September 5, 2010, 3:54 am
![Image]( "UK soldier killed in Afghanistan")
A British soldier from The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, has been killed in an explosion in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said.
The solider was serving as part of the Brigade Reconnaissance Force when killed by a blast in the Nad-e Ali District of Helmand Province.
Next of kin have been informed.
Task Force Helmand spokesman Lieutenant Colonel James Carr-Smith said: "It is with great sadness I must inform you that a soldier from The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland was killed this morning.
"The soldier, serving with the Brigade Reconnaissance Force, was part of an operation that was disrupting insurgents in northern Nad-e Ali when he was killed by a Rocket Propelled Grenade.
"Selfless in the course of his duty he will be missed by his many friends. He was an inspirational soldier. We will remember him."
This has been a bloody year for British troops in Afghanistan, with 88 dying so far in 2010, bringing the total UK deaths since the start of operations in 2001 to 333.
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September 5, 2010, 3:54 am
![Image]( "Interest rates 'to remain on hold'")
Bank of England policymakers are expected to keep interest rates on hold for the 18th month in a row this week amid gathering gloom over the economy.
The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is widely predicted to deliver yet another decision on Thursday to hold Bank Base Rate at 0.5% - and keep it there for many months to come.
It has so far opted to prioritise the need to support the economy over efforts to rein in stubbornly high inflation and economists believe the threat of a stalling recovery will continue to outweigh price concerns.
The UK economy may have risen by a far-better-than-expected 1.2% in the second quarter, but the signs point to faltering growth since then.
Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said the MPC will vote to protect "what is still overall muted recovery from very deep recession".
"Although UK GDP spiked up by 1.2% in the second quarter, the Bank is very well aware that this substantially exaggerates the strength of the economy and that the recovery is still at risk from serious headwinds," he added.
The powerhouse services sector saw its slowest growth in more than a year during August, according to the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply's (CIPS) closely-watched industry survey.
Recent CIPS data from manufacturers was also worrying, with growth in August hitting a nine-month low, while the latest official construction figures showed orders plunging 14% in the second quarter, suggesting a rocky road ahead.
The impact of the Government's austerity drive is hitting confidence across the economy, with firms fearing the fall-out will spread far and wide.
With spending cuts looming large and tax hikes just months away, consumers are also feeling the pinch.
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September 5, 2010, 3:54 am
![Image]( "Hague thanks public over support")
William Hague and wife Ffion have received "huge public support" following their decision to issue a frank statement about their private life earlier this week, the Foreign Secretary said.
Questions were raised over Mr Hague's judgement after he denied an "improper" relationship with a male aide, rejected suggestions his marriage was in trouble and revealed that Ffion had suffered a number of miscarriages.
But he has now sent out a message of thanks on micro-blogging service Twitter to the many people he said had backed him and his wife.
"Feel I must say a big thank you from Ffion and me for the huge public support, on twitter, in letters and in emails," wrote Mr Hague.
Elsewhere, the Foreign Secretary received strong public backing from Cabinet colleague Michael Gove.
The Education Secretary told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: "William is an outstanding Foreign Secretary, one of the most gifted politicians of our time.
"I feel admiration for the dignity with which he has always handled himself. There have been all sorts of attempts in the past to throw stuff at him, not least when he was leader.
"William is a real asset to frontline politics. We lucky to have him in public service."
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September 5, 2010, 3:54 am
![Image]( "Labour hopefuls 'embrace socialism'")
Labour's leadership contenders have all described themselves as socialists as they took part in a live televised hustings in Norwich.
The five candidates all agreed with the label, which arguably would have been seen as a damaging admission to make under New Labour.
And they called on the party to focus on the future and move on from the years under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, which were dominated by internal warfare between the two rival camps.
In the Sky News debate they all stressed Labour still had much to learn from its punishing defeat at the hands of voters in the recent general election.
Shadow education secretary Ed Balls said Labour had to have a "distinctive message" on the "big issues" that people cared about such as jobs, housing and student finance.
He said: "We have go to get back on people's sides...if we get that right we can win again."
Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary, warned Labour had become "dangerously disconnected" with ordinary people, adding: "It looked at times that we were on the side of big business...that we were going cap in hand to elites in the media and business and not standing up for what we believe is right, our principles."
Ed Miliband, who received a boost when a poll found he has the majority of support from gay voters in the leadership election, stressed the party needed to reach out to middle and lower income voters, move on from New Labour and have the "courage" to change.
His brother David said the message he was getting on the doorsteps was clear: "Labour wasn't offering enough...people didn't think we were on their side on and on jobs, on crime, on welfare they didn't think we were clear enough in what we were saying or what we wanted to do for the future."
Left-winger Diane Abbott said: "I think we have to restore trust in politics, I think there was a collapse in trust in politicians generally across the country."
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September 5, 2010, 3:54 am
![Image]( "Three Russian soldiers die in blast")
A suicide car-bomber killed three soldiers and wounded 32 others in an attack on a military base in Russia's violence-plagued republic of Dagestan, officials said.
The attack took place at the base in the city of Buinaksk, said Vyacheslav Gasanov, a spokesman for the republic's Interior Ministry.
The driver of the explosives-laden small Zhiguli automobile smashed through a gate of the base and headed for an area where soldiers are quartered in tents, Mr Gasanov said.
But soldiers opened fire on him before he reached the centre of the base. Mr Gasanov said, the driver rammed the car into a military truck where it exploded.
After the blast, a roadside bomb hit a car taking investigators to the scene, but there were no injuries reported in that explosion.
Dagestan's president, Magomedsalam Magomedov, visited the scene of the attack and the wounded soldiers in the hospitals where they're being treated.
"Today's terrorist attack indicates that militants in the republic still have the power to conduct such treacherous attacks," Mr Magomedov was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.
Despite "several successful" operations against the militants in the region, the country's security services have to step up their efforts fully to stamp out the militants, he said.
Dagestan is gripped by near-daily violence between police and soldiers and insurgents believed to be inspired by separatists in neighbouring Chechnya.
The attack came almost exactly 11 years after a car bomb outside an apartment building in Buinaksk housing the families of military officers killed 64 people.
