GP seeks opt-out in gay adoption cases

By Mithran Samuel

GP seeks opt-out in gay adoption cases

A GP from Bedfordshire has written to health secretary Patricia Hewitt seeking an opt-out on providing medical assessments for gay couples seeking to adopt on the grounds of “Christian conscience”.

Dr John Lockley said, with the introduction of regulations outlawing discrimination in the provision of services on grounds of sexual orientation, he and others would risk being struck off.

Source:- Daily Telegraph Tuesday 6 February 2007 page 5

Loneliness ‘brings on Alzheimer’s’

New research has found a significant link between the emotional impact of solitude and the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

The study, by Dr Robert Wilson, was published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry.

Source:- Daily Telegraph Tuesday 6 February 2007 page 11

Depression linked to risk of heart disease

Physical signs of depression, such as fatigue and appetite loss, increase the risk of early heart disease, research has shown.

The research, carried out by scientists from the University of Pittsburgh, was published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry.

Source:- Daily Telegraph Tuesday 6 February 2007 page 11

College cuts for people with learning disabilities

Campaigners have reacted angrily to a government admission that college places for people with learning difficulties have been cut by 15 per cent last year.

Lifelong learning minister Bill Rammell claimed the courses cut were of poor quality and students were being provided with more appropriate courses through day care.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 6 February 2007 page 7

Study shows increase in mental disorders among children

A study has shown a long-term increase in the number of children with disorders including autism, hyperkinetic disorder and Tourette syndrome.

The research, published in the Archives of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine, involved data collected from the Danish National Psychiatric Registry on every child born between 1990 and 1999.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 6 February 2007 page 10

Paedophiles jailed for hatching plot on internet to rape two teenage sisters

Three paedophiles have been jailed for using the web to hatch a plot to rape two teenage sisters, after meeting on an internet chatroom which featured pornographic images of children.

David Beavan from Bransgore, Hampshire, Alan Hedgcock from Twickenham, London, and Robert Mayers, from Warrington, Cheshire, received indeterminate sentences.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 6 February 2007 page 11

Peers widen scope of manslaughter bill in rebuff to Reid

Peers overwhelmingly defeated the government in a vote to extend proposed legislation on corporate manslaughter to cover deaths in custody.

Despite government threats to drop the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill if the amendment went ahead, peers backed it by 223 to 127.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 6 February 2007 page 12

Former RAF base set to become illegal immigration detention camp

The site of a former RAF base in Norfolk could become a detention camp for illegal immigrants, the Home Office said yesterday.

The department said it would enable the government to apply tougher immigration controls.

Source:- The Financial Times Tuesday 6 February page 3