Run it up the lap dancing pole and see how it flies

From ic Surrey see full article

A marketing company has admitted it lied to the public after it was discovered that a massive advert of a naked stripper wrapped around a pole across in a paddock does not exist.

In what is thought to be the biggest hoax to hit the area, the Horley Mirror can confirm that the so-called advert is nothing more then a marketing stunt which cost less than £100 to produce.

The doctored image of what appeared to be a 100,000 square foot advert for an online lap dancing club was the creation of Flightpath Media, a London-based advertising agency, using the computer design program Photoshop.

The farcical stunt tricked a number of regional newspapers, including the Mirror, gained national media attention in newspapers such as The Sun and The Times, and was even reported by international media outlets based as far afield as Australia.

Tandridge District Council has spent the past three weeks searching for the advert in the Burstow area at the expense of taxpayers.

Flightpath Media told the Mirror the advert was placed in the paddock and took eight people three days to paint.

Flightpath Media owner, Stephen Pearson, claims the hoax generated "several million of pounds" and a number of subscriptions for the online lapdancing club.

An unrepentant Mr Pearson now believes his company will win an award for the best marketing campaign "in the last few years". He said: It's all a marketing stunt that has worked perfectly.

   
For UK sex workers

The Government are still 'consulting' abut mini brothels though

Based on an article from The Guardian see full article

After nearly 200 years the stigmatising legal term "common prostitute" which dates back to the 1824 Vagrancy Act is to be removed from the statute book, under a package of criminal justice reforms unveiled yesterday.

The shake-up in the sex offences laws will also see women who are persistently involved in prostitution facing compulsory drug and alcohol rehabilitation courses on pain of 72 hours' detention if they fail to attend.

The compulsory rehab courses will apply to those who are convicted of loitering or soliciting for the purpose of prostitution and will be imposed instead of a fine. Offenders will have to attend at least three meetings of the rehab course or face arrest and detention of up to 72 hours and being brought before a court.

It will no longer be an offence to loiter, or solicit, for the purposes of prostitution unless a person does so persistently. Persistent is defined as loitering on “two or more occasions in any three-month period”. Even those convicted of persistent loitering will no longer face a fine or other penalty, but could be forced to meet a supervisor in an effort to rehabilitate them.

A spokesman for the Injustice Ministry said last night: The law is not being relaxed. It is defining what the term persistent means. In most cases people are not currently prosecuted until they have received at least two cautions.

The decision to remove the term "common prostitute" from the statute book follows a consultation which showed the term was widely regarded as stigmatising and offensive.

 
The Vatican should realise by now the harm that can be caused by sexual denial

From the Khaleej Times see full article

The Vatican urged nations to pass laws to curb the ‘modern slavery’ of prostitution to protect women from violence and punish clients.

A new document said the exploitation of women stemmed from activities including human trafficking and sex tourism and the problem should be tackled in a comprehensive way.

The victims of prostitution are human beings, who in many cases cry out for help, to be freed from slavery,’ the document by the Vatican’s department on migrant issues said: The customers too are people with deeply rooted problems, and in a certain sense are also slaves.

An effective measure towards cultural change with respect to prostitution could derive from associating criminal law with social condemnation. Monsignor Agostino Marchetto, explained: We think that there should be not only protection of women but also a punishment for the clients.

He said the Vatican would push for legislation along the Swedish model, which penalises customers with jail sentences and fines based on their salaries.

The section of the document that dealt with prostitution, called Pastoral Ministry for the Liberation of Street Women, said men who frequent prostitutes should be aware of the Church’s: clear condemnation of their sins and the injustice they commit.

A campaign by Latvian nutters

Based on an article from The Sydney Morning Herald see full article

Latvia's capital is hopefully becoming a Baltic Bangkok.

Local nutters feel this is not such a good thing and that girls need to be steered away from one-night stands with tourists.

Like other Eastern European capitals, Riga has become a popular destination for groups of men on stag nights. This has led to a boom for pubs, clubs and strip bars and a growing sex industry.

Riga is at risk of becoming a Baltic Bangkok and I'm starting to worry about the image of my country abroad, said Martins Kozlovskis leading a Stop Sex Terrorism campaign.

The campaign is aimed at local girls, showing them the dangers of getting involved with tourists. During the month-long campaign there will be shows on television and radio broadcasts aimed at starting a dialogue in society about sex tourism.

