Cameron plan to help families
A network of family centres to help couples to weather the difficulties of their relationship is being proposed by the Conservatives (Rosemary Bennett writes).
David Cameron will say tomorrow that he has studied a system used in Australia to support couples enduring a bad patch, or to cope if they finally separate. The Government should not interfere in family life but must do more to support couples as they bring up children, the Tory leader will say.
“Often the best way of improving the parent-child relationship is to improve the couple relationship. This is not something that can be ‘delivered’ by the state,” he will tell the National Family and Parenting Institute.
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“But society has a strong interest in strengthening couples’ relationships.” Government should share responsibility with experts in the voluntary and social enterprise sectors.
Mr Cameron will also urge fathers to be present at the “magic moment” when their child is born.
Husband sought
The estranged husband of a Blackburn woman who was stabbed to death in her family home is being sought by police. Nazia Ahmed, 23, died in hospital after she and her sister, Shazia, 20, were attacked on Saturday. They lived with their parents. Police named their suspect as Zameer Ahmed, 26.
Search called off
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The US Coast Guard called off its search for four people — three of them Britons — in the Atlantic. Jacek Bielecki, 56, from Orford, Suffolk, his son, Jack, 19, Molly Finn, 21, Jack Bielecki’s American girlfriend, and Richard White, 34, reported their yacht in trouble on Thursday.
Murder charge
A 16-year-old girl has been charged with murder after a woman was stabbed to death in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire. Linda McKay, 25, died from stab wounds after police responded to reports of a fight. The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will appear in court today.
Funding needed
A project headed by Professor Emeritus Lord Layard at the London School of Economics has found that there are more mentally ill people claiming incapacity benefit than there are people on the dole, and calls on the Government to fund a £600 million-a-year project to treat sufferers.
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Family of five die in car crash
Five members of a family died yesterday after their car was in a head-on collision. An elderly man in the other car also died.
A young couple, their four-month-old baby and the man’s two sisters, believed to be in their early teens, were in a Ford Escort. It was in a collision with a Toyota Prius on the A6 outside Penrith, Cumbria, where the family lived. A woman in the Toyota was seriously injured.
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‘Girl in boot’ found
A four-year-old girl has been found after a three-day hunt triggered when a man was seen putting a child into the boot of a car in a supermarket car park in Swansea. The child was reunited with her family. Two men — a 32-year-old from London and a 48-year-old from Bracknell, Berkshire — were arrested on suspicion of child cruelty.
Housing shortage
The housing shortage is mainly the result of the huge increase in immigration under Labour, according to the Migrationwatch think-tank.
It said that household projections by the Government were based on a “false assumption” of annual net immigration of 65,000. From 1996 to 2004 it had averaged 140,000 a year.
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Party funding
A permanent cap should be imposed on all spending by political parties, not just during election campaigns, Jack Straw, the Commons leader, said. Mr Straw’s comments come amid a review of party funding by Sir Hayden Phillips triggered by the “cash-for-honours” controversy.
‘Labour will lose’
Labour is on course to lose the next general election, Michael Meacher, the former minister, claimed. He said that the party had reached a watershed, with members clamouring for a change of direction. Jim Murphy, the Employment Minister, said that Labour would win owing to its economic record.
Fish oil for farms
Feeding fish oil to poultry and farmed animals could help to reduce heart disease in humans, said a report by the British Nutrition Foundation. It said that the oils increased levels of healthy omega 3 fats in meat. Ian Givens, a co-author, said: “This could prove to be a major advance in the health of the nation.”
Just the ticket
A 74-year-old bus that runs on steam has been granted approval to operate between Windermere and Bowness in the Lake District. It is one of only six surviving steam buses in the world and was rescued after Chris Harrison, 27, saw it for sale on the internet.
Bikers killed on morning ride
Two motorcyclists were killed and a man and woman were critically injured during an early-morning group ride.
The accident happened on the A272 near Cowdray Park Polo Club in West Sussex at about 6.30am yesterday.
Police believe the two men died after their bikes crashed head-on, and the third bike ploughed into the wreckage, injuring the rider and pillion passenger. They have called for witnesses to come forward.
Salesmen shut out
Door-to-door salesmen are being banned in neighbourhoods across the country, to protect elderly people from high-pressure salesmen and “distraction” burglars. In Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, cold-callers are banned from several streets and 50 similar zones are to be established in West Yorkshire.
£2m drug arrests
Two men allegedly carrying heroin worth £2 million were arrested. Police said that the pair, in their early 40s, were stopped in South Norwood, South London, and found to be carrying the Class A drug. Detective Superintendent Stuart Mace of Operation Trident said: “We are delighted at this seizure.”
Murderer’s plea
Lawyers for Michael Stone, who was convicted of murdering Lin Russell and her six-year-old daughter Megan in 1996, will today ask the High Court to block the publication of an inquiry report which details his treatment by mental health, probation and social workers before the attack.
Paternal leave
Most fathers now take two weeks’ leave after their child is born. The Equal Opportunities Commission says that a “social revolution” in fatherhood is spreading across Britain, with paternity leave becoming more and more popular. But those on low pay still face barriers to spending time with their children.
July 7 scholarship
An aspiring accountant is the first winner of a Helen Jones Scholarship, set up in memory of the 28-year-old killed in the Russell Square bomb last year. Emma McDowall, 17, a pupil at Lockerbie Academy, Ms Jones’s former school, said: “It’s a great honour. Helen did a lot in her life and I’d like to live up to that.”
Easy riders
Prostitutes in Oxford have started riding bicycles to fool police into thinking that they are ordinary members of the public. Some “working girls” have abandoned street corners and taken to two wheels to blend in. PC David Stares, of the East Oxford beat team, said: “Perhaps it’s coincidental that they own bicycles.”