UKIP a growing threat, says Farage

27 February 2014 Last updated at 22:09 ET

The UK Independence Party will hold its spring conference on Friday, with leader Nigel Farage looking to galvanise support ahead of May's European Parliament elections.

The anti-European Union party is hoping to win the most seats in the contest, building on its strong poll ratings and success in last year's local elections.

In his speech, Mr Farage will say UKIP is the "biggest threat to the political establishment" in modern times.

The conference takes place in Torquay.

UKIP calls for the UK to take back control of its borders by leaving the EU.

Mr Farage will say immigration has "now become the number one issue in British politics", adding: "Eighty per cent of the British people did not want borders to come down with Romania and Bulgaria, but they did.

'Female takeover'

"We have lost control and we want to take it back. In fact we've sunk so low as a nation, that we now cannot even deport foreign criminals without the say-so of a foreign court."

The conference follows a surge in the number of seats held by UKIP in last year's local elections in England.

During his speech, Mr Farage will say the party "now poses the biggest threat to the political establishment that has been seen in modern times".

He will add: "Any eccentric comment made by any UKIP [member] immediately becomes a huge national scandal. Well, they can say what they like; we represent a broadly based body of public opinion in this country that recognises the extent to which our political class have betrayed us."

The party says it will be contesting more than 2,500 council seats at local elections in May.

Mr Farage says UKIP "has changed" since 2010, adding: "The most significant change is the rise of women in the party. There are women candidates at number one and number two on the [European elections] lists.

"Some even talk about a female takeover of UKIP. The point here that distinguishes us is that we have not used positive discrimination, we have not used all-female shortlists, our women have achieve these positions on the European elections lists through merit, which is the example of the kind of society we want to live in."

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Badger culls were 'ineffective'

28 February 2014 Last updated at 00:01 ET By Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent, BBC News

An independent scientific assessment of last year's pilot badger culls in parts of Gloucestershire and Somerset has concluded that they were not effective.

Analysis commissioned by the government found the number of badgers killed fell well short of the target deemed necessary, the BBC understands.

And more than 5% of badgers culled took longer than five minutes to die, failing the test for humaneness.

The pilot culls were intended to limit the spread of TB in cattle.

They were carried out to demonstrate the ability to combat bovine TB though a controlled reduction in the population of local badgers.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

We have always stated that if the pilots were to fail on humaneness then BVA could not support the wider roll out of the method of controlled shooting"

End Quote Robin Hargreaves, President, British Veterinary Association

Contracted marksmen, paid for by farming groups, were employed to shoot the animals at night.

The Independent Expert Panel was appointed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to help ministers evaluate the effectiveness, humaneness and safety of the Gloucestershire and Somerset pilots.

Prof Rosie Woodroffe, a scientist at the Zoological Society of London, said that the panel's "findings show unequivocally that the culls were not effective and that they failed to meet the humaneness criteria.

"I hope this will lead to the Secretary of State (Owen Patterson) to focus on other ways of eradicating TB in cattle," she told BBC News.

Robin Hargreaves, president of the British Veterinary Association (BVA), said it was the BVA that had taken a lead in calling for the controlled shooting to be tested and critically evaluated before it was rolled out.

"We are unable to comment in detail on the findings of the IEP until we have seen the report," he told the BBC. "But if these figures are true then they would certainly raise concerns about both the humaneness and efficacy of controlled shooting.

"We have always stated that if the pilots were to fail on humaneness then BVA could not support the wider roll out of the method of controlled shooting."

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

The findings show unequivocally that the culls were not effective and that they failed to meet the humaneness criteria"

End Quote Prof Rosie Woodroffe Zoological Society of London

The pilots were authorised by Defra and licensed by Natural England.

The target for marksmen was to kill at least 70% of badgers in the cull areas within a six-week period.

Extensive research carried out by Prof Woodroffe in earlier trials in the 1990s had shown that a failure to kill this percentage of badgers in a narrow window of time could actually worsen matters as disturbed and diseased animals took the TB into new areas.

