Government
- Gordon Brown gave the first indications on Sunday of the shape of his new cabinet and how he intends to overhaul Whitehall, declaring his determination to meet "the challenge of change". After being formally anointed as Labour leader before entering Number 10 in two days' time, Mr Brown hinted at a range of new initiatives, including the clearest indication yet that he will dismantle the Department of Trade and Industry. In an acceptance speech to Labour delegates at a specially convened conference in Manchester, Mr Brown also triggered speculation that he might call an election earlier than expected, possibly in the spring of 2008. The new leader announced that he was appointing Douglas Alexander, the transport secretary, as Labour's general election co-ordinator in a speech that concentrated heavily on the domestic electoral challenges facing the Labour party. Mr Brown's "coronation" coincided with the surprise election of Harriet Harman as Labour's deputy leader. She narrowly beat Alan Johnson, the education secretary, who had long been seen as favourite for the post. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/94e3b9cc-224c-11dc-ac53-000b5df10621.html
- Fuel taxes paid by drivers are more than twice the cost of the damage they cause to the environment, leading economists have found. Green lobbyists have been urging the Government to accelerate the rise in petrol taxes as a way of discouraging car use. In addition motorists driving cars with the highest carbon dioxide emissions face a bigger bill for their annual tax disc, higher residents' parking permit charges in some parts of the country and the prospect of a higher London congestion charge at £25. But petrol taxes work out at about 50p a litre, a figure that is far higher than the environmental cost of motoring, says David Newbery, a professor of economics at Cambridge University.In one study, he estimated the total environmental damage done by motoring at £5.45 billion - about a quarter of the amount paid in fuel duty by motorists at the time. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/25/nroads225.xml
- The chief executive of Rolls-Royce has formally raised with the government his fears about potential funding cuts to the Ministry of Defence's export arm, which promotes billions of pounds of yearly arms sales. In a letter to Des Browne, the defence secretary, Sir John Rose, acting in his capacity as chairman of the Defence Industries Council, expressed concerns about a possible reduction in support for defence attachés. The Foreign Office pays £10m a year to provide facilities for the attachés, often used by the MoD's Defence Export Services Organisation on overseas sales campaigns, but plans to withdraw funding as part of the government spending review. The debate over the attachés comes as the MoD is dealing with allegations - all denied - of corrupt practices related to the 20-year-old al-Yamamah arms deal with Saudi Arabia, although officials said this was not connected to the funding question. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/c4bfa3e2-229a-11dc-ac53-000b5df10621.html
- Tony Blair, with Gordon Brown by his side, will today reject Tory calls in the Commons to stage a referendum on the wide-ranging constitutional package agreed by EU leaders early on Saturday. Mr Blair will make his last full statement to the Commons, claiming Britain achieved all its aims at the summit. Mr Cameron's plan to attack Mr Brown's decision not to stage a referendum on the deal was undermined yesterday by the Europhile former chancellor Ken Clarke declaring he did not think a referendum was necessary. He said the deal agreed by the 27 EU member states in Brussels was no more significant in terms of centralising power in Brussels than the Maastricht treaty on which the Conservatives offered no plebiscite. http://www.guardian.co.uk/eu/story/0,,2110612,00.html
- Ministers must scrap controversial plans aimed at preventing the public obtaining damaging or embarrassing information about the Government and other public bodies, a parliamentary committee says. Members of the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee are calling on the Government to abandon its "unnecessary, unpopular and undesirable" reforms of the Freedom of Information Act. Under the proposed changes, an estimated 17,000 requests for information could be refused, saving £5.7m. It will mean that MPs, campaign groups and journalists will have to ration requests, or risk their inquiries being automatically rejected. The Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, is said to be committed to the changes to reduce the burden of administration on civil servants. But critics say it is a cynical ploy to neuter the role of the media and opposition MPs in using FOI legislation to uncover uncomfortable material about the Government. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article2705328.ece
- Doctors' leaders yesterday said the public was as disenchanted with NHS reforms as the medical profession, releasing a survey showing that only a third of patients were happy with the changes of the last 10 years. On the eve of its annual meeting in Torquay, Devon, the British Medical Association released a study suggesting that only 34% of the public thought a decade of reform had made the NHS any better, while 42% thought there had been no improvement. Against this background of apparent public discontent, doctors will today mount a full-scale attack on NHS reforms, accusing the government of "contemptuous disregard" for the views of the profession and of introducing changes "that are not fit for purpose and are damaging to medicine and healthcare in the UK". http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2110524,00.html
- The true cost of BBC One is £1.4 billion, the corporation will reveal next week, nearly £600 million more than it was prepared to admit last year. The increase will be shown in the public broadcaster's latest set of figures, which demonstrate that, despite rising spending, it is winning over fewer viewers and so becoming poorer value for money. After the departure of Michael Grade as chairman of the corporation, the BBC Trust has decided to include the costs of news gathering, marketing and other overheads for the first time in the BBC One budget. A year ago the BBC said that its spending on the channel was £840 million. On the revised basis the figure would have been £1.295 billion. The figure shows how the BBC can dwarf its principal commercial rival and helps to explain why the corporation can afford to pay Jonathan Ross £18 million over three years. His salary and that of other top stars, ranging from Sir Terry Wogan to Gary Lineker, will be the subject of an inquiry to be announced by the trust when this year's annual report is published on July 3. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article1980403.ece
- A target of 80% of teenagers in England achieving at least five good GCSEs by 2020 will be proposed today by a leading minister in an ambitious and potentially contentious drive to raise attainment. Lord Adonis, the schools minister, will provoke brickbats from Conservative critics by urging moves to an "80% education system" where the overwhelming majority of youngsters succeed at school. In a lecture at City University in London, Lord Adonis will say that the goal of 80% obtaining five A*-Cs or better at GCSE could even include good grades in English and maths. But he will say it can only be achieved if reforms are stepped up alongside increased investment. That may also encourage criticism from teachers resistant to more change. http://education.guardian.co.uk/gcses/story/0,,2110763,00.html
Conservatives
- More grammar schools and low-cost private schools are needed to raise the "dire" standards of the education system, a report by one of the most respected economic think-tanks says today. Millions of people cannot read, write or count and millions more can barely do so because of the "socialist" state-directed system and comprehensive education, the Economic Research Council says. Better off parents have escaped the worst aspects of comprehensive education by paying private fees, buying tuition or moving home to be close to the best schools, says the report. It is families on the lowest incomes that have suffered from the progressive theories and dumbing down of standards. The Economic Research Council, Britain's oldest economic think-tank, says it is "rotten schooling" and not grammar schools that has harmed social mobility. Prof Dennis O'Keeffe, the report's author, says leading Tories who claim grammar schools no longer offer a ladder of opportunity for poor, bright children fail to understand the importance of selection. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/25/ngrammar125.xml