![Image]( "Climber lands on feet after plunge")
Rescuers said that a climber is lucky to be alive after he survived a 1,000ft plunge down a mountain.
A rescue helicopter crew found the man standing up, reading a map, when they flew to the scene to search for him.
The 35-year-old had just reached the summit of the 3,589ft Sgurr Choinnich Mor around five miles east of Ben Nevis, when he lost his footing and fell down the extremely steep and craggy eastern slope of the mountain at around 2pm on Saturday.
A Royal Navy Sea King helicopter from HMS Gannet in Prestwick, Ayrshire, was already airborne for training and flew to the scene, arriving at 2.35pm.
The man, from Glasgow, was part of a group of 24 climbers, who pointed out the direction of their companion's fall to the helicopter team when they flew by.
Lieutenant Tim Barker, the crew's observer, said: "We began to hover-taxi down the slope and spotted a man at the bottom, standing up. We honestly thought it couldn't have been him, as he was on his feet, reading a map. Above him was a series of three high craggy outcrops.
"It seemed impossible. So we retraced our path back up the mountain and, sure enough, there were bits of his kit in a vertical line all the way up where he had obviously lost them during the fall. It was quite incredible. He must have literally glanced off the outcrops as he fell, almost flying."
A paramedic was winched down to check the man, who appeared to be unscathed beyond some superficial cuts and bruises and a minor chest injury. He was said to be "shaking from extreme emotional shock and the sheer relief at still being alive".
The man was found at 2,600ft, making his fall almost 1,000ft from the summit. He was winched on board the helicopter and then transferred to the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow.
Lt Barker said: "He is lucky to be alive. It's hard to believe that someone could have fallen that distance on that terrain and been able to stand up at the end of it, let alone chat to us in the helicopter on the way to the hospital. Really an amazing result - I have to say, when we got the call and realised the details of where he'd fallen, we did expect to arrive on scene to find the worst-case scenario."
Three people died after a fire broke out at a block of flats, police have said.
Fire crews were called to a flat in Acre Road in the Maryhill area of Glasgow at 11.37pm late on Friday.
Three people were rescued from the flat suffering from "severe" smoke inhalation.
They received first aid from firefighters but were confirmed dead at the scene.
Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service could not confirm the ages or gender of the occupants of the flat.
The blaze follows a a series of house fires in the Strathclyde area.
Earlier this month Scotland's top firefighter said a 10-day period over Christmas had seen an "unprecedented level of tragedy" with five deaths and hundreds of homes destroyed by fire.
Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service chief officer Brian Sweeney said they had dealt with the highest number of incidents for 10 years with 68 injuries and 250 homes destroyed during the period.
Hundreds of anti-government protesters have returned to Cairo's central Tahrir Square, chanting slogans against Hosni Mubarak just hours after the Egyptian president fired his Cabinet but refused to step down.
Protesters have overwhelmed the police forces in parts of Cairo and other cities around Egypt, and overnight the army replaced the police in guarding government buildings and other key areas.
Several tanks were parked in Tahrir Square, but soldiers did not intervene in the protest there.
Not far from the square, the army has sealed the road leading to the parliament and cabinet buildings.
Along the Nile, smoke was still billowing from the ruling party's headquarters, which protesters set ablaze during Friday's unrest.
The National Trust has vowed to "play its part" in protecting England's publicly-owned ancient woodlands, as the threat of a £250 million Government sell-off looms.
The charity described plans to dispose of the country's 258,000 hectare forest estate over the next decade as "a watershed moment in the history of the nation".
It put out a rallying call for the public's urgent support to ensure "heritage forests" such as the Forest of Dean and the New Forest are preserved for future generations.
"For 116 years, we have helped to save the places the people of this country most value when their existence, or access to them, has been threatened," said the Trust.
"If the Government is determined to pursue the course of action it has outlined and the public wish us to, we are ready to play our part in giving them a secure future It is therefore essential and urgent that everyone who cares for these special places now make their voices heard over what should happen to them."
The Trust, which protects buildings, countryside and coastlines in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, is considering a number of options, including buying or taking over England's public forest estate.
However, it is understood the costs involved could have major implications and is therefore hoping to enter into discussions with potential partner organisations.
The Trust said: "As the future of our great forests and woodlands is under threat, we want to know what the nation wants to see happen and are ready to discuss the future of these places. We are, as a matter of urgency, ready to enter a dialogue with all who care for them - local groups, NGOs, conservationists, other forest users and individuals - as to how their future can be preserved for future generations."