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September 5, 2010, 5:30 am
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September 5, 2010, 5:33 am
![Image]( "Mid-air crash victims are named")
A father and son who died when their light aircraft collided in mid-air with another plane during an air race have been named.
Michael Willis, 73, and 42-year-old James Willis were in a four-seater Mooney M20B aircraft when it crashed with a sports aircraft over Havenstreet on the Isle of Wight just before the end of the race.
The Mooney M20B is understood to have broken up mid-air and plummeted into remote woodland just after 5pm on Saturday, killing the pair.
The sports aircraft, also carrying two men, suffered damage but limped safely back to Bembridge Airport with both its occupants escaping serious injury.
The identities of Mr Willis, from Green Lane, Stanmore, Middlesex, and his son, from The Dingle, Hillingdon, north London, were confirmed by race organisers.
A Hampshire Police spokeswoman said: "The families of these two men have been informed and are receiving support from Hampshire Constabulary officers."
The planes were among 19 aircraft taking part in Merlin Trophy races, the precursor for the main annual Schneider Trophy, which has been cancelled.
Tim Wassell, chairman of the Royal Aero Club Racing and Rally Association, organisers of the Schneider Trophy, said everyone was "numb" with shock.
Speaking of the two victims, he said: "I have only known them through the Aero Club but they have been around for three or four years. It's a fairly close-knit community here and everybody knows everybody else. It's almost like an extended family.
"Everybody is totally numb and in shock about it. It's obviously not an everyday occurrence. When things like this do happen it just sends shockwaves through everyone."
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September 5, 2010, 6:06 am
![Image]( "Milner: Rooney focused on football")
Wayne Rooney is a top player who will continue to perform for England, team-mate James Milner has said after allegations about the striker's private life appeared in a Sunday newspaper.
The press conference ahead of England's Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland on Tuesday was dominated by questions about how Rooney was reacting to the headlines.
The News of the World said Rooney paid more than a thousand pounds a time to have sex with a prostitute while his wife Coleen was pregnant with their first child.
Manchester City midfielder Milner said it was business as usual for the squad on Sunday and Rooney took part in the full training session.
Asked about the Manchester United player's demeanour following the allegations, Milner said: "He is a top player, he showed that Friday. He trained fully, that's all I can tell you. You're going to have to ask him the other questions."
He said it was important the team made sure matters off the pitch did not affect their performance on it, adding: "You have highs, you have lows, and it's down to us to make sure only thing that matters is on the field, come together and make sure we get the result."
Asked about whether it was important for fans to like the players, Milner said: "It's important that we go out there and win football matches. That's what we're out here firstly to do. And control ourselves on the field and off the field as best we can."
Rooney is still scheduled to travel to Switzerland on Monday, Football Association sources said.
The Manchester United star is an integral part of England coach Fabio Capello's team, even though it is now 11 matches since he last scored for his country.
A spokesman for one of Rooney's sponsors, EA Sports, said: "This is a personal matter and we respect Wayne and his family's privacy. We have worked together for six years and Wayne continues to represent EA Sports. We will be making no further comment at this time."
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September 5, 2010, 7:39 am
![Image]( "Lets move on, say Labour hopefuls")
Labour's five leadership candidates have used a televised debate to distance themselves from the Blair/Brown era.
In a clear sign of the shift in atmosphere within Labour, the hopefuls were happy to describe themselves as "socialist" when they appeared in the Sky News debate.
They were also ready to acknowledge failings in the Labour administrations of the past 13 years.
David Miliband said it was "too top-down, too much about one man - first of all Tony, then Gordon", while his brother Ed said that New Labour had become "stuck in the past" on issues such as low pay, civil liberties and the special relationship with the US.
Ed Balls said New Labour had "lost its way in the second term, because we got into an argument that said 'private good, public bad'", while Andy Burnham said the party had pursued a "top-down, controlling, elitist, London-centric" style of politics which he wanted to end.
Diane Abbott said mistakes like the Iraq War had overshadowed Labour's positive achievements, including investment in schools and hospitals.
Asked what would be the defining idea behind their leadership, David Miliband cited the training of activists to become community leaders, Ed Miliband said the replacement of university tuition fees with a graduate tax, Ms Abbott suggested a new programme of council house building, Mr Balls offered the construction of 100,000 affordable homes and Mr Burnham pointed to the introduction of a Land Value Tax to replace stamp duty and council tax.
Voting slips in the postal ballot were sent out to MPs, MEPs, party activists and union members on Wednesday, and the identity of the new leader will be announced in Manchester on September 25 ahead of the annual conference.
Mr Blair himself has declined to endorse any of the contenders and promised to support whoever is elected "100%".
But commentators who suspect him of favouring front-runner David Miliband will note that he praised him as "a quite remarkable guy".
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September 5, 2010, 7:39 am
![Image]( "Majority think tax rises needed")
Most voters (60%) believe that the Government is right to raise taxes and cut spending to bring down Britain's state deficit, according to a new survey.
Cuts in public spending were favoured by 49% of those taking part in the poll for the BBC World Service, compared to 36% who preferred tax hikes.
But there was strong opposition to reductions in specific public services like the armed forces, support for senior citizens, education and healthcare.
Some 82% opposed reductions in spending on health and education, 80% were against cuts in support for the elderly and 66% said they did not want to see the military lose out.
Meanwhile, some 60% said they supported continued Government stimulus spending to bolster economic recovery. But backing for further financial support for banks along the lines of the bailouts of recent years dropped to 37%, with 61% opposed.
The poll appeared to indicate that voters believe there are significant amounts of money to be saved without affecting frontline services by cutting wasteful spending.
Asked what proportion of each pound raised in taxes was wasted on activities which did not reflect the "interests and values of British people", the average estimate was 46p - or almost half of the total tax take.
The survey was undertaken by international polling firm GlobeScan, together with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland, as part of a 26-nation study to be released later this month.
PIPA's director Steven Kull said: "Although Britons generally accept the idea of debt reduction, the coalition faces the problem of a lack of confidence in Westminster.
"As long as citizens think large amounts of public money are being spent in ways that do not serve the public interest, they are going to resist both increasing taxes and cuts to specific programs they do think serve them."
