Update: 13:10

Government to drop scrutiny of GM crops
The Environment Department is planning to curb scientific scrutiny of GM crop approvals because of pressure from the bio-tech industry, Labour's Alan Simpson told the House of Commons yesterday. He warned that government policy was in danger of becoming a "cash crop for private gain" after alleging Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs officials had produced proposals to drop intense scientific scrutiny during approval hearings.

Meningitis C jab proves effectiveness
A pioneering bacterial meningitis vaccination programme launched in 1999 is helping to stamp out one strain of the bug in Britain, researchers reported today. In the space of a year after teenagers were first offered meningitis C jabs, the number of young people carrying the organism fell by two-thirds, researchers from the Public Health Laboratory Service and Oxford University have found.

FE heads call for more review team funding
Further education heads have called for funding to allow more college lecturers to join quality review teams assessing higher education in colleges. The extra money is needed to allow FE staff to be released from teaching duties so that they can join reviews mostly made up of university academics, the Association of Colleges has said.