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The prison population is already at a record 68,500 and is projected to rise to 71,500 by September next year.David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, has already fought a bruising battle with police officers over pay and conditions and on 6 February the Police Federation will vote on whether to accept his offer.Yesterday, at a police recruitment roadshow held in Leicester, Mr Blunkett made a further series of concessions, including the restoration of overtime payments removed during earlier pay negotiations.The Home Secretary said officers on difficult jobs such as terrorism duties and long-term surveillance would see a return to double pay, as would those working bank holidays. Teachers received 3.5 per cent and NHS staff 3.6 per cent.Prison officers in London will see their salaries increased by about £960 from the current level of £16,100, with an additional increase from London weighting rising by up to £500 to £3,500, a total package of £20,500. Police constables in the capital earn around £24,000.But prison officers argue their pay levels have been ignored for more than a decade. They also feel snubbed by a government decision to exclude them from the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal, which is being awarded to police and other members of the emergency services.A union source said: “We are paid less than airport baggage handlers but we know the cuts they are going to have to make will make life impossible for officers.”. Ivan Massow, chairman of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, is likely to be sacked from his post tonight at a meeting of ICA trustees and the venue’s director, Philip Dodd. And he challenges Sir Nicholas to respond to his accusations.Mr Massow says: “Last year Nicholas Serota had £26m of public money to spend on art.

He says he has asked his former colleagues “to dispatch me cleanly and humanely with it”.In his article today, Mr Massow says: “As an art lover and patron for many years and being ICA chairman for the last three years I have been introduced to a huge number of artists, visited countless galleries and exhibitions who want this debate. I defend my right to be able to have opinions and express them.”. Shafiq Rasul is the youngest brother of the family. A man who cared more for Ralph Lauren and Armani sweaters, sports cars, gangsta rap and Club 18-30 trips than the strictures of the Koran

Shafiq Rasul is the youngest brother of the family. Nor, his three brothers insist, was he the hot-headed vigilante who set up an armed gang called the Tipton Asian Terror Squad at Alexandra High School to tackle white racists.

Or the man who later became involved in the fringes of radical Islam in Britain.He was ordinary. Born and bred in Tipton, Shafiq never got into trouble with the police, and had only “minor scrapes” at school. He was a softly spoken and mild-mannered stockroom clerk at a local branch of Currys who had taken leave to do a three-month Microsoft software engineering course in Pakistan.”He’s not the type to be involved in a movement such as the Taliban or Al-Qa’ida,” said his eldest brother Habib in a rich West Midlands accent as he sat beside his computers in his bedroom on the third floor of the family home.The Americans, he insists, have the wrong man “He wouldn’t have these types of connections. For him first to get to Afghanistan then get arrested is just the wildest thing in the world. It’s just crazy.”Parvez Akhtar, a family friend and lawyer who grew up with the brothers, agreed.