Europe Calling

Esperanza Aguirre, former president of Madrid and an influential figure in Spain's ruling Popular Party(PP), has got herself into a spot of trouble. At 4pm on Thursday she allegedly illegally parked her car on a bus lane on the capital’s busy Gran Via, to quickly withdraw money from a cash machine. Traffic police apprehended her moments after, but the tough-talking Aguirre refused to pull her Toyota Verso to one side after they had issued the fine. Once the officers had handed over her ID and driving license, Aguirre put her foot on the gas and drove off, knocking over one of the traffic policeman's motorbike in the process. Spain is the world's largest olive producer and national food giant Deoleo is the world's biggest seller of the liquid gold. However, the food giant which notched up revenues of around €800 million ($1,100 million) in 2013 could soon become prey to an Italian fund, This was reported in Spain's El Mundo newspaper. Deoleo's major shareholders, including several cash-strapped Spanish banks, are looking to offload 31 percent the food group. Yet another MP is caught fiddling expenses. MPs brushed aside the official Standards Commissioner’s claim that Maria Miller should repay £45,000, saying that all she had to do was apologise and pay back £5,800. When will this fiddling stop? In France, the far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen said on Friday it would prevent schools from offering non-pork alternatives to Muslim pupils in the 11 towns it won in local elections, saying such arrangements were contrary to France's secular values. Francec has a strict secular tradition enforceable by law, but faith-related demands have risen in recent years, especially from the country's five-million-strong Muslim minority, the largest in Europe. Dr Bruce Perry, of Houston, Texas, said ADHD is a label that only describes the symptoms of various physiological problems. This will be interesting! ....and a monster rat has been found in someone's attic....

Spanish news first.....The homeless in Spain is growing as the number of court-ordered expulsions reached 67,189 in 2013, according to judicial figures and street demonstrations against government’s education cuts have been infiltrated by far-left groups. There was a major alert when a message sent via Twitter by the 112 emergency service in the Canaries raised the alarm, with a report that a passenger plane had landed in the sea two miles off the coast of Gran Canaria. Just like the Spanish economy the top division in Spanish football, La Liga, is on its knees with debt yet Real Madrid and FC Barcelona remain two of the world's richest clubs. What's going on? In the UK 'What a farce': School under fire for high levels of absent teachers holds public meeting to discuss the issue…but the head fails to attend. Peter Maddocks, the head, failed to show up to the meeting - arranged following a petition by parents at Ysgol y Gader school in Dolgellau, Gwynedd, Wales. The Metropolitan Police should take on one ethnic minority officer for every white recruit, says Hogan-Howe in new 50/50 recruitment drive iIn the wake of accusations that the Metropolitan Police is still ‘institutionally racist’, The Commissioner wants to change the predominantly white male make-up of the force. The BBC could be sued for £1 MILLION over the Jeremy Clarkson racism allegations. The presenter made a 'slope' remark on Top Gear Burma special Indian-born Somi Guha, 36, left, has instructed lawyers after Clarkson used the word 'slope' - a derogatory term for people of Asian descent. Ex-Ukip councillor and wife avoid jail for £25,000 benefit fraud. The Cllr Peter Lagoda and wife Maria, both 59, admitted giving Fenland District Council a false address in a bid to claim thousands in extra benefits. How do they get away with it?

Spain's marchers are disgusted with the Government as Spain battles the austerity measures. However the wine industry is becoming a world leader.The UK austerity measures have allowed the BBC ever more opulence as they renew their carpets..... Tens of thousands of pounds will be spent re-vamping the sixth and seventh floors of New Broadcasting House with a design based around the style of EastEnders. Meanwhile, The Bank of England spent 7,990 on 756 bottles of champagne in 2013 ; a rise of 94 per cent from 2012 when it bought 444 bottles for 4,126.... and details of how the military abuse probe in Iraq racked up a 27million bill emerged after lawyers dramatically dropped sickening slurs that captives were executed in UK custodyIn the UK the judges are becoming ever more bizarre as they allow a gambling conman a suspended sentence-Marc Burnett, 30, of Preston, Lancashire, swindled money while working as a senior banking advisor for Lloyds Bank. A Koran teacher who abused a girl of 11 also seemingly got off too lightly. If this wasn't bad enough ;Derek Rossi, 58, lifelong criminal, had his first conviction at age 13, has been handed three life sentences since 1984, with most counts including armed robbery and attempted murder.. What a farce! If it all starts from an early age then let's look at the value of an Asbo.....Morgan Halstead, 14, terrorised residents in Grantham, Lincolnshire, for more than a year. His Asbo orders his mother or father to go with him if he meets more than two friends in public. Big deal!

