London riots: David Cameron approves water cannon - Daily Telegraph
Mr Cameron spoke after chairing a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee. He rebutted criticisms from Boris Johnson about proposed cuts in police numbers. The London Mayor today caused anger in Downing Street by saying London’s police strength should not be lessened.
But Mr Cameron hit back saying: “Mayors, local authorities, always want more money, I don’t blame them for that, it’s the government job to make sure they get want they need and get the most out of what they’ve got.” all mayors “want more money.”
Instead, Mr Cameron pointed out that increasing to 16,000 the number of officers in London last night, illustrated that what was possible to “get the most out of what we’ve got.”
He said: “We won’t do anything that will reduce the number of visible police on our streets.”
Attacking the looters for their lawlessness, Mr Cameron said there was a “moral problem”, often the result of poor parenting. He added that as well as a problem for politicians it was “a problem for society.”
London 2012: Strike off after Tube staff agree Olympic pay deal - BBC News
A deal has been agreed for London Underground staff to receive extra pay for working during the Olympics.
The RMT union said it had reached an agreement with London Underground (LU).
It said drivers could earn up to £1,000 while other staff could get up to £850 in recognition of the "massive additional pressures" they will face.
The union added that it was still balloting its control staff and its maintenance members on strike action over other pay and condition issues.
Some of the workers who were being balloted for industrial action are employed by a contractor, which the union said had rejected a claim for an Olympic bonus.
A date has not been set for strikes if members vote to take this action.
Transport for London said RMT members now joined those of Aslef and Unite who had signed up to the deal and TSSA, which has agreed in principle.
The union said that it still had concerns about the staffing levels planned by LU and the use of untrained volunteers "at a time when safety and security will be absolutely paramount".
The union has also repeated its demand for a full-scale, mock emergency evacuation to test the robustness of the safety procedures in operation.
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: "After months of hard work by our negotiators we have been able to come to an agreement that both protects the contractual rights and existing agreements of our members and rewards them in recognition of what we all know will be the biggest transport challenge ever faced by this city."
Howard Collins, LU chief operating officer, said: "I am pleased that we have now got agreement from all four unions on our proposals for how we can fairly reward staff over the London 2012 Games.
"I know our staff are keen to play their part in the Games and, now that we have agreement across the board, we can all look forward to focusing on supporting a fantastic summer of sport and cultural events in London."
New London council saves jobs of firefighters, cops, but other jobs cut - TheDay
New London — Late Tuesday night, the City Council approved the city's $83 million budget, moving funds around to save the jobs of 25 firefighters and 10 police officers.
But the council's action will mean cuts and layoffs elsewhere. The council eliminated the deputy police chief position, the director of the office of development and planning and an office secretary, the assistant city clerk and the director of risk management. It also reduced the salaries of the chief administrative officer by $20,000, the executive assistant to the mayor by $15,000 and finance director by $20,000.
Because all the amendments made by the council were in a single motion, President Michael Passero, who is a city firefighter, and Councilor Anthony Nolan, who is a police officer, had to recuse themselves from the vote.
The remaining councilors voted 4-1 to on the amendments with Councilor Wade Hyslop voting no. Councilors John Maynard, Donald Macrino, Adam Sprecace and Marie Friess-McSparran voted in favor of the reductions.
Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio had said that 25 firefighters and 10 police officers would be laid off to meet the budget, and layoff notices went out last week. The layoffs would save the city about $1.2 million.
Some councilors questioned how the mayor could announce layoffs when he had agreed that the proposed $83 million budget was sufficient to maintain all city jobs.
"We had a deal. ... We were going to work together to convince the city that we needed an 8 percent tax increase,'' Passero said, adding that he cannot trust the numbers coming from the administration or take Finizio at his word.
The budget meeting took a strange turn when the police chief sent a text message to the finance director saying she had enough money in her overtime budget to avoid laying off 10 police officers.
"This is no way to run a government,'' said Council President Michael Passero.
