Cuts to legal aid are forcing the closure of almost a third of Shelter’s housing advice centres and compelling the Red Cross to abandon its assistance for family reunions, the organisations claim. Family reunions? Why the fiends! Wait. What sort of ‘family’ are we talking about here? The British Red Cross says the cuts will force it to withdraw expert help to those trying to bring their children into the United…
When the kids have rumbled the flaw in your grand plan, you know you’ve lost… Pupil Jake Phillips, 15, said that “speakeasies” are starting up selling the prohibited drinks. “There is business potential now there’s a gap in the market,” he said.“Gangsters sold alcohol in America when that was banned. Prohibition always leads to supply and demand. That means anyone who sneaks it in can make a lot of money.”…
Screaming headline in the ‘Indy’: Oh noes! Disaster! Oh, the terrible Tory cuts! Anthony Douglas, chief executive of Cafcass, which safeguards the welfare of children involved in family court proceedings, said he expected to see a leap in child neglect cases as thousands of struggling families were pushed over the financial edge in the coming months. Really, Anthony? You really think so? Because I’m sceptical, to say the least: Riley…
Theo Hobson takes issue with Roger Scruton’s religion: Is Roger Scruton a Christian? Based on his new book, Our Church: a Personal History of the Church of England, I am inclined to doubt it. Errr, why..? Has the publisher printed an upside-down cross on the front, or something? He says that he is, and he goes to church – he even plays the organ there. His Tory traditionalist form of…
Children seeking asylum in the UK alone are confronted with a “culture of disbelief and suspicion”… As are adults seeking asylum. And isn’t that the correct thing to do? Should we not check their stories? … which leaves them frightened and confused, a report has claimed. Ah. Right. But they are fleeing persecution and in fear of their very lives, so surely they are ahead of the game by just…
…it’s a never-ending battle between them and the forces of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy™ . Now, on Saturday, I was idly browsing Twitter, when Ally Fogg (a CiF columnist, but a reasonably sensible one, mostly) tweeted a worrying report from Brighton’s Pride march that kettling was going on. So, I took a look: Hmmm, what was going on? Why would the cops – who were desperate to facilitate the…
Families are unfairly blocking organ donation from dead relatives who wanted to make the gift of life, claims a leading expert in ethics. Why do I always see that phrase, ‘leading expert in ethics’ and know I’m going to see something that makes me wonder if it’s even human? At least one in 10 people who decided in advance to donate their organs is having their wishes thwarted, it has…
Tony Juniper on how the Watermelons will be trying to persuade you to fall in line with them in future: For more than four decades the front lines of environmental campaigning have been located in the worlds of politics and technology. New laws driving cleaner and more efficient ways of doing things have been at the core of the environmental agenda, and up to a point it has worked. But…
Scores of people are to take to the streets of Nottingham this weekend in protest against dangerous dog legislation. Good! Protesting that it’s useless and doesn’t go far enough, I presume? Rescue workers and dog lovers alike are demonstrating against Breed Specific Legislation, which under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (Section 1) bans certain types of dogs in the UK. Oh. Great. Now, while I might have some sympathy with…
Jonathan Harker desperately attempts to deflect the recent bad publicity for Muslims: How did middle-aged Asian men from tight-knit communities even come into contact with white teenage girls in Rochdale? The main cultural relevance in this story is that vulnerable, often disturbed, young girls, regularly out late at night, often end up in late-closing restaurants and minicab offices, staffed almost exclusively by men. After a while, relationships build up, with…
Last night head teacher Hilary Eade said rigorous checks had confirmed there were no problems with the school’s boiler or gas supply and said the school would open as usual today. A doctor called in to assess the situation said the sudden outbreak of illness was most likely to have been caused by a virus. Really? Fast acting (and fast dissipating) virus! Sounds more like a case of mass hysteria…
Today the Oxford Mail can reveal the shocking extent of crimes reported on school grounds across the county. Police were called to more than 400 reports of crimes at Oxfordshire school sites in the past three years. They include allegations of rape, sexual assault, grievous bodily harm, possession of drugs and weapons. So, where? Well, we can’t tell you that. Approximately a third of the offences were reported on school…
Barbara Ehrenreich on the ‘unfair costs’ faced by the poor: … as Businessweek helpfully pointed out in 2007, the poor in aggregate provide a juicy target for anyone depraved enough to make a business of stealing from them. Boooo! Eeeeeevil corporations, targeting the people who, errr, can’t pay for their goods! Wait. What? It’s not just the private sector that’s preying on the poor. It isn’t? Oh. OK. Just how…
Britain’s greatest Paralympian, Lady Tanni Grey-Thompson, has warned that disability benefit cuts will affect the development of top athletes and undermine the Games’ key legacy aim of widening access to sport for disabled people. *sigh* Nice try, love, but it’s not really up there with the ‘disabled people will starve in the gutters or commit suicide!’ hyperbole we’ve been hearing non-stop, is it? Her comments were backed by other Paralympians.…
Oliver’s move came as public health officials and doctors joined a growing number of education and food organisations in criticising the education secretary. In a move that astonished experts, Gove insisted that he would not apply the nutrition standards that cover all other state schools to academies and free schools – even after a report by the School Food Trust charity found last week that many were selling sub-standard products.…
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