First-time buyers get 20% discount

28 February 2015 Last updated at 08:23 By Joe Lynam Business correspondent, BBC News

First-time buyers under the age of 40 in England can now register to buy new homes at a discount of up to 20% off the normal price.

The offer is part of the government's new "starter homes" scheme to encourage home ownership and construction on previously used "brownfield" land.

The government hopes that 100,000 new houses will be built specifically for first-time buyers by 2020.

Labour said the plans would ring hollow for those priced out of the market.

The 20% discount is achieved because homebuilders on brownfield sites would not have to pay local authority fees of at least £45,000 per dwelling.

The government said there would be no compromise on quality or energy efficiency, but first-time buyers would have to repay the 20% price advantage if they sold within five years.

Housing minister Brandon Lewis urged first-time buyers to register on the starter homes website from Saturday.

He said: "We're actually at the start of an affordable house building programme that's the fastest build rate in about 20 years.

"And this new starter homes programme is another 100,000 homes on top of everything else that we're doing, allowing those first time buyers, people who want to own that home of their own, to be able to do that - a good design, well-built home, with a 20 per cent discount.

"When you link that with help to buy it opens up the ability to own a home to a whole new group of people."

But Labour said that the government had presided over the lowest levels of house building since the 1920s and home ownership was at its lowest level for three decades.

The number of houses being built in the UK fell during the final three months of 2014 - the first such decline for nearly two years.

The 0.2% drop in new home construction compared with a 6.1% increase in the previous quarter.

Overall, total construction output fell by 2.1% in the quarter, the Office for National Statistics said.

The government introduced a scheme called Help to Buy in England in April 2013.

It was aimed at helping those trying to get on the housing ladder who could afford mortgage repayments but were struggling to raise a deposit.

In March 2014, Chancellor George Osborne announced that the scheme in England would be extended to 2020 rather than December 2016, as planned.

Are you a first-time buyer struggling to get on to the property ladder? Would you register for this scheme? You can share your thoughts by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. Please include a telephone number if you are willing to be contacted by a BBC journalist.

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Sir Cliff's lawyers criticise MPs

27 February 2015 Last updated at 20:55

Sir Cliff Richard's lawyers have criticised a committee of MPs for publishing a letter about the police inquiry into sex abuse allegations against the singer.

The letter from South Yorkshire Police said the investigation into Sir Cliff had "increased significantly in size".

His lawyers said the disclosure was unnecessary and have written to Home Affairs Committee chairman Keith Vaz.

Mr Vaz said it was normal to publish evidence put before the committee.

Sir Cliff's lawyers complained of another round of "extremely damaging media coverage" as a result of the release.

Sir Cliff has been interviewed about an allegation of a sex crime, but was not arrested or charged.

The letter from South Yorkshire Police's chief constable - which emerged earlier this week - revealed that the investigation involved "more than one allegation".

The letter followed a police raid on Sir Cliff's Berkshire home last August.

The BBC understands the original allegation relates to an alleged assault at an event featuring US preacher Billy Graham at Bramall Lane in Sheffield in 1985.

Gideon Benaim, of Michael Simkins LLP, said in his letter to the Home Affairs Committee that had Sir Cliff been given an opportunity to comment "the damage" could have been avoided.

"The committee have, through their actions, facilitated coverage which would not have otherwise occurred." he said.

"It does of course remain the case that our client has neither been arrested nor charged with any offence and that he denies any wrongdoing whatsoever.

"In addition to not knowing much about the claims of new allegations, our client has not of course been interviewed about them."

'Policy to publish'

Sir Cliff has said the claims against him were "absurd and untrue" and he had "never, in my life, assaulted anyone".

Home Affairs Committee chairman Keith Vaz, in a letter of response to Sir Cliff's lawyers, said: "Unless a letter or document is marked private and confidential it has always been the policy of the committee to publish whatever we receive.

"South Yorkshire Police specifically asked for the redaction of certain parts of the letter before publication."

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Emwazi had anger therapy - teacher

28 February 2015 Last updated at 04:50

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"He had some anger management classes." Newsnight hears from a former teacher.

The man named as extremist "Jihadi John" received anger management therapy in his first year of secondary school after getting into fights, a former teacher has said.

