Public sector workers can’t afford to buy homes

Public sector workers can’t afford to buy homes
Key public service workers cannot afford to buy the typical home in seventy per cent of towns, up from 65 per cent last year, a survey by Halifax has indicated. For nurses the figure was 99 per cent, while in London average house prices were ten times the average nursing salary.
Source:- The Independent, Friday 13 April 2007, page 12

Woman sacked at 65 wins age bias case
A 66-year-old health worker who was sacked the day before age discrimination regulations came into force has won back her job in a “landmark” victory, it emerged yesterday.
Source:- Daily Telegraph, Friday 13 April 2007, page 6

100s of sex offenders get away with rape
The Metropolitan Police are routinely failing to investigate cases of rape where complainants are under 18, despite one-third of suspects in such cases having histories of sexual violence, according to an internal review. Experts warn that the force is trying to second guess the Crown Prosecution Service’s view on whether the cases can be prosecuted, but the finding was described as “abominable” by the Met’s assistant commissioner, John Yates.
Source:- Daily Mirror, Friday 13 April 2007, page 9

Minimum wage has cut sick leave of lowest paid
The introduction of the minimum wage has reduced the number of sick days taken by low-paid workers, research has found. The study, presented by Birmingham and Durham university researchers at the Royal Economic Society’s annual conference, found a 1 per cent real terms increase in earnings cut the rate of sickness by about 0.05 per cent.
Source:- The Financial Times, Friday 13 April 2007, page 3

Home Office ‘collaborating with Sudan over refugees’
Human rights campaigners will today write to the Home Office accusing it of collaborating with the Sudanese government by passing on information about people fleeing persecution in Darfur.
The group, including the Refugee Council, said it was “deeply concerning” given the Sudanese government’s role in the persecution of people in Darfur and breached asylum seekers’ rights to confidentiality.
The Home Office said it routinely asked foreign governments for information to establish asylum seekers’ nationality but would not disclose information about their asylum applications or criminal records.
Source:- The Independent, Friday 13 April 2007, page 28

Obesity gene discovered
A rogue gene contributes to obesity, according to scientists.
The study, led by geneticists from Oxford University, claim the genetic make up of one in six Britons increases their risk of becoming dangerously overweight by 70 per cent.
Source:- Daily Mail, Friday 13 April 2007, page 1

Storming of the drug superstore
Britain’s biggest drugs raid was yesterday staged on a former Rastafarian temple which had been taken over by Jamaican yardies.
More than 250 police officers were involved at the raid in Kennington south London and several kilos of cannabis, crack cocaine were found along with six rounds of live ammunition.
Twenty three people were arrested.
Source:- Daily Mail, Friday 13 April 2007, page 10

NHS condemned for ‘gross failings’ that killed mother
A coroner ruled yesterday that a mother who died after an out of hours nurse told her to take laxatives for a fatal stomach condition was a victim of ‘gross failings’ in the NHS.
Alison Christian would have lived if nurse Marilym Mason had advised the woman’s partner to call an ambulance rather than wrongly diagnosing Christian’s ruptured stomach ulcer as constipation and advised her to take laxatives.
Mason worked for the private company Primecare.
Source:- Daily Mail,  Friday 13 April 2007, page 37

Sangatte revisited
The second Sangatte is rapidly taking shape on wasteland next to an industrial estate on the outskirts of Calais.
Critics warn that the centre will become a magnet for refugees trying to get into the UK and represents a reversal of the decision to close the original Sangatte in 2002.
Source:- Daily Mail, Friday 13 April 2007, page 41

Scottish news
 
Quarriers staff back strike action over pay
Staff at Quarriers, one of Scotland’s biggest charities, have voted for strike action in a dispute over pay.
Unison, the public-sector union, said its members had voted two to one in favour of a strike after talks with management broke down. They also voted by three to one in favour of industrial action short of a strike.
The union is considering strike action on April 25 but said measures would be taken to ensure vulnerable service users were not “significantly affected”. No-one was available for comment at Quarriers last night.
Source:- The Herald, Friday 13 April 2007