November 2007 Archives

FOR some light relief, how about this battle at Westminster for the title of Britain’s top ... racecourse?
In a Commons debate on horse-racing, a Tory MP claimed that Cheltenham, in his Gloucestershire constituency, was “the greatest in the world�.
That was red rag to a bull – or a horse – to the listening Knowsley North and Sefton East MP George Howarth, who immediately shouted out: “Aintree!�

WHICH of the many crises engulfing Gordon Brown – Northern Rock, “Datagate�, sleaze – will inflict the biggest damage on his fledgling Premiership?
With accusations flying at the beleaguered Prime Minister thick and fast, it’s not an easy question to answer – but it’s tempting to have a stab.

There are now inquiries ongoing into both the missing CDs at the heart of the child benefit records blunder and the “dodgy donor� who, this week, brought down Labour’s top official.

Until the probe into what caused the personal details of 25m people to be “lost in the post� reports next month, the Chancellor’s job hangs in the balance.

The heat is on, Mr Darling, over his insistence that a junior HMRC official messed up, when the published emails suggest senior managers knew about the blunders.
Similarly, an inquiry will determine who in the Government knew that a millionaire businessman secretly – and unlawfully – donated £600,000 to

Labour through middlemen.
We know that Harriet Harman, Mr Brown’s deputy, accepted a proxy donation, and no-one believes the departed general secretary was the only person aware of what was going on.

Mr Brown’s confused comment yesterday – “If the inquiry names names, then those names will be named� – hinted at the panic at No.10.
So, a scalp may still be claimed over either of these

scandals and both – because of incompetence and sleaze – are toxic for the Prime Minister.
However, I wonder whether the crisis that will still be hanging over Mr Brown long after the New Year dawns will be Northern Rock and the fate of £24bn of taxpayers’ cash?

The Chancellor can argue that the missing CDs are an “operational� matter – but the Rock bail-out was a policy decision for which he cannot escape responsibility.

It was Mr Darling who said: “We fully expect to get that money back�.

The favoured Virgin bid comes up £13bn short, so that clearly will not happen – or not for many years.
When the Chancellor’s political obituary is written – perhaps in a reshuffle next summer – the first line will refer to the “Crock�, rather than “Datagate�.

WHO stepped forward to help Jacqui Smith, when the Home Secretary found herself in a pickle over 5,000 illegal immigrants cleared to work in security?

None other than Andrew Miller, the Ellesmere Port and Neston MP, whose committee examined the setting up of the Security Industry Authority, which failed to vet the migrants.

The noble Mr Miller told Ms Smith: “Perhaps I should apologise for failing to spot a weakness in it . . . �

GORDON BROWN is not poised to rip up his pledge to give Merseyside a stronger voice at the House of Commons – or so I’m told.

Ten days ago, I reported the growing suspicions of many Northern MPs that a promise to set up a “select committee� for every region was heading for a U- turn.

The idea – a key plank of the Prime Minister’s constitutional reform agenda unveiled in July – was said to solve the problem created by the demise of elected regional assemblies.

Without assemblies, who will scrutinise the billions of pounds spent by unelected quangos, such as the regional development agency (RDA) and the strategic health authority (SHA)?

The answer, said Mr Brown, was MPs – who would be given the power to haul the chairmen and chief executives down to London to explain themselves, if necessary.

Then something happened – or rather, nothing did. No regional committees were set up and the entire idea is being re-examined by Harriet Harman, the Commons leader.

The whisper was that the regions must settle for a “grand committee� – without the power to launch investigations and call witnesses. A “talking shop�, said Knowsley’s George Howarth.

Not so, says my well-placed source, who insists the row is a storm in a teacup and that the likes of Mr Howarth have nothing to worry about.

The problem, I’m told, is neither of the two explanations put forward by the malcontents – cost, or the obstruction of Civil Service “Sir Humphreys�.

No, it’s all about standing orders, apparently – the Commons rules which state that all select committees must have an in-built government majority.

That would be no problem in the North West, of course, but would be impossible in the South-East, or South- West, where Labour MPs are scarce.

So what is the solution? Well, it’s a “grand committee� in name, but – before MPs start spluttering – one that looks like a “select committee�.

