Downing Street Says » John Birt

Asked about John Birt’s continuing role at Downing Street, the PMS said that he was a part-time unpaid advisor to the Prime Minister who looked at a wide range of areas and issues from time to time as described by the media as "blue sky thinking". Questioned further about his contribution she said it was considered that Lord Birt had a valuable contribution to make through his wide experience.

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Is there any truth in the rumour that Sir John Birt is to become Cabinet Secretary ?
Comment by Mike Wood — 21 Mar 2005 on 4:15 pm | Link
In case this interesting item didn\x92t get to you \x96

-Please circulate

\x91Heroes Of Our Time Vote: the Top 50\x92

New Statesman Magazine Cover Story

During Spring 2006 the international politics/current affairs journal New Statesman conducted a vote among readers for the top 50 heroes of our time. The definition of a hero: \x91A man or woman whose actions have been in the service of the greater good and whose influence is national or international: someone who is prepared to act in pursuit of a freer, more equitable and democratic future, without recourse to violence\x92.

Top of poll \x96 Aung San Suu Kyi.

Plus UK Gender/Development/post-conflict specialist Lesley Abdela (CEDAW, 1325 etc) also recognised in Top 50 Heroes of Our Time poll: see \x91Lesley Abdela\x92 below. More information on each name can be found on search engines such as Google.

See complete poll on http://www.newstatesman.com/200605220016

The response, published as the magazine\x92s cover story, is \x91as surprising in its range and unpredictability as it was overwhelming\x92 though the first three are to be expected, world figures Aung San Suu Kyi, Nelson Mandela and Bob Geldof. No. 49 is leading theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, and No 50, Andrew Flintoff, famous English cricketer.

Of the 50 who topped the poll, 10 are female (20%).

Campaigners ranked significantly, hence Bob Dylan (37th) and Bono (30th), Aung San Suu Kyi (1st), Mordechai Vanunu (24th), Lesley Abdela (34th), Helena Kennedy (40th), Noam Chomsky (7th) and campaigning journalist John Pilger (4th).

Women voted into the top 50 Heroes of our Time:

Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese pro-democracy campaigner (1st)

Margaret Thatcher, UK Prime Minister 1979-90 (5th)

Mary Robinson, Ethical Globalisation Initiative, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (20th)

Germaine Greer, Academic and Broadcaster, author of \x91The Female Eunuch\x92 (25th)

Queen Elizabeth 11, most travelled head of state in history (33rd)

Lesley Abdela, international Champion of Women\x92s Rights, specialist in \x91gender in post-deadly conflict reconstruction\x92 (Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Aceh, Sierra Leone) (34th) (lesley.abdela@shevolution.com)

Shami Chakrabarti, Civil liberties campaigner, Director of human-rights group Liberty (35th)

Anna Politkovskaya, Russian journalist reporting on Chechnya war (39th)

Helena Kennedy QC, leading British lawyer, especially on social justice (40th)

Toni Morrison, Pulitzer Prizewinner novelist on black America (48th)

Some of the men voted among the Top 50 heroes of our time (not in order) \x96

Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate, writing on poverty, welfare and development (29th)

Bill Gates, Microsoft founder, with his wife Melinda one of the greatest philanthropists (8th)

Dalai Lama, Buddhist spiritual leader (9th)

Hans Blix, former UN weapons inspector (15th)

Tony Benn, former Cabinet Minister, veteran anti-war campaigner (12th)

Mikhail Gorbachev, last leader of the Soviet Union, relinquished power to help bring Cold War to an end (13th)

Tim Berners-Lee, Inventor of the worldwide web (28th)

Jimmy Carter, former US President, founder of the Carter Center, dedicated to alleviating poverty (41st)

Richard Dawkins, evolutionary theorist (26th)

Muhammad Yunus, Founder of Grameen Bank, \x91banker to the poor\x92 (22nd)

John Carr, international Internet safety expert, advises on protecting children from the dangers of the web (42nd)

Peter Tatchell, co-founder of OutRage, who attempted citizen\x92s arrest on Robert Mugabe (6th)

New Statesman magazine: tel. +44 20 7730 3444, fax +44 20 7259 0181 website: http://www.newstatesman.com e-mail info@newstatesman.co.uk
Comment by Tim Symonds — 30 Jul 2006 on 1:02 pm | Link

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» Tuesday, January 18, 2005

John Birt

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