When both trials duly failed to kill sufficient badgers within the specified period, they were extended on the advice of the Chief Vet, Nigel Gibbens. The panel in its report, though, concerns itself only with the initial six weeks.

First assessments had suggested that, in those six weeks, 58% of badgers had been killed in the Somerset cull and 30% in the Gloucestershire pilot.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

We knew there'd be lessons to be learned from the first year of the pilot culls which is why we're looking forward to receiving the panel's recommendations for improving the way they are carried out."

End Quote Defra spokesman

However, BBC News understands the independent panel's analysis, which used more precise methodology, found that less than half of badgers were killed in both areas over the six-week period.

Defra had also agreed a criterion with the expert group for how the trials could be deemed humane.

The standard set was for no more than 5% of the shot badgers to take more than five minutes to die.

But the expert group found the time limit was exceeded by between 6.4% and 18% of shot animals, depending on the assumptions made.

The expert group, however, held back from describing the trial as "inhumane" on the grounds that there may be some circumstances in which greater suffering of badgers might be justified. An example would be if the spread of TB was causing more problems than otherwise anticipated.

Prof Woodroffe was among 32 scientists who wrote to Mr Patterson in 2012 expressing fears that the culls risked increasing TB in cattle rather than reducing it.

"Our predictions have been borne out," she told the BBC. "It has cost a fortune and probably contributed nothing in terms of disease control, which is really unfortunate."

The assessment also found a wide variation in the effectiveness and humaneness of the contractors brought in by farming groups to kill the badgers.

The expert panel said that if culling was to be extended to other parts of the country, the marksmen recruited would need to be closely monitored.

On the issue of public safety, the panel found no problems.

Andy Robertson, director general of the National Farmers' Union, said he could not comment on the contents of the IEP report until it was officially published. However, he stressed the threat TB in cattle posed to his members.

"More than 30,000 cattle were killed in the first 11 months of 2013 because of the disease. It is vital that we do everything we can to tackle the disease. Badgers play a key role in spreading bovine TB and so it's essential that any TB eradication policy must include a targeted cull of badgers in those areas where TB is rife."

Defra said that it it not know when the report would be submitted by the IEP or when it would be published, stating only that "no deadline had been set". A spokesperson added: "We knew there'd be lessons to be learned from the first year of the pilot culls which is why we're looking forward to receiving the panel's recommendations for improving the way they are carried out, because we need to do all we can to tackle this devastating disease."

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Crackdown on fake shares fraudsters

28 February 2014 Last updated at 01:00 ET By Danny Shaw Home affairs correspondent, BBC News

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The worldwide operation was led by City of London police, Robert Hall reports

Criminal gangs who trick people into investing in worthless shares have been targeted by police in the biggest ever international crackdown on the fraud.

The operation resulted in 110 arrests - mostly in Spain and the UK.

Police targeted the masterminds and facilitators of the "boiler room" fraud - so-called because of the cramped conditions they work from.

There are 850 confirmed victims of the gangs in the UK, but the real figure is likely to be in the "multi-thousands".

Detectives say the aim of the two-year investigation, codenamed Operation Rico, is to "decimate" boiler room fraud in Europe.

They believe it is the biggest ever operation into the crime.

Operation Rico, which culminated in a series of raids this week, was led by City of London Police.

Commander Steve Head, who is the national economic crime co-ordinator, said: "It is our most important investigation ever, targeting people we believe are at the top of an organised crime network that has been facilitating boiler rooms across Europe and which is suspected of being responsible for millions of pounds of investment fraud."

Among those under investigation were 10 "tier one criminals" with alleged links to organised crime and drugs, detectives said. Nine of them are British, one is South African.

Continue reading the main story

This is us seeking to decimate a crime type"

End Quote Detective Inspector James Clancey City of London Police

The operation was supported by Spanish police and involved agencies in the UK and overseas, including the US Secret Service.

