More than 20,000 people
IMMIGRATION
up by more than
attended the Funeral
THOUSANDS of mourners turned out for the funerals of three men killed as they tried to protect shops and homes from looters.
Haroon Jahan, 21, and brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31, died in the early hours of August 10 after they were struck by a car during riots in the Winson Green area of Birmingham. An open-air prayer service was held for them near the murder scene, where they were hailed as martyrs. Just hours earlier police charged a fourth man with the murder of the three men. Ian Beckford, 30, from Quinton, appeared at Birmingham Magistrates Court. Three men - Adam King, 23, from Kings Norton, Birmingham, Joshua Donald, from Kelsall Croft, Ladywood, and a teenager, 17, who cannot be named from legal reasons have already been charged with three counts of murder. Police estimated the service was attended by 20,000 people. Many in the crowd sported T-shirts printed with the names of the three victims, beneath the heading “My Brothers.” Others wore
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ing away tears but most remaining calm. Mr Jahan’s father, Tariq Jahan, spoke briefly to thank everyone for coming to the service at Summerfield Park in Dudley Road. The men’s hearses were laden with flowers, with their names spelt out in white floral arrangements. The three men will
Jahan – who desperately tried to revive his dying son – urged people not to seek revenge. Standing on a wall in front of a crowd he said: ‘I lost my son. Blacks, Asians, whites – we all live in the same community. ‘Why do we have to kill one another? Why are we doing this? ‘Step forward if you want to lose your sons. Otherwise, calm down and go home – please.’ It would have been so easy to demand ‘an eye for an eye’ and risk a race war on the riot-torn streets. But with immense dignity, Tariq Jahan, whose 21-year-old son was mown down and killed in an apparently racist murder in Birmingham, appealed for calm following the tragedy. The three young Muslims who died after they were thrown into the air ‘like tennis balls’ when they
Net migration to the UK rose by more than 20% last year to 239,000, official figures have shown. The increase from 198,000 in 2009 was fuelled by a fall in the number of people leaving the UK and goes against the Government’s pledge to bring net migration down to the tens of thousands by 2015. Long-term immigration was 575,000, similar to the levels seen since 2004, while long-term emigration fell to 336,000 from 427,000 in 2008, showed estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Study remained the most com-
mon reason for those coming to the UK, with three in four of the 228,000 who come to the UK to study coming from outside the EU. But the number of people coming to the UK for a definite job was at its lowest in more than six years, at 110,000. And the number of those leaving the UK for work-related reasons was at its lowest for three years at 179,000, the ONS estimates showed. The number of people granted settlement in the UK reached a record 241,000 last year, partly due to the number of people being allowed to stay as the backlog of asylum
be laid to rest at a private burial at Handsworth cemetery. As racial tensions rose to boiling point with some Muslims calling for ‘retribution’, 45-year-old Mr
Boys are failing to catch up with girls at GCSE, despite another record year of results. The pass rate rose for the 23rd consecutive year, with almost seven in 10 entries (69.8%) gaining at least a C grade. And nearly one in four exams (23.2%) were awarded a coveted A or A*, up from 22.6% in 2010. But the national results, published by the Joint Council for were hit by a car which mounted Qualifications (JCQ), showed a the pavement at 50mph while widening gender gap, particularly they were trying to protect local at the top grades, as boys strugshops from looters. gled to keep pace with girls. The results show that more than one in
four (26.5%) of girls’ entries were awarded an A or A* this summer, compared to 19.8% of boys’ exams. This is a gap of 6.7 percentage points - the widest it has been since the A* grade was introduced in 1994. It is the opposite of A-levels, where last week’s figures showed that boys are closing the gap in top grades. The gender gap has also widened at A*-C for GCSE. This year 66% of boys’ exams gained at least a C compared to 73.5% of girls’, a difference of 7.5 percentage points.
shirts bearing the words “Gone but not forgotten.” In sombre scenes, the mourners comforted each other, some wip-
20%
cases was cleared, other figures published by the Home Office showed. Immigration Minister Damian Green said: “After almost two years of increasing net migration the figures stabilised in the last quarter. This explains why the Government radically changed immigration policy, from our first months in office, to drive the numbers down with a limit on economic migration and changes to student visas to ensure we attract the brightest and best whilst tackling widespread abuse of the system.
Boys Still Lag Behind in GCSEs
Last year the gap was 7.2%. Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “At A-level, boys are clearly very focused on the grades they need for university entry. “Boys will focus on a means to an end and they will therefore aim for the end, and we’ve seen an increase in that. At GCSE perhaps that sort of maturity that girls have at that stage is not quite there with the boys, and they can’t see that obvious reason to aim for the A*.”
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