January 20, 2011, 1:06 am
![Image]( "28-day terror detention to lapse")
The controversial power to detain terror suspects for 28 days without charge will be allowed to lapse next week, reverting to 14 days, the Government has announced.
Home Office Minister Damian Green said the order, which expires at midnight on Monday, will not be extended.
The findings of a full review of counter-terrorism powers will be announced by Home Secretary Theresa May next Wednesday, including long-term plans for the terror detention regime.
But answering an urgent question in the Commons, Mr Green said: "In the interim I can announce that the Government will not be seeking to extend the order allowing the maximum 28-day limit, and accordingly the current order will lapse on January 25 and the maximum limit of pre-charge detention will from that time revert to 14 days."
There were cheers from MPs who opposed the detention regime as Mr Green made his announcement.
The order allowing the 28-day limit was extended for six months last year while the full review was carried out.
Mr Green said: "This Government is clear that the power to detain terrorist suspects for up to 28 days before they were charged or released was meant to be an exceptional power. This was always Parliament's intention.
"But under the last government it became the norm, with the renewal of 28 days repeatedly brought before the House. This was despite the power rarely being used.
"Since July 2007 no-one has been held for longer than 14 days despite the many terrorists arrested since then. This is a testament to the efforts of our prosecutors, our police and our intelligence agencies."
He said the Home Secretary would next week "set out the detailed considerations of the Government in determining whether the current regime of 28 days should be renewed and if not what should be put in its place".
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January 20, 2011, 1:06 am
![Image]( "Parents devastated as dog mauls boy")
The parents of a two-year-old boy mauled by their family dog are "absolutely devastated" as he recovers from his injuries in hospital.
Toddler Lewis Oliver was attacked across his face by the animal, a Japanese Akita named Kona, at home in Hailsham, East Sussex, at 8.15pm on Wednesday.
He was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, where his mother Reme Keightley, 30, and his father Dean Oliver were at his bedside. Lewis was undergoing treatment for his facial injuries, but police said they are not considered to be life-threatening.
His great-aunt Jane Keightley said: "All I know is that Kona snapped at Lewis but I really don't know any more details at the moment.
"Kona got him on the side of the mouth. I haven't seen Lewis but I know that he has been up watching telly and taking drinks. He is a brave little soldier."
The family, who live on an estate in the market town, had Kona - not a banned breed of dog - since he was a puppy.
A spokesman for Sussex Police said Kona was destroyed with the consent of the parents.
Ms Keightley said the family own another dog of the same breed which is now to be rehomed.
She said: "Kona had never shown any aggression towards anyone before. He has been there since he was born and played with the children and chased them. This is the first time that he decided to snap."
Lewis has a 13-year-old sister. Asked how Lewis's parents were feeling, the great-aunt said: "They are absolutely devastated."
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January 20, 2011, 1:06 am
![Image]( "Inquest date for shooting massacre")
A date for the inquests into the deaths of mass killer Derrick Bird and the 12 victims he gunned down has been set.
The hearing, scheduled to last up to six weeks, will take place in Workington, Cumbria, from March 1.
Taxi driver Bird, 52, went on a shooting rampage as he drove around west Cumbria on June 2 last year, before he shot himself.
HM Coroner for North and West Cumbria David Roberts will hear the joint inquests at the Energus conference centre.
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January 20, 2011, 1:06 am
![Image]( "March 11 date for Irish election")
Ireland will hold a general election on Friday March 11, Prime Minister Brian Cowen has confirmed.
Amid chaos and controversy following the resignation of six Cabinet ministers, Mr Cowen made an apparent climbdown from a reshuffle, instead choosing to reassign portfolios.
In a statement to the Dail (parliament), Mr Cowen said the coalition Government would continue in power until the Finance Bill, giving effect to Budget 2011, and other important legislation is passed.
Mr Cowen said: "I believe it is important in the weeks ahead that the Government gives legislative effect to the Budget through the enactment of the Finance Bill and other related Bills which benefit the people.
"There's nothing more important than doing precisely that."
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January 20, 2011, 2:38 am
![Image]( "PM expresses disabled case sympathy")
David Cameron has insisted he has "every sympathy" with the parents of a severely disabled girl who say their daughter may have to go into care after he reneged on a pre-election pledge.
The Prime Minister said he would be looking into the case of Celyn Vincent "very closely" but denied the coalition's austerity measures were preventing the family from getting more help.
The six-year-old has severe quadriplegic cerebral palsy and epilepsy, and requires round-the-clock care. But her parents receive just six hours respite a week, with Ms Vincent criticising Mr Cameron as she said her family was "crumbling".
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January 20, 2011, 2:39 am
![Image]( "Bid to block MPs' pay rise 'lunacy'")
MPs have expressed frustration over "foolish" Government efforts to block a 1% increase in their salaries.
Leader of the House Sir George Young confirmed he wants to scrap the independently-set rise in light of the wider freeze in public sector pay.
The move will require the Commons to pass a resolution, because awards by the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) have been automatically implemented since 2008.
Downing Street said it was important that everyone showed "restraint" on remuneration amid efforts to tackle the deficit. But the decision could leave the coalition on a collision course with backbenchers who believe they are already underpaid on £65,738.
Mark Field insisted it was "lunacy" for MPs to interfere with the SSRB's rulings - whether it ordered a pay rise or a pay cut.
"How are we going to regain the trust of the general public if once again we set our own salary rather than leaving it to the independent review body?" the Cities of London and Westminster MP said.
"That is the whole point of having an independent review. It is incredibly foolish what is being proposed. As MPs we should be steering well clear of the whole thing. It is an independent review and we should let them get on and do the job."
Mr Field said he doubted many other MPs would put their "heads above the parapet" and object publicly. "There probably won't be much opposition because they will all want to take a hair shirt. No MP is going to get great plaudits for taking a pay rise," he said.
A senior Labour backbencher, who did not want to be named, complained that MPs were now paid half what other comparable elected representatives received.
"We have an independent body looking at our expenses, and we have an independent body setting our pay," they said. "It is a very modest pay rise and it should go through."
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January 20, 2011, 2:50 am
![Image]( "Man, 32, held in Jo murder inquiry")
Detectives have arrested a 32-year-old man on suspicion of murdering architect Joanna Yeates.
