Birmingham Post

Blair Gives Swansong Lesson to Schools

Ten years after delivering his "education, education, education" mantra, Tony Blair yesterday delivered in Birmingham what is likely to be his swansong to the teaching world. In a highly personal speech, the Prime Minister defended the "hard, even confusing" pace of change he said had given birth to a "new system of secondary education".

People Power Beats Down Restaurant Plan

People power triumphed over officialdom yesterday when the residents of one of Birmingham's most desirable suburbs defeated plans to turn a large Victorian house into an up-market restaurant. The planning committee's decision to refuse Calthorpe Estates permission to turn 7 Church Road, Edgbaston, into a restaurant was a major embarrassment for council officials, who three weeks ago recommended approval.

News Digest: Worker Crushed

A Stoke-on-Trent factory worker has died in hospital after being crushed under a railway carriage, police said yesterday. Gareth Cooper, 22, from Trentham, suffered crush injuries at an engineering firm in the city on November 8.

News Digest: Apples and Pear

Planning councillor Joan McTigue was warned by civic leaders - after being told four apples and a pear she accepted on site visits could be seen as backhanders. Middlesbrough Council bosses fear the fruit could be construed as gifts.

News Digest: Gut Feeling

News Digest: Garden Warning

Police yesterday issued a warning to owners of heavy garden ornaments after a three-year-old boy died when one fell on him. Officers believe the top of a concrete bird-bath crushed the toddler as he played in the garden of his grandparents' home in Cakeham Road, West Wittering, near Chichester, West Sussex.

Scores of Angry

Scores of angry traders covered their cars in banners in a rush hour red route protest on one of Birmingham's main commuter routes yesterday. Police stopped the traders from blocking the A34 Stratford Road at Sparkhill and kept traffic moving during the morning rush hour.

New Street Green Light Despite Shops' Protest

The pounds 500 million redevelopment of Birmingham's New Street Station passed an important hurdle yesterday after city councillors recommended the ambitious scheme be given outline planning permission. Planning committee members unanimously backed the project - a decision described as of historic significance by the city council's director of regeneration.

Report Into Diana's Death Published in a Fortnight

The Metropolitan Police inquiry into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, will be published in two weeks, it was reported yesterday. Lord Steven's investigation into the 1997 Paris crash - known as Operation Paget - has taken three years.

Smoking Ban Will Be Enforced with Shop-a-Smoker Phone Line

A 'shop-a-smoker' hotline will launch next summer when a ban on lighting up in public is imposed in Birmingham. The Government yesterday announced that a total ban on smoking in enclosed public places will come into effect on July 1.

Cancer Plan Is Outlined by Hewitt

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt yesterday announced plans for a new Cancer Reform Strategy, one week after The Birmingham Post and Cancer Research UK handed in a 250,000-signature petition to Downing Street calling for a new cancer plan. She told delegates at the Britain Against Cancer conference in London the new strategy will build on the success of 2000's NHS Cancer Plan but will focus on reform rather than spending.

Moseley Beer Festival Open

Ale lovers in Moseley were treated yesterday to a selection of 50 of the UK's finest cask beers at the launch of the Birmingham district's first Beer Festival. The event is being held at Epic, a new arts and entertainment venue, located in the former Moseley Tram Depot on Moseley Road.

Shopkeeper's Family Deny Violence Links

The family of a murdered Birmingham shopkeeper blasted in the face with a shotgun, last night insisted he was innocent of any involvement in recent violent outbreaks in the area. Mohammed Basharat, aged 24, died following a spate of bloody attacks in the streets of Lozells over the last fortnight, which saw a young black man gunned down and three Asians stabbed.

We're Looking Over Our Shoulders

Community leaders said people may be now "looking over their shoulders" in Lozells, but insisted community cohesion would not disintegrate into reruns of the disturbances seen last year. Derek Webley, Bishop of the New Testament Church of God on Lozells Road, and vice chairman of West Midlands Police Authority, was speaking after Wednesday's shooting.

Stem Cell Hope Is at Hand for Back Pain Sufferers

A wonder cure for chronic back pain using a patient's stem cells could be available within three years, it was revealed yesterday. The treatment, given only once, rebuilds the soft shock- absorbing discs which separate spinal vertebrae.

Act Now If We Are to Save Planet

Environmentalists have attacked the Government over effective sustainability policies and "badly written and badly regulated" legislation. David Middleton, chief executive of the Birmingham-based Business Council for Sustainable Development (BCSD) UK said too much time had been spent discussing climate change and not enough had been done to tackle the effects.

Space Travel Is Only Hope for Mankind

Mankind will need to leave Earth to ensure long-term survival, theoretical physicist Professor Stephen Hawking warned yesterday. Prof Hawking said space-rockets propelled by the matter/ antimatter annihilation technology used in Star Trek would be needed to colonise hospitable planets orbiting other stars.

Clarke Critical of Greens

Self indulgent campaigners were yesterday accused of turning debate about sustainability "into the green of grudge and jealousy". Former Home Secretary Charles Clarke said most people and organisations wanted to make their own contribution in the battle to reduce global warming.

Uk Wastefulness Would Need Three Planets to Survive

If everyone in the world consumed energy at the average rate as people in the UK, we would need more than three planets to meet the demand. This was the warning issued to businesses in the Midlands yesterday at the Sustainable Development Business Summit at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham.

Fellow Prisoner Claims Dudley Man Admitted Murder

A prisoner yesterday claimed a man accused of murder confessed to cutting his victim's throat and dropping a Calor gas canister on his head. Lee Cartwright, a surprise defence witness at Stafford Crown Court, said he got into conversation with Dudley man Trevor Bate as they were being taken back to Winson Green jail.