Government
- The government should reconsider its decades-long ban on sending Britons into space, MPs say. They warn that an outright rejection of human space flight could lead to the UK being unable to take part in future international missions and weaken the country's standing in space science. Today's report by the Commons science and technology committee also calls for a more coherent strategy to enable the UK to take advantage of increasing international interest in space. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,2128053,00.html
- The taxpayer could be hit by a bill of nearly £2bn if Metronet goes into administration, a debt rating agency has warned. Although PPP projects are supposed to transfer financial risk from the public sector to the private sector, the Metronet contracts are designed to make Transport for London liable for the programme's borrowings. According to the Moody's ratings agency, Transport for London could be forced to pay back £1.9bn to creditors - or 95% of the company's £2bn debt - if Metronet goes into liquidation. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/publicservices/story/0,,2128212,00.html
- Gordon Brown is planning to rush out more than eight Commons statements covering most areas of domestic policy in a burst of activity before parliament rises at the end of next week. This week there will be statements on areas including welfare, skills, the powers of local government, crime reduction and Lords reform. Next week the affordable housing crisis will be covered, along with a rail white paper and further details on his anti-terror plans. Mr Brown is determined to make an immediate impact before the pace of politics inevitably slows after parliament rises. Many of the plans have been in gestation in the Treasury for months. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/gordonbrown/story/0,,2128095,00.html
- Thirty criminals who were freed from jail to ease overcrowding broke the terms of their release, including committing further crimes within seven days, the Justice Ministry admitted yesterday. Twelve offenders who were freed 18 days early have been returned to jail, and police are searching for the remaining 18, who are on the run. Six of the 30 offenders have committed crimes since being freed and 11 had failed to report to their probation officer since being let out of prison. A further six failed to live at the address that was given on the early release licence and seven others were reported for bad behaviour, according to figures issued by the department. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2088034.ece
- Education authorities are launching a crackdown on injury claims over fears of a burgeoning compensation culture in school playgrounds. The move comes as new figures reveal that children injured at English schools received an estimated £2 million in compensation last year. Pay-outs included £5,000 to a pupil whose finger was struck by a cricket ball and nearly £6,000 to another who had broken into school at night. The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, have reignited the debate about whether schools are hamstrung by stringent health and safety regulations and a compensation culture. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article2087478.ece
- While all city dwellers live within walking distance of a post office, only three quarters of villagers are similarly blessed, a report says today. A post office is considered nearby if it is no more than a mile and a quarter away. According to a study by the Commission for Rural Communities, the people worst served are those in more remote hamlets where just 45 per cent are within easy reach of a post office. The report by the Government advisory body, entitled State of the Countryside 2007, also says that almost a quarter of a million people live in a "financial services desert" - several miles from the nearest bank, building society or cashpoint. Other key findings include: Less than half of people in the most isolated areas have access to a nearby GP; The amount of crops grown for biofuels has doubled in a year; Over the past decade car use for food shopping has risen by a quarter; 400 vineyards now exist, with the furthest north being in Leeds. Between 2000 and 2007 the percentage of rural households with access to a post office declined from 90 to 87, while the number within reach of supermarkets increased by 3.4 per cent. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/17/ncountry117.xml
Lords
- Peers are handing out exclusive access to the Houses of Parliament to lobbyists and pressure groups, who pay them thousands of pounds a year, The Times has learnt. A list seen by this paper shows some members of the House of Lords are giving parliamentary passes intended for researchers and secretaries to representatives of the defence, transport, freight and legal industries. The passes have clear commercial value, allowing lobbyists the opportunity to mingle with government ministers and MPs, use the bars and restaurants to impress clients, access the research services of the parliamentary library and avoid the lengthy security queues. While MPs have been forced to disclose the names and outside interests of their staff since 1985, peers have repeatedly blocked the release of the full list of names until a request made by The Times under the Freedom of Information Act forced its disclosure. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article2087283.ece
EU
- Gordon Brown began his first trip abroad since becoming Prime Minister with a pledge to introduce the European Treaty without calling a referendum in Britain. Mr Brown, who was in Berlin yesterday for dinner with Chancellor Angela Merkel, said it would be possible to make rapid progress on setting a date for the treaty agreed in principle at last month's Brussels summit. "We will not require a referendum on this. It is something that can be worked on closely by Parliament. I think we can make progress quickly on this," he said. Mr Brown was welcomed at the Berlin chancellery with full military honours by Ms Merkel. However, the two leaders did not indulge in any of the flamboyant gestures employed in the Franco-German relationship. In keeping with their shared upbringing as children of churchmen, Mr Brown and Ms Merkel simply shook hands. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2776187.ece
General
- MPs called for legislation yesterday to make British retailers pay their garment workers overseas a living wage. The call came after the Guardian reported allegations by workers at factories in Bangladesh supplying Asda, Primark and Tesco that they worked up to 80 hours per week for as little as 4p an hour. They also reported abuse by supervisors, and sackings for taking sick leave. Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat international development spokeswoman, said legislation should guarantee that pay and conditions of overseas workers met international standards: "It's obscene that [UK shoppers] can earn more through their club card points than the people who produce the goods they are buying." She was setting up meetings with supermarkets and other large employers of overseas workers to talk about their corporate responsibilities. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,,2128221,00.html
- Poor and wealthy households in Britain are becoming more and more segregated from the rest of society as the UK faces the highest inequality levels for 40 years, according to a study published today. A report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation provides a groundbreaking geographical analysis of changes in the distribution of wealth over time, and reveals an increasingly divided nation. It shows that already rich areas - particularly the south-east of England - have become disproportionately wealthier over four decades, while in areas of some cities more than half of all households are now "breadline poor", on a level of relative poverty with enough to live on but without access to opportunities enjoyed by the rest of society, yet above the level of absolute poverty, or "core poor". http://politics.guardian.co.uk/economics/story/0,,2128035,00.html
- A doctor accused of wrongly causing a health scare over the MMR vaccine paid children £5 each to give blood samples at his son's birthday party, a disciplinary hearing has been told. Andrew Wakefield abused his position as a doctor and showed "a callous disregard" for the distress and pain that the children - thought to be as young as 4 - might suffer, the General Medical Council was told. The allegations emerged yesterday along with charges connected to research by Dr Wakefield and his former colleagues, John Walker-Smith and Simon Murch, that claimed the combined vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella carried serious health risks. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article2087463.ece
Lib Dems
- A poor showing in this week's Ealing Southall byelection could prompt calls for Sir Menzies Campbell's resignation, the party's former campaign manager admitted today. Tim Razzall, who masterminded the 2001 and 2005 elections for then party leader Charles Kennedy, warned that are "clearly some people in the party" who would use Friday's result as a "catalyst to bring things to a head". The Liberal Democrats are facing a tight squeeze in Thursday's byelection, where they came second in 2005. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/libdems/story/0,,2127755,00.html
Conservatives
- Boris Johnson, who confirmed all expecations yesterday by announcing his bid to become London Mayor, personally assured David Cameron before he threw his blond mop into the ring that he intended to run a serious campaign. A political career that has defied gravity - has risen with every disaster, flourished with every gaffe - now seeks gravitas just as it prepares for lift-off. It is a fitting conundrum for a man whose very name, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, stands as a warning of complexity and hazard. He is known to his family as Al but to the rest of the world by what is, in effect, a stage name. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/17/wbecks117.xml&CMP=ILC-mostviewedbox