Brexit Bill To Reach £55bn by 2030, IPPR Report Finds

Brexit will cost the UK £55bn by 2030, a major study has found, which calls it “the firing gun on a decade of disruption”.

A report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), Britain In The 2020s, has said the vote to leave will “permanently” reduce growth and living standards, leaving households £1,700 worse off a year.

By 2030, the analysis predicted, some working age families will have weathered two decades with a “weak” growth in income, as it said leaving the EU will lead to major currency falls.

The Cost of College

It was satisfying to watch the two Presidential candidates find their ways to absolutely opposed positions on gay marriage. Elections are supposed to present us with clear choices like that, but they usually don’t. Just two weeks earlier, on an issue that affects many more people, Barack Obama had taken a stand that he evidently thought would also showcase a sharp contrast between him and Mitt Romney. A temporary reduction in an interest rate that makes some federal student loans more affordable is due to expire on July 1st, and Obama called for its extension.

Republicans in Congress have fought Obama on the interest rate, saying that keeping it low would add to the federal deficit. Last month, in response, Obama delivered a rip-roaring address at the University of North Carolina, in which he mocked the Republicans for wanting to make hardworking, non-affluent students victims of their budget-cutting impulses. Just the day before, however, Romney had let it be known that he, too, is in favor of extending the rate. This was a contrast that he chose not to draw.

Libya mission's final costs reach $347M

hereDefence Minister Peter MacKay is defending the government's accounting of the costs of Canada's military mission in Libya, following the release of new figures by the Department of National Defence that lay out the final cost of the deployment.

The department puts the incremental costs of the mission — costs the military says would not have been incurred if Canadian Forces had not been deployed — at just under $100 million.

And the total cost of the operation — a figure that includes everything from jet fuel to pilot salaries, including the salaries of military personnel — comes in at $347 million.

Last October, MacKay told CBC Radio's The House the Libyan mission had cost taxpayers less than $50 million.

"As of Oct. 13, the figures that I've received have us well below that, somewhere under $50 million," MacKay said.

True cost of Libya mission was seven times gov't. estimate: documents

OTTAWA - Amid allegations the Conservative government intentionally lowballed the price of the F-35 stealth fighter project, newly released National Defence documents indicate the full cost of last year's Libya mission was nearly $350 million - seven times what Defence Minister Peter MacKay told Canadians it cost.

The revelation is likely to raise further accusations of a systemic effort to hide the true cost of Canadian military operations and equipment purchases, and lead to fresh demands for accountability.

Last October, with Moammar Gadhafi dead and NATO wrapping up its seven-month air-and-sea campaign in Libya, MacKay said the mission had cost taxpayers $50 million - or about $10 million less than the Defence Department had predicted.

Cost Of Diabetes: Disease's Impact Felt Around The World

The number of people affected by diabetes worldwide is on the rise -- and with it, the price tag for everything touched by the disease.

Estimates have put the numbers as high as 552 million for those who could have diabetes by 2030, and as is shown in the chart above, certain countries are facing a more difficult time with it than others. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has 34 countries in its membership, including the top five countries with diabetes: Mexico, United States, Portugal, Canada and Germany. The organization is starting to sound the alarm on the projected impact.

At the European Diabetes Leadership Forum in Copenhagen today, OECD Deputy Director General Yves Leterme stated, "Preventing and treating diabetes and its complications costs about €90 billion annually in Europe alone. With health budgets already under great pressure and national budgets severely strained, for the sake of our health and the health of our economies we must find ways to prevent and manage diabetes in a cost-effective manner."

In the United States, the current direct and indirect costs of diabetes total $174 billion annually, with experts predicting a total of $3.4 trillion by the time the year 2020 rolls around. In Canada, the number is estimated to reach $16.9 billion annually by the end of the decade.

Apart from medication and treatment, the organization points to societal problems, like reduced employment opportunities and salaries for those affected -- for example, obese people earn up to 18 per cent less than non-obese people. There's also the issue of depression, for which those with diabetes have been found to be at a higher risk.

Prevention programs put into place around the world have demonstrated that certain lifestyle behaviours -- specifically, a healthy meal plan, regular physical activity and weight control -- can bring the risk of getting the disease down by almost 50 per cent.

Original Article
Source: Huff
Author: Rebecca Zamon 

Stopping Climate Change Is Much Cheaper Than You Think

You've heard it before: Politicians say they'd love to take action against climate change, but they're reeling from the sticker shock. Today, a new report from the United Kingdom's leading climate change watchdog refutes the oft-cited argument that climate action will herald economic Armageddon.

