September 3, 2010, 1:56 am
![Image]( "Grim outlook for building industry")
Britain's building industry is facing a bleak future after construction orders suffered a dramatic 14% fall between April and June.
The slide was led by public and private housing orders - down 23% and 24% respectively - and is the biggest slump outside of a recession over a single quarter since 1987.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures come despite construction output soaring 8.5% during the second quarter - the sector's best performance since 1982.
The sudden fall sparked grim warnings from the industry over the rocky road ahead as Chancellor George Osborne's savage spending review looms next month.
Construction Products Association economics director Noble Francis said: "Today's figures clearly highlight that the increase in construction output during the second quarter does not represent a sustained recovery."
Alasdair Reisner, industry affairs director at the Civil Engineering Contractors Association, added: "This is a reality check for the industry. It's pretty grim out there."
Although the ONS stresses that the figures can be volatile, construction orders have held firm above £13 billion for the previous three quarters before the sudden plunge to £11.6 billion.
A host of building projects have been put on hold or scrapped since the election - including schemes under the Government's Building Schools for the Future project - with more likely to feel the axe next month.
The spending uncertainty has hit companies such as social housing and maintenance firm Connaught.
The ONS figures showed orders falling across all sectors except private sector industrial projects.
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September 3, 2010, 1:56 am
![Image]( "Mother in court over toddler death")
A mother has appeared in court charged with murdering her two-year-old son.
Melanie Ruddell, 39, carried the lifeless body of toddler Christy into Peterlee police station, County Durham, last month.
After receiving hospital treatment following her arrest, she was deemed well enough to be charged by police on Friday.
She was at Peterlee Magistrates' Court - next door to the police station - for a brief hearing before the case was sent to Newcastle Crown Court on Friday afternoon.
Ruddell, of Dean View, Castle Eden, wore a dark suit with a turquoise striped shirt for the two-minute hearing. The defendant, with her dark hair in a bob, confirmed her name and address in a quiet voice.
District Judge Michael Wood said: "I understand arrangements have been made for this lady to be produced at the Crown Court forthwith."
Ruddell is alleged to have killed her son in his sleep while they stayed overnight at the home of her brother Neil Close, 37, in West Rainton, County Durham, on August 9.
She then drove her son's body to the police station, where she was immediately arrested on suspicion of murder.
A post-mortem examination revealed the toddler died after being strangled and had also suffered a single stab wound, although this is not thought to have caused his death.
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September 3, 2010, 2:16 am
![Image]( "Fugitive Asil Nadir granted bail")
Fugitive tycoon Asil Nadir has stood in an Old Bailey dock, 17 years after he fled Britain.
Nadir was remanded on conditional bail to another hearing on October 15. His trial date was provisionally set for October 2011.
The court was told that the 66 fraud charges against him, alleging the theft of £34 million from his Polly Peck empire, may be reduced to 15 charges.
Prosecutors will now try to trace the original 183 witnesses who were due to give evidence at the trial he fled Britain to avoid.
Nadir, 69, was granted bail on July 30 on condition he return to the UK from the Turkish republic of Northern Cyprus which had no extradition agreement with Britain.
The hearing on Friday lasted an hour.
The court clerk asked him: "Are you Asil Nadir?" He replied: "Yes, I am."
The hearing was mainly concerned with timetable, preparation of the case and defence submissions.
Mr Justice Bean said the trial judge will be appointed later this year.
He set a date from October next year for a possible trial.
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September 3, 2010, 2:16 am
![Image]( "Crime rise warning amid cuts threat")
Crime could rise if hundreds of police jobs are axed because of the Government's budget cuts, a chief constable has said.
Kent Police's Ian Learmonth said a 20% cut in funding of the force would mean it loses £53 million over the next four years.
The impact of such cuts is likely to bring staff and officer numbers back to levels not seen since 2001, he told BBC Radio Kent.
Mr Learmonth said: "When you look at our budget, 84% of it is people - police officers and police staff. You cannot achieve the savings with the remaining 16%, so we are immediately into people."
Kent Police employs 3,728 officers and 2,932 civilian staff.
Mr Learmonth, who joined Kent Police as chief constable in July, added: "The cuts, if they are 20%, will take us back to 2001, so that's quite a significant drawback into police numbers. Clearly there is a potential impact that crime will rise."
The scale of the cuts will not be known until the Government publishes its comprehensive spending review at the end of October.
Mr Learmonth continued: "I have never offered any guarantees on protecting police officer and police staff numbers because you can't do that with the size of the cuts we are facing. What we have said is my focus is on our ability to deliver frontline, front-end policing to the community of Kent."
But Ian Pointon, of the Kent Police Federation, insisted policing should be protected from any cuts. He said: "This is going to have an impact on the policing in Kent and the people need to wake up to that fact."
Policing budget cuts may see up to 60,000 jobs lost nationwide, according to recent research for Jane's Police Review magazine.
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September 3, 2010, 2:16 am
![Image]( "Cricket corruption 'not widespread'")
Corruption in cricket is not widespread, it has been claimed as three Pakistan stars banned from playing over match-fixing allegations were questioned by police.
Test captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were charged under the anti-corruption code of the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday and provisionally banned from playing in any match.
The three men have insisted they are innocent but have been charged with "various offences" under Article 2 of the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code relating to alleged irregular behaviour during and in relation to the fourth Test between England and Pakistan at Lord's last month.
They have been "provisionally suspended pending a decision on those charges", the ICC said. The bans follow newspaper allegations that a middleman accepted £150,000 to arrange for Pakistan players to deliberately bowl no-balls during the match.
Asked if the case was "the tip of the iceberg", ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said: "We don't believe this is widespread."
And Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the head of the ICC's anti-corruption unit, added: "I do not see this as the tip of the iceberg."
Mr Lorgat said: "Upholding the integrity of cricket is fundamental to every single one of us. We have promised to be decisive, we have had a week in which to properly conduct due diligence, and that is the point at which we were (on Thursday night), when we charged three players and provisionally suspended them."
Asked if there was any kind of conspiracy against Pakistani cricket, Mr Lorgat said: "I can assure you that there is absolutely no truth to that suggestion."