Councilor Adam Sprecace called for a recess and, when he returned, he said, "Obviously what everyone is witnessing tonight is not government at its best."
"This is outrageous,'' he said, reacting to Ackley's 11th-hour announcement that she had found money to avoid layoffs.
After hearing from more than a dozen firefighters who received layoff notices on Friday, the council spent most of its time trying to find money in other parts of the budget to save the jobs.
"I am absolutely, thoroughly disgusted,'' Passero said during the meeting. "We have little control over management of this administration. I have lost patience with the disrespect this administration has for this council. We tried to fashion an honest budget, and we had one. To come to this point tonight is disheartening. ... I can't get to the truth of what's going on."
A couple of dozen people, including 14 firefighters who had received layoff notices, pleaded with the council to save the jobs of 25 firefighters and 10 police officers set to be laid off June 1.
"I'm begging for help. We're calling 911 and looking for help,'' said Al Mayo, who finished the fire academy last week and received a layoff notice Friday.
Mayo, the first black to be hired in the city in more than 30 years, has been the center of a hiring controversy for several months.
"You have to help us,'' he said.
Firefighters told the council they had families to support, mortgage payments and student loans, and talked of their love of the job and the city.
Kevin Campbell said he relocated from New Jersey to work in New London so he could follow his dream of becoming a professional firefighter.
"I'm now 25 years old, a city of New London resident and taxpayer and up until last week never regretted moving here away from my family,'' he said.
"I'm basically homeless," said Thomas Feliciano, who said he sold his house in Waterford and had put in bids on two houses in New London but had to take them back because of the threat of losing his job.
Firefighters from throughout Connecticut joined their New London counterparts before the council meeting outside City Hall to protest the potential layoffs.
"Any of us could be in the same position,'' said Jeff Erhart, a member of the Poquonnock Bridge department in Groton. "Locally, these are some of the most loyal public servants. They really care about their job and the city."
Also showing support were representatives from Waterford, Norwich, the Submarine Base, West Haven, UConn Health Center and Pratt & Whitney.
Vic Spinnato, a 41-year veteran of the department, said no one has ever been laid off from the New London department. "No one, ever,'' he said.
The city budget includes $40.6 million for education and is about a 1.2 percent increase in spending but would require more than an 8 percent increase in taxes.
Finizio can veto the budget and voters can send it to a referendum.
The council's Finance Committee spent weeks going through the budget line by line and cut the mayor's request by about $4 million. Finizio said his proposal of $87 million, which would have required a 20 percent hike in taxes, would have preserved all jobs in the city.
In addition to public safety layoffs, the school department has put 68 teachers and staff on notice that they could lose their jobs. Three public works employees and one in parks and recreation also received layoff notices. The city is not replacing the personnel coordinator, who is retiring at the end of the month. Also, two members of the mayor's staff will take a 5 percent cut in pay.
Vauxhall Mokka SUV breaks cover - Daily Telegraph
Vauxhall is keen to promote the car's practicality, claiming a generous cargo volume of up to 1,372 litres and the latest generation Flex-Fix bicycle carrier that is fully integrated into the rear underbody, allowing the carriage of up to three bicycles.
Vauxhall Ampera: most eagerly awaited car of 2012 - Daily Telegraph
This doesn’t mean that the Ampera will not make it to the top like those Edwardian cars on the Cairnwell Pass, but the Vauxhall’s engine can only summon a maximum 85bhp and dragging the 1.7-ton Ampera uphill without battery assistance is going to be a long, slow ascent.
To prevent this happening, the Mountain Mode program needs to be activated 15 minutes before the ascent. This keeps the engine running for longer than normal to give sufficient charge to allow full performance all the way up. Subsequent models might include some sort of predictive navigation software that could activate Mountain Mode in good time if it determined a steep ascent ahead.
And steep they have to be. GM’s European engineers spent the past year driving up and down Alpine passes without finding a single one that requires Mountain Mode. In the US, engineers only required it on a couple of ascents up the Rockies.
