The powerful European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, has won a second term of office after a majority of Euro MPs voted for him. Barroso, 53, was the only candidate in the European Parliament vote. A former Portuguese prime minister, he will serve a new five-year term.
Posts Tagged ‘MPs’
Iran MPs back 1994 bomb suspect
September 1st, 2009 |
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Iranian MPs have strongly backed the defence minister-designate, in defiance of Argentine demands for his arrest over a bomb attack in Buenos Aires.
Ahmad Vahidi faced no opposition from MPs on the third day of a debate on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s choices for his new cabinet.
Interpol has distributed a warrant for Mr Vahidi’s arrest for a 1994 attack on a Jewish centre which killed 85 people.
Mr Ahmadinejad’s line-up will be put to a confidence vote on Wednesday.
Over two stormy days of debate, conservative MPs who dominate the Majlis have lashed out at some of the nominees for lacking experience and on the grounds that three of the 21 are women.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
MPs adopt changes to media law
August 31st, 2009 |
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MPs have adopted the draft changes to the public information law, and will vote on a further 23 draft bills today. The ruling coalition was helped by the votes of Liberal Democratic Party MPs.
MPs demand British torture investigation
August 4th, 2009 |
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A parliamentary committee has called for an independent inquiry into claims of UK security services’ complicity in the torture of terrorism suspects.
The Joint Human Rights Committee of MPs and peers said it was unable to establish whether British officers were involved in mistreatment of suspects.
It also criticised ministers and the head of MI5 for refusing to testify to a parliamentary probe into the claims.
A spokesman said the government would neither solicit nor encourage torture.
In a highly critical report, the joint parliamentary committee said there was now a "disturbing number of credible allegations" of British complicity in torture.
These allegations include the rendition and alleged abuse of British resident Binyam Mohammed from Pakistan to Morocco, prior to being taken to Guantanamo Bay.
"It is unacceptable both for Ministers to refuse to answer policy questions about the Security Services, and for the Director General of MI5 to answer questions from the press but not from a Parliamentary committee"
Andrew Dismore, committee chairman
The Metropolitan Police is investigating the role of one MI5 officer in Mr Mohamed’s case.
Last week the High Court revealed that the same officer visited Morocco three times during the period that Mr Mohamed says he was being secretly tortured there.
The committee also looked at other cases where British men, two of whom have been convicted of terror offences, say they were visited by British intelligence officers while they were detained and allegedly mistreated by Pakistani authorities.
But in all the cases, the parliamentary committee said it could not get to the facts because too many questions were not being properly answered.
It said that both the foreign secretary and home secretary, as well as the director general of MI5, had declined to give evidence on what was known about torture or mistreatment.
The ministers appeared "determined to avoid parliamentary scrutiny", said the report, and had batted away important questions with standardised answers.
Committee chairman Andrew Dismore MP said: "The allegations we have heard about UK complicity in torture are extremely serious.
"It is unacceptable both for ministers to refuse to answer policy questions about the Security Services, and for the director general of MI5 to answer questions from the press but not from a Parliamentary committee."
Revised guidance due
The prime minister has pledged to publish revised guidance to intelligence officers but Mr Dismore added: "General assertions of non-complicity are no longer an adequate response to the many detailed allegations.
"A more obvious case of outsourcing of torture, a more obvious case of passive rendition, I cannot imagine"
David Davis MP
Torture complicity: Key cases"An independent inquiry is the only way to get to the bottom of these stories, clear the air and make recommendations for the future conduct and management of the security services.
"The recent allegations should be a wake-up call to Ministers that the current arrangements are not satisfactory. We look to the Government to respond positively to our recommendations and not to continue to hide behind their wall of secrecy."
Shadow foreign secretary William Hague said: "We also call on the government urgently to clarify what legally constitutes complicity in torture.
"All credible allegations of complicity in torture should be thoroughly investigated if public trust is to be restored."
A spokesman for the government rejected the call for an independent inquiry, saying that oversight was already sufficient.
"The government unreservedly condemns the use of torture as a matter of fundamental principle and works hard with its international partners to eradicate this abhorrent practice worldwide," said the spokesman.
"The government has already made clear it is committed to publishing guidance to intelligence officers as well as asking the Intelligence and Security Committee to consider new developments on detention and rendition."
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Broadband action needed in Wales
August 4th, 2009 |
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A committee of MPs has called for urgent action so everyone in Wales can gain access to broadband internet.
The MPs said the governments at UK and Welsh assembly level must ensure needs are met in Wales.
The report highlights the urgent need to get rid of broadband ‘not spots’ around Wales – areas without good access to broadband technology.
