Where do you draw the (thin blue) line?

March 23, 2012 11:50 am by Helen Warrell

The two police chiefs who attracted so much controversy earlier this month with a plan to open up their forces to a £1.5bn private sector contract were summoned to the home affairs committee yesterday to explain their ideas to MPs. But anyone hoping this would help to clarify which elements of policing might be carried out by private staff and which would remain the remit of police officers and their civilian officials would have been sorely disappointed.

Confronting the committee, Chris Sims, chief constable of West Midlands police, and Lynne Owens, chief constable of Surrey, were keen to distance themselves from the idea that they were privatising the police force. Ms Owens said:

We will not give our crown jewels to a private sector company.

Mr Sims even denied that the procurement process was an outsourcing project – claiming that while Cleveland, Lincolnshire, Avon & Somerset, Cheshire and Northamptonshire police forces had all entered into contracts which effectively hand over services to a company, this was not the model West Midlands and Surrey would follow.

Continue reading: “Where do you draw the (thin blue) line?”

Tags: Police privatisation
Posted in Coalition, Home affairs, UK politics | Permalink

Could Labour find a way to dodge the police commissioner elections?

September 27, 2011 2:22 pm by Helen Warrell

So, will Labour field candidates for the election of police and crime commissioners or will it find a way to avoid putting up its own contenders?

Toby Harris, Labour peer and former chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, warned conference delegates in Liverpool on Monday that party grandees are considering not contesting the PCC vote in November 2012. But this morning, Yvette Cooper, shadow home secretary, was quick to dismiss suggestions of a boycott. She told the BBC:

That’s not what we are proposing but we will have to consider how we respond to the legislation that has just gone through Parliament. We will be thinking about the best way to respond to do that.

Continue reading: “Could Labour find a way to dodge the police commissioner elections?”

Tags: Police commissioners, Yvette Cooper
Posted in Labour, UK politics | Permalink

Is reducing net migration a target or an aspiration?

September 23, 2011 5:35 pm by Helen Warrell

There is a growing confusion over the government’s target of reducing net migration to the tens of thousands by 2015 – at least, its chief adviser on immigration issues seems to think so.

As I reported last month, the 21 per cent increase in net migration over the past year, taking the total to 239,000 – more than twice the level the home office needs to reach in four years’ time – must have made uncomfortable reading for the department’s number crunchers.

However, speaking at London’s Global Immigration Conference yesterday, Professor David Metcalf, chair of the Migration Advisory Committee, suggested that the firm target of less than 100,000 was actually more of an “aspiration” for the government. He told the lawyers at the International Bar Association event:

There are certain tensions within the coalition about whether [the tens of thousands] is a firm target or an aspiration.

This is not the first time that such tension has been mooted.

Continue reading: “Is reducing net migration a target or an aspiration?”

Posted in Coalition, Home affairs, UK politics | Permalink

Justice minister lukewarm on justice reforms

September 20, 2011 7:08 pm by Helen Warrell

Tom McNally, the Lib Dem peer and justice minister, may face a less than positive reception when he returns to the Ministry of Justice after the party conference in Birmingham.

As the Guardian reported today, Lord McNally has already weighed in against his Tory colleagues at repeated fringe events, suggesting that the decision to add the word “punishment” to the government’s legal aid and sentencing bill was the work of “little elves that work in No 10″ helping the prime minister to get the right-wing media on side.

These comments were followed by a remarkably frank discussion of the MoJ’s move to transform the justice system and reduce reoffending through payment by results, at a fringe meeting looking at who should profit from the penal system.

Asking rhetorically whether the introduction of private providers into the prison service was “a sin against the holy ghost [of public provision] or a sensible way of the government financing much-needed services and competition”, Lord McNally acknowledged that the PBR drive had ultimately pragmatic motives.

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Tags: Lord McNally
Posted in Coalition, Home affairs, Lib Dems | Permalink

£12bn deficit increase puts Osborne’s plans in doubt

September 19, 2011 7:55 pm by Helen Warrell

Number 10 may have been reluctant to comment this morning on revelations by the FT’s Chris Giles about a £12bn ‘black hole’ in the public finances but Lib Dems, cornered at their conference in Birmingham, were more open.