Western Australian will legalise brothels

From News.com.au see full article

The Western Australia Government will certify brothels from next year in a pragmatic bid to put law and order, taxation and health and occupational health and safety issues in the sex industry on a sound regulatory basis.

Attorney-General Jim McGinty said: We all know that prostitution is the oldest profession, attempts at prohibition have always failed, everywhere in the world, and so there is now a recognition that we need to regulate something that we cannot prohibit.

Prostitution is currently legal in Western Australia but running a brothel is not and neither is living off the earnings of prostitution.

Antwerp put brothel on the tourist map

From The Times see full article

Tourist officials in Belgium are supporting a visitor map that encourages trips to brothels in Antwerp.

The map, which is backed by the Flemish Government, the city of Antwerp and Tourism Flanders, recommends visits to Villa Tinto, a “mega-brothel with 51 sex suites where 102 prostitutes alternately work around the clock” in the red light district.

On the “by night” section of the map, which is entitled “Antwerp for young people”, there are directions to the brothel under the heading: “The oldest trade in the world.”

A spokeswoman for Tourism Antwerp said: The City of Antwerp’s aim is to move prostitution from the control of organised criminals, and combat crime and violence fostered by conventional red light districts. She added that tourist officials were not responsible for the map’s content.

   
UK Passport fees to rise again

From The Times see full article

The cost of an adult passport will increase from £66 to £72 this October, the third price rise in under two years.

The price increase was requested by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The body says it needs more funding to cover the cost of helping British travellers who get into difficulty abroad.

According to the FCO Britons make 65 million trips per year, three times more than in the 1980s. Britons who encounter problems while abroad such as lost passports, hospital visits, terrorist attacks and natural hazards make 3.5 million enquiries at the 200 British consular posts around the world. The cost of dealing with these incidents is funded by part of the passport fee.

Malaysia has no law against erotic massage

From the Malay Mail

According to Ampang Jaya police chief Assistant Commissioner Amer Awal, masturbation is not prostitution and it is not mentioned in the Malaysian Penal Code.

That is the reason why police cannot take action against massage parlours offering erotic massages as it is not an offence.

It appears that certain massage parlours are using this loophole in the law to offer ‘hand jobs’ to customers, under the name of urut batin. This is a form of traditional Malay massage that helps the body circulate more blood to the penis while increasing the strength of erections to improve sexual stamina.

Amer said police cannot take action against the massage parlour operators without evidence: It’s difficult to prove whether a masseuse masturbates her customer. When a raiding team enters the cubicle, the masseuse would have quickly covered the customer’s private parts with a towel or something and put her hands on his thigh as if she’s massaging the area.

Amer said he would write a letter to MPAJ and inform the council on the goings-on at these parlours based on the undercover reporter’s account published in Weekend Mail: I will suggest to them to cancel the licence as obviously, there are immoral activities.

Amer said he would also write a letter to the Selangor Religious Department so that the religious body could act on the Muslim masseuses and customers.

   
No ban for the bad taste game, V-Tech Rampage

From The Sydney Morning Herald see full article
The game is available at GooGumProduce
The game is also available on the games portal NewGrounds (blocked in Thailand)

Australian authorities have decide not to ban a computer game inspired by the Virginia Tech massacre. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) investigated the game, V-Tech Rampage, after receiving a complaint about it last month.

The game was created by Sydney man Ryan Lambourn and posted on his personal website, as well as on a popular game portal website.

It features a character based on Cho Seung-hui, who shot dead 32 students at the Virginia Tech campus in April in the worst such massacre in US history.

The ACMA referred the game to the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC), which gave it an MA 15 + rating, the highest classification for a computer game.

After reviewing it, the OFLC decided that the game could not be prohibited, an ACMA spokesman said. On the basis of their decision, we are taking no further action.

No more mail applications for UK visas which will now require fingerprints

From The Nation
See also UK Visa

People wanting to visit the United Kingdom will soon re-quire high-tech biometric visas.

Applicants aged five and older will from June 21 need to visit the British Embassy visa application centre run by VFS Thailand.

Applicants will have their fingerprints electronically scanned and a digital photograph taken. There will be no additional charge.

The embassy is bracing for complaints from those accustomed to the old, more relaxed rules. The changes, the embassy said, were necessary.

