A prominent New York lawyer whom prosecutors have called a “Houdini of impersonation and false documents” pleaded guilty on Monday to leading what the authorities have called a Ponzi scheme that bilked hedge funds and other investors out of at least $400 million.
The lawyer, Marc S. Dreier, a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, sold $700 million worth of bogus promissory notes to investors, a federal indictment charged.
He then used the proceeds to maintain a lavish lifestyle, according to the authorities, which included owning a $10 million apartment on the Upper East Side, beachfront properties in the Hamptons, a valuable art collection, expensive cars and an $18.5 million yacht, documents show.
“He has disgraced the honorable profession of law,” the judge, Jed S. Rakoff of Federal District Court in Manhattan, said after Mr. Dreier entered his plea.
His decision to admit guilt was not a surprise, as his lawyer, Gerald L. Shargel, had been saying for months that his client intended to plead guilty. Last month, Mr. Shargel told Judge Rakoff that Mr. Dreier felt “profound remorse,” accepted full responsibility for his crimes and had been cooperating with the authorities as they attempted to untangle his scheme and track down assets that might be returned to victims.
But Mr. Shargel and a federal prosecutor, Jonathan R. Streeter, clashed over whether Mr. Dreier, who turns 59 on Tuesday and could face up to life in prison, should be allowed to remain in his Manhattan apartment under highly restrictive conditions of home detention until he is sentenced on July 13.
“There are 100 good reasons why Mr. Dreier should be” jailed, Judge Rakoff said. “By his own admission here today, he has shown that he is to be ranked with those who have committed some of the most egregious frauds in history.”
But Judge Rakoff ultimately ruled that Mr. Shargel had met the legal standard for his client to remain out of jail, by demonstrating that Mr. Dreier, who no longer controls the millions of dollars he obtained, had neither the ability nor the resources to flee.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Obama’s Push for Health Care Cuts Faces Daunting Odds
President Obama engineered a political coup on Monday by bringing leaders of the health care industry to the White House to build momentum for his ambitious health care agenda.Mr. Obama pronounced it “a historic day, a watershed event,” because doctors, hospitals, drug makers and insurance companies voluntarily offered $2 trillion in cost reductions over 10 years. The savings, he said, “will help us take the next and most important step — comprehensive health care reform.”
Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said Mr. Obama had told the health care executives, “You’ve made a commitment; we expect you to keep it.”
If history is a guide, their commitments may not produce the promised savings. Their proposals are vague — promising, for example, to reduce both “overuse and underuse of health care.” None of the proposals are enforceable, and none of the savings are guaranteed. Without such a guarantee, budget rules normally stop Congress from using the savings to pay for new initiatives to cover the uninsured. At this point, cost control is little more than a shared aspiration.
But the event was still significant. There was something in it for Mr. Obama, and something for the industry — though not necessarily the same thing. Their interests overlap but do not coincide.
For Mr. Obama, Monday’s White House meeting was an opportunity to showcase his consensus-building approach, in contrast with the confrontational style of Hillary Rodham Clinton, who at this point in her husband’s first term attacked “price gouging, cost shifting and unconscionable profiteering” by the industry in a speech to union members.
Mr. Obama is not cracking the whip on the health care industry so much as wooing it, just as he said he would in the campaign.
For the health care and insurance executives, the savings initiative helps them secure a seat at the table where many decisions about their future will be made in the next year. They also ingratiated themselves with Democrats in the White House and Congress who are moving swiftly to reshape the nation’s health care system.
“We came together in a serious way a couple of weeks ago,” said David H. Nexon, senior executive vice president of the Advanced Medical Technology Association, one of the six health care industry groups that promised to lower costs. “Health care reform is moving very fast. We want to make sure it comes out in a way that’s workable and sustainable.”
Dennis Rivera, coordinator of the health care campaign of the Service Employees International Union, led efforts to bring the industry groups together, with help from Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform.
The consensus-building approach has already yielded some results. Insurance executives have promised to end discriminatory underwriting practices, like refusing to cover individuals with pre-existing conditions or charging women higher rates than men, and they invited Congress to impose stringent, uniform federal regulation on their industry. But even as insurers and health care providers stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Mr. Obama in vowing to slow the growth of health spending, they oppose him on other fronts. For example, insurance companies are adamantly opposed to a new government-sponsored health plan, which Mr. Obama supports but insurers fear could drive them out of business.
Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, welcomed the industry’s cost-cutting commitment as “a good-faith gesture.” But he said, “It does not mitigate the need for a public plan option in our health care reform bill.”
In addition, insurers and health care providers are lobbying strenuously against cuts in their Medicare payments that would produce savings of the type they profess to want. Insurers are fighting Mr. Obama’s proposal to cut payments to their private Medicare Advantage plans by a total of $176 billion over 10 years. Doctors are pleading with Congress not to cut costs at their expense, in particular by allowing a 21 percent cut in their Medicare fees scheduled to occur in January. Pharmaceutical companies and makers of medical devices worry that new products might have to pass a cost-benefit test before being approved for coverage under Medicare.
