Police order tourists to delete photographs of bus station | Politics | The Guardian

Since when did this become illegal? Even the Met claim not to know of any law making this illegal. I hope the officers concerned were properly disciplined for exceeding their authority. I presume they were actual police officers and not as in the Enfield park incident those jumped up traffic wardens or PCSOs. So are police officers now making the regulations up on the fly? The tourists should be thankful they weren’t citizens of our glorious nation otherwise they would probably have been detained, fingerprinted, and had their DNA taken to be illegally filed before they were finally released with no charge. The public appear to be slowly losing faith in our police and incidents such as this the pre emptive arrest of eco protesters and the police behaviour at the G20 protest followed by the misleading of Ian Tomlinsons family over the cause of his death are not helping.

IPCC chief slams tactics of G20 police at demo | Politics | The Observer

G20 protests: how the image of UK police took a beating | Politics | The Observer 

Shocked! How the oil crisis has hit the world

By Andy McSmith, Jerome Taylor and Nigel Morris
Saturday, 31 May 2008

AP

There have been daily protests in Indonesia

British pensioners who cannot afford to heat their homes. European hauliers and fishermen whose livelihoods are under threat. Palestinians forced to fill up their cars with olive oil. Americans asked to go down to a four-day week.

All around the world, in a multitude of ways, the soaring price of oil is hurting rich and poor alike. For the lucky ones, it is simply a matter of changing their lifestyle. But those most vulnerable to the price of oil have been driven on to the streets in angry protests, which raise a fundamental question: what can we do to survive in a world where a barrel of oil costs $127 (£64)?

Great Britain

The rise in the oil price could not come at a worse time for Gordon Brown. After a week that has seen hauliers blocking roads and air passengers facing higher surcharges, yesterday it was the impact on fuel bills that came to the fore. The Prime Minister’s attempt to ease the pain felt by pensioners and low-income families from rising fuel bills was dismissed as a “sticking plaster to hold back a catastrophe”. It consists mainly of advice on coping with the cost of heating rather than extra money.

The number of Britons in “fuel poverty” – 10 per cent of their income goes on energy – is thought to have reached four million. The average annual household bill for heat and light is now more than £1,000. The Government plans to reform data protection laws so that low-income families can be contacted directly by the companies and offered help. The aim is to ensure that the “social tariffs” get to the people that need them most.

Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, said the energy suppliers had agreed to increase “social assistance” from £50m a year to £150m by 2011. The money will be used to switch consumers to lower tariffs and insulate homes.

Kate Jopling, the head of public affairs at the charity Help the Aged, described the measures as a “sticking plaster to hold back a catastrophe”. She said: “While it is welcome news … this initiative does not go nearly far enough to deal with the looming fuel poverty crisis.”

The Government’s announcement came at the end of the week in which Mr Brown saw a rerun of the political crisis he faced in his early years as Chancellor. Lorry drivers blockaded roads into London and in Wales to demand that a planned 2p rise in fuel tax be scrapped and that “essential users” should be granted a rebate. The only time between the 1997 and 2001 elections when the Labour government looked vulnerable was when Mr Brown suspended rises in fuel taxes after a similar blockade.

Separately yesterday, Britain’s Silverjet airline announced it had stopped flights after failing to get a $5m loan from Abu Dhabi-based investors, becoming the third London to New York business class-only carrier to run out of money.

Europe

Luxembourg’s Finance Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs the commission of European Union finance ministers, issued a call to all EU governments yesterday to hold their nerve and avoid the temptation to use the tax system to relieve the misery of high oil prices. He reminded them that, when they met in Manchester in 2005, they agreed that such a move would encourage demand and send the wrong message to oil producers.

That is not what France’s President, Nicolas Sarkozy, wanted to hear yesterday, after a week of protests by French truckers and fishermen left several motorways blocked and ports paralysed. M. Sarkozy suggested capping fuel taxes if the oil price rose further.