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September 5, 2010, 9:11 am
![Image]( "Claims 'will not hit Rooney career'")
Wayne Rooney's career will not be affected by allegations about his private life, publicist Max Clifford said.
Despite the lurid headlines in two Sunday newspapers, Rooney is set to travel to Switzerlandon Monday for England's Euro qualifier.
Team-mate James Milner said he expects the striker to continue performing for the national side and Mr Clifford said as long as he keeps scoring goals the fans will not care.
Mr Clifford said: "The only thing Wayne Rooney has to worry about is his wife, whether she like all the others, is prepared to accept her husband's alleged infidelities. Nobody in football gives a monkey's as long as he's winning on the pitch.
"Man United fans love him. He could be a mass murderer as long as he's scoring goals.
"(England manager Fabio) Capello can't demote him because that would mean he couldn't play and the team needs him. Rival fans will have something else to shout about, but so what?"
Earlier, a spokesman for electronic game firm EA Sports, one of Rooney's sponsors, said: "This is a personal matter and we respect Wayne and his family's privacy. We have worked together for six years and Wayne continues to represent EA Sports. We will be making no further comment at this time."
A press conference ahead of England's Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland was dominated by questions about the allegations.
The News of the World said Rooney paid more than a thousand pounds a time to have sex with a prostitute while his wife Coleen was pregnant with their first child.
Manchester City midfielder Milner said it was business as usual for the squad and Rooney took part in the full training session.
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September 5, 2010, 9:11 am
![Image]( "MOD confirms second soldier death")
The Ministry of Defence has confirmed the deaths of two British soldiers - one in the UK and one in Afghanistan.
One of the men, from The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, was killed in a blast in the Nad-e Ali District of Helmand Province.
A separate soldier, from the 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Birmingham, after being injured in an explosion in the Nahr-e Saraj area the province last month.
Lieutenant Colonel James Carr-Smith, spokesman for Task Force Helmand, said: "It is with deep sorrow I must inform you that a soldier died of his wounds in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.
"He was from the 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, serving as part of the 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles Battle Group, and had been seriously wounded in an explosion in southern Nahr-e Saraj on 24 August 2010.
"The soldier was part of a patrol that was preventing insurgents from disrupting the building of an important road that will allow local Afghans to travel more freely.
"His loss is a bitter blow but his bravery and selfless commitment to his men and the mission will never be forgotten. We will remember him."
Earlier he paid tribute to the soldier from The Royal Scots Borderers, who was serving as part of the Brigade Reconnaissance Force when he was killed by a blast.
He said: "The soldier, serving with the Brigade Reconnaissance Force, was part of an operation that was disrupting insurgents in northern Nad-e Ali when he was killed by a rocket propelled grenade. Selfless in the course of his duty, he will be missed by his many friends. He was an inspirational soldier. We will remember him."
This has been a bloody year for British troops in Afghanistan, with 89 dying so far in 2010, bringing the total UK deaths since the start of operations in 2001 to 334.
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September 5, 2010, 9:11 am
![Image]( "'Anti-terror' data found in street")
Police were investigating the contents of a computer memory stick said to contain sensitive anti-terror material which was reportedly found in the street outside a police station.
The four-inch USB storage device was alleged to have contained more than 2,000 pages of confidential information, including strategies on combating terror attacks.
The memory stick was found by a 36-year-old businessman on a pavement outside the station in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, said the Daily Star on Sunday.
It reported the device was emblazoned with the initials GMP POTU, standing for Greater Manchester Police Public Order Training Unit, and the files enclosed were produced by the National Police Improvement Agency on the subject of counter-terrorism and tactical deployment.
Names of officers, their ranks and divisions were also uncovered by the businessman when he fitted the stick into his laptop, the newspaper added.
Superintendent Bryan Lawton, of GMP's Specialist Operations Branch, said: "We are aware of an article relating to the finding of a memory stick belonging to GMP by a member of the public.
"We are currently looking into who this device belongs to, what information is contained on it and the circumstances surrounding its loss. As such it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time."
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September 5, 2010, 9:11 am
![Image]( "Police may reopen phone-hack probe")
Police will consider any new information in the News of the World phone-hacking case and consult prosecutors on whether any further action should be taken, a senior Metropolitan Police officer said.
Assistant Commissioner John Yates said the Met has asked the New York Times to provide any new material it has relating to the case, including an interview with former reporter Sean Hoare, who has claimed that Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson knew about News of the World staff eavesdropping on private messages when he was editor of the paper.
Mr Yates also repeated the Met's assurance that there was "no evidence" that former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott's phone was hacked.
Lord Prescott has threatened to take legal action to force police to release any documents relating to him which were seized during an investigation which in 2007 led to journalist Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire being jailed.
But Mr Yates said the Met has already provided Lord Prescott with all the information relevant to him, and by law cannot supply the actual documents unless ordered to do so by a court.
Mr Yates' statement, released by Scotland Yard, is the first indication that police may be ready to reopen their inquiries into unconfirmed claims that reporters listened in to the voicemail messages of a long list of prominent figures, including politicians and celebrities.
The News of the World has always insisted that Goodman and Mulcaire were acting alone. The paper has rejected claims in the NYT that there was a wider culture of phone-hacking at the paper of which its editor was aware - something which Mr Coulson himself also denies.
All five candidates in the Labour leadership contest called for a fresh inquiry into the case. But Cabinet minister Michael Gove accused Labour of "recycling" old allegations in the hope of embarrassing Prime Minister David Cameron.
In his statement, Mr Yates said: "Since further allegations in relation to phone hacking first emerged in the Guardian in July 2009, the Metropolitan Police has been very clear about its position and made this public on a number of occasions.
"The newspaper produced no new evidence for us to consider reopening the case - a position endorsed separately by the Director of Public Prosecutions and leading counsel. We have always said that this position could change if new evidence was produced."
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September 5, 2010, 12:43 pm
![Image]( "Woman trapped by runaway tractor")
A pensioner on a mobility scooter was run over by a vintage tractor at a country show, police said.
