Couple buy child from India ‘baby factory'

Growing numbers of British couples are going to India to pay surrogate mothers to have their children, the Evening Standard reveals today.

One father from Ilford told how he and his wife had spent 13 years trying to have a baby, before succeeding through a surrogate mother in Mumbai at a cost of £50,000.

The sperm was donated by Bobby Bains, who is a Sikh, and the eggs by a Hindu woman while the surrogate mother who carried his daughter Daisy for nine months is Muslim.

"She is a little Miss India. She unites all of India," said Mr Bains, 45. "It took a Sikh, a Hindu and a Muslim to bring her into the world." The Indian surrogacy industry has become a multi-million-pound business and has prompted calls for it to be regulated.

There is a mounting ethical debate over paying Indian women to carry babies for couples from abroad.

Mr Bains and his wife Nikki, 44, who are trying for a second surrogate child, said that on a recent trip Mr Bains was shown a seventh-floor flat which housed 12 pregnant surrogate mothers.

Each mother is paid between £2,500 and £3,500 for carrying a child - equivalent to as much as 10 years' wages for some of the women on the clinic's books. One report suggests Indian women with fairer skin and higher IQs can charge more for donating eggs, fertilised in a test tube and then implanted in the surrogate mother.

Mr Bains said: "There are hundreds of clinics doing this in India. A clinic in Gujarat has 50 pregnancies. There is one baby born every week. Fifty girls are staying in surrogate houses. In one flat I went to there were pregnant women sitting around watching daytime Indian soaps.” The babies born in the Indian clinics also face being effectively stateless and parents can have long battles to get British passports for their children.

Mr Bains and his wife brought Daisy back to the UK in October after three months of legal wrangles.

Mr Bains has now set up a website to help other childless couples and says he typically receives one email a day from couples trying to navigate their way through India's surrogate mother industry.

He estimates that more than half the inquiries are from Europeans and about one third, or 100 a year, are from the UK. Of those about 90 per cent are Caucasians.

Last week, Mr Bains returned from India where he introduced a German couple to the Rotunda clinic in Mumbai, where Daisy was conceived.

The Standard is aware of a London couple who in the past few weeks have also had twins at another clinic in Anand in Gujarat province.

The father, who is still in India awaiting documentation to bring his twins home, declined to talk about his experiences when contacted by the Standard.

The couple are thought to be currently staying in Jaipur, awaiting the necessary immigration papers to bring the babies back to the UK. The Indian surrogacy boom effectively began in 2004 when Rhadha Patel, then aged 46, gave birth to surrogate twins for her daughter Lata Nagla, who also lives in Ilford.

Mrs Nagla's eggs were fertilised by her husband's sperm in a test tube and then implanted in her mother's womb.

The case, first highlighted by the Evening Standard, received worldwide attention and put the Akanksha clinic in Anand into the spotlight.

It is estimated that about 50 pregnant surrogate mothers are being looked after by the clinic at any one time.

The clinic charges around £15,000 for each surrogate baby born while it costs about £4,000 for each failed attempt. In all about 140 surrogate mothers give birth through the clinic each year.

Another clinic in Delhi arranged about 50 surrogate births last year — about half to Western couples.

Mr Bains claimed the price for a surrogate baby had doubled since 2005 when he and his wife first started trying — having given up hope of having a child in the UK because of a shortage of surrogate mothers. He added: “I always say to people this is going to cost you everything. That is the first thing people want to know: how much.”

Dr Gautam Allapadia, a fertility specialist at the Rotunda clinic, said: “The costs are substantially less than they would spend in developed countries like the US and the UK.

“There is no paperwork involved, the couples don't have to go through any lawyers, it's a clean issue, and there is no litigation.” continues here

Home Secretary bound by own immigration rules

Court of Appeal
Published April 9, 2009
Hussain (Zakir) v Secretary of State for the Home Department
Before Lord Justice Sedley, Lord Justice Keene and Lady Justice Smith
Judgment January 19, 2009

Evasion of immigration controls for a long time was not in itself a reason for deciding that an applicant, unlawfully in the United Kingdom, should not be allowed to stay.

The Court of Appeal so held, allowing the appeal of the applicant, Zakir Hussain, against the dismissal of his appeal against the refusal by the Secretary of State for the Home Department to grant him leave to enter.

