F.G.M.- NOT ENOUGH MONEY TARGETED FOR UK

No-FGM (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At a fringe meeting during the Labour Party Conferencs last night politicians were told that not enough money was being put into the eradication of  FGM (female genital mutilation) in the UK. Fears were raised  as to how much data was being collected and with services being cut that this would put vulnerable children at risk. The meeting which was attended by teachers,doctors, councillors and survivors said that out of £35million put aside only £1million had been allocated to eradicate FGM in Britain which is said to affect up to 170,000 people.                                                                                                                             Ellie Robinson from Newham council in east London, which was recently given £80,000 from the mayor of London to provide an FGM service, said she feared the problem was vastly under reported.

She said "30% of our residents were actually born elsewhere and if you think about what that must mean for FGM you would expect very high numbers, but in actual fact in 2013 we only had five cases that came to our children and social care department and we had just six reported to the police. So at the moment we just don't have the data. We don't know what the problem is and we can't analyse trends,we cant get into the communities because we don't know what we are dealing with, At the moment we are having to make huge cuts, so every intervention that you do, you have to prove there is a need for it and you've got to prove that your intervention would work and i cant prove that the intervention will work because it's not been done in many places" 

In response to the question asked by survivors of FGM to put FGM on the sex education curriculum for both boys and girls Seema Malhotra MP and shadow minister for prevention of violence to women and girls said " we are talking about age appropriate sex education right from key stage 1" but she would not comment on whether she would commit more money in the future to prevent FGM in the UK.   Lucinda Berger the shadow minister for public health said " I'm particularly interested in how we can train and support everyone working in the health services- doctors, nurses, health visitors, midwives, social workers- and how right at the start of education this is something we need to be talking about "                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     According to provisional estimates approximately 130,000 women and girls are living with the consequences of FGM in England and Wales. In addition 60,000 English and Welsh girls were born to mothers who have undergone FGM. Though FGM has been illegal in the UK since 1985, it wasn't until 2014 that the crime was first prosecuted.      

                                         

 

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SCOTLAND VOTES TO END BEDROOM TAX FOR ALL.

 

Scottish Parliament seating (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

82,500 Homes in Scotland will now not be liable for bedroom subsidy payments after Labour, Scottish National Party and  Scottish Liberal Party voted to absorb cost imposed by Westminster.                                                                                           The Scottish Government’s annual Budget was passed with £35 million set aside to fully mitigate against the impact of the welfare reform which affects almost 82,500 Scottish households. It means no Scot can now face eviction from their home over the “tax”, which sees cuts in housing benefits for those considered to have a spare bedroom.                                                                                                                                                                                        Finance Secretary, Mr Swinney’s Budget was passed by 108 votes to 15 with only the Tories voting against. It also confirms another year of the council tax freeze, support for free university tuition, free prescriptions and free personal care.                                                          Alex Salmond's ministers repeatedly cite it and other welfare cuts as clear evidence that Tory-led governments in London are introducing damaging policies alien to Scotlands liberal ethos.                                             Swinney told Holyrood that the bedroom tax would be abolished after independence, stating  "Our actions on the bedroom tax shows the values and priorities that matter in this parliament [as] when Westminster targets the most vulnerable as part of its austerity drive, we will do all we can to protect them"                                                                 This comes soon after the UN's special investigator Raquel Rolnik announced she wanted the UK government to scrap the bedroom tax. She was denounced by the Tory party chair Grant Shapps as "that woman from Brazil". Fellow Tory MP Stuart Jackson weighed in with the classy jibe: "Loopy Brazilian Leftie".with housing minister Kris Hopkins dismissing Rolnik's report as a "Marxist diatribe"

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• John Swinney calls for bedroom tax budget backing