The unattended vehicle was part of a static display at the Dorchester Showground when it started rolling down a hill on Saturday, a spokesman for Dorset Police said.
It collided with the 72-year-old from Weymouth, who became trapped under under her scooter and the tractor.
She was freed by emergency services and taken to hospital with bruising to her left leg and upper left arm.
The owner of the tractor was not present at the time of the incident, officers said.
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September 5, 2010, 12:43 pm
![Image]( "Blair: Coalition is soft on crime")
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has launched an attack on the liberal prison policies being pursued by the coalition Government.
Mr Blair - who famously promised to be "tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime" - said he "profoundly disagrees" with the approach of Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke, who has rejected the "prison works" mantra of previous administrations.
The former PM's comments, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, amount to his first direct policy assault on the coalition since David Cameron won power from Labour in May.
They came as Mr Blair was preparing for his first live TV interview in the UK following the publication of his memoir A Journey. He will appear on the launch edition of ITV1's Daybreak.
Mr Clarke has challenged the trend towards larger prison populations and questioned the need for short sentences, suggesting the Government could save money by locking up fewer offenders and focusing more on rehabilitation.
But Mr Blair told the Telegraph: "You've got to put in prison those who deserve to be there."
He said "dysfunctional families who produce 14-year-old kids stabbing one another to death" are "making people's lives hell" and suggested Britain could learn from developing countries which "just don't accept" criminality.
In a speech in June, Mr Clarke said that he would have regarded it as "impossible and ridiculous" when he was Home Secretary in the 1990s if someone had told him that by 2010 the prison population would have doubled to more than 80,000. Mr Clarke said prison was too often "a costly and ineffectual approach that fails to turn criminals into law-abiding citizens".
Meanwhile Mr Blair confirmed that he had considered breaking the Treasury into two in order to reduce Gordon Brown's power base.
Under the plan, which Lord Mandelson said was code-named Operation Teddy Bear, Mr Brown would have been left in charge of a finance ministry, with power over spending handed to a new budget office. But Mr Blair said he held back because he was not sure it was the right thing to do and did not want to do it "simply because of the Gordon issue".
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September 5, 2010, 1:20 pm
![Image]( "Smarter immigration controls pledge")
Immigration minister Damian Green is expected to promise "smarter" controls on entry to the UK, when he releases research showing that tens of thousands of people admitted on student visas were still in the country five years later.
In his first major speech since the coalition Government took office, Mr Green will acknowledge that the annual cap on economic migrants from outside the EU will not be enough on its own to deliver the target of reducing net immigration to the tens of thousands.
He will also promise to look at "all routes into the UK" and set new rules to ensure that only the "brightest and best" migrants enter the country to study and work.
He will give priority to improving controls over foreign students and their dependants, more than 300,000 of whom were granted visas last year.
Mr Green will say that the points-based system introduced by Labour is still not delivering proper control of numbers of migrants coming into the country.
He will promise to look into why those entering on a temporary basis are currently finding it easy to switch to a permanent basis.
Steady pressure will be applied to every route to long-term immigration to bring down numbers, he will say.
Home Office-commissioned research has looked into all of those who came into the UK in 2004 and tracked their immigration status for the following five years. All those granted settlement in 2009 were also studied to see how they entered the country in the first place.
The largest group of visas granted in 2004 were to 186,000 students, more than one-fifth of whom - over 37,000 people - were still in the UK five years later.
And the research found that numbers of visas issued to students and their dependants had risen to 307,000 by the year to June 2010.
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September 5, 2010, 1:20 pm
![Image]( "Britons bin £400 of food each year")
Britain is a nation of wasters who throw out hundreds of pounds of food each year, a new study reveals.
Despite a tightening of purse strings, the average person still bins £400 worth a perishables from one year to the next.
And where previous generations would have saved every last morsel, more than half of those polled (56%) admitted discarding bread every week.
Meanwhile, more than a third said they threw out bananas on a regular basis or disposed of bagged salads which go uneaten.
However the study of more than 3,000 adults identified something of a gender divide - only 1% of women said they binned chocolate compared with 3% of men.
Despite a wasteful mentality, the study found most people (73%) felt guilty for allowing food to go off. And some 60% said they would pack up their leftovers for lunch, while 92% said they reused shopping bags.
On a regional level, those who claim to be the least wasteful were found to live in Essex where only 2% of people admitted throwing out items every day.
The worst offenders for this were in Brighton where 16% of people put their hands up to binning uneaten food while this figure was slightly lower in London, at 13%.
The study was carried out by OnePoll for Waitrose earlier this month.
The items most frequently binned each week are: Bread; Bananas; Bagged Salads; Lettuce; Cold Meats; Apples; Milk; Yoghurt; Cucumber; Potatoes.
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September 5, 2010, 1:20 pm
![Image]( "Ex-Army chief slams 'Byzantine' MoD")
The former head of the Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, has launched an attack on Ministry of Defence bureaucrats, accusing them of being detached from the reality of life for frontline troops.
Gen Dannatt, who was Chief of General Staff from 2006-09, described the MoD as a "Byzantine" department which operates in a "cocooned environment" and puts vested interests ahead of the needs of troops, meaning "the man on the ground has been short-changed".
He claimed the Whitehall department did not even take the decision to make its primary focus "strategic success" in Afghanistan and Iraq "in the context of countering global terrorism" until an away-day in 2006 - years after the conflicts began.
Gen Dannatt's book, Leading From The Front, is being serialised in the Daily Telegraph. In the first excerpts, he branded Gordon Brown a "malign" influence for failing to fund the armed forces adequately and condemned Tony Blair's lack of "moral courage" for failing to force his chancellor to do so.
In new extracts, he turned his fire on officials, claiming that it "defied logic" that they were unable to clarify MoD priorities in Iraq and Afghanistan until the 2006 away day. Even then "much of the MoD, in its Byzantine way, was conducting business as usual, in a cocooned environment far distant from the harsh reality experienced by our soldiers", he said.
Gen Dannatt described how a plan for troops to be supplied with new armoured vehicles collapsed nine years after being agreed, and how it "nearly broke my heart" to see American forces operating with exactly the kind of equipment that was needed.
