Spurs urged to drop 2012 battle

12 July 2011 Last updated at 19:34 GMT The decision to award the stadium to West Ham after the Games is being challenged in court Sports Minister Hugh Robertson has appealed to Tottenham Hotspur not to put London's bid for the 2017 World Athletics Championship at risk.

The football team is seeking a judicial review of the decision to award the stadium to West Ham after the Olympics.

On 1 September, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) will announce candidate cities.

If the legal action is continuing after then, the bid for the championships may have to be withdrawn.

Mr Robertson said: "We need to confirm a bid by 1 September.

"The key thing is if we can get Tottenham's and Leyton Orient's appeal through the High Court and, I would say, dismissed.

"If the High Court is not settled we don't have a secure venue. That would make it very difficult to bid."

West Ham United is due to move into the stadium, in Stratford, east London, in the summer of 2013.

But Tottenham were unhappy with the processes which led to this decision and are seeking a judicial review into the roles of several other key parties involved.

Tottenham's defeated bid for the stadium included removing the athletics track.

He added: "I would hope Tottenham would see the greater good to London, maybe it's a fond hope.

Tottenham Hotspur has not yet responded to Mr Robertson's comments.

The Qatar capital of Doha is favourite to win the 2017 event with Budapest and an as yet unnamed Spanish city also competing.

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Go for British staff, firms urged

1 July 2011 Last updated at 15:58 GMT Iain Duncan Smith: "We have to ensure that our immigration system works in the interests of Britain"

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has urged UK businesses to "give a chance" to unemployed young Britons, rather than relying on foreign workers.

In a speech in Spain he said a "realistic promise" of work formed part of the government's "contract" with the British people.

Business groups said firms needed the "best people" and migrants often had a better work ethic and skills.

And Labour said what was needed was "proper action" rather than talk.

Under European Union labour laws, most EU citizens can work in the UK without restriction.

The government has introduced a cap on the number of skilled workers from outside the EU, in an effort to reduce net migration from about 200,000 a year to the "tens of thousands".

In a speech to the Spanish Foundation for Analysis and Social Studies in Madrid, Mr Duncan Smith said that more than half of newly filled jobs in the last year were taken by foreign nationals.

'Vulnerable group'

He warned that there is a "serious risk" that British people will not benefit as the economy recovers if firms "look elsewhere" for workers.

"If we do not get this right then we risk leaving more British citizens out of work, and the most vulnerable group who will be the most affected are young people," he said.

Continue reading the main story Most citizens of EU countries, as well as Switzerland, face no restrictions on working in the UKBulgarian and Romanian nationals need authorisation to work, with some exceptionsBritish firms are not allowed to discriminate against non-UK nationals from the EU over terms of employment, pay and working conditionsThere is a 21,700 annual cap on the number of skilled non-EU workers allowed into UKA points-based system is used to determine which skilled non-EU workers can enter UKThe cap excludes employees transferred by companies from abroad "But government cannot do it all. As we work hard to break welfare dependency and get young people ready for the labour market, we need businesses to give them a chance, and not just fall back on labour from abroad."

He said that while immigration played a "vital role" in helping bridge skills gaps, there were many foreign nationals in low-skilled or semi-skilled jobs that could easily be done by unemployed Britons.

"We have to ensure that our immigration system works in the interests of Britain, enabling us to make a realistic promise to our young school leavers," he said.

He said the immigration system must give unemployed people "a level playing field."

In 2007, then Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged to create "British jobs for British workers" - but the Conservatives said that was illegal under EU law. Official figures suggested that most of the new jobs created since 1997 had gone to people who were not born in the UK.

The unemployment rate among 16 to 24-year-olds fell by 79,000 to 895,000 in the three months to this April but youth unemployment rates still stand at above 19%.

Labour say, after a year in his job, Mr Duncan Smith "should stop talking and start delivering".

'Great tragedy' Continue reading the main story

I do not think it is the role of employers to discriminate on that basis, it is the role of employers to take on the best person for the job”

End Quote Andrew Cave Federation of Small Businesses Shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne told the BBC his party would increase taxes on bank bonuses to help pay for new work opportunities for 60,000 young people and reverse cuts to Border Agency staff which he said created the conditions for "illegal immigration to flourish".

"There are simply not enough jobs because the government is cutting back too far and too fast," he added.

"The great tragedy of all of this is that young people lose the habits of work and we as taxpayers have to pick up the bill."

Mr Duncan Smith was backed by Migrationwatch chairman Sir Andrew Green, who said he was "absolutely right".

"Employers have a responsibility to give young British workers a chance and the government must get a grip of immigration if they are to avoid abandoning a whole generation of young Britons on the dole."

'Glib'

But Andrew Cave, from the Federation of Small Businesses, told the BBC it was "quite a glib, throwaway political comment" from the minister.

