City Councils Through Out the UK & Wales Will Learn Of Funding Cuts 13 Decemember 2010

Eric Pickles, who will today tell councils they will have to do 'more for less'. Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian

Councils will today be told to do "more for less" as they are set their funding allocation for the next two years, revealing for the first time decisions about where the frontline cuts to social services, libraries, bin services and leisure facilities are likely to fall.

Town halls are bracing themselves for an average cut of 10.7% in cash terms, as government front-loads the 27% reduction in council spending over the next four years.

The cuts will lead to the first major wave of announcements of the closure of library, sports and childcare facilities, marking the moment that the £81bn national deficit reduction plan starts affecting local neighbourhoods.

The Department for Communities insisted that savings can be found through efficiencies and that only "lazy" councils will slash services and will today separately publish a long-awaited localism bill, setting out how the coalition is going to devolve power locally, to aid the start of the Conservatives' "big society" project.

Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, told the Radio 4's Today programme today that councils should share services to cut costs. "I believe that it is possible to take significant sums out of local authorities by improving the way in which they operate. They've simply got to wake up to the fact that it's no longer viable to have their own chief executives, legal departments, education departments … and they've got to look at ways of doing these things in partnership with local communities," he said.

"I've been offered advice by the Local Government Association as to what councils can manage in terms of the reduction of their budgets and I'm well within those figures for most of those councils. I'm being absolutely upfront, what I'm saying is I expect local authorities to provide more for less … local authorities should not have some kind of alibi that because the cuts are coming from the centre, they have to pass every cut on."

On the bill he added: "This is about a new constitutional arrangement and shifting power own to the locality and with power comes a new responsibility… I believe most councils will be able to react reasonably to these new powers."

Pickles will unveil the localism bill to parliament at 3.30pm today, and simultaneously publish the budget allocations.

Caroline Flint, the shadow communities secretary, said: "The frontloading of these cuts is too fast and too hard ... I think it's a hollow offer from the government, they are basically offering devolution of local authority services, while holding a gun to their head.

"Only a couple of weeks ago the Local Government Association indicated that because of the front-loading of these cuts they would up their estimates of job cuts from 100,000 to 140,000. Of course we can look at ways to deliver local government services, but you need time to do so. This isn't about being for or against cuts it's about how hard and how fast you go."

The Local Government Association (LGA) is predicting 140,000 job losses over the next four years and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accounting predict that 70,000 of those could come in the next year alone.

Pickles has already slammed the Conservative-run LGA for scaremongering on job losses and making up figures "on the back of a fag packet", but the front-loading of the cuts in particular risks another confrontation between central and local government.

Councils are. However, pleased that the localism bill will also end the ring-fencing of many of their budgets, giving them greater freedom over how they spend their money.

Tony Travers, professor of government at the London School of Economics, said: "There's no doubt that it will be unlike anything that has been seen before in modern times, the scale of reduction in grants, which will be 27% over four years... is without precedent and it's very hard for local authorities to do that without any effect for frontline service."

Council tax has been frozen by the government, so councils face the choice of finding efficiencies, cutting services, or raising charges for car parking, for example.

Police forces will also learn of their new reduced budgets and the education secretary Michael Gove will set out plans for a new pupil premium to fund schools.

Home Secretary Theresa May Considers ban on racist US pastor

Home Secretary Theresa May hinted yesterday that she might ban racist US pastor Terry Jones from entering Britain following an invitation from the far-right English Defence League (EDL).

Mr Jones, who was widely condemned when he threatened to burn the Koran on the anniversary of the September 11 2001 terror attacks, is due to address an EDL rally in Luton on February 5.

He plans to preach "against the evils and destructiveness of Islam" to EDL supporters.

Ms May is thought to be "actively" considering whether to ban the Islamophobic US pastor from entering Britain.

"Pastor Terry Jones has been on my radar for a few months now," she said.

"It wasn't clear that he was definitely coming to the UK but if it is now clear that he's definitely coming to the UK, then of course this is a case that I will be actively looking at."

Anti-fascist campaigners reacted with outrage to the possibility of Pastor Jones's visit.

Hope Not Hate director Nick Lowles condemned the invitation and launched a petition calling for Mr Jones to be banned from Britain.

"Pastor Jones should not be allowed to set foot in the United Kingdom.

"Only extremists will benefit from his visit and, as we know, extremism breeds hatred and hatred breeds violence," he said.

"It is yet another example of how the EDL exists only to sow the seeds of intimidation and division."

Joint national secretary of Unite Against Fascism Weyman Bennett accused Mr Jones of coming to Britain to "whip up Islamophobia and racism."

