News round up: Iraqi asylum seekers must go or face destitution

Three-quarters of parents will ‘happily spend their children’s inheritance on old age care’

Nearly three quarters of parents are resigned to leaving their children without an inheritance in order to fund their own care in old age. Seven out of ten said they would not baulk at using up their nest-eggs to pay care bills, even if it meant their children were left with nothing in their will, a Local Government Association study found.
Read more on this story in The Daily Mail

Airport children had cocaine tied to legs

Two Mexican children were being taken into the care of social services last night after they were intercepted at Heathrow with 15 kilograms of cocaine strapped to their legs. A Mexican woman, believed to be their mother, who was stopped with the 11-year-old girl and 13-year-old boy, was being questioned by Customs officers about the drugs haul, estimated to have a street value of £675,000.

Read more on this story in The Times

Iraqi asylum seekers given deadline to go home or face destitution in UK

More than 1,400 rejected Iraqi asylum seekers are to be told they must go home or face destitution in Britain as the government considers Iraq safe enough to return them, according to leaked Home Office correspondence seen by the Guardian. The Iraqis involved are to be told that unless they sign up for a voluntary return programme to Iraq within three weeks, they face being made homeless and losing state support.
Read more on this story in The Guardian

Religious state schools accused of fuelling social segregation

Covert selection by religious state schools has fuelled social segregation in education, some of the most respected academic authorities on schools admissions have told MPs. Class and ethnic divides between faith schools and other state schools have grown since 1990 and are worst in areas where faith schools apply “potentially selective” admissions criteria, research shows.

Read more on this story in The Guardian

Darling: the hesitant debut

Alistair Darling forced Britain’s drinkers to foot the bill for Labour’s crusade to eradicate child poverty yesterday, as his first budget as chancellor revealed the impact of the global credit crunch on the government’s already tight finances.

Read more on this story in The Guardian

Women’s group call to Cameron

David Cameron is under pressure to persuade a Tory council to reverse a decision to axe funding to a pioneering women’s group. The Conservative-controlled Ealing council in west London has decided to end the funding of Southall Black Sisters, which helped victims of forced marriage and domestic violence.

Read more on this story in The Guardian