It also points out that proper consideration needs to be given to the Welsh language in the matter.
MPs say access to super fast broadband technology in Wales will be key to future economic growth.
The chairman of the Welsh Affairs committee Dr Hywel Francis, MP for Aberavon, said Wales did not face greater challenges than other areas around Britain in gaining access to digital technology.
"But it does have particular needs, for example in relation to the Welsh language, and it is essential that proper consideration and planning are given to these specific requirements."
The MPs said getting universal access to broadband across Wales should be a priority because it was key to the future economic growth.
Overseeing the development of digital technologies is often split between the UK and Welsh assembly governments.
The committee says this brings a risk that key issues can be overlooked in the Government’s Digital Inclusion Action plan, such as inclusion of needs of Welsh speakers.
Employers told the MPs they needed staff with better IT skills and more training opportunities.
The MPs recommended the assembly government address the problem in their digital inclusion strategy.
The Digital UK helpline is 08456 50 50 50 (08458 48 48 48 for Welsh-speakers).
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Call for UK to revise Afghan role
August 2nd, 2009 |
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The military mission in Afghanistan has failed to deliver what it promised – as troops are being given too many tasks, a report from MPs says.
The House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee says "mission creep" had brought too many responsibilities, including fighting the drugs trade.
That made it more difficult for the government to explain the mission’s purpose to the public, the MPs said.
They said that British troops should focus solely on ensuring security.
British forces experienced their bloodiest month in Afghanistan during July, with 22 troops killed during a major offensive against insurgents in Helmand.
‘Knee jerk’
The report warns the security situation, particularly in the south, could be expected to remain "precarious for some time to come".
The committee suggests the continued instability is due in part to the failures of the international community and criticised some of Nato’s allies for delivering "much less" than had been promised.
"We recognise that although Afghanistan’s current situation is not solely the legacy of the West’s failures since 2001, avoidable mistakes – including knee-jerk responses, policy fragmentation and overlap – now make the task of stabilising the country considerably more difficult than might otherwise have been the case," it said.
"The government needs to do a better job explaining to the public why we are in Afghanistan"
William Hague
Shadow foreign secretary
The committee said government claims that the Afghan drugs trade was a justification for the continued presence of British troops in Helmand were "debatable."
"We recommend that in the immediate future the government should refocus its efforts to concentrate its limited resources on one priority, namely security."
It also said Afghanistan was a "most critical and seminal moment" for the future of the Nato alliance as it was the first deployment outside its "area".
The report continued: "There is a real possibility that without a more equitable distribution of responsibility and risk, Nato’s effort will be further inhibited and its reputation as a military alliance, capable of undertaking out-of-area operations, seriously damaged."
‘Wake-up call’
A Foreign Office spokesman welcomed the report, adding: "We will carefully consider the report’s detailed conclusions and recommendations and will submit our response to Parliament in the coming months.
"The Foreign Office looks forward to further discussions on Afghanistan and Pakistan with Parliament and all interested parties. These issues deserve the widest possible engagement."
Shadow foreign secretary William Hague said the report should be "a wake-up call to the government".
"It confirms what we have been saying for months: Britain’s objectives in Afghanistan should be realistic, tightly-defined and subject to regular formal assessment," he said.
"The government needs to do a better job explaining to the public why we are in Afghanistan, and to reassure them that a realistic strategy is in place to achieve this.
"We need to know that the right strategy is in place, that Whitehall is working properly to deliver it, and that British troops have all they need to do their part."</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
MPs to vote on controversial law Aug. 31
July 30th, 2009 |
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Speaker Slavica Äukić-Dejanović has announced that MPs will vote on changes to the Law on Information and 23 other items on the agenda on August 31. She denied that the vote has been postponed because the ruling coalition could not agree on the law.
Adviser attacks PM’s ‘big tent’ failure
July 27th, 2009 |
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Special adviser singles out reform delays and criticises government as ‘illiberal and often deeply reactionary’
Gordon Brown’s government has proved to be “illiberal and often deeply reactionary” in promoting a policy agenda that is unimaginative and lacking in respect for liberty, the Liberal Democrat lawyer, peer and civil rights campaigner, Lord Lester of Herne Hill, says in Tuesday’s Guardian.
In a scornful account of his 15 months “inside the Brown big tent” he singles out Jack Straw, “a conservative justice secretary”, for a special onslaught.
As a “tribal” Labour politician, Straw ignored the conditions Lester demanded in return for becoming one of the prime minister’s “goats” – recruited to a “government of all the talents” after Brown succeeded Tony Blair in June 2007.
