\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Governments Must Let Failing Banks \u2018Die,\u2019 U.K. Lobby Group Says By Howard Mustoe For Related News and Information: — Editor: Jon Menon<\/p>\n \n \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n National Express Sought Deal to Avoid Rail Collapse (Update2) (Adds closing share price in sixth paragraph.)<\/p>\n By Jonathan Browning and Howard Mustoe No Commitment<\/p>\n Department for Transport spokesman Simon Horsborough said \u2018Extreme Outcome\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAdonis needs to explain exactly why he sought the most Public Interest<\/p>\n The transport minister argued that the proposal from For Related News and Information: –Editors: Chris Jasper, John Simpson.<\/p>\n \n Tailors Show Swing to U.K. Opposition, Brown Stumbles (Update1) (Adds Queen\u2019s speech in the 23rd paragraph.)<\/p>\n By Howard Mustoe and Jonathan Browning Cash Gifts<\/p>\n Cash contributions totaled 1.38 million pounds for the Staff Help<\/p>\n The U.K. division of Bain & Co., a Boston-based consulting Lead Over Labour<\/p>\n The donations were collected by the parties between April \u2018Professional Advice\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cIt is professional advice and provision of staff,\u201d PWC Queen\u2019s Speech<\/p>\n Brown\u2019s government today indicated that it aims to pass For Related News and Information: –Editors: Reed Landberg, James Hertling<\/p>\n \n U.K. Conservatives Gain Donations as Brown\u2019s Support Declines By Jonathan Browning and Howard Mustoe Conservative Funding<\/p>\n Conservatives raised 5 million pounds from companies in BAA\u2019s Donations<\/p>\n Damon Hunt, a spokesman for the company, said BAA sponsored Deutsche Bahn<\/p>\n The German state-owned Deutsche Bahn gave the Conservatives Canary Wharf<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re engaging in the political process rather than For Related News and Information: More U.K. politics stories: –Editor: Reed Landberg, James Hertling<\/p>\n \n U.K. Government Free to Lend RBS, Lloyds Stock to Short-Sellers By Howard Mustoe and Jonathan Browning \u2018Fetid Market\u2019<\/p>\n UKFI could impose restrictions on shares borrowed from the For Related News and Information: –With reporting by Kevin Crowley and Andrew Macaskill in \n Orwellian U.K. Angers People With Tree Cameras, Snooping Kids By Caroline Alexander and Howard Mustoe `Too Much Power’<\/p>\n Initially, only security and intelligence services could `Sleep-Walking’<\/p>\n Of the 163 U.K. councils that replied to calls and Freedom Petty Offenses<\/p>\n The Association of Local Government, which represents `Hugely Disproportionate’<\/p>\n Among councils which responded to Bloomberg’s questions, For Related News: Top UK stories: TOP UK <GO> –Editors: Malcolm Fried, Chris Collins<\/p>\n \u00a0 Governments Must Let Failing Banks \u2018Die,\u2019 U.K. Lobby Group Says 2013-02-27 10:43:59.540 GMT By Howard Mustoe Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) — Governments should let failing banks collapse rather than risk taxpayers\u2019 money, according to Anthony Browne, chief executive officer of the British Bankers\u2019 Association. \u201cWe disagree with those in the European Parliament who believe legislation … Continue reading Archived Bloomberg stories<\/span>
\n2013-02-27 10:43:59.540 GMT<\/p>\n
\nFeb. 27 (Bloomberg) — Governments should let failing banks
\ncollapse rather than risk taxpayers\u2019 money, according to Anthony
\nBrowne, chief executive officer of the British Bankers\u2019
\nAssociation.
