Public health quango seeks £250K PR team as hospitals shed jobs... while sweary staff get 'behaviour codes'
A healthcare watchdog plans to spend nearly a quarter of a million pounds on new communications staff – as hospitals prepare to shed thousands of jobs. The Care Quality Commission, which regulates health and social care in England, is advertising for seven roles, including a digital communications content manager and technical web developer.
The quango, which had its powers increased by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley late last year despite a cull of similar bodies, is advertising seven permanent jobs at a combined cost of £231,444 a year at a time when frontline healthcare services face cuts worth billions. The positions, advertised on the NHS Jobs website, will be based at the commission's Islington HQ in North London.
Successful candidates will report to director of marketing and communications Jill Finney, who is thought to be on a six-figure salary package.
Charlotte Linacre, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: 'Spending almost a quarter of a million on pointless posts is ridiculous.'
But a spokesman for the CQC stressed it had to 'ensure good communications with the 25,000-plus health and social care organisations we regulate, and respond to questions from the media'.
Meanwhile, staff at Greater Manchester's largest hospital trust could have 'good behaviour' codes included in their contracts in light of a television expose. Bosses at Pennine Acute Trust are carrying out an investigation after undercover reporters captured nurses at North Manchester General Hospital shouting and swearing about patients as part of a Channel 4 documentary.
They have revealed the investigation is progressing quickly - and have vowed to report any workers found to have behaved in an 'unacceptable' manner to professional disciplinary bodies. They are also considering including good behaviour codes in job descriptions and contracts - to outline standards to workers.
Chief executive John Saxby said he had reviewed the footage, aired on the Dispatches programme, and said it highlighted some of the 'relentless pressures' on staff.
This month the trust has experienced a 10 per cent increase in accident and emergency attendances and a 12 per cent rise in emergency admissions - described by Mr Saxby as 'unsustainable'.
Speaking at a trust board meeting, he added: 'The programme did highlight some of the relentless pressures at North Manchester. 'Clearly we have got to do some work with primary care trusts and GP consortia about how we can reduce the tidal wave of patients coming in.
'The programme did show examples of unacceptable behaviour - this is currently under investigation. 'If we need to refer any incidents to the professional disciplinary body then that will be done.' Mr Saxby said that the families of every patient featured on the documentary had now been contacted.
He revealed that the trust was also investigating a number of additional complaints received from people about care received at Pennine hospitals in light of the show.
He said the programme showed they need to work on reducing bed-blocking - where patients spent longer in hospital because they have nowhere else to go.
But he said an allegation that patient care was being compromised to meet targets had been investigated and no evidence had been found to support it. He said the claim was 'entirely unfounded'.
The trust has also invited the health watchdog the Care Quality Commission to visit to review its standards of care following the programme.
The Dispatches: Hospitals Undercover documentary showed two undercover reporters, one posing as a trust volunteer and one as a porter, covertly filming and recording aspects of patient care and hospital life including conversations with and between members of staff.
Footage was also shown of nurses swearing about a patient and watching and shouting at an elderly lady in pain who was struggling to sit up. Another elderly lady, who had problems eating, is also filmed being shouted at by a nurse for not eating quickly enough.
Detractors often speak of the fragility of the British monarchy and predict its demise but on every great Royal occasion we see the falsity of that. The huge enthusiasm with which Prince William and his bride were greeted by a million onlookers in London would surely be the envy of any politician.
Winston Churchill once said: "Not for a thousand years has Britain seen the campfires of an invader". One consequence is that the British army has retained its traditions. And the splendid uniforms are part of that. We see in the picture above the particularly splendid dress uniform of the Blues & Royals worn by Prince Harry.
It might almost be a comic opera uniform but there is nothing comic about the regiment concerned. It sees active service in war zones and in fact traces its origins all the way back to Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army. And Prince Harry is no chocolate soldier. Both he and William are members of the British armed forces and Harry is particularly devoted to the army. He loved his posting to the dirt and dust of Afghanistan. And the Blues and Royals is the regiment he joined when he enlisted in the British army.
Prince William, heir in due course to the throne of 16 countries, also enlisted initially in the Blues and Royals but now serves in the Royal Air Force. In the picture above he wears the uniform of the Irish Guards, of which he is honorary Colonel. By wearing that uniform he honours the regiment concerned. Guardsmen will be proud to see THEIR Colonel so prominently honoured.
And also above we see the rather splendid 1902 State Landau in which the couple left Westminster Abbey. I gather that it is not the most comfortable of rides but it gives admirers a good view of those in the carriage and enables them to be clearly seen when they wave back.
It all does my old monarchist heart good. And I was pleased to see the Queen looking well after her recent minor health scare -- JR.
The Entrepreneurs' Princess
From across the pond, I have watched with interest the debate and speculation on the significance of Prince William's wedding to longtime girlfriend Kate Middleton.
Much has been made of the fact that Kate is a "commoner"; her mother and father started out their careers working as a flight attendant and flight dispatcher for British Airways, respectively. Yet she has known many of the privileges of aristocracy, because her parents built a multimillion-dollar business that supported elite educations for her siblings and her.
Some have asked if Kate will be a "people's princess," in the mold of Prince William's late mother, Diana. But Kate and her family actually embody a noble, if relatively modern, tradition of their own, a tradition of bettering oneself and one's family while improving the lot of society at the same time.
The tradition that Kate and her parents and siblings embody so well is that of entrepreneurship. For centuries in Britain, commercial activities were looked down upon by many in the aristocracy, whose wealth lay in landownership and who would not deign to dabble in trade. This week's wedding can be seen as the culmination of a long process of elevating the social status of entrepreneurship itself.
The story of the Middletons' rise to wealth has been told, but its significance and its implications for British culture and public policy have been little explored.
When Kate was five, her mother, like many aspiring entrepreneurs, saw a niche that could be filled to help others in her situation. As described on the website of the family business, PartyPieces.co.uk, "Carole Middleton founded Party Pieces in 1987 after finding it difficult to source fun, simple party products for her children's parties."
Somewhat like successful American firms from Microsoft to Google that had their beginnings in residential garages, Party Pieces started out in a shed in the Middletons' garden. There, mail orders were taken for boxes with pre-selected party favors to fit a certain theme.
The Middleton's business really took off with the advent of the Internet, and today, one can go on the web site and order plates, cups and napkins themed from Barbie to the Transformers. If one of the royal duties is to ensure the happiness of subjects, Kate's family has given her a head start by bringing joy to so many British parents and children.
And happiness through individual initiative is something Kate could encourage once she joins the royal family, by pointing to her family's entrepreneurial background and championing Britain's innovative firms, many of which have origins similar to that of Party Pieces. Margaret Thatcher has written that "however pervasive an enterprise culture is, most people are not born entrepreneurs." But the Middletons, through the story of their success before Kate even met William, will serve as a constant reminder of what enterprising men and women can achieve.
Over the three decades that span the lifetimes of Kate and Prince William, the commercial classes have attained newfound respect in British culture. The idea of ordinary people building successful businesses—a concept often called the "American Dream"—is now idealized in British programs such as BBC's "Dragons' Den."
If the royal family were to utilize Kate's background to help encourage and spread this culture of entrepreneurship, the effects in Britain—and possibly much of the world—could be incredible. The people of the United Kingdom would be much richer, and not just in material terms. "Earned success gives people a sense of meaning about their lives," writes the social scientist Arthur Brooks, who is president of the American Enterprise Institute think tank.
Indeed, studies show that in both the U.S. and U.K., many blue- and white-collar workers prefer to have the opportunity to advance, even if this means a less equal income distribution. A study of thousands of British employees by Andrew Clark, associate chair of the Paris School of Economics, found that measures of these workers' happiness actually rose as their demographic group's average income increased relative to their own.
These findings suggests that as people see members of their peer group gain wealth—even surpassing them—it gives them hope that they can improve their lot as well. As Mr. Clark put it in his study of British workers, "income inequality . . . need not be harmful for economic growth" if it "contains an aspect of opportunity."
The Middletons symbolize the opportunity that exists in a free-market system for those who take advantage of it. It is worth noting that they founded Party Pieces during the Thatcher era, when the Conservative government focused on lifting barriers to entrepreneurs through lower taxation, less regulation and privatization. Coincidentally or not, the year Kate's parents started their business, 1987, was also the year that their longtime employer British Airways was sold off, with shares of stock going to its workers.
Even though Kate's family has long been in the spotlight due to her relationship with Prince William, recent comments by Carole Middleton show that she still sympathizes with the small entrepreneur. In an interview on the Party Pieces website, she says: "I still work through to the early hours to hit a deadline and never take our success for granted."
The union of Prince William and Kate has been called a modern royal marriage, and in many ways it is. But it will also fulfill the traditional function of merger of families in a new way. When this couple says their "I dos," the royal family will officially be wed to the dreams and aspirations of millions of entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom and throughout the world.
It is absurd to have lower standards for herbal medicine than for ethical medicines
New laws come into force on Saturday that are aimed at protecting consumers from potentially harmful herbal medicines. Under a European directive, herbal medicines on sale in shops will have to be registered. Products must meet safety, quality and manufacturing standards, and come with information outlining possible side-effects.
The Medicines and Health care Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said there had been 211 applications for approval, with 105 granted so far and the rest still under consideration. Some herbal practitioners fear the move could threaten their businesses.
Commonly used ingredients already registered include echinacea, used against colds, St John's wort, used by some for depression and anxiety, and valerian, claimed as a natural remedy for insomnia. Research conducted for the MHRA in 2009 showed that 26% of UK adults had taken a herbal medicine in the past two years.
The agency said it is hoping to promote a more cautious approach to using herbal medicines after the study findings found that more than half of people – 58% – believe the products are safe because they are natural.
The agency said there had been a number of health alerts over unlicensed herbal medicines over the years. In February the MHRA issued a warning about the herbal weight loss product Herbal Flos Lonicerae (Herbal Xenicol) Natural Weight Loss Formula after tests showed it contained more than twice the prescribed dose of a banned substance.
Life-extending prostate cancer pill could be available in a year
A pill that gives men with advanced prostate cancer an extra four months of life has come a step closer to being approved for use in Britain.
Zytiga is a hormonal drug that cuts off the source of testosterone, which makes prostate cancer cells grow. Standard hormone treatments for prostate cancer block production of male hormones in the testes, but recent research shows that tumours can produce their own supply, as does the adrenal gland. Zytiga blocks all testosterone generation.
It can be used in up to 80 per cent of patients with aggressive drug-resistant prostate cancer who have run out of options after exhausting a range of anti-hormonal therapies and chemotherapies.
The drug is not yet available for use on the NHS, but makers Johnson & Johnson have applied for licensing approval in Europe that could be granted by the end of this year. That approval looks more likely after U.S. watchdogs at the Food and Drug Administration gave the green light to the drug there nearly two months earlier than expected, following its success in trials.
A trial on almost 800 patients in 13 countries found those taking the drug combined with conventional steroid treatment survived for about 15 months, compared with 11 months on steroids alone. The study was cut short so all patients could be given Zytiga – clinical name abiraterone acetate – after independent monitors determined a clear survival benefit.
Around 250,000 men in the UK are living with prostate cancer, with 37,000 new cases diagnosed each year. It is the biggest cancer killer after lung cancer, with 10,000 men dying from the disease each year.
Zytiga was discovered by British scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research. Professor Johann de Bono, of the ICR said: ‘This news will be incredibly important to prostate cancer patients and their families.’
Coalition accused over £21m education consultants' bill
A huge education bureaucracy and they still need outsiders to do important tasks?
The Coalition has been accused of wasting at least £21m on education consultants, just as school budgets are cut in the downturn. Teachers’ leaders claimed the payments had been made to just five companies in the last year, despite a Government pledge to slash Whitehall waste.
In some cases, they received the money to oversee the setting up of the Coalition’s flagship academies and “free schools” – institutions run by parents’ groups, charities and private companies independent of local council control.
The National Union of Teachers has now written to Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, condemning the payments, which it says has been made “at a time when school budgets are being squeezed to the limits”.
But the Department for Education hit back today, saying cash for consultants had been dramatically cut this year compared with fees paid under Labour.
The NUT analysed Government spending between April 2010 and February this year and found some £21.7m went on five companies, including EC Harris and Tribal Education.
But the union claimed that consultancy fees paid by the DfE and its associated quangos were likely to be much higher when other private companies are added.
The Government’s school buildings quango, Partnership for Schools, paid a further £5m to just three firms, it emerged, although most of this was for the purchase of land and buildings associated with the free schools policy.
The NUT also said 100 DfE staff were now employed to work on free schools – equivalent to around four per cent of junior civil servants in the department – at a cost of almost £4m.
In a speech to the union's annual conference in Harrogate on Tuesday, Christine Blower, NUT general secretary, said the money was being spent as millions was slashed from the education budget, including a huge reduction in spending on school buildings and Sure Start children’s centres. She is calling on the Government to reveal how much of this cash has been spent specifically on fees to set up free schools.
David Cameron promised a huge purge on consultants and management fees which ballooned under Labour.
A spokesman for the DfE insisted that overall spending on consultants in the last year was likely to be significantly down on the year before. “Spend on consultants has been slashed under the Coalition Government,” he said.
“In 2009-10 it was over £74m but when final figures for the last financial year are published spend is expected to be significantly reduced. Even then, much of the spend will be leftover commitments from the last administration that are being wound up.”
"This has been done by introducing strict rules on spending ensuring value for money for the taxpayer. We are sure that Christine Blower will be pleased with this huge reduction.”
Yesterday's show of British institutions at their best hides years of political vandalism that wrecked our constitution
Although this country remains in serious economic trouble, two of our greatest institutions (the monarchy and the Armed Forces) proved yesterday that Britain can still put on a brilliant show when required and captivate a global TV audience. And for a few days at least, London has seemed like the centre of the world again.
At such times, it is customary for the British to feel a self-congratulatory warm glow about the enduring security of our great institutions and how fortunate we are to have such a strong constitutional structure in this country. The truth, I’m afraid, is very different. Underneath all the pomp, our constitution is badly broken.
Yesterday’s wedding obscures a painful fact: the British constitution — which took centuries to evolve — has been all but wrecked by just a few decades of vandalism inflicted by opportunistic politicians from all the main parties. They have been assisted by liberal judges, bien pensant academics and Leftist commentators intent on demolishing a system that actually worked rather well.
Their malevolent handiwork has led to the complete transformation of our constitutional and governing arrangements — with predictably calamitous results.
Britain is no longer self-governing. Huge powers have been transferred to Brussels and our national sovereignty has been signed away to Europe. Many of our laws and regulations are not really made by Parliament in London. They come direct from Brussels and are merely rubber-stamped by supine MPs.
Take employment law, one of the areas where the over-weening EU has been most aggressive. Since Britain signed up to the Social Chapter there has been a slew of anti-enterprise impositions on businesses and an explosion in workers’ rights and the number of costly industrial tribunals. This discourages hiring and the job creation that is so badly needed after a deep recession.
And when it comes to the massive immigration that comes with the EU’s open borders, myriad health and safety rules and environmental edicts (with endless interfering regulations on recycling), Parliament is also powerless.
Even Britain’s right to choose something as basic as its own weights and measures has been lost.Then there’s the sick condition of the ‘United’ Kingdom and the devolution debacle. Separate parliaments or assemblies were given to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland by Labour because it was claimed that this would be enough to satisfy the demands of the separatist local politicians. But already those separatists are back demanding (and getting) more powers.
Although the majority population in England does not have its own parliament, it is forced to subsidise the Scots and Welsh — leading to greatly unfair disparities in the provision of public services.
For example, in Scotland there is free care for the elderly, a long list of NHS-supplied drugs which are denied to English patients as well as free tuition for Scottish and EU students (but, unsurprisingly, not for any English youngsters who might want to study there). Devolution has badly loosened the ties that once bound the UK so strongly together.
The ‘reform’ of the second chamber was a similar Blairite disaster. The ancient House of Lords that combined hereditary peers with law Lords and some appointed experts was not perfect, but it worked well for centuries as a revising chamber. It was swept away, and the place stuffed with political appointees. Reform created a flawed system that was worse than the one it replaced.
At the same time, another great institution — the senior civil service — was degraded and politicised by those in power desperate to alter its composition and make it more politically correct.
However, the mandarin class is not daft and has responded by switching its allegiance to the EU (often taking Europe’s side in arguments with ministers). The civil servants realise that real power now often lies with Brussels bureaucrats and unaccountable European judges.
The recent controversy over prisoners’ voting rights shows their cynical calculation is right. Our elected representatives in the Commons voted against the enfranchising of murderers, but then unelected European judges over-ruled them. Politicians may talk about asserting Parliament’s supremacy, but this is mere posturing and David Cameron knows it.
Meanwhile, our judges in our new Supreme Court (another Blair folly) connive with Europe in its daily interference in our democracy. This follows New Labour foolishly incorporating into law the European Court’s human rights laws. As a result, unaccountable judges use the Court’s laws to issue gagging orders against the Press as they try to create their own privacy laws — something that should be the domain of Parliament.
All these huge changes were presented to voters as being in keeping with the British tradition of a steadily evolving constitution that adapts to new circumstances while keeping the traditional underpinnings intact. But that was a lie.
When Britain joined the European Union — or the European Economic Community as it then was in 1973 — this country suffered an historic loss of power. Under the terms of the Treaty of Rome, for the first time since Henry VIII refused to accept the Pope’s authority, a foreign body was placed above our national Parliament and the Crown.
Until that point, the underlying assumption had been clear. Britain — with a constitutional monarchy, an independent Parliament, accountable law courts and a robust, free press — governed itself. It was on these rocks that our security and great prosperity were built.
But then things started to change. Losing our empire and super-power status in the years after World War II produced something akin to a collective nervous breakdown in parts of the British establishment. For much of the ruling class, the idea of throwing our lot in with the Europeans was seen as the only answer to our problems. Many honourable people (including a misguided Margaret Thatcher) were deceived. What was originally a free trade organisation rapidly became an anti-democratic supra-national monster.
But the most fervent Europhiles — such as Tony Blair — were very cunning. They realised that to make Britain more European they would have to dismantle steadily the traditional structures of government and erode this country’s sense of its own distinctive institutions. This was done under the banner of ‘modernisation’ and ‘Cool Britannia’. Hence, we were given devolution based on the European model, European human rights law was incorporated into British law and there were attempts to ditch the pound and replace it with the euro.
Modernisers such as Nick Clegg have since taken up where Blair left off, seeking to impose all sorts of unnecessary changes to the character of our national life.
The most recent attack has focused on the traditional voting system for elections. Next Thursday is the referendum on whether to replace the traditional ‘first past the post’ system with AV, a system that will make coalitions, where politicians do deals with each other to stay in power, more likely. Mercifully, opinion polls suggest common sense will prevail and voters will decide to keep the traditional electoral system that has served this country so well for years.
Yet even if Clegg is snubbed by voters over AV, he won’t give up and will immediately begin planning his next piece of constitutional vandalism. The House of Lords is in his sights — he wants an elected Lords because it would give the Lib Dems more seats and more power.
It is quite extraordinary that a Tory Prime Minister has allowed the Lib Dems to embark on this wrecking spree — when his own Conservative Party supposedly stands for the defence of the constitution. Yet David Cameron has allowed Clegg his cherished AV referendum and is helping him gerrymander the Lords to the Lib Dems’ advantage.
Indeed, what is most deeply troubling is that none of the political parties seems prepared to defend the little that is left of our constitution, or to set about reclaiming what has been surrendered.
That means that when the inevitable sad day comes and the Queen — who personifies the bulwark defence of this country’s institutions and traditions — is no longer with us, Britain will be in treacherous waters.
Make no mistake: the monarchy itself will be the next target of modernisers and republicans demanding radical change. Who will there be to stop them as they embark on their final big battle in their war to kill off the British constitution?
"She's not a celebrity usually known for her sense of style. And today Daybreak presenter Kate Garraway made something of a fashion blunder as she decided to show her support for the Royal Wedding by stepping out in a plunging Union Jack maxi dress.
The 43-year-old presenter looked delighted with her patriotic outfit as she arrived at the ITV studios this morning.
However, Daybreak's Entertainment Editor Garraway later tweeted that ITV bosses had ruled the dress was 'too much' for her to wear on air.
17% more special requests for treatment as NHS rations care
Doctors are being forced to make more special requests for treatment for their patients as NHS managers try to cut costs, a new study suggests.
The number of requests for procedures that are not normally funded – including infertility services, weight-loss surgery and drugs to protect against blindness – has increased by 17 per cent over the past two years. At the same time, however, the proportion of such requests being approved has fallen by 22 per cent.
It provides the latest evidence that NHS managers are increasingly rationing treatment in order to balance the books and contain demand, particularly as they come under pressure to make £20billion in efficiency savings by 2015.
Meanwhile David Cameron again came under pressure at Prime Minister’s Questions on the subject of health, with several MPs challenging him on figures showing that hospital waiting times are rising.
The new investigation by GP, a trade journal, looked at the number of “individual patient funding requests” made by family doctors or hospital consultants in recent years. These are made when a clinician believes that their patient needs a particular procedure or drug, but managers at the local Primary Care Trust do not normally fund it even if it is recommended by Nice, the advisory body.
According to the results of responses to Freedom of Information requests by 103 PCTs, the number of requests rose from 53,000 to 62,000 between 2008-09 and 2010-11, an increase of 17 per cent. At the same time, the proportion approved fell from 59 per cent to 46 per cent, a drop of 22 per cent.
Detailed figures disclosed by the PCTs show that as many as a fifth of the requests were for IVF treatment for childless women and about a tenth were for drugs to treat age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. A further tenth were for bariatric surgery for the obese.
Neil Churchill, the chief executive of Asthma UK, said: “All patients should be entitled to get drugs that Nice has approved and which doctors think would benefit them. It is simply not acceptable if PCTs are restricting drugs in these circumstances and patients feel they have to campaign for funding.”
Susan Seenan, of the patient group Infertility Network UK, said: “Refusing to fund treatment for couples suffering from infertility flies in the face of good clinical guidance and it is high time that PCTs realised the impact which infertility has on patients.”
Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS Medical Director, said: “Decisions on the appropriate treatments should be made by clinicians in the local NHS in line with NICE guidance. We are working with the Colleges and surgical specialty associations to identify what effective operations the NHS should purchase and which ineffective procedures we should be withdrawing from. This provides the opportunity to direct taxpayers' money towards effective rather than ineffective treatments.”
In the Commons, Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, asked why waiting times for treatment and in A&E were rising and blamed it on the controversial plans to reform the NHS. “One of the reasons why waiting times have gone up is because you're diverting billions of pounds away from patient care into this costly reorganisation.”
Mr Cameron replied: “That's simply not the case. If you look at outpatient waiting times they actually fell in the last month so you're simply wrong about that, as you usually are.”
After John Healey, Labour's shadow health secretary, claimed the NHS is starting to "go backwards", Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, wrote back to say: "I take exception to this statement, and would caution you against talking the NHS down in this way."
When Suzanne Franklin fell pregnant, she was at a loss as to how she would eat for two. The 23-year-old had suffered from extreme food allergies for year from eggs to dairy and fruit and vegetables.
Doctors warned her that pregnancy would make the symptoms worse but that antihistamines could harm her baby.
But Ms Franklin knew she wasn’t allergic to McDonald’s burgers - so she ate a Big Mac burger everyday throughout her pregnancy. Any worries about her unusual diet affecting her baby’s growth were unfounded - as she has given birth to her own 10Ib 2oz whopper.
Miss Franklin said: ‘All those burgers definitely didn’t do him any harm. It was the only thing I could eat safely during my pregnancy, so I just lived on them. ‘When Harry was born and the doctors told me that he weighed over 10Ib’s I just couldn’t believe it. ‘I was worried that I wasn’t getting enough nutrients for me and the baby - but Harry definitely proved that wrong.
‘The doctor who scanned me at 20 weeks told me that I must be doing something right as he was so big and healthy - but I never expected him to be that big and neither did they. The doctors expected him to be around 8Ibs.’
Miss Franklin, who lives with partner Paul Wilson, 27, a dental technician, in Dudley, West Midlands, has suffered from extreme food allergies since she was two-years-old. She said: ‘I ate a chocolate covered peanut when I was two years old and it sent my body into anaphylactic shock and I had to be rushed straight to hospital. Doctors told my parents I was lucky to be alive.’
Miss Franklin was diagnosed with a severe nut allergy and she had to carry an adrenaline pen around with her at all times.
But it wasn’t until she was 15 that her allergies became more extreme. She ate a kiwi fruit and her throat closed up, leaving her unable to breathe. She said: ‘I couldn’t breathe, but luckily mum could see what was happening to me and she called an ambulance straight away.
‘But then a week later the same thing happened when I was eating a strawberry and tests showed that I was allergic to eggs, tea, alcohol, rice, oils, fish, and all fruit and vegetables.
‘I became absolutely terrified of eating, as I just seemed to be allergic to everything. For weeks I just lived on bread and water, and I dropped two stone in weight.’
But Miss Franklin discovered she could eat Big Mac burgers - without cheese or salad, so she began to eat them most days.
She was so allergic to other foods that she had to cook dinner separately from her partner and store all her food in airtight containers in the fridge.
She said: ‘I was just desperate to keep eating so that the baby could grow, so I just forced down burger after burger each day.
‘Paul would eat a salad, and I would just look on enviously. The lack of nutrients in my diet meant that I picked up one cold after another, but I was advised not to take any multivitamins in case they triggered an allergic reaction too.
‘I wondered if eating so many burgers would affect the baby, but luckily my 20 week scan showed that the baby was developing fine. It was such a relief.’
By the time Miss Franklin went into labour on Christmas Day, she had gained four stone. She said: ‘My bump had just kept growing and growing - Paul kept joking that it was all the Big Mac’s I was eating.’
Harry was born at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley, weighing a whopping 10Ib2. Miss Franklin added: ‘I just couldn’t believe it when the doctors told me what he weighed.’
Baby Harry is now three months old - and he has shown signs of inheriting Miss Franklin’s allergies too. He is already allergic to seven different types of milk.
She said: ‘I had hoped that Harry wouldn’t be allergic to all the foods that I am, but it looks as though he may have inherited some of them. But at least he won’t be allergic to burgers.'
Fewer British pupils in private schools as fees rise
Fewer children are being sent to independent schools after average fees climbed above £13,000 for the first time, it emerged today.
Figures show the number of pupils in private education dropped for the third year in a row as fee rises outstripped increases in earnings.
Data from the Independent Schools Council shows the average parent is being forced to pay £13,179 in annual fees this year – a 4.6 per cent increase in 12 months. More families also need help to cover the cost of private education.
The price hike could be fuelling a drop in overall enrolments among families already reeling from the recession and the Coalition’s austerity drive. Figures revealed a 0.5 per cent fall in British children this year, although the number of pupils from overseas jumped sharply.
Last night, school leaders insisted the figures – published as part of an annual census – represented a “good result” for the private sector in the face of a huge squeeze in family income.
They said fee rises were kept to their second lowest level in 17 years as they made “significant cutbacks” to building programmes to ease the financial blow for parents. It was also claimed that the overall drop in pupil numbers was not as severe as the fall witnessed during the last recession in the early 90s.
This suggests many parents are still reluctant to pull children out of private education in favour of state schools after 13 years of Labour.
David Lyscom, ISC chief executive, said: “ISC independent schools are showing remarkable resilience against a difficult economic background, reflecting the high quality of education that our schools offer to parents, and the value for money that this represents.”
The ISC said 1,228 schools completed its census in 2010 and 2011. Among these schools, like-for-like pupil numbers dropped by 0.2 per cent to 505,368, although the fall in British pupils was 0.5 per cent.
Overall, there were 506,500 children in 1,234 schools affiliated to the ISC. Figures also showed:
* Some 14 schools linked to the ISC closed in the last 12 months – double the number a year earlier;
* The number of pupils coming from abroad increased by 5.5 per cent, with 24,554 foreign children now in British independent schools;
* Foreign pupils make up almost 4.9 per cent of places, compared with 4.5 per cent a year earlier, with China, Hong Kong and Germany sending the most;
* The average annual fee increased from £12,558 to £13,179, while day fees rose from £10,713 to £11,208 and boarding costs increased from £24,009 to £25,152;
* In total, some 25 schools charged more than £30,000 in fees;
* A third of pupils are now eligible for fee assistance – a rise of 2.2 per cent – with schools spending £260m on means-tested bursaries.
Mr Lyscom said the rise in the number of poor pupils admitted to ISC schools suggested the Government’s university admissions policy – which appears to prioritise those from state schools – was misguided.
“The fact that over £250 million is now being paid by our schools to children who need financial support must make the Government think carefully about its approach to university admissions,” he said. “It would be very wrong to discriminate against these pupils when they apply to university just because they went to a particular type of school. Our schools help promote social mobility; our statistics show how socially diverse they may be.”
Behaviour "not good enough" at one in five secondaries
Even by Britain's low standards
More than 550 secondary schools in England are failing to ensure a good level of order in classrooms, amid concerns teachers do not have the power to control pupils.
In some areas behaviour fell below targets in 75 per cent of secondaries, according to the latest data compiled by Ofsted, the schools inspectorate.
Teachers have warned MPs that the level of discipline in schools is worse than official estimates because head teachers cheat inspectors by suspending unruly pupils or bringing in supply teachers during their visits.
A separate report to be published this week by the National Association of Head Teachers will say the conduct of pupils' families is little better, with one in ten head teachers having been assaulted by a parent or carer in the past five years.
The figures released by Ofsted showed that 82 per cent of secondaries across the country had good or outstanding behaviour – the top two levels of a four-point scale – a slight rise on last year's 79 per cent.
But the statistics showed there is a need for improvement in 18 per cent of secondaries, and that in areas such as Kingston-upon-Hull and Knowsley, Merseyside, discipline at just one in four schools was rated good or better.
Last week the NASUWT union accused heads of brushing low-level bad behaviour under the carpet instead of doling out punishments for fear of attracting greater scrutiny from parents, governors and local authorities.
Earlier this month staff at a school in Lancashire were reduced to a walkout over pupil indiscipline.
The government has pledged to hand teachers more authority by allowing them to search pupils for banned items, give teachers anonymity when facing allegations of misconduct and remove the need for schools to give 24 hours' notice of detentions.
There is also concern about the danger posed to heads by aggressive parents, often resulting when a pupil is excluded from school.
Later this week the National Association of Head Teachers will claim as many as ten per cent of heads have been attacked by parents, including cases of victims being hit with chairs and subjected to serious kicking attacks.
Nick Gibb, the schools minister said: "We remain concerned that nearly 1 in 5 secondary schools behaviour is judged as being no better than satisfactory ... We support teachers to tackle poor behaviour in our schools because until we deal with the persistent low level disruption prevalent in too many classrooms, we will not see the rise in academic standards demanded by parents."
A Department for Education spokesperson added that there was no excuse for aggressive behaviour towards school staff.
An Ofsted spokesperson said: "Schools receive no more than two days notice of an inspection. This means it is easier for inspectors to see schools as they really are. There is very little evidence that schools try to mislead Ofsted, and even for those that may wish to they do not have time to make arrangements which might mislead inspectors about standards of behaviour."
British political correctness allows Indian woman to work only a quarter of the days she was paid for
A woman police constable who took 848 sick days in six years resigned less than a week before she could have been sacked for misconduct. Hina Parekh, 43, made just 11 arrests in her career.
The Hindu WPC, who was born in India, claimed racist abuse and bullying in the Metropolitan Police was making her unwell and was signed off with depression and stress.
But her bosses said she was failing to pull her weight after only turning up to work on 292 days out of a potential 1,140, and put her on a ‘performance improvement’ regime.
Hinah Parekh, 43, claimed that racist abuse from fellow police officers was making her unwell and signed off with depression and stress. She managed an average of only five shifts a month from her job at Belgravia police station in Central London.
However she did not take her case to an employment tribunal and senior officers finally launched disciplinary proceedings. They found that she had worked 327 days out of a potential 1,175 since 2006. Ms Parekh then resigned before she could be sacked.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman today confirmed that Ms Parekh left the police after she learned she faced disciplinary proceedings for unsatisfactory attendance.
He said: 'A police constable from Westminster borough who had been subject to unsatisfactory performance and attendance proceedings, resigned from service during the past 12 months.'
Reports suggest that senior officers did not act sooner because they feared they would become embroiled in a damaging race row.
Peter Smyth, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation said Ms Parekh's case should have gone through a process within the force to establish whether she was suitable for sick pay. He said: 'What should have happened after six months is she should have been considered for half pay, then after 12 months go on no pay.
'Her immediate line manager would be responsible for this, then it goes up a chain. 'There is an appeals process as well.
I am not sure how much interest the Royal wedding today is attracting in the USA but the TV audience is expected to be 2 billion so I thought the backgrounder from Australia below may be of some interest. Australia is a monarchy too, of course, and Prince William will be Australia's monarch in due course
The last princess whose wedding I watched on telly ended up dying in car crash in Paris. So for Catherine Middleton’s sake, I won’t be tuning in to the Royal Wedding in London tonight.
However, there is much to interest those who are concerned not with dresses and fairytales but with the future of an important institution. For on the fate of Prince William’s marriage could rest the future of the British Crown.
Whatever one’s feelings about the monarchy, for a long time the royal family was respected as a good role model. This is because since the mid-nineteenth century the House of Windsor, nee Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, self-consciously promoted itself as a typical, traditional British family.
When Victoria became Queen, the British Crown, together with the rest of aristocracy, had a reputation for excess to rival their counterparts in pre-revolutionary France. To build the esteem of the monarchy, Victoria and her politically astute husband, Prince Albert, tied its fortunes to the rising force in British society.
The royals won favour with the masses by aping the respectable social values of ‘moral middle class,’ which the Industrial Revolution and Protestant religion summoned into existence. Out went debauchery and in came ideals such as duty to family and nation.
Queen Elizabeth is rightly held in high regard (even among Australian republicans) because, in word and deed, she has continued to model the exemplary behaviour expected of royalty. However, the reputation of the monarchy has been tarnished in recent years, mainly due to the breakdown of the marriages of both the queen’s sons.
One hundred and fifty years of PR was destroyed when Diana gave an unprecedented television interview in the mid-1990s and told the world about confronting Charles over his straying ways. Charles’ insouciant response – ‘Do you seriously expect me to be the first Prince of Wales in history not to have a mistress?’ – was hardly the prerogative of a modern-day British king-in-waiting.
This might have sufficed in more deferential times when the media ignored royal indiscretions. But in this intrusive age, exposing the gap between private acts and the public image exposed the Crown to ridicule and charges of hypocrisy. This is ironic given the permissive attitudes to personal morality that otherwise prevail today. Contemporary society expects royalty to model values that the rest of society is free to disregard!
Nevertheless, one senses that Prince William has grasped the double standard and understands that the monarchy would struggle to survive another scandalous divorce.
Having realised he will be held to the high standards of the past (and keen not to repeat the heartache of his parents), William appears determined to have a ‘Royal Wedding’ in the conventional Victorian senses of both those terms. After a long courtship that included a shared university education, it seems he is marrying for life a woman he loves and respects.
I guess this is a fairytale of sorts. But if ‘Will and Kate’ can use their long and happy marriage to help shore up the foundations of the monarchy, their political achievement will rival that of their famous ancestors ‘Vicki and Bert.’
The above is a press release from the Centre for Independent Studies, dated 29 April. Enquiries to cis@cis.org.au. Snail mail: PO Box 92, St Leonards, NSW, Australia 1590.
Horror! British Prime Minister calls woman "Dear"
Above is the lesbian person whom he called "Dear". I think he deserves a medal for politeness beyond the call of duty.
David Cameron was last night facing accusations of sexism and calls to apologise after he told a shadow minister to ‘calm down, dear’ during Prime Minister’s Questions.
Senior Labour politicians reacted furiously to the throwaway remark – mimicking a car insurance advert starring Michael Winner – which came in response to noisy heckles from frontbencher Angela Eagle.
The party’s deputy leader Harriet Harman accused Mr Cameron of an ‘outdated and sexist attitude to women’ and a senior Labour source said: ‘He should certainly apologise.’
The row blew up after Miss Eagle, Parliament’s most prominent lesbian MP, interjected as the Prime Minister defended the Coalition’s plans to reform the NHS, arguing they were backed even by former Labour MP Howard Stoate, a practising GP.
The Wallasey MP shouted that Dr Stoate stood down at last year’s election, rather than being defeated as the PM claimed.
In response, the Prime Minister told Miss Eagle: ‘Calm down, dear, calm down. Calm down and listen to the doctor.’
Ambulance takes 75 MINUTES to reach girl, 15, who had suffered a brain haemorrhage
An angry mother has described how she had to wait an hour and fifteen minutes for an ambulance for her daughter who had suffered a brain haemorrhage. Paula Rudd, who is medically trained, said her daughter Georgina had a grey complexion and complained of feeling sick, having a pounding head and neck pain.
Miss Rudd, a radiographer at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, imediately phoned her GP who advised her to call for an ambulance. Miss Rudd first called 999 from her home in Ilkeston, Nottinghamshire, at 9.30am. 'They asked me three questions and said I needed to speak to a triage nurse,' the 44-year-old said. 'I said I was medically trained and needed a doctor or an ambulance straight away.'
She said she was rung back by a nurse and told an ambulance would be with her as soon as possible.
While her mother was on the phone, Georgina was in the bathroom, moaning in pain. After Miss Rudd hung up, she went back to Georgina, who had by then fallen unconscious. 'She was foaming at the mouth, her eyes were in a rolled-back position and she was groaning. I put her in the recovery position, then went to get the phone again.'
Miss Rudd first phoned the number on which she had been called by the nurse, but when that wasn't answered, she dialled 999 again. 'They told me I had to go through it again, so I said she was unconscious and not responding to anything, that there was something seriously wrong and I needed an ambulance. 'They just said an ambulance would be with me very soon. I was just so desperate.'
After ending the second 999 call, just after 10am, Miss Rudd called Georgina's dad, Edward Rudd. When he arrived, at about 10.20am, he made a third emergency call and was allegedly told that if Miss Rudd did not stop shouting, they would not get there at all.
She said: 'Anyone who has a daughter who is unconscious for nearly an hour would be hysterical.' Miss Rudd said she also asked a friend and her GP to ring the ambulance service before the paramedics' arrival at 10.45am.
She said the paramedics tried to get Georgina into a chair and down the stairs but she had started to throw her arms and legs around. 'She ended up half-in and half-out of the chair. Her head was bumping on stairs. I was quite distressed by this.'
Mr Rudd, 54, went with Georgina in the ambulance, while Miss Rudd followed. At the QMC, her daughter was immediately taken to the resuscitation area. Within minutes, she had a CT scan and doctors said she had suffered a massive bleed to the brain and needed immediate surgery to save her life. 'As soon as she was in, we were treated brilliantly,' said Miss Rudd.
Georgina, who has a 20-year-old sister, spent the next few days in a critical condition, and is now stable in hospital.
Doctors said the bleed was the result of a malformation of her brain from birth. The family is still waiting to hear whether the haemorrhage caused permanent brain damage.
Miss Rudd has made a formal complaint to East Midlands Ambulance Service and is considering legal action. 'Everyone is just shell-shocked about everything,' she said. 'I feel shocked and numb and immensely grateful for everyone at the QMC but I feel generally very angry with the ambulance service.
'It's not their responsibility she fell ill but I expect a service from them and I wouldn't like to think about it happening to someone else. I'm medically trained but even with that I just felt so lonely in that moment. It was the longest time of my life.'
A spokesman for the ambulance service said: 'We strive to provide the best possible service to patients at all times and so we are sorry that Miss Rudd is unhappy with how we responded. 'A comprehensive investigation into our handling of the 999 call will now be carried out and we will let Miss Rudd know the findings as promptly as possible.'
Britain a world leader in working mothers: And it's harming children's development, warns global report
Half of British mothers now go out to work before their child’s first birthday – despite clear evidence it can harm their development, an authoritative international report has found.
Mothers in the UK are more likely to rush out to work than those in other Western countries, ignoring research that those who stay at home tend to bring up children who are better behaved and do well at school.
The report quotes studies which found that children of working mothers fare worse in reading and maths tests, tend to be more badly behaved and are more likely to have attention problems.
Critics say the report lays bare the extent to which successive governments have harmed a generation of youngsters by encouraging women to put their children into care and go out to work.
Only Denmark has a higher proportion of mothers in paid work when the child is a year old. The 279-page study paints a depressing picture of family life in Britain, with single parenthood, cohabitation and illegitimacy all on the rise. Called Doing Better For Families, it was compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which represents 34 industrialised nations.
Just a day before the Royal Wedding which will celebrate the institution of marriage, the study shows that just 64.5 per cent of British children grow up with two married parents.
The report shows that in most of the world, maternal employment does not harm child development – but this is not the case in the UK and the U.S..
More than a quarter of mothers in the UK – 28 per cent – are in paid work before their child is six months old. But the children of mothers who go to work before they are six months old end up performing worse at vocabulary tests at the age of five, and significantly worse at reading and maths at seven compared to the children of stay-at-home mums.
The correlation is the same, but less marked, for children whose mothers waited until they were between six months and a year to go to work.
In both cases, the OECD says that attainment and behaviour are even more affected if the working mother is educated to degree-level. Around a third of British women with degrees are back at work within six months.
The report says: ‘In the UK, early maternal employment (full-time and part-time) appeared to have a very small negative association with vocabulary test scores for children aged four to five.
Maternal employment also has a serious effect on behaviour and attention spans by the time the child is seven, again with the situation more marked if the mother went to work before the child was six months.
The OECD suggests that this may be to do with the quality of childcare in the UK. Good childcare is the most expensive in the Western world.
Norman Wells of pressure group Family and Youth Concern, said children were losing out because mothers were under such pressure to go back to work earlier. ‘Too often the needs of children take second place to the desires of a minority of women to impose their feminist agenda on every family,’ he said.
In another sign of Broken Britain, the OECD report demonstrates that we have one of the highest rates in the world for divorces involving children. Almost two thirds (63 per cent) of our divorces are among couples with children. In Italy the figure is a third.
The report also shows how the benefits system creates an incentive for parents to live apart. Single parents get the sixth best deal in the West, while couples get the tenth worst.
Our young people are more likely to cohabit than almost anywhere else in the world. Some 24 per cent of 20 to 34-year-olds are living with a partner – a proportion only exceeded in the Netherlands and Scandinavia.
The report also shows that Britain has seen one of the sharpest rises in illegitimate births. Some 45 per cent of births now take place outside marriage.
British safety madness again: Butlins bans bumping on the bumper cars
When Sir Billy Butlin introduced bumper cars to Britain more than 80 years ago, it can be assumed he expected holiday makers to have fun on the fairground ride bumping into each other. But what Sir Billy did not foresee was the modern culture of health and safety that has not only introduced seat belts and insisted everyone drives in the same direction, but banned bumping.
Staff at all three Butlin resorts in Bognor Regis, Minehead and Skegness are instructed to ban anyone found guilty of bumping into each other in the electric cars equipped with huge bumpers.
Bemused customers who assume that the ‘no bumping sign’ is in jest are told to drive around slowly in circles rather than crash into anyone else for fear of an injury that could result in the resort being sued.
Telegraph columnist Michaal Deacon, who has just returned from a holiday at the Bognor Regis resort, said the experience was like “trundling round an exitless roundabout”.
“I’m not convinced that the dangers were great, given that the bumper cars were equipped with bumpers,” he said. “Seat belts, too. There were no airbags for the drivers, but it can be only a matter of time.”
Butlins confirmed that people are not allowed to bump the bumper cars for “health and safety reasons”. In fact the resorts insist on calling the experience Dodgems rather than bumper cars.
Jeremy Pardey, resort director at Bognor Regis, said there have been injuries in the past including broken bones, due to people bumping into each other. He said the rules are “pretty vigilant” to avoid anyone being hurt, although customers are not asked to wear crash helmets.
But he insisted people have “great fun” dodging one another by crossing the circle of traffic and over taking. “The point of our Dodgems is to dodge people, not to run into people,” he said.
Sir Billy Butlin was the first person to introduce the concept of driving electric cars, equipped with large bumpers, around a flat ride. He brought the UK franchise for Dodgem Cars, a brand of bumper cars manufactured in the US, and introduced them at his holiday camps in 1923.
The ride is now common on most fairgrounds and it is generally accepted that the point is to try and get around as fast as possible by dodging other people and even bumping off rivals.
Although many fairgrounds do have signs saying ‘no bumping’ for health and safety reasons or even for fear of litigation, few fairgrounds ban people for breaking the rules.
Anecdotal evidence suggest people have tried to get compensation for whiplash or other injuries sustained on the Dodgems, but there has not been a single successful case. In fact, more than one firm of solicitors uses the level of impact one would receive from a dodgem crash as an example of where a neck injury compensation claim would not succeed. It would also be difficult to prove some fault on the part of another dodgem driver.
David Cameron has pledged to tear up "mad health and safety rules" that have prevented firemen and police doing their jobs properly.
British police hunt joker who drew Hitler moustache
A rural police force has been criticised for starting an investigation after a poster making a local councillor look like Hitler was put up on a village notice board. At least four officers are said to have visited residents in the hamlet of Pitcombe, Somerset, after a poster of the Conservative councillor Mike Beech had a Hitler-like moustache drawn on it.
After seeing the poster, Mr Beech reported it to the police. Officers began an inquiry under the Public Order Act, saying that the poster could be deemed to cause “harassment, alarm and distress” to the councillor.
Officers even conducted house-to-house inquiries, visiting homeowners at each of the hamlet’s 20 houses. Villagers said the investigation was “an outrageous waste of police and taxpayers’ money”.
David Issitt, a 58-year-old carpenter who lives in Pitcombe, said: “Everyone I have spoken to thinks it is completely over the top. Even the constable who visited me told me he had better things to do.
“The police came to the village three times - it was a complete waste of time by the police. They have far better things to do than following up complaints like that.
“The police even came knocking on people’s doors in the evening. If my shed was broken into would I have received such a tenacious response?
“If Mr Beech is involved in politics, I’d suggest he grows a thicker skin. It was simple lampooning and he needs to learn to laugh at himself.” Mr Beech, a Conservative member of South Somerset district council and former chairman of Pitcombe Parish Council, admitted he had called in the police because he was a “bit offended” by the picture which made him look like the former Nazi leader.
“This is something I am trying to forget. Basically the picture was put on the noticeboard and I took advice from the political hierarchy and they said it was probably best to report it.”
Pitcombe is home to an estimated 40 people and only 13 crimes have been reported in the hamlet and surrounding villages all year.
Avon and Somerset Police confirmed a complaint had been made about posters put up on the village noticeboard, which is not lockable.
A spokesman said: “Police started an inquiry under the Public Order Act that the posters could be deemed to cause 'harassment, alarm or distress’ to an individual. “There is no CCTV in the village, although house-to-house enquires have been undertaken. Officers are duty bound to investigate formal complaints of criminal damage.”
Earlier this month, neighbouring Gloucestershire police were criticised after spending £20,000 on an operation to arrest suspected scrap metal thieves after they took 47p worth of scrap from a skip.
Last year, it was claimed that a police force sent a van full of officers to oversee a calendar model posing in the street in her underwear. Thames Valley Police said that they were acting on a tip-off that Rebecca Hill planned to walk naked down the street.
British University campuses 'a hotbed of Muslim extremism', claims Parliamentary security group
Universities are failing to tackle the growing menace of Islamic extremism on campuses. Although they have been aware of the problem for many years, university authorities are reluctant to combat it because they fear a decline in the number of foreign students, from whom they make millions of pounds every year, it has been claimed.
A report by a Parliamentary homeland security group said the evidence against universities was 'damning' and that there was no sign of the risk of student radicalisation diminishing.
The review highlighted serious problems and claimed that 'some universities and colleges have become sites where extremist views and radicalisation can flourish beyond the sight of academics'. The report called on the institutions to tackle the issue with 'utmost urgency'.
Terror expert Professor Anthony Glees said the universities had failed to co-operate with the Government, making it much harder for them to tackle extremism. He said 'money-hungry' institutions are more worried about their coffers than keeping the country safe and insisted they must allow counter-terrorist police access to campuses and clamp down on extremist Islamic societies.
He added: 'We are dealing with people who hate this country and the way that it is governed. 'Taxpayers would be sickened by the idea that taxpayer-supported universities are giving people the space to develop plans that will result in some of us being blown up.
'The fundamental problem is that universities have refused to co-operate. 'It is not because they are fusty academics stuck in their ivory towers unaware of the scale of the issue. It is because they are now money making enterprises. 'They fear a hard line will lead to a decline in the number of lucrative foreign students coming to British universities.'
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Homeland Security was set up in the wake of the alleged attempt by student Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow-up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam, carrying 280 passengers, as it made its final descent towards Detroit on December 25, 2009.
The Nigerian studied at University College London between 2005 and 2008, and was the Islamic Society president from 2006 to 2007.
The Parliamentary group said the Government's National Security Strategy and the Strategic Defence and Security Review were 'deeply unsatisfactory'.
A previous inquiry found that UCL will remain at risk of radicalisation for as long as the institution retains its 'educational mission and character'.
Shortly after the foiled Christmas bomb attack, it was revealed that security services believed 39 universities were 'at risk of extremism'.
Foreign influx 'threatens uniquely British identity of public schools'
Private schools risk diluting their ‘uniquely British identity’ as pupils numbers are kept buoyant by an increase in overseas students. A national census of fee-paying schools shows the number of new overseas pupils in independent schools has reached unprecedented levels, increasing by a massive 44.4% on last year. More than a third of these youngsters, 37.8%, are from China and Hong Kong.
Meanwhile some 2,559 fewer British pupils were admitted in September 2010, compared with the previous year. Experts believe the drop in British pupils is due to high fees which spiralled out of control during Labour years and increased by an average of 4.5% in September 2010.
Average boarding fees for sixth formers are now £26,346-a-year and £16,290 for day pupils. Three schools now charge in excess of £30,150. The average annual fee for a private education is £13,179. That is an increase of 4.6 per cent on last year.
The fees are proving prohibitive for many recession-hit British parents. But wealthy parents from China and Kong Hong, who have a culture of paying for a good education, are happier to fork out. They believe a British private school education will help their child get into a top UK university. The revelation coincides with the phenomenon of the Tiger Mother who will relentlessly push their children to academic success.
Yesterday David Lyscom, chief executive of the Independent Schools Council, warned the trend risked diluting the nature of independent schools. He said: ‘Some schools specialise in teaching overseas students, to prepare them for entry to British universities. ‘So in the majority of private schools there are a handful of overseas pupils.
‘But one of the attractions of a British independent education is that it is uniquely British. ‘It is a brand that needs to be protected. It is all very well to have them [overseas students] but we need to make sure that it doesn’t go too far or we’ll lose our appeal.’
Data from Independent Schools Council (ISC) census which covers 1,234 schools, shows total of 13,944 of the 506,500 pupils in fee paying schools - 5% - are non-British with parents living overseas. This is an increase of 5.5% on last year. On average, each school has around 20 overseas pupils. The average independent school has 410 pupils.
Overall independent pupil numbers have dipped slightly, by 0.2%. It brings the numbers back to 2004 levels, after peaking in 2009, with some 506,500 pupils in the 1,234 fee paying schools.
Mr Lyscom added that although they had lost a few British pupils he was very encouraged because, despite the recession, few were fleeing the independent sector. This academic year there are some 5,859 pupils from Hong Kong and 3,428 and China in private schools. Of these 2,245 from Hong Kong and 1,684 from China were new to their school.
Self-proclaimed Tiger Mother Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, said Chinese parents fight far harder than Western parents to educate their children. She said they are prepared to ‘scrimp and save’ for a good education and ‘drill their children on academic task ten times more than Western parents’.
The next single country with a large share in pupils in fee-paying schools was Germany where 9.6% of all are foreign students.
British bar-room singer arrested for racism after Chinese passers-by hear him singing Kung Fu song
Batty Britain again:
"A pub singer has been arrested on suspicion of racism for singing the classic chart hit Kung Fu Fighting. The song, performed by Simon Ledger, 34, is said to have offended two Chinese people as they walked past the pub where he was singing.
The entertainer regularly performs the 1974 number one, originally by disco star Carl Douglas, at the Driftwood Beach Bar in Sandown, Isle of Wight. But after one of the passers-by reported his routine on Sunday afternoon, Mr Ledger was arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated harassment.
Anger as NHS chiefs run up £13m bill on wining, dining and lavish away days
NHS bureaucrats have blown £13million on lavish dinners and hospitality for themselves, it emerged last night. Freedom of Information requests reveal strategic health authority staff are enjoying away days which cost more than a luxury meal at the Ritz.
It comes at a time when NHS managers are claiming they are so short of funds that thousands of nurses and doctors will lose their jobs.
Strategic Health Authorities – which face the axe under controversial NHS reforms – have squandered the extraordinary sums over the past four years. Last year alone, the average spending by SHA chiefs on ‘hospitality for conferences, meetings and staff away days’ was £361,113 each.
The estimated £3.6million bill for wining and dining by the ten SHAs last year is the equivalent of 120 nurses, 600 hip operations or more than 16,000 hospital bed days.
Some of the staff development days have included events held by the East of England SHA at a stately home in Cambridgeshire. The most expensive event held by the SHA was at Chilford Hall, with a bill of £25,000 for 285 employees. At £85 per head, it cost almost twice as much as dinner at the Ritz Hotel in London. The most expensive reported event was a staff development day held by NHS North West in October 2008 at a cost of £49,248.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley is proposing to abolish SHAs, which set financial controls on NHS trusts and decide the 'strategic direction' of the health service.
However, the reforms have come under threat from a revolt by Lib Dem members of the coalition and plans are on hold while ministers consider the views of medics and other professionals.
Last night Dr Daniel Poulter, who sits on the Health and Social Care Bill Committee, said: 'People will feel rightly outraged that Labour allowed NHS bureaucrats to be wined and dined at taxpayers' expense. 'Wasting such huge amounts of money on staff away days, meetings and hospitality is completely unacceptable. 'And it is proof of why our NHS needs urgent modernisation. We need an NHS that works for patients, not bureaucrats. 'That is why we are scrapping £5billion of NHS management costs and reinvesting every penny into frontline patient care.
'By restoring power to doctors and nurses, increasing investment in the frontline and giving patients real choice and better information, we can drive up standards across the board and make sure we are getting value for money.'
Doctors said I had a migraine, then my optician found a tumour the size of a snooker ball behind my eye
A mother-of-two whose headaches were dismissed as migraines by doctors was diagnosed with a brain tumour after visiting her optician.
Gill Lehrle, 35, had suffered with a pounding head for months but was told not to worry by her GP. But when the mother-of-two went to an optician for a routine check, she was immediately sent to see a specialist, who told her she had a tumour the size of snooker ball behind her eye.
If it had been left undetected, the tumour would have killed her within a year. 'The eye examination definitely saved my life,' Mrs Lehrle said. 'Specialists told me I had less than 12 months to live. But I now have my life back and can watch my children grow up.
'I'm only 35 and the fact I had a brain tumour shows all ages can be affected. I didn't feel poorly but I never felt 100 per cent. 'I couldn't tell what was wrong. I went to the doctors three times describing the symptoms and they kept saying it was a migraine, but I felt it wasn't.
'When I finally got the diagnosis it was a relief in some ways to finally know, but I was worried, particularly with for my two children as they are just three and one. 'My uncle died at the same age and a lot of things go through your mind in such situations.'
Mrs Lehrle, of Penyffordd, North Wales, visited the branch of Specsavers in Mold after suffering for several months with a headache that caused her to continually hear the sound of her pulse in her ear.
She was sent to have an MRI scan at HM Stanley Hospital, St Asaph, where the tumour was confirmed. Mrs Lehrle quickly underwent a lifesaving operation in Walton Hospital, Liverpool.
Although her road to recovery was briefly halted by contracting septicemia shortly after initially leaving hospital, she now hopes to enjoy a healthy life.
Such has been the improvement in Mrs Lehrle's health that another eye test visit to Specsavers has revealed that, after 10 years, she no longer needs to wear glasses following the removal of the brain tumour. Last week Mrs Lehrle presented a bottle of champagne to her opticians branch.
Optometrist director Keith Martin, said: 'This shows how important it is people keep up to date with their eye tests and the benefits of them go deeper than just confirming how good your eyesight is. 'I could quickly tell it wasn't migraines and I suspected it was a brain tumour, with HM Stanley confirming it. 'I have been qualified for 15 years and have only come across one or two instances like this before but am glad we could help.'
North African refugees mass at the Paris gateway to Britain
Desperate immigrants fleeing the chaos in North Africa are massing around the Eurostar terminal in Paris – prompting fears that they will head for Britain. Most are refugees from the recent revolution in Tunisia and the continuing conflict in Libya who have arrived in Europe via Italy.
Up to 1,000 North Africans have set up temporary home in squares surrounding the Gare du Nord, from which fast trains reach the UK in less than two hours. Almost all are complaining about harassment from the French authorities. They say their hopes of finding accommodation and jobs in France are next to nil.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has pledged to do all he can to get rid of the migrants. Some 25,000 North Africans have arrived in Italy by sea since the start of ‘the Arab Spring’ and many then moved on to France.
Paris has accused Rome of abusing the Schengen open-borders treaty, which allows free movement of people between 25 countries in Europe, by issuing travel documents to migrants fleeing North Africa.
Some of the others in Paris are illegal immigrants who may pay people smugglers up to a £1,000-a-head to make the journey to Britain, where they can claim asylum or else disappear into the black economy.
‘It may be our only hope,’ said Hamadi Trikki, a 19-year-old Tunisian who travelled by boat to Italy and then by train. ‘Many of us believed that France would offer us a future because we speak French and have family here, but the French do not want to help us.
‘We were treated as heroes during our Jasmine Revolution but now we are unwanted. People are already offering us passages to England.’ Mr Trikki was speaking from a makeshift camp on the Jemmapes quay in Paris, where charity workers were dishing out soup to some 400 migrants.
Another camp, at Porte de Villette, has Tunisian flags at the entrance. The 300 residents complain daily about the lack of food and threats from the police. Khalid, a 27-year-old Tunisian, said: ‘We know that the English supported the Jasmine Revolution, and that they are also fighting for freedom in Libya by bombing Gaddafi.
British Farmer menaced with death threats by gang of gypsies dials emergency number... and police turn up to confiscate her shotguns
Having confronted travellers cutting down trees on her farm, terminally-ill Tracy St Clair Pearce found herself subjected to a terrifying ordeal. Some of the group pelted her with rocks while a youth threatened to slit her throat and slaughter her cattle.
When she dialled 999 she expected the full weight of the law to be on her side. Instead, however, police officers criticised her for inflaming the situation and confiscated her legally held shotguns – even though they had been locked away in a cabinet at home throughout the incident.
Yesterday, the 50-year-old accused police of causing her ‘harassment and distress’ when she should have been given protection. ‘I’ve been treated like a criminal,’ said Miss St Clair Pearce, who has been given months to live after breast cancer spread to her spine.
The incident blew up after around 18 caravans set up camp illegally in a field owned by Colchester Council last Thursday.
Miss St Clair Pearce, who lives on the adjoining Seven Saints Rare Breeds farm with her brother, Stuart, had a good-natured conversation with one traveller who assured her they would be no trouble and would move on within a couple of days.
But at 7pm on Good Friday she was spraying weeds on the 34-acre farm, where she has ten rare Shetland cattle and three horses, when she heard a chainsaw and found four boys felling trees for firewood.
‘I started shouting “Get out” but they just stood there in my field,’ she said. ‘I said I would spray them with the weed killer and one in a red T-shirt, who was about 14, went ballistic. The language coming out of his mouth was unbelievable.
‘I had a short-bladed knife in my hand for the weed removal and he took that as a challenge. He picked up a fence post and hurled it at me. He then screamed “I will slit your throat, I will slit the throats of your calves and cows”. We were face to face and he slid his finger across his throat.’
Miss St Clair Pearce stood her ground and the youth retreated across the brook that marks the border of her land but by this time several traveller men and a woman had come over.
One was the boy’s father, who used ‘sexually explicit language’ before turning away when asked if he was proud of his son. ‘About eight people were still there and they exposed themselves to me, front and back. Then they started throwing rocks at me so I backed off,’ added Miss St Clair Pearce.
Shaken by the confrontation, she called police and waited 35 minutes for a patrol car to arrive before spending three hours giving a statement. An inspector arrived at 11.30pm but questioned her own conduct, accusing her of making threats against the travellers. ‘They said I had been aggressive, the chainsaw was of no consequence, and I should have politely asked them to remove themselves from my premises then walked away and called 999,’ said Miss St Clair Pearce.
Officers eventually visited the camp that evening and the following morning but told her they were unable to find the teenager who had threatened her.
On Easter Monday she was at a dog show when she received a call from Colchester councillor Gerard Oxford, whom she had contacted for advice, and was told police wanted to confiscate her two shotguns.
She refused to start the two-hour journey home immediately and officers began turning up at the farmhouse ‘every couple of hours’ in an attempt to seize the legally held shotguns. At 3.15am yesterday armed officers appeared and demanded the firearms otherwise they would ‘pull the cabinet from the wall’. Left with no choice, Miss St Clair Pearce told her brother where she kept the key and he handed the weapons over. Officers returned later yesterday and confiscated her gun licence to ‘prevent me buying another shotgun’.
Her brother said: ‘I am in shock. I thought the laws in this country protected people who live and work in their communities – not those who visit for a short time and think they are beyond the law.’
The travellers refused to comment when approached yesterday.
Mr Oxford said: ‘The way Tracy has been treated has been quite appalling. It was quite evident the officers were putting more weight on making sure that the travellers were ok than the threats which had been made to Tracy’s life.’
Essex police confirmed they had not yet arrested anyone in connection with the incident. A spokesman said: ‘Officers became concerned at the behaviour of a woman and laid information before magistrates accordingly. ‘They were given powers to seize guns in her possession and have done so as a sensible precaution in the circumstances.’ [No chance for the woman to have her say before the magistrates, of course. Natural justice is extinct in England]
Elf n' safety madness: Postmen banned from crossing road in quiet British village with few passing cars
Postmen have been banned from crossing the road in a quiet village with hardly any passing traffic – for ‘elf and safety reasons. Workers have been told to go all the way down one side of the road before coming back on the other - to minimise crossing.
Residents insist the roads in quaint Goodworth Clatford, near Andover, Hampshire, are so quiet they are happy for even children to cross unattended.
Bosses brought in the new rule to minimise risk but villagers claim deliveries are arriving up to two hours later because of the changes.
The only time that the roads get busy are when parents drop off and collect their children from school, residents claim. They say the traffic is long gone by the time postmen 'amble up the drive at midday'.
Royal Mail workers have apparently complained that they are struggling to deliver to every house in the village because they are spending so much longer making deliveries.
Councillor David Drew, who is a member of both Hampshire County Council and Test Valley Borough Council, said the new instructions issued earlier this month were ‘bizarre’. ‘The postmistress gave me the heads up that the postal dispatch system was due to be tweaked – and suddenly the post started to come a couple of hours later,’ he said.
‘I was told the postmen have to go down one side of the road and up the other for health and safety reasons. ‘The workers are fairly upset because it’s taking a lot longer to do their rounds and apparently some people have had their houses missed off completely. ‘They are grown adults and are big enough to decide for themselves whether it is safe to cross the road.
‘Goodworth Clatford is a quiet village and it is perfectly safe for children to cross the road providing they are old enough and sensible enough. ‘Common sense has been taken away by health and safety again’.
Bernard Griffiths, chairman of Abbotts Ann Parish Council, claimed some people in the village had not received mail on two occasions because of the new rule.
‘The postmen are under instruction to deliver what they can and if they cannot do it in the time take it back. I am outraged at this. I am livid. I hope somebody’s head will roll over this.’
The Royal Mail yesterday said ‘Delivery routes are planned to be completed as efficiently and safely as possible which in the majority of cases is to deliver to one side before crossing to return along the opposite side.’
And in a further twist nearly all postmen’s bicycles will disappear in the next few months. ‘We are bringing in new equipment which will reduce the number of bikes we have. We will just retain a small number of them,’ added the spokesman.
Middle class students will pay thousands more to subsidise poorer peers' university fees
Middle class students will pay at least £2,700 more in university tuition fees to subsidise those from low income families – even if they go on to earn much less in later life.
Under rules designed to help poorer youngsters into higher education, universities which wish to hike up their fees next year must put 30 to 35 per cent towards waiving costs for students on low incomes.
With virtually all universities defying the Government to more than treble fees, middle class pupils will, as a result, be required to pay an extra £2,700 to £3,150 a year towards the cost of subsidising their peers.
They will then be forced to pay back far higher loans, even if they are earning significantly less than a successful graduate originally from a poor background who goes on to enjoy a lucrative career.
The arrangement was drawn up by the Liberal Democrats, who were heavily criticised over their tuition fees about-turn, and is designed to counter criticism that higher fees will put poor students off applying to universities.
In an Opposition Day debate today, however, Labour will claim that as a result, youngsters from relatively modest backgrounds will end up subsidising those whose parents are only slightly worse off.
Under the “access agreements,” which universities wishing to charge more than £6,000 a year are required to draw up, fees must be cut for any student whose parents earn less than £25,000. So far, despite ministers’ claims that top fees would be levied only in “exceptional circumstances,” 70 per cent of universities which have set out their intentions have said they will charge the maximum £9,000, with many of the rest levying close to the upper ceiling.
That means that in most cases, a youngster with parents earning only £26,000 a year will be required to pay around £3,000 more in fees to pay for the education of a fellow student from a family on £24,000.
John Denham, the shadow business secretary, said: “The Government has lost control of fees, with £9,000 becoming the norm, not the exception. “On top of this incompetence, the Government is now trying to make students from middle income families pay to cut the fees of others.
“Progress … on social mobility must be maintained, but the Government has chosen to put the burden unfairly on the shoulders of hard working squeezed middle families. “Students do not pay until they graduate, but the Government is imposing a system where graduates with the same class of degree in the same subject from the same university doing the same job will owe very different debts.”
New research suggests that half of students will be turned off top universities by the imposition of £9,000 tuition fees. In a survey of current final year undergraduates, 51 per cent said they would not have enrolled if fees were almost three times higher than current prices.
Figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service show record numbers of students are applying for courses this year in order to beat the fee rise. Applications are expected to be up by around 14,000 in the summer as students scrap gap years to get into university this autumn.
More than 700,000 are expected to apply with almost a third missing out on places.
NHS desk worker gets £37k Porsche Boxster sports car funded by the taxpayer
Dozens of NHS desk workers are driving top-of-the-range rental cars that are funded by the taxpayer, it emerged today.
Strategic Health Authorities around the country have spent a staggering £1,000,000 every year since 2007 on the luxury cars. They included a Jaguar XF, Mercedes CLS, Audi A5 Coupe and BMW 330 for staff who needed the vehicles to get around. Shockingly, one 'pen pusher' was allowed to hire a £37,000 Porshe Boxster - costing taxpayers thousands of pounds.
The details emerged as the NHS faces biting cuts around the country, with many patients complaining of appalling care.
One SHA, Yorkshire and the Humber, splashed out £400,000 a year on 95 luxury motors, according to The Sun.
The worker who was handed a Porsche is employed by the second biggest spender, North West, which pays £4,500 towards each manager's annual rental costs. The figure amounts to £120,000 a year.
Across the country, the total bill for England's ten SHAs since 2007 came to £2,995,181. The figure amounts to almost £1,000,000 a year.
Spending on bureaucracy has soared 50 per cent since Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in 2007. But spending on cancer has increased by just 30 per cent.
Tory MP and Health Select Committee member Chris Skidmore said that taxpayers would be 'angry they're funding luxury cars'. London is the only authority that does not allow managers to rent cars.
The Conservatives have vowed to 'root out' NHS waste but critics have complained that their cost-cutting could lead to a privatisation of the health service.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has said in the past that primary care trusts and strategic health authorities which cover a range of NHS trusts and supervise local NHS services are exerting too much control. Under Tory reforms, primary care trusts will not be scrapped immediately, but will be phased out as power is passed to doctors.
Mr Lansley will point to the joint Tory-Lib Dem document which states: 'We will strengthen the power of GPs as patients’ expert guides through the health system by enabling them to commission care on their behalf.'
Six-figure pay deals given to 700 British head teachers
Hundreds of head teachers are being awarded inflated six-figure pay deals, it was disclosed yesterday. Figures were released showing that 700 heads or deputy heads in state schools earn more than £100,000, including 200 paid more than £110,000.
The NASUWT union called for individual heads’ salaries to be published to stop pay being “abused”, putting them under the same scrutiny as council chief executives and quango bosses.
The number of senior teachers on six-figure pay is likely to be much higher because hundreds of schools failed to disclose proper salary details.
Data released by the Department for Education showed that 500 senior teachers will earn between £100,000 and £109,999 in the current academic year, including 100 heads and deputies in academies. A further 200 heads earn more than £110,000.
The figures show teachers’ pay from last November. John Howson, of Education Data Surveys, a research firm, said the highest salaries were likely to have increased in the past 12 months. This was the first time that the figures have been published in this form.
The GMB union has claimed as many as 100 state school heads earn more than David Cameron’s salary of £147,000.
Last year, it was disclosed that Mark Elms, head of Tidemill Primary School in south east London, was given a remuneration package of £276,523 for 2009-10, which included fees for helping other schools. Another head, Jacqui Valin, from Southfields Community College in south-west London, received a £20,594 pay rise in 2009-10 to take her salary to £198,406.
The NASUWT said schools were by-passing rules on pay by rebranding senior staff as “executive heads” or letting them take jobs as consultants.
It also claimed that academies, which are free of council control, were awarding huge salaries because they were not bound by national pay deals.
At the NASUWT annual conference in Glasgow, Chris Keates, its general secretary, said: “We’ve heard of head teachers taking schools to academy conversion, calling themselves executive heads and saying they should get more pay,” she said. “There’s no rationale about it.”
Can't read or write English? You could still serve on a jury under new rules designed to help immigrants
Jurors who cannot read English are being invited to decide the outcome of criminal trials. Inability to understand the written language is no bar to serving on a jury, officials said. Even those who cannot easily understand the spoken word could be asked to sit in judgment on those accused of crime.
The opening of juries to people with limited English was confirmed by the new agency set up to run the court system, HM Courts and Tribunals Service.
The 200,000 people a year called for jury service are now all summoned with letters printed in seven languages as well as English to ‘encourage’ non-English speakers, it said.
The agency, part of Lord Chancellor Kenneth Clarke’s Ministry of Justice, said the ‘language addendum’ sent out with each jury summons ‘is aimed at people who cannot read English very well but can speak English so would be able to serve on a jury’.
Criminologists and MPs said yesterday that they were worried about inclusion of those with poor English on juries.
Douglas Carswell, Tory MP for Clacton, said: ‘The jury system is founded on the idea that we are all tried by our peers. If your peers cannot speak English, or read or write it properly, how can you have confidence you will get justice?’
He added: ‘Ministers in successive governments have stated that they are going to curb the effects of multiculturalism, but the bureaucrats keep on putting forms and documents into dozens of languages.’
Dr David Green, of the Civitas think-tank, said: ‘If you can’t even read the letter summoning you for jury service, you are not fit to be a juror.’
The Courts and Tribunals Service said multi-language summonses were introduced two years ago. One reason was that they allow those who do not read English to avoid the risk of being prosecuted for failing to reply. Ignoring a summons can bring a £1,000 fine.
