Almost a quarter of children in London live in families where nobody has a job, far above the UK-wide figure of 15%, new figures show. North east England has the highest rate of child poverty, but London has many of the most deprived areas, according to the Office for National Statistics. Nearly a third of children in London live in lone-parent families (31%) compared with the UK-average of 25%.
I'm still trying to reconcile that last 31% with the fact that London has the lowest bastardy rate in England and Wales. I guess it may well be that the people without jobs and the people without husbands may not be the same people. I surmise there might be higher unemployment among London Asians, but lower numbers of single parents, for example. The ONS pdfs are here. Of course the doleys could be the remaining natives.
The Mail picks up on the fact that 40% of young Londoners are non-white. I'm surprised the figures are that low. Maybe another 10% are Polish.
The Nightjack fallout continues as another police blogger bites the dust.
Stressed Out Cop’s post here and this story in the Times, and then this one, scares me if I’m honest.
Life is too short and I worked too hard to get here.
Although I am a Police officer, I am still a regular bloke. I have a family, a mortgage, car payments and a pension to think about.
The Times pathetic justifications for their action are roundly dissed by commenters. I do wonder if the fact that editor James Harding, who must have approved Patrick Foster's disgraceful piece and the decision to defend it in the High Court, came from the FT and before that the EU, is relevant. Not a guy who worked his way up from the subs desk at the Glossop Advertiser, to put it mildly - or don't journalists do that any more ?
British jobs for Indian workers - they've come over here to do the jobs the natives do want to do.
'Hundreds' of Indian contractors are being brought to the UK by state-backed Lloyds Banking Group, which is using them to slowly replace British IT workers.
The Mail has obviously been in suspended animation for the last few years. This is not a new issue.
To make matters worse, the bank's British IT contractors were told just last week they must accept a 15 per cent pay cut, or leave. The whistleblower believes the government should use its 43.4 per cent stake in Lloyds (up 2.57p at 67.57p) to stop overseas contractors taking British jobs. Lloyds, which rescued rival HBOS at the height of last year's banking crisis, admitted it is bringing overseas workers to Britain. It also admitted to cutting rates for existing contractors by 'up to 15 per cent'.
A spokesman said: 'We continue to outsource areas of IT work to companies based overseas. At any one time some of the staff from these companies will be based in the UK to deliver aspects of our IT projects. We monitor all of our projects and keep a close eye on quality and delivery.'
Does your local council have a Violent Persons Register ? I must say I'd never heard of them.
A woman labelled "potentially violent" after complaining to a council about a vandalised flowerbed has won £12,000 in High Court libel damages. Jane Clift, 43, sued Slough Borough Council and public protection chief Patrick Kelleher over their reaction when she complained about the vandal.
Hugh Tomlinson QC, representing Ms Clift, said the former care worker had been following the council's own poster campaign about reporting anti-social behaviour and was "understandably furious, frustrated and angry" with Ms Rashid. After talking to Ms Rashid, she then sent a letter, in which she wrote: "I felt so filled with anger that I am certain I would have physically attacked her if she had been anywhere near me."
The court heard the council and Mr Kelleher had argued that a November 2005 entry about her on its Violent Persons Register and an email informing people about it were "substantially true".
Maybe someone in Slough Council needs to get a sense of proportion.
Travellers Tales - how Warwickshire police are spending your money :
Shock at police's gypsy party
Ian Hughes
25 June 2009
BEMUSEMENT has greeted the news police are planning a gypsy party this weekend in a bid to build bridges between travellers and residents.Illegal camps set up by gypsies have long been a source of problems, with recent ones set up on Myton Fields in Warwick and on Abbey Fields in Kenilworth.
They have made life a living hell for neighbours, and often leave the taxpayer to foot the bill for clean-ups costs when they move on. The regular Horse Fair, held on private land in Kenilworth, brought a mini crime wave to the town last summer, with reports of shoplifting, intimidation, and pubs being forced to close their doors.
In a bid to promote "understanding" police chiefs to organise the Family Day of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History and Culture, which takes place at the force's Leek Wootton headquarters on Saturday (June 27).
