Supermarkets agree to prices code

30 November 2012 Last updated at 02:31 ET

Eight supermarkets have agreed to ensure that special offers and price promotions are fair.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has been investigating the way prices are displayed, advertised and promoted in stores.

It raised concerns about prices being artificially inflated to make later discounts look more attractive.

The major UK supermarkets have now agreed to adopt a set of principles drawn up by the OFT.

They are Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Waitrose, Marks and Spencer, Aldi, the Co-op and Lidl.

Asda, which has not yet signed up, said it was considering the revised code.

Clive Maxwell, OFT chief executive, told the BBC: "It is particularly welcome that we've reached this agreement at this stage with household budgets under pressure".

'Squeezed finances'

The OFT says that "half price" or "was £3, now £2" offers must be sold at the new discounted price for the same, or less, time than the previously higher price.

This would prevent short-term, artificially inflated prices masking the offer.

Items that suggest they are "better value" because they are in a "bigger pack" must have a comparable product elsewhere in the same store,

"Shoppers should be able to trust that special offers and promotions really are bargains," said Mr Maxwell.

"Prices and promotions need to be fair and meaningful so shoppers can make the right decisions. Nowhere is this more important than during regular shopping for groceries.

"[This] provides supermarkets with a clear benchmark for how they should be operating so that their food and drink promotions reflect the spirit as well as the letter of the law."

'Inconsistency'

Misleading advertising is illegal under the 2008 unfair trading regulations, and the OFT is not making any recommendation that the law should be changed.

The regulator said it did not discover any illegality during its investigation, but did find some "inconsistency" in the way the law was interpreted and applied.

Studies suggest that groceries account for about 44% of household spending.

Meanwhile, nearly 40% of fast-moving consumer goods could be on some sort of promotion or discount.

Many of the supermarkets said they were happy to work with the OFT.

"We will continue to ensure that our pricing and promotions are as clear as possible for our customers," said a spokesman for Sainsbury's.

The Co-op said: "We understand how important it is for shoppers to be able to easily understand what the promotional offer is, so they can spot the best deal, and we are committed to providing clear and accurate labelling for our customers so they can make informed purchasing decisions."

Aldi said it supported any initiative that encouraged "transparent pricing and a fair deal for consumers", although the agreement would have no effect on its own prices.

A Marks and Spencer spokesman said: "It is right that we sign up to these new guidelines."

An investigation by consumer group Which? in May suggested that some customers had been misled by supermarkets over discounts and multi-buy offers.

It analysed more than 700,000 prices and suggested that in some cases "discounts" ran for much longer than the original price. Following that investigation, some supermarkets admitted isolated errors amid a huge volume of pricing.

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Tributes to mark St Andrew's Day

30 November 2012 Last updated at 01:44 ET

Special messages highlighting Scotland's culture and successes have been given by the first minister and prime minister to mark St Andrew's Day.

First Minister Alex Salmond said Scotland's greatest invention was universal education, during a visit to Lochgelly Primary School in Fife.

Prime Minister David Cameron said Scotland's people were its best asset.

The Saltire was due to fly alongside the Union flag above 10 Downing Street from sunrise.

Mr Cameron described Scotland as "a small country with a big heart and a big voice".

"For centuries, Scotland's greatest asset and greatest export has been its people," he said.

"Scots have helped bring peace and security to nations, made some of the world's greatest inventions and been at the forefront of international trade in every continent.

"Scots and Scotland have done so much to shape our modern world. So, this is a day for everyone to celebrate our shared history and look forward to our future prosperity together."

'Next generation'

Mr Salmond's message was recorded at Lochgelly Primary, following an invitation from a primary six pupil.

He said: "St Andrew's Day is a very special day in Scotland. A day when we celebrate Scotland's history, our people, our culture, but above all a celebration of our people.

"Scotland is proud of its history of invention and discovery. We actually invented quite a bit of the modern world, from the telephone, to television, to penicillin, to beta blockers.

"However, perhaps - actually certainly - our greatest invention of all, the one that made all of the others possible, was the invention of universal free education."

He continued: "It's fantastic to see schools like this encouraging the next generation of Scots to be inventive and creative.

"These are all deep-seated characteristics of our nation and they will be as essential to our future success as they have been to our historic achievements."

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Labour in triple by-election win

30 November 2012 Last updated at 02:15 ET

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Sarah Champion thanked the people of Rotherham for electing their first ever female MP

Labour has won three by-elections, holding Croydon North, Middlesbrough and Rotherham parliamentary seats.

The UK Independence Party came second in Middlesbrough and Rotherham, and finished third behind the Conservatives in Croydon North.

Labour significantly increased its share of the vote in Croydon North and Middlesbrough to over 60%.

But its majority was down in Rotherham, where the previous incumbent had quit over wrongful expenses claims.

Labour candidate Sarah Champion won in Rotherham with 9,866 votes to UKIP candidate Jane Collins' 4,648. The BNP and the Respect Party pushed the Conservatives into fifth place, while the Lib Dems lost their deposit, trailing in eighth.

In Middlesbrough, Labour's Andy McDonald, a solicitor for a trade union law firm and former Middlesbrough councillor, won with 10,201 votes to UKIP candidate Richard Elvin's 1,990.

In Croydon North, Labour's Steve Reed - currently the leader of Lambeth Council - won 15,898 votes, beating the Conservatives' Andy Stranack by 11,761. Again polling under 5%, the Liberal Democrats lost their second deposit of the night.

The Croydon North and Middlesbrough polls were triggered by the deaths of MPs Malcolm Wicks and Sir Stuart Bell.

Ms Champion, chief executive of a children's hospice, said: "Cameron's Tories have shown what they think of Rotherham, and today this result tells David Cameron what Rotherham thinks of the Tories."

The Middlesbrough Lib Dem candidate, George Selmer, came third with 1,672 votes, or nearly 10% of the vote. Ben Houchen of the Conservative Party was in fourth place on 1,063, just three votes ahead of the Peace Party's Imdad Hussain.

Labour was odds-on at the bookmakers to retain all three seats.

Attending the Rotherham count, UKIP leader Nigel Farage said it had been a "big night" for his party.

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Nigel Farage: "UKIP's issues are connecting more and more with people"

"Our previous best-ever by-election result, a fortnight ago, was 14.3% and this one is comfortably over 20%. Whichever way you look at it, UKIP is on the rise," he said.

UKIP's campaign in Rotherham was boosted by a row over a local couple who had their foster children removed by the Labour council because they were UKIP members.

But worries about unemployment had proven to be more important to voters than the headlines about fostering, BBC political reporter James Vincent commented.

Having not been a Labour Party member for long, Ms Champion convinced enough voters to give her a chance during a very short campaign that started with questions over whether she was the right candidate, our correspondent added.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

Chris Mason Political correspondent

---

In headline terms, nothing changed in these by elections. Seats that have long been comfortably held by Labour still are.

Sarah Champion was elected to replace Denis MacShane in Rotherham, who resigned earlier this month because of his expenses. Andy McDonald and Steve Reed were elected in Middlesbrough and Croydon North respectively, after the deaths of their predecessors Sir Stuart Bell and Malcolm Wicks.

But the pecking order amongst the also-rans will worry some Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. The UK Independence Party finished second in Rotherham and Middlesbrough and third in Croydon North.

Its leader Nigel Farage described it as the party's "most impressive result in Westminster elections so far". The Liberal Democrat candidates in Rotherham and Croydon both lost their deposits.

Mr Stranack, the best performing Conservative candidate of the night, said he was disappointed to come second in Croydon North, but ousting Labour had proven to be a "big challenge".

The Conservative, who was born with cerebral palsy, added: "I would like to challenge all of the main party leaders to look at the inspiration our Paralympians bought us over the summer and take the bold decision to select more candidates with disabilities."

Respect had hoped to pull off a repeat of George Galloway's surprise victory in Bradford West in April, when he overturned a 5,000 Labour majority to romp home by 10,000, after winning over the British Asian Muslim vote.

But Lee Jasper, the party's candidate in Croydon North and a former adviser to Ken Livingstone, won just 707 votes, placing sixth, and Yvonne Ridley, the Respect candidate in Rotherham, came fourth with 1,778 votes.

