News round up: GPS tags for offenders in mental health units

Offenders in mental health units to have GPS tracking

Criminals held in secure mental health units are to be tracked with global positioning systems to stop them absconding and reoffending, under a trial by a London hospital trust.

Ten-fold rise in forced marriages in just four years

The number of forced marriages has increased more than ten-fold in just four years, government figures have revealed.

Read more on this story in The Daily Mail

Gordon Brown prunes pledge of future public spending rises

Gordon Brown started to dilute his unconditional commitment to further increases in public spending by saying that goal depended on achieving growth in the future.

The prime minister said he would concentrate on making big savings through efficiencies and asset sales and acknowledged that the government would have to make hard choices.

Doctors oppose legal protection for assisted suicide relatives

Doctors today rejected calls to exempt from criminal prosecution relatives and friends who accompany sick or terminally ill patients to assisted suicide clinics.

The decision by the British Medical Association to oppose any change in the law is likely to have a significant influence on a similar motion being introduced by Lord Falconer in a House of Lords debate next week.