Big waves have pounded Bermuda's beaches as islanders rushed to board up windows, fill sandbags and stock up on water, food and other supplies before Hurricane Igor's expected arrival.
Under dark, cloudy skies, onlookers gathered along beaches to watch the 15ft surf smash into breakwaters, but some voiced hope that a weakened Igor, which has been downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane, would spare the island serious damage.
Igor was expected to pass over or very close to Bermuda late on Sunday or early on Monday according to the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami. It has maximum sustained winds of 85mph - significantly weakened from previous days when it was an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm, but still dangerous.
Officials urged islanders to take shelter at home, and public safety minister David Burch warned "the storm will be a long and punishing one".
Premier Ewart Brown said islanders "have been forced to recognise that the ocean is not so vast and Bermuda not so unique as to be separated from the awesome power of nature".
High surf kicked up by the storm has already swept two people out to sea in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, far to the south.
Forecasters said the storm could drop 6-9 inches of rain over Bermuda and cause significant coastal flooding.
Bermudians have been rushing to pull boats out of the water and buy supplies. Hotel cancellations were reported across the island, popular with tourists for its pink sand beaches and with businesspeople as an offshore financial haven.
A causeway linking the main island with St George's parish was closed, along with the LF Wade International Airport.
The last plane to leave was a British Airways flight to London, which departed three hours earlier than usual. Aboard was Jane Royden, 47, and her husband, both from Birmingham. "We are quite relieved to be leaving and concerned for the safety of the island and everyone here," said Ms Royden, who cut her two-week holiday short by a week to escape the storm.
Big waves have pounded Bermuda's beaches as islanders rushed to board up windows, fill sandbags and stock up on water, food and other supplies before Hurricane Igor's expected arrival.
Under dark, cloudy skies, onlookers gathered along beaches to watch the 15ft surf smash into breakwaters, but some voiced hope that a weakened Igor, which has been downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane, would spare the island serious damage.
Igor was expected to pass over or very close to Bermuda late on Sunday or early on Monday according to the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami. It has maximum sustained winds of 85mph - significantly weakened from previous days when it was an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm, but still dangerous.
Officials urged islanders to take shelter at home, and public safety minister David Burch warned "the storm will be a long and punishing one".
Premier Ewart Brown said islanders "have been forced to recognise that the ocean is not so vast and Bermuda not so unique as to be separated from the awesome power of nature".
High surf kicked up by the storm has already swept two people out to sea in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, far to the south.
Forecasters said the storm could drop 6-9 inches of rain over Bermuda and cause significant coastal flooding.
Bermudians have been rushing to pull boats out of the water and buy supplies. Hotel cancellations were reported across the island, popular with tourists for its pink sand beaches and with businesspeople as an offshore financial haven.
A causeway linking the main island with St George's parish was closed, along with the LF Wade International Airport.
The last plane to leave was a British Airways flight to London, which departed three hours earlier than usual. Aboard was Jane Royden, 47, and her husband, both from Birmingham. "We are quite relieved to be leaving and concerned for the safety of the island and everyone here," said Ms Royden, who cut her two-week holiday short by a week to escape the storm.
Nick Clegg has pledged to make people pay their "fair share" of tax as he announced plans to recoup £7 billion a year currently being dodged.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the coalition would come down "as hard on tax cheats as on benefits cheats" as it seeks to tackle the deficit.
Funding will be made available for HM Revenue & Customs to increase criminal prosecutions for tax evasion five-fold, with a dedicated team of investigators created to catch those hiding money offshore.
Private debt collection agencies will be tasked with recouping up to a billion pounds of tax debt, while smugglers and organised crime will also be targeted.
HMRC estimates that the £900 million package will boost revenues by £7 billion annually by 2014-15.
However, it is unclear whether the initiative will actually increase the government's current £1.2 billion expenditure on tax avoidance, evasion and crime.
Officials indicated HMRC will be forced to find up to 25% in efficiencies from its budgets as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review before the £900 million is injected over four years.
Interviewed on the BBC's Andrew Marr show as the Liberal Democrat conference got under way in Liverpool, Mr Clegg insisted the coalition was committed to "beefing up resources" so that tax was collected properly.