The British Embassy apologises to customers for any inconvenience the move to this new visa system may cause. The addition of biometric data is necessary to combat visa fraud, including identity theft, and to improve security for all visitors to the UK.

Biometric visas for the UK have already been introduced in a number of other countries in the region and are being introduced worldwide, the embassy said.

All applications for UK visas will be suspended and the VFS office closed from this Friday until next Wednesday inclusive so equipment required can be installed and staff trained to use it.

   
Near naked dancers simulating sex acts

Both the UK and Pattaya seem to be inflicting 60 day closures on bars

Based on an article from Rugby Review Today

A Rugby lap dancing bar has had its licence taken away for two months because its dancers were 'too provocative'.

The decision has angered the owner of Pink gentlemen's club, Michael Hill, who claims his venue has been victimised.

The Rugby Borough Council's Licensing Sub-Committee passed the decision  after hearing clear and serious safety breaches at the club, following police visits to the Gas Street venue.

Officers from Rugby Police and Fire Station reported evidence including locked fire doors, unmanaged CCTV systems and near naked dancers simulating sex acts with customers.

A CCTV system at the 100-strong capacity venue was incorrectly managed and doorstaff were not present, it was found.

Sergeant Kate Jackson, of Rugby Police, said: There were many issues brought together which caused grave concerns for public safety in terms of crime and disorder. The management were clearly not taking their safety responsibilities seriously enough. I'm satisfied from a public safety view with this decision.

Mr. Hill said a £3,000 alarm system was now being introduced at the club. Security had been upgraded and clothing was now worn by dancers during performances in the main club area.

Cllr. Hazel Bell, who chaired the committee, said she was 'impressed' with Mr. Hill's willingness to rectify the problems. However, she said the club must now 'get on with the work' needed to improve safety conditions.

Soapy massage tolerated in Japan

From Mainichi see full article

Anti-Prostitution Law outlaws payment for intercourse, yet soapland brothels openly offer the practice and no-one ever says anything about it, according to Spa! magazine, which pledges to uncover one of the Japanese media's great taboo topics.

Despite the ban on paid intercourse, soaplands all operate with written permission from the police and can often be found in the vicinity of police boxes. Yet the media never says a word about the contradiction.

The reason is because soaplands are regarded, on the surface at least, as public bathhouses and not adult entertainment businesses. That's why soaplands have steam sauna machines made for one, and playmates and hard massage tables instead of beds, an expert on handling government documents tells Spa! What you pay to get into the soapland is merely an entrance fee for a public bath.

Soapland workers - bubble princesses, as they are sometimes called - are officially there only to help the customer wash. If there is any sex between the customer, it is regarded purely as the result of "free love" and the soapland itself has no involvement. The transaction between customer and bubble princess is one between lovers.

This shaky argument gives plenty of room for the police to move in on the soaplands, but they rarely do.

There are sometimes arrests made, but the police basically know everything that's going on and choose to shut up about it, the expert says. I suppose they let it go because soaplands are a way for the common man to relieve his sexual frustrations.

   
Spanish airline advert pulled

From International Herald Tribune see full article

The Spanish airline Iberia has withdrawn a cartoon ad that depicts a baby boy frolicking on a beach with buxom black Cuban ladies after consumer groups complained it is insulting to women and encourages sexual tourism.

The pair of women — with exaggerated lips and tiny, tight shorts on broad hips — massage and pamper the white Spanish infant after he arrives in Havana on a free trip from Iberia. At one point, lounging at a seaside bar, he sings: Come on honey, take me to the crib.

Iberia's web site ran the video as part of a contest offering free trips to celebrate the site's 10th anniversary. The clip was yanked last week after less than 10 days on the page, following a complaint by the Federation of Consumers in Action.

Ileana Fuentes, executive director of the Miami-based Cuban Feminist Network, said the cartoon plays to the idea that for Spanish men, Cuba is the place to go for easy sex with poor, black women.

   
To get all UK citizens arrested at least once

From The Independent see full article

Frontline police called on the Government today to reverse the target-driven culture that has 'forced' them to make "ludicrous" decisions such as arresting a child for throwing cream buns.

The Police Federation annual conference debated whether judging officers purely on how many arrests, cautions or on-the-spot fines they can deliver is making a mockery of the criminal justice system.

The federation said the drive to meet Whitehall performance targets was compelling officers to criminalise middle England.

