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Digital Robin Hood or Enemy of the State?

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Feedback In-Debate is back for 2011 and a lot has happened while we have been away, (we hope you havn’t missed us too much!). After hours of deliberation on what we feel are the most pressing issues this month it is time to get stuck in to all that has happened. Feedback has been great but we still want to hear your thoughts on what you think of In-Debate so we can make our future issues the best they can be! If you drop us an email with some feedback we will enter you into our fantastic competition this month (and it’s worth winning). So send it to letstalk@in-debate.com and tell us what you think of our little idea. Be it the design, content, or even a debate request; let us know... after all, it’s for you. We all love a little argument here and there, but how much do we really know about what we are arguing and how much about our own opinions has been shaped and moulded by the newspapers we read? We think that if you really want to win your argument, you need to know both sides to the issues - this way you can argue your opinion but be prepared for someone else’s, without being caught off guard. So every month In-Debate will give you four debates on the month’s hottest topics that you’re going to argue with your friends about! Follow us on:

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Contents

4 Jan '11

In-Debate

p.5 Will the VAT rise ruin the economy?

This month the Coalition Government increased VAT to 20% despite both pledging before the General Election not to increase tax on goods and services. Some view it as a necessity, while others argue that it is the last thing we need. So is this the right course of action for our economy or will it plunge us into a double dip recession?

p.9 Is Julian Assange a Wikileaks Martyr? With more revelations planned and Julian Assange due in court next month, the Wikileaks debate continues. The whole saga has now taken a more personal tone with the site’s founder facing possible extradition to Sweden on sexual assault charges. Is Assange a digital Robin Hood caught in a CIA ruse or is he a traitor who can now add rape to his other crimes?

p.15 Does the NHS need radical reform?

The Government have announced sweeping reforms to the NHS with GP’s taking on a more central role in shopping around for healthcare for their patients. With an institution as valuable as the NHS critics are concerned about damage to the status quo. Is this the end of a golden age of universal Healthcare or are these reforms the NHS’s saving grace?

p.19 Are the Beckhams good parents?

Despite allegations of marital problems and affairs, David and Victoria Beckham have announced they are expecting their fourth child this summer. There is no doubt that the Beckhams are international superstars but are they as successful in their parenting skills as they are in nurturing the Beckham brand? Disclaimer: In-Debate’s goal is to offer a balanced platform where both sides of an argument are evenly represented. These views are not In-Debate’s, but a summation of what has been portrayed in the media.

In-List

In-Addition

p.23 Brain Food

p.12 Fantastic Facts

p.25 Mind Fuel

p.13 Let’s Talk

p.27 Inspiration

p.26 London Treats

p.29 IQ2 Debates

p.30 Puzzles

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p.31 Win two Red Memerships to Arsenal F.C.

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By Lauren King

espite both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats pledging before the General Election not to increase tax on goods and services, in what has been a resolutely unpopular measure with consumers, retailers and industry, the Coalition Government rose VAT on January 4th from 17.5% to 20%.

And what’s more, there seems to be no plan to reduce it in the near future with politicians telling us to regard it as a permanent fixture of the UK’s tax regime. Chancellor George Osborne may describe the VAT rise as a

It's a little known fact that... News

Debate

Will the VAT rise ruin the economy?

“tough but necessary step towards Britain’s economic recovery” – but is this valid? After all, we live in economically fragile times. The end of 2010 saw Ireland request an international bailout and Portugal, Spain and Italy are all showing signs they soon may need one too. With our own economic position looking far from rosy, has the government done the right thing by increasing VAT or have they, as many fear, tipped us one step closer to a double dip recession and economic ruin?

VAT was introduced in Britain in 1973, as a consumer tax at a rate of 10 per cent. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher abolished the higher rate in 1979 and a unified rate of 15 per cent was introduced. There is no VAT on items including most food, children’s clothing, books & newspapers.

The only European countries with lower VAT rates are: Spain (16%), Cyprus (15%) Luxembourg (15%). Domestic gas, electricity and other fuels have VAT charged on them at a reduced rate of five per cent. The rate increased to 17.5 per cent in 1991.

In-Debate 5

+ 1

Will the VAT rise ruin the economy? The rise will only make people poorer

For

The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) and online shopping group Kelkoo both estimate that 98% of retailers will pass the tax hike onto customers - at a cost of £324 for the average consumer this year alone. And while you may not be too fussed that you’re paying slightly more for a range of goods and services, over time these small price rises mount up, resulting in a significant dent in your pay packet next Christmas. To make things worse, a recent KPMG report revealed that 60% of retailers and manufacturers will use the VAT increase as an excuse to bump up prices even further in an attempt to raise short-term profits. And the poorest are likely to be the hardest hit. Even Prime Minister David Cameron described the VAT hike as regressive, admitting that the burden will fall more on those who struggle to afford basic amenities than the better-off. Basic food items and children’s clothes may be VAT-exempt, but they are not immune from a price hike as hidden charges such as delivery costs will still impact on the price of the end product. It’s also difficult for even the savviest consumer to know what is hit by the charge and what is not – you’ll pay VAT on chocolate coated biscuits but put chocolate chip biscuits in your basket and you escape the charge. With the budgets shrinking, people will not only be likely to spend less but will also increasingly come to depend on the state for financial help.

It will damage businesses

While sacrificing the odd item of clothing or holding off purchasing a new laptop may not have a huge impact on the quality of life among the better off, people’s reluctance to splash out could cause the collapse of businesses dependent on individuals purchasing goods and services. Over 50% of consumers questioned by the CRR said they intended to spend less this year and retail sales are expected to drop £2.2 billion in the first three months of 2011 alone. This is devastating news for the retail sector which generates 8% of the UK’s GDP. Around 70% of business are reported to be worried about decreases in turnover making them likely to lay off even more workers in 2011. Labour leader Ed Miliband believes the rise could cost a quarter of a million their jobs. Certainly, businesses will feel the burden. Even the

6 In-Debate

right-wing think tank, the Adam Smith institute, is fearful of the change describing the VAT hike as “a self-inflicted wound”. It is estimated that the raise will cost businesses £300 million in administrative changes alone.