What is happening in UK schools? We're looking at Obesity as Coventry sees a 10-year-old who weighs 20 STONE-an unnamed Year 6 pupil tipped the scales at 19st 7lbs,- making him one of the heaviest children in the country. This is shown as another study shows that chewing food more slowly can prevent overeating and help shrink your waistline. We're told why fish will keep you active: Eating plenty in old age can reduce chances of medical or physical illness. C'mon kids. Get healthy. Indeed, what is happening in these UK schools? A schoolboy has won £15k compensation after enduring a cut to eyebrow from DVD case flung by a teacher! The payout was one of 34 handed to injured teachers, and students, in Essex between 2011 and 2013 – they received a total of £1.05million. Is it just about money? A lazy father with 18 children by 10 women says his human rights have been violated after council refused to give him six-bedroom home. The council refused to give him a six-bedroom home. Peter Rolfe, 64, says the town hall has a ‘duty of care’ to upgrade him and his large brood to a six-bedroom home on the Isle of Wight. We often criticise the overpayment of executives. Can you believe this? An NHS fatcat quits - but will still be paid £300,000 over the next two years: Details emerge on same day thousands of nurses will learn their pay has been cut. Jo-Anne Wass, 46, a senior director at NHS England, is a close ally of the CEO - and man with no shame - Sir David Nicholson, who has been forced to retire early. We're told why fish will keep you active: Eating plenty in old age can reduce chance of medical or physical illness by 39%. C'mon kids. Get healthy. We often criticise the overpayment of executives. A NHS fatcat quits - but will still be paid £300,000 over the next two years: Details emerge on same day thousands of nurses will learn their pay has been cut. Jo-Anne Wass, 46, a senior director at NHS England, is a close ally of the CEO - and man with no shame - Sir David Nicholson, who has been forced to retire early. A seagull attack victim sues the owners of an office building over bird peril that left her badly injured. So what is it with this blame culture? Seagull attack victim sues owners of office building over bird peril that left her badly injured! Cathie Kelly, who works in Greenock, Renfrewshire, lost her footing and fell heavily after losing her shoe in the feathered assailant's attack. This claim culture is making a mockery of the jury system!

Set agains the Crimean Crisis and the disappearance of a Malaysian jet near Vietnam,........ The Co-op is recommending that chief executive Euan Sutherland, who joined in May 2013 should get a package worth a total of £3.66million. Here we go yet again with Bankers, Meanwhile, just day after Immigration Minister James Brokenshire condemned the ‘wealthy metropolitan elite’ for using cheap labour, his boss confirmed that she employs a foreign home help. Estate Agents and MPs ready to keep us in the mess to which we have become accustomed. They even claim for milk in the tea on their expenses! The Liberal Democrat Vince Cable was accused of being 'crass' and 'insulting' to teachers after suggesting they are to blame for a lack of good careers advice in schools. Teachers have had quite a week with one resorting to taping up the mouths of the children in their charge.Then the girl, who was just 15 when she eloped with maths teacher Forrest, 31, is now said to be 'ridiculously happy' after falling for a 20-year-old PE teaching assistant. We can always rely on the judges in the UK to be consistent and coherent. Whilst Lord Justice Fulford was a key backer of the notorious Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) which police suspect of abusing children on an 'industrial scale' another judge banned Samuel Lees, 22, from Colchester, Essex, was banned and fined 500 pounds after he was seen by a police officer creating a ‘large wave’ that left children screaming after they got wet.

