The Birmingham Post (England) back issues from February 2008:
Cosford boosted by returning UK troops.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Byline: By Jonathan Walker Political Editor Troops returning to the UK from Germany are to be stationed in the West Midlands, in a major boost to the region's economy. About 2,600 troops and their families and dependants are to move to Cosford, in Shropshire, the ...
Warwickshire cancel Grenada cricket tour.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Byline: By George Dobell Chief Cricket Writer Warwickshire County Cricket Club have cancelled their pre-season tour of Grenada, barely two weeks before the players were due to leave. Although some will deduce that the move was a reaction to financial difficulties at ...
FTSE has worst start to year since launch.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... London's blue-chip share index has suffered one of its worse beginnings to a year since it was launched 24 years ago. The FTSE 100 Index has shed more than 577 points since the start of 2008 - a drop of 8.9 per cent on its opening mark of 6456.9. The fall represents ...
New judicial review bid by ambulance campaigners.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Byline: By Emma Brady Health Correspondent Campaigners fighting to save an emergency operations centre in Worcestershire yesterday launched a bid to take the region's ambulance service to a judicial review. A "letter before claim" was sent to West Midlands Ambulance ...
23 passengers rescued after wave hits ferry.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... A rescue operation was under way last night after a ferry got into difficulties in high winds on the Irish Sea. Three helicopters - two from the RAF and one from the Irish coastguard - were scrambled to airlift 23 passengers from the Riverdance, 10 nautical miles off the coast ...
16,000 inmates released early.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... More than 16,000 prisoners have been released early because of jail overcrowding. Figures for the emergency scheme, which sees criminals released up to 18 days before the end of their sentences, revealed that 3,000 of those freed had been convicted of violent crime. ...
Technical problems with Post epaper.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Users of The Birmingham Post epaper may have experienced problems accessing the service yesterday. Due to technical issues ...
West Midlands crime 'at lowest level' for 18 years.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Byline: By Shahid Naqvi Overall reported crime in the West Midlands was at its lowest level in 18 years last month, according to police figures. The amount of crime reported between April and December last year was also down by more than 10 per cent compared to the ...
How I was attacked and three yobs got clean away with it; Statistics, statistics and damn crimes. Shahid Naqvi gives a personal account of falling victim to young thugs.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Byline: Shahid Naqvi Crime is at an 18-year low and Jacqui Smith doesn't believe the streets are as unsafe as people think they are. That's fine then. Unless Ms Smith had been me a year ago walking down the high street near my home when I was set upon by three youths ...
Tax deadline extended 24 hours after website crash.(News)(Website overview)
Feb 01, 2008 ... HM Revenue & Customs yesterday extended the deadline for people to complete their self assessment tax returns following problems with its website. The Government department said it was giving people an extra 24 hours to get their returns and any tax they owe to it, without ...
Regional arts benefit from more private investment.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Byline: By Rhona Ganguly There is more private sector money reaching the arts in the West Midlands than ever before, a report has found. According to figures published yesterday in the Arts & Business Private Investment in the Arts report, private support in the ...
Birmingham shop window in capital on the move.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Birmingham's London "embassy" is moving, three years after its grand opening in the heart of the capital. The office, run by the city council and the NEC Group, is to move from Piccadilly to Charlotte Street, in the heart of London's media district. But one city MP ...
Asylum seeker fights for estate.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... A Russian asylum seeker fighting for a share of her dead lover's pounds 500,000 estate had "no right" to move into a home he owned, a court heard yesterday. Tatiana Chebotareva (22), claimed she lived with James King at his Stirling property after they met in London six years ...
UK patriotism 'controversial issue in classrooms'.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Children should not be taught to be patriotic at school, researchers have claimed. The Government has called for history lessons to help children develop a sense of their British identity and a love of their country. But academics at the Institute of Education in the ...
Plan to scrap grammar schools.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Ministers should consider scrapping grammar schools to make the education system fair for poorer pupils, a Government-backed report recommended yesterdayr. The study for the Department for Children found faith schools and academic selection contributed to segregation between ...
Health trust admits fatal errors over cancer case.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Byline: By Emma Brady Health Correspondent A Birmingham health trust has admitted to fatal errors in its treatment of a breast cancer patient, who died after reconstructive surgery, it was revealed yesterday. After receiving an undisclosed six-figure sum in ...
YouTube cash on offer for video creators.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... British YouTube users who post popular video clips are to be paid for their efforts, it was announced yesterday. They will earn a share of the revenue generated from the adverts which run alongside their clips - potentially making thousands of pounds per month. The ...
