Archive 22
UkTabloid
The People's News Portal
Monday 19th October 2009
New immigrants will add almost 1m people to Britain’s population over the next five years, creating huge pressure on public spending, a group of leading MPs has warned.
Frank Field, a former Labour minister and the group’s leader, said the figures would give succour to the far right British National party (BNP) which was exploiting the failure of the mainstream parties to allay public fears about immigration. The BNP will receive a boost this week when it is given its first platform on BBC1’s Question Time.
The MPs’ warning comes as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is expected to confirm that immigration will account for 900,000 of the anticipated 1.9m growth in the population over the lifetime of the next parliament.
Field, co-chairman of the cross-party group for balanced migration and a former welfare minister under Tony Blair, said that both Labour and the Tories had failed to address the population crunch.
He believes the crisis in public finances caused by the recession means the government can no longer afford to pay for the extra schools, hospitals and other facilities needed.
“It is obvious there will be no money to provide the extra facilities required by another 1m people,” he said.
“The case for a really effective limit on immigration is overwhelming.
Both parties must now decide on a limit and then tell the voters what it will be, how it will work and what it will cover.”
The ONS is expected to show that the population will grow by 10m to more than 70m in 20 years. About 7m of the increase will be due to immigration.
The MPs’ group argues that the only effective way to control immigration is to balance the numbers coming in with those going out.
Research published by Field’s group last month showed that by 2013 an extra 96,000 primary school places will be needed in England and Wales — the equivalent of nearly 500 primary schools.
Two-thirds of those places would be for children with at least one parent not born in the UK.
The extra burden on the taxpayer of building these schools would be £1 billion over five years, or £200m a year. Yet with a public debt of more than £800 billion, ministers are having to cut spending rather than increase it.
David Cameron has said that if elected a Tory government would introduce a cap on migrants, but he has yet to disclose a number or which types of worker would be affected.
Phil Woolas, the border and immigration minister, said: “Net migration has dramatically fallen. This is further proof that migrants come to the UK for short periods of time, work, contribute to the economy and then return home.
“We have made it clear that we do not favour a cap on immigration because it is a crude measure which could harm the economy and is not as effective as our robust and flexible points-based system.”
Immigration is falling due to eastern Europeans returning home because of the recession.
Field’s latest estimate assumes that net migration — the difference between those coming in to stay and those leaving permanently — will fall from 237,000 a year to 150,000 and stay there. Children born to immigrants will take the figure to 900,000 over five years.
His group says net immigration would have to be cut to less than 50,000 if the population was not to increase to 70m.
If our population wasn't rising through Immigration then it would not need to come to this. It's almost as if this was Planned! Therefore we know what has to be done so our quality of life dosen't continue to slde further down the mire!
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A new row over genetically modified foods being introduced into our shops has broken out after a Royal Society report recommended GM crops should be grown in Britain.
The study concluded that GM crops are needed to prevent a catastrophic food crisis by 2050.
But the report has sparked a backlash from opponents of GM foods who say they present a threat to the livelihood of small farmers.
They fear the Government will use the 100-page study, due to be published this week, to force the introduction of GM technology back on to the political agenda. Many in the Cabinet and Whitehall appear to be convinced that Britain can no longer resist its introduction into the UK market.
Previous plans to grow GM crops commercially in the UK had to be scrapped following a concerted campaign by environmental protesters and a backlash by consumers who refuse to eat so-called 'Frankenstein foods'.
However, the Royal Society report, which has taken more than a year to compile, is expected to say that Britain should no longer resist their introduction.
A source told The Sunday Telegraph: "The report will say the right GM crops should be used in the future to alleviate food shortages. This study is going to move the debate forward. The Government will have to take notice of this.
"The world is undergoing dramatic change and it won't be long before people are thinking 'where is my next meal coming from?' Where GM has been proved effective at either increasing yields or else resistant to diseases it should be used in the UK. GM crops need to be looked at one by one. They are not the only solution to world hunger but they are part of it."
The report entitled Reaping the Benefits: Towards a Sustainable Intensification of Global Agriculture, was commissioned in July 2008 in response to a UN report which predicted that world food production needs to double by 2050 to sustain a global population expected to reach nine billion.
The remit of the Royal Society working group – made up of eight eminent scientists and chaired by Professor David Baulcombe, Professor of Botany at Cambridge University – was to examine "biological approaches to enhance food-crop production".
The report looks at a series of options to increase crop yields in the UK and around the world by between 50 per cent and 100 per cent, and although GM – the altering of the genetic make-up of a crop to produce better growing results – is only one option it is likely to be the most controversial.
The fear of the effect of GM crops on surrounding harvests led to eco-activists destroying field test sites which was a major factor in forcing producers to withdraw proposals to grow GM in the UK at the beginning of the decade.
Only one GM crop, a type of maize engineered by the American agricultural biotech firm Monsanto, has even been approved for planting in the European Union. It is currently farmed commercially – albeit on a relatively small scale – in Spain. But outside the Europe Union GM crops are grown on as much as 125 million hectares of land, mainly in north and South America and the Indian subcontinent.
However nearly two-thirds of the 2.6m tonnes of soya imported into the UK last year was genetically modified and GM soya oil is widely used in the catering industry.
Environmental campaigners are suspicious that the Royal Society report is part of a renewed attempt to force GM crops on to the British public.
They point to an announcement slipped out last month by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), the Government body in charge of food safety, to hold a new round of public debates on the value of GM. When a similar exercise was carried out in 2003, the public failed to be persuaded of the need for GM.
A Cabinet meeting at the start of the year, which included Gordon Brown, the chief scientist Sir John Beddington and the then chair of the FSA, Dame Deirdre Hutton, is understood to have concluded that Britain's official stance of opposition to GM crops had to be altered.
Cabinet papers leaked at the time showed the government appeared to be ready to go ahead with GM crops despite what it recognised would be considerable public resistance.
It is understood the Royal Society report will present the Government with a perfect opportunity to begin the process of winning the public round to GM foods.
A DEFRA spokesman said: "We have not yet seen the report, but we look forward to its release and will read it with interest. Our top priority is to safeguard human health and the environment and always follow the science. We recognise that GM crops could offer a range of potential benefits over the longer term."
But environmentalists said last night that the Society's terms of reference were flawed and accused scientists of using the public's fears over climate change to try to influence the debate on GM.
Kirtana Chandrasekaran, Friends of the Earth's food campaigner, said: "There is no scientific evidence that GM produces huge yields. The public doesn't want it, small scale farmers don't want it and yet the Government keeps on pushing it. It's completely outrageous."
Many experts and academics regard the argument that GM can solve the world's food crisis as deeply flawed.
Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University, in London, said: "There is no technical fix to the huge issue of food security. If there were a 'people's GM', I wouldn't be against it. But the problem with GM is the way it has been introduced, primarily as a way of maintaining the sales of pesticide companies."
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Britain is facing a fresh flood of immigrants unless ministers act now.
Influential think tank MigrationWatch warns we’ll be swamped by millions more foreigners in the coming years. Numbers are set to soar, according to world population trends.
By 2050 an extra 17million people will be living here. It will push our already overstretched public services to breaking point.
We cannot allow these huge numbers of immigrants to continue to swan in unchecked.
Our health, housing and council services are struggling to deal with those already here.
And with a fresh wave facing us from the developing world, they could collapse altogether. It’s time for the government to cut the numbers coming in.
It’s time to close our borders. Britain is full.
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Third World scroungers who refuse to leave the country after their applications for ‘asylum’ in Britain have been turned down, are paid over £1.5 million per month in cash support, in addition to other free benefits and services including housing and medical.
The total bill, once housing, medical, education, clothing and free rates and utilities are factored in, pushes the amount up into the tens of millions every month.
The shocking figures were revealed in a report from Glasgow which said that more than a thousand failed ‘asylum seekers’ are living there on ‘emergency support’.
This ‘emergency support’ consists of £35 worth of government-issued supermarket vouchers every week. They are given to ‘asylum seekers’ who have “exhausted the appeals process and officially declared themselves destitute.”
According to figures released by the UK Borders Agency, there were 11,390 such cases officially registered as the end of July. This translates to payments of £398,650 per week, or £1,594,600 per month.
These vouchers do not include all the other benefits to which these “Section 4” claimants are entitled.
They also qualify for free furnished and repair free accommodation. They pay no council tax, rent, or water rates and also enjoy free gas and electricity.
Furthermore, they are given free NHS medical treatment, free maternity allowances (about £6,000 a birth), free dentistry, free spectacles and free education (nursery, school or college).
To add insult to injury, these swindlers, whose stories must have been particularly pathetic and unbelievable not to qualify under the lax system’s requirements, are also given free legal aid to keep fighting for the right to remain in Britain and on benefits.
The British National Party’s policy on asylum seekers is that there are none who qualify for any sort of support in Britain.
‘Asylum seekers’ in this country have crossed dozens of safe countries to get here and have therefore abrogated all asylum rights they had under international law.
Asylum conventions allow an asylum seeker to seek refuge in the first neighbouring safe country — and no other.
There are no legal asylum seekers in Britain and a BNP government will not hesitate to deport them all and close down the benefit scrounging system which draws them here in the first place.
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You Couldn't Make this Up
Now watch the demand for Cats soar to legitimise family life to guarantee their stay!
An immigrant who was about to be deported from Britain has won a legal battle to remain in the country – partly because he and his girlfriend had bought a pet cat.
The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal ruled that sending the Bolivian man back to his homeland would breach his human rights because he was entitled to a "private and family life", and joint ownership of a pet was evidence that he was fully settled in this country.
Lawyers for the Home Secretary were aghast at the decision by James Devittie, an immigration judge, to allow the immigrant to stay in Britain. They lodged an appeal, but their case was again rejected.
The Bolivian's identity has not been disclosed and even the name of the pet cat was blanked out in official court papers to protect its privacy.
Delivering her decision on the case, which is thought to have cost the taxpayer several thousand pounds, Judith Gleeson, a senior immigration judge, joked in the official written ruling that the cat "need no longer fear having to adapt to Bolivian mice".
Barry O'Leary, solicitor for the Bolivian, said that the court was told that man and his girlfriend had purchased the animal together, and it was therefore "one detail among many" that they were in a committed relationship.
"As part of the application and as part of the appeal, the couple gave detailed statements of the life they had built together in the UK to show the genuine nature and duration of their relationship," he said.
"One detail provided, among many, was that they had owned a cat together for some time.
"The appeal was successful and when giving the reasons for the success the judge did comment on the couple's cat. It was taken into account as part of the couple's life together.
"The Home Office asked for the decision to be reconsidered. They argued it should be reconsidered because the decision was wrong in law, and one error they cited was that too much consideration was given to the couple's cat."
Damian Green, the shadow immigration minister, said: "Sometimes you don't know whether to laugh or cry. If pet ownership is going to be used as a reason for deciding immigration cases then the law really is an ass.
"This is clearly not a sensible use of human rights legislation which is designed to protect people's basic needs." Continued
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Bogus asylum seekers could soon be given a four-star farewell. A hotel is seeking permission to become a last-stop centre for illegal migrants who are being thrown out of the country.
The plan has infuriated locals near Gatwick Airport in Sussex who say The Mercure, which has a bar and highly-rated restaurant, is unsuitable to detain illegals.
Norman Brown, 80, said: “If this gets permission it would send the wrong message to people who are not entitled to stay in this country.
“It would be impossible to make secure so you would have people hiding all over the place.”
The UK Borders Agency is not supporting the application because it says the accommodation is not needed but the application is being considered by Crawley Council.
The Mercure was a Renaissance chain hotel but was bought by a hotel chain run by Indian businessman Surrinder Arora, a friend of Sir Cliff Richard and a part owner of Wentworth Golf Club.
Mr Brown said: “He seems to think there will be demand for such an establishment but we don’t and neither does the Borders Agency. There is already a place within the perimeter which is a semi- prison because the authorities know there is a high risk of escape. This has created an awful lot of bad feeling locally. We are united in bringing a stop to this.”
Mr Arora, 50, who is said to be worth £225million, was not available for comment yesterday.
A spokesman for the French- owned company Accor, which runs the hotel, said: “The Mercure is a franchise agreement with the owners, Arora International.
“We have heard nothing about changing this agreement. Any decision to change the use of the building would be Arora’s, not ours.”
Latest Government figures show that from January to August this year 15,753 individual attempts to enter the UK illegally were detected at freight and tourist controls in Calais. In February alone there were 2,395 attempts.
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A lighting expert who has worked for the Queen has been arrested for shining an £8.45 torch at an RAF Apache helicopter gunship outside his home in the early hours.
Torben Merriott, 63, was woken by what felt and sounded like an ‘earthquake’ outside his bedroom window at 1am.
The grandfather used the torch to identify the aircraft.
He spotted one of two gunships on an exercise just ‘10ft above my garden’ at his farmhouse in Stradbroke near Eye, Suffolk, and called the Ministry of Defence complaint line.
But instead of receiving an apology for the September 18 disturbance, Mr Merriott was visited three weeks later by police, who arrested him on suspicion of endangering an aircraft by dazzling the pilot.
Mr Merriott was taken to Bury St Edmunds police station where he was questioned and held in a cell for nine hours before being bailed pending further inquiries. The torch was also seized by officers.
He is now waiting to hear if he will be charged with endangering an aircraft, which carries a maximum two years in jail.
Mr Merriott, who owns a theatrical lighting firm, insists he did not put the aircraft at risk as he has had professional experience of lighting up flying helicopters at a Buckingham Palace event hosted by the Queen.
‘Don’t tell the Taliban that all they need is an eight-quid torch to bring down multi-million-pound high-tech gunships,’ he said.
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Jack Straw tried to prevent MPs' expenses claims from being published because he did not want the public to find out about renovations to his own home, documents seen by The Sunday Telegraph suggest.
He led an all-party delegation of senior MPs which urged Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, to turn down requests by journalists and campaigners to release details of MPs' second home expenses, the papers show.
Mr Straw's intervention came at a critical meeting in December 2006, when Mr Thomas had already drafted a 'decision notice' which would have ordered the Commons authorities to publish details of claims under the Additional Costs Allowance (ACA), which funds second homes.
At the meeting, Mr Straw – then Leader of the Commons – lobbied for Mr Thomas to drop his plans to force the disclosure of the information. In a "pre-meeting" with Commons officials, two MPs – Mr Straw and Nick Harvey, a Liberal Democrat – both appeared to cite examples of expense claims on their own second homes which they said could be "the cause of unwarranted focus" if published.
The minutes of the pre-meeting, obtained by this newspaper under the Freedom of Information Act, state that all four MPs present – Mr Straw, Mr Harvey, Theresa May, the Conservative, and David Heath, the Liberal Democrat – were "adamant" that information about second home claims "should remain private".
The minutes state: "The Members commented about the extent to which information about the allowances in general drew in people other than the Members themselves (partners, families) and the fact that, in the case of the ACA, this was a common feature.
"A discussion was held about the Commissioner's views about private and public personal data stressing the fact that in the case of Members, such a clear and fast distinction is difficult particularly 'behind the front door' of the ACA home (a reoccurring [sic] theme of the meeting).
"Mr Straw and Mr Harvey both cited examples of expenditure (essential renovations and repairs) which if disclosed would be the cause of unwarranted focus."
The minutes show Mr Thomas was seeking a compromise deal in which he would abandon his plans to force full disclosure, in return for a promise by the Commons to publish more limited additional details about ACA claims.
Following the meeting, Mr Thomas carried out a U-turn. He withdrew his original draft decision notice, the existence of which remained secret until this year, and substituted an alternative decision, stating that requests from three journalists could be turned down by the Commons authorities.
The journalists won on appeal at the Information Tribunal and again in the High Court last year, after which the Commons authorities backed down and agreed to publish the information, leading to this year's scandal.
When Mr Straw's expenses claims under the ACA were finally disclosed this year, it was revealed that between 2005 and 2009 he claimed for a £3,635 bathroom refit and redecorations costing £1,300, as well as two beds, garage doors at nearly £2,000, and an LCD television.
At one stage he also wrote to the Commons Fees Office asking for permission to install a £7,500 kitchen, saying it was necessary because his daughter had complained that the old one was worse than her student digs.
Mr Harvey has claimed a total of £143,658 for his house in London since 2001, including interest payments on the £340,000 home which last year amounted to £1,258 a month, and £30 per month for his subscription to Sky Sports.
Mrs May’s expenses claims are less than average. Over the past four years she has recouped only £15,000 from taxpayers to cover the cost of mortgage interest on her second home, a flat in London. Her designated main home is in her Maidenhead constituency.
Mr Heath claimed £23,002 in ACA last year, not far short of the maximum allowed, for his second home, a rented property in London’s Barbican complex. Most of the money was to cover rent; he has rarely claimed for other running costs.
The position of all four MPs on ACA as portrayed in the minutes of the 2006 meeting is at apparent odds with their later public pronouncements about transparency.
All four MPs strongly dispute the accuracy of the minutes, but Mr Harvey admitted he had "floated hypothetical cases to probe just where lines would be drawn in various circumstances".
He said: "My own view before, during and after the discussion with Mr Thomas was that more information should be put into the public domain. I strongly shared his judgement that the right way to do this was by breaking expenditure down into categories. Had I known then what I know now, I would have supported going further still. But hindsight is a wonderful thing, and I have been as astonished as anyone by what has subsequently come to light."
Mr Heath said: "I was not aware of this document until a few weeks ago and I object to its implication that I did not want second home claims published. That was the opposite of my position then, and now. With hindsight I might have made my view a little clearer in the meeting but none of us were aware minutes were being taken."
A spokesman for Mrs May said she had not wanted all second home claims kept secret but had expressed concern at the publication of information that would have endangered personal security or been commercially sensitive.
A spokesman for Mr Straw, now the Justice Secretary, said the minutes of the 2006 meeting were "entirely inaccurate", adding: "Mr Straw categorically did not ask for ACA claims to be kept private. That is why he voted for greater openness in the Commons vote in 2008. If it is the case that he cited examples, he was referring to the commercial confidentiality concerns of contractors who might have carried out any work under the ACA."
He went on: "It is important, also, to recognise that this meeting took place before the full details of MPs' expenses appeared in the Telegraph. No-one present at the meeting could have known the scale of the scandal which was exposed or the serious flaws in the way the Fees Office at the Commons operated."
Mr Heath, the MP for Somerton and Frome, told the Commons in January this year that the Freedom of Information Act "must apply to Members of Parliament just as it applies to anyone else in public life", adding "We shouldn't be seeking exemptions and special treatment just because it may be inconvenient." He was also among those who signed a motion of no confidence in Michael Martin as Speaker, saying: "Those Members who put us into this position by resisting reform cannot possibly be the right people to lead us out of the mire".
Mrs May said last year that MPs "should not be able to buy their TVs and furniture at the taxpayer's expense", and criticised attempts to block publication of MPs details.
Mr Thomas retired in June this year. A spokesman for the Information Commissioner's Office said: "The former Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner attended a meeting with representatives from the three main parties. The ICO representatives explored the prospect of publishing some information relating to MPs' expenses."
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Large numbers of Sikh, Hindu and other ethnic minority voters support the British National Party's hard-line anti-immigration stance, its leader Nick Griffin claimed today.
But he said the BNP's purpose remained to stand up for 'indigenous Brits' which did not include ethnic minorities, even those born here who had fought for their country in the armed forces.
And then the Daily mail contradicts themselves with the following paragraph! (Ed)
He also declared that 'Islam and our society don't mix' and said he wanted to swap 'the very large number' of al Qaeda-supporting British Muslims for former Gurkhas and their families.
The Daily mail claims 'even those born here who had fought for their country in the armed forces' Where as Mr Griffin says 'al Qaeda-supporting British Muslims' which brings us to the question how many 'al Qaeda-supporting British Muslims' born here had actually fought for this country in the armed forces? Confused yet? we are! (Ed)
Mr Griffin was speaking after pledging to lift a bar on non-whites joining the party in response to court action by an equalities watchdog.
Interviewed on Sky News' Sunday Live with Adam Boulton, he denied that the party was racist and insisted that the new membership rules would not undermine its fundamental aims.
'There are three different groups of people in this multicultural Britain now,' he said.
'There's the indigenous Brits, people like you and me; there's settled ethnic minorities populations who are here legally and legitimately and they are civically British and we have no problem with them at all; and then we have the third block, the colonists, people wanting to change our country into something completely different,' Mr Griffin said.
'A large number of the settled ethnic minority population, Sikhs, Hindus and so on, are actually very much in favour of the British National Party's stance about stopping any further immigration.'
Asked if the sorts of British ethnic minorities he believed supported the party were included in the 'indigenous' group the party would stand up for, he said: 'Oh no, no, no, no, no.
'Of course they are not indigenous. We are saying they are civically British, which is a matter of common sense, also that they are patently not of the ancestral stock of this country.
'It doesn't make them bad, it just makes them a little bit different.'
He went on to say: 'It's not a matter of racism; it's a matter of standing up for the indigenous. No-one in this country is here for the English, the Scots, the Irish, the Welsh.
'Caucasian is one phrase for it. Everyone knows who an indigenous Brit is. Everyone knows that someone for instance whose parents came from the West Indies and so on and has perhaps been in the Army and fought for this country, they are entitled to be here, they are entitled to be here, they are civically British, they are not ethnically British. It is not a racist position.'
Asked about comments that Islam was 'vicious and wicked', he said:
'I believe that a faith which puts half the population, the women, down as inferior to men, a faith which bans freedom of speech, a faith which stones rape victims to death, I believe that is vicious and wicked.
'It's not all of what Islam is about. Islam is also for instance about opposing usury and that is a very good position. But Islam and our society don't mix.'
He suggested a 'direct swap' with Muslims could solve the problem of the UK not having sufficient space to offer all former Gurkhas and their families the right to settle in the UK.
'We would actually be happy to have the Gurkhas if we can swap them, for instance, for the very significant number from the Muslim population in this country who identify with al Qaida and who are not loyal to this country. We would do a straight swap,' he said.
Mr Griffin said he would 'have a problem' with any BNP member marrying a non-white.
'We would have a problem with that just as many West Indians, many Sikhs, people of all different races and creeds and nationalities very often have a common natural human instinct which is to want their children and their grandchildren to look like them, to identify with their culture,' he said.
'The whole world faces a big problem with so many different peoples, different ethnic groups mixing that we are losing all our separate cultures and identities.'
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When Karan Whiley, a 48- year-old mother-of-two and care home worker, went to her polling station last Thursday she was in no doubt about the issue concerning her most.
“I don’t mind having immigrants who are genuine,” she said. “We live beside an Iraqi couple who have been through hell and are here because they were in fear of their lives.
“But these Poles and Lithuanians are taking English jobs. They should stay in their own countries and fight for better jobs there.”
Like many of her fellow residents in the town of Boston, Whiley’s solution to the influx of foreigners — the town’s population has been swollen 25% in recent years by the arrival of an estimated 15,000 immigrants — is to vote for the far-right British National party.
The BNP is particularly strong in this corner of Lincolnshire. Last year the BNP candidate David Owens won a seat on the borough council with a tally that easily surpassed the Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and United Kingdom Independence party votes put together.
Last week Owens almost won a seat on the county council — losing by only 16 votes to a Conservative.
The people of Boston are not alone in their concern about migrants. A YouGov poll last month showed immigration as the issue of most concern to voters after the economy.
That is unlikely to change in the near future. Figures to be released this week by the Office for National Statistics are expected to show that Britain’s population will expand by nearly 2m during the course of the next parliament alone, almost half because of immigration.
It is likely to fuel anxieties about immigrants undercutting wages and putting extra strain on schools and hospitals.
While the mainstream parties squirm and try to avoid the issue, the BNP has been quick to capitalise on it. As well as seeing the election of its first two European MPs in June, the BNP now boasts about 50 local and county level councilors.
Its profile will be further boosted on Thursday when Nick Griffin, its leader, who is an MEP, appears on the BBC programme Question Time. Complaints about Griffin show no sign of abating: on Thursday Alan Johnson, the home secretary, challenged David Dimbleby, the programme’s host, to withdraw the invitation to the BNP because of its “foul and despicable” character. Frank Field, the Labour MP for Birkenhead and former welfare minister, is in no doubt about the causes of the BNP’s support.
“A lot of Labour voters are now voting for them and we have allowed it to happen,” he said. “My only surprise is that the BNP vote hasn’t been even higher. For a lot of people they think parliament has turned their ears off, closed their eyes and sealed their mouths on the big burning issue.”
Field is co-chairman of the cross-party group on balanced migration. The group, jointly led by Nicholas Soames, the Tory MP for Mid Sussex, a former minister and former shadow defence secretary, believes action is needed to stop the population spiralling to unmanageable proportions.
That the population is getting bigger, and that it is due to immigration, is beyond dispute. In 2007 net immigration reached 237,000, although last year it dropped to an estimated 150,000 as the effects of the recession put off economic migrants. According to forecasters, the UK’s current population of 61.4m will grow by 10.5m over the next 22 years, and reach nearly 80m by 2056.
“Every million more immigrants means creating a city the size of Birmingham,” said Field. “If we let immigration rise we will have more people sharing less public services.”
His group had calculated that even by 2013 England and Wales will need an extra 96,000 school places, two-thirds of which will be for children with at least one parent born outside the UK. The cost to the taxpayer of providing these places would be £1 billion over five years.
Both Labour and the Conservatives have produced policies to curb immigration. These apply, of course, only to people from outside the EU as those from most of the 27 member countries have the automatic right to live and work in the UK.
The Poles and Lithuanians of Boston are here to stay — if they want. Migrants from EU countries are much more likely to visit the UK on a temporary basis for work, and then return home.
Analysis of the latest annual figures suggests that non-EU citizens account for almost 90% of the total of net immigrants, a trend that is expected to continue. Most come from Africa or Asia, with Somalia, India and Pakistan leading the countries from which those seeking British residency originate. Continued
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Jacqui Smith should quit her Commons seat now, pay back the £116,000 she claimed in housing expenses on her family home while lodging with her sister and face criminal charges.
That is the damning verdict of her Redditch constituents who took part in a survey by The Mail on Sunday.
The former Home Secretary was last week forced to apologise by Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards John Lyon.
He found her guilty of wrongly receiving the £116,000 by claiming her London lodgings were her main home, not the large family home she shares with her husband and young children in her Midlands constituency.
But she has refused to stand down as an MP or return the money that the Commons sleaze watchdog said she was wrongly paid.
Nearly two out of three of the 500 people questioned by The Mail on Sunday in Redditch last week said she should give up her seat.
More than three out of four said they would not vote for her at the next Election and nearly 90 per cent said she should repay the money.
The poll also shows that the Conservatives are poised to steal the seat from Labour.
Hostility among local voters was expressed by Keith Andrews, 54, who said: ‘She is completely out of touch with working people, the people she’s supposed to represent.’