A spokesman said: ‘HMCTS is committed to encouraging the widest possible participation by the public. The language addendum was introduced in 2009 to ensure no juror is disadvantaged by information being provided only in English and Welsh.
‘The concern was that members of the public were being summoned for jury service where potentially they may not understand what was being asked of them and that they needed to complete the summons.’
He continued: ‘The addendum is available in seven languages and is aimed at people who cannot read English very well but can speak English so would be able to serve on a jury.
‘It also encourages jurors with questions or difficulties completing the reply to contact the summoning bureau, which would decide whether the person was capable of serving as a juror.’
The spokesman added: ‘If a juror attends court and there is a doubt about their capacity to act effectively due to insufficient understanding of English, the matter will be brought to the attention of the trial judge who could excuse them. In more complex cases, such as fraud cases, where jurors may be expected to read documents as part of the evidence, an assessment of whether the juror can serve on that trial will be made at court with judicial input.’
The languages on the addendum are Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, Gujarati, Polish, Cantonese, and Arabic. In Wales jurors are also sent information in Welsh.
Dr Green, of Civitas, added: ‘A distinction is being drawn between speaking and reading English and I question that. It is very rare to have a case in which there is no reading at all.
‘Jury trial involves serious accusations and the possibility of serious punishment. The whole paraphernalia of the trial, including the high standards demanded of the lawyers, is designed to ensure justice. The same rigour ought to apply to the selection of the jury.’
35 radicals trained for terrorism at British mosques, Guantanamo files reveal
Britain's mosques became an international haven for extremists who enjoyed state benefits while being trained for terrorism, leaked documents show. The WikiLeaks files, written by U.S. military chiefs, reveal that at least 35 Guantanamo terrorists were radicalised in London mosques before being sent to fight against the West. This is believed to be more than any other Western country.
Of these, just 17 were British nationals or had been granted asylum, while 18 had travelled from abroad – cementing Britain’s reputation as a global training camp for terrorists.
U.S. intelligence officers describe Finsbury Park mosque, in North London, as a ‘haven for Islamic extremists from Morocco and Algeria’ and ‘an attack planning and propaganda production base’.
After their UK trip they were then flown to Pakistan and Afghanistan where they were taught to fight and make bombs. The leaked documents also show that an Al Qaeda ‘assassin’ accused of bombing two churches and a luxury hotel in Pakistan was at the same time working for MI6.
Adil Hadi al Jazairi Bin Hamlili was captured in 2003 and sent to Guantanamo Bay where interrogators were convinced that he was an informer for British intelligence.
U.S. intelligence reports describe the 35-year-old Algerian citizen as a ‘facilitator, courier, kidnapper, and assassin for Al Qaeda’. CIA interrogators found him ‘to have withheld important information from …British Secret Intelligence Service … and to be a threat to U.S. and allied personnel in Afghanistan and Pakistan’.
He has been returned to Algeria but it is not clear whether he will stand trial there.
The WikiLeaks documents, published by the Daily Telegraph, also reveal that 16 detainees sent back to Britain were regarded as ‘high risk’ by the U.S. authorities and capable of plotting acts of terror.
Yet each has been paid £1million of public money by the Government to compensate them for their unlawful detention.
The documents point to the crucial role played by London-based preachers such as Abu Qatada and Abu Hamza in the suspected indoctrination of extremists, before they were dispatched around the world to plot terror attacks. They describe Qatada as ‘the most successful recruiter in Europe’ and ‘a focal point for extremist fundraising [and] recruitment’.
Despite this, the London cleric and Al Qaeda’s chief European agent was paid £2,500 for being ‘unlawfully detained’ by the British Government, after being held indefinitely without trial following 9/11.
A ruling found that keeping him in Belmarsh prison, while he refused to return to his native Jordan, breached his human right to a fair trial. The Government is trying to deport him to Jordan, where he has been sentenced to jail in his absence on terror charges.
Meanwhile Hamza is named as encouraging ‘his followers to murder non-Muslims’, in the documents, and yet continues to fight deportation to the U.S. because of Europe’s liberal human rights laws.
Extradition proceedings began six years ago, but he appealed to Strasbourg on the grounds that this would breach his human right to a fair trial because he would be given an ‘excessive’ sentence. The taxpayer continues to fund his stay in Belmarsh prison while his wife and eight children are claiming £680 a week in benefits and living in a council home in West London.
Three other mosques and an Islamic centre are also highlighted by senior commanders as places where young Muslim men were turned into potential terrorists.
Many obtained EU passports from other European countries such as France, but then travelled on to Britain to take advantage of the generous asylum system. The leaks help explain why U.S. intelligence services regard extremists in Britain as the greatest threat to American security.
The CIA is still so concerned about militant recruitment in the UK that it operates its own intelligence network and recruits its own agents among the Muslim population in Britain.
In a statement, the Pentagon said: ‘The previous and current administrations have made every effort to act with the utmost care and diligence in transferring detainees from Guantanamo.’
Teenagers dressed as Easter bunnies turned away from zoo over fears they would cause animals 'psychological damage'
People-hating British bureaucrats at work again. Do anything non-routine and they pounce
A group of teenagers dressed as Easter bunnies were turned away from a zoo - amid fears they would 'psychologically damage' the animals. Cancer-sufferer Laura Gibson, 15, and her friends were told to change out of their costumes before entry into Edinburgh Zoo in case they upset the creatures.
The trip had been planned as a special treat for the teen, who was joined by friends Hannah, Kirsty and Becki Nicholson and her brother Cameron, who was dressed as a chicken. But a Zoo employee told the group of four bunnies and a spring chicken that animals can get scared of people dressing up.
Miss Gibson, from the Scottish capital, wrote on her blog: 'Arrived at the zoo and went to the ticket desk where the manager said we weren't allowed in due to our inappropriate attire that would scare and upset the animals and cause them "psychological damage". OH PUH-LEASE. 'There are people with face paint and masks and we weren't allowed in wearing bunny costumes.'
Kirsty Nicolson said her mother had made the outfits and the youngsters were miserable when they were told they could not wear them into the zoo.
She said: 'We had planned this as a special treat for Laura. What is so scary about bunnies?' Psychologically damaging: A spokesman from Edinburgh Zoo said: 'There is very real evidence that humans in costume can cause distress to some of the zoo animals. This is particularly the case with our chimpanzees.'
Psychologically damaging: A spokesman from Edinburgh Zoo said: 'There is very real evidence that humans in costume can cause distress to some of the zoo animals. This is particularly the case with our chimpanzees.'
Miss Gibson, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in March and is being treated at city's Sick Kids Hospital, and the rest of the group went bowling in their costumes instead.
Zoo PR manager Rachel Goddard said: 'Laura and her friends weren't denied access, simply asked to remove costumes before going in.
'There is very real evidence that humans in costume can cause distress to some of the zoo animals.
'This is particularly the case with our chimpanzees, who get very anxious and disturbed.
'When we have our own costumed characters on-site, we ensure they're away from the animal enclosures.'
From breast cancer to obesity, how your genes count more than your lifestyle
A rare nod to reality below
Researchers recently discovered that the age at which a girl starts having periods is mainly influenced by when her mother started menstruating.
Scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research at the University of London discovered there was a 57 per cent likelihood a girl would begin menstruating within three months of the date her mother started. It had been thought that diet, particularly eating a lot of meat, played a greater role than genes. Scientists found there was a 57 per cent likelihood a girl would begin menstruating within three months of the date her mother started
Scientists found there was a 57 per cent likelihood a girl would begin menstruating within three months of the date her mother started
So what other aspects of a girl’s health are controlled by genetics? Could determining a woman’s health prospects be as simple as checking her mother’s medical records?
We asked leading experts how likely you are to inherit your mother’s body, mind and health.
MIGRAINES
GENETIC LINK: 70 to 80 per cent risk you’ll inherit them from your mother, says Dr Kate Henry, associate professor of neurology at New York University.
WHAT'S PASSED ON? Researchers recently discovered a flawed gene, called tresk, could cause migraines. If this gene doesn’t work properly, environmental factors (such as noise, cheese and caffeine) can more easily trigger pain centres in the brain that cause migraines. When the defective gene in migraine patients was under-active it caused a severe headache.
WHAT CAN YOU DO? ‘Triggers can be unpredictable, but identifying them will help to control your condition,’ says Demelza Burn of Migraine Action.
Many migraine sufferers are sensitive to foods such as chocolate, coffee, cheese, citrus and red wine. Hormones can also play a role — the rise and fall of oestrogen and progesterone during the menstrual cycle can cause migraines.
BREAST CANCER
GENETIC LINK: 3 per cent of UK breast cancer cases are inherited.
WHAT'S PASSED ON? ‘Women who are carriers of the mutated gene BRCA1 or BRCA2 are more likely to inherit the condition,’ says Jackie Harris, a clinical nurse specialist for Breast Cancer Care. ‘If a blood relative — male or female — had breast cancer at an early age, you are more at risk.’
Most women with these mutated genes will develop cancer at a very young age, says Dr Elizabeth Rapley, a cancer geneticist from the Institute of Cancer Research.
WHAT CAN YOU DO? Genetic screening is offered to women with a family history of breast cancer (where one or more close blood relatives have had the disease). If you carry the gene, you can be closely monitored.
Some women opt for early mastectomies to reduce their chances of developing cancer.
Hormone replacement therapies and taking the combined contraceptive pill can increase the risk in some women, as can being obese, particularly after the menopause, says Jackie Harris.
Women who drink and smoke excessively also face increased risks. According to Cancer Research UK, smoking is responsible for more than a quarter of all cancer deaths in Britain, while even moderate drinking has been shown to raise the risk of breast cancer by 7 per cent for each single unit of alcohol per day, the charity reports.
FITNESS
GENETIC LINK: Up to 50 per cent.
WHAT'S PASSED ON? ‘The ease with which you develop muscle tone and improve fitness is highly inherited,’ says Louise Sutton, head of the Carnegie Centre for Sports Performance at Leeds Metropolitan University. ‘It’s often said that if you want to win an Olympic medal, you should choose your parents well.’
A study in the International Journal Of Obesity found that while we all need physical activity to build muscle, people with ‘muscular genes’ require far less exercise to achieve the same level of fitness.
WHAT CAN YOU DO? The Government’s recommended 30 minutes of activity per day, five days a week, will help to keep you healthy, but won’t improve fitness significantly.
‘You need to do 30-45 minutes of moderate to high-intensity aerobic activity, such as running, swimming or cycling, preferably with bursts of speed, on at least three days a week,’ Sutton says. ‘Try to include resistance exercises, such as squats and lunges, plus some stretching.’
DEPRESSION
GENETIC LINK: 10 per cent risk you’ll inherit it, several studies have found — including one by the US National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health.
WHAT'S PASSED ON? Mental illness — including depression, post-natal depression and bipolar disorder — is known to run in families.
Scientists have isolated a mutant gene, called tryptophan hydroxylase-2, which might play a role in depressive illnesses. It starves the brain of serotonin, the feel-good hormone that regulates moods using chemical messages. A direct genetic link has yet to be proven.
WHAT CAN YOU DO? Factors such as fatigue, stress and alcohol intake can increase the risk of developing depression, says Emer O’Neill, chief executive of the charity Depression Alliance. If you do inherit one of the genes linked to depression, there’s no guarantee you will suffer from the illness, O’Neill adds.
OBESITY
Only 4 per cent of girls with normal-weight mothers were obese, compared to 41 per cent with fat mothers
Only 4 per cent of girls with normal-weight mothers were obese, compared to 41 per cent with fat mothers
GENETIC LINK: A UK study found people with two copies of a fat version of the gene FTO had a 70 per cent higher risk of obesity than those with no copies.
Another study found only 4 per cent of girls with normal-weight mothers were obese, compared to 41 per cent with fat mothers.
WHAT'S PASSED ON? People carrying one copy of the fat FTO variant had a 30 per cent increased risk of being obese compared to a person with no copies.
Those carrying two copies of the variant were on average 3kg (6.6lb) heavier than a similar person with no gene copies.
Other studies, including one published in the International Journal Of Obesity in 2009, suggest a strong link between mother and daughter and father and son obesity — but no link across the gender divide.
Genetics affect body shape too.
‘Apple shapes have a stronger genetic link than pear-shaped or thin ones,’ says Louise Sutton.
WHAT CAN YOU DO? Calorie and fat-laden diets are partly to blame for rising rates of obesity in children, but so are increased levels of inactivity.
TV and computer time should be rationed to less than two hours a day, recommends Sutton.
RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
GENETIC LINK: If your mother had it, you’re up to 50 per cent more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis, which occurs when — in confusion — the immune system attacks the body causing inflammation, which ruins the joint lining and cartilage.
WHAT'S PASSED ON? Professor Alan Silman, medical director of Arthritis Research UK, says inherited genes don’t directly cause the disease, but can increase your likelihood of developing it.
‘We have only identified some of the genes responsible for rheumatoid arthritis and people often don’t know if they are carrying them,’ Silman says. ‘However, even if they do carry these genes, it’s no guarantee they’ll get the disease.’
WHAT CAN YOU DO? Rheumatoid arthritis is more common in people who smoke, eat a lot of red meat or drink a lot of caffeine, Silman says.
‘Viral infections can be a trigger for the disease, but it is less common in people who have a high vitamin C intake from fruit and vegetables.’
EARLY MENOPAUSE
GENETIC LINK: 70-85 per cent risk you will have a premature menopause if your mother did.
WHAT'S PASSED ON? One in 20 women begins the menopause before 46 (the average age is 51) and four genes, working together, appear to raise the risk significantly, say researchers at the University of Exeter. Studies on sisters found the age they reached the menopause was 85 per cent down to genes.
WHAT CAN YOU DO? Treatment for cancer and surgery on your ovaries can trigger an early menopause. Nothing can prevent it starting, but there is lots you can do to ease the symptoms, from herbal remedies to HRT. All of these should be discussed with your GP.
ALZHEIMER'S
GENETIC LINK: 3-5 per cent increased risk you will get dementia and an estimated 30-50 per cent greater risk you will suffer early-onset Alzheimer’s if your mother did.
WHAT'S PASSED ON? The Alzheimer’s Society says researchers have identified genes that predispose people to different forms of dementia.
‘In a small number of families — accounting for one in 1,000 cases of Alzheimer’s and mainly those that start in early life — there is a clear inheritance of dementia, due to three genes,’ says Ruth Sutherland, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society.
‘However, with late-onset Alzheimer’s, which occurs over the age of 65 and accounts for 99 per cent of cases in Britain, only one gene is known to be influential.’
WHAT CAN YOU DO? Maintaining a healthy weight, exercising and keeping blood pressure and cholesterol in check from age 35 onwards can reduce your risk of dementia by up to 20 per cent, Sutherland says.
HEART DISEASE
GENETIC LINK: Up to 20 per cent greater if your mother had a heart attack or chest pain due to blocked arteries, found several studies.
WHAT'S PASSED ON? A recent Oxford University study found women whose mothers suffered strokes were at a greater risk of having a heart attack or stroke. The study found the inherited vascular disease would affect the coronary artery in the heart and the cerebral artery in the brain.
However, exactly why a mother’s history of stroke plays a role in their daughters’ heart attacks is not known.
Researchers said it was not clear whether genes or environmental factors (i.e. a daughter copying her mother’s unhealthy eating habits) played the larger role.
WHAT CAN YOU DO? Lifestyle is important, so maintaining a healthy weight and diet low in saturated fat and salt will help, as will reducing alcohol consumption and not smoking.
British businessman criticized for making realistic comments about women
We read:
"Glencore’s new chairman has been widely condemned for making “unacceptable” and “deplorable” sexist remarks, raising further corporate governance concerns ahead of the commodity trader’s planned $60bn (£37bn) stock market debut.
Business Secretary Vince Cable, Lord Davies and Centrica chairman Sir Roger Carr described Simon Murray’s comments as “ill-judged” and “highly disappointing” – putting pressure on the 71-year-old former banker to step down from the role just 10 days after his appointment.
The furore follows Mr Murray’s comments, made to The Sunday Telegraph, suggesting women's capacity in the workplace was limited because “pregnant ladies have nine months off”, women “have a tendency not to be so involved quite often” and are not “so ambitious in business”.
Payout for mother who lost womb and 33 pints of blood in botched caesarean
It was a medical blunder which robbed her of the opportunity to have the large family she had always hoped for. Shortly after giving birth to her son Daniel, Kelly Sutton was left fighting for her life after doctors failed to properly close her womb after a Caesarean. Mrs Sutton lost massive amounts of blood and it was hours before the mistake was spotted, even though she was in excruciating pain, and she was rushed back into theatre for emergency surgery.
She was given 33 pints of blood and was ‘minutes from dying’. But surgeons could not stem the bleeding and were forced to deliver an ultimatum: remove Mrs Sutton’s womb to save her life.
For Mrs Sutton, now 31, and her husband Timothy, 32, who works in the construction industry, it meant the end of a dream they had shared since becoming teenage sweethearts at school.
The couple embarked on a six-year battle for justice after the dreadful ordeal at New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton, in July 2006. They have now won a ‘substantial’ six-figure payout from Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust after independent experts agreed that clinicians should have realised Kelly was continuing to bleed.
The couple hope the compensation could help fund the arrival of a little brother or sister for Daniel, now aged five, through a surrogacy arrangement.
But it will never eradicate the scars and terrible memories of an event that should have been the happiest day of their lives, the birth of their first child.
Mrs Sutton said: ‘We both came from large families and had always planned to have several children of our own. ‘I was told while recovering in intensive care. I could see the surgeon’s lips moving but couldn’t take in what he was saying. ‘It was devastating and still is. ‘It never goes away. I think about what happened every single day.’
She was given a Caesarean on July 6 after her delivery date was 10 days overdue, and measures to induce the birth didn’t work. She got a glimpse of her little boy before he was taken for checks, and went to a day room with her husband while her family waited for news.
‘I was in the most crushing pain across the chest and abdomen, I’d never had a baby before but I knew it wasn’t right. ‘From then it snowballed, I collapsed, they were giving me oxygen and finally I was rushed past my waiting family on a trolley to critical care. I could hear my mother saying: ‘Is that my daughter?’
‘It was like a horror film, my blood count had plummeted and I’d already lost two litres of blood. I was at death’s door.’ Staff had failed to realise that Kelly was bleeding internally despite warning signs and even given her a drug that made her bleed more easily.
It was hours before she was transferred for emergency surgery where a different surgeon discovered her womb had not been completely closed. ‘I had to have 33 pints of blood transfused. When he opened me up, all the blood came rushing out - it was enough to fill a washing up bowl.’
At first the surgeon thought he’d succeeded in stopping the bleeding, but later that evening Kelly’s condition dramatically deteriorated. ‘He told my family there was no choice: if I didn’t have a hysterectomy I would die’ she said.
Mrs Sutton, who works with the elderly in care homes near their Wolverhampton home, said ‘I lost such a precious experience with Daniel as a newborn baby because I was too ill to cuddle him.
‘During the first two months after I was discharged home, I needed 24 hour care and was in constant pain. In addition to the hysterectomy, the internal damage I suffered has left me with bowel and bladder problems. ‘My life has been completely turned upside down - simply because a surgeon did not realise that I hadn’t stopped bleeding.’
The couple plan to investigate the possibility of having a baby with a surrogate mother that would be genetically their own, as Mrs Sutton’s ovaries are still working. ‘You can’t pay a surrogate mother, it’s against the law , but we can now afford the expenses that are allowed so one day, fingers crossed, Daniel has a little brother or sister to grow up with’ she said.
Julie Lewis, a medical law expert, with Birmingham-based Irwin Mitchell Solicitors (must credit), represented Mrs Sutton in her legal battle for justice. She said ‘Surgeons should have recognised that Kelly was bleeding internally when she was unwell back on the maternity ward. ‘If medical professionals had diagnosed the internal bleeding earlier then Kelly’s life might not have been put in danger and she could have avoided the need to undergo a hysterectomy.
‘Having suffered such a massive blood loss, she is very fortunate to be alive. The hysterectomy has had a devastating effect on her. ‘At the age of 31 she has had to cope with the knowledge that she will not be able to have any more children herself. ‘Although the Trust has now settled out of court, I hope that they will attend to the retraining of their clinicians to ensure these mistakes never happen again.’
This is a very worrying proposal. Statins have severe side-effects. Damage to the unborn would be a real possibility. And since some of the side-effects are mental, the damage might not be immediately obvious. This could make thalidomide look like a picnic in comparison
Scientists believe that statins, taken by millions of older Britons to reduce their cholesterol levels, can help reduce the severity of pre-eclampsia.
If the world’s first full clinical trial is successful, it could provide the first simple and effective treatment of a complication that affects 70,000 pregnancies a year in Britain, killing up to 10 women and 1,000 unborn babies.
Prof Asif Ahmed, who is leading the study at the University of Edinburgh, said: “If we are successful, and I am very optimistic that we will be, this treatment will transform clinical management of women with pre-eclampsia. “This is the first stage but I am sure that within the next five to seven years, the type of statin used in the trial will be on the prescription pad. “It will be a great breakthrough not only for mothers and babies in our country but also in the developing world where there is a chronic need for cheaper therapies.”
Pre-eclampsia leads to high blood pressure in pregnancy and in severe cases can lead to the woman suffering kidney and liver damage or their unborn baby being stillborn.
About one in 100 expectant mothers in Britain suffers from a particularly dangerous early-onset form, for which the only treatment is delivering their babies prematurely. But research has suggested that two proteins linked to inducing the condition can be controlled through the use of statins.
The new trial, funded by the Medical Research Council, will involve 128 pregnant women who have been diagnosed with early-onset pre-eclampsia. Those given statins will be monitored to see if the drugs lower their levels of one of the proteins, known as soluble flt-1. This would likely make their condition less severe and so reduce the need for their babies to be delivered early.
Despite researchers’ confidence that the trial will lead to a breakthrough in clinical management of pre-eclampsia, they stress that pregnant women should not yet start asking doctors to prescribe them statins.
Lobbyists who cleared 'Climategate' academics funded by British taxpayers and the BBC
A shadowy lobby group which pushes the case that global warming is a real threat is being funded by the taxpayer and assisted by the BBC. The little-known not-for-profit company works behind the scenes at international conferences to further its aims.
One of its key supporters headed the official investigation into the so-called "Climategate emails", producing a report which cleared experts of deliberately attempting to skew scientific results to confirm that global warming was a real threat.
Another scientific expert linked to the group came forward to praise a second independent investigation into the Climategate affair which also exonerated researchers.
Set up with the backing of Tony Blair, then the Prime Minister, and run by a group of British MPs and peers the organisation, Globe International, started life as an All Party Group based in the House of Commons.
It is now run as an international climate change lobbying group flying its supporters and experts club class to international summits to push its agenda. Last year, it said, it spent around £500,000 flying its supporters to these meetings.
It has also paid out at least £75,000 on travel for prominent UK politicians, including for its former presidents Elliot Morley [corr], the ex-Labour environment minister now facing jail for expenses fraud, and Stephen Byers, the former Labour cabinet minister who was suspended from the Commons after he was filmed describing himself a "cab for hire" when offering to lobby his parliamentary contacts for cash.
Now Globe is planning a mass lobby of the United Nations Rio 2012 summit in Brazil, where world leaders will discuss climate change, by holding a World Summit of Legislators in the city to coincided with the event.
Next week the group's current President Lord Deben, the former Tory Cabinet Minister John Gummer, is due to launch a major report on climate change policy alongside Chris Huhne, the Energy Secretary.
Globe has also recently held behind-closed-doors meetings with William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, and other senior Coalition ministers.
Last year two prominent experts linked to Globe were drawn into the controversy over emails leaked from the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit.
Lord Oxburgh, the organisation's director, was called in to head an internal inquiry into the leaked emails which included one infamous message referring to a "trick" to "hide the decline" in global temperatures.
The peer's investigation cleared the scientists of malpractice. But critics claimed the report was a whitewash and Lord Oxburgh also failed to declare his involvement with Globe before he began his investigation.
Meanwhile Bob Ward, from the Grantham Institute, which works alongside Globe, praised a second inquiry by former civil servant Muir Russell, which also cleared the climate researchers. He said it had "lifted the cloud of suspicion" and demonstrated that "the integrity of climate science is intact."
Globe International's work is paid for with donations from multi-millionaire backers and through partnerships with other environmental groups.
Globe also confirmed last night that it received direct funding from the Department of Energy and the Department of International Development (DfID). including a grant of £91,240 provided by DfID since the Coalition came to power last year.
More cash from DfID is filtered through the Complus Alliance - a "sustainable development communications alliance" of broadcasters based in Costa Rica which is also supported by the BBC World Service Trust, the Corporation's independent charity. Complus, which was awarded DfID cash last year and in 2006, says it has an "ongoing relationship with Globe" helping it run "shadow negotiation" teams at international summits of world leaders.
A spokeswoman for Complus said: "The BBC is a founding member not a funding member. They can make in-kind contributions, like organising events, supporting logistics, sharing content." She added that Complus did not fund Globe but work with them on "convergent objectives".
Last night a DfID spokesman confirmed the department had given Complus £250,000 in total to provide research, advocacy and communications work on the impact of climate change.
Last night Globe's general secretary Adam Matthews said: "Globe is not a lobbying organisation. It is an international group of legislators. It was set up by the legislators themselves. "We facilitate them coming together to discuss environmental issues. Our members have multiple views - some quite sceptical on some aspects of the climate change debate." "We are funded by the World Bank, the EU, international parliaments and Governments, including the UK Government. The coalition Government contributes to our work through DFID."
Globe International, registered as a not-for-profit firm under the name The Global Legislators Organisation Ltd, makes minimal disclosures about its finances to Companies House. Last year it declared a £500,000 loss, but still managed to fly a number of key supporters to summits and international conferences.
The new chairman of the BBC has waded into the growing row over secularism by warning that atheists are "intolerant" of religion.
Lord Patten of Barnes, the former Cabinet minister and a practising Catholic, said that he felt he was regarded as "peculiar" over his faith.
His comments come amid a deepening battle over the freedom of religious belief, which last week saw a Christian electrician threatened with the sack for displaying a cross in his van.
Lord Patten, a Conservative peer who will take control of the BBC Trust next month, is the highest-profile political figure to enter the debate over what is seen as a creeping attempt to remove Christianity from public life.
But his comments angered secularists, who last night expressed concern that his faith could affect his ability to remain objective in making decisions.
In a lecture delivered last week at Our Lady of Grace and St Edward in Chiswick, called 'Personal Faith and Public Service: Christian witness in the wider world', Lord Patten said he was dismayed by the attitude of secularists to the Pope's visit last year.
Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, the atheist campaigners, called for Pope Benedict XVI to be arrested when he came to Britain last year over the Catholic Church's record on child abuse, and demonstrations were held in London to protest at state funding for the papal visit.
"Some of the arguments put forward by secularists against the Pope's visit were lacking in intellectualism and were extraordinarily mean-spirited," said Lord Patten, who oversaw the Government's preparations for the papal trip.
"I'm surprised the atheists didn't have better arguments [against the Pope's visit]."
He claimed those who reject religious belief were hypocritical to portray religious people as being narrow-minded given the level of aggression they have displayed to Christians.
"It is curious that atheists have proved to be so intolerant of those who have a faith," he said.
"Their books would be a lot shorter if they couldn't refer to the Spanish Inquisition, but it is them who tend to have a level of Castillian intolerance about them."
The former governor of Hong Kong and current chancellor of Oxford University, who described himself as a cradle Catholic, said his own experience was that people looked down on him intellectually for having religious belief
He said: "It makes people think I'm peculiar and lack intellectual fibres because I don't have any doubts about my faith, but I'd be terrified to have doubts."
This admission echoes the claim made by Tony Blair in 2007 that people in political life who speak about their faith tend to be viewed by society as "nutters".
A report earlier this year, endorsed by Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, warned that the Church faces a battle to prevent faith being seen as "a social problem" and says the next five years are set to be a period of "exceptional challenge".
Fears have been growing that Christians are suffering from an increasing level of discrimination following a series of cases in which they have been punished for sharing their beliefs.
Last week, Colin Atkinson, an electrician, was summoned to a disciplinary hearing by his employers for displaying a small palm cross on the dashboard of his company van - but eventually allowed to keep the symbol of his religion.
However, Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said he was alarmed by Lord Patten's criticism of secularists and questioned whether he could remain impartial in his role as chairman of the BBC Trust, which is designed to represent the concerns of licence-fee payers.
"Lord Patten's comments don't bode well for his position as chairman of the BBC Trust," he said.
"He is supposed to represent all viewers, not just Catholics or religious people and I am quite concerned that he will not be able to be objective when religion comes into conflict with free expression in programme-making."
Mr Sanderson suggested the Conservative peer's faith could also influence his response to debates over the amount of time the BBC devotes to religion, which has been a recurring source of tension between the corporation and the Church of England.
Over recent years, the BBC has upset Christians by broadcasting the controversial Jerry Springer the Opera, which depicted Jesus in a nappy, and commissioning a cartoon featuring an infantile Pope bouncing on a pogo stick.
Fears have been raised amongst Church leaders that the BBC has become increasingly hostile to Christianity, but last year the corporation rejected calls from secularists for atheists to be included on Radio 4's Thought for the Day.
Welfare handouts aren't fair – and the British public knows it
A new survey shows that despite years of propaganda from the Left, Britons retain a deep-seated sense of fairness and individual responsibility, says Janet Daley
Like a mythical traveller seeking truth, a think tank has asked a profound question: what is fairness? And lo, the people have answered with (almost) one voice: what "fair" means is that those who are deserving shall receive, and those who are not shall be – well, not exactly cast out, but certainly not entitled to everything that's going.
As we report today, Policy Exchange – supposedly the Prime Minister's favourite ideas outlet – has done a brave and unusual thing. Rather than polling the public just on policy and voting intention, it has put a far more abstract moral issue before them. It instructed the pollsters at YouGov to find out precisely what the public thought the most powerful term of approbation in the political lexicon – "fair" – actually amounted to.
The quite unequivocal reply that was received (with breathtakingly enormous majorities in some forms) came as no surprise to this column. To most voters, fairness does not mean an equal distribution of resources and wealth, or even a redistribution of these things according to need. It means, as the report's title – "Just Deserts" – implies, that people get what they deserve. And what is deserved, the respondents made clear, refers to that which is achieved by effort, talent or dedication to duty: in other words, earned on merit.
As I have written so often on this page, when ordinary people use the word "fair", they mean that you should get out of life pretty much what you put in. Or, as the report's authors put it, "Voters' idea of fairness is strongly reciprocal – something for something." By obvious inference, a "something for nothing" society is the opposite of fair. And this view, interestingly, is expressed by Labour voters in pretty much the same proportion as all others.
Imagine that. After all these years of being morally blackmailed by the poverty lobby, harried by socialist ideologues and shouted at by self-serving public sector axe-grinders, the people are not cowed. Even after being bludgeoned by the BBC thought monitors and browbeaten by Left-liberal media academics with the soft Marxist view of a "fair" society – from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs – they have not bought it. They do not believe that if people are poor, it is necessarily society's fault, and therefore society's duty to deal with the consequences.
No, they say, as often as not, poverty is a consequence of lack of effort or self-control – and, therefore, the individual must accept the consequences. And they do not believe that such character failings and their consequences should be disregarded in the apportioning of welfare or help from the state – help which they know is made possible by the efforts of those who do "the right thing". They still have a firm and undaunted conception of the "undeserving poor" – a term so unfashionable that no politician would be capable of uttering it – and would like such people to be made to accept their reciprocal obligation to society in return for any assistance from public funds.
So the idea of "workfare" schemes, in which the long-term unemployed must undertake services to the community such as litter collection or graffiti removal if they are to continue receiving benefits, is hugely popular. Indeed, the public believes that one of the causes of unemployment is that out-of-work benefits are too generous.
This is a striking example of how voters can come to a common-sense understanding of an economic situation – that if you pay people not to work (or to be poor) then they are likely to stay out of work (or remain poor) – even though almost no one in public life has ever enunciated it. More surprising, perhaps, is the robust demand that those who could work, but won't, should have their benefits cut or stopped altogether – even if they have children. There seems to be little sympathy for the argument that the children of the workshy should not be penalised for their parents' fecklessness.
Now, this matter of children, and how they affect matters, is an interesting one. Those who responded to this poll seemed to take a quite startlingly hard line on the question of how much the presence of children should be taken into account by the welfare state. A majority said, for example, that there should be no additional child benefit paid after the third child, and they were only lukewarm on the subject of tax breaks for families with children (although they certainly prefer tax reliefs to cash benefits). And although they believe that lone parenthood should be discouraged, they are not particularly keen on the idea of encouraging marriage by incentivising it through the tax system.
On the face of it, this might appear odd, given what seem to be the traditional (some would say almost Victorian) attitudes that are expressed about work and life's vicissitudes in the survey as a whole. I think the result might have been different if the wording of the question had been more clearly linked to fairness: ie, is it fair that a married person supporting a family should pay the same amount of tax as a single one with no dependants?
But that notwithstanding, there is a comprehensible pattern here. I suspect that people now see marriage and the having of children as a matter of personal choice – a private decision one makes for oneself – rather than as a virtually inevitable part of adult life. Raising a family in today's world is not viewed so much as a function of accepting your grown-up role in the community, but a lifestyle option which you or may not adopt according to your personal tastes. What follows from that assumption is that you must accept responsibility for that decision.
That is the common thread throughout this survey: overwhelmingly, and with remarkable consistency, people reiterate their belief in individual responsibility. Their insistence that those who are able should be prepared to support themselves – and any children they produce – is not mean-mindedness or lack of compassion. (There was a clear message that those genuinely unable to make their own way should be helped.) Rather, it is an acknowledgement of the value of self-respect and self-determination: an understanding that taking responsibility for yourself is a proper part of fully fledged grown-up life, and that not having such expectations of people demeans them.
That part of the argument has been won. Now the case must be made more clearly that those who are carrying out the most important business of the society, by raising its children in a responsible way, are genuinely deserving of special consideration – even if it was their own self-sacrificing decision to do so.
Is teaching racist? No more than Oxford University or 'Mastermind'
We are too quick to throw around accusations of racial discrimination, argues Alasdair Palmer
There was consternation in schools last week when The Guardian – the teachers' favourite newspaper – reported accusations that the profession was "institutionally racist". The evidence for the charge was that while those of black Caribbean or black African origin make up 2 per cent of the population, they provide only 0.7 per cent of our head teachers.
That might sound like a standard Guardian whine. But it is actually a very common complaint, and one which is treated with the utmost seriousness. From a statistic showing that the proportion of a particular ethnic group in a particular position does not mirror that group's share of the population as a whole, the conclusion is drawn that the only explanation can be racism. This is visible everywhere, from the insistence that the police are institutionally racist to last week's claim that Mastermind must be guilty of the same fault, since it hasn't had enough contestants from ethnic minorities. Even David Cameron was at it a couple of weeks ago, lamenting that Oxford's admissions system was "disgraceful" – code for "racist" – because it admitted only one black student last year (actually, it was only one black Caribbean student).
Yet the inference, although widespread, is invalid. It's a way of not thinking about whatever problems there are with ethnic or other "minority" representation. (Minority has to be in quotes, because women are frequently described as a minority, even though they are actually the majority.) Racism can be the explanation for the fact that a group is under-represented, but it does not have to be, and frequently is definitely not.
If you look at Britain's Olympic sprinting team, you will not find the white middle classes represented. Indeed, you may not find anyone white at all. Is this the result of racism? Er, no. It is simply the consequence of the fact that the fastest runners, at least over short distances, do not happen to be white and bourgeois. No one complains, for the obvious reason that there is nothing sinister going on.
Again, almost all of the workmen who built skyscrapers in New York and other big cities on America's East Coast were, until recently, Mohawk Indians: there were very few Italians, Jews or Wasps. This was not down to racial prejudice on the part of the contractors: it was merely that Mohawks were better at the job. For reasons no one fully understands, they had less fear of heights and were better able to weld rivets 20 storeys up.
If Mr Cameron's reasoning were valid, the over-representation of Mohawks in high-rise construction, and of blacks in sprinting, should automatically be labelled a "disgrace" – as should the fact that Jews and Chinese, for instance, do better at getting places at top universities and firms than the ethnically Anglo-Saxon. Which merely shows the silliness of that form of inference.
The real explanation for the failure of some groups to do as well as others is not that admissions tutors, the Civil Service, and other employers are closet racists who conspire to ensure that incompetent whites are appointed to top jobs, in preference to more able individuals from ethnic minorities. Educational attainment is determined by many factors, particularly the sorts of things a child is exposed to before the age of seven. The gaps within the ability range have opened up considerably by then, and get wider during the school years.
By the time a child is old enough to go to university, there is not much that government can do to close them – other than ordering institutions not to admit or appoint on merit, but on some other characteristic, such as ethnic or class background. That, of course, is precisely what this government is trying to do, and it really is a disgrace. Dispensing with merit as the only criterion for entry to our top institutions is the fastest way to destroy them. But then again, perhaps that is the idea.
Two arrested in raids over sectarian 'hate comments'
There are two football teams in Glasgow, Scotland, that are traditional rivals. One ("Celtic") is basically Catholic. The other ("Rangers") is Protestant. Together they are referred to as "The Old Firm" and Glasgow divides on religious lines over which team you support.
And Protestant/Catholic hatred of one another in Glasgow is very similar to attitudes in Northern Ireland. In both cases the animosity goes back hundreds of years into history. So religious rivalry is added to sporting rivalry.
The hatred seems to have given a focus recently by the fact that one of the players for Rangers is black and that the manager of Celtic is from Northern Ireland.
One result is that the manager of Celtic and a couple of other supporters were recently sent parcel bombs, apparently by a male/female couple. The bombs did not explode but they have been used as an excuse to ban expressions of animosity towards the opposing team. That traditional animosity went on for years without any harm coming to the teams concerned seems to have been overlooked. Just one act has been used to criminalize the speech of everybody else.
"Two men have been arrested in raids targeting "sectarian and hate-filled" web comments about Celtic manager Neil Lennon and Rangers striker El Hadji-Diouf.
A 23-year-old and a 27-year-old are in police custody after the raids in the early hours of the morning.
The arrests were made in Paisley and Dalmarnock in the east end of Glasgow. Both men have been charged with sectarian breach of the peace.
Lennon has endured sectarian threats against him throughout his career as a player and manager at Celtic and was the target of a parcel bomb campaign, which also saw devices sent to QC Paul McBride and MSP Trish Godman.
A number of youth players for various Scottish clubs have also been disciplined for comments they made online.
There is a new lot of postings by Chris Brand just up -- on his usual vastly "incorrect" themes of race, genes, IQ etc.
24 April, 2011
23% of inpatients waited up to 8hrs in emergency room
Almost a quarter of patients with urgent health problems say they waited up to eight hours in A&E before being admitted to hospital. Increasing numbers of inpatients also felt they had to wait “a long time” to be seen, in a comprehensive survey published by the main health watchdog.
Meanwhile the proportion who were taken to a ward within an hour of arriving at an accident and emergency unit has fallen sharply over the past decade. It comes amid fears that NHS waiting times are set to rise still further after the Government stopped monitoring Labour’s strict targets and as trusts struggle to make £20billion of efficiency savings by 2015.
Under the previous Government, no one was meant to wait more than four hours between arriving at A&E and being admitted or discharged. But the 2010 survey of inpatients, compiled by the Care Quality Commission from 66,000 responses, found that increasing numbers are now spending longer in waiting areas.
It states: “A fifth (20 per cent) of emergency and urgent admissions said that they waited less than an hour after arriving at the hospital before being admitted to a bed on the ward, a decrease from 22 per cent in 2009 and 26 per cent in 2002.
“Seventeen percent reported that they waited ‘at least one hour but less than two hours’ an increase from 13 per cent in 2002. Twenty six per cent waited between two and four hours an increase from 15 per cent in 2002.
“There has been an increase this year in the proportion waiting between four and eight hours (23 per cent) from 22 per cent in 2009 and 19 per cent in 2002.”
In addition, 7 per cent said they waited eight hours or even longer, although the same proportion said they were seen immediately.
The report added: “All respondents were asked if they felt they had to wait a long time to get a bed on a ward from the time they arrived at the hospital. Thirteen percent responded ‘yes definitely’ and 20 per cent ‘yes to some extent’, both an increase from 2009 when the proportions were 11 per cent and 19 per cent respectively.”
The report pointed out that the figures cannot be compared directly with the four-hour target, as the new survey did not include those who were discharged, children under 16, pregnant women or those admitted for psychiatric reasons.
However it backs up official Department of Health figures published earlier this month that show the number of people waiting more than four hours rose to 292,052 between July and December 2010, a 65 per cent increase on the same period in the previous year.
In addition, the CQC study found that slightly smaller numbers of inpatients found hand wash gels available or leaflets about their importance, while more had to wait more than five minutes after pressing a “help” button.
On the positive side, more patients were happy with the food they received and the cleanliness of wards and bathrooms.
Jesus vs Che Guevara: A man who laid down his life for us ... or a murderous ‘rock-star’ rebel?
We now have to be pleased that a man has not been sacked from his job for putting a small cross on the dashboard of his company van.
Please forgive me if my joy is muted this Eastertide. The real meaning of the Wakefield Palm Cross Affair is not specially happy.
Colin Atkinson would have been fired if it hadn’t been for the might of this newspaper – and the dogged courage of a union official, Terry Cunliffe. Many unions are keen on ‘Equality and Diversity’ codes, and wouldn’t have taken the case.
And as it’s Easter, I’d like to focus on the fact that the manager involved, Denis Doody, had a picture (perhaps I should say ‘icon’) of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara on his office wall. Interesting.
Why? Well, what we recall at Easter is the show trial and judicial murder of Jesus of Nazareth. A mob is manipulated into calling for his death. The judge, who knows he is innocent, feebly gives in. Such things are common in the real world, to this day.
The resurrection, which some of us still celebrate today, symbolises the ultimate defeat of cruel and cynical human power by a far greater force. Among other things, Easter enshrines the idea that what we do here matters somewhere else, that there is an absolute standard by which our actions are judged.
Down 20 centuries, this idea has restrained the powerful. They do not like it. Never have. Never will.
The worship of Christ, victim of a lynch mob and a crooked judge, is dangerously radical. What about the cult of Comrade Guevara, embraced by Mr Doody?
It claims to be radical too. But its devotees are the power-worshipping generation that now dominates our culture, using their slogan of ‘equality’ as a bludgeon to flatten opposition.
Guevara was an evil killer, the exact opposite of Jesus. There is no excuse at all for revering him.
He personally slaughtered alleged traitors to his nasty revolution.
One of these was Eutimio Guerra, a peasant and army guide. Guevara himself icily recounted: ‘I fired a .32 calibre bullet into the right hemisphere of his brain which came out through his left temple. He moaned for a few moments, then died.’
Later, when the rock-star rebel ‘Che’ was in power, he would lie on top of the wall at La Cabana prison, jauntily smoking a cigar while he watched the firing squads below punching bloody holes in the victims of his kangaroo trials.
Guevara’s view of justice was typical of the smug Left, which knows it is right because it knows it is good. ‘Don’t drag out the process. This is a revolution. Don’t use bourgeois legal methods, the proof is secondary.’
There you have it, rather neatly expressed – the two rival forces that compete for supremacy in what was once a Christian country – the Gospel of Che, hot with hate and splattered with other people’s blood and brains in the pursuit of a utopia that never comes, and the Gospel of Christ, a life laid down willingly for others.
Is this equality? As a British lawyer, I never thought I’d have to defend Christians in a Christian nation
By Andrea Minichiello Williams
I wanted to be a barrister for as long as I can remember. I wanted to be an advocate, to give a voice to those in society who could not help themselves. I wanted justice to be done and believed that our great British legal system, founded on Christian principles, would secure such justice.
I never imagined that my skills as a lawyer would be used to defend Christians for following their faith in 21st Century Britain.
In the UK, Christians are beginning to experience discrimination that leads to them being marginalised and losing their jobs. Over the past three years more than 100 have suffered after wearing a cross, sharing their faith, even offering a prayer.
Why is this? I believe it is because, as a nation, we have forgotten our history and Christian foundations – our very identity. The legal and political elite tell us that we have now ‘grown up’ and are a secular nation.
This rings hollow for many of us. Even those who might not attend church regularly still – the majority of them – identify with the great faith that shaped our nation.
Christian principles are clear-cut and easy to understand. They espouse life, joy, forgiveness, freedom, tolerance and justice. These principles are good for all and we are poorer as a society when we reject their source.
The social reformers of the 19th Century who made Britain great – Wilberforce, Fry, Peel and Rowntree, among others – were compelled by their love for Christ and built on the foundations of preachers such as Wesley and Whitefield of the 18th Century. Most of the great advances in public life, in healthcare, education and social provision, came as a result of Christian conviction.
Biblical principles of justice transcribed into the statute books helped to maintain true tolerance within our society, the dignity of every human being and the call to great sacrificial public service.
Yet since the middle of the last century the Christian framework that shaped our culture has come under increasing attack.
As a young barrister in the Eighties I had the privilege of knowing Lord Denning – a judge famous for doing the right thing – and every three months I would enjoy fish and chips with him at his local pub in Whitchurch in Hampshire. What was it that informed Lord Denning? It was his notion of Christian justice. He once proclaimed: ‘Without Christianity, there can be no morality, there can be no law.’
Yet modern legal and political thought, particularly under the Blair/Brown regime but continuing under Cameron and Clegg, has been dominated not by Christian principles, but by liberal secular humanism, exemplified in the equalities legislation of the past decade.
Contrast Lord Denning with Lord Justice Munby, and his statement in a recent Christian Legal Centre case: ‘Although historically this country is part of the Christian West, and although it has an established church which is Christian, there have been enormous changes in the social and religious life of our country over the past century. Our society is now pluralistic and largely secular.
‘We sit as secular judges serving a multicultural community of many faiths . . . The laws and usages of the realm do not include Christianity, in whatever form. The aphorism that “Christianity is part of the common law of England” is mere rhetoric.’
Has Lord Justice Munby forgotten the whole of our nation’s history?
While appearing to have the noble aim of upholding personal dignity, equality laws passed in the past decade have acted as a political lightning rod to eliminate Christian morality from the workplace. In essence, they are being applied unequally.
Take marriage. Marriage as traditionally understood no longer has any special status in the law and yet it is the first building block for a stable society. We have exchanged the ideal of marriage between a man and woman for ‘All relationships are equal’.
As the new morality is enforced by the State, the fear of appearing ‘phobic’ has led to many public bodies conducting ‘Middle Age’ witch-hunts against anyone who dares speak or even think differently.
Eunice and Owen Johns were foster parents with an impeccable record. Their fostering application, for children aged between five and ten, stalled because they couldn’t sign an equality policy which meant that they would be prepared to ‘promote the practice’ of homosexuality.
The judges said there might ‘be a tension between equality provisions concerning religious discrimination and those concerning sexual orientation’. Where this is so ‘the equality provisions concerning sexual orientation should take precedence’.
It has all gone too far. It is time to turn the tide. I don’t believe the great and ordinary British people want this kind of liberal-tyranny. We want our freedom back. People should be free to debate, state and hold the view that a child needs a mother and a father without feeling ashamed or sidelined.
We don't want preachers arrested or Christian registrars forced from office because they can’t, in conscience, officiate at same-sex civil partnership ceremonies. We don’t want doctors and magistrates to lose their jobs because they believe that vulnerable children are best raised in a home with a mother and a father, or our children put in isolation because they refuse to take off a purity ring.
I could go on. The liberal tyranny does not stop at the family but invades any manifestation of the Christian faith in the public arena. It leads to a nurse of 38 years being taken off frontline nursing because she won’t take off her two-inch cross; it leads to an electrician being told to remove the palm cross he has had in his van for 15 years.
These cases are the tip of the iceberg. Most go unreported. It was the sense of injustice that led us, three years ago, to set up the Christian Legal Centre and its sister organisation, Christian Concern. Are we as a nation really prepared to let go of our Christian roots? Well, I am not, not without a fight.
There cannot be a Big Society without a Big Story. This nation’s great story is based on that of Jesus Christ. At Easter, we celebrate how, faced with a world that had rejected Him and gone its own way, God reached out in love, at the cost of His own life, to bring reconciliation at the most fundamental level – a reconciliation to Him.
Christians for generations have responded to this story of new life, hope and sacrifice by giving themselves in acts of service to our great land. Surely it is time to embrace and accept them, noting that true tolerance is accepting the difference, not silencing or eliminating them from public life.
'Are there any Christians left in the CofE?' Wave of anger after senior British Bishop calls for faith schools to limit number of Anglican pupils
Religious leaders yesterday poured scorn on Church of England proposals to limit the number of practising Anglicans admitted to faith schools. The Bishop of Oxford has called for a major shake-up of admissions rules, saying policies which favour religious children should be changed even if this affects a school’s exam results.
The Right Reverend John Pritchard, who is also chairman of the CofE’s board of education, urged heads to reserve no more than 10 per cent of places for practising Anglicans.
But his plans stirred anger among other denominations and faiths, who described them as ‘nonsense’ and ‘depressing politically-correct drivel’ and pledged to ‘robustly fight’ their right to admit members of their own faith. They said the Church was being led by a ‘secularist agenda’ on the issue, with Conservative MP Stewart Jackson asking ‘are there any Christians left in the CofE?’ [Simple answer: No]
The Bishop’s suggestion even sparked a row within his own flock, with one vicar saying he was ‘incandescent’ with the ‘level of incompetence displayed by senior Church members’.
Bishop Pritchard told the Times Educational Supplement this week: ‘Every school will have a policy that has a proportion of places for church youngsters... what I would be saying is that number ought to be minimised because our primary function and our privilege is to serve the wider community.’
There are about 2,500 CofE ‘voluntary aided’ primary and secondary schools in England. They each act as their own admissions authority and, when oversubscribed, can admit by faith.
There are also around 2,300 Roman Catholic schools, where 78 per cent of pupils are baptised Catholics. Several of these schools routinely dominate league tables.
Dr Oona Stannard, chief executive of the Catholic Education Service, defended their right to educate children of their own faith and insisted their share of pupils on free school meals is in line with the national average.
She described the Bishop of Oxford’s comments as ‘nonsense’, and ‘emphatically’ denied that Catholic schools were academically selective. She said Catholic schools are often successful because children flourish in an environment with a strong moral and spiritual ethos.
And she added: ‘It is the entitlement of Catholic parents to send their children to Catholic schools. Unfortunately in some areas, such as London, we cannot satisfy the demand. If a school is oversubscribed we need a criteria by which to select. And we do this through faith.’
Ibrahim Hewitt, spokesman for the Association of Muslim Schools, said: ‘The Church of England should be setting a lead, not bending to what is very much a secularist agenda to try to get rid of faith schools.’
A spokesman for Education Secretary Michael Gove said: ‘Our aim is to end the rationing of good schools by making schools accountable to parents instead of politicians and therefore raise standards across the country. As we make progress the issue of admissions policy will become less important.’
But Kevin Courtney, deputy general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, welcomed the Bishop’s comments and said faith schools should be for the whole community.
The Bishop’s announcement is due to be issued to CofE schools as guidance in the summer. The move is likely to spark outrage among middle-class parents who fight to get their children into a top faith school.
Great British five-a-day flop: Despite £4m campaign, number eating correct amount of fruit and veg FALLS
The Government campaign to persuade people to eat five portions of fruit and veg a day has been a multimillion-pound flop. Official statistics show that the number of people meeting the ‘five-a-day’ target actually fell as the campaign went on.
This is despite the fact that over the past five years the Department of Health has spent more than £4million on marketing and advertising for the campaign – and that the total since the campaign was launched in 2002 will be much more than that.
Critics said yesterday that the money squandered was a clear example of nanny-state failure.
Many local primary care trusts have appointed ‘five-a-day’ advisers and run regional campaigns, including leaflet drops and talks. Billboards have been put up in city centres and signs have gone up in supermarkets and doctors’ surgeries.
But between 2006 and 2009, the percentage of adults eating five portions of fruit and veg a day has fallen from 30 per cent to 26 per cent. This equates to a fall from 12.1million to 10.9million, meaning that more than a million fewer people are eating the recommended amount.
The World Health Organisation claims that fruit and vegetables can prevent cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer. But last year a major European study found that five a day had little effect on reducing cancer rates.
Government figures show that more than five million children – almost four out of five – eat less than the recommended amounts. The typical amount the average adult eats has fallen slightly from 3.3 portions a day in 2006 to 3.2 three years later.
The number of adults eating no portions, or less than one portion, a day has gone up by 17 per cent, from 3.4million to 3.9million, over the same period.
Rich households are twice as likely to have five a day as those in the poorest households. While 32 per cent of men and 37 per cent of women in the highest-income households meet the target, only 18 per cent of men and 19 per cent of women in the lowest-income households do. In the poorest households, almost half of men and more than a third of women consumed no fruit other than juice.
Official figures, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, show the Department of Health has spent £4,167,700 on marketing and advertising for the five-a-day campaign since 2006.
The campaign, which has been endorsed by celebrities such as England cricketers Andrew Flintoff and Ashley Giles, was launched in 2002. But there are no figures to show how much was spent before 2006, so the department’s total could be double the amount for the last five years. And the figures do not include the amount spent by primary care trusts around the country, which will have pushed it up even higher.
Emma Boon, campaign director at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘It’s ridiculous that the Department of Health has spent so much on this failed campaign. ‘Taxpayers want their money to be spent on frontline healthcare, not on bossy people telling us what to eat. Hiring staff specifically to tell us to eat fruit and veg is madness, and these non-jobs must go to save taxpayers’ money. ‘Primary care trusts need to look at the outcomes of initiatives like this and stop thinking that putting more taxpayers’ money in is the solution.’
Doctors who practice American-style conservative medicine (e.g. ordering lots of scans and diagnostic tests) could be tossed out on their ear under the NHS reforms. Caution costs money! Too bad if it also saves lives
Doctors who prescribe too many drugs or needlessly send patients to hospital could be pushed out of new organisations by their peers, in an attempt to keep their costs down and receive higher bonuses.
But because anyone who wants to practice on the NHS under the new regime must belong to a local consortium, those who are cast out could be left be unable to work.
Since those remaining would take on their former patients, the little-noticed consequence of the Government’s controversial health reforms may be seen as a good thing by driving out costly and poorly performing GPs.
Forcing doctors to join consortia, which will replace Primary Care Trusts in buying £60billion of treatment a year from NHS hospitals or private providers, is a key element of the Health and Social Care Bill, which is currently on “pause” over fears it will lead to the backdoor privatisation of the health service.
The prospect was raised by Christian Dingwall, a partner at the law firm Hempsons, who told a Westminster Health Forum conference recently that it has been suggested that up to a fifth of GPs under-performing because they “over prescribe or they over refer”. “In other words, they seem to be costing the NHS an undue amount of money.”
He said it is “unlikely” that better-performing GPs will want to share their consortium with underperforming GPs and might look to exclude them. This is because they will be eligible for extra money if a new body that oversees them, the NHS Commissioning Board, thinks it has done well. A proportion of practice income will also come in the form of a “quality premium”.
Mr Dingwall went on: “Now this is critically important for a GP because if you are not going to be a member of a consortium you cannot hold a primary care contract.
“So, it seems that the GP consortium is going to be absolutely critical as to who will be able to hold a primary care contract and can be a player at all within primary care, let alone the wider health care market.”
Mr Hempson added to The Daily Telegraph that consortia would not be able to expel doctors arbitrarily, or simply in order to acquire their patient lists or profits, as any decisions to change their membership would have to be approved by the NHS Commissioning Board.
Another health expert said: “I think peer group pressure on GPs is going to be a powerful lever. Whether this gets to the stage of GPs being driven out of consortia I don’t know but, certainly from the work I have been doing with some consortia, it is clear that they are going to be very hot on what they consider to be bad practice.”
A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "We have set out plans that will make services more responsive to patients and consistently drive up quality. However we want to get this right. That is why we are pausing, listening and reflecting so we can improve our NHS for everyone."
Give ANY power to a British bureaucrat and it will be used to hurt people. It was perfectly proper to catch a wandering dog but there was NO need to put it down immediately. They would have done so only because they KNEW it was a fully registered family pet
A family was left devastated after their pet dog escaped from their home during a burglary - and was then put down by the council just two hours later.
It is thought four-year-old Lennox was startled by the intruder and ran out of the house in Weymouth, Dorset. Members of the public reported the Rottweiler-cross to police after he was spotted wandering the streets of Weymouth, Dorset.
Lennox was subsequently captured by officers and a council dog warden, who used a pole and noose to trap him before assessing him as 'vicious'. Despite the fact he had a microchip implant which would have identified him and his owners to vets, he was put to sleep.
The dog, described as a 'big softie' by its owners, was put down by a vet at 6pm - just two hours after the break-in. His worried family arrived home at 8pm and reported both the burglary and Lennox missing to the police. At first they were wrongly told Lennox was being held in council kennels but were later informed he had been put down.
Owner Sophie Johnston, 24, is livid that Lennox, who was micro-chipped, was put down so quickly without receiving so much as a phone call from the authorities.
Miss Johnston said the dog had been brought up with her two children Freya, six, and Khan, four, and added: 'He was a big softie. 'He was scared of the hoover and even our kittens used to bully him and throw him off his bed. 'He has got out before and we have called the dog warden as a precaution, so they have our number. 'He was micro-chipped. They should have at least called us. 'I could understand the decision if he had got out and hurt someone, but he didn't.'
Her family is now considering taking legal action against Weymouth and Portland Borough Council.
Miss Johnston had left Lennox at home while she and partner James Maskery, 21, went out for a few hours. While they were away family friend Andy James, 23, received a call from a neighbour to say Lennox was on the loose. He went to investigate and found the couple had been burgled.
Mr James said: "The front door was closed when I got there. I went round the back and called Lennox and tried to see if he was inside but he wasn't. 'I walked back round to the front and the front door was open. I think I must have disturbed whoever was in there.'
Over the next two hours Lennox was seen running through neighbouring streets, prompting residents to report a 'big dog' was on the loose. Lennox was eventually cornered by police and the council's dog warden Ian Lewis, who said the animal was 'having a go' at anything that went past him.
A spokesman for Weymouth and Portland Borough Council said they sympathised with Lennox's owners but they had acted in the interest of public safety. He said: 'We were left with no alternative given the actual and reported behaviour of the dog.
The untouchables: How violence and drugs go unpunished in Britain's care homes where all that matters are children's rights
When Winston Smith became a youth worker after leaving university, he was an idealistic liberal. But after ten depressing years of seeing disruptive children in care being indulged rather than disciplined, he’s written a devastating book exposing the truth about the anarchy in this country’s care homes
Well past midnight, a thuggish teenager called Liam is playing music in his bedroom at full volume. Three adults have spent 20 minutes cajoling him to ‘make the right choice’: in other words, to turn it down and let everyone get some sleep.
As they’ve been trained to do, they’ve praised him for those few hours in the past week when he wasn’t causing mayhem. But none of this works. It rarely does.
Liam has an angry, vacant look in his eye. Even threats don’t work. When I tell him he risks not going to Alton Towers this weekend, as planned, he roars: ‘B******s! I’ll be f***ing going. I’d like to see you try and stop me.’
If I dare to come into his room, he adds, ‘I’ll f***ing smash you right up!’
Everyone in the care home is awake now. Suddenly, a semi-feral 15-year-old appears at Liam’s door and hurls a 4kg dumb-bell at him, narrowly missing.
Provoking Liam — who, at just 15, is 6ft 2in and weighs 15st — can be unwise. In the past, he’s assaulted staff and gone on a wrecking spree simply for being asked politely to go to school.
What follows now is a hellish chase down a corridor. Fortunately, the dumb-bell thrower manages to barricade himself in a bedroom, along with two care-home workers and a pregnant teenager.
Liam starts furiously kicking the door down with his steel-toed boots. He’s also grabbed a frying pan from somewhere and is clearly intending to clobber the people cowering inside.
The door’s splintering and nearly off its hinges, but there’s nothing I can do except call the police. If I try to intervene physically, one of us will probably end up unconscious — and if it’s Liam, I know I’ll never work in social services again, regardless of the mitigating circumstances.
Welcome to the topsy-turvy world of care homes, where boys like Liam regularly get away with everything short of murder. During the many shifts I’ve worked at Charrington Place care home, he’s spat on me, threatened me with a home-made flame-thrower, thrown a clock at me and pelted me with eggs. He’s done variations of the same to pretty much everyone else.
On this particular night, the police arrive just in time to prevent a bloodbath, but conclude that there aren’t sufficient grounds for arrest.
The next day, Liam refuses to go to school. Instead, he’s taken for a walk in the countryside and then a row round a lake in the grounds of a stately home.
You might think this a highly inappropriate reward for attempted murder, and you’d be right. But the care system prefers always to look on the positive side. In the paperwork we have to fill out, Liam’s relaxing day is magically transformed into an ‘educational outing’.
On his return, he announces that he wants to go into town. ‘I don’t want to f***ing walk,’ he tells the care home manager. ‘Get me a car.’ The car isn’t available, so Liam begins rampaging around the house. He tears several paintings off the wall, throws a plate at me, slaps the manager, spits in my face, grabs me by the throat and spends a good hour trying to kick the office door down.
Later, he threatens to ‘mash’ me up while I’m asleep.
At the end of all this, he’s solemnly informed that he’s lost his £1 good behaviour incentive money for that day. Beyond that, though, he escapes censure; indeed, he’s told that if he behaves until Saturday, he’ll be taken to a nearby leisure centre.
Madness? Of course it is. Right across the country, the residential care system has been infected with an institutional and ideological form of insanity. As many as 90,000 children and young people pass through the care system in England every year, and 28 per cent are looked after in dedicated children’s homes. The average care home is small, with ten children or fewer, but I’ve seen some trying to keep tabs on more than 60 teenagers.
The black headmistress who saw lynch mob in a British parent's poster and called police
For a poster advertising a primary school parents’ meeting, it is certainly unusual. Using models, it depicts scientist Charles Darwin surrounded by an angry mob wielding flaming torches and makeshift weapons. According to the school governor who created it, City executive David Moyle, it is a satirical joke about pushy middle-class parents demanding higher standards.
Yet when black headmistress Shirley Patterson saw it, she believed it represented her surrounded by white parents. She reportedly compared it to a scene from Mississippi Burning, a film about the Ku Klux Klan’s racist lynchings, saying it left her ‘fearing for her and her family’s safety’.
She called the police, claiming harassment. Then a council inquiry spent weeks determining the race of the Charles Darwin figure. Now Mr Moyle has been suspended from the governing body of Goodrich primary school in fashionable East Dulwich, south-east London, and is considering withdrawing his two younger children.
Although the police realised Darwin was white, and said no crime had been committed, Southwark council insisted it had ‘appropriately’ investigated the ‘deeply disturbing’ poster. The Labour authority refused to reveal details of its inquiry – which involved half a dozen officers at a time when 500 jobs are set to be cut.
And it will not discuss how a model of a white, bearded, Victorian scientist could be confused with a black 21st century headmistress.
But a friend of Mr Moyle said: ‘Southwark council summoned David for a meeting and told him the posters amounted to harassment. ‘A two-week investigation was carried out into the toy Charles Darwin’s ethnicity, before it was ruled “indeterminable”.
‘But the council inquiry, carried out by a whole team of officers including the assistant director of access, inclusion and education, Pauline Armour, ruled the poster was “an image of violence and intimidation”, and “deeply disturbing and damaging to children”.’
Last night Mr Moyle, who is also a volunteer cricket coach at the school, said: ‘The poster and subsequent events have taken up way too much of my time this year. I was very surprised and disappointed that the school executive tried to criminalise me over it, especially in light of the amount of time my wife and I have given to Goodrich over the last eight years.
‘If there was a perceived problem with the image I would have thought they could have spoken directly to me about it. ‘And as an ardent supporter of local government, I was taken aback by the reaction of the council, who not only fully endorsed the disproportionate reaction of the school management, but also contrived additional charges about the poster that had no relation at all to the original complaint.
‘The only people involved who have applied common sense to this incident are the police and the parents of the school, and to them I am grateful.’
The friend added: ‘David is really angry. He feels he can’t have his children in a school where the headmistress tried to have him arrested. The posters were supposed to be poking fun at parents, representing them as a peasants’ revolt. ‘And the parents, teachers and police saw nothing racist about it. But once the council got involved it escalated.’
Mrs Patterson, 53, replaced a popular long-term headmaster of Goodrich school when he retired in 2007. Ofsted inspectors rated the school, which has around 700 pupils aged three to 11, a lowly ‘satisfactory’ in 2008.
In January, newly-elected parent governor Mr Moyle, who lives nearby in a £650,000 Victorian house with wife Lisa, a former treasurer of the parents’ association, and their sons aged 12 and ten and daughter of eight, was asked to advertise a meeting. He found the image on a website mocking ‘creationists’ angered by Darwin’s theory of evolution, and stuck posters around the school.
The next week he was told Mrs Patterson had complained to the National Union of Teachers.
The friend said: ‘Mrs Patterson was previously at a school where lots of children come from migrant families and English is not their first language. ‘But East Dulwich is quite gentrified, and a lot of middle-class parents here want schools that rival prep schools. ‘They want academic excellence.
‘She feels everyone is against her and has over-reacted to a poster she thought symbolised her.’
Mrs Patterson, who lives with her daughter in a £250,000 flat in Camberwell two miles from the school, refused to comment.
His arguments are as hollow as they are old. We have hardly begun on the amount of food we could grow. An example: Sugar is a major nutrient and yet sugar supplies are almost continuously in glut (oversupply). Australia's sugar lands could double their production at the drop of a hat if it were profitable.
And consider this: China -- yes China -- is now a major food exporter. Capitalism works its wonders even in crowded China. Where do you think your supermarket gets its garlic these days? And, sacrilege of sacrileges, there are even Chinese truffles on the market now. And the list goes on....
And if Sir David likes less crowded places, let him move to the stunningly beautiful South Island of New Zealand. Instead he lives in crowded London. What does that tell you?
And if you then consider that it is only in poor countries where the birthrate is above replacement, you might arrive at yet another even more telling conclusion. Wouldn't it be simpler and more honest of him to say: "Keep Third World immigrants out of Britain"?
Sir David Attenborough has warned that population growth must be stopped in order to offer a ‘decent life’ for all. The wildlife broadcaster said people were shying away from accepting that the world’s resources cannot sustain current levels of population growth. ‘There cannot be more people on this Earth than can be fed,’ he writes in the New Statesman.
‘The sooner we stabilise our numbers, the sooner we stop running up the down escalator – and we have some chance of reaching the top; that is to say, a decent life for all.’
Sir David, 84, said the global population is over six billion and will hit nine billion in 30 years, but ‘there seems to be some bizarre taboo around the subject’. He warned of a ‘perfect storm of population growth, climate change and peak oil production’, leading to ‘insecurity in the supply of food, water and energy’.
‘We now realise that the disasters that continue increasingly to afflict the natural world have one element that connects them all – the unprecedented increase in the number of human beings on the planet,' he added.
‘All these people, in this country and worldwide, rich or poor, need and deserve food, water, energy and space. Will they be able to get it? I don’t know.’
Sir David said there was a 'taboo' tackling the subject and that people shied away from stating the fact that a world’s resources cannot sustain current levels of population growth.
He said: ‘There seems to be some bizarre taboo around the subject. This taboo doesn’t just inhibit politicians and civil servants who attend the big conferences.
‘It even affects the environmental and developmental non-governmental organisations, the people who claim to care most passionately about a sustainable and prosperous future for our children.’
The 84-year-old praised controversial 18th century demographer Thomas Malthus, who argued that populations increase until they are halted by 'misery and vice'.
He added: ‘The population of the world is now growing by 80 million a year. One and a half million a week. A quarter of a million a day.
‘The government’s chief scientist and the last president of the Royal Society have both referred to the 'perfect storm' of population growth, climate change, and peak oil production, leading inexorably to more and more insecurity in the supply of food, water and energy.’
The global population is now in excess of six billion and is predicted to hit nine billion within 30 years.
Experts have predicted that the British population – which is currently around 62million – will increase to 70million by 2029.
A report by the sustainable development group Forum For The Future said Britain would struggle to handle such growth. The increase in population would be ‘catastrophic’ and put unsustainable pressure on housing, schools and hospitals as well as natural resources.
Current trends will see a city the size of Bristol added to the population of the UK every year for the next two decades.
Sir David’s comments follow a similar warning from BBC wildlife expert Chris Packham. The Springwatch presenter suggested offering Britons tax breaks to encourage them to have smaller families. He effectively endorsed China’s controversial one-child policy, which sees couples who adhere to the rule given a lump sum on retirement.
But he stopped short of suggesting people should be penalised for having too many children.
Packham, 49, who has no children of his own, told Radio Times: ‘By 2020, there are going to be 70million people in Britain. Let’s face it, that’s too many.’
He added: ‘There’s no point bleating about the future of pandas, polar bears and tigers when we’re not addressing the one single factor that’s putting more pressure on the ecosystem than any other – namely the ever-increasing size of the world’s population.’
Packham suggested offering couples a financial incentive as ‘a carrot’ to persuade them to have fewer – or no – children.
He said: ‘I would offer them tax breaks for having small families: say, 10 per cent off your tax bill if you decide to stick with just one child. And an even bigger financial incentive if you choose not to have a family at all.’
‘I question the way, for example, people have two children with one partner, then split up and have two with their next partner, just to even up the score.
‘Fact is, we all eat food, breathe air and require space, and the more of us there are, the less of those commodities there are for other people and, of course, for the animals.’
Major energy companies have been given free carbon allowances worth more than £100m this year for closed or mothballed power stations – despite the fact that the plants are producing little or no emissions.
Centrica, GDF Suez/International Power and Scottish & Southern Energy are among the UK companies to have reduced or switched off capacity at older plants.
And despite ceasing to produce electricity, the energy companies still receive the carbon credits which they can trade on international markets – giving substantial windfalls.
All the named companies announced temporary or permanent shut-downs in recent weeks – just after this year's carbon allowances were handed out by February 28.
Centrica has put four plants – Barry, Brigg, Peterborough and Kings Lynn – into "preservation mode", which means they are not producing but ready to be switched on.
Meanwhile, GDF Suez has reduced output at its Teesside plant to almost nothing – with the station expected to produce just 45 megawatts out of its 1875 megawatt capacity.
A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: "If an installation permanently closes then it will retain the full allocation for the year in which it closed down. "It will receive no further allowances for future years of the European Union emissions trading scheme.
For temporary and partial closure the installation carries on as normal. "There are no adjustments to its allocation. It will be the decision of the regulator to decide if a closure is temporary or partial. However, installations can appeal a regulator decision."
A spokesman for the Environment Agency said if there is operating activity during the year, companies are entitled to retain their allocation of free allowances. "The rules do not allow us to take allocations away," he said.
It is understood that officials at the Department of Energy and Climate Change are not happy about the situation and are trying to work out a way for them to be reclaimed.
Centrica declined to comment, while Scottish & Southern and International Power confirmed they had received its allowances for their non-producing stations. A source close to one of the companies said: "We don't yet know the answer to [whether we'll be able to keep allowances]. The arbiter of this decision will be the European Union emissions trading group at the Environment Agency and we have been told that they will issue guidance on this later in the year."
It is not the first time that partial closure of plants has caused controversy in relation to unused carbon credits.