In the Netherlands, the protests caused less inconvenience, but made more noise when, at 11.45am on Thursday, lorry drivers across the country simultaneously blew their horns in protest at diesel prices. In Bulgaria, lorry and bus drivers launched a joint protest.

The protest spread to the seas yesterday, as fishermen across Europe went on a one-day strike, blocking ports. The biggest demonstrations were in Spain and Portugal where 10,000 protesters converged on Madrid. Some handed out free fish to underline their point that, with the current cost of fuel, they are practically giving their catches away. Passers-by pushed and shoved to get their hands on the free hake.

Meanwhile, the Newcastle to Scandinavia ferry route is being cut by the Danish company DFDS Seaways, who said it was a loss-making service incapable of being turned around. The company blamed “dramatically increasing oil prices, over-capacity in the travel marketplace and the economic slowdown”.

The United States

There are signs that the fuel crisis is persuading Americans to think about leaving the car in the garage. In March this year, the number of miles driven by American motorists was 11 billion fewer than in March 2007, according to the Transportation Department. That is the sharpest drop year on year that the department has ever recorded, and the first fall of any kind recorded in the month of March since 1979.

The US Energy Department projects that this year, domestic gas consumption will drop by 190,000 barrels a day and overall petroleum use by 330,000 barrels a day, the first annual fall since 1991. But those figures look less impressive when expressed as percentages. Eleven billion fewer miles is a drop of 4.3 per cent and 330,000 barrels is less than 1 per cent of the country’s total daily consumption.

Even so, this is good news for the environment, since the US’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by nine million tonnes in the first quarter of 2008. And insurance companies report a sharp drop in road accidents.

An increasing number of employers, anxious to keep their staff, are offering them the option of working longer but fewer days, to cut out journeys to work. There is a plan to offer public employees on New York’s Long Island the opportunity to work four 10-hour days, instead of five eight-hour days – a move which, it is reckoned, would save more than 30 barrels of oil a day. When Kent State University, in Ohio, offered this opportunity to 94 security staff, 78 of them snapped it up.

But the changing travelling habits have created problems for America’s bus and subway systems, which are having to cope with a sudden increase in passengers at the same time that they are paying more for fuel. In Eugene, Oregon, 16 per cent more people took the bus this month than in April, but the town’s main bus company, Lane Transit District, is losing money and cannot afford to expand.

Airlines, which are struggling to break even, are reluctant to raise the price of tickets and are introducing fees for baggage handling instead. American Airlines has slapped a $16 fee on the first piece of baggage checked in by economy-class passengers. Other airlines have followed.

But Southwest Airlines, in California, is laughing, because it took a gamble at the start of the year and bought 70 per cent of the fuel it estimated it would need in a full year for a paltry $51 a barrel – two-fifths of the current price. It is probably the only US airline that will be able to make a profit without increasing charges.

In Northern California, one man thought he had found a way to profit from the crisis. He was spotted rummaging around in the garbage behind a Burger King, with a tube and a storage bin. When police caught up with him, they found that he had 2,500 gallons of used fryer grease stolen from various restaurants. Chip pan fat is worth more than four times what it was a few years ago, making that haul worth more than £3,000.

Outside Seattle, the owner of a pizza restaurant is thinking of installing a CCTV camera over its 50-gallon cooking-oil barrel to keep rustlers away. “Fryer grease has become gold,” its owner, Nick Damianidis, told The New York Times. “And just over a year ago, I had to pay someone to take it away.”

South America

With some of the most prominent oil producers operating outside of the Middle East and a preponderance of left-wing governments insulating their populations from fuel price increases with heavy subsidies, South America has so far managed better than most with the fuel crisis.

In fact soaring oil prices have bulked up budgets to record levels in countries such as Venezuela. Badly scarred by the oil crises of the 1970s, many Latin American nations have since diversified their energy mix by encouraging the use of biofuels. In Brazil, the world’s largest ethanol producer, biofuels account for more than half of transport needs. But while biofuels have kept petrol prices down, food prices – particularly in Central American countries such as Mexico and Haiti – have shot up as vast tracts of arable land are switched from producing food to fuel.

