NHS Alcohol-Related Admissions Near '10 Million'

By Frazer Maude, North Of England Correspondent

Almost 10 million people a year are receiving NHS treatment because of alcohol, according to new figures.

The report compiled by Alcohol Concern shows the number and cost of treatments for illness and injury caused directly by drinking, like binge-fuelled trips to A&E or liver disease.

It also shows the cost of conditions in which alcohol is a significant factor.

A new online map highlights the total number of alcohol-related NHS admissions hit almost 10 million in England during 2012-13.

While A&E admissions accounted for six in every 10 alcohol-related hospital visits, inpatient admissions were responsible for almost two thirds of the total cost burden.

In England as a whole the figures suggest that drinking is attributable for almost half of all head and neck cancer inpatient admissions at a cost to the NHS of £65.3m.

A&E admissions accounted for six in every 10 alcohol-related visits

Just over 13% of all malignant breast neoplasm admissions were attributable to alcohol, costing the NHS £27.1m.

In total 9.6 million people in England are now drinking in excess of Government guidelines, with 2.4 million of those classed as high risk.

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1. Gallery: Men & Women: Alcohol Guidance

   Women's bodies, in general, process alcohol at a slower rate than men's, says Drink Aware

2. Alcohol can affect women's fertility, create a greater risk of breast cancer and increase some side-effects of the menopause

3. The NHS estimates that around 4% of UK women show signs of alcoholism

4. Alcohol daily guidelines for women are 2-3 units of alcohol, equivalent to a 175 ml glass of wine

5. Alcohol daily guidelines for men are no more than of 3-4 units of alcohol, equivalent to a pint and a half of 4% beer

Commenting on the data, Alcohol Concern Chief Executive Jackie Ballard said: "The NHS is now facing an intolerable strain from alcohol-related illnesses.

"We need to ensure adequate alcohol care pathways are prioritised and appropriate services are put in place to ease this burden."

Dr Carsten Grimm, Clinical Lead for the Alcohol Service in Kirklees, Yorkshire, said: "It is vital that people understand the full consequences of drinking at unsafe levels can have on their health.

Video: Alcohol NHS Impact Regional Guide

"With almost 10 million alcohol-related hospital admissions, we can see just how serious an impact unsafe levels of alcohol consumption is having on our health system."

A Department of Health statement said the Government is well aware of the costs caused by drinking.

"We know that alcohol-fuelled harm costs society about £21bn a year and are determined to reduce this burden to taxpayers. The rise in admissions is very concerning and we are taking action to tackle cheap and harmful alcohol.

Video: Pill Could Cut Desire For Alcohol

"We have given local authorities £8.2m over three years to tackle health issues in their communities like harmful drinking.

"We are working with industry to promote drinking within recommended guidelines and responsible drinking through local schemes, and are already making headway by removing a billion units from the market over four years." 

Video: 'We've Seen Liver Disease Double'

Video: New Report On Drinking And Health

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Writer's POW Father Inspired Prize-Winning Book

Australian novelist Richard Flanagan has won the Man Booker Prize after drawing on his father's World War Two prisoner of war experience to write The Narrow Road To The Deep North.

The book tells the story of Dorrigo Evans, a surgeon imprisoned in a Japanese work camp on the Thailand-Burma railway where tens of thousands of people died.

Named after a classic work of Japanese literature, the book is dedicated to Flanagan's father - referred to by his prisoner number, 335.

He died aged 98 on the day his son finished the book he had been working on for 12 years.

Flanagan, 53, is the third Australian to win the prize, which includes a trophy and an award of £50,000.

"As a child, my father taught me the Japanese words 'san byaku san ju go'. It was his number, 335, that he answered to as a slave labourer of the Japanese on the Death Railway," Flanagan said.

The Duchess of Cornwall presented the award

"It was, I guess, a strange mystery. Occasionally I glimpsed what that enigma might be in laughter, a grimace, a hand momentarily tensing on my shoulder, or the recited lines of others. After many years, I discovered it was also me.

"And so I am a child of the Death Railway. I am a writer. And sometimes it falls to a writer to seek to communicate the incommunicable."

The Australian writer left school at 16, before later winning a scholarship to the University of Oxford in England, where he completed a Master of Letters degree and worked as a river guide.

He initially wrote history books, before switching to fiction.

