New push to end dementia 'stigma'

Alan Johnson: 'Early diagnosis, really important'

People with Alzheimer's and similar conditions are being promised more government help.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson will on Tuesday unveil a national dementia strategy which he claims will transform the treatment of 700,000 sufferers.

Mr Johnson told BBC One's Andrew Marr show dementia should be discussed more openly to end the "stigma" and "cruel humour" surrounding it.

The aim was to get people to seek diagnosis earlier, he said.

At the moment, it took three years, on average, for someone suffering from to seek diagnosis, Mr Johnson told BBC One's Andrew Marr show.

He said: "It's a bit like cancer was 20 years ago. It wasn't the subject of polite conversation. But unlike cancer, there is some pretty cruel humour attached to dementia and Alzheimer's, which is a form of dementia."

He said the government's strategy was aimed at raising the profile of dementia, increasing early diagnosis and improving the quality of treatment.

He said there were memory-enhancing drugs and changes to diet and lifestyle which could help the onset of dementia if the condition is diagnosed early enough.

He pledged more specialised "memory clinics" and better support for carers.

He also conceded that the NHS had to be "rebalanced" to prevent discrimination against older people but he said he hoped the days "a clinician would say 'Well, it's not worth operating or let's not give medication to that person because they are too old'" were over.

He insisted money would be available to pay for the dementia strategy, but said full details would be announced in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

Chinese PM in talks with Tories

Wen Jiabao also met Prime Minister Gordon Brown during the visit

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao is meeting Tory leader David Cameron and shadow foreign secretary William Hague on day two of his UK visit.

The focus is on the global financial downturn, with the UK and China both keen to boost their economic ties.

The Free Tibet protest group is planning a number of demonstrations during the visit.

Earlier Mr Hague warned the meeting with Mr Wen would not gloss over China's human rights record.

Mr Hague said: "We always in our meetings with Chinese leaders raise issues of human rights and Tibet and so on, and I think it's always important to do that to be consistent over time so we don't just raise these things when they are in the news."

He added: "We also want a very constructive relationship with China because they are members of the UN Security Council - when it comes to things like the North Korean nuclear programme we need China to be working with us."

Mr Wen's European tour, which includes three days in Britain, takes in Germany, Spain, the EU in Brussels and the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The Chinese PM is expected to join celebrations in London on Sunday marking the start of the Chinese New Year.

He will also make a speech at the University of Cambridge, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

'Troubled times'

BBC News correspondent Jill McGivering said Mr Wen is expected to promote China's economic prospects and push for more investment from the UK.

She said: "These are troubled times - and Britain and China are sticking together.

"Gordon Brown sees China as a powerful ally as he presses for reform of international financial bodies.

"And China's economy - expected to grow at about 7% this year - is very attractive to British investors."

She added that Mr Wen would be seeking reassurance that the UK will join China's fight against global protectionism.

This is when governments restrict import quotas in a bid to protect domestic industries from global competition - but China says this is damaging to its export trade.

The visit follows an announcement earlier this month by Foreign Secretary David Miliband that improving relations with China is to be a "major priority" for the UK in the years ahead.

'Candid'

In a 20-page framework document Mr Miliband said the UK will be "candid" when it disagrees with China, but will build a relationship based on co-operation

He also stressed the importance of economic ties between the two countries and emphasised China's growing role in international affairs.

The document represents a sort of stock-taking of ties between London and Beijing and sets out aspirations for the way in which Sino-UK ties should develop over the next four years.

Mr Wen has snubbed France during his European tour, reportedly because of a meeting between President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Dalai Lama late last year.

China reacted at the time by cancelling a scheduled summit with the EU.

Peers face expulsion over sleaze

Lord Chancellor Jack Straw is planning to make changes

Peers who break sleaze rules could be kicked out and MPs could be banned from earning extra cash, under plans being considered by the government.

Ministers are trying to restore public faith after a string of scandals.

Currently the heaviest punishment for peers who break the rules is being ordered to apologise.

The plans could be made retrospective, so they would cover the four Labour peers in the cash-for-influence row - if allegations against them are proved.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw is preparing measures to beef up the House of Lords conduct regime, for inclusion in the forthcoming Constitution Renewal Bill.