News of the plans has caused widespread consternation, with fears rife that well-loved woodlands could come under threat from golf courses and holiday parks or be cut down for timber, and that the public would lose access to forests.
A Defra spokesman said: "We're interested to hear ideas from all interested parties as part of this consultation process and welcome contributions."
A man believed to be 18 years old has been stabbed to death, police said.
He is thought to have been assaulted at around midnight near East Dulwich station in south London, Scotland Yard said.
He was taken to hospital but pronounced dead later, a spokesman said.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Police were called at approximately 00.10, following reports of an assault close to East Dulwich British Rail station.
"Our officers and the London Ambulance Service attended.
"A man believed to be 18 years old was discovered with stab wounds. He was taken to a south London hospital but pronounced dead at o2.15.
"Next of kin have yet to be informed.
"We await formal identification and detectives from the homicide and serious crime command are investigating."
A suicide bomber riding a motorcycle packed with explosives has rammed into a car carrying the deputy governor of Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, killing him and wounding three of his bodyguards, the Interior Ministry said.
The attacker struck as Abdul Latif Ashna was being driven to work in the provincial capital, said ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashery.
The US ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, condemned the killing and offered his condolences to the official's family.
"The loss of a great deputy governor like this is a setback," he said.
"What we have seen is that consistently, Afghan government leaders emerge and the people continue to rally in an effort to establish security in this province and build a strong government."
He spoke at Kandahar airfield, where he was attending a naturalisation ceremony for US service members becoming citizens at the base.
Kandahar, located in the Taliban's traditional southern stronghold, has been the scene of several recent attacks.
Two weeks ago a bicycle bomb targeting police vehicles near the city centre wounded at least 10 people - six civilians and four police.
Last month, a suicide car bombing in the city centre killed three people and wounded 26 others, most of them police.
Standards of patient care may be compromised if GPs focus on "the lowest price" rather than quality when it comes to health spending, the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) has warned.
The independent body called on greater clarity from the Government on the role of doctors following sweeping health reforms that will see the introduction of a clinician-led service.
RCS President John Black said explicit minimum standards of care need to be set out by ministers to avoid GPs entering into a "race to the bottom" where price squeezes out quality.
In an analysis of the Coalition's Health Bill ahead of its second reading before parliament on Monday, he said: "Alongside colleagues in the other Medical Royal Colleges, I am concerned that some of the aspirations for a clinician-led health service envisaged by the Health Secretary are not borne out by the legislation as currently drafted.
"We are concerned that minimum standards of care are not set out in the new arrangements to introduce greater competition. It is quite right that the government seeks the best value in health spending, but this needs greater detail if we are to avoid a 'race to the bottom' with price squeezing out quality."
Under the flagship bill, published earlier this month, GPs will be handed power over commissioning treatment worth £80 billion. A new independent NHS Commissioning Board will decide the overall budget and oversee the reformed service.
Mr Black also called on the Government to give more detail on how the new board would be constituted, and criticised the fact that it "includes no formal requirements for clinician representation at the highest level.
"This new system will only fulfil the expectations invested in it if practising clinicians of all specialities are able to co-ordinate, and engagement between commissioning consortia and local hospitals needs to be included as a responsibility," he added.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "Clinicians support the purpose of our plans: more patient-centred care, better results for patients and less bureaucracy.
"With rising demands on healthcare and results for patients - like cancer survival - not even at the European averages, the NHS needs to modernise now."
Hundreds of anti-government protesters have returned to the battered streets of central Cairo, shouting for Hosni Mubarak to step down and attacking police even as the cabinet resigned on the orders of the Egyptian president.
The sight of protesters pouring into Cairo's central Tahrir Square and clashing with police for a fifth day indicated Mr Mubarak's pledges of reform and the dismissal of the government had done little to cool the anger over crushing poverty, unemployment and corruption.
In a nationally televised speech, Mr Mubarak refused to meet the protesters' ultimate demand - for him to step down.
Over five days of protests - the largest Egypt has experienced in decades - crowds have overwhelmed police forces in Cairo and other cities around the nation with their numbers and in attacks with rocks and firebombs.
A week of unrest has killed at least 25 protesters and 10 policemen, security officials said.
They said the death toll was likely to significantly rise as more reports come in from hospitals and mortuaries around the country.
They also said that at least 750 policemen and 1,500 protesters have been wounded in clashes.
