Reform Media Summary

15 March 2008

In today’s Media Summary, Gordon Brown will reportedly today propose a “contract out of poverty” in his speech to the Welsh Labour Party conference, the ministerial advisory board, Health England, has put forward proposals for a ban on cigarettes to anyone who does not pay for a government smoking permit and the Strategy Unit, which is part of the Cabinet Office, has proposed an alcohol tax as a measure to cut down on violent crime and reduce traffic accidents.

Economy

Gordon Brown will reportedly today propose a “contract out of poverty” in his speech to the Welsh Labour Party conference. Ministers are considering practice in New York where poor families receive payments for activities such as staying in full-time work or undertaking training (Times, p.9; Independent, p.18; Mail, p.2; Telegraph, p.1; Sun, p.2).

The latest quarterly Inflation Report published by the Bank of England predicts a sharp downturn in growth and a troubling pick-up in inflation (Economist, p.38; Mail, p.1, p.4).

Jeff Randall comments on Labour’s deteriorating relation with businesses (Telegraph, p.24).

Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, has offered to establish an independent commission to determine what new measures could be implemented to bring pay and conditions of agency workers more into line with permanent staff without undermining Britain’s flexible labour market (FT, p.2).

George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, will address calls within his party to break free from Labour’s spending plans and fight the next election on a platform of tax cuts. A report by Capital Economics warns of unprecedented budget deficits if the economy deteriorates (FT, p.2; Telegraph, B.3; Guardian, p.10; Mail, p.2; Sun, p.2).

Samuel Brittan comments: “How did the UK move from Gordon Brown’s initial prudence as Chancellor to a state where, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, 19 out of 21 comparable countries have done more to improve their structural budget balances?” (FT, p.15).

The Institute of Directors and the British Chamber of Commerce have called on the Government to rethink council taxes (FT, p.2).

Continued coverage of the Government’s ongoing negotiations with Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group over Northern Rock (FT, p.1; Guardian, p.32; Express, p.66).

Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, yesterday signalled his willingness to continue cutting interest rates to tackle the US economic slowdown (FT, p.10; Telegraph, B.3).

Continued coverage of Treasury proposal to tax non-doms (Telegraph, B.4; Economist, p.34; Guardian, p.35 [Polly Tonybee]).

Health

The ministerial advisory board, Health England, has put forward proposals for a ban on cigarettes to anyone who does not pay for a government smoking permit. Health England claims that the proposed ban is a crucial step in deterring individuals from smoking (Guardian, p.4).

The National Audit Office is to mount a comprehensive review of the Government’s £2 billion programme to treat hundreds of thousands of NHS patients in independent sector treatment centres (FT, p.5).

Education

According to a recent report conducted by the charity, Education Otherwise, an increasing number of children are being educated at home by parents who fear knife crime, drugs and bullying (Independent, p.12).

The Times Education Supplement reports that: “Schools could soon be required to evaluate how creative pupils are. The Government is investigating ways to measure creativity to ensure children are proficient in areas that are not appraised by existing tests, such as imaginative thinking” (TES, p.1).

The Government is to lower the standard required to do well in English and maths, in new national pilot tests for pupils in primary and secondary schools. This new assessment system could replace the national curriculum tests at ages 11 and 14. The move comes after a large number of pupils performed badly in these tests last December (TES, p.3).

The School Teachers’ Review Body has proposed a wage increase allowing classroom teachers to earn up to £54,000, under the “excellent teacher” salary structure, in a bid to promote higher standards of teaching in schools across England (TES, p.6).

Home Affairs

The Strategy Unit, which is part of the Cabinet Office, has proposed an alcohol tax as a measure to cut down on violent crime and reduce traffic accidents (Telegraph, p.12).

According to the Charity Age Concern, one in five over-80s are suffering from severe social exclusion and largely neglected by the state (Telegraph, p.6).

Revenue and Customs officials will win new rights today to intercept phones, e-mails and to bug homes in a big expansion of their powers. The powers would be used to investigate serious criminal activities and not for routine matters (FT, p.2).

Politics

A Times leader on the London elections states that: “[Mr Johnson`s] candidacy risks becoming an embarrassment to the Conservatives” (Times, p.16).

The House of Commons Speaker, Michael Martin, is under mounting pressure to sack MP Derek Conway from the panel of the chairmen (Telegraph, p.12; Mirror, p.4).