Criminal law

Those with criminal convictions, including Lord Archer and Lord Black, could also be expelled under the measures being considered by Mr Straw.

Jeffrey Archer received a four-year prison sentence for perjury and perverting the course of justice, while Conrad Black has been jailed in the US for fraud.

Mr Straw told Sky News: "Where there was misconduct the same approach would apply as that which applies the House of Commons, because in the House of Commons if you break the criminal law, or for example it's found that although you haven't broken the criminal law you've been doing something completely improper, then the House of Commons can in extremis expel you.

"And that must apply to the House of Lords. All three parties were effectively signed up to this White Paper so I want now to see progress made, not least against the background of concern - very understandable concern - about these revelations which were in the Sunday Times last week."

The Sunday Times also said that peers who are "non-domiciled" or "non-resident" for tax purposes could also lose their place.

Outside earnings

Baroness Royal, Labour leader in the Lords told the newspaper the system currently in place was "bananas".

The moves come following allegations about the conduct of four Labour peers.

Last week the Sunday Times reported that Lord Moonie, Lord Truscott, Lord Taylor of Blackburn and Lord Snape - had discussed changing legislation in return for a fee with undercover reporters posing as lobbyists.

Let's not be so restrictive that we stop talented people coming into politics William Hague

The men all deny breaking Parliamentary rules and the police have not yet decided whether to launch an investigation.

In fresh allegations about the extent of business activities in the Upper House, the Sunday Times reports that peers have proposed 50 amendments in the past two years to change laws in ways that would benefit organisations paying them.

Meanwhile, in a separate development, The Sunday Telegraph reports that Commons Leader Harriet Harman is considering restrictions on outside earnings for MPs.

This would include an outright ban on other jobs, limiting additional earnings to 15% of parliamentary salary, or a partial ban that would rule out paid directorships, but leave MPs able to do other jobs - such as practising as a doctor, the newspaper reports.

'Reheated proposals'

MPs can draw a basic

Brown criticises wildcat strikes

Mr Brown says the government will help workers facing redundancy

Wildcat strikes are "not defensible", the prime minister has told those angry at the employment of foreign workers.

Hundreds of employees across the UK walked out over the use of overseas staff at a refinery in Lincolnshire.

Gordon Brown told the BBC's Politics Show he understood workers' worries, but spontaneous walkouts were "not the right thing to do".

Earlier, Lord Mandelson said protectionism could turn a recession into a depression.

You'll find that no government in history is doing more to try and find ways that we can help people who are unemployed back in to work as quickly as possible Gordon Brown PM says 'no clear map' for crisis Mandelson warns on protectionism

"Sympathy strikes" spread across the country after workers walked out at the Lindsey Oil Refinery when owner Total gave a

Mandelson warns on protectionism

Lord Mandelson says Britain cannot retreat from foreign competition

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has said protectionism would be a "huge mistake" ahead of talks to end strikes over employing foreign workers.

Hundreds of employees across the UK have walked out in support of striking workers in Lincolnshire, who are angry at the use of foreign labour.

Lord Mandelson said closing local industries from foreign competition would turn recession into depression.

The Acas mediation service was talking to unions and employers on Saturday.

Protectionism would be a sure-fire way of turning recession into depression Lord Mandelson

"Sympathy strikes" broke out across the country after workers walked out at the Lindsey Oil Refinery when owner Total gave a

PM says 'no clear map' for crisis

Critics say the last G20 meeting in December achieved little

Gordon Brown says there is no precedent for the "first financial crisis of the global age".

History offered "no clear map" of how to deal with it, the UK prime minister told an audience at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos.

Mr Brown warned about the rising threat of protectionism and said that global co-operation was the only way forward.

"This is not like the 1930s. The world can come together," the prime minister said.

Chinese prime minister due in UK

Improving relations with China is to be a 'major priority' for Britain

The Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, is due to arrive in London later for a three-day trip to the UK.

Talks are expected to focus on the global financial downturn; both the UK and China are keen to boost their economic ties with each other.

The Free Tibet protest group says it is planning a number of demonstrations during the visit.

