction is not going to be pleasant.

'Travellers' sites need to be on the outskirts - not in the middle of a populated area and next to a big Tesco's depot. There'll be a lot of conflict.'

In Brighton, the council is hoping to secure the £1.7million it needs to build a new site for up to 14 families at Sheepcote Valley, on the eastern outskirts of the city.

Meanwhile, South Norfolk council wants £250,000 to help local gipsies establish a number of smaller sites.

Epping Forest District Council in Essex, which has been ordered to provide the area with an extra 49 traveller pitches by 2012, has released documents about their plans for more campsites that reveal how they will find land for the new developments.

'As a last resort there may need to be sites on other private land, wherever possible, we would seek the owners agreement, but as a matter of last resort the option of Compulsory Purchase is there,' they say on their website.

Local Tory MP Eleanor Laing claimed during heated Commons exchanges this week: 'Decent normal law-abiding hard-working tax-paying English people are under threat of having the little pieces of land right next to their houses taken away by this Scottish run Labour Government, by compulsory purchase, to provide sites for gipsies.'

A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government said: 'It's important we have enough authorised sites for gipsies and travellers to stop the vicious cycle of evictions from unauthorised sites that is costly to the taxpayer and impacts on the quality of life for the travelling community and the wider public.

'Councils have a range of powers to deal with any unauthorised developments and any anti social behaviour resulting from the occupants and we have provided clear guidance on their use.'

. 20/11/2008

Scotland should have its own Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer with the power to raise all the money it spends, a leading Scottish think tank has concluded.

A report by Reform Scotland recommends the Barnett formula be scrapped to make Scottish ministers more financially accountable, and calls for a "re-balancing of the constitution" towards England.

The Scottish Parliament's budget is currently about £28billion per year, while Westminster spends another £19billion north of the Border.

However, Scottish ministers receive their spending money in the form of a block grant from London,England, from Labour's Scottish ministers, and have little power to raise taxes themselves.

Economist Graeme Blackett, the report's co-author, said: "We recommend that a Scottish Exchequer - and that would require a Scottish Chancellor - is established as part of a new financial settlement.

"The greater fiscal powers of the Scottish Parliament would make this necessary and a Scottish Exchequer would be responsible for collecting revenue from all taxes levied north of the Border on behalf of the Scottish governments."

The Reform Scotland report, published on Thursday, concludes that Holyrood currently has control over taxes that raise only 13 per cent of the money it spends.

It argues this gives them little incentive to increase their tax base or revenue by pursuing policies that encourage economic growth.

To compensate Westminster for its spending in Scotland, the study argues that certain taxes raised north of the Border could be retained by the Scottish Government.

These include all National Insurance contributions, 40 per cent of Scottish income tax revenues, 40 per cent of Scotland's geographical share of North Sea oil revenues, together with TV licence and passport fees and the National Lottery levy.

The Scottish Executive would set all other taxes to fund the Holyrood budget of around £30 billion, with the exception of VAT.

Holyrood would also be handed borrowing powers, allowing Scottish ministers more leeway to cut taxes or increase public spending to stimulate the economy during future downturns.

The net result of giving Scottish ministers more financial responsibility would be a lower overall tax burden and a major reduction in public spending as a share of GDP, the report claims.

The report also argues that the 'Achilles' heel' of the current devolution set-up is the lack of any body to represent specifically English matters, an omission that it claims is unusual.

But it says the workings of Westminster can be altered without setting up a new English parliament. ( We the English nation will see about that ).

The report will be submitted to the Calman Commission review into devolution, backed by all three of the main Unionist parties, and the SNP Scottish Executive's National Conversation on the future constitution.

An advisory group to the commission published a report earlier this week advising that higher levels of public spending in Scotland will become "increasingly difficult" to defend.

. 20/11/2008

None of the teachers named as members of the British National Party on a leaked membership list will be sacked or disciplined, the profession's disciplinary body has said.

Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, faced demands from teaching unions for changes in the law to bring the profession into line with other public services, including the police and prison officers, who are banned from supporting the BNP. ( But you can support the likes of Sinn Fein )

At least 13 teachers were named on the BNP membership list, but the General Teaching Council, said it would not withdraw the registration of any teacher on the list because "there is no restriction on teachers being members of the BNP".

Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT union, said both the Government and the GTC were out of step with the views of teachers and parents.

"We think they are wrong and we think the law is wrong," she said. "If the Government finds it necessary to make sure police and prison officers have it in their contract that they can't be members of the BNP, then teachers should have it in their contract too.

"The current rules say teachers must not promote racism in the classroom, but it's not about promoting racism, it's about acting in a racist manner. If a teacher is a member of the BNP I can't see how that can be divorced from the classroom, where they may be dealing with children from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds.

"Those who declare their affiliation to the BNP should not be allowed to work in the teaching profession or in public services."

The GTC's insistence that no teacher would be sacked over membership of the BNP means that individual schools would find it almost impossible to sack staff and could face costly legal action if they did.

A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said there were "safeguards" in place "to prevent the teaching of partisan political activities in our schools". This included the duty of schools to have equal opportunities policies and to apply the Race Relations Act.

The NASUWT's view is shared by the National Union of Teachers, whose general secretary, Christine Blower, has written to the other teaching unions suggesting they put out a joint statement condemning teachers' membership of the BNP.

A spokesman for the NUT said: "Our view is that membership of the BNP is inconsistent with the values a teachers should have."

I love the Ealing comedies, The Lavender Hill Mob, Whisky Galore, Titfield thunderbolt, I am also a big Will Hay fan, I have no particular favourite, it just depends what mood I am in, I am lucky in that my wife loves the oldies too so we have a large collection of British films on DVD, anyone looking through our collection would assume we are aged about 70. Favourite war films are Ice Cold in Alex and the Bridge over the River Kwai.
As for American films, Treasure of The Sierra Madre, Easy Rider and The Outlaw Josey Wales and I am also a big Bogart fan.
Yes I know I am a nostalgic old fart!
Anyway whats your favourite.

. 20/11/2008

Insulation specialist SIG has become the latest firm in the construction sector to announce job losses after confirming it is axing 900 positions.

SIG is cutting 7% of its workforce and shutting 65 trading sites after warning that annual profits will be at the bottom end of market forecasts.

The announcement comes a day after building supplies firm Wolseley said it is cutting 2,000 UK jobs. Sheffield-based SIG said its UK and Ireland operation, which traded from 500 sites in the summer, would take the bulk of the cost-saving measures. It has a further 370 trading outlets in mainland Europe.

SIG said the measures, which should produce £25 million of annual cost savings in 2009, would realign resources to current and anticipated trading levels.

The company said: "It will be some time before the implications of the tighter liquidity and credit conditions now set to prevail well into 2009 become clear, but it is logical that these will not be without consequence for SIG's markets and customers."

SIG, which stands for Sheffield Insulations Group, opened its first branch in 1956 and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1989.

The company said like-for-like sales for the UK and Ireland division were down 5.3% in the second half of the year to date, compared with growth of 3.3% in the first half of the year.

SIG said those parts of its operations most heavily exposed to residential construction and repair and maintenance had found trading increasingly challenging, with new housing most affected.

The notable exception has been its Miller Pattison business, which specialises in the fitting of insulation in existing dwellings and has continued to see strong sales.

20/11/2008

An extra 1,200 British troops will be sent to Afghanistan next year, defence experts said last night.

The British soldiers will be deployed on nine-month tours of duty to bolster the struggle against the Taliban - an increase from the current six months.

Documents leaked reveal the Ministry of Defence proposes to send an extra 1,000 full-time servicemen and around 200 part-time soldiers to the war-torn country from next April.

There they will 'mentor' the fledgling Afghan army and teach them how to overcome insurgents in the notorious Helmand Province.

Extra 'reservists' will also be deployed to help rebuild battle scarred towns and villages, construct bridges, dig wells, and set up schools and medical centres.

