Recent news

PM condemns planned Islamic march in Wootton Bassett
LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday he was appalled that an Islamic group planned to march through the town renowned for honouring British troops killed in Afghanistan.

He said any attempt to distress the families of dead soldiers would be "abhorrent and offensive."

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the proposed procession through the Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett filled him with "revulsion" and he would grant an order banning the march if police and the local authority sought one.

Anjem Choudary says his organisation Islam4UK intends to hold the demonstration to highlight the deaths of "innocent Muslim men, women and children" who had been killed in the conflict.

Choudary defended the protest in an open letter to families of the dead soldiers on Monday.

Wootton Bassett has become famous for holding public processions in memory of many of the 246 British soldiers who have been killed in Afghanistan since the invasion to oust the Taliban in 2001.

In his letter, Choudary, who calls himself the UK head of al-Muhajiroun, said he wanted to explain to family and friends of dead soldiers that the proposed march was not "merely an act of incitement or provocation."

"The procession in Wootton Bassett is therefore an attempt to engage the British public's minds on the real reasons why their soldiers are returning home in body bags and the real cost of the war," the letter says.
The parades, the speeches about soldiers doing their duty and the feeling of patriotism has obfuscated the reality of the conflict and the murderous crimes being committed by the occupiers and their agents."

The group's website gave no indication of when the march would take place. A protest by Choudary's supporters in Luton last March against soldiers returning from Iraq led to widespread condemnation.

A Facebook page set up to condemn the planned procession has already attracted almost 180,000 supporters.

Brown said the nation should honour soldiers who died for their country.

"I am personally appalled by the prospect of a march in Wootton Bassett," he said.

"Any attempt to use this location to cause further distress and suffering to those who have lost loved ones would be abhorrent and offensive."

Johnson said the march was a "stunt" that only sought to incite hatred and discord.

"The idea that anyone would stage this kind of demonstration in Wootton Bassett fills me with revulsion," he said.

"If the Wiltshire police and local authority feel that a procession of this kind has the potential to cause public disorder and seek my consent to a banning order, then I would have no hesitation in supporting that request."

(Additional reporting by Tim Castle)

Response of people to privatisation

Privatization has been a major element of reform in Central and Eastern Europe, however its effects on firm marketing capability and performance are unclear. This study tests a number of hypotheses concerning the effects of privatization on marketing capability, activities and performance in Poland. The main conclusions are that privatization leads to enhanced marketing capability, to more pro-active marketing activities, such as the adoption of longer term priorities, to an emphasis on delivering superior quality to customers and to more active new product development. On both financial and market-based criteria, the privatized firms are seen to outperform their state-owned counterparts.
Attitudes toward the impending privatization of the UK electricity supply and water industries were assessed by means of a questionnaire distributed to 225 visitors to holiday beaches in SW England as part of a broader survey of perceptions of coastal pollution. The water industry was evaluated more negatively than the electricity industry in terms of both its present performance and the changes in its practice anticipated after privatization. The levels of pollutants in the immediate environment were expected to increase, with those individuals most opposed to privatization being especially pessimistic. The results suggest that respondents did not consider privatization to be a corrective for poor previous industrial practice, but rather that it would lead to improvement where an industry was seen as performing well, and deterioration where it was seen as performing badly. At worst, this was seen as likely to involve the privatized industries putting their own financial interests ahead of those of the public and the environment. It is argued that individuals based their attitudes on previous experience and on assumptions about the effects of market forces on behaviour that differed from those implicit in the policy of privatization.

