WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
| The reality is that only one of the many ‘attacks’ needs to succeed |
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A week after the atrocity in Manchester, RUSI draw some preliminary conclusions: there clearly was a breakdown in the intelligence flow that led to suicide bomber Salman Abedi slipping through the net; there are enduring questions about the UK’s Prevent anti-terrorism strategy; and, finally, there are the weaknesses of ‘soft targets’ that such an attack invariably expose. ….. However, the principle of proportionality also has to be borne in mind: having lots of security forces chasing those individuals not only requires more resources than are currently available, but may also end up exacerbating the very problem that they are trying to manage. …… The work of managing dangerous offenders or suspects clearly needs to stay attached to the security realm, possibly through the creation of a new specifically developed & tailored service, modelled on the probation service. Editorial Comment: The latest event in London is notable because, although it was the type of attack most difficult to prevent (no technical bomb-building skills required, etc.), and not in a ‘24/7 protected area’ (Houses of Parliament, etc.), the emergency forces responded & ‘nullified’ the 3 attackers within 8 minutes! It is difficult to see how even having ‘a policeman on every corner’ could have either prevented such an attack, or provided an ‘armed & trained’ response much quicker. Perhaps one future partial ‘solution’ would be to only allow 20mph speed restricted electric vehicles in city centres (apart from Blue-light ones), thus restricting the potential impact of ‘pedestrian-ramming’? Additional ‘targeted’ resources might be required as additional measures are identified & introduced, but we should also bear in mind the sad reality that (in 2015) over 5 people a day were either killed or seriously injured on London’s roads every day! |
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RUSI: What Policy Changes Are Needed after the Manchester Attack? NHS publishes information to support people affected by the terror attack in Manchester Security services 'prevented 13 UK terror attacks since 2013' - BBC ... National Counter Terrorism Security Office - Public ACT following call from Counter Terror police Social media companies "shamefully far" from tackling illegal and dangerous content Baroness Shields' speech at the National Security Agency Countering online radicalisation & extremism: Baroness Shields' speech Inspirational Muslims and the fight against terrorism National Memorial for the British victims of overseas terrorism to be unveiled by Summer 2017 Fight against terror: Planning terrorist acts must be criminalised, LIBE MEPs say "The UK supports an ambitious review of the UN global counter terrorism strategy." NATO - Topic: Countering terrorism - NATO - Homepage Countering terrorism - City of London Police How to hunt a lone wolf: Countering terrorists who act on their own ... Human Rights, Terrorism & Counter-terrorism - OHCHR Countering terrorism: an international blueprint | MI5 Road casualties in London continue to fall, but concerns remain |
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| The Charity Commission has launched its annual safer giving campaign |
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The Charity Commission has launched its annual safer giving campaign to help British Muslims in the UK as Ramadan starts. The Commission said there are simple steps people can take to check before they give, to ensure their zakat goes where it is intended this Ramadan. The Muslim Charities Forum has estimated that Muslims across Britain donate around £100m during Ramadan and research suggests that disaster relief, children and education are the top 3 causes to benefit from the practice of zakat (charitable giving). |
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Charity Commission: Check before you give to genuine registered charities this Ramadan The greed of ‘fake’ sites makes them even ‘sicker’ than the bomber! |
| Good care helps prevent them from being ‘lost’ in the system |
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The full independent care review group has now been established, FM Nicola Sturgeon confirmed to a reception of ‘care experienced young people’ from across Scotland. The group will look at legislation, practices, culture and ethos of the care system across Scotland. They will listen to young people with experience of care and their families & providers of care and particularly, children & young people in care now, to inform its recommendations to improve both the quality of life & outcomes of young people in care. |
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ScotGov: Launch of independent Care Review Civil action in child abuse cases Removing time-bar from civil actions against child abuse Support for child abuse survivors Improving the lives of looked after children Getting it right for children in care Scotland’s Adoption Register nears ‘100’ landmark Good foster care is critical for the emotional development & well-being of a child Highlighting one particular related issue |
| Conservatives already have, but Labour refuse to admit, that there is no such thing as a free lunch |