Rule 276B (i)(b) of the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules 1994 (HC 395), as inserted by the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules 2003 (HC 538), was directed specifically to people who had managed to stay without lawful authority for 14 years or more. In effect it was an amnesty clause.

Mr Zulqarnain Malik for the applicant; Mr Alan Payne for the Home Secretary.

LORD JUSTICE SEDLEY said that the applicant, a national of Bangladesh, who was now aged 50 had entered this country in 1991 on a six-month visitor’s visa. He had been here ever since. He applied for indefinite leave to remain in June 2006 on the ground of long residence.

That was refused by the secretary of state and upheld on appeal by Immigration Judge Ferguson on February 12, 2008 in the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal. That decision was upheld by Senior Immigration Judge Chalkley on April 30, 2008.

Rule 276B (i)(b) of the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules 1994 (HC 395), as inserted by the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules 2003 (HC 538), was directed specifically to people who had managed to stay without lawful authority for 14 years or more. In effect it was an amnesty clause.

His Lordship considered that the immigration judge had lost sight of the fact that in this case the applicant had, as a result of 14 years’ unlawful residence during which he had maintained himself by working unlawfully, reached a point at which the Home Secretary’s own rules, which Parliament had approved, entitled him to remain, provided it was not undesirable in the public interest for him to be allowed to do so.The opening words of rule 276B placed a formal onus on the applicant under paragraph (ii) to show that there were no reasons which made it undesirable to grant him indefinite leave to remain.

Once the evidence on both sides had been heard, the practical question for the immigration judge was whether there were any reasons in the public interest why the applicant, despite his long evasion of immigration controls, should not be allowed to stay. It defeated the purpose of the rule to use the evasion itself as a reason.

Immigration judges should apply Aissaoui v Secretary of State for the Home Department ([2008] EWCA Civ 37). In future MO (Ghana) ([2007] UKAIT 00014) should not be cited, even as persuasive authority on rule 276B(i)(b) appeals.

An issue had arisen concerning the legal and evidential status on appeal of the directions the Home Office’s Immigration Directorate issued to its officials about the im-plementation of the rules in operation before the tribunal.

The question was what should happen when a discrepancy arose between the case being presented by the Home Office and a Home Office direction which was drawn to the tribunal’s attention. The proper course was not to introduce the material direction every time an issue arose as to the meaning or application of an immigration rule. But the presenting officer should be ready to explain to the tribunal any divergence between the presented case and any relevant direction to which the tribunal’s attention was drawn.

That was a reflection of the government’s legal obligation not to act inconsistently with its own policy unless there was some good reason for doing so: see British Oxygen Co Ltd v Board of Trade ([1971] AC 610). continues here

So there you have it, proof positive if any were needed that the state do not look out for our welfare, prove again that the judiciary work against it and now the knowledge that should an immigrant evade the authorities for fourteen years then they are free. Perhaps therefore it is only a game, an amusing cat and mouse escapade, that is if this reprehensible government, take action on the discovery of illegal status, all the evidence points to a distinct lack of action and we the taxpayer, the fools support it all.

Some live for the great awakening, they remain convinced, that the people will lurch from slumber, that the great anger of the people shall rumble forth, sweeping away corruption and this anti-indigenous state, I need more convincing, daily I see miscegenation, I see endless, endless non-whites and not even a glimmer of hope. I believe that the people are not asleep, that they never have been, I believe they have been engineered, cowed by fear and finally their sense of self destroyed, now what passes for the people is fractured, disjointed, egocentric and non conversant, permitting our grandchildren’s end.

Water giants tap households for more money as bills soar

Water companies were accused of behaving like 'robber barons' yesterday after demanding swingeing hikes in customer bills. 

Despite the extraordinary pressures on family finances, utilities have proposed average rises of £23, on top of inflation, over the coming five years. 

The biggest hike - £48 - has been proposed by Thames Water. 

Meanwhile, Southern Water, Bristol Water and Sutton & East Surrey customers face rises of between £42 and £44 from 2009-10 to 2014-15. 

The proposals - set to spark a major battle between the firms and consumer groups - will now be considered by regulator Ofwat, which will decide whether to approve them by November. 

Tory environment spokesman Nick Herbert last night said the water companies were straying into 'dangerous' territory given soaring unemployment and faltering household incomes. 

He said: 'These sustained, above-inflation rises are in danger of taking bills to unacceptable levels, especially in a time of recession. If rising bills combine with anger over reductions in supply during times of water shortage, then customers could begin to feel real resentment. 

