Category: news

The bill proposes allowing licensing boards to raise the age for off-sales purchases to 21

Scottish government plans which could see under 21s banned from buying alcohol from off-sales are set to be rejected by MSPs.

Labour, the Tories, and the Lib Dems said the measures discriminated against young people.

Opposition MSPs on Holyrood’s health committee will combine to strike the measure from the SNP’s Alcohol Bill.

The committee has already voted to remove government plans for a minimum price for each unit of alcohol.

The Scottish government brought forward its bill, saying radical action was needed to tackle Scotland’s historic alcohol problems.

Other measures in the bill include a ban on drink promotions, a retailers’ social responsibility fee and tighter proof of age rules.

It also proposed allowing local licensing boards to raise the age at which off-sale purchases could be made, from 18 to 21.

Under the plans, 18-year-olds would still be able to drink in pubs and clubs.

But opposition parties will back an amendment from Labour MSP Richard Simpson to remove the age-raising provisions.

The move has been backed by the National Union of Students.

NUS Scotland President Liam Burns, said: “It seems totally wrong that someone could vote, pay taxes and bring up a family but not buy alcohol for their own home.”

If the measure is removed, the SNP has the option of trying to re-insert it when parliament debates the Alcohol Bill at its third and final stage.

The government has already said it will take a similar course of action with its plan to set a minimum price per unit of alcohol.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

A receding hairline may be the least of a thirty-something man’s worries

Work and relationship pressures make the mid-30s the start of many British people’s unhappiest decade, a survey suggests.

Of those questioned, more people aged 35 to 44 said that they felt lonely or depressed than in other age groups.

The survey also suggested that busy parents were using Facebook and similar sites to stay in touch with children.

Relationship advice charity Relate, which is behind the research, said it revealed a “true midlife crisis”.

Of those surveyed, 21% of men and women aged 35 to 44 said they felt lonely a lot of the time, and a similar percentage said that bad relationships, either at work or home, had left them feeling depressed.

The same proportion said they felt closer to friends than family, and a quarter said they wished they had more time for their family.

Claire Tyler, Relate’s chief executive, said: “Traditionally we associated the midlife crisis with people in their late 40s to 50s, but the report reveals that this period could be reaching people earlier than we would expect.

“It’s no coincidence that we see people in this age group in the biggest numbers at Relate.”

Professor Cary Cooper, the chairman of the charity and a researcher in work stress at Lancaster University, said that things were only likely to worsen in the current economic climate, as more was demanded of fewer employees.

He said: “We’re already working the longest hours in Europe – if you constantly work people long hours it’s not good for their health.

“The annual cost of work-related mental health problems is estimated at £28 billion, so it’s clearly a massive problem.”

The survey, conducted in collaboration with phone and broadband firm Talk Talk, revealed that 28% of 35 to 44-year-olds questioned said they had left a job because of a bad working relationship with a colleague.

It also shed light on how family relationships are standing up to modern life.

While most people described their relationship with their partner as in positive terms, one in five were worried about the current financial climate.

Working long hours, arguments, proper division of household chores and poor sex were cited equally by men and women as a the most common sources of problems.

Dr Jane McCartney, a chartered psychologist with an interest in adult mental health, said that it was possible that the results for 35 to 44-year-olds might be slightly skewed by the willingness of people in that age group to be frank about depression and loneliness, compared to older people surveyed.

She added: “However, there might certainly be a grain of truth in what they’ve found – there are higher expectations on people of this age in terms of what they’ve achieved in their careers and family life.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Patients can apply for NHS funding through the continuing care system

Vulnerable elderly people are being unfairly forced to pay for health care, the new chairman of the House of Commons health committee says.

Stephen Dorrell said patients with conditions such as dementia used to get free care in NHS geriatric hospitals.

But the number of places has fallen by nearly 80% in the UK over the past 20 years – despite the ageing population.

He said this had pushed people into the means-tested social care system where they were often charged for treatment.

In an interview with the BBC, he said the redrawing of the boundaries had been allowed to creep in without proper debate or scrutiny and urged politicians to face up to the issue.

An expert commission has already been set up by the government to look into the issue of social care funding in England.

But Mr Dorrell was speaking about a specific group of patients whom he believes the NHS has turned its back on.

Ignored

As well as dementia patients this includes people such as stroke victims and those with Parkinson’s disease who struggle to get the NHS to pay for medical treatment they receive.

Mr Dorrell, who was health secretary towards the end of John Major’s time as prime minister, said: “People are being charged for care that they would have got free from the NHS 20 or 30 years ago.

