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Pensioner Benefits Or Support For The Young?

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 30 November 2014 | 23.39

By Anushka Asthana, Political Correspondent

"I'm sorry for people of your generation, but I have to think about my generation - we scrimped and scraped."

As he spoke, Dennis Fuller, a 63-year-old retired postman, placed his hand on the arm of Kishan Patel, 20.

The men were discussing the upcoming Autumn Statement and whether politicians were too focused on the needs of older voters over their younger counterparts.

Mr Fuller defended the decision to spend taxpayer money on universal pensioner benefits that went to everyone, from the poorest to the wealthiest.

"The winter fuel allowance and the freedom pass - they don't cost that much, you know."

Although Mr Fuller doesn't consider himself badly off, he admits that the money towards his fuel bills is a huge help.

Without it he would often think twice about using the heating on cold days, he added.

But he admitted that his generation had benefited from a number of things that Mr Patel's would be unable to, including rising property prices in west London.

"We got a house very cheap for a number of reasons and that was in the mid-seventies. By the time we came to sell it in 2005, it had just exploded profit-wise."

No such luck for Mr Patel who is living with his parents in east London, while he is a studying computing at London South Bank University.

"It doesn't look very like I'll be getting a house very soon. House prices, as you said, dramatically increasing."

Renting is also not an option at the moment. And he argued that his generation had been hit with huge university fees.

"A few years ago uni fees were £3,600 a year. I've just started uni, my course is five years long, uni fees are £9,000. I'm going to be £45,000 worse off and I don't know how I feel about it - I'm not guaranteed a job."

Mr Fuller cut in: "You have my sympathy because I think it's ridiculous that they've brought in these fees. How are you expected to pay that back, achieve getting a mortgage, paying rent. It is not feasible."

The former postman said he couldn't "live" with such a massive debt hanging over him. But he asked why it was a choice between pensioner benefits and support for the young.

The Government could spend less on wars such as that in Libya, he added.

Mr Patel argued the problem was that "young people don't vote enough".

That is why he is running a campaign to try to drive up voter registration among young people using online resources such as social media.

He has been chosen by the charity Uprising that focuses on young people from under-represented backgrounds who have leadership potential.

"If you look at the Scottish referendum, a whole bunch of 16 to 18s got involved because they felt included, they had a responsibility," he said.

"If you do reduce the vote to 16, it's not a bad thing - it comes down to political generation."

Mr Fuller said he supported his campaign "from the bottom of my heart".

After all, he is someone who has voted in every general election and all council elections apart from one when he was moving house. 

:: Watch Sky News for the Chancellor's Autumn Statement live on Wednesday, 3 December, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 132 and Freesat channel 202.


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Ill Teenager's Treatment Branded 'Abhorrent'

The case of a teenage girl with mental health issues held in police custody for almost two days because no NHS beds were available is "abhorrent", a senior MP has told Sky News.

Dr Sarah Wollaston, who chairs the Commons Health Select Committee, was speaking after a 16-year-old was found a bed only when a senior police officer lashed out publicly at the "unacceptable" scenario.

The MP for Totnes told Sky's Murnaghan programme: "We know that last year there were 30 children in Devon and Cornwall who unfortunately spent a night in a police cell for no reason other than the fact they were experiencing a mental health crisis.

"Clearly it is unacceptable if it happens to anybody, adult or child, but particularly abhorrent that it happens to children."

Dr Wollaston, a former family doctor, said she wanted such an occurrence to be made a "never event".

These are serious, largely preventable, incidents, such as operating on the wrong part of the body, that should not occur if the correct procedures are followed.

"It's absolutely the wrong place for anyone to be in a police cell when they are in a mental health crisis," Dr Wollaston added.

"We would find it utterly unacceptable if this was a physical condition and we should feel the same about a mental health condition."

Devon and Cornwall Police Assistant Chief Constable Paul Netherton told Sky News on Saturday: "I was very concerned because we shouldn't be put in a position where we have a 16-year-old schoolgirl kept in custody now for three days because there is no place where we can house her safely.

"A police station and a custody block on a Friday and Saturday night is simply not a place where a young child should be placed.

"We wouldn't put a criminal in custody for that long and we certainly don't want to put someone who is suffering from mental health issues in a custody block for that length of time."

Mental health charities have condemned the handling of the vulnerable teenager.

Paul Farmer, chief executive of the mental health charity Mind, said: "This is a terrible and shameful situation.

"Being in mental health crisis can be terrifying and life threatening, and people need urgent care from mental health services."