"This is a landmark both from an investigative perspective and in terms of our close working partnership with other law enforcement agencies, most notably the Policía Nacional," said Commander Head.

Eighty-four arrests were made in Spain - where most of the boiler rooms are believed to be based - in raids involving 300 police officers, 40 of them from the UK.

Twenty people were detained in Britain, two in the US, four in Serbia.

Police released photographs of a Ferrari found at a suspect's home in Marbella, an Aston Martin recovered from Barcelona and a Ford Mustang discovered at a property in Manchester.

Detective Inspector James Clancey, from City of London Police, who was based in Spain for the operation, said: "This is us seeking to decimate a crime type."

Police say victims of the boiler room gangs have lost sums ranging from £2,000 to £500,000.

Those who are targeted are usually vulnerable or have a history of share investment, particularly in privatised utilities in the 1980s and 90s.

Most of them are aged 40 and over, with many in their 70s and 80s. Police say some killed themselves because of the financial problems they got into.

Fraudsters cold-call their victims, applying "high-pressure sales techniques" and "confidence tricks" to persuade them to part with their money.

They are offered returns of 10 to 20% per year, directed to authentic-looking websites and glossy brochures and asked to invest in bonds in well-known firms or in other companies that are officially registered.

Initially, they may receive "dividends" to give them confidence their investment is paying off but never receive any more or get their money back.

One of the victims, a woman in her late 70s, invested £23,000 in carbon credits.

She was then persuaded by another salesman to borrow money to buy £140,000 of shares in gold. She never recovered the money.

"I foolishly trusted him," she told BBC News, adding: "My generation is not very streetwise - because we never had to be."

Another victim, a 72-year-old man from the Midlands, said he and his wife had been "scammed out of our entire life savings".

He said that, in the weeks after realising what had happened, "we hardly slept or ate".

"It is still very raw to us both and we both have bad days when it is all we can think about," he added.

The Financial Conduct Authority has estimated that as much as £200m is lost to boiler room frauds in Britain every year.

The biggest individual loss recorded by police was £6 million.

Officers say the fraudsters spend their proceeds on Rolex watches, Armani suits, fast cars and flashy apartments.

Some are involved in drug dealing and attend drugs parties.

Avoiding detection

Each boiler room network is believed to have an accountant, money launderer and lawyer, as well as people who do the "sales".

These tend to be university students or travellers who speak English, including some from Scandinavia, who have answered adverts for salespeople.

They use false names and build up a "legend" - a cover story and false history.

"They're young people who want to earn good commission and want to drink themselves into the ground," said DI Clancey.

Operation Rico is the first time there has been a multi-agency and cross-border investigation against different networks of boiler room fraudsters. Previously there was more of a piecemeal approach.

However, despite some successes, criminals had become adept at avoiding detection by frequently moving offices and wiping computers.

DI Clancey said the Spanish authorities were fully behind the operation. "The Spanish want to drive it out of Spain - it's tainting them," he said.

Detectives acknowledge that boiler room fraudsters will not disappear but they are more likely to operate in future in the more "hostile" environments of Thailand, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates.

Police have urged anyone who may have been scammed to call the Action Fraud line on 0300 123 2040.

Anyone with any information about these crimes can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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Northern Lights illuminate the UK

28 February 2014 Last updated at 03:03 ET

The Aurora Borealis - better known as the Northern Lights - has been giving rare and spectacular displays over parts of the UK, from the north of Scotland to as far south as Essex and Gloucestershire.

The lights have also been clearly visible in places such as Orkney, Norfolk, and south Wales.

The display, which is caused by electrically charged particles from the Sun entering the Earth's atmosphere, led to scenes such as this one at the Stonehaven war memorial, Aberdeenshire.

Mark Thompson, presenter of the BBC's Stargazing Live, said he had not been expecting a display as spectacular as it was in places such as Wick, in Caithness.

