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Brown given November deadline to save his job

By Andrew Grice, Political Editor
Thursday, 28 August 2008

Cabinet ministers will give Gordon Brown "one last chance" to save his premiership but will try to oust him by November if he fails to improve Labour's prospects.


Senior ministers believe that it would be a mistake to move against the Prime Minister before Labour's annual conference next month, which they are warning would then descend into a "shambles". One senior Labour source said: "We can't go on as we are. We have either got to get behind him or get rid of him. We can't do both."

One minister said yesterday: "It's not the right time to take a leap into the unknown. He deserves one last chance to turn it round and we should support him in that. He might be able to do it. If he can't, then we will have to take some big decisions and think through the consequences."

Even some of his cabinet critics appear ready to accept that Mr Brown should be allowed a final opportunity to revive his fortunes by unveiling an economic plan next month to help people struggling to cope with rising fuel, food and housing costs in the downturn. But they intend to force him out if his fightback flops and he fails to rally Labour at its Manchester conference.

The plan to give Mr Brown a temporary reprieve will disappoint Labour backbenchers who hoped that he would be ousted before the conference. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary and frontrunner to succeed him, put down a marker about his leadership ambitions in a newspaper article last month.

Some backbench critics have not given up hope of persuading cabinet ministers to "ambush" Mr Brown next month by threatening to resign if he does not stand down. They say that such moves would not be advertised in advance as it might give him a chance to pre-empt them, possibly by reshuffling the Cabinet. But they concede that the prospects of an immediate move against him have receded during the holiday season.

Ministers will reassure the critics that they will seek to remove the Prime Minister "in October or November" if he fails to take his last chance. Some are prepared to resign if he refuses to stand down after being told he has lost their confidence.

Even some Brown allies admit he has only "one more shot" at convincing his own party he should lead it into the next general election.

Although some ministers have deliberately kept their heads down during the holiday period, the Cabinet is expected to close ranks behind Mr Brown when it holds its first meeting of the new political season on 8 September, in theWest Midlands.

They will discourage backbenchers from criticising Mr Brown, warning that it would play into the Tories' hands and overshadow the party conference in Manchester.

Tony Lloyd, the chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, is said to be urging backbenchers not to organise a "round robin" letter saying that Mr Brown should quit – a device used two years ago during an attempted coup to force Tony Blair to name a date for his departure from No 10. Ministers believe the present circumstances are different and that the "least bloody option" is for senior cabinet figures to persuade him to "go quietly" for the sake of the party.

Allies of Mr Brown insist he has no intention of doing so. Although they recognise that he needs to mount a convincing fightback, they say his critics are in danger of undermining his attempt to close the Tories' 20-point lead in the opinion polls.

Another reason for delaying any strike against the Prime Minister is that Labour faces a difficultby-election in his political backyard in Fife following the death of Mr Brown's friend John MacDougall, the Labour MP for Glenrothes.

* The Business Secretary, John Hutton, appeared to rebuke calls from more than 70 MPs for a windfall tax on energy companies as he warned consumers that the era of cheap energy was over. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, he said there was "genuine concern" about the difficulties for families facing soaring heating costs this winter, adding that the Government was looking at what extra support it could provide.

Brown's recovery plan?

Downing Street and Whitehall are working frantically on an "economic plan" for the centrepiece of Gordon Brown's attempted fightback next month. This could cover:

Fuel

One idea is a £150 one-off fuel voucher to help seven million families struggling to pay soaring gas and electricity bills. Eighty Labour MPs have called for a windfall tax on the energy companies but ministers may opt for raising extra money from emissions permits under the EU carbon-trading scheme.

Housing

Options include trying to revive the market by reducing or delaying stamp duty paid by home buyers; a saving scheme aimed at helping first-time buyers raise a deposit; and turning empty properties into social housing.

Credit

The Bank of England could reform its special liquidity scheme to allow banks to swap unmarketable but relatively good-quality mortgage-backed securities for government securities. In effect, the state would lend the banking system money to grant mortgages.

The Indian Prime Minister has declared flooding in the Bihar state a "national calamity" as efforts focused on the evacuation of more than 120,000 people.

The flooding, which is said to be the worst in 50 years, was caused after torrential rain caused the Kosi river in neighbouring Nepal to break its banks.

A huge wave of water was unleashed, smashing mud embankments downstream in India's northern Bihar state.

Manmohan Singh announced a relief package of $228m and 125,000 tonnes of grain for those affected by the floods.

"If there is a need for more, we will give more," he said after a tour of the devastated region.

"We would like to assure the people of Bihar that all India will support them through this difficulty."

The government has also promised tents and helicopters to aid the military-backed evacuation.

But officials say more bad weather has prompted fears that rivers will to continue to overflow.

Sky News India correspondent Alex Crawford said there was so much water in the river, it had now entirely changed course.

"Authorities are making an urgent appeal for the people who are left to get out," she said. "It is one of the biggest evacuations of humans - certainly in India - but possibly the world."

Local TV pictures showed flood waters pouring into homes through windows, submerging villages, roads and railway tracks.

The Kosi, which flows into the Ganges, is known as the 'River of Sorrow' because of its record of disastrous floods during the monsoon season.

-source-Skynews

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Tropical Storm Gustav has made landfall over Jamaica, with meteorologists warning it could strengthen into a hurricane "at any time".

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At 1400 EDT (1800 GMT) Gustav was just 65km (40 miles) east of Kingston and moving slowly towards the capital.

It is expected to head towards the US, prompting evacuation preparations in New Orleans, three years after the city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Haitian officials say 51 people have died since the storm struck on Tuesday.

At least eight more deaths were reported after Gustav tore through the Dominican Republic.

