Friday 9 May 2003

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex
Dobson.

Asylum seekers may go to transit camps in
Albania

A number of countries are interested in providing transit camps
for asylum seekers outside the EU, and they are expected to be up
and running in six months’ time, the immigration minister
told MPs yesterday.
Beverley Hughes said that a selection of countries were considering
providing sites, but would not disclose which ones.
It is believed that they could be in Russia, the Ukraine or other
Eastern European countries, with Albania being one of those being
considered.
Source:- The Times Friday 9 May page 8

Judge considers jail for race riots

The gang of racists behind a disturbance which prompted the
riots in May 2001 in Oldham, were yesterday told that they could go
to jail.
The 12 defendants who admitted affray and common assault were told
by a judges at Minshull Street crown court in Manchester that he
was considering all sentencing options.
Source:- The Times Friday 9 May page 8

Our catastrophic failure by the asylum
minister

The immigration minister admitted yesterday that there had been
a “catastrophic” meltdown in the asylum system under Labour.
Beverley Hughes said that new procedures were still finding it
difficult to come back from a ‘very disastrously low point’ when
the system could not cope with the levels of asylum seekers
entering the country.
Source:- The Daily Mail Friday 9 May page 4

£2 million That’s how much one landlord is raking
in a year housing refugees

The massive profits being made by landlords who house asylum
seekers was condemned by the shadow home secretary yesterday.
Oliver Letwin said: “This is yet further proof that the immigration
system is a complete disaster.”
One such landlord, Cyprus-born Savas Stavrou, has over 20 guest
houses and hotels in which he provides room for immigrants and
makes over £2 million a year.
Under home office rules, councils can pay him up to £350 a
week for a room no matter what state it is in as long as it houses
an asylum seeker.
Source:- The Daily Mail Friday 9 May page 4

GPs accused of not reporting Seroxat
suicides

Doctors have failed to report at least 16 suicides of people in
their care who took the anti-depressant Seroxat, the BBC programme
Panorama will reveal this weekend.
The finding will fuel concerns that Seroxat and other drugs in the
SSRI (selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor) class, such as
Prozac, could make a minority of people more prone to commit
suicide.
The Panorama programme made the discovery as a part of the 67,000
phone calls and 1,400 emails that it received in response to its
October documentary on the drug.
Source:- The Guardian Friday May 9 page 8

Private firm may access criminal records

The home secretary is trying to get special powers to allow the
company running the Criminal Records Bureau access to the police
and criminal records of millions of people applying for teaching,
social work and voluntary posts.
David Blunkett has tabled amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill
this week to allow the company to process the compulsory vetting of
applications for millions of jobs.
Source:- The Guardian Friday 9 May page 10

Scottish newspapers

‘Mischievous’ press accused of hijacking asylum report
findings

MPs accused some members of the press of “mischievously”
hijacking asylum facts and figures and manipulating them in order
to sell more papers yesterday.
The comments were made by Chris Mullin, the chairman of the home
affairs select committee, after the body published a report warning
that an influx of asylum seekers could lead to social unrest
“Some of the more hysterical coverage has more to do with
circulation and little to do with asylum….our report was a
calm analysis of a complex problem and we did conclude that the
government was gradually, if eventually, getting on top of it,” he
said.
Source:- The Herald Friday 9 May

Disruptive pupils policy
‘failing’

The progress of all young people in schools is being affected by
the government’s policy to place disruptive children in
mainstream schools, according to a survey of Scottish
teachers.
Staff say they are unable to give vulnerable and demanding children
the education and attention they need.
They also claim the education of the majority in the classroom is
affected by those children who suffer from social, emotional or
behavioural difficulties.
Teachers who completed the survey by teaching union EIS said they
felt out of their depth as a result of a lack of back up and
training.
Source:- The Scotsman  Friday 9 May page 1

Aid for Kirk ‘could lead to two tier care
system’

Local authority leaders were warned by private care home owners
not to create a two-tier care system last night.
Scottish Care, which represents over 800 privately run residential
homes, issued the warning after local authorities were urged to
bail out Church of Scotland homes for older people.
President of local authority body Cosla Pat Watters urged leaders
to “fully explore all possible options” when looking at
the future of Kirk-run homes, many of which are threatened with
closure.
Any concessions made to Kirk homes, should also be made for
privately run homes, which are also struggling for survival,
Scottish Care insists.
Source:- The Scotsman  Friday 9 May page 2