He added: "This whole episode shows how thinly spread NHS mental health services are."

Lucie Russell, director of campaigns at YoungMinds, said it should not be the responsibility of police to look after the teenager.

"It is both shocking and totally inappropriate that a 16-year-old child has to spend two days in a police cell as she goes through a serious mental health crisis," she said.

She added: "This girl will look back on the crisis she experienced and remember living through it in police custody."

NHS England said: "After details were provided to NHS England about the girl and her condition a place was found locally within a few hours. We are grateful for the help of the NHS in the area in identifying the place."

The organisation added: "It is worth noting that mental health crisis services have been expanding so that the number of people ending up in police cells is in fact down - but clearly more needs to be done."


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Mellor Quizzed By Police Over 'Racist Rant'

Former Conservative minister David Mellor was questioned by police over an alleged racist rant at a security guard, according to reports.

The QC and former Cabinet Minister shouted at the Polish worker for not standing directly outside his home in St Katharine Docks, the Sun reported.

He then clashed over the telephone with a Nepalese officer in the guard's office, the newspaper added.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said a man, whose identity he would not confirm, was questioned under caution in May last year following an incident in March.

He said: "A 64-year-old man from Tower Hamlets was interviewed under caution by police on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence that took place on 26 March 2013 at St Katharine Docks.

"He attended an east London police station by appointment on 23 May 2013. He was not arrested.

"Following advice from the CPS no further action will be taken."

The news comes after Mr Mellor was recorded launching a foul-mouthed tirade at a London taxi driver in the city on 21 November.

After claiming the driver was taking a longer route than necessary, Mr Mellor called him a "sweaty, stupid little s***", according to The Sun, which obtained a recording of the incident.

"You've been driving a cab for 10 years, I've been in the Cabinet, I'm an award-winning broadcaster, I'm a Queen's Counsel," Mr Mellor reportedly said.

Mr Mellor apologised for his rant at the beginning of his first phone-in session on his LBC radio show since the incident.

He said: "I can't think what possessed me to lose it with that cabbie the way I did.

"OK, I had a case but I threw it away by the way I spoke and I'm really, really sorry about that, and I especially want to apologise to you, our listeners, for trying your patience and risking my own credibility with you by speaking the way I did."


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Shared Parental Leave To 'Level Playing Field'

By Katie Spencer, Sky News Reporter

Changes to parental leave will "level the playing field" for women in the workplace, a top employer has told Sky News.

Gaenor Bagley, head of people at PWC, says allowing couples to share post-baby leave entitlements will take the pressure off for many women when it comes to taking time out from their careers to have a baby.

"There are lots of dads that do want to take time off and current legislation doesn't make it easy to do that," she explains.

"Unless we create that equality, unless we level the playing field, we're never going to make it equally likely that you're successful in your career whether you're a man or a woman."

The changes will allow couples greater flexibility and give women the option to end their maternity leave early if they would rather share it with their partner.

New mums will still have to take first two weeks post-birth off, but the changes will mean couples can break up their 50 weeks of parental leave in a combination that suits them.

But crucially companies will be under no obligation to offer anything but statutory terms to men.

So for any couple looking to share leave, the pay deal that's offered by the respective company they work for is likely to be a big factor.

Only time will tell if employers will be willing to offer the same attractive maternity pay deals to their male employees.

New dad Alistair Wood's employers have already allowed him to adopt the flexible approach to parental leave.

It allowed him to take three and half months off work when his baby daughter was born. When he returned to work, his husband was then able to take the following three months.

"You're sharing the parenting but you're also reducing the amount of time that you're out of the office," he told Sky News.

"When I returned to the office there was a bit of a transition as I got up to speed, like anyone would have after a long holiday. But actually there's less of an impact overall, so now, a few months down the track, my career is back where it was."

Shared leave can be applied for from 1 December, but parents won't be able to take the leave itself before April 2015.


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Woman Struck By Police Car Seriously Hurt

A woman has suffered "possible life threatening head injuries" after she was hit by a police car in Bristol, officers have said.

The vehicle was on an emergency blue light run responding to reports of a man with a knife making threats when the collision happened at the junction of Gloucester Road and Ninetree Hill in the Stokes Croft area of the city at 10pm.

The injured woman was taken to Southmead Hospital.

A man has been arrested on suspicion of assault, and a knife has been seized, the Avon and Somerset Constabulary said.

The force said its professional standards department has been advised due to the fact a police vehicle was involved.