"I do not come out of a literary tradition, I come from a tiny mining town in the rainforest in an island at the end of the world. My grandparents were illiterate and I never expected to stand here before you in this grand hall in London as a writer being so honoured," he said.

"The two great themes from the origin of literature are love and war: this is a magnificent novel of love and war," said academic AC Grayling, who presented the award at a ceremony attended by the Duchess of Cornwall in London's Guildhall.

"This is the book that Richard Flanagan was born to write."

This was the first year writers of all nationalities have been eligible for the Booker, previously open only to authors from Britain, Ireland and the Commonwealth of dozens of former British colonies, including Australia.

Some British writers had expressed fears that the change in eligibility could lead to US dominance of the 46-year-old award.

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Royal Hoax Radio DJ Seeks Work In The UK

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

One of the Australian DJs at the heart of the royal hoax phone call scandal has told a UK radio conference she would like to work on the airwaves in Britain.

Mel Greig appeared at Radio Festival 2014 in Manchester where she told delegates that making a speech at her engagement party had made her realise she was ready to return to radio.

"When I held that microphone I realised I did want to return to media," the DJ said.

"When I held it and felt so comfortable that's when I thought 'No, this is what I've always known, this is what I've done, it's such a powerful medium to get our messages across, I don't want to give this up'."

Nurse Jacintha Saldanha killed herself in 2012

Asked if she would move to the UK, the DJ replied: "It's beautiful here so, absolutely, I'd love to move here if the opportunity came up."

Greig apologised for her role in the incident at the inquest of nurse Jacintha Saldanha last month, and told the conference of her horror and disgust at the part she played in the prank.

Video: Hoax 'Pressing' On Nurse's Mind

"I was disgusted with myself, that I'd played a part in this poor woman's suicide, it was very hard to deal with."

Greig added: "It was horrific. And at the time I felt that I deserved it, people were saying you deserve to die and I honestly thought I do deserve to die.

"I had failed as a human being - someone has taken their own life because of something I was involved in."

In 2012 Greig and co-host Michael Christian called the hospital treating the Duchess of Cambridge for acute morning sickness posing as the Queen and Prince Charles.

Jacintha Saldanha, who transferred the call to another nurse on the Duchess's ward, was found dead a few days later.

Video: Hoax Nurse's Family Speak Of Grief

Ms Greig subsequently suffered from depression.

She said broadcasting wasn't a job but a passion and she'd be a wiser presenter after a tough two years on the sidelines.

She has a regular slot on breakfast TV in Australia but otherwise is "being patient with it and hoping the right opportunity comes up".

Critics accuse the DJ of playing the victim to rebuild her own career - but the Australian insists that's not the case.

"We need to see what we can learn from a tragic situation," the 32-year-old said.

Video: India Remembers Jacintha Saldanha

"I'm hoping that even if one person walks out of this room and it changes their mindset the next time they go to do something that might affect someone, then my job is done."

She also talked about going to hospital for major surgery for endometriosis, a fertility condition, and said: "I was convinced that that was my karma. That I took a mother, and now I don't deserve to be a mother."

A two-day inquest at the High Court heard Mrs Saldanha held herself responsible for the mistake, despite the private hospital's management supporting her and the other nurse as victims of a cruel joke.

Michael Christian has returned to the airwaves on Australian radio.

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Police Bail Limit Review After Yewtree Arrests

The length of time suspects can be kept on police bail is to be reviewed after a number of celebrities were left waiting months to hear if they would be charged with sex offences.

The Home Secretary announced the move in a speech at the College of Policing annual conference.

It comes after the Metropolitan Police came under fire over arrests made during Operation Yewtree, which was set up after the Jimmy Savile scandal.

Theresa May will announce the review

BBC radio presenter Paul Gambaccini and the comedians Jim Davidson and Freddie Starr all had to wait months before finding no action would be taken against them over sex offence allegations.

Gambaccini's lawyers criticised the police after he was told last week he would face no further action, a year after he was questioned by police and released on bail.

Video: 22/08/13: Davidson On Abuse Claims

Davidson was on bail for eight months and Starr for 18 months before being told no further action would be taken.

Mrs May said: "I am pleased that the college is developing evidence-based guidance to bring consistency, transparency and rigour to the way in which pre-charge bail is used in criminal investigations.

"You have consulted on the operational guidance and will publish your findings shortly.

