Oftel has been superseded as the British telecommunications regulator by Ofcom (the Office of Communications).

The Office of Telecommunications (Oftel) (the telecommunications regulator) was a department in the United Kingdom government, under civil service control, charged with promoting competition and maintaining the interests of consumers in the UK telecommunications market. It was set up under the Telecommunications Act 1984 after privatisation of the nationalised operator BT.

Oftel was accused by its critics of having been "captured" by BT, and of giving the dominant operator too much freedom to leverage its monopoly status in fixed line telephony into other markets such as ADSL.

On 28 December 2003 the duties of Oftel were inherited by Ofcom, which is the result of a consolidation of the British telecommunication and broadcasting regulators.

There are allegations of anti-competitive practice in marketing ADSL by BT made by Freeserve being overlooked by Oftel.^[1]

See also[link]

organisation.

Notes[link]

This government-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This article related to telecommunications is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

The Right Honourable Ed Balls MP
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 January 2011
Leader	Ed Miliband
Preceded by	Alan Johnson
Shadow Home Secretary
In office 8 October 2010 – 20 January 2011
Leader	Ed Miliband
Preceded by	Alan Johnson
Succeeded by	Yvette Cooper
Shadow Secretary of State for Education
In office 11 May 2010 – 8 October 2010
Leader	Harriet Harman Ed Miliband
Preceded by	Michael Gove (CSF)
Succeeded by	Andy Burnham
Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families
In office 28 June 2007 – 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Alan Johnson (EaS)
Succeeded by	Michael Gove (E)
Economic Secretary to the Treasury
In office 6 May 2006 – 28 June 2007
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Ivan Lewis
Succeeded by	Kitty Ussher
Member of Parliament for Morley and Outwood
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 May 2010
Preceded by	Constituency Created
Majority	1,101 (2.3%)
Member of Parliament for Normanton
In office 5 May 2005 – 6 May 2010
Preceded by	Bill O'Brien
Succeeded by	Constituency Abolished
Majority	10,002 (51.2%)
Personal details
Born	(1967-02-25) 25 February 1967 (age 45) Norwich, Norfolk, England
Political party	Labour Co-operative
Spouse(s)	Yvette Cooper
Children	Ellie Joe Maddy
Alma mater	Keble College, Oxford Harvard University
Profession	Economist
Religion	Church of England[1]
Website	Official website

Edward Michael Balls, (born 25 February 1967) is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Morley and Outwood since 2010, and is the current Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. From 2005 to 2010, he was the MP for Normanton and he served in the Cabinet from 2007 to 2010.

Balls is married to current Shadow Home Secretary and fellow Labour MP Yvette Cooper. In 2008 they were the first married couple to serve together in a British Cabinet.

Early life[link]

Balls' father is the zoologist Michael Balls,^[2] criticised for campaigning against the grammar school system in Norfolk, then sending his son to fee-paying schools.^[3] Balls was born in Norwich and educated at Bawburgh Primary School in Norwich, Crossdale Drive Primary School in Nottinghamshire, and then the private all-boys Nottingham High School, where he played the violin.^[4][5] He went on to attend Keble College, Oxford, where he gained a First in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (graduating ahead of David Cameron), and later Harvard, where he was a Kennedy Scholar specialising in Economics.^[6]

Balls joined the Labour Party when he was 16 years old.^[7] Whilst at Oxford he was an active member of the Labour Club, but also signed up to the Conservative Association, "because they used to book top-flight political speakers, and only members were allowed to attend their lectures" according to friends.^[8] Whilst at Oxford he was a founding member of the all-male drinking club, The Steamers.^[9][10]

Economist[link]

He joined the Financial Times as a writer in 1990 until his appointment as an economic adviser to Shadow Chancellor Gordon Brown in 1994. When Labour won the 1997 general election, Brown became Chancellor and Balls continued to work as an economic adviser to him. He went on to serve as Chairman of HM Treasury's Council of Economic Advisers.

