I felt I would be the one to be kicked out," she told the committee In 1988 she confided in a senior officer. A former Wren yesterday told how she was afraid to report she had been raped because her assailant threatened to reveal she was a lesbian and thus ensure her discharge from the Navy. Karen Greig, a Navy engineer, was one of a number of former service personnel giving evidence to MPs looking at the forces' ban on homosexuals. A pounds 2bn spending boom financed by maturing Tessas is part of the Government's strategy for reviving the "feelgood factor", to be thrashed out today by the Cabinet, writes Colin Brown.
The special meeting of the Cabinet, called by John Major to discuss the Tory plans for a spring offensive, will be told the Treasury expects about 10 per cent of the total Tessa bonanza of pounds 20bn to be spent in the economy, raising the chances of rekindling the "feelgood factor" for the Government. The Treasury has estimated that 2.5 million Tessa accounts, yielding pounds 15bn, will mature in the first quarter of this year, with a further pounds 5bn to follow by the end of 1996.Independent research suggests the money will be spent on holidays, cars, homes and services, such as education fees.Party sources said the Cabinet will be told the tax cuts in the last Budget, which take effect in April, and cuts in interest rates, which have reduced mortgages by up to pounds 150 a month, should make the average family feel pounds 450 better off.The Chancellor plans a tax-cutting Budget in November but Conservative Party sources denied the Government was creating an inflationary boom.There are signs the Chancellor is concentrating resources on trying to fulfil the 1992 election manifesto commitment to "make further progress towards a basic income tax rate of 20p.". Plans for a state-backed small business bank have been buried and instead Business Links are likely to be brought into a scheme to encourage private venture capital into small firms.Under early versions of this plan there would have been a government guarantee for equity investment by City firms, but the current favourite is closer to an insurance scheme - sharing the risks of failure among a pool of specialist investors.Margaret Beckett, Labour's trade and industry spokeswoman, and Barbara Roche, who shadows on small business, will also address the conference.. The policy is expected to be unveiled at a small business conference in the City of London today organised by the Labour-backed Industry Forum, where Tony Blair is to make the keynote speech. Ten days ago, the Prime Minister backed away from legislation on late payment and Labour's move appears designed to trump the caution of John Major's Government.There has been an outcry over the squeeze put on small companies by the failure of both private industry and government departments to pay up on time.Labour is thought likely to set a minimum threshold based either on the size of the unpaid debt or of the company that is failing to pay up, to exclude from penalties smaller companies that get behind on payment.Some small business pressure groups believe that a right to interest on late debts could cause more problems than it solves, and a threshold is thought likely to allay some of these fears.Mr Major's toughest proposal last week was for a round of consultation on whether to publish companies' late payment records in annual reports, to embarrass poor performers into improving their records.The Prime Minister announced the move at another small business conference, where he took the platform in place of Michael Heseltine, the Deputy Prime Minister - who sparked an uproar earlier this month when he admitted that in his early days as a businessman he had deliberately paid his bills late.Another Labour proposal for small businesses that is bound to rub salt into Mr Heseltine's wounds is aimed at beefing up his pet project, the national network of Business Links, which he set up as President of the Board of Trade.Labour not only claims Business Links were its idea in the first place, but is considering using them as a vehicle for injecting new finance into small firms. But most Labour MPs are expected to be broadly supportive of the measure's fundamental aim of "no-fault" divorce after a year's cooling-off period.The Government still faces embarrassment, however, from its own MPs during Monday's Second Reading, and the free or "conscience" votes at the Committee Stage.. Labour is to target the traditional Tory stronghold of the small business with a proposal to legislate for a statutory right to payment of interest on overdue debts. But there was nothing to suggest that the historic pattern would not reassert itself. "I suspect it is unlikely to affect the trend," he said.Given that the risk of divorce is higher in the earlier years, however, the average recent marriage can still expect to last 26 years.Couples who are still married after 10, 20, 30 and 40 years can on average expect to remain so for a further 24, 20, 15 and 10 years - avoiding not only the courts, the lawyers and mediation, but also the grim reaper.t Labour will open a new front of attack on the Government's divorce reform plans in an attempt to make the controversial Family Law Bill more "friendly" with increased protection for vulnerable partners.
That surge, was likely to be followed by a fall as the legislation delayed the divorce of some couples. But divorce rates had been rising sharply before both changes, neither of which had a lasting impact on the trend.Mr Haskey said his personal view was that the current proposals would not alter the upward trend."Some couples will try to beat the deadline," he said, seeking a quick fault-based divorce before the delaying mechanism in the current proposals takes effect. Such rates have, however, been rising. Calculations based on 1987 figures suggested that 37 per cent of marriages would finally end in divorce. Six years on, today's figures suggest the proportion will be 41 per cent.