British National Party Public Services News Bulletin w/c July 9th, 2007
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1. EIGHT AL QAEDA FANATICS WORKING FOR THE POLICE

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=466832&in_page_id=1770&ct=5

Up to eight police officers and civilian staff are suspected of links to extremist groups including Al Qaeda. Some are even believed to have attended terror training camps in Pakistan or Afghanistan. Their names feature on a secret list of alleged radicals said to be working in the Metropolitan and other forces. The dossier was drawn up with the help of MI5 amid fears that individuals linked to Islamic extremism are taking advantage of police attempts to increase the proportion of ethnic staff. Astonishingly, many of the alleged jihadists have not been sacked because - it is claimed - police do not have the ‘legal power’ to dismiss them. We can also reveal that one suspected jihadist officer working in the South East has been allowed to keep his job despite being caught circulating Internet images of beheadings and roadside bombings in Iraq. He is said to have argued that he was trying to ‘enhance’ debate about the war. Classified intelligence reports raising concerns about police staff's background cannot be used to justify their dismissal, sources said. Instead, the staff who are under suspicion are unofficially barred from working in sensitive posts and are closely monitored. Political correctness is blamed for the decision not to sack them. It is widely feared that ‘long-term’ Al Qaeda sleepers are trying to infiltrate other public sector organisations in the UK. In November last year, it was revealed that a leading member of an extremist Islamic group was working as a senior official at the Home Office.

MI5 has warned in the past that suspects with ‘strong links’ to Osama Bin Laden's killers have tried to join the British security services and, in January, exiled radical Omar Bakri claimed that Islamic extremists were infiltrating the police and other public sector organisations. Suspicions are growing that the gang behind the failed London bomb attacks could have received inside information about rescue procedures in the aftermath of an atrocity in the capital. The Daily Mail can reveal that the second device parked near Haymarket was left at a designated ‘evacuation assembly point’ where civilians and the emergency services would have gathered had the first bomb gone off. Investigators are trying to establish whether the bombers knew the significance of the location. Sources said it is unlikely that the Met is the only force which may have been infiltrated by Al Qaeda sympathisers. Omar Altimimi, a failed asylum seeker jailed for nine years yesterday for hoarding manuals on how to carry out car bombings, had applied to work as a cleaner for the Greater Manchester force. In a separate development, it is understood that a policeman was removed from his post after concerns about his conduct in the aftermath of a major anti-terrorist operation in the past two years.

For legal reasons, the Mail cannot reveal any more about the case. The MI5 list of suspected Islamists working in the police is said to have been drawn up in the aftermath of the 7/7 terror attacks in London. MI5 checked staff details at the Met and other forces with intelligence databases on individuals said to have attended radical Islamic schools - or Madrassas - and terror training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is thought that intelligence files on those who frequently visit pro-Jihad websites and who have associated with so-called preachers of hate were also compared to details of officers and civilian staff in the Met. As a result of the review, eight officers and civilian staff were identified as Al Qaeda sympathisers or people of concern because of their links to Islamic extremists. The disclosure will raise concerns about the system for vetting new recruits, each of whom is the subject of counter-terrorism checks to ensure they are suitable to join the police. Scotland Yard's vetting unit is regarded as one of the best in the country. But sources said it is often impossible to carry out satisfactory checks on recruits who were raised overseas or who have spent considerable periods out of Britain before applying to join the Met. In such cases, the Met has to rely on overseas agencies to carry out intelligence checks on their behalf.

Privately, officials doubt whether certain countries in Africa, Middle East or the Indian sub-continent are able to carry out meaningful vetting. As a result of the Stephen Lawrence public inquiry report, which accused the Met of being ‘institutionally racist’, Scotland Yard has in recent years employed thousands of officers and civilian staff from the ethnic minorities in an attempt to reach recruitment targets. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: ‘All employees upon joining the Met and during their careers undergo a range of security checks. These are robust and vary according to the type and sensitivity of individual postings. ‘We take matters of security very seriously and if an issue arises, people may be subjected to further assessment. ‘This may lead to restrictions in relation to where an individual works in the organisation or whether they are suitable to remain in the service.’