\n\u201cWe disagree with those in the European Parliament who
\nbelieve legislation should enable governments to take failed
\nbanks back into public ownership in certain circumstances,\u201d he
\nwill tell the Institute of Directors in London today, according
\nto a copy of his speech obtained by Bloomberg News. \u201cWhatever
\nthe political pressure, governments must be prepared to let
\nbanks die.\u201d
\nGovernments and regulators have done enough to make banks
\nsafer, by introducing higher capital requirements, providing
\nguarantees on consumers\u2019 deposits in the European Union, and
\ndevising plans to build firebreaks around consumer-banking
\nunits, Browne, 46, will say.
\nTaxpayers injected about 65.5 billion pounds ($99 billion)
\ninto Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Lloyds Banking Group
\nPlc, Britain\u2019s biggest mortgage lender, to bolster capital amid
\nthe 2008 financial crisis. The U.K. was forced to spend, pledge
\nand loan 850 billion pounds to rescue British banks by 2009,
\naccording to the National Audit Office.
\n\u201cMoney that could have been used to build hospitals or
\ngive tax cuts to those on low incomes was instead used to prop
\nup major financial institutions,\u201d Browne will say. Institutions
\n\u201cpaid bonuses that were beyond the wildest dreams of most of
\nthe people whose taxes were bailing them out,\u201d Browne will say.
\n\u201cThere is nothing free enterprise about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nMore European banking stories: TNI BNK EUROPE <GO>
\nTop stories about finance: FTOP <GO>
\nTop U.K. stories: TOP UK <GO>
\nGlobal stocks stories: TOP STK <GO>
\nMost-read stock market stories: MNI STK <GO><\/p>\n
\n
\n2009-12-24 13:13:11.284 GMT<\/p>\n
\nDec. 24 (Bloomberg) — National Express Group Plc offered
\nto pay the U.K. government 100 million pounds ($160 million) in
\nreturn for a staged withdrawal from the unprofitable East Coast
\nrailroad franchise, according to official documents obtained by
\nBloomberg News. The plan was rejected and the line nationalized.
\nNational Express sought a management contract as an
\nalternative to defaulting on the franchise as it ran out of cash
\nto fund the route between London and Scotland, minutes of
\nmeetings requested by Bloomberg News under the Freedom of
\nInformation Act show.
\nAfter Transport Minister Andrew Adonis turned down the
\nproposal, National Express said July 1 it would hand back the
\nfranchise before the end of the year. The statement sent the
\ncompany\u2019s stock down 13 percent in four days and prompted a
\nseries of takeover bids that the London-based rail and bus
\noperator fended off before raising cash in a rights offer.
\n\u201cIt was a game of poker and I think Adonis played a
\nreasonable hand,\u201d said Christian Wolmar, author of \u201cBroken
\nRails,\u201d a history of Britain\u2019s railways. \u201cDefault was
\nextremely damaging for National Express because it sent their
\nshare price plummeting and made them vulnerable to takeover, so
\nto them it would have been worth offering money to avoid that.\u201d
\nA National Express spokeswoman, who declined to be
\nidentified, said last night that the company had no comment
\nbeyond remarks from executives to Adonis recorded in the
\ngovernment minutes.
\nNational Express rose one-tenth of a penny to 190 pence in
\nLondon trading today after earlier slipping 1 percent. The stock
\nhas declined 26 percent this year, giving the company a market
\nvalue of 969 million pounds.<\/p>\n
\nthat at no time in the talks with National Express had the
\ngovernment given a commitment to a management contract, an
\narrangement under which the East Coast route would still have
\nbeen run by the company, but with the state bearing the costs.
\n\u201cWe have been consistent in saying that we will not
\nrenegotiate franchise agreements,\u201d the spokesman said in an
\ne-mailed statement yesterday. \u201cThese documents make that quite
\nclear. We have a duty to explore all options to protect
\npassengers and taxpayers and the option of a management contract
\nwas only discussed on that basis.\u201d
\nThe opposition Conservative party said the documents cast
\ndoubt on Adonis\u2019s actions in the months leading up to the
\nnationalization of the East Coast line and that the government
\nhad passed up on millions of pounds being offered by an operator
\nwishing to exit a franchise on good terms.<\/p>\n
\nextreme outcome and the upheaval of a default on one of the
\ncountry\u2019s most important rail lines,\u201d Theresa Villiers, who
\nspeaks on transport matters for the party, said in an e-mail.
