FRIDAY 10 March 2006

Jail threat to doctors who deny right to die
Doctors will face prosecution if they refuse to allow patients to die in accordance with their “living wills”. The penalties for those who refuse to end life are set out in a code of practice on the workings of the new Mental Capacity Act.
Source:- Daily Mail, Friday 10 March 2006, page 1

This killer strolled into Britain through our open borders. A month later he broke into a social worker’s house…and brutally raped her in her bed
An illegal immigrant wanted for murder in Europe was jailed for life yesterday for raping a British social worker in her own home. Moroccan Redoan Aitraho, 28, broke into the woman’s house, ransacked it to fund his drugs habit and found her asleep in bed.
Source:- Daily Mail, Friday 10 March 2006, page 7

Patel peerage would be morally wrong says Claire Rayner
Claire Rayner has warned it would be “morally wrong” to give a peerage to a prominent Labour donor who was involved in a care home scandal. The former agony aunt has written to the House of Lords Appointment Commission urging it to reject Tony Blair’s nomination of Dr Chai Patel.
Source:- Daily Mail, Friday 10 March 2006, page 21

Way to an Asbo
A mother of three has been given an antisocial behaviour order for repeatedly playing the song (Is This The Way) To Amarillo at high volume.
Source:- The Times, Friday 10 March 2006, page 4
 
Elderly may have to repay credits
Thousands of elderly people may have to pay back part of their pension credit after officials gave out millions of pounds extra by mistake.
Source:- The Times, Friday 10 March 2006, page 18

Drink girl quit bid
A British girl who has been binge drinking from the age of 12 is to spend a year at a US boarding school for wayward kids in a second bid to quit. Sherrie Cooke had a scholarship to £50,000-a-year Swift River Academy, Massachusetts.
Source:- The Sun, Friday 10 March 2006, page 41

Voice ID device to track failed asylum seekers
New-generation voice recognition technology is to be used to keep tabs on failed asylum-seekers facing deportation, the immigration minister, Tony McNulty, disclosed yesterday. He also revealed that failed asylum seekers who cannot be sent back to countries such as Somalia and Zimbabwe may be allowed to work in Britain on temporary basis.
Source:- The Guardian, Friday 10 March 2006, page 4

Key education rebels urge MPs to back bill after concessions
Estelle Morris, the former education secretary, and two high-profile MPs last night urged Labour backbenchers to support the education bill in the Commons after the government agreed to tackle three of their remaining concerns.
Source:- The Guardian, Friday 10 March 2006, page 10

Labour checks Britain’s widening poverty gap
Ministers miss initial goal but say target will be met
Source:- The Guardian, Friday 10 March 2006, page 10

Scottish news

Devolution ‘has left Scotland lagging’
An influential think-tank of academics has criticised devolution by claiming it has left Scotland lagging behind England and has put strain on the United Kingdom.
The government-backed Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) said that after almost seven years the “jury is still out” on whether devolution has boosted the economy.
It claims Scottish decision-makers are wedded to traditional policies on key public services compared with their more innovative counterparts in England.
Source: The Scotsman, Friday 10 March 2006

Single working parent feels there is little support.
The news that the Scottish Executive was meeting poverty targets provided little solace for single parent Michelle Neil who has had serious financial problems for the past four years.
She feels there is little support for people in her situation who are working part-time and bringing up a family on a low income.
Neil works 20 hours a week bringing home around £700 a month – at that rate it will take her 15 years to pay off her debts which accrued when she split from her son’s father.
Source:- The Herald, Friday 10 March 2006

Scots lead fight on child poverty
Scottish ministers scored a notable success over their Westminster counterparts when new figures showed that a greater proportion of children had been lifted out of poverty in Scotland than in the rest of the UK.
In 1999, both the UK government and the Scottish Executive set targets of reducing child poverty by a quarter by April 2005.
Official figures released yesterday showed the number of children in poverty in Scotland had gone down by 25 per cent – exactly hitting the target – while for the rest of Britain, child poverty had been reduced by 23 per cent.
Source:- The Scotsman, Friday 10 March 2006

Welsh news

The cost of keeping teenagers in school
Nearly £30m is set to be spent on paying teenagers in Wales to stay on at school.
Under the Education Maintenance Allowance scheme pupils aged 16 or over can apply for weekly sums worth £10, £20 or £3 a week if they stay on at school.
New figure show that 24, 720 young people have signed up to the scheme in Wales and if they all take part it the total cost will be £29, 985, 600.
Source:- Western Mail, Friday 10 March 2006

Gibbons yet to meet his English counterpart
Health minister Dr Brian Gibbons has yet to meet the health secretary for England more than a year after he took up his post.
The revelation came in a group of written answers posted by the Conservatives.
Source:- Western Mail, Friday 10 March 2006