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The Institute for Fiscal Studies says that the Conservatives have very few tax or spending commitments in their manifesto. Additional funding pledges for the NHS and schools are just confirming that spending would rise in a way broadly consistent with the March Budget. These plans imply at least another 5 years of austerity, with the continuation of planned welfare cuts and serious pressures on the public services including on the NHS. They could allow the deficit to shrink over time with no additional tax rises over the coming parliament. But getting to budget balance by the mid-2020s, their stated aim, would likely require more spending cuts or tax rises even beyond the end of the next parliament. Labour by contrast is proposing very big increases in tax, a bigger increase in spending and, as a result, borrowing continuing around its current share of national income. However, their proposed plan for paying for this expansion in state activity would not work. They would not raise as much money as they claim even in the short run, let alone the long run. And there isno way that tens of billions of pounds of tax rises would affect only a small group at the very top as their rhetoric suggests. If they want the advantages of a bigger state they should be willing to candidly set out the consequences – higher taxation affecting broad segments of the population. |
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| IFS: Neither Conservatives nor Labour are properly spelling out consequences of their policy proposals |
| SME Supplier Locator update... |
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UK Government and public sector spend with SME’s is continually on the increase and by 2020, it is the stated intent of Cabinet Office that £1 of every £3 spent on government contracts goes to SME’s. The past 5 years have seen government make a priority of getting money through its supply chain into the hands of SMEs, by both setting targets and introducing new procurement mechanisms. Against this backdrop, the WiredGov Supplier Locator service has been developed specifically to embrace the SME Agenda and provide the ideal platform for SME’s to promote their services, solutions, accreditation and success stories directly to our ever increasing audience across all government and public sector verticals and Tier 1 suppliers. |
| Two bits of Legal news from ScotGov |
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First; A Civil Litigation Bill has been introduced, intended to make civil justice more affordable & accessible for all, in the Scottish Parliament. The Civil Litigation (Expenses and Group Proceedings) (Scotland) Bill, if passed by Parliament, will:
Secondly; A Bill to tackle child poverty has been unanimously approved at its first stage by the Scottish Parliament. The parliament has agreed to the general principles of the Child Poverty (Scotland) Bill which will see Scotland become the only part of the UK with statutory targets toreduce the number of children experiencing the damaging effects of poverty by 2030. It also provides a framework by which progress can be monitored at a national & local level and the government will publish a 3-year child poverty delivery plan by April 2018, which will be updated every five years and annual reports to measure progress. The Bill is part of theFairer Scotland Action Plan which sets out the government’s overall strategy for tackling poverty & inequality in Scotland |
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ScotGov: Widening access to justice Private prosecution funding determination Call to encourage uptake of benefits £1m for families & communities Fifty actions to achieve a fairer Scotland Funding to tackle food poverty |
| Not all current news is based on Opinion Polls |
| Basildon Borough Council has been fined £150,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for publishing sensitive personal information about a family. The council breached the Data Protection Act when it published the information in planning application documents which it made publicly available online. |
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ICO: Essex local authority fined for publishing sensitive personal data in online planning documents Still much more to be done by LAs to comply with Best Practice / Legal Requirements |
| Some EU & CJEU News ‘titbits’ |
| Like the Titanic, the EU & CJEU continue to ‘plough on through the icebergs of Brexit reality’, with judgements that justify the UK’s desire to control our own borders and spending plans that ignore the future diminution in the EU’s budget and the recurring problems of the Eurogroup. |
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EU News: CJEU: Non-EU national may benefit from a right of residence EU News: EC sets out possible ways forward for the deepening of Europe's Economic and Monetary Union |
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Still a ‘hot topic’, with widely spread views, for those who put fingers to keyboard in order to ‘share their views’: |
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EU News: Regulatory guidance for industry to prepare for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU EU News: EC sets out possible ways forward for the deepening of Europe's Economic and Monetary Union IPPR: Net migration figures suggest impending labour market crunch CRUK: Report reveals benefits of EU-UK medical research partnerships BHF: Report reveals benefits of EU-UK medical research partnerships |
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