3rd March

Barack Obama addressed a priority issue for his government last week in a bipartisan summit on healthcare reform. Both parties in the US have agreed that reform is needed to curb the rapidly rising cost of health insurance, however there have been disagreements on how coverage should be extended.

In his weekly address on the White House blog, Obama emphasised the need for co-operation and bipartisanship in the issue. But the meeting, according to Obama, became a ‘very partisan battle,’ and a barbed exchange with John McCain, in which the president reminded him that they were not campaigning any more, provided evidence of this.

Republican Senator Lamar Alexander called on the Democrats to start again, saying that the US is too complicated and decentralised for a comprehensive bill to work. He, and other Republicans, challenged the democrats to renounce plans to ram the bill through, however after a year of bickering on the issue, the Democrats pointedly refused to do so.

In spite of this attempt to bring together the two parties, it seems that Obama will have to try to push through the legislation with Democrats alone. Under the process of a reconciliation, a version of the bill passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve will be voted on, with a second bill which could include points sought by the house and others set out by Obama. If this vote fails, the White House will resort to a scaled down set of proposals for health reform that would fall far short of Obama’s hopes.

by Sarah Firby

UKIP’s MEP, Nigel Farage, has caused fury in European Parliament and Belgium after verbally attacking the EU president.
Farage told the EU president, Hermann Van Rompuy, that he had “the charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low grade bank clerk.” Farage said that it is Van Rompuy’s “intention to be the quiet assassin of European democracy and of the European nation states” and went on to criticise Van Rompuy’s homeland of Belgium; saying it “is pretty much a non-country.”
It is understood that Farage, who stood down as the UK Independence Party leader in September 2009, is trying to get suspended. His apparent aim is to increase publicity for when he challenges Jon Bercow in the general election in a bid to become the new Speaker. After being asked by The Times if he was trying to get banned, Farage said “You make your own mind up, mate.” It has also been said that his comments were deliberate to boost ratings for Farage’s appearance on the BBC’s Question Time.
In response to criticism, Farage said that Belgium is “very sweet and rather pretty but I cannot apologise for the fact that Belgium is a completely artificial construction and a mistake.” The head of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, said that Farage’s outburst was “completely undignified”.
Following a meeting with Buzek yesterday, Farage was asked to apologise for his comments. His response, however, was that "the only people I'm going to apologise to are bank clerks the world over - if I've offended them then I'm very sorry indeed."

by Rosie Libell

The Conservative Party’s Director of Communications and Planning, Andy Coulson, has been put under the microscope after investigations have revealed that the News of the World hired illegally-operating private detectives whilst he was editor of the paper.

Reports show that the News of the World employed four private-eye investigators whilst Coulson was either editor or deputy-editor of the paper, all of whom have since received criminal convictions. Furthermore, one investigator, who is currently on trial for a violent crime, was rehired by the paper having served a seven-year prison sentence for blackmail. The reporter was well-known to Coulson, since his first period of employment came at the time when he was deputy editor.

Coulson held the position of editor of the News of the World between 2003 and 2007, but resigned after royal reporter Clive Goodman was jailed for illegally intercepting phone messages. By resigning, Coulson prevented a thorough investigation into the so-called ‘phone hacking scandal’ by the Press Complaints Commission, despite him denying all knowledge of certain employees’ activities. He was appointed to his current position as the Conservatives’ communications director in July 2007, and party leader David Cameron has said that he is satisfied that Coulson was not aware of Clive Goodman’s activities.

However, Coulson has been put under scrutiny once again in light of a scathing report published last week by the government’s Culture, Media, and Sport Committee. The report said that it was ‘inconceivable’ that other employees at News of the World were unaware of the illegal activities that its journalists were involved in. 19 people have been identified as victims of phone hacking, though it is feared that the actual number is greater, with mobile phone companies finding more than 100 customers whose voicemail was accessed.

Despite lacking any evidence that Coulson was aware that the phone hacking was taking place, the report has been met with concern by MPs, with some calling for Coulson’s parliamentary right to be revoked. There is a great demand from opposition MPs within the House of Commons for more information and a full judicial inquiry into the affair, which could yet prove extremely damaging to the Tories’ election campaign.

by James Willows-Chamberlin

The new assisted suicide policy released last week will not open the door to euthanasia, said Director of Prosecutions Keir Starmer. In fact, some believe it lessens the chances of legalisation. So why have the changes been so well received?