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September 3, 2010, 2:16 am
![Image]( "'Misery' as council axes 1,500 jobs")
Union leaders have warned that plans by a county council to axe 1,500 jobs over the next three years because of cuts in Government funds will pile "misery" into a recession-hit region.
Unison said vital services will be hit because of cutbacks at Somerset County Council aimed at tackling a £75 million deficit.
Ken Maddock, leader of the Tory-controlled council, said the authority will have to cut back many of its services and make compulsory redundancies.
He said: "We will have to deal with losing 1,500 posts at this council over the next three years. We will have to stop almost all our major building projects, including a new school, children centre, and pedestrianisation scheme."
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: "Job losses on this scale will hit the people of Somerset hard, scaling back vital community services, and hitting spending power.
"Cutting most new building projects will only make the dole queues longer. The jobs market is tough enough. People will struggle to find work elsewhere. This council is obsessed with freezing council tax, and this has added to the deficit."
Unison said the announcement was the latest in a "long line" of job cuts in councils across the country in recent weeks, including 3,000 at Nottingham County Council, 1,400 in Lincolnshire and 500 in Bolton.
Mr Prentis said: "There is an alternative to the mantra of cuts. America is keeping up spending to boost recovery and stave off the dreaded double dip. Unison is committed to protecting jobs and services. The ideological choice to cut the deficit hard and fast is causing misery to hundreds of thousands of people who work in and rely on public services."
Unison pointed out that latest unemployment figures for the South West showed 165,000 (6.1%) people were already out of work.
The council's workforce stands at around 6,500 but this is expected to fall to around 5,000, said Mr Maddock. The council also announced there would be no increase in council tax for a second year in 2011.
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September 3, 2010, 4:55 am
![Image]( "'Clarity' call to BBC over meeting")
Labour has called for "clarity and reassurance" from the BBC after the director general of the corporation was photographed going into a meeting in Downing Street to apparently discuss coverage of government spending cuts.
Shadow culture secretary Ben Bradshaw wrote to Mark Thompson urging him to "avoid any impression that the BBC's editorial independence may have been compromised".
Mr Bradshaw raised his concerns after Mr Thompson reportedly met one of Prime Minister David Cameron's senior aides to talk about offering prominent exposure to senior government figures on BBC channels in the coming weeks.
The meeting, said to be with Mr Cameron's strategy chief Steve Hilton, appeared to be an attempt by Mr Thompson to assure senior Tory figures that the BBC was not biased against the Government, the Daily Telegraph reported.
It came on the same day the director general admitted in an interview that the Corporation was guilty of a "massive bias to the left" in the past.
According to the Daily Mail, Thursday's photographs showed Mr Thompson arriving at Number 10 holding with a memo stating the BBC was ready to put its coverage of spending cuts into "context".
The memo revealed Mr Thompson's head of news Helen Boaden had met Downing Street director of communications Andy Coulson for lunch at which he expressed "concern" about coverage of the forthcoming comprehensive spending review, the paper reported.
The letter from Mr Bradshaw said: "Given the systematic assaults on the BBC by the Conservative Party in opposition and their continued attacks on the Corporation in Government, including their threats to the licence fee, I am sure you will agree that it is paramount that you avoid any impression that the BBC's editorial independence may have been compromised."
He said Mr Thompson should consider releasing the briefing papers he was seen holding as he walked into No 10.
In his letter, Mr Bradshaw asked who requested the meeting, the BBC or Downing Street.
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September 3, 2010, 4:55 am
![Image]( "Ex-MP Sir Cyril Smith dies aged 82")
Veteran politician Sir Cyril Smith has died aged 82.
Sir Cyril served as the Liberal and later Liberal Democrat MP for Rochdale from 1972 until retiring in 1992.
He became one of his party's heavyweight political figures in the 1970s and 1980s - both his famously rotund stature and his larger-than-life personality made him a distinctive character in British politics.
A spokesman for the Liberal Democrats in Rochdale, the town where he was born and raised, confirmed his death.
The former MP was made an MBE for his public services in 1966 and was knighted in 1988.
The lifelong bachelor, who reportedly weighed 29 stones at one point, was often a thorn in the side of his party's leadership.
Famously outspoken with a typical Northern bluntness, Sir Cyril once described Parliament as "the longest running farce in the West End" and never made it to the leadership of his party.
During a political career spanning decades he changed parties three times and in 1976 suggested the formation of a completely new Centre party.
From humble beginnings in Rochdale he won a scholarship to Rochdale Grammar School for Boys, honing his debating skills at the local Unitarian Church. Elected to Parliament in 1972 in a landslide victory over Labour in his home town, he began his resolutely independent career at Westminster despite his party affiliation.
He became party spokesman on employment and chief whip but rejected calls for him to stand as the party leader, and finally retired from Westminster in 1992.
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September 3, 2010, 4:55 am
![Image]( "Ex-MI6 man jailed for secrets sale")
A former member of MI6 who tried to sell secrets for £2 million has been sentenced to 12 months in jail.
However Daniel Houghton, 25, will be released almost immediately because he has already served half the sentence while on remand.
Houghton, a software engineer from Hoxton, east London, pleaded guilty to two offences under the Official Secrets Act at an earlier hearing.
He offered to hand over sensitive computer files containing information about intelligence collection and MI6 staff lists to agents from The Netherlands, the Old Bailey heard. They thought it was a hoax at first but then tipped off their UK counterparts and Houghton was arrested.
Mr Justice Bean told him: "The effect on the SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) credibility and the morale of its officers of this kind of act of betrayal is a serious matter."
Houghton tried to sell two secret staff lists, one containing the names of 387 people and the other with the telephone numbers of 39 individuals. He worked for MI6, also known as the Secret Intelligence Service, between September 2007 and May 2009.
During that time he accessed secret computer files belonging to MI5 (the British Security Service) which related to the work of both intelligence agencies. They were described in court as "sensitive capabilities files, important tools developed by SIS staff for the gathering of intelligence for national security purposes".
