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RSPCA

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales which promotes animal welfare.

The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest animal welfare organisation in the world and is one of the largest charities in the UK. The organisation also does international outreach work across Europe, Africa and Asia.

The charity's work has inspired the creation of similar groups in other jurisdictions, starting with the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (founded in 1836), and including the Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (1839), the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (1840), the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (1866), the Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (1882), the Singapore Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (1959) and various groups which eventually came together as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Australia (1981), the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Hong Kong) (1997) — formerly known as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Hong Kong) (1903–1997).

Changing political climate
The emergence of the RSPCA has its roots in the intellectual climate of the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Britain where opposing views were exchanged in print concerning the use of animals. The harsh use and maltreatment of animals in hauling carriages, scientific experiments (including vivisection), and cultural amusements of fox-hunting, bull-baiting and cock fighting were among some of the matters that were debated by social reformers, clergy, and parliamentarians. At the beginning of the 19th century there was an unsuccessful attempt by Sir William Pulteney on 18 April 1800 to pass legislation through the British parliament to ban the practice of bull-baiting. In 1809 Lord Erskine (1750–1823) introduced an anti-cruelty bill which was passed in the House of Lords but was defeated in a vote in the House of Commons. Erskine in his parliamentary speech combined the vocabulary of animal rights and trusteeship with a theological appeal to biblical passages opposing cruelty. A later attempt to pass anti-cruelty legislation was spearheaded by the Irish parliamentarian Richard Martin and in 1822 an anti-cruelty to cattle bill (sometimes called Martin's Act) became law.

Formation of the SPCA and royal patronage
Martin's Act was supported by various social reformers who were not parliamentarians, and the efforts of the Reverend Arthur Broome (1779–1837) to create a voluntary organisation to promote kindness toward animals resulted in the founding of an informal network. Broome canvassed opinions in letters that were published or summarised in various periodicals in 1821. Broome organised a meeting and extended invitations to various reformers that included parliamentarians, clergy and lawyers. The meeting was held on Wednesday 16 June 1824 in Old Slaughter's Coffee House, London. The meeting was chaired by Thomas Fowell Buxton MP (1786–1845) and the resolution to establish the society was voted on. Among the others who were present as founding members were Sir James Mackintosh MP, Richard Martin, William Wilberforce, Basil Montagu, John Ashley Warre, Rev. George Bonner, Rev. George Avery Hatch, Sir James Graham, John Gilbert Meymott, William Mudford, and Lewis Gompertz. The organisation was founded as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Broome was appointed as the society's first honorary secretary. The foundation is marked by a plaque on the modern day building at 77–78 St Martin's Lane.

The society was the first animal welfare charity to be founded in the world. In 1824 it brought 63 offenders before the courts. Princess Victoria became the society's patron in 1835, and, as Queen, granted its royal status in 1840 to become the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, as it is today.

RSPCA Inspectors
The origins of the role of the RSPCA inspector stem from Broome's efforts in 1822 to personally bring to court some individuals against whom charges of cruelty were heard. Broome employed and personally paid the salary for an inspector to monitor the abuse of animals at the Smithfield Market. The inspector hired by Broome, Charles Wheeler, served in the capacity of an inspector from 1824 to 1826 but his services were terminated when the society's revenue was exceeded by its debts. The accrued debts led to a suspension of operations when Broome as the society's guarantor for debts was imprisoned. When operations resumed there was some divided opinions in the committees that steered the society about employing inspectors, which resulted in a resolution in 1832 to discontinue employing an inspector. The permanent appointment of a salaried inspector was settled in 1838, and the inspector is the image best known of the organisation today.

Broome's experience of bankruptcy and prison created difficulties for him afterwards and he stood aside as the society's first secretary in 1828 and was succeeded by the co-founding member Lewis Gompertz. Unlike the other founder members who were Christians, Gompertz was a Jew and despite his abilities in campaigning against cruelty, fund-raising and administrative skills, tensions emerged between him and other committee members, due to Gompertz's approach, considered very radical at the time, in opposition to hunting and other forms of using animals he regarded as abusive. The tensions led to the convening of a meeting in early 1832 which led to Gompertz resigning. His resignation coincided with a resolution adopted in 1832 that "the proceedings of the Society were entirely based on the Christian faith and Christian principles."

Impacting public opinions
Alongside the society's early efforts to prosecute offenders who maltreated animals, there were efforts made to promote kindly attitudes toward animals through the publication of books and tracts as well as the fostering of annual sermons preached against cruelty on behalf of the society. The first annual anti-cruelty sermon that was preached on behalf of the society was delivered by Rev Dr Rudge in March 1827 at the Whitechapel Church. In 1865 the RSPCA looked for a way to consolidate and further influence public opinion on animal welfare by encouraging an annual "Animal Sunday" church service where clergy would preach sermons on anti-cruelty themes and the very first sermon was delivered in London on 9 July 1865 by Rev. Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (1815–1881), the Dean of Westminster. The "Animal Sunday" service became an annual event in different church gatherings in England, which was later adopted by churches in Australia and New Zealand in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and it was the forerunner of the "pet blessing" services that emerged in the 1970s. In the twentieth century the RSPCA widened the horizons in the public domain by promoting an annual "animal welfare week".

The RSPCA also had annual accounts published in newspapers, like The Londoner, where the secretary would discuss improvements, report cases, and remind the public to watch over their animals' health.

During the second half of 1837 the society sponsored an essay-writing competition with a benefactor offering a prize of one hundred pounds for the winning entry. The terms of the competition stipulated: "The Essay required is one which shall morally illustrate, and religiously enforce, the obligation of man towards the inferior and dependent creatures--their protection and security from abuse, more especially as regards those engaged in service, and for the use and benefit of mankind-on the sin of cruelty--the infliction of wanton or unnecessary pain, taking the subject under its various denominations-exposing the specious defence of vivisection on the ground of its being for the interests of science--the supplying the infinite demands on the poor animal in aid of human speculations by exacting extreme labour, and thereby causing excessive suffering--humanity to the brute as harmonious with the spirit and doctrines of Christianity, and the duty of man as a rational and accountable creature." There were 34 essays submitted and in December 1838 the prize was awarded to the Congregational minister Rev John Styles. Styles published his book-length work, The Animal Creation; its claims on our humanity stated and enforced, and all proceeds of sale were donated to the society. Other contestants, such as David Mushet and William Youatt, the society's veterinarian, also published their essays. One entrant whose work was submitted a few days after the competition deadline, and which was excluded from the competition was written by the Unitarian minister William Hamilton Drummond and he published his text in 1838, The Rights of Animals: And Man's Obligation to Treat Them with Humanity. This competition set a precedent for subsequent RSPCA prize-winning competitions.

Women in the RSPCA
The role of women in the society began shortly after the organisation was founded. At the society's first annual meeting in 1825, which was held at the Crown and Anchor Tavern on 29 June 1825, the public notice that announced the gathering specifically included appropriate accommodation for the presence of women members. Several women of social standing were listed as patronesses of the society, such as the Duchess of Buccleuch, Dowager Marchioness of Salisbury, Dowager Countess Harcourt, Lady Emily Pusey, Lady Eyre and Lady Mackintosh. In 1837 the novelist Catherine Grace Godwin (1798–1845) described in her novel Louisa Seymour an incident where two leading female characters were aghast at the behaviour of a driver abusing a horse pulling a carriage that they subsequently discussed the problem of cruelty with other characters one of whom, called Sir Arthur Beauchamp, disclosed that he was a member of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. In 1839 another female supporter of the society, Sarah Burdett, a relative of the philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts and a poet, published her theological understanding of the rights of animals. However it was not until 12 July 1870 that the RSPCA Ladies' Committee was established. Through the Ladies Committee various activities were sponsored including essay-prize competitions among children, and the formation of the Band of Mercy as a movement to encourage children to act kindly toward animals.

International relations
In the 19th century the RSPCA fostered international relations on the problem of cruelty through the sponsoring of conferences and in providing basic advice on the establishment of similar welfare bodies in North America and in the colonies of the British Empire. The RSPCA celebrated its jubilee in June 1874 by holding an International Congress on Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Queen Victoria delivered a letter of congratulations to the RSPCA on its anniversary. Although the society was founded by people who were mostly Christian social reformers, and in 1832 presented itself as a Christian charity concerned with welfare as well as moral reform, the RSPCA gradually developed into a non-religious, non-sectarian animal welfare charity.

Lobbying for Legal Change
The RSPCA lobbied Parliament throughout the 19th century, resulting in a number of new laws. The Cruelty to Animals Act 1835 amended Martin's Act and outlawed baiting. There was a public groundswell of opinions that were divided into opposing factions concerning vivisection, where Charles Darwin (1809–1882) campaigned on behalf of scientists to conduct experiments on animals while others, such as Frances Power Cobbe (1822–1904) formed an anti-vivisection lobby. The stance adopted by the RSPCA was one of qualified support for legislation. This qualified support for experiments on animals was at odds with the stance taken by Society's founder Broome who had in 1825 sought medical opinions about vivisection and he published their anti-vivisection sentiments. It was also a departure from the 1837 essay-competition (discussed above) where the essayists were obliged to expose "the specious defence of vivisection on the ground of its being for the interests of science." In 1876 the Cruelty to Animals Act was passed to control animal experimentation. In 1911 Parliament passed Sir George Greenwood's Animal Protection Act. Since that time the RSPCA has continued to play an active role, both in the creation of animal welfare legislation and in its enforcement. An important recent new law has been the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

First World War – present
During the First World War the RSPCA provided support for the Army Veterinary Corps in treating animals such as donkeys, horses, dogs and birds that were co-opted into military service as beasts of burden, messengers and so forth. However, the RSPCA estimates that 484,143 horses, mules, camels and bullocks were killed in British service during the war.