It will cause inflation to rise

There will be a slow down in economic growth

The rise in VAT is set to send inflation soaring, creating further problems for the Bank of England and savers. Newly-released figures showed that the Consumer Price Index reached 3.7% in December, up from 3.3% in November, escalating fears that it could be over 4% by Easter. Food prices also rose 1.6% – the largest ever increase between a November and December period. Inflation is bad news for savers who will have to seek accounts with higher interest rates in order to make any profit on the funds they have stashed away with pensioners likely to be among the hardest hit.

The rise is also expected to slow growth of the economy. The Government’s independent watchdog the Office of Budget Responsibility revised its economic forecast down for this year – saying that it expects growth to be 0.3 percent less than it would have been without the hike. Indeed, after Japan raised VAT from three to five percent in 1997 consumption fell sharply enough to push the country back into recession. Many economists fear that if growth trends continue, the same could happened in the UK.

A rise is totally avoidable

Raising VAT is “entirely avoidable” said centre-left think tank Demos. It believes that the Government could have escaped the hike by introducing harsher tax measures on the wealthy, for example increasing capital gains tax beyond 28%. Even just reimposing Labour’s tax on bankers’ bonuses would have earned the government £3.5 billion in 2011. However, while such changes would have been popular with many voters, they are unlikely to have received the backing of Conservative grassroots, MPs and major donors. For instance, targeting businessmen, such as Topshop owner Philip Green, over claims of tax avoidance would not have been the best political idea - especially as he has just completed a report on how the Government can make savings.

In-Debate - News Desperate times call for drastic measures

According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), the UK recorded a £159.8 billion deficit in the financial year 2009-10, which at 11.4% of GDP makes it one of the highest in the world. It is hardly surprising then that the Government has had to take such an unpopular and drastic measure in a bid to try and aid our long-term economic recovery. VAT will raise much-needed revenue quickly – it is expected to generate £13 billion this year alone. This sum can then be invested into reducing the deficit below the crucial 3% target set for Eurozone countries to reach by 2013, thereby helping us to preserve our credit rating and remain an attractive place for further investment and business.

It is better than taxing employment

Osborne insists that a VAT hike is the “least damaging” way of raising crucial revenue. He claims that the alternatives – increasing income tax or national insurance contributions – would be more likely to result in job losses. The consumer does after all have some element of choice on what they buy. Most of us would prefer to choose not to purchase something than see an enforced dock on our wages which would inevitably be the case if income taxes were upped. The revenue generated from VAT will also be used to fund the £1,000 increase on the income tax threshold to £7,475. This policy – a cornerstone of the Coalition Government’s agreement – should ease the burden of the VAT increase on those with the lowest salaries and will mean that around 880,000 people will not have to pay income tax at all this year.

Price rises may not be as noticeable as you think

Not all prices for goods and services will automatically increase by 2.5%. Products such as food and paper for example contain a VAT exempt or reduced VAT element. Retailers will also be keen to delay passing the VAT increase onto us for as long as possible with the January sales doing their bit to help mitigate the effects of the raise. In fact it may not be until around Easter that VAT is levied on the majority of products. If prices only increase gradually, a sudden dent in consumer confidence and

plunge in retail sales could well be avoided. While essential items will largely escape the VAT increase, further easing the strain on smaller budgets, the hike could be seen by other consumers as an opportunity to review what they really need to spend money on. Who knows, it may even help the credit ratings and financial situations of individuals in the long term.

We are following a worldwide trend

We are by no means the only country to raise VAT this January – Canada and Malaysia along with nine other European countries all choose to up their rate at the start of 2011. Indeed, few countries worldwide have seen no change in their VAT rate since the financial crisis with governments agreeing that a consumption tax hike is essential in helping economies avoid a double dip recession. A 20% rate of VAT in Europe is nothing unusual – reducing the impact of the raise on our competiveness within EU markets. A total of 20 countries in Europe will have a VAT rate equal to or in excess of our own by the end of this year, with only eight enjoying a consumption tax rate which is lower. Travel to Denmark or Sweden and goods and services become subject to a 25% rate of VAT, making 20% seem reasonable.

Against

The alternative could be bleaker

The truth is that implementation of any one economic policy in these fragile times is difficult to predict and could risk ruining the economy, especially when it is so vulnerable to a range of variables – for example, the performance of the dollar or consumer behaviour. The Coalition has already made harsh cuts to government departments, the welfare state and higher education system. The alternative could be bleaker still if the tax on consumption had not been raised and the Government was forced to look once more at state institutions to find that all-important £13 billion. After all, dropping VAT for 13 months between December 2008 and January 2009 did little to reduce our deficit. Maybe it is time we tried the opposite measure in a bid to save us from the threat of economic ruin?

In-Debate 7

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ByJules Norton Selzer

ith impending revelations about secret banks account details in Switzerland and the media hailing the first ‘Wikileaks revolution’ in Tunisia, the influence of Wikileaks on world politics appears considerable. However, since the recent issuing of an International arrest warrant for Wikileaks’ founder, Julian Assange, the tone of the debate has taken a more personal and polemical tone. Is Mr Assange a digital Robin Hood, stealing data from the information-rich to share it with the information-poor? Or will these unauthorised, unedited and ill-thought

It's a little known fact that... News

Debate

Is Julian Assange a Wikileaks martyr?

through ‘data-dumps’ unleash unpleasant consequences and create a more dangerous world? Some see Assange as a vanguard of a new transparent age where the rich and powerful can no longer hide behind the veil of government secrecy. Others perceive Mr Assange as, at best, a misguided errant who is destablising crucial foreign relations. And at worst, an amoral anti-journalist with a questionable background who purports to be some kind of neutral arbiter on the world’s wrongs. So is he a martyr or is he an enemy?

Julian Assange was born in Townsville, Queensland in July 1971.

Back in 1995, he was apprehended for hacking under the name, Mendax.

He studied mathematics and physics in Melbourne, Australia.

Wikileaks employs 5 people full-time and 800 contributors; no staff member earns a salary.

In September 2010, he was listed among the world’s 50 most influential people by New Statesman.

As of January 1st 2011 only 1,942 out of the 251,287 leaked United States embassy cables had been released.