Mr Arnold said Houghton tried to sell them to Dutch secret agents in August 2009. After a series of telephone calls it was agreed that he would fly to The Netherlands for a meeting in January this year, at which the Dutch agents were persuaded that he had worked for the SIS as he claimed, and they tipped off MI5.
Houghton wanted £2 million for the files but agreed to accept £900,000. He handed over the files to the Dutch agents at a London hotel on March 1 and was given a suitcase containing £900,000 but he was arrested in the lobby by plain-clothes police officers.
SIS found that if the files he sold had fallen into the hands of a "hostile nation" they would have posed "significant risk to future SIS operations", as with MI5's work.
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September 3, 2010, 4:55 am
![Image]( "Rape and murder blog stalker jailed")
A stalker has been jailed after writing a blog about raping and murdering a woman he had been harassing in real life for two years.
Greg Downing, 40, detailed the imagined attack on children's author Katharine Quarmby in an online novel.
Judge Deva Pilley sentenced Downing, of Beacon Road, Crowborough, East Sussex, to six months' imprisonment at Blackfriars Crown Court in London.
Downing bombarded Ms Quarmby, of north London, with phone calls and emails after they met through an online dating site in 2008, the court heard.
He was convicted of stalking her on three occasions before she found the blog online after typing her name into the internet search engine Google.
The 29-page piece, titled A Novel: Katharine Quarmby, is about a man stalking the writer, burgling her home, raping and finally murdering her.
The judge said: "This can only be described as a campaign of harassment.
"It is clear that your harassment of Miss Quarmby has been deliberate and premeditated so as to cause her and her family the maximum discomfort, embarrassment and fear."
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September 3, 2010, 4:55 am
![Image]( "Homeless man dies after arrest")
An investigation has been launched after a man arrested for begging was found collapsed in a police cell and later died, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has said.
The 36-year-old, believed to be a homeless man from Lithuania, was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of begging and taken to Forest Gate Police Station, east London, where he was booked into custody at 1.15pm.
He was found collapsed in his cell at about 8am the next morning and taken to Newham General Hospital. He was then transferred to Royal London Hospital where he died at about 8.15pm on Thursday night, the IPCC said.
IPCC Commissioner Rachel Cerfontyne said: "This investigation will focus on the care this man received while in police custody, to see if anything could have been done differently to prevent his death."
Inquiries are ongoing to trace the man's next of kin and formal identification has not yet taken place.
The IPCC said a post-mortem will take place in due course.
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September 3, 2010, 4:55 am
![Image]( "Murder charge mother in secure unit")
A mother charged with murdering her two-year-old son has been remanded to a secure psychiatric hospital.
Melanie Ruddell, 39, of Dean View, Castle Eden, carried the lifeless body of toddler Christy into Peterlee police station, County Durham, last month.
After appearing briefly at Peterlee Magistrates' Court - next door to the police station - a bail application was heard behind closed doors at Newcastle Crown Court.
She received hospital treatment following her arrest and was deemed well enough to be charged by police.
In open court, Judge Michael Cartlidge said afterwards: "I have ordered that she be remanded to a secure psychiatric hospital to be treated by a consultant psychiatrist and that will remain the position for some months to come."
Ruddell became distressed during the hearing in chambers, the judge said, and was permitted to leave the dock before the open court part of the hearing to be taken back to hospital.
A plea and case management hearing will be held in February.
Ruddell is alleged to have killed her son in his sleep while they stayed overnight at the home of her brother Neil Close, 37, in West Rainton, County Durham, on August 9.
She then drove her son's body to the police station, where she was arrested on suspicion of murder.
A post-mortem examination revealed the toddler died after being strangled and had also suffered a single stab wound, although this is not thought to have caused his death.
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September 3, 2010, 5:56 am
![Image]( "Phone-hacking case faces review")
There may be a case for HM Inspector of Constabulary to be called in to investigate allegations relating to phone-hacking by journalists at the News of the World, shadow home secretary Alan Johnson has said.
Mr Johnson said he will be going to the Home Office to review papers on the case dating from his time as home secretary before offering his advice on the issue to his Conservative successor Theresa May.
Fresh questions have been raised about the interception of private voicemail messages of prominent people - which led to the jailing of a News of the World reporter and a private investigator in 2007 - following a report this week in the New York Times.
The report included claims that then editor Andy Coulson, now a senior adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron, was aware that the illegal practice was being undertaken by journalists on his staff - something Mr Coulson has always denied.
It also raised questions about how vigorously the Metropolitan Police had pursued the case.
Last year, the Met chose not to launch an investigation into claims made by the Guardian newspaper that a series of public figures had been the victims of eavesdropping.
Royal correspondent Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were the only people to be prosecuted in relation to phone-tapping, and the News of World has always insisted that theirs was an isolated case.
Former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott said on Friday morning he was prepared to take legal action to force the police to inform him whether his phone was one of those allegedly hacked into.
Lord Prescott said he had demanded the truth about the claims from police and was expecting a reply by September 11.
"If they fail to give us that information, which is clearly available but has to be given to us, I will seek a judicial review," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "The only way the truth can come out is really to have it properly investigated and really have a judicial review. I think it demands at least that."
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September 3, 2010, 5:59 am
![Image]( "Police quiz for Pakistan cricketers")
Three Pakistan cricketers at the centre of match-fixing allegations are being questioned by police as the sport's governing body insisted corruption in the game was not widespread.
Cricket chiefs said the claims of no-balls being bowled to order in last month's Lord's Test match was not "the tip of the iceberg".
And the International Cricket Council (ICC) denied there was conspiracy against Pakistan cricket.
Pakistan test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were charged on Thursday night under the anti-corruption code of the ICC and provisionally banned from playing in any match.
The players claim they are innocent but have been charged with "various offences" under Article 2 of the ICC's anti-corruption code relating to alleged irregular behaviour during and in relation to the fourth Test between England and Pakistan.
The ICC action follows newspaper allegations that a middleman accepted £150,000 to arrange for Pakistan players to deliberately bowl no-balls during the match.
When asked at a Lord's press conference whether the case was "the tip of the iceberg" ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said: "We don't believe this is widespread."
And Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the head of the ICC's anti-corruption unit, added: "I do not see this as the tip of the iceberg."
Pakistan's top diplomat in Britain attacked the ICC, accusing it of "just playing to the public gallery".
Wajid Hasan, the High Commissioner in London, has said he believed the trio played no part in an alleged plot to bowl no-balls to order during Pakistan's Lord's defeat. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I met the cricketers for two hours, cross-questioned them, got to the bottom of it and concluded that they were innocent and that's what I said to the media."
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September 3, 2010, 5:59 am
![Image]( "Worshippers 'trapped' after blast")
Worshippers are believed to be trapped inside a blazing Hare Krishna temple after an explosion, the fire and rescue service said.
A third of the building in Leicester was destroyed by the blast, the cause of which has not yet been established.
Firefighters were battling the flames and search and rescue dogs were requested to help find anyone in the rubble, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service said.
A number of people were believed to be inside the temple in Thoresby Street at the time of the explosion, just before 2.40pm.
One eyewitness described the shock suffered by those caught up in the incident.
Fatima Khatri told the BBC: "Everyone is really worried. There's a lady crying outside, there's a really injured gentleman and people are really shaken.
"It's really upsetting to see this happen."
Firefighters were using thermal imaging cameras to look for worshippers inside the building, which was believed to be unstable, a fire and rescue service spokeswoman said.
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September 3, 2010, 8:17 am
![Image]( "Clegg leads tributes to Cyril Smith")
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has led tributes to "larger-than-life" politician Sir Cyril Smith, who has died at the age of 82.
Mr Clegg said he was "deeply saddened" to hear of the death of Sir Cyril, who served as the Liberal and later Liberal Democrat MP for Rochdale between 1972 and 1992.
He praised the veteran figure, who was famous for his distinctive appearance and frequent television appearances in the 1970s and 1980s.
Sir Cyril, who was said to have weighed 29 stone at his heaviest, could be disdainful of Westminster, once branding Parliament as "the longest running farce in the West End". The lifelong bachelor was made an MBE for his public services in 1966 and was knighted in 1988.
Mr Clegg said: "Cyril Smith was a larger-than-life character and one of the most recognisable and likeable politicians of his day.
"Everybody in Rochdale knew him, not only as their MP but also as a friend. He was a true Liberal, dedicated to his constituency, always showing great passion and determination.
"Cyril was a colourful politician who kept the flame of Liberalism alive when the party was much smaller than it is today. Rochdale and Britain have sadly lost one of their great MPs, and I think we can safely say there will never be an MP quite like Cyril Smith again."
Former Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell said: "Cyril Smith was a one-off in British politics. His views were always forthright and he did not suffer fools gladly. His service to the Liberal cause was immense and whilst in recent years he suffered from poor health, his commitment was as robust as ever."
Lord Steel of Aikwood, a former leader of the Liberal Party from 1976 until 1988, said Sir Cyril was a "warm-hearted" colleague, adding: "He was first and foremost Mr Rochdale. His by-election victory picked up the Liberal Party from the disastrous 1970 election when we had only six seats and started our recovery."
Famously outspoken with a typical Northern bluntness, Sir Cyril never made it to the leadership of his party. During a political career spanning decades he changed parties three times and in 1976 suggested the formation of a completely new Centre party.
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September 3, 2010, 9:48 am
![Image]( "Pakistan cricketers freed by police")
The three Pakistan cricketers at the centre of match-fixing allegations have been released without charge by police.
Test captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer were all questioned separately by detectives at Kilburn police station in north-west London.
Speaking outside the station after they had left, their lawyer, Elizabeth Robertson, said they had attended voluntarily and at no time were they under arrest.
She said the men would continue to co-operate fully with police and the International Cricket Council (ICC), which has already charged them under their anti-corruption code and provisionally banned them from playing in any match.
The trio say they are innocent but have been charged with "various offences" under Article 2 of the ICC's anti-corruption code relating to alleged irregular behaviour during and in relation to the fourth Test between England and Pakistan.
In a statement released on behalf of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the three men, Ms Robertson said: "Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt of the Pakistan Cricket Team have today been questioned under caution by the Metropolitan Police.
"They voluntarily attended Kilburn police station to answer questions relating to allegations published by the News of the World.
"At no time were they placed under arrest. They were free to leave at any time, answered all the questions that were put to them and have been released without charge or conditions."
She urged for the players' right to a fair and proper hearing be respected, adding: "The PCB, together with the three players, will continue to co-operate fully with the Metropolitan Police and the ICC investigations, and look forward to a timely and satisfactory outcome.
"They will not be making any further comment at this time and we ask that you respect their wishes in that regard."
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September 3, 2010, 9:48 am
![Image]( "Temple worshippers' miracle escape")
Firefighters said it was an "absolute miracle" no-one was killed in an explosion at a Hare Krishna temple.
The blast rocked the building after cylinders of gas powering a large cooker leaked during a festive meal.
About 30 people escaped from the temple in Leicester when the organiser raised the alarm just seconds before the explosion at about 2.30pm.
A third of the building in Thoresby Street was destroyed in the blast.
Worshippers had been cooking in the kitchen area during the afternoon for a religious festival, incident commander Bill Smith, of Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, said.
He said: "Most of the guests were in and around a marquee area just outside the building. In the kitchen they had a large LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinder hooked up to a large gas ring.
"After the meal they disconnected the pipe from the cylinder but the cylinder kept leaking. The person who disconnected the cylinder realised the danger of the gas leaking. He ran out and got everybody to run over to the other side of the road. Within 30 seconds there was a large explosion. He has no doubt saved the lives of many people with his actions."
When emergency services arrived it was unclear whether anyone was trapped inside, or underneath rubble left by the blast. Firefighters went into the building to conduct a search but it became too unstable to send more in. An urban search and rescue dog also scoured the wreckage but no-one was found.
Mr Smith said: "It's an absolute miracle that nobody's been injured or killed. You could tell how close people were because within about 10ft of the building were barbecue tables with food on."
