A court date has been agreed for the BackTo60 campaign to challenge the government over the raising of the state pension age for 3.9 million 50s born women with Michael Mansfield QC taking the case to the Department of Work and Pensions.
The gift of chocolate models of Salisbury Cathedral to well wishers by Russian state TV must be the sickest message sent out in the season of goodwill.
With virtually nil national coverage Theresa May’s commissioned report on reforming the mental health act- the first for 30 years – was released last month. But it is a tame review acknowledging there is institutional racism in mental health but offering no solutions.
After anti-nuclear campaigners spent decades trying to stop new nuclear power stations, will Britain’s £70 billion new build programme come crashing down anyway because the contractors have walked out and a huge skill shortage make it impossible to build them.
The campaign group for 50s women who lost their pensions have won the right to have a judicial review into the government’s handling of the raising of the pension age from 60 to 65
Now that the UK is about to sign the withdrawal agreement – the next row will be about what the EU could impose on us during the transition period and it could explode over a proposed directive to abolish British summer time
Two of the 50s women denied a pension have got backing from a top pensions lawyer in their fight against maladministration by the government over the raising of the state pension age.
The date has been set for the trial of ” Nick” the man accused of perverting the course of justice over the Westminster VIP paedophile abuse
Chris Mullin author of ” A very British Coup ” where a left wing Labour government is destabilised by the security services predicts it won’t happen to Jeremy Corbyn.
Next March the Child Sexual Abuse inquiry will look again at Elm Guest House and whether there was a cover-up by the police to protect VIP clients who allegedly came there for gay sex possibly with children. It looks like the inquiry will not have the time or inclination to do a thorough job.
MPs on the Women and Equalities Committee have slammed both the government and the Equality watchdog for complacency in allowing rife discrimination in the workplace for the over 50s
The High Court today granted a two hour hearing for BackTo60 group to put their case for a judicial review into the mishandling of the raising of the pension age for 50s women.
A spate of potentially very serious rail accidents involving stranded trains suggest that the passenger and driver safety is at risk from systemic failures in Britain’s semi privatised railways.
A vibrant demonstration by hundreds of women protesting about the raising of the pension age brought Westminster to a halt yesterday when they blocked the road round Parliament square for an hour.
Away from the media scrum of Boris versus Theresa May on Brexit, the Tory Party conference is doing a lot of soul searching about how it can attract back the droves of people under 45 who have deserted it for Labour.
The recent bank rate rise was supposed to see a rise in interest rates for savers. But instead the Treasury and National Savings plotted to use the period to slash interest rates on an instant cash isa used by people to put aside savings for emergencies. The National Saving isa should be boycotted.
An expert report to be submitted to the High Court next month as part of a judicial review brought by BackTo60 group says the UK is in breach of its international obligations over the treatment of 1950s women who face a wait of up to 6 years to get their state pension.
The press regulator, Impress, have dismissed a complaint against Byline from a child sexual abuse survivor who was named in passing in a blog – sealing a precedent that survivors who have gone public can’t then ban selected journalists from reporting their name provided no new details are published
Since the publication of the Gosport War Memorial Independent Panel inquiry into the untimely deaths of 456 people there I have been contacted by a number people across the country alleging similar situations. I would like more people to contact me as part of a bigger investigation,
A child sex abuse survivor who was a the victim of the notorious paedophile John Allen in the North Wales children’s home scandal is pioneering in Cumbria a way to help similar survivors using an American method approved by the World Health Organisation. He has just written a book about it.
The Serious Fraud Office should prosecute the people who ran the first flawed privatisation of London and Lincolnshire fire services, for fraud after a damning report from the Financial Reporting Council reveals they were liars and cheats and stripped them from practising as chartered accountants.
A big promise for workers after Brexit is that the low paid will get higher wages as companies become more desperate to recruit. From anecdotal evidence at Premier Inn in Edinburgh customers will get poorer service and staff will have to work harder instead.
The ratcheting up of a No Deal Brexit scenario could leave 500,000 Brit expat pensioners losing their annual up rating and end up like ex pat pensioners living in increasingly poverty stricken circumstances in Australia and Canada.
The first step to try and recover pensions lost for 50s women was taken just before the courts closed today. It will be the start of a long process.
The horrifying hearings this week about sex offender Bishop Peter Ball and the duping of Prince Charles mean it is now time for the Church of England to act to stamp out sexual abuse.
An economist’s report commissioned by the joint committee for the implementation of the Good Friday agreement says everybody in N Ireland would be better off in a united Ireland inside the EU. No wonder Irish diplomats did not want it released.
Proposals for a new law to guarantee anonymity to suspects for sexual abuse offences in the wake of the chilling judgement by Mr Justice Mann over the BBC’s coverage of the raid on Sir Cliff Richard’s home are wrong.
The Treasury has saved a staggering £271 billion by stopping its contribution to the National Insurance Fund which has left 50s women waiting up to six years for a pension
Race equality groups have combined to demand changes to the mental health act which is the subject of a little known review ordered by Theresa May and due to report later this year
The Crown Prosecution Service has decided there is enough evidence to charge ” Nick” the 50 year old man, who accused prominent politicians, military figures and a TV presenter of child sexual abuse, of perverting the course of justice.
A Whitehall database of the nation’s state pensions accessed by Which? Money reveals the dire and unequal state of women’s pensions in contrast to the rosy picture presented by the DWP itself.
Yesterday MPs from the Commons health and local government committees proposed a new tax to pay for social care – aimed to protect the millennials from paying for pensioners. But the new Social Care Premium funding plan has too many flaws.
A damning report on the universal credit debacle reveals hardship for claimants, huge extra costs for voluntary services and food banks and is not even saving the government any money.
