Which costs more: the bail-out of the banks
or people taking sick-days? The Guardian
has provided a useful chart for putting these
huge sums in visual context:
Answer to above question: the cost to industry
of sickies is tiny compared to the cost of bailing
out the banks (as you probably already suspected).
Most UK newspapers, on September 8th, 2009,
headlined with the "news" of a massive
terrorist plot. Actually, the story was recycled
from April 4, 2008. And when it appeared in
April 2008, it was recycled from August 2006
(when the plot was originally reported as foiled).
Compare the front pages, 2008 & 2009:
According to Metro (19/8/09), "The
[UK] Home Office has drawn up plans for mass
graves in London to deal with a second wave
of swine flu expected this autumn." http://tinyurl.com/swineflugraves
Police use of Tasers increases
Police use of Taser stun guns has increased
by nearly a third (Independent,
17/8/09). This rise followed the decision
to give Tasers to officers who don't carry traditional
firearms. The official line is that the 50,000-volt
guns "defuse dangerous situations",
but the Youtube video below shows a
more disturbing use:
BBC cherry-picks latest crime figures
Latest The latest crime figures were released
in July. The BBC 10-O-Clock news (16/7/09)
focused on the "rise" in burglary.
Actually, burglary is either "stable"
or up 1%, depending on whether you look at British
Crime Survey or police figures. And the
police figures show that burglary has halved
since the mid 1990s. BBC TV news didn't mention
that, but the BBC crime web page did provide
some context: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8153392.stm
Official crime figures: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/hosb1109vol1.pdf
Previous bulletins
Netherlands closes prisons due to lack of
criminals
The Dutch justice ministry is to close eight
prisons because a decline in crime has left
many cells empty. 1,200 jobs in the prison system
will be cut. http://tinyurl.com/o6z3ot
Following an internal review of the Lancet
2006 study on Iraqi deaths, Gilbert Burnham
(its lead author) has been suspended for violating
ethics protocols by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health. This follows a rebuke
of Burnham by the American Association for
Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) for repeatedly
refusing to publicly disclose essential facts
about the Lancet study's methods. AAPOR's president
went as far as saying that Burnham's conduct
"violates the fundamental standards
of science". This is the first time
in 12 years that AAPOR has brought a charge
of ethics violation (the last time was against
the rightwing pollster Frank Luntz).
"A growing culture of fear triggered
by widespread misconceptions about the risk
posed by threats such as crime and terrorism
is exacerbating the economic downturn and hindering
recovery", according to research published
by the The Mental Health Foundation. The study
finds that a catalogue of fears are eroding
confidence, diminishing the quality of life
for millions of people and damaging mental health. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/apr/14/mental-health-study-fear
Former MI5 head accuses UK government...
...of exploiting fear of terrorism with new
freedom-eroding laws. Also, the International
Commission of Jurists (ICJ) accuses US and UK
of undermining international law. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7893890.stm
IT projects over budget by £18 billion
The Times
(2/2/2009) reported that government IT projects
have total cost overruns of more than £18
billion. (See also our article
containing a list other expenditures costing
the public billions).
A recent study found that only 23% of people
in the UK count newspapers as "highly trusted"
- roughly the same proportion who consider Wikipedia
as highly trusted (BBC news online, 31/12/08).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7789494.stm
Lie-detector nation...
Trials of lie-detector tests for benefit claimants
have been declared successful by the government,
and it seems that this technology will be made
available for use nationwide. http://tinyurl.com/5s2ma4
... or taser-gun nation?
Better odds than the lottery? UK police are
to be armed with 10,000 Taser guns. That's one
for every few thousand households. Will you
be the lucky recipient of 50,000 volts when
you're mistaken for a troublemaker? (Sunday
Times, 23/11/08). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5204516.ece
Benefit fraud exaggerated
According to Neil Bateman, a welfare rights
specialist, most benefit fraud is exaggerated.
In a letter published by the Guardian
(5/12/08), Bateman claims that out of 41 cases
of alleged fiddling which he investigated, only
three were correct. He writes of "an
alarming trend for prosecutions to be based
on fundamentally flawed evidence".
And in cases where fraud has occurred, eg with
people working while claiming, they often would
have received as much, or more, in legitimate
(but unclaimed) tax credits. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/dec/05/letters-welfare
A million fake copies of the New York Times
Last November (2008) around 1.2 million fake
copies of the New York Times, dated
July 4, 2009, were handed out by the 'Yes Men'.
