Downing Street // Current TV

Civil Disobedience at Downing Street for 9/11 Justice

Gareth Newnham reports: On Monday 31st January 2011, in solidarity with Jon... more

rodstradamus
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1 year ago
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Rat on the steps of No 10 Downing Street during BBC news report

On Sunday evening, BBC news was talking to their correspondent Gary O'Donoghue... more

Mcellie
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1 year ago
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The Royal Wedding: Who foots the bill and do we get a bank holiday?

Nobody really cares which ring William used to propose to Kate (his mother's £28,000 engagement ring from Garrard) or how he popped the question (12,000ft above sea level in Kenya) or why they waited a month after getting engaged to tell the world (they wanted to wait until after Kate's grandfather's funeral last Friday. Ok, fine, I care).
What we're all really interested in is are we paying for it and do we get a day off work?
Who foots the bill?
Generally press reception, even in the left wing papers, has been positive. Who wouldn't be happy for a young couple in love? And besides, a good royal wedding provides months of speculation, scandal and sell-out issues. In this economic climate, however, it'll be the wedding's finances that bring out the critics.
As Boris Johnson told press as he gave his congratulations to the couple: "I'm not saying the wedding should be cut-price or bargain, but a cost-effective wedding in keeping with out cost-effective times."
A spokesman for the royal family stayed tight-lipped but did concede that "the couple are both very mindful of the economic situation the country is in."
Charles and Diana's wedding in 1981 was a lavish affair that's estimated to have cost more than £30m. William and Kate's won't come close to that - he's 'only' the heir to the heir to the throne - but it will be grand. The Queen paid for Charles and Camillla's wedding in 2005 and it's thought that the Prince of Wales will pay for a lot of the cost of his son's wedding from his personal fortune.
As taxpayers, we might have to fork out for policing and security costs. The Met police declined to comment on any plans, costs or who would pay.

Will there be a bank holiday?
It's likely. Downing Street has been non-committal on the subject but public enthusiasm (and pressure) is already rising, in particular on social networks like Twitter and Facebook.
When Charles and Diana wed, the country was granted a national holiday.
Coalition ministers must decide whether to grant another day's holiday when William and Miss Middleton tie the knot in spring or summer next year.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said: "Those sorts of discussions are yet to be had." Nobody really cares which ring William used to propose to Kate (his mother's... more

richjm
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1 year ago
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2 comments

Thousands protest against Government Spending Review

Thousands of students, trade unionists, community groups and others marched through... more

spectacle
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1 year ago
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Free Milk Row Turns Sour

A letter proposed the government aimed to abolish the free milk scheme by April 2011.... more

Mcellie
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1 year ago
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Nick Clegg's 'illegal' Iraq war comment prompts legal warning

Clegg took on the dispatch box role in yesterdays PMQs, since Cameron is visiting the... more

Mcellie
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1 year ago
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General Election in Lego

The figures of Nick Clegg, David Cameron and Gordon Brown have been portrayed in Lego... more

sophosthegreat
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2 years ago
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Flight 253 attack leading to a 3rd War??? “US plans Attacks on Yemen”…

On Saturday, Obama said the Christmas day non-attack over Detroit was the work of... more

ctpatriot1970
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2 years ago
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Lockerbie Bomber freed for oil deal....?

Downing Street today came under further pressure to explain the circumstances surrounding the release of the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing amid reports that a decision that could have paved the way for him to serve his sentence in Libya was approved by No 10.

The Times reported that the move to include Abdelbaset al-Megrahi in a prisoner transfer agreement in 2007 was a government decision and was not made at the sole discretion of Jack Straw, the justice secretary.

The paper quoted a source close to Straw as saying: "It wasn't just Jack who decided this. It was a government decision. Jack did not act unilaterally."

Straw yesterday denied allegations that he gave the Scottish government the green light to release Megrahi, in the "overwhelming interests" of wider trade and oil negotiations with the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi. After publication of leaked letters purporting to show that Straw had reversed an earlier decision to exclude the Libyan agent from the proposed 2007 UK-Libya prisoner transfer agreement (PTA), he admitted the issue had become a stumbling block.

Straw's apparent change of heart came at a crucial time during negotiations about an oil exploration contract for BP in Libya. Six weeks later, the deal was ratified. The disclosures have prompted calls for an inquiry from opposition parties and relatives of the victims.

The Liberal Democrats' foreign affairs spokesman, Edward Davey, said: "Labour ministers will not now escape the suspicion of a terrorist-for-trade deal unless they agree to the transparency of a full inquiry."

Frank Duggan, president of the family group Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 Inc, described the disclosures as "shocking".

He told BBC Radio Five Live: "If there was a direct connection with trade, particularly oil, then the connection is with Britain not with Scotland, and I think the Brits will have something to answer for."

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's deputy first minister, said it was no secret that the UK government had negotiated a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya.

Footage of Megrahi in his hospital bed was broadcast last night by Channel 4 News, showing the bomber attached to a drip and wearing an oxygen mask. He was propped up on pillows, unshaven, and hooked up to tubes and a monitor. A picture of Gaddafi hung on the wall and a copy of the Qur'an lay beside his bed. When asked by a reporter if his release was related to an oil deal signed two years ago, he refused to answer.Downing Street today came under further pressure to explain the circumstances... more

bansheewail
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2 years ago
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'The Drugs Do Work' New anti-drugs campaign

It's true that one in three adults in the UK have taken them, as have the last... more

Mr_Costello
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2 years ago
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7 comments

Obama asks for Rowling's autograph

The US president reportedly asked author JK Rowling for her autograph when they met at... more

ClareW
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3 years ago
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Obama's beast of a car struggles in Brown's cul de sac

My favourite scene from Austin Powers - when Mike Myers gets stuck doing a 1,000 point... more

emmahill
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3 years ago
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5 comments

London famous sites circa 1996

A look back at some photos of London taken 12 years ago on a disposable camera

1978jamesb
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3 years ago
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UK government unveils £50 billion emergency bank rescue

The Chancellor Allistair Darling has announced a new emergency proposal which will... more

mattbrawn
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3 years ago
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5 comments

Top Jeer

So, fifty thousand people signed an official petition demanding that Jeremy Clarkson... more

graemesmith
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3 years ago
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2 comments

Adrian Sudbury, Bone Marrow Campaiger passes away.

News is coming in this morning that Adrian Sudbury, the 26 year old author of... more

FreyaS
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3 years ago
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Downing Street goes all 2.0 and launches new website

True, this might not be as exciting to the average young web user as, say,... more

richjm
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3 years ago
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Heathrow hater glues himself to Gordon Brown

A campaigner against the further expansion of Heathrow Airport attempted to glue his... more

mattbrawn
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3 years ago
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Round 2, Bush and Brown at Downing Street

George W Bush is concluding his two-day visit to the UK today with a meeting with... more

mattbrawn
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3 years ago
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Dalai Lama: Tibet could be 'swamped' by mass Chinese settlement

The Dalai Lama claimed yesterday that Beijing was planning the mass settlement of 1... more

merasyad
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4 years ago
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