The violent demonstration in London in support of jailed right wing extremist Tommy Robinson follows official figures showing a rise again in right wing extremism among young men
An investigation reveals successive governments have raided and underfunded the National Insurance Fund and the 50s generation of women pensioners are paying for it
A conference on Friday will examine the issue of ” institutional racism ” in examining Theresa May’s planned reform of the current mental health act which has led to the disproportionate number of black and ethnic minority people being sectioned.
A battle has started to save the iconic Gay Hussar restuarant in Soho,London – one of the capital’s infamous venues for Left wing plots and meetings between journos and their sources.
One of the pioneering campaigners against sexual abuse in sport and an outstanding Olympian sportswoman sadly died yesterday
The public release of details of one child sex abuse survivor’s case including false information against her that had to be deleted is a damning indictment of the behaviour of the independent child sex abuse inquiry and a breach of trust for vulnerable people who should expect to be protected.
The 50s women took to the streets of London on their own battlebus to protest about the government witholding their pensions and raising the pension age.
In a gesture to thank the UK, Bulgarians planted their national rose in a London square. They also submitted a report to London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, debunking the media’s myths about them.
A decision to set up a second inquiry by Lord Leveson is on a knife edge today – and could depend on the capricious behaviour of MPs
The local election results have left Labour in an extraordinary bind. Contrary to the general coverage by mainstream media they have gained seats in places only Tony Blair could dream about. But their traditional white working class support has webbed away via UKIP to the Tories.
This year’s local elections look like a stalemate but both Labour and the Liberal Democrats have made progress in the last year. The Tories have been partially buoyed up by UKIP voters switching to them.
The new direct London to Amsterdam Eurostar service is not what it is cracked up to be – and if you are disabled don’t travel on it because they can’t provide the support
Since the coalition in 2011 both the annual death rate and the number of deaths have increased reversing a trend lasting 50 years. And the growth in life expectancy is slowing. Is austerity to blame?
Crime Live – a ” real life” Silent Witness event next month – highlights how huge strides in forensic science could conflict with police cuts leading to miscarriages of justice if people are not vigilant according to Inside Justice, a charity taking up cases.
The devastating report from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse goes well beyond Sir Cyril Smith lasting decades and senior figures in the town share a lot of the blame
David Bolt, independent chief inspector of borders and immigration announced over Easter that he was postponing investigations into border controls following the failures of ministers to sort out Brexit negotiations, notably over the Irish border
A damning report on the state of the border force at Stansted Airport by an independent inspector reveals how you can even get away with buying duty free stuff there without needing to fly and get away with it.
Just before Easter a National Audit Office investigation revealed that the Tories had lied to the voters in the June general election promising electrification schemes that they had already cancelled. They also promise new trains that don’t yet exist to replace them None of this made much in msm.
The new nasty plan by the DWP to change the rules for claiming pension credit which could halve the income of poorest pensioners has been postponed until 2019 because of Whitehall’s failure and incompetence in getting universal credit rolled out in time.
The growing scandal over data harvesting and breaching electoral law on campaign funding has reached Downing Street with a disgraceful and botched attempt to discredit the latest whistleblower revealing a potential cover up by Vote Leave. It can only get worse for the government.
The sale of the Green Investment Bank brought easy money for the government and the City but little for the environment. Now it looks as though those who were supposed to safeguard green investment are pretty toothless.
The calamities befalling the over 50s women denied a pension until they are 65 or 66 are about to get worse with government saving millions on cold weather payouts and denying some people pension credit until they are 76.
Linda Perks, a former Unison top official, who was severely criticised by a judge for union rule breaking over the election of Dave Prentis, its general secretary, has now been selected as a Labour candidate for a safe council seat in a deprived part of Greenwich.
My old employer The Guardian should hang its head in shame in putting forward such spurious reasons to drop Leveson 2. It has failed to support holding the media to account
The Janner family whose father faced allegations of child sexual abuse have been denied core participant status at the Westminster strand of the independent child sex abuse inquiry but will have status in a separate inquiry looking at institutional responses to allegations against their father.
A new book by a consultant psychiatrist raises very awkward issues about racism in the UK and the US and the way psychiatrists and clinical psychologists treat BME people just as Theresa May wants to rewrite our mental health laws.
May’s local elections provide an ideal opportunity for the 50s pensioners to put their views across and throw out your local councillor if he or she doesn’t agree with you.
Whitehall mandarins have devised a neat way to spend a lot of your taxpayers money on Brexit and bypass any meaningful scrutiny by Parliament
The National Audit Office has exposed another Whitehall bungle costing hundreds of millions – on a critical service aimed to protect children and vulnerable adults from predators- and the service doesn’t even know whether employers bar them.
The Prime Minister appears to be totally ignorant of the fact that 3.8 million women pensioners are having to wait up to six years for their pension. She thinks it is a mere 18 months.
A request for arbitration and compensation to the press regulator, IMPRESS, by former Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming over the Esther Baker case has been rejected by the regulator.
Elm Guest House look like at being at the heart of a possible cover up in the long awaited investigation into how institutions handled allegations of child sexual abuse against prominent people in Westminster.
A House of Commons library report provides ample evidence for campaigners who want to fight the government over the rising pensions age to target and unseat MPs. And it is the Conservatives who are most vulnerable
A report by me out today commissioned by One Voice #BackTo60 group makes the case for lowering the pension age again. Now people have to get on and challenge all the main parties over this issue.
Rotterdam Police are planning to try and clampdown on suspected criminals and drug dealers by confiscating their designer clothes and making them strip off in the street
The final implosion of UKIP could come this weekend – but the main beneficiaries – according to the latest council by election results – are the Tories rather than Labour
On Wednesday two top civil servants appear before MPs to justify why they are spending £300m bailing out private companies providing a useless service to rehabilitate ex prisoners and putting the public at risk
My tribute to Peter Preston who appointed me to the Guardian way back in 1976.
