What's the opposite of paranoia? Gordon Brown

I was just reading an article about German Chancellor Angela Merkel who is coming to the UK for a visit with Gordon Brown ahead of the G20 meeting in April. Despite Gordon's claims that Europe is united on the issues of the economy (a claim that was rubbished by News Rage UK last week for different reasons) it appears again that this is far from fact.

Merkel is in fact already committed with Sarkozy of France to send a common signal that spending more money is not an answer to the crisis. In other words, giving industries £billions upon £billions of public money is wrong. "The issue is not spending even more but to put in place a regulatory system to prevent the economic catastrophe that the world is experiencing from being repeated," she said.

Brown seems to be putting his fingers in his ears and singing "la, la, la". He seems to be oblivious to what other people are saying about the crisis. The Germans have never agreed with his handling of the crisis. German finance minister Peer Steinbruck caused controversy in December when he criticised UK policies on the VAT cut which we will have to start paying for sooner than many think. Brown however continues to insist that the two countries are on the same path, with Germany launching its own stimulus package.

Call me crazy, but isn't that a bit like saying black and white are the same colour but they're just used to colour different things. It doesn't make any sense. The government seems to be of the mind that if you keep telling people that things are so, then they will be so or at least people will believe that it will be so. The thing is, whatever way you look at it, black is black and white is white and I think, or at least I hope that people are beginning to acknowledge the whopping great cracks in not only this government's economic policies and management but also in just about everything this government is claiming to have achieved.

My thoughts are that either Brown actually believes that everyone is on his side and agrees with his plans, in which case the lunatics have taken over the asylum! or he is not giving the electorate and the British people credit for the intelligence they possess, in which case again the lunatics have taken over the asylum! We're clearly in a loose loose situation with this government and this style of politics and that really makes me mad!!!

Shoe lobber in Iraq vs. Green custard flinger in UK

Muntazer Al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist working for Al-Baghdadiya television and who threw his shoe at George Bush. Bush who had been at a globally-televised media conference with Prime Minister Nuri al-Malikiwhen when he came under fire from the missile seemedamused by the outburst which has resulted in a three year prison sentence. The journalist has also alleged torture whilst in captivity.

Whilst he has already announced that he will be appealing his case, presumably Al-Zaidi is also thanking his lucky stars that he cannot throw for toffee, having missed his target by a fair distance. One can only guess what his punishment would've been had the shoe hit its mark.

In the UK, as a bit of a contrast, an activist who threw green custard in the face of one of our own leading politicians was arrested eventually the other day after her childish antics. It has not been reported yet whether she will face any charges and it is unclear whether the police arrested her just to be seen to be doing something. However, one thing I can guarantee is that she will not be tortured whilst in "custardy" (I'm sorry! but I couldn't resist it). Another thing is that even if any charges are brought, a three year sentence will not be handed down...three hours community service if she's unlucky.

Presumably she is thanking her lucky stars that she did not have execute her stunt in Iraq after all her release did hit target. You have to wonder though when comparing the two, that if we are that much more liberal in the UK than they are in Iraq about things like this, then where is the bloody democracy and human rights thet our troops have died fighting for since they invaded and toppled Sadam? Why has this chap been sentenced for three years for missing (with his shoe) the man who caused the deaths of thousands upon thousands of Iraqis? Why has he alegedly been the victim of torture? If all we have done in Iraq over the last few years is replace one ruthless, torturous and murderous regime with another then we have achieved nothing...and that makes me mad!!!

Sea Levels Rising Twice As Fast As Predicted.

Sea levels are predicted to rise twice as fast as was forecast by the UN only two years ago scientists said on Tuesday in a new warning about climate change. Rapidly melting ice sheets... are likely to push up sea levels by a meter or more by 2100, swamping coastal cities and obliterating the living space of 600 million people who live in deltas, low-lying areas and small island states.