To fulfill Mr. Obama’s campaign promise of offering affordable coverage to all, cost control is a political, as well as an economic, necessity. By their own account, Democrats will have difficulty financing coverage for more than 45 million people who are uninsured. The task would be virtually impossible - - and new social insurance programs would be unsustainable - - if health spending continued to increase at the currently projected rate of 6.2 percent a year for a decade.
The industry says it can shave 1.5 percent off the annual rate of growth through voluntary efforts. But similar efforts to control health costs have been rolled out in the past, without much of a long-term effect.
Henry J. Aaron, a health economist at the Brookings Institution, said that when he heard the industry’s promises on Monday, “I had a Rip van Winkle moment, as if I had fallen asleep in 1977 and woke up again this morning.”
Mr. Aaron served in the administration of President Jimmy Carter, whose proposal for hospital cost controls prompted the industry to undertake a short-lived “voluntary effort.”
After President Bill Clinton proposed a sweeping overhaul of the health care system in 1993-94, the growth of health spending slowed, only to surge again a few years later.
Drew E. Altman, the president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, offered a historical perspective spanning nearly four decades.
“Neither managed care, nor wage and price controls, nor regulation nor voluntary action nor market competition has had a lasting impact on our nation’s health care costs,” Mr. Altman said. “Reformers should not overpromise.”
Industry groups sounded constructive and positive on Monday, but the real test will come in a few weeks when lawmakers unveil detailed legislative proposals. “Will they still be supportive?” Mr. Altman asked. “Or will they revert to form and protect their turf?”
Rather than gambling on the answer, some lawmakers want to establish an enforcement mechanism, which would take effect if the industry’s voluntary steps did not slow health spending by a specified amount.
Such cost-control devices have proved spectacularly ineffective in limiting the growth of Medicare spending on doctors’ services.
Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said Mr. Obama had told the health care executives, “You’ve made a commitment; we expect you to keep it.”
If history is a guide, their commitments may not produce the promised savings. Their proposals are vague — promising, for example, to reduce both “overuse and underuse of health care.” None of the proposals are enforceable, and none of the savings are guaranteed. Without such a guarantee, budget rules normally stop Congress from using the savings to pay for new initiatives to cover the uninsured. At this point, cost control is little more than a shared aspiration.
But the event was still significant. There was something in it for Mr. Obama, and something for the industry — though not necessarily the same thing. Their interests overlap but do not coincide.
For Mr. Obama, Monday’s White House meeting was an opportunity to showcase his consensus-building approach, in contrast with the confrontational style of Hillary Rodham Clinton, who at this point in her husband’s first term attacked “price gouging, cost shifting and unconscionable profiteering” by the industry in a speech to union members.
Mr. Obama is not cracking the whip on the health care industry so much as wooing it, just as he said he would in the campaign.
For the health care and insurance executives, the savings initiative helps them secure a seat at the table where many decisions about their future will be made in the next year. They also ingratiated themselves with Democrats in the White House and Congress who are moving swiftly to reshape the nation’s health care system.
“We came together in a serious way a couple of weeks ago,” said David H. Nexon, senior executive vice president of the Advanced Medical Technology Association, one of the six health care industry groups that promised to lower costs. “Health care reform is moving very fast. We want to make sure it comes out in a way that’s workable and sustainable.”
Dennis Rivera, coordinator of the health care campaign of the Service Employees International Union, led efforts to bring the industry groups together, with help from Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform.
The consensus-building approach has already yielded some results. Insurance executives have promised to end discriminatory underwriting practices, like refusing to cover individuals with pre-existing conditions or charging women higher rates than men, and they invited Congress to impose stringent, uniform federal regulation on their industry. But even as insurers and health care providers stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Mr. Obama in vowing to slow the growth of health spending, they oppose him on other fronts. For example, insurance companies are adamantly opposed to a new government-sponsored health plan, which Mr. Obama supports but insurers fear could drive them out of business.
Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, welcomed the industry’s cost-cutting commitment as “a good-faith gesture.” But he said, “It does not mitigate the need for a public plan option in our health care reform bill.”
In addition, insurers and health care providers are lobbying strenuously against cuts in their Medicare payments that would produce savings of the type they profess to want. Insurers are fighting Mr. Obama’s proposal to cut payments to their private Medicare Advantage plans by a total of $176 billion over 10 years. Doctors are pleading with Congress not to cut costs at their expense, in particular by allowing a 21 percent cut in their Medicare fees scheduled to occur in January. Pharmaceutical companies and makers of medical devices worry that new products might have to pass a cost-benefit test before being approved for coverage under Medicare.
