Church of England is shorting

The Church of England has been accused by a think-tank of using short-selling tactics to maximise profit on its 5 billion investments.
Ekklesia weighed into the debate on the ethics of financial investments and stock market speculation in response to comments made by senior clerics in the wake of the recent banking crisis.
Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu branded the traders who cashed in on falling share prices in troubled bank HBOS as "bank robbers" and "asset strippers", while Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams called for fresh scrutiny and regulation of the financial world.
Jonathan Bartley, co-director of Ekklesia, said: "The archbishops should be extremely careful when attacking city 'bank robbers' for short-selling and speculation. The Church has benefited significantly from the speculation that has underpinned rising oil and commodity prices such as gold and copper.
"By its own admission it has also hedged against a fall in the value of sterling, and set up a currency hedging programme in 2006, effectively short-selling sterling in the currency markets."

But the religion and society think-tank Ekklesia claimed that in 2006, the Church Commissioners, which manages the Church of England's investments, set up a currency hedging programme that hedged against a fall in the value of sterling, effectively short-selling the British pound to guard against rises in other currencies. The think-tank also criticised the Church for its shareholdings in oil and mining companies.

The dead are not buried for up to 9 weeks due to credit crunch.


The spectre of the Winter of Discontent threatened to return to haunt Labour last night after funeral directors revealed that the burial of 'hundreds' of bodies is being delayed for financial reasons.

In a bleak new sign of the growing economic crisis, hard-up families are having to wait more than two months before receiving Government money for funerals.
Organisations representing undertakers accused the Government of putting them in an 'impossible' position by dragging their feet over burial costs for poor families.
Previously, undertakers would pay for the cost of funerals and wait to be reimbursed by the State, but the lack of credit in the banking system means many firms can no longer afford to do so.

The Tories have demanded an emergency Commons debate on the issue. The row has ominous echoes of the Winter of Discontent in the dying days of the last Labour Government 30 years ago, when economic problems led to rubbish piling up in the streets and bodies lying unburied - symbols of political failure that did lasting damage to the party.

The current problems stem from delays to payouts from the Department for Work and Pensions' Social Fund, which helps needy families with burial costs.
They qualify if they can prove they are receiving benefits, were closely related to the deceased and do not have sufficient savings to meet the funeral costs.

The dead are not buried for up to 9 weeks due to credit crunch. ..... they are if they're jewish!

Boy who became father at 13 raises 'worrying' questions


A schoolboy who became a father at the age of 13 has raised disturbing questions about society, leading politicians said yesterday.

But police and social services said no one would be prosecuted over the case of Alfie Patten whose 15-year-old girlfriend Chantelle Stedman gave birth to a daughter earlier this week.

Pro-life campaigners praised the two children as courageous for deciding to go ahead with the pregnancy but the Conservative leader David Cameron said the case raised "worrying" questions about modern Britain

Alfie, who is just over 4ft tall and looks younger even than his 13 years, was only 12 years old when he got Chantelle - who was then 14 - pregnant.

The schoolboy from Hailsham, East Sussex, was allowed to stay over at Chantelle's house after originally meeting through their mothers. He was often seen emerging in the morning in his school uniform.

Neighbours claimed that Chantelle's mother Penny, 38, had been Alfie's babysitter and cared for him at weekends to give his mother a break.

But the two young people soon became "inseparable" and were, it was claimed, allowed to sleep in the same bed.

They discovered Chantelle was pregnant when she visited a GP complaining of stomach pains but initially tried to keep it a secret even from their parents.

Mrs Stedman soon became suspicious after noticing her daughter putting on weight.

The young couple decided against having an abortion and Chantelle gave birth to their daughter, Maisie Roxanne, at Eastbourne District General Hospital earlier this week.

Despite his age, Alfie - who is himself one of nine children - has spoken of his intention to care for the child.

Asked in an interview for The Sun newspaper what he would do financially, he replied: "What's financially?"

He told the paper: "I didn't think about how we would afford it. I don't really get pocket money, my dad sometimes gives me 10."

The couple claimed that they slept together only once when Chantelle, who lives with her five brothers and sisters in a council house in Eastbourne, became pregnant but friends said that Alfie regularly slept at her house.

Neighbours said that until Chantelle became pregnant, the Stedman home was a popular local hangout with people calling in to smoke cannabis. Others said there had been fights with neighbours.

