Author Archives: Richard Huzzey

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Every phone call, email and internet click stored by ‘state spying’ databases – The Telegraph

Key oil figures were distorted by US pressure, says whistleblower – The Guardian

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It’s a think tank reaction special…

Jonathan Calder compared the Taxpayer’s Alliance to a dead duck:

They are obviously very bright over at the TaxPayers’ Alliance. Because they are absolutely right. Animal rescue is not the central job of the fire service.

James Schneider praised a Tory plan for social housing, and noted its origin in a more radical scheme:

Tim Leunig’s original paper for Policy Exchange goes a

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Police trainee fights for life after homophobic attack – Telegraph

Brown fights to save Blair’s EU Presidential hopes – Guardian

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Politicians must chatter clearly in the age of twitter, thinks Mark Thompson:

Perhaps what will start to happen is that politicians will realise that being vague about something in a speech and then “clarifying” it in a briefing afterwards will not work in the world of Twitter and blogs.

Camden councillor Alexis Rowell’s mission to turn his borough green from top-to-bottom has reached the Town Hall roof:

Our green roof is little more than a blanket as

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Afghanistan set for run-off ballot:

Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, will bow to international pressure today and concede that he did not win a clear ­majority in Afghanistan’s bitterly contested election, and also accept there should be a second round of voting.

Top brass take on BNP:

The Armed Forces are in danger of being hijacked by far-right extremists “for their own dubious ends”, a group of former generals warn today.

The British National Party is tarnishing the Forces’ reputation by associating itself with the sacrifices of servicemen, they write. They highlight fears within military circles that the party is

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The Grauniad has been gagged:

The Guardian has been prevented from reporting parliamentary proceedings on legal grounds which appear to call into question privileges guaranteeing free speech established under the 1688 Bill of Rights.

Today’s published Commons order papers contain a question to be answered by a minister later this week. The Guardian is prevented from identifying the MP who has asked the question, what the question is, which minister might answer it, or where the question is to be found.

Bonnie Greer and Chris Huhne to tackle Nick Griffin on next week’s Question Time:

The black playwright and author

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Chancellor-on-way-out promises freeze in public managers’ pay:

The freeze in effect represents a pay cut. And by targeting the richest public-sector figures, it will be seen as a sign that the broadest shoulders must carry the heaviest burden.

Chancellor-in-waiting proposes raising retirement age:

Shadow chancellor George Osborne would raise the state pension age from 65 to 66 from 2016 if the Tories win the next election to help tackle the UK’s debts.

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Cllr Daisy Benson gave her readers a story about the human stories behind the unemployment statistics:

This morning, on my way to work I bumped

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Flood crisis worstens in Philippines

From the BBC:

The Philippines government says 240 people are now known to have died in severe flooding caused by Tropical Storm Ketsana.

The country has appealed for foreign aid to deal with the disaster, which has displaced more than 450,000 people.

A rare moment of hope for Gordon Brown

For the first time in… a very long time, Gordon Brown may be relieved by some polling news from Sky and YouGov:

Support for Labour has climbed five points since the start of the party conference, according to a brand new Sky/YouGov poll.

The survey – the first

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Airlines to halve emissions by 2050

The Guardian reports:

The British Airways chief executive, Willie Walsh, will unveil an agreement between airlines, airports and aircraft companies to cut emissions to 50% below 2005 levels by 2050. In a bid to seize the initiative from environmental groups clamouring for higher taxes on the industry, the plan will be presented to world leaders at the United Nations forum on climate change in New York.

Baronness Scotland Survives

Says The Times:

Gordon Brown has today spared his Attorney General the sack for employing an illegal immigrant as her housekeeper, but told Baroness Scotland to

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Brown will acknowledge need for cuts

The BBC is leading with news that the Prime Minister will use the ‘C’ word for the first time!

Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to admit for the first time that spending cuts will be needed, the BBC understands.

BBC political editor Nick Robinson said Mr Brown would make his most explicit comments yet on spending choices in a speech to union leaders on Tuesday.

Deliver us from Gordon

Meanwhile, The Times reports that almost half of voters would replace Mr. Brown with… well, anyone:

Almost half of voters think that anyone would do a better

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The biggest story of the day is surely controversy over the Ministry of Defense’s efforts to reclaim money awarded to injured soldiers:

The Ministry of Defence will go to the Court of Appeal later to try to significantly reduce the compensation awarded to two injured soldiers. One, who was shot in the leg in Iraq, received £46,000, while the other, injured in training, got £28,750. “

Meanwhile, TV’s Esther Rantzen plans to follow in the feet of Craig Murray and stand as an independent candidate at the next general election:

She will attempt to win the Luton

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Health Secretary Andy Burnham has attempted to regain the initiative after Monday’s criticisms with the announcement of a pandemic flu service by the end of the week.

Health Secretary Andy Burnham said the phone and website service will be able to provide flu diagnosis and access to drugs without the need to go to GPs.

He also defended the government against claims from opposition parties that the service was a month late.

He said the government had wanted to wait until the health service was under intense pressure before acting.

Meanwhile the MoD, under attack for the provision of …

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The Times has reports of a humanitarian disaster unfolding in Tamil refugee camps:

About 1,400 people are dying every week at the giant Manik Farm internment camp set up in Sri Lanka to detain Tamil refugees from the nation’s bloody civil war, senior international aid sources have told The Times.

The death toll will add to concerns that the Sri Lankan Government has failed to halt a humanitarian catastrophe after announcing victory over the Tamil Tiger terrorist organisation in May. It may also lend credence to allegations that the Government, which has termed the internment sites “welfare villages”, has

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A high-powered think tank report for the IPPR by Paddy Ashdown and oher defense gurus has questioned expenditure on trident and conventional forces:

The UK should consider slashing defence spending by up to £24bn and revisit plans to renew its Trident nuclear deterrent, a think-tank report says.

Meanwhile, the row over future cuts-and-spending continues in Britain, over-shadowing Gordon Brown’s new Building Britain;s Future document:

Brown unveiled a manifesto entitled Building Britain’s Future and a draft Queen’s speech containing 12 bills. The overall aim was to downgrade Whitehall public service targets in favour of individual rights, with some enforceable by

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Events continue to unfold afer Iran’s contested election results and surrounding protest. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed dismay at events yesterday, when protestors were dispersed by the police with tear gas. The Revolutionary Guard have threatened to suppress any further protests in favour of presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi. As The Independent reports,

Mousavi, who was officially beaten into second place by Ahmadinejad in an election which he says was rigged, called late on Sunday for fresh protests by his supporters.

“Protesting against lies and fraud (in the election) is your right,” Mousavi said in a statement

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Should we be pleased that Labour are finally granting the public an inquiry into the Iraq war? Not when it’s held in private, as Gordon Brown suggests in the case of the long-awaited review. The BBC has the response of Rose Gentle, mother of a British soldier who died in Iraq:

We have fought and fought for this but it will be no use and it could all be for nothing behind closed doors.

Nick Clegg was also unimpressed.

Meanwhile, neighbouring Iraq, the ramifications of Iran’s disputed election continue to play out with protests in Tehran and at …