Wednesday, 31 October, 2007
- 31 Oct 07, 06:53 PM
Cash for Votes Allegations
Tonight, a special investigation into dramatic allegations that Labour tried to bribe their way into power in Birmingham Council.
We've spoken to locals who say they were offered cash for postal votes, and hear claims that drug addicts were paid to impersonate voters.
We'll have the full story and live reaction.
Election 2007
Had Gordon Brown gone ahead with calling an election earlier this month, today would be the eve of polling with frenetic last minute appeals to voters. Let's just imagine a parallel universe where an election had been called, what would have happened in the campaign - would Labour be struggling to keep their majority, or heading for a clear victory? It's a good chance to see how the British political scene has changed in the last three weeks. We have a panel of political grandees who have seen it all before - Ken Clarke, Charles Kennedy and Roy Hattersley.
Child Labour and Cotton
We have a follow up to last night's extraordinary film by Simon Ostrovsky into the cotton industry in Uzbekistan. The film showed child labour picking cotton for very little money. Some of the cotton is eventually used in clothing sold by major retail outlets in the UK. Simon has spoken to Britain's high street chains and asked for their reaction to his report; we'll reveal what they said.
Cancer - A report too far?
On the Newsnight website today, some of you said you were interested in the report by the World Cancer Research Fund into the links between lifestyle and cancer. Their recommendations seem pretty tough - try not to gain weight as an adult, avoid sugary drinks, alcohol and bacon. Do these reports do any good or are they counter-productive? If two-thirds of all cancers have nothing to do with lifestyle, is it wrong to give the impression that we can control the disease?
Dracula
A restored version of the classic Hammer film Dracula is out in time for Halloween. Steve Smith looks at the film that dramatically changed British cinema and the horror movie, and considers how the genre has changed since those innocent days.
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Can I not watch this live online anymore? Please tell me I can!!!
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Dear Newsnight
why the preoccupation with horrible things in our society, we need light in the world not darkness,
best wishes
Bob
ah, the knock on the door, they're early or is it.........
PS the vetmps.org.uk site has being taken out, wonder why?
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If there were an election called by Gordon Brown I will vote for Conservative party.
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I have been good tonight -- a bottle of water and a pear while watching an intellectually moribund discussion on why I should control my weight, eat less and live a more boring life. My lifestyle is all wrong but it is half based on the false influences of TV, advertising and lazy news reports.
Oh and we suffered electoral fraud here in Luton in 2007 but the police could not care less (I truly wonder if they know what fraud is!).
And now I am looking at the fruit bowl and wondering about a tangerine before retiring!! Is it safe?
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I switched on to watch Newsnight, but some kind of freak reception brought me a late-night magazine programme instead. A 'pretend' election filled much of the time, and then came an item about Hammer Horrors. Although I count myself a Hammer fan, I couldn't see any reason whatsoever for this item. Jimmy Sangster was looking well for his age and it was nice to see the young Hammer ladies in their prime, but what was it all for?
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I was slightly disappointed with the ending of Newsnight tonight. The camera lingered so long on Jeremy alone in the deserted studio while the Halloween-style credits rolled that I really expected a sinister shape to appear and whisk him away on a broomstick to a witches' sabbath somewhere in the dark blue yonder. But no.
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Definitly a Halloween treat tonight -the return of Jeremy! Brilliant Jeremy (34/10) - my favourite being the trio of Ken Clarke, Roy Hattersley & Charles Kennedy and loved the mock election report by David Grossman & Liz McKean. I was rather surprised at the cancer report stating that fruit juice should be avoided! I'm sure a new theory will emerge in a few months time. :-)
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I am not sure that Labour would have been returned to power in a General Election had it been called early.
It could be that the Lib-Dems may not have securred sufficeint seats to have helped them to create a power sharing arrangement to help sustain Labour in power.
However, the Home Office error over immigrantion labour figures and Lib-Dem leadership contest may not have happened. But the current share of the polls certainly would lead to a slender Conservative majority.
Labour cannot afford to have any more `banana skins` to further diminish their future position. They certainly need to present positive policy proposals to show they are going in a different direction from that of Tony Blair.
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Nov 1, 2007
Re Cancer.
I believe the World Cancer Research Fund's recommendations are correct when it says that life style changes can help prevent the disease.
Sadly it doesn't go far enough in stressing just how important that link is.
It became very clear to me during a visit to Mexico.
"Cancer is not a 'disease.' It is caused by nutritional deficiencies and toxicity."
The statement was made by the eminent cancer therapist Charlotte Gerson, whom I met during a visit to her clinic in Tijuana, Mexico, in April 2002.
Her insight into cancer saved the life of a friend of mine who had been told by leading oncologists in Australia that she had only a few months to live, and that the only thing that could save her was a bone marrow transplant.
Fortunately my friend, a hardheaded biochemist who, ironically, worked in a hospital cancer diagnostics lab, ignored her oncologists, read 'The Gerson Therapy' and is still alive today - fitter, healthier than ever, with no sign of cancer anywhere in her body.
This is despite having had numerous cancer operations over 12 years and after being told by her cancer specialists she only had ‘months to live.’
How did she defeat cancer?
Among other things, by drinking lots of raw fruit and vegetable juices combined with a very effective detoxification program.
From my experience both the WCRF and Gerson are correct: lifestyle changes can save your life.
Absolutely!