The new estimate appears to significantly worsen the predictions of a report in 2007 by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which said sea level could rise by up to 59 centimeters this century. The IPCC estimate had been based largely on the expansion of oceans from higher temperatures, rather than meltwater and the impact of glaciers breaking into the sea.

Using the new model, 'we get a range of sea level rise by 2100 between 75 and 190 centimeters when we apply the IPCC's temperature scenarios for the future,' said climate expert Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Even if the world manages to dramatically cut the emission of greenhouse gases driving global warming, the 'best estimate' is about one meter (3.25 feet), he said.

Green conference to consider radical policies for women in business

At the Green Party's spring conference in Blackpool, party leader Dr Caroline Lucas MEP will propose a motion on workplace equality.

The motion will note that women working fulltime in the UK are paid 17% less than men. And according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission's "Sex and Power 2008" survey, the percentage of female directors has stalled at 11%, and fallen in a number of categories.

To help tackle this, the new Green policy would require:

* Medium and large companies to undertake equal pay audits that compare the earnings of their employees, and to take action to redress inequalities.
* Legal changes to make it much easier for women to take equal pay cases to court, and to allow women to take such cases as a group, with the support of their unions.
* Significant funding to be put into encouraging girls and women to consider a broader range of careers.
* The law to follow Norway's in requiring that companies listed on the Stock Exchange have 40% of their board members being female within five years of the date of the passing of the legislation.

A separate motion intended to improve women's rights in the UK would ensure major improvements in NHS pre- and post-natal care, including a full range of birth options and the right to a single midwide throughout.

Other motions on women's issues will include:

* A motion to help combat domestic abuse, starting with "respect" training in schools.
* A motion to extend the right to asylum for women and girls, to include asylum for those who would be forced to undergo forced marriage or genital mutilation were they denied asylum.

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Huhne: Over a thousand serving police officers have criminal convictions

Over a thousand serving police officers in Great Britain have criminal convictions, according to new figures revealed by the Liberal Democrats.

The information, gathered from Freedom of Information requests to Britain’s police forces, shows how:

• There were 1,063 serving police officers in 41 police forces across Britain who had criminal convictions
• This includes five officers who were sacked by the force but reinstated by the Home Office
• There are 77 serving police officers with convictions for violent offences who have kept their jobs: 59 with convictions for assault; 14 for violence against the person; two for battery; and one for wounding
• In the last five years, just 45 have been dismissed from the police for violent offences
• 96 serving police officers have convictions for offences of dishonesty: 36 for theft; five for perverting the course of justice; three for fraud; and one each for dishonesty and forgery
• In the last five years, just 37 have been dismissed from the police for dishonesty
• 210 officers have been dismissed or required to resign in the past five years as a result of other criminal convictions

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne said:

"It is staggering that so many of the people entrusted to protect us from crime have criminal convictions themselves.

"It is even more worrying that so many police officers convicted of serious crimes involving dishonesty or violence have been allowed to keep their jobs.

"There is a disturbing lack of consistency in how police forces deal with officers who are convicted of crimes. Hiring and firing must ultimately be the decision of the Chief Officer but it would be sensible for the Home Office to issue some guidance.

"The Home Office recognises this decisive problem for applicants but not for serving officers.

"The public entrust the police with the use of legal force precisely because they are self-disciplined and restrained, which is why anyone convicted of a violent offence should be dismissed.

"I cannot see how a police officer convicted of dishonesty can perform their duty effectively, as any prosecutor would be reluctant to call them as a witness for fear of being taken apart by the defence.

"The public will be rightly concerned that there are serving police officers who have committed crimes as serious as GBH, assault, wounding and robbery.

"The trust that is absolutely vital in policing is seriously undermined when police officers are being convicted of crimes of dishonesty.

"Allowing police officers convicted of offences of violence or dishonesty to continue serving merely brings the vast majority of law-abiding and diligent officers into disrepute. Police forces should get tough on bad apples."

Brown says UK will increase overseas aid despite deficit.