In introducing the policy, Starmer emphasised that those aiding suicide can still face prosecution but the newly introduced six mitigating factors will help decide which cases should be brought to court, when weighed against those sixteen supporting prosecution on a case-by-case basis. He stressed that they will not make the prosecution of an individual less likely, saying, “The policy has not been relaxed or tightened but there has been a change of focus."

The shift of focus to which he is referring, as represented across the six mitigating factors, is from the condition of the victim to the motive of the suspect; for instance if ‘The suspect was wholly motivated by compassion’ and if the suspect had tried to dissuade the victim from taking action that would lead to their suicide. Consensus appears to be therefore, that if assistance can proven to be on compassionate grounds, prosecution is highly unlikely.
Debbie Purdy, whose success at the House of Lords last year lead to the redefining of the policy, is among many who have praised the new guidelines.

The multiple-sclerosis sufferer wanted to know whether her husband could be prosecuted if he helped take her to the Dignitas euthanasia –clinic in Switzerland. It was found that the lack of clarity in defining under what circumstances her husband could face prosecution must be rectified by the now completed policy on assisted suicide. Purdy praised the new policy but said that the fifty year old law against assisted suicide still needed updating, to one that is “Appropriate for the 21st century world”.
‘Dying in Dignity’ patron the author Sir Terry Pratchett, has said he welcomes the policy and its focus on those assisting the suicide saying “I think we're going as far as we can go without legislation", although the organisation’s chief executive said the group will of course still continue campaigning for a change in the law.

A draft copy of the mitigating factors was released in September and most notably absent from the final version is the condition of the suspect being a family member, likely to be in response to public fears those suffering could be manipulated by their relatives.

The confirmation of the policy comes just weeks after the Nottinghamshire film maker Ray Gosling announced on an edition of BBC’s Inside out that he had assisted in the suicide of a former lover who was suffering from AIDS and had asked Gosling to act should the pain become insufferable. Gosling was arrested on suspicion of murder and has since identified to police, the man whose request he granted. In view of the new policy clarification, it seems unlikely that his case will be taken to court, a move called for by the group Care Not Killing, but is by no means certain.

Keir Starmer and the crown prosecution service have succeeded in the daunting task of creating a set of guidelines which is both respectful and adheres to common sense. Placing focus on he or she who assists the suicide is entirely logical given that it is them that has the potential to be prosecuted. And by removing emphasis from the condition of the suffering, it removes the possible insulting notion that those suffering severe illnesses lose protection from the law. But they remain guidelines – an argument for both those supporting the legalisation and those against. No matter what care or precision is taken in drawing them, they still lack the clarity a law would provide in distinguishing between the compassionate action taken in accordance with the sufferer and the fearful possibility that such a circumstance could be forced upon someone.

by Alex Bishop

Lads' magazines such as Zoo and Nuts should be made top shelf titles with age restrictions on their sale, a report commissioned by the Home Office recommended last week.
The 130-page study argues that ‘lads’ mag’ culture promotes soft porn at pocket-money prices, and are part of a detrimental media landscape that is sexualising boys and girls at an increasingly early age.
The report suggests computer games, easily accessible pornography and the use of sexual slogans in advertising and branding strongly influencing the behaviour of children.
Its author, Dr Linda Papadopoulos, a clinical psychologist at London Metropolitan University, said: "It is a drip, drip effect. Look at porn stars, and look how an average girl now looks. It's seeped into everyday life: fake breasts, fuck-me shoes ... We are hypersexualising girls."
The report was commissioned last year by the then home secretary, Jacqui Smith, as part of a Home Office strategy tackling violence against women and girls, and challenging teenagers' attitudes towards violence and emotional abuse in relationships.
The decision to endorse age restrictions on lads' mags is one of 36 recommendations. The report stated that magazines such as these were being sold to children at a much younger age than is appropriate. Papadopoulos wants ministers to look at whether a system of 16 and 18 certificates, similar to DVD classification, should be brought in.
The editors of magazines such as Zoo and Nuts have argued that they should be treated as "cheeky seaside postcards" and are no more explicit than the images published in the Sun and the Daily Sport. They believe any age restrictions should apply to those papers as well.
The report also suggests that advertisements and magazine spreads should carry a warning kitemark when digitally enhanced models appear.
It will also deliver an alarming analysis that the boundaries have been pushed back so far in advertising, marketing and magazines that key elements of pornography are now regarded as mainstream.
According to Papadopoulos, "Taboos have been pushed back so far. They are taking their script directly from pornography."
The report coincides with David Cameron’s proposals made last week, which aimed to put a stop to the sexualisation of children.

by Kat Bishop