Effects of privatisation

There is considerable debate around the effect of railway privatisation, especially since the structure now in place is considerably different from that originally envisaged at the time of the Railways Act 1993. Some of the most common arguments for and against are:
• Customer Service: Privatisation was supposed to bring improved customer service and many rail lines have seen improvements in this field with better on-board and station services. In the early years, however, customer service was dented when too many drivers were given voluntary redundancy by the new TOCs and trains had to be cancelled. Also, the impact of the Hatfield rail accident in 2000 left services seriously affected for many months after.
• Fares and Timetable: In an attempt to protect passengers' interests, certain fares (mostly commuter season fares) and basic elements of the timetable were regulated. However, the TOCs still had quite a bit of latitude in changing unregulated fares and could change the number of trains run within certain regulatory and practical limitations. While average fare prices have changed little since privatisation, this masks substantial changes. Although the price of commuter season tickets has fallen in real terms, many unregulated fares have increased as demand levels shifted, particularly 'walk-on' fares on inter-urban routes where operators have urged passengers to use the cheaper 'advance purchase' tickets. In fact, this has become so common that Virgin Trains now charge £219 for a standard open return ticket between Manchester and London, a journey of only 200 miles each way.[6] So far as the timetable is concerned, many more trains are being run each day than under BR as operators have tried to run more frequent, but usually shorter, trains on many routes to attract more customers.
• New Trains: The promoters of privatisation expected that the ROSCOs would compete against each other to provide the TOCs with the rolling stock they required. In practice, in most cases the individual TOCs required specific classes of trains to run their services, and often only one of the ROSCOs would have that class of train, resulting in their having to pay whatever the ROSCO concerned cared to charge for leasing the trains. Old rolling stock was extremely profitable to the ROSCOs, as they were able to charge substantial amounts for their hire even though British Rail had already written off their construction costs. As trains grow older, the cost of their lease does not decrease. This was due to the adoption of 'indifference pricing' as the method of determining lease costs by the government, which was intended to make purchasing new trains more attractive when compared to running life-expired trains. In practice, the average age of trains in the UK is no different to that under the last years of BR.
• Rolling Stock Manufacture The rolling stock manufacturers themselves suffered under privatisation; with the hiatus in new orders for new trains caused by the reorganisation and restructuring process, the former BREL works at York (now owned by ABB) had been severely downsized and eventually closed. The former Metro Cammell plant in Birmingham (later owned by Alstom) followed suit in 2005, closing its doors once the last of Virgin Trains' new Pendolino units had rolled off the assembly line. Only the former British Rail research centre and associated BREL works in Derby and Crewe survive to the present day; now owned by Canadian conglomerate Bombardier.
• Punctuality and Reliability: The privatised railway has not shown the improvement in punctuality and reliability that was hoped for. The contracts in place between companies were intended to incentivise improvements in these areas, but with the large increase in the number of trains run while using more or less the same amount of rolling stock and track, there has been less room for manoeuvre when problems occur, with consequent impacts on punctuality. This was also compounded by post-Hatfield disruption.
• Level of Traffic: It is unclear whether privatisation was intended to increase traffic, but that is what happened in the early years of the privatised railway with many more trains run, more passengers carried and more freight (in terms of weight and distance - in terms of weight alone there was little change) lifted. Opponents of privatisation argue that some increase would have been expected anyway in line with the improved UK economy and the sharp rise in road congestion and bus fares; it took until just 1997, three years after privatisation before traffic exceeded to the levels achieved by BR in the late 1980s at the height of the previous economic boom. More passengers are now being carried each year than at any time since 1957, when the network was twice the mileage. In addition rail's total passenger kilometres has reached the highest level since 1946.

Structural adjustments programs in UK

Structural adjustment is a term used to describe the policy changes implemented by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (the Bretton Woods Institutions) in developing countries. These policy changes are conditions (Conditionalities) for getting new loans from the IMF or World Bank, or for obtaining lower interest rates on existing loans. Conditionalities are implemented to ensure that the money lent will be spent in accordance with the overall goals of the loan. The Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) are created with the goal of reducing the borrowing country's fiscal imbalances. The bank from which a borrowing country receives its loan depends upon the type of necessity. The SAP's are supposed to allow the economies of the developing countries to become more market oriented. This then forces them to concentrate more on trade and production so it can boost their economy.

Through conditionalities, Structural Adjustment Programs generally implement "free market" programs and policy. These programs include internal changes (notably privatization and deregulation) as well as external ones, especially the reduction of trade barriers. Countries which fail to enact these programs may be subject to severe fiscal discipline. Critics argue that financial threats to poor countries amount to blackmail; that poor nations have no choice but to comply.

Since the late 1990s, some proponents of structural adjustment such as the World Bank, have spoken of "poverty reduction" as a goal. Structural Adjustment Programs were often criticized for implementing generic free market policy, as well as the lack of involvement from the country. To increase the borrowing country's involvement, developing countries are now encouraged to draw up Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs). These PRSPs essentially take the place of the SAPs. Some believe that the increase of the local governments participation in creating the policy will lead to greater ownership of the loan programs, thus better fiscal policy. The content of these PRSPs has turned out to be quite similar to the original content of bank authored Structural Adjustment Programs. Critics argue that the similarities show that the banks, and the countries that fund them, are still overly involved in the policy making process.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structural_adjustment

Privatization in UK

The privatization of British Rail was set in motion when the Conservative government enacted, on the 19th January 1993, the British Coal and British Rail (Transfer Proposals) Act 1993. This enabled the relevant Secretary of State to issue directions (as to the disposal of holdings) to the relevant Board. This was necessary since (in the case of the British Railways Board) they had to Act, at all times, within the rules established by various Transport and Railways acts - none of which would have allowed the Board to 'sell-off' any of its assets. The subsequent direction from the Secretary of State forced the creation of Rail track PLC. This then paved the way, later that year for the Railways Act 1993 introduced by John Major's Conservative government. The operations of the British Railways Board (BRB) were broken up and sold off. This process was very controversial at the time, and the Labor opposition announced its intention to re-nationalize the railways, although this has not been implemented by the subsequent Labor government. The manner in which privatization was carried out has also received criticism for its complexity.

