The BBC was in crisis last night as its senior broadcasters stood nose to nose with John Birt to oppose his plans to merge the production of the Corporation’s news programmes. But it was not broken and led strikes in 1986 and 1987.As Gorbachev’s reforms reduced the threat of an invasion, a new government in 1989 opened talks with Solidarity, which, re-legalised, won 99 per cent of the free seats in parliament. The roads are poor, the weather is changeable, the terrain is difficult and the transport infrastructure is in an appalling state. Some activists in the Tory Charter Movement will oppose them, but they will go through to a full-scale conference in the Spring.

Both the glass and plastic pieces were found near where the Mercedes hit a pillar holding up an underpass in central Paris. Investigators say they have found slivers of plastic which may have come from the tail-light of a Fiat Uno. Her requests for a screen in court were rejected by the judge because the attacker was known to her. She said: “At the moment the victims are left to feel they are the ones committing the crime and are put on trial.” In this case her attacker was found guilty and jailed for six years.. Bouncers are acting as modern-day gangsters in the mould of the infamous Kray twins, a senior police officer warned yesterday.

Doormen are involved in drug trafficking and violence at bars and nightclubs throughout Britain, said Chief Superintendent Brian Mackenzie, president of the Superintendents’ Association.
He called for stricter controls on bouncers and the introduction of a licensing system. She praised the police support but said the trial made her “nervous and upset”. We are one of the fastest improving local education authorities in terms of GCSE results in the last seven year.”Some council officers have been extremely supportive but there has been a lack of leadership and grip since the dissolution of the Inner London Education Authority. Other improvements being considered may include video links to allow victims to be shielded from their alleged attacker. Laws to ban accused rapists from cross-examining victims are also expected. The Home Office is doing two studies on rape, including one in which 500 attacks in five police forces’ areas are being examined. A second study is examining the criminal justice system to discover what is going wrong.

The reports are expected next year.The Superintendents’ Association national conference in Bristol was told that in 1985 there were 1,842 reported rapes of women; there were 5,930 last year. But the proportion of men successfully prosecuted has plummeted from 24 per cent – 450 men – in 1985 to 10 per cent – 576 men – last year.The tiny number of convictions and unwillingness of people to report the crime is blamed on such factors as hostile conditions and cross-examination in courts and lurid details published by the press. “We are talking about greater equity but anything that is suggested has got to be affordable,” said a source. That could mean slicing the cake differently, without increasing it.. Radical changes to the way that rape victims are treated in court, including the use of screens, are expected to be introduced after figures were released showing that only one sex attacker in 10 is jailed.

While the number of reported rapes has tripled in the past 11 years, the conviction rate has more than halved, a police conference heard yesterday.
Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, said he was examining ways to improve the conviction rate and help victims in court. The Crown Prosecution Service has also been accused of being unwilling to bring cases to court because of fears of the credibility in court of the victim, particularly in “date” or “acquaintant” rapes.Detective Superintendent Bill Grahamslaw, of the Metropolitan Police, said it was extremely difficult for people to come forward and report a rape when the attacker was known to them because of fears the assailant will claim the victim consented.The conference heard from a woman who told of being raped by a priest and family friend who made her pregnant and gave her herpes. “We have criticised their findings but we have not criticised the concept of an independent body,” a BMA source said. “We would be very hostile to abolishing it.”Nurses have expressed worries, and the British Dental Association said: “We would be concerned that if the pay of all NHS healthcare professionals were brought into a single system, the voices of small groups might not be heard.”Unison said that all the grades it represented, including nurses, were united behind a fairer pay system. A spokeswoman said they hoped for “a single pay spine for all groups”, and conditions harmonised for all groups.Ministerial sources were worried that the consultation will raise false hopes of a massive pay rise for the low paid. The British Medical Association has criticised the Doctors and Dentists’ Pay Review Body but is ready to defend its independence.