I was going to add this as a comment on my last blog, but it’s too long.
Councils use anti-terror powers to check for dog collars
Councils have used anti-terrorism laws to try to catch people donating goods outside charity shops and to make sure dogs are wearing collars.
Read more:
How local councils use anti-terror laws to spy on ordinary people
Herald Scotland staff
In 1976–80 there was a net inflow of 37,200 foreign citizens per annum; by 1996–2000 this had increased to anet inflow of 110,200 per annum. Immigration increased particularly rapidly during the 1990s, and it is responsible for about half of the population growth during that decade. Recently, reforms to UK immigration policy have sought to make immigration easier for certain groups and there is active consideration of future policy initiatives.
Net immigration into London from abroad tends to displace some existing residents, who move out into other parts of the Greater South East – though the short-run effect is nearer to ‘one for two’ than ‘one for one.’ This substantially reduces the impact of immigration on London population growth, while probably intensifying that on the population mix.An effect of the concentration of migrants in the worst paid segment of the labour market has been a significant downward pressure on wages at the bottom end of the market. This seems to have encouraged job growth in these occupations, but earnings among workers in this sector have suffered, falling behind growth in the cost of living. At the same time the gap between earnings levels for this group in London and those in the rest of the UK has been substantially eroded.The majority of migrants use relatively fewer public services than indigenous households – and are therefore less costly to the public purse. There are, however, additional pressures from the diverse needs of migrants, and the claims of those in the weakest situation. The costs of housing, translation services, health provision, schools and social security benefits have increased as a result of the additional needs of some new migrants to London.As a new Guardian/ICM survey reveals startling gaps in the cultural knowledge of young British adults, we take a serious look at changing British society and the culture it produces.Young 18- to 24-year-old adults are measurably “dumber” than older age groups, evidence in a special ICM survey for the Guardian indicates.The angry old men of the dumbing down debate have been deskilled and disempowered by the feminisation of culture.
Worth reading to see how the dumbing down is effected.
And a nice, and balanced, comment here.
Boadicea's Chariot 
Looks interesting Bravo, I haven’t time to read it properly just now, I’ll get back to it tomorrow.
ooops, I didn’t do the italic bit above, honest.
Oops Bravo.
HTML error? I’ll see if this is in italics as well.
Back later; the kitchen calls.
Suggest you redo the links at the bottom of your post!
Watch out for incoming! Take cover!
I read today that grumbling occupies 8% of the average day of those displaying signs of senility.
Howzit Bravo, I’ve fixed the ‘italics problem’ for you, I’ll leave the deletion of the comments up to you … … S
Just seen this – took me a little while to find the open tag. Sorry pardon.
Looks like we were both working at the same time, Soutie – I’ll acknowledge that it was mor likely you that got it sorted 🙂
On deletions i seem to recall a declaration that soem blogger made that they wouldn’t comment on my posts any more. That resolution lasted a bitlonger than the World’s shortest flounce.
“Irresolution is a worse vice than rashness. He that shoots best may sometimes miss the mark; but he that shoots not at all can never hit it. The irresolute man hatcheth nothing, but addles all his actions.
– Owen Felltham
Forget nationality. How many additional Labour voters have arrived?
OZ
Ah, well Bravo, another one of my hobby horses.
Anti-terrorist legislation being abused? Yes indeed, you are absolutely right, I have always argued that this is wrong. The threat from terrorism is real certainly but the response from the SOCIALIST government is totally disproportionate.
I understand that the present government is trying to reduce the period of time one can be held without charge under the same anti-terrorist legislation. Excellent in my opinion.
PS: I haven’t had time to follow your links, but I will at some point.
Checking for dog collars?
For one dreadful moment I wondered why they were looking for vicars with suicide vest-ments!
“On deletions i seem to recall a declaration that soem blogger made that they wouldn’t comment on my posts any more. That resolution lasted a bitlonger than the World’s shortest flounce.”
It’s an age thing, as you know.
All of them?
Schools.
Of course it is hugely disappointing when a child fails to get a place in the school of their choice. So many mum hours and so much school-gate wisdom wasted. But we need to calm down and stop having the wrong argument. It’s not actually the number of successful first choices that counts; it’s the low quality of the second choices that matters.
We need to remember that some parents play the system like a game. An Institute of Education study last month reported that 7 per cent of parents who did receive their first choice would, ideally, have preferred to send their children somewhere else. But rather than risk a rotten school by pursuing a place in the best, they opted for a middling school they were confident of getting into.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article7045929.ece
Parents who cheat to get child into a good school may face court
…..Dr Craig’s study revealed that two fifths of councils wanted the power to prosecute parents who used underhand tactics to get their children into good schools. Many authorities argued that they should face the possibility of a jail term — or at least a substantial fine…
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article6899316.ece
Council forced to drop fraud case against mother who ‘cheated’ to get son in school
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article6628503.ece
Head turns spy to catch parents who lie for school place
…A headmaster has employed a private detective to spy on parents suspected of lying about their address to obtain places for their children at his school…
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article1805706.ece
Education – a Lottery? (My headline.)
Priti Barua lives in Brighton and was one of the first parents to go through the controversial admissions lottery introduced two years ago in the city.
“We were guinea-pigs for a system that hadn’t been tried or tested,” Dr Barua, 43, says.
“It was a horrendous time. It was the not knowing, not being sure what the turnout was going to be.”
Her daughter Prisha, 12, did get the school of her choice through the lottery but the family is still not convinced it is the best system of allocation.
“We are extremely happy that we landed on our feet but it was pure luck rather than a fair chance,” Dr Barua, a dental surgeon, says.
“It’s not a fair or equal system because all the schools offered are not equal. I think they watered down the heart of the local community — they segregated the community when it wasn’t necessary.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/school_league_tables/article6900375.ece