"I want us to be, and we will be, as hard on people who are tax cheats as people who are benefits cheats," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr show. "You cannot ask millions of people in this country to have restraint in pay, to have their pensions looked at again because we are having to deal with the deficit and allow people who can pay an army of lawyers and accountants from getting out of paying their fair share of taxes."
Fleshing out the package in his speech to conference, Chief Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander said "There are some people who seem to believe that not paying their fair share of tax is a lifestyle choice that is socially acceptable. It is not."
The Pope has thanked the British people for the "warmth of your welcome" as his historic four-day state visit to the UK came to an end.
Pope Benedict XVI has used the visit to apologise for the child sex scandal, meeting with abuse victims and acknowledging how the affair "seriously undermines the moral credibility" of the Church. He also attacked what he sees as "aggressive secularism" and the "increasing marginalisation" of religion in society, and railed against the limitations of celebrity, secularism and science.
The Pontiff has attracted huge crowds, addressing more than 50,000 people in Cofton Park in Birmingham and 80,000 in London's Hyde Park, and the trip has been seen by most Catholics as a great success.
Speaking just before leaving the country he said: "Thank you for the warmth of your welcome and for the hospitality that I have enjoyed. During my time with you, I have been able to meet representatives of the many communities, cultures, languages and religions that make up British society.
"The very diversity of modern Britain is a challenge to its Government and people, but it also represents a great opportunity to further intercultural and inter-religious dialogue for the enrichment of the entire community."
Earlier on Sunday, addressing Catholic bishops of England, Scotland and Wales at the Seminary Chapel in Oscott College, Sutton Coldfield, the Pope suggested the Catholic Church in Britain could share the lessons it has learned about child abuse with wider society.
He said: "(A) matter which has received much attention in recent months, and which seriously undermines the moral credibility of Church leaders, is the shameful abuse of children and young people by priests. Your growing awareness of the extent of child abuse in society, its devastating effects and the need to provide proper victim support should serve as an incentive to share the lessons you have learned with the wider community."
On Saturday, the Pope expressed his "deep sorrow and shame" after meeting five clerical sex abuse victims in a private meeting in London.
He also held a special Mass to beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman, the first beatification he has carried out since he was elected Pope in 2005.
The German-born Pontiff, who was forced to join the Hitler Youth as a 14-year-old schoolboy, took the opportunity to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, saying: "For me as one who lived and suffered through the dark days of the Nazi regime in Germany, it is deeply moving to be here with you on this occasion, and to recall how many of your fellow citizens sacrificed their lives, courageously resisting the forces of that evil ideology."
A leaking well which spewed millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico has finally been sealed, US officials said.
Oil giant BP killed the leak by pumping cement into the bottom, ending a five-month battle that started when one of its oil rigs exploded.
The Deepwater Horizon rig blew up on April 20, killing 11 workers. A cap sealed the flow of oil three months later but the ruptured well could not be declared dead until a relief well was drilled, and a pressure test confirmed that the plug was holding.
Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the federal official who oversaw the disaster, said the well was "effectively dead".
"Additional regulatory steps will be undertaken but we can now state definitively that the Macondo Well poses no continuing threat to the Gulf of Mexico," he said.
It is estimated that 206 million gallons of oil has spewed into the Gulf since the disaster.
It led to the resignation of BP chief executive Tony Hayward and a moratorium on deepwater offshore drilling.
BP accepted it was partly at fault for the disaster in an internal report, admitting its workers misinterpreted a key pressure test of the well.
But it also pointed the finger at its partners on the rig.
The firm's stock price has started to recover but took a massive nosedive after the explosion, and the clean up has cost it 8 billion US dollars (£5.1 billion), with another 20 billion US dollars (£12.8 billion) set aside for a compensation fund.
Britain is to commit a further £70 million in aid to Pakistan as the country struggles to recover from the havoc wrought by the floods, the Government has announced.
International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell, attending an international donors conference at the United Nations in New York, said the money was needed to help the country to start rebuilding in the wake of the disaster.
"Aid so far has focused on keeping people alive. We need to continue to focus hard on the public health dangers, which remain extremely serious. But we also now need to start helping people to get back on their feet," he said.