Last year, Ian Swales, now the Lib Dem MP for Redcar, called for clarification over what would happen to the 7m carbon allowances awarded for the year to Corus, before the plant was mothballed.
A Corus spokesman at the time insisted: "Any allegation that Corus has been motivated by the desire to profit from the mothballing via the emissions trading scheme is totally without foundation and insults the efforts of all those who have spent the past eight months desperately searching for a long-term viable future for the plant."
No improvement to the NHS in last 10 years -- as a fifth of patients say they are not treated with dignity
Despite endless Government promises to end the neglect of the elderly on wards, the situation has not improved in a decade, a damning report reveals.
Almost a fifth of patients felt they were not treated with dignity or respect by doctors or nurses. A further one in five said they were not given any help with their meals, and one in six had to wait more than five minutes for help after pressing their emergency call button.
These figures have not changed since 2002 when the Care Quality Commission watchdog carried out a similar survey.
The latest survey of 66,000 patients will add to concerns that the needs of the elderly are routinely ignored by hospital staff. The extent of this neglect was highlighted in a report by the Health Service Ombudsman this year. It exposed shocking cases of poor treatment of the elderly, including one cancer patient who was allowed to become so dehydrated that he could not even call for help.
According to the CQC report, 18 per cent of patients said they were only treated with dignity ‘sometimes’, while three per cent said they were ‘never’ treated with dignity.
Elizabeth Cavanagh, who survived the Blitz, died in agony as staff at an NHS hospital ‘ignored’ her cries for help. Her family would find the 88-year-old grandmother from East London with her alarm buzzer left out of reach and food placed in front of her which staff did not help her to eat.
Mrs Cavanagh was admitted to Queen’s Hospital in Romford, Essex, with heart failure in November 2009. Her daughter Patsy Dowsett said requests for painkillers were refused and her mother developed bedsores which went undetected for days. Mrs Dowsett said: ‘She was let down by the NHS when she needed them the most.’
A Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust spokesman said ‘new initiatives’ had been introduced to avoid similar mistreatment.
More than a third – 36 per cent – said they were not always offered help with their meals. This included 18 per cent who said they were never given help.
Katherine Murphy of the Patients’ Association said: ‘It is a sad indictment of how we treat the most vulnerable people. ‘I am deeply concerned about the meals. Often it just requires a patient’s tray being pushed a little closer so they can reach it. ‘Nobody looks to see if these patients are eating their meals or reports the fact they have not eaten to a senior member of staff. ‘Dignity is so important. The CQC regulator needs to be asking what is going to be done to improve the situation. Very little appears to have changed.’
In 2006 the Audit Commission, the Healthcare Commission and the Commission for Social Care Inspection warned that hospitals and care homes were not treating the elderly with respect and dignity.
In response, Liam Byrne, then Care Services Minister, promised to transform the situation.
The Daily Mail vigorously campaigns for Dignity for the Elderly. At the end of last year, with the help of our generous readers, we were able to raise £100,000 to help the Patients’ Association man a helpline to assist with the rising number of complaints.
Dozens of hospitals should stop providing children’s services because current staffing levels are dangerously low, claim paediatricians.
They say that inexperienced trainees are left to run wards full of sick children.
A report from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health says children in the UK have ‘poor outcomes’ compared with other countries and an ‘extensive redesign’ of their health care is needed. ‘There are simply too few paediatric doctors to staff all of our rotas to safe and sustainable levels,’ say the report’s authors Dr David Shortland and Dr Justin Thacker.
How nearly HALF of all patients are still in mixed-sex wards
Almost half of hospitals are still treating patients in mixed sex wards. In the last month alone, nearly 5,500 people shared accommodation with the opposite sex with nothing more than a curtain separating beds.
The Government has promised to end the scandal, and from this month hospitals will be fined £250 every time a patient is made to sleep on a mixed sex ward.
But despite the impending threat, figures from the Department of Health show that 70 out of 146 trusts reported ‘sleeping breaches’ – nights when a patient stayed overnight in shared accommodation – at some point during March.
From this month hospitals will be fined £250 for every breach, as part of tough new measures announced by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley last year.
The Daily Mail has long campaigned against the scandal of patients being forced to share wards with the opposite sex.It is 15 years since Tony Blair first called for the abolition of mixed wards in 1996, saying it should not be ‘beyond the collective wit’ of ministers to achieve.
The pledge to scrap them was also contained in Labour’s 2001 manifesto, but eventually Labour concluded that it would be too expensive to get rid of them all.
When the Coalition came to power last year it promised to scrap mixed accommodation in all but intensive care and A&E wards. Mr Lansley said: ‘Labour covered up the scandal of mixed sex accommodation. We are sorting it out. We exposed the problem by publishing this data and we are introducing fines from this month to help prevent breaches in the future.’
But Labour said standards where falling elsewhere in the NHS. Shadow health secretary John Healey said: ‘David Cameron should stop his wasteful reorganisation of the NHS and reinstate Labour’s guarantees on waiting times before our health service slips back any further.’
An Easter victory as Christian electrician wins battle to display cross in his van
Christian electrician Colin Atkinson has won his fight to display a cross in his van following a nationwide outcry. The dramatic climbdown by Wakefield District Housing came after senior church figures were joined by Hindu, Muslim and Sikh leaders in condemning his employers.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey had described the 64-year-old grandfather’s plight as ‘scandalous’ and Housing and Planning Minister Grant Shapps said WDH’s action was ‘wrong’. Last night Lord Carey said: ‘I’m so glad. All that was needed was a little bit of compassion and understanding. Where there is a bit of common sense we can find a resolution.’
WDH caved in and agreed to let Mr Atkinson display his cross in an effort to end the embarrassing row. The U-turn came at a ‘confidential and unminuted’ meeting between Mr Atkinson, his Unite union rep Terry Cuncliffe, WHD executive director of people Gillian Pickersgill and a senior manager at the organisation’s headquarters in Castleford, West Yorkshire, on Wednesday.
During the hour-long meeting WDH managers put a series of proposals to Mr Atkinson – all of which would allow him publicly to display the cross.
Mr Atkinson has agreed with managers not to reveal the details of the compromise agreement. But he had maintained all along his right to display the cross publicly was ‘non-negotiable’. He has been supported throughout his 18-month battle to keep his cross by Mr Cuncliffe.
Yesterday Mr Cuncliffe told the Mail: ‘The issue is about Colin’s ability to demonstrate his faith. ‘And any proposals to resolve this issue must allow Colin to display his faith in the way he is comfortable. ‘I believe the situation is up for resolution. ‘It is now time to calm things down and apply some common sense.’
He added: ‘This was a private and confidential meeting. Minutes were not taken so there could be a frank exchange of views between parties. ‘Both parties put forward suggestions to provide solutions and we worked jointly towards reaching a resolution.’ Mr Atkinson is expected formally to agree to WDH’s plan that will allow him to display his cross next week.
He told the Mail: ‘I just want this all over so I can get back to work and provide for my wife and family. ‘This is important. ‘I did not ask for this fight but I have been forced to join it. ‘I have every right to manifest my faith. That is all I have done. ‘I have not bashed anybody with my Bible. I simply want to be able to demonstrate my faith.’
Yesterday WDH declined to comment on the climb-down. Lord Carey thanked the Mail for championing Christians’ right to worship. He said: ‘I am grateful to the Daily Mail for highlighting this case. Christians in this country are under pressure.’
Former Home Office Minister Ann Widdecombe, a devout Christian, added: ‘At last, a victory for common sense and tolerance. It is hugely symbolic that this has come so close to Good Friday.’
Mr Atkinson faced the sack after he refused to take the small palm cross off the dashboard of his company vehicle. WDH told him it was ‘unacceptable’ to display the 8in symbol of his Christian faith in the van for fear of upsetting ‘diverse’ tenants in the organisation’s 31,000 homes.
However, a Muslim worker is allowed to display a Koranic verse in the car she uses for work and staff are allowed to wear specially made company burkas. The obvious injustice led WDH to be branded ‘anti-Christian’ as the dispute sparked anger across the country.
Mr Atkinson has also been supported by Muslim, Hindu and Sikh leaders. The electrician from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, is married to Geraldine, 61. They have five children from previous marriages and three grandchildren.
His ordeal began after bosses received an anonymous letter claiming tenants may be offended by the cross in the van. He refused to remove it and was accused of rejecting a ‘reasonable’ management complaint. Mr Atkinson and his union rep argued there was nothing in company rules prohibiting the cross.
Hindu and Sikh colleagues appeared as witnesses in his defence. WDH promotes its inclusive policies and allows employees to wear religious symbols – including burkas – at work. But it changed company policy on Christmas Eve last year to ban all personal effects in its vehicles.
In January Mr Atkinson was reported for continuing to display the cross and last week WDH concluded he had breached company rules. On Monday he was thrown out of his workplace and told he had violated his contract by revealing his ordeal.
Mr Atkinson, who is currently on ‘gardening leave’, expects to return to work on Tuesday – and display his cross in public.
Dubious claim: Women to sue hotel that 'banned them because they're gay'
A guesthouse owner is being sued by a lesbian couple who claim he turned them away for being gay. But the manager of a hotel in Brighton insists he had no qualms about their sexuality and only refused the two women a room because they were being ‘loud and abusive’.
Now Nasser Dean, 52, fears his guesthouse will be dragged into a high-profile political row by the gay rights movement, after civil rights group Liberty declared it was backing the couple in their legal action.
Rebecca Nash, 22, and Hope Stubbings, 19, of Andover, Hampshire, say they phoned up and booked a double room at the Brunswick Square Hotel. But when they arrived, they claim the manager told them no rooms were available and that the hotel only accepted straight couples and families. They were then ushered out of the hotel by the manager who allegedly became increasingly aggressive towards them, according to Liberty, which is funding their legal battle.
It is the latest in a string of cases of gay people being turned away from hotels. But unlike some others, in which Christian owners have refused gay people a room on principled grounds, Mr Dean says he has nothing against homosexual guests.
He said: ‘I never ask if my guests are gay, it’s none of my business. If I had a problem with it, I wouldn’t have come to Brighton [known as the gay capital of Britain] or stayed in business here for 22 years. ‘I have never had trouble like this before. It is very upsetting. The only time we send people away is if they are loud or hooligans. ‘I run a quiet hotel and these girls were not quiet, so I did not want them disturbing other guests.’
He claims the women never actually made a booking, but had merely phoned to inquire if a room was available before showing up a couple of hours later.
However, a different story is told by the women, both office workers. A Liberty spokesman said: ‘When they arrived, they were told by the manager that no rooms were available and that the hotel only accepted “couples and families”. ‘Miss Nash and Ms Stubbings explained that they were in fact a couple, and had purposely booked a double room. But the manager replied: “No two boys, no two girls. We don’t have any rooms”.
‘Despite the couple’s protests, the manager became increasingly aggressive, raising his voice and ushering them out of the hotel. They told him they had nowhere else to stay, but he threatened to call police before shouting: “I don’t accept rejects in my hotel”.’
Liberty claims the women were unable to find other accommodation and had to go home, losing out on their weekend away in October. Liberty is bringing proceedings against the hotel on the couple’s behalf on the grounds they were discriminated against contrary to the Equality Act 2010. Legal director James Welch said: ‘Laws prohibiting hotels and guesthouses from discriminating against gay men and lesbians have been in place for four years but clearly the message isn’t getting through.’
Anti-Semitism reached a new low in London earlier this month as the Hamas-affiliated International Solidarity Movement (ISM) successfully forced Israeli-owned AHAVA to close its London shop. For almost two years, the Israeli-based cosmetics company, a manufacturer of Dead Sea mineral skin-care products sold worldwide, has been targeted by street protests and in-store disruptive actions by the ISM and related groups committed to destroying the state of Israel.
The ISM actions against AHAVA were part of the ISM's broader anti-Israel activities. These have included demands for international sanctions against Israel, sponsorship of worldwide Israeli divestment campaigns, and orchestrated boycotts of Israeli products, academics and events. The ISM has advanced the false narrative of Israel as a Nazi-like apartheid state and mendaciously equated the treatment of Jews during the Holocaust with the plight of the Arab-Palestinians today. Like its partners-in-crime Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the ISM does not support the peace process and endeavors to eliminate Israel. Thus, the Israeli cosmetics company has been yet another political target as part of the ISM strategy to demonize and delegitimize the Jewish State using false accusations of "illegal" activities.
Last fall on two occasions, ISM members carried a concrete block into AHAVA's London shop, blocked the store entrance, and disrupted business for nearly seven hours. ISM operatives refused to leave and were later charged with trespassing and disobeying a police officer. In court, ISM defense attorneys denied that AHAVA's business had been damaged or any employees and customers intimidated. Participating ISM members justified their criminal actions by claiming that AHAVA operates in "illegal Israeli settlements" and thereby engages in "illegal business activities."
This tactic of disruptive actions against private individuals and businesses in retaliation for Israel's foreign and domestic policies has been widely used to suppress Israeli research and punish Israeli academics. Despite its organizational name, the ISM focuses only on what it calls "Israeli apartheid in Palestine," solely targeting Israeli Jews for fictitious atrocities and ignoring widespread global human rights abuses, including summary executions in Communist China, government-sanctioned enslavement in North Korea and Saudi Arabia, and the chemical genocide of the Kurds committed by the Turkish government.
In 2009, ISM members caused damages totalling nearly $300,000 when they ransacked an arms factory in Moulsecoomb, Brighton, to protest the alleged manufacture of arms for the Israeli air force in Gaza. They were later acquitted after arguing that their activities were legally justified given Israel's war crimes. The presiding judge, George Bathurst-Norman, who was later sanctioned by the Lord Chief Justice, injected his political bias into the court proceedings with another lie by referring to Gaza as a "giant prison camp."
This statement, besides being grounds for disbarment, was followed by even more outrageous comments as Bathurst-Norman disparaged U.S. support of Israel, spuriously calling it evidence of complicity with Israel's actions. The judge also said Gazans suffered "Hell on Earth," as he referred to Operation Cast Lead, Israel's defensive war in 2005 after over 10,000 rockets from Gaza sent Israeli civilians running for their lives to bomb shelters. Not surprisingly, given the judge's attitudes, all five defendants who damaged the arms factory were acquitted. An appeal is unlikely under English law.
In the AHAVA matter, the Covent Garden store has been an ISM target for years. Two times in 2009, and again in the fall of 2010, the store was forced to close after demonstrators chained themselves to a concrete block inside the store. English courts, again, seem determined to set ISM protestors free. The first trial was dismissed after witnesses failed to show up. A second trial on subsequent trespasses is still in the works with a verdict expected this month.
The inherent anti-Semitism in singling out an Israeli shop for alleged human rights violations was lost on neighboring shopkeepers who appealed to the local landlord not to renew AHAVA's lease. Instead of condemning the protestors' actions as a public nuisance and an obstruction to normal business activities, they complained about AHAVA "bringing the street down." They failed to confront the protestors and allowed a lawful business to be chased out of the area by people opposed to Israel's very existence.
Of course, all sense of reality about Israel is typically barred whenever the narrative against the Jewish state springs up. Israel is not a soi-disant "apartheid" entity as it is erroneously portrayed, but a democracy with a plurality of ethnic groups and religions living side-by-side and enjoying equal rights.
Contrast this to Gaza, in which homosexuals and non-Muslims are persecuted and unable to openly declare their sexual orientation or freely practice their religions. Arab-Palestinian homosexuals escape the threat of death in Gaza by making their way to sanctuary in Tel Aviv. Whereas churches have been destroyed, Christians have been murdered, and acid-throwing has forced the veiling of Christian women in Gaza, Christian holy sites, as well as the holy sites of all religions, are protected in Israel, as are all religious practices. Women and non-Jews enjoy the same rights of Jewish Israelis and may even serve in the Knesset. Unlike Gaza, no gender segregation exists, nor any requirement to follow the Islamic shariah. Fully 20% of Israel's population is Israeli Arabs who enjoy the same rights as Israeli Jews.
As the country with the most freedom and democracy in the Middle East, Israel is also the most maligned country in the world. There is not and never has been a system of apartheid in the Jewish state. The true apartheid by religion, sex, and sexual orientation exists in the Arab-Palestinian territories and throughout the Muslim world. Sadly, it is opposition to Israel because it is a Jewish state -- the only one in the world -- that underlies the phenomenon of continued opposition and hatred. By allowing anti-Israeli terrorist-affiliated groups to dictate which shops will be permitted on a London street, appeasement has reached a new low and London falls further down the slippery slope toward Islamization.
Let the market decide what British universities charge
The Coalition's university funding policy is turning into an entirely predictable shambles. It was right to raise the level of tuition fees, both to shift the cost of university education from the taxpayer to the students who will reap the economic benefit, and to encourage a genuinely competitive market in higher education. However, by imposing a cap of £9,000, that market has been badly distorted.
Initially, ministers were insistent that universities would charge the maximum only in "exceptional circumstances". To no one's great surprise – other, it seems, than the minister responsible, Vince Cable – the overwhelming majority are charging the maximum fee.
This is already being described as the Stella Artois route: even our less illustrious academic establishments want to be seen as "reassuringly expensive". Indeed, Graham Henderson, vice-chancellor of Teesside University in Middlesbrough, made no bones about it in this newspaper yesterday, when explaining why his institution wanted to charge £8,500 a year, almost as much as Oxford, Cambridge or Imperial College: "Our students are checking that we are not charging the bottom of the spectrum, because they don't want to be seen as second-rate."
The result is not just sky-high fees all round, but a significant shortfall in the higher education budget. The Government will have to advance more money than expected in the form of student loans, leaving less to fund university places: it is estimated that up to 36,000 will be lost as a consequence.
While this newspaper has long argued that too many youngsters are being shoved through the university system, the rationing of places should be based squarely on academic ability, not on a cash shortage caused by an ill-designed funding mechanism. Once again, a sensible Tory policy has been fatally compromised by the necessity to pander to the Liberal Democrats – a common theme in so many of the Coalition's reforms.
What can be done? One solution would be to remove the £9,000 cap, and allow a true market to develop. Our best universities – which are world-beaters – would be able to charge significantly more, channelling much of the surplus into bursaries for poorer students, while the less distinguished would have to charge significantly less, or fail to fill their places.
The more innovative could also start to market two-year courses – as the [private] University of Buckingham already does – that would offer an attractive lower-cost option.
Mr Cable seems to spend much of his time these days perfecting his role as the Coalition's licensed dissident. It is a pity that he does not spend longer ensuring that the policies for which he is responsible are fit for purpose.
The Left-wing librarian who won't let my children read Tintin
A window on the past that must be closed
"I noticed they had dozens of Asterix books but only a handful of elderly, dog-eared Tintins. “Got any more Tintin books?” I asked the nice librarian. “Well,” she replied in a conspiratorial whisper. “I did try ordering some, but was told by my superior that I wasn’t allowed to.”
“Why not?” I queried. “Because they weren’t politically correct,” she replied. Just to be sure, I said to her: “So they actually used those words, ‘not politically correct’, did they?” “As far as I can remember, yes,” she said. Her hushed tone indicated that she was terrified of a colleague over-hearing and no doubt reporting her to the relevant authorities and getting her dismissed.
So I went home and looked out a collectors’ edition of the 1946 full-colour album version of Tintin in the Congo which I bought when it was published in English a few years ago but had never opened.
Now I’ve read the book and there’s no doubt the stereotyping is appalling to modern eyes. The crudely exaggerated physiognomy of the Africans in the illustrations, and the characterisation of natives of Congo as unintelligent and lazy – no author would get away with this kind of thing today, or would want to.
Tintin in the Congo all looks extremely old-fashioned. It could almost be depicting events on another planet. I suppose some of it made me feel a bit uncomfortable. But on the other hand what would be the point in banning it? It should be read with the proviso that it reflects old attitudes that have since changed. It’s of its time, a period piece. Many writers had a different notion of racial difference back then.
Part of the charm is the colourful illustration of exotic peoples and parts of the world which most of us are unlikely to have visited. They’re not to be taken as documentaries. They are, after all, only cartoons. And it’s miserable to ban them.
The past gives you perspective and shows you that present arrangements and ideas are not the only ones possible. But Leftists can't afford for people to know too much about history. What if people realized that Hitler was a socialist, for instance?
21 April, 2011
The thousands of NHS jobs still being advertised which expose the great cuts myth
The NHS bureaucracy would survive a nuclear winter
On an almost daily basis, we are told by the BBC and the vociferous health unions that the NHS is in ‘financial crisis’. The Royal College of Nursing is predicting 40,000 job ‘cuts’, while it is claimed that patients are being denied hip replacements and even cancer treatments in order to save money. Ward closures are being predicted by the King’s Fund think-tank, and there are dire warnings that patient waiting times are expected to get much longer.
How strange, then, that the official NHS Jobs website should be doing such brisk business at the start of the new financial year — the very year the ‘cuts’ are supposed to bite. The site, where all vacant health service posts are officially advertised, is predicting 20,000 jobs will continue to be available each month. And, on a single day this week, there were 6,175 posts available — with salaries totalling hundreds of millions of pounds.
They range from nurses and doctors to well-paid administrative jobs with such dubious titles as ‘5 for Life officer’, ‘psychosexual counsellor’, ‘BME (black minority ethnic) inequalities outreach worker’ and, bafflingly, ‘anthropologist-in-residence’.
Indeed, some 265 of the jobs being advertised pay more than £90,000-a-year — hardly evidence of an NHS in the grip of an austerity drive, facing what has widely been described as the ‘biggest challenge in its history’.
The fact is that for all the disingenuous bluster of the Left-wing media and shroud-waving unions, there has not been a ‘cut’ in the NHS budget. In fact, an extra £3 billion is being ‘invested’ (the euphemistic word that Labour, and now the Tories, use when they mean ‘spent’) on the health service this year, taking the total to £105.9 billion.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has confirmed that next year David Cameron will meet the Tories’ specific election pledge to increase the NHS budget. Indeed, over the course of the Comprehensive Spending Review, the overall NHS budget will increase by 0.4 per cent in real terms.
The reason the vested interest groups are so furious is a requirement that — in return for this increased funding — the NHS must make ‘efficiency savings’ worth £15 billion to £20 billion over the next four years. Again, these are not ‘cuts’. Any money saved is ring-fenced and must be pumped back into patient care.
The sensible intention is to reduce the amount of money being squandered by health service managers whose budgets, and own remuneration, ballooned under Labour.
For the truth is that figures from the Office for National Statistics estimate that since 2000, total NHS productivity fell by an average of 0.2 per cent a year, and by an average of 1.4 per cent a year in hospitals. Overall, the decline in productivity — the value provided to the taxpayer, for each pound spent — was a dreadful 15 per cent, a collapse that would lead to bankruptcy in any private sector concern.
Clearly, there is more than a little fat to be cut from the NHS budget. However, the question is whether the savings are being made in the right places. This is where the RCN may have a point. For healthcare experts fear that efficiencies will come from frontline services, rather than by reducing the number of penpushers.
The real scandal is that bureaucrats — many of them performing non-jobs — were the main beneficiaries of Labour’s spending boom. In 1999, there were 23,378 managers and senior managers in the NHS. By 2009, the number had almost doubled to 42,509, with manager numbers increasing six times as fast as that of nurses.
Instead of reducing this army of bureaucrats, the NHS managers claim that they must remain because they are the only ones with the necessary skills to make ‘efficiency’ savings. As a result, it will be nursing posts which won’t be replaced. Meanwhile, administrators will continue to pick up fat cheques.
Certainly, a glance at the NHS Jobs website suggests that, like town halls — which are closing libraries and axing lollipop ladies while paying their chief executives more than the Prime Minister — the priorities of the NHS are utterly wrong. For example, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust recently said it would be losing 300 nursing posts by 2014, as part of a £60 million cost-cutting exercise. But, at the same time, the trust is advertising 13 vacancies, including one for an ‘academic clinical fellow’ on up to £46,708 a year.
Elsewhere, Kent and Medway plans to slash its nursing, midwifery and health visitor workforce by 264, yet has money to advertise 27 jobs this week, including a ‘psychological well?being officer’ on a salary of up to £27,534.
Kingston Hospital NHS Trust plans to get rid of 214 nursing posts — but, according to NHS Jobs, is ready to pay a new chief operating officer a staggering £120,000.
And the list goes on and on. Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust said that, to save money, it is shutting down a programme which helps people with mental health problems.
WHAT ABOUT THESE JOBS?
Anthropologist-in-Residence (30 hours per week), Devon Partnership NHS Trust, £30,460 to £40,157 pa: ‘We require a social anthropologist to work on a programme of community innovation including a new project entitled Neighbourhood Health Watch. The outputs will be used by commissioners and service planners, designers and engineers to build, demonstrate and evaluate innovations, new health technologies, interventions or services.’
Psychosexual Counsellor, NHS Wirral, £25,472 to £34,189 pa
‘You will work within our busy service that provides both Psychosexual and Contraceptive and Sexual Health to the population of the Wirral.’
5 Five for Life Officer, Aneurin Bevan Health Board, £21,176 to £27,625
‘The 5 for Life project aims to promote healthy living to children under 12 years in Newport. Activities delivered include a variety of sports and games, cooking lessons to parents and children and nutrition lessons around healthy eating.’
Pathway and Innovation Manager, Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, £30,460 to £40,157:
‘You will constructively challenge practice by advancing ways to innovate across end to end elective pathways. The successful candidate will need to be able to enthuse and inspire all staff groups, across the hospital, to seek out ways of further improving our strong clinical and operational performance.
Associate Director of HR (People Services), Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, £54,454 to £67,134: ‘You will report to the Director of People and Organisational Development. The two roles will be responsible for developing the Trust’s People and Organisational functions of employee relations, performance and productivity, equality and human rights and pay services.’
Yet it has managed to find up to £55,945 a year for a ‘head of employee and staff relations’. There are also vacancies for three human resources managers, on £34,189 each.
None of these will be doing much to help the mentally ill — or probably anybody else for that matter. To leave nursing posts unfilled while hiring yet more human resources staff will rightly enrage nurses and the public.
In other areas, on the NHS payroll are many people who seem to have little to do with healthcare — such as those helping to run a children’s summer playgroup in Peterborough for youngsters with English as a second language.
While the Government’s communities department has taken up the fight and is challenging council chief executives to explain why they are cutting frontline public services when their chief executives pocket bloated salaries (and bonuses), the embattled Health Secretary Andrew Lansley (who is fighting to rescue his NHS reforms in the face of a revolt by the Lib Dems) has yet to show the same mettle. Admittedly, he probably fears being considered an ‘enemy’ of the health service.
Instead, it was left to the NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson to say: ‘There is no excuse to reduce services for patients when the NHS will receive an extra £11.5 billion of funding. Every penny saved from measures taken to reduce costs will be reinvested in patient care.’ Mr Lansley should point out that, as yet, there is no evidence that anybody is suffering.
Meanwhile, far from preparing to shed 40,000 jobs, including 20,000 nursing posts, the latest published figures show the number of nurses has gone up by 1,272 from September 2010 to December 2010, and by 2,677 since September 2009.
To be fair, the Federation of Surgical Speciality Associations (which represents the country’s surgeons) says growing numbers of patients are wrongly being denied a new hip or even cancer treatment because of NHS cost-cutting.
But the truth is that while operations are being refused or delayed so that primary care trusts can balance their books, the NHS can find £40,157 a year for an ‘anthropologist-in-chief’ to work at Devon Partnership Trust; £101,829 a year for a ‘director of performance and innovation’ at NHS South West London; £31,664 a year for a European projects administrator, based in Brussels; and £67,134 a year for an associate director of HR (organisational development) in Rotherham.
This is nothing short of scandalous.The truth is that the NHS swallowed huge sums of money under Labour and, unlike the rest of the state sector, continues to be offered special treatment by the Coalition government. But where savings of wasted public money need to be made, they should come from the back office — not from doctors and nurses trained in saving lives.
Chilling effect of Euro judges: Britain's public safety being put at risk by human rights court, warns top Lib Dem lawyer
Rulings by unelected judges in Strasbourg are having a ‘chilling effect’ on public safety in Britain, a senior government adviser warns today. Lord Carlile, a Liberal Democrat peer, said the European Court of Human Rights had placed itself on a ‘collision course’ with the UK Parliament.
In particular, he attacked the way the European Convention on Human Rights was blocking the removal of foreign criminals and terror suspects. Lord Carlile, a Home Office adviser on terrorism, said: ‘A narrow interpretation of the convention has had a chilling effect on deportation, and thereby on public safety.’
The fact that such scathing comments are being made by a Lib Dem grandee will reopen the controversy over human rights law.
Prime Minister David Cameron promised to reform the law in opposition, but he has since been frustrated by his Lib Dem coalition partners.
The peer made his remarks in the foreword to a new report by Tory MP Dominic Raab, an expert in international law who led the backbench revolt against prisoner voting. The pamphlet, for the Civitas think-tank, calls for urgent reform of human rights legislation to keep European judges from deciding British law.
Mr Raab says that, by granting prisoners the vote, Strasbourg went beyond simply interpreting the convention, which was deliberately worded to allow members states to disenfranchise criminals. Instead, Strasbourg is now ‘making law’. As a result, Mr Raab says democratic policy-making increasingly stands at the mercy of unelected judges.
He writes: ‘The judges have assumed a legislative function, fully aware that there are limited means for elected governments subject to their rulings to exercise any meaningful democratic oversight over them. This judicial coup represents a naked usurpation, by a judicial body, of the legislative power that properly belongs to democratically-elected law makers.’
Mr Raab, a former chief of staff to Attorney General Dominic Grieve, calls for the UK’s Supreme Court to be the last court of appeal, rather than Strasbourg.
He also wants the Human Rights Act to be amended to ensure Strasbourg rulings involving the UK are subject to a debate in the House of Commons. This would be coupled by a political commitment by the main parties to permit ‘free votes’.
Mr Raab also attacks human rights laws which prevent the deportation of criminals and terrorist suspects. Last year, more than 200 foreign convicts evaded removal on the grounds that it would infringe their right to a ‘family life’.
Cases included Iraqi Mohammed Ibrahim, who knocked down 12-year-old Amy Houston and left her to ‘die like a dog’ under the wheels of his car. He was driving while disqualified, and after the little girl’s death he committed a string of further offences. An immigration tribunal ruled that – because Ibrahim had children while living in Britain – he had a right to a ‘family life’ in the UK.
Mr Raab says: ‘The massive expansion of human rights law threatens to frustrate Britain’s ability to deport convicted criminals and terrorist suspects. The goal-posts keep shifting, because of unaccountable judicial legislation – especially the expansion of claims around the right to family life.
‘Britain has lost a degree of control over its borders, which inevitably means we are importing more risk. This has contributed to the growing terrorist threat.’ Mr Raab calls for the law to be changed so the right to a family life is no longer a bar to deportation.
Scandal of Britain's untrained teachers: Thousands don't have degrees in the subjects they teach
More than a quarter of teachers in many subjects do not have any qualification beyond an A-level in the course they teach, official figures reveal. Almost a million children are taught maths by ‘inadequately qualified’ teachers, and English doesn’t fare much better.
Government statistics on nearly 140,000 secondary school teachers – collected for the first time – show a shocking proportion of teachers do not have a degree in their subject. Education experts warn that this ‘alarming’ lack of qualifications will result in schools becoming trapped in a spiral of slipping standards.
A quarter of maths teachers in secondary schools – 26.6 per cent or 8,745 – do not have a degree in their subject, and nor do 28.7 per cent of geography teachers, 31.4 per cent of physics teachers and 55 per cent teaching religious education. Worse still, 63 per cent of business and economics teachers and 82 per cent in media studies do not have a degree in their chosen field.
Of the ‘core’ subjects included in Education Secretary Michael Gove’s new performance measure, the EBacc, biology is the only subject to have a high proportion of teachers, 92 per cent, who are subject specialists. A total of 7,560 of 36,600 secondary school English teachers – 21 per cent – do not have an English degree.
Professor Alan Smithers, of Buckingham University, said: ‘The lack of qualifications held by teachers is alarming and will have consequences. ‘It is little wonder that in comparison with the rest of the developed world, our standards are slipping. It takes more than a good degree to make a good teacher. But sound subject knowledge, gained from a degree, is absolutely key. ‘How can teachers passionately communicate their subject if they do not have a good level of understanding about it?’
He said the Government urgently needs to break the cycle of inadequate training because it results in less qualified students and, as a result, a smaller pool from which to find the teachers of the future.
Yesterday’s figures, from the Department for Education, were collected as part of the 2010 school workforce census. In previous years the Government has used a sample of staff to gauge the level of teachers holding degrees. This year they sought to gather information on all 200,000 qualified teachers, and 140,000 responded.
The figures follow Mr Gove’s pledge to attract more graduates with first-class honours into teaching to raise the status of the profession. However, the Coalition has also cut the number of training places and axed ‘golden hellos’ for all but maths and science teachers. Graduates with less than a 2:2 degree will no longer be eligible for teacher training funding.
Schools Minister Nick Gibb said: ‘We are trying to increase the number of graduates in subjects coming into teacher training.’
A Department for Education spokesman added: ‘It’s clear that the leading systems are built on teachers with expert, specialist subject knowledge. ‘We’ve struggled to attract enough graduates in shortage subjects like physics, chemistry and maths for a long time. That’s why we’re taking radical steps to toughen up recruitment and training. ‘We are going to overhaul professional development so existing teachers keep their skills and knowledge up to scratch.’
A pill to beat stress? Hope for cure as scientists discover the protein that causes it
It is not clear how such a drug would be better than existing anxiolytic drugs such as Valium -- and removing stress reactions to threat could have its own problems. But it's only a rodent study so far anyway
A pill that keeps stress at bay could be on the horizon after scientists worked out the brain chemistry that turns a healthy dose of fear into overwhelming anxiety or depression. The breakthrough by researchers at Leicester University could lead to pills that quash such stress-related conditions before they arise.
This would be different from anti-depressants, which are prescribed after a person’s health deteriorates. Treatments which might work when existing drugs fail could also be developed.
The research was inspired by the observation that while most of us experience traumatic events from bereavements to broken hearts, only some people descend into depression or other stress-associated psychiatric disorders.
Experiments detailed in the journal Nature flagged up a protein called neuropsin, which is made in the amygdala, the brain’s ‘fear centre’. In times of stress, the brain makes more neuropsin and this triggers a series of chemical reactions that culminate in a ‘fear gene’ being switched on – and feelings of anxiety.
Blocking the protein in mice stopped them displaying anxiety in stressful situations. The researchers are optimistic that the protein also affects how the human brain copes with life’s troubles.
Dr Pawlak said: ‘Studies in mice revealed that upon feeling stressed, they stayed away from zones in a maze where they felt unsafe. ‘These were open and illuminated spaces they avoid when they are anxious. ‘However, when the proteins produced by the amygdala were blocked the mice did not exhibit the same trait. ‘The behavioural consequences of stress were no longer present.
‘We conclude that the activity of neuropsin and its partners may determine vulnerability to stress.’
Although the experiments were in mice, the researchers are optimistic that the protein also affects how the human brain copes with life’s troubles.
Dr Pawlak cautioned that much more research is necessary but added: ‘We are tremendously excited by these findings. ‘We know that all the members of the neuropsin pathway are present in the human brain. ‘They may play a similar role in humans and further research will be necessary to examine the potential of therapies for controlling stress-related behaviours.
‘Our discovery opens up new possibilities for the prevention and treatment of stress-related psychiatric disorders such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.’
Around one in five people experiences some form of anxiety disorder during their life. The researchers said: ‘Stress-related disorders affect a large percentage of the population and generate enormous personal, social and economic impact.
‘It was previously known that some individuals are more susceptible to the detrimental effects of stress than others. ‘Although the majority of us experience traumatic events, only some develop stress-related anxiety disorders such as depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder. ‘The reasons for this were not clear.’
Do you have 'global warming fatigue'? Just 25% of Britons think climate change is the most important environmental issue
Britons are suffering from 'global warming fatigue', according to a new poll which shows they care less about climate change than most other nationalities. The survey of 1,000 British adults found that just 25 per cent rate man-made climate change as the most pressing environmental problem.
In contrast, half say energy security is the biggest green issue - while 48 per cent are more concerned about their rubbish collections.
Out of 24 countries polled, Britain comes in at third bottom in terms of concern about climate change, the Ipsos Mori survey found. Americans, Australians, French and Japanese are all more bothered about global warming than Britons.
Edward Langley, Ipsos MORI’s Head of Environment Research, said: 'The public are cautious about climate change. They feel there is a lack of consensus on whether it is man-made and the degree to which it will impact their lives.
'In contrast, our dependency on fossil fuels is a more immediate and tangible risk that they can get their heads around, and one where they see an obvious need to take action to maintain living standards.'
Around 48 per cent of Japanese - who were surveyed after last month's earthquake and tsunami - rated climate change as the key environmental issue. Some 40 per cent of Canadians, 38 per cent of Germans, 30 per cent of Australians and 29 per cent of French feel the same.
Concern about man-made climate change fell after two cold winters and the failure of the UN global warming talks. The University of East Anglia leaked email scandal - which showed climate scientists plotting to ignore freedom of information requests about their work - has also affected public opinion.
Blunders killed my wife at same hospital where my fiancee died, says grieving father-of-two
A father-of two is suing a hospital after a series of blunders killed his young wife. Charles Kabagambe, 46, is seeking compensation after his wife Charity died in June 2006 following a catalogue of errors at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich.
Incredibly his previous partner, Anne Atwine-Bagamuhoora, died in August 2002 following treatment at the same hospital due to pregnancy complications. The couple had been engaged to be married at the time.
Mr Kabagambe came to the UK from Uganda and married Charity in April 2003. In May 2006 Mrs Kabagambe started to complain about splitting headaches. She attended the A&E Department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Woolwich on four occasions in the space of just 11 days between 24 May and 3 June. She was suffering from a life-threatening brain condition but on each visit doctors failed to examine her properly and sent her home with headache pills.
Charity returned to the A&E Department for the fifth and final time on 5th June 2006 where she was referred to the medical team for a CT scan. A scan was performed that same day and was incorrectly reported as normal.
She collapsed from a heart attack following a lumbar puncture test and died four days later from brain damage.
South London Healthcare NHS trust has admitted liability for Mrs Kabagambe’s death. But Mr Kabagambe said this will not bring her back and has instructed solicitors Devonshires to bring a compensation case.
Partner at Devonshires solicitors, London, Nick Grant, said, 'This is an incredibly tragic case which has left two young children without their mother. 'We are assisting Mr Kabagambe with his claim so that the family can be assured that nothing like this is likely to happen to anyone else and so that they can regain some financial security following these very difficult times.'
Mr Kabagambe, who lives near Greenwich and works for the Home Office, is now left to care for his two young children, Charity (9) and Hope (8). 'Charity’s death has left me devastated and has changed my life forever', says Mr Kabagambe. 'I am struggling to look after my children with the shifts I am working and the kids miss their mum. It is made worse knowing that her death was avoidable.'
South London Healthcare NHS Trust sent Mr Kabagambe a letter of apology in July last year from Chief Executive, Chris Streather. 'The apology from the hospital trust is helpful,' explained Mr Kabagambe, 'however, it is not going to bring my wife back.'
Why 47 dangerous criminals on the run in Britain can't be named: Because of their human rights, of course!
Forty-seven dangerous fugitives cannot be named by officials – because of their ‘human rights’. They include criminals convicted of child sex offences, murder and rape. All have breached the terms of their licence and should have been returned to prison.
They are assessed by officials as being at ‘high or very high risk’ of committing further criminal offences. But the Ministry of Justice has refused to name them. Critics said the human rights of offenders were being put before those of ordinary members of the public.
Details of the scandal first emerged 18 months ago when officials revealed more than 1,000 criminals were at large despite having been recalled to custody. Among the total were some who have been on the loose for up to 25 years after police failed to track them down.
The most recent Ministry of Justice figures show 960 have not been found, including two rated as level four – the highest risk to the public – and 45 rated level three. The group of 47 includes two murderers, two paedophiles, a rapist and ten robbers.
Police should find 75 per cent of recalled prisoners classified as ‘emergency’ cases within 74 hours and three-quarters of standard recalls should be completed within six days.
Details of all offenders who had not been returned were compiled following the murder in London of two French students, Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, in 2009 despite the killer being recalled to jail. Dano Sonnex, who had been serving eight years for a stabbing and a number of knifepoint robberies, had been mistakenly freed under low supervision when documents revealing his true danger to the public had not been shared by officials.
Opportunities to return the 23-year-old to prison were then squandered or missed. When an arrest warrant was finally issued, it took police a further 16 days to get round to knocking on his door. By that time, Mr Ferez and Mr Bonomo were dead, knifed to death by Sonnex earlier that day.
Tory MP Philip Davies said human rights should not be used as an excuse to hide the ‘hugely embarrassing’ revelations. ‘It’s absolute madness. Once again it appears to put the human rights of dangerous criminals ahead of the rights of law-abiding people to know who is at large. 'It must be in the public interest to put the names of these offenders in the public domain.’
Ministers have now ordered a review of the policy of releasing criminals’ details. A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: ‘This Government is committed to transparency and there should be a presumption that such information is published unless the police object for specific operational reasons. Recapturing high-risk offenders will always be a priority.
‘Over the past 10 years, in more than 99 per cent of cases where an offender has been recalled, the individual has successfully been returned to custody.’
The BBC has been attacked for its "sneering coverage" of genre fiction during its World Book Night programmes. BBC Two's programmes The Books We Really Read: A Culture Show Special and New Novelists: 12 Of The Best, which were shown on March 5, triggered the protest.
The 85 signatories to a letter to Mark Thompson, the director general of the BBC, include the Gold Dagger-nominated crime author SJ Bolton and children's writer Debi Gliori. Many fantasy, science fiction and horror authors – including Iain Banks and Michael Moorcock - also signed the letter.
Fantasy author Stephen Hunt, who organised the petition, said: “The sneering tone that was levelled towards commercial fiction during The Books We Really Read was deeply counterproductive to the night’s aims of actually encouraging people to read novels. The weight that was given to the single sub-genre of literary fiction in the remaining programmes was unbalanced and unrepresentative of all but a small fraction of the country’s reading tastes.
"And closest to my own heart, the failure to feature a single work from the three genres of horror, fantasy, and science fiction was a disgrace. The official World Book Night list included Philip Pullman’s fantasy novel, Northern Lights. It is a shame the BBC could not.
"There have been weeks when one in three books sold in the UK were Harry Potter novels, or more recently, Twilight novels. The sweeping under the carpet of the very genres of the imagination which engage and fire readers’ minds shows a lot more about the BBC production team’s taste in fiction than it does about what the general public is actually reading. If the BBC really wishes to support reading in this country, then they should produce a literary version of The Film Programme, or commission a modern updating of the Bookworm show that had Griff Rhys Jones as its lead presenter in the ’90s. A series with a mainstream slot. Then perhaps the BBC can do what it said on the tin the first time around: cover the books we really read.”
Celebrating a holiday in Britain is like trying to celebrate it in an unhappy family. The best-laid plans for reviving much-loved traditions quickly blow up in an almighty row. There’s no embarrassing uncle in his cups or stroppy in-laws; just schools that drop Nativity plays, shopping centres that phase out carols, and offices that shun Christmas trees. When Christians meekly complain that their Christmas is being ruined, the powers-that-be shout them down: “It’s in the name of diversity, stupid!”
Now there’s a new rumpus, and just in time for Easter. The Wakefield and District Housing Association in West Yorkshire has ordered one of its electricians to remove a palm cross from the dashboard of his company van. Colin Atkinson, a grandfather and former soldier, faces the sack for refusing to follow orders.
Clearly, in the eyes of this publicly funded body, Mr Atkinson’s palm cross is on a par with a swastika, or a racist slogan. The symbol of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice strikes Mr Atkinson’s bosses as offensive: any show of Christian allegiance could drive a divisive wedge into this multicultural society.
I wish these self-appointed defenders of multi-culturalism would consult a representative group of Jews and Muslims. They would discover that minority faiths have no issue with palm crosses or Christmas carols. Read the Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sachs, on this subject; listen to Fareena Alam, editor of the Muslim magazine Q News, and Dr Taj Hargey, an Oxford-based imam. They all agree: a Britain that respects, and protects, its predominant faith is a Britain that respects, and protects, all faiths.
At stake is not just a happy holiday. Once banning Christian symbols becomes accepted practice, the rejection of Christian beliefs is next. Already, social services have stopped a Christian couple from fostering children lest they infect their charges with an anti-gay attitude.
Soon, the authorities will forbid conscientious objection: Christian doctors, for instance, will be forced to carry out elective abortions, which they regard as a sin.
Where will it end? I fear intolerant atheists will not be satisfied until they’ve driven faith underground: Christians, Jews and Muslims will be forced to resort to Masonic handshakes and hush-hush gatherings. Meet you in the catacombs.
Leading warmist admits he was bamboozled by fear-mongers - on nuclear power
The original moonbat, George Monbiot, columnist for the left wing UK Guardian, now admits that he was bamboozled by fearmongers whipping up anti-nuclear fears.
Over the last fortnight I've made a deeply troubling discovery. The anti-nuclear movement to which I once belonged has misled the world about the impacts of radiation on human health. The claims we have made areungrounded in science, unsupportable when challenged, and wildly wrong. We have done other people, and ourselves, a terrible disservice.
I began to see the extent of the problem after a debate last week with Helen Caldicott [nee Broinowski]. Dr Caldicott is the world's foremost anti-nuclear campaigner. She has received 21 honorary degrees and scores of awards, and was nominated for a Nobel peace prize. Like other greens, I was in awe of her. In the debate she made some striking statements about the dangers of radiation. So I did what anyone faced with questionable scientific claims should do: I asked for the sources. Caldicott's response has profoundly shaken me.
Well, it's a start. Dr. Caldicott has been virtually sainted by the anti-nuclear movement, yet when Monbiot investigated her sources, he discovered that they were:
...nine documents: newspaper articles, press releases and an advertisement. None were scientific publications; none contained sources for the claims she had made. But one of the press releases referred to a report by theUS National Academy of Sciences, which she urged me to read. I have now done so - all 423 pages. It supports none of the statements I questioned; in fact it strongly contradicts her claims about the health effects of radiation.
Monbiot remains one of the most hysterical wamrists, calling for "drastic action needed now" to combat the alleged dangers posed to our survival. The very same concerns expressed by thinkers like Charles Manson.
Now that Monbiot's eyes have been opened to the machinations fraudsters, perhaps he would examine the hysterical and false predictions of climate refugees and other nonexistent dangers advanced by the charlatans pushing warmist doctrine, as well as the efforts to "hide the decline."
Why men's success with women all depends on their hands
I rather like this study -- seeing I exemplify what it says. My ring finger is about half an inch longer than my index finger and I have been married 4 times
Forget witty chat-up lines and splashing on the aftershave. It appears the secret of a man’s attractiveness to the opposite sex lies in his hands. Men whose ring fingers are longer than their index fingers are seen as better bets by women, a study found. By contrast those seen as wimpier sorts will have longer index fingers.
It is thought that exposure to high levels of testosterone in the womb has a long-lasting effect on finger-length – and on looks.
The study is the latest in a long line to link the shape of man’s hands with his path in life. British, French and Swiss researchers photographed 49 young men and measured the length of their ring and index fingers. They also recorded their voices and took swabs to capture general odour. They then showed a group of women the photos and asked them to rate the men’s looks.
Those whose ring fingers were longer than their index fingers were more likely to win the women’s approval. They were seen as good prospects for both a fling and a long-term relationship.
However, they scored no more highly than the other men in terms of having a sexy voice or ‘attractive’ body odour, the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society reports.
Stirling University researcher Craig Roberts said exposure to testosterone in the womb likely affects facial structure as well as finger length. Having a long ring finger confers a host of other benefits. For instance, scientists believe the longer a man’s ring finger is compared to his index finger, the richer he is likely to be.
They claim he is also likely to be a promiscuous, extroverted go-getter with strong muscles and has a greater likelihood of playing a musical instrument. Unfortunately such men also have a higher chance of ending up in prison, being murdered or going mad.
Previous research has shown women who have ‘masculine’ hands, with long ring fingers, are more likely to be lesbians than those who don’t and display higher levels of aggression – as well as enjoying greater professional success.
To calculate finger length accurately you must measure the distance from the midpoint of the lowest crease at the base of the finger on the palm side to the very end of the fleshy tip.
Childless couples are being denied infertility treatment as NHS managers try to cut costs, according to GPs. A survey of family doctors has found that 77 per cent said that their local Primary Care Trusts, which currently buy treatment, had restricted procedures such as IVF.
Women are supposed to be able to access three cycles of infertility treatment – costing more than £4,000 each - on the NHS but many areas have stopped providing it altogether.
The poll also found that four in 10 GPs (40 per cent) said eyesight services were being restricted while almost a third (30 per cent) said orthopaedic surgery, such as hip replacements, had been cut.
Some doctors (6 per cent) had even seen restrictions placed on cancer care while a tenth had seen waiting times lengthen for such services.
As a result, 39 per cent of GPs said more patients were starting to ask about going private while 31 per cent plan to make more private referrals. Even more would do so if more patients had medical insurance.
The poll of 500 GPs, carried out on behalf of the private hospital firm Spire Healthcare, provides the latest evidence that the NHS is rationing services in order to make savings of £20billion by 2015.
It comes after figures showed that patients are being denied drugs for conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and osteoporosis, as PCT managers put more expensive treatments on “red lists” that only hospital consultants can prescribe.
Leading surgeons have also warned that trusts are delaying operations or denying them completely in order to save money, leaving patients in pain.
The situation is likely to worsen as the NHS tries to make unprecedented efficiency savings, even though it has escaped the budget cuts affecting other public services.
However it could help the Government justify its controversial reforms to the health service, which are intended to help GPs get the treatment their patients need by handing them the power to commission services as scrapping the PCT middle managers.
Dr Paul Silverston, a GP in Newmarket, said: “It is apparent that we are seeing waiting times for surgery and other services starting to increase and the recent changes in the NHS can only accelerate this trend.”
An unguarded comment by the new president of Britain's National Union of Students shows how denigrated university education has become
From Britain’s government officials right through to anti-cuts protesters, it seems everyone agrees about one thing in relation to Higher Education: universities should be engines of social mobility. They should give a boost to students from poorer backgrounds and help them to make their way up the career and social ladders.
The newly elected president of the National Union of Students (NUS), Liam Burns, spelt this out very clearly. Speaking to the Scottish Herald before his election, he said we should put aside the archaic idea that universities should encourage the advancement of knowledge and the pursuit of truth, and welcome the fact that unis are now training grounds for youngsters who want to have brighter career prospects.
‘I think we should be honest about our priorities’, he said. ‘At the end of the day, the point of the university has changed. If you look at when only five per cent of the population went, that was about knowledge, discovery, pushing boundaries, people talked about the crème de la crème. [Now], it is about social mobility and people changing their lives. The reality is you need that bit of paper [a degree] to get into better jobs with greater earning potential and influence. So we want as many people to get one as possible, at the expense of quality if necessary.’
‘At the expense of quality…’ It is a remarkably naked assertion of the denigration of education from being about quality (knowledge, reflection, truth) to being about quantity (getting as many young people through as possible in order to improve their ‘earning potential’).
This outlook has been widespread on recent student demonstrations against the Lib-Con government’s plans to cut HE funding and enforce student fees. If young people don’t get that ‘bit of paper’ that acts as a passport to a better job, the protesters have argued, then it’s all over, we’re doomed. Student commentators described the government’s plans as a ‘breathtaking attack on social mobility’ while protesters waved banners pleading ‘Don’t cut our futures’, ‘My dream for a better future will be over’ and ‘No degree = no hope’.
When students and their representatives see the primary role of Higher Education as providing a path towards ‘greater earning potential’, then it is clear that they have bought into the idea of themselves as consumers. Apparently they are simply the consumers of a product (education), whose time at uni is really just an investment that should eventually pay off in terms of increased social mobility. Indeed, many students have even started to demand refunds for ‘poor teaching’, when universities fail to deliver and provide those measurable outcomes that students expect as a return on their investment.
If the student movement has bought into the idea of Higher Education as a kind of investment, that begs a serious question: why shouldn’t students have to pay for this service? If HE really is just about improving prospects and lifestyles, then perhaps there should be fees, much like when adults take night classes because they want to move higher up in their firm of field of work? In this sense, it is not surprising that Liam Burns, who explicitly elevates ‘earning potential’ over ‘knowledge, discovery, pushing boundaries’, reportedly believes that the idea of a free education is now ‘untenable’ outside of Scotland, and that a graduate tax, imposed upon graduates who earn above a certain threshold, is the way forward. (Burns played a key role in keeping Scotland itself fees-free.)
Once a university education is no longer treated as something that has an intrinsic value, regardless of the outcomes upon graduation, then the arguments for keeping it free, the idea of keeping it shielded from market forces, become increasingly spurious. In buying into the language of social mobility, anti-fees student campaigners are shooting themselves in the foot.
In fact, in arguing that ‘knowledge, discovery and pushing boundaries’ should be deprioritised in favour of boosting social mobility, student representatives undermine the very basis on which degrees were once seen as valuable. Degrees were traditionally a mark of academic excellence; having one made you stand out from the crowd. If, as Burns now seems to be suggesting, the quality of degrees should be compromised so that ‘the crowd’ can all be awarded one, then degrees will cease to have the cachet they once had. And organisations will have to find other ways of selecting the best employees.
Ironically, they might have to do that by falling back on older, quite problematic methods: the school-tie approach, perhaps, or the question of whether your degree is from a ‘good university’ or a ‘bad university’. The hollowing out of degrees, the elevation of quantity over quality, not only robs young people of the chance to stretch their minds and seek knowledge - it also implicitly invites organisations and institutions to develop various ways to separate people into ‘worthy’ and ‘unworthy’ categories.
With their talk of social mobility, especially for poorer students, student representatives may think they are being radical. But in truth, they are buying into the very marketisation of HE that the coalition government itself is encouraging. Furthermore, in failing to defend the traditional role of a university, these new student consumers will find that their ‘investment’ is less likely to yield either a decent education or a passport to a brighter, more brilliant future.
One in six British schools bans conkers over "elf 'n' safety" fears - and leapfrog and marbles are also under threat
Traditional school games such as conkers and leapfrog are dying out because over-protective teachers have irrational fears about health and safety, a survey suggests.
Researchers found that conkers have been banned from nearly one sixth of playgrounds for fear that they could cause injury or trigger a nut allergy, even though they are not nuts.
British bulldog contests have been banned from more than a quarter of playgrounds and even innocuous games such as leapfrog and marbles are going the same way.
Of 653 heads, teachers and support staff questioned, 29 per cent said British bulldog has been banned in their school, 14 per cent said pupils are forbidden from playing conkers and 9 per cent said leapfrog had been banned. Some 5 per cent said children were prevented from playing marbles and the same percentage said chasing games, such as tag, had been stopped.
The trend has been blamed on the rise in bureaucracy and red tape in schools and an increase in the number of parents who sue. Education experts have accused ‘over-zealous’ teachers of ruining childhoods.
Tim Gill, former director of the Children’s Play Council at the National Children’s Bureau, said schools have ‘forgotten how to give children a good childhood’. He added: ‘Bumps and scrapes and dealing with life’s trials are part and parcel of growing into a confident and resilient person. ‘You can only learn through experience.’
He said teachers who insist they are hampered by red tape are ‘confused’ because ‘bureaucracy barriers are not as great as they think they are’.
The reluctance of teachers to let children play has been revealed by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.
Its research has also shown that pupils are being taken on fewer school trips due to too much form filling, a lack of time and funding, and safety fears. One primary school teacher told researchers: ‘Apparently the main problem with conkers is that nut allergy sufferers are increasingly allergic to them.’ 'Right, Perkins, I'm just going to check your pockets for any conkers'
A secondary school teacher said: ‘Bulldog is banned because of the number of broken bones it generates.’
In total, 15 per cent of those questioned said fewer playground games and sports are played at their school now than three years ago. More than half, 55 per cent, cited concerns over pupil safety as the reason. And 42 per cent said there was a fear of being sued if a child was hurt during a game. In total, 57 per cent of those questioned said there was a growing trend of ‘risk aversion’ in schools.
Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: ‘Risk in any school trip or activity should be recognised, assessed and managed, rather than avoided. ‘Young people are often less safe when there is an adult saying “be careful” – they then don’t trust their own instincts.’
Peter Cornall of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said increasing numbers of children are allergic to conkers, which are the seed of the horse chestnut tree. This is not because the conker has known allergens, but because fewer children play outside and build immunity to germs that may be on conkers. But he added: ‘Teachers are taking matters too far.’
'What about burning poppies?' asks man jailed for setting Koran alight
Unequal justice in Britain
A man has been jailed for 70 days today after he burnt a copy of the Koran just over a month after a Muslim got away with a paltry £50 fine for a similar offence. Andrew Ryan, 32, stole a copy of the holy book from Carlisle Library then set it on fire by a monument in the city of Carlisle.
Last month Emdadur Choudhury was fined after he burned a poppy outside the Royal Albert Hall in London on Remembrance Day while shouting 'British soldiers burn in hell'.
As he was led down to the cells, Ryan shouted at the judge at Carlisle Magistrates' Court today: 'What about burning poppies?'.
Police arrested Ryan shortly the Koran burning in English Street on January 19.
Sentencing him at Carlisle Magistrates' Court, District Judge Gerald Chalk said: 'This is a case of theatrical bigotry. It was pre-planned by you as you stole the book deliberately. You went out to cause maximum publicity and to cause distress.'
He told Ryan that people were entitled to protest but not in the manner he chose. The court heard the defendant had six public order convictions between 2002 and 2010 including racial chanting at a football match and assault with intent to resist arrest. Judge Chalk said: 'You are a man who has a history of violence and disorderly conduct.'
Ryan pleaded guilty to religiously aggravated harassment and theft at an earlier hearing. Prior to the hearing, a Facebook page created by the 'English Defence League Carlisle Division' urged visitors to support 'Division Member' Ryan in his court appearance.
Around 10 men sat in the public gallery but walked out when District Judge Chalk announced the sentence. Comments of 'what a joke' and 'call that justice' were made as they left the courtroom. Before he was led to the cells, Ryan said: 'What about burning poppies?'
The court was told that Ryan's former probation officer witnessed him shouting and waving a book at Carlisle Cross outside the Old Town Hall in the city centre.
Ryan told him he intended to burn the Koran in a protest against the Muslim faith. He failed in his first attempt with matches before he succeeded with a lighter.
Ryan then continued to shout abuse about the Muslim faith as he held the burning book, before he threw it to the floor and walked away, the court heard. He then updated his Facebook page to reveal what he had done.
Margaret Payne, defending, said: 'Mr Ryan has said to me that the incident was silly and it is not something he would do again. 'He wants to make it clear that it was directed towards radical Islam such as the burning of poppies and flags. 'He would certainly not want Muslim people to think he had problems with their beliefs.
'Mr Ryan was brought up to respect the Armed Forces. Some members of his family were in the Armed Forces and he himself served in the Army between the ages of 16 and 20 in Northern Ireland.
'What caused him to 'lose it' on that day was that he had been looking at a website which had shown radical people burning poppies and abusing British troops returning from abroad.'
Unemployed Ryan was also sentenced to 30 days in jail for the theft of the book, to run concurrently. Following sentencing, Inspector Paul Marshall, of Carlisle CID, said: 'Today's result shows how seriously we take hate crime in the county.
'This incident was highly unusual for Cumbria as we have such low levels of hate crime in the county. 'However, when it does occur we investigate thoroughly so that offenders, and the local community, know that hate crime will simply not be tolerated.'
The screams must have been unbearable. High on the peaks of the Pennines, a terrified group of women, teenagers and children sat huddled in the half-finished ditches and walls of their hill fort, surrounded by gloating faces.
The men were missing, either killed in battle or taken to one side to be pressed into military service or sold for slaves by their captors. But that left the less valuable women and children to be disposed of. Any pleas for clemency fell on death ears.
Dozens, maybe even hundreds, of women, babies and children were stabbed or strangled, stripped of possessions and tossed into the ditch that encircled the fort. Then their attackers toppled a 13ft-high limestone wall over their broken bodies, covering the mass grave with a litter of rocks and soil.
The full story of that gruesome day on Fin Cop in Derbyshire 2,400 years ago, and the reason why two Iron Age clans came to blows, will never be uncovered. But the discovery of nine bodies thrown carelessly in a ditch is challenging some widely-held views about life in Iron Age Britain and whether life before the Romans was quite as peaceful as some academics like to claim.
It has become fashionable to interpret Iron Age hill forts, the 3,000 circles of banks and ditches found across the country, as farming settlements or status symbols - the prehistoric equivalent of Tudor castles and 19th century stately homes.
Dr Clive Waddington, of Archaeological Research Services which uncovered the bones, believes there could be 'dozens or hundreds' more bodies buried on the site. Radiocarbon dating shows that the Fin cop hill fort was built around 400BC, but was destroyed before completion.
Dr Waddington's team, assisted by hundreds of volunteers and local schoolchildren, uncovered the bodies in two sections of a ditch, created as part of the fort's defences. They included four babies, one who was unborn, a two-year-old toddler, a teenage boy and three adults, two of whom were definitely women and one whose sex is unknown. The bodies had been thrown in the ditch and covered with rubble from a stone wall.
'We excavated ten metres but there is 400metres of ditch around the site, and the implication is that could be dozens - if not hundreds - of bodies there,' said Dr Waddington.
There were no personal possessions, suggesting the captors removed any valuables. Dr Waddington believes they were massacred after the hill fort was attacked and captured by a rival chieftain.
There are clues that the hill fort was created in a hurry and that the victims knew they were at risk. 'The ditches and fort were never finished. They had started to make a second wall but that wasn't completed,' he said. 'You can tell that it was a hasty thing - they were trying to rapidly build it and it was not done on time.'
Dr Waddington said archaeologists have increasingly interpreted hill forts as status symbols, not military defences. 'But we know from Classical sources that the British were warlike,' he said.
'It's true that some of the hill forts don't make sense as strongholds because they are not built at the top of hills, or because they are overlooked. But that probably means there is truth in both views.
'The early castles of the 11th and 12th centuries were strongholds, but the later Tudor ones, after the invention of gunpowder, were statements of status. The same is likely to be true of the Iron Age.'
Animal bones in the ditch show they farmed cattle and pigs and kept horses.
New heart attack jab even more effective than statins
Rodent data only so far
A simple injection given to patients up to 12 hours after a heart attack or stroke could reduce their devastating effects by more than half, a new study claims.
British-based scientists have produced an antibody that reduces by more than 60 per cent the physical scarring of the heart and brain after an attack. The "milestone achievement" could also be used to stop the body attacking organ transplants.
Professor Wilhelm Schwaeble, who carried out the work at Leicester University, said that it could potentially be the "biggest breakthrough ever" in the treatment of two of the biggest killers in Britain.
Heart attacks and strokes are caused by blood flow being blocked by a clot or a bleed, starving parts of the body further down stream of oxygen. But most of the permanent damage is caused later – when circulation is eventually restored – and a "default of nature" which means the body's own defences attack the oxygen starved cells.
This effect, which kicks in around nine to 12 hours after the attack or stroke, causes massive inflammation and more than 80 per cent of the permanent damage. It is this that often leads to death and massive reduction in the quality of life of stroke and heart attack survivors.
Now the researchers at the University of Leicester have come up with an injection which they claim effectively stops the body attacking the oxygen starved cells. This allows them to start to oxygenate normally and the permanent damage is reduced significantly.
The research has been tested on mice and more advanced mammals and has also been shown to work on human blood in the laboratory. Human trials are expected to begin within two years.
"This is potentially the biggest breakthrough in the treatment of heart attacks and strokes ever," said Prof Wilhelm, an immunologist. "We could not believe what we saw and nor could the cardiologists. What is amazing is that the drug can be given so long after the attack. "Even the slowest ambulance journey in the world is going to get you to hospital within nine hours."
Prof Schwaeble said that the treatment could have even more of an effect than statins, the cholesterol lowering drugs taken by more than two million Britons. Around 200,000 people in Britain die from cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke, every year.
The team first uncovered a key molecule in the process responsible for the immune attack. After identifying the enzyme – called Mannan Binding Lectin-Associated Serine Protease-2 (MASP-2) – they then developed a antibody to knock it out. The protein – code-named OMS646 – is so effective only two injections in the first week are needed to completely neutralise MASP-2 while the heart heals itself.
The research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
It is anticipated that the first clinical trial will be conducted in the Leicester Biomedical Research Unit, at Glenfield Hospital, Leicester.
Mother's delight at 'miracle' triplets after she defied doctors who advised her to abort two
A happy outcome for once -- because a mother IGNORED NHS advice
A mother who was told by doctors to abort two of her babies when they discovered she was carrying triplets has defied medics to give birth to three healthy children. Lynn Seigenberg, 30, and her husband, Leon, had spent nine years struggling trying to conceive - only to be advised to abort two foetuses when they became pregnant after IVF treatment.
Doctors feared that the three babies would put strain on Lynn's body - and could drain her body of energy, killing them all. But after spending years trying to become a mother - and already having suffered one miscarriage - Lynn insisted on keeping all her babies. And despite doctors' fears her three babies were born perfectly healthy.
Mrs Seigenberg, from Swinton, Manchester, said: 'I was over the moon when I found out I was pregnant. 'But before long, I was facing every mother's nightmare, when my doctor told me I should consider aborting my two identical twin boys. 'I was torn between ensuring the safety of one child and risking the lives of all three. 'But I knew in the end it had to be all or nothing - how can you expect a mother to choose which of her children lives or dies?'
Nursery nurse Lynn was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome after years of trying for a baby with husband Leon, 36, a CCTV operator. Doctors put her on medication to help increase her chances of conceiving - and although she did get pregnant once, she miscarried after a few weeks.
After eight years of trying, the couple were allowed two cycles of IVF on the NHS, due to Lynn's condition at St Mary's Hospital, Manchester. Lynn had two eggs implanted - and to the couple's amazement, she fell pregnant straight away with identical twin boys and a girl.
Lynn said: 'We had been warned that IVF often isn't very successful, and we honestly didn't hold out any hope for the first cycle. 'But when I found out not only was I expecting one baby, but three, I was speechless. 'It seemed like a dream come true - but the doctors didn't agree.
'Our consultant told us having identical twins and another baby was a very dangerous pregnancy. 'She said my body probably wouldn't cope with carrying three babies at once - and they would fight each other for food and energy.
'She warned me I could end up with no babies and advised me to abort my twin boys. 'But my mothering instinct had already kicked in - there was no way I was going to pick and choose which of my babies lived or died.
'We were terrified all the way through the pregnancy. We didn't buy anything for the babies, not even a baby grow, until a few days before I was due to give birth by caesarean section. 'But amazingly, my pregnancy went perfectly, and I gave birth to three healthy children.'
At 33 weeks, Lynn gave birth to her twin boys, Logan and Ethan, and their sister Lexie, at Liverpool Women's Hospital.
Incredibly, Lexie and Ethan were allowed home after two weeks - and smallest twin Logan spent just 14 further days in hospital before being allowed home to join his brother and sister. Now 17 months old, the triplets have just started at nursery - and are no different from any other cheeky toddlers.
The mother-of-three added: 'I know that I am incredibly lucky to have my babies. They're inquisitive, happy and healthy. 'They drive us mad at times, and it's really hard work, but I wouldn't change them for the world. 'They're a dream come true and I've finally got the family I always longed for. I can't imagine life without any of them. 'It just goes to show that anything is possible.'
British middle-class children disadvantaged by University admission reforms
Middle-class schoolchildren could be denied university places in favour of students with lower grades from poorly-performing schools under reforms to the application process.
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) will include statistics about each applicant’s school on all forms from 2012. Each application for entry will show the average GCSE and A-level performance of the candidate’s school and the proportion of pupils in their neighbourhood who go on to higher education.
This way universities will be able to see how well a pupil is performing compared to other students from the same school and local area.
The proposals have been put forward by vice-chancellors who face being penalised if they fail to hit government targets for the proportions of students admitted from deprived families. It will enable elite institutions to make lower offers to students from poorly-performing schools who they believe have academic potential.
Universities must hit government targets in order to be able to raise fees to the maximum level of £9,000 from 2012.
However, critics have warned that it will penalise children who are educated privately. Helen Wright, headmistress of St Mary’s Calne, Wiltshire, and president of the Girls’ School Association, described the system as “morally wrong”. She told the Sunday Times: “This is too much of a broad brush approach and is not sensible. “In the end decisions will be based on guesswork based on stereotypes.” She said schools that had high grades were likely to be “teaching its pupils well”.
The proposals have been backed by Universities UK, the vice-chancellor’s association.
However, Graham Stuart, Conservative chairman of the education select committee, said that “hard-working youngsters” could have their results disregards “because of nakedly political interference”.
Tim Hands, master of Magdaean College school, Oxford warned that such statistics could not take into account factors such as private tuition and described the measurements as “crude”.
In a recent newsletter Ucas said: “For the 2012 application cycle, Ucas will be able to provide additional contextual data from publicly available data sets to those institutions who wish to use it. This is one of a number of shared services being developed by Ucas for the benefit of the Higher Education sector, and comes in response to a number of requests from institutions to provide such information.”
Data from the Complete University Guide reveals a drop in students landing graduate jobs or places on more advanced postgraduate courses after finishing their degree. At most universities, some 64 per cent of students found decent jobs or further study, compared with 68.5 per cent two years earlier.
Graduate prospects were particularly hit at many former polytechnics and new universities amid rising competition for sought-after positions during the economic downturn.
Figures show just 45 per cent of students who left Bolton University in 2009 – the latest available data – secured graduate jobs or places on further courses, such as PhDs. It means more than half were either unemployed or found low-skilled jobs that were not linked to their degrees, such as shelf-stacking and working behind a bar.
According to figures, 53 per cent of students who left De Montfort in Leicester gained decent jobs or places on other courses, compared with 69 per cent a year earlier. Graduate prospects dropped from 71 per cent to 61 per cent at Bournemouth University, 67 per cent to 55.5 per cent at Leeds Metropolitan and 58.5 per cent to 49 per cent at London South Bank.
But other universities ensured more students found graduate jobs, often after offering courses in employability skills or better careers guidance.
This included Plymouth, Huddersfield and the University for the Creative Arts in London.
More students from Buckingham – a private university – graduated with a good job or place on another course, strengthening the Coalition’s claim that more students should consider studying with private providers.
"The measurement of emissions has huge errors". Is that how the science got to be "settled"?
A better monitoring network for greenhouses gases is needed to warn of significant changes and to keep countries that have agreed to cut their emissions honest, scientists said in papers published Monday.
"What we're hoping to do is see if the warming is feeding the warming, particularly in the Arctic," said Euan Nisbet, a specialist in methane emissions at the University of London. "Our monitoring network is very, very limited. We feel more observation is needed."
Such measurement could warn of possible climate tipping points, scientists said in papers published by Britain's science academy, the Royal Society.
The data also could be used to verify countries' reporting of greenhouse gas emissions against targets under the present Kyoto Protocol and a possible successor after 2012.
The Earth's climate in the past has changed in a relatively short period of time, warming rapidly about 12,000 years ago at the end of the most recent glacial period.
Scientists are not sure why that happened, and have warned of possible climate tipping points from manmade emissions. They are concerned, for example, that as Arctic permafrost melts it would allow plant matter to rot and vent methane, a greenhouse gas which could trigger more warming.