The RSPCA's centenary in 1924 and its 150th anniversary in 1974 were accompanied by books telling the society's story. Since the end of the Second World War the development of intense agricultural farming practices has raised many questions for public debate concerning animal welfare legislation and the role of the RSPCA. This development has included debates both inside the RSPCA (e.g. the RSPCA Reform Group) as well as among ethicists, social activists and supporters of claims for animal rights outside of it concerning the society's role in ethical and legal issues involving the use of animals.

Animal welfare establishments
RSPCA centres, hospitals and branches operate throughout England and Wales. In 2012 RSPCA centres and branches assisted and rehomed 55,459 animals.

Hospitals
In 2013 the society owned four animal hospitals, Birmingham, Greater Manchester, Putney (south London) and the Harmsworth Memorial Hospital in Finsbury Park (north London), and a number of clinics which provide treatments to those who could not otherwise afford it, neuter animals, and accept animals from the RSPCA inspectorate. As of September 2020, the Putney Animal Hospital has been permanently closed.

Centres
RSPCA animal centres deal with a wide range of injured and rescued animals, working alongside its inspectorate, volunteers, and others to ensure that each animal is found a new home. There are currently 17 RSPCA animal centres across the UK and a further 42 centres ran independently by Branches.

In 2013 the society had four wildlife centres at East Winch (Norfolk), West Hatch (Somerset), Stapeley Grange (Cheshire) and Mallydams Wood (East Sussex), which provide treatment to sick, injured and orphaned wild animals to maximise their chances of a successful return to the wild.

* closed as of September 2020

National organisation
At the national level, the charity comprises all central functions, and a number of animal hospitals and centres. This national charity also employs local inspectors and AROs to respond to urgent calls. In additional to this there is a National Control Centre which takes calls from the public and helps ensure that RSPCA officers attend incidents where animals need help, the National Control Centre is however, a third party contract and are not RSPCA employees.

In previous years the National Headquarters located at Southwater in West Sussex houses several general departments, each with a departmental head, consistent with the needs of any major organisation. The current chief executive officer is Chris Sherwood. Since the pandemic the RSPCA no longer has a National Headquarters, with most employees now working from home and small satellite offices being set up in locations such as Horsham and London.

Regions
There are three regions ("North", "South", and "East, Midlands and Wales"), each headed by a regional superintendent who has responsibility for the chief inspectors, inspectors and AROs. The regional managers are expected to have a broad understanding of operations throughout their regions.

Branches
RSPCA branches operate locally across England and Wales. Branches are separately registered charities operating at a local level and are run by volunteers. Some RSPCA branches are self-funding and raise money locally to support the animal welfare work they do. They find homes for about three-quarters of all animals taken in by the RSPCA. RSPCA branches also offer advice, microchipping, neutering and subsidised animal treatments. In 2013 there were also about 1000 RSPCA shops.

Groups
Each region of the RSPCA contains groups of inspectorate staff. A group is headed by a chief inspector, who might typically be responsible 6-12 officers (Inspector and AROs), working with several local branches. There is also a small number of market inspectors across the country.

Mission statement and charitable status
The RSPCA is a registered charity (no. 219099) that relies on donations from the public. The RSPCA states that its mission as a charity is, by all lawful means, to prevent cruelty, promote kindness and to alleviate the suffering of animals.

RSPCA inspectors respond to calls from the public to investigate alleged mistreatment of animals. They offer advice and assistance to improve animal welfare, and in some cases prosecute under laws such as the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

Animals rescued by the RSPCA are treated, rehabilitated and rehomed or released wherever possible.

The RSPCA brings private prosecution (a right available to any civilian) against those it believes, based on independent veterinary opinion, have caused neglect to an animal under laws such as the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The society has its own legal department and veterinary surgeons amongst the resources which facilitate such private prosecutions. All prosecutions are brought via independent solicitors acting for the RSPCA, as the association has no legal enforcement powers or authority in its own right.

In May 2012 the RSPCA launched its own mobile virtual network operator service, RSPCA Mobile, in partnership with MVNO whitelabel service Shebang. RSPCA Mobile claimed to be the first charity mobile phone network in the UK. The agreement included provisions such that the RSPCA would receive up to 15% of top-ups made on the network and it was expected the network would raise £50,000 in the first year of operations. RSPCA Mobile ceased service in October 2014.

Legal standing
In 1829 when the first recognisable police force was established in England, they adopted a similar uniform to that of RSPCA inspectors who had been wearing uniforms since the charity's beginning in 1824. This adoption has led to similarities in the RSPCA rank names and rank insignia with British police ranks, which has led some critics (such as Chris Newman, chairman of the Federation of Companion Animal Societies) to suggest an attempt to "adopt" police powers in the public imagination.

An RSPCA inspector may also verbally caution a member of the public, similar to that used by the police, i.e. "You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence"; this may strengthen the perception that the RSPCA has statutory powers. When Richard Girling of The Times asked about its lack of powers, a spokesman for the RSPCA said "We would prefer you didn't publish that, but of course it's up to you". Chris Newman claimed that the RSPCA "impersonate police officers and commit trespass. People do believe they have powers of entry"; however, he did not produce any evidence of such impersonation of police officers, and the society strongly denies the allegation.

Sally Case, former head of prosecutions, insisted that RSPCA inspectors are trained specifically to make clear to pet-owners that they have no such right. They act without an owner's permission, she says, "only if an animal is suffering in a dire emergency. If the court feels evidence has been wrongly obtained, it can refuse to admit it".

In 2012, a trial was halted and charges relating to nine dogs were thrown out of court after District Judge Elsey ruled that they had been wrongly seized, stating that the police and RSPCA acted unlawfully when they seized the animals without a warrant or a vet present to establish any suffering.

While the Protection of Animals Act 1911 provided a power of arrest for police, the British courts determined that Parliament did not intend any other organisation, such as the RSPCA, to be empowered under the act and that the RSPCA therefore does not possess police-like powers of arrest, of entry or of search (Line v RSPCA, 1902). Like any other person or organisation that the law deems to have a duty to investigate — such as HM Revenue and Customs and local authority trading standards — the RSPCA is expected to conform to the rules in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 so far as they relate to matters of investigation. RSPCA officers are trained to state, following giving the caution, that the person is "not under arrest and can leave at any time".

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 has now replaced the Protection of Animals Act 1911, and it empowers the police and an inspector appointed by a local authority. Such inspectors are not to be confused with RSPCA inspectors who are not appointed by local authorities. In cases where, for example, access to premises without the owner's consent is sought, a local authority or animal health inspector or police officer may be accompanied by an RSPCA inspector if he or she is invited to do so, as was the case in previous law.

Following a series of Freedom of Information requests in 2011, to police constabularies throughout England and Wales it was revealed that the RSPCA has developed local information sharing protocols with a number of constabularies, allowing designated RSPCA workers access to confidential information held on the Police National Computer (PNC). Although RSPCA workers do not have direct access to the PNC, information is shared with them by the various police constabularies which would reveal any convictions, cautions, warnings, reprimands and impending prosecutions. Information regarding motor vehicles can also be accessed. The Association of Chief Police Officers released a statement clarifying that the RSPCA had no direct access to the PNC, and that in common with other prosecuting bodies, it may make a request for disclosure of records. This indirect access does not include any information that the RSPCA does not need in order to prosecute a case at court.

RSPCA Assured
The RSPCA contributes the exploitation of animals in agriculture under the RSPCA Assured scheme. Farms pay a fee to the organisation and uphold animal welfare to the standard required, in return they can use the RSPCA Assured logo on their products. The label provides a slightly higher standard of welfare than the legal minimum.

The scheme frequently receives media coverage for animal abuse that takes place on RSPCA Assured farms. In January 2024, footage was shared showing RSPCA assured pig farm workers beating animals to death with an iron bar. Other animals were sick or paralysed, but left untreated. The farm was suspended after the footage emerged.

In March 2024, footage emerged from inside four free-range egg farms that were part of the RSPCA Assured scheme. Many of the hens are bloodied and bald, having plucked out their own feathers due to stress. Some hens were unable to access fresh water, while others were missing feet. Piles of dead birds filled bins.

In March 2024, animal rights activists filmed inside an RSPCA Assured chicken hatchery. Chicks were crushed under trolley wheels and trodden on and thrown into crates. Some chicks were left injured and bloodied by accidents.

