Gordon Brown’s determination to restore cannabis from a class C to a class B substance was one of the worst-kept secrets in Westminster. When the new Prime Minister asked the independent Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs on July 18 to assess the evidence over the dangers of cannabis, Whitehall sources made clear there was only one conclusion he wanted the council to reach.
The ACMD’s chairman, Sir Michael Rawlins, even wrote to Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, nearly three months ago to seek her assurance that she was keeping an open mind on the subject. She insisted she was.
With Labour’s share of the vote plunging to less than 25 per cent, it is hard to exaggerate just how bad today’s town hall results are for Labour. Indeed some of the Cabinet were not born the last time the party fared so badly.
This is not a blip, not a moment of midterm unpopularity. When Labour loses Wolverhampton, Nuneaton and Reading, something bigger is happening out there.
It’s been a difficult Mayoral campaign for Ken Livingstone. But today he receives some belated good news by being declared the “greenest” of the three main candidates to run London.
Friends of the Earth analysed the policy pronouncements of Mr Livingstone, Boris Johnson and Brian Paddick on the environment, climate change, transport, housing and the economy. Their conclusion is that the current Mayor deserves a rating of nine out of ten for his environmental credentials, with Mr Johnson awarded seven and Mr Paddick just five.
It’s astonishing that any so-called civilised country can approve the use of “waterboarding”. But the US admits the CIA has used the controversial technique – which simulates drowning by pouring water down the throat of a captive strapped to a table – on three prisoners suspected of terrorism. Human rights activists suspect the actual figure could be far higher.
In an attempt to bring the reality of waterboarding to a wider audience, Amnesty International has commissioned an advertisement that will be released in British cinemas next month. It starts like a commercial for a fancy mineral water or a new brand of gin, but then turns ugly. The short film can be seen here.
John Alderdice rose to prominence as leader of the non-sectarian Alliance Party of Northern Ireland which strove to build bridges between the province’s entrenched communities. As the political settlement continues to strengthen in Belfast, you might think he is content to rest on his laurels.
Not a bit of it. Lord Alderdice, now a Liberal Democrat peer, is turning his attention to the Government’s plans to lock up terrorist suspects without charge for up to 42 days. He sees a chilling parallel between the contentious proposals and the introduction of internment in Northern Ireland in the 1970s.
It is a common view among academics that it is very difficult to shift the tectonic plates of British politics.
As late as 1992, the voters were punishing Labour for the turmoil of the Callaghan years of the late 70s and the in-fighting of the early 8Os. The spectre of Black Wednesday in 1992, and the destruction of the Tories’ reputation for sound economic management, hung over successive Tory leaders. Are we seeing a similar once-in-a-decade shift? It certainly feels that way, with the collapse in Labour opinion poll support and in Gordon Brown’s personal ratings.
Proof that the Tories are embracing all the possibilities of cyber-campaigning or a new low in cheap political stunts?
Have a look at this online game in which rival Cabinet Ministers Jack Straw and Ed Balls try to knock the living daylights out of each other. It has been rapidly designed following reports - fiercely denied - that they squared up to each other last year.
In the spirit of the game, any other suggestions who could make good sparring partners? Johnson and Livingstone? Brown and Blair? Tebbit and Cameron?
The fuse was lit a year ago, but anger has finally exploded in Labour ranks over the doubling of the minimum tax rate to 20p. Although adjustments to the complicated tax credit regime will ease the pain for taxpayers with families, instinctively loyal backbenchers are appalled by the symbolism of a Labour government increasing the tax bills for many of the worst-off.
At the same time, duty on beer is rising, local post offices are shutting and John Hutton, the Business Secretary, says the achievements of the super-rich should be celebrated. Some Labour MPs privately wonder whether this is the programme they were elected to implement.
Alistair Darling told his Cabinet colleagues shortly before presenting his first Budget that two key themes of the package would be supporting families and combating climate change. He announced extra cash for tackling child poverty, increased winter fuel payments for the elderly and a move to cut fuel bills for the worst-off.
The Chancellor also raised the prospect of bigger reductions on Britain’s carbon emissions over the next three decades.
