September 21, 2010, 6:28 am
![Image]( "Pets ban for man who strangled dog")
A man who strangled a dog to death with its lead because his sister did not want it any more has been banned from ever owning an animal.
Stephan Graham Bullock, 23, pleaded guilty at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court in Hampshire to strangling the dog, called Alfie Moon after the EastEnders character.
The six-year-old German shepherd-lurcher cross was found half buried in a wooded area with a lead wrapped tightly around his neck, the court heard.
The dog was microchipped and had been a rescue dog rehomed by the RSPCA Millbrook Animal Centre in Surrey some time before but the original adopter had passed Alfie on and eventually he came to be looked after by Bullock's sister.
But she was unable to cope with the dog so she asked Bullock, who was living with her at the time, to take him.
The court heard Bullock, from Basingstoke, walked the dog to a vet for help and he was advised to call the RSPCA.
He then walked to a wooded area and he strangled the dog using the lead. Bullock admitted it took two or three minutes of the dog whimpering before the animal went limp and died.
Bullock pleaded guilty on September 7 to failing to protect Alfie from pain, injury and suffering in contravention of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. He was given a lifetime disqualification from owning or keeping all animals and a 12-month supervision order. He was also ordered to carry out 50 hours of unpaid community work and to pay RSPCA costs of £400.
Bullock, of Walnut Way, has been accepted into the Army and his defence asked the court not to give him a custodial sentence as he would miss his basic training.
RSPCA inspector Jan Edwards said: "In Alfie's last moments he would have suffered pain and extreme distress whilst being strangled by Bullock - a brutal and calculated act which fills me with sadness, disbelief and horror."
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September 21, 2010, 6:28 am
![Image]( "Book lifts lid on secret service")
MI6 has lifted somewhat the veil of secrecy which has surrounded its operations for the past century, with the publication of the first authorised history of the service.
Professor Keith Jeffery, of Queen's University, Belfast, was given unrestricted access to the surviving historic files of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), as it is more properly known.
At a launch at the Foreign Office, Sir John Scarlett, the former SIS chief who commissioned the book to mark its centenary last year, said it was a "radical step" for an agency whose watchword is secrecy.
"Mansfield Cumming (the first service's first chief) believed passionately in secrecy. I am sure he would be surprised to see me here today presenting a history of his service," Sir John said.
"For MI6, this is an exceptional event. There has been nothing like this before and there are no plans for anything similar in the future.
"Although for much of its history it was astonishingly underfunded and very much smaller than imagination would have it, the overall impression one is left with is the remarkable level of achievement against a very wide range of extremely difficult and stressful intelligence targets on five continents."
Unlike the recent authorised history of MI5, which runs to the present day, it only covers the first 40 years of the service from 1909 to 1949.
Prof Jeffery also had to agree to a number of restrictions on what he could write - including a proviso that he could not name or allude to any agent whose identity was not already clearly in the public domain.
While he said that his "Faustian pact" had in some cases "overridden the imperatives of historical scholarship", it had not "materially undermined" his ability to tell many important stories from the period. They include the exploits of such legendary characters as Sidney Reilly, the self-styled "Ace of Spies", and Wilfred "Biffy" Dunderdale, who knew author Ian Fleming and is one possible model for James Bond.
Prof Jeffery said he was able to lay to rest the myth that MI6 had a "licence to kill", although "fatalities" did occur in the course of its work, particularly during wartime. He added: "I looked very hard for 'bad stuff'. In the end, I found less evidence than perhaps we might have expected, certainly less evidence than I might have expected as the amateur espionage fiction buff that I was."
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September 21, 2010, 6:36 am
![Image]( "Complaints to BBC on Pope coverage")
The BBC has defended its coverage of last week's state visit of Pope Benedict XVI after hundreds of complaints from viewers.
According to figures released by the corporation, there were 169 complaints that its coverage was too favourable and 197 that it was too critical.
A BBC spokeswoman said: "In the context of the millions of viewers who enjoyed our live events coverage of the five major ceremonies, the live news coverage on the BBC News Channel, the news bulletins, and the various documentaries, the complaints reflect some of the public's opposing views about the visit."
There were also 384 complaints from viewers who felt there had been too much coverage of the visit, while 122 people contacted the BBC to commend it for its coverage.
The spokeswoman added: "The Pope's visit was of historic significance for millions of Catholics and to the wider population of the UK and it has provoked a range of public reactions.
"BBC News coverage of any subject is always approached in an impartial and accurate way, reflecting the different sides of any debate."
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September 21, 2010, 6:36 am
![Image]( "'Green jobs to offset budget cuts'")
A plan to create almost 250,000 jobs in green industries will offset the economic "drag anchor" of budget cuts, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne said.
The "green deal" will lead to thousands of workers modernising some 26 million homes to make them more energy efficient as part of the coalition's ambition to be the "greenest Government ever".
Speaking at the Liberal Democrat conference in Liverpool, he urged members to back the coalition agreement commitment to new nuclear power even though it went against the party's policy, telling them: "A deal is a deal."
The Government expects the energy efficiency sector to employ 246,000 people in installation and supply chain roles by 2030.
Setting out the plan, Mr Huhne said: "Since there is no money left, my department is pioneering new ways of turning this Government into the greenest ever.
"Our homes are responsible for a quarter of the UK's carbon emissions, because they leak heat like a sieve. We use more energy to heat our homes than Sweden, where it's seven degrees colder in January. We might as well be standing outside burning £50 notes.
"By stopping this waste, we can make big savings on bills, and use them to pay businesses for the cost of insulation. This is the green deal."
Under the policy, companies will pay upfront to insulate homes, with householders paying back from the energy savings that will result.
"Under the green deal consumers will save energy and save money. But the green deal could also create a whole new industry that will help offset the drag anchor of the budget squeeze.
"Not just the 26,000 people working in insulation now, but up to 250,000 jobs in every part of the country, working on 26 million homes. And going into commercial premises too, so that small businesses also save money."
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September 21, 2010, 6:36 am
![Image]( "Woman denies threat to kill Pope")
A woman has appeared in court charged with making threats to kill the Pope during his state visit.
Pauline Lunney, 56, denied a charge of making threats to kill when she appeared at North Tyneside Magistrates' Court.
Officers who raided her home in Ridley Avenue, Wallsend, allegedly found an imitation gun and an overnight National Express bus ticket to London.
Lunney must return to court on November 17 to be committed to the Crown Court for trial.
She was released on conditional bail.
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September 21, 2010, 12:24 pm
![Image]( "May in promise to Muslim community")
Home Secretary Theresa May has said it is time the Government stopped talking to Muslims only about counter-terrorism.
The Government should instead treat the Muslim community as a "mature and fundamental part of our society", break down barriers and tackle discrimination, she said.
It must also aim to achieve "a better balance between public safety and civil liberties, something the last government got badly wrong".