To fulfill Mr. Obama’s campaign promise of offering affordable coverage to all, cost control is a political, as well as an economic, necessity. By their own account, Democrats will have difficulty financing coverage for more than 45 million people who are uninsured. The task would be virtually impossible - - and new social insurance programs would be unsustainable - - if health spending continued to increase at the currently projected rate of 6.2 percent a year for a decade.
The industry says it can shave 1.5 percent off the annual rate of growth through voluntary efforts. But similar efforts to control health costs have been rolled out in the past, without much of a long-term effect.
Henry J. Aaron, a health economist at the Brookings Institution, said that when he heard the industry’s promises on Monday, “I had a Rip van Winkle moment, as if I had fallen asleep in 1977 and woke up again this morning.”
Mr. Aaron served in the administration of President Jimmy Carter, whose proposal for hospital cost controls prompted the industry to undertake a short-lived “voluntary effort.”
After President Bill Clinton proposed a sweeping overhaul of the health care system in 1993-94, the growth of health spending slowed, only to surge again a few years later.
Drew E. Altman, the president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, offered a historical perspective spanning nearly four decades.
“Neither managed care, nor wage and price controls, nor regulation nor voluntary action nor market competition has had a lasting impact on our nation’s health care costs,” Mr. Altman said. “Reformers should not overpromise.”
Industry groups sounded constructive and positive on Monday, but the real test will come in a few weeks when lawmakers unveil detailed legislative proposals. “Will they still be supportive?” Mr. Altman asked. “Or will they revert to form and protect their turf?”
Rather than gambling on the answer, some lawmakers want to establish an enforcement mechanism, which would take effect if the industry’s voluntary steps did not slow health spending by a specified amount.
Such cost-control devices have proved spectacularly ineffective in limiting the growth of Medicare spending on doctors’ services.
More UK swine flu cases confirmed, bringing total to 65
A further 10 patients in England, including three children, have been confirmed with swine flu, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the UK to 65, the Health Protection Agency said today.
The cases are in the east, the north-west, the south-east and London. Five of the patients had returned from travel abroad, four were in close contact with previously confirmed cases and the last case is under investigation as to the source of the infection. All patients are recovering at home, the HPA said. Some 370 cases are under investigation.
In other developments, four schools closed after pupils contracted swine flu reopened in time for the exam season. The affected schools, two in London and two in south-west England, shut their doors to pupils last week as a precaution but were allowed to open again today.
Three of them – Alleyn's School in Dulwich, south-east London, Paignton Community and Sports College in Devon, and Downend School in South Gloucestershire – are secondary schools with pupils sitting GCSEs and A-levels this summer. The private preparatory Dolphin School in Battersea, south-west London, also returned to normal this morning.
Even as they reopened, another school closed for a week from today after one of its pupils was diagnosed with influenza A. Hampton School, an independent boys' school in south-west London, said the case was not yet confirmed as swine flu but further tests were being carried out and the first year pupil was recovering well at home.
Exams at the school, which has more than 1,000 boys aged 11-18, will continue as normal.
A small number of GCSEs have already taken place, but most of the exams get under way this week.
The private Alleyn's School, which closed on 4 May when five Year 7 pupils were confirmed with the disease, said all staff and pupils who had not developed infections and were symptom-free could return to the £13,437-a-year school.
Senior deputy head Antony Faccinello said the school was in close contact with the exam boards and had already made arrangements to put back some oral and practical exams. Staff put a large amount of teaching material on the school's website last week and teachers are also offering optional extra lessons.
Faccinello said the impact of the closure on students sitting GCSEs and A-levels was expected to be minimal.
"Some people take the view that most courses last two years and this is a week at the end. I think a lot of it is about reassuring people," he said.
Of the cases in the UK, 60 are in England and five are in Scotland.
The cases are in the east, the north-west, the south-east and London. Five of the patients had returned from travel abroad, four were in close contact with previously confirmed cases and the last case is under investigation as to the source of the infection. All patients are recovering at home, the HPA said. Some 370 cases are under investigation.
In other developments, four schools closed after pupils contracted swine flu reopened in time for the exam season. The affected schools, two in London and two in south-west England, shut their doors to pupils last week as a precaution but were allowed to open again today.
Three of them – Alleyn's School in Dulwich, south-east London, Paignton Community and Sports College in Devon, and Downend School in South Gloucestershire – are secondary schools with pupils sitting GCSEs and A-levels this summer. The private preparatory Dolphin School in Battersea, south-west London, also returned to normal this morning.
Even as they reopened, another school closed for a week from today after one of its pupils was diagnosed with influenza A. Hampton School, an independent boys' school in south-west London, said the case was not yet confirmed as swine flu but further tests were being carried out and the first year pupil was recovering well at home.
Exams at the school, which has more than 1,000 boys aged 11-18, will continue as normal.