"With four out of five people affected by the floods dependent on farming, it is vital that we replace lost seeds, grains, and tools before the critical planting season next month and in November."
Mr Mitchell said that British aid, which now totals £134 million, would also be used to help get children back into education following the loss of 8,000 schools in the floods.
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg - who visited Pakistan earlier this month - told the Liberal Democrat party conference in Liverpool that the situation was continuing to deteriorate.
"I think we can be proud in the face of that catastrophe of what we in Britain have done and I'm very proud that Liberal Democrats have played a big role now, and in the coming days at the United Nations at the Millennium Development Goals summit, in really pushing the rest of the world to take this as seriously as we do," he said.
The fashion pack is due to gather for a private memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral to pay homage to Alexander McQueen.
Family and friends are expected to take a break from the buzz of London Fashion Week for a ceremony designed to celebrate the designer's life and work.
Described by editor of British Vogue, Alexandra Shulman, as a "modern genius", Lee Alexander McQueen earned himself a reputation as the "enfant terrible" of British fashion.
His death in February shattered the industry.
The 40-year-old's body was discovered by his housekeeper in a wardrobe at his flat in Mayfair, central London, the day before his mother Joyce's funeral.
An inquest heard the designer - a close friend of model Kate Moss - hanged himself after taking a cocktail of cocaine, sleeping pills and tranquillisers.
He had a history of depression, anxiety and insomnia and had researched suicide on the internet before taking his life.
The fashion world later queued up to pay tribute to the openly gay designer who began his career with an apprenticeship at Savile Row tailor's Anderson & Sheppard.
He went on to become one of the most respected figures in the industry after his entire graduation collection was bought by influential stylist Isabella Blow.
Before his death, he was known for his daring creations that sometimes tipped over into the shocking and bizarre, drawing him critical acclaim and several awards.
The Liberal Democrats would never have been taken seriously again if they had passed up the chance to govern in coalition, Nick Clegg is to say.
The Deputy Prime Minister is to deliver an impassioned defence of his deal with David Cameron in his keynote speech to party conference.
Activists at the gathering in Liverpool have openly expressed anxiety over the policy compromises the party made to share power, and the potential political damage it has suffered. But Mr Clegg will reiterate his belief that he made the best choice, saying the Tory-Lib Dem coalition was the "right government at the right time".
"Some say we shouldn't have gone into government at a time when spending had to be cut," he will tell the audience at the Arena and Convention Centre. "We should have let the Conservatives take the blame. Waited on the sidelines, ready to reap the political rewards. Maybe that's what people expected from a party that has been in opposition for 65 years.
"People have got used to us being outsiders, against every government that's come along. Maybe we got used to it ourselves. But the door to the change we want was opened, for the first time in most of our lifetimes. Imagine if we had turned away. How could we ever again have asked the voters to take us seriously?"
Mr Clegg is to concede that the "years ahead will not be easy", blaming Labour for leaving the "country's coffers empty", and will add:"You do not get to choose the moment when the opportunity to shape your country comes your way. All you get to choose is what you do when it does."
The Lib Dem leader will flatly rule out any prospect of the coalition lasting beyond the next general election - due in May 2015. He will say: "The Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives are and always will be separate parties, with distinct histories and different futures. But for this Parliament we work together to fix the problems we face and put the country on a better path. This is the right Government for right now."
The Lib Dem leadership unveiled a crowd-pleasing crackdown on tax avoidance and evasion on Sunday, pledging to make the rich pay their "fair share" towards efforts to tackle the deficit. Funding will be made available for HM Revenue & Customs to increase criminal prosecutions for tax evasion five-fold, with a dedicated team of investigators created to catch those hiding money offshore. Private debt collection agencies will be tasked with recouping up to a billion pounds of tax debt, while smugglers and organised crime will be targeted. Those earning more than £150,000 a year - the threshold for the new 50% rate - can also expect closer scrutiny.
Mr Clegg also sought to reassure activists over the coalition's plans for cuts, suggesting the impact of curbs on budgets had been "exaggerated".
www.libdems.org/(Liberal Democrats)
Crime will rise and there will be more victims if "draconian" public spending cuts of 25% go ahead, a union has warned.