Gordon Brown yesterday promised that Britain would keep its pledge to raise its overseas development aid budget to an internationally agreed target of 0.7 percent of national income in spite of the growing budget deficit.

Britain, along with other G8 countries, promised at the Gleneagles summit in 2005 to raise aid spending to that 0.7 percent level by 2013. The prime minister said the UK government was working with its partners in the G20 and at the World Bank to set up a new fund specifically to help the world's poorest people during the downturn. He said the UK would also push to win developing nations a bigger role in international institutions, like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Brown also said the Millennium Development Goals 'must remain a central focus of our[G20] efforts.

In related news, Al Jazeera reports that Douglas Alexander, Britain's international development minister, has set out new proposals aimed at helping people in developing countries hit by the global credit crunch. The measures include an international 'rapid response' fund that would provide a safety net for the world's most vulnerable people. Alexander said the multi-billion dollar fund would be specifically targeted at certain groups, including women, children, elderly people and the disabled, with food provided for children and medical care for pregnant women.

Green MEP 'disappointed' by Euro-Parliament vote to 'let polluting industries off the hook' on air qualiti

The European Parliament today voted to revise EU legislation on industrial emissions - Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive. After the vote, Green MEP Caroline Lucas commented:

"While the outcome of today's vote on industrial pollution could have been even worse, sadly MEPs have voted to let some of the most polluting industries off the hook. Lobbying from oil, steel and chemical industry laggards unfortunately succeeded in duping a narrow majority of MEPs to support a last minute amendment.

"As a result, the EP has voted to exclude most of the manufacturing industry from the air quality limit values set out in the legislation for large combustion plants (1). This last minute amendment is blatantly against the aims and objectives of the directive, goes against a recent European Court of Justice ruling (2), and therefore I urge the Council and the Commission to ignore it.

South East MEP Dr Lucas continued: "However, while some of the provisions of the proposed directive have been weakened, the compromise agreed between groups contains a number of improvements, notably the establishment of a procedure to set EU-level limit values for specific sectors in addition to the ones already set in the Directive. Monitoring and inspection requirements have been improved. This sends a clear message that environmental dumping between Member States should not be tolerated and installations with clean track records should be rewarded.

"Thankfully, EPP amendments seeking to delete soil and groundwater monitoring and reporting requirements - as well as obligations for site restoration after closure - were rejected. Removing minimum requirements on these areas would have been irresponsible and would have encouraged a race to the bottom in national/local implementation.

"But regrettably, MEPs have agreed to constrain their own right of amendment on so-called recast proposals. Today this resulted in the President of the Parliament denying MEPs the possibility to vote for setting CO2 emission performance standards for large combustion plants, despite the fact that such measures are sorely needed to guard against investments into fossil combustion infrastructure which are incompatible with EU climate policy."

Mosley's feelings hurt by coverage of his sado-masochistic orgies

Motor racing boss, Max Mosley has been complaining about his treatment at the hands of the press to MPs in a committee which is investigating press standards, privacy and libel laws despite a £60k payout from the courts against the News of the World.

Asked about the day the News of the World article had been published about him last July, Mr Mosley told the MPs: "It's very difficult to describe if something like that happens completely out of the blue... I had been doing this for 45 years and there had never been a hint and nobody knew."

He added that he had been "outraged", saying: "If someone takes your goods you have got some chance of replacing them. If someone takes your dignity, you have got no chance of replacing it."

He also said; "What's really appalling is for my family. Can you imagine seeing pictures like that of your father? It's just appalling. It's not even talked about outside the circle. Nobody knew. My closest friends didn't know. My wife didn't know."

Now call me crazy but if this old chap had exercised a modicum of self-control in the first place and kept his trousers on, surely his family would've been spared the humiliation they are now subjected to. He would also have maintained the good reputation he claims to have worked so hard to build and he would also not be having to go through the hardship of defending his honour in the courts. In Fact, the obvious advice for anybody with real concerns about any of the issues above should be to avoid sado-masochistic orgies all together...would it not?