"Before she got pregnant there were people going in and out every day but as soon as she got pregnant she was just in there all the time," said one.

Police and social services launched a joint investigation into the case as soon as details of the pregnancy came to light.

But Sussex Police said it was "not in anyone's interests" to bring any prosecutions.

A spokesman said: "Sussex Police Child Protection Team was aware of a 14-year-old girl that had become pregnant as the result of a relationship with a 12-year-old boy.

"A joint agency investigation with East Sussex County Council Children's Services has taken place which has considered the needs of both individuals and there will be continued support for these two young people in the future."

East Sussex County Council said the young parents would receive "intensive" monitoring and health visitor support.

"Any birth to parents this young is a cause of great concern to us and in these circumstances we will always offer substantial support to the families involved," a spokesman said.

He added that the children's schools and NHS staff had been involved.

David Cameron said: "It is really worrying that in our country today you have children having children.

"We hope they will be good parents, but parenthood is not what they should have been thinking about."

Gordon Brown said: "I don't know the individual details of the case, but of course I think all of us would want to avoid teenage pregnancies."

The local MP Nigel Waterson added: "This is a very sad story which will have a huge impact on both the parents and the child.

"I'm very pleased that the families are being supportive, but this of course raises huge questions about sex education rather than relationship education in schools, and also about the sexualisation of our society."

Josephine Quintavalle of the Pro-Life Alliance said that it was right that no-one should not be prosecuted as the children were victims of our society.

We have to be pleased that they have the courage to resist the temptation to have an abortion because whoever is responsible it is not the child that has been born, she said.

Nobody can be happy in thinking that teenagers at a younger and younger age are sexually active.

We have to drastically rethink our whole attitude to sex education.

We should have the courage to say to children at this age 'You are too young, don't do it' it is time we woke up to that.

Norman Wells, of Family and Youth Concern, said: Unless we begin to address the issue of underage sexual activity we shall continue to see cases like this.

The Government's teenage pregnancy strategy with all its emphasis on sex education and making contraception freely available to young people is creating a climate in which teenagers think it is normal to be sexually active under the age of 16.

More ridiculous news...


Why does nobody clear the paths outside their homes? Yup, it's all down to health and safety


Householders and businesses have been warned not to clear snowy pavements - as they could be sued if someone slips.

In its guidance to members, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health warns that if people assume an area is clear and then slip and injure themselves, they could take legal action claiming damages.

And members of the public say they have been warned by councils about the legal risks. Michael Pepper, 68, asked Cambridgeshire county council to deliver grit which he offered to spread, but was warned he could be sued if he did so.

Government whip Lord Davies of Oldham explained to fellow peers in a House of Lords debate: 'If people totally clear away all snow and return the pavement to the situation it was in before the snow landed, they have done an excellent job.
If it is done in a less than complete manner and leaves ice, which is more dangerous than the original covering of snow, it may not be the local authority responsible but the householder for having dealt with the pavement.'

John McQuater, president of the National Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, admitted: 'If you do nothing you cannot be liable. If You do something, you could be liable to legal action.'

But to add to the confusion, home owners are responsible for clearing their own private paths and ensuring visiting postmen, milkmen and others are safe, warned Paul Kitson, of solicitors Russell, Jones and Walker.

The situation here contrasts with many parts of North America where householders face local authority fines if they dont shovel snow off pavements facing their homes.

Ann Widdecombe, the former Tory minister and critic of Britains burgeoning compensation culture told the Sunday Telegraph: The idea you can be sued for being helpful is absolutely ludicrous.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents also expressed its disappointment that public safety was being neglected because of fears of possible litigation.

A spokesman said: This is not showing a particularly good attitude. It would be much safer for the public to clear paths, even if its not on their property.
And Clare Marx, past president of the British Orthopaedic Association and orthopaedic consultant at Ipswich Hospital, said: If people want to clear pavements, they should just do it.

I would have thought its a public service and it is a shame we have ended up with a culture where if someone slips, they want to sue someone.

The organisation said its members expected to treat tens of thousands of fractures by the time the weather eventually improves.

Forecasters are predicting that freezing conditions continue until at least Wednesday, while local authorities edge closer to running out of grit.
The lack of salt means even few pavements will be cleared of ice and snow.
The Government has ordered extra supplies from the U.S. and Europe, but they are not expected to arrive for another fortnight.