Mohammed Emwazi, who has been seen in beheading videos of Western hostages, attended Quintin Kynaston school in Queens Park, London, a decade ago.

The teacher said he needed help controlling his emotions.

But he was regarded as a "success story" after the therapy, she added.

Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born British man, who is in his mid-20s and from west London, was identified as the person dubbed "Jihadi John" earlier this week.

Security services have been criticised for being aware of Emwazi but not preventing him from joining Islamic State.

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Lucy Manning reports on the schoolboy who grew into "Jihadi John"

Speaking to BBC Two's Newsnight, the teacher, who was not identified, said the former pupil had been a "lovely, lovely boy" who had a "real willingness to try and succeed".

"We'd find that he'd get very angry and worked up and it would take him a long time to calm himself down, so we did a lot of work as a school to help him with his anger and to control his emotions," the teacher said.

"It seemed to work. He had a lot of respect for all of the work that had been done for him at our school.

'Huge achievement'

"He didn't come from a troubled background. He didn't leave school with no qualifications. He had every chance of doing well. I just can't believe he'd do that."

She went on to say that he had achieved everything he wanted to do at school.

"He went to a university of his choice, and from the way he started in year seven to how he blossomed until he left at the end of sixth form was a huge achievement for him."

The teacher also said MI5 had interviewed his former teachers from the school.

A statement from Quintin Kynaston school said it was "shocked and sickened" that its former pupil may be involved with Islamic State.

It added: "All members of staff at QK work very hard to support the education and well-being of our students and protect them from harm.

"In this respect, QK has been extremely proactive in working with the government's Prevent strategy for a period of time and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future."

'Apology for terror'

UK-based advocacy group Cage has suggested that MI5 may have contributed to the radicalisation of Emwazi.

Downing Street said that suggestion was "completely reprehensible", while London mayor Boris Johnson described Cage's comments as "an apology for terror".

Mr Cameron has defended the UK's security services, praising the work of "these extraordinary men and women".

He went on to say the security services' "dedication and work has saved us from plots on the streets of the UK that could have done us immense damage" within the last few months.

Mohammed Emwazi's movements before heading to Syria

• 1. Aug 2009, refused entry to Tanzania: travels to Tanzania with two friends, but is refused entry at Dar es Salaam. Tanzanian police have denied Emwazi's name is on their database of suspected foreign criminals detained and deported in 2009, as he had claimed. Emwazi and his friends are put on flight to Amsterdam, where they are questioned. They return to Dover and are questioned again.
• 2. Sept 2009, travels to Kuwait for work: leaves the UK for Kuwait for work.
• 3. May/June 2010, returns to UK for holiday: he returns to the UK for an eight-day visit.
• 4. July 2010, refused re-entry to Kuwait: Emwazi returns to the UK once more for a couple of days. He is stopped at Heathrow on his return to Kuwait and told he cannot travel as his visa has expired.
• 5. 2013, travels to Syria: Emwazi changes his name to Mohammed al-Ayan and attempts to travel to Kuwait but is stopped and questioned. Three days later, he heads abroad. Police later inform his family he has travelled to Syria.

Source: Cage

'Jihadi John' movement mapped

Emwazi 'claimed harassment'

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UK 'must prepare for Russian threat'

28 February 2015 Last updated at 06:35

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Sir John Sawers spoke to Today's Mishal Hussein

Russia has become a danger to Britain and the country must be prepared to take steps to defend itself and its allies, the former head of MI6 says.

Sir John Sawers, who recently retired after five years as chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Russia poses a "state to state threat".

Sir John said dealing with such threats would require more defence spending.

But he called on issues with Russia to be addressed by "increased dialogue".

He said he was disappointed how, after the end of the Cold War, Russia's and Europe's paths had failed to converge.

Russia's threat was "not necessarily directly to the UK but to countries around its periphery".

"[Russia] keep on reminding us that they have nuclear weapons," he said.

"The one level in which Russia and America are equals is at the nuclear level.

"Now we don't want to have a repeat of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 where we got to the brink of nuclear war.

"We need to be able to address this through increased dialogue."

'Multi-polar world'

His comments come after a year of fighting in eastern Ukraine between government forces and pro-Russian separatists.

