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WHAT HAPPENED ON 1st May 2006?
30th April 2006
Tax credits still being overpaid
The government has admitted it has massively overpaid tax credits to families for the second year in a row. The Commons Public Accounts Committee estimates that in 2004-05 Revenue & Customs (HMRC) overpaid claimants by #2.2bn the same amount as in 2003-04. The MPs also say problems continue to plague the working of the HMRC tax credit computer system. Hundreds of readers have contacted the BBC with stories of tax credit overpayment & administrative errors.
1st May 2006
Clarke urged to address Commons
The home secretary must update the House of Commons on the hunt for 1 023 foreign criminals released without being deported the Conservatives say. Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said he wanted an "urgent statement" on how many had been arrested & sent home. Charles Clarke has faced calls for his resignation but told a local newspaper he hoped to continue in his job. It emerged he took three weeks to tell the prime minister the criminals including murderers had been freed.
1st May 2006
Clarke to face MPs over prisoners
Charles Clarke is set to update MPs on Wednesday about efforts to track down foreign prisoners who were released & not deported it has emerged. Commons Speaker Michael Martin said the home secretary had made the assurance following Conservative requests for an urgent statement in the House. The move comes as Tony Blair seeks to repair damage done to Labour's local election prospects by recent scandals. Mr Blair has been forced to defend Mr Clarke & his deputy John Prescott.
30th April 2006
Buyer found for famous boot firm
A famous Dumfries-based wellington boot maker has been bought over by a British consortium in a £3m deal. The 150-year-old Hunter Rubber Company was put up for sale after being placed into administration on 10 April. The remaining 64 workers will be retained by the new consortium which is led by Conservative party treasurer Jonathan Marland. Administrator KPMG said the deal was a "good result" for the employees & the company's creditors.
1st May 2006
Clarke urged to address Commons
The home secretary must update the House of Commons on the hunt for 1 023 foreign criminals released without being deported the Conservatives say. Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said he wanted an "urgent statement" on how many had been arrested & sent home. Charles Clarke has faced calls for his resignation but told a local newspaper he hoped to continue in his job. It emerged he took three weeks to tell the prime minister the criminals including murderers had been freed.
1st May 2006
Britain 'needs compulsory voting'
Britons should be forced to vote in elections a think-tank has said. Think-tank The Institute for Public Policy Research's report suggests those who do not vote should be fined to combat low turnout at the polls. The research comes just days before local elections in England where turnout is expected to be low. Several Cabinet ministers support the move but the Conservatives have warned that compulsion could be used as a government "cash cow".
30th April 2006
Foreign prisoner numbers mounting
About 1 500 more foreign prisoners are being held in English & Welsh jails than was thought it has emerged. The Home Office has confirmed there are 915 inmates whose nationality has not been determined. Another 600 prisoners falsely claimed to be British. Charles Clarke is under fire after admitting 1 023 prisoners facing potential deportation were set free. It was only on Tuesday that police were asked to find the missing men despite concerns being raised last July.
1st May 2006
Clarke urged to address Commons
The home secretary must update the House of Commons on the hunt for 1 023 foreign criminals released without being deported the Conservatives say. Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said he wanted an "urgent statement" on how many had been arrested & sent home. Charles Clarke has faced calls for his resignation but told a local newspaper he hoped to continue in his job. It emerged he took three weeks to tell the prime minister the criminals including murderers had been freed.
1st May 2006
Three dead in Iraq convoy attack
Three people have died in an attack on a private security convoy south of Baghdad the UK Foreign Office said. One British civilian was hurt in the attack but there are no details of the injuries. The three people killed were not Britons and the nationality of a second injured person was unknown. Meanwhile the British military said two British civilians had been hurt on Saturday in a bomb blast near Basra in southern Iraq.
30th April 2006
Freed criminals not on computer
Details of more than 20 of the 80 most dangerous foreign prisoners freed without facing deportation cannot be found on the national police computer. They include one murderer & a rapist. A source told the BBC police may not have sufficient details to run a check. But Home Office minister Hazel Blears insisted the most serious offenders would be out on licence & monitored. Home Secretary Charles Clarke is to report on progress tracing hundreds of the foreign convicts freed since 1999.
1st May 2006
Clarke urged to address Commons
The home secretary must update the House of Commons on the hunt for 1 023 foreign criminals released without being deported the Conservatives say. Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said he wanted an "urgent statement" on how many had been arrested & sent home. Charles Clarke has faced calls for his resignation but told a local newspaper he hoped to continue in his job. It emerged he took three weeks to tell the prime minister the criminals including murderers had been freed.
1st May 2006
Clarke to face MPs over prisoners
Charles Clarke is set to update MPs on Wednesday about efforts to track down foreign prisoners who were released & not deported it has emerged. Commons Speaker Michael Martin said the home secretary had made the assurance following Conservative requests for an urgent statement in the House. The move comes as Tony Blair seeks to repair damage done to Labour's local election prospects by recent scandals. Mr Blair has been forced to defend Mr Clarke & his deputy John Prescott.
30th April 2006
Freed criminals not on computer
Details of more than 20 of the 80 most dangerous foreign prisoners freed without facing deportation cannot be found on the national police computer. They include one murderer & a rapist. A source told the BBC police may not have sufficient details to run a check. But Home Office minister Hazel Blears insisted the most serious offenders would be out on licence & monitored. Home Secretary Charles Clarke is to report on progress tracing hundreds of the foreign convicts freed since 1999.
1st May 2006
Clarke urged to address Commons
The home secretary must update the House of Commons on the hunt for 1 023 foreign criminals released without being deported the Conservatives say. Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said he wanted an "urgent statement" on how many had been arrested & sent home. Charles Clarke has faced calls for his resignation but told a local newspaper he hoped to continue in his job. It emerged he took three weeks to tell the prime minister the criminals including murderers had been freed.
1st May 2006
Life for 'merciless' murder gang
Four men who murdered a stranger they bumped into on a night out in London's West End have been jailed for life. Assistant bank manager Bobby Ilham 24 son of a top Pakistani cricketer was chased by the gang who knocked him to the ground & stamped on his head. The Old Bailey heard the fatal attack in May 2005 was a "merciless & motiveless" public killing. Rashid Tabali Hassan Al-Soltan Ahmad Alkhateeb & Mishal Al-Fahad all from London will serve at least 15 years.
30th April 2006
New Nepalese PM sworn in by king
Veteran Nepalese politician Girija Prasad Koirala has been sworn in as prime minister following weeks of pro- democracy protests. He gave the oath to King Gyanendra who days ago yielded to public demands to reinstate parliament & ended direct rule imposed last year. The swearing-in originally scheduled for Friday was postponed because of the prime minister's illness. Mr Koirala is due to address parliament in a few hours & announce a cabinet.
1st May 2006
Clarke urged to address Commons
The home secretary must update the House of Commons on the hunt for 1 023 foreign criminals released without being deported the Conservatives say. Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said he wanted an "urgent statement" on how many had been arrested & sent home. Charles Clarke has faced calls for his resignation but told a local newspaper he hoped to continue in his job. It emerged he took three weeks to tell the prime minister the criminals including murderers had been freed.
1st May 2006
Prescott 'causing huge problems'
John Prescott should "consider his position" as deputy prime minister Labour MP Stephen Pound has said. Mr Pound said Mr Prescott's affair was "causing huge problems" during local election campaigning but he stopped short of calling for his resignation. A parliamentary standards watchdog has said it is up to Tony Blair to decide Mr Prescott's fate over his admission of an affair with his secretary. The prime minister will not discuss the issue saying it is a "private matter".