But Kenilworth councillor George Illingworth told the Observer that news of the party had “made him wonder” what side police were on.
He said: “You have to assume they know what they are doing, but I am very intrigued by the whole thing. The police move in mysterious ways sometimes.”
He added the town had been “taken over” by travellers during a chaotic horse fair on the outskirts of Kenilworth last summer, but said police had their improved their efforts since, quickly evicting a group of travellers from Abbey Fields before the most recent fair in April.
Warwickshire Police Asst Ch Con Bill Holland, who heads up the Association of Chief Police Officers group that leads on Gypsy and Traveller issues, believes the event will offer residents and travellers the chance to get to know each other.
He said: "This is set to be a really new and engaging event which we would welcome all members of our communities to attend. As well as having something on offer for everyone to enjoy, the event is a step in the right direction to improving relations between police and the travelling community.
"Unauthorised encampments have become a source of friction. We know education is at the heart of some of these contentious issues. Hopefully this day will be the start of building relationships with the aim to better understanding and learning about the different cultures and societies we all live in."
The free event, which runs from 10am to 4pm, will feature activities including traditional music and dancing display; storytelling; a collection of traveller memorabilia; plus children's arts workshop, graffiti project and competitions, together with refreshments.
Graffiti project ? It must be said that graffiti is not a prominent part of traveller culture.
Interesting to see that the Lib Dems former planning spokesman makes his money advising travellers on planning law.
A former parliamentary spokesman on planning matters has earned thousands of pounds advising gypsies on illegal camps. Matthew Green has been involved in around 250 planning disputes involving travellers through his company, Green Planning Solutions. Mr Green won the Shropshire seat of Ludlow for the Liberal Democrats in 2001 but lost it to the Tories at the last general election.He was party spokesman on matters involving the Deputy Prime Minister's Office, which had major responsibility for planning and housing.His company, Green Planning Solutions, advises gypsies on how to contest efforts to evict them as a breach of their human rights.Neighbours of the illegal sites refer to 39-year-old Mr Green as the "Gypsy King", according to the Daily Mail.His business partner is Ruth Reed - the next president of the Royal Institute of British Architects and also an expert on planning law.On her website she describes Green Planning Solutions as a company which "specialises in winning planning permission on difficult sites, usually rural locations including the green belt". Among those employing the expertise of Mr Green's company are the gypsies who set up camp last year near the £1million Warwickshire country retreat of Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell and her estranged husband David Mills.Mr Green's company is also representing a group of travellers who have set up camp in the village of Weeley, near Colchester in Essex. After buying a plot of land for £90,000, the group arrived there in June 2008, laid hardcore and built fences.Mr Green said that all the travellers and gypsies pay him privately. "About a third of our clients are from gypsy or traveller backgrounds," he said.
Swine flu heads south - to Worcester secondaries.
A school which closed after a confirmed case of swine flu will remain shut for an extra two days to try to stop the virus spreading. A year eight pupil at Nunnery Wood High School in Worcester was diagnosed with the virus on 12 June. It closed on Tuesday after the virus spread, with four cases now confirmed and 17 students awaiting test results. It will now only be open to GCSE exam students on Monday and Tuesday before opening to all pupils on Wednesday.
And Worcester primaries :
The cases were confirmed in pupils at Stanley Road Primary School in Worcester today. But health experts have decided to keep the school open as the pupils have not attended school since being symptomatic. Dr Richard Harling, Director of Public Health at NHS Worcestershire, said: “We have written to parents at the school today to explain the situation to them fully. “Two cases of swine flu among pupils at the school were confirmed last night. However, these children did not acquire the infection at school. In addition, they have not been to school whilst symptomatic and there is no evidence at the moment that there has been any further transmission within the school.
It seems the Asian community (Stanley Road is in the Wylds Lane area of Worcester, once an Italian enclave and now a Muslim one) are most affected.
Officials have blamed the extent of the virus in the West Midlands on an outbreak at Welford Primary School, Handsworth, Birmingham.
It shut in May, with nearly 200 people connected to the school diagnosed with the virus. It has since been reopened.
Welford is the school featured on the BBC last year. It had two white pupils at the time - out of 480.
