European news

Merkel, Hollande clash over debt crisis

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French Socialist Party presidential candidate Francois Hollande have had a war of words over how to handle the European debt crisis.

Press TV

27 April, 2012

It is "not for Germany to decide for the rest of Europe", Hollande, who is the favorite in France’s May 6 run-off election, said on Friday, The Daily Telegraph reported.

He went on to say that if elected, he would not approve the fiscal austerity pact agreed by the leaders of 25 European states unless it includes measures to stimulate growth.

Merkel hit back, saying France cannot rewrite the eurozone fiscal pact.

The deal is “not open to new negotiations,” She insisted.

"The fiscal pact is negotiated, it was signed by 25 government leaders and has already been ratified by Portugal and Greece," Merkel stated.

"Parliaments across Europe are on the verge of passing it. Ireland is having a referendum at the end of May," she added.

The issue of how to tackle the eurozone's debt burden has led to the collapse of governments across Europe. On Friday, the Romanian government collapsed as it lost a no-confidence vote over state asset sales. Earlier this week, the Dutch government fell after failing to agree on spending cuts to comply with the new rules.

Romania govt falls in no-confidence vote

ROMANIA'S government has fallen in a no-confidence vote, as opposition parties seized on widespread public anger over biting austerity measures, cronyism and corruption.

Some 235 politicians today voted against the government of Prime Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, four votes more than needed.

Opposition leader Victor Ponta said the vote represented the end "of an abusive system that uses any weapon possible".

"Sometimes there is justice. Today there was justice," he said.

President Traian Basescu will nominate a new prime minister who will then need to present a governing program to Parliament for approval. The Czech government also faces a vote of no confidence today.

Tanker drivers to vote for strike in UK after talks fail

Britain’s fuel tanker drivers would go on a strike now that union officials voted against a proposed deal and urged their members to do the same, local media reported.

Press TV,

27 April, 2012

According to reports, the proposal was put together through Acas, the industrial mediation service, but was rejected by Unite officials, who declared it fell short of what was needed.

Their refusal to back the plan raises the spectre of fuel shortages and queues at petrol stations worse than those prompted recently when the government advised motorists to hoard fuel.

Union delegates recognised good progress had been made in addressing health, safety and training concerns but that more improvements are needed in pensions, security of employment, contracting and sub-contracting if they are to back a deal, the Independent said in a report.

The proposal is now to be put before more than 2,000 tanker drivers working for seven fuel oil distribution companies with the union recommending that they reject it.

"The proposals represent progress on some of the key areas. But it is clear that they do not give enough guarantees that the instability and insecurity gripping the industry will come to an end”, said Diana Holland, Unite's assistant general secretary.

"It is in everyone's interest that we end the contract merry-go-round and the erosion of standards. Delegates felt the proposals did not meet members' expectations and are recommending that members reject them in the consultative ballot." The ballot is expected to close on 11 May.

The announcement came as ballot papers were sent out to more than 530 tanker drivers working for the oil distribution firm Hoyer. Unite is re-balloting its members following concerns that some did not receive voting papers in the original ballot. .

British protesters face new hurdle

London’s High Court has upheld a ruling which prevents demonstrators from sleeping near the UK’s Houses of Parliament, local media reported.

Press TV

27 April, 2012

Two judges rejected a test case human rights challenge on Friday brought by veteran peace campaigner Maria Gallastegui, who has been conducting an authorized 24-hour vigil on the East Pavement of Parliament Square in London since 2006.

Sir John Thomas, who is president of the Queen's Bench Division, sitting with Mr Justice Silber, said the rules were "plainly" lawful and did not contravene the Human Rights Act.

Under the rules, protesters are not allowed to set up tents or "sleeping equipment" in Parliament Square.

The judges said Ms Gallastegui could not be moved until after a further High Court hearing on Thursday 3 May - when her lawyers are expected to seek permission to appeal.

Gallastegui, 53, a former coach driver from Hammersmith, west London, said she was hopeful of overturning the ruling on appeal.

"I am hopeful that I can still win," she said after the hearing. "The ruling today didn't surprise me really."

"I'm not just fighting this case for me now. There's a lull in protest at the moment. This is for the future - for if another issue comes along and there is a critical mass of people who want to protest against, for example, another war", she added.

Gallastegui is protesting against "the folly of war and armed conflict" in Iraq and Afghanistan

Gallastegui said she had been involved with the Parliament Square protest for 10 years and had lived on the site for six years.

Judges said Gallastegui could not be moved until after a further high court hearing next Thursday.

