News round up: British pensioners among Europe’s poorest

British pensioners among Europe’s poorest

The number of pensioners living in poverty in Britain is among the highest in Europe with the over-65s in poorer countries, including Romania and Poland faring better, official figures have shown.

Read more on this story in The Daily Telegraph

£1bn tax raid on middle classes as Cameron warns they must share pain of spending cuts

David Cameron warned yesterday that the better-off must share the pain of repairing public finances.

He said tax credits for households on £50,000 a year or more could no longer be justified.

Read more on this story in The Daily Mail

Town halls and libraries to hand out swine flu pills

Sports centres, libraries and town halls are being turned into emergency distribution centres for swine flu drugs, it emerged last night, as chemists revealed that they were close to breaking point.

Read more on this story in The Guardian

Media rules cause chaos in family courts

Three months after family courts were opened to the press, the presence of journalists is still causing havoc, even as the government is promising to change the law to open up the courts even more. Confusion amongst court staff, hostile lawyers and misunderstandings have proved disruptive, despite efforts by judges to ensure the media are admitted.

Read more on this story in The Guardian

One in 50 admit to drug addiction

More than 1.2 million adults in the UK have been addicted to illegal drugs, according to research carried out by one of the country’s leading authorities on the subject.

A survey commissioned by DrugScope, the independent organisation that maps trends in the supply and use of illicit substances, shines new light on the public’s attitude to addiction. Its findings come at the end of a week in which official figures revealed sharp increases in cocaine use across the country.

Read more on this story in The Guardian

Equality watchdog row escalates

A bitter row about the future of the government’s £70m equality watchdog and its chairman, Trevor Phillips, threatens to involve Harriet Harman, Labour’s deputy leader.

Read more on this story in The Financial Times

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