Prince Andrew’s ski trip 2012: UK taxpayers pick up £39,000 bill for his chalet
By Emily Andrews
Last updated at 5:40 PM on 30th January 2012
Sloping off: Prince Andrew spent six hours on the piste
Six months after he was forced to step down as the UK’s trade envoy, Prince Andrew is still busily representing Britain – and costing a fortune.
Taxpayers face a bill of up to £39,000 for an eight-bedroom ski chalet used by the Duke of York while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
He attended a reception for UK trade delegates, gave a dinner for Indonesian businessmen and held a meeting with Azerbaijan’s billionaire dictator Ilham Aliyev.
The 51-year-old nicknamed Airmiles Andy hardly improved international relations when he poked fun at EU nations plunged into chaos by the problems of the euro.
At a cocktail party attended by international political and business leaders, he said foreign firms should invest in Britain, rather than Europe, because ‘unlike them it is open for business’.
He also boasted that the UK has another huge advantage – its own currency in the pound, rather than the ailing euro.
When not antagonising the Europeans, he of course found time to go skiing.
Accompanied by two publicly-funded aides and his royal protection officers, he hit the slopes near his chalet in Klosters on Saturday.
He spent six hours on the piste, breaking only for lunch at a mountain-top restaurant before returning to his chalet which has its own sauna, steam room, chef and chauffeur.
It is understood that the duke’s flights to and from Switzerland are by private jet, presumably also at taxpayers’ expense.
Prince Andrew stood down in July as the UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment amid a political storm over his friendship with U.S. billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender.
Swish and Swiss: Davos, the venue for the World Economic Forum
Dogged by claims of lavish spending as he jetted round the world, he was also criticised for his friendships with despots such as President Aliyev.
He was allowed to maintain a lower-profile role, and it was said he would concentrate on promoting the Olympics, apprenticeships and domestic small businesses.
But he was guest of honour at the reception for British businesses in Davos on Thursday – the kind of engagement he was widely expected to avoid after the controversies surrounding his role.
His meeting with President Aliyev, who is said to be a close friend, emerged through the Azerbaijan state news agency, which released a picture of the pair together.
Despite Amnesty International calling for the world to condemn Aliyev’s regime for human rights abuses, the duke has made at least eight visits to the country.
Shadow Justice Minister Chris Bryant said: ‘I thought we had dispensed with his services. There were plenty of UK representatives who could have all met with Aliyev if it was in our national interests.
‘At a time when everybody is feeling the pinch, it’s shocking Prince Andrew still thinks he should be entitled to an eight-bedroom mansion.’
A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said Andrew had been invited to the forum and was attending in his capacity as a senior member of the Royal Family.
His meeting with President Aliyev was one of many official engagements.
‘His role is to continue to support UK business and travel overseas as a senior member of the family, and visits which were already in the diary will be kept. He will be relinquishing it gradually.’
Buckingham Palace said today: ‘The cost of the entire visit is likely to be less than £10,000 not £39,000. Prince Andrew’s aides are not publicly funded and neither went skiing.’
Burgess Premier Small Animal Show 2012: Rabbit Grand National attracts the best of Britain’s bunnies
By Kerry Mcqueeney
Last updated at 1:54 PM on 29th January 2012
Groomed and poised for victory, when it comes to showjumping, these bunnies certainly know how to hop to it.
These are the furry competitors of the Rabbit Grand National, which was staged in Harrogate, Yorkshire.
The popular showjumping rabbit race is part of the larger Burgess Premier Small Animal Show, which attracted more than 3,000 contenders.
Big ears: An English lop-eared rabbit sits patently on the judging table at the event
Measuring up: Judges ensure another competitor’s dimensions meet the strict criteria as other bunnies wait their turn
Established in 1921, the event is the longest-running and biggest small animal show in the UK.
It is open to cavies, gerbils, hamsters, mice, rabbits and rats – with some breeders travelling from as far afield as Sweden to compete.
According to the organisers, breeders – also known as fanciers – hold the event in high esteem and, along with their pets, descended on Harrogate in Yorkshire to participate in the 2012 competition this weekend.
