Saturday, November 28, 2009
More than 20mm of rain fell in a six-hour period on Saturday leaving shops and homes flooded and people stranded in their cars.
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Responsible Travel said they were a "distraction" from climate change's real urgency and is ending its scheme.
Such schemes involve individuals paying a premium for the emissions generated by certain choices, such as flying.
The International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance says offsetting has an impact, but governments must do more.
Carbon offset schemes also cover things like choosing to drive a car or choices around the way homes are heated.
'Assuage your guilt'
Money raised under the schemes is used to pay for carbon reduction projects in developing countries, such as installing solar power or capturing methane gas released by farm animals.
Some environmentalists argue that while these schemes bring some benefit, offsetting has not changed people's behaviour enough and emissions covered by such schemes should be avoided in the first place.
Justin Francis, founder of Responsible Travel, said: "It's perceived as this magic pill, this get out of jail free card if you like, that means you don't need to change your behaviour.
"You can go on flying just as much as you were before, you can run your hotel the way you were before, but through this magic pill somehow you can assuage your guilt.
 |  People are using offsetting to take responsibility for their unavoidable emissions  Jonathan Shopley, International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance  |
"We need to be reducing the amount we pollute and I think carbon offsetting is a distraction from that."
Andy Atkins, director of Friends of the Earth, agreed that introducing offsetting alone allowed individuals and companies to continue with business as usual.
He said: "We understand why people wanted to offset in the belief that it was reducing their emissions, but it isn't working and we have to recognise now that the science says we have to cut our emissions really, at home.
"That means governments and individuals doing everything they can to reduce their genuine carbon impact and offsetting doesn't do that."
'Making a difference'
The body representing those who run the schemes insist they do bring real benefits to the developing world.
Jonathan Shopley, of the International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance, said: "It's not going to solve the climate change issue on its own, that's for sure. That needs government action, taxes.
"We need to stop doing certain things, but by the same account people are using offsetting to take responsibility for their unavoidable emissions and they need to understand that is a good thing and is making a difference."
Joan Ruddock, minister for the Department of Energy and Climate Change, said: "Of course [offsetting is] not a solution to climate change - it's a tiny contribution - but it does help people to think about what they are doing.
"But we do need emissions reductions on quite a different scale and that is why we have a Climate Change Act and absolute limits on our emissions in this country."
An Islamic expert is calling on Muslims to reduce the environmental impact of Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
Dr Mawil Izzidien of the University of Wales, Lampeter, says the event is beset by wasted and misused resources.
He has called on Muslims to avoid air travel to Saudi Arabia where possible and stay in less luxury while there.
The Muslim Council of Wales said avoiding air travel and good hotels was unrealistic but agreed "a practical look" at the event's future was needed.
Between 25-30 November around two million Muslims will converge on Mecca - the holiest place in Islam - to take part in an event which combines piety and passion.
One of the pillars of the Islamic faith, every adult Muslim must undertake Hajj at least once in their life if they can afford it and are physically able.
|  There is a lot of wastage and there is a lot of misuse of the resources that are available to people while performing Hajj Dr Mawil Izzidien |
Many Muslims save for years in order to perform the pilgrimage, often having to travel thousands of miles to do so.
Dr Izzidien, a reader in Islamic Studies who has written about the environmental dimensions of the pilgrimage, said the main green issue surrounding Hajj was "to encourage Muslims to reduce the number of trips towards Mecca if they can."
He said: "Rather than travelling twice, or performing Hajj twice, if they have done the first one then there is no need to do the second one."
Funds to be used for a second Hajj would be better used helping other Muslims make the journey, or to tackle poverty in the world, he suggested.
Dr Izzidien also focused on the luxurious way in which he said many Muslims travel to, and stay in, Saudi Arabia.
"They travel by first class airplanes and when they arrive in Mecca they live like they are living in a five star hotel, and they pay lots of money to do that," he said.
"Hajj is really all about travelling with difficulty. It is encouraged within Islam that the best Hajj is that which is performed with difficulty. The more difficulty a person has, the more reward he will have.
"Of course we are not saying that to travel from Africa or from Europe to Mecca on foot, but to reduce the amount of cost and carbon footprint is in many ways important.
| People need to be there for 10 days and if they spend two or three of these days travelling then that is a big problem Saleem Qidwai, Muslim Council of Wales |
"Maybe groups of pilgrims can perform Hajj by travelling by sea rather than by travelling by air. If they use a ship in order to travel from their location to Mecca, or to Jeddah and then to Mecca, that would reduce the environmental cost of Hajj."
