But on Sunday two boys, aged 14 and 16, both claimed they could be the father of 15-year-old Chantelle Steadman's daughter. Several others have also claimed to have had a sexual relationship with the schoolgirl, from Eastbourne in Sussex.

Mrs Patten told The Mirror: "He's absolutely devastated these lads have come forward to say they slept with her at the time she got pregnant. Everything is wrong. Now that is in his mind and I'm not happy. I don't know where they get this from. I mean, that's my son, that's his baby. Alfie is distraught and upset about everything." The Patten family have now accepted that a DNA test is needed to confirm the paternity.

It was reported last week that Alfie was the youngest father in Britain following the birth of Maisie, who was conceived when Alfie was 12-years-old. Politicians including David Cameron spoke about the situation, and said IT RAISED "WORRYING" QUESTIONS ABOUT MODERN SOCIETY.

The announcement came a day after California lawmakers narrowly failed to pass a $40 billion budget that would have plugged the state's deficit with a mix of tax hikes and spending cuts. "In the absence of a budget, the governor has a responsibility to realize state savings any way he can," said Aaron McLear, a spokesman for the Republican governor. "This is unfortunately a necessary decision."

The layoff notices will affect about 20 percent of state workers, McLear said, adding the cuts would extend to every part of state government. The positions would be eliminated in June in preparation for California's next fiscal year, which starts in July.

CALIFORNIA, AMERICA'S MOST POPULOUS STATE AND THE WORLD'S EIGHTH BIGGEST ECONOMY, has experienced a dramatic fall in revenues because of the housing downturn, rising unemployment and a sharp pullback in consumer spending. To conserve cash, the state has stopped public works projects, furloughed state employees for two days a month and postponed sending out tax refunds.

It is incredible, but there it is – now it's Prince Harry's turn to go on an "Equality and Diversity Awareness" training course put on by the Ministry of Defence. What a load of pure, unadulterated garbage. But apart from the sheer anger all this causes with ordinary people – and it does – what a waste of money! The question I am asked, time and time again is – WHERE DOES ALL THIS POLITICAL CORRECTNESS COME FROM and how did we allow it to seep into every aspect of our lives? Particularly when "1984" and "Brave New World" are there to warn us all about the control freaks.

What political correctness has achieved is to make every normal person constantly look over their shoulders in case they are saying something sexist, racist, ageist, Muslimist, right-wing, reactionary, homophobic and anything hinting of discrimination and prejudice. WHAT THIS HAS GROWN INTO, IS FULL–BLOWN THOUGHT CONTROL AND SPEECH CONTROL.

It has been put into place by a flawed and totalitarian type of political intimidation, dressed up as "the law" and presented as "hate crime" – it is neo-fascist baloney. At the heart of political correctness is a false desire to avoid confrontation, to avoid social abrasion and to avoid causing offence. The only problem is of course – political correctness itself offends eighty percent of the population.

But how did this insidious system creep into place? How did we allow political correctness to corrupt our long traditions of freedom of speech and freedom of thought? Greg Lance-Watkins reckons it was introduced during the Cold War by the Russians to disrupt and undermine British society. If he is right – then it certainly worked. But is he right?

When the customs officers carried out a routine check on a container recently, they were in for quite a surprise. Their radiometers indicated unusually high levels of radiation. They measured a level of 71 microsieverts per hour, a level that in 24 hours would exceed the amount permitted for an entire year. The officials reacted swiftly. THEY ORDERED THAT THE CONTAINER BE PUT BACK ON THE SHIP IMMEDIATELY AND BE SENT BACK TO INDIA.

An expert at the Federal Office for Radiation Protection, who did not wished to be named, agreed, telling SPIEGEL: "Some of the levels are so high, that one should not stay in contact with these things for long." Just how the radioactive isotope cobalt 60, which can be found in nuclear power stations or some medical technology, is finding its way into the Indian steel industry isn't completely clear. It may be that sources of radioactivity, from hospitals for example, are being thrown into blast furnaces along with other scrap. The resulting steel is then sold to companies abroad.

