Alt-J win as Mercury Prize seeks lost youth

Alt-J win as Mercury Prize seeks lost youth

ugg boots uk The merger between two of the UK's biggest publishing houses, Penguin and Random House, is expected to give them at least a quarter of the market in non-digital book sales. It won't be quite enough to attract the scrutiny of the Office of Fair Trading but that doesn't mean there's no frisson of alarm in the already anxious publishing world. The consolidation will give Random House's German owner, Bertelsmann, 53% of the joint business, to Penguin owner Pearson's 47%. The question is whether it is a predatory strike – or a survival strategy that would free up cash to invest in the new territory of e-publishing.On the surface the book trade is as tumultuous as the seas off New York. But there are some unexpected constants. In the first six months of this year, ebook sales grew by 188% over the previous January-June, but overall sales of non-digital books are declining only slowly. When a product is cheap and readily accessible, people really do buy more of it. So far, the most obvious victims of the revolution are the bookshops, which struggle to compete in either price or convenience with the e-tail market.

uggs uk But that's not for want of trying. Innovative strategies proliferate: this week, the US bookstore chain Barnes & Noble launches its own e-reader, the Nook, in the UK to compete with various Kindles, Kobos and iPads. In May, Waterstones startled observers by climbing into bed with Amazon, which means that personal shoppers can now buy ebooks from Amazon courtesy of Waterstones' internet connection, despite chief executive James Daunt's earlier view that the online retail giant was a "ruthless moneymaking devil".In this chaotic world, only the boldest would forecast the impact of the Random House–Penguin merger. In more traditional times, reducing the number of big players in an industry and putting a significant share of the market in the hands of the new company would be interpreted as a direct attack on consumer choice. In a move that might hint at a little anxiety about the attentions of the OFT, both parties to the merger are insisting their imprints will maintain their distinctive identities, and deny talk of anything other than back-office cuts.

tall ugg boots uk But the only obvious casualties are likely to be blockbuster authors and their agents, who may feel the impact of one fewer competitor in the small market for books that win heroic advances. It is unlikely to matter much to readers. The independent publishing sector, which has about 45% of the market, repeatedly shows that big isn't necessarily best. The real change defining the relationship between writer and reader, and the one that may yet dynamite for ever the traditional business model, is self-publishing, which does away with publishers altogether.The merger between two of the UK's biggest publishing houses, Penguin and Random House, is expected to give them at least a quarter of the market in non-digital book sales. It won't be quite enough to attract the scrutiny of the Office of Fair Trading but that doesn't mean there's no frisson of alarm in the already anxious publishing world. The consolidation will give Random House's German owner, Bertelsmann, 53% of the joint business, to Penguin owner Pearson's 47%.

bailey button ugg boots uk The question is whether it is a predatory strike – or a survival strategy that would free up cash to invest in the new territory of e-publishing.The Daily Telegraph disclosed yesterday how school nurses have given implants or jabs to girls aged between 13 and 16 more than 900 times in the past two years. Under strict patient confidentiality rules, nurses are banned from seeking the permission of parents beforehand, or even informing them afterwards, without the pupil’s permission. NHS trusts in Bristol, Northumbria, Peterborough, County Durham, the West Midlands and Berkshire have introduced the services in schools in an attempt to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies. However, there are concerns that giving girls birth control while they are under-age encourages promiscuity and sexual exploitation. Norman Wells, director of the Family Education Trust, said: "Schemes like this are giving girls as young as 13 a licence to engage in illegal sexual activity and denying them the protection that the law on the age of consent is intended to give.

mini ugg boots uk Health workers who provide underage girls with contraception without the knowledge of the girls' parents are seriously undermining the role of parents. The last thing they should be doing is fuelling the flames of promiscuity." The implants, which prevent pregnancy for up to three years by releasing hormones into the blood, are inserted into girls’ arms. The injections are effective for up to three months. Figures obtained by The Daily Telegraph under Freedom of Information laws show that in Bristol, the number of contraceptive jabs given to schoolgirls aged between 13 and 16 has risen from 102 in 2010 to 330 in 2011. The jabs are offered at drop-in sexual health clinics, called 4YP Bristol, run in 16 secondary schools and colleges during lunch-breaks. In County Durham and Darlington, the number of schoolgirls given injections rose from five in 2010 to 82 in 2011. In Dorset, the number of schoolgirls aged between 13 and 16 given implants in family planning clinics rose from 49 in 2010 to 62 in 2011. According to NHS figures, the number of schoolgirls given injections or implants outside schools in family planning clinics has also risen across the country.

short ugg boots uk In 2009, 6,700 girls aged 15 and under were given injections and implants, compared to 7,400 in 2010. Anthony Seldon, the master of Wellington College, said: “I think that sexual intercourse is the very highest and most mature spiritual relationship that can exist between two human beings. “Anything that trivialises or treats it as something mundane or easy, particularly for young people, is damaging their ability to grow up and to properly form a loving lasting relationship. It devalues sex, it makes it like an ordinary, everyday thing like going to have a McDonald’s.” Dr Dan Poulter, the health minister, said: “Young people under the age of 16 are legally able to access contraceptive and sexual health services and any advice given will be kept confidential. However, the health professional must always encourage a young person to talk to their parents about their sexual health.” The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales said people affected by the controversial proposals could challenge the decision to take away their benefit.

bailey button triplet ugg boots uk Under the new system, some European Union citizens working in Britain will not have their payments reduced, leading the institute to conclude that the new rules are “discriminatory”. From January, any household where one person earns more than £60,000 will lose entitlement to full child benefit. Those earning between £50,000 and £60,000 will lose some of the benefit. HM Revenue and Customs yesterday began informing more than one million families that they will lose out because of the change. Instead of simply denying the benefit to those affected, ministers have decided that the money will still be paid, then clawed back through a “tax charge” imposed on parents’ earningsThe Conservative Party leadership yesterday released an opinion poll suggesting that four out of five voters supported the cut, including a significant number of people in the income groups affected. Conservative sources described the child benefit change as one of the Coalition’s most popular policies. However, the claims of popularity were questioned by experts, and Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister, admitted that people affected by the cut would be unhappy.

metallic ugg boots uk“I don’t expect them to welcome this,” said Mr Clegg, adding that some of those who would lose did not consider themselves wealthy. “I perfectly understand why people who don’t feel wealthy – who may not feel wealthy at all given all the costs they face today – don’t like this change,” he said. “But I will ask them just to reflect for a minute that there are many, many others, the vast majority of people in this country who are on much lower incomes than them, who are also having to make sacrifices.” The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland also questioned the findings of the poll, which was commissioned by advisers to George Osborne, the Chancellor. Derek Allen, the director of tax at the ICAS, said: “In contrast to the results of the poll commissioned by George Osborne, evidence from tax professionals when speaking to real people about this issue suggests that most people are confused by, and not supportive of, these changes.”