Key Quotes for 2012

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Last update: Wednesday 25th March




More than half of Europe's development aid budget is going to 'middle-income' countries which should not qualify. A report by a House of Commons Committee challenges the UK Government, which provided £1.23 billion in aid via the EU in 2010, to demand tougher standards to ensure support goes to the neediest nations. Taxpayers want the aid they give to go to the places where it can make the most difference, to countries where millions of people are getting by on less then £1 a day.
World Issues	The Sentinel – 27th April



Pressure on the Government's economic strategy intensified after shock figure's showed Britain's faltering economy was back in recession. Prime Minister David Cameron said the estimated 0.2 per cent quarterly decline in GDP was 'very, very disappointing' but insisted there will be no change to the Government's austerity and deficit reduction plans. A slide in construction output and a stagnant services sector were blamed for the surprise slump which, after a fall of 0.3 per cent the previous quarter, has caused the UK's first double-dip recession since the 1970's.
Money	The Sentinel - 26th April



London 2012 will surpass Sydney and be hailed as the best Olympics ever staged, Australia's leading IOC member predicted yesterday as officials marked 100 days to the start of the Games. Kevan Gosper, vice-president of the Sydney 2012 Olympics organising committee, said London 2012 had succeeded in turning the Games into a nation wide event rather than one just focused on the capital. He said: “Records are set to be broken. Sydney got the accolade of the best-ever games but that was twelve years ago.
Odd Facts	The Sentinel – 19th April



David Cameron has blamed the Governments recent difficulties on communication problems. The Prime Minister insisted the coalition was taking the right actions, but was ‘sometimes’ failing to get its message across. The Government has faced a barrage of attacks over controversial tax measures in the Budget and it’s handling of issues such as the planned strike by fuel tanker drivers and the failed attempt to deport radical cleric Abu Qatada.
Politics	The Sentinel – 24th April 2012



The government is on a fresh collision course with public sector workers over it’s controversial pension reforms after more industrial action was called civil servants and NHS staff. The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union and Unite announced members will take action on May 10, the day after the Queen’s Speech, which is expected to include a Parliamentary Bill on the pension changes. The PCS said the May walkout will kick start a programme of action, with another strike at the end of June.
Work/Employment	The Sentinel – 18th April 2012



David Cameron gave a strong hint that he is ready to water down a cap on tax relief for charitable giving, saying he was ready to listen to critics, the Prime Minister said that he wanted to see more philanthropic giving to charities – something which a Treasury Minister conceded would fall under the plans announced by Chancellor George Osborne in the Budget. Downing Street said a consultation is to be held on Mr Osborne’s policy, which would see a limit on a range of income tax reliefs.
Money	The Sentinel – 17th April 2012



The annual number of new applications to take children into care has passed the 10,000 mark for the first time, latest figures show. Councils in England launched 886 legal proceedings to remove at-risk youngsters from their families in March, taking the 12 month total to 10,199. Caffcass, the agency that looks after children’s interests in the family courts, said the figures showed that agencies were working more quickly following the impact of the Baby P tragedy.
Family	The Sentinel – 12th April 2012



In his final Easter sermon as Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Williams suggested that the tide might be turning towards a more positive view of religion from those outside it. In his sermon The Archbishop of Canterbury referred to the way in which various secular commentators ‘surprisingly float the idea that without some input from religious thinking, our ludicrous and destructive economic habits are more likely to go unchecked.’ All this suggested that from those outside the faith, there was a new ‘sense that there is something here to take seriously.’
Religion/Spirituality	Church Times – 13th April 2012



Baroness Newlove and the Communities Secretary Eric Pickles visited the Salvation Army in Great Yarmouth to launch an initiative to tackle underage drinking and street drinking. In the new scheme – one of the nationwide Community Alcohol Partnerships (CAPs) – groups including police, schools, supermarkets, the borough council and The Salvation Army will work together to develop a culture in which people drink responsibly and understand safe levels of consumption. They also want to ensure that minors can access alcohol only under responsible supervision.
Young People	The War Cry – April 2012



