A lawyer at a leading civil liberties firm has expressed fears for the future of direct action protest

A lawyer at a leading civil liberties firm has expressed fears for the future of direct action protest after the mass arrest of UK Uncut activists during last Saturday's anti-cuts demonstrations in London.Matt Foot, a criminal defence solicitor at Birnberg Pierce, said the detention of 145 activists during an occupation of luxury food store Fortnum and Mason in Piccadilly was "unprecedented". He has questioned the police's motivation.After being arrested for aggravated trespass and criminal damage, scores of Uncut campaigners were dispersed to police stations around London as far apart as Harrow, Ilford and Romford and were held in police cells for up to 24 hours. The next day the accusation of criminal damage was dropped but 138 activists were bailed on the charge of aggravated trespass.Foot,...

Read More

Worker claims he was sacked for drinking the wrong tea

I’m flabbergasted. I have been a model employee. I have never been late or off sick in 11 years,’ said the 47-year-old, from Didsbury, Manchester. 'I can’t believe they can sack someone for something so trivial as using the wrong tea bags. I would have thought at the very worst this would deserve a warning – it’s a storm in a tea bag.'He was told in a formal letter that his offence was 'misappropriation of company stock by taking items into the canteen without making prior payment'.Prior to this Mr Alden had been disciplined for not keeping a note of the ages of people buying cigarettes and alcohol. Along with many other supermarkets, Co-op is part of a 'Challenge 25' initiative, where anyone who appears to be under that age is asked for ID. If they're definitely over 25 and haven't been challenged,...

Read More

Lawyers for Sharon Shoesmith told the Court of Appeal that there had been ‘buck passing’ between Ofsted, former children’s secretary Ed Balls and Haringey council.

Lawyers for Sharon Shoesmith told the Court of Appeal that there had been ‘buck passing’ between Ofsted, former children’s secretary Ed Balls and Haringey council. Ms Shoesmith was fired in 2008 from her £130,000 a-year job as head of children’s services at the council in London over failings exposed by the death of Peter Connelly. She was at home ‘trapped by the media’ when she watched Mr Balls sack her on live TV, the court heard. Ms Showemith's layer said Mr Balls had acted following an Ofsted report which showed 'damning findings' on Haringey children's services – a report that she had not seen, or been given a chance to respond to, before Mr Balls ordered her removal. Peter died in August 2007, aged 17 months, at the hands of his mother Tracey Connelly, her lover Steven Barker and lodger...

Read More

2,000 of the most experienced police officers will be made to retire by 2015

2,000 of the most experienced police officers will be made to retire by 2015 as forces across England and Wales try to find 20% budget cuts, a Labour survey has claimed.A series of Freedom of Information Act requests by the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has disclosed that over the next four years 13 of the 43 forces intend to use an obscure regulation to compulsorily retire 1,138 officers who have more than 30 years of service.Labour estimates that a further 986 officers could be affected if some of the remaining 30 forces also decide to use the same regulation to find budget savings.Cooper said that it was "deeply worrying" that 13 forces had already decided to use the A19 regulation to compulsorily retire some of the most experienced officers in the force."Some of these officers...

Read More

music website that illegally streamed and sold music by the Beatles has been forced to pay record labels almost $1m [£625,000].

music website that illegally streamed and sold music by the Beatles has been forced to pay record labels almost $1m [£625,000]. Other artists whose copyright had been violated included Coldplay and Radiohead.US-based Bluebeat.com denied doing anything wrong on the basis that the tracks has been distributed using owner Hank Risan's "psycho-acoustic simulation" -- a technique based on using tracks that he'd purchased on CD. In other words, he was ripping the songs from a CD or LP and then selling them for just 25 cents [15p] a pop.The BBC reports that Bluebeat's defence failed to impress district court judge Josephine Staton Tucker who described Risan's methodology as "obscure and undefined pseudo-scientific language that appears to be a long-winded way of describing sampling."Archie Robinson,...

Read More

It’s a lot more difficult for police to search your car than it used to be

It’s a lot more difficult for police to search your car than it used to be. Action News is following up on the change requiring police to get a search warrant to see what's in your glove compartment or under your seats. We learned this new criteria has meant a lot fewer people are being busted for drug violations.From coke to weed, State Police see it all on Washington highways.But, troopers now need much more than their senses to make an arrest. They’re required to get a search warrant, or your consent, to look in a suspicious vehicle."We don't necessarily stumble across things like we used to,” said Trooper Paul Woodside. “Now, we have to put more effort into it."And that additional effort of getting a warrant can take anywhere from ten minutes to well over an hour. That’s time that can...

