Health Protection Agency says upheaval caused by its abolition could pose ‘extreme risks’ during the London 2012 Olympic Games

This article titled “Health agency issues Olympics emergency warning” was written by James Meikle and Owen Gibson, for The Guardian on Thursday 5th May 2011 16.30 UTC The NHS’s main public health body says its planned abolition weeks before the 2012 Olympics could compromise emergency responses if there are serious incidents at the games. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) warns the upheaval generated by huge organisational changes across the health service could pose extreme risks when Britain hosts the world’s biggest sporting event next summer. There is “high potential” for funds aimed at protecting the public at the event to be cut, it says. In the past, the risk to public health at the Olympics has come from incidents as diverse as food poisoning and terrorism. The agency is responsible for disease control and monitoring as well as scientific and public health advice during emergencies. Its responsibilities are to be absorbed within the Department of Health. Other authorities which tackle such crises are also in turmoil, with staff leaving primary care trusts well before they are abolished in 2013, while local councils are being hit by spending cuts. Labour has demanded the shakeup should “at the very least” be put on hold until after the London Olympics. Diane Abbott, the shadow health minister, said: “David Cameron seems to be prioritising driving through his NHS reorganisation above public safety during the Olympics. “For this Tory-led government to push our public health services into a state of chaos and abolish the current agency right before London 2012, with people from all over the world arriving in London, and the eyes of the entire world on Britain, is nothing short of a disgrace.” The revelation of the HPA’s concern over the Tories’ NHS plans comes as public health professionals fear their voice is being ignored, even during the government’s two-month listening exercise. They have no members on the Future Forum group overseeing the exercise, headed by GP Steve Field. The timetable for the shakeup has already been hit by the break in the progress of legislation – meaning the first changes are now scheduled for July 2012, the month in which the games begin, instead of April. That shift has led the HPA to say the risk of “compromising” national emergency responses during the Olympics is now even higher than when it first raised the issue in its official response to the shakeup in March. It warned then that there might be “considerable risks to the national capability to launch multi-agency responses to incidents and emergencies”. The agency said the planned changes would create “considerable uncertainty” and “preparation for, and response to, incidents arising in association with the Olympic and Paralypmic Games will be compromised” unless an appropriate structure replaced the current one. In a statement to the Guardian, the agency said: “Deferring the changes to July 2012 would increase the risk. We have made the Department of Health aware of our views concerning the risks in delaying.” It said a small number of its 3,850 staff had already left, citing concerns about the independence of their work and advice if they were moved to the health department. The HPA’s March document states that the move could also undermine wider public and professional confidence. Abbott said: “It is time that this government listened to public health professionals. Alarm bells are now ringing within the Health Protection Agency, local authorities and also local primary care trusts, and increasingly there will also be concern amongst the public. “We have worked hard to bring the Olympic Games to Britain. It should be a time in which we showcase what Britain is about to the rest of the world. The priority should be public safety and ensuring that we are prepared to respond robustly to major incidents and emergencies.” Lindsey Davies, former national director of pandemic influenza preparedness at the Department of Health who is president of the Faculty of Public Health, said: “The entire public health community has grave concerns about the potential risks from the timing of the changes.” Although there have been few major health scares linked to past Olympics, there was a terror attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics and a bombing which killed two people in Atlanta in 1996. A stomach bug struck competitors at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi last year. The agency says the games will raise the risk of diseases spreading due to the influx of international visitors and from mass gatherings in restricted spaces during the games. Early identification will help reduce the risk of widespread exposure and minimise the impact on visitors as well as local communities. Other concerns include heatstroke among crowds. About 300,000 people a day are expected to be in the Olympic Park during the height of the games. The Department of Health said it was working to ensure “business continuity” was maintained during the transition. A team had been established to ensure the the ministry and the NHS is able “to respond to major emergencies continues to be robust and to ensure the requirements of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are met. Work is under way to test how the proposed new systems would function during the 2012 Games. This work will focus and strengthen safety at the 2012 Games”. It is understood Olympics organisers are aware of the concerns but have not been directly involved in discussions. Thousands of athletes begin arriving in Britain for training camps in the UK in June 2012. The Olympic village opens in mid-July and the games run from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The Paralympics run from the end of August into September. A total of 17,000 athletes and officials from about 200 countries will stay in the village on the Olympic Park, in east London. In total, more than 10,500 athletes will compete in 26 sports based in various venues around the capital and beyond. Sailing will be based in Weymouth and the Olympic football tournament will be played in various grounds around the country. According to the detailed transport plan released last month, the busiest day of the games – Saturday 4 August – will see 700,000 ticket holders moving around London to watch sessions at 11 venues. In all, 8.8m tickets are available for the Games, with 6.6m on sale to the general public. About 20,000 broadcast and print journalists will also descend on London.