Lester started out with high hopes that New Labour would promote a liberal agenda. Brown’s “governance of Britain” green paper – issued days after entering No 10 – suggested Brown understood what needed to be done to decentralise and open up state power, Lester recalls.
“Brown’s ambitions for reform were laudable. In practice, however, the government’s efforts have not been encouraging. The reform in the way judges are appointed was made on the back of an envelope in the wake of Lord Chancellor Irvine’s removal from that great office [in 2003]. It had to be rescued by the judges and the House of Lords,” Lester writes.
“More recently, the government’s knee-jerk response to public uproar over MPs’ expenses was a parliamentary standards bill, rushed out to show that the government was doing something before the huge vacation they have given to MPs. The bill violated basic constitutional principles and was unfair to MPs themselves. It has had to be rewritten by the House of Lords,” Lord Lester adds.
His views of the new act, which was signed into law last week, are echoed by MPs and peers in all parties, some of whom also blame the justice secretary for dragging his feet on a range of reforms. What Lester calls a “mouse of a bill” recently published as the constitutional reform and governance bill is widely seen as a far more modest collection of disparate changes than Brown envisaged in 2007.
Most of its “sensible” ideas have been around for years, including the final removal of hereditary peers from parliament. But the bill’s exclusions are more significant, the unreformed role of the attorney general, the absence of parliamentary vetting of key public appointments, and electoral reform – the holy grail for Lib Dem reformers.
Straw, who has belatedly embraced limited electoral reform – the alternative vote system, blames the distraction of the expenses row where all parties agreed to change the system, but simultaneously sought party political advantage. Lester’s explanation for his disappointment is that Brown wanted to recruit him as a “tethered goat”, but Straw did not want his advice. Straw therefore shunted him off to his junior minister, Michael Wills, and granted him only one 15 minute session.
But Lester’s critique does not spare the prime minister either. “A couple of weeks ago, [he] came out with suggestions about making our electoral system work more fairly, and holding constitutional referenda. He does not seem to realise that he has missed the tide and it is all too late. His government is deeply unpopular and we are living during a sustained economic depression. His government no longer commands public confidence and has no mandate for major constitutional reform,” says Lester.
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Parliament debates cadastral issues
July 26th, 2009 |
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The Serbian parliament on Saturday ended a debate on amendments proposed to the Draft Law on Spatial Planning and Building. On Sunday, MPs will debate a draft law on state surveying and register of property.
MPs debate law on Hague cooperation
July 23rd, 2009 |
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Serbian MPs are today debating a draft law on cooperation with the International Criminal Court, to which 37 amendments have been proposed. Normatively speaking, the draft law comprehensively governs the sector of cooperation between Serbia and the International Criminal Court.
NoW paid hackers after convictions
July 21st, 2009 |
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The News of the World made payments to its disgraced royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire after the two men were jailed for phone hacking, MPs were told today .
The newspaper claimed the “arrangements”, details of which were not given, were made to comply with employment law, rather than to buy to their silence.
The MPs on the culture, media and sport select committee reopened their inquiry into privacy and press standards after the Guardian revealed that the paper’s owner, News Group, had secretly paid £700,000 to Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers Association, in a confidential settlement.
Today, the MPs pressed executives from News Group to disclose the terms on which Goodman and Mulcaire were dismissed.
The Tory MP Philip Davies asked Stuart Kuttner, the former managing editor of the tabloid, : “Have you made any payments to either Glenn Mulcaire or Clive Goodman since their convictions for their offences?”
Kuttner replied: “As far as I know arrangements, agreements were made with them. I have no details at all of the substance of those agreements.” He promised to investigate further and supply the committee with the relevant details.
Tom Crone, legal manager for News Group, told the committee Mulcaire, jailed for six months in January 2007 for hacking into voicemails of royal aides and others, had received a settlement, though it “bore no relation” to the £200,000 suggested by one MP. Asked if Mulcaire was paid to keep quiet, Crone replied “absolutely not”.
During the three-hour session, it also emerged that James Murdoch, News International’s executive chairman, was “appraised” of the decision to pay Taylor £700,000 in damages and legal costs for breach of privacy.
Andy Coulson, former editor of the News of the World and now the Conservative party’s director of communications, told MPs he had no knowledge of the phone hacking carried out by Goodman and Mulcaire while he was in charge.
Coulson, who resigned after the Goodman/Mulcaire convictions, admitted “things went badly wrong” during his editorship. “I deeply regret it and suspect I always will. I gave up a 20-year-career with News International, and everything that I had worked towards since I was 18″, he said.
