Measles: Warning As South Wales Cases Spread

Measles cases in Wales are spreading with "alarming" speed despite urgent calls to ensure children have vital MMR protection.

Health chiefs have again warned that the epidemic could leave unprotected children brain-damaged or dead.

Public Health Wales (PHW) says 432 cases have been reported so far, mainly in the Swansea area, with 51 people - many of them babies - in hospital.

In the last week alone, 116 people have been diagnosed and the numbers infected have doubled in less than four weeks.

The disease has now spread to children in 111 secondary and primary schools, nurseries and play groups.

Experts fear the epidemic could rival an outbreak which ravaged Dublin more than a decade ago, when three people died.

PHW is urging parents of all children aged between one and 18 in Wales who have not been fully vaccinated to contact their GP for advice and to arrange vaccination as soon as possible.

Dr Marion Lyons, PHW director of health protection, warned: "Measles is now spreading at an alarming rate across areas of Wales.

"Worryingly, there are still tens of thousands of susceptible children across Wales, yet our weekly monitoring of vaccination rates shows only a slight increase in numbers receiving MMR jabs."

Charlotte Jones, a family doctor in Sketty, near Swansea, told Sky News: "We're extremely concerned because we're seeing more and more cases increasing week by week."

"One would think that as schools break up for the Easter holidays maybe that would slow the spread.

"But people travel during the holidays, and during the incubation period when they may not be showing any symptoms they could be starting an outbreak in new areas.

"Historically, in Swansea and some of the neighbouring areas there has been a very low uptake of the MMR vaccine.

"By having your child vaccinated, not only are you protecting them but everyone else in the family and anyone who is vulnerable or pregnant they come into contact with, so please get you child vaccinated."

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JT McNamara Paralysed After Cheltenham Fall

Irish jockey JT McNamara has been paralysed after suffering a neck injury in a fall at the Cheltenham Festival, doctors have confirmed.

The 37-year-old rider is said to be in a "very positive frame of mind" after having surgery at a Bristol hospital where he has been treated since the fall on March 15.

According to a McNamara family statement, he was also "greatly appreciative" of the "many messages" of support.

He fractured two vertebrae when his mount, Galaxy Rock, fell at the first fence in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup. The horse was unhurt.

McNamara, one of the leading amateurs on the circuit for a number of years, was airlifted to hospital after being treated by the on-course medics.

McNamara was airlifted to hospital after the fall

Apparently conscious after the fall, he was put in an induced coma before being transferred to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol.

A statement issued jointly by Adrian McGoldrick, the Irish Turf Club's senior medical officer, and Lisa Hancock, head of the Injured Jockeys Fund, on behalf of the McNamara family read: "JT McNamara remains in the Frenchay Hospital, Bristol.

"Whilst he suffered a serious neck injury resulting in paralysis, he has made progress in the last week and is in a very positive frame of mind."

The statement continued: "He is greatly appreciative of the many messages, cards and letters received and also wishes to thank the Frenchay Hospital who are looking after him so well."

He is expected to be transferred to the National Spinal Unit at Dublin's Mater Hospital to continue his rehabilitation.

McNamara has over 600 wins to his name including four victories at Cheltenham.

Galaxy Rock's owner JP McManus, with whom McNamara has a long association, was said to be in tears when he heard about the neck injury.

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Nine Hundred Pigs Killed In Dorset Farm Fire

Up to 900 pigs have died in a major fire which ripped through a piggery at a farm.

Firefighters fought a blaze for up to three hours after being called to Seaborough Manor, near Beaminster, Dorset.

A total of 50 firefighters were on the scene at the height of the fire which swept through the 330ft long piggery, destroying it.

An investigation into the cause is under way.

A spokeswoman for Dorset Fire and Rescue Service said the blaze in the roof of the piggery was reported at 6.30am on Friday.

She said: "There was an asbestos roof involved in the fire with no affect to any other properties.

"Crews were at work protecting adjacent piggeries and property."

She added: "There was 100% severe damage to the piggery and sadly approximately 900 pigs lost their lives in the fire."

The blaze is the second in less than a year to hit a Dorset farm piggery and kill large numbers of livestock.

A total of 180 piglets and 18 sows died at Corton Farm in Friar Waddon, Weymouth, when fire engulfed a farming unit in May last year.

The large farrowing unit suffered severe fire damage and none of the pigs survived.