Overnight, the government called in military forces and the army has replaced police in guarding government buildings and other key areas around the capital.
Several tanks were parked in the vast Tahrir Square, but soldiers did not intervene in the latest protest there. Protesters hurling stones attacked riot police trying to enter the square, and officers responded with a barrage of tear gas and rubber bullets.
The Egyptian military later closed tourist access to the pyramids after the anti-government riots in the capital and other cities around the country.
Andy Murray's grandparents are facing a nervous wait as the tennis star prepares to play in the Australian Open final.
The Scot is on the verge of winning his first Grand Slam title when he takes on Serbian Novak Djokovic in Melbourne.
In his home town of Dunblane his grandparents Roy and Shirley Erskine are hoping Andy can make history and become the first British man to win a Grand Slam title since Fred Perry in 1936.
The pair are hoping it is third time lucky for the 23-year-old who has lost in two grand slam finals before - the 2008 US Open and last year's Australian Open.
Mr Erskine said: "The first time Andy got to a final we had no idea what to expect but now we realise just how massive it is.
"We still haven't decided where we will watch the game. Last year we went away to watch it with friends a few miles away.
"I think we want to be on our own, somewhere quiet so we can scream and shriek out loud at the TV.
"The nerves won't be gone until lunchtime tomorrow when we will hopefully be celebrating a win."
Mr Erskine, who played as a goalkeeper for Hibs, also admitted it was difficult to think of his grandson as the international sporting star he has become.
He said: "We're really proud of him. We are proud of his whole family. It's difficult when you are so closely related to someone in this position because you get so nervous for him and he is thousands of miles away."
A Ugandan woman who claims she is a lesbian has been granted an injunction temporarily preventing her deportation from Britain.
Brenda Namigadde, 29, says she fears for her life if she is returned to Uganda, where there is hostility towards homosexuals.
It is understood that her lawyer gained an injunction on Friday preventing her removal, which was cancelled. She had been due to fly back that evening.
A UK Border Agency spokesman said: "Ms Namigadde's case has been carefully considered by both the UK Border Agency and the courts on three separate occasions and she has been found not to have a right to remain here. An immigration judge found on the evidence before them that Ms Namigadde was not homosexual.
"The Government has made it clear that it is committed to stopping the removal of asylum seekers who have genuinely had to leave particular countries because of their sexual orientation or gender identification. However, when someone is found not to have a genuine claim we expect them to leave voluntarily."
It is thought that Ms Namigadde's case will now go to judicial review.
She has said she fled to the UK in 2002 after being beaten and victimised because of her sexuality.
Gay rights campaigner David Kato was beaten to death near the Ugandan capital Kampala on Wednesday. He had sued a local newspaper which outed him as homosexual.
A Ugandan newspaper published the photographs of several people it said were gay, including Mr Kato, with the headline "Hang them".
It is unclear whether his death was linked to his campaigning.
Labour leader Ed Miliband has insisted Britain is "united" behind the military campaign in Afghanistan on his first visit to the country.
Addressing troops in volatile Helmand province, Mr Miliband backed the coalition's timetable for combat operations to end by 2015.
"I want you to know that our mission in Afghanistan is not a matter of party politics," he said.
"It is about doing what is right for our country. A more stable Afghanistan will lead to a more safe Britain...
"Above all I want you to know that you have our support, our respect and our admiration for what you are doing for our country."
But he added: "It is right that this is not a war without end."
Mr Miliband toured the force's main base at Camp Bastion on Friday, meeting injured soldiers at the hospital.
Accompanied by shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy and shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander, he then travelled to Shawqat, which has seen some of the fiercest fighting recently.
The party has met the American commander of the Nato force, General David Petraeus, and is due to hold talks with President Hamid Karzai in Kabul later.
The visit was subject to a media blackout until now due to security concerns.
Protesters have gathered to highlight the effects of public spending cuts on young people.
Students, lecturers and unions came out in force in Manchester to hear claims the Government was "betraying" an entire generation.
Around 150 protesters broke off from the agreed march route and headed towards the city centre, chanting for the removal of NUS president Aaron Porter from office. Police walked alongside, with some taking photographs.
Campaigners attempted to gain entry into the University of Manchester Students' Union building but were barred by a line of officers as minor scuffles broke out.
They had shouted: "Students, workers, hear our shout! We want Aaron Porter out!" Anti-Conservative jeers were also sung as the splinter group rejoined the march to the rally.