It might have worked better if it weren't so
obviously a spoof, but perhaps that would've
led to prosecution under anti-terrorism laws.
http://gothamist.com/2008/11/12/fake_new_york_times_hits_readers.php
According to a YouGov survey, workplace unhappiness
is growing, with workers having to work harder
and longer, while seeing their pay cut in real
terms. 46% said the amount of work asked of
them has risen. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7592050.stm
Newspapers recycle terror scares
A good example of how newspapers recycle old
stories to create terrifying new headlines was
provided earlier this year. It's best illustrated
by looking at these front pages of the Daily
Mail, Daily Telegraph and Herald:
The shocking April 2008 headlines actually
refer to an alleged crime that was foiled (and
originally reported) back in August 2006. The
headline should have read: "FAILED PLOTTERS
FINALLY APPEAR IN COURT", but that's not
frightening enough to sell newspapers. http://tinyurl.com/mail040408
The latest official crime figures have just
been released (23/10/08). They show crime falling
or stable in most categories (violence, firearm
offences, serious knife crime, burglary, vehicle-related
theft). Total recorded crime fell by 6%; recorded
violence fell by 7%; recorded robbery fell by
16%. "The risk of being a victim remains
at a historically low level". http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs08/hosb1408.pdf
There was a media backlash against Conservative
leader David Cameron's use of the phrase "anarchy
in the UK" to describe crime levels. The
Independent (21/8/07) ridiculed Cameron
in a leading article titled "Anarchy
in the UK? Hardly...". Ken Jones,
president of the Association of Chief Police
Officers, criticised Cameron and pointed
out that "Violent crime is at the lowest
it has been since the mid-90s" (Press
Association, 31/7/07). But BBC2's Newsnight
decided to use the "anarchy" phrase
as a headline to their coverage of the Rhys
Jones murder a few days later. See our correspondence
with Newsnight at Media Hell:
http://www.mediahell.org/BBCanarchy.htm http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article2881392.ece http://society.guardian.co.uk/crimeandpunishment/story/0,,2159918,00.html
Former BBC Crimewatch host accuses
media of fearmongering on crime
Nick Ross, the former presenter of BBC1's Crimewatch
upset the Daily Mail by claiming that
newspapers are guilty of fearmongering over
crime. Ross stated on BBC Radio 4's Today
programme that "the media have long
been peddling a big lie about crime".
He went on to say: "The most common
forms of crime have plunged. Burglary is down
58 percent, car crime down 61 percent, violence
by 48 percent". He referred to the
media as "hunting in packs and hungry
for the narrative regardless of the underlying
truth".
We first read about Ross's statements in Roy
Greenslade's Guardian blog (brought to
our attention by a correspondent). A comment
on this blog adds: "Ross made the same
point during an interview on BBC1's Breakfast
programme. Sian Williams' fixed smile almost
cracked while the dashing Dermot quickly dif[f]used
the outbreak of accuracy by abruptly ending
the interview." (Daily Mail,
21/7/07; Guardian Unlimited, 23/7/07) http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/greenslade/2007/07/ross_traduced_by_telling_truth.html http://tinyurl.com/2zbjq2
(Daily Mail link)
Latest crime figures
Following the release of the latest
crime figures, BBC1 Ten O'Clock News (19/7/07)
announced: "Crime is at a historically
low level..." This was a first for
BBC1 news. As we've indicated in detailed
complaints to the BBC, their headline announcements
have, for years, cherry-picked rises in crime.
The headline was followed by an informative
report by Mark Easton which dispelled some myths
about violent crime. He pointed out, for example,
that "half of it [violent crime]
involves no injury, and it includes crimes like
bigamy". He also commented on the example
of a 77 yr-old woman, petrified of crime: "Isabel's
chances of being involved in a violent attack
are extremely remote, but that's not what she
reads in the papers".
One of the 'big five' banks, HSBC, was "forced
into a dramatic U-turn" after a web-based
protest by students. HSBC had planned to cancel
interest-free accounts for graduates - until
thousands of students signed up to the Stop
the Great HSBC Graduate Rip-Off campaign.
The bank's hasty re-think led to a leading article
in the Independent celebrating "a
victory for people power". (Independent,
31/8/07) http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article2914346.ece http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2914378.ece
Government to use lie detectors on benefits
claimants
The UK government is set to make countrywide
use of lie detectors in a "crackdown"
on benefits fraud. The Voice Risk Analysis
(VRA) technology works by measuring fluctuations
in the voice that indicate stress and "an
attempt to deceive". The Observer
newspaper (2/9/07) quotes a government spokesperson:
"Operators trained in intelligent questioning
and behavioural analysis will use the system
to identify suspect cases at the start of the
claim process...". http://society.guardian.co.uk/crimeandpunishment/story/0,,2160874,00.html
Single Working Age Benefit proposed
The Citizen's
Income Newsletter has spotted that a
recent Work and Pensions Select Committee report,
'Benefits Simplification' (26/7/07) contains
a detailed proposal for something called a Single
Working Age Benefit (SWAB), which would
replace benefits for both the employed and the
jobless. They argue that a SWAB is "nine
tenths of the way to a Citizen's Income". http://www.citizensincome.org/
Majority of super-rich pay no income tax
HM Revenue figures, recently released under
the Freedom of Information Act, suggest that
only a fraction of those earning £10m
or more in Britain pay income tax. Prior to
the 1997 general election, Gordon Brown promised
to end "the tax abuses which reach to the
heart of our public finances by indulging the
super-rich at the expense of the rest of us".