The organisation published a dossier of ridiculous cases they claimed resulted from Home Office targets placed on beat bobbies:

• A Cheshire man who was cautioned by police for being found in possession of an egg with intent to throw
• A child in Kent who removed a slice of cucumber from a tuna mayonnaise sandwich and threw it at another youngster and was arrested because the other child's parents claimed it was an assault
• A West Midlands woman arrested on her wedding day for criminal damage to a car park barrier when her foot slipped on her accelerator pedal
• A Kent child who was arrested for throwing cream buns at a bus
• A 70-year-old Cheshire pensioner - who had never been in trouble with the law - who was arrested for criminal damage after cutting back a neighbour's conifers too vigorously
• One West Midlands officer who was told to caution a man for throwing a glass of water over his girlfriend
• Two Manchester children who were arrested under firearms laws for being in possession of a plastic toy pistol.

A spokesman for the federation, which represents 130,000 rank-and-file officers in England and Wales, said the power to use discretion should be returned to the bobby on the beat: The cases we have compiled show incidents where an officer has been under such pressure to deliver it has resulted in an arrest or caution when even the officer themselves thinks it is ludicrous.

Understandably, when the public hears about this, they ask 'What the hell is going on?'.

   
Berlin pursues working girls

I wonder what Thailand's tax take is from bar girls. I think I can guess.

From The Times see full article

The cash-strapped German capital this week dispatched inspectors into establishments such as Lust Land to drum up revenue from the city’s 7,000 sex workers. Prostitution is a strong economic sector in the capital, says Gerry Woop, spokesman for Berlin’s economic administration.

According to the German Institute for Economic Research, prostitution in Berlin has an annual turnover of €300 million (£203 million), making the sex industry more dynamic than domestic builders, painters and decorators.

Prostitution was legalised in 2002. This allowed brothel owners to provide more hygenic conditions of work and prostitutes became eligible for pensions and health insurance. But the quid pro quo was that prostitutes should fill in annual tax returns. So far only a handful have been doing so.

Under the new rules, each prostitute will be required to pay €30 a day to the brothel owner as an advance payment on tax. The prostitute should have documentary proof for every day worked.

   
Spanish commission opts to maintain the status quo

From EUX.TV see full article

Should prostitution be banned, or should it be regulated?

After nearly three years of debate, a parliamentary commission advising the Spanish government threw in the towel, rejecting both of the proposed approaches and simply leaving prostitution where it was: a shady zone where it is neither legal nor illegal.

Spain will only take measures aimed at reducing prostitution, the commission announced.

Its incapacity to adopt a clear policy angered both the main camps: women's rights activists regarding prostitution as a form of slavery, incompatible with democratic values, and prostitutes' associations saying sex workers needed legal rights to protect themselves.

Spain has been dubbed the "brothel of Europe," with up to 500,000 women working as prostitutes. Every day, 1.5 million men buy sex in Spain, said Maribel Montano of the governing Socialist Party (PSOE).

The trade, which is plied in places ranging from parks and flats to roadside brothels, turns over an estimated 40 billion euros (54 billion dollars) annually, almost the equivalent of Spain's education budget.

Parliament's incapacity to take a stance showed how deeply divided Spanish society is on the subject. A full ban on prostitution might imply penalizing hundreds of thousands of male clients, a measure too unpopular for the government to contemplate, a police expert observed.

   
Sharia in Poland?

From Spiegel see full article

One Polish legislator has announced plans for a bill that would ban miniskirts and other "enticements", with the goal of reducing street prostitution. But the move is also part of a wider culture war.

Artur Zawisza, a Catholic member of the breakaway "Right of the Republic" party, wants to ban miniskirts as well as heavy makeup and see-through or low-cut blouses in a proposal he says is aimed at prostitutes. His initiative would rob Polish streetwalkers of a means of advertising, he says.

Prostitution is legal in Poland, though, and Zawisza admits the ban might have a chilling effect on women who aren't prostitutes. It is possible that a pretty girl on the way home from a disco might get arrested, he said, but he trusted Polish police to tell the difference between respectable women and women with loose morals.

Hidden hidden street microphones

From The Telegraph see full article

Hidden mini-cameras and microphones that can eavesdrop on conversations in the street are the next step in the march towards a "Big Brother" society, MPs were warned.

Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, said a debate had begun about whether listening devices should be set up alongside Britain's 4.5 million CCTV cameras.

