Thursday 17th February 2005

By Derren Hayes, Maria Ahmed and Amy Taylor

Ethnic minority women face ‘massive
inequalities’

Black and minority ethnic women are poorer, less healthy, less
educated and significantly worse represented in the corridors of
power than both white women and the rest of the UK population,
according to research by the Fawcett society published today.
The Guardian, Thursday 17 February 2005, page 4
 
Forced marriage rate is soaring

The number of forced marriages in Britain is rising
dramatically, the Metropolitan police said yesterday. The police
investigated 200 cases last year, five times the number in
2001.
The Daily Mail, Thursday 17 February 2005, page 35
 
Mother upstages Blair on live TV show

Maria Hutchings, a mother of an autistic child, blasted Tony
Blair on ‘The Wright Stuff’ on Channel Five yesterday
over the closure of a special school. Later, Essex county council
denied the school Cedar Hall in Thundersley, was under
threat.
The Independent, Thursday 17 February 2005, page 21
 
Tories target teenage sex and drinking

Teenage binge drinkers who sleep around are to be targeted by
the Tories in a crackdown on “early and unprotected
sex” which they said had reached “epidemic”
proportions.
The Independent, Thursday 17 February 2005, page 27
 
Someone to watch over you

Children living in care often do badly at school. Could a new
scheme in the London borough of Barnet inspired by Dickens’
Great Expectations be the answer?
The Independent, Education and Careers, Thursday 17 February 2005,
pages 4-5
 
Step up for a challenge

The need for volunteers with a range of experience is more
pressing than ever
The Independent, Graduate, Thursday 17 February 2005, page 2
 
Migrant’s fate demolishes village unity

Legal workers in an illegal hostel left homeless and jobless in
Gosberton, Lincolnshire.
The Times, Thursday 17 February 2005, page 31
 
‘Fake’ refugees target Wales

Three Romanians who attempted to enter Wales with fake Irish
passports were uncovered yesterday.
Check-in-staff at Cardiff International Airport became suspicious
of the group when they could not speak any English at all.
The Romanian nationals arrived on a charter flight from Innsbruck,
Austria. It was unclear whether they were planning to seek asylum
in Wales.
Western Mail, Thursday, 17 February

£10m care project facing axe after failing to
deliver

A £10m NHS care project for vulnerable people and children
is facing collapse amid claims of mismanagement and in-fighting.
Scottish executive insiders working on the eCare project claim the
scheme is to be scrapped and auditors have been brought in to
establish exactly what went wrong. The project uses an electronic
database to allow local authorities and the NHS to share
information on patients, with the aim of cutting bureaucracy and
integrating services.
The Scotsman, 17 February

Jamieson heckled by teen tipplers

Cathy Jamieson, the justice minister, was harangued by youths
during a visit to her constituency to launch a Scottish executive
initiative to tackle the “Buckfast culture”.
Teenagers at Auchinleck in Ayrshire shouted: “Don’t ban
Buckie” and openly drank the alcohol. Jamieson arrived at the
village’s Co-operative store to unveil the Standing Up to
Antisocial Behaviour awards – the store has decided to ban
sales of Buckfast to under 21s.
The Scotsman, 17 February

Ministers admit estimates for free care were
wrong

The population estimates on which the policy of free care for
the elderly was based were wrong, the Scottish executive has
admitted. Figures released to the Herald show the corrected
projections will add 9 per cent to the annual cost of the policy by
2022, taking it up to an annual cost by then of £274m.
However, recent research by economists predict the cost of the
policy could approach £400m.
The Herald, 17 February

Smoker told to pipe down

A resident at a sheltered house scheme in Inverness assaulted a
care worker after she told him he couldn’t smoke his pipe there.
Blind Henry Ross said smoking was one of the few pleasures he had
left and grabbed her. Ross’s pipe was setting off the fire alarm
which led to emergency fire service callouts.
The Record, 17 February

Angry mum in live TV bust up with Blair

Maria Hutchings confronted Tony Blair on Five chat show the
Wright Stuff yesterday to protest at the closure of her autistic
son’s special school. She interrupted a debate on schools,
shouting: ‘Tony, that’s rubbish.’ After Blair agreed to look into
the case personally Hutchings, from Essex, was escorted back to her
seat.
The Record, 17 February