'We don't want water companies to be seen as 21st Century robber barons, demanding price rises from consumers who cannot say no - but leaking water and restricting supplies to households in return.' 

But the firms have defended the proposed charges, arguing they are necessary to improve drinking water, maintain pipes and sewers and combat leakage. 

Overall, investment will reach £24billion in the five-year period, compared with £20 billion in the second half of the current decade. 

"We recognise that some price increases may be necessary to enable companies to meet the pressure being put on water companies from growing populations..."

Pamela Taylor, chief executive of industry group Water UK, said: 'Water customers tell us they want dependable services at affordable 

prices. The business plans meet these two priorities by finding a balance between continuing with vital investment and doing everything to hold prices down.' 

But some firms face further controversy as they seek to combine hikes in bills with lower-than- expected investment plans. 

For example, Thames Water has 

shaved £1billion off a £6.5billion draft investment plan for the five-year period put forward last year. At the same time, bills will rise by 3.4 per cent after inflation every year - dwarfing its previous 3 per cent proposal. 

And Northumbrian Water plans to raise prices by 3.4 per cent a year above inflation - more than double a previously-proposed 1.3 per cent increase. 

Meanwhile, it wants to trim its spending proposals from £1.3billion to £1.27billion. 

Welsh Water is demanding the most modest increases, pledging to keep increases in line with inflation. 

Dame Yve Buckland, chair of the Consumer Council for Water, said: 'In the current economic climate, price increases will be unwelcome for most of us. 

'We recognise that some price increases may be necessary to enable companies to meet the pressure being put on water companies from growing populations, climate change and tighter EU and UK standards.  continues here

Families 'to face extra £1,250 tax a year each' as Darling seeks the £39bn he needs to get Britain's public finances back on track

Families could face tax rises of £1,250 a year to plug a catastrophic black hole in the public finances, the country's most respected economic forecaster warned yesterday.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies predicted that Government debt, already over the previous target of 40 per cent of national income, could reach 80 or 90 per cent by 2016 - similar to the level of Italy's 'basket case' economy.

The forecast came amid a separate warning that unemployment will peak at 3.2million in the second half of next year - meaning Gordon Brown will have to fight an election with voters still losing their jobs.

The British Chambers of Commerce said the recession would last until the end of the year, with the economy shrinking by more than three per cent - its worst performance since the war.

Experts at Pricewaterhouse Coopers were yesterday reported to be predicting tax rises of £800 per taxpayer to plug the hole in the nation's finances.

The £1,250 figure from the Institute for Fiscal Studies is based on a more pessimistic appraisal of the UK economy. It issued a worse-than-expected assessment of the impact of the recession, bank bailouts and increases to Government borrowing.

The IFS was ambivalent on the issue of whether the Government could mount another round of debt-funded tax cuts or spending increases.

'Any plausible additional stimulus would be likely to pale into insignificance relative to the underlying weakening of the public finances,' it added.

'Conversely, one could argue that, because debt is going to be much higher than previously expected, it has become more dangerous to add to it - even relatively modestly.'

In the grimmest possible backdrop for Chancellor Alistair Darling's Budget later this month, the IFS said the Government may have to find an extra £39billion a year by 2016 to bring borrowing under control. It said that amounted to £1,250 in higher taxes per family.

Alternatively, a five-year real terms spending freeze would have to be implemented across the public finances.

An extraordinary assessment by the Royal Bank of Scotland, now 70 per cent owned by the taxpayer, warned that something was 'rotten about the state of the public finances'.

A briefing note from the bank said: 'Fiscal policy management has been poor, with policymakers seemingly lulled into complacently assuming revenues would continue to pour in.'

It said that it could take the best part of a decade to repair the damage and get the public finances back into balance.

Treasury officials are working on plans for tax rises and spending reductions as they battle to demonstrate a credible-exit path' for the public finances. That is seen as vital to reassure international financial markets about Britain's capacity to repay the record levels of debt.

An increase in VAT, reduced temporarily to 15 per cent, to as high as 20 per cent after the next election has been considweek'sered by the Treasury. The IFS forecast of a £39billion black hole in the public finances is almost twice as bad as that predicted by Mr Darling in his Pre Budget Report last November.

The Prime Minister told finance chiefs last night that reforming the economy was an 'urgent priority' following last G20 summit in London. Mr Brown, Mr Darling, Bank of England governor Mervyn King and Financial Services Authority chairman Lord Turner met in Downing Street to discuss the next steps.