Asia

Daily protests have erupted across Indonesia this week after the government removed subsidies on fuel, leading to an overnight price jump of 30 per cent. Despite being south-east Asia’s largest oil producer, Indonesia has struggled to meet even domestic demand due to aging wells and declining investment. On Wednesday, Jakarta announced it would quit Opec because it was unhappy with the way the international oil cartel was dealing with the crisis. But Indonesia’s poor have been left reeling by the removal of fuel subsidies and have taken to the streets.

Malaysia has told petrol stations to stop selling fuel to Singapore-registered cars. Singaporeans often take advantage of cheaper oil prices in Malaysia by driving over the border and filling up there. At the same time, airlines across the Asia-Pacific region are scrambling to cut flights and increase surcharges to boost their haemorrhaging cashflow.

This week Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific and Taiwan’s China Airlines announced they were considering scaling back some long-haul routes whilst Korean Air said it would temporarily cut flights on 12 international routes over the summer. Much of the regional strain placed on Asia’s oil reserves comes from China’s near-insatiable consumption of energy. But in an indication of how the country is struggling to import enough fuel, at least three major Chinese cities brought in diesel rationing yesterday.

Africa

Africa is at the sharp end of the oil shock and the inter-related surge in food prices. With millions living on the tiny margin between subsistence and starvation, fuel costs can quickly become a matter of life and death. Governments already under pressure from food protests, and in some cases such as Mozambique violent riots, have now to contend with a new problem.

In South Africa, the government announced yesterday that petrol prices for next week alone would rise by 5 per cent. This brings the increase in petrol prices so far this year to 33 per cent, while the price of diesel, used extensively in farming and heavy industry, has leapt 49 per cent.

There are also growing fears that rapidly increasing fuel prices could have a knock-on effect for aid agencies in countries such as Ethiopia, which are struggling to pay for fuel. This week the Red Cross said in its annual report that rising oil and food costs would mean it now needs much more money than last year just to keep the same level of aid distribution. Africa remains the largest area of Red Cross spending, accounting for 45 per cent of the field budget in 2007.

Middle East

Not even the region with the world’s largest oil reserves has escaped the pressures. As major importers beg major producers such as Saudi Arabia to release millions more barrels on to the world markets those Middle Eastern countries unlucky enough not to be sitting on lakes of black gold are facing growing resentment from their own populations over fuel prices.

In Egypt, petrol prices have risen by as much as 40 per cent in a year. Yemen has been rocked by riots in the south, which is home to only a fifth of its 22 million population but produces 80 per cent of the country’s oil. Young men and separatists, angry that very little of the nation’s oil wealth has trickled down to ordinary people in the south, have been protesting since April, raising concerns that Islamic militants could exploit the unrest in the notoriously fractious country.

In Gaza this week, where fuel shortages have long been a major source of seething discontent due to rationing by Israel and Hamas, Palestinians were forced to fill their cars with olive oil instead of diesel.

Iran is acutely vulnerable to rises in fuel prices because, despite being the world’s second largest producer, it is still forced to import about 40 per cent of its petrol because of a lack of refining facilities. Protests last year over fuel prices brought in rationing, which is still in place in Tehran and other major Iranian cities.

Australasia

As Kevin Rudd’s newly elected government tries to stem a wave of discontent over prices at the petrol pumps, the airline Qantas announced this week that it was intending to slash hundreds of jobs, freeze executive pay and shut down some domestic rural routes.

Its low-budget offshoot, Jetstar, announced it would cut the number of routes it flew by 5 per cent angering many of those living in Australia’s vast interior who rely on the low budget airlines. In an indication of just how much pressure the world’s airline operators are under, Qantas estimated that this year’s fuel bill would be £500m more than last year. Petrol prices in Melbourne this week hit an all-time high of 164.9 cents [80p] a litre on Wednesday.

Arctic

With the threat of the world’s oil reserves one day running out, energy-hungry nations are frantically looking towards the more inaccessible areas of the world for new sources. This week, the five main powers bordering the Arctic – Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the United States – met in Greenland for a two-day summit to discuss their various claims of sovereignty over the Arctic Ocean seabed.