A decade later, The Independent newspaper
(22/6/07) describes Britain as "a haven
for the super-wealthy". http://money.independent.co.uk/personal_finance/tax/article2692509.ece http://money.independent.co.uk/personal_finance/tax/article2679488.ece
The BBC Director general, Mark Thompson, "was
paid a total of £788,000 in the last financial
year" according to a recent
BBC web page, which, oddly, no longer contains
this information – although it was still
appearing in Google search results when we checked:
Fighting fund announced for battling the
banks
Despite two apparent set-backs in which local
courts found in favour of banks, the campaign
against the banks' profiteering from excessive
(and arguably illegal) charges is gaining momentum.
A £100,000 fighting fund has been set
up by consumer groups and private individuals,
to encourage people to launch legal challenges
against the banks. Commenting on the coverage
surrounding the banks' first court victory,
Martin Lewis (who announced the fund), said:
"This case has no bearing in law and
in practice sets no precedent [...] This is
a desperate attempt to scare people away and
it is important that we do not allow their spin
and spiel to put people off". (The
Scotsman, 4/6/07) http://business.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=869502007
The most prominent case is that of barrister
Tom Brennan versus National Westminster Bank.
Brennan has set up a website to provide updates:
http://www.tombrennan.co.uk/
Jobless level is treble the official figure
The real level of unemployment in Britain is
almost three times as high as the official figure,
according to a report quoted by the Guardian.
The reason for the discrepancy (between the
900,000 official "claimant count"
and the report's figure of 2.6 million) is that
many jobless people are diverted onto other
benefits or out of the welfare system altogether.
(Guardian, 13/6/07)http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2101437,00.html
Alternative currency flourishes in New Age
town
There are about 844,000 "BerkShares"
in circulation in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.
Worth $759,600 at the fixed exchange rate of
1 BerkShare to 90 US cents. In their 10 months
of circulation, they've become a regular feature
of the local economy. (Reuters, 19/6/07)http://tinyurl.com/28nvwa
Gap between rich and poor wider than ever
Inequality in Britain is at levels "not
seen for over 40 years" according to new
research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
The widening gap between rich and poor has meant
that 'average' households (neither poor nor
wealthy) have been decreasing in number. (Joseph
Rowntree Foundation, 17/7/07)http://www.jrf.org.uk/pressroom/releases/170707.asp
Media hysteria over disappearance of child
The Independent newspaper has best
summed up the media coverage of the disappearance
of 4-year-old Madeleine McCann:
"The hysteria created
by the reporting of this and similar cases does
no service to anyone. It will lead only to children
being wrapped in cotton wool and prevented from
developing the social skills and independence
they need to survive. Far from offering a shared
catharsis, all it does is spread the virus of
fear." (Independent, 15/5/07)
The cost of an average home (in Britain) rose
by £2,000 in March to reach £206,890.
This figure is £20,000 higher than a year
ago. The average price of a London home has
jumped by £42,000 in a year. (Guardian,
15/5/07)http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2079579,00.html
Police report "ludicrous arrests"
The Police Federation claims that "ludicrous
arrests" result from the police trying
to meet government targets. They quote examples
of such arrests:
• A man cautioned for being "in possession
of an egg with intent to throw".
• A woman arrested on her wedding day for
damage to a car park barrier when her foot slipped
on her accelerator pedal.
• A child arrested for throwing cream buns
at a bus.
• A 70-year-old arrested for criminal damage
after cutting back a neighbour's conifers too
vigorously.
• Two children who were arrested under
firearms laws for being in possession of a plastic
toy pistol.
The number of prescriptions for antidepressants
in England has hit a record high. More than
31 million prescriptions for drugs such as Prozac
were issued in 2006 – a 6% rise on the
year before. (BBC News Online, 24/5/07) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6653013.stm
Road crashes the leading cause of death
Road crashes are the leading cause of death
among young people, according to the World
Health Organization (WHO). Nearly 400,000
people under the age of 25 are killed in road
traffic crashes every year. Millions more are
injured or disabled. (WHO, 19/4/07)http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2007/pr17/en/index.html