He said he had never “met, emailed or spoke to” Mulcaire, who was on a £100,000-a-year contract with the paper for his “legitimate” and “lawful” work.
He did not know of the extra cash payments Goodman had made to Mulcaire to hack the phones of royal aides. He stressed there was “no evidence any other journalists on the paper had hacked phones”.
Coulson added he was not aware of any evidence linking Mulcaire’s hacking of non-royal targets, including the model Elle Macpherson and publicist Max Clifford, to the News of the World.
He told the hearing Scotland Yard informed him after the Guardian’s disclosures that it was suspected his own phone was being hacked by Mulcaire. Asked if there was any suggestion it was being hacked for someone from the News of the World, he replied: “I sincerely hope not.”
The Labour MP Paul Farrelly asked Coulson how he would be able to have a “sustainable” relationship with Buckingham Palace if he became an adviser in a Cameron government.
Coulson said he had met Palace spokesman Paddy Harverson socially and apologised to the royal family.
Justifying Mulcaire’s annual contract, current editor Colin Myler said the former AFC Wimbledon footballer had undertaken many duties for the paper which included checking Land Registry records, directorships and court records.
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Lord Mandelson attends 80% of committees
July 21st, 2009 |
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Peter Mandelson’s influence in government was underscored today with the release of a breakdown of government committees which shows that he attended 80% of them.
Mandelson, the first secretary of state, attends 35 of the 43 committees and subcommittees, in contrast to the 23 attended by foreign secretary David Miliband.
Mandelson’s total is also in contrast to the 27 attended by chancellor Alistair Darling and sees the business secretary asked to cast an eye over policies as varied as immigration, climate change, “life chances”; Africa; food and energy and children.
The official deputy prime minister to Tony Blair, John Prescott, sat on just 17 committees.
Mandelson’s reach was revealed during a rush of announcements as parliament rose for its summer recess. This summer recess is longer than last year’s at 82 days.
In contrast to previous years when the prime minister has only managed a few days’ break, Downing Street said Gordon Brown would be going on a longer holiday than usual, taking all of August off.
Under a deadline effectively imposed by the recess, MPs passed emergency legislation tonight which would see the emergency creation of a new watchdog to regulate their expenses.
In legislation rushed through within a month, MPs finally voted to create the new body, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, after the government was forced to make a number of concessions during its passage through parliament, including suffering one defeat when MPs rejected attempts by the government to end the historic right of parliamentary privilege.
Speaking about the attempt to get the measures through parliament, the minister responsible for the legislation, justice secretary Jack Straw, described it as “the most difficult piece of legislation” he has ever dealt with.
Though the expenses legislation began life enjoying cross-party consensus, Tory and Lib Dem support crumbled when the opposition parties believed the government was trying to shoehorn into the legislation additional measures they thought were superfluous to the clean-up of MPs’ expenses. MPs expressed dismay today about the lack of time to scrutinise the legislation, with the Tory grandee Sir Patrick Cormack complaining that MPs only had an hour to vote on a bill he argued had been “completely rewritten”.
MPs were debating the parliamentary standards bill after it had returned to the commons chamber from the Lords where they had removed from the legislation parts that would have made it an offence should a parliamentarian fail to comply with the register of financial interests that will be maintained by IPSA.
Though the government had tried to create three criminal offences, the final legislation sees only one. It is now a criminal offence for an MP to make a false expense claim with that MP punished by up to 12 months if found guilty.
In an attempt to allay backbench fears of rushed legislation, ministers said there would be the opportunity in the next two years through a “sunset clause” to review the IPSA in formal post-legislative scrutiny.
Another body, the members estimate committee, also announced it would be placing more stringent demands on MPs, requiring them to publish a greater amount of detail on the amount they claimed in second home allowances over the last year.
Commons authorities are expected to publish their details of MPs’ expense claims in the autumn. Though the home addresses will be blacked out, the MEC now wants MPs to state directly whether they have switched the address they have designated as their second homes.
The latest, more onerous move, has been spearheaded by the new speaker, John Bercow, who chairs the members estimate committee.
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Police still failing black people, MPs report
July 21st, 2009 |
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The treatment of black people by the police on issues such as stop and search and the national DNA database has worsened since the official inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence 10 years ago, according to MPs.
A report published by the Commons home affairs select committee tomorrow says the police have made some “tremendous strides” in the past decade in the way they investigate race crimes and other criticial incidents involving minority ethnic communities, but MPs say there remains a number of outstanding concerns.
“Black communities in particular are disproportionately represented in stop and search statistics and on the national DNA database; in fact, the gap has increased,” they conclude.