He said: "We intend on calling a mass demonstration where everyone can oppose the growth of racism and fascism in this country."

A statement on Mr Jones's website revealed that he was to address the EDL rally.

It read: "During the protest, Dr Terry Jones will speak against the evils and destructiveness of Islam in support of the continued fight against the Islamification of England and Europe."

But Mr Jones denied he wanted to increase racial tension in Britain, adding: "I would by no means advocate something, preach something, speak something that will cause that type of riot or disturbance."

Please forward this draft letter to thHome Secretary

Dear Home Secretary,

In early February the Florida-based Pastor Terry Jones intends to
travel to the United Kingdom to address an English Defence League
rally in Luton. His anti-Muslim views made international news in early
autumn when he proposed making the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist
attack an “International Burn a Koran Day”. This brought international
condemnation and eventually he was forced to back down.

Now Pastor Jones wants to give a speech attacking Islam at an EDL
rally in Luton. The EDL emerged in Luton in May 2009 and its first
demonstration ended with 250 people going on the rampage through a
predominantly Asian area of the town. Since then it has become a
national organisation and is the single biggest threat to social
cohesion in this country today.

Pastor Terry Jones’s presence in Luton will be incendiary and highly
dangerous. He will attract and encourage thousands of EDL supporters
to take to the streets, and cause concern and fear among Muslims
across the country. Only extremists will benefit from his visit and,
as we know, extremism breeds hatred and hatred breeds violence. For
these reasons we are asking you to prevent Pastor Terry Jones from
entering the UK.

Yours sincerely

'Liu Xiaobo must be freed' - Nobel prize committee

As many of you may recalled I told the story of peaceful protest that took place in Tiananmen Square whilst I was a trade union delegate which was a part of world tradeunion movement to China during 1980s I mentioned Liu Xiaobo leading activist in Tiananmen Square protests for democratisation; jailed for two year for speaking out on the record of the Chinese Human Rights and Activist who brought the Military Tanks to a stand still in 1989. Then in 1996 he spoke out against China's one-party system; sent to labour camp for three years nd if that was not enough in 2008 co-author of Charter 08, calling for a new constitution, an independent judiciary and freedom of expression; then 2009: jailed for subversion for 11 years; verdict says he "had the goal of subverting our country's people's democratic dictatorship and socialist system. The effects were malign and he is a major criminal".

The chairman of the Nobel prize committee has called for the immediate release of jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, winner of the 2010 peace prize.

There were two standing ovations at the ceremony in Oslo for Mr Liu, who was represented only by an empty chair.

China has been angered by the award and has waged a campaign in recent weeks to discredit it.

Nobel chairman Thorbjorn Jagland praised China for lifting millions of people out of poverty.

He called it an "extraordinary achievement" but warned China that its new status as a leading world power meant Beijing "must regard criticism as positive".

He said the Nobel committee was calling for Mr Liu to be freed immediately, saying: "He hasn't done anything wrong."

For its part, China's foreign ministry condemned the ceremony as a "political farce".

"We resolutely oppose any country or any person using the Nobel Peace Prize to interfere with China's internal affairs or infringe upon China's legal sovereignty," said the ministry in a statement.

'Quest for freedom'

During the award ceremony, Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann read out a statement that Mr Liu had made in court during his trial in December 2009.

"I, filled with optimism, look forward to the advent of a future, free China," said the statement.

"For there is no force that can put an end to the human quest for freedom, and China will in the end become a nation ruled by law, where human rights reign supreme."

Honouring the new laureate, Mr Jagland placed the Nobel diploma on the empty chair marking Mr Liu's absence.

The Nobel chairman compared China's anger at the award to the outcry over peace prizes awarded to other dissidents of their times, including South African archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

He said Mr Liu was dedicating his prize to "the lost souls from 4 June", those who died in the pro-democracy protests on that date in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

"We can say (Mr) Liu reminds us of Nelson Mandela," he said. The former South African president received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

The UN says it had information that China detained at least 20 activists ahead of the ceremony.

A further 120 cases of house arrest, travel restriction, forced relocation and other acts of intimidation have been reported.

The BBC's English and Chinese language websites have been blocked, and BBC TV coverage was blacked out inside China during the ceremony.

Mr Liu, one of China's leading dissidents, is serving an 11-year sentence in a jail in north-east China for state subversion.

Police are stationed outside his home in Beijing where his wife, Liu Xia, is under house arrest.

Chinese pressure

Geir Lundestad, the director of the Nobel committee, said 48 foreign delegations attended the Oslo ceremony, 16 countries - including Russia, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan - turned down the invitation and the Chinese returned their invitation unopened.

