Key Quotes for 2005

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Last update: Wednesday 25th March




The Government gave the first clear indication yesterday that it does not expect to reach targets set for the national curriculum tests for 11-year olds. Ministers had pledged to get 85% of all pupils to reach the required standard in maths and English by 2006. Stephen Twigg, the minister with responsibility for primary schooling, told the Commons Education Select Committee that it was an "ambitious" target.
Education	The Independent – 9th December 2004



France moved yesterday towards the creation of a new law which would make sexist or homophobic comments illegal and forbid job discrimination against homosexuals.If the Bill is passed, anyone found guilty of making such remarks, verbally or in writing, would risk a one-year prison sentence and a fine of up to £31,000. The law, which would make penalties against homophobia and sexism stronger in France than almost any other EU nation has been pushed very strongly by President Jacques Chirac.
Politics	The Independent – 9th December 2004



Half of regular smokers of cannabis who are psychologically vulnerable to its effects may end up needing treatment for psychosis, scientists said yesterday. Up to 10% of the adult population, almost four million people, has a tendency to paranoid thoughts or grandiose ideas that may be tipped into psychotic delusions by the effects of the drug, they said. A four-year study of 2,437 people aged 14 to 24 found that of those who smoked cannabis regularly and had a pre-existing risk of psychosis, 50% developed psychotic symptoms over the period. This was twice the rate among those who did not use cannabis and more than three times higher than among those who were neither vulnerable nor took the drug.
Drugs/Alcohol/Addictions	The Independent – 9th December 2004



The average street price of illegal drugs is at the lowest level for a decade, according to new figures. The cost of a line of cocaine is now less than a glass of wine in some parts of Britain. A tablet of ecstasy costs as little as £1. The figures show widespread falls in the price of heroin, ecstasy, cannabis and cocaine, making hard drugs more affordable than ever before to young people. Dealers are now selling heroin for as little as £35 a gram, compared with more than £80 in 1995, according to the Independent Drugs Monitoring Unit.
Drugs/Alcohol/Addictions	The Independent On Sunday – 28th November 2004



British women are so dissatisfied with their bodies that most avoid looking at themselves naked in the mirror, a survey will reveal this week. Eight out of 10 women in their twenties and thirties feel pressure to be thinner after seeing advertising images of female models or celebrities, according to a survey commissioned amid concern that women's unease about their bodies could make them unwilling to discuss important health issues or check for tell tale signs of disease. Hips, legs, breasts and bottoms are the main sources of discontent. Nearly 80% of women are so uncomfortable with their bodies that they try not to see themselves unclothed.
Health	The Independent On Sunday – 28th November 2004



Sea turtles in the Caribbean are perilously close to extinction because of over-fishing and over-development, an official report has discovered. The collapse of turtle numbers on some of the Caribbean's most famous and glamorous islands has been so severe that in Bermuda turtles no longer breed any more. In the Cayman Islands, the idyllic archipelago that once supported millions of turtles, biologists fear the hawksbill turtle is locally extinct.
Environment	The Independent On Sunday – 28th November 2004



Around 90% of women in committed cohabiting relationships have thought of playing away, while around a fifth have actually done the dirty, according to a team of medics from Guy's and St Thomas' hospitals.
Family	The Independent On Sunday – 28th November 2004



People who sleep less are more likely to be obese, according to new research. Dr Shahrad Taheri, a clinical scientist at Bristol University, discovered that people who sleep for five hours a night are often hungrier and therefore likely to eat more than those who sleep for eight hours.
Health	The Sentinel – 7th December 2004



The most important characteristic of being British is the ability to speak English, according to a new report. Knowing the language even came above having British citizenship in the study by the National Centre for Social Research. The research also found attitudes to immigration have hardened in Britain over the past decade. In 1995, 65% of people thought the number of immigrants to Britain should be reduced. The figure rose to 74% last year.
Social Issues	The Sentinel – 7th December 2004



One in five post offices in Staffordshire and Cheshire have closed in the last five years, figures revealed today. The number of post offices in the two counties has dipped from 294 in October 1999 to 235 in April this year - a drop of 20%.
Work/Employment	The Sentinel – 7th December 2004



Muslims in Britain are suffering soaring levels of Islamophobia and discrimination based on their faith, rather than the colour of their skin, a report published today says..One in three Muslims felt that the Government was doing too little to protect the rights of different faith groups in the UK. The report also found that as well as suffering overt verbal and physical attacks, British Muslims are among the most economically and socially disadvantaged groups in the country. They have the lowest employment rate of any faith group, at 38%. There are 1.6million Muslims in the UK, 3% of the population. The Muslim community is also one of the youngest; one-third of those who follow the religion are under the age of 16, compared with one-fifth of the population as a whole. The average age of Muslims is 28, 13 years younger that the national average.
Religious Persecution	The Independent – 22nd November 2004



Rich husbands and wives who wish to protect their fortunes from the lottery of the divorce courts could soon be able to take advantage of US-style pre-nuptial agreements. A long-awaited report published by an influential group of family lawyers calls on the Government today to make "prenup" contracts binding on divorce settlements. The change in the law would put British couples on the same footing as American couples who are able to state exactly what happens to their assets after separation..More than 153,000 couples divorced in England and Wales in 2003, the third successive annual increase. One-tenth were couples who had each been divorced previously, double the proportion in 1981.
Family	The Independent – 22nd November 2004



The drive by the EU to become a military force will take a big step forward today when all 25 nations agree to create battle groups of elite troops able to reach trouble spots such as Darfur within 15 days. The move, which means forging multinational teams of soldiers, is part of an ambitious agenda of boosting the EU's military and crisis intervention capabilities to give it more clout on the world stage. Britain will play a leading role and along with France, guarantee to make one of the battle groups - each of which will have around 1,500 troops - available and on standby for the first half of next year.
Disasters/War	The Independent – 22nd November 2004



It has been invisible, so it has gone largely unheeded, but the wrecking of the seas is now the world's gravest environmental problem after climate change, British scientists said yesterday. Such destruction has been caused by over-fishing in the marine environment and only massive protected zones, where all fishing is banned, will allow the seas damaged areas to recover, members of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution said. These non-fishing reserves should cover fully 30% of UK territorial waters, the commission suggested, in the most drastic call ever made to scale back fishing in Britain or Europe. The proposals were welcomed by environmentalists, but attacked by some fishing industry groups, who said they would threaten yet more livelihoods and that recovery measures have already been taken.
Environment	The Independent – 8th December 2004



The parents of young boys and girls who steal or vandalise property will be ordered to pay up to £5,000 to the victims, the Government said last night. Police investigate 4,000 incidents of law-breaking or serious antisocial behaviour by children up to the age of nine every year. But they are powerless to act against the culprits, or their parents, because the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales is 10.
Crime	The Independent – 8th December 2004

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