Nisbet said the earth last came out of a glacial period "in a matter of a decade or so," referring to rapid warming followed by a more prolonged ice melt, and warned of serious consequences if that were to be repeated now.
A retreat of Arctic summer ice warming has been observed in recent years against a 30-year satellite record, shrinking to its lowest level in 2007 and coinciding with a spike in methane. "In 2007 the Arctic methane emissions appeared to increase very sharply, and then stabilized a bit later. The question is what were the causes of that," Nisbet said.
EMISSIONS
An extra benefit of wider measurement would be an independent test of national reporting of greenhouse gas emissions. Under the Kyoto Protocol, nearly 40 industrialized countries report their emissions against targets from 2008-2012.
A particularly thorny issue in negotiations to agree a successor pact from 2013 is how far international inspectors might oversee emissions reporting. A network of stations may provide a technical answer. "We're trying to verify the greenhouse gas emissions that are declared by the various countries," Nisbet said. "The measurement of emissions has huge errors."
One way to cross-check national reporting is to count all the sources of greenhouse gas emissions, from cars through power plant to cows. Another is to use an improved network of climate stations to measure greenhouse gases in the air and use prevailing winds to calculate where they come from.
Nisbet's paper was one of more than 15 published in a special issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Monday, setting out key research questions to better understand the impact of greenhouse gases on the climate.
A replacement satellite is planned for 2013 after the previous "orbiting carbon observatory" crashed on launch in 2009.
'Wear a headscarf or we will kill you': How the 'London Taliban' is targeting women and gays in bid to impose sharia law
Women who do not wear headscarves are being threatened with violence and even death by Islamic extremists intent on imposing sharia law on parts of Britain, it was claimed today.
Other targets of the 'Talibanesque thugs', being investigated by police in the Tower Hamlets area of London, include homosexuals. Stickers have been plastered on public walls stating: 'Gay free zone. Verily Allah is severe in punishment'.
Posters for H&M which feature women in bikinis and a racy poster for a Bollywood film have been defaced.
It is believed Muslim extremists are behind a spate of attacks being investigated by police, according to the Sunday Times.
An Asian woman who works in a pharmacy in east London was told to dress more modestly and wear a veil or the shop would be boycotted. When she went to the media to talk about the abuse she suffered, a man later entered the pharmacy and told her: 'If you keep doing these things, we are going to kill you'.
The 31-year-old, who is not a practising Muslim, said she has since been told to take holiday by the pharmacy owners and now fears she may lose her job. She said: 'Why should I wear a hijab (headscarf) or burqa? I haven't done anything wrong.'
Other incidents reported include the placing of stickers across the white-minority borough which state it is a 'gay-free zone' and the daubing of paint on posters for clothing shop H&M featuring women in bikinis.
Ghaffar Hussain, of the anti-extremism thin tank the Quilliam Foundation, told The Sunday Times that the intimidation was the work of 'Talibanesque thugs'. He added: 'This minority think they have the right to impose their fringe interpretation of Islam on others.'
Three men have been charged with religiously-aggravated criminal damage in connection with some of the incidents, which have mirrored crude attempt at censorship in Birmingham.
Borough Commander of Tower Hamlets, Paul Rickett said: 'I am saddened that there are a small minority of people who do not wish to respect the lifestyle choices of others. 'I would like to reassure the people of Tower Hamlets that we are investigating these incidents.
'At this stage there is no information to suggest any of the incidents are linked. Anyone found committing such criminal acts will face criminal proceedings. 'We work closely with faith leaders in the community, the Tower Hamlets interfaith forum, our partner agencies and the local community to ensure that people feel safe in the borough.'
Khalid Mahmood, MP for Birmingham Perry Bar, said he had seen posters vandalised in Birmingham but was not aware of threats being made. He said: 'I have seen posters defaced in Birmingham and it's just complete nonsense. 'If people choose to follow the religion they should be free to do so and we don't want to go down the route that the French have done, but these people have to accept other people. 'If it's about the freedom to do what you want, others should have the freedom to do what they want to do.
'It's the actions of a very small minority, and in Birmingham we have not seen people threaten women who are not wearing the burqa - it someone were to do that the police should be informed.'
Firebrand Muslim cleric Anjem Choudary said that he was aware of individuals who would speak up if they saw a Muslim woman without a headscarf, but insisted they were only giving advice about their views of Islam. He said no threats would be made and described the allegations of threats of death as 'completely ridiculous'. He said: 'There are groups who propagate Islam, and if they see a Muslim woman without a hijab they may say "sister, it's obligatory that you cover your hair".
'It's an individual intervention to propagate Islam. For non-Muslims, they may point out to them that women are being exploited in the West. 'It's about telling people about the preference of covering up, but nobody's going to say "you are going to be killed".'
Tower Hamlets has a reputation for being a centre of Islamic extremism in London. Recently it was revealed Rich Dart, a middle class former BBC worker had converted to Islam and was living in Bow, east London in a £300,000 flat paid for by benefits.
Despite being unemployed, Mr Dart regularly attends Muslim rallies in which he was recently heard to say: 'When the Taliban defeat the allies we will establish Sharia law and take the fight to the enemy.'
Before Christmas posters appeared in the borough claiming the religious festival was 'evil'. The campaign's organiser was 27-year-old Abu Rumaysah, who once called for Sharia Law in Britain at a press conference held by hate preacher leader Anjem Choudary, the leader of banned militant group Islam4UK.
Mr Rumaysah said: 'Christmas is a lie and as Muslims it is our duty to attack it. 'But our main attack is on the fruits of Christmas, things like alcohol abuse and promiscuity that increase during Christmas and all the other evils these lead to such as abortion, domestic violence and crime. 'We hope that out campaign will make people realise that Islam is the only way to avoid this and convert.'
Niall Ferguson: 'The left love being provoked by me ... they think I'm a reactionary imperialist scumbag'
The historian has been living back in the UK for almost a year, the first time since leaving for the US in 2002, where he now teaches at Harvard. From the outside, it's looked like quite a successful stay; his Channel 4 series, Civilization, was broadly well-received, and the accompanying book is another dollop of vintage Ferguson history, devoted to the superiority of western civilisation. While here he's also been advising Michael Gove on the history curriculum in secondary schools, and now that the Tories, of whom he approves, are back in charge of the country, he must have found the political climate more to his tastes. But when I ask him for the single biggest change he's observed since leaving Britain, he replies with a kind of theatrical despair,
"I think the situation in British universities has gone from being parlous to being catastrophic. When you look at where British universities are going, and where Harvard's going, you'd have to really love other things about England to take the hit."
The Glaswegian-born academic and presenter, 46, has been sending the left into fits of rage ever since he published Empire in 2003 – an elaborate cost-benefit analysis of the British empire, which concluded that it had, on the whole, been a good thing. The character of Irwin in Alan Bennett's play, The History Boys – a pushy, contrarian teacher who becomes a TV historian – is modelled on Ferguson, and ideological sparring matches with his leftwing critics, one of whom branded his work "startlingly obscene", have become something of a national sport. Rather than get into yet another one with him, I'm more interested to find out what he thinks about the things that are often said about him, so I ask if it's true that he loves provoking the left.
"No, they love being provoked by me! Honestly, it makes them feel so much better about their lives to think that I'm a reactionary; it's a substitute for thought. 'Imperialist scumbag' and all that. Oh dear, we're back in a 1980s student union debate." But didn't Ferguson himself admit that his conversion to Thatcherism while a student at Oxford in the 80s was motivated chiefly by delight in taunting student union lefties?
"Well, of course, yes, it was partly that," he concedes. "But that was the 80s, and I was young. I'm not a punk Tory any more, we have come a long way since then, it's now 2011. I don't really care about those people any more. The debate that I'm interested in having is with seriously smart people about how we design institutions in the 21st century that will genuinely address problems of poverty and educational underachievement. Now that's an interesting debate to have, but very few people in this country are interested in having it."
Warming to his theme, he cites one reviewer of Civilization who clearly hadn't even read the book before attacking it. "You know what?" he says crossly. "There's a lot of intellectual shoddiness in this country. My interest in my work now is not to wind up British lefties; I couldn't care less about them, not really. I couldn't care less about how they feel. So the problem is not that I like to wind them up. It's that they like to be wound up by an imaginary rightwing historian who satisfies all their emotional needs."
Let's say then, I suggest, that he's absolutely right; that the left has got itself into a tizz and accused him of all sorts of views he does not actually hold. He is forever insisting he is not rightwing – so could he offer some examples of his thinking which would demonstrate that he isn't?
"Ask me not are you rightwing, but ask me are you a committed believer in individual freedom, the values of the enlightenment? Then, yeah, if being rightwing means believing Adam Smith was right, both in the Wealth of Nations and the Theory of Moral Sentiments, then I'm rightwing. If being rightwing is thinking that Karl Marx's doctrine was a catastrophe for humanity, then I'm rightwing. If you think that it's rightwing to say that the welfare state has trapped 10-20% of the population of western Europe in a dependency culture, an abyss of social failure, then I'm rightwing."
He sounds as if he could quite easily be a member of David Cameron's cabinet. "I'm very sympathetic to both David Cameron and George Osborne," he agrees. "But we have to redefine this debate, this argument. I'm just constantly amazed by how far people remain trapped in the labelling of the 80s. In the 80s I was a Thatcherite, and we won on both issues, the economy and the cold war, and for a lot of people that must have hurt a lot because those arguments were very bitter, but the outcome was just clear. So when people call me rightwing I get a little pissed off, because it's so anachronistic; it assumes there is some kind of choice."
Ferguson's politics don't appear to rest on semantic definitions of rightwing, so much as a refusal to recognise the validity – or even possibility – of any alternative way of looking at the world. Such certainty presumably explains the other thing everyone always says about him – that he has an almost superhuman absence of self-doubt. But when I ask if this is true, he says: "Of course not!
One of the things that really amazes me is how many people would rather discuss style than substance – that I'm too arrogant, too self-assured. But what the media want from a public intellectual is someone who is absolutely certain in his views. When you are on Newsnight or Question Time, they want combative polarisation; they want a strong case, strongly put. And I do that – I can do that – because a certain intellectual discipline is involved. But as a teacher, my strategy is to encourage questioning. I'm the least authoritarian professor you'll ever meet."
Ferguson has produced 16 books and five TV series in the last 16 years, and sounds unmistakably proud of his workaholism, so I guess that he thinks work-life balance is basically for losers. "I think work-life balance is a phrase invented at business schools to make workaholics feel they're doing something about their problem," he agrees scornfully. "The truth is, there is no balance. You can't strike a balance. You can't write a book like Civilization on three hours a day.
There is a new lot of postings by Chris Brand just up -- on his usual vastly "incorrect" themes of race, genes, IQ etc.
17 April, 2011
Foreign locum GP 'told dying woman with serious heart condition he did not have time to visit'
A foreign locum doctor allegedly told a woman with a serious heart condition who called up with chest pains that he did not have time to see her that afternoon. 24 hours later she was dead.
German doctor Helmut Ilg told Katherine Wilkinson, 29, from Norfolk, she would have to wait two-and-a-half hours until the out of hours service opened if she wanted treatment, her mother has claimed. Miss Wilkinson died in hospital of catastrophic heart failure caused by a blood clot just over 24 hours after the call.
Her mother, Elizabeth Wilkinson, wants to know whether the delay could have been a factor in her daughter's death.
Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS trust, which ran the surgery at the time, has now launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Miss Wilkinson's death.
Miss Wilkinson's suffered from a heart condition that put her at an increased risk of sudden death. She had an artificial heart valve fitted when she was just nine, and relied on a pacemaker to keep her heart beating. She was also on blood-thinning drug warfarin. There is no suggestion that Dr Ilg was made aware of her health problems.
Mrs Wilkinson, from Southery, Norfolk, said her daughter, who was also deaf, and her neighbour, Mick Bilsby, who called the surgery, took Dr Ilg's advice and waited almost two-and-a-half hours from the 4pm call for the out-of-hours service to open. But by 6.21pm, her heart pains growing more severe, Miss Wilkinson asked Mr Bilsby to call for an ambulance.
Mrs Wilkinson, 55, travelled in the ambulance with her daughter to Queen Elizabeth hospital in King's Lynn. She told the Daily Telegraph: 'I knew she was really ill. Her heart rate was 140 and she was having difficulty breathing.' The following morning Miss Wilkinson was transferred to the specialist heart unit at Papworth Hospital, but she died later that evening.
Sheila Adams O'Shea, chief executive of Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust, told the Telegraph: 'While the Trust is unable to discuss individual patients' cases, I can confirm that a thorough investigation in ongoing. As such it is not possible, nor would it be appropriate, to comment further on any specific details at this stage.'
Miliband ally attacks Labour migration 'lies' over 2.2m they let in Britain
A close ally of Ed Miliband has attacked Labour for ‘lying’ about immigration. Lord Glasman – a leading academic and personal friend of the Labour leader – said that the previous Labour government had used mass immigration to control wages.
In an article for Progress magazine, the Labour peer wrote: ‘Labour lied to people about the extent of immigration … and there’s been a massive rupture of trust.’
Labour let in 2.2million migrants during its 13 years in power – more than twice the population of Birmingham.
Maurice Glasman was promoted to the House of Lords by Mr Miliband earlier this year. He has been dubbed the Labour leader’s ‘de facto chief of staff’ by party insiders and has written speeches for him.
Lord Glasman, 49, had already told BBC Radio 4 recently: ‘What you have with immigration is the idea that people should travel all over the world in search of higher-paying jobs, often to undercut existing workforces, and somehow in the Labour Party we got into a position that that was a good thing.
‘Now obviously it undermines solidarity, it undermines relationships, and in the scale that it’s been going on in England, it can undermine the possibility of politics entirely.’
The academic, who directs the faith and citizenship programme at London Metropolitan University, criticised Labour for being ‘hostile to the English working class’. He said: ‘In many ways [Labour] viewed working-class voters as an obstacle to progress.
‘Their commitment to various civil rights, anti-racism, meant that often working-class voters... were seen as racist, resistant to change, homophobic and generally reactionary. ‘So in many ways you had a terrible situation where a Labour government was hostile to the English working class.’
Lord Glasman has also argued for Labour to take a more patriotic stance, opposing the sale of the ports of Dover to the French as ‘lunacy’. He said: ‘I would like to see Ed on the white cliffs saying, “This is forever England”.’
Tory MP Michael Ellis said: ‘What we want to know is: will Ed Miliband admit that the Labour government he was a part of lied to the country? ‘It’s time for Ed Miliband to apologise for Labour’s record on immigration.’
Mr Miliband has denied that Labour let in too many immigrants during its time in government.
A source close to the Labour leader tried to play down the significance of the peer’s remarks. He said: ‘Maurice Glasman is a mate of Ed’s but he is not his guru on this or any other issue.’
Persecuted for his cross: British electrician told he faces the sack for Christian symbol on his van dashboard
Everything but Christianity is OK, apparently
An electrician faces the sack for displaying a small palm cross on the dashboard of his company van. Former soldier Colin Atkinson has been summoned to a disciplinary hearing by the giant housing association where he has been employed for 15 years because he refuses to remove the symbol.
Throughout his time at work, he has had an 8in-long cross made from woven palm leaves attached to the dashboard shelf below his windscreen without receiving a single complaint.
But his bosses at publicly funded Wakefield and District Housing (WDH) in West Yorkshire – the fifth-biggest housing organisation in England – have demanded he remove the cross on the grounds it may offend people or suggest the organisation is Christian. Mr Atkinson’s union representative said he faces a full disciplinary hearing next month for gross misconduct, which could result in dismissal.
The association strongly promotes ‘inclusive’ policies and allows employees to wear religious symbols at work. It has provided stalls at gay pride events, held ‘diversity days’ for travellers, and hosted a gender reassignment event entitled A World That Includes Transpeople.
Mr Atkinson, who has an unblemished work record, said he had not been shown similar respect. ‘The past few months have been unbelievable, a nightmare,’ he said. ‘I have worked in the coal mines and served in the Army in Northern Ireland and I have never suffered such stress. The treatment of Christians in this country is becoming diabolical. It is political correctness taken to the extreme.’
But he added: ‘I have never been so full of resolve. I am determined to stand up for my rights. If they sack me, so be it. But I am standing up for my faith.’
Mr Atkinson’s battle follows a series of similar cases involving Christians who claim their freedoms have been curbed following the introduction of controversial equality laws.
Campaigners accused the housing association of ‘remarkable intolerance’ at a time when millions of Christians will be celebrating Palm Sunday today, a week before Easter Sunday. Palms are traditionally distributed during services to mark Christ’s triumphal entrance into Jerusalem.
Despite the company’s treatment of Mr Atkinson, the boss of the depot where he works in Castleford has been allowed to adorn his office with a poster of the Argentinian revolutionary Che Guevara. Denis Doody, who is WDH’s environmental manager, also has a whiteboard on which are written several quotations by the Marxist guerrilla leader, who was a key figure in the Cuban revolution in the Fifties. Colleagues said staff and even members of the public who were visiting the depot would be able to see the poster and whiteboard through his office window.
Mr Atkinson began work as an electrician in the mines before serving as an Army radio technician for seven years. His military career included a stint at the notorious, riot-torn Long Kesh internment camp in Northern Ireland in 1974. He was employed as a £25,000-a-year electrician by Wakefield Council in 1996, but its housing department was transferred into the association’s ownership six years ago.
His ordeal began last year when managers at WDH, which has 31,000 properties, told Mr Atkinson to remove the cross from the van after years of ignoring it.
He demanded to know why. He said his cross was as discreet and inoffensive as other forms of religious expression and accused his bosses of badgering him.
The company said, however, that he had refused a ‘reasonable’ request to remove the symbol from an official vehicle that could be seen by members of the public.
The 64-year-old grandfather became a committed Christian more than 20 years ago and was a regular Church of England worshipper for many years.
He and his second wife Geraldine, 61, who have five children from previous marriages and three grandchildren, now attend the Pentecostal Destiny Church in Wakefield.
The softly spoken electrician said he never pushed his beliefs on other people but would gently explain his faith to anyone who enquired.
‘I’m just an ordinary bloke. I get on with people and have many friends of other faiths, including a Sikh and a Hindu who both came and spoke up for me at one of the meetings I’ve had with managers about this. ‘Christians are called to be public in our faith, and the cross is my way of being obedient to that call. It brings me peace and strength. It is a central part of who I am and I can’t hide it away.’
Wakefield and District Housing's equality and diversity manager, Jayne O'Connell, believes wearing a burka at work would be considered discreet
Andrea Williams, of the Christian Legal Centre, which is backing Mr Atkinson, said: ‘Colin Atkinson is a decent and hard-working man, yet after many years of service he has been told he cannot continue to have a small palm cross in his van. ‘This smacks of something deeply illiberal and remarkably intolerant. Is this the kind of society the British public want to live in?
Wakefield District Housing said: ‘We do not allow employees to display any personal representations in our vehicles, although they are free to do so upon their person. ‘It would be inappropriate to comment further about this individual case.’
The association had a turnover of £106 million in the financial year to the end of March 2010. The chief executive is Kevin Dodd, who earns £157,000 a year. A 2009 report revealed that the association staged a number of diversity days for employees and tenants. Sessions have been led by groups including Women In Construction, Mental Health Matters and The Leeds Gypsy and Travellers Group. The imam from Wakefield Central Mosque has also been involved.
The company also produces an intranet calendar for employees that shows religious festivals and celebrations.
The student union at Westminster University in central London has elected to its top leadership posts two people linked to a radical Islamist group with an anti-Semitic history.
The two have ties to Hizb ut- Tahrir, a group calling for an Islamic state or caliphate. The group has been barred from organizing and speaking on campuses under the National Union of Students (NUS) policy of “no platform” for racist or fascist views.
“Our rules state individuals or members of organizations or groups identified as holding racist or fascist views are not allowed to stand for election or go to, speak at or take part in conferences, meetings or any other events,” said NUS president Aaron Porter.
Tarik Mahri, 23, was elected president of the Westminster student union in polling on April 1. He is a member of the “Global Ideas” society, which was banned last year by the university after inviting senior Hizb ut- Tahrir member Jamal Harwood to address students.
In his election manifesto, Mahri called for the creation of “segregated sports activities” for women, and his Twitter feed and Facebook profile are littered with calls for Shari'a law and the establishment of an Islamic caliphate.
Jamal Achchi, 26, was elected vice-president. He has been accused of circulating Hizb ut- Tahrir documents that call on Muslims to overthrow democratic regimes and establish the Khilafah, a worldwide Islamic theocracy run by mullahs.
Hizb ut-Tahrir was once led by Omar Bakri Mohammed, who was expelled from the UK in 2006. Residing today in Lebanon, the radical cleric has recently been charged with fundraising for al-Qaida.
Since the 7/7 terrorist attack on London in 2005, the government keeps Hizb ut-Tahrir “under continuous review,” but has not yet banned the group despite regular calls by the Conservative party to do so.
The group, which has been outlawed in a number of countries, including Germany and Egypt, calls for “the dismantling” of the “illegal entity” of Israel. In 2001, part of a statement removed from its Web site said: “In origin, no one likes the Jews except the Jews. Even they themselves rarely like each other.”
Islamist radicalization on campuses is a huge concern in the UK. A review of extremism by Universities UK, the organization of vice-chancellors in Britain, was launched last year after it was discovered that the failed 2009 Detroit airline bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a former president of the Islamic Society at University College London.
“Hizb ut-Tahrir despises democracy and believes Shari'a law must be imposed over the whole world, by force if necessary,” said Shiraz Maher, a former member of the group and now a senior research fellow at the International Center for the Study of Radicalism at King’s College London. “I think unless we challenge this we are sleepwalking into a very dangerous future.”
Raheem Kassam, director of Student Rights, an organization that tackles radicalism on campus, and himself a former Westminster student, said there has been a “grassroots Islamist movement” there for many years and that he had “experienced” it himself.
“What’s disgraceful is that the Student Union refuses to subscribe to the NUS’s no-platform policy for extremists and that the university allows this to continue,” Kassam said.
Chance find of optical illusion that eases arthritis pain without drugs
85% improvement is about as good as you get -- way above placebo. I guess it's a kind of hypnotism
A trick of the mind could relieve the pain of arthritis, claim psychologists. In a discovery made by accident, people with the condition found a simple computer-generated optical illusion could soothe pain.
Nottingham University academics hope the experiment might one day enable more people to harness their unconscious to tackle ailments. The technology, called Mirage, helped arthritis patients improve the mobility of their hands by halving the pain they felt in fingers.
A small number of sufferers were asked to place their hands inside a box containing a camera, which then projected the image on to a screen in front of them. The technology allowed them to see their arthritic fingers being apparently stretched and shrunk. In fact, someone was gently pushing and pulling their fingers from the other side of the box and the camera created the illusion of huge stretching and shrinking. In 85 per cent of cases it halved the pain.
Mirage was first used as part of a educational project on the way our brains put together what we see and feel happening to our bodies.
Dr Roger Newport, who is leading the research in the School of Psychology, said: ‘The majority of people who come to these fun events are kids – the illusions really capture their imagination and they think it’s a cool trick.’
But it was one of their grandparents who discovered a healing effect by chance. Dr Catherine Preston, who is collaborating on the study and is now at Nottingham Trent University, said: ‘The grandmother wanted to have a go, but warned us to be gentle because of arthritis in her fingers.
‘We were giving a practical demonstration of illusory finger stretching when she announced “My finger doesn’t hurt any more” and asked whether she could take the machine home with her. ‘We were just stunned – I don’t know who was more surprised, her or us.’
The psychologists then recruited 20 volunteers aged around 70 with osteoarthritis to test out the Mirage technology. All had been diagnosed with arthritic pain in their hands and fingers, and were asked to rate their pain during the illusion.
Many of those tested said they felt less pain in their hands and fingers when the image appeared to show them being stretched, while others got relief when the image showed them shrinking. Some said they were in less pain when stretched and shrunk.
In a third of those taking part, the treatment stopped the pain entirely. It was found the illusion only worked when the painful part of the hands was being manipulated.
Alexander Cockburn dumps on nuke loving greens and man made global warming
Acclaimed leftist journalist Alexander Cockburn at his home in Humboldt County, CA. I have been reading HotCock on and off for years but I did not realize what a posh English accent he has. He went to Oxford U so that is no mystery. Such an accent is quite close to an educated Australian accent so I found it very easy to follow. I hope American readers do too -- JR
16 April, 2011
Girl, 8, paid £8.75m by hospital after blunders at birth left her with permanent brain damage
An eight-year-old girl who was left severely brain damaged at birth following blunders by maternity staff was today awarded £8.75m at London's High Court. Darcie Hooper was born at St Mary's Hospital, Portsmouth, on March 16, 2003, having been starved of oxygen in the womb, due to clinical staff missing vital signs on monitoring equipment indicating foetal distress.
The 'affectionate' little girl suffers from tetraplegic cerebral palsy as a result of her birth injuries and will be dependent upon others for the rest of her life.
Her mother Janet Hooper sued Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust on behalf of Darcie. The Trust admitted liability for her tragic injuries at an early stage, and have released funds to the family in a series of interim payments.
Today Mrs Justice Cox approved the final settlement of her claim, which consists of a £4.2m lump sum, plus annual, index-linked and tax-free payments, bringing the total value of the settlement to around £8.75m.
Neil Block QC, representing the Trust, today apologised to the family for what happened to Darcie. 'I would like to take the opportunity to apologise - it is a matter of profound regret that Darcie was so gravely injured and also the circumstances that led to that injury, and we apologise to the family for the mistakes that were made,' he said. 'We hope that some assurance has been given that such mistakes will not be made in the future,' he added.
'Clearly money cannot ever replace what Darcie and her family would most wish to be replaced, but at least this settlement will provide for her financial future, and her parents will know that her future is secure, in terms of care and accommodation.'
The judge, giving her seal to the agreement, said: 'I approve this settlement - I have no doubt it is in this young person's best interests. 'It is clear that Darcie is an affectionate little girl and had clearly benefited from all the input she has received to date, and that is in no small part due to the efforts of her parents,' she concluded.
In a statement outside court, the family's solicitor, Alison McClure, said: 'This is an excellent settlement for Darcie, which will provide the help and assistance that she will need for the rest of her life. 'Her parents are delighted, and are now able to move forward with confidence in caring for their daughter.'
NHS bosses see their bonus pot double in 5 years ... as staff face cuts
NHS chiefs have seen their bonuses double in the last five years even though tens of thousands of frontline workers face the axe to save money. Some officials at the Department of Health on six-figure salaries are receiving performance-related awards that exceed the average nurse’s wage.
The payments are being dished out despite the fact that up to 40,000 posts in hospitals and health trusts will go over the next year as part of attempts to save billions. Last year 1,162 senior officials at the Department of Health shared £2.5million in bonuses, taking home an average of about £2,150. One civil servant was paid £27,500 on top of their six-figure salary; the average nurse earns just over £26,000 a year.
The pot has more than doubled since 2004/5, when just £1.15million was handed out.
The bonuses are usually only given to the most senior staff on the highest salaries, and are typically awarded if the department believes it has met certain targets, such as keeping waiting times down, reducing superbug infections, or making efficiency savings.
The department refuses to name the recipients of its top bonuses, but two of its highest-paid employees who may benefit from performance-related pay are Sir David Nicholson, NHS chief executive, and Clare Chapman, its director general of workforce.
Sir David earns between £255,000 and £259,000 – over £100,000 more than the Prime Minister. His pay package includes up to £50,000 for a rented flat in London and living expenses. Two years ago he instructed the NHS to make £20billion of efficiency savings by 2014. Hospitals have resorted to scrapping thousands of posts to meet the targets.
Mrs Chapman earns around £245,000. She has seen her pay increase by up to a fifth since her appointment in 2006.
The revelations will further anger frontline workers who say they are being stretched to the limit. Nurses made their discontent clear earlier this week when they backed a vote of no confidence in Health Secretary Andrew Lansley at the annual Royal College of Nursing conference. Many say that because of cuts they are too busy to assist elderly people with their food or help them to the toilet.
Despite the strains being placed on the NHS, figures from April to October last year show that almost £1.8million has already been given out, meaning bonuses for 2010/11 are on target to be higher still. The payments, condemned by critics as ‘indefensible’, are only a fraction of the bonuses handed out across the health service among various quangos and local health trusts.
Dr Peter Carter, chief executive and general secretary for the Royal College of Nursing, said: ‘The inexorable rise in bonus payouts will leave frontline staff reeling, especially the news that the Department of Health is paying out bonuses higher than a nurse’s starting salary.
‘At a time when those earning above £21,000 are being subjected to a pay freeze, frontline nurses and others will feel that there is one rule for them and another for us. This appears at best insensitive and at worst, during a time of financial austerity, indefensible. ‘We need to know what improvements those receiving bonuses have made to health services and patient care.’
Conservative MP Priti Patel, who obtained the figures, added: ‘The levels of pay and bonuses overseen by the previous Labour government showed utter contempt for Britain’s hard-pressed taxpayers and those who work on the frontline in the NHS.’
A Department of Health spokesperson said: ‘The Coalition Government has announced that in light of the financial difficulties facing public services, the number of performance-related payments made to senior civil servants overall will be significantly reduced.’
Why is the BBC STILL so hideously biased on immigration?
David Cameron has just made the most important speech on immigration of any Prime Minister for many years. He tackled the subject in a frank, open, comprehensive and factual manner, while remaining sensitive to the delicacy of the issues. He set out a clear aim — to get net immigration down to tens of thousands — while disposing of the myth that EU migration would render this impossible.
He didn't shy away from describing the widespread abuse in the immigration system, whether by forced or sham marriages, bogus students, dodgy colleges, or dubious work permits.
This was a very significant contribution from a national leader addressing a sensitive issue that troubles a huge number of people in this country. Yet if you had listened to Radio 4 you would not have known it. Their treatment of this story was abysmal.
The Today Programme, the so-called jewel in the BBC's crown, introduced the item with a sound-bite from the BNP claiming that the Government had adopted their policies, but 20 years too late. How is that for a smear?
This was followed by a hostile interview with the Immigration Minister, Damian Green, in which the presenter accused the Prime Minister of making 'an anti-immigrant statement'. What was he referring to? The Prime Minister's sin, apparently, was to say that 'real communities are bound by common experiences'.
His speech went on to say that 'communities are forged by friendship and conversation, knitted together by all the rituals of the neighbourhood, from the school run to the chat down the pub. All these bonds can take time. So real integration takes time.' Most of us would think that this was a statement of common sense — not to say the blindingly obvious. But not, it seems if you work for Radio 4.
The rest of the interview bore so little relationship to the Prime Minister's speech that one wondered whether the presenter had even read it.
Next to weigh in was the BBC website which ignored a sensible contribution from the Lib-Dem spokesman, Tom Brake, later on the Today Programme. Instead it led with a headline in which Vince Cable described the Prime Minister's speech as very unwise and risked 'inflaming extremism'. Nobody who had read the text could possibly draw such a conclusion, but the headline suited the BBC's agenda. No surprise then that the World At One followed up with a discussion in which racism and extremism featured prominently.
One is left wondering how it is possible to have a sensible debate on immigration when the largest news organisation in the country is so hideously biased on this subject — to adopt the terminology of its former Director General Greg Dyke, who complained memorably that the corporation was 'hideously white'.
It would be wrong to tar the whole of the BBC with a Radio 4 brush. The BBC is a huge organisation. Some of their journalists are entirely professional, so are some of the editors.
Radio 5 Live, for example, are a good deal more responsive to public opinion on this issue; they know from their phone-ins where public opinion lies and they seem to be less inclined to talk down to their audience. Nevertheless, there is a strong and widespread reluctance, particularly on Radio 4, to tackle the issue of immigration.
Like many on the Left — and I make the connection advisedly — they believe that anyone who raises the subject must have some racist motivation. The fact that 77 per cent of the population want to see immigration reduced, that 50 per cent want it reduced by a lot and that a majority of the ethnic communities also want it reduced, is simply waved away. The public, it seems, are racist or stupid or both.
An ambitious plan to put solar panels on schools, hospitals and other public buildings has been cancelled in an embarrassing climb-down for the Government.
Buying solutions, the Government quango responsible for taking forward major new projects, wanted to install solar panels on the roof of town halls, army bases and other land or buildings owned by the public. The scheme was considered value for money because the Feed in Tariff (FIT), that pays those who install panels to generate electricity, offered a good return.
However following changes to FIT, which mean larger solar installations will not earn so much money, the project was pulled. Solar companies say the Government have ‘shot themselves in the foot’ by reducing the green subsidy for medium sized projects like schools and hospitals.
An ongoing consultation proposes reducing subsidies for any solar panel project more than 50 kilowatts, the equivalent of panels on 20 houses.
The Department for Energy and Climate Change insist that FITs had to be reduced to stop large solar farms taking all the money before households could cash in. But solar companies claim medium-sized projects on schools, hospitals and community centres are also losing out.
Katie Moore, co-founder of the Solar Club, a community whose members are planning to invest in a solar project, said she was in contact with the Government last year after proposing to put panels on a navy base. However following the review of FITs she was told that the solar project was no longer going ahead. She suspects the reduction in tariffs for medium-sized projects was the cause.
“The Government were withdrawing from their own project,” she said. “If the government estate can’t do it – and they know more than us – then how are other medium-sized projects expected to make money?”
A spokeswoman for the Cabinet Office admitted that Buying Solutions was looking at the possibility of installing solar panels across the government estate. However the idea was never taken up. “They realised it was not going to work,” she said. “It turned out it was not viable.”
The Unteachables: The violent pupils who have sexually assaulted teachers - yet are being let back into Britain's classrooms
Pupils who have sexually assaulted teachers, threatened other children with knives and attacked police officers have been allowed back into the classroom, a shocking dossier reveals. In most cases, exclusion orders were lifted by their head teachers, school governing bodies or independent appeals panels. In a handful of schools, the child was not even removed in the first place.
The dossier on the 16 ‘unteachable’ youngsters was compiled by teachers who warned that their authority is being undermined by allowing such children to return to school.
In all the cases, ballots for industrial action were launched last year by members of the NASUWT and the National Union of Teachers in an effort to force schools to protect staff from troublemakers. They threatened to refuse to teach the child involved, and in most instances the boycotting tactic resulted in the pupil being transferred to a different school. Dozens more discipline cases were resolved without the need for industrial action.
The NASUWT report, unveiled before its annual conference in Glasgow, features a horrifying catalogue of violence by classroom hooligans including the sexual assault of a female learning support assistant and an attack on a police officer.
The union’s general secretary, Chris Keates, said: ‘We are seeing a trend whereby in over 50 per cent of our cases, it’s either head teachers not taking strong action or governing bodies overturning the professional judgments of heads and teachers.
‘All that pupils see is that someone either assaulted a teacher verbally or physically, or caused a major incident of disruption. They leave the school for a short time, then come back and it looks as though that behaviour’s OK because all they get is a few days off school. It’s completely the wrong signal that’s sent. That’s why teachers are very keen there is zero tolerance.’
Mrs Keates said that early intervention to combat low level disruption was vital. ‘It’s important schools take a very strong stand at the outset and make sure that not just the pupil concerned, but other pupils have an example of what the consequences are for unacceptable behaviour,’ she said. ‘However, teachers feel that their head teachers are often divorced from the daily realities of the classroom.’ She added: ‘Teachers shouldn’t have to resort to taking action to have their professional judgment about behaviour taken seriously.’
Mrs Keates said that heads should continue to have some classroom experience to help keep them in touch.
Shane Johnschwager, of NASUWT in Brent, north-west London, claims that head teachers’ reluctance to discipline pupils has left some schools ‘ghettoised’ and abandoned by the middle classes. He is putting forward a motion at his union conference claiming that lessons are being ‘ruined for the majority by a minority of poorly behaved pupils’. He told the Times Educational Supplement: ‘Middle class parents are more likely to hold schools to account over issues such as behaviour; the loss of involvement means behaviour in the school might get worse.’
Christine Blower, general secretary of the NUT, said the majority of schools had good behaviour and discipline procedures in place. She added: ‘Where there is inconsistency in the application of such policies the union will take action.’
Last October, Education Secretary Michael Gove unveiled wide-ranging plans designed to restore discipline to schools. Head teachers will be granted the right to expel pupils without fear of independent appeals panels reinstating the child. However, they face fines of thousands of pounds if they make the decision unfairly.
Schools will have a duty to make alternative provision for the expelled pupil, for example by ‘buying’ provision for the child at a special centre.
Other measures aimed at boosting class discipline include powers to frisk pupils for pornography, tobacco and fireworks. Children could also be checked for mobile phones and cameras if teachers fear they will be used to harm others or break a law.
Too many heads are wasting money by attending junkets in expensive hotels while their schools face cuts, staff claim.
Heavy-handed and unrepentant British council order a couple to apply for planning permission... for their daughter's WENDY HOUSE
Over zealous council officials took bureacracy to the extreme when they ordered a couple to apply for planning permission - for their daughter's Wendy house. The bijou Wendy house measures 6ft by 8ft and was a birthday present for three-year-old Abigail Gent, from Shropshire.
None of the neighbours raised any objection to the 7ft tall structure, but because of officials' 'crazy' red tape it still needed planning permission. It has left parents Richard and Olivia Gent scratching their heads over the bizarre move.
Wrexham County Borough Council said permission was required to ensure no 'additional development' was carried out.
Mr Gent, a company director in London, said he was 'puzzled' by the council's red tape. "I thought it was crazy and I couldn't understand the reasoning behind it. I really thought the world had gone mad,' he said.
The couple said they initially built the Wendy house in a paddock - which is part of their property - when they moved in about a year ago. It stood there unchallenged for three months but when officials visiting another property nearby spotted the offending structure they sent the Gents a letter.
It told them either to move the Wendy house from the paddock to their garden or apply for planning permission to keep it in the paddock - which they were advised would cost £169 and probably be refused as the paddock was classed as agricultural land, the couple said.
Instead, the Gents said they dismantled the Wendy house and moved it to the garden. But they still had to apply for planning permission and spend hours dealing with bureaucracy. Mr Gent added: 'We thought the paddock seemed a sensible place to put it until someone from planning wrote saying we couldn't have it there.
'Technically the council are right and are only doing their job - but I cannot understand why in these austere times for the public sector, officials are worrying about such a trifling thing as this.'
A spokeswoman for the council said: 'The reason planning permission was required was due to previous planning conditions, when approval was granted for a barn conversion and a change of use of land for grazing of recreational horses.
'Due to the restricted application site, and its relationship with adjoining properties, it was considered important to ensure that no additional development is carried out without the permission of the Local Planning Authority. 'Permission for this structure was granted on March 8, 2011.'
Britain's 1981 Brixton riots are now being hailed by the Left as a heroic uprising. The truth is rather different
Easter was around the corner and a grand Royal Wedding was being planned. The Government was struggling with public spending cuts, young jobless totals, and control of immigration. But this isn’t 2011. It was 30 years ago, as Brixton in South London burned almost to the ground in the ugliest British riots of the 20th century.
For three days, battle raged across this inner-city Lambeth borough already brutalised by Hitler’s bombs. Over one balmy April weekend, thousands of West Indian youths fought 3,000 Metropolitan police through every alley and street.
The windows of television, furniture and jewellery stores were smashed and looted, even though many belonged to the rioters’ families, who had settled in post-war Britain from the Caribbean. By the Monday morning, 60 bystanders had been hurt, some pulled from their homes for a beating by the mob. In all, 149 police were injured, and 224 people arrested. In the mayhem, the predominantly white fire and ambulance crews sent into Brixton to save lives had been attacked with bricks and bottles too. There had been no such event in English memory. The country was swept up in a wave of shock and recrimination.
Brixton was a catalyst for copycat riots by young blacks — often egged on by Left-wing agitators — in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Leicester, Leeds and other parts of inner-city London.
The Communist Party of Great Britain stated that Brixton was an explosive reaction to the unfair treatment of ethnic minorities and the ‘particular consequences’ of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s policies. It was a view many in the Labour Party hungrily endorsed.
Today, in the minds of the liberal Left, a mythology has grown up promoting the belief that the Brixton rioters were justified in their behaviour because they were racially oppressed. To celebrate the anniversary, the BBC produced a naively one-sided account of the riots for Radio 4’s Reunion programme — in which people who have taken part in an event are brought together years later to discuss it.
The Reunion’s line-up featured five people — Brian Paddick, then a police sergeant, later a controversial Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard famed for telling police in Lambeth to ease up on drug arrests; Darcus Howe, a Left-wing black ‘thinker’; ‘Red’ Ted Knight, who led Lambeth Council at the time; Alex Wheatle, now a novelist and then a young rioter; and Peter Bleksley, then a junior policeman caught up in the riots who went on to become a ‘community’ copper in the area.
‘This selection was a parody of BBC bias,’ proclaimed the commentator and journalist Charles Moore after hearing the programme. ‘We were not reminded that Knight declared, in the aftermath of the Brixton riot: “We want to break the Metropolitan Police.” He was probably the hardest-Left of all the Labour leaders in London.’
The BBC offered no ordinary residents — black or white — of Brixton to describe the fear, crime and disorder meted out on that once-peaceful community. Nor did the programme invite anyone to pass comment on the havoc that poorly planned mass migration had wreaked on Brixton all those years ago, as well as on other traditional working-class inner-city communities.
In Lambeth this week there was even a questionable ‘celebration’ of the Brixton riot 30th anniversary. Councillors renamed the event the ‘Brixton Uprising’ and provided ‘first-hand witness accounts’ along with ‘special guests’ for entertainment. Among them was the Jamaican ‘poet’ Linton Kwesi Johnson, whose writing contains graphic descriptions of alleged police brutality during the Eighties, including one poem entitled Ingland Is A Bich.
But what really caused the Brixton riot? And what did the events of that weekend say about a Britain which had absorbed 1.9 million non-white immigrants since the Fifties?
Brixton in the early Eighties was a tinderbox. Unemployment in the area stood at 13 per cent overall, and 25 per cent among the West Indian community. Half of young black men were jobless and, understandably, discontented with their lot.
In those days, it was a place of black council tenants, many hardworking older immigrants, and white squatters living cheek by jowl.
Many of the young blacks smoked dope, listened to reggae, and spoke an almost impenetrable patois. Empty houses, still not renovated after war bombing, were taken over as drinking and gambling dens and all-night party venues. Crime was soaring, with 90 burglaries, muggings and assaults being recorded each week.
Relations between the police and Brixton’s black community had never been good. In 1966, a report published by the Commonwealth Institute, with the foul title Nigger Hunting In England?, reported that the police used dogs to chase black people, and that ‘reliable sources’ confirmed how constables left Brixton police stations with the express purpose of hounding West Indians and other ethnic groups.
Even 15 years later, on the eve of the riots, the area was awash with unconfirmed stories that detectives working there wore ‘Ace of Spades’ ties, and sported BNP badges on the inside of their jacket lapels. At the time, just 286 of 117,000 officers in the England and Wales forces were black or Asian, a far smaller proportion than in the population.
Determined to stamp out violent crime in Brixton, the police launched Operation Swamp 81 that April. They sent in hundreds of officers to stop and search 1,000 people in just two days, using outdated 19th-century vagrancy laws.
These ‘sus’ laws were hated. The 1824 Vagrancy Act had been passed to stop soldiers from begging on the streets after they returned from the Napoleonic wars. Anyone could be convicted on the sole testimony of the arresting officer for being a ‘suspected person loitering with intent to steal’.
Among the hundreds of policemen sent into Brixton as part of Operation Swamp was Steve Margiotta. On Friday, April 10, 1981, he was patrolling not far from Railton Road, a main street in Brixton which was to become the ‘Frontline’ of the riots.
A black teenager, 19-year-old Michael Bailey, ran towards him. The policeman wrestled him to the ground and found Bailey had been stabbed. As Margiotta, then 27, recalled recently: ‘I was on a busy street and I could see this person running towards me. He was coming at quite a speed. He was coming straight for me, so I had to stop him. ‘We collided, and as we got up his shirt came off the shoulder and I could see he was bleeding. I was also covered with blood.
‘He kept on running and I set off in pursuit — just to help him, as I could see he was badly hurt. Some others there thought I was trying to arrest him. They were saying: “What are you doing?” ‘It all started from there.’
Bailey ran to a flat where a white family tried to help him. The father of the house put some kitchen roll over the wound and bound it tightly. When he asked Michael who had caused the injury, he simply said: ‘Blacks.’
Bailey was put in a mini-cab for the hospital. But, fatefully, a police car saw the cab moving away at speed and stopped it. When an officer from the police car, realising Bailey was injured, tried to bind his wound more tightly, trouble ensued.
A group of 50 youths began to shout for Bailey’s release. ‘Look, they’re killing him,’ claimed one. And with that the crowd descended on the police car and pulled him out. They dispatched him to hospital and told officers: ‘Let us look after our own.’
By now, rumours were spreading through Brixton streets that it was the police who had hurt Bailey. And within an hour, the riots had begun.
It seems astonishing now that a misunderstanding, even a small act of kindness from the police themselves, should have sparked an event that would have such huge political and social consequences.
At the height of the fighting, in what many took as a racist gesture, a tailor’s white-skinned dummy had been pulled from the broken window of the men’s shop Burton’s, thrown to the ground, then stripped and set alight by the rioters.
The smouldering, naked effigy was still lying on streets covered with shattered glass and next to upturned Panda cars, when Prime Minister Thatcher was whisked from 10 Downing Street for tea at the local police station during a lull in the riots.
She asked the West Indian tea ladies who served her what they thought of the rioting. ‘They were clearly as disgusted as I was with those who were causing the trouble,’ she recalled later. ‘I had gone to the canteen to thank the staff, as I had thanked the police officers themselves, for all that they were doing.’
Mother forced to give kiss of life to baby son just minutes after doctor sends her home with antibiotics
A young mother had to resuscitate her newborn baby son on her living room floor less than an hour after a doctor said her son just had a chest infection.
Leon Johnson was born 10 weeks premature and spent six weeks in a special baby care unit before he was strong enough to be allowed home at the beginning or March with his mother Amy Tidmarsh, 22.
Just a few weeks later the worried mother rushed her poorly son to the doctors when he became 'pale and unresponsive' following a cold. He was prescribed antibiotics and sent home despite her fears that he was more seriously ill. Less than an hour after seeing the doctor Miss Tidmarsh gave herself the kiss of life after he stopped breathing in his push-chair.
Miss Tidmarsh from Kirby Cross in Essex, said: 'I was crying and terrified. He wasn't breathing, he was as white as a sheet and I couldn't find a pulse. 'I put him on the floor and did mouth-to-mouth on him and gave him two chest compressions. 'He coughed and started breathing again. I was so relieved.'
An ambulance was called and Leon was taken to Colchester Hospital where he was put onto oxygen immediately and tests revealed he had bronchitis and infections in his nose and throat.
Miss Tidmarsh said doctors suspected the seven-week-old tot had also been fighting out other infections and his tiny body could not cope anymore. He was rushed to St Mary's Hospital in London for specialist care and put into a coma and onto a life support machine for several weeks.
Miss Tidmarsh said she was angry about the doctor's initial response. 'The doctor had told me he just had a chest infection and prescribed antibiotics,' she said.
'I was very concerned because he was pale and unresponsive, I told him (the doctor) he had been born 10 weeks premature but the doctor said it was to be expected it would take him longer to get over things because he was premature. 'He made me feel like I was overreacting and making a fuss. I think he should have sent us to hospital as a precaution but because he was a doctor I started to doubt myself.
'I was told later at hospital that if I hadn't taken him in myself he would have died.'
The mother-of-three took all her children to the doctors when the family came down with a cold but on March 14 she booked an emergency appointment for Leon because he had not recovered, was not feeding and was pale and lethargic.
She said: 'His chest was rattling, you could hear it rumbling. Normally he loved his bottle but he just wouldn't wake up to take it. I knew something was wrong. He was unresponsive and limp like a rag-doll.'
The anxious mum said she waited 45-minutes for her appointment at the Station Approach Doctors Surgery in Frinton, Essex, and after the GP listened to her son's chest he diagnosed a chest infection and a course of antibiotics.
When she returned home Miss Tismarsh, who had done a First Aid course, realised Leon had taken a turn for the worse. She managed to revive her lifeless son and put him onto an anti-cot death mat which monitors breathing and heartbeat.
She said: 'I had only just seen the doctor and he told me nothing was seriously wrong, even after I had resuscitated him I was doubting myself. 'I put him on the mat and he kept stopping breathing. The alarms were going off so I called my mum and told her I thought Leon was dead but I didn't know what to do.'
After he was taken to St Mary's Hospital in London for specialist care his anxious mother and father Justin Johnson, 27, a ground worker, kept a bedside vigil.
Miss Tidmarsh said: 'His body was so weak it had almost given up fighting. He had four blood transfusions and they paralysed him to try and rest his body.'
Leon was on life support for two-and-a-half weeks before being strong enough to be transferred to Colchester General Hospital. The 11-week-old tot was discharged last week and is now at home with his family.
Miss Tidmarsh's said her mother complained at the doctor's surgery and was told that 'baby's can deteriorate' quickly. The surgery refused to comment on the case.
Miss Tidmarsh said: 'I asked a doctor at St Mary's if I had walked into her surgery with Leon five hours before she saw him at the hospital would she had been able to pick up that something was terrible wrong and she said 'without a doubt'.
'No one knows children better than their mother. I think the doctor should have been extra cautious, even if it was just to satisfy me. My son's life, like any child's is precious.'
'I shake my head in despair': Top British judge's frustration at the asylum 'merry go round'
A senior judge yesterday described Britain’s immigration appeals system as a lengthy and expensive ‘merry go round’. Lord Justice Pitchford said he despaired at the ‘extraordinary process’ which takes up hours of court time and costs taxpayers a fortune.
His comments came after he ruled on the case of a Zimbabwean asylum seeker still in the country after nearly a decade.
The 28-year-old woman, referred to only as RM for legal reasons, arrived on a five-week visitor visa in 2001 before obtaining a student visa and then claiming asylum. Her asylum case was rejected five years ago but has now been through the Home Office three times and three lengthy appeal hearings and is still not resolved.
Yesterday the judge sent it back for the whole process to start again. The bill to the taxpayer for court costs and legal aid already exceeds £100,000, it is believed.
Ruling on the case at the Court of Appeal he said: ‘I shake my head in despair if not in disbelief at this extraordinary process which occupies so much court time’.
But it was ‘regrettably’ necessary to send the case back yet again to the asylum and immigration tribunal, he said. ‘This means another hearing, and more expenditure of public money on legal costs on both sides, probably with more appeals to follow.’
He said the woman’s future in this country ‘is once more up in the air and still the merry-go-round goes round, and round, and round again’. RM was 18 when she arrived in July 2001. Her visitor visa lasted until September, but rather than return home she asked to stay as a student and was given a visa until October 2002. She then asked to stay indefinitely, claiming she was a dependant of her aunt. But this was refused.
She appealed against that decision but then withdrew the application, and in July 2005 claimed asylum. This was refused by the Home Office in December 2006.
On being told the following month she would be deported RM launched an appeal, claiming she faced persecution in Zimbabwe as her aunt had campaigned for the MDC opposition party. But the judge said her aunt had stopped all involvement with the MDC, and both she and family members had often visited Zimbabwe.
At the next appeal hearing, however, the decision was overturned. The Home Office appealed again, and yesterday the Court of Appeal ruled against RM. Lord Justice Pitchford, sitting with Lords Justice Ward and Leveson, said the immigration judge who allowed her asylum claim was ‘not entitled to assume’ she would be subjected to persecution in Zimbabwe.
Every year the Christians from different churches get together to march a 400-yard route to celebrate Easter. But this year their Good Friday parade has been banned – because it breaches health and safety laws.
Church leaders say town hall bureaucrats are refusing Christians rights routinely afforded to minority groups, and have vowed to defy them.
Previously organisers of the parade in Willesden, north London, had only needed to inform police of their route. But new red tape means they now need permission from Brent Council. Officials said they banned the procession because they were contacted too late to carry out a ‘consultation’ to close the roads.
Father Hugh MacKenzie, of St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church, said: ‘The rights of Christians are being overlooked in favour of the rights of Islamic groups and gay rights organisations. ‘One does wonder whether if it was a homosexual rights or Islamic group the council would have been more flexible, as it doesn’t seem like rocket science to permit us to walk 400 metres. ‘The rights of Christians are just not respected in Britain.’
Church leaders have vowed to walk in the road anyway carrying a cross, a painting of Jesus washing followers’ feet and other religious symbols.
Brent Council hosts a Diwali [Hindu] street celebration every year. Last November it boasted it had held the biggest Diwali event in the country, after more than 60,000 people turned out. And in July last year the council appealed to the Muslim community to notify it of any Eid events so it could promote them free of charge. But it did not do the same for other religious festivals.
Last night former Home Office minister – and devout Christian – Ann Widdecombe said: ‘Don’t Brent Council know about Easter? These processions will be taking place all over the country on Good Friday, it’s part of our tradition. ‘It’s ridiculous and petty that a group cannot walk 400 yards. Why should they need special permission to do that?’
Every Easter for 13 years, about 200 worshippers from four churches – the New Testament Church of God, St Andrew’s Church of England, St Mary Magdalen and Willesden Green Baptist Church – have marched before celebrating communion together.
Father MacKenzie said: ‘It is a long-standing tradition in the area. It is a chance for us to get together. ‘The idea of tolerating the major religions, particularly the Christian religion which has been at the heart of our civilisation, and our right to express ourselves in this moderate way is a very basic aspect of religious freedom.’
Last night Brent Council told the worshippers to walk on the pavement. A spokesman added: ‘Brent Council was not contacted about the march until around a week ago. ‘There is a strict legal procedure we have to follow to issue a traffic order closing roads so people can march in the highway, which includes advertising and consultation, and this takes about five weeks. ‘We are very sorry to say there is now not enough time for us to legally facilitate this march.’
British liberal newspaper reveals the liberal distrust of the people
Why did one of Britain’s oldest liberal papers collude with the state in the arrest of a man for expressing an idea?
Something very odd happened at the weekend. A 40-year-old member of the far-right British National Party (BNP) was arrested for burning a copy of the Koran in his own back garden. Yes, it is apparently now a crime to express your disdain for a certain religious faith in the privacy of your own home. But that’s not the end of it. What makes this case especially odd is that the man in question - Sion Owens - was reported to the police by a broadsheet newspaper that claims to be liberal: the Observer. Since when has it been the job of the respectable, left-leaning press to grass people up to the cops for alleged speech crimes?
When spiked looked into this strange story, we discovered that there are some major disagreements at the Observer in relation to it. The crime correspondent defended the Observer’s actions, but one of the paper’s top columnists questioned the wisdom of reporting a private expression of ideas to the authorities.
Owens, a senior member of the BNP who lives in south Wales, does seem to be an odd individual. Going into his garden, placing a Koran in a metal Quality Street box, dousing it with flammable liquid and then setting it alight while a colleague filmed him - it was a stupid and childish act. However, it was done in a private garden. So regardless of the fact that it was videoed, this was a form of private expression, and therefore none of the state’s business.
The Observer clearly didn’t think so. When the film of the Koran-burning incident was leaked to the paper, it decided to inform the police ‘immediately’; it sent them the offending video. It also got the Home Office to chide Owens. ‘The government absolutely condemns the burning of the Koran. It is fundamentally offensive to the values of our pluralist and tolerant society’, a Home Office spokesman said. The Observer seems almost boastful about its actions. ‘A video clip of the act, leaked to the Observer and passed immediately to South Wales police, provoked fierce criticism from the government’, it said in Sunday’s paper.
Owens, the paper proudly informs us, was ‘arrested following an investigation by the Observer’. The Crown Prosecution Service is now withdrawing the case against Owens, thankfully, but the chief prosecutor says an investigation is ongoing and ‘almost certainly other proceedings will ensue’.
So why did the Observer, the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper and a proud upholder of liberal values, collude with the state in the arrest of a man for expressing his thoughts in his own garden? Such behaviour seems to contradict the views of CP Scott, a former editor of the Guardian, the sister paper of the Observer, after whom the trust that currently owns the Guardian Media Group is named. ‘Comment is free’, said Scott, and ‘the voice of opponents no less than that of friends has a right to be heard’. What would he think of his successors effectively policing their opponents’ private speech?
Mark Townsend, the crime, defence and legal affairs correspondent at the Observer, who penned Sunday’s piece about the Koran incident, told spiked that he stands by the paper’s decision to inform the police. ‘On top of the free speech debate, this is clearly a security issue that had to be dealt with sensitively’, he says. ‘The issue isn’t just one of freedom of expression as there could be very serious violent repercussions.’
But this view isn’t shared by all at the paper. Henry Porter, a long-time columnist for the Observer and well-known commentator on civil liberties, told spiked: ‘I am not in the loop on the thinking that went into this decision: there may be all sorts of concerns about which I am unaware. On the face of it, though, it would seem a doubtful decision because handing over the video, which appears to have been made for private use and was in a sense a private expression of this individual’s views, is likely to inflame feelings more than if the matter was simply ignored. That is the practical aspect.’
‘The second worrying part’, he continues, ‘is that this does indeed seem to sanction an invasion of the private sphere, in which, of course, all manner of reprehensible thoughts and actions are concealed’.
However, he says, ‘If there is evidence that the individual was about to publish the video, then I think there is perhaps cause for police action because of what happened a few days ago in Afghanistan where several people lost their lives. It is a delicate issue and by no means clear cut. However, it is the case that prohibition of an act, whether in public or private, often makes that act more likely to occur. That is why I am against the ban on the burqa in France.’
Unlike Porter, I believe that Sion Owens should also have had the freedom to release the film into the public domain, if he so chose. Freedom of speech, the cornerstone of all our freedoms, is too often compromised on the grounds that people might be harmed as a result of it. But people should be trusted to make up their own minds about whether to act upon footage of some idiot burning the Koran, rather than prevented by the state from seeing such footage in case it drives them crazy. To censor is to treat the public as a pogrom-in-waiting, whose eyes must be protected from offensive words and imagery. It is an updated, perhaps slightly more PC version of the same patronising assumptions that were exposed in the Lady Chatterley Trial: ‘Would you let your wife or servant read it?’ The question some are implicitly asking in relation to the BNP Koran video is: ‘Would you let the white working classes watch it?’ or ‘Would you let angry Muslims watch it?’. Perhaps that is what Townsend was getting at when he said the video could have ‘serious violent repercussions’.
The denigration of free speech through the idea that sections of the public are volatile and unpredictable is captured in the way that, in recent years, the category of ‘incitement’ has been replaced by the looser term ‘stirring up hatred’. As spiked has previously observed: ‘There was a time when, in legal terms, to incite meant to be in a close relationship with another person or group of people and to try to convince them or cajole them, face-to-face and intensively, to commit a crime. Today the term “incitement” is used far more promiscuously so that everything from a speech at a rally to a Jamaican dancehall song playing at a disco to a placard saying “I hate Islam and you should hate it too” can be said to incite hatred or violence.’ The treatment of all sorts of words and images as forms of ‘incitement’ speaks to a new degraded view of people as fundamentally incapable of enjoying full freedom of speech.
To my mind, the Observer/BNP affair could have some potentially quite Orwellian consequences. It seems that even within journalism - the fourth estate – some no longer understand how crucially important freedom of speech is. Some even seem to think it acceptable to play a part in having someone arrested for the ‘crime’ of expressing his views in a private arena. It will be a very sad day when people are not at liberty to give voice to their inner feelings without the threat of criminal charges. That would be bad for us all – for the public, for freedom, and for journalism.
Poor children arrive at British schools feeling 'tired and hungry'
Because their parents spend the money on beer, cigarettes, drugs and gambling? From my experience with them, those are the poor who have problems. Most of the poor DON'T send their kids to school hungry
Growing numbers of children are turning up at school unfit to learn because of crippling poverty, according to research published today. Teachers are reporting a rise in pupils entering the classroom feeling tired, hungry and dressed in worn-out clothes.
A study by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers found almost eight-in-10 staff had pupils living below the poverty line and a quarter believed numbers had increased since the start of the recession.
One teacher from Nottingham told of a sixth-former who had not eaten for three days as her “mother had no money at all until pay day”.
A teaching assistant from a West Midlands comprehensive told researchers that some pupils had “infected toes due to feet squashed into shoes way too small”, while another member from Halifax reported a boy who was ridiculed in the PE changing room because his family could not afford to buy him any underpants.
Some teachers told how pupils were consistently late for lessons as parents could not cover the bus fare to school. Other children from middle to lower income families have been forced to cut out school trips because money is so tight, it was claimed.
The disclosure follows the publication of figures showing a rise in the number of pupils eligible for free school meals as families struggle to stay above the breadline in the recession. Almost 1.2 million five- to 16-year-olds claimed free lunches last year – a rise of more than 83,000 in just 12 months.
Mary Bousted, ATL general secretary, claimed that problems would escalate further because of Government funding cuts – putting the Coalition’s social mobility drive in jeopardy.
“It is appalling that in 2011 so many children in the UK are severely disadvantaged by their circumstances and fail to achieve their potential,” she said. “What message does this government think it is sending young people when it is cutting funding for Sure Start centres, cutting the Education Maintenance Allowance, raising tuition fees and making it harder for local authorities to provide health and social services.
“The Government should forget empty rhetoric about social mobility and concentrate on tackling the causes of deprivation and barriers to attainment that lock so many young people into a cycle of poverty.”
The ATL, which represents 160,000 school staff, surveyed members ahead of its annual conference in Liverpool next week. Some 86 per cent said poverty was having a negative impact on pupils’ ability to learn. Eight-in-10 said pupils from the very poorest families came to school tired, three-quarters claimed they arrived hungry and some 72 per cent suggested they were unable to complete homework.
Four-in-10 said poverty levels had increased over the last three years. The comments follow claims from Lesley Ward, former ATL president, that poverty levels in some parts of Britain now mirror "the times of Dickens".
Craig Macartney, a secondary school teacher from Suffolk, said: “More children from middle to lower income families are not going on school trips and these families find it difficult to meet the basic cost of living. “A family with two or three teenage children who have one earner who loses hours, or their job, will struggle to reach the minimum income to pay for basics. “This will get worse as the impact of the cuts affects families. The number of young people with mental health problems has been on the increase in the last three years.”
Anne Pegum, a further education college teacher from Herfordshire said: “We have students who miss classes because they cannot afford the bus fare or cost of other transport to get to college. “We have students who miss out on meals because they do not have money to pay for them and in some cases then feel unwell and have to be helped by our first-aiders.”
A spokesman for the Department for Education said: “We’re overhauling the welfare and schools systems precisely to tackle entrenched worklessness, family breakdown, low educational achievement and financial insecurity. “We’re targeting investment directly at the poorest families. The most disadvantaged two year olds will get 15 hours free child care.
“We’re focusing Sure Start at the poorest families, with 4200 extra health visitors. We’re opening academies in areas failed educationally for generations and bringing in the Pupil Premium to target an extra £2.5billion a year directly at students that need the most support”.
Genes could hold the key to a long and healthy life
How about that!
Longevity genes that may control the speed of ageing have been discovered by scientists. The researchers have pinpointed eight genetic variations that control the production of a crucial hormone which is linked to old age as well as diseases of the elderly.
They believe that by manipulating the DNA strands they could slow down the ageing process and ward off age related conditions.
The genes control levels of the steroid dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate [DHEAS], one of the most abundant in the body and vital to many key functions. Levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate [DHEAS] are known to peak in our mid to late 20s and then decline as we get older. By the time we reach 85, the body contains about five per cent of its peak amount.
Researchers have established links between declining DHEAS levels and diseases such as type 2 diabetes and lymphoma, as well as a decreased lifespan.
A group scientists from across the globe analysed the DHEAS levels and 2.5 million genetic variants in 14,846 people from Europe and the USA. Results, published in PLoS Genetics journal, identified eight common genes that controlled the concentration of DHEAS, with some of those genes associated with ageing and age-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes and lymphoma.
Researchers say their findings provide the first genetic evidence that DHEAS can cause common age-related diseases or a decreased lifespan. Supplements of the steroid have already been commercially available for the past few years.
Dr Guangju Zhai, the study author from King's College, London, said that while taking it could theoretically slow down the ageing process, it was too early to say for sure how effective it could be. "It is hoped that through manipulation or gene therapy we could slow down the ageing process or the affect of age related diseases," he said.
Dr Zhai and his team now plan to spend the rest of the year looking closely at each gene in the hope of discovering more. "The next stage will be to identify which genes have which function, and which have a particular effect on DHEAS levels. "Once this is identified that could be the next stage in coming up with technology to manipulate the genes and maybe even get the body to increase DHEAS levels itself."
Professor Tim Spector, senior co author from King's said: "For 50 years we have observed the most abundant circulating steroid in the body, DHEAS, with no clue as to its role. "Now its genes have shown us its importance in many parts of the ageing process."
Government and companies 'hoodwink consumers' over healthy lifestyles, according to food freaks
They are in a pet because the government is less Fascist than they are
Big business and the Government could be colluding to “hoodwink consumers” in the name of encouraging healthier lifestyles, academics have warned.
Health policy experts claim that ministers’ attempts to “nudge” shoppers into eating better or taking more exercise, rather than banning junk food, are little more than a “smokescreen for inaction”.
They say that simple attempts to change people’s behaviour ignore the complex range of factors that have led to Britain’s obesity rate rising, from the low price of fatty and sugary food to its availability on every street corner.
It comes after leading charities and pressure groups walked out of a joint Department of Health initiative with food and drink manufacturers and major retailers, saying they were “profoundly disappointed” by limited targets that allowed corporations to dictate public health policy.
In a paper published at BMJ.com on Friday, Prof Tim Lang and Dr Geof Rayner from the Centre for Food Policy at City University say it is now widely accepted that obesity is caused by several factors including diet, physical activity, genetics, over-supply of food, marketing and consumer choice.
But they claim that rather than drawing up detailed action plans and drafting regulations to deal with the problem, the British Government alone is focusing on the fashionable discipline of behavioral economics known as “nudge” theory.
The idea is that by finding easy ways for people to choose healthy lifestyles, such as by displaying fruit and veg at the checkout instead of chocolate, ministers avoid the need to pass new laws or restrict commercial activity. It also avoids accusations of heavy-handedness by a “nanny state”.
But the authors claim the theory is overly simplistic, writing: “It dispenses with the complexity of real life contexts and acknowledges only the immediate proximal horizons of consumer choice. At a stroke, policy is reduced to a combination of cognitive and ‘light’ environmental signals, such as location of foods within retail geography.”
They cite the availability of stop smoking packs in high-street chemists and the introduction of London’s bike rental scheme as examples of “nudge-inspired interventions”.
They also point out that a scheme encouraging shoppers to buy healthier food required them to spend £117 in order to redeem £50 worth of vouchers. “The lesson here might be that nudge is a smokescreen for, at best, inaction and, at worst, publicly endorsed marketing.”
The authors concede that social norms have a role in determining consumer behaviour, but ask: “How can ‘nudge’ reshape the agri-food business’s long commitment to lower the price of fat, soft drinks, or high calorie readymade foods or the ubiquitous ‘offer’ of food at every newsagent, station platform, and petrol station?”
They conclude: “Our final worry is that nudge becomes collusion between the state and corporations to hoodwink consumers. At least nannies are overt.”
In a response piece published by the BMJ, Dr Adam Oliver from the London School of Economics argues that nudge ideas are not meant to replace laws but are just “an additional tool to complement regulation by moving society incrementally in a direction that might benefit all of us.”
Boy, 6, dies of meningitis after NHS doctors tell him to 'go home and sleep off sore throat'
A six-year-old boy died from meningitis just hours after he was sent home with antibiotics by hospital staff. Mohammed Akheel Khan was rushed to Rochdale Infirmary Urgent Care Centre by his mother Safina, after he started vomiting at school. He was discharged by a doctor, who Mohammed's family say told them the little boy had tonsillitis and that they should let him 'sleep it off'.
But less than five hours later Mohammed was taken back to the hospital after his condition deteriorated. He was diagnosed with meningitis and died two hours later.
Mohammed's grandmother, Christine Akram, who lived with Mohammed and his mother in Rochdale said: 'We noticed some small bruises on his stomach and asked them to check for meningitis, but they just told us it was nothing. 'When he was discharged he started to be sick in the car park so I went back in and told them I was not happy. 'They just said take him home, put him to bed and let him sleep it off.'
After Mohammed first became unwell at school, teachers at his primary school contacted his mother who took him straight to hospital at about 4pm. He was discharged at 6.30pm but his condition worsened and he was taken back to the UCC at 11pm. He was diagnosed with meningitis at about 1am on Saturday and a consultant was called to treat him, but he died under two hours later.
Mohammed's funeral was held on Monday. Rochdale Infirmary's A&E was recently downgraded to an urgent care centre and Mohammed and his family campaigned against the changes. Last month, Mohammed was among a 400-strong crowd who marched through Rochdale town centre to protest against cuts at the hospital.
Mrs Akram added: 'When we went on the march he was telling everyone that he was going to save Rochdale Infirmary. 'He was such a clever and bright little lad. He was always happy and always wanted others around him to be happy.'
The UCC is staffed by two GPs and emergency nurses who can call on consultants for support. A hospital spokesman said Mohammed was treated by the same level of medic who would have seen him had the unit still been an A&E.
Dr Anton Sinniah, clinical director of medicine for the Pennine Acute Trust, which runs Rochdale Infirmary, said: 'He was seen by the doctor in the Urgent Care Centre. 'Full checks were carried out. Mohammed was then discharged and the family was advised to come back if he became unwell again or if they had any concerns. 'It would appear that his clinical condition deteriorated despite his initial improvement.
'Mohammed was brought back to the UCC six-and-a-half hours later by family concerned that he had developed new symptoms. 'A consultant paediatrician at Rochdale Infirmary assessed Mohammed but despite every effort by staff Mohammed sadly died in the early hours of Saturday morning. 'Our thoughts and condolences are with the family at this sad and tragic time in their lives.'
A spokesman for the trust said: 'Despite the recent replacement of the A&E department at Rochdale Infirmary with the Urgent Care Centre, the doctor who saw Mohammed was the same as had the unit still been an A&E department.'
Rochdale Council confirmed that no other cases of meningitis have been reported at the school. A letter has been sent to parents advising them of common symptoms to look out for. [Sounds like their doctors need the letter too]
Paramedics refuse to take dying woman to hospital because it was too busy
An ambulance crew allegedly refused to take a dying woman to hospital because they felt local accident and emergency departments were too busy, a coroner heard today. Janet Kent's family GP told how she had sent the paramedics to her address but they did not take her to hospital - she died hours later.
Dr Anita Briden told an inquest a senior paramedic told her 66-year-old Mrs Kent did not need to be admitted and that local A&E units were 'heaving'. However, Robert Myall, an ambulance service clinical manager, denied the accusations, claiming instead that the GP had never asked or told him to transport Mrs Kent to hospital. He also said he would never have used the term 'heaving'.
The inquest in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire heard how Mrs Kent, herself a former hospital surgical sister, had visited the doctor's surgery on June 21 last year, complaining of a sore throat and nausea. The following day she was dead, killed by a 30cm-section twisted bowel. A pathologist concluded that the problem had been ongoing for about a week by the time the widow died.
Today coroner Richard Hulett heard conflicting accounts of the hours leading up to Mrs Kent's death. Her GP, a partner at the Pond House Surgery in Wooburn Green, Bucks., said she had been unable to diagnose any condition or illness during Mrs Kent's visit on June 21, and that it was only when asked that the patient confirmed she had been constipated and had been vomiting.
