Commenting on the Sustainable Development Commission's recommendation for a higher rate of Vehicle Excise Duty for the most polluting cars, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary, Norman Baker MP said:
Paul Rowen (Rochdale, LDem)
The Government have announced that Juries will be abolished in complex fraud trials. The Attorney General will unveil plans to enact a change in the law that will allow a single judge to sit on complex fraud trials. The practice of trying defendants by a panel of 12 jurors stretches back 800 years.Commenting on the Government's announcement, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Mark Oaten MP said "Yet again Labour seem prepared to abandon the principle of fair trials and justice that have served this country well for decades. The trial by jury is at the heart of our judicial system. For complex trials like fraud it should be possible to create banks of jurors with the skills required to deal with these cases."
Paul Rowen (Rochdale, LDem)
According to a duo of London based researchers, being gay has nothing to do with outside influence or your family environment - it is all determined by your genes. Born Gay: The Psychobiology of Sexual Orientation is a new book which reviews research from the last 15 years and the evidence, the authors conclude, is that people are born with their sexuality defined.
A report by Amnesty International says that the UK government is breaking the law by locking up too many asylum seekers before their claims are dealt with. The report estimates that 25,000 asylum applicants were held in detention centres during 2004, many of whom were particularly vulnerable, such as pregnant women, families with children and torture victims.
