'Trash Girl' Nadia Sparkes moves schools over bullying

Pic-Nadia Sparkes said the "Trash Girl" nickname made her feel "like a superhero"/bbc

Staff reporter(wp/bbc):::

A 13-year-old nicknamed "Trash Girl" by bullies for picking litter has changed schools after pupils assaulted her.

Nadia Sparkes won international praise and awards for gathering litter on her journey to and from school, and refused to let the taunts deter her.

Police got involved last term when she was shown a knife and punched at school, her mother said.

Her old school, Hellesdon High School near Norwich, said pupils' safety and welfare was of paramount importance.

Since 2017, Nadia has set off for school an hour early each day to pick up litter and put it in her bicycle basket.

She turned the "Trash Girl" slur on its head and embraced the nickname because it made her feel "like a superhero" - attracting more than 4,000 followers on social media.

But Paula Sparkes said her daughter was not championed at her school.

"The staff were not on her side to help and support her and we felt it was not appropriate for her to be there any more," she said.

She said police became involved last term when Nadia was allegedly shown a knife and shortly afterwards chased and punched by a pupil.

Norfolk Police confirmed it was called to an incident at the school and had referred a teenager to the Youth Offending Team, which was providing support.

"Officers also provided extra knife crime prevention presentations to all years groups," a spokeswoman added.

In a separate incident, Nadia had to sit through a class covered in orange juice that had been thrown in her face, her mother said.

"Nadia picked up a [volunteering] award from the prime minister earlier this month - it's a shame when you think what the school could have achieved with this, and they haven't."

She met one of her new teachers, Reepham High School's Matt Willer, when the pair were both nominated for an eco hero award.

Mr Willer, who runs an allotment project, said: "I'd heard of the amazing work she was doing collecting rubbish and how, very sadly, she was being bullied because she was doing something different.

"This hit a nerve with me and we discussed how Nadia might like to come and have a look at Reepham High."

Nadia had a "brilliant" start at Reepham after the Easter break and proudly wore her uniform made from recycled plastic bottles.

"She is literally wearing litter, it's like it's meant to be," said Mrs Sparkes.

Nadia's new school is about 11 miles from her home but she hopes to continue litter-picking en route to the bus stop.

Mr Willer said the teenager would be a "huge asset" to the allotment project.

"All the volunteers look forward to working with her as we all set a sound example about respecting the environment and living more sustainably."

Hellesdon principal Tom Rolfe said the school did not tolerate bullying and would not actively discourage a pupil from pursuing their passion.

"We promote an ethos that reflects high moral standards, a culture of social responsibility and fosters a safe learning environment for all students," he added.

"All students are respected and their individuality is valued."

UK police say will not investigate Huawei leak that felled defence minister

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British police said they will not probe a leak of information about Chinese telecoms company Huawei that cost Gavin Williamson his job as defence minister this week, as no criminal offence was committed.

Williamson strenuously denied being responsible for the leak, but May said she had lost confidence in him, after the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported discussions from within Britain’s National Security Council.

“I am satisfied that what was disclosed did not contain information that would breach the Official Secrets Act,” Britain’s top counter-terrorism police officer, Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Neil Basu, said on Saturday.

“The leak did not cause damage to the public interest at a level at which it would be necessary to engage misconduct in a public office. It would be inappropriate to carry out a police investigation in these circumstances.”

Theresa May must go now, former Tory leader says

Pic--Theresa May must resign or the Conservatives should force her out, Iain Duncan Smith has said/wp
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Prime Minister Theresa May must resign or the Conservatives should force her out following the party's heavy local election losses, Iain Duncan Smith has said.

The former Tory leader called Mrs May a "caretaker PM", describing attempts to find a deal with Labour as "absurd".

It comes after the party suffered its worst local election result since 1995.

Other senior Conservatives have urged Tory MPs to compromise with Labour to ensure Brexit is delivered.

But Mr Duncan Smith, a leading Brexiteer in the party, said many Conservatives would refuse to back a deal reached between the two parties.

He said Mrs May must announce her departure "very soon" in the wake of the party's heavy losses.

If she did not go, the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs would have to force her to do so, he said.

The committee recently narrowly agreed not to change the party rules to allow another confidence vote to take place that could oust Mrs May.

However, some senior Conservatives believe that in the wake of the council defeats, the mood on the 1922 executive committee has changed.

Elections were held on Thursday for 248 English councils, six mayors, and all 11 councils in Northern Ireland - where counting continues. No elections took place in Scotland or Wales.

Labour failed to make expected gains in the elections, instead losing 82 seats, while the Liberal Democrats benefited from Tory losses, gaining 703 seats. The Greens and independents also made gains.

'Deliver Brexit'

Both Mrs May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn have insisted they will push ahead with talks seeking cross-party agreement on leaving the EU, following the local election results.

Mrs May said it was clear the public wanted "to see the issue of Brexit resolved".

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the party needed to listen to the results and be "in the mood for compromise".

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Hancock said the nation wanted MPs to "get on, deliver Brexit, and then move on".

Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson echoed Mr Hancock as she reflected on the Conservatives' and Labour Party's "almighty kicking" in the local elections.