\nRichard Bowker, chief executive officer at National Express
\nat the time of the discussions, told Adonis that the company
\n\u201chad no viable alternative but to withdraw from the franchise
\nfrom 1 July and that the best way to proceed was for East Coast
\nto continue on a management contract until the franchise was re-
\ntendered,\u201d the minutes reveal.
\nBowker, who left National Express on Aug. 31 to run a train
\ncompany in the United Arab Emirates, told Adonis that the U.K.
\nrail industry was \u201cfundamentally broke,\u201d according to the
\nminutes. The East Coast service was taken into public ownership
\non Nov. 13 and no other companies have defaulted.<\/p>\n
\nNational Express, which also runs two other rail companies and
\nlocal and long-distance buses, wasn\u2019t in the public interest
\nbecause it might have encouraged rival operators to follow a
\nsimilar course, according to the documents.
\nThe U.K. government held almost six months of discussions
\nwith National Express about the matter before Adonis informed
\nChairman John Devaney of his decision at a meeting on June 26,
\nthe papers show.
\nAdonis said in talks with Devaney that a default would
\n\u201cdent the reputation of the business,\u201d while arguing that a
\ncompromise would prompt other operators to seek similar terms.
\nStagecoach Group Plc, operator of Britain\u2019s biggest rail
\nfranchise, and buyout firm CVC Capital Partners Ltd. submitted
\nbids for National Express in the months following its default on
\nthe East Coast line.
\nThe company, which also runs school buses in North America,
\nrejected the approaches before raising 360 million pounds in a
\nshare sale on Dec. 15, allowing it to cut debt and avoid pushing
\nup interest payments by breaching loan terms.<\/p>\n
\nNational Express forecasts: NEX LN <Equity> TNI WARN <GO>
\nNational Express estimate charts: NEX LN <Equity> EEB <GO>
\nToday\u2019s top transport stories: TRNT <GO><\/p>\n
\n
\n2009-11-18 14:56:45.230 GMT<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nNov. 18 (Bloomberg) — Accountants, management consultants
\nand custom tailors are donating increasing time and expertise to
\nBritain\u2019s Conservative opposition, anticipating the party will
\nbeat Prime Minister Gordon Brown in next year\u2019s election.
\nCrombie Concessions Ltd., the suitmaker that delivered
\ncloth to General Robert E. Lee\u2019s army during the U.S. civil war,
\ngave 19,000 pounds ($31,500) of non-cash gifts to the
\nConservatives in the second quarter. Bain & Co. Holdings Ltd.
\nprovided a consultant to work for the party, which collected 23
\ntimes more of in-kind contributions than Labour in the period.
\nWhile companies historically donate more cash to the
\nConservatives, known as the Tories, than Labour, they\u2019re adding
\nadvertising, staff and consulting services as the elections
\napproach. That increase mirrors the opposition\u2019s edge in raising
\ncash, underscoring executives\u2019 expectations that they\u2019ll be
\nworking under a new government in 2010.
\n\u201cPeople think the Tories are going to win,\u201d David Denver,
\na professor who specializes in studying elections at Lancaster
\nUniversity in northwest England, said by phone. \u201cThey want to
\nbe on the winning side.\u201d
\nWith the vote due by June, Labour trailed David Cameron\u2019s
\nConservatives by 14 percentage points, according to a Nov. 13
\nYouGov Plc survey, which had a margin of error of 2 points.
\nNon-cash donations to the Conservatives totaled 592,200
\npounds in the second quarter, 25 percent more than the same
\nperiod in 2008, according to records from the Electoral
\nCommission, which regulates political funding. Labour took in
\n26,600 pounds of non-cash contributions.<\/p>\n
\nTories and 167,600 pounds for Labour in the second quarter,
\ndwarfing non-cash gifts, according to commission data.