The summit was a bid to stop the Arctic becoming a flashpoint between the nations because of the natural resources it is thought to contain. Oil prospectors believe it could be home to a quarter of the world’s undiscovered hydrocarbon reserves. In August, Russia upped the stakes by planting a flag under the North Pole. The five countries at the summit agreed to let the UN rule on conflicting territorial claims for the region’s seabed.

Environmental campaigners, who were not allowed to attend the summit, are concerned that a new scramble for the Arctic has begun and are worried that future exploration could damage the area’s sensitive ecosystems. They have called for a similar treaty to that which currently regulates the Antarctic, which bans all military activity and mineral exploitation.

www.giftsafari.co.uk

Farewell Snickers, now Marathon bars make a comeback

12th May 2008

Marathon chocolate bars bars could be the latest old-style confectionery favourite to stage a comeback – 18 years after they were renamed Snickers.A new report has revealed that Mars may be poised to resurrect the peanut-packed chocolate bar 18 years after it vanished from store shelves.

Nostalgic Britons could soon enjoy the retro revival of the popular sweet treat which was ditched in 1990 after Mars decided to align the UK Marathon product with the global Snickers name.

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Making a comeback: The Marathon chocolate bar could be back after it was renamed Snickers 18 years ago

Trade magazine The Grocer says that in the same week that Mars announced it was bringing back Opal Fruits as a three-month limited edition, the business has also re-registered the Marathon brand as a trademark in the UK.

The magazine says the retro re-brand would gain Mars valuable national coverage in the same way Opal Fruits received and Cadbury gained last year when it brought back Wispa.

Mars told the magazine that there were “no immediate plans” for another retro re-brand in the wake of Opal Fruits.

But Jeffrey Hyman, chairman of The Food & Drink Innovation Network said that it was still clever marketing.

“As a strategy it is excellent as it appeals to many older consumers” he said.

The Grocer said: “The nostalgic among us will no doubt welcome the news that Mars may resurrect Marathon on the back of the strong publicity the return of Opal Fruits has received.

“Consumers love a blast from the past but not as much as the confectionery manufacturers themselves, it seems.

“Mars is just the latest in a number of players to go retro. Nestle led the charge a few years back with the relaunch of its Texan bar and more recently Cadbury momentarily brought Wispa back to life.”

But the magazine says that the revival is also a sad reflection on the state of new product development in the chocolate confectionery category where most “innovation” is either new packaging or just a variation on a theme.

Pirates can claim UK asylum

Marie Woolf, Whitehall Editor

THE Royal Navy, once the scourge of brigands on the high seas, has been told by the Foreign Office not to detain pirates because doing so may breach their human rights.

Warships patrolling pirate-infested waters, such as those off Somalia, have been warned that there is also a risk that captured pirates could claim asylum in Britain.

The Foreign Office has advised that pirates sent back to Somalia could have their human rights breached because, under Islamic law, they face beheading for murder or having a hand chopped off for theft.

In 2005 there were almost 40 attacks by pirates and 16 vessels were hijacked and held for ransom. Employing high-tech weaponry, they kill, steal and hold ships’ crews to ransom. This year alone pirates killed three people near the Philippines.

Last week French commandos seized a Somali pirate gang that had held a luxury yacht with 22 French citizens on board. The hijackers were paid off by the boat’s owner and then a French helicopter carrier dispatched 50 commandos to seize the hijackers and the ransom money on dry land.

Britain is part of a coalition force that patrols piracy stricken areas and the guidance has troubled navy officers who believe they should have more freedom to intervene.

The guidance was sharply criticised by Julian Brazier MP, the Conservative shipping spokesman, who said: “These people commit horrendous offences. The solution is not to turn a blind eye but to turn them over to the local authorities. The convention on human rights quite rightly doesn’t cover the high seas. It’s a pathetic indictment of what our legal system has come to.”