He said he pleaded with then defence secretary Des Browne in 2006 for helicopters and patrol vehicles. And he suggested that much-needed equipment of this type was delayed because of the MoD's focus on expensive long-term projects like fighter jets.
"The protection of vested interests" in industry and politics "seemed to rank higher than the need to succeed in the field", wrote the general.
And he suggested that the MoD lacked political leadership because defence secretaries like Mr Browne and Geoff Hoon were lawyers who did not understand the military.
Gen Dannatt argued that the Government should "replace the idea of a 'balanced force' with something more akin to a 'relevant force'," which would require some expensive items to be scrapped.
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September 5, 2010, 1:20 pm
![Image]( "Overseas boost for manufacturers")
Manufacturing firms were enjoying "buoyant" trading conditions amid rising demand from overseas customers, leading to better job prospects, according to a new report.
The Engineering Employers Federation forecast that manufacturing will grow by 3.7% this year and 3.2% in 2011, driven by the strength of overseas markets.
Greater confidence was encouraging firms to hire staff, although mainly offering work to temporary or agency staff, said the report, based on a survey of over 500 companies for the three months to August.
The EEF cautioned there was still a risk to growth next year despite the level of short-term optimism because of the weaker outlook in the United States and economic cuts in the UK.
EEF Chief Economist, Ms Lee Hopley, said: "Manufacturers have continued to reap the rewards of growth in overseas markets with the upswing being felt across all sectors and regions.
"Not only has this continued to translate into better employment prospects but the recovery in investment has begun much earlier in the cycle than after previous recessions.
"However, we have to maintain perspective that the recovery is coming from a very low base and the risks to the economy in the medium term haven't gone away. The rebound in exports and modest improvement in investment will need to become much more firmly entrenched if we are to see a much-needed rebalancing of the economy."
Tom Lawton, head of manufacturing at BDO LLP, which helped with the research, added: "The sector has shown seen a significant upturn since the dark days of the recession and this quarter's results show continued growth in output and orders and more expected for the next quarter, mostly driven by the restocking across most sectors of industry and exports.
"This quarter results show more optimism around two key indicators which have been lagging behind the general good news of the sector in recent surveys, being employment and investment.
"This is excellent news but much more will be needed to enable manufacturing to compete in the space where we have a competitive advantage - innovation, research and development, excellent customer service and fast response to emerging trends."
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A British soldier from The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, has been killed in an explosion in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said.
The solider was serving as part of the Brigade Reconnaissance Force when killed by a blast in the Nad-e Ali District of Helmand Province.
Next of kin have been informed.
Task Force Helmand spokesman Lieutenant Colonel James Carr-Smith said: "It is with great sadness I must inform you that a soldier from The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland was killed this morning.
"The soldier, serving with the Brigade Reconnaissance Force, was part of an operation that was disrupting insurgents in northern Nad-e Ali when he was killed by a Rocket Propelled Grenade.
"Selfless in the course of his duty he will be missed by his many friends. He was an inspirational soldier. We will remember him."
This has been a bloody year for British troops in Afghanistan, with 88 dying so far in 2010, bringing the total UK deaths since the start of operations in 2001 to 333.
Bank of England policymakers are expected to keep interest rates on hold for the 18th month in a row this week amid gathering gloom over the economy.
The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is widely predicted to deliver yet another decision on Thursday to hold Bank Base Rate at 0.5% - and keep it there for many months to come.
It has so far opted to prioritise the need to support the economy over efforts to rein in stubbornly high inflation and economists believe the threat of a stalling recovery will continue to outweigh price concerns.
The UK economy may have risen by a far-better-than-expected 1.2% in the second quarter, but the signs point to faltering growth since then.
Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said the MPC will vote to protect "what is still overall muted recovery from very deep recession".
"Although UK GDP spiked up by 1.2% in the second quarter, the Bank is very well aware that this substantially exaggerates the strength of the economy and that the recovery is still at risk from serious headwinds," he added.
The powerhouse services sector saw its slowest growth in more than a year during August, according to the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply's (CIPS) closely-watched industry survey.
Recent CIPS data from manufacturers was also worrying, with growth in August hitting a nine-month low, while the latest official construction figures showed orders plunging 14% in the second quarter, suggesting a rocky road ahead.
The impact of the Government's austerity drive is hitting confidence across the economy, with firms fearing the fall-out will spread far and wide.
With spending cuts looming large and tax hikes just months away, consumers are also feeling the pinch.
William Hague and wife Ffion have received "huge public support" following their decision to issue a frank statement about their private life earlier this week, the Foreign Secretary said.
Questions were raised over Mr Hague's judgement after he denied an "improper" relationship with a male aide, rejected suggestions his marriage was in trouble and revealed that Ffion had suffered a number of miscarriages.
But he has now sent out a message of thanks on micro-blogging service Twitter to the many people he said had backed him and his wife.
"Feel I must say a big thank you from Ffion and me for the huge public support, on twitter, in letters and in emails," wrote Mr Hague.
Elsewhere, the Foreign Secretary received strong public backing from Cabinet colleague Michael Gove.
The Education Secretary told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: "William is an outstanding Foreign Secretary, one of the most gifted politicians of our time.
"I feel admiration for the dignity with which he has always handled himself. There have been all sorts of attempts in the past to throw stuff at him, not least when he was leader.
"William is a real asset to frontline politics. We lucky to have him in public service."
Labour's leadership contenders have all described themselves as socialists as they took part in a live televised hustings in Norwich.
The five candidates all agreed with the label, which arguably would have been seen as a damaging admission to make under New Labour.
And they called on the party to focus on the future and move on from the years under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, which were dominated by internal warfare between the two rival camps.
In the Sky News debate they all stressed Labour still had much to learn from its punishing defeat at the hands of voters in the recent general election.
Shadow education secretary Ed Balls said Labour had to have a "distinctive message" on the "big issues" that people cared about such as jobs, housing and student finance.
He said: "We have go to get back on people's sides...if we get that right we can win again."
Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary, warned Labour had become "dangerously disconnected" with ordinary people, adding: "It looked at times that we were on the side of big business...that we were going cap in hand to elites in the media and business and not standing up for what we believe is right, our principles."
