THURSDAY 24 NOVEMBER

Violence against women at crisis levels, say protestors
Women are suffering “crisis levels” of rape, domestic violence, sex abuse and harassment, campaigners say.
Source:- The Independent, Thursday 24 November 2005, page 4

Brown seeks 2% limit on public sector pay deals
Gordon Brown has written to the heads of the review bodies covering the pay of doctors, nurses, teachers, prison officers and senior civil servants telling them they should base their pay settlements for next year on the achievement of his 2 per cent inflation target rather than the temporary rise caused by the surge in oil prices.
Source:- The Times Thursday 24 November 2005 page 2

£320m bill for redundancies
Redundancies are likely to cost the NHS £320m as 6,000 jobs are lost as part of mergers between primary care trusts and strategic health authorities, according to Health Service Journal.
Source:- The Times Thursday 24 November 2005 page 26

New overdose case reported at prison criticised over drugs
A prisoner who overdosed on stolen methadone was taken to hospital on the same day a report was published severely criticising officers’ treatment of a similar incident at the same jail. The prisoner was taken from Styal women’s prison in Cheshire for treatment on Thursday – the day the prisons ombudsman published his report on Styal.
Source:- The Guardian Thursday 24 November 2005 page 13

Don’t blame the bullies!
Teachers are being told not to punish bullies as part of an approach which tells them they are not at fault and encourages them to discuss their behaviour in support groups. Labour MP Dan Morris claimed Bristol City Council was using the approach.
Source:- Daily Mail Thursday 24 November 2005 page 15

Drunken consent to sex is still consent, judge rules
Women cannot complain of being raped while they are too drunk to remember what happened, a High Court judge ruled yesterday. Judge Roderick Evans said “drunken consent is still consent” after the rape case of a student was thrown out of Swansea crown court.
Source:- The Independent, Thursday 24 November 2005, page 4

Tiny terror
A girl of 10 has been sent home from school 30 times this year for violent behaviour – but her mother says it’s nothing to do with her.
Source:- The Daily Mirror, Thursday 24 November 2005, page 1 and page 11

Drug tips outrage
An NHS leaflet advising addicts to snort heroin has been blasted by anti-drugs groups. The Staying Alive booklet is given out by GPs and is aimed at addicts returning to smack after a “break.” It warns them to avoid injecting, adding: “Gear may have changed since you last used. Sniff, snort or test the hit first.”
Source:- The Sun, Thursday 24 November 2005, page 23

Scottish news

Still no asylum for McConnell
The Scottish executive last night survived an opposition onslaught in the political storm. In a series of Holyrood votes, demands from opposition parties for a debate on the row over the treatment of asylum seekers were defeated.
The furore was triggered when Tony McNulty, asylum and immigration minister, said there would be no special treatment in Scotland for failed asylum seekers.
Source:- The Herald, Thursday 24 November

Free toothpaste for deprived children
Children in deprived areas will be given free toothpaste in a new drive to improve the nation’s teeth. Scotland has one of the worst rates of dental decay in Europe, with more than half of  five-year-olds already suffering from rotting teeth.
Children in poor areas are three times as prone to decay as those in wealthier areas.
Source:- The Scotsman, Thursday 24 November

 Council cash “too little to stop tax rise”
Council leaders have warned they will be forced to cut frontline services and levy above-inflation council tax rises despite being granted nearly £17 billion from the Scottish executive to spend over the next two years.
Angry local authority leaders made the claim after Tom McCabe, the finance minister, announced that Scotland’s 32 councils will share a total of £8.3 billion in 2006-7 and £8.5 billion in 2007-8 to fund core services.
Source:- The Scotsman, Thursday 24 Novembers

Welsh news

Three in four teachers fear pupils suffer bullying by mobile phone
Nearly three quarters of teachers across the UK fear their pupils will be bullied via their mobile phone, according to a new research.
The study by children’s charity NCH Cymru also found that parents were more unsure about the problem with more than one in five parents stating that bullying by mobile phone was uncommon or does not happen.
Source:- Western Mail, Thursday, November 24

Many children sexually exploited
At least 184 children in Wales are being sexually exploited or are at high risk, according to new research.
The study, carried out by Barnardo’s Cymru, surveyed 21 of Wales’ 22 local authorities. It also warns that adults are preying on residential homes in an attempt to sexually exploit vulnerable children.
Source:- Western Mail, Thursday, November 24