In-Debate 9

+ 1

Is Julian Assange a Wikileaks martyr? He has been set up by US

It is no coincidence that Julian Assange’s arrest, on December 2 2010, occurred straight after the most damaging cables indicted US soldiers and showed US conversations with Arab countries about bombing Iran. As Mr Assange’s lawyer said: “The allegations are false and without basis.” The accusations are a cynical smear campaign to destabilise an organisation that is known to rely heavily on the individual initiative and passion of one man. Anecdotal evidence suggests US and Swedish prosecutors put pressure on the two women to accuse Mr Assange of rape. Interestingly, they are rumoured to have pointed out that if a man refuses to wear a condom in Sweden, it can technically be classified as a rape. If this is true, the international condemnation he is being subjected to is a travesty. And even if he clears his name, he will always be tainted by the accusations.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant

For

Whether revealing Turkey’s acquiescence in the US ‘extraordinary rendition’ programmes or Swiss whistleblowers giving details of mass tax evasion by global corporations, Julian Assange should be praised for holding the rich and powerful to account. The pressure valve of transparency sheds much-needed light onto such transgressions. Wikileaks cables exposed in all its terrifying detail the systematic use of torture by Iraqi soldiers - between 2004 and 2009 - on detainees, backed up by medical evidence. Senior US politicians like Sarah Palin and Joe Biden label Julian Assange a ‘traitor’, as his organisation is using the internet to rupture the cosy world of government secrecy. What is worse is that supposedly ‘investigative’ journalists are more concerned with Assange’s character than seeking answers for abuses of power.

Assange did it for the right reasons

The vilification of Julian Assange rests on the spurious rationale that he is an anti-patriot with a Machiavellian agenda. If being an ‘enemy’ means speaking truth to power, mistrusting authority and revealing information that contradicts their public assertions, then he is an enemy we should

10 In-Debate

support. Wikileaks is not politically partisan. It released the so-called “climategate” emails which appeared to show climate scientists behaving unethically, but also ran evidence of the dumping of toxic waste by Trafigura. Assange facilitates public scrutiny on issues like offshore banking and discourages governments or corporations from dishonesty. Such across-the-board information release emphasises that he is not just leaking this information for the sake of chaos. As he argues, conspiracy and authoritarianism go hand in hand. By opening up concealed channels of communication, Assange intends to prevent states from conspiring against their citizens. Who wouldn’t want that information in order to make up their own mind about whether or not their government is serving the people’s interests?

The mainstream media has failed us

Assange has shown an exemplary degree of both journalistic courage and responsibility, far more than we see in the tabloid media. With the Afghan war memos, he implemented a “harmminimisation policy” to weed out documents that could endanger the lives of Afghans. The very fact that Wikileaks exists is a damning indictment of the failure of the mainstream media. Julian Assange offers a truth that many media outlets like The New York Times, The Guardian and Der Spiegel have failed to do. He tells the public facts about the Iraq war, civilian casualties in Afghanistan or Arab fears over Iran. The West’s supine journalists, normally embedded with the troops and friendly with politicians, only see and report what the state wants them to. We should be relieved Assange has created an organisation to fill this void.

Revolutionary and revealing

Leaks are a symptom of the public’s desire for freely available information. Julian Assange is performing a public service by using the transformative power of the internet to respond to this thirst for transparency. The fact that Assange has a job and Wikileaks has a URL is because the powerful wish to keep secrets. The cables highlight the role of unelected individuals like Prince Andrew’s worrying level of influence over policy decisions. If Julian Assange had not built the site, someone else would have created an equivalent. And that person might have been less moral or more ruthless.

In-Debate - News Diplomacy needs secrecy

It is a truism that successful diplomacy requires secrecy. Julian Assange’s exposure of sensitive diplomatic cables shows his wilful ignorance of the delicate dialogue that holds the glue of international relations together. He is no martyr, but a man willing to destabilise relations between China and North Korea, between Iran and the Arab world, for titbits of political gossip. Secret diplomatic back channels are crucial in keeping the lines of communication open between stable countries and autocracies. The Pentagon is right to claim that illegal security breaches (that’s what Wikileaks cables are) help enemies gain insights into how the US Army operates. Mr Assange is guilty of engendering people’s lives. He even admitted Wikileaks may have ‘blood on its hands’ after local human rights lawyers were killed in Nairobi due to the site publishing information about Kenyan police torturing opposition figures. As Sir John Sawers, Chief of MI6, contends: “Secrecy is not a dirty word... secrecy plays a crucial part in keeping Britain safe and secure.”

Julian Assange is an unaccountable hypocrite

If journalism is about treading the line between public interest and awareness about the harm publication may cause, Julian Assange is the antithesis of responsible journalism. It is perhaps a bit extreme to argue, a la Fox News, that he is as bad as a terrorist. However, while journalists and news organizations must be accountable, Assange lacks any such restrictions. Little is known about who is involved in the organisation and no information is published about the backgrounds of its sources. Its computer systems are organised to give it a level of legal immunity which no traditional publisher can enjoy. Raffi Khatchadourian argues in the New Yorker: “Assange must confront the paradox of his creation: the thing that he seems to detest most - power without accountability - is encoded in the site’s DNA.”

Wikileaks founder has his own agenda

As much as Julian Assange likes to paint himself as a paladin for democracy and transparency, the reality is he has his own political agenda. Wikileaks purports to be a neutral conduit of

the truth, but it clearly propagates Assange’s dogmatic anti-government ideology. To fulfil his promise of ‘maximising the political impact’ of sources revelations, Assange must filter through and editoralise submissions. Thus he gives a misleading snapshot of events rather than an in-depth picture, arbitrarily deciding what to publish and what to leave out. Assange’s arrogance prevents him from seeing that there are some things he – and the rest of us – would be better off not knowing. As Robert Baer comments in the Financial Times: “If one day we really do need to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites, and we need Arab overflight clearance to make it happen, this is not the kind of communications we can afford to be reading on the internet.”