East Midlands Ambulance Service said four people, including a firefighter, were treated at the scene for minor injuries. The festivities were organised by Iskcon Leicester - the International Society for Krishna Consciousness - to mark Lord Krishna's "Appearance Day".
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September 3, 2010, 9:48 am
![Image]( "Chief defends BBC's impartiality")
The director general of the BBC has defended the Corporation's impartiality after it was disclosed he met a senior government aide in Downing Street to discuss coverage of the Government's spending cuts.
Mark Thompson insisted his meeting did not affect the BBC's "independence or impartiality in any way".
He had meetings "from time to time" with politicians and officials of all parties regarding coverage, and that was the "unremarkable context" in which his meeting with Mr Cameron's strategy chief Steve Hilton should be seen, he said.
He was responding to shadow culture secretary Ben Bradshaw who had called for "clarity and reassurance" after Mr Thompson was photographed arriving at Number 10 holding a memo from his head of news, Helen Boaden.
The memo disclosed she had previously met Downing Street director of communications Andy Coulson for lunch at which he was "concerned" the BBC should give "context" to its coverage of the forthcoming comprehensive spending review.
Mr Bradshaw wrote to Mr Thompson, saying: "Given the systematic assaults on the BBC by the Conservative Party in opposition and their continued attacks on the Corporation in Government, including their threats to the licence fee, I am sure you will agree that it is paramount that you avoid any impression that the BBC's editorial independence may have been compromised."
He said Mr Thompson should consider releasing the briefing papers he was seen holding as he walked into No 10.
In his letter Mr Bradshaw asked who requested the meeting, the BBC or Downing Street.
He asked if similar meetings had taken place with Gordon Brown or his staff and whether there had been other talks between BBC editors and No 10 political staff.
Mr Thompson released his reply to Mr Bradshaw in which he assured the shadow culture secretary: "I'm happy to assure you that nothing about this meeting - the fact of it occurring, its timing or the matters which were discussed - could be construed as compromising the BBC's independence or impartiality in any way."
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September 3, 2010, 9:48 am
![Image]( "Afghan violence 'will get worse'")
Violence in Afghanistan will get worse before it gets better, Britain's most senior military commander in the country has predicted.
Lieutenant General Sir Nick Parker, the deputy commander of the International Security Assistance Force, said allied forces were making progress against Taliban insurgents but it was "hard, slow and variable".
Comparing the current stage of ISAF's mission to the period in a battle when violence is at its height, he said: "We are going up the hill into the enemy at the moment."
Lt Gen Parker told BBC Radio 4's PM: "This is a complex counter-insurgency. There are a large number of different actors and it is a resilient enemy.
"Over the course of this summer, the momentum of the campaign has continued much as we predicted it would earlier in the year. We are seeing progress but it is hard, it is slow and it is variable.
"But I am convinced that we are showing persistent security in areas where the insurgency has dominated in the past and the people who live in those areas are beginning to realise not only that we are serious, but also - importantly - that the Afghan government is beginning to bring more governance and development to those areas."
The allied forces had "all our inputs right, and all our forces and systems in the right place", said Lt Gen Parker.
This has been a bloody year for British troops in Afghanistan, with 87 dying so far in 2010, bringing the total UK deaths since the start of operations in 2001 to 332.
Lt Gen Parker said: "I am afraid this absolutely tallies with what we have been telling people for the last four to five months: that the 'bell curve' of violence will increase before it decreases, as we demonstrate this persistent security and the fact that we can dominate this insurgency."
Every casualty was a "tragedy", said Lt Gen Parker. But he added: "At the level I am operating at, you have to try to look above that, you have to look at the effect we are trying to create more widely across the campaign. If your judgments were affected by each individual tragedy, you would make some very dubious decisions. We mustn't allow our judgments to be made simply on the basis of casualties."
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Britain's building industry is facing a bleak future after construction orders suffered a dramatic 14% fall between April and June.
The slide was led by public and private housing orders - down 23% and 24% respectively - and is the biggest slump outside of a recession over a single quarter since 1987.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures come despite construction output soaring 8.5% during the second quarter - the sector's best performance since 1982.
The sudden fall sparked grim warnings from the industry over the rocky road ahead as Chancellor George Osborne's savage spending review looms next month.
Construction Products Association economics director Noble Francis said: "Today's figures clearly highlight that the increase in construction output during the second quarter does not represent a sustained recovery."
Alasdair Reisner, industry affairs director at the Civil Engineering Contractors Association, added: "This is a reality check for the industry. It's pretty grim out there."
Although the ONS stresses that the figures can be volatile, construction orders have held firm above £13 billion for the previous three quarters before the sudden plunge to £11.6 billion.
A host of building projects have been put on hold or scrapped since the election - including schemes under the Government's Building Schools for the Future project - with more likely to feel the axe next month.
The spending uncertainty has hit companies such as social housing and maintenance firm Connaught.
The ONS figures showed orders falling across all sectors except private sector industrial projects.
A mother has appeared in court charged with murdering her two-year-old son.
Melanie Ruddell, 39, carried the lifeless body of toddler Christy into Peterlee police station, County Durham, last month.
After receiving hospital treatment following her arrest, she was deemed well enough to be charged by police on Friday.
She was at Peterlee Magistrates' Court - next door to the police station - for a brief hearing before the case was sent to Newcastle Crown Court on Friday afternoon.
Ruddell, of Dean View, Castle Eden, wore a dark suit with a turquoise striped shirt for the two-minute hearing. The defendant, with her dark hair in a bob, confirmed her name and address in a quiet voice.
District Judge Michael Wood said: "I understand arrangements have been made for this lady to be produced at the Crown Court forthwith."
Ruddell is alleged to have killed her son in his sleep while they stayed overnight at the home of her brother Neil Close, 37, in West Rainton, County Durham, on August 9.
She then drove her son's body to the police station, where she was immediately arrested on suspicion of murder.
A post-mortem examination revealed the toddler died after being strangled and had also suffered a single stab wound, although this is not thought to have caused his death.
Fugitive tycoon Asil Nadir has stood in an Old Bailey dock, 17 years after he fled Britain.
