Government
- The giant oil company Chevron has provided an all-expenses-paid day out at Wimbledon for Jim Campbell, the civil servant in charge of regulating Britain's oil and gas industry, including responsibility for pollution and oil spills. The company says the invitation is an annual event - Mr Campbell went last year. Although it was coy about disclosing the cost, corporate hospitality firms quote up to £1,000 a head for packages that include the tennis tickets, drinks and meals. The Wimbledon gift is only one example of the treats oil companies are showering on a single, sensitive, section of the Department of Trade and Industry - now renamed the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. Documents obtained from the department's Energy Development Unit (EDU) show that in the course of a single year, officials were given, among other things, a racing day at Glorious Goodwood. They also got private art views, a trip to the ballet, a golf outing, a party visiting the crown jewels at the Tower of London, tickets to balls, dinner in a Michelin-starred restaurant, and a case of champagne from Shell for Christmas. http://environment.guardian.co.uk/energy/story/0,,2120072,00.html
- The biggest shake-up of council housing since tenants were given the "right to buy" under Margaret Thatcher has been endorsed by the Cabinet to help give young people a foot on the housing ladder. The Housing minister, Yvette Cooper, is planning a Green Paper that will herald a return to council house building by local authorities to provide affordable homes for those most in need. Ms Cooper has told ministerial colleagues the plan will not mean a return to the monolithic council estates of the 1950s but will allow councils to build more homes suitable for families. Councils are to be allowed to use the revenue from rents to raise money for council house building. But the Green Paper will propose that the affordable housing should be a mixture of family homes and flats, offered on a range of terms, including shared equity, to allow young people to partly own their own homes. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2739743.ece
- Extra money may be provided to help thousands of people whose homes were flooded by the recent storms, ministers suggested yesterday. But they refused to make any specific commitments to increasingly anxious councils in Hull and South Yorkshire. A spokesman for the prime minister said, however, that the government was looking at extra funding for flood-hit areas "as a matter of urgency". He said: "The prime minister is keen to be kept fully informed on what's happening. He has spoken to the leaders of the councils in Sheffield, Doncaster and Hull in recent days." The communities secretary, Hazel Blears, was repeatedly challenged on funding pledges when she toured Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield, which was closed last week for five days after its ground floor was swamped. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2119982,00.html
- The company charged with a £17bn upgrade of the London underground is under further pressure after a piece of tarpaulin derailed a rush hour tube train yesterday, injuring 37 passengers. Metronet is conducting checks after the accident between Mile End and Bethnal Green stations in east London. Around 700 people from the derailed Central line train and one behind were stranded in a tunnel for more than an hour before being evacuated down the tracks. http://www.guardian.co.uk/transport/Story/0,,2120140,00.html
- When James Purnell makes his first speech to cultural leaders at the National Portrait Gallery today he will tell them he is planning to free them from the tyranny of targets, that excellence is to become the top priority for the arts and that there should be a deeper understanding of what "access", a contentious buzzword for the past decade, can really mean. The point about targets - the notion that the arts should justify their existence by meeting quotas relating to "priority groups" such as ethnic minorities - is that the battle has been won, Mr Purnell said, speaking in his first interview. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,2120262,00.html
Liberal Democrats
- The Liberal Democrats will later this month unveil radical proposals to slash the basic income tax rate to 16p in the pound, as they attempt to reinvigorate their flagging fortunes. The plans will make them the only party committed to immediate cuts in existing national income tax and could help them to fight back against the resurgent Conservatives. Officials said they wanted to "lift the burden" from hard-working families. Sir Menzies Campbell's leadership has come under increasing pressure as the party is squeezed by the Tories and Labour's "Brown bounce". While the proposals result from a lengthy review of tax policies, MPs hope they will help to redefine the party in the eyes of voters. http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,2119926,00.html