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The people in Tahir square have had a crash course in revolutionary politics over the past twenty days, worth a lifetime of study. They have formed a council with powers to call and also call off mass protests, and issued a “People’s Communique No 1″ with a list of demands to the new military regime. “People’s Communique No. 1″ demands: * The dissolution of the cabinet Mubarak appointed on 29 January and the suspension of the parliament elected in a rigged poll late last year. * A transitional five-member presidential council made up of four civilians and one military person. * For the formation of a transitional government to prepare for an election to take place within nine months, and of a body to draft a new democratic constitution. * Freedom for the media and syndicates, which represent groups such as lawyers, doctors and engineers, and for the formation of political parties. * Military and emergency courts must be scrapped These just the constitutional, legalistic demands.  No doubt there will also be demands for the return of the scandalous amounts of wealth siphoned out of the economy and into private bank accounts by the previous corrupt regime, some of whose individuals may be remaining in positions of influence with the military council. The first priority though, is to consolidate the gains of January 25th-February 11th and prevent power from slipping back away from the people via the military leaders.

This article titled “Army and protesters disagree over Egypt’s path to democracy” was written by Chris McGreal, for guardian.co.uk on Saturday 12th February 2011 17.14 UTC Egypt’s new military administration and the pro-democracy protesters who brought down Hosni Mubarak are at odds over the path to democratic rule. The army sought to stave off pressure from jubilant protesters to swiftly hand power to a civilian-led administration by saying that it was committed to a “free democratic state”. The military leadership gave no timetable for the political transition, and many of the demonstrators who filled Cairo’s Tahrir Square for 18 days rejected the military’s appeal to dismantle the barricades and go home. They said they were waiting for specific commitments from the military on their demand for a civilian-controlled interim administration, the lifting of the oppressive state of emergency and other steps toward liberalisation. The shockwaves of Mubarak’s fall were felt across the region, particularly in Algeria and Yemen. Thousands of anti-government protesters, apparently inspired by events in Cairo, turned out in Algiers to confront the police. There were reports that hundreds had been arrested. In Sanaa, a protest by about 2,000 people to demand political reform was broken up by armed government supporters. Some of the organisers of Egypt’s revolution announced they had formed a council to negotiate with the military and to oversee future demonstrations to keep up pressure on the army to meet demands for democratic change. “The council will have the authority to call for protests or call them off depending on how the situation develops,” said Khaled Abdel Qader Ouda, one of the organisers. Earlier, General Mohsen el-Fangari said in a televised statement that the military intends to oversee “a peaceful transition of power” to allow “an elected civilian government to rule and build a free democratic state”. He said the present cabinet would continue to sit until a new one is formed. Fangari announced that the widely ignored overnight curfew imposed during the crisis would be shortened by several hours. The military council also sought to allay US and Israeli concerns by saying that Egypt will continue to respect international treaties it has signed. Israeli politicians had expressed concern that a new government in Cairo might abrogate the 1979 peace accord between the two countries. Israel’s finance minister, Yuval Steinitz, welcomed the announcement. “Peace is not only in the interest of Israel but also of Egypt. I am very happy with this announcement,” he told Israeli television. But there will still be concern in Jerusalem about whether a future civilian government will be as co- operative as Mubarak’s regime in isolating and undermining the Hamas administration in the Gaza strip. People continued to pour in to Cairo’s Tahrir Square, in part to celebrate at the centre of the revolution against the Mubarak regime. But there was also concern among the core group of activists who helped organise the mass protests that brought down Mubarak at the army’s apparent intent to control the political transition. A group of the activists issued what they called the “People’s Communique No 1″ – mirroring the titles of military communiques – listing demands. The included the immediate dissolution of Mubarak’s cabinet and “suspension of the parliament elected in a rigged poll late last year”. The reformists want a transitional administration appointed with four civilians and one military official to prepare for elections in nine months and to oversee the drafting of a new constitution. The Muslim Brotherhood, the banned Islamist group that has been the target of military tribunals aimed at suppressing it, sought to allay fears that it will attempt to take power. It said it would not be running a candidate in presidential elections and would not seek to win a majority in parliament. It also offered unusual support for the military council. Reuters reported that the information minister, Anas El-Fekky, was placed under house arrest after the military barred officials suspected of corruption from leaving the country. Mubarak was believed to be at his luxury retreat in Sharm el-Sheikh.