A small number of GCSEs have already taken place, but most of the exams get under way this week.
The private Alleyn's School, which closed on 4 May when five Year 7 pupils were confirmed with the disease, said all staff and pupils who had not developed infections and were symptom-free could return to the £13,437-a-year school.
Senior deputy head Antony Faccinello said the school was in close contact with the exam boards and had already made arrangements to put back some oral and practical exams. Staff put a large amount of teaching material on the school's website last week and teachers are also offering optional extra lessons.
Faccinello said the impact of the closure on students sitting GCSEs and A-levels was expected to be minimal.
"Some people take the view that most courses last two years and this is a week at the end. I think a lot of it is about reassuring people," he said.
Of the cases in the UK, 60 are in England and five are in Scotland.
Taliban try to spread fighting in Pakistani tribal belt
Taliban militants backed by al-Qaida trainers are stepping up a campaign of violent destabilisation across Pakistan's tribal belt to divert forces from the battle in the Swat valley, a senior Pakistani commander said today.
"They are trying [to spread the fighting], but it's not significant enough for us to divert our attention," said Major General Tariq Khan, the commander of the 50,000-strong Frontier Corps, speaking to the Guardian at his Peshawar headquarters.
The Taliban have launched suicide attacks and heavy assaults on security installations in the tribal belt along the Afghan border in recent days.
On Sunday, 200 militants swarmed an outpost in Mohmand tribal agency, south-east of Swat, triggering a gun battle that killed 25 militants and wounded 11 Frontier Corps soldiers, Khan said.
Moments later, a phone call brought news of another attack: a suicide bomber had just rammed his car into a checkpost at Dara Adam Khel, a tribal town 15 miles away. Two Frontier Corps troops and six civilians, including a six-year-old girl, were killed, police said.
The Taliban were being trained by foreign mercenaries linked to al-Qaida, Khan said. "They are experts in IEDs [roadside bombs], sniper fire and explosives. Mostly Tajiks and Uzbeks, basically. They get paid for their expertise," he said.
Intelligence from the Mohmand gun battle indicated the presence of 100 Mehsud and Wazir fighters from South Waziristan, where the Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud holds sway, Khan said. "He has access to people, funds and resources, and [the local groups] want him to dish it out. That's his importance," he said.
Mehsud territory in South Waziristan has become a stronghold of foreign fighters, particularly ethnic Uzbeks from the al-Qaida-affiliated Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), led by the radical cleric Tahir Yuldashev. According to Pakistani intelligence officials, Arab fighters, in contrast, are concentrated in an area controlled by a rival commander, Maulvi Nazir Ahmed.
Both groups are the focus of American attention. On Sunday, General David Petraeus, the head of US Central Command, said al-Qaida's leadership was located in Pakistan. Today, the New York Times reported that the US had carried out 16 drone strikes this year and 36 in 2008, the bulk of them in North and South Waziristan.
The latest such strike, on Saturday night, hit Mehsud's network, killing at least six people.
The army is likely to turn its attention to Mehsud in South Waziristan after the Swat operation. Khan said: "We will have to deal with North and South Waziristan if we want to have a lasting effect on the militants."
Khan, a well regarded commander with several years' experience leading the fight in the tribal areas, spoke to the Guardian at Bala Hissar, a redbrick 19th-century British fort that serves as the Frontier Corps headquarters. For the past two weeks, he has commanded operations in Buner, 60 miles north-west of Islamabad, where a Taliban advance sparked American alarm and triggered a concerted Pakistani counteroffensive.
"We were caught by surprise," he admitted, describing how he shifted forces from the tribal belt and conducted rushed reconnaissance of an area where he never imagined having to fight.
Khan described how the Taliban operate in groups of 30 to 40 men, split into groups of five, each with a radio set. As they creep up on security forces' positions, firing rocket-propelled grenades, they try to distract soldiers with surrender negotiations until they swarm the position "like a pack of wolves", he said.
Pakistan's interior minister said today that more than 700 fighters had been killed in Swat, Buner and Dir. The figure could not be independently confirmed.
The operations have sparked a humanitarian crisis. The United Nations said more than 360,000 people had registered for relief aid in Mardan and Swabi districts, south of Swat, and more were expected.
The Frontier Corps is playing a secondary role in the Swat valley, where the fighting is commanded by the regular army. In the main town, Mingora, the Taliban have dug into defensive positions and mined bridges and roads. But Khan said he did not expect to see a major street battle in the town.
"I don't think the Taliban are going to fight once they see a consolidated effort against them. Their effort at getting into Mingora is to melt into the crowd, to move out with the exodus of refugees," he said. He predicted that a hard core of fighters would retreat into remote valleys north of Mingora and try to sue for peace.