2. COUNCIL TAX HAS DOUBLED IN TEN YEARS

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=463853&in_page_id=1770

Council tax has risen by almost three times the rate of inflation over the past decade. Research from Halifax found that the average household council tax bill has almost doubled over the course of 10 years and is currently 91% higher than when Tony Blair came to power. Over the same period average earnings have increased by 51%, while retail price inflation has risen by just 31%. The typical UK household now has to stump up £1,078 to pay the annual charge to their billing authority, compared to £564 in the 1997/98 financial year. Residents of Monmouthshire have seen the biggest percentage increase during the decade, with council tax hikes amounting to 184%. It is followed by Powys and Westminster, where council tax per household rose by 150% and 149% respectively over the period. More than half of all districts have experienced at least a doubling in council tax bills since 1997, figures show. Richmond-upon-Thames has the dubious honour of topping the list of districts with the highest average council tax. The typical household in the leafy London borough will have to pay £1,665 this year, compared to £807 a decade ago. In contrast, residents in Wandsworth face an average bill of £641 in the 2007/08 financial year, up from £388 in 1997/98. The South East is revealed as the most expensive region in terms of council tax per household, with Wales being the cheapest. Researchers looked at the average council tax in all 408 of the billing authorities in Great Britain as part of the study.

3. DOCTORS ‘SUICIDAL’ BECAUSE OF RECRUITMENT FIASCO

British graduate doctors can't find a job, but the NHS keeps hiring plenty of foreigners!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=463798&in_page_id=1770

More than one in five junior doctors say they have contemplated suicide due to stress brought on by the recruitment fiasco. And a third say they have made more mistakes at work as a result of the flawed Modernising Medical Careers programme. Almost 700 doctors were questioned by the Royal College of Psychiatrists about how their wellbeing was affected by the botched recruitment process. More than 30,000 doctors are fighting for around 22,000 training posts, and the online selection procedures have been strongly criticised. Preliminary results from the survey found that 21 per cent of junior doctors have had suicidal thoughts as a result of the scheme. Some 94 per cent reported higher stress levels than normal, and 90 per cent of these put this down to the recruitment process. A third said they had drunk more in the past six months and others have shown symptoms of anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance, a sense of hopelessness, less fulfilling sex, lack of appetite and tearfulness. Jo Hilbourne, chairman of the British Medical Association's junior doctors' committee, said: ‘These findings are deeply worrying, but not surprising. ‘Junior doctors have been kicked around by this deeply flawed application system and thousands still don't know if they have got a job to go to.’ The Health Department said that ‘as far as possible’ all doctors with the right skills and abilities would be offered a training opportunity.

4. EXECUTIVE PLANS TASK FORCE TO TACKLE HOUSING

A better solution would be to stop mass immigration; the main reason for the housing shortage.

http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/news/display.var.1490676.0.0.php

The Scottish Executive wants a task force to tackle the growing housing shortage, Communities Minister Stewart Maxwell announced yesterday. Chaired by the minister, the Housing Supply Task Force will challenge land supply and planning issues with the aim of making it easier for more homes to be built. But other elements of the administration's approach to housing were left unclear, including a £2000 grant for first-time home buyers and whether it would continue with housing stock transfer. It is also postponing a decision on whether it will follow through on its plans to scrap the Communities Scotland agency responsible for housing. And while it will not scrap the right to buy council homes, it will look for more ‘local flexibility’ where sales have led to local housing shortages. On starter home grants, the executive will review the case for a housing support fund as part of the wider spending review in autumn, along with a wide-ranging public consultation on a policy area that is fast moving up the political agenda due to shortages, rising prices and planning pressures. The minister's talks with the private sector about building more homes had already started. Mr Maxwell made the announcement following the publication of a report into the future of Scotland's housing market. It showed that in the Edinburgh area, 30% of working households cannot afford to buy the cheapest properties on the market. The task force will be drawn from local authorities, house builders, housing associations and housing interest groups.

