ASBO replacements ‘won’t work’
A NEW community trigger to force police to investigate any incident of anti-social behaviour reported by at least five people will do little to tackle the problem in the long term, campaigners said today.
Theresa May’s plans to replace anti-social behaviour orders (Asbos) will just repeat the old failings, creating a back door to custody for people who have not committed a criminal offence, more than 60 organisations in the Criminal Justice Alliance said.
The measures, which will be published in a white paper today, aim to put an end to the horror stories of victims being ignored despite making repeated complaints to the authorities about problem neighbours.
Clegg condemns social mobility myth
MAKING efforts to secure better life chances for children from poorer backgrounds does not mean lowering standards, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will insist today.
False claims of “dumbing down” are myths used by elites seeking to entrench their unwarranted privilege, he will assert in an angry attack on the status quo.
And they are the ones guilty of social engineering by protecting a system that restricts access to top universities and to the top of professions such as the judiciary.
Allies on path to end Afghan war
WORLD leaders set the seal on their exit path from the war in Afghanistan, saying they would close the largely-stalemated conflict at the end of 2014 but keep their troops fighting there for two more years.
US President Barack Obama, presiding over a sprawling war coalition summit in his home town of Chicago, summed up the mood of all the nations by saying the Afghanistan left behind would be stable enough for them to leave – but still loaded with troubles.
In essence, the partners, led by Mr Obama, are staying the course, sticking with a timeline long established and underscoring that there will be no second-guessing the decision to leave.
Nice says give IVF to women over 40
WOMEN struggling to have babies should be offered IVF treatment into their early 40s, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has said.
Nice, which looks at the cost effectiveness of treatments, believes women up to 42 should be entitled to the treatment. The body’s current guidance, drawn up in 2004, sets the limit at 39.
But in a new consultation document, Nice raises the age and also says IVF should be offered to gay and lesbian couples as well as those carrying an infectious disease, such as Hepatitis B or HIV.