Probation union Napo said many programmes for offenders in the community will be cut or withdrawn if the proposed cuts go ahead.
But the Government said their was no evidence that cuts to the Probation Service would lead to an increase in crime and Cabinet ministers vowed last week to stand firm against "vested interests" pleading for special treatment.
Harry Fletcher, Napo's assistant general secretary, said: "The gains of the last decade risk being jeopardised because of draconian cuts. The Probation Service will not be able to maintain the same level of service."
Many areas will only be able to offer a reduced service for sex offenders and those involved in domestic violence, while others will be rationing their programmes to those who pose an imminent risk, he said.
More expensive schemes, such as the Integrated Domestic Abuse Programme (Idap), which involves 26 weekly sessions to manage anger and address the causes of domestic violence, are already being rationed in some areas, Napo said.
The programmes, which also include schemes to treat drug and alcohol dependency and sexual offending, have been a success, Napo said, and can reduce reoffending rates from 50% to 35%.
But Mr Fletcher predicted the number of successfully completed schemes could fall from 40,000 last year to 30,000 by 2012 if the cuts go ahead. "This will increase reoffending rates and create more victims, particularly of domestic violence," he said. "It is ironic that if the programmes are not available, prison will certainly be used by sentencers as an alternative."
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "Public protection is one of our main priorities and there is no evidence to suggest that savings made to the Probation Service will compromise this or increase crime. Any savings will look to retain front line services which will ensure the public is protected and re-offending is reduced.
"The coalition Government is also looking at how private and voluntary sector providers can get involved in running rehabilitation services to make them tougher for criminals and better value for the taxpayer."
One in four sexually active young people in the UK fails to use any form of contraception with a new partner, a survey has revealed.
The figure prompted health campaigners to call on the Government to give sex and relationships education in all schools a higher priority.
Personal hygiene was rated as the most important consideration - ahead of contraception - when preparing for a date that could lead to sex, the survey said.
The worldwide survey, which included young Britons, was carried out by Marie Stopes International for World Contraception Day on September 26.
The UK results revealed 16% of young people who admitted to unprotected sex said they did not use contraception with a new partner as they forgot, 13% said their partner preferred not to use contraception and 19% said they had been drunk and forgot.
Confusion and a lack of information about contraception was apparent with almost half of all respondents saying they were not very familiar with or were confused about the different types of contraception.
The survey revealed 32% of young people in the UK said they sometimes feel a little confused about the different contraception options and do not know which method is best for them and their partner. And 19% of young people in the UK believe the "withdrawal method" is an effective form of contraception.
A total of 31% of young people have a close friend or family member who has had an unplanned pregnancy.
The organisation said there was also a "head in the sand" approach to sexually transmitted infections with one in three people saying if their partner was thought to have an STI it was up to their partner to seek a diagnosis and information - even though they themselves could be infected.
The research was part of a worldwide survey of 5,223 respondents and was funded by Bayer Healthcare. A total of 206 British under 24-year-olds (100 male and 106 female) responded to the questions carried out via online interviews in May 2010.
More than 9,000 employees working in the public sector are paid more than the Prime Minister, figures show.
An investigation by BBC One's Panorama and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism suggested the numbers earning more than David Cameron's £142,500-a-year are significantly higher than previously thought.
The findings by the programme will heighten the controversy already raging over comparative pay levels in the public and private sectors.
Based on the responses to more than 2,400 Freedom of Information requests to public bodies, they show that 38,000 were paid over £100,000 while 1,000 received over £200,000. They include GPs, teachers, police chiefs, council officers and senior civil servants, as well as senior managers in the BBC itself.
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude insisted that it should not be necessary to offer "stupendous amounts" of money in the public sector.
"You can square the circle of having really good people not on telephone number salaries and massive built-in bonuses," he told the programme. "That public service ethos is very important. People will come and work in a public sector for salaries that aren't competitive in a private sector sense."
The NHS was the sector found to have the the highest number of staff earning over £100,000 - 26,000 - with almost 6,500 paid more than the Prime Minister.
Those with salaries topping the PM's included 1,465 GPs - 10 of whom received more than £300,000. The highest earner was an unnamed GP working for the Hillingdon Primary Care Trust with pay of £475,500.