The suspect was detained in the early hours of Thursday after police investigating the 25-year-old's death uncovered fresh evidence.
Soon afterwards specialist search teams moved into the neighbouring flat to where Miss Yeates lived at 44 Canynge Road in Clifton, Bristol.
Dutch architect Vincent Tabak, 32, is registered as living at the address with his girlfriend.
Calls to his employers in Bath were referred to Avon and Somerset Police. The force has not named the suspect, who is being held at an undisclosed location.
Workers erected scaffolding and green tarpaulin at the rear of the substantial converted Victorian property. The screen covers the entrance to flat two, where Mr Tabak lived, and the rear of Miss Yeates's rented home. Police sealed off both ends of Canynge Road as officers in white forensic outfits arrived at the property.
Miss Yeates's father welcomed the latest development, which came almost five weeks after she disappeared. Speaking at the family home in Ampfield, Hampshire, David Yeates, 63, said he was "pleased" the police investigation was "moving forward".
He said: "We know as much as you do. We were told at 6am this morning that someone was arrested on suspicion of Jo's murder and their age."
Detective Chief Inspector Phil Jones, who is leading the inquiry, thanked Miss Yeates's family and boyfriend for their support.
He said: "I would like to thank the public for their continued support for the investigation and the information they have provided to us. I would also like to pay tribute to Jo's family and to Greg, who continue to be unfailing in their support to me and my team at what is an incredibly difficult and painful time for them."
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January 20, 2011, 2:50 am
![Image]( "254 flu deaths since September")
A total of 254 people with flu have died in the UK since September, the Government has said.
The figure is up on the 112 cases reported last week.
Of 214 cases where information was available, 195 deaths were associated with the H1N1 infection.
The HPA said that, despite the jump in deaths, rates of flu in the UK appeared to be declining.
GP visits and calls to NHS Direct relating to flu have decreased.
And the recording of deaths lags a week or two behind the period of peak flu activity.
The figures show a total of 418 patients with suspected flu are being treated in critical care, down from 661 last week.
Of these, 20 were under five, six were aged 5-15, 344 were aged 16-64 and 48 were over 65.
Of the 210 cases where information was available on age, seven deaths were of children under five, 11 of patients aged 5-14, 137 of those aged 15-64, and 55 of those aged 65 or over.
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January 20, 2011, 2:50 am
![Image]( "Peer: Expenses 'in lieu of salary'")
A former Tory peer accused of lying about his expenses told a court he viewed the system as being "in lieu of salary".
Lord Taylor of Warwick is accused of claiming for travel costs between a home in Oxford and the House of Lords when he actually lived in the capital.
He told the jury at Southwark Crown Court that he had acted on advice from Lord Colwyn that he should state his address as being outside of London.
Lord Taylor said: "It was in lieu of salary because there was no realistic prospect - because of the image of the House of Lords - of lords being paid. The policy was to claim the maximum because the reality is, in terms of expenditure, you were spending far more than you were able to claim back. This was a contribution towards your costs."
He answered "no" when asked by Mohammed Khamisa QC, defending, if he had ever made false claims for allowances or been in trouble with the police.
Lord Taylor said he took a significant pay cut when he entered the House of Lords.
When he was a lawyer, he said he earned about £100,000 a year but it "dropped alarmingly" to £50,000 when he spent most of his time on his parliamentary duties.
The former Tory peer described how he was brought up in a poor area of Birmingham and how he reached his position as the first black member of the House of Lords through careers in law, the media and charity work.
He told the court how he was offered a peerage by John Major in 1996 after narrowly missing out on a seat in Parliament a few years before and how he learned to tolerate constant racial abuse.
He said he felt he had made a big commitment when he took his seat in the Lords at the age of 43. He added: "A lot was expected of me. I had great respect for John Major, and frankly, I didn't want to let him down."
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January 20, 2011, 5:03 am
![Image]( "Man arrested in Jo murder inquiry")
Detectives have arrested a 32-year-old man on suspicion of murdering architect Joanna Yeates.
The suspect was detained in the early hours of Thursday after police investigating the 25-year-old's death uncovered fresh evidence.
Soon afterwards specialist search teams moved into the neighbouring flat to where Miss Yeates lived at 44 Canynge Road in Clifton, Bristol.
Dutch architect Vincent Tabak, 32, is registered as living at the address with his girlfriend Tanja Morson.
Calls to his employers in Bath were referred to Avon and Somerset Police. The force has not named the suspect, who is being held at an undisclosed location.
Workers erected scaffolding and green tarpaulin at the rear of the substantial converted Victorian property. The screen covers the entrance to flat two, where Mr Tabak lived, and the rear of Miss Yeates's rented home. Police sealed off both ends of Canynge Road as officers in white forensic outfits arrived at the property.
Miss Yeates's father welcomed the latest development, which came almost five weeks after she disappeared. Speaking at the family home in Ampfield, Hampshire, David Yeates, 63, said he was "pleased" the police investigation was "moving forward".
He said: "We know as much as you do. We were told at 6am this morning that someone was arrested on suspicion of Jo's murder and their age."
Detective Chief Inspector Phil Jones, who is leading the inquiry, thanked Miss Yeates's family and boyfriend for their support.
He said: "I would like to thank the public for their continued support for the investigation and the information they have provided to us. I would also like to pay tribute to Jo's family and to Greg, who continue to be unfailing in their support to me and my team at what is an incredibly difficult and painful time for them."
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January 20, 2011, 5:28 am
![Image]( "Shadow chancellor Johnson quits")
Shadow chancellor Alan Johnson has dramatically quit the Labour front bench, citing "personal issues".
In a blow for Labour leader Ed Miliband, Mr Johnson abruptly announced that he could not cope with issues facing his family while in the role.
Ed Balls, currently shadow home secretary, will take his place. Yvette Cooper becomes shadow home secretary.
Mr Johnson was only appointed to the key economic portfolio in October but has faced repeated questions about his suitability for the job.
In a statement, he said: "I have decided to resign from the Shadow Cabinet for personal reasons to do with my family. I have found it difficult to cope with these personal issues in my private life whilst carrying out an important front bench role.
"I am grateful to Ed Miliband for giving me the opportunity to serve as shadow chancellor of the Exchequer. He is proving to be a formidable leader of the Labour Party and has shown me nothing but support and kindness. My time in Parliament will now be dedicated to serving my constituents and supporting the Labour Party. I will make no further comment about this matter."