Assange is dangerous

Transparency is not an inherent good

Even if one favours more transparency, it is important to recognise that Julian Assange unaccountably wields excessive amounts of power. He has become a self-entitled final arbiter of what should and should not be published. This should be unacceptable for anyone, let alone a committed anarchist, a convicted hacker, an unsettled itinerant, and now an accused rapist. Not only is Assange an enemy of good governance, but he appears to be an enemy of women. No one should get away with sexual assault and it’s insulting to the women involved to suggest that these accusations are politically motivated. Assange should be held accountable for his actions on and off-line, and if he is accused of rape he should stand trial.

Against

In democratic societies we elect representatives to speak on our behalf, which involves trusting them to make the right decisions. To place all information in the public domain is not a good thing. US writer Steven Aftergood is scathing of Wikileaks “conveyor-belt approach” to publishing confidential material. An important effect of increasing transparency is that governments try to resist it more. So rather than amplifying accountability, Assange’s attempts at sabotage will make diplomats more secretive. Transparency may have an intuitive appeal, but secrecy also has its place.

In-Debate 11

Fantastic Facts In chess, there are 169,518,829,100,544,00 0,000,000,000,000 ways to play the first ten moves. On average, there are 178 sesame seeds on each McDonalds BigMac bun. There are more than 1,000 chemicals in a cup of coffee.

Canada is an Indian word meaning “Big Village”. A full 7% of the entire Irish barley crop goes to the production of Guinness beer. A dragonfly has a lifespan of 24 hours.

There are 1 million ants for every person in the world.

The microwave was invented after Dr. Percy Spencer, a s he walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

The Apollo 11 only had 20 seconds of fuel when it landed.

A ‘jiffy’ is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

It would take 7 billion particles of fog to fill a teaspoon.

To “testify” was based on men in the Roman court swearing to a statement made by swearing on their testicles.

It has been calculated that in the last 3,500 years, there have only been 230 years of peace throughout the civilized world.

In-Debate 12

The word “Checkmate” in chess comes from the Persian phrase “Shah Mat”, which means “the king is dead.”

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These are a selection of extracts from readers comments from last month’s issue. Join the debate on Facebook, Twitter or e-mail us at Letstalk@indebate.com and get your views featured. “Why should hard working decent people have to pay for kids to spend three years getting drunk!? University is not a ‘right’ its further education!” - Kate Lyle, Hertfordshire “We have to look to the future. There is no point in talking about stopping climate change for our children when we can’t even afford to educate them about it!” - Fatima Azi – Clapham

Let's Talk “I had never considered this ‘ticking time bomb scenario’ and it has really made me think about if torture should be used... thank you for making me think twice.” – Kelly Thomason “I cannot believe there is even another side to this debate! Torture is a disgusting and inhumane act and under no circumstances is it acceptable. I feel sorry for who ever thinks it is!” - Chris Fedret, Shoreditch

“I really hope William and Kate’s marriage won’t be cursed. But the media won’t leave them alone, just like Diana, and we all know how that ended.” - Roger Perry

“I read this debate in America (from Twitter) and it’s nice to see there is opinion like this across the pond. I voted for Obama, but this health care bill is outrageous... good bye Obama.” - Jimmy Greaves, New York

“William said it very well, ‘Kate will form herown path’ and I think if the papers allow her to do this she will form her own legacy that fitsher personality. The paparazzi must leave her alone!” – Fran, Middlesex

“Obama is doing more for America than any past President. He is making Healthcare universal and deserves more praise for this. The Tea Party are shameful, but are nothing to worry about.” – Lisa Donison, London

In-Debate 13

Debate

Does the NHS need radical reform?

Image: 123RF

By Sam Mendelson

he government this month has proposed sweeping reforms to the NHS. David Cameron argued that Britain had fallen behind other EU countries and that there was ‘little incentive in the NHS to improve the health of the nation’. The proposals put forward by the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley would see a radical shake up of the NHS and its management, by allowing hospitals, private healthcare and family doctors to compete for patients, and GP consortiums taking control of 80% of the NHS budget.

It's a little known fact that... Politics

Although the reforms are set to get rid of 152 Primary Care Trusts and save the tax payer more than £10bn over the next decade, they have been met with waves of criticism. Doctors and experts have argued that it is too early for these reforms and that 24,000 jobs are now at risk. Is this the end of our great institution? And has the government taken out the ‘National’ in our NHS? Or are these reforms a necessity to curb the waste that has impoverished the system for years and bring private-sector standards of efficiency to a poorly run bureaucracy?

The NHS employs about 1.3million people in England and Wales. Approximately 4% of the working population. NHS ambulances make over 50,000 emergency journeys each week. About 1.4 million people receive help in their home from the NHS in a week.

The NHS is one of the world’s largest employers in the world, comparable to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and Wal-Mart. NHS Direct receives around 20 phone calls a minute. About 77 per cent of the NHS workforce are women.

In-Debate 15

+ 1

Does the NHS need radical reform? Britain is way off the pace

For

By the standards of other European countries, and by some measures, David Cameron’s comments that the NHS provides care which is “second-rate” are persuasive. Cancer survival and stroke recovery rates in particular are not on par with a country as wealthy and developed as ours. It’s not just a question of money, either. During 13 years of Labour rule, billions of pounds were ploughed into the NHS to bring per capita health expenditure back into line with other OECD nations. But all that cash saw little of the improvement in productivity and quality that should have been expected. Why? Among other reasons the NHS, like other public-sector monopolies, tends to be run in the interests of the people who work in it rather than those who use it. There’s no real competition, so no real incentive. Britain lags behind other advanced industrialised nations. And if money isn’t the fix, then changing the system itself must be.

Monopoly Bad. Market Good.

Economists have a nervy term for this: Creative Destruction. Despite the financial crisis exposing the shortfalls of an unfettered market, the fact remains that in the political world there is a noticeable commitment to the virtues of private enterprise and competition. The Private Finance Initiative was born in the UK and is copied in virtually every country. Bringing private sector standards of accountability to the public sector works for everyone. Private businesses foster an environment of competition as the improvement of resources and facilities allow companies compete for “business”. The injection of muchneeded cash into the NHS is only a short-term solution, to really improve healthcare standards we must reform the way the system is run.