Analysts say many of those who stayed away did so as a result of Chinese pressure.

However, Serbia - which had previously said it would not attend - announced on Friday that it would be sending a representative.

The Serbian government, which has warm relations with China, had come under pressure from within the European Union and from political parties and civil society groups in Serbia to attend.

Beijing had sought to prevent anyone travelling from China to Oslo to collect the prize on Mr Liu's behalf.

Article By The Press Association Call to prosecute Clegg for 'fraud'

A law professor is calling for Nick Clegg to be prosecuted for fraud over the controversial tuition fee hike.

Ian Grigg-Spall said the Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat leader should face police action for publicly pledging before the election to oppose a rise while his party was allegedly secretly drawing up plans to abandon the promise.

Mr Grigg-Spall, a professor of law and member of the National Critical Lawyers Group, said he lodged a complaint at a Sheffield police station under Section 2 of the Fraud Act.

"Under the act you have to show dishonesty," he said.

"It seems absolutely clear to me that dishonesty is actually proven by the details in the Guardian story."

An article published in the Guardian last month claimed the Liberal Democrats drew up plans two months before the general election to abandon a pledge to scrap them as part of any coalition deal.

A confidential document drawn up in March by a senior team planning for possible negotiations concluded that insisting on the move - which was opposed by the Tories and Labour - would be a "headache".

The revelations were detailed in a new book about the formation of the Tory-Lib Dem administration by Conservative MP Rob Wilson, extracts of which were published by the Guardian.

The Lib Dems said the document was a recognition of the reality of negotiating with two parties that were diametrically opposed to the policy to scrap any rise in fees.

Mr Grigg-Spall said he had spoken to several law experts who agreed he had a good case.

Britain Migrant Farmworkers 'Treated As Slaves'

A gang recruited migrant workers and then treated them as "slaves," forcing them to live in dirty, cramped conditions as they picked leeks that would ultimately be sold to Tesco and Waitrose, a court heard today.

The eastern European victims had been promised wages, accommodation and a good working environment but were put to work in harsh weather, often beaten or threatened and housed in "inhuman" conditions, Northampton Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Jonathan Kirk QC told the court Gurdip Singh Somal ran the multimillion-pound business providing agricultural labour to farmers, recruiting workers to harvest leeks in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Cambridgeshire.

He said: "The case against them is that they cruelly mistreated and criminally exploited these migrant workers."

The defendants, including Mr Somal, were arrested by police and other authorities in November 2008 as part of Operation Ruby, the biggest operation of its kind targeting the exploitation of migrant workers.

They all deny the charges brought against them

All Political Parties should vote against Lib Dems Student Tuition Fees

Lib Dem MPs threw themselves into all kinds of contortions at Westminster today as the party faced meltdown over its betrayal on student tuition fees.

The party's MPs will meet tomorrow night in a frantic effort to work out some sort of agreed strategy for Thursday night's Commons vote on raising annual tuition fees to as much as £9,000.

But the beleaguered band of 57 MPs is split four ways, with some planning to vote for the increase, some against, some wanting to abstain and yet others demanding a panic postponement of the vote.

A spokesman for their commander, Prime Minister David Cameron, refused to say whether or not Lib Dem ministers would face the sack if they vote against or abstain.

Some ministers are considering resignation, with strong rumblings coming from Transport Minister Norman Baker, and also from Edinburgh West MP Mike Crockart, parliamentary aide to Scottish Secretary Michael Moore.

Former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown kicked students in the teeth by declaring that Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg had shown "great wisdom and a good deal of courage" in his handling of the issue.

Dithering Business Secretary Vince Cable now appears to be ready to line up for the fees betrayal, after making contradictory statements about the policy - which was drawn up in his own ministerial department.

However, Colchester Lib Dem MP Bob Russell insisted: "Prior to the election, I signed a pledge saying I would not vote for higher tuition fees. And I have no intention of voting for higher tuition fees."

Mr Russell added that he believed the tuition fees package now on offer was "arguably better" - especially for students from lower income families - than the package left behind by "the discredited Labour government."

He argued that Labour involvement in opposition to tuition fee increases "smacks of humbug and hypocrisy."

Southport Lib Dem MP John Pugh said that despite concessions for poorer students "it will still mean passing on indebtedness to another generation."

Leeds Lib Dem MP Greg Mulholland demanded a postponement of Thursday night's vote, predicting that "very, very few" of his party's MPs would support the government.

Urging a "full public consultation" he warned that government proposals "simply haven't convinced people this is the right way forward, and that is no way to make policy."

