Plastic surgery faces tighter curbs

A BAN on cut-price deals and a clampdown on aggressive sales techniques for cosmetic surgery are among ideas submitted to a review of the industry ordered in the wake of the PIP breast implant scandal.

A two-stage consent process for potential patients to allow them time to reflect before making a final decision were among suggestions given to the review into the plastic surgery industry being led by Sir Bruce Keogh, the NHS medical director.

The ideas from the public, the industry and patient groups to safeguard people thinking of having cosmetic procedures are included in an interim report, released today, that will feed into the review, due to be published in March.

Duncan Smith slams tax credit abuse

MORE than £10 billion of public money has been lost in fraud and error under the tax credit system put in place by Labour, the Work and Pensions Secretary has claimed.

In a scathing attack on the welfare model developed by the last government, Iain Duncan Smith said tax credits were “not fit for purpose” but had been extended ahead of the 2005 and 2010 general elections in a pitch for votes.

The system was “wide open to abuse” and “haemorrhaging money”, he wrote in an article for The Daily Telegraph.

Fiscal cliff deadline draws near

THE White House and US Senate Republicans sorted through disputes over taxing the wealthy and cutting the Defence Department and other federal agencies as tonight’s midnight deadline for avoiding a “fiscal cliff” drew to within hours.

At stake are sweeping tax hikes and across-the-board spending cuts set to take effect at the turn of the year.

Taken together, they have been dubbed the fiscal cliff, and economists warn the one-two punch – which leaders in both parties have said they want to avoid – could result in a big jump in employment, turmoil in financial markets and send the still-fragile economy back into recession.

Minister condemns attempted murder

A THWARTED car bomb murder bid on a policeman in Northern Ireland was an attack on the entire community, Stormont’s Justice Minister has said.

Police have blamed dissident republicans for placing the booby- trap device under the officer’s car in east Belfast.

They said the unexploded viable bomb, which was discovered by the off-duty policeman yesterday afternoon, was clearly intended to kill.

More downpours as wet year ends

THE end of the year will be marked by more downpours with much of England, Scotland and Wales under flood alert, compounding what is likely to be one of the wettest years on record.

New Year’s Eve celebrations will be dampened by heavy wind and showers, as some areas battle to cope with 1.3in (33mm) of predicted rain today.

The start of 2013 is expected to bring some much desired respite from the rain, with weeks of almost relentless downpours expected to end tomorrow, replaced by cloud, dull skies and light showers.