Speaking at a belated Foreign Office reception to mark the Muslim festival of Eid, Mrs May said: "I think it's important that we, as a new Government, start treating the Muslim community as a mature and fundamental part of our society, and stop talking to Muslims only about counter-terrorism.
"As citizens of the UK, you will have your own individual hopes, needs and concerns on many areas of Government policy, just like everybody else, and we will want to talk to you and engage with you on all aspects of policy."
She went on: "At its heart, this Government is about breaking down barriers, whether that be in tackling discrimination or empowering communities.
"The Muslim community has a proud tradition of engagement in politics at a local level and let us all hope that the recent advances at a national level are followed up with more and more young Muslims becoming involved in British politics in all parties and at all levels."
Mrs May praised the "swift and generous" response of the British public to the recent floods in Pakistan and said freedom, fairness and responsibility were all central to the coalition's agenda.
She said the review of the Government's counter-terrorism strategy aimed "to achieve a better balance between public safety and civil liberties, something the last government got badly wrong".
"Section 44 stop and search is just one example of where they got it wrong," she said.
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September 21, 2010, 12:24 pm
![Image]( "Murdering husband begins life term")
Cheating newlywed Michael Roberts is beginning life behind bars after being convicted of murdering his loving wife.
The Phones4U store manager had been married for just five months when he killed his wife Vicky, 25, on Sunday 29 November last year.
He was jailed for a minimum of 17 years at Liverpool Crown Court. Hearing the verdict, Roberts, 26, sobbed and the court had to take a break before he could continue.
The pair had married in June but Roberts had already begun cheating on her with a colleague Kerrie Hall, 31.
He enjoyed "gymnastic sex" sessions with her before he was married and continued them at her North Wales home just a week after getting back from honeymoon - removing his wedding ring.
After becoming bored of her, Roberts dumped her and fell in love with another work colleague, Karen Wilson, 26.
His wife, an account manager at Runcorn-based Banner Chemicals, discovered the affair and pleaded with him to end it and fix their marriage.
At the same time, Roberts was falling rapidly in love with Ms Wilson, of Bangor, sending hundreds of texts a day and telling her he cried when he thought about the wedding they could have.
The judge, Mr Justice Royce, told him: "No words can adequately express the terrible effect that her early death has had upon her family and friends."
Roberts claimed he accidentally strangled his wife with a bathrobe cord during a kinky sex game but investigators proved the cord could not have caused a series of zig-zag marks on her neck.
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September 21, 2010, 12:25 pm
![Image]( "Mother wins gastric band legal case")
A mother-of-three is believed to have become the first person in the country to use a judicial review to force the NHS to give her a gastric bypass so she can lose weight, her solicitor said.
Hazel Kent sought a judicial review, which often involves human rights issues and planning decisions, after she was refused the operation by her local primary care trust (PCT).
The 40-year-old was denied the life-saving treatment despite her weight ballooning to nearly 16 stone and reaching a size 20.
The divorcee had already paid for one operation in September 2001 and saw her weight plummet from 17-and-a-half stone to 10 stone, making her a size 12.
But two-and-a-half years later the gastric band came loose and had to be removed to prevent Mrs Kent, of Bracknell, Berkshire, contracting blood poisoning.
Despite being given appetite-suppressing drugs, Mrs Kent's weight rocketed after the gastric band was removed.
However, East Berkshire PCT has refused to pay for a second, more permanent, gastric bypass, which cost between £8,000 and £15,000 each time.
She launched her own fight for the PCT to reverse its decision but when this failed Mrs Kent employed McCool Patterson Hemsi solicitors to take her claim to the High Court.
Mrs Kent has now won her battle after the PCT decided not to contest the judicial review in the High Court and fund her treatment.
She hopes to have the surgery by Christmas and be back at home enjoying the holiday with her children James, 19, Oliver, 16, and 15-year-old Jacqueline.
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September 21, 2010, 12:25 pm
![Image]( "Stop demonising traders: FSA chief")
Banking reforms need to move away from the "demonisation" of overpaid traders, the head of the City regulator has said.
Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), said rules instead need to address the fundamentals of what caused the financial crisis, although he stressed it is right to crackdown on "absurd" bonuses.
In his Mansion House speech, he said "ill-designed policy is a more powerful force for harm than individual greed and error".
However, he said recent Basel III banking rules to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis will be a major force for change, and defended the new requirements - unveiled earlier this month to boost capital reserves held by banks - against critics suggesting they do not go far enough.
Lord Turner said: "If we were philosopher kings designing a banking system entirely anew for a greenfield economy, should we have set still higher capital ratios than in the Basel III regime? Yes I believe we should.
"But starting from where we actually are, the Basel III reforms will significantly improve the resilience of our banking systems without harming economic recovery."
He added that the coalition Government's plans to scrap the current FSA model to create two bodies and hand bank supervision powers to the Bank of England will improve regulation. While not without its challenges, he said the move will create a "new structure which works well" and said he believes change is needed after regulators in the UK and worldwide failed to spot and prevent the causes of the banking meltdown.
Lord Turner stuck by his controversial comments made last year that risky financial products are "socially useless".
"There were some absurd bonuses for excessive risk taking: there was an explosion of exotic product development which last year I labelled as 'socially useless', a phrase from which I in no way draw back."
But he said "we need to move beyond the demonisation of overpaid traders" to ensure a similar banking crisis does not happen again.
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September 21, 2010, 12:44 pm
![Image]( "Games in crisis after bridge falls")
The Commonwealth Games is threatening to descend into chaos after a stadium bridge collapsed and two of England's top athletes pulled out of the competition.
With just 12 days until the start of the Delhi Games, the head of England's team has demanded guarantees of safety for competitors after 27 workers were injured, five of them seriously, when a major walkway connecting a stadium to a car park in New Delhi collapsed.
Craig Hunter, who has also highlighted concerns about the athletes' village, is demanding reassurances from organisers and warned that "time is beginning to run out" before the Games begin.
There are fears some teams could pull out of the Indian Games due to substandard accommodation, with 60 of the 260 rooms set aside for English athletes not watertight, and a major cleaning programme needed throughout.
Mr Hunter said the team remains "committed to participating", but added: "It's hard to cancel an event of this magnitude but we are close to the wire, and teams may start to take things into their own hands."
Meanwhile Olympic 400 metres champion Christine Ohuruogu pulled out after suffering from cramp at a training session last weekend. Lisa Dobriskey, who won the 1,500m title at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, has also chosen to quit the Games after suffering from injuries throughout the season.
World triple jump champion Phillips Idowu looks set to become the third high-profile English athlete to pull out of the Games after writing on his Twitter account that he is too concerned about safety at the site to take part, but his agent said no firm decision has yet been taken.
Team leaders from Scotland, Wales, New Zealand, Australia and Canada have also expressed "grave concerns" over the accommodation planned for the 6,500 team members.
Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Mike Hooper admitted that organisers had failed to meet their promises to provide adequate accommodation, saying: "The word filthy is almost generous. They are not habitable. There is still a lot to be done in regard to the overall cleanliness of the village and from a health and hygiene perspective."