The leaked 27-page document, which was put together by Brigadier Dickie Davis, the highly respected Afghanistan veteran, was shown to a meeting of the Army Policy and Resources Committee last Monday.

It focuses on how the British Army can train Afghan troops to fight Taleban extremists as well as helping with the reconstruction and development of the war-ravaged nation.

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has announced Afghanistan will be his number one priority when he steps into the White House in January and Britain is under
growing pressure to expand its 8,000-strong presence.

The winding down of the UK presence in Iraq will ease the overstretching of Britain's armed forces and should make a significant 'uplift' of the forces in Afghanistan possible by late next year.

Last night, the plans were criticised by some defence experts, who said the Armed Forces are suffering from damaging 'overstretch'.

Military chiefs, including Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Jock Stirrup, have already warned that hard-pressed troops must be given time to recover after several years of fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Bernard Jenkin, a Tory member of the Defence Select Committee, said: 'This is a very big ask of an Army that is tired, depleted and overstretched from fighting on two fronts.

'We know that President-elect Obama is going to ask for another contribution from UK troops and this seems to answer the question of how we are going to provide it.'

. 20/11/2008

Darling-Brown spending row set to intensify as Labour government borrowing soars in worst October for 14 years.

The spending row between the Labour Prime Minister and the Labour Chancellor is set to intensify today after it was revealed government had to borrow more than it repaid for the first time in 14 years last month.

The public sector borrowed a net £1.4 billion last month - compared with a net repayment of £1.8 billion a year earlier, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

October is usually a strong month for tax receipts but this year was the first time since 1994 that net borrowing was recorded.

The figures also showed net borrowing since April soaring to £37 billion - almost double the £20 billion seen in the same period last year.

The Treasury is locked in a battle with Downing Street over Mr Brown's demands for a bank-busting tax giveaway.

Alistair Darling is resisting pressure from Gordon Brown to deliver a lavish 'rose-tinted' Pre-Budget Report on Monday.

There were signs of major policy battle between the Chancellor and Gordon Brown as speculation grew that a package of measures worth between £15billion and £30billion is on the cards in an attempt to fool voters.

But Mr Darling is said to be holding out for a 'realistic' range of cuts for the low paid that would not exceed £15billion - or one per cent of the total value of the economy.

With just days to go before Monday's crucial Commons statement, key details are still being argued between Gordon Brown and Darling.

The Labour Government is keeping a tight lid on what is planned, and Darling denies as 'total garbage' suggestions that Mr Brown wants tax cuts worth up to £30billion.

But the Prime Minister fuelled speculation that he is ready to borrow heavily to pay for his scheme by promising an 'urgent, temporary and affordable fiscal stimulus'.

Expectation is growing that Brown will cut income taxes and VAT as a way of getting cash into people's pockets quickly to encourage spending.

There was further gloom for the Treasury today as it was revealed that the recent fall in oil prices could cost the Labour government as much as £6 billion in lost tax revenues.

Even taking into account the benefit to the economy of a fall in the price of oil, the Chancellor still looks set to lose out on billions of pounds

The news comes just days before Alistair Darling is set to pile up further borrowing with a tax and spend give-away to kick-start the economy in Monday's Pre-Budget Report.

October's figures gave growing evidence of the impact of the slowdown on tax revenues - even before the recession is officially confirmed.

Income tax receipts were £1 billion below a year earlier, corporation tax revenues were flat and national insurance contributions dropped by £300 million.

Overall growth in receipts was virtually flat although total current spending was more than £2 billion ahead of the previous year.

According to the Chancellor's March Budget, net borrowing was forecast at £43 billion over the whole year, although it currently stands at £37 billion with a full five months to go.

Other factors such as the £2.7 billion paid to resolve the 10p tax row and a package of measures to help the housing market - including raising the stamp duty threshold - have added further pressure on the figures.

IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer said the March forecasts had "long been blown out of the water".

