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This page will give you a glimpse of how equality and human rights issues are being reported in the media at the moment.
Please note that these stories belong to other organisations and media, and as such do not represent the views of the Commission. Where possible we provide links to these stories in the relevant publications, in case you’d like to find out more.
New proposals on social care
Most national newspapers have covered the new proposals from Gordon Brown on social care. The front page of the Daily Mail announces, ‘Now a tax to pay for old age’. It goes on, ‘every working family could face paying an ‘ageing tax’ to provide care for the elderly, Gordon Brown proposed yesterday’. According to the Mail it would take the form of a compulsory levy to cover the cost of care home places in the last stages of their lives. There is some concern that those who earn more may have to pay twice as much as others. The Telegraph also reports on the same story, it says, ‘radical proposals to reform the way the elderly and disabled are looked after would make the care system fairer and easier to understand’. The Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, is quoted as saying that 'reforms should end the means-tested system, under which people with no more than £21,500 in assets receive no state assistance for a nursing home'. The Guardian reports that ‘Brown begins fightback with tax compensation’.
Disabled woman challenges closure of post offices
The Financial Times reports on a severely disabled woman who challenged the government plans to shut up to 2,500 post offices, claiming ministers failed to consider the impact on disabled residents. She is seeking a judicial review of the closure programme, which, she claims, would breach anti-discrimination legislation. The government is contesting the application.
Town halls to tackle racial 'hotspots'
The Times and the BBC website have reported on new guidance issued by the Department of Communities and Local Government. The report advises town halls to, 'map out racial tension hot spots' to improve community cohesion.
Exploration of BNP success in Yorkshire town
In the Independent’s ‘Extra’ section Julian Baggini visits a town in Yorkshire and tries to work out why the BNP have done well there in the local elections. He found that many people felt that ‘immigration was now out of control and that immigrants were being granted resources denied to the 'indigenous' population’. He found that some British-born ethnic minorities had no problem with the BNP and that to dismiss all opposition to immigration as racist is nonsense. He goes on to say ‘Opposition to new immigration by families of immigrants is not at all uncommon, and it this is not based on race, why can’t the opposition of a white Briton be equally free of bigotry?’ He speaks to the BNP councillor and finds him to be ‘genuinely free of prejudice’. He goes on to talk about patriotism and the notion that ‘minority cultures have sometimes been given greater respect than the majority one.’ He does, however, meet a woman whose sons were racially abused in the town.
Illegal immigrants have national insurance numbers
The Daily Mail reports that thousands of known illegal immigrants still have National Insurance numbers. It reports that the Government gave out NI numbers to any illegal immigrant, as long as they had a partner who was a British citizen. The justification was that it allowed the Government to prevent benefit fraud.
Disabled woman spare prison
The Times, as well as several others, reports on a woman who tried repeatedly to kill her disabled husband and was spared a prison sentence after a court accepted that she had been unable to cope with the strain of caring for him.
Course to get women back into architecture
The Guardian (Education) reports on a new course which hopes to entice trained female architects back into the male-dominated profession.