The dangerous import from Asia shows the downside of globalization. CHEAPER IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER. Machine manufacturers and metal-working companies in Germany know that the cheaper the steel coming from a supplier is, the more likely it is that a high proportion of the metal is from India.

Pelosi, a self-proclaimed "ardent Catholic" who has sparked significant criticism from fellow Catholics in the US for her pro-abortion views, arrived in Italy on Sunday for an eight-day official visit. On Monday, Pelosi began a series of meetings with Italian political authorities at the Quirinale Palace, where she was received by the President of the Italian State, Giorgio Napolitano. Later in the evening, a reception honoring the US delegation will take place at the Library of Montecitorio Palace where Pelosi will deliver the address: "Strong Allies for a Secure Future."

Although numerous reports have been published either confirming or denying that Pope Benedict would receive Pelosi in an audience, the Holy See's Press Office confirmed to CAN on Monday at noon Rome time, that the [Pontiff] will receive the US representative on Wednesday at midday.

The press office made clear that THE POPE WILL MEET WITH PELOSI IN HIS CAPACITY AS A HEAD OF STATE SINCE THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE IS THE THIRD IN LINE TO LEAD THE US, should the president and vice president be unable to do so. The idea of providing Pelosi with a photo-op has disturbed a significant number of US Catholics and pro-life activists.

In an interview in a Spanish newspaper, published in the Daily Telegraph, she also accuses the US of "tortures". The Home Office said it was vital to strike the right balance between privacy, protection and sharing of personal data. It said any policies which impact on privacy must be "necessary and proportionate".

Dame Stella, who stood down as the director general of the security service in 1996, has previously been critical of the government's policies, including its attempts to extend pre-charge detention for terror suspects to 42 days and the controversial plan to introduce ID cards. "It would be better that the government recognised that there are risks, RATHER THAN FRIGHTENING PEOPLE IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO PASS LAWS WHICH RESTRICT CIVIL LIBERTIES, PRECISELY ONE OF THE OBJECTS OF TERRORISM - that we live in fear and under a police state," she told the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia.

She said the British security services were "no angels," but they did not kill people. "The US has gone too far with Guantanamo and the tortures," she said. "MI5 does not do that. Furthermore it has achieved the opposite effect - there are more and more suicide terrorists finding a greater justification."

He warned that "the Commission, the Parliament and the Council must be cautious not to take things from democratically elected member states that cannot be taken away." He also said, "The German Parliament has rights in EU politics which it is not using sufficiently".

Meanwhile, in an interview with German daily Handelsblatt, the President of the German liberal party FDP in the European Parliament, Silvana Koch-Mehrin, said: "IF THE EU ITSELF APPLIED FOR MEMBERSHIP OF THE EU, IT WOULD BE REFUSED. THE REASON WOULD BE: NO DEMOCRACY". She added: "Meanwhile more and more competences have been transferred to the EU level, without the EU structures having become more democratic".

According to the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, Mr Danielson told business representatives in Brussels last week that: "6,000 meetings in different working groups will be held in Brussels during the Swedish Presidency." He said, "The preparations consist mostly of planning meetings and coordinating with the current Czech Presidency."

The 'working groups' are those which prepare meetings of the Council, such as the 'Police Cooperation Working Party', the 'Working Party on Olive Oil' or the 'Working Party on Youth'. Reporting the story, the News of the World noted that, because the EU institutions are in recess during August, this means THERE WILL BE 6,000 MEETINGS OVER FIVE MONTHS, WHICH MEANS AN AVERAGE OF AROUND 60 A DAY.

Open Europe's Lorraine Mullally was quoted saying, "These secret meetings of bureaucrats will be costing taxpayers millions of pounds a year. What possible justification can there be for this enormous waste of time and money?"

Austria's finance minister Josef Pröll made frantic efforts last week to put together a €150bn rescue for the ex-Soviet bloc. Well he might. His banks have lent €230bn to the region, equal to 70pc of Austria's GDP. "A failure rate of 10pc would lead to the collapse of the Austrian financial sector," reported Der Standard in Vienna. Unfortunately, that is about to happen.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) says bad debts will top 10pc and may reach 20pc. The Vienna press said Bank Austria and its Italian owner Unicredit face a "monetary Stalingrad" in the East. Mr Pröll tried to drum up support for his rescue package from EU finance ministers in Brussels last week. THE IDEA WAS SCOTCHED BY GERMANY'S PEER STEINBRÜCK. Not our problem, he said.