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “There are issues about human rights and what might happen in these circumstances. The main thing is to ensure any incident is resolved peacefully.”

The guidance is the latest blow to the robust image of the navy. Last year 15 of its sailors were taken prisoner by the Iranians and publicly humiliated.

In the 19th century, British warships largely eradicated piracy when they policed the oceans. The death penalty for piracy on the high seas remained on the statute books until 1998. Modern piracy ranges from maritime mugging to stealing from merchant ships with the crew held at gunpoint.

Shocking pictures which show tearful five-year-olds forced to fight in kickboxing contests

By BETH HALE – 20th April 2008

A blonde-haired girl with her hands strapped into boxing gloves sobs at the side of the ring.In another image her twin brother takes a direct hit to the face from a sparring partner.

Miah and Kian Flanagan are just five years old.

But already they are seasoned fighters, taking part in an alarmingly fast-growing ’sport’ that pits children against other children in the terrifying public arena of the boxing ring.

Five-year-old Miah’s face crumples in tears as she fights in the ring

The opponents – some of them barely old enough to be at school – kick and punch in chilling scenes, while parents shout impassioned advice from the sidelines.

Incredibly parental ‘advice’ includes encouragement to “come on Princess, go forward, kick ‘em, kick ‘em.”

Welcome to the world of child Thai boxing, one of the fastest growing martial arts in the UK with now over 500 registered clubs teaching this sport.

Children as young as four or five are becoming the latest recruits to organised fighting, where some people’s attitude is: “If you’re good enough to fight, you’re old enough”.

The chilling snapshot into a pastime that is legal is laid bare on a Cutting Edge documentary to be shown on Channel 4 later this week.

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‘Just enjoy yourself, baby’ shouts her father as little Miah sobs

In the strictly governed world of conventional boxing youngsters must be at least 11 to compete.

But in MuayThai boxing there is no such limit. There is also no requirement for protective headgear, despite regular blows to the skull.

Parents have to sign a disclaimer before a fight, relieving promoters of any blame should their children be injured as they compete – sometimes in front of paying adult audiences.

Miah and Kian Flanagan live with their father Darren, a quantity surveyor, and mother Lisa, a nail technician, in Wigan.

The twins were enrolled in boxing lessons at their local gym seven months ago. Mr Flanagan is so passionate about the sport that he has converted the spare room into a gym so he can give the twins extra tuition.

Mr Flanagan believes that the training will help his daughter take care of herself.

“If someone grabs Miah when she’s 15 what do you think is going to happen? She knows all the defence moves,” he said.

“If I’d never taught my kids Thai boxing how guilty would I feel. Anyway Miah loves it – she’s like a ballet dancer with boxing gloves at the moment,” he told the the News of the World.

But footage from the programme shows that Miah often cries before going into the ring and her Dad instructing “Come on baby just enjoy yourself” before later ordering her “stop this now”.

“Every time she goes in that ring, there is always a worry she will start crying,” said Mr Flanagan, who says he has told his daughter she can give up if she does not enjoy it.

Children as young as five are forced to fight each other in the ring as their parents look on

Such is his determination for his children to succeed that he even alters her diet to ‘bulk’ her up if she faces an older opponent.

Meanwhile his wife coats her daughter with glittery make-up and hairspray before she enters the rings.

Another child featured is Thai Barlow, already a veteran fighter at 10 and named after his parents burning passion for Thai boxing.

His dad Mark is his trainer who runs his own gym and mother Maxine was herself a successful fighter. Both Thai and his 14-year-old sister, a double world champion, have followed their parents’ love of the sport.

On top of school and homework, a normal week for Thai consists of running over 15 km, doing 400 sit ups, and at least 10 hours on the bags and sparring.

Mr Barlow will travel anywhere in the world, forking out thousands of pounds to get his son fight experience.

“My dream and his mum’s dream is for him to win a stadium title,” he said. “I don’t know what his dream is… probably to play with his soldiers.”

On March 28 Thai took part in his first cage brawl, fighting inside a 23ft metal cage in front of a huge crowd paying 335 a ticket.