Turnout at all three contests was in the spotlight after fewer than 15% of voters cast a ballot in the first Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England and Wales - a peacetime low.

The Electoral Commission has launched an investigation into the woeful PCC turnout, which some were blaming on the dark November nights and poor weather.

Continue reading the main story

Turnout

• Croydon North - 26.4%
• Middlesbrough - 25.9%
• Rotherham - 33.6%

Turnout in the Corby by-election, on the same day as the PCC ballot, was about 45%.

In the post-war period, the lowest Commons election turnout was 19.6% when Labour's Hilary Benn won Leeds Central in a June 1999 by-election.

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Rise to challenge, press urged

30 November 2012 Last updated at 03:27 ET

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David Cameron: "I'm not convinced... that statute is necessary"

The press has been urged to take action over Leveson Inquiry recommendations to regulate the newspaper industry.

Lord Justice Leveson called for a new independent watchdog - which he said should be underpinned by legislation.

Culture Secretary Maria Miller told the BBC "the gauntlet has been thrown down" to newspapers to outline how they would set up tough self-regulation instead.

Meanwhile, work is beginning on a draft bill to regulate the press, expected to be ready within a fortnight,

Lord Justice Leveson's 2,000-page report into press ethics, published on Thursday, found that press behaviour was "outrageous" and "wreaked havoc with the lives of innocent people".

He said the press - having failed to regulate itself in the past - must create a new and tough regulator but it had to be backed by legislation to ensure it was effective.

The report exposed divisions in the Coalition government, with Prime Minister David Cameron opposing statutory control, unlike his deputy Nick Clegg, who wants a new law introduced without delay.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Cameron said he broadly welcomed Lord Justice Leveson's principles to change the current system but that he had "serious concerns and misgivings" over bringing in laws to underpin any new body.

Continue reading the main story

Would:

• Create a process to "validate" the independence and effectiveness of the new self-regulation body
• Validate a new process of independent arbitration for complainants - which would benefit both the public and publishers by providing speedy resolutions
• Place a duty on government to protect the freedom of press

Would not:

• Establish a body to regulate the press directly
• Give any Parliament or government rights to interfere with what newspapers publish

Labour leader Ed Miliband has joined Mr Clegg in supporting a new press law.

Following cross-party talks on Thursday night - which will resume next week - the Department of Culture, Media and Sport will begin the process of drawing up a draft bill implementing the Leveson recommendations.

The prime minister believes this process will only serve to highlight how difficult it is to try to legislate in a complex and controversial area while Labour and the Lib Dems think it will demonstrate the opposite.

Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman told BBC Two's Newsnight: "I think that the House of Commons will want to take that forward, will want to make sure that - by the end of January - it has an opportunity to have a full debate and vote to show its support for taking Leveson's recommendations forward."

BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said that, at the core of this disagreement, were two separate political calculations.

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Charlotte Church, speaking on Question Time: 'I agree with the Leveson report'

David Cameron thought the press would swiftly agree to tougher self regulation which would make any new law unnecessary, allowing him to go into the next election as a champion of a free press.

Labour and the Lib Dems, meanwhile, do not trust papers to clean up their own act and assume the victims of press intrusion will say they are being sold short.

Writing in the Guardian, Steve Coogan, who told the Leveson Inquiry that journalists had been going through his rubbish bins, said Mr Cameron was "playing a despicable political game - disingenuous at best, bare-faced lying at worst".

"By rejecting Leveson's call for statutory regulation, Cameron has hung the victims of crime out to dry."

He added: "Quite simply, if future regulation is not backed by statute, Leveson's report is nothing more than a large slap on the wrist."

Continue reading the main story

Mr Coogan is a supporter of the Hacked Off campaign, which represents victims of phone hacking and press intrusion including the parents of missing Madeleine McCann, and Christopher Jefferies - who was falsely accused of murdering Jo Yeates.

Another celebrity phone hacking victim, Charlotte Church, told BBC One's Question Time "all that the statutory underpinning should be able to do is make sure that there is a body, that those rules are enforced, and I don't see any way in which that can affect the free press."

BBC political editor Nick Robinson said Mr Cameron had the confidence of knowing that, in the long Parliamentary battle ahead, he had some rather important supporters on his side - the press.

Many of Friday's newspapers have praised Mr Cameron's opposition to law-backed regulation.

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Birth tests 'can predict obesity'

28 November 2012 Last updated at 18:16 ET By Melissa Hogenboom BBC News

Researchers say a baby's chance of being obese in childhood can be predicted at birth using a simple formula.

The formula combines several known factors to estimate the risk of obesity.

The authors of the study, published in PLos One, hope it will be used to identify babies at risk.

Childhood obesity can lead to many health problems, including Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Researchers from Imperial College London looked at 4,032 Finnish children born in 1986 and at data from two further studies of 1,053 Italian children and 1,032 US children.

They found that looking at a few simple measurements, such as a child's birthweight and whether the mother smoked, was enough to predict obesity.

Previously it had been thought that genetic factors would give bigger clues to later weight problems, but only about one in 10 cases of obesity is the result of a rare gene mutation that affects appetite.

Obesity in children is rising, with the NHS estimating that 17% of girls and 15% of boys in England are now obese.

Continue reading the main story

Predictors used in the calculation include:

• The child's birthweight
• The parents' body mass index
• Number of people in the household
• The mother's professional status
• Whether or not the mother smoked during pregnancy

The risk factors for obesity are already well known, but this is the first time these factors have been put together in a formula.

Prof Philippe Froguel from Imperial College London, who led the study, said that prevention was the best strategy. Once obese, a child can find it difficult to lose weight.

"The equation is based on data everyone can obtain from a newborn, and we found it can predict around 80% of obese children.

"Unfortunately, public prevention campaigns have been rather ineffective at preventing obesity in school-age children. Teaching parents about the dangers of overfeeding and bad nutritional habits at a young age would be much more effective.

"The message is simple. All at-risk children should be identified, monitored and given good advice, but this costs money."

Prof Paul Gately, a specialist in childhood obesity at Leeds Metropolitan University, said a tool like this would help the NHS target specific people at risk rather than the "scattergun one-size-fits-all approach, which we know does not work".

"Rather than spending money on a huge number of people, we can be more specific and spend appropriately. We may not save money in the short-term but it will be spent more wisely and could reduce [obesity-related] NHS bills in the future.

"We've done a great job of outlining that obesity is a serious issue but we have made the general public paranoid that everyone is at risk.

"Tools like this will help change that attitude. Once we use the tool, we need intervention programmes for children at a greater risk."

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UKBA 'failed to check' tip-offs

28 November 2012 Last updated at 21:46 ET

Thousands of overseas students may have been allowed to stay in Britain illegally because UK Border Agency (UKBA) staff failed to check out tip-offs about them, a report has revealed.

When non-EU students do not enrol, stop attending courses or breach visa rules, colleges report them to the UKBA.

Chief inspector of immigration John Vine said a backlog of 153,000 such reports had built up at one point.

Ministers say they have "toughened the rules" on student visas.

Mr Vine, whose team examined work at three UKBA offices in Sheffield, Delhi and Beijing, said the agency had "no targets in place for responding to notifications made using the sponsor management system".

"As a result, notifications of changes to circumstances of students, details of students failing to enrol or attend classes, or curtailment of sponsorship were not being acted upon," he said.

"Over 150,000 notifications had accumulated and were awaiting action, meaning that potentially thousands of students had retained leave to remain when they should not have done so."

This was "a significant failure," he added.

He said that, by May of this year, all the outstanding tip-offs had been investigated and said the UKBS had "launched an operation to identify and remove people, including students, who had overstayed beyond the term of their visa".

He said such work should be "an ongoing priority rather than the subject of a one-off operation by the agency".

Inspectors also warned that increasing numbers were entering Britain on visas designed for short periods of study which were not subject to the same checks as those for longer courses.

'Ripe for exploitation'

Shadow immigration minister Chris Bryant said the "massive 153,000 backlog of people who have potentially gone rogue emphasises that, with Theresa May running the Home Office, we are getting the worst of both worlds".

"Student visitor visas have fewer checks than full student visas and are therefore ripe for exploitation by those looking to avoid tougher checks," he added.