Fusilier Lee Rigby, 25, was 'mutilated, almost decapitated and murdered' by Michael Adebowale, 22, and Michael Adebolajo, 29, who ambushed him outside his barracks in Woolwich, South East London on May 22 last year.It's very difficult to not hate the perpetrators of such evil. RIP Lee Rigby. All this set against British soldiers being banned from training for snowy conditions at Norwegian base because health and safety rules deem it too COLD! Schoolboy, Henry Tattersal, hanged himself after running up £420 bill on his mum's credit card. This is such a sad story and hard to realise the tragic event could have happened over this amount of money. He seems to have been such a likeable lad. RIP Henry. Please keep an eye on your children wherever you are.. There is a legal bid to overturn 'what is being called a joke' four-year sentence handed to thug, Lewis Gill, who was sentenced to just four years in prison over the death of Andrew Young, Of course the sentence was ridiculous. Out in two years after killing someone? These judges need to go on a few courses and realise they are making a mockery of the judicial system. A Russian tourist has been left with horrific injuries by Indian mob after he stupidly rang a sacred bell in India. You cannot justify this in the name of any religion. Whether he was naive or not doesn't warrant such treatment. Another totally inappropriate sentence when a Football coachwas jailed for nine years for killing two schoolgirls. These two lovely young girls have been killed and in today's environment he'll be out in 5 years.. This should have been 20 years. Finally, British Gas has blown £25,000 on a party at an hotel whilst sacking 158 staff. Workers were sent to a training event at the Belfry near Oxford and in return enjoyed a three-course meal with wine and an overnight stay. How the other half lives and continues to live during these austere times...

Facebook has rejected calls to ban pages and videos linked to NekNomination. This follows tragic deaths when youngsters have been challenged friends to take part in this drinking craze 'Neknominate' This involves consuming an entire alcoholic drink in one go while taking part in a physical act, then nominating someone else to do the same. It is dangerous and all students need to think carefully before engaging in such activities. Whilst the UK is embroiled in the most horrendous weather ever seen there are still morons wishing to profit from others' misfortune. The theft of the signs in the past month has led to dozens of motorists driving into flooded areas unaware and getting stuck in their cars after their engines conked out. Thieves are then stealing from the cars. Shameless! Expenses cheat MP jailed for six months for making £13,000 in false claims is out of prison in six weeks… and he’s straight on Twitter to thank prosecutors for the ‘fascinating’ experience Denis MacShane is a disgraced MP and Expenses cheat M. He was jailed for six months for making £13,000 in false claims but is out of prison in six weeks… Is he contrite? No. He’s straight on Twitter to thank prosecutors for the ‘fascinating’ experience. If any more proof is needed that the UK's judiciary has lost the plot James Isted, 27, will serve a minimum of nine years for twice attacking lone women in the graveyard of All Saints Church, Orpington. One lost her child. This means two rapes and a murder is seen as around 9 years in jail. Pathetic! Especially when Frank', 28, who was sentenced to 30 months for abusing a 14-year-old girl, says he served just half his sentence at HMP Moorland in Yorkshire. He was 'chucked out' without any treatment to stop him reoffending. He also told of the respect given in jail to those with the worst crimes. Respect! The word has almost become meaningless

Some 686.600 households in Spain have now no income at all — not even social security. That is twice the figure seen in 2007, or before the crisis struck. We looked at the difficult times for the Spanish people without jobs. Meanwhile the UK has its dreadful weather to contend with. Also, UK schools struggling with cohesive policies as Riley Pearson was banned from Colnbrook C of E Primary School near Slough for four days after teachers found his packed lunch contravened their new healthy eating policy. However, there are far greater issues...A survey by the Association of teachers and Lecturers found eighty per cent of teaching assistants have had to deal with a child that has wet or soiled him or herself. All this is set against 10 schools with the highest proportion of children who do not speak English as their first language. All but two are outside London.........