A Labour reshuffle will see Douglas Alexander become shadow foreign secretary, Liam Byrne will be shadow work and pensions secretary and Tessa Jowell takes over as shadow Cabinet Office minister.
In a statement, Mr Miliband insisted Labour had a "strong, confident" Shadow Cabinet.
He said: "It is with great regret that I have accepted the resignation of Alan Johnson. As shadow chancellor and a politician who held five Cabinet positions, Alan showed real leadership on issues that mattered to families across our country, warning of the dangers posed by the Government's gamble on growth and jobs, promoting educational opportunity and delivering neighbourhood policing."
He added that Mr Johnson's resignation was for personal reasons and "nothing to do with the job", adding that the party's economic policy would be unchanged.
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January 20, 2011, 8:45 am
![Image]( "McCann phone hacking attempt claim")
The spokesman for the family of Madeleine McCann has spoken of his fear that he may have been a victim of attempts to hack into his mobile phone.
Clarence Mitchell, who also worked for the Conservative Party during the General Election, said records from Vodafone appeared to show someone had tried to get information from his phone at the height of the case involving the missing girl.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's PM programme, Mr Mitchell said he had no idea who might have made the three suspect calls but said it seemed to be a "cack-handed" attempt to get into his voicemail messages.
He said he was led to make inquiries after he was approached by the BBC.
"I was always concerned that if some journalists were up to this sort of thing, then I might be a target but I had no proof," he said.
He told the BBC that Vodafone looked back at records for calls regarding his number on their customer services number and flagged up three entries.
Mr Mitchell said he believed someone had been "fishing" for information.
He continued: "It is impossible to state with any accuracy who was behind these calls. I do know they weren't me.
"It would be naive of me, given the situation I was in at the time and the amount of journalistic inquiry and traffic that I was receiving on that number, to think that it wasn't journalistic in its nature. There's no other reason for anybody else to try to get into my number. This was a cack-handed, pretty low-level amateurish attempt."
He said the McCanns would be "angered and upset" by the alleged attempts to intercept messages during the time of the investigation into their daughter's disappearance.
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January 20, 2011, 11:31 am
![Image]( "Petrol prices rising at record rate")
The price of petrol is rising at the highest rate for 10 years.
Average prices between mid-December and the middle of this month increased from 122.14p per litre to a new record of 128.27p, the AA said.
The previous highest monthly petrol price rise in the last decade was the 5.6p-a-litre increase between May and June 2008.
Diesel went up from an average of 126.19p a litre in mid-December to 132.75p a litre in mid-January.
This 6.56p increase in diesel was just short of the highest previous-decade monthly increase of 6.8p a litre set in July 2008.
The AA said the 0.76p-a-litre increase in fuel duty at the beginning of this month and the VAT rise to 20%, adding around 2.5p more to the pump price, accounted for the lion's share of the latest increases.
An increase of around 5% in wholesale costs, driven by oil prices surging past 90 dollars a barrel, had ensured that every day was a record for petrol prices since December 10.
Compared to a year ago, petrol now costs 16.3p a litre more and diesel 18.98p a litre more. Filling a typical 50-litre fuel tank has risen £8.15 for petrol and £9.49 for diesel. For a two-car family, the monthly cost of petrol has increased by £34.61.
Following Government figures showing a 3.4% fall in petrol sales in the period July-September 2010 compared to the same period in 2009, a comparison of retail petrol sales between January and September 2010 with the same period in 2007 showed a 2.22 billion litre, or 12.8%, decline. With sales for petrol and diesel combined, UK retailers in the first nine months of 2010 sold 1.27 billion fewer litres of fuel compared to the boom time in 2007.
At present, the cheapest petrol is to be found in Yorkshire and Humberside (averaging 127.3p a litre), while the dearest is in Northern Ireland (129.1p).
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January 20, 2011, 11:31 am
![Image]( "Blair faces fresh Iraq grilling")
Tony Blair faces fresh questions about his decision to take Britain to war with Iraq when he makes his second appearance before the Chilcot Inquiry into the war.
The former prime minister has been recalled to explain gaps in his earlier evidence and apparent discrepancies between his account and official documents and other witnesses' testimony.
He is expected to be grilled about what promises he made to former US president George Bush and his attitude to the advice about the legality of the war he received from former attorney general Lord Goldsmith.
The inquiry panel will ask Mr Blair about the secret messages he sent to Mr Bush in the build-up to the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.
It emerged this week that the head of the Civil Service, Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell, has refused requests for extracts from the notes to be released.
Inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcot said he was "disappointed" by the decision, which he pointed out flew in the face of revelations about the contents of the documents in Mr Blair and Mr Bush's recent memoirs.
Sir John said the question of when and how the former prime minister made commitments to the US about Britain's involvement in military action against Iraq was "central" to the inquiry's considerations.
Ex-Downing Street communications director Alastair Campbell told the inquiry last year that Mr Blair's secret messages assured Mr Bush that Britain would "be there" if it came to military action.
Fresh evidence emerged this week of Lord Goldsmith's misgivings about how his legal advice was being used in the period before the war. The former attorney general revealed he was "uncomfortable" about Mr Blair's public comments that Britain could attack Iraq without further United Nations backing when he was receiving clear legal advice to the contrary.
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January 20, 2011, 11:31 am
![Image]( "Novel career move by ex-Holby star")
A former Holby City star is among 11 first-time novelists tipped for success this year.
Sarah Winman, who played NHS boss Davina MacKenzie in the long-running medical drama, said she was "blessed" to be chosen from a longlist of 100 writers for her book When God Was A Rabbit.
The 46-year-old Londoner joins novelists from as far afield as Sri Lanka, Latvia and Canada in the first ever Waterstone's 11 list.
She said: "I've always been writing but I've been an actress for 23 years and it is in the last five years I started writing novels.
"It is a book about a relationship between a brother and a sister. The book is in two parts, childhood and the secrets they forge, and adulthood and consequences of those secrets. Ultimately it is a family saga about what keeps families together and about being able to start again."
Winman, who has also appeared in Silent Witness, Foyle's War, and The Forsythe Saga, said she had no plans to give up acting.
