NEWS IN BRIEF (12/12/07)

10.17.02am GMT Thu 13th Dec 2007

• Liberal Democrat Shadow Children's Secretary David Laws has criticised the Government's 10 year Children's Plan for not containing a "word about child poverty and targeting educational deprivation". [EPolitix]

• Hundreds of police officers from England and Wales are attending a Police Federation summit to discuss further action following a dispute caused by home secretary Jacqui Smith's refusal to backdate a 2.5 per cent pay rise to September. [EPolitix]

• A new MORI poll puts the parties at Con 42% (+2 since last MORI face to face poll, in October), Lab 35% (-6), Lib Dems 14% (+1).

• The Russian government has ordered the British Council to close down its two offices outside Moscow by the beginning of January. Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary Michael Moore has described the decision as "ridiculous and unjustified." [BBC]

• Single mothers on benefits will be forced to work part time once their youngest child reaches the age of four under proposed Conservative reforms. Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Danny Alexander has accused the Conservatives of "failing to recognise what life is like for real families." [Daily Mail]

• Some farmers have still not been paid as a result of problems with implementing the European single payments scheme, a study by the National Audit Office has found. [EPolitix]

• Pensioners struggling to cope with large homes will be helped to downsize to a smaller property or move closer to their families and grandchildren under a new drive launched by housing minister Yvette Cooper. [Guardian]

• The number of people seeking jobless benefits in the UK has fallen to a 32-year low, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. The number claiming jobseeker's allowance fell by 11,100 in November to 813,000, the lowest since June 1975. [BBC]

• Britain will boost aid for Afghanistan's development and stabilisation by £450 million and set tough targets for the training of the country's own security forces, the Prime Minister has said. [Guardian]