I had high hopes of the Cairnwell Pass, however, particularly if we drove spiritedly to use up the battery power.
Harry Inglis’s Contour Road Book of Scotland describes the road from Bridge of Cally as “rising 1:17 followed by several undulations, with quick turns, mostly 1:13”. From the Glenshee Hotel, the route passes through “uninhabited country, and after three miles, clambers up the hillside”. The notorious 1:3 Devil’s Elbow, near the end of the 18.7-mile ascent, is bypassed these days on the way to the 2,199ft summit. Frankly, the Ampera breezed it.
There was more than enough power from petrol and battery reserve to accelerate strongly, even at the end, where we needed full power to overtake a Polish artic. We covered the 18.7 miles in 29 minutes at an average 38.7mph, although ascending 1,699ft from the Bridge of Cally took its toll on the battery and we ended with just four miles left of EV mode. Then we drove around to use up the last of the EV mode and attacked the slope with equal gusto. To make things tougher, we put on the air-conditioning, headlights and radio. Without the Polish truck to negotiate, we climbed faster and arrived in 24 minutes at an average speed of 49.7mph.
And while the Ampera never ran out of power, the engine was labouring as we approached the summit and flooring the throttle was the only way to access the dregs of battery power to speed the climb. The reserve was there, but there wasn’t a lot left.
So the Ampera conquered the Cairnwell Pass and in doing so showed how over-engineered and charmingly first generation it is. This is the stiffest incline test that an Ampera is ever going to face in the British Isles, so is Mountain Mode necessary? Put it this way: its inclusion is a measure of just how much GM’s engineers want this car to be a no-compromise solution.
Electric driveline explained
The Ampera consists of a 16kWh, lithium-ion battery, a four-cylinder, 1.4-litre, 85bhp petrol engine, a main electric motor, a secondary electric motor/generator and an epicyclic transmission.
Four main modes of operation are mainly to do with the interplay between the two electric motors. Single-motor electric-vehicle (EV) mode is at speeds below 60mph where the main battery supplies its 149bhp/273lb ft to the front wheels. Two-motor EV-mode means both motors are engaged thus reducing their overall speed and therefore increasing efficiency and reducing battery drain.
Once the battery charge is exhausted (usually after about 40 miles), the petrol engine starts, which extends the range to about 310 miles. Single-motor extended-range driving is where the petrol engine drives the secondary motor/generator, which supplies current to the primary electric motor to drive the front wheels. At high speeds, the secondary motor works as a generator.
The question is why you’d want to squander top-speed efficiency by using the engine to generate electricity for the motors. In the US, however, the Ampera/Volt was major news, because of how it was sold as a technically different solution to the Toyota Prius hybrid.
What's it like to drive?
While based on a Vauxhall Astra floorpan, the overwhelming impression of the Ampera is just how special and different it is. Passers-by walked up to ask about it, people took photos and oncoming drivers craned their necks so much we feared for their safety.
The aerodynamic styling is distinctive and efficient, partly because the car needs all its overrun inertia to charge the battery rather than heating the brakes.
In the cabin, electronic displays in front of the driver and in the centre console convey a huge amount of information, but can be confusing. In spite of the massive battery pack along the centre line, the driving position is comfortable.
A polyphonic whooshing noise indicates that the Ampera is ready for action. Performance is brisk and fuel consumption impressive, but the ride is soft and the damping occasionally struggles to contain the bouncing moments of the heavy driveline. The steering gives little indication of what the front wheels are up to, although the predominant trait is nose-on understeer. Performance car it isn’t, but it can be driven briskly provided the road is reasonably smooth.
With a total range of about 310 miles, you need to keep your eye on the fuel gauge as well. We had our own form of range anxiety on the Cairnwell Pass when we realised we were fast in danger of running out of fuel, both volts and litres. We only just made it into Braemar to fill up with the latter. For all the press releases that arrive each week telling us about new battery charging points, there are still precious few in the farther flung parts of the country.
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