Cameron Edey, 18, said: ‘She’s given Redditch a bad name. The town used to be known for its needle museum, now it’s known for an MP claiming for her husband’s pornographic videos.’
Office worker Jane Murray, 39, said: ‘If it was you or I we would be facing criminal charges. She should be made to do the same. And she should have to pay the lot back, plus interest. I definitely will not be voting for her.’
Meanwhile, the brave couple who exposed Jacqui Smith’s second-home expenses scandal hit back last night after the MP and her BBC journalist sister Sara made an extraordinary attempt to smear them. Continued
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Humiliated former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith faces being hauled before a judge as Whitehall’s whistleblower vowed to prosecute her over Commons expenses.
Home Office mole Christopher Galley will meet fraud lawyers on Tuesday to bring a private prosecution against the disgraced ex-Minister.
The meeting comes as Sunday Express research reveals Ms Smith, and her porn-watching husband Richard Timney, are in line for a "600,000 pay-off if she loses her seat at the next election.
Under House of Commons rules, not only will shamed Ms Smith qualify for pension and severance pay but so too will her husband, who has worked as her parliamentary aide for 12 years.
In a final insult to taxpayers,
the payout would include an incredible "500,000 pension pot for
Ms Smith and a "33,000 "golden parachute" payment.
Liberal Democrat pensions expert Lord Oakeshott said: "Ms Smith is a teacher. How would you explain this in an ethics lesson: "I"ve been caught cheating on my expense claims. If I say sorry I don"t have to repay "100,000 to the public and I can just retire with a "500,000 pension pot from the taxpayer."Redditch pensioners on a pittance of "92.25 a week will know exactly what to do if Ms Smith brazens it out at the ballot box at the next election."
Smith"s expenses first came under scrutiny in March when the Sunday Express revealed she had charged taxpayers for the cost of two blue movies, watched by her husband while she was away.?
On Monday, Westminster sleaze busters ordered Ms Smith to say sorry for breaching Commons rules by claiming for the porn films.
She was also found to have breached Commons rules in claiming more than "100,000 from the "second home" allowance to maintain her family house in Redditch.
Ms Smith issued a Commons apology but Home Office whistleblower Christopher Galley says sorry is not good enough and has vowed to pursue a private prosecution.
On Tuesday he will consult with London fraud specialists Bark and Co and is campaigning to raise "100,000 to fund his legal challenge as part of his Bring Jacqui to Justice campaign.
Mr Galley was sacked from his Home Office job after he was outed as the Whitehall mole behind a string of politically embarrassing stories about the basket-case department.
His exposures of Home Office blunders led to the heavy-handed raid on the home and offices of Conservative frontbencher Damian Green and precipitated the downfall of Commons Speaker Michael Martin.
Mr Galley is now the director of the Sunlight Centre for Open Politics, which campaigns for greater transparency at Westminster.
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The son of Scotland Yard’s equality and diversity chief has been charged with sexually assaulting women on London Underground commuter trains.
Karl Josephs-Milani, whose mother Denise Milani is the £75,000-a-year head of the Metropolitan Police’s Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate, is accused of carrying out the attacks earlier this year.
He appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court last week to deny two charges of sexual assault and will be tried at crown court.
The offences – investigated by British Transport Police – are alleged to have occurred on Metropolitan Line trains running between Uxbridge and Baker Street.
Ms Milani, 52, joined the Met ten years ago and is responsible for implementing the force’s policies on racial, religious, sexual and age equality.
She is listed on the electoral roll as living at the same address as her 26-year-old son in Neasden, North-West London.
One of the specific responsibilities of Ms Milani’s department is issues relating to women’s safety. The former teacher – whose parents migrated to Britain from the West Indies – has been described as a protegee of former Commissioner Sir Ian Blair.
As one of the Met’s most senior managers, with a staff of more than 60, her job involves ‘building the trust, confidence and satisfaction of those we serve and those with whom we work’.
Her directorate’s responsibilities are divided into six strands including age, disability, gender, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender), race and faith.
Last year she caused controversy by issuing a circular to officers, asking them to mark the first Gipsy Roma Traveller History Month by ‘celebrating’ the community’s contribution to London’s cultural diversity.
At the time Roma migrants from Eastern Europe were suspected of being involved in prostitution and begging rings and a police unit had been set up to combat their activities.
Eight years ago, when Ms Milani was in a more junior position as head of the Met’s Positive Action team, she annoyed the Rastafarian poet Benjamin Zephaniah by trying to use his work for a campaign to recruit black police officers.
Mr Zephaniah was asked if an excerpt from one of his poems could be reproduced on a poster.
He refused, saying he was fed up with being stopped by the police simply because he was black. Ms Milani admitted that it had been her idea because the poem – The London Breed – ‘conveyed exactly the message we are trying to get across about London’s diversity and the type of organisation we are trying to create’.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman declined to comment, saying: ‘This is a matter for the British Transport Police.’
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Police are offering a £20,000 reward for help in catching a vicious gang who raped a heavily pregnant woman at gunpoint.
A 39-year-old man and his seven months' pregnant girlfriend, 33, were watching television at their home in Finsbury Park when they heard noises coming from the garden.
The man opened the front door to investigate to find three men wearing scarves and balaclavas coming down the path.
He tried to shut the door, but they forced their way inside, pushing him to the floor.
One of them held an object covered in a cloth bag to his head - believed to be a sawn-off shotgun.
The men demanded the keys to the couple's grey Audi TT before snatching a mobile phone, iPod, cash, debit cards and a laptop.
They hit the man in the head with the butt of the gun while one of the gang forced the woman to an upstairs bedroom and threatened to shoot her and her boyfriend if she didn't perform a sex act on him.
The gang then made off with the car, which was found abandoned two days later in Portland Road, Tottenham.
The brutal attack on May 14 last year was only made public this week as the couple originally requested no publicity.
Det Insp Robert Pack, investigating officer, said: "Every rape is a very serious crime, but what makes this all the more shocking was that the victim was so clearly heavily pregnant.
"Concerns for the unborn baby can only have exacerbated what was already an emotionally and physically traumatic experience.
"Do you know the men who did this?" he added. "Do you remember hearing anyone boasting about stealing an Audi TT around this time?
"Allegiances may have changed over the last 14 months and we would urge anyone with information to contact us."
The suspect who carried out the rape is described as black, 6ft, aged 18 to 25 and stocky. He was wearing a black balaclava, black jacket, black tracksuit bottoms and black shoes.
A second man is black or Asian, 5ft 6ins and about 18. He was wearing light grey tracksuit bottoms, black trainers and a zip-up jacket with red sleeves.
The third suspect, who had the gun, is black, 5ft 10ins and aged between 18 and 22. He was wearing burgundy tracksuit bottoms.
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 020 8345 3865, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
NOTE: Police are not stating the road in which the incident happened, as it is a small residential street and to do so may lead to the identification of the female victim
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British police have arrested Zimbabwean immigrant Peter Mwashita on suspicions of strangling his two young children to death last week. (Pictured: Yolanda (L) and Theo were found unconscious in a flat in Whalley road)
Mwashita -- who some in the Zimbabwean community in the UK allege is related to former Zanu (PF) parliamentarian and CIO operative Vivian Mwashita -- was apparently having problems with his estranged partner, Lesotho immigrant Morongoe Molemohi which is suspected could have caused him to commit the grisly crime before attempting to take his own life.
Also known as William, Mwashita (37) apparently took an overdose of prescription tablets in an unsuccessful attempt to commit suicide. His unconscious body was discovered by Molemohi slumped on his bed, alongside son Theo Molemohi (2) and daughter, Yolanda (4) who had both been strangled with lengths of cord.
It is understood that Molemohi (30) had left the family home in Lansbury House - a three-storey housing association block of flats in Whalley road - with the children about a week after the marriage broke down.
She had been re-housed by Manchester council's homeless unit and was living in a bed and breakfast lodge. ?The children had been staying with their father for a few days. Molemohi returned to the Whalley road flat last Wednesday morning to find the lifeless bodies of her children along with the drugged Mwashita.
Theo was already dead and paramedics tried unsuccessfully to revive his sister on the way to hospital.
A detective superintended Geoff Wessell said the police were not seeking anyone else in connection with the deaths. He said: "This was a traumatic incident for the family and the officers that attended. No other person is being sought in connection and the male arrested remains in custody and is due to be interviewed."
Molemohi (30) described as "extremely distressed", was last week placed under sedation at Trafford General hospital.
It is believed that Mwashita had struggled to come to terms with the breakdown of his relationship with Molemohi.
Mwashita was last week admitted to hospital where he was receiving treatment for the overdose and was also undergoing psychiatric assessment.
Molemohi, a PhD student from Lesotho in southern Africa, had asked for permission to stay in Britain. Both children were born in England.
The children had been born in Britain after their dad - originally from Zimbabwe - had claimed asylum with his wife Molemohi in 2003. They had been allocated the housing association home and Yolande, four, had attended nearby Our Lady's RC primary school.
Head teacher Cas Page recalled a “lovely, happy, bubbly little girl with such a wonderful smile, who was loved by everyone in school”.
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More than 150 of the worst cases of child abuse have come to light since the Baby P tragedy, a survey has revealed.
In the past six months alone authorities launched nearly two investigations a week into the most worrying incidents, primarily those in which children died or were seriously injured as a result of abuse or neglect.
The national survey by the Press Association suggests there has been no fall in the number of children coming to harm since the death of Baby P - now named as Peter Connelly - in August 2007.
Responding to the research, a social workers' leader warned that there were "Baby Peters in every local authority" and said the failings in the case could be repeated in many other areas.
A total of 348 "serious case reviews" have been launched since April 2006, one month after Peter was born, results from 120 councils in England showed.
A serious case review must be carried out after a child dies where abuse or neglect is known or suspected in order to see whether lessons can be learned.
They can be also conducted in cases where children are killed by a parent with a mental illness, seriously sexually abused, or suffer a potentially life-threatening injury through abuse or neglect.
There were 95 serious case reviews launched in 2006-07, 98 in 2007-08, 106 in 2008-09, and 49 have been started since April this year, the survey found.
Some 23 local safeguarding children boards - made up of experts from councils, health trusts, the police and other agencies - have had to carry out five or more of the inquiries in the past three-and-a-half years.
They include Haringey in north London, which was severely criticised for failing to prevent the death of 17-month-old Peter at the hands of his mother, her lover and his brother.
Sunday 18th October 2009
At least one MP is expected to be prosecuted over the Parliamentary expenses scandal.
Former Labour minister Elliot Morley, who claimed £16,000 interest payments for a 'phantom' mortgage, is seen as the most likely politician to be charged.
Detectives believe there is enough evidence against him to bring a case to court, and a file is likely to be sent to the Crown Prosecution Service by early in the New Year.
Police have not ruled out charging other MPs and peers over allegations of theft and fraud.
Among politicians whose expenses claims have been under the microscope for the past four months are another Labour MP, David Chaytor, and Labour peer Baroness Uddin.
The revelations come as HM Revenue and Customs revealed it had opened formal inquiries into 27 MPs after it sent letters in May asking them to come forward if they believed they had broken tax laws.
MPs could avoid tax on their expenses claims only on the basis that they were "wholly, necessarily and exclusively" in relation to the performance of their parliamentary duties.
However, senior tax inspectors were thought to have become alarmed when the details of claims were disclosed showing that MPs had been allowed to claim for expensive goods and services.
The prospect of prosecutions in the run-up to next year's General Election has split opinion at Westminster.
Some MPs fear the negative publicity resulting from a criminal prosecution could persuade voters to switch allegiance to minor parties.
Others believe that voter anger over the affair will be quelled only when the most blatant offenders are hauled into court.
In May it emerged that ex-agriculture and environment minister Mr Morley claimed around £800 a month mortgage interest on his Scunthorpe constituency house for more than 18 months after the loan was repaid, totalling £16,000.
He later announced he would be repaying a further £20,000 after 'discovering' he made banned claims for capital repayments as well as interest.
Mr Morley has been barred by Labour from standing at the next election.
Mr Chaytor, MP for Bury North, has also been told he cannot stand for Labour again after he claimed £13,000 for a mortgage he had paid off.
He has said he made an 'unforgivable error'.
Baroness Uddin, who apparently claimed that an empty flat in Kent was her main home so she could receive expenses for peers based outside the capital, is also being formally investigated.
Scotland Yard launched its investigation into the expenses scandal in the middle of June.
Since then, officers led by one of the force's most experienced detectives, Acting Commander Nigel Mawer, have been liaising closely with the Crown Prosecution Service and parliamentary Fees Office.
So far there have been no arrests, prompting whispers of an Establishment cover-up.
But behind the scenes, officers are investigating the allegations robustly and are interviewing MPs under caution in the presence of their solicitors.
Detectives are keen to learn the lessons of the cash for honours and Damian Green investigations, where high-profile arrests by Scotland Yard did not result in any criminal charges, and prosecution sources say it is 'inconceivable' that at least one MP will not be charged.
Asked earlier this week if he thought any MPs would go to jail as a result of the expenses scandal, Home Secretary Alan Johnson said: 'The police are investigating at least three of our colleagues and we will have to see how it goes.'
The politicians could be charged with fraud, theft or misconduct in a public office.
The maximum jail sentence under both the Serious Fraud Act 2006 and the Theft Act 1968 is ten years. Misconduct in public office carries a maximum life sentence.
Officers believe there is a realistic chance of prosecution only in cases where it can be proved that individuals misled the Fees Office.
It will be up to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, to decide who, if anyone, will be charged.
A CPS spokesman confirmed it was not yet in a position to decide on possible charges.
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Battle lines have been drawn in the case of Swindon schoolboy, Henry Webster, who suffered life-shattering injuries in a hammer attack and is now claiming millions in compensation.
A judge heard that lawyers for Henry and Ridgeway School in Wroughton remain “diametrically opposed.”
Scores of witnesses – including top education experts, past and possibly even current pupils at the school – are set to testify in a case which is itself likely to run up seven-figure legal bills.
Henry’s lawyers say the hammer attack at the school wrecked his life and was the direct result of a “culture of racist bullying and harassment” that infected the school.
His barrister, Robert Glancy QC, told the Court
“undue indulgence and leniency” towards disaffected Asian pupils at the 1,400-pupil school, created an “obvious risk of racial violence” for which 15-year-old Henry paid a terrible price.
Members of a schoolyard gang known as “Asian Invasion” – along with young men from outside the school thought to have been summoned by mobile phone – savagely beat bullying victim Henry near the school’s tennis courts in January 2007, said the QC.
One of the outsiders laid into him with a claw hammer, fracturing his skull and leaving the teenager from Wroughton brain damaged.
Henry is claiming massive damages, but the school’s legal team points out that the attack took place after school hours and insists that, short of stopping and searching every visitor, nothing could have been done to prevent what happened.
The school’s duty was to discipline pupils, not outside adults, and arguments that laxity in enforcing school rules contributed to the attack on Henry have been described by the school’s barrister, Ronald Walker QC, as “fanciful” and “implausible”.
At the High Court in London yesterday, Mr Justice Holroyde gave final directions for the start of the hearing on Monday.
The court heard two of the star witnesses in the case will be leading education expert, Professor Gus John – who will be testifying for Henry – and former headmistress and best-selling author, Lady Marie Stubbs, who will enter the witness box in support of the school.
Mr Walker told the judge that, in his expert report, Professor John has been “highly critical of the school in almost every respect”, but his views are “diametrically opposed” to those of Lady Stubbs.
Henry’s younger brother, Joseph, his mother Elizabeth, and his stepfather, Roger Durnford, who all say they were left deeply traumatised by witnessing Henry fighting for his life, are also seeking damages payouts.
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One of the situations BNP Meps face is the fact that the media are torn between their duty of informing the public and their wanting to keep sensitive information quiet.
However, information does come out in bits and we can piece it together to build up an accurate picture of what is really going on. What I say to people is don’t believe the media and don’t take my word for something. Look for yourselves — there is much information on the Internet.
The central issue of the dominant ideology is identity — what we are. This encompasses race, followed by gender and orientation. News is managed and EU schemes to discriminate against whites are kept quiet or presented in idealistic language. People can not revolt against something if they do not know it is happening.
What is really happening?
Throughout Europe there is a developing war on the streets for possession of the Continent. This is mainly against European people but anti-Semitism is being introduced too. There are almost continuous riots in France and vicious attacks on white and Jewish people which the controlled media attempts to hide.
In Sweden young white women are hunted down and raped by Muslims. It is also not safe for Jewish people to go out in identifying clothes, but the authorities try to suppress knowledge of this. The Express of 26 February 2009 reported that “British Muslims” were snipers and bomb-makers killing our troops in Afghanistan.
Army eavesdropping operations have heard British accents among Taliban forces. These are the first stirrings of a British racial civil war. EU rulers know this but still encourage immigration.
In Luton some local Muslims protested against the parade of local regiment The Royal Anglians, or “The Poachers”, on their return from Iraq. English people fought back but the police protected the Muslims and arrested a young Englishman, although the CPS later dropped the charges. These warning signs are ignored.
During the Muslim-Socialist protests against Israel’s raids on Gaza last January, protesters throughout Europe and in London openly chanted “Jews to the gas” while the police looked on. And still the rulers import more Muslim terrorists and anti-Semites.
To prevent Geert Wilders speaking at the House of Lords, Muslim peer Lord Ahmed threatened to bring 10,000 Muslim protesters outside the Lords.
The elites submitted to Saudi when they abandoned the bribery investigation into the arms deal between Saudi Arabia and BAE systems because of an explicit threat made by the Saudi authorities. Britain’s former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, explained that if the case continued, “British lives on British streets” would be at risk.
What is behind the surrender? Well, decadence and, of course, oil and money!
Gordon Brown and Lord Mandelson visited Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states in November 2008. They asked for billions to be put into the International Monetary Fund and, as Mandelson later admitted, offered Saudis some influence over Britain and the West. The Saudi regime is the motor behind the Islamisation of the West as their Wahhabi form of Islam is making Islam dominant in the world by spreading Wahhabi mosques, preachers and educational institutions to promote holy war and convert thousands of British Muslims.
Barclays Bank has had almost £6 billion invested from Abu Dhabi and Qatar. Brown is to make London the global centre of Islamic banking and Britain’s major banks are accepting Sharia finance. Sharia is a project for Islamifying society. Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer, advocates Sharia finance.
Islamist ideas are spread through Islamic study centres attached to our universities. Professor Anthony Glees revealed that eight universities — including Oxford and Cambridge — have received over £233.5 million from Saudi sources since 1995.
The EU uses social engineering techniques they studied in Russia in 2005 when the Audio Visual Observatory of the European Council held a symposium in Moscow.
Benita Ferrero Waldner, European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy, in her speech entitled “Intercultural dialogue: the media’s role”, told selected media representatives from across Europe: “Freedom of expression is central to the values and traditions of Europe. But its preservation depends on responsible behaviours by individuals. By extension, we do not believe the media should be regulated from outside, but rather that you find ways to regulate yourselves.
“In considering the question of self-regulation, I would also ask you to think about the need for monitoring from within your own professional bodies. I am convinced that will have a significant impact… We will identify a nucleus of journalists and analysts around which to develop a structured, sustainable system of information exchange and publication focused on North–South understanding.”
She said, “Europeans know from bitter experience the gravity of the threat racism and xenophobia represent.
Indeed, the European Union was born out of the cataclysm of intolerance that engulfed twentieth-century Europe. Our task has been … minimising hatred and maximising reason. And today the European Union stands as a testimony to Europe’s religious, linguistic and cultural diversity. We are a community of values, united by our diversity and our determination to prevent such a threat from overwhelming us again.
“That is not to deny there are problems in Europe. Racism and xenophobia stem from fear of the unknown, of the different, and in uncertain times they are never far from the surface. That is why we have set up the Monitoring Centre and why we are continually fighting for equality and tolerance.”
Waldner and her kind are using the last war to justify surrendering Europe to Islam.
People using politically correct “isms”, devised by those who seek to destroy us, show they do not think for themselves and have been programmed by the media.
They talk like robots using the totalitarian words: “racism”, “fascist”, “hate speech”, now “Islamophobia” — which are meant to stop people thinking about what is happening in a rational way.
The destruction of Western Europe is taking place through mass immigration and the imposition of totalitarian laws and bureaucratic Human Rights Commissions to oppress dissident patriots. Only a small minority of the Muslim community is involved in street fighting, but the entire community wishes to see Islamic ways dominate the capital cities of Europe.
The World Culture Forum Alliance, founded by the Ford Foundation, is linked to the US Council on Foreign Relations and the CIA, as well as the EU, the European Council and UNESCO. They have admitted they are using propaganda and withholding certain news to manage and control us.
The Anna Lindh Foundation was founded by the Arab League, the EU, the European Council and UNESCO. Traugott Schoefthaler, head of the Anna Lindh Foundation, said: “We will arrange giant Muslim Youth Festivals — like the ‘Images of the Middle East’, which lasted six weeks in 2006 in Denmark.
“We will tackle stereotypes and prejudices and ignorance and change the daily ‘news journalism’ to portray every-day life of ordinary people, which can create identification and fascination — and intercultural understanding. We will tackle our stereotypic images of people from foreign cultures and make new experiments with pictures in public places, in the media and advertising.
“And we will have common projects with people from other cultures. We will develop the intercultural skills of journalists, school pupils and artists and exchange people from these groups with (Muslim) colleagues. We will manage art and cultural productions. We will train the school teachers and influence their education to be multicultural.
“And we will influence the curricula of the schools to become multicultural by means of revision of existing textbooks and educational materials.”
In 1995, EU leaders made a contract, known as the Barcelona Agreement, with the leaders of the countries surrounding the Mediterranean. Its purpose is to ensure mass immigration from North Africa into the EU that will destroy our civilisation's in Western Europe. This has been kept from the people even though it will become effective in 2010. Some excerpts will show what we are not being told.
The EU intends to force its subject peoples to respect Islam which means persecuting any who oppose EU sponsored invasion. We are to obey the dictates of multiculturalism to promote tolerance between different ethnic groups in Europe. This targets Europeans, while other groups are allowed their own separate development. There is to be a one-sided campaign against ‘racism’, ‘xenophobia’ and ‘intolerance’. It is meant to be applicable to whites but not other ethnic groups.
There is to be more Muslim influence on radio, television, newspapers and magazines. A youth exchange programme is to bring about cooperation between future Euro-Mediterranean generations as stipulated in the Barcelona Declaration adopted at the Euro-Mediterranean Conference.
Our respective European religions and cultures are devalued ready for the implementation of Islamic mores. The populations of the nine Muslim countries will be given free movement of goods, services, capital and people into Europe in return for political and economic changes. Association agreements have been made with all partner countries except Syria (Euro-Mediterranean Foreign Minister Conference in Naples held on 2–3.12.2003). Negotiations for Turkish EU entrance began in 2005.
Less than a month after 9/11 the EU rulers again surrendered to Islam: “The ministers declined as both dangerous and unfounded any connection between terror and the Arab and Muslim world. In this context the importance of the Barcelona Process was emphasised by everybody as a suitable and recognised instrument to promote a dialogue between equal partners and civilisations. The ministers agreed to work on deepening the ongoing dialogue between the cultures and civilisations, especially wanting to direct attention towards youth, education, and the media.”
Also read the speech by the head of the “Danish Centre for Culture and Development” (CKD) — run by the Danish Foreign Ministry — Olaf Gerlach Hansen, in Rabat, Morocco, 13 June 2005.
The European Union and the European Council plan to destroy our identity: “Cultural policy must avoid the popular distinction between ‘them’ and ‘us’, even mentioning ‘the other’ , as this opens the gate for imposing collective identity on the individual.”
Yet they impose the collective identity “European” on all the diverse nations of Europe! It is a change to a new collective that they plan.
The EU have made cooperation agreements with the Islamic Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, which aims — according to article 5a of its charter — to spread Muslim ways of thinking and living in the entire world (Charter of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — ISESCO).
Our politicians cannot face the reality of widespread war with Islam throughout Europe so they pretend we have shared goals. Margaret Beckett, when Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, told Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on the 7July 2006: “Our obligation to the values that mean most to us — freedom, tolerance and justice — has grown even stronger and deeper since the London bombs. So has our relationship with the Islamic world, which also shares our common ideals, today.”
The UN is no longer what it was set up to be. The Durban conference of 2005 lifted the veil on reality. The Conference against Racism was meant to pillory whites for crimes of slavery and colonialism but became a fest of anti- Jewishness from Muslim countries.
Kofi Annan, UN secretary general, showed his hatred of whites: “The pain and anger are still felt. The dead, through their descendants, cry out for justice.” The delegates at the conference from the Arab–Muslim states ignored their own involvement in slavery and united with the African group in demanding anti-colonialist revenge: “The West, which is genocidal by nature, should recognise its crimes, beg for forgiveness and pay symbolic and financial reparations to the victims of its oppression.” This is effectively a declaration of war against white and Jewish communities!
Zionism was portrayed as the new Nazism and apartheid was “white viciousness”, which they claimed had caused “one Holocaust after the other in Africa” through human trafficking, slavery and colonialism. According to them, Israel should disappear and its politicians tried at an international tribunal like Nuremberg. There were anti-Semitic cartoons circulated, copies of Mein Kampf and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion as evidence.
Beneath a photo of Hitler was a lament that had he lived, Israel wouldn’t have existed and the Palestinians would not have been harmed. Several delegates were threatened; there were shouts of “Death to Jews.” Sudanese Minister of Justice, Ali Mohamed Osman Yasin, demanded reparations for historical slavery, although in his own country, people are being used as slaves as I write. This is what the EU is importing into Europe and our MEPs are trying to combat these evils.
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For those of us wondering how bad the untested genetically modified food experiment is going to get before it gets any better, a ray of hope was just offered.
A San Francisco judge, the very honorable, Judge Jeffrey White just ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service violated environmental law because of inadequate environmental testing of genetically modified sugar beets.
He ruled that the agency failed to see if the genetically altered beets would eventually share their funky pesticide proof genes with other crops. Judge White noted that pollen from sugar beets can be blown long distances and pollinate other crops, including table beets and chard.
White wrote,
“The potential elimination of farmers choice to grow non genetically engineered crops, or consumers choice to eat non genetically engineered food … has a significant effect on the human environment.”
The judge ordered the federal agency to produce an environmental impact statement after taking a hard look at the issue. A lesser look by the agency found that the sharing of genetically altered pollen was no cause for concern.
This is the second blow for Monsanto and according the Associated Press, a “similar ruling in 2007 forced a ban on planting Roundup Ready alfalfa until a re-examination was done.” That environmental impact statement has yet to be completed, so it effectively halted the growth and sale of GMO alfalfa.
About half of the sugar beets used in the United States are currently Monsanto’s genetically modified variety and the judge didn’t rule about the harvest of the current crop.
If you haven’t been already, it’s wise to avoid sugar for a while to make sure you’re not consuming genetically modified sugar beets.