Video: 06/05/14: Starr Charges Relief

"But in parallel we must also look at statutory time limits on the use of pre-charge bail to prevent people spending months or even years on bail only for no charges to be brought."

Human rights group Liberty has called for a six-month statutory limit.

Figures released after a Freedom of Information request in May last year showed there were 57,000 on bail – of those 3,000 had been on bail for more than six months.

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Jobless Total Back Below Two-Million Mark

The latest unemployment figures show the jobless total below the two-million mark for the first time since 2008.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said unemployment fell by 154,000 in the three months to August to 1.97 million, with the jobless rate falling by more than expected to 6% - its lowest level since October 2008.

But the figures also highlighted continuing concerns about wage growth - measured at just 0.7% on an annual basis between June and August.

It meant that earnings were still failing to keep pace with inflation despite annual living cost increases being calculated on Tuesday at just 1.2%.

The ONS statistics also showed that growth in employment had slowed to its weakest pace since May 2013 though it took the total in work to a new UK record of 30.7 million.

The fall in the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in September was the smallest since April last year, down 18,600 month on month.

There are fears the UK's economic recovery risks being damaged by renewed weakness globally - with some economists forecasting a new recession in the UK's biggest market, the eurozone.

Unemployment has fallen by 538,000 over the past year, the biggest annual reduction since records began in 1972.

Prime Minister David Cameron reacted to the figures by tweeting: "The biggest-ever fall in unemployment in history, taking it below two million, is great news. Our plan is working, but there's still much more to do."

The statistics showed progress on the crisis in youth unemployment - which covers 16 to 24-year-olds - easing by 88,000 over the quarter to 733,000.

There were 162,000 unemployed 16-and-17-year-olds, down by 11,000 on the previous three months.

But the number classed as economically inactive increased by 113,000 in the latest quarter to more than nine million - a figure that risks damaging the Government's attempts to bring down the UK's welfare bill.

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Sainsbury's Endures Backlash On Nectar Cuts

Sainsbury's customers have threatened to shop elsewhere after the supermarket chain confirmed it was planning cuts to its Nectar reward points.

The company, which announced the changes in an email, said it was halving points to one per pound spent in store or online from 11 April 2015.

It also planned to stop rewarding customers with points for using their own bags but would continue to award one point for each litre of fuel bought from its pumps.

Sainsbury's insisted there would be "lots of opportunities to boost your balance faster and more value when you spend your points" but recipients of the email took to Twitter to complain.

Chris Whitehead tweeted: "Hey @Sainsburys if I enter into a relationship with an agreed expectation of loyalty, then you change it, expect divorce. Hi @Ocado."

Anna McNally wrote: "So @Sainsburys will no longer be giving me nectar points for reusing my bags but will be giving out extra points on fuel. Sounds very green."

A Sainsbury's spokeswoman said: "We are changing the way customers earn Nectar points and launching more high-value bonus events, like Swipe to Win, 10xpoints on fuel and adding more categories to our Christmas 'Double Up' event so that customers can make their points go even further."

It claimed the changes were a "redistribution" of points rather than a saving on the scheme and said there were no cost savings to the retailer in the first 12 months.

Sainsbury's - like its biggest rivals Tesco and Morrisons - have been losing ground to hard discounters such as Aldi and Lidl in a fierce price war.

Of the 'big four' chains, only Asda has grown its share in recent months.

The new Sainsbury's boss, Mike Coupe, has previously warned that the supermarket sector is facing its most turbulent period in three decades.

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Baby Death: Family Rebuked Over Dangerous Dog

By Lisa Dowd, Sky News Correspondent

A baby girl bled to death from head wounds after being attacked by the family dog, according to the provisional findings of a coroner.

An inquest in Northampton into the death of six-month-old Molly-Mae Wotherspoon heard the baby died at  an address in Timken, Daventry on October 3.

The baby was being cared for by her maternal grandmother, who was herself bitten as she tried to protect the baby.

The child's mother, Claire Riley, identified the body.

Coroner for Northamptonshire Mrs Anne Pember said the family had "paid the ultimate price".

She said during the two-minute hearing: "I understand that the family owned the American Pitbull Terrier who attacked Molly-Mae.

"The public should be aware this breed of dog is classified under the Dangerous Dogs Act for a reason, it is very dangerous.

"The family in this case have paid the ultimate price for owning such a dog - the death of their six-month-old baby."