Confused? You should be, but my source says MPs will get what they want – the muscle to investigate the quangos, grill their bosses and make recommendations to the Government.

Perhaps ministers should work a little harder at reassuring Northern MPs, who remain suspicious?

SURELY no Conservative MP comes from more true-blue stock than Tatton’s George Osborne, the son and heir of a multi-millionaire baronet?
Apparently not. A 19th-century ancestor, Ralph Osborne, has been uncovered who served as a . . . Liberal MP.
Oddly, George has

IT SEEMS that businesses will be asked to stump up for better buses, trains and trams as the Government runs scared of angry voters.

That is the logical conclusion from a little-noticed policy twist hidden in the Local Transport Bill, published last week.

This is the Bill that – in theory – clears the way for local authorities to launch “spy-in-the-sky� road- pricing schemes to try to solve the nation’s congestion nightmare.

As it happens, Liverpool has already lost the chance to lead the way on road-pricing, because its £1.1m bid to explore charging motorists to drive into the city centre was rejected last year.

Ten local councils remain in the running – led by Birmingham and Manchester – but those two alone are demanding that £3bn is first invested in better public transport.

With only £2bn set aside by the Department for Transport (DfT) for all major local transport innovations, the safe bet is that no road-pricing schemes will happen quickly.

After all, ministers – left terrified by the 2m-signature protest petition that hit the No.10 website – have already backed away from a national satellite- tracking scheme.

So, as all big towns and cities nervously contemplate rush-hour gridlock, where can the money be found to improve public transport?

Well, this Bill will – for the first time – allow councils to grab a slice of that £2bn Transport Innovation Fund (Tif) if they agree to slap a tax on staff using company car parks.

So-called “workplace parking charges� have been law for a full seven years, but not a single authority has exploited this revenue stream.

They know businesses will resent having to shoulder the cost, as trying to pass the charges on to staff is likely to prove impractical.

I assumed the workplace levy idea was as dead as a dodo, until transport minister Rosie Winterton suddenly gave it the kiss of life last week.

The minister told journalists: “We have set up this fund to be innovative. Workplace parking measures can be part of demand management.�

Furthermore, Ms Winterton – who repeatedly pointed to workplace charges as a solution – made her comments as another tax on local businesses looms.

Last month, the Government gave the go-ahead to town halls levying a “supplementary business rate� to raise tens of millions of pounds for transport projects, such as Merseytram.

I suspect company bosses will not welcome this potential double whammy.

FORCES are being marshalled at Westminster for an attempt to cut the time limit for most abortions below 24 weeks.

But the result of the first Parliamentary battle for 17 years over this most emotive of issues is likely to be looser – not tougher – laws.

We will find out when the Human Tissues and Embryos Bill is included in next week’s Queen’s Speech, providing a vehicle for both pro and anti-abortionists to push for change.

One national newspaper claimed this week, having surveyed MPs, that there was growing support for cutting the 24-week limit – perhaps to 22, or even 20, weeks.

But its sample size was small and three recent backbench attempts to curb abortion rights have all fallen by a comfortable majority, suggesting the anti-abortion forces are struggling.

In contrast, there is a growing body of scientific evidence that the 24-week limit should stay – and that abortion should be made easier, particularly in the early stages.

First, the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Nursing are united in support for the 24-week figure.

That is because, as the BMA puts it, the number of foetuses surviving at 24 weeks is still “extremely small� – and those that do are likely to suffer severe abnormalities.

It would be extraordinary if, regardless of the clamour from the increasingly-vocal religious lobby, MPs ignored unanimous medical advice.

Far more likely is that pro-choice MPs will seize on pressure for the dropping of the “two-signature� rule, that requires two doctors to agree to any abortion.

Nurses, rather than doctors, could also be allowed to carry out abortions in the first trimester of pregnancy, up to 12 weeks.

And women may get the right to perform the second stage of a termination – taking a tablet to detach the foetus from the womb – at home, rather than at a hospital, or clinic.

Much of this agenda flows from the concern of doctors’ leaders that anti-abortion colleagues threaten a shortage of GPs trained to carry out terminations within a few years.

The Government backs sticking with 24 weeks and the two-doctor rule – but MPs will have a free vote.