Genetically modified foods have been linked to smaller, less developed brains, livers and testicles. GMOs have been found to enlarge other tissues, including the pancreas and intestines. They’ve been known to atrophy the liver, while causing structural changes in the stomach and intestines. GMOs have additionally been linked to infertility and allergies. Here`s more:
In the U.S., the news wasn’t covered by mainstream outlets. As a consequence genetically modified foods are not labeled and consumers remain largely unaware. Genetically modified ingredients are available in the large majority of processed foods, and in the U.S. it’s actually illegal for manufacturers to label GMO products, as GMO products.
U.S. officials have been cited as saying that such labeling would “confuse consumers,” and it’s widely known that the large majority of consumers don’t want to eat genetically modified foods. Their logic has been: if consumers knew which foods were genetically modified, they would avoid them and thereby make the wrong choice. The official said to have explained the government’s logic at an international Codex meeting later denied doing so.
Organic farmers, food safety advocates and conservation groups brought the lawsuit. According to Earthjustice attorney Paul Achitoff, on Oct. 30 they will ask the judge for an injunction to ban new plantings until the environmental impact statement is complete. Full article
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A woman sexually assaulted by an immigrant yesterday won her six-and-a-half year battle to have her attacker deported.
Gabrielle Browne, 44, was training for the London Marathon on a towpath when she was attacked by Mohamed Kendeh in 2003.
The 22-year-old immigrant, from Sierra Leone, also admitted carrying out a string of assaults on at least 11 women - striking when they were alone or with children in public parks.
However, despite attempts by the Home Office to deport him, Britain's top immigration judge refused, claiming that to do so would breach his human rights.
Yesterday, a crown court judge overruled that controversial judgement.
Mrs Browne, a mother of two, who has waived her right to anonymity, broke down in tears after being told she had won her fight for justice.
She said: 'It is quite possible that lots of victims just let the police get on with it.
'But if I hadn't chased what happened following his release in 2007 then he would never have been deported.
'I pushed for an exclusion zone to be set-up in the area of the attacks and told police there were immigration issues each time he was arrested for another offence so steps could be taken to deport him.
'I have also pursued it through my MP, who put pressure on the Home Office to find out what was happening.
'I have fought for his deportation for a very long time. I can't undo what he did to me and the affect that has had on me and my family.
'But if I can stop him from reoffending against other women then there is some value to what I am doing.'
Kendeh, then 16, grabbed Mrs Browne from behind before dragging her along the ground and trying to rape her.
After his arrest, she discovered he had recently been released from a young offenders institution after being found guilty of four sexual assaults on lone women when he was just 15.
All of the attacks took place in parks - two on women who had young children with them at the time.
Kendeh, then a heavy cannabis smoker, had also committed burglaries, theft, arson, drug offences and taken a vehicle without consent.
Despite this history, Kendeh was released on bail - only to carry out another attack on a woman by herself in her home a month later.
He was jailed at the Old Bailey for the two attacks, and the Home Office made attempts to deport him.
However, these requests were refused by top immigration judge Sir Henry Hodge.
He said although the sex attacker had been refused British citizenship and was likely to reoffend, sending him back to Sierra Leone would breach his right to a family life.
But Mrs Browne refused to give up. She continued to pressure MPs and police each time he came up for parole, and pushed for an exclusion zone to be set up in Southwark, Central London - the area where most of the assaults took place.
And yesterday, during sentencing for his latest crime, a street robbery, committed after his release in June this year, Judge Simon Pratt at Croydon Crown Court finally recommended Kendeh be deported afterwards.
Sentencing Kendeh to five and half years in jail and two years on licence, Judge Pratt said: 'You targeted another woman in circumstances where she was extremely vulnerable.
'Such vulnerability is every woman's nightmare. You have had ample experience of the terror that you have caused lone women and you admitted that you saw her as easy to rob because you could overpower her.
'You are 22 and you have an appalling record for sexual assaults on lone females, as well as a previous conviction for a robbery in 2003.
'I unhesitatingly view you to be a dangerous offender and I am firmly of the view that you present a serious risk to the public by the commissioning of serious and unspecified offences.
'I regard your continuing presence in this country as contrary to this country's good and I recommend your deportation.'
Olatokunbo Atanda, for the defence, said yesterday: 'Mr Kendeh is 22, he has had a very troubled childhood, he has been incarcerated for most of his life and is unable to deal with normal life anymore.
'He has had no other life, it seems, apart from being incarcerated from a young age to adulthood.'
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SOME 1,800 GPs have to date agreed to a request from the Health Service Executive (HSE) to give the swine flu vaccine to patients in at-risk groups.
These GPs will begin receiving supplies of the vaccine on Monday.
About 410,000 at-risk patients are due to be vaccinated by these GPs in coming weeks.
Dr Tony Holohan, chief medical officer at the Department of Health, said yesterday the vaccine would be dispatched to the GPs’ surgeries on a phased basis from today. All GPs should receive supplies within two weeks.
These first vaccine supplies will be for women more than 14 weeks pregnant and those aged six months to 65 years with chronic conditions such as long-term lung, heart, liver and kidney disease, those with MS or other neurological conditions, or those with diabetes, severely obesity, blood disorders or compromised immune systems.
It is expected all patients over 14 will require just one dose of the vaccine. Children under 14 will be offered two doses.
All citizens will ultimately be offered the swine flu vaccine, but once GPs have vaccinated those in the highest risk groups, the vaccine will then be offered to children in general, those aged over 65 and healthcare workers.
Dr Holohan said it would be mid-November before the vaccination programme would target children in general. Their vaccinations will probably be delivered in schools by health service staff.
Dr Kevin Kelleher, assistant national director of health protection with the HSE, said a public information campaign would commence in two weeks’ time advising patients how to get the vaccine. The vaccine is free for everyone.
Just 70 GPs have so far refused to be involved in the vaccination of at-risk groups and about 200 others have sought additional information from the HSE on issues such as indemnity.
Dr Holohan said any clarification GPs needed in relation to the vaccine would be provided.
A number of concerns around indemnity had been raised by the Irish Medical Organisation on behalf of GPs and by the insurer Medisec, but he said all issues were clarified. Medisec will be issuing an advisory note to GPs in relation to the programme shortly. Full article
Sunday Roundup
of the News this Week
A vast charity camp for illegal migrants heading towards England has opened in northern France. As fears grew that it will become a magnet for thousands more, officials said they had 'no alternative' but to allow it to be put it in place. It is situated at Steenvoorde, next door to a motorway service station filled with lorries heading towards Channel ports at Calais and Dunkirk.
Dutch politician who was turned away from Britain after criticising the Koran as a 'fascist book' was forced yesterday to hastily change the location of a scheduled press conference in London in the interests of his own security. Geert Wilders, who is head of the Freedom Party, flew into Heathrow airport this morning after winning a court battle to enter the country.
If people were convinced that Islamic extremists had little support among British Muslims it would be easy to write the off as an eccentric fringe element. Unfortunately, that is not the case. With the threat of Islamist terrorism a major factor in our national life and with a bewildering array of Muslim pressure groups always ready to press for new cultural concessions, the British public has come to a depressing conclusion: Give them an inch and they will take a mile.
Furious opponents called for a mass rally by radical Muslims to be outlawed over fears it could spark violent clashes. There are concerns that the march by the fanatical group Islam4UK in favour of sharia law in Britain will spill over into bloodshed if it is allowed to go ahead.
Iraqi asylum-seekers being deported from the UK have been refused entry to their homeland and returned to Britain. Only 10 out of about 40 failed asylum-seekers were allowed to remain in Iraq after their plane arrived in capital city Baghdad on Thursday.
A Bradford man was today jailed for three years for his part in a major financial fraud which cost banks about £1 million. Father-of-two Sonny Chibuwe, 29, of Heights Lane, Heaton, was the sixth person to be sentenced for the conspiracy. They have now been given prison terms totalling 21 years.
A senior member of the British National Party believes Boris Johnson should urge Muslims to embrace Christian tradition the way he encouraged non-Islamic Londoners to observe Ramadan for a day. Speaking at the Mayor’s Question Time, Richard Barnbrook, BNP Councilor for Barking and Dagenham, suggested that Johnson should publicly ask the Islamic community to “sing carols and eat Christmas pudding”, just as he recommended that Christians spend one day fasting to better understand the Muslim culture.
A hardline Islamist group in Somalia has begun publicly whipping women for wearing bras that they claim violate Islam as they are 'deceptive'. The insurgent group Al Shabaab has sent gunmen into the streets of Mogadishu to round up any women who appear to have a firm bust, residents claimed yesterday.
Massive increases in Tube and bus fares unveiled by Boris Johnson this morning will cost the average London commuter and extra £100 a year. The mayor also announced plans to raise the congestion charge by 25 per cent to £10 per day. For Oyster pay-as-you-go users, typical bus fares will rise by 20p to £1.20, while a zone one Oyster tube fare will rise from £1.60 to £1.80.
Contour Homes has demolished what the consider as low demand sheltered scheme in Deeplish, Rochdale and replaced it with a development of nine family properties designed to meet the needs of the Asian community. Working closely with Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council who identified a high demand for this type of property, Contour Homes secured just under £600,00 from the Homes and Communities Agency for this £1.3 million scheme.
The real danger lies within our unpoliced borders - not from the Taliban! Having been fed so many lies by a discredited Government – weapons of mass destruction, immigration numbers, education standards, the Lisbon Treaty, boom and bust – we risk a collapse into "falsehood fatigue". This is the point at which, says comedienne Lily Tomlin, our accelerating cynicism fails to match strides with official mendacity. We simply can't keep up.
The madness of the European Union knows no bounds. A new study has found that regulatory costs incurred by the European Union have risen 50 percent since 2005 — from €108 billion (£98 billion) to over €161 billion (£146 billion).
It was the kind of crime that strikes terror into the hearts of parents everywhere. A bright young couple were car jacked after a Saturday night date and murdered in the most brutal way imaginable. Christopher Newsom, 23, was tied up and raped, shot in the back of the head and then dragged to a railway track and set on fire. His girlfriend, 21-year-old University of Tennessee student Channon Christian’s fate was even more horrific.
Children should not begin formal lessons until the age of six, according to the biggest review of primary schools for 40 years. In a damning report on British education, experts said five-year-old children should continue play-based learning of the kind used in nursery and reception classes.
When the radical Liberal Government of the Edwardian age began to lay the first foundations of the modern welfare system in 1908, the former Prime Minister Lord Rosebery gave this warning: “The state invites us every day to lean upon it. I seem to hear the wheedling and alluring whisper, ‘Sound you may be. We bid you to be a cripple.’”
Audience members for the Question Time edition featuring BNP chief Nick Griffin are being rigorously' vetted by BBC producers to weed out likely anti-fascist demonstrators, it was confirmed yesterday. BBC bosses fear protesters could disrupt the recording of the programme, due to take place at the Wood Lane studios on 22 October.
A Muslim group sparked outrage last night as it launched a massive campaign to impose sharia law on Britain. Islam4UK has announced plans to hold a potentially incendiary rally in London later this month. And it is calling for a complete upheaval of the British legal system, its officials and legislation. Members have urged Muslims from all over Britain to converge on the capital on October 31 for a procession to demand the full implementation of sharia law.
Angry residents of Pool are demanding action against the anti-social antics of migrant workers who have set up home in their community – with some threatening to 'take the law into their own hands'. More than 40 people packed Treloweth Community Centre on Monday evening to challenge the police, Cornwall Council and Carn Brea Parish council to get a grip on the problem. Residents recounted incidents of fighting, drinking, drug taking and partying late into the night by migrant workers from countries including Poland and Russia.
MEPs are calling for school pupils to be forced to take European Union lessons to counter what they claim to be "lies" about Brussels. Leaders of the centre-right EPP grouping in the European Parliament say there should be compulsory classes for 14-year-olds in all member states.
The following articles and video highlight the currant situation with the Lisbon Treaty as well as showing aspects of the EU that is not really being covered by the mainstream media, namely the EU and Irish authorities unlawful actions in the Irish Lisbon Treaty referendums, as well as what the EU has planed for their EU citizens/subjects under the Lisbon Treaty.
British Liberal MEP Chris Davies says the only reason Tony Blair "should be coming to Europe is to be indicted for war crimes at the International Criminal Court at The Hague. Davies says the former UK premier should be "standing in the dock" at The Hague for "crimes against humanity" for his role in the Iraq war, rather than being an unofficial candidate for the presidency of the EU.
The British National Party will amend its constitution so its rules on membership do not discriminate on the grounds of race or religion, a court was told today. The Equality and Human Rights Commission issued County Court proceedings against the far-right party on August 24 after voicing concerns its membership criteria were restrictive to those within certain ethnic groups.
The political career of a Tory MP who allegedly used his Commons expenses to pay more than £100,000 to his own company is hanging by a thread today as he meets with party chiefs. David Wilshire, 66, is being quizzed by chief whip Patrick McLoughlin this afternoon over allegations he paid up to £3,250 a month in expenses to Moorlands Research Services, a company owned by himself and his partner Ann Palmer.
Harriet Harman has been accused of using the Commons expenses scandal to position herself for the Labour leadership as MPs broke cover yesterday to insist they would refuse to pay money back. Senior Labour figures believe their deputy leader is 'shamelessly playing to the gallery' by encouraging a behind-the- scenes attempt to overturn the controversial audit of MPs' claims.
Shortly after dawn on December 5, 63BC, several hundred members of the Roman senate gathered for a life-or-death debate. They had to decide the fate of five prominent citizens, two of them senators, who had sent letters to a warlike tribe in Gaul, urging them to rise in revolt against Roman rule.
Labour was accused of risking the lives of Territorial Army soldiers last night after axing their training for the next six months to save money. Reservists across Britain will see their exercises cut or be told to pay their own way in order to save a paltry £20million.
The family of a two-year-old toddler was visited by the police after being accused of hitting her neighbour's car with a stick. The girl's parents were in dispute with their neighbours, according to Wiltshire Constabulary, and officers attended the scene in order to prevent tensions from rising.
A pensioner, Roger Moore, died after carers accidentally fed him a whole day's worth of food in 30 minutes, an inquest heard. Mr Moore died as a result of the food pumped down his throat at the private nursing home in half an hour, with it spilling over into his lungs.
White working-class communities have been left behind in the race for housing and jobs, ministers have admitted. They plan to pump millions into predominantly white areas to help improve education of young people, end benefit dependency and cut off support for far-right political groups.
Undoubtedly, Islam and the Shari'ah have reached new heights in the United Kingdom, Muslim communities up and down the country have brought forth a culture and system that is not only superior to the British way of life but also a shining example of what true subservience to Almighty God can bring to a society drowning in disbelief and oppression.
There have been a string of incidents at locations across Wellingborough in recent days. Offensive words targeted at white people were written in big letters across the front of the memorial in Broad Green, Wellingborough, between Saturday night and Sunday morning.
A Dutch MP can now enter the UK after winning his appeal against a Home Office decision in February which barred him from entering the country because of his anti-Islam views. Geert Wilders, the maker of anti-Koran film Fitna, described the decision as a “victory for freedom of speech” and plans to visit “as soon as possible”.
A church in London says its ability to praise God has been taken away after the local council subjected it to noise restrictions following a complaint from a Muslim neighbour. Immanuel International Christian Centre has seen congregation numbers dwindle from 100 to 30 since the restrictions on amplified music and sermons were enforced.
'Ludicrous': Home Secretary slams police who leave families like Pilkingtons to be tormented by Yobs
Johnson yesterday accused police of having the 'ludicrous and ridiculous' mindset that dealing with loutish behaviour is not their job. In a blistering attack, the Home Secretary said he was no longer prepared to tolerate police not responding to families besieged by louts.
Magistrates last night warned of 'justice not being seen to be done' after Jack Straw announced plans to close 30 courts. The Justice Secretary said he was considering the permanent closure of 20 magistrates' courts and one county court outside London. His department also published proposals that could see the closure of nine magistrates' courts in the capital - one in four of the total.
An IT consultant was devastated when police told him he had a drugs conviction on his record - although he had nothing of the kind, London's High Court has heard. James Andrew Herd says he long suspected that his career working for city investment banks was being blighted by false information circulating and got the shock of his life when he inquired of Suffolk Police for details of his record from the police national computer (PNC).
The boss of Tesco has delivered a stinging attack on Labour's education record and described school standards as 'woeful'. Sir Terry Leahy, who was knighted by the Government in 2002 and is a member of Gordon Brown's National Council for Educational Excellence, said employers were too often left to pick up the pieces.
Teenage asylum seekers are being given £25 a week "pocket money" - to help them learn to use British currency. The handouts - paid for by taxpayers - are doled out to youngsters every Friday night. Council bosses say the cash helps teach teenagers to shop for food and live on a budget. But they are ALREADY fed and housed free at an "induction centre" run by Kent County Council. A council insider said: "They get £25 handed to them in a brown envelope while everyone else is fighting to stay afloat. It's a disgrace."
Youngsters are being hard hit by the credit crunch, with pocket money slipping to its lowest rate for five years. The average of £6 a week has been slashed to just over £4 - the worst for kids since 2004, says a survey. Their parents are also cutting back on expensive family days out as well as holidays and short breaks, as a result of the recession, according to the insurance company poll.
An Increase in the State pension of just a paltry £2.40 a week next year was branded a “kick in the teeth last night. Angry pensioner groups contrasted the meagre hike – just £124 a year – with the thousands of pounds wrongly claimed in expenses by many MPs. Official figures released yesterday showed that the weekly payment for a single pensioner would rise from £95.25 to £97.65 next April.
Brown is prepared to send 500 more British troops to fight in Afghanistan, he announced today. The extra troops will boost the size of the UK presence in the lawless badlands of southern Afghanistan from 9,000 to 9,500.
More than a third of voters believe British forces should be withdrawn from Afghanistan, according to a poll. Calls for troops to quit Helmand have risen sharply just as Gordon Brown prepares to send hundreds more.
A terrorist mastermind who was harboured by the British government as an asylum seeker for more than ten years has finally been sent to prison for life. Rachid Ramda, 39, pointed his fingers skyward and shouted 'I'm innocent - praise Allah' as a Paris appeal court confirmed his sentence for a series of attacks on the city's underground system which left eight dead and hundreds injured.
Europe's top unelected official yesterday ordered the Czech prime minister to sign the Lisbon Treaty. European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said demands to reopen negotiations on the revamped European Constitution were 'absurd'. He told Jan Fischer that his country's Eurosceptic president, Vaclav Klaus, was harming Czech 'interests' by delaying ratification.
A High Court judge caused outrage today after ruling a group of travelers who illegally developed Greenbelt land over a Bank Holiday weekend had not acted in a 'cynical or ruthless' way. Mr Justice Stadlen said the six families - who exploited the long Easter break to lay down 1,000 tonnes of hardcore and Tarmac roads while council officials who could have intervened were off work - had the 'best intentions to comply with planning law'.
A television advert for Actimel yogurt which claimed to provide health benefits to children has been banned by the advertising watchdog. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) decided the advert was in breach of the rules because evidence provided by Danone did not uphold claims that the drinking yogurt could help normal, healthy school-aged youngsters protect against common childhood illnesses.
A grandfather who beat cancer was wrongly told the disease had returned and left to die at a hospice which pioneered a controversial 'death pathway'. Doctors said there was nothing more they could do for 76-year- old Jack Jones, and his family claim he was denied food, water and medication except painkillers. He died within two weeks. But tests after his death found that his cancer had not come back and he was in fact suffering from pneumonia brought on by a chest infection.
Patients with terminal illnesses are being made to die prematurely under an NHS scheme to help end their lives, leading doctors have warned. In a letter to The Daily Telegraph , a group of experts who care for the terminally ill claim that some patients are being wrongly judged as close to death. Under NHS guidance introduced across England to help doctors and medical staff deal with dying patients, they can then have fluid and drugs withdrawn and many are put on continuous sedation until they pass away.
The council threatening to evict a 106-year-old woman has rejected an 11th-hour chance to keep her care home open. The family of Louisa Watts has accused the authorities of a ‘ complete lack of humanity’ over its decision to snub an entrepreneur’s offer to cover the home’s costs for a year.
Two injured soldiers face having their compensation slashed after Bob Ainsworth won the first stage of his legal battle to claw back their payments. The Defence Secretary sparked an outcry by launching an Appeal Court bid to cut payouts to the two wounded men and halt their medical pensions.
British troops fighting in Afghanistan are being put at risk because only six in ten requests for kit are met on time by the Ministry of Defence. Military commanders have been struggling to get urgently needed vehicles, weapons and life-saving armour, according to a damning Commons report.
A retired senior Army officer whose son was killed in Iraq said that Britain was "lied to" and "badly let down" before the start of the conflict. Former Lieutenant Colonel Colin Mildinhall attacked the legality of the war and argued that the UK was "misled" over the claim that Saddam Hussein could deploy weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes.
Britain continues its descent into a socialist hell, devoid of any justice or morality. We now live in a sub-Marxist world where the ultra-politicised institutions of the State wield arbitrary power, bullying the decent members of the public while dangerous criminals walk free.
One minute, 59 seconds and, pooff! She was as free as a Canada goose, to continue squawking and pecking and pooping on the body politic. At least until the good voters of Redditch have spoken. A former Home Secretary found to have wrongly claimed many thousands of pounds in expenses.
Jacqui Smith faces an even tougher battle to keep her marginal seat in the next election after being let off with a slap on the wrist by Parliament's sleaze watchdog despite it finding she clearly broke the rules on MPs' expenses. Labour's former Home Secretary grudgingly apologised in the Commons after John Lyon, Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, delivered a scathing verdict on her £100,000-plus second-home claims.
A Tory grandee who claimed more than £2,000 on expenses to have his moat cleaned today revealed he has not been asked to return a penny to the taxpayer. Douglas Hogg has been asked by auditor Sir Thomas Legg to give more information to the former civil servant as part of his ruthless review of MPs' expenses.
Right-wing Dutch legislator Geert Wilders, who faces prosecution in his homeland for anti-Islam remarks, won an appeal on Tuesday against a British government ban preventing him from entering Britain.
President Obama says he will donate the $ 1.4 million that comes with the Nobel Peace Prize to charity. As usual he’s being vague about the details, so I have a suggestion for him. How about the Shuhada Organization which was founded by Dr Sima Samar, MD, one of the also-rans for this year’s prize.
A human X-ray machine which produces 'naked' images of passengers was introduced at an airport today, enabling staff to instantly spot any hidden weapons or explosives.
Britain froze business ties with an Iranian bank and state-run shipping firm yesterday, citing fears they were involved in helping the Islamic Republic to develop nuclear weapons.
They say more staff have become ill from vaccines than from the actual flu A group of nurses is suing the State of New York over mandatory H1N1 vaccinations, claiming that the threat of being fired for refusing is a violation of their civil rights. The nurses, based at Albany Medical Center, say they have been told they will face a week of suspension without pay, followed by termination if they don’t get both the H1N1 and the seasonal flu vaccines by the end of October.
Will Switzerland be the first Western nation to halt the Islamic colonisation of Europe? This is the question being asked as Swiss voters will decide on 29 November whether or not to ban minarets.
Britons earn the highest wages in Europe but are forced to endure the poorest quality of life, according to a report. Long working hours, the fewest holidays and the high cost of living mean the big salaries on offer in the UK do not go as far as those earned in other countries, making Britain and Ireland the worst places to live in Europe.
Nine out of 10 people would like to see a return to traditional values, a survey has found. The majority of people think the UK has changed for the worse during the past 20 years, according to Chelsea Building Society.
Police have sounded the alarm over the outbreak of a Turkish heroin drug gang war as new reports reveal that the ‘Human Rights Act’ has allowed at least 50 serious foreign criminals to avoid deportation. Scotland Yard has been forced to set up a dedicated team of police officers to combat the outbreak of a series of shootings, stabbings and armed robberies in North London.
A Firesale of national assets – including the Tote, student loans, the Channel Tunnel rail link and a Thames river crossing – will be unveiled by Gordon Brown today.
MPs have threatened to defy an official inquiry into the Commons expenses scandal led by Sir Thomas Legg by refusing “unfair” demands to repay questionable claims. Independent auditors will on Monday write to up to 500 past and present MPs to highlight concern about their use of parliamentary allowances, before inviting them to refund the public purse.
Britain is the only country in Europe where children are routinely removed from their parents without consent.
Hazel Fenton, an 80-year-old grandmother who was placed under a controversial care plan and left to “starve to death” after doctors identified her as being terminally ill, only recovered after the intervention of her daughter. Mrs Fenton, from East Sussex, is still alive and “happy” nine months after doctors declared she would only survive for days, withdrew her antibiotics and denied her artificial feeding, her daughter, Christine Ball, said. “Without my persistence and pressure I know my mother would be dead now,” she added.
Public support for the swine flu vaccine is evaporating by the day as the rationale for the vaccine appears increasingly ludicrous to anyone paying attention. Moms, nurses, day care workers and members of the general public are increasingly realizing that Big Pharma's rationale for swine flu vaccination just doesn't add up. Recent polls conducted by the mainstream media indicate that more than fifty percent of moms are refusing to expose their children to the swine flu vaccine, and nurses and health practitioners across the US and UK are going vocal with their opposition to the vaccine.
A nuclear scientist arrested by armed police is said to have admitted plotting an Al Qaeda terrorist atrocity, possibly in Britain. Dr Adlene Hicheur, 32, has confessed to talking over the internet with the North African branch of the terror organisation about attacks on 'Western targets', according to officials in France where he was held last week.
Parliamentary security was yesterday once more called into question after dozens of climate change campaigners staged a rooftop protest. Between 40 and 50 Greenpeace protesters used ladders to swarm up the side of the building and occupy the roof above Westminster Hall, unfurling banners declaring “Change the politics save the climate”.
A company producing swine flu vaccine for Britain has paid millions of pounds in out-of-court settlements after being accused of fraudulently overcharging for medicines. Baxter, the US pharmaceutical giant, reached at least seven huge settlements over the past 12 months, some of them for millions of dollars. The company had been accused of fraud amid allegations that it had overpriced medicines by as much as 1,300%.
To get Britain out of the energy crisis, we need to understand how the Government got us into it. The energy regulator has today confirmed what Conservatives - and the Daily Telegraph - have long been saying: the credit crunch is going to be followed by an energy crunch.
Householders could be fined £1,000 if they throw food scraps and potato peelings into the dustbin under a Government 'zero waste' policy. They will be forced to sift through their rubbish for anything that can be recycled, reused, rotted or burnt for electricity.
Minister's fury prompts anger and a bitter split with colleagues as Nick Griffin prepares to take the stage. Peter Hain is to make a formal complaint to the BBC Trust over the appearance of the British National Party leader, Nick Griffin, on BBC1's Question Time next week. This follows what insiders described as a "robust" meeting between the Secretary of State for Wales and the show's executive producer, Ric Bailey, during the Labour Party conference.
