Britain is stalling our BAE inquiry, says US
The Home Office last night refused to comment on reports that it was sitting
on US Justice Department demands for information about the arms manufacturer
BAE.
US prosecutors, who are conducting a criminal investigation into allegations
of corruption at the firm, believe that the Home Office is being
obstructive, according to The Guardian. A request for Mutual Legal
Assistance was submitted more than two months ago, but had not been acted
upon, it said.
A Home Office spokeswoman said: “It is long-standing policy that we neither
confirm nor deny the existence of requests for Mutual Legal Assistance.”
The US Justice Department is seeking information from a Serious Fraud Office
investigation of BAE that was halted when it was deemed to be damaging
national security.
Villagers vote for referendum on EU
A Dorset village last night became the first place in Britain to stage a vote
on the new EU treaty and demanded that Gordon Brown hold a referendum on the
issue.
The poll was called in East Stoke, near Wareham, when John Barnes, a supporter
of the UK Independence Party, used a provision of the Local Government Act
1972 which states that if ten members of a parish call for a vote on a
subject, the parish council must carry out the request.
Ninety per cent of the residents who voted were in favour of the referendum,
but just 80 votes out of a possible 339 were cast, representing a 23.6 per
cent turnout. Darren Patterson, organiser from the Campaign Alliance for
Referenda of Parishes, said: “Another four parishes are in the process of
exercising their right.”
New police station to hold terror suspects
A new maximum-security police station to hold terror suspects for extended
periods is being planned to replace the existing cramped and outdated
facilities.
The 30-cell custody centre will replace Paddington Green holding centre in
West London, where terror suspects are held for questioning.
The joint House of Lords and Commons human rights committee found that there
were no proper exercise facilities at Paddington Green, with suspects forced
to used the car park and inadequate medical facilities. The preferred police
option is for the new premises to be near Belmarsh top security jail at
Woolwich, southeast London.
More post strikes
Postal services will be crippled for five days next month after the main
postal union said it would step up industrial action. The Communication
Workers’ Union will stage two 48-hour strikes either side of a Sunday. They
accused Royal Mail of being “completely out of control” after several weeks
of talks.
Troops die in crash
Two soldiers from the 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and
Foresters) were killed in southern Afghanistan when their armoured vehicle
went off the road. No enemy action was involved. Three other soldiers have
been killed in traffic accidents in Afghanistan since March 2006.
Rainforest surprise
Climate change may lead to lush growth rather than catastrophic tree loss in
the Amazonian forests, researchers from the US and Brazil have found. A
study, reported in the journal Science, found that reduced rainfall has led
to greener forests, possibly because with fewer rainclouds sunlight levels
are higher.
Britain is big cheese
British cheese is outselling its continental rivals according to latest
figures from market analysts Mintel. Sales of regional cheese such as Red
Leicester and Cheshire increased by 16 per cent in the past two years and
their market is now worth £220 million. Cheddar accounts for 52 per cent of
all cheese sales.
Nuclear waste stocks need ‘urgent’ action
The risk of an accident or terrorist attack involving Britain’s stockpile of
plutonium waste is so severe that urgent action is needed to make it safe,
the national academy of science reported.
The amount of separated plutonium stored at Sellafield has doubled over the
past ten years to reach more than 100 tonnes, yet the Government has made no
long-term arrangements for secure disposal of the toxic and dangerous
radioactive material, the Royal Society said yesterday.
The civil plutonium stockpile, which is largely the byproduct of reprocessing
of spent fuel from nuclear power stations, is still kept in a state that
would pose great dangers in the wrong hands. Its form is also suitable for
making nuclear weapons, which could make it a target for theft by terrorist
groups.
Though the society warned ministers in 1998 that a long-term management
strategy was needed, no decision has yet been taken. A deep underground
nuclear waste depository is planned by the Government, but a facility is not
expected until between 2045 and 2075.
