Defence Sec: Cut Welfare Not Troops

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has warned he will resist further cuts to the armed forces in Chancellor George Osborne's forthcoming spending review.

After Downing Street said publicly last month that the military would not be immune from further financial retrenchment, Mr Hammond has vowed to fight against anything more than modest "efficiency savings".

He said other Conservative Cabinet ministers believed that the greatest burden of any cuts should fall on the welfare budget.

A Whitehall source said Mr Hammond's comments were aimed particularly at the Lib Dems following remarks by senior Lib Dem ministers indicating that they believed welfare spending should be protected over defence.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Hammond said there was a "body of opinion within Cabinet who believes that we have to look at the welfare budget again", and that "we should be seeing welfare spending falling" as a result of rising employment levels.

He said the "first priority" for the Government should be "defending the country and maintaining law and order" and that further defence cuts were not possible while meeting stated security objectives.

Mr Hammond says the welfare budget should be curbed instead

"I shall go into the spending review fighting the case for the defence budget on the basis that we have made very large cuts to defence, we've done that with the collaboration and co-operation of the military," he said.

"Any further reduction in the defence budget would fall on the level of activity that we were able to carry out - the idea that expensively bought equipment may not be able to be used, expensively employed troops may not be able to be exercised and trained as regularly as they need to be.

"I am not going into the spending review offering any further reductions in personnel."

Mr Hammond's comments are likely to be welcomed by Tory backbenchers who have been calling for a return to a core Conservative values in the wake of the party's trouncing in the Eastleigh by-election.

However they will also heighten tensions within the coalition, with the Liberal Democrats resisting a further squeeze on welfare spending.

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Middle-Aged Drinking Takes Toll on 'Ladettes'

By James Matthews, Sky Correspondent

The "ladette" culture of the 1980s and 90s is a key factor in the growing number of middle-aged women turning to drink, according to the founder of a support website.

Lucy Rocca says women between 30 and 50 are turning to alcohol as a natural choice, having grown up in an era when drinking to excess was encouraged. 

Ms Rocca set up the Soberistas website after developing - and overcoming - a dependency on alcohol. 

Within two months, more than 1,500 women had joined the forum to discuss problem drinking. The overwhelming majority are middle-aged and many are professional, career women.

Ms Rocca told Sky News: "I think the reason that women of that age are finding themselves in that position where they are drinking too much is that a lot of them grew up in a ladette culture and went on to get married and have children. 

"They had grown up in a culture where it was acceptable and encouraged, really, to drink excessively and, once they found themselves dealing with motherhood and stresses of work, they swapped the pints for the wine and they drank at home to try to deal with that stress."

Former 'ladette' poster girl Zoë Ball recently gave up alcohol

Figures for hospital admissions reflect a recent increase in problem-drinking among women between 30 and 50. 

According to the Department of Health, in England in 2010 there were 110,128 alcohol-related hospital admissions for women in their mid-30s to mid-50s. This was nearly double the number of admissions of women aged 15-34.

In Scotland, the number of alcohol-related deaths among women aged 30-44 has doubled in the past 20 years. 

In January, the Scottish Government launched a new photo app called Drinking Mirror as part of an initiative it dubbed Drop A Glass Size.

Its aim is to encourage women to curb excessive drinking by showing them a photo of how they will look in 10 years' time, depending how much they drink.

Sarah Turner, 57, who runs a centre for women with drink problems, was a millionaire property developer until she developed an addiction to wine and vodka.

Her business collapsed and her home was repossessed. Having now recovered, she helps middle-class, middle-aged women deal with drink problems. 

She believes their needs are too often ignored, while resources are channelled towards areas like teenage binge-drinking.

She told Sky News: "There is enough being done for the disassociated and the disadvantaged.

"The middle-class, middle-aged woman is so shameful, guilty and fearful of coming forward to talk about this problem and they become hidden, secret drinkers.

"This is happening in the home on an epic scale now."