Mr Wen's European tour also includes Germany, Spain, the EU in Brussels and the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The visit follows an announcement earlier this month by Foreign Secretary David Miliband that improving relations with China is to be a "major priority" for the UK in the years ahead.

'Candid'

In a 20-page framework document Mr Miliband said the UK will be "candid" when it disagrees with China, but will build a relationship based on co-operation

He also stressed the importance of economic ties between the two countries and emphasised China's growing role in international affairs.

The document represents a sort of stock-taking of ties between London and Beijing and sets out aspirations for the way in which Sino-UK ties should develop over the next four years.

Mr Wen has snubbed France during his European tour, reportedly because of a meeting between President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Dalai Lama late last year.

China reacted at the time by cancelling a scheduled summit with the EU.

Shaun Ley's week

By Shaun Ley Presenter, BBC Radio 4's World at One

An Edwardian comedy of manners had uncanny modern-day echoes

This column is in danger of becoming a theatre review, at least whenever I write it.

Last month, a production of Loot seemed to chime with the problems affecting the Metropolitan Police. This month, it's an older play that provided me with an insight into an even older institution: the House of Lords.

The play is Mary Goes First, an Edwardian drawing room comedy, just coming to the end of a six-week revival at The Orange Tree, a theatre perhaps more associated with the radical plays of Vaclav Havel.

Yet 1913, the year it was written, wasn't a bad one for political reformers. It was only a couple of years since Asquith's government achieved perhaps the single most significant change in the Lords before or since, ending the power of peers to block changes - in this case a budget - on which the elected House of Commons insisted.

The allegations made in recent days - of peers using their legislative influence for financial gain - is a reminder of the paradox which the House of Lords remains, one which the government has been unable to unravel, 11 and a half years after it was first elected, promising its own radical reform.

Pecking order

Mary Goes First is a wonderful evocation of the peculiar mix of vanity, snobbery and hard politics which explains the modern House of Lords.

Although written long before Lloyd George's estrangement from his party made expedient the blatant auction of peerages for political donations, that idea was sufficiently in the news to raise laughs on the West End stage.

Mary Whichello has been the society belle of the fictitious town of Warkinstall. But the recent award of a knighthood to Thomas Bodsworth, manufacturer, Mayor, and provider of the town's new sanatorium ("Oh, yes. I saw his name in the New Year's honours last week

Brown urges UK to be optimistic

Critics say the last G20 meeting in December achieved little

Britons must remain optimistic in the face of the global recession, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said.

In an interview while at the World Economic Forum in Davos Mr Brown urged against "talking the country down".

The prime minister also said he was "absolutely confident" that Britain would come through the economic crisis.

But he warned that if world leaders failed to agree international finance reforms at the G20 summit in London in April there could be dire consequences.

'Determined and resolute'

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph newspaper during his stay in Switzerland Mr Brown said: "I am absolutely confident about Britain's future. I have utter confidence in our ability to come through this.

"The British spirit is to see a problem, identify it, and get on with solving it. Once a problem hits us we are determined and resolute and we are adamant that we are going to deal with that problem."

But the prime minister also warned of the dangers of creeping protectionism and noted similarities between the up-coming G20 meeting in London and a summit of world leaders in the city during the Great Depression.

The thing we know about protectionism is that it protects nobody and least of all the poor Gordon Brown Read Stephanie Flanders' blog

Mr Brown said: "People came to London in an attempt to get agreement, partly on trade, partly on other aspects of the economy. It failed.

"And it was partly as a result of that failure that the rest of the 30s was blighted by protectionism.

"The thing we know about protectionism is that it protects nobody and least of all the poor," he said.

He called for "clear reforms" of the financial system to be agreed at the G20 meeting to rebuild trust in banks.

But the BBC's Economics Editor Stephanie Flanders said there was some scepticism about whether the G20 would be able to act collectively even in the face of such a crisis.

Figures published in recent days suggest the global economy will barely grow at all this year and that the world is in its worst economic slump since 1945.

Truscott interview tape released

Lord Truscott has denied breaking parliamentary rules

The Sunday Times has published a secretly filmed video of Lord Truscott on its website, one of the four peers it alleges were willing to alter legislation in the House of Lords in return for cash.

The clip shows a meeting between the former energy minister and its journalists who were posing as lobbyists at the time.