While he was chief economic adviser to the Treasury, Balls attended the Bilderberg annual conference of politicians, financiers and businessmen in 2001 and 2003, and returned to the United Kingdom on Conrad Black's private jet on both occasions. In 2010 when after details were reported in the press, Balls commented, "It saved the taxpayer the cost of a plane fare and on both occasions I declared it at the time to the permanent secretary in the normal way."^[11]

Political career[link]

In July 2004, Balls was selected to stand as Labour and Co-operative candidate for the parliamentary seat of Normanton in West Yorkshire, a Labour stronghold whose MP, Bill O'Brien, was retiring. He stepped down as chief economic adviser to the Treasury, but was given a position at the Smith Institute, a political think tank. HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office confirmed that "the normal and proper procedures were followed."^[12]

Member of Parliament[link]

In the 2005 general election, he was elected MP for Normanton with a majority of 10,002 and 51.2% of the vote. After the Boundary Commission proposed boundary changes which would abolish the constituency, Balls ran a campaign, in connection with the local newspaper the Wakefield Express,^[13] to save the seat and, together with the three other Wakefield MPs (his wife Yvette Cooper, Mary Creagh and Jon Trickett), fought an unsuccessful High Court challenge against the Boundary Commission's proposals.

In March 2007 he was selected to be the Labour Party candidate for the new Morley and Outwood constituency, which contains parts of the abolished Normanton and Morley and Rothwell constituencies.^[14]

Cabinet[link]

Balls became Economic Secretary to the Treasury, a junior ministerial position in HM Treasury, in the government reshuffle of May 2006. When Gordon Brown became Prime Minister on 27 Jun 2007, Balls was promoted to Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families.

In October 2008, Balls announced that the government had decided to scrap SATs tests for 14-year-olds,^[15] a move which was broadly welcomed by teachers, parent groups and opposition MPs.^[16][17] The decision to continue with SATs tests for 11-year-olds was described by head teachers' leader Mick Brookes as a missed opportunity.^[18]

Balls sponsored the Children, Schools and Families Bill which had its first reading on 19 November 2009.^[19] Part of the proposed legislation will see regulation of parents who home educate their children in England, introduced in response to the Badman Review, with annual inspections to determine quality of education and welfare of the child. Home educators across the UK petitioned their MPs to remove the proposed legislation.^[20]

Several parts of the bill, including the proposed register for home educators, and compulsory sex education lessons, were abandoned as they had failed to gain cross party support prior to the pending May 2010 election.^[21]

Labour leadership election[link]

At the 2010 general election, Balls narrowly won the newly-created Morley and Outwood seat with 37.6% of the vote.^[22][23] The general election resulted in a hung parliament, with the Conservatives having the most votes and seats, but no overall majority. Several days after the election, on 11 May, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats announced that they would form a coalition government, shortly after Gordon Brown resigned as both Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party.

Balls announced, in Nottingham, on 19 May 2010 that he was standing in the election to replace Brown. Balls was the third candidate to secure the minimum of 33 nominations from members of the Parliamentary Labour Party in order to enter the leadership race. The other contenders were former Foreign Secretary David Miliband, former Health Secretary Andy Burnham, backbencher Diane Abbott and former Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who would go on to win.

Shadow Cabinet[link]

New Labour Leader Ed Miliband appointed Balls Shadow Home Secretary on 8 October 2010, a job he held until 20 January 2011, when the resignation of Alan Johnson due to "personal reasons" led Miliband to announce Balls as Labour's Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.^[24] As Shadow Chancellor, Balls regularly appears with Miliband at joint press conferences relating to Labour policy. Together with Miliband, Balls has promoted a "five-point plan for jobs and growth" since he took office as Shadow Chancellor. The plan is described as aimed at helping the UK economy, and involves a bonus tax on banks, bringing forward long-term investment, cutting VAT to 17.5%, cutting VAT on home improvements to 5% for one year, and instigating a one year national insurance break.^[25]