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Breast Cancer: UK Lagging In Survival Rates

By Thomas Moore, Health and Science Correspondent

Ageism and poor treatment are reducing women's chances of surviving breast cancer, new research suggests.

The study, funded by The Department of Health, revealed that women in Britain are far less likely to be alive three years after diagnosis than those in other well-developed countries.

Researchers at the Cancer Research UK Cancer Survival Group found that 87-89% of women in the UK and Denmark were alive three years after diagnosis, compared to 91-94% in Australia, Canada, Norway and Sweden.

Figures published in the British Journal of Cancer show the biggest difference was in women aged over 70. In the UK the three-year survival rate is 79%; in Sweden it is 91%.

The scientists say the findings suggest older women and those with more advanced disease are treated less aggressively in the UK.

Dr Sarah Walters, who led the research, said: "In the UK, women are diagnosed at a similar stage as elsewhere, but survival is lower than women with the same stage of disease in other countries.

"We should now investigate whether the treatment of women with later-stage breast cancer meets international standards. There is particular concern that this is not the case, especially for older women."

Sara Hiom, the charity's director of early diagnosis, said the survival gap between the UK and other countries is closing, but the country still fares worse.

"We know that UK women diagnosed with breast cancer are not routinely given CT scans to check if the disease has spread, which could mean we aren't always accurately staging more advanced disease.

"But we also need to investigate the possibility that fewer women with later stage breast cancer in the UK receive the best treatment for their circumstances."

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "This study will help us keep improving breast cancer treatment as part of our cancer strategy to save an extra 5,000 lives a year by 2014.

"We have worked with Macmillan Cancer Support to improve access to assessment, treatment and aftercare for cancer patients over 70.

"The NHS is also working to ensure all patients are treated as individuals and receive care that meets their healthcare needs whatever their age or condition."

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Don Valley Stadium: Jessica Ennis In Appeal

By Mike McCarthy, North of England Correspondent

Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis has made an eleventh-hour appeal to save the stadium that helped to inspire her.

Councillors are expected to approve closure of the Don Valley Stadium at a budget meeting today.

It is where the sports star perfected her athletic prowess as a youngster and where she still trains.

The heptathlete was discovered on a summer schools training camp at the Sheffield stadium and thousands watched her charge to Olympic glory on a big screen inside the venue.

But despite the heptathlete's objections it looks likely that councillors will approve a plan to bulldoze the building.

Ennis said: "It would be a huge shame.

"I've got some amazing memories, starting my athletic career there and having that iconic stadium in my home city is incredible.

"To lose that would be such a shame for future athletes coming through, so I hope that the right decision's made and we can find a way to keep it."

Councillors in Sheffield have been accused of squandering the Olympic legacy but they say the 22-year-old stadium is often empty and needs major refurbishment that the city cannot afford.

Ennis won one of Team GB's 29 gold medals at the London 2012 Olympic Games

The Labour-controlled council argues that it has to save £50m as a result of Government budget cuts and if the venue remained open local leisure centres would have to close instead.

Councillor Isobel Bowler said: "We have to choose where we put our money. If we kept this stadium open we might have to shut two or three or possibly even four local leisure centres. That's not the way to preserve the Olympic legacy."

Deputy Prime Minister and Sheffield MP Nick Clegg has urged the city council to keep the stadium open.

The sporting community is also strongly opposed to its closure.

Jessica Ennis' coach Toni Minichiello has invested many years of nurturing young talent at Don Valley and accuses the local authority of short-sightedness.

He told Sky News:  "It is an iconic stadium and its a place that has inspired youngsters and none more so than Jessica Ennis.

"It is a fantastic facility and it is an incredible shame to lose something like this from the sporting map.

"Having taken the youngsters all the way through to Olympic gold you see that this actually can be done in Sheffield.

"Why, if you can have one Jessica Ennis, can you not have two or three?

"That opportunity all of a sudden looked to be there and now it's going to be taken away from a whole new generation of youngsters."

The local authority says the building costs £700,000 a year to run.

It aims to redevelop the nearby Woodbourn athletics stadium - an older building that has been mothballed for a few years. That would cost approximately £100,000.