Demographics mean the status quo is unsustainable

Britain is seeing a demographic squeeze. The baby-boomers born after the Second World War are about to retire and place unprecedented demand on a system designed when there were significantly more workers for each retiree. To even begin to cope, “modernising the NHS”, as Lansley put it, “is a necessity, not an option. In order to meet the rising need in the future we need to make

16 In-Debate

changes.” David Cameron, too, has emphasised that this is not a time for timid half-measures. In his RSA speech, he said: “Pretending that there is some easy option of sticking with the status quo and hoping that a little bit of extra money will smooth over the challenges is a complete fiction.” The key is planning ahead, pushing through bold reforms - while the Government has political capital to spend - and laying the groundwork for a time when more people than ever before will need regular health care, and only a system considerably more efficient than this one will be able to cope.

The reforms will make the NHS more efficient

The NHS is a behemoth – the second largest employer in the world - and crippled with red tape, an obsession with targets and too many administrators at every stage of a patient’s contact. Documents released alongside the bill claim the cost of this £1.4bn overhaul would be paid off through savings within two years. The Impact Assessment estimates than with between 16,000 to 26,000 managerial jobs going, there could be savings of £5bn by 2015, and £12bn by 2020 – as well as improved health outcomes for patients. The NHS now operates in a climate of consumer expectations and impatience unthinkable in 1948. In Web 2.0 world where consumers expect immediacy an organisation with cumbersome bureaucracy can not be tolerated.

It’s not privatisation, it’s reform.

Some tend to see privatisation as an inherent evil and there’s been no shortage of shrieking about how this bill will see the destruction of the NHS and replaced with a privatised US-style system. This won’t happen. There will still be free health care. But instead, there is a restructuring, which brings the GP into the centre of the system along with the patient and private companies will be allowed to compete to do things better. Much of this opposition is the typical reaction of vested interests who fear a threat to the status quo. Cameron put it well: “The idea that all these changes amount to privatisation is simply not true... [we must] recognise what matters to the patient. And what matters to the public is, ‘Is there a good, free national health service, free to me at the point of use that’s giving me the operation I need, the care I need, the support I need?’”

In-Debate - Politics It IS privatisation

The notion that GPs – who already have lots on their plate with patients – are going to happily spend their time in ‘consortia’, dealing with the commissioning of care, phoning hospitals etc, is ludicrous. This is already being borne out by early pilot programs. GPs are doing exactly what you would expect – they’re outsourcing it to for-profit private companies, whose interests are not the same as the patient’s. Critics have also questioned whether GPs have the experience and skills to handle such huge budgets – they will have control of about 80% of the NHS budget. Various GPs have voiced concerns about how care will be decided upon. Some think one danger is that consortia may decide that some of the more marginal services are not a priority for funding, and that local hospitals could be hit as private sector providers look to win more NHS contracts.

It’s expensive and difficult

Nobody knows much the reforms will cost. Figures range from £1.4bn to £3bn - and this huge expense is not even the biggest problem. It’s logistics. The whole reform seems predicated on the assumption that GPs are the right people to be running services in the NHS, which is by and large an untested theory. Maybe a small minority of them want to manage (and are capable of it) but many won’t. And these new consortia will be crucial to the reforms’ success. They’ll need support. All this will entail siginificant changes since these consortia will have to develop a whole range of specialist skills that currently exist only in the soondefunct Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), including accounting, management, administration and budgetary controls. There will be redundancy packages, contracts wound up, buildings sold, consultants employed. And if that weren’t enough, the GP consortia will have to take on staff to do all this, many will be those just laid off by the PCTs.

The electorate will oppose it

There is worry in the Conservative party. As Nigel Lawson observed, “The NHS is a religion with a priesthood.” One current minister even confessed: “It [and not the cuts] is the thing that keeps me awake at night.” What’s more, it’s not like the electorate is massively dissatisfied with

it, either. From 1997 to 2010, the percentage of people satisfied with the NHS went from 55 to 71 percent. Should opposition mobilise and persist, the risk is not only that the Coalition may struggle with the rest of its agenda, but that any alternative, more prudent reforms may be tarnished down the road. One senior minister is quoted in the Evening Standard as saying:“If [it] falls apart, we’re finished, and we’ll deserve to be.” It is a big risk meddling with something the British people believe is their birthright.

Something’s fishy here

The people who really know are opposed

This is pure ideology. Despite the recent chumminess of the Tories and the Lib Dems, and Cameron’s success in abandoning the “nasty party” moniker, it’s been forgotten than this is a Tory government and not the natural successor to New Labour after all. The electorate decided that Cameron could be “trusted” with the NHS, because of his family’s gratitude for the care their disabled son received. Yet some are concerned we’re now seeing the Conservatives’ true colours, their real agenda for a takeover of public services, without a mere hint of what was coming. On the back of a trebling of tuition fees, it is starting to look like part of a rightwing, upper class plan to take treasured entitlements away from the beleaguered middle classes and give them to the “Elite”. If this belief festers the reforms will fail.

Against

Most health professionals are opposed, and they know better than any politician what works and what doesn’t. Karen Jennings, head of health at Unison, said: “This Titanic health bill threatens to sink our NHS. The only survivors will be the private health companies that are circling like sharks, waiting to move in and make a killing.” Professor Chris Ham, head of the King’s Fund think-tank, warned the changes were at risk from “the combination of the funding squeeze and the speed and scale of the reforms”. The Royal College of GPs, the British Medical Association (BMA) and trade unions say the upheaval is unnecessary. The heads of six health unions have warned of their “extreme concerns” about greater competition with private companies.

In-Debate 17

Debate

Are the Beckhams good parents? Image: Rex Features

By Kate Mead

avid and Victoria Beckham are to add to their brood this summer with the arrival of their fourth child. The couple said that their three sons, Brooklyn, 11, Romeo, eight, and Cruz, five, were “very excited” at the prospect of having a new brother or sister. But despite the pregnancy it’s ‘business as usual’ for the 36-year-old former Spice Girl and LA Galaxy midfielder David, 35, as work commitments saw the family relocating again this time to the UK. It is not the first time the Beckham brood have migrated

It's a little known fact that... Entertainment

with footballing contracts, in the last seven years alone the family have moved between England, Madrid, Milan and the US. And with Victoria’s fashion line, Brand Beckham, now global that trend looks set to continue even after David’s football career ends. Fans claim that the Beckhams are an example of great celebrity parenting, enjoying busy careers and a happy home life. But some critics claim their high-profile partnership takes time away from their kids. So are they as successful in their parenting skills as they are in nurturing their careers?

