Home
David Cameron, the Prime Minister, shuffled the Cabinet a little, with Sir George Young being replaced as Leader of the House by Andrew Lansley, who was replaced as Health Secretary by Jeremy Hunt, who was replaced as Culture Secretary by Maria Miller. Justine Greening was replaced as Transport Secretary by Patrick McLoughlin, who was replaced as Chief Whip by Andrew Mitchell, who was replaced as International Development Secretary by Justine Greening, whose move, according to Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, showed that the government wanted to ‘ditch its promises and send yet more planes over central London’. Caroline Spelman was replaced as Environment Secretary by Owen Paterson, who was replaced as Northern Ireland Secretary by Theresa Villiers. Grant Shapps ousted Lady Warsi as Conservative Party chairman, who, despite her pleas, was shuffled off with a ministry for faith and communities and a ministerial post in the Foreign Office. David Laws, the Liberal Democrat, was brought back as an education minister. Kenneth Clarke became a Cabinet minister without portfolio, being replaced as Justice Secretary (and Lord Chancellor) by Chris Grayling, said to be the first non-lawyer as Lord Chancellor since Nicholas Heath was deprived of office in 1558.
The government announced an Economic Development Bill, to update the recent National Planning Policy Framework, and an Infrastructure Bill to underwrite £40 billion of construction projects. London Metropolitan University launched legal action over a ban by the UK Border Agency on its recruiting overseas students. Michael Gove, who remained Education Secretary, said that he would bring in a Bill to replace GCSEs with a more rigorous examination. Barclays appointed Antony Jenkins as its chief executive in the place of Bob Diamond. Belfast saw three night of riots in which loyalists threw petrol bombs, bricks, fireworks and stones at police. It proved to be Britain’s wettest summer (June, July and August) since 1912.
In the Paralympics, the South African runner Oscar Pistorius complained, when beaten in the T44 category 200 metres, that the winner, Alan Oliveira of Brazil, had, in place of his lower legs, blades that were unfairly long. After six days, Britain had won 23 gold medals, behind the leader China, with 53; the United States, in sixth place, had won only 14. The exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky lost a case in the London Commercial Court against Roman Abramovich. The judge said Mr Berezovsky ‘regarded truth as a transitory, flexible concept, which could be moulded to suit his current purposes’; legal costs were estimated at £100 million. Travelodge, with debts of £1 billion, met creditors to agree a company voluntary arrangement. Sir Peter Bazalgette, who brought Big Brother to British screens, was appointed chairman of the Arts Council England. Max Bygraves, the entertainer, died, aged 89. Nestlé is to reduce the size of its tins of Quality Street from 1kg to 820g, following last year’s reduction by Cadbury of its Roses tin from 975g to 850g.
Abroad
The UN said that more than 100,000 people fled Syria in August. Lakhdar Brahimi, aged 78, took over from Kofi Annan as the UN and Arab League’s Syria envoy. The Kenyan navy shelled Kismayo, the Somali city controlled by al-Shabab, the al-Qa’eda affiliates. In Islamabad a Muslim cleric was charged with blasphemy after it was said he had tampered with evidence against a 14-year-old Christian girl, held in jail also on charges of blasphemy, when it was said she was in possession of burnt pages of the Koran.
The International Labour Organisation forecast global youth unemployment would rise to 13 per cent by 2017. Moody’s lowered its outlook for the European Union’s AAA credit rating to negative. An FT/Harris poll found that only 26 per cent of Germans thought Greece would ‘ever repay its bailout loans’; 77 per cent of Italians thought Greece would. Wildfires struck Portugal and Spain. The Revd Sun Myung Moon, the founder in 1954, in Seoul, of the Unification Church, noted for its mass wedding ceremonies, died, aged 92. Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, the former Archbishop of Milan, died, aged 85.
Louisiana put the number of houses destroyed there by Hurricane Isaac at 13,000. Hal David, the lyricist whose songs included ‘I Say a Little Prayer’ and ‘Do You Know the way to San Jose?’, died, aged 91. In India, a clothing store called Hitler that opened last month in Ahmedabad said it would change its name after receiving complaints. CSH
Comments