Member of Parliament stopped for taking photos

"A MP taking photographs in public has been stopped and searched under Terrorism Act powers.

According to Croydon Guardian, Andrew Pelling, MP for Croydon Central, aroused suspicion when he was taking pictures of a cycle path in his constituency as he was collecting evidence about the problems caused to cyclists by maintenance works.

Despite showing his Commons pass, the MP was questioned and searched by two police officers. They issued him with a stop-and-search notice before letting him go." Source BJP 8 January 2009

I reported on the 9th January about the arrest of photographer Reuben Powell who had been held in detention for almost five hours before being released on the involvement of MP Simon Hughes. The loss of liberty to take photographs is a very serious emerging "social disaster" it is verging on a totalitarian "Orwellian" state. It is clear that as we are in a heightened security world we must exercise caution. The MI5 "Threat levels advisory" states "The current threat level is assessed as SEVERE" (as of 4th July 2007). Does that mean for a member of the public let alone a MP taking photographs of a cycle lane as way of example of a “long-neglected bicycle and pedestrian route” is to be considered a potential act of terrorism, I think not but it must be clear what is and what is not permissible to photograph, especially for the Police who have to enforce the law. The Police are stretched to breaking point as it stands with gun, knife and drug related crimes.

In many countries around the world it is generally not permitted to photograph Airports, Train stations and Government buildings without permission. It would appear that this is a sensible precaution during these dark times, but to extend this to "cycle lanes" is one step too far! The point I make is that there must be "proper guidelines as to what is classified non permissible photography.

I feel that common sense must now prevail, there have been too many cases in past months of innocent people going about their business, such as members of the public, photographers, press and politicians being either stopped or arrested under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (see "Liberty" for a legal explanation)

Author: Nigel Rumble

Photographer arrested under Terrorism Act saved by MP Simon Hughes

An artist and photographer was arrested last week in London as he was taking photos of Elephant and Castle. He was deemed an "unnacceptable security risk".

Reuben Powell was taking a photo of a site at Elephant and Castle when three policemen stopped him. He was handcuffed and held at the nearby police station for almost five hours. According to reports, he was released only after a call from MP Simon Hughes, who had been alerted by residents.

Powell has been documenting the evolution of Elephant and Castle for an exhibition in the shopping centre.

"Reuben Powell is an unlikely terrorist, writes The Independent today. This artist has been photographing and drawing life around Elephant & Castle for 25 years. But, last week he was arrested and detained for five hours because his work posed an unacceptable security risk. He was handcuffed and had his genetic material stored permanently on the DNA database."

Source BJP 6 January 2009

Confiscating savings from the poor is stupid and cruel

The danger now is of deepening recession mutating into deflation

Four months ago, in September, the Bank of England was debating whether to increase interest rates beyond 5 per cent to counter mounting inflation. There were people who thought that crude oil, then $140 a barrel, would soon fetch $200 or even $250. That world now seems light years away.

As it became clear that we faced a serious recession we Liberal Democrats broke the taboo of the political and economic Establishment by calling on the Monetary Policy Committee to cut interest rates by 2 per cent initially. Our call was treated like a rude noise in church. But it has happened - and more - and we now have a two per cent base rate.

The danger now is of deepening recession mutating into deflation and a downward spiral of falling prices and wages. The Bank of England have to minimise that risk. They should cut further today and keep cutting: the classic response favoured by monetarists and Keynesians alike.

The base rate is, however, becoming a secondary concern in banking and monetary policy. The issue is now the supply of credit more than the price. Despite the injection of capital the banks are on strike. They are cutting lending, even to sound business customers, large as well as small. The Government must break the strike. But it should start by sorting out the confusion and contradictions in its own policy.

It wants banks to lend to business but simultaneously wants its investment back as soon as possible. And it demands that banks hold more liquidity in the form of government bonds: that is lending to Government.

Nor is it sensible to demand that banks pass on the full rate cuts to borrowers. They have to earn a margin on the money they get from deposits or the markets. Even mutuals like the Nationwide Building Society have the same concerns, and they cannot be accused of the sins of shareholder capitalism since they are wholly-owned by their depositors.

In the next few weeks the Government must clarify its objectives and direct the banks which it partly owns and has rescued. It may be that one or more of the big, partially nationalised, banks will have to be taken over fully and become a vehicle for new business lending.

Meanwhile, Barclays' eye-wateringly expensive deal with Arab investors has clearly failed to maintain lending on normal commercial terms, even to big British businesses. They must now begin talks with the Treasury about money.

In the meantime, interest rate cuts are provoking a savers' revolt. It is right to balance the immediate requirement for consumer spending with the need to maintain (and strengthen) a long-term savings culture for retirement, long term care - and mortgage deposits.

Savers will benefit from very low, or negative, inflation; their bank deposits have been given an implicit guarantee by the Government; and some - with money locked into good fixed interest deposits - are doing well. The real scandal is the penal treatment of savings under the means-tested benefit and pension credit system. The Government, in effect, is confiscating savings from the poor and thereby destroying their incentive to save: this is a stupid and cruel policy.