Mr Thompson said the display, which was also seen in Corbridge, Northumberland, happens when solar wind, or electrically charged particles, are ejected from the Sun. He said: "They take two or three days to get here and when they do get here they cause the gas atoms in the sky to glow. It is as simple as that."

The astronomer said: "Three or four days ago the Sun will have thrown a lot of this stuff out in an event called a Coronal Mass Ejection, and they would have been travelling towards the Earth since. It all depends how active the Sun has been." This photograph was taken in Boulmer, Northumberland.

Mr Thompson said the particles were usually pulled towards the North Pole but if there were enough of them "they will travel further down towards the equator and cause the lights to go further south". Unusually, this time they were seen as far south as Gloucestershire.

"It is just good luck," Mr Thompson said. "The last time I have seen it this spectacular was probably 20 years ago." The lights were seen in many locations across the UK, including Shap in Cumbria.

The Northern Lights were seen from many parts of the UK, including here at Bow Fiddle Rock in Portknockie, Moray.

The Aurora Borealis was also visible from Foxley, Norfolk.

Many people took photographs of the illuminated skies. This one shows St Mary's Island, Tyne and Wear.

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Energy firms told to hand back £400m

28 February 2014 Last updated at 03:21 ET

The "big six" energy firms have been told to hand back more than £400m owed to customers.

Credit left in customer accounts when people and businesses move or switch suppliers has accumulated over the last six years, Ofgem said.

The energy regulator, which says its estimates are the minimum owed, has called the amount "unacceptably large".

It thinks 3.5 million domestic and 300,000 business accounts are affected.

"When many people are struggling to make ends meet, it is vital that energy companies do the right thing and do all they can to return this money and restore consumer trust," said Andrew Wright, chief executive of Ofgem.

"We want to see decisive action by suppliers, individually and collectively, to address this issue."

Alerting customers

Ofgem estimates the suppliers hold at least £202m from former domestic customers and at least £204m from old business accounts.

The regulator says it is investigating whether suppliers' policies on returning money to customers comply with existing rules.

In cases where the money cannot be returned, the regulator expects companies to "find ways to use this money to benefit consumers more generally" and clearly explain what they have done with it.

Customers need to be aware of the problem of outstanding credit, said Sarah Harrison, senior partner in charge of enforcement at Ofgem.

"We're using the opportunity to alert customers," she told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. "Make sure that you take with you what is owed to you when you change supplier."

The body that represents the suppliers, Energy UK, said returning credit balances can be difficult because some customers leave no new contact details when they move house, or they have no details of next of kin when people die.

It urged customers to keep their energy suppliers informed.

In a statement, it added: "Energy companies try and make sure individual customers' money gets back to its rightful owners. However, more commonly, energy companies are owed many times more money by people who leave unpaid debts behind them."

Ofgem's call comes after most of the "big six" energy firms agreed to automatic refunds for direct debit customers when they are in credit.

Are you owed money by your energy company? Email your stories to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk adding 'Energy' in the subject heading and including your contact details.

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Child poverty rethink to be outlined

26 February 2014 Last updated at 22:47 ET

New measures to tackle child poverty are to be unveiled by the government.

But plans to scrap the existing definition, which focuses on the income of households, have been put on hold, Iain Duncan Smith has suggested.

In a Guardian article with Chancellor George Osborne, the work and pensions secretary said it was important "we take the time to get it right".

Labour says child poverty has risen in recent years. PM David Cameron says it has fallen under a range of measures.

Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, Mr Cameron said there were 500,000 fewer children in poverty than in 2009.

'Simplistic analysis'

One of the key aims of the strategy will be to stop poor children growing up to be poor adults.

The government is likely to announce a new focus on getting parents into work and improving the educational performance of children from the poorest backgrounds.