Organising Committee vice-president Randhir Singh said there was "no problem" and described the buildings as "perfect".
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September 21, 2010, 12:44 pm
![Image]( "Baby P disciplinary probe 'flawed'")
Sharon Shoesmith oversaw a "deeply flawed" disciplinary process which concluded that two social workers involved in Baby P's care should not be sacked, an employment tribunal has heard.
Gillie Christou and Maria Ward were fired by Haringey Council in north London for "gross misconduct" after a second investigation found they committed serious failings in protecting the vulnerable child.
They claim they were unfairly dismissed following public outcry about the toddler's death aged 17 months in Tottenham, north London, in August 2007.
The pair's mistakes were exposed only after Ms Shoesmith was herself dismissed as Haringey's director of children's services over the tragedy in December 2008, the tribunal was told.
Ms Ward, 40, was baby Peter Connelly's nominated social worker and Mrs Christou, 52, was her team manager.
Stuart Young, an assistant chief executive at Haringey Council, told the tribunal that graver failings they made in Peter's care were known to senior managers at this time.
"It was only when I looked at the cases following Ms Shoesmith's dismissal in December 2008 that I became aware of the deeply flawed nature of the disciplinary investigations and hearings that had taken place in or around May 2008," he said in a witness statement.
Mr Young led Haringey's second inquiry into Mrs Christou and Ms Ward's conduct in Peter's case, which resulted in their sacking in April last year.
Referring to the more serious errors that led to Ms Ward's dismissal, he said: "It's clear that the issues that formed the basis of my allegations were known to senior managers within the children's service in May 2008. Those issues should have been the subject of disciplinary action at that time."
The tribunal also heard Ms Shoesmith employed Haringey's "simplified" disciplinary procedure for the first investigation into Mrs Christou and Ms Ward, which was normally used in simple cases where employees admitted misconduct.
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September 21, 2010, 12:44 pm
![Image]( "Cuts will be brutal, warns TUC boss")
The Government's plans to squeeze welfare budgets will be "pretty brutal", TUC general secretary Brendan Barber has warned.
Mr Barber told a fringe event at the Liberal Democrat conference that he is "extremely fearful" of the cuts that will be unveiled in next month's Government spending plan.
Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander told the event in Liverpool that "fairness" is always a factor as he makes the decisions that will be announced in the comprehensive spending review.
Mr Barber said: "I'm extremely fearful of what the consequences of the cuts that are now being planned are going to be. I'm fearful in quite a number of areas. I'm fearful that we might be about to see pretty major and pretty brutal changes to our welfare system."
He criticised the language used by ministers including Chancellor George Osborne to describe those on benefits.
"When I hear George Osborne talking about lifestyle choices that need to be taken away from them and so on I think the tone of that I find very worrying, indeed very offensive.
"We have got two-and-a-half million people unemployed at the moment, one million young people desperately trying to find work. The problem that they have got, they haven't made a lifestyle choice that they don't want to work, the problem they've got is that there aren't enough jobs in the economy."
Mr Barber said forecasts indicate the cuts will mean 600,000 jobs lost in the public sector and 700,000 in the private sector.
By making public spending cuts 80% of the effort to reduce the deficit, with only 20% tackled by raising taxes, Mr Barber said the Government risks being "massively socially regressive".
Mr Alexander said: "There's a very strong Liberal Democrat case for reforming our welfare system. I think one of the most catastrophic failures of the last Labour government was its failure to reform welfare. What I can promise is that our belief in fairness is something that will be in my mind every day I'm making these decisions."
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September 21, 2010, 12:44 pm
![Image]( "Watchdog to scrutinise BBC spending")
The BBC is to submit its finances to scrutiny by public spending watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO), it has emerged.
Under a deal struck by the BBC Trust, the NAO will be able to scrutinise executive pay and look at details of financial contracts between the public sector broadcaster and other companies, reported the Daily Telegraph.
Sources confirmed that the deal will be announced on Wednesday by Liberal Democrat culture spokesman Don Foster at the party's annual conference in Liverpool.
At present, the NAO is only able to carry out value-for-money studies if invited to do so by the trust, the corporation's governing body.
The BBC previously refused to reveal details of stars' pay unless the NAO signs a confidentiality agreement, which the auditors refused to do.
Opening up details of the BBC's dealings with other companies to audit could mean stars' pay being exposed, as many of them charge for their services through independent production companies.
It is not clear what level of detail the NAO will publish about the BBC's payments to talent.
The office's reports will trigger inquiries by the cross-party House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, which would be able to call senior BBC executives to give evidence.
The BBC Trust had no comment to make on the report.
Giving evidence to the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee earlier this month, BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons said the NAO was an "important ally" in the trust's value-for-money studies of the BBC's work, and indicated that it might be possible for the auditors to expand the scope of their work.
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September 21, 2010, 12:44 pm
![Image]( "Poll puts Labour level with Tories")
Labour has drawn level with the Conservatives in terms of the electorate's voting intentions, according to a poll.
The YouGov survey for The Sun put both parties on 39%, with the Liberal Democrats trailing on 13%. It is the first time the company has had Labour level-pegging with the Tories since the party's brief "bounce" in the wake of Gordon Brown becoming leader in 2007.
The findings come as Labour prepares to unveil its new leader on Saturday and will provide a major boost for the winner of the contest to succeed Mr Brown as the party goes into its annual conference in Manchester next week.
The survey suggests the Lib Dems have gained support from their own conference, jumping two points to 13% compared with a similar poll before the Liverpool gathering.
But Nick Clegg's party remains well below the 23% it recorded in May's general election, suggesting that voters remain uneasy about its coalition with David Cameron's Tories.
Some 40% of those questioned said they approved of the Government's performance so far, compared with 42% who disapproved.
People were more likely to see Mr Clegg as a Liberal (37%) than a Conservative stooge (30%), but 24% of people said coverage of the conference and his keynote speech made them see him as more Conservative, with only 7% saying he was more Liberal.
There was an even split over whether the Lib Dem leader had "sold out his party's principles" by entering coalition, with 38% saying he had and 40% saying he had not.
:: YouGov questioned 1,963 adults about their voting intentions for The Sun on September 20 and 21 and 658 about their view of Mr Clegg on September 21.
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September 21, 2010, 5:25 pm
![Image]( "School pregnancy clinics proposed")
Antenatal clinics could be set up in schools to care for pregnant teenagers, the health watchdog has said.
Evidence shows that pregnant under-20s often feel excluded from mainstream antenatal care or judged by their peers, according to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice).
It wants midwives to be able to go into schools to offer advice to expectant young mothers and carry out health checks.
It is part of a wider package of care aimed at women from deprived backgrounds, including those suffering social deprivation, domestic abuse, drug or alcohol misuse and women who struggle with written and spoken English.