Nadir was remanded on conditional bail to another hearing on October 15. His trial date was provisionally set for October 2011.
The court was told that the 66 fraud charges against him, alleging the theft of £34 million from his Polly Peck empire, may be reduced to 15 charges.
Prosecutors will now try to trace the original 183 witnesses who were due to give evidence at the trial he fled Britain to avoid.
Nadir, 69, was granted bail on July 30 on condition he return to the UK from the Turkish republic of Northern Cyprus which had no extradition agreement with Britain.
The hearing on Friday lasted an hour.
The court clerk asked him: "Are you Asil Nadir?" He replied: "Yes, I am."
The hearing was mainly concerned with timetable, preparation of the case and defence submissions.
Mr Justice Bean said the trial judge will be appointed later this year.
He set a date from October next year for a possible trial.
Crime could rise if hundreds of police jobs are axed because of the Government's budget cuts, a chief constable has said.
Kent Police's Ian Learmonth said a 20% cut in funding of the force would mean it loses £53 million over the next four years.
The impact of such cuts is likely to bring staff and officer numbers back to levels not seen since 2001, he told BBC Radio Kent.
Mr Learmonth said: "When you look at our budget, 84% of it is people - police officers and police staff. You cannot achieve the savings with the remaining 16%, so we are immediately into people."
Kent Police employs 3,728 officers and 2,932 civilian staff.
Mr Learmonth, who joined Kent Police as chief constable in July, added: "The cuts, if they are 20%, will take us back to 2001, so that's quite a significant drawback into police numbers. Clearly there is a potential impact that crime will rise."
The scale of the cuts will not be known until the Government publishes its comprehensive spending review at the end of October.
Mr Learmonth continued: "I have never offered any guarantees on protecting police officer and police staff numbers because you can't do that with the size of the cuts we are facing. What we have said is my focus is on our ability to deliver frontline, front-end policing to the community of Kent."
But Ian Pointon, of the Kent Police Federation, insisted policing should be protected from any cuts. He said: "This is going to have an impact on the policing in Kent and the people need to wake up to that fact."
Policing budget cuts may see up to 60,000 jobs lost nationwide, according to recent research for Jane's Police Review magazine.
Corruption in cricket is not widespread, it has been claimed as three Pakistan stars banned from playing over match-fixing allegations were questioned by police.
Test captain Salman Butt and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were charged under the anti-corruption code of the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday and provisionally banned from playing in any match.
The three men have insisted they are innocent but have been charged with "various offences" under Article 2 of the ICC's Anti-Corruption Code relating to alleged irregular behaviour during and in relation to the fourth Test between England and Pakistan at Lord's last month.
They have been "provisionally suspended pending a decision on those charges", the ICC said. The bans follow newspaper allegations that a middleman accepted £150,000 to arrange for Pakistan players to deliberately bowl no-balls during the match.
Asked if the case was "the tip of the iceberg", ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said: "We don't believe this is widespread."
And Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the head of the ICC's anti-corruption unit, added: "I do not see this as the tip of the iceberg."
Mr Lorgat said: "Upholding the integrity of cricket is fundamental to every single one of us. We have promised to be decisive, we have had a week in which to properly conduct due diligence, and that is the point at which we were (on Thursday night), when we charged three players and provisionally suspended them."
Asked if there was any kind of conspiracy against Pakistani cricket, Mr Lorgat said: "I can assure you that there is absolutely no truth to that suggestion."
Union leaders have warned that plans by a county council to axe 1,500 jobs over the next three years because of cuts in Government funds will pile "misery" into a recession-hit region.
Unison said vital services will be hit because of cutbacks at Somerset County Council aimed at tackling a £75 million deficit.
Ken Maddock, leader of the Tory-controlled council, said the authority will have to cut back many of its services and make compulsory redundancies.
He said: "We will have to deal with losing 1,500 posts at this council over the next three years. We will have to stop almost all our major building projects, including a new school, children centre, and pedestrianisation scheme."
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: "Job losses on this scale will hit the people of Somerset hard, scaling back vital community services, and hitting spending power.
"Cutting most new building projects will only make the dole queues longer. The jobs market is tough enough. People will struggle to find work elsewhere. This council is obsessed with freezing council tax, and this has added to the deficit."
Unison said the announcement was the latest in a "long line" of job cuts in councils across the country in recent weeks, including 3,000 at Nottingham County Council, 1,400 in Lincolnshire and 500 in Bolton.
Mr Prentis said: "There is an alternative to the mantra of cuts. America is keeping up spending to boost recovery and stave off the dreaded double dip. Unison is committed to protecting jobs and services. The ideological choice to cut the deficit hard and fast is causing misery to hundreds of thousands of people who work in and rely on public services."
Unison pointed out that latest unemployment figures for the South West showed 165,000 (6.1%) people were already out of work.
The council's workforce stands at around 6,500 but this is expected to fall to around 5,000, said Mr Maddock. The council also announced there would be no increase in council tax for a second year in 2011.
Labour has called for "clarity and reassurance" from the BBC after the director general of the corporation was photographed going into a meeting in Downing Street to apparently discuss coverage of government spending cuts.
Shadow culture secretary Ben Bradshaw wrote to Mark Thompson urging him to "avoid any impression that the BBC's editorial independence may have been compromised".
Mr Bradshaw raised his concerns after Mr Thompson reportedly met one of Prime Minister David Cameron's senior aides to talk about offering prominent exposure to senior government figures on BBC channels in the coming weeks.
The meeting, said to be with Mr Cameron's strategy chief Steve Hilton, appeared to be an attempt by Mr Thompson to assure senior Tory figures that the BBC was not biased against the Government, the Daily Telegraph reported.
It came on the same day the director general admitted in an interview that the Corporation was guilty of a "massive bias to the left" in the past.
According to the Daily Mail, Thursday's photographs showed Mr Thompson arriving at Number 10 holding with a memo stating the BBC was ready to put its coverage of spending cuts into "context".
The memo revealed Mr Thompson's head of news Helen Boaden had met Downing Street director of communications Andy Coulson for lunch at which he expressed "concern" about coverage of the forthcoming comprehensive spending review, the paper reported.