The inquest was adjourned until February 11.

Police are continuing to investigate the "horrific" circumstances of the dog attack.

Molly-Mae's family issued a brief statement last week.

It said: "The family wish to say at this point that we are totally devastated and in complete shock for the tragic loss of our little princess and ask that we are left alone to grieve."

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Glastonbury In Native American Headdress Ruling

Traders at next year's Glastonbury Festival have been forbidden from selling Native American headdresses following an online petition.

The headwear is often worn by revellers at summer festivals all over the world and has controversially become something of a fashion item.

The campaign was launched on Change.org by Daniel W Round who argues that wearing the headdress is "offensive and disrespectful".

"A concerning trend has become increasingly prevalent over the past few years at Glastonbury and other music festivals – that of the wearing of Native American-style headdresses.

"This summer in particular, I noticed far more festival-goers wearing the headdress as an item of fashion than at previous events - hence this petition," he wrote.

Wearing the headdress has been seen as racial stereotyping

"There has long been consensus among indigenous civil rights activists in North America about the wearing of headdresses by non-Natives – that it is an offensive and disrespectful form of cultural appropriation, that it homogenises diverse indigenous peoples, and that it perpetuates damaging, archaic and racist stereotypes."

Now organisers have added the headdress to a list of things stalls at the event must not sell unless they have prior authorisation.

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1. Gallery: Kasabian Close Glastonbury Festival

   Kasabian headlined the Pyramid Stage on Sunday as the annual Glastonbury Festival drew to close.

2. The band's lead singer Tom Meighan took centre stage as photographers snapped away.

3. Kasabian put on an energetic show, performing hits including Club Foot, Shoot The Runner and Processed Beats.

4. The clean-up after all of teh festivities could take up to six weeks.

5. It is hard to believe the farm will be a functioning dairy again later in the summer.

6. Some of what is left behind is recycled or given to charity.

7. The reveller doesn't seem ready to leave.

8. Dolly Parton performed to more than 100,000 people at this year's Glastonbury Festival.

9. The country music legend said it was an "honour" and a "thrill" to perform at the event.

10. She was joined on the Pyramid Stage by Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora.

11. The crowd was thrilled by Dolly Parton's performance.

12. Earlier, Ed Sheeran also played at Worthy Farm in Somerset.

13. The vocalist has trumped Coldplay to rise to the top of the albums chart.

14. Festival goers enjoyed a packed line-up of acts during the three-day event.

15. Highlights included a performance from Metallica, who took to the stage on Saturday.

16. Ellie Goulding danced her way through an hour-long set.

17. The singer played hits including Starry Eyed, Figure 8 and Anything Could Happen.

18. A damp start turned much of the Glastonbury Festival site to mud ...

19. ... but festival goers still managed to find a sunbathing spot on Sunday.

22. A usually peacefully corner of Somerset is transformed during the festival ...

23. ... as 175,000 people make Worthy Farm their temporary home.

24. A music fan takes a break from the fun and festivities.

25. Glastonbury Festival isn't all about the music. The English National Ballet performed Lest We Forget, a routine about the First World War.

27. Performers march a model giraffe through Theatre Field at Glastonbury.

28. When the festival goers leave, the clean-up begins. Here, rubbish piles up at a recycling centre at Worthy Farm.

The list also includes cigarettes, alcohol, candles or flares among other items.

Emily Eavis told NME it was not a outright ban.

Mr Round was pleased with the result: "Our petition, small in numbers but passionate in support, pushed this issue right up to Emily Eavis, and she listened.

Video: Govt Abandoned Somerset, Says Eavis

"From next year, alongside candle flares and flags, Native American style headdresses will not be on sale at Glasto stalls."

The campaigner said he hopes to take the campaign to other festivals in the UK.

All 135,000 tickets to next year's event at Worthy Farm have sold out and Fleetwood Mac are among the bookies' favourites to headline.

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Beginners' Luck For EuroMillions Builders

Six builders are celebrating winning more than £300,000 in a EuroMillions lottery draw as part of a syndicate that had entered for the first time.

The men, who work in Glasgow and all live near each other in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, will each get £55,527.90 as a share of the £333,167.40 win.

Five numbers and one Lucky Star came up for the syndicate in last Tuesday's draw.