Some details of the draft measures to be put forward by Mr Duncan Smith and schools minister David Laws were reported by the Observer on Sunday.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

The right analysis, the right data, and the right measures will allow us to deliver a really meaningful reduction in child poverty"

End Quote Iain Duncan Smith and George Osborne

They include reducing the typical energy bill by £50 and extending the warm home discount, reducing water bills for low-income families, lowering food bills through vouchers and extending the free school meals programme.

A child is currently considered to be living in relative poverty if they are in a household whose income is below 60% of average earnings.

Mr Duncan Smith has long argued that measure is too simplistic, as some families might appear to have become less poor if average incomes fall, and he had been expected to propose a broader definition.

It was thought he would argue that whether parents were in work or had drug or alcohol problems should also matter, as should ensuring children got a good education.

Mr Duncan Smith and Mr Osborne, writing in the Guardian, said the Tories were still "committed to introducing better measures of child poverty - measures that drive the right action to bring about a real change in children's lives now and in the future".

They said that, under Labour, "the wrong measures based on inadequate data and simplistic analysis drive misguided and ineffective policy".

But, acknowledging they would not be pushing forward with a change in definition at this stage, they said: "This is such an important issue - it is vitally important that we take the time to get it right.

"The right analysis, the right data, and the right measures will allow us to deliver a really meaningful reduction in child poverty."

BBC social affairs correspondent Michael Buchanan said Liberal Democrats were claiming the Treasury had blocked the introduction of new targets.

"The Lib Dems are understood to be sympathetic to some of Mr Duncan Smith's arguments but blame the Treasury for blocking attempts to introduce new targets to supplement the income threshold which was devised by Labour," he said.

'Fix leak'

Save the Children's William Higham said: "With child poverty predicted to rise by a million by 2020, more children will be growing up without the basics we expect, like a warm home and a winter coat."

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Changing the definition of poverty won't do anything to help the children whose lives are being damaged by the rise in poverty we are seeing under this government"

End Quote Shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves

He added: "The proposed government action on energy prices and insurance will make a difference - but we can't just bail out families, we need to fix the leak.

"Work needs to become a route out of poverty and we must intervene early to help the poorest families and make sure their children don't fall behind at school."

Government figures on poverty, released in June, show the median UK household income for 2011/2012 was £427 a week - 60% of that figure was £256 a week.

In that year, 17% of children, or 2.3 million, were classed as being in poverty while 15% of working-age adults, or 5.6 million, were in poverty.

But Labour said 400,000 more children were set to be living in poverty in 2015, compared with five years earlier.

"Changing the definition of poverty won't do anything to help the children whose lives are being damaged by the rise in poverty we are seeing under this government," said shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves.

Are you struggling on a low income with a family to support? What is the best way to tackle child poverty? Email us at haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk adding 'Child poverty' in the subject heading and including your contact details.

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NI crisis talks over secret letters

27 February 2014 Last updated at 01:15 ET

Northern Ireland Secretary of State Theresa Villiers is to meet Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness as the crisis around power-sharing deepens.

She is facing an ultimatum from First Minister Peter Robinson to address his concerns about secret letters given to republicans classified as "On The Run".

The DUP leader had made his resignation threat after the trial of Donegal man John Downey collapsed.

Mr Downey denied killing four soldiers in the 1982 IRA Hyde Park bombing.

Mr Robinson has asked for the assembly to be recalled on Friday.

The first minister met for an hour with the secretary of state on Wednesday night.

The meeting, described as frank, followed his threat to resign over the matter.

Mr Robinson has called for letters to those on the run, which give assurances to the suspects that they are not being sought by police, to be rescinded. He has also called for an inquiry.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) sources said he is prepared to resign and call an election if necessary.

Resignation threat

He gave the government until Thursday night to respond to the crisis.

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Chris Buckler reports

He intends to make a statement to the assembly on Friday but what he says will depend on how the government deals with the issue.

