In November – amid blazing publicity – he became artistic director of the Yves Saint Laurent women’s ready-to-wear line. Monsieur Saint Laurent, 62 and perhaps the most important designer of the latter part of the 20th century, would concentrate solely on his twice-yearly haute couture collection, we were told.
This decision was controversial given that it was Yves Saint Laurent who put the concept of designer ready-to-wear on the fashion map. THE PRESSURE was on Alber Elbaz at the Paris collections yesterday. Dr Pusztai also said he had not seen a press release issued by World in Action, which instigated the publicity that led to his dismissal.. He said that Dr Pusztai had not only seen a copy of the press release referring to the experiments but that he had rewritten a part of it.”Dr Pusztai had actually presented information that turned out to be untrue, there was confusion in his group and his collaborators were outraged,” Professor James said.Dr Pusztai told the committee that after the television broadcast many people phoned him about the con A lectin experiment, whereas in fact he had referred only to the snowdrop lectin experiment. This contradicted Dr Pusztai’s assurance to the committee that he had not seen the press releases until they had been issued.Professor James said that Dr Pusztai had referred to experiments on the con A lectin, when these experiments had not in fact been carried out at the time of his interview on television.”It’s been quite astonishing how events have been misrepresented,” Professor James said. This is because ministers did not listen or study the project properly,” he said.The figures were published as the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, was expected to expand the programme to over-50s in his Budget today.A big extension of the New Deal, seen as a vital plank of the welfare- to-work initiative, with the creation of 60,000 places for long-term unemployed, was announced in the November pre-budget statement.Earlier this month it was disclosed that 43 per cent of the young unemployed who enter the education and training option of the New Deal find jobs, down from 47 per cent..

TWO SCIENTISTS at the centre of the controversy over genetically modified food clashed last night over crucial statements issued about the results of experiments on rats fed on GM potatoes. Arpad Pusztai, who was suspended last year from the Rowett Research Institute, near Aberdeen, after suggesting GM food is unsafe, told the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee he had never been shown press releases about his work issued by the institute.
He said subsequent confusion in the press over what sort of lectin – plant toxins – had been used in the experiment would not have arisen if he had been able to see the press releases before they went out.His institute said that Dr Pusztai had become confused about the “con A” lectin and another lectin from the snowdrop plant, which is why he was suspended.Dr Pusztai’s boss, Philip James, the director of the Rowett institute, told the committee Dr Pusztai had ample opportunity to correct any inaccuracies in the press releases. “The whole New Deal for lone parents has proved nothing more than an expensive failure. “Its priorities are more about its own priorities than women’s priorities.” Her concern was echoed by Jackie Ballard, for the Liberal Democrats, who said benefit cuts under the plans for welfare reform would hit women harder than men. “The impact of legislation should be carefully examined to ensure gender equality.”But Ms Jowell pointed to a series of measures such as the increase in childcare benefits, the National Carers’ Strategy and the introduction of the National Minimum Wage, which had already helped women.Mr Brown is expected today to unveil a “Budget for families” that hands more state help to poor families.. THE GOVERNMENT’S New Deal programme was attacked by the Tories after it emerged that only 3.8 per cent of lone parents invited to enter the scheme got jobs after doing so. After the publication of January’s figures, which showed the success rate had dropped from 7 per cent, Iain Duncan Smith, the Tory social security spokesman, accused ministers of wasting pounds 200m on the initiative.

Since the programme was set up, 163,383 letters have been sent to lone parents inviting them for an interview but only 6,262 got jobs as a result.
Under the Welfare Reform and Pensions Bill, now going through Parliament, lone parents will have to attend interviews with benefits staff or have their benefits cut.During question time Mr Duncan Smith added that a fifth of lone parents who did get jobs left them after six months. it has been squeezed out by debate about trade-union recognition.”Theresa May, the Tory women’s spokesman, accused ministers of putting rhetoric over substance, saying that since Labour came into power the pay deferential between men and women had gone up.The new Working Families Tax Credit would bring more families into the welfare net, she said, while entitlement to widow’s benefit had been cut, with up to 250,000 women likely to miss out.”This Government has not listened to women,” she said. After Peter Mandelson’s resignation there had been talk of getting in “big hitters, big beasts and big guns” to deliver its message, Ms Harman said. “You can either adopt macho rhetoric or talk like women do – you cannot do both. This government is for women; they should not be afraid to say so.”Calling for more female cabinet ministers, Ms Harman said: “The Government should avoid making policy on their own; they should make it with women.” Female ministers should be given a higher profile to promote key measures such as the right to take leave when their child was ill, due to be introduced under the Employment Relations Bill “We have not heard a whisper about this new right … AN INVESTIGATION to establish why women’s pay falls behind men’s was promised by the Government yesterday.

Tessa Jowell, minister for women, said that by the time women reached their mid-50s they only earned 65p for every pound men earned. It will be cumbersome, it will be bureaucratic and it will further divide town and country. Mrs Shephard, amid barracking by Labour MPs, said: “We deplore that you have sought to alienate the very people who have done so much to promote access in all parts of the country.”It is regrettable, although perhaps only to be expected from someone who has talked about land-owning as `exclusivity’ and `inherited privilege’, that you should squander the goodwill which those in the countryside have sought to bring to this issue.”Mrs Shephard demanded compensation for landowners and farmers for costs of access and loss of land value.She added: “You have produced a solution which has the potential of satisfying no one. But for the majority of MPs this wasn’t a day to cavil at details. It was one to admire the splendid view – including that sparkling stretch of clear blue water..