Ed Miliband, who received a boost when a poll found he has the majority of support from gay voters in the leadership election, stressed the party needed to reach out to middle and lower income voters, move on from New Labour and have the "courage" to change.
His brother David said the message he was getting on the doorsteps was clear: "Labour wasn't offering enough...people didn't think we were on their side on and on jobs, on crime, on welfare they didn't think we were clear enough in what we were saying or what we wanted to do for the future."
Left-winger Diane Abbott said: "I think we have to restore trust in politics, I think there was a collapse in trust in politicians generally across the country."
A suicide car-bomber killed three soldiers and wounded 32 others in an attack on a military base in Russia's violence-plagued republic of Dagestan, officials said.
The attack took place at the base in the city of Buinaksk, said Vyacheslav Gasanov, a spokesman for the republic's Interior Ministry.
The driver of the explosives-laden small Zhiguli automobile smashed through a gate of the base and headed for an area where soldiers are quartered in tents, Mr Gasanov said.
But soldiers opened fire on him before he reached the centre of the base. Mr Gasanov said, the driver rammed the car into a military truck where it exploded.
After the blast, a roadside bomb hit a car taking investigators to the scene, but there were no injuries reported in that explosion.
Dagestan's president, Magomedsalam Magomedov, visited the scene of the attack and the wounded soldiers in the hospitals where they're being treated.
"Today's terrorist attack indicates that militants in the republic still have the power to conduct such treacherous attacks," Mr Magomedov was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.
Despite "several successful" operations against the militants in the region, the country's security services have to step up their efforts fully to stamp out the militants, he said.
Dagestan is gripped by near-daily violence between police and soldiers and insurgents believed to be inspired by separatists in neighbouring Chechnya.
The attack came almost exactly 11 years after a car bomb outside an apartment building in Buinaksk housing the families of military officers killed 64 people.
A father and son who died when their light aircraft collided in mid-air with another plane during an air race have been named.
Michael Willis, 73, and 42-year-old James Willis were in a four-seater Mooney M20B aircraft when it crashed with a sports aircraft over Havenstreet on the Isle of Wight just before the end of the race.
The Mooney M20B is understood to have broken up mid-air and plummeted into remote woodland just after 5pm on Saturday, killing the pair.
The sports aircraft, also carrying two men, suffered damage but limped safely back to Bembridge Airport with both its occupants escaping serious injury.
The identities of Mr Willis, from Green Lane, Stanmore, Middlesex, and his son, from The Dingle, Hillingdon, north London, were confirmed by race organisers.
A Hampshire Police spokeswoman said: "The families of these two men have been informed and are receiving support from Hampshire Constabulary officers."
The planes were among 19 aircraft taking part in Merlin Trophy races, the precursor for the main annual Schneider Trophy, which has been cancelled.
Tim Wassell, chairman of the Royal Aero Club Racing and Rally Association, organisers of the Schneider Trophy, said everyone was "numb" with shock.
Speaking of the two victims, he said: "I have only known them through the Aero Club but they have been around for three or four years. It's a fairly close-knit community here and everybody knows everybody else. It's almost like an extended family.
"Everybody is totally numb and in shock about it. It's obviously not an everyday occurrence. When things like this do happen it just sends shockwaves through everyone."
Wayne Rooney is a top player who will continue to perform for England, team-mate James Milner has said after allegations about the striker's private life appeared in a Sunday newspaper.
The press conference ahead of England's Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland on Tuesday was dominated by questions about how Rooney was reacting to the headlines.
The News of the World said Rooney paid more than a thousand pounds a time to have sex with a prostitute while his wife Coleen was pregnant with their first child.
Manchester City midfielder Milner said it was business as usual for the squad on Sunday and Rooney took part in the full training session.
Asked about the Manchester United player's demeanour following the allegations, Milner said: "He is a top player, he showed that Friday. He trained fully, that's all I can tell you. You're going to have to ask him the other questions."
He said it was important the team made sure matters off the pitch did not affect their performance on it, adding: "You have highs, you have lows, and it's down to us to make sure only thing that matters is on the field, come together and make sure we get the result."
Asked about whether it was important for fans to like the players, Milner said: "It's important that we go out there and win football matches. That's what we're out here firstly to do. And control ourselves on the field and off the field as best we can."
Rooney is still scheduled to travel to Switzerland on Monday, Football Association sources said.
The Manchester United star is an integral part of England coach Fabio Capello's team, even though it is now 11 matches since he last scored for his country.
A spokesman for one of Rooney's sponsors, EA Sports, said: "This is a personal matter and we respect Wayne and his family's privacy. We have worked together for six years and Wayne continues to represent EA Sports. We will be making no further comment at this time."
Labour's five leadership candidates have used a televised debate to distance themselves from the Blair/Brown era.
In a clear sign of the shift in atmosphere within Labour, the hopefuls were happy to describe themselves as "socialist" when they appeared in the Sky News debate.
They were also ready to acknowledge failings in the Labour administrations of the past 13 years.
David Miliband said it was "too top-down, too much about one man - first of all Tony, then Gordon", while his brother Ed said that New Labour had become "stuck in the past" on issues such as low pay, civil liberties and the special relationship with the US.
Ed Balls said New Labour had "lost its way in the second term, because we got into an argument that said 'private good, public bad'", while Andy Burnham said the party had pursued a "top-down, controlling, elitist, London-centric" style of politics which he wanted to end.
Diane Abbott said mistakes like the Iraq War had overshadowed Labour's positive achievements, including investment in schools and hospitals.
Asked what would be the defining idea behind their leadership, David Miliband cited the training of activists to become community leaders, Ed Miliband said the replacement of university tuition fees with a graduate tax, Ms Abbott suggested a new programme of council house building, Mr Balls offered the construction of 100,000 affordable homes and Mr Burnham pointed to the introduction of a Land Value Tax to replace stamp duty and council tax.
Voting slips in the postal ballot were sent out to MPs, MEPs, party activists and union members on Wednesday, and the identity of the new leader will be announced in Manchester on September 25 ahead of the annual conference.
Mr Blair himself has declined to endorse any of the contenders and promised to support whoever is elected "100%".