The case against Mr Downey collapsed because he was mistakenly told in a letter in 2007 that he was no longer a wanted man, despite the fact that police in Northern Ireland knew he was still being sought by Scotland Yard.

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Standard Life could quit Scotland

27 February 2014 Last updated at 01:59 ET

Standard Life is putting in place contingency plans to relocate funds, people and operations to England if Scottish people vote for independence and what it regards as material uncertainties about money and regulation are not sorted to its satisfaction.

In its annual report, published on Thursday, the chairman of the Edinburgh-based pensions and savings firm, Gerry Grimstone, says Scotland has been a great base for the company but that, "if anything were to threaten this, we will take whatever action we consider necessary - including transferring parts of our operations from Scotland - in order to ensure continuity and to protect the interests of our stakeholders".

According to Standard Life's chief executive, David Nish, the company - which has had its headquarters in Scotland for 189 years - has "started work to establish additional registered companies to operate outside Scotland, into which we could transfer parts of our operations if necessary".

"This is a precautionary measure to ensure continuity of our businesses' competitive position and to protect the interests of our stakeholders."

Standard Life is the first significant Scottish business to warn that remaining in Scotland may be untenable in the event of a vote for independence.

Its intervention in the debate on Scotland's future is particularly significant because it is a symbolically important company in Scottish financial history and is regarded as a great success.

Standard Life is the UK's biggest provider of defined contribution pensions and self-invested pension plans, and has around £240bn of assets under management.

Uncertainties

Mr Nish insisted Standard Life has "a long-standing policy of strict political neutrality and at no time will we advise people on how they should vote".

We will take whatever action necessary - including transferring parts of our operations from Scotland - to protect the interests of our stakeholders"

End Quote Gerry Grimstone Chairman, Standard Life

However, he said his strict duty was to assess the impact of independence on the group's four million UK customers, its 5,000 Scottish-based employees and its 1.5 million shareholders.

Mr Nish said this judgement could not be made in a definitive way at the moment because of uncertainties about the currency to be used by an independent Scotland, how interest rates would be set, how financial companies like Standard Life would be regulated, how savings and pensions would be taxed, and on what timetable Scotland could join the EU.

I am told by informed sources that unless a formal monetary, regulatory and currency union were agreed by an independent Scotland with the rest of the UK, which also included some kind of compact on taxes, Standard Life would feel obliged to move both funds and people to England.

The point is that 90% of all Standard Life's UK customers are outside Scotland, while their funds are held inside the country.

And if Scotland seceded without delegating regulation and monetary policy to London, the risks, costs and complexities of customers being in a separate country from their money would be too great - or so Standard Life believes.

"Customers' money and our capital would need to be near regulators responsible for those customers," said a source.

Standard Life also does not believe it could continue to recruit the best people to work in Edinburgh if they were uncertain about how much they would be taxed.

Monetary union

What brought this issue to a head for the company was the recent declaration by Chancellor George Osborne, Labour shadow chancellor Ed Balls and the Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, that they would all oppose formal monetary union with Scotland.

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I understand that Standard Life does not regard as satisfactory the apparent fallback position of Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond that Scotland would use the pound even without formal monetary union.

Although Standard Life's location is not vital to Scottish prosperity, the threat of tens of billions of pounds of funds and thousands of highly-skilled jobs flowing across the border are bound to have an electrifying impact on the independence battle.

I am reliably told that the emigration of Standard Life could extend to shifting the headquarters from Edinburgh to London.

"There is no stock exchange up here [in Scotland]," said a well-placed source, "and we are not sure we would wish to become a foreign registered company on the London Stock Exchange. So we might have to move."

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RBS posts £8.2bn loss for 2013

27 February 2014 Last updated at 03:03 ET

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has reported its sixth annual loss since it was rescued by the UK government in 2008.

The bank's pre-tax loss for 2013 was £8.2bn.

However, excluding bad bank and legacy costs, RBS made an operating profit of £2.5bn.