Nearly a million extra people have been dragged into higher -rate tax bands as a result of the Govern¬ment's changes to tax thresholds. Figures published by the tax office show that almost a third more workers will pay tax at 40pc or more during this financial year than paid it three years ago, taking the total number of high-rate payers to 4.1m. Just over 300,000 of these people will pay the 50pc additional tax rate. The increase in higher-rate taxpayers is due to reductions in the threshold for paying 40pc tax, in combination with so-called "fiscal drag", where tax bands do not move up in line with inflation, meaning inflation-linked wage increases push more people into higher rate tax bands. The total number of taxpayers, however, is scheduled to fall this year, from 30.1m to 29.7m. More of the lowest paid are being taken out of the tax system alto¬gether due to increases in the per¬sonal tax allowance, which is the amount that every-one can earn before they pay any tax.
Money	The Daily Telegraph May 2 2012/Business



The Prince of Wales paid tribute to the "beauty of holiness" in the Book of Common Prayer yesterday as he opened an exhibition exploring the relationship between royalty and religion. He rejected reservations about the "accessibility" of the 1662 edition of the Church of England's service book, saying that its value becomes clearer to people as they grow older and experience more. The Prince opened Royal Devotion - Monarchy and the Book of Common Prayer at Lambeth Palace in the company of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams. The event marks the 350th anniversary of the 1662 edition.
Religion/Spirituality	The Daily Telegraph May 2 2012



The European Court of Human Rights in March reiterated its ruling that same-sex marriage is not a human right that can be found within the Convention. The Court made the ruling in 2010 but reiterated its decision in March in a separate case involving a lesbian couple from France. The Strasbourg-based Court's original decision on same-sex marriage came after a homosexual couple asked the Court to rein¬terpret Article 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Article 12 states: 'Men and women of marriageable age have the right to marry and to found a family'. The Court held that, looked at in isolation, the text could 'be interpreted so as not to exclude the marriage between two men or two women. But it added: 'However, in contrast, all other sub¬stantive articles of the Convention grant rights and freedoms to "everyone" or state that "no one" is to be subjected to certain types of prohibited treatment. The choice of wording in article 12 must thus be regarded as deliberate. Moreover, regard must be had to the historical context in which the Convention was adopted. In the 1950s mar¬riage was clearly understood in the tradition¬al sense of being a union between partners of different sex'.
Politics	The Christian Institute, Evangelicals Now May 2012



GCSEs and A-levels in key subjects have become easier following a 10-year dumb¬ing down of exam papers, according to the standards watchdog. Ofqual said that changes made to tests over the past decade had "reduced the demand" of qualifications taken by hun¬dreds of thousands of schoolchildren. In a series of reports, it emerged that teenagers were facing more multiple-choice exams and short, structured ques¬tions that prevented bright pupils from displaying their knowledge. Many exams had been stripped of core academic content, with students required to study less of the syllabus to pass.
Education	The Daily Telegraph May 2 2012



Thinking about your mortality could help your marriage, according to a study, because an awareness of death makes people value their relationships. Researchers found that awareness of death can reduce divorce rates, and suggested that contemplating death could make people more positive, and less aggressive or selfish. A review of studies into mortality found that catastrophic events, such as the September 11 attacks, could have positive effects. Other studies found that thinking about death influenced people to exercise more or cut down on smoking. The research was published in Personality and Social Psychology Review.
Health	The Daily Telegraph May 2 2012



Families should be given state funding to care for their elderly relatives at home, a group of Conservative MPs has said. The current system means it is cheaper for families to put relations in the hands of local council-run care services, accord¬ing to a report from the Free Enterprise Group. The organisation said the Government could save an estimated £1.14billion a year by funding families directly. Such a move would improve "quality of life" for the elderly, allowing them to stay at home "and be looked after by the peo¬ple that know them best". Charities and campaigners have warned that funding cuts have left council-supported services in crisis, with more elderly people kept in hospital for longer because of a shortage of nursing home places.
The Elderly	The Daily Telegraph May 2 2012

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