She said: "The writing came out of that. I was surrounded by scripts and I was surrounded by words. I still have an acting agent and think writing and acting can live side by side quite happily."
Other names on the list include Limerick-born Kevin Barry, advertising executive Shehan Karunatilaka and Stephen Kelman.
The Luton-born author hit the headlines last year when his novel was at the centre of a 12-way bidding war by publishers.
Waterstone's managing director Dominic Myers said: "I am in the book business because I love finding great new writing, and I know I am not alone in that passion. Our first Waterstone's 11 is quite genuinely one of the most exciting and remarkable collections of debut novels I've seen in my career. It's going to be a great year for fiction."
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January 20, 2011, 11:31 am
![Image]( "Warsi: Islamaphobia 'acceptable'")
Prejudice against Muslims has "passed the dinner-table test" and become widely socially acceptable in Britain, Conservative Party chairman Baroness Warsi has claimed.
In a speech designed to stem "the rising tide of anti-religious bigotry", Baroness Warsi - the first Muslim woman to attend Cabinet - warned that Islamophobia was seen by many Britons as normal and uncontroversial.
She said: "It seems to me that Islamophobia has now crossed the threshold of middle-class respectability."
She added: "For far too many people, Islamophobia is seen as a legitimate, even commendable, thing. You could even say that Islamophobia has now passed the dinner-table test.
"So when people get on the Tube and see a bearded Muslim, they think 'terrorist'; when they hear 'Halal', they think 'That sounds like contaminated food'; and when they walk past a woman wearing a veil, they think automatically 'That woman's oppressed'. And what's particularly worrying is that this can lead down the slippery slope to violence."
Baroness Warsi used the speech, at Leicester University, to warn against the tendency to divide Muslims between "moderates" and "extremists", which she said could fuel misunderstanding and intolerance.
She said terrorist offences committed by a small number of Muslims should not be used to condemn all who follow Islam.
"Let me say right away to British Muslims that I acknowledge that there is a minority of people that try to justify their criminal conduct and activity by suggesting that it is sanctioned by their faith," she said, adding: "It is a problem that we must confront and defeat. But that problem should not lead to unfounded suspicions of all Muslims."
Urging Muslim communities to be clearer about their rejection of those who resort to violent extremism, she said: "The deeper Islamophobia seeps into our culture, the easier becomes the task of the extremist recruiting sergeant.
"Those who commit criminal acts of terrorism in our country need to be dealt with not just by the full force of the law they also should face social rejection and alienation across society and their acts must not be used as an opportunity to tar all Muslims or divide our society on the basis of faith. At all times, we should be working to drain the pool of people where extremists fish."
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January 20, 2011, 11:31 am
![Image]( "Johnson quits as shadow chancellor")
Shadow chancellor Alan Johnson has dramatically quit the Labour front bench over what he said were "personal issues".
His surprise announcement forced Labour leader Ed Miliband to reshuffle his team after just three months.
Ed Balls, passed over for the job in October, was installed as Chancellor George Osborne's new opposite number.
Sources close to Mr Miliband said he had not wanted to lose Mr Johnson and insisted his departure had nothing to do with repeated questions about his suitability for the job.
The Labour leader said Mr Johnson had done a "good job" and stressed that the arrival of Mr Balls in the Treasury brief did not mark a change of economic policy.
In a statement, Mr Johnson said he was resigning for "personal reasons to do with my family".
"I have found it difficult to cope with these personal issues in my private life whilst carrying out an important front bench role.
"I am grateful to Ed Miliband for giving me the opportunity to serve as shadow chancellor of the Exchequer.
"He is proving to be a formidable leader of the Labour Party and has shown me nothing but support and kindness."
Mr Balls, a fierce ally of former prime minister Gordon Brown, has questioned Labour's deficit reduction plans in the past, suggesting they should be less aggressive, but Mr Miliband stressed there would be no change to Labour's economic policy.
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January 20, 2011, 3:03 pm
![Image]( "Johnson quits over personal life")
Alan Johnson has quit as shadow chancellor over a crisis in his personal life.
Mr Johnson announced that he was standing down for "personal reasons" amid reports that his second marriage was in trouble.
He and colleagues refused to elaborate as the Westminster rumour mill went into overdrive.
Shadow minister Tessa Jowell told BBC2's Newsnight she did not know why Mr Johnson had resigned, but added: "He's clearly very distressed. It's clearly a very, very difficult time for him."
In an earlier statement, Mr Johnson said only that it was "to do with my family", adding: "I have found it difficult to cope with these personal issues in my private life whilst carrying out an important front bench role."
Mr Johnson has been married to his second wife Laura for almost 20 years and the couple have a 10-year-old son.
His resignation left Ed Miliband facing his biggest test since being elected Labour leader, forcing him to reshuffle his shadow cabinet less than four months into the job.
Mr Miliband installed Ed Balls as shadow chancellor after overlooking him last October. Amid suggestions that Mr Balls may drag Labour to the left, Mr Miliband stressed that there would be no change in economic policy.
But the Tories and Liberal Democrats said Mr Balls' appointment marked a return to strength for Mr Brown's old guard. Conservative Party deputy chairman Michael Fallon said: "It beggars belief that Ed Balls has been appointed as shadow chancellor of the Exchequer.
"The man who is responsible for Britain's economic mess has returned. The Labour Party has learnt nothing and is now led entirely by Gordon Brown's old team."
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January 20, 2011, 3:03 pm
![Image]( "Teenager left baby at hospital")
An appeal to trace a teenage mother who abandoned her newborn baby boy at a hospital has been launched by police.
Baby Quy, pronounced Kwee and meaning "precious" in Vietnamese, was born at Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow, north-west London, on Saturday, January 15.
His mother, 17-year-old Van Thi Dam, left the hospital's maternity ward at 10.30am the next day without him and has not returned.
Quy is now in the care of a foster family and is in good health but police are keen to trace his mother.
The Metropolitan Police released a picture of Van Thi Dam to try to reunite her with her baby.
The teenager, who is Vietnamese and is believed to be from the Stanmore or Harrow area, is 5ft 3in and has straight shoulder-length dark brown hair. She was last seen wearing shiny black leggings, a dusky pink top and a tan leather jacket. She speaks English with a Vietnamese accent.
Pc Margaret Johnson, from the Missing Persons Unit at Harrow, said: "This is a heartbreaking case and we hope that Quy's mother comes forward to be reunited with her baby.