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Run, rabbit, run: Flora, a lop-eared rabbit from Sweden, clears the final jump in the Rabbit Grand National
Hop to it: One young bunny practices its jumps on the Rabbit Grand National track (left) while Dilba, a competitor from Sweden, is put through his paces (right)
Tense wait: The competitors do their best to be patient as they prepare to be assessed by the judges
Dressing room: Any contender worth their salt knows the importance of rest and relaxation before a big event
This year saw the biggest and best competition in the show’s 90-year history, with hundreds of spectators descending on the Yorkshire Events Centre to catch a glimpse of the four-legged competitors.
The show is dedicated solely to the promotion and exhibition of many species of small animals, organised by a dedicated committee on a not-for-profit basis.
Founded in 1921, it is the oldest event of its kind i
The event originally started life as the Bradford Championship Show and its inception is linked with Fur and Feather magazine, a publication dedicated to rabbits and other small animals.
Two’s company: A pair of white rabbits are scrutinised by the judges. The event attracts competitors from as far afield as Sweden
The heat is on: An Angora (left) and English lop eared rabbit (right) wait to hear how they’ve fared in the contest
Well-groomed: White rabbits look proud and preened as they line up next to each other
Four-legged opponent: One Satin rabbit surveys his furry rivals as judges check the contenders meet the competition’s standards
The magazine, which has been running since the 1880s, was owned and published by Bradford-based J.E. Watmough.
Mr Watmough wanted to bring together the specialist cavy, hamster, mouse, rabbit and rat groups under one roof and put on an animal show encompassing all of the different species.
The first show was staged in 1921, at Manningham Barracks in Bradford, and was such a success it went on to become an annual event.
A specialist committee of volunteers was formed in 1929 – called the Bradford Small Livestock Society – which still exists and organises the event to this date.
Happy bunny: A red-eyed white Polish rabbit peers out from between the bars of its cage
Under scrutiny: Antonia Galloway, 7, assists with the judging of this contender (left) while a Satin rabbit is given the once-over by the judges
Fluffy friend: Antonia Galloway with Emeranthus, a four-month-old Angora rabbit who won best fancy in the under fives show
This year the event officially changed its name to the Burgess Premier Small Animal Show, to reflect the show’s primary sponsor from 2012 to 2015, Burgess Pet Care.
Other rabbit racing competitions include the European Kanin Hop Championships, the first of which was staged in Switzerland in October last year.
Breeders from a number of countries across Europe brought their showjumping bunnies to compete in the race in Wollerau.
In recent years the sport has spread far from its Scandinavian homeland and clubs have now sprung up in several other European countries, the U.S., Canada and even Japan.
The Swedish Federation of Rabbit Jumping was established in 1995.
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London 2012 Olympics: Danny Boyle’s Shakespeare theme for £81m opening ceremony
- Hollywood director Danny Boyle chooses Shakespeare theme for £81m opening spectacular
- 27-ton bell inspired by Shakespeare will form the centrepiece of £27m opening ceremony
- Hundreds of NHS nurses and schoolchildren will be involved in event
- 20,000 performers will take part in Olympic and Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies
By Emily Andrews
Last updated at 1:43 AM on 28th January 2012
The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games will feature a performance by hundreds of nurses, it was revealed yesterday.
Artistic director Danny Boyle – the Oscar-winning director behind Slumdog Millionaire – said he wanted to celebrate everything that was ‘unique and special’ to the British Isles…including the National Health Service.
Europe’s biggest bell will be specially made to ring in the start of London 2012.
Our turn next: Mark Foster of the Great Britain Olympic men’s swim team carries his country’s flag to lead out the delegation during the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics
The 27-ton bell will be a feat of engineering and twice the weight of Big Ben.
Mr Boyle said the ceremony will be called ‘Isles of Wonders’ after a speech in Shakespeare’s play The Tempest.
More than anything, he said, he wanted it to be a ‘people’s Games’ and to try to capture the very particular, and sometimes peculiar, British sense of humour.
A sense of humour that has, at times, been tested by the spiralling budget for the Olympic ceremonies – last month it doubled to £81million.
