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Anna Arrowsmith, centre, the Lib Dem candidate, who is also known as Anna Span, with two of her star actors. Her company has made more than 300 pornographic films

Porn career? It won’t worry my colleagues, says Anna Arrowsmith

March 13, 2010

Anna Arrowsmith, also known as Anna Span, is the new Liberal Democrat candidate for Gravesham in Kent. She is also the auteur of hundreds of “female-friendly” porn films. Her neighbours in Tunbridge Wells may or may not be disgusted to learn that some of these, including Be My Toyboy, were shot in the front room.

There are unlikely to be many others “who can claim that”, says the managing director of Easy on the Eye Productions as she surveys her party colleagues gathering for their conference in a Birmingham hotel. Dressed in black jeans, cardigan and shirt buttoned to the neck, she could be any Liberal Democrat activist discussing the issues of the day before heading over to the conference hall. As the hotel guests mill around us, Ms Arrowsmith recalls what made her reputation as a campaigner.

Last year she won a battle with the British Board of Film Classification to be allowed to show a scene of female ejaculation.

That campaign was “idealistic. It was about saying to the censors that you can’t tell the women of this country what their bodies can or cannot do.”

This singular project is not the only evidence the Liberal Democrat hierarchy has of the porn entrepreneur’s determination. At last year’s conference she won a ruling that those who had been members of the party for just eight months could stand for Parliament. She had earlier raised the topic with Nick Clegg at a public meeting.

Ms Arrowsmith was then able to seek a candidature, and after failing to win the nomination in a couple of other seats she was recommended by the party leadership in the South East as a last-minute replacement in Gravesham for a candidate who stepped down. Local activists accepted her this week and have been “very supportive”.

How seriously will the voters take Ms Arrowsmith, 38, on the election trail? She wants to be respected for her business and campaigning record but knows that her career will present a problem for some. “There will be some people who will never like porn,” she says. “People approach sex in different ways. For some people it is only an emotional act. For others it is a variety of different acts. Some people will never accept that. They are probably the same people who never had a one-night stand. There will be some people who are conservative and very anti-porn. I think on the whole these days people are far more liberal.”

Dhekelia base's future in the spotlight

28/01/2010

THE CLOSURE of the British base at Dhekelia would save the UK Defence Ministry £100m sterling a year, sources within the ministry were quoted as saying yesterday.

Closing the base on the eastern end of the island appeared to move a step closer to becoming a reality as the defence official told The Times that only Akrotiri and Ayios Nikolaos would remain open after the completion of a Strategic Defence Review.

The official told The Times that £100m could be saved if most of the troops based in Cyprus were posted back to the UK.

“The practice of using Cyprus is long-standing, but no one has stood back and asked whether it is still a good idea. Many soldiers don’t regard Cyprus as a jolly, but would rather be back home if not on the front line,” the defence source told the paper.

The news follows on the heels of a Channel 4 News report that claimed the British military operation in Cyprus was being scaled down at an alarming pace.

Over 3,000 troops are currently based on the island at an estimated cost of £300m a year to the British taxpayer, with Akrotiri being the largest RAF base outside the UK.

SBA authorities have continuously rubbished reports that Dhekelia is being downgraded, claiming that troops have been temporarily relocated to Akrotiri base, while 80 soldiers who worked with laid-off civilian staff returned to the UK.

With a series of brutal cuts being predicted in the defence review, it’s thought that Cyprus, which is no longer seen as of strategic importance, has already been earmarked for the biggest cuts.

The island is used by British troops as a forward base, with a battalion of infantry stationed here as reinforcements for Afghanistan, and troops returning from the front line are posted to Akrotiri for rest and recuperation between operations.

Together the sovereign base areas occupy three per cent of the island, and employ around 1,000 local civilians.

Last week the Ministry of Defence acknowledged that it faces financial challenges, but noted the Treasury has already pledged that not a penny will be cut from the defence budget this year.

However it said “it is not possible to give a meaningful assessment beyond 2010-2011 as future spending plans have not yet been set.”

The UK retained sovereignty over the bases when it granted the island independence in 1960, the larger of these is Dhekelia, which is also referred to as the Eastern Sovereign Base Area.

British planned to shut Cyprus Bases in 1978

As a result of revising the defence budget, the British government in 1974 had decided in principle to abandon the bases in Cyprus but stalled because of American objections, according to declassified 1978 Foreign Office documents this week.