\nOf non-cash donations, the opposition received 329,500
\npounds in staff, consulting and advertising, 36 percent more
\nthan in the second quarter of last year. Third-quarter figures
\nare due on Nov. 25.
\nAlan Lewis, the 71-year-old owner of Crombie, supplied
\nstaff to the Conservatives\u2019 business-relations unit to research
\nthe attitudes of executives related to politics and the law.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s really what we require regarding business views
\nthroughout the country, trade association\u2019s views, what are the
\nissues affecting the economy,\u201d Lewis, who\u2019s also chairman of
\nthe Conservative business-relations unit, said in a telephone
\ninterview from his office in London.<\/p>\n
\nfirm, gave the Conservatives 5,800 pounds worth of staff time. A
\nconsultant was sent from Bain to work at the opposition offices,
\nthough his salary is paid by the firm, James Horsman, spokesman
\nfor Bain & Co. Holdings Ltd., said by phone. It\u2019s the first time
\nthe firm has made such an arrangement, he said.
\nThe advertising and marketing firm Euro RSCG London Ltd.
\ngave the Tories services worth 52,500 pounds in the second
\nquarter, Electoral Commission records show. Euro RSCG ran the
\nConservatives\u2019 poster campaign in January, featuring a picture
\nof a baby and the caption, \u201cDad\u2019s Nose. Mum\u2019s Eyes. Gordon
\nBrown\u2019s Debt.\u201d
\n\u201cWe have to declare the difference between what they pay
\nand what the commercial rate is,\u201d Euro RSCG Chief Operating
\nOfficer Chris Pennington said in a telephone interview. \u201cTo run
\na political advertising campaign is fascinating. It\u2019s one of the
\nmost exciting campaigns one can run.\u201d
\nMichael Spencer, the Conservative Treasurer, supplied the
\nparty with staff worth 19,400 pounds through IPGL Ltd., a
\nholding company controlling the ICAP Plc brokerage he founded.
\nNeil Bennett, a spokesman for the London-based firm, declined to
\ncomment.<\/p>\n
\nand June when the Conservatives extended their lead over a
\nLabour party burdened by debt. Labour received 11,500 pounds —
\nits only gift of staff, advertising or consulting services —
\nfrom advertising company Saatchi & Saatchi Ltd., a unit of
\nParis-based Publicis Group SA.
\n\u201cAs our contract with Labour is commercial, the details of
\nit are confidential,\u201d Saatchi spokeswoman Jenny Ellery said by
\ne-mail.
\nAccounting and consulting firms have been giving
\nConservatives staff and advice to help them shape policies.
\nWhile Labour can rely on the civil service to vet its plans, the
\nopposition needs to hire that expertise.
\nPricewaterhouseCoopers gave 68,600 pounds worth of staff
\nand advice, and KPMG International donated 62,300 pounds to the
\nConservatives during the quarter, the records show.<\/p>\n
\nspokeswoman Emma Thorogood said by phone. \u201cWhat we try to do is
\nto maintain constructive and balanced relationships with the
\nmain parties.\u201d
\nKPMG has seconded staff to all three political parties
\nsince the late 1990s \u201cas part of supporting robust public
\npolicy making\u201d a spokesman said in an e-mailed statement.
\nThe accounting firm gave Nick Clegg\u2019s Liberal Democrats
\n14,500 pounds in the form of research staff. It didn\u2019t make a
\nnon-cash donation to Labour during the quarter, according to
\nElectoral Commission records.