Write this in stone, carve it in titanium. Believing that when left to their own devices human beings choose to organize themselves in nations is the bedrock of nationalist belief. The nation is the natural form of human organization, the one written into our genes and printed on every strain of DNA.
Gabrielle Browne, the victim of a terrifying sexual assault by a foreign criminal, has spoken of her anger at how he has used the Human Rights Act to remain in Britain.
Dangerous foreign criminals are beating the Home Office to remain in the UK at the end of their prison sentences. An investigation has uncovered scores of cases where offenders from overseas, including killers and sex attackers, have been able to stay in Britain despite strenuous attempts by the Government to deport them.
A nuclear scientist who was arrested in France last week over alleged links to Al Qaeda had worked for a top-secret British nuclear research centre. Last night fears were growing that Dr Adlene Hicheur – who was a researcher for the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire for a year – could have been planning a nuclear attack in the UK.
A multi-millionaire ally of Gordon Brown pretended that a small flat occupied by one of his employees was his main home so he could claim £38,000 in expenses from the Lords. Lord Paul, one of Labour’s biggest donors and a friend of the prime minister, has admitted he never even slept in the flat, despite stating it was his main residence.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown may have to pay back some of his expense claims, the BBC understands. The BBC's political correspondent Iain Watson said it is "highly likely" that Mr Brown will have to pay back cash.
Et tu, Bono? Perhaps that thought crossed the prime minister’s mind as he discovered that new Labour’s favourite rock star — who five years ago acclaimed Tony Blair and Gordon Brown as the “Lennon and McCartney of global development” — had raised his hand in benediction over the Conservative party conference. Or perhaps Brown just threw another telephone against the walls of No 10.
Jack Straw helped to secure a £1.5m donation from the Emir of Qatar to a mosque in his Blackburn constituency. The justice secretary’s help in fixing the gift was used by the Labour party to woo the Muslim vote, it was claimed this weekend. “This has been a huge problem for the last decade. Some of the biggest mosques and institutions in the UK have been funded by foreign money and have been proven to be portraying extremist viewpoints. “Money speaks and we need to ensure that the money is not coming from the wrong people.”
Smart meters could become a 'spy in the home' by allowing social workers and health authorities to monitor households, adding to concern at Britain's surveillance society. The devices, which the government plans to install in every home by 2020, will also tell energy firms what sort of appliances are being used, allowing companies to target customers who do not reduce their energy consumption.
Only a bunch of Communist cranks could find anything objectionable in the comments made by two British National Party members in a recent BBC radio show. The so-called complaints are merely the work of third-rate Marxist extremists spouting claptrap. Reacting to today’s hysterical and lie-filled media newspaper reports about the show, which aired on 30 September, Mr Mark Collett, one of the two people who appeared on the show, said that a transcript clearly revealed there were no insults against any person, least of all footballer Ashley Cole.
Police have linked three gun murders to a violent turf war between Turkish gangs over control of the heroin trade. Scotland Yard has set up a dedicated team of detectives under the command of senior officer to investigate the killings and a related series of shootings, stabbings and armed robberies in North London.
Magistrates have been told to hammer litterers with big fines because environmental crimes are 'arguably the gravest of all problems' facing Britain. Guidelines endorsed by a leading judge say courts should take a role 'equal to Greenpeace' in saving the environment and fighting against pollution and waste.
Teenagers are being bribed with free alcohol to take sexual health tests. The move is an attempt to cut the increasing levels of sexually transmitted infections, amid dwindling numbers who volunteer to be tested.
Children will be able to go to school part-time under plans unveiled by Ed Balls yesterday. The Children’s Secretary gave the green light for youngsters to only have to attend school for certain lessons if their parents agreed to ensure they received the rest of their education at home.
A Wired UK article just told us a dirty little secret that the pharmaceutical drug world would rather keep quiet. That fact is: drugs are having a difficult time beating the placebo effect, and increasingly so.
The Duchess of York could face bankruptcy over a £17,000 bill to an image guru. Consultant Richard Owen was drafted in to rebuild "Brand Fergie" before her flop TV documentary on poor British families.
Britain faces a return to 1970s-style power blackouts and disruption to its electricity supplies within four years, the energy regulator warned yesterday. Ofgem raised the spectre of a return to the three-day week for British industry as the country scrambles to renovate its crumbling power infrastructure ahead of new EU pollution rules that will force the closure of a quarter of UK power stations by 2015.
Four out of five MPs face fresh questions over their expenses as letters detailing an audit of their claims are set to arrive in the post Monday.
Polish President Lech Kaczynski has signed the European Union's reform treaty into law, leaving the Czech Republic as the only country still to ratify the document. Mr Kaczynski, a eurosceptical conservative, signed the Lisbon Treaty at a ceremony in the presidential palace attended by the heads of the European Commission and the European Parliament.
Millions of tonnes of potentially lethal carbon dioxide may have to be stored deep under towns and villages to prevent climate change, according to a senior government adviser.
The imperfections a functioning democracy do not prove the validity of extremist ideals. The left-right axis connects totalitarian extremes. A challenge to dragon-killers. Foreign conquest needs be followed by forced assimilation. Mass movements and the dictatorial trap. Aiming at Obama: do not use slingshots. The future’s bliss and the evils of the present.
Saturday 17th October 2009
A vast charity camp for illegal migrants heading towards England has opened in northern France.
As fears grew that it will become a magnet for thousands more, officials said they had 'no alternative' but to allow it to be put it in place.
It is situated at Steenvoorde, next door to a motorway service station filled with lorries heading towards Channel ports at Calais and Dunkirk.
Last night dozens slept in tents equipped with beds and showers. There are also cooking facilities and a clothes store.
The town council gave the camp the go-ahead at the end of last month, less than 24 hours after the destruction of the so-called 'Jungle', a shanty town housing hundreds of Britain-bound migrants in Calais.
Steenvoorde, near Lille on the French border with Belgium, has become a magnet for mainly African migrants, Eritreans, Somalis and Ethiopians, who every night try to stow away on board trucks parked at the A25 layby.
The new camp is licenced for six months and has the backing of the regional governor, the Sous Prefet.
Town mayor Jean-Pierre Bataille claims Steenvoorde has become 'an important stage' on the road from third world countries to the UK.
The Terre d'Errance Steenvoorde charity, which is running the camp, said it was intended to act as a 'rest and recuperation' camp for migrants 'en route to England'.
Spokesman Damien Defrance confirmed it will be open throughout the winter, until April 15th.
British politicians have already voiced outrage with UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage saying: 'What was the point of destroying the Jungle if only to build a new camp down the road?'
The opening of the Steenvoorde camp comes despite claims from French Immigration Minister Eric Besson that northern France ports would become 'watertight' to illegal migrants who currently use them as a springboard to get to Dover, where they will claim asylum or disappear into the black economy.
Mr Besson insisted that the closure of the Jungle was meant to send a strong signal to people-traffickers that northern France was no longer the last stop-over before England.
Despite this, all of the 276 migrants who were arrested in the Jungle have been released, and not a single people trafficker was caught.
'We are confident that many of these traffickers will now be operating in Steenvoorde,' said a local police spokesman.
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Dutch politician who was turned away from Britain after criticising the Koran as a 'fascist book' was forced yesterday to hastily change the location of a scheduled press conference in London in the interests of his own security.
Geert Wilders, who is head of the Freedom Party, flew into Heathrow airport this morning after winning a court battle to enter the country.
Mr Wilders had been due to host a press conference on College Green, opposite the Palace of Westminster, at noon.
However, about thirty male activists from a group called Islam for UK began chanting: "Wilders burn in hell" and "Sharia for UK".
Brandishing banners saying, “Sharia is the solution, freedom go to hell” and “Geert Wilders deserves Islamic punishment”, the protesters were held back by about fifty policemen.
Mr Wilders was advised not to confront or walk past the protesters and instead to hold his press conference in the nearby Abbey Gardens building used by members of the House of Lords.
Mr Wilders told journalists that he lived under constant security because of his views. Explaining his controversial views on Islam, he said:
“I have a problem with the Islamic ideology, the Islamic culture, because I feel that the more Islam that we get in our societies the less freedom that we get.”
He was asked if he still believed that Islam was a retarded culture. He answered that under some Islamic cultures, "homosexuals are beaten up and killed. Journalists are jailed. That action is retarded."
He said that he stood by his views that the terrorist attacks on New York on September 11, 2001 were directed linked to the Koran.
The 46-year-old first sparked controversy after making a film entitled Fitna which defined the Koran as a fascist book. He is not expected to show the film while he is in Britain.
In February, Mr Wilders was denied access to Britain amid Home Office fears that his presence could trigger inter-faith violence.
That decision was overturned on appeal this week. Mr Wilders arrived in London during the late morning and it is thought that he intends to leave the country later today. Continued
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One way to find out for certain if moderate Muslims exist in Britain
If people were convinced that Islamic extremists had little support among British Muslims it would be easy to write the off as an eccentric fringe element.
In such a context, plans for rallies by fundamentalists to press claims for a wholesale switch to sharia law in Britain could be regarded with equanimity rather than alarm.
Unfortunately, that is not the case.
With the threat of Islamist terrorism a major factor in our national life and with a bewildering array of Muslim pressure groups always ready to press for new cultural concessions, the British public has come to a depressing conclusion:
Give them an inch and they will take a mile.
So any large demonstration by radical Muslims is bound to cause widespread anger. Police say that Islam4uK cannot be stopped from holding a rally in London later this month. In that case, it would be hugely encouraging were moderate Muslims to organise a much larger counter-demonstration that stressed their support for British law.
While there have certainly been criticisms of Islam4uK by more moderate groups, there is no sign of any such event taking place. It is the emerging tragedy of British Islam that moderates appear unable to marginalise extremists or to offer sufficient reassurance to the non-Muslim majority.
Pictures of thousands of Muslims calling for the black flag of Islam to be raised over Britain’s courts will only lead to even greater distrust and alarm.
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Furious opponents called for a mass rally by radical Muslims to be outlawed over fears it could spark violent clashes.
There are concerns that the march by the fanatical group Islam4UK in favour of sharia law in Britain will spill over into bloodshed if it is allowed to go ahead.
The outcry follows the Daily Express revelations of the march yesterday and a poll in which 96 per cent of people said that they do not want sharia law in Britain.
Members of Islam4UK are calling for it to be imposed here, and expect thousands of supporters to descend on London later this month.
Plans for the demonstration have been delivered to the Metropolitan Police.
They want sharia law applied across the country – and their website shows London’s Nelson’s Column topped by a minaret.
Meetings are already being held by the Metropolitan Police to decide whether to police the event – although sources said an outright ban could only be made by the Home Office after an official request from the force.
A police spokesman said: “We have to work within the law and will have to make an application to the Home Secretary to ban any rally. The Met has never banned a rally before. Even if it were to be banned that does not stop it from going ahead.”
However, an overwhelming public reaction could yet force the march to be stopped.
Thousands of readers contacted the Daily Express newsroom yesterday calling for the October 31 rally to be called off.
Matthew Forster, 39, said: “Yes, everyone has a right to express their views but this is clearly something the British public do not want.
"And a rally with hundreds or thousands of extremist supporters is only going to cause trouble.”
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Iraqi asylum-seekers being deported from the UK have been refused entry to their homeland and returned to Britain.
Only 10 out of about 40 failed asylum-seekers were allowed to remain in Iraq after their plane arrived in capital city Baghdad on Thursday.
The remainder were flown back to the UK, where they were held at a detention centre near Gatwick Airport.
The Home Office was not immediately able to say why they had been refused entry to Iraq, or whether there would be a further attempt to deport them.
It is understood that the asylum-seekers were being removed from the UK against their will and were accompanied by around 80 escorts on their flight to Iraq.
The flight is thought to have been the first attempt to return Iraqis to Baghdad since the outbreak of war in 2003.
The chief executive of the UK Border Agency Lin Homer said: "We are establishing a new route to Southern Iraq and have successfully returned 10 Iraqis to the Baghdad area. This is an important first step for us.
"We are working closely with the Iraq Government to iron out the issues which led to some of the returnees being sent back, and expect to carry out another flight in the future.
"Having an enforced route for returns is an important part of our overall approach; however the Government prefers the majority of returnees to leave voluntarily. In the past three years more than 2,500 people have chosen to return to Iraq under the Assisted Voluntary Return Programme and we expect that to continue."
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A Bradford man was today jailed for three years for his part in a major financial fraud which cost banks about £1 million.
Father-of-two Sonny Chibuwe, 29, of Heights Lane, Heaton, was the sixth person to be sentenced for the conspiracy. They have now been given prison terms totalling 21 years.
Leeds Crown Court was told that the conspirators used the postal system to steal cheque books.
Prosecutor Tim Capstick said the cheque books were forged or altered, paid into defendants’ accounts and money withdrawn.
Several banks were targeted, mainly the Halifax and mostly in the West Yorkshire area starting in Bradford.
The court heard that Chibuwe was a Zimbabwean national who had fled the regime in his home country in 2002 and was seeking asylum in the UK.
His lawyer, Jayne Dodson, said he had connections with the Opposition party in Zimbabwe and had been involved with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in this country. She said he was well respected in that party but had now blighted his reputation.
Chibuwe admitted to depositing cheques on eight or nine occasions, for which he was paid a wage.
Judge Kerry Macgill told Chibuwe, who pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to defraud, he had chosen to become involved.
The judge said: “This conspiracy cost the banks in the region of £1 million. This wasn’t small fry, it was a large conspiracy to defraud the banks of a lot of money.”
He said he had every sympathy for the defendant’s domestic situation in Zimbabwe.
But Judge Macgill told him: “You helped and played a part in plundering the banking system.
“The message has got to go out that if you are here seeking asylum, however difficult your financial situation, you cannot resort to criminality on this scale and not receive a custodial sentence.”
He said the sentence meant Chibuwe, who has a wife and two children in this country, was liable to deportation, but added: “That’s the unfortunate consequence of your criminality.”
The case was part of West Yorkshire Police’s Operation Illmington, launched in 2007 and involving the execution of warrants at 30 addresses in West Yorkshire and beyond.
The investigation is ongoing and ten men and a woman have been interviewed and bailed pending further inquiries.
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A senior member of the British National Party believes Boris Johnson should urge Muslims to embrace Christian tradition the way he encouraged non-Islamic Londoners to observe Ramadan for a day.
Speaking at the Mayor’s Question Time, Richard Barnbrook, BNP Councilor for Barking and Dagenham, suggested that Johnson should publicly ask the Islamic community to “sing carols and eat Christmas pudding”, just as he recommended that Christians spend one day fasting to better understand the Muslim culture.
“If [the Mayor is] going to make a public statement to one part of the community, whatever that community might be, he should also balance that with the same gesture to other sections of the community: the Hindus, Sikhs, the Jewish, the Catholics, the Christians and the whole lot,” he said.
Johnson who feels strongly about cultural integration promised to encourage Muslims to show true Christmas spirit and participate in carol-singing at the first available opportunity.
Richard Barnes, Deputy Mayor of London and a strong advocate of Johnson’s policy on multiculturalism, doubts that the Mayor’s statement had the power to offend Christians. He claims Barnbrook’s request was misplaced and stemmed from a “twisted individual philosophy” which he “certainly [does not] subscribe to.”
Neither Johnson’s nor Barnbrook’s idea of cultural dialogue appeals to ordinary Londoners. Many members of the public are convinced it is not necessary to live by the principles of ethnic communities to gain a better knowledge of their tradition.
Peter Munro, a City accountant said: “You don’t have to become a Muslim to understand the Muslim culture and you don’t have to be Christian to understand Christianity.”
“You don’t need to force people to do what they don’t want to do.”
Maureen Butler, a retired sales assistant, added: “We live in a Christian country. Why do Muslims expect us to adjust to their lifestyles?”
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A hardline Islamist group in Somalia has begun publicly whipping women for wearing bras that they claim violate Islam as they are 'deceptive'.
The insurgent group Al Shabaab has sent gunmen into the streets of Mogadishu to round up any women who appear to have a firm bust, residents claimed yesterday.
The women are then inspected to see if the firmness is natural, or if it is the result of wearing a bra.
If they are found wearing a bra, they are ordered to remove it and shake their breasts, residents said.
Al Shabaab, which seeks to impose a strict interpretation of Sharia law over all Somalia, also amputated a foot and a hand each from two young men accused of robbery earlier this month.
They have also banned movies, musical ringtones, dancing at wedding ceremonies and playing or watching soccer.
'Al Shabaab forced us to wear their type of full veil and now they order us to shake our breasts,' a resident, Halima, told Reuters, adding that her daughters had been whipped on Thursday.
'They are now saying that breasts should be firm naturally, or just flat.'
Officials of Al Shabaab, which Washington says is Al Qaeda's proxy in the failed Horn of Africa state, declined to comment.
The group's hardline interpretation of Islamic law has shocked many Somalis, who are traditionally moderate Muslims. Some residents, however, give the insurgents credit for restoring order to the regions under their control.
Al Shabaab, which means 'youth' in Arabic, control large swathes of south and central Somalia.
Abdullahi Hussein, a student in north Mogadishu, said his elder brother was thrown behind bars when he fought back a man who humiliated their sister by asking her to remove her bra.
'My brother was jailed after he wrestled with a man that had beaten my sister and forced her to remove her bra. He could not stand it,' Hussein said.
Men were not spared the' moral cleansing'. Any man caught without a beard was been publicly whipped.
'I was beaten and my hair was cut off with a pair of scissors in the street,' Hussein said.
'My trouser was also cut up to the knee. They accused me of shaving my beard but I am only 18.
'They have arrested dozens of men and women. You just find yourself being whipped by a masked man as soon as leave your house.'
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Massive increases in Tube and bus fares unveiled by Boris Johnson this morning will cost the average London commuter and extra £100 a year.
The mayor also announced plans to raise the congestion charge by 25 per cent to £10 per day. For Oyster pay-as-you-go users, typical bus fares will rise by 20p to £1.20, while a zone one Oyster tube fare will rise from £1.60 to £1.80.
A seven-day bus pass will go up from £13.80 to £16.60. The Mayor said there would also be a cut in bus schedules and fewer off-peak Tube trains in outer London as he tackles a £3.2 billion black hole in his transport budget.
The price rises on public transport will take effect in January. Mr Johnson said: 'Nobody wants to make an announcement like this, especially when Londoner's are feeling the effects of the recession'
He has asked Londoner's 'to accept this difficult decision' to safeguard the investment in the capital's future. All tube fares will rise by 3.9 per cent and bus fares will be going up by 12.7 per cent.
The congestion charge increase will come in at the end of next year — and drivers signing up to a new automated payment scheme will only pay £9. The mayor continued: 'The mistakes of the past and the current economic climate have conspired to present us with a huge challenge.'
He said he had only been persuaded of the need for fare rises after ensuring every efficiency possible - at least £5 billion in total - was being made at Transport for London. The higher fares will raise an extra £125 million a year. The increase in the congestion charge will add a further £15 million - but TfL will lose £50 million when the western extension is scrapped.
Cuts to services and changes to TfL priorities will save £1.36 billion over the next three years. TfL has a £17 billion funding gap over the next three years, with £900 million of this down to the recession. Transport for London (TfL) said that Mr Johnson was still 'minded' to scrap the western extension to the congestion charge zone and that he would be making a final decision next spring.
He stressed that 40 per cent of bus passengers in London would continue to travel free or at a substantial concessionary rate and that the Freedom Pass - better known as the bus pass for those 60 and over - would continue to be valid for travel 24 hours a day on all TfL services.
TfL expects the changes to result in a small fall in bus passenger numbers but says the Mayor's aim is to encourage more people to cycle or walk.
Speaking while showing a new Victoria line train at an Underground depot in Northumberland Park in north London, Mr Johnson said: 'We need to protect the investments we are making in transport infrastructure and I have done everything I can to protect the most vulnerable users of transport in London.
'This is the right package for London. You have to ask whether it is better to pay a comparatively small price in January or to pay a huge price in years to come.'
He said that although national main line fares will go down in January, they were being 'depressed artificially for election purposes'.
TfL's business plan includes the deferral by three years of 12 remaining station renewals which were to have been completed by the failed Tube maintenance company Metronet. They include Bank, Charing Cross and Paddington.
Also work to upgrade one of the Tube's busiest stations - Victoria - will not now be
Key changes to tube and bus fares from 2010:
- A seven-day bus pass rises 20 per cent from £13.80 to £16.60.
- A zones one and two weekly travelcard is frozen at £25.80.
- Cash fares on buses stay at £2.
- A zone one Tube journey remains at £4 for passengers paying cash.
- Most Oyster pay-as-you-go Tube fares will rise 20p per trip.
- The daily cap on Oyster bus and Tube travel increases by 50p.
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Contour Homes has demolished what the consider as low demand sheltered scheme in Deeplish, Rochdale and replaced it with a development of nine family properties designed to meet the needs of the Asian community.
Working closely with Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council who identified a high demand for this type of property, Contour Homes secured just under £600,00 from the Homes and Communities Agency for this £1.3 million scheme.
Six, 3-bed, five person homes and three 4-bed, eight person homes have been built to meet current Homes & Communities Agency Standards and constructed in line with Rochdale’s Asian Housing Strategy.
The properties also meet the Secured by Design criteria and achieve Code for Sustainable Homes Level III.
Designed by Michael Hyde Associates and developed by Richardson Projects (part of RoK Group) on behalf of Contour Homes the scheme was developed in just over a year.
Contour Homes Project Manager Andrea Swanwick said:
“A change in the demographics in this area meant that the former bedsit and flats on the site were no longer in demand.
“In order to respond to local housing need we worked closely with the council to provide new quality homes which have been very well received by the local community.”
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The real danger lies within our unpoliced borders - not from the Taliban!
Having been fed so many lies by a discredited Government – weapons of mass destruction, immigration numbers, education standards, the Lisbon Treaty, boom and bust – we risk a collapse into "falsehood fatigue". This is the point at which, says comedienne Lily Tomlin, our accelerating cynicism fails to match strides with official mendacity. We simply can't keep up.
It's a particularly gloomy view of the relationship between voters and ministers, highlighting the electorate's vulnerability to pork-pie politics. There is one issue, however, where Average Joe appears to be ahead of the game: Afghanistan. For, no matter how many times Gordon Brown tells us that British soldiers are dying in Helmand to make safe the streets of London, polls keep showing that a majority rejects his assertion.
Ever since 2006, when John Reid, then defence secretary, offered hope that our troops could be home within three years – an outcome that seemed unlikely even then – the Government has been on the wrong side of public opinion. With more than 200 fatalities, plus scores of terrible injuries, the true price of our soldiers' engagement is being counted in cemeteries and hospitals across these isles.
Decent people are sick of the carnage, not because they have no stomach for the fight, but because they cannot fathom what the fight is for. In desperation to justify a textbook example of mission creep, the Ministry of Defence has resorted to emotional blackmail. The remarkably unimpressive Bob Ainsworth suggests that in failing to show enough support for the war, some parts of the public are wallowing in "defeatism".
This is offensive rubbish. Support for the Armed Forces remains widespread and undiminished. What has cracked, however, is enthusiasm for their task, largely because too few of us have the faintest notion of what victory looks like. The idea that, after a bloody military campaign, we can leave behind a "normalised", democratic Afghanistan, free from the Taliban, with sufficient resources and appetite to police itself, tests credulity to destruction.
For those who seek to dismiss this view as the bellyaching of limp-wristed liberals, I point you to two MPs from either side of the Commons, both of whom served in the Army: Eric Joyce (Labour, Falkirk) and Adam Holloway (Conservative, Gravesham). Mr Joyce resigned recently as a parliamentary aide over government strategy, while Mr Holloway refers to Afghanistan as "a giant film set for al-Qaeda propaganda".
The corrupt Karzai administration in Kabul will never be able to contain the Taliban on its own. General Sir David Richards, head of the Army, gave the game away in August when he conceded that Britain could be involved in Afghanistan for another "30 to 40 years". This is the nightmare scenario.
At the heart of the horror is a deceit: that those who would terrorise Britain use Afghanistan as a preferred meeting point, thereby affording us the opportunity to pick them off until their threat has been eliminated. Believing this is easy, but only after an encounter with Afghanistan's most lucrative crop. Perhaps our leaders are chasing the dragon. How else do we explain their folly?
Global terrorism operates beyond traditional bases. It is fluid, amorphous, drifting seamlessly from cave to capital city. To conflate al-Qaeda, a terror group sans frontieres, with the Taliban in Afghanistan is to misrepresent wilfully the deadly challenge we face.
Taliban leaders, according to Sir David, are "ruthless fanatics who will stoop to anything in the pursuit of power, readily killing by design children and women in order to terrorise." True, but they are not marching down Whitehall. Hitherto they have shown little interest in bombing overseas. By contrast, al-Qaeda exports violence. It infiltrates points of weakness. It does not need Afghanistan when there is a welcome in the Horn of Africa. The world has plenty of "failed states" with an open door to our enemies.
Reza Aslan, an academic at the University of California, makes the point in his book How To Win A Cosmic War that appears to have been deliberately ignored by Downing Street: "This battle will take place… not in the mountains of Afghanistan but in the suburbs of Paris, the slums of East London, and the cosmopolitan cities of Berlin and New York. It is a battle that will be waged not against men with guns but against boys with computers."
If we are to protect ourselves, we need to confront a domestic embarrassment: we have allowed, indeed encouraged, a radicalised version of Islam to grow within our borders. The bombers who brought devastation to London's public transport system in July 2005 came from Aylesbury, Dewsbury and Leeds. Securing safety at home requires effective policing and round-the-clock focus by intelligence agencies.
We must re-establish authority over who comes to this country. Labour's shameful abandonment of border controls has led to tens of thousands of "undocumented" asylum seekers settling in the United Kingdom. Who are these people? How do we know that they wish us no harm? I'm sure that the vast majority are law-abiding, but it takes only one to create mayhem.
A well-meaning desire to be an open and civilised society has stripped us of powers of self-protection. As The Sunday Telegraph revealed last weekend, dangerous foreign criminals, including killers and sex attackers, cannot be deported, even though the Home Office seeks to do so. They claim that life would be intolerable in their native hell-holes and, thanks to the legal perversion that is the Human Rights Act, we have to put up with them.
The invasion of Iraq and the war in Afghanistan have not made Britain safer – quite the reverse. The Government was warned by MI5's top brass that these military adventures would damage our national security. Latent enemies have been given fresh motivation for revenge strikes in Britain.
According to the Royal United Services Institute, Britain must pay the financial and human cost of conflict in Afghanistan, "or accept that it has lost its presumed status and influence, and relax and be a normal European country that does not take hard power seriously."