The letter from Mr Bradshaw said: "Given the systematic assaults on the BBC by the Conservative Party in opposition and their continued attacks on the Corporation in Government, including their threats to the licence fee, I am sure you will agree that it is paramount that you avoid any impression that the BBC's editorial independence may have been compromised."
He said Mr Thompson should consider releasing the briefing papers he was seen holding as he walked into No 10.
In his letter, Mr Bradshaw asked who requested the meeting, the BBC or Downing Street.
Veteran politician Sir Cyril Smith has died aged 82.
Sir Cyril served as the Liberal and later Liberal Democrat MP for Rochdale from 1972 until retiring in 1992.
He became one of his party's heavyweight political figures in the 1970s and 1980s - both his famously rotund stature and his larger-than-life personality made him a distinctive character in British politics.
A spokesman for the Liberal Democrats in Rochdale, the town where he was born and raised, confirmed his death.
The former MP was made an MBE for his public services in 1966 and was knighted in 1988.
The lifelong bachelor, who reportedly weighed 29 stones at one point, was often a thorn in the side of his party's leadership.
Famously outspoken with a typical Northern bluntness, Sir Cyril once described Parliament as "the longest running farce in the West End" and never made it to the leadership of his party.
During a political career spanning decades he changed parties three times and in 1976 suggested the formation of a completely new Centre party.
From humble beginnings in Rochdale he won a scholarship to Rochdale Grammar School for Boys, honing his debating skills at the local Unitarian Church. Elected to Parliament in 1972 in a landslide victory over Labour in his home town, he began his resolutely independent career at Westminster despite his party affiliation.
He became party spokesman on employment and chief whip but rejected calls for him to stand as the party leader, and finally retired from Westminster in 1992.
A former member of MI6 who tried to sell secrets for £2 million has been sentenced to 12 months in jail.
However Daniel Houghton, 25, will be released almost immediately because he has already served half the sentence while on remand.
Houghton, a software engineer from Hoxton, east London, pleaded guilty to two offences under the Official Secrets Act at an earlier hearing.
He offered to hand over sensitive computer files containing information about intelligence collection and MI6 staff lists to agents from The Netherlands, the Old Bailey heard. They thought it was a hoax at first but then tipped off their UK counterparts and Houghton was arrested.
Mr Justice Bean told him: "The effect on the SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) credibility and the morale of its officers of this kind of act of betrayal is a serious matter."
Houghton tried to sell two secret staff lists, one containing the names of 387 people and the other with the telephone numbers of 39 individuals. He worked for MI6, also known as the Secret Intelligence Service, between September 2007 and May 2009.
During that time he accessed secret computer files belonging to MI5 (the British Security Service) which related to the work of both intelligence agencies. They were described in court as "sensitive capabilities files, important tools developed by SIS staff for the gathering of intelligence for national security purposes".
Mr Arnold said Houghton tried to sell them to Dutch secret agents in August 2009. After a series of telephone calls it was agreed that he would fly to The Netherlands for a meeting in January this year, at which the Dutch agents were persuaded that he had worked for the SIS as he claimed, and they tipped off MI5.
Houghton wanted £2 million for the files but agreed to accept £900,000. He handed over the files to the Dutch agents at a London hotel on March 1 and was given a suitcase containing £900,000 but he was arrested in the lobby by plain-clothes police officers.
SIS found that if the files he sold had fallen into the hands of a "hostile nation" they would have posed "significant risk to future SIS operations", as with MI5's work.
A stalker has been jailed after writing a blog about raping and murdering a woman he had been harassing in real life for two years.
Greg Downing, 40, detailed the imagined attack on children's author Katharine Quarmby in an online novel.
Judge Deva Pilley sentenced Downing, of Beacon Road, Crowborough, East Sussex, to six months' imprisonment at Blackfriars Crown Court in London.
Downing bombarded Ms Quarmby, of north London, with phone calls and emails after they met through an online dating site in 2008, the court heard.
He was convicted of stalking her on three occasions before she found the blog online after typing her name into the internet search engine Google.
The 29-page piece, titled A Novel: Katharine Quarmby, is about a man stalking the writer, burgling her home, raping and finally murdering her.
The judge said: "This can only be described as a campaign of harassment.
"It is clear that your harassment of Miss Quarmby has been deliberate and premeditated so as to cause her and her family the maximum discomfort, embarrassment and fear."
An investigation has been launched after a man arrested for begging was found collapsed in a police cell and later died, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has said.
The 36-year-old, believed to be a homeless man from Lithuania, was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of begging and taken to Forest Gate Police Station, east London, where he was booked into custody at 1.15pm.
He was found collapsed in his cell at about 8am the next morning and taken to Newham General Hospital. He was then transferred to Royal London Hospital where he died at about 8.15pm on Thursday night, the IPCC said.
IPCC Commissioner Rachel Cerfontyne said: "This investigation will focus on the care this man received while in police custody, to see if anything could have been done differently to prevent his death."
Inquiries are ongoing to trace the man's next of kin and formal identification has not yet taken place.
The IPCC said a post-mortem will take place in due course.
There may be a case for HM Inspector of Constabulary to be called in to investigate allegations relating to phone-hacking by journalists at the News of the World, shadow home secretary Alan Johnson has said.
Mr Johnson said he will be going to the Home Office to review papers on the case dating from his time as home secretary before offering his advice on the issue to his Conservative successor Theresa May.
Fresh questions have been raised about the interception of private voicemail messages of prominent people - which led to the jailing of a News of the World reporter and a private investigator in 2007 - following a report this week in the New York Times.
The report included claims that then editor Andy Coulson, now a senior adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron, was aware that the illegal practice was being undertaken by journalists on his staff - something Mr Coulson has always denied.
It also raised questions about how vigorously the Metropolitan Police had pursued the case.
Last year, the Met chose not to launch an investigation into claims made by the Guardian newspaper that a series of public figures had been the victims of eavesdropping.
Royal correspondent Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were the only people to be prosecuted in relation to phone-tapping, and the News of World has always insisted that theirs was an isolated case.
