Number of children treated for cannabis addiction hits record levels
Children receiving treatment for cannabis addiction is at a record level. Experts are blaming the huge rise in drug addiction on the popularity of a new stronger skunk, which is several times more potent than regular cannabis. Meanwhile police officers have been instructed to go soft on people caught using khat – a drug popular among the Somali community – as a ban came into force this week. More than 13,500 children under the age of 18 received medical treatment for drug addiction last year, with cannabis being cited as the ‘main problem drug’. The statistics were released by Public Health England, an executive agency of the UK’s Department of Health. A spokesman said: ‘Stronger cannabis strains may be causing more problems. The figures showed that in seven years there had been a 50 per cent rise in children receiving treatment. The report also revealed that 200 children aged 12 or below were treated for drug addiction last year.
Court of Appeal hears challenge to 'anti-Islam' dismissal
This week, the Court of Appeal heard the case of Christian Legal Centre, regarding Nohad Halawi, who was dismissed from her job at Heathrow airport after her comments were incorrectly perceived by Muslim colleagues as being offensive to Islam. Judgment in the case has been reserved until a later date. Nohad Halawi, who worked for 13 years in World Duty Free (WDF) in Heathrow’s Terminal 3, spoke about Christianity and was perceived by Muslim colleagues to have given offence. The management, without any proper procedure, immediately took away her airside pass which meant she was prevented from working, despite an unblemished record. An Employment Tribunal ruled that Nohad had no protection under employment law as she was not technically employed, despite significant evidence to the contrary. Nohad contacted the Christian Legal Centre and Standing Council, Paul Diamond, represented her.
Call for an end to Christian assemblies in schools
Legislation stating schools must hold a daily ‘broadly Christian’ assembly is at risk of being abolished. The National Governors' Association (NGA) has declared the law, as set out under the 1944 Education Act, to be ‘meaningless’, and has urged the government to put an end to its application in non-faith schools. ‘Few schools can or do meet the current legislative requirement for a daily act of collective worship, partly because there isn't space in most schools to gather students together, and often because staff are unable or unwilling to lead a collective worship session. There is also the added issue that worship implies belief in a particular faith - if the 'act of worship' is not in your faith then it is meaningless as an act of worship,’ a policy statement from the NGA reads.
UK boys 'lured to Syria to fight'
The father of a British teenager who travelled to Syria to join jihadists believes his son was radicalised by an imam at a UK mosque. Rahim Kalantar told the BBC his son Ali, 18, travelled to Syria with two friends from Coventry in March, and he believed he was now fighting with ISIS. He said he believed Ali - who was planning to study computer science at university - had been radicalised during classes at a mosque after evening prayer. ‘He [the imam] encouraged them and sent them down this road,’ he said. The iman has denied these allegations. Up to 500 Britons are thought to have travelled to the Middle East to fight in the onflict, officials say.
Thousands of mothers involved in repeat child care cases
Thousands of mothers over the past seven years have had successive children removed by family courts in England, the BBC has learned. Court records for that period show 7,143 mothers were involved in repeat care cases - affecting 22,790 children. The research was carried out by the Universities of Brunel and Manchester and funded by the Nuffield Foundation. This is the first time such data has been produced. It backs up what judges have observed in their own courts for many years - that many mothers are stuck in a destructive cycle of pregnancies and care proceedings. The courts remove a young child or baby from a mother, owing to abuse or neglect, only to see the same mother return to court a year or two later, with a new baby, and unable to care for that one either. Most misuse drink or drugs - or both.
UK law is 'intolerant' towards Christians, says cardinal
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor warns that UK law does not protect the rights of Christians, branding it ‘intolerant’. The former Catholic Archbishop has called for greater religious freedom in Britain, insisting that the law has done ‘too little’ to protect and promote the rights of Christians. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor has written an open letter to The Telegraph in response to its leader article which declared: ‘It is obvious that there is a growing conflict between religious freedom and legislation on equality, and that a new balance has to be struck’. The Telegraph itself was responding to a recent speech given by Baroness Hale, the UK's most senior female judge, who suggested that the law may be discriminatory against Christians. Speaking before the Law Society of Ireland in Dublin, Hale highlighted the case of Christian hoteliers Peter and Hazelmary Bull, who were found guilty of discrimination against a gay couple after instituting a policy that only married couples were allowed to stay in their double bedrooms.