This is a flawed analysis. Even in straitened times, Britain should take hard power very seriously, but it must be power with purpose. We have lost sight of what ours is in Afghanistan. Expected by Nato partners (excluding the Americans) to do more than our fair share of heavy lifting, British troops are dying for political vanity – to save face in London and Washington.
This week, the Prime Minister promised an extra 500 soldiers for the campaign, but gave himself some wriggle room: he must be satisfied they have the appropriate training and equipment. This invites us to infer that hitherto such a basic condition has not always been in place.
The sooner we get out of Afghanistan, the better.
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The madness of the European Union knows no bounds. A new study has found that regulatory costs incurred by the European Union have risen 50 percent since 2005 — from €108 billion (£98 billion) to over €161 billion (£146 billion).
The EU recognised back in 2005 that its regulations were outrageously expensive to implement and that year launched its “Better Regulation Agenda” which it described as a “key element of the Lisbon Strategy for boosting growth and jobs.”
Predictably, since that time the annual cost to all European nations of EU regulation has soared by more than 50 percent, according to a report from think tank Open Europe.
According to Open Europe, EU-sourced legislation introduced since 1998 now accounts for the bulk of regulatory costs throughout Europe. This amounts to an average two-thirds of the total cost of regulations imposed on any of the member states’ economies.
Open Europe has also pointed that that it is not true that ‘financial regulation’ is a major factor in this increase. According to its report, financial services regulation makes up less than five percent of the regulation produced by the EU each year.
“Small and medium-sized businesses pay the highest price for burdensome rules, and it is here that too much regulation still constrains competitiveness throughout Europe,” the Open Europe report says.
“Small firms are the most affected by new regulations because they have fewer human and economic resources to absorb extra regulatory costs.”
In addition, EU regulation also has detrimental impact on the public sector. Working time rules as amended by the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice have raised costs for governments across the EU.
Government Transport Minister Stephen Ladyman endorsed a 2007 impact assessment of EU motor fuel regulations in Britain which pointed out just one of the costs of regulation.
The report pointed out that the benefits of the EU regulation would amount to £18.5 million per year — but that the costs of implementing the rule are £400 million a year.
Mr Ladyman agreed to the implementation of the rule because, he said, “this is expected to be the least cost of complying with our EU obligations.”
* Meanwhile, it has been reported that British taxpayers have been presented with a bill of £622 million for “incorrect payments made to farmers” after changes to the payments system of the Common Agriculture Policy four years ago.
A National Audit Office (NAO) assessment of the Rural Payments Agency, which distributes £1.6 billion a year to English farmers, shows “scant regard to protecting public money” and fails to provide value for money to taxpayers.
According to reports, more than £304 million has been spent on “extra staff” to administer the EU scheme; some £280 million has gone in penalties and lost subsidies from the EU because of errors, and a further £43 million of overpayments are likely to be irrecoverable. Farmers — many of whom were paid late, and some who have faced demands for large repayments when, in fact, they owed nothing — have faced additional costs of more than £50 million.
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It was the kind of crime that strikes terror into the hearts of parents everywhere.
A bright young couple were car jacked after a Saturday night date and murdered in the most brutal way imaginable.
Christopher Newsom, 23, was tied up and raped, shot in the back of the head and then dragged to a railway track and set on fire.
His girlfriend, 21-year-old University of Tennessee student Channon Christian’s fate was even more horrific.
Her death came only after hours of torture, during which time she was raped and savaged with a broken chair leg.
She was beaten in the head and a household bleach was poured down her throat and over her bleeding and battered genital area in an attempt by her attackers to cover any evidence of rape – all while she was still alive.
Then she was ‘hog-tied’ with curtains and a strip of bedding and a plastic bag was wrapped over her face.
Her body was stashed inside five bigger rubbish liners and dumped in a bin, where, according to the autopsy report, she slowly suffocated to death.
On Monday, the alleged ringleader of the gang accused of the killings goes on trial in Knoxville, Tennessee.
One of the gang has already been convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
But, even though the killings happened in January, 2007, they have attracted very little national and international coverage.
That’s because they do not fit into the conventional contours of an attack in America’s Deep South, where a shameful history of racial intolerance has meant assaults by whites on blacks have historically been regarded in the context of race.
In this case, the races were reversed: the victims were white and the four men and one woman charged in connection with the murders are black.
Ironically, the case has now generated more publicity surrounding the furore over whether or not political correctness was behind the US media’s decision to largely ignore the story than it did for the murders themselves. Continued
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- Children should start school at six
- Calls for SATs to be scrapped
- Education 'less rounded' than in Victorian era
- 'Stalinist' control over teaching condemned
- Minister rejects plan to raise school start age
Children should not begin formal lessons until the age of six, according to the biggest review of primary schools for 40 years.
In a damning report on British education, experts said five-year-old children should continue play-based learning of the kind used in nursery and reception classes.
The Cambridge Primary review - which was based on 28 surveys, 1,052 written submissions and 250 focus groups, said there was no evidence suggesting formal teaching styles benefited young children.
However, the authors concluded that there were suggestions it could be harmful.
Dame Gillian Pugh, chairwoman of the review, said:
'If you introduce a child to too formal a curriculum before they are ready for it then you are not taking into account where children are in terms of their learning and their capacity to develop.
'If they are already failing by the age of four-and-a-half or five it's going to be quite difficult to get them back into the system again.'
The proposals conflict with existing Government policy and were today robustly rejected by Schools Minister Vernon Coaker.
He claimed the recommendations would actually disadvantage British school children.
'For many of those children coming into school, it is of crucial importance they are in that formal but appropriate type learning environment so they can gather the skills and get the skills they need as they go through life,' he told GMTV.
'Leaving it to six would leave many of our children, particularly those in disadvantaged areas, it would mean they would start a long way behind others.'
He added: 'For the reception children coming into school, for the four-year-olds, it is a play-based curriculum, then moving into year one and obviously there is an emphasis on reading and writing.'
Labour's own review of primary education published earlier this year recommended moving forward the school starting age from five to four.
In many European countries, children start school later, but in Britain almost all three to four-year-olds are already getting at least 12.5 hours of education per week.
Finland regularly tops the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) lists for reading literacy and science and is regarded as having Europe's best education system.
There, as in countries such as Germany and Sweden, children begin school in the year they turn seven, but start pre-school at six. In France, children begin lessons at six.
The independent review - carried out over six years and undertaken by 14 authors, 66 research consultants and an advisory committee - recommended a series of sweeping reforms to the state's 'Stalinist' control over teaching which, it said, is condemning young children to an inadequate education.
An obsession with testing and basic skills has 'politicised' schools and dragged down standards, the inquiry warns.
It says primary pupils now receive a less rounded education than those in Victorian times.
It calls for a radical overhaul of primary schooling, including the scrapping of SATs tests and league tables.
Youngsters would instead be assessed in all subjects at the end of primary school, and by their teachers instead of outside examiners.
The traditional system of a single class teacher covering every subject would also be phased out.
Pupils would retain a class teacher but more lessons would be taken by specialists in specific subjects.
Six-week summer holidays should be shortened because children are left unsupervised for too long, the review suggests. It also says all parents should have access to advice on how to encourage their children to learn.
The review, led by Cambridge don Professor Robin Alexander, is the biggest to cover primary education for 40 years.
The Government's claim that standards have risen is 'unsafe' and the impact of increased taxpayers' investment is less than might have been expected, the report says.
In fact, a rigid focus on literacy and numeracy at the expense of science, history, geography and the arts may have 'depressed standards'.
One teacher who gave evidence to the Cambridge Primary Review said it amounted to a 'state theory of learning', policed by Ofsted and the SATs testing regime.
The report says: 'The Stalinist overtones of a "state theory of learning" enforced by the "machinery of surveillance and accountability" are as unattractive as they are serious.'
It adds: 'Many experienced and able teachers resented this degree of control of their work, its inflexible and monolithic character, and the overt politicisation of the act of teaching.
'Pupils will not learn to think for themselves if their teachers are merely expected to do as they are told.'
Professor Alexander attacks the official notion that the function of primary schools is to teach children 'to read, write and add up'.
'Such a diet, after all, is even narrower than that of the Victorian elementary schools whose practices most people claimed the country had outgrown,' the report says.
It calls for SATs to be scrapped, but that assessment in some form should remain at the end of primary schooling and should cover all subjects, including geography, history and the arts.
It says the curriculum should be overhauled so pupils study eight subject 'domains', broadly reflecting traditional disciplines.
The proposals drew a mixed reaction from the Conservatives.
Tory schools spokesman Nick Gibb agreed that the 'wave of bureaucracy over the past decade has been deeply damaging'.
But he said the Conservatives do not accept its proposals for changing the curriculum or raising the school starting age.
Schools Minister Vernon Coaker said: 'The report is at best woolly and unclear on how schools should be accountable to the public - we're clear that it would be a retrograde step to return to days when the real achievements of schools were hidden.'
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When the radical Liberal Government of the Edwardian age began to lay the first foundations of the modern welfare system in 1908, the former Prime Minister Lord Rosebery gave this warning: “The state invites us every day to lean upon it. I seem to hear the wheedling and alluring whisper, ‘Sound you may be. We bid you to be a cripple.’”
In a culture of mass dependency, predicted Rosebery, even the fittest men would train themselves “to totter or be fed with a spoon”.
Almost exactly a century since he uttered those words, his prophecy has become a grim reality. We now have a vast, sprawling benefits system which actually provides direct encouragement towards idleness and infirmity. Thanks to the lucrative array of handouts on offer, sponging is promoted and cheating is rewarded.
Meanwhile, honest, hard-working taxpayers are financially punished so that the feckless can carry on abusing public money. The destructive absurdities of the welfare state have been graphically highlighted by new official figures which show that three quarters of claimants on incapacity benefit are perfectly capable of holding down jobs. no less than £11billion a year is now drained from the public purse by almost two million spongers who are faking their illnesses or disabilities so that they do not have to look for work.
That colossal sum is more than four times the amount the Government spends every year on prisons. We are constantly told by Ministers that we cannot lock up more criminals because of “lack of resources” yet Gordon Brown’s disastrous state machine seems to have plenty of resources to keep skivers in the lifestyle which they are accustomed.
The welfare state should be helping the genuinely disabled and seriously ill, not encouraging freeloaders. Indeed, when social security was first introduced by the Liberals at the start of the last century, the whole point was to provide some form of protection to the truly incapacitated.
The system was greatly expanded by the post- war Labour Government under Clement Attlee, with new allowances for the sick. But even then the desire to help the vulnerable was the strong moral imperative behind the expansion of welfare. It was never meant to be a bonanza for the indolent.
But all that has changed in recent decades. All rigour has evaporated from the system; all morality has disappeared as the state now doles out incapacity benefits to more than 2.6million people, of whom perhaps 600,000 are genuine claimants. One of the remarkable achievements of modern
British social security is to have created more apparently disabled people in this country than the blood-stained carnage of the First World War. The idea that incapacity claims have dramatically risen because of a decline in the nation’s health is ridiculous.
Thanks to advances in medical technology and improvements in diet, living standards and housing, we enjoy better health and longer life expectancy than ever before. For all the hysteria about climate change, we are today largely free of deadly pollution, whereas 12,000 people died in Britain during the Great Smog of December 1952.
What is happening is the insidious spread not of disease but of an enervating culture of state-sanctioned malingering. According to the Government’s own figures, just one in 20 incapacity benefit claimants is actually incapable of work. Far too many are happy to abuse the system because the state rewards them for doing so.
That truth was symbolised recently by the case of Fred Bowers, the 73-year-old who appeared in the last series of Britain’s Got Talent. Despite claiming £70-a-week in disability benefit, he was able to launch into a demanding dance routine which might have sapped the energy of someone half his age.
It is telling that more than 1.1 million incapacity claim- ants are not suffering from any physical disability at all, but get their handouts by moaning about problems like “stress” and “depression”.
Once again, the largesse of the welfare system provides perverse incentives for people to exaggerate their emotional suffering rather than demonstrate resilience; no wonder, then, that the number of people saying that they are “too stressed” to work has trebled during the 12 years of Labour rule.
By far the greatest outrage is the money dished out to more than 100,000 alcoholics and drug addicts. It is the height of lunacy and immorality for the state to pay people to continue with their dangerous habits. Awarding “disability” handouts to drug abusers makes a complete mockery of the law, given not only that narcotics are illegal but also that a significant proportion of crime is committed by addicts.
These people deserve spells in prisons, not an easy lifetime on the dole. The incapacity benefits system has been disastrous for the moral fibre of our nation.
It is an injustice against taxpayers, undermines the economy, costs a fortune, and has led to the promotion of mass immigration as employers find that too many benefit- dependent Britons cannot be bothered to work. The Tories did nothing to tackle these abuses during their last spell in office, because the unemployment figures could be massaged by categorising claimants as “disabled.” Labour has been even more cynical, because the party has seen electoral advantage in the creation of a vast client army which owes its living to the socialist state.
Labour has failed woefully in its 12 years in power and has no belief in the radical surgery that is required. So the moral decline of Britain will continue until the era of Brown is ended.
Friday 16th October 2009
Well, they wouldn't want the public to see the real face of the liblabcon's "antifascist" gang would they?
Audience members for the Question Time edition featuring BNP chief Nick Griffin are being rigorously' vetted by BBC producers to weed out likely anti-fascist demonstrators, it was confirmed yesterday.
BBC bosses fear protesters could disrupt the recording of the programme, due to take place at the Wood Lane studios on 22 October.
As well as filling out the normal detailed questionnaire, applicants to become audience members will also be checked for membership or involvement in organisations such as United Against Facism. Many are likely to be questioned personally and be asked to prove their identities on the door.
United Against Facism, which is planning a mass blockade of the BBC studios on the day, has also urged its supporters to apply to join the audience, putting a link on its website to the audience application form.
The Corporation has confirmed that it is working closely with the Metropolitan Police and Hammersmith and Fulham council to keep a lid on the protests.
The council is concerned at the potential for disruption to local people and has asked the BBC to pay for extra policing, which the Corporation has rejected.
Today, the BBC said it would not discuss security issues ahead of the programme, which will also feature justice minister Jack Straw and black writer and academic Bonnie Greer.
But a Corporation insider said: "Question Time has been going for many years and they have very tried and tested procedures for weeding out potential troublemakers which for obvious reasons cannot be aired publicly.
"But it is a very rigorous process. Because it is a programme which has featured cabinet ministers and others for whom security is an important consideration, the people involved in producing the programme are extremely aware of what needs to be done to make sure there is no danger or disruption from the audience."
Before being accepted, audience applicants are asked what political party they support, whether they back the leader of that party and their views on issues such as the Iraq war and Europe.
Scotland Yard intelligence officers are also likely to be closely monitoring the demonstrators in order to head off any planned disruption.
Corporation sources have dismissed suggestions that the recording could be brought forward to avoid the protests, which are due to begin with a picket line at 9am on the day. Similar protests are planned at other BBC studios around the country.
Question Time is normally recorded live at 8.30 pm, two hours before transmission, which also allows any disruption or interruptions to be edited out.
The possibility of moving the recording to another location has been considered and although ruled out at the moment, BBC sources have stressed the security situation is being monitored on a daily basis.
The source added: "What would be the point of moving it elsewhere when the Metropolitan Police has extensive experience of dealing with protests in London generally and outside the BBC in particular, where there are demonstrations over something almost every week. At the same time, the studios as Wood Lane are themselves a fairly secure environment, which is one of the reasons why the programme is being recorded there in the first place."
Most editions of the programme are recorded in public or significant buildings around the country, which would be less secure.
It was also pointed out that given the large public involvement, shifting the programme to another studio at the last minute was a difficult proposition - and moving it sooner increased the likelyhood of the new location being leaked.
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Give an inch.. and Sixty feet is expected!
A Muslim group sparked outrage last night as it launched a massive campaign to impose sharia law on Britain.
The fanatical group Islam4UK has announced plans to hold a potentially incendiary rally in London later this month.
And it is calling for a complete upheaval of the British legal system, its officials and legislation.
Members have urged Muslims from all over Britain to converge on the capital on October 31 for a procession to demand the full implementation of sharia law.
On a website to promote their cause they deride British institutions, showing a mock-up picture of Nelson’s Column surmounted by a minaret.
Plans for the demonstration have been delivered to the Metropolitan Police and could see up to 5,000 extremists marching to demand the controversial system.
The procession – dubbed March 4 Shari’ah – will start at the House of Commons, which the group’s website describes as the “very place where the lives of millions of people in the UK are changed and it is from here where unjust wars are launched”.
The group then intends to march to 10 Downing Street and “call for the removal of the tyrant Gordon Brown from power”.
The march will then converge on Trafalgar Square where protesters expect it “will gather even more support from tourists and members of the public, making clear in the heart of London the need for Shari’ah in society”.
The group declared: “We hereby request all Muslims in the United Kingdom, in Manchester, Leeds, Cardiff, Glasgow and all other places to join us and collectively declare that as submitters to Almighty Allah, we have had enough of democracy and man-made law and the depravity of the British culture.
“On this day we will call for a complete upheaval of the British ruling system its members and legislature, and demand the full implementation of Shari’ah in Britain.”
Last night politicians condemned the group’s incendiary comments, which come in the wake of recent violent incidents in towns and cities like Manchester, Birmingham and Luton, Beds.
Conservative MP and ex-Army officer Patrick Mercer said: “It is extremely distasteful and is stoking the fires of fear within the British public. “If anyone thinks that those views are a step forward in society they are seriously deluded. They are repellent and repulsive.”
The group was also attacked by Tory MP Philip Davies who said: “This march is clearly a deliberate and provocative attempt to incite racial tension and disrupt community cohesion.
“The simple solution is for these people to move to a country which already has sharia law.”
A spokesman for the Islamic Society of Britain said: “99.999 per cent of Muslims despise these people. This only serves to fuel racial tensions.”
And Tory MP and Daily Express columnist Ann Widdecombe, said: “You cannot have two legal systems side by side and the one we have now works and the British people are perfectly happy with it.”
The rally has not yet been given final approval. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: “We have received an application for the march but we have yet to meet with the organisers.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “Everyone has the right to express their view so long as it is done sensibly, without violence and does not incite religious hatred.”
Plans for the march are revealed on the website Islam4UK, which is fronted by preacher Anjem Choudary who has also called for all British women to wear burkhas.
Explaining the Nelson’s Column mock-up he said that under sharia law the construction and elevation of statues or idols is prohibited and consequently the statue of Nelson “would be removed and demolished without hesitation”. At the base of the column the friezes would be replaced with Islamic decoration and giant urns would be filled with gold coins for the poor.
Mr Choudary has said that under sharia law in Britain people who commit adultery would be stoned to death, adding that “anyone who becomes intoxicated by alcohol would be given 40 lashes in public”.
He has also mocked the deaths of British soldiers, and branded an Army homecoming parade a “vile parade of brutal murderers”.
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Angry residents of Pool are demanding action against the anti-social antics of migrant workers who have set up home in their community – with some threatening to 'take the law into their own hands'.
More than 40 people packed Treloweth Community Centre on Monday evening to challenge the police, Cornwall Council and Carn Brea Parish council to get a grip on the problem.
Residents recounted incidents of fighting, drinking, drug taking and partying late into the night by migrant workers from countries including Poland and Russia.
They claimed the foreign nationals could park anywhere and appeared immune from prosecution. They reported incidents of people urinating in the streets and trespassing, stealing flowers from gardens and entering cars.
At the heated meeting, one resident described them as "nothing but a damn nuisance".
Another said that 10 migrant workers were living in a four-bedroom house, and questioned whether they had permission to do so.
Others spoke of "eight months of hell" and how the noise into the early hours was "unbearable".
One resident reported that things had been "a little quieter" since a meeting a month or so ago.
Two threatened to take the law in to their own hands, and added: "If something isn't done, we as residents will sort this out ourselves." Others demanded action against the landlords who let their properties to migrant workers but seemed unconcerned about their antisocial behaviour.
PC Dave Dolling insisted that migrant workers were not immune from prosecution, nor were they responsible for all the problems in the area.
He said that 32 properties had been identified where they were living, which stretched across Pool as far as West Tolgus and Carn Brea Village.
He added: "We have been visiting all the premises that we know about, gathering details of landlords and tenants. It's important that the landlords are aware of all the issues and see how they can help us solve the problems."
Community network manager Mark James assured residents that Cornwall Council teams would be "doing all that they should" to help.
Amanda Fuller, Carn Brea Parish Council's police liaison councillor, stressed the need for residents to keep a proper diary of incidents to build a case against troublemakers.
David Sillifant, chairman of Cornwall Migrant Workers' Group, said his organisation fully supported the action taken by the police neighbourhood beat team at Pool to eliminate the anti-social behaviour reported by residents.
He added: "I am aware that the police identified a small number of migrant workers as being among those responsible, and have already taken measures to ensure they, like others involved, do not repeat this behaviour.
"The vast majority of people from abroad who have come to work locally are conscientious members of society and want nothing more than to be a part of the local community.
"I am aware that as regards to the concerns raised by residents, the action of police and partners, which was even-handed for all involved, appears to have effectively dealt with the issue as far as migrant workers are concerned, and it is hoped that there will be no future instances of this sort."
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What Lies? It's a fact Britain are the biggest Losers by being in the EU!
MEPs are calling for school pupils to be forced to take European Union lessons to counter what they claim to be "lies" about Brussels.
Leaders of the centre-right EPP grouping in the European Parliament say there should be compulsory classes for 14-year-olds in all member states.
The calls are being led by Mario David, a Portuguese MEP who was chief of staff to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso when he was the country's prime minister.
He claimed the controversy surrounding the Lisbon Treaty demonstrated their was widespread ignorance of the EU's work.
"All the debates about the constitution and then the Lisbon Treaty showed a great deal of lying, cheating and mistrust about the EU," he said.
"In Ireland people were told there was going to be abortion across the EU, that young men would be conscripted into a European Army. This was a bunch of lies.
"Knowing and understanding, from a young age, the principles, the procedures and the successful history of the European Union, the generations of tomorrow will be immune to any distortion of the perception of the role of the EU and will much better embrace the advantages of this unique project of voluntary sharing of sovereignty."
He said the curriculum would initially include a series of five half-day seminars on the history of the union.
It would cover the "Founding Fathers", the different treaties, enlargement, EU functions, the role of the union in the world and "How the EU affects everyday lives".
However, the idea of the seminars was suggested "to soften the idea," according to Mr David, who was a medical doctor before entering politics.
"I'm no education specialist. If they want to turn the idea into a full year-long course, so much the better," he added.
Mr David said he wanted to get cross-party support for his plans and hoped it would take less than two years to get EU studies into schools.
He plans to present a report to the parliament calling on the commission to develop a detailed proposal, which would then have to be adopted by the member states.
Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party (Ukip), said: “I loathe the idea, but I am sure it will be passed.”
He described proposal as an extension of a scheme in which British university professors are funded to carry out projects on European integration in higher education that “teach EU interpretations of history and economics”.
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Nigel Farage: Irish Referendum kickstarts real EU debate
First European Parliament debate in the aftermath of the second Irish referendum - Brussels, 07.10.2009…
Comment from Wise Up Journal:
The following articles and video highlight the currant situation with the Lisbon Treaty as well as showing aspects of the EU that is not really being covered by the mainstream media, namely the EU and Irish authorities unlawful actions in the Irish Lisbon Treaty referendums, as well as what the EU has planed for their EU citizens/subjects under the Lisbon Treaty.
On the 6th October 2009 the EU Commission produced a 35 page document for the EU Parliament and the Council, called the “Stockholm Programme” that could more accurately be called the “Stockholm Syndrome”
Despite the language used throughout the whole document appearing to care and respect people’s rights, it is the complete opposite, designed to hide the clear fact that it is about harmonising/standardising laws/cultures and people themselves.
It is a draft blueprint of the elite’s vision of how the EU should be run and how they should control nearly every aspect of our lives, which a article from the Telegraph on this issue shows.
EU security proposals are ‘dangerously authoritarian’
10.06.2009
By Bruno Waterfield
The European Union is stepping up efforts to build an enhanced pan-European system of security and surveillance which critics have described as “dangerously authoritarian”.
Civil liberties groups say the proposals would create an EU ID card register, internet surveillance systems, satellite surveillance, automated exit-entry border systems operated by machines reading biometrics and risk profiling systems.
Europe’s justice ministers will hold talks on the “domestic security policy” and surveillance network proposals, known in Brussels circles as the “Stockholm programme”, on July 15 with the aim of finishing work on the EU’s first ever internal security policy by the end of 2009.
Jacques Barrot, the European justice and security commissioner, yesterday publicly declared that the aim was to “develop a domestic security strategy for the EU”, once regarded as a strictly national “home affairs” area of policy.
“National frontiers should no longer restrict our activities,” he said.
Critics of the plans have claimed that moves to create a new “information system architecture” of Europe-wide police and security databases will create a “surveillance state”.
Tony Bunyan, of the European Civil Liberties Network (ECLN), has warned that EU security officials are seeking to harness a “digital tsunami” of new information technology without asking “political and moral questions first”.
“An increasingly sophisticated internal and external security apparatus is developing under the auspices of the EU,” he said.
Mr Bunyan has suggested that existing and new proposals will create an EU ID card register, internet surveillance systems, satellite surveillance, automated exit-entry border systems operated by machines reading biometrics and risk profiling systems.
“In five or 10 years time when we have the surveillance and database state people will look back and ask, ‘what were you doing in 2009 to stop this happening?’,” he said.
Civil liberties groups are particularly concerned over “convergence” proposals to herald standardise European police surveillance techniques and to create “tool-pools” of common data gathering systems to be operated at the EU level.
Under the plans the scope of information available to law enforcement agencies and “public security organisations” would be extended from the sharing of existing DNA and fingerprint databases, kept and stored for new digital generation ID cards, to include CCTV video footage and material gathered from internet surveillance.
EU officials have told The Daily Telegraph that the radical plans will be controversial and will need powers contained within the Lisbon Treaty, currently awaiting a second Irish vote this autumn.
“The British and some others will not like it as it moves policy to the EU,” said an official. “Some of things we want to do will only be realistic with the Lisbon Treaty in place, so we need that too.”
Judge rejects attempt to challenge referendum result
13.10.2009
An attempt to bring a number of legal challenges aimed at overturning the result of the second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty has been refused by the High Court which ruled the arguments advanced were political not legal.
Mr Justice Seán Ryan yesterday dismissed four separate applications for leave to challenge the constitutionality of the 28th Amendment to the Constitution Bill 2009 brought about as a result of the majority Yes vote in the October 2nd referendum.
The judge said no compelling arguments had been made out for leave in any of the cases.
The challenges were brought by Harry Rea, Blarney Road, Co Cork; Nora Bennis, North Circular Road, Limerick; Mark McCrystal, Swords Road, Dublin, and Richard Behal, Killarney, Co Kerry.
All four made their applications personally without the assistance of lawyers and sought leave to seek declarations that the result of the referendum is null and void and the amendment itself is repugnant to the Constitution.
