In Today's Papers

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson.

Truancy soars despite £650m crackdown
Shadow education secretary Damien Green has revealed that government initiatives costing £650 million have had no effect on school truancy rates.
Through a series of written parliamentary answers Green discovered that despite Labour's pledge to reduce truancy by a third in 1998 the rate had stayed the same with pupils missing an average of 0.7 per cent of classes.
Green also found that the number of pupils who truanted had increased by 15 per cent since 1997.

Source:- The Times Tuesday  27 May page 1
Refugee sews up lips, eyes and ears
A man granted asylum three weeks ago after suffering torture has sewn up his eyes, ears and lips in protest at a home office appeal against the ruling and has said he will burn himself to death if anyone tries to feed him.
The Iranian Kurdish refugee went on hunger strike a week ago, and has a bottle of petrol at his home in Nottingham ready to carry out his threat.
Source:- The Times Tuesday  27 May page 5
Register will alert women to partners who are violent
A "domestic violence  register" is to be set up by the government to keep watch on men who have convictions for assaulting their partners.
The register would be similar to the sex offenders' register and could be used by women to view their partner's history.
Source:- The Guardian Tuesday  27 May page 5
Community that saw off the BNP
A campaign involving residents, police, the council and a local housing association in Bexley, Kent, one of Britain's most deprived areas is winning its fight against crime and anti-social behaviour.
The £1 million campaign in Slade Green has so far resulted in cutting street robberies by 85 per cent  and car crime by 29 per cent.
It has also reduced the high levels of distrust and alienation among residents who previously spoke of feeling abandoned.
Three years ago this resulted in them voting in a BNP activist into second place in a council by-election, but attitudes have completely changed now.
Source:- The Guardian Tuesday  27 May page 9
'Untreatable' Broadmoor patient goes to jail
A Broadmoor patient's psychopathic personality disorder was described by his solicitor as "untreatable" as he requested for the man to be transferred to a mainstream prison.
A judge at Reading crown court granted Philip Bradley's own request to be moved, a wish backed by his doctors.
Source:- The Guardian Tuesday  27 May page 9
'Thousands' of elderly dying as their care homes are shut
New research has linked the closure of care homes to the deaths of thousands of older people.
David Jolly, a leading psychiatrist specialising in geriatric care, found that the trauma of moving some elderly residents caused distress, depression and, in the worst cases, death.
Source:- Daily Mail Tuesday  27 May page 22
Suicide clinic gets the all-clear
An investigation by the Swiss district attorney into an English couple who died with the help of Dignitas, the assisted suicide company, is expected to find nothing wrong with the procedure.
The attorney is expected to rule that Jennifer and Robert Stokes from Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, made a legal and rational decision to die.
Mrs Stoke's sister Dorothy Killackey described the findings as 'ridiculous' yesterday.
Source:- Daily Mail Tuesday  27 May page 33
Scottish newspapers
Eye test for young urged
The eyesight of children could be jeopardised after research found that 60 per cent of parents are unaware how often their sight should be checked.
While 97 per cent of parents in Scotland are worried about their children losing their sight above all other senses, 61 per cent do not realise that eye checks should be carried out annually, according to research carried out by Royal National Institute for the Blind Scotland.

Source:- The Scotsman  Tuesday 27 May page 5
Register to fight domestic violence
The Scottish executive was urged to introduce a “wife-beaters” register last night to protect women from abusive partners.
Women’s groups and the SNP should consider whether the plan could be introduced and implemented safely and sensibly in Scotland.
The idea emerged from government sources who leaked it to journalists in London at the weekend.
Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 27 May page 8
Schoolgirl, 14, sues council for £200,000 over ‘years of bullying’
An Aberdeenshire schoolgirl is seeking £20,000 compensation from her local education authority after years of abuse from school bullies.
Natalie King’s family have recorded 700 incidents of bullying since the 14-year-old was six, and the court of session in Edinburgh is expected to hear evidence about 32 pupils alleged to have bullied her during a two-year period.
Lawyers are expected to be granted legal aid within days to pursue claims that Dyce Academy failed to protect her.
Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 27 May page 12
Charity whistleblower ‘gagged’
A Scottish university has been accused of putting pressure on a “whistleblower” not to publicise concerns about a charity that is alleged to have spent £1.5 million of £13 million raised for good causes.
The University of Dundee, which is involved in fundraising work for the charity, knew of anxieties about Breast Cancer Research (Scotland) for over two years before the charity’s assets were frozen last week in the court of session in Edinburgh.
It has emerged that the university’s director of development Allen MacKenzie had previously written to a political lobby group to ask it to remove material from its website that raised concerns over fundraising methods employed by Breast Cancer Research (Scotland).
Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 27 May
Disabled? Hypocrite traffic meanie who’s fit as a fiddle
A parking enforcer, who walks around 15 miles a day on patrol, is using a disabled badge to enable him a free parking space.
George Napier walks for at least eight hours a day on Edinburgh’s streets yet he is using a disability parking badge, which is intended for people who have “severe difficulty” walking.
CPS, which runs the private force of parking attendants insists Napier is registered disabled and entitled to the pass.
But yesterday the department for work and pensions said it is not intended for someone who can walk such long distances.
Source:- Daily Record Tuesday 27 May page 65
Welsh newspapers
Stressed mums losing the daily food fight with faddy children
New research reveals that stressed mums are losing ground in the meal-time power struggle with their children.
The result is that some children are eating a restricted diet with a greater risk of nutritional deficiencies and their mothers are left feeling inadequate.
The survey commissioned by Captain Birds Eye also found that family meals could be a thing of the past because parents found it difficult to find sufficient time to prepare and eat meals with their children.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 27 May page 9