Experts behind the guidance, which applies to England and Wales, said services should be tailored to the needs of women in each region, such as providing "one-stop shop" antenatal care in areas with high teen pregnancy rates.
Information suitable for women of a young age should be provided and staff should create opportunities for the baby's father to be involved in antenatal care if the mother agrees.
The guidance said NHS trusts should commission "antenatal care and education in peer groups in a variety of settings, such as GP surgeries, children's centres and schools".
It added: "Young women aged under 20 may be reluctant to recognise their pregnancy or inhibited by embarrassment and fear of parental reaction. They may also have practical problems such as difficulty getting to and from antenatal appointments."
Rhona Hughes, chair of the guideline development group, said no British schools were currently providing antenatal classes but it was a "common pattern of care" in the US. She added that teenagers can "feel embarrassed going to clinics where there are older women", and can feel like an outsider.
Dr Gillian Leng, deputy chief executive of Nice, said the services should be focused in schools where there was a teen pregnancy problem.
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September 21, 2010, 7:03 pm
![Image]( "Labour leadership vote nears close")
Supporters of each of the five candidates for the Labour leadership are making a last-ditch effort to secure votes before polling closes.
MPs, MEPs and party members have until 5pm to cast their ballots, and votes are expected to be cast electronically via the Labour website right up until the last minute. Voting for members of trade unions and affiliated organisations closed on Tuesday.
Polls suggest that shadow energy secretary Ed Miliband had closed the gap on brother David as the race came to the wire. But bookmakers Ladbrokes still made shadow foreign secretary David 1-2 favourite on Tuesday night, ahead of his younger brother on 6-4.
Labour's complicated electoral college system and the redistribution of votes to second-preference candidates makes accurate prediction of the result all but impossible.
Around three million people are expected to have voted by the end of today, and their ballot papers will be counted by the independent Electoral Reform Society before the announcement of the successor to Gordon Brown on September 25.
The candidates - also including Ed Balls, Andy Burnham and Diane Abbott - will be informed of the result shortly before the winner is unveiled in Manchester at 4pm on Saturday.
The winner will be plunged straight into Labour's annual conference in Manchester, using his or her first leader's speech to try to rally the party's troops and restore unity after a three-and-a-half month contest which has seen rows over whether to stick to the New Labour agenda.
Meanwhile, Harriet Harman will return to the post of deputy leader, after four months as acting leader.
Voting also closes today in the race for Labour's nomination for the London mayoral elections in 2012, with former mayor Ken Livingstone and ex-MP Oona King believed to be frontrunners. The party's choice will be announced on Friday.
The announcement of the new leader will trigger a ballot for the shadow cabinet, with around 50 MPs expected to put themselves forward when nominations open on Sunday.
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September 21, 2010, 7:03 pm
![Image]( "Clegg to announce foreign aid boost")
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will urge rich countries to live up to their promises on aid as he announces that Britain is to increase its spending on tackling malaria.
In a speech to the United Nations in New York, Mr Clegg will reiterate the UK's commitment to raise aid spending to 0.7% of gross national income from 2013 - and call on other nations to show the same "resolve".
He will acknowledge that boosting overseas aid is controversial when almost all other Whitehall departments are facing cuts, but insist that the cause is now even more important than when the Millennium Development Goals were set in 2000.
"Some critics have questioned that decision, asking why, at a time when people at home are making sacrifices in their pay and their pensions, are we increasing aid for people in other countries?" he will say.
"But we make this choice because we recognise that the promises the UK has made hold in the bad times as well as the good - that they are even more important now than they were then.
"Because we understand that, while we are experiencing hardship on our own shores, it does not compare to the abject pain and destitution of others... And because we know that doing so is in our own enlightened self-interest."
Development in the third world will create new trading partners for the UK, help the fight against climate change, drugs and pandemic disease and tackle the poverty and poor education which fuel global terrorism, he will argue.
Mr Clegg's speech comes as he embarks on his first round of high-level international diplomacy, standing in for Prime Minister David Cameron at the UN - on arriving in New York on Tuesday night he had talks with UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and Iraqi president Jalal Talabani. He is scheduled to have lunch at the White House with Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday, when he travels to Washington.
He will be attending a string of meetings at the UN's summit on the Millennium Development Goals, covering infant mortality, private sector investment and malaria, and will have a private meeting with Microsoft billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates.
He will also outline plans to increase UK spending on malaria from £150 million to £500 million a year by 2014.
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September 21, 2010, 7:03 pm
![Image]( "Cable to target 'rigged' markets")
Business Secretary Vince Cable will launch an attack on rampant capitalism as the Liberal Democrat leadership attempts to soothe anxiety that the party is lurching to the right.
Announcing a wide-ranging probe into "murky" corporate activities, Mr Cable is to condemn markets as "often irrational or rigged". He will also insist that unrestrained capitalism "kills competition".
The tough comments may reassure Lib Dem activists who have been questioning the compromises leader Nick Clegg made in order to forge the coalition with David Cameron.
But before even being formally delivered by Mr Cable in his speech on the last day of the party's conference in Liverpool, they were drawing criticism from a business leader.
CBI Director-General Richard Lambert said it was "odd that he thinks it sensible to use such emotional language".
"The case for corporate takeovers is that they allow control of poorly run businesses to pass into more efficient hands.
"Mr Cable has harsh things to say about the capitalist system: it will be interesting to hear his ideas for an alternative," Mr Lambert said.
The Cabinet minister will use his address - which Mr Clegg will miss as he is in the US on government business - to announce a consultation starting next month to cover issues surrounding takeovers, executive pay and corporate short-termism.
"The principle of responsible ownership should apply across the business world," he will tell party members. "Let me be quite clear. The Government's agenda, is not one of laissez-faire. Markets are often irrational or rigged.
"So I am shining a harsh light into the murky world of corporate behaviour."
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September 21, 2010, 7:03 pm
![Image]( "Economic recovery 'will be slower'")
Government belt tightening will mean the pace of economic recovery in the UK will be slower next year than previously forecast, the CBI has warned.
The business group downgraded its gross domestic product (GDP) forecast for 2011 to 2.0%, from 2.5% in its last forecast in June.
It said the revision took into account a weaker outlook for consumer spending next year as households will have less disposable income due to ongoing high inflation, resulting from January's VAT rise, and modest wage increases.
The CBI's previous estimates were made before Chancellor George Osborne announced his deficit-busting cuts in the June emergency Budget.
But the group's latest forecast was not all doom and gloom, with growth forecasts for this year revised upwards to 1.6% in 2010, from 1.3% in June.
The slight upward revision reflects better than expected growth in the second quarter of this year as companies began rebuilding their stocks, the CBI said.
It also believes the UK is likely to avoid slipping into a double dip recession.
Richard Lambert, CBI director-general, said: "The degree of uncertainty around the outlook remains high, but our view is that the UK's tentative recovery will be sustained, albeit with weaker levels of growth.