The Don Valley stadium was opened in 1991 to host the World Student Games in the hope that it would help revitalise the largely derelict east end of Sheffield.

The full cost of staging the event is not due to be paid off until 2024.

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MoD 'Wasting Funds On Unnecessary Equipment'

By Ali Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is "wasting significant amounts of public money" buying equipment it does not need, according to a group of politicians.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has closely examined the management of the UK defence inventory by totting up what it orders and how much it spends on new kit and then comparing that to how much equipment is actually used.

MP Richard Bacon, who sits on the PAC, criticised the MoD.

"While it is perfectly understandable that the department would want to ensure troops on the front line have the equipment they need, it is simply not good enough for the MoD to blame the Treasury for not incentivising it to deal with the issue," he said.

"The MoD should set targets to reduce unnecessary ordering and regularly review its progress to see where else money could be saved.

"With stock returning from Afghanistan and soon from Germany, the problem is likely to get worse unless the MoD acts now to get rid of the £3.4bn stockpile of supplies it has identified as no longer being needed.

"It needs to act fast as some central depots for non-explosive items are already 90% full."

Between April 2009 and March 2011, the MoD purchased 38% more raw material and consumable inventory, such as clothing or ammunition, than it used, costing £1.5bn.

The MoD is also criticised for not getting rid of stock it no longer needs or does not use regularly.

The report reminds the Government that it had been told to sort out its act as long ago as 1991 but has failed to address the "root problems".

It suggests that the MoD should hire professionals who would be better able to identify the problems. 

The MoD has accepted past failings and promised to improve the way it buys new equipment.

"I am determined to reverse decades of lax inventory management to ensure that MoD assets are managed much more efficiently in the future," responded Philip Dunne, the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology.

"Considerable progress has been made since 2010; the size and value of our holdings are now heading in the right direction and we plan to spend almost £2bn less on inventory over the next four years. Introducing comprehensive programmes and modern IT systems to enforce rigorous control are central to this improvement."

The committee does credit the MoD for acknowledging there is still a problem and suggests it is cautiously optimistic that things are getting better, but does warn that past promises of improvement have not materialised.

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CPS Taxi Fraud: Charges Over £1m Plot

Two workers at the Crown Prosecution Service are facing charges over a fraud plot involving false taxi claims worth at least £1m.

Finance manager Lisa Burrows, 41, from Birmingham, and an administrative officer who has not been named, work for CPS West Midlands.

The allegations concern false claims for witness care taxi services to the value of at least £1m when no such services had been supplied, the CPS alleged in a statement.

Malcolm McHaffie, deputy head of special crime for the CPS, said the charges followed a complaint by the Crown Prosecution Service and a subsequent investigation by West Midlands Police into two members of CPS staff.

"I have now concluded that it is appropriate to charge both Burrows and the other individual with conspiracy to commit fraud," he said.

Mr McHaffie added that while the administrative officer had not yet been charged, Burrows was due appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court on Thursday.

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Armed Forces Facing £11bn More Cuts Warning

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

More redundancies could be made in the UK Armed Forces according to new analysis of the defence budget.

The respected Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) claims cuts to budgets are "likely" in 2015, despite hopes that the worst was over.

According to the Institute's calculations, the military might have to accept that budget savings need to be made of around "£11bn ... over 10 years as a result of the decisions taken in Autumn Statement 2012 and Spending Review 2013".

"The MoD is likely to face a very difficult 2015 spending review, especially if the country's wider fiscal position remains as difficult as is now projected," RUSI predicts.

The Ministry of Defence recently announced the latest round of redundancies that will affect the army, with 5,300 soldiers to lose their jobs in June.

The RUSI report says the MoD does not face a problem "comparable in magnitude to the black hole it faced in the 2010 Spending Review", but it concludes that the UK's overall economic outlook will lead to reduced budgets.

In response, Philip Dunne, the Defence, Equipment, Support and Technology Minister, has said: "The MoD budget for 2015/16 will be set this summer and the budget for subsequent years will be finalised in the next full spending review.