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IDS: Welfare Reforms Won't Cut Benefit Bill

Iain Duncan Smith has admitted that controversial welfare reforms due to come in next week will not cut Britain's benefit bill.

The Work and Pensions Secretary said that, unlike other European nations, the "reality is that this country is not cutting welfare" because he is simply "managing" the increase in handouts.

He added that "all those on benefits will still see cash increases in every year of this Parliament".

Mr Duncan Smith's comments to the Daily Telegraph are the first public admission that the Government is no longer seeking to cut the welfare budget.

Previously, ministers have repeatedly spoken about bringing the welfare system "under control".

A Government source told the newspaper: "Despite all the rhetoric about cuts, Iain Duncan Smith is simply finally actually saying what is happening. Welfare is rising."

As the Government faces more criticism from charities over the shake-up - which will see big changes to payments such as housing and disability benefits - Mr Duncan Smith defended the Government's reforms.

"If you listen to what I am saying, you will understand the reality is that this country is not cutting welfare, it is managing the growth at a lower level," he said.

Iain Duncan Smith says those on benefits will see cash rises

He contrasted the British situation to that in Ireland, Spain and Portugal.

"Across the UK - contrary to the headlines - all those on benefits will still see cash increases in every year of this Parliament," he said.

"In the face of the global financial crisis and the country's plummeting GDP, Ireland's leaders have had to implement difficult public spending cuts.

"Doing so has hit benefit recipients hard with social welfare cuts of around £680m for the year 2010, and £780m for the year 2011.

"For a workless couple with two children, this equates to an actual cut in income of around £900 a year."

The coalition welfare changes include cutting the housing benefit of social housing tenants deemed to have a spare bedroom, a move that has been dubbed a "bedroom tax" by Labour. It will hit 660,000 households with an estimated average loss of £14 per week.

Council tax benefit, which covers some or all of the cost of the bill for struggling families, will be replaced by a new system that will be run by English local authorities but on 10% less funding.

Pensioners are protected under the changes but that is expected to mean a bigger burden on poor working age adults.

According to the charity Crisis, the raft of reforms will heap misery on the UK's poorest families, leading to increased queues at food banks and further homelessness.

Millions of homes will be hit by the combination of reforms that comes in from April, with low-paid workers, the unemployed and disabled people bearing the brunt of the cuts, it added.

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Lord Carey Attacks David Cameron On Religion

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey has launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister David Cameron.

In an article for the Daily Mail, Lord Carey says many Christians doubt the PM's "sincerity" when he pledges to protect their religious freedoms and accuses ministers of "aiding and abetting" discrimination against believers.

He points to Government plans to legalise gay marriage as evidence of an "aggressive secularist and relativist approach" and argues that Mr Cameron has fed Christian "anxieties" more than "any other recent political leader".

Lord Carey also says a new poll suggesting that more than two-thirds of Christians feel they are now part of a "persecuted minority" shows the Government must do more to demonstrate its commitment to stand up for faith.

The ComRes poll commissioned by the Coalition for Marriage also found more than half of Christians who backed the Conservatives in 2010 say they will "definitely not" vote for the party in 2015.

Lord Carey expresses alarm about Labour MP Chris Bryant's campaign to turn the 700-year-old Parliamentary chapel of St Mary Undercroft into a multi-faith prayer room so that gay couples can get married there.

Lord Carey slammed Chris Bryant's campaign for gay marriages in Parliament

But he also directly calls into question the Prime Minister's actions, saying: "I like David Cameron and believe he is genuinely sincere in his desire to make Britain a generous nation where we care for one another and where people of faith may exercise their beliefs fully.

"But it was a bit rich to hear that the Prime Minister has told religious leaders that they should 'stand up and oppose aggressive secularisation' when it seems that his Government is aiding and abetting this aggression every step of the way.

"At his pre-Easter Downing Street reception for faith leaders, he said that he supported Christians' right to practise their faith. Yet many Christians doubt his sincerity.

"According to a new ComRes poll more than two thirds of Christians feel that they are part of a 'persecuted minority'. Their fears may be exaggerated because few in the UK are actually persecuted, but the Prime Minister has done more than any other recent political leader to feed these anxieties.

"He seems to have forgotten in spite of his oft-repeated support for the right of Christians to wear the cross, that lawyers acting for the coalition argued only months ago in the Strasbourg court that those sacked for wearing a cross against their employer's wishes should simply get another job."

The new poll suggests continuing resentment over legalising same-sex unions, even though there is special protection for the Church of England in the law, and Lord Carey's successor Justin Welby has softened the Church's stance on the issue.