What he seems however to be quite happy to do it seems is deny any responsibility for his own actions in any of this and to blame the media for drawing the public gaze upon his bare white arse doing things he probably shouldn't be doing at his age and in his familial and professional position. If you ask me, he's successfully mounted a bit of a "tree falling in the woods" argument; if nobody is there to hear it - does it really make a sound? And if someone is there to hear it falling in one direction but it falls in another, then it should be ignored.

The answer for poor, whining Max is that unfortunately if you are a famous and influential tree then there will always be someone waiting around to see if your going to fall in any direction. He can't be that niaive can he? I don't think so. What this Q&A session reveals is a dishonest, manipulative old fox with a thirst for revenge and a propensity for shirking responsibility....Hey, shouldn't he be working for the government!!!

Questions hang over legality of UK plans on air quality

Jean Lambert, London's Green Party MEP, has this week called on the European Commission to reject any plan on air quality from the UK Government that would endanger the lives of UK citizens.

The Government's consultation on their application to delay compliance with EU air quality laws ends today, 10 March. To be approved by the Commission it must clearly demonstrate how the Government will comply with the rules by 2010.

However, a recent assessment by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has revealed that the UK is unlikely to be able to meet the requirements on nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions.

Jean Lambert MEP said:

"Hundreds of local authority areas across the UK are currently exceeding EU standards for nitrogen dioxide (N02), a dangerous air pollutant which can cause and irritate breathing problems. In over 100 cities and in almost all of the recorded zones across the UK, traffic fumes are breaching safety levels on some roads.

"For ten years, the Government has failed to significantly improve air quality and even Defra has reported that it is unlikely to meet future targets. I have called on the Commission to confirm whether the UK's plans on air quality fully comply with all of the legal requirements, before they submit their plea to further delay compliance with the law."

The Government's public consultation on their application to the European Commission to delay compliance with EU air quality laws can be found here: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/air-quality/index.htm It closes on 10 March 2009.

Another out-of touch government proposal is branded a gimmick, D'oh!

As soon as the government comes up with ideas these days, it appears that there is immediately someone who wants to rubbish them. The worrying thing however is that it isn't even the opposition who are leading the attack. It seems to be the professionals who actually work in any area that the government hatches a "catch the pigeon" style reform or proposal. Jacqui Smith was decapitated yesterday over plans for her violence against women register. It's Gordon Brown's turn to be rubbished today.

In a speech called "Working Together", he will announce later today that: "We will recruit the brightest and best in our public services - for instance, with a new fast track teacher training scheme, taking six months instead of a year, to bring career switchers into the teaching profession."

However Mary Bousted, general secretary of the teaching union, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) said;

"It sounds like an employment scheme for unemployed bankers, but this may not be the best way to go about it". she added; "I'm becoming very worried about the plethora of different gimmicks and initiatives the government is coming out with - this looks very much like back-of-the-fag-packet stuff."

If in fact this is a job scheme for ex-bankers, as a parent, I would be a little concerned (and a little sensationalist acknowledged) that these people who have spent the last couple of years of their professional lives ruining the world's economy through sheer and utter greed and avarice would have any input to my child's education and upbringing.

Anyway the point is that I am finding it hard to come to grips with how out of touch and seemingly desperate this government actually is. They should be trying to actively and cooperatively solve problems with the people who are facing them and not sitting in Whitehall pushing the same old "idea peas" round the same old "manifesto plates". They're stale. They're remote and they're failing. We need a change but we won't get one because this government's too arrogant to see that what they are actually doing and suggesting is going to do more harm than good for this country...and that really makes me mad!!!

Markets alone cannot provide adequate housing for all, says UN expert

The over-reliance on private home ownership that contributed to the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the subsequent global financial meltdown highlights the need to view housing through the lens of human rights and not just as a commodity, the United Nations independent expert on adequate housing said today.

