Reform Media Summary

2 May 2008

Politics

Labour's disappointing results in the local elections and the Conservatives' gains lead the news. Based on results from nearly 600 council wards, the BBC has estimated that the vote shares will be: Conservatives 44 per cent, Liberal Democrats 25 per cent and Labour 24 per cent (Times, p.1, p.2, p.3 [Tim Hames]; Guardian, p.1, p.6, p.7; Sun, p.8; Express, p.2; FT, p.1, p.2; Mail, p.1; Independent, p.1; p.2 [Nigel Morris]; Mirror, p.6, p.8 [leader]; Telegraph, p.1, p.4).

David Attenborough: “[Effective] public service broadcasting... can only be done by a coherent network” (Times, p.21).

Economy

NIESR: the Enterprise Act has had a “disastrous impact on people's attitude to risk-taking” (Times, p.44; FT, p.3).

The Bank of England’s claim that the global credit crisis is easing has been met with scepticism by economists. Julian Jessop, Chief International Economist at Capital Economics, notes that “for the wider economies, particularly the US and UK the worst is still to come” (FT, p.3, p.12 [leader]; Mail, p.2, p.99 [Alex Brummer]).

In an article for the FT Martin Wolf argues that the Bank of England must resist pressure to aggressively cut interest rates: “The right thing for the Bank to do is to anchor inflationary expectations, even at the risk of a sharp economic slowdown” (FT, p.13).

A restructuring programme at Northern Rock that will result in 2,000 job losses began yesterday with a formal 90-day consultation period with the union Unite and other employee representatives (FT, p.4).

According to a new report compiled by the Department for Communities and Local Government, Liverpool is England’s most deprived area (Independent, p.19).

A poll by Opinium shows that more than 7 in 10 voters would not be willing to pay higher taxes to fund projects to combat climate change (Independent, p.20).

Sean O’Grady comments on falling house prices (Independent, p.35).

According to the Economist the Conservative party must do more to convince the voters that they could manage the economy better than Labour. One route to generating a reputation for economic competence would be to win the respect of businessmen, but a recent survey for the British Chambers of Commerce found little faith among firms that “the Conservatives would do much for business” (Economist, p.41).

Health

The Court of Appeal finds against NICE in regard to a ruling on the Alzheimer's drug Aricept, and orders the body to make its decision-making process public (Times, p.6; Guardian, p.8; FT, p.4; Mail, p.8, p.14 [leader]; Independent, p.9, p.34 [leader]; Mirror, p.39; Telegraph, p.8).

The number of children under ten being admitted to hospital with eating disorders has risen by more than 50 per cent over the last two years (Mail, p.9).

High blood pressure accounts for more than 13 per cent of premature deaths worldwide, according to research published in the Lancet medical journal (Independent, p.18).

Andrew Lansley, the Shadow Health Secretary, was accused of making a “gaffe” yesterday by defending the fees hospitals charge for car parking (Telegraph, p.2).

A team at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has found that getting less than six hours sleep a night could double the chances of developing a condition linked to heart disease (Telegraph, p.8).

Education

Chief executive of the General Teaching Council for England: more teachers should be removed for incompetence (Times, p.4, p.4, p.4 [John O'Leary], p.18 [leader]).

According to Mick Brookes, General Secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, headteachers should work from home for up to a day a fortnight if they cannot find time to plan the running of their school effectively (Independent, p.11).

Research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed that the Government’s policy of fining and prosecuting the parents of persistent truants has failed to reduce the number of pupils skipping lessons (Independent, p.15; Telegraph, p.10).

Over 200 four and five year olds have yet to secure a school place for September after a surge in applications (Telegraph, p.10).

In a comment piece in the Telegraph, Damian Reece writes: “when searching for ways to help the less fortunate the answer is not to drag back those higher up the ladder but to raise those at the bottom, by taxing them less and educating them better” (Telegraph, B.2).

According to the Times Educational Supplement, the National Union of Teachers is likely to ballot for stop-work meetings, rolling strikes from September or regional industrial action to escalate its pay campaign (TES, p.4).

Teachers are being asked to sign up to a code of ethical standards to stop cheating in coursework and exams (TES, p.1).

Home Affairs

More than 1,000 prison officers yesterday agreed to go back to work after staging a protest strike in support of colleagues subject to disciplinary action (FT, p.4).

Further coverage of Gordon Brown’s attempt to re-classify cannabis as a Class B drug (Mail, p.14 [leader] p.19; Mirror, p.16).

Continued coverage of prison overcrowding and Labour’s early release scheme (Mirror p.10).