"Whilst Quy is receiving the best possible care, we are concerned that Van Thi Dam may require medical attention and support. We urge anyone who has seen her or been in contact with her to contact police. Little Quy has won the hearts of the officers and staff at Harrow and countless donations of baby clothes, toys and furniture have poured in from them.
"Today we will be handing over these gifts to him at his foster home. We all want the best possible start in life for Quy, and to ensure that Van Thi Dam gets all the medical and emotional support she needs."
Anyone who can help can call the Missing Persons Unit at Harrow on 020 8733 4335 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm) or 0300 123 1212 (24hrs) quoting reference MIS 001876; or Missing People on 0500 700 700.
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January 20, 2011, 3:03 pm
![Image]( "Cruel? I was doing my job: Gervais")
Golden Globe Awards host Ricky Gervais has insisted he was just doing his job when he mocked celebrity targets and even the sponsor of the event.
Gervais' victims at the awards ceremony included Charlie Sheen and Cher, nominated film The Tourist, and even the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which sponsors the event.
"If they didn't want me, they shouldn't have hired me," he said on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight show.
"I don't think I did anything wrong. Those were like jibes at these people, and I'm sure they've got a sense of humour. I'm not going to apologise for being true to myself. My strategy is to make me laugh. If there's anyone in the world like me, that's a bonus."
Morgan asked if any topic was ever off-limits for a wisecrack at a celebrity's expense.
"Do you care about what they may be going through in their private lives?" he inquired, perhaps referring to Robert Downey Jr, whom Gervais introduced at Sunday's NBC awards show by saying: "Many of you in this room probably know him best from such facilities as the Betty Ford Clinic and Los Angeles County Jail."
"I don't have an addiction," replied Gervais, adding: "I'm not judging them for what they did."
"You're mocking them, aren't you?" Morgan pressed.
"No, I'm not," Gervais said. "I'm confronting the elephant in the room. ... Like I'm going to go out there and not talk about the issues in their industry. Don't forget, I've got to be an outsider there. I mustn't come out there as everyone's mate and schmooze - that's nauseating. I've got to come out there, and I've got to roast them."
Gervais, who was making his second appearance as Golden Globes host, said he took the job on the condition that he could say what he wanted.
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The controversial power to detain terror suspects for 28 days without charge will be allowed to lapse next week, reverting to 14 days, the Government has announced.
Home Office Minister Damian Green said the order, which expires at midnight on Monday, will not be extended.
The findings of a full review of counter-terrorism powers will be announced by Home Secretary Theresa May next Wednesday, including long-term plans for the terror detention regime.
But answering an urgent question in the Commons, Mr Green said: "In the interim I can announce that the Government will not be seeking to extend the order allowing the maximum 28-day limit, and accordingly the current order will lapse on January 25 and the maximum limit of pre-charge detention will from that time revert to 14 days."
There were cheers from MPs who opposed the detention regime as Mr Green made his announcement.
The order allowing the 28-day limit was extended for six months last year while the full review was carried out.
Mr Green said: "This Government is clear that the power to detain terrorist suspects for up to 28 days before they were charged or released was meant to be an exceptional power. This was always Parliament's intention.
"But under the last government it became the norm, with the renewal of 28 days repeatedly brought before the House. This was despite the power rarely being used.
"Since July 2007 no-one has been held for longer than 14 days despite the many terrorists arrested since then. This is a testament to the efforts of our prosecutors, our police and our intelligence agencies."
He said the Home Secretary would next week "set out the detailed considerations of the Government in determining whether the current regime of 28 days should be renewed and if not what should be put in its place".
The parents of a two-year-old boy mauled by their family dog are "absolutely devastated" as he recovers from his injuries in hospital.
Toddler Lewis Oliver was attacked across his face by the animal, a Japanese Akita named Kona, at home in Hailsham, East Sussex, at 8.15pm on Wednesday.
He was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, where his mother Reme Keightley, 30, and his father Dean Oliver were at his bedside. Lewis was undergoing treatment for his facial injuries, but police said they are not considered to be life-threatening.
His great-aunt Jane Keightley said: "All I know is that Kona snapped at Lewis but I really don't know any more details at the moment.
"Kona got him on the side of the mouth. I haven't seen Lewis but I know that he has been up watching telly and taking drinks. He is a brave little soldier."
The family, who live on an estate in the market town, had Kona - not a banned breed of dog - since he was a puppy.
A spokesman for Sussex Police said Kona was destroyed with the consent of the parents.
Ms Keightley said the family own another dog of the same breed which is now to be rehomed.
She said: "Kona had never shown any aggression towards anyone before. He has been there since he was born and played with the children and chased them. This is the first time that he decided to snap."
Lewis has a 13-year-old sister. Asked how Lewis's parents were feeling, the great-aunt said: "They are absolutely devastated."
A date for the inquests into the deaths of mass killer Derrick Bird and the 12 victims he gunned down has been set.
The hearing, scheduled to last up to six weeks, will take place in Workington, Cumbria, from March 1.
Taxi driver Bird, 52, went on a shooting rampage as he drove around west Cumbria on June 2 last year, before he shot himself.
HM Coroner for North and West Cumbria David Roberts will hear the joint inquests at the Energus conference centre.
Ireland will hold a general election on Friday March 11, Prime Minister Brian Cowen has confirmed.
Amid chaos and controversy following the resignation of six Cabinet ministers, Mr Cowen made an apparent climbdown from a reshuffle, instead choosing to reassign portfolios.
In a statement to the Dail (parliament), Mr Cowen said the coalition Government would continue in power until the Finance Bill, giving effect to Budget 2011, and other important legislation is passed.
Mr Cowen said: "I believe it is important in the weeks ahead that the Government gives legislative effect to the Budget through the enactment of the Finance Bill and other related Bills which benefit the people.
"There's nothing more important than doing precisely that."
David Cameron has insisted he has "every sympathy" with the parents of a severely disabled girl who say their daughter may have to go into care after he reneged on a pre-election pledge.
The Prime Minister said he would be looking into the case of Celyn Vincent "very closely" but denied the coalition's austerity measures were preventing the family from getting more help.