"While political discussions are ongoing, I believe it is important to consider the linkage of the crisis with human rights, especially to look at the causes of the crisis and avoid repeating the same mistakes in any new national and global agenda," said Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik, who presented a report to the Human Rights Council on the financial crisis, its causes and its relation to the right to adequate housing.

"One of the fundamental errors has been to consider housing only as a commodity and an investment asset," she told the 47-member body in Geneva, underscoring that that the provision of adequate housing for all can not be left solely in the hands of private housing and financial capital markets.

As private loans and mortgages were the only option open to most people who needed a place to live, Ms. Rolnik noted that "credits were attributed by the private sector to households that – in normal circumstances – would not be eligible for loans."

As a result, not only did private companies' risk increase, but also "low-income households were made even more vulnerable to economic and financial changes," she added.

In her report, the expert also argued that the reduction in the amount of public housing made available by the State had a significant impact on people in need of affordable accommodation, especially those that could not afford market prices and mortgages.

She noted that rapid increases in the price of housing led to excessive borrowing and the ensuing expansion of the financial system.

"The 'biggest bubble in history' was foreseen, but little or nothing was done by Governments to prevent it," Ms. Rolnik, an architect and urban planner with extensive experience in the area of housing and urban policies, said in a press release.

Since the so-called bubble has burst, the financial crisis has resulted in housing becoming even less affordable for many people around the world, she noted.

"It is a blunt reminder that it is not just the poor, but also low- and increasingly middle-income groups, who find it difficult to raise enough money to buy or rent adequate housing," said Ms. Rolnik.

"I believe that the current crisis represents an opportunity for reflection, and to consider how to improve housing systems, policies and programmes so as to ensure adequate housing to all."
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Launch of ISA to help vaccinate children.

A new ISA (Individual Savings Account) is being launched which will enable savers to help vaccinate children in some of the world's poorest countries, it was announced this week. The International Finance Facility for Immunization (IFFIm) is planning to raise funds to vaccinate children in more than 70 developing countries.

The Vaccine Investment Isa is available through HSBC branches across the UK and Geneva-based GAVI, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, will oversee the inoculations of which the majority will be in Africa.

Its members include the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, UNICEF, the Gates Foundation and vaccine manufacturers. The Sunday Times writes that the idea of converting governments' future aid commitments into immediate funding for projects in developing countries was promoted by Gordon Brown in 2005. In 2006, IFFIm was launched to convert $5.3 billion in future aid commitments (pledged over 20 years by the seven governments) into bonds. The Pope was the first IFFIm bond investor.

Shoesmith sues Harringay and will make a fortune.

Grizzled Sharon Shoesmith, the former boss of childrens services at Harringay council has filed a claim at the employment tribunal for wrongful dismissal as predicted in the previous News Rage UK article, Guaranteed Wrongful Dismissal in Harringay . The thing that makes me mad here is that we know the outcome and we can start to predict the tabloid headlines already.

The fact is, Balls went in like Schwartznegger, in character on a revenge spree and sacked her in a flash. I can't pretend that I don't agree with what he did because I do...and he should have the power to do what he did in the circumstances, however there are procedures that need to be followed when you sack someone, anyone with whom you have given a contract of employment and I would be very surprised if they were followed.

Wronfully or rightly she was lynched and the law has developed to prevent lynchings in the workplace, in fact mostly courtesy of the Labour Party themselves. I would be surprised if she doesn't walk away with a nice sum as a result and again the rights of Baby P will be ignored.

Lights are on, but nobody's in at the Home Office

This is a desperate plea for someone to switch off the electricity at the Home Office. Why? Because it will stop the light bulb on top of Jacqui Smith's head from going off every time one of her nincompoop, Baldrick-esque, what I can only imagine to be graduate scheme policy makers comes up with a cunning plan.

The latest plan; make a database of men who have been violent towards women.