The amount of food wasted during Hajj, and the wastage of meat from sacrificed sheep are other issues which need addressing, Dr Izzidien said, though he added that the local organisers were to be commended for their efforts so far to make the event more environmentally friendly.
'Realistic'
Saleem Qidwai, general secretary of the Muslim Council of Wales, said he agreed with many of Dr Izzidien's views but a practical view had to be taken on how Muslim pilgrims could lessen their carbon footprint.
"We have to be realistic," he said. "Time is short for everybody.
"People need to be there for 10 days and if they spend two or three of these days travelling then that is a big problem. Also, avoiding good hotels in Saudi Arabia is not always practical."
However Mr Qidwai said he agreed with other environmental concerns raised by Dr Izzidien.
"There is a lot of wastage at Hajj, particularly with regard to leftover plastic bags and bottles," he said.
"But let's look from a practical point of view at what we can do now to change things in the future."
Barbara Young is the Chair of the Care Quality Commission.
Barbara's early career was spent in public relations and health services management. She was Chairman then President of the Institute of Health Services Management from 1986-88, and a King's Fund International Fellow in 1985-86 and 1990-1991.
Prior to joining CQC Barbara was Chief Executive of the Environment Agency. She has also been Chairman of English Nature, Vice Chairman of the BBC, and Chief Executive of the RSPB.
She has roles in a number voluntary sector environment organisations, and is on the Policy Committee of the Institute of Public Policy Research.
Barbara Young is a non-affiliated Life Peer as Baroness Young of Old Scone
| By Emma Wilkinson Health reporter, BBC News |
 Inspections focus heavily on cleaning |
The details of what was uncovered during an inspection in October at Basildon NHS Trust in Essex are shocking.
Floors, curtains and equipment stained with blood; soiled and stained mattresses; and re-use of tubes and other items designed to be thrown away after each patient.
It is the second time in less than a year that standards at a foundation trust - a status awarded to strongly performing NHS institutions - have been found wanting.
"Appalling" standards at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust were exposed in March when it was estimated that 400 patients had died needlessly over a three-year period.
The pattern is remarkably similar - an investigation initially prompted by data showing higher than expected death rates - and will further shake public confidence in how hospitals are monitored.
Especially as league tables published by the Care Quality Commission just last month gave Basildon an overall "Good" rating for quality of services.
It immediately poses the question, can the ratings be trusted and what does that mean for patient choice?
Regulation
The Care Quality Commission is a fairly new body having taking over the responsibility for the monitoring of hospitals from its predecessor the Healthcare Commission eight months ago.
| "We need a much more sophisticated system that doesn't just rely on data but takes information from real inspections on the ground Baroness Young Care Quality Commission |
CQC chair Baroness Young says that they inherited a rating system that is not fit for purpose and needs to be scrapped.
"We did make it very clear that this is not the way we want to regulate for the future.
"We need a much more sophisticated system that doesn't just rely on data but takes information from real inspections on the ground."
The "Good" rating given to Basildon hospital relates to an earlier time period - the year up until April 2009 - and there will be variation within each hospital, which makes the "single-word summary" misleading, she adds.
The CQC, she says, will have greater power and resources to carry out spot checks and inspections, rather than just relying on tick-box exercises which some argue enable trusts to fudge the data.
"By this time next year there will be a completely different system which will be much more able to spot issues, nip them in the bud, and take prompt action, rather than reporting months and months later."
Accurate data
The jury seems to be out on whether figures such as death rates are reliable indicators of poor performance - although in these two cases they started the alarm bells ringing.
Data from Basildon NHS trust showed a death rate 36% above the national average for the past three years.
When initially questioned, the trust had said the data was misleading - the same response given by Mid-Staffordshire when asked to account for higher than expected deaths.
Professor Sir Brian Jarman, who has developed systems for monitoring death rates - known as hospital standardised mortality ratios - and other data on a monthly basis, says the whole idea is to adjust for factors, which may affect the figures such as an unusually high elderly population.
He believes the data can be relied upon and that Basildon, along with some other hospitals, had higher than average rates since they started collecting the figures a decade ago but initially people had not taken any notice of the information.