The six-year-old has severe quadriplegic cerebral palsy and epilepsy, and requires round-the-clock care. But her parents receive just six hours respite a week, with Ms Vincent criticising Mr Cameron as she said her family was "crumbling".
MPs have expressed frustration over "foolish" Government efforts to block a 1% increase in their salaries.
Leader of the House Sir George Young confirmed he wants to scrap the independently-set rise in light of the wider freeze in public sector pay.
The move will require the Commons to pass a resolution, because awards by the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) have been automatically implemented since 2008.
Downing Street said it was important that everyone showed "restraint" on remuneration amid efforts to tackle the deficit. But the decision could leave the coalition on a collision course with backbenchers who believe they are already underpaid on £65,738.
Mark Field insisted it was "lunacy" for MPs to interfere with the SSRB's rulings - whether it ordered a pay rise or a pay cut.
"How are we going to regain the trust of the general public if once again we set our own salary rather than leaving it to the independent review body?" the Cities of London and Westminster MP said.
"That is the whole point of having an independent review. It is incredibly foolish what is being proposed. As MPs we should be steering well clear of the whole thing. It is an independent review and we should let them get on and do the job."
Mr Field said he doubted many other MPs would put their "heads above the parapet" and object publicly. "There probably won't be much opposition because they will all want to take a hair shirt. No MP is going to get great plaudits for taking a pay rise," he said.
A senior Labour backbencher, who did not want to be named, complained that MPs were now paid half what other comparable elected representatives received.
"We have an independent body looking at our expenses, and we have an independent body setting our pay," they said. "It is a very modest pay rise and it should go through."
Detectives have arrested a 32-year-old man on suspicion of murdering architect Joanna Yeates.
The suspect was detained in the early hours of Thursday after police investigating the 25-year-old's death uncovered fresh evidence.
Soon afterwards specialist search teams moved into the neighbouring flat to where Miss Yeates lived at 44 Canynge Road in Clifton, Bristol.
Dutch architect Vincent Tabak, 32, is registered as living at the address with his girlfriend.
Calls to his employers in Bath were referred to Avon and Somerset Police. The force has not named the suspect, who is being held at an undisclosed location.
Workers erected scaffolding and green tarpaulin at the rear of the substantial converted Victorian property. The screen covers the entrance to flat two, where Mr Tabak lived, and the rear of Miss Yeates's rented home. Police sealed off both ends of Canynge Road as officers in white forensic outfits arrived at the property.
Miss Yeates's father welcomed the latest development, which came almost five weeks after she disappeared. Speaking at the family home in Ampfield, Hampshire, David Yeates, 63, said he was "pleased" the police investigation was "moving forward".
He said: "We know as much as you do. We were told at 6am this morning that someone was arrested on suspicion of Jo's murder and their age."
Detective Chief Inspector Phil Jones, who is leading the inquiry, thanked Miss Yeates's family and boyfriend for their support.
He said: "I would like to thank the public for their continued support for the investigation and the information they have provided to us. I would also like to pay tribute to Jo's family and to Greg, who continue to be unfailing in their support to me and my team at what is an incredibly difficult and painful time for them."
A total of 254 people with flu have died in the UK since September, the Government has said.
The figure is up on the 112 cases reported last week.
Of 214 cases where information was available, 195 deaths were associated with the H1N1 infection.
The HPA said that, despite the jump in deaths, rates of flu in the UK appeared to be declining.
GP visits and calls to NHS Direct relating to flu have decreased.
And the recording of deaths lags a week or two behind the period of peak flu activity.
The figures show a total of 418 patients with suspected flu are being treated in critical care, down from 661 last week.
Of these, 20 were under five, six were aged 5-15, 344 were aged 16-64 and 48 were over 65.
Of the 210 cases where information was available on age, seven deaths were of children under five, 11 of patients aged 5-14, 137 of those aged 15-64, and 55 of those aged 65 or over.
A former Tory peer accused of lying about his expenses told a court he viewed the system as being "in lieu of salary".
Lord Taylor of Warwick is accused of claiming for travel costs between a home in Oxford and the House of Lords when he actually lived in the capital.
He told the jury at Southwark Crown Court that he had acted on advice from Lord Colwyn that he should state his address as being outside of London.
Lord Taylor said: "It was in lieu of salary because there was no realistic prospect - because of the image of the House of Lords - of lords being paid. The policy was to claim the maximum because the reality is, in terms of expenditure, you were spending far more than you were able to claim back. This was a contribution towards your costs."
He answered "no" when asked by Mohammed Khamisa QC, defending, if he had ever made false claims for allowances or been in trouble with the police.
Lord Taylor said he took a significant pay cut when he entered the House of Lords.
When he was a lawyer, he said he earned about £100,000 a year but it "dropped alarmingly" to £50,000 when he spent most of his time on his parliamentary duties.
The former Tory peer described how he was brought up in a poor area of Birmingham and how he reached his position as the first black member of the House of Lords through careers in law, the media and charity work.
He told the court how he was offered a peerage by John Major in 1996 after narrowly missing out on a seat in Parliament a few years before and how he learned to tolerate constant racial abuse.
He said he felt he had made a big commitment when he took his seat in the Lords at the age of 43. He added: "A lot was expected of me. I had great respect for John Major, and frankly, I didn't want to let him down."
Shadow chancellor Alan Johnson has dramatically quit the Labour front bench, citing "personal issues".
In a blow for Labour leader Ed Miliband, Mr Johnson abruptly announced that he could not cope with issues facing his family while in the role.
Ed Balls, currently shadow home secretary, will take his place. Yvette Cooper becomes shadow home secretary.
Mr Johnson was only appointed to the key economic portfolio in October but has faced repeated questions about his suitability for the job.
In a statement, he said: "I have decided to resign from the Shadow Cabinet for personal reasons to do with my family. I have found it difficult to cope with these personal issues in my private life whilst carrying out an important front bench role.
"I am grateful to Ed Miliband for giving me the opportunity to serve as shadow chancellor of the Exchequer. He is proving to be a formidable leader of the Labour Party and has shown me nothing but support and kindness. My time in Parliament will now be dedicated to serving my constituents and supporting the Labour Party. I will make no further comment about this matter."
A Labour reshuffle will see Douglas Alexander become shadow foreign secretary, Liam Byrne will be shadow work and pensions secretary and Tessa Jowell takes over as shadow Cabinet Office minister.