The cross-party group of MPs say that black people are now seven times more likely to be stopped by the police than white people. A decade ago, when the Macpherson report into the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence was published, black people were six times more likely to be stopped.
The MPs also heard evidence that more than 30% of all black men who have been arrested now have their DNA profiles logged on the national DNA database, compared with 10% of all white men and 10% of all Asian men. The committee also expresses its disappointment that the police still fails to meet its target of employing 7% of its officers from minority ethnic communities by 2009.
They are also concerned that black and minority ethnic officers continue to experience difficulties in achieving promotion, as well as being more likely to be subject to disciplinary procedures. Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affairs select committee, said such disproportionate representation of black people in the criminal justice system would continue to damage community relations.
The home secretary, Alan Johnson, said the majority of Macpherson’s recommendations had been implemented, bringing many positive changes in race equality.
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Murdoch ‘knew of hacking payout’
July 21st, 2009 |
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• News International chief agreed with £700,000 settlement
• Andy Coulson admits ‘things went badly wrong’ at NoW
• Coulson also says he has evidence his own phone was hacked
James Murdoch, the News International executive chairman, was aware of Gordon Taylor’s breach of privacy claim and agreed with the decision to settle for £700,000 after a private investigator working for the News of the World hacked into the Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive’s phone, MPs were told today.
The News International head of legal, Tom Crone, and the News of the World editor, Colin Myler, took the settlement figure to Murdoch for his approval, MPs on the Commons culture, media and sport select committee hearing into privacy, press standards and libel heard.
Myler told the committee that Crone – who was also giving evidence to MPs today – advised him after taking legal advice that News International should settle the case brought by Taylor, whose phone messages were hacked into by private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.
Mulcaire was sent to prison for six months in January 2007 for hacking into the messages of Taylor and other public figures, including Elle Macpherson, and members of the royal household.
Murdoch, also the chairman and chief executive of News International parent company News Corporation’s businesses in Europe and Asia, was told about the Taylor claim, and Crone continued negotiations with the PFA boss until a settlement was agreed last year, Myler told the committee.
“James Murdoch was apprised of the situation and agreed with our recommendation to settle,” Myler said. “It was an agreed collective decision.”
The Labour MP Tom Watson, a member of the select committee, asked Myler and Crone when they told the News Corporation chairman and chief executive, Rupert Murdoch, about the payment, but his question was unanswered.
Andy Coulson, the former News of the World editor, also appeared before the committee today and admitted to MPs that “things went badly wrong” during his editorship at the tabloid, which ended in his resignation over the jailing of the paper’s royal editor for illegal phone hacking.
Coulson said he did not condone phone hacking and had “no recollection” of it taking place while he was News of the World editor. He also that rejected MPs’ suggestions that the paper had a systemic culture of phone hacking.
The former editor, now the Conservative party’s director of communications, announced his resignation from the paper in January 2007 when royal reporter Clive Goodman went to jail for four months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to intercept communications, which involved hacking into the phone messages of members of the royal household. Goodman was jailed at the same time as Mulcaire.
Coulson told the MPs that “mistakes were made” during his four years as editor. “Things went badly wrong under my editorship of the News of the World, I deeply regret it,” he added.
“When I resigned I gave up a 20-year career with News International and everything that I had worked towards since I was 18. I have to accept that mistakes were made and I have to accept that the system could have been better,” Coulson added.
But he said that Goodman’s extra cash payments to Mulcaire were unknown to him. “Goodman deceived the managing editor’s office and deceived me,” Coulson told MPs.
He added that his initial reaction when he learned of the payments was one of surprise and anger.
Coulson said he was not aware that any other journalists from the paper were involved in phone hacking with Mulcaire while he was editor.
“As far as I am aware there is no evidence linking the non-royal phone hacking by Glenn Mulcaire with any member of the News of the World staff,” Coulson added.
However, Coulson also said he had evidence that his own phone was hacked by Mulcaire. He added that that he had recently been contacted by a Scotland Yard detective.
“There strong evidence to suggest that my phone was hacked,” Coulson said. “There is more evidence to suggest that my phone was hacked than John Prescott.”
Coulson’s revelation comes two years after MediaGuardian.co.uk revealed that Rebekah Wade, then Sun editor and News International chief executive designate, had her own phone hacked into by Mulcaire.
He was also asked about the settlement with Taylor. “I never asked for a Gordon Taylor story, I never commissioned an Gordon Taylor story, I never read a Gordon Taylor story, I never published a Gordon Taylor story,” he replied. “With all respect to Gordon Taylor, he is hardly a household name.”
