Briefs

Published on Sunday 25 March 2007 00:41

SLAVERY CLAIM

THE murder of black teenager Anthony Walker was caused by the legacy of slavery, according to one of the Church of England's most senior clerics.

James Jones, the Bishop of Liverpool, made the claim during a service yesterday to mark the 200th anniversary of the decision to abolish slavery in the British Empire.

He told a 400-strong congregation at Liverpool Cathedral: "Our racism is rooted in the dehumanising treatment of black people by white people during the slave trade."

Walker, 18, was bludgeoned with an ice axe as he tried to run away from racist thugs in Huyton, Merseyside, in July 2005. His killers were jailed for life.

SKIER'S FUNERAL

THE funeral of a cross-country skier who froze to death on a Norwegian mountain along with his friend's son took place yesterday.

James Ross, 50, from Evanton, Ross-shire, and Peter Wilson, 18, from Balnain, near Drumnadrochit, Inverness-shire, perished in a blizzard earlier this month. Peter's father Rupert, 48, survived.

Mourners were asked to donate to the Red Cross and mountain rescue.

FORTH RALLY

Water sports enthusiasts joined politicians yesterday to protest against ship-to-ship oil transfers in the Firth of Forth. Surfers Against Sewage and the Greens joined forces to stage a rally in North Berwick.

Protesters want the Scottish Executive to prevent SPT Marine Services using the Forth as a staging post for moving supplies of crude oil around the world.

EU BLANK

THE document signed by European leaders to mark the birth of the European Union was no more than "a bundle of blank pages", it was claimed yesterday.

One of the lawyers who drew up the historic Treaty of Rome said the full version was not prepared in time by Italy's state printers. Pierre Pescatore told a BBC programme to mark the 50th anniversary of the event: "They signed a bundle of blank pages."

FEES WARNING

The head of a union representing higher education staff yesterday warned that the sector was "dangerously" underfunded.

Alastair Hunter, president of the University and College Union Scotland, told an Inverness congress that top-up fees meant universities in the rest of the UK would have greater income, and said this should be taken into consideration when deciding on funding for Scottish establishments.

CABINET BAN

THE Attorney General should not take part in Cabinet meetings, Constitutional Affairs Minister Harriet Harman said yesterday.

"I don't think it's a good idea," she said in the latest stage of her campaign for reform of the role.

The Labour deputy leadership contender has already called for the Attorney General's confidential legal advice to be published, in a break from a long-standing convention.