But Immigration Minister Mark Harper said the government had "toughened the rules to ensure that genuine students are not taken advantage of by organisations looking to sell immigration not education".

"At the same time we have a great offer for the brightest and best international talent who want to study at our world class institutions," he added.

He said he was pleased the report "recognises the operational improvements that have been made at the agency".

Mistakes 'inadvertent'

Earlier this month, Mr Vine accused the border agency in a report of misleading MPs about the amount of background checks made on historic asylum cases.

He said the UKBA had supplied inaccurate information to MPs about a backlog of cases and said Parliament had received incorrect assurances about progress.

At the time, a Home Office spokesman said it was turning around the "troubled" agency.

On Tuesday, senior UKBA official Jonathan Sedgwick apologised to the Home Affairs Committee for misleading MPs but insisted the mistakes had been "inadvertent".

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Fresh health fears over Assange

29 November 2012 Last updated at 00:08 ET

Julian Assange, who is living at the Ecuadorean embassy in London, has a chronic lung infection "which could get worse at any moment", the country's ambassador to the UK has warned.

Ana Alban said the Wikileaks founder, who is fighting UK efforts to send him to Sweden, was suffering from living "in a confined space".

Ecuador previously sought assurances he would not be arrested if hospitalised.

The UK said then it would not prevent "any medical care that he requires".

The Australian, 41, who has taken refuge at the embassy since June, was granted asylum by Ecuador in August.

Mr Assange, who has breached bail conditions by staying there, faces arrest if he leaves.

He is wanted for questioning in Sweden over rape and sexual assault allegations, which he denies, and was arrested in the UK on an extradition warrant.

"Mr Assange, as everyone knows, is in a confined space," Ms Alban said.

"Not only does the embassy have few windows but the city is also dark at this time - we have very little daylight in London.

"He is exposed to any health consequences from this lack of sunlight and lack of fresh air."

Meeting hope

Ms Alban said Mr Assange received visitors after embassy staff finished work.

"We work until at least 05:30 in the afternoon and, afterwards, he meets with certain people who want to visit him for different reasons whether they be activists, supporters, lawyers or friends."

She said Ecuador was "waiting for a meeting" with either UK Foreign Secretary William Hague or UK Home Secretary Theresa May to discuss Mr Assange's future.

Last month, Ecuadorean ministers said Mr Assange had "visibly lost weight" and that his health was "beginning to be jeopardised".

Mr Assange's Wikileaks website has published leaked sensitive diplomatic cables involving various countries, including the US.

In 2010, two women accused him of committing sexual offences against them while he was in Stockholm to give a lecture.

Mr Assange says the sex was consensual and that he believes the case to be politically motivated.

He says he fears being passed on to authorities in the US if extradited to Sweden.

But Swedish prosecutors have dismissed Mr Assange's claims their case is part of a wider political move to see him stand trial in the US over his work with Wikileaks.

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Leveson media report findings due

29 November 2012 Last updated at 03:02 ET

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Inquiry highlights: The parents of Milly Dowler were among those who gave evidence

Lord Justice Leveson is set to publish his report into the culture, practice and ethics of the press.

His eight-month inquiry heard from media intrusion victims including actor Hugh Grant, singer Charlotte Church and the family of murdered Millie Dowler.

It is understood the report, which runs to hundreds of pages, criticises press, politicians and police.

David Cameron and Deputy PM Nick Clegg have met to discuss it amid reports of a possible split over press regulation.

Lord Justice Leveson - whose inquiry was set up in the wake of the scandal over phone hacking by journalists at the now-defunct News of the World newspaper - is widely expected to recommend some form of statutory press regulation overseen by an independent body.

Continue reading the main story

It was an inquiry that imperilled, briefly, the cabinet career of then Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt; embarrassed David Cameron with revelations about his style of text messaging; and exposed the close relationships once enjoyed by some politicians, newspaper proprietors and police officers.

As well as any criticism of the conduct of individuals who gave evidence, Lord Justice Leveson's report will be examined for what he says about the future running of Britain's newspapers.

Many in the industry support more muscular self-regulation -- the creation of a new body which could investigate malpractice and impose fines.

All the national newspapers are opposed to an alternative option -- an independent regulator backed by law. They say this would give politicians a new power over the press.

Lord Justice Leveson will make recommendations.

The pressure will then be on the prime minister to act.

The press is currently self-regulated through the Press Complaints Commission (PCC).

Many Conservatives oppose the possibility of statutory regulation while Liberal Democrats are understood to be ready to support such a move.

The office of House of Commons Speaker John Bercow has said it is ready to accommodate a Lib Dem request for the deputy prime minister to oppose Mr Cameron at the despatch box after the prime minister's statement at 15:00 GMT if the pair cannot agree a response.

On Wednesday, both were given advance copies of the report, which will be published at 13:30 GMT on Thursday. Labour leader Ed Miliband will receive his copy on Thursday morning.

A coalition committee will also meet on Thursday morning to try to find a way forward.

BBC political editor Nick Robinson said everyone was seeking independent regulation but the question was what that meant and whether a new law was needed to establish it and make sure all newspapers took part.

Deciding the way forward was one of the most difficult decisions the prime minister would ever face and one of the most difficult decisions that would go through the House of Commons in the months to come, he added.

Continue reading the main story

• Statutory regulation: Stricter regulation of the press, enforceable by law
• Statutory underpinning: Self-regulatory body with statutory framework which enforces newspapers to sign up
• New Press Complaints Council: Tougher self-regulation body with investigative arm. One proposal suggests body should be independent from newspaper industry
• Newspaper ombudsman: Self-regulatory body, working alongside PCC, to deal with standards

Mr Cameron, who previously said he intended to implement the findings of the Leveson Inquiry provided they were not "bonkers", told MPs at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday he wanted to find a cross-party consensus on improving regulation and moving away from the "unacceptable" status quo.

He said he wanted an "independent regulatory system that can deliver and in which the public have confidence".

Mr Miliband responded: "I hope we can work on an all-party basis. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for real change and I hope that this House can make it happen."

Meanwhile, a poll conducted for BBC Radio 5 live suggests that two thirds of British adults have no trust - or little trust - that newspapers tell the truth.

Just over a 1,000 people were questioned on the telephone by ComRes last weekend, with nearly a half also saying they wanted to see the press regulated by rules agreed and enforced by the courts.

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Small earthquake felt in Cumbria

29 November 2012 Last updated at 03:11 ET

A small earthquake has hit Cumbria, scientists have confirmed.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) said the 2.1-magnitude quake struck in Patterdale at 21:37 GMT on Wednesday.

Beck Carter, a parish clerk in Rosthwaite, was at a council meeting at the time, when she said a "sound and vibration passed over very quickly".

She said: "There was a sound that I couldn't describe... then we all felt it, there was a sort of interesting vibration through your feet."

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Call to build homes on open land

27 November 2012 Last updated at 20:23 ET

Increasing the amount of developed land by a third would address the housing shortage, according to Planning Minister Nick Boles.

He told BBC Newsnight building on another 2-3% of the land in England - bringing the total to about 12% - would "solve the housing problem."

Mr Boles said open land would be built on in exchange for commitments to defend greenbelt spaces.

He called for "beautiful" housing that was sensitive to its local area.

In his first interview about his portfolio since he entered government, Mr Boles has reopened the debate over how much more housing Britain needs and where.

Describing current housebuilding as "ugly rubbish", he argued that improved design might persuade local communities currently opposed to more development to support further building.

"The built environment can be more beautiful than nature and we shouldn't obsess about the fact that the only landscapes that are beautiful are open - sometimes buildings are better," he said.

To this end, the minister says that new housing will not be on the greenbelt, but he does say that open land will be targeted.

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Planning Minister Nick Boles: "People have got to accept that we've got to build more on some open land"

"We're going to protect the greenbelt but if people want to have housing for their kids they have to accept we need to build more on some open land.

"In the UK and England at the moment we've got about 9% of land developed. All we need to do is build on another 2-3% of land and we'll have solved a housing problem."

Mr Boles also told Newsnight that having a house with a garden was a "basic moral right, like healthcare and education".

"There's a right to a home with a little bit of ground around it to bring your family up in," he said.

Controversial proposals

After a battle over planning reform, in the spring the government and a range of opponents appeared to reach a truce. Now Mr Boles has set out what the government's proposals will entail.