\n\u201cDonations are means by which companies can lend support
\nto a party they think is going to produce a better business
\nenvironment,\u201d said Justin Fisher, professor of political
\nscience at Brunel University in London. \u201cIn the past, companies
\nsupported Labour for those reasons.\u201d
\nBloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, has donated
\n365,800 pounds to Labour, the Conservatives and Liberal
\nDemocrats since 2001, including 19,000 pounds in non-cash
\ndonations. None of it was received in the first half of 2009.<\/p>\n
\nlaws before the next U.K. general election that would limit
\nbonus pay for bankers and curb the budget deficit. Queen
\nElizabeth II, formally beginning Parliament\u2019s legislative
\nseason, said a Financial Services Bill will allow regulators to
\ntear up contracts granting pay they consider excessive.
\n\u201cYou are starting to see firmer policy ideas emerge from
\nthe Conservative Party,\u201d said Fisher. \u201cNow we know war is
\ncoming.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nMore European Politics stories: TNI POL EUROPE <GO>
\nTop stories about government: GTOP <GO>
\nTop U.K. stories: TOP UK <GO>
\nTop stories: TOP <GO>
\nMost-read Politics stories: MNI POL <GO><\/p>\n
\n
\n2009-07-02 23:00:01.8 GMT<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nJuly 3 (Bloomberg) — British units of companies including
\nGrupo Ferrovial SA, Westfield Group and Deutsche Bahn AG are
\nshifting cash to the Conservative opposition from the Labour
\nParty as Prime Minister Gordon Brown\u2019s popularity ebbs.
\nThe three are joining a growing number of companies that
\nare channeling gifts to the party that political analysts and
\noddsmakers say has the best chance of winning the election that
\nmust be held by June 2010. The Conservatives got 366 corporate
\ngifts last year, up 26 percent from the year before, while
\nBrown\u2019s party received 110 payments, about the same as in 2007,
\naccording to public records.
\n\u201cThe Tories have been pushing on an open door because
\ncompanies are drawing the conclusion that they\u2019re going to form
\nthe next government,\u201d said Dominic Wring, an elections analyst
\nat Loughborough University. \u201cIt\u2019s business sense for some of
\nthem to invest in the Conservative Party.\u201d
\nThe increasing corporate donations to the Conservatives
\nfit with an opinion poll lead the party held for more than a
\nyear. Brown trailed the opposition by 16 points in a YouGov Plc
\npoll finished June 26.
\nBritish law limits party spending to 19 million pounds ($31
\nmillion) in the year before an election, a fraction of the $746
\nmillion that Barack Obama spent to win the U.S. presidency in
\n2008.
\nThe U.K. figures, in records compiled since 2001 by the
\nElectoral Commission, which regulates campaign finances, show
\nLabour got 868,761 pounds from companies last year, down 24
\npercent from 1.15 million pounds in 2005.<\/p>\n
\n2008, compared with 6.9 million pounds in 2007. The party
\nlimited individual donations to 50,000 pounds to broaden its
\nfunding base.
\nSince 2001, Labour has received 61 percent of its money
\nfrom unions. Conservatives got 23 percent of theirs from
\ncompanies, relying on individuals for much of the rest.
\nMadrid-based Ferrovial, whose BAA division wants to build a
\nrunway at London\u2019s Heathrow airport, is giving more to the
\nopposition. So is Westfield of Sydney, which helped fund a rail
\nlink to its Merry Hill shopping complex in England.
\n\u201cCompanies are trying to buy influence,\u201d said Robert
\nBarrington, a director of Transparency International U.K., a
\nLondon anti-corruption lobby group.
\nBAA gave 3,850 pounds to the Conservatives in March 2009
\nafter providing the Scottish Labour Party with 2,000 pounds in
\nMarch 2007. It was the company\u2019s first donation to the
\nopposition since May 2004.<\/p>\n
\na dinner for a local Conservative group, which the law
\nclassifies as a donation.
\nWestfield gave 10,300 pounds to the Conservatives in
\nSeptember and December 2008 through a London-based unit. That
\nwas a switch from Labour, to which it donated 6,300 pounds in
\nMay and June 2008.