In April 2024, workers were filmed hitting pigs in the face before they were killed in a carbon dioxide gas chamber. Many of the pigs were from RSPCA Assured farms. The footage showed "animals were clearly frightened and writhing in agony as they were suffocated". The RSPCA called for an end to carbon dioxide killings while simultaneously allowing the use of RSPCA Assured branding on pigs killed using the method.

In May 2024, hens were found suffering at several RSPCA Assured egg farms. Footage showed a living hen trapped upside down, as well as sick hens alongside living ones. Hens with splayed legs, birds with bad feather loss, decomposing bodies and overcrowded nesting areas were also observed. The RSPCA suspended one of four farms involved.

Animal Rising released a report in May 2024 that determined that in numerous instances, RSPCA Assured farms failed to meet the minimum legal standard for animal welfare.

Fundraising in Scotland
In 2009 the RSPCA was criticised by the Scottish SPCA for fundraising in Scotland and thereby "stealing food from the mouths of animals north of the border by taking donations intended for Scotland." The RSPCA insists that it does not deliberately advertise in Scotland but that many satellite channels only enabled the organisation to purchase UK-wide advertising. In a statement, the RSPCA said it went "to great lengths" to ensure wherever possible that adverts were not distributed outside England and Wales, and "Every piece of printed literature, television advertising and internet banner advertising always features the wording 'The RSPCA is a charity registered in England and Wales. "All Scottish donors, who contact us via RSPCA fundraising campaigns, are directed to the Scottish SPCA so that they can donate to them if they so wish." The Scottish SPCA changed its logo in 2005 to make a clearer distinction between itself and the RSPCA in an attempt to prevent legacies being left to its English equivalent by mistake when the Scottish charity was intended.

Political lobbying
The RSPCA is an opponent of badger culling; in 2006 there was controversy about a "political" campaign against culling, with the Charity Commission being asked to consider claims that the charity had breached guidelines by being too overtly political. The charity responded saying that it took "careful account of charity law and the guidance issued by the Charity Commission". Years later, an RSPCA advertisement published in the Metro newspaper said: "The UK Government wants to shoot England's badgers. We want to vaccinate them – and save their lives." However, more than 100 people complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), saying the use of the term "exterminate" was misleading. The advertising standards watchdog judged that the advert was likely to mislead the general public who had not taken an active interest in the badger cull saying, "The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told the RSPCA not to use language that implied the whole badger population in the cull areas would be culled in future advertising." An RSPCA spokesman said it "welcomed" the judgement of the ASA to dismiss three of the areas of complaint about their advert but "respectfully disagreed" with the complaint which had been upheld.

In September 2013 the RSPCA deputy chairman Paul Draycott said that 'too political' campaigns threatened the charity's future and could deter donors. Draycott said that the RSPCA could go insolvent "We have spent months discussing where we want to be in 10 years' time, but unless we develop a strategy for now we won't be here then". In response the chairman Mike Tomlinson said "The trustee body continues to place its full support behind the RSPCA's chief executive, management and all our people who do such outstanding work". The accusations of politicisation remain unsubstantiated.

Paul Draycott also warned that the RSPCA fears an exodus of "disillusioned staff" with "poor or even non-existent management training and career paths" for employees. In response the RSPCA's chief executive, Gavin Grant denied suggestions in the memo that there was "no strategy" in some areas, stating that there was no difficulty in attracting trustees or serious internal concerns about management.

In June 2014 RSPCA campaigner Peta Watson-Smith compared the conditions livestock are brought up in across the country to that of the Jews during the Holocaust. The comments were condemned by countryside campaigners and Jewish groups. In 2015 Watson-Smith was elected to the RSPCA ruling council. At the same election the RSPCA members also voted to give a seat on the ruling council to Dan Lyons.

In 2016 the new head of the RSPCA, Jeremy Cooper, made a dramatic, public apology for the charity's past mistakes and vowed to be less political and bring fewer prosecutions in the future. The new chief executive admitted that RSPCA had become "too adversarial" and will now be "a lot less political". Cooper said that the charity had alienated farmers in its aggressive campaign against the government's badger cull and disclosed that it would be "very unlikely" to ever bring another prosecution against a hunt. Cooper later resigned after just on year in charge.

In April 2019 the RSPCA has faced a new fraud investigation held at south-east London branch over the alleged mishandling of funds by two men, who were arrested on suspicion of fraud. The suspected fraud was exposed during a financial audit of the south-east London branch.

Euthanasia controversies
The RSPCA also state that whilst a few of their own branches operate "no kill" policies themselves, its policy on euthanasia is: "The RSPCA is working for a world in which no rehomable animal is put to sleep. Currently the RSPCA accepts, with great reluctance that in certain circumstances euthanasia may be necessary, when the animal is not rehomable, because it is sick or injured, for behavioural reasons or occasionally because there are no appropriate homes available and the animal would therefore endure long-term suffering through deprivation of basic needs."

There have been incidents where the RSPCA has apologised for decisions to euthanise animals. In 2008, the RSPCA was sued by Hindu monks over the killing of a sacred cow at the Bhaktivedanta Manor Hindu temple in Hertfordshire and 200 people protested at the RSPCA headquarters. On 13 December 2008, the RSPCA admitted culpability, apologised for the euthanising of the cow, and donated a pregnant cow to the temple as a symbol of reconciliation.

The RSPCA admitted that in 2014 it had euthanised 205 healthy horses. In one particular case 12 horses from a Lancashire farm that had been assessed by vets as being "bright, alert and responsive" and suffering no life-threatening issues were killed by the RSPCA.

Prosecutions
In May 2013 former RSPCA employee Dawn Aubrey-Ward was found hanged at her home when suffering from depression after leaving the animal charity. Aubrey-Ward was described by The Daily Telegraph as a whistleblower for the RSPCA's prosecution practices. The RSPCA subsequently had a meeting with the Charity Commission over its approach to prosecutions.

On 7 August 2013 the BBC Radio 4 Face the Facts radio programme broadcast an episode called "The RSPCA – A law unto itself?" The programme presented a number of cases of where the RSPCA has sought to hound vets and expert witnesses who had appeared in court for the defence in RSPCA prosecutions. In one case it sought to discredit the author of the RSPCA Complete Horse Care Manual (Vogel) after he appeared as an expert witness for the defence team in an RSPCA prosecution. The RSPCA later released a statement saying that this is untrue and that they do not persecute vets and lawyers who appear for the defence and as defence experts. There have been thousands of lawyers taking defence cases against the RSPCA and they have only ever made a complaint about one.

In November 2013 the RSPCA was accused of instigating police raids on small animal shelters with insufficient evidence that animals were being mistreated. The owners claimed that they were being persecuted because of their "no kill" policy of only putting animals down if they cannot be effectively treated. The RSPCA stated that their inspectors will offer advice and guidance to help people improve conditions for their animals, and it only seeks the help of the police where it considers there is no reasonable alternative to safeguard animal welfare.

Governance
The RSPCA has long been criticised for its governance with the Charity Commission describing it as below the standard expected of a large charity and in August 2018 issued the society with an official warning. The RSPCA made significant changes to its governance in 2019 reducing the size of its council from 28 trustees to a new board of trustees of 12 trustees with nine elected by the membership and three co-opted. The RSPCA also introduced term limits of nine years for its trustees and appointed its first independent chair, Rene Olivieri, in its 196 years of history.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: RSPCA


text:
Oxo Tower

The Oxo Tower is a building with a prominent tower on the south bank of the River Thames in London. The building has mixed use as Oxo Tower Wharf containing a set of design, arts and crafts shops on the ground and first floors with two galleries, Bargehouse and gallery@oxo. The Oxo Tower Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie is on the eighth floor, which is the roof-top level with fine and casual dining. In addition to this, situated on the eighth floor is a viewing gallery open to the public. The third to seventh floors contain 78 flats owned by Redwood Housing. Much of the second floor can be hired out for events and weddings.

Location
Oxo Tower Wharf is in the east of London's South Bank cultural area in the London Borough of Southwark. A continuous riverside walkway passes in front of the building, and links it with other riverside attractions such as the Royal Festival Hall, the National Theatre, the Tate Modern and Shakespeare's Globe.

The building is flanked to the west by Bernie Spain Gardens and Gabriel's Wharf, and to the east by Sea Containers House. When viewing the tower, there are only a few places in which it can be seen. These include the Observation Point, the adjacent riverside walkway, the green at the back of the tower, and the two piers stood in front of the tower.

History
The building was originally constructed as a power station to supply electricity to the Royal Mail post office, built towards the end of the 19th century. It was subsequently acquired by the Liebig Extract of Meat Company in the 1920s, manufacturers of Oxo beef stock cubes, for conversion into a cold store.

The building was largely rebuilt to an Art Deco design by company architect Albert Moore between 1928 and 1929. Much of the original power station was demolished, but the river-facing facade was retained and extended. The Liebig Extract of Meat Company wanted to include a tower featuring illuminated signs advertising the name of their product. When permission for the advertisements was refused, the tower was built with four sets of three vertically-aligned windows, each of which "coincidentally" happened to be in the shapes of a circle, a cross and a circle. This was significant because skyline advertising was banned at the time along Southbank.

Despite these windows being the building's architectural focal point, there is no general public access to the tower which is restricted to maintenance tradesmen.