They agreed to step up progress on directing support to sectors most affected by the global downturn, such as the car industry.

Last night it emerged that Mr Brown has failed to capitalise on the success of the G20 summit with the electorate.

A YouGov poll for The Times found that the Tory lead over Labour has widened to 13 points - killing off any prospect of an early election.

Labour is unchanged from last month on 30 points, while the Tories are up one at 43 and the LibDems down one at 18.

Osborne's public sector squeeze

George Osborne has infuriated public sector unions with his suggestion that plans for inflation-busting wage rises needed to be reconsidered.

The Shadow Chancellor said the three-year salary deal for nurses, teachers and police might have to be unpicked to reflect the fact inflation is now zero.

Downing Street immediately rejected such an idea, insisting the deal offered 'stability' to millions of public sector workers.

Under an agreement struck by Gordon Brown last year, most public sector workers are getting two per cent a year increases in their salaries until 2010-11.

Mr Osborne warned that urgent measures were needed to make the country live within its means.

He argued the Government's plans to limit spending growth to 1.1 per cent sounded strict but were 'not tight enough given the fiscal situation we have to face'.

Asked how he would restore the public finances if he were Chancellor, Mr Osborne said 'the bulk of the strain needs to be borne is on spending restraint'. He added there was a need to 'look at' the three-year public sector pay deals because 'they may be very inflexible at a time when the economic conditions are changing very quickly'.

Karen Jennings, head of health at Unison, said Mr Osborne's words were 'a disgrace'.

She said: 'Health workers will be outraged at George Osborne's suggestion that they have enjoyed an "age of excess".'

But Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said his party would also aim for public spending restraint. continues here

Madonna denies she is using fame to fast-track latest adoption

Madonna has spoken out against accusations that she is using her fame to fast-track the adoption of a 4-year-old Malawian girl, insisting she is not "skirting any legal issues" in the process.



Confirming the singer's intent to take toddler Chifundo "Mercy" James back to her native New York, a spokeswoman for the star said: "The adoption process for Mercy began over a year ago when Madonna met her on one of her visits to Malawi. The connection was instant and profound.

Madonna has faced fierce opposition to her adoption attempt, with critics claiming that she is using her power and influence to "bully" the courts into approving it. Local human rights activist Mavuto Bamusi said: "In the absence of clear laws and procedures what is happening in this case amounts to child trafficking or kidnapping".

In a statement emailed to Reuters, Liz Rosenberg described Madonna's desire to adopt Mercy as "totally heartfelt".

"She is not skirting any legal issues in her application to adopt this child and is looking to provide a loving family environment and the best education and health care possible for a child who has been in an orphanage since her birth," she added.

The 50-year-old superstar, who has established a Raising Malawi Kabbalah school in the region, adopted son David Banda from the southeast African country in 2006.

On Monday she took the three-year-old to visit his father, who he has not seen since leaving Malawi as a baby. Farmer Yohane Banda said: "It's amazing how David has grown; I can't believe he is the same small and sickly baby we left at Home of Hope I am really grateful to Madonna for saving David from possible early death."

The following day Madonna and biological children Lourdes, 12, and 8-year-old Rocco accompanied David on a visit to the orphanage in Mchinji, near the Zambian border, where he once lived. The facility's director Lucy Chipeta described the family's pilgrimage as "an emotional moment".

Madonna recently spoke of her desire to keep David informed about his African heritage. "It is a big priority for me to educate my son about the world, but always to stay connected to his Malawian culture", she said. continues here

Carla Bruni 'besotted' after becoming aunt to African baby... will she adopt one of her own?

Carla Bruni has become an aunt to a baby from an impoverished African village - increasing her own desire to adopt one of her own.

The 41-year-old supermodel is said to be ‘besotted’ with the four-month-old boy, whose mother is the French First Lady’s older sister, actress and comedienne Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, 44.

The news was announced in French magazine Point de Vue on Wednesday. It comes after a highly personal interview in Madame Figaro magazine earlier this month, in which Carla spoke of adopting.

What she didn’t reveal at the time was the new arrival.

‘It’s the first time Carla has become an aunt and she’s thrilled that a black African is now part of her family,’ said a source close to the former supermodel in Paris.

It raises the intriguing possibility of Carla and her husband, head of state Nicolas Sarkozy, becoming parents of the first black French presidential baby in history.

