Review of the Papers, Friday 9 February
09 Feb 2007 - LP
- More than 60 MPs have backed a campaign to force the Government and regulators to step in to prevent BSkyB, Britain's biggest satellite television company, from taking over its terrestrial rival ITV. The prospect that BSkyB's chairman, Rupert Murdoch, could, in effect, gain control over ITV - including its news channel - has created a political dilemma for the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, as he gets ready to take over 10 Downing Street. A Commons motion, put forward by the Labour MP John Grogan, has called on the Government to use its special powers under the 2002 Enterprise Act to prevent BSkyB from controlling ITV. He wants the matter referred to the Competition Commission. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2251369.ece
- MPs from all corners of the UK have backed the campaign against excessive packaging, fired by public pressure and personal frustration at accumulating so much rubbish on shopping trips. Exerting pressure on retailers and manufacturers to "design out" excessive packaging, 54 MPs have now signed a EDM supporting The Independent's Campaign Against Waste. Representatives of seven parties have signed: Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, SDLP and DUP. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2251375.ece
- The NHS is to export hundreds of clerical jobs to India, it was announced yesterday. Peter Coates, deputy director of finance at the Department of Health, said that as many as two thirds of NHS accounting and finance functions would be outsourced, with much of the work being done in India. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article1356212.ece
- Driving test candidates will face questions on the environmental impact of cars when sitting their theory exams from September 3. The multiple choice test will increase from 35 to 50 questions to allow candidates to be examined on their knowledge of “eco-driving” techniques for reducing fuel consumption and harmful emissions. The pass mark will be 43 and the cost of the test will increase from £21.50 to £28.50. The extended test will also include questions on unlicensed and uninsured driving, new motorway signs and first aid. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1356718.ece
- Tony Blair is planning to work for a new “postBush” consensus on climate change with the US Congress and world leaders after he leaves office this summer. The arrival of British ministers and MPs in Washington next weekend for a forum on global warming - which will largely bypass President Bush - is seen as a step towards reaching a new deal with Europe, America, India and China on a global cap and trade system for carbon emissions. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1356027.ece
- The Prison Service has been told to find savings of £80 million for each of three financial years from an annual budget of £2 billion. The demand follows a deal between Charles Clarke, the former Home Secretary, and Gordon Brown, under which the Home Office budget will be frozen from next year. Senior officials in the Home Office have asked the Prison Service to identify savings totalling 4 per cent – or £80 million – a year for each financial year between 2008 and 2011. The scale of the savings has astonished senior prison staff, who are grappling with an overcrowding crisis in the battle to house 80,000 inmates, and who have told the Home Office that the cuts will be impossible to achieve. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article1355849.ece
- The Conservative party has sold its old headquarters in Smith Square, central London, to a European property developer for a profit of more than £15m, it emerged last night. The deal will leave the Tories almost debt-free for the first time for 20 years while Labour is close to bankruptcy, owing about £20m and with donors demanding their money back in the wake of the "cash for honours" scandal. http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,2009372,00.html
- Three people were charged early today with terrorism offences following last week's raids in Birmingham, while another man was released last night without charge. Those charged were aged 30, 36 and 43. The released man was 38. Police investigating the alleged plot to kidnap and behead a British Muslim soldier must either release the three remaining suspects today or ask a judge to grant them more time to carry on questioning them. The charges came after Downing Street was yesterday forced to dismiss as a "gross caricature" claims by one of two Birmingham terror suspects released earlier this week that Britain had become a police state. http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,2009224,00.html
- Home Office ministers and senior civil servants have signed up to a promise to "exude pace and passion" in their work as part of the reform programme to rescue the department. The promise is part of a Whitehall compact in which ministers promise to take "clear and timely policy decisions", while leaving officials free to take operational decisions and to deploy staff and resources. In return senior civil servants promise to deliver the services and provide "accurate advice to ministers". http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,2009195,00.html
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Strict limits on the role of the private sector in the commissioning of care for National Health Service patients were spelt out by Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, yesterday.The statement was seen as a sign that some of the drive for growing private sector involvement in the NHS might be slowing in the run-up to Gordon Brown's anticipated arrival at Number 10.The Department of Health confirmed that plans would go ahead to allow primary care trusts to contract out some or all of their commissioning work - purchasing care for NHS patients from hospital, community and primary care services. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/fc52ad7c-b7e2-11db-bfb3-0000779e2340.html
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Recruitment agencies and employers could find themselves liable for contractors' tax debts, under toughanti-avoidance measures announced yesterday. Details of the Treasury's plans to recover unpaid tax from third parties were published as part of a wider consultation on a crackdown on tax avoidance by contract workers.The new legislation is designed to tackle "managed service companies", schemes that allow workers to avoid tax and national insurance contributions. The tough line, which is expected to bring in more than £1bn of extra tax over the next three years, will affect about 250,000 workers in industries such as construction and information technology. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2547a80a-b7e2-11db-bfb3-0000779e2340.html
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Schools were accused of being over-cautious yesterday as more than a million children were forced to stay at home when 4in of snow paralysed the education system. In many cases, pupils were able to travel in but were turned away amid claims that staff from further afield could not make the journey. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/09/nsnow09.xml
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Almost six million people could be paying the wrong amount of tax, says an audit of the Government's work by the public spending watchdog. A National Audit Office report also detailed millions of pounds of wasted public money in the past financial year. Quoting figures from HM Revenue and Customs, it disclosed confusion over the collection of income tax through Paye that affects one in five people. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/09/ntax09.xml
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