"We now have a very good relationship with the CQC and they do listen closely."
"What we have found in virtually every hospital we have drawn attention to is there are usually dramatic reductions in the figures.
"Even in Basildon - from April this year they are down to normal."
Complaints
But Kieran Mullan, director of policy and public affairs at the Patients Association says death rates are a very "blunt tool" which only highlights problems once they get severe.
He is also critical of CQC plans to change the rating system.
"The bulk of it will still be data driven self-assessment, that's not going to change.
"It will just be a form where the trust can tick, yes we do this and then it's up to chance whether the CQC will choose your hospital to look at more closely.
"They say they will do more going into wards and talking to patients but the framework is basically the same."
A far simpler way to monitor whether hospitals are up to scratch is to pay closer attention to and follow up patient complaints, he says.
Almost every complaint they receive has already been logged with the trust and therefore accessible to the regulator.
"If you treat a complaint seriously we wouldn't need anything else because patients tell you when something has gone wrong."
 Supporters make the point that Gary McKinnon has Asperger's syndrome |
| The shoddy treatment of this vulnerable man should demonstrate that our rotten extradition laws need urgent reform Shami Chakrabarti Liberty |
 Many UK politicians criticised Tony Blair's closeness to George Bush |
UK-US relations in the run-up to the Iraq war are to come under scrutiny as ex-US Ambassador Sir Christopher Meyer gives evidence to the war inquiry.
His evidence is expected to touch on the personal relationship between Tony Blair and former President Bush and the extent to which this influenced policy.
The inquiry was told on Wednesday of reports days before the war that Iraq had dismantled its chemical weapons.
But Foreign Office officials insisted the war was still justified.
The inquiry is looking into UK involvement in Iraq between 2001 and 2009, with the first few weeks focusing on policy in the build-up to the 2003 US-led invasion.
Intelligence claims
Sir Christopher, UK Ambassador to Washington between 1997 and 2003, will take centre stage on the third day of public hearings.
Critics of the war claim that the US had already decided to topple Saddam Hussein in 2002 and that the UK had agreed to go along with this - claims both countries have denied.
The reasons for going to war in Iraq - including the now discredited claim that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction which could be used within 45 minutes of an order being given - remain a long-standing source of controversy.
| INQUIRY TIMELINE November-December: Former top civil servants, spy chiefs, diplomats and military commanders to give evidence January-February 2010: Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and other politicians expected to appear before the panel March 2010: Inquiry expected to adjourn ahead of the general election campaign July-August 2010: Inquiry expected to resume Report set to be published in late 2010 or early 2011 |
On Wednesday, senior Foreign Office official Sir William Ehrman told the inquiry that a report shortly before the invasion suggested Iraq's chemical weapons may have been "disassembled".
"We did... get a report that chemical weapons might have remained disassembled and Saddam hadn't yet ordered their assembly."
A separate report suggested Iraq might also "lack" warheads capable of spreading chemical agents, he added.
However, Sir William - the Foreign Office's Director general of defence and Intelligence between 2002 and 2004 - said there was "contradictory intelligence" and these reports did not "invalidate" the fact that Iraq had chemical weapons.
"It was more about their use. Even if they were disassembled the (chemical or biological) agents still existed."
'WMD surprise'
Sir William insisted that the role of intelligence in the decision to go to war was "limited".
He also said it was a "surprise" no weapons of mass destruction were ever found in Iraq, saying "it was not what we had expected".
| WITNESSES ON THURSDAY SIR CHRISTOPHER MEYER-UK Ambassador to Washington 1997-2003 |
The Lib Dems said Sir William's comments seemed to contradict Tony Blair's statement in Parliament that Iraq posed a "clear and present danger" to international security.
Asked to explain the absence of WMD and why the UK government had got this wrong, Sir William noted a "great deal" of the intelligence about Iraq's chemical and biological weapons production provided before the war had been withdrawn afterwards as false.
Addressing the overall threat posed by Iraq in 2001, officials said it was "not top of its list" of countries causing concern because of their stated desire to develop weapons of mass destruction.
With sanctions in place against Iraq, the Foreign Office believed Saddam Hussein could not build a nuclear weapon and, even if sanctions were removed, it was estimated it would take him five years to do so.
Officials said most evidence suggested Iraq's chemical and biological programme had largely been "destroyed" in 1991.
