Drugs gangs have created lawless 'no-go areas' in British cities similar to those in Mexico, a report from the International Narcotics Control Board suggests.

The report’s author, Professor Hamid Ghodse, described how “drug traffickers, organised crime, drug users, they take over”. He also cited the celebrity use of drugs as helping to "normalise use" in society.

When you are a child, complex issues are often greeted with the phrase: "Don't worry, you’ll understand when you’re older."

But even when you become an adult matters remain confusing. Especially if you are young and trying to get a job.

The Job Centre is an increasingly likely destination for young people coming out of education.

When you are a child, complex issues are often greeted with the phrase: "Don't worry, you’ll understand when you’re older."

But even when you become an adult matters remain confusing. Especially if you are young and trying to get a job.

There are now more than a million young people unemployed in Britain – with more than 20% of 16-24 year olds not in employment or education.

The job centre is becoming an increasingly likely prospect for youths coming out of education.

By Jacob Brookman

The care of vulnerable children is an area most of us, thankfully, have little to do with in our everyday lives.

But this week the issue was once more in the spotlight when figures emerged that show the number of children being taken referred into care is at an all-time high.

In January, 903 court applications were made, a new peak in a number that has been steadily growing.

So why are more and more local authorities taking this decision of last resort?

The catalyst for the rise was the case of Baby P which first emerged in 2008. The tragic toddler suffered terrible abuse and revelations of his plight focused public attention on the role of social workers and the needs of vulnerable children.

But it was principally social workers who bore the brunt of public rage. And yet among all the fire and the fury about why they hadn't intervened earlier there was also tacit recognition of the difficulties of dealing with such situations.

Parenting is a touchy subject especially

Freedom of information data released this week revealed that the Met have spent £35,000 on calls to the speaking clock and £200,000 on calls to directory inquiries. This is a revelation as I had no idea the speaking clock was still going.

Every computer clearly displays the time as do mobiles, which to my mind conjures the image of officers who know the time but are on the phone listening to the time sponsored by Accurist pretending to chase down leads while the Sarge watches. And who uses directory inquiries these days when the Internet supplies all the answers free of charge?

All those 118 numbers are headed for the directory graveyard to be buried alongside Thompsons and the Yellow Pages. Plod didn’t get the memo though and keeps ringing them up and costing us cash. The money is less worrying than the implication that the police are more ‘Dixon of Dock Green’ than ‘CSI’. A Met spokesperson said not all of the police have Internet access, which is pretty bad in this day and age. What

Mitt Romney, the man likely to challenge Barack Obama to become the president of the country with the most nuclear weapons, believes that in 1827 an angel called Moroni gave a man called Joseph Smith some golden plates that had symbols on them. There must have been at least a full dinner service worth of mystical crockery because the translations filled up a whole new Bible called the Book of Mormon.  Half of Mormons surveyed believe that Romney's faith is likely to count against him a survey revealed this week, with a third also believing they are more discriminated against than African Americans. Mitt's beliefs would count against him even more this side of The Pond. Tony Blair had to wait until he resigned as Prime Minister before converting to Catholicism because his spin master Alastair Campbell had commanded: "We don't do religion." Asked about a dozen times by Jeremy Paxman if he'd prayed with Dubya Bush, Blair evaded because he'd have known how deeply unappealing the British

Ed Miliband photographs really oddly, from some angles show that he can look almost like Ross from 'Friends' but mostly he resembles the bastard child of Vulcan MP John Redwood and TV's 'Mr Bean'.  An odd appearance is part of Miliband's problem according to Conservative home editor Tim Montgomerie who feels that "Odd Ed" is a far worse label than "Red Ed" and is contributing to make the start of the year tough for the Labour leader, especially as he scored a -17 approval rating in a recent poll.

Part of the problem may be opposition MPs didn't actually pick Ed, it was the union block vote that enabled him to beat his boring but symmetrically- faced brother David. Part of the problem for the adenoidal one is he has yet to prove the doubters on his own benches wrong, which is leading to increasing criticism and disunity from his own side. This week, Shadow Defence Secretary Jim Murphy called on Labour to accept most of the spending cuts so they appear credible on the economy and