Key Quotes for 2012

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Last update: Wednesday 25th March




Town hall bosses have been forcing taxi drivers to record all conversations in their cabs, it emerged last night. In an alarming extension of the Big Brother state, CCTV and microphones had been installed in all cabs under the control of Southampton City Council - but yesterday the Information Commissioner ordered it to end the policy, claiming that its official snooping had 'gone too far'. Southampton began forcing local taxi drivers to record conversations between themselves and passengers in 2009, claiming it would provide greater safety for both parties. Embarrassing footage is certain to have been captured of passengers’ worse for wear or making intimate phone calls. Southampton officials said they may challenge the decision. If successful, it would raise the prospect of passengers being snooped upon across the country. The watchdog also revealed a similar scheme in Oxford would have breached the Data Protection Act, and that the local authority has now suspended the policy.
Environment	The Daily Mail July 26 2012



A Muslim hospital consultant was told yesterday that he must pay his ex-wife maintenance even though under Islamic rules he believes he owes her nothing. A judge told Dr Zaid Al-Saffar that he must follow 'the rule in this country' and share his money. The Appeal Court decision means Dr Al-Saffar must pay £60,000 to his former wife, academic Hanan Al-Saffar. The ruling sounded a warning to Muslim couples who believe their marriages are ordered according to sharia law and agree to be bound by Islamic courts. Lord Justice Ward told Dr Al-Saffar: 'The rule in this country is that you share and the starting point is equal division. 'You came out of the marriage without having made your wife any substantial capital payment.'
The Law	The Daily Mail July 26 2012



Hundreds of pupils are being removed from school for 'sexual misconduct', prompting concerns over the influence of pornography. More pupils are being expelled for sexual misconduct than bullying, the Department for Education figures showed. Charities yesterday warned that easy access to online pornography was fuelling 'unhealthy' attitudes to sex among some youngsters. Jon Brown, of the NSPCC, said: 'the figures show a worrying trend of schools having to suspend or exclude a significant number of pupils for sexual misconduct. We are concerned that some young people are forming unhealthy attitudes to sex. 'We know from talking to them that there Is increasing pressure to engage in risky behaviour and access to hard core videos on the internet is now easier than ever. ‘There has been a "normalising" of risky sexual activity.’ Pupils in all schools were suspended 3,010 times in 2010/11 for sexual misconduct and 80 were expelled; 60 were thrown out for bullying.
Education	The Daily Mail July 26 2012



A rising tide of violent indiscipline in primary schools was laid bare yesterday. Official figures revealed that 90 children are sent home every day for attacking teachers or classmates. And the worst deterioration in behaviour is being seen in the most affluent parts of the country. Teachers blamed parents for failing to equip children with the social skills they need to cope in the classroom. Last year primary schools expelled nearly 300 pupils aged 11 and under for violence and handed out almost 17,000 suspensions. This means that on any given school day in 2010/11, 90 pupils were ordered out of school for attacking a member of staff or fellow pupil. Primaries were forced to bar pupils more than 10,000 times for persistent disruption in lessons and 6,390 times for verbal abuse. Hundreds more pupils were sent home for other serious breaches of school rules such as bullying, racist abuse, sexual misconduct, theft, drugs or alcohol offences and damage to property. Figures show that the proportion of youngsters ordered out of school for breaking the rules rose last year in almost every primary age group. A breakdown issued by the Department for Education shows that while the number of secondary pupils being suspended or expelled is falling, there is a worsening picture at primary level - especially in the most affluent parts of the country.
Education	The Daily Mail July 26 2012



Rising pension costs are preventing businesses from investing and creating jobs, the CBI has warned. The business lobby group said "urgent action" needed to be taken to address final salary pension deficits and defend companies against a "potentially significant hike" in the cost of funding the Pension Protection Fund (PPF). The warning was issued days after consultancy JLT Pension Capital Strategies revealed that the combined deficit of FTSE 100 pension schemes has more than doubled over the past year. JLT said the total deficit of blue-chip schemes stood at £73bn on March 31, compared with £35bn a year earlier.
Money	The Daily Telegraph July 25 2012 Business section



Free bank accounts represent a flawed system that damages banking and should end, according to the City regulator who is a front-runner to govern the Bank of England. The British industry model, offering free accounts to customers who are in credit, stifles competition, warned Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA). He signalled that regulators want an end to the 28-year practice.
Money	The Daily Telegraph July 25 2012 Business section



One in four people in their eighties is suffering needlessly because of undiagnosed heart problems that can be treated, a study has suggested. Simple heart treatments could prolong and improve their quality of life, said researchers at Newcastle University. Their study found that one in four people aged between 87 and 89 had undiagnosed symptoms of early heart failure, leaving patients feeling exhausted and breathless because the heart is not beating strongly enough. Several studies have highlighted how the elderly’s illnesses are not investigated thoroughly and they are not offered treatment, leading to new rules being introduced to outlaw ageism in the NHS.
The Elderly	The Daily Telegraph July 25 2012