According to the newspaper, the meeting took place on 21 January at a hotel in London.

During the meeting, Lord Truscott is asked about the work he could undertake for a potential client which the reporters were claiming to represent.

Lord Truscott and the three other peers involved in the row have denied breaking parliamentary rules.

The Sunday Times has already published an audio clip of an undercover meeting between its reporters and one of the other peers accused of misconduct, Lord Taylor.

The claims against the four peers are being investigated by two parliamentary committees and have led to calls for a police inquiry.

The footage of the interview with Lord Truscott, selected excerpts of which are published below, was heavily edited by the newspaper. You can watch the footage by visiting the newspaper's website.

Times website

Journalist: How far are you are able to help us on all of us

Lord Truscott: Well as I said to you before I can work with you over it. It is.. identifying people obviously following it, identifying people to meeting with people, talking with people to facilitate the amendment and to make sure the thing is drafted.

I think it has got to be a partnership as it were because I don't think for even two days a month I am not going to be able to go away and do the whole shooting match on my own.

I know some of the MPs. I know all the Tories in the Lords so I have no problems with approaching them. I think, as I said, it might be worth having the first bite of the cherry in the Commons.

Then I think the other thing is identifying who can be approached to put forward amendments at various stages and maybe other bodies to contact.

I think that comes down to a bit of a mix. You talking to some people, me talking to some people, sometimes both of us talking to people together to put something through.

And also there will probably be a different style maybe in the Commons and in the Lords.

In the Commons it might be better for.. I'll identify the MPs but it might be better for you to talk to the MPs unless I particularly know an MP and have a word with him.

And then I see the Lords people on my own because I know everyone in the Lords who is active. So I am quite happy to talk to them on my own.

Journalist: How would you actually manage to find the right person to do that in that particular instance?

Lord Truscott: Well it has to be a member that has to move an amendment. It can be one of the frontbenchers or it can be an individual member.

Journalist: So with the smart energy, you found a person who was willing to table amendments?

Lord Truscott: Amendments were moved both in the Commons and the Lords on that one.

Journalist: And those amendments effectively changed the legislation in so far as it took account of your client's view and your client's needs?

Lord Truscott: Well.. I mean...Yeah.. I mean.. they were happy with the result.

Lords face lobby rules shake-up

By Gillian Hargreaves Political correspondent, BBC News

It has been a long week in the House of Lords, during which the spotlight has been turned on every nook and cranny of peers' business.

The Lords authorities have promised a "rigorous" inquiry

The scrutiny has been prompted by "cash-for-influence" allegations against four Labour peers. They deny any wrongdoing but Gordon Brown has promised emergency sanctions" if claims they offered to help make amendments to legislation for cash fees are proved.

The scandal has sent an electric shock through Westminster and prompted an extended bout of journalistic digging and probing the like of which the sedate corridors of the Upper House have never seen before.

We have learned of consultancies and expertise, law making and influence. And now it looks like the rules regarding what peers can and cannot do is to change.

But first the numbers.

A total of 743 men and women are eligible to sit in House of Lords.

Of those, 145 work as paid consultants.

The industries they advise run from banking to fast food manufacturers, nuclear power to health companies.

The House of Lords Code of Conduct on such work seems to be crystal clear.

Directorships

Members of the House "must never accept any financial inducement as an incentive or reward for exercising parliamentary influence".

And members of the House "must not vote on any bill or motion, or ask any question in the House or a committee, or promote any matter, in return for payment or any other material benefit (the 'no paid advocacy' rule)".

But here is the rub: Many lords interpret this as applying to Parliamentary consultancy roles.

At the moment Peers cannot be thrown out of the Upper chamber for wrongdoing

Rather than other agreements such as remunerated directorships or other non-Parliamentary consultancies.

So look at it like this - Lord X worked as a hospital doctor for twenty years. He then becomes a peer and takes a consultancy with a private medical company.

He registers that interest as a "non-Parliamentary" interest because of his knowledge gained outside of the House.

He may have access to government ministers and he may have an in-depth knowledge of pieces of health legislation coming up in the House of Lords, but he can be paid by this company and advise them as long as he does not work as a paid advocate for them, by using his position in the House.