Read More

Changes to "no win, no fee" arrangements will be at the heart of a shake-up of civil justice in England and Wales

Changes to "no win, no fee" arrangements will be at the heart of a shake-up of civil justice in England and Wales being announced later.Justice Secretary Ken Clarke told the BBC he favoured a system where lawyers received a share of the damages, rather than an additional "success fee".In 2008-9 the NHS paid out £312m in damages but £456m in legal costs, he pointed out.The change follows a review carried out by Lord Justice Jackson in 2010.Lord Justice Jackson's review of the system said lawyers in "no-win, no-fee" civil cases should no longer have a "success fee" which has to be paid by the defendants, but should get a share of damages.The judge found huge rises in civil litigation costs in England and Wales in recent years and said reforms could save people millions.According to the BBC's...

Read More

Troubled security firm Reliance has lost its £2million a month contract to escort prisoners between custody and court appearances.

Troubled security firm Reliance has lost its £2million a month contract to escort prisoners between custody and court appearances.Around 700 jobs are affected by the Scottish Prison Service’s decision to ask rivals G4S Care and Justice Services to transfer around 180,000 inmates a year.The move follows blunders by Reliance in its handling of prisoners during its seven-year contract, which is due to end in January.They include an inmate escaping from a prison van in Edinburgh last year and three years ago a pregnant prisoner being chained to an officer for three days as she was treated in hospital.The company has defended its record and declined to comment on the decision.G4S manages the immigration detention centre at Dungavel in South Lanarkshire and large private prisons south of the Border.Its...

Read More

Gay couples on the Isle of Man will get the right to a civil partnership after a new law

Gay couples on the Isle of Man will get the right to a civil partnership after a new law was signed in Tynwald, the island's parliament.It gives them the same rights as married couples regarding inheritance, pensions and tax allowances.The law comes into effect on 6 April. Civil partnerships gained legal recognition in the UK in 2006.Allan Bell, MHK, Minister for Economic Development, who tabled the bill says gay rights have been brought in line with the UK after a 20-year batt...

Read More

Oxford University will charge reduced tuition fees of £3,500 for first-year students from the poorest backgrounds from 2012 under funding proposals announced on Tuesday.

Oxford University will charge reduced tuition fees of £3,500 for first-year students from the poorest backgrounds from 2012 under funding proposals announced on Tuesday.Although the institution plans to charge the full £9,000 a year for undergraduates whose parents and guardians earn more than £25,001, it has put forward a sliding scale of fees for lower-income families.A student from a household earning less than £16,000 per annum would be charged £3,500 for the first year and £6,000 for subsequent years. Currently, the maximum charge is £3,000 per year.They would also qualify for the highest tier of bursary offered by the university to cover student living costs, of £4,300 in the first year and £3,300 afterwards.But those from households earning between £16,001 and £20,000 would be charged...

Read More

shake-up of libel laws in England and Wales will ensure people can state honest opinions and facts in confidence,

shake-up of libel laws in England and Wales will ensure people can state honest opinions and facts in confidence, the justice secretary says.The draft Defamation Bill, published on Tuesday, also aims to reduce "libel tourism" by overseas claimants.Protections from libel - absolute and qualified privilege - will be extended.But Ken Clarke said the bill would balance the needs of both sides, as it was never acceptable to harm someone's reputation without just cause.He said in recent years the increased threat of costly libel actions had had a "chilling effect" on scientific and academic debate, and investigative journalism."The right to speak freely and debate issues without fear of censure is a vital cornerstone of a democratic society."Mr Clarke added: "However it is never acceptable to harm...

Read More

consumers are skeptical about offers for extra protection. Nevertheless, industry analysts say big banks will consider making fee-based protection services a bigger part of their business model, as other sources of revenue decline under new federal regulations.

The basic pitch from banks and credit card companies has been around awhile: We’ll monitor your credit, alert you if we see fraud, and help you recover if your identity is stolen–all for a low monthly fee.But fewer consumers are signing up, likely because they are less scared and a bit smarter about protecting themselves.Identity theft and fraud incidents dropped in 2010, and more consumers are shredding documents, watching for strange charges on their accounts and checking credit reports regularly.Many consumers are skeptical about offers for extra protection. Nevertheless, industry analysts say big banks will consider making fee-based protection services a bigger part of their business model, as other sources of revenue decline under new federal regulatio...

Read More