Daily roundup 12 September: Public pay cap, care applications, and Staying Put

The general secretary of Unite has warned that the prospect of mass industrial unrest over public sector pay is becoming very likely and said his union could be willing to break the law to take strike action. The Guardian reports that Len McCluskey said he would disregard what he called the "artificial threshold" imposed by the government, which insists on a turnout of 50 per cent for a strike ballot to be legal.


The number of applications for children to be taken into care has fallen. Latest Cafcass statistics show that in August 2017 there were 1,241 care applications. This figure represents a 1.5 per cent decrease in applications compared with those received in August 2016. Between April and August 2017, Cafcass received 6,041 applications - compared with 6,236 for the same period last year.


Guidance around the right of young people in foster care to remain in their placements up to the age of 21 has been published. The Fostering Network said the guidance aims to provide a framework of best practice to assist all parties in implementing Staying Put arrangements.


There is "surprisingly limited" evidence that light drinking during pregnancy poses any risk to the baby, a study has found. The BBC reports that researchers from Bristol University reviewed all the available studies done on the topic since the 1950s and found no convincing proof that a drink or two a week is harmful. The researchers stressed that this does not mean it is completely safe.


A radical imam voiced support for Isil and told children at his mosque that "martyrdom was the supreme success" and better than anything they would achieve at school or college, a court has heard. The Telegraph reports that Kamran Hussain, 40, allegedly made a series of radical sermons over four months last year encouraging terrorism and supporting Isil in Syria. Hussain, of Knightsbridge Way, Tunstall, who denies the charges, had also posted his views on social media, jurors at the Old Bailey heard.