Key Quotes for 2011

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Last update: Wednesday 25th March




Thousands of violent criminals will be spared prison under new sentencing rules handed down to the courts yesterday. Among them will be thugs who assault police officers and attackers guilty of grievous bodily harm - which at its most serious can cause permanent disability or disfigurement. Under the guidelines set by the Sentencing Council, which is led by senior judges, many violent offenders will get fines or community punishments instead of prison sentences. Documents published with the new rules on assault offences to come into effect in June, estimate that each year as many as 4,620 offenders who would currently go to jail will get fines or community sentences instead. The Prison Service, however, will save between £10million and £17million.
Crime	Daily Mail March 17th 2011



One in three NHS staff would be unhappy to have their relatives treated in the hospital where they work, a survey reveals. Doctors, nurses, radiographers and administrators were among the 165,000 staff questioned in England by the Care Quality Com¬mission, the regulatory watchdog, in 388 trusts between October and December last year. Around four out of ten employ¬ees claimed that low staffing levels prevented them doing their job properly. Thirty-two per cent had seen at least one error, 'near miss' or inci¬dent that could have hurt staff or patients in the last month, similar to the one-third witnessing a serious problem during the last survey in 2009. Of frontline staff, 42 per cent said they saw at least one such incident in the last month, down from 43 per cent in 2009. Overall, 90 per cent of staff believe their role ultimately makes a difference to patients, and 62 per cent are able to do their job to a standard they are pleased with.
Health	Daily Mail March 17th 2011



A highly critical study has warned that hospitals and care homes are breaking the law by 'restraining' the elderly without authority - locking them in rooms overnight, sedating them or even binding them to beds and chairs. The inquiry by the Care Quality Com¬mission points out that nurses and care home staff often resort to such measures to prevent patients coming to harm through falls and other injuries - but by law they must apply for permission. The commission, the independent regulator of health and social care in England, warned that many staff are unaware of this.
The Elderly	Daily Mail 16th March 2011



Elephants actually do have the long memories they are credited with especially when it comes to danger, scientists say. They found that older elephants are the best at making crucial decisions about predators because they've experienced similar peril before. When researchers played recordings of male or female lions roaring to 39 African elephant groups in Amboseli National Park in Kenya, those with older matriarchs correctly focused their defensive reactions on male lions, which are the more adept killers.
Odd Facts	Daily Mail 16th March 2011



An investigation has revealed that in the UK today there are thousands of British couples so desperate to choose the sex of their baby that they are prepared to undergo a controversial fertility treatment that is banned in this country and most of Europe on ethical grounds. 'Family Balancing', as it is known, enables would-be parents to select the sex of a child with almost 100 per cent certainty through a technique called Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD), which is carried out during IVF.
Family	Daily Mail 16th March 2011



One in five youngsters aged four and under has a TV in their bedroom, according to research. Young parents (under 24s) are particularly keen on the idea with 28 per cent putting TVs in the rooms of under fours. The Mintel research found that, in general, parents from the poorest background with the fewest educational qualifications were most likely to put a TV in the room of a toddler - one in three. Single parents were also more likely to rely on TVs in the bedroom - 25 per cent, compared with 13 per cent of married couples. However, it was not exclusively an issue for poorer families. Mintel found one in ten families with the most wealth and education have put a TV in the baby's room.
Family	Daily Mail March 18th 2011



This year it shows that in many Islamic countries persecution is increasing. Islam is the dominant religion in eight of the top 10 countries listed. Iran’s growing house church movement is coming increasingly under threat, while Christians in Afghanistan may only worship in secret; and in Saudi Arabia, converting to Christianity is illegal. North Korea is, however, unrivalled, taking the top spot as the country in which Christians undergo the most persecution. Believers risk being killed if they are found in possession of Christian materials. In May last year, a group of 23 Christians were discovered. Three of them were then publicly executed while the others disappeared within the infamous Yodok Prison camp. The fact that in the previous year more than 2,200 Christians were killed on account of their faith and millions more are routinely persecuted in defiance of International law, should stop us in our tracks says Eddie Lyle CEO of Open Doors UK.
Religious Persecution	Idea March/April 2011



There are fewer than 350,000 Christians in Iraq – just a third of the number that were living there at the start of the first Gulf War in 1991. The exodus is down to the rise in organised violence by an extremist militia, particularly in the capital, Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul. In total some 90 Christians were martyred in Iraq in 2010.
World Issues	Idea March/April 2011



Around one in ten leaders has been unfaithful to their spouse, compared to three percent of Christians in general. Meanwhile, half of leaders aged between 25 and 55 say they have deliberately accessed the internet to look at pornography. This is according to a survey carried out in 2010 by Marriage Week, Northern Ireland, a group of organisations including the Evangelical Alliance in N,I. More than 1,000 respondents from a variety of denominations, including 157 church leaders, responded to the survey - one of the largest pieces of research of its kind in the UK. Of particular concern was that female leaders were more likely to have admitted to an affair.
Church	Idea March/April 2011



Among the 18-30’s just three percent of the UK population attends church, less than half the UK average of seven percent. From 1985 to 2005 the number attending church from this age group dropped by around 62 percent.
Church	Idea March/April 2011



According to Compassion, women in particular account for more than 70% of people living in extreme poverty despite making up under half of the world’s population. Women also work two thirds of the world’s working hours, but only earn one tenth of the world’s income, according to the charity. Compassion believes there is a strong need to support so many mothers and aid them in taking control of their lives as well as their children’s future.
World Issues	Idea March/April 2011



Tobacco displays in shops are to be banned in England under measures aimed at stopping people smoking. Cigarettes, rolling tobacco and other tobacco products will be hidden under shop counters, with temporary displays only allowed in limited circumstances. The Government also said it was keeping an “open mind” on introducing plain packaging. The counter ban comes into force in large stores in April 2012, and in April 2015 for all other shops.
Health	The Sentinel March 10th 2011



Thousands of job centre staff will today start voting on whether to go on strike in protest at “intolerable” working conditions they claim have led to high levels of stress and sickness. The public and Commercial Services union is balloting 7,000 members at Jobcentre Plus offices across the country, arguing that managers have “an obsession” with hitting targets at the expense of providing a quality public service.
Work/Employment	The Sentinel – 7th March 2011



More than 100 state schools failed to enter a single candidate for GCSE history last year, an official report has revealed. It says the subject is becoming 'margin¬alised' and many pupils have no chronological knowledge of historical events. The schools inspectorate Ofsted also found that England is the only country in Europe where children may stop studying history at the age of 13. Its conclusions will add weight to calls for reform to the national curriculum, which is being reviewed by Education Secretary Michael Gove and historian Simon Schama. The report, History for All, was based on inspections of 83 primary and 83 secondary schools.
Education	Daily Mail March 14th 2011



University students have been filmed drinking lethal amounts of alcohol in a com¬petition to see who can end up in hospital first. The shocking contest only ends when one student either vomits or has to seek medical attention. Participants have been branded suicidal idiots by health experts, who warned they could be inflicting lasting liver damage on themselves. The students, from the University of Manchester's Owens Park halls of residence, knocked back pints of a strong home¬made green concoction they called "The Hulk'. The cocktail, which is mixed in a bucket, contains 12 litres of liquid made of one part vodka and two parts of the alcopop WKD, blended with an energy drink. It contains almost 100 units of alcohol - four times the recommended maximum weekly allowance for a man. Professor Roger Williams, who treated alcoholic football legend George Best before his death in 2005, called on the Government to take further action to stop the rise in binge drinking among young people.
Young People	Daily Mail March 14th 2011

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