The Birmingham Post (England) back issues from April 2008:
Councillors will take over AWM funding decisions.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Byline: By Jonathan Walker Political Editor A West Midlands "senate" of local council leaders could replace Advantage West Midlands, under plans unveiled by the Government. The region's top local government figures, including the leaders of councils such as ...
'Region needs longer runway'.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... The West Midlands will end up an "economic backwater" and have more in common with Tyneside than the south of England if expansion of Birmingham International Airport is blocked, it was warned last night. Director of communications for the airport John Morris and Lib Dem MP for ...
Gone in . . . quite a long time.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Top-of-the-range sports cars worth hundreds of thousands of pounds have been stolen from a newly opened Black Country dealership - along with some teabags. Ten sports cars worth pounds 350,000 were stolen from the Extreme UK Ltd dealership in Stourbridge. They included luxury ...
Cancer sufferer keeps on running; SOCIETY.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... A Royal Mail worker who has run more than 20 marathons for charity since being diagnosed with cancer five years ago was yesterday named Postman of the Year. Simon Illingworth, 45, a network distribution driver based in Coventry, was told on Christmas Eve 2003 that he had ...
Stars take reading to the masses; CELEBRITY.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Celebrities including Dudley-born comedian Lenny Henry, Geri Halliwell and Jo Brand are taking part in a new TV ad to encourage more people to read. They will be joined by comedians Bill Bailey, Jon Culshaw, Jo Caulfield and Lee Mack in a Government advert which will be ...
Shooting inquiry; POLICE.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Police were yesterday quizzing two men on suspicion of attempted murder after a double shooting in Birmingham over the weekend. The victims, aged 24 and 28, were found with gunshot wounds inside a property in Trinity Road, ...
Bookshop blaze; FIRE.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... A Birmingham bookshop caught alight yesterday. The fire broke out in the basement at Waterstones, in High ...
>.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Byline: By Emma Brady Health Correspondent A Black Country hospital trust that failed to achieve some of the Healthcare Commission's basic hygiene standards is the only one in the Midlands not to meet the Government's deep clean deadline, it was revealed yesterday. ...
More order and calm at T5, but flights still cancelled.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... The atmosphere in Heathrow's Terminal 5 yesterday morning was calm as passengers saw an end to snaking check-in queues and delays at departures. The building was starting to resemble the optimistic artists' impressions penned before its opening as travellers moved smoothly from ...
Foul-mouthed Brits did not breach broadcasting code.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... The Brits were not in breach of the broadcasting code despite 128 complaints about bad language and alcohol at the music awards ceremony, watchdog Ofcom ruled yesterday. The incident which provoked the most complaints saw host Sharon Osbourne verbally attack comedian Vic Reeves, ...
'Council reneged on pledge to revive Jewellery Quarter'.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Byline: By Paul Dale Public Affairs Editor Residents of Birmingham's historic Jewellery Quarter have accused the city council of failing on a promise to transform the area into a creative village for small businesses. Council leaders and the regional development ...
What the council said in 2002:.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... "The Jewellery Quarter is unique within the local, national and international context for its high concentration of craft industry with associated trades in one small area based in converted 18th and 19th century domestic properties and purpose-built later workshops and factories ...
What the Jewellery Quarter Neighbourhood Forum says today:.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... "The council's decision to prepare a bid for Unesco World Heritage inscription is welcome, but the implications need to be fully understood by policy-makers. "World Heritage is the highest form of cultural designation and unlike, for example, City of Culture status, requires a ...
Police keen to find man after fatal pub stabbing.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Police investigating the death of a man outside a Birmingham pub on March 26 have released the image of a man they would like to speak to in connection with the incident. Detectives from Bournville Lane police station are looking for John Anthony Leeson, who is 43 years old. ...
Legal system crumbling under weight of problems.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... The legal system is suffering from a shortage of judges, IT problems and a pounds 200 million backlog in repairs to court buildings, the most senior judge in England and Wales has warned. The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, said there had been a series of ...
'Not a shred of evidence to prove Diana murder'.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... There is "not a shred of evidence" Diana, Princess of Wales, was murdered, the coroner in her inquest directed yesterday. Launching a withering summary of the evidence in the six-month, multi-million pound case, Lord Justice Scott Baker also branded butler Paul Burrell a "liar" ....