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) report, with the hairy-sounding title "Statutory Advice on Inclusion of International Aviation and Shipping," says that in 2050, the UK's emissions reductions across the whole economy will cost 1 to 2 percent of the total GDP. This updates, in greater detail, the range predicted half a decade ago by the watershed Stern Review.

Just how much is that? For a rough comparison, 1 percent of the UK's 2011 GDP is a little more than what the country currently spends on public housing and community amenities and is no where near the big-ticket public spending items like health care.

The United Kingdom has enshrined in law an emissions reduction of 80 percent on 1990 levels by 2050.

"It's a very compelling economic case to act," says David Kennedy, CEO of the CCC, an independent statutory body charged with advising parliament on all things climate. "You don't need radical behavior and lifestyle change to achieve our climate objectives."

Japan defence chief 'may cancel' F-35 deal

Japan's defence chief said Wednesday the country may cancel its $4.7 billion order for the US-built F-35 stealth jet if Washington fails to stick to the proposed price and deadlines.

Defence Minister Naoki Tanaka said a formal contract for the initial four units which Japan wants by March 2017, out of a total of 42 jets, was expected to be signed before this summer.

But, he told parliament: "If the situation comes to the point where (the US) cannot work out the proposal by that time, we will have concerns for Japan's defence capability.

"We would have to look at either cancelling the contract or opting for another model."

Japan in December chose Lockheed Martin's F-35 stealth jet for its next-generation mainstay fighter over two other jets -- the Boeing-made F/A-18 Super Hornet and the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Conditional sentence changes to cost millions

A provision in the federal government's omnibus crime bill that restricts conditional sentences will cost the provinces and territories more than $100 million a year, according to a new report from the Parliamentary budget officer.

The change makes conditional sentences available only to non-violent offenders sentenced to less than two years in jail. These sentences are often served under community supervision. This means that under the new provisions, more offenders will end up incarcerated.

According to Kevin Page's report, the cost to the provinces and territories of ending conditional sentences for most offenders would have hit $137 million based on 2008-09 data. This includes the cost of a trial for offenders who would choose to take their chances in court when they previously would have pled guilty and faced guaranteed jail time.

Page said Tuesday that Statistics Canada data shows that the daily cost of incarceration is $160, compared to community supervision at $10.

In addition, offenders will spend less time under supervision, Page said, when their sentences are shortened with credit for time served and good behaviour.

Japan wary of F-35 cost escalation

Japan has expressed concern to the US government about possible price rises involved in its Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter acquisition.

Last week, media reports from Japan cited chief cabinet secretary Osamu Fujimura as saying Tokyo had repeatedly expressed its concern about possible F-35 price increases.

In an email to Flightglobal, the Japanese Ministry of Defence outlined Tokyo's position on price increases. It said that if a price rises "without valid reasons, there is a possibility that a procurement could be cancelled".

"This message is conveyed to the US side occasionally. MoD will continue to request the US government to deliver the aircraft at the price in accordance with the content of the proposal by the period requested."

In December, Japan announced it had selected the F-35 as winner of its 42-aircraft F-X competition, the other competitors being the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and Eurofighter Typhoon.

Lockheed has said the conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) F-35A variant can be delivered for an average unit cost of about $75 million, although that number assumes the USA and eight partner countries order more than 3,100 jets during the next 25 years.

UK Minister: Rise in Cost of F-35 Fighters 'Unknown'

The British Government "doesn't know" how much the price of new aircraft carrier fighter jets will rise because of cancellations abroad. Defence Equipment Minister Peter Luff told the Commons order changes from other countries would have "implications" for the price of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF).

The Lockheed Martin-built jets are due to be purchased to fly from the UK's Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers which are currently under construction.

Speaking during Defence Questions in the Commons, shadow defence minister Alison Seabeck said: "What is the intention around the F-35 programme, in particular given rumoured reductions in orders from the USA, Australia and Canada?

"Do you expect the price of each F-35 to rise and have you taken a view on exactly the point at which they become unaffordable?"

Mr Luff replied: "The honest answer is we don't know. The Americans are not reducing the total numbers of JSF but changing the profile of those purchases. Other partner nations are indicating they are going to reduce their actual off take.

"This is likely to have implications for JSF prices particularly in the early stages which is when this country intends to procure its (fighters).

"There are implications, we are watching them very carefully and I'm happy to talk to you separately about the implications for the UK." (BFBS)

Original Article
Source: defpro
Author: --

Provincial ministers ask Ottawa to share costs of new crime bill

Provincial and territorial ministers have sent a rare united message to Ottawa, with a resolution asking the federal government to consult with them on the cost of the Conservative omnibus crime bill.