In a statement, Mr Miliband insisted Labour had a "strong, confident" Shadow Cabinet.
He said: "It is with great regret that I have accepted the resignation of Alan Johnson. As shadow chancellor and a politician who held five Cabinet positions, Alan showed real leadership on issues that mattered to families across our country, warning of the dangers posed by the Government's gamble on growth and jobs, promoting educational opportunity and delivering neighbourhood policing."
He added that Mr Johnson's resignation was for personal reasons and "nothing to do with the job", adding that the party's economic policy would be unchanged.
The spokesman for the family of Madeleine McCann has spoken of his fear that he may have been a victim of attempts to hack into his mobile phone.
Clarence Mitchell, who also worked for the Conservative Party during the General Election, said records from Vodafone appeared to show someone had tried to get information from his phone at the height of the case involving the missing girl.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's PM programme, Mr Mitchell said he had no idea who might have made the three suspect calls but said it seemed to be a "cack-handed" attempt to get into his voicemail messages.
He said he was led to make inquiries after he was approached by the BBC.
"I was always concerned that if some journalists were up to this sort of thing, then I might be a target but I had no proof," he said.
He told the BBC that Vodafone looked back at records for calls regarding his number on their customer services number and flagged up three entries.
Mr Mitchell said he believed someone had been "fishing" for information.
He continued: "It is impossible to state with any accuracy who was behind these calls. I do know they weren't me.
"It would be naive of me, given the situation I was in at the time and the amount of journalistic inquiry and traffic that I was receiving on that number, to think that it wasn't journalistic in its nature. There's no other reason for anybody else to try to get into my number. This was a cack-handed, pretty low-level amateurish attempt."
He said the McCanns would be "angered and upset" by the alleged attempts to intercept messages during the time of the investigation into their daughter's disappearance.
The price of petrol is rising at the highest rate for 10 years.
Average prices between mid-December and the middle of this month increased from 122.14p per litre to a new record of 128.27p, the AA said.
The previous highest monthly petrol price rise in the last decade was the 5.6p-a-litre increase between May and June 2008.
Diesel went up from an average of 126.19p a litre in mid-December to 132.75p a litre in mid-January.
This 6.56p increase in diesel was just short of the highest previous-decade monthly increase of 6.8p a litre set in July 2008.
The AA said the 0.76p-a-litre increase in fuel duty at the beginning of this month and the VAT rise to 20%, adding around 2.5p more to the pump price, accounted for the lion's share of the latest increases.
An increase of around 5% in wholesale costs, driven by oil prices surging past 90 dollars a barrel, had ensured that every day was a record for petrol prices since December 10.
Compared to a year ago, petrol now costs 16.3p a litre more and diesel 18.98p a litre more. Filling a typical 50-litre fuel tank has risen £8.15 for petrol and £9.49 for diesel. For a two-car family, the monthly cost of petrol has increased by £34.61.
Following Government figures showing a 3.4% fall in petrol sales in the period July-September 2010 compared to the same period in 2009, a comparison of retail petrol sales between January and September 2010 with the same period in 2007 showed a 2.22 billion litre, or 12.8%, decline. With sales for petrol and diesel combined, UK retailers in the first nine months of 2010 sold 1.27 billion fewer litres of fuel compared to the boom time in 2007.
At present, the cheapest petrol is to be found in Yorkshire and Humberside (averaging 127.3p a litre), while the dearest is in Northern Ireland (129.1p).
Tony Blair faces fresh questions about his decision to take Britain to war with Iraq when he makes his second appearance before the Chilcot Inquiry into the war.
The former prime minister has been recalled to explain gaps in his earlier evidence and apparent discrepancies between his account and official documents and other witnesses' testimony.
He is expected to be grilled about what promises he made to former US president George Bush and his attitude to the advice about the legality of the war he received from former attorney general Lord Goldsmith.
The inquiry panel will ask Mr Blair about the secret messages he sent to Mr Bush in the build-up to the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.
It emerged this week that the head of the Civil Service, Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell, has refused requests for extracts from the notes to be released.
Inquiry chairman Sir John Chilcot said he was "disappointed" by the decision, which he pointed out flew in the face of revelations about the contents of the documents in Mr Blair and Mr Bush's recent memoirs.
Sir John said the question of when and how the former prime minister made commitments to the US about Britain's involvement in military action against Iraq was "central" to the inquiry's considerations.
Ex-Downing Street communications director Alastair Campbell told the inquiry last year that Mr Blair's secret messages assured Mr Bush that Britain would "be there" if it came to military action.
Fresh evidence emerged this week of Lord Goldsmith's misgivings about how his legal advice was being used in the period before the war. The former attorney general revealed he was "uncomfortable" about Mr Blair's public comments that Britain could attack Iraq without further United Nations backing when he was receiving clear legal advice to the contrary.
A former Holby City star is among 11 first-time novelists tipped for success this year.
Sarah Winman, who played NHS boss Davina MacKenzie in the long-running medical drama, said she was "blessed" to be chosen from a longlist of 100 writers for her book When God Was A Rabbit.
The 46-year-old Londoner joins novelists from as far afield as Sri Lanka, Latvia and Canada in the first ever Waterstone's 11 list.
She said: "I've always been writing but I've been an actress for 23 years and it is in the last five years I started writing novels.
"It is a book about a relationship between a brother and a sister. The book is in two parts, childhood and the secrets they forge, and adulthood and consequences of those secrets. Ultimately it is a family saga about what keeps families together and about being able to start again."
Winman, who has also appeared in Silent Witness, Foyle's War, and The Forsythe Saga, said she had no plans to give up acting.
She said: "The writing came out of that. I was surrounded by scripts and I was surrounded by words. I still have an acting agent and think writing and acting can live side by side quite happily."
Other names on the list include Limerick-born Kevin Barry, advertising executive Shehan Karunatilaka and Stephen Kelman.
The Luton-born author hit the headlines last year when his novel was at the centre of a 12-way bidding war by publishers.
Waterstone's managing director Dominic Myers said: "I am in the book business because I love finding great new writing, and I know I am not alone in that passion. Our first Waterstone's 11 is quite genuinely one of the most exciting and remarkable collections of debut novels I've seen in my career. It's going to be a great year for fiction."
