WORKING at a local newspaper, you see stories repeating themselves all the time. I ve been at The Crow for a while now, and inevitably the same items crop up year on year. It happens at national level as well, and I spotted a story at the weekend which is

WORKING at a local newspaper, you see stories repeating themselves all the time.

I've been at The Crow for a while now, and inevitably the same items crop up year on year.

It happens at national level as well, and I spotted a story at the weekend which is, unfortunately, all too familiar.

A nurse in Exeter has been removed from front line duty after refusing to take off the cross she wears round her neck.

Shirley Chaplin, a committed Christian, has been told to remove the one-inch crucifix because it poses a risk to patients and breaches uniform guidelines.

Now, I can understand the NHS wanting to keep the number of patients dying jewellery-related deaths to a minimum(!), but this seems to me to be utter nonsense.

The NHS trust involved is happy to make concessions for other faiths when it comes to uniform, but will not do so for Christians. This is a clear case of discrimination, and if it was perpetrated against Muslims, Hindus, or any other religious group, there would be uproar.

I'm all for a tolerant society, but we have to be fair to everybody

It's nice of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) to suggest, in a report released this week, that students should be paying more for their education.

I find this deeply ironic given that a lot of their members will have gone to university at a time when there were no fees or student loans at all, with further education instead being funded by grants.

Already many students have to get part-time jobs to pay their way through college, meaning they have less time to concentrate on their studies. Making them pay even more will surely just dilute the quality and value of degrees further.

I don't usually like to side with Simon Cowell, but I totally agree with his comments on the Strictly Come Dancing/X-Factor ratings war.

The Beeb have been criticised in some quarters for scheduling Strictly at the same time as it's ITV rival, with Cowell condemning the corporation for depriving viewers of "quality television".

Although he obviously has a vested interest, I think the music mogul is correct in this instance. We don't pay our licence fee so that the BBC can indulge in point-scoring against its rivals. They should leave that to the commercial stations, and schedule Strictly at a different time to the X-Factor so that viewers don't have to choose between the two.