The request, presented Wednesday afternoon at a meeting of public safety and justice ministers in Charlottetown, also asked for consultation before the bill comes into force to ensure provincial courts and police are prepared for the changes.

But while the ministers agreed on the content of the resolution, they had markedly different perceptions of how well it was received by the federal government.

Ontario and Quebec, which have both been vocal in their concern that Bill C-10 will overwhelm their courts and jails, said the request for consultation was brushed aside by federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews.

“We had watered it down so much that it was a very simple resolution to establish a process to negotiate,” said Madeleine Meilleur, Ontario’s minister of community safety and correctional services. “I don’t think there was any intention of the federal government to support it.”

U.S. senators decry soaring F-35 cost

U.S. Sen. John Mc-Cain and two other members of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee expressed concerns about the F-35 fighter plane on Saturday, a day after the U.S. defence secretary said his country was committed to the project.

"We've been very disturbed over the cost overruns that have characterized this weapon system. It is now the first $1-trillion (weapon) in history," McCain told reporters, flanked by Democratic senators Mark Udall and Jeanne Shaheen.

"It's not that we're opposed to the F-35. We are opposed to out-of-control cost overruns."

The Conservative government had been hoping U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's commitment to the program on Friday would close the issue of whether Washington would see the F-35 through to full production, despite major ongoing problems.

McCain's comments on the margins of a major international defence conference, however, highlight the tenuous state of the program, particularly since it will be Congress that must approve the billions that will be needed to get the plane off the drawing board and into the hands of the U.S. military and allies like Canada.

"I continue to hope that Lockheed Martin and the military will get their act together and get back on track," McCain said. "We want the F-35 to succeed. We're not opposed to the F-35. But we have obligations to our taxpayers."

Tory Crime Bill: Budget Officer Slams Conservative's Cost Estimate

OTTAWA - Parliament's independent budget officer is accusing the federal government of "total obfuscation" on the financial hit provinces will take from new criminal justice measures.

Kevin Page says a two-page cost summary released Thursday by Public Safety Minister Vic Toews doesn't serve the needs of parliamentarians or the Canadian public.

The Conservatives say their massive new crime bill, which includes nine separate pieces of legislation, will cost $78.5 million over five years, part of bigger justice agenda the government says will cost $2.7 billion.

But Page, who has been asked by the Opposition parties to cost out the bill by mid-November, told The Canadian Press the government estimate includes no methodology, no supporting information and no provincial costs.

Nor can Page find the $2.7 billion expenditure listed in any federal budget of the past two years.

Border Security Deal Between Canada And U.S. Reached, Will Come With $1 Billion Price Tag

OTTAWA - A much-ballyhooed perimeter security deal between Canada and the United States will come with a $1-billion price tag for new border facilities and programs to make trade and travel easier, The Canadian Press has learned.

The Conservative government will use money cut from existing programs to cover the hefty cost of the international pact — an attempt to protect the continent from terrorist threats while speeding the flow of people and products across the 49th parallel.

The deal, as described by several sources, is more evolutionary than revolutionary, falling short of the grand vision outlined with fanfare eight months ago when Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama announced negotiations.

Emblematic of this reality is the fact there are no immediate plans for a prime ministerial-presidential announcement of the agreement — to be unfurled this month — because the Prime Minister's Office has been unable to persuade the White House to make Obama available.

Canadian officials are heading to Washington this weekend to make a final pitch for a public signing ceremony.

F-35s' pricetag of $9B 'more honest,' Fantino says

An overall $9 billion cost estimate is more honest than relying on individual plane costs, says the minister handling the purchase of Canada's new fighter jets.

Despite a promise by manufacturer Lockheed Martin that Canada will get its F-35 fighter jets at a cost of $65 million each, Julian Fantino, Associate Minister of National Defence, says the government's overall $9 billion estimate is the more honest number.

The cost of the F-35 depends on the number of planes ordered by other countries, as well as on how early Canada wants to get its order. The manufacturing cost goes down as more planes come off the assembly line, with Canada expecting the U.S. to absorb the bulk of the F-35's development costs.

"There are just so many variables, and that’s why I think the more honest, ethical response to all these issues is the $9 billion figure, which in fact will be the ceiling that Canada will be investing in these particular aircraft," Fantino told Evan Solomon, host of CBC's Power & Politics.

"We can have this debate up, down and sideways, but the reality is that we are trying to do the best we can, being very responsible with taxpayer dollars."

Canada has ordered 65 fighter jets. The $9 billion total cost estimate breaks down to more than $138 million per plane.

The $9 billion estimate includes training and maintenance costs.

A number of experts have disputed the cost of the planes, including Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page and former defence officials. An American procurement expert from the U.S. General Accountability Office estimated the F-35 A, the model Canada is buying, would cost between $100 to $115 million each.

