Thursday 10 February 2005

By Maria Ahmed, Simeon Brody, Derren Hayes and Amy
Taylor

Fall in immigrants predicted after latest crackdown

Tony Blair predicted yesterday that the number of migrants heading
to Britain would drop as a result of the government’s
overhaul of the immigration and asylum system.

The Prime Minister’s forecasts contradicted the Home
Secretary Charles Clarke, who said on Monday that the proposals
were unlikely greatly to affect overall migrant numbers.

Source:- The Independent Thursday 10 February 2005 page
2

Huge increase in elderly prisoners

Prisons are being used as “high-security nursing homes”
for increasing numbers of older prisoners, the Howard League for
Penal Reform said yesterday. In 1993 there were 450 prisoners aged
60 and over but by 2003 the number was 1,441.

Source:- The Independent Thursday 10 February 2005 page
14

Mother says boy, 10, with Asbo is ‘cheeky’ and
in bad company

A boy aged 10 who terrorised his neighbours has become the youngest
person in Britain to be issued with an antisocial behaviour order
(Asbo).

Ryan Wilkinson, from Harehill, Leeds, has been banned from four
areas of the city and ordered to stay away from 17 named youths for
the next five years. The boy was accused of burglary, assaulting a
seven-year-old, glue-sniffing and throwing a scooter at a bus
packed with schoolchildren.

Source:- The Independent Thursday 10 February 2005 page
21

UK targets child abuse in Asia

The Foreign Office and UK police have begun a joint initiative to
help south-east Asian countries combat the child sex trade, and to
catch British paedophiles abroad.

Source:- The Guardian Thursday 10 February 2005 page
10

Lottery denies Samaritans ‘for neglecting
minorities’

The Samaritans may have to close a large branch after lottery
organisers ruled that it was not helping enough
“disadvantaged” people.
The charity was told that an application for a £300,000 grant
to the Big Lottery Fund was rejected because it was not targeting
asylum-seekers, ethnic minority communities, the young and older
people.

Source:- The Times Thursday 10 February 2005 page 11

Assurance on children’s files

Government plans to keep a confidential electronic file on every
child will not go ahead until ministers are confident that the IT
system behind it is completely secure, children’s minister
Margaret Hodge said yesterday.

Source:- The Times Thursday 10 February 2005 page 29

Focus on mentally ill and drug users

The police need an effective early-warning system about mentally
ill patients who could pose a risk to the public, Sir Ian Blair,
the new Metropolitan Police Commissioner said yesterday. He said
better communication with the NHS and new ways to ensure that
potentially violent patients in the community are properly
medicated would be a priority after a string of murders involving
the mentally ill. Plans are also bring drawn up to deal with an
epidemic of cocaine use.

Source:- The Times Thursday 10 February 2005 page 31

First hospital built under PFI “fantastic deal”
for shareholders

Dartford and Gravesend Hospital, the first to be built under the
private finance initiative, has netted shareholders £37million
within three years of its opening.

The National Audit Office said the return was 60 per cent more than
was originally expected.

Source:- Financial Times Thursday February 10 page 2

Whites “leaving cities as migrants move
in”

Increasing numbers of white people are moving out of the capital
and growing numbers of overseas immigrants are moving in, according
to Migrationwatch.

The think-tank said 606,000 more people moved out of London than
arrived from elsewhere in the country in the last 10 years. A net
760,000 immigrants arrived in the same period.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Thursday February 10 page
1

Europe needs a lot more immigrants, says EU chief

More immigration is needed to support an ageing population,
European Commission labour and social affairs commissioner Vladimir
Spidla said yesterday.

The former Czech prime minister said within 20 years half the
population of the EU would be over 55.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Thursday February 10 page
2

Ambushed: Howard spears Blair with proof that he backed the
asylum policy he now mocks

The Prime Minister revealed he had previously backed Conservative
leader Michael Howard’s plan to process asylum applications
at overseas centres.

In a Commons debate Howard produced a letter written by Blair in
2003 saying “transit processing centres” should be set
up outside the EU.

