Dame Elisabeth Hoodless, who is retiring from the Community Service Volunteers (CSV) after 36 years, has said there is no “strategic plan” behind the governments intentions to cut spending.
Dame Hoodless said that the cuts were making it difficult for communities to support voluntary projects.
The government has said it will be investing £470m over the next for years to give charities more independence from the state.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged cuts, Dame Elisabeth Hoodless, government, volunteer
Talks between the government and protesters in Egypt have broken down.
Talks had begun between the government and six other groups including the banned Muslim brotherhood, but have failed to end a two week occupation of Tahrir Square by protesters.
Opposition groups said they were sceptical of the governments intentions to form a joint committee who would be responsible for deciding on constitutional amendments.
Senior Brotherhood figure Essam el-Erian said the authorities had responded to some of the demands but only in “a superficial way”.
The protests have already seen 300 people killed.
Picture: kmaschke
Police from three countries are continuing with their search for missing twins, Alessia and Livia, from Switzerland.
The 6 year old twins were taken from their mother by their father who killed himself after abducting them.
After taking his children he travelled to France and then Italy – where he threw himself under a train.
The twins parents had recently divorced and the father sent a letter to his ex-wife explaining how he could not live without her.
Investigators say they do not know whether the father took his children with him to France and Italy or not.
Picture: Metropolitan Police
Research by the Labour party suggests that spending cuts enforced by the coalition will reduce the police force in England and Wales by 10,000 officers by 2013.
The government intend to cut the police budget by 20% 2014/2015.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper described the claims as ‘brutal’ and ‘crazy’.
The government has said that it is cutting down on backroom staff, bureaucracy and is pooling resources.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged coalition, England, Labour party, police, Wales, Yvette Cooper
Picture: ukhomeoffice
The Daily Telegraph reports that the government are preparing to announce their intentions to scale back adult vetting procedures.
A potential nine million adults who came in to contact with children once a week or more were checked last year. Now only adults who have intensive contact with children will be subject to checks.
The process was suspended by Home Secretary Thereasa May last June so that it could be reviewed.
An official announcement is expected to be made soon.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Daily Telegraph, Home Secretary, Thereasa May, vetting
Egyptian President Hosni Muburak has moved to try and restart his countries economy after it was damaged by anti-government protests.
Muburak met with ministers and banks will re-open. Finance Minister Samir Radwan described the situation as ‘very serious.’
Analysts have estimated that the protests is costing the country $310m a day.
Protesters are still in Tahrir Square after mass rallies on Firday.
Picture: The Prime Ministers Office
Speaking at a security conference in Germany PM David Cameron has said that the UK needs a stronger national identity to avert people turning to extremism.
Cameron said ‘state multiculturalism’ had failed and that he would take a tougher stance on groups promoting Islamist extremism.
The PM said: ‘Frankly, we need a lot less of the passive tolerance of recent years and much more active, muscular liberalism.’
Cameron said that there would be a greater scrutiny of Muslim groups who take pubic money but do not actively tackle extremism.
The Muslim Council of said it felt like they were being seen as part of the problem, rather than the solution.
Picutre: JorgeBRAZIL
BBC programme Human Planet has captured images of a remote tribe living in the Amazon rainforest for the first time.
Jose Carlos Meirelles, of Funai, said that his government needed proof of their existence to help protect them from the threat of illegal loggers.
He also said that the existence does not depend on them but the conscience of the outside world.
The footage can be viewed by following this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12360013
Picture: Metropolitan Police
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is to investigate the actions of Norfolk police.
Norfolk police had responded to a call of aggravated burglary at round 11.30pm on February 1.
Just after 12pm a police car began following a silver Ford Fiesta in the area, after losing the Fiesta the police began a pursuit.
The Fiesta collided with a brick wall. The front seat passenger, 15 year old boy, was killed. The other three passengers, including the 17 year old driver, were taken to hospital.
The investigation will look at whether the relevant guidelines were followed such as liaising with the police control room and the training of the police drivers involved.
Picture: Liberal Democrats
Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, has told the BBC his plan to rectify the UK’s struggling economy.
The coalition have come in for criticism after the economy shrank by 0.5% over the last three months.
He said that the economy had not been right since the 1980′s and needed fundamental change.
Labour leader Ed Miliband has warned that a new model will mean children get less opportunities than their parents.
However, Clegg will contradict this – saying that the coalition inherited a failing model from the Labour party.
The plans will be fully explained by Mr. Clegg in a speech later today.