Prejudice against Muslims has "passed the dinner-table test" and become widely socially acceptable in Britain, Conservative Party chairman Baroness Warsi has claimed.
In a speech designed to stem "the rising tide of anti-religious bigotry", Baroness Warsi - the first Muslim woman to attend Cabinet - warned that Islamophobia was seen by many Britons as normal and uncontroversial.
She said: "It seems to me that Islamophobia has now crossed the threshold of middle-class respectability."
She added: "For far too many people, Islamophobia is seen as a legitimate, even commendable, thing. You could even say that Islamophobia has now passed the dinner-table test.
"So when people get on the Tube and see a bearded Muslim, they think 'terrorist'; when they hear 'Halal', they think 'That sounds like contaminated food'; and when they walk past a woman wearing a veil, they think automatically 'That woman's oppressed'. And what's particularly worrying is that this can lead down the slippery slope to violence."
Baroness Warsi used the speech, at Leicester University, to warn against the tendency to divide Muslims between "moderates" and "extremists", which she said could fuel misunderstanding and intolerance.
She said terrorist offences committed by a small number of Muslims should not be used to condemn all who follow Islam.
"Let me say right away to British Muslims that I acknowledge that there is a minority of people that try to justify their criminal conduct and activity by suggesting that it is sanctioned by their faith," she said, adding: "It is a problem that we must confront and defeat. But that problem should not lead to unfounded suspicions of all Muslims."
Urging Muslim communities to be clearer about their rejection of those who resort to violent extremism, she said: "The deeper Islamophobia seeps into our culture, the easier becomes the task of the extremist recruiting sergeant.
"Those who commit criminal acts of terrorism in our country need to be dealt with not just by the full force of the law they also should face social rejection and alienation across society and their acts must not be used as an opportunity to tar all Muslims or divide our society on the basis of faith. At all times, we should be working to drain the pool of people where extremists fish."
Alan Johnson has quit as shadow chancellor over a crisis in his personal life.
Mr Johnson announced that he was standing down for "personal reasons" amid reports that his second marriage was in trouble.
He and colleagues refused to elaborate as the Westminster rumour mill went into overdrive.
Shadow minister Tessa Jowell told BBC2's Newsnight she did not know why Mr Johnson had resigned, but added: "He's clearly very distressed. It's clearly a very, very difficult time for him."
In an earlier statement, Mr Johnson said only that it was "to do with my family", adding: "I have found it difficult to cope with these personal issues in my private life whilst carrying out an important front bench role."
Mr Johnson has been married to his second wife Laura for almost 20 years and the couple have a 10-year-old son.
His resignation left Ed Miliband facing his biggest test since being elected Labour leader, forcing him to reshuffle his shadow cabinet less than four months into the job.
Mr Miliband installed Ed Balls as shadow chancellor after overlooking him last October. Amid suggestions that Mr Balls may drag Labour to the left, Mr Miliband stressed that there would be no change in economic policy.
But the Tories and Liberal Democrats said Mr Balls' appointment marked a return to strength for Mr Brown's old guard. Conservative Party deputy chairman Michael Fallon said: "It beggars belief that Ed Balls has been appointed as shadow chancellor of the Exchequer.
"The man who is responsible for Britain's economic mess has returned. The Labour Party has learnt nothing and is now led entirely by Gordon Brown's old team."
An appeal to trace a teenage mother who abandoned her newborn baby boy at a hospital has been launched by police.
Baby Quy, pronounced Kwee and meaning "precious" in Vietnamese, was born at Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow, north-west London, on Saturday, January 15.
His mother, 17-year-old Van Thi Dam, left the hospital's maternity ward at 10.30am the next day without him and has not returned.
Quy is now in the care of a foster family and is in good health but police are keen to trace his mother.
The Metropolitan Police released a picture of Van Thi Dam to try to reunite her with her baby.
The teenager, who is Vietnamese and is believed to be from the Stanmore or Harrow area, is 5ft 3in and has straight shoulder-length dark brown hair. She was last seen wearing shiny black leggings, a dusky pink top and a tan leather jacket. She speaks English with a Vietnamese accent.
Pc Margaret Johnson, from the Missing Persons Unit at Harrow, said: "This is a heartbreaking case and we hope that Quy's mother comes forward to be reunited with her baby.
"Whilst Quy is receiving the best possible care, we are concerned that Van Thi Dam may require medical attention and support. We urge anyone who has seen her or been in contact with her to contact police. Little Quy has won the hearts of the officers and staff at Harrow and countless donations of baby clothes, toys and furniture have poured in from them.
"Today we will be handing over these gifts to him at his foster home. We all want the best possible start in life for Quy, and to ensure that Van Thi Dam gets all the medical and emotional support she needs."
Anyone who can help can call the Missing Persons Unit at Harrow on 020 8733 4335 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm) or 0300 123 1212 (24hrs) quoting reference MIS 001876; or Missing People on 0500 700 700.
Golden Globe Awards host Ricky Gervais has insisted he was just doing his job when he mocked celebrity targets and even the sponsor of the event.
Gervais' victims at the awards ceremony included Charlie Sheen and Cher, nominated film The Tourist, and even the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which sponsors the event.
"If they didn't want me, they shouldn't have hired me," he said on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight show.
"I don't think I did anything wrong. Those were like jibes at these people, and I'm sure they've got a sense of humour. I'm not going to apologise for being true to myself. My strategy is to make me laugh. If there's anyone in the world like me, that's a bonus."
Morgan asked if any topic was ever off-limits for a wisecrack at a celebrity's expense.
"Do you care about what they may be going through in their private lives?" he inquired, perhaps referring to Robert Downey Jr, whom Gervais introduced at Sunday's NBC awards show by saying: "Many of you in this room probably know him best from such facilities as the Betty Ford Clinic and Los Angeles County Jail."
"I don't have an addiction," replied Gervais, adding: "I'm not judging them for what they did."
"You're mocking them, aren't you?" Morgan pressed.
"No, I'm not," Gervais said. "I'm confronting the elephant in the room. ... Like I'm going to go out there and not talk about the issues in their industry. Don't forget, I've got to be an outsider there. I mustn't come out there as everyone's mate and schmooze - that's nauseating. I've got to come out there, and I've got to roast them."
Gervais, who was making his second appearance as Golden Globes host, said he took the job on the condition that he could say what he wanted.