"They will get into the caves and seek a means to a negotiated settlement. That's their best bet at the moment. I don't think they are capable of a hardcore fight."
"They are trying [to spread the fighting], but it's not significant enough for us to divert our attention," said Major General Tariq Khan, the commander of the 50,000-strong Frontier Corps, speaking to the Guardian at his Peshawar headquarters.
The Taliban have launched suicide attacks and heavy assaults on security installations in the tribal belt along the Afghan border in recent days.
On Sunday, 200 militants swarmed an outpost in Mohmand tribal agency, south-east of Swat, triggering a gun battle that killed 25 militants and wounded 11 Frontier Corps soldiers, Khan said.
Moments later, a phone call brought news of another attack: a suicide bomber had just rammed his car into a checkpost at Dara Adam Khel, a tribal town 15 miles away. Two Frontier Corps troops and six civilians, including a six-year-old girl, were killed, police said.
The Taliban were being trained by foreign mercenaries linked to al-Qaida, Khan said. "They are experts in IEDs [roadside bombs], sniper fire and explosives. Mostly Tajiks and Uzbeks, basically. They get paid for their expertise," he said.
Intelligence from the Mohmand gun battle indicated the presence of 100 Mehsud and Wazir fighters from South Waziristan, where the Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud holds sway, Khan said. "He has access to people, funds and resources, and [the local groups] want him to dish it out. That's his importance," he said.
Mehsud territory in South Waziristan has become a stronghold of foreign fighters, particularly ethnic Uzbeks from the al-Qaida-affiliated Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), led by the radical cleric Tahir Yuldashev. According to Pakistani intelligence officials, Arab fighters, in contrast, are concentrated in an area controlled by a rival commander, Maulvi Nazir Ahmed.
Both groups are the focus of American attention. On Sunday, General David Petraeus, the head of US Central Command, said al-Qaida's leadership was located in Pakistan. Today, the New York Times reported that the US had carried out 16 drone strikes this year and 36 in 2008, the bulk of them in North and South Waziristan.
The latest such strike, on Saturday night, hit Mehsud's network, killing at least six people.
The army is likely to turn its attention to Mehsud in South Waziristan after the Swat operation. Khan said: "We will have to deal with North and South Waziristan if we want to have a lasting effect on the militants."
Khan, a well regarded commander with several years' experience leading the fight in the tribal areas, spoke to the Guardian at Bala Hissar, a redbrick 19th-century British fort that serves as the Frontier Corps headquarters. For the past two weeks, he has commanded operations in Buner, 60 miles north-west of Islamabad, where a Taliban advance sparked American alarm and triggered a concerted Pakistani counteroffensive.
"We were caught by surprise," he admitted, describing how he shifted forces from the tribal belt and conducted rushed reconnaissance of an area where he never imagined having to fight.
Khan described how the Taliban operate in groups of 30 to 40 men, split into groups of five, each with a radio set. As they creep up on security forces' positions, firing rocket-propelled grenades, they try to distract soldiers with surrender negotiations until they swarm the position "like a pack of wolves", he said.
Pakistan's interior minister said today that more than 700 fighters had been killed in Swat, Buner and Dir. The figure could not be independently confirmed.
The operations have sparked a humanitarian crisis. The United Nations said more than 360,000 people had registered for relief aid in Mardan and Swabi districts, south of Swat, and more were expected.
The Frontier Corps is playing a secondary role in the Swat valley, where the fighting is commanded by the regular army. In the main town, Mingora, the Taliban have dug into defensive positions and mined bridges and roads. But Khan said he did not expect to see a major street battle in the town.
"I don't think the Taliban are going to fight once they see a consolidated effort against them. Their effort at getting into Mingora is to melt into the crowd, to move out with the exodus of refugees," he said. He predicted that a hard core of fighters would retreat into remote valleys north of Mingora and try to sue for peace.
"They will get into the caves and seek a means to a negotiated settlement. That's their best bet at the moment. I don't think they are capable of a hardcore fight."
MPs' expenses: Cameron considers removing whip as Brown says sorry
David Cameron was last night considering removing the Conservative whip from some of the most senior party backbenchers in the wake of allegations that they have abused the MPs' expenses system to build swimming pools, improve their second homes, and even buy horse manure at the expense of the taxpayer.
The Tory leader was informed yesterday afternoon about some of the allegations. His spokesman said last night he was appalled at what he had heard, and was considering his disciplinary options.
A spokesman for the party said: "David Cameron can, with the agreement of the chief whip, remove the party whip from these people; and there is no doubt he will do this if he thinks it is appropriate." Three Tory MPs have responded to the allegations by admitting culpability, saying they would repay the expenses they claimed.