Source:- Daily Mail Thursday February 10 page 21

Trickle” that became a torrent

Over one million Eastern Europeans entered Britain in the first
eight months following the EU’s expansion.

The figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal 90,000
of them said they wanted to remain in the country more than three
months.

Source:- Daily Mail Thursday February 10 page 21

Scottish newspapers

Executive plans to give police power to test suspects for
drugs

The Scottish executive yesterday announced that thousands of
criminal suspects will be subject to mandatory drug testing.

Police will be given powers to impose drug tests on anyone over 16
who is picked up for offences such as burglary and shop-lifting,
where drugs can be a contributory factor.

Source:- The Scotsman  Thursday 10 February

Schools report big drop in bullying and racism

Edinburgh’s schools have reported a fall in the number of
incidents of bullying and racism.

In the 2003-4 academic year there were 566 incidents of bullying in
Edinburgh and 247 reports of racism compared to 710 reports of
bullying and 291 incidents of racism in 1999-2000.

Source:- The Scotsman  Thursday 10 February

Nurse faces jail over ill treatment

A nurse faces jail for forcing a young psychiatric autistic patient
to sit unclothed in her own urine overnight.

Aile Davidson refused to provide the 19-year-old with a change of
nightwear or to let her return to her bed after she soiled
herself.

The nurse admitted ill-treating the woman at the New Craigs
Psychiatric Hospital in Inverness.

Source:- The Herald  Thursday 10 February

Welsh newspapers

Murderer of girlfriend whose skirt was ‘too short’ gets
life

A man who stabbed his girlfriend to death after she arrived home
late from a night out while wearing a ‘too short’ skirt
was jailed for life yesterday at Cardiff Crown Court.

Paul Viner attacked Donna Brough at her home in Rhondda, South
Wales.

Mr Justice Roderick Evans recommended that Viner serves at least 12
years.

Source:- Western Mail Thursday 10 February

So, what has your council ever done for you, then?

Figures released yesterday show that social services accounted for
18.8 per cent of Welsh council’s revenue in 2003/4.

Housing took up 7.1 per cent and education used up the most at 36.6
per cent. Councils in Wales are currently working out how much
council tax to charge for the 2004/5 financial year. They will have
to finalise the figure by the end of March.

Source:- Western Mail Thursday 10 February

Schools warned to update facilities

School security arrangements are not good enough to prevent
intruders from getting in, inspectors have warned.

Schools argue that tight budgets mean sometimes they have to
neglect security instead spending the money on educating
pupils.

In her annual report, Susan Lewis, chief inspector of schools for
Wales, says that larger schools are particularly vulnerable.

Source:- Western Mail Thursday 10 February

AMs appalled by GDP figures for Wales

The average Gross Domestic Product figure per head for the
three-year period 2000-2002 for West Wales and the Valleys, a
region covering two-thirds of Wales, was lower than that of
Slovenia and Malta new figures reveal. The figure per head in the
region is just 73.8 per cent of the EU average.

Source:- Western Mail Thursday 10 February

Plaid lay down gauntlet over future of Euro aid

Adam Price, Plaid Cymru’s economy spokesperson, called on
Rhodri Morgan to reveal his view on the future of European aid for
Wales. The call comes after documents revealed that the Treasury
refused a bid from Welsh Labour for £461m of Objective One
match funding five years ago.

Source:- Western Mail Thursday 10 February

Hutt declares bid to halve child poverty

The Welsh Assembly government is committed to halving child poverty
by 2010 and eradicating it by 2020, the minister for children said
today.

Jane Hutt made the commitment to AMs while launching the
government’s child poverty strategy.

Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 9 February

‘Ruined’ teacher jailed for sex with teen
girls

A secondary school teacher was jailed for 20 months today after
previously admitting to six counts of abusing his position of trust
and one charge of sexual activity with a child.

Prosecutor Tom Crowther told Cardiff Crown Court how David James
from Cardiff carried out ‘inappropriate’ conduct with
three girls aged around 16 and 17. He added that James’
activities included photographing the girls topless at his home and
using a webcam to send a naked picture of himself to them.

Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 9 February

 

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