Mordaunt hits out at Oxfam scandal
early hours of Friday. The schoolgirl died later in hospital, West Midlands Police said.
Her father Simeon Forrester paid tribute to his daughter, saying “my heart is broken”, in a floral tribute left outside the address. PARAFFIN-BASED skin creams may be linked to hundreds of deaths, a senior firefighter has warned.
Chris Bell, a watch commander with West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said the creams – used to treat a variety of skin conditions, including eczema and psoriasis – are safe to use.
But he warned they can become flammable when they soak into fabrics, clothing, bandages and dressings, then come into contact with a cigarette, naked flame or other heat source. A WATER company is hunting leads on burst pipes by deploying Britain’s first sniffer dog trained to hunt down water leaks.
Snipe, a 16-month-old cocker spaniel, has undergone weeks of training to detect problem pipes by sniffing out tiny amounts of chlorine in tap water. The dog has now been recruited by United Utilities, who supply around three million homes in the North West.
Snipe will be used in trials to assess if his sniffing skills can pinpoint water being wasted in rural areas where leaks are hard to detect.
Owner Ross Stephenson, 32, the MD of Cape SPC, a OXFAM lied and failed in its “moral leadership” in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct by aid workers, the International Development Secretary has said.
Penny Mordaunt condemned the behaviour of some Oxfam staff members as a “complete betrayal”, as she warned the charity the “scandal” had put its relationship with the Government at risk.
Oxfam is facing mounting criticism over its handling of sex allegations, but has denied it tried to cover up the use of prostitutes by workers in Haiti in 2011.
Ms Mordaunt told BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show that the failure to pass on information to relevant authorities shows an “absolute absence of leadership”.
Asked by Marr if she thought Oxfam had failed in its “moral leadership”, the Conservative MP replied: “Yes, I do.”
Ms Mordaunt announced she would meet the charity today to discuss the case, and said: “If the moral leadership at the top of the organisation is not there then we cannot have you as a partner.”
Former International Secretary Priti Patel said there was a “culture of denial” about pest extermination expert firm in Liverpool, has been putting Snipe through his paces since late last year.
He said: “All I did was start off with normal tap water, and then putting in extra chlorine levels to make it stronger.
“So we just put a tiny bit of that in, so the dog understands the strongest exploitation in the aid sector. She told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Pienaar’s Politics she was not aware of allegations within Oxfam, but had raised the issue of abuse involving aid workers in disaster zones with the Department for International Development (DfID) while heading the department.
“There has been in my view, not just a cover-up with Oxfam, there is a denial, a culture of denial in the aid sector about the exploitation and sexual abuse that has taken place historically for decades,” she said.
The Charity Commission said that it had written to Oxfam “as a matter of urgency” to request further information. It said an Oxfam report on the investigation stated odour is the one we want them to find.
“So we would have eight glass pots, one of them will have it in and every time the dog sniffs that pot he will get rewarded – a tennis ball.”
Hannah Wardle, regional leakage manager at UU, said: “Snipe is going to be an invaluable asset to the team.” there had been no allegations of abuse of beneficiaries and made no mention of any potential sexual crimes involving minors.
“Our approach to this matter would have been different had the full details that have been reported been disclosed to us at the time,” the regulator said in a statement.
Ms Mordaunt said the charity had also “categorically” stated to the DfID that beneficiaries were not involved in the misconduct and no harm was done. Marr said: “That was a lie, wasn’t it?” Ms Mordaunt replied: “Well, quite.” She added that Oxfam had done “absolutely the wrong thing” by failing to inform authorities about the full details of the allegations.
Four members of Oxfam staff were dismissed and three, including the country director, resigned before the end of the 2011 investigation.
The charity said allegations that underage girls may have been involved were not proven.
Caroline Thomson, Oxfam’s chairwoman of trustees in the UK, said it was working to “address the underlying cultural issues that allowed this behaviour to happen”.