The idea has been ridiculed by Refuge, the leading charity which pretty much offers what it says on the tin to women and children victims of domestic violence. Their chief exec, Sandra Horley branded it as a "gimmick" and a "useless initiative". She also accused the government of hypocrisy by trying to talk tough when it was actually doing very little.

Now call me bi-polar on this one but I think that Horley's response was both funny and deadly serious. Funny because I can only imagine the pent up rage Smith must be feeling by having her big International Woman's Day initiative dismissed so strongly. Her parade was washed away to sea in fact it was rained on so heavily and that makes me laugh. It makes me laugh because I am past rage myself on how this government comes up with hollow and poorly thought through ideas which never materialise or never solve the problems they set out to. In fact they seem to create not only fresh but worse problems that those that already existed; FSA, Human Rights Act, Access to Information are good examples.

This database would always be incomplete because the vast majority of violent men are never reported. The list would extinguish the rights of men who have spent convictions and would presumably exclude violent women (so much for sexual equality). There would be issues about who would have access to the information contained on the list and in what capacity it could be accessed; girlfriend, neighbour, employer, bank etc.

What really makes me wonder about the intelligence and perhaps sanity of those coming up with ideas in the home office is that they have a handful of charities who are working in this area already yet they haven't forged proper working partnerships to try ideas from people who are actually on the ground working in that specific area. Why? I can only assume that the ego involved here is so big as to think that someone who hasn't been elected to a position of power couldn't possibly have anything valid to contribute the the running of the country. That bloody well makes me mad!!!

Labour Party Gets a Good Bashing - From Within

Peter Hain was on the news over the weekend saying that more of New Labour would loose the Labour Party the next election in what appears to be a bit of "I told you so"ism before the event. This publicity stunt I think is a display of his willingness to throw his hat in the ring again when it comes to party leadership election time after the generals whenever they come (presuming of course that Brown doesn't do a Chavez in the dark). Not that I don't think that Hain would make a good Labour Party leader, he does have an admirable pedigree but I cannot understand why anyone with any political savvy would want to take the helm after Brown.

This move definitely marks the start of the public implosion of the New Labour movement as it will begin to tear itself apart in lieu of certain failure at the next general election. It happened to the Conservative party during Major's term and it took them 3 leaders and ten years after loosing power to rebuild a veneer of cohesion. What the older wiser guys should really be thinking of doing is letting someone like Milliband take the reigns, screw it up and decapitate himself politically before they step in and reunite the party with traditional values, which after two terms of Conservative reign, the UK will probably be ready for again.

It will be interesting to watch and measure the degree to which they will destroy themselves though. Harman already looks like she's already on a leadership campaign as well and I wonder what Straw, Mandelson and others will be up to behind the scenes. One thing I can say is that it's going to be an awful lot better than Saturday night TV, that's for sure!!!

Republican Thugs in NI Must be Nipped in the Bud

Well it didn't take long for troubles to flare up in Northern Ireland which is a real shame. I've been thinking to myself over the last couple of years that it's been really good to see old guard terrorists talking their troubles out face to face, like civilised human beings in parliament and regional assemblies. The economy of NI even started to look promising for the future and at one point a couple of years ago, house prices there were growing faster than anywhere in the country.

Then global financial problems start to happen. House prices drop, unemployment rises, and everything seems to be headed back to square one. First sign of trouble, the guns come out and they want to start shooting and blowing people up again. Gunmen opened fire in a drive-by style shooting at Massereene Barracks in Antrim last night, killing two soldiers and wounding another four (including two pizza delivery men). The soldiers had just picked up pizza in fact and were supposed to be flying out to Afghanistan that night to fight a real war against another militia who also seems to lack the bravery and intelligence to engage their enemy in diplomacy like civilised human beings.

By all reports, although no group has claimed the attack, it is believed that it was carried out by a splinter republican group who have been linked to an increasing security threat to local police officers. Apparently this group is in a small minority so one can only hope that people in the area will not look to harbour them for fear of their country slipping back to what it was like before the peace process.