It is now clear who will foot much of the cost of helping family finances and saving the planet – drink-loving drivers of gas-guzzling cars.
Fostering a sense of “Britishness” is a long-running preoccupation for Gordon Brown. More than two years ago as Chancellor he floated the idea of a "unifying" day to celebrate the British national identity and appealed for all the UK’s residents to "embrace the Union flag". Yesterday his review into promoting citizenship called for a national bank holiday to reflect on the country’s history and achievements and for all school-leavers to be offered citizenship ceremonies.
Downing Street yesterday refused to be drawn on the specifics of the report, written by the former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, beyond a general welcome for its “interesting” suggestions.
There are a host of practical problems in turning its laudable aims into reality:
Ministers are fond of boasting that public backing for identity cards remains consistent, with Jacqui Smith quoting a new survey that showed support for the scheme is “broadly steady at nearly 60%”.
That backing may be wide, but it is not necessarily deep. Enthusiasm for the scheme seems to ebb away if the public are reminded that they might have to pay £30 for the privilege of being issued with a stand-alone card or £93 for a combined ID card-passport.
When Mick Jagger and Keith Richards became the first British rock stars to be given prison sentences for drug use, it prompted William Rees-Mogg, the conservative editor of The Times, to question the severity of the punishment under the headline: “Who Breaks A Butterfly On a Wheel?” His intervention undoubtedly aided the Stones’ appeal against the sentences.
Forty years later, if the United Nations is to be believed, that wheel has turned full circle. Its drug enforcement agency, the International Narcotics Control Board, protests today that celebrities are being treated leniently by the police and courts.
Ministers were quick to highlight success in reducing the use of illicit drugs as they unveiled their 10-year strategy for combating levels of addiction.
Two more reminders this week of who’s really pulling the strings at the Home Office. Yesterday morning Jacqui Smith published hastily-assembled plans that toughened up the rules on gaining British citizenship. The Home Secretary added that she was still consulting on whether foreigners wanting to marry a UK national would have to take prove their ability in English before being allowed to settle in this country.
The consultation only lasted a couple more hours: in a speech in the afternoon Gordon Brown confirmed that such language tests would be introduced.
Jacqui Smith has spent countless hours trying to persuade sceptics of the merits of extending the limit for locking up terrorist suspects without charge from 28 to 42 days. The Home Secretary may have a consensual style and plenty of personal charm, but she has so far failed to win round her legions of critics on this issue.
MPs are thin on the ground at the moment in Westminster because of the half-term break. Most are probably relieved to disappear to their constituencies, given the unprecedented focus on the bizarre, take-it-on-trust, system of parliamentary expenses and allowances.
Jacqui Smith insists she has an open mind on whether the controversial reclassification of cannabis from a class B to a class C substance should be reversed. Don’t believe a word. The review of the status of cannabis, announced by Gordon Brown last summer as he broke with the Blair era, is regarded by Home Office insiders as a foregone conclusion.
If there’s one thing Labour backbenchers are united on, it’s bewilderment and dismay over their Government’s attitude to police pay. Its move to phase in officers’ promised 2.5% pay rise, effectively trimming it to 1.9%, will save the Treasury some £30 million to £40 million. But the political price far outweighs any money saved and Labour MPs are aghast that the dispute has become so acrimonious that 25,000 Police Federation members travelled to London on their days off to protest.
One of Jack Straw’s priorities when he took over as the Justice Secretary seven months ago was to take the heat out of the issue of prisons. He has had some success, but a torrid week for the jail system is a reminder of the massive strain it faces.
It drives the Home Office to distraction when it publishes generally positive statistics on crime, only for journalists to single out the numbers that appear to bear bad news. Last week, for instance, police statistics showing falls in violent crime, burglary, robberies, car crime, criminal damage and fraud were overshadowed in most media reports by increases in drug offences and some forms of gun crime.
Figures today disclose that the murder rate has only slightly risen over the last decade. Last year 757 homicides were recorded in England and Wales, just 23 more than in 1997. But when the public says it believes law and order is deteriorating – the risk of being a victim of crime is actually at its lowest since 1981 – the Government can’t simply berate the media for creating a gap between perception and reality.
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