Some worry remains too about the effects of interest rate cuts on sterling. The danger of a flight from the currency has not disappeared. But so far the effects of devaluation have been largely benign - except for those poor souls on skiing holidays or living an expat existence in the Mediterranean sun. Coordinated cuts with the European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve will help to minimise the risks however.

The big, looming, monetary issue is "quantitative easing": that is, printing money. What happens is that the government borrows from the Bank of England, not from the markets. It expands the money supply to keep the economy going and also to counter deflation without simultaneously increasing government debt. The attractions are obvious, as are the dangers.

The Robert Mugabe school of economics provides a salutary warning about uncontrolled monetary expansion in generating hyper-inflation. The road to Harare is not as long as we might hope. Monetary easing may prove to be necessary but will have to be managed with great skill and care: Too little easing and the crisis drags on - as in Japan. If there is too much, the authorities face the messy task of mopping-up liquidity by issuing bonds which add to the burden of borrowing or else we lurch back from deflation to inflation. So interest rates may soon become yesterday's story.

By Vince Cable in The Independent, Thursday, 8 January 2009

We must stop arming Israel

Brown has to stop sitting on his hands, halt British weapons exports and insist the EU do the same

The world watched in horror yesterday as the conflict in Gaza claimed its latest innocent victims in the rubble of a UN school. Any hopes of reconciliation are being snuffed out as anger spills into protests around the world.

The past two weeks have been a telling indictment of the international community. We have an outgoing US president sanctioning Israel's military response and an aching silence from the president-elect. We have a European Union encumbered by clumsy decision-making and confused messages.

And at home we have a prime minister talking like an accountant about aid earmarked for Gaza without once saying anything meaningful about the conflict's origins. Gordon Brown, like Tony Blair, has made British foreign policy effectively subservient to Washington. But waiting for a change of heart in Washington is intolerable given the human cost.

Of course, Israel has every right to defend itself. It is difficult to imagine what it must be like to live with the constant threat of rocket attacks from a movement which espouses terrorist violence and denies Israel's right to exist. But Israel's approach is self-defeating: the overwhelming use of force, the unacceptable loss of civilian lives, is radicalising moderate opinion among Palestinians and throughout the Arab world. Anger in the West Bank will make it virtually impossible for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, to continue to talk to Israeli ministers.

Brown must stop sitting on his hands. He must condemn unambiguously Israel's tactics, just as he has rightly condemned Hamas's rocket attacks. Then he must lead the EU into using its economic and diplomatic leverage in the region to broker peace. The EU is by far Israel's biggest export market, and by far the biggest donor to the Palestinians. It must immediately suspend the proposed new cooperation agreement with Israel until things change in Gaza, and apply tough conditions on any long-term assistance to the Palestinian community.

Brown must also halt Britain's arms exports to Israel, and persuade our EU counterparts to do the same. The government's own figures show Britain is selling more and more weapons to Israel, despite the questions about the country's use of force. In 2007, our government approved £6m of arms exports. In 2008, it licensed sales 12 times as fast: £20m in the first three months alone.

There is a strong case that, given the Gaza conflict, any military exports contravene EU licensing criteria. Reports, though denied, that Israel is using illegal cluster munitions and white phosphorus should heighten our caution. I want an immediate suspension of all arms exports from the EU, but if that cannot be secured, Brown must act unilaterally.

Finally, the world's leaders must accept that their response to the election of Hamas has been a strategic failure. The removal of the EU presence on the Egypt border in response to Hamas's election, for example, has made it easier for the rockets being fired at Israel to get into Gaza in the first place. An EU mission with a serious mandate and backing from Egypt and Israel would help Israel deal proportionately and effectively with the threat from weapons smuggling.

Attempts to divide and rule the Palestinians by isolating and punishing Gaza will not succeed. To secure peace in the Middle East, Hamas must turn its back on terrorism, and help create Palestinian unity. Only unified leadership in the West Bank and Gaza can offer Israel the security guarantees that it rightly seeks.

My proposals to stay Israel's hand in this conflict may be unwelcome to some, but they have the country's long term interest at heart. No terrorist organisation has ever been defeated by bombs alone. Only a new approach will secure lasting peace for Israel itself.

Nick Clegg - published in the Guradian 7/1/09

Microsoft job cuts: thousands of UK staff at risk

Rumours are spreading on the web that up to 3000 staff at Microsoft UK could face redundancy. Up to 30,000 jobs worldwide could be at risk, as the company battles with the economic crisis, which has led to businesses spending less on software.

Henry Blodget, a blogger on Silicon Alley Insider, responded to the rumours saying, "The only way we could see Microsoft laying off this many people is if the company decided to eliminate business units. And if Microsoft did decide to restructure its business, it would likely sell rather than shut down divisions, including MSN."

According to analyst Datamonitor's "Technology Trends: Analysing Global Enterprise IT Budgets 2008" report, half of businesses will freeze their IT budgets in 2008. This budget freeze could have a big impact on Microsoft, which relies heavily on software sales, as businesses are deferring upgrading to the latest Microsoft products.

The coming year will be important for Microsoft, as it begins a major shift in the way it makes money, away from selling software licences, towards software as a services, based around its Azure cloud computing service.