"The road has been closed to allow a detailed examination to take place," the force said.

"We are keen to hear from anyone who may have been in the area at the time who may have information to help our investigation."

:: Anyone able to help is asked to contact the force's collision investigation unit on the number 101.


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World Cup Bidding Process 'Completely Corrupt'

The World Cup bidding process is "completely corrupt", a top MP has told Sky News, after more allegations around the 2018 and 2022 tournaments emerged.

England's 2018 World Cup bidding team is facing questions over a secret dossier which contains claims of corruption by Qatar and Russia during the bidding process.

The Sunday Times reports that a former MI6 operative and a team of investigators produced a dossier alleging that Russia and Qatar - the successful bidders for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups respectively - colluded to swap votes ahead of the secret ballot.

It also claims England and South Korea agreed to swap votes on the eve of the ballot.

The allegations are contained in files handed to the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select committee by The Sunday Times. The paper says MPs were unaware of the dossier.

John Whittingdale, chair of the committee, told Sky News that "questions need to be answered" and added: "A lot of it is reports and hearsay, it isn't necessarily hard evidence, it isn't proven.

"But nevertheless, when it's taken together with all the other evidence that has already been accumulated, it does paint a picture of a deeply corrupt organisation and that the whole of the bidding process was completely flawed."

On the allegation of a deal between England and South Korea, Mr Whittingdale said: "I think what is alleged England to have been doing is mild compared to the allegations made against other nations.

"But nevertheless it's obviously serious and it is a breach of the rules and therefore we will want to know whether it's true and how the FA justify it."

The dossier contains a raft of unproven allegations that a number of voting officials received financial or material incentives through the back door in exchange for votes.

The revelation comes in the wake of a report by US lawyer Michael Garcia, a summary of which cleared Qatar and Russia of any wrongdoing.

However, Mr Garcia has said the summary, which was written by a senior official on FIFA's ethics committee, is factually wrong and misrepresented his conclusions.

Senior sources from England's bid team told the paper they did not reveal the existence of the database because it contained unproven claims and they were worried about potential legal action from the individuals named in it.

The Football Association said in a statement: "These were media and corporate affairs consultants engaged on a confidential basis to gather intelligence.

"The fact the bid team had taken advice on intelligence-gathering was referenced to Mr Garcia as part of the investigative process."

Russia's 2018 bid team said in a statement it "categorically rejects" all of the claims in The Sunday Times article as "entirely unfounded speculation".

"These allegations are not new, but the evidence has only ever indicated that Russia 2018 behaved professionally and fairly throughout the bidding process," it said.


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Labour Plans High-Sugar Children's Food Ban

Labour would outlaw high levels of sugar, fat and salt in children's food and have GPs prescribe exercise, the shadow health secretary has said.

Andy Burnham told Sky News more needed to be done to tackle lifestyle problems as part of NHS reforms.

He said he was extremely concerned about the level of sugar being fed to children and pledged it was time to tackle the food industry.

Speaking on the Murnaghan programme Mr Burnham said: "I just cannot defend the amount of sugar that children are eating. We have seen more and more sugar built into our food over time and I am looking there at a mandatory maximum limit on fat, salt and sugar in children's food."

The most recent Health Survey for England figures show that 28% of children aged between two and 15 were classed as overweight or obese.

According to Which? Research a number of popular children's breakfast cereals contain as much as 30% sugar.

Speaking about George Osborne's plans for a £3.1bn shot in the arm for NHS finances, Mr Burnham said there were other factors that needed to be looked at involving lifestyle.

He suggested that family doctors should refer patients for exercise to help them tackle weight and healthy eating problems.

He said: "I would like to look more at exercise and physical activity, making referrals for physical activity available in all GPs' surgeries because I think if people become more physically active then they get control over what they are eating, over what they are drinking and all the other things."


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Bank Fines To Help Pay For £3bn NHS Boost

Chancellor George Osborne says he plans to use bank fines to improve family doctors' services.

In his Autumn Statement on Wednesday, Mr Osborne is expected to announce that the move will provide an extra £1.1bn to be spent over four years and would come from bank fines levied on financial institutions for foreign exchange manipulation.

It is in addition to a further £2bn he will use to help make the NHS more efficient for taxpayers and more effective for patients.

He says that cash injection is possible because the economy is growing and that under his stewardship the Government has brought the public finances under control. "If you have a strong economy you can have a strong NHS," the Chancellor said on Sunday.

In November, five banks were fined a total of £1.1bn by the Financial Conduct Authority for Forex fiddling. 

