UK immigration backlog ‘tops 500,000’ say MPs

The backlog of unresolved immigration cases has grown to more than 500,000, a group of influential MPs has said.

The Home Affairs Committee said that at present rates it could take 37 years to clear.

In its latest report into the system, the cross-party committee questioned whether splitting up the UK Border Agency would change anything.

Which judging by these figures it clearly hasn’t, how can there be a backlog of this size, surely when the total figure topped 50,000 the powers that be would have got together and said maybe we should make some inroads into this and get that number down.

What’s even worse about this is the Home Office disagrees with the figure and says the backlog is only around 460,000, as if saying that would make everybody suddenly go oh it’s only 460,000 that’s not so bad I’m sure they’ll clear that in a jiffy, 35 years to you and me. 

Kremlin security agency to buy typewriters ‘to avoid leaks’

Russia's agency responsible for the Kremlin security is buying typewriters - a move reportedly prompted by recent leaks by WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden.

A 486,540-rouble (£9,860) order for electric typewriters has been placed by the FSO agency on the state procurement website.

The FSO has not commented on why it needs the old-fashioned devices.

If this is true, which I do hope it is, this is an interesting way to try and prevent serious leaks of confidential information.

In fairness this idea has its merits, for starters it means the Kremlin will save money on its electricity bills.

But why stop at typewriters, why not go back even further to carrier pigeons, or tattooing messages on to people’s heads.

It would the ultimate irony of there was a leak of important Russian documents in the wake of this story, which left everybody at the Kremlin rushing around burning piles and piles of paper documents that were re-introduced in a bid to prevent leaks.  

Head teachers urged to ban packed lunches

Head teachers in England are being urged to ban packed lunches to increase the take-up of school dinners and promote healthy eating.

A government-commissioned school food review by two founders of the Leon restaurant chain says take-up is low at 43% despite huge quality improvements.

The authors of the School Food Plan say packed lunches are nearly always less nutritious than a cooked meal.

This is a stupid, stupid, stupid proposal, its great school meals have improved but I don’t see why that should lead to a ban on packed lunches.

Packed lunches are cheaper for a start, and this point that they’re less nutritious than a cooked meal is also misguided because the kids will be getting a cooked meal at home in the evening, so why would they need two per day.

As I said it’s great that the quality of school meals has improved, but you don’t need to go any further and say all kids must eat them and ban packed lunches, that’s a step too far. 

Watchdog to back £6,000 MP pay rise

MPs’ pay should be increased by £6,000 to £74,000 a year from 2015, the Commons expenses watchdog has said.

But the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) also recommends cuts to perks such as meal allowances and taxis and a less generous pension scheme.

And “golden goodbyes” paid to retiring MPs could also be trimmed.

Once again our dear friends in Westminster show that all they care about is themselves and to hell with everybody else.

In a time when pay rises everywhere are limited to a tiny amount or are being frozen altogether, MPs have decided now is the time to demand an almost 10% pay increase, and have made the minimal sacrifice of cutting a few perks, which the pay increase will probably cover anyway.

What’s even more annoying about this is MPs are currently paid £66,396, with that figure due to rise to £67,060 in April 2014 and by a further 1% the following year to £67,731.

I’m ok with that kind of rise because it’s sensible and in line with what’s happening across the public sector, so this call for a 10% pay rise further demonstrates that with regards to this issue MPs are clueless and greedy.

Channel 4s The Murder Trial was fascinating

The Murder Trial broadcast on Channel 4 last night was bold and brilliant television, it condensed the five week trial of fruit and veg wholesaler Nat Fraser as he seeked to be acquitted for the murder of his wife in 1998.

The way the court proceedings where interwoven with interviews from family members, witnesses and both counsels was handled with skill and provided a great insight into the inner workings of the courts.

I urge anyone who missed it to make some time in your schedule for it you won’t be disappointed, and while I won’t give anything away I was surprised, namely I didn’t agree, with the verdict the jury reached, but the programme was five weeks worth of proceedings condensed into two hours so that has to be a factor.

This programme certainly made a case for televising more trials in future, The Murder Trial was the most riveting two hours of TV I’ve watched in a very long time.  

Cafe owner ‘warns’ customers she is black

A cafe owner has put up a sign telling customers she is black because she is fed up with people walking out when they see the colour of her skin.

The sign on the door of Yeanon Cafe in Ossett, West Yorkshire, reads: "I am a black woman... If you are allergic to black people, don't come in."

Martha-Renée Kolleh said she put it there because of the way she has been treated by some customers.

The first thing I read of this article was the sign and I have to say I found it rather amusing, but then you read on and it gets increasingly more depressing, and I don’t understand why some people in Osset are surprised that a black woman runs a cafe, and why when they discover this fact they leave, makes no sense to me whatsoever.

However, I think that this idea of putting up a sign outside shops, cafes etc. telling customers about the owner would make the high streets a more interesting place.

