3/4/09 That was the week that was….
This was the week that…
· World leaders met in London and agreed to pump $1 trillion into the world economy [more]
· A report showed that only 0.6% of the Government’s fiscal stimulus will be spent on green measures [more]
· At least 4,000 jobs were lost in the UK across a range of sectors [more]
· The UN named and shamed the UK over its response to the Somali refugee crisis [more]
· The Home Secretary was criticised for charging the taxpayer for her husband’s adult films [more]
· An inquiry began into a millionaire’s donations to the Tory party [more]
· 21 NHS trusts failed to meet new hygiene standards [more]
· Lord Myners came under pressure to resign after he was accused of misleading Parliament [more]
· A Select Committee called for the National Curriculum to be slimmed down – a Lib Dem policy [more]
· The scandal into MPs expenses showed no sign of disappearing [more]; [more]
Over the last week we learnt that…
· Unemployment will hit 3 million within two years [more]
· The national DNA database has grown 40% in two years and now has more than 5 million people on it [more]
· There are 10% fewer hospital beds today than there were three years ago [more]
· The Government’s adult literacy drive is failing and wasting billions according to a government adviser [more]
· According to most measures, house prices continued to fall in March [more]; [more]
· Boris Johnson proposes to cut his environmental team in half [more]
· 160,000 kids left primary school without basic English and Maths competency [more]
· Older people do not have fair access to mental health services in most mental health trusts [more]
· The Europe Minister hasn’t read the Lisbon Treaty [more]
· Conservative run Bournemouth Council are employing a transport manager who lives in Edinburgh – and paying £200,000 a year for his travel expenses [more]
Over the last week the Liberal Democrats…
· Challenged Gordon Brown to turn the G20 agreement into real help for British people [more]
· Led a debate challenging the Government in the House of Lords over tax havens [more]
· Unveiled research showing that 80% of hospitals do not pass on knife crime information to the police [more]
· Led a debate calling for a step up in nuclear non-proliferation action in the House of Lords [more]
· Proposed a bill to end discrimination in the line of succession to the throne [more]
· Highlighted shocking figures showing that prison assaults took place every half an hour in 2008 [more]
· Called for the same guarantees of access for mental health care as for other health services [more]

April 6th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Good idea to have a post on the past week’s issues. Makes good reading and is a reminder of the problems that are being handled so badly by the current administration!