Coulson said he would regularly spend a five-figure sum on a picture or a story so that Mulcaire’s £100,000-a-year contract “did not stand out”. “The idea that I would micromanage the budget, it just wasn’t the case,” he added.
He told MPs that News of the World staff were expected to obey the Press Complaints Commission code of conduct.
“My instructions to the staff were clear – we did not use subterfuge of any kind unless there was a clear public interest in doing so. They were to work within the PCC code at all times,” Coulson said.
He later said that he did not think that phone hacking was in the public interest.
Coulson added that he did give senior reporters free rein and that as the News of the World published more than 100 stories a week he was not involved in all of them but focused on the first 15 pages of the paper, as well as the main sport pages, the features spread and the comment section.
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Construction law to be debated by MPs
July 20th, 2009 |
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The Serbian parliament continues work today with a debate on four laws from the fields of urbanism, residence and environmental protection. MPs will discuss a draft law for spatial organization and construction, surveying registries, and the fund for environmental protection.
Tories to force Commons vote on hacker case
July 15th, 2009 |
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Shadow home secretary says he hopes MPs will send a message to the government that hacker should be tried in UK not US
The Conservatives will today use a Commons vote to signal their opposition to the proposal to extradite Gary McKinnon to the US to face trial for hacking into American military computers.
Chris Grayling, the shadow home secretary, said he hoped MPs would “send a message” to the government that McKinnon, who has Asperger’s syndrome, ought to be put on trial in the UK and not in the US, where he faces a sentence of up to 60 years.
McKinnon is still using the courts to try to block his extradition and MPs will not vote directly on his case. But the Tories have tabled a motion expressing “very great concern” about the way the extradition system is working and calling for the Extradition Act 2003 to be reformed “at the earliest opportunity”.
The Tories are hoping that the Liberal Democrats and some Labour MPs will support them when the Commons votes on the motion this afternoon.
Ministers claim that the act, which affects extradition between the UK and the US, has benefited both countries and that the government does not have the power to stop McKinnon being sent to face trial in the US.
McKinnon, who is being backed by a high-profile Daily Mail campaign, yesterday asked the high court to overturn the refusal of Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, to put him on trial in the UK on charges of computer misuse. If there were no UK prosecution, McKinnon would inevitably be extradited to stand trial in the US, the judges heard.
The court reserved judgment and said it hoped to give a decision in writing by the end of July.
McKinnon has admitted computer hacking and leaving a message in US military systems saying “I will continue to disrupt”, but his lawyers said his intention was only to cause “temporary impairment”, not lasting damage to the system.
They argue that his extradition would lead to “disastrous consequences”, including possible psychosis and suicide, because of his medical condition, which is on the autistic spectrum.
This morning Grayling told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: “People on the autistic spectrum find it very difficult to deal with a big change in surroundings. To extradite somebody in that position to the US to a strange environment is undoubtedly going to cause health issues for Gary McKinnon. In the past, where there have been similar cases, we have seen trials take place in the UK.
“There is no doubt that an offence has been committed; Gary McKinnon has admitted that. But why on earth is this trial not taking place in the UK?
“I hope the House of Commons will send a message to the government that really this is not what the extradition system is supposed to do. These new rules were set up for very serious offences, for terror offences. I don’t believe parliament ever intended them to be used to extradite somebody with autism issues to face a charge like this.
“There are some suggestions that the home secretary has more powers to intervene than have so far been used.”
But the Home Office dismissed this claim. It said that the home secretary did not have the power to block McKinnon’s extradition.
“The case of Gary McKinnon remains before the courts. As such it would not be appropriate for us to comment on it in detail, except to say that this case has been subjected to the closest attention and to the greatest possible procedural fairness. The home secretary [then Jacqui Smith] gave very careful consideration before deciding in July 2006 to order extradition,” the statement said.
“It is important to be clear that, under the terms of the Extradition Act 2003, the home secretary must order extradition unless certain limited conditions are met. The courts have already said that those conditions are not met in Mr McKinnon’s case; and his attempts to defeat the US request have since been dismissed by the high court, the House of Lords and the European court of human rights.
“The information that must be provided by both the United States and the United Kingdom is effectively the same. The United Kingdom must demonstrate ‘probable cause’ to the United States courts, while the United States must demonstrate ‘reasonable suspicion’ to ours.
“Extradition is a key crime-fighting measure in our increasingly globalised world and, within what the law permits, we give maximum assistance to all of our extradition partners.”
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Tories to force Commons vote on hacker case
July 15th, 2009 |
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Shadow home secretary says he hopes MPs will send a message to the government that hacker should be tried in UK not US
The Conservatives will today use a Commons vote to signal their opposition to the proposal to extradite Gary McKinnon to the US to face trial for hacking into American military computers.