After the Beckham’s initial meeting, Victoria said, “I didn’t really know who he (David) was. I was never into football.” On the 4th July 1999 David Robert Joseph Beckham married Victoria Adams. Elizabeth Hurley and Elton John are the ‘Guardians’ of Brooklyn and Romeo.

In 2008, David surprised Victoria with her own vineyard located in California. Cruz was born in Madrid, and is the Spanish translation for cross. Victoria’s engagement ring is an 0.8 carat pink diamond with 4.15 carat of white diamonds and cost an estimated: $525,000.

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+ 1

Are the Beckhams good parents? The Beckhams are a loving family

For

Married for 11 years, the Beckhams have one of the strongest celebrity marriages in the world, sticking together through thick and thin and creating a solid foundation for their three boys. Since their 1999 marriage, the couple have weathered many a media storm from allegations of infidelity as far back as 2004 to their former nanny Abbie Gibson ‘dishing the dirt’ on them in 2009. On her marriage, Victoria said: “Yes, there have been bumps along the road. But the fact is we’ve come out of everything we’ve been through stronger and happier. It’s even better now than when we were first married. After all these years, we can just come home and have a laugh together.” David once said about their marriage: “People can say what they like. But me and Victoria will always stay together as husband and wife.” It is clear that they both adore their children. “Everything revolves around the kids,” Victoria said last year after revealing that when she is not working she helps out at her sons’ school. David was reportedly so happy that Victoria was pregnant again, he burst into tears. Friends have described her as a “devoted mother” and David as a “great Dad”.

They spend quality time with their kids

From holidays in the French Riviera to a kick about with Dad or a trip to the cinema with Mum, the Beckham boys spend a great deal of quality time with their multi-millionaire parents. David even tried something new over the Christmas holidays by signing himself and his youngest up to a pottery workshop where they decorated a mug to say ‘I Love Mum’. Singer Seal, who befriended the couple when they moved to Los Angeles, praised them for making time for their children. He said: “I see David every day because we pick up and drop off the kids at school. I have a lot of respect for those two because, despite what they do in their professional lives, they’re just always there for their kids.”

Only the best education will do

The Beckham brothers have all been enrolled at the £12,000-a-year Curtis School on Mulholland Drive in LA which promotes sport and the arts with as much importance as its core subjects. David

20 In-Debate

and Victoria are often seen doing the school run and, due to its strict absence policy, they make sure they holiday outside of term time. In its mission statement, the school says that the family plays a “central role”. It continues: “Curtis seeks an active partnership between school and family based on a shared commitment to the school’s goals, values and the special joys of childhood. All members of the Curtis community are asked to hold themselves and each other to the highest expectations of behavior and achievement so that our children will aspire to make a better world.” And while staying in the UK while their Dad trains with Spurs, there is no bunking off. The boys have been enrolled for three months at an exclusive £3,000-a-term school near the family’s English home in Hertfordshire.

The boys want for nothing

They are role models to the world

Having multi-millionaire parents means that Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz have only the best clothes, toys and even star-studded birthday parties. They are free to explore any interest that takes their fancy, and recently the skateboardloving youngsters were treated to an audience with Olympic gold medalist Shaun White. Young Romeo Beckham isn’t afraid of working for his pocket money though, having signed his first commercial fashion deal to design his own ‘RB’ sunglasses. But it is not just their own kids that the Beckhams splash out on – last year, it was reported they spent nearly £1million to help hundreds of disabled children via their own charity.

The ‘Brand Beckham’ has made this celebrity couple one of the most recognised across the globe. From launching their own his-and-hers fragrance and fashion line to being the face (or body) of Vodaphone, Gillette, Calvin Klein and Armani, they are the ultimate in iconic partnerships. Recent research in the UK said that David Beckham is the ultimate role model for young boys aged between eight to 14, second only to their fathers. Some 1,200 boys, 18 per cent of those surveyed, said they look up to the former England captain while half said their Dads came top. And the couple certainly have a good work ethic, with their products, marketing and work commitments making them worth just under £150million in the Sunday Times Rich List 2010.

In-Debate - Entertainment Infidelity allegations have rocked their marriage

David Beckham has had his fair share of accusations of infidelity which, although strenuously denied, can only be a strain on his marriage. He responded to allegations by prostitute Irma Nici that they slept together by suing her and Bauer Publishing for printing the claims in In Touch magazine and has issued a US court with a five-page statement refuting the claims. Becks claims that the unfounded accusations have caused “major distress, emotional problems and hurt” to his family and is said to be seeking £5 million in damages. This is not the only scandal to have hit the Beckhams. In 2004, his former Personal Assistant Rebecca Loos claimed that they had had an affair when he was playing for Real Madrid.

There’s no fixed place to call home

As the Brand Beckham went global, so did the family who were forced to regularly relocate sometimes not spending more than a few years at the same address. They first left the UK in 2003 when David was signed up for Real Madrid, and then they made the move to Los Angeles in 2007, with a short stint at AC Milan in 2009. Now, the children have been forced to take time out from their regular LA school for a three-month stay at a private school in Hertfordshire while David trains with Spurs and their mum works on her fashion lines ahead of London Fashion Week. By the summer, they will be back in Beverley Hills to fulfill the LA Galaxy contract which ends in November. With as many as 14 clubs from around the world said to be interested in snapping up the footballing star, who knows where they will go next?