In evidence to the Commons home affairs committee, Mr Thomas said he would be hostile to such an idea. He was also alarmed by the prospect of tiny cameras, hidden in lamp posts, replacing more obvious monitors.

He said it was arguable that surveillance in Britain - which is greater than in any other democratic nation - may already have gone too far. It was crucial, he added, to ''proceed with caution'' to avoid creating a climate suspicion.

Thomas believes the Information Commissioner's Office should have more powers to investigate privacy breaches without seeking the consent of organisations such as the NHS or Whitehall departments.

Thomas quoted Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the US, who said: Those who lightly give up their liberties in the name of safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: This Government has got away with the construction of a surveillance state behind the backs of the British people for far too long.

   
UK Man arrested for photographing electricity pylon

From Kent Online

A structural engineer from Kent claims he was held in a police cell for 18 hours after being mistaken for a terrorist.

David Neale, who lives in Rainham, says he was driving through Cornwall when he stopped with a friend to take a picture of a pylon and suddenly found himself surrounded by armed police.

Neale says he was arrested under the Terrorism Act, but, after 90 minutes sitting in a police car, the charge was dropped to conspiracy to commit criminal damage.

Police have denied his arrest had any link to the act.

The man was arrested with his friend Jay Curtis and taken to Newquay Police Station where they were questioned and left in the cells overnight before being released without charge.

Neale also says he returned home the following day to find police had raided his home and seized his computer.

Neale said: I design and analyse pylons for a living so have a genuine interest in them. That’s why I stopped, but the next thing I knew six cars had pulled up and police were brandishing guns. They just didn’t believe it when I told them what I was doing. They were convinced I was trying to blow them up.

A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed David Neale was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal damage on April 4.

   
New rules on declaring cash when entering or leaving the UK

Umm...Maybe your holiday travellers cheques can be seized if you mention bar girls and the like. Prostitution is nominally against the law in Thailand

From Accounting Web

HMRG, the UK's customs and tax collectors, has announced that from 15 June 2007, if you are travelling to or from a country outside the European Union (EU), you will need to declare any sums of cash of 10,000 Euro or more (or the equivalent in another currency) to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

The relevant forms to make the disclosure are available at airports and ports, but the term ‘cash’ covers:

• currency notes and coins
• bankers’ drafts
• cheques of any kind, including travellers’ cheques.

Officers will only seize cash if they have reasonable grounds to suspect it is the proceeds of, or is intended for use in, unlawful conduct.

Seized cash cannot be kept for more than 48 hours without a court order (not including public holidays and weekends).
A court may order seized cash to be:

• detained while investigations are carried out
• forfeited permanently if the investigation shows it is associated with criminal activity.

If your cash is seized, you will be given information on how to appeal against the decision

   
Scottish killjoy legislators

From The Herald

Hen nights and the rugby club's Christmas party may never be the same again.

According to leading figures in Scotland's licensed trade, regulations which will govern the adult entertainment industry will be painted with such a broad brush that strip-o-grams, and possibly even kiss-o-grams, could be severely affected.

Only premises with separate toilet and changing rooms and CCTV coverage would be fit to host such performances. Despite their popularity the lack of suitable venues could see strip-o-grams become a thing of the past.

Although they have yet to be finally agreed, the Scottish Executive's guidelines on adult entertainment released last year are not expected to change in any significant way.

Targeted primarily at lap and pole dancing clubs, as well as dedicated strip joints, the regulations define adult entertainment as that performed live for an audience, under commercial arrangement, and by a person whose actions are erotic or explicitly sexual.

The proposals to govern the trade include ensuring dancers are 18 and over, that the public cannot participate or touch the performers, private booths are removed, CCTV cameras covering the entire area are to the satisfaction of the chief constable and that separate toilets and changing facilities need to be provided exclusively for the performers.

Sources have told The Herald that in dialogue with the executive officials have claimed that strip-o-grams would, in all likelihood, be swallowed up in the new guidelines.

So claims Bush's anti prostitution head

From the BBC see full article

A woman accused of running a high-class prostitution ring in Washington DC has said she plans to call her prominent customers to testify at her trial.

Deborah Palfrey says among them will be Randall Tobias, who resigned as deputy secretary of state on Friday, shortly after confirming he had been a client.

Palfrey faces charges of running a multi-million dollar prostitution service for more than 13 years. She says she provided an entirely legal sexual fantasy and escort service.

