Tuesday 1 July 2003

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson

Another minister under fire: call for Hodge to quit over
child abuse scandal
The Conservatives called for the resignation of the new minister
for children yesterday after social workers accused her of failing
to stop child abuse in children’s homes while she was leader of
Islington Council.
Two former social workers at the council, who accuse Margaret Hodge
of failing to support them over allegations that young people in
care were being sexually abused, went public with their accusations
for the first time yesterday.
Hodge admitted yesterday that she had shown a “deep lack of
understanding” over the situation in Islington’s children’s
homes.
The story was first broken by the Evening Standard in 1992.
Source:- The Independent Tuesday 1 July page 6

£1.2bn job-creation project for Wales is falling
short
A £1.2bn European Union project to provide jobs in
the poorest parts of Wales has only created 15 per cent of the jobs
it was expected to create halfway through its seven-year term,
according to a new report.
Objective One grants are available from the EU to areas where
average incomes are less than 75 per cent of the community average.
This results in two-thirds of Wales being eligible for the
scheme.
The programme is intended to create about 70,000 jobs by December
2006 but an assessment by two consultancies revealed that so far it
has only created 10,508 positions.
Source:- The Financial Times Tuesday 1 July page 4

Top companies ignoring benefits of positive race relations
policy
Only 18 FTSE 100 companies are tracking their progress on
ethnic minority employees, customers and suppliers, according to
report due to be published tomorrow.
In a speech before the launch of the third annual benchmarking
survey, Allan Leighton, chairperson of the Race for Opportunity
campaign and chairperson of Royal Mail, will highlight that too few
employes are measuring their performance on race issues.
Source:- The Financial Times Tuesday 1 July page 8

Grandparents to adopt girl at risk from child abuse
A judge’s decision to prevent grandparents from adopting
their three-year-old grandaughter because it would be unfair to her
father who has paedophilia convictions has been overturned.
The Court of Appeal ruled that the decision made in February was
not in the girl’s best interests.
It found that the father, who has served two years for sex offences
against children, was a “clear threat” to his daughter.
Source:- Daily Mail  Tuesday 1 July page 30

Pakistani councillor in translator cash row
A Pakistani asylum seeker, who has been elected as a
Liberal Democrat councillor, has been told by the council leader
that the taxpayer should not have to pay for his Urdu-speaking
translator.
Liaqat Ali, the new member for Longsight, only speaks broken
English and has to use a translator every time he goes to a
Manchester Council meeting.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph  Tuesday 1 July page 9

Kosovan family wins reprieve
A Kosovan family who were told they had to leave Britain
after living in Sefton Park in Liverpool for four years have been
allowed to stay in the country.
The Havollis, who are Muslims, fled their country due to the Serb
campaign of ethnic cleansing.
They had support from their Labour MP and the Archbishop of
Liverpool.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Tuesday 1 July page 9

Scottish news

MS victim threatens sympathy suicide as cannabis trial
nears end
A woman who suffers from multiple sclerosis has warned
that she will commit suicide if the cannabis campaigner, Biz Ivol,
takes her own life following a court case tomorrow.
Ivol went on trial last month charged with cultivating, possessing
and supplying cannabis which she says has alleviated the pain of
many fellow multiple sclerosis sufferers.
Ivol claims she will take an overdose of paracetemals and champagne
when the court case is over because the condition has left her with
no quality of life.
Now Valerie Jack from Bristol, who also suffers from MS, has
claimed that she will follow suit if Ivol commits suicide as she
believes life is not worth living without the help of
cannabis.
Source:- The Scotsman  Tuesday 1 July page 5

Parents accused of abuse in court protest
Parents whose children were put into care after they were
accused of child abuse yesterday called for a public inquiry and
reform of the family court system.
A demonstration was staged outside the High Court in London in
protest at the use of expert witnesses in court, where their
testimony alone meant children were placed in foster homes and
adopted.
The move followed the high profile cases of Sally Clark, who was
cleared on appeal of killing her two children, and Trupti Patel,
who was recently found not guilty of killing her three
children.
Source:- The Herald  Tuesday 1 July

Action plan cuts bed-blocking
The Scottish executive claimed yesterday that moves to
tackle bed-blocking are working.
The number of Scottish patients waiting to be discharged fell by a
third between January 2002 and April this year. Those waiting more
than six weeks to be discharged dropped from 1957 to 1249 over the
same period.
However the statistics showed that there are still 2066 mainly
older people stuck in hospital beds even though they are well
enough to leave.
Source:- Daily Record  Tuesday 1 July

Welsh news

Dire Emergency
There are delays in ambulance crews reaching patients in
Wales as a result of staff shortages, it has emerged.
Eight or nine fully staffed ambulances usually cover the areas of
Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, but on Saturday night just four
emergency ambulances were available.
As a result of staff shortages, paramedics had to be assisted by
patient care service drivers, who usually take older and disabled
people to hospital appointments, and volunteers from the St John
Ambulance service.
Source:- South Wales Echo Monday 30 June page 5

Kosovan teenager must wait for asylum decision
A Kosovan teenager, who sought refuge in Wales, is still
waiting to find out whether he will have to return to his homeland
following an asylum hearing.
Edmond Pone was found hiding in a lorry in south Wales with fellow
Kosovan, Krenar Lleshi, in 1999.
The pair, both now 18, were first placed with foster carers in Ebbw
Vale and Pone now lives in supported housing.
His first application for asylum was turned down and adjudicators
on the latest appeal hearing are expected to reach a decision
within two to four weeks.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 1 July page 9