Two thirds of those polled said they believed allowing same sex unions was an attempt to make the Conservative Party look trendy.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has vowed to protect religion

The poll comes after a series of controversial cases between Christians and employers over their rights to express their faith in the workplace.

Recent cases include Adrian Smith, a Trafford housing manager who says he was demoted and had his pay docked 40% after questioning the Government's plans for same sex marriage and Reverend Brian Ross who was sacked as the Chaplain of Strathclyde Police, apparently because his support for traditional marriage did not fit with the force's equality and diversity policies.

In another case, graphic designer Jamie Haxby is suing a hotel after claiming he was turned down for a job because he is a Christian.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles insists that unlike New Labour 'we do do God' and has agreed freedom of religion has been undermined.

He has vowed to change the law if necessary to stop people being taken to task for wearing a cross or a rosary, and says council should not try to ban prayers before meetings.

But the march of secularism means Britain will no longer be a Christian country within just 20 years, according to official research by the House of Commons library.

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NHS Drug Plea For Child With Blood Disorder

By Frazer Maude, Sky News Correspondent

The parents of a two-year-old girl with a rare blood disorder fear she faces a "lifetime of hospital visits and dialysis" unless the NHS funds an expensive new drug.

One day in every fortnight, Indie Smith is treated at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital for atypical Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome (aHUS), a condition shared by only 140 others in the UK.

It causes abnormalities in the immune system that can lead to the development of blood clots in the filters of the kidney. It is incurable and can lead to fatal kidney failure.

She is treated with a drug called eculizumab, which has been given the brand name Soliris by its developers, US based Alexion Pharmaceuticals, and this allows her to live a relatively normal life.

Indie currently has her treatment provided by Alexion as part of a trial that ends in October.

Her problem is that the NHS will not continue to fund her treatment, at a cost of £250,000 a year, despite a Government advisory body recommending the drug be commissioned nationally.

The study by the Advisory Group for National Specialised Services (AGNSS), took two years, and concluded that: "Eculizumab would help save lives and improve the quality of life for children and adults with aHUS."

But the Department of Health has now referred consideration of the use of eculizumab to the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

Indie would need plasma therapy without the drug

Those with the condition, and their families, now fear another long wait for NICE to complete their research, with no guarantee that they will agree with AGNSS about the drugs benefits.

Without the drug, Indie, who has three older brothers, would need plasma therapy for four or five hours a day, five or six days a week.

"It's not right," said Indie's father Gavin. "It shouldn't be about the money. This Government can find money. It can't be about the money, you've got to give her a future."

Indie's mother Clare said: "It's horrible. We shouldn't have to be doing this. We shouldn't be worrying that my daughter is going to be confined to a hospital bed because we can't afford to give her the drug that allows her to be a normal little girl.

"Without it, it'll mean a lifetime of hospital visits and dialysis."

The Department of Health told Sky News: "We understand this news will be disappointing for patients who suffer from atypical Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome, but we need to make sure NHS resources are being used wisely.

"We have asked NICE to further explore eculizumab's suitability for national commissioning and provide guidance to the NHS."

The Smiths are already planning for the worst - and end of the trial treatment, with no NHS funding to continue it - by fundraising and campaigning.

They have a website and have already visited Downing Street to ask for the Prime Minister to intervene and overturn the Department of Health's decision.

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Post Office Staff On Strike Over Closures

Thousands of staff in the country's biggest post offices are striking in a row over jobs, pay and closures.

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) in around 370 so-called Crown offices were mounting picket lines in protest at plans to close or franchise 70 branches.

The union said the walkout was "solidly" supported by thousands of its members, with picket lines set up outside post offices across the country.

The Post Office said that out of the 370 Crown branches, 10 were closed all day and more than 250 closed at lunchtime.

But it said that the 166 Crown branches that have external ATMs will be fully stocked for customers to withdraw cash on Saturday.

The union organised the strike because it believes 800 jobs are at risk and also staff had not received a pay rise for two years.

The Post Office put forward the restructuring plan because Crown branches were losing £40m a year and accused the union of ignoring the "harsh realities" the company faces.

Dave Ward, the CWU's deputy general secretary, said: "Our post office members are standing up against destructive plans which would slash 20% of the Crown network and are simply asking for fair treatment and job security.

"The Post Office's plans are short-sighted and would rob the network of the most productive offices while simultaneously putting hundreds of jobs at risk and potentially damaging local economies.