Political activities[link]

Balls has played a prominent role in the Fabian Society. In 1992 he wrote a Fabian pamphlet advocating Bank of England independence, a policy adopted when Gordon Brown became Chancellor in 1997.^[6][26]

Balls was elected Vice-Chair of the Fabian Society for 2006 and Chair of the Fabian Society for 2007. As Vice-Chair of the Fabian Society, he launched the Fabian Life Chances Commission report in April 2006^[27] and opened the Society's Next Decade lecture series in November 2006,^[28] arguing for closer European cooperation on the environment.

Balls has been a central figure in New Labour's economic reform agenda. He and Gordon Brown have differed from the Blairites in being keen to stress their roots in Labour party intellectual traditions such as Fabianism and the co-operative movement as well as their modernising credentials in policy and electoral terms. In a New Statesman interview in March 2006, Martin Bright writes that Balls "says the use of the term 'socialist' is less of a problem for his generation than it has been for older politicians like Blair and Brown, who remain bruised by the ideological warfare of the 1970s and 1980s".^[29]

"When I was at college, the economic system in eastern Europe was crumbling. We didn't have to ask the question of whether we should adopt a globally integrated, market-based model. For me, it is now a question of what values you have. Socialism, as represented by the Labour Party, the Fabian Society, the Co-operative movement, is a tradition I can be proud of", said Balls.^[29]

Personal life[link]

He married Yvette Cooper MP, who later became Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in Eastbourne on 10 January 1998.^[30] Cooper is Member of Parliament for Morley & Outwood's neighbouring constituency of Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford. They have three children.^[31] Cooper and Balls were the first married couple to serve together in the British cabinet.^[32]

In 2010 Balls was fined £60 and given three points on his licence for talking on his mobile telephone whilst driving.^[33]

Ed Balls is a fan of Norwich City.^[34]

In September 2010, the British Stammering Association announced that Balls had become a patron of the Association. Its Chief Executive, Norbert Lieckfeldt, paid tribute to him for having been very public in his declaration that he has at times struggled with his speech.^[35][36][37]

Allegations over allowances[link]

In September 2007, with his wife Yvette Cooper MP, he was accused by Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker of "breaking the spirit of Commons rules" by using MPs' allowances to help pay for a £655,000 home in north London.^[38] Balls and Cooper bought a four bedroom house in Stoke Newington, and registered this as their second home (rather than their home in Castleford, West Yorkshire) in order to qualify for up to £44,000 a year to subsidise a reported £438,000 mortgage under the Commons Additional Costs Allowance, of which they claimed £24,400. Both worked in London full-time and their children attended local London schools. Balls and Cooper claimed that "The whole family travel between their Yorkshire home and London each week when Parliament is sitting. As they are all in London during the week, their children have always attended the nearest school to their London house."^[39]

Balls and Cooper "flipped" the designation of their second home three times within the space of two years, to take advantage of the expenses system.^[40]

See also[link]

• Ed Balls document leak

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ed Balls

• Ed Balls official constituency website
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
• Articles authored at Journalisted

v t e Brown Cabinet Cabinet Members Lord Adonis • Bob Ainsworth • Douglas Alexander • Baroness Ashton • Ed Balls • Hilary Benn • Hazel Blears • Ben Bradshaw • Gordon Brown • Des Browne • Liam Byrne • Andy Burnham • Yvette Cooper • Alistair Darling • John Denham • Peter Hain • Harriet Harman • Geoff Hoon • John Hutton • Alan Johnson • Tessa Jowell • Ruth Kelly • Lord Mandelson • David Miliband • Ed Miliband • Jim Murphy • Paul Murphy • James Purnell • Baroness Royall • Jacqui Smith • Jack Straw • Shaun Woodward Also Attended Meetings Margaret Beckett • Nick Brown • Lord Drayson • Caroline Flint • Lord Grocott • John Healey • Jim Knight • Lord Malloch-Brown • Pat McFadden • Tony McNulty • Baroness Scotland Attended While on Agenda Beverley Hughes • Sadiq Khan • Dawn Primarolo • Rosie Winterton