Former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott said on Friday morning he was prepared to take legal action to force the police to inform him whether his phone was one of those allegedly hacked into.
Lord Prescott said he had demanded the truth about the claims from police and was expecting a reply by September 11.
"If they fail to give us that information, which is clearly available but has to be given to us, I will seek a judicial review," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "The only way the truth can come out is really to have it properly investigated and really have a judicial review. I think it demands at least that."
Worshippers are believed to be trapped inside a blazing Hare Krishna temple after an explosion, the fire and rescue service said.
A third of the building in Leicester was destroyed by the blast, the cause of which has not yet been established.
Firefighters were battling the flames and search and rescue dogs were requested to help find anyone in the rubble, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service said.
A number of people were believed to be inside the temple in Thoresby Street at the time of the explosion, just before 2.40pm.
One eyewitness described the shock suffered by those caught up in the incident.
Fatima Khatri told the BBC: "Everyone is really worried. There's a lady crying outside, there's a really injured gentleman and people are really shaken.
"It's really upsetting to see this happen."
Firefighters were using thermal imaging cameras to look for worshippers inside the building, which was believed to be unstable, a fire and rescue service spokeswoman said.
Firefighters said it was an "absolute miracle" no-one was killed in an explosion at a Hare Krishna temple.
The blast rocked the building after cylinders of gas powering a large cooker leaked during a festive meal.
About 30 people escaped from the temple in Leicester when the organiser raised the alarm just seconds before the explosion at about 2.30pm.
A third of the building in Thoresby Street was destroyed in the blast.
Worshippers had been cooking in the kitchen area during the afternoon for a religious festival, incident commander Bill Smith, of Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, said.
He said: "Most of the guests were in and around a marquee area just outside the building. In the kitchen they had a large LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinder hooked up to a large gas ring.
"After the meal they disconnected the pipe from the cylinder but the cylinder kept leaking. The person who disconnected the cylinder realised the danger of the gas leaking. He ran out and got everybody to run over to the other side of the road. Within 30 seconds there was a large explosion. He has no doubt saved the lives of many people with his actions."
When emergency services arrived it was unclear whether anyone was trapped inside, or underneath rubble left by the blast. Firefighters went into the building to conduct a search but it became too unstable to send more in. An urban search and rescue dog also scoured the wreckage but no-one was found.
Mr Smith said: "It's an absolute miracle that nobody's been injured or killed. You could tell how close people were because within about 10ft of the building were barbecue tables with food on."
East Midlands Ambulance Service said four people, including a firefighter, were treated at the scene for minor injuries. The festivities were organised by Iskcon Leicester - the International Society for Krishna Consciousness - to mark Lord Krishna's "Appearance Day".
The director general of the BBC has defended the Corporation's impartiality after it was disclosed he met a senior government aide in Downing Street to discuss coverage of the Government's spending cuts.
Mark Thompson insisted his meeting did not affect the BBC's "independence or impartiality in any way".
He had meetings "from time to time" with politicians and officials of all parties regarding coverage, and that was the "unremarkable context" in which his meeting with Mr Cameron's strategy chief Steve Hilton should be seen, he said.
He was responding to shadow culture secretary Ben Bradshaw who had called for "clarity and reassurance" after Mr Thompson was photographed arriving at Number 10 holding a memo from his head of news, Helen Boaden.
The memo disclosed she had previously met Downing Street director of communications Andy Coulson for lunch at which he was "concerned" the BBC should give "context" to its coverage of the forthcoming comprehensive spending review.
Mr Bradshaw wrote to Mr Thompson, saying: "Given the systematic assaults on the BBC by the Conservative Party in opposition and their continued attacks on the Corporation in Government, including their threats to the licence fee, I am sure you will agree that it is paramount that you avoid any impression that the BBC's editorial independence may have been compromised."
He said Mr Thompson should consider releasing the briefing papers he was seen holding as he walked into No 10.
In his letter Mr Bradshaw asked who requested the meeting, the BBC or Downing Street.
He asked if similar meetings had taken place with Gordon Brown or his staff and whether there had been other talks between BBC editors and No 10 political staff.
Mr Thompson released his reply to Mr Bradshaw in which he assured the shadow culture secretary: "I'm happy to assure you that nothing about this meeting - the fact of it occurring, its timing or the matters which were discussed - could be construed as compromising the BBC's independence or impartiality in any way."
Violence in Afghanistan will get worse before it gets better, Britain's most senior military commander in the country has predicted.
Lieutenant General Sir Nick Parker, the deputy commander of the International Security Assistance Force, said allied forces were making progress against Taliban insurgents but it was "hard, slow and variable".
Comparing the current stage of ISAF's mission to the period in a battle when violence is at its height, he said: "We are going up the hill into the enemy at the moment."
Lt Gen Parker told BBC Radio 4's PM: "This is a complex counter-insurgency. There are a large number of different actors and it is a resilient enemy.
"Over the course of this summer, the momentum of the campaign has continued much as we predicted it would earlier in the year. We are seeing progress but it is hard, it is slow and it is variable.
"But I am convinced that we are showing persistent security in areas where the insurgency has dominated in the past and the people who live in those areas are beginning to realise not only that we are serious, but also - importantly - that the Afghan government is beginning to bring more governance and development to those areas."
The allied forces had "all our inputs right, and all our forces and systems in the right place", said Lt Gen Parker.
This has been a bloody year for British troops in Afghanistan, with 87 dying so far in 2010, bringing the total UK deaths since the start of operations in 2001 to 332.
Lt Gen Parker said: "I am afraid this absolutely tallies with what we have been telling people for the last four to five months: that the 'bell curve' of violence will increase before it decreases, as we demonstrate this persistent security and the fact that we can dominate this insurgency."
Every casualty was a "tragedy", said Lt Gen Parker. But he added: "At the level I am operating at, you have to try to look above that, you have to look at the effect we are trying to create more widely across the campaign. If your judgments were affected by each individual tragedy, you would make some very dubious decisions. We mustn't allow our judgments to be made simply on the basis of casualties."