Clear remit

Of course many people might think by the very fact of being House of Lords and talking to ministers and debating legislation puts Lord X in a unique position to act as an adviser to a company.

But that is how the rules, which are supposed to be clear, can be open to interpretation.

The peers have denied any wrongdoing

It is also worth noting that a peer registers a consultancy or directorship as "Parliamentary " or "non-Parliamentary" he or she must declare an interest when they speak on matters relating to that company, but they can still vote on legislation which may affect the business.

There is an overwhelming sense now in both the House of Lords and House of Commons that something must be done.

The leader of the house Baroness Royall has called for changes to the rules.

At the moment the are two enquiries going on in the House of Lords.

The sub committee of the House of Lords Privileges Committee will listen to evidence from both sides about the Sunday Times undercover investigation.

The committee's remit is clear.

Written censure

It "hears complaints of prima facie breach of privilege, takes evidence, and reports its recommendations to the Lords, where they are debated before the House decides whether or not to accept them."

The second investigation by the Privileges Committee proper will look at what changes might need to be made to the rules.

And they might well look at the following:

First: Controls on outside consultancies could be tightened to bar any paid work to do with Parliament, not just paid advocacy or promotion of an issue. This would ensure that outside interests are at arm's length.

Second: There might be a review of the untaxed allowance of

Cameron 'moral capitalism' plea

David Cameron will call for reform of global markets

Conservative leader David Cameron will later tell some of the world's leading financiers and business people they should embrace "moral capitalism".

In a speech to the world economic forum in Davos, Mr Cameron will praise business as a wealth creating force.

But he will add: "We must also stand up to business when the things that people value are at risk."

And he will call for curbs on "global corporate juggernauts" as a response to the current economic crisis.

'Moral framework'

He will say: "We must stand up for business because it's businesses, not governments or politicians, that create jobs, wealth and opportunity, it's businesses that drive innovation, and choice, and help families achieve a higher standard of living for a lower cost.

"But we must also stand up to business when the things that people value are at risk.

Our financial system boasts people so bright they've created financial instruments beyond even their own understanding David Cameron Brown urges global 'confidence'

"So it's time to place the market within a moral framework - even if that means standing up to companies who make life harder for parents and families.

"It's time to help create vibrant, local economies - even if that means standing in the way of the global corporate juggernauts.

And it's time to decentralise economic power, to spread opportunity and wealth and ownership more equally through society and that will mean, as some have put it, recapitalising the poor rather than just the banks."

In a echo of New Labour rhetoric, he will tell his audience at the Swiss ski resort: "The best chapters in our economic history are those that embrace the many, not the few."

'Bright people'

He will call for the return of "truly popular capitalism" of the type found in 1950s America "when there was a sense that everyone could have a slice of the pie" and the 1980s when "Margaret Thatcher led an ownership revolution that gave millions a new stake in our economy".

And he will urge those responsible for the financial crisis to put something back into deprived communities, "giving them the tools to make the most of the market, to help them with banking and saving and owning".

"Our financial system boasts people so bright they've created financial instruments beyond even their own understanding.

"Now they need to use those talents to help the poorest build assets."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has used his trip to Davos to urge global action on the economy ahead of April's G20 summit and to warn against protectionism.

But some business leaders and senior politicians, including US President Barack Obama, have pulled out of the summit amid a fresh flurry of grim economic news.

Lobbying and British politics

By Brian Wheeler Political reporter, BBC News

Cash-for-influence allegations against four Labour peers have once again thrust the murky world of political lobbying into the spotlight.

The peers have denied any wrongdoing

The four have denied any wrongdoing but Gordon Brown has promised "emergency sanctions" against them if allegations they offered to help make amendments to legislation for cash are proved.

The idea of politicians offering to change the law of the land in exchange for a fat fee is regarded with genuine dismay by the average MP or peer, most of whom insist British politics is relatively free of financial corruption.

Yet for some the current scandal is a wake-up call for Britain's political classes and it has led to renewed calls for reform of the lobbying system.

One of Barack Obama's first acts as US President was to clamp down on lobbying and, in particular, the "revolving door" which sees members of an administration walk straight into highly paid jobs with the companies or industries they had jurisdiction over. Gifts from lobbyists were also banned.

