Foreign prisoners scandal deepens

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

School lessons in British values

Compulsory classes on how British values of democracy, freedom of speech, fairness and responsibility have developed down the centuries could be introduced to the national curriculum as part of a drive to better integrate Muslims into society.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Tuesday 16 May 2006, page 1

Race equality group seeks 500 acres for new travellers’ sites

Travellers and gypsies must be provided with more legal sites to ease community tensions and stop the spread of illegal encampments, according to a report by the Commission for Racial Equality.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Tuesday 16 May 2006, page 6

Shortages leave home birth plans in disarray

Government plans to encourage women to give birth at home were in disarray last night after it emerged that at least one NHS hospital has suspended its home birth service due to lack of staff.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Tuesday 16 May 2006, page 12

Five-year-olds fingerprinted in benefits purge

Children under five are being fingerprinted at asylum centres to stop claimants registering more than once to gain extra benefits. The Home Office trial is being carried out at Croydon and Liverpool.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Tuesday 16 May 2006, page 14

The untouchables

Teachers may be prevented from frogmarching unruly children out of class because in might contravene their human rights.

Source:- The Daily Mail, Tuesday 16 May 2006, page 4

When a masked thug threatened to stab a headmaster, a police hero came to the rescue. Today it’s the PC who’s in trouble

A police officer is facing disciplinary action after arresting a masked teenager suspected of threatening to stab a headmaster.

Source:- The Daily Mail, Tuesday 16 May 2006, page 7

Foreign prisoners scandal deepens as Reid revises figures

A convicted murderer has still not been traced three weeks after the foreign prisoners scandal was disclosed, the new home secretary John Reid said last night.

Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 16 May 2006, page 6

NHS Direct to close call centres and axe 1,000 jobs

NHS Direct, the nurse-led health helpline, will today axe more than 1,000 staff in comprehensive restructuring of branches and business objectives.

Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 16 May 2006, page 8

Blair admits failing most needy children

Tony Blair began his Let’s Talk initiative yesterday by admitting for the first time that both his Sure Start scheme for under-fives and children in care have failed the socially excluded. Let’s Talk is seen by No 10 as a new version of the Big Conversation and a crucial vehicle for reforming public services through a series of events designed to establish Labour’s next manifesto.

Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 16 May 2006, page 13

Inside stories

A prison teacher’s job is not an easy one, but one writer is encouraging men to open up through art and poetry

Source:- Education Guardian, Tuesday 16 May 2006, page 9

Freed rapist ‘attacked girl, 6’

A convicted rapist who should have been deported on release from prison is accused of sexually abusing a six-year-old girl. The 35-year-old man was freed back to his home in Lambeth, South London, instead of being sent back to Jamaica after serving less than four years of a seven-year jail sentence.

Source:- The Times, Tuesday 16 May 2006, page 2

Policemen sacked

Four policemen have lost their jobs after taking prisoners out of jail and treating them to perks in exchange for confessions to boost their crime detection rates. Bedfordshire Police confirmed yesterday that four officers, from Luton, had left the force after a year-long internal investigation.

Source:- The Times, Tuesday 16 May 2006, page 4

Asylum stand-off

Forty Afghan asylum-seekers on the second day of a hunger strike, in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, said they would starve themselves to death unless they could remain in the Irish Republic.

Source:- The Times, Tuesday 16 May 2006, page 4

Blair leads the attack on his own human rights laws

Tony Blair risked a fresh claim with the legal establishment yesterday when he targeted a “distant” justice system that most people believed let people get away with breaking the rules.

Source:- The Times, Tuesday 16 May 2006, page 6

Problems giving more power to teachers

Moves to give teachers immunity from prosecution if they seize mobile phones or other banned items from pupils could fall foul of human rights laws, ministers were told yesterday.

Source:- The Times, Tuesday 16 May 2006, page 6

Government demands longer jail terms for sex and violent offenders

The Attorney-General is leading a drive for tougher jail terms to be imposed by judges in some of the most serious sexual and violent crimes.

Source:- The Times, Tuesday 16 May 2006, page 7

I can’t hate my abuser

For three years Martin Moran was sexually abused as a boy. But it hasn’t left him a victim.

Source:- The Times, T2, Tuesday 16 May 2006, page 13-14

Malnourished cold and poor

One in five pensioners live in poverty with one in 10 so poor they are malnourished, a damning report revealed yesterday.

Source:- Daily Mirror, Tuesday 16 May 2006, page 12

Call 101 to shop yobs

The first 101 number to report minor crime and anti-social behaviour was launched yesterday.

Source:- Daily Mirror, Tuesday 16 May 2006, page 20

Scottish news

Poor areas give poor chances as 17% leave school with no qualifications

Nearly one in five teenagers in some of Scotland’s poorest neighbourhoods leaves school with no qualifications, new figures revealed yesterday.
In the constituency of Glasgow Springburn, 17 per cent of school leavers quit school with no standard grades, compared to 2 per cent in the nearby constituency of Strathkelvin and Bearsden.

The Scottish executive said there are already a number of initiatives to counter the problem, including providing additional tutoring in deprived areas and introducing vocational courses.

Source:- The Scotsman, Tuesday 16 May

Paedophile whose abuse drove boys to attempt suicide jailed

A paedophile who systematically sexually abused three young boys, driving two of them to attempt suicide, has been jailed for four and a half years.

Joseph Johnston abused one of the boys “thousands of times” over an eight-year period. He first molested the child when he was only four-years-old.
The pensioner from Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, began abusing the children in 1984. It was also revealed he had sexually abused a young girl 40 years ago, resulting in a six-month prison term.

Source:- The Scotsman, Tuesday 16 May

Charles: I’ll help our Asbo kids

Prince Charles has called for greater understanding of the ASBO generation.

In an interview in the Radio Times to mark the 30th anniversary of the Prince’s Trust, Charles said insecurity and lack of self-confidence could easily lead to anti-social behaviour.
“Many of them are deeply damaged, have suffered appalling difficulties in their lives and have little hope and no self-confidence,” he added.

Source:- Daily Record, Tuesday 16 May

Welsh news

Council to take on extra stress counsellor

Workers at Swansea Council are set to be offered stress counselling in a bid to cut sick leave.

The initiative has been launched after council workers took 33 years worth of time off over the course of 2004. Stress was listed as the main cause of absence.

A stress management advisor and counsellor are being recruited to offer the service.

Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday May 16 2006