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Declan Galbraith
Declan Galbraith (2007)
Background information
Birth name	Declan John Galbraith
Born	(1991-12-19) 19 December 1991 (age 20)
Origin	Hoo St Werburgh, Kent, England
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Starwatch Music (2006 - 2008) EMI (2002–2006)
Website	Official website

Declan John Galbraith (born 19 December 1991, Hoo St Werburgh, Kent) is an English singer. He is best known for his 2002 hit single, "Tell Me Why", which peaked at #29 in the UK Singles Chart.^[1]

Early influence[link]

When Galbraith was small, his grandfather, who played several instruments in a band, took Galbraith to Fleadhs (concerts) he was participating in, and the mix of Scottish and Irish musical traditions. Declan knew that he wanted to be a singer when he saw his grandfather in his band.^[2]

Musical career[link]

Galbraith's talent was publicly acknowledged for the first time when at just 7 years old. He insisted on performing spontaneously at the annual Rochester Dickens Festival, a two-day extravaganza where people were invited to dress up in Victorian costumes to celebrate the life and times of the famous author Charles Dickens and his links with their town. Galbraith, dressed up as a chimney sweep, started singing and the crowd went wild. Soon after this he started to enter local talent contests and within a year he had won 15 titles and more than £1,000.

As a result of his success in the talent shows, the major recording companies soon heard about Galbraith and he was signed to his first recording contract in England. His first recording was "Walking in the Air", which was released on a special Christmas Hits album, also featuring Westlife, Elton John and Elvis Presley. Galbraith loves to sing to live audiences and among some of his most memorable performances are, the Queen's Jubilee at St Paul's Cathedral, when he sang "Amazing Grace" accompanied by the St Paul's Choir and a performance in front of more than 22,000 people at an Elton John concert.

His first self-titled album, Declan, with Irish traditional songs and some specially written material became a big success and charted in the U.K. and Ireland. Within the year of release, it had soon sold 200,000 copies in Germany.

Another big success came during a nationwide tour of Young Voices concerts when breaking the Guinness World Record. It was at the Odyssey Arena, Belfast in December 2002 when he sang live with some 10,000 children and was also simultaneously linked, by radio and satellite, with more than 80,000 children in their schools all over the UK, who accompanied him in achieving the world’s largest choral sing.

Galbraith's talent and reputation came to the attention of media mogul Haim Saban and his music President, Ron Kenan, who signed Galbraith to Saban Music Group's new record label. They have chosen Germany to be the very first territory in the world to launch their first produced album, via the Starwatch Music label.

Galbraith amicably parted company with his management in February 2010. He is currently battling major contractual issues that prevent any releases for the time being. Galbraith is said to be returning to full time education, which he had to partly give up when he was 14 years old, due to his musical obligations.

In July 2010, it was announced on his official forum that he has joined up with the Route 66 theatre show casts to tour England from July to September 2010.^[2]

Fame[link]

Although Galbraith is a British citizen and singer, he is more famous and well-known abroad, especially in China, where his songs were chosen as part of the Chinese education curriculum for learning English. Galbraith's songs are used to help Chinese children learn English as his songs are easy to remember and suitable for children. In May 2008, Galbraith undertook a successful two cities tour in China, of Beijing and ShenZhen. ^[2]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Declan (2002)
• Thank You (2006)
• You and Me (2007)

Singles[link]

• "Tell Me Why" (2002)
• "Love of My Life" (2007)
• "Ego You" (2007)

Covers[link]

• "Tears in Heaven" (2006)
• "Love of My Life" (2007)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Declan Galbraith

• Declan Galbraith FOD members on Facebook
• Declan Galbraith Official Website
• Declan Galbraith on Myspace