Ryan Hologad's Open Salon Blog

Schools vet parents for Christmas festivities

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:11:19 -0500

Parents who want to accompany their children to Christmas carol services and other festive activities are being officially vetted for criminal records in case they are paedophiles.

In the latest expansion of the government’s child protection agenda, parents are checked against a database of people banned from working with children for sex offences and for other reasons.

Among those affected are parents at a village primary school who have been told they must be vetted before they can accompany pupils on a 10-minute walk to a morning carol service at the local church.

Other primaries have instituted vetting for parents attending Christmas discos on school premises. Some schools require checks on parents who volunteer to walk with children from the school to post letters to Father Christmas.

Cameron rejected UKIP pact on EU referendum

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 14:11:15 -0500

The UK Independence Party offered to disband if David Cameron agreed to hold a referendum on the ratified Lisbon treaty.

Lord Pearson of Rannoch, UKIP’s newly elected leader, says in an interview with The Times today that he proposed the deal after the party’s strong showing in the European elections.

He reveals that he approached Lord Strathclyde, the Tory leader in the Lords, six months ago and asked him to tell Mr Cameron that if he guaranteed a referendum and gave the Conservative Party a free vote then UKIP would disband and its members stand down. He received no answer. Several months later Mr Cameron announced that the Tories would not hold a referendum.

Cameron rejected UKIP pact on EU referendum

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:11:08 -0500

The UK Independence Party offered to disband if David Cameron agreed to hold a referendum on the ratified Lisbon treaty.

Lord Pearson of Rannoch, UKIP’s newly elected leader, says in an interview with The Times today that he proposed the deal after the party’s strong showing in the European elections.

Fears stalk global markets on Dubai debt crisis

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:11:26 -0500

Shares in London tumbled as the market opened this morning, following steep losses in Asia, as investor panic over banks' exposure to Dubai's growing financial problems gathered pace.

The FTSE 100 index of leading UK shares fell by 83.46 points to 5,110.67 in early trading, adding to yesterday's loss of 170.68 points. The FTSE bounced back, to fall by 12 points to 5,182.13 after more than an hour of trading but all eyes will be on American shares when Wall Street opens later today after being shut for Thanksgiving yesterday.

Masayoshi Okamoto, head of dealing at Jujiya Securities in Tokyo, said: “I think we won’t know the full impact of Dubai until Monday after we see what happens in New York, where bank shares are likely to be hit pretty hard.”

In Frankfurt, the Dax index fell 1.32 per cent to 5,540.34 while in France, the CAC lost 1 per cent to 3,639.66.

Tories admit David Cameron Islamic schools claim

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:11:37 -0500

David Cameron was forced onto the defensive today over his claim that two schools linked to a radical Islamic group had received cash from public funds designed to tackle extremism.

The Tory leader’s aides admitted that he had made mistakes in raising the issue of funding for two independent schools run by the Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation.

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons yesterday, Mr Cameron described ISF as a “front organisation” for Hizb ut Tahrir, which Tony Blair promised to ban in the wake of the July 7 bombings in London in 2005.

The Tory leader urged Mr Brown to “get a grip on this issue” and proscribe Hizb ut Tahrir. “This is a school set up by extremists, passed by Ofsted and approved by the Charity Commission, but in receipt of public money,” said Mr Cameron.