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Nov 5, 2009
The band liked his versatile voice
Sir, The emerging details of Sir Christopher Kelly¡¯s review of MPs¡¯ allowances, the continuing work of Sir Thomas inflatable
Legg¡¯s investigation, and the ¡°leaked¡± views of the Senior Salaries
Review Body on allowances for peers raise more than an issue of
probity.
After constitutional change which has devolved decision making to
Scotland, Wales and, increasingly to Northern Ireland, England is
becoming even more London-
centric than has historically been the case. A reasonable
presumption can be made that those MPs who have been praised for
claiming the least for second homes are, with some notable exceptions,
also those who have spent least time in their constituencies ¡ª
certainly with overnight stays. And now, with the apparent proposals
for cuts in allowances for members of the House of Lords, we have the
perverse ¡ª and, in my view, dangerous ¡ª proposition that we make it
more difficult for those in the second chamber whose roots, contacts
and influences are outside London, to do their job.
This bodes ill for those who are enthusiasts for an elected senate.
The lesson of recent months and the proposals that are now on the table
are very clear: our politics are about those with homes and substantial
contacts ¡ª social and business ¡ª in London. For all of us, this is a
worrying trend.
David Blunkett, MP
House of Commons, London SW1
Sir, The idea that MPs should spend two hours a day commuting, some
of them at times when public transport becomes infrequent, if it exists
at all, has the hallmarks of the voluntary treasurer of a charitable
society who is so focused on presenting a cash surplus at the end of
the year that he forgets the purpose of the organisation.
The secondary social costs of such an arrangement are likely to include more frequent by-elections as the strain of
inflatable tent
travel linked to the stress of Parliament leads to a higher incidence
of heart disease, a threat to most involved in politics. We can also
expect a higher incidence of road accidents and fatalities as weary MPs
struggle to reach their bed.
If we cannot afford to equip our inflatable slides
MPs to ensure that the job does not involve financial hardship or
physical stress then we should reduce their number ¡ª say by half ¡ª and
ensure that they are properly serviced with administrative support in
London and in the constituencies; essential if they are to adequately
represent their constituents.
Posted at 06:13 pm by whoyg2326
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In respect of the National Policing Improvemen
Sir, The power for local authorities to conduct
financial investigations has been with us for some time (¡°Councils get
Al Capone power to seize assets over minor offences,¡± Oct 28) and there
are many examples where their investigators have assisted in dealing
with organised criminal activity that pearl jewelry has made huge (and unlawful) financial benefit.
Trading Standards deals with many cases of counterfeiting and in
some cases there are serious public health issues that the public
rightly expects it to address. Any confiscation or forfeiture of assets
is always subject to scrutiny by the courts. This requirement will also
apply to any other body in the future, providing an important safeguard
to ensure that the powers are used appropriately.
In respect of the National Policing Improvement Agency, be assured
that control is very tight. All financial investigators, irrespective
of the organisation that employs them, must undertake a rigorous
training programme. Without accreditation they cannot obtain financial
material from banks and other institutions. The UK has a national
network of financial investigators that operates to a common minimum
standard. This standard involves continued professional development and
if any financial investigators fall foul of that standard they are
removed from the list and can no longer operate in that capacity.
The police service works very closely with partners from all
agencies engaged in this work and will continue to assist financial pearl jewelry wholesale investigators from whatever agency to tackle criminal activity in whatever form it takes.
The public rightly expects all public bodies to disrupt criminals
whenever they can, to remove their criminal profit and to protect the
public purse. To suggest that these latest developments are sinister
and will focus on law-abiding members of the public is far from the
truth. All agencies involved in financial investigation seek to protect
victims of crime but also to remove those assets derived from criminal
activity. We will all continue to focus our efforts on those who pose
the pearl necklace
greatest threats to the public.
Mick Creedon
Chief Constable, Derbyshire Constabulary, Acpo Lead for Financial Investigation and Proceeds of Crime
Posted at 06:13 pm by whoyg2326
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istorian¡¯s Bosworth is still valid
Sir, In 1972 Leicestershire County
Council decided to establish a visitor centre at Bosworth Field
(report, Oct 29). The late Dr Danny Williams (lecturer in medieval
history, University of Leicester) was pearl jewelry invited to be the historical adviser for this project.
