UK 'has squandered oil revenues'

The UK's North Sea oil and gas reserves are much reducedThe government has been accused of "squandering" the windfalls of the country's now dwindling North Sea oil and gas reserves.
Income from these sources should have been better invested in renewable energy, says a report by the New Economics Foundation and the WWF.

It also claims that £1 in every £12 of government income comes from oil or gas, making it "hooked" on the fuels.

The Treasury said it increased the tax on North Sea oil firms in 2005.
'Urgent transition'

The New Economics Foundation (NEF) and Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) report alleges that, as the government gets so much money from fossil fuels, it has a powerful short-term disincentive to "kick the fossil fuel habit".

The UK needs to admit its addiction to oil, and make a tough decision to get clean
WWF's oil policy officer James Leaton
"Britain has squandered its windfall of natural resources from North Sea oil and gas," said NEF policy director Andrew Simms, the report's lead author.

He called on the government to quickly introduce a new windfall tax to help the UK pay for its "urgent transition to a sustainable, decentralised energy system".

The government's revenues from oil and gas
"The UK needs to admit its addiction to oil, and make a tough decision to get clean," added report co-author James Leaton, of WWF.

Environmental commitment
A Treasury spokesman said the government increased the rate of the supplementary charge on North Sea oil companies in the 2005 Pre-Budget Report.

"The government is committed to ensuring that policies reflect its wider environmental, economic and social objectives," he said.

He added the government already funds several schemes to incentivise sustainable energy production and use.

Such projects include the Renewables Obligation, which requires all electricity suppliers to source a growing percentage each year of their total sales from renewable sources.

Primary pupils 'need sex lessons'

Children as young as 10 should

be taught about contraception

in their final year at primary school,

a leading think-tank says.

The recommendation, by the Institute

for Public Policy Research, comes after

its study showed British teenagers are

the most sexually active in Europe.

It also found the UK had the highest

teen pregnancy rate while almost one in

three 15-year-olds did not use condoms.

The Department for Education

says the UK's teenage pregnancy

rate is falling.

The report, Freedom's Orphans:

Raising Youth in a Changing World,

is released in full next month.

Currently all schools in England

and Wales have to teach sex education

to 11 to 14-year-olds as part of the science

curriculum.

But schools can choose to teach it

through Personal, Social and

Health Education (PSHE).

The IPPR wants this to be mandatory.

..PrEsCoTT BaCkS RiGhT To WeAr VeiL..

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has defended the right

of Muslim women to wear veils which cover their faces.

It comes after House of Commons leader

Jack Straw sparked a row by saying he asked

Muslim women to take off their veils at his

constituency surgery.

Mr Prescott told the BBC he would not ask

a woman to remove her veil, adding: "If a

woman wants to wear a veil, why shouldn't

she? It's her choice."

But he said he welcomed the "proper debate"

caused by Mr Straw's remarks.

Mr Straw said on Friday he did not

want to be "prescriptive" but he

believed that covering people's faces

could make community relations more

difficult.

Mr Prescott, who was interviewed on

BC One's Sunday AM programme, said there

should never be "no go" areas for debate.

He added that his colleague was

better placed than anyone else

in the Cabinet to discuss the issue

due the large number of Muslims in

his Blackburn constituency.

The deputy prime minister said he understood the issue of "separateness" raised by the former foreign secretary.

But he said: "I do fear when you say you emphasise separation there is a fear in the general public that somehow that shouldn't happen."

Mr Prescott said veils were a "cultural difference", adding: "If somebody comes into my constituency wearing... a turban or very dark glasses I'm not going to ask them to remove it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4801801.stm

gLoBaLiSaTiOn

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