\nThe company in 2005 agreed to invest about 35 million
\npounds in an extension to the Midland Metro tram system in
\nDudley, central England.
\n\u201cWestfield is a major investor and employer in the U.K.
\nand as such is keen to engage with all political parties,\u201d said
\nBen Russell, a company spokesman. \u201cAny money given has been
\ncross-party and only for matters such as events and conferences
\nwhich are of relevance and interest to Westfield.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n19,000 pounds through English, Welsh and Scottish Railway Ltd.,
\nswitching its support to the opposition in April 2007.
\n\u201cThis is part of how routine public affairs work,\u201d said
\nGraham Meiklejohn, spokesman for its DB Schenker unit, which
\nowns EWS Railway. \u201cIt\u2019s something most companies would do.\u201d
\nBerlin-based Deutsche Bahn is interested in buying the
\nstake in Eurostar Group Ltd., held by London and Continental
\nRailways Ltd., which is owned by the U.K. government. The
\ncompany had held talks with the government regarding the stake.
\nSongbird Estates Plc, the London-based company that owns 61
\npercent of the East London office developer Canary Wharf Group,
\nwon approval from shareholders to spend 100,000 pounds on
\npolitical donations at its annual meeting on June 10.
\nThe company gave 206,488 pounds to political parties since
\n2003, according to public records. It started donating to the
\nConservatives in November 2007, having previously supported
\nLabour and the Liberal Democrats.<\/p>\n
\nnecessarily supporting a particular party,\u201d said a Songbird
\nspokesman said.
\nIn December, Canary Wharf Group Plc agreed to invest 150
\nmillion pounds in a new station for the Crossrail railway
\nlinking its offices with Heathrow. It will receive 350 million
\npounds from the government for the station and has permission to
\nbuild 100,000 square feet of retail space there.
\nBloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, has been a
\ndonor to the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties
\nsince at least 2001. Since then it gave 366,000 pounds to those
\nparties.
\nSince September 2007, a period including the past two party
\nconference seasons, Bloomberg\u2019s U.K. unit gave the Conservatives
\n50,000 pounds, Labour 58,750 pounds and the Liberal Democrats
\n44,382 pounds, according to Electoral Commission records.
\n\u201cWe believe strong political parties are important to
\nstrong democracies\u201d spokeswoman Judith Czelusniak said via
\nemail.<\/p>\n
\nTNI UK POL <GO> More European political campaign financing
\nstories: TNI EUROPE CAMPFIN <GO> Top general news stories:
\nTOP GEN <GO> Top U.K. stories: TOP UK <GO> Global stocks
\nstories: TOP STK <GO><\/p>\n
\n
\n2009-04-17 07:37:28.448 GMT<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nApril 17 (Bloomberg) — U.K. Financial Investments Ltd.,
\nwhich oversees the government\u2019s shareholdings in banks, is
\nallowed to lend out the stock to short-sellers, who were only
\nmonths ago attacked by politicians for destabilizing the banks.
\nUKFI, which owns 70 percent of Royal Bank of Scotland Plc
\nand has a 43 percent holding in Lloyds Banking Group Plc,
\nlegally may loan stock, according to information obtained by
\nBloomberg News under a Freedom of Information Act request. UKFI
\nsaid it hasn\u2019t so far loaned any of its shares, and has no
\ncurrent plans to do so. It added it\u2019s a \u201ccommercial investor\u201d
\nand reserves the right to use all means available to investors.
\nShort-sellers sell borrowed shares with plans to buy them
\nback later at a lower price. Stock may also be loaned to make up
\nfor a shortfall between trades to avoid penalties for not
\ndelivering shares on time. Politicians and investors had blamed
\nshort-sellers for destabilizing markets in September, prompting
\nthe Financial Services Authority to impose a ban on short-
\nselling financial stocks, a restriction only lifted in January.