His opponent was nine-year-old Connor Butler, from East London. Both were shouted on by their parents, but Thai eventually lost for only the third time in 59 fights.

Despite his youth, his victories apparently include two knockouts.

Today Conservative shadow minister for Sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson, said he was alarmed by the fight scenes described.

“If children are so upset by the prospect of doing any sport that they burst into tears before they do it then I don’t think they should be forced to take part.

“While I support martial arts and boxing as sport I don’t think they are sports for children below the age of seven.”

Cutting Edge: Strictly Baby Fight Club is on Channel 4 on Thursday 24/04/08 at 9pm

The 13-year-old boy who battered man to death and threw his body on a bonfire

By LIZ HULL -  Last updated at 19:08pm on 11th April 2008

A boy of 13 was locked up indefinitely today for battering a vulnerable man to death and throwing his body on a bonfire on Guy Fawkes’ night.Jamie Smith was high on cider and vodka when he killed Stephen Croft, 34, for his cigarette lighter, in the early hours of November 6 last year.

Yesterday Mr Croft’s sister, Sarah Croft, criticised Smith’s parents for “dragging” their child up into a “monster” and said no sentence was punishment enough for destroying their family.

Jamie Smith was high on cider when he kicked Stephen Croft to death

The court heard that Smith, who, despite his tender age already had 11 previous convictions, including robbery and assault, was on the run from a care home at the time of the murder.

He was taken into care after his father, Gerald Murphy, 31, was arrested and jailed for a minimum 11 years in January, after being convicted of a vicious attack on an Asian market trader in his own home, which left his victim paralysed from the neck down.

Stephen Croft was battered to death and his body was thrown into a bonfire by Jamie Smith

Judge Henry Globe, QC, the recorder of Liverpool, told Smith he posed a “very high risk of harm to the public” and ordered he serve a minimum 13 years before being eligible for parole.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that Smith, from Birkenhead, Merseyside, had been sent to a care home near Accrington, Lancashire, last September, but would repeatedly abscond and return home.

On the evening of November 5 care workers, alerted by Smith’s family, arrived to take him back to the care home, but he became aggressive, threatened to set off a firework in a carer’s car and ran off.

He attended a community bonfire, in Quarry Bank, Birkenhead, where he met Mr Croft, a former builder who developed a drink problem following an industrial accident in 2006.

By 1am, Mr Croft was five times over the drink drive limit and in a “vulnerable” state, David Turner, QC, prosecuting, said.

“Smith decided to take advantage of his drunken condition and murdered him while he was helpless, repeatedly kicking him and punching him,” Mr Turner said.

“At the end of the attack the defendant believed the deceased was dead, as indeed he was, and it was therefore a sustained attack on a helpless man.

”He took from the body some rolling tobacco, cigarette papers and a lighter and put the body on to the fire in the hope that fire damage would conceal his crime.”

Following the murder, Smith went to the local YMCA and told staff that there was “someone stuck in the fire” and that he had tried to rescue him.

In fact, the court heard, the opposite was true.

Police were called and Smith was arrested. He gave officers a false name and denied any part in the murder.

But officers discovered Mr Croft’s blood on Smith’s clothing and, in February this year, he pleaded guilty to murder. A charge of robbery was also ordered to lie on file.

Mr Croft’s sister, Sarah, said the 13-year minimum tariff was too lenient and that “hanging was too good” for Smith whose parents had “dragged him up to be a monster”.

“The punishment for such a violent, mindless crime is for him [Smith] to know he will be fed, watered, protected, educated and supposedly rehabilitated – all at the taxpayers’ expense,” she added.

“All this for him to come out bigger, stronger and still as evil.”

Steve Maddox, chief executive of Wirral Council, said a review was under way involving all agencies that were involved with Smith’s care.

Council admits spying on family

Poole council admitted using RIPA powers on six occasions

A council has admitted spying on a family using laws to track criminals and terrorists to find out if they were really living in a school catchment.

A couple and their three children were put under surveillance without their knowledge by Poole Borough Council for more than two weeks.