Among a series of claims, it was alleged the Government acted outside its jurisdiction by failing to put the “guarantees” obtained by it concerning the Lisbon Treaty before the Oireachtas prior to the referendum.
A number of arguments were also made about the status of those guarantees.
It was claimed there had been “a cynical deception” of the people and the Government had acted beyond its authority by involving the heads of other member states in their private capacity so as to create an internationally binding treaty affecting people’s fundamental rights and constitutional protections without obtaining their consent.
It was also argued that retaining the same title for the latest Bill was an attempt to eradicate the existence of the previous vote which the Government lost and “should have respected”.
Mr Justice Ryan ruled, in order to bring judicial review proceedings, a statable case must be made. While that threshold was low, “very compelling reasons” would have to be given to allow leave for a case to have “a solemn decision of the people” declared null and void.
The judge also said some of the applications contained arguments which were more technical in nature, such as the argument in relation to the title of the amendment.
Others were more complex in their presentation, and were less easy to summarise, he added.
Following the judge’s decision, Mr Rea said he intended to appeal to the Supreme Court.
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Czech President Vaclav Klaus ‘to continue’ lone resistance to Lisbon Treaty
15.10.2009
By Bruno Waterfield
Vaclav Klaus, the Czech president, has vowed to continue his lone resistance to the Lisbon Treaty by defying mounting European Union pressure for him to sign on the text’s dotted line.
President Klaus is the last obstacle to the completion of the treaty’s ratification and to the creation of a new EU President, foreign minister and European diplomatic service.
“I fear, and I am not the only person to fear, a deepening of EU integration,” he said during a visit to Moscow.
Mr Klaus, the EU’s only openly Eurosceptic head of state, has demanded new “opt-outs” from the Lisbon Treaty to prevent Germans expelled from the Czech Sudeten region after World War II from reclaiming their property.
“For me it is something of vital importance. In my opinion, the conditions that I have made for signing the agreement are serious,” he said.
The Czech Republic has been warned that it could lose its seat on the European Commission and face other unspecified “consequences” unless the country’s president abandons his solitary struggle against the EU.
Until Mr Klaus provides his signature on the treaty, the work on planned new institutions, such as an EU President, cannot be completed, a situation that has infuriated other European governments.
Despite the Czech stand off, Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, gave his public backing to Tony Blair for the future post of EU President.
“Tony Blair has what it takes to become the EU’s first president,” he wrote in a letter published in the conservative Italian daily Il Foglio.
“My government and I will do our best to ensure that a great political heritage built from courage, balance and prudence will not dissipate.”
Related:
Please Note:
This article has been duplicated in it's entirety to serve as public information
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British Liberal MEP Chris Davies says the only reason Tony Blair "should be coming to Europe is to be indicted for war crimes at the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
Davies says the former UK premier should be "standing in the dock" at The Hague for "crimes against humanity" for his role in the Iraq war, rather than being an unofficial candidate for the presidency of the EU.
He said Blair's support for the US-led invasion of Iraq "totally disqualifies" him for the lucrative post being created by the Lisbon treaty.
"Yes, let him come to Europe," said Davies, "but let it be to the Court where he should go on trial for committing the UK to a totally unjustified war."
Davies' comments come as he launched what he accepts is a "tongue-in-cheek" bid for the presidency of the European council, the post tipped to be offered to Blair at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels on 29 October.
As part of his "campaign", Davies has written to each of Europe's 27 heads of government to say that he believes his qualifications for the job are as good as other candidates suggested so far and that he is available for interview.
He told this website, "I have not had any replies yet but, to date, I am the only declared candidate."
In a swipe against Blair, he argues that he has never "deceived a parliament or been responsible for the illegal invasion of another country".
Davies hopes that his bid for the presidency will highlight how "limited is the circle of individuals said to be in the running for Europe's top job".
With the person selected likely to have a major role in shaping the EU's future direction, he says that candidates should be required to set out their positions and indicate publicly what will be their personal priorities if they are selected.
Davies said, "The backroom maneuvering now taking place are a very poor substitute for an open selection process. We have millions of talented people in Europe, and more than half of them are women, so why is the recruitment net not being cast wider?
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The British National Party will amend its constitution so its rules on membership do not discriminate on the grounds of race or religion, a court was told today.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission issued County Court proceedings against the far-right party on August 24 after voicing concerns its membership criteria were restrictive to those within certain ethnic groups.
Robin Allen QC, counsel for the Commission, said party leader Nick Griffin had agreed to present party members with a revised constitution at its general meeting next month.
He added that the party had agreed not to accept any new members until the new constitution was in place.
In an order issued at the Central London County Court, the BNP agreed to use 'all reasonable endeavours' to revise its constitution so it did not discriminate on what are termed 'protected characteristics' in clause four of the Equality Bill. These include race, gender and religious belief.
John Wadham, of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said: 'We are pleased the party has conceded this case and agreed to all of the Commission requirements.
'Political parties, like any other organisation, are obliged to respect the law and not discriminate against people.
'It is unfortunate the BNP spent several months before conceding and dealing properly with our legal requirements.
We will be monitoring the BNP's compliance with this court order on membership, and its other legal obligations, including to its constituents.'
Mr Wadham added: 'All political parties must obey the law, our job is to ensure that everyone obeys the law.
'Whether people want to join the BNP or not is a matter for them, it's their freedom to do so.' Continued
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- David Wilshire in summit with party whip
- Commons Speaker pays back almost £1,000
- Harman attacks Legg's 'arbitrary' expense limits
- Labour MP: We feel 'bitterly let down' by Brown
The political career of a Tory MP who allegedly used his Commons expenses to pay more than £100,000 to his own company is hanging by a thread today as he meets with party chiefs.
David Wilshire, 66, is being quizzed by chief whip Patrick McLoughlin this afternoon over allegations he paid up to £3,250 a month in expenses to Moorlands Research Services, a company owned by himself and his partner Ann Palmer.
He has already referred himself to Parliament's sleaze watchdog over the claims, but that process could take several months to reach any conclusion.
David Cameron, whose hard line against any of his MPs who have made questionable claims risks being undermined if he fails to condemn Mr Wilshire, vowed to take action far sooner.
A Tory spokesman warned: 'This will be resolved either way long before the general election. The Standards Commissioner’s in-tray cannot be used as an excuse to drag this out.'
Mr Cameron has already been accused of double standards by not speaking out about the affair himself, despite talking tough during earlier bouts of the expenses crisis.
Labour MP John Mann said: 'Cameron said he would go through all this in his own internal audits. It shows how inconsistent he has been.'
As voters in Mr Wilshire's constituency of Spelthorne, Surrey, branded his claims 'disgusting' and called on him to quit, Gordon Brown demanded an investigation.
The Prime Minister said: 'There's got to be an inquiry into this. We have got to end the discredited old system that did nobody any good, once and for all.'
The latest expenses row came as the mutiny over Sir Thomas Legg's ruthless audit of all MPs' claims continued into a fourth day.
In more controversy in Westminster:
- Commons Speaker John Bercow repaid £978.51 to cover expenses he was overpaid after switching mortgage provider;
- Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman insisted claims should be judged based on rules in place at the time they were made, not retrospectively;
- Labour backbencher Claire Curtis-Thomas said Gordon Brown had been 'cowed' by the row and attacked how he had not tried to defend MPs.
Mr Wilshire paid £105,500 in taxpayer-funded expenses to Moorlands Research Services over a four-year period.
Parliamentary rules forbid MPs from entering into arrangements which 'may give rise to an accusation' of profiting from public funds.
The MP has reported himself to the Commons sleaze watchdog over the claims in the Daily Telegraph.
He told the paper that the company was used to pay 'suppliers' for office services such as printing.
It was run by Miss Palmer, who is also his paid office manager. The company was not registered at Companies House.
Mr Wilshire told the Daily Mail he had 'done nothing wrong'. He said the company, which was wound up last year, had never made a profit and that he had never profited financially from the arrangement to channel his expenses in this way.
But he said he accepted he would face investigation over the allegations, adding that he had already emailed the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon asking him to launch an inquiry.
Mr Wilshire said: 'I am aware of these allegations and I am aware that they are serious. They are untrue in the way they have been presented. I have got to clear my name and the only sensible way of doing that is to refer myself to the Commissioner for investigation.
'I have not done anything wrong. I have never received any payment whatsoever from that company. The arrangement was formally approved by the fees office and, as required by the rules, a formal written agreement was drawn up and lodged with them.'
This cut little ice with his constituents, who said they were absolutely furious and called on him to quit.
Ann Loveridge, 42, a cafe manager, said: 'If this is all above board, why was the company not registered? It seems like it's been kept secret.
'I'm on my own, I work full time to keep a roof over my head and my daughter and I don't get any help. If this is what it looks like, then it is disgusting and I think he should resign from politics.'
John Davis, 76, said he was 'appalled'. 'It feels like he has really let his constituents down but we have seen this sort of thing time and again.
'What is the answer? All politicians, to my mind, have let us down very badly and I can't see it getting any better. It seems like there is one rule for them and another for the rest of us.'
Wilshire's claims were made through office allowances and so have not been examined as part of Sir Thomas Legg's review, which has focused on MPs' second home expenses.
He has already faced criticism over his expenses after claiming the maximum second home allowance, despite having a constituency just 20 miles from Westminster.
Since 2001 he has claimed £141,039 in expenses for a flat in central London.
In a controversial arrangement with the fees office, he claimed thousands in monthly payments that he said went towards the cost of decorating and replacing the flat's curtains and carpets in the future.
He has refused to repay the money despite conceding that it has not all been spent.
His main home is more than 100 miles away in Somerset. He has also claimed more than £43,000 for travel. Read More
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Harriet Harman has been accused of using the Commons expenses scandal to position herself for the Labour leadership as MPs broke cover yesterday to insist they would refuse to pay money back.
Senior Labour figures believe their deputy leader is 'shamelessly playing to the gallery' by encouraging a behind-the- scenes attempt to overturn the controversial audit of MPs' claims.
While publicly backing Gordon Brown's calls for MPs to settle repayment demands and draw a line under the scandal, Miss Harman is said to be privately urging backbenchers to challenge verdicts against them.
She has also indicated sympathy with the MPs - who will vote on the Labour leadership in the event of an election defeat - by likening their excessive expenses claims to members of the public innocently overpaid benefits.
For good measure, Miss Harman has suggested that an MP paying the minimum wage and National Insurance for a cleaner would struggle to meet the £2,000-a-year cap set by auditor Sir Thomas Legg.
'No one could accuse Harriet of being inconsistent,' said one Cabinet source. 'She's consistently positioning herself and this is another example of it.
'It's all fairly cynical. She's tapping into the widespread view that retrospective application of rules has been unfair.
'And this defence that MPs were right to pay cleaners a living wage is typical Harriet. It makes her look as if she's on the side of low-paid working women and Labour MPs all at the same time.'
Miss Harman has repeatedly denied plotting against the Prime Minister, but Labour MPs are almost unanimous in expecting her to mount a leadership bid if Mr Brown resigns after an election defeat.
'If Gordon Brown is still Prime Minister at the election, I would bet any money that the next leader of the Labour Party will be Harriet Harman,' said another source.
Commons Speaker John Bercow was said last night to have made two attempts to persuade Sir Thomas to alter the retrospective limits.
But the Whitehall mandarin, who ministers had expected not to rock the boat, apparently decided his own reputation was at stake and refused to budge.
Mr Bercow's intervention will fuel the impression that he is acting as a 'shop steward' for MPs rather than the fearless reformer he postured as during the race to succeed Michael Martin.
A spokesman for the Speaker insisted he had not asked Sir Thomas to drop the limits altogether, but admitted the two men had discussed whether they should be cash, or a percentage of the expenses claimed.
Yesterday there was astonishment that though MPs are talking of little else than the expenses audit, not one dared to mention it at the first session of Prime Minister's Questions for three months.
There is widespread anger that Sir Thomas has decided to set his own retrospective limits on claims for cleaning and gardening, and is demanding that MPs who exceeded them pay money back to the taxpayer.
Left-wing MP Alan Simpson said he had no intention of complying with a demand to repay £500 in cleaning charges.
He said that rather than pay up, he wanted to see Sir Thomas make an 'ass' of himself by trying to make his demands stand up in court.
His Labour colleague Colin Challen said he would flout a demand to repay cash and planned to take legal action using Labour's own human rights laws.
Mr Challen is thought to have been ordered to repay at least £9,000. He sold his flat to a researcher and then rented it back for a nightly fee before moving out to live in £160-a-night hotels for a year.
Mr Challen said: 'I have no intention of paying it back. Article 7 (of the Human Rights Act) means that probably not only myself, but other members, would have to consider legal redress.'
Article 7 prohibits retrospective punishment for 'any act or omission which did not constitute a criminal offence under national or international law at the time when it was committed'.
Dozens of MPs are understood to be claiming that Sir Thomas has made basic errors while assessing their claims. Several who were not elected until 2005 said they had received queries about claims from before that date which they could not have made.
There is also fury among hundreds of MPs who are being threatened with vast repayment bills if they fail to justify mortgage claims in full.
A string of Cabinet ministers said they were following Mr Brown's lead and paying up without question.
Justice Secretary Jack Straw said he was returning £600 after it emerged he received the same payment twice in 2004, while Business Secretary Lord Mandelson is to pay back £800 which he claimed for tree surgery in 2004 when he was MP for Hartlepool.
Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward repaid £1,400 in mortgage overclaims, Chief Whip Nick Brown is handing back £697 in cleaning costs and Treasury Chief Secretary Liam Byrne is paying back £1,860 in phone and letting agency charges.
Communities Secretary John Denham is repaying £1,500 and Cabinet couple Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper are each handing back £13.50 because of a 'miscalculation' of interest claims on their joint mortgage.
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Shortly after dawn on December 5, 63BC, several hundred members of the Roman senate gathered for a life-or-death debate. They had to decide the fate of five prominent citizens, two of them senators, who had sent letters to a warlike tribe in Gaul, urging them to rise in revolt against Roman rule.
According to the testimony of informants, the conspirators planned to set the city on fire, murder leading members of the senate and open the gates of Rome to a rebel army numbering 10,000 that had gathered in the north of Italy under the command of Sergius Catilina.
That debate, which forms the centrepiece of my new novel, was a turning point in history. Three of the speeches made during it - by Caesar, Cicero and Cato - survive. They read as fresh today as they must have sounded more than 2,000 years ago.
And what is astonishing to me - I might even say disturbing - is that nothing as interesting or profound has happened in the House of Commons for many years.
Those speeches were so powerful that the debate changed minds, not once but twice. There were no whips forcing senators to take the party line: senators voted on the strength of the arguments they had heard. When was the last time that happened in Westminster?
The fact is, compared to our present grey and vacuous political culture, the Roman republic enjoyed a vastly more vibrant and functioning democracy.
Elections were annual and compulsory for almost every official - not just for the two leaders of the country (the consuls), but for the judges, senior government officials, superintendents of water and roads, city authorities, even the chief priest.
This truly was the old res public - literally 'people power' - in action.
By the time of that crucial debate in 63BC, more than one million citizens in Italy had the vote.
Admittedly, women were excluded from the franchise, the main electoral college was weighted in favour of the rich, and you had to come to Rome in person to vote, which few could afford to do.
But before we congratulate ourselves today on our superiority, consider for a moment how modern Britain might look to a Roman.
We have an unelected head of state, an unelected second chamber and an unelected judiciary. We even have - in the shape of Gordon Brown - an unelected Prime Minister and are possibly about to get an unelected president of the EU in the form of Tony Blair.
Romans would have considered it an outrage to have only one set of elections every four or five years, and for the timing of the poll to be determined by the nation's leader, according to when he thought he had the best chance of winning. What is democratic about that?
Above all, every law in Rome could come into force only if it had been voted on by the people in a public assembly after their leaders had been cross-examined.
A Roman would have looked in amazement at our Palace of Westminster, with its sparsely attended debates and its cowed and insipid legislators, most of whom are so thoroughly controlled by the party whips they often don't know what laws they are passing.
As for the European Union: to a nation whose citizens' proudest boast was civis Romanus sum - 'I am a Roman citizen' - the notion of ceding large areas of national sovereignty to another parliament would have been anathema.
My reluctant conclusion is that countries get the politicians they deserve. If you construct a constitutional eco-system that encourages the development of pygmies, then pygmies are what you will get.
To rise to the top in Rome, a self-made man such as Marcus Cicero had to stand up in all weathers in the forum, arguing on behalf of his clients in the law courts.
He had to spend his life courting the voters. He had to subject himself to the cursus honorum - 'the course of glory' - clearing successive electoral hurdles.
First, he had to gain election to the senate, as a junior magistrate - a quaestor. Then he had to become a senior magistrate - a praetor. Only then was he eligible to stand for the most senior position - consul.
By that time, the candidate would have been expected to show his power and endurance as an orator over many years, both in the senate chamber and to mass audiences in the forum and on the Field of Mars just outside the city.
If they didn't like you, then they would throw things at you. Men had to learn how to speak. Politics was pure theatre. 'Eloquence that does not startle I don't consider eloquence,' declared Cicero.
Thus was bred a species of politician that has all but died out in Britain: the great public and parliamentary orator. Continued
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Labour was accused of risking the lives of Territorial Army soldiers last night after axing their training for the next six months to save money.
Reservists across Britain will see their exercises cut or be told to pay their own way in order to save a paltry £20million.
Soldiers who are due to deploy to the frontline in Afghanistan next year have been told the Government will not pay for any more combat training until April.
Senior officers warned last night that the decision will cost lives because Britain's 'weekend warriors' will fall behind in their preparations for combat with the Taliban.
Serving TA soldiers predicted that units will disband, thousands of reservists will quit and recruitment will dry up, rendering the TA a shadow of its former self.
General Patrick Cordingley, commander of the Desert Rats during the first Gulf War, said: 'At a time when the Army in Afghanistan is heavily dependent on territorials it seems extraordinary to cut funds for training.
'It is hardly an incentive to join up if you know there's no money for training. These
days it's difficult to differentiate between regular and territorial soldiers in the field. They're absolutely essential.'
Shadow Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox said: 'This cut in training is a slap in the face for all our brave Territorials from a Government that has lost the plot when it comes to priorities.
'A Government willing to spend £12billion on a pointless VAT cut to support its political reputation, but unwilling to spend £20million to train the TA while we are at war in Afghanistan, has a twisted set of priorities.'
Tory MP Mark Lancaster, a serving Major in the TA, warned that recruitment and retention of TA soldiers would suffer.
He predicted that one in six - around 6,000 - would quit.
He said: 'One third of the TA joins or leaves every year so if you stop training for six months it's likely you'll lose a sixth of personnel straight off. This is a bitter blow to morale. It's a terrible decision.'
A senior Army officer said: 'I can understand why people are absolutely furious. It will significantly curtail activity. Skill levels will undoubtedly drop.'
The dismay in Army ranks is all the worse because the Territorial Army has become an integral part of recent military operations, with 18,000 reservists serving in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003.
Some 650 are in Afghanistan now and as recently as April 2,000 were on the frontline in Helmand and Iraq.
A total of £54million of cuts were forced on Army chiefs but the axe will fall first on the TA. Tory leader David Cameron confronted Gordon Brown at Prime Minister's Questions, saying it was 'totally unacceptable' that basic training was being slashed.
MoD officials made clear that in some parts of the country TA training will be axed altogether, and that includes soldiers due to go to the frontline next year.
A leaked paper revealed: ' Activities not directly in support of operations will stop or be severely curtailed. This will mean that TA soldiers who have not been warned to go on operations will suspend all training until April 10.'
An MoD official said: 'Some units will have no drill nights. Others will ask people to come in voluntarily.
It will be up to each unit to decide what to do.'
Since territorial soldiers are paid at least £33 a day for training sessions, that is tantamount to asking them to fund the costs of travel, food and kit for their own training.
Reservists are also concerned that they will not be able to accumulate the necessary exercises this year to receive a £1,500 tax-free 'bounty' paid to those who keep up their training.
Mr Brown insisted that troops being sent to Afghanistan were 'properly resourced and will continue to be properly resourced'.
Those due to deploy to Helmand will get six months of 'theatre specific' training.
But last night there were grave doubts that it would be enough to prepare them for the frontline. A serving member of the TA told the Mail: 'People will die because of this decision.'
The TA officer - who cannot be named for security reasons - said: 'If TA men are not up to speed they will be a risk to themselves and the regulars they are working with.'
An MoD spokesman stated: 'These are challenging times and we have to live within our means.'
The British cuts came as it was revealed that General Stanley McChrystal, the top Nato commander in Afghanistan, told the White House he needed 80,000 more troops to fight the Taliban.
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The family of a two-year-old toddler was visited by the police after being accused of hitting her neighbour's car with a stick.
The girl's parents were in dispute with their neighbours, according to Wiltshire Constabulary, and officers attended the scene in order to prevent tensions from rising.
Although the toddler was too young to be arrested or interviewed, her details will be kept on computer files held by the constabulary, although they will not be added to the national police database.
A Wiltshire police official explained that the matter was resolved "to the satisfaction of the people whose property was alleged to have been damaged", although he admitted it was "an astonishingly young age".
"Within a street a couple of families were at severe loggerheads and one of the youngsters did something to one of the other family's property", he said.
"Police were called, they diffused the situation and relevant advice was given and things moved on.
''We aren't talking about the child being arrested, or interviewed - that can't happen - and the child's DNA was not taken as we have no lawful power to do that.
''The police got involved because the previous advice given to the parties involved in this street was 'You don't go and sort it out yourself, you call the police'.
''As far as we are concerned, they did the right thing and the matter was resolved to the satisfaction of the people whose property was alleged to have been damaged."
Details of the incident emerged following a Freedom of Information Act, where the force was asked to disclose how many children under 10 - below the age of criminal responsibility - were arrested between 2007 and 2009.
Michelle Elliott, founder of Kidscape said the idea of treating a two-year-old as a suspect was "insane". ''This is the most bizarre thing I have heard of. It makes a mockery of the law", she said.
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A pensioner, Roger Moore, died after carers accidentally fed him a whole day's worth of food in 30 minutes, an inquest heard.
Mr Moore died as a result of the food pumped down his throat at the private nursing home in half an hour, with it spilling over into his lungs.
Care assistant James Keith had changed the food bag at Kitnocks House Nursing Home in Curdridge, Hants, despite not having any formal qualifications.
The liquid food overflowed, leaving Mr Moore fighting for his life. He died on July 28 last year at Southampton General Hospital.
Mr Moore, 65, who suffered from dementia, was taken to hospital but died nine days later from bronchial pneumonia.
Recording a verdict of accidental death at the inquest on Wednesday, Central Hampshire deputy coroner Simon Bruge said the death was "avoidable".
"I intend to write to those in charge of Kitnocks to express my concerns and require that they undertake a thorough review of this pump and ensure that the warning letter is distributed to those who use the equipment so that this does not happen again," he said.
"This occurred as a result of human error and failure to be aware of the pump problem." A Government letter has already been sent to the home warning that the pump could release a free flow of food if it had not been configured in the right way.
Speaking after the inquest, Mr Moore's cousin Margaret Lockwood, 70, said she was "appalled" at the lack of staff training. "Although he (James Keith) had been there for five years, he had no outside training. This should be compulsory.
"It shouldn't take Roger's death and the action of a belligerent relative to bring about this change. "I don't blame the staff. They have thanked me for not letting this go as they have had training now. I put it on the owners of the care home."
Aaron Whitehead, clinical director at the nursing home, said that training had been overhauled following the incident. "Our thoughts are with the family. Mr Moore was incredibly popular and is missed by everyone here," he said. "There has been a completely different management structure since the incident.
"We have developed a full and comprehesive training programme including absolute competence review of all training for all our care staff. "Only qualified, registered nurses have anything to do with the feeding tube now."
Thursday 15th October 2009
It's not about caring for working Class or because they are discriminated against in Jobs and Housing... As usual it's about Votes!
White working-class communities have been left behind in the race for housing and jobs, ministers have admitted.
They plan to pump millions into predominantly white areas to help improve education of young people, end benefit dependency and cut off support for far-right political groups.
The move is partly in response to growing evidence that white boys are doing worse than any other cultural group in the education system.
Communities Secretary John Denham is to announce his spending programme today in an attempt to appeal to disaffected voters.
He will insist they are wrong to believe that minority faith and ethnic groups have enjoyed favoured treatment by a Labour government keen to foster equality.
But Mr Denham will acknowledge the share-out of state-subsidised homes has - when 'hard choices have had to be made' - led to 'concerns about fairness.'
The programme follows research in Aston in Birmingham, Somers Town in North London and Canley in Coventry by the Institute for Community Cohesion, a Whitehall body set up in the aftermath of the July 2005 bombings.
Professor Harris Beider, of the institute, said: 'Traditional white working class communities have been left behind by the pace of social change in modern Britain.
'The reduction in social housing, greater competition for jobs, unstable employment, and breakdown of traditional community bonds has turned what were some of the country's strongest communities - celebrated in soaps like Coronation Street and EastEnders --into isolated, fractured groups, where perceptions of unfairness can drive people to take extremist views.'
Evidence of the failure of white boys at school is also now overwhelming. One in five now finishes school without any real qualifications.
And according to official figures, foreign-born workers took 1.4million of 1.7million new jobs between 1997 and 2007 while in the four years after 2004, the year in which Eastern European workers flooded in, the number of British-born people in jobs dropped by 500,000.
Mr Denham will say: 'We will make it clear Government is committed to making sure people know we are on their side.
'No favours. No privileges. No special interest groups. Just fairness.'
Too Little Too Late and only because the elections are around the corner do they openly admit that working Class are discriminated against in Jobs and Housing but only now when Labor's future is looking rather bleak!
And as one commentator said .. The white middle class are already 'driven into the arms of extremism' - it's called the Labour Party.
Look around, every policy or legislation created by Labour is extreme! (Ed)
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(Link acquired From Green Arrow Website)
Undoubtedly, Islam and the Shari'ah have reached new heights in the United Kingdom, Muslim communities up and down the country have brought forth a culture and system that is not only superior to the British way of life but also a shining example of what true subservience to Almighty God can bring to a society drowning in disbelief and oppression.
Recent months have been particularly debilitating for the British population who have struggled to get by as basic necessities such as food, clothing and shelter have become more cumbersome to obtain. The MPs' expenses scandal that shocked the nation unfortunately also demonstrates the cruel indifference the British government has towards its citizens and moreover how they appear to be more concerned with wasting public money on personal frivolities than investing it for the betterment of society.
As a result of this perpetual malaise, Islam4UK with the help of sincere Muslims launched a series of Islamic Roadshow's that provided a real answer to the problems faced by the British community; with over 16 different locations already hit including, Birmingham, Slough, Lewisham, Peckham and Green Street, approximately 70 men and women have embraced Islam, reinforcing the dire need for Shari'ah in contemporary Britain.