Wetherspoon's UK motorway pub promised to crack down on drink drivers but journalist man supped four pints before heading to carpark and no staff challenged him. Would they in any other situation? Meanwhile we go back to an event in 2011 when the MP for Cannock Chase said that he never went to the Frog & Roastbeef in Val Thorens. His claim is disproved by a picture, taken just outside and there are shades of a silly facy dress re-enactment of the Nazis. Could this be connected with another story about a book claiming Hitler escaped death in 1946? Paul Gascogne is back in rehab. The troubled star is undergoing an intensive rehab programme at a £6,000-a-month clinic in Southampton. Is he really a hero? The judges are displaying too much sympathy again as Marie Hothersall, 83, died in hospital two months after her 54-year-old daughter Ann Lupton launched a savage drunken attack at her home in Preston, Lancashire on July 23 last year. Finally, we discussed the jailing of Twitter trolls as the story above did not warrant a jai9l term according to the judge. Who's got it right?

Eric Hobsbawm died aged 95 in October 2012 He was one of Britain’s most eminent historians, but he was widely criticised for his defence of communist regimes. You might be surprised at how much money was in his will! In Sweden, an Asian motorist was eight times the drink-drive limit when breathalysed. He was let off after judge said alcohol affects ethnic groups differently! If this is one errant judgement then here is another. Raymond Hull from Springkell, Cumbria, claimed in court to have 22 children. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail after he was caught with a stash of cannabis. However, the judge suspended the sentence. Benefits Street is a programme on Channel 4. It's time to bring the programme producers to account. Their films affect many people and yet there is no control over who they are and what are their true intentions. Schoolteachers have to be qualified. Do these producers need to be investigated? A dangerous breed of dog claims yet another life in the UK . IIt's too easy to own a vicious dog. We were led to believe controls over dangerous dogs had been put in place. These need to be reviewed with some urgency. ...and...a boy, aged 12, has been arrested for fraud after he 'knocked on people's doors and told them he was collecting money for the Salvation Army

We're always reading about savage cuts in the NHS but NHS spending on management consultants has risen three-fold in a year. In the past six months, £40million has been paid out by various health service organisations, compared to £15million for the whole of last year. What is really happening? Whilst this money is being spent four in ten casualty departments are hiring family doctors to help deal with the soaring numbers of patients. These doctors are already paid an average £104,000 a year and now GPs are being paid nearly £1,500 a shift to work nights and weekends in crisis-hit Accident & Emergency units. A family in Cornwall narrowly escaped being swept into the sea when a 20ft wave washed over them as they were walking along a sea wall. What were the parents doing taking their children to watch these dangerous waves? A 12 year-old drug dealer, who was detained by police in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, was one of 209 children aged under 18 have been arrested for drug offences in the area in the last three years. How are these kids being stopped? The judges need to impose their authority and stop treating themselves as social workers. An elderly woman has been left with heavy bruising after being punched in the face by another resident at her care home on Christmas day. However, Dementia patients are unpredictable and the carers cannot always be there when violence occurs. Meanwhile there is spurious research from Denmark....Mothers who drink 90 or more units while pregnant tend to be the most well educated and have the healthiest lifestyles, say researchers in Copenhagen. This is a very strange piece of research. Finally, the author of a book asks us to imagine waking up to Britain in the first days of 1964. At first, you might well be surprised how different things were half a century ago. The author of the book claims we're still paying the price now for the new elite that came to power in Britain.

Maggie Atkinson, the Children's Commissioner for England, says pets and adults will continue to receive better protection unless parents smacking their children is outlawed.This woman and her like are helping to cause the misery which has now allowed children to become monsters. Get rid of this silliness..Punish the bad parents. These are the parents who are NOT checking their children. So what do parents do? An unnamed single mother has had both of her sons removed after posting an advert on Craigslist listing a baby for sale which she claims was a 'silly, silly joke. Could food be the cause of childrens' crying. It is an important issue especially as obese children have been taken away by social workers after being overfed by their families. We highlight a horrible case of child murder from America. On a lighter note a Labour MP, Shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh, has criticised Thomas the Tank Engine. She said that more female characters should be introduced to encourage girls to become train drivers! The press informs us that England has overtaken the Netherlands to become second only to tiny Malta as the most densely populated nation in the EU. This was early in the week and today they give us "After immigration controls are lifted this week, Britons could find their jobs are squeezed in some areas – while community tensions could rise as the new wave of migrants fight for work with other Eastern Europeans." Waste is on the agenda and Wolverhampton City Council has been accused of spending a fortune on producing leaflets, sent to residents asking them to sift through their waste for every scrap of wrapping paper after Christmas. One man without too much worry over expenditure is Bernard Gray, who was appointed as the Ministry of Defence to help manage the Waste budget, enjoyed 106 stays in London and Bristol hotels, for £23,000, despite living less than 60 miles from both.