Liebig and the building were eventually purchased by the Vestey Group. For a long time the building was left derelict until the late 1970s and early 1980s where there were several proposals to demolish the building and develop it and the adjacent Coin Street site, but these were met with strong local opposition and two planning inquiries were held. Although permission for redevelopment was granted, the support of the Greater London Council (GLC) finally resulted in the tower and adjoining land being sold to the GLC in 1984 for £2.7m—who sold the entire 13 acre site to the non-profit Coin Street Community Builders for just £750,000.

In the 1990s the tower was refurbished to a design by Lifschutz Davidson to include housing, a restaurant, shops and exhibition space. The tower won the Royal Fine Art Commission/BSkyB Building of the Year Award for urban regeneration in 1997, the RIBA Award for Architecture also in 1997, the Brick Development Association Award 1997, Civic Trust Award 1998 and The Waterfront Center USA Honor Award 2000. It includes hireable space and floors devoted to occupation. Regardless of the tower's historical significance and multiple awards, it is yet to be classed as a listed building.

Coin Street Community Builders
Coin Street Community Builders (CSCB) is a social enterprise and development trust which has redeveloped London's South Bank. CSCB has reconstructed the surrounding 13 acres into co-operative homes, shops, galleries, restaurants, cafes and bars; a park and riverside walkway; sports facilities; by organising festivals and events; and by providing childcare, family support, learning, and enterprise support programmes. Income is generated from a variety of sources including the hire of retail and catering spaces, event spaces, meeting room spaces and conference venue spaces as well as the provision of consultancy services.

The Bargehouse
2016 7–9 October, final exhibition Celeste Prize 2016, 8th edition, curated by Ellen Blumenstein (KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin), jurors: Juliana Bardolim, Marc Bembekoff, Sandro Droschl, Chris Fitzpatrick, Martin Germann, Felix Hoffmann, Chiara Ianeselli, Marianna Liosi, Zane Onckule, Barbara Piwowarska, Alya Sebti, Moritz Wesseler. 23,000 € prizes awarded to winners, Laure Catugier (Video), Jay Harrison (Installation), Markus Hoffmann (Installation), Kal Karim (Photography), Krysia Kordecki (Installation), Flavia Pitis (Painting).

2022 21–24 July, Evoke Collective Photography Graduate Show, Presented by Arts University Bournemouth. Showcasing the next generation of young British artists, including the likes of James Critchlow, Sion Rees, Sam Cashmore and Ed Wrigglesworth, amongst many others.

Gallery@oxo
The gallery located at the bottom of the Oxo Tower Wharf is known for its photography, contemporary design, architecture and issue-based exhibitions.

Restaurant
The Oxo Tower is also famous for Harvey Nichols' very first restaurant. The tower's popular Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie opened in September 1996.

title: Oxo Tower


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Devil sticks

The manipulation of the devil stick (also devil-sticks, devilsticks, flower sticks, bâtons fleurs, stunt sticks, gravity sticks, or juggling sticks) is a form of gyroscopic juggling or equilibristics, consisting of manipulating one stick ("baton", 'center stick') between one or two other sticks held one in each hand. The baton is lifted, struck, or stroked by the two control sticks ('handsticks', 'sidesticks', or 'handles'), stabilizing the baton through gyroscopic motion.

Manipulating devil sticks is one of the circus arts and is sometimes called devil-sticking, twirling, sticking, or stick juggling.

History
Devil sticks are believed to have originated in China in the distant past as simple wooden juggling sticks. It was apparently brought to Britain sometime around 1813, when a publication mentioned that previous generations had not known of it.

The first scientific analysis of the physics behind the game, known as "the Devil on Two Sticks," was published in 1855 by Benjamin Peirce.

Variants
Devil sticks vary widely in size and construction materials, but the batons are generally based on one of two basic designs: tapered and straight. Tapered batons are tapered from the ends towards the middle such that the middle is thinner than the ends. Straight batons are uniform in width but have weights attached to the ends. Rarely, a hybrid design consisting of a tapered baton with weights attached to the ends is used.

Devil sticks are usually constructed of wood, plastic, aluminum, or composite materials such as fiberglass or carbon fiber. They are most often covered with an elastomer that both increases the friction coefficient (grip) between the baton and handles as well as providing some protection against repeated drops. Infrequently, other coverings such as cloth, suede, or leather are used. Even more rarely, a vinyl or mylar covering which reduces the stick's "grip" is used.

Flower sticks have flower-shaped ends which slow down the movement of the baton and make learning some moves and tricks easier. Heavier and floppier ends allow for greater control by expanding the sweet spot with more weight and increasing the duration of the control phase of a stroke or lift due to the momentum and continued motion of the 'flop' or 'tassel' on the ends of the central baton.

Fire devil sticks (also known as firesticks) typically have an aluminum core and have fuel-soaked wicks on the ends to allow them to be set on fire for visual effect. Both flower and non-flower versions of firesticks exist.

Illuminated devilsticks can create interesting visual effects in darkness with the use of battery-powered electric 'seed' bulbs; LEDs; or with phosphorescent or chemiluminescent materials.

title: Devil sticks


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Apollo Kaggwa

Sir Apollo Kagwa (standard Luganda orthography spelling Kaggwa) (1864–1927) was a major intellectual and political leader in Uganda when it was under British rule. He was a leader of the Protestant faction and was appointed prime minister (Katikkiro) of the Kingdom of Buganda by King Mwanga II in 1890. He served until 1926. Kagwa served as prince regent from 1897 until 1914 when the infant King Daudi Chwa came of age. He was Buganda's first and foremost ethnographer.

Career
Kagwa was an administrative apprentice at the royal palace of Buganda when the first Christian missionaries arrived in the 1870s. These palace apprentices, referred to as pages by European historians of the era, were bright youths from all over the kingdom sent to the palace to train as the next generation of leaders. He was one of the earliest converts to the Protestant faith. He nearly became one of the Uganda Martyrs when King Mwanga II fell out with the Christians a few years later. He was reportedly spared execution because he had already shown himself to be exceptionally capable as an assistant in the treasury. From 1885 to 1887, the kingdom fell into a religious civil war with Protestants, Catholics, and Moslem factions vying for control. Kagwa, still in his twenties, was from early on recognised as the leader of the Protestant faction. A keen rifleman, Kagwa served actively in combat during these wars. The Moslems were in ascendancy in the early part of the war, and Kagwa and other Protestants spent some time in exile in the neighboring kingdom of Ankole.

Prime minister
King Mwanga, temporarily deposed, was restored in 1890 with the assistance of the Protestants, and Kagwa was named Katikkiro (Prime Minister). King Mwanga was again deposed in 1897 when he chose to reject foreign influence and fought an unsuccessful war with the British. An infant prince, Daudi Chwa, was named King (Kabaka) with Kaggwa as one of three regents. Kagwa was one of the negotiators of the Uganda Agreement, by which Buganda became a British protectorate with limited internal autonomy.

The Uganda Agreement of 1900 solidified the power of the largely Protestant 'Bakungu' client-chiefs, led by Kagwa. London sent only a few officials to administer the country, relying primarily on the 'Bakungu' chiefs. For decades they were preferred because of their political skills, their Christianity, their friendly relations with the British, There are their ability to collect taxes, and the proximity of Entebbe (the capital) was close to the Buganda capital. By The 1920s the British administrators were more confident, and have less need for military or administrative support. Colonial officials taxed cash crops produced by the peasants. There was popular discontent among the Baganda rank-and-file, which we can the position of their leaders. In 1912 Kagwa moved to solidify 'Bakungu' power by proposing a second 'Lukiko' for Buganda with himself as president and the 'Bakungu' as a sort of hereditary aristocracy. British officials vetoed the idea when they discovered widespread popular opposition. Instead British officials began some reforms and attempted to make the 'Lukiko' a genuine representative assembly.

Travels
He visited England in 1902 in his capacity as Katikkiro (Prime Minister), for the coronation of King Edward VII, accompanied by his secretary, Ham Mukasa.

Books
Kagwa authored many books on Buganda, including a general history Bassekabaka ba Buganda, a treatise on laws and customs Empisa z'Abaganda and a collection of folklore Engero z'Abaganda. His history of Buganda included brief histories of the neighboring kingdoms of Bunyoro and Ankole. Some of his books have been translated into English.

Career
He was a strong supporter of the establishment of modern education in Uganda. In particular, he was appalled by what he saw as a tendency of the sons of the nation's leaders to grow up spoiled, in contrast to the spartan upbringing his generation received from the palace apprenticeship system. He worked with British missionaries to establish boarding schools, notably King's College Budo, explicitly to keep young noblemen from growing up spoiled.

In 1918, he was made an honorary member of the Order of the British Empire for services in raising and organising native levies and local Defence Corps in the Uganda Protectorate.