Cameron's initial tough response came in the wake of the first opinion poll that suggested the Tory party was being damaged as much as Labour by exposure of MPs' expenses claims. A Times/Populus poll showed Labour support down four points since early April to 26%, just above its lowest figure last summer. But the Tories are also four points down at 39%. The Liberal Democrats are up four points to 22%, their highest for nearly four years. Alarmingly for the Conservative party, the bulk of the poll was done before allegations against Tory MPs were published.
If he decides to remove the party whip, Cameron will be taking a huge risk with his personal authority since he will be disciplining some of the most senior backbench figures inside the party. They include: former agriculture secretary Douglas Hogg; Tory chairman of the defence select committee Sir James Arbuthnot; chairman of the 1922 Tory backbench committee Sir Michael Spicer; leading eurosceptic David Heathcoat-Amory; and former Conservative chairman Michael Ancram.
Questions were also being raised by the Daily Telegraph, on the basis of its access to MPs' expenses forms, over claims made by the former shadow home secretary, David Davis, who challenged Cameron for the party leadership.
Hogg submitted a claim form for more than £2,000 to pay to clear the moat around his country estate. Sir Michael Spicer, claimed £5,650 in nine months for his garden upkeep. Michael Ancram claimed more than £14,000 a year in expenses while owning three properties, none with a mortgage, and are together worth an estimated £8m.
It was also claimed that deputy speaker Sir Alan Haselhurst claimed £142,119 for his country home over the last seven years, despite having no mortgage. He had been seen by some as candidate for the speakership if Michael Martin stood down before the election.
Martin yesterday astonished some MPs by rounding on critics in Westminster, including Labour MP Kate Hoey, accusing them of voicing their concerns by going to the press.
So far Cameron has decided to take no action against any of his shadow cabinet and has defended Andrew Lansley, shadow health secretary, and Michael Gove, shadow children's secretary, from claims of "flipping" their homes .
Gordon Brown also responded yesterday to the systematic flouting of Commons expenses rules by offering his own unreserved apology todayon behalf of all the political classes at Westminster. It is the second public apology the prime minister has been forced to give in a month, following his regret over leaked emails showing his former aide trying to smear the Conservative leadership.
There is also a general fear, including among the Liberal Democrats, that it will be parties outside Westminster ranging from Ukip to the Green party and the British National party that will be the big beneficiaries at the European elections on 4 June.
In the first signs that contrite MPs were taking unilateral steps to protect their reputation, one leftwing Labour MP, Ronnie Campbell, announced that he would try to set an example by paying back £6,000 in claims for furniture. John Mann, another Labour backbencher, said MPs should have their expenses cut. He also called for the Speaker to quit if he would not lead the campaign for reform.
In an effort to quell public anger, Brown offered a clear apology and pressed for an early report by the Commons committee on standards in public life. He said: "We must show that we have the highest standards for our profession. And we must show that, where mistakes have been made and errors have been discovered, where wrongs have to be righted, that that is done so immediately.
"We have also to try hard to show people and think hard about how a profession that, like yours, depends on trust – the most precious asset it has is trust – how that profession too can show that it is genuinely there to serve the public in all its future needs."
He also said: "I want to apologise on behalf of politicians, on behalf of all parties, for what has happened in the events of the last few days."
Brown urged his MPs to show discipline and unity, insisting that by the time of the general election the voters will be making decisions on the basis of big economic divisions between the parties.
Many Labour MPs have expressed their anger at what they regarded as the partial and distorted way their expenses claims were being reported in the Telegraph day after day.
In an attempt to end the drip-by-drip damage on Westminster's integrity and reputation, the Commons committee responsible for expenses met to see if it should bring forward its planned publication of claims dating from 2004-08. But it rejected a radical acceleration. Nick Harvey, a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Commons commission, said it would bring forward the formal publication of MPs' expenses from July to next month, if it could.
The Tory leader was informed yesterday afternoon about some of the allegations. His spokesman said last night he was appalled at what he had heard, and was considering his disciplinary options.
A spokesman for the party said: "David Cameron can, with the agreement of the chief whip, remove the party whip from these people; and there is no doubt he will do this if he thinks it is appropriate." Three Tory MPs have responded to the allegations by admitting culpability, saying they would repay the expenses they claimed.
Cameron's initial tough response came in the wake of the first opinion poll that suggested the Tory party was being damaged as much as Labour by exposure of MPs' expenses claims. A Times/Populus poll showed Labour support down four points since early April to 26%, just above its lowest figure last summer. But the Tories are also four points down at 39%. The Liberal Democrats are up four points to 22%, their highest for nearly four years. Alarmingly for the Conservative party, the bulk of the poll was done before allegations against Tory MPs were published.
If he decides to remove the party whip, Cameron will be taking a huge risk with his personal authority since he will be disciplining some of the most senior backbench figures inside the party. They include: former agriculture secretary Douglas Hogg; Tory chairman of the defence select committee Sir James Arbuthnot; chairman of the 1922 Tory backbench committee Sir Michael Spicer; leading eurosceptic David Heathcoat-Amory; and former Conservative chairman Michael Ancram.