You walk past your local greasy spoon and there’s a sign saying owner is a two-chinned heavyset man with a dicky heart and the food he serves will clog all your arteries and put you at risk of heart attacks and diabetes, come on in.    

F1: Media banned from pit lanes

The FIA has banned media and ‘non-essential personnel’ from Grand Prix pit lanes after a cameraman was injured at last Sunday’s German Grand Prix.

A loose wheel from the car of Red Bull's Mark Webber struck cameraman Paul Allen, breaking his collarbone.

The ban, issued by Formula 1’s ruling body, covers “anyone other than event marshals and team personnel”.

Given the amount of negative coverage F1 has received in the last few months, this decision is understandable but I think the FIA have been overly cautious.

Yes the incident where Paul Allen got hit by a tyre was very nasty, but instead of banning the media altogether to me it would have made more sense for them to make all media personnel working in the pit lanes to wear the appropriate safety gear.

Additionally if you look at the incident when was the last time a similar thing happened, it’s unfortunate but it’s a very rare and hardly warrants a dramatic change in the rules.

You also have to feel for Pirelli because the tyre changes they made for the German Grand Prix made for a great race, and restored some of their damaged reputation, but even amongst all that one of their tyres nearly took a cameraman’s head off. 

Killers’ life terms ‘breached their human rights’

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled the whole life tariffs given to murderer Jeremy Bamber and two other killers breached their human rights.

The judges ruled by 16 to 1 that there had to be both a possibility of release and review of their sentence.

However it said this did not mean there was “any prospect of imminent release”.

On the issue of whether Britain should stay in the EU I believe we should, and when David Cameron says he plans to renegotiate our relationship with Europe I would hope that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is first thing on his list, because its rulings continue to undermine British law with this as the latest example.

ECHR makes our laws pretty much irrelevant because anyone in Britain who is unhappy with the judge’s ruling in their court case can appeal and appeal and appeal, and even if those appeals are rejected and the original decision is upheld they can still appeal to ECHR, who will invariably overturn the original decision.

I fail to see how giving the most dangerous of individuals a whole life tariff breaches their human rights, you can try to be rational and say that anyone is capable of change but as I see it there are some people who are just evil and will never change and shouldn’t be entitled to a review or any possibility of release.

In fact I would go one step further and bring back the death penalty for those deemed the most dangerous, and I am well aware that studies have shown that it doesn’t act as a deterrent, but my argument is an economic one.

Instead of spending however much it costs to keep the most dangerous housed for x number of years, wouldn’t it make more sense to sentence them to death and redistribute the money saved back into rehabilitation programmes for those who’ve actually got a chance of reforming.      

Abu Qatada deported from UK

Radical cleric Abu Qatada is being held in a high security jail near the Jordanian capital Amman, after being deported from the UK.

His plane left RAF Northolt at 02:46 BST for his home country, where he appeared in court to be charged with terror offences, which he denies.

Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "delighted" at his removal.

After all the excitement of the sporting success Britain has enjoyed over the weekend, this was an added bonus that the government have finally got rid of this vile scumbag, and we’ll never have to see or hear from him ever again.

But now he’s gone, at a cost of £1.7m and a period of eight years, it’s now time to re-assess the process by which the government can deport an individual because this case time and time again highlighted numerous problems, and at times was quite farcical.     

Getting rid of Qatada was a great first step, changing the law to streamline the process and ensure future deportations aren’t as lengthy and costly would be a great leap.  

Andy Murray wins Wimbledon

Andy Murray won his first Wimbledon title and ended Britain's 77-year wait for a men's champion with a hard-fought victory over world number one Novak Djokovic.

The Scot, 26, converted his fourth championship point in a dramatic final game to win 6-4 7-5 6-4 and claim his second major title.

I remember when I first started watching Wimbledon all I ever heard was a Brit won’t win it ever again, and over the years the repetition of that sentence conditioned me into thinking well maybe they it won’t happen, but thankfully that hasn’t turned out to be the case and what a performance it was by Murray.

After the way the match started I was expecting a five hour, epic, and although I wasn’t surprised Murray won, I was surprised he did it in three.

Djokovic was worn down from that unbelievable semi-final on Friday and after Murray fought back and took the second set it looked to me like he didn’t believe he could come back and do it in five.

Murray’s win capped a remarkable weekend for British sport, you had the Lions win their first tour in 16 years, then Chris Froome putting in two huge efforts in the mountains to be in the yellow jersey, McDowell winning the French Open and we’re favourites for the Ashes that start on Wednesday, not bad eh.

Back to the tennis and now it seems with Nadal’s injuries and Federer starting to fade, this certainly won’t be the last final we see between Djokovic and Murray, in fact I’m sure all bets are already off for them meeting in the final of the U.S. Open.

But for now the long wait has been ended and I can finally say I saw a Brit win Wimbledon.