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A weekend list of links – print them off and put them in the smallest room. Some I may return to when I have more time.

Telegraph: £2m pension for Blair as private sector faces crisis

When Tony Blair leaves office, he will be entitled to benefits worth more than £2.6 million, swelled by a special prime minister’s pension awarded for life, according to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

Islam Online: Human Tragedy Unfolds in Iraq’s Al-Qaim

Hundreds of Iraqi families have fled the western Iraqi town of Al-Qaim to escape the ongoing US attacks there, with the Red Crescent warning that the US offensive has turned the city into a “big disaster�, as local inhabitants complained about the stench of dead bodies laid on the streets or beneath the rubble of houses as a result of the fierce US offensive.

Pilger: Let’s face it – the state has lost its mind

In its ideological crusade, the Blair regime has bombed and killed and abused human rights directly or by proxy, from Iraq to Colombia, from tsunami-stricken Aceh to the 14 most impoverished countries in Africa, where the sale of British weapons has fanned internal conflict. When I asked a television executive why none of this had been glimpsed in the election “coverage”, he seemed nonplussed. “It was not relevant to the news,” he said. What is relevant in the wake of the election is a propaganda consensus promoting the “potential greatness” of Gordon Brown, as the greatness of the now embarrassing Blair was once promoted. (“My God, he will be a hard act to follow. My God, Labour will miss him when he has gone,” wrote Blair’s most devoted promoter, Martin Kettle, in the Guardian, skipping over his crimes.)

BBC News: Chile ex-spy chief reveals abuses

The former head of Chile’s secret police, Gen Manuel Contreras, says he has details of the fate of 580 people who disappeared during military rule.

BBC News: Ex-minister Morris becomes peer

Former Education Secretary Estelle Morris is among 16 new Labour life peers, as the party becomes the largest in the Lords for the first time.

The Guardian: Cleared ricin suspects face deportation

The Home Office is seeking to deport the Algerian men acquitted in the so-called “ricin plot” trials, despite the fact that they may be tortured if they are sent back.

The Times: £3 billion for NHS patients to have private treatment

Up to 15 per cent of all NHS operations will in future be carried out by the private sector, thanks to massive extra funding due to be announced by Patricia Hewitt, the new Health Secretary, later today.