Senior Lib Dem MPs quizzed on Monday suggested they were not entirely surprised by the 25 per cent increase in the structural deficit, but not surprisingly, are still not in any mood to back further cuts to bring it under control.

As other commentators have mentioned, the FT’s estimates of a £61bn structural deficit in 2011/12, as opposed to the £49bn forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility, will cause a major headache for chancellor George Osborne.

Having repeatedly insisted that there is no need for a Plan B to bolster the Treasury’s existing deficit reduction plans, Mr Osborne is unlikely to change his mind even if he now has less spare capacity than the OBR predicted.

However, in the face of sluggish economic growth and slippages in deficit reduction, his chances of bringing the budget into surplus by 2015/16, as promised, are looking ever more unlikely.

Posted in Deficit, UK economy | Permalink

Has the coalition stitched up the police bill to help Clegg?

September 7, 2011 6:36 pm by Helen Warrell

Grumblings of discontent were heard along House of Lords corridors today as Labour and Lib Dem peers accused the coalition of rushing through legislation on the controversial police and crime commissioners with a cunning timetabling ploy.

Following the derailing of the bill by Lib Dem peers in May, the government has now provoked fresh displeasure by tabling the parliamentary ping pong – where the bill is batted back and forth between the two houses – for next Wednesday, the same day that the legislation on fixed term parliaments is also due to be debated.

Labour Lords in particular complained that it was extremely unusual for two such major bills to be scheduled so close together, and are accusing the coalition of what they have diagnosed as a “political stitch-up”. The idea, they say, is to get the contentious police reform package through parliament before Nick Clegg has to face any gip on the subject from Lib Dem party members at their conference, which starts the following Saturday.

Continue reading: “Has the coalition stitched up the police bill to help Clegg?”

Tags: police
Posted in Home affairs, Labour, Lib Dems, Nick Clegg | Permalink

Election 2010 live: Results update

May 7, 2010 1:58 pm by Helen Warrell

With Jim and Alex still on frontline duties, Helen Warrell and Johanna Kassel, who have helped steer the FT’s online election coverage, will keep you up-to-date with the most recent results.

And on that note, we’ve heard from all three leaders and more pundits than we can shake a stick at. So 18 hours and thousands of words later, we are going to sign off from the live blogging. We will continue to update the blog as the final results come in and if there is any breaking news. But thanks for joining us and make sure to watch the Westminster blog and FT.com for all the latest news and developments over the weekend.

4.05 HW: Tory reactions on Cameron’s statement are surprisingly slow to emerge by Peter Hoskin on Spectator Coffee House is surprised that Cameron has gone so far in his advances towards the Lib Dems and is impressed by the Tory leader’s “clarity” in setting out the areas where he isn’t willing to compromise with Nick Clegg – namely Europe, cutting the deficit and immgration.

Continue reading: “Election 2010 live: Results update”

Tags: Election
Posted in Uncategorized | Permalink

Election 2010 live: The view from 10am

May 7, 2010 10:18 am by Helen Warrell

With Jim and Alex on frontline duties, Helen Warrell, who has helped steer the FT’s online election coveage, will man this blog. Jim, Alex and others will contribute. Follow the news, drama and tension of the unfolding result.

12.05: As the clock has struck noon, we are going to take a 10-minute rest. In the meantime, Robert Shrimsley, writer of the armchair election, has written a post, which will appear above very shortly. We will be back soon…

11.59 HW: An ongoing tussle on electoral reform as both major parties continue to woo the Lib Dems: Charlie Whelan, former press secretary to Gordon Brown, says he is “sure” that Labour will offer the Lib Dems proportional representation as an incentive to form a Lib-Lab coalition. Meanwhile Conservative sources tell the BBC that Cameron “hasn’t ruled out” the possibility of some sort of electoral reform.

11.51: Jim’s headline of the day goes to The Sun: “Right Wing Brings Down Ukip”. Let’s hope Nigel Farrage is enjoying the joke as much as everyone else…

Continue reading: “Election 2010 live: The view from 10am”

Tags: Election
Posted in Nick Clegg | Permalink

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