Recent news

Kidnapped Brit Tells Of Pirate Yacht Raid

8:05pm UK, Thursday October 29, 2009

Huw Borland, Sky News Online
A kidnapped British man has told how armed Somali pirates boarded the yacht he and his wife were sailing in the Indian Ocean.

Speaking by phone to ITV news, Paul Chandler, 59, said: "I was asleep and men with guns came aboard."

The retired quantity surveyor and his economist wife Rachel, 55, had disappeared while taking their vessel, the Lynn Rival, from the Seychelles towards Tanzania.

Mr Chandler, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, continued: "I was off watch. I was asleep and men with guns came aboard. It was on Friday last week at 2.30pm."

We are at the moment in the captain's cabin of the container ship Kota… We are hostage together with this ship.

Paul Chandler

Before the phone call, the kidnapping and the couple's safety had not been verified.

Mr Chandler's brother-in-law, Stephen Collett, confirmed that it was his voice which was heard during the call.

Paul and Rachel Chandler

The couple are still missing

The kidnapped man said the couple were forced to sail towards Somalia after the Lynn Rival was captured.

Mr Chandler and his wife were now being held "hostage" on a container ship called the Kota Wajar, he said.

His captors have not asked for a ransom, he said: "Not officially - they kept asking for money and took everything of value on the boat."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on the pirates to release the British couple immediately.

Earlier, a pirate called Hassan, in the Somali coastal town of Haradheere, claimed his crew had seized the Chandlers and moved them onto the Kota Wajar.

GNI: gross national product

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 34 (2005)
36.8 (1999)
Rank: 92

Definition: This index measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income in a country. The index is calculated from the Lorenz curve, in which cumulative family income is plotted against the number of families arranged from the poorest to the richest. The index is the ratio of (a) the area between a country's Lorenz curve and the 45 degree helping line to (b) the entire triangular area under the 45 degree line. The more nearly equal a country's income distribution, the closer its Lorenz curve to the 45 degree line and the lower its Gini index, e.g., a Scandinavian country with an index of 25. The more unequal a country's income distribution, the farther its Lorenz curve from the 45 degree line and the higher its Gini index, e.g., a Sub-Saharan country with an index of 50. If income were distributed with perfect equality, the Lorenz curve would coincide with the 45 degree line and the index would be zero; if income were distributed with perfect inequality, the Lorenz curve would coincide with the horizontal axis and the right vertical axis and the index would be 100.

GEM : gender empowerment measure

Gender empowermennt mesure :
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schooling
total population: 99%
male: 99%
female: 99% (2003 est.)
Rank: 34
Gender Parity Index in primary level enrolment
Year Value
1991 0.97
1999 1.01
2000 1
2001 1
2002 1
2003 1
2004 1
Gender Parity Index in secondary level enrolment
Year Value
1991 1
1999 1
2000 1.01
2001 1.01
2002 1.02
2003 1.04
2004 1.03
Gender Parity Index in tertiary level enrolment
Year Value
1991 0.9
1999 1.15
2000 1.18
2001 1.21
2002 1.25
2003 1.3
2004 1.37
Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector
Year Value
1990 47.8
1991 48.9
1992 49.5
1993 50.6
1994 50.9
1995 51.1
1996 51.5
1997 50.8
1998 50.3
1999 49.8
2000 49.8
2001 49.6
2002 49.8
2003 49.6
2004 49.4

Public Debt

Public debt: 52% of GDP (2008 est.)
39.6% of GDP (2004 est.)
Definition: This entry records the cumulative total of all government borrowings less repayments that are denominated in a country's home currency. Public debt should not be confused with external debt, which reflects the foreign currency liabilities of both the private and public sector and must be financed out of foreign exchange earnings

Public debt: 52% of GDP (2008 est.)
39.6% of GDP (2004 est.)
Year Public debt Rank Percent Change Date of Information
2004 $51 59 2003
2005 $40 71 -22.35 % 2004 est.
2006 $43 66 8.84 % 2005 est.
2007 $42 61 -2.09 % 2006 est.
2008 $44 50 3.32 % 2007 est.
2009 $52 34 19.27 % 2008 est.