In light of all this, Islam4UK would like to declare the launch of a spectacular procession that will take place on 31st October 2009.
We hereby request all Muslims in the United Kingdom, in Manchester, Leeds, Cardiff, Glasgow and all other places to join us and collectively declare that as submitters to Almighty Allah (SWT), we have had enough of democracy and man-made law and the depravity of the British culture. On this day we will call for a complete upheaval of the British ruling system its members and legislature, and demand the full implementation of Shari'ah in Britain.
In forthcoming days, Islam4UK will also publish, as a run up to this special event, a fascinating insight into how Britain's architecture, transport and culture will be revolutionised under the Shari'ah. Watch out for articles including:
Trafalgar Square under the Shari'ah
Football Stadiums under the Shari'ah
Pubs under the Shari'ah
Buckingham Palace under the Shari'ah
Keep updated with www.islam4uk.com to see the Islamic blueprint of the remarkable changes that will occur in Britain as it transforms into a thriving Islamic State.
Where will the procession take place?
First Stop: House of Commons
The primary source of polytheistic legislation in Britain, the House of Commons is at the centre of Britain's oppressive law making policies; from here fallible men and women decide what should be legal and illegal. It is from this very place where the lives of millions of people in the UK are changed and it is from here where unjust wars are launched.
Islam4UK stewards and guides will be at hand to direct all attendees to the centre of the congregation from where the March for Shari'ah will officially commence.
Second Stop: 10 Downing Street
Almost 300 years old, 10 Downing Street is the official residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Gordon Brown, the current Prime Minister, is one of the chief figures in making laws and regulating the affairs of society. In the last few years, he has undoubtedly brought Britain down to an all new low and appears to be truly blind to the damaging impact of his oppressive bureaucracy.
After demanding the abolishment of the House of Commons Muslims will then march to 10 Downing Street, and call for the removal of the tyrant Gordon Brown from power.
Third Stop: Trafalgar Square
A site of significant historical value, Muslims will gather even more support from tourists and members of the public, making clear in the heart of London the need for Shari'ah in society.
Fourth Stop: Buckingham Palace
This is the official London residence for Britain's sovereigns including Queen Elizabeth II. Queen Elizabeth II, is undoubtedly at the source of all immoral laws in Britain; in receipt of millions of pounds in benefits from the public purse she is also the key signatory in validating all laws passed in the United Kingdom, and ultimately is the final step in which all members of parliament must pass in order for their laws and amendments to achieve frutition.
The final stop for the March for Shari'ah, Muslims in conjunction with Islam4UK will call for the complete abolishment of the British monarchy in favour of an Islamic system that provides real justice and immediate solutions to the problems faced in every borough in the United Kingdom.
Contact information:
General Enquiries: 07961 577 221
Media Enquiries: 07956 600 569
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There have been a string of incidents at locations across Wellingborough in recent days.
Offensive words targeted at white people were written in big letters across the front of the memorial in Broad Green, Wellingborough, between Saturday night and Sunday morning.
The white stone memorial lists the names of Wellingborough soldiers who died in the First and Second World Wars.
The offensive words were temporarily covered with a plastic recycling bag and on Sunday a member of the public attempted to wash the graffiti off, although it was still clearly visible. The graffiti was finally removed yesterday.
Councillor Robert Hawkes, ward councillor for Swanspool which includes Broad Green, said: "It's not what I want to see on my war memorial. It's disgraceful. It's illiterate, mindless stupidity, probably fuelled by alcohol.
"Graffiti has no place anywhere, but a war memorial is one place you definitely wouldn't expect to see it. You would think that people would respect a memorial like that."
Graffiti was also sprayed across a building in Kiln Way, on the Queensway estate in the town, on Saturday night and police believe the two incidents could be connected.
A police spokesman said: "We are appealing for information about offensive graffiti which was daubed in the area of Broad Green and Queensway in Wellingborough."
Noel Hubbard, 81, of Wilby Park, Wilby, was angry to hear of the vandalism.
He said: "I think it's disgusting.
"The youth of today have no respect for other people's property, whether it's private, council or otherwise."
Insp Vaughan Clarke, sector commander for Wellingborough, said: "We believe the recent incidents of offensive graffiti found in a number of locations were committed by the same person and are isolated incidents that took place on the same day.
"We are conducting inquiries to identify the offender and are working closely with the local authority to ensure that such graffiti is removed as soon as possible.
"Hate crime will not be tolerated by Northamptonshire Police."
Witnesses, or anyone with information, can call Northamptonshire Police on 03000 111 222 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
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A Dutch MP can now enter the UK after winning his appeal against a Home Office decision in February which barred him from entering the country because of his anti-Islam views.
Geert Wilders, the maker of anti-Koran film Fitna, described the decision as a “victory for freedom of speech” and plans to visit “as soon as possible”.
Mr Wilders aims to broadcast his controversial film, Fitna, which juxtaposes quotations from the Koran with footage of terrorist atrocities and speeches by Muslim preachers.
He was originally invited by Lord Pearson of Rannoch, a member of the House of Lords, in February to show his 17-minute film at a private screening in Parliament.
But the then Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, banned him from entering the UK after accusing Mr Wilders of threatening “community harmony” and “public security”.
Mr Wilders is delighted that the ban has now been overturned.
He said: “I am very, very happy. It is not just a victory for me. It is a victory for freedom of speech.
“It was a politically motivated decision to not to allow me to enter the UK, to detain me and to send me back.
“As soon as I can, as soon as possible, I will visit the UK. I will certainly be invited again by Lord Pearson to show my film and have the debate. I will proudly accept that invitation.”
The Home Office said it was “disappointed” with the decision made by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and is considering an appeal against the ruling.
A spokesman for the Home Office said: “The Government opposes extremism in all its forms.
“The decision to refuse Wilders admission was taken on the basis that his presence could have inflamed tensions between our communities and have led to inter-faith violence. We still maintain this view.”
In February when Mr Wilders was originally refused entry he told the BBC it was a “very sad day” for UK democracy.
He said: “I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m not protesting or running through the streets of London”.
“Democracy means differences and debate. It’s a very sad day when the UK bans an elected parliamentarian”, he added.
Lord Pearson described it as a “matter of free speech”, adding: “We are going to show it anyway because we think MPs and peers should see this film.”
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A church in London says its ability to praise God has been taken away after the local council subjected it to noise restrictions following a complaint from a Muslim neighbour.
Immanuel International Christian Centre has seen congregation numbers dwindle from 100 to 30 since the restrictions on amplified music and sermons were enforced.
On Tuesday the church lost a court appeal to lift the noise ban imposed after a complaint from Baha Uddin who lives nearby.
Mr Uddin claims that noise from the church prevented him from using his garden at weekends and disturbed his one-year-old daughter.
He said: “It’s been a nightmare. I’ve not been able to use my garden or living room on a Sunday because of the church services.
“The amplified music, drums and the loud sermons made having a conversation impossible.
“The noise made me depressed”, he added.
Waltham Forest Magistrates Court ordered the church to pay £2,250 costs and it is only allowed to play music for 20 minutes on Sundays between 11.30am and 11.50am.
Other neighbours say the noise is not a problem, but church leaders claim that a council official told them “this is a Muslim borough, you have to tread carefully”.
The church secretary said that the church spent £10,000 on sound-reducing when it moved into its current premises in 2007.
Mr Ade Ajike said: “After moving in we invited Environmental Officers to visit the premises and we got the OK. We also visited neighbours and took them potted plants, and had no problem until the occupant made his official complaint in August 2008.
Mr Ajike says a council Environmental health enforcement officer informed the church pastor that “the church had to keep the noise down so as not to offend the Muslims living in the area”.
He added: “He told us ‘this is a Muslim borough, you have to tread carefully’.”
The church responded by reducing the duration of Sunday services and restricting the playing of music to 45 minutes. Mid-week services are held without music and Sunday evening services reduced to one per month.
Church premises are no longer hired out for events in case noise would aggravate Mr Uddin, a move which has cost the church additional revenue.
However, the Council issued a Noise Abatement Notice in May. The church lost the appeal hearing which took place on 5 and 6 October.
The church is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre (CLC).
CLC Director Andrea Minichiello Williams said: “Worship in a Church is to be expected. The Environmental Health Officers do not seem to have taken this fact into account.”
Representing the church at the appeal hearing, solicitor Paul Diamond said: “There is something ugly in this case.”
The Council denies any religious motive behind the restrictions.
A spokesman said: “’All attempts at mediation have failed and we regrettably were forced to issue the church with a noise abatement notice.”
Mr Ajike said: “Has the council considered our need – the need to worship?
“The noise abatement notice is unreasonable and takes away the ability for us to praise God.”
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See Also:
Just Some of the Attacks and Discrimination against Christianity from 2009
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'Ludicrous': Home Secretary slams police who leave families like Pilkingtons to be tormented by Yobs
Johnson yesterday accused police of having the 'ludicrous and ridiculous' mindset that dealing with loutish behaviour is not their job.
In a blistering attack, the Home Secretary said he was no longer prepared to tolerate police not responding to families besieged by louts.
It follows an outpouring of public anger over the treatment of Fiona Pilkington, 38, who was driven to take her own life and that of her disabled daughter Francecca, 18, after police and councils ignored her pleas for help.
Last month, at the inquest into their deaths, Superintendent Steve Harrod, from Leicestershire Police, said dealing with 'low level' anti-social behaviour was now the responsibility of town halls, not the police.
Yesterday, in one of the strongest criticisms of the police by a Home Secretary, Mr Johnson said: 'A police officer saying at the inquest that anti-social behaviour is no longer a police matter, it's for local authorities, it's ludicrous and ridiculous.
'It's just totally unexplainable how a police officer could feel like that but it suggests there's a mindset there.'
Johnson said that by March next year he wanted to see an improvement in standards of performance by police, councils and other agencies.
But police representatives blamed the amount of time they dedicate to implementing Home Office ' gimmicks' for cutting the time they have to tackle other police work.
He accepted ministers had 'cruised' on the issue in the recent past and progress had 'stalled' as the focus shifted to counter terrorism.
But he pledged to issue new rules for how breaches of anti-social behaviour orders were handled to make sure they are taken seriously.
In future, when an Asbo is breached by a young person, their parents will automatically be put under a court order.
Victim Support services will be extended to all victims of anti-social behaviour who give evidence against their attackers in magistrates courts, he said.
Simon Reed, vice-chairman of the Police Federation, said: 'The government cannot have its cake and eat it.
'They introduce initiative after initiative and expect the service to plough resources into it, without considering the negative impact it may have on other policing functions.
'To start, what is needed is a zero tolerance approach, with sufficient police officers on the streets to tackle anti-social behaviour and a criminal justice system that actually does something about these offenders when we bring them to justice.'
Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said: 'This looks like yet another top down sticking plaster solution from the Government.
'None of this would have dealt with the troublemakers who caused misery to Fiona Pilkington and are wrecking communities up and down the country, nor does this get police officers away from their desks and onto the streets where they are so desperately needed.'
Liberal Democrat spokesman Chris Huhne said: 'Despite the spin the Government has clearly failed to tackle anti-social behaviour. Asbos are just an ineffective gimmick - they are constantly breached and in many areas they are seen as a badge of honour.
'To tackle anti-social behaviour we need more police on the streets.'
But Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the public recognised that the Government had strengthened its stance on anti-social behaviour orders.
'I think people are getting the message that we are serious, we are looking at how we can make parents equally responsible when young people get into trouble.
'Our duty is to protect the public and prevent young people getting into trouble.'
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Magistrates last night warned of 'justice not being seen to be done' after Jack Straw announced plans to close 30 courts.
The Justice Secretary said he was considering the permanent closure of 20 magistrates' courts and one county court outside London.
His department also published proposals that could see the closure of nine magistrates' courts in the capital - one in four of the total.
It follows the increasing reliance of the criminal justice system on 'soft' out- of- court punishments, such as on-the-spot fines.
The Tories said closing courts meant even more criminals would be given fines instead of going to court.
Mr Straw told Parliament the majority of the courts faced with closure were 'significantly under utilised'.
Some courts have warned they do not have enough work to complete to stay open full-time.
Nearly a quarter of court capacity in London is unused, with some sitting for less than five hours a day.
The courts outside London lack disabled access and facilities for victims and witnesses, and would be expensive to upgrade.
John Thornhill, chairman of the Magistrates' Association, said removing courts from communities undermined confidence in the criminal justice system.
He said he was concerned the announcements could be a warning of wider court closures.
Mr Thornhill added: 'Justice must be delivered in communities where crimes are committed, so that justice can be seen to be done.'
Tory justice spokesman Dominic Grieve said it 'makes a mockery of British justice' that the Government was considering the closures.
He added: 'It demonstrates all too clearly Labour's overreliance on spot fines. A whole range of offenders, who should be properly punished through the courts, are getting away with a slap on the wrist or a glorified parking ticket.'
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An IT consultant was devastated when police told him he had a drugs conviction on his record - although he had nothing of the kind, London's High Court has heard.
James Andrew Herd says he long suspected that his career working for city investment banks was being blighted by false information circulating and got the shock of his life when he inquired of Suffolk Police for details of his record from the police national computer (PNC).
In January last year, the force wrote to him, saying that a 1997 conviction for possessing controlled drugs was on his record - although he had never been found guilty of any such thing, his barrister, Mr Ivan Hare, told the court.
The force apologised for the mistake, but middle-aged Mr Herd, of East London, suspects that it could explain false workplace rumours that he had a drug problem and may have 'effectively ruined my career'.
Mr Hare told the court that, in fact, the only run-in with the law Mr Herd has ever had was 18 years ago, in 1991, when he was fined £25 for a very minor criminal damage offence while living in the Ipswich area.
Claiming that information about him from the PNC may have been 'accessed illegally and the information sold', Mr Hare wrote to Suffolk Constabulary about the drugs conviction error and the long delay in dealing with his request.
But the force refused to record a formal complaint, saying that 'no specific allegations of misconduct' had been made against any Suffolk police officer, and that stance was later upheld by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
Now, however, top judge Mr Justice Blair has intervened on Mr Hare's behalf, upholding his judicial review challenge and ordering the IPCC to look again at his case.
Although the IPCC had considered his allegation that information about him on the PNC may have been accessed and passed on illegally, it had failed to deal with his other complaints of delay and the 'incorrect recording' of the non-existent drugs conviction, he said.
It was 'understandable', he added, that Mr Herd does not want his 'very minor' criminal damage conviction disclosed to third parties and that matter has now been 'stepped down' on the PNC, so that it is only accessible to police officers.
After his High Court success, Mr Herd - who funded his own case - is now claiming more than £47,000 in legal costs from the IPCC, the court heard.
Earlier, Mr Hare told the judge that, while working as an IT contractor for a leading investment bank between 2004 and 2006, Mr Herd 'had reason to believe that employees of the bank had been given information to the effect that he had a criminal record and that he may have a drugs problem'.
Concerned about the impact on his career, Mr Herd asked Suffolk Police to 'step down' the criminal damage conviction and, after an eight month delay, the force agreed to do so in January last year.
However, at the same time, he was told that the 1997 drugs conviction was also recorded against his name. A chief superintendent with the Suffolk force later gave him an 'unreserved apology' for the 'inexcusable, inappropriate and unprofessional' mistake.
But the force insists that the drugs conviction was only mentioned in the letter due to a one-off human error and that it never in fact appeared on his record.
If, after reconsideration, the IPCC decides that a formal complaint should have been recorded, the matter will be sent back to Suffolk Constabulary for an investigation.
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The boss of Tesco has delivered a stinging attack on Labour's education record and described school standards as 'woeful'.
Sir Terry Leahy, who was knighted by the Government in 2002 and is a member of Gordon Brown's National Council for Educational Excellence, said employers were too often left to pick up the pieces.
Tesco is the largest private employer in the country, with 280,000 staff, but is dissatisfied with the attainment of school leavers and university graduates who apply for jobs.
Sir Terry, 53, told 1,000 industry delegates at a London conference: 'One area that Tesco is particularly concerned about is education.
'As the largest private employer in the country, we depend on high standards in our schools. Sadly, despite all the money that has been spent, standards are still woefully low in too many schools.
'Employers like us are often left to pick up the pieces.
He added: 'From my perspective there are too many agencies and bodies, often issuing reams of instructions to teachers, who then get distracted from the task at hand: teaching children.'
In the past Tesco has sponsored some Labour events, but Sir Terry's criticism will be seen as further evidence of business turning its back on the party ahead of a General Election.
The Confederation of British Industry recently identified 'serious failings' in school leavers' ability.
It is also claimed that some companies have had to give teenagers remedial English and maths lessons because they have such a poor grasp of the three Rs.
One CBI study found that 52 per cent of employers are dissatisfied with the basic literacy of school leavers and 50 per cent with their basic numeracy.
A similar amount said some teenagers are 'unable to function in the workplace', claiming they cannot make simple calculations in their heads, speak in an articulate manner or understand written instructions.
Sir Terry's misgivings over education echo those of business leaders surveyed by IMC Learning in March, where 54 per cent said they believe the standard of education has deteriorated in the last five to ten years.
On top of this, 77 per cent believed a lack of basic skills amongst school leavers and new graduates will contribute to a significant fall in the country's competitiveness.
Sir Terry was educated at St Edward's College in Liverpool, which at the time was a Catholic direct grant grammar school.
He graduated from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) with a degree in Management Sciences in 1977.
He joined Tesco two years later and has been chief executive since 1997, currently earning £1.3million a year.
In his speech to the conference at London's Royal Lancaster Hotel, he also criticised Labour's record on stimulating business and competition.
He said: 'The right thing is to help business and it is important that all businesses, not just big ones like ours, are not burdened with more tax and more regulation.
Governments can best help by not distracting us from our core task, which is delivering for the customer.
'Government should be more focused on how to make things more simple.'
This appears to be a reference to calls from the Competition Commission to set up a supermarket ombudsman to ensure retailers do not bully suppliers.
The stores claim the ombudsman will introduce red tape and push up costs. However, farmers and other suppliers view it as essential protection.
National Farmers' Union president Peter Kendall said that the overwhelming majority of consumers are concerned about how retailers treat small businesses.
'This isn't just about protecting suppliers, it's about long-term consumer interest,' he said.
'I would urge retailers to give up lobbying ministers and get behind the establishment of an ombudsman.'
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Teenage asylum seekers are being given £25 a week "pocket money" - to help them learn to use British currency.
The handouts - paid for by taxpayers - are doled out to youngsters every Friday night.
Council bosses say the cash helps teach teenagers to shop for food and live on a budget.
But they are ALREADY fed and housed free at an "induction centre" run by Kent County Council.
A council insider said: "They get £25 handed to them in a brown envelope while everyone else is fighting to stay afloat. It's a disgrace."
The asylum seekers are aged 16 to 18 and many of them come from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The council decided in July to increase their payments from £10 to £25, even though it is struggling to reclaim £50million in investments in failed Icelandic banks. A centre source said: "The asylum seekers can't wait to get their cash and go out and spend it on things like cigarettes.
"If that's learning to use our currency they're getting very good at it." The council said the money was claimed back from the Home Office, adding: "We are a gateway authority to Europe. "Young people depend on us for support and they need to be taught to lead independent lives."
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(Recap Jan 2009)
Youngsters are being hard hit by the credit crunch, with pocket money slipping to its lowest rate for five years. The average of £6 a week has been slashed to just over £4 - the worst for kids since 2004, says a survey.
Their parents are also cutting back on expensive family days out as well as holidays and short breaks, as a result of the recession, according to the insurance company poll.
It found parents still needed to find £194,000 to raise their children up to the age of 21 at today's rates, the equivalent of around £9200 a year or £25 a day.
This is four per cent higher than last year and up 38 per cent from 2003, it's claimed. Child care at £53,818 and just over £50,000 for education make up the biggest spending.
Eighty per cent said they were cutting costs by switching from brand-name to own label groceries.
A third are buying second-hand items and a similar number are selling goods on the internet in a bid to recoup money on baby clothes, toys and other kids' products.
LV insurance chief executive Mike Rogers said: "Every parent knows how their hard-earned savings can dip, thanks to eye-watering education and childcare costs.
"It is also likely to be of little comfort to mums and dads to hear that pocket money costs are at their lowest level since 2004."
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An Increase in the State pension of just a paltry £2.40 a week next year was branded a “kick in the teeth last night.
Angry pensioner groups contrasted the meagre hike – just £124 a year – with the thousands of pounds wrongly claimed in expenses by many MPs.
Official figures released yesterday showed that the weekly payment for a single pensioner would rise from £95.25 to £97.65 next April.
A retired couple’s weekly income would rise from £152.30 to £156.15. But the expected 2.5 per cent award outraged charities and pensioner campaign groups yesterday.
Last night, ministers were braced for the biggest backlash over the State pension since Gordon Brown increased weekly payments by just 75p nine years ago.
Neil Duncan-Jordan, of the National Pensioners Convention, said: “At a time when politicians are arguing about not paying back money they should never have had, it’s a kick in the teeth for pensioners to get only a measly £2.40 rise.
“Put against rising fuel bills and the cost of living, this rise will be next to nothing.”
The annual State pension rise is usually based on the official inflation figure for the previous September.
Office of National Statistics figures yesterday revealed a surprise fall of 0.1 per cent in the Retail Prices Index for September to minus 1.4 per cent. But the Government had previously pledged that the State pension would rise by a minimum of 2.5 per cent every year.
Andrew Harrop, of Age Concern and Help the Aged, said: “Although the commitment to raise the basic State pension by at least 2.5 per cent will be a relief for older people, a £97.65-a-week pension is still not enough to ensure a decent standard of living to people who have worked hard all their lives.
“While pension credit will rise in line with earnings, benefits linked to the headline inflation, such as attendance allowance and disability living allowance, will be frozen unless the normal procedures are changed. With pensioner inflation still higher than for any other age group, the Government should allow some form of increase for inflation-linked benefits in the coming Pre-Budget Report.”
Research released earlier this year suggested pensioners faced a rate of inflation effectively double the national average.
While mortgage payments have fallen for many, food and energy bills have remained high. The price trends have had an acute effect on pensioner households. Rob Tolan, of charity Elizabeth Finn Care, said: “While inflation in the main has decreased, council tax and utilities, two of the biggest costs facing pensioners, are likely to rise beyond 2.5 per cent in April.”
Lib Dem pensions spokesman Steve Webb said: “An extra 34p a day will not cover the inflation rate for most pensioners who face the double whammy of mounting food and fuel costs and council tax bills.
“Although RPI was negative in September, the State pension has been pegged to prices for 30 years and is now pitifully low.
“The urgent need is to restore the earnings link now, not wait for another Parliament. Many struggling families will view the threat of a benefit freeze with dread.”
A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said: “New benefit levels and tax thresholds for 2010/2011 will be announced to Parliament at the Pre-Budget Report.
“Benefits can only be increased or stay the same – they could not fall as the result of a negative RPI. The State pension will be increased by 2.5 per cent or RPI, whichever is higher.”
The increase will be less than half the rise in April this year, after inflation peaked at 5.5 per cent in September 2008.
John Ball, a pensions expert at consultants Watson Wyatt, said: “Last year, pensioners got lucky because it was a high-water mark for inflation. This time the opposite could be true but, thanks to the backlash against the 75p increase, the basic pension will still go up by £2.40 in April 2010.”
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Gordon Brown is prepared to send 500 more British troops to fight in Afghanistan, he announced today.
The extra troops will boost the size of the UK presence in the lawless badlands of southern Afghanistan from 9,000 to 9,500.
The Prime Minister's announcement came after he was forced to read out the names of the 37 British soldiers who have died fighting while MPs were on holiday.
In line with House of Commons convention, Mr Brown listed the name, rank and regiment of every soldier who has died since July 15, the last time he addressed MPs before the summer recess and their 82-day break.
The Prime Minister told the Commons he had agreed to the reinforcements 'in principle' on the basis of 'clear military advice'.
Mr Brown said the increased deployment was conditional upon the Afghan government demonstrating its commitment to bring forward more of its own troops to fight alongside coalition forces.
And he insisted that the new troops would also have to be part of an agreed approach with other coalition members, with all countries 'bearing their fair share'.
- Increase is condition but agreed 'in principle'
- Brown reads out grim roll-call of 37 soldiers killed
- U.S. General McChrystal calls for 80,000 more troops
- Clegg questions legitimacy of Afghan government
- Hutton: Extra troops should have gone months ago
Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup and the new head of the Army General Sir David Richards both backed the increase.
Gen. Richards said it was the 'right decision'. 'We asked for 9,500 and that is what we got,' he said. 'We cannot afford to fail and increasing the UK's commitment is the right thing to do.'
But former defence secretary John Hutton was one of the first to attack Mr Brown, accusing him of wasting valuable time before sending more troops to the region.
'I think it would have been much more helpful if we'd had these additional troops out there six months ago,' he said.
'If this is a mission about national security then you do everything that you need to do to secure it.
'No ifs and buts because you've got to prosecute these campaigns absolutely clearly and with the force levels that you need to succeed. If you do an economy of force operation here I think you could screw it up really badly.'
After the grim roll call of dead soldiers, Mr Brown said: 'Nothing can erase the pain for their families. Nothing can be greater than the pride we take in their contribution to our country and our sadness at their loss.'
He said their lives would live on through the 'influence they will have left behind on others' and pledged: 'They will not be forgotten.'
He also paid tribute to those injured and promised: 'They will have our full support at all times.'
Mr Brown acknowledged it had been a 'particularly difficult summer' for the armed forces and their families.
The Government had tried to ensure that all troops serving in Afghanistan and elsewhere were 'fully and properly equipped' for the task, he said.
'I also want to assure the House ... that we stand by the military covenant with all military families in this country, and all those who are serving members of our armed forces, and former members of the armed forces.'
The Prime Minster clashed with Tory leader David Cameron who said that training cuts for Territorial Army troops being sent to Afghanistan were 'unacceptable'.
Challenged by Mr Cameron, Mr Brown insisted that the TA effort was 'properly resourced and will continue to be properly resourced'.
Mr Brown was also tackled by Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg over the 'legitimacy' of the Afghan Government, following widespread vote-rigging at the recent elections.
The Prime Minister replied: 'No one can be satisfied with what happened during the election in Afghanistan.
'Every one of us has questions that have got to be answered, not so much about the security attached to the election because a huge amount of work went in by our troops and our forces into the security accompanying the election, but the amount of ballot rigging that appears to have taken place.' Continued
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More than a third of voters believe British forces should be withdrawn from Afghanistan, according to a poll.
Calls for troops to quit Helmand have risen sharply just as Gordon Brown prepares to send hundreds more.
The figure has increased to 36 per cent from 29 per cent in mid-September, according to the Populus poll for The Times newspaper.
The growing unease at the armed presence has been driven by women, with four out of 10 wanting Britain out, up from three out of 10 over the past month.