Palfrey, dubbed the "DC Madam", plans to call, and if necessary, subpoena clients such as Tobias, to testify in her defence that they did not have sex when they hired her escorts.

Tobias resigned last week shortly after US media told him Palfrey had revealed he had made calls to her business. Before he stepped down, Tobias ran the Bush administration's programme to crack down on prostitution worldwide.

He was also criticised in his role as US Global Aids co-ordinator when he advocated partner fidelity and abstinence, instead of condoms, to help limit the spread of the HIV virus.

So far Tobias is the highest-profile name to come out, our correspondent says, but speculation is mounting about who else could be on the list of clients, which Palfrey has threatened to sell to pay for her legal defence.

Following Swedish model of prostitution legislation

From The Guardian see full article

Norway's ruling Labour party voted yesterday for a ban on buying sex in a bid to shift the focus of the law on to Buyers.

Prostitution is legal in Norway, but procuring it, or pimping, is not. Street prostitution in the capital, Oslo, has become increasingly visible and aggressive in the past few years, provoking calls for a ban.

Labour has support from its coalition partners, the Socialist Left and Centre parties, which hold a combined 87 of parliament's 169 seats. It will also be backed by the opposition Christian People's party, which proposed the ban. A majority of parties in parliament wants a ban on buying sexual services, said the prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg.

The opposition Progress and Liberal parties oppose the ban. The Conservative party is reserving judgment.

BA ridiculed over censorship of Richard Branson cameo

From The Telegraph see full article

Richard Branson, the Virgin Atlantic chairman, who makes a brief cameo appearance in Casino Royale, the latest James Bond film, is somehow missing from the version shown on British Airways flights.

In the cinema version, Sir Richard is seen passing through a security arch at Miami airport. However on BA flights, while he can be seen from the back, the scene when he turns round and faces the camera has gone.

This is not the first occasion that BA has been sensitive about the appearance of its rival on screen. Scenes filmed in Virgin's premium cabin were cut out of The Wedding Date before it was deemed suitable for BA passengers.

The decision to cut Sir Richard from the film was taken by BA's in-flight entertainment team, which vets films on grounds of taste and suitability before allowing them to be shown.

The fractious relationship between the airlines dates back to their legal battles on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1990s. After an apparent thaw, hostilities appeared to resume last summer when Virgin was identified as the "whistle blower" that triggered a price-fixing investigation in Britain and the United States.

A BA spokesman confirmed that changes had been made to Casino Royale. All films are screened .... we want to ensure they contain no material that might upset our customers.

   
Brits emigrate to their place in the sun

Based on an article from The Times see full article

Five hundred Britons are leaving the UK every day to live in the sun or find work abroad, according to the Office of National Statistics. A record 380,000 people left the country in 2005. More than half were British citizens leaving for more than a year. The top destinations are Australia, Spain, France and New Zealand.

One in five Britons moving abroad headed for Australia. Large numbers also emigrated to Spain, where there is an established expatriate retirement community. Canada and South Africa are also very popular.

The figures released by the ONS show that, of the 380,000 people who left the country in 2005, 198,000, were British citizens. In 2001, the figure was 159,000. The net outflow of Britons — the difference between British people leaving and British people returning — increased by 25% between 2001 and 2005.

A large proportion of those leaving said that they intended to stay abroad for more than four years. Just over 40% said that they were “emigrating” and gave no further reason suggesting they were leaving for good. Almost 30% said that they were leaving to look for a job or already had definite jobs.

Britain is experiencing its highest ever levels of immigration. The 2004 net figure of 223,000 was the highest ever. When Labour took office in 1997, net migration was about 46,800 a year, and had been at that level for two decades.

On Wednesday, Liam Byrne, the Immigration Minister, admitted that although globalisation and migration had made the UK richer it had also “deeply unsettled” the country.

Where British citizens choose to emigrate:

1 Australia 71,000
2 Spain 58,000
3 France 42,000
4 New Zealand 30,000
5 US 25,000
6 Canada 17,000
7 Netherlands 8,000
8 UAE 7,000
9 Germany 6,000
10 South Africa 6,000

   
UK Drinks censor bans Rubbel Sexy Lager

Based on an article from Morning Advertiser see full article

Bottles of a Belgian lager displaying a picture of a woman whose clothing can be removed have been stripped from UK shelves for breaching The Portman Group’s rules.

