The event was the first of many ordered by Tony Blair for the summer

The event was the first of many ordered by Tony Blair for the summer to feature new ministers attacking their opponents as a means of introducing themselves to the public.However, Labour was itself put on the defensive after Ms Stuart revealed that she had spent her first weekend in office studying the Opposition's health proposals. Ann Widdecombe, the Shadow Home Secretary, launched her attack after Labour published its "X-files" claiming to show that the Conservatives were now extremists. Newly appointed Cabinet Office minister and Labour co-ordinator Ian McCartney said that on every issue from fox-hunting to handguns the Tories were "cuddling up" to people on the fringes of British politics.He was joined by Gisela Stuart, the new health minister, as they claimed that the Tories would reduce the NHS to a safety net service. THE SUMMER'S political sparring got off to an acrimonious start yesterday as the Tories accused the Government of wasting new ministers' time on Labour party propaganda. "We have a wealth of talent out there, but the black and Asian candidates never had a chance in the selection process.". The row erupted when Millbank revealed that its slate of 14 constituency hopefuls for the GLA elections next May contained two Asian members. The party's embarrassment is set to deepen later this year when mayoral candidate Trevor Phillips is expected to announce that he has given up plans of standing for the assembly, The Independent has learned.Mr Phillips' withdrawal to concentrate on the mayoral race means that there will be no high-profile black Labour candidate for the GLA and little chance of a black deputy mayor drawn from its ranks.Several black candidates were excluded from the party's shortlist earlier this year on the grounds that they were "inexperienced" or "unsuitable".Atma Singh, secretary of the Labour Black Representation Committee, said: "This is totally unrepresentative of the black population of London."Lee Jasper, spokesman for Operation Black Vote and himself an excluded candidate, said the move risked leaving London with racially divided politics.Mark Seddon, a leading left-wing member of Labour's ruling National Executive Committee, also attacked the paucity of black representation."If you vet people as they have done, then this the situation that results," he said. BLACK GROUPS accused Labour of a "disgraceful betrayal" yesterday after it emerged that just two of the party's candidates for the Greater London Authority are from ethnic minorities. The inquiry was sparked by official protests from the Australian and New Zealand teams, claiming that the unnamed athlete was duping organisers of the World Veterans Athletics Championships being held this week in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. The athlete in question will now have a blood test to prove gender, but will be able to continue to compete until the results are known, Torsten Carlius, president of the World Association of Veteran Athletes (WAVA) said: "Until the verdict is announced the athlete can compete in her remaining events." Organisers said that the athlete will not be identified while the results are pending.More than 6,000 athletes are taking part in the championships at the Gateshead International Stadium with teams from 74 nations taking part Woman above 35 years and men over 40 can compete..

200,000 were injured in parks or public gardens, and 150,000 in school or public playgrounds.More than 230 children were taken to hospital because of near-drowning accidents and 48 children died from drowning.More than 125,000 children are injured in the garden each year. Garden accidents involving children over eight rise dramatically during the school summer holidays, peaking to almost 16,000 during August.Cherry Norton. A FEMALE athlete at a veteran's international tournament was last night under investigation by officials - charged with being a man. There were 17,000 child pedestrian casualties, 65 per cent were male.220 children died on British roads, including 133 pedestrians, 30 cyclists and 57 car occupants.More than 2.4 million children under 15 went to an Accident and Emergency Department as a result of an injury.More than 1.3 million were injured outside the home. By the year 2001, 40 per cent of residential streets will be home zones, and by the year 2006 this will be 100 per cent," she said.The Dutch spend about pounds 1.60 per person per year, calming down traffic on residential streets compared with less than 10p per person per year, in Britain.The Real DangersRoad accidents are the biggest single cause of accidental death for all children up to the age of 15.In 1997, 40,000 children under 15 were injured on the roads.

The number of children playing outside increased from 35 per cent to over 55 per cent and the number of children being allowed to walk to school increased from 21 per cent to 35 per cent.Over half of the residents of Highfields, said that they felt a greater sense of community, 64 per cent said they felt safer crossing the road and the number of traffic accidents fell.Research conducted in Leicester showed that where traffic had been reduced children were more likely to be allowed to play outside, or go to school and the local shop on their own."We would like to see the law changed so that speed limits of 10mph can be introduced and pedestrians and cyclist given priority over cars," said Lynn Sloman, assistant director of Transport 2000."The Dutch have put a lot of money into Home Zones and have a major programme in place. Of these 133 died and thousands were badly injured with head and leg injuries. More boys than girls, 65 per cent, were run over.Charities welcomed the Government's initiative on home zones, but said that both legal changes to the law and additional money were required to transform Britain's residential streets into safe places for children."Hundreds of children get killed by traffic, thousands get seriously injured, but it is the millions who are kept indoors because of it who we are trying to help," said Tim Gill, director of the Children's Play Council which has been campaigning with Transport 2000 for home zones for over three years."Home zones are not just about child safety they are also about making residential areas safer for everyone and improving people's quality of life," he said.Despite the development of unofficial schemes, such as one in Bonnington Square in Vauxhall, London, where the community has improved the street safety and reduced traffic on its own, the launch of home zones is the first official drive to improve residential streets.The initiative follows similar schemes in Holland that have been successful both in improving safety for children and community life.People living on streets with heavy traffic are more likely to suffer from chronic ill health, caused by traffic related pollution, noise and stress.Research conducted in Highfields, Leicester showed that where traffic had been reduced, children were more likely to be allowed to play outside, or go to school and the local shop on their own. Road accidents are the major cause of death in children under 15 and children are more than 22 times more likely to be killed by a car when they are playing in the street than killed by a stranger.The latest figures show that in 1997, 17,000 children under 15 were run over by cars while playing on the street.