Serious concerns were raised yesterday about an “abortion epidemic” after a leading clinic said it was conducting the most terminations in its 32-year history. Marie Stopes International, a charity, said it had recorded its busiest month for abortions – 6,000 in January alone.

{mosimage}The figure had risen from 5,304 in the same month last year, a rise of 13 per cent. The figures led to alarm from family campaigners and concern about women having multiple abortions. Around two thirds of the agency’s work is for the NHS, which refers women to its clinics and picks up the bill.

In total it conducted 61,983 abortions last year, a figure which anti-abortionists describe as appalling given the number of infertile couples desperate to have children.

Liz Davies, the director of UK operations at Marie Stopes, said it seemed that “we may be seeing the consequences of the festive season, when partying excess and alcohol consumption combine to increase libido and lower inhibition, with the inevitable consequences of unprotected sex resulting in unplanned pregnancies”.

The agency wants a Government campaign, before next Christmas, against unprotected sex and a ministerial emphasis on women storing emergency contraception in their bathroom cupboards.

A spokesman said: “We are not saying ‘ooh go on, get loads of pills and go out and have sex’. But we would like to see a better education campaign around Christmas kick-started by the Government.” She said those presenting themselves at clinics were not just young single women off the party circuit. “We don’t just mean flighty singles. We also see long-term couples. One of the reasons some women want an abortion is that they have three children already and do not have any money for a fourth.”

Two million children went to hospital A&E departments in the United Kingdom last year following accidents – many of which could have been prevented, a joint report by the health and public expenditure watchdogs has found.

Scientists should be allowed to create human-animal hybrid embryos in the search for treatments for nervous system disorders, a Government advisory body said yesterday. The Human Genetics Commission will give its unanimous backing to the research in a public consultation to be carried out later this year by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.

Boosting levels of the brain’s natural cannabis-like chemicals could improve the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, a US study suggests. Mice with a similar condition could move normally within 15 minutes of having a cocktail including a compound which increases endocannabinoid levels.

The daily juggling act of balancing work and caring responsibilities is destined to get harder rather than easier, a survey suggests. The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) also found voters want direct support for working families to be firmly on the agenda of every political party.

One of the nine men arrested under anti-terror laws has described Britain as a “police state” for Muslims. Abu Bakr, one of two suspects released by West Midlands Police, said he was “taken aback” when he learned of the alleged plot to behead a Muslim soldier.

{mosimage}”It’s a police state for Muslims, it’s not a police state for everyone else, because these terror laws are designed specifically for Muslims. That’s quite an open fact because the people who have been arrested under terrorism laws, the groups for example that have been banned under the terrorism laws, the people that have been affected by terrorism legislation, have been Muslims.

“So we are feeling the brunt of it all. We are the ones that are being locked up, detained, and then told go back to our lives.” In an interview on BBC2’s Newsnight, Mr Bakr said the episode would live with him for the rest of his life. “I’m scared for myself and my family, because I’ve been picked up and told to go back home and everyone is assuming someone can pick up their life after such a major incident that occurs. And, you know, this is going to affect me for the rest of my life.”

Forty inter-agency teams across the UK, comprising patients and staff from mental health, emergency department and ambulance services, have completed the first phase of a national programme to improve services for people who self-harm. These teams have already produced impressive results.

Tony Blair has rejected claims that the UK is a “police state for Muslims” as “categorically wrong”. Abu Bakr, who was arrested, questioned and then released without charge over an alleged kidnap plot, made the remarks on BBC Two’s Newsnight.

{mosimage}But the prime minister’s official spokesman said anyone arrested in a police state would not have been freed and allowed to appear on television. He said: “It is a gross caricature of the political process in this country.”

Commons leader Jack Straw also attacked the claims during business questions in the Commons. He told MPs: “We should not give excuse or quarter to those who claim this country is a police state – that is absolute, utter nonsense. We live in a democracy and what we are sadly having to fight at the moment is people who seek to destroy the very basis of our democracy.”

Mr Bakr, from Birmingham, when asked about his arrest, questioning and subsequent release without charge, had told the BBC: “It’s a police state for Muslims. It’s not a police state for everybody else because these terror laws are designed specifically for Muslims and that’s quite an open fact.”

Mr Bakr, who is studying for a PhD in Political Islam, said he became aware of the police forcing their way into his house early on Wednesday last week by his wife screaming. He added that he had been released by police a week later and told to “go back to things how they were”.

A hearing into the conduct of a Registered Social Worker from Loughton will be held on 16 February 2007 by the social care workforce regulator the General Social Care Council (GSCC).