GCHQ technology 'could be sold

I'm taking a journey back down memory lane during the 1980s how many of us remember The GCHQ trade union campaign began after the decision by the Conservative government in January 1984 to ban unions at the GCHQ (Government Communications Head Quarters) intelligence gathering centre in Cheltenham.

The foreign secretary announced to a shocked House of Commons that independent unions would be banned from GCHQ. The TUC, CCSU, the leaders of all opposition parties, and MPs from all parties erupted in indignant anger at this declaration.

In the short period between the announcement and the implementation of the ban on 1 March 1984, the entire labour movement joined forces to oppose the ban.

Now in we have ConDEm Coalation Government in 2010 who wants to sell of The government's secret listening post GCHQ could sell its technical expertise to the private sector under plans being considered by the government.

Security minister Dame Pauline Neville Jones said ministers were "thinking about" ways in which GCHQ could supply services to private firms.

"It's a live issue," she told the Commons science committee.

Scientists and cyber-security experts are employed at GCHQ, in Cheltenham, to monitor e-mail and phone traffic.

Their work has always been considered top secret, but committee chairman, Labour MP Andrew Miller, asked whether the government was considering the "radical" step of the commercialisation of products, working in partnership with the the private sector.

"You are taking me on to ground, chairman, that we are thinking about," she told the MPs, adding that there were "many ways Cheltenham could supply a service to the private sector".

But she said the government was still considering how that might be funded and what the relationship between private firms and this branch of the security services might be and she could not comment further at this stage.

The top secret Defence Evaluation and Research Agency was privatised by the previous government, and floated on the stock exchange in 2006 as Qinetiq.

Although the cutting edge cyber-security and computer research carried out at GCHQ could potentially generate cash for the government any moves to involve the private sector would have to be handled carefully due to the highly sensitive nature of the signals intelligence material it handles.

Gala Chinese New Year Banquet 2011 to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit

Our Gala Chinese New Year Banquet 2011 to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit, on Tuesday, 15th February 2011. The prestigious event will be held at the Phoenix Palace Restaurant, 3-5 Glentworth Street, London NW1 5PG, and will begin with a champagne reception with canapés at 6.30 pm, followed by a ten course dinner at 7.15 pm.

If you are interested in attending the dinner, please complete the booking form HERE. As in previous years, this event sells out very quickly, so please respond soonest possible.

Senior Shadow Cabinet Ministers and other celebrity guests will be joining us for the evening. As in previous years, the evening will be a night to remember. This, too, promises to be a wonderful occasion, providing an excellent opportunity to enjoy an evening together with other supporters, business colleagues, friends, and a cross section of the Chinese community.

NO Need For Ed Miliband To Contiune To Make Apologies

Can anyone please tell me why Ed Milliband is always apologising for Labour whenever he is being interviewed or appearing on TV? Are you not sick of it now !!!


There is nothing wrong with Labour's Policy in the last 11 years, especially in Blair's period as PM ( the jury on Iraq War is still out ----- let history speak for itself). Sure, we have not got everything right but we got it right in 95% of the Policies. No Party in Power has ever got everything it right 100%.

Ed Miliband seems to suffering from amnesia. He was a very close ally to GB and policy maker under GB's 3-year period as PM. We lost the Election because of GB as PM and supported by Ed Milliband. It is as simply as that and nothing more, nothing less.


Ed Miliband should be honest enough to admit the Election was well and truly lost by Gordon Brown. So I wish he would stop apologising and come out fighting, and say how much Labour has done for this Country and remind people, especially the journalists, all the good things Labour has done. Labour has got nothing to apologise for, especially the Blair years, and indeed a lot to be proud of.

If I can boast about Labour's record with people I meet and people from overseas, why can't Ed Miliband does it !!!!! Sure, some members will say that Labour lost its way when Gordon Brown became Prime Minster. If there is any apologising to be made, then let's apologise that a mistake was made in letting Gordon Brown as Prime Minister instead of remaining as Chancellor Exch, and now let's get move on, leaving Gordon Brown behind us, and don't go on blaming Labour's Policy, especially Ed Miliband, when he had a lot of influence on Policy in the last 3 years of Gordon Brown Government. I make no apologies for saying that I am and have always been a firm supporter of Gordon Brown but there comes a time when I have to say enough is enough nobody can Deny that Gordon Brown was very good at his job as Chancellor Exch.

More Violence Erupts At Student Protests

I was reminiscing during the first UK & the 1989 Massacre in Tiananmen Square student demonstrations which took place in 1989 when a trade union delegation when on a tour to China. The officials where taking us to visit various Public sector Trade unions as I recall at a moment notice the officials usher all of us into a mini van.