More than twice as many men as women believe that British troops should remain until 'the Taliban is defeated and the situation there is stable, even if that takes many years', according to the paper. The overall number taking this view has slipped from 28 to 27 per cent over the past month.
The poll also reveals opposition to General Sir Richard Dannatt's appointment as an adviser to the Conservatives, with 48 per cent believing he was wrong to have become involved in party politics within six weeks of retiring as head of the Army.
Fifty-four per cent thought Gen Dannatt was right to speak publicly about confidential advice he gave to Mr Brown while he was head of the Army, with 41per cent saying he was wrong.
Captain Doug Beattie, who recently retired from service with the Royal Irish Regiment and won a Military Cross for his services in Helmand in 2006, recently said withdrawals would be 'short-sighted'.
He said: 'The crux of the matter is that we are disrupting these terror attacks before they leave the country of origin. But we have to be lucky all the time, terrorists only need to be lucky once.
'The prospect of reduced troop strength in the country could not be more short-sighted.
'Not only do we have a moral obligation to send more troops out - the results have shown that it is worthwhile.'
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A terrorist mastermind who was harboured by the British government as an asylum seeker for more than ten years has finally been sent to prison for life.
Rachid Ramda, 39, pointed his fingers skyward and shouted 'I'm innocent - praise Allah' as a Paris appeal court confirmed his sentence for a series of attacks on the city's underground system which left eight dead and hundreds injured.
He will now spend a minimum of 22 years behind bars, with France's Advocate General Anne Vosgien saying he should 'never be given the chance to reoffend again'.
Despite being a prime suspect for the 1995 bombing of the St Michel Metro station, Algerian-born Ramda was granted political asylum in Britain soon afterwards.
Although he was imprisoned while in the UK, his time there caused a diplomatic protest, with the French dubbing the capital 'Londonistan' because of its reputation for sheltering Muslim terrorists.
It was not until after the 7/7 attacks on the London Underground in 2005 that Ramda was finally sent back to France to face trial.
In 2007, French anti-terrorist judges ruled he was a leading member of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), which carried out at least three attacks on the French capital's Metro stations, including St Michel, Musee d'Orsay and Maison-Blanche.
During a two-day appeal hearing against his conviction, Paris's Special Assizes Court heard how evidence against Ramda included a London bank payment slip bearing his signature and finger prints.
It had been used to fund the 1995 murders.
In 1993, Ramda was sentenced to death in absentia in Algiers following a bomb attack on the city's airport in which nine people died.
He escaped to Britain, where he was kept under surveillance and was arrested in November 1995 before being granted asylum.
He said he was a refugee from what he described as political repression in Algeria.
As well as the airport bombing in his home country, which was in political turmoil at the time, he was wanted for numerous other attacks against what he viewed as oppressive forces.
This won Ramda a great deal of sympathy, prompting British lawyers to portray him as a dissident worthy of asylum.
His case actually strengthened when France tried to extradite him for the Paris bombings, as it was argued that the French would send him straight back to Algeria where he would face the death penalty.
His lawyers successfully prevented his extradition to France on the grounds that he might be unlawfully sent back to Algeria to face the death penalty, which the French authorities denied.
Ramda's appeal ended with confirmation of his conviction and sentencing yesterday.
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Europe's top unelected official yesterday ordered the Czech prime minister to sign the Lisbon Treaty.
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said demands to reopen negotiations on the revamped European Constitution were 'absurd'.
He told Jan Fischer that his country's Eurosceptic president, Vaclav Klaus, was harming Czech 'interests' by delaying ratification.
Mr Barroso said: 'It makes no sense to reopen the ratification process. It would be completely absurd. It would be surreal, to reopen the Lisbon Treaty ratification process in the 26 other member states.'
He added: 'It is in the interests of nobody, least of all the interests of the Czech Republic, to delay matters further.'
The comments were also taken as a warning to David Cameron, who has threatened to derail the Brussels power-grab if he wins the next election.
The Tory leader has pledged to hold a referendum if the treaty is not ratified if and when he takes power. A 'No' vote from Britain would blow it out of the water.
Hopes that British voters will be given a say have been raised by President Klaus, who is stalling for time by demanding new conditions.
The Czech Republic is the only country in the 27-member EU yet to ratify the treaty.
It has been approved by the Czech parliament, but final ratification is dependent on a decision by the country's highest court on a legal challenge - and the signature of the famously anti-EU president.
Mr Klaus wants an opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which the treaty enshrines as legally-binding.
He fears the charter could enable the families of Germans expelled from the Czech Republic after World War II to make legal claims for the return of confiscated property.
He is already holding up the treaty by refusing to ratify it until the Constitutional Court has ruled on a legal challenge against its validity.
He said the opt-out was necessary to protect Czechs from possible property claims by Germans expelled from the country after World War Two.
'The government declares its willingness to discuss a possible solution to this situation with its European partners,' Fischer told a news conference.
A straight opt-out would be difficult to secure, because it could require new ratification in all the other EU member states. Fischer said this was impossible.
'The government is prepared to take this non-standard move, although it considers the re-opening of the ratification process in fellow EU member states impossible,' he said.
It may be easier to secure a political declaration by EU leaders, similar to guarantees given to Ireland to eliminate fears the treaty could infringe Irish neutrality, tax and abortion rules.
A Klaus aide said on Sunday that he wanted a strong and binding guarantee, rather than a political declaration by EU leaders, which was the case for Ireland.
Fischer said the only possibility he saw for achieving the exemptions would be at the summit of EU leaders on Oct 29-30.
He added that the government would at the same time demand a guarantee from Klaus that he would complete ratification without delay if his conditions are met.
Polish President Lech Kaczynski signed the Lisbon Treaty yesterday, meaning only one country stands in the way of Tony Blair becoming the EU president.
His signature means the Czech Republic is the only one of the 27 EU member states left to sign the treaty.
It must be ratified by all 27 member states before it can come into force.
Mr Kaczynski, a eurosceptical conservative, signed the treaty at a ceremony in the presidential palace in Warsaw attended by senior EU officials, including the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso.
Before signing he stressed the EU remained a union of sovereign nation states and it must remain open to new members including countries in the Balkans and Georgia.
On Friday Czech President Vaclav Klaus set out his terms for signing the reform treaty, demanding an exemption to protect Prague from post-war property claims and safeguard the sovereignty of the judiciary.
Mr Klaus's demands further complicate the European Union's efforts to implement reforms to give the bloc more global influence.
He said the Czech government should follow the example of Britain and Poland, which won opt-outs on the application of some of the provisions of a Charter of Fundamental Rights which will be given binding force when the Lisbon treaty is ratified.
Mr Klaus said: 'Before ratification, the Czech Republic must, additionally at least, negotiate a similar exemption. I believe that this exemption can be resolved quickly.'
He said the treaty would create a European superstate that gives too much power to Brussels, and has refused to ratify it even though the Czech parliament has approved it.
He has been resisting the rest of the EU as well as most Czech political parties, isolating the central European country which already lost some credibility when its government collapsed during the Czech term as EU president in March.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has ruled out any change to the treaty to accommodate Klaus, and Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai urged the Czech leader on Friday to sign.
Mr Bajnai said: "There is a lot to do and there is no reason to paralyse the operations of the European institutions. So I think it would be important that the president of the Czech Republic is also supporting this process by his signature.'
The treaty will create the post of a long-term EU president, a position former prime minister Mr Blair has been tipped to fill.
At a summit at the end of this month EU leaders are supposed to be considering candidates for the new position with a pay and perks package of £3.5million.
The treaty will also bring in a more powerful foreign policy chief and streamlined decision-making.
One of its biggest obstacles was overcome last month when the Irish people voted in a referendum to sign the treaty.
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A High Court judge caused outrage today after ruling a group of travelers who illegally developed Greenbelt land over a Bank Holiday weekend had not acted in a 'cynical or ruthless' way.
Mr Justice Stadlen said the six families - who exploited the long Easter break to lay down 1,000 tonnes of hardcore and Tarmac roads while council officials who could have intervened were off work - had the 'best intentions to comply with planning law'.
The comments were made at a hearing where the judge rejected a council's application to evict the travelers from the village of Blackmore in Essex. Speaking afterwards, one of the travellers admitted breaking the law but said the families 'just want to be left alone'.
Conservative Party chairman Eric Pickles, whose constituency covers Blackmore, led the chorus of dismay yesterday, saying: 'It just shows how out of touch the judiciary is on these issues.m 'The people of Blackmore will feel the law has let them down and they are right. It shows that use of force and direct action has trodden the rights of the people of Blackmore into the dust. The law needs to be changed.'
Keith Parker, who was chairman of Brentwood Borough Council's planning committee when the travellers arrived, said: 'Of course it was cynical. They never came and asked for advice from Brentwood Council, they just arrived on site. It's a normal ploy.
'It's difficult to explain to the general public that their conservatory, their extension, or balcony doesn't comply with planning legislation when another group of people can ride roughshod over it.' Council leader Louise McKinlay said she was 'greatly disappointed' by the court's decision and would be seeking advice on what action could be taken.
The travellers are believed to have bought the land from another traveller for £130,000 on Maundy Thursday this year. Families living in the pretty medieval village, parts of which are in a conservation area, were woken at 7am on Good Friday by 20-tonne trucks thundering along the country lanes and onto the three-acre site.
Over the weekend 50 lorries arrived as the site was developed and fenced off to provide plots for a dozen caravans housing 17 adults and three children. When council officers returned from the long weekend the families were served with a stop notice, ordering them not to carry out any more work.
A planning application was also refused by the council on the grounds that it was 'inappropriate' development in the Green Belt with 'no special circumstances' to justify it. But Mr Justice Stadlen yesterday said the travellers' had a good chance of winning planning permission at appeal.
He added the travellers' moved onto the site because one of the women was due to have a baby and another needed an operation, while the 'hardship' of evicting them outweighed the damage to the environment. 'The defendants are not in my judgement cynical or ruthless people who have set out to further their own ends in complete disregard for the interest of the law,' he said.
'They set out with the best of intentions to comply with the planning law and spent many months seeking a suitable site which was likely to get planning permission. 'The consulted and took advice from local planning officers and spent money on solicitors and planning consultants in an endeavour to find and acquire such a site.'
The travellers have now lodged an appeal against the refusal of planning permission and the case has been adjourned until January. Speaking after the hearing one of the travellers, Thomas Loveridge, admitted the group had broken the law but blamed the council for failing to supply enough legal travellers' sites.
He added: 'I don't personally think we are asking for the world. We just want to be left alone.'
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A television advert for Actimel yogurt which claimed to provide health benefits to children has been banned by the advertising watchdog.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) decided the advert was in breach of the rules because evidence provided by Danone did not uphold claims that the drinking yogurt could help normal, healthy school-aged youngsters protect against common childhood illnesses.
The advert showed a bottle of the Danone product jumping over a skipping rope and featured the sound of children playing in the background. A voice-over stated ''kids love Actimel and it's good for them too''.
The advert then featured the sound of children cheering and the voice-over went on to state: ''Actimel. Scientifically proven to help support your kids' defences.''
The advert ended with the words ''scientifically proven'' stamped on the screen.
Danone said 23 people in a study group of 6,000 across different age ranges had shown health benefits after drinking Actimel
Eight of these studies were carried out on children up to 16-years-old.
The company submitted evidence from some of the studies to the ASA, two of which were carried out on hospitalised children in India who were suffering from acute diarrhoea or receiving medication for gastritis-related illnesses. The ASA decided these could not be applied to healthy children.
Two other trials, one in 1999 and one in 2000, examined the effect of Actimel on children aged between 10 and 18 months. The ASA found that the improvement of diarrhoea in the children was not significant enough to support the claims and that the mean age of the children (six months in 1999 and 15.5 months in 2000) was too young to apply to school-age children.
No health benefit was found in relation to asthmatic children and a reduction in the number of children with diarrhoea and allergic rhinitis was too small compared to the control group to prove Actimel was the cause of the improvement, the watchdog said. Continued
Yeah Right some evidence.. 23 out of 6,000 showed health benefit! Whoopee Do! So 5977 are wasting their money when they could be buying the Cheapest Regular Yogurt which does just as much and is not watered down, something I have been telling my friends and family for years! (Ed)
Wednesday 14th October 2009
Britain's Pathway to Death!
A grandfather who beat cancer was wrongly told the disease had returned and left to die at a hospice which pioneered a controversial 'death pathway'.
Doctors said there was nothing more they could do for 76-year- old Jack Jones, and his family claim he was denied food, water and medication except painkillers.
He died within two weeks. But tests after his death found that his cancer had not come back and he was in fact suffering from pneumonia brought on by a chest infection.
To his family's horror, they were told he could have recovered if he'd been given the correct treatment.
Yesterday, after being given an £18,000 pay-out over her ordeal, his widow Pat branded his treatment 'barbaric' and accused the doctors of manslaughter.
Mr Jones was being cared for at a hospice which was central to the contentious Liverpool Care Pathway under which dying patients have their life support taken away, although the hospice claims it wasn't officially applied in his case.
The scheme is used by hundreds of hospitals and care homes, and is followed in as many as 20,000 deaths a year.
Supporters say it brings dignity to a patient's final hours, but critics fear that some are placed into it incorrectly.
Mr Jones, a retired bricklayer with two daughters, was diagnosed with stomach cancer in May 2005. After undergoing chemotherapy, he had his stomach removed by surgeons at Royal Liverpool Hospital that September.
He was told he was in remission from cancer, but the grandfather of two continued to suffer pain following the operation as well as difficulties in eating, and on January 3, 2006, he went to the city's Marie Curie hospice for respite care.
While there, however, his family were told the cancer had returned by Dr Alison Coackley, a palliative medicine consultant who played a key role in drawing up the Liverpool Care Pathway.
Despite the fact that no tests were carried out to confirm the diagnosis, his family say doctors instructed nurses to stop giving him food and fluids.
The only medication he was permitted were painkillers, and he slipped into semi- consciousness without the chest infection being diagnosed and died on January 14.
But a post-mortem examination found he was free of cancer and had in fact died of pneumonia.
Reports commissioned by Mrs Jones's solicitor concluded that with antibiotics and a rehydrating drip he could have made a full recovery and survived for at least another two years.
The hospice and the doctors who treated Mr Jones continue to deny liability, but his widow has now accepted an £18,000 out-of-court settlement after being told she would otherwise lose her legal aid.
Yesterday she said: 'If they'd only treated his chest infection, my husband could well still be alive today.
'We fought in the hospice to get Jack the right treatment and they blocked us, making us feel we were a nuisance.
'I was worried it was pneumonia, I wanted them to check his chest, but they wouldn't.'
Mrs Jones and the family want to know whether her husband was treated under the Liverpool Care Pathway.
She added: 'Jack was the life and soul of the party. He was a true gentleman. As far as I'm concerned, his death was manslaughter. It's barbaric and I don't want any other family to go through what we've had to.'
The 75-year-old, of Childwall, Liverpool, plans to report Dr Coackley and another doctor to the General Medical Council. Dr Coackley, 45, worked with Professor John Ellershaw at the hospice in Liverpool at a time when he was heading the writing of the LCP policy.
One article they published together last year said: 'Futile treatments should . . . be discontinued at this time and consideration should be given to the discontinuation of antibiotics and blood tests.'
Mrs Jones's solicitor, Michael Danby, said: 'This is a particularly sad case as it was entirely preventable. If they had examinedhis chest, they would have diagnosed the infection, and he could have been treated.'
The hospice's lawyer, Dorothy Flower, said it had settled the case to enable Mrs Jones to grieve for her husband, but did not accept liability. 'Some things are done for economic reasons, and a case like this costs a huge amount of money, which would do nobody any good,' she said.
Marie Curie Cancer Care said it could not comment on Mr Jones's case due to patient confidentiality. However, it insists that the Liverpool Care Pathway requires doctors to monitor patients regularly.
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02.09.2009
By Kate Devlin
Sentenced to death on the NHS
Patients with terminal illnesses are being made to die prematurely under an NHS scheme to help end their lives, leading doctors have warned.
In a letter to The Daily Telegraph , a group of experts who care for the terminally ill claim that some patients are being wrongly judged as close to death.
Under NHS guidance introduced across England to help doctors and medical staff deal with dying patients, they can then have fluid and drugs withdrawn and many are put on continuous sedation until they pass away.
But this approach can also mask the signs that their condition is improving, the experts warn.
As a result the scheme is causing a “national crisis” in patient care, the letter states. It has been signed palliative care experts including Professor Peter Millard, Emeritus Professor of Geriatrics, University of London, Dr Peter Hargreaves, a consultant in Palliative Medicine at St Luke’s cancer centre in Guildford, and four others.
“Forecasting death is an inexact science,”they say. Patients are being diagnosed as being close to death “without regard to the fact that the diagnosis could be wrong.
“As a result a national wave of discontent is building up, as family and friends witness the denial of fluids and food to patients.”
The warning comes just a week after a report by the Patients Association estimated that up to one million patients had received poor or cruel care on the NHS.
The scheme, called the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP), was designed to reduce patient suffering in their final hours.
Developed by Marie Curie, the cancer charity, in a Liverpool hospice it was initially developed for cancer patients but now includes other life threatening conditions.
It was recommended as a model by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), the Government’s health scrutiny body, in 2004.
It has been gradually adopted nationwide and more than 300 hospitals, 130 hospices and 560 care homes in England currently use the system.
Under the guidelines the decision to diagnose that a patient is close to death is made by the entire medical team treating them, including a senior doctor.
They look for signs that a patient is approaching their final hours, which can include if patients have lost consciousness or whether they are having difficulty swallowing medication.
However, doctors warn that these signs can point to other medical problems.
Patients can become semi-conscious and confused as a side effect of pain-killing drugs such as morphine if they are also dehydrated, for instance.
When a decision has been made to place a patient on the pathway doctors are then recommended to consider removing medication or invasive procedures, such as intravenous drips, which are no longer of benefit.
If a patient is judged to still be able to eat or drink food and water will still be offered to them, as this is considered nursing care rather than medical intervention.
Dr Hargreaves said that this depended, however, on constant assessment of a patient’s condition.
He added that some patients were being “wrongly” put on the pathway, which created a “self-fulfilling prophecy” that they would die.
He said: “I have been practising palliative medicine for more than 20 years and I am getting more concerned about this “death pathway” that is coming in.
He said that he had personally taken patients off the pathway who went on to live for “significant” amounts of time and warned that many doctors were not checking the progress of patients enough to notice improvement in their condition.
Prof Millard said that it was “worrying” that patients were being “terminally” sedated, using syringe drivers, which continually empty their contents into a patient over the course of 24 hours.
In 2007-08 16.5 per cent of deaths in Britain came about after continuous deep sedation, according to researchers at the Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, twice as many as in Belgium and the Netherlands.
“If they are sedated it is much harder to see that a patient is getting better,” Prof Millard said.
The letter has also been signed by Dr Anthony Cole, the chairman of the Medical Ethics Alliance, Dr David Hill, an anaesthetist, Dowager Lady Salisbury, chairman of the Choose Life campaign and Dr Elizabeth Negus a lecturer in English at Barking University.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said: “People coming to the end of their lives should have a right to high quality, compassionate and dignified care.
“Many people receive excellent care at the end of their lives. We are investing £286 million over the two years to 2011 to support implementation of the End of Life Care Strategy to help improve end of life care for all adults, regardless of where they live.”
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11.10.2009
By Richard Savill
Terminally ill grandmother ‘left to starve’ by doctors
Hazel Fenton, an 80-year-old grandmother who was placed under a controversial care plan and left to “starve to death” after doctors identified her as being terminally ill, only recovered after the intervention of her daughter.
Mrs Fenton, from East Sussex, is still alive and “happy” nine months after doctors declared she would only survive for days, withdrew her antibiotics and denied her artificial feeding, her daughter, Christine Ball, said.
“Without my persistence and pressure I know my mother would be dead now,” she added.
Mrs Fenton, a former private school house mother, had been placed on the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) scheme, which was originally developed as a way to care for cancer patients towards the end of their lives.
However, there has been recent criticism that not only cancer patients but others with terminal illnesses are being made to die prematurely under the NHS scheme.
Miss Ball, who had been looking after her mother before she was admitted to the Conquest hospital, Hastings, East Sussex, on Jan 11, said she had to fight hospital staff for weeks before her mother was taken off the plan and given artificial feeding.
Miss Ball, 42, a carer, from Robertsbridge, East Sussex, said: “My mother was going to be left to starve and dehydrate to death. It really is a subterfuge for legalised euthanasia of the elderly on the NHS. ”
Mrs Fenton was admitted to hospital suffering from pneumonia. Although Mrs Ball acknowledged that her mother was very ill she was “astonished” when a junior doctor told her she was going to be placed on the plan to “make her more comfortable” in her last days.
On Jan 19, Mrs Fenton’s 80th birthday, Mrs Ball said her mother had lost “an awful lot of weight” but was feeling better, and told her she “didn’t want to die”.
But it took another four days to persuade doctors to give her artificial feeding, Miss Ball said.
Mrs Ball said the fight to save her mother had been made harder by the Mental Capacity Act. “I was told that we had no rights, and food and hydration were classed as treatment, which meant they had the right to withhold feeding. It gave a doctor the power to play god with my mother’s life,” she said.
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The council threatening to evict a 106-year-old woman has rejected an 11th-hour chance to keep her care home open.
The family of Louisa Watts has accused the authorities of a ‘ complete lack of humanity’ over its decision to snub an entrepreneur’s offer to cover the home’s costs for a year.
Trevor Beattie said he would fund the care for Mrs Watts and eight other residents after a court backed Wolverhampton council plans to close Underhill House as part of a cuts package.
The businessman made his offer after relatives of Mrs Watts, thought to be Britain’s fifth-oldest woman, said they believed a move would kill her.
But yesterday the council dismissed Mr Beattie’s offer as a short-term solution that would not address the ‘outdated-standard of the building’, which it claims is the main reason behind the closure. The snub angered Mrs Watts’ relatives – and has prompted fresh moves in the long-running legal battle to keep the home open.
Mrs Watts’ son Derek, 76, said: ‘I’m disgusted by the council’s attitude. It shows a complete lack of humanity for my mother and the other elderly people in the home. His offer put a smile on all their faces and gave them hope. This will come as a terrible disappointment to them.’
Yesterday Mrs Watts, a former hospital cleaner, was too tired to comment. Her son said he will break the news of the council’s decision later.
Meanwhile, the council has admitted there is no official requirement for the home to be upgraded and there would be no legal repercussions on it if the work is not done.
Officials had claimed the home failed to meet the national minimum standards for room size and en suite facilities. But the standards do not apply to care homes built before 2002 – Underhill House is 40 years old.
The Commission for Social Care rated the home as ‘good’ after its most recent inspection in 2007. Its closure is part of the council’s £40million savings programme.
Last night it also emerged that Underhill House is being used as a day care centre for 45 people while another centre undergoes a six-month refurbishment to bring it up to modern standards.
Mr Beattie, 50, who founded advertising agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay, lost his 87-year- old mother Ada last year and said the thought that Mrs Watts’ family could face the same ordeal broke his heart.
Yesterday he said: ‘I’m not going to take no for an answer from the council. If they say what is needed to keep the home open, I will do it.
‘The council should be looking for ways to help them live out their years as they want to, not looking for ways to get them out.
‘If you are 106 years you would understand the meaning of the word chivalry. But the council obviously does not.’
The Daily Mail’s Dignity for the Elderly campaign has consistently highlighted the plight of elderly people who are being moved from home to home by local authorities to cut costs.
Last week an injunction preventing the closure of the Underhill House was lifted after a judge at the Court of Appeal in London said reports showed that there was no risk to Mrs Watts being moved to a new care home. Mrs Watts was represented by solicitor Yvonne Hossack, who has already prevented the closure of more than 80 care homes.
Mrs Hossack said she will today apply for a judicial review, a fresh
injunction to stop the residents being moved and an order to force the council to consider properly Mr Beattie’s offer to help.
Sarah Norman, Wolverhampton council’s director for adults and community, said the decision to close Underhill House ‘is not primarily about money’.
She added: ‘It would cost at least £2million to make the necessary alterations, and if we were to carry out the work, the scale of the remodelling required would mean the home would have to close during the works.
‘Therefore, the residents would not be able to remain while any work is carried out. There would then be further disruption for the residents when they were moved back into Underhill once the work is completed.
‘In the longer term, it would also mean the city would be left with a newly refurbished residential home at a time when demand for traditional residential care is falling.’
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Two injured soldiers face having their compensation slashed after Bob Ainsworth won the first stage of his legal battle to claw back their payments.
The Defence Secretary sparked an outcry by launching an Appeal Court bid to cut payouts to the two wounded men and halt their medical pensions.
Yesterday three senior judges partly granted his appeal and ordered that cash payments be reconsidered for Light Dragoon Corporal Anthony Duncan, who was shot during an ambush in Iraq, and Royal Marine Matthew McWilliams who suffered a severe leg fracture during training.
The judges did reject parts of the claim.
In a cutting aside yesterday, one of them noted the moral outcry over Mr Ainsworth's legal fight, observing that he was justified in bringing the case 'at least from a legal point of view'.
The Appeal Court battle centred on whether additional complications and pain caused by medical treatment should count towards compensation for soldiers' injuries.
Cpl Anthony Duncan, 27, was shot in the thigh in Iraq in 2005.
Eleven separate operations led to serious complications.
He was originally awarded £9,250 for the fracture under the injury tariffs system, but he eventually received £46,000 and a lifelong medical pension, to reflect the complications.
His original award of £8,250 was raised to £28,750 to reflect his wider problems.
Mr Ainsworth maintained that only initial injuries should have counted, and that the set tariff payments under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme already took account of the affects of subsequent treatment.
Yesterday the judges agreed that 'immediate consequences' of any treatment - such as scars - should not lead to extra compensation.
But crucially the judges said if treatment carried a recognised risk of serious complications, which then materialised causing an 'independent illness or injury', the victim is entitled to extra compensation.
The AFCS has become bitterly controversial ever since the Daily Mail's campaign on behalf of paratrooper Ben Parkinson first highlighted the scheme's grave shortcomings.
Lord Justice Keene said the ruling was a partial success for Bob Ainsworth and ordered both claims to be reconsidered.
Officials will now have to apply the judgment's findings in deciding whether to claw back money from the two soldiers.
Meanwhile, the family of a Royal Marine killed during a raid on a Taliban stronghold are to sue the MoD accusing them of negligence and excessive secrecy over his death.
Lance Corporal Matthew Ford, 30, was shot dead during an attack in Helmand Province in 2007, and it is believed he may have been the victim of 'friendly fire'.
His body was left behind when the Marines retreated.
Now L/Cpl Ford's family have launched a battle to uncover more details of the incident.
His mother Joan said the MoD had failed to answer basic questions about how and why her son had died.
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