Mother of disabled son nears legal victory.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Byline: Sharon Coleman The mother of a disabled child who claimed she left her job after being "harassed" by her employers was yesterday a step closer to a groundbreaking legal victory which could give new rights to millions of carers. Sharon Coleman, 42, from south ...
Franglais inventor dies at 66.(News)(Obituary)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Miles Kington, the jazz aficionado, wit and writer, has died at the age of 66 following a battle with pancreatic cancer, a family member said yesterday. Kington wrote for satirical magazine Punch, The Times and, for more than 20 years, The Independent. He penned a ...
Midlanders in Spanish rescue.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Ambulance staff in the West Midlands - dubbed International Rescue by colleagues -have come to the aid of yet another patient on foreign shores. Just 24 hours after helping a patient in Australia, the same shift at the West Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) in Brierley Hill was ...
Minister in warning on low energy light bulbs.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... People were urged by the Government yesterday to exercise care when handling broken low energy light bulbs, which contain mercury. Junior Environment Minister Joan Ruddock acknowledged a broken bulb was "dangerous" and said people should not touch or attempt to sweep them up ...
New Street decision in a matter of days, says Byrne; POLITICS.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Byline: By Jonathan Walker Political Editor The long wait for a Government decision on rebuilding Birmingham's New Street Station could be over in "a matter of days", the Minister for the West Midlands has revealed. In a major speech last night on the future of ...
Cash for Porton Down veterans; POLITICS.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... The Ministry of Defence has awarded pounds 3 million in compensation to Porton Down veterans and apologised to those affected by tests at the research centre during the Cold War. In a written statement to MPs, Defence Minister Derek Twigg said the sum was "in full and final ...
Now disgraced MP suspended from Commons; POLITICS.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Disgraced MP Derek Conway was suspended yesterday from the Commons for 10 days and ordered to repay up to pounds 13,161 improperly paid to his son Freddie. MPs endorsed the recommendations of the Standards and Privileges Committee without a vote, after a 35-minute debate. ...
Carbon dioxide emissions 'down' POLITICS ENVIRONMENT.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Emissions of the climate change gas Co2 fell in the UK in 2006 according to official figures. It was expected that the UK's carbon dioxide emissions would be approximately 1.2 per cent higher than 2005. But figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural ...
'Party risks years in opposition; POLITICS LABOUR.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Former Cabinet Minister Charles Clarke yesterday issued a warning to Gordon Brown that he risks leading Labour into a decade or more of opposition unless he makes urgent changes to his Government's approach. The Blairite former Home Secretary said Labour had "wasted much of the ...
Bin collections; POLITICS ENVIRONMENT.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Weekly rubbish collections have now been withdrawn from 18 million people. The figures, based on latest Government figures, shows at least 155 councils, out of 350, have so far adopted "alternate week" collections. ...
IN PARLIAMENT TODAY; POLITICS.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Commons: 9.30am Backbench business: Special Educational Needs (Information) Bill, second reading, opened by Sharon Hodgson (Lab Gateshead E and Washington W) Health and Safety Offences Bill, second reading, ...
Go-ahead for Prince's village; ENVIRONMENT.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Plans to expand the Prince of Wales's "model" village were approved despite objections that a residential block resembled a Dick-ensian workhouse, it was revealed yesterday. The almshouses block was given the go-ahead for Poundbury in Dorset despite criticism from Dorchester ...
Terrorist on scalding charge; COURT.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... A convicted al Qaida terrorist has been charged with scalding another prisoner at a top security jail. Fertiliser bomb plotter Omar Khyam allegedly poured boiling water over an armed robber at Frankland Prison, Durham, in October. The 26-year-old, from Crawley, West ...
Officers injured; ACCIDENT.(News)(Medical condition overview)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Two police officers were injured in a crash outside their headquarters yesterday. They were responding to an emergency call at about 5am when their vehicle was in a collision with an S-Type Jaguar near the Leicestershire Police HQ, said a force spokeswoman. One of ...
Old 'shopping list' DISCOVERY.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... A Chinese shopping list written 300 years ago has been found stuffed inside an 18th century vase. The discovery was made at Fairfax House in York which is closed to the public every January for cleaning. The vase has been in the elegant ...
Snow on way after strong winds hit West Midlands.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Byline: By Tom Scotney West Midlanders were told to wrap up today and look out for snow as a burst of freezing weather moved in towards the region. The Met Office said there was a good chance Birmingham and the surrounding area would be seeing snow some time in the ...