Several hundred civilians have been shot dead by the Chinese army during a bloody military operation to crush a democratic protest in Peking's (Beijing) Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Tanks rumbled through the capital's streets late on 3 June as the army moved into the square from several directions, randomly firing on unarmed protesters.

The injured were rushed to hospital on bicycle rickshaws by frantic residents shocked by the army's sudden and extreme response to the peaceful mass protest.

Demonstrators, mainly students, had occupied the square for seven weeks, refusing to move until their demands for democratic reform were met.

The protests began with a march by students in memory of former party leader Hu Yaobang, who had died a week before.

But as the days passed, millions of people from all walks of life joined in, angered by widespread corruption and calling for democracy.

The military offensive came after several failed attempts to persuade the protesters to leave.

Throughout the day the government warned it would do whatever it saw necessary to clamp down on what it described as "social chaos".

But even though violence was expected, the ferocity of the attack took many by surprise, bringing condemnation from around the world.

The then US President George Bush said he deeply deplored the use of force, and the then UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said she was "shocked and appalled by the shootings".

Amid the panic and confusion students could be heard shouting "fascists stop killing," and "down with the government".

At a nearby children's hospital operating theatres were filled with casualties with gunshot wounds, many of them local residents who were not taking part in the protests.

Early this morning at least 30 more were killed in two volleys of gunfire, which came without warning. Terrified crowds fled, leaving bodies in the road.

Meanwhile reports have emerged of troops searching the main Peking university campus for ringleaders, beating and killing those they suspect of co-ordinating the protests.

The big picture begins to come to focus the student who went to what was suppose to be a peaceful demonstration a few rotten apples started to spoil the march be smashing windows of the Tory HQ then ran into the office roof top to throw a fire extinguisher which nearly missed some police officers now many of you will be thinking am a Tory card member the true is I'm a Labour member card holder and proud of it I was on the first march with my young niece in law who wanted to experience it for the first time on the march the only different is the UK Government is not a dictator like China if the ConDem Coalition Government want to save face then it is time for them to listen to the voice od the students.

Students have smashed up a police van and there have been sporadic skirmishes during a series of major demonstrations against tuition fees.

Rallies have been held across the country, including in London, Bristol, Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, Cambridge and Brighton.

Police moved to contain the demo in the capital by using the controversial "kettling" tactic - meaning large numbers of people could be held in one place for several hours.

But the Metropolitan Police soon shifted the policy to one of "controlled dispersal".

THE PROTEST SCENES AROUND THE COUNTRY

However, moving the hundreds of protesters held in Whitehall was a slow process and it took until around 10pm to clear the area.

As frustration mounted among the demonstrators, attempts were made to smash a window at the Treasury and a bus stop was set on fire.

Earlier, protesters surrounded a police van in Whitehall, rocking it back and forth and smashing the windscreen with wooden poles.

'Shouting Didn't Do Anything'

Meet Zoe Williams, the lone student who stepped in to try to stop a gang of people trashing a police van during the protests in central London.

Other students tried to halt the vandalism, but it was later looted.

Zoe Williams, who tried to stop the demonstrators, told Sky News she wanted the students to "rationalise" their actions.

She added: "I didn't want other people to get injured - people don't realise that when you rock a van it can fall over."

A demonstrator stands on top of the trashed police van

Thousands gathered in and around Whitehall and Trafalgar Square to protest against the hike in university fees and the planned cutting of the education maintenance allowance (EMA).

The protests around the country have been largely peaceful, although four arrests were made in Manchester, four in Bristol and one in Brighton.

The Met said 32 arrests were made in the capital.

Higher University Fees: The Facts

The students are revolting but the Government says its plans to hike up university fees are misunderstood. Who's right?

However, sporadic violence broke out in central London, where protesters threw wooden poles at officers and tried to break through the police line.

One police officer is thought to have suffered a broken hand, while a second sustained leg injuries. Seventeen members of the public have also been hurt.

Sky News home affairs correspondent Mark White said two metal barriers were thrown at police.

A masked protester sits in a police van

Education Secretary Michael Gove has condemned the disorder. He told Sky News: "I respond to arguments, I don't respond to violence."

But march organiser James Mills said scrapping the £30-a-week EMA would be a "punitive cut".

He added: "If we can find £7bn to bail out Ireland we should be finding £500m to bail out the poorest in the country."

PROTESTER CRITICISES GOVERNMENT AND POLICE

Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt said toilets and water have been brought for those protesters being held in place in Whitehall.

It is thought it is the first time such provisions have been made for a contained crowd.

Describing containment as a "widely condemned tactic", Brunt added: "Police will be disappointed they were not able to allow the peaceful protest to continue."