"The solution doesn't lie in the trenches of one extreme or another - of overturning the referendum, or of crashing out with no deal," said Ms Davidson, who was speaking at the Scottish Conservatives conference in Aberdeen.

"It lies in those colleagues currently round the table taking the difficult first steps towards each other.

"So I say to the negotiating teams of our party and the Labour Party, who are currently locked in talks - get Brexit sorted, get a deal over the line and let Britain move on."

The UK was due to leave the EU on 29 March, but the deadline was pushed back to 31 October after Parliament was unable to agree a way forward.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Hancock said the Tories might have to move towards Labour's proposal of a permanent customs union - in order to solve the impasse in Westminster.

Mrs May's government has previously ruled out remaining in a customs union after the UK leaves the EU, arguing it would prevent the UK from setting its own trade policy.

Labour has said the EU may show flexibility over the issue and allow the UK "a say" in future trade deals.

Mr Hancock suggested "coming up with something in-between", and called for "an open dialogue in which we can make an agreement".

But Mr Duncan Smith said a customs union was "the worst of all worlds because you lose your decision-making capacity".

'Find a solution'

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said there was a "glimmer of hope" that a compromise between the Conservative and Labour "core-voters" could be reached.

"If we can find a solution that delivers the benefits of the customs union without signing up to the current arrangements, then I think there will be potential," he said.

He added that while he supported the withdrawal deal reached between the EU and Mrs May, there might be things that could be done to make it "more acceptable" to Labour without compromising on the "things that we think are essential".

But he also warned that a customs union would not be a "long-term solution".

'Stitched up'

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Hunt's remarks on a customs union provided "yet more evidence" that many in the cabinet believed the "most important thing right now" was the race to be Mrs May's successor.

Labour's MP for Redcar, Anna Turley, also reacted to Mr Hunt's comments that a customs union was not a long-term solution, tweeting: "This is why we can't trust the Tories by doing a deal stitched up in Number 10 which they will seek to unravel under their next leader."

Brexit deal could be done in "next few days", top Conservative says

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Prime Minister Theresa May could reach a Brexit deal with the opposition Labour Party within days, a leading Conservative Party figure said on Saturday, after senior ministers urged compromise following poor local election results.

Ruth Davidson, the Conservatives’ leader in Scotland, told party members that a cross-partisan agreement on Brexit was needed before this month’s European elections, or Britain’s major parties would face an even bigger backlash from voters.

The Conservatives lost 1,332 seats on English local councils that were up for re-election, and Labour - which would typically aim to gain hundreds of seats in a mid-term vote - instead lost 81.

Many voters expressed frustration at May’s failure to have taken Britain out of the European Union, almost three years after the country decided to leave in a referendum.

“If we thought yesterday’s results were a wake-up call, just wait for the European elections on the 23rd of May,” Davidson told a party conference in Aberdeen.

Speaking to reporters afterwards, she said there had been progress in the weeks of talks between the Conservatives and Labour to find a Brexit deal which passes parliamentary muster.

“There is a deal that could be done in the next few days ... and I really hope we can get to that point,” she said, describing the results as “a kick up the backside”.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Friday there was now a huge impetus on every lawmaker to get a Brexit deal done.

But even if the Conservative and Labour Party leaderships reach a Brexit compromise, there is no guarantee that it will pass through parliament, which has roundly rejected May’s proposals three times already.

In an indication of the hostility May faces from the most pro-Brexit wing of her party, former leader Iain Duncan Smith renewed his call for her to step down soon, calling her a “caretaker prime minister” after the local election losses.

Complicating the picture, the main beneficiaries of the swing against the two major UK parties were the pro-EU Liberal Democrats, who campaigned on a demand for a new referendum, aiming to reverse Brexit.

“MOOD FOR COMPROMISE”

Health minister Matt Hancock urged pragmatism in a BBC radio interview earlier on Saturday.

“I think we need to be in the mood for compromise,” he said.

Foreign minister Jeremy Hunt also saw a “glimmer of hope” that there might be a deal with Labour soon.

But an EU customs union that prevented Britain from striking its own trade deals was not a viable long-term option for the world’s fifth-largest economy, he said.

Earlier on Saturday, Buzzfeed News reported sources saying that May was optimistic about a deal, and that behind closed doors the government had already compromised on a customs union.

“In the last week government ministers and officials presented Labour with a new offer on a customs arrangement that would effectively see the UK remain in the key aspects of a customs union with the EU,” the sources familiar with the talks said.

One source told Buzzfeed “the offer would be tantamount to the government accepting in full Labour’s demands”.

However, the sources did not think a deal was necessarily imminent, as Labour might wish to delay any agreement until after the European elections to maximise the damage to May.

The political editor of the Spectator magazine, which has close links to the Conservatives, said in a column for the Sun newspaper that there had been an agreement to an initial “comprehensive customs arrangement” very like a customs union.

Labour and the Conservatives would then leave open whether this would lead in future to Labour’s preferred customs union, with EU consultation rights, or the looser arrangement favoured by the Conservatives.

It is unclear if the EU would approve a temporary customs deal, as border controls might later be needed between Ireland and Northern Ireland if the deal broke down.