"We'd like to see a better vision for a successful network which maintains services in the heart of communities alongside quality jobs."

The strike follows a ballot of workers in which 88% of those who voted demanded action.

Kevin Gilliland, network and sales director at the Post Office, said: "We regret any disruption to services the CWU's call for strike action may cause to customers. Crown branches are currently losing £40m per year and this is being subsidised by public money. This cannot continue.

"The Post Office is transforming its network to improve customer experience and in turn bring in new business. We are committed to the Post Office remaining a key part of UK high streets and our plans ensure this will happen."

He said the closures - which do not apply to smaller sub-Post Offices - affect less than 1% of the total network. At the same time as closing some branches, the Post Office was planning to improve the 300 other Crown offices.

The union said it was receiving strong public support for its campaign, with petitions circulating in areas affected by the proposals.

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Woman Charged With Neglect Of Two-Year-Old

A 41-year-old woman has been charged with neglect after a two-year-old girl was found on a stranger's doorstep.

The woman, from Carlisle, will appear at Carlisle Magistrates Court on Saturday morning.

The little girl has been placed under the care of Social Services.

Police thanked the public for their assistance and said they would also like to thank the occupants of the property who alerted officers to the initial disturbance which led to the baby being discovered.

It emerged on Friday that police were contacted after the occupants of a house in Warwick Road, Carlisle, said a woman had rang their doorbell and then disappeared.

When officers arrived they found a pram with the girl inside.

More follows...

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Barnsley Bans Under-16s From Town At Night

Young people have been banned from Barnsley town centre at night - in a move branded "just plain wrong" by a leading civil rights group.

The 9pm-6am curfew affects children aged under 16 and was introduced on Friday night by South Yorkshire Police and Barnsley Metropolitan Council to try to curb bad behaviour.

Under-16s not with an adult will be breaching the order and removed from the town centre by police regardless of whether they have done anything wrong.

But Emma Norton, a lawyer at campaign group Liberty, said the policy may be unlawful and urged families who want to fight it on human rights and discrimination grounds to contact them.

"A blanket ban on 15-year-olds walking around on summer nights is discriminatory, counter-productive and just plain wrong," she said.

"The police should target offenders of whatever age, not show disrespect and distrust of a whole generation.

"This policy is challengeable in the courts and we urge any family affected by it to contact Liberty after Easter."

Police will also be able to use the powers to disperse groups of two or more people from anti-social behaviour blackspots and target rowdy night-time revellers or football fans.

Inspector Julie Mitchell, of South Yorkshire Police, said: "Many interventions have been put in place by the police and partners and, although some measures have had some success, nuisance behaviour still persists on an almost daily basis.

"The common theme that appears to cause the most concern is rowdy, inconsiderate and abusive behaviour.

"This behaviour is often from people in large groups and has led to members of the public and business community reporting the feeling of being harassed and intimidated.

"The order is not intended to be applied without discretion; we want to encourage residents and visitors to come into the town centre for retail and leisure."

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Rhinos In UK Facing Threat From Poachers

Police have stepped up security at two wildlife parks in southeast England in response to a plot to hunt rhinos.

The parks in Kent - Port Lympne and Howletts - have also called for volunteers to help them carry out 24-hour patrols.

There are 20 black rhinos at the parks out of just 45 in the whole of Europe.

Poachers in Africa regularly shoot rhinos to make off with their horns, which are highly valued for alternative medicine in parts of Asia.

"There was anonymous information through Crimestoppers saying there was a possible attack on rhinos," said Pc Michael Laidlow, wildlife crime officer for Kent Police.

"We've spoken to all the owners of rhinos in the South East and they are taking measures to combat it.

"All our wildlife officers are aware of the information and we're taking steps to increase patrols in the area."

Rhino horn is worth £65,000 a kg, which makes it more valuable than cocaine, heroin and gold.

Rhino horn is used in medicine in parts of Asia

Bob O'Connor, managing director of Howletts and Port Lympne, said: "What we're worried about is criminals taking it to the next level.

"We've upped our night-time patrols, we doubled that straight away with our keepers who live on site.

"We have to take this as a credible threat."

This month the Duke of Cambridge urged a global conference on wildlife protection to do more to tackle the illegal killing of rhinos.

He visited Port Lympne last year to meet and feed rhinos.

Last year, two men were jailed after a failed attempt to steal a rhino head from a museum in Norwich.

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