The lucky winners celebrate their success

The winners - Nigel Himsworth, 41, Adam Wright, 27, Ashley Robinson, 28, Adam Booth, 20, Michael Hunt, 31, and Darren Fisher, 42 - work for a specialist contractor and have been in Glasgow for the past few weeks.

Mr Himsworth said: "I buy a ticket for EuroMillions when it's a rollover and had bought mine one morning before work.

Video: EuroMillions Prize Winner Revealed

"A couple of the lads are new to the team and we were chatting and decided we would give it a go as a syndicate.

"We each put on three Lucky Dips and on the Wednesday morning we checked our tickets.

"Four of us had checked our tickets on the way to work and when we arrived Ashley checked what turned out to be the winning ticket.

"We heard him shouting a mile away.

Video: Couple 'Giggled' At Lottery Win

"We had checked the tickets at 7am and the claim line didn't open until 9am so we were all pacing up and down until we knew everything was confirmed.

"We're over the moon with our win. We went out for a celebration at the weekend when we were home and we were treated like pop stars.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet so no one has decided what to spend their money on at this stage, but I'm sure there will be a few holidays being planned."

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Lord Freud Accused Over Disabled Comments

Welfare minister Lord Freud was under pressure to resign after Labour leader Ed Miliband disclosed he claimed that disabled people were "not worth" the minimum wage.

Welfare charities joined politicians in calling for the Conservative minister to go over comments he made at a think-tank event where he suggested mentally disabled people should only be paid £2 an hour and not the full £6.50.

Mr Miliband ambushed David Cameron with the revelations at Prime Minister's Questions saying it proved the Tories had returned to their "nasty party" past.

Lord Freud, the great grandson of Sigmund Freud, made the comments on 30 September after being questioned on disabled people and the minimum wage by a Conservative councillor.

He said: "Now, there is a small … there is a group, and I know exactly who you mean, where actually as you say they're not worth the full wage and actually I'm going to go and think about that particular issue, whether there is something we can do nationally, and without distorting the whole thing, which actually if someone wants to work for £2 an hour, and it's working can we actually ..."

Video: Miliband On Attack Over Lord Freud

The minister was swift to issue a "full and unreserved apology".

In a statement he said: "I was foolish to accept the premise of the question. To be clear, all disabled people should be paid at least the minimum wage, without exception, and I accept that it is offensive to suggest anything else."

He added: "I am profoundly sorry for any offence I have caused to any disabled people."

Responding to Mr Miliband's attack, Mr Cameron said: "Of course disabled people should be paid the minimum wage."

The Prime Minister, whose son Ivan suffered with cerebral palsy combined with a form of epilepsy before his death in 2009 aged six, added: "I don't need lectures from anyone about looking after disabled people."

Following the exchange in the House of Commons, Mr Cameron's spokesman said: "The Prime Minister will want to hear the full context of what happened and also wants to hear what Lord Freud has to say."

Employment minister Esther McVey said Lord Freud's comments "will haunt him".

A Labour party spokesperson said: "This attempt at an apology is not the end of the matter. Lord Freud claims he merely accepted 'the premise of the question' but it was he who said some disabled people are 'not worth the full wage' and it was he who suggested paying people just £2 an hour. In fact he said he would go away to look at this issue, suggesting that this Government would consider it.

"Someone holding these views shouldn't be in government. Disability charities have already condemned Lord Freud's comments in the strongest possible terms, senior Tories have called for Lord Freud to resign, a ministerial colleague has said these words will 'haunt him', yet David Cameron has so far failed to act." 

A Liberal Democrat spokesperson said: "The views expressed by Lord Freud are completely unacceptable. The Liberal Democrats are proud to have raised the minimum wage repeatedly in Government and will resist any attempt to cut it for anybody, not least the disabled."

However, they added ministerial appointments were a matter for Mr Cameron.

Tom Pollard, policy and campaigns manager at Mind, said: "It is offensive and outdated to suggest that someone with a disability should be prepared to accept less than minimum wage.

"People with disabilities, including mental health problems, can and do make a valuable contribution to the workplace and should be paid the same as any other employees."

A spokesperson for the disability charity Scope said: "The suggestion that disabled people should be prepared to be paid less than minimum wage is unacceptable." 

Lord Freud has come under fire for previous comments including saying that families hit by the so-called "bedroom tax" can "go out to work" or use a sofa bed when the children come to stay.

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