Child can stay with Scots breastfeeding
mother

A judge has permitted a woman who illegally fled from Texas to
keep the child in Scotland because she is breastfeeding.
Jennifer Carrol broke international child abduction laws when she
took her daughter Morgan away from Texas and her husband.
Usually the child would be sent back to a US court to rule on
access and custody.
But Lord Macfayden ruled at the court of cession in Edinburgh
yesterday that to separate the mother from the child she was
breastfeeding would be intolerable.
Source:- The Scotsman  Friday 9 May page 3

Whips urge Blair to hold early reshuffle

The prime minister has been urged to bring his summer reshuffle
forward among concerns that the absence of a health minister in the
Lords could jeopardise the progress of legislation on foundation
hospitals.
Tony Blair has yet to announce successors to Lord Hunt of
King’s Heath, junior health minister and former home office
minister John Denham, who resigned over Blair’s policy with
Iraq.
It is believed Blair is holding back on a reshuffle until the
summer.
But whips have warned that without a competent health minister in
the Lords, the government will struggle to get the Health and
Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Bill through the upper
house and are pressing for a replacement.
Source:- The Scotsman  Friday 9 May page 10

Cosla pledges to fight justice reforms

Local authorities stated last night that they would fight
“tooth and nail” against the Scottish Labour
party’s proposals to create a single national correctional
agency to administer the criminal justice system.
Cosla, which represents most of Scotland’s authorities, and
the Association of Directors of Social Work said there was
“no justification” for introducing such a system, and
“no evidence” that it would reduce re-offending.
Cosla added that the lack of consultation with anyone in the
criminal justice system undermined attempts to forge a new
partnership between the Scottish executive, which would oversee the
introduction of a new agency and local authorities.
Source:- The Scotsman  Friday 9 May page 11

Teenagers on cannabis before cigarettes, study
shows

Scottish teenagers are hooked on cannabis before they have even
tried cigarettes, a study has revealed.
Until now it was thought that cigarette smoking led to youngsters
trying harder drugs. But the new research shows cannabis use is
increasing with nearly a third of Scottish teenagers having smoked
the drug in the last year.
Source:- The Herald  Friday 9 May

Outcry at plight of asylum children

Prison inspectors have demanded an end to children being
detained in asylum centres.
Some young people are spending months in centres such as the former
Dungavel prison in Lanarkshire.
In a report into Britain’s asylum system, chief inspector of
prisons Anne Owers singled out holding children in such centres as
unacceptable.
Michael Connarty, MP for Falkirk, seized on the report to increase
pressure on the government to stop using Dungavel to house
families.
Source:- Daily Record  Friday 9 May page 13

Disabled space ‘a mistake’

A disabled driver was booked by traffic wardens after she left
her car in a parking bay with a wheelchair symbol at a
hospital.
Isobel Fraser parked outside Edinburgh’s new Royal Infirmary
and said she was pleased to find a vacant parking bay with a large
wheelchair sign marking it for disabled drivers.
But she was stunned when she returned to the car 15 minutes later
to discover she had been issued with a ticket by enforcers from the
privately run Central Parking System.
Fraser was told no loading, waiting or parking was allowed in the
bay and the parking ticket had been issued correctly as the
disabled symbol had been painted in error.
Yesterday Fraser branded the move preposterous. A spokesperson for
CPS insisted the ticket had been issued correctly, but decided to
let Fraser off.
Source:- Daily Record  Friday 9 May page 25

Booze-free club opens its doors

Scotland’s first alcohol-free nightclub has been opened by
Scottish charity workers.
Volunteers raised £7,000 to set up the venue in a bid to tempt
revellers away from alcohol.
Lux, in Motherwell is the first club to open to over-18s in
Scotland which imposes a booze ban. More than 200 people flocked to
the club for its opening night on Saturday.
Boss Neil MacLennan said he hoped the disco would put a dent in
Scotland’s binge drinking culture.
Source:- Daily Record  Friday 9 May page 27

Welsh newspapers

Disabled access to cost £4.5m
Work that will bring council-owned buildings in Newport in line
with the requirements of new disability legislation is expected to
cost over £4.5 million .
The latest stage of the Disability Discrimination Act means that
from October 2004 all premises from which a service is delivered
are required to provide reasonable access to users.
Trevor Palmer, a trustee of Disability Wales who was a member of a
volunteer team that checked council buildings, said that although
the cost was high, it was a necessary expense and that the aim was
to improve access for disabled people.
Source:- South Wales Argus Thursday 8 May page 6

Health Minister Hutt holds onto her job

Jane Hutt has retained her place as health minister in the Welsh
assembly cabinet following a reshuffle.
She has held onto her post following the assembly elections last
week despite widespread criticism about her management of
Wales’ mounting waiting lists.
Source:- Western Mail Friday 9 May page 1