She sent her back to her home in Bourne End from the surgery with strict instructions to let her know of any improvement or deterioration in her condition over the following 24 hours. 'I had a feeling about her, almost like a sixth sense. I wasn't seeing anything meaning I could send her to the hospital but there was something which made me think: "I'm not happy",' the GP told the inquest today.
Dr Briden then learned the next morning that the patient, who was described as obese, had been in touch with the surgery to say she was worse. She called Mrs Kent and then telephoned Wycombe General Hospital but said the doctor on the medical team was 'very rude"'and would not admit her, saying instead she would have to be seen by doctors in the Accident and Emergency department.
Dr Briden arranged for an ambulance but then found her plans were not being carried out. 'The ambulance team had arrived at Mrs Kent's house and had refused to take her to hospital,' she said. 'They said they felt she was okay and didn't need to be admitted. I said I wanted Mrs Kent to be taken to hospital and was insistent with them. 'The paramedics told me A & E departments were heaving at local hospitals.'
However, Mr Myall contradicted her, stating: 'At no stage was I asked to take her (Mrs Kent) in. 'If the doctor had said: "I want you to take her in" there would have been no problem.' He said the patient had been alert and chatty and that he had discussed with Dr Briden about the GP visiting her again but that a range of tests revealed nothing medically untoward. 'There was nothing I was concerned about at all,' he said.
Katie Gallop, a barrister representing Dr Briden, said to Mr Myall: 'Dr Briden told you of her concerns about Mrs Kent and passing urine and her renal function. 'She said she believed she was in early stage renal failure,' replied the South Central Ambulance Service employee. Ms Gallop added: 'And she wanted the patient taken to hospital.'
'No,' said Mr Myall.
The lawyer continued: 'And you said it was in the patient's best interests for the patient to stay at home.' My Myall again said: 'No.'
Dr Briden then dispatched colleague Lesley Hawkins, who was nearby, to take urgent blood samples from Mrs Kent. Mrs Hawkins told the hearing how she left waiting patients to carry out the task, stating: 'I've never been asked to go and do a home visit in the middle of a surgery before so I knew how concerned she (Dr Briden) was.'
Arriving barely 10 minutes after the ambulance had left, she found Mrs Kent vomiting and complaining of feeling unwell.
Dr Briden gave instructions to the patient's family that she needed to go to hospital, whether by car or ambulance. They dialled 999 and a rapid response car was sent with Emergency Care Practitioner Gary Toohey. He again carried out tests but found nothing unusual. However, he said: 'Although she was a good colour she just appeared unwell. 'She was sat up on the side of the bed, she was slumped forward. She was talking. 'I felt: "You've had enough." I said: "Look. I want you to go to hospital".'
He summoned an ambulance and after that had arrived, he left. Mrs Kent was taken to Wycombe General Hospital but doctors there were unable to save her life.
British PM says migration threatens British way of life
David Cameron will claim today that uncontrolled immigration has undermined some British communities. In his most forthright speech on the issue since he became Prime Minister, he will say that mass immigration has led to "discomfort and disjointedness" in neighbourhoods because some migrants have been unwilling to integrate or learn English.
Pledging to cut the numbers entering Britain to tens of thousands, rather than hundreds of thousands, Mr Cameron will say that "for too long, immigration has been too high". He will also promise to "stamp out" forced marriages, saying that "cultural sensitivity" cannot be allowed to stop the Government from acting.
In the speech to party members in Hampshire, the Prime Minister will attack Labour for claiming it was racist to talk about immigration, saying it is "untruthful and unfair" not to speak about the issue, however uncomfortable.
The Prime Minister will also blame the welfare state for creating a generation of workshy Britons, leaving the jobs market open for migrants. Figures show that of the 2.5 million extra people in employment since 1997, three quarters were foreign-born workers.
But Mr Cameron will argue that it is not a case of "immigrants coming over here and taking our jobs" because some migrants have created wealth and jobs. He will say that the "real issue" is "migrants are filling gaps in the labour market left wide open by a welfare system that for years has paid British people not to work". "Put simply, we will never control immigration properly unless we tackle welfare dependency," Mr Cameron will say.
He will say that he can see why people have argued that "immigration will remain high because British people won't do the jobs migrant workers do", adding: "We have had persistently, eye-wateringly high numbers of British-born people stuck on welfare."
The speech comes three weeks before the local elections and is likely to be seen as an attempt to convince voters that the Conservatives are in touch with public opinion. The Tories are fighting a large number of council seats in the North where immigration was one of the major issues at last year's general election – with Labour subsequently admitting they failed to address the concern in their heartlands.
Mr Cameron will say: "When there have been significant numbers of new people arriving in neighbourhoods, perhaps not able to speak the same language as those living there, on occasions not really wanting or even willing to integrate, that has created a kind of discomfort and disjointedness in some neighbourhoods. "This has been the experience for many people in our country and I believe it is untruthful and unfair not to speak about it and address it."
He will attack the levels of immigration under Labour and commit to tackling the obvious "abuses of the system" that routinely happen, including sham and forced marriages. Mr Cameron will say: "For a start, there are forced marriages taking place in our country and overseas as a means of gaining entry to the UK. This is the practice where some young British girls are bullied and threatened into marrying someone they don't want to. "I've got no time for those who say this is a culturally relative issue – it is wrong, full stop, and we've got to stamp it out."
Between 1997 and 2009, 2.2 million more people came to live in Britain than those who left to live abroad, Mr Cameron will say. "That's the largest influx of people Britain has ever had and it has placed real pressures on communities. Not just pressures on schools, housing and health care – though those have been serious – but social pressures, too."
He will tell his audience that by getting to grips with all forms of immigration he can return it to the levels of the 1980s and 1990s. "And I believe that will mean net migration to this country will be in the order of tens of thousands each year, not the hundreds of thousands every year that we have seen over the last decade,” Mr Cameron will say.
It follows a speech by Mr Cameron earlier this year in which he said that British Muslims should subscribe to mainstream values of freedom and equality, and claimed that the doctrine of multi-culturalism had “failed”.
Today, Mr Cameron will mount a vigorous defence of the Coalition’s policies, saying they have started to bring immigration down.
He will single out those who have claimed that it was not possible to do so without harming the economy or British universities. Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, fought a fierce Whitehall battle to try to ensure firms were not hampered by caps placed on immigrant workers and was vocal in his criticism of some of No 10’s plans to limit entry into Britain. Mr Cameron will outline the measures to ensure the best economic migrants can still be hired by companies, and will add: “I completely reject the idea that our new immigration rules will damage our economy.”
He will reject concerns about the effect the tightening of rules on student visa applications will have on universities. He hopes to reduce the number of visas issued by 80,000 a year.
Figures yesterday showed a record number of foreign workers are based in Britain. There are almost four million migrants in work in this country despite government pledges to do more for British workers.
The number of people in employment increased by 212,000 during 2010, but more than 80 per cent was made up of migrants, according to the Office for National Statistics. Just over 29 million people were in work in Britain during the last quarter of 2010. Of those, 3.89 million, or one in seven, were people born overseas, the highest level on record. That was a rise of 173,000 on the same period in 2009.
The useless (but politically correct) British police again
Woman driving to dying mum's side is arrested for a crime she didn't commit...then finds her car's been stolen when police release her SIX hours later!
A woman on the way to pick up her terminally-ill elderly mother for a hospital appointment was subjected to a nightmare ordeal by police who put her in a cell on suspicion of stealing petrol. It was six hours before officers realised they had made a mistake because the theft was in fact carried out by two men. [What utter imbeciles!!]
And by the time they returned law-abiding grandmother Beverley Bennett to the spot where she was arrested, her car had been stolen.
When Mrs Bennett, 58, complained about her treatment, police said she could not take action against them because they were immune from prosecution in negligence cases. But she has now been awarded £2,000 in an out-of-court settlement after she found a lawyer and the force admitted an ‘error’.
‘I have never been in trouble in my life,’ said Mrs Bennett, from Grays, Essex. ‘I don’t even have any points on my licence. How on earth did they end up arresting me, a little lady of 4ft 11in, when they should have been looking for two male suspects? ‘I cannot trust the police any more. I didn’t feel that way before but all they did was pass the buck.’
It was in May last year that staff at Tesco in Chadwell St Mary contacted Essex police to report that two men in a black Honda Accord had driven away without paying £20.70 for fuel. Mrs Bennett visited the same petrol station in her Honda Accord an hour later.
When police arrived to take details of the theft two days later, staff accidentally handed over her registration number and CCTV footage of her filling up and paying – although they did say the suspects were male.
Officers failed to view the footage, however, and the suspects’ sex was not put on to the Police National Computer. On June 24, Mrs Bennett was on her way to collect her 79-year-old mother Susanna Smith, who had cancer, for an appointment at King George Hospital in Ilford, East London. She was pulled over in Dagenham by an officer who noticed her registration had been tagged as belonging to a crime suspect.
‘I honestly thought it was a joke – that someone was having a wind-up,’ she said. ‘But once I was in the cells I realised they certainly were not joking.’ Her £1,500 car was left in a layby beside the A13 dual carriageway while she was taken to Grays police station, where her handbag, shoes and reading glasses were confiscated before she was transferred to a cell await questioning.
The divorced mother of two, who is a registered carer for her disabled grandson, protested her innocence but was not freed until officers finally checked the CCTV footage they had been handed.
She was taken back to her car but it had disappeared and was never recovered, forcing her to make a claim on her insurance. She has now replaced it with a 12-year-old Ford.
Mrs Bennett says the stress caused by the incident caused her mother to be admitted to hospital. She died in December from emphysema, although she had been battling breast cancer. ‘She could not handle any stress as it would cause a strain on her heart,’ she said. ‘It made her ill.’
Solicitor Ian Gould, who specialises in cases against the police, represented Mrs Bennett and won her the payout. He said: ‘It was a catalogue of errors by the police which led to this situation.’
The Essex force yesterday admitted it still had not arrested the right suspects for the theft at the petrol station. A spokesman added: ‘An investigation has concluded that, when crime details were recorded on Essex Police’s systems, vital detail was missed. ‘This was human error and the member of staff concerned has been spoken to.’ [What a comfort!]
Call young criminals customers: British probation chief says being considerate stops re-offending
Criminals must be treated as customers – not offenders, a probation service boss has insisted. They should be invited to speak about their needs and asked how they feel about the treatment they receive, London probation chief Heather Munro added.
And these people should not have to spend time in shabby waiting rooms or be sent to dingy offices to be interviewed. Giving criminals the same consideration a company gives its customers will steer them away from committing future crimes, according to Mrs Munro.
‘It’s a bit like running a business,’ she said. ‘Any business would ask its customers how it can improve its service. It just doesn’t make sense not to.’
The call for probation officers to make life more comfortable for offenders comes at a time of growing concern over the way their service deals with criminals under its supervision.
Last week judges criticised the Government’s plan to keep more offenders out of jail, citing worries ‘relating to occasional poor and ineffective monitoring and management’ of community sentences.
Around half of those given community punishments never finish them, and in London – where Mrs Munro’s service supervises 70,000 criminals a year – probation officers have a particularly poor record.
Lapses by staff were blamed for the decision to free violent career criminal Dano Sonnex from jail in 2008. He went on to torture and murder two French students.
Mrs Munro said the answer to helping criminals quit crime was to consider their feelings and think about how an offender would feel walking into a probation office. ‘I don’t think staff had thought about it from that angle,’ she said. ‘What do the waiting rooms look like, the interview rooms? How are people treated? ‘That whole process hadn’t been thought of in terms of the offender, it was, “how do we deliver this in a way that suits us?”.’
The decision to refer to criminals as ‘customers’ follows efforts by police forces to find softer language to refer to some groups of offenders.
For example, the Metropolitan Police has referred to ‘group rape’ rather than gang rape. However the Met has used the word ‘customers’ in official terms only to apply to victims of crime.
The use of the word for criminals is an extension of the practice of social workers, who refer to troubled families as ‘clients’.
Mrs Munro, a 55-year-old mother of two, told the Guardian newspaper that probation officers should continue to help criminals after their period of punishment and supervision ends.
The idea of a 24-hour helpline for criminals would save money by making them more likely to stop offending, she added. And she suggested there might be a state employment agency for ex-cons to run alongside the helpline. She also called for a biometric fingerprinting system to check offenders turn up when asked to do so. In such cases, they would not need to speak to a probation officer.
Mrs Munro, who earns £130,000 a year, said that better treatment of offenders would be good for victims of crime. ‘The first thing is to acknowledge what any victim has been through,’ she said. ‘But you also want, as a victim, for something not to happen again. ‘And that’s the same as I want. It’s about fewer victims in the future.’
But her call was criticised by Tory MPs and academic experts. Philip Davies, MP for Shipley, said: ‘This is putting the criminal’s rights before those of victims and of ordinary law-abiding people – and it makes people’s blood boil. ‘We know from a poll that 80 per cent of people think sentencing is too lenient. ‘With people like Mrs Munro in charge, that is no wonder.’
Criminologist David Green, of the Civitas think tank, said: ‘The use of the word “customer” could not be more inappropriate. If a customer doesn’t like what they see in Tesco, they don’t need to shop there. But an offender on probation cannot choose his probation officer. ‘This undermines the authority of probation officers. They have to build a good relationship with an offender, but their job is to serve the public, not the criminal.’
A London Probation Trust spokesman insisted it had ‘not adopted’ the word customer to describe offenders but to ‘illustrate a particular approach’. ‘Our chief executive was simply outlining that if we were a business we would conduct customer feedback,’ he added. ‘In this context we would do so to gain insight into how we could cut re-offending further in order to make communities safer.’
A leading peer and former College principal has criticised David Cameron for his attack on Oxford, claiming that "in no other country would a politician be allowed to speak like this about a top university". Cross-bencher Baroness Deech described the Prime Minister's claims that only one black undergraduate was admitted by Oxford last year as "damaging and ill-informed".
The peer was the latest person to hit back at the Prime Minister after the university accused Mr Cameron of using "highly misleading" figures.
Mr Cameron caused outrage when he told an audience in Harrogate, North Yorkshire on Monday: "I saw figures the other day that showed that only one black person went to Oxford last year. "I think that is disgraceful, we have got to do better than that."
Aides to the Prime Minister later accepted that Mr Cameron should have said "one black Caribbean undergraduate" after the university challenged him over the figures, but insisted Oxford was "missing the point" because the total number of black undergraduates admitted was just 27.
Lady Deech, principal of St Anne's College, Oxford until 2004 and independent adjudicator for higher education between 2004 and 2008, used her blog to condemn Mr Cameron's comments.
She wrote: "I deplore the ill-informed and damaging comments made ... by the Prime Minister about his own university, giving the impression that either it discriminates against black candidates or that it is not doing enough to attract them. "In no other country would a senior politician speak like this about a top national university, thereby undermining its reputation and all the efforts made to open up access."
Lady Deech, formerly chair of the committee in charge of Oxford's admissions policy, added that the university had spent millions on reaching out to students from all backgrounds. She added: "The result is, according to the latest figures, that there are about 17,000 potential students applying for 3,000 vacancies ... success in attracting candidates inevitably brings with it disappointment for many more."
Comparing the Prime Minister's remarks to those made by then chancellor Gordon Brown about Laura Spence, a medical student from a state school who failed to gain a place at Oxford despite an impeccable academic record. She wrote: "Gordon Brown got it wrong about Oxford in 2000 when he criticised it for not accepting Laura Spence ... Surely David Cameron does not want to be another Gordon Brown?"
A "disproportionate" number of black and minority ethnic candidates applied for oversubscribed courses such as medicine and maths, Lady Deech added. "Chances would be better if the BME applicants considered other sciences and humanities in greater numbers," she said.
Oxford University said the figure quoted by the Prime Minister referred to UK undergraduates of black Caribbean origin starting courses in 2009/10. There were an additional 26 students who said they were of black origin, and another 14 of mixed black descent.
Apparently the pigs realized that the original charge against him would not stick (How can something done in private be an offence against public order?) so they had to let him go. They now seem to be searching for something else to charge him with.
"The case has been withdrawn against a BNP candidate for the Welsh assembly election who had been accused of being filmed burning a copy of the Koran.
Sion Owens, aged 41, was charged with a public order offence on Saturday. When he appeared at Swansea Magistrates Court the Crown Prosecution Service said it was withdrawing the case against him.
CPS prosecutor Bryn Hurford told Mr Owens to be in "no doubt" that investigations into his actions were continuing and that "almost certainly other proceedings will ensue."
Number of emergency room patients waiting four hours or more jumps by 65% after target scrapped
The number of people waiting more than four hours in A&E has jumped 65 per cent since the Government scrapped the target, NHS figures show. Department of Health data on four-hour waits shows thousands more people waiting in A&E, walk-in centres and minor injury units in 2010 than in 2009.
Last June, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley relaxed a four-hour A&E target which has since been scrapped and replaced with a new set of quality indicators.
The data shows that, in the six months from July to December 2009, 176,522 people waited more than four hours, but this rose to 292,052 people from July to December 2010, a 65 per cent increase.
Of the total numbers arriving at A&E from July to September 2009, 1.27 per cent waited more than four hours, rising to 2.01 per cent in the same period in 2010. From October to December 2009, 2.16 per cent waited more than four hours, rising to 3.52 per cent in the same period in 2010.
The figures came as a report from the NHS Information Centre also showed rising waits between 2009 and 2010. It is based on a collection of data including the Government's new set of quality indicators.
In 2010, patients typically spent 53 minutes from arriving at A&E to being treated, compared with 50 minutes in 2009, it said. The time from arriving in the department to being assessed was eight minutes, up from seven minutes in 2009. There were 15.9 million A&E visits recorded in 2010, 4.1 per cent more than 2009, the data showed.
NHS Information Centre chief executive Tim Straughan said: 'Today's report shows that patients spent a slightly longer time on average waiting to be assessed, treated and leaving from accident and emergency departments compared to the previous year. 'Over the coming months, more data will be published for 2011, allowing people to see if the average patient journey time through A&E changes over time.'
John Healey MP, Labour's Shadow Health Secretary, said: 'Labour warned that downgrading patient guarantees would lead to NHS waiting times rising, and today's figures show that that's exactly what's happening. 'While the Tory-led Government goes ahead with its reckless reorganisation, standards in the NHS are starting to slip back. 'This is not what patients expected when David Cameron promised to 'protect' the NHS.'
Thousands of doctors 'banned from prescribing approved drugs by cost-cutting NHS managers'
GPs have been banned from prescribing approved high-cost drugs as NHS managers looks for ways to make budget cuts, according to a doctors' magazine.
More than half of primary care organisations (PCOs) have brought in new blacklists of drugs that will not be funded on the NHS within the past year, according to an investigation by Pulse.
Primary care trusts and health boards are redrawing formularies in changes they estimate will slice £250 million from this year's drug budget, the magazine for GPs said.
Pulse quizzed 134 PCOs under the Freedom of Information Act to reveal that more than half have blacklists - in some cases of more than 100 drugs - that GPs are banned from prescribing on the NHS.
It claimed that 73 PCOs said they had added drugs to blacklists or placed additional restrictions on prescribing in primary care in the past year, as they strive to make average estimated savings in 2011/12 of £1.9 million each.
Pulse said restrictions often cover drugs approved by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) or other national organisations, including gliptins for diabetes, denosumab for osteoporosis, atorvastatin and rosuvastatin - approved in some circumstances by the National Prescribing Centre.
Other drugs have been blacklisted on the basis of "low clinical priority", including drugs for Parkinson's disease, newer contraceptive pills, erectile dysfunction drugs, some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, weight-loss drug orlistat and homeopathic treatments, it was claimed.
The survey revealed that NHS Cambridgeshire has added 32 drugs in the last year to its "red list", which now covers more than 100 drugs "that will not normally be funded for prescribing in primary care".
In Wales, where prescriptions have been free since 2007, the Aneurin Bevan local health board in Torfaen is targeting nearly £5 million in savings this year, the website said.
NHS Milton Keynes said it intends to 'levy a fine against each consultant-to-GP letter requesting the prescription of a non-formulary medicine', Pulse claimed.
Duncan Outram, a GP in Alconbury, Cambridgeshire, told Pulse: 'We have a duty to prescribe a cheaper alternative if all things are equal. But putting drugs on blacklists purely on cost grounds is indefensible.'
Richard Hoey, editor of Pulse, said: 'Many of the drugs approved by Nice or other national bodies are not only cost-effective, but are likely to recoup some of the price of the drug in the long term by reducing rates of illness and cutting future costs of treatment. "These outright bans on prescribing drugs on the NHS are therefore not only damaging to the care of individual patients, but quite possibly a false economy."
The migrants who commit 500 crimes a week but can't be deported from Britain because they're from the EU
European migrants are committing over 500 crimes a week in Britain, according to new figures - but officials are powerless to deport the majority of offenders. More than 54,000 EU citizens have been convicted of criminal offences - including murder - in the past two years.
And the worst offenders have been named as the Poles and Romanians - further fuelling concerns over the most recent EU expansions.
However because of the European Union's rules on freedom of movement, only a handful of those offenders - those who have received a prison sentence of at least two years - can be deported.
The alarming figures published by the Daily Telegraph come following reports last week that the number of crimes committed by foreigners in the UK had virtually doubled in the past two years.
Police have also warned that the foreign offenders are adding pressure to their resources, often due to language barriers. One police leader said that even a simple caution could take six hours to issue to a foreigner who did not speak English.
A spokesperson from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) said, 'The growing number of new communities has certainly brought greater complexity to the pattern of crime and have contributed to already stretched resources. 'As police, we have to adapt all the time to deal with new and emerging problems. However we pride ourselves on our strong relationships within our local communities and the way we deal with the issues that emerge.'
Under data exchange systems in the EU, police in the UK will notify another member state if one of its citizens is convicted of a crime. Figures from ACPO show that 27,056 such notifications were made in 2010 while the 2009 figures are slightly higher at 27.379. That is an average equivalent of 520 a week or 75 a day. Topping the list of worst offenders were Polish migrants, who were convicted of 6,777 crimes in 2010, followed by the Romanians at 4,343. Lithuania, Ireland and Latvia had the next highest rates.
The figures show that with the exception of Ireland, the worst offenders came from countries that only joined the EU recently. Poland, Latvia and Lithuania joined the EU on May 1 2004, while Romania followed on January 1 2007.
Details regarding the nature of offences committed or sentences given have not been released.
The Home Office told the Telegraph it was 'committed to removing foreign lawbreakers from the UK'. 'We removed 5,235 foreign national prisoners in 2010,' a spokesman said.
David Cameron has previously promised to tackle the issue. In a speech he made before becoming Prime Minister he promised to introduce powers to deport more foreign criminals.
However many are still allowed to remain in the UK such as Learco Chindamo, the Italian killer of headmaster Philip Lawrence, who was charged with robbery months after being released from prison for the crime. Chindamo had avoided being sent home to Italy after successfully arguing that deportation would infringe his human rights.
Failed by the system: 25 abused children die under the noses of British social workers
They're too busy harassing middle class families for imaginary offences
Twenty-five children have died and dozens more been seriously injured despite being known to social services, an Ofsted report reveals.
Vulnerable youngsters are let down in ‘too many’ cases by professionals who fail to listen to the concerns of grandparents, neighbours and even fathers, it says. In four of the cases, grandparents reported concerns but this did not lead to effective action.
Local authorities and other agencies failed to learn lessons from the Baby P scandal, the report shows. He was found dead, aged 17 months, in a blood-splattered cot having suffered a broken back and fractured ribs in August 2007.
Ofsted assessed 67 serious case reviews (SCRs) between April 1 and September 30 last year involving 93 children. Thirty-nine had died. SCRs, carried out by safeguarding boards, are triggered after a death or serious injury, where abuse or neglect is suspected. They can come as much as two years after an incident.
Of the 93 children, 70 were known to social services. Twenty-five of these died, including four who were subject to active child protection plans.
Ofsted warned that too often the focus on the child was ‘lost’ as they were not seen by the professionals involved or not visited regularly enough. In some cases, the child was seen but not questioned and there was often an ‘over reliance’ on what the parents claimed.
In a case involving a family of seven children, a grandmother had repeatedly contacted social carers alleging sexual and physical abuse of her grandchildren by their stepfather. Ofsted said that this failed to trigger child protection procedures. It was not until more than a decade later that disclosures were made by the eldest children, revealing the abuse that had taken place.
A tendency by agencies to overlook the role of fathers, male partners and other men living within families was also a ‘common theme’, the report said.
Referring to one case, it added: ‘One of the children, living with the mother, was sexually abused by the mother’s partner. ‘The father passed information many times to children’s services and to the police that the mother’s partner was a registered sex offender and had unrestricted access to the children.’ The SCR found that although steps were taken to ‘monitor or restrict access’, the father was ‘not properly listened to’.
The watchdog said that warning signs were also ignored when parents and carers refused access to their homes.
It added: ‘A lesson from some of the SRCs was that practitioners had not listened sufficiently to the child or had not paid enough attention to their needs. ‘They had focused too much on the parents, especially when the parents were vulnerable.’
It highlighted a case where a baby suffered skull fractures even though the family was known to agencies due to the mother’s alcohol abuse. Meanwhile, signs of grooming by a sex offender and the ‘significance of domestic violence’ were sometimes ‘overlooked’.
A teenager had been the subject of internet images in which she was sexually assaulted. She and her brother had been ill-treated by their mother and sexually abused by their uncle. The family was known to agencies in three local authorities where they had lived and there had been ‘sufficient information’ for the abuse to be recognised.
Christine Gilbert, Ofsted’s chief inspector of schools, said: ‘It’s shocking to see that too often children in vulnerable situations are not heard by those who should be looking out for their interests.’
Don't blame Oxford. The real racists are the hand-wringing liberals who expect black pupils to fail
By Lindsay Johns
Filled with self-righteous indignation, the Prime Minister has launched a scathing attack on the apparent racism of Oxford's admissions policy. Claiming that just one black British student was given an undergraduate place for 2009, David Cameron described the university's approach as 'disgraceful' and said it 'had to do better'.
This idea of Oxford as a hotbed of racial bigotry has become part of the fashionable consensus in political circles, with such sentiments common in all three major parties.
Yesterday, the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who has taken to posing as the champion of social mobility, expressed his full support for the Prime Minister, saying this verbal assault had been 'absolutely right'.
Cameron's speech also echoed the views of the black former Labour Education Minister David Lammy, who last December wrote of Oxford's 'shocking' reluctance to admit more black students. The dons, Lammy argued, 'should be ashamed' for 'entrenching inequality' in modern Britain. According to the fulminations of the politicians, the city of dreaming spires has become the place of broken dreams for successive generations of young British black students.
As a black Oxford graduate of part-African heritage, I might be expected to welcome this condemnation of supposed prejudice within the cloisters of the ancient university.
Certainly, I loathe any form of exclusion based on narrow-minded racism. And I am passionate about the need to help black pupils realise their full academic potential, including, for the brightest, gaining admission to one of the world's great seats of learning.
But the theory, propounded by the likes of Cameron, Clegg and Lammy, that the small number of black students at Oxford is entirely the result of crude racial discrimination is absurd. The real fault lies not with the admissions tutors of the university, but with the gross inadequacy of our modern school system — which has dumbed down standards and imposed a culture of low expectations.
The true culprit is the disastrous poverty of aspiration which brands young black people as good for nothing except rap and sport.
Indeed, as a mentor of black teenagers in inner London, I think this slew of recent attacks on Oxford has been grossly irresponsible. Such outbursts might play well in the trendy liberal salons of the metropolitan elite, whose members love to see themselves as the heroic guardians of the oppressed.
But in the real world, this over-blown rhetoric will do nothing to achieve genuine equality. For a start, the figures quoted by Cameron and Lammy are misleading. Yes, only one applicant of Caribbean origin was admitted last year, but this ignores the fact that 40 other black students, of African or mixed heritage, were given places. And in total, almost 20 per cent of Oxford's student population is from ethnic minorities — hardly an indicator of rampant prejudice.
Moreover, black pupils tend to apply in the most over-subscribed three subjects: medicine, law and English literature, where there is ferocious competition for places. Last year, 44 per cent of black applicants tried for these three subjects — compared with 17 per cent of white applicants. It is therefore inevitable that, proportionately, more of them will be disappointed.
In addition, the denunciations from the Prime Minister ignore all the outreach work — such as open days and school visits — that Oxford undertakes to increase the number of black applicants.
Ultimately, however, admissions tutors are not miracle workers. They cannot give out places to those who do not apply, and the truth is that far too many young black pupils, who are just as intelligent as any white ones, are not encouraged to think of Oxbridge because of the anti-elitist, self-defeating mindset that prevails in too many state schools, especially in our inner cities.
This brings us to the most worrying aspect of Cameron's speech. Far from advancing a greater racial balance at Oxford, his remarks could prove counter-productive because they send out a negative message that might put black pupils off from even applying in the first place. Such comments feed into the depressing cliche of black victimhood, whereby teenagers are urged to believe that racism in Britain is so endemic that they will never be able to break free from their backgrounds. The shrill emphasis on alleged prejudice means that black failure can become a self-fulfilling prophecy — and an excuse for low standards.
Oxford is not a nest of racial hostility — as David Cameron should well know from his own days as an undergraduate. Indeed, I found my time as a student at Lincoln College in the mid-Nineties both intellectually stimulating and personally liberating.
I was in the heart of a wonderful city dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. It was a bastion of learning, not discrimination. The lecturers were driven by intellectual inquiry, so they wanted to work with the best students. Race did not come into it.
My devotion to the university meant that, while I was an undergraduate, I served as a volunteer in an access scheme to encourage more applications from ethnic minorities and, ever since, I have strived to give others the chance of enjoying the same enriching experience I had.
One of the ways I do that is through a mentoring scheme in the deprived district of Peckham in South London for 14 to 18-year-olds, a few miles from the private school in Croydon I was lucky enough to attend. Unlike so many inner-city schools which tolerate the shallow, hip-hop culture in the name of 'anti-racism', this programme is based on rigorous discipline, tough intellectual challenges and a refusal to accept ghetto stereotypes.
Outside school hours, we teach Shakespeare, hold a weekly vocabulary seminar and demand proper grammar rather than street vernacular. Neither do we allow the wearing of hoods and baseball caps. And contrary to the message of despair that Cameron conveys, we have had many successes.
Two of our former pupils have won places at fine universities — Warwick and Sussex — to read politics, while one girl has just been awarded a scholarship for a sixth-form place at the renowned independent school of Westminster.
What I have learnt, in my mentoring role, is that the greatest obstacle to advancement is the outlook of our state schools, which fail to challenge black pupils or instil in them an enthusiasm for learning. Instead they indulge in a form of intellectual sabotage. Everything has to be made 'relevant' to the lives of young black students.
So English literature is ignored and proper grammar avoided. Real narrative history is replaced by politically correct topic work. The tolerance of failure I've witnessed amounts to an immense betrayal of successive generations of black pupils, who are denied the chance of a brilliant education through inadequate schooling
Teachers terrified of undermining pupils' self-esteem ignore mistakes in their work that would never be accepted at a good university, poor behaviour goes unpunished and praise is lavished indiscriminately.
Remorseless grade inflation in public exams has assisted in the destructive process, too, both by creating the illusion of progress to mask declining standards and by making it impossible for universities to pick out the truly bright pupils.
When so many university applicants get top grades, it is often the private school-educated children who are able to offer so much more than just academic excellence.
The tolerance of failure I've witnessed amounts to an immense betrayal of successive generations of black pupils, who are denied the chance of a brilliant tertiary education through inadequate schooling.
Racism is far less a problem in Britain than it was 30 years ago. But this doesn't appear to be the case when it comes to education — not in the way David Cameron thinks, though.
The real racists are often those hand-wringing liberals who pander to stereotypes — and judge people by the colour of the skin rather than their characters or their minds.
The problem isn't Oxford, and the university should not be used as an instrument of social engineering to satisfy political whims. A genuine meritocracy in Britain will be built only when we radically reform our schools.
Nick Clegg stepped up the Government’s attacks on elite universities tonight accusing Oxford and Cambridge of being biased against poor students.
The Deputy Prime Minister brushed off a furious response from academics over David Cameron’s claim this week that Oxford has a ‘disgraceful’ record on admitting black youngsters. Instead, Mr Clegg upped the ante, condemning both Oxford and Cambridge, where he was a student, for failing to accept significant numbers of students from the poorest homes.
The Cambridge educated Deputy Prime Minister said only 40 students from families which qualify for free school meals, meaning their income is around £16,000 or less, qualified for Oxbridge last year. He told universities they would have to do ‘a lot more’ to admit students from poorer and minority backgrounds if they wanted to charge tuition fees of £9,000 a year.
‘I think the wider point that the Prime Minister was making is absolutely right,’ Mr Clegg said. ‘One of the objectives behind our controversial reforms in the funding of universities is we’re saying to universities, “look, if you want to charge graduates more money for having the benefit of going to university, you’re going to have to do a lot, lot more to get under-represented youngsters from poor backgrounds, from black, minority ethnic backgrounds into your university”.
‘And here’s a fact: last year, only 40 – four zero – children who had been on free school meals – in other words from the more disadvantaged families in this country – got into either Oxford or Cambridge, and that was a lower number than the year before.
‘So we do need to make real efforts to say to universities, if you want to continue to get support from the taxpayer to educate our young people, you’ve got to make sure that British society is better reflected in the people you take into the university in the first place.’
Mr Clegg’s remarks risk further inflaming the Government’s row with Oxford over admissions following Mr Cameron’s intervention on Monday.
The president of Trinity College, Oxford, launched a counter-attack on the Oxford-educated Prime Minister, warning that his ‘ill-informed’ comments could deter black students from applying to Oxford in future. Sir Ivor Roberts said: ‘I thought it was an extraordinarily misguided comment. ‘It seems to be based on zero understanding of what’s actually happening in the real world. ‘It’s unhelpful to have inaccurate, misleading information out in the public domain because I think it does act as a depressant and discourager for just the sort of people we are trying to attract.
‘If you are told by a public official like the Prime Minister that your chances of getting in are zero or virtually zero, you would be rather put off applying. ‘It makes our job harder in terms of encouraging people from ethnic minority backgrounds and I think ill-informed comments like those smack of trying to force a political agenda when a little more careful thought and attention to the facts and the context would be wiser.’
Sir Ivor said he agreed with those who argue that the problem rests not with university admissions policies, but with state schools not providing a good enough education for pupils. He said: ‘That seems to be exactly right. The education in our schools is where we let people down. ‘You can’t socially engineer places for people. I think there’s an element of teachers in schools discouraging people from minority backgrounds (from applying) and that compounds the whole problem.
‘Of course it’s highly competitive, but if you want to get to the best university you have to be prepared to throw your hat into the ring.’
Tony Spence, president of Magdalen College when Gordon Brown publicly attacked dons for rejecting Laura Spence, a would-be medical student from a Tyneside comprehensive school, expressed dismay that Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg had followed suit. ‘The criticism of Oxbridge admission used to come exclusively from the left, but now, as we see, it comes from the right and the centre too,’ he said.
‘National educational policy for the last 40 years has dug an ever wider ditch through the level playing field of university admissions, across which the underprivileged have to try ever harder to jump.’
Thomas Cole, 18, a first year history undergraduate at University College, Oxford, who is of mixed white/Afro-Caribbean race, agreed Mr Cameron’s comments were ‘fairly unhelpful’. He said: ‘Even though there aren’t that many ethnic minority students, I don’t think it’s because the university is discriminatory. I would rather have a university that picks on merit rather than race.
‘His comments give a negative perception of Oxford and from everything I’ve seen they’re doing a lot of access work to get students from ethnic minorities in.’
But Labour MP David Lammy, one of Britain’s first black ministers, said: ‘Of course it’s a disgrace that there are over 400 young black children in the country getting straight As and they’re not making their way to Oxford, but this isn’t just about race. ‘There are whole cities in Britain - Barnsley, Middlesbrough, Rochdale, Stoke, Hartlepool - where there are not young people making their way to this university.
‘All of us pay our taxes, and Oxford and Cambridge receive around £560 million worth of British taxpayers’ money and yet there are more young people from the London borough of Richmond going than the entire city of Birmingham.
‘Why is it that Oxford is doing outreach events at Eton, nine outreach events in Eton last year? Why is it that they are doing 12 at Marlborough College? That’s why these young people from working class backgrounds, often black backgrounds and in terms of geography particularly from the North of England are not making their way to this university. The Prime Minister is right.’
I wasn’t going to crow, really I wasn’t. But I’m afraid I can’t resist, especially since it’s my last blog post for a while and this is an event of some significance. I’m talking about the Press Complaints Commission’s ruling on a complaint brought against this blog by our old friends at the University of East Anglia. They lost. We won. (And I do mean we: I’m hugely grateful to my legal advisers, as well as to experts including Steve McIntyre, Andrew Montford, Richard North and Christopher Booker.)
Because I’m about to dash off to Devon for some vital surfing R & R, I’ve only time to sketch in why this matters so much. Basically the UEA were trying to use the PCC as a way of gagging this blog from speaking unpalatable truths about the shoddy goings-on in its notorious Climatic Research Unit.
To its enormous credit the PCC stuck up for fair comment and freedom of speech. This is a massive victory not just for me and Telegraph blogs, but for bloggers everywhere – especially those doughty souls around the world who are battling against Establishment lies, bullying and cover ups to try to reveal the truth about the corrupt, mendacious Climate Change industry.
If it sounds like I’m overdoing it, consider this: the PCC’s ruling must be among the first by any quasi-official body anywhere in the world to take the side of a Climate Change sceptic rather than that of the Warmist establishment. This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.
Now that ruling in full:
Commission’s decision in the case of University of East Anglia v The Daily Telegraph
The complainants, acting on behalf of the University of East Anglia (UEA), complained that three blog posts by James Delingpole were inaccurate and misleading and contained distorted information in breach of Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors’ Code. In particular, the complainants were concerned that the blog posts described Professor Phil Jones as “disgraced, FOI-breaching, email-deleting, scientific-method abusing”. They explained that Professor Phil Jones had been exonerated of any dishonesty or scientific malpractice by a series of reviews. They were concerned that a second blog post repeated accusations that had been demonstrated as untrue, concluding that the University’s scientists were “untrustworthy, unreliable and entirely unfit to write the kind of reports on which governments around the world make their economic and environmental decisions”, and a third blog post referred to the scientists’ work as “shoddy” and “mendacious”.
The Commission emphasised that the articles in question were blog posts and were clearly identifiable as such to readers generally, as they were posited in the ‘Telegraph Blogs’ section of the website and written under the columnist’s prominent by-line. The Commission was satisfied that readers would be aware that the comments therein represented the columnist’s own robust views of the matters in question. Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors’ Code permits the publication of such comment provided it is clearly distinguished from fact and does not contain significantly inaccurate, misleading or distorted information. The Commission has previously ruled [North v The Guardian] that “In the realm of blogging (especially in cases touching upon controversial topics such as climate change), there is likely to be strong and fervent disagreement, with writers making use of emotive terms and strident rhetoric. This is a necessary consequence of free speech. The Commission felt that it should be slow to intervene in this, unless there is evidence of factual inaccuracy or misleading statement.”
Through its correspondence the newspaper had provided some evidence in support of the statements under dispute, and the columnist had included some of this evidence in the second blog post under discussion. In relation to the columnist’s description of Professor Jones as “FOI-breaching, email-deleting”, the newspaper had provided extracts from an email from Professor Jones in which he had written “If they ever hear there is a Freedom of Information Act now in the UK, I think I’ll delete the file rather than send to anyone”, and another email in which he had written “Can you delete any emails you may have had with Keith re AR4?”. With respect to the columnist’s assertion that Professor Jones was “scientific method-abusing”, the newspaper had provided an extract from an email from Professor Jones in which he had written “I’ve just completed Mike’s Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (ie from 1981 onwards) and from 1961 for Keith’s to hide the decline”. In view of this, the Commission considered that there were some grounds for the columnist’s opinion – which readers would recognise was subjective – on these points.
The complainants emphasised that Professor Phil Jones and the other scientists discussed in the blog post had been cleared by a number of independent reviews. The Commission noted that the columnist had referred to these reviews, and that readers would therefore have been aware that they had taken place. In the first blog post complained of the columnist had referred to “unconvincing attempts to clear the Climategate scientists”, and noted that one scientist, Mike Hulme, had “managed to emerge from the Climategate scandal smelling of violets”. He had also noted in the first blog post that Professor Jones had granted interviews “presenting himself as a man far more sinned against than sinning”. The columnist in the second blog post complained of had expanded on his comments and made clear that the scientists had “apparently… been ‘exonerated and cleared of all malpractice by a series of independent reviews’”, although he made clear that he did not consider these reviews to have been “independent”, citing a report by Andrew Montford which was critical of the reviews. While the complainants had expressed concern that the Montford report was “partisan”, the Commission considered that the columnist was entitled to agree with the report.
The Commission was satisfied that readers would be aware of the context of the columnist’s robust views – clearly recognisable as his subjective opinion – that the scientists were “untrustworthy, unreliable and entirely unfit to write the kind of reports on which governments around the world make their economic and environmental decisions”, and that their work was “shoddy” and “mendacious”. In the circumstances, it did not consider that there had been a breach of Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Code.
The Commission noted that the newspaper had offered the complainants an opportunity to respond on the blog post. It considered that this would inform readers of the full context of the dispute and the complainants’ position. The Commission welcomed this offer, and hoped it would remain open to the complainants.
One wishes the fish well and the new caution in that word "anticipated" is welcome too. I guess even the Brits have noticed that their winters are in fact colder than they were
The endangered vendace, that has been in Britain since the Ice Age, is in danger of dying out as lakes and rivers warm up because of man made global warming.
To ensure the species survival, the UK's environmental watchdog took eggs from Derwentwater in Cumbria, thought to be the only remaining site where the fish are found in England and Wales. They then took 25,000 young fish from the hatchery to a cooler lake higher up the mountains of the Lake District, Sprinkler Tarn, to establish a new 'refuge' population that is more likely to survive warming temperatures.
Because the route to the lake is so rocky and uneven, it was impossible to use conventional transport like a 4x4 motorbike or landrover. So, the fish were given a ride during part of the two-hour trek by sure-footed llamas from a local charity. The journey was finished by fisheries officers on foot to ensure none of the smarts were spilt.
Lord Chris Smith, Chairman of the Environment Agency, said British species have to be protected from climate change. "In addition to the anticipated warming of lakes and rivers, we may also see an increase in the occurrence of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and heatwaves.
"All of these could have an impact on much of the native wildlife in England, especially aquatic species such as the rare and specialised vendace, so we are taking action now to conserve the existing populations."
Andy Gowans, fisheries technical specialist for the Environment Agency, said the fish are now safe from global warming. "By introducing these vendace into Sprinkling Tarn, where water temperatures will be lower, it will provide an additional element of safeguarding for this endangered species," he said. "The fish will be closely monitored, in the hope that a self-sustaining population will be established."
There is a more comprehensive article on the matter here in which bets are also hedged
Tea tree honey 'could fight MRSA'
This appears to be a study in laboratory glassware only but it is supported by extensive anecdotal evidence so one hopes that proper trials will begin soon
Smearing an exotic type of honey on wounds could help protect against bacterial infections including MRSA, scientists believe. A laboratory study has found that manuka honey can stop bacteria from establishing themselves on tissue.
Manuka honey is from bees which have collected nectar from manuka trees - better known as tea trees - in New Zealand and Australia. Tea tree oil has long been feted for its anti-bacterial properties.
However, scientists at Cardiff University say that the honey could also be a useful "topical agent". Prof Rose Cooper, of its Centre for Biological Sciences, said: "Our findings with streptococci and pseudomonads [bacteria] suggest that manuka honey can hamper the attachment of bacteria to tissues which is an essential step in the initiation of acute infections.
"Inhibiting attachment also blocks the formation of biofilms, which can protect bacteria from antibiotics and allow them to cause persistent infections."
She added: "Other work in our lab has shown that honey can make MRSA more sensitive to antibiotics such as oxacillin - effectively reversing antibiotic resistance. "This indicates that existing antibiotics may be more effective against drug-resistant infections if used in combination with manuka honey."
Putting the honey on wounds could be a novel and economic way of reducing infections, she suggested. "The use of a topical agent to eradicate bacteria from wounds is potentially cheaper and may well improve antibiotic therapy in the future."
NHS nurses who just aren't up to the job, by their leader
Politely omitted is that many of the nurses concerened are not of British origin
Britain's top nurse has admitted that some members of her profession are not fit to work in hospitals. Andrea Spyropoulos, president of the Royal College of Nursing, said that certain nurses ‘just don’t deliver good care’ and were neglecting patients. She said they were giving the profession ‘a bad name’ and urged their colleagues to expose them.
Her admission comes amid mounting concern that nurses are failing to provide the most basic standards of care.
This year a report by the Health Service Ombudsman exposed incidents where patients had been neglected by nurses and other staff on NHS wards. One elderly cancer patient was allowed to become so dehydrated that he could not even cry for help.
Nurses have also been blamed for the failings at Mid Staffordshire hospital, where up to 1,200 patients are thought to have died due to neglect.
Complaints against nurses reached record levels last year, with more than 3,000 made to the Nursing and Midwifery Council – twice as many as in 2007.
Addressing delegates at the RCN’s annual conference in Liverpool yesterday, Mrs Spyropoulos said: ‘To take back our pride in nursing, we must start by accepting that all is not well. There are pockets of poor care and we have to change that.
‘No matter how much we might like to think otherwise, there are some people in this profession who shouldn’t be. ‘They are a very small number and might not be in every hospital or clinical setting, but there are nurses who just don’t deliver good care. It’s these people who give us all a bad name.’
Mrs Spyropoulos, who has been in the profession for 30 years, added: ‘It’s up to us, as the nurses who do deliver good care, to stand up and expose these individuals, because if we won’t, no-one will.’
The report by the Health Service Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, accused the NHS of ‘failing to treat the elderly with dignity and respect’ and cited ten highly-distressing cases of patient neglect.
An elderly man dying of stomach cancer was desperate to go to the toilet but could not call for help because his mouth was so dry from dehydration. He had been left neglected by nurses for several hours and his emergency panic button had been left just out of reach.
Mrs Spyropoulos admitted that this case was not an ‘isolated instance’. ‘What has happened to the name of nursing? There was a time when nurses were highly valued in society, when we were held in high regard and treated with respect. ‘And now? On a regular basis we’re seeing nurses accused, mocked and vilified. ‘As many of you will know this isn’t new, but it does appear to be increasing.’
Many of the complaints about nurses to the Nursing and Midwifery Council concerned staff who were incompetent, had fallen asleep on the job or had given patients the wrong doses of drugs.
At the end of last year the Daily Mail launched a campaign with the Patients Association calling for elderly patients to be treated with more dignity and respect.
With the help of our generous readers we were able to raise £100,000 to help the Patients Association man a helpline to assist with the rising number of complaints.
'Simply unacceptable': Surgery lottery for bowel cancer revealed, as death rates shown to be far higher than thought
Deaths after surgery for bowel cancer are far higher than previously thought, exposing differences between NHS hospitals. For the first time, figures reveal the extent of the postcode lottery suffered by many patients. The wide variation between the worst and best performing hospitals was described as ‘worrying’ by leading charity charities.
The lowest number of patients dying soon after major surgery from 2003-6 was under two per cent for Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. But for Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the figure was nearly 16 per cent.
On average, almost 11,000 patients – equivalent to 6.7 per cent – died within a month of surgery for bowel cancer between 1998 and 2006. This is much higher than the 4.7 per cent previously recorded.
It is also higher than death rates in the U.S., Scandinavia and Canada, where figures range from 2.7 to 5.7 per cent. These countries also have better five-year survival rates, along with many European countries.
In the UK, regional variations in death rates after surgery for bowel cancer remained even when other factors were taken into account, such as the patient’s age and hospital case loads.
The risk was higher among older patients, those with underlying conditions and those with advanced cancer. The likelihood of death was also greater for those living in deprived areas and patients who needed emergency surgery.
Women were significantly less likely to die after surgery than men, according to the findings published in the medical journal Gut.
Cancer Research UK, which funded the study, said the death rate of 6.7 per cent was ‘notably higher’ than an audit last year which used voluntary returns from hospitals. This appeared to have under-reported cases, added the charity.
Bowel, or colorectal, cancer is Britain’s second most common cause of cancer death after lung. Each year, more than 16,000 people die from the disease and almost 40,000 new cases are diagnosed. The latest study, the first of its kind, looked at data from more than 160,000 patients who had surgery carried out by 150 hospital teams across England.
Professor Paul Finan, one of the authors, from Leeds General Infirmary, said the variations between hospitals was a ‘concern’ but the reasons remained unclear. ‘It could be surgical complications but may be the resources available for dealing with patients with bowel cancer,’ he added.
Ciarán Devane, chief executive at Macmillan Cancer Support said: ‘This report shows worrying variation. ‘Some parts of the country do a great job: other surgeons need to learn from them. ‘Such variation in care, and the fact it impacts on how likely a patient is to live, is simply unacceptable.’
The Government’s ‘cancer tsar’ Professor Mike Richards said screening was likely to cut deaths in future, along with better training of surgeons, new keyhole techniques and improved post-operative care.
A spokesman for Burton Hospitals said the trust’s survival rates had risen after improvements made since 2006.
Shame as British Navy seizes 17 armed Somalis, gives them halal meat and nicotine patches... then sets them free!
Walking the plank was once a guarantee of preventing future offending by pirates. Why not now?
When a Royal Navy warship captured a crew of Somali pirates, it seemed like a rare chance to strike back at the ruthless sea gangsters. The 17 outlaws were armed with an arsenal of AK 47s and rocket-propelled grenades, and had forced hostages on a hijacked fishing vessel to work as slaves for three months.
But instead of bringing them to justice, the British servicemen were ordered to provide the pirates halal meals, medical checks, cigarettes – and in one case even a nicotine patch – before releasing them in their own boats.
The extraordinary treatment – revealed in a Radio 4 documentary to be broadcast tonight – came at a time when Somali piracy is causing mayhem to shipping in the Indian Ocean. More than £60million was paid in ransoms last year and pirates currently hold 30 ships and nearly 800 hostages.
HMS Cornwall is one of two Royal Navy frigates patrolling two and a half million square miles of ocean to try to capture pirate ships.
The apparent breakthrough came in February when the captain of a merchant ship crossing the ocean radioed to say he had seen something suspicious. A helicopter was scrambled and spotted a Yemeni fishing vessel which had been hijacked by pirates and was being used as their ‘mother ship’ to attack other vessels.
Armed Royal Marines launched boats and swooped on the pirates, who were found with nine AK 47s plus rocket-propelled grenade launchers and boarding ladders. The five slave crew from the fishing vessel were released and the 17 pirates initially detained on board the warship.
Commander David Wilkinson, Cornwall’s captain, said: ‘This team admitted their intention was to commit piracy activities.’ But after compiling the evidence against them and submitting it to his superiors he was ordered to ‘set up arrangements for putting them ashore in Somalia’.
Before being freed, the pirates were given a medical check-up in accordance with UK law and food which included a halal option to take into account religious needs. After showing they were compliant, some were given cigarettes, and one was given a nicotine patch on medical advice because his tobacco withdrawal had caused his heart rate to soar.
Close to shore, the British servicemen set them free in two skiffs which they had earlier seized from the gangsters – with no food and just enough fuel to get them to land.
As they stepped off the warship, Commander Wilkinson told the head of the pirate gang: ‘If you are a leader, go back and lead for good. ‘If you are going to carry on in this trade, expect to find me and my colleagues waiting for you. And if I see you again, it’s not going to go well.’
Commander Wilkinson added that he believed the order to free the pirates was the ‘right decision’ because he was not convinced bringing them back to the UK would have been a deterrent. He also said he was unconvinced that they had enough evidence to convict the pirates – even though they were heavily armed, were carrying hostages and had confessed.
The decision to release the pirates was made by the UK’s Maritime Component Commander based in Bahrain after considering UK policy and law.
Foreign Office Minister Henry Bellingham said the Government is reviewing the ‘catch and release’ approach to piracy. ‘It is not going to happen in the future unless there isn’t any other alternative.’
British "safety" measures make racecourse more dangerous
Measures pushed by animal rights people in order to make it safer for horses are actually killing them -- and hurting riders too
A jockey was clinging to life in a coma last night as a champion trainer accused ‘do-gooders’ of making horse racing more deadly. Red Rum’s trainer, Ginger McCain, said safety measures at the Grand National had made it faster and more dangerous.
Two horses died in Saturday’s National and jockey Peter Toole suffered horrific injuries in a fall during an earlier race at Aintree. A third horse, Inventor, was destroyed after breaking its leg in a race on Thursday.
The incidents prompted condemnation from animal rights organisations, which called for the National to be banned or made safer.
But Mr McCain said safety measures, including reducing ‘drops’ on the landing side of fences, had inadvertently made it more dangerous. The veteran trainer, who won three times with Red Rum, said: ‘It’s getting quicker and it’s speed that does it… They’ve taken the drops out for the do-gooders and it has encouraged the horses to go quicker. It is speed that kills.’
Winner Ballabriggs – trained by Mr McCain’s son Donald – completed the race in the second-fastest time ever but his jockey was handed a five-day ban for excessive use of the whip. Donald McCain said: ‘It’s unfortunate that accidents and injuries happen. ‘Every horse deserves his chance to be a great horse. There is no great joy for a horse being stuck in a field. If it does not want to jump at Aintree, he won’t jump. ‘They have done everything they can to be the safest race it can be.’
An estimated worldwide audience of 600 million viewers saw his triumph, but many watched in horror as two horses, Ornais and Dooneys Gate, died on the Grand National course.
Two hours earlier, 22-year-old jockey Mr Toole suffered serious injuries in a fall during the Maghull Novices’ Chase. His horse, the 100-1 outsider Classic Fly, fell at the first fence of the race, which is not run over the Grand National jumps. Video appeared to show another horse kicking Mr Toole’s head.
He was taken to hospital and later transferred to the Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Liverpool, amid fears he could have suffered brain damage. Doctors put him into a medically induced coma as they battled to treat bleeding on the right side of his brain and are expected to keep him in it until today at the earliest.
The Grand National is billed as the ‘ultimate test’ of horse and jockey, but critics said the treatment of horses amounted to animal cruelty. Forty horses started the race this year but only 19 completed it. The League Against Cruel Sports branded the Grand National ‘ritualised animal cruelty’ and called for a boycott of racing’s ‘day of shame’.
Animal Aid director Andrew Tyler said: ‘The public has been conned into believing the Grand National is a great sporting spectacle when, in reality, it is animal abuse that is on a par with Spanish bullfighting.’
Aintree’s managing director Julian Thick said: ‘Safety is the first priority. We are desperately sad at the accidents and our thoughts go out to the connections of Ornais and Dooneys Gate.’
RSPCA equine consultant David Muir said the charity could not stop deaths, despite working with Aintree to improve safety.
'Non jobs' gravy train rolls on for British councils
Councils have recruited an army of climate change workers, equality officers, communications staff and other "non jobs", while cutting front line services
The first survey of local authorities since the coalition came to power last May has found that town halls created more than 4,000 new posts during the period.
Despite the public sector being told to make sweeping cuts, councils have advertised for posts such as "woodfuel development officer", "new media staff" and "healthy workplace coordinators".
Last night Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, said the appointments were "self indulgent" and "irresponsible".
The findings come as councils are under unprecedented financial pressure and try to cut costs by increasing charges, cutting basic services and closing facilities such as libraries.
Mr Pickles accused some authorities of making "politically-motivated" cuts, ahead of next month's local elections, by blaming the Tory-led coalition for cuts to services on which the public rely, while protecting "pet projects" and bloated bureaucracies.
The research show that in total, 205 councils have created a total of 4,148 new posts since May 1 last year.
Most have reduced their overall staffing levels during the period but the study found that while doing so, many have continued to create brand new roles for "communications officers", "equality officers" and "climate change staff".
Councils have also recruited dozens of workers to enhance the "wellbeing" of staff and "customers", as well as "life skills" experts, who teach members of the public basic tasks such as ironing.
The figures also reveal a boom in such jobs as "walking coordinators", "obesity strategy officers", and "active" workers, whose job is to encourage the public to pursue more healthy lifestyles.
* At Anglesey, where no party is in overall control, 48 council jobs and 16 teachers are to be cut, the authority has created new posts for an "age friendly communities" manager – to make the island a better place to live for older residents – a walking and cycling officer, a "community conservation" officer – to run "green gym" schemes, where people are encouraged to create community gardens and plant trees – and an "Energy Island" programme office administrator, to promote renewable energy. The council insisted the roles would benefit Anglesey economically.
* In Hastings, the Labour-run council has put up parking charges, shut down public lavatories, reduced maintenance of allotments, cut the budget for lifeguards and closed the local museum one day a week, and is planning job cuts. But it has also created 25 new jobs including three "active women officers" whose job is to get local women involved in netball, athletics, cycling, badminton, rounders, tennis, table tennis or swimming. A spokesman justified these posts saying they could help to reduce costs to the taxpayer by increasing fitness levels.
One post, created by Tory-run Charnwood council – where charges for using public lavatories have been introduced and job cuts planned – is for a member of staff to encourage asylum seekers and ethnic minorities to get involved in nature conservation projects. It is partly funded with Lottery money
Mr Pickles said: "The public will be very unimpressed to see some pet project put together when front line services are being chopped.
"These recruitment decisions are made at a local level and it is up to local people to let their council know exactly how they feel about what can only be described as irresponsible, short-sighted appointments.
"There are people on the front line who will be losing their jobs because of the self-aggrandisement and self indulgence of these appointments." He added: "It is pretty clear that a number of Labour-run authorities are cutting front line services and blaming the Tories, but I think people are rumbling them.
"Councils should be grown up and take responsibility rather than expecting everything to be decided for them at the centre. We gave the clearest indication that there would be significant reductions in public expenditure.
"They have ignored that advice and will be delivering – because of these non-jobs – a worse service to the public.
"Sensible and prudent councils could see that cuts were on the way and prepared for them by not recruiting. All these other councils have done is make their situation worse. They have cut off their flexibility."
Some councils responded to the survey to say they had not created any new posts, while others said they were unable to provide the information.
Some of the new jobs are part funded by other public bodies, such as NHS Trusts or Natural England.
Councils argue that some of the posts are created by reorganising their structures, that others are to cover for maternity leave and that some of them are in schools.
John Ransford, chief executive of the Local Government Association, said: "Far from being a bloated bureaucracy, the local government workforce is being reduced by 140,000 over the next year as councils cut their cloth to prioritise frontline services.
"Many local authorities are restructuring their entire operations to cut management costs, and if some new posts are created it must be seen in the context of the overall numbers of staff being reduced.
"Councils are responsible for providing 800 different services, and many of the posts often denigrated as 'non-jobs' reflect a lack of understanding about the complex nature of the vital work local authorities do."
Why the Obamas were omitted from the guest list to the Royal wedding
"Let me be clear: I'm not normally in favor of boycotts, and I love the American people. I holiday in their country regularly, and hate the tedious snobby sneers against the United States . But the American people chose to elect an idiot who seems hell bent on insulting their allies, and something must be done to stop Obama's reckless foreign policy, before he does the dirty on his allies on every issue."
One of the most poorly kept secrets in Washington is President Obama's animosity toward Great Britain , presumably because of what he regards as its sins while ruling Kenya (1895-1963).
One of Barack Hussein Obama's first acts as president was to return to Britain a bust of Winston Churchill that had graced the Oval Office since 9/11. He followed this up by denying Prime Minister Gordon Brown, on his first state visit, the usual joint press conference with flags.
The president was "too tired" to grant the leader of America 's closest ally a proper welcome, his aides told British journalists.
Mr. Obama followed this up with cheesy gifts for Mr. Brown and the Queen. Columnist Ian Martin described his behavior as "rudeness personified." There was more rudeness in store for Mr. Brown at the opening session of the United Nations in September. "The prime minister was forced to dash through the kitchens of the UN in New York to secure five minutes of face time with President Obama after five requests for a sit down meeting were rejected by the White House," said London Telegraph columnist David Hughes. Mr. Obama's "churlishness is unforgivable," Mr. Hughes said.
The administration went beyond snubs and slights last week when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton endorsed the demand of Argentine President Cristina Kirchner, a Hugo Chavez ally, for mediation of Argentina 's specious claim to the Falkland Islands , a British dependency since 1833. The people who live in the Falklands, who speak English, want nothing to do with Argentina . When, in 1982, an earlier Argentine dictatorship tried to seize the Falklands by force, the British -- with strong support from President Ronald Reagan -- expelled them.
"It is truly shocking that Barack Obama has decided to disregard our shared history," wrote Telegraph columnist Toby Young. "Does Britain 's friendship really mean so little to him?" One could ask, does the friendship of anyone in the entire world mean anything to him?
"I recently asked several senior administration officials, separately, to name a foreign leader with whom Barack Obama has forged a strong personal relationship during his first year in office," wrote Jackson Diehl, deputy editorial page editor of the Washington Post, on Monday. " A lot of hemming and hawing ensued." One official named French President Nicolas Sarkozy, but his contempt for Mr. Obama is an open secret. Another named German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But, said Mr. Diehl, "Merkel too has been conspicuously cool toward Obama."
Mr. Obama certainly doesn't care about the Poles and Czechs, whom he has betrayed on missile defense. Honduras and Israel also can attest that he's been an unreliable ally and an unfaithful friend. Ironically, our relations with both Israel and the Palestinian Authority have never been worse. Russia has offered nothing in exchange for Mr. Obama's abandonment of missile defense. Russia and China won't support serious sanctions on Iran . Syria 's support for terrorism has not diminished despite efforts to normalize diplomatic relations. The reclusive military dictatorship that runs Burma has responded to our efforts at "engagement" by deepening its ties to North Korea .
And the Chinese make little effort to disguise their contempt for him.
For the first time in a long time, the President of the United States is actually distrusted by its allies and not in the least feared by its adversaries. Nor is Mr. Obama now respected by the majority of Americans. Understandably focused on the dismal economy and Mr. Obama's relentless efforts to nationalize and socialize health care, Americans apparently have yet to notice his dismal performance and lack of respect in the world community. They soon will.
The above is an expanded version (expander unknown) of a blog post by Alex Singleton of the London Daily Telegraph. The expansions are factual as far as I can see
Britain needs to end its love affair with the world stage
I rarely agree with anything in "The Guardian" but the points below seem reasonable. Britain is in too big a mess for foreign adventures
While we pull in our belts at home, our leaders get carried away abroad. It's time we turned our backs on our imperial past
There are three ways to respond when the going gets tough: head in the sand, try to sort things out, or suddenly get very busy elsewhere. Which perhaps explains why David Cameron has been focusing so much on "abroad" recently, and I don't just mean his bargain break in Spain.
With his government's two flagship policies in crisis, Cameron has decided to apologise for Britain's role in world conflicts. This will do nothing to sort out the chaos of tuition fees - with most universities now declaring themselves the exception and charging the full whack of œ9,000. Nor will it help the unnecessary revolution in the NHS, which has at least been "paused" in the light of howls of fury from the professionals.
Yes, the British are pulling in their belts and bracing themselves for some sparse years ahead - except apparently abroad, where the union flag flutters high as ever. Look at the pilots over Libya, the troops in Afghanistan, the diplomats and the aid workers. From the mountains to the deserts, the demands seem endless for Britain to "step in", and today's politicians clearly enjoy the international spotlight just as much as yesterday's. Yet the mismatch between the bulldog's growl and the reality of its kennel has never been greater.
It's often said that prime ministers arrive determined to push through a domestic agenda until they eventually get distracted by the glamour of overseas crises. This happened with Margaret Thatcher three years in, when the Falklands crisis was forced on her; and with Tony Blair as the Balkans blazed, long before Iraq. Blair's focus on domestic policy never really returned; had it done so, maybe he would have wrestled control back from his chancellor.
Cameron's whirlwind romance with the international spotlight has happened even faster. He arrived as a man bent on dealing with the deficit and promising his "big society" as a cure for socialist statism. Yet the crises at home now include not only health and higher education, but the cost of petrol, problems over pension reform and now, we hear, a row with the Lib Dems over banking reform. You would think, given all this, that the prime minister had no time for anything else. Far from it. The bugle has sounded, calling him to high-level talks in London; summits across Europe; confabulations with Barack and Hillary; more emergency statements in the Commons, with furrowed brows and much backbench applause. I am not particularly blaming Cameron. We have seen it all before; remember how Blair suddenly ascended into heaven on Blairforce One and spent most of his time pop-eyed with history-making grandeur?
Part of the problem, of course, is that it is simply more exciting to make peace and war, than to struggle with the details of welfare reform or how to cut civil service budgets without a vote-destroying loss of service. It's more exciting for the ministers but also for their advisers and for the media pack watching; bangs and clouds of smoke seem to sell front pages and news bulletins too.
Yet I would argue that something happens in particular to British prime ministers, in the here and now, which is a problem and is correctable. Few other countries, bar France, have an equivalently grand post-imperial, military-state set up. I don't mean the buildings, though these play their part, but more the whole panoply of mysterious secret service chiefs, chiefs of staff, UN security council membership, nuclear buttons and telephone hotlines. You want to speak to the White House? No problem. You need to visit our boys? Helicopters and jets are waiting. For a young politician who had only had a job as a PR man before Westminster it must have been particularly head-turning.
And once upon a time it might even have been reasonable, as Britain continued to gently adjust to new realities. But we have a big debt, dwindling military capabilities and far bigger problems to confront as a country. We don't know how we are going to pay our way in the world any more. We are still unsure of how, if at all, we fit into the rest of the European project. It is no longer appropriate that it is Britain who, when some part of the world goes up in smoke, rides first toward the sound of gunfire.
We should do our bit, but no more. We should learn our lesson after Iraq. Why should richer, bigger Germany do so little in Afghanistan? Why was Libya not an Italian problem before it was a British one? Now that India and Brazil bulk so large on the world stage, why aren't these two democracies doing more for the democratic cause?
If our gung-ho attitude to foreign intervention is a displacement activity, distracting us from economic and industrial decline, then we need to wake up. If we do it because we think it makes a little of America's lustre rub off on its most loyal ally, we should take a good look in the mirror and around the world. If we carry on because "that's what we're good at" (fighting) then we need to ask ourselves if this is really the national specialism we want, given how many people it kills and maims, how much anger it causes abroad and how we do it for no payment at all.
It's time, after Cameron's apology, to turn our backs on our imperial-military past and become a different kind of country again - harder working, better educated, readier to bring aid and medicine than warplanes. It would be a hard adjustment for parts of the London establishment but it would be better for our long-term security.
British PM locks horns with Oxford U over racism, as dons demand he withdraw 'one black student' claim
David Cameron was locked in a bitter row with Oxford University last night after accusing it of racism. The Prime Minister – who studied at Oxford – denounced the institution as ‘disgraceful’ for admitting only one black student in an academic year.
But the university accused Mr Cameron of failing to get his facts straight, pointing out that 41 students from black and ethnic minority backgrounds were admitted that year.
Mr Cameron spoke out during a local election campaign visit to Harrogate, North Yorkshire. He said: ‘I saw figures the other day that showed that only one black person went to Oxford last year. I think that is disgraceful, we have got to do better than that.’
The Prime Minister, who read philosophy, politics and economics at Brasenose College after attending Eton, also said the top universities had a ‘terrible’ record when it came to admitting students from state schools. He said the numbers had gone down in the last 20 years.
The Coalition has pledged to avoid meddling in university admissions. And although it has told universities to improve support for poorer pupils if they wish to charge the new £9,000 annual maximum for tuition fees, it has made no provision for raising the number of ethnic minority applicants.
In 2009 – the year Mr Cameron was referring to – 27 black British students gained undergraduate places at Oxford, as well as 14 students of mixed race. Of the 27 black students, one was of black Caribbean origin, 23 were black African and three were listed as black ‘other’.
An Oxford University spokesman said: ‘The figure quoted by the Prime Minister is incorrect and highly misleading – it only refers to UK undergraduates of black Caribbean origin for a single year of entry, when in fact that year Oxford admitted 41 UK undergraduates with black backgrounds. ‘In that year a full 22 per cent of Oxford’s total student population came from ethnic minority background.’
That figure is double the rate in Britain as a whole – but many of these students are from overseas. And Oxford has just 99 black undergraduates from all over the world in all years, out of a student population of more than 11,000. With postgraduate students included, this figure rises to 245.
The spokesman pointed out that in 2009, 26,000 white students got the three A grades at A-level necessary to be considered by Oxford, but just 542 black pupils managed to do so. Of those straight-A students, 8.9 per cent of white pupils got places at Oxford compared with 7.5 per cent of black students.
Oxford also pointed out that black students apply in disproportionately high numbers for the most heavily oversubscribed courses, such as medicine, making it less likely that they will win places.
Last night Downing Street refused to back down, saying Mr Cameron was making a valid point about the failure to help some ethnic minority pupils. A spokesman said: ‘The wider point he was making was that it was not acceptable for universities such as Oxford to have so few students coming from black and ethnic minority groups.’
Aides expressed incredulity that Oxford was defending the admission of just 41 black students in a year. One said: ‘People will be pretty shocked by that figure. It’s nothing to write home about.’
But Mr Cameron’s intervention fuelled concerns among some Tories that he is under-briefed and overly-keen to let his mouth run away with him. Former Cabinet minister Lord Tebbit yesterday criticised the failure of the Downing Street machine to get the correct facts into his hands. He said: ‘What worries me is that the Prime Minister’s briefings for these sort of occasions seem to be so poor. This sort of thing is happening much too often.’
Shadow education secretary Andy Burnham accused Mr Cameron of being ‘cavalier’ with the facts. And shadow business secretary John Denham warned that huge rises in tuition fees would make it harder for black students to go to Oxford. He said: ‘The Tory-led Government’s plan to triple fees will make this situation worse, not better.
‘The Government keeps making false promises on university access and social mobility. ‘The Office of Fair Access cannot impose quotas on social access, determine individual university admissions policies or set fees levels, regardless of what ministers claim they can do. ‘With their plans for universities becoming yet another embarrassing shambles, David Cameron needs to get a grip.’
"A senior member of the British National Party has been arrested for allegedly burning a copy of the Koran in his garage. Sion Owens, a BNP candidate in the forthcoming Welsh Assembly elections, was charged under the Public Order Act.
He was said to have soaked the Islamic holy book in kerosene, set fire to it and watched it burn. Footage was then apparently circulated among extremists.
The alleged act, considered highly offensive to Muslims, comes after dozens died last week in riots fuelled by a similar Koran-burning incident in America.
U.S. pastor Terry Jones – who caused an outcry when he threatened to burn the holy text last year – supervised as his assistant went through with the stunt at his church in Florida late last month.
Last night, the Home Office ‘absolutely condemned’ the Koran-burning incident. A statement said: ‘It is fundamentally offensive to the values of our pluralist and tolerant society.’
South Wales Police said: ‘We always adopt an extremely robust approach to allegations of this sort and find this sort of intolerance unacceptable in our society.’
I would have thought that arresting a man for burning his own property was "fundamentally offensive to the values of our pluralist and tolerant society"
11 April, 2011
Half of axed NHS posts will be doctors and nurses
Clerks and "administrators" are FAR too important to fire. Like cockroaches, the NHS bureaucracy would survive a nuclear winter
More than half of the NHS posts being axed in spending cuts are those of doctors, nurses and midwives, it has emerged. The Royal College of Nursing has warned that hospital wards are becoming unsafe as there are just not enough frontline workers to look after patients or prevent the spread of infection.