City jazz star Andy Hamilton acknowledges.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... City jazz star Andy Hamilton acknowledges the applause after being made an Honorary Fellow at Birmingham City University degree ...
'Murder accused lied because he was high'.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... A homeless man accused of killing a teenager and hiding her body in his suitcase told a court yesterday that he lied to police as he did not want them to know he was high on drugs at the time she is thought to have been murdered. Phillip Bell, 23, denies killing 17-year-old ...
Midland health trusts promoted to NHS 'premier league'.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Two Midland health trusts were promoted to the NHS's 'premier league' of hospitals as they were awarded foundation status yesterday. Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Stafford and Cannock hospitals, is the first in the county to become a self-governing ...
Threat of floods in London over next 25 years.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... London will be more at risk from flooding in the future, the Met Office said today as it marked the first quarter century of the Thames Barrier. It is 25 years since the Thames Barrier was first raised to protect London from possible flooding. Experts predict that in ...
Killer officer's bail was 'borderline'.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... A judge released a senior police officer accused of murder on bail despite feeling it was a "very borderline decision". Judge John Bevan QC told Garry Weddell, 47, he would go "straight back into custody" if he breached any of his bail conditions, according to court transcripts ...
Final victory in death for celebrated Great Escaper.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Byline: By Emma Rowley Hundreds of mourners paid their final tributes yesterday to the Midland RAF veteran who took part in the Second World War prison camp breakout immortalised in the film The Great Escape. Squadron Leader Jimmy James, of Ludlow, Shropshire, died ...
People still not wearing seatbelts, says RoSPA.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... About 370 people a year are killed in road crashes because they do not wear a seatbelt, safety campaigners claimed yesterday. The Birmingham-based Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents also said six per cent of adults fail to belt up when sitting in the front of cars, ...
1m prescriptions for obesity drugs.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... More than one million prescriptions for obesity drugs are now given out to patients, figures showed yesterday. There were 1.06 million prescription items for obesity drugs in 2006 - more than eight times the 127,000 figure for 1999. The drugs orlistat (Xenical) and ...
Police swoop on people smugglers.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Police yesterday smashed a people-smuggling ring suspected of bringing potentially hundreds of illegal migrants into the UK. Officers arrested 13 people as they raided 11 addresses across London and one in Kidderminster, Worcestershire. The majority of suspects are ...
Epsom salts to ease delivery; AMERICA.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Doctors can cut the risk of cerebral palsy in half for very premature babies by giving their mothers magnesium sulphate just before they give birth, according to new US research. The mineral compound, also known as Epsom salts, is already used to treat pregnancy-related high ...
British troops hurt in rocket blast; IRAQ.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Three British soldiers were wounded in a rocket attack on their base near Basra yesterday. An Army spokesman said multiple rockets were apparently launched from the city, which is about 12 miles away, although he said the attack was still being investigated. Three ...
Spears troubled; AMERICA.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Troubled Britney Spears was back in hospital yesterday for the second time this month after being taken from home by ambulance escorted by more than a dozen police motorcyclists, two patrol cars and a pair of helicopters. Celebrity websites reported that ...
Fireworks blast; TURKEY.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... An explosion at an illegal fireworks factory in Istanbul killed 17 people and injured 68 others yesterday. A spokesman said there had been a ...
Dumpling danger; CHINA.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... A company whose insecticidetainted frozen dumplings made ten people ill in Japan, is being investigated in China. The incident is the latest crisis to rock China's ...
Second opposition MP shot dead in Kenyan violence; By Jeff Root.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... An opposition MP was shot dead by a policeman in Kenya's Rift Valley yesterday, the second to be killed this week as the country's violent slide into chaos continues. David Too was killed in "a crime of passion"for having an affair with the officer's girlfriend, national police ...
Shedding light on Cold War spy couple's secrets.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Historians are seeking the release of US grand jury records in the case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, whose espionage trial for passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union became a defining moment in the Cold War. Fifty-five years after their execution, there are still questions ...
Burning smell as teen's feet severed on ride.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... A teenager has described the horrific moment when her feet were severed in fairground ride accident. Kaitlyn Lasitter, who was 13 a the time, said in court statement she remembered cables whipping against her body, a burning odour, and a fear that she might not survive. ...
Senior Afghan official dies in mosque bombing.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... The deputy governor of Helmand province and five other people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque in southern Afghanistan yesterday. The bomber struck in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, said provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal. ...