The protest march attended by thousands began peacefully and was escorted by mounted police. Between 4,000 and 5,000 people gathered in Platt Fields Park
to listen to the speakers. No arrests have been made and there have been no reports of any major disorder, police said.
Mr Porter did not speak at the rally - it is understood NUS leaders made the decision, although police sources said he would have been asked if he thought it a good idea to appear in public.
Earlier, missiles - including eggs and oranges - were thrown on stage at Shane Chowen, NUS vice president for further education. He quickly left the platform to a chorus of boos from sections of the crowd when he told them: "The majority of students are behind the NUJ and UCU (University and College Union). We are fighting on your behalf."
Labour MP for Manchester Central Tony Lloyd said to the audience: "We are fighting for the future of young persons in my impoverished city. Not throwing eggs but fighting for people. Ordinary people deserve better than splitting our movement."
Thousands of students also gathered in central London to protest against Government cuts and university fee hikes.
The president of the National Union of Students pulled out of speaking at a public anti-cuts rally after he was surrounded by demonstrators who called for his resignation.
Aaron Porter was due to address the rally about the effects of spending cuts on young people but was forced to step down after he needed a police escort of a dozen officers to the students' union building at Manchester Metropolitan University. An angry group of around 150 people followed as they unsuccessfully attempted to gain entry into the site.
Around 4,000 protesters later gathered peacefully in Manchester's Platt Fields Park to hear claims from union leaders that the Government was "betraying" an entire generation, but a total of 16 arrests were made as a splinter group of a few hundred later marched to the city centre.
Police said the breakaway group was intent on inciting violence and causing damage as intelligence suggested a number were armed with chef's knives and razor blades.
Assistant Chief Constable Neil Wain said the rally organisers had dissociated themselves from the city centre unrest and said they were nothing to do with the organised demonstrators.
Earlier, Mr Porter was subjected to chants of: "Students, workers, hear our shout! We want Aaron Porter out!" and "Aaron Porter we know you, you're a f****** Tory too!" It was reported that a chant of "Tory Jew scum" was also aimed at Mr Porter.
When the rally got under way, missiles - including eggs and oranges - were thrown on stage at Shane Chowen, NUS vice president for further education. He quickly left the platform to a chorus of boos from sections of the crowd when he told them: "The majority of students are behind the NUS and UCU (University and College Union). We are fighting on your behalf."
A few hundred young protesters drifted away though before the end of the rally and headed back in the direction of where the march had started near the university. Around 100 campaigners then darted into a packed Arndale Centre where most stores inside were open. Staff at Top Man and Vodafone managed to get their shutters down as protesters stopped and screamed: "Pay your taxes!"
A number of the campaigners were arrested and bundled into police vans. Around 100 protesters were later contained by police on Deansgate near to the Hilton Hotel.
Thousands of students also gathered in central London to protest against Government cuts and university fee hikes.
Rescuers said that a climber is lucky to be alive after he survived a 1,000ft plunge down a mountain.
A rescue helicopter crew found the man standing up, reading a map, when they flew to the scene to search for him.
The 35-year-old had just reached the summit of the 3,589ft Sgurr Choinnich Mor around five miles east of Ben Nevis, when he lost his footing and fell down the extremely steep and craggy eastern slope of the mountain at around 2pm on Saturday.
A Royal Navy Sea King helicopter from HMS Gannet in Prestwick, Ayrshire, was already airborne for training and flew to the scene, arriving at 2.35pm.
The man, from Glasgow, was part of a group of 24 climbers, who pointed out the direction of their companion's fall to the helicopter team when they flew by.
Lieutenant Tim Barker, the crew's observer, said: "We began to hover-taxi down the slope and spotted a man at the bottom, standing up. We honestly thought it couldn't have been him, as he was on his feet, reading a map. Above him was a series of three high craggy outcrops.
"It seemed impossible. So we retraced our path back up the mountain and, sure enough, there were bits of his kit in a vertical line all the way up where he had obviously lost them during the fall. It was quite incredible. He must have literally glanced off the outcrops as he fell, almost flying."
A paramedic was winched down to check the man, who appeared to be unscathed beyond some superficial cuts and bruises and a minor chest injury. He was said to be "shaking from extreme emotional shock and the sheer relief at still being alive".
The man was found at 2,600ft, making his fall almost 1,000ft from the summit. He was winched on board the helicopter and then transferred to the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow.
