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Archives for November 2010

British Schools, Islamic Rules - join in the debate

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Eamonn Walsh | 13:26 UK time, Monday, 22 November 2010

In his investigation into , reporter John Ware uncovered a loophole in the regulation system when it comes to part-time schools and clubs that operate on weekends and after school.

Panorama's investigation discovered that around 5,000 Muslim children attending a network of 40 Saudi Students' Schools and Clubs are being taught the Saudi national curriculum.

John also uncovered among some private Muslim full-time schools in the UK at a time when the number of Muslim schools is on the increase.

The programme, British Schools, Islamic Rules reveals disturbing evidence that some Muslim children are being exposed to extremist preachers and fundamentalist Islamic groups.

The film asks why school inspectors have missed the warning signs over elements of this teaching and examines the impact this could have on young Muslims' ability to integrate into mainstream British life.

Join in the debate and let us know what you think about the programme. Please leave your comments on our blog forum here.

Is taxing the fat the only way forward?

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Eamonn Walsh | 15:24 UK time, Friday, 12 November 2010

Brits top the league table of and experts fear that soon we'll be dealing with all the supersize problems that come with it.

The concern is that by 2020 a quarter of our children will be clinically obese, that by 2050 we will be spending £32 bn a year treating obesity-related illnesses as we face a 20 per cent rise in heart disease and a staggering 70 per cent rise in type 2 diabetes.

And those experts point the finger of blame firmly at our continuing consumption of junk foods.

They're now making the case for government moving beyond suggesting we remember our and take a greater role in dealing with our ever-expanding waistlines.

So Panorama is asking whether it's time to tax the fat?

Would putting up the price of junk food - with its high sugar and fat content - cut these rising obesity rates in the same way as a tax on cigarettes - vigorously contested by the tobacco industry at the time - has helped reduce smoking?

In 'Tax the Fat', Panorama delves into the rich archive to take the viewer back to a time when the link between human behaviour and ill-health was still a matter of conjecture - as shown by this Ministry of Health report that smoking might cause lung cancer.

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In the end of course, the link between smoking and ill-health was universally accepted and measures gradually introduced to combat smoking rates.

The debate about obesity has been going on just as long but without reaching a solution, as this Panorama, broadcast on 10 April 1967 shows.

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Rather depressingly, the sequence shows how little has changed in the past 40 years apart, perhaps, from those expanding wasitlines and a growing campaign for a 'fat tax'.

Supporters of a 'fat tax' point out it would have the added benefit of boosting the coffers of the Treasury and help fund the cost of treating obesity-related illnesses.

This particular battle of the bulge is just as likely to be fiercely contested. A proposal to tax sugary drinks in the US has met with well-funded and vigorous opposition from those in the industry.

Anti-poverty campaigners in the UK too are concerned that such a tax would hit the poorest in the population - often the highest consumers of these products - hardest.

Even if a fat tax was introduced in the UK, in The Lancet medical journal has suggested that a fat tax alone might not even be enough to halt the problem. It recommends combining the tax with limits on junk food advertising and better labelling on foods.

So is this necessary action to stop a healthcare time-bomb or ?

As Panorama explores this contentious issue, let us know what you think by leaving your comment here.

Are You Paying Too Much Tax? Join in the debate

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Eamonn Walsh | 15:39 UK time, Monday, 8 November 2010

Research this week reveals surprising among UK workers.

As HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) prepares to send out than the six million it originally planned over miscalculations on pay-as-you-earn tax accounts dating back to 2004, reveals the continuing chaos inside HMRC.

With large cuts just announced to HMRC's budget, insiders say the much-vaunted new computer system is making a bad situation worse with billions in tax owed to the revenue having to be written off because of mistakes.

Reporter Adam Shaw takes tax experts on the road to check people's tax codes and hears first hand from angry taxpayers and from whistleblowers inside HMRC who complain that mismanagement, waste and staff shortages mean they're providing a poor service to taxpayers across the country.

He also braved the autumnal wind to give us a breezy, bitesized guide to what you should do if you receive a , which you can watch here:

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We welcome your comments on 'Are You Paying Too Much Tax?' Join in the debate by leaving your message here on the Panorama blog.

Update on Melay the Orangutan

Panorama reporter Raphael Rowe received good news this week courtesy of the in Indonesia.

Alan Knight, chief executive of IAR, was in touch to say that Melay, the 15-year-old orangutan that first encountered while filming Dying for A Biscuit about the late last year, has finally been rescued.

The rescue came after the animal spent most of her life chained to a porch in a remote fishing village in Borneo. First captured as a baby for a family pet, her mother had been shot and Melay had long since been neglected and fed on food scraps.

Veterinarian Karmele Llano Sanchez, who took part in the rescue, said the team feared that Melay's owners may have sold her in the time it took to obtain the official documentation to seize the animal.

"We knew Melay's owner had been trying to sell her and we were terrified of arriving to find that she had vanished - along with the chance to save her. Thankfully she was still there and her owner handed her over without argument."

The rescue team described Melay as "frightened and bewildered". The key to the padlock that had kept her chained to the porch in the family hut could not be found and she had to undergo her long journey to the rescue centre in Ketapang with the chain around her neck. It has left deep marks on her neck when it was finally cut off after her rescue.

She was taken first by boat down the Sambas River before being taken by road for the four hour drive to Pontianak from where she was flown to Ketapang.

Dr Sanchez said that after an initial health check, Melay is severely underweight and malnourished. The good news is that despite a lifetime eating unsuitable food, her teeth are still in fairly good condition.

Further test are planned but for the time being she is being left to adjust to her new surroundings and is already showing a "healthy interest in food and eagerly trying all kinds of fruits for the first time".

In time, after so many years without socialisation, she will be introduced to some of her new neighbours in the sanctuary.

IAR's Alan Knight said: "Sadly Melay will not be the last orangutan we are called upon to rescue. Our team has already told me of others in captivity that are desperately in need of our help. But we're determined not to let them down."

What Have the Drugs Done to Dad? - Your comments

As the government orders a crackdown on the use of anti-psychotic drugs among those suffering with dementia, Vivian White reports on the crisis of care.

Care Services Minister Paul Burstow told Panorama that GPs must "take responsibility" and drastically reduce the amount of drugs being prescribed.

He went so far as to issue a deadline of November 2011 and a target of a two-thirds reduction in the amount of the drugs prescribed.

Evidence - used to control aggressive behaviour - have dangerous side effects.

A leading GP said most doctors agree that their use needs to be curtailed.

Mr Burstow said the evidence for cutting their use is compelling: "It kills people. It cuts their lives short. It reduces the quality of their lives. It is now time for those responsible for prescribing to take responsibility and cut the prescribing, and make sure we improve the quality of life for people with dementia."

We welcome your comments on What Have the Drugs Done to Dad?

Please use this forum to tell us your thoughts.

If you or anyone you know is affected by the issues raised in this programme, please feel free to contact one of the organisations listed

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