“In effect there has been a change in the definition of what constitutes NHS care and that has happened without proper debate.

“Unfortunately, it has been ignored because both politically and financially it is tricky for politicians to face up to it. But because it has not been done in a planned way there is great unfairness in the system. We see examples of cost shunting and bureaucracy that cause individuals problems.

“I would not want to see a return to the old system of geriatric hospitals – care is much better now – but you have to question whether it is fair that this group of people are being charged in this way?”

Evidence on the changes to the nursing care home and geriatric hospital sectors lend support to his view.

Figures from analysts Laing and Buisson show that the number of geriatric beds fell from more than 80,000 in 1988 to 16,300 last year.

During the same period nursing home places more than doubled from 78,300 to 179,400. On top of that there are now nearly 300,000 residential care places, although these are less likely to have patients with severe medical conditions.

NHS funding is available to people with the most severe medical needs who are in care homes or living independently under a system called continuing care.

But campaigners claim the funding is too bureaucratic and difficult to qualify for. Little over 50,000 people currently get it.

Age UK policy adviser Stephen Lowe agreed Mr Dorrell was right to highlight the issue, saying the NHS had “unilaterally retreated” from its responsibilities.

Ruth Sutherland, interim chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society, added: “There are hundreds of thousands of people missing out on valuable financial help because they don’t ‘tick the right boxes’.

“People with dementia are some of the hardest hit by this deliberately tricky system. They have complex physical health needs which should often be covered by the NHS but arguments over funding see them denied this care.

“Instead they are forced to pay for social care which adds huge financial burden to people already under emotional and physical strain. Faced with exhaustion, they may not have the strength to challenge being turned down.”

A Department of Health spokeswoman acknowledged there had been problems with people accessing NHS funding, but said the situation was now improving following new guidance to NHS trusts.

She added that recent data showed there had been an overall increase in the numbers of people getting continuing care funding.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Europe is following the US in implementing financial reform

Tens of thousands of people are set to take to the streets of Brussels and other European capitals to protest at swingeing government cuts.

It comes as jobs across the public sector fall prey to unprecedented levels of government debt.

The marchers will pass within sight of the European Commission building.

Meanwhile, inside, this body will be tasked with trying to stop the region ever experiencing its current crippling difficulties.

Just minutes before the shouts and whistles pass by the Commission its President, Jose Manuel Barrosso will present new plans to prevent a “Greece” ever happening again.

Economic management

Some of the EU plan is straightforward.

No one doubts that Greece consistently “misreported” how much it was borrowing so there will be a drive to make sure EU countries aren’t massaging their statistics.

More controversially however, President Barrosso will outline plans to punish eurozone countries which either borrow too much money or fail to manage their economies properly.

The desire to crack down on debt will come as no surprise to anyone who has been looking at the European economy for the last two years.

Huge debts

But the proposed punishments will raise eyebrows.

Any eurozone country with a national debt consistently above 60% of GDP could be whacked with a fine.

The size would vary from country to country but in France’s case it would be around 400m euros.

Now, this all makes sense when looking at countries like Greece and Italy which racked up huge debts in the good times.

Property bubble

But it doesn’t solve the problems of a country like Spain.

Spain never was a debt glutton and actually ran a budget surplus in the years leading up to the crisis.

But that didn’t stop it being fingered by international investors as a big debt risk.

Why? Well quite simply because property prices collapsed, and the construction sector – a huge part of the economy – quickly followed.

In other words there was a massive property “bubble”.

‘Economic imbalances’

The situation was similar, if not worse, in Ireland.

It is precisely because of this kind of problem that the commission is looking to monitor what it calls “economic imbalances”.

If a country is seen to fostering a bubble, or perhaps letting wages rise too quickly it could face a reprimand, and ultimately a fine.

Some will find this kind of intrusive approach to a sovereign state’s economy anathema.

However, the commission will simply point to Greece and Ireland and ask – “would you prefer this?”

Urgent task

But even if the member states swallow being told that their economies are imbalanced, the biggest hullabaloo will be saved for how the punishments for misbehaviour kick in.

The commission wants sanctions to be automatic but with a possible escape route if a transgressor can persuade other eurozone countries to let it off.

But automatic sanctions will be tough to take – with the French pointing out when fines are involved elected politicians should have the ultimate say, not unelected bureaucrats setting rigid rules.

Nevertheless, if anyone wants a reminder of how urgent a task tightening the rules for the eurozone really is, they will only need to step outside the commission building and watch the thousands of angry protectors passing by, worried about their jobs and the prospects for their futures.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The commission responsible for finding the so called Disappeared are believed to be due to start a new search.