This was no easy task. Dr R. H. Evans described it as requiring
¡°advice on a variety of topics ranging not only from details of
costume, arms, armour and equipment but to fundamental and
controversial issues about the very siting of the battle, the troop
dispositions and the course of the fighting¡±. Williams devoted a great
deal of time to providing scholarly and carefully argued answers to
these questions. The battlefield site and the interpretative centre are
pearl jewelry wholesale based on
Dr Williams¡¯s interpretation as published in The Battle of Bosworth
Field first published in 1973. Without this, I wonder if the latest
four-year project to locate the whereabouts of the fighting, funded to
the tune of £1.3 million, would have taken place. The project has been
highly successful as indicated by the number of visitors over the
intervening years (more than 500,000 since it opened in 1985).
Dr Williams¡¯s painstaking research was wholesale pearl earrings
largely unfunded other than by modest research grants from the
university. The current finds do not, it seems to me, detract from his
eminently well-written account.
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Posted at 06:13 pm by whoyg2326
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Patients who wait too long will get private care on the NHS
Patients who do not get the treatment that they need
from the NHS within 18 weeks are to be given the legal right to free
private care.
The Cabinet agreed this week that the freshwater pearl
legislation, placing maximum waiting times on the statute book for the
first time, should be rushed through Parliament before the next
election.
Cancer patients, in particular, will receive funding for private
treatment if they have not seen an NHS specialist within two weeks of
GP referral.
Downing Street says that the two legal rights, which will be
unveiled in next month¡¯s Queen¡¯s Speech, are designed to entrench the
dramatic reduction of NHS waiting lists over recent years ¡ª as well as
allowing Gordon Brown to ¡°throw down the gauntlet¡± to the Conservative
Party in the election campaign.
Related Links
With NHS budget growth likely to be sharply curtailed whichever
party is in power, No 10 believes that the legislation will prevent
waiting lists drifting back up.
¡°This will send a strong ¡®no turning freshwater pearl jewelry
back message¡¯ to voters,¡± a senior government source said. ¡°David
Cameron will have to decide whether he wants to repeal this measure and
take rights away from patients.¡±
The Tories have promised to phase out all NHS targets, including
those for waiting times, saying that patients should make ¡°informed
choices¡± about their care without hospitals being forced into a
straitjacket of government regulation. ¡°Labour always focuses on the
process while we think what really matters is whether you are better
after your treatment,¡± a Conservative spokesman said.
Patients are currently offered a choice pearl necklace
from a range of NHS, independent and private provision only at the
outset of their treatment. They are obliged to stick with that decision
even when their treatment is delayed beyond the existing target time
limits.
The new rules will allow people to switch to a different hospital,
including those in the private sector, if they have been made to wait
longer than 18 weeks for treatment by a specialist after seeing their
family doctor.
Posted at 06:12 pm by whoyg2326
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Draft legislation is understood
When Labour policy documents published this summer
first raised the prospect of a legal entitlement on waiting times,
ministers had still not agreed on the timing of legislation and the
enforcement pearl jewelry mechanism.
The Queen¡¯s Speech on November 18, setting out the Government¡¯s
legislative programme for the final months before the election, will
promise that the measure for England and Wales will be in place within
months.
Ministers plan to issue executive regulations that turn key waiting
time pledges from the new NHS constitution into legally binding rights.
Downing Street suggested yesterday that although parliamentary approval
was not needed to amend the Health Bill, MPs were likely to be given a
vote.
Draft legislation is understood to say that primary care trusts
must monitor whether patients are languishing in the queue and inform
them of their rights for alternative provision. The trusts will be
required to ¡°take all reasonable steps¡± to ensure patients are treated
immediately either by the freshwater pearl NHS or the private sector.
According to the latest figures from August, about 37,000 patients
had not received treatment from an NHS specialist within 18 weeks of
their GP referral. There are legitimate clinical explanations for some
¡ª and others are caused by patients cancelling their own operations to
go on holiday ¡ª but officials believe that about half have been ¡°failed
by the system¡±.
Andy Burnham, the Health Secretary, told Cabinet colleagues this
week that the new legislation would mean that underperforming hospitals
would lose funding from patients going elsewhere and ¡°act as a powerful
challenge for them to raise their game¡±.
Jennifer Dixon, of the Nuffield Trust, said the wholesale pearl jewelry
plans could be seen as ¡°Tory-proofing¡± the NHS. ¡°It would not only give
patients enforceable health care entitlements but it would also prevent
managers and clinicians from controlling waiting times as a way of
limiting demand and saving money,¡± she said. ¡°In the past requirements
to make financial savings often resulted in hospitals stopping routine
surgery for a couple of months before the end of the financial year.¡±
Posted at 06:12 pm by whoyg2326
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