WEF ‘rigged data to make Brexit look like failure'
Klaus Schwab, the face of the Davos conference in Switzerland for years, allegedly intervened in the WEF's annual Global Competitiveness Report, which ranks countries on productivity and long-term prosperity.
In the 2017/2018 report, the UK's ranking improved from seventh to fourth after a change in methodology.
But Mr Schwab, 87, wrote to staff that the UK 'must not see any improvement', as otherwise it would be 'exploited by the Brexit camp'.
The final report published in 2017 showed the UK had dropped one place to eighth.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
8 minutes ago
- The Guardian
John Hipkin obituary
My father, John Hipkin, who has died aged 90, was a teacher, councillor and former mayor of Cambridge. He brought intelligence, compassion and moral clarity to his four decades serving in local government, first as a Labour county councillor for Romsey ward in 1977; later, as a founding member of the SDP, he became a Lib Dem city councillor for Castle ward in 1992. He then served as an independent until his retirement from local politics in 2021. He was chair of the planning committee for a period and was mayor in 2005-06. Choosing 'peace' as the focus of his year, he was touched to be invited to the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan to mark the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombings of those cities. John was also a co-founder of the Western Buddhist Order in 1967, and a founder, in 1960, and director for the Advisory Centre for Education, a service that gives advice to parents, carers, governors, local authorities and others on education law. He also did research at King's College Cambridge for the Public Schools Commission (1965-68), looking at the possibilities of integrating public schools into the maintained system of education. Born in Derby, John experienced adversity in his early life. His mother, Bunty (Elsie) Holloway, was forced to place John into the care of Dr Barnardo's when he was five; his two younger siblings, Anthony and Naomi, were adopted separately. His father, Jack Hipkin, a mounted police officer, was married, and during the second world war the relationship ended. After being placed with foster carers, education offered John a way forward. He passed the 11-plus, attended two grammar schools, first in Diss, Norfolk, and then in Surbiton, near Kingston upon Thames. He went to the London School of Economics, graduating with a first-class degree in history and economics. John became an English teacher and was determined to give back to the system that changed the direction of his life. In his first post at Senacre school in Maidstone, Kent, he developed his own English curriculum and wrote and produced a play, The Massacre of Peterloo (1968), which enlisted everyone in a collaborative production, with each student committed to a role. He later became head of English at Meridian school in Royston, Hertfordshire, and retired in 1995. He was reunited with his mother and his sister, who had changed her name from Naomi to Margaret, and his brother, Anthony, who died in 2014. Bunty had three other children, Hugh, David and Pamela. Rediscovering his siblings and their families was a healing experience. He is survived by his second wife, Marie-Louise (nee Holland), whom he married in 2004, and by his children Charlotte, Thomas, Joseph, Daniel and David, from his first marriage, to Bronwyn Dewey, which ended in divorce; me, from his relationship with Sylvie Chastagnol; and Imogen, from his marriage to Marie-Louise.
The Guardian
8 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Calls for clarity over whether UK police can release suspects' ethnicity and immigration status
Yvette Cooper is facing demands for clarity over the information that police forces are permitted to release to the public after claims of a 'cover-up' by the authorities over the immigration status of men accused of raping a child. The Warwickshire police and crime commissioner, Philip Seccombe, called for fresh national guidance after police were accused by Reform UK of failing to confirm that two Afghan men being prosecuted for the alleged attack on a 12-year-old girl were asylum seekers. There is increasing pressure on prosecutors and the police to release details about the ethnicity and immigration status of people facing a criminal charge. Cooper, the home secretary, said on Tuesday that the guidance should change to permit police to release the ethnicity or immigration status of criminal suspects but added that she was waiting for a review to be concluded by the Law Commission. Seccombe said: 'Like all forces, Warwickshire police finds itself in a difficult position of trying to carefully balance the legal safeguards which protect the integrity of the judicial process, while maintaining public order and simultaneously ensuring that public confidence is maintained through transparency and honesty. 'Currently police forces are in an invidious position when deciding what can and should be disclosed in sensitive cases, given that the national guidance is silent on both the ethnicity and immigration status of suspects. 'It is very easy to criticise and suggest that the balance of disclosure hasn't been correct, but it is much harder to take these decisions on the ground.' The alleged rape, said to have happened on 22 July, has become the centre of a political storm after the Reform leader, Nigel Farage, on Monday amplified claims of a police cover-up. On Tuesday the leader of Reform-led Warwickshire county council said police were refusing to confirm details of the two suspects charged after the alleged attack in Nuneaton. George Finch, the youngest council leader in England, alleged within days that Ahmad Mulakhil and Mohammad Kabir – the two men charged in the case – were asylum seekers, but police forces do not routinely release the immigration status of suspects. In a letter to Cooper, Finch claimed the police risked 'disorder breaking out on the streets' of the county. Cooper said on Tuesday that 'we do want to see greater transparency' from police forces and she wanted national guidance to change in relation to the release of information about suspects. Mulakhil has been charged with two counts of rape, while Kabir has been charged with kidnap, strangulation and aiding and abetting of the rape of a girl aged under 13. Both men are in custody and due to appear at Warwick crown court on 26 August. Warwickshire county council's chief executive briefed Finch confidentially about the immigration status of the two men, according to a letter by the force's chief constable, Alex Franklin-Smith. Franklin-Smith said he confirmed to Finch last Thursday that this information was accurate but that 'we wouldn't be releasing immigration status at point of charge as we follow national guidance'. The police chief said he had asked the Home Office to confirm the full immigration status of the two men, given that Finch had released some details publicly. He added: 'I am confident that Warwickshire police has treated this investigation seriously from the outset, working tirelessly to identify, locate, arrest and charge those suspected of being responsible for this awful crime as quickly as possible.' A Home Office spokesperson said: 'As the home secretary said yesterday, it has been widely reported that this case involves two Afghan individuals who are in the asylum system, some of which information has already been confirmed in open court. 'The home secretary has made clear that there is a strong public interest in maximum transparency wherever that is possible. 'That is why the Home Office and College of Policing are working together to strengthen and clarify the guidance around how and when information is released.'
BBC News
8 minutes ago
- BBC News
Redcar Council parking patrol CCTV cars to get £100k upgrade
A council has approved funding of £100,000 to upgrade CCTV car which captures footage of motorists flouting parking and traffic restrictions and introduce a second and Cleveland Council sanctioned spending on for new front and rear stingray cameras on its existing car which mainly patrols near in bus stops was another area set to be subject to increased monitoring, which in some instances blocked passengers from being picked up and dropped 2018 the enforcement vehicle had provided evidence leading to 2,450 penalty charge notices, the council said. A spending decision document said the greatest challenge for officers was the size of the borough and the number of schools with "significant challenges for repeated and equitable enforcement of restrictions".It said ensuring road safety around primary schools in particular on mornings and at home times was "imperative".A council spokesman said: "The authority is now looking to deploy a second enforcement vehicle which may be used in areas where crime and anti-social behaviour are identified as ongoing problems, as well as supporting public safety at events." The Labour-led authority signed off on £99,443 of funding, the Local Democracy Reporting Service sum included the cost of a five-year support and maintenance contract. Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