The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) was established in 1999.

John McIlwaine, who leads the forensic archaeological team who work alongside the ICLVR, said a new site was due to be examined.

“We have another site to investigate in the north of Ireland shortly, once the clearance comes through,” he said.

In June 2010 Mr McIlwaine led the forensic archaeology team which discovered the remains of Charlie Armstrong.

Mr Armstrong, 57, from south Armagh went missing on his way to Mass in 1981, he was believed to have been kidnapped and murdered by the IRA.

His body was buried in an area of peat bog land at Colgagh, County Monaghan, several miles from the border.

The ICLVR was established by a treaty between the British and Irish governments in 1999 following the Good Friday Agreement.

Its purpose is to obtain information in strictest confidence which may lead to the location of the remains of “the Disappeared” – those killed and buried in secret by banned paramilitary groups prior to 10 April 1998 as a result of the Troubles.

Sixteen people were murdered by republican paramilitaries and secretly buried in isolated parts of Ireland during the Troubles.

Nine bodies of the people known as the Disappeared remain unfound.

In 1999 the IRA admitted responsibility for killing and secretly burying 10 of the 16, while one was admitted by the INLA.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The 59-year-old faces up to two years in prison if convicted by the special court

Iceland’s parliament has narrowly voted to refer former Prime Minister Geir Haarde to a special court over his role in the country’s financial crisis.

The Landsdomur will now decide whether he should face trial for negligence.

A recent report commissioned by the parliament found that more should have been done to limit the damage from the collapse of Iceland’s banks in 2008.

Mr Haarde, who stepped down last year following widespread protests, said he would be “vindicated” by the court.

“I have a clean slate. This charge borders on political persecution,” he told the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service (RUV).

He also noted that two current ministers – Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir and Foreign Minister Ossur Skarphedinsson – were not referred to the court, and nor were his former foreign, finance and business ministers.

The 59-year-old faces up to two years in prison if convicted by the Landsdomur, a special chamber which has never convened since it was set up in 1905 to try government ministers accused of crimes.

Iceland’s economic difficulties became evident in the autumn of 2008 as conditions tightened in the global credit market.

Icelandic banks owed around six times the island’s total gross domestic product (GDP) and when the world’s credit markets dried up, they were left unable to refinance loans.

The government took over control of all three of the country’s major banks in an effort to stabilise the financial system, and was later forced to apply to the International Monetary Fund for emergency financial aid.

In April, a Special Investigation Commission report accused Mr Haarde and the central bank chief of acting with “gross negligence” by not exerting enough pressure on the banks to shrink their balance sheets.

“My official acts as prime minister didn’t cause the banking collapse; it wasn’t in my power, or in the power of other ministers, to prevent it,” Mr Haarde said in a statement earlier this month that also blamed the banks for misleading his government.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Up to 30 people have been buried by a mudslide in Colombia.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Rescuers say it could take a week to reach the bodies

At least 20 people have been buried by a landslide in northwest Colombia, government officials say.

Most of the victims were bus passengers who were walking across a section of road blocked by a previous landslide when a mountainside collapsed on top of them.

Local houses where some took shelter were also swept away.

Rescuers say there is little hope of finding survivors, as people are buried under many tons of rock and mud.

The disaster triggered by heavy rain happened near Giraldo, 80km (50 miles) north of the city of Medellin.

“It was horrible because we heard a rumbling and looked out to see people running to the houses and then they were also swallowed by the earth,” local resident Milena Ramirez told the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo.

Red Cross sniffer dogs have identified locations where the victims are buried, but officials say it will take several days to dig them out.

The rescue effort has also been hampered by the risk of further landslides.

President Juan Manuel Santos, who visited the scene, said people had ignored warnings to stay away from the site of the previous landslide.

“Sadly, the people who were moving from one bus to another did not pay attention to the authorities,” he said. “We are doing everything we can to find them.”

Mr Santos said Colombians should prepare for “a very tough winter”.

Weeks of heavy rain across the country have caused floods and landslides that have killed more than 70 people.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The younger Mr Kim is thought to be in his late 20s and has no military experience

The youngest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has been appointed to two key party posts, in a move widely seen as part of a gradual transfer of power.

State media said Kim Jong-un was named vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party, which is holding a rare meeting.

He was also appointed to the party’s central committee. Earlier, the younger Mr Kim was made a four-star general.

His father was re-elected as leader but is thought to be in poor health.