Northern Ireland talks to resume
Tony Blair held talks with Bertie Ahern, his Irish counterpart, in Dublin yesterday, as both governments prepare to receive the latest independent report on paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland.
The two leaders confirmed that talks with the Province’s political parties would resume next month when the Independent Monitoring Commission has published its account of paramilitary activity for the second half of last year. Mr Blair said that currents of instability within Northern Ireland were threatening the future of the process.
Benefit fraud reaches £2.6bn
Advertisement
The public spending watchdog has refused to sign off the annual accounts of the Department for Work and Pensions for the sixteenth year running because of “substantial” levels of benefit fraud and error. An estimated £2.6 billion in benefit payments went astray in 2004-05; about 2.2 per cent of the department’s total expenditure of £118.7 billion, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).This was less than the £3 billion recorded in each of the previous three years, but the NAO said this was largely because of changes in the way the figures were collected.
Law broken on women’s pay
Nearly one in five of the largest employers are illegally discriminating against women by paying them less than men in the same job, a survey has found. The Equal Opportunties Commission investigated 807 employers and found that 16 per cent were breaking the law after pay gaps were discovered that could only be explained by the gender difference, it was reported. It was also found that women were being passed over for promotion and starting on lower salaries. The study predicts that the Government’s 2008 target for redressing discriminatory pay will not be met.
Challenge to EU on internet law
Advertisement
Ministers have vowed to oppose European Commission proposals that could see the internet and mobile phone services come under external regulation for the first time.
James Purnell, the Broadcasting Minister, said that he will lobby a number of European countries next week against the new Television Without Frontiers directive.
The proposed legislation has been broadened to include services streamed over the internet and mobile phones. The British Government wants to leave regulation of television and the internet to national bodies, Mr Purnell said.