Which is not surprising given that members seem to do little more than spend their evenings in draughty halls waving their arms about
Posted in General on 30. Jul, 2010
Which is not surprising, given that members seem to do little more than spend their evenings in draughty halls waving their arms about whilst breathing deeply. And whilst the Chinese are up in arms about its subversive activities, there is absolutely no doubt that the British authorities are not in the slightest bit worried. Given that the papers have spent the past few months writing about a sinister cult which has put the wind up the Chinese government, it seemed reasonable to assume he would be, well, Chinese. In three years the movement, which absolutely hates being described as a cult, has attracted around 300 supporters in the UK. THE FIRST THING that strikes you when meeting Peter Jauhal, the man who introduced Falun Gong into Britain, is that he is Indian.
The proposal is that cases should be assessed in terms of turnover or market share.. The paper specifically points out that the issues were raised at the time of the pounds 623m bid for Manchester United by Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB, ultimately blocked by the Government.Protection would also be extended to many information technology firms, whose value is in knowledge or software rather than in hard assets. Stephen Byers, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, is set to publish these proposals in a consultation paper on reform to the rules on monopolies and mergers, which also seeks to end the role of politicians in the process – apart from in special cases such as the media and defence. “We want to create a something for something culture,” one government source said. “The Premier League has won dispensation to negotiate collectively and in return football has to fulfil its responsibility.”Although soccer is at present the nation’s richest sport, the same principle would apply to other sports if they cashed in on television rights.Mr Smith’s intervention comes as the Government prepares new proposals to allow competition authorities to investigate bids to take over companies with assets worth less than pounds 70m.This would include many of the smaller Premier League clubs and could bring them greater protection from media takeover bids.
Ministers are considering setting up a joint fund with football authorities to ensure that payments are kept up.Mr Smith wants to discuss proposals that include the setting up of hundreds of mini soccer pitches – with scaled down goals – for primary school children, building more astroturf pitches and funding improvements to local park facilities. The football clubs had argued for collective bargaining on the grounds that it enabled them to act as generous benefactors; they have agreed to give 5 per cent of their income – likely to total around pounds 50m – to grassroots facilities.But Mr Smith will warn the Premier League that it will keep the right to make lucrative television deals only if it demonstrates its commitment to the community. PREMIER LEAGUE football clubs are to be ordered by the Government to give more money for school playing fields and park pitches in return for retaining the right to negotiate television deals collectively. Chris Smith, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, has summoned Britain’s top soccer clubs to a meeting, following their court victory over the Office of Fair Trading last week, to discuss ways in which they can help boost grassroots football.
The restrictive practices court ruled that the Premier League’s collective negotiations were not against the public interest. They are also selling drugs, dealing in counterfeit currency and using bogus credit cards to help fund their activities at overseas matches.Bryan Drew, head of strategic and specialist intelligence at the NCIS, said he expected the new law to lead to a huge rise in international and domestic banning orders.HOEY’S RED CARD, PAGE 5. Investigations by the NCIS show they are using the internet, mobile phones and pagers to organise match violence.
There are also plans for detectives from British Transport Police to be seconded to the NCIS’s football unit.The moves are in response to hooligans now focusing their criminal activities outside the football grounds. Fans will also be barred from going abroad for up to 10 years if they commit a football-related offence.Intelligence officers at the NCIS will focus on up to 200 individuals thought responsible for masterminding attacks on fans and police. Previously, police could arrest only groups of fans for offences such as racist chanting, a restriction that made it difficult to get convictions But now individual thugs can be arrested. Courts will also find it easier to issue banning orders, which now apply to offences committed 24 hours before or after a match. But under the Football Act introduced last week, the police and courts will have stronger powers to deal with football criminals. During the past season, arrests rose from 52 between 1997 to 1998, to 100 over the past year, and arrests for all types of football-related offences also rose for the first time in six years.The surge in violence is seen as tainting minor league clubs as well as the Premier League. Initially regarded by commentators as a gaffe, sources close to the new minister were yesterday claiming it showed “her popular touch”.