At the vast rehearsal studios in East London Mr Boyle gave a small glimpse of what 80,000 spectators and millions of TV viewers can expect on July 27.
The biggest ringing bell in Europe has been commissioned and will hang at one end of the stadium.
It will ‘ring in’ the start of the Games and will be inscribed with Caliban’s line from The Tempest ‘Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises’.
Shakespeare, NHS and schoolchildren will be at the centre of the Olympic Opening Ceremony display, Danny Boyle, pictured, revealed today
The half-man, half-monster Caliban is devoted to the island on which he lives – and Mr Boyle hopes to mirror that pride and patriotism in the ceremony.
Indeed he seemed to be rather keen on monsters – he said that last year’s production of Frankenstein at the National Theatre had allowed him to practise lots of ideas.
So perhaps we’ll see lots of prosthetics, green paint and pantomime costumes alongside runners from Kenya and gymnasts from Russia.
Another theme will be the cleansing and recovery of poisoned land – after the Olympic park site was cleaned of all its industrial pollutants.
Greatest show on earth: The spectacular Opening Ceremony in Beijing in the Bird’s Nest Stadium four years ago
One certainty is that there’ll be lots of flying – and flowers. A flying system that can lift 25 tons, the equivalent of five elephants, has been installed in the main stadium to enable some impressive aerial acrobatics.
‘EMPLOYERS UNPREPARED FOR GAMES ABSENCES’
Most employers have not drawn up plans for dealing with an expected surge in staff absence during the Olympics, months before the Games start, according to a report today.
A survey of 1,000 office workers by recruitment consultants Badenoch & Clark showed that two-thirds were employed in companies yet to draft a plan.
Among those who have agreed procedures in place, some said annual leave will be given on a first-come, first-served basis, while a small percentage have told staff they will not be allowed to take a break while the Games are held.
Employers in London are among those most likely not to have told their staff about holiday plans when the sporting event is held in the capital.
Nicola Linkleter, managing director at Badenoch & Clark, said: ‘Given the immense interest the London Olympic Games will create among workers, this is poor planning that could lead to employee discontent, confusion or threadbare cover.’
And Sebastian Coe, chairman of London 2012, dropped another hint by saying whenever he popped down to see rehearsals he kept tripping over buckets of flowers.
So it will be noisy, acrobatic, colourful and floral. What else?
Well, the only other confirmed part was that nurses will have a starring role in one ‘sequence’ as the NHS is one of the things that is ‘unique about us…along with our sense of humour’.
Featuring with them will be some 900 children from the six Olympic host boroughs who have been auditioning in recent weeks.
No details of performers were revealed – but again a hint that ‘everyone’ wants to take part. But we can expect the spectacular. And the unexpected.
Asked if the fear of technology going wrong had ensured they play safe, executive producer Stephen Daldry implied they would be pushing boundaries. He said: ‘The idea of jeopardy is one of the great fantastic tensions of the evening.’
Mr Boyle said only about a third of the budget would be spent on the opening ceremony, which was much less than the £65million the Chinese spent at Beijing 2008.
He said: ‘You are standing on the shoulders of giants when you do this kind of job. You cannot but live in the shadow of your predecessors.
Countdown: Sebastian Coe, Boris Johnson and David Cameron discuss the six-month countdown to the Olympic games in Davos yesterday
‘The spectacle of Beijing was just breathtaking. The sheer beauty of Athens is very inspiring but I have to say that Sydney has inspired us. It got the feel of a people’s Games right.
‘It is inevitable that people will compare us – and that is fine.
‘I think there is a sea change and we are lucky enough to be setting it. It will be spectacular but the reduction in scale is inevitable.’
London 2012 said it will release more details of the opening in the run-up to the Games to give people a flavour of what to expect.
Mr Boyle said he would have preferred to keep everything a ‘surprise’ but that was impossible when everyone ‘films everything on their mobiles’.
Estimates suggest the advertising spend during the ceremony, which will last three hours, could be worth £2billion globally.
