It was only a matter of time before the burka debate spread
across La Manche. And so at the weekend UKIP, the United Kingdom Independence
Party, seized its chance. Read More...
Boris Johnson beware: your nemesis in London's mayoral
election in 2012 could turn out to be Asbo queen Louise Casey. Read More...
It is 22 years since that dismal piece of legislation, Section 28 , was passed by a Conservative government to ban the "promotion" -
whatever that was - of homosexuality in schools. Read More...
A little more is emerging about David Cameron's commitment
to reducing social inequality, should his Conservative Party be elected to
power this year. Yet his proposals, spelled out to the independent think tank Demos yesterday, seem incompatible...
If the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, is to be
believed, the anger felt by many people regarding immigration is so great that violence could result . Read More...
The unofficial pre-general election campaign got under way
this week with both Labour and the Conservatives targeting specific groups,
suggesting that social care could have a more visible presence over the months
ahead. Read More...
In a cracking interpretation of redistribution of wealth, a
Church of England vicar has recommended shoplifting for those who are living in
poverty. Read More...
What a contrast in the reactions of this morning's
newspapers to the sentence handed down to paedophile nursery nurse Vanessa
George. Read More...
Could this really happen? There is a move to introduce a law
- or at least Whitehall has refused to rule one out, according the Daily
Telegraph - to ban parents from smoking in front of their children. Read More...
Social workers looking forward to a whopping 1% pay rise in each of the next two years must be apoplectic as our irresponsible,
gung-ho bankers threaten to quit the UK because their ill-gotten bonuses above
£25,000 will be taxed at 50%. Read More...
The word "adequate" is proving a controversial one after the
publication of the Care Quality Commission's annual performance assessments . Read More...
Private provider Care UK may have been celebrating its rise
in profits three weeks ago but this week marks the end of yet another contract,
this time in Islington. Read More...
This is the best excuse yet for a night out. MPs, led Labour's Keith Vaz, are looking for the "best club" in London for cocaine use. Read More...
We hadn't heard much about marriage from the Tories until
David Cameron was interviewed by our old friends at the Daily Mail this week
and accused Labour of being "pathologically" opposed to supporting the institution.
Anyone would think...
British Red Cross marked World Aids Day 2009 by releasing
the findings of a survey of young people's attitudes towards the virus - with some paradoxical results. Read More...
I missed BBC One's Inside Sport investigation into
depression among sportspeople , but it featured the former All Black John Kirwan
who fronted an advertising campaign in New Zealand to destigmatise the
condition. Read More...
A perturbing hint on how next year's general election
campaign might pan out emerged this week when David Cameron attempted to
outsmart Gordon Brown on the funding of two Islamic schools. Read More...
Cast Offs , Channel Four's risky mockumentary on disability, got under way last night and turned out to be more authentic than most reality television. It centred on a group of people with various disabilities supposedly marooned on a desert island...
Which is the best way to spend public money: by developing
treatments for dementia and cancer or in counselling couples at breaking point? Read More...
Congratulations to service provider Care UK for posting a £1.6m rise in profits to £21m on revenues up from £316m to £410. They must be doing something right. Read More...
It is a poor indictment on the quality of care when a
patient leaves hospital in worse shape than when they went in. Read More...
A book I have focuses on deprivation in Hackney in east
London. In a chapter entitled Schooling for Failure, the author discusses the
cramped conditions in which rather too many children live and the effect on their
development both at play and in study...
David Cameron has been turning his thoughts this week to
poverty - and also to the voluntary sector which he sees as key to reducing it. Read More...
In yesterday's blog , I referred to an article by Ian Birrell in the The Independent about the casual acceptance of language offensive to people with physical and learning disabilities. Read More...
If anyone needs confirmation why the abuse of disabled
people is a major issue they need look no further than a court case in Devon. Read More...
There are today 995 days until the start of the London
Olympics and 1,028 until the Paralympics get under way. But could the London
games become the first where disabled athletes line up against their
mainstream counterparts? Read More...
It could become even more expensive to practise as a social
worker. Read More...
The countries deemed "safe" by the British government now
include Zimbabwe, Iraq and Afghanistan. Because they are "safe" it is
reasonable for ministers to announce the resumption of the forced return of failed
asylum seekers. Read...
Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published some challenging
findings about the relationship between work and poverty. Read More...
Sober as a judge. It's not an expression that springs to
mind today, although we are not privy to the information that the three appeal
court judges had in front of them yesterday as they decided the fate of baby P
lodger Jason Owen . Read More.....
I'm just about 100% certain that I am not descended from two
giant lizards that leapt from a visiting spacecraft aeons ago but, then again, I
am also certain that autism exists. Read More...
My, doesn't Nick Griffin sweat a lot? Many of us had feared
that last night's edition of Question Time would become an unofficial party
political broadcast for the British National Party. Read More...
The former military generals' denouncement of the
far-right's attempts to "tap up" British servicemen and women could turn out to
be the most powerful weapon yet against the British National Party. Read More...
Sandwiched between communities secretary John Denham's
pledge last week to spend £12m on engaging white, working class people and BNP
leader Nick Griffin's appearance this week on BBC1's Question Time , last
night's edition of Panorama...
Apologies for being M25-centric, but concealed in London
mayor Boris Johnson's plans for getting people off the capital's transport
system was an item that has almost gone unnoticed. Read More...
I have heard the expression
"killing with kindness" but in Italy a mother has appeared in court accused of maltreating her son by mollycoddling . Read More...
The tragic case of Fiona Pilkington and her daughter highlighted the problem some people in the mainstream have with disability.
Recent press and TV reports suggest that the prime minister is not immune. Read More...
Action for Children's latest report shows a disturbing rise
in the number child neglect cases. Perhaps as many as 1.5 million children suffer a form of neglect - and in England last year nearly 17,000
children were registered on child protection plans...
Could this happen only in America? Two parents chose divine
intervention over medical intervention as their 11-year-old daughter lay dying
of an undiagnosed but treatable form of diabetes at their rural home. Read More...
The prospect of a 0% pay rise for local authority social
workers and care staff earning more than £18,000 a year is now a given if - or
when - the Conservatives are elected to power next year. Read More...
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