England has had the worst problem of litter among developed nations for over a decade – time to ditch the rump of a charity leading the campaign and go for policies that will force big companies who cause the problem to pay to solve it.
Dodgy fire privatisers, collapsing Tory membership, allegations of fixing the election of Dave Prentis, Unison general secretary were all stories ignored by the mass media last year but covered on byline.com and my own blog
The government sold off the state owned Green Investment Bank too cheaply and gave the private equity company Macquirie new freedoms to invest most of its new projects outside the UK. It is already taking advantage with little scrutiny.
While the Tories row about Brexit their top party apparatchiks have started a power grab that will mean ordinary members will be stripped of their involvement by changing the party’s constitution according to documents obtained by Tribune and Byline.com
While all eyes were on Brexit the Wales Office slipped out a revised version of the report by Lady Macur into child sex abuse in North Wales. It reveals her findings on paedophile Gordon Anglesea – exonerating the work of a previous inquiry which let him off the hook.
The former detective chief inspector who led the Westminster paedophile investigation says he was hounded out of office for speaking his mind. He has also disclosed that he was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder from previous work while conducting such a difficulti nquiry.
The excellent Inforrm’s Blog carries an extraordinary piece on an Aberystwyth student who was put on trial for terrorism by owning a copy of The Anarchists Cookbook published nearly 50 years ago. Acquitted by the jury after three days. I wonder whether a Muslim student would have been so lucky
A major new initiative to get employers on board to help their employees cope with domestic abuse was highlighted at a conference hosted by the BBC. Unfortunately none of the national nor social media reported it.
Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, announced today big measures to help ordinary people get on the housing ladder. Tory run Westminster Council has just approved a plan to deny more ordinary people to get homes
The number of whistleblowers in the NHS and care homes reporting safeguarding issues has dropped dramatically in the same year as the Care Quality Commission finally acted to create a national guardian to protect staff who warned of dangers to patients
Inquest Papers claimed to have been destroyed have emerged 27 years later querying whether Carole Kasir killed herself or was killed re-opening the question of the role of the notorious Elm Street quest house in south wesr London
A virtually unreported ruling by the Supreme Court has removed immunity from the Equality Act for misconduct and disciplinary hearings opening the way for three judges and a former tribunal member to bring legal action against two former Lord Chancellors,six high court judges and tribunal heads
A highly critical and moving report by the Rt Rev James Jones, former Bishop of Liverpool,calls for cultural change in Britain to deal with tragedies like Hillsborough and Grenfell Tower and is highly critical of the patronising disposition of a powerful elite to families’ pain and suffering.
One of Whitehall’s biggest contracts to clean up 10 decommissioned nuclear power stations and two research centres has turned into a complete debacle and has wasted hundreds of millions of pounds
Civil Servants have admitted for the first time that the extremely expensive new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point is linked to Britain’s Trident nuclear missile programme and you will be paying some of the costs on your electricity bill.
MPs should give John Bercow, the Speaker, the full support for an important Parliamentary reform to give them a much greater say over government legislation particularly as Theresa May does not have a majority and Brexit must be properly examined.
Forbidden Games,is a new film about the tragic life and death of Britain’s first millionaire black footballer, Justin Fashanu, He outed himself as gay in The Sun and then became embroiled in the seedier side of Westminster life, including a relationship with David Atkinson, a married Tory MP.
Wiltshire Police were right to investigate the allegations of child sexual abuse against Sir Edward Heath and their inquiry is both fair and proportionate. But it has left the issue in limbo.
The Tories move to outbid Jeremy Corbyn with new spending initiatives for the youth vote has bombed -even with their own young Tory supporters
Exclusive; The real figure for membership of the Tory Party has plummeted to 100,000 and a seasoned campaigner says they could face oblivion
After doubling the number of party members in Britain, the real task at this year’s Labour conference was training the next generation of activists to fight the next General Election.
Four years ago active political party membership was the lowest in British history. Now on the eve of the Labour Party conference it has been completely revitalised mainly by Jeremy Corbyn
The top of Whitehall needs a radical shake up and proposals by former Tory minister Lord Maude and Amyas Morse,, head of the National Audit Office, are on the right lines.
London Midland have admitted all the faults in their assisted passenger services that left my disabled wife and I stranded without help and surrounded by a faulty lift and a failed passenger emergency help line at berkhamsted.
Testing London Midland’s emergency phone lines for lifts and on a platform at a station with no staff – showed up the failure of the company to protect disabled and vulnerable passengers
The Crown Prosecution Service say there is insufficient evidence to prosecute people following allegations by Esther Baker that she was abused by among others an ex Liberal Democrat MP, who yesterday outed himself as John Hemming, former MP for Birmingham, Yardley.
The controversy over £20,000 bonuses paid to five top civil servants at the Department for Work and Pensions for running a much hated benefit system shows up the enormous divide between the Metropolitan elite and the provincial poor.
The Edinburgh International Festival – often overshadowed by the more famous fringe – is 70 years old this year. This is why it is worth going to see their productions as well going to the fringe.
While the debate on whether we need drivers and guards on trains continues,this report shows why we need both if we are to have a safe railway
The Grenfell fire was a catalyst which highlighted the disastrous state of the local press which is now so damaging to local democracy.
Some £5bn has been wrongfully paid out to benefit claimants and the low paid because neither the Department of Work and Pensions and HM Revenue and Customs were up to the job.
With Westminster lobby hacks feverishly speculating on who will become Tory leader after Theresa May – one person overlooked is David Gauke. Could history repeat the deposing of Thatcher in 1990 by a party desperate to stay in power.