At that hearing, lawyers for Gallastegui said they would probably seek permission to appeal.

Tanker drivers to vote for strike in UK after talks fail

Britain’s fuel tanker drivers would go on a strike now that union officials voted against a proposed deal and urged their members to do the same, local media reported.

Press TV,

27 April, 2012

According to reports, the proposal was put together through Acas, the industrial mediation service, but was rejected by Unite officials, who declared it fell short of what was needed.

Their refusal to back the plan raises the spectre of fuel shortages and queues at petrol stations worse than those prompted recently when the government advised motorists to hoard fuel.

Union delegates recognised good progress had been made in addressing health, safety and training concerns but that more improvements are needed in pensions, security of employment, contracting and sub-contracting if they are to back a deal, the Independent said in a report.

The proposal is now to be put before more than 2,000 tanker drivers working for seven fuel oil distribution companies with the union recommending that they reject it.

"The proposals represent progress on some of the key areas. But it is clear that they do not give enough guarantees that the instability and insecurity gripping the industry will come to an end”, said Diana Holland, Unite's assistant general secretary.

"It is in everyone's interest that we end the contract merry-go-round and the erosion of standards. Delegates felt the proposals did not meet members' expectations and are recommending that members reject them in the consultative ballot." The ballot is expected to close on 11 May.

The announcement came as ballot papers were sent out to more than 530 tanker drivers working for the oil distribution firm Hoyer. Unite is re-balloting its members following concerns that some did not receive voting papers in the original ballot. .

Suppression of dissent Chinese style

The black market thugs hired by regime to stop Chinese protesters

As some 10,000 protestors attempt to reach Beijing this week to bring their cases to the attention of the Chinese government, a vast industry has sprung up to try to stop them.

the Telegraph,

4 March, 2012

On a snowy morning in Beijing, over 1,000 plain-clothed thugs, all with similar cropped haircuts and dark windbreakers, are gathered outside one of the city's vast government compounds.

This is the State Petitions Office, the last port of call for China's most desperate or foolhardy protestors. Anyone brave enough to come here, however, has to run the gauntlet of intimidating "black security officers" outside.

As the Daily Telegraph watched, one woman on her way to the office to submit her complaint was bundled screaming, in full sight of the police, into the back of a minivan and driven off. The number plate read: Jiangsu G-2627-A.

Silencing protest is now a huge business in China, and this week is one of the busiest in the calendar. Today (MON), China will open its annual parliamentary meetings, the National People's Congress (NPC)and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Together, the "Two Meetings" as they are colloquially known, will draw 5,000 or so politicians and delegates from every corner of the country to rubber-stamp legislation and network with each other.

However, the event, which resembles a party political convention, is a magnet for protestors, especially this year, which is illuminated by the once-in-a-decade unveiling of a new generation of leaders in the Autumn.

Some of protestors coming the capital believe in the benevolence and wisdom of Beijing's officials. Others want to embarrass their local politicians on their trip to the capital. Almost none of them, according to lawyers, will ever have their cases resolved.

But since 2005, the promotion prospects of local officials have been tied to how many petitioners complain on their watch. So an industry has evolved to try to stop any problems from reaching the ears of Beijing.

Thousands of "black" security guards have arrived in Beijing from the provinces to intercept petitioners outside the capital's hot spots: Tiananmen Square, the United States Embassy, the State Petitions Office and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

They work together with the police, and with officials inside the government, to try to erase any dissent. At the State Petitions Office, it is possible to pay to delete the records of petitions from the computer system, according to several sources.

"Because these records affect a local leader's promotion, there is a chain of interest. It costs 3,000 yuan (£300) to 5,000 yuan to remove each petitioner's complaint," said one investigative Chinese journalist, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject.

The Daily Telegraph secretly recorded three of these plain-clothed security men just a few paces from the door of the UNDP office on Liangmahu South street. All three were heavy-set and had recently arrived from the North East of China to drag back any protestors.

"Petitioning is useless. I have no sympathy for these people. If they do not listen to us, we just beat them," said one man, named Mr Yu.

Another, named Mr Xu, said the police at Maizidian station called him to let him know when they detain protestors from his province. "I pay them 500 yuan or 1000 yuan as a telephone fee," he said. "In Sanlitun district we have to pay 2000 yuan or 3000 yuan to get each petitioner released to us," he added.

One man outside the UN worked for a state-owned chemical company, he said. The bosses at his firm are also judged on whether people complain about their activities. "Our company sent 30 people here," he said. "We have at least three or four people in each hot spot."

