News Digest – 26th October 2005

Racist PC abused Asian motorists
26th October 2005
An off-duty policeman shouted racial abuse at Asian drivers as he clamped their cars, a court has heard
Read more >>

Prisons chief hits at ‘gross’ overcrowding
23rd October 2005
The departing head of the prison and probation service has launched a scathing attack on Britain’s penal system, expressing his deep concern that a record number of prisoners are behind bars when the crime rate is falling
Read More >>

Holding the state to account for the deaths of vulnerable asylum seekers
20th October 2005
A recent meeting on deaths in immigration detention centre’s called for the state to be held accountable for the deaths of vulnerable asylum seekers
Read More >>

Launch of European Civil Liberties Network
19th October 2005
An online network of groups concerned with civil liberties, democracy and equality has been launched to counter unprecedented attacks on freedoms in Europe
Read More >>

Filed under: News Digest

News Digest – 26th October 2005

Police firearms review considered
24th October 2005
Home Secretary Charles Clarke has said he may allow Parliament to review the Metropolitan Police force’s policy on officers using firearms.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission would first have to end its inquiry into the shooting of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes, he said
Read More >>

Mental health care is not good enough, Hewitt admits
27th September 2005
Mental health services were “appalling” in the past and are still not good enough, the health secretary has admitted. Patricia Hewitt’s confession that mental health remains the “Cinderella service” which is failing to improve quickly enough was heard last night at a fringe debate on NHS funding at the Labour conference
Read More >>

Campaigners attack prison reform plans
19th September 2005
The home secretary, Charles Clarke is “talking nonsense” when he proposes new community prisons and an end to a cap on prison numbers, campaigners said today. Frances Crook, director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said it would be impossible to create a network of community prisons if the number of prisoners was still rising
Read More >>

Filed under: News Digest