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OK, here’s my prediction for the outcome of the general election in the United Kingdom, just for fun. New Labour have had their chance and blown it to such an extent that they come third in overall votes, a disasterous result by all accounts. But the Tories fail to win an overall majority in the House of Commons and Gordon Brown tries to stay on as Prime Minister with a minority government, daring the Liberals to vote down the queen’s speech, which they then do. Brown is forced to resign as Labour leader and the battle for a successor begins, with a timetable stretching over many weeks. Meanwhile, the Liberals enter into negotiations with the Tories to see if they can stitch up a coalition government between them. Nick Clegg demands electoral reform as a precondition to more detailed discussions, and David Cameron categorically rules it out. So no deal there. Harriet Harman the current deputy leader of the Labour Party automatically acts as a caretaker leader and approaches Clegg to see what terms he might accept to go in with Labour. A historic deal is then patched together which involves mashing up Vince Cable and Alastair Darling’s economic policies into one chancellorship, big concessions on electoral reform, and a double figure-head leadership which makes Nick Clegg and Harriet Harman both being prime minister. Cameron is thus thwarted from forming a Tory government for at least another four years and such is the jubiliation on Labour back benches that all the other contenders for leadership are persuaded to withdraw from the contest leaving Harriet Harman as uncontested leader of the Labour Party and joint Prime Minister of the UK parliament. Harriet Harman, The UK's second ever female Prime Minister Of course constitutionally, you can’t actually have a joint prime ministership in absolutely everything, there are some occasions when a single name must be applied, such as taking a seat at World Summits etc and in the EU so for these occasions they toss a coin, and Harriet wins.

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A new section of the London Overground has opened in a limited way, weeks ahead of schedule says TFL Dalston Junction – New Cross and New Cross Gate open 27 April 2010 This section of the line has now opened ahead of schedule with a limited preview service running Monday to Fridays between 07:00 and 20:00 only and will build up towards a full timetable by mid-May. The other southern leg which extends from Dalston Junction to New Cross, Crystal Palace and West Croydon is due to open on 23 May 2010, while the joining section to the rest of the London Overgound outer circle line, from Dalston to Highbury and Islington is due to be completed in 2011. Gospel Oak to Stratford on the other hand, remains closed for engineering works  until 31 May 2010 with signalling and track renewal work, platform lengthening and the refurbishment of some stations. So there’s a  London Overground replacement bus service there presently. The new trains are more like bendy buses on rails though, with limited seating, lots of strap hanging and completely open connections between the carriages. Sitting sideways to the motion of the train is definitely less comfortable than conventional perpendicular seating whether facing forwards or back, but these mass transit systems are all geared towards alleviating congestion at rush hours rather than passenger comfort. Bicycles are permitted on the trains except between 7:00–10:00 and 16:00-19:00 Monday to Friday.

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