A critical look at the recent box office hit – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. You can almost hear the film executives: ‘hey you know Slumdog Millionaire was such a success and so was Ladies in Lavender, why don’t we just combine the two – a set of wistful old English people set against an
Theme: Health
School exclusion ruins lives
A conference about the high number of children being unlawfully excluded from school, and to examine alternatives to exclusion. Wednesday 16 May 2012, 9.30-4pm The Conference Room of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, Riverside Building, County Hall, Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7PB Speakers include: chaired by Dr. Maggie Atkinson – Children’s Commissioner
Stark reality of exclusions for BME children
The Children’s Commissioner’s exclusion inquiry reveals entrenched discrimination and ‘illegal’ exclusions. In March, the Children’s Commissioner published the report of her first formal inquiry on schools exclusions after eight months of evidence-gathering by her team supported by a panel of experts. They listened to children and adults alike, as well as taking account of written
Stop and search drama
In a nutshell, Stop Search, plays out the devastating impact that the policy of stop and search can have on a family. This excellent new play shows a black middle-class family whose young teenage son is keeping a secret – his daily interactions with the police and a collection of over thirty records of being
Gerry German, 1928 – 2012
Gerry was a life-long campaigner for children’s education rights and an unwavering supporter of all our struggles. Having been a former headteacher and Principal Education Officer at the Community Relations Commission/Commission for Race Equality, he helped to establish the Working Group Against Racism in Children’s Resources and thirteen years ago invited me and a couple
Judge brands detention irrational, unlawful and degrading
Another High Court judge rebukes the UK Border Agency for its detention of mentally ill foreign offenders. On 17 April, Mr Justice Singh QC ruled that the detention by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) of a Nigerian offender was unlawful[1] after a psychiatrist said the man urgently needed proper assessment in a mental hospital, four
Learning the lessons of dispersal
In the light of evidence that London boroughs like Newham are seeking cheap housing hundreds of miles away for their residents on housing benefit, the IRR points to the dangers of such a ‘dispersal’ policy. The cap on housing benefit imposed by the coalition government could lead more inner and outer London boroughs to take
Justice for sale: chaos in the courts
At the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), ‘privatisation’ seems to equate nicely with ‘efficient public services’. From private-run jails to forensic services, the justice system is up for grabs, without mention of the government’s current plans for secret courts or the Legal Aid bill working its way through parliament right now. Last summer, legal interpreting services
Europe in lockdown
Migreurop, a coalition of organisations from thirteen European, African and Middle Eastern countries, has produced an extremely useful and powerful report which describes in detail ways in which the policy of preventing the entry of undocumented migrants is implemented. The first part of At the margins of Europe: the externalisation of migration controls, looks at
Babar Ahmad: capitulation by the European Court?
Is the European Court selling Ahmad out, and the kettled demonstrators before him, for the sake of making peace with a British government determined to get the court off its back? The Strasbourg court’s judgment in Ahmad and others,[1] ruling that the punitive regime in which four of them are likely to spend many years