"We shouldn't kid ourselves that Russia is on a path to democracy because it isn't," Sir John said.

"One of the aspects of the modern world is that we live in a much more dangerous world these days.

"The stability that we had during the Cold War, or the predominance of the West that we had in the decade or two after the Cold War - that is now changing.

"It's a much sort of flatter world, a much more multi-polar world and there are real dangers associated with that."

Sir John described Russia as always having been an "issue of concern" for security services.

"Europe and Russia are not converging with one another so we're going to have to find a new way to coexist with Russia," he said.

"This crisis at the moment - it's focused on Ukraine but Ukraine is a symptom. It's not the real problem.

"The real problem is how we live with a Russia which feels very exposed. Putin's actions are ones of a leader who believes his own security is at stake.

"And here we've got nuclear bombers approaching the Cornish coast."

Jihadist threat

Sir John said the UK needed to prepare to take defensive measures for itself and the nation's allies, which include the Baltic states and central Europe.

"We've got to have the capability to deal with things like the hybrid warfare that we've seen Russia deploy, first in Crimea and then in the Donbass region, we've got to have the ability to deal with cyberwarfare.

"What's really important is that we're able to fulfil all of our defence commitments and I think that that's going to require a reversal in the trend in defence spending.

"We're going to have to spend more on our defence and our security because the threats are greater."

In a wide-ranging interview, Sir John also discussed the threat from jihadists.

His comments come after Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born British man in his mid-20s and from west London, was identified as "Jihadi John", an individual pictured in the videos of several beheadings of Western hostages.

Sir John said there were two answers to the question of why people became radicalised.

The first is that Muslims "are less well integrated" into UK society "and there are a number of social and economic factors that are related to that".

Secondly, he said, the Islamic religion "as a whole is not well geared to reviving and modernising itself so that it meets the values and the norms of a 21st Century society".

"So there's a big political challenge which can only really be taken up by leaders in the Islamic world... it can't be imposed by the West."

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Compensation call over energy switch

28 February 2015 Last updated at 08:32

Energy price comparison sites should pay compensation to customers who changed to tariffs that may not have been the cheapest deals, MPs have said.

Such websites have been criticised in the past for not showing the cheapest tariffs, and not telling customers which deals they earn commission on.

Now, the Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee says "duped" customers should get some money back.

The government said it was important that people could trust such sites.

Mark Todd, of energy switching company Energy Helpline, said anyone who had been mis-sold should be compensated - but warned that forcing sites to show all tariffs could "unravel" the price comparison industry.

Last year, the websites were accused of using a mechanism that asked consumers if they wanted to switch gas and electricity suppliers immediately.

By clicking "yes" to that question, all the deals that did not earn the company a commission were filtered out.

Only if a consumer clicked "no" were they shown other deals, which could be cheaper.

Rates of commission earned by the different websites from suppliers varied from £22 to £30 for a single switch, or £44 to £60 for a "duel fuel" if a customer switched both gas and electricity supplier, the report said.

Tim Yeo, the committee's chairman, said it was "perfectly proper" that sites earned a commission, but they must be open and honest about their practices.

"Some energy price comparison sites have been behaving more like backstreet market traders than the trustworthy consumer champions they make themselves out to be in adverts on TV.

"Some comparison sites have used misleading language to dupe consumers into opting for default options that only display commission-earning deals.

"And others have previously gone so far as to conceal deals that do not earn them commission behind multiple drop-down web options."

Continue reading the main story

Millions of pounds have been saved by using price comparison sites to switch - by shopping around people can make sure they find the best energy deal available"

End Quote Department of Energy and Climate Change

By the end of March, websites signed up to its consumer confidence code will have to show all the tariffs on offer, unless customers choose to see a more limited range.

Mr Todd, co-founder of Energy Helpline, which powers Compare the Market and Go Compare, said his sites now show all available tariffs by default - but claimed forcing all sites to do so could have repercussions.

"If everyone is forced to do that, it could undermine the whole market. It could become so great, that the whole thing could unravel," he said.

"If everyone is forced to show everything, what is the benefit of a supplier paying a commission to a price comparison?"

He also claimed energy comparison sites gave "much better coverage in price comparison" than other sectors, such as flight or hotel booking sites.

