http://www.theasiannews.co.uk/news/s/1017570__hazel_blears_pleads_for_more_ethni...

THE Labour Party Conference in Bournemouth has heard a plea this week
for more ethnic minorities becoming local politicians.

Hazel Blears, the Secretary of State for Communities said involvement
would help strengthen communities across the country including Rochdale,
Oldham and Bradford.

A special commission is currently looking at a range of ways in which
individuals from ethnic communities can stand for council.

The Salford MP explained: "I hope we can debate new ways to get a whole
range of people to stand for the council.

"More people from our black and minority ethnic communities, more
representatives from every community in Britain, so that councils look
like the communities they serve. And certainly more women because the
current inequality between men and women on councils is a disgrace."

Mrs Blears told the delegates that the Labour Party was founded by men
and women who believed in the powerful potential of democratic politics.

She explained: "This happened by working class communities who knew that
by coming together, acting together, working together, there was no
force so powerful it could not overcome."

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1017629_dentist_cut_fees_for_women...

A MUSLIM dentist has admitted reducing his fees to encourage female
patients to wear the Islamic headscarf.

Dr Omer Butt, from Prestwich, told a disciplinary hearing he would ask
Muslim women to cover up in observance of Islamic law before he treated
them.

But he denied refusing to treat a nurse because she would not follow his
rules.

The nurse, known as Patient A, told the hearing she was left `humiliated
and upset' when she went to Dr Butt's Unsworth Smile clinic in Bury, in
April 2005.

The nurse, a non-practising Muslim, claimed Dr Butt said she would have
to find another dentist because she wouldn't wear a headscarf.

Dr Butt told the General Dental Council professional conduct committee
the Islamic ethos of his surgery was a `marketing tool'.

He said: "If they are prepared to wear the headscarf, I am willing to
reduce the fee or completely waive the fee."

He said he identified the woman as a Muslim because of her name, which
has roots in Islam, then `politely' asked her to wear a headscarf.