Labels of Rubbel Sexy Lager show the young lady wearing a swimsuit that can be scratched off to reveal her naked.

Buckinghamshire Trading SubStandards complained to the drinks watchdog which ruled the name of the drink and the swimsuit feature were associated with sexual success.

This is banned under The Portman Group’s Code of Practice on the Naming, Packaging and Promotion of Alcoholic Drinks. The drinks have been withdrawn from sale following the complaint decision.

David Poley, chief executive of The Portman Group, spouted politically correct bollox: Some people might think this is harmless fun but there is a serious issue involved.

Drinking excessively can affect people’s judgement and behaviour leading to them engaging in sexual activity which they later regret.

An obscene lack of supporters

From The Guardian Well worthwhile reading full article by James Silver

Mary Whitehouse packed British halls and hogged the airwaves, so why is her successor finding it very difficult to lobby censorial support when a similar group in the US is hugely popular?

In its heyday, Whitehouse's National Viewers and Listeners Association had 150,000 members (including affiliated groups), as well as a broad public profile. However, today, the organisation, renamed mediawatch-UK after her death in 2001, is a shadow of itself, with just 5,000 on its books. Her successor, John Beyer, who is softly-spoken and unassuming, concedes the Herculean nature of the task he faces. [Membership] has gone down, but we are taking steps to reverse the trend. Next month we're taking on an extra member of staff to go around the country to promote mediawatch-UK and find new members. But it's an uphill struggle.

The presence of Whitehouse, he acknowledges, still looms large. Mary was very good at getting headlines and I'm aware of the fact that I'm not, he says ruefully. She had the ear of Mrs Thatcher, when she was prime minister, there's no doubt about that. When I write to Tony Blair, John Reid or Tessa Jowell I don't even get replies.

Nevertheless, on the other side of the Atlantic, the Parents Television Council (PTC), which shares many of mediawatch-UK's values and goals, boasts a powerful public profile. While it is true that with one million members, the far better resourced PTC is a leviathan when compared with Beyer's rag-tag Kent-based army, its campaigning tactics centre on two things; keeping its message simple and its focus on mainstream TV (as opposed to the media as a whole). The PTC also confronts advertisers over TV which it considers beyond the pale.

There are a number of different facets to what we do but advertiser campaigns are a major part, explains its director of corporate and government affairs, Dan Issett: Advertisers are the ones who buy the ads and actually pay for much of the programming. These corporations have written codes of corporate conduct and often some of the graphic and explicit content in TV shows runs contrary to their codes. A lot of the time it's simply a matter of making them aware of the content they are actually sponsoring and encouraging them to adhere to their published standards. We also maintain a pretty high profile in terms of media exposure, we run letter-writing campaigns and pursue other forms of contact with policy-makers. But all we really do is tap into the frustration of the American people with the state of the entertainment industry in general and TV in particular.

The PTC can count on an American public broadly sympathetic to its message. In Britain, on the other hand, says Professor Steven Barnett, professor of communications at Westminster university, values have changed dramatically in recent decades, as has the media landscape.

He says: Whitehouse was brilliant at capturing a mood. But that mood has changed. Britain is a more tolerant, less censorious place. Beyer would have a much stronger constituency in America. If a tit pops out on primetime over there the country goes berserk. We left that behind 30 years ago. For that reason Beyer's organisation doesn't really have much of a constituency any more.

   
British Airways worst at losing baggage

From The Guardian

It may claim to be the world's favourite airline, but when it comes to making sure passengers and their bags arrive at their destination together, British Airways is rather less impressive.

A study of major European airlines reveals today that BA has the worst record for losing travellers' luggage.

Figures released by the UK's consumer watchdog for aviation show that 23 bags went missing for every 1,000 passengers carried by BA.

The Air Transport Users Council (AUC), which published the figures, said that BA had admitted its baggage handling last year was not acceptable and it apologised to customers who had been affected. But the carrier also claimed that changes to British airport security last August had led to more bags being handled and a striking increase in the numbers going astray.

The AUC said more than 5.6m bags went missing last year from flights run by the 24 carriers - which are all members of the Association of European Airlines - an average of 15.7 for every 1,000 passengers.

Other poor performers included Lufthansa of Germany, Air France, Italy's Alitalia and KLM of the Netherlands.

