News round up: Teen smacking surprises NSPCC

Teen smacking surprises NSPCC

About 160,000 teenagers over the age of 15 have recently been beaten by parents trying to assert discipline, research for the children’s charity NSPCC revealed last night. It released the results of a survey on the eve of a Commons vote on whether Britain should join the 19 other European countries that have banned corporal punishment in the family. The NSPCC said a poll of more than 1,900 parents showed one in eight children of all ages had been smacked during the past six months.

Read more on this story in Society Guardian

A poor start

The epicentre of UK child poverty is in Birmingham, where children in 81% of families are affected, says a disturbing new report.

Read more on this story in Society Guardian

Unemployment up 20% in a year, say Conservatives

Unemployment has risen by 20 per cent or more in large parts of the country in the last year alone, the Conservatives have disclosed.
More than one in seven Parliamentary constituencies has seen rates soar, including four where unemployment has gone up by more than 40 per cent since 2007.

Read more on this story in The Daily Telegraph

Tories would end automatic release for prisoners

The Conservative party have promised to end Labour’s policy of allowing criminals to automatically walk out of jail early.
Under the Tory policy, jail governors would decide if a prisoner is fit for release.