________________________________________

Note: General government gross debt refers to recognized financial liabilities of the general government that are serviced through interest and/or principal payments. Examples are debt securities issued (such as bills and bonds), loans obtained, and other accounts payable. Guaranteed debt is excluded from government gross debt until called.

Year General government gross debt Percent Change

1980 46.101
1981 49.252 6.83 %
1982 47.558 -3.44 %
1983 46.512 -2.20 %
1984 47.027 1.11 %
1985 46.02 -2.14 %
1986 46.071 0.11 %
1987 44.277 -3.89 %
1988 41.872 -5.43 %
1989 37.023 -11.58 %
1990 32.58 -12.00 %
1991 31.296 -3.94 %
1992 32.795 4.79 %
1993 37.946 15.71 %
1994 43.03 13.40 %
1995 46.305 7.61 %
1996 48.223 4.14 %
1997 49.26 2.15 %
1998 46.279 -6.05 %
1999 43.661 -5.66 %
2000 40.869 -6.39 %
2001 37.701 -7.75 %
2002 37.236 -1.23 %
2003 38.549 3.53 %
2004 40.234 4.37 %
2005 42.08 4.59 %
2006 43.209 2.68 %
2007 44.127 2.12 %
2008 52.033 17.92 %
2009 68.733 32.10 %

GDP

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT

Definition: This entry gives GDP growth on an annual basis adjusted for inflation and expressed as a percent.

GDP - per capita (PPP): $36,500 (2008 est.)
$36,400 (2007 est.)
$35,500 (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars
Definition: This entry shows GDP on a purchasing power parity basis divided by population as of 1 July for the same year.


year Gross domestic product based on purchasing-power-parity (PPP) per capita GDP Percent Change

1980 8629.309
1981 9308.848 7.87 %
1982 10095.182 8.45 %
1983 10869.896 7.67 %
1984 11560.345 6.35 %
1985 12307.385 6.46 %
1986 13054.19 6.07 %
1987 14016.276 7.37 %
1988 15197.295 8.43 %
1989 16085.737 5.85 %
1990 16789.295 4.37 %
1991 17082.125 1.74 %
1992 17468.378 2.26 %
1993 18210.268 4.25 %
1994 19340.26 6.21 %
1995 20288.612 4.90 %
1996 21220.705 4.59 %
1997 22252.192 4.86 %
1998 23251.045 4.49 %
1999 24325.464 4.62 %
2000 25736.61 5.80 %
2001 26862.303 4.37 %
2002 27771.002 3.38 %
2003 29050.963 4.61 %
2004 30668.167 5.57 %
2005 32083.715 4.62 %
2006 33877.577 5.59 %
2007 35512.012 4.82 %
2008 36357.789 2.38 %
2009 35164.976 -3.28 %

HDI : Human Development Index

Life expectancy
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 79.01 years
male: 76.52 years
female: 81.63 years (2009 est.)
Year Life expectancy at birth Rank Percent Change Date of Information
2003 78.16 36 2003 est.
2004 78.38 38 0.28 % 2004 est.
2005 78.38 38 0.00 % 2005 est.
2006 78.54 38 0.20 % 2006 est.
2007 78.7 36 0.20 % 2007 est.
2008 78.85 36 0.19 % 2008 est.
2009 79.01 36 0.20 % 2009 est.


Definition: This entry contains the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year, if mortality at each age remains constant in the future. The entry includes total population as well as the male and female components. Life expectancy at birth is also a measure of overall quality of life in a country and summarizes the mortality at all ages. It can also be thought of as indicating the potential return on investment in human capital and is necessary for the calculation of various actuarial measures.

Year Population Percent Change
1980 56.33
1981 56.357 0.05 %
1982 56.291 -0.12 %
1983 56.316 0.04 %
1984 56.409 0.17 %
1985 56.554 0.26 %
1986 56.684 0.23 %
1987 56.804 0.21 %
1988 56.916 0.20 %
1989 57.076 0.28 %
1990 57.237 0.28 %
1991 57.439 0.35 %
1992 57.585 0.25 %
1993 57.714 0.22 %
1994 57.862 0.26 %
1995 58.025 0.28 %
1996 58.164 0.24 %
1997 58.314 0.26 %
1998 58.475 0.28 %
1999 58.684 0.36 %
2000 58.886 0.34 %
2001 59.113 0.39 %
2002 59.323 0.36 %
2003 59.557 0.39 %
2004 59.846 0.49 %
2005 60.238 0.66 %
2006 60.587 0.58 %
2007 60.975 0.64 %
2008 61.28 0.50 %
2009 61.525 0.40 %

Intrest Group2

The Genetic Interest Group (GIG) is a national alliance of patient organisations with a membership of over 130 charities which support children, families and individuals affected by genetic disorders.