What needs to happen is the quick apprehension and conviction of these thugs before they claim glory for what they have done. What we don't want to see in a region that will undoubtedly be hit hard by the recession with many likely to blame the government for poverty, home repossessions and job losses, is for the perpetrators to gain any capital or credibility for their cause from this cowardly attack.

Low Carbon Industrial Strategy

In a speech at the Jobs Summit on 12 January 2009, Lord Mandelson stressed the potential of low carbon industry to create jobs and economic growth. But he warned that "this is going to be a fearsomely competitive sector". The government appears to have found the competition rather too fearsome, and rather than taking advantage of the UK's unique renewable resources and history of engineering innovation to become a world leader in clean energy, Brown's stimulus package has committed less investment to the green economy than any G7 leader apart from Berlusconi.

Nathan Argent, Greenpeace's Senior Energy Solutions campaigner said -

"Mandelson has talked of industrial activism and now is the time to show it in practice.

If this Government wants to create tens of thousands of British jobs and tackle fuel poverty, energy security and climate change in the fastest and most cost-effective way possible then they should invest in renewables and a serious energy efficiency programme.

With the best renewable energy resources and the worst housing stock in Europe, there is no better time to turn the recession crisis into an opportunity."

Energy efficiency:

Energy efficiency is the quickest way of reducing emissions and increasing energy security. It also has important advantages as a fiscal stimulus measure as it is labour intensive benefitting the construction industries, trades and light manufacturing. Investing in energy efficiency keeps jobs such as skilled builders, fitters and joiners, energy auditors and managers in the UK as it is largely domestically produced and does not rely on imports - important with a weakened sterling. It is often cost-effective.

The largest and most ambitious retrofitting project is the German Alliance for Work and the Environment created or saved 140,000 jobs.

Across the EU, case studies indicate that an additional €1 million of investment creates between 8 and 14 job years, with indirect employment effects contributing a further 9-40 person years of employment. Case studies from UK suggest these figures tend to be higher for the UK than for the EU average.

Government figures show that there is the potential to save over 30% of all energy used in the UK solely through efficiency measures that would also save more money than they cost to implement.

Amongst other measures, Greenpeace are calling for the government to

• Provide incentives to upgrade energy efficiency include the waiving of stamp duty or rebates on Council Tax for any household upgrading between energy performance level.
• Tackle fuel poverty with energy efficiency. Use the £2.7 billion spent on the annual Winter Fuel Payment towards improving housing stock while maintaining payments to those worst off.
• Upgrade the public estate. The government should upgrade the energy efficiency of the building stock in the public sector estate. Savings of up to £45 million per year could be made from the central Government estate alone.

Industrial CHP:

Industrial Combined Heat and Power (CHP) is a developed technology which massively increases the efficiency of power generation reducing fuel imports and has been proven to work across Europe. It could play an important role in maintaining the industrial competitiveness of manufacturing industry by lowering fuel costs. This has been demonstrated by a joint letter to Alistair Darling from Greenpeace and Ineos Chlor, Eon, and WWF calling on the Chancellor to extend the existing support mechanism (Climate Change Levy exemption) for industrial competitiveness reasons.

Europe's leading energy experts, Poyry Energy Consulting, have calculated that there could be up to 13GW of power from just nine major industrial sites. 13GW is the same capacity as eight nuclear power stations, but could be delivered much more quickly and more cheaply than nuclear, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 10 million tonnes.

Offshore wind:

The ambitious renewable energy targets that the UK needs to meet requires a huge expansion in the UK onshore and offshore wind capacity. The UK is obliged to deliver this and needs to upgrade provisions on grid access and simplify and adequately resource offshore planning to make it happen. Assuming this happens the question is - who gets the manufacturing jobs?