Origin
Source: CBC 

Canada, U.S. reach agreement on $1B perimeter security pact

OTTAWA—A much-ballyhooed perimeter security deal between Canada and the United States will come with a $1-billion price tag for new border facilities and programs to make trade and travel easier, The Canadian Press has learned.

The Conservative government will use money cut from existing programs to cover the hefty cost of the international pact — an attempt to protect the continent from terrorist threats while speeding the flow of people and products across the 49th parallel.

The deal, as described by several sources, is more evolutionary than revolutionary, falling short of the grand vision outlined with fanfare eight months ago when Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama announced negotiations.

Emblematic of this reality is the fact there are no immediate plans for a prime ministerial-presidential announcement of the agreement — to be unfurled this month — because the Prime Minister’s Office has been unable to persuade the White House to make Obama available.

Canadian officials are heading to Washington this weekend to make a final pitch for a public signing ceremony.

Israel must act against Jewish terrorists

The official tendency to regard the 'price tag' gangs as a nuisance rather than an actual threat has to be shelved.

Extremist settlers in the West Bank and their allies inside Israel have in recent years been acting with violence toward government, army and security authorities, as well as toward Palestinians and Israelis whose political views differ from those of the "hilltop youth." It was in this spirit, known as "price tag," that mosques, Palestinian property and vehicles of the Israel Defense Forces were damaged, and the calm of citizens was disturbed by threats. The official tendency to regard the "price tag" gangs as a nuisance rather than an actual threat has to be shelved. According to a report by Chaim Levinson (Haaretz, September 13 ), the Shin Bet security service is of the opinion that "extreme right-wing Jewish activists in the West Bank have gone from spontaneous acts against Arabs to organized planning in the form of compartmentalized terror cells," which are difficult to infiltrate for intelligence purposes.

Defining this activity as "terror" does not merely have verbal significance. It necessitates an operational perspective for, after all, the purpose of the Shin Bet's existence, unlike that of the police, is the prevention of security offenses, and not merely investigating them post factum and catching those responsible for them.

As far as is known, dozens of youths, aided by an envelope of a few hundred others, are engaged in the activities of the Jewish terror gangs. For years, the Shin Bet has been busy identifying and mapping these networks. Were we talking about Palestinians, all of them, or at least the patently violent core, would have been arrested in anticipation of a trial or would be in administrative detention. It is not clear what is holding back the Shin Bet from acting against this terror - instructions from the political echelons, agreement by the attorney general, insistence on the part of the top brass or a mixture of all three. Last spring, right-wing circles took action to thwart the appointment of I., then deputy to Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin, as head of the service. Those circles preferred Yoram Cohen, and he, with or without connection to that, was indeed appointed. The Palestinian effort to achieve independence will next week reach one of its peaks, at the United Nations and in the field. The leaderships of both sides must not only behave with moderation themselves but must also restrain the citizens whose actions are likely to lead to an escalation. The Shin Bet must now embark on a preemptive operation before Israelis and Palestinians pay a price for this vacillation.

Origin
Source: Ha'aretz 

'Price tag' gangs threaten Israel government's authority

A Jewish authority has taken shape on the West Bank, and its goal is to replace the state as a sovereign authority, and eventually also perhaps to supplant the authority of the IDF.

There's no doubt: Judea and Samaria are here. The "price tag" gangs are not content with the reservation allocated to them on the West Bank, where they can uproot trees, demolish IDF vehicle parts and burn mosques. Like any terror organization, they operate on the basis of a limitless "bank of targets." It is not too much to hypothesize that these lists make distinctions between those whose doors should be spray-painted, and those who should be assassinated, not only on these West Bank reservations, but also in the state of Israel. But it would be a tragic mistake to relate to these gangs merely as though they were a terror organization, whose activity, circumscribed to a specific area, will be brought to an end.

Israel, well versed in the war on terror, has invented the term "terror infrastructure" which distinguishes between those who carry out actual acts of terror, and those who handle the terrorists; that is, between the "military wing" and the political-cultural leadership that cultivates the terrorists. Such a terror "infrastructure" does not exist on these Jewish West Bank enclaves. Responsibility cannot be accorded to the Yesha Council of settlements, or to the rabbis who keep their hands clean, who roll their eyes instead of taking responsibility.

But this infrastructure really exists. A Jewish authority has taken shape on the West Bank, and its goal is to replace the state as a sovereign authority, and eventually also perhaps to supplant the authority of the IDF. We are not talking about the Yesha Council, which "bows down" to government authorities, but rather the creation of a new insanity that will sponsor terror organizations under its wing.