Although reports in late 2002 suggested Iraq was rebuilding its capability, they said intelligence about its actual position had been "patchy" since weapons inspectors were expelled in 1998.
But they maintain the threat posed by Iraq was viewed as "unique" because it had shown itself willing to use weapons of mass destruction on its own people and its neighbours.
Terrorist links
The inquiry also learnt that the UK investigated and rejected suggestions of links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda.
Following the 9/11 attacks, the Foreign Office looked at the matter "very carefully" but concluded the two were not "natural allies".
The inquiry, looking at the whole period from 2001 to 2009, was set up by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who also chose the panel.
Mr Brown and predecessor Tony Blair are expected to be among future witnesses, with the final report due early in 2011.
Previously, the Butler inquiry looked at intelligence failures before the war, while the Hutton inquiry examined the circumstances leading to the death of former government adviser David Kelly.
EU foreign head dismisses critics |
The UK has failed in its attempt to get Tony Blair chosen as the new president of the EU Council after the Belgian prime minister was handed the job. Downing Street abandoned its campaign to put the ex-prime minister in the prestige job on Thursday after it was clear he did not have enough support. But, in a surprise move, Labour peer Baroness Ashton was appointed to the new role of EU foreign affairs chief. Gordon Brown said this "reinforced" the UK's place "at the heart of Europe". 'Effective' "It will ensure Britain's voice is very loud and clear," he said. Baroness Ashton is currently the EU's Trade Commissioner, a job in which Mr Brown said she had been "highly effective". Mr Brown said Baroness Ashton - who will also become vice-president of the European Commission - would represent the EU on the world stage. Little-known outside the UK and not a high-profile figure in British politics, Baroness Ashton was formerly leader of the House of Lords.
Mr Blair had never publicly said he was in the running for the job of EU President - given to Belgium's Herman van Rompuy - despite vocal support from Mr Brown. The prime minister said that his predecessor would have made an "excellent candidate" and that he did not "apologise" for backing him. However, he said it had become clear that the job was destined for a centre-right candidate and that the nature of the post had changed - making it less suitable for Mr Blair. 'Defeat for PM' The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats welcomed the fact that Mr Blair had not got the job, saying he would have been a divisive figure. "We did not agree with the Lisbon Treaty's establishment of these posts but they are now a fact," said shadow foreign secretary William Hague. "We look to the President of the Council and the High Representative to ensure that the EU's business as an association of nation states is conducted efficiently." "Gordon Brown spent a great deal of energy and political capital trying to secure the presidency for Tony Blair. The summit's result is a defeat for him." |
 Experts warn that universities' e-mail systems are vulnerable to attacks |
The e-mail system of one of the world's leading climate research units has been breached by hackers.
E-mails reportedly from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU), including personal exchanges, appeared on the internet on Thursday.
A university spokesman confirmed the email system had been hacked and that information was taken and published without permission.
An investigation was underway and the police had been informed, he added.
"We are aware that information from a server used for research information in one area of the university has been made available on public websites," the spokesman stated.
"Because of the volume of this information we cannot currently confirm that all of this material is genuine.
"This information has been obtained and published without our permission and we took immediate action to remove the server in question from operation.
"We are undertaking a thorough internal investigation and we have involved the police in this enquiry."
Researchers at CRU, one of the world's leading research bodies on natural and human-induced climate change, played a key role in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report, which is considered to be the most authoritative report of its kind.
'Inside information'
Graham Cluley, a computer security expert, suggested that December's key climate summit in Copenhagen, which has made headlines around the world, could have increased the university's profile as a possible target among hackers.
"There are passionate opinions on both sides of the climate debate and there will be people trying to knock down the other side," Mr Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos, told BBC News.
"If they feel that they can gather inside information on what the other side is up to, then they may feel that is ammunition for their counterargument."
Mr Cluley added that universities were vulnerable to attacks by hackers because so many people required access to IT systems.
"You do need proper security in place; you need to be careful regarding communications and make sure your systems are secure.
"I trust that they will now be looking at the systems, and investigating how this happened and ensuring that something like this does not happen again."
 Kuru attacks the brain tissue |
natural selection could help halt human "mad cow disease", experts say after finding a tribe impervious to a related fatal brain disorder.
The Papua New Guinea tribe developed strong genetic resistance after a major epidemic of the CJD-like disease, kuru, spread mostly by cannibalism.