There is a new feeling of Government Restriction in the new Citizenjingless' Safety Law in Spain. The Interior Ministry said the Government considered it was a good time to revise and improve it.Deputy Prime Minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, said the new law would guarantee the maximum respect for the rights and freedom. Marks and Spencer's in the UK has granted checkout workers in more than 700 stores permission to politely decline to serve customers for religious reasons. Is this a fair policy? Would other groups have any special requirements. A 20 years-old yob ran up behind tan elderly man in his 80s as he walked with a zimmer frame in Ipswich, Suffolk. He robbed him. Two days later he robbed a 78-year-old woman. The yob cried when he was sentenced. His offence has outraged many people. Even as he was an example of ridiculous light sentencing another man has been killed on his way home from work. Does it start with mugging and then get worse? Why are the magistrates acting in this way? Other Magistrates were criticised for failing to jail an alcoholic drink-driver who was six times over the limit. He had been caught at the wheel of his work van after downing an entire bottle of vodka. These Magistrates said they had never seen such a high reading and told the driver a custodial sentence was appropriate.He pleaded guilty to drink-driving and was given a 16-week jail term suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to do 200 hours' unpaid work, pay a £80 victim surcharge and £85 prosecution costs. However, this has outraged many people. Political Correctness has ruled the roost in Brighton where Councillors have now to go on Diversity Training following a quarrel over the use of the word golliwog.

The gap between Spain's richest and poorest is now the widest in Europe with some three million people living in extreme poverty, a recent study reveals. You read this then you are told a total of 100 Spanish bankers earn more than a million € a year. The number puts Spain as the fifth highest EU country with the most millionaire bankers. Meanwhile a book by married Italian author Costanza Miriano titled 'Cásate y sé sumisa – Get Married and Be Submissive – was published by the Catholic Arbishopric of the southern city of Granada in November. It has soared up the bestsellers list. Dozens of Muslim protestors gathered to demand that businesses stop selling alcohol in a popular East London area yesterday. The group warned restaurants and shops in the Brick Lane area that they face 40 lashes if they continue to sell the product, which is banned under Sharia Law. Michael McInnes, 23, who was jailed for attempted murder has taunted police by posting pictures of drunken nights out with friends on his Facebook - after going on the run from prison. He had failed to return from home leave from Castle Huntly prison near Dundee almost a fortnight ago. Rather than going into hiding, McInnes has been boasting about his drinking exploits on the social networking site since absconding. Maybe prisons are not a threat as prisoners in newly-built jails will have phones and computer terminals in their cells so they are able to contact relatives, arrange activities and order meals. Their right to vote is demanded by Brussels despite Britain trying not to oblige since 2005

After our normal banter and welcome to our stations around the world we looked at the Spanish news. Another priest is bringing the catholic Church into disrepute. Child safety campaigners against Porn criticised Tesco after it emerged that they are the only major mobile operator not to have installed parental controls on their network. Meanwhile, The porn industry is to stop filming yet again after another performer tested positive for HIV, it was revealed in Los Angeles on Friday. Nelson Mandela has died and we both acknowledged his tremendous life. Neil remembers his life as a terrorist and Vince sees his struggles in a slightly different light. In the UK The Commons pay watchdog is expected to cause public outrage by pressing ahead with an increase in MPs' salaries from £66,396 to £74,000. David Cameron previously described this as 'unthinkable' and the other leaders seem to be feeble in their efforts to oppose this outrageous rise. Finally, there are those who have been trying to enforce Sharia law in the UK. What do contributors to the website think of this?