Microsoft's plans to roll out Azure in Europe could be negatively affected if the rumoured job cuts go ahead.

Source: Computer Weekly - Cliff Saran, 11:08 05 Jan 2009

Sarah Urges Residents To Stay Safe And Warm

Local Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather has today urged residents to stay safe and warm following the cold snap that has hit London. The Brent East MP is particularly concerned for the safety and wellbeing of elderly residents.

The current spell of cold weather has been the longest and deepest for more than ten years, with the coldest December since 1996. The Met Office predicts the cold spell will continue until the weekend and has today issued severe weather warnings for London as temperatures are expected to dip to minus 3C (26.6F) overnight.

Local Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East Sarah Teather said:

"I would urge all local residents to stay safe and warm in these conditions. If you are elderly and susceptible to the cold it is important to take extra precautions by staying warm and keeping active.

"If you have an elderly neighbour or relative I would encourage you to check up on them to make sure they are okay. They may be struggling to get out and about."

London Liberal Democrats 4.06pm GMT Tue 6th Jan 2009

Useful info: Help the aged

The attack on Gaza must stop

For the sake of Israel, the attack on Gaza must stop
Tuesday, 06 Jan 2009 02:01

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Ed Davey MP writes on the Israeli-Hamas conflict on inthenews.co.uk.

A true friend is someone who's prepared to tell you when you're wrong or you've made a mistake – even when they know that message may not immediately help your friendship. With its current massive attack on Gaza, Israel is clearly wrong. Worse still, it's in danger of making a historic mistake.

In criticising Israel's bombing, no-one is making light of the rocket attacks its civilians have endured for months by Hamas – even during the ceasefire. Nor do I question Israel's right to defend herself. Yet the rationale for the attack put forward by the Israeli government – that it will change fundamentally the security situation in the south of Israel – repeats one of the classic errors of too many modern military tacticians, in supposing that populations, be they terrorists or civilians, can be defeated this way. The truth is, this attack plays into the hands of Hamas, as it will rally support for it within Gaza and across the Arab and wider Muslim world.

Some commentators have suggested that Hamas' Palestinian rivals, Fatah, could benefit from the damage being done to Hamas, and that this will therefore bring a peace settlement closer. Quite the contrary. The Palestinian Authority on the West Bank could be seriously undermined by this carnage, and its negotiating team may find it more difficult to return to the table without risking its own credibility and remaining legitimacy, even when the dust has settled. The ferocity of the Israeli assault could result in the radicalisation of more moderate Palestinians.

After all, despite real progress behind the scenes with the current peace talks, as I found during a visit last November to the West Bank, the Annapolis peace process has in public delivered little, with illegal Jewish settlements increasing in the occupied territories and with economic and security gains for West Bank Palestinians only modest to say the least. No-one on the streets of Ramallah or Nablus had yet placed any hope in the strenuous negotiating efforts of president Mahmoud Abbas and prime minister Salam Fayyad. Now fewer people will think they should be negotiating anyway.

So why has Israel attacked now? For the same reason that successive sensible governments have failed to stop illegal settlements on the West Bank: the fragility and fragmentation of Israeli politics. Just as religious parties crucial to Knesset coalitions have been bought off with subsidies and inaction on settlers, so with an election just a few weeks away, the current government felt compelled to act now, in the face of Hamas' Qassam rockets. Behind in the polls before the bombardment began, the signs of a electoral bounce are already there. Kadima's diplomatic strategy, including impressive restraint in the face of provocation, has switched to military tactics, in the fear of voter rejection.

Indeed, the question of timing is critical to understanding this current outbreak of killing. Israel will argue that their attack was forced upon them now, as after the ending of the recent ceasefire, the rocket attacks on their towns increased. And they have a point. Yet, without for a millisecond condoning the latest wave of rockets, surely there was an inevitability that a terrorist organisation like Hamas would do that, especially with the Knesset elections set for February. Surely true political leadership – as Tzipi Livni showed in rejecting impossible conditions for continuing Kadima's governing coalition demanded by Shas, one of the religious parties – now required a diplomatic facedown of the rockets, with demands to the international community to back that political courage.

By provoking an attack now, Hamas has copied Hizbullah's tactics in Lebanon, and may end up winning a similar tactical victory, with rocket attacks continuing and the IDF looking fallible once again. Since the Israeli government is too smart not to have predicted this, the truth must be that they were compelled by electoral calculations. No other explanation fits the fact that this assault is almost certain to prove counterproductive for Israel.

So that's why Liberal Democrats are right not just to join in the widespread calls for ceasefires, but to seek action to bring that about. With the US hobbled by their presidential transition, we need the EU to flex its muscles, and suspend the proposed new EU-Israeli cooperation agreement. How could the EU "upgrade" its relations with Israel at this moment? And we need the UN security council to debate a resolution, under chapter seven, instructing both sides to ceasefire. Given the US agreed to a security council press statement calling for such just three days ago, there is even a chance that the US may not veto a resolution requiring Israel to stop firing.

[Last week's] EU proposals for a ceasefire and a delegation to the region are helpful. Yet in the face of this type of self-delusion, we need more teeth.