Heavy rain and winds began lashing eastern parts of Jamaica as the storm struck, tearing roofs off buildings and uprooting trees.

Workers were being evacuated from oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, as oil prices on trading markets rose amid forecasts Gustav could threaten oil installations in the region.

'Possible hurricane'

The Miami-based US National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecasts Gustav will strengthen in the coming hours as it creeps westwards at around 7km/h.

The Jamaican government issued a hurricane warning before Gustav came ashore, packing maximum sustained winds of 110km/h (70mph), with some higher gusts.

A hurricane is defined by winds of 119km/h (74mph), according to the NHC.

Emergency officials there have set up shelters and dispatched relief supplies to flood-prone areas.

On Friday, the storm is expected to move towards the Cayman Islands, where a hurricane watch is also in effect.

Across the islands, non-essential government employees were sent home on Thursday afternoon ahead of the storm's expected arrival on Friday afternoon.

Cayman Airways added 25 extra flights to their schedules in an effort to evacuate tourists and residents wanting to get off the islands.

But officials said they were not expecting a significant storm surge for Grand Cayman - which came as a welcome relief to islanders as much of the island sits just metres above sea-level.

New Orleans prepares

Cuba has replaced a hurricane warning for its eastern Granma province with a tropical storm warning.

The NHC warns that Gustav is also expected to produce heavy rainfall - up to 25 inches (64cm) in some places - over Jamaica and the Caymans.

"These rains will likely produce life-threatening flash floods and mud slides," it said.

Meanwhile, the US state of Louisiana and New Orleans are making their own preparations ahead of Gustav's arrival.

Meteorologists say the storm could make landfall in the US anywhere from south Texas to Florida by Tuesday.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard.

New Orleans has also begun planning a possible mandatory evacuation, hoping to prevent the chaos it saw after Katrina, which struck the city three years ago on Friday.

Gustav is the seventh tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.

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Two of the worst oppressors during Argentina's military rule - known as the Dirty War - have been sentenced to life imprisonment.

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Antonio Bussi, 82, and Luciano Benjamin Menendez, 81, were sent to prison for the kidnapping and disappearance of a former senator in April 1976.

The two generals were senior members of the military government that ruled the country during the 1970s and 1980s.

During that time tens of thousands of people were tortured and killed.

A court in the northern Argentine province of Tucuman sentenced the two men on Thursday.

The former provincial governor, Antonio Bussi, and military chief, Luciano Benjamin Menendez, looked on passively as the sentences were read out.

Menendez was sentenced to prison earlier this month on another human rights case and there are more charges outstanding against the two men - both now in their eighties.

They were found guilty of responsibility for the disappearance in April 1976 of the former senator, Guillermo Vargas Aignasse.

Long wait

Family and friends of other victims were inside and outside the court, holding photographs of their loved ones. Some cheered, while others cried.

A short distance away, separated by lines of riot police, were supporters of the two men who earlier had told the court they knew nothing about the disappeared man and defended the military government which they said was fighting to protect Argentina against communism.

It took 32 years to bring Bussi and Menendez to trial - the cases against the perpetrators of the darkest period in Argentine history only resumed a couple of years ago.

Tens of thousands of people were kidnapped by the authorities and disappeared. It has taken a long time but justice in Argentina is now being seen to be done.

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BBC News

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Officers investigating a fire at the home of a millionaire and his family - who are all missing - are searching through the wrecked building.

Osbaston House, an isolated property near Maesbrook, Shropshire, was set alight in the early hours of Tuesday.

Christopher Foster, 50, his wife Jillian, 49, and daughter Kirstie, 15, have not been seen since. It is not known if they were in the house.

Police in overalls entered through an annexe to the gutted home.

'Cursory search'

Supt Gary Higgins said: "Officers have completed a search of the outbuildings and are now in the process of removing vehicles from the site.

"We have completed a cursory search of the annexe part of the main building which is relatively intact following the fire.

"Forensic specialists will begin the lengthy, painstaking process of sifting and examining all the contents. There is extensive debris at the site and it will take some days, possibly several weeks, to complete this part of the investigation.

"We will be seeking to build up a picture of the circumstances leading up to the fire."

Police said "every possible scenario for what happened" was being considered and officers were following up all possible lines of inquiry.

West Mercia Police have said they think the fire was started deliberately.

Supt Higgins said: "This is being treated as arson and, until we can determine whether the family was inside, it will remain arson."

Dogs' bodies

Three horses were found dead in a stable block, which was also gutted in the fire.

Supt Higgins said police were waiting for the results of post-mortem examinations carried out on the horses. He said the bodies of three dogs were found close to the horses.

A large horse box, parked close to the gates of the property, has been removed from the site for forensic examination, he added.

CCTV cameras from the property have been taken away and officers have warned that forensic searches will be painstaking and likely to take some time.

The fire in the house, thought to be valued at £1.2m, broke out at about 0500 BST on Tuesday
The day before the family had attended a barbecue at a friend's house.

Mr Foster is listed as the director of Ulva Limited - a thermal insulation manufacturing company in Telford - with Mrs Foster named as company secretary.

The firm went into administration in August last year and a court order was issued in November for the company to be wound up.

A judge later found Mr Foster had spent the previous months stripping Ulva of its assets and transferring them to a new firm he had set up called Ulva International.

Mr Foster was also the alleged victim of a blackmail - but two men were cleared of attempting to blackmail him into giving them £100,000 at Shrewsbury Crown Court in November 2006.

Kirstie Foster is a year 10 pupil at Ellesmere College, an independent school in Ellesmere, Shropshire.

Headteacher Brendan Wignall said: "Kirstie is a charming, popular and hard-working girl with many friends, all of whom are hoping she will be found safe and well."

-BBC News