A single pill could be used to treat a variety of conditions including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, scientists claim. The new class of drug is designed to protect the brain by combating the effects of inflammation. Two drugs, known as MW151 and MW 189 have already been patented by researchers at Northwestern University, US. In the Journal of Neuroscience, scientists said that mice, which were programmed to get Alzheimer's, did not develop the full-blown disease if they had taken the drug from six months of age, when their levels of damaging brain proteins began to rise. In humans, this would coincide with the point when patients begin to experience early symptoms.
Health	The Daily Telegraph July 25 2012



NHS cuts have resulted in there being 4,500 fewer nurses in the health service than two years ago, according to official figures. The number of nurses, midwives and health visitors had fallen to 349,219 by April 2012, the figures show, despite government promises that front line services would not be hit by austerity measures. Nurses said they were caring for 13 to 14 patients each and three quarters said there were not enough staff to complete the tasks. The figures were released as part of a study by Southampton University, which found that nursing numbers have a direct effect on the quality of care for patients. A survey of 3,000 nurses in 31 NHS Trusts carried out by the university and King's College London found that vital tasks were left undone on wards with fewer nurses. Patients were put at risk, the authors said. On average, they operated 13-hour shifts with half working more than their contracted hours, the survey found. Four in 10 said they suffered from emotional exhaustion.
Work/Employment	The Daily Telegraph July 25 2012



Researchers found that families who stayed here instead of flying off to warmer climes were more likely to arrive relaxed and ready to enjoy their holiday. "Staycationers" also found it easier to unwind without the worries of passports and visas, the language barrier and bugs and insects. The survey of 2,000 people found that almost half of families who had been on both types of break believed that a foreign jaunt was the more stressful of the two, with just 20 per cent saying the same about a camping trip.
Environment	The Daily Telegraph July 25 2012



Three senior judges found that it was not acceptable for the mother to block the father's reasonable efforts to see his two daughters. They urged all separated parents to see the "bigger picture" and consider the harm that legal disputes cause children. Lord Justice McFarlane said mothers and fathers had "a responsibility and a duty" to help children maintain contact with the other parent. The Government has announced plans to reform the law to enable fathers to see their children. The changes would to spell out the right of children to have a "meaningful relationship" with both par¬ents after a separation.
The Elderly	The Daily Telegraph July 25 2012



Young adults are paying the price for spending hours slumped in front of the television as a third suffer from back pain, research has suggested. Mintel, the research company, found that the proportion of those aged between 16 and 24 who suffered was close to the proportion of pensioners. In a survey, 34 per cent of young adults said they suffered from backache, compared with 38 per cent of over-65s. Two fifths of Britons in all age groups suffer from back pain, the research concluded. The study also concluded that women were more likely to complain of headaches than men, with 62 per cent of women saying they suffered, compared with 49 per cent of men.
Health	The Daily Telegraph July 25 2012



After years of being thought of as a nation of grumps and complainers, Britain's first national "happiness" index has disclosed that we are surprisingly cheerful. More than three quarters of the population rate themselves as satisfied or very satisfied with their lives and 80 per cent have a strong sense of self-worth. Pensioners and teenagers emerge as the most contented members of society, while married couples and home owners are also shown to be more satisfied with their lives than others. Women emerge as consistently more upbeat and content than men - if also more prone to bouts of anxiety. Even those with serious or chronic illnesses displayed unexpectedly high levels of satisfaction with their lives. The figures come from the first set of "well-being" figures published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as part of David Cameron's £2million-a-year project to measure the nation's happiness. More than 160,000 people were asked questions about their way of life, health and home life before being asked to rate how satisfied they felt with their life overall on a scale of nought to 10.
Health	The Daily Telegraph July 25 2012



Conservative ministers have backed down on big cuts in subsidies for wind farms in exchange for another review next year and the prospect of a bigger role for gas in Britain's future energy mix. The Coalition will today announce that subsidies for onshore wind turbines will be cut by 10% this year, as proposed by Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat Energy Secretary. That will disappoint Conservative backbenchers, many of whom had called for much larger cuts in subsidy, with some Tories backing a 25 per cent reduction.
Environment	The Daily Telegraph July 25 2012



Tony Blair said last night that Christians should not be afraid to speak in public about faith, even though he was once instructed not to "do God". The former prime minister laughed off the way in which his former spindoctor Alastair Campbell advised him to avoid discussing religion when he was in power. Speaking at a debate in London with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, Mr Blair spoke openly about his belief in "salvation through Jesus Christ" and attempted to explain the resurrection. He also disclosed how he once told his aides to kneel down and pray at a meeting with members of the Salvation Army. He denied praying with President George W Bush but said it would "not have been wrong" to do so.
Religion/Spirituality	The Daily Telegraph July 25 2012

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