"The Treasury has made clear that the MoD may plan on receiving a 1% real-terms increase in the equipment budget from 2015/16 onwards.

"This has been endorsed by the Prime Minister. Our Armed Forces will remain a formidable fighting force, backed by the fourth-largest defence budget in the world."

RUSI concludes that the best hope for a return to defence spending is a recovery in the overall economy - something that the government cannot seem to achieve.

However, this worst-case-scenario painted by RUSI is based on hypothetical outcomes and will be regarded by some as unrealistic and scare-mongering.

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Belfast: Rocket Launcher And Warhead Found

A rocket launcher and a warhead have been discovered by police investigating dissident republicans in West Belfast, police said.

Officers found the weapons, which were intended to kill, while searching a house in Hawthorn Street, said a spokesman from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

The spokesman said: "These weapon systems are clearly intended to kill and we should be in no doubt that the recovery of these items has saved lives."

Dissidents have been linked to a series of attempts to kill members of the security forces, including soldiers, police and a prison officer.

The weapons were found in west Belfast

Earlier this month Irish police intercepted a suspected dissident republican haul of rocket launchers and explosives in Co Tipperary which were believed to be en route to Northern Ireland.

The police spokesman said: "Detectives from PSNI serious crime branch have this evening recovered a rocket launcher and warhead from a house.

"The search was conducted in relation to ongoing dissident republican activity."

The items have been taken away for forensic examination. Police have been on high alert for more attacks in Northern Ireland for some time.

Earlier officers expressed concern about helping police at the G8 this summer in Northern Ireland because of the danger.

PSNI chief constable Matt Baggott has warned he needs more officers to cope with the security threat and other unrest.

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Ben Nevis Climber Killed In 165ft Fall

A climber has died after falling 50 metres (165ft) on Ben Nevis.

The man was climbing with a friend in the Raeburn's Buttress area of the UK's highest mountain, in the Scottish Highlands, when he fell at around 12.30pm on Monday.

Two helicopters rushed to the scene with Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team, but the man died during the rescue.

Police are trying to establish the exact circumstances around the death and will not release information on the victim until his family have been informed.

Raeburn's Buttress is popular climbing area on the north face of Ben Nevis, which stands at 1,344 metres (4,409ft).

Last month a 22-year-old climber died after falling 100 metres on the mountain.

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Military Complaints: MPs Want Ombudsman

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

Bullying and harassment are on the increase in the UK armed services and the system needs to change, according to a senior group of politicians.

Their report goes on to claim that the existing structure within the military is incapable of dealing with complaints because it is inefficient and complicated.

The House of Commons Defence Select Committee has spoken out against the current complaints procedure and made it clear that an Armed Forces Ombudsman should be appointed to rectify this.

Committee chairman James Arbuthnot has claimed "there are too many reports of Service personnel being reluctant to raise genuine complaints and grievances".

Replacing the Service Complaints Commissioner with an Armed Forces Ombudsman would hold "the Services to account for the proper administration of their complaints processes and the delivery of justice, and identifying possible improvements to the system".

However, the committee made clear its disappointment that the Ministry of Defence has not taken its wishes onboard.

Among other recommendations, the politicians want the performance of Commanding Officers to be monitored when facing complaints.

"There are still too many instances of delay and inefficiency, in part caused by a lack of resources," Mr Arbuthnot said.

"This must be dealt with urgently so as to ensure there is confidence in the system and the Commissioner.

"Our Servicemen and Servicewomen deserve a complaints system that is as good as it can be. Not to provide this would be a failure of the nation's duty to them."

The report does recognise that more complaints could be an indication of a more effective system and admits that the number of sexual harassment complaints remains low - although it questions how faithful these statistics are.

The report cites fear of redundancy as one reason why many serving personnel might chose not to make complaints.

Because of cuts to the UK defence budgets, thousands of staff are losing their jobs across all three services. They have asked the military to investigate this fear and report back immediately.