\n\u201cStock-lending is a perfectly sensible thing to do because
\nif you\u2019re sitting on stock you can earn extra money from it,\u201d
\nsaid Justin Urquhart Stewart, who manages about $3 billion as
\ndirector of 7 Investment Management in London. \u201cThe other side
\nof it is stock-lending can be used for short selling.\u201d
\nUKFI was set up by the Treasury in November to manage the
\ngovernment\u2019s shares in RBS and Lloyds as well as its stake in
\nNorthern Rock Plc. Part of its remit is to \u201cprotect and create
\nvalue for the taxpayer as a shareholder with due regard to
\nfinancial stability and acting in a way that promotes
\ncompetition,\u201d according to a November statement by the
\nTreasury.<\/p>\n
\nagency that would prevent them from being used in short sales,
\nUrquhart Stewart said.
\n\u201cIf I were UKFI or the government, I would put a
\nconstriction on what it could be used for,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t
\nthink short-selling in the rather fetid market of these stocks
\nwould help the stabilization of the companies.\u201d
\nPaulson & Co., the hedge-fund firm that made more than $3
\nbillion betting the U.S. housing market would collapse, may have
\nmade 311 million pounds ($428 million) between September and
\nMarch by short selling Lloyds and HBOS Plc. The firm made at
\nleast 295 million pounds short selling RBS.
\n\u201cI\u2019d have thought it\u2019s rather unlikely they\u2019d lend the
\nshares because of the risk of political backlash,\u201d said Simon
\nWillis, a London-based analyst at NCB Stockbrokers Ltd.<\/p>\n
\nMore U.K. short selling stories: TNI UK SHI <GO>
\nTop stories about finance: FTOP <GO>
\nTop U.K. stories: TOP UK <GO>
\nGlobal stocks stories: TOP STK <GO>
\nMost-read stock market stories: MNI STK <GO><\/p>\n
\nLondon. Editors: Edward Evans, Ben Vickers.<\/p>\n
\n
\n2008-10-09 23:01:00.60 GMT<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nOct. 10 (Bloomberg) — Hidden in foliage next to a path in
\nthe southeast England seaside town of Hastings are digital
\ncameras. Their target: litterbugs and dog walkers.
\nThe electronic eyes feed images to a monitoring unit, where
\nthey’re scanned and stored as evidence to prosecute people who
\ndiscard garbage or fail to clean up after pets, a spokeswoman for
\nthe town council said.
\n“It’s becoming a bit Big Brother-like,” said Sandra
\nRoberts, 50, a Hastings kiosk manager, invoking George Orwell’s
\n1949 book “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” about a Britain where
\nauthorities pry into all aspects of citizens’ lives.
\nLocal authorities are adopting phone-record logging, e-mail
\ntaps and camera surveillance to police such offenses as welfare
\nfraud, unlawful dumping of waste and sick-day fakery.
\nTelecommunications companies are about to join the list of crime
\nmonitors. Already, 4.5 million closed-circuit cameras watch
\npublic places across Britain, or about 1 camera for every 15
\npeople, the highest ratio in the world.
\n“There’s too much of it now, all this spying,” said Ivor
\nQuittention, 80, a retired owner of three hardware stores who
\nlives in Hastings. The town’s spokeswoman, who declined to be
\nidentified, said spying is the most effective way of dealing with
\nsomething residents complain about most.
\nThe Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, dubbed “the
\nsnoopers charter” by London-based civil-rights group Liberty,
\nwas passed by the ruling Labour Party in 2000 to legislate
\nmethods of surveillance and information gathering. The purpose of
\nthe law, known also as Ripa, was to help prevent crime, including
\nterrorism, according to the Home Office.<\/p>\n
\ninvoke the Act’s provisions. In 2003, Parliament extended powers
\nto the 474 local councils in England, Scotland and Wales, as well
\nas to 318 other state bodies, including 11 Royal Parks, the Post
\nOffice and Chief Inspector of Schools.