No French president has ever adopted a child, although Francois Mitterand had a love child who was kept secret until the president died.

Only this week the First Lady launched the Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Foundation, aimed at improving educational opportunities for immigrant youths from troubled housing estates.

She is committed to improving race relations, and reversing the reputation for discrimination and racism which the French Republic has built up over the years.

In the interview in early March Carla was asked directly if she was intending to become pregnant soon.

She replied: ‘I would like that, but I don't know if it will be possible at my age.

‘If it's not possible biologically, I will adopt one. I'm not obsessed by blood ties. I think you can form strong bonds without that.’

Miss Bruni has a seven-year-old son, Aurélien, from a previous relationship while her husband, who is 54, has three sons and two step-daughters from his two previous marriages.

Expanding on her enthusiasm for adoption, Miss Bruni even said it was the ‘purest form of motherhood.’

She said: ‘If someone had deposited my son Aurélien in a basket in front of the door like in the fairy stories, I would love him in the same manner.

‘Being someone’s mother, it’s for always, not solely the first nine months, and that lasts a lifetime.

‘Adoption is perhaps the purest form of motherhood. Therefore I would love to have a child but I will not fight against nature.’ continues here

‘She loves the little boy, and there’s no doubt that the next step will be adopting one of her own if she can’t have a child biologically.

‘Carla followed every minute of her sister’s long adoption procedure, so now knows exactly how it’s done.’

DAVINA IN BID TO ADOPT AN AFRICAN BABY

Big Brother presenter Davina McCall has set her heart on doing a Madonna - by adopting an African child.

The mum of three says she wants to "give something back to a world that has treated me well".

And she has even discussed it with pop queen Madonna's ex Guy Ritchie, who adopted a Malawian orphan in 2006.

Pals say Davina, 41 - who has an estimated £10million fortune - is determined to help those less fortunate than herself.

She has worked in Africa for the charity Save The Children.

And she's also been attracted to adoption because of her own childhood experience.

Davina was brought up by her grandpaprents after her alcoholic mum abandoned her when her parents' marriage broke down.

Davina last month contacted film director Guy, 40, to ask for advice about adoption.

Guy and Madonna, 50 - who have since split - adopted David Banda in October 2006.

A source told The People: "Davina wanted to know if there were any pitfalls to the process of adoption.

"Ritchie was very complimentary about his experiences with David.

"It was very reassuring for Davina to hear.

"Guy also told Davina that it may well be worth speaking to Madonna for her thoughts - and even offered to try and put her in touch."

Davina, who has fronted BB for all nine series of the smash hit Channel 4 reality show, recently moved into a £4.3million mansion in Wadhurst, East Sussex.

It boasts eight bedrooms and two swimming pools in its 37 acres - offering plenty of room for another child.

Davina has three kids - Holly, seven, Tilly, five, and two-year-old son Chester - with hubby Matthew Robertson, who once hosted TV's Pets Rescue show.

Discussing the possibility of an even bigger family, Davina said recently: "I can't bear the idea of saying I won't have any more children - but I'd have a lot of persuading to do with Matthew." The People has learned Davina still needs to convince the 40-year-old to go along with her adoption plan.

A source said: "Matthew's probably happy having three children of his own to keep him content - and indeed busy - at home. But Davina hopes that by speaking to Guy, Matthew will allow her to go ahead and adopt."

Davina - who spent six years addicted to cocaine and heroin after getting hooked at 18 - reckons being abandoned by her own mum helped make her a better mother. She said recently: "I've been able to right the wrongs and I'm always there for my children.

"Of everything amazing that has happened to me, being a mother and being married to Matthew are the most incredible."  continues here

Has it ever really died, exploitation, the situation whereby the wealthy buy the poor, how can it ever be right to purchase a life, transport it to a culture and country not its own and nothing is said. This then is what slavery was and indeed is, of course, those taken today live in the lap of luxury, not for them toil, however the concept of purchasing for selfish reasons is still very much with us, it is as if a non-white child is a must have necessity, akin to a handbag or a pair of shoes. Not for them a white child, no they are worthless, they somehow don’t look right and just don’t seem to quite portray, the purchasers charitableness enough, you see the purchase, the find is all about the buyer, all about image and less about the unfortunates life.

