A researcher conducting a study into the mental health of young soldiers is hoping to remove the “huge stigma” attached to asking for support within the Army. Steven Walker, a principal research officer at the University of Essex, is working with his colleague Professor Gill Green on a study into the emotional health of young soldiers, some of whom are based in Colchester.

Midwives opposing controversial Making it Better plans to axe maternity services from Fairfield Hospital are taking to the streets this weekend in a protest against cuts to the NHS. The demo is to take place on Saturday with protesters assembling at 12 noon in Manchester’s Albert Square.

Community groups tackling gangs and gun crime will be able to apply for a share of £500,000 government funding from today. Groups can apply for up to £5,000 each from the sixth round of the Connected Fund, which exists to combat gangs through educational, sporting and cultural activities.

A young woman manager who was sacked because her plan to adopt a child would make her “no bloody use” to her employers won a landmark employment tribunal case yesterday.

The head of the new equality commission yesterday called for race quota laws that will allow employers to favour minorities. Trevor Phillips demanded that 30-year-old rules, which forbid discrimination on grounds of race or sex, should be scrapped.

An elderly woman who died after an accident in her home was let down by the carers who should have looked after her, a government ombudsman has said. Maria Stones, 95, died after her home-help failed to report a fall in January 2004 which left her with eight broken ribs.

A town is being stripped of scores of public sector jobs because its residents are “too white and British”. The Prison Service is relocating the posts to a nearby city where there are more ethnic minorities.

A vote of no confidence in the governor of a young offenders’ institution hit by rioting has been delivered by the Prison Officers Association (POA). A wing at Deerbolt, near Barnard Castle, County Durham, was taken over by inmates for five hours on Tuesday.

The government faced accusations last night of moving too slowly to identify adults deemed a risk to children after it announced that 13 individuals previously cleared to work with youngsters have now been banned from working in schools.

Health Minister Rosie Winterton today expressed her deep concern about the impact on patient and public protection that the amendments the House of Lords has made to the Government’s Mental Health Bill.

{mosimage}Rosie Winterton told the Local Government Association conference on the Mental Health Bill in London : “Every year, over 1,300 people in contact with mental health services take their own lives. Every year, mental health patients commit around 50 homicides. Often, these are preceded by a reluctance to continue taking the treatment that would keep them well.

“We believe the present law can deny treatment to those who are in urgent need of it. We want to modernise the law to remove these obstacles both for community-based and hospital treatment for the good of patients themselves and to better protect the public.

“But the Peers have seriously weakened our plans for better protection for patients and the public. I want to spell out the impact of the changes that the peers have made and the very real risks if they are not reversed.”