"Don't believe it's everything, unless it says it's everything. Because most comparison sites don't show you things they don't earn a commission on," he said.

Confidence code

The committee is calling on energy regulator Ofgem to consider requiring price comparison sites and other third parties to disclose the amount of commission they get for each customer switch made, at the point of sale.

The regulator also forwarded the issue to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which is now considering the role of price comparison sites as part of its wider review of the energy market.

In a statement, the comparison site uSwitch said that it had helped households save £112m on energy bills last year but it said that it had made compensation payments to some customers.

Steve Weller, uSwitch chief executive, said: "What is important now is that all switching services - be they price comparison sites, collective switching schemes or offline switching services - are required to meet the same high standards."

A Department of Energy and Climate Change spokesman said: "Millions of pounds have been saved by using price comparison sites to switch - by shopping around people can make sure they find the best energy deal available.

"Consumer trust and confidence in price comparison sites is important and, with Ofgem's strengthened confidence code, people will be able to have greater confidence than ever before that, by switching, they'll save."

Do you use price comparison websites? Have you been "duped" by one? If you are happy to speak to a BBC journalist about the issue email us Haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk and remember to include a contact number.

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Lords call for UK Arctic ambassador

27 February 2015 Last updated at 03:15

The United Kingdom should create an ambassador for the Arctic or risk being pushed out of key decisions for the region, a House of Lords report says.

The Lords committee says with the Arctic warming fast, there will be huge challenges and opportunities for the environment, ecosystems and people.

It recommends an increase in government science budgets focusing on the Arctic.

And the committee also says oil firms should re-consider their plans for drilling in the region.

According to the BBC's environment analyst, Roger Harrabin, the report goes on to say that the UK needs to be involved in vital decisions over oil exploration, fishing and strategic access as Arctic summer sea ice inexorably melts.

The current slump in oil price offers a moment to examine whether fossil fuels can be safely extracted in Arctic waters, the Lords say, who also urge international standards on drilling.

They also want a moratorium on fishing in the high seas area of the central Arctic Ocean to prevent a damaging free-for-all as fish migrate north with global warming.

The committee goes on to warn that the world will warm even faster if methane is released from the Arctic seabed.

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Row over Savile hospital access claim

27 February 2015 Last updated at 01:14 By Noel Titheradge BBC News

The chief executive responsible for Stoke Mandeville hospital told a local MP in 2012 that Jimmy Savile was "not given free access" to clinical areas, the BBC has learnt.

Savile abused more than 60 people on the hospital site including wards where young children were treated.

Reading East MP Rob Wilson said Anne Eden's comments to him were "bordering on misleading".

Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust declined to comment.

Continue reading the main story

It is extremely disappointing that the answers I got at the time were inadequate and unfortunately wrong"

End Quote Rob Wilson MP

The MP's complaint follows the publication on Thursday of the report of an independent investigation into Savile's behaviour at the hospital.

It found that he had "virtually unrestricted access" to clinical areas and patients during the 1970s and 80s.

'Not full truth'

It also revealed that Savile was given a bedroom that allowed him to live "alongside young female students for four decades".

Following the emergence in September 2012 of the allegations about Jimmy Savile's abuse at Stoke Mandeville, Reading East MP Rob Wilson wrote to the Chief Executive of Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust to express his constituents' concerns about the claims.

Anne Eden sought to reassure him about Savile's freedoms at the hospital in an email sent on 12 October 2012, and obtained by the BBC through a Freedom of Information request.

"There has been a lot of conjecture in the media regarding Jimmy's access at Stoke Mandeville", she wrote. "I would like to clarify that he was not given free access around our clinical areas.

"To the best of my knowledge, whenever he attended the hospital, he would give advance notice and usually be in attendance with his fundraising team. He and his team were given access to a room, but this was not within the main hospital nor in any clinical area."

Mr Wilson said: "It is extremely disappointing that the answers I got at the time were inadequate and unfortunately wrong.

"I felt at the time I was corresponding with Ms Eden, that I was not getting to the full truth. There were clearly media reports suggesting that he had more access than she was telling me.

"I was very surprised to receive the first letter suggesting that he had no unsupervised access and suggesting there wasn't any great need to look further."