There are also fears that nurses are so overworked they are unable to carry out their most basic duties of care such attending to the needs of the vulnerable elderly.
The latest estimates suggest that at least 40,000 posts at hospitals and health trusts will be lost over the next four years as the NHS tries to make billions of pounds of efficiency savings.
New figures published by RCN ahead of its annual conference in Liverpool show that 46 per cent of these are nursing posts. A further 8 per cent involve doctors, midwives and other clinicians – meaning 54 per cent of posts cut are frontline workers.
These findings sharply contradict the Government’s claim that any job losses in the NHS will involve bureacrats and backroom staff– so patient safety will not be affected.
But morale amongst nurses is currently at an all time low and many feel they are being prevented from doing their jobs as they are being “stretched to the limit.”
There is also mounting concern over the Government’s controversial health reforms – the brainchild of Health Secretary Andrew Lansley – which will see GP’s take control of up to £60 billion of the NHS budget.
Nurses say they have been cut-out of these plans -and they are also worried the reforms are being brought in far too quickly, at a time when the NHS is under huge financial strain.
Although Mr Lansley is due to attend the conference he will not be giving a speech. It will be the first time in eight years that the health secretary or Prime Mister has not given an addressed to the nurses. Officials strongly deny the Mr Lansley has stepped aside to avoid being heckled by angry nurses – a fate met by former Labour health secretary Patricia Hewitt at the same conference in 2006.
Dr Peter Carter, general secretary of the RCN, last night warned that reforming the health service during a time of severe financial strain was a “recipe for instability”. He said that the cuts would have “catastrophic consequences” for patient safety and care, and could lead to increasing waiting lists and the return of deadly superbugs MRSA and C Diff.
“Cutting thousands of frontline doctors and nurses could have a catastrophic impact on patient safety and care. “It’s a myth that the NHS has been protected. People can play with figures as much as they like, these figures are real.”
The figures for the proportion of frontline posts being cut were obtained from an in-depth analysis of 21 trusts in England. Most of the posts are being gradually cut through natural wastage – such as people not being replaced when they leave or retire – rather than actual redundancies.
But morale of NHS staff is also low as most have been forced to accept a two-year pay freeze, which is effectively a pay cut once inflation has been taken into account.
British School leavers unfit for work: 'Firms forced to spend billions on remedial training for victims of education failure'
Firms are spending billions on remedial training for school leavers who are not capable of work, a business leader said yesterday. In a scathing attack on Labour’s legacy, he said the youngsters are the victims of an ‘education failure’, and called for the urgent return of grammar schools.
The comments by David Frost, the outgoing director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, came on the day teachers at one secondary school went on strike in protest over their uncontrollable pupils. At another, a headmistress exasperated with slovenly standards of behaviour and continual fiddling with electronic gadgets, handed out more than 700 detentions in four days. Both cases highlight a crisis in discipline which many believe has contributed to a drop in attainment by many children.
Mr Frost, who speaks for more than 100,000 British businesses, told the BCC annual conference in London: ‘Despite the billions that have been spent over the last decade, business relentlessly bemoans the lack of skills available. ‘What they are really describing is a failure of the education system. ‘A system where half of all kids fail to get five decent GCSEs simply means that five years later we spend billions offering them remedial training to make them work-ready.’
Mr Frost made an unashamed call for the return of grammars to improve social mobility by giving youngsters from poorer backgrounds greater opportunities. Earlier this week, ministers led by Nick Clegg published their strategy to close the gap between rich and poor, but there was no mention of expanding selective education.
Mr Frost suggested this was a mistake, although he backed the Government’s creation of more technical schools. He said: ‘If we really want to focus on social mobility rather than just internships why not re-introduce grammar schools? ‘They provided the escape route for bright working class children. I appear to be a lone voice on this subject, and find little support. ‘But high quality state academic education coupled with high quality vocational education would, I believe, make a major contribution to the future economic performance of the UK.’
Mr Frost joins the growing ranks of business leaders to attack Labour’s record on education. Former Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy described school standards as ‘woeful’ in 2009. His comments were echoed in the same year by former Marks & Spencer chief Sir Stuart Rose, who said many school leavers were not ‘fit for work’.
Despite a doubling of spending on education since 2000, from £35.8billion to £71billion, Britain has plummeted down world rankings, according to the respected Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
During this period the UK slipped from eighth to 28th in maths, from seventh to 25th in reading and from fourth to 16th in science. It is now behind relatively poor nations such as Estonia, Poland and Slovakia. Disturbingly, the study found that a fifth of 15-year-olds are ‘functionally illiterate’.
Under Labour there was a 3,800 per cent increase in uptake of non-academic GCSE-equivalent courses. In 2005 15,000 were taken. This soared to 575,000 last year.
Education Secretary Michael Gove has signalled that he will scrap the most pointless vocational courses and is encouraging schools to concentrate on the teaching of core subjects including English, maths, science, modern languages, history and geography.
British headmistress who gave out 717 detentions in four days evokes fury of parents who say 'it's not a prison'
A headmistress who introduced a ‘zero-tolerance policy’ to improve standards in her school has handed out 717 detentions in four days. Catherine Jenkinson-Dix has won the support of many parents after deciding to punish misdemeanours including smoking, chewing gum, eating between lessons, carrying mobile phones, applying excessive make-up and insubordination.
A strict uniform policy was also announced under which individualistic touches such as odd socks or wearing hoodies in class would be banned. Anyone breaking the rules would be sent immediately to the school hall for five hours where they would have to read a booklet about good behaviour.
On Monday, the first day of the policy, 236 children – a fifth of pupils at City of Ely Community College in Cambridgeshire – were punished. On Tuesday the figure was 186, on Wednesday it was 180 and yesterday it was 115.
Supporters of the regime say the diminishing figures prove it is working. But the crackdown has divided parents, with some calling it draconian and others saying that old-fashioned discipline will be reflected in academic achievement.
Sophie Martin, 38, backed the school despite her son Jack, 14, being given a detention on Monday for talking when he was meant to be reading a book. She said: ‘He learned not to do it again and he hasn’t been back since. ‘The number of children in the hall has been going down every day so it proves it is working. ‘Teenagers need guidelines and they always push the boundaries. If they know what the guidelines are they behave themselves.’
A parent of a 15-year-old boy said: ‘There are plenty who agree with what the school is doing. ‘Yes, the children that get detentions miss classes, but my son said that after several hours bored out of their skulls with nothing to do most of them actually want to be back in class. I think it’s a stroke of genius.’
However, florist Amanda King, 34, took her children, Ben, 12, and Shannon, 14, out of classes on Wednesday and is now looking for a new school. She said her son had been given a detention for arriving late to a French lesson. ‘I’m absolutely appalled. They are wrecking pupils’ education and turning it into a prison,’ she said. ‘Staff are nit-picking over everything – for behaviour, for what they wear.’
Ruth Hanslip, 47, has stopped sending her daughter Karris, 13, to the school after she was punished on three consecutive days for laughing, wearing a bracelet and carrying a mobile phone. She said: ‘We’d both had enough. They don’t give them any work to do and my daughter is now missing out on her school work.’ Karris said: ‘They gave me a little book to read but the rest of the time I was just sat staring at the wall.’
A letter to parents announcing the 14-point zero-tolerance policy said that any pupil who misbehaved would have to sit in the hall and read a booklet called Right To Teach, Right To Learn, which lists the rules. Those who played up in detention would be moved to an ‘isolation unit’, a room away from other children. The rules were drafted after a ‘minority’ of pupils failed to meet ‘basic expectations’.
Mrs Jenkinson-Dix, who was appointed in 2009, said: ‘Low-level issues, such as using mobile phones, affect staff’s ability to teach pupils and also affect those pupils who are trying to learn. If we can eradicate these, all students will be able to receive the best possible education. I am pleased to say I have the support of the majority of parents. ‘Any pupil who is removed from class is removed for a good reason and this is fundamental in preparing pupils for their future careers.’
Governor Ben Gibbs said: ‘Teachers are saying they are getting through their lesson plans quicker and we have feedback from students effectively saying how much better the lessons are.’
Walk into any of the 200 or so branches of Pret A Manger across the country [Britain] and you’re bombarded with messages about the chain’s commitment to providing fresh, natural food. ‘Pioneering natural foods since 1986,’ screams one sign on the sandwich shelves. ‘Just made in this shop’s kitchen, never from a factory,’ says another.
The Pret hot wraps are ‘fresh from the oven, naturally’, while the crisps, popcorn and cakes are ‘100 per cent natural’. Pret's website claims its shops cook freshly-made preservative-free food using natural ingredients
Pret's website claims its shops cook freshly-made preservative-free food using natural ingredients
It’s a great sell to the metropolitan, middle-class, professional crowd that cram into Pret each day for the irrefutably delicious sandwiches, salads and snacks that have helped the chain’s profits soar by 37 per cent this year to a massive £46 million.
This is because we care about how our food is made, where it comes from and what’s in it, don’t we? And Pret has got it just right — hasn’t it?
On the Pret website it talks of kitchens in every shop where the food is freshly made daily using preservative-free, natural ingredients and avoiding ‘obscure chemicals’.
Pret might not actually use the word ‘healthy’ in any of its marketing material — it’s all worded very, very carefully — but for most people, words such as ‘fresh’, ‘natural’ and ‘preservative-free’ go hand-in-hand with healthy eating. It's a great sell to the metropolitan middle-class crowd that go there for lunch every day
It's a great sell to the metropolitan middle-class crowd that go there for lunch every day
So you’d be forgiven, perhaps, for thinking two things. First, that the food is made from quality, constituent ingredients on site, rather than from pre-prepared fillings in tubs or soups in cartons, for instance. And, secondly, that the food is all healthy and you can eat it guilt-free.
Sadly, you’d be wrong on both counts.
Last month the Mail revealed that Pret’s tomato soup contains, in one small pot, 4.5g of salt. That’s the same as the amount in nine packets of crisps. And when you consider that the recommended daily allowance for salt is 6g a day, you can see that 4.5g is a frighteningly high figure.
Although there are many healthy options on the menu, the soup is not the only Pret product with worrying credentials on the healthy-eating front.
Take the Posh Cheddar & Pickle Baguette. It contains almost 800 calories and 15.6g of saturated fat — that’s about the same as a Pizza Express American Pizza (the individual-sized one from a supermarket) and not dissimilar to a Big Mac and medium fries. The ham, cheese and mustard toastie has almost the full recommended daily allowance that a woman should eat
The ham, cheese and mustard toastie has almost the full recommended daily allowance that a woman should eat
Then there’s the Hoisin Duck Wrap, which contains the equivalent of three teaspoons of sugar — making it higher in sugar than one of Pret’s own milk chocolate bars. And take a look at the Ham, Cheese & Mustard Toastie. It has 696 calories and 18g of saturated fat — almost the full 20g amount a woman is advised to eat in a day —and 4.25g of salt. Eek!
There seems to be mayonnaise in almost every single sandwich, even the Hoisin Duck Wrap (er, why?), the Posh Cheddar & Pickle Baguette, and the Wiltshire-cured Ham & Pickle sandwich. Is that dollop of extra fat and calories really necessary?
As nutritionist Angela Dowden says: ‘Freshly-made and with no additives is to be applauded, and Pret is undoubtedly good at that. But “fresh” and “natural” isn’t synonymous with “good for you”.
‘When you’re eating something that has as many calories and as much saturated fat as a burger and chips, the fact that it may have a few more vitamins doesn’t make it any less fattening and artery-clogging than the fast food.’
Pret’s spokesman told us: ‘While Pret is, of course, compliant with current Food Standards Agency guidelines, we are aware of public concern about salt.
‘We continue to explore with our chefs how we can reduce salt levels without sacrificing taste. Pret is one of the few High Street retailers that gives customers calorie and fat information on the shelves and through its website so they can make an informed choice.’ It hardly sounds like the chain is desperate to change things.
Meanwhile, its response to public criticism on its website seems arrogant at the very least, and perhaps closer, even, to irresponsible.
‘Often, the media gets hung up on calories and fat,’ it says. ‘Of course, these have to be checked and regulated, but they should also be balanced with a factor that seems to get forgotten in today’s fat-obsessed environment: nutrition. We talk about salt, sugar and fat, but never anything else.’
Yes, Pret sandwiches tend to be high in protein and certain vitamins and minerals. But, as Angela Dowden points out, they may not have as many positive attributes as you would imagine.
‘Rocket, herbs and other “posh” leaves give an illusion of health properties,’ she says. ‘But you’d still not be getting even one vegetable portion in your average Pret sandwich, wrap or baguette.’
What’s more, the chicken for Pret’s sandwiches is barn-reared as opposed to free-range, and is marinated and roasted far away from those many Pret kitchens, and arrives in a cooked, shredded form, along with tubs of pre-made egg mayonnaise and cartons of soup.
So much for all the food being freshly made in the shops. Pret labels each item on the shelves with its calorie and saturated fat content and detailed nutritional information for every product is available on its website.
But in case you need some help negotiating the menu, here are ten Pret products we think you might be best to avoid . . .
How did Britain reach a situation where newspaper columnists can be investigated by the cops for being offensive?
Last week it emerged that the Metropolitan Police are investigating the Spectator magazine following complaints from a Muslim group about comments made on a blog entry on its website by the Daily Mail journalist Melanie Phillips. Writing about the massacre, in the West Bank, of a three-month-old Jewish girl, her two brothers and her parents as they slept in their beds, Phillips referred to the murderers as ‘savages’ and to the ‘moral depravity of the Arabs’.
Phillips is not generally noted for even-handedness when it comes to writing about the Middle East. She is often polemical, some might even say tendentious, in her support of Israel. She is certainly not everyone’s cup of tea, and perhaps you would include yourself in that. Perhaps you feel that she comes too close to smearing all Arabs. Perhaps you even think hers are the sort of views that should be investigated by the police. But then again, perhaps you don’t read her blogs and form your views of the rights and wrongs of faraway bloodshed from other sources. Perhaps you wonder what all the fuss is about.
There are echoes here of the case of another Daily Mail journalist, Jan Moir, who in 2009 upset a lot of people by appearing to attribute the death of the singer Stephen Gately to his lifestyle. Gately was gay. The Crown Prosecution Service eventually decided, about a year ago, not to prosecute Moir, but the whole episode conjured up bizarre images of crown officials poring over words and phrases in a newspaper opinion column for evidence of illegality.
And then there was the case, less well-publicised, involving Douglas Murray, another journalist. He was investigated by the Press Complaints Commission and the police merely for suggesting that the prosecution of an English councillor for telling a joke about an Irishman being a bit dim was ludicrous. And last year, too, a Liberal Democrat councillor was convicted under the 2006 Public Order Act for using ‘threatening, abusive or insulting words, with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress’. Shirley Brown, who is black, had called a female Asian councillor, Jay Jethwa, a ‘coconut’, a colloquial term used to denote a person who is ‘brown on the outside and white on the inside’ - someone who has, in other words, betrayed his or her cultural roots by pandering to ‘white’ opinion.
But it’s not merely in print and in the debating chamber that solecisms can have repercussions: cyberspace also has its victims. Think of Paul Chambers, who was fined £3,000 and lost his job for tweeting, in jest, words to the effect that he would blow up an airport if its closure due to bad weather disrupted his travel plans. Or of Gareth Compton, the Tory councillor who was arrested in November when – after hearing the Independent’s Yasmin Alibhai-Brown argue on a radio programme that the West had no moral authority to condemn the practice of stoning women in the Muslim world – he asked his Twitter followers ‘Can someone please stone [her] to death?’, adding ‘I shan’t tell Amnesty if you don’t. It would be a blessing, really.’
That some users of social media are discovering, to their detriment, that the online environment does not in fact mirror the domain of the private conversation down the pub was perhaps inevitable. But then, as the Sky Sports commentators Andy Gray and Richard Keys – who lost their jobs for making off-colour remarks when they thought they were not being recorded - recently found out, even private conversation is no longer safe from censure.
What is going on? How did we arrive at a situation where giving offence is automatically sackable or worse? Surely the freedom to disagree with a comment or to ignore it is enough. When it is suggested that certain points of view or ways of expressing them might be or should be illegal – or that intolerance should not be tolerated, to purloin the common malapropism – a notion that should chill anyone who holds the principles of liberal democracy dear is given life: the notion of thought crime. Freedom of speech was hard-won in the West; the freedom only to speak inoffensively is no freedom at all.
If UK prime minister David Cameron seemed to grasp this when he spoke of the merits of ‘muscular liberalism’ earlier this year, it is a pity that his government’s Protection of Freedoms Bill – an Act which has been making its way through parliament since last summer and which it is intended will extend freedom of information, turn back the tide of state intrusion into our lives and repeal unnecessary criminal laws – makes no attempt to return free speech to its rightful place at the altar of democracy.
The Lib-Con coalition government may well be less authoritarian than the Labour one that preceded it, but in a way we are still suffering the hangover from New Labour and the ideals it pressed into service when it ditched socialism: diversity, equality, respect. Among the 4,300 new offences put into statute under Labour were those governing ‘hate speech’, or the giving and taking of offence. First came legislation on racial and religious hatred; later, protection was extended to gay, transgender and disabled people. Doubtless heightened sensitivity about Islam in the wake of 9/11 played its part: the Religious Hatred Act of 2006, for instance, extended outdated blasphemy laws to afford people of all faiths, including Jedis, recourse against things they don’t like hearing said or seeing written.
One of the results has been a new culture of fastidious censoriousness in every public body, human-resource department and media organisation in the land. Furthermore, the giving of offence need not be intentional, nor the words (or cartoons) themselves possessed of the propensity to give it in order for it to be taken. Never mind the freedom to speak offensively: people have been invited to believe there is such a thing as the right not to be offended. Never mind that ‘incitement to hatred’ is a grey, disputable thing, and a different thing to incitement to violence, which was already a criminal offence. Never mind that most ideas are capable of giving offence, and that Socrates, Galileo and Darwin were all considered beyond the pale in their time. And never mind that in the marketplace of ideas, ‘hate speech’ can be challenged, debated or ignored. What we now have is moderated free speech at best.
That distinction between incitement to hatred and incitement to violence is a crucial one for Peter Tatchell, one of this country’s most tireless and principled human rights campaigners. When I spoke to him last year he had recently been in the news for defending the rights of Christian preachers hounded by the law over homophobic hate-speech crimes. One American Baptist evangelist, Shawn Holes, was fined £1,000 for telling shoppers in Glasgow city centre that homosexuals were bound for hell; Tatchell, who is gay himself and renowned for his campaigning on behalf of gay rights, called it ‘an attack on free speech and a heavy-handed, excessive response to homophobia’.
He had also spoken up for the five Islamists convicted of showering abuse at British soldiers at a ‘homecoming’ march in Luton, but had elsewhere called for sanctions on extremists who incite violence – including Abu Usamah, who was shown in a Channel 4 undercover documentary advocating the killing of gays and Muslims who leave their faith. But there was no contradiction, he insisted. ‘If someone says “I want to encourage people to plant bombs in Princes Street in Edinburgh”, then that’s pretty clear incitement to violence’, he told me. ‘Saying “I sympathise with al-Qaeda” is not, on the other hand.’
While that view may not be likely to find favour with mainstream political opinion, muscular liberal or otherwise, it makes sense from a First Amendment perspective, if you’re talking American. Britain doesn’t have a First Amendment, of course, but it did produce John Stuart Mill, who wrote in 1859 that ‘there ought to exist the fullest liberty of professing and discussing, as a matter of ethical conviction, any doctrine, however immoral it may be considered’. The limits of such liberty should be defined by the ‘harm principle’, he said, not by social offence. In other words, dealing with offence is part of being a grown-up in a grown-up society.
Liberals nowadays seem to have lost the stomach for such principles, however. The word ‘liberal’ itself has come to denote a much narrower set of ideas: vaguely leftish, environmentalist, irreproachably PC, pro-European, pro-Palestine, pro-Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. Technology, meanwhile, may have helped to create a more informed and engaged citizenry, but it has also given a leg up to the power of mob rule. Online forums and message boards foster a culture of outrage, indignation and recrimination; they manufacture and mobilise offence.
The Lib-Cons’ Protection of Freedoms Act will flush away ID cards, biometric passports and the ContactPoint database of children in England. It includes provisions to restrict and regulate the use of surveillance powers, CCTV and the storage of internet and email records and it will restore rights to freedom of assembly, non-violent protest and trial by jury. It may prove to be a watershed moment for liberty in Britain. It could have been a much greater one. It is time to weigh again the value, as opposed to the price, of free speech.
There is a new lot of postings by Chris Brand just up -- on his usual vastly "incorrect" themes of race, genes, IQ etc.
10 April, 2011
'June had a broken hip – but we forgot about her and she died from a heart attack': Book lifts the lid on what really goes on inside NHS hospitals
After so many Babylon books, Imogen believed she could no longer be shocked - then she saw life inside the NHS. As she says: 'Hospitals today are about gunshot wounds and knife crime; about drug dealers on the wards and the drunk who'd rather put his fist in a nurse's face than be told to wait. 'What I found the most shocking was not shortages, waiting times or lack of cleanliness. It was the mutual lack of respect . . .'
There are police everywhere. Armed police. They've got machine guns out, flak jackets on, and are crawling all over Accident & Emergency. Andrea, our head nurse, rushes past, her plastic apron covered in blood. 'Get yourself in there,' she tells me, flicking her head in the direction of the closest resuscitation bay. 'We've got three with severe gunshot wounds. Some gangland shoot-out.'
It's my last day in this particular A&E department. I'm doing the 8am to 6pm shift and then I'm off to another hospital for six months in acute medicine. It's the first Wednesday in August, the day when new student doctors, fresh from medical school, take up their posts and also the day when doctors such as me, who are still training, move.
As I enter the bay, Steve, a senior house officer, has already cracked open one victim's chest like a cadaver in an anatomy class. 'I can't find this bullet, there's too much blood,' says Steve.
After a few minutes, the last bullet of four clatters into the metal tray. What a relief. There is nothing worse than searching through someone's insides trying to find a bullet. I have definitely earned myself a full-fat Coke break.
Being a doctor is a family business for me. My father was one, as was his father. To say I was channelled in that direction would be an understatement. I had a skeleton on my bedroom wall as a child and could name all the bones by the time I was seven.
My girlfriend Emma, however, works in an office, keeps normal hours and has a normal life. We haven't been together for long so I am trying not to scare her away.
My current post is hardly the most glamorous. A&E is universally acknowledged to be the worst hospital department to work in because it is hard to do a good job there. It's about waiting times and getting people in and out as quickly as possible.
My day starts when I walk over to the consultation area and check the computer. 'This is June,' says Margaret, one of the nurses, as I look up. She ushers me towards a sweet-looking elderly lady lying on a trolley. 'She is 76 and fell on a slippery wet pavement this morning on her way to post a letter. She's hurt her hip.'
The joint is already swollen. 'I am afraid to say that it is a break,' I tell her. 'I'm not sure how bad just yet but we'll send you up to X-ray and have a look at it.'
An hour or so into my shift, Chris Williams, an old-school senior consultant, introduces us to Jon Berry, our new A&E manager. Berry looks about 14 years old. 'He used to work with Asda so he is very qualified to look after us lot,' says Chris. He tugs at a clump of his greying hair and looks towards the heavens for some sort of explanation.
Berry is soon sitting at the computer. We are waiting for him to whatever piece of ' management' he is attending to.
As Chris walks off, Ian, another A&aE consultant, says: 'Your hip woman is still in the corridor.' June! I presumed she'd been taken care of hours ago. Last I heard, Margaret was looking for an orthopaedic surgeon to check June's hip and she'd been sent for an X-ray.
I open the corridor door to find her lying there. Her X-ray results are on the end of her trolley but no one had told me they were back, or that the consultant had not arrived. 'Hello, June,' I say, 'I am so sorry you've been left here. How are you?' I check her intravenous drip (IV) and her fluids bag is empty. June has been lying here in agony and no one has noticed.
'I don't feel terribly well,' she says. Her eyes are cloudy. She is probably dehydrated. 'I think I would like to see a priest.'
'A priest? Really, June, I don't think it has come to that,' I say, as I take hold of her wrist. Her pulse is weak. I can feel my own pulse increasing rapidly. This is not just your usual dehydration. 'I'll just go and get a nurse.' 'Don't leave me,' she says feebly. It takes ten minutes for June to die. She never got her priest. What she got was an A&E consultant trying to massage her heart back into action.
It was not a quiet death and it was not dignified. It was a mad scramble to the end. Most of all, no one wanted her to die here. On our watch. Of a heart attack.
As I escort a patient through the door of the waiting room a little after 4pm, I bump into a woman in her 40s, carrying chocolates and pink peonies. 'Can I help you?' I ask. 'My mother was admitted here this morning. She's broken her hip. June Bartley? Old woman? Quite chatty?'
'If you'd like to wait in here,' I say, pointing to an empty room. 'I'll find someone to talk to you.'
I suppose I could have told her that her mother was dead but just don't think I can cope with the questions. I would much prefer Chris to tell June's daughter. People accept sad news better from people with grey hair. A little later, Chris walks towards me, his face drawn. 'How did she take it?' I ask. 'Not well,' says Chris. 'She says she wants an inquiry but I don't think she means it.'
I feel my heart racing a little. Her mother may have lain in a corridor for a little too long. She may have run out of fluids but it wasn't my fault she died. June had a broken hip - but we forgot about her and she died from a heart attack...
Just as my shift is supposed to be ending, there is bad news from Chris. He needs me to stay on for the graveyard shift. I'd rather not, of course, but I only have an evening of Emma's poor cooking to look forward to, so why not? I'm just saying goodbye to Margaret when Ian summons me. 'Come with me. We've got a heart attack coming in due to anaphylactic shock. A dental nurse has eaten a peanut. She is 23.'
Now the whole of A&E springs into action. Stacy, a nurse, rushes over with IV stands. The doors slam open; the trolley comes speeding in, with two paramedics running either side of it. There really is nothing like the NHS when it comes to an acute emergency.
On goes a new oxygen mask, on goes the heart monitor, in go the IV tubes. I look at the dental nurse. Her face is drained, her skin covered in sweat, her stats are looking poor on the monitor. It's not looking good. 'Adrenaline,' announces Stacy, approaching with a large syringe. I plunge the needle into her sternum and aim for the heart. We wait for the drugs to kick in. But instead of her system rebooting, she flatlines. 'Defibrillator!' 'Stand back!' says Ian, holding the panels aloft, waiting for them to clear. 'Clear!'
He shocks the girl. Her whole body spasms and then relaxes back down again. We all look at the monitor. Nothing. 'Clear!' commands Ian. He shocks her again. Still nothing. 'Massage!' Ian shouts at me. I leap on her chest and start pounding it with my fists, trying to get her heart moving.
None of us wants to lose her. Ian is desperate to restart her heart. I am desperate to restart her heart. We are all desperate. For 15 minutes we shock, massage and hope.
'I think I am going to call it,' says Chris, meaning that he has decided that the girl cannot be saved and he must record the time she died. 'Just a bit longer,' says Ian. 'No, no, that's it,' says Chris, shaking his head. '19.43.'
We all stand and stare, sweating, shattered. None of us can move. My heart is pounding in my chest. My limbs feel like lead.
'Can someone look through her pockets and see if she has a donor card,' asks Chris. 'Are her parents here?' Stacy volunteers to go with Chris to ask the girl's parents if they will donate her organs. It is not something I have found easy to do in the past. So sorry your daughter's dead, do you mind if we carve her up?
Ian is standing next to the dead girl filling in the forms and Andrea is unplugging the machines when Stacy comes back. 'The answer's yes,' says Stacy. Just then the heart monitor beeps. It beeps again. We all stare.
'What are you doing to the machine?' asks Ian, in a quiet voice. 'Nothing,' replies Andrea. 'Really nothing?' asks Ian. 'Because this is not a good time to crack a joke.' We are reeling, punch-drunk from the chaos
There is a loud rasping sound as the corpse inhales a huge gulp of air and coughs. 'Jesus!' gasps Ian. 'Stacy, run and tell Mr and Mrs Whatever-theirnameis that their daughter is still alive!'
Amazingly, Lazarus-like resurrections are not so rare. We get one or two a year. The drugs are so strong that it takes a fairly determined heart to die. They just take time to react.
The transplant team will be a little put out. The joke that we can't tell the dead from the living will be around the hospital by tomorrow morning. Fortunately I won't be here.
I text Emma to tell her I am working through tonight. My text is brief and devoid of apology. She has already left one irate message. I'm not sure how long this relationship is going to last.
Some time after 10pm, I am presented with my first drunk of the night, who proceeds to vomit on me and Stacy. For the fourth time, I go to change my scrubs. By 11pm, the waiting room is increasingly airless and the smell of fast food is slowly being trounced by beer, wine and whisky.
In comes a hollow-cheeked and white-faced bank cashier who has been up for three days after taking the stimulant meow meow, also known as mephedrone. It's a legal high - not subject to medical regulations because it's sold as plant fertiliser.
Then there's someone who has been snorting Ritalin and one who has suffered a cocaine-induced heart attack. One of the consultants pockets the cocaine from his patient and later offers me some. I could do with a something to get me through the next couple of hours but I refuse.
It's after 5am when I'm called to examine a body, a hooker who has died of a drug overdose. I turn around and catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I look terrible. My skin is waxy, my eyes are red and I have purple bags under my eyes.
It is just as well, though, that I am awake. A little later, Sandra, who is head nurse on this shift, announces that four young male casualties from a car crash are on their way. Three doctors are on call to deal with it. One of them, me, has been up for nearly 24 hours and the other two have six months' real-life training. The double doors slam open and the paramedics come sprinting in. The noise is awful - low-level screaming and moaning. The stench of burning flesh and petrol hits us too.
The first boy is completely covered in burns. His face is black, his hands are charred and his clothes hang in smouldering tatters.
'The driver,' says the medic, looking sweaty and exhausted. 'Trapped behind the steering wheel,' he says, shaking his head. 'The car was on fire, we couldn't get him out. He's about 70 per cent burns. He's dead. Died in the ambulance.'
One of the other lads has forearms so badly burned the flesh is practically cooked. Another looks as if he's been through the windscreen and back. The lads seem to have driven off the road while taking a corner too quickly. The car rolled twice, blew up and turned into a fireball. It's touch and go for both these boys. They are all under 20.
I'm more confident about the fourth casualty. His left arm is bust, half the road is still in his chest, one of his legs is twisted and he has an enormous welt across one shoulder, but he's only slightly burned. He must have been in the front passenger seat.
We record the death of the boy with burned arms at 5.33am. We tried to revive him for 15 minutes but the heart monitor kept at its familiar monotone.
Over in the other cubicle they are fast losing the third lad. He damaged his sternum on the way through the windscreen and is bleeding slowly into himself. Within minutes I hear the high-pitched squeak as a doctor charges up his defibrillator.
It's all over so quickly. Three young lives taken within the space of about 30 minutes. The department is left reeling, punch-drunk from so much chaos, so much blood and burning, so many frantic attempts at resuscitation, so much death.
This job just seems to know when your guard is down and you're feeling in need of sleep. It's only then that it hits you hard between the eyes.
All efforts are now concentrated on the sole survivor. He is trying to speak through his oxygen mask. 'How are they?' he manages to ask. 'Let's not worry about them now,' says Stacy. 'They're dead, aren't they?' he mumbles through the plastic mask. 'Let's concentrate on you,' Stacy says.
'Angus is dead, isn't he?' 'I'm sorry.' Stacy shoots me a look as if to say I'm not supposed to tell him. But I'm afraid I can't lie. 'And Mike?' he asks. I shake my head slightly. Tears flow down the side of his face. He can barely voice the last question he needs to ask: 'J-J-Jamie?' 'I am very sorry,' I say, taking hold of his heavily grazed hand.
'All of them?' I nod. Then he lets out a low, awful wail. The sobbing gets louder. He struggles in his bed, his legs and arms kicking. 'No-o-o - oo-ooo!' he shouts at the top of his voice.
The next time I look at the clock it's 6.50am, not long now before the doctors arrive box-fresh from medical school. I look around for one last time. I'm going to miss this place.
'Have you signed out of the computer?' asks Sandra. 'Oh, right,' I say. 'And leave your password,' she adds. I am thinking about what I might tell the new boys. I could advise them not to get involved with the drunks or the junkies, and let the abuse and the swearing wash over them. I want to tell them to listen to the patients - to what they don't say as much as what they do.
But I don't. I am off. Oh, what the hell is my password?
'What about my family rights?' Father's despair as appeal court refuses to deport failed asylum seeker who killed his daughter
A father made an impassioned plea for justice yesterday after a last-ditch attempt to deport his daughter’s killer ended in failure. Paul Houston’s 12-year-old daughter Amy was knocked down and left to die trapped under the car driven by illegal immigrant Aso Mohammed Ibrahim.
But the Court of Appeal dismissed an attempt to overturn two earlier decisions allowing Ibrahim, 33, to stay in Britain because of his ‘right to a family life’.
As the judges announced their verdict, a clearly distressed Mr Houston shouted across the court: ‘My Lords, what about my right to a family? Amy was my child.’
Later, he told the Daily Mail: ‘I had to say something, even if they didn’t reply. Amy was my world, my only child and she had such a bright future.
‘By allowing him to stay, we are rewarding him for his criminal action. He claims that to be sent home would take away his right to family life. But what about mine? What about Amy’s right to life?’
Mr Houston, 41, an engineer from Darwen, Lancashire, has battled for nearly eight years for Ibrahim – who was driving while disqualified and without insurance – to be thrown out of Britain.
The failed asylum-seeker served four months in prison but launched legal action to stay in the UK. He claimed sending him home to Iraq would breach his right to a ‘private and family life’ under the Human Rights Act as he had fathered two children here. The Home Office case that he should be deported went before the judges yesterday, leading to the heart-breaking ruling.
Mr Houston added: ‘They had the opportunity to stand up for hard-working people, the people who pay their taxes and show the world and the country that the Human Rights Act isn’t just about asylum-seekers, criminals and terrorists but the average man. ‘But they let me down and didn’t do that.’
Amy was knocked down by Ibrahim in November 2003 as she walked to buy a music CD near her home in Blackburn. The Iraqi Kurd fled, leaving Amy crying out in pain under his Rover. Hours later, her parents, now divorced, made the decision to turn off her life-support machine.
At yesterday’s hearing, Lord Justice Sullivan and Lord Justice Gross said there had been ‘fatal flaws’ in the way the case was presented but no ‘error of law’. They questioned why the Home Office had not acted to deport Ibrahim for six years, giving him time to create a ‘family life’.
The judges added that officials should have argued for permanent deportation because of his crimes. Instead, they asked for his temporary ‘removal’ to Iraq where he could re-apply for UK citizenship.
Ibrahim arrived in Britain hidden in the back of a lorry in 2001. His application for asylum was refused and an appeal in 2002 failed. After Amy’s death, he served time after admitting driving while disqualified and failing to stop after an accident. He has since racked up criminal convictions, including more driving offences and harassment.
Ibrahim also started a relationship with Christina Richardson and they had two children, Harry, four, and Zara, three. Immigration Minister Damian Green said the latest ruling was ‘extremely disappointing’. He added the issues raised by the ‘tragic case’ could be considered by a commission on human rights law which will be set up later this year. The outcome will also add to pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron over a pre-election pledge to abolish the Human Rights Act.
Mr Houston said that he may go to the European Court of Human Rights if eligible for legal aid. He added: ‘Me and my daughter are victims in this. If they can’t protect the innocent and vulnerable people of society, there’s no point in the justice system.’
Army medals out, Gay Pride badges in, and theft blamed on badgers to cut crime rates: How political correctness is crippling my police force
By a senior British police officer
The suspect stared at me with hooded eyes, devoid of any emotion or conscience. His emaciated figure was so wrecked by heroin abuse that he could barely raise his arms. ‘Hello, inspector, it’s me again,’ he said, his voice dripping with disdain.
He had every reason to sound cynical, even contemptuous. He was a one-man crimewave, a prolific offender whose miserable life was dominated by violence, drugs and thieving, yet in all his years of delinquency he had never been properly punished by our laughably misnamed justice system.
When he was brought into the station last week, on a charge of stealing from a 94-year-old woman, I had a look at his record. It was a lengthy indictment of the incredible leniency of our courts. Aged only 23, he had been arrested 80 times and convicted of an incredible 140 offences. Among his crimes were assault, aggravated burglary, blackmail, theft and possession of Class A and Class B drugs.
His behaviour has long been out of control, showing respect for neither the law nor the rights of others. But despite his lengthy catalogue of offending, he has spent just 12 weeks in prison. The only lesson he has ever learned is that he has nothing to fear from the courts. No doubt he will receive another ineffectual slap on the wrist the next time he is up before a judge.
As a long-serving police inspector, I despair of the reluctance of the state to deal vigorously with serious criminals such as this thuggish drug addict. This soft, destructive stance not only weakens public faith in the fight against crime, but also undermines the morale of the police.
What drags down our effectiveness, however, is not just the useless courts system that so often undoes all the effort we put into building cases, but also the highly politicised, target-driven, dogma-fixated culture of the police hierarchy.
Instead of allowing us to focus on the real task of tackling criminality, police chiefs and politicians have bogged us down in bureaucracy, much of it driven by fashionable obsessions with multiculturalism and meaningless performance statistics.
Official determination to manipulate crime figures has reached new heights of idiocy. Data is no longer a reflection of performance, but an exercise in deceit of the public. In this brave new world of propaganda — conjured up by a string of directives — a vast array of crimes are reclassified by ‘crime managers’ to lessen their seriousness.
So burglaries of potting sheds become ‘badger damage’, broken windows are blamed on ‘frost’ and stolen handbags are listed as ‘lost or misplaced’. Even vandalism to vehicles can be ascribed to ‘stones thrown up by speeding cars’.
The warped priorities of this culture are also reflected in the ridiculous amount of time we have to devote to the creed of diversity. At times it seems as if the modern police force is seen by senior managers as a vehicle for social engineering rather than deterring crime.
My internal office phone directory lists no fewer than 32 officers with ‘diversity’ in their job title, all of them working nine-to-five in desk-bound jobs, while we slog it out on the front line. I was half-hoping that, given their irrelevance to the battle against crime, they might be made redundant in the public-sector cuts, but that was far too optimistic. Diversity is sacrosanct, its commissars are protected and its influence is all dominant.
So in our training, for instance, just one day a year is devoted to practical instruction in officer safety, dealing with procedures such as correct use of handcuffs, Tasers and batons, or how to put a violent suspect in a van or cell.
Yet the effort devoted to diversity is far greater. We have to carry out two days of diversity training a year at headquarters, another day at our divisions, go through an eight-hour ‘e-learning’ package on our computers and, in our annual performance appraisal forms, show that we have accomplished three separate objectives ‘to raise diversity awareness’. In addition, during weekly individual meetings with our supervisor, we have to explain what we have done to promote cultural diversity.
The minutiae of Hindu festivals, details of Black History month and the rituals of gypsy culture are all drummed into us. The whole pantomime is idiotic, especially in my neighbourhood where the ethnic minority is tiny. Once, as one of my personal ‘diversity objectives’, I stated I had listened to some Indian sitar music in a Manchester park.
Such absurdities can be found everywhere in the police. So we were told recently that former servicemen like me were no longer allowed routinely to wear medal ribbons on our uniforms, as had previously been customary, because such insignia might be deemed offensive to Muslims and Irish people. However, we have been encouraged to wear Gay Pride badges.
Similarly, Welsh and Scottish police forces are allowed to wear their national badges on their uniforms, but the St George’s flag appears to have been banned by English forces, as if our national identity is an embarrassment.
The neurosis about diversity is also reflected in the requirement to cater for every type of inmate, so our custody suites have a menu of no less than 16 choices, include low-carb, vegetarian, fat-free, kosher and halal.
The ideology extends to the front line. When visiting a Muslim household, we are instructed to remove our shoes, but I have refused to obey that edict because I believe it is disrespectful to my position as British police officer. On one occasion, I had to call on a Muslim family and the daughter refused to let me in until I had taken off my boots.
I simply told her that, while on duty, I was not prepared to remove any part of my equipment, footwear included. So she went off to her father to report my non-compliance, only to find he did not object at all to me keeping my boots on.
When I reported this back to the Diversity Unit, the officer implied that I must have intimidated the father, which was nonsense. This diversity officer was indulging in just the kind of stereotyping he condemns in others, clinging to the belief that every Muslim adheres devotedly to religious custom.
On another occasion, I was given a reprimand because I told a family that their son was a drug dealer. The mother had made a complaint that we were harassing him. When I turned up at her home, which appeared to be well-equipped with the proceeds of his drug crimes, I told her frankly: ‘We keep arresting him because he’s a dealer.’
Such honesty prompted another complaint from her, and I was told I should have shown more ‘tolerance and politeness’ in my language towards the family. It was just another indicator of how political correctness has destroyed the moral self-confidence of senior managers.
Almost as depressing is the dead-weight of bureaucracy. Form-filling has become an end in itself. For example, we were recently asked to fill in a 14-page document called a Display Screen Risk Assessment, which was meant to detail the safety of our working environment, including computers and furniture.
The whole exercise was absurd, since all our office equipment is supplied centrally — and therefore, by definition, approved — by the very bureaucrats asking us to fill in these safety forms.
Bureaucracy also means that crime figures can’t be trusted. Successive governments have been fond of boasting about falling crime rates, but I’m afraid the statistics are less and less reliable.
To take one classic example, a group of youngsters binge-drinking in a town square could be dealt with under Section 5 of the Public Order Act, which would mean their behaviour would be recorded as a violent crime, leading to action through the courts. Or it could just be handled as an incidence of drunk and disorderly conduct under more ancient laws, with the result that the crime would not be recordable and the offenders would be sent home or kept in the cells until they sobered up.
So, often, the police response will depend entirely on that month’s crime statistics. If the local chiefs think the crime rate has been too high in recent weeks, they will demand that no arrests be made under Section 5. Instead, all miscreants should be treated under the less rigorous category of drunk and disorderly. This does nothing for police or public morale, particularly if crimes have taken place.
At one stage we were issued with a fleet of fast-pursuit vehicles — standard saloons fitted with all the mod cons of policing, such as radars, radios and computers. But we found that, at speed, the cars were uncontrollable. The only way of making them safe was, believe it or not, to put a quarter of a ton of sand in the boot.
There were similar problems with new four-wheel-drive estate cars for firearms officers, which were discovered to be simply not big enough for four armed officers with all their equipment. So, though we didn’t need such gas-guzzlers, they had to be passed on to the rank and file. More money down the drain.
At a time of financial cuts, none of this has raised our spirits. Nor has the aloof attitude of some of our senior personnel.
In one ludicrous instruction, they barred us from having a cup of tea with paramedics at the ambulance base beside the local hospital because they said the water boilers might be unsafe, though such camaraderie has long been an integral part of the emergency services.
Even more offensive was their decision to bar the playing of radios at police premises, on the grounds they could not afford the £20,000 fee under new licensing regulations. Yet these same high-minded, prudent chiefs can be seen swanning around in £60,000, top-of-the range BMWs bought at the public’s expense.
On coming to power last May, the Coalition was meant to have changed all this. As the parties of reform, the Tories and Lib Dems would lead the fight against crime. Yet the culture of bureaucracy and diversity remains intact.
Often the rhetoric of the Coalition is simply ignored. So Home Secretary Theresa May recently announced she had abolished a raft of performance targets. These included the specific requirement that, as part of their annual performance appraisal, officers had to set out three objectives for raising public confidence. This bureaucratic ‘public confidence’ order, she said, was consigned to the dustbin of history. Yet, in reality, it carries on, just under the new title of ‘public satisfaction’ objectives.
Dogmatic officialdom continues on its own sweet, expensive way — and we in the poor bloody infantry are continually hampered in the struggle to do our job, which is to actually fight crime.
Harriet the hypocrite: Labour Party eminence accused Tories of encouraging nepotism... but her son got first proper job working for his mother's best friend
Harriet Harman has been accused of hypocrisy in the row over internships after it emerged that her eldest son’s first job was at a public relations firm owned by one of her influential friends.
The Government said this week that the system of informal internships – whereby youngsters get placements because of who they know rather than ability – must end.
It prompted Ms Harman to accuse the Tories of encouraging rich parents to lever their children into jobs. Mocking the Conservatives for auctioning off internships to the highest bidder at a recent Party fundraiser, Ms Harman said in the Commons this week: ‘Is that not the Government’s idea of social mobility? We have further to go, but they are turning the clock back.’
Now Ms Harman’s eldest son Harry Dromey has revealed that he got a foothold in the notoriously competitive world of advertising thanks to his mother’s connections.
Harry, 28, had just graduated with a degree in politics from Bristol University when he jumped straight into a job with a PR consultancy founded by key Labour Party adviser Deborah Mattinson, a friend of his mother.
Ms Mattinson, 54, said she had known Harry for years by the time he got a job at her firm, the Smart Company. Aged 16, he volunteered at her market research company, Opinion Leader Research, which has won contracts worth almost £3 million across an array of Government departments and agencies.
Harry described how his job at the Smart Company gave him the chance he needed. ‘I was a dogsbody,’ he said. ‘I was working there for hardly a year for a small amount of money so I could do what I want to do.’ Harry said his job at the Smart Company had nothing to do with his current role as an account director at advertising firm Leo Burnett.
One of his first tasks at Leo Burnett was working on the launch of the Home Information Pack for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The advertising firm won the £6 million Government contract to sell the idea to the public.
Ms Mattinson and her fellow director at the Smart Company, Amanda Jordan, are both former Labour Government advisers.
From draper's son to judge ... THAT was social mobility -- in Britain of the past
By Peter Hitchens
The phrase ‘social mobility’ has been twisted round by the elite to mean the opposite of what it once did. In their mouths it signifies ‘crude discrimination against those who seek to advance themselves or their children through effort and talent’.
This is a wicked perversion. Here is what it really means: when this was still a free country, you could climb thanks to your talent and hard work. My favourite example is that of Lord Denning, one of six children of a Hampshire draper who became the greatest judge of our time.
One of his brothers, Reginald, helped plan the D-Day landings and became a general. Another, Norman, became an admiral, and Director of Naval Intelligence. The boys’ mother, Clara, must have been quite a person, but Whitchurch National School and Andover Grammar School should take a little credit too.
In their austere, disciplined, orderly classrooms, children from poor homes could learn real knowledge, and gain the habits of work and diligence that might take them to the very summit of our once-open society. If they had talent, it would be nurtured and encouraged. If they were studious, they would not be bullied for it, but rewarded.
Faced with ferocious exams, which it was possible to fail, they learned that real life wasn’t easy and had to be tackled with application and determination. That’s how a proper middle class, confident, strong and open to talent, is made.
But those who now shape and direct our society long ago destroyed these places. Believing it was kinder, they scrapped the discipline, the order and the rigour, and turned the exams into feeble jokes. When the truth became clear, they refused to change their minds but carried on as before. The three Denning brothers would rapidly have had their hopes crushed by today’s state school system.
If three such boys – or girls – now exist, we will never hear of them, except perhaps in the courts, because the corruption of the best is the worst of all, and a bright and energetic mind, when all the doors of ambition and hope are slammed in its face, can easily turn to wrongdoing.
I cannot express on paper just how angry this makes me, or how angry it ought to make you. The nearest I can come to it is this – to say to Nicholas Clegg, David Cameron and Edward Miliband that they are all three of them cruel, contemptible and stupid, enemies of promise, enemies of their country, and enemies of the poor. And in each case the crime is especially serious because of their own immense personal privilege. I hope all their political careers end in abject, howling failure, preferably with them being laughed out of office, the only punishment they are likely to understand.
Because all three of them, and their wretched parties, have set their faces against the honest self-improvement that is the mark of a free society. Instead, they gargle the discredited slogans of equality – an equality they don’t even believe in for themselves or their children.
You will have to ask yourselves why the leaders of supposedly democratic parties in a supposedly free society have endorsed a policy that is more or less identical to that of the Eastern European communists of the Forties. More importantly, you will have to ask yourselves why on earth you have continued to vote for them, knowing what they are and what they stand for.
Yesterday felt like a parody of politics in this country. A much-vaunted government “strategy” for social mobility was launched which, in policy terms, amounted to essentially nothing.
Unfortunately, asking businesses and government departments to be more socially conscious when hiring interns will do little to improve the chances of people born to poor families. But Labour's reaction – attacking Nick Clegg for “hypocrisy” in talking about the need for more social mobility, since he was born into a rich family – was absurd. As Nick Thornsby asked, if Clegg had announced that he was going to ignore social mobility would Harriet Harman say, “Quite right too, given his background”?
The focus on internships is beside the point. People who have managed to graduate from a decent university with the skills that would make them potential hires for good jobs are not the ones we should be concerned about. Many, and maybe most, children born into poor families will receive a terrible education in a bad comprehensive school. The state schools system destroys poor childrens’ opportunities, thanks to plummeting quality and standards. The fact that many university graduates in this country cannot write to a basic standard of English should say enough about the quality of English lessons in many schools in Britain.
The Sutton Trust, an educational charity, has looked into the rates of entry to Oxbridge by children with good A-Levels across the socioeconomic spectrum. The results show that, irrespective of family income levels, students who receive excellent A-Levels have roughly the same rate of entry to Oxbridge.
The problem is that students from relatively poor families are far less likely to get those A-Levels than those from relatively well-off families. Students on Free School Meals perform disproportionately badly across the board in A-Level results. Focusing on the school-leaving point (as opponents of tuition fees do) is too late to do anything to help mobility. Likewise with a focus on making internship access more equitable – the people for whom an internship might lead to a good job are not the people most in need of help.
Fifty years of school comprehensivization (an ugly word for an ugly policy) has done enormous damage to the prospects of children from poor families. As Tom wrote this morning, rigid state bureaucracies in healthcare create bad outcomes for patients.
Education is no different. What can we do to reverse this? Some propose a return to grammar schools, which may improve mobility but would do little to help those who fail their 11-plus. Competition and choice in schooling drives up standards – allowing profit-making companies to set up free schools would be a start, but a school voucher system like the one Milton Friedman proposed is the probably best option.
Any discussion of social mobility that doesn’t focus on the failure of the state school system is fundamentally unserious. We need to get real, and get radical.
Life-changing surgery for girl, two, who was denied NHS treatment for birthmark that threatened to leave her blind
The care and expertise afforded the Knight family today are the best the NHS can offer. Zosia is having a large birthmark — one that snakes around her eye, and covers some of the lid — removed.
The nurses are reassuring and the consultant patiently explains exactly what to expect. Even Zosia’s Mickey Mouse toy gets a bandage. The hospital cleaner takes time for a kind word. It all makes you proud to be British. Except for one rather crucial fact.
This vital, life-changing and potentially sight-saving operation is not being paid for by the NHS. Funding for it was provided by the Daily Mail. We stepped in when we discovered that — despite the fact that almost every other NHS trust in the country offers the procedure routinely — West Sussex NHS Trust was refusing to help Zosia.
Every healthcare professional involved was aghast to discover that a little girl like Zosia — her name means ‘wisdom’ — came further down the pecking order than those needing gastric bands or boob jobs.
‘It’s despicable,’ says Carole. ‘This is the NHS trust that paid for someone I know to have a gastric band. Can someone tell me why that is more necessary than a treatment that can give my daughter some hope of a normal life? ‘Worse, I know a woman who had a breast augmentation paid for by West Sussex NHS Trust. She said the size of her breasts made her self-conscious and stopped her socialising. It is sheer lunacy to say that she needs treatment more than my daughter.
‘I just don’t understand how these people can sit round a table and make these sorts of decisions. ‘They have overruled three consultants who say Zosia needs this. How dare they, when they haven’t even met her.’
An hour watching Zosia play in the pre-surgery waiting room is more than enough to confirm that she is a bright and observant little girl. Perhaps too observant for her mother’s liking. She started to notice the pinky-purple birthmark on her face as soon as she could talk, and asked what it was.
At first, she was satisfied with her mother’s explanation that it was a ‘special mark’, something to be proud of. Then, as the birthmark spread and darkened, other children started to point, and ask questions.
‘It got really awful during the last big snows,’ Carole explains. ‘Zosia’s birthmark changes colour depending on the temperature. If she is warm, it is quite light. When she’s cold, and her blood rushes to the surface of her skin, the birthmark goes a really dark purple. It looks terrible. ‘When she was out playing in the snow, other kids would come up to her and say: “Uuuughhh, what’s that on your face”.
Experts in the field advise starting treatment as early as possible, so that by the time the child begins school — where teasing and bullying is going to be harder to avoid — optimum fading will have been achieved.
Carole, herself a paediatric nurse, was well aware of this, so sought medical advice in May last year. Her consultant confirmed that Zosia would be an ideal candidate. Indeed, in her case, the removal procedure would be essential because her birthmark snakes round the eye and actually covers some of the eyelid.
Over time, port-wine stains grow with the child and can become raised and bumpy. In some cases, the eye can be affected, and blindness can be a risk. If she did not have treatment, Zosia’s eyesight would have to be monitored more carefully than most.
But to the surprise, and horror, of every healthcare professional involved, the Knight’s local NHS Trust, West Sussex, refused to fund the £15,000 treatment. The family, who live in Maidenblower, Crawley, discovered too late that they came under the jurisdiction of one of only two healthcare trusts in the country which do not routinely offer laser treatment for children with facial birthmarks.
Their doctors appealed, but their appeal was rejected. The family’s local MP, appalled by the decision, intervened, but again was overruled.
Zosia’s story was highlighted last month in the Daily Mail, and our readers were so outraged that such a young child could become a victim of an unfair postcode lottery that this paper offered to pay for the treatment, which is why we are here with Carole and Zosia today, at the Queen Mary Hospital for Children in Carshalton.
The past few weeks have been emotional. On the day we phoned to tell Carole that the bill for Zosia’s treatment would be met, albeit not by the body that should be assuming responsibility, she burst into tears. ‘We’d been worried sick about what was going to happen. We’d already made the appointment with the bank about remortgaging the house,’ she reveals.
‘The worry was stomach-churning. My husband Craig is a police officer. I’m a nurse. We have two other children. We just don’t have a spare £15,000 lying round. ‘We’d thought about moving — were we in the next county over, there would not be an issue about funding — but this is not the best climate to be thinking about that.
‘I’d barely slept since it had all happened. Every night I’d lie awake thinking of what to do for the best, and every morning I’d get up and look at Zosia’s little face, and want to cry.’
She’s been floored by the support offered by complete strangers. Today, Zosia carries a Mickey Mouse sent in the post. In her bag, Carole also has an envelope, which arrived at her home with no address, only her home town. It contains £30.
Zosia is not the only child being treated today, which brings home how unfair her situation is. Consultant dermatologist Dr Chris Harland is well used to carrying out similar procedures on children Zosia’s age and younger. Her case is unusual only in that it is not the NHS that is footing the bill — a first, in his experience.
‘When you have a port-wine stain on the face of a child, you expect funding,’ he says, simply, unwilling to directly criticise the trust involved, but also clearly baffled as to why Zosia should be denied what every other child who passes through his clinic has received.
Zosia is thankfully oblivious to the storm her case has caused. Even as she heads to theatre, her MP, Henry Smith, is refusing to let the matter go, and her parents are taking legal advice on whether their Health Trust can be taken to court.
‘The official wording was that they “considered it a cosmetic procedure”. I couldn’t believe that. How is the risk of her sight being affected cosmetic? And there is nothing cosmetic about a child’s life being blighted because she is afraid to show her face.
‘Believe me, I know what I am talking about. In my job, I have dealt with children who have facial disfigurement, and some of them have never come to terms with it. I’ve dealt with teenagers who have tried to commit suicide because of the way they look. ‘Sometimes, it isn’t possible to change that through surgery. But when it is ..... my God, how can they not see this?’
Two separate appeals have now been turned down by the Trust, which does not appear willing to compromise. ‘A businessman in Crawley offered to pay for half the treatment if the Trust met the cost of the other half. They turned him down,’ says Carole. ‘I find that despicable.’
The laser treatment is actually quite straightforward. Dr Harland uses the pulsed dye laser — the industry standard for the treatment of port-wine stain in children — which applies intense bursts of light that selectively destroy the blood vessels making up the birthmark. A cooling liquid is sprayed immediately before each laser pulse, to reduce side-effects.
Half an hour later, Zosia is back on the recovery ward. Dark purple bruising is immediately obvious. Over the next few days, this will darken yet more before fading. In six to eight weeks, doctors will be able to tell how well she is responding to treatment, and how many sessions will be needed.
Ultimately, though, what convinced the Knights to fight, and what would have led them to take out that second mortgage, was the thought that one day Zosia would hold them to account. ‘Say she was bullied. Say she withdrew into herself. Say her whole life was ruined because we’d chucked in the towel when those faceless bureaucrats said “No”. ‘They might have been to blame, but we would never have been able to forgive ourselves either.
‘Thanks to the Daily Mail we’ll now be able to sleep at night. How the bureaucrats can is beyond me.’
Rudyard Kipling... doesn't he make cakes? How a third of British children have an exceedingly poor knowledge of literature
More than a third of children think Rudyard Kipling makes cakes, according to damning research. The study, carried out among eight to 12-year-olds, also found that one in five thinks Phileas Fogg, the principal character in the 1873 Jules Verne novel Around the World In Eighty Days, is just the name of a snack brand.
The poll of 217 children nationwide found just 15 per cent had heard of Arthur Conan Doyle, 17 per cent knew J.M. Barrie, 19 per cent Robert Louis Stevenson and 31 per cent Lewis Carroll.
Ignorance about Kipling – the novelist and poet behind the Jungle Book, Kim and stories of imperial India – and other books, confirms fears that many children don’t count reading as their leisure activity of choice. If a new book came out, 31 per cent would read the book, but 69 per cent would prefer to see the film.
And when asked what their favoured after-school activities are, 78 per cent chose TV and 69 per cent went for games consoles. Fewer than a third of boys – 31 per cent – were likely to read a book for pleasure.
The implications of a lack of enthusiasm for reading could be devastating. A study by the OECD suggested that the UK had plummeted down international tables measuring reading, maths and science ability.
And a recent report by ChildWise found that children in Britain sit in front of a TV or computer screen for four-and-a-half hours a day. It found that children now spend an average of one hour and 50 minutes online and two hours 40 minutes in front of the television every day.
The reading research was carried out to support an initiative to print extracts from children’s books and poems on breakfast cereal boxes. The Roald Dahl Foundation has signed up to it, along with Puffin books and Asda, which commissioned the study of children’s reading.
Extracts from four of Roald Dahl's children's books, combined with interesting facts about the author and details of a creativity competition for youngsters will appear on Asda shelves nationally from today.
Francesca Dow, managing director of Penguin Children's Books, said: 'We're delighted to be supporting this imaginative campaign to inspire kids to read and fire their imaginations.
'We've selected the extracts very carefully and we're hopeful that by doing so many thousands more children will soon be hooked on books. Roald Dahl is the world's favourite children's author and the perfect choice to launch this important campaign.'
Children’s author Tamsyn Murray said: ‘There are far more tugs on kids’ time today than ever before and that means that we need to find new ways of getting kids hooked on reading and awakening their imaginations.’
Operation overkill: 25 firemen and five engines sent to rescue one cat stranded on roof
It's a service traditionally offered by our compassionate fire services. But the response of the Suffolk brigade to a cat trapped on a roof went well beyond the call of duty.
Health and safety rules meant 25 firefighters were sent to rescue the cat at an estimated cost of £1,500.
The cat was perched about 40ft up on a two-storey house in Leiston, Suffolk, yesterday when five crews were dispatched to save it. The crews – two of which came from 30 miles away - scrambled to comply with national ‘working at height’ regulations to ensure the health and safety of firefighters, but union leaders have branded the response ‘crazy and overkill’.
Suffolk Fire Service sent a turntable ladder from Bury St Edmunds with a two-strong crew, escorted by a support crew from the same station. They sped off on the 60-mile round trip to Leiston at 9.45am.
Firefighters with specialist training in working at heights ‘each likely to be four or five strong’ were also mobilised from Felixstowe, 30 miles away, and Bungay, 20 miles away.
Ironically the crews were turned back within minutes when a local firefighter from Leiston climbed a ladder and rescued the cat - which ran off unscathed. Under the guidelines firefighters are allowed to work temporarily from the top of a ladder.
Suffolk Fire Service recently adopted national regulations drawn up in 2005 to ensure the safety of people working at height, according to the Fire Brigades’ Union. The response would have cost taxpayers thousands of pounds.
A spokesman for campaign group The Taxpayers’ Alliance said: ‘It’s ridiculous that five fire crews were sent out to rescue one cat. ‘It’s almost laughable but wasting resources is bad news for taxpayers and others who might have needed to be rescued, so it’s not funny.’ He added: ‘Of course we want firemen to be safe, but health and safety and red tape has resulted in an excessive and costly response.’
The crews from Leiston and Bungay are on-call, or retained, while the other stations involved have day-only cover.
Andy Vingoe, Suffolk branch chairman of the FBU, said: ‘Health and safety says that if we go up on to a roof, it brings into play our working at height procedures and safety system.
‘If a cat is stuck on a roof there is a chance the owner could get distressed and try to rescue it themselves and we would end up having to rescue them as well.’ He stressed: ‘It is crazy and it’s overkill and if we are having to send five teams to an incident like that, what happens if there is a serious incident elsewhere? ‘It strengthens our case that we need more people to make sure we have enough cover to cope with the demands of the service.’
A Suffolk County Council spokeswoman said it had been called by the RSPCA to help and the reaction was in line with national regulations. She said: ‘Due to the nature of the incident, fire crews with the specialist training and equipment were called to attend, in addition to the local crew. ‘The incident was quickly dealt with by the local crew so the specialist teams were stood down and did not attend.’
Neighbour Teresa Saunders, 49, alerted the fire service after hearing the cat crying. She said: ‘The firefighters deserve a lot of praise. They were very quick and dealt with it incredibly well. ‘I don't know whose it was - it had a blue collar and was a tortoise shell tabby.’ She added: ‘It was perfectly fine as far as I could tell. It ran off as soon as it got down.’
English are now head and shoulders above Scots as growing wealth in the south adds inches to average height
Inadequate nutrition does limit height but it is difficult to imagine that Scots get inadequate nutrition these days. Over-nutrition, more likely. Scots have always moved South to better themselves and taller people probably felt more confident in doing that
If a Scotsman moans that other people belittle him, he might well have a point. For research has shown that the tallest Britons now live south of the border. Scots are, by and large, the shortest people in the UK, with the typical man averaging 5ft 8in. This compares to 5ft 9in for Londoners.
What might add to the Scots’ frustration is that it hasn’t always been this way. In fact, 200 years ago it was a completely different story, with the Scots towering over their English cousins.
Researchers say the reversal cannot be explained by the penchant north of the border for delicacies such as deep-fried Mars Bars.
Instead, they believe it is down to economics, with the pace of the improvement in living standards, nutrition and medicine in England – and particularly in the South – outstripping the change in Scotland.
Professor Bernard Harris, of Southampton University, said: ‘If you drew a map of people living in the early 19th century, then what you would find is the further north you went, the taller on average the population. Now, it would be the other way round. ‘The point is not that the Scots have shrunk, it is that living standards in the South of England have improved more dramatically over the past 200 years than those in Scotland.’
His research shows that two centuries ago the average Scot was an inch taller than those living in southern England, while Norwegians were among the shortest nationals in Europe. Today, the Norwegians are the second tallest nation in Europe, surpassed only by the Dutch, who average around 6ft.
But nationality is not the only thing that affects height, with wealth also adding inches. In his new book, The Changing Body, the professor revealed that there were dramatic differences between the heights of rich and poor classes in 18th and 19th century Europe. In the 1780s, the average height of a 14-year-old working-class child was 4ft 3in, while an upper-class child was 5ft 1in.
Professor Harris said: ‘Today, however, as health services, nutrition, sanitation and education have become universal, upper-class children have continued to grow taller, but at a slower rate than working-class children. ‘The difference between the upper and working-class adults has narrowed to less than 2.5in.’
Professor Harris trawled records from prisons, schools and the military to reveal the link between height and living standards.
Documents included in his research range from the details of soldiers who fought in the American civil war, to the vital statistics of convicts transported to Australia and measurements taken in British schools.
More NHS hospitals face financial difficulties and mergers
More leading NHS hospitals face financial difficulties and the threat of mergers, the head of the watchdog for the sector has warned. Dr David Bennett, the chairman of Monitor, also warned that his own senior staff are “particularly stretched” as they try to prepare for the Government’s “significant” reforms to the health sector.
His comments come as a former adviser to the Department of Health warns that the controversial reorganisation could see GPs fined for breaking competition law if they do not allow private firms to provide services.
And despite David Cameron’s attempt to salvage the widely-criticised Health and Social Care Bill, by giving the public and the medical profession a fresh opportunity to suggest improvements, a senior Church of England bishop has become the latest high-profile critic of the Government’s methods.
The Rt Rev Nick Baines, the new Bishop of Bradford, wrote that the proposals had “not been properly thought through” while their implementation was a “mess” that had seen “ideologically driven” ministers “patronising” their opponents.
In the latest sign that even leading officials within the health sector are concerned at the scale of the changes, coming at a time when the NHS has to save £20billion in three years, the new Business Plan published by Monitor contains a series of warnings.
A foreword written by Dr Bennett, a former chief policy adviser to Tony Blair, states that the regulator for financially independent Foundation Trust hospitals “supports the Government’s proposals to move to a more devolved system for the NHS”.
But he goes on to say there is a “great deal of work to be done” as Monitor prepares to become the economic regulator in the new regime, and its workload has “led to pressure on resources” that has meant “senior staff are particularly stretched”.
Meanwhile “there may also be an increase in those [hospitals] facing financial difficulties”, as they deal with a “significant productivity challenge”, and in time “weaker NHS trusts [will] seek to merge with established foundation trusts”.
The report itself says “pressure continues to mount on both management capacity and financial viability as expectations and demand continue to rise and finances become more constrained”.
Under the new regime Monitor will be given the similar powers to the Office of Fair Trading and will ensure that GPs, who will be given control of an £80billion budget to commission treatment, consider private, state-run and voluntary-sector hospitals.
In a paper published online by the BMJ, Dr Rupert Dunbar-Rees, a qualified GP who worked as an adviser on procurement to the Department of Health for three years, and Robert McGough, a solicitor, state that the reforms “further open up the NHS to EU competition law”.
The new GP-led commissioning bodies will have to put out to tender contracts for goods and services, such as management support, and face fines and damages if a court rules that their deals have been unfair.
In purchasing treatment, “commissioners will have to be careful not to prejudice the principles of fairness and transparency by favouring a provider whose staff has given advice”. Some medics claim this will mean fragmenting care for patients, as GPs will be fearful of discussing treatment with NHS hospital staff in case they are accused of colluding.
In written evidence to the Health Select Committee, Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, has insisted that commissioners will not face fines from Monitor.
He said: "Monitor would have power to investigate potential breaches of the regulations, either on its own initiative or in response to complaints. Monitor would be able to require commissioners to take action to prevent or remedy a breach of the regulations, including, potentially, by setting-aside a contract where due process had not been followed. However, Monitor would have no power to impose fines on commissioners, as was discussed by the Committee."
In another development, the King’s Fund – a leading health think-tank – has published the results of a simulation exercise it carried out into the reformed NHS.
Researchers playing the parts of key bodies in the new system found that GPs were “overwhelmed” by their workload and struggled with the financial management tasks they were required to carry out, with the challenges likened to “building a plane while learning to fly it”.
A flood of refugees from war in Tunisia has arrived in Italy, and Italy has now decided what to do with them, as we see below. Italy will give them permits that will allow them to go anywhere within the Schengen area. Guess one place that is in the Schengen area? Calais! The rest follows. Britain might even accept them legally. Good for Britain's Mosques but not much else in Britain
Italy and Tunisia have signed an accord on handling the immigration emergency. The accord was signed in Tunis by Interior Minister Maroni after lengthy negotiations with the local authorities. Maroni explained that this was "a bilateral technical cooperation accord to counter illegal immigration and to strengthen collaboration between the two countries' police forces; repatiations are also envisaged".
In order to monitor application of the accord, the government has set up an interministerial contact group, which includes, in addition to the Presidency of the Council, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the Interior, Defence, Infrastructure and Transport, Economic Development and Labour and Social Policies, with coordination by the Office of the Diplomatic Advisor to the President of the Council.
The accord was illustrated by Berlusconi and Maroni today at Palazzo Chigi in a meeting of the "director's booth" set up by the government, regions and local bodies, at which a government strategy was drafted for the difficult management of the 25,800 persons thus far landed, of which 2,300 are actually refugees fleeing Libya, and the reminder Tunisians.
Reporting to the Lower House, Maroni said that a decree would be signed today on temporary permits for immigrants arriving in Italy that would allow them to circulate throughout the Schengen area. The Interior Minister will be meeting tomorrow with his French counterpart to outline a common intervention system, and will be in Brussels on Monday to request activation of the provisions of EU Directive 55/2001 on temporary protection, which would allow any willing Union Member to take in a share of the immigrants, even after their arrival in Italy.
The theme of immigration will be among the items on the agenda of a summit meeting on 26 April in Rome between Silvio Berlusconi and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Don't be nasty to criminals! Knife thug walks free because British judge was rude to him
A thug has walked free from court after his conviction for knife possession was overturned because the trial judge was ‘rude’ to him. Koenya Tedjame-Mortty, 32, had been found guilty by a jury after being caught by police driving around London armed with knives.
But in a decision that has caused outrage, judges at the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction on the basis that the judge in his case was ‘rude, harsh and sarcastic’, leaving the villain too ‘unsettled’ to give ‘credible evidence’ in his own defence.
During his trial at Kingston Crown Court last year, Judge Fergus Mitchell reprimanded the career criminal for intimidating a boy doing work experience at the hearing.
The judge told him to ‘shut his mouth and listen’, asking him how dare he speak to the boy, who had complained of being accosted outside court and being stared at in an ‘unpleasant and threatening manner’.
The circuit judge, who summoned the defendant before him to investigate a possible contempt of court, also threatened to revoke his bail shortly before he was called to give evidence in his defence.
At the end of a short trial, the thug was found guilty of two counts of possession of a bladed article after the jury heard he had been driving the car with a kitchen knife and a craft knife in the back.
He was handed a seven-month suspended sentence and ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid community work on November 19. But Tedjame-Mortty immediately appealed, saying the exchange with the judge had left him feeling ‘anxious and shaken’.
This week, three Court of Appeal judges agreed with him, saying they could not rule out the possibility the ‘quality’ of his evidence was affected by Judge Mitchell’s ‘wholly inappropriate’ intervention. 'We do not think that we can safely exclude the possibility that he may have given his evidence less credibly than he would have done if the judge had dealt with the matter appropriately. 'There is no reason why a reprimand in a measured tone at the end of the day would not have been sufficient.
'We do not want this judgment to be regarded as requiring judges to treat defendants with kid gloves before they give evidence. 'The difference in this case is that the quality of the defendant's evidence could have been affected by the conduct on the part of the judge, which was wholly inappropriate'
Mr Justice Keith castigated Judge Mitchell for raising his voice, using an ‘unpleasant tone’ and being ‘rude, harsh and sarcastic’ to the serial offender, who has a string of convictions for drink-driving, among other offences.