RBS' bonus pool is down to £576m, a drop of 15% on last year, when £679m was paid out. Of that sum, £237m will be paid to investment bankers.

The bank, which is 81% owned by the UK taxpayer, also set aside regulatory and redress provisions of £3.8m.

It incurred impairments and losses of £4.8bn due to the establishment of a new internal "bad bank", known as RBS Capital Resolution (RCR).

Ross McEwan, RBS' chief executive, told the BBC the results were "very sobering".

'Smaller, simpler'

Mr McEwan has also outlined plans for RBS to become the "the number one bank for customer service and the most trusted bank in the UK" by 2020.

He said RBS would restructure its seven divisions and support departments to leave just three customer businesses: personal, commercial and corporate.

The bank's cost-to-income ratio currently stands at 73%, but RBS has set a target of getting this down to about 55% by 2017.

"This year, that will mean cutting around £1bn of operational spend on things that don't help our customers," a statement confirmed.

'Reduced staff levels'

The company's results come a week after UK newspapers speculated that thousands of jobs would be cut at the bank over the coming year.

RBS has not confirmed how many positions will be lost, but Mr McEwan said that "reducing costs and divesting businesses in the bank will inevitably result in reduced staff levels".

"We do not yet have detailed plans for implementation," he added.

"We will deal with such matters sensitively, talking to our staff before communicating any such changes."

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Binding 'pre-nup' law proposed

27 February 2014 Last updated at 03:27 ET

Couples in England and Wales would be able to legally agree the terms of a divorce before marrying, under a new law being put forward.

The Law Commission believes making pre and post-nuptial agreements legally binding will make it easier for couples to manage their finances after a split.

Currently, married couples and civil partners can make agreements but courts do not always uphold them.

The commission advises the government on updates to the law.

It says that should the proposed law be enacted, married couples and civil partners would be able to make a binding agreement about how their property or finances should be shared if their relationship breaks down.

The measures are expected to be particularly popular with those considering second marriages who want to protect property for their children.

'Commodity'

Harry Benson, of the Marriage Foundation, said he expected such agreements would only be used by a small minority who had a lot to protect.

"What you are essentially saying is, 'My money is more important than our commitment.'"

But divorce lawyer Sarah Anticoni, a partner at law firm Charles Russell, said she could foresee such contracts becoming much more common.

"They will turn from being a luxury, probably into a commodity."

Continue reading the main story

If I do get married again, a pre-nuptial agreement would be absolutely critical"

End Quote Eric Tansley

She said the Law Commission had given clear guidance that any agreement would need to meet people's needs.

This, she added, included somewhere to live, money to live on and to have in mind that there may be children.

The Law Commission has also laid out conditions in order for the marital agreements to be binding, which include:

• Both partners must have had legal advice

• Both partners must have disclosed all relevant information about their finances

• A pre-nuptial agreement must have been made at least 28 days before the wedding or civil partnership

Prof Elizabeth Cooke, the law commissioner for property, family and trust law, said that the change would give couples "autonomy and control, and make the financial outcome of separation more predictable".

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"Pre- and post-nuptial agreements are becoming more commonplace but the courts will not always follow them and lawyers are therefore not able to give clear advice about their effect," she added.

'Twice shy'

Eric Tansley, who went through a long and difficult divorce, told BBC's Breakfast he wished the arrangement had been available when he split up with his wife.

"I'd inherited a considerable sum of money from my father a few years ago and endeavoured to have that protected but there proved to be no way of doing so.

"And so it's just in the pot and it's been dissipated. I just so wish that I could have kept that separate," he said.

"If I do get married again, a pre-nuptial agreement would be absolutely critical, both for my own protection and for that of the interests of my children, and clearly at the moment it's very much a case of once bitten, twice shy for me."

The government will now consider the Law Commission's recommendations.

Have you made an agreement with your partner? Do you plan to make one in the future? Email us at haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk adding 'Pre-nup' in the subject heading and including your contact details.

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