In the education sector, 385 teachers in England earn more than £100,000 and 17 get more than the Prime Minister. The best paid was an unnamed teacher from Essex on £232,500, followed by Mark Elms, the head teacher of Tidemill Primary School in Lewisham, south east London, on £231,400.
A total of 196 police officers across the UK receive more than £100,000, with 45 earning more than the Prime Minister, headed by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson on £280,489.
The father of one of the victims of the Lockerbie bombing has been to Libya to visit the only man convicted of the bombing.
Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi invited Dr Jim Swire to meet him and the two men spent around an hour together in Megrahi's hospital ward in Tripoli last Tuesday.
Megrahi was released from Greenock prison just over a year ago on compassionate grounds and allowed to return to Libya as he battled prostate cancer.
Dr Swire, whose daughter 23-year-old daughter Flora was one of the 270 victims of the atrocity, has long believed Megrahi is innocent and has spearheaded a campaign for a full inquiry into the atrocity.
It was the first time the two men had met since Dr Swire visited him in prison in Scotland in December 2008 and he said the Libyan looked better than he expected.
He said: "It was a man to man confidential meeting. We have something in common in that he wants to clear his name and I want to see the verdict re-examined under Scots law so we have a common aim to overturn the verdict.
"I was very relieved to see him as well as he was. He is a very sick man but he can get out of bed and walk though not very far.
"I think one of the reasons he has lived so long is he has had good treatment in Libya and he has been returned to his family and his community and his country and these are a huge relief to the body in fighting cancer because your immune system depends very heavily on how much stress you are under.
"Being in a foreign prison cell is about as stressful as it can be."
Megrahi was jailed for life for the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 which exploded in the skies above Lockerbie.
The long-running British Airways cabin crew dispute is set to return to the courts with fresh legal action by the trade union involved in the bitter stand-off with the carrier.
Unite said it will lodge an appeal at the High Court this week over the withdrawal of travel concessions from almost 7,000 of its members who went on strike earlier this year.
The cabin crew took 22 days of strike action in the first few months of the year, which disrupted flights and cost BA more than £150 million.
The original cause of the dispute was cost-cutting plans, including a reduction in the number of on-board crew, but it escalated after BA withdrew travel concessions from those who went on strike and took disciplinary action against dozens of Unite members.
The union said it also expected to lodge an appeal in the European Court of Human Rights by the end of the month, challenging the Government to "put its house in order" over balloting for industrial action.
Unite has faced legal action by BA over previous industrial action ballots, complaining that it faced an injunction because fewer than a dozen ballot papers were spoilt out of thousands of members who voted to go on strike.
In a third legal move, Unite said it will take a case to the Court of Appeal on October 11 and 12 to claim that BA's reduction of crew levels was a breach of contract.
BA reduced crew numbers on long-haul flights from last November after the High Court in London refused an application from Unite for an injunction against the changes.
A Unite spokesman said: "Sadly, one year on this dispute remains unresolved. We are being forced to defend our members and their rights to just treatment in the courtroom because BA refuses to play fairly at the negotiating table."
A BA spokesman said: "The High Court ruling in February found that the modest changes we made to onboard crew numbers on flights from Heathrow were reasonable, did not breach crew contracts and could therefore remain in place. We will defend our position vigorously."
Former world boxing champion Ricky Hatton is to issue an apology for his descent into drink and drugs, promising he never took cocaine during his professional career.
The 31-year-old, who is to be investigated by police over allegations he snorted cocaine in a hotel room, was admitted to a rehabilitation clinic on Monday.
During an interview on ITV's Daybreak, Hatton who was secretly filmed taking what is alleged to be lines of the class A drug on a night out, admits he "dabbled in it" while struggling to deal with the humiliation of sporting lows.
Acknowledging he "upset fans", he says: "Sorry is not a big enough word for what I want to say to them."
The father-of-one, who is unable to remember when he first took cocaine - or how frequently - insists his life went down hill after he retired from the sport. Asked if he used the class A drug while boxing, he replies: "No. Never, never."
And he tells correspondent John Stapleton: "I've been in such a low place, such a bad place I couldn't tell you. Half the time I could not tell you if it was cocaine."