A Glasgow employment tribunal has criticised a former chief executive of the Scottish Refugee Council for sacking a woman employee on maternity leave. He has now got a top job championing the rights of women for the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
The fragile Conservative and DUP partnership could be smashed apart next year if the current proposals for big changes in Northern Ireland Parliamentary seats go ahead – cutting the number of DUP MPs from 10 to 7 and boosting Sinn Fein to 9.
Britain’s first tram train project has ended up costing nearly five times more than projected, has yet to go into service and has left the rolling stock languishing in the depot.
There were two scandals in the recent missing 700,000 NHS clinical correspondence documents – the loss of sensitive information that was never delivered to GPs and the attempt by a private company to frustrate the National Audit Office thoroughly investigate.
The accountant who was fined £120,000 for professional misconduct after being duped by privatisation spivs over the privatisation of London’s fire engines. He now lives in rural Oxfordshire and is a fine wine buff.
The long running dispute by Durham teaching assistants who faced losses of up to £5000 on a £14,000 to £20,000 salary is still boiling over after Unison rushed through a deal during their annual conference – which has triggered protests from their members after 22 pc will be worse off.
The report on Bishop Peter Ball is a devastating indictment of the Church of England. Both the abuse and cover up are appalling. But it also raises issues on homosexuality in the Church.
The recent terrorist atrocities has led Theresa May to say she may curb some civil liberties to defeat terrorism. People should scrutinise the Queen’s Speech to see what happens as this Commons research paper shows grave difficulties in doing this.
A House of Commons library paper released a day after the general election revealed there has been a boom in top bankers pay during the austerity regime of David Cameron ,Nick Clegg and George Osborne while workers pay was either frozen or allowed to rise by just 1 per cent.
There must a full national investigation into this appalling tragedy and heads must roll – the council’s role in ignoring and threatening residents who warned of fire safety concerns must be put under vigorous scrutiny
Every political party leader should thank Jeremy Corbyn for reviving an enthusiastic interest in politics among the young – this is the real legacy of this election.
Never has there been such wildly different predictions for a general election by the pollsters. they can’t all be right- some are going to lose their reputation tomorrow
By mistake I appear to have registered as a Tory supporter by the party for this election. Enjoy and read my billet doux from Theresa May
A senior official in Unison, Britain’s biggest public sector union has been castigated by a judge for flagrantly breaching rules to re-elect Dave Prentis as general secretary. The judge
rejected demands for an election re-run only because she believed Dave Prentis did not know she had done it.
Following the huge fine given to Grant Thornton and Robert Napper, the Financial reporting Council reveal how Assetco fiddled the books using fake claims made to the London Fire Brigade.
There has been a perceptible shift from the Tories to Labour during the campaign. How much of it is non political vibes now the voters can see both leaders in action? And do the young count?
One of the country’s leading accountants, Grant Thornton, have been fined and a retired partner disbarred for three years for professional misconduct in auditing a company that ran London and Lincolnshire’s privatised fire engines.
Met Police drop cases against a man accused of stalking a child sex abuse survivor and a woman journalist and another man after raiding his home.
The Tories are going to axe the winter fuel allowance- stealing Labour clothes in their 2015 manifesto. But it either won’t work or be deeply unfair and regressive.
The bitter dispute over the sacking of disabled and black and ethnic minority staff by the Equality and Human Rights Commission continues with a month of strikes across Britain.
The dead hand of the Treasury has destroyed Britain’s chance to become a world leader in green technology
A practising criminal barrister and fortmer Tory MP , Jerry Hayes provides prima facie evidence on why the privatisation of the Forensic Science Service is leading to dangerous miscarriages of justice and should be reversed
Brexit will allow the City to make billions through currency speculation on the outcome of the talks. That is why the government must ensure full transparency of all financial relationships by ministers and their close relatives – starting with the current PM and her husband.
Daniel Janner QC wants the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse to be closed down and finds the chair incompetent. Why? Because it would not agree to dropping any investigation into allegations against his late father
The Tories had a stellar victory in the local elections. Labour must fight back – one way might be to combine its vision for Britain with its vision for Brexit.
On the very last day of Parliament the speaker John Bercow has declared he has just received £20,000 in donations to fight his re-election campaign- two of them come from figures close to Tony Blair and Ed Miliband and were involved in the infamous ” Cash for Honours” scandal that went nowhere.
Sources say the Cabinet Office Propriety and Ethics Team have launched an inquiry into whether there is a conflict of interest between Theresa May and her husband, Philip, over his job at the Capital Group, which makes millions of pounds in market sensitive information,including from Brexit.
A well respected Roman Catholic priest would have escaped justice for sexually abusing children if it had not been for the Met Police’s investigation into Elm Guest House as the Church itself swept it under the carpet other disclosures nearly 20 years ago.
The Whitehall agency charged with boosting Britain’s exports after Brexit has been exposed as being run by naive incompetents when it had to sign up to a contract itself.
Jeremy Corbyn faces a huge uphill struggle to win the snap election. This is why he has to take the greatest risk and run a populist anti Establishment campaign.
The government is deliberately fixing the motorway and trunk road programme to coincide with maximising its vote among motorists
For those wanting a break in beautiful and luxurious surroundings – this was a great place to stay- and forget the grim national and international situation. More pictures on my own blog site davidhencke.com
The Independent Child Sexual Abuse Inquiry will go ahead and investigate allegations against Lord Janner and whether there was a cover up in Parliament, the Labour Party and the security services if the allegations appear to be true.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has quietly announced it had called in an employment judge to look at whether it has proper dignity at work practices after serious criticism from MPs over its handling of an allegation of sexual assault that has been categorically denied.
The resurrection of jailed Andy Coulson by Telegraph chief executive Murdoch MacLennan also reflects badly on the ethics of the Independent Press Standards Organisation and what is supposed to stand for.
Why is the Daily Mail suing Byline: is it in danger of becoming an enemy of the people itself or is this an attempt to stamp out a new kid on the block that investigates journalism and raises questions ignored elsewhere?
