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Eight cancer operations were cancelled after copper cabling was stolen from a hospital in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Eighty one patients were affected on Wednesday by the theft from a back-up generator at Llandough hospital near Cardiff.

Hospital managers said Tuesday's theft of 100m of cabling was "dangerous and irresponsible".

A new back-up generator is being tested before routine surgery can resume.

It was too late for Wednesday's morning list of 36 operations, including two breast cancer operations, which was cancelled as a precaution.

Another 45 operations scheduled for the afternoon were also cancelled after a meeting.

The University Health Board chief executive Jan Williams called the theft "mindless".

She said: "NHS staff work tirelessly to care for some of the most vulnerable members of our communities and it is depressing to note that, for these thieves, the monetary value of copper is of more consequence."

Llandough deals with non-emergency operations, including orthopaedic and breast surgery.

Ms Williams said the cancellations were "traumatic" for the two breast cancer patients in particular but she said their operations would be rescheduled as quickly as possible.

Health managers are taking steps to provide secondary back-up facilities but these were not in place to allow afternoon operations to take place.

Replacing the cables could cost up to £20,000.

The theft was reported to South Wales Police just after 14.00 GMT on Tuesday.

I wonder have their been any 'Travellers' or other immigrants, famous for relieving properties of their metal goods, in the area?

This is great..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-16177725

A complaint has been made to police against a passenger who threw a "fare-dodger" off a train after he refused the conductor's request to leave.

Alan Pollock's action against Sam Mains on the Edinburgh to Perth train on Friday was filmed by another passenger.

British Transport Police would not confirm who had made the complaint.

Mr Mains, a 19-year-old student from Falkirk, claimed he had mistakenly bought the wrong ticket and was hoping to explain it to the conductor.

He told BBC Radio Scotland's Call Kaye programme: "I was given no time to explain myself. It wasn't even an argument.

"There was a discussion with me trying to explain myself for about a minute and then the conductor started shouting at me," he said.

"I never seen his face, I never seen a man. He never approached me. He never said 'right son get off the train'.

"He grabbed me from behind, threw me to the ground on the train. Then picked me up off the ground on the train. Then threw me to the ground on the platform."

Mr Mains told BBC Scotland he had tried to get back on the train to get his bag - which contained his phone, exam notes and headphones - but was prevented from doing so by Mr Pollock.

He also said he was diabetic, had not eaten much all day and had not slept the night before because he had been studying.

"[This] had perhaps quite an adverse effect on my mood and my mannerisms at that time, but still I don't condone the way I spoke to the conductor," he said.
Applause

The student admitted he had been drinking before the incident, but said he was not drunk.

The footage, filmed by passenger Ian Hems and uploaded to YouTube, shows a youth refusing to pay for his ticket or get off the train.

A man then gets up, grabs the youth and appears to throw him onto the platform at Linlithgow, West Lothian.

The man then twice stops the teenager getting back on the train before returning to his seat to a round of applause from passengers.

But one woman is heard to say: "There's no need for that."

A spokesman for British Transport Police said: "A complaint has been received and inquiries are ongoing into the incident."

[Escort work]

Greater numbers of students in England are turning to prostitution to fund their education, the National Union of Students (NUS) claims.

The NUS also says students are turning to gambling and taking part in medical experiments to fund their studies.

It says increased living costs and fees, and cuts to the education maintenance allowance, play a part.

But the government says it offers students a "generous package" of financial support.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live's Breakfast programme, Estelle Hart, the NUS's national women's officer, said government cuts had put more pressure on students.

"Students are taking more dangerous measures," said Ms Hart.

"In an economic climate where there are very few jobs, where student support has been massively cut, people are taking more work in the informal economy, such as sex work.

"It's all dangerous unregulated work, simply so people can stay in education."
Helpline calls

The English Collective of Prostitutes, which runs a helpline from its base in London, said the number of calls it receives from students had at least doubled in the past year.

Sarah Walker from the organisation has seen a steady increase in calls from students over the past 10 years, but said her group had received an unprecedented number of calls since the government's announcement that universities in England could charge tuition fees of up to £9,000 a year from 2012.

"They [ministers] know that the cuts they're making are driving women into things like sex work. It's a survival strategy so we would hold the government responsible for that."

Escort work

It is not just university students who are turning to the adult industry to pay for their education.

Eighteen-year-old Clare - not her real name - turned to escorting during her A-levels when she found out her education maintenance allowance (EMA) was in danger of being cut.

"I couldn't go to college without EMA. My travel costs are £70 a month, without it I don't know what I'd have done. I didn't know who I could go to in college, and I didn't want to rely on my family."

"I began looking for jobs, but the hours were unsociable. A lot of my friends have gone on to shop work, and have ended up leaving college. I didn't want that to be me."

"I had a friend who'd been trying to get me to join his escort agency since I was 16. He was telling me stories about how much I could earn, how the hours would fit around me, that I could control who I saw, when I saw them and how often.

"It just sounded more desirable. I couldn't see any other option."

Clare, who has now left the adult industry to continue her studies, warns against working in the sex industry.