The “luvvies” quite simply, would not applaud if the child were white self-satisfaction would not grow if the child were merely Caucasian, they must be non-white, preferably from the Dark Continent and young. Everyday in our own country thousands of infants are terminated and may I say with extreme prejudice, it isn’t nice, yet nothing is said, it is as if a life can be bought and sold or in our case ended frivolously. Leave them alone, let Africa be Africa and stop the genocide of our own children, so-called celebrities pay not a care as to rights and wrongs of the issue, it is all about them. 14

Sex-slave men ruined my life, says girl, 17

A 17-year-old victim of two Asian men who ran a sex slavery ring in which they drugged and assaulted young white teenage girls said yesterday that she felt robbed of her innocence and childhood.

Her encounters with Mirza Baig, 35, and Muhammad Ditta, 39, had changed her life for ever, she said after the two men were jailed by Manchester Crown Court.

The girl, who cannot be identified, is now a virtual recluse and feels terrified when approaching an Asian man in the street. “It is not because I am racist or anything like that,” she said. “It simply reminds me of those men – they took away my innocence and my childhood.”

The men sought out vulnerable 15-year-old white girls in inner-city Manchester and groomed them for sex with gifts including credit for mobile phones, alcohol and drugs, the court was told.  

They would impress them with their large cars – one had a safe in the boot – and then take the girls to a flat in the Hulme area of the city. The pair sexually assaulted them while they were intoxicated and, on at least one occasion, under threats of death. It is understood that at least three girls were being groomed but police believe that there may have been others who have yet to come forward.

Baig and Ditta, a convicted drug trafficker, were arrested in May last year after an investigation by social workers, detectives and community project workers. The men came under suspicion after officers set up a team to examine the problem posed by young Asian men who were grooming impressionable white teenagers for sex and prostitution, notably across the northern conurbations where there are large Asian populations.

After a 15-day trial, Baig was convicted of sexual assault and making threats to kill. Ditta was convicted of assault. The two were given indeterminate sentences for the protection of the public and told they would not be considered for release before they had served a minimum of three years, and then perhaps “not for many years”.

The jury was told that Baig drove two 15-year-old girls to the flat where they were plied with vodka, cannabis and Ecstasy until they fell unconscious. When one woke later she was punched in the face by Ditta as she fought off his sexual attentions.

Two weeks later another vulnerable 15-year-old was brought to the flat by an older girl. The younger girl heard her demanding £20 in payment and that then they could do what they wanted with her. She was also given alcohol and drugs until she fell unconscious. When she awoke she was naked in a bedroom and Baig demanded sex before threatening that he would get a gun and kill her. Ditta interrupted the assault and took her into his bedroom to assault her himself.

Judge Anthony Gee, QC, told them: “These were despicable and truly shameless offences. Neither of you have displayed the slightest hint of remorse.”

After the hearing the mother of another girl, aged 16, said that she had felt powerless to break her daughter’s fascination for the men, who offered her money and gifts, and drove her around in their cars. “They had nice houses with Jacuzzis in them and that attracted the teenagers,” the mother said. “They would pick her up round the corner and drop her off there too. So I never knew where she really was.  continues here

Energy giants 'prey' on poor forced to use pre-pay meters

Energy companies are charging people on pre-payments up to £567 a year more than wealthier customers on internet tariffs, a government-funded consumer group has found.


In the last report before its abolition, Energywatch accused the energy firms of "preying" on poor customers who could not move to cheaper tariffs because of debt problems.

Poorer customers buy credits for their electricity and gas supply to load into the meters rather than pay monthly or quarterly. But the big six energy companies charge them far more than other customers. In January, The Independent disclosed that customers with pre-payment meters are charged 10 times more than the energy companies pay back to vulnerable customers on little-publicised "social tariff" schemes.

One million of the five million pre-payment customers are classed as being in fuel poverty by Ofgem, the electricity regulator.

In an investigation, the consumer group Energywatch found that British Gas – biggest of the big six energy companies and the one which spends the most on its social tariff – charged pre-payment customers the most of all its rivals, £567 more than its cheapest deal.

The disparity was next greatest at the German-owned firm E.on, which charged pre-payment clients £411 more than those on its cheapest deal, followed by Npower £378, ScottishPower £172, and Scottish and Southern £167. EDF has no equivalent tariff.

Allan Asher, Energywatch's chief executive, said: "Energy suppliers are preying on their poorest customers with discriminatory tariffs that squeeze extra revenue out pre-payment meter-users, which includes many of those least able to afford to pay their energy bills and least able to switch."