Local airports soar
Passenger growth at regional airports is outstripping the rise at the “big
five” London airports, Civil Aviation Authority figures show. The number of
passengers flying from UK regional airports increased 4 per cent to 98
million last year. The rise to 137 million passengers last year at the five
London airports, Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and London City, was
only a 3 per cent increase.
First free books
Free books were presented to the first of more than half a million children
who will get them under a £2.8 million scheme funded by the Government. Ed
Balls, the Schools Secretary, gave out titles to 11-year-olds at a school in
Stoke Newington, North London. About 600,000 children, across 98 per cent of
all secondary schools, have registered for the free books programme. They
can choose from 12 books.
Head loses job fight
A headmistress sacked for going on holiday after saying she was ill failed in
her claim for unfair dismissal. Leslie Tidy’s “cover was blown” as she flew
to Tenerife from in February 2006, a day before the start of half-term at
Thackley Primary School in Bradford and a staff training day, which she was
supposed to have led. She was sacked by school governors last October.
Wool house ‘fire risk’
Fire officers have ordered a knitted house to be taken down after declaring it
a fire hazard. The 10ft-by-14ft house was knitted by 500 women from all over
the world and was on show at Atlantic Village at Bideford, North Devon,
where it has raised £10,000 for charity. Ann Tattersall, who helped to
create the house, said: “This is absolutely outrageous and is health and
safety gone mad.”
Farm given all-clear
A control zone imposed around Woodhouse Farm near Solihull, West Midlands, was
lifted after tests for foot-and-mouth disease proved negative, the
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said. There have been
five confirmed cases in Surrey since the initial outbreak at the start of
last month. The sites outside Surrey that have been investigated have all
proved to be false alarms.
Pupils are missing up to 19 days of school
Truancy has risen by almost a third in three years with many pupils attending
secondary school only 90 per cent of the time, says a report by Ofsted
(Nicola Woolcock writes).
Pupil absence was worst at schools with weak leadership and poor teaching.
Students did not turn up because they found lessons boring or difficult, or
were being bullied.
Schools that accepted pupils turning up just 90 per cent of the time were
inadvertently condoning truancy, the report said. These pupils were missing
19 school days each year.
The report found: “Legal sanctions and telephoning students’ homes on the
first day of absence have been effective deterrents, but they have not
reached the most disaffected groups.” Heads can now go directly to court to
obtain parenting orders that place a legal obligation on parents to ensure
that children attend.
Christine Gilbert, the Chief Inspector of Schools, said: “Overall attendance
rates are improving although more needs to be done to tackle unauthorised
absence and persistent truancy.”
Heart attack trauma
Survivors of traumas such as terrorist attacks or earthquakes are five times
likelier to suffer a heart attack than the general population, research
published in The Lancet suggests. Daniel Brotman from Johns Hopkins
Hospital, Baltimore, USA, who led the research, said that on the day of the
1994 Los Angeles earthquake heart deaths in the area were two to five times
higher than normal.
Baby death arrest
An 18-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of murdering her 11-month-old
daughter. A 16-year-old youth is also being held in connection with the
death in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on Sunday. Post mortem tests showed that
the baby died from head injuries. Paramedics and police were called after a
report that the baby was suffering breathing difficulties. She died in
hospital.
Python at bath time
A 5ft python slithered into a woman’s bathroom as she washed her baby. The
royal king python may have entered the house, in Dartford, Kent, via a hole
in an outer wall. Although royal king pythons are not venomous, they may
bite if threatened, the RSPCA said. It is thought to be an escaped pet that
may have been attracted by the house’s warmth. The woman and baby were
unharmed.
OAP locked in toilet
Ryedale District Council has apologised after Gwyneth Coles, 77, was locked in
a public toilet overnight. Mrs Coles, from Pickering, North Yorkshire, spent
12 hours in the lavatory in Eastgate. A caretaker had called out to check
whether anyone was inside, but did not hear a reply. Mrs Coles said: “This
will go down in family history – the night great-grandma got locked in the
loo.”
