China activist Chen Guangcheng 'beaten'

A prominent Chinese activist and his wife are reported to have been beaten following the release of a video showing their house arrest.

Chen Guangcheng and his wife, Yuan Weijin, were badly injured by security officials, according to the group Chinese Human Rights Defenders.

It says the beating came after the release of a secretly shot film showing Mr Chen as a prisoner in his own home.

He said he has been under surveillance since his release from jail last year.

Mr Chen - a blind man who is one of China's best-known activists - was imprisoned after claiming the authorities had carried out forced abortions.

'Not life threatening'

Chinese Human Rights Defenders told the BBC that a trusted source informed the organisation about the attack.

"The person said the beating was related to the video that was released," said the defenders' spokeswoman Wang Songlian.

"The beating was not light, but not life-threatening either."

She added that the source had said Mr Chen and his wife had not been allowed to get medical treatment.

The BBC could not independently verify the claims made by the organisation.

The film showing Mr Chen under house arrest was released by the US-based campaign group China Aid

In it the activist said: "I've come out of a small jail and entered a bigger one."

His phone has been cut off, and men and vehicles block access to his house. Anyone who tries to help him is threatened, he said.

"I cannot take even half a step out of my house. My wife is not allowed to leave either. Only my mother can go out and buy food to keep us going," said the activist, who used to offer legal advice to local people.

Mr Chen has been held ever since he completed a four-year prison term in September.

He had accused local officials of coercing up to 7,000 women in his province, Shandong, into forced abortions or sterilisations.

He was convicted though of damaging property and disrupting the traffic.

Last month the US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton highlighted Mr Chen's case, calling for his release together with the jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo and another detained lawyer Gao Zhisheng.

Leaders Clash On Plans For Big Society

I must say if at first you don't succeeed try and try again. When my friends tweeted, sent me messages on facebook and left messages on my voicemail I return all calls to them to say "I make Up My own Mind If and When I feel that Ed Miliband Did Okay I will praise Him When He Gets It Wrong We Have A right To Critise Him For Not Leading The Labour Party"

After a series of setbanks for the policy, Mr Miliband asked the Prime Minister: "How is your Big Society going?"

Mr Cameron claimed all MPs backed his idea of devolving power to councils and communities.

He said: "I believe probably every single member of this House of Commons spends time in their own constituency encouraging volunteering, encouraging philanthropic giving and wanting people to play a bigger part in a bigger society."

The Labour leader responded: "We all support thriving communities and that's why there is such concern for charities up and down the country."

He quoted Dame Elisabeth Hoodless, who is stepping down as head of Britain's Community Service Volunteers (CSV), after warning the Prime Minister his policies were "destroying the volunteer army".

The Prime Minister defended his policy on the Big Society

Mr Cameron said he did not agree with Dame Elisabeth, adding: "We are putting £470m across this spending review into charities and voluntary bodies."

The Prime Minister then went on to announce a boost for his Big Society agenda as part of the deal agreed by the Government and the banks.

He told MPs the Big Society bank will take £200m from the four major banks to invest in the voluntary sector.

Mr Cameron said Labour "put money into the banks, we are taking money out of the banks and putting it in to the Big Society".

But Mr Miliband said the Prime Minister's cuts were threatening his flagship policy.

He said Mr Cameron was "cutting too far and too fast and society is becoming smaller and weaker, not bigger and stronger".

Middle Classes 'To Feel Force Of Cuts'

These very words will live to see the coalition via Ken Clarke to regret saying Britain's middle classes do not know what is about to hit them, Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke has warned.

The Conservative minister said Middle England did not appreciate how hard the Government's spending cuts would affect their lives - but that would change this year once the cutbacks are felt.

Mr Clarke warned that there would be "no quick rebound" and it would be a "long haul" before the economy gets back to normal.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, he said: "One reason we're going to get some political difficulty is that (while) the public knows we've got to do something about it, I don't think Middle England has quite taken on board the scale of the problem.

"That will emerge as the cuts start coming home this year. We've got to get on with it [but] it's going to be very difficult. If someone says it's not as bad as all that, I say (they) just don't realise the calamitous position we're in.

I don't think Middle England has quite taken on board the scale of the problem. That will emerge as the cuts start coming home this year.

Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke

"We're in for a long haul to get back to normality. There are so many uncertainties internationally, and I do not see a quick rebound."

Mr Clarke was chancellor of the exchequer in the last Conservative government.

His warning comes after shock figures showed that the economy shrank in the last three months of 2010, raising new fears of a possible double-dip recession.

Meanwhile, the country's biggest union will stage a huge rally later to launch a campaign against "catastrophic" cuts and thousands of job losses in youth services.

Unite warned that one in four youth services such as volunteering projects and youth clubs in England faced spending cuts of up to 30%.

Some local authorities, including those in Norfolk, Suffolk, Buckinghamshire and Manchester, were planning to axe youth services altogether after having central government funding slashed, said the union.

Around 1,000 young people, some as young as 12, are expected to join today's protest in Solihull, West Midlands.

Gloves Off Gove Councils Win Fight Over School Improvement Cuts

The Government's spending cuts have been dealt a blow after six local authorities won the right to challenge the Education Secretary's decision to cancel school building projects.

The school improvement project had been announced by Labour

The Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme - initially proposed by Labour - was drastically curtailed last July after the Coalition took power.

BSF was among the first education schemes to be cut back by Education Secretary Michael Gove.

But Mr Justice Holman, sitting in London, declared Mr Gove had unlawfully failed to consult them before imposing the cuts.

In five of the cases the failure was "so unfair as to amount to an abuse of power", said the judge.

The victorious authorities include Waltham Forest Council, Luton Borough Council, Nottingham City Council, Sandwell Council, Kent County Council and Newham Council.

Education Secretary Michael Gove is to look again at his decision

The judge said: "However pressing the economic problems, there was no overriding public interest which precluded consultation or justifies the lack of any consultation."

Mr Gove's decision-making process was also unlawful "because of his failure to discharge relevant statutory equality duties under the Sex Discrimination Act, Race Relations Act and Disability Discrimination Act."

A Department for Education spokesman said: "We are delighted that the judge did not call into question the decision to end the wasteful and bureaucratic Building Schools for the Future programme.

"On the substantive points he concluded that it was a rational decision and that the authorities involved had no expectation of being allowed to proceed with their projects."

The ruling calls into question every school building scheme cut by Michael Gove and is a damning verdict on his competence as a Minister.

Shadow education secretary Andy Burnham

"Mr Gove will now look again at his decision with regard to these authorities with an open mind, taking representations from them, he said.

Shadow education secretary Andy Burnham said: "This ruling is a victory for all the communities and children betrayed by Michael Gove.

"They deserve no less than a full apology from him today and a commitment to act quickly on the court's finding.

"The ruling calls into question every school building scheme cut by Michael Gove and is a damning verdict on his competence as a Minister.

"He must tell us today how much public money he has spent trying to defend his botched and unfair decisions."

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, said: "The councils involved are to be congratulated for making a stand on this issue.

"The coalition Government has shown time and again a reckless disregard for due process and consultation.

"Teachers, pupils, parents, and local councils were all sidelined. Since May 12, programmes, grants and organisations have been thoughtlessly abolished with little, if any, regard for the consequences.

"BSF was a classic example of this, and it's now come back to bite the Secretary of State."