Questions were also being raised by the Daily Telegraph, on the basis of its access to MPs' expenses forms, over claims made by the former shadow home secretary, David Davis, who challenged Cameron for the party leadership.
Hogg submitted a claim form for more than £2,000 to pay to clear the moat around his country estate. Sir Michael Spicer, claimed £5,650 in nine months for his garden upkeep. Michael Ancram claimed more than £14,000 a year in expenses while owning three properties, none with a mortgage, and are together worth an estimated £8m.
It was also claimed that deputy speaker Sir Alan Haselhurst claimed £142,119 for his country home over the last seven years, despite having no mortgage. He had been seen by some as candidate for the speakership if Michael Martin stood down before the election.
Martin yesterday astonished some MPs by rounding on critics in Westminster, including Labour MP Kate Hoey, accusing them of voicing their concerns by going to the press.
So far Cameron has decided to take no action against any of his shadow cabinet and has defended Andrew Lansley, shadow health secretary, and Michael Gove, shadow children's secretary, from claims of "flipping" their homes .
Gordon Brown also responded yesterday to the systematic flouting of Commons expenses rules by offering his own unreserved apology todayon behalf of all the political classes at Westminster. It is the second public apology the prime minister has been forced to give in a month, following his regret over leaked emails showing his former aide trying to smear the Conservative leadership.
There is also a general fear, including among the Liberal Democrats, that it will be parties outside Westminster ranging from Ukip to the Green party and the British National party that will be the big beneficiaries at the European elections on 4 June.
In the first signs that contrite MPs were taking unilateral steps to protect their reputation, one leftwing Labour MP, Ronnie Campbell, announced that he would try to set an example by paying back £6,000 in claims for furniture. John Mann, another Labour backbencher, said MPs should have their expenses cut. He also called for the Speaker to quit if he would not lead the campaign for reform.
In an effort to quell public anger, Brown offered a clear apology and pressed for an early report by the Commons committee on standards in public life. He said: "We must show that we have the highest standards for our profession. And we must show that, where mistakes have been made and errors have been discovered, where wrongs have to be righted, that that is done so immediately.
"We have also to try hard to show people and think hard about how a profession that, like yours, depends on trust – the most precious asset it has is trust – how that profession too can show that it is genuinely there to serve the public in all its future needs."
He also said: "I want to apologise on behalf of politicians, on behalf of all parties, for what has happened in the events of the last few days."
Brown urged his MPs to show discipline and unity, insisting that by the time of the general election the voters will be making decisions on the basis of big economic divisions between the parties.
Many Labour MPs have expressed their anger at what they regarded as the partial and distorted way their expenses claims were being reported in the Telegraph day after day.
In an attempt to end the drip-by-drip damage on Westminster's integrity and reputation, the Commons committee responsible for expenses met to see if it should bring forward its planned publication of claims dating from 2004-08. But it rejected a radical acceleration. Nick Harvey, a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Commons commission, said it would bring forward the formal publication of MPs' expenses from July to next month, if it could.
GM bankruptcy 'looks more likely'
General Motors going into bankruptcy protection was looking more likely, the firm's chief executive has said.
Fritz Henderson added the task to avoid the measure was "large" - with his comments sending GM shares down 10%.
The US government has given GM a deadline of 1 June to restructure the business successfully if it wishes to gain more emergency loans.
GM has already warned it will probably need to enter bankruptcy protection if it cannot get the additional funding.
"Certainly the task that we have in front of us is large," Mr Henderson said, but added that there was "still an opportunity and still a chance for it to be done outside of a court process."
GM is continuing plans to close 2,600 of its 6,246 US dealerships - with a reduction in the network part of major cost-cutting plans at the firm, which hopes to reduce its $44bn (£29bn) debt mountain.
It has also not ruled out moving its base from Detroit.
Opel issue
Earlier Mr Henderson reiterated that the firm was in "urgent need of funding", despite having already been given $15bn in loans from the government since December.
Last month, General Motors confirmed that it would be cutting 21,000 jobs worldwide and shutting a number of factories in an effort to stay in business.
As part of the plan, GM is selling a number of its brands - Hummer, Saturn and Saab - and scrapping Pontiac entirely.
It is also in talks to sell its GM Europe business, which comprises Opel, Vauxhall and Saab.
Fiat is the front-runner to take over Opel and Vauxhall, although a number of stumbling blocks are emerging - not least from trade unions and governments, who fear any such tie-up could mothball a number of factories and cost thousands of jobs around the continent.
'Integral part'
Commenting on the prospect of Fiat taking over Opel and Vauxhall in Europe, and any resulting plant closures, Mr Henderson praised Vauxhall's plants in the UK for their "superb work", which he said was "an integral and a crucial part of the business".