"The fragile nature of the recovery is why, in the forthcoming spending review, the Government must focus its scarce resources on those areas which most galvanise growth, namely infrastructure and capital investment."
The CBI has forecast consumer spending growth of 0.9% in 2010, followed by 1% in 2011.
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September 21, 2010, 8:51 pm
![Image]( "Cable to condemn 'rigged' markets")
Business Secretary Vince Cable will launch an attack on rampant capitalism as the Liberal Democrat leadership attempts to soothe anxiety that the party is lurching to the right.
Announcing a wide-ranging probe into "murky" corporate activities, Mr Cable is to condemn markets as "often irrational or rigged". He will also insist that unrestrained capitalism "kills competition".
The tough comments may reassure Lib Dem activists who have been questioning the compromises leader Nick Clegg made in order to forge the coalition with David Cameron.
But before even being formally delivered by Mr Cable in his speech on the last day of the party's conference in Liverpool, they were drawing criticism from a business leader.
CBI Director-General Richard Lambert said it was "odd that he thinks it sensible to use such emotional language".
"The case for corporate takeovers is that they allow control of poorly run businesses to pass into more efficient hands.
"Mr Cable has harsh things to say about the capitalist system: it will be interesting to hear his ideas for an alternative," Mr Lambert said.
The Cabinet minister will use his address - which Mr Clegg will miss as he is in the US on government business - to announce a consultation starting next month to cover issues surrounding takeovers, executive pay and corporate short-termism.
"The principle of responsible ownership should apply across the business world," he will tell party members. "Let me be quite clear. The Government's agenda, is not one of laissez-faire. Markets are often irrational or rigged.
"So I am shining a harsh light into the murky world of corporate behaviour."
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A man who strangled a dog to death with its lead because his sister did not want it any more has been banned from ever owning an animal.
Stephan Graham Bullock, 23, pleaded guilty at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court in Hampshire to strangling the dog, called Alfie Moon after the EastEnders character.
The six-year-old German shepherd-lurcher cross was found half buried in a wooded area with a lead wrapped tightly around his neck, the court heard.
The dog was microchipped and had been a rescue dog rehomed by the RSPCA Millbrook Animal Centre in Surrey some time before but the original adopter had passed Alfie on and eventually he came to be looked after by Bullock's sister.
But she was unable to cope with the dog so she asked Bullock, who was living with her at the time, to take him.
The court heard Bullock, from Basingstoke, walked the dog to a vet for help and he was advised to call the RSPCA.
He then walked to a wooded area and he strangled the dog using the lead. Bullock admitted it took two or three minutes of the dog whimpering before the animal went limp and died.
Bullock pleaded guilty on September 7 to failing to protect Alfie from pain, injury and suffering in contravention of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. He was given a lifetime disqualification from owning or keeping all animals and a 12-month supervision order. He was also ordered to carry out 50 hours of unpaid community work and to pay RSPCA costs of £400.
Bullock, of Walnut Way, has been accepted into the Army and his defence asked the court not to give him a custodial sentence as he would miss his basic training.
RSPCA inspector Jan Edwards said: "In Alfie's last moments he would have suffered pain and extreme distress whilst being strangled by Bullock - a brutal and calculated act which fills me with sadness, disbelief and horror."
MI6 has lifted somewhat the veil of secrecy which has surrounded its operations for the past century, with the publication of the first authorised history of the service.
Professor Keith Jeffery, of Queen's University, Belfast, was given unrestricted access to the surviving historic files of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), as it is more properly known.
At a launch at the Foreign Office, Sir John Scarlett, the former SIS chief who commissioned the book to mark its centenary last year, said it was a "radical step" for an agency whose watchword is secrecy.
"Mansfield Cumming (the first service's first chief) believed passionately in secrecy. I am sure he would be surprised to see me here today presenting a history of his service," Sir John said.
"For MI6, this is an exceptional event. There has been nothing like this before and there are no plans for anything similar in the future.
"Although for much of its history it was astonishingly underfunded and very much smaller than imagination would have it, the overall impression one is left with is the remarkable level of achievement against a very wide range of extremely difficult and stressful intelligence targets on five continents."
Unlike the recent authorised history of MI5, which runs to the present day, it only covers the first 40 years of the service from 1909 to 1949.
Prof Jeffery also had to agree to a number of restrictions on what he could write - including a proviso that he could not name or allude to any agent whose identity was not already clearly in the public domain.
While he said that his "Faustian pact" had in some cases "overridden the imperatives of historical scholarship", it had not "materially undermined" his ability to tell many important stories from the period. They include the exploits of such legendary characters as Sidney Reilly, the self-styled "Ace of Spies", and Wilfred "Biffy" Dunderdale, who knew author Ian Fleming and is one possible model for James Bond.
Prof Jeffery said he was able to lay to rest the myth that MI6 had a "licence to kill", although "fatalities" did occur in the course of its work, particularly during wartime. He added: "I looked very hard for 'bad stuff'. In the end, I found less evidence than perhaps we might have expected, certainly less evidence than I might have expected as the amateur espionage fiction buff that I was."
The BBC has defended its coverage of last week's state visit of Pope Benedict XVI after hundreds of complaints from viewers.
According to figures released by the corporation, there were 169 complaints that its coverage was too favourable and 197 that it was too critical.
A BBC spokeswoman said: "In the context of the millions of viewers who enjoyed our live events coverage of the five major ceremonies, the live news coverage on the BBC News Channel, the news bulletins, and the various documentaries, the complaints reflect some of the public's opposing views about the visit."
There were also 384 complaints from viewers who felt there had been too much coverage of the visit, while 122 people contacted the BBC to commend it for its coverage.
The spokeswoman added: "The Pope's visit was of historic significance for millions of Catholics and to the wider population of the UK and it has provoked a range of public reactions.
"BBC News coverage of any subject is always approached in an impartial and accurate way, reflecting the different sides of any debate."
A plan to create almost 250,000 jobs in green industries will offset the economic "drag anchor" of budget cuts, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne said.
The "green deal" will lead to thousands of workers modernising some 26 million homes to make them more energy efficient as part of the coalition's ambition to be the "greenest Government ever".
Speaking at the Liberal Democrat conference in Liverpool, he urged members to back the coalition agreement commitment to new nuclear power even though it went against the party's policy, telling them: "A deal is a deal."
The Government expects the energy efficiency sector to employ 246,000 people in installation and supply chain roles by 2030.
Setting out the plan, Mr Huhne said: "Since there is no money left, my department is pioneering new ways of turning this Government into the greenest ever.
"Our homes are responsible for a quarter of the UK's carbon emissions, because they leak heat like a sieve. We use more energy to heat our homes than Sweden, where it's seven degrees colder in January. We might as well be standing outside burning £50 notes.
"By stopping this waste, we can make big savings on bills, and use them to pay businesses for the cost of insulation. This is the green deal."
Under the policy, companies will pay upfront to insulate homes, with householders paying back from the energy savings that will result.