Personal life
He had 23 children, including Michael Kawalya Kagwa (who served as Buganda's Katikiro from 1945 to 1950)

Quotes about Kaggwa
"… it was Kaggwa more than anyone else whom Mwanga abhorred. His personal contribution to Mwanga's downfall is therefore enormous, as Mwanga himself pointed out in more than one letter."
 * MM Semakula Kiwanuka

"... and just as Queen Elizabeth I had bestowed a knighthood on a notorious pirate, Francis Drake, so had King Edward VII bestowed a knighthood on Apolo Kaggwa. Sir Francis Drake and Sir Apolo Kaggwa were both predators and were honoured for their vices. Francis Drake delivered stolen Spanish gold and silver bullion and Apolo Kaggwa delivered Buganda's sovereignty."
 * Samwiri Lwanga-Lunyiigo, Mwanga II (2011), page 2

"The real head of the country, British officials excepted, is Apolo Kagwa, the Prime Minister or Katikiro. The page-boy who bore the scars of Mwanga's rage has developed into a leader in war and a ruler in peace whose force of peace and character and genuine Christianity have made him a power for good."
 * JD Mullins, The Wonderful Story of Uganda (1908), page 115.

Bibliography of his writings

 * Kagwa, Apolo. The customs of the Baganda (Columbia University Press, 1934).
 * Kagwa, Apolo. The kings of Buganda (East African Publishing House, 1971).

title: Apollo Kaggwa


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User:Raahulsingh

meet me at http://www.cjhosting.com/member/raahulsingh or http://go.to/raahul

title: User:Raahulsingh


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Flxible

The Flxible Co. (pronounced "flexible") was an American manufacturer of motorcycle sidecars, funeral cars, ambulances, intercity coaches and transit buses, based in the U.S. state of Ohio. It was founded in 1913 and closed in 1996. The company's production transitioned from highway coaches and other products to transit buses over the period 1953–1970, and during the years that followed, Flxible was one of the largest transit-bus manufacturers in North America.

History
In 1913, Hugo H. Young and Carl F. Dudte founded the Flexible Side Car Company in Loudonville, Ohio, to manufacture motorcycle sidecars with a flexible mounting to the motorcycle. The flexible mounting allowed the sidecar to lean on corners along with the motorcycle, and was based on a design patented by Young.

In 1919, the company dropped the first "E" in "flexible" and changed its name to The Flxible Company as the business looked for new opportunities to expand.

After low-priced automobiles became available in the 1920s, the motorcycle sidecar demand dropped and in 1924, Flxible turned to production of funeral cars (hearses), and ambulances, which were primarily manufactured on Buick chassis, but also occasionally on Studebaker, Cadillac and REO chassis, and intercity buses, initially (1930s and early 1940s) built on GMC truck chassis, and powered with Buick Straight 8 engines.

Charles Kettering and General Motors

Charles Kettering, a Loudonville, Ohio native and vice president of General Motors, was closely associated with Flxible for almost the entire first half of the company's existence. In 1914, Flxible was incorporated with the help of Kettering, who then became president of the company and joined the board of directors. Kettering provided significant funding for the company in its early years, particularly after 1916, when he sold his firm, the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (Delco), to GM for $2.5 million. Kettering continued to serve as president of Flxible, until he became chairman of the board in 1940, a position he held until his death in 1958.

After selling Delco to GM in 1916, Kettering organized and ran a research laboratory at GM and, by the 1950s, held the position of vice president at GM. As a result of Kettering's close relationship with both GM and Flxible, many GM parts were used in the production of Flxible vehicles, particularly prior to GM's 1943 purchase of Yellow Coach, a competing bus manufacturer, of which GM had been a majority owner since 1925. For example, most Flxible ambulances, hearses and buses, from the mid-1920s to the early 1940s, were built on Buick chassis, and Flxible's "Airway" model buses of the mid-1930s were built on a Chevrolet chassis.

In 1958, as a result of the consent decree from the 1956 anti-trust case, United States v. General Motors Corp., GM was mandated to sell their bus components, engines, and transmissions to other manufacturers, free of royalties. However, in the early 1950s and prior to the consent decree, Flxible built a small number of buses with GM diesel engines while Kettering still served on the board. It has been postulated that GM may have made its diesel engines available to Flxible to reduce the criticisms of GM's business practices that some felt were monopolistic. The same has been said about GM's decision in the 1960s and 1970s not to produce a 35 ft "New Look" transit bus with an 8-cylinder engine. However, it is also possible that GM chose not to enter that market because the potential sales did not warrant the added costs of engineering and production. Another result of the consent decree, which was not settled in its entirety until 1965, was that GM was barred from having any of its officers or directors serve as an officer or director for any other bus manufacturing company. That provision would have applied to Kettering, had he not died in 1958.

Bus manufacturing
In 1953, Flxible absorbed the bus-manufacturing portion of the Fageol Twin Coach Company, and accepted its first order for transit buses from the Chicago Transit Authority. In 1964, Flxible purchased Southern Coach Manufacturing Co. of Evergreen, Alabama, and built small transit buses at the former Southern Coach factory until 1976. Flxible was purchased by Rohr Industries in 1970, and a new factory and corporate headquarters were built in Delaware, Ohio, in 1974, with the original factory in Loudonville, Ohio, being used to manufacture parts and sub-assemblies. Flxible was sold to Grumman Corporation in 1978 and became known as Grumman Flxible. The name reverted to Flxible when Grumman sold the company in 1983 to General Automotive Corporation. In 1996, Flxible declared bankruptcy and its assets were auctioned. The last Flxible vehicles were produced in 1995.

870 "A" frame problems
In the mid-1980s, several Grumman 870 buses operated by the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) developed cracks in their A-shaped underframes. This prompted NYCTA President David Gunn to remove the entire fleet from service. Soon, several other companies reported cracked 870 "A" frames. However, the frame issues primarily affected NYCTA 870s and not the 870s owned by the franchisees of the New York City Department of Transportation, which were the first buses built with the problem rectified the following year. NYCTA attempted to get the remainder of its pending order for new buses transferred to GM, but was barred from doing so unless they could prove that the 870s were flawed and unsafe. The buses were eventually returned to Flxible, and were rebuilt and resold to Queen City Metro and New Jersey Transit. Grumman blamed the problems with the NYCTA 870s on NYCTA's poor maintenance practices at the time, despite the fact that transit operations in Chicago, Connecticut Transit, Houston, Los Angeles and Orange County, California had also reported problems with their 870s. Regardless, NYCTA ordered fifty Metros in 1995, but Flxible closed its doors before the order was produced, and NYCTA obtained the remaining new buses from Orion instead.

Last transit buses in service
By the mid-2010s, very few transit systems were still operating any Flxible buses. Portland, Oregon's TriMet retired its last Flxible buses in May 2015, after which the only known continued use of Flxible buses in service was by Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) in Charleston, South Carolina, and by Metro Transit in Omaha, Nebraska. However, Omaha ordered replacement buses in summer 2018 and retired its last Flxible buses before the end of that year. Subsequently, CARTA retired its last Flxible buses in October 2019.

Engineering program
Flxible implemented a CAD program, CATIA, in the late 1990s to support production design. They were one of the first customers of IBM/Dassault.

Production outside the United States

Flxible's intercity buses were popular in Mexico and in Latin American countries. However, high import duties into these countries limited sales. In the early 1960s, Flxible began licensing a producer in Mexico, DINA S.A. (Diesel Nacional), to manufacture Flxible-designed intercity coaches, and this continued until the late 1980s. In 1965 and 1966, Flxible also licensed its "New Look" transit bus design to Canadair Ltd., an aircraft manufacturer in Ville St-Laurent, Quebec.

In 1994, Flxible's parent company, General Automotive Corporation, and three other American companies – Roger Penske, Mark IV Industries, and Carrier – entered into a joint venture with Changzhou Changjiang Bus, a Chinese manufacturer located in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, to produce buses based on the Flxible Metro design and with the Flxible name. The resulting company, China Flxible Auto Corporation, manufactured buses in a variety of lengths, from 8 m to 11 m. These buses, which include both front- and rear-engine designs, and share only their general exterior appearance with the American-built Flxibles, were sold to many transit operators in major Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai. A trolleybus version was manufactured for only one operator, the Hangzhou trolleybus system, which bought 77 units between the late 1990s and 2001. For these vehicles, Changzhou Changjiang supplied the chassis and Metro-style bodies to the Hangzhou Changjiang Bus Company (in Hangzhou), and that company equipped them as trolleybuses.

Products

 * Motorcycle sidecar (1913-early 1920s)
 * Intercity coach (1924–1932)
 * Funeral car (1925–1942, 1946–1952, 1959–1964)
 * Ambulance (1925–1952, 1946–1952, 1959–1964)
 * "Airway" intercity coach (1932–1936)
 * "Clipper" intercity coach (1937–1942, 1944–1950)
 * Parts for Liberty ships, M4 tanks, F4U Corsair fighter aircraft, and Goodyear "L" type blimps (1942–1945)
 * "Airporter" intercity coach (1946–1950)
 * "C-1" intercity coach (1950)
 * "VisiCoach" intercity coach (1950–1958)
 * FL "Fageoliner" transit bus (1953–1954)
 * FT "Flxible Twin" transit bus (1953–1959)
 * VL-100 "VistaLiner" two-level intercity coach (1954–1959)
 * "StarLiner" intercity coach (1957–1967)
 * "Hi-Level" intercity coach (1959–1962)
 * "New Look" transit bus (1960–1978)
 * "FlxLiner" intercity coach (1963–1969)
 * "Flxette" light duty transit bus (1964–1976)
 * "Flxible" Cruiser Motor Home (1967–1969)
 * 870 "Advanced Design Bus" transit bus (1978–1982)
 * METRO "Advanced Design Bus" (1983–1996); METRO "A" (1983–1987), METRO "B" (1988–1991), METRO "C" (1992), METRO "D" (1993–1994) and METRO "E" (1995–1996)

Flxible Owners International
Flxible Owners International (see external link) was founded in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the Family Motor Coach Association, and is dedicated to the preservation of buses and coaches produced by Flxible. The organization holds a rally in Loudonville biannually, in even-numbered years and normally in mid-July, where many preserved Flxible coaches and buses may be seen.

