Hi guys we had a really good show this week, you can read all the articles that featured below...

China has announced that the Chinese prime minister, Wen Jiabao will be attending the Copenhagen climate talks next month.

The news came a day after the US president, Barack Obama, confirmed he would be attending the early stages of the conference, which aims to set a global strategy for reducing emissions.

China unveiled firm targets of cutting emissions of carbon relative to economic growth by 40 to 45% by the year 2020 compared with 2005 levels. The state council has stated that “this is a voluntary action taken by the Chinese government based on its own national conditions and is a major contribution to the global effort in tackling climate change.” This target commits China to slowing the speed of emissions growth through the adoption of renewable energy, such as by replacing old power stations with more efficient plants.

John Hay, spokesman for the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat called news of Obama’s visit and China’s firm targets as “a huge morale booster”.

But critics have pointed out that the figure is unlikely to be high enough to satisfy European and US negotiators, as anything below 50% would represent a less ambitious target than its current efforts to improve energy efficiency.

Chinese negotiators counter that it is doing far more than wealthy nations, particularly the US and Europe, despite of its expected high economic growth rate as a developing country.

written by Erica Teo



A student caught urinating on a war memorial was spared jail by a judge who attacked organised mass drinking sessions at universities.

19 year old Phillip Laing from Sheffield Hallam University was given 250 hours of community service for outraging public decency. Laing was part of a Carnage pub crawl where he drank vast amounts of alcohol before he was caught on CCTV urinating on a poppy wreath at the city’s main memorial just before Remembrance Sunday.

The court heard that Laing had been extremely remorseful especially since both his grandfathers had fought in the Second World War and he had done work experience with the army. District judge Anthony Browne took this into account and spared Laing the jail sentence.

Browne stated that Laing had to take responsibility for his own actions but recognised that this was set against a backdrop of a binge drinking culture. Browne suggested that the organisers of the event should have been alongside Laing in the dock and that measures are needed to curb such binge drinking culture targeted at young people.

Varsity Leisure Group, which owns Carnage, denied encouraging irresponsible drinking at the events, stating that these events are accompanied by medical staff.

War veterans’ organisations at that time also recognised Laing’s immediate apology and the scale of drinking involved. This incident has sparked a public uproar leading to the creation of a facebook group calling Laing ‘the Scum of the Earth’.

written by Erica Teo



Gary McKinnon, accused of hacking into 97 US government computers, looks set to face trial in the US, after Alan Johnson announced last week he would not block the extradition on medical grounds. The Home Secretary said granting the extradition would not breach McKinnon’s human rights despite expert medical evidence brought forward by his lawyers, stating that their client’s dramatic breakdown in mental health would mean any extradition would be in breach of his right to life.

McKinnon also has Asperger’s Syndrome which coupled with the report saying he is close to suicide, raises the question: what is the fairness in such treatment of someone with a disability and worrying mental health? His lawyer, Karen Todner has likened his current state to death row, saying “We genuinely believe that Gary's life is at stake here” before adding that Johnson’s rejection has brought their battle worrying close to the end of the road.

McKinnon is accused of hacking into 97 NASA and US military computer in 2001 and 2002, reportedly including the immobilisation of sensitive systems following the 9/11 attacks. Though McKinnon has never denied his actions, he has always maintained he was hacking in order to find evidence of UFOs and ‘free-energy’ and never had malicious intent as well as doubting the US government’s estimate of $700,000 worth of damage his actions caused.

Since the US first made an extradition request in 2005, McKinnon has lost various appeals including that at the High Court in 2007. However, it was discovered in only August 2008 that he has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism, sufferers of which are often prone to obsessive behaviour and can be socially naïve to the effects of their actions.

In defence of allowing the extradition of someone despite this disability and current extreme fragility, Alan Johnson refers to the assurances made by the US government in a letter shown in court, that if prosecuted McKinnon will receive ‘appropriate medical care and treatment’ from doctors, counsellors and psychologists.

But in a letter to The Herald earlier this year, former NASA criminal investigator specialising in hacking and now criminal lawyer Joseph Gutheinz, called for an end to the extradition process. Drawing on his own legal experience with a client with Asperger’s Syndrome, Gutheinz said that the American Judicial system ‘turns a blind eye towards the needs of the mentally ill’ and McKinnon requires treatment not extradition and imprisonment.

McKinnon has received widespread support during his campaign, much of which has focussed on the highly questionable extradition treaty between Britain and the United States. LibDem Home Affairs spokesman Chris Huhne called it “deeply unfair” and appalling that it is being held above the rights of a British citizen. One of Britain’s most prominent Human Rights lawyers, Geoffrey Robertson QC has also supported the block of extradition, saying it would be in violation of our 1689 Bill of Rights.

The outcome of former Morgan Crucible executive Ian Norris’ challenge to the Supreme Court this week, in a similar case of US extradition being in possible violation of human rights, provides some think the last glimmer of hope for McKinnon.

Alan Johnson has gone against expert medical advice for the second time in as many months, following the sacking of drugs expert David Nutt at the end of October. On this occasion, the treatment of a man with a proven mental disability and who is very close to suicide has been described by the defendants lawyers as ‘callous’. Should McKinnon be prosecuted, Johnson has made assurances that progress of his application to serve his sentence in the UK will be made ‘at the earliest opportunity’. But given the disregard given to the abundance of support and evidence for McKinnon, in order to comply with a treaty described by the Commons Homes Affairs Committee as having a ‘serious lack of equality’ in the extradition of UK and US citizens, what truth do these promises hold?