"Under the green deal consumers will save energy and save money. But the green deal could also create a whole new industry that will help offset the drag anchor of the budget squeeze.
"Not just the 26,000 people working in insulation now, but up to 250,000 jobs in every part of the country, working on 26 million homes. And going into commercial premises too, so that small businesses also save money."
A woman has appeared in court charged with making threats to kill the Pope during his state visit.
Pauline Lunney, 56, denied a charge of making threats to kill when she appeared at North Tyneside Magistrates' Court.
Officers who raided her home in Ridley Avenue, Wallsend, allegedly found an imitation gun and an overnight National Express bus ticket to London.
Lunney must return to court on November 17 to be committed to the Crown Court for trial.
She was released on conditional bail.
Home Secretary Theresa May has said it is time the Government stopped talking to Muslims only about counter-terrorism.
The Government should instead treat the Muslim community as a "mature and fundamental part of our society", break down barriers and tackle discrimination, she said.
It must also aim to achieve "a better balance between public safety and civil liberties, something the last government got badly wrong".
Speaking at a belated Foreign Office reception to mark the Muslim festival of Eid, Mrs May said: "I think it's important that we, as a new Government, start treating the Muslim community as a mature and fundamental part of our society, and stop talking to Muslims only about counter-terrorism.
"As citizens of the UK, you will have your own individual hopes, needs and concerns on many areas of Government policy, just like everybody else, and we will want to talk to you and engage with you on all aspects of policy."
She went on: "At its heart, this Government is about breaking down barriers, whether that be in tackling discrimination or empowering communities.
"The Muslim community has a proud tradition of engagement in politics at a local level and let us all hope that the recent advances at a national level are followed up with more and more young Muslims becoming involved in British politics in all parties and at all levels."
Mrs May praised the "swift and generous" response of the British public to the recent floods in Pakistan and said freedom, fairness and responsibility were all central to the coalition's agenda.
She said the review of the Government's counter-terrorism strategy aimed "to achieve a better balance between public safety and civil liberties, something the last government got badly wrong".
"Section 44 stop and search is just one example of where they got it wrong," she said.
Cheating newlywed Michael Roberts is beginning life behind bars after being convicted of murdering his loving wife.
The Phones4U store manager had been married for just five months when he killed his wife Vicky, 25, on Sunday 29 November last year.
He was jailed for a minimum of 17 years at Liverpool Crown Court. Hearing the verdict, Roberts, 26, sobbed and the court had to take a break before he could continue.
The pair had married in June but Roberts had already begun cheating on her with a colleague Kerrie Hall, 31.
He enjoyed "gymnastic sex" sessions with her before he was married and continued them at her North Wales home just a week after getting back from honeymoon - removing his wedding ring.
After becoming bored of her, Roberts dumped her and fell in love with another work colleague, Karen Wilson, 26.
His wife, an account manager at Runcorn-based Banner Chemicals, discovered the affair and pleaded with him to end it and fix their marriage.
At the same time, Roberts was falling rapidly in love with Ms Wilson, of Bangor, sending hundreds of texts a day and telling her he cried when he thought about the wedding they could have.
The judge, Mr Justice Royce, told him: "No words can adequately express the terrible effect that her early death has had upon her family and friends."
Roberts claimed he accidentally strangled his wife with a bathrobe cord during a kinky sex game but investigators proved the cord could not have caused a series of zig-zag marks on her neck.
A mother-of-three is believed to have become the first person in the country to use a judicial review to force the NHS to give her a gastric bypass so she can lose weight, her solicitor said.
Hazel Kent sought a judicial review, which often involves human rights issues and planning decisions, after she was refused the operation by her local primary care trust (PCT).
The 40-year-old was denied the life-saving treatment despite her weight ballooning to nearly 16 stone and reaching a size 20.
The divorcee had already paid for one operation in September 2001 and saw her weight plummet from 17-and-a-half stone to 10 stone, making her a size 12.
But two-and-a-half years later the gastric band came loose and had to be removed to prevent Mrs Kent, of Bracknell, Berkshire, contracting blood poisoning.
Despite being given appetite-suppressing drugs, Mrs Kent's weight rocketed after the gastric band was removed.
However, East Berkshire PCT has refused to pay for a second, more permanent, gastric bypass, which cost between £8,000 and £15,000 each time.
She launched her own fight for the PCT to reverse its decision but when this failed Mrs Kent employed McCool Patterson Hemsi solicitors to take her claim to the High Court.
Mrs Kent has now won her battle after the PCT decided not to contest the judicial review in the High Court and fund her treatment.
She hopes to have the surgery by Christmas and be back at home enjoying the holiday with her children James, 19, Oliver, 16, and 15-year-old Jacqueline.
Banking reforms need to move away from the "demonisation" of overpaid traders, the head of the City regulator has said.
Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), said rules instead need to address the fundamentals of what caused the financial crisis, although he stressed it is right to crackdown on "absurd" bonuses.
In his Mansion House speech, he said "ill-designed policy is a more powerful force for harm than individual greed and error".
However, he said recent Basel III banking rules to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis will be a major force for change, and defended the new requirements - unveiled earlier this month to boost capital reserves held by banks - against critics suggesting they do not go far enough.
Lord Turner said: "If we were philosopher kings designing a banking system entirely anew for a greenfield economy, should we have set still higher capital ratios than in the Basel III regime? Yes I believe we should.
"But starting from where we actually are, the Basel III reforms will significantly improve the resilience of our banking systems without harming economic recovery."
He added that the coalition Government's plans to scrap the current FSA model to create two bodies and hand bank supervision powers to the Bank of England will improve regulation. While not without its challenges, he said the move will create a "new structure which works well" and said he believes change is needed after regulators in the UK and worldwide failed to spot and prevent the causes of the banking meltdown.
Lord Turner stuck by his controversial comments made last year that risky financial products are "socially useless".
"There were some absurd bonuses for excessive risk taking: there was an explosion of exotic product development which last year I labelled as 'socially useless', a phrase from which I in no way draw back."
But he said "we need to move beyond the demonisation of overpaid traders" to ensure a similar banking crisis does not happen again.
The Commonwealth Games is threatening to descend into chaos after a stadium bridge collapsed and two of England's top athletes pulled out of the competition.
With just 12 days until the start of the Delhi Games, the head of England's team has demanded guarantees of safety for competitors after 27 workers were injured, five of them seriously, when a major walkway connecting a stadium to a car park in New Delhi collapsed.
Craig Hunter, who has also highlighted concerns about the athletes' village, is demanding reassurances from organisers and warned that "time is beginning to run out" before the Games begin.
There are fears some teams could pull out of the Indian Games due to substandard accommodation, with 60 of the 260 rooms set aside for English athletes not watertight, and a major cleaning programme needed throughout.
Mr Hunter said the team remains "committed to participating", but added: "It's hard to cancel an event of this magnitude but we are close to the wire, and teams may start to take things into their own hands."