But commentators who suspect him of favouring front-runner David Miliband will note that he praised him as "a quite remarkable guy".
Wayne Rooney's career will not be affected by allegations about his private life, publicist Max Clifford said.
Despite the lurid headlines in two Sunday newspapers, Rooney is set to travel to Switzerlandon Monday for England's Euro qualifier.
Team-mate James Milner said he expects the striker to continue performing for the national side and Mr Clifford said as long as he keeps scoring goals the fans will not care.
Mr Clifford said: "The only thing Wayne Rooney has to worry about is his wife, whether she like all the others, is prepared to accept her husband's alleged infidelities. Nobody in football gives a monkey's as long as he's winning on the pitch.
"Man United fans love him. He could be a mass murderer as long as he's scoring goals.
"(England manager Fabio) Capello can't demote him because that would mean he couldn't play and the team needs him. Rival fans will have something else to shout about, but so what?"
Earlier, a spokesman for electronic game firm EA Sports, one of Rooney's sponsors, said: "This is a personal matter and we respect Wayne and his family's privacy. We have worked together for six years and Wayne continues to represent EA Sports. We will be making no further comment at this time."
A press conference ahead of England's Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland was dominated by questions about the allegations.
The News of the World said Rooney paid more than a thousand pounds a time to have sex with a prostitute while his wife Coleen was pregnant with their first child.
Manchester City midfielder Milner said it was business as usual for the squad and Rooney took part in the full training session.
Police were investigating the contents of a computer memory stick said to contain sensitive anti-terror material which was reportedly found in the street outside a police station.
The four-inch USB storage device was alleged to have contained more than 2,000 pages of confidential information, including strategies on combating terror attacks.
The memory stick was found by a 36-year-old businessman on a pavement outside the station in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, said the Daily Star on Sunday.
It reported the device was emblazoned with the initials GMP POTU, standing for Greater Manchester Police Public Order Training Unit, and the files enclosed were produced by the National Police Improvement Agency on the subject of counter-terrorism and tactical deployment.
Names of officers, their ranks and divisions were also uncovered by the businessman when he fitted the stick into his laptop, the newspaper added.
Superintendent Bryan Lawton, of GMP's Specialist Operations Branch, said: "We are aware of an article relating to the finding of a memory stick belonging to GMP by a member of the public.
"We are currently looking into who this device belongs to, what information is contained on it and the circumstances surrounding its loss. As such it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time."
Police will consider any new information in the News of the World phone-hacking case and consult prosecutors on whether any further action should be taken, a senior Metropolitan Police officer said.
Assistant Commissioner John Yates said the Met has asked the New York Times to provide any new material it has relating to the case, including an interview with former reporter Sean Hoare, who has claimed that Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson knew about News of the World staff eavesdropping on private messages when he was editor of the paper.
Mr Yates also repeated the Met's assurance that there was "no evidence" that former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott's phone was hacked.
Lord Prescott has threatened to take legal action to force police to release any documents relating to him which were seized during an investigation which in 2007 led to journalist Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire being jailed.
But Mr Yates said the Met has already provided Lord Prescott with all the information relevant to him, and by law cannot supply the actual documents unless ordered to do so by a court.
Mr Yates' statement, released by Scotland Yard, is the first indication that police may be ready to reopen their inquiries into unconfirmed claims that reporters listened in to the voicemail messages of a long list of prominent figures, including politicians and celebrities.
The News of the World has always insisted that Goodman and Mulcaire were acting alone. The paper has rejected claims in the NYT that there was a wider culture of phone-hacking at the paper of which its editor was aware - something which Mr Coulson himself also denies.
All five candidates in the Labour leadership contest called for a fresh inquiry into the case. But Cabinet minister Michael Gove accused Labour of "recycling" old allegations in the hope of embarrassing Prime Minister David Cameron.
In his statement, Mr Yates said: "Since further allegations in relation to phone hacking first emerged in the Guardian in July 2009, the Metropolitan Police has been very clear about its position and made this public on a number of occasions.
"The newspaper produced no new evidence for us to consider reopening the case - a position endorsed separately by the Director of Public Prosecutions and leading counsel. We have always said that this position could change if new evidence was produced."
A pensioner on a mobility scooter was run over by a vintage tractor at a country show, police said.
The unattended vehicle was part of a static display at the Dorchester Showground when it started rolling down a hill on Saturday, a spokesman for Dorset Police said.
It collided with the 72-year-old from Weymouth, who became trapped under under her scooter and the tractor.
She was freed by emergency services and taken to hospital with bruising to her left leg and upper left arm.
The owner of the tractor was not present at the time of the incident, officers said.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has launched an attack on the liberal prison policies being pursued by the coalition Government.
Mr Blair - who famously promised to be "tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime" - said he "profoundly disagrees" with the approach of Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke, who has rejected the "prison works" mantra of previous administrations.
The former PM's comments, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, amount to his first direct policy assault on the coalition since David Cameron won power from Labour in May.
They came as Mr Blair was preparing for his first live TV interview in the UK following the publication of his memoir A Journey. He will appear on the launch edition of ITV1's Daybreak.
Mr Clarke has challenged the trend towards larger prison populations and questioned the need for short sentences, suggesting the Government could save money by locking up fewer offenders and focusing more on rehabilitation.
But Mr Blair told the Telegraph: "You've got to put in prison those who deserve to be there."
He said "dysfunctional families who produce 14-year-old kids stabbing one another to death" are "making people's lives hell" and suggested Britain could learn from developing countries which "just don't accept" criminality.
In a speech in June, Mr Clarke said that he would have regarded it as "impossible and ridiculous" when he was Home Secretary in the 1990s if someone had told him that by 2010 the prison population would have doubled to more than 80,000. Mr Clarke said prison was too often "a costly and ineffectual approach that fails to turn criminals into law-abiding citizens".
Meanwhile Mr Blair confirmed that he had considered breaking the Treasury into two in order to reduce Gordon Brown's power base.
Under the plan, which Lord Mandelson said was code-named Operation Teddy Bear, Mr Brown would have been left in charge of a finance ministry, with power over spending handed to a new budget office. But Mr Blair said he held back because he was not sure it was the right thing to do and did not want to do it "simply because of the Gordon issue".