Beckham boys are ‘mini celebrities’

Being born to one of the world’s most high profile couples, the Beckham boys have been under public scrutiny from the moment they were born and have been photographed almost as much as their fashion-conscious mother. Romeo Beckham, eight, seems to have embraced his celebrity status becoming a mini fashion icon and being voted the 26th most stylish ‘man’ in Britain in GQ’s Most Stylish list. His younger brother Cruz proved to love

the limelight from as young as three when he performed a solo breakdancing routine on stage during the Spice Girls reunion tour in 2008. But Victoria Beckham herself is all too aware of the more sinister side of celebrity having been the victim of death threats and alleged kidnap plots. In her book she wrote: “It’s like I’m a machine, just checking windows, waiting for the crash of glass, waiting for men to come crashing through windows with guns, come to take Brooklyn …”

Stripping off in public is embarrassing

It is a kid’s prerogative to be embarrassed by his parents, but some would argue that the Beckhams do more than enough to make their boys blush by posing for racy photo shoots. They posed together in an underwear campaign for Emporio Armani in 2009, two years after taking part in a saucy photo shoot for W Magazine to coincide with their move to the US. David’s racy underwear shoots earned him a massive gay following but he claimed he found the experience “daunting”, adding: “I still feel quite shy when I see a poster like that.” But that didn’t stop him starring alongside his wife in a sizzling advertising campaign for their fragrance line Intimately Yours. When it comes to promoting Brand Beckham nothing is off limits.

Against

Not enough ‘hands on’ parenting

While David and Victoria are often photographed doing the school run, their busy schedules mean that the kids can often be looked after by nannies and bodyguards. Last summer Victoria postponed a family holiday so she could attend Diane Von Furstenberg’s party in London’s Claridges. She said: “I was meant to go away with my kids today - it’s really precious time I spend with them. I don’t think there is anyone else in the industry for whom I’d change my holiday flights.” David was also conspicuous in his absence during the summer when Victoria was photographed trying to calm down an excitable Cruz in a car driven by her bodyguard. But even when she is not working, Victoria has been seen keeping herself at arms length. She was recently pictured looking on from her car as a male carer helped Cruz after he fell over skateboarding.

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BE CREATIVE. BE CONTROVERSIAL. BE CURIOUS. BUT CRUCIALLY, BE INFORMED

Listings Brain Food Live talks, events, debates and inspirational listings To welcome you into 2011, we have sourced events from some of the leading institutions in London. We have spent the month fine-combing the best on offer throughout February, which are guaranteed to keep your brain ticking and even provide a place for that special date. For more information on any event please visit the event providers website.

Business

Society / Politics

UCL Economics Conference 2011

To cut or not to cut? Debating the comprehensive spending review

UCL – 1st Feb, Wellcome Trust Building, 5.30pm, £12 Through the 2011 UCL Economics Conference we seek to explore new areas of economic research and alternative economic theories in order to try and make sense of our complex, modern world. With top academic professors, government economists and financial professionals participating, this heavily subsidised conference promises to be most stimulating.

Uprising: will emerging markets shape or shake the world economy

LSE – 9th Feb, Sheikh Zayed Theatre, 6.30pm, Free George Magnus will look at China and emerging markets from a post-financial crisis perspective, inviting us to reconsider how they will adapt to a new world economy. What reforms are needed to meet global goals? George Magnus is senior economic advisor at UBS Investment Bank, London.

LSE Director’s Dialogue

LSE – 10th Feb, Sheikh Zayed Theatre, 6.30pm, Free but TR Howard Davies is director of LSE and was Chairman of the Financial Services Authority, the single regulator for the UK financial sector, which was created under his leadership. He was also Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. Carsten Kengeter is CEO of UBS Investment Bank and became a member of the Group Executive Board in April 2009.

Private Equity Insider: A candid chat with Tony James

LSE – 23rd Feb, Old Theatre, Old Building, 6.30-8pm, Free Tony James, president and chief operating officer of Blackstone, a company with assets under management in excess of $24 billion; and Felda Hardymon will discuss candidly the truths and myths surrounding this controversial private equity industry. Although the private equity industry has existed for more than three decades and has grown to be an important actor in the world economy, it is still an industry surrounded by controversy.

A New Capitalism for a Big Society

RSA - 1st Feb, WC2N 6EZ, 6pm Matthew Bishop, US Business Editor and New York Bureau Chief of The Economist and Michael Green, writer and consultant; look at the lessons to be learned from the economic crisis and set out an economic reform agenda for the Coalition government. Their new work The Road from Ruin examines the root causes of the economic crisis and charts a path forward which includes the need to rethink economics and the need to redesign global governance. Chaired Stephanie Flanders, BBC economics editor.

LSE – 4th Feb, Old Theatre, Old Building, 6,30pm, Free A panel of experts debate the political and economic implications of the unprecedented new fiscal adjustments. Timothy Besley is director of STICERD, Simon Hix is professor of European and comparative politics, Jonathan Hopkin is senior lecturer in British and comparative politics at LSE and, Martin Wolf is associate editor and chief economics commentator at the Financial Times.

The Unfinished Global Revolution

LSE – 28th Feb, Sheikh Zayed Theatre, 6.30pm, Free Mark Malloch-Brown discusses the dramatic shifts underway in global economic, political and social society that are leading to new stress points, both at the global level and the national level. After leaving a career in journalism, Mark served as a World Bank vice president and deputy secretary-general to Secretary General Kofi Annan. He was named in Time Magazine’s 100 Leaders and Revolutionaries.

Five Lessons From India

RSA - 3rd Feb, WC2N 6EZ, 1pm One of this century’s greatest surprises has been the economic and social revolution in India. A country long characterised by such adjectives as ‘timeless’, ‘spiritual’ and ‘backward’ is now viewed through a new set of cliches: ‘hitech’, ‘materialistic’, ‘go-getting’. Patrick French, writer and historian asks the question on the lessons from India are the particular implications for Britain?

Evidence-based Policy?

Wellcome Collection – 3rd Feb, NW1 2BE, 7pm, Politicians have always looked to scientific and medical advisers to support their policy of criminalising drugs. Yet recently, in Britain in particular, this support has collapsed dramatically. But is it realistic to expect drug policy to reflect scientific evidence? Speakers: Julian Critchley, former Director, UK Anti-Drug Coordination Unit, Alex Stevens, Professor in Criminal Justice, and John Marsden, founding member of the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs.

Property owning democracy: Fact or fiction?

British Library, 1st Feb, Conference Centre, 6.30-8pm, £6/£4 Seven out of 10 of us now own or are buying our own homes, but is the growth of home ownership more of a mixed blessing than we assume? What will happen to the provision of social housing in the next decade? This debate will explore whether or not the emphasis on the benefits of home ownership are based more on rhetoric than reality.