GIG's primary goals:

* To promote awareness and understanding of genetic disorders so that high quality services for people affected by genetic conditions are developed and made available to all who need them.
* GIG seeks to educate and raise awareness amongst opinion formers, people of influence and the public about human genetics & genetic disorders.
* GIG provides a common platform from which effective programmes can be launched to raise awareness, inform the media and influence government, industry and the NHS.
* GIG focuses on issues of policy and practice keeping an active watch on developments within the UK and Europe that will influence the effective transfer of knowledge and understanding into products and services for families that are supported by our member groups.
http://www.gig.org.uk/
Latest news:
The Genetic Interest Group receive funding from the Big Lottery Fund. The funding will support the Family Risks, Common Cancers and People from Minority Ethnic Groups Project,which starts in decembe.

Intrest Group1

About the Green Party:

The Green Party of England and Wales is a growing political movement promoting social and environmental justice through campaigns, direct action and the electoral process.
Our core values

The Green Party's philosophical basis is stated in our constitution:

Life on Earth is under immense pressure. It is human activity, more than anything else, which is threatening the well-being of the environment on which we depend. Conventional politics has failed us because its values are fundamentally flawed.

The Green Party isn't just another political party. Green politics is a new and radical kind of politics guided by these core principles;

1. Humankind depends on the diversity of the natural world for its existence. We do not believe that other species are expendable.
2. The Earth's physical resources are finite. We threaten our future if we try to live beyond those means, so we must build a sustainable society that guarantees our long-term future.
3. Every person, in this and future generations, should be entitled to basic material security as of right.
4. Our actions should take account of the well-being of other nations, other species, and future generations. We should not pursue our well-being to the detriment of theirs.
5. A healthy society is based on voluntary co-operation between empowered individuals in a democratic society, free from discrimination whether based on race, colour, gender, sexual orientation, religion, social origin or any other prejudice.
6. We emphasise democratic participation and accountability by ensuring that decisions are taken at the closest practical level to those affected by them.
7. We look for non-violent solutions to conflict situations, which take into account the interests of minorities and future generations in order to achieve lasting settlements.
8. The success of a society cannot be measured by narrow economic indicators, but should take account of factors affecting the quality of life for all people: personal freedom, social equity, health, happiness and human fulfilment.
9. Electoral politics is not the only way to achieve change in society, and we will use a variety of methods to help effect change, providing those methods do not conflict with our other core principles.
10. The Green Party puts changes in both values and lifestyles at the heart of the radical green agenda.
http://www.greenparty.org.uk/
Latest News:
The Labour government today missed a golden opportunity to create huge numbers of jobs in emerging industries, says the Green Party

Recent news

UK sends rescue team to Indonesia
A man inspects damage in Padang
Relief efforts will aim to deliver clean water supplies and shelter

The UK Department for International Development is sending a search and rescue team to Indonesia to join aid efforts after Wednesday's earthquake.

The specially trained personnel will fly to Padang with plastic sheeting, medical and water purifying equipment.

The 7.6-magnitude tremor struck the island of Sumatra, killing at least 1,100 people and injuring hundreds.

A number of UK groups are preparing aid efforts after the quake and a tsunami in the South Pacific on Tuesday.

Rescue workers in the Samoan islands and Tonga continue to search for survivors of the tsunami, which killed at least 149 people.

Details of the Department for International Development team, which will fly from London's Gatwick airport to Indonesia early on Friday, are still being finalised.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland(commonly known as the United Kingdom,the UK,or Britain.The British monarchy is the direct successor to those of England, Scotland and Ireland. For those, see List of English monarchs, List of Scottish monarchs.There have been 12 monarchs of Great Britain and the United Kingdom. The Kingdom of Great Britain was formed on 1 May 1707 with the merger of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, which had been in personal union under the House of Stuart since 24 March 1603. On 1 January 1801 Great Britain merged with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. After most of Ireland left the union on 6 December 1922, on 12 April 1927 its name was amended to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.At the most recent census in 2001, the total population of the United Kingdom was 58,789,194, the third largest in the European Union, the fifth largest in the Commonwealth and the twenty-first largest in the world. By mid-2008, this was estimated to have grown to 61,383,000.Uk is a Constitutional monarchy.The Ministry is subject to parliamentary confidence.