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Tag: British government

  • British government set to establish a separate regulatory body for football

    British government set to establish a separate regulatory body for football

    British government has unveiled plans to establish an independent football regulator aimed at promoting financial stability within the sport.

    This initiative, introduced in parliament on Tuesday, seeks to create an oversight body separate from both the government and football authorities.

    According to a government press release, the regulator would possess the authority to levy fines of up to 10% of a club’s turnover for failure to comply with financial regulations.

    Additionally, the proposed legislation aims to enhance scrutiny of club leadership and prevent the formation of exclusive competitions, such as the European Super League.

    Furthermore, clubs would be mandated to engage with fans on matters concerning strategic decisions and the preservation of their heritage.

    “For too long, some clubs have been abused by unscrupulous owners who get away with financial mismanagement, which at worst can lead to complete collapse,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.


    “This bill is a historic moment for football fans; it will make sure their voices are front and centre, prevent a breakaway league, protect the financial sustainability of clubs, and protect the heritage of our clubs big and small.”

    The government’s announcement follows the Premier League’s recent failure to reach a new financial agreement with the English Football League (EFL), responsible for organising professional matches in lower divisions.

    In February, the government cautioned the Premier League that it must come to terms on a new deal or face having one enforced upon it. The Premier League has stated that it will review the proposed bill.

    “We agree it is vital that football clubs are sustainable, remain at the heart of their communities and that fans are fundamental to the game,” the league said in a statement.

    “[But we are] mindful that the future growth of the Premier League is not guaranteed, and we remain concerned about any unintended consequences of legislation that could weaken the competitiveness and appeal of English football.”

    The EFL welcomed the bill.

    “We hope [it] will be an important milestone to help us secure the long-term financial sustainability of England’s football pyramid,” chairman Rick Parry said in a news release.

    “The establishment of the independent football regulator will be at the heart of this reform, and we are encouraged that the regulator will be given backstop powers to deliver financial redistributions should the game be unable to agree on a deal itself.”

    David Sullivan, the proprietor of West Ham United, a Premier League club, voiced his dissent regarding the formation of a football regulatory body, contending that it would incur significant expenses and prove to be ineffectual.

    “The Premier League is the best league in the world so why change a winning formula?” he told Sky News. “I hope the government don’t wreck something that works. This means we will be competing with teams from leagues in Europe who give a fraction of the money Premier League clubs give to both the EFL and grassroots football.

    “If over the coming seasons, the Premier League ceases to be the best league in the world, it will be down to an interfering government.”

  • UK’s biggest threats to human life include nuclear attack, new epidemic, and AI – UK government

    UK’s biggest threats to human life include nuclear attack, new epidemic, and AI – UK government

    The British government has casually released a list of all the greatest hazards to life, from another epidemic to volcanic ash.

    The Home Office releases a “National Risk Register” every year that lists all of the “most serious threats to the UK.”

    There are a good number. The government has identified just under 90 potential ways in which our way of life could be completely upended.

    They range from’severe space weather’ and wildfires brought on by climate change to bacterium that kills trees and public unrest.

    Each was given a rating by government officials based on a few criteria to determine if they would have a “minor” or, to put it frankly, “catastrophic” effect on life.

    They also attempt to quantify how ‘likely’ they are to occur and, in order to guarantee that the UK is ready, lay out a’reasonable worst-case scenario’.

    A pandemic sweeping across the nation once more is assessed as the most probable threat (between 5-25%) out of the 89 threats.

    The Home Office adds that it’s “impossible” to predict when the next pandemic-causing pathogen, “Disease X,” would emerge. However, the WHO claims that they are already preparing for it.

    According to the Home Office assessment, “the reasonable worst-case scenario is based on an unchecked respiratory pandemic with an unassumed transmission route and a high attack rate.”

    ‘The scenario implies 50% of the UK’s population fall ill for the whole course of the pandemic, with around 1.34 million individuals anticipated to require hospital treatment, perhaps leading to up to 840,000 deaths,’ it continues.

    Such “catastrophic” events include a civil nuclear disaster and a radiation release from a nuclear power plant abroad, but the risk of either is less than 0.2%.