The Energy Retail Association said pre-payment meters offered customers flexibility and the ability to budget, and most were in rented homes, holiday lets and student accommodation. "According to Ofgem figures, just 20 per cent are used by the fuel poor," the trade body said in a statement. "Therefore equalising all tariffs would mean that those in fuel poverty who do not pay this way would subsidise the small percentage who are." continues here

British girls as young as 14 are being trafficked for sex within the UK

British girls as young as 12 are being forced into prostitution by migrants in a new crime of 'internal' people trafficking. 

Children from ordinary families are groomed by older men posing as boyfriends before being pimped around the UK to have sex up to 20 times a night.

They are raped and often drugged, according to police.

Officers have identified 'syndicates of Iraqi men throughout the UK' behind the exploitation. 

A Government report said 'internal trafficking' was an 'emerging issue' and it should no longer be assumed young victims of sex exploitation were smuggled from abroad. 

A UK Human Trafficking Centre intelligence report says girls as young as 12 are taken from town to town and controlled with threats and assault. 

In one operation, 32 victims were identified in the Sheffield area alone. All were aged 12 to 15 and had been raped.

In another study, police say girls 'are given to a life of exploitation, waking up in anonymous towns, unable to contact family and with no way out'.

Figures released at the end of a six-month crackdown on people traffickers showed 167 victims were rescued across Britain and Ireland and 528 suspected traffickers were arrested.

It included 13 children aged between 14 and 17 who were rescued from sexual exploitation and two children who were under forced labour.

Home Office minister Vernon Coaker said it was difficult to establish the scale of the problem with internal trafficking.

'It is something that increasingly people are raising and we are trying to get a better understanding of what exactly is taking place,' he said.

'It is difficult for us to determine what the size of that problem is but it's something we are aware of and we have concerns about.'

The minister said it tended to involve older men grooming younger women and girls by first appearing to be a friend or boyfriend.

He said the officers had adopted the term 'lover boy' to denote the use of such techniques.

'There is no evidence that this involves children who have gone missing from care,' the minister went on. It is people living in an area and people groom them, get their trust and then betray that trust.'

Gloucestershire Chief Constable Dr Tim Brain, who coordinated the major trafficking crackdown known as Operation Pentameter Two, said it had revealed a large number of brothels in apparently ordinary suburban locations.

Out of more than 800 premises visited by this campaign, nearly 600 were residential and 157 were massage parlours, saunas and nail bars, which are the more traditional 'front' for brothels.

'It is impossible to say at this stage whether this is a shift in behaviour,' Dr Brain said.
It is likely that in future police investigations will have to consider all kinds of premises.

'In some of the cases the neighbours who live nearby have not actually suspected any kind of unusual activity.'

Latest estimates by police are that there may be as many 18,000 trafficked victims that are forced to work as prostitutes, Dr Brain went on.

The projections varied considerably and could be between 6,000 and 18,000, he added. continues here

India, China new African colonialists

Hungry for oil and minerals, India and China have become Africa's new colonialists, exploiting the world's poorest continent in the same way as its old European masters, billionaire financier George Soros said.
European nations' scramble for resources, from slaves to diamonds and gold, led them to subjugate Africa's peoples under colonialism.

After independence swept the continent in the 1950s and 1960s, they often supported corrupt and dictatorial regimes.
Over the last decade, amid concern over minerals funding wars from Angola to Democratic Republic of Congo, Western governments and multinationals have largely accepted the need for accountability and transparency in extractive industries.
But India and China, which are pumping billions of dollars of loans and investment into Africa, have not, Soros said.
"They are in the process of repeating the mistakes that the colonial powers have made," Soros said in the Senegalese capital, Dakar.

"There's a certain irony of the old colonialists recognising their past mistakes and trying to correct them, and the new colonialists then repeating those mistakes."
Soros, whose charitable foundations disbursed $45 million in Africa last year, hoped that Chinese firms would toughen their criteria for investment, although he said Chinese demand for raw materials had brought benefits to the continent, underpinning its strongest growth in four decades.
"It's the basis on which the economic outlook for Africa is somewhat exempt from the current global downturn," he said, assessing Africa outlook as "quite good".
"I don't expect a global recession. I expect a recession in the developed economies but there are some very positive dynamics for the developing world, particularly resource-rich areas," said Soros, who was ranked as the world's 80th richest man by Forbes magazine last year with a fortune of $8.5 billion......Article conts (-)