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December 10th, 2009UncategorizedSir James Dyson, the entrepreneur behind the bagless vacuum, has unveiled a hand-held cleaner with a motor that spins faster than a Formula 1 car -
December 9th, 2009UncategorizedThe Gibraltar Parliament, which is part of the South West region in the Euro elections, this week voted to defeat the gay age of consent equality bill, which would have established an equal age of consent of 16. SW Greens have joined Peter Tatchell in calling for the UK Government to intervene.Ryan Cleminson, Coordinator of the SW Greens LGBT group said, “The Government of Gibraltar is required by European Court of Human Rights rulings to equalise the age of consent for same-sex relationships. I urge David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, to intervene and let Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, Peter Caruana know that Gibraltar cannot be allowed to evade its human rights obligations."
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December 8th, 2009UncategorizedMaximo Park's frontman Paul Smith has commissioned a special suit with a reinforced crotch for his Glastonbury performances.
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December 7th, 2009Uncategorized
With any luck this will be my last word on the issue of Sir Fred Goodwin's pension.
First, it is possible to do a calculation that shows he has given up all the enhancement to the value of his pot that came when he left by mutual agreement rather than being sacked.
Here's the maths.
His enhanced pot at the end of 2008 was worth £16.6m.
Without the enhancement, the pot would have been worth £10.2m (this is not a number that has ever been published).
The gap between the two is therefore £6.4m.
Today he is giving up £4.7m.
And in October he gave up around £2m in contractual pay and further associated pension contributions.
Hey presto: the gap is closed.
Which is the sort of calculation that really matters to the government, because it was so adamant that Sir Fred should only receive his contractual minimum.
However the rest of the world will note that his contractual minimum - a £2.7m tax-free lump sum (worth £4.5m before tax) and £342,500 per annum - is pretty handsome.
Second, while it is the case that RBS's internal review found no evidence of wrongdoing or misconduct by Sir Fred, the bank was advised by leading counsel that there was a reasonable legal basis for suing him for the return of some of the pension pot - and Sir Philip Hampton, RBS's chairman, told Sir Fred he was happy to seem him in court.
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December 6th, 2009Uncategorized
Homophobic and transphobic attacks are on the increase in the UK.
There has been a nationwide upswing of 9% and a frightening 63% increase in homophobic crime in the Manchester area in the past year.
Crown Prosecution Service figures show that prosecutions for crimes involving homophobia rose 60% over the past two years. Scotland Yard and the Greater Manchester Police have each expressed "exceptional concern" over the increases. -
December 5th, 2009UncategorizedFear of having to reveal their sexual orientation deters some women who are abused in lesbian relationships from seeking help, new research shows.
The study, presented to the British Sociological Association’s annual conference in Cardiff, reports that abusive lesbian relationships can involve physical assaults, sexual coercion and emotional cruelty, just as abusive heterosexual relationships can.
But fear of their colleagues or family finding out their concealed sexuality can deter some women from speaking to those closest to them or approaching the police, the research found. In one of the most detailed studies to date of abuse in lesbian relationships, Dr Rebecca Barnes interviewed 40 women aged between 21 and 70. The women were chosen because all had suffered some form of abuse.
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December 4th, 2009UncategorizedVenezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accused the CIA of being behind anti-government protests rocking Iran, and repeated his support for Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