David Cameron’s former Downing Street adviser, Michael Lynas, is refusing to release the pay and perks for top people running his expensive legacy National Citizen Service programme for disadvantaged 15 to 17 year olds, despite an attempt by MPs to force his hand.
The £20m fine for multiple pollution across four counties by Thames Water today provides real ammunition for returning the water utilities to public ownership.
A canal trust working to restore an arm of the Grand Union Canal narrowly missed out on a a £1m payment from a new scheme to fund river trusts from big polluters like Thames Water. Instead the Treasury snaffled the money.
George Osborne’s ambitious rail electrification plans for the North could be about to be wrecked by a failure by Network Rail to cost the plans properly – and a bungled political problem over the safety clearance required for the live wires.
A huge cost overrun and delay on the Great Western main line electrification scheme will mean passengers across the country will also suffer from outdated overcrowded trains because it will hit replacement trains across the country
How a British private contractor – with right wing links – used the unethical behaviour of a civil servant to give them an unfair commercial advantage to bid for taxpayer’s cash for overseas aid.
The IPCC has largely dropped its investigation into the Met Police’s handling of Operation Midland which centred round allegations from a complainant ” Nick ” alleging an historic paedophile ring involving prominent people, MPs and former government ministers.
Adam Smith International, a major British company that bids for hundreds of millions of British taxpayers cash for overseas aid projects. has come a cropper for improper behaviour. But is this only part of the story and what are its links to the neoliberal right.
The controversial remarks of police chief Simon Bailey that we should not prosecute people viewing child sexual abuse images on line because they are so many of them – suggests there is something very sick in British society if that is the case.
Theresa May may have a cunning plan to try and reconcile border controls and free access for industries to the EU but according to Labour peer and former Gordon Brown special adviser Stewart Wood, she is making a colossal mistake by reading across a special deal for justice to the whole of Brexit
Labour has had a nasty wake up call from the Copeland by-election. But they have seen off UKIP and should now refocus on tackling the Tories and Liberal Democrats head on – and have some radical thinking and galvanise their Young Turks to fight May’s council elections.
The final day of the hearing into electoral malpractice at Unison over the last election of its general secretary, Dave Prentis, heard submissions from rival candidates saying its should be rerun. The judge’s decision will be in a month’s time.
The Home Office this week quietly rewrite the definition of child sexual exploitation so that people could finally agree exactly what it is.
Theresa May has tweaked David Cameron’s ambitious programme for National Citizen Service as the National Audit Office questions its value for money. Can it be a success for “hard to reach”teenagers or will it be taken over by sons and daughters of ambitious middle class parents? The jury is out.
Today the Equality and Human Rights Commission – the body that is supposed to defend women,disabled and ethnic minorities – sacked ten staff by email. Six \are disabled. They have until tomorrow to clear their desks. Donald Trump would approve.
An important report out today from Transparify reveals how many of Britain’s centre right think tanks are not disclosing who is funding them. Given many influence government and the public – this is not good news for transparency or democratic debate.
Chartered accountants have given a damning assessment of how bad they see Inland Revenue’s services – contrary to the claims by the government.
The strike hit and badly managed Southern Railway =- which has caused misery for millions of commuters coming into London – is to be investigated by Parliament’s financial watchdog, the National Audit Office.
Tragically the co-owner of Romania’s oldest newspaper, Romania Libera, has died after suffering illnesses brought on by the country’s appalling prison system. His son who said he had been jailed on trumped up charges is facing extradition to Romania from the UK in April and is fighting the case.
A huge re-organisation of HMRC tax offices -involving closing 170 local offices and replacing them with 13 regional offices – and relocating 38,000 staff – spells chaos for future tax collection as a National Audit Office report warns
A German businessman is facing extradition to Romania using the European Arrest warrant. But the real reasons for his extradition is to try and close down Romania’s oldest newspaper, Romana Libera, to stop it exposing corruption in this EU country.
A forensic lawyer and former Treasury Counsel who prosecuted Milly Dowler’s killer has been appointed the new lead counsel to the Independent Inquiry into Child sexual Abuse.
The Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland Sir Declan Morgan has ruled that a paedophile cannot ban Facebook from publishing details of his criminal past or his picture on the net- though a blog which named his address and led to harassment should have been taken down earlier.
Next month the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse will hear about Britain’s shameful record on sending British children to Australian, Canadian and then Southern Rhodesian children’s homes knowing that in the case of Australia, they would be physically and sexually abused.
Met police say they have arrested a man on suspicion of stalking after they searched his house in Kendal, Cumbria, using a warrant under the harassment act.
A former senior Unison official, Mike Jackson, who supported Heather Wakefield, against Dave Prentis at the last general secretary election, has submitted a statement to the tribunal – which has gone unchallenged by Unison- saying that ” anti democratic practices” were used previously to elect Dave
2016 was pretty bad. Will 2017 will be worse. It could be – but let’s hope not.
Cliff Williams, the head of Team Dave, the campaign group to elect Dave Prentis as general secretary, and a leading union official was cross questioned by lawyers today on the misuse of officials to help Dave Prentis win. The hearing will continue after the New Year.
The second day of the hearing into complaints about union officials breaking rules to ensure that Dave Prentis was re-elected general secretary of Unison, put the spotlight on the role of the Electoral Reform Services which was both oversaw and scrutinised the election.
A hearing begins on Monday into whether officials in Britain’s biggest public sector trade union, Unison broke its own rules and an Act of Parliament by overzealously supporting the re-election of its general secretary, Dave Prentis. All candidates who stood against him have lodged complaints.
The big political row over what Boris Johnson said about the Saudis engaging in ” proxy wars” is a distraction to what Boris is really telling the Middle East as this text of his speech shows. It all about the revival of a new form of British Imperialism promising more action in the Gulf.