Stephen Jen, currency chief at Morgan Stanley, said Eastern Europe has borrowed $1.7 trillion abroad, much on short-term maturities. It must repay – or roll over – $400bn this year, equal to a third of the region's GDP. Whether it takes months, or just weeks, THE WORLD IS GOING TO DISCOVER THAT EUROPE'S FINANCIAL SYSTEM IS SUNK, and that there is no EU Federal Reserve yet ready to act as a lender of last resort or to flood the markets with emergency stimulus.

The sums needed are beyond the limits of the IMF, which has already bailed out Hungary, Ukraine, Latvia, Belarus, Iceland, and Pakistan – and Turkey next – and is fast exhausting its own $200bn (€155bn) reserve. We are nearing the point where the IMF may have to print money for the world, using arcane powers to issue Special Drawing Rights. If Deutsche Bank is correct, the economy will have shrunk by nearly 9pc before the end of this year. THIS IS THE SORT OF LEVEL THAT STOKES POPULAR REVOLT.

The implications are obvious. BERLIN IS NOT GOING TO RESCUE IRELAND, SPAIN, GREECE AND PORTUGAL as the collapse of their credit bubbles leads to rising defaults, or rescue Italy by accepting plans for EU "union bonds" should the debt markets take fright at the rocketing trajectory of Italy's public debt (hitting 112pc of GDP next year, just revised up from 101pc – big change), or rescue Austria from its Habsburg adventurism. So we watch and wait as the lethal brush fires move closer. IF ONE SPARK JUMPS ACROSS THE EUROZONE LINE, WE WILL HAVE GLOBAL SYSTEMIC CRISIS WITHIN DAYS.

State Senator Abel Maldonado, a moderate Republican from Santa Maria, indicated in an interview with The Bee that he was willing to consider casting the decisive vote if he was satisfied with the final version of the tax proposal. An emotional Steinberg, Democratic member from Sacramento, said in a closing speech on the floor that THE PROCEDURES MAY BE "OUT OF THE ORDINARY," BUT THAT "THE TIMES ARE OUT OF THE ORDINARY."

The tax bill is part of a massive and intricate package of 28 measures that attempt to close the gap between state revenue and spending over the next 17 months, while stimulating the economy by accelerating some public works projects and giving tax breaks to some businesses.

But the move required approval from legislative leaders, and the GOP refused Monday. Budget Director Duane Goossen said that without the money, he's not sure the state can meet its payroll. State employees are due to be paid again Friday. Goossen said the state stopped processing income tax refunds last week.

Goossen said the state might also have to delay payments to public schools and to doctors who provide care to needy Kansans under the Medicaid program. The state has transferred funds before when it has been short of cash in its main bank account. Most recently, the state issued the special certificates required in July and December for transfers totaling $550 million.

This fearmongering may be good politics, but it is bad history and bad economics. IT IS BAD HISTORY BECAUSE OUR CURRENT ECONOMIC WOES DON'T COME CLOSE TO THOSE OF THE 1930S. At worst, a comparison to the 1981-82 recession might be appropriate. Consider the job losses that Mr. Obama always cites. In the last year, the U.S. economy shed 3.4 million jobs. That's a grim statistic for sure, but represents just 2.2% of the labor force. From November 1981 to October 1982, 2.4 million jobs were lost - fewer in number than today, but the labor force was smaller. So 1981-82 job losses totaled 2.2% of the labor force, the same as now. Job losses in the Great Depression were of an entirely different magnitude.