The council admitted using powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) on six occasions in total.

Three of those were for suspected fraudulent school place applications.

It said two offers of school places were withdrawn as a consequence.

Human rights pressure group Liberty called the spying “ridiculously disproportionate” and “intrusive”.

James Welch, legal director for Liberty, said: “It’s one thing to use covert surveillance in operations investigating terrorism and other serious crimes, but it has come to a pretty pass when this kind of intrusive activity is used to police school catchment areas.

Liberty’s Alex Gask describes the use of powers as ‘ridiculous’

“This is a ridiculously disproportionate use of RIPA and will undermine public trust in necessary and lawful surveillance.”

RIPA legislation allows councils to carry out surveillance if it suspects criminal activity.

On its website, the Home Office says: “The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) legislates for using methods of surveillance and information gathering to help the prevention of crime, including terrorism.”

It goes on to say the act allows the interception of communications, carrying out of surveillance and the use of covert human intelligence sources.

Poole council said it used the legislation to watch a family at home and in their daily movements because it wanted to know if they lived in the catchment area for a school, which they wanted their three-year-old daughter to attend.

It said directed surveillance was carried out by a council officer who was fully trained and authorised to exercise RIPA powers, once it had decided it may be a criminal matter.

‘Potential criminal matter’

The council is keen to ensure that the information given by parents who apply for school places is true Tim Martin, Poole Borough Council

Tim Martin, head of legal and democratic services at Poole Borough Council, said: “The council is committed to investigating the small minority of people who attempt to break the law and affect the quality of life for the majority of law-abiding residents in Poole.

“On a small number of occasions, RIPA procedures have been used to investigate potentially fraudulent applications for school places.

“In such circumstances, we have considered it appropriate to treat the matter as a potential criminal matter.

“The council is keen to ensure that the information given by parents who apply for school places is true.

“This protects the majority of honest parents against the small number of questionable applications.

“An investigation may actually satisfy the council that the application is valid, as happened in this case.”

The shocking picture that shows police will do ANYTHING to hide speed cameras from unsuspecting motorists

Daily Mail 31/03/2008

The police force headed by the “Mad Mullah of the Traffic Taliban” which has been accused of waging a “vendetta” against drivers has a new weapon – a speed camera hidden in a horsebox.The stealthy ruse is North Wales Police’s newest crackdown on speeding drivers and sees officers hiding in the back of the horsebox while parked up on a grass verge.

The force is headed by Richard Brunstrom who was dubbed the “Mad Mullah” after a serious of tough new measures to catch speeding drivers.

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Covert: Police officers use a speed camera from inside a horsebox

Mr Brunstrom has previously raised the prospect of speed cameras being hidden in cats’ eyes. But despite his force’s crackdown on motorists, road deaths and serious injuries are up by a third.

Last year he faced calls to quit after he showed pictures of a headless biker to journalists at a road safety seminar without telling the motorcyclist’s family.

His ‘Arrive Alive’ speed cameras caught 55,000 offenders in 2007 including 19 police vehicles not answering 999 calls.

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Tackling speed: The police force are coming up with new schemes to stop motorists speeding

Arthur Roberts, of the pressure group People for Proper Policing, claimed: “This horsebox will be another serious distraction for motorists and doesn’t really address road safety.

“It’s another cynical way of raising revenue.”

A spokeswoman for the police force said last week, when rumours about the hidden camera were rife: “As days get longer we can anticipate many more motorcyclists riding in North Wales.

“Tragically some of these will die or some will be seriously injured and in some cases excess speed will be a significant factor in these incidents.

“With our partners we are seeking to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries to motorcyclists and other road users through education, rider awareness, engineering and enforcement.

“Our enforcement activity will increase as the days get longer, but we’re not prepared to comment now on the precise tactics that will be used. We would ask that all road users obey the law and ride and drive responsibly.”

Yesterday the horsebox was parked alongside the road at Maenan, near Llanrwst – a straight stretch with a 60mph limit but renowned for speeding.