Hatton has previously attributed his fall from grace to his retirement. But he admits he has also struggled with problems in his personal life. "I have a wonderful son, nine years old, and me and his mam at times have not seen eye to eye," he says.
The star, who claims at times he was only able to see the little boy once a week, also speaks of his parents saying: "When I told them I was retiring I got the impression they didn't really care too much."
The two-weight world champion, who has not fought since May 2009, adds: "I've upset my fans, my family, everybody that has been with me from day one. Sorry is not a big enough word for what I want to say to them."
Hatton is to be interviewed by police once his rehabilitation is complete.
British forces in southern Afghanistan have handed responsibility for security in Sangin to US forces, the Ministry of Defence said.
The British Government first announced the transfer of authority in July.
Control of the area was handed from 40 Commando Royal Marines to the US Marine Corps.
Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox said: "British forces have served in Sangin over the last four years and should be very proud of the achievements they have made in one of the most challenging areas of Afghanistan."
He added: "The level of sacrifice has been high and we should never forget the many brave troops who have lost their lives in the pursuit of success in an international mission rooted firmly in our own national security in the UK."
UK forces have been in Sangin since 2006.
British troops will redeploy to central Helmand, where they will continue to lead the fight against the insurgency and assist in building a stable and secure Afghanistan, he said. The number of British losses since the conflict in Afghanistan began in 2001 now stands at 337.
Ministry of Defence spokesman Major General Gordon Messenger, a former commander of the UK Helmand task force, insisted the handover was not an admission of defeat.
"It certainly won't look like that on the ground," he told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"The British soldiers that are there are handing over to the American Marines. In terms of the physical security presence and every other aspect of the campaign in Sangin, it's going to be more of a continuum than a watershed." He added: "We are seeing real and positive progress in areas that only a year or so ago were in a very different state."
Britain is to commit a further £70 million in aid to Pakistan as the country struggles to recover from the havoc wrought by the floods, the Government has announced.
International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell, attending an international donors conference at the United Nations in New York, said the money was needed to help the country to start rebuilding in the wake of the disaster.
"Aid so far has focused on keeping people alive. We need to continue to focus hard on the public health dangers, which remain extremely serious. But we also now need to start helping people to get back on their feet," he said.
"With four out of five people affected by the floods dependent on farming, it is vital that we replace lost seeds, grains, and tools before the critical planting season next month and in November."
Mr Mitchell said that British aid, which now totals £134 million, would also be used to help get children back into education following the loss of 8,000 schools in the floods.
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg - who visited Pakistan earlier this month - told the Liberal Democrat party conference in Liverpool that the situation was continuing to deteriorate.
"I think we can be proud in the face of that catastrophe of what we in Britain have done and I'm very proud that Liberal Democrats have played a big role now, and in the coming days at the United Nations at the Millennium Development Goals summit, in really pushing the rest of the world to take this as seriously as we do," he said.
The Liberal Democrats would never have been taken seriously again if they had passed up the chance to govern in coalition, Nick Clegg is to say.
The Deputy Prime Minister is to deliver an impassioned defence of his deal with David Cameron in his keynote speech to party conference.
Activists at the gathering in Liverpool have openly expressed anxiety over the policy compromises the party made to share power, and the potential political damage it has suffered. But Mr Clegg will reiterate his belief that he made the best choice, saying the Tory-Lib Dem coalition was the "right government at the right time".
"Some say we shouldn't have gone into government at a time when spending had to be cut," he will tell the audience at the Arena and Convention Centre. "We should have let the Conservatives take the blame. Waited on the sidelines, ready to reap the political rewards. Maybe that's what people expected from a party that has been in opposition for 65 years.
"People have got used to us being outsiders, against every government that's come along. Maybe we got used to it ourselves. But the door to the change we want was opened, for the first time in most of our lifetimes. Imagine if we had turned away. How could we ever again have asked the voters to take us seriously?"
Mr Clegg is to concede that the "years ahead will not be easy", blaming Labour for leaving the "country's coffers empty", and will add:"You do not get to choose the moment when the opportunity to shape your country comes your way. All you get to choose is what you do when it does."