Chris Grayling, the shadow home secretary, said he hoped MPs would “send a message” to the government that McKinnon, who has Asperger’s syndrome, ought to be put on trial in the UK and not in the US, where he faces a sentence of up to 60 years.
McKinnon is still using the courts to try to block his extradition and MPs will not vote directly on his case. But the Tories have tabled a motion expressing “very great concern” about the way the extradition system is working and calling for the Extradition Act 2003 to be reformed “at the earliest opportunity”.
The Tories are hoping that the Liberal Democrats and some Labour MPs will support them when the Commons votes on the motion this afternoon.
Ministers claim that the act, which affects extradition between the UK and the US, has benefited both countries and that the government does not have the power to stop McKinnon being sent to face trial in the US.
McKinnon, who is being backed by a high-profile Daily Mail campaign, yesterday asked the high court to overturn the refusal of Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, to put him on trial in the UK on charges of computer misuse. If there were no UK prosecution, McKinnon would inevitably be extradited to stand trial in the US, the judges heard.
The court reserved judgment and said it hoped to give a decision in writing by the end of July.
McKinnon has admitted computer hacking and leaving a message in US military systems saying “I will continue to disrupt”, but his lawyers said his intention was only to cause “temporary impairment”, not lasting damage to the system.
They argue that his extradition would lead to “disastrous consequences”, including possible psychosis and suicide, because of his medical condition, which is on the autistic spectrum.
This morning Grayling told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: “People on the autistic spectrum find it very difficult to deal with a big change in surroundings. To extradite somebody in that position to the US to a strange environment is undoubtedly going to cause health issues for Gary McKinnon. In the past, where there have been similar cases, we have seen trials take place in the UK.
“There is no doubt that an offence has been committed; Gary McKinnon has admitted that. But why on earth is this trial not taking place in the UK?
“I hope the House of Commons will send a message to the government that really this is not what the extradition system is supposed to do. These new rules were set up for very serious offences, for terror offences. I don’t believe parliament ever intended them to be used to extradite somebody with autism issues to face a charge like this.
“There are some suggestions that the home secretary has more powers to intervene than have so far been used.”
But the Home Office dismissed this claim. It said that the home secretary did not have the power to block McKinnon’s extradition.
“The case of Gary McKinnon remains before the courts. As such it would not be appropriate for us to comment on it in detail, except to say that this case has been subjected to the closest attention and to the greatest possible procedural fairness. The home secretary [then Jacqui Smith] gave very careful consideration before deciding in July 2006 to order extradition,” the statement said.
“It is important to be clear that, under the terms of the Extradition Act 2003, the home secretary must order extradition unless certain limited conditions are met. The courts have already said that those conditions are not met in Mr McKinnon’s case; and his attempts to defeat the US request have since been dismissed by the high court, the House of Lords and the European court of human rights.
“The information that must be provided by both the United States and the United Kingdom is effectively the same. The United Kingdom must demonstrate ‘probable cause’ to the United States courts, while the United States must demonstrate ‘reasonable suspicion’ to ours.
“Extradition is a key crime-fighting measure in our increasingly globalised world and, within what the law permits, we give maximum assistance to all of our extradition partners.”
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Can Britain succeed in Afghanistan?
July 12th, 2009 |
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A lack of helicopters is undermining UK forces’ operations and troop protection in Afghanistan, says a group of MPs. Do you agree?
Mps Tackle Worries Over Food Price Rise
November 12th, 2007 |
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Govt doing its best to keep inflation low, assures minister
Nazry Bahrawi
nazry@mediacorp.com.sg
WITH groceries costing more by the day and consumers still getting used to
the four-month-old 2-per- cent hike in GST, it was inevitable that
inflation – and the Government’s handling of it – became one of the
talking points in Parliament yesterday.
Among the questions raised by several MPs: Is the Government monitoring
the increases in prices of food items such as flour and chicken? Are such
increases a cause of concern? What will be the impact of rising prices on
businesses? Should the Singapore dollar be allowed to appreciate further?
Madam Halimah Yaacob (Jurong GRC), wondered whether the Consumer Price
Index (CPI ) – which rose 2.7 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter
compared to 1 per cent in the second quarter and 0.5 per cent in the first
quarter – was an accurate reflection of inflationary trends in Singapore.
The CPI tracks the prices of a basket of goods and services, such as
housing, healthcare and transport, consumed by an average household.