Medical Research Council experts assessed more than 3,000 survivors of the mid-20th Century epidemic.
Their findings appear in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Kuru, a prion disease similar to CJD in humans and BSE in animals, was transmitted at mortuary feasts where - until the practice was banned in the late 1950s - women and children consumed their deceased relatives as a mark of respect and mourning.
But a gene variation, G127V, found in people from the Purosa valley region of the Eastern Highlands seems to offer high or even complete resistance to the disease .
| The fact that this genetic evolution has happened in a matter of decades is remarkable MRC Prion Unit director Professor John Collinge |
And experts believe this could be the strongest example yet of recent natural selection in humans.
MRC Prion Unit director Professor John Collinge said: "It's absolutely fascinating to see Darwinian principles at work here.
"This community of people have developed their own biologically unique response to a truly terrible epidemic.
"The fact that this genetic evolution has happened in a matter of decades is remarkable.
"Kuru comes from the same disease family as CJD, so the discovery of this powerful resistance factor opens up new areas for research taking us closer to understanding, treating and hopefully preventing of a range of prion diseases."
Survival advantage
University College London's Institute of Neurology geneticist Professor John Hardy said the findings were fascinating.
"It's fantastic demonstration of natural selection.
"Because people who have this mutation were protected from this fatal disease their proportion in society increased massively."
But he said a similar resistance to CJD would be less likely to develop.
He said: "In Papua New Guinea kuru became the major cause of death, so there was a clear survival advantage and the selection pressure was enormous.
"Here in Britain the numbers with CJD are very small and so the selection pressures will be less."
Find out about the minimum standards care services have to meet and what you have a right to expect.
The following guidance is from the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the regulatory body for care homes in England.
The Government has set national minimum standards for care services. The standards set out the quality of care, service and facilities you should expect from your care provider.
These are just some of the issues the national minimum standards cover:
The national minimum standards enforceable by law but are important guidelines to help providers, inspectors and people who use services to judge the standard of service.
They are designed to make sure everyone understands what's expected and so services can be measured against the same standards.
(Gill Allen, The Times)
Nearly 300 senior BBC managers earn more than £100,000
| By Nick Triggle Health reporter, BBC News |
 Anti-psychotic drugs do not benefit many dementia patients |
Needless use of anti-psychotic drugs is widespread in dementia care and contributes to the death of many patients, an official review suggests.
About 180,000 patients a year are given the drugs in care homes, hospitals and their own homes to manage aggression.
But the expert review - commissioned by ministers - said the treatment was unnecessary in nearly 150,000 cases and was linked to 1,800 deaths.
The government in England has agreed to take steps to reduce use of the drugs.
These include:
The review - and the government pledge to take action - comes after long-running concerns about the use of anti-psychotic drugs.
Over the past 30 years, the NHS has increasingly turned to the treatment, which was originally aimed at people with schizophrenia, as it has struggled to cope with the rise in people with dementia.
'Different mindset'
There are currently 700,000 people in the UK with the condition, but this is expected to rise to one million in the next 10 years because of the ageing population.
The review, led by King's College London expert Professor Sube Banerjee, accepted that for some people anti-psychotic drugs would be necessary.
But it said they should be used only for a maximum of three months and when the person represented a risk to themselves or others.
Professor Banerjee estimated that of the 180,000 people given the drugs each year, only 36,000 benefited.
He said health and social care services needed to develop a "different mindset".
Allan Trueman's father "became a totally different person"
He believes if the steps the government has agreed to are followed, anti-psychotic drug use could be reduced by two-thirds within three years.
Care services minister Phil Hope agreed action was needed.
"We know there are situations where anti-psychotic drug use is necessary - we're not calling for a ban, but we do want to see a significant reduction in use."
Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, said the long-awaited review was a welcome recognition of the scale of the problem.
He added: "This goes beyond quality of care. It is a fundamental rights issue.
"Our members tell us of enormous worry and distress over what is happening to their loved ones."
The Royal College of GPs - in most cases the drugs are prescribed by family doctors - admitted the situation was "unacceptable".
President Dr Steve Field said: "People deserve much better."
While the review was commissioned by the government in England, ministers elsewhere in the UK have agreed to study the recommendations.
More patients in Scotland given antidepressants 13 October 2015 From the section Scotland Image copyright Thinkstock Image ca...