With the exception of one good council by-election result yesterday Labour’s performance was dire. They need a simple message to galvanise the voters to see where they stand.
The Equality and Human rights Commission are slashing jobs as a result of government cuts with black and disabled people taking the brunt of potential compulsory redundancies. This is an example of one of the people facing the chop.
I have mixed feelings about Zac Goldsmith’s failure to be re-elected. I disagree with him over Brexit and his Mayoral campaign but he is a true democrat and environmentalist. There are also lessons for Labour in the Lib Dem revival.
The death of Fifel Castro today has reminded me of my visit to Cuba in 1978 to attend the World Youth Festival and how it became not only a showcase for Cuba but allowed the rising student elite of Britain to hone their skills for future roles.
Nearly £1 billion of blunders by the Ministry of Defence and the Treasury were made public on the day of the US election when press attention was elsewhere – ensuring little or no coverage.
These included money to war injured soldiers and control over defence orders.
Sir Richard Henriques report into the failure of high profile police inquiries into public figures accused of historic child sexual abuse proposes a radical rebalance in future investigations – aimed at protecting suspects as much as those who accuse them. They go too far.
Northumbria Police are to investigate whether ” Nick ” the main complainant and survivor in Operation Midland investigation by the Met Police should be prosecuted for perverting the course of justice. I think this going to be highly unlikely in view of another failed prosecution.
Yvette Cooper , the new chair of the Commons Home affairs Committee, is quite right to rebuke judge Dame Lowell Goddard for refusing to appear before Parliament ot explain her resignation as chair of the independent child sexual abuse inquiry. It is both a disgrace and arrogant
Acas, the uncontroversial body that tries to mediate and reconcile disputes between workers and employers is about to become embroiled in its own dispute between staff and bosses.
The slanted right wing media coverage of the court decision has a fueled a popularism not supported by the facts. The very people who voted to leave should be pleased. It is reasserting our sovereignty.
Exaro’s website has been taken down and removed from the net. But a large part of the articles written by staff have been saved and can be viewed through this link. But the link is not as comprehensive as it should be as some articles have mysteriously disappeared.
Conservative MPs including a large swathe of Cabinet ministers decided last night that Keith Vaz, the former Labour chairman of the home affairs committee, should be appointed to the justice committee. This is while a recent scandal involving male prostitutes has still to be sorted. Why?
Exhausted freight train drivers have fallen asleep at the wheel passing danger signals because DB Cargo UK, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, provided poor rest facilities and long shifts, a rail accident report found. Time to renationalise freight as well as passenger trains in the UK>
With Human rights issues being at the top of modern society’s agenda, how is it that the body monitoring them is now in crisis with staff and management at loggerheads over the way its is run under present government cuts.
So Gordon Anglesea, the former police inspector, has finally been convicted of indecent assault against teenagers – some 30 years after the event. Too long a wait for justice for child sexual abuse survivors
The statement by Alexis Jay, the chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, should be welcomed as an important step in the right direction.
Earlier on Byline I wrote a blog saying Daniel Janner was wrong to say there was no case against his father for child sex abuse. He contacted me to put his side of the case and I thought it only fair to publish his views why he thinks that is the case and why he wants a civil trial
The cash strapped BBC is in crisis. But is it doing everything it should to raise money from new sources like iPlayer. Not really says the National Audit Office.
A new battle of ideas to woo working and middle class voters to the Tories began at an unlikely Tory fringe group meeting supporting trade unions. It was overshadowed by a misty eyed view of Brexit.
Teaching assistants in Durham facing a 23 per cent pay cut ( or 10 per cent if they work more hours) imposed by a Labour council and their union, Unison, who supported Corbyn to be leader, are doing little to help them
A new venture by me with Peter Jukes on Byline Insider after Exaro folded is launched today. Your support will be appreciated so I can continue my investigative journalism
Labour last night gained three seats out of nine council by-elections last night. The Liberal Democrats gained two, Plaid gained one. Disastrous night for the Tories who lost four of the six seats they were defending . Before: Con 6,Lab 1, SNP1, and Ind 1. After: Con 2, Labour 4, Lib Dem 2, Plaid 1.
Will Gordon Brown’s failure to call a general election directly he became PM rebound the same way on Theresa May if she fails to call an election. Ed Balls thinks she should.
As the Jay inquiry gears up to re-open Leicestershire’s child sex abuse scandal of 1970s and 1980s by examining allegayions against former Leicester MP Greville Janner, a timely book on the scandal is republished.
Why Theresa May’s initiative to revive grammar schools will spell disaster for late developers,decrease opportunity, encourage a more conformist society and bolster the existing Establishment.
Daniel Janner’s plans to seek a judicial review against the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse investigating allegations against his father, Greville, sexually abusing survivors is over the top.
The death of learning disability campaigner Lord Rix reminds us both how much things have changed for the disabled but that we need a fresh campaign to fight current challenges.
Staff cuts and turnover at the Criminal Injuries Compensation authority which handles claims from terrorist victims at home and abroad and violent injuries caused by criminals has led to a series of blunders and miscalculations in paying out complex awards to people.
The decision to go ahead without delay to appoint Alexis Jay in place of Dame Lowell Goddard who resigned last week to the chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse could amount to a game changer for the troubled investigation. It should be welcomed.
The sudden departure of Dame Lowell Goddard as chair of the independent child sex abuse inquiry was more than just a resignation. events surrounding it have all the hallmarks of a legal coup.
Council by elections are still showing Labour doing well. But are the party just piling up votes in their strongholds or can they break through like the Liberal Democrats and start gaining Tory seats?
Dame Lowell Goddard owes the public and survivors a full and frank explanation why she suddenly announced her decision to quit the child sex abuse inquiry
An interview with Arab News Network earlier this year where I explain my views on Exaro, the Middle East and Jeremy Corbyn before the revolt of 180 Labour Mps against his leadership.