"The public finances showed further sharp deterioration in October, highlighting the impact of the sharp economic slowdown, markedly weak housing market activity and prices, rising unemployment and Labour Government policy concessions.

"Indeed, at the current rate of deterioration, the net borrowing requirement is on course to hit £67.5 billion in 2008/09, without taking into account any immediate stimulus actions that may be unveiled by the Chancellor on Monday," he said.

. 20/11/2008

Police were at the centre of a new storm over data protection today after emailing the personal details of suspected criminals to 150 farmers.

Members of a 'farm watch' scheme were sent an email attachment containing the names, dates of birth and addresses of dozens of alleged offenders in their area.

The document also outlined what action the force intended to take against the 51 suspects.

The gaffe was a 'serious breach of data protection', one MP said today.

Embarrassed officers sent a follow-up message two days later asking the farmers not to read the information and to delete the attachment immediately.

But one member of the Northumberland Farm Watch said he had already opened the document - and seen the names of three people he knew.

The Information Commission is now investigating the lapse.

Northumbria Police has apologised for the error and revealed it has launched an internal inquiry.

A farmer from the Alnwick area, who did not want to be named, said he had received the email earlier this week.

'It had a list of names, addresses and ages of people who have committed crimes in the area and what action is being taken against them.

'I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I know three of the people on the list.

'Then two days later I received another email from the police telling me to delete the attachment urgently and not to open it.

'I have deleted it now, but I had already looked at it and I know of at least another 30 farmers who have done the same.'

Berwick MP Sir Alan Beith said: 'This is a serious breach of data protection and it is the sort of thing which undermines confidence in organisations which keep information.

'It can only undermine what the police do in this area.'

A spokeswoman for the Information Commissioner's Office confirmed it would investigate.

Northumberland Police area commander Chief Supt Kevin Lambert said the list of criminals had been attached to last Friday's routine email 'in error'.

He added: 'This document contained personal information of 51 people, some of whom have been brought to the attention of the police service and other partner agencies.

'We sincerely apologise for this error. We believe at this stage that there is nothing that would compromise individual or public safety.

'An internal review is being undertaken and will introduce measures to guard against this type of incident happening in the future.'

. 20/11/2008


Aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce has said it plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs in 2009 because of the downturn and delays to new Airbus and Boeing planes.

The firm also said it was in talks about a planned cut of 140 jobs at its Assembly and Test facility in Derby.

Rolls employs about 39,000 people worldwide, with 60% in England, but it did not say where jobs might be lost.

Defence giant BAE Systems also announced job cuts in Newcastle, Leeds, Leicester, Barrow and Telford.

The company is cutting up to 200 jobs in its combat vehicles business, blaming a fall in workload in the Ministry of Defence's programmes.

BAE Systems said that a voluntary redundancy programme had been launched.

Announcing the job cuts, Rolls-Royce said it was responding to the global economic slowdown and delays to projects by Airbus and Boeing.

"Rolls-Royce has been reviewing the possible impact of current economic uncertainties, delays on individual programmes, such as the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 787, and the benefits of the group's continuing focus on efficiency," it said.

It was announced at the beginning of November that Boeing would delay the first flight of its 787 Dreamliner aircraft until 2009, having previously aimed to get it off the ground before the end of 2008.

Last week, the head of the European aerospace group EADS said there was a possibility deliveries of some Airbus A380 super-jumbo aircraft may be delayed by one year until 2010.

Rolls-Royce said it wanted to give its employees "an early indication of the likely scale" of the job cuts in 2009.

"We are determined to to maintain our focus on cost reduction and competitiveness as the world economy enters a challenging period," said Sir John Rose, Rolls-Royce's chief executive.

The company announced in January it would cut 2,300 jobs during 2008.

"To minimise compulsory redundancies, the group reduced its temporary workforce and, where possible, relied on voluntary severance, natural attrition and avoided recruitment," it said.

It plans "to adopt a similar approach in 2009."

. 20/11/2008


Oil prices have fallen below $50 a barrel amid fears of a recession and expectations that demand will drop.

