Reform Media Summary

16 April 2008

Health

Two papers in the Journal of the American Medical Association, have accused Merck (a leading drugs company) of misrepresenting data on the safety of a bestselling drug used for arthritis (Times, p.22; Telegraph, p.14; Guardian, p.10).

Concerns have been raised over the quality of out–of–hours care in light of doctors cutting down on home visits and make fewer referrals to cut costs (Telegraph, p.2; Mail, p.32).

Answers to Parliamentary questions show that the Health Service is locked into PFI contracts of £60 billion over the next 30 years (Mail, p.32).

Further coverage of the three-year pay offer that has been offered to health workers (Telegraph, p.10; Mirror, p.23).

Economy

A plan awaiting government approval would allow the Bank of England to take over mortgage loans. Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, indicated yesterday he is willing to intervene provided the banks respond by offering loans to first-time buyers. Halifax has raised the rate on two-year fixed mortgages by up to 50 basis points (FT, p.1, p.2; Sun, p.1; Express, p.5; Telegraph, p.4; Mail, p.6, p.73; Guardian, p.24, p.25, p.30 [Will Hutton]; Independent, p.2, p.27 [Hamish McRae], p.35).

JPMorgan yesterday said there could be as many as 40,000 job losses in the City of London (FT, p.1; Express, p.5; Times, p.1; Telegraph, B.1).

According to data from the Department for Communities and Local Government, house prices fell 1.6 per cent in February (FT, p.2; Telegraph, p.4).

David Cameron, the Conservative leader, comments for the Express: “Britain’s families are really up against it. And in these tough times they want to know they have got a Government that’s on their side and not on their back” (Express, p.5, p.12).

George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, writing for the Sun, proposes a set of policies to mitigate the effects of the credit crunch: “abolish stamp duty for any first-time buyer who wants to buy a house for less than £250,000. That would save up to £2,500 for young families who could then use their savings to put down a decent deposit” (Sun, p.8).

Martin Wolf, writing in the FT, comments on banking regulation and argues that “in such a fiercely competitive business, a voluntary code is almost certainly not worth the paper it is written on” (FT, p.13).

The Office for National Statistics finds that the CPI rose by 0.4 per cent last month, leaving annual inflation unchanged at 2.5 per cent – just below analysts’ expectations of 2.6 per cent (FT, p.4).

Richard Lambert, the head of the Confederation of British Industry, said yesterday: “entrepreneurs are going to have to work hard to develop robust business plans, and to secure the necessary lines of credit in a world where finance will be harder to come by” (FT, p.2).

Shire, one of the country’s biggest drug makers, announces plans to move its tax base from the UK to Ireland, reopening the debate around levels of corporation tax in the UK. Shire will be subject to a corporate tax rate of 12.5 per cent in Ireland compared with 28 per cent in the UK (Guardian, p.23; FT, p.5; Sun, p.2).

Education

Continued coverage of teachers’ unions call for a pay review on threat of a national strike on April 24 (FT, p.4).

Data released by ministers to the Conservatives yesterday shows that there were 16,710 staff teaching in England’s state schools without qualified teacher status in 2007, this compares with 2,940 in 1997 (Times, p.4; Telegraph, p.10; Mail, p.21; Sun, p.2; Independent, p.16).

A study by the National Literacy Trust has found that many young girls are “in danger of being overlooked by current policy drives” that focus on the education standards of boys (Telegraph, p.2).

Home Affairs

The Court of Appeal yesterday ruled that the Justice Secretary should no longer be allowed to block the release of prisoners from jail because it is a breach of human rights (Times, p.27; Mail, p.2; Guardian, p.13).

A report prepared for the Association of Chief Police Officers finds that the surge in immigrants from Eastern Europe has not fuelled a rise in crime. A senior source with close knowledge of the report said: “People are saying crime is rising because of this influx …. Given 1 million people have come in, that doesn’t make sense as crime is significantly down” (Guardian, p.1; Telegraph, p.10).

In an open letter to the Home Secretary, which attracted 2,300 signatories including leading peers, academics and MPs, it has been argued that a chronic lack of funding and an inadequate legal system is leading to a crisis in care for rape victims in Britain (Independent, p.6, p.26 [leader]).

Politics

Continued coverage of growing internal dissent in the Labour party over issues such as terrorist detention and the 10p income tax (FT, p.2; Sun, p.2; Express, p.4; Times, p.6; Telegraph, p.1, p.20 [Simon Heffer], Mail, p.17; Guardian, p.12, p.32 [leader]).

Government experts predicted yesterday that Labour is heading for its worst results in local elections for thirty years on May Day (Times, p.7, p.14 [leader]).

Further coverage of London’s mayoral race (Sun, p.6).