Farming absorbs the biggest chunk of the EU budget
Related Stories
The European Union’s executive arm has asked for a significant increase in the annual EU budget – risking a new row with member states.
The European Commission asked for a 4.9% rise – well above EU inflation, which is about 3%.
The British government said 4.9% was “not acceptable” at a time when EU states were imposing austerity cuts.
The Commission’s request for a near-6% rise last year caused a major dispute with the UK and other countries.
After lengthy negotiations the 2011 budget increase was capped at 2.91%.
A 4.9% increase would take the Commission’s budget for 2012 to 132.7bn euros (£117bn).
EU Budget Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski described the request as “a delicate balancing act combining austerity and growth-boosting measures for 500 million Europeans”.
He insisted the Commission needed to meet spending commitments already made – though he said he expected “tough negotiations” over the size of the budget.
A British government spokesman also suggested negotiations ahead, saying: “A 4.9% increase would not be acceptable to us… We will work very closely with other EU governments to drive the hardest possible bargain.”
Last year more than 80bn euros of the budget was allocated to farming subsidies and regional development spending.
The biggest increases in the new budget are for regional development, research, and measures to encourage economic growth, according to Reuters news agency.
With newer, poorer members of the EU receiving the most development spending, the argument over budget increases is often between them and the older, richer nations.
Last year Britain, France and Germany proposed that the EU budget be frozen until 2020, with any increases linked to inflation.
British Conservative MEP Martin Callanan said: “This year we would expect the European Commission to adjust to the mood of austerity that is sweeping the rest of Europe. Every other public sector organisation is cutting back and the EU should do the same.”
The European arm of Britain’s Labour Party also said it would oppose the increase.
MEP Derek Vaughan said: “We believe that savings can be found to avoid this increase and still put money into areas that are in vital need of EU support.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Production of Toyota cars has been affected by the lack of supply from factories in Japan
Related Stories
Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker, has said it will close its UK plant at Burnaston in Derbyshire for two days each week in May to manage the current shortage of car parts.
The firm said workers had also agreed to limit production to half a shift on the other three days during May.
Car makers have been facing a shortage of parts due to the damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
The reduced hours will commence from 3 May.
“The combination of this and flexible working arrangements will help ensure that we are able to quickly respond to the demand for our products as soon as parts are available,” Toyota said in a statement.
Toyota has already announced plans to cut production by 70% from 26 April to 3 June in North America, and has said it will curb production at its factories in China.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The hot weather is set to continue over the Easter weekend
Most of the UK looks set to bask in hot sunshine this weekend as the high temperatures are forecast to continue.
The good weather comes as many take advantage of the Easter break, school holidays and royal wedding bank holiday to take an extended break.
Large parts of the country have had warm sunshine for the past week.
Meanwhile, the RSPCA has reminded pet owners about the dangers of leaving animals in hot cars, conservatories or caravans.
A BBC Weather Centre spokeswoman said: “The average temperature in London is usually 14 degrees at this time of year but today we are forecasting 26 degrees.
“But it’s not just London. The whole of England, Wales and Northern Ireland can expect sunshine over the next few days.”
She said Scotland could expect sunny intervals but more cloudy weather.
She said the good weather was expected to last over the whole weekend but they were not forecasting beyond Monday.
Abta said two million Britons were due to head abroad from Maundy Thursday (21 April) to the following Tuesday, with Spain being the favourite destination.
The enhanced content on this page requires Javascript and Flash Player 9
Map Key
Land
Cloud
Lakes, Rivers & Sea
Fog
Light
Heavy
Frost
Light
Heavy
Pressure Fronts
Cold
Warm
Occluded
Rain
Light
Heavy
Extreme
Snow
Light
Heavy
Temperature tab only
Temperature (°C) 
Send your pictures and videos to [email protected] or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7725 100 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.
Read the terms and conditions
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The Valley Boys pick up their £4,091,609 cheque at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Related Stories
Four rugby fans from the south Wales valleys will splash out on tickets for the World Cup in New Zealand after a £4m lottery win.
The four friends have scooped £1m each after their syndicate, known as The Valley Boys, matched Saturday’s draw.
Terry Roberts, 50, and Mike Williams, 45, Lance Gifford, 50, and accounts manager Gerwyn Jones, 48, have been rugby club friends for 20 years.
Their winning ticket was one of four that shared the £16m rollover jackpot.
“The most we’d ever won was £80 a few years back so when I saw we had matched six numbers, I didn’t believe it,” said Mr Roberts, who has managed the syndicate for his friends since 2003.
“Once everyone knew, we went back to mine for a party”
Terry Roberts Syndicate member
“I dragged my wife out of bed so she could check the ticket for me.
“I knew Gerwyn would be the only other member of the syndicate up at that time in the morning so I called him up to tell him but he didn’t believe me so I had to go round to his house and show him the ticket.
“We then went round to Mike’s house and banged on the door till he got up to tell him the news and then did the same to Lance.
“Once everyone knew, we went back to mine for a party.”
The syndicate won with a lucky-dip line of randomly selected numbers, bought at a shop in Ferndale, Rhondda.
As well as a planned trip to the Rugby World Cup this autumn, the four winners say they will be buying new cars and paying off their mortgages.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Elite and amateur athletes often say they need to spit
For many, seeing someone spit in the street is unpleasant, but one councillor is going as far as demanding it be outlawed. So is spitting ever justified, asks Tom de Castella.
A few centuries ago spitting in the street was as normal as tipping your chamber pot out of the window.
Today “flobbing” or “gobbing” as it’s colloquially known, is considered by many to be ugly, anti-social and potentially disease spreading.