Meanwhile Olympic 400 metres champion Christine Ohuruogu pulled out after suffering from cramp at a training session last weekend. Lisa Dobriskey, who won the 1,500m title at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, has also chosen to quit the Games after suffering from injuries throughout the season.
World triple jump champion Phillips Idowu looks set to become the third high-profile English athlete to pull out of the Games after writing on his Twitter account that he is too concerned about safety at the site to take part, but his agent said no firm decision has yet been taken.
Team leaders from Scotland, Wales, New Zealand, Australia and Canada have also expressed "grave concerns" over the accommodation planned for the 6,500 team members.
Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Mike Hooper admitted that organisers had failed to meet their promises to provide adequate accommodation, saying: "The word filthy is almost generous. They are not habitable. There is still a lot to be done in regard to the overall cleanliness of the village and from a health and hygiene perspective."
Organising Committee vice-president Randhir Singh said there was "no problem" and described the buildings as "perfect".
Sharon Shoesmith oversaw a "deeply flawed" disciplinary process which concluded that two social workers involved in Baby P's care should not be sacked, an employment tribunal has heard.
Gillie Christou and Maria Ward were fired by Haringey Council in north London for "gross misconduct" after a second investigation found they committed serious failings in protecting the vulnerable child.
They claim they were unfairly dismissed following public outcry about the toddler's death aged 17 months in Tottenham, north London, in August 2007.
The pair's mistakes were exposed only after Ms Shoesmith was herself dismissed as Haringey's director of children's services over the tragedy in December 2008, the tribunal was told.
Ms Ward, 40, was baby Peter Connelly's nominated social worker and Mrs Christou, 52, was her team manager.
Stuart Young, an assistant chief executive at Haringey Council, told the tribunal that graver failings they made in Peter's care were known to senior managers at this time.
"It was only when I looked at the cases following Ms Shoesmith's dismissal in December 2008 that I became aware of the deeply flawed nature of the disciplinary investigations and hearings that had taken place in or around May 2008," he said in a witness statement.
Mr Young led Haringey's second inquiry into Mrs Christou and Ms Ward's conduct in Peter's case, which resulted in their sacking in April last year.
Referring to the more serious errors that led to Ms Ward's dismissal, he said: "It's clear that the issues that formed the basis of my allegations were known to senior managers within the children's service in May 2008. Those issues should have been the subject of disciplinary action at that time."
The tribunal also heard Ms Shoesmith employed Haringey's "simplified" disciplinary procedure for the first investigation into Mrs Christou and Ms Ward, which was normally used in simple cases where employees admitted misconduct.
The Government's plans to squeeze welfare budgets will be "pretty brutal", TUC general secretary Brendan Barber has warned.
Mr Barber told a fringe event at the Liberal Democrat conference that he is "extremely fearful" of the cuts that will be unveiled in next month's Government spending plan.
Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander told the event in Liverpool that "fairness" is always a factor as he makes the decisions that will be announced in the comprehensive spending review.
Mr Barber said: "I'm extremely fearful of what the consequences of the cuts that are now being planned are going to be. I'm fearful in quite a number of areas. I'm fearful that we might be about to see pretty major and pretty brutal changes to our welfare system."
He criticised the language used by ministers including Chancellor George Osborne to describe those on benefits.
"When I hear George Osborne talking about lifestyle choices that need to be taken away from them and so on I think the tone of that I find very worrying, indeed very offensive.
"We have got two-and-a-half million people unemployed at the moment, one million young people desperately trying to find work. The problem that they have got, they haven't made a lifestyle choice that they don't want to work, the problem they've got is that there aren't enough jobs in the economy."
Mr Barber said forecasts indicate the cuts will mean 600,000 jobs lost in the public sector and 700,000 in the private sector.
By making public spending cuts 80% of the effort to reduce the deficit, with only 20% tackled by raising taxes, Mr Barber said the Government risks being "massively socially regressive".
Mr Alexander said: "There's a very strong Liberal Democrat case for reforming our welfare system. I think one of the most catastrophic failures of the last Labour government was its failure to reform welfare. What I can promise is that our belief in fairness is something that will be in my mind every day I'm making these decisions."
The BBC is to submit its finances to scrutiny by public spending watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO), it has emerged.
Under a deal struck by the BBC Trust, the NAO will be able to scrutinise executive pay and look at details of financial contracts between the public sector broadcaster and other companies, reported the Daily Telegraph.
Sources confirmed that the deal will be announced on Wednesday by Liberal Democrat culture spokesman Don Foster at the party's annual conference in Liverpool.
At present, the NAO is only able to carry out value-for-money studies if invited to do so by the trust, the corporation's governing body.
The BBC previously refused to reveal details of stars' pay unless the NAO signs a confidentiality agreement, which the auditors refused to do.
Opening up details of the BBC's dealings with other companies to audit could mean stars' pay being exposed, as many of them charge for their services through independent production companies.
It is not clear what level of detail the NAO will publish about the BBC's payments to talent.
The office's reports will trigger inquiries by the cross-party House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, which would be able to call senior BBC executives to give evidence.
The BBC Trust had no comment to make on the report.
Giving evidence to the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee earlier this month, BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons said the NAO was an "important ally" in the trust's value-for-money studies of the BBC's work, and indicated that it might be possible for the auditors to expand the scope of their work.
Labour has drawn level with the Conservatives in terms of the electorate's voting intentions, according to a poll.
The YouGov survey for The Sun put both parties on 39%, with the Liberal Democrats trailing on 13%. It is the first time the company has had Labour level-pegging with the Tories since the party's brief "bounce" in the wake of Gordon Brown becoming leader in 2007.
The findings come as Labour prepares to unveil its new leader on Saturday and will provide a major boost for the winner of the contest to succeed Mr Brown as the party goes into its annual conference in Manchester next week.
The survey suggests the Lib Dems have gained support from their own conference, jumping two points to 13% compared with a similar poll before the Liverpool gathering.
But Nick Clegg's party remains well below the 23% it recorded in May's general election, suggesting that voters remain uneasy about its coalition with David Cameron's Tories.
Some 40% of those questioned said they approved of the Government's performance so far, compared with 42% who disapproved.
People were more likely to see Mr Clegg as a Liberal (37%) than a Conservative stooge (30%), but 24% of people said coverage of the conference and his keynote speech made them see him as more Conservative, with only 7% saying he was more Liberal.
There was an even split over whether the Lib Dem leader had "sold out his party's principles" by entering coalition, with 38% saying he had and 40% saying he had not.
:: YouGov questioned 1,963 adults about their voting intentions for The Sun on September 20 and 21 and 658 about their view of Mr Clegg on September 21.
Antenatal clinics could be set up in schools to care for pregnant teenagers, the health watchdog has said.
Evidence shows that pregnant under-20s often feel excluded from mainstream antenatal care or judged by their peers, according to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice).
It wants midwives to be able to go into schools to offer advice to expectant young mothers and carry out health checks.
