By Amy Taylor, Nicola Barry and Alex Dobson.
Pledge to halve asylum seekers derided
Critics are saying Tony Blair's credibility is on the line over his pledge, made in an interview with BBC TV’s ‘Newsnight’, to halve the number of asylum seekers coming to Britain by September.
The claim has been dismissed as unachievable by many with figures out this month expected to show that asylum numbers were over 100,000 last year.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Saturday 8 February page 1
Blunkett says Blair's pledge on asylum seekers 'undeliverable'
David Blunkett has branded Tony Blair's promise of halving the number of asylum seekers arriving in Britain by September as "undeliverable".
Speaking privately, the home secretary said he would be looking at Blair's comments as "a direction not a target".
Source:- The Sunday Telegraph 9 February page 1
Old people's homes 'misuse drugs to subdue residents'
One in five nursing home residents is being wrongly prescribed powerful drugs, according to a new survey.
The research, which covered more than 900 people in 22 homes, found that 24.5 per cent of those studied had been given "neuroleptic" medicines, drugs used to treat people with mental health problems, and to make patients more subdued.
Source:- The Sunday Telegraph 9 February page 6
Four new asylum sites to be named
Beverly Hughes, the minister for citizenship and immigration, is expected to make an announcement this week disclosing the locations of up to four new accommodation centres for 3,000 asylum seekers.
The announcement is expected to coincide with the release of new figures showing the number of people trying to claim political asylum in Britain is higher than it has ever been.
Source:- The Independent on Sunday 9 February page 1
Suicide at refugee centre sparks hunger strike
The suicide of an asylum seeker, who was due to be deported back to his native Ukraine the next day, has alarmed campaigners who argue that the government's plans to detain more refugees and deport them in a shorter space of time, will cause more to take their own lives.
Mikhail Bodnarchuk was found hanged by his shoelaces at Haslar removal centre in Gosport, Hampshire. A week later another man, thought to be from Africa, is fighting for his life after also trying to hang himself last Friday. Bodnarchuk's death has prompted a hunger strike to draw attention to the conditions at the centre.
Source:- The Independent on Sunday 9 February page 14
Council chief's pay soars as tax rises loom
Many council chief executives have been given pay rises of up to 10 times the rate of inflation while council tax is set to be increased.
Some of the local authority heads have seen their salaries rise by 30 per cent this year, and many earn more than ministers.
Source:- The Sunday Times 9 February page 11
85 per cent think asylum is out of control
85 per cent of those questioned in a Mori poll, commissioned by Migration Watch UK, the independent monitor, do not think ministers have control over asylum or immigration.
Source:- The Sunday Times 9 February page 10
Blair's target on asylum is a 'long-term aim,' says Home Office
Conservatives are calling for clarification over Tony Blair's pledge to halve the number of asylum seekers arriving in Britain by September. "Does the government have a target or a commitment to reduce asylum applications by half by September or not?" said Oliver Letwin, the shadow home secretary. "If so how does it hope to achieve this result?"
The home office has denied claims that David Blunkett, the home secretary, had branded the target as unachievable, but said that halving the figure was a "long-term aim".
Source:- The Independent Monday 10 February page 8
Asylum test case fast tracks to high court
The high court will today witness a challenge to the government's decision to deny state benefits to asylum seekers who make their claims "late" as part of the attempt to halve the number of immigrants arriving in Britain by September.
Source:- The Guardian Monday 10 February page 7
Scottish newspapers
Challenge to Dunblane 100 year secrecy order
MSPs are demanding access to the police report into Dunblane murderer Thomas Hamilton, which has been placed under a public secrecy order for 100 years, fuelling concerns that the unprecedented decision was taken to protect high profile figures connected to the killer.
There has been long running speculation that certain prominent Scots were closely connected to Hamilton through freemasonry.
Lord advocate Colin Boyd QC is to be lobbied for public access to the report. Lawyers said the decision to suppress it for 100 years is "extraordinary" and open to legal challenge.
Source:- The Sunday Herald 9 February page 1
Drug workers cleared to give children needles
Children under 16 are to be given free needles by drug workers under new guidelines issued by the government.
Only trained medical staff have been able to hand out needles to child drug addicts until now. Under new guidelines, which have been issued to all Scotland’s health boards, drug workers will be able to hand out free needles so children can inject heroin.
Source:- Scotland on Sunday 9 February page 7
Care homes facing crisis
The majority of calls to Alzheimer Scotland’s helpline are from families struggling to find residential care for relatives with dementia.
Residents with dementia and other complex needs are now being asked to leave residential homes as their condition deteriorates, because funding shortages mean homes can no longer look after them. Thousands are forced into hospital causing delayed discharge problems or back home to be cared for by relatives.
Source:- Sunday Herald 9 February page 5
Primary school agony aunts swamped with pleas for help
An agony aunt scheme, appointed by education officials to tackle the mental health needs of young children, has been swamped with letters from primary schoolchildren worrying about bullying at school, family break-up and sexual abuse.
Charmian Currie, mental health development officer with East Lothian council, has been taken aback by the huge response from children writing in for help.
Source:- The Sunday Herald 9 February page 5
Pupil to sue over abuse trauma
One of Scotland’s most prestigious private schools is facing legal action by a former pupil who was sexually assaulted on a trip to London.
The 17-year-old claims staff at Hutcheson’s Grammar in Glasgow failed to provide support after an incident. When he was 14, the boy was groped by a 42-year-old man who was later prosecuted and placed on the sex offenders register. The boy has been plagued by suicidal thoughts ever since the incident.
Source:- Scotland on Sunday 9 February page 10
Fighting for both parents’ IVF rights
A woman who discovered her stored embryos had been destroyed on the instruction of her ex-husband has backed moves by an MP to strengthen the rights of both partners during and after in vitro fertilisation.
Margaret Grant, from Inverness, discovered her former spouse had ordered the destruction of the embryos after the couple split while undergoing fertility treatment.
Source:-The Scotsman Monday 10 February page 4
Welsh newspapers
Foster mother speaks out
The foster mother of a girl bludgeoned to death by her foster father says that the 13-year-old has been forgotten in the justice process.
Lois Jenkins, a social worker, whose former husband, Sion Jenkins, was jailed for life for killing Billie-Joe in 1997 says that domestic violence should never be excused or tolerated.
She said that she wished that she had addressed her husband’s violent outbursts.
Source:- Western Mail Monday 10 February page 3