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One In Three 'Unable To Save For The Future'

Some 15 million Britons - almost a third of the population - are living on a "financial precipice" with no money put aside for the future, a report has warned.

The tough economy and the need to help other family members struggling with high living costs means few are managing to put away anything in savings.

Some 31% of people are failing to save any cash at all, according to the Savings and Investment report by Scottish Widows.

And of the two-thirds of people who are managing to add to their nest eggs, some 32% said they had less than £1,000 put away - not even enough to pay someone's average mortgage and council tax costs for a month - the report said

One quarter of the 5,000 people surveyed who have families said they had given loans to their children.

Parents said that they had handed out loans averaging £15,000 to help their sons and daughters buy their first home or go to university.

A quarter of mums and dads said this had forced them to cut back on their own savings, while one in 12 said this had stopped them saving altogether.

Older generations are also feeling the strain, with grandparents lending £3,665 on average to their grandchildren, the report found.

Two-thirds of people said that a general lack of any spare cash is holding back their ability to save.

As well as rising living costs such as food, energy bills, rents and petrol making life harder for savers, rates on savings accounts have been plummeting in recent months, meaning they face an even tougher struggle to make any real returns.

Iain McGowan, head of savings and investments at Scottish Widows, said: "When we are faced with immediate financial commitments, such as mortgage payments and day-to-day living expenses, then it is absolutely necessary to give these pressing needs priority.

"However, taking a wholly short-term view of our finances will mean we are unprepared for the financial needs and challenges that lie ahead in the future."

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Lord Rennard Concerns: Nick Clegg Knew

By Sophy Ridge, Political Correspondent

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has admitted that he knew of concerns over Lord Rennard's behaviour more than four years ago.

Several women have accused the party's former chief executive of inappropriately touching and propositioning female party workers, which he strenuously denies.

In a statement, Mr Clegg said he did not know about the allegations, but admitted that his office was aware of "indirect and non-specific" concerns about Lord Rennard's conduct in 2008.

He said: "I am angry and outraged at the suggestion that I would not have acted if these allegations had been put to me. Indeed, when indirect and non-specific concerns about Chris Rennard's conduct reached my office in 2008, we acted to deal with them.

Lord Rennard strenuously denies the claims

"My chief of staff at the time, Danny Alexander, put these concerns to Chris Rennard and warned him that any such behaviour was wholly unacceptable.

"Chris Rennard categorically denied that he had behaved inappropriately and he continues to do so. He subsequently resigned as chief executive on health grounds."

Lib Dem President Tim Farron, who is conducting a review into the way the party dealt with the allegations, conceded the party may have failed to deal with the claims when they were first made.

He told Sky News: "The issue that's been made very clear this last few days is that not only were a number of women potentially victims in this appalling set of circumstances. but also potentially they raised their concerns with people within the party - some of them at a reasonably high level - and they may have made those concerns known to people and that they weren't acted upon."

Mr Clegg said Danny Alexander put the concerns to Lord Rennard

"My guess is that the party has indeed let itself down in the past and not dealt with these complaints when they were put."

Earlier, aides had said the Deputy Prime Minister only learned about the specific complaints being made against Lord Rennard following a Channel 4 News report earlier in the week.

The women claim they reported Lord Rennard's alleged behaviour to senior party officials at the time, but no further action was taken.

The peer was a key party strategist and adviser to a succession of Liberal Democrat leaders before standing down due to ill health in 2009.

He said he was "deeply shocked" by the allegations, which he "strongly disputes" and regards as a "total distortion" of his character.

Lib Dem MP Vince Cable said: "It's obviously wrong if there are women there who have made complaints and felt they weren't dealt with properly, so we are now setting up a proper investigative process - we want an independent element to that - and we'll get to the bottom of it."

He was asked on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show whether he knew about the Lord Rennard allegations prior to the Channel 4 programme, and replied: "Absolutely not."

Former Lib Dem head of press Mark Littlewood said: "Nick Clegg is definitely going to have to outline and spell out in exact detail what he knew and when and what actions he took."

