In Today's Papers

By Natasha Salari, David Callaghan and Alex Dobson.

Nursery that’s open all hours
The first 24-hour nursery in Britain is set to open next month.
Jumping Jacks in Wigton, near Carlisle, will provide 24-hour care for up to 20 children aged between six weeks and 14 years at a cost of about £45 a day.
Children can be left at the nursery for up to seven days at a time. Jumping Jacks owner, Jane Crawford, said the nursery opening hours was a response to the needs of night shift workers and parents wanting respite care for special needs children.

Source: The Daily Mail Thursday 26 February page 5
Anti-MMR parents ‘have been accused of abusing children’
Parents who have blamed their children’s autism on the MMR vaccine have been accused of abuse, it was claimed yesterday.
A number of parents say that they have been accused of Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy. Law firm Alexander Harris said it had heard several reports of threats to use Munchausen’s against parents who complained about vaccine damage after seeing other families do so.
Child psychologist Lisa Blakemore-Brown, who specialises in treating children with autism, said she had dealt with more than 20 such cases.
Source: The Daily Mail Thursday 26 February page 35
Truant’s mother jailed for 20 days
A mother was jailed for 20 days yesterday for letting her 15-year-old son persistently play truant from school.
Sandra Hayward already had convictions for allowing her eldest son, now 17, to miss classes.
Magistrates in Reading, Berkshire, heard that the younger boy missed 85 per cent of classes between June and September last year, and attended no classes at all during the following autumn term.
Source: The Daily Mail Thursday 26 February page 17
Howard sacks MP for cockle tragedy joke
A Conservative MP had the party whip withdrawn last night for refusing to apologise for a joke about the Chinese cocklers who died at Morecambe Bay.
Ann Winterton is alleged to have told an audience at a Whitehall dinner about two sharks swimming in the Atlantic.
She is reported to have said: “one shark turned to the other to say he was fed up chasing tuna and the other said, ‘Why don’t we go to Morecambe Bay and get some Chinese?’”
Party leader Michael Howard said in a statement that he had withdrawn the whip from Winterton “as a result of her refusal to withdraw and apologise” for the remarks.
Source: The Daily Telegraph Thursday 26 February page 2
Clown gives lessons in circus acts to young offenders
Young offenders have been taught circus skills and dancing to improve their self-esteem.
New arrivals at Wetherby Young Offenders’ Institution in West Yorkshire are also issued with goody bags including colouring books and pens.
Other initiatives aimed at improving social development have included video games and a treasure hunt.
Source: The Daily Telegraph Thursday 26 February page 5
Two police forces in clash over vetting of Huntley
A dispute between two police forces criticised for their handling of the Soham schoolgirl murder case will become public today when the inquiry into their failings opens.
Cambridgeshire and Humberside constabularies are blaming each other for mistakes in the background checks that allowed Ian Huntley to become a school caretaker in Soham, Cambridgeshire.
Source: The Daily Telegraph Thursday 26 February page 5
Tanzania rebuffs plan for centre to process asylum seekers
Tanzania has rejected a proposal by Britain that it processes asylum claims from East Africa.
The refusal was made public hours after Tony Blair had confirmed in the Commons that the government was negotiating with Tanzania about taking failed asylum seekers.
The government had hoped that an asylum processing centre in Tanzania could deal with some of the thousands of Somalis who come to Britain each year fleeing civil war, many of whom are refused permission to stay.
Source: The Daily Telegraph Thursday 26 February page 10
On-the-spot fines for taking children on holiday during term-time
Parents of truants will face spot fines from tomorrow if they are caught taking their children out shopping or found to be taking them on holiday during term-time without the head’s permission.
Under the scheme parents could get a £100 fixed penalty notice like a parking ticket. Education welfare officers and headteachers, who would be given powers to issue the notices, said they opposed the idea because it would jeopardise their relationship with parents and pupils.
But truancy officers have now decided that they will attempt to make it work.

Source: The Independent Thursday 26 February page 8
Gangmasters paid migrant workers 78p a week
Migrant workers packing fruit for a supermarket were left with just 78 pence a week after their gangmaster deducted rent and transport costs, it was claimed yesterday.
Six workers were being housed in each room and charged £55 a week for the accommodation.
The conditions of the workers were highlighted by an official from the Transport and General Workers’ Union as a coalition of MPs, unions, retailers, farmers and church leaders called for the government to support a bill to license gangmasters.
The private member’s bill, sponsored by Jim Sheridan, MP for Renfrewshire, is due to have its second reading tomorrow, although the government has not yet fully committed itself to supporting it.
Source: The Guardian Thursday 26 February page 12
Scottish newspapers
Why Airborne should get a second chance
Staff and campaigners have made an emotional appeal for the Scottish executive to change its mind and keep the Airborne Initiative open.
The closure would mean the loss of 26 jobs after the executive decided to withdraw £600,000 worth of funding. The initiative helps rehabilitate young offenders in ‘boot camp’ conditions.
Source:- The Scotsman Thursday 26 February 2004
Refugee mother’s tears for dead son
The mother of an East African refugee boy said she was devastated by the loss of her 11-year-old son who died following a scuffle in a school canteen.
Suhail Saleh’s mother Samira brought her two sons to Britain four years ago from Djibouti after the civil war in neighbouring Somalia spilled over into her country.
A 12-year-old Iraqi boy was released after being arrested in connection with the death.
Source:- The Scotsman Thursday 26 February
Welsh newspapers
Success of pioneering drug group
A ground-breaking project based in Newport in south Wales has been so successful that the waiting list for treatment in the city has been cleared in just three months.
Police say that the Kaleidoscope project has also had a major impact on reducing drug-related crime. Kaleidoscope’s director Martin Blakeborough said that when the initiative started the project was given a waiting list from the Gwent Health Trust with over 130 people on it, but that all of those waiting had now been treated.
Source:- South Wales Argus Wednesday 25 February page 4
Disabled fans may sue WRU
Disabled fans are considering suing the Welsh Rugby Union because they say that they are being denied tickets for Six Nations Games.
The supporters believe that the number of disabled seats at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff has been cut and they are angry that they have not been allocated tickets for games against France and Scotland.
A spokesperson for the stadium said that the venue had followed government guidelines on the amount of space that could be provided for disabled people.
Source:- South Wales Echo Wednesday 25 February page 19
‘Carer used martial arts on mentally ill patients’
A care worker allegedly practiced marshal arts moves on patients with mental health problems, a court has been told.
Jonathan Evans was said to ill-treated residents in a Welsh care home by provoking them and then using marshal arts techniques on them. The incidents are said to have happened at the Hollows Unit run by Rhondda Cynon Taff Council.
Source:- Western Mail Thursday 26 February page 1
Every parent’s nightmare
A page feature looking at the experience of a mother who was accused of abusing her children.
Stephanie Lawrence from Milford Haven said she was accused of abusing her children by social workers from Pembrokeshire Council. Her complaint against the way that the case was handled has been largely held up by the findings of an independent report and her case is to be highlighted in a regional TV documentary.
Source:- Western Mail Thursday 26 February page 15