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Listings Mind Fuel Live talks, events, debates and inspirational listings

Science Changing Science: Would Darwin get a job in science today? UCL - JZ Young Lecture Theatre, WC1E 6BT, Free An evening of light-hearted discussion and debate investigating how science has changed over the past 200 years. With a lively panel of leading field zoologists, science historians and laboratory scientists we air the issues behind the changing disciplines. Should they be funded to explore with no specific question in mind beyond discovery? Are expensive expeditions better than computer-based research? Has science gone to the dogs?

Will robots take over the world?

UCL - Darwin Lecture Theatre, WC1E 6BT, Free 2011 is the 90th anniversary of the robot, first imagined as a character in a play, and the 50th anniversary of the first use of robots in industry with the robot ‘Unimate’ for General Motors in 1961. Since the origin of robots they have undergone a number of transitions and this lecture will explore this history, and how it has changed and been reimagined in fiction and labs over the last 90s years.

The Immortalization Commission: Science and the Strange Quest to Cheat Death

LSE – 19th Feb, Sheikh Zayed Theatre, 5-6.30pm, Free During the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century science became the vehicle for an assault on death. The power of knowledge was summoned to free humans of their mortality. John Gray is most recently the acclaimed author of Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia, and Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals and here he will be discussing the our obsession with immortality.

Reality Hunger

LSE – 19th Feb, Sheikh Zayed Theatre, 11am-12.30pm, Free Is the novel dead? Is art theft? Can you copyright reality? Join Geoff Dyer, author of Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi; Robert Hudson, journalist and author of The Kilburn Social Club; and author David Shields to discuss David Sheilds’s Reality Hunger, which questions every assumption we ever made about art, the novel, journalism, poetry, film, TV, rap, stand-up, graffiti, sampling, plagiarism, writing, and reading.

Culture Now: Grayson Perry

ICA – 11th Feb, SW1Y 5AH, 1.15pm, Free Turner Prize winning artist Grayson Perry joins us at the ICA for this special lunch time talk with White Cube Director and ICA council member, Tim Marlow, to discuss his past work, current projects and the changing shape and new directions of culture in the 21st century.

Culture Now: Matthew Slotover

ICA – 18th Feb, SW1Y 5AH, 1.15pm, Free Matthew Slotover co-publisher of Frieze magazine and codirector of Frieze Art Fair joins us at the ICA for this special lunch time talk with White Cube Director and ICA council member, Tim Marlow, to discuss his past work, current projects and the changing shape and new directions of culture in the 21st century.

Charlie Higson

South Bank Centre – 19th Feb, SE1 8XX, 11.30am, £8/£4 Actor and comedian Charlie Higson reads from his latest heart-stopping adventure story The Dead and takes questions from the audience. Friendship, bravery, fighting and survival dominate the action, as school friends Jack and Ed escape to London to avoid being turned into sicko zombies with an insatiable appetite for human flesh. Charlie Higson is the author of the Young Bond series and the brilliant comedian who starred in the Harry Enfield Television Programme and The Fast Show.

Art / Literature The Making of Bestsellers

LSE – 17th Feb, Wolfson Theatre, 6.45-8pm, Free The world of book publishing is going through turbulent times. For nearly five centuries the methods and practices of book publishing remained largely unchanged, but at the dawn of the 21st Century the industry finds itself faced with perhaps the greatest challenges since Gutenberg. John Thompson, Professor of Sociology at the University of Cambridge, and Andrew Franklin, the founder and MD of Profile Books, give a detailed account of how the world of trade publishing really works and how to make a best seller.

Wayne Hemingway

V&A – 8th Feb, Sackler Centre, 7pm, £8/£6 Meet Wayne Hemingway, co-founder of the award-winning Red or Dead fashion label and founder of Hemingway Design, specialists in affordable and social design. His work has ranged from designing housing projects in Tyneside to graphics for Sony and he is the innovator behind the major new art, design and fashion festival Vintage at Goodwood.

Grayson Perry at lunch with the ICA on 11th Feb

In-Debate 25

London Treats

By Helena Fleur

EAT Ottolenghi In a prêt-a-manger world, Yotam Ottolenghi’s flagship Islington café stands out with its compelling philosophy. Perhaps its aim to achieve ‘haute couture’ status in the culinary world can seem haughty, but their sober manifesto is counterbalanced by the reality – an exciting space showcasing dishes of explosive flavours and vibrant colours, served in a convivial environment. Expect plenty of bold ingredients with a Mediterranean slant – pomegranates, lemon, pistachio – used to great, and often surprising, effect. This is the perfect place to snack or even picks up great food for that special dinner.

Ottolenghi, 287 Upper St, London, N1 2TZ www.ottolenghi.co.uk

DRINK Berry Bar and Lounge The Hilton Green Park, an attractive hotel located a short walk from Buckingham Palace, has revamped their existing Tiger Green Lounge Bar and turned it into a space dedicated to all things gin. The renamed Berry Bar is comfortable and stylish in that familiar hotel bar way, with lots of plump sofas and polished surfaces. The bar also serves a popular variant on the traditional afternoon tea, where gin replaces this usual glass of champagne. A range of gin cocktails is served, including a delicious ginger fizz and their signature drink a smoky and complex Earl Grey Martini.

Hilton Green Park Hotel, Half Moon Street , London, W1J 7BN Call 0207 629 7522

SLEEP Dean Street Townhouse Dean Street Townhouse is a 39 bedroom hotel, located in the thick of buzzing Soho. The four-storey Georgian townhouse, once home to the Gargoyle Club, is rich in both its historic past and its Georgian architecture and boasts individually designed bedrooms with hand-painted Georgian wallpapers, upholstered vintage sofas, bespoke Egyptian cotton linens and authentic Georgian features. While bathrooms are fitted with rainforest showers and stocked with goodies from the Cowshed spa. The this tranquil and sophisticated hotel has the presence of a peaceful country in the heart of London’s most vibrant area, but … it’s guaranteed to let you unwind!

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www.deanstreettownhouse.com or call 0207 434 1775 for reservations

Listings Inspiration Live talks, events, debates and inspirational listings

Inspirational