A protester held in place in Whitehall shows his frustration

Demonstrators were heard chanting "let us out" - while at least one protester started to do his homework.

Graham Wettone, a former Met Police public order intelligence officer, praised the police action.

He told Sky News: "It's been a successful operation. It's very warm when you are jumping up and down but when you are standing still it gets cold very quickly."

Fireworks are thrown at mounted police in Bristol

The decision to contain the demo was made amid intelligence that a group wanted to attack the Liberal Democrat HQ.

A statement from the Met said the tactic was employed "to prevent further criminal damage".

Police have been keen to show they are well prepared after claims they were caught out by the high turnout in Westminster on November 10 that led to a riot and 60 arrests.

Gove: Government Won’t Respond To Violence

Ahead of the protest, former Met Police commissioner Brian Paddick told Sky News the police would "throw the kitchen sink" at the demo to ensure there was no violence.

In a speech on Tuesday evening, Nick Clegg called on students to reconsider their opposition to the Government's plans.

He said: "Listen and look before you march and shout. Our plans will mean that many of the lowest income graduates will repay less than they do under the current system."

Demonstrators hanged an effigy of the Deputy Prime Minister

NUS president Aaron Porter told Sky News he wanted students to protest in order to hold the Government to account, but insisted: "There are no conditions in which violence is acceptable."

The protests came on the same day Edward Woollard, 18, pleaded guilty to violent disorder after admitting throwing a fire extinguisher from the roof of Millbank Tower during those protests.

Two men were arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of violent disorder, one in Leicester and another in London.

Muhammad Ali Centre In Birmingham

About two years ago there where talks about demolishing the Muhammad Ali Centre in Birmingham City Council by the then Councillor Ray Hassall, Cabinet member for leisure, sport and culture, has issued a public letter announcing the “only option available” is to demolish the derelict building and clear the site.

I would like to know what has happened to the proposal to this ugly building as it is now become more of an eye sore by the Hockley Flyover I have walk pass this building on a daily bases and keep asking myself when will this site be demolished.

It has been rumoured There has been people who has certain land rights to the land and building to which in my mind I don’t think there is as my understanding is that the centre was making a lost and that Birmingham City Council brought the building and over 25 years ago.

Instead of using the land that is available to build houses or apartment I find this ConDem coalition in Birmingham are all over the place yet we have three local Labour Councillors for Soho Ward lacks the courage to tell the full council to demolish this building and community leaders if they want continue to campaign against the change and they want to continue to look on this eye sore building they should come up with a alternative plan so the city council can re look at it again.

I also blame both Labour & the Birmingham ConDem coalition for lack of intuitive just think of the income this eye sore building could have generate for the city.

Con-Dems on health: Like Thatcher on speed

The pace and scale of the cuts is inexorably rising across England as primary care trust and trust boards resort to desperate measures to slash back spending and deliver huge savings targets this year, next year, and up to 2014.

The real-terms cuts that have now been confirmed by last month's comprehensive spending review have piled on more pressure - and with the prospect of shrinking actual resources for health services for the next three years or more have come policies and practices which hark back to the grim days of Margaret Thatcher.

For three years in the mid-1980s NHS spending was static or fell in real terms - forcing cuts, closures and lengthening queues for care.

In the early 1990s another financial squeeze brought proposals by some local health authorities to ration care by excluding a list of "low-priority" or "less effective" treatments from the NHS.

Primary care trust and trust bosses are turning again to these policies, with cynical trust bosses reviving tricks such as the deliberate demoralisation of staff in threatened units and the non-replacement of those they persuade to leave, to the point where they can claim that the closure of the A&E, maternity or other unit is both necessary and urgent for the sake of patient safety.

Vacancy freezes have become more or less the norm across most NHS trusts, even though this is the most random and chaotic way of imposing cuts, and of course dumps extra stress and workload onto the staff who remain behind.

The Royal College of Nursing has estimated that up to 27,000 jobs could be set to go from the NHS workforce of around one million.

Last year's controversial McKinsey proposals suggested a 10 per cent cut in the workforce across the NHS to generate the massive £20 billion of so-called "efficiency savings" which Health Secretary Andrew Lansley is now committed to impose by 2014.

The knock-on impact of this on the staff who remain is underlined by a recent Unison survey of 8,000 front-line staff, which showed that half were already facing staff shortages.

As the inquiry continues into the disastrous failings at Mid Staffordshire Hospitals Trust, where £10m of cost-cutting reduced staffing levels below the bare minimum, it's clear that dozens of trusts are now being forced to contemplate cuts as big or bigger in their own budgets.