Unions must hold council ballot; POLITICS.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Byline: By Paul Dale Public Affairs Editor Trade unions may be acting unlawfully if they call further strikes over Birmingham City Council's controversial salary shake-up without putting an improved offer to a formal ballot, a senior politician warned last night. ...
Free nationwide bus travel scheme will cost more than pounds 1bn a year; POLITICS.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Eleven million free travel smart cards have been issued but many buses are not equipped to read them, a report by MPs said yesterday. The report, by the House of Commons Transport Committee, said the situation was "daft". Ten years after committing to integrated bus ...
New grant scheme for green technology; POLITICS.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Changes to a Government scheme to encourage installation of low-carbon technology such as solar panels in homes and public buildings were announced yesterday. The overhaul aims to boost the uptake of the Low Carbon Building Programme (LCPB) through more generous grants to ...
Too many ministers 'busy doing nothing' POLITICS.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... The number of Government Ministers should be slashed by a quarter because too many are "busy doing nothing", a former key aide to Tony Blair said. Matthew Taylor, head of the Number 10 policy unit, insisted senior politicians were being paid for "detail" work that should be ...
Plans for 42-day terror detention could see legal challenge.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... The Government was warned yesterday that it could face a legal challenge if it goes ahead with plans to extend the time terrorist suspects can be held without charge to 42 days. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission said that it believed the plans set out in the Counter ...
Brown snubs Birmingham as he launches campaign.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Byline: By Jonathan Walker Political Editor Gordon Brown set his sights on seizing control of Coventry in the May local elections - but stayed away from Birmingham, as he launched Labour's campaign in the West Midlands. The Prime Minister's failure to visit Birmingham ...
Baccalaureate pledge is dumped after rethink.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... The Government has abandoned a pledge to ensure that every area will have a school teaching the International Baccalaureate (IB), Ministers announced yesterday. Many parents and pupils favour the IB because of fears of the dumbing down of A-levels. And in 2006 Tony ...
Livingstone promises to provide affordable homes.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Ken Livingstone yesterday promised to deliver 50,000 new affordable homes in London over three years if re-elected. As the battle for City Hall approaches its final month, the Mayor unveiled his housing manifesto with an appeal to first-time buyers priced out of the market. ...
Boris 'would be tough on crime'.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Boris Johnson yesterday pledged to make tackling crime his number one priority as he launched his bid to become Mayor of London. The Tory hopeful described the killings last year of 27 teenagers in the city as "a symptom of something badly wrong in our society". ...
Ministers act on forced marriage; POLITICS.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Ministers are set to write to all schools and councils setting out their responsibilities in helping prevent forced marriages, it was announced yesterday. The move comes after it emerged earlier this month that many schools in cities with high rates of forced marriages are ...
Companies ready to offload schemes; PENSIONS.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... The number of companies considering offloading their pension liabilities has doubled in the past year, research showed yesterday. Around 62 per cent of companies with a defined benefit scheme, which includes final salary pensions, said they were preparing for a scheme buy-out ...
Taoiseach talk; IRELAND.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Irish Premier Bertie Ahern is to make a major speech in Dublin this week to mark the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. The Taoiseach is to address a UCD conference on Thursday, organised by the Institute of British ...
Sister's MoD plea ahead of coroner's inquest.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... The sister of one of 10 servicemen killed when an RAF Hercules aircraft crashed in Iraq urged a coroner yesterday not to be deterred from a "full, frank and probing" inquiry. Wiltshire Coroner David Masters began yesterday's inquest in the wake of a High Court challenge by the ...
Appeal of city living attracts high-flying birds of prey.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Byline: By Sarah Prendergast Clifftops, quarries and wild crags might be the usual nesting grounds for peregrine falcons approaching breeding season - but Birmingham's industrial sprawl also seems to have become a home for the birds of prey. A pair of peregrines have ...
Former Rock chief gets pounds 760k - 2,000 staff will lose their jobs.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Byline: By Matt Dickinson A pounds 760,000 pay-off for the former chief of nationalised bank Northern Rock was yesterday branded a "reward for failure". Adam Applegarth, who stepped down as chief executive in December, will receive the sum despite leading the lender ...
Is everyone else looking at you?(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... A study which demonstrates how fear stalks the underground has revealed high levels of paranoia in the British population. Paranoid thoughts involve exaggerated feelings of persecution or threat. Experts used to think they were normally confined to people with ...
A rare Pablo Picasso showing the artist in a lover's.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... A rare Pablo Picasso showing the artist in a lover's clinch was found in a bedroom with two other important works, an auction house said yesterday. The early watercolour was found propped against a bedroom wall in the West Country alongside two equine paintings by British ...