It is part of a wider package of care aimed at women from deprived backgrounds, including those suffering social deprivation, domestic abuse, drug or alcohol misuse and women who struggle with written and spoken English.
Experts behind the guidance, which applies to England and Wales, said services should be tailored to the needs of women in each region, such as providing "one-stop shop" antenatal care in areas with high teen pregnancy rates.
Information suitable for women of a young age should be provided and staff should create opportunities for the baby's father to be involved in antenatal care if the mother agrees.
The guidance said NHS trusts should commission "antenatal care and education in peer groups in a variety of settings, such as GP surgeries, children's centres and schools".
It added: "Young women aged under 20 may be reluctant to recognise their pregnancy or inhibited by embarrassment and fear of parental reaction. They may also have practical problems such as difficulty getting to and from antenatal appointments."
Rhona Hughes, chair of the guideline development group, said no British schools were currently providing antenatal classes but it was a "common pattern of care" in the US. She added that teenagers can "feel embarrassed going to clinics where there are older women", and can feel like an outsider.
Dr Gillian Leng, deputy chief executive of Nice, said the services should be focused in schools where there was a teen pregnancy problem.
Supporters of each of the five candidates for the Labour leadership are making a last-ditch effort to secure votes before polling closes.
MPs, MEPs and party members have until 5pm to cast their ballots, and votes are expected to be cast electronically via the Labour website right up until the last minute. Voting for members of trade unions and affiliated organisations closed on Tuesday.
Polls suggest that shadow energy secretary Ed Miliband had closed the gap on brother David as the race came to the wire. But bookmakers Ladbrokes still made shadow foreign secretary David 1-2 favourite on Tuesday night, ahead of his younger brother on 6-4.
Labour's complicated electoral college system and the redistribution of votes to second-preference candidates makes accurate prediction of the result all but impossible.
Around three million people are expected to have voted by the end of today, and their ballot papers will be counted by the independent Electoral Reform Society before the announcement of the successor to Gordon Brown on September 25.
The candidates - also including Ed Balls, Andy Burnham and Diane Abbott - will be informed of the result shortly before the winner is unveiled in Manchester at 4pm on Saturday.
The winner will be plunged straight into Labour's annual conference in Manchester, using his or her first leader's speech to try to rally the party's troops and restore unity after a three-and-a-half month contest which has seen rows over whether to stick to the New Labour agenda.
Meanwhile, Harriet Harman will return to the post of deputy leader, after four months as acting leader.
Voting also closes today in the race for Labour's nomination for the London mayoral elections in 2012, with former mayor Ken Livingstone and ex-MP Oona King believed to be frontrunners. The party's choice will be announced on Friday.
The announcement of the new leader will trigger a ballot for the shadow cabinet, with around 50 MPs expected to put themselves forward when nominations open on Sunday.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will urge rich countries to live up to their promises on aid as he announces that Britain is to increase its spending on tackling malaria.
In a speech to the United Nations in New York, Mr Clegg will reiterate the UK's commitment to raise aid spending to 0.7% of gross national income from 2013 - and call on other nations to show the same "resolve".
He will acknowledge that boosting overseas aid is controversial when almost all other Whitehall departments are facing cuts, but insist that the cause is now even more important than when the Millennium Development Goals were set in 2000.
"Some critics have questioned that decision, asking why, at a time when people at home are making sacrifices in their pay and their pensions, are we increasing aid for people in other countries?" he will say.
"But we make this choice because we recognise that the promises the UK has made hold in the bad times as well as the good - that they are even more important now than they were then.
"Because we understand that, while we are experiencing hardship on our own shores, it does not compare to the abject pain and destitution of others... And because we know that doing so is in our own enlightened self-interest."
Development in the third world will create new trading partners for the UK, help the fight against climate change, drugs and pandemic disease and tackle the poverty and poor education which fuel global terrorism, he will argue.
Mr Clegg's speech comes as he embarks on his first round of high-level international diplomacy, standing in for Prime Minister David Cameron at the UN - on arriving in New York on Tuesday night he had talks with UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and Iraqi president Jalal Talabani. He is scheduled to have lunch at the White House with Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday, when he travels to Washington.
He will be attending a string of meetings at the UN's summit on the Millennium Development Goals, covering infant mortality, private sector investment and malaria, and will have a private meeting with Microsoft billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates.
He will also outline plans to increase UK spending on malaria from £150 million to £500 million a year by 2014.
Business Secretary Vince Cable will launch an attack on rampant capitalism as the Liberal Democrat leadership attempts to soothe anxiety that the party is lurching to the right.
Announcing a wide-ranging probe into "murky" corporate activities, Mr Cable is to condemn markets as "often irrational or rigged". He will also insist that unrestrained capitalism "kills competition".
The tough comments may reassure Lib Dem activists who have been questioning the compromises leader Nick Clegg made in order to forge the coalition with David Cameron.
But before even being formally delivered by Mr Cable in his speech on the last day of the party's conference in Liverpool, they were drawing criticism from a business leader.
CBI Director-General Richard Lambert said it was "odd that he thinks it sensible to use such emotional language".
"The case for corporate takeovers is that they allow control of poorly run businesses to pass into more efficient hands.
"Mr Cable has harsh things to say about the capitalist system: it will be interesting to hear his ideas for an alternative," Mr Lambert said.
The Cabinet minister will use his address - which Mr Clegg will miss as he is in the US on government business - to announce a consultation starting next month to cover issues surrounding takeovers, executive pay and corporate short-termism.
"The principle of responsible ownership should apply across the business world," he will tell party members. "Let me be quite clear. The Government's agenda, is not one of laissez-faire. Markets are often irrational or rigged.
"So I am shining a harsh light into the murky world of corporate behaviour."
Government belt tightening will mean the pace of economic recovery in the UK will be slower next year than previously forecast, the CBI has warned.
The business group downgraded its gross domestic product (GDP) forecast for 2011 to 2.0%, from 2.5% in its last forecast in June.
It said the revision took into account a weaker outlook for consumer spending next year as households will have less disposable income due to ongoing high inflation, resulting from January's VAT rise, and modest wage increases.
The CBI's previous estimates were made before Chancellor George Osborne announced his deficit-busting cuts in the June emergency Budget.
But the group's latest forecast was not all doom and gloom, with growth forecasts for this year revised upwards to 1.6% in 2010, from 1.3% in June.
The slight upward revision reflects better than expected growth in the second quarter of this year as companies began rebuilding their stocks, the CBI said.
It also believes the UK is likely to avoid slipping into a double dip recession.
Richard Lambert, CBI director-general, said: "The degree of uncertainty around the outlook remains high, but our view is that the UK's tentative recovery will be sustained, albeit with weaker levels of growth.
"The fragile nature of the recovery is why, in the forthcoming spending review, the Government must focus its scarce resources on those areas which most galvanise growth, namely infrastructure and capital investment."
The CBI has forecast consumer spending growth of 0.9% in 2010, followed by 1% in 2011.