Lansley's scrapping of the waiting time targets which, alongside investment in staff and buildings had been the key to Labour's success in improving the NHS, has predictably been followed by an immediate increase in waiting times in A&E.

But primary care trusts are also looking for savings by deliberately increasing waiting times for operations. NHS South West Essex so far seems to have the most ambitious plan to impose a four-week pause in non-urgent operations and outpatient appointments in all its provider trusts, effectively pushing a whole month's worth of work into the next financial year to "save" £8.4m (while hospital trusts such as Basildon carry the cost).

Decisions vary. NHS Warwickshire has decided to halt all elective orthopaedic operations for six months. East Kent has also resorted to longer waiting times as a way to save money - more will certainly follow.

In each case the unspoken hope of primary care trust bureaucrats is that patients will decide not to wait but to find the money to go private.

This is also the implicit logic behind the decision by more and more primary care trusts to draw up lists of treatments and operations that will no longer be funded by the NHS.

While IVF treatment has been widely picked on as a relatively "soft" target by many, the lists can be very extensive.

The £52m cuts package adopted by NHS South West Essex, for example, includes adding a further 113 treatments and procedures to a pre-existing list of 94, bringing a total of 207 which are no longer to be funded by the local NHS, including hip and knee replacements.

East Kent has included cataract operations on its excluded list. NHS Warwickshire will no longer fund injections to relieve chronic back pain. All of these will of course still be available for those with the money to pay privately.

And while some primary care trusts have continued to provide them, others have arbitrarily decided not to - creating a postcode lottery for patients.

South West Essex also decided to cut £1m from its £6.5m spending on HIV/Aids, despite warnings from a leading clinician in the public board meeting that such cuts would inevitably mean cutting off drugs to patients who would die without them.

This inequality in access to treatment will become even more random as a result of Lansley's decision to neuter the body that Labour set up to combat the postcode lottery - the National Institute of Clinical Excellence.

NICE will now lose its power to decide whether drugs and treatments offer value for money. Instead decisions will be made by local GPs, to the delight of the big drug companies.

While big pharma profits seem set to increase, the primary care trust cuts are spreading to trust level.

In Stoke on Trent the University Hospital of North Staffordshire (UHNS), which hit national headlines back in 2006 when it was one of the first to announce big job losses as it wrestled with a huge deficit, is facing a £22m deficit by March. It is staring down the barrel of drastic new cuts which trust bosses warn will "distress" local people.

UHNS's plight is similar to many front-line trusts hung out to dry by primary care trusts attempting to solve their financial problems by simply refusing to pay for hospital treatment of local people, even where no alternative community-based services to reduce the pressure on A&E have been put in place.

Trusts are left treating thousands of patients more than they are paid for.

UHNS bosses are warning this can't go on, especially since the trust must also find another £12m in "efficiency savings" to pay for the refurbishment of wards and departments in preparation for the opening of a new PFI-funded £400m hospital in 2012, which will immediately soak up 10 per cent of its budget.

Around the country acute and mental health trusts are facing the same problems.

NHS Lincolnshire is seeking to cut £54m over three years, Doncaster £51m, Bradford £50m, Sheffield £100m. Plymouth's Derriford Hospital Trust is £7m behind target in its quest for £27m savings this year - and slashing pay for temporary nursing staff.

Add to this the massive financial blow that has just been struck against specialist children's hospitals, which face a massive cut in the premium they are paid above the standard paediatric tariff - from 75 per cent extra to just 25 per cent - slashing £70m from these hospitals.

What is it that Lansley and the Tories have got against children?

Couple these cuts with the dynamic towards privatisation at the centre of Lansley's white paper, which is being speeded up regardless of all the criticism and opposition, and it's clear we are set for more than a miserable winter. The very fabric of the NHS and its values are being undermined.

And while NHS managers revive some of the cynical manoeuvres and techniques of the 1980s and the Con-Dem government drives through a reactionary programme that makes Thatcher look like a social worker, there is sadly no sign yet that either the Labour leadership or the health unions have revived the tradition of militant resistance that challenged Thatcher and fought each NHS cutback.

Labour has been near-invisible in opposition to cuts and the white paper, while the unions have yet to crank up the national campaign that is so desperately needed to defend jobs, pay and the country's most popular public service. Time is short. Let's press for serious action.

John Lister is director of Health Emergency.

Inequality Of Life Still Blights The World

Despite our global economic hard times, the world has more than enough wealth to ensure every adult on the planet a significant nest egg.

This heartening news comes from the Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse. Its first-ever Global Wealth Report crunches data for over 200 countries and maps the wealth belonging to the world's richest people - and everybody else.