Immigration minister Damian Green is expected to promise "smarter" controls on entry to the UK, when he releases research showing that tens of thousands of people admitted on student visas were still in the country five years later.
In his first major speech since the coalition Government took office, Mr Green will acknowledge that the annual cap on economic migrants from outside the EU will not be enough on its own to deliver the target of reducing net immigration to the tens of thousands.
He will also promise to look at "all routes into the UK" and set new rules to ensure that only the "brightest and best" migrants enter the country to study and work.
He will give priority to improving controls over foreign students and their dependants, more than 300,000 of whom were granted visas last year.
Mr Green will say that the points-based system introduced by Labour is still not delivering proper control of numbers of migrants coming into the country.
He will promise to look into why those entering on a temporary basis are currently finding it easy to switch to a permanent basis.
Steady pressure will be applied to every route to long-term immigration to bring down numbers, he will say.
Home Office-commissioned research has looked into all of those who came into the UK in 2004 and tracked their immigration status for the following five years. All those granted settlement in 2009 were also studied to see how they entered the country in the first place.
The largest group of visas granted in 2004 were to 186,000 students, more than one-fifth of whom - over 37,000 people - were still in the UK five years later.
And the research found that numbers of visas issued to students and their dependants had risen to 307,000 by the year to June 2010.
Britain is a nation of wasters who throw out hundreds of pounds of food each year, a new study reveals.
Despite a tightening of purse strings, the average person still bins £400 worth a perishables from one year to the next.
And where previous generations would have saved every last morsel, more than half of those polled (56%) admitted discarding bread every week.
Meanwhile, more than a third said they threw out bananas on a regular basis or disposed of bagged salads which go uneaten.
However the study of more than 3,000 adults identified something of a gender divide - only 1% of women said they binned chocolate compared with 3% of men.
Despite a wasteful mentality, the study found most people (73%) felt guilty for allowing food to go off. And some 60% said they would pack up their leftovers for lunch, while 92% said they reused shopping bags.
On a regional level, those who claim to be the least wasteful were found to live in Essex where only 2% of people admitted throwing out items every day.
The worst offenders for this were in Brighton where 16% of people put their hands up to binning uneaten food while this figure was slightly lower in London, at 13%.
The study was carried out by OnePoll for Waitrose earlier this month.
The items most frequently binned each week are: Bread; Bananas; Bagged Salads; Lettuce; Cold Meats; Apples; Milk; Yoghurt; Cucumber; Potatoes.
The former head of the Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, has launched an attack on Ministry of Defence bureaucrats, accusing them of being detached from the reality of life for frontline troops.
Gen Dannatt, who was Chief of General Staff from 2006-09, described the MoD as a "Byzantine" department which operates in a "cocooned environment" and puts vested interests ahead of the needs of troops, meaning "the man on the ground has been short-changed".
He claimed the Whitehall department did not even take the decision to make its primary focus "strategic success" in Afghanistan and Iraq "in the context of countering global terrorism" until an away-day in 2006 - years after the conflicts began.
Gen Dannatt's book, Leading From The Front, is being serialised in the Daily Telegraph. In the first excerpts, he branded Gordon Brown a "malign" influence for failing to fund the armed forces adequately and condemned Tony Blair's lack of "moral courage" for failing to force his chancellor to do so.
In new extracts, he turned his fire on officials, claiming that it "defied logic" that they were unable to clarify MoD priorities in Iraq and Afghanistan until the 2006 away day. Even then "much of the MoD, in its Byzantine way, was conducting business as usual, in a cocooned environment far distant from the harsh reality experienced by our soldiers", he said.
Gen Dannatt described how a plan for troops to be supplied with new armoured vehicles collapsed nine years after being agreed, and how it "nearly broke my heart" to see American forces operating with exactly the kind of equipment that was needed.
He said he pleaded with then defence secretary Des Browne in 2006 for helicopters and patrol vehicles. And he suggested that much-needed equipment of this type was delayed because of the MoD's focus on expensive long-term projects like fighter jets.
"The protection of vested interests" in industry and politics "seemed to rank higher than the need to succeed in the field", wrote the general.
And he suggested that the MoD lacked political leadership because defence secretaries like Mr Browne and Geoff Hoon were lawyers who did not understand the military.
Gen Dannatt argued that the Government should "replace the idea of a 'balanced force' with something more akin to a 'relevant force'," which would require some expensive items to be scrapped.
Manufacturing firms were enjoying "buoyant" trading conditions amid rising demand from overseas customers, leading to better job prospects, according to a new report.
The Engineering Employers Federation forecast that manufacturing will grow by 3.7% this year and 3.2% in 2011, driven by the strength of overseas markets.
Greater confidence was encouraging firms to hire staff, although mainly offering work to temporary or agency staff, said the report, based on a survey of over 500 companies for the three months to August.
The EEF cautioned there was still a risk to growth next year despite the level of short-term optimism because of the weaker outlook in the United States and economic cuts in the UK.
EEF Chief Economist, Ms Lee Hopley, said: "Manufacturers have continued to reap the rewards of growth in overseas markets with the upswing being felt across all sectors and regions.
"Not only has this continued to translate into better employment prospects but the recovery in investment has begun much earlier in the cycle than after previous recessions.
"However, we have to maintain perspective that the recovery is coming from a very low base and the risks to the economy in the medium term haven't gone away. The rebound in exports and modest improvement in investment will need to become much more firmly entrenched if we are to see a much-needed rebalancing of the economy."
Tom Lawton, head of manufacturing at BDO LLP, which helped with the research, added: "The sector has shown seen a significant upturn since the dark days of the recession and this quarter's results show continued growth in output and orders and more expected for the next quarter, mostly driven by the restocking across most sectors of industry and exports.
"This quarter results show more optimism around two key indicators which have been lagging behind the general good news of the sector in recent surveys, being employment and investment.
"This is excellent news but much more will be needed to enable manufacturing to compete in the space where we have a competitive advantage - innovation, research and development, excellent customer service and fast response to emerging trends."