‘LIKE 165 WEST END SHOWS AT THE SAME TIME’: FINAL PREPARATIONS FOR OLYMPIC OPENING AND CLOSING CEREMONIES
Staging the four showpiece opening and closing ceremonies for the London 2012 Games is ‘challenging, daunting but also incredibly exciting’, executive producer Stephen Daldry said today.
He described it as like putting on 165 West End shows at the same time.
Nurses, the biggest ringing bell in Europe inscribed with lines from Shakespeare, and children will be key features of the opening ceremony.
Here are some of the facts, figures and details behind the ceremonies.
For the Opening Ceremony there is:
- 15,000 square metres of staging – equivalent to 12 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
- A flying system that can lift 25 tonnes – that is the same as five elephants.
- There will be 12,956 props, which is more than 100 times more than used in a West End musical.
- A million-watt PA system using more than 500 speakers and 50 tonnes of associated sound gear – which is double the amount of speakers than on the main stage at Glastonbury.
- The design team have made enough scale model pieces to cover a 100m running track. Every performer has been represented by a plastic figurine.
- So far, 64 different supplier companies have been contracted to provide services and products.
- For all four opening and closing ceremonies there will be 25 containers full of scenery and props and 75 containers of costumes full of 23,000 costumes. Some cast members will wear more than one costume each.
- 15,000 volunteer cast across all four ceremonies. The people who have auditioned have been aged from 18 to 90 years old. They have come from across the UK and include people who watched the 1948 Games live, according to London 2012.
- A total of 12 hours of music working with an internationally renowned orchestra of around 60 musicians is part of the programme. Organisers will spend three months of recording time in the studio and spend 36 hours in dedicated drum tuition.
- The combined TV audiences for the four ceremonies is predicted to be more than four billion people. Sir Martin Sorrell has predicted that the equivalent airtime value of the four ceremonies will be worth between approximately £2bn and £5bn.
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Davos 2012: David Cameron attacks EU for failure to tackle debt crisis
By James Chapman, Political Editor
Last updated at 5:57 AM on 27th January 2012
David Cameron today mounted a scathing attack on the European Union’s inability to tackle the financial crisis at the world economic forum in Switzerland
David Cameron tackled EU leaders head-on last night, warning that the euro is doomed to failure unless they take urgent action and declaring: ‘Tinkering simply isn’t going to cut it any more.’
The Prime Minister said the euro lacked all the features of a successful currency, bluntly telling Angela Merkel that Germany must transfer billions to debt-stricken eurozone nations if she wants it to survive.
Mr Cameron’s tone angered officials from France and Germany, coming just weeks after he vetoed their plans for a new EU-wide treaty to create a fiscal union.
Speaking to international leaders and business chiefs at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he poured scorn on Franco-German proposals for a new ‘Tobin tax’ on financial transactions as ‘quite simply madness’.
Instead, he said EU leaders should be concentrating on providing real cash for their currently non-existent bailout fund, ensuring creaking banks have enough money to survive and sorting out the debt disaster in Greece.
Mr Cameron also suggested the eurozone should start to borrow as a single entity, so that the interest rates it has to pay are determined by an assessment of all member countries – an idea fiercely resisted by the German chancellor.
Indecision on how to respond to the crisis was ‘weighing down business confidence and investment’ across Europe, Mr Cameron said, and EU leaders had ‘to show the leadership our people are demanding’.
‘Tinkering here and there and hoping we’ll drift to a solution simply won’t cut it any more,’ he said. ‘This is time for boldness not caution.’
Yesterday EU chiefs stepped up their calls for Britain to contribute more to the International Monetary Fund, which acts as the world’s economic emergency service.
But the Prime Minister appears to be losing patience with Mrs Merkel, who is refusing to put cash behind the single currency.
Attack: Mr Cameron said Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan for a tax on the City was ‘quite simply madness’ and urged Angela Merkel to use her country’s muscle to rescue the eurozone immediately
‘Once markets lose confidence and dry up, you are left in an unsustainable position,’ he warned. In a clear reference to Germany, he said it was not enough simply to insist on rapid budget cuts on the edges of the eurozone.
‘The flipside of austerity in deficit countries must be action to put the weight of the surplus countries behind the euro,’ the Prime Minister said.