The documents, kept secret up to now, show that both governments agreed on the information gathering importance of the bases in the region.

In June 1977 the issue was discussed in Washington between Whitehall and the new US government of Jimmy Carter, when a proposal for the American side to meet 50% of the expenses was put on the table.

It is not clear from the documents which side made the proposal, but it appears that it was later rejected, although Carter had accepted it.

The outcome of the discussions was that the decision to abandon the bases was suspended.

Another related document states that the issue of abandoning the bases was never discussed with the Cyprus Government, and adds: “Whenever the matter was brought up, the position was that the British Government does not intend to abandon any part of the bases.” Nevertheless, the possibility that it might do so had been mentioned by prime minister Harold Wilson to the Greek Government.

At the end of the document there is a handwritten note, dated 27 March 2008, that a next paragraph was being left out, to be released 10 years later.

The documents also show that the British government was prepared since then to offer part of the SBA area to facilitate a solution to the Cyprus problem, a thing which it finally did during the Annan Plan in 2004.

According to the same batch of declassified papers, Archbishop Makarios just four days before he died on 3 August 1977 had told his future successor Spyros Kyprianou that he had regretted signing the high-level agreement with the Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash with which he accepted a federal solution. Kyprianou mentioned this to the British Prime Minister James Callahan during talks in London on 23 June 1978.

BURROWES CALLS FOR ‘CRYSTAL CLEAR’ FOREIGN OFFICE GUIDANCE FOR PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT IN THE OCCUPIED NORTHERN CYPRUS

Refugee Meletios Apostolides, who owned the land in occupied Lapithos, reacts with a big smile outside the High Court in London after the favourable judgement.

28/01/2010

Following the decision of the Court of Appeal that a decision by a Cypriot court, in connection with claims relating to Greek Cypriot owned property in the north of Cyprus, must be executed, David Burrowes MP for Enfield Southgate and Shadow Justice Minister said:

“I was pleased by today’s announcement of the judgement from the Court of Appeal that the Cypriot court order for compensation and return of the Apostolides’ property must be respected and executed. I have therefore today asked the Foreign Secretary whether guidance about property development in the north of Cyprus will be revised. The Foreign Office should make it crystal clear to British citizens that owning and developing Cypriot land has legal and political consequences. Courts in Cyprus and Britain will enforce judgements for compensation and the return of land without permission of the legitimate Cypriot owners. Further such property developments are an obstacle to a united Cyprus. The Court judgement provides the legal backing for Cypriots’ legitimate property rights to be fully respected within a solution to the Cyprus problem. ”

DAVID CAMERON

“It is difficult to be an optimist about the issue of Cyprus"

25/11/09 

David Cameron, leader of the British Conservative Party has expressed his support to the ongoing direct negotiation process between the two community leaders in Cyprus, aimed at finding a mutually accepted solution to the Cyprus problem.

“These negotiations will have to go on, will have to succeed, will have to have a unified Cyprus with all outstanding issues settled. That’s what we want to achieve”, Cameron said speaking during a meeting on Monday of the Conservative Party in Finchley, North London.

Cameron was answering to a  journalist's question for the position of the British Conservative Party over the Turkey’s stance in Cyprus and the EU.

“It is difficult to be an optimist about the issue of Cyprus, but actually there is a case for some optimism”, he said and added: “Cyprus is a member of the EU, very successful one. Turkey wants to become a member. It seems that it gives us an opportunity to try and get what we want to achieve which is a unified Cyprus where all the outstanding issues are settled and where people get confidence to go forward”.

Britain among the worst places to grow up: study

LONDON 21/04/09 — The happiest children in Europe are in the Netherlands and Scandinavia but Britain is among the worst places to grow up, according to new British research published Tuesday.

A league table of young people's wellbeing places the Netherlands top of 29 European states, followed by Sweden and Norway, while Britain comes in at a lowly 24th.

The table, focusing on youngsters aged up to 19, was compiled by researchers at York University in northern England for the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) using data mainly from 2006.

The researchers assessed the countries using 43 separate criteria, ranging from infant mortality and obesity to factors such as poverty and housing.

Germany was eighth, France was 15th and Britain was ranked only above Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta.

The Netherlands scored high in all categories, while the Scandinavians were praised for having a low level of child deaths caused by accidents.

Scandinavian children also indulge in less "risky behaviour" -- which the researchers categorised as early sexual intercourse, smoking and drinking -- than their European counterparts.