Behind the South East corner of Tiananmen Square, petitioners foolish enough to protest in Beijing's most sensitive and heavily policed spot are held in a holding pen at the local police station, just around the corner from Maison Boulud, one of the capital's finest foreign restaurants.

In the evening, a succession of vehicles arrive to drag them back to their own province. Those who are not collected are sent to Jiujingzhuang, a holding warehouse in the south of the city.

From there, local officials can collect the beleaguered petitioners, paying as much as 7,000 yuan to 9,000 yuan per head for the privilege, according to Wang Xuezhen, a 30-year-old activist who went to collect her father-in-law from the pen last year.

"I have been held in Jiujingzhuang four or five times," said Li Huijiang, a 51-year-old petitioner from Henan on his 15th annual trip to Beijing. "Each province has its own room in the warehouse, and they come to collect us from there. The treatment there is good: I was given a steamed bun and some pickles to eat. But then they took me to a â black' hotel, a room in Lizeqiao where I was held for five to six days."

China now spends as much on internal security as it does on the People's Liberation Army, and the costs of maintaining the undercover agents during the NPC are staggering. For each petitioner, three to four people are needed to watch them around the clock, with each requiring, on top of their wages, a budget for food, transport and lodging.

A rough, and conservative calculation, would add up to around 20 million yuan per day.

Zombie council's reaction to lifeboat building

NZ: Tasman District Council declares war on Lifeboaters.

Kev the farmer’s blog

Tasman District Council is on the warpath against lifeboat-builders.

At a meeting called by the Motueka Valley Association in the tiny settlement of Ngatimoti tonight, 140 residents of the District from as far away as Golden Bay and Rotoiti came together to voice their support for Valley residents caught up in a recent trawling exercise by the TDC to seek out and enforce against property owners who have entered into "irregular" living arrangements on their rural properties. One such owner has allowed individuals and families to live rent-free in yurts and straw-bale buildings that have been erected without consents and building regulations in return for the "tenants" help in creating a self-reliant and resilient community. It seems there has been no complaint at-all from neighbours regarding these "irregularities". prompting one commentor to suggest their be a policy of "no enforcement actioned without a bona-fide complaint", which idea was sniffily dismissed by the council officers present.

One commentor from the floor raised the issue of the world sovereign debt crisis and the likelihood of a "collapse" causing a mass exodus of the urban population into the rural hinterland in search of the means to produce their own food. The concept was lost on the councillors and officials present (and, frankly, on most of the lay-attenders too) who seem unable to view the issue in any other light than that of "lifestyle choice". Personally, I doubt whether many actual "lifestylers" (as opposed to true smallfarmers) would volountarily enter into such arrangements on their "play-farms" with members of the "great unwashed" without coercion or a full-blown crisis prevailing. Instead, the focus seemed to be on suggesting that the council revisit the "Rural Management Plan" to see if those desiring alternative living arrangements could be accommodated.

Guess what? guys- while you are waiting for the sloth that is local government to pontificate (and most likely find against you), the global sovereign debt crisis is going to knock you from arsehole to breakfast-time!

In any case, one of the major issues, which the officials were at pains to emphasise is out of their hands as it is governed by national legislation, is that the building regulations wouldn't allow people to live in these type of structures because they are not "code compliant". Makes you wonder how in the quarter of a million years of human evolution we survived the first 249,950 without these "heroes" to protect us from ourselves! Don't you think?

It will come as no surprise to those familiar with the antics of public officials to know that, having turned a blind-eye to minor irregularities in the valley for years, this new found zeal for detection and enforcement is happening during the time leading up to the proposed but ill-concieved Nelson City / Tasman District amalgamation. With the threat of the loss of 60-70 jobs from a combined council, officers will be running around trying to fill the case-book with anything to keep themselves looking busy and indispensible for the months and years to come. They percieve this issue as a "soft target".

For the time-being, the law is on the side of the council. However, under the present circumstances right, and plain common-sense, are on the side of those building resilient communities.

Credit must be given to TDC's planning policy chief, Steve Markham for his enthusiasm for the ability of the public to initiate change to the Rural Management Plan, although this scarcely helps those already ensnared in the enforcement process, and the process is obviously too slow to help with the effects of the unfolding global crisis.

The deplorable attitude of councillor Trevor Norris is also noted. Cllr Norris seems to bristle with self-righteous zeal at the prospect of the enforcement process being used as a blunt instrument to beat down those who don't subscribe to his archaic view of rural land use. Wake Up! Cllr Norris!

»