The majority of vehicles owned by members are of the Clipper series (Clipper, Visicoach, Starliner) that were produced from the 1930s until 1967. However, there are also quite a few "non-clipper" Flxible coaches that are owned, maintained, and operated by proud Flxible owners. This includes the Starliner, VL100 (VistaLiner), Hi Level, and Flxliner as well as some of the more modern transit buses. Most of these vehicles have been converted to motor homes; however, there are still a few examples of seated coaches belonging to members.

title: Flxible


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User:Zanimum/For editing into articles (a temporary page)

http://www.chezbabcock.com/disney/features.html

Who is really to blame when a smoker dies?

JENNY HJUL

IN ONE corner there is the Ayrshire widow, a gentle-looking, blameless woman out to avenge her husband’s untimely death. In the other corner there is Imperial Tobacco, the multi-billion-pound cigarette manufacturer.

Margaret McTear, egged on by the anti-smoking group Ash, is suing Imperial for £500,000. Part of Imperial’s defence is that it didn’t force Alf McTear to smoke 60 cigarettes a day.

Alf, a John Players man, died of lung cancer ten years ago at the age of 48, and his dying wish was that someone should be held responsible. Now brave Margaret is having her David-versus-Goliath moment in court.

I once worked with a 60-a-day man and he only found the will to kick the habit after he realised he was smoking in the shower. "I knew it had gone too far,’" he told me, and never smoked again.

I also knew a John Players man - my dad - but his daily fix was capped at about 40. He gave up when I was 15 to discourage my sister and me from copying him, and although we soon unearthed his duty-frees, he never smoked again.

I quit nearly three years ago, the same time as my husband, a nicotine worshipper of long standing. I still miss it, like to sit next to smokers at dinner for the vicarious thrill, and even think smoking is glamorous, God help me. I persevere with my abstinence for my children’s sake.

Alf McTear took up smoking before cigarette packets carried warnings. I have great sympathy for his family and contempt for the companies that peddle such dangerous wares yet have been so slow to acknowledge the risks.

Margaret McTear wants young people to get the message that smoking kills. But whose fault was it that Alf smoked, if not Alf’s?

He continued to smoke years after the consequences of smoking became common knowledge, and he smoked, it would appear, without moderation.

If young people are to get a message from Alf, it is that they should take charge of their lives.

I can’t see how Imperial owes Mrs McTear a penny, and if the case follows American and French precedents, she will lose her claim, but hopefully not her house. No doubt, Ash, whose cause she is publicising, will contribute to any costs she incurs.

KRISPY Kreme doughnuts arrived in Harrods this week from the US, and immediately divided the country. In Scotland, the very independent MSP Margo MacDonald condemned the "more-ish" sugary treats as disastrous for the nation’s health and called on the Scottish Executive, Edinburgh City Council, Lothian Health and local school boards to object to any application from the company that makes them if they ever dared open a franchise here, which is mooted.

"Can we ignore the sale of foods which, when eaten in large quantities, are linked to obesity?" she asked.

In the south, however, folk are mad for them. Alexandra Shulman, editor of Vogue, goes as far as to say they are "chic junk food", the "must-have, favourite import". When a huge box arrived at Vogue HQ, the slinky voguettes demolished them within five minutes. "The dough is incredibly light, the topping is addictively sweet and crunchy, and the whole experience is terrifyingly indulgent."

Yum, yum. In small doses, Krispy Kremes are benign. Are we to be denied such pleasure because a few greedy pigs don’t know when to stop?

As Shulman said: "One is never enough, two is too many." The eater decides.

CLARISSA Dickson Wright looks like a two Krispy Kreme doughnuts woman, maybe three (she confesses to an addictive nature), but that shouldn’t do her career as a television cook any harm. More damaging is the BBC’s "dithering’, as she calls it, over commissioning a new series from her. She claims she "hardly earned a thing last year" and has had to file for bankruptcy because Beeb bosses decided in the end not to go ahead with a new Clarissa and the Countryman series.

"It’s all the BBC’s fault," she moaned, deftly sidestepping any responsibility for what some may see as her lack of talent and lack of appeal post-Jennifer Paterson and Two Fat Ladies fame.

WHY did Newsnight Scotland lead its programme on Tuesday night on depleted uranium clean-up rates in Iraq? Has it finally tired of Scottish yarns and committed itself to doing stories on their own merit, whether they have Scottish content or not?

I do think BBC viewers in Scotland will be overjoyed if this is the case - stories being run because they’re interesting rather than because they’re Scottish - but it does rather confirm the majority opinion that the opt-out itself is a stinker.

IT'S PUMPKIN 'BYE FOR ALF

HALLOWE'EN thieves have stolen 82-year-old veg-grower Alfred Shacklady's pride and joy - a 150lb pumpkin!

He planned to give it to Children In Need for a guess-the-weight contest.

The monster - 25 times the weight of a normal pumpkin - was lifted from his garden in Astley, Lancs.

Alfred, who fears it was stolen to make a giant Halloween Lantern, said: "It was a corker. It was already 22 inches across and I reckon I could have got it even bigger."

Exam pass mark was lowered, says inquiry By Liz Lightfoot, Education Correspondent (Filed: 25/10/2003)

A sharp improvement in primary school English results during Labour's first term of office has been called into question by research which showed that the pass mark was substantially lowered for two years.

The study was commissioned by the Government's curriculum advisers in 1999 after The Daily Telegraph reported that the pass mark had been secretly dropped for the English test taken by 11-year-olds so that more children would pass. It went down from 51 out of 100 in l998 to 44 out of 100 in 1999.

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) denied at the time that the test had been made easier, saying the pass mark had been dropped because the questions had proved harder for the children to answer. It was exonerated by an independent inquiry but was told to carry out a thorough review of its procedures to ensure the safeguarding of standards.

Later that year it was announced that the proportion of children reaching the level expected for their age in English had jumped from 65 per cent to 71 per cent.

In 2000 it went up to 75 per cent where it has stayed. The performance of children in the last year of primary education formed a key target for the Government. David Blunkett, the then Education Secretary, said he would resign if the target of 80 per cent reaching the standard in English and 75 per cent in maths was not reached by 2002.

In the event, despite the steep rise in l999 and 2000, progress stalled and the targets were missed. The research, which has remained unpublished, is said to have found that the reduction in the pass mark in l999 and again in 2000 had not been justified because the papers were not significantly harder.

The £300,000 study was carried out for the QCA by a team led by Alf Massey of the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate which set versions of the English tests to 11,000 pupils in Northern Ireland.

Prof Peter Tymms, the deputy director of the curriculum, evaluation and management centre at Durham University, said the unpublished study added to other research evidence that the performance of children in English had been overestimated.

"This adds to growing evidence that suggests standards over time are not reliably measured by the system," he said.

The QCA said Mr Massey's report would be published in December. "The work has been completed and we are talking to the author about getting it into a form which can be published," said a spokesman.

"The QCA has maintained the standard of the national curriculum tests over time. A child reaching level 4 in 1999 underwent as rigorous assessment as in any previous or subsequent years," he said.

9 October 2003: Labour misses its target for GCSE results 20 August 2003: One child in three misses school targets

Previous story: Amnesty for 50,000 'is turning Britain into magnet for asylum' Next story: Ex-public school? It's all about confidence

Related reports Public school bans junk food education.telegraph

External links Qualifications and Curriculum Authority

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Animal rights activists target farmer

Breeder of guinea pigs used for testing subjected to campaign of threats

Alok Jha, science correspondent Monday October 27, 2003 The Guardian

At Darley Oaks farm in the Staffordshire village of Newchurch, Chris Hall has bred guinea pigs for use in animal experiments for more than 30 years. It may come as no surprise, then, that he has been targeted by local animal rights activists, who claim not only that the guinea pigs are housed in appalling conditions but who are also resolutely against the use of animals in research anyway. But what started as regular peaceful demonstrations outside the farm four years ago has escalated into violence and intimidation against the Hall family and many of their associates. Police said that that there has been a string of criminal activity - from vandalism to arson - in the name of a campaign that is rapidly becoming the new front line in the UK's animal rights movement.

"The shift has moved from peaceful protest towards this more criminal way of protesting," says Inspector David Bird of the Staffordshire police force. Last week, one of the Halls' unused houses was the target of an arson attack believed by police to be the work of local activists.