Final plane crash victims named as tributes pour in.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Byline: By Alex Young The two remaining victims of Sunday's plane crash were named yesterday. Sources said Christopher Allarton, 25, and Michael Chapman, 57, the private jet's co-pilot, were among the five men killed in the incident in Farnborough, Kent. ...
Starving could dramatically help chemotherapy patients.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Temporary starvation may strengthen cancer patients against chemotherapy, allowing higher doses to be used with safety, a groundbreaking study has shown. If the finding is confirmed in trials, it could dramatically improve cancer treatment. The research indicates a ...
Deer rescued by RNLI lifeboat; WILDLIFE.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... A young deer was rescued by a lifeboat crew after it was chased into the sea by dogs. The deer was stuck between two beach huts at Mudeford, in Dorset, when it bolted into the water after being scared by the dogs on Sunday afternoon. Three crew on board the RNLI ...
First Trust School opens doors; EDUCATION.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... A special school was yesterday set to become the first in the country to acquire Trust School status. Montacute School in Canford Heath, Dorset, will be supported by a charitable trust made up of partners from academia, business and the charitable sector under the Government's ...
Pensions plan; LIABILITIES.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... The number of companies considering offloading pension liabilities has doubled in a year, research showed yesterday. Around 62 per cent of companies with a defined benefit scheme, which includes final salary pensions, said they were preparing for a scheme buy-out ...
Duo on the run; RIOT.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Ten young offenders escaped from a secure unit after a late-night riot, it emerged yesterday. Police are still hunting two of the youths who went on the run following the incident at St Mary's Kenmure in ...
Jail for false rape accuser.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... A woman who falsely accused a soldier of attacking and raping her in a secluded area of an RAF base was yesterday branded "wicked" by a judge who jailed her for a year. Amanda Lang, 21, had consensual sex with Lance Corporal Phillip Trowell in the room she shared with her airman ...
Deep breathing t'ai chi could help fight diabetes.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... T'ai chi exercises could help diabetics control blood sugar levels, researchers said today. A 12-week programme was shown to boost the immune system in people suffering Type 2, linked to obesity. Around 1.8 million people in the UK have Type 2 and another 750,000 are ...
Straw's release measures see sex offenders out early.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... A pair of sex offenders have been released from jail early under controversial measures to free up space in overcrowded jails, it was revealed yesterday. Ministry of Justice figures showed the two sex criminals were freed up to 18 days early in February. The ...
Coleshill man sole survivor of sea crash.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Byline: By Alison Sanders War hero Laurie Butler was forced to ditch into the sea during a vicious storm as he served in the Royal Air Force volunteer reserve during the Second World War. Today the 85-year-old Coleshill man will remember lost colleagues as veterans ...
Archaeologists dig Stonehenge.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Archaeologists yesterday began an historic dig which they hope will unravel the ancient mystery of Stonehenge. A trench is being excavated at the World Heritage site in a bid to establish the precise dating of the Double Bluestone Circle, the first stone structure built there ...
Fraud warning after pensioner lost pounds 230k.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... A trading standards' chief yesterday sent out a warning after a pensioner was tricked into buying pounds 230,000 of worthless shares. Thieves in Germany tricked the Dorset man into handing over the cash for shares in a non-existent company. The man, in his 80s from ...
Zimbabwe poll silence suspicion.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Byline: By Adrian Cullen The main opposition party to Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe yesterday claimed it was winning the country's election by a huge margin. With an unexplained delay in official returns from the vote on Saturday, the Movement for Democratic ...
Olympic torch lands in Chinese capital.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... The Olympic torch touched down in Beijing amid high security yesterday before a round-the-world relay expected to be a lightning rod for protests against China's policies and human rights practices. The arrival was shown live on state television, and comes a week after the ...
Murder suspects' bid for release.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... The three suspects held over the murder of British student Meredith Kercher will make a final appeal to be freed today in Italy's highest court. Judges in Rome will hear arguments from defence lawyers requesting the release of US student Amanda Knox, her former Italian boyfriend ...
Two marines killed in Helmand explosion.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Two Royal Marines have been killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said yesterday The deaths bring the number of British military fatalities in Afghanistan since the start of operations in November 2001 to 91. The soldiers, serving ...