McKinnon’s legal team were given seven days to appeal to judicial review, after which they can only appeal to the European Court of Human rights who have already said in the past, would not block extradition.

written by Alex Bishop



Currently under way is the Chilcot inquiry into Britain’s role in the Iraq war, chaired by Sir John Chilcot.

The Inquiry’s remit is to examine ‘involvement in the Iraq war, including the way decisions were made and actions taken, to establish as accurately and reliably as possible what happened, and to identify lessons that can be learned’. This sounds like not only a necessary investigation but also a potentially flammatory one. The inquiry may have been set up by the government, and it’s members chosen by the Prime Minister, but it’s task is to examine the government - specifically Tony Blair’s Labour government - and to criticise it where criticism is proved to be warranted.

For years, ariticles have been written, protests conducted and documents leaked that claim something was amiss in the government’s behaviour in the run up to its commitment to an Iraq invasion. How much is fact, how much is white-wash and how much is conjencture is unknown, but I think we would all acknowledge that the choices made by the government at the time and the reasons offered to the public to defend them were not as clear cut and warranted as they were presented to be. This fact is now reflected by the very existence of this inquiry, the government has had to acknowledge that a proper and thorough investigation will be demanded by the public, and it has no choice but to launch one.

The question on every cynics lips of course is to what extent the Government will be prepared to have wrong-doing, if it occurred, revealed and how much criticism it is willing to accept. The Chilcot inquiry has been provided with very thorough archives, however they have been provided by the government – just how naked will they be prepared to be?

Another question is the extent of the inquiry’s power, Chilcot confirmed in his opening speech that it is not a court of law, its sole task is to form an account of events and submit a report. If the inquiry finds evidence of wrong-doing all it can do is state it. Whether anything is done about it is an entirely different matter.

Chilcot acknowledged that one of the main issues that the inquiry would be considering would be the legality of Britain’s involvement in the invasion, but that it would not be addressed directly until the New Year. Legality is the question that most interests just about every on-looker of this investigation, and calls have been made for the inquiry to make it a priority. However experts have pointed out that this is something the inquiry will be unable to do effectively – the panel does not include a single judge or lawyer.

A senior legal figure told the Guardian that, “The panel clearly lacks the expertise to address the question of legality. The members are not experienced at cross examination – it is simply not their skill set.” They also commented that, “Some of the debates around the legality of war are quite sophisticated – it is not at all clear-cut”.

If this is the case then it would appear the panel are not equipped to investigate legality, and that therefore the inquiry would not only not be able to reach any conclusions, but ultimately that it was never intended to. The Prime Minister selected the Panel. He did not choose a member with legal training, he also chose not to select a member of military personnel. Surely such proffessions would be best equipped to understand and analyse the information they are to be presented with. Instead two historians, a diplomat and a civil servant have been invited to ask the questions the rest of the country has been since 2001 and to find us answers. One has to ask precisely how much the Government does want the panel to understand and just how thorough it hopes the inquiry to be.

A senior judge commented to the Guardian that “Looking into the legality of the war is the last thing the government wants… And actually, it’s the last thing the opposition wants either because they voted for the war. There simply is not the political pressure to explore the question of legality – they have not asked because they do not want the answer”. However the public have asked and the public does want an answer, unfortunately it does appear increasingly likely that the answer we get will be watery, diluted and non-commital.

Yet despite the many criticisms of the Chilcot inquiry’s ability to adequately perform its task, interesting, explosive and highly damning evidence has already been brought to light in the couple of weeks the inquiry has been in operation. Sir Christopher Meyer’s evidence was particularly significant, it suggested that Tony Blair had assured the US of Britain’s co-operation and commitment to regime-change and invasion as early as April 2002, claims that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction were nothing more than a pretext and the co-operation with the UN nothing more than an attempt to justify the invasion. The UN were not even given time to complete their investigation into the presence of Weapons of Mass Destruction, that is how flimsy the pre-text was.

Such evidence supports claims made by many over the years, including former Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan, that the invasion was illegal, in the absence of a UN resolution authorising invasion. It also confirms that Tony Blair’s government sought to deceive the British public and media, Weapons of Mass Destruction were claimed to be the prime reason that intervention was necessary, not only were there not any weapons, it didn’t even really matter that there weren’t; the government had already made its mind up.

It seems that the Chilcot inquiry could uncover some highly flammable information and that we may all learn much more about what actually happened at that time. In this sense, this inquiry is undoubtedly valuable. The concern however is just how much it can achieve and whether it will be enough. Whether it is equipped to adequately perform the enormous task it faces, whether it will have the guts to condemn where it should, and whether the government and courts of law will actually pay any attention to its findings when it does finally submit them. This may not be yet another white wash, but it does not seem to be a pursuit of accountability and culpability and sadly anyone naïve enough to look for tangible outcomes may be disappointed.

written by Beatrice Pickup


Wednesday 9th December will be our last news show of the semester, and it will be a Big Issue special. We have a fantastic interview with Paul, who runs the Big Issue in the North East and two of his vendors who work on Northumberland Street, Paul and Steve. We chat to them about the ethos behind the Big Issue, how it can help those who are homeless or poorly housed and what makes the magazine something students might want to buy. We also take a look at the Big Issue Christmas special, featuring an exclusive George Michael interview. Tune in on Wednesday or check this blog to find out more.