News round up: Brown will upgrade cannabis despite expert advice

Brown will upgrade cannabis to Class B susbstance despite advice of drug experts

Gordon Brown is preparing to override the views of his own expert advisers and tighten the law on cannabis.

But opposition parties claimed the Government’s drugs policy was in chaos after it emerged that Mr Brown would ignore the conclusion of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs that cannabis should remain a class C substance.

Read more on this story in The Independent

We’ll make it harder for school troublemakers to beat explusion, vow Tories

The Conservatives will promise to scrap the right of parents to appeal if their child is expelled.

In a drive to tackle classroom indiscipline, they will promise to end the expulsions ‘merry go round’.

Read more on this story in The Daily Mail

Complaints against the NHS soar

A growing number of NHS complaints are being upheld amid falling nursing standards and rushed GP appointments, according to a report published today.

The Healthcare Commission, the independent watchdog, investigated more than 10,000 cases last year. Complaints included cases of patients left in soiled bedding and allegations about rude nurses.

Read more on this story in The Telegraph

Youth crime ‘up by two thirds in 10 years’

The number of children and teenagers regularly committing crimes has soared since Labour came to power.

Rural areas have been worst hit with counties such as Sussex, Gloucestershire, Dorset and Suffolk showing the biggest increases in youth offending.

Read more on this story in The Telegraph

Ministers refuse to back down in row over abolition of 10p tax band

The government refused to back down yesterday in the row over Gordon Brown’s abolition of the 10p income tax rate as a powerful group of MPs confirmed that the move would leave many low-income, childless households worse off.

Read more on this story in The Guardian

Tranquillisers putting children’s lives at risk

New evidence has shown children’s lives are being put at risk by a surge in the use of controversial tranquillising drugs which are being prescribed to control their behaviour, the Guardian has learned.

The anti-psychotic drugs are being given to youngsters under the age of six even though the drugs have no licence for use in children except in certain schizophrenia cases, the report says.
Read more on this story in The Guardian

Balls in talks over cadet corps

Ed Balls, the children’s secretary, is in discussion with Downing Street and the Ministry of Defence on ways to expand military cadet corps in English secondary schools.
Supporters of the scheme say it would help to restore discipline among vulnerable teenagers and build a better understanding between civil society and the armed forces.