The Halls have never spoken publicly about the activists, and would not speak to the Guardian about the latest events. The campaign against them, however, has been recorded in detail on a web site run by Save the Newchurch Guinea Pigs (SNGP), which has protested outside the farm every week for the last four years.

The site talks proudly about the group's past marches and protests and even publishes contact details for the Hall family, encouraging members of the public to call the farmer with their comments on his work. "At one point they [the Halls] complained that they were getting up to 400 phone calls a day from people who care about animals!" says the site.

The SNGP has also targeted anyone who does business with the Halls. Among the "collaborators" (as they are called by the group) who have pulled out of their dealings with the Darley Oaks farm recently are First Milk and Lloyd Fraser, dairy services companies that were due to buy milk produced by the farm. Even the Halls' solicitors have severed links after SNGP protesters paid a noisy visit to their Birmingham offices with placards and banners.

But loud and intimidatory though these protests may be, there is an even darker side to the campaign against the Halls.

"The more sinister side has seen explosive devices placed near to the homes of employees on four occasions," says Mr Bird. "It's seen the electricity supply lines to an entire village cut off. There has been quite an intense hate mail campaign against those same people - threatening letters, invitation cards to their own funeral, this type of activity. There are those that have a genuine care for animal rights and animal welfare issues. [But] there are also criminals who hide behind the genuine people."

Those in the shadows are believed to be mainly members of the Animal Liberation Front, famed around the world for its illegal activity in defence of animal rights and very active in Newchurch. Last week's arson attack is believed to be the ALF's work; as is the destruction this year of parts of a golf course used by members of the Hall family.

According to the police, despite many criminal acts being claimed by either the SNGP or ALF prosecutions are difficult because neither organisation officially exists. "There are people who will tell you they affiliate themselves to those campaigns but when you try and find out who is SNGP, nobody will come forward and say, that's me," said Mr Bird.

Andrew Davidson, a local supply teacher and a regular at SNGP's peaceful protests outside Darley Oaks farm, confirmed that the SNGP is a loose-knit organisation. "It really operates democratically from suggestions from all sorts of people," he said. "There isn't a spearhead pulling people along, it's very organic."

Crime associated with the campaign against the Halls has increased so much that Staffordshire police had to apply for an extra £250,000 from the Home Office this year to deal with the problems.

And the police can expect the problems to continue, according to Dr Mark Matfield, executive director of the pro-animal research group the Research Defence Society, who said that the local activists have learnt the tricks behind their relentless campaigning after noting its effectiveness in work of other animal rights campaigners who managed to close down facilities such as Consort, a dog breeding company in Hereford, and Hillgrove Farm, a cattery near Whitney by week in, week out protests and so-called "secondary targeting" of business associates.

By far the highest profile of these campaigns so far has been the work of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (Shac) in response to what it claims is the maltreatment of animals at Huntingdon Life Sciences, a pharmaceutical and chemical testing facility in Cambridgeshire. After years of intimidation, however, in which some members of HLS staff were assaulted and had their cars destroyed by arson, Shac's campaign was stalled earlier this year when the high court established 50-yard "exclusion zones" around HLS premises and the homes of its employees. The government has even stepped in to provide banking services for HLS after the Royal Bank of Scotland pulled out.

According to HLS, the number of regular protesters has dwindled in recent months. Indeed, the campaigners may be facing a losing battle as the prime minister, Tony Blair, and the science minister, Lord Sainsbury, have publicly stated that they fully supported not only HLS but research using animals, and would take all necessary steps to ensure its protection.

Perhaps buoyed by the government's support, the Halls have told colleagues that they will not cave in to the demands of the protesters. "On one or two occasions when there have been the odd rumour flying around that he [Chris Hall] might chuck the towel in, he has written round-robin letters to people saying we are staying in this business, we're not going to be forced out," said Dr Matfield.

Experiments cut by half

· There were 2.75 million scientific procedures using animals in 2002. The annual number of experiments has halved in the past 30 years

· Animal research and testing makes up about 10% of all biomedical research

· Animals used: 84% rats, mice and other rodents; 12% fish, amphibians, reptiles and birds; 1.5% small mammals other than rodents (mostly rabbits and ferrets); 2.1% sheep, cows, pigs and other large mammals; 0.3% dogs and cats. 0.1% monkeys, (marmosets and macaques). Use of chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas is now banned in UK

· Guinea pigs have been used in research for more than a century for medical reasons, including development of blood transfusion, diphtheria vaccine, anticoagulants, kidney dialysis, replacement heart valves, drugs to treat mental illness, and asthma treatments

· The Save The Newchurch Guinea Pigs campaign argues that animal research is not necessary because of the existence of non-animal methods such as computer modelling and tissue culture. The Research Defence Society says scientists use animals in research only "when absolutely necessary" and all the research methods have their place

· Members of SNGP say animal testing is unreliable, since drugs react differently depending on whether administered to people or even to different animal species. The RDS maintains that information is needed on how chemicals react in a whole body, and so it has to be living animals that are used for safety and efficacy tests

Special reports Animal rights Hunting Foot and mouth disease BSE crisis What's wrong with our food?

Weir passes away The world's oldest Test cricketer, Gordon Weir, has died in New Zealand aged 95.

The honour of being the oldest Test player now passes to MJ Gopalan, 94, who played one Test for India in 1933-34.

Weir, known as "Dad", was born on June 2, 1908 and been in declining health over the past year and died in Auckland late on Friday.

He was 21 when he played his first international for New Zealand against the MCC in 1930.

When his 11-Test career ended against England at the Oval in 1937 he had amassed 416 runs at an average of 29.71.

Weir's highest score was 74 not out against South Africa in 1931-32.

He was dismissed in his final Test by England fast bowler Alf Gover, the player he succeeded as the oldest Test cricketer in 2001.

E-mail this to a friend  Printable version Ex-public school? It's all about confidence (Filed: 25/10/2003)

Researchers have exposed the trust fund myth of "privileged youth", writes Becky Barrow

The first research into Britons in their twenties who went to public school dispels the myth that they all have huge trust funds, no jobs and an addiction to country pursuits.

But they do earn more than most in their age group, are more likely to own a home and very likely to drive a Volkswagen, according to Ledbury Research, the market research company behind The Privileged Youth report.

Andrew Cumming, 28, who attended Canford school in Dorset, works for USB Bank The research, which investigated 350 ex-public school pupils aged 20 to 29, shows that they earn an average salary of £30,000, almost double the average amount earned by workers in their early twenties.

James Lawson, the co-founder of Ledbury Research, which advises companies which want to target the wealthy, said: "Investigations into the lives of privately-educated twentysomethings have so far been limited to stereotyped portrayals of aristocratic brats, most recently in television programmes such as Young, Posh and Loaded.

"No one has ever really taken an objective look at this group so, despite their size and spending power, they have been ignored by marketing professionals, retailers and financial institutions."

The report sheds some light on the sort of person who goes to Britain's public schools, either for a year or for their whole education.

They are unusually confident about their abilities, with 98 per cent saying that they do not worry that their financial situation will deteriorate over the next 10 years.

This confidence does not necessarily come from a huge family fortune that they have inherited.

Contrary to the perception that a place at public school goes together with the key to a large inheritance, fewer than a quarter have a trust fund.

Almost 50 per cent have assets of £20,000 or more, with assets classified as anything from a pension to an individual savings account.

About 10 per cent of them have assets of £500,000 or more from a mixture of parental generosity or their own entrepreneurial success.

One of the biggest differences is that they are much more likely to own their own home, something that has become impossible for most people in their twenties.

While the average age of a first-time buyer has risen above 30 in most parts of Britain, 34 per cent said that they owned their own home, with the majority valuing it between £250,000 and £499,000.

More than 40 per cent received help from their parents or another source to buy the property, and their mortgages tend to be for about 50 per cent of its value.

They do not confess to liking soap operas - but 97 per cent who did watch them said they preferred EastEnders to Coronation Street - and country sports is ranked at number 16 as a leisure activity, below watching sport and above going to concerts I'd beg on the streets to avoid using my local state school, says Letwin By Andrew Sparrow, Political Correspondent (Filed: 10/10/2003)

Oliver Letwin said yesterday that he would "go out on the streets and beg" to avoid sending his children to his local inner-city comprehensive.

Oliver Letwin: accused of insulting all state schools Mr Letwin, who was educated at Eton, told a fringe meeting at the Tory party conference that he was trying to get his 10-year-old daughter Laura into a "particular public school in London" as he wanted to see his family during the week.

"Miraculously the middle-class parents with the money end up getting their children into good schools," the shadow home secretary said. "In Lambeth, where I live, I would give my right arm to send them to a fee-paying school. If necessary I would go out on the streets and beg rather than send them to the school next to where I live.

"What about the other parents in Lambeth who are forced to use the state schools because they don't have the money? We need to give them the choice as well."

Mr Letwin appeared to be referring to Lilian Baylis School in Kennington, where last year only six per cent of GCSE pupils got five or more passes at grade C and above.