\nSince then, local authorities have been expanding their use
\nof the provisions to dozens of lesser offenses.
\nThe law has loopholes and councils like Hastings aren’t
\ndoing anything wrong when they invoke it for minor crimes,
\naccording to Gus Hosein, a professor from the London School of
\nEconomics specializing in technology and privacy.
\n“Ripa just gives too much power to any Tom, Dick or Harry
\nrelated to government,” he said.
\nThe latest proposed expansion of the Act requires
\ntelecommunications providers to store the text of all e-mails and
\ndetails of all phone calls transmitted over their lines.
\nThe government is seeking the views of the public on the
\nproposal until Oct. 31. The bill will then go to Parliament for
\nconsideration.<\/p>\n
\nof Information requests from Bloomberg, 95 percent said they use
\nRipa. Nine said they don’t, including Barnet, Basingstoke and
\nDeane, Broadland, Halton, Harrogate, Shepway, West Devon, Slough
\nand the Shetlands, a group of islands off Scotland where sheep
\noutnumber people. Three declined to provide details without
\npayment of an administrative fee.
\nEast Hampshire, in south England, applied the law to catch
\nvandals defacing tombstones. Derby, in northern England, invoked
\nit to send children with recording gear into shops to see if
\nthey’d unlawfully be sold cigarettes and alcohol.
\n“It’s unreal,” said Dean Price, 24, a graphic designer in
\nLondon. “We’ve been sleep-walking into this. Everyone talks
\nabout Orwell and 1984 but no one ever does anything about it.”
\nA spokesman for the Home Office, which oversees Ripa, said
\nthe extension is vital to intelligence gathering and will help
\ninvestigators identify suspects, track them and examine their
\ncontacts. He declined to be identified, in line with policy.<\/p>\n
\ncouncils, said through a statement by outgoing Chairman Simon
\nMilton that the “crime-busting powers” are an essential tool in
\ngathering evidence needed to stop criminal activity.
\nAt the same time, Milton said he wrote to all councils in
\nJune asking them not to invoke the law for petty offenses.
\n“It’s ironic that a nation that was once a bastion of
\nprivacy, one in which `an Englishman’s home is his castle’ and
\nthat did away with National ID Cards in 1952, is now one of the
\nmost surveilled in the world,” said Toby Stevens, founder of
\nLondon’s Enterprise Privacy Group.
\nThe opposition Conservative Party is against Ripa in its
\ncurrent form and will amend it if it wins the next election, due
\nby 2010, home affairs spokesman Dominic Grieve said.
\nMark Jewell, a councilman for the U.K.’s third party, the
\nLiberal Democrats, said more checks and balances are needed to
\nensure Ripa isn’t abused. “At the moment, you don’t need to have
\ndone anything wrong to get snooped on,” he said. No other
\nEuropean Union government has similar regulations.<\/p>\n
\nthose in northern England, Wales and Scotland used the law more
\nthan those in the south. Durham, in northeast England, was the
\nbiggest user, invoking the provisions 144 times in the past year,
\nas authorities cracked down on offenses including fraud.
\nIn April, council workers spent two weeks tailing a couple
\nin Poole, southeast England, they wrongly suspected were planning
\nto send their daughter to a school outside their designated area.
\nTim Joyce and Jenny Paton called the intrusion into their lives
\n“hugely disproportionate.”
\nIn August, Paul Griffiths was taken to court and fined 1,000
\npounds for allowing his dog to foul grass outside his home in
\nBristol. Griffiths said he’s innocent and his pet had only been
\nurinating when she was spotted on camera.
\nBrian Clements, a 79-year-old retired teacher from Clacton-
\non-Sea, south England, said the measures are “like using a
\nsledge hammer to crack a nut.”
\n“Wouldn’t the Gestapo have loved all those little
\ncameras,” he said.<\/p>\n
\nTop government articles: TOP GOV <GO><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"