In 1930, the economy shed 4.8% of the labor force. In 1931, 6.5%. And then in 1932, another 7.1%. Jobs were being lost at double or triple the rate of 2008-09 or 1981-82. This was reflected in unemployment rates. The latest survey pegs U.S. unemployment at 7.6%. That's more than three percentage points below the 1982 peak (10.8%) AND NOT EVEN A THIRD OF THE PEAK IN 1932 (25.2%). You simply can't equate 7.6% unemployment with the Great Depression. Other economic statistics also dispel any analogy between today's economic woes and the Great Depression. Real gross domestic product (GDP) rose in 2008, despite a bad fourth quarter. The Congressional Budget Office projects a GDP decline of 2% in 2009. That's comparable to 1982, when GDP contracted by 1.9%. IT IS NOTHING LIKE 1930, WHEN GDP FELL BY 9%, OR 1931, WHEN GDP CONTRACTED BY ANOTHER 8%, OR 1932, WHEN IT FELL YET ANOTHER 13%.

Auto production last year declined by roughly 25%. That looks good compared to 1932, when production shriveled by 90%. The failure of a few dozen banks in 2008 just doesn't compare to over 10,000 bank failures in 1933, or even the 3,000-plus bank (Savings & Loan) failures in 1987-88. Stockholders can take some solace from the fact that the recent stock market debacle doesn't come close to the 90% devaluation of the early 1930s.

MR. OBAMA'S ANALOGIES TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION ARE NOT ONLY HISTORICALLY INACCURATE, THEY'RE ALSO DANGEROUS. Repeated warnings from the White House about a coming economic apocalypse aren't likely to raise consumer and investor expectations for the future. In fact, they have contributed to the continuing decline in consumer confidence that is restraining a spending pickup. Beyond that, fearmongering can trigger a political stampede to embrace a "recovery" package that delivers a lot less than it promises. A more cool-headed assessment of the economy's woes might produce better policies.

Its $42 billion budget deficit would make an out-of-control Hollywood director blush — and bankrupt a small nation. Its schools are failing, air quality is worsening, and unemployment neared 10% as of December. The only thing larger than its litany of woes, however, IS THE ROSTER OF BIG-NAME POLITICAL CELEBRITIES WHO ARE TESTING THE WATERS FOR A RUN FOR GOVERNOR IN 2010, when term limits show Arnold Schwarzenegger to the door.

"This is an era of limits," Jerry Brown recently told TIME, reprising a theme he sounded more than 30 years ago when the state first put him in the governor's mansion in the aftermath of Watergate and the last throes of Vietnam War. "There is not a lot of room for political maneuvering. The age of dividing up the easy surpluses is over. We've been on a borrowing binge, both in the private and public sector, and we're going to have to enter a time of belt-tightening."

Japan has not suffered much directly from the bursting of bubbles in U.S. credit and housing markets, but its heavy dependence on exports and persistently soft domestic consumption has led to a sharper contraction than other major economies. As the rich world faces its worst downturn in decades, the Group of Seven (G7) policymakers pledged at the weekend to do all they could to combat recession.

Japan's economy shrank 3.3 percent, or an annualized 12.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 - three times the fall in gross domestic product in the same quarter in the United States, at the epicenter of the current global crisis. With exporters cutting production and laying off staff and many retailers reporting sharp falls in sales, economists saw little hope of a bounce back for Japan.

"One plan includes a Chapter 11 filing that would assemble all of GM's viable assets, including some U.S. brands and international operations, into a new company," the newspaper said. "The undesirable assets would be liquidated or sold under protection of a bankruptcy court. Contracts with bondholders, unions, dealers and suppliers would also be reworked." Citing "people familiar with the matter," the story said that GM could also ask for additional government funds to stave off a bankruptcy filing. GM declined to comment, the story said.

General Motors and Chrysler LLC face a Tuesday deadline to file restructuring plans to the government in exchange for receiving $17.4 billion in federal loans. Automakers have struggled as U.S. auto sales have tumbled amid a recessionary economy. U.S. auto sales in January tumbled to a 27-year low.

GM has been in talks with bondholders and the United Auto Workers union to get an agreement on a RESTRUCTURING THAT WOULD WIPE OUT ABOUT $28 BILLION IN DEBT FOR THE AUTO MAKER, sources have told Reuters. GM has already announced plans to cut 10,000 salaried workers worldwide, or 14 percent of its staff, impose pay cuts for most remaining white-collar U.S. workers and has offered buyouts to its 62,000 U.S. workers represented by the UAW.