Lt Barker said: "He is lucky to be alive. It's hard to believe that someone could have fallen that distance on that terrain and been able to stand up at the end of it, let alone chat to us in the helicopter on the way to the hospital. Really an amazing result - I have to say, when we got the call and realised the details of where he'd fallen, we did expect to arrive on scene to find the worst-case scenario."
Opera star Dame Margaret Price has died, her family said.
The singer, considered to be one of the world's leading sopranos, was 69.
Cousin Marteine Richards said Dame Margaret died at her home in the village of Moyle Grove, near Cardigan, West Wales, on Friday morning.
Dame Margaret made an acclaimed operatic debut with the Welsh National Opera as Cherubino in Mozart's Marriage Of Figaro in 1962 before becoming famous overnight in the same role at the Royal Opera House the following year.
Her career saw her performing in venues such as New York, Vienna, Paris and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich.
She was awarded the CBE in 1982, followed by the DBE in 1993.
David Cameron has spoken to President Hosni Mubarak to express his "grave concern" about violence against anti-government protesters in Egypt.
The Prime Minister urged the embattled leader to "take bold steps to accelerate political reform and build democratic legitimacy" rather than attempt to repress dissent, according to Downing Street.
In a joint statement with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mr Cameron added: "The Egyptian people have legitimate grievances and a longing for a just and better future.
"We urge President Mubarak to embark on a process of transformation which should be reflected in a broad-based government and in free and fair elections."
Mr Cameron made his intervention in a telephone call on Saturday evening as tens of thousands of protesters were still on the streets demanding reforms and an end to Mr Mubarak's three-decade rule. More than 50 people are said to have died during five days of clashes with police, and thousands more have been injured.
Mr Mubarak tried to ease the crisis on Friday by sacking his cabinet and appointing a moderate new deputy. But the UK and US - previously strong allies of the regime - have failed to give their backing. America has suggested it could withdraw Egypt's multibillion-dollar aid package if civil liberties are not respected.
The blunt message from Europe will increase the pressure on Mr Mubarak, amid reports that some of his family have already fled Egypt for the UK.
There are questions over whether he still commands the loyalty of the military, who appear unwilling to quell the uprising with force.
The Foreign Office has advised Britons against "all but essential" travel to Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor and Suez, while extra diplomatic staff have been flown out to help those stranded. An estimated 30,000 UK nationals are in the country, but the majority are in the relatively safe Red Sea resorts.
Protesters in Egypt have been emboldened by the success of the recent uprising in Tunisia which saw President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali ejected after 23 years in power. The pace of events has shocked observers, and led to speculation that other countries such as Yemen could be next to experience popular unrest.
Anti-cuts activists are to stage a day of action against leading stores, including Top Shop, Vodafone and Boots, as part of a campaign to highlight "tax avoiders".
Members of the UK Uncut group will hold protests in more than 30 towns and cities across the country ahead of Monday's tax return deadline, including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Aberdeen and Plymouth.
The group said it wanted to complain that the Government will fine ordinary people who miss the deadline for self-assessment tax returns while companies are avoiding tax.
Dannie Wright, spokesman for UK Uncut, said: "While we rush to complete our tax forms, rich corporations and individuals are getting away with billions of pounds of tax every year.
"They can employ armies of lawyers and accountants to exploit legal loopholes and dodge billions in tax.
"The Government insists that drastic public spending cuts and a hike in VAT are essential, but they will hit the poor and vulnerable the hardest, while the richest dodge tax with virtual impunity."
Paul Maloney, national officer of the GMB union, said: "GMB welcomes and applauds the campaign by UK Uncut to move the issue of tax avoidance and tax evasion into the centre of the political stage and to challenge the double standards that have until now been accepted as central to economic policy and official attitudes to incomes and taxation in the UK and other developed countries.
"For the multimillionaire elite we are asked to buy the line that, unless they are paid vast and increasing fortunes and are allowed to pay little tax, this will be damaging to the economy.
"For the rest of us we are asked to buy the line that, unless we accept pay freezes and increased taxation, this will be damaging to the economy. This is pure double standards and it is no longer acceptable."
A head-on train crash in eastern Germany killed 10 people and injured at least 33 others, eight of them severely, local firefighters said.
Police feared the death toll could rise.
A passenger and a cargo train crashed head-on near Hordorf village, close to Saxony-Anhalt's state capital Magdeburg, and several cars of the train carrying some 45 passengers derailed and overturned, a spokesman for the district's firefighters said.
He declined to be named in line with department policy.