Accused coup plotter loses latest appeal.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Former SAS officer Simon Mann (above) has lost the latest round in his legal battle to avoid being put on trial in a west African country that accuses him of planning a coup. Mann is currently serving a four-year jail sentence in Zimbabwe after being arrested when he arrived ...
Internet's vulnerability highlighted as anchor accident cuts east's connection.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... A simple accident involving a ship's anchor wrecked internet access for a huge slice of the world yesterday. Experts said the chaos caused by the severing of just two undersea cables pointed to the system's vulnerability to terrorist or other attacks. After the ...
LifeStyle: A matter of life and death; Two Birmingham students are taking their first steps on the road to becoming the next Rice and Lloyd Webber, but for one of them it was a moment he almost didn't live to see.(Features)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Byline: Alison Jones reports There is a rather macabre irony to the fact that Mark Stevenson's first musical, written with old school friend and fellow University of Birmingham student David Hume is called Dancing with Death. It is not so very long ago that Mark's ...
AGENDA: McA-levels and a lesson in pointless qualifications.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Byline: ANDREW COWEN Let me get this straight . . . you will soon be able to get an A level by working in McDonald's. Is it any wonder that our education system is under fire? When I was a student, the first thing I was told was not to bank with Barclays because ...
AGENDA: How Birmingham can set the standard once again; Making Birmingham even stronger was the theme of last night's second Birmingham Forward Roger Dickens Annual Lecture delivered by West Midlands Minister Liam Byrne at the ICC. This is an edited version of his speech.(News)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Byline: Liam Byrne In part it was the extraordinary ambition of Chamberlain that helped Birmingham catch up in such dramatic style with the rest of the country. Many of the issues fought out in Birmingham in the 1870s had been anticipated in the Manchester controversies of the ...
AGENDA: A new legend who hit the banking world where it hurts.(Features)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Byline: ROSHAN DOUG I've always been fascinated by 'white collar crime' - what you and I would call fraud. There's something rather exciting, and enticing, about the idea that one individual can affect the mechanics of international trading. So you can imagine how ...
AGENDA: Asterisk count in Hansard is on the rise.(Features)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Byline: JONATHAN WALKER Standards are slipping in the House of Commons. A second MP has been accused of using a very rude word. Greg Mulholland, Liberal Democrat MP for Leeds North West, apparently became furious when a minister refused to let him intervene in a ...
Letter: The best use of taxpayers' money.(Letters)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Byline: LIN STOREY Dear Editor, Transforming legal aid is vital. We must move away from paying for hours worked, instead of services delivered for clients, if we are to continue increasing the number of people helped and ensure we make the best use of taxpayers' money (Changes ...
Letter: Theft and the misuse of funds.(Letters)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Byline: T TROUTH Dear Editor, I had to smile when I read your article about former West Midlands MP Derek Conway making an apology to the House of Commons, for the misuse of his MPs staffing allowance and paying his son pounds 40,000 for doing nothing. His ...
Letter: Farewell to an interview.(Letters)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Byline: MAT WARLEY Dear Editor, I can understand Pat Murphy feeling slightly put out that Randy won't talk to him (Slow Lerner needs PR lesson, Post Sport January 29). However, as he says, billionaires get to choose what they want to do. However, can he ...
Join in the hunt for words to inspire; WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS TO THE POST ANNIVERSARY GALA DINNER "I don't know that we (Birmingham) have any history. We got the lead from the first and have kept it ever since. That is all.".(Competition/Offers)
Feb 01, 2008 ... JOHN THACKRAY BUNCE Former Birmingham Post editor, John Thackray Bunce, was rightly proud of his leading role in Britain's second city. Over one century later, pride in Birmingham still flows through every edition of the city's broadsheet newspaper. Now, ...
THE BIRMINGHAM POST: Softly, softly approach is not best for society.(Leaders)
Feb 01, 2008 ... It should be pleasing to report figures showing crime is falling. Unfortunately, despite the celebratory air with which such statistics are put out by the police authorities, it is a sad fact that most people will not take them seriously. The reason is that whatever ...
THE BIRMINGHAM POST: On the move.(Leaders)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Birmingham's London office has established itself as a useful resource for the city's business community since it opened its doors three years ago. Now it is moving to what is billed as the capital's media centre. Charlotte Street, the new location, is actually ...
THE BIRMINGHAM POST: Fine day for tax.(Leaders)
Feb 01, 2008 ... Love him (surely there's got to be someone who does) or loathe him, there's no escaping the taxman. Before we indulge in the usual hissing and booing, in pseudo-panto style, of our favourite unwelcome personage, take pause and - wait for it - give a very small cheer. For a ...