Journalist Michael White told Sky News: "I've never heard any of these rumours about Rennard, and I've known him slightly for years."

Labour's shadow minister for equalities and women, Kate Green, said the statement raised more questions than answers.

She said: "After days of total denials - some only hours ago from Lib Dem MPs Vince Cable and Jeremy Browne - Nick Clegg has now been forced to admit that he did know of what he calls 'indirect concerns' about Lord Rennard in his role Chief Executive of the Liberal Democrats.

"Nick Clegg's statement raises more questions than it answers about his judgement and the willingness of the Liberal Democrats as a party to properly investigate such serious allegations at the time they were made.

"At issue is not just a series of serious allegations from a number of women, but how the Liberal Democrat Party responded to those allegations.

"Only with a fully independent investigation can the public have confidence that the truth will prevail and lessons learned for the future."

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Three Found Dead In Cornwall Caravan Park

A woman and her elderly parents have died of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning at a caravan park in Cornwall.

The alarm was raised at the park near Camborne just before 1pm after the couple's helper was unable to reach them, Devon and Cornwall Police have said.

Firefighters were called to break into the static caravan at Tremarle Home Park, North Roskear, and found the bodies of three people, and a dog, inside.

The caravan site where the bodies were found

The woman was aged in her mid-40s. The age of her parents is not yet known.

Inspector David Eldridge of Devon and Cornwall Police said: "Shortly before 1pm this afternoon, we were called to a caravan park near Camborne in Cornwall, where a helper had been unable to get a reply from an elderly couple who lived in the caravan.

"We were able to see that there was a figure sat in a chair but they were unresponsive to knocks at the door.

"Cornwall Fire and Rescue were called. They forced entry into the property and found that the three occupants were all dead."

An investigation into what caused the deaths is under way, but the incident is not being treated as suspicious.

A Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said a crew from Camborne Community Fire Station attended the scene with a hazardous materials advisor after being called at 12.56pm.

The Health and Safety Executive said it would not be investigating as the incident took place at a domestic address.

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Doctors From Abroad Must Take English Test

By Lisa Dowd, Sky News Correspondent

New checks will be introduced to make sure all NHS doctors can speak English well enough to treat patients, the Government has announced.

It comes five years after David Gray, 70, was killed by a German doctor on his first out-of-hours shift in the UK.

Daniel Ubani accidentally gave the pensioner ten times the recommended dose of the painkiller diamorphine.

The locum was struck off the medical register in the UK, but still practices in Germany, despite admitting death by negligence at a German court.

Mr Gray's son Stuart, 53, himself a GP, said:  "What Ubani had done was try to register with Leeds PCT, they'd made him sit an English language test to see if he was proficient. He failed that, so he decided to apply to another PCT, this being Cornwall.

"They didn't bother to test his English language skills, put him on the list, once he was on the list he can practice anywhere in the country and he then went to practice in Cambridgeshire where he killed my father."

Last year, research by Pulse magazine for GPs found that 792 EU doctors were on the so-called "performers lists" of 51 Primary Care Trusts, allowing them to work in the UK. Of those, 657 doctors, or 83%, hadn't had their English skills tested.

Daniel Ubani caused the death of 70-year-old David Gray (pictured)

From April 1 there will be one national list which every GP will have to be on before treating patients. There will also be a legal duty to ensure those on it have good English.

Health minister Dr Dan Poulter said: "It's not something that should cause huge public alarm but it's something that we do know from the case of Doctor Daniel Ubani, and other doctors, who are sometimes flown in to do short term locums in the NHS from Europe, that it is something that has actually caused deaths in this country.

"That's completely unacceptable and that's why we're introducing language checking for all overseas doctors including those within the EU."

But Dr Gray, of Blakedown, Worcestershire, has his doubts.

He said: "I'd like to know how they're going to police it. If they say it's going to be illegal for the doctor to work here if they can't communicate in English, well, it was illegal for Cornwall PCT to put Ubani on their list, and no one has been held to account for breaking the law there."

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