A total of 85% of the mishandled bags were returned to passengers within 48 hours, but this meant that about one million took more than two days to reach their owners and some were never found.

The AUC also said that the actual figure for European carriers could be even worse because some AEA members, such as Virgin Atlantic and bmi, do not provide luggage data. In addition, the popular budget airlines, such as Ryanair and easyJet, are not part of the association.

10 worst airlines

1. British Airways
2. TAP Air Portugal
3. Lufthansa
4. Air France
5. Alitalia
6. KLM
7. Luxair
8. Iberia
9. LOT Polish Airlines
10. Finnair

UK Teachers feel that TV is fuelling disrespect

From The Telegraph see full article

The catchphrases of a television comedy character are being blamed for a rise in aggression and bad manners among youngsters.

Lauren, the obnoxious teenager portrayed by the comedian Catherine Tate, is fuelling a culture of "disrespect" in classrooms, according to a survey.

Children are increasingly repeating the character's lines "Am I bovvered?" and "Whatev-ah!" when staff try to discipline them. Some pupils may even be re-enacting violence they have seen in TV dramas.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), which published the survey, also disclosed that growing numbers of teachers are quitting because of concerns over assaults in the classroom.

A lack of parental supervision meant too many pupils were staying up late and watching "inappropriate" television beyond the 9pm watershed, the union's annual conference in Bournemouth was told yesterday.

However, teachers said that not all television had a negative influence. The association said television encouraged increased awareness of current affairs, with 53% of teachers overhearing pupils talking about healthy eating habits, 40% about global warming and 29% about the war in Iraq.

Open day in Amsterdam's red light district

From Stuff see full article

Amsterdam's sex workers came to work early yesterday to offer a free look at the city's famed red-light district.

I think the open day is a great idea, said Love, an erotic dancer at Amsterdam's Banana Bar, who was on hand to answer questions and pose for photographs in fluorescent negligee: It is especially interesting for women. If they learn what we do here they will realise it is not a big deal if their husbands or boyfriends want to come here.

Organisers staged the open day to counter bad publicity surrounding the 800-year-old district after harrowing reports of forced prostitution, human trafficking and organised crime.

Organiser Jacco Wanders displayed a typical prostitute's bedroom, usually concealed behind red velvet curtains and fitted with an emergency alarm bell in case a client turns violent: This day is to help break down taboos around prostitution and to create more understanding and respect.

   
Brothel prosecution fails due to previous police tolerance

The UK's Observer newspaper originally reported this case in 2004 with the headline: Police have smashed an international prostitution racket in which gangmasters smuggled young women into Britain to work in the illegal sex trade

330 people were said to have been involved in the raid on the 2 brothels in an operation costing £1million

From Sheffield Today see full article

The owner and staff of a Sheffield brothel cannot be prosecuted because police were well aware sex was for sale and chose to do nothing about it, a top judge ruled.

Judge Simon Lawler QC found police had led sauna owners and staff to believe they would not get in trouble as long as they followed certain ground-rules.

And three years after a massive high-profile police swoop on the Omega sauna on Attercliffe Road, Sheffield, and a raid on Winston's sauna in Leeds, involving hundreds of officers, the judge ruled all charges relating to prostitution against 13 people were unfair.

Charges of living off the earnings of prostitution faced by Omega owner John Elsworth, aged, who bought the sauna for £177,000 after winning the Lottery in 2002, were thrown out by the judge.

The Omega is just 150 yards from Attercliffe police regular station and the judge was told every officer knew sex was for sale there. But the force turned a blind eye with officers making visits and following a policy of stick to the rules and we won't trouble you as long as the premises were free of underage girls, illegal workers, drugs and drink.

Judge Lawler said: It must, at the very least, have created in the minds of the sauna operators over several years a reasonable and legitimate expectation that their activities were at best tolerated and they would not be prosecuted, providing they abided by the rules.

The move against Omega was said to have been sparked by intelligence that illegal immigrants were working there but despite the operation attracting nationwide attention no evidence was ever found to back up the allegations.

Solicitor Sandra Mullan said: I think police forces around the country are clearly adopting a very similar approach to the police in Sheffield and they are now going to have to seriously think about how they approach the management of saunas.

After the ruling the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed it would not be in the public interest to appeal the judge's ruling. But a spokesman added the judge's decision did not establish any precedent for future cases.