The landmark ruling has appalled MPs and former home secretaries who fear it will set a dangerous precedent, forcing the judiciary to ‘bow and scrape to career criminals’.
Last night there were mounting calls for the extraordinary decision to be reversed at the Supreme Court after appeal judges rejected requests by the Crown Prosecution Service for a re-trial.
The perverse case comes on the back of a contentious declaration this week by leading Appeal Court justices who said victims of crime should have no say over what happens to criminals, as some just want revenge.
Yesterday former home secretary David Blunkett said the decision sent an alarming message about attitudes to knife crime. He told the Daily Mail: ‘It is astonishing that the appeal judges did not agree to a mistrial, which would have allowed the case to be re-heard, rather than overturning the conviction.
‘Whatever the harsh treatment by the original judge, the defendant clearly had a case to answer and in the interests of justice and, in particular, the avoidance of the wrong sort of messages getting out on carrying knives, the Crown Prosecution Service was right to ask for the trial to be re-run. ‘The public do begin to wonder whose side the law is on.’
David Green, of think-tank Civitas, said the case had set a dangerous precedent for the judiciary. ‘It’s accepted that judges have to have a judicial temperament. They have to manage the proceedings and if someone is intimidating a young boy, it’s their duty to say something about it.’
The £650m apology: Forget Britain's own ailing education system, that's what Britain's giving to Pakistani schools
David Cameron vowed to hand hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money plus vital military secrets to Pakistan yesterday to make amends for offending the Muslim nation last year. The Prime Minister pledged to invest £650million in Pakistani schools at a time when the education budget at home is being cut.
Britain is also to give highly sensitive military technology to combat roadside bombs to the Pakistani security services, which are widely blamed for funding and arming the Taliban.
In a huge gamble with the lives of British troops in Afghanistan, Mr Cameron agreed to spend millions more on a centre of excellence for the country’s soldiers and spies near Peshawar, a hotbed of militancy.
The gesture came after Mr Cameron sparked a diplomatic rift last year when he accused the country of ‘looking both ways’ on terrorism.
The technology deal sparked fears that the Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI, would hand details to the Taliban, enabling them to build more effective improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
The huge cash injection for schools by the Department for International Development will make Pakistan the UK’s biggest recipient of overseas aid.
It is designed to get four million children into the classroom – 17million currently get no schooling. Pakistan spends just 1.5 per cent of its national income on schools but is placing billion-pound orders for six Chinese submarines and 36 fighter aircraft.
The UK will have no control of the curriculum in schools receiving funding, meaning taxpayers could see their money pumped into madrassas peddling extremism.
Mr Cameron defended the payments, saying it was ‘in our interest’ to help Pakistan. He said: ‘If Pakistan is a success we’ll have a good friend to trade and invest and deal with. ‘If we fail we’ll have all the problems of migration, of extremism, problems that we don’t want to see. So it’s in our interest that Pakistan succeeds.’
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said he believed a ‘root cause’ of terrorism was illiteracy.
But Tory MP Philip Davies said: ‘Particularly at the moment when we’ve got no money, there’s absolutely no justification for increasing the amounts that we give to other countries. ‘That is especially the case with countries that can afford to spend billions on defence. If they can afford submarines they can afford to educate their own people. ‘We need to concern ourselves with our own schools because countries around the world are overtaking us in educational attainment.’
In a speech to university students, Mr Cameron vowed to get over the ‘tensions’ sparked by his comments last year and create a ‘new start’ in relations with Pakistan. But he also said Pakistan had to raise taxes and stamp out corruption to justify British generosity. ‘Understandably, the British people want to know every penny we spend is going to the right places.
‘I need to convince them that it is. But my job is made more difficult when people in Britain look at Pakistan, a country that receives millions of pounds of our aid money, and see weaknesses in terms of government capacity and waste.’
Mr Cameron, who was accompanied on his one-day visit by Tory party chairman Baroness Warsi, who is of Pakistani origin, ducked questions about whether he could guarantee that the ISI will not hand the anti-IED technology to the Taliban.
Britain's Labour Party government put mediocrity ahead of bright children
Labour institutionalised mediocrity in schools by encouraging teachers to neglect capable pupils, according to an analysis of GCSE results. Teachers focused their attention on bumping-up pupils from a grade D to a C in order to improve their ranking in school league tables.
Meanwhile those youngsters who were considered bright enough to get a grade B or higher at GCSE have been neglected. And those at the bottom of the pile – who would take too much work to get to grade C – have been consigned to the scrap heap, according to research by the think tank Policy Exchange.
The analysis of GCSE grades from 2000 to 2009 shows the proportion of pupils getting A*, A and B grades has remained static while the number achieving a C grade has soared by 25 per cent. This is the first time the practice, which has become so ingrained that it is even incorporated in teachers’ manuals, has been illustrated in an authoritative study of GCSE results.
One manual reminds maths teachers: ‘Students who achieve a GCSE grade C or above in mathematics help to boost the school’s statistics and so show the school in a better light for Ofsted and for league tables.’ As a result schools have failed to help hundreds of thousands of bright pupils better their chances in life, the report suggests.
Professor Deborah Eyre, author of the study, said: ‘Children who try harder do better. But because of a fear of appearing “elitist”, pupils are not being encouraged to put in the effort which will bring about excellence. ‘We need an approach which will recognise and nurture signs of high performance in every subject – both academic and vocational. ‘There are many more pupils capable of high performance than we currently recognise.’
Schools watchdog Ofsted has found that some 46 per cent of students do not feel they are intellectually challenged at school.
James Groves, of Policy Exchange, added: ‘Schools need a focus on high achievement. If we are to produce enough skilled adults who will be able to compete in a vastly tougher global economy, then we cannot afford to waste any potential at all. ‘Just being able to master basic skills is no longer enough. We need a workforce that can take on anyone in the world and beat them.’
A lot of hot air: Wind farms 'working at just 21% of capacity'
Britain's wind farms produce far less electricity than their supporters claim – and cannot be relied upon to keep the lights on, a study from a conservation charity showed yesterday.
A damning report from the John Muir Trust found the UK’s heavily subsidised wind farms were working at just 21 per cent of capacity last year. Yet the renewable energy industry claims their turbines work at 28 to 30 per cent efficiency on average.
The Trust also found that for extended periods all the UK’s wind turbines linked to the National Grid muster less than 20 megawatts of energy at a given point, enough power for fewer than 7,000 households to boil their kettles.
Stuart Young, author of the report, said: ‘Over the two-year period studied, the wind farms in the UK consistently generated far less energy than wind proponents claim is typical. ‘Sadly, wind power is not what it’s cracked up to be and cannot contribute greatly to energy security in the UK.’
The UK has more than 3,100 working wind turbines. According to the wind industry, they are capable of generating more than 5.2 gigawatts of electricity – enough for nearly three million homes. Another 10,000 are planned for the next decade to meet EU climate change targets.
The report covered the output of around half of the UK’s turbines. The rest supply local grids and their output is not included in day by day figures.
Industry body RenewableUK said the report was incomplete. It said onshore wind farms worked at 27.6 per cent capacity between 2006 and 2009 and offshore at 31.1 per cent.
Graduate left brain damaged as 'scared' 999 crew refused to enter home for two hours
Health bureaucracy bungles never stop in Britain
A medical researcher was left with severe brain damage after she was forced to wait nearly two hours for paramedics – who were parked just 100 yards away. Caren Paterson, 33, had collapsed in the bedroom of her London flat and was beginning to breathe abnormally when her boyfriend dialled 999.
He told the emergency operator that his girlfriend had fallen unconscious, that her lips had turned blue and that she was in need of urgent medical help to save her life. But because the address had been red-flagged as ‘high risk’ by the ambulance service, a crew just seconds away was ordered to wait for a police escort before attending.
During the catastrophic delay that followed, Miss Paterson’s boyfriend rang 999 a further two times but still no help arrived. By the time paramedics did reach Miss Paterson her brain had been starved of oxygen, causing permanent damage, and she had also suffered cardiac arrest. She survived but is now living in a specialist hospital and is in need of round-the-clock care.
Yesterday, after a lengthy legal battle by her family, the London Ambulance Service admitted 11 separate breaches of duty and agreed to pay for Miss Paterson’s ongoing care.
But last night her mother, Eleanor Paterson, from Warkworth, Northumberland, said: ‘Nothing will return our daughter to the way we knew her. The thought of an ambulance crew sitting waiting while my daughter lay in her flat as her condition went from serious to life-threatening, causing irreparable damage to her brain, is still shocking. ‘Although I appreciate fully that the emergency services have guidelines in place, I now know that there were further procedures that should have been followed and, if they had been, my daughter would have received the treatment she needed.’
The case comes after the health and safety rules were roundly condemned at the inquests into the 2005 July 7 bombings and last year’s Cumbrian gun massacre. Under the controversial guidelines, all paramedics must wait at ‘safe rendezvous points’ for a police escort before entering potentially threatening areas or addresses. The Home Secretary, Theresa May, has been urged to conduct an immediate review into the policy.
Last night Miss Paterson’s lawyer, John Davis, said he believed her property’s place on the high-risk register may have related to a former occupant or even a different flat. ‘It is particularly heart-breaking for Miss Paterson’s family to know that an emergency response team was in very close proximity to her but unable to give her the crucial treatment she needed,’ he said.
‘The emergency crews eventually arrived 102 minutes after the first 999 call – but even then there was nobody senior enough on hand to administer the treatment that Miss Paterson needed. It is imperative that people in Miss Paterson’s condition are treated as quickly as possible – even seconds can make a huge difference, let alone over an hour and a half. ‘The emergency services had been made abundantly aware of the seriousness of her condition yet failed on several levels to handle the situation in accordance with their own guidelines.
‘But for these failings and contraventions, Miss Paterson would have received appropriate medical treatment sooner, would have been taken to A&E sooner, and consequently would not have suffered the injuries she did.’
Miss Paterson, who had been working as a researcher at London’s King’s College Hospital, collapsed at her flat in Islington, North London, on the afternoon of October 27, 2007. The reason for her collapse is still unclear.
Because police had previously been called to the Hargrave Road address, it was flagged up as being on the High Risk Address Register and the ambulance crew was told to wait for a police escort. There were no police available at that time so the emergency medical team parked up just 100 yards from her flat and waited for almost two hours. Miss Paterson suffered a cardiac arrest at around 3.15pm, five minutes before police and the ambulance team finally arrived.
An LAS spokesman said: ‘We would like again to offer our sincere apologies to Caren Paterson and to her family. ‘We carried out a detailed investigation into the circumstances of the incident and we have accepted liability for the shortcomings in the care that was provided.’
Top doctors warn of second-rate NHS as Cameron admits Government was wrong to 'charge ahead' with reforms
Seriously ill patients have become victims of ‘neglect’ as surgeons focus on meeting waiting list targets, leading emergency doctors have warned.
Presidents of medical associations have demanded ministers revisit the targets so NHS patients receive ‘the highest levels of supportive care’. They argue that surgeons have been pressurised into focusing on meeting waiting list targets for planned operations, but although waiting times have been reduced in recent years, it has come ‘at the cost of relative neglect of the needs of the patients admitted as emergencies’.
The criticisms will raise further concerns about Government plans for NHS reforms, which critics say will harm the health service.
Yesterday, David Cameron announced the Government had been wrong to ‘charge ahead’ with NHS reform. Mr Cameron, speaking at an NHS hospital in Surrey with his deputy Nick Clegg and Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, offered a series of concessions over the Coalition’s controversial plans to axe swathes of NHS management and put GPs in charge of commissioning services.
He signalled that hospital doctors would get places on the boards of new GP commissioning groups, while the Lib Dems are demanding local councillors are also included. He also said there would be further amendments to the shake-up if health professionals came forward with suggestions.
In a letter to a national newspaper, the presidents of the Royal College of Surgeons, the College of Emergency Medicine and other associations said that those in most need are having their surgery ‘squeezed in at the end of the day’. The doctors wrote: ‘People presenting to hospital with potentially life-threatening problems are entitled to receive the best possible treatment, right from the start of their hospital stay.’ But many patients are often sent to ‘inappropriate wards’ where their needs cannot be properly met, they said.
Slashing waiting times became a priority for the NHS after Labour came to power in 1997. Tony Blair’s government promised to take 100,000 patients off the waiting lists, and introduced a target that NHS patients should be treated within 18 weeks of being referred by a GP. These rules were scrapped by the Coalition but patients can still demand to be treated within this time under the NHS Constitution.
About 4.2million surgical procedures are carried out on the NHS in England, according to the Royal College of Surgeons. Almost half the workload is thought to be emergency operations.
Emergency surgery is often thought of as treating people involved in traumatic incidents, but much of the workload is helping elderly people suffering from sudden abdominal pain. Operations to relieve blockages are frequently complex and lengthy. Planned operations, such as hip and knee surgery, cataract removal or hernias, can also turn into emergencies if there are complications.
The letter states: ‘In many surgical departments the on-call team is not freed from other commitments and has elective operating lists and clinics, leaving emergency patients to be squeezed in at the end of the day. ‘Surgeons know the service could be much better,’ the doctors say.
The letter is signed by the president of the Royal College of Surgeons, John Black, as well as the presidents of the College of Emergency Medicine, the British Orthopaedic Association, the Intensive Care Society and the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery in Great Britain and Ireland.
We've 'lost' 74,500 asylum seekers in UK admits border chief
Officials have lost track of nearly 75,000 asylum seekers – and are giving up hope of ever finding them. Hundreds of thousands of case files were discovered in boxes at the Home Office more than five years ago in a major immigration scandal.
Last night the acting head of the UK Border Agency said staff will finish processing the backlog of more than 400,000 in July. But Jonathan Sedgwick was forced to admit fewer than one in ten of those has been identified and successfully deported. More than 161,000 have been given the right to stay in Britain, some of whom may have committed criminal offences. Many will have acquired the right as result of staying here for so long because of delays in dealing with their status.
Some 74,500 cases have been placed in a ‘controlled archive’ after officials could find ‘no trace’ of their existence, Mr Sedgwick said. More than 120,000 have been written off as errors or duplicates, and a total of 36,000 have been removed from the country or left voluntarily.
The handling of the backlog emerged as Mr Sedgwick gave evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee.
Committee chairman Keith Vaz said: ‘It seems that 74,500 of these cases are people who have in effect gone missing, you don’t know where they are. Although you have cleared your backlog, you have taken 74,500 of these cases and stuck them in the controlled archive room.
‘Then you have granted indefinite leave to 40 per cent of the 400,000. How is that clearing the backlog and achieving the Government’s target of reducing immigration?’
Astonishingly, Mr Sedgwick said some of the missing asylum seekers ‘might have died’. He said: ‘It was absolutely not the case that we have closed the door and forgotten about them. ‘We have checked every single one of them against databases to see if there is any track of them. The conclusion of that may be that they have left the country – some of them might have died.’
He admitted some given the right to stay may have committed criminal offences, but could not say how many. He denied that allowing them to remain in the UK amounted to an ‘amnesty’ for asylum seekers, saying: ‘I don’t accept that it’s an amnesty.
‘We have removed very substantial numbers – 36,000 people have been removed as a result of this programme – but as a result of the passage of time additional rights accrue.’
An audit of the asylum backlog in 2006 estimated it could be as high as 283,000 cases – a figure dismissed by Labour ministers. However, a further audit revealed the total was between 400,000 and 450,000. Then home secretary John Reid set the target of clearing the backlog within five years.
Cases placed in the archive are checked against 19 watch lists and databases. If no match is found within six months, the case is considered concluded.
Last month a National Audit Office report found officials had ‘no idea’ where 180,000 migrants whose visas have expired since December 2008 were.
Britain's gilded political elite, hypocrisy and the death of social mobility
So here we go again. Making Britain fairer and improving social mobility, declared Nick Clegg before his bid to stamp out unpaid internships blew up in his face, is the Government’s ‘overriding mission’. Life, he said, should be about ‘what you know, not who you know’. You wonder, though, whether he thinks that principle should apply to politicians, as well as to the rest of us.
Within hours the Deputy Prime Minister was fighting off accusations of hypocrisy, with critics pointing out that he got his first internship after intervention from his father, the head of the United Trust Bank. Even his first job only came after Lord Carrington, a family friend, put in a good word with the European Commissioner Leon Brittan.
There is no doubt that the death of social mobility in modern Britain, one of the most unequal societies in Europe, is a matter of extreme urgency. But with their loose talk of imposing quotas for state school pupils on universities, and their ham-fisted efforts to crack down on internships, our political masters are in danger of turning a desperately serious issue into a farce.
Behind the fuss of the past few days, however, lies a deeper and more troubling reality. For Mr Clegg is far from unusual: inside Westminster’s gilded Oxbridge elite, his CV looks positively normal. Indeed, if Mr Clegg wants to see the principle of ‘who you know’ in operation, he should take a look at the self-satisfied faces around the Cabinet table.
He might ask the Chancellor, George Osborne, how he landed his job at Conservative Central Office after leaving Oxford — the answer being that his pal George Bridges, a political journalist, put in a good word for him.
Then there is the Prime Minister, who once claimed that he got ahead through ‘sharp elbows’, but who actually owes his rise almost entirely to birth, breeding and contacts. Even before going up to Oxford, David Cameron had worked as a researcher for a Tory MP — who just happened to be his godfather. He got his job in PR at Carlton Television through his mother-in-law, Lady Astor, who asked the TV mogul Michael Grade to give him a break. Most famously, he got his job at the Conservative Research Department only after an anonymous phone call from Buckingham Palace. ‘I am ringing to tell you,’ the mysterious caller said, ‘that you are about to meet a truly remarkable young man.’
Look across the House of Commons, though, and the story is no better. Absurd though it now seems, there was once a time when the Labour Party called itself the People’s Party, its benches crammed with former miners and manual workers. These days its leader, Ed Miliband, is the son of a Marxist academic, bred in the high-minded intellectual salons of North London and educated, naturally, at Oxford. His first experience of work was as an intern for Tony Benn, who, yet again, just happened to be a family friend.
As for Labour’s deputy leader, Harriet Harman, it is the same old story. Her uncle, the Earl of Longford, was a Labour minister under Clement Attlee and Harold Wilson. And Harman herself, the self-proclaimed champion of equality, actually went to St Paul’s Girls’ School, one of the most exclusive establishments in the country.
For those of us who wish that our political classes actually represented the people, this is a sorry tale indeed. But it merely reflects a wider picture. Between 1964 and 1997, not only had every British Prime Minister been educated at a grammar school, but many came from distinctly humble working-class backgrounds. Yet out of 119 Coalition ministers today, 66 per cent went to public schools, compared with only 7 per cent of the general public.
And only last year, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development found that one revealing indicator of social mobility — the difference between parents’ and children’s incomes — is worse in Britain than almost anywhere else in Europe.
For anybody who wants to live in a fair and aspirational society, these figures are a source of deep shame. What is really damning, though, is not only that inequality actually got worse during New Labour’s 13 years, but that the Coalition seems intent on repeating the last government’s mistakes.
The hypocrisy of privileged politicians haranguing the rest of us about ‘sharp elbows’ is bad enough. To make matters worse, they seem convinced that merely by announcing some new ‘initiative’ — the political equivalent of waving a magic wand — they can somehow make everything right.
This internships business is a case in point. Although they are abused by those lucky enough to have connections, unpaid internships are a symptom, not a cause, of a deeper social imbalance. Forcing companies to hold competitions and interviews would merely scratch the surface of the problem.
Even more alarming are the Coalition’s threats to our top universities. Now that their tuition-fee reforms have turned into an outright fiasco, with universities queuing up to charge the maximum £9,000, Nick Clegg and Vince Cable have started muttering about forcing institutions to admit lower-achieving students from poor backgrounds.
All this is irresistibly reminiscent of Gordon Brown’s boorish behaviour during the Laura Spence affair, when he complained that Oxford academics had discriminated against a bright working-class girl from the North-East. Later, it emerged that she merely lost out to equally brilliant candidates from a wide range of backgrounds.
In fact, both Oxford and Cambridge already expend vast efforts on access schemes to encourage applications from poor children in state schools, as do many other top universities.
The fact is that like internships, universities merely reflect society’s existing inequalities. Turning them into blunt instruments of social engineering, as the Coalition seems determined to do, would merely pervert and destroy some of the few world-class institutions we have left.
In any case, as far as social mobility itself is concerned, all this is basically irrelevant. If the Government really wants a fair and mobile society, it should forget about channelling young people into pointless Media Studies degrees and concentrate on two things: schools and jobs.
As David Davis, one of the few Tory MPs from a council-estate background, pointed out yesterday, our education system abjectly fails to provide opportunities for bright working-class children. And such views are not confined to the political Right. 'By getting rid of grammar schools politicians have forced upon the state sector a system of enforced downward mobility'
The Left-wing historian Tony Judt, who died last year, went to a grammar school in Wandsworth in the early 1960s. In his posthumous memoir, Judt wrote that the abolition of the grammar schools was one of the worst mistakes the Left ever made. ‘Intent on destroying the selective state schools that afforded my generation a first-rate education at public expense,’ he wrote, ‘politicians have forced upon the state sector a system of enforced downward mobility.’
It was a disgrace, this old socialist added, that the gap between private and state schools was greater than at any time since the Forties. And it was no wonder given that imbalance, he thought, that the Coalition Cabinet is dominated by public schoolboys.
But schools are only half the battle. What really ensured social mobility during the relatively golden years of the Fifties and Sixties was the fact that working-class children went into decent jobs in manufacturing industries, where they could work their way up the ladder. The dignity of work may be a mystery to some of our MPs. But it made a real difference to millions of lives in the post-war decades, offering a chance for ordinary people to get on.
Not all of these people were socially mobile. Many were proud to call themselves working class. Honest, hard-working and productive, they were the backbone of Britain’s economy for decades, until our great industries collapsed in the Seventies and Eighties.
So if the Government is really serious about creating a fair society, it should cut out the social engineering initiatives, stop meddling with higher education, restore genuinely high standards to the state school system, and invest in apprenticeships and infrastructure to rebuild our manufacturing sector.
Give people a good education and make sure there will be decent jobs for them afterwards, and you are halfway to a truly egalitarian society.
Without those things, you can launch all the initiatives you want. But like most of our privileged politicians’ promises, none of them will be worth the paper they are written on.
Ministers promise a 'red tape revolution' to get rid of pointless rules and regulations in Britain
Good if it happens
David Cameron and Vince Cable will today invite people to rip up thousands of ‘pointless’ rules and regulations holding back enterprise.
The pair will promise a ‘red tape revolution’ in favour of small business, arguing regulations brought in over the last decade are costing as much as five per cent of national income.
Members of the public, businesses and voluntary organisations are being invited to tear up some of the 21,000 existing rules that are getting in their way.
Ministers have already identified a string of bizarre rules, including ones prohibiting the setting of a price when reselling a bed, restrictions on the sale of liqueur-flavoured chocolates and a four-second time limit on the sounding of ice cream van chimes.
They say many regulations are widely ignored, while others are badly designed and should have been scrapped years ago.
The Prime Minister last night wrote to all Cabinet ministers telling them they have three months to explain why a regulation in their area is still required, or it will be scrapped.
Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Mr Cable will tell the British Chambers of Commerce annual conference today that he realised wars on red tape were ‘as old a theme as regulation itself’.
But he will insist: ‘We want to be the first government in history to leave office having reduced the overall burden of regulation, not increased it.’
‘The problem is that to the experienced practitioner – from the civil servant drafting the language, through the inspector visiting premises, down to the lawyers weighing in during a dispute, the rules can seem to make sense,’ he will add.
‘For people whose job is regulation, there doesn’t seem to be a problem. And if they are the only people we talk to, we won’t see the problem, and it will just get worse.
‘That is why we are launching a website to contact directly the people who understand best what the costs of regulation are. In other words, you. ‘We shall display, sector by sector, the stock of regulations on the basis that if it cannot be justified it should lapse.
‘Surely, within the 21,000 statutory instruments we counted there are regulations that have come to their natural end. Do we really need regulations as specific as the ‘Indication of Price (Beds) Order’? ‘The presumption will be clear: regulations will be presumed guilty unless proven innocent.’
The coalition has implemented a three-year moratorium on any new regulation from any government department affecting firms with ten employees or fewer. Sunset clauses, introducing a built-in time-limit, are to be included in any new regulations.
The initiative came as Nick Clegg’s plans to encourage new fathers to take more time off work came under attack from Mr Cameron’s former adviser on red tape.
Former Tory Cabinet minister Lord Young of Graffham said the plans to allow fathers to take up to 10 months of paternity leave if the mother goes back to work would be damaging for small businesses.
He said: ‘You don’t have to make (maternity leave) interchangeable. Why should men take time off?
‘No, they can leave things how they are. What I would think would be extremely difficult is to have extended leave going to the men as well.’
Earlier this year Mr Clegg said existing rules on paternity leave ‘patronise women and marginalise men’. He said parents should be free to divide up parental leave between them as they see fit.
New rules allowing parents to share up to six months of parental leave came into force last weekend. Mr Clegg wants to extend this to allow fathers to take up to 10 months off.
But businesses have warned that the new system will place a huge burden on them. A survey by the British Chambers of Commerce found that more than half of firms thought the new parental leave rules would be ‘detrimental’ to their business.
RED TAPE MADNESS
* The Indication of Prices (Beds) order 1978 which prevents people from specifying a price when re-selling a bed; Article 2 of the Order states that “a person who indicates that a bed is or may be for sale by him shall not indicate a price at which another person buying it may sell it”.
* Code of Practice on Noise from Ice Cream Van Chimes, 1982 makes it an offence to sound chimes for longer than four seconds at a time, more often than once every three minutes, when the vehicle is stationary, when in sight of another ice-cream van which is trading, within 50 metres of schools (during school hours), hospitals, and places of worship (on Sundays and any other recognised days of worship).
* The Licensing Act 2003 which prevents people under 16 years of age buying liqueur chocolate;
* The Amendment to the 1967 Wireless Telegraphy Act 1967 which obliges retailers to notify TV Licensing of any sales or rentals of television sets;
* The Pedal bicycles (safety) regulations 2010 which compel all bikes sold in the UK to be fitted with a bell; and
* Various orders prohibiting companies from ‘Trading with the Enemy’ dating from when countries like French Indo-China were enemies.
As staff walk out at a school plagued by violent pupils, teachers who dared to confront thugs in classrooms across Britain reveal how THEY were the ones to be punished
Staff at a struggling secondary school who are today staging a walk-out in protest of an escalating wave of verbal and physical abuse from pupils have won support from a teacher who made a similarly strong stand against classroom indiscipline.
Beleaguered teachers at the Darwen Vale High School in Blackburn, Lancs, overwhelmingly voted to go on strike in protest at what they see as the lack of support from senior management in dealing with pupils’ challenging behaviour. The children had been pushing, shoving and constantly swearing, leaving hard-pressed staff at the end of their tether.
Last month, a disciplinary hearing decreed that Michael Becker, 63, a teacher with an ‘exemplary’ record, should be allowed to return to the profession he loves despite an earlier conviction for assaulting a pupil. Mr Becker, 63, of Stutton, Suffolk, who reacted firmly to an unruly pupil, said: ‘I have enormous sympathy for these teachers who daily run the gauntlet of rowdy and aggressive children. I applaud their action.’
Two years ago, Mr Becker was fined £1,500 and ordered to pay £1,875 costs by Suffolk magistrates who believed the account of a disruptive 13-year-old who was in his class. The boy said the teacher had used unreasonable force to eject him from a lesson. Mr Becker has always contested that he had merely grabbed the boy by his belt and sweatshirt and removed him to a nearby storeroom when he refused — after repeated warnings — to stop telling particularly offensive and inflammatory racist jokes and leave the classroom.
When, last month, the General Teaching Council ruled that he could return to the classroom, Mr Becker said: ‘I’m delighted. I feel I’ve been vindicated. I just cannot describe the relief. I believe common sense has, at last, prevailed.’
And so, it would seem, do his many supporters. Roland Gooding, the former headteacher at the special school where Mr Becker gave ‘exemplary’ service for more than three decades, told the tribunal he ‘would not hesitate’ to employ Mr Becker again — adding public interest would not be served if he was forbidden from teaching.
At a time when schools are experiencing shortages of science and maths teachers, it would indeed seem a folly to ban Mr Becker from teaching, as he is a specialist in both.
His other passion is music: the school band, which he set up and ran, made ten albums — the proceeds of which went to charity — and appeared on television. In recognition of this laudable work, Mr Becker and his wife Ilona, 62, a retired secretary — who are parents to a grown-up son and daughter, and grandparents — attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace.
However, Mr Becker acknowledges that he did ‘overstep the mark’. He has also expressed genuine apologies and regret. But he would like to see the law clarified so other teachers fully understand what constitutes ‘reasonable’ force in removing disruptive pupils from lessons.
For his experience is not a one-off. It is replicated on a daily basis in classrooms throughout Britain, where teachers are expected to exercise almost saintly forbearance when confronted with pupils’ insolence, foul language and rowdyness.
‘All the power is with the children now,’ says Mr Becker. ‘Indiscipline is rampant and it seems to be a mark of honour to bring down a teacher.’ Mr Becker believes his experience is an extension of the barmy extremes of political correctness that currently hamstring every aspect of school life: the ludicrous health-and-safety zealotry that dictates pupils can’t make collages out of old eggboxes or loo roll holders any more for fear of contracting salmonella or ingesting germs; the nannying that forbids conker fights; and the absurd ‘risk assessment’ exercises that precede every trip outside the school gates.
Moreover, today’s discipline strategies are short-changing the diligent — an inequity not lost on Mr Becker. ‘Pupils stroll round classrooms as if teachers don’t exist,’ he says. ‘The boy I reprimanded was using his mobile and telling racist jokes. He was being unbearably insolent. It infuriated me that he was denying the other pupils their entitlement to learn without disruption, so I removed him.’ He adds: ‘Teachers should be allowed to teach. It’s a scandal that the system has forsaken those who want to learn.
‘My colleagues are constantly struggling with disrespectful and sometimes violent pupils. I know of one teacher, in a middle school, who is told to ‘f*** off’ 20 times a day. While other countries — many in Asia — are ascending the educational league tables, we are sliding down them.’
While parents would once support teachers’ efforts to discipline their children, now they are more likely to collude with their unruly offspring against their teachers.
Rita Burgess (not her current name), 55, teaches at a primary school in a deprived area of Liverpool. Her experience proves just how skewed in favour of children’s ‘rights’ the system has become. A year ago, two of her nine-year-old pupils were brawling in the classroom. She intervened to separate them. One of the children then ccused Mrs Burgess of assault, claiming she had strangled him.
The entire incident had been witnessed by the school’s assistant head, who testified that Mrs Burgess had merely broken up the fight. Had common sense prevailed the incident would have ended there, with a stiff reprimand and sanctions for the pupils.
But it didn’t. Preposterous though it seems, it was Mrs Burgess — a teacher with an unblemished record and 23 years experience — who was put through the wringer.
‘The headteacher said he could not take my word, which was corroborated by the assistant head, about what had happened,’ says Mrs Burgess. ‘He said if he did so, the parents would assume I’d colluded with my colleague to take sides against the children.’
What happened next is the stuff of nightmare. Mrs Burgess was suspended from her post for six weeks while the head carried out his investigation. In the time it took to accrue evidence — which exonerated Mrs Burgess unequivocally — she began to suffer from depression. ‘It was terribly stressful. I thought I was going to lose my job,’ she says. ‘Worst of all was the sense of utter betrayal.
Presumably the headteacher was obeying “procedures”, but we’ve now reached the point where heads are so frightened of litigation they give more credence to the word of children than to the testimony of two responsible adults.
There have been many instances of older pupils who’ve conspired against teachers and told lies just to get rid of them.’
Mrs Burgess’ experience is commonplace. It is replicated in schools all over Britain and it indicates how the ‘human rights’ of unruly pupils are trampling over the far more compelling right of the well-behaved to be educated.....
Mrs Burgess’ comments strike a chord with Basil Howard, a former head of religious education at a Midlands comprehensive. Mr Howard, dismayed by the daily verbal assaults on him by pupils, left the profession suffering from stress to become a social worker. He says: ‘I took my job seriously. I was a good, imaginative teacher. Even so, unruliness in the classroom was routine.
‘Pupils would wander aimlessly around, the more disruptive of them swinging Tarzan-like from the curtains. ‘“Mr Howard is a ****” was engraved indelibly by penknife and ink into desks. And I was expected to suffer this in silence. “You are a useless w***** and RE is pathetic,” was a typical torment.’
Like Mrs Burgess, Mr Howard notes that today even the most unruly pupils are indulged because they have ‘conditions’ that warrant quasi-scientific labels. ‘I believe the rot set in when teachers’ obligation to maintain discipline was undermined by pupils’ rights,’ he says.
‘Kids who are simply too idle to work are now excused because they have “learning difficulties”. My years as a social worker have taught me that children genuinely afflicted are, in fact, a tiny minority.
‘Moreover, teachers have become afraid to damage the fragile sensibilities of their pupils and school reports are so cloaked by euphemism that they are meaningless. What happened to the short, sharp shock of the one-liner? “Must do better” and, “An awful performance” leave no room for doubt or misinterpretation. ‘The pendulum has swung too far in favour of tolerance and acceptance.’
Small wonder, then, that so many pupils, denied boundaries and discipline at home, have no sense of the meaning of such out-moded values as respect, diligence, reliability and courtesy.
Doctors from EU twice as likely to blunder than those trained in Britain
Doctors from the EU are twice as likely to be struck off as those who trained in Britain. They stand a much higher chance of being disciplined by the General Medical Council over serious concerns that they are putting patients’ lives at risk.
The findings are further evidence that patient safety is being put in the hands of overseas doctors whose training is not up to scratch.
Last week it emerged that a Nigerian doctor who qualified in Italy had been allowed to work in 14 English hospitals although he could not perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and did not understand basic medical terms.
There are particular concerns over the standards of doctors from Europe, as strict EU laws mean they cannot be tested on their competence or even ability to speak English as this would breach ‘freedom of movement of labour’ laws.
Researchers from Kings College, London, looked at almost 7,526 cases of doctors referred to the GMC between April 2006 and March 2008, including 624 from the EU and 2,190 who qualified outside the EU.
The findings, published online in the British Medical Journal, show that doctors who qualified elsewhere in the EU are 2.16 times more likely to be disciplined than their British counterparts, while the figure for those who trained elsewhere in the world is 1.48.
Migrant crime wave revealed: Foreign arrests in Britain have almost doubled in just THREE years
The number of foreign nationals arrested in Britain has almost doubled in just three years, police figures show. And the biggest rises are among rural forces, such as Kent and Cambridgeshire.
In the worst-affected rural areas, arrests of non-Britons have soared nearly four-fold since 2006.
A total of 91,234 foreign nationals were arrested last year on suspicion of crimes including murder, burglary and sex offences. In contrast, the figure for 2008 was 51,899 and 81,625 in 2009.
And the true number is likely to be much higher, as only 19 out of the 52 police forces provided the figures, in response to Freedom of Information requests.
For the country’s biggest force, the Metropolitan Police, foreign-national arrests more than doubled. Scotland Yard recorded 24,264 in 2008, but last year the total reached 58,870.
Critics blame surging migration for placing a huge burden on forces, which are already facing cuts. Peter Smyth, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said: ‘I’m not surprised it’s so high because London is getting more diverse by the day.
‘It’s a problem when you get someone in who can’t speak English and we wait hours for an expensive interpreter to hear their side of the story. Even in trivial cases where you might be giving a caution, officers could be off the street for five or six hours.’
Kent Police saw arrests rise from 1,075 in 2006 to 4,119 last year. Surrey Police recorded arrests going up from 1,959 in 2006 to 2,079 last year.
For Cambridgeshire Constabulary, these types of arrests rose from 3,316 in 2008 to 4,803 in 2010. In 2007 it made just 1,850. Durham Constabulary saw arrests rise from 65 in 2006 to 474 last year.
The rise comes despite an overall fall in crime recorded during the past five years.
In January 2008, Mike Fuller, then chief constable of Kent, warned that his force was struggling with an ‘immigrant crimewave’. He said surges in migrant numbers had contributed to sharp increases in violent crime.
An Association of Chief Police Officers spokesman said: ‘The growing number of new communities has certainly brought greater complexity to the pattern of crime and have contributed to already stretched resources.’
Hugh Robertson, Conservative MP for Mid Kent, said: ‘These figures are deeply concerning. Immigration is a key issue that many people in my constituency speak to me about and it’s a very emotive subject. It may be that the rise in arrests is linked to the mass increase in immigration but it’s hard to say for sure.’
Official figures show 5,235 foreign national prisoners were deported last year. Nearly one in seven of the 85,000 inmates in England and Wales was born overseas.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘When people commit a crime they should feel the full force of the law regardless of their nationality. We are committed to removing foreign law breakers from the UK.’
Pathetic! British PM says Britain caused many of the world's problems
It's bad enough for a Leftist leader like Obama to be disrespecting his own country but to have an alleged Conservative do it...!
Britain is responsible for many of the world’s historic problems, including the conflict in Kashmir between India and Pakistan, David Cameron has said.
The Prime Minister appeared to distance himself from the imperial past when he suggested that Britain was to blame for decades of tension and several wars over the disputed territory, as well as other global conflicts.
His remarks came on a visit to Pakistan, when he was asked how Britain could help to end the row over Kashmir. He insisted that it was not his place to intervene in the dispute, saying: “I don’t want to try to insert Britain in some leading role where, as with so many of the world’s problems, we are responsible for the issue in the first place.”
His remarks about Kashmir were greeted warmly by the audience of Pakistani students and academics, but drew accusations from historians that the Prime Minister was wrongly apologising for Britain’s past.
Daisy Cooper, the director of the Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit, said: “This is typical of the UK’s schizophrenic relationship with former colonies where it is both proud and embarrassed about its past. The Coalition has said that it has big ambitions for a modern Commonwealth and the UK should stop being embarrassed about its colonial past and they should work with other countries to help improve their human rights.”
Tristram Hunt, the Labour MP, historian and former television presenter, said: “To say that Britain is a cause of many of the world’s ills is naïve. To look back 50-odd years for the problems facing many post-colonial nations adds little to the understanding of the problems they face. “David Cameron has a tendency to go to countries around the world and tell them what they want to hear, whether it is in Israel, Turkey, India and Pakistan.”
Mr Cameron’s apparent willingness to accept historic responsibility for the Kashmir dispute has echoes of public apologies issued by his Labour predecessors. In 1997, Tony Blair apologised to the Irish people for the famine the country suffered in the mid-19th century. And in 2006, he spoke of his “deep sorrow” at Britain’s historic role in the African slave trade. In 2009, Gordon Brown issued a formal Government apology to tens of thousands of British children shipped to Australia and other Commonwealth countries between the 1920s and 1960s.
In the same year, Mr Cameron said that Britain should do more to celebrate its history, writing: “We must never forget that Britain is a great country with a history we can be truly proud of. Our culture, language and inventiveness has shaped the modern world.”
Sean Gabb, of the campaign group Libertarian Alliance, said Mr Cameron should not apologise for Britain’s past. He said: “It’s a valid historical point that some problems stem from British foreign policy in the 19th and 20th centuries, but should we feel guilty about that? I fail to see why we should.
“Some of these problems came about because these countries decided they did not want to be part of the British Empire. They wanted independence. They got it. They should sort out their problems instead of looking to us.”
Mr Cameron’s remark is striking because he has previously spoken of his pride in Britain’s past and named Viscount Palmerston as one of his historical inspirations. As foreign secretary and later prime minister in the mid-19th century, Palmerston was popular for his brazenly interventionist foreign policy, an approach that later became known as “gunboat diplomacy”.
Mr Cameron was in Pakistan to make amends for any offence he caused last year by accusing the country of “exporting” terrorism. Kashmir has been contested since 1947 when India was partitioned. The original borders were drawn up by Viscount Radcliffe, a law lord who became chairman of the two boundary committees set up with the passing of the Indian Independence Act. He submitted his partition in August 1947 and the two nations were created.
While some historians say that makes Britain responsible for the dispute, others point to Hari Singh, the Hindu ruler of Kashmir in 1947. Despite an expectation that Muslim areas of the subcontinent would become part of Pakistan, he decided that Muslim-majority Kashmir should be part of India.
Pakistan and India have fought three wars over Kashmir since partition, and the dispute continues to strain their relationship. On a visit to India last year, Mr Cameron was criticised when he said Britain should approach its former imperial possession “in a spirit of humility”.
As well as Kashmir, some historians say Britain bears historic responsibility for other international disputes. Many trace the Israel-Palestine dispute back to Britain’s decision in 1917 to establish a “national home for the Jewish people” in the territory then known as Palestine.
The borders of many Middle Eastern states were also drawn by Britain. The badly-defined and highly unstable border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan was also largely defined by Britain in the late 19th century.
Britain may have a Tory PM - but Lefties and luvvies still run the place
Over at Ofcom it is shrug-your-shoulders time. The broadcasting regulator had shown leniency to ‘edgy’ comedian Frankie Boyle after he made jibes about a disabled child — letting him off with no more than a rap on the knuckles.
Boyle’s remarks were made on Channel 4, another public body. Chairman David Abraham and the channel’s liberal supremos were similarly disinclined to take the matter too gravely.
In the House of Commons the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, was asked about the soppingly wet commission which will consider a Bill of Rights. It includes Leftist lawyers Anthony Lester, Helena Kennedy and Philippe Sands. Mr Clegg wafted aside concerns from Tory MP Esther McVey that the commission might not ‘reflect the will of the British public’.
Over on Twitter, meanwhile, millionaire actor and Labour supporter Eddie Izzard was regaling his faithful munchkins with his latest political apercus, attacking the Government’s cuts. What a tangled web!
This is not about Frankie Boyle, horrible though he sounds. Nor is it a beef about Ofcom, Channel 4 or Nick Clegg, richly though they may all deserve criticism.
I hope simply to draw attention to a lesson from these unrelated events. They all show the way that our politics is increasingly being influenced by unelected voices from the Left.
The country may have booted Labour out of power at the last general election, but the bien-pensant liberals remain very much in control. Though they liked to consider themselves ‘alternative’, they are in fact the Establishment, as set in their ways and as intolerant as the tailcoated elders of the Victorian age.
In the middle of the last century, public life in Britain was dominated by elected representatives. Ministers, chosen from the House of Commons, made most of the decisions. Royal commissions were rare. Procrastinating ‘consultation exercises’ were few and certainly not subject to the myriad equality audits and minority-balance assessments which today’s civil servants demand.
It is in such discussions that democratically elected politicians have their will emasculated.
Today’s politics, partly thanks to over-regulation and the deadly grip of lawyers, partly thanks to the timidity of so many MPs, is more about quangocrats and cronies — many of them still, sadly, Tony Blair’s.
We may think ourselves to be a modern, democratic land, but our public life is very much the plaything of the rich and famous, friends of the powerful, popular pin-ups.
It is about ‘celebrities’ seeking to establish themselves as concerned citizens. It is about an interfering, pro-public spending ‘third sector’ and former Blairites who still need to earn a few bob and therefore seek a perch on the public cliff-face.
Think of Blair’s ex-bag carrier Sally Morgan — his director of government relations — who has just, staggeringly, depressingly, been put in charge of Ofsted, the schools standards watchdog.
Think of Alan Milburn — the Health Secretary who resigned to spend more time with his family — being made the state’s independent authority on social mobility. Milburn! What a chancer he was as a minister.
In a few weeks’ time we will vote in a referendum on electoral reform which could alter Parliament for good. Given the effect that this referendum could have on our elected politics, you might have expected MPs to hurl themselves into the debate. But no.
The Yes To AV referendum campaign has been dominated by showbusiness personalities. Stephen Fry has been involved. Isn’t he always? So have Tony Robinson, who played Baldrick in TV’s Blackadder, Oscar winner Colin Firth, militant atheist Richard Dawkins (ugh) and dreadlocked poet Benjamin Zephaniah.
Poor old Zephaniah was dropped from some of the campaign’s leaflets in the Southern counties, though. Perhaps it was felt he was a bit black.
We had more of the same, unelected stuff when the No To AV campaign held its dismal little launch. On the stage sat Lord Winston, that telly scientist with the Groucho Marx moustache. ‘I am not a politician,’ he boasted (falsely, because he is a Labour peer and therefore a member of Parliament). Anything but an elected tribune, that was the mantra.
Hang on. Are politicians not voted in by us? Do we not choose them to represent us and to be accountable? How can an inadequate ‘star’ such as the impeccably Left-wing novelist Zadie Smith be held up to scrutiny when she appears on BBC Radio to rail against library closures? Other ‘names’ opposing changes to public libraries have included fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood, actress Dame Judi Dench and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Perhaps the Archbish’ was determined not to be outdone by atheist Philip Pullman, who has long made it his business to spout forth about public funding of libraries. The naughty thought enters my head that Mr Pullman’s books must do quite good business at libraries, but I am sure it would be quite wrong to suggest that he is supporting libraries purely for personal financial gain.
Arts Council cutbacks last week were another example of vicious cultural politics, conducted almost entirely away from Westminster and to the favour of the Left. The shenanigans involved the Council’s chairman, Dame Liz Forgan (who chairs the trust which runs the Guardian newspaper), and a slew of Left-wing luvvies, all united in a common belief that they have a God-given right to spend and waste taxpayers’ hard-earned money.
Actor Sam West, whose mother Prunella Scales (of Fawlty Towers fame) appears in Labour Party adverts, was leading the pack, making daft accusations that the Tories actually enjoyed cutting the arts. If a politician made that sort of ludicrous claim we could vote him or her out of office. When the likes of West do it, we are pretty much powerless to take issue with him.
On the same day, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s director, Michael Boyd, went on the BBC to compare the Daily Mail to the Soviet Union’s propaganda sheet Pravda. Why? Because we had argued that the country, regrettably, had no option but to reduce national debt. If anyone was behaving like a hardline communist, it was Mr Boyd and his cadre of subsidised, bourgeois privilege.
The unelected Leftist Establishment confronting the Cameron Government at present is a daunting edifice. It ranges from the new Supreme Court, serial naysayers to the elected Commons (the judges seem much keener on Europe), to essentially frivolous figures such as Shilpa Shetty, a Bollywood actress who appeared on Celebrity Big Brother. She demanded continued spending on the BBC’s Asian Network, even though it costs many millions of pounds. Is she not rich enough to fund it herself?
No discussion of pay is allowed to pass on the public airwaves without a contribution from Left-wing journalist Will Hutton. Scintillating he is not. Yet he is Left-wing, so on he goes. No debate about murdering despots passes without a contribution from the ultimate luvvie lawyer, Geoffrey Robertson QC.
Analysis of the health service is bent towards the views of The King’s Fund, allegedly independent but distinctly big-state in its views. The pink-tinged Institute For Public Policy Research think-tank has an unhealthy influence over Whitehall pensions policy.
And so it continues. The Left has been discredited at the ballot box, but its remit continues through unelected channels.
There are big guns such as the Local Government Association which opposes the cuts, and the Equality And Human Rights Commission, which uses public money to prosecute Christian hoteliers for refusing to rent rooms to gay couples.
And there are smaller fry such as athletes Denise Lewis and Dame Kelly Holmes, who opposed reductions in the tax money spent on school sport. Cyclist Jason Queally wrote to the Prime Minister ‘seeking an urgent meeting and demanding a rethink’ on that policy.
In an ideal world, Downing Street would ignore this carping chorus. In a Britain gripped by celebrity worship and run by headline-seeking politicians, unfortunately, they are listened to and allowed to set the agenda.
So far, David Cameron has appeased these people. Maybe he feels comfortable in their presence. Socially, he is ‘one of them’. They dress like him, eat the same sort of food, speak the same language, go to the same holiday destinations. Politically, however, they are a mortal danger, not only to the Government (which they hate), but also to our continued sovereign power.
If Britain is going to conquer the peril of its national debt and become competitive in the 21st century it is going to have to shake off this sly, unelected and deeply unrepresentative elite, and the sooner the better.
Save the planet by having fewer babies, says BBC presenter
The old Zero Population Growth nonsense lives on
BBC wildlife expert Chris Packham has warned the only way to protect the future of the planet is to curb population growth. The Springwatch presenter suggested offering Britons tax breaks to encourage them to have smaller families. He effectively endorsed China's controversial one-child policy, which sees couples who adhere to the rule given a lump sum on retirement.
But he stopped short of suggesting people should be penalised for having too many children.
Packham, 49, who has no children of his own, told Radio Times: `By 2020, there are going to be 70million people in Britain. Let's face it, that's too many.' He added: `There's no point bleating about the future of pandas, polar bears and tigers when we're not addressing the one single factor that's putting more pressure on the ecosystem than any other - namely the ever-increasing size of the world's population.'
Packham suggested offering couples a financial incentive as `a carrot' to persuade them to have fewer - or no - children. He said: `I would offer them tax breaks for having small families: say, 10 per cent off your tax bill if you decide to stick with just one child. And an even bigger financial incentive if you choose not to have a family at all.
`I question the way, for example, people have two children with one partner, then split up and have two with their next partner, just to even up the score. Fact is, we all eat food, breathe air and require space, and the more of us there are, the less of those commodities there are for other people and, of course, for the animals.'
Although Packham does not have children of his own, he is helping an ex-girlfriend raise her 16-year-old daughter. He said: `I consider it one of the great privileges of my life to play a part in her upbringing, and would happily throw myself in front of a train to protect her. `It doesn't bother me one bit that she doesn't share my genes. `In fact, I do not now (have) - and never have had - any desire whatsoever to reproduce myself.'
Experts have predicted that the British population - which is currently around 62million - will increase to 70million by 2029. A report by the sustainable development group Forum For The Future said Britain would struggle to handle such growth. The increase in population would be `catastrophic' and put unsustainable pressure on housing, schools and hospitals as well as natural resources. Current trends will see a city the size of Bristol added to the population of the UK every year for the next two decades.
Packham, who presents new BBC2 show The Animal's Guide To British Wildlife, was also critical of the nation's reliance on cheap supermarket produce and fast food. `The public expect cheap food as a right, and we aren't prepared to pay the prices farmers need in order to provide quality food. `We should insist on buying locally grown food and be prepared to pay for it.
`As for the hard-pressed mum who says she's not got the time or money, I'm sorry, but making her children good, nutritious food should be her priority. `Everyone knows we've got the most obese kids in the world. `Besides which, giving them fast food actually works out more expensive than cooking them a proper meal.'
British school on the verge of a breakdown: Teachers set to walk out over pupil misbehaviour
Teachers at a struggling secondary school will stage a walk-out tomorrow in protest at a wave of verbal and physical assaults from pupils. Staff at Darwen Vale High School voted overwhelmingly to go on strike in protest at the lack of support they say they have received from senior management.
The threat came the day after Education Secretary Michael Gove announced a ‘back to basics’ crackdown on bad behaviour which he said was rife in too many schools.
Yesterday parents told how children at Darwen Vale in Blackburn, Lancashire, had been staging a low-level rebellion, challenging teachers to fights, pushing and shoving them and constantly swearing.
Problems are thought to have begun after the school moved to temporary premises during a £22million rebuild under Labour’s now discredited Building Schools for the Future programme.
Some teachers have allegedly been the subject of malicious allegations by pupils trying to get them suspended, while teenagers have been filming lessons on their mobile phones and threatening to post the footage on the internet.
As a result, lessons are expected to be cancelled tomorrow for all 1,150 pupils as staff form a picket line outside the school’s temporary premises. In a ballot, 95 per cent of the school’s 31 National Union of Teachers members voted in favour of the strike. Two thirds of the 29 members of the National Association of Schoolteachers/Union of Women Teachers also voted to walk out.
Parents said teachers had been complaining of a dramatic deterioration in behaviour and lack of respect since the school moved to near a former council estate. One father said: ‘It’s not the best school and there are a lot of badly behaved pupils. I’m not surprised the teachers are striking – I wouldn’t want their job.’
NAS/UWT Lancashire representative John Girdley said: ‘We sincerely hope that changes can be implemented as a matter of urgency in order to allow the staff of the school to continue to deliver the high standard of education which our pupils deserve.’
But Darwen Vale head teacher Hilary Torpey said the problem had been vastly exaggerated. In a letter to parents, she wrote: ‘It is unfortunate that matters that were being dealt with by the school about appropriate behaviour and ways of managing it have been made public in this way and blown out of all proportion.’
She said the school, which had a ‘good’ pupil behaviour rating following an Ofsted inspection in June, had been revisited by auditors following the claims and they had again been ‘highly complimentary’.
The behaviour at Darwen Vale has a long way to go before it reaches the depths of violence and anarchy that blighted what was dubbed Britain’s worst school.
The Ridings in Halifax gained notoriety in the 1990s amid shocking accounts including a 14-year-old boy fondling a French teacher’s breasts in front of a class. In 1996, teachers voted to strike unless 61 pupils were expelled. Two ‘superheads’ were appointed and they mollified staff by expelling 12 students and suspending 21. By 1998, Ofsted inspectors reported a ‘remarkable transformation’, but the school slipped back into chaos and was closed in 2007.
These meta-analyses are only as good as the data input and, given past inconsistent results, just averaging the results is pretty brainless. One needs to look at the comparative quality of the studies to arrive at an intelligent conclusion. What would an average of 5 poor studies and one good study tell you?
Eating three bananas cuts your risk of a stroke, scientists say. A banana for breakfast, one for lunch and one in the evening would provide enough potassium to reduce the chances of suffering a blood clot on the brain by around 21 per cent.
The findings, by British and Italian researchers, suggest thousands of strokes could be prevented by the consumption of other potassium-rich foods such as spinach, nuts, milk, fish and lentils.
Although some previous studies have suggested bananas could be important for controlling blood pressure and preventing strokes, results have not always been consistent.
In the latest research, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, scientists analysed data from eleven different studies - dating back to the mid-Sixties - and pooled the results to get an overall outcome.
They found a daily potassium intake of around 1,600 milligrammes, less than half the UK recommended daily amount for an adult of 3,500mg, was enough to lower stroke risk by more than a fifth.
The average banana contains around 500 milligrammes of potassium, which helps to lower blood pressure and controls the balance of fluids in the body. Too little potassium can lead to an irregular heartbeat, irritability, nausea and diarrhoea.
Researchers from the University of Warwick and the University of Naples said potassium intake in most countries is well below the recommended daily amount. But if consumers ate more potassium-rich foods and also reduced their salt intake, the annual global death toll from strokes could be cut by more than a million a year. Researchers said in their report: 'It would translate into a reduction of as many as 1,155,000 stroke deaths a year on a worldwide scale.'
Strokes, which are usually caused when a clot forms and blocks the blood supply to the brain, kill around 200 people every day in the UK. Many more are left disabled and in danger of a second or even third attack which could kill them. Treating and looking after the 100,000 people affected by strokes each year in the UK costs the NHS an estimated £2.3 billion. Only cancer and heart disease kill more people.
A spokesman for the Stroke Association said: 'This research suggests eating lots of potassium-rich foods, such as bananas, dates and spinach, could reduce your risk of having a stroke. 'High blood pressure is the single biggest risk factor for stroke and past research has indicated that potassium could help to lower blood pressure. 'This could go some way to explain the positive effects of potassium demonstrated in this study.'
Cash stolen from dying women's handbags: Why isn't more done to stop the obscenity of hospital theft?
The problem is probably aggravated by the fact that many NHS nurses are of Third World origin
When 74-year-old Marian Green was rushed into hospital with heart and kidney failure, her family knew they were probably witnessing the last days of her life. Her children, grandchildren and great-grandchild were brought to her bedside to bring some quality to the time she had left.
Their efforts succeeded in lifting her spirits — until they discovered four days after Marian was admitted that a hospital worker had stolen cash and a bank card from her handbag and gone on a £2,500 spending spree, buying clothes, a TV, a games console and alcohol. ‘It ruined the last precious days we had left,’ says her daughter Patricia. ‘We had to spend time with the police when we should have been spending it with her.
‘We tried to reassure Mum, but she was worrying. She had wanted to leave that money to the family. She died two weeks after the theft. I feel bitter and angry about the whole sorry episode. What kind of person would steal from a sick patient in hospital?’
It is a good question: yet Marian is far from the only hospital patient to be robbed while at their most vulnerable. While no national figures are available on this most despicable of crimes, reports across the country suggest hospital patients are increasingly seen as easy targets.
There was the case last month of nine-year-old Chloe Challoner, a cancer patient who had her mobile phone stolen while receiving chemotherapy at the Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth. Her father, Jamie Giblen, 31, was so concerned that an intruder had been in her room that he asked for her to be moved to another hospital.
Other crimes simply beggar belief, such as the theft of wedding and engagement rings from a 93-year-old woman as she lay on a ward at the West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds last May. She died two weeks later. The NHS has entire departments concerned with crime, but not necessarily crimes against patients.
And there seems to be little co-ordinated action to stem the disturbing level of thefts inside hospitals. A trawl of newspaper reports reveals thefts of cash, credit cards, jewellery, clothing, music players, hearing aids, iPads and mobile phones from hospitals nationwide.
At the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, a spate of more than 60 thefts led to hospital managers holding a meeting with police in February to try to halt the tide of crime.
Four pensioners, including one who was terminally ill, had jewellery stolen while they were patients at the Tameside General Hospital last August. A hospital orderly is awaiting trial.
All these crimes have one thing in common; they cause untold distress and upset to victims and their families. ‘On the one hand, you are grateful for the wonderful care the NHS provides and the vast majority of excellent staff on the ward,’ says Marian Green’s daughter Patricia. ‘Yet on the other, you find out that someone who should have been caring for your mother has actually taken advantage of her at the most vulnerable time in her life.
‘Before my mother went into hospital, she had asked someone to fetch £200 for her from the cashpoint, and unfortunately they left her card with a piece of paper with her PIN inside the bag. They were all taken from her handbag. ‘The police and hospital were fantastic, and when they found out that money had been withdrawn from an ATM in the hospital, they told us they were examining footage from a CCTV camera aimed at the machine.
'My sister told a nurse who was looking after my mother about the CCTV. The nurse went white. Several weeks later, after my mother had died, we found out that she had handed herself in to the police.’
She adds: ‘On the day that she realised her things had been taken, my mother’s blood pressure went through the roof and she had terrible chest pains. 'It still upsets me to think about it. We told her that all of the money had been recovered, even though it hadn’t, just to give her peace of mind.’ An employee of the hospital is awaiting trial.
Nobody appreciates the contrasting feelings of gratitude and anger towards the NHS more than Dr Valerie Stewart. Dr Stewart, a senior business psychologist in her sixties, suffered a head injury in 2009 after a fall at home and spent six days unconscious before concerned neighbours alerted police.
She was taken to Yeovil District Hospital, where staff treated her for hypothermia and kidney failure. She has made a full recovery. ‘They were marvellous and undoubtedly saved my life,’ says Dr Stewart. ‘It was just unfortunate that all their good work was ruined when the necklace I was wearing went missing.’
And it wasn’t just any old necklace, but one which had been given to Dr Stewart by friends and clients in South Africa, where she had worked for many years training black managers in leadership after the end of apartheid. Made from 18-carat gold, it contained a rare 3.5-carat yellow ‘canary diamond’ pendant, and in 1994 had been valued at £50,000. ‘It could well be worth £100,000 now,’ says Dr Stewart. ‘I was in hospital for a month, and it wasn’t until near the end of my stay that I saw someone fiddling with their necklace the way I do. I suddenly remembered I’d been wearing mine and alerted the nursing staff.
‘Nothing was done and it wasn’t until I wrote to the NHS’s Patient Advisory Liaison Service that I got some action. I got a letter from the hospital later to say that they had an X-ray image that showed only a chain. ‘They used that to suggest I wasn’t wearing my pendant — but to me it was proof that I had been taken in with the necklace and that the pendant had just been pushed to one side while they took the X-ray. In later X-rays, there is nothing there at all.’
She says: ‘If you know you’re being taken into hospital, then you’re advised not to take valuables with you. But if you’re unconscious, there’s not much you can do.
‘In psychology, there is an acknowledgement that when people feel undervalued and underpaid in their work, they can convince themselves that it is all right to steal from their employer to make up for that. 'There are a lot of poorly paid people in the NHS, and I do wonder whether some of them experience those feelings.’
Yeovil District Hospital said: ‘A full investigation was undertaken to locate the pendant, but we were unable to find it or to confirm it had been on the premises.’
Patients who are admitted to hospital are advised in letters or on admission not to keep valuables with them. However, since many hospitals charge high rates for the use of phones and television viewing, it isn’t surprising that patients want to take in mobile phones, computers, DVD players and so on.
‘Some private hospitals have safes, but there is not much provision for lock-up in the NHS,’ says Dr David Tod, chief executive of the NHS Trusts Association. ‘This has always been a problem. More than a million people work in the NHS and they reflect society in general. Most are hard-working and honest, but inevitably there will be some who aren’t. ‘And many thousands of people go into hospital from outside during visiting hours. While that happens, I’m afraid we’re always likely to see opportunistic crime.’
However, Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients’ Association, says NHS trusts should be doing more to protect patients. ‘They should conduct internal inquiries each time a theft is reported,’ she says. ‘And then they should publish the results of those inquiries.’
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley says he is very keen for statistics to be published on everything to help patients make informed decisions about their treatment. ‘If hospitals had to publish figures on the numbers of thefts reported to them by patients, they would soon start doing something about it.’
26 women receive total of £1.2m following botched breast operations by the SAME female surgeon from India
Now banned from private practice... but still allowed to work for NHS
Women who were left in agony and disfigured after receiving botched breast operations at the same hospital have now received a total of almost £1.2m in compensation. More than 30 patients came forward after concerns were raised about the work of specialist breast surgeon Puvaneswary Markandoo, who worked at Barnsley Hospital for three years until October 2008.
Twenty-six of those women, who suffered problems following surgery including scarring, infections and stitches that burst open and leaked, have now received an average of more than £45,000 each in compensation.
In one case, a woman received unnecessary treatment for breast cancer and is now suffering from depression, after discovering years later that there was no need for her to have undergone the operations.
New figures disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act show that Barnsley Hospitals NHS Trust has so far paid out a total of £1,189,054 to the 26 women who were successful in their claims for compensation. They had undergone surgery including mastectomies and reconstructive operations after breast cancer.
However, the actual cost of the case to the NHS will be far more as the full legal bill has still not been disclosed. A hospital spokesman said the claimants' legal costs were currently estimated at half a million pounds, but the NHS legal bill was not yet known.
It is thought that this is the final total for compensation as the claims of all those women affected have now been dealt with.
Ms Markandoo left Barnsley Hospital in 2008 and is banned from working in the private sector - although she is still allowed to work in the NHS.
A spokesman for Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: 'The claimants' legal costs are currently estimated at £480,000 but we are still waiting for final figures in both the claimants' and the NHS legal costs.'
Ms Markandoo, who earned up to £122,000 a year as a consultant, was suspended on full pay after 35 women complained about problems after their operations. One patient, Anne Bassett from Jump, Barnsley, said she was 'a physical mess' after several operations following breast cancer in 2004. She said : 'No amount of money will make up for what she did to me. I ended up looking worse than I did when I first had them mastectomy.'
In 2008 , Ms Markandoo was banned from practising in the private sector when the General Medical Council found her to be deficient in 11 areas of her job including basic and specialist surgery, arranging treatment and working within laws and regulations.
However, the GMC ruled that she was still permitted to work in the NHS under a number of conditions such as supervision and retraining.
Top British Leftist wants to stymie young people who try hard to get a job
He claims to be moderate but sounds more like a Marxist. He wants to abolish a pathway to work for the really keen: unpaid internships
Nick Clegg will call for sweeping changes to internships today to try to break the ‘sharp elbowed’ middle-class stranglehold on the professions. Firms that fail to provide ‘financial support’ to interns could face investigation by HM Revenue and Customs over their compliance with the minimum wage laws.
Launching the Coalition’s social mobility strategy, the Deputy Prime Minister will also warn that the ‘well-connected’ middle classes enjoy an unfair advantage in getting work experience for their children. He will argue that internships have become a closed shop in many professions.
Mr Clegg will also criticise the practice of expecting interns to work for nothing, which he believes discriminates against youngsters from poorer backgrounds.
The Lib Dem leader will say: ‘For too long, internships have been the almost exclusive preserve of the sharp-elbowed and the well-connected. ‘Unfair, informal internships can rig the market in favour of those who already have opportunities. A country that is socially mobile bases opportunity on your ability and drive, not on who your father’s friends are.’
Lib Dem sources said Mr Clegg is determined to break the ‘old boys’ network’ that dominates many of the professions, such as the law, accountancy and architecture.
Research shows that just a quarter of working-class boys go on to get middle-class jobs. The 7 per cent of children at private schools account for more than half of the top level of most professions.
But the move will leave the Lib Dem leader open to charges of hypocrisy. The son of a millionaire banker was educated at £30,000-a-year Westminster School, and went on to enjoy three internships.
Conservative Party Chairman Baroness Warsi will announce plans to provide internships in every Whitehall department for youngsters from poorer backgrounds.
Employers are being asked to sign up to a ‘business compact’, which encourages the advertising of internships in state schools and provides at least basic living expenses. Ministers insist the strategy will improve social mobility across society, not just give a leg up to the poorest.
But the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies warns that the focus will involve ‘downward mobility for individuals from rich or middle-income families’.
How a "homeless" British man was barred from home town... only to have order overturned as it breached his human rights
Since he was prone to minor crime, the barring was a good low-key preventive
A homeless man has won the right to walk through the streets of an affluent Lancashire town after overturning an ASBO against him... because it breached his human rights. Simon Frodsham, 41, has been arrested more than 160 times for breaching the terms of his ASBO by walking through his home town of Lytham, in Lancashire.
For eight years, privately-educated Mr Frodsham had been banned from walking in the town and had spent much of the time in jail as a result. The cost of arresting him, keeping him in jail and time spent prosecuting him in court had escalated to more than £1.4million, Blackpool Magistrates' Court heard.
Mr Frodsham applies for his ASBO to be lifted - not because he was behaving himself, but because the order was not working and he claimed it infringed his human right to walk in his home town.
Steven Townley, representing him in court, said: 'My client believes the original order was made maliciously because he is the only homeless man in Lytham. 'This is a town with a high proliferation of millionaires with multi-million pound houses. This is a nimby ASBO. 'Had Mr Frodsham lived in Manchester or Liverpool or Blackpool there would be no order.'
Mr Townley told the court the first ASBO even banned his client from going into churches and drinking water in the streets. That order lasted for five years and the police successfully had it extended for another five years until 2013.
Mr Townley added: 'He is not anti-social, he merely walks into his home town, crossing an invisible line and gets arrested. 'It is the town where he has friends, where his mother lives and where he gets support. Apart from that, he is a man who likes to sleep under the stars.'
Steve Finnigan, Chief Constable of Lancashire Police, formally opposed the lifting of the ASBO. Chris Kehoe, representing the police, said: 'In many respects it would appear that this man breaches this ASBO because he wants to get arrested and get a meal and bed for the night. 'When the order was not in place he turned to crime and anti-social behaviour so in terms of protecting the public the order is working.'
Lifting the ban on Mr Frodsham, Judge Lowe said: 'Mr Frodsham should not be criminalised for walking down the streets of his home town, there is no evidence he has done anyone any harm of late.'
Speaking after the hearing, Mr Frodsham said: 'I have felt like a political prisoner who lost eight years of his life for nothing other than walking into my home town. 'I shall be taking up a compensation claim against the police for what I have lost.'
British schools have been hiding true extent of pupil bad behaviour for years, claims Education boss
Bad behaviour is rife in schools – and heads have been hiding the problem for years, the Education Secretary has warned. Michael Gove said yesterday that schools were suffering from a ‘real behaviour problem’.
And headmasters have conspired to hide the true nature of yobbish behaviour in the classroom by concealing naughty pupils and incompetent teachers from Ofsted inspectors, he added. As a result, thousands of teachers – trained at the taxpayers’ expense – have fled the profession, citing bad classroom behaviour as the reason. And with 1,000 children being suspended every school day for abuse and assault, their disruptive behaviour is interfering with the education and life chances of tens of thousands of pupils.
Mr Gove’s comments will enrage teachers’ unions, who insist behaviour in schools is good and that any attempt to paint a bad picture is ‘scaremongering’.
Mr Gove announced his ‘back to basics’ plans as he published guidance for schools on dealing with bad behaviour. Under the updated guidance, which has been reduced from 600 pages to 50, school heads will be able to press criminal charges against pupils who make false allegations about teachers in England. They will also be able to confiscate mobile phones without fear of being accused of infringing pupils’ rights.
Launching the guidance, Mr Gove said he was told by teachers that ‘weak teachers are invited to stay at home, we make sure disruptive pupils don’t come in, and the best teachers are on corridor duty. We put on our best face for inspections’.
He added: ‘We rely on Ofsted to let us know how behaviour is in many schools. It is certainly the case that in some schools the behaviour problem is critical. ‘We do know from recent evidence that the single biggest reason [for teachers leaving the profession] is because of poor behaviour.
PRIMARY SCHOOLS CRISIS
Tens of thousands of children face being turned away from primary schools because a migrant baby boom has led to a severe shortage of places.
London alone faces a shortage of some 70,000 primary places in the next four years, according to a report, and Berkshire, Bedfordshire, Birmingham, Bristol, Sheffield and Hove, are under enormous strain.
Parents in the worst-hit areas will have to separate their siblings and send their four-year-olds on 30 minute bus rides across their borough to get them into a school. The rapid increase in numbers, which will cost £1.7billion, is being attributed to a baby boom fuelled in part by rising net migration – which more than doubled under Labour.
Many migrants were young and have since started families. It has been predicted 500,000 more primary places will be needed by 2018.
A sluggish housing market has compounded the crisis because parents are effectively trapped in areas with too few school places.
Others have found they lack the cash to send their offspring to private schools.
‘The biggest barrier to entry is the fear of not being safe in the classroom. These are both indicators of a real behaviour problem.’ Two-thirds of teachers believe bad behaviour is driving staff out of the classroom, according to the Department for Education.
Mr Gove’s behaviour tsar, Charlie Taylor, said the guidance should encompass rules on school uniform and advice on recruiting educational psychologists. He said a school uniform, with top buttons done up and a nicely tied tie, can ‘set the tone for a school’.
Mr Taylor added: ‘You need to have the high expectations; you need to have the rules in place and the boundaries. ‘But in any school, and in particular in a deprived area...you need to do a bit extra with them.’
Pimlico Academy in Central London, where Mr Gove launched his guidance, has a full-time education psychologist and four part-time psychotherapists to work with children with the most serious problems.
Concerns that schools are hiding badly behaved pupils from Ofsted were raised at a Commons select committee hearing last year. Tom Trust, a former member of the General Teaching Council for England, told the committee: ‘Getting evidence from head teachers is not always reliable because they have got a lot to lose. Ofsted’s views on behaviour are not worth the paper they are written on.’
"When teacher Sonya McNally posted a throwaway comment about her rowdy 12-year-old pupils on Facebook, little did she realise it would come back to haunt her. The message, tapped out in reply to a colleague’s niggle about children at her school, seemed innocuous enough: ‘By the way, [class] 8G1 are just as bad as 8G2. LOL (laugh out loud)’ she joked sympathetically.