London-traded Brent crude fell to $48.54 a barrel, falling below the $50 mark for the first time since May 2005.

US light sweet crude fell to $50.20 a barrel. The price of oil is around two-thirds cheaper than in July, when it hit a record above $147 a barrel.

Members of oil cartel Opec are to meet on November 29, after opting to cut output by 1.5 million barrels per day.

"The lack of any positive news on the demand front as well as continued global economic turmoil continues to result in a dearth of bullish news," said Jonathan Kornafel, Asia director of Hudson Capital Energy.

US shares opened lower on Thursday, slipping 39.9 points, or 0.5%, to 7,957.38.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve said it expected the US economy to shrink in the first half of next year, adding to fears over lower demand for fuel.

Figures from the Energy Information Administration released on Wednesday showed US stocks of crude oil increased by 1.6 million barrels last week - twice as much as expected.

Meanwhile figures from Japan showed the country experienced its second trade deficit in three months in October, with exports 7.7% lower year-on-year.

Amid signs of the wider slowdown, investors and hedge funds have been turning to cash, and away from commodities.

.20/11/2008

An escalating stand-off between the Israeli Army and a group of extremist Jewish settlers encamped illegally in a Palestinian town took a sinister turn today after radicals desecrated a Muslim cemetery and mosque and attacked soldiers.

Israel's military, which is trying to force the settlers to leave the property in Hebron, said it had removed the graffiti "Muhammad is a pig" from a local mosque and had cleared the cemetery, in which gravestones were sprayed by radicals with Stars of David.

The wave of vandalism is part of a campaign of violence and disorder by nine settler families, who make up some of the most extreme hard-right-wingers in Israel.

They have promised to use force against local Palestinian residents and soldiers trying to enforce an Israeli court order demanding their departure from a house they have occupied in the town, which is densely populated by Palestinians.

The settlers believe they have a biblical right to settle anywhere in the West Bank, and bitterly oppose Israel's negotiations to give up large swaths of the occupied territory in exchange for a Palestinian state and a permanent peace settlement. Currently, about 500 settlers live in guarded enclaves in Hebron's city centre among 170,000 Palestinians.

The Israeli Army stepped back from its original plan to forcibly evacuate the settlers yesterday, fearing extreme violence. Instead, Ehud Barak, the Defence Minister, has pledged to force their removal within 30 days.

Amid a wave of vandalism perpetrated by settlers yesterday in the aftermath of the court decision, a group of men was seen gathering near a mosque, daubing abusive graffiti on it.

Mouatassem Daana, a Palestinian resident, said that he saw settlers gathered near the mosque building “writing demeaning graffiti on the wall of the mosque insulting the Prophet Muhammad” and breaking windows. Later, the cemetery was also vandalised.

As the army tried to stop settlers attacking Palestinians, the military said that one soldier was wounded after a settler sprayed turpentine on him. Activists were also said to have punctured the tyres of police and military vehicles stationed nearby.

With the prospect of a violent clash looming, the Israeli Government and army reiterated that they would enforce the court decision.

Mr Barak told Army Radio: "I call on everybody involved [in the affair] to act responsibly and in accordance with the state's essence and judicial institutions. It's the fundamentals of the country and we will insist on it."

An Israel Defence Forces spokesman said of the settler violence: "We take such incidents seriously" and said all graffiti damage had been removed.

Hebron’s Palestinian governor, Hussein al-Araj, urged Israeli authorities to halt the settler violence and carry out the court decision.

“What happened is unacceptable,” he said. “The Israelis have to enforce the law and stop the suffering of the Palestinians who are living next to settlers. They have to take the settlers from this house and protect the Palestinians.”

I've only thought this out in theory but it should work.
The difficulty in making a helmet out of card is that you can't get double curvature, because card will only bend in one direction at a time. So blow up a balloon to the size of the wearer's head, then make the upper dome part of the helm out of papier mache applied over it. When it's set hard pop the balloon and trim the rough edges. The face and ear-pieces can be made out of card because they only need to curve in one direction.