In Today's Papers

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson

The children social workers say must live with lesbians

Social workers want two children who have been living with heterosexual foster parents for over a year to be removed and placed with a lesbian couple because this is what they are used to.

The mother of the girl aged two and boy aged three was in a same sex relationship. Greenwich Council social services in south-east London would like a lesbian couple to care for the children, but others would like to see them placed with a heterosexual couple.

The case was heard in a Family Proceedings Court yesterday after months of arguing.

Source:- Daily Mail Tuesday 17 August page 9

Protestors try to stop C4 broadcast

Campaigners are calling on members of the public to join their fight to prevent a documentary that claims white schoolgirls are being groomed for sex by Asian men in Bradford from being shown on Channel 4.

The lobby groups, who are running their campaign through the Black Information Link website, want people to send emails to the TV company. They argue that it will incite racial violence and cause the British National Party to gain support.

Edge of the City is due to be screen on 26th August.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 17 August  page 6

Dogs to help disabled youths

British disabled children are being helped by assistance dogs for the first time.

The dogs are trained to alert parents when a child needs assistance.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 17 August page 7

One million people are working beyond retirement age as pensions crisis deepens

Large numbers of pensioners are working beyond retirement age to prevent falling into poverty, new figures show.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 1, 011, 000 people over the state pension age were doing paid work last month.

Source:- The Independent Tuesday 17 August  page 13

Scottish newspapers

‘Sex for sale in lap-dancing clubs’

Lap-dancers suffer humiliation and sexual harassment in clubs in Glasgow and licensing conditions and employment laws are repeatedly breached, according to a new report.

The study, commissioned by Glasgow Council, found that sexual favours are made available in the clubs as many dancers are in debt which adds pressure on them to provide sexual services.

The research claims that dancers are ordered to dress “like sluts”, some suffer from anorexia and many have to cope with threats of violence.

Julie Bindel’s main conclusion in her report is that councils should be given powers to license the clubs as sex shops arguing they should no longer be classed as leisure entertainment, but as part of the sex industry.

Source:- The Herald  Tuesday 17 August

Bed-blocking fears as three care homes shut

Fresh fears of a bed-blocking crisis were re-ignited yesterday as it emerged three private care homes in the capital are set to close.

Social services have to find places for 90 older people in a care homes market which is bursting at the seams. A shortage of places means some older people are likely to end up in hospital beds.

Hillside Cottage in Juniper Green, the Lynedoch in Drumsheugh Gardens and Charteris House in Luberton are set to close in September.

The news will be a major setback to health and council chiefs who are working on a target of reducing the number of blocked beds by 20 per cent by April 2005.

Source:- Evening News Monday 16 August

Girl pupils ‘more likely to truant and steal’

School girls in the capital are more likely to play truant from school, steal and spray graffiti than boys, according to research by Edinburgh University.

Around 60 per cent of girls in their third year of secondary school regularly skipped school with over half of 15-year-old truants admitting to taking drugs in the last 12 months.

Only a fifth of truants at primary school age were girls yet the figures soared once the pupils reached secondary school age.

However, boys were more likely to be excluded from school than girls.

Source:- Evening News  Monday 16 August

Chloroform killer finds prison ‘too hard’

A killer has made a claim for £90,000 compensation because he found prison “too hard”.

Craig McCreight claims he has had to endure “inhumane and degrading” treatment at Saughton prison in Edinburgh and Shotts prison in Lanarkshire. This includes being forced to slop-out of his cell and having a lack of opportunity to work and be educated.

McCreight, who was jailed in 2002 for murdering his girlfriend Yvonne Davidson, is one of more than 100 prisoners to make claims citing alleged breaches of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Source:- Evening News  Monday 16 August

Welsh newspapers

10-years for ‘groomer’ in child sex abuse

A paedophile has been jailed for 10 years after being branded a threat to young boys.

Darren Clarke was placed in a hostel near Ruabon as part of his rehabilitation after a six-year sentence for sex offences.

While working for the Salvation Army, he met and befriended a socially deprived family and having gained their trust, he sexually abused their 13-year-old son on a number of occasions.

Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 17 August page 5

We must cure nursing’s ills

A half-page feature looking at the heavy workload and stress that many nurses experience during their working lives. Richard Jones, interim director of the Royal College of Nursing in Wales, argues that urgent steps need to be taken to address retention problems within the sector.

Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 17 August page 8