Musharraf swears in new cabinet.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf yesterday swore in a new cabinet made up of political opponents who have pledged to cut his once-sweeping powers. Twenty-four ministers took the oath from Mr Musharraf during a low-key ceremony in Islamabad snubbed by leaders of the ...
Kangaroo called off; AUSTRALIA.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... A public outcry has halted the planned cull of 400 kangaroos on a disused military base near Canberra. The Australian Defence Department said it has asked the state government to approve a trial of relocating the animals instead. It said "the trial would deliver ...
Heaviest parrot back from brink; NEW ZEALAND.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... The critically endangered Kakapo, the world's largest flightless parrot, has edged further back from extinction with five new chicks hatched in recent weeks in its native New Zealand. Officials say the five chicks have boosted to 91 the ...
Clinton bullish; US.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Hillary Clinton, who has feasted on adversity in the Democratic presidential primaries, is rejecting calls from key Barack Obama supporters to drop out of the race. The former first lady's campaign declared she will ...
Convict killed; CANADA.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... A convicted child pornographer was killed in a Canadian prison uprising, officials said. The victim at Mountain Institution in Agassiz, British Columbia was identified as Michael Andrew Gibbon, aged 39. "One ...
Paternity tests; IRELAND.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Irish mothers who refuse to believe their cherished sons have fathered illegitimate children are among the most popular users of DNA paternity services, it was revealed yesterday. A leading paternity testing company claimed its business ...
AGENDA: Rick gave the rhythmless boys licence to thrill.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... We're no strangers to love. You know the rules, and so do I. A full commitment's what I'm thinking of. You wouldn't get this from any other guy . . . Not my words, although God only knows I would have loved to have sung them. You should hardly need reminding, such is the eternal ...
AGENDA: Tradition does not excuse cruelty in modern times; At what stage do deeply held cultural beliefs and practices clash with a modern compassionate society, asks former Birmingham poet laureate Roshan Doug.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Byline: Roshan Doug. Tradition per se is not - and never has been - a convincing argument or a decent justification for maintaining abhorrent cultural practices. Throughout history rationale has always collided with superstition and religious beliefs. You ...
AGENDA: Post office politics is Government at its worst.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Byline: JOHN HEMMING The wayin which the Government has behaved over sub post offices has been an example of British politics at its worst. Sub post offices are important to a lot of people who get government services (mainly cash) from them. The Post Office ...
AGENDA: Taxing time for self assessment.(News)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Byline: ANDEEP MANGAL Aext week those of you who fall into one of the self assessment categories will receive your income tax return. Although most people employ a professional to complete and submit their return, surely by now everybody knows that it is due by January 31 in ...
Vital blood service should not be moved.(Letters)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Byline: P WHITFIELD Balsall Heath Dear Editor, I would like to express my concerns over the plans to move the processing part of the local blood service to Bristol. As I understand it, there are plans to move all the processing and screening away from Birmingham. ...
Erosion of personal liberty.(Letters)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Byline: DUNCAN EDWARDS Lickey Dear Editor, We seem to be getting to the stage where the state actually seems to believe that the population of this nation has become totally devoid of what used be known as "common sense". Surely it is self-evident that drinking during ...
LETTERSL Tricked into joining EU.(Letters)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Byline: Coun PETER HOLLINGWORTH Harborne Dear Editor, I feel so sorry for Harold Nash, having such a blinkered view of the empire which did so much to benefit so many people - water supply, railways, roads, schools, hospitals, law and order - the list could go on and on. Of ...
Let's hope Brown's luck over economy keeps going; THE MIRMINGHAM POST.(Leaders)
Apr 01, 2008 ... The Prime Minister set out to reassure the nation that Britain's economy is not in crisis, in his interview with The Birmingham Post today. His aim may have been to try to counteract reports of home repossessions in the United States, and speculation that the United Kingdom ...
Brummagem idea; THE MIRMINGHAM POST.(Leaders)
Apr 01, 2008 ... Tensions in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter between those who envisage keeping the area as the working embodiment of the city's heritage and others who see the potential for turning vacant industrial buildings into residential apartments have been bubbling away under the surface for several ...
War of words; THE MIRMINGHAM POST.(Leaders)
Apr 01, 2008 ... So the Brits escaped censure from Ofcom after host Sharon Osbourne called Vic Reeves a "p***head", adding "P*** off you b******, p*** off!" What a ****ing relief. Why does a bunch of *****s like Ofcom feel the need to regulate what adults say to adults long after the ...