He was made planning minister by David Cameron in the September reshuffle and is a well-known proponent of liberalising planning regulations in Britain.

Before his appointment, in a speech to Tory colleagues, he had described opponents of the government's planning reforms as "scaremongering Luddites".

But his plans will be controversial with his Conservative colleagues.

In recent weeks, Tory MP Nadhim Zahawi has reacted angrily to the adjudication by Secretary of State for Communities Eric Pickles, who oversees planning, to give the go-ahead to a greenfield development on the edge of Stratford-upon-Avon.

Persuasion

There was also local unhappiness in Winchester when Mr Pickles approved a development at Barton Farm.

"It's my job to make the arguments to these people that if they carry on writing letters, their kids are never going to get a place with a garden to bring up their grandkids," said Mr Boles.

"I accept we haven't been able to persuade them. I think it would be easier if we could persuade them that the new development would be beautiful."

Talking about the historic town of Stamford, situated in his own Lincolnshire constituency, he said: "Local tradespeople... decided they wanted to build nice places to live.

"We've somehow forgotten to do that, which is why people object to us building on open farm and land - they build ugly rubbish. If we remember to build places like Stamford, people won't mind us building in fields."

Watch Newsnight's Allegra Stratton's report on Wednesday, 28 November, 2012 at 22:30 GMT on BBC Two or watch afterwards on BBC iPlayer.

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Contempt laws come under scrutiny

27 November 2012 Last updated at 20:14 ET By Clive Coleman BBC News legal correspondent

A consultation on the effectiveness of the contempt laws in England and Wales in the age of blogs and Twitter has been launched by the Law Commission.

The current law, dating back to 1981, prevents the publication of material which creates a substantial risk of seriously prejudicing a fair trial.

It applies to blogs and tweets, as well as mainstream media, but many doubt it can keep jurors away from prejudicial material published online.

The consultation runs until February.

A number of recent cases have exposed shortcomings in the law.

In January Theodora Dallas, a juror in an assault trial who researched a defendant's past on the internet and told fellow jury members the suspect had previously been accused of rape, was jailed for six months for contempt of court. But that may just be the tip of an iceberg.

The law prevents jurors from searching for information online relating to the case, and jurors are warned against doing so, but research published in 2010 revealed that 12% of jurors in high-profile cases admitted going to the internet.

The reason that poses a real danger is that the material can be prejudicial and, though it may remain in the mind of the juror, cannot be challenged by the defendant in court.

However, there are many who believe that nothing can now prevent jurors accessing material online.

They feel that the law should recognise the operation of human curiosity, and rely upon strong directions from the judge to the jury to disregard any prejudicial material they may have come across, and decide the case on the evidence presented in court - and that alone.

That is the system that operates in the United States.

The internet has given media organisations and so-called "citizen journalists" the opportunity to publish information and comment to vast audiences instantaneously.

Once information has been released on the web, it is very hard to contain. And unless steps are taken to remove it, it remains easily available to anyone with access to the internet in a way that was not true when such information was only available via newspapers and a handful of broadcasters.

The Commission - the body which keeps the law in England and Wales under review - is asking what safeguards can be put in place to prevent jurors searching for, and being able to find, potentially prejudicial material during the course of a trial, irrespective of when it was published.

It is seeking views on whether:

• jurors should be given more in-depth, specific education about their responsibility not to seek out information on the defendant
• jurors should be subject to a new offence of intentionally seeking information relevant to the case they are trying
• the courts should be given statutory powers to require media organisations and others to take down potentially prejudicial content first published before proceedings became active

Professor David Ormerod, the law commissioner leading the project, said: "The purpose of our consultation is to ask how, in a modern, internet-connected society, the law of contempt can continue to support the principles that criminal cases should be tried only on the evidence heard in court.

"We are seeking ways to protect the administration of justice and the defendant's right to a fair trial while keeping to a minimum interference with the right of media organisations and private individuals to publish."

The consultation runs from Wednesday 28 November 2012 to 28 February 2013.

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Don't curb freedom, Leveson urged

28 November 2012 Last updated at 03:06 ET

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Conor Burns MP: ''Statutory regulation should be an absolute last resort''

More than 80 MPs and peers have urged the man carrying out an inquiry into UK media standards not to recommend a press regulation law.

The cross-party group, including eight former cabinet ministers and London Olympics chairman Lord Coe, says any such move would damage press freedom.

Lord Justice Leveson is due to publish his report on Thursday.

The group, which has written to the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph, wants a stronger "self-regulatory" system.

The Leveson Inquiry was established by the prime minister in July last year and looked into the culture, practices and ethics of the press.

It was commissioned following allegations of illegal phone-hacking at the News of the World.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who has already warned politicians not to pre-empt its findings, will receive his copy of the report at lunchtime - 24 hours before its details are made public.

'State licensing'

Lord Justice Leveson was asked to produce a list of recommendations for a more effective policy and regulatory regime for the press, which would preserve its independence while encouraging higher ethical and professional standards.

At the moment the press is self-regulated through the Press Complaints Commission (PCC).

Lord Justice Leveson is widely expected to recommend some form of statutory regulation overseen by an independent body.

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"Start Quote

Leveson demonstrated not a sole failure of regulation but rather of law enforcement"

End Quote Cross-party group of MPs

But the politicians, led by former Labour home secretary David Blunkett and Conservative MP Conor Burns, argue in their letter this could be detrimental to free speech, saying: "As parliamentarians, we believe in free speech and are opposed to the imposition of any form of statutory control even if it is dressed up as underpinning."

They add: "No form of statutory regulation of the press would be possible without the imposition of state licensing - abolished in Britain in 1695. State licensing is inimical to any idea of press freedom and would radically alter the balance of our unwritten constitution.

"There are also serious concerns that statutory regulation of the print media may shift the balance to the digital platforms which, as recent events have shown through the fiasco of Newsnight-Twitter, would further undermine the position of properly moderated and edited print journalism."

The group - which includes Commons culture media and sport committee chairman John Whittingdale, Downton Abbey writer Lord Fellowes, former Commons Speaker Baroness Boothroyd and ex-cabinet ministers Lord Tebbit, Liam Fox, John Redwood and Peter Lilley - has written to the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph,

The group backs a proposal from former PCC chairman Lord Hunt and Lord Black, one-time chairman of the body that finances the commission, for a "totally new" version of the regulator.

They propose an independent body with increased powers to investigate complaints and illegal behaviour, levy fines of up to £1m and award compensation, and enforce membership by newspapers for the first time.

'Open-minded'

It argues that the "press abuse chronicled at Leveson was almost wholly about actions which were against the law. It demonstrated not a sole failure of regulation but rather of law enforcement.

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"Start Quote

It is not often that the prime minister, his deputy and their most senior advisers clear their diaries"

End Quote

"However the status quo is not an option. We cannot countenance newspapers behaving as some have in the past. The solution is not new laws but a profound restructuring of the self-regulatory system."

The letter concludes: "Public debate will necessarily follow publication of the Leveson report and will be needed to provide confidence in a rigorous tough new system of self-regulation. Such a debate will lead to a speedy way of establishing a new self-regulatory regime that can restore confidence in the press."

However, some campaigners say the current system of self-regulation, overseen by the Press Complaints Commission, is inadequate and that tougher rules are needed to curb newspapers' excesses.

Earlier this month, 42 Conservative MPs and peers wrote to the Guardian arguing in favour of some form of statutory underpinning for press regulation.

Broadcaster Anne Diamond, who gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry about her experience with the press, told BBC Breakfast that "self-regulation has been given its chance and it hasn't worked".

"The only way to have some real teeth behind some agreed code of conduct is to have some kind of statutory underpinning... You have to change the culture and the enforcement."

Meanwhile, Martin Moore, director of the Media Standards Trust charity, said the challenge for Lord Justice Leveson was to balance the need for some sort of redress for "ordinary people" with freedom of the press.

It is up to David Cameron to decide whether to implement Lord Justice Leveson's recommendations.

On Sunday Downing Street said the prime minister was "open-minded" about the future regulation of the press.

Previously he said he intended to implement the findings of the Leveson inquiry, provided they were not "bonkers".

Claims that News of the World journalists had hacked the voicemail of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler led to the closure of the Sunday tabloid and brought about the Leveson Inquiry.

The parents of Madeleine McCann, who went missing aged three on holiday in Portugal in 2007, were also among the alleged hacking victims.

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Salon shooting police criticised

28 November 2012 Last updated at 03:11 ET

A review into a gun attack on a woman by her estranged husband has called on Gwent Police to improve the way it responds to domestic abuse reports.

Darren Williams, 45, was found dead after shooting and injuring three women including estranged wife Rachel at her Newport hair salon in August 2011.

Their son, Jack, 16, was found hanged in the same woodland six weeks later.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission report upheld four complaints against the force.

More follows.

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Alcohol minimum price details due

28 November 2012 Last updated at 03:26 ET By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News

Ministers are to unveil plans later for a minimum price for alcohol in England and Wales as part of a drive to tackle problem drinking.

The Home Office is expected to publish a consultation on the proposal, which was first put forward in the government's alcohol strategy in March.

A price of 40p per unit was suggested at the time.

But pressure has been mounting on ministers to follow Scotland's lead, where 50p has been proposed.

The aim of a minimum price would be to alter the cost of heavily discounted drinks sold in shops and supermarkets. It is not expected to affect the price of drinks in pubs.

The Times predicted a 45p per unit minimum would be set and it said this would raise the price for the average can of beer or cider to £1.12.

According to the NHS website the average can of 4.5% strength lager contains around two units of alcohol, while a small glass of wine contains 1.5 units.

There has been evidence of some outlets selling alcohol at a loss to encourage customers through the doors, with cans of lager going for 20p and two-litre bottles of cider available for under £2.

'Pre-loading'

Ministers have been particularly critical of such practices, blaming them for what has been dubbed "pre-loading", where people binge-drink before going out.

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"Start Quote

We're paying a heavy price for alcohol misuse and setting a minimum unit price will help us on the road to changing this"

End Quote Eric Appleby Alcohol Concern

The alcohol strategy linked this phenomenon to the rising levels of alcohol-related violence and hospital admissions, of which there are more than a million a year.

At the time, ministers said a 40p minimum price could save 900 lives a year and prevent 50,000 crimes by the end of the decade.

But Miles Beale, chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, said there was "no evidence" minimum alcohol pricing would be effective in tackling alcohol misuse.

He said it would unfairly impact the majority of people, who drank responsibly, and he added it was possible it was illegal under EU law.

Mr Beale said: "The impact at 50p would see two thirds of prices in supermarkets and off-licences rise with a bottle of vodka increasing in price from £9 to £13.13."

He said the policy was being driven by the pub industry, who wanted to encourage people to drink in pubs by driving up the price of the competition.

Dr Vivienne Nathanson, from the British Medical Association, said the changes in pricing could help to stop young people binge drinking.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

It's a complex problem and a silver bullet, as minimum unit pricing is supposed to be, simply won't do it"

End Quote Miles Beale Wine and Spirit Trade Association

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Alcohol is a dose-related poison, in other words the more you drink the more harm it causes, so by reducing the amount they are drinking over the safe limit you are helping to save them.

"It isn't a small minority of the population who are drinking excessively, it's nearly a quarter. That's a huge number of people who are drinking at levels that are hazardous to their health and we really have to throw everything we can (at it) to save lives."

As well as including details about a minimum price, the consultation is also likely to give more information about other alcohol measures, such as giving local agencies extra powers to restrict opening hours and banning multi-buy promotions.

There was also a proposal for a late-night levy to make clubs and pubs help pay for policing in the original strategy.

However, it is the minimum pricing proposal that has attracted most of the attention - and opposition from the industry.

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Christopher Snowdon, author of a report on minimum pricing: ''Low prices are a good thing''

The Scottish government plan, which is not due to start until April 2013, was challenged on legal grounds by the Scotch Whisky Association and the European Spirits Organisation.

They claimed it was up to Westminster, rather than Holyrood, to decide such an issue and they said it was also incompatible with the EU's "general principles of free trade and undistorted competition".

The legal challenges were heard in the Court of Session in Edinburgh last month and a judgement is expected before the end of the year.

Separately the European Commission is looking into the legality of the Scottish government's actions.

A spokesman for the British Retail Consortium said most of the industry was opposed to minimum pricing as it penalised the majority of people who were responsible drinkers while "doing nothing to address the root causes of harmful drinking".

Eric Appleby, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said: "We're paying a heavy price for alcohol misuse and setting a minimum unit price will help us on the road to changing this.

"But we cannot cut the misery caused by excessive drinking, whether it's crime or hospitalisation, through price alone.

"We need tighter controls around licensing, giving local authorities and police forces all the tools they need to get a firm grip on the way alcohol is being sold in their area. We have an opportunity to make an enormous difference to the lives of thousands of people - we must seize it."

The Home Office said the consultation was targeted at "harmful drinkers, problem pubs and irresponsible shops" and a spokesman added: "Those who enjoy a quiet drink or two have nothing to fear from our proposals."

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First welfare-to-work figures due

26 November 2012 Last updated at 19:54 ET

The government is to release first figures assessing the level of success of its welfare-to-work programme, which was launched last year.

Private firms and charities are paid to help find jobs for the long-term unemployed in the hope that 2.4 million people will benefit over five years.

Ministers say this will cut welfare payments and change lives, but critics say only those in already economically successful areas will benefit.

The figures are due out at 09:30 GMT.

They will show how many people are still in employment six months after joining the Work Programme, which was launched by the coalition in June last year.

Under the scheme - replacing the New Deal, Employment Zones and Pathways to Work - approved providers in England, Scotland and Wales, mostly private companies, try to find work for claimants on a payment-by-results basis.

'Still early days'

Over-25-year-olds become eligible when they have been out of work for a year and under-25s after nine months. Some younger people in certain circumstances, like young offenders, are eligible after a shorter period of time.

Ahead of the release of the government's figures, the Employment Related Services Association, the trade body for the welfare-to-work industry, said 20,000 jobseekers were being helped each month. More than 200,000 have found employment since the scheme's launch, it added.

But these figures do not show how many have remained in a job for six months after being helped off long-term unemployment, unlike the government's.

However, employment minister Mark Hoban said: "The Work Programme has already helped more than 200,000 of the hardest-to-help unemployed people into jobs. This is great news.

He added: "It's still early days, but it's a welcome sign that one year in providers are getting more and more people into sustained jobs."

However, the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion think-tank predicted that the official data would show performance targets missed as a result of the poor state of the UK's economy.

Under the programme, providers can earn between £3,700 and £13,700 per person helped into work, depending how hard it is to give support to an individual, with an initial payment of between £400 and £600.

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Speed father on year of struggle

27 November 2012 Last updated at 02:07 ET

The father of late Wales manager Gary Speed has told how an "overwhelming" outpouring of tributes from across the world have helped the family cope on the anniversary of his death.

The former Leeds, Everton and Newcastle footballer died on 27 November 2011 at the age of 42.

His body was found hanged in the garage at his home near Chester.

Roger Speed told BBC Wales the past year had been a struggle for him and his wife Carol.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

You've got to lift your spirits and look forward. Gary would have wanted it so we have to"

End Quote Roger Speed Father

The football world united in tributes after the sudden death of Speed, less than a year after he had taken charge of Wales following a glittering playing career.

The coroner at his inquest said he could not be satisfied the former midfielder intended to kill himself.

"We still don't believe, we're still wondering why; he had the world at his feet, it's been a hell of a 12 months," said Mr Speed.

"I never want to go through it again in my life if I can help it. Carol has really, really struggled. She's just started having a couple of games of golf a week and a bit of shopping with her mates but she doesn't want to get up in morning and she goes to bed early at night."

Mr Speed has thrown himself into helping with his two teenage grandsons, Ed - a Wales under-16 qualified international - and Tommy.

"I've coped pretty well because I'm looking after the two boys; they've been brilliant, that's given me something to look at and keep me going."

"The boys are coping very well. That's down to their father, the sort of man he was, he did a lot of good for them."

"Ed's the footballer; he's at Wrexham and is just his Dad all over. Tommy is more outgoing, the boxer but a footballer, he's a natural. Ed has to work harder at it with his training.

Continue reading the main story

GARY SPEED

• 1969: Born 8 Sep, Mancot, Flintshire
• 1988: Signs with Leeds and makes debut age 19
• 1992: Wins First Division with Leeds. Makes 312 apps
• 1996: Moves to Everton for £3.5m. Makes 65 apps
• 1998: Joins Newcastle Utd for £5.5m. Loses two FA Cup finals
• 2004: Joins Bolton for £750,000
• 2006: First player to make 500 Premier League appearances
• 2007: Becomes first-team coach at Bolton. Becomes only player to have scored in every Premier League season (later matched by Ryan Giggs). Joins Sheffield United on loan
• 2008: Joins Sheffield United permanently for £250,000 and moves into coaching
• 2010: Awarded the MBE; retires from playing, appointed Sheffield United manager in August. Becomes Wales boss in December
• 2011: Wales defeat Norway 4-1 in November, his fifth win in 10 matches
• Found dead on 27 November

"They're two great lads. I take them everywhere but they keep me going in life, that's what I'm living for. When you see them doing well, it's lovely".

Mr Speed recalled how surprised he was when Ed got up to speak to 500 people at a reception at the Gary Speed tribute match in Cardiff in February.

"We couldn't believe it. He said: 'Me and grandad Rog, we'll carry on, we'll do it for Dad.' That really gets me that does."

Mr Speed said the tributes had been overwhelming from "all corners of the globe".

"People we don't know sent us letters addressed 'Mr and Mrs Speed, Gary's parents,' no address, posted like that and we got them.

"I've got a couple of bin bags full of letters, we've kept them all. Everyone thinks their son is the best person in the world. But when the world thinks he's the best person...

"We didn't realise, we thought everyone knew him in Leeds, Newcastle, Liverpool but not the world. The tributes from top footballers in the world, like [Michel] Platini and the likes of [football governing body Fifa's president] Sepp Blatter."

Mr Speed described his son as inspirational.

"He wanted to win, he was a winner. He had a way, the way he talked to the players - it proved it, when he got some of the same players playing world class. He had charisma.

"At the Costa Rica game, Howard Webb came over to me and said he was the best professional he'd ever refereed. He said he made a mistake in one game and Gary came up to him, patted him on the shoulder and said,'You'll make more, just carry on with what you're doing'."

Mr Speed said Gary would have made a success of the Wales job.

"I was very confident. The Wales squad - Gary had them like a family. That's what he would've wanted. If we can keep it like that, it would be great. It must have been a shock for them.

"I was born in Chester, within the city walls, so I'm English but I'm a converted Welshman. I want them to beat England now, that's what Gary's done to me. He converted me."

He still asks why it happened but said talking about Gary helped him cope.

"I've got his picture on my computer, Carol has it on her phone. We see him every day, we talk to him every day. You have to talk about him to people, people might know more than you about the other side of Gary than you."

"It gives you strength. I think he achieved everything he wanted to except winning a big competition like the World Cup. His final achievement was the honour of managing his country. He turned it around."

He is spending the anniversary of Gary's death with his daughter.

"It's no good moping about it, you've got to lift your spirits and look forward. Gary would have wanted it so we have to. It's nice other people still remember him. At Leeds they still sing his name now, they're tremendous".

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NI policeman murder hunt arrest

27 November 2012 Last updated at 02:45 ET

Detectives investigating the murder of Northern Ireland police officer, Ronan Kerr, are continuing to question a 22-year-old man.

The man, from Omagh in County Tyrone, was arrested in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, on Monday evening.

Constable Kerr, 25, died when a booby-trap bomb exploded under his car in Omagh on 2 April 2011.

Dissident republican paramilitaries have been blamed for the killing of the newly-recruited Catholic constable.

Officers from the three police forces have been involved in the operation. In Cumbria, searches are being carried out in the Penrith area.

The arrest was made by officers from the North West Counter Terrorism Unit at the request of PSNI Serious Crime Branch detectives.

The suspect has been taken to a police station in England for questioning.

Police said a number of searches carried out in Omagh and Cumbria earlier on Monday had been completed.

A number of items have been seized for examination - including a lorry, which was stopped in Milton Keynes.

Mr Kerr, who was a Catholic and an active member of the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association), was seen by many as a symbol of Northern Ireland's new police service.

The officer joined the PSNI in May 2010.

A republican splinter group claiming it was made up of former members of the Provisional IRA later claimed responsibility for his murder.

He was the second police officer to have been murdered since the Royal Ulster Constabulary became the PSNI in 2001.

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Floods continue to threaten homes

27 November 2012 Last updated at 03:07 ET

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In North Yorkshire, more than fifty houses in Pickering are under threat from rising water levels

Residents in up to 500 properties in north Wales have been advised to leave their homes after the River Elwy broke its banks - and forecasters say the threat of floods remains in many areas.

An emergency centre has been set up at a leisure centre in St Asaph.

In North Yorkshire, more than 50 houses in Pickering are currently under threat from rising water levels.

About 200 flood warnings are in force in England and Wales and there are two for the Scottish Borders region.

The wet conditions are set to ease after heavy rain in northern England and north Wales, but there are fears saturated ground could lead to further flooding and travel disruption.

The flooding risk in Denbighshire is also affecting the villages of Abergele, Llanfairtalhaiarn, Llangernyw and Llansannan.

Inspector Mark Davies, from North Wales Police, said: "The Environment Agency tell us water levels are rising and getting worse.

"We haven't had any reports of people in severe difficulty but it has been distressing for people flooded in their own homes."

Continue reading the main story

Weather information

From the BBC:

Elsewhere:

And in Cornwall, the A39 at Perranarworthal is closed in both directions because of flooding and a poor road surface.

Flooding is also continuing to affect East Coast rail routes including between Durham and York, and between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Newcastle.

East Coast Trains says there is flooding on the line six miles south of Darlington, causing delays of up to 30 minutes.

The latest Environment Agency data shows 940 homes have suffered flooding since last Wednesday.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson denied talks between the government and insurers about how to provide affordable premiums in areas at high risk of flooding had "stalled".

The Association of British Insurers had said discussions about extending the existing agreement obliging insurers to provide cover while the government continues to improve flood defences was at "crisis point".

The Environment Agency, which has issued 206 flood warnings - up from 185 on Monday night - says the flood risk across the UK "remains elevated".

There are also 278 less severe flood alerts - indicating people should prepare for possible flooding.

The agency warned that "large, slow responding rivers" - particularly the Thames, Trent and Severn - would continue to rise over the next few days.

It said the risk of groundwater flooding - when levels of water in the ground rise above surface levels - was high in some parts of the country, "notably Dorset".

'Further flooding is expected in the next 24 hours and communities across north-east England, north Wales and Northamptonshire are urged to remain especially vigilant," Paul Mustow, head of its flood incident management, said.

Continue reading the main story

Latest local news, travel and weather

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Sepa, has two flood warnings in place - meaning flooding is expected and immediate action is required - from Camptown to Jedburgh, and from Greenlaw to Allanton.

There are also two flood alerts - meaning flooding is possible - in both the Borders and the Edinburgh and Lothians regions.

There are none in Northern Ireland.

Holly Green, of the BBC's Weather Centre, said that while conditions were easing on Tuesday morning, there had been a few hours of persistent rainfall.

She said the rain on Tuesday would tend to become more showery in nature and it was an improving picture.

However, warnings remained in force for the first part of Tuesday morning as showers fell on already saturated surfaces.

Fairly heavy showers in some southern counties early on Tuesday brought a risk of some localised problems, she added.

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On Monday, closures, delays and safety warnings affected dozens of A-roads, while cancellations and delays also hit some national rail services.

South-west England, where hundreds of homes were flooded at the weekend, was among a number of areas suffering considerable disruption to rail services on Monday.

On the roads, some of the worst-hit areas on Monday were in Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire.

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UK education sixth best in world

27 November 2012 Last updated at 03:31 ET By Sean Coughlan BBC News education correspondent

The UK's education system is ranked sixth best in the developed world, according to a global league table published by education firm Pearson.

The first and second places are taken by Finland and South Korea.

The rankings combine international test results and data such as graduation rates between 2006 and 2010.

Sir Michael Barber, Pearson's chief education adviser, says successful countries give teachers a high status and have a "culture" of education.

International comparisons in education have become increasingly significant - and this latest league table is based upon a series of global test results combined with measures of education systems, such as how many people go on to university.

This composite picture puts the UK in a stronger position than the influential Pisa tests from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) - which is also one of the tests included in this ranking.

The weightings for the rankings have been produced for Pearson by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Global competition

The two education superpowers - Finland and South Korea - are followed by three other high-performing Asian education systems - Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.

Continue reading the main story

• Finland
• South Korea
• Hong Kong
• Japan
• Singapore
• UK
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Switzerland
• Canada
• Ireland
• Denmark
• Australia
• Poland
• Germany
• Belgium
• USA
• Hungary
• Slovakia
• Russia

The UK - which is considered as a single system, rather than four devolved administrations - is then ranked at the head of an above-average group including the Netherlands, New Zealand, Canada and Ireland.

These are ahead of a middle-ranking group including the United States, Germany and France.

At the lowest end are Mexico, Brazil and Indonesia.

These comparisons draw upon tests that are taken every three or four years, in areas such as maths, science and literacy - and so present a picture lagging by several years.

But the intention is to provide a more multi-dimensional view of educational achievement - and create a databank which will be updated, in a project that Pearson is calling the Learning Curve.

Looking at education systems that succeed, the study concludes that spending is important, but not as much as having a culture that is supportive of learning.

It says that spending is easier to measure, but the more complex impact of a society's attitude to education can make a big difference.

The success of Asian countries in these rankings reflects the high value attached to education and the expectations of parents. This can continue to be a factor when families migrate to other countries, says the report accompanying the rankings.

Looking at the two top countries - Finland and South Korea - the report says that there are many big differences, but the common factor is a shared social belief in the importance of education and its "underlying moral purpose".

Teacher quality

The report also emphasises the importance of high-quality teachers and the need to find ways to recruit the best staff. This might be about status and professional respect as well as levels of pay.

The rankings show that there is no clear link between higher relative pay and higher performance.

And there are direct economic consequences of high and low performing education systems, the study says, particularly in a globalised, skill-based economy.

But there are less straightforward and conflicting messages about how schools are organised.

The ranking for levels of school choice shows that Finland and South Korea have among the lowest levels of school choice. But Singapore, another high performer, has the highest level. The UK is among the upper levels in terms of school choice.

'Significant' data

Higher levels of school autonomy are a characteristic of many higher performing systems - headed by China, the Netherlands, the UK and Hong Kong (which is considered as a separate school system in such education rankings).

But Finland, the most successful system, has a relatively low level of school autonomy.

Sir Michael Barber, a former adviser to Tony Blair, said that the gathering of this information was the "start of something significant" - providing a practical resource for policy makers wanting to learn from other countries.

In terms of the UK's performance, he said it fitted into the view that education standards had risen at the end of the 1990s and into the early 2000s and had then levelled off.

Labour's education spokesman Stephen Twigg said the findings reflected the achievements of the previous government.

"This report shows that after 13 years of investment and reform with Labour, schools in the UK are amongst the best in the world."

And he said the findings did not provide evidence for the current government's support for free schools.

"This shows there is much more to school performance than structures," said Mr Twigg.

A Department for Education spokeswoman said: "We are driving up standards right across the board by bringing the best graduates into teaching, developing a world-class curriculum, and restoring order to our classrooms.

"We are driving forward the academies and free schools programmes with more than half of secondary schools now enjoying academy status.

"We have introduced the EBacc so more pupils are encouraged to study the core academic subjects that universities and employers demand and we will be introducing a new, far more rigorous examination system."

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Firms help tax evasion flourish

25 November 2012 Last updated at 15:24 ET

A flourishing industry which helps people evade UK tax has been uncovered following an investigation by the BBC's Panorama programme.

One company formation firm said the odds of getting caught by the UK tax authorities are roughly equivalent to winning the lottery.

The programme secretly filmed corporate service providers offering services that would break the law.

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs says tackling tax evasion is a priority.

Tax evasion costs the UK taxpayer an estimated £4bn a year.

'Sham directors'

Secret filming by the BBC as part of a joint investigation with the Guardian newspaper and the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists identified a number of corporate service providers - firms that specialise in setting up companies both in the UK and abroad - willing to facilitate tax evasion and turn a blind eye to criminal activity.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

What I'm shocked by... is the apparent ease with which you've discovered these people"

End Quote Tristram Hicks Money laundering expert

In one instance, an undercover reporter posing as a businessman with £6m in undeclared income sitting in a Swiss bank account is advised to move his money into a complex structure involving an anonymous foundation in the tax haven of Belize, which he would control in secret.

James Turner of Turner Little in York, which specialises in forming companies, assured the undercover reporter that his company already had 10,000 of these structures up and running with secrecy guaranteed.

"We've had Inland Revenue investigations on clients that have used companies like this... and they haven't got to the money," Mr Turner said during secret filming.

The complicated structure proposed by Mr Turner also involved the use of nominee directors to help keep the undercover reporter's name off company paperwork.

Nominee directors can be legitimately appointed to run companies on behalf of others. But according to James Turner, his nominees would not be running anything at all.

In other words, they would be a sham.

"They won't even know that they are a director, they just get paid," he said, adding that the directors' signatures could be provided simply by using a stamp.

Continue reading the main story

Panorama: Find out more

• Darragh MacIntyre presents Undercover: How to Dodge Tax
• BBC One, Monday, 26 November at 20:30 GMT

Jonathan Fisher QC, one of the UK's leading barristers specialising in white collar crime cases, said that what was being proposed would break the law.

"If this proceeded and the company was set up and it was set up in the way in which it is being discussed, then plainly some very serious criminal offences would be committed."

Those potential offences would be helping to cheat the revenue and launder the proceeds of crime.

Mr Turner denied any allegations of criminal misconduct. Turner Little said it takes its statutory and regulatory obligations seriously but said that once an internal investigation has been completed, if appropriate, it will take action.

Panorama also discovered corporate service providers offering to appoint sham directors to UK companies. UK law states that directors are responsible for the companies they run and should know what those companies are doing.

'Sark Lark'

The use of sham directors was supposed to have been stamped out in the late 1990s after a scandal on the Channel Island of Sark.

In what became known as the "Sark Lark" one islander was discovered to be the director of more than 1,300 companies. Between them, the 600 inhabitants of the island held 15,000 directorships. New laws have reduced that to fewer than 50 posts today.

But the Panorama investigation found that the Sark Lark is not dead - rather it has moved and gone global.

One corporate service provider based in Dubai, Atlas Corporate Services, showed a list of its 19 nominee directors to one of Panorama's undercover reporters.

The programme discovered they had held more than 6,000 UK company directorships. The company involved said there is nothing unlawful in Dubai about the use of nominee professional directors.

'Tip of iceberg'

Panorama also approached other firms posing as the representative of corrupt Indian government figures who wanted to invest in the UK.

Russell Lebe, Managing Director of Ready Made Companies Worldwide in Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire, told an undercover reporter that, if approached by the Indian authorities about tax evasion, "we wouldn't give a monkey's".

Despite being told that the fictional clients were earning "commissions" on government contracts that they wanted to move offshore, Mr Lebe said he would be content not to know their identities and even agreed that the undercover reporter could front for them by pretending to be the owner.

"There'll be no emails and nothing in writing to say that anyone else is the owner and it'll all go under your name. Absolutely fine," he told the reporter.

Ready Made Companies Worldwide said they would not provide company formation services if they knew or suspected they would be used to launder the proceeds of crime or defraud tax authorities.

As a precautionary measure, they said they have asked a law firm to review their procedures and will provide staff with further training.

Former Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Tristram Hicks, a leading expert on money laundering, said: "What I'm shocked by, and concerned by, is the apparent ease with which you've discovered these people.

"It tells you that maybe it is the tip of the iceberg that you have discovered by scratching the surface and that our regulation regime is not catching enough people."

In a statement, HM Revenue and Customs, which regulates the 2,467 registered trust or company service providers in the UK, said most in the industry have nothing to do with criminal activity.

But it did confirm that it has never prosecuted a single corporate service provider for breaching money laundering regulations.

Panorama's Undercover: How to Dodge Tax

BBC One, Monday, 26 November at 20:30 GMT and then available in the UK on the BBC iPlayer via the link above.

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Secret NHS death reports released

25 November 2012 Last updated at 19:04 ET

Hundreds of previously secret NHS reports into serious incidents, including 105 deaths, have been published by BBC Scotland.

More than 300 reports into the most serious incidents in Scotland's hospitals last year have been released.

The reports include a person being blown up while on oxygen therapy after lighting a cigarette.

They also detail deaths from fatal doses of medicine and missing equipment during a cardiac arrest.

Other reports show procedural problems in hospitals meaning patients died before they could be transferred and supplies of drugs or emergency equipment not being available.

The reports were released after a Freedom of Information request.

BBC Scotland has now published all the incident reports, which can be read by clicking through from the dropdown box below.

Continue reading the main story

Find your area

Former NHS staff have accused health boards of covering up mistakes rather than learning from them.

Scottish Public Services ombudsman Jim Martin said the bureaucracy in the NHS seemed to be more important than learning when things go wrong.

The Scottish government is conducting an urgent review of incident reporting and said there was no evidence that the system was putting patients at risk.

Research suggests about one in ten hospital admissions result in an "adverse event".

Health boards decide how they should be investigated and what lessons can be learned from any mistakes.

Huge variation

But the BBC Scotland Investigation, How Safe is Your Hospital? found a huge variation between NHS boards in the numbers of incidents reported and what sorts of investigations are conducted.

It was given access to 345 reports which demonstrate a big discrepancy surrounding what boards consider to be serious.

These range from a nurse injured while hanging up Christmas decorations and a toaster used in an inappropriate area to a baby that died during labour and a surgeon removing a healthy organ.

Continue reading the main story

I think if we had a simple national system it would be far easier to ask a simple question of the health service "

End Quote Jim Martin Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

There is also a huge disparity in the way incidents are reported and investigated.

The biggest health board, Greater Glasgow, reported relatively few incidents (95) despite serving the largest population.

Meanwhile Shetland recorded 138 serious incidents in a year and Tayside's reports all listed almost identical learning points.

The public services ombudsman said it was "a confusing picture".

Mr Martin said: "I think if we had a simple national system it would be far easier to ask a simple question of the health service and get a clear statistical answer."

Dr Alastair Ross, a specialist in risk management at the King's Patient Safety and Service Quality Research Centre, said: "In the NHS we are very conscious that process and medical treatment has to be evidence-based.

"You wouldn't implement a drug or a treatment protocol without feeling that the evidence was very reliable and that it was going to make a real difference to patient safety and I don't think we should be doing that with the organisational side of things either."

International research suggests one in 10 hospital admissions can result in some kind of adverse event, whether that is a patient fall or an unexpected death, so learning from these mistakes can save lives.

Earlier this year, the health secretary ordered an investigation into NHS Ayrshire and Arran after the health board was severely criticised for withholding more than 50 reports on serious incidents at its hospitals and clinics.

Over a period of five years, NHS Ayrshire and Arran refused to release the critical incident and adverse event reports to staff.

National picture

A mental health nurse employed by the health board became concerned when he was involved in a critical incident, but never received a copy of the findings.

Rab Wilson was told he was not entitled to read the report, and would have to apply under FOI legislation.

Mr Wilson said he felt bullied by the NHS when he tried to raise his concerns.

Another nurse had to leave her job when she repeatedly asked for concerns about patient care to be addressed.

She said NHS Ayrshire and Arran tried to cover up mistakes rather than learn from them.

Having exposed serious weaknesses at NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Healthcare Improvement Scotland said it did not know the situation for other health boards in Scotland.

Robbie Pearson, from HIS, admitted they have no idea of the national picture.

He said: "At present we don't know. That's why we're going out to all the NHS boards. We're starting this month and we'll be around all the boards by the end of next year."

BBC Scotland Investigates: How Safe is Your Hospital is on BBC One Scotland at 22:35 on Monday 26 November.

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Flood fears as storm heads north

26 November 2012 Last updated at 02:49 ET

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Many parts of the UK are already under water

North-east England and north Wales are braced for possible flooding as the weather front which brought heavy rain to southern England moves north.

There are about 250 flood warnings and 300 flood alerts in England and Wales, and two flood alerts in Scotland.

This weekend 816 homes were flooded, mainly in south-west England.

Two people have died in the storms - a woman killed by a falling tree in Exeter and a man whose car crashed into a swollen river in Cambridgeshire.

Devon and Cornwall were particularly badly hit, along with Malmesbury in Wiltshire and Kempsey in Worcestershire.

Continue reading the main story

Weather information

From the BBC:

Elsewhere:

Chris Fawkes from the BBC Weather Centre said there had been about 60 mm (2.5 in) of rain in south-west England over the weekend.

He said: "A weather front will slowly move across north England and north Wales on Monday, and it's here that we are likely to see some further serious flooding."

County Durham, Teesside, North Yorkshire and the Conwy area of north Wales are expected to be worst affected.

The Met Office has issued an Amber weather warning for 50-70 mm (2-3 in) of rain by the end of the day.

The Environment Agency has issued more than 250 flood warnings across England and Wales, which mean people should take action because flooding is expected. There are also 290 less severe flood alerts - indicating people should prepare for possible flooding.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Sepa, has two flood alerts in place in the Borders and Edinburgh and Lothians regions. There are none in Northern Ireland.

Heavy rain and the related risk of flooding are forecast to continue until late on Tuesday.

'Shocking scenes'

In developments around the country:

Devon and Cornwall Police said a woman was hit by a falling tree in Western Way at about 23:50 GMT on Saturday. She suffered serious injures, from which she died after being taken to hospital in Exeter. Two other people were treated for minor injuries.

But Cambridgeshire Police said that the death of the 70-year-old man, whose car plunged into a river near Earith on Saturday night, was not weather-related.

David Cameron has talked of "shocking scenes of flooding".

In a Twitter message the prime minister also said the government "will help ensure everything is being done to help".

Earlier, environment minister Richard Benyon said he was "impressed with how the emergency services and Environment Agency have responded" to wet weather.

"What we learned from the floods in 2007 has been invaluable and what local authorities are doing ... working with the Environment Agency, with the emergency services, is certainly improving the situation - but if your house is flooded it feels pretty bleak," he said.

The minister added: "We are better prepared, but no-one is taking away from the misery that these floods have caused or the threat of further floods. You can only feel sorry for those people.

"Our estimate is that about 20,000 homes have been protected by flood defences that have built in the past few years."

But Stephen Gilbert, the Liberal Democrat MP for St Austell and Newquay, said the events of the last two days "should be a wake-up call for a government that needs to grip this issue and do so quickly".

"We know that flash flooding is increasing because of climate change and there's now little we can do to stop it, but the government must act to make sure people aren't left without insurance when the worst does happen," he said.

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Stones kick off celebratory tour

26 November 2012 Last updated at 03:03 ET

The Rolling Stones returned to the London stage on Sunday night in the first of five concerts to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood were joined by their original bass player Bill Wyman at the 02 arena.

Richards joked with the audience: "We made it. I'm happy to see you. I'm happy to see anybody.

Guest stars included Mick Taylor who played lead guitar on Midnight Rambler.

Taylor was in the Stones from 1969 to 1974.

Mary J Blige duetted with Jagger on Give Me Shelter.

"It's amazing that we're still doing this, and it's amazing that you're still buying our records and coming to our shows," Jagger said.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you."

He also joked about the controversial price of the concert's tickets.

"How are you doing up in the cheap seats?" he asked fans in the upper rows.

"Except they're not cheap seats, that's the problem."

The show began with a brief video tribute from the likes of Elton John, Iggy Pop and Johnny Depp.

The band played 23 songs including some of their rarely-played early numbers such as It's All Over Now and their cover version of the Beatles' I Wanna Be Your Man.

They also played classics such as Paint It Black and Jumping Jack Flash.

5 Live's Colin Paterson said "Jagger's energy was just frightening".

The Stones showed a montage video of their big influences such as Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash.

The series of gigs marks 50 years since the band first appeared in a small London club determined to pay homage to the masters of American blues.

There will be one more concert in London, followed by three in the greater New York area.

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