Bilingual tots ‘focus faster & more often’

BABIES from bilingual families are better at switching their attention from one task to another.

They are able to change focus “more quickly and frequently” than those from monolingual homes.

Scientists used eyetracking technology to record the gaze of 102 babies, aged between seven and nine months.

Infants from bilingual homes were 33% faster at redirecting their attention to different pictures.

Dr Dean D’Souza, of Anglia Ruskin University, said: “Bilingual environments may be more challenging to learn in. Babies adapt by seeking out additional information.”

DANGER Where pilot saw the child

He was among a host of senior Westminster figures, including then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, criticised by the Independent Inquiry on Child Sexual Abuse. It ruled they knew about predators in their ranks for years.

Amid calls for a fresh probe, former MP and MSP Lord Steel, 81, said he was retiring from public life to avoid “turmoil” for his party and “distress” for his family.

The report had directly accused him of an “abdication of responsibility” for failing to sound the alarm over Smith. He even recommended him for a knighthood

Chairman Prof Alexis Jay said: “It is clear to see that Westminster institutions have repeatedly failed to deal with allegations of child sexual abuse, from turning a blind eye to actively shielding abusers.

“A consistent pattern emerged of failures to put the welfare of children above political status.”

Tory chiefs were slammed for failing to take action over allegations involving Sir Peter Morrison, including claims he was caught molesting a boy of 15.

Mrs Thatcher was aware of the rumours yet he became her top aide in 1990 and was knighted in 1991. He died in 1995.

The report said: “...in the 1970s and 1980s, MPs including Sir Cyril Smith and Sir Peter Morrison were known to be active in their sexual interest in children, but were protected from prosecution. Lord Steel said that because allegations against Smith had arisen before he joined the party, he saw ‘no reason, or no locus to go back to [it]’. This failure to recognise the risks was an abdication of responsibility and the fact the offences were non-recent was irrelevant.”

Smith, MP for Rochdale for 20 years, died in 2010. He never faced criminal action despite 144 complaints.

The inquiry heard last year from survivors, whistleblowers, cabinet ministers, MPs and police officers, among others.

Its report said: “There has clearly been a significant problem with deference towards people of public prominence, from the whips’ offices to the police and prosecutors.” However, it found no evidence of a paedophile network at the heart of government.

The report calls for all parties to have safeguarding policies and for offenders to be stripped of their honours.

The Lib Dems said: “Smith’s acts were vile and repugnant. We have nothing but sympathy for those whose lives he ruined.

“We take the issue of vigilance and safeguarding seriously and constantly work to improve our party processes.”

Failures to put welfare of children above political status

FINDINGS OF INQUIRY CHAIRMAN ALEXIS JAY