‘There a number of features common to all successful currency unions. A central bank that can comprehensively stand behind the currency and financial system.
‘The deepest possible economic integration with the flexibility to deal with economic shocks. And a system of fiscal transfers and collective debt issuance that can deal with the tensions and imbalances between different countries and regions within the union. Currently it’s not that the eurozone doesn’t have all of these – it’s that it doesn’t really have any of these.’
Mr Cameron acknowledged the necessary steps were ‘radical and difficult’, adding: ‘They are why Britain didn’t join the eurozone. But they are what is needed if the single currency, as currently constituted, is to work.’
He added: ‘I understand why the eurozone members want a treaty inside the EU, but if they do, there have to be safeguards for those countries in the EU but who have no intention of joining the single currency.
‘I didn’t get those safeguards, so the treaty isn’t going ahead inside the EU.
‘But…to those who think that not signing the treaty means Britain is somehow walking away from Europe, let me tell you: nothing could be farther from the truth.
‘I stood on this platform only a year ago and said that Europe could recover its dynamism. I still believe we can. But only if we are bold.
‘Take bold decisions on deregulation, on opening up the single market, on innovation and trade, and address the fundamental issues at the heart of the eurozone crisis.
‘All these decisions lie in our own hands. They are the test of Europe’s leaders in the months ahead.’
Labour leader Ed Miliband, also in Davos, said Mr Cameron should be ‘taking action at home to get our economy moving and working with other world leaders to get the global economy going’.
‘But he is not doing that. He is standing by his policy of collective austerity all round the world,’ he added.
Olli Rehn, the European Commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, said: ‘I trust that the United Kingdom will endorse an increase of IMF resources because that is also one essential element of overcoming this crisis.
‘That is something that the UK itself is calling for.’
South Carolina primary 2012: Newt Gingrich beats Mitt Romney
Newt Gingrich has romped home to a stunning victory in the South Carolina primary, easily overcoming frontrunner Mitt Romney and setting the stage for a bitter and prolonged battle for the Republican nomination to face President Barack Obama in Monday.
Exit polls gave Mr Gingrich, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, a nine-point lead over Mr Romney, the Republican establishment favourite and leader in national polls. The result was a major turnaround after surveys gave Mr Romney a 10-point lead a week ago.
Since voting for Ronald Reagan in 1980, South Carolina voters have backed the eventual Republican nominee in every GOP presidential primary in the state.
Victory: Newt Gingrich and his wife Callista celebrate his win in the GOP’s South Carolina primary
Delight: Mr Gingrich attacked Barack Obama in his speech to supporters, but had warm words for his GOP rivals
Packed: A huge crowd turned out to watch Mr Gingrich speak in the city of Columbia
Mr Gingrich, 68, overcame allegations by his second wife Marianne that he had proposed an ‘open marriage’ with his now-wife Callista, even turning them to his advantage in Thursday night’s debate by branding the media as ‘despicable’ for fixating on the allegation.
That debate moment followed a commanding performance in another debate on Monday in which he won a standing ovation for comments about race, poverty and welfare. Some two-thirds of South Carolina voters said that the debates had been a factor in their decision.
Mr Romney, 64, remains the favourite to prevail given his double-digit lead in Florida, which votes on January 31st, his bigger war chest and his superior organisation.
But it is now clear that his nomination will be far from a coronation and Mr Gingrich will hope that the South Carolina result will end the sense that Mr Romney was the inevitable nominee.
Defiant: Mitt Romney, pictured with his wife Ann and other family members, said he still expected to win the race
‘A battle for the soul of America’: Mr Romney’s aggressive speech targeted both Mr Gingrich and Barack Obama
Don’t worry, darling: Mrs Romney tries to cheer up her husband after his surprise defeat
Supporter: Mr Romney remains the frontrunner, but has seen his share of the vote slip over the past week
All eyes will now be on Monday’s debate in Tampa, the third in seven days, following Mr Romney’s halting answers on his taxes and business experience in the last two contests.
Romney aides said that they had always expected South Carolina, many of whose Christian evangelicals regard the former Massachusetts governor’s Mormon faith as a cult, would be difficult turf for him. He finished fourth there in the 2008 primary.