Mr Inderjit Singh (Ang Mo Kio GRC) said he was concerned that higher
inflation would affect Singapore’s competitiveness in attracting foreign
investors. Non-Constituency MP Sylvia Lim of the opposition Workers’
Party, wanted to know how Singapore is diversifying its food sources in
order to stabilise prices.
In his response, Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang said that the
Government would try its best to keep inflation low even as he noted that
the “current uptick in inflation is a global phenomenon”.
For example, Mr Lim said, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) had
managed to strengthen the value of the Singapore dollar by maintaining an
exchange rate policy since April last year that allows the currency to
“appreciate gradually and modestly” rather than pegging it to the US
dollar. The latter move would have resulted in Singaporeans experiencing
higher inflation.
In reference to Mdm Halimah’s query about whether the CPI was an accurate
reflection of the state of inflation here, Mr Lim noted that the index had
been low for the first two quarters of this year. The CPI is expected to
rise slightly above 2.7 per cent in the fourth quarter.
Mr Lim attributed the lower CPI in the first two quarters of the year to
the “low transport CPI” because of some changes to the transport policies
as well as the low oil prices back then.
However, oil prices are now on the rise and the impact of the GST hike in
July will continue “to show up in higher CPI inflation figures” for 12
months until June next year.
Mr Lim added: “Unlike food import prices, the GST increase has had only a
limited impact on basic food prices as the major supermarket chains have
been absorbing the GST increase for basic food items.”
Mr Lim expects the CPI to hover around 3 per cent in the later part of
2008, higher than the last few years. The Government expects inflation to
peak at 4 to 5 per cent in the first half of next year.
On the issue of food diversification, Mr Lim said while Singapore can
explore the possibility of importing vegetables from Thailand and China,
there is only so much that the Government can do to mitigate a price hike
in consumer goods.
For example, if there is a worldwide increase in the prices of cornfeed,
than chicken prices will go up even if Singapore were to diversify its
sources of frozen chicken from countries such as Australia, the United
States and Brazil.
Allaying Mr Singh’s concern over the impact of rising prices on
businesses, Mr Lim said that Singapore is still in a “good position” to
attract foreign investments because inflation here is still comparatively
lower than other countries.
Singapore is competitive also because while wages had increased, so too
had our productivity, said Mr Lim.
“I don’t think we should begrudge our workers having a fair share of wage
increase in the last two years if we look at the last broader 5 to 7 year
time frame,” he said, explaining that wages was slow to climb during the
longer term period.
Mps Fret Over Patient Information Disclosure
November 12th, 2007 |
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Minister reassures members that all data will be treated with strictest
confidence
Sheralyn Tay
sheralyn@mediacorp.com.sg
EVEN as they agreed on the importance of having a national registry to
gather key information to help formulate public health policies, Members
of Parliament (MPs) voiced concern over the issue of confidentiality
during the debate about the National Registry of Diseases Act before the
amendments to it were passed yesterday.
Jurong MP, Mdm Halimah Yaacob, who also chairs the Government
Parliamentary Committee for Health, said that while she had no problems
with patient information being kept anonymous, her concern was over the
“laxity allowed in the use of individually-identifiable information where
the identity can be readily ascertained from the information given”.
Sections of the Act allow identifiable patient information to be disclosed
“for purposes of national health programmes”, Mdm Halimah noted.
Responding to these concerns, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said data
collected may “show from time to time, worrying trends that are beyond the
scope of the registry to investigate”, and it may need to release
identifiable data to match it with other data. This practice has been
adopted in countries like Australia.
Nominated MP Prof Thio Li-Ann questioned the general exemption clause,
which gives the Health Minister powers to waive the requirement of
confidentiality stipulated by the Act.
“This is an extremely broad power, effectively providing carte blanche for
the Minister in his discretion to allow someone to be given blanket
immunity from this statutory regime,” she said.
Mr Khaw said the clause would not be used to exempt anybody from the
obligations of confidentiality.
Rather, it is intended to exempt managers of healthcare institutions from
being prosecuted when they notify the registry about patients being
treated for a reportable disease.
Mr Khaw reassured members that all patient data collected by the
registry – whether anonymised or identifiable – would be treated with the
“strictest confidence”. In cases where data is released, be it for
research or to inform health policies, there will be rigorous scrutiny.
Anyone guilty of unauthorised disclosure would be subject to a maximum
fine of $10,000, a jail term of up to 12 months, or both.
“We will only collect information that is absolutely essential for
healthcare policy-making,” added Mr Khaw.
Under the Act, all healthcare institutions are required to notify the
Registry of Diseases about cancer cases. Other illnesses such as heart
disease, renal disease and stroke will be added in time.