He said for decades governments had removed links between the education system and business - and school leavers often did not have the skills or training needed.

"If you are an EU citizen you have a right to work here. If an employer discriminates against somebody on the basis of their nationality, and they are from within the EU, they could end up in legal deep water.

He added: "I do not think it is the role of employers to discriminate on that basis, it is the role of employers to take on the best person for the job."

Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, David Frost, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that employers needed the "best people".

"They expect young people to come forward to them who are able to read, write, communicate and have a strong work ethic and too often that's not the case," he said.

And Habib Rahman, of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said Mr Duncan Smith was issuing "a disingenuous and populist call for tighter immigration laws, when his perceived problem is from an area the UK government is powerless to affect - EU immigration."

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IMF urged to retain European head

19 May 2011 Last updated at 18:33 GMT The top seat at the IMF is vacant after Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned, facing criminal charges Leading voices in Europe say another European should head the International Monetary Fund (IMF) following the resignation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Germany's Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso's comments come amid debate over whether the next IMF chief should come from the developing world.

Ms Merkel said a European was needed in light of the eurozone's problems.

Mr Strauss-Kahn is in jail in the US, accused of trying to rape a hotel maid.

He denies the charges and arrived at court in Manhattan on Thursday morning to make a fresh appeal for bail. His first application was rejected on Monday.

His wife, Anne Sinclair, arrived for the hearing shortly before the scheduled start time of 1815GMT.

Mr Strauss-Kahn had been coming under mounting international pressure to leave his post amid the furore over his arrest.

In a statement posted on the IMF website late on Wednesday, he said he resigned with "infinite sadness", but wanted to "devote all my strength, all my time, and all my energy to proving my innocence".

Mr Strauss-Kahn's deputy, John Lipsky, has been placed in interim control of the organisation, and the IMF says it will release information "in the near future" about the appointment of a permanent successor.

'Only natural'

Analysts say a battle is looming over who will head the IMF amid growing calls for it to reflect the growing power of emerging economies.

Continue reading the main story

It's awkward for the Europeans and the US... [But] if Europe can get the Americans on their side, then another European will replace Mr Strauss-Kahn”

End Quote Stephanie Flanders BBC Economics editor But Mrs Merkel - who leads Europe's biggest economy - said she was in favour of another European candidate.

"Of course developing nations are within their rights in the medium term to occupy the post of either IMF head or World Bank chief," she said according to AFP news agency.

"But I think that in the current situation, with serious problems with the euro and the IMF strongly involved, there is a lot in favour of a European candidate being put forward."

A spokeswoman for Mr Barroso was quoted as saying it was "only natural that the member states of the European Union, as the biggest contributor to the fund, agree on a strong and competent candidate who can rally support from the IMF membership".

She said talks were likely to identify a "strong European candidate".

But South Africa, Brazil and Mexico are among developing nations urging the IMF to abandon the tradition of reserving the post for a European - with Brazil saying that era is "over".

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday: "We want to see an open process that leads to a prompt succession for the fund's new managing director."

A Chinese government spokeswoman said the selection process should be based on "merit, transparency and fairness", Reuters news agency reported.

She was quoted as saying "we believe that emerging and developing countries should have representation at senior levels".

Continue reading the main story Christine Lagarde, FrancePeer Steinbrueck, GermanyAxel Weber, GermanyKemal Dervis, TurkeyTrevor Manuel, South AfricaAgustin Carstens, MexicoGordon Brown, UKStanley Fischer, IsraelMontek Singh Ahluwlia, IndiaHowever, the IMF's 24-member executive board votes to fill the top post, and the G7 established economic powers retain a majority on the board.

There is an array of potential candidates from around the world, but BBC economics editor Stephanie Flanders says she understands French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde would be hard to beat if she entered the contest.

Bail hearing

Mr Strauss-Kahn is accused of sexually assaulting a 32-year-old maid in New York's Sofitel hotel on 14 May.

The Frenchman is charged with committing a criminal sexual act, attempted rape, sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching.

On Monday a judge in New York denied Mr Strauss-Kahn bail - despite the offer of a $1m (?618,000) guarantee - saying there was a risk the IMF chief would flee the country.

Judge Michael Obus will hear the new application.

A copy of Mr Strauss-Kahn's new bail plea, published on the website of the New York Times, shows Mr Strauss-Kahn's lawyers are offering new bail conditions they hope will convince the judge their client will not abscond.

The conditions include Mr Strauss-Kahn being confined 24 hours a day to a Manhattan address, subject to electronic surveillance.

Mr Strauss-Kahn has been remanded at the notorious Rikers Island prison.

One of his lawyers told French radio on Thursday that Mr Strauss-Kahn was in good health and optimistic, Agence France-Presse news agency reported.

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