Most media outlets named Mr Gingrich as the winner in South Carolina as soon as polls closed at 7pm.
THE RESULTS SO FAR
Newt Gingrich 41% (230,058 votes)
Mitt Romney 27% (153,633)
Rick Santorum 17% (97,499)
Ron Paul 13% (75,414)
(with 95% of votes counted)
With nearly all the votes counted, he led with 41 per cent, followed by Mr Romney on 27 per cent. Rick Santorum and Ron Paul trailed with 17 and 13 per cent respectively.
Mr Gingrich sent out a tweet after his victory, saying: ‘Thank you South Carolina! Help me deliver the knockout punch in Florida,’ and calling for supporters to donate money to his campaign.
In a concession speech to supporters, Mr Romney showed combative form, attacking both Mr Obama and Mr Gingrich as he insisted he still expected to win the GOP nomination.
Without naming his Republican rival, he criticised those who had ‘joined in the assault on free enterprise’ by attacking his record at Bain Capital.
‘We expected it from President Obama,’ he said; ‘we didn’t expect it from our own party,’ adding that any candidate who failed to show sufficient support for free-market capitalism was ‘not fit to be our nominee’.
Mr Romney concluded: ‘Those who pick up the weapons of the Left today will find them turned against us tomorrow. Americans will demand a real choice.’
Consolation: Romney’s fans tried to stay positive, chanting ‘On to Florida!’
Disappointed: Dejected Romney supporters take in the news that the frontrunner lost out
Downcast: Mr Romney’s campaign no longer looks as inevitably successful as it did a week ago
This year’s primary season is the first time that Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina have been won by three different candidates.
Mr Romney took New Hampshire last week, while it was announced on Thursday that Mr Santorum came top in the Iowa caucuses – another setback for Mr Romney.
Mr Gingrich’s victory could be a boost for the Democrats, who regard Mr Romney as the biggest threat to Mr Obama thanks to his business experience and relatively moderate image.
They are also keen to see the Republican primaries stretch on for as long as possible, hoping that the candidates will spend their campaign funds on attacking each other rather than the President.
Rally: Newt Gingrich addressed supporters today after several days of rising in opinion polls
On the trail: The Gingrichs greet supporters at a campaign event in a fast-food restaurant
Campaign: Mr Gingrich speaking with his wife Callista ahead of his victory in the South Carolina primary
Celebration: Gingrich supporters at this headquarters cheer the news of the former House Speaker’s victory
Increasingly bitter attacks on issues such as Mr Romney’s career at Bain Capital and Mr Gingrich’s political record could also play into the Democrats’ hands by allowing them to remain above the fray while the GOP rivals deal in negative politics.
In all, more than $ 12million was spent on television ads by the candidates and their allies in South Carolina, much of it on attacks designed to degrade the support of rivals.
Mr Romney and a group that supports him are already on the air in Florida with a significant ad campaign, costing more than $ 7million combined so far.
Moving on: Rick Santorum, pictured with his wife Karen, predicted he would ‘come out on top’
Battling the elements: Rick Santorum was fighting hard for a decent finish in the South Carolina primary
Interviews with voters as they left polling places in South Carolina showed nearly half saying their top priority was finding a candidate who could defeat Obama in the fall, followed by wishes for experience, strong moral character and true conservatism.
In a state with 9.9 per cent unemployment, concern about the economy was high, and almost one-third of those voting reported a household member had lost a job in the past three years.
Strong backing from conservative and religious voters and people fretting about the uncertain economy fueled Mr Gingrich’s victory, according to the Associated Press’s exit poll.
The figures also showed that for the first time he grabbed two constituencies that Mr Romney has captured in the year’s two previous GOP contests.
By slight margins, Mr Gingrich won among voters looking for someone to defeat Mr Obama this November, and among those who considered the economy the top issue in deciding which candidate to back.
He also benefited most from the campaign’s final, tumultuous week, the figures showed. Just over half said they’d chosen a candidate in the last few days, and they backed Mr Gingrich over Mr Romney by 2-1.