'Open secret'

He said he understood that the email was written at a difficult time for the hospital but "it was a very important issue where the truth - more than anything else - had to come out".

Meanwhile, a fomer cabinet minister who agreed a deal with Savile under which the late DJ would fundraise for the hospital on condition it was kept open, has told the BBC he accepts a share of responsibility for enabling Savile to abuse patients.

On BBC Newsnight, Lord Jenkin - who was social services secretary between 1979 and 1981 - said: "I deeply regret what we now know Jimmy Savile got up to in this hospital."

He told the programme he was not aware at the time that Savile was a sexual predator who had been given the freedom of the hospital.

"I have been appalled to read just how far he had gained access," he said.

When asked if he should have known about the level of freedom Savile had at Stoke Mandeville, he replied: "Maybe I should have, but I didn't."

Thursday's report said that Savile had abused 63 people connected to the hospital and that one formal complaint about him - made by the father of an 11-year-old girl - was ignored.

It said his reputation as a "sex pest" was an "open secret" among some staff but that allegations about his behaviour probably did not reach managers.

According to the report, Savile's victims, aged between eight and 40, were abused over a 24-year period between 1968 and 1992.

Sexual abuse by Savile ranged from inappropriate touching to rape - including the rape of children under the age of 12.

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Online motoring plea service launched

27 February 2015 Last updated at 03:09

A service allowing motorists in England and Wales charged with summary motoring offences to enter a plea online is being launched by the government.

From Monday, those charged with a minor motoring offence such as speeding or not having insurance can enter a plea 24 hours a day via a secure website.

The national roll-out of the online "Make A Plea" scheme follows a successful pilot in Greater Manchester.

The government says it saves time and money for the criminal justice system.

Last year saw 4.5m minor motoring offences processed through the courts.

The government is also considering whether the scheme could be used for other low-level offences.

Analysis

By Clive Coleman, BBC legal affairs correspondent

Just as the horse-drawn cart gave way to the motor car, so justice is moving online. Fast.

Last week a report recommended an online digital court for small civil claims - that is, disputes between individuals or organisations with a value of less than £25,000 - complete with online judges.

And £160m is being spent to digitise criminal courts themselves so that lawyers, judges and other professionals can all access the same relevant information on laptops and tablet devices.

Now you can plead to motoring offences triable in the magistrates court on your smartphone. It's really nothing more than a near instantaneous and paperless version of pleading by post.

What it offers is a big saving in administrative court costs and huge benefits for the defendant who can plead at his or her convenience, and has the knowledge that the plea has been entered on the secure website.

It may not quite have the full majesty of the law, but I'm sure we will soon look back at postal pleas as something rather quaint that went on in a distant, pre-digital past.

The service is an alternative to a postal plea or attending court and has been used by more than 1,200 people during the Manchester trial.

It will allow defendants to see their case details, view evidence and make their plea remotely.

Justice Minister Shailesh Vara said that if the new system is successful then it could be adapted for other low-level offences involving a standard guilty plea.

"This is bringing the courts and tribunal service to the modern technological era," he added.

"This is something that will mean there is going to be less paper around, less use of people, less use of office space, and a whole variety of things that will actually save real money, and that money can be used elsewhere."

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Widow wants 'Jihadi John' alive

27 February 2015 Last updated at 07:37

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The masked militant first appeared in numerous gruesome videos put out by Islamic State, as Lucy Manning reports

The widow of a man killed by a masked Islamic State militant known as "Jihadi John" says she wants him caught alive.

Dragana Haines says the "last thing" she wants for the man who killed her husband, British aid worker David Haines, is an "honourable death".

The militant, pictured in the videos of the beheadings of Western hostages, has been named as Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born Briton from west London.

Mr Haines' daughter said she wanted to see "a bullet between his eyes".

Emwazi, who is in his mid-20s and was previously known to British security services, first appeared in a video last August, when he apparently killed the US journalist James Foley.

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Dragana Haines, wife of slain hostage David: "I hope he will be caught alive... He needs to be put to justice"

He was later thought to have been pictured in the videos of the beheadings of Mr Haines, US journalist Steven Sotloff, British taxi driver Alan Henning, and American aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, also known as Peter.

Mrs Haines told the BBC she wanted him to be caught alive and not have an "honourable death" by being killed in action.