The World Cancer Fund and others need to make that point very clearly.
Healthy school lunches and banning junk food are a good start.
Don Maddocks
Melbourne, Australia
(613) 98227377
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Mike Crick with his map of polling fraud:
Michael had said that there was an assumption that polling fraud is a south Asian problem when one looks at the names, when in fact; English names are included in this shameful list. That may be so but considering that Asians only make up a small percentage of the UK population, proportionally Asians if anything are somewhat predisposed to election "engineering"
When you consider the well defined hierarchy within asian communities; with woman at the bottom of the family structure and at the top with communities leaders holding sway over the rest, is it not any wonder that polling fraud is a dominant feature within the Asian communities.. its the culture and no glossing over it Michael will fool anyone..well not me anyhow.
The first step in dealing with election fraud is the scrapping of postal voting, if not, then your welcome to that 'Banana Republic'.
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To your specific questions: 'Do these reports do any good or are they counter-productive? If two-thirds of all cancers have nothing to do with lifestyle, is it wrong to give the impression that we can control the disease?
Constant, evolving research and hence further understanding of anything to do with something as impactful on the human condition as cancer is both vital and helpful.
However, rushing out every small step on the way, almost as raw data, to a news media that only understands and hence wants tomorrow's headline, is indeed counter-productive.
The moment I watched ´óÏó´«Ã½ Breakfast News and was greeted with 'red meat, even in small doses, can be...' I switched off. I am an omnivore living in a supermarket society in 2007 where meat is legal to produce and widely promoted. This information served no purpose as presented. Other than perhaps making me more likely to dismiss the next, possibly more worthy attempt at shaping our lifestyles as yet more spin being turned into hype.
And as for 'impressions' of 'control'. As with any science, when it can be done and is verifiable, then share it. The media culture of rushing out the next 'might one day', half-considered and always open to rebuttal, simply weakens the credibility of those doing the work and, if that's possible, the media acting as the conduit for such pointless messages.
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Sir, Of course Labour would have won an election. They have renaged on so much and we gullibles would have swallowed it, tuition fees the Iraq disaster, the crazy immigrant figure debacle, cash for peerages mess, and the disaster of the non-election, I mean why would any sane person not vote for this attractive collection of social incompetants. Steve
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we should not be surprised that corruption from the homelands of nu-britz has been imported into the uk - that is what the policy of multiculturalism has facilitated and funded - i suspect that the building/construction industry will also come to mimic that of India's eventually. in India half of all property commerce takes place in the black economy
how important the link between cancer and diet is depends how important the link between longevity and quality of life is and that seems to depend on how much you want to party. the strange class system in this country arises from the fact that we are dealing with cultures - ever since cromwell there has been a split in this country between those who want to spend and enjoy today and those who want to live by the rules of delayed gratification
what happened to diversity? imagine a world in which everyone was a clone of the thin drab scientists who extort us to abstain
i recently needed someone to unscrew my radiator cap. across the forecourt strode a large man, definitely BMI-high, and he came across and with one gentle twist the cap came off - now if there had only been thin drab scientists to hand, i would still be stuck in the garage
different shakes for different makes and we need them all - except the violent ones, thanks
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what we also need to remain congniscant of are the powerful political structures of academia. evey academic who appears in the media as a voice of science, truth or reality is in their own small world battling against (passively) aggressive competitors with competing theories. what is acted out is the political game of who gains ascendancy in the hierarchy rather than a fair debate on the theories themselves. how do we know that this new report is not surrounded by grievances and bitternesses because other academics believed they could have used the research funds more effectively. methods and models are usually highly debated and then there is the qualitative element of choosing what variables go into a statistical model
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I think we are looking at cancer from the wrong way. There are many
secondary causes, almost anything can cause cancer but only one prime cause:
"the prime cause of cancer is the replacement of the respiration of
oxygen in normal body cells by a fermentation of sugar."
Otto Heinrich Warburg
Human are subject to all kinds of emotional motivations with regards
food and the super markets play those strings like a virtuoso violinist,
therefore we need legislation to seriously reduce the sale of sugar and foods with sugar content. A massive undertaking.
Ref:
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The panel to discuss the election that never took place consisted of 3 politicians all strongly in favour of further integration with the EU. This allowed K Clarke to imply that EU issues do not interest the electorate with no danger of any critical response from the other panel members. The reality is that very many of the issues that do interest the electorate do involve the EU.
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A non-Election.
Hypothetical scenarios such as this, prefaced as they have to be by the word ‘If’, are a waste of time; more often than not boring and serve no useful purpose other than perhaps as space fillers.
The Trio Los Euro-guyos struggled throughout to find something even remotely useful to say and no doubt were relieved when it was all over.
Hattersley managed to work up sufficient spit to enable him to splutter the words 'reform treaty', then immediately and predictably turned to Clarke for support, confident in the knowledge that he wouldn’t get any flak.
But, as is now the norm, the discussion had to contain at least one snippet designed to deceive. Hattersley, when blathering on about Cameron’s ‘misreading’ of the public mood, muttered under his breath that Europe was ‘fourteenth’ or so down the list of issues that mattered most to the Electorate. How crass!
Perhaps he might like to let the Electorate know what the other thirteen are.
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Re# 16 above.
It appears that we hold similar opinions.
I had to break off from writing for about an hour, during which time your post appeared - quite a coincidence.
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