    However, “larger-scale CBRN attacks,” or those employing chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear materials, have a probability of one to five percent.

    The government warns that in the worst-case scenario, “terrorists, hostile states or criminals” might release “radioactive material into an open environment,” which would be challenging to clean.

    It is also considered to be rather possible that the National Electricity Transmission System (NETS), which keeps the lights on in England and Wales, will fail.

    Also included were more recent catastrophes and tragedies. Consider drone attacks (even though they have a low impact and possibility) and the 25% likelihood of killing a public figure, like the Tory MP Sir David Ames.

    AI, meanwhile, “may increase harmful misinformation and disinformation, or, if handled improperly, reduce economic competitiveness,” according to others.

    Officials also take into account hazards including cyberattacks, artificial intelligence, hostage-taking, oil and gas interruptions due to the conflict in the Ukraine and Russia, storms, floods, heatwaves, droughts, and air pollution.

    The government is also concerned about the possibility of one of the numerous volcanoes in Europe erupting, as well as Bárarbunga and Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland.

    Concerns on officials’ minds from the interruption of British airspace caused by the ash to the possibility of British citizens getting stuck there.

    Even in the three years since we released our most recent National Risk Register in 2020, we have witnessed Russia’s heinous invasion of Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic’s widespread and protracted consequences, and the growing influence of climate change on our day-to-day lives. Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, wrote.

    Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, for example, are changing our society and posing both benefits and hazards.

    The Duchy of Lancaster declared that in the face of the long list of hazards, Britain must be “resilient” and “work together” with other nations.

    We can make the country safer, more secure, and ultimately more successful by emphasising our common resilience, he continued.

  • South Africa: Tennis star seeks apology from Wimbledon, 52 years after incident

    South Africa: Tennis star seeks apology from Wimbledon, 52 years after incident

    A prominent South African tennis player, Hoosen Bobat, who experienced exclusion from competing at Wimbledon in the 1970s due to apartheid, is now requesting a public apology from the tournament organizers and the sport’s international governing body.

    Bobat had qualified for the junior tournament in 1971, a significant achievement during a period when apartheid was severely enforced in South Africa. However, his invitation to participate was unexpectedly revoked merely one week prior to the event, leaving him deeply disappointed.

    “After all those years of training and practice, I had the opportunity to play in the greatest stage in the world. When my entry was accepted – there was great joy in Africa among black players… It would have been a gateway to my future tennis career,” he tells BBC Newsday.

    He firmly believes that racism was the underlying reason for his exclusion from participating in Wimbledon when the British government continued to support the apartheid regime despite growing international opposition.

    In that era, non-white players in South Africa were prohibited from competing against their white counterparts. Matches held at all-white tennis centers were segregated, with non-white spectators confined to caged sections, symbolizing the deep racial divisions and discrimination of the time.

    This week, two British Members of Parliament and anti-apartheid activists, Peter Hain and Jeremy Corbyn, raised Mr. Bobat’s case in parliament, lending their support to his demand for an apology.

    Both the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), the organizers of Wimbledon, and the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the sport’s international governing body, have stated that they are currently reviewing the information provided by Mr. Bobat. This suggests a willingness to address the matter and assess the historical context surrounding his exclusion.

    The involvement of British MPs and the growing recognition of past injustices in the sporting world indicate a shift towards acknowledging the impact of racism and discrimination. The responses from the AELTC and ITF will be closely watched to see if they lead to a formal apology and further action to rectify the harm caused during that period.

    Mr Bobat says the sport still has a long way to go in South Africa, telling The Guardian: “Even now, nothing much has changed. There are less black – which we define as Indian, coloured and black – tennis players now than then.”

  • Ghana to ‘trade’ nurses for cash with UK, State to earn £1,000 per nurse

    Ghana and the British government are poised to sign a nurse-for-cash contract.

    Health Minister Kweku Agyeman-Manu stated on the floor of parliament on Monday, 5 December 2022 during a discussion of the 2023 budget that each nurse Ghana sends to the UK will likely cost the West African nation £1,000 once the arrangement is finalized.