Norway was top in the provision of housing and the "quality of neighbourhoods."

CPAG said the low ranking of Britain, despite its position among the world's leading economies, was "particularly influenced by the high number of children living in families where no parent works."

The British government said it had made progress on child wellbeing since 2006, but CPAG urged it to include child-friendly measures in Wednesday's Budget announcement as the economic downturn leads to higher unemployment.

CPAG chief executive Kate Green said: "We cannot afford a 'do nothing' Budget for children. The report shows a clear link between high levels of child wellbeing and low levels of child poverty.

"If we fail to protect families during the downturn, progress on child wellbeing could go into reverse."

In the verall ranking, Cyprus is 12th, while Greece is just before UK at 23.

Teenage binge-drinking in Britain
at 'chronic' levels as poll reveals shocking level of alcohol abuse

London 26th March 2009

Binge-drinking among British teenagers has reached 'chronic' levels, according to a European poll. The survey of 35 countries found the UK had the third-highest number of 15 and 16-year-olds with an alcohol problem.

Professor Martin Plant, from the University of the West of England, which led the research, said alcohol abuse among the UK's teenagers was rife.

He said binge-drinking, intoxication and alcohol-related problems among the country's youth was a series cause for concern.

'This problem is both serious and chronic,' he said.  'I hope that the Government will prioritise policies that are effective to reduce heavy drinking and alcohol-related disorder and health problems amongst young people.'

The survey also found that more than half of British teenagers had been binge-drinking in the past month, and that girls were more likely to drink to excess than boys.

The percentages of UK teens who had binged at least three times in the past 30 days was almost the same as it had been in 2003.  Altogether, 26 per cent of boys and 27 per cent of girls admitted to drinking to excess.

The survey is the most detailed international study carried out into binge-drinking and drug use among European teenagers. It included a sample of 1,004 boys and 1,175 girls from the UK, who were also found to suffer from high levels of relationship, sexual and delinquency problems.

A statement from the university said today: 'The fact that some teenage girls are binge-drinking even more than boys suggests that in the UK and elsewhere a profound social change has been taking place.

'It is clearly no longer socially unacceptable for females to drink heavily or to become intoxicated. This may reflect factors such as greater female social and economic empowerment and changing social roles as well as the marketing practices of the beverage alcohol industry.'

Only youngsters in Bulgaria and the Isle of Man abused drink to a greater extent.

But the report also found the number of teenage smokers in the UK had fallen since 1999. It also found only 11 per cent of British teenagers admitted to smoking cannabis in the past month.

Professor Plant added that many teenagers in the UK were developing serious health problems and dying prematurely because of their drinking problems.

He said: 'There is a clear scientific consensus that alcohol education and mass media campaigns have a very poor track record in influencing drinking habits.

'Far more effective - and cost effective - policies include using taxation to make alcohol less affordable.

'It is therefore recommended that a minimum price of 50p per unit of alcohol should be introduced. This would save over 3,000 lives per year.'

Professor Plant said it would also reduce problems such as absenteeism, public disorder and hospital admissions.

'This measure would particularly affect harmful and hazardous drinkers,' he said. 'It could save £1billion-per-year in the cost of alcohol-related harm.'

Green light for bar's £10 'all you can drink' night

LONDON - A £10 all-you-can-drink promotion has been given the green light by a London council as a police commander questioned government plans for a crackdown on the alcohol industry.

Ealing council has ruled that an Australian-themed bar in Acton is not encouraging irresponsible drinking with the cut-price deal.

Customers at the Redback Tavern taking advantage of the two-hour Sunday evening offer are given a half-pint cup to fill with a choice of draught beers, spirits and mixers.

Martin Bell, who runs the 600-capacity venue, said: "We offer free food beforehand and our supervisors enforce all the standard licensing requirements."

The pub has been given a string of licence conditions including having to play a tape half an hour before closing time asking customers to leave quietly.

The go-ahead for the promotion came as Commander Simon O'Brien, the Association of Chief Police Officers' leader on alcohol and licensing, rejected moves for further legislation to deal with the effects of Britain's binge-drinking culture.

Ministers favour banning happy hours, discount drinks and extra large measures after widespread abuse of the industry's current voluntary code was exposed by a Department of Health report this summer.

But Mr O'Brien said: "It's my view, and that of other colleagues at ACPO, that we have a sufficient amount of legislation. I'm comfortable with the amount of legislation at the moment."