The Wardman Wire

Here is today’s roundup of stories.

Comment

Madeleine Bunting (Comment is Free) - Secularists have nothing to fear from women wearing headscarves
Separation of church and state should not preclude the assertion of religious identity - as Turkey is learning

Polly Toynbee (Comment is Free) - One last chance to resist the temptations of gambling
There is an important social difference between letting people seek out a harmful pursuit and thrusting it at everyone

Rowan Williams (Guardian) - It is adults, not young people, who are a public menace
The sight of young people gathering on streets and in shopping centres is one of the things that can create alarm or suspicion in adults, who think such groups are going to be abusive or extreme in their behaviour. But today’s report from the Good Childhood inquiry ought to challenge many popular misconceptions about young people and our shared public space.

Andrew o’Hagan (Telegraph) - A care home and dark secrets in Jersey
Stuart Syvret, who served as Jersey’s health minister until recently, was ousted after making claims about excessive punishments being meted out at a children’s institution. Someone, somewhere - or powerful groups of someones - didn’t seem to want allegations from that world to get out.

News

BBC (BBC) - City hits back over super casino
Senior councillors have now said they would seek a judicial review if the casino plan does not get the go-ahead.

BBC (BBC) - Speaker denies harming Parliament
Commons Speaker Michael Martin has dismissed claims that his review of MP expenses is taking too long and causing damage to Parliament’s image.

Economist (Economist) - Internet - Facebook fatigue
THE number of Britons logging on to Facebook has fallen for the first time, according to Nielsen Online, an internet-metrics firm. In January, 8.5m unique users caught up with friends and colleagues, down by 5% from December. Facebook has added 712% more users in Britain since January 2007 and it appears that a natural plateau has been reached: Bebo and MySpace hit their user peaks in mid-2007. People may also be turning to more specialised sites, such as LinkedIn, a professional-networking site. America has already seen growth slacken.

NYT (NYT) - Pieces of Texas Turn Primary Into a Puzzle
When Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton issued her gunslinger’s invitation to Senator Barack Obama recently, challenging him to meet me in Texas, the question many people here asked was, Which one?

Times (Times Online) - Secret report reveals massive MEP fraud
Chris Davies, the Liberal Democrat who revealed the existence of the internal audit, said: I don’t think it will be made public because the poachers are in charge of the game park. MEPs might introduce reforms after the next elections when half of them have changed because it is just too embarrassing for them now.

Obituary

Economist (Economist)

- Steve Fossett, adventurer and record-breaker, was declared dead on February 15th, aged 63
In his 30s Mr Fossett had typed out a list of things to do that included, rather than putting up shelves or going to the gym, doing all the World Loppet cross-country skiing marathons, swimming the English Channel and climbing the highest mountain on each continent. He did them all, except for climbing Everest, for which he found he did not have the patience. But he also took part in the Le Mans 24-hour car race, the Boston Marathon and the Iditarod dog-sled race in Alaska.

Scotland

BBC (BBC)

- Cheap island ferry plan launched
Ferry fares on some sailings to the Western Isles could be slashed by a pilot project to be launched by the Scottish Government on Tuesday.

Wales

BBC (BBC)

- AM cleared in standards inquiry
A Labour AM has been cleared of misuse of the Welsh assembly’s postal service to send leaflets to party members.

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