Review of the Papers, Wednesday 04 July

Government  

• Gordon Brown yesterday unveiled a startling package of reforms designed to surrender centuries-old government powers and strengthen the role of MPs. Setting out a series of initiatives that could fundamentally change the balance of power in the UK, he also launched a cross-party debate on a new bill of rights that could for the first time enshrine the rights and responsibilities of the citizen. The age of voting could also be reduced to 16 and elections held on Sundays. Mr Brown's route map for constitutional reform was unveiled in his first Commons statement as prime minister. It was intended as a clear rupture with the Blair administration, and a shock to critics who fear he is a centralising autocrat. Setting out his thinking to MPs he said: "We will only meet the new challenges of security, of economic change, of communities under pressure - and forge a stronger shared national purpose - by building a new relationship between citizens and government that ensures the government is a better servant of the people." The proposals have been germinating in Mr Brown's mind for years, but have been refined over the past month following discussions with Buckingham Palace. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/constitution/story/0,,2117883,00.html  
• A worldwide expansion of nuclear power has little chance of significantly reducing carbon emissions but will add dangerously to the proliferation of nuclear weapons-grade materials and the potential for nuclear terrorism, says a leading research group that has analysed the possible uptake of civil atomic power over the next 65 years. The Oxford Research Group paper, funded by the Joseph Rowntree charitable trust, says that the worldwide nuclear "renaissance" planned by the industry to provide cheap, clean power is a myth. Although global electricity demand is expected to rise by 50% in the next 25 years, only 25 new nuclear reactors are currently being built, with 76 more planned and a further 162 proposed, many of which are unlikely to be built. This compares with 429 reactors in operation today, many of which are already near the end of their useful lives and need replacing soon. http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2117711,00.html
• The steep rise in dementia in England is presenting a "significant and urgent challenge" to health and care services, yet the condition is still given low priority by the government and remains surrounded by misunderstanding and stigma, according to a study by the National Audit Office. It says that, despite predictions that dementia cases will rise from at least 560,000 at present to more than 750,000 by 2020 and 1.4 million by 2051, too few people are being diagnosed early enough or at all, and early interventions that can help are not being made widely available. The UK lags behind the rest of Europe, falling into the bottom third of countries providing patients with effective drugs, and taking up to twice as long on average to diagnose the illness as other countries, says the report, published months after a landmark Alzheimer's Society study put the cost of dementia to the UK at £17bn. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk-news/story/0,,2117674,00.html
• Thousands more teenagers face ending up with criminal records as a result of the Government's plans to raise the education leaving age to 18, ministers have been told. Richard Williams, chief executive of the education charity Rathbone, issued his warning at the launch yesterday of an independent inquiry into why 200,000 poorly qualified 16- to 18-year-olds have turned their backs on full-time education or training. Many face a series of short-term jobs or a life on the street trying to make ends meet. "Research has consistently shown they are more likely to suffer longer periods of unemployment, poorer health and engage in criminal activities than their peers," a briefing note to the inquiry said. Mr Williams argued that many would still play truant if compelled to stay on and risk prosecution. The inquiry - launched jointly by Rathbone and the Nuffield Foundation - will pose the first independent test of the two key strands of Gordon Brown's education policy. http://education.independent.co.uk/news/article2733265.ece
• A Government minister has delivered the news that millions of parents have been waiting to hear: traditional nappies are no more environmentally friendly than disposables. Ben Bradshaw, the new health minister, made the comment after a four-year study by the Environment Agency concluded that "there is little or nothing to choose between them". It found that the damage caused by burying disposables in landfill sites was matched by the electricity and greenhouse gases generated by washing and drying cloth nappies. In response to a parliamentary question, Mr Bradshaw, a former environment minister, told the Commons: "Reusable nappies may reduce demands on landfill but they still impact on the environment in other ways such as water and energy used in washing and drying them." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/07/03/eanap103.xml
• The death sentence handed down to Shambo, the Hindu temple bullock that faces slaughter after a positive TB test, was confirmed yesterday. Jane Davidson, the minister for sustainability and rural development at the Welsh assembly, said Shambo, who lives at a monastic community in Carmarthenshire, west Wales, had to be put down. Swami Suryananda of the Skanda Vale community said: "The Welsh assembly has chosen to dismiss the final pleas of the Hindu community and our own representations. All along we have provided constructive proposals to preserve the life of Shambo and allow us to practise our religion but it appears our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. They have refused to listen to the suggestions and we will now be using legal means to redress the situation." http://www.guardian.co.uk/animalrights/story/0,,2117733,00.html