She added: "I think he needs to be put to justice, but not in that way."

However Mr Haines' daughter, Bethany, told ITV News: "I think all the families will feel closure and relief once there's a bullet between his eyes."

A spokesman for the family of Steven Sotloff said: "We want to sit in a courtroom, watch him sentenced and see him sent to a super-max prison."

Mr Foley's mother Diane told the Times that she forgave her son's killer.

"It saddens me, [Emwazi's] continued hatred," she said. "He felt wronged, now we hate him - now that just prolongs the hatred. We need to end it.

"As a mum I forgive him. You know, the whole thing is tragic - an ongoing tragedy."

'The Beatles'

In each of the videos, the militant appeared dressed in a black robe with a black balaclava covering all but his eyes and top of his nose.

Speaking with a British accent, he taunted Western powers before holding his knife to the hostages' necks, appearing to start cutting before the film stopped. The victims' decapitated bodies were then shown.

Earlier this month, the militant featured in a video in which the Japanese journalist Kenji Goto appeared to be beheaded.

Hostages released by IS said he was one of three British jihadists guarding Westerners abducted by the group in Syria. They were known collectively as "the Beatles".

Mohammed Emwazi timeline:

• 1988: Born in Kuwait, moves to UK in 1994
• 2009: Completes computing degree at University of Westminster
• Aug 2009: Travels to Tanzania with two friends, he says for safari, but refused entry at Dar es Salaam. Put on flight to Amsterdam. After questioning there, returns to Dover
• Sept 2009: Travels to Kuwait to stay with father's family
• July 2010: Returns to UK for short stay but told he cannot return to Kuwait as visa denied
• 2012: Passes Celta English language teaching course
• 2013: Changes name by deed poll to Mohammed al-Ayan. Tries to travel to Kuwait but is stopped. Disappears. Parents report him missing. Police tell family four months later he has entered Syria

Source: Cage, London-based campaign group

'Jihadi John' movement mapped

Emwazi "claimed harassment"

In a news conference, Asim Qureshi, the research director of the London-based lobby group Cage, which had been in contact with Emwazi over a number of years, detailed the difficulties Emwazi had faced with security services in the UK and overseas.

Mr Qureshi said Emwazi, who is understood to be about 27, had been "extremely kind, gentle and soft-spoken, the most humble young person I knew".

He added that Emwazi travelled to Tanzania in May 2009 following his graduation in computer programming at the University of Westminster.

Mr Qureshi said he and two friends had planned to go on a safari but once they landed in Dar es Salaam they were detained by police and held overnight.

Emwazi told Cage he was subsequently "harassed" by security services and later told the charity he was "witnessing perceived injustices everywhere".

But Rafaello Pantucci, author of We Love Life As You Love Death, said the suggestion the security services may have driven Emwazi to carry out his killings was "disproportionate".

He said: "Security services asking questions and making your life a little bit difficult and ending up murdering people in this very cold-blooded way seems a very disproportionate causal link."

Analysis: Frank Gardner, BBC News

US and British counter-terrorism officials discovered the identity of "Jihadi John" as far back as last September. The FBI, Britain's MI5 and other intelligence agencies used a combination of voice recognition software, interviews with former hostages and on-the-ground research in London to build up a profile of the man now revealed to be Mohammed Emwazi.

They have always declined to reveal the name for "operational reasons". Now that it's out in the public domain, it's emerged that Emwazi was well-known to MI5 and that it even tried to recruit him as an informer, years before he went off to Syria to eventually join Islamic State.

The practice by intelligence agencies of approaching jihadist sympathisers to work for them is likely to continue. It's believed both Britain and the US have informers inside the Islamic State "capital" of Raqqa. Yet this seems to have been little help in stopping the actions of Mohammed Emwazi, or bringing him to justice.

Profile: Mohammed Emwazi

Jihadist's 'typical trajectory'

Emwazi then ended up flying to Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, where he claimed to be met by British intelligence agents from MI5 who accused him of trying to travel to Somalia, where the jihadist group al-Shabab operates. He denied the accusation and said the agents had tried to recruit him before allowing him to return to the UK.

In early 2013, at his father's suggestion, Emwazi changed his name by deed poll to Mohