Confusion surrounds Vince Cable's intentions in the key parliamentary vote on university tuition fees, after he adopted apparently contradictory stances in two interviews.
Mr Cable, who, as Business Secretary, is responsible for getting the fees legislation through Parliament, indicated last week that he might abstain in next Thursday's vote as part of a party deal to avoid a three-way split within the Liberal Democrats.
But in an interview with his local newspaper he appeared to have reconsidered his position, saying he now had "no doubt" that he should vote in favour of the controversial policy, which would lift the cap on annual tuition fees in England from £3,375 to £9,000.
"Obviously I have a duty as a minister to vote for my own policy - and that is what will happen," Mr Cable told the Richmond and Twickenham Times.
However, he rowed back from his comments, when asked about them on student radio.
Challenged over his newspaper interview, the Business Secretary said: "I didn't announce anything. I think there might have been some slight misunderstanding.
"What I did try to explain was that the Liberal Democrats as a parliamentary party will be deciding as a group how they will vote on Thursday and I would imagine that in the next few days there will be clarity on that issue.
"I have my own views as an individual and as the Cabinet minister responsible, but the decision on how we vote in Parliament - it is true in our party, it's true in the Conservatives and it's true in the Labour Party - is decided as a group, collectively, and that is how we will make it."
Senior Liberal Democrat sources insisted that no decision had been taken on how the party will vote next week, and said the matter may not be settled by the time of Tuesday's scheduled meeting of the 57 Lib Dem MPs in the Commons.
The Liberal Democrats have come under intense pressure from students over the fees policy after promising to abolish them in their manifesto for this year's election. MPs including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg signed a pre-election pledge to vote against any increase.
Confusion over Cable's fees stance
↧
↧
Britons 'slash Christmas spending'
Britons are planning to slash their Christmas spending by a fifth this year by making presents and cutting back on luxuries, a survey suggests.
Around 61% of people said they hope to cut the cost of the festive season by an average of £109, according to National Savings and Investments.
The most popular way to save money is by agreeing a spending limit for presents with friends and family, cited by 68% of people who are cutting back, while 65% said they had agreed to buy fewer gifts this year.
Just over half of people said they hope to save money towards the cost of Christmas by cutting down on unnecessary expenditure, such as buying lunch at work or taking taxis, while 34% plan to make presents, decorations and cards themselves and 22% hope to earn money from their hobbies to subsidise the cost of Christmas.
A further 13% of people said they are not planning to buy any presents, decorations or cards at all.
Tim Mack, savings spokesman at NS&I, said: "By planning and being more resourceful, our research shows that people could save around 20% of their Christmas spend.
"Shopping smarter or setting a spending limit can ensure you still have a merry Christmas without a financial hangover."
But not everyone is being careful this Christmas, with only a fifth (20%) of people saying they have set aside money to cover the cost of the festive season, down from 29% two years ago.
↧
Obama gives upbeat Afghan message
In a rousing holiday-season visit, President Barack Obama told cheering US troops in Afghanistan they are succeeding in their vital mission fighting terrorism.
But after he flew in secrecy for 14 hours to get there, foul weather kept him from nearby Kabul and a meeting to address frayed relations with Afghan President Hamid Karzai
Mr Obama's surprise visit to the war zone, his second as president, came 10 days before he is to address the nation about a new review of US strategy to defeat the Taliban and strengthen the Afghan government so American troops can begin leaving next year.
The trip also came at a particularly awkward moment in already strained US relations with Afghanistan because of new and embarrassing leaked cables alleging widespread fraud and underscoring deep American concerns about Mr Karzai.
There was no mention of that as the president spoke to more than 3,500 service members packed into a huge airplane hangar.
After his remarks, he spent more than 10 minutes shaking hands, going around the hangar three times as they grabbed his hand and held cameras and mobile phones high to take photos.
Mr Obama stayed on the US military base, the headquarters of the 101st Airborne Division, the entire time he was there, just under four hours.
He huddled with US General David Petraeus, the top Nato commander in Afghanistan and US Ambassador Karl Eikenberry.
And he visited wounded soldiers at a base hospital, personally dispensing five Purple Hearts to wounded service members.
"Because of the progress we're making, we look forward to a new phase next year, the beginning of the transition to Afghan responsibility," Mr Obama told the troops.
↧
Nearly 10% of police 'off sick'
Almost one in 10 police officers in England and Wales is on sick leave or performing limited duties, according to new figures.
Almost 9,500 are on restricted duties due to ill-health, The Times reports.
A further 2,000 are on long-term sick leave and have been off work for at least one month.
The figures emerged in data obtained by The Times after it submitted Freedom of Information requests on each of the 43 police forces in England and Wales.
A Home Office spokesman said the responsibility for decisions about whether an officer retires on ill-health grounds or placed on restricted duties was a matter for the Chief Constable of the force concerned.
The spokesman said: "Restricted duties allows officers who are unable to undertake the full range of police duties to remain a police officer with restricted responsibilities rather than to be retired on grounds of ill-health.
"Recuperative duties are a temporary arrangement while officers recover from sick leave."
There are 1,902 officers on long-term sick leave in England and Wales, according to the figures.
These officers receive their full salary for the first six months and then half pay for the next six months, the newspaper found.
The Police Federation said that many of the 6,086 officers with long-term health problems on "restricted duties" should be allowed to retire.
↧
Tories 'promised a pro-US regime'
Senior Conservatives told US diplomats they would run a "pro-American regime" and buy more American arms if they won this year's general election, according to leaked documents.
The US embassy cables, obtained by whistleblowing website WikiLeaks and published by The Guardian, show how William Hague and Liam Fox - now Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary - sought to display their pro-American credentials in meetings ahead of the election.
In one cable, a US embassy official commented wryly about the British obsession - which he describes at one point as "paranoid" - with maintaining the "special relationship".
Deputy chief of mission Richard LeBaron suggested that it would be possible to take advantage of British longing for Washington's approval. But he concluded that the "unparalleled" support offered by the UK for US global aims made it advisable to show the British public that the relationship remained strong.
Other revelations in the latest batch of papers released from a cache of 250,000 cables obtained by WikiLeaks include a claim that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to allow US missile strikes against al Qaida on his territory while letting it be known that they were the work of his administration.
And another document suggested that Libya's Colonel Muammar Gaddafi risked an environmental disaster by leaving a consignment of enriched uranium on a runway in the baking sunshine last year in an apparent fit of pique after being stopped from pitching his tent outside the UN in New York.
The documents were being published on a new WikiLeaks site hosted in Switzerland, after two US internet providers withdrew services amid massive pressure from the American government. There was speculation that the website's founder Julian Assange, who is understood to be in England, may be facing imminent arrest and extradition to Sweden for questioning on sex allegations.
Cables sent to Washington by the US embassy in London recorded meetings with senior Tories ahead of the election.
Mr Hague told Mr LeBaron in 2008 that he, David Cameron and George Osborne were "children of Thatcher" and staunch Atlanticists, said one paper. Mr Hague reportedly added: "We want a pro-American regime. We need it. The world needs it."
Meanwhile, in a 2009 meeting with ambassador Louis Susman, Dr Fox said that the special relationship would be "especially close in the defence sphere under Tory leadership", stating that interoperability of equipment would be vital to allow the US and UK to work closely together.
↧
↧
Debate over cloned offspring meat
Meat and milk from the offspring of cloned animals could be put on sale in British shops without labels to distinguish it from traditionally-produced foods, after ministers judged it would be "disproportionate" to impose restrictions, it has emerged.
The European Commission has proposed a temporary five-year ban on food and drink from clones, but papers released by the Food Standards Agency indicate that Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman believes this is unnecessary.
And an expert committee has advised the food watchdog that products from cloned cows and pigs and their descendants are no different from those from traditionally-bred animals, posing no additional risk to human health.
At present, the sale of meat and milk from clones and their offspring in the UK is subject to approval by the FSA, but the watchdog has so far received no applications. The FSA board will meet on Tuesday to decide whether the requirement should be dropped for products from the offspring of clones, allowing them to be sold like conventional food.
The board will also be asked whether they agree that "mandatory labelling of meat and milk obtained from the descendants of cloned animals would be unnecessary and disproportionate, providing no significant consumer benefit".
A document produced ahead of the meeting by director of food safety Alison Gleadle makes clear that ministers oppose the Commission's proposal for a five-year suspension of animal cloning for food production, the use of clones and the marketing of food from clones in the EU. "The Government recognises that cloning is a relatively new technique and that the welfare of clones and of their surrogate dams must be protected. However, existing EU legislation is considered sufficient to deal with welfare issues," wrote Ms Gleadle.
The FSA document said that scientific evidence was that milk and meat from the offspring of cloned cattle and pigs "represents no different risk to food safety to that which is from traditionally-bred animals". And it said that banning, or even monitoring, such products was unnecessary because there was no reason to believe they pose a risk to human health.
"It would be disproportionate to try to establish a monitoring process (whose purpose would be to ensure the safest possible food), where there is no discernible risk and with the knowledge that it would only be feasible for a very small proportion of the market," said Ms Gleadle's report.
The FSA board will consider an assessment conducted in November by the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes, which found that "the evidence showed no differences in composition between the meat and milk of conventional animals, clones or their progeny, which is therefore unlikely to present any food safety risk".
The committee found that any potential differences between conventional cattle and the offspring of a clone were "unlikely to exist from the second generation onwards". But it noted that "consumers may want to see effective labelling of products from clones and their offspring".
↧
'State of alarm' over Spain strikes
Spain has declared an unprecedented "state of alarm" to try to end an air traffic controllers' strike which has largely closed the country's airspace and stranded hundreds of thousands of travellers, threatening jail terms for controllers who refuse to go back to work.
Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said most Spanish airports were not up and running and apologised to irate travellers who spent Friday night sleeping at airports on what was supposed to be the start of a long holiday weekend.
Monday and Wednesday of next week are holidays in Spain, with many people planning to take Tuesday off as well. It is usually one of the busiest travel weekends of the year in Spain.
The air traffic controllers launched their wildcat strike in the culmination of a long-running dispute with the government over working conditions, work schedules and benefits.
The final straw seems to have been a decree approved by the Cabinet yesterday under which controllers who miss work shifts because of illness must make up those lost hours and can be subjected to medical check-ups immediately if they call in sick.
The government placed Spain's air traffic control centres and towers under military control.
TV footage on Spanish television showed seas of stranded travellers wandering around Spanish airports.
The flagship carrier Iberia cancelled all its flights in Spain until early Sunday morning. Irish airline Ryanair also cancelled all flights to and from Spain.
Spain's civil aviation agency later said some striking air traffic controllers were returning to work after the government threatened prison terms under military law.
An official said 11 of 15 controllers stationed at Barcelona's airport went back to work and an unspecified number were also back on duty at the air control centre which oversees Madrid's bustling Barajas airport.
↧
Campaigners protest tax avoidance
Activists protesting against tax avoidance by big businesses and individuals took over one of the UK's busiest stores and forced it to close its doors to customers.
Retailer Topshop's flagship branch in London's Oxford Street was one of a series of stores where campaigners gathered in high streets across the country.
Protests were also planned for towns and cities including Glasgow, Leeds, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester and Nottingham.
The West End protest started at 11am when protesters joined together inside Topshop and started blowing whistles and chanting as the store experienced one of its busiest shopping days of the year.
Many campaigners were forcibly removed from the premises by private security guards and police.
One campaigner, who wished to be known only as Lucy, said: "I am a peaceful protester. A woman was being thrown out of the store and I objected so I was picked up by two private security men.
"They lifted me by my ankles and my hair. It was quite scary really."
Security guards also removed journalists from the store.
One female reporter was carried out by her arms and legs.
The activists, from UK Uncut, said they targeted the shop because it was part of Sir Philip Green's Arcadia retail group.
↧
Ivory Coast crisis after election
Britain has urged all parties in the disputed elections in Ivory Coast to respect the results announced by independent observers, who gave victory to opposition leader Alassane Ouattara.
The west African state was thrown into crisis when its constitutional court overturned the results announced by the Independent Electoral Commission and declared incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo the winner.
The Commission's finding that Mr Ouattara won 54.1% of the vote and Mr Gbagbo 45.9% has been accepted as credible by the United Nations, African Union and White House.
US President Barack Obama has congratulated Ouattara and urged Gbagbo "to acknowledge and respect this result, and to allow Cote d'Ivoire to move forward toward a peaceful, democratic future".
In a statement released by the Foreign Office in London, Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "The UK is extremely concerned by the unfolding situation in Cote d'Ivoire.
"The UK calls on all parties to respect the results announced by the Independent Electoral Commission and certified by the UN SRSG (special representative of the Secretary General), and to respect the will of the Ivorian people.
"At the request of all parties involved in the elections, the UN have been internationally mandated to support the peace process and certify the elections in Cote d'Ivoire. The UK condemns threats made against UN staff, and urges all parties in Cote d'Ivoire to seize the chance to set the country on a course of peaceful and responsible government."
The presidential election was intended to restore stability to the country following a long-running civil war which began with a 2002 coup attempt against Mr Gbagbo, who has ruled Ivory Coast since 2000 without facing election.
↧
↧
MP denies his assistant is a spy
An MP denied his Russian assistant was a spy, amid reports that she is facing deportation from the UK after security services arrested her on suspicion of espionage.
The Sunday Times reported that Home Secretary Theresa May had approved the removal of Katia Zatuliveter after being briefed by MI5 about her alleged activities.
Ms Zatuliveter had been working for Liberal Democrat MP Mike Hancock, who confirmed that she had been taken into detention and was fighting deportation.
The 25-year-old, who held a House of Commons pass and underwent security vetting before taking up her position, was reported to have been arrested by police and Border Agency officials last week and is understood to be being held at a secure facility awaiting deportation to Russia.
The Sunday Times reported that she was suspected of working for Russia's foreign intelligence service, the SVR.
If confirmed, this would be the first case since the Cold War of a Russian agent being removed from the Houses of Parliament.
But Mr Hancock told the Press Association: "She is not a Russian spy. I know nothing about espionage, but she has been subjected to a deportation order. She is appealing it, because she feels - quite rightly - that she has done nothing wrong."
The Portsmouth South MP said that the security services had never raised concerns with him about the possibility that Ms Zatuliveter might be working for Russia.
"No-one has ever said to me under any circumstances whatsoever that she has been involved in anything like that," he said. "It is now in the hands of her lawyers. I am sure that in the end she will be proved to be right."
Asked about the report, a Home Office spokesman said only: "We do not routinely comment on individual cases."
It was not immediately possible to contact Ms Zatuliveter or her lawyers.
↧
Ex-tycoon Nadir freed after arrest
Former Polly Peck tycoon Asil Nadir has been released from custody and vowed to issue a writ for wrongful arrest.
The 69-year-old, who is on bail and faces a multimillion-pound theft trial next year, was arrested at his home for allegedly breaching a midnight to 6am curfew that was part of his bail terms.
But he emerged from Charing Cross police station in London without being charged and with a police apology.
Speaking on the police station steps, Nadir said: "Unfortunately, I have been a victim of an unlawful arrest, claiming that I had broken my bail conditions. That was not the case.
"I have been released with an apology but I am hoping that this sort of unlawful behaviour, as I have claimed for many years, does not take place in this country. It's such a great shame for this country."
Nadir, supported by his 26-year-old wife Nur and barrister William Clegg QC, went on: "But anyway, I have been released with an apology.
"I was visited in the house by police officers and told I had broken my bail conditions. As you know, I have a twelve to six condition to be in my house.
"I was in my house with several witnesses, CCTV cameras in my house, and I have never broken this bail.
"But they said that I had broken it, which was not the case, but now we have been told the tagging machine and everything showed that I was in the house as I had said.
"We are taking, on Monday morning first thing, we are issuing a writ, taking proceedings against the people that have created this most unfortunate situation."
↧
Spanish airspace open after strike
Spain has placed striking air traffic controllers under military authority and threatened them with jail terms in an unprecedented emergency order to get planes back in the skies and clear chaotic airports clogged with irate travellers.
Hours after the order was issued at an emergency Cabinet meeting, officials said strikers were returning to work but that it could take up to two days before flights return to normal.
Spain got the all-clear from Eurocontrol, Europe's air traffic control agency, to reopen airspace which closed on Friday when the wildcat strike began, ruining the start of a long holiday weekend for hundreds of thousands of people.
Many travellers stood shoulder-to-shoulder at airport terminals or slept anywhere they could, including hunching over abandoned customer service desks or against luggage trolleys.
The chaos served up yet another headache for a beleaguered Socialist government writhing at the centre of Europe's debt crisis and struggling to overcome recession as it trails badly in the polls with elections due in 2012.
A few flights have resumed at more than half a dozen airports including Madrid, Bilbao and Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, the civil aviation authority Aena said.
But development minister Jose Blanco said it will be a while before planes can start taking off and landing at normal levels in one of Europe's top tourist destinations and a sea of stranded passengers can make new travel arrangements. "We think that in 24 to 48 hours we can be back to normal if the air traffic controllers comply with the order and all of them work in line with their obligations," Mr Blanco told Spanish television.
Eurocontrol and the controllers' union USCA also said things were gradually getting back to normal after the government's threat of jail for defiant strikers.
In announcing the approval of a "state of alarm" after the emergency Cabinet meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba accused air traffic controllers of "blackmailing all of our citizens". He apologised to angry passengers who spent Friday night sleeping at airports.
The air traffic controllers launched their stoppage in the culmination of a long-running dispute with the government over working conditions, work schedules and benefits.
↧
WikiLeaks donations account cut off
Pressure is mounting on WikiLeaks after the online payment agency PayPal cut off the account it uses to gather donations from supporters.
The move, which will hit the whistleblowing website's ability to fund itself, comes after two American internet providers withdrew services from WikiLeaks in the wake of its publication of confidential US Government papers.
Meanwhile, the site's founder Julian Assange remains under threat of extradition from the UK for questioning over sex allegations in Sweden.
WikiLeaks has most recently published cables from the US Embassy in London which showed American officials mocking Britain for its "paranoia" over the state of the special relationship.
Deputy head of mission Richard LeBaron wrote that the anxiety had become particularly frenzied following Barack Obama's election as President, with media reports that his removal of a bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office was seen as a sign of waning US commitment to Britain.
"This over-reading would often be humorous, if it were not so corrosive," wrote Mr LeBaron. It would be "tempting" to keep the British Government guessing about its standing in Washington, in order to "make London more willing to respond favourably when pressed for assistance", suggested the diplomat.
The cables also revealed that prior to the General Election Foreign Secretary William Hague told Mr LeBaron that the Tories would be a "pro-American regime", while Defence Secretary Liam Fox told ambassador Louis Susman that the special relationship would be "especially close in the defense sphere under Tory leadership".
PayPal said in a blog posting that its withdrawal of services to WikiLeaks was prompted by a violation of its policy, "which states that our payment service cannot be used for any activities that encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity".
WikiLeaks was moved to a Swiss host after the withdrawal of service by two US providers, and moves by Paris to ensure that it was not hosted in France.
There is speculation that Mr Assange, who is understood to be in England, may be facing imminent arrest under an international warrant obtained by Swedish prosecutors. The 39-year-old Australian former computer hacker is wanted for questioning on allegations - which he strongly denies - of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion.
↧
↧
Solomon crowned Queen of the Jungle
Former X Factor star Stacey Solomon has been crowned Queen of the Jungle winning ITV1's I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here.
The 21-year-old Dagenham girl defeated Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder - the pair were the last two left standing.
Solomon, who finished third in the X Factor last year, won the viewers' phone-in poll after bravely dealing with a 'Bush spa' accompanied by crickets, cockroaches, rhino beetles, spiders and stick insects.
Being presented with the crown by ITV2 presenter Caroline Flack and 2008 King of the Jungle Joe Swash, the single mother apologised for her bad breath, and said: "Thank you so much - I don't know what to say."
The young singer was always the bookies' favourite to triumph in the reality television show.
Interviewed before Saturday evening's winner was revealed she told presenters Ant and Dec: "I have had the time of my life".
She said that she got along with all the contestants who included comedian Dom Joly, actor Nigel Havers, TV nutritionist Gillian McKeith and Olympic athlete Linford Christie.
↧
Climate campaigners march in London
Green campaigners have marched on Parliament demanding greenhouse gas emissions are slashed to help prevent "climate catastrophe".
With UN delegates meeting in Cancun, Mexico, to hammer out a deal to cut global warming, thousands of campaigners marched through London.
Hundreds of people in Hyde Park formed themselves into a "2030" with a giant zero - spelling out the date by which campaigners want a 'Zero Carbon Britain'.
After creating the human 2030, campaigners cycled and marched through central London to urge the coalition Government to take strong action to decarbonise the economy and create a million green jobs in the process.
The climate rally was addressed by Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, Labour's John McDonnell and Michael Meacher and leaders of green organisations and unions.
Larissa Stuart, spokesman for Campaign Against Climate Change (CACC), said: "There was a great atmosphere and the politicians made really rousing speeches.
"We had lots of support from people and gave out lots of leaflets and really raised awareness."
Ahead of the march, Phil Thornhill, also from CACC, said: "Gridlock in the international negotiations does not stop the slide towards climate catastrophe gathering deadly pace - as we have begun to witness this year in flood-stricken Pakistan, drought-hit Russia and other places.
"It makes it all the more crucial that we transform the politics behind that impasse and we can start at home."
Friends of the Earth's executive director Andy Atkins, who also spoke at the rally, said the "alarm bells are ringing loudly" and urgent action was needed to stop climate change.
↧
Tax protesters force shops to close
High street stores around Britain were forced to close their doors to customers on one of the busiest shopping days of the year after activists protesting against tax avoidance by big businesses swarmed inside and caused havoc.
Retailer Topshop's flagship branch in London's Oxford Street was one of a series of shops that fell victim to the co-ordinated protest.
A Sussex Police spokesman said 18 people were arrested during a demonstration in Brighton.
He said that eight demonstrators gained entry to Topshop in Western Road and glued their hands to the inside of the shop windows. A shop worker was assaulted during the demonstration, he said.
The West End protest started at 11am when campaigners from UK Uncut joined together inside Topshop and started blowing whistles and chanting as the store was packed with Christmas shoppers. Many campaigners were forcibly removed from the premises by private security guards and police.
One campaigner, who wished to be known only as Lucy, said: "I am a peaceful protester. A woman was being thrown out of the store and I objected so I was picked up by two private security men. They lifted me by my ankles and my hair. It was quite scary really."
Security guards also removed journalists from the store. One female reporter was carried out by her arms and legs.
A UK Uncut spokesman said they targeted the shop because it was part of Sir Philip Green's Arcadia retail group. Campaigner Stephen Trevelian, 26, from Brighton, said: "Philip Green is a multi-billionaire tax avoider, and yet is regarded by David Cameron as an appropriate man to advise the Government on austerity."
Smaller-scale protests were held in 19 towns and cities - including Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leicester, York, Bristol, Portsmouth, Southampton and Cambridge.
Arcadia group declined to comment on the protests.
↧
Some MPs 'better off' under rules
A loophole in new parliamentary expenses rules has left some MPs thousands of pounds better off than they were before the crackdown which followed last year's scandals, it was has been claimed.
Under the new rules, being phased in over two years after the general election, MPs will be barred from claiming back mortgage interest payments on their second homes but will instead be able to receive expenses to pay for rented accommodation.
The Mail on Sunday reported that some MPs have increased their income by letting out their formerly taxpayer-subsidised second home, while moving into a rented flat on which they can claim expenses. Any MP taking this course of action will also avoid a clawback mechanism which would require them to pay back up large sums if their second homes gain in value during the transition period ending in 2012.
There is no suggestion that the practice breaches the rules introduced by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa). But sleaze-busting former Independent MP Martin Bell told the paper: "The public will demand that the rules be changed so they are subject to the same constraints as the rest of us. I don't think people are going to take very kindly to this."
Mail on Sunday analysis of MPs' entries in the House of Commons Register of Members' Interests found that 102 are supplementing their £65,000 parliamentary salary by renting out properties.
Meanwhile, the details of expenses released by Ipsa last week showed that there were many claims for rented accommodation among payments totalling £31 million to MPs over the first six months of the new scheme's operation. Some MPs were claiming more for rent after the election than they received to cover home loans under the old system, said the paper.
Motherwell MP Frank Roy claimed £885 in monthly mortgage interest ahead of the election, and is now claiming £1,430 a month in rent for a London flat. Following the election, his Commons register was updated to add a "residential flat in London from which rental income is received".
Bolton North East MP David Crausby had been claiming £1,331 a month on his second home mortgage, and is now receiving £1,450 for accommodation rent. His register entry, which before the election read "nil", now includes "income received from a residential property in London owned jointly with my wife".
And Sheffield South East MP Clive Betts is claiming £1,450 monthly rent for a London flat, compared to the £992 a month he received to cover mortgage payments ahead of the election. His register entry has also been updated to include "one residential property in London, for which rental income is received".
None of the three MPs commented to the Mail on Sunday and it was not immediately possible to reach them for a response on Saturday night. There was no suggestion that any of them had breached Ipsa or House of Commons rules by their actions, and it was unclear how many other MPs had submitted similar claims.
↧
↧
Death toll from big freeze rises
The death toll from Britain's big freeze is continuing to rise, taking the number of lives lost to seven.
Two men were killed in a motorway crash on the M62 in Humberside and two teenage girls died when their Peugeot 206 collided with a Royal Mail box van in Cumbria.
The men, aged 30 and 56 and both from Nottinghamshire, were travelling in freezing conditions on the eastbound carriageway between junctions 35 and 36 at 11.50am yesterday when the crash happened. Their silver pick-up truck was in collision with a white lorry.
The lorry driver, a 36-year-old Manchester man, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, Humberside Police said.
It also emerged that the two girls' deaths occurred in treacherous road conditions, which police said could have contributed to the tragedy. Grace Simpson and Jessica Lakin, both 19, were killed on the A595 in Carlisle.
A Cumbria Police spokesman said: "The treacherous road conditions appear to have been a factor in this collision."
Earlier in the week two Cumbrian pensioners in Kirkby Stephen and Workington died after falling in their gardens where they spent hours lying in sub-zero temperatures until they were found. And a good Samaritan who stopped his car to help a stranded motorist in the Yorkshire Dales was killed when he was struck by another vehicle.
A 14-year-old girl was airlifted to hospital on Friday night after she was hit by falling ice from the roof of her house. Samantha Kinghorn, from Gordon, Berwickshire, was taken to Glasgow Southern General's spinal unit where she was described as being in a "serious but stable" condition.
Saturday's marginally warmer weather has provided something of a reprieve with an unexpected thaw across the south of England - though forecasters said next week will remain very cold.
Billy Payne, of Meteogroup, the Press Association's weather arm, said: "Today is probably going to be the warmest. Into next week temperatures drop away again and lots of areas could be struggling to reach zero degrees and there will be sharp frosts. It is still very cold into next week but from Wednesday onwards there could be a slight recovery."
↧
Hint that liquids ban will be eased
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has hinted that the ban on carrying liquids in hand luggage is to be eased, it has been reported.
Mr Hammond told The Sunday Times that the restrictions affecting air passengers could be phased out with the first moves coming as early as next April.
The ban has proved unpopular with passengers and airline operators since it was introduced in 2006 following a failed plot to blow up transatlantic airplanes.
Mr Hammond told the paper that he sympathised with parents with young children who had to taste jars of baby food and drink to prove they were safe.
He said: "I have seen mothers tasting it, and doesn't it taste foul?"
He added: "The good news is that by 2013 the ban on mush will have ended."
Mr Hammond told the paper that he planned to make the system more flexible.
Earlier this year EU signalled that the laws would continue until 2013 when mass-screening technology to detect explosives in fluids is perfected.
The ban on liquids came into force in Europe after British police uncovered an al Qaida plot to blow up transatlantic airliners bound for North America using bombs made from liquid explosives.
The security rules have led to scenes of frustration at airport security desks when passengers have been forced to throw away drinks containers, bottles of perfume and tubes of sun cream before boarding planes.
↧
Residents to get more influence
New planning rules will give neighbourhoods more influence over the kind of developments they want in their areas, it was revealed today.
The change would hand some of the planning responsibilities currently exercised by councils over to new officially-recognised neighbourhood groups in a bid to cut back on red tape.
And it could result in homeowners being given the freedom to build extensions, add a storey or a conservatory to their homes or install driveways without planning permission.
Residents would also gain the power to approve or reject proposals for new housing developments, schools and other public buildings in their areas - with incentives for communities which agree to new homes being built.
The proposals are included in a Localism Bill due to be published by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles within the next few days. The Bill is expected to allow groups of householders to apply to be recognised as "neighbourhoods", covering a group of streets or larger areas. There would be a presumption that local authorities will approve the status.
Officially established neighbourhoods could then prepare "neighbourhood plans" which would be put to referendums. If approved, the plans would have to be accepted by the council.
The groups would also be allowed to draw up categories of development which could be carried out without planning permission - such as extensions or loft conversions.
Communities minister Greg Clark, told the Sunday Telegraph: "This Government has ambitious proposals to make the system fit to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Above all, we want to change the philosophy behind local planning.
"We want to move away from a system with significant elements of imposition from above, to one with participation and involvement at its heart - not just warm words, or a commitment in principle, but real opportunities for people to have a say."
The paper also reported that the Bill will pave the way for elected mayors in 12 cities: Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Coventry, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Nottingham, Sheffield and Wakefield.
↧
More Pages to Explore .....