News In Brief

Brendan Barber to sit on TfL board

TRANSPORT: Unions expressed hope today after outgoing TUC general secretary Brendan Barber was recruited to the board of Transport for London.

It is hoped that he will help promote transport workers’ rights and protect them from right-wing London Mayor Boris Johnson.

Mr Johnson is calling on Prime Minister David Cameron to toughen the law on strikes to prevent them going ahead unless they are supported by more than half of those eligible to vote.

Call to protect disease funding

HEALTH: People with rare diseases must be protected from losing access to potentially life-saving treatments on the grounds they are not cost-effective, charities warned today.

The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign and the Association for Glycogen Storage Disease made the comments before the drug assessment reforms which come into effect next year.

But they stressed that the National Institute of Clinical Excellence must make a fair and impartial approach to reviewing the feasibility of new treatments for rare ailments.

Autism sufferers ‘need better help’

HEALTH: Autism sufferers are not receiving adequate help as they reach middle or old age, research revealed today.

Almost two-thirds of adult sufferers over the age of 45 say they do not have enough support to meet their needs, according to the survey by the National Autistic Society charity.