Thousands of our elderly are living in filthy care homes

By Clare Jerrom, Mithran Samuel and Amy Taylor

Thousands of our elderly are living in filthy care homes

Thousands of older people are being exposed to the risk of infection and malnutrition by living in filthy care homes.

The information collated by the Commission for Social Care Inspection and exposed by the Liberal Democrats after they used Freedom of Information Laws to obtain details also found one in three homes provided barely ‘adequate’ conditions and rated hundreds as poor.

Source:- Daily Mail  Tuesday 8 May page 4

Softer line on crime vetoed as jails fill up

Tony Blair has vetoed plans to head off a summer overcrowding crisis in prisons including abolishing custody for shop lifting offences.

The prime minister’s stance means the overcrowding problems could reach their peak soon after Gordon Brown succeeds Blair.

Source:- The Times  Tuesday 8 May page 1

Schools producing an army of the unemployable, warn head teachers

A charity for troubled schoolchildren has warned that there may be as many as 100,000 children who are “invisible” to schools, as a report from a right-wing think-tank claims the focus on exams has turned thousands of children off education.

The Inclusion Trust made the claim as a report from think-tank the Bow Group said the government’s focus on top GCSE grades ignored the 150,000 children who did not even get one grade G, saying more than 70,000 children did not turn up for exams.

The theme was also taken up by Mick Brooks, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, who said the focus on exams was fuelling truancy and disaffection and called for children to be taught practical skills from an earlier age to make them employable.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Tuesday 8 May 2007 page 4

Amnesty demanded for 500,000 immigrants

A mass rally yesterday called for a one-off amnesty to allow around 500,000 illegal immigrants living in the UK to become full citizens, though the idea has been rejected by both main political parties.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Tuesday 8 May 2007 page 14

The right to choose death

The number of terminally-ill people travelling from Britain to end their lives in a Swiss assisted suicide clinic has doubled in the past year to 34, adding weight to a campaign to liberalise Britain’s euthanasia laws.

Source:- The Independent Tuesday 8 May 2007 page 1