5. RAIL FIRM’S SECRET PLAN FOR PENALTY FARE CASH

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1969212.ece

Britain’s biggest train company has told its guards that they will be disciplined and possibly dismissed if they show discretion to passengers who are unable to buy tickets before boarding because of long queues at stations. It is the latest example of the lengths to which operators are going in order to pay the billion-pound premiums demanded by the Government for rail franchises. A confidential memo, obtained by The Times, reveals that South West Trains is introducing a system under which guards are judged according to the amount they collect in penalties. The memo, headed ‘commercially sensitive, please do not circulate’, instructs guards to treat passengers as fare dodgers even if they come up to the guard on the train and ask to buy a ticket. The guards must sell the most expensive peak ticket and give no railcard discounts, meaning that passengers will usually pay more than double the normal price.

Those travelling between London and Weymouth are being charged £82 on board for a ticket which would have cost £35 at the station. Another company, First Group, has also made controversial changes to pay the high premiums, including withdrawing carriages in the West Country and doubling fares on some routes in London. South West Trains is telling guards that they will be held accountable if they accept any explanations, even if passengers had to queue for more than 15 minutes to buy a ticket and were about to miss their train. The warning comes even though the company is obliged to make a ‘reasonable endeavour’ to ensure no passenger waits more than five minutes at peak times to buy a ticket, or three minutes outside the peak. Passenger groups have accused the company of profiting from its failure to provide enough ticket facilities. It has admitted that it does not have enough ticket machines and has said that it will install another 194 by September next year.

But many passengers are confused by the growing variety of fares on offer and want to buy them from members of staff, who are obliged legally to sell the cheapest option. The memo also says that children must be penalised in the same circumstances, even at weekends and on Bank Holidays, when cheaper fares are available but ticket offices are often closed because of staff shortages. A child travelling between London and Poole would have to pay £37.70 for a journey that should have cost £22.70. The memo adds: ‘Once on the train, even if they approach you, they are only entitled to buy a full fare ticket . . . do not use discretion just because it’s the easy option.’ Guards must also tell passengers that they could be liable for an additional £20 on-the-spot fine or penalty fare, and could be prosecuted for fare evasion. ‘From now, your commercial duties will be measured in three main areas: the amount of revenue that you collect; the type of tickets that you sell; and the number of penalty fare warnings issued.’ All 800 of the company’s guards have been sent on a training course to teach them the new policy and how to deal with angry passengers.

One told The Times: ‘We are in the horrible position of having to enforce a policy we know to be unfair, or risk losing our jobs.’ Other companies are more understanding. Keith Ludeman, chief executive of Go-Ahead, which operates Southern and South Eastern and yesterday won the new West Midlands franchise, said: ‘I wouldn’t expect somebody to pay extra when they weren’t able to buy a ticket because the queues were too long.’ The Department for Transport said it was investigating queuing times at South West Trains’ stations and would take action if the company was breaching the regulation. South West Trains, which agreed last year to pay the Government £1.2 billion over ten years, caused outrage last month by raising some off-peak fares by 20 per cent. Brian Souter, chief executive of the parent company, Stagecoach, saw his family’s estimated wealth double to £770 million this year, partly because of profits of more than £1 million a week at South West Trains.

6. WHITE BOYS 'BEING LEFT BEHIND' BY EDUCATION SYSTEM

Another example of discrimination against native Britons.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=463614&in_page_id=1770

Two-thirds of pupils classified as low achievers are boys, research has revealed. And white boys are being particularly badly failed by the education system, according to a study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. White British pupils make up more than three-quarters of those who leave school with few or no qualifications, and are more likely to be low achievers than ethnic minority pupils from families with similar incomes. The research team said underperformance by white pupils - and boys in particular - was a ‘big and ignored’ problem. Afro-Caribbean students are also under-achieving - but they have been improving faster than the national average. Also, they do no worse than white British pupils in similar financial circumstances. Chinese and Indian pupils are least likely to be classed as low achievers. Research earlier this year from Manchester University found money was being targeted at pupils with English as an additional language. But pupils who do not speak English at home only find this a short-term handicap, according to the Rowntree researchers. ‘White learners from highly disadvantaged backgrounds were reportedly often overlooked,’ the Manchester University report said. One local authority officer told researchers that ‘white poverty and underachievement aren't as headline-grabbing or sexy’. Schools Minister Jim Knight said: ‘Boosting achievement for low-achieving groups is at the heart of our education reforms.’