    In accordance with a previous agreement reached between the two nations, nurses from Ghana are already being dispatched to Barbados.

    “Mr. Speaker, as you are aware, we have begun sending our nurses abroad on a bilateral basis, and the second cohort of nurses has been dispatched to Barbados as a result of the agreement we struck with that country.
    Why would they come for both, Mr. Speaker?
    Now that we’re hearing about it in Barbados, patients are asking for Ghanaian nurses to be by their bedsides, and I think that’s good news for us,” said Mr. Agyeman-Manu.

    He informed the parliament, “We are talking to the British government, and we are ready to sign a memorandum of understanding following Cabinet permission to start sending nurses, even certificate nurses, to go for training, work there, and return after three years.

    “And, out of these nurses, Ghana is going to benefit from some little monies that the UK government will pass on”, he noted, explaining: “For every single nurse that goes away – when we finish the agreement – it’s likely we’ll get a £1,000 to come back to support our health system”.

    Ninety-five Ghanaian nurses (49 women and 46 men) on Thursday, 30 July 2020 arrived in Barbados on an Azores Airlines chartered flight for a two-year contract.

    They were to help the Caribbean country’s healthcare system.

    In March 2022, the Prime Minister of the Island nation, Mia Motley, said during Ghana’s 65th independence anniversary in the Central Region, at which she was the special guest of honour, that: “I stand here on your Independence Day to thank the people of Ghana for being able to support us in our need for nurses, with the first 95 nurses having gone to Barbados in July 2020.”

    “We thank you, the government of the people of Ghana, for that most generous gesture, and we are heartened that they have made a huge difference to our public healthcare system; so much so that we have completed an interview for another 200 nurses to come to Barbados in the near future,” she added.

    In November 2019, the Foreign Ministers of Ghana and Barbados, on behalf of the governments and peoples of their respective countries, signed an agreement for the recruitment of a total of 120 nurses from Ghana to complement the staffing needs of the island nation.

    The agreement was signed on Friday, 15 November 2019 at Ghana’s Jubilee House, when the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, paid a courtesy call on the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as part of her official visit.

    The objective of the agreement is to provide the framework for the provision of nurses by the Republic of Ghana to Barbados, taking cognisance of the existing commitment of Barbados to accepted international workforce policies and practices, as well as the International Council of Nurses (ICN) Code of Ethics for nurses.

    The scope of services and responsibilities include Ghana providing registered nurses to Barbados with a level of expertise as agreed to by both countries, with Barbados providing Ghanaian nurses safe and secure working conditions for professional practice, and medical treatment where needed.

    Remuneration is commensurate with the terms and conditions of Barbadian local registered nurses. Barbados is also to provide professional support to Ghanaian nurses to comply with the guidelines and rules of the Nursing Council of Barbados.

    A total of 150 short-listed candidates underwent interviews, out of which 120 were to have been chosen.

    The qualified nurses possess a minimum of three years of experience, with specialities in the following areas: critical care, cardiac catheterisation, emergency room, operating theatre, and ophthalmology.

    It will be recalled that on 15 June 2019, during an official visit to Barbados, as part of activities to promote the declaration of 2019 as the Year of Return, President Akufo-Addo, in principle, agreed to a request by Prime Minister Mottley to send some nurses to work in a number of medical facilities in Barbados.

    Addressing a press conference in the aftermath of the bilateral discussions, and with Barbados facing an acute nursing shortage, the Barbadian Prime Minister stated that “we have indicated that we are searching for just under 400 nurses, so it is not a small number, and we really do believe that this is a wonderful opportunity of co-operation between our two countries.”

    In addition, she noted that there was also an initial promise to secure the nurses and provide joint education programmes going forward, all in an attempt to secure Barbados’ healthcare sector.

    For his part, President Akufo-Addo indicated that “we have a surplus of nurses in Ghana, and placing them all in our public health system is one of my headaches. There have been a lot (of nurses) produced, which, for several years, we have not been able to do anything with.”

    He continued, “So, I am going back. I will be back in Accra on Monday, and, the week after, the Prime Minister will hear from me on this matter of nurses.”