"I did this so I could go to college, go to university, for it to have a positive effect on the rest of my life.

"But I'm a different person to how I was when I started out. I've lost a lot of my confidence and I've lost trust in a lot of people.

"There are people you can talk to about it, and bursaries you can get. Find out all you can before taking such a large step, because I didn't."

Financial support

A spokesman for the Department for Education said: "We are targeting £180m a year financial support at the most vulnerable 16- to 19-year-olds to help them continue their studies - with transitional funding for the students who were getting the top rate of EMA and part way through their studies.

"It is down to schools and colleges themselves to award bursaries to young people who need the most help. If students are really struggling financially, they need to speak directly to their tutors."

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills says the new reforms in higher education funding will make the system fairer, and students will receive more financial support and have lower monthly repayments.

The NUS also told BBC 5 live Breakfast it estimated about 20% of women working in lap dancing clubs were students.

Research from the University of Kingston published last year found that the number of university students who knew someone who had worked in the sex industry to fund their studies had gone up from 3% to 25% in 10 years.

Dr Ron Roberts, senior lecturer in psychology, led the survey of several hundred university students, which also found that 16% would consider working in the sex industry.

He described the results as "worrying".

I used to laugh and think this was all nonsense.. but it isn't, indeed recently I spoke to someone that was actually contemplating it.. nearly £20k in debt, she was genuinely worried to the point of this most debasing of contemplations.

The fact is this - up until very recently, education was free. from Nursery to Tertiary, Citizen's of the UK were guaranteed, if academically smart enough, free education in some of the world's top institutions.

Then Labour came along, with Smiler Blair, and with a flood of immigrants, numbers of the like unknown in history, it became apparent that all that was good about the UK - Free Education, Healthcare etc, was under severe strain. Finally Tuition fees were brought in.. at first only £1200 a year, but we all knew this was only the start. This year most Universities have set their fees at £8000 a year.

Action-Reaction.. and now, thanks to Uncle Blair and his like, our kids are looking at whoring themselves, just to get an education.. which, it should be noted, none of those teaching, or in Parliament, had to pay for.

[Young people continue to struggle to find work]

Young people continue to struggle to find work

New figures show the general level of unemployment here has fallen but the number of people actually claiming unemployment benefit has gone up.

The number of people claiming unemployment benefit in Northern Ireland increased by 300 in November.

However, the Labour Force Survey of unemployment shows that the overall jobless rate here has fallen during the period from August to October 2011.

The jobless rate fell from 7.4% to 6.9% which is below the UK average of 8.3%.

The number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits is up by 300. The total now stands at 60,900 in November 2011.

This latest monthly increase in those claiming unemployment benefits in Northern Ireland was 0.5% which was higher than the monthly rise of 0.2% in the UK as a whole.

The Government uses different methods to measure unemployment.

Under one measurement which is a survey the overall unemployment rate fell between August and October to 6.9 per cent which is below the UK average. It is also lower than the European Union average and the Republic of Ireland where the unemployment rate is 14.2 per cent.

But the number of people signing on the dole - which is another measure of unemployment - was up in November with another 300 people here joining the unemployment register.

The figures also show that there was a fall of 750 jobs across Northern Ireland recorded in the quarter ending in September.

Over the past 12 months an additional 2,600 people have claimed unemployment benefit here, but that is the lowest annual increase among the twelve UK regions.

Economic inactivity

The Labour Force Survey indicates that 38.4% of those unemployed in Northern Ireland have been unemployed for one year or more.

The survey also records the unemployment rate for 18-24 year olds at 18.2%, meaning almost one-in-five people in that age-range are out of work.

The Labour Force Survey questions a certain number of people every month on their employment status, and is the most widely used by labour-market economists as it allows international comparisons.

The figures also show that Northern Ireland continues to have the highest level of economic inactivity in the UK.

The NI economic inactivity rate for those aged 16-64 stands at 26.9%, significantly higher than the UK average rate (23.2%).

The Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster welcomed the fall in the unemployment rate.

"Private sector jobs have now increased in two of the last three quarters, after a prolonged period of decline," she said.

"While this increase is not particularly marked, the change in direction is welcome.

"There remains considerable uncertainty in European and global markets, but a strategy that seeks to grow the private sector remains the best way forward."

There are a few reasons .. One - the number of foreign people coming into the country, undercutting local wages. Two - the cost of living, unlike wages, has increased to a point that makes young people, like students, unable to actually afford to live and study. As is the way, study ceases, and people join the dole queue.

Northern Ireland has always lagged behind the other three countries that make up the UK.. once, it was because of the Troubles, not it is the old Private vs Public investment. We are top heavy with the public sector, and in competition with the Republic for the Private sector... a competition we will lose until our taxes are reduced, or the Republic's is forced up.

I know only a few of us go there, but last night a new section in the Stormdrain Theology section opened - one for Creators. Now, I had asked for one a few times, but was always given non committal answers.. so this came as a bit of a surprise. It makes me think that someone else was also asking, thought I don't know who.

Anyway, I have asked to be a mod of it, or a junior mod (To Lycia), and hopefully she agrees.