Birmingham Post

Pay Fraud School Head Allowed to Carry On Teaching

ABirmingham head who forged a signature to give himself a pay rise was found guilty of professional misconduct at a teacher's tribunal court yesterday - but escaped being struck off after expressing regret. Alastair Sharp altered details of a letter signed by the chair of governors at Brookvale Primary School in Erdington to give himself a year's worth of backdated pay worth more than pounds 1,000.

Furious Tories Accuse Bbc of 'Hyping Up' Spelman Claims

Angry Conservatives turned their fire on the BBC last night after it broadcast fresh claims about Meriden MP Caroline Spelman, the Conservative chairman. They accused the broadcaster of "hyping up" claims about her employment of a nanny in 1997 and 1998.

Health Trust Is Fined Pounds 25,000 Over Pensioner's Horror Death

Ahealth trust has been fined pounds 25,000 after a "vulnerable" pensioner died in a scalding bath at a respite centre for the mentally ill in Birmingham. A catalogue of errors lead to 68-year-old George Inwood becoming "trapped" and suffering a "horrifying" death in water that had nearly reached boiling point.

Win Tasty Vip Tickets by Voting for the City's Best Business Lunch

Tell us who you think serves Birmingham's best business lunch and you could win a pair of VIP tickets to the Taste of Birmingham event. The city's restaurant scene has never been so good, and to celebrate, over a dozen of the region's finest eating places will be in Cannon Hill Park, Edgbaston, from July 10-13 for the third annual Taste of Birmingham festival.

Agenda: Now Everything's Coming Up Roses for Prickly Whitby After Re- Education

Neville Summerfield, the Birmingham cabinet member for regeneration-lite, has suffered another humiliating put-down at the hands of city council leader Mike Whitby. Summerfield, the likeable but downtrodden Kings Heath florist, is, as most people realise by now, a member of the top team in name only.

Agenda: Magna Carta's Influence Lost in the Mists of Habeas Corpus ; a Foundation Stone of Liberty and Independence, a Video Game or a Brave Hungarian Girl. Chris Game Analyses the Identity and Value of the Magna Carta and, Like Tony Hancock, Asks - Did She Die in Vain?

It was no doubt prompted by David Davis' by election campaign coinciding with our university exam season, but I dreamt recently that one of my students, answering a question on the British constitution, thought the Magna Carta was a Korean video game. Sadly, there is such a game, in fact several: complicated fantasy battles in which the humans have to acquire the Magna Carta super weapon in order to overcome the quaintly eared but physically superior Yason forces.

Agenda: Reflections

Recently I've found myself slinking off to a quiet corner of the house to watch Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain. A fortnight ago it covered the rise and fall of Mrs Thatcher. I was a kid during the stormy 1980s and wasn't inclined back then to sit and ponder the implications of newly discovered North Sea oil, the miners' strike, the Falkland's war, privatisation, or any of the other major events of her premiership. But I am now, for the changes that took place in Britain then were tru...

Agenda: The Applied Wisdom of Lord Acton

"All power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely." This well known axiom was first stated by Lord Acton. Born in 1834 he studied here in Birmingham at the Catholic College of St Mary's in Oscott until 1848. His tutor, a DoctorWiseman, later became Cardinal Archbishop ofWestminster and Lord Acton went onto a distinguished career in politics and literature. While his dictum was fashioned in part in intellectual conflict within the Catholic Church, it obviously has more dramatic a...

Quiz of the Day

1. In the Peanuts cartoon strip what instrument is played by Schroeder? 2. In the world of pop music how is Norman Cook better known?

Word Wizard

Here is an unusual word with three definitions, only one of which is correct. Can you identify the right definition? KURTA

Did You Know?

Even a small amount of alcohol placed on a scorpion will make it go crazy and sting itself to death Polar bears are the species most likely to kill humans for food

On This Day

1928: British journalist Sir Harold evans, who famously exposed the thalidomide scandal as editor of The Sunday Times, is 80 today 1949: Harrow was confirmed as Britain's most expensive public school-with annual fees of pounds 315

Web Life

Numbers and Numbers Still Add Up ; Profile There Are a Surprising Number of People Running Businesses by Gut Feeling and They Don't Know Enough About How Their Business Is Performing Leading a Double Life As an Accountant and a Musician Is an Unusual Combination. Ross Reyburn Meets a Keyboard Player Who Can Balance Your Books.

Birthday: January 16, 1958, Coundon, Coventry Father's occupation: Accountant

Au Revoir Foie Gras?

Is It Time for Us to Bid Au Revoir Foie Gras? ; Animal Rights Campaigners Have Been Turning the Heat On Birmingham Restaurants Selling Foie Gras. So Is This the End of the Road for This Centuries-Old Culinary Delicacy?

It is arguably the most controversial dish served in restaurants, being both revered and reviled in equal measure. To those who love the taste and texture, foie gras epitomises gourmet dining and the art of classic French cookery.

Food & Drink: Goodbye French Cuisine, Marco Wants Honest British Food ; Marco Peirre White Is the Chef Who Is Famous for Being More ;Ery Than Gordon, but Andy Welch ;Nds the Man They Call the Great White in Mellow Mood As He Talks About His New Televison Series

With a Continental-sounding name and an illustrious career cooking the Inest French cuisine, you might not immediately associate infamous chef-terrible Marco Pierre White with British food. However, thanks to a 44,000-mile six month trip around the UK, Leeds-born Marco, the youngest Briton to win three coveted Michelin stars, has fallen back in love with the traditional foodstuffs this country has to offer.

Food: Jammy Way to Save Pennies

If you want to join the ranks of trendy foodies it's time to sign up to the DIY club, writes Gabrielle Fagan. While the term generally applies to those who regularly shin up ladders or brandish electric drills, for foodies it means turning a hand to traditional pastimes, like home-made jams and pickles.

The Man On Mole Patrol ; Rural Living Molecather Jeff Nicholls Talks to Richard Mc Comb About 'Traping 'Sharks in Grass'

In geo-political terms, the environmental destruction wrought by moles doesn't quite match global warming. But ask anyone who has had one of these burrowing beasts dig up their well manicured lawn - or golf course, or football pitch, or bowling green - and there will be universal agreement: moles are a menace. Jeff Nicholls has spent most of his life tracking the furry mammals and will be showcasing his skills, whose origins date back centuries, at the Royal Show in Warwickshire next week.

Spot the Difference and Save Money On Prints and Posters ; Sally Hoban Looks at Modern Prints, Posters and Affordable Art in Her Latest Guide to Collecting Antiques and Collecting Antiques & Collecting

Interest in collecting contemporary and 20th century prints, posters and works of art has grown enormously over the past few years. There are several leading galleries in Birmingham city centre such as Whitewall Galleries on Colmore Row, the Art Lounge in the Mailbox and St Paul's Gallery in Northwood Street. National art fairs such as Frieze and the Affordable Art Fair are also firmly established.