Government
- Links between Labour and the biggest think-tank in Britain have come under fire with accusations that the party out-sourced its policy-making process to them while receiving nearly £1 million in government grants. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), which claims credit for the introduction of congestion charging and the Child Trust Fund, has received money from 17 different government departments and agencies over ten years. At the same time, it has acted as cheerleader for Labour's more controversial policies, including road pricing, rubbish taxes, ID cards and justifying hospital closures. The Tories say that the IPPR is in effect doing the job of an impoverished Labour Party and the taxpayer is subsidising the broader policy-making of the Labour movement. The Government has given grants to policy development, research projects, conferences and seminars. The biggest awards came from John Prescott's old department, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Department for Communities and Local Government, which gave more than £100,000 for policy development with the Social Exclusion Unit and the National Community Forum. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1862687.ece
- Gordon Brown raised £113,000 to fight an election campaign for the leadership of his party, although in the event he had no challenger, according to figures released yesterday by the Electoral Commission. The chancellor's funds far outstrip the money raised by candidates standing for the deputy leadership in a closely fought campaign among six hopefuls. Mr Brown's nearest rival on the money-raising front is Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain, who has raised £77,000, while the justice minister Harriet Harman has borrowed £10,000 from a bank to stay in the race. Even though he no longer needs the money to fight a leadership contest, it is being used to fund Mr Brown's appearances explaining his policy priorities at hustings around the country. http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,2091689,00.html
- Fly tipping is scarring the face of urban and rural Britain and costing taxpayers millions to clear up, according to evidence which shows that many cities recorded tens of thousands of cases last year. Haringey, and Kensington and Chelsea, both in London, each reported more than 50,000 cases, and Manchester more than 30,000, while Cumbria reported only three cases, according to the first detailed breakdown of the problem. However, the government and councils stressed that the areas with the worst records were more assiduous in reporting cases; they also tended to be urban, and tipping in rural areas often went unnoticed. http://environment.guardian.co.uk/waste/story/0,,2091749,00.html