And yet it’s a taboo that is regularly broken by people with a mouthful of phlegm. Some like England footballer Wayne Rooney – who was accused in October 2008 of spitting at a photographer – use spitting to show contempt.
But while spitting at people is manifestly unacceptable, the mere act of spitting on the pavement is not so clear-cut. For some, it’s socially acceptable, for others it is a gruesome piece of anti-social behaviour.
Tiger Woods and Wayne Rooney have both been criticised
Now the problem has come to a head with a north London councillor calling for spitting in public places to be banned. Councillor Chris Bond, Enfield Council’s cabinet member for environment, has asked Justice Secretary Ken Clarke to let local authorities introduce by-laws prohibiting the practice.
Until 1990, spitting was an offence carrying a £5 fine and Bond wants the new ban to be enforced by litter wardens.
“It is my belief that most people find spitting a wholly obnoxious, filthy habit which can spread germs and causes health issues,” Bond says.
“Banning spitting in Enfield will help combat tuberculosis which has been on the increase in London.”
“Here I sitting behind in a dark place, a lady spit backward upon me by a mistake, not seeing me, but after seeing her to be a very pretty lady, I was not troubled at it at all”
Diarist Samuel Pepys On spitting
So is spitting unhealthy?
During the 1940s, when tuberculosis was widespread it was common to see “Spitting Prohibited” signs on the buses, says Sir Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at Aberdeen University. “TB was still very common. The signs were justified for a packed bus where everyone was smoking and coughing. But the situation’s changed – the rate of TB has dropped like a stone.”
It’s theoretically possible for a lump of spit on the pavement to spread TB, he says. The spit would have to contain the tubercle bacillus and dry out of sunlight, which kills the bacteria.
The particle would need to be blown into the air while the sample was still fresh and be inhaled directly into someone’s lung. Such a scenario is highly unlikely – these days TB is rare and the saliva is more likely to be washed away by the rain or destroyed by ultraviolet rays.
What is much more dangerous than spit, is vomiting in public, which can pass on the far more infectious norovirus, Professor Pennington says. “The councillor’s right to say spitting is a nuisance like people urinating in the street. But it’s not a public health issue.”
But the health issue is not what the opponents of spitting are necessarily concerned about.
Spitting customsSpitting in street is commonplace in China despite government efforts to discourage itIn Western Europe, attitudes have hardened and by the 19th Century spitting was frowned on in many countriesIn football spitting on the pitch is common, but spitting at another player can be severely punished
Simon Fanshawe, author of The Done Thing, praises Bond for taking a stand against an ugly habit. “Well done him. None of us like being spat at.”
But still it’s hard to put one’s finger on exactly why many people find spitting so repugnant. In China and Turkey there is no problem with spitting in public, it’s simply a convenient way of removing something unpleasant from one’s mouth.
Part of the problem with spitting is the showing off, Fanshawe says. With a guttural growl we summon up a perfect specimen of hockle before launching it grenade-like to some unseen target across the pavement.
“Spitting in the gutter or grate is not so bad. What people object to is the casual spraying around of saliva, doing it without thought for people’s feelings,” he says. Before the advent of sewers everyone spat in the street, he acknowledges. “Victorian cities just stank – people vomited, urinated and spat in the street. We’ve got rather genteel since then and locked away our bodily functions.”
Fanshawe feels our newfound gentility is a function of our more developed society and people should respect our more fastidious sensibilities. And new rules, like the introduction of quiet coaches on trains, might help but the crucial aspect is a sense of public outrage, he argues.
A professional spitter
I have absolutely no inhibitions about spitting in public. In fact, if I didn’t, I’d probably have cirrhosis of the liver.
At first you do feel a bit undignified. When I was starting out, the wine expert at the Times told me that I should practice spitting in the bath.
Some people are better at it than others. A few wine critics – mainly men – get a lot of power behind it and can stand further away from the spittoon. They treat it like a sport.
“The best way to stop spitting is for the good citizens to confront people and say ‘excuse me would you mind not doing that please?’ The police certainly haven’t got the time to stop it,” he says.
And at the moment it’s only sportsmen like Rooney and golfer Tiger Woods – caught on camera in February’s Dubai Desert Classic – who are publicly shamed for spitting.
But Woods was defended by America commentators. Many amateur athletes, especially joggers, can be seen spitting out a mouthful of saliva in the street. So do we need to cut them some slack, and therefore think hard before an absolute ban?
John Brewer, professor of sport at Bedfordshire University and a keen marathon runner, says there’s a reason many runners spit. Running at a modest pace a jogger will breathe in and out 150 litres of air every minute, he says. “That inevitably dries the mouth. And while some runners deal with it by swallowing others find that it’s better to spit out that dry saliva.”
The way spitting is viewed has changed over time
But Brewer urges runners to think twice before they spit. “It’s not the most socially endearing of habits that will put runners in a good light. So if you really need to spit do it into a handkerchief or if you haven’t got anything one, do it into your T shirt. There’s always a way to avoid flobbing onto the pavement.”
But for David Castle, editor of Running Fitness, people need to keep a sense of proportion. “I’ll own up and say I’m a spitter. I don’t see it as a problem. I’ve run for 30 years and think it’s just part and parcel of running.”
When you’re exercising you build up an excess of saliva and sometimes that means spitting, he argues. As long as you direct the saliva towards the ground rather than in someone’s face there’s no problem, he believes. But context is all.
It may be okay for runners but spitting in the street is forbidden for the humble pedestrian, he adds.
And as long as there is ambiguity, the disgusted beholders may be left waiting for their crackdown.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Teachers can feel undermined and intimidated by workplace bullying 