7. LABOUR COMPENSATES EARLY-RELEASE PRISONERS

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=463785&in_page_id=1770

Criminals given a ‘get out of jail free’ card by Labour will receive almost £200 spending money at the prison gates. The payouts will be made to all 25,500 of the inmates due to be released 18 days early to solve the Government's overcrowding shambles - at a cost to the taxpayer of £4.5million. The payments, which are supposed to cover living costs over those 18 days, effectively compensate offenders for the fact they will not be receiving the ‘bed and board’ otherwise provided by prison. Incredibly, however, the first convicts to benefit will be given their £172.24 in cash when they walk free next Friday. The Ministry of Justice will simply hand over a bundle of notes - which means there is nothing to stop the money being blown on drink, drugs or gambling. Governors have been instructed to make sure they have enough cash in their prison to ensure nobody misses out on the windfall, which follows last Tuesday's humiliating decision to order the early release plan. The burglars, drug dealers and fraudsters will also be entitled to have their rent paid by the Government for 18 days, at a cost of hundreds of pounds each. Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: ‘This Government's prisons policy is descending into a Monopoly-style farce.

First it resembled 'get out of jail free', now it is a case of 'get out of jail and receive £200'.’ Blair Gibbs, campaign director for the Taxpayers' Alliance said: ‘We know from reoffending rates that a lot of these prisoners will be out committing new crimes in a matter of days. ‘Letting them out early to prey on the innocent is bad enough but law-abiding taxpayers shouldn't be paying them a bonus to go and get tooled-up and drugged-up. However disgraceful, the early-release policy should be saving us the expense of prison accommodation, not costing us more. It is a scandal.’

The payments, equivalent to around £10 spending money each day, are nearly four times the usual £46 discharge grant given to freed criminals. Rules say that anybody who is supposed to be serving a prison sentence - which the early release inmates still are - cannot receive any state benefits. As a result, Justice Secretary Lord Falconer has opted to give them a handout instead. Once the 18 days are complete, they will begin receiving state benefits. Some 2,000 inmates approaching the end of their sentences will be freed in the first weeks of the early release plan, reducing a prison population close to bursting point at around 81,000. Because of the hurried introduction of the policy, the first payments will be made in one cash lump sum from next Friday. Eventually the payments of £172.24 are likely be made by giro cheque on a weekly basis. Rent payments - which could be £100 a week or more - will be made direct to landlords. The instruction to governors to make the payment - PSI 27/2007 - emphasises the Government's desperation to secure the early release of as many inmates as possible.

It says: ‘Governors must immediately instigate arrangements to identify eligible prisoners. Governors must prioritise this work to ensure that as many eligible prisoners as possible are released on 29 June and that subsequently prisoners are released as soon as possible on reaching their eligibility date.’ Lord Falconer had insisted there would be no early release of inmates, but made a screeching U-turn after running out of space in jails, prison cells and court cells. The decision shredded once and for all Labour's promise to be ‘tough on crime’ and provoked howls of protest from police and prison officers. The Prison Officers' Association said the policy was the equivalent of giving offenders a ‘get out of jail free’ card. Over the course of a year, 25,500 prisoners will be released early - a quarter of the 100,000 sent to custody each year. Sex offenders, the most serious violent offenders and criminals with a history of breaching release conditions will be barred. But burglars, drug dealers, fraudsters and thugs convicted of affray or assault will all be let out. In the case of criminals imprisoned for a month, they will serve only seven days.

The overall aim is to reduce the numbers behind bars at any one time by 1,200, so - with the courts currently jailing people faster than those who have completed their sentence are being released - the policy will remain in place indefinitely. Otherwise, numbers would begin to rise sharply again. It is hoped the move will see the Government through until early next year when thousands more places will have been built. A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: ‘All prisoners will be paid the normal discharge grant of £46 plus a subsistence payment in place of benefits payments - for which they are ineligible under benefits regulations - until their formal release date. ‘An allowance will also be paid to meet housing costs where applicable - these payments will be made direct to housing providers, subject to receipt of written confirmation from the landlord and will not exceed the amount that would be paid as housing benefit. ‘The maximum amount of cash that prisoners will be released with is £172.24. The cost will be around £4.5million this financial year.’