The UK share of the offshore wind jobs market range from around 23,000 up to 70,000. Where we end up depends on Government policy. If we want to end up at the top end we need real ‘industrial activism' including adjustments to renewable energy support mechanism if market conditions require, loans underwriting or a guaranteed ‘green loans' fund such as the one which the Irish Government made a requirement when they bailed out their national banks. We need upgrades to key ports to address the skills gap in the UK for big renewables delivery. There is a manufacturing base (for example the aerospace, offshore oil and gas industries and others) which could be encouraged to shift its focus by the Government.

The Green New Deal: how not to do it.

Today's government announcement of 400,000 "green jobs" misses the point of the Green New Deal, the Green Party said today.

Professor John Whitelegg, a leading academic and consultant (1) and Green Party spokesperson on sustainable development, said this morning:

"The Brown New Deal is not a Green New Deal. It relies on nuclear power, which is not remotely green and which sustains the fewest jobs per megawatt of any form of electiricty generation. Replace nuclear with renewable energy and you will get the same amount of energy with far more jobs, and ultimately at a lower cost.

"And carbon capture is neither zero-carbon nor jobs-rich. The government recently trailed a claim of only 50,000 jobs in so-called 'clean coal' by 2030. But figures soon to be released by the Green Party will show how wind energy could create four times as many jobs ten years sooner."

Professor Whitelegg concluded:

"We know how to achieve a zero-carbon economy through jobs-rich green energy policies, so why on earth should we tinker with jobs-poor unproven technology that keeps us dependent on fossil fuels?"

Laws: Class sizes should be cut to 15

Liberal Democrat Shadow Schools Secretary, David Laws today called for a massive boost to education spending to allow class sizes to be cut from up to 30 pupils to 15 for all five to seven year olds.

The proposal forms part of a raft of measures to be debated at the Liberal Democrats’ Spring Conference in Harrogate this weekend. Other measures in the policy paper Equity and Excellence include:

· Boosting the funding of the poorest pupils to private school levels, enabling schools to provide more one-to-one tuition and extra catch-up classes
· Replacing the rigid national curriculum with a slimmed down minimum curriculum entitlement
· Radically cutting back national testing and re-investing the savings in improving literacy and numeracy

Commenting, David Laws said:

"Labour has had over a decade to close the gap between rich and poor children in this country, and it has failed.

"We know that smaller class sizes will make a real difference, making it easier for teachers to give young children more individual attention during those important first years at school.

"All children should have the opportunity to fulfil their potential, no matter where they are born.

"Our Pupil Premium will raise funding levels for disadvantaged pupils to those in the private sector. Schools will be able to use this extra cash to fund longer school days, reading and maths, and to attract the best teachers."

A full regional breakdown of class sizes is attached

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Ghandi Would Say "No, Thankyou!" Today....Twice!

Two things happened today that seriously undermined the life and work of Mahatma Ghandi and that makes me both angry and sad. The first to come to my attention was the auction of Ghandi memorabilia including his flip flops, glasses and various other items, sold by one private collector for £1.2million to other private collectors. The seller, an activist, has purportedly said that the proceeds will go to charities promoting peace. I wonder if Ghandi would've been comfortable with the massive amount of money that was raised for his humble belongings considering levels of poverty in India and the rest of the world.

The sale was supposed to draw attention and publicise Ghandi's beliefs in non-violence and was reported on the same day that a protester from aptly named campaign group "Plane Stupid" threw green custard over Business Secretary Peter Mandelson. Why she did what she did doesn't matter to me now because whatever message she was trying to get across was spoiled by the violence she inflicted and will not be highlighted here. Some might think that the violence was small or justified to achieve the ends of the protester but it was violence none the less and must have no place in a modern democratic society.

Ghandi achieved the symbolic end of an empire through the use of non-violent protest. His teachings were of peace. This style of activism although further down the line is on the same line as terrorism and must not be tolerated. Changes are made by education (and not just by the government) and then the peaceful mobilisation of massive numbers of people against the establishment. Once violence is used then the cause is lost. It is a real shame that this young lady did what she did because it is people like her that make it difficult for legitimate, adult protesters to approach and engage with those in power and who can effect change.