At the meeting, which took place on Wednesday night, Mr Letwin said he would consider sending his children to state schools in his Dorset constituency. Yesterday Stephen Twigg, an education minister, said: "Oliver Letwin has insulted the parents, teachers and pupils of every state school in the country."

In a report written two years ago, Ofsted said: "Lilian Baylis School has a troubled history. It has suffered from instability in its leadership, a high turnover of staff, uncertainty about its future and a poor, at one time deservedly so, reputation.

"There are clear signs that the situation is improving, with well-focused and determined leadership from governors and senior managers."

Gary Phillips, head teacher at Lilian Baylis, said: "It is very upsetting for both children and parents to be told that their school is no good when they know full well that it is."

He said that according to the Government's value added indicators, which take into account factors like how many pupils speak English when they arrive, Lilian Baylis was regarded as one of the top 100 schools in the country.

"I would be much more willing to accept Mr Letwin's comments if he had ever actually been to the school," he said.

"Has Mr Letwin ever wondered if a 100 per cent record of A-C grades at a school which only accepts gifted children from wealthy homes is as much of an achievement as a 10 per cent record of A-C grades at a school where the children can't speak English when they start there? I doubt it."

A spokesman for Mr Letwin said he had not intended to cause offence. Mr Letwin's comments were intended to show why the Conservatives thought it was so important to extend choice and excellence in schools.

Mr Letwin is seen as a potential leader by many Tories. But in the past his frankness has got him into trouble and this incident will be held against him by those who consider him liable to "gaffe". He and his wife have 10-year-old twins, Laura and Jeremy. His spokesman declined to comment on their schooling arrangements.

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7 October 2003: Vouchers to buy education of parents' choice 6 October 2003: Private school charity status 'should end'

Vouchers to buy education of parents' choice By Benedict Brogan, Political Correspondent (Filed: 07/10/2003)

Grammar schools will make a comeback under plans unveiled by the Tories yesterday that would see all parents given a voucher to "buy" the education of their choice.

Damian Green, the shadow education secretary, said the £400 million "better schools passport" would allow parents to choose where to send their children by giving them financial independence.

The scheme, inspired by ones in the United States and Europe, would see parents given a voucher - or passport - worth the equivalent of what the state spends a year on each child's education.

Those passports, which will be tested first in inner city areas including Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and London, will be worth about £3,500 for primary school and £5,000 for secondary.

The policy confirms that education will be one of the main battlegrounds for the next election. Mr Green has already put Labour on the defensive by announcing plans to scrap university tuition fees.

Mr Green said the passports would be paid for out of the existing schools budget by scrapping bureaucracy and reallocating funds.

To ensure parents have a choice, he said the Tories would scrap the rules limiting spare capacity in the school system. He expected to create seven to 10 per cent more school places to ensure there is room for movement in the system.

Mr Green said the policy was particularly needed in inner city areas where disappointed parents appeal against one in five admissions decisions, compared to one in 10 nationally.

He said: "Quite simply, these passports will give the money that the state spends on their child's education to the parents and lets them decide in which school it should be spent.

"It will be a passport to a better school for all children. It will offer a radical extension of school choice. It will allow all children to aspire to an excellent education."

To avoid Labour accusations that vouchers would only be used by the middle-classes to subsidise private school fees, Mr Green said the passports would only apply in the state maintained sector. It would allow them to go to any school and enrol their child.

Mr Green expects the scheme to create demand for new schools run by charities, community groups and other community organisations, including schools specialising in vocational or academic subjects.

"We believe that parents know what is best for their children, not Tony Blair or Charles Clarke or me," he said. He was confident that there would be demand for new grammar schools.

"We already have 164 of these schools. They are called grammar schools and Labour and the Liberal Democrats still want to destroy them. We will support our existing grammar schools. And we will go further. Under this scheme we will see new grammar schools opening for the first time in a generation. They will provide a ladder out of deprivation for thousands of children, just like they used to."

2 October 2003: City's grammars face axe to save failing comprehensives

City's grammars face axe to save failing comprehensives By Liz Lightfoot, Education Correspondent (Filed: 02/10/2003)

Four grammar schools are being threatened with closure by a local authority, which wants to improve the performance of two struggling comprehensives. Selective schools in Gloucester are being blamed for wide variations in performance between the 13 secondaries in the city and a "polarisation of the ability range".

It is the first attack on selection since anti-grammar campaigners forced - and lost - a ballot on the future of Ripon Grammar School in North Yorkshire, in March 2000.

Under a series of options to reorganise schools, Gloucestershire county council plans to close the four single-sex grammars, although some of the proposals issued for consultation allow for the creation of two much smaller, co-educational, grammar schools to replace them.

The schools - Sir Thomas Rich's, Crypts, Gloucester High School for Girls and Ribston Hall - are some of the highest-performing in the country and have vowed to fight the plans.

"We are a highly successful school which has been awarded Beacon status, Language College status, Sportsmark and the Government's achievement award which is now being threatened by a local authority found by Ofsted to be failing," said Ian Kellie, the headmaster of the boys' grammar school Sir Thomas Rich's.

"One of the reasons they give is disparity in school performance but if two struggling schools aren't doing very well then the best thing would be to look closely at them," he said. "What the authority has put out for consultation is a disgrace. There is so little evidence for the closures that the only conclusion I can reach is that the real agenda is to get rid of selection."

The council, which is controlled by the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties, says it wants to tackle wide variations in school performance in the city, which has one failing and one struggling comprehensive school, seven other comprehensives and the four grammars. The two schools have continued to lose pupils despite millions of pounds being spent on them through their inclusion in an Education Action Zone.

A report by the council's working party published yesterday suggested that over the next seven years the grammars would increase their proportion of pupils from 22 to 26 per cent while the less popular schools would suffer falling rolls, threatening their viability. To achieve more balance between schools, the target should be to remove a minimum of 300 and up to 1,800 places of selective provision, it said.

The plan is being strongly opposed by the grammar schools and by Conservative councillors. "This is a breathtaking party political attack on some of this city's best schools," said Jackie Hall, the Tory education spokesman. "How can they claim to consult when every single option involves closure?"

The closures might be illegal without parental ballots, said Mr Kellie, who was a member of the working group on the review of secondary education but resigned in protest at the limited options under discussion.

16 July 2000: No backing for ballots to abolish grammars

No backing for ballots to abolish grammars By Martin Bentham, Education Correspondent (Filed: 16/07/2000)

THE first year of the Government's campaign to abolish Britain's grammar schools is to end in total failure after activists in the remaining areas seeking a ballot on an end to selection admitted defeat.

Pro-comprehensive groups in Birmingham and the London borough of Sutton say they will be unable to collect the required number of signatures to trigger a vote before the July 31 deadline set by ministers expires. Their admission means that after Ripon, where parents voted overwhelmingly to retain the grammar school, there will be no further votes on ending selection until at least next year.

Supporters of grammars responded by calling on the Government to scrap the ballot legislation to save schools having to expend time and money fighting for their survival. Brian Wills-Pope, the chairman of the National Grammar Schools Association, said: "The people have spoken very clearly and it is time that this ideological campaign against grammar schools was stopped.

"If those who want to abolish grammars cannot even get enough signatures to trigger a ballot, it proves that they do not have the public's support. The Government should repeal the ballot legislation so that everyone can get on with raising standards, which is what grammar schools are all about. Allowing this process to begin again next year, when the public obviously wants to keep grammar schools, will simply be destructive and pointless."

Under the rules set by the Government, those seeking to abolish grammar schools must gather the signatures of 20 per cent of parents eligible to vote before a ballot can be held. Campaigners in Trafford, Greater Manchester, announced last week that they had fallen short of the target. Activists in Kent and Barnet admitted defeat several months ago.

Dr Vin Sharma, who is organising the pro-comprehensive campaign in Sutton, said: "We are not rushing around collecting signatures because we realise that with July 31 approaching we are not going to get there." Dr George Parfitt, who is leading the campaign in Birmingham, where six grammars are under threat, also conceded defeat. "We are now viewing this year as a dummy run for next year, when we will be better organised. But it is not going to be easy."

Left-wing activists are now hoping that the Government will amend the rules governing ballots to make it easier to trigger a vote on the future of the remaining 164 grammar schools. Among the problems which they believe have prevented sufficient signatures being collected are delays in issuing lists of parents eligible to vote and restrictions on gathering signatures on local authority premises, including schools.

Whitehall officials insist that there will be no significant changes to the rules next year, although they also warn that calls for the legislation to be repealed will be rejected. The position adopted by David Blunkett, the Education Secretary, on grammar schools has fluctuated. After the Ripon ballot, he told The Telegraph that he was no longer interested in "hunting grammar schools" and that his famous 1995 pledge to end selection had been "a joke".

Since then he has sent a message of support to pro-comprehensive activists in Trafford, while last week he predicted that grammars would disappear by 2011 as improvements in other schools made selection an "anachronism".


text:
Counties of Wales

The counties of Wales may refer to:

 * Some principal areas of Wales; of the twenty-two, eleven are styled as "counties"
 * Preserved counties of Wales, used for ceremonial purposes
 * Former administrative counties of Wales (those prior to 1996) — see History of local government in Wales
 * Historic counties of Wales

Maps:

title: Counties of Wales