The Lib Dem leader will flatly rule out any prospect of the coalition lasting beyond the next general election - due in May 2015. He will say: "The Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives are and always will be separate parties, with distinct histories and different futures. But for this Parliament we work together to fix the problems we face and put the country on a better path. This is the right Government for right now."
Former party leader Lord Ashdown threw his weight fully behind Mr Clegg's coalition decision. He told Radio 4's Today programme: "I think this is exactly the right thing, I backed it right from the start. Nick had the right judgment on this and I support him fully, completely and energetically."
He also defended the forthcoming cuts, saying: "My judgment is it will be done in a way which is much fairer than would otherwise have been the case because of the Lib Dems."
He added: "If the Liberal Democrats had not gone into coalition, the consequences for the party would have been worse, the risk for our party would have been greater, the benefit for our country would have been fantastically diminished."
www.libdems.org/(Liberal Democrats)
The parents of a young British soldier killed in Afghanistan have paid tribute to their "very loving son" who "would light up any room".
Trooper Andrew Howarth, 20, of The Queen's Royal Lancers, died alongside a soldier from the Royal Engineers in an explosion in the Lashkar Gah district of Helmand Province on Saturday.
He was the third generation of his family to serve in the same regiment.
A high-flying barrister sent a text message to a friend saying "This is the end" hours before he was shot dead by police, an inquest has heard.
Mark Saunders, 32, was killed in a volley of shots fired by marksmen who surrounded his home after he blasted a shotgun from a kitchen window on May 6 2008.
A coroner was told he sent three texts to Alex Booth, the best man at his wedding two years earlier, during the five-hour siege in Chelsea, west London.
After a first blank text message, the second read: "This is the end my only friend, the end. X" A second text message said: "Call me now."
In a statement, Mr Booth said he and the dead man would often quote music and films and the message was a quote from a song by The Doors used in the soundtrack of Apocalypse Now.
The inquest heard that Mr Saunders struggled with drink in the years before the shooting, attending Alcoholics Anonymous and asking for help from his GP. The family law specialist, employed by the QEB chambers in London's Temple, had also recently taken cocaine and had been prescribed antidepressants.
His wife, Elizabeth, said she suspected he had been drinking heavily on the day of his death when he failed to answer his mobile phone as she called from work.
Fighting back tears as she gave evidence at Westminster Coroner's Court, Mrs Saunders said her husband was a "very sensitive and caring man" with "huge energy and love for life". She said he had been teetotal since March that year as he battled to control drinking which had led to several "blips" when he disappeared late at night.
Mrs Saunders, also a barrister at QEB chambers, said: "What Mark wanted to do was control the drinking, to be able to be a social drinker. He was successful in that for most of the time. However, it is right to say he was working on this. There were occasions, probably every three months or so, when it went wrong."
Mr Booth said his friend would often hurt himself and lose his phone when drinking, adding "he completely lost touch with reality" and that "you could not engage with him".
The father of missing chef Claudia Lawrence has spoken of his "devastation" as it was revealed that a cash reward for information was being dropped.
The decision, which emerged on the 18-month anniversary of Miss Lawrence's disappearance, means North Yorkshire Police will now remove their appeal posters from fleet vehicles because they refer to the reward.
Speaking outside his daughter's home in Heworth, York, Peter Lawrence, said: "The impression everybody will get is the team is being wound down, posters are being removed, the reward is being removed.
"The posters were the only visible sign of the police investigation. Everybody in the York area was able to see those posters on the side of emergency vehicles."
Crimestoppers put up the £10,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of those responsible for Miss Lawrence's disappearance shortly after she vanished. Monday's development comes just weeks after police decided to scale back the suspected murder investigation.
Mr Lawrence, a solicitor, added: "I'm disappointed. I understand it is a charity and funds are limited.
"Personally I'm absolutely devastated the reward has not been renewed."
Miss Lawrence, a chef at York University, who was 35 when she went missing, was last seen leaving her workplace on March 18 2009.
Mr Lawrence said searches for his daughter had ended and the police relied on the public phoning in any information. He said he hoped the police would consider putting up new posters appealing for information.
"We keep going with the campaign. I hope one day somebody will come up with the information. I just feel she is alive."