He added, though, that he could not stipulate what any new investor in GM Europe would do with the factories.
The Canadian component manufacturer Magna is also in talks to take a substantial stake in GM Europe, and the BBC has learned that the Chinese car company SAIC is also negotiating with GM.
GM has said that while it would surrender control to a new investor in GM Europe, it would like to retain a stake in the business.
Back in the US, GM said it was also in talks with two potential buyers for its Hummer brand.
Fritz Henderson added the task to avoid the measure was "large" - with his comments sending GM shares down 10%.
The US government has given GM a deadline of 1 June to restructure the business successfully if it wishes to gain more emergency loans.
GM has already warned it will probably need to enter bankruptcy protection if it cannot get the additional funding.
"Certainly the task that we have in front of us is large," Mr Henderson said, but added that there was "still an opportunity and still a chance for it to be done outside of a court process."
GM is continuing plans to close 2,600 of its 6,246 US dealerships - with a reduction in the network part of major cost-cutting plans at the firm, which hopes to reduce its $44bn (£29bn) debt mountain.
It has also not ruled out moving its base from Detroit.
Opel issue
Earlier Mr Henderson reiterated that the firm was in "urgent need of funding", despite having already been given $15bn in loans from the government since December.
Last month, General Motors confirmed that it would be cutting 21,000 jobs worldwide and shutting a number of factories in an effort to stay in business.
As part of the plan, GM is selling a number of its brands - Hummer, Saturn and Saab - and scrapping Pontiac entirely.
It is also in talks to sell its GM Europe business, which comprises Opel, Vauxhall and Saab.
Fiat is the front-runner to take over Opel and Vauxhall, although a number of stumbling blocks are emerging - not least from trade unions and governments, who fear any such tie-up could mothball a number of factories and cost thousands of jobs around the continent.
'Integral part'
Commenting on the prospect of Fiat taking over Opel and Vauxhall in Europe, and any resulting plant closures, Mr Henderson praised Vauxhall's plants in the UK for their "superb work", which he said was "an integral and a crucial part of the business".
He added, though, that he could not stipulate what any new investor in GM Europe would do with the factories.
The Canadian component manufacturer Magna is also in talks to take a substantial stake in GM Europe, and the BBC has learned that the Chinese car company SAIC is also negotiating with GM.
GM has said that while it would surrender control to a new investor in GM Europe, it would like to retain a stake in the business.
Back in the US, GM said it was also in talks with two potential buyers for its Hummer brand.
China bolsters disaster response
China has announced a series of measures aimed at improving its response to natural disasters.
The moves come as the country marks the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake which hit Sichuan province on 12 May last year.
More than 80,000 people are believed to have died in the quake, including at least 5,300 children.
The new policy calls for bigger relief stocks, satellite forecasting, and training for thousands of officials.
The government says more than 70% of China's cities, and more than half the population, are vulnerable to serious natural disasters.
China was widely praised for its rapid response to the Sichuan quake, but there was public anger over what was perceived to be the shoddy building of schools.
Parents who lost their children have already expressed fears they will not be allowed to properly commemorate the disaster's anniversary.
Many parents want to return to the site of the schools where their children died.
But the authorities have previously previously prevented them from doing so.
'Touched'
Meanwhile, details have been released of a letter from the Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Jibao, to school students in Sichuan. He told them he was touched by a book of paintings they sent him depicting their experiences.
It was called Beautiful Flowers - the words he wrote on a blackboard at the scene of the devastation.
And former Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang, visited a primary school in the hard-hit Beichuan county, holding an athletics class.
But the lesson was cut short after only five minutes because the school playground was too crowded with reporters and bystanders, the sina.com web portal reported
The moves come as the country marks the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake which hit Sichuan province on 12 May last year.
More than 80,000 people are believed to have died in the quake, including at least 5,300 children.
The new policy calls for bigger relief stocks, satellite forecasting, and training for thousands of officials.
The government says more than 70% of China's cities, and more than half the population, are vulnerable to serious natural disasters.
China was widely praised for its rapid response to the Sichuan quake, but there was public anger over what was perceived to be the shoddy building of schools.
Parents who lost their children have already expressed fears they will not be allowed to properly commemorate the disaster's anniversary.
Many parents want to return to the site of the schools where their children died.
But the authorities have previously previously prevented them from doing so.
'Touched'
Meanwhile, details have been released of a letter from the Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Jibao, to school students in Sichuan. He told them he was touched by a book of paintings they sent him depicting their experiences.
It was called Beautiful Flowers - the words he wrote on a blackboard at the scene of the devastation.
And former Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang, visited a primary school in the hard-hit Beichuan county, holding an athletics class.
But the lesson was cut short after only five minutes because the school playground was too crowded with reporters and bystanders, the sina.com web portal reported
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