The idea of using bank fines to pay for NHS improvements was first suggested by shadow chancellor Ed Balls in a speech earlier this month.

Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham welcomed the plans but said it would not help GPs and A&E departments already struggling this winter.

He said: "Of course, more money will help but it won't solve the problems that I've been describing - the crisis in the NHS is very real indeed. This money will help but will be nowhere near enough."

Mr Burnham told Sky News that Labour would provide an additional £2.5bn a year for the NHS over and above what Mr Osborne had pledged.

Mr Osborne's announcement follows the publication of the five-year 'Forward View' plan drawn up by the NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens which warned of a looming £8bn funding shortfall by the end of the next parliament.

Mr Stevens welcomed Mr Osborne's plans and said: "Today represents an extremely welcome vote-of-confidence in the NHS' own five-year plan."

Mr Osborne is expected to endorse the Stevens proposals as the best way to deliver "a world class and universal NHS that is sustainable for the long term".

:: Watch Sky News for the Chancellor's Autumn Statement live on Wednesday, 3 December, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 132 and Freesat channel 202.


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Labour Must 'Up It's Game' To Win SNP Support

If Labour wants the Scottish National Party to help put it in power after the election it needs to "up its game", Scotland's First Minister has said.

Nicola Sturgeon told Sky News there was no way her party would ever put a Conservative government in power but that the SNP wasn't in the business of propping up Labour.

The SNP is expected to perform well in the General Election in May and if Labour fails to win an outright majority Ed Miliband could look to Ms Sturgeon's party to deliver him to Downing Street.

Speaking on Murnaghan, Ms Sturgeon warned the Labour leader that if he was looking for her help then Labour would have to give up more powers to Scotland than were currently on offer from Westminster.

She said: "If Labour was dependent on the votes of SNP MPs then it would have to seriously up its game in terms of the powers it was promising to the Scottish people.

"But the key message here is that Scotland, by sending a strong team of SNP MPs down to Westminster, can have a much, much stronger voice and a much greater influence."

Ms Sturgeon said if corporation tax was devolved to Northern Ireland this week - as it expected - then power over the tax must be granted to Scotland, too.

She said that while she welcomed the Smith Commission report, which has recommended the greatest handover of powers to Scotland since devolution, there were further areas over which Holyrood should be given control.

She said: "I do think there are some significant powers that are not in the Smith Commission report that we should have in Scotland.

"Corporation tax, indeed a range of taxes, are one of them but also power over the minimum wage, greater powers over the social security system because what is really important is that we get our hands on the range of levers of power that allows us to grow our economy and tackle some of the deep-seated inequalities that we have in Scotland.

"The Smith Commission recommends income tax to be devolved, although, interestingly, it says that the personal allowance of income tax, which is one of the key levers you can use to lift people out of poverty, should remain reserved to Westminster."

Ms Sturgeon was also asked about oil prices and whether the crash to $60 a barrel would have blown a hole in the SNP's economic plan for independence.

However, she replied that OPEC forecast prices would rise to $100 a barrel in the new year.

She said a chunk of oil revenue should be saved for future generations so that the Scottish economy was not dependent on oil.


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Elderly Couple Trapped Under 'Runaway' Car

A man has been killed and a woman left seriously injured after a "runaway" car hit them after rolling down a hill.

Police were called to a lane off Brynmill Crescent in Swansea after receiving reports two people had been injured.

A spokesman said: "Initial reports are that a vehicle has rolled down the street trapping a male and female underneath the vehicle.

"The female has been conveyed to hospital by air ambulance. The male sustained fatal injuries."

One witness, who saw the aftermath of the incident, said he had heard a woman screaming.

He said: "I came out my back garden and saw two people trapped under a car. The woman was screaming her head off. How the whole street didn't hear it, I don't know.

"I immediately rang 999 and told the operator they would need to get all the emergency services here. It looked very serious.

"Fair play to the emergency services, they were all here very quick.

"I don't know what happened but it looks like a tragic accident.

"The couple, who I'd say were in their sixties, had just come back from shopping when they were run over by their own car.

"It's awful, they were a lovely couple."

The area where the accident happened is home to many students in Swansea.

Local councillor Peter May said: "Looking at the scene, it appears that the vehicle must have run down a hill from a back lane just off Brynmill Crescent.

"The people in the street are naturally very shocked at what has happened. There is a lot of uncertainty as to whether it was someone known to us."

A dark blue Peugeot 406 was seen being taken away from the scene.


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