Andrea Leadsom, the failed challenger to Theresa May, has been dumped in the slurry by being put in charge of replacing £2.3 billion of farm subsidies while facing years of fines from the European Commission for the UK#s failure to pay farmers properly.
After over a year in the doldrums following their general election defeat are the Liberal democrats finally on the rise again in the shires?
Exaro may have closed this week but the two people who ran the site, David Hencke and Mark Conrad are now looking for a new future for the investigative team.
A disturbing case of insurers trying to block a complaint of child sex abuse in the Church of England highlights the role of insurers in holding back investigations and should be tackled by the Goddard inquiry.
The NHS have just wasted £16m of your money on a failed privatisation project to help the elderly and mentally ill which could be repeated across the country because of failings of financial expertise and oversight in the health service
Labour MPs want to ditch Jeremy Corbyn because they fear a meltdown at the next general election with UKIP taking swathes of their seats. But the first clutch of council elections suggest it is UKIP in meltdown and Labour is doing rather well.
An extraordinary article on Exaro by my colleague and co-author Nick Kochan raises the question whether the purchase of chemical weapons from Iraqi war lords by the CIA was used to fund terrorist attacks on British and American troops in the aftermath of the Iraq War.
As Blair faces judgement over the Iraq War from Sir John Chilcot on Wednesday, a TV programme will look back at all the wealth he has amassed since leaving office in 2007.
I am interviewed as it is derived from our book, Blair Inc, which I co-authored with Francis Beckett and Nick Kochan.
Michael Gove is already seen as a treacherous figure in the Conservative Party by stabbing Boris Johnson in the front. But did we know about his appalling record on keeping control of public finances which has wrecked the presentation of government accounts this year.
The rise of racist attacks on people from European Union and ethnic minorities must stop now. They have been legitimised by the Brexit campaigners like Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove giving a gloss of respectability to louts.
We now have Independence Day but the woes hitting this country are only just beginning and look certain to grow. It is going to be more than a bumpy ride.
My gut feeling on why I am voting Remain on Thursday
Is the murder of Jo Cox’ causing us to pause and ask whether social media is fuelling hatred and contempt? Are people turning political debate into nasty insults? Are women and child sex abuse survivors the growing target of trolls in an increasingly nasty society? It’s time to stop this.
Michael Gove, the justice secretary, intend to dump one of the worst performing courts in England and Wales on the expected to be Labour controlled Greater Manchester as an experiment in devolution. It comes when the courts system is chaotic and he plans further cuts.
A big scandal revealed Britain had spent £285m building a new airport in St Helena that no jet can land because it is too windy. The trouble is most people don’t know where it is anyway.
The Migration Museum Project – which is campaigning for a British museum to celebrate the diversity of migration- has put on an amazing exhibition on life at the Calais Jungle that is both uplifting and harrowing at the same time. Go see it if you can.
New figures released two days ago reveal an enormous drop in new libel claims last year – are we seeing the end of expensive libel cases and the beginning of people using the ” right to be forgotten ” on Google to silence critics
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is about to sack 30 mainly ethnic minoriy and disabled low paid staff in a move similar to the worst practice of employers it criticises.
A 13 day voyage from St Petersburg to Moscow along rivers, lakes and canals gives some insight into what Russians may be thinking under Putin
The extraordinary paucity of the public loo in Russia and the near impossibility of finding a disabled one on a trip with my wife Margaret this month. Why Russia needs to get its act together on this.
Nicky Morgan’s decision to appoint millionaire lawyer David Issac as the new chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission is the first appointment which does not comply fully with the Nolan principles of selflessness and integrity and will taint the work of the Commission.
A leading civil servant nicknamed Darth Vader bungles his appearance before Parliament’s financial watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee,explaining why the government has failed to confiscate the assets of criminals.
The government is throwing a lifeline to a privatised Japanese railway company to bid for lucrative London and Birmingham commuter services as the firm faces a terminal decline in traffic using Tokyo’s commuter trains.
Seven friends still just in their prime – average age 69 – take on Britain’s biggest canal flight in a narrowboat as part of a relaxing spring break. Who says we are past it.
A new quango entirely composed of wealthy business people will be used to find £1 billion of dormant assets so ministers can distribute other people’s money to allievate the cuts they are imposing on people in Britain
A plan to appoint a £500,000 a year lawyer to chair the Equality and Human rights Commission has provoked a Parliamentary row over whether he will have a ” perceived conflict of interest ” in taking the £50,000 a year job because his firm has large numbers of government contracts.
Lady Justice Goddard’s statement on April 1 that the inquiry would test the credibility of survivors in its major hearings and condemn those who made false allegations points to any inquiry into the Westminster Paedophile ring becoming a show trial.
A case which led to a paedophile winning £20,000 damages for harassment and the banning of Facebook page by a campaigner is to be challenged in the Northern Ireland courts next week by Facebook.
Two widely differing sentences for child sexual abuse – one for a Premier League footballer and another for an Old Etonian – highlight the divide in current British society.
A ” near miss ” train crash involving a rail enthusiast’s steam train trip with a main line express has highlighted safety concerns about the private companies that run these trips.
Far from ensuring that criminals can’t get away with living a life of luxury on their illegal swag, Theresa May is presiding over record levels of stolen cash and goods never being recovered because of cuts hitting the people trying to confiscate the money.
Will the judicial atmosphere of Lady Justice Goddard’s inquiry into child sexual abuse be a serious handicap to survivors giving evidence and lay them open to a charge of making false allegations?
From Monday Google has decided to end the right of people being able to search for delisted posts by searching Google.com from Europe. A victory for privacy but also helping people to erase their past.