Within a few weeks, however, 37-year-old Sonya’s world had been turned upside down. Suspended from her job at Humberston Comprehensive School after another member of staff reported her, it sparked a chain of events that culminated in the Information Technology teacher, from Grimsby, Lincs, being sacked from the job she loved.
‘When I wrote that message, I thought nothing of it,’ she says. ‘There was no mention of the school anywhere on my account and I didn’t name any pupils. The only people who could see it were my family, friends and colleagues from the school. The teacher who reported me was a friend on Facebook.
Sonya, who was suspended on full pay, contacted her union, which took up her case. She was eventually told what she had done wrong at the hearing itself. The panel consisted of the headteacher, Sonya’s line manager and a member of the local council’s human resources department.
‘When they showed me a print out of the Facebook page, I almost burst out laughing.’ she says. ‘They said that I was bringing the school into disrepute and that the governors, parents and pupils at school could have seen it.
‘I tried to explain that only those people I was friends with could see what I’d written, not the whole world. I spent most of the time trying to explain how Facebook worked, but they couldn’t understand.’
Two years have passed since she posted those words and the mother-of-three still hasn’t managed to find another job.
Mustn't say anything negative about anybody in Britain, Christians excepted, of course.
4 April, 2011
Chaos in plans for NHS reforms
Labour leader Ed Miliband today branded the Government's controversial health reforms 'extremely dangerous' as he called on the Prime Minister to think again about his 'reckless' proposals.
It comes amid speculation that the radical plans are set to be watered down, including the key proposal of abolishing Primary Care Trusts and handing the job of commissioning patient services to GPs.
The Prime Minister has taken personal control of approving changes to the Health and Social Care Bill. He and Nick Clegg are preparing to launch a 'listening exercise' later this week in a bid to reassure critics of the shake-up, which will see GPs handed control of commissioning services.
GPs are expected to form into consortia to take over control of 80% of the NHS budget by 2013, however it is believed this deadline may be formally extended.
It has already been stated that private companies will be prevented from "cherry picking" profitable NHS services. But today Mr Miliband called on the Prime Minister to abandon the Bill going through Parliament, pledging that Labour would view any different proposals with an "open mind".
But he warned the current plans were sending the NHS in the wrong direction and made the closure of hospitals more likely. He said: 'The jewel in the British crown is being put at risk. It will send the NHS in the wrong direction in terms of patient care.'
The Labour leader said he was concerned that waiting times were already increasing and that GPs would have even less time to deal with patients because of the extra work they would have.
Cameron and Clegg are believed to be frustrated that Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has failed to explain why the changes are necessary. However, Government sources are denying they are considering fundamental concessions, or that ministers want to 'press the pause button'.
A Downing Street spokesman said: 'The Government is utterly committed to the NHS and its principles. We are also committed to modernising the NHS. Progress on the ground continues to be impressive. 'The speculation is ill-informed and filled with inaccuracies. The Bill has now successfully finished committee stage in the Commons and there is a natural break before it moves to the Lords.
'We have always been prepared to listen, having already clarified that there is no question of privatisation and that competition will be based on quality, and will continue to do so.'
Concerns have been growing about a public backlash against the flagship Bill, with doctors lining up to criticise key elements. The British Medical Association called on the Government to withdraw the Bill last month. The doctors' union said the reforms were a massive gamble that could worsen patient care, waste billions and lead to wholesale privatisation.
The Liberal Democrat leadership is also struggling to appease the party's grass roots, who overwhelmingly voted to reject the plans at spring conference last month. Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Williams warned today there were would be 'very serious' consequences for the coalition unless there were significant changes to the Bill.
'I have a very great desire to see the coalition succeed, I think it's necessary to deal with the really serious crisis facing the country,' she told BBC Radio 4's The World At One. 'But I believe unless there are major changes in the health proposals it will be in very great trouble.'
The Budget’s green dreams will leave Britain powerless
The Government's obsession with its babyish green dreamworld will force the closure of power stations, increase our electricity bills and damage vital industries, warns Christopher Booker
We are fast approaching that long overdue moment when the country wakes up to the scale of the disaster we are being led into by the absurdly unreal, global-warming-obsessed energy policy of our “greenest ever government”. Yet another disturbing instance of this was the announcement tucked away in George Osborne’s Budget that he will impose a “£16 a ton floor price for carbon”, a measure seemingly so arcane that no one has really bothered to spell out its implications.
What it means is that for every ton of CO2 emitted by British industry, and by our electricity companies in particular, we shall all indirectly have to pay what is in effect a hidden tax of £16, rising over the next nine years to £30.
Last year, the coal-fired power stations which supply nearly a third of our electricity used 40 million tons of coal, each emitting up to 2.9 tons of CO2. For this 116 million tons, we shall see nearly £2 billion added to our electricity bills.
The same tax on gas will add a further £1 billion to our bills, thus increasing them by a total of £3 billion a year, rising to £5 billion by 2020. This will add more than 25 per cent to the price we presently pay for electricity, or £200 a year for every household.
This is on top of the price we will have to pay for all the Government’s other “green” dreams, such as the £100 billion it wants spent on 10,000 giant wind turbines, plus another £40 billion to hook them up to the grid. The 100 per cent subsidies for onshore wind power and 200 per cent subsidies for offshore will add further billions to our bills, in return for what will still be only a fraction of the electricity we need. Related Articles
Already we have seen one estimate, from analysts at Matrix Group, that Mr Osborne’s new “carbon tax” will so skew the economics of coal-fired electricity that four of our larger French- and Spanish-owned power stations at Kingsnorth, Didcot, Tilbury and Cockenzie will have to shut down by 2013, even earlier than their forced closure under the EU’s Large Combustion Plants Directive. This will knock such a hole in our generating capacity that we can look forward to the first of those long-predicted power cuts and blackouts.
What has also shocked British industry is that we will be the only country in the world that has to pay this new tax, thus eroding our competitiveness still further. It is not only electricity which will take the brunt of the tax, but all major CO2 emitters, such as what remains of Britain’s steel industry. Among those already hinting that Osborne’s tax could lead to plant closures and the loss of thousands of jobs have been Welsh MPs, conscious that one of South Wales’s biggest employers is Tata Steel, with 7,500 workers. Tata itself has warned that Osborne’s tax will cost its British operations £20 million a year by 2020, representing a “potentially severe blow to the sustainability of UK steelmaking”.
David Cameron’s response to this is that, on the contrary, he is “hugely heartened by the fact that Tata is putting more investment into the UK”. But what is the main proclaimed purpose of that investment? To make the blades for those useless windmills. Alas, Mr Cameron could not begin to understand what this tells us about the babyish little green dreamworld in which he and his Government live.
British Fascist is ready to use shock and awe to force social change
Those who think Nick Clegg [Leader of the Liberal party] has got a raw deal out of this Coalition should pay attention on Tuesday as the Government’s social mobility strategy is, at last, given its formal launch. Elements of the plan have already been unveiled: the appointment of Alan Milburn as the Government’s independent reviewer on social mobility; the £430-per-head “pupil premium” given to schools which educate the poorest children; and the new “access agreements” for universities which propose to charge tuition fees of more than £6,000 per annum. This week, the Deputy Prime Minister will join up the dots and – more to the point – seek to demonstrate the political will that underpins the rhetoric.
All governments say they are in favour of “social mobility” and issue appropriate platitudes. But this one seems to mean business, thanks in large part to the fire in Clegg’s belly. The ministerial committee exploring the issue has come to be recognised as a forum where important decisions are taken: Michael Gove, though not a formal member, has made a point of attending some of its meetings alongside his colleagues David Willetts and Iain Duncan Smith. The Education Secretary is wise to do so: the policies and governing strategy that are being formulated under this rubric will be deeply controversial, and (in Clegg’s eyes, at any rate) they are meant to be.
As a curtain-raiser, it was disclosed last week that the Government is to publish an annual “report card” on seven key indicators, ranging from babies’ body weight and the skills learned by five-year-olds to GCSE results and adult earnings. These, Clegg insists, will not be targets but “a series of dials”, a dashboard used to check on the nation’s social wellbeing and to “trigger a reaction” when things go wrong. Without apology, he makes government sound like a giant Heath Robinson contraption, monitored by ministers in white coats with clipboards. A politician who talks about “dials” can scarcely complain if he is accused of “social engineering”.
Those involved in the formulation of this strategy – Lib Dem and Tory – insist that it will not involve quotas or US-style “affirmative action”. Yet it is hard to escape the conclusion that a line is about to be crossed in social policy. Already, Clegg has made clear to university vice-chancellors that the rules of the game have changed. How they go about broadening their undergraduate intake is for them to decide, in collaboration with the Office for Fair Access. But he wants to see results, especially in the proportion of state school pupils going to the best universities. It is hard to exaggerate the level of unease this has already spawned in Oxford and Cambridge common rooms – which is exactly what Clegg wants.
Private school heads seethe about a new era of “differential offers”, in which their pupils will have to clear much higher hurdles than rival candidates from the state sector. Again, Clegg has no problem with parents beginning to doubt that they can buy social advantage for their children by paying exorbitant school fees. The gradualist approach, he believes, has failed, and it is time for a spot of shock and awe. Either the top higher education institutions deliver change, or they will lose the right to charge increased tuition fees.
In Cabinet, the Prime Minister makes a point of presenting Clegg’s social mobility plan as “Coalition policy” – rather than a Lib Dem wheeze tolerated by reluctant Tories to hold the Government together. Nor is the Conservative leader averse to forcing the pace of social change when it suits him: it was Cameron, after all, who imposed the A-list of candidates upon deeply sceptical Tory associations. Conservative politicians often accept the practical necessity of social intervention from which they ideologically recoil: as President Obama has noted approvingly, it was Nixon who launched the first federal affirmative action programmes for black Americans.
That said, it would be absurd to deny the tensions between the two parties on this most contentious issue. Last week, even as Clegg unveiled his seven indicators, Willetts declared that he still believed in “a liberal labour market that doesn’t try to achieve social objectives”.
There is agreement on the DPM’s cradle-to-grave approach to social mobility, his insistence that it amounts to more than the alleviation of poverty, and his introduction of multiple metrics to monitor progress. But Tories are much more comfortable with “supply side” measures than they are with threatening universities over the numbers of state school pupils they admit.
For Iain Duncan Smith, the heart of the problem is the broken society that breeds poverty of aspiration. For Gove, it is the culture of expectation and excellence within state schools that needs to be addressed. The point of difference is that Clegg and co are willing to go much further, to use the power of government to compel change, rather than simply to nudge and nurture it and hope for the best. The DPM’s message to universities, for a start, might be called a Nike strategy: Just Do It.
I take an old-fashioned view, which is that grammar schools were the most effective engine of social mobility ever devised, and that the reintroduction of academic selection in the state sector remains the best hope of repairing the wrecked ladder of opportunity. But where I agree with Clegg is that, in this particular endeavour, you really do have to break a few eggs to make the desired omelette. There is no painless path to social change.
If, like me, you want the 11-plus back, you have to accept the impact upon those who do not pass (John Prescott still hasn’t recovered, more than 60 years after he failed the exam). Likewise, the fight that the DPM has picked could be extraordinarily bloody.
Eleven years ago, Gordon Brown’s intervention in the case of Laura Spence, a high-achieving state school pupil turned down by Oxford, caused a national furore. That was a story about a single candidate, with no implications for policy and no prospect of redress. Now imagine the Laura Spence row nationalised, so to speak, and every non-compliant university facing stiff punishment.
Imagine litigation, human rights cases going all the way to Strasbourg, top higher education institutions threatening to go private and charge what they like. The 7.2 per cent of parents who send their children to independent schools (paying average fees of £10,100 a year) are a minority, but they are disproportionately noisy. Good luck to any politician who declares war on them.
Even so: it remains astonishing that Clegg has persuaded a Conservative-dominated Government to undertake this project. Labour MPs whisper their congratulations to Lib Dem ministers, and express justified amazement that a Coalition led by products of Eton, Westminster and St Paul’s has embarked on this social crusade.
In 32 days’ time, the nation will go to the polls in the first UK-wide referendum in 36 years and decide whether to adopt a new electoral system. The stakes for Clegg are vertiginously high. But it is the battle he is launching on Tuesday that he really wants to win.
Why rich families today were probably rich 1,000 years ago
This is an odd finding, best explained by genetic inheritance. Not all descendants of the rich remain rich but there appears to be an overall tendency in that direction nonetheless
Surnames which indicated nobility and wealth in medieval times are still richer even today, research has suggested. 'Moneyed' surnames, such as Darcy, Percy, Baskerville and Mandeville continue to have more cash than those with 'poor' names, such as Smith, Mason and Cooper.
The research, which uses university admissions, probate records and official information going as far back as the Domesday Book, tracked what happened to those whose surnames suggest their forebears were either aristocratic or 'artisans' from the working class.
Researcher Gregory Clark, a professor of economics at the University of California, Davis, found that in the group with rare names he studied from the 1850s until 2011, the gap between rich and poor narrowed.
However, those with 'rich' surnames left estates worth at least ten per cent above the national average, and also lived three years longer than the average, according to The Observer. That's rich: Colin Firth as Fitzwilliam Darcy, in a scene from Pride and Prejudice. Research suggests that people with certain names such as name Darcy have always been better off
Such names indicated a descent from nobility who came to England after the Norman Conquest and are found in the Domesday book of 1086. They drew their name from the surrounding Normandy towns and villages, the Observer says, whereas other 'poor ' surnames - such as Carpenter, Shepherd or Baker - indicated an occupation.
In his paper - which is due to be presented at the Economic History Society's annual conference - Prof Clark says: 'Despite the social and political changes in England since the Industrial Revolution and the extension of the political franchise, if anything the rate of social mobility is slower now than in medieval England.
'The huge social resources spent on publicly provided education and health have seemingly created no gains in the rate of social mobility. 'The modern meritocracy is no better at achieving social mobility than the medieval oligarchy.'
And while rich and poor in general may eventually become 'average', with 'no permanent social classes', those from the 1850s may take another 'two to four' generations to get there, he finds.
Prof Clark added a warning for the current poor in Britain: it may be many generations 'perhaps centuries' before they achieve equality.
'The children of groups of recent immigrants to the UK – specifically those from Bangladesh and Pakistan – have levels of wealth, income, and education that are substantially below those of the general population,' his paper says.
Pupils could face police action as British government announces surprise raids on schools to tackle bad behaviour
Britain's worst schools will face surprise raids by inspectors and heads will be able to press charges against pupils under moves to stamp out discipline problems in the classroom.
Teachers will also be given powers to confiscate pupils’ mobile phones in a package of measures designed to end years of politically correct official guidance that gave disruptive children the upper hand.
Education Secretary Michael Gove, who will unveil the plans today, is determined to reverse the collapse in classroom discipline that has resulted in 1,000 children a day being suspended from school for abuse and assault.
As well as confiscating mobiles, which are banned in many classrooms, teachers will be allowed to search the phones for evidence of cyber-bullying and inappropriate material.
And they will be allowed to break up fights and manhandle unruly pupils out of the classroom. They will also automatically be given the benefit of the doubt when facing malicious allegations from children or parents – and given anonymity while the claims are investigated.
Under the new rules they will then be allowed to launch criminal action against their own pupils who have made false allegations about them. The youngsters will also face expulsion over the claims.
Teachers will also be allowed to hand out automatic detentions to misbehaving students, without having to give parents 24 hours’ notice.
The 50-page document replaces more than 600 pages of complex guidance on discipline.
Mr Gove will also press the schools inspection body, Ofsted, to carry out more unannounced raids at the worst schools. At present most schools receive many months’ notice before an Ofsted inspection – giving them time to cover up the worst problems. New powers to carry out so-called ‘no-notice inspections’ have been used only five times in 18 months.
A government source said Mr Gove expected the powers to be used more widely, adding: ‘In the small number of schools with very bad behaviour problems we need more no-notice inspections. It must become unacceptable for schools to tolerate persistent serious problems.’
Mr Gove said the new measures would hand power in the classroom back to teachers. He added: ‘Improving discipline is a big priority. Teachers can’t teach effectively and pupils can’t learn if schools can’t keep order.
The new regime will remove the controversial ‘no touch’ rules, which banned teachers from any physical contact with pupils.
The guidance also gives teachers far greater protection against malicious complaints from pupils and their parents. One in four teachers has faced false allegations from a pupil, while one in six has had unfounded allegations made by parents.
Chris Yeates, the leader of teachers’ union NASUWT, yesterday criticised the ‘disproportionate’ powers allowing teachers to search for mobile phones – despite having previously branded mobiles ‘offensive weapons’ used by bullies.
Charlie Taylor, head of a tough inner-city school for excluded pupils, has been appointed as a school discipline tsar to drive through the reforms. He said: ‘For far too long, teachers have been buried under guidance and reports on how to tackle bad behaviour. I am determined to make sure I help schools put policy into practice.’
Attempt to close down British anti-immigrant party thoroughly defeated
The ECHR is headed by a black man whose judgment is obviously very poor. The first excerpt below is from last December:
"[Britain's] Equalities and Human Rights Commission (ECHR), has been defeated in its bid to kill the British National Party. A ruling in the Royal Courts of Justice this morning found against the ECHR which had launched a new action to have party leader Nick Griffin MEP declared in contempt of court.
The British National Party had already complied with an earlier court order to change its membership rules and the ECHR then brought another application claiming that Mr Griffin had not followed the court’s ruling and was therefore in contempt.
The ECHR initially sought to imprison Mr Griffin and seize party assets. This morning’s ruling squashed all of that and found that the party leader was not in contempt of court either.
“This is a great day for the British National Party,” Mr Griffin said. “We have won a spectacular David and Goliath victory for freedom. This is the fourth time that the politically correct state has tried to jail me, and it is the fourth time that it has blown up in their anti-British faces.
“We are a legal and legitimate political party which is entitled to organise and campaign for the fair treatment and equality of the British people,” he continued.
“Most important of all, this case forced the ECHR to acknowledge the existence of the native people of our islands as a distinct ethnic group, with the result that all members of that group are at last entitled to the full protection of anti discrimination laws. "The English people especially are now no longer a non-people in their own country,” Mr Griffin said.
It took a few months for the matter of court costs to be adjudicated but that has now happened and the ECHR has really had its nose rubbed into its own very poor reasoning:
Nick Griffin has welcomed the ruling that the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) must pay the British National Party’s court costs in full as a “victory for freedom”.
“It is a massive victory for the British National Party and freedom and a crushing blow for the Equality and Human Rights Commission and Trevor Phillips' PC bullies,” he said.
Mr Griffin’s comments follow the High Court judgement ruling that the EHRC must pay all the costs incurred by him, Simon Darby and Tanya Lumby during their brave defence against the EHRC’s attempts to seize the Party's assets and throw the defendants into prison.
The ruling of Lord Justice Moore-Bick and Mr Justice Ramsey is a further crushing defeat for the Commission and a personal humiliation for Trevor Phillips and Simon Woolley, who at the start of proceedings boasted on TV that they were going to close the British National Party down.
A great and much-needed victory for free speech in Britain
There is a new lot of postings by Chris Brand just up -- on his usual vastly "incorrect" themes of race, genes, IQ etc.
3 April, 2011
British cancer patients denied 'last hope' robot surgery
You have to rely on private charity if you don't have a lot of money. That was how things were before the NHS was created and which the NHS was supposed to obviate
Cancer patients are being denied a pioneering treatment that offers their only hope of survival - even though millions of pounds have been spent on the technology behind it.
Doctors referred Lesley Whiting [above], 56, from Sussex, for a robotic radiosurgery procedure called Cyberknife, which is widely used across the world, but only became available on the NHS last year.
She was selected for the procedure because after treatment for advanced breast cancer, three tumours were found in her skull. Without the radiosurgery, she would have around 18 months to live, said her consultant, who explained that conventional radiotherapy was not an option because it would damage the brain.
But NHS bureaucrats refused to fund the treatment, which costs the health service around £10,000 per treatment- despite the fact almost £9 million has been spent buying the robotic technology for three NHS hospitals.
Health service officials have refused the treatment to every patient referred for it in Kent, Surrey and Sussex, while Primary Care Trusts in Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Essex, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex have said they will only allow funding in “exceptional” cases. In total, fewer than 30 of 150 PCTs have now funded the radical treatment, with just 26 patients receiving Cyberknife at an NHS hospital.
Doctors pioneering the treatment say it offers the only hope to some cancer patients with tumours which are otherwise inoperable, due to their proximity to major blood vessels or sensitive organs. It can be used for a range of cancers, including lung and bone disease.
Mrs Whiting managed to obtain funding from a medical charity, enabling her to undergo the procedure at a private London clinic last October. Since then, the crippling headaches she had been suffering have stopped. Last week scans showed no traces of the tumours in her skull and doctors are optimistic that her survival could be extended by at least five years, or that she could even be cured.
The former charity worker said: “The doctors had told me this was my only option, there was no other way to remove the tumours. "When I found out the NHS wouldn’t fund the treatment, I just thought - I am going to die. It was terrifying, I was just devastated.” She said: “I found it hard to take in; my husband and I have two children, I want to see them settled and graduated from university, and hopefully have grandchildren.”
After securing charity funding to pay for her own treatment, she has launched a petition to tackled the postcode lottery in funding for it. She is angry that while the Coalition Government has pledged to fund expensive drug treatment for cancer patients, via a £200 million annual fund, those whose only hope lies in the radical procedure have nowhere to turn.
Mrs Whiting said: “ It just doesn’t seem fair that this isn’t being covered by the fund – Cyberknife costs far less than many of the drugs that are being funded, and it is only offered to patients who have no other option.”
The Cyberknife works by sending multiple beams of high dose radiation from a wide variety of angles using a robotic arm. X-ray cameras monitor the patient’s breathing and re-position the radiotherapy beam in order to minimise damage to healthy tissue. This accuracy enables tumours to be treated that are in difficult or dangerous to treat positions, such as near the brain and spinal cord.
The treatment, which has few side effects, is widely used in many countries, because it can treat patients who otherwise could not be helped, but there is limited research about how long it can extend survival.
The treatment has been offered by NHS Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, in Middlesex since last August, after the £2.7 million machine was paid for by charitable donations. Yet with PCTs across the East of England refusing to fund routine requests, and those in Kent, Sussex and Surrey rejecting all referrals, just 26 NHS patients - mostly from London - have been funded for Cyberknife at the centre.
Consultant clinical oncologist and the Trust’s clinical chair for cancer services, Dr Peter Ostler, said the treatment was the only hope for some patients, who could otherwise not be treated, either because of the siting of the tumour, or because they were too sick to undergo other treatments. He said: “It means that we can treat some patients that would be very difficult to support through conventional means, as well as offering therapy to others that can be given over much shorter periods of time than is the case currently. "Also those patients whose underlying condition means that they may be too unwell to undergo surgery may benefit from treatment with our new CyberKnife.”
Fundraisers for two more NHS cancer centres, at Barts and the London NHS Trust, and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust have just spent more than £7 million on two more machines, which will begin operating this summer.
Patients in Scotland have also been refused funding for Cyberknife. Tarek Ramzi, 56, from Fife, a former chef who works as a carer for his wife, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2008, since when it has spread to his lymph nodes and brain. A private consultant in London recommended Cyberknife, but NHS Fife has refused to pay for it. Now the couple are trying to raise funds locally, to meet the £22,000 cost of having the procedure privately.
Mr Ramzi said: “I feel so let down - I don’t believe these people should have the right to decide whether I live or die.” His wife Senga said: “We feel so frustrated that they are letting the cancer eat away at him. It was the only hope we had. "When we heard about it, we though they were throwing us a lifebelt, but now we are stranded.”
The Coalition's law and order policies have failed to win public backing, according to a major new survey which found widespread support for tougher punishments. The research found a huge majority of the public do not back the community sentences which Kenneth Clarke, the Justice Secretary, wants to see used instead of short prison sentences.
The poll, the largest piece of independent research into public thinking on crime and punishment since the General Election last year, suggests little support for community punishments and demand for tougher prison conditions. The poll of more than 2,000 adults, 1,000 victims of crime and 500 police officers found:
* Eight out of 10 people believe community sentences are a "soft punishment", while among police officers the figure was nine out of 10.
* Asked about high reoffending rates by criminals who have served short jail terms, two thirds of the public thought the best solution was to "make prison life harder, to make it more of a deterrent to committing further crimes".
* Six out of 10 interviewees agreed that rehabilitation was a "soft option that tries to make excuses for offenders", while only four out of 10 said it was a "hard-headed practical way of trying to reduce reoffending".
* Only 13 per cent of the public believed the Coalition was being tougher on crime than Labour, with 23 per cent saying it was less tough and the remainder said it was about the same.
The research was commissioned by Lord Ashcroft, the former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, who said that it was a warning that the Conservative party risks "undermining an important part of its appeal" by failing to deliver on law and order.
Mr Clarke's criminal justice Green Paper, published in December, proposed replacing short jail terms with "tougher" community punishments but the research found there was widespread support for sending criminals to jail even for short periods.
It abandoned the "prison works" policy put forward by then Home Secretary Michael Howard in 1993 - in a speech written by his then adviser, David Cameron - and followed by the Conservatives until the General Election.
Mr Clarke has repeatedly spoken of the need for "rigorously enforced community sentences that punish offenders" instead of prison sentences, as well as claiming the public's fear of crime was exaggerated. 'The public are still very, very worried about lawlessness," he said in June 2010. "People still feel fear of crime – probably to a greater extent than they actually face it.'
But those views are challenged by the research. The poll report said: "There was an overwhelming view in the groups that sentencing for convicted criminals in Britain is too soft.
"If offenders went to prison at all their sentence would be too short; they would then serve only half the time they were sentenced to because of the cost or lack of space; and the time they did spend inside would be much too comfortable to constitute proper punishment or a deterrent to reoffending."
One member of the public told researchers: "In the good old days you went to prison and it was a punishment. Now there is TV, a gym, you can get drugs, you can get whatever."
Many interviewees expressed concern about criminal justice reforms outlined by Kenneth Clarke, the justice secretary, which include sending fewer people to prison and offering more generous sentence discounts to criminals who plead guilty.
One police officer told the researchers Mr Clarke was "wrong" and added: "The only way you'll protect the public from the criminals who constantly reoffend is to lock them up."
Another interviewee said: "Has he ever had anything happen to him? He'd want them in prison."
The panel was heavily against giving judges more discretion to decide appropriate sentences, as put forward by Mr Clarke, while a proposed 50 per cent sentence discount for pleading guilty drew "incredulous laughter" from focus groups.
"However, some participants saw some value in community punishments that brought tangible benefits to society," said the report. "Several also felt that an element of public humiliation, such as uniforms which made it clear to passers-by what they were doing and why, could be effective."
One police officer told researchers how a "community payback" scheme he had observed was "laughable". The officer said offenders who were supposed to be painting railings around a churchyard were seen "smoking and heckling members of the public", while one offender wrote graffiti on the pavement with paint provided by his supervisors.
Among the police officers interviewed, who were largely drawn from the rank and file but did include 50 at the level of "inspector or above", 43 per cent said they had often been involved with prosecutions where judges failed to hand down a custodial sentence where one was merited. A further 42 per cent said this had happened occasionally and only 9 per cent said it had never happened.
Claim: Feminism widened poverty gap and set social mobility back decades
Feminism has set back the cause of social mobility by decades, a senior minister has claimed. Universities Minister David Willetts said feminist policies had inadvertently halted the improvement in the life chances of working-class men and widened the gap between rich and poor. He said feminism was the ‘single biggest factor’ in the decline in social mobility since the 1960s, adding: ‘Feminism has trumped egalitarianism.’
Mr Willetts was speaking ahead of next week’s launch of the Government’s flagship social mobility strategy, which will lay out a raft of measures designed to increase the life chances of those from less well-off backgrounds.
Grammar school-educated Mr Willetts, one of the Conservative Party’s leading thinkers on social mobility, said the main beneficiaries of feminism had been middle-class women, who enjoyed educational opportunities denied to their mothers. He said he did not want to see the gains made by middle-class women reversed, but added that policymakers had a duty to ensure any gains in social mobility were spread more evenly in the future.
Ministers will publish detailed research next week showing that social mobility has stagnated for almost 40 years. New indicators are expected to show that almost every measure of social mobility – from achievements at school to job prospects in later life – has either stalled or gone into reverse.
Asked to identify the cause of the decline, Mr Willetts said: ‘One of the things that happened over that period was that the entirely admirable transformation of opportunities for women meant that with a lot of the expansion of education in the 60s, 70s and 80s, the first beneficiaries were the daughters of middle-class families who had previously been excluded from educational opportunities.
‘And if you put that with what is called assortative mating – that well-educated women marry well-educated men – this transformation of opportunities for women ended up magnifying social divides rather than narrowing them. ‘It is such delicate territory because it is not a bad thing that women had these opportunities.
‘But I think it certainly widened the gap in household incomes because you suddenly had two-earner couples, both of whom were well educated, compared with often workless households where nobody was educated. ‘So I do personally think that the feminist revolution in its first-round effects, was probably the key factor. Feminism trumped egalitarianism.’
Mr Willetts dismissed suggestions that the destruction of the grammar school system was a major factor. Grammar schools offered a route out of poverty for the post-war generations, but Mr Willetts suggested they had been hijacked by the middle classes, with entry policies that were ‘not particularly broadly based’.
Shadow equalities minister Yvette Cooper reacted angrily to the comments. She said: ‘The idea that working women are responsible for persistent child poverty or youth unemployment in disadvantaged areas is just shocking. ‘David Willetts should quickly withdraw this rubbish and face up to the real problems his policies are causing for young people and women who want to get on.’
Lefties, not Etonians, are closing British libraries
Zadie Smith is wrong about libraries – and the BBC were wrong to let her broadcast her attack on the 'cuts', writes Simon Heffer
Just as some of us believe in Father Christmas or the Lone Ranger, I have long believed there is no institutional political bias in the BBC. I have made many programmes for the corporation over the past 20 or so years and have never encountered any blatant example of it. I know some senior BBC executives who I think might even vote Conservative – not that that signifies a freedom from Leftism these days. However, one contribution to the Today programme this week made me think I might be wrong.
It was the piece-to-microphone by Zadie Smith, a novelist, about the closure of libraries. For five minutes she was allowed to broadcast an attack on the “cuts”, and the effect they were having on these institutions. She did so with her assertions, prejudices and misinformation going unchallenged.
Miss Smith happens to be a woman, a Leftist and a member of an ethnic minority. I fear there are some people in the BBC for whom that formula signals the need to suspend disbelief. No man of the Right from the ethnic majority would ever be given such a platform to make such assertions. The editor responsible should be the subject of the most rigorous inquiry, to say the least.
Miss Smith and I would agree that libraries are good. We would disagree about why they are closing. She says it is because the Cabinet is full of people from “Eton and Harrow” who simply don’t care. Not a single member of the Cabinet went to Harrow. Only one, the Prime Minister, went to Eton. Two other OEs, Sir George Young and Oliver Letwin, attend Cabinet but are not members of it. The BBC seems not to mind that she says these dishonest and unpleasant things. Had someone spoken in the same way about homosexuals, Muslims or even Jews, the world would have ended.
Libraries are closing not because of “cuts”, or because of a callous, privately educated clique whose bookshelves are so capacious and well-stocked that they have no need of public provision – they are closing because mischievous Leftist councils of the sort supported by Miss Smith choose to close them rather than make savings elsewhere.
If you sack diversity officers or lesbian outreach workers, that merely makes sense, since the productivity and social value of such jobs are minimal. If you close a library, you harm children, the elderly and the intellectually curious poor who are already betrayed by our dismal education system. The political point made is therefore far more satisfying. (Miss Smith seemed to think another purpose of libraries was to be somewhere from which her mother could steal books, but let that pass.)
The BBC is making “cuts”, because the Government feels the revenue from generous licence-fee settlements past has been squandered or badly deployed. The BBC should not have diversified into the guide books business nor given an £18 million contract to one rather ordinary presenter. There long ago ceased to be a link between funding and quality in the BBC: look at the job of informing, educating and entertaining that Radio 3 does on very little money.
So the BBC is touchy about “cuts”, and Miss Smith was a suitably high-profile voice to articulate this anger. But she was also wrong. There is another side to the coin, and in the interests of impartiality I trust we shan’t need to wait too long before seeing or hearing it.
To the outside world she was a respected NHS hospital doctor who lived in a £500,000 home and sent her children to private schools. But Nigerian-born Florence Olaye was carrying out an extraordinary deception using two identities.
She used a fake name to retake an English test required to practise medicine in Britain – and officials are not even sure she was a proper doctor. She also had a false Home Office letter claiming she had indefinite leave to stay in the country. And the 61-year-old had two marriages to Portuguese men half her age, using separate identities for the weddings.
Her web of lies was so complex that even after she was jailed for a year yesterday, the UK Border Agency is uncertain how and when she entered the country. Olaye claimed to have qualified from medical school in Moscow. She is believed to have travelled to Britain on her real passport, which states that she was born in 1949.
But she also had a second passport in the name of Florence Gberevbie, giving a birth date of 1958, backed up with the false Home Office letter. She used both passports to repeatedly take language tests required to prove she could communicate with English patients. Eventually she passed and was allowed to practise under the name Gberevbie.
She supplied the bogus passport to join an employment agency in October 2007, which led to five months working in general adult psychiatry at Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. This contract was worth around £30,000.
She had four children with her first husband, who she divorced in 1999. They are now in their 30s – one is an engineer, two are pharmacists and one is a doctor. In Britain she married two Portuguese men. The first was Rui Carlos De Melo, who she wed in 2000 and divorced in 2004. Weeks later, she married Jose Tavares, but divorced him last year.
She used the name Olaye for the first wedding and Gberevbie for the second, when she stated on the certificate that she was a nurse and spinster living in Belfast.
She was finally exposed when she applied for a job with South London and Maudsley NHS Trust in 2008. A human resources officer spotted discrepancies in her application and alerted an NHS counter-fraud squad, which launched an investigation.
Yesterday Helen Guest, prosecuting, told the Inner London Crown Court: ‘A false passport, a Home Office document and a no time limit stamp were used to prove that she had a right to live and work in the UK for the purpose of securing the position of doctor in the NHS. ‘She has worked in the NHS since registering with the GMC in 2005.’
The jury rejected Olaye’s defence that she had reverted to her maiden name Gberevbie because her married name had been ‘cursed’ following her first divorce.
Olaye has been unable to work as a doctor since her arrest in February 2009, and has been claiming £132 a week of pension credit. Passing sentence, Judge Clive Million said: ‘You knew the documents were false and you had obviously knowingly obtained them to maintain two identities, which you used to apply for registration as a doctor.
‘The reasons are unclear, but it must have been to profit in some way from the deception. ‘It was probably to avoid the disadvantage of having failed several times the English proficiency tests required for registration in this country. Practising as a doctor in the UK carries great responsibility.
‘The system relies upon people to be honest and reliable – you have been shown to be neither.’
Outside court Mark Weller, an NHS counter-fraud officer at the Department for Work and Pensions, said: ‘This result demonstrates that such frauds will be investigated and that courts are prepared to mete out custodial sentences for them.’
In Third-world Britain, getting your garbage collected can be quite a hassle
The following email was sent to me by a lady who has recently taken up residence in a small town in New Zealand:
"Another thing I want to mention was about our garbage collection. Our wheelie bin is collected each Thursday morning and Simon and I managed to fill it to the brim with the lid poking up over the top.
We unfortunately slept in on Thursday and didn't get the bin out in time so it wasn't collected. We thought we would just leave it there anyway and deal with the rubbish later.
At about 4pm that afternoon the rubbish truck sped past then noticed our bin and reversed back to our house and emptied it!! We were amazed! How nice. We really are living in the country when you get service like that."
Picture below of the lady concerned enjoying the sunshine with her baby beside her local New Zealand river
Why do people stay in a messed-up place like Britain?
Left-wing, shallow and oh-so politically correct... my verdict on the BBC, by Michael Buerk
Michael Buerk has launched a withering assault on the BBC’s ‘creed of political correctness’. The veteran presenter accuses staff at the Corporation of an inbuilt ‘institutional bias’ and warns that they read the left-wing Guardian newspaper as if it is ‘their Bible’.
Reviewing a memoir by his former colleague Peter Sissons, Buerk endorses his view that the BBC is warped by the prejudices of its staff.
He says fellow reporters have ‘contempt’ for business and the countryside – and that a left-wing culture means the national broadcaster has been cast ‘adrift of the overriding national sentiment’ on issues such as climate change.
Criticism from such a well-known figure is likely to unsettle his bosses. Buerk, who presents Radio 4’s Moral Maze, is one of the most respected broadcasters of his generation. He made his name with a series of moving broadcasts on the Ethiopian famine in 1984, which prompted the Live Aid campaign, before becoming the main presenter of the BBC’s flagship evening news programme. His son Roland Buerk is the BBC’s Tokyo correspondent.
In Sissons’s memoir, which was serialised in the Daily Mail last month, the former Nine O’Clock News and Question Time presenter denounced the ‘zealotry’ of the BBC over the issue of climate change and ‘the culture of political correctness’.
Buerk, who has previously voiced criticisms of fellow newsreaders for being overpaid, autocue-reading ‘lame brains’, praises Sissons for attacking ‘Autocuties, “Elf ’n’ Safety” and ‘its culture of conformity’.
Buerk also accuses BBC reporters of an ‘uncritical love affair with environmentalism’. He condemns the ‘flatulent masses of its middle management’.
The BBC has no way of distinguishing between competent managers and the ‘totally transparent t***ers’ who populate the Corporation, writes the former news anchorman in Standpoint magazine. ‘What the BBC regards as normal and abnormal, what is moderate or extreme, where the centre of gravity of an issue lies, are conditioned by the common set of assumptions held by the people who work for it. ‘The Guardian is their bible and political correctness their creed.’
He also attacks BBC bosses for their ‘vulnerability to political pressure’ and condemns ‘the callow opinionising of some of its reporters’.
Buerk admits that some of his own bosses, including Director General Mark Thompson, were ‘extraordinarily bright, decent and effective’, but adds: ‘Of course, there were, and are, plenty of totally transparent t***ers.’ He adds: ‘The BBC’s difficulty is that it has never been able to tell the difference. In any case, it is the institution that increasingly seems to be the problem.’
And he warns: ‘It’s often notably adrift of the overriding national sentiment.’
BBC bosses are already on the back foot. They were humiliated after losing an age discrimination case to Miriam O’Reilly, the 53-year-old presenter of Countryfile. And they are also under pressure from the Government to disclose full details of how much big stars are paid.
The BBC said: ‘While Michael is entitled to his opinion, it has been some time since he has worked for BBC News so it’s interesting he feels in a position to comment. We certainly do not recognise the picture he has painted and nor would his colleagues. ‘Impartiality is critical to our success as a news broadcaster and is always at the centre of what we do.’
A nation divided: Britain is no longer split by class. Instead the social chasm is between taxpayers and the public sector
Last weekend’s march in London, protesting against The Cuts, highlighted the only social divide that matters in modern Britain. It is not between rich and poor, North and South or even Arsenal and Manchester United supporters. It is between those employed in the public and private sectors of the economy.
The march — a howl of anguish to which Ed Miliband lent his presence and absurdly extravagant rhetoric — was a partisan demo by Labour’s six-million-strong client vote, the employees of the state who have become Britain’s new privileged class.
Watching TV images of the marchers snake through the capital, I reflected that they should rightfully have been wearing wigs and powder, because they are the modern-day counterparts of pre-Revolution French aristocrats, enjoying advantages such as the rest of us can only dream of.
Once upon a time ‘civil servants’, as they were called before both words became satirical, enjoyed lifelong job security, to compensate for the fact that they received much more modest financial rewards than their private-sector counterparts.
The humble little bureaucrat taking the bus to the council office every morning from suburbia, wearing a Burton suit and Terylene tie, was the stuff of TV sitcoms. Not any more.
Margaret Thatcher galvanised British business, but conspicuously failed to reform the public sector. Subsequent Labour governments showered good things on state employees — ‘our people’.
Gordon Brown, doctrinally committed to a belief that the man in Whitehall knows best, boosted the state payroll by almost a million, so that today it constitutes one-fifth of Britain’s workforce.
Of course, teachers, nurses and other front-line workers in the public sector do hugely valuable jobs. But these people have become by far the most formidable, unionised and muscular interest group in the country. Labour voters almost to a man and woman, they enjoy job security, early retirement rights and better pay.
Yet they are statistically 2,000 per cent more prone to take industrial action than private sector workers — as the Prison Officers’ Association seems about to remind us with widespread walkouts by staff in protest against the use of private firms to run jails.
In 1997, median public sector salaries were already 2.5 per cent higher than those in business and industry. By 2009, thanks to Mr Brown’s largesse, that premium had increased to 12.5 per cent. Calculated on an hourly basis, the independent think-tank Policy Exchange reckons public sector workers get 29 per cent more than their private sector counterparts.
While there is a case for paying a few top officials big money to get quality, there is no rational argument at all for overpaying rank-and-file workers, save as a shameless political bribe for their votes.
And while the private sector has been closing final-salary pension schemes as unaffordable, public sector inflation-linked pensions remain guaranteed — and the rest of us pay for them. According to the National Audit Office, the state paid £14.9 billion towards the £19.3 billion cost of the UK’s four largest civil service schemes, while staff provided £4.4 billion.
Those figures are getting much worse. The cost of public sector pensions to taxpayers — not to the employees themselves — is expected to double over the next five years, as many people who joined the civil service on generous terms 30 to 40 years ago approach retirement.
The scandal is that in many cases these pensions are not drawn from money that is set aside — as in the private sector — but instead come from current taxation income. So when interest rates rise, as they obviously will, taxpayers’ contributions to state sector privileges will become even more painful.
Three thousand public sector workers have pension pots worth more than £1 million, which would take an average earner 600 years to fund.
For instance, the chief executive of the South West Regional Development Agency has a pot worth £1.3 million. Several senior executives of the BBC, which has come to resemble the banks in being run chiefly for the personal enrichment of its senior executives, have recently retired on pensions in excess of £200,000 a year.
Yet there is nothing the Government can do to claw back these privileges for existing employees because legal experts say employees’ contracts cannot be retrospectively rewritten.
Gordon Brown was widely criticised as Prime Minister for striking deals for the construction of two absurdly costly aircraft-carriers (which would guarantee jobs for Scottish Labour voters) on contractual terms that made cancellation almost impossible. In precisely the same fashion, Brown fixed unbreakable, gold-plated deals for state employees which taxpayers will be funding for decades.
The truth is that if current Coalition Government spending cuts damage schools or hospitals, it will be because the state’s budget has ballooned so much over recent years and is now being controlled by its employees.
This week, the Cameron Government has faced fierce criticism from the arts lobby for imposing a very modest reduction of the £2 billion subsidy arts organisations receive.
In truth the Arts Council, under the influence of its Labour commissars, has become a mechanism for distributing money for welfare projects, especially to ethnic minorities, through its ‘diversity and equal opportunities’ units.
If cash for the Arts Council’s social engineering operations was cut off — which is not being done — there would be no reason for Britain’s ‘real’ arts and theatres to suffer at all.
Meanwhile, local authorities are still squandering money on non-jobs and unnecessary functions. Why does Manchester Council need a graphic designer earning £120,000 a year, or a ‘climate change officer’ on £37,206? Why is Barnsley Council employing two ‘European officers’ and Hackney four ‘diversity officers’?
Also, many Labour councils are cutting services while hoarding large cash reserves.
Barnsley has recently stopped free swimming for local residents, blaming this on government cuts, while continuing to fund 38 full-time trades union posts at a cost of more than £1 million a year. It spends more than £2 million a year on ‘publicity’, and last year recruited for an ‘Athletics Network Development Officer’.
Haringey Council spends £386,665 on translating its mountainous output of paper into ethnic minority languages. It employs two political advisers, three climate change officers, and four-and-a-half diversity officers who cost £245,839 a year.
Last weekend’s London demo represented a protest by the most pampered sector of society — state employees — against this Government’s desperate efforts to curb their unaffordable numbers and rights.
The BBC reports government cuts as if these constitute a brutal assault on the British people. The real mugging, however, is that conducted by the taxman, who takes away the money of ‘hard-working families’ to fund the new state elite.
Last weekend’s events highlighted the chasm between today’s two Britains. One is populated by taxpayers who generate profits; the other by Labour’s vast client vote which spends it, as of right. Far from the Government’s spending cuts being cruel or unreasonable, if properly implemented they could be much tougher, because waste is so great.
Britain will never be a healthy society until cured of its addiction to the opiate of excessive state spending.
Home at last: The twins snatched by the British State after innocuous remark sparked social services witch hunt
Leaning over the hospital incubator, Tara Norman smiled proudly down at her tiny newborn twins and whispered: ‘You should see what you have done to your Mummy’s body.’ It was the kind of rueful joke that any exhausted new mother might make after a traumatic emergency Caesarean section. Implicit, of course, was the emphatic message that she would do it all again in a heartbeat, for the sake of knowing the joy of motherhood.
Throughout her pregnancy she had dreamed of the day she and husband Adrian would leave hospital as a family. She couldn’t wait to take their son and daughter, Ashley and Olivia home, and settle them into their nursery. But she had no idea that this passing remark about her figure — lovingly spoken, in a private moment — was being secretly documented by a nearby nurse or that it would set in motion a Kafkaesque nightmare which would tear her family apart.
Observing that Tara appeared ‘bitter’ towards her twins, the nurse updated the babies’ daily diary — a set of notes that are kept as standard practice on neonatal wards to help staff keep track of each premature baby’s progress.
The incident — if one can call it that — was never mentioned to Tara or Adrian. And if there were any other signs that something was amiss, the Normans, as new parents to two premature babies, were understandably too preoccupied to notice.
In fact, they knew nothing of the problem until days later, when a woman from Havering Social Services arrived at their home in Hornchurch, Essex, and announced: ‘I’m here because we want to take your children into care and we want you to agree to it.'
The Normans, whose twins were yet to leave hospital, were left bewildered and the woman made no mention of the comment Tara had made about her body.
Speaking exclusively to the Mail, Tara says: ‘We couldn’t believe what was happening. I made a silly joke and suddenly they were ripping our family apart. We told her we’d never agree to our children being taken away. So she said: “Then we will see you in court.”’
Any loving parent would have been panic-stricken by such a threat — but for the Normans it was even worse. This threatened their only chance of having a family. Owing to a rare hormone disorder, Tara is unable to conceive naturally. The couple had endured five gruelling rounds of IVF and suffered a miscarriage before she eventually fell pregnant with twins.
There could be no doubt of their desire to become parents or their commitment to care for their children, yet social workers claimed that Tara had made ‘emotionally abusive’ comments towards the twins. In their professional opinion, Tara and Adrian could not cope with the demands of first-time parenthood with two premature babies.
Havering Borough Council, acting on information supplied by Whipps Cross Hospital in East London,warned that Ashley and Olivia were at risk of ‘significant harm’ and launched court proceedings to take the six-week-old twins into care. According to the hospital, the Normans were struggling to care for the twins, born six weeks early and weighing only 3lb each.
As evidence of their ‘inadequate parenting skills’ and failure to bond with the twins, nurses cited Tara’s comments and occasions when the couple had not fed the children the recommended amount of milk or changed their nappies properly.
‘No one is born with parenting skills, but we were learning as we went along, just like anyone else,’ says Adrian, a 43-year-old former Post Office worker. ‘If we had been given some help we would have been fine. But they only seemed interested in taking the children away.’
Whatever the fears of the nursing staff, who no doubt felt they were acting in the best interests of the children, what happened next seems to be a gross overreaction. Within days a protection order was granted at a secret Family Court hearing and the six-week-old twins were discharged from hospital and placed in a series temporary foster homes.
The twins were placed in a foster home, but moved within 24 hours to a placement with a foster family near Southend, Essex, an hour’s drive from the Normans’ home in Hornchurch. Tara and Adrian were allowed just five hours’ supervised contact a week.
Adrian and Tara acknowledge their inexperience and insist they would have welcomed support from social workers. But instead, Havering began care proceedings.
They were told to get separate solicitors and warned that it was possible custody would be awarded to just one of them, meaning they would have to live apart after five years of marriage.
It was, without doubt, an extraordinarily cruel punishment for a non-existent crime. Without evidence that any violence or abuse had ever taken place, huge decisions were made in haste. As a result, the twins spent their first precious year in the arms of strangers.
And even when, in March 2009, the twins’ court-appointed guardian formally recommended they be returned to their parents as soon as a parenting assessment was completed, nothing could halt the wheels of officialdom. When Tara protested, social workers noted that she had ‘anger problems’. She admits she once threw her handbag at a wall in fury, and it hit a social worker on the arm — she accepted a police caution over the incident.
Two social workers also claim she threw her mobile phone at them. Her understandable frustration was regarded as proof of the risk she presented to her children. ‘They had taken my children away from me. How was I supposed to react?’ she says.
In January 2010, more than a year after their birth, the twins were allowed to go home with their parents under a court supervision order. Key to this was Adrian’s decision to take voluntary redundancy to help Tara to care for the twins.
Health visitors and social workers visited the family’s house at least once a fortnight and consistently reported that Ashley and Olivia were ‘happy and content children’.
Tara said: ‘I had imagined taking two tiny babies home from hospital, but by the time they were finally allowed to come home they were one-year-olds. ‘The first minutes on our own in the house were almost unbelievable — it had taken a year to get to a point where we were finally alone with our own children.’
Now toddlers, Ashley and Olivia cling to their parents and demand constant attention, but the Normans hope they will not remember their separation as they grow up. No further concerns were raised and the court supervision order expired in February this year.
The Normans, who are considering taking legal action against the council, have received no formal notification from the court or the council, although Family Court officials have confirmed to the Mail that the case has been closed.
But they cannot shake the fear that officials will find a pretext to take their children again.
A spokeswoman for Havering Borough Council said: ‘We have worked hard with the family and are pleased that after a year of supervision and Mr Norman’s decision to be at home during the day, we have closed our orders.’
Classic literature risks dying out in schools as hundreds of thousands of pupils are allowed to complete GCSEs without studying a single book written before the 20th century, Michael Gove warns today. Fewer than one in 100 teenagers who sat the most popular English literature exam last year based their answers on novels published prior to 1900, says the Education Secretary.
Only 1,236 out of 300,000 students read Pride and Prejudice, 285 studied Far From the Madding Crowd and just 187 completed Wuthering Heights as part of the test, he claims. At the same time, more than 90 per cent of answers were based on the same three books – Of Mice and Men, Lord of the Flies and To Kill a Mockingbird.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph today, Mr Gove says the disclosure underlines the extent to which England’s “constricted and unreformed exam system” fails to encourage children to read.
He says Britain also has some of the best modern children’s writers in the world, including Philip Pullman, JK Rowling, Michael Morpurgo and Anthony Horowitz, but many young people are “growing up in ignorance of their work”.
It follows the publication of a major international study in December showing that reading standards among British teenagers had slumped from 7th to 25th in a decade.
“We’re not picking up enough new books, not getting through the classics, not widening our horizons. In short, we’re just not reading enough,” he says.
Mr Gove’s comments were made after a tour of independent “charter schools” in American last month. He claims that a love of reading is promoted in many schools opened in tough inner-city areas, praising one that issued children with a challenge to read 50 books in a year.
But in a dig at the teaching establishment in England, Mr Gove says many children in this country are held back by an “anti-knowledge” culture that prevents them from reaching their potential. “The children I met were smart and lively. But they were also, overwhelmingly, from the most disadvantaged homes,” he says.
“That didn’t mean their teachers lowered the bar. Quite the opposite. They wanted to give those children a chance to enjoy the glittering prizes – so they set expectations high.
“I want the same culture here. I want to take on the lowest-common-denominator ethos, the 'let’s not be too demanding', 'all this smacks of targets', 'the poor dears can’t manage it', 'the idea of a canon is outmoded', 'it’s all on the internet anyway' culture which is anti-knowledge, anti-aspiration and antithetical to human flourishing.
“Instead, I want a culture in which the more you read, the more you are celebrated. "That’s why I have said we should set our own 50 Book Challenge. And that’s also why I want to develop a stronger and more durable culture of reading for pleasure.”
Anger as British schools ban Gideon Bibles to avoid upsetting other faiths
We read:
"The Gideons have become famed for handing out signature red Bibles to young children during school assemblies. But they have been told to stay away from some classes because it may spark complaints from different faiths.
Abbot Beyne School and Paget High School near Burton On Trent in Staffordshire have made the controversial ban. Maggie Tate, deputy head teacher of Abbot Beyne, said: 'The reason we stopped the Gideons coming in is that we are a comprehensive multi-faith school. We felt it was inappropriate to allow one faith group to distribute material in school.'
Headteacher at Paget High School in Branston, Don Smith, also cited multiculturalism as the reason behind the decision to abolish the tradition.
The decision has caused outrage among Christians, who have accused the schools of trying to silence Christianity. Gideons supporter Barry Martin said: 'We live in a Christian country. I think that if the Gideons want to offer Bibles to children then they should be allowed to do so.
'Banning them is not right because these schools are trying to silence Christianity and we must fight to defend it. Christians make this world a better place.'
How a Nigerian doctor worked in 14 different NHS hospitals despite not even knowing how to perform CPR
A foreign doctor who didn’t even know how to carry out mouth-to-mouth resuscitation worked in 14 British hospitals. Dr Lucius Okere was allowed to work as a locum for ten months even though he didn’t understand the meaning of basic medical terms such as “crash call” - thinking it meant car crash.
He also slapped patients to see if they were conscious and didn’t properly wash his hands. Incredibly, not one of the 14 hospital trusts which employed the Dr Okere checked his ability to speak English or his competence.
The Nigerian-born doctor, who qualified in Bologna, Italy, was finally struck off by the General Medical Council in January after staff at one of the hospitals reported serious concerns. During the GMC hearing he was described as a “dangerous and frightening doctor”, “everybody’s nightmare” and a “disaster waiting to happen.”
This is the latest case to highlight how patients are routinely being put at risk at the hands of EU doctors who are allowed to work in hospitals and surgeries without formal checks on their language and competence.
Due to strict rules imposed by Brussels, the GMC watchdog is banned from carrying out tests on doctors coming in from EU member states because it restricts the “free movement of labour”.
All other doctors coming countries across the world - including Australia, Canada and the US - have to prove that their medical skills and language are up to scratch before being allowed to work.
This flaw in the regulation was tragically exposed in 2008 when 70-year-old David Gray died after being given ten times the recommended dose of morphine by an incompetent German GP Daniel Ubani, who was covering an out of hours shift at a surgery in Cambridgeshire.
In the wake of this case, both the Department of Health has urged health trusts to carry out their own checks on doctors – which are allowed under EU law – but many are failing to do so.
Dr Okere, who is married with children, first came to England in May 2007 and settled in Islington, North London. He signed up with an agency CES Locums and was sent to work at various hospitals including East Surrey Hospital Trust in Redhill, Kettering General and Lymington New Forest Hospital in Hampshire. Each time his contract was terminated within a few days over serious concerns of his competence.
But as none of the trusts reported him to the GMC, he was allowed to carry on working and moved on to different hospitals.
He was finally referred to the watchdog by staff at Epsom General hospital in Surrey, where he had worked for four days in 2008 before being dismissed. But even after he had been reported, he was still allowed to work in at least two NHS hospitals.
At the GMC hearing it emerged that nobody knew exactly what sort of work Dr Okere had carried out in Italy before coming to Britain. He qualified in 1993 before spending five years training for his diploma in Surgery. It is believed he then worked in a small convalescent hospital which treated minor illnesses – any patient who became seriously ill was transferred to a main hospital for treatment.
At the hearing it emerged that he did not know how to “scrub up”, where surgeons wash their hands and arms very thoroughly before an operation. It was also revealed that while working at Lymington Hospital he mistook the meaning of a “crash call” – the medical term for a cardiac arrest – for a car crash.
Former NHS director dies after operation is cancelled four times at her own hospital
A former NHS director died after waiting for nine months for an operation - at her own hospital. Margaret Hutchon, a former mayor, had been waiting since last June for a follow-up stomach operation at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex. But her appointments to go under the knife were cancelled four times and she barely regained consciousness after finally having surgery.
Her devastated husband, Jim, is now demanding answers from Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust - the organisation where his wife had served as a non-executive member of the board of directors. He said: 'I don't really know why she died. I did not get a reason from the hospital. We all want to know for closure. She got weaker and weaker as she waited and operations were put off.'
Mr Hutchon, of Great Baddow, Essex, said his wife, 72, had initially undergone major stomach surgery last June but the follow up procedures were repeatedly abandoned.
Mr Hutchon, 71, said: 'The case has been referred to the coroner because of the long time it has taken. In some ways, I would like the coroner to order a post mortem.'
The pensioner said his wife had been left very weak before her operation because she had been unable to take in nutrients.
'From July to October there was talk of another operation and then between November and December there were three or four postponements and she was becoming so institutionalised we decided to get her home until an operation was certain. 'It was a blessing because although neither of is could have guessed it - it gave us a last month together. 'Nevertheless, she was unable to take proper nourishment and went into the operation on the better side of a low state - she was very weak.'
A spokesman for Broomfield Hospital said it could not comment on individual cases.
Harassing the innocent is all that they are good at
Boxing legend Frank Bruno told today how he was stopped by police recently on suspicion of stealing his own car. He said the 'two youngsters' involved were 'a disgrace' and should have checked beforehand that it was his car, which has its own number plate.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live that the incident had happened 'in the last month' at Berkhamsted, Herts. 'They said 'there's a lot of high performance cars, sir, being stolen around the area'. 'I could see them laughing like two hyenas in the car, but I didn't find it funny.'
Asked if they had recognised him, he said: 'They recognised me, like Tom and Jerry, and Peter Pan, and Batman, but I think, I didn't want to give them no hassle, showed them the documents, waited there for 10 minutes, and done what I had to do. 'Because the police are the police, they are the law of the land, you've got to keep up to the rules and regulations of the law of the land.'
He said there were some police officers around the area of his home, in Bedfordshire, who were 'good as gold'. 'You're going to get a little bad bunch here and there, but they were a disgrace, to stop and ask, "have you nicked the car?". 'I thought they were joking, I thought it was Candid Camera, but it weren't Candid Camera, it was serious.
'But when you're dealing with the police, don't go 'what are you saying to me', hold it down. 'No, officer, it's my car, check it out'. 'I think they checked it out, but some of them abuse their power, but there's good and bad in everything, so I don't want to diss them at all.'
Asked if they had been rude to him, he said: 'They weren't rude to me, but they've got all the gadgets in the car, the latest gadgets, that can tell what time it is in Iran, what temperature it is.'
The former world heavyweight champion added that where he lived, in Bedfordshire, he had previously been stopped for speeding. 'They warned me, and let me off, so you're going to meet good and bad in whatever you do.'
British Cafe owner wins extractor fan appeal after neighbour claimed 'smell of bacon offends Muslims'
A cafe owner was yesterday celebrating victory after a six-month legal battle to fry bacon triggered by Muslim complaints. Beverley Akciecek, 49, was ordered to tear down an extractor fan after a neighbour told council bosses his Muslim friends refused to visit his home because of the ‘foul odour’. Graham Webb-Lee said the smell made them feel ‘physically sick’.
Mrs Akciecek and her husband Cetin, 50 – himself a Turkish Muslim – spent months struggling to pay legal fees and worrying about the future of their business. Now the planning inspectorate has announced that they can keep the extractor fan at the Snack Shack cafe in Stockport. The council has been ordered to pay the entire legal bill, which could be as high as £5,000.
Mrs Akciecek, a mother of seven, said: ‘This is a victory for common sense but we shouldn’t have been put through this in the first place. We had lots of support from the Muslim community. They were infuriated.’
When the couple took over the cafe in 2007, they replaced a worn-out extractor fan with a modern one. They had not applied for planning permission but after the complaints, were told they had to. They applied retrospectively in May last year but were refused, before their successful appeal.
Yesterday Mr Webb-Lee said: ‘This is disgraceful. It makes our house stink of vile cooking smells, we can’t eat our breakfast. I will be speaking to my lawyer.’
The Lib Dem-run council originally ruled the smell from the fan, which has been in Bev's Snack Shack for more than three years, was 'unacceptable on the grounds of residential amenity' and told her to take it down. But Beverley and her husband appealed the decision. After a six-month legal battle, the Planning Inspectorate finally announced they had won their case.
She said today: 'The council have got to pay our legal fees which is a great relief because we were beginning to struggle. 'It would have cost us a couple of grand to move it which we just didn't have. 'We would have had to shut down while they were doing it, which would have taken a couple of weeks and it would have been a nightmare.
'This has really taken it out of us as a family. We were like robots, we did everything we had to do but it was always there and it caused us so much stress. 'Now we can just get on with being a normal family.'
They claim they received no complaints about the cafe, which is open from 7.30am-2.30pm six days a week, until around eighteen months ago.
Mrs Akciecek said: 'I just think it's just crazy. Cetin's friends actually visit the shop, they're regular visitors, they're Muslim people, they come in a couple of times a week. 'I have Muslim people come in for cheese toasties. Cetin cooks the food himself, he cooks the bacon.
'When we go to a cafe my husband wouldn't be offended by the smell of bacon. 'His friends are not offended by it, we have three visitors who come here for a sandwich, friends of my husband, and the smell doesn't offend them at all.
'We've never had a problem about the smell because everything is pre-cooked. We cook it in the oven so there's no foul smell. 'It's pre-cooked so the smell isn't as strong when we're frying it off.
'It's been a sandwich shop for about eight years, cooking exactly the same stuff. The lady before me did double because they were actually building new houses across the road so she was really busy.
'They were there before me but they were also there when the lady who owns the business was here. She had five staff, you can imagine how busy that shop was and they never complained at all.'
Brain link to anti-social and yobbish behaviour in teenagers
Those who have studied psychopathy, as I have, certainly do tend to get the subjective impression that a psychopath has a "bit missing" in his brain. This may be a small move towards identifying the "bit" concerned
Bad behaviour in teenagers could be explained by stunted growth of the "caring-sharing" areas of their brains, study suggests. Scientists have found that yobs and hoodies have smaller regions of the brain that deal with emotions especially fear and the ability to feel the pain of others. This suggests that their anti-social behaviour could have a biological basis and could lead to possible new treatments.
The study led by Cambridge University attempted to explain why five per cent of school age children suffer from Conduct Disorder (CD), a recognised psychiatric condition characterised by aggressive and anti-social traits.
They looked at 63 boys with an average age of 18 with CD, some of whom developed problems at an early age and some who began to display anti-social behaviour in adolescence. They were compared with a group of 27 "normal" teenagers from similar backgrounds.
Brain scans showed that two regions were significantly smaller in affected teenagers, including those who only became badly behaved when they reached adolescence. The two areas were the amygdala and insula, which contribute to emotional perception, empathy, and the ability to recognise when others are in distress.
Rates of CD have increased sharply around the world since the 1950s. The condition can develop in young children, or not show itself until the teenage years. Those affected are at greater risk of mental problems, substance abuse and criminality in later life.
It has long been thought that adolescent-onset CD is merely the result of susceptible teenagers imitating badly-behaved peers. But the new research challenges this view, pointing to brain changes that affect all youngsters with the condition.
The scientists are cautious about how to interpret the findings, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Professor Ian Goodyer, one of the researchers, said: "We hope that our results will contribute to existing psychosocial strategies for detecting children at high risk of developing anti-social behaviour."
He stressed their study had not demonstrated a foolproof "test" and only provided a springboard for further, more extensive, research. He said environmental and family factors also played a part.
Dr Graeme Fairchild, co-author from the University of Southampton, said: Changes in grey matter volume in these areas of the brain could explain why teenagers with conduct disorder have difficulties in recognising emotions in others. "Further studies are now needed to investigate whether these changes in brain structure are a cause or a consequence of the disorder."
Dr Andy Calder, from the Medical Research Council's Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, another author, said: "Only when we are confident that we understand why the disorder develops can we apply this knowledge to the further development and evaluation of treatments. "The disorder has a devastating impact on families and communities and at the moment we have few effective treatments."
Rise in carbon emissions was due to an increase in gas used to heat homes driven by the COLD weather
For some reason, people aren't worrying much about global warming these days--even though, as we write, it's 40 degrees out in New York City, far warmer than it was just two or three months ago. Gallup finds that only 51% of Americans worry about global warming even a "fair amount," making it the lowest-priority environmental issue. That is to say, the lowest of the low, as a January Gallup poll found "the environment" the subject that fewest voters--less than a quarter--rated "extremely important."
London's Guardian reports that in the United Kingdom, "greenhouse gas emissions rose by nearly 3% last year, according to government statistics released on Thursday." The story is accompanied by a photo of a snow-covered street with the caption: "Last year's rise in carbon emissions was due to an increase in gas used to heat homes driven by the cold weather."
For some reason, the story doesn't mention the connection between cold weather and the increase in greenhouse gases. We suppose the Guardian doesn't want to alarm its readers. After all, if emissions are rising because of cold weather, that's an act of God, there's not much anyone can do to save the planet.
This strikes us as overly fatalistic. For one thing, we're all going to die anyway, and we lose nothing by facing up to the inconvenient truth. What's more, you never know. With some good old-fashioned Yankee ingenuity, maybe man can come up with a way of making the weather warmer so as to avoid the threat of greenhouse gases.
Postings from Brisbane, Australia by John Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.) -- former member of the Australia-Soviet Friendship Society, former anarcho-capitalist and former member of the British Conservative party.
Some TERMINOLOGY for non-British readers: The British "A Level" exam is roughly equivalent to a U.S. High School diploma. Rather confusingly, you can get As, Bs or Cs in your "A Level" results. Entrance to the better universities normally requires several As in your "A Levels".
Again for American readers: A "pensioner" is a retired person living on Social Security
Consensus. Margaret Thatcher in a 1981 speech: "For me, pragmatism is not enough. Nor is that fashionable word "consensus."... To me consensus seems to be the process of abandoning all beliefs, principles, values and policies in search of something in which no one believes, but to which no one objects—the process of avoiding the very issues that have to be solved, merely because you cannot get agreement on the way ahead. What great cause would have been fought and won under the banner "I stand for consensus"?
For my sins I have always loved G.B. Shaw's witty comment: "No Englishman can open his mouth without causing another Englishman to despise him". But Shaw was Irish, of course.
Britain has enormous claims to fame -- most of which the Labour goverment has been doing its best to destroy. But one glory no-one can destroy is British humour. And if you don't "get" British humour, your life is a dreary desert indeed. A superb sample here
Here is a link to my favourite British political speech since WWII. It is by Nigel Farage, the Leader of the UK Independence Party. He is referring to the Fascistic decision by the EU parliament to act as if their huge new "constitution" had been approved by the voters when in fact majorities in France, Ireland and Nederland (Holland) have rejected it at the ballot box. He points out that abuse is all they have to offer when he points out the impropriety of their actions.
Farage's expression, "A complete shower" is British slang meaning a group of completely incompetent and useless failures. It originated in the British armed forces where its unabbreviated version was "A complete shower of sh*t".
Britain appears to be the first country where anti-patriotism gained strong hold. Even Friedich Engels (the co-worker with Karl Marx who died in 1895) was a furious German patriot. Much of the British elite were anti-patriotic from the early 20th century onwards, however. The "Cambridge spies" (from one of Britain's two most prestigious universities) are a good example of that. Although Cambridge appears to have been the chief nest of spies-to-be in Britain of the 30s, however, Oxford was also very Leftist. In 1933 (9th Feb.) the Oxford Union debated the motion: "This House will in no circumstances fight for King and Country". The motion was overwhelmingly carried (275 to 153).
I have an abiding fascination with the Church of England. It is the sort of fascination one might have for a once-distinguished elderly relative who has gone bad and become a slave to the bottle. But nothing I can say about the C of E (which these days seems to stand for The Church of the Environment) could surpass what the whole of English literature says of it -- which ranges from seeing it as a collection of nincompoops and incompetents to seeing it as comprised of evil hypocrites. Yet its 39 "Articles of Religion" of 1562 are an abiding and eloquent statement of Protestant faith. But I guess that 1562 is a long time ago.
Links about antisemitism in 21st century Britain here and here and here and here and here
The intellectual Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) could well have been thinking of modern Britain when he said: "The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
On all my blogs, I express my view of what is important primarily by the readings that I select for posting. I do however on occasions add personal comments in italicized form at the beginning of an article.
I am rather pleased to report that I am a lifelong conservative. Out of intellectual curiosity, I did in my youth join organizations from right across the political spectrum so I am certainly not closed-minded and am very familiar with the full spectrum of political thinking. Nonetheless, I did not have to undergo the lurch from Left to Right that so many people undergo. At age 13 I used my pocket-money to subscribe to the "Reader's Digest" -- the main conservative organ available in small town Australia of the 1950s. I have learnt much since but am pleased and amused to note that history has since confirmed most of what I thought at that early age.
I imagine that the RD are still sending mailouts to my 1950s address
The kneejerk response of the Green/Left to people who challenge them is to say that the challenger is in the pay of "Big Oil", "Big Business", "Big Pharma", "Exxon-Mobil", "The Pioneer Fund" or some other entity that they see, in their childish way, as a boogeyman. So I think it might be useful for me to point out that I have NEVER received one cent from anybody by way of support for what I write. As a retired person, I live entirely on my own investments. I do not work for anybody and I am not beholden to anybody. And I have NO investments in oil companies, mining companies or "Big Pharma"
UPDATE: Despite my (statistical) aversion to mining stocks, I have recently bought a few shares in BHP -- the world's biggest miner, I gather. I run the grave risk of becoming a speaker of famous last words for saying this but I suspect that BHP is now so big as to be largely immune from the risks that plague most mining companies. I also know of no issue affecting BHP where my writings would have any relevance. The Left seem to have a visceral hatred of miners. I have never quite figured out why.
I am an army man. Although my service in the Australian army was chiefly noted for its un-notability, I DID join voluntarily in the Vietnam era, I DID reach the rank of Sergeant, and I DID volunteer for a posting in Vietnam. So I think I may be forgiven for saying something that most army men think but which most don't say because they think it is too obvious: The profession of arms is the noblest profession of all because it is the only profession where you offer to lay down your life in performing your duties. Our men fought so that people could say and think what they like but I myself always treat military men with great respect -- respect which in my view is simply their due.
Although I have been an atheist for all my adult life, I have no hesitation in saying that the single book which has influenced me most is the New Testament. And my Scripture blog will show that I know whereof I speak.
Many people hunger and thirst after righteousness. Some find it in the hatreds of the Left. Others find it in the love of Christ. I don't hunger and thirst after righteousness at all. I hunger and thirst after truth. How old-fashioned can you get?
My academic background
My full name is Dr. John Joseph RAY. I am a former university teacher aged 65 at the time of writing in 2009. I was born of Australian pioneer stock in 1943 at Innisfail in the State of Queensland in Australia. I trace my ancestry wholly to the British Isles. After an early education at Innisfail State Rural School and Cairns State High School, I taught myself for matriculation. I took my B.A. in Psychology from the University of Queensland in Brisbane. I then moved to Sydney (in New South Wales, Australia) and took my M.A. in psychology from the University of Sydney in 1969 and my Ph.D. from the School of Behavioural Sciences at Macquarie University in 1974. I first tutored in psychology at Macquarie University and then taught sociology at the University of NSW. My doctorate is in psychology but I taught mainly sociology in my 14 years as a university teacher. In High Schools I taught economics. I have taught in both traditional and "progressive" (low discipline) High Schools. Fuller biographical notes here