There is a growing body of opinion across all parties that something similar is needed in the UK.

No one is seriously suggesting an outright ban on lobbyists. They are a fact of life in most democracies.

'Revolving door'

Banning them would probably drive the practice further underground - and result in more meetings by the lake at St James' Park with dark glasses and a rolled-up newspaper, as the CBI's John Cridland put it to MPs last year.

Politicians cannot make laws in a vacuum. They need to speak regularly to industry, trade unions and campaign groups to formulate effective policy.

Imagine the outcry if MPs refused to meet a delegation of small business people or environmental campaigners.

Because secret lobbying by its very nature leaves no evidence trail, there could still be a significant problem even with little concrete evidence of one Public administration select committee

But the problem, according to a report by the Commons public administration committee, is that lobbying in the UK can be a secretive business, that deals are "traditionally done behind closed doors".

They also highlight the fact that former ministers are allowed to take lobbying jobs while they continue to sit in Parliament.

We know, from the register of members' interests, that many backbench MPs and peers, from all parties, are on the payroll of companies, either as directors or consultants.

The companies involved range from small, obscure specialists in surveillance, security, financial services, law and dozens of other areas to some of the biggest names in British industry, such as defence giant BAE Systems or retailer Boots.

The nuclear industry has been particularly active in recruiting senior Labour politicians and former members of the government.

We also have an idea of the sort of money they get.

Rules

Among former ministers who continue to sit in the Commons, Alan Milburn earns

Brown interrupted by own mobile

Gordon Brown: 'I'm afraid that's my phone'

Gordon Brown was interrupted by his own mobile phone while addressing political and business leaders in Davos.

The prime minister's mobile rang twice during his speech at the World Economic Forum, leading Mr Brown to note that the caller was "persistent".

But he disappointed his audience by not disclosing the caller's identity.

The incident revealed that Mr Brown uses an old Nokia ringtone on his phone - made famous by comedian Dom Jolly on his satirical show Trigger Happy TV.

Shortly into his speech about the global economic crisis in Switzerland, a phone started ringing.

The prime minister admitted: "I am afraid it is my phone."

When asked by a reporter who was calling, he replied: "I am not telling you."

When the phone rang again a few seconds later, the prime minister turned it off.

In his speech, Mr Brown stressed the world must "come together" to deal with the stark economic challenges it faced.

Increase in 'unproductive' youths

It will be harder to get youths off the streets in a recession, the Tories say

The number of young people in England not engaged in any productive activity is increasing, figures suggest.

People aged 16 to 24 not in work, education or training went up by 94,000 to 850,000 between 2003 and 2007.

The Tories, who obtained the figures, said it was "tragic" the government had done "so little to help" young people during these "boom years".

The government blamed population growth and said the figures included disabled youths, carers and those on gap years.

Shadow skills secretary David Willetts obtained the figures, which were taken from the annual population survey, in a written Parliamentary answer.

He said the number of unemployed youngsters not in education, employment or training - so-called "Neets" - had risen in 47% of local education authority areas in England while it had fallen in only 25% of them.

Mr Willetts said: "Even in the years when, as we now know, Britain was in an unsustainable boom, the number of Neets was rising.

"This is, above all, a failure of public policy.

"In particular, it is a failure of the education and training system, which is making the problem worse by forcing further education colleges to focus entirely on churning out paper qualifications.

"It is tragic that ministers have done so little to help Neets during the fat years. Now that we are entering the lean years, it will be harder than ever to tackle this urgent social problem."

'Right direction'

For the government, Skills Minister David Lammy said the Conservatives were being "disingenuous" because the figures included youngsters who care for parents or children, people on gap years, the independently wealthy who own their own properties, disabled people and those with mental health problems.

"Strip those young people out and actually the numbers are going in the right direction," he told the BBC.

He said the government was raising the age at which people have to be in school or training to 18, introducing vocational diplomas alongside A-levels and had "rescued" apprenticeships, which had been on the decline.

He said everyone needed qualifications - even youngsters who had been excluded from school - and said the government was funding "entry to employment courses".

