Not a sheep (Free subscription) | yesterday
A driver is stuck in a traffic jam on the motorway. Nothing is moving. Suddenly a man knocks on the window. The driver rolls down his window and asks, 'What's going on?' 'Terrorists down the road have kidnapped Gordon Brown, Alistair Darling, David Miliband, and Jack Straw. They're asking for a £10 million ransom. Otherwise they're going to douse them with petrol, and set them on fire. We're going...
Phil Slocombe (Free subscription) | 18/07/2008
Full coverage of UK politics My story earlier in the week which repeated the reports of a fracas between Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, and Ed Balls, the Children, Schools and Families Secretary provoked different responses from the two protagonists. Straw's spokesman got in touch ...
JURIST (Free subscription) | 17/07/2008
[JURIST] The UK parliament approved legislation Wednesday that would allow the use of testimony from anonymous witnesses at criminal trials. The Criminal Evidence (Witness Anonymity) Act 2008 was introduced last month by UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw as an emergency measure following the Law Lords ruling in Regina v. Davis, which challenged the recently adopted judicial practice of permitting anonymous...
Slugger O'Toole (Free subscription) | 17/07/2008
Like buses, my big beasts of the British political jungle came in a pair on Wednesday, at two of my associations, the Hansard Society on parliamentary reform and the Mile End Group on contemporary history. They’re two bodies where you get to find out what’s moving. Jack Straw, fresh from his Lords reform proposals, joined a great meeting to discuss Law in the Making, the influences brought to bear...
Is there more to life than shoes? (Free subscription) | 16/07/2008
A driver is stuck in a traffic jam on the motorway. Nothing is moving. Suddenly a man knocks on the window. The driver rolls down his window and asks, 'What's going on?' 'Terrorists down the road have kidnapped Gordon Brown, Alistair Darling, David Miliband, and Jack Straw. They're asking for a £10 million ransom. Otherwise they're going to douse them with petrol, and set them on fire. We're going...
Re-cycle of Life (Free subscription) | 16/07/2008
Full coverage of UK Politics We reported earlier in the year how Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, had threatened to punch Children, Schools and Families Secretary, Ed Balls, after a disagreement over who was responsible for youth crime. Intrigued to discover more on the disintegration of their relationship, the Conservatives put in a Freedom of Information request asking for details of the pair's m...
The Why of the World (Free subscription) | 16/07/2008
Full coverage of UK Politics As David Cameron dismissed Gordon Brown as "useless", I glanced at the five Cabinet ministers sitting nearest to the Prime Minister. Geoff Hoon, Jack Straw, Harriet Harman, Alistair Darling and Jacqui Smith betrayed no signs whatever of indignation at this astonishingly impertinent characterisation of their leader. The ministers were listening with the polite but cautiou...
Christian Today (Free subscription) | 16/07/2008
New proposals to reform the House of Lords that could see Church of England bishops retain their privileged status have been announced by Justice Secretary Jack Straw
The Last Boy Scout (Free subscription) | 16/07/2008
With all of Gordon Brown's woes at the moment, and the briefing that seems to be going on behind his back, he may want to have a look at the odds of who may replace him as Labour leader. The current odds, from Bet365 are: David Miliband 3/1 Jack Straw 5/1 Harriet Harman 5/1 Jon Cruddas 13/2 Alan Johnson 15/2 Ed Balls 15/2 John Denham 8/1 James Purnell 10/1 Hilary Benn 16/1 Yvette Cooper 16/1 Andy Burnham...
Votelaw (Free subscription) | 15/07/2008
The Scotsman reports: Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, yesterday outlined proposals to make the Lords fully or mainly elected, although he admitted this would not happen until after the next general election, due by June 2010. He wants the number...
The Telegraph (Free subscription) | 15/07/2008
Teenage shoplifters will be forced to pay back retailers for any goods they steal under a new youth crime action plan.
Labour Matters (Free subscription) | 15/07/2008
New laws which came into effect this week will provide greater protection to ordinary people who intervene in criminal activity says Jack Straw - a have-a-go-hero himself. Provided that people act instinctively, feared for their safety or that of others, and do not use disproportionate force, the law will back them up when they make a citizen's arrest. Existing laws were questioned after Tony Martin...
Labour.org.uk (Free subscription) | 15/07/2008
Jacqui Smith, Ed Balls and Jack Straw have announced a triple track approach to tackling Youth Crime. The £100 million Youth Crime Action Plan sets out a comprehensive package of tough enforcement and intensive prevention measures as well as more...
Daily Mail on Sunday (Free subscription) | 15/07/2008
Gordon Brown is under growing pressure from allies to promote Jack Straw in a September reshuffle. The Justice Secretary is being tipped for the role of Deputy Prime Minister by loyalists.
Daily Mail (Free subscription) | 15/07/2008
Gordon Brown is under growing pressure from allies to promote Jack Straw in a September reshuffle. The Justice Secretary is being tipped for the role of Deputy Prime Minister by loyalists.
