Pick of the week: Cameron’s family unfriendly government
Our five most read stories this week, for your reading pleasure.
Five: Cameron's Asylum policy turns us all into pound shop Gestapos
In the fifth spot this week, we look at David Cameron's response to the Calais crisis. Instead of thinking up positive and humane solutions to help people who are risking their lives in search of a better life, the prime minister is attempting to make things so unbearable for them in the UK they will be deterred from coming here at all.
Four: The madness begins: Lambeth bans everything in legal high crack-down
This is our story on the decision by Lambeth council to ban substances with a capacity to stimulate or depress the central nervous system – which is almost everything. Lambeth's legal highs order is even more insane than the plans proposed by the Home Office and just how enforceable it will be is anyone's guess.
Three: Manchester homeless camp likely to shut after protesters denied legal aid
Homeless protesters who have been camped out in Manchester since April have been denied legal aid in their court battle with the city council. Last week the council was granted an injunction which will ban the camp from the city centre. The group's solicitor described the decision to reject their legal aid claim as "baffling and appalling".
Two: No Boris, driverless trains are not about to save us from Tube strikes
Boris Johnson seems to believe driverless trains are the solution to Tube strikes. This is despite plans by Transport for London which reveal they don't expect automatically operated trains to be fully operational until the late 2020s. Even then there would still need to be human staff present on the 'driverless' network, not to mention the hundreds of Underground station and platform workers – so would this move really prevent strikes?
One: The truth behind the rhetoric: UK hits bottom of family-friendly league table
The top spot this week goes to our story on the truth behind the Conservatives' commitment to families. The Migrant Integration Policy Index has ranked the UK 38th out of 38 countries for family reunion. An estimated 33,000 people have been separated from a loved one or forced to live outside their home country since an income threshold was introduced for Brits trying to bring a spouse from abroad.