A spokesman for the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills said population increases also played a part and there were more young people in the population who were aged 16 to 24.

'Undecided Neets'

The number classified as "Neets" had remained more or less static as a proportion of the total - and almost a third of those were looking after their family or home, a spokesman said.

"The most recent statistics from 2007 show that the proportion of those aged 16 to 18 participating in education or training was at its highest ever rate at more 78%.

"But we must do more which is why we have taken the historic step of raising the participation rate to 17 by 2013 and 18 by 2015."

There were more apprenticeships and learners' choices were being widened with the introduction of the Diploma.

A study by the National Foundation for Educational Research just published by the sister Department for Children, Schools and Families, focusing on those aged 16 and 17, found "Neets" fell into different groups.

More than two fifths were generally positive about learning and very likely to participate in education or training in the short-term.

A similar proportion faced a lot of personal and structural barriers, and were likely to remain Neet in the medium-term.

A fifth were classified as "undecided Neet" - they did not face significant personal barriers to participating in education or training but were dissatisfied with the available opportunities.

---

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Refinery strike enters third day

Italian workers arrive for work at the Lindsey Oil Refinery

Hundreds of striking energy workers are holding a mass meeting over the use of foreign workers on a construction project at an oil refinery.

About 300 people have so far gathered at the Lindsey Oil Refinery in North Lincolnshire to protest against a

Manchester 'could pilot ID cards'

Ministers say public support for ID cards is high

Manchester could be one of the testing grounds for the government's ID cards scheme, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has said during a visit to the city.

Manchester would be "in the running" to take part in the next phase of the scheme, she said, in which young people will be encouraged to apply for cards.

Ms Smith said many young people saw the need for ID cards to prove their identity in a "safe and secure way".

But civil liberties groups accused her of trying to "indoctrinate" youngsters.

'Real benefits'

Critics argue the cards will be hugely expensive, invasive and will not help in the fight against terrorism and organised crime as the government believes.

Ministers will give details later this year of a number of so-called "beacon areas" where people aged over 16 will be able to volunteer for cards.

As the cards become more widely available, the whole country will see real benefits Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary

The cards, which will contain details of a person's fingerprints, National Insurance number and address, will then be offered to the rest of the population from 2011.

After taking part in a discussion on the ID scheme at a school in the Wythenshawe area of Manchester, Ms Smith said people saw the merits of the cards - which will cost

Ballots to spell out need for 'X'

There was some confusion about ballot papers in the 2007 Scottish elections

Ballot papers for European Parliament elections are to make it extra clear voters have to put an "X" in the box.

It follows confusion in the Scottish 2007 elections when voters used an X to vote for an MSP but had to number councillors in order of preference.

The wording at the top of ballot papers for MEPs is to be changed to read: "Vote once (x) in one blank box."

The change, in draft regulations going through Parliament, was made at the request of the Electoral Commission.

But a second request to consider choices numbered "1" as valid, when an X was supposed to be used, will be left to the discretion of returning officers, Justice minister Lord Bach said.

Spoilt papers

Outlining the draft regulations in the House of Lords he said: "We have taken steps to make it clearer that a voter should mark his or her vote with a cross - an X - in the box to the right of the name of the party or individual candidate he or she is voting for, by amending the wording at the top of the ballot paper."

It follows a warning from the Electoral Commission that: "The prescribed instructions state: 'You have one vote' and do not explain that the vote should be marked with an 'X'."

In the interests of avoiding potential voter confusion it would be preferred if the use of an X to mark the European Parliamentary vote could be made clear Electoral Commission

In 2007 the Scottish Parliament and council elections were mired in controversy partly due to the large number of "spoilt" papers.

Three different voting systems were spread across two papers: the list vote and the constituency vote, both of which are marked with an X; and the single transferable vote - where people were asked to rank candidates in order of preference using numbers - for local elections.

The Electoral Commission pointed out that, as local government by-elections are sometimes combined with the European elections, "in the interests of avoiding potential voter confusion it would be preferred if the use of an X to mark the European Parliamentary vote could be made clear on the face of the ballot paper".

The European Parliamentary elections on 4 June will be the first Scotland-wide elections since 2007, and Scotland's Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (Solace) had also raised concerns about the potential for confusion.