Rescue operations are still under way, and police had no immediate information as to what could have caused the accident late on Saturday evening, regional police spokesman Frank Kuessner said.
Eight bodies were retrieved from the local passenger train and some 35 were injured, he said. Mr Kuessner had no immediate explanation for the differing casualty figures.
"Rescue operations are still ongoing. The death toll may well rise further," he said. Almost 200 police and rescue workers were at the crash site, he added.
The accident happened about 125 miles south-west of Berlin, Germany's capital.
Saxony-Anhalt's Deputy Interior Minister Ruediger Erben, who rushed to the scene, said the trains must have crashed head-on at a high rate of speed, German news agency DAPD reported.
The noise of the collision was heard in Oschersleben village, some 4.35 miles from the crash site.
Nine British servicemen and women have applied to be discharged from the military as conscientious objectors since the start of the war in Afghanistan, according to official figures.
Six of them - two from the Royal Navy and four from the RAF - were granted the right to leave the armed forces because of moral, political or religious objections.
Among the three who failed in their bid was Royal Navy medic Michael Lyons, who unsuccessfully took his case to an appeal panel in December.
No members of the Army have sought to be classified as conscientious objectors since UK forces joined US-led attacks on Afghanistan in 2001, Ministry of Defence statistics released following a Freedom of Information request show.
Two RAF personnel requested the status in 2003 - the year Britain took part in the controversial invasion of Iraq - and another two in 2005.
Three members of the Royal Navy sought discharge as conscientious objectors in 2006, one in 2007 and one in 2010.
Between 1990 and 2000, 13 Royal Navy personnel and one soldier applied for conscientious objector status, a separate Freedom of Information response shows.
Mr Lyons, 24, from Plymouth, Devon, became the first serviceman in 14 years to appear before the Advisory Committee on Conscientious Objectors, which hears appeals from those seeking a discharge on moral grounds. He told the panel he felt unable to serve in Afghanistan in the wake of revelations about civilian casualties by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.
Anti-war campaigners suggested the figures were evidence of growing opposition to the ongoing war in Afghanistan among the military. Lindsey German, convener of the Stop The War Coalition, said: "We are finding more members of the armed forces who do not want to serve in Afghanistan. When more than two-thirds of the population want the troops out, this is bound to affect the troops themselves."
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "There is a well-established procedure to allow armed forces personnel who develop a genuine conscientious objection to further military service to make the transition back to civilian life. Such cases are dealt with first by the individual's chain of command and there is an appeal procedure for service personnel if the request to leave is rejected."
A rally is to be held to protest over Government plans to transfer public forests in the Lake District and other parts of England to the private sector.
Campaign group Save Lakeland's Forests has accused ministers of trying to "pull the wool over people's eyes" and said the proposals would be a disaster for public access and environmental protection.
It said nearly 40 public forests and woodlands in the Lakes such as Grizedale, Whinlatter and Ennerdale were under threat.
On Saturday, the National Trust said the plans to dispose of the country's 258,000-hectare forest estate over the next decade in a £250 million sell-off was "a watershed moment in the history of the nation".
The rally at Grizedale Forest in Cumbria will hear speeches from Lord Clark of Windermere, a former chairman of the Forestry Commission, broadcaster Eric Robson, and Jack Ellerby, from Friends of the Lake District.
Lord Clark said: "The Government is trying to convince people that this is not privatisation. The fact is that their plans would mean selling off vast swathes of our public forests, in places like the Lake District, on 150-year leases to the private sector.
"These proposals would lead to a serious reduction in access to our public forests and undermine the important environmental work that the Forestry Commission does on our behalf."
Mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington, who is also a supporter of the campaign, said: "Our public forests are already much smaller than those in most other countries and we need to preserve what we have for the benefit of everyone. I urge all those who value these wonderful green spaces to join the campaign to keep our forests in public ownership and public management."
Save Lakeland's Forests said the Government was suggesting some heritage woodlands could be taken over by other organisations or local communities while so-called "commercial" forests will be sold on long leases to the private sector. But it said the reality was that most public forests were a mixture of the two and would be under threat of being transferred to the private sector.
The Government proposals, which are out for consultation, detail measures to dispose of up to 100% of England's public forest estate, which is currently managed by the Forestry Commission, over the next 10 years. They include the sale of leaseholds for commercially valuable forests to timber companies, measures to allow communities, charities and even local authorities to buy or lease woods and plans to transfer well-known "heritage" woods such as the New Forest into the hands of charities.