A report by a panel of child abuse survivors raises serious and worrying questions of how cases are being handled just as the official inquiry by Lady Justice Goddard is due to begin preliminary hearings.
EU laws have prevented Parliament’s own watchdog, the National Audit Office, from properly investigating one of the biggest financial scandals in history – the mis-selling of Payment Protection Insurance to millions of people.
Now we have had Dame Janet Smith’s horrific findings about Savile at the BBC Tony Hall, its director general, must be held to account for implementing all her recommendations.
The Legal Ombudsman – the public body that handles thousands of complaints against solicitors and barristers- has itself been awarding its staff irregular and contentious incentive payments without getting legal approval from the Ministry of Justice.
Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan Howe’s decision to appoint a retired High Court judge to review procedures used during the Westminster Paedophile Ring investigation is a shrewd move that will benefit the Met,the public and calm the clamour.
An independent review has cleared the Met Police of mishandling an historic rape case involving Leon Brittan contradicting criticisms from the Commons Home Affairs Committee chaired by Keith Vaz.
The government is sitting on a major review into failed child sex abuse investigations in North Wales and the judge who wrote it has recommended redactions. Why?
The National Audit Office reveals today that a Whitehall commercial venture by Chris Grayling selling prison expertise to regimes with dubious judicial systems has actually cost the taxpayer over £1m
From February 1 every private landlord and home owner who takes in lodgers becomes an immigration officer in a Home Office scheme doomed to be ineffective and possibly racist.
The BBC’s spin management that the leaked Savile report by Dame Janet Smith is all in the past is wrong. It is still very much an unresolved issue at the BBC
The leaked draft report by Dame Janet Smith on Jimmy Savile at the BBC.
The Department of Health is planning to recoup £780m by charging the full whack for inspecting private care homes, ambulance services and hospitals. Superficially it sounds a good idea but their logic is naive and they have been sneaky in announcing the change.
A Labour Party defeat in the first council by-election of the year in flooded Carlisle is not all it appears to be as reported by Guido Fawkes and the Daily Express. it is another example of sloppy journalism.
The £1m fine for sewage pollution of the Grand Union Canal is the largest ever in Britain. But Thames Water is so wealthy that it will hardly hurt them.
The chair of the environment agency is in trouble for not turning up to handle the flood crisis. I am not surprised
The Culture ministry has quietly given Lawrence of Arabia’s tiny home -left untouched since 1935- a rare historic building listing. This comes 80 years after his death and just before the centenary of the Arab Revolt he jointly led in World War I to topple the Ottoman Turks.
A Tory minister who quit his job as Foreign minister for Africa last year because he couldn’t live on £110,000 a year now has ten year jobs – many dealing with Africa- after standing down as an MP in May.
A national media campaign against a charity which helps child sex abuse survivors has set a bad precedent which could stifle help for people across the country.
Last week Elizabeth Truss bungled payments worth more than £1 billion to farmers because of a monumental failure of a new computer system to pay them. And the Metropolitan media let her get away with it. Farmers now face delays in getting their money and the EU will be able to fine the UK.
The Oldham West result has not only confounded critics in the media and Westminster but has destroyed UKIP’s strategy to replace Labour in the North.
The Home Affairs Committee report on the investigation into the ” Jane” date rape allegation against Leon Brittan is flawed – more influenced by a media feeding frenzy than sound judgement.
George Osborne’s spending review appears too good to be true- and it is. It was a brilliant Smoke and Mirrors exercise . Buyer beware
The BBC have effectively by passed its own inquiry into the culture inside the Corporation that allowed paedophile Jimmy Savile to practice unhindered by publishing a report exonerating its child protection and whistleblowing policies.before the chair,Dame Janet Smith, can report.
The row over whether Leon Brittan was a child sex abuser was as polarised 30 years ago as it is today. Fascinating extracts from Thatcher’s papers revealed in Charles Moore’s authorised biography of the Tory leader reveal all.
A Whitehall mandarin thought it worth saving £1.7m by refusing to pay any money to redundant steel apprentices until his political boss, Sajid Javid, overruled him.
Labour is starting to get some spectacular swings in council by elections – though you wouldn’t know it from the national media. The Tories are still resilient.
Jer,my Corbyn may be panned by the conventional mainstream media in Britain. But in South Korea it is a different matter.
The government boast about improving the NHS while at the grass roots cutting edge rehabilitation units are closed to save money.
David Aaronovitch says the whole Elm Guest House paedophile scandal is a fantasy and a smear on important innocent people. I beg to differ.
Government scraps £5.9m contract bid to aid vile Saudi Arabian justice system
Theresa May, the home secretary, is considering whether to launch an inquiry into the police handling of the miners’ strike of 1984 – particularly over the battle of Orgreave.
The Panorama investigation into the VIP Westminster paedophile ring promised to reveal the truth. But it ended up taking us little further because at this stage nobody knows the full extent of the allegations and whether they are true.
The government is refusing to cancel a £5.9 m contract with Saudi Arabia to bolster a prison and judicial system that regularly publicly beheads dissidents -just at a time when a teenager faces a beheading and crucifixion.
The national press have rightly now received a serious warning not to identify the key witness in the Met Police’s Operation Midland investigation into historic child sex abuse murders after a series of frankly irresponsible articles
The Met Police’s statement on the future of Operation Midland – the murder investigation into the Westminster paedophile ring – was much broader and more thoughtful than the knee jerk coverage in the media.
Explaining Jeremy Corbyn’s victory in generational terms.
Clumsy interventions from senior Labour figures into the leadership campaign have only increased Jeremy Corbyn’s outsider appeal.
Why did a senior treasury civil servant wholeheartedly endorse losing the British taxpayer so much money?
Jeremy Corbyn’s popularity with Labour voters is widespread and genuine, not just confined to a militant tendency.