Those inclined to see the sunny side will certainly find it in these numbers. They indicate that total global net worth, despite the 2008 global economic meltdown, has rocketed up 72 per cent since 2000.

The world's 4.4 billion adults, the bank's researchers note, now hold $194.5 trillion (£121.7 trillion) in wealth.

That's enough, if this asset stash were shared evenly across the globe, to guarantee every adult in the world a $43,800 (£27,400) net worth.

But the world's wealth, of course, isn't evenly divided. And this study helpfully breaks down the arithmetic of our staggering global unevenness.

At the wealth spectrum's uppermost reaches we've got just over 1,000 billionaires and another 80,000 "ultra-high net worth individuals" worth over $50 million (£31m) each. We can add into this wealthy summit another 24 million adults worth between $1m (£626,000) and $50m.

At other end of the global spectrum sit three billion people - more than two-thirds of the world's adults - whose wealth averages less than $10,000 (£6,300).

About 1.1 billion of them have a net worth of less than $1,000 (£626).

"Our analysis," the Credit Suisse study says in a whopping understatement, "finds some stark differences in the distribution of wealth."

Here's perhaps the study's starkest data snapshot - half the people on earth who are 20 and older hold under $4,000 (£2,500) in net worth, after subtracting debts from assets. They wield less than 2 per cent of global wealth.

Meanwhile, the world's richest 1 per cent - adults who have at least $588,000 (£368,000) to call their own - hold 43 per cent of the world's wealth.

As the report underscores, personal wealth actually means much more in some places than others.

If you live in a society with a frayed social safety net, your personal wealth is crucial. Without substantial net worth, you're going to be vulnerable "to shocks like unemployment, ill health or natural disasters."

By contrast, if you live in a society with a robust safety net - a nation that boasts "good public health care, high-quality public education, generous state pensions" and the like - the size of your personal fortune matters considerably less.

Take, for example, the US. No other nation, to be sure, holds as much total wealth as this superpower. With only 5.2 per cent of the world's population, the US boasts 23 per cent of the world's adults worth at least $100,000 (£62,600) and an even greater proportion, 41 per cent, of the world's millionaires.

But people in the United States, a society with an inadequate social safety net, need more personal net worth than those who live in nations with healthier social service networks.

This means that average Joes and Janes in many nations with stronger social safety nets than the US actually have more net worth than their US counterparts.

Consider Canada, a nation with national public health insurance.

Credit Suisse calculates the 2010 median wealth in Canada, the wealth of the typical Canadian family, at $94,700 (£59,000). That's about double the $47,771 (£30,000) US median net worth.

"The past decade has been especially conducive to the establishment and preservation of large fortunes," Credit Suisse sums up.

Banking giants may be able to live comfortably with that reality. The rest of us need to change it.

China Introduces Subsidies Amid Food Shortages

Some vegetable prices have risen by almost two-thirds so far this month

China's government has said it will provide poorer households with subsidies in response to double-digit food price inflation.

Inflation accelerated to 4.4% in October, with food prices rising 10.1%.

The government also said it had not ruled out price controls if current grain and vegetable shortages worsen.

Meanwhile the Shanghai stock exchange has fallen nearly 10% in four days on fears of more interest rate rises in response to the price rises.

The Shanghai composite index ended Wednesday down a further 1.9%, having fallen more than 4% on Friday and again on Tuesday.

Painful price rises

The People's Bank of China raised rates unexpectedly in October in response to growing inflation pressures, and has adopted a more hawkish tone since.

Consumer price inflation rose to 4.4% in October, which was up from 3.6% a month earlier and its highest level in two years.

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The average wholesale price of some vegetables in Chinese cities rose by nearly two-thirds in the first 10 days of this month, raising fears that food hoarding was exacerbating shortages.

It is also thought the government may be considering stiffer penalties for those caught hoarding food.

The latest move comes after premier Wen Jiabao said the government was "formulating measures to curb the overly fast rises of prices".

"Great attention should be paid to market supply and demand and prices because they are related to the public's basic interests," added Premier Wen in his statement.

The government also announced it would increase diesel supplies after industries reported fuel shortages.

Easy money

China's inflation problems - and the concomitant threat of civil unrest - also lie behind Beijing's recent criticism of the US Federal Reserve's resumption of quantitative easing (QE).

The Fed's new round of QE threatens to weaken the dollar, making Chinese imports less competitive in the US.

But in order to maintain a competitive exchange rate with the dollar, the People's Bank of China would have to intervene to buy more dollars and sell more yuan.

However, by selling more yuan, China risks further fuelling inflation, as well as what some see as asset bubbles in property and stocks.