There the Prince of Wales met veterans from the so-called Forgotten Army who

There the Prince of Wales met veterans from the so-called “Forgotten Army” who were involved in the most bitter battles with the Japanese.Former corporal in the Wor-cester Regiment, Ron Donovan, 79, said: “I think this week’s ceremonies have been very worthwhile if they make people think and remember what happened.”He added: “There is not a day when I don’t think of the pals I lost out there.”At a VJ-Day ceremony in Belfast the Duke of York joined 3,000 veterans at Balmoral Showgrounds and paid tribute to the commitment of the people of Ireland during the Second World War.More than 4,000 British troops stood to attention at the Croatian port of Ploce in the former Yugoslavia.The military parade of the men from 24 Airmobile Brigade was the biggest in the world marking the 50th anniversary of VJ Day.. I am not anti-women and there is an easy answer to this problem: Make it compulsory to have a shortlist with equal numbers of men and women so that constituencies can pass judgement according to their convictions and principles.”. Profession is defined as including “any vocation or occupation”.Mr Jepson, 45, who has experience of handling tribunal claims and will argue both his and Mr Dyas-Elliott’s complaint, said he believed they have a strong case.Labour hopes that the lengthy proceedings and the fact that women candidates have already been selected for the three seats will lead to the claims fizzling out.But Mr Dyas-Elliott, a modern history student at Sheffield Hallam University, who backed Margaret Beckett in last year’s leadership elections, said: “It’s a question of principle. Labour argues that the Act does not apply at all, but section 13 says it covers discrimination by “an authority or body which can confer an authorisation or qualification which is needed for, or facilitates, engagement in a particular profession or trade”. All three seats were nominated for women-only lists under the 1993 Labour Party conference decision that in half of all marginal constituencies and of those where a sitting Labour MP is retiring, the parliamentary candidate should be selected from women alone.Labour’s solicitors have warned Mr Jepson that they will fight his claim with leading counsel, who will be instructed to handle a preliminary three- day hearing to begin on 11 October.

That will come the week after the party’s annual conference at which the policy will again come under fierce attack. Local parties at Croydon Central, Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney, Bishop Auckland and Slough, on which the ruling National Executive Committee imposed a woman-only list, have submitted hostile motions criticising the policy.Labour has defended the quota scheme as the only effective way of ensuring that the number of women MPs is doubled from its present, grossly under- representative 39 to at least 80 in the next Parliament A laudable motive, however, is no defence under the Act. PATRICIA WYNN DAVIES

Political Correspondent
Pressure has intensified on the Labour Party over its controversial system of reserving half all winnable parliamentary seats for women, with a second legal challenge from a man alleging unlawful sex discrimination.The development comes as the party prepares to invoke the full panoply of the law by spending thousands of pounds on a QC and junior counsel in an attempt to fend off an earlier claim launched in March – itself covering two constituencies.The new complaint, to the Leeds industrial tribunal, comes from Roger Dyas-Elliott, a mature student and member of Bassetlaw constituency party, who was barred from applying to be a candidate for the marginal Keighley constituency in Yorkshire.The other challenge, at the London North tribunal, is being brought by Peter Jepson, a part-time lecturer and PhD student, who complains he was illegally barred from applying to be considered by the newly-created Regents Park & Kensington constituency, and from the marginal Brentford & Isleworth.The two men claim the quota scheme breaks the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act. Blur are planning a “low-key” seaside tour starting on 12 September One of their dates is set for Bournemouth. On the same night, in a venue just a few hundred yards away, another band will be playing Oasis.. “We’re really bowled over by the incredible response from people up and down the country.

Thanks to all our fans who made the effort to go and buy the record,” he said.Last night it was announced that Blur and Oasis are to join forces and record a Band-Aid style album, together with other top pop acts, to help Bos- nian children.But this is unlikely to dim the two bands’ rivalry for long. Between them, the two singles sold around half a million copies in just six days.”In sales terms, it does compare with the days of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, and, in profit terms, the cash coming in will be higher because people are buying CDs instead of vinyl,” said pop music expert Tony Brown, of Entertainment Research and Analysis.Blur’s frontman, Damon Albarn, last night sent a message of thanks to the band’s fans. Jason Donovan and Cliff Richard.
Last night Blur won the most recent – and possibly the most hyped – battle of the bands, when their single, “Country House”, pipped Mancunian rivals Oasis’s “Roll With It” for the number one slot in the BBC Top 40.It is Blur’s first number one and only the third time that the number one and two positions have been taken by new entries. Apache Tomcat/5.5.25 – Error report HTTP Status 503 – Too many incoming HTTP requeststype Status reportmessage Too many incoming HTTP requestsdescription The requested service (Too many incoming HTTP requests) is not currently available.Apache Tomcat/5.5.25.

JOJO MOYES

It was billed as the “clash of the titans” – the biggest, bloodiest pop battle since 1989, when the last two acts to fight their way straight into the top two chart slots were … Many universities were still advertising places on popular courses such as the arts and social sciences yesterday.On Wednesday the Independent will be running, exclusively, the full official list of university vacancies.A-level dropouts, page 6. The number of applicants (395,000) remains the same as last year , as does the number of places. The School Curriculum and Assessment Authority held an inquiry last year after a big increase in the number of B grades in maths and science at two boards was revealed.English teachers also believe that the Government’s decision to cut the amount of coursework in exams is depressing results.Anne Barnes, general secretary of the National Association for the Teaching of English, said: “Many English teachers feel those candidates on the borderline between grade C and D are the candidates who would be motivated by coursework.”The proportion of top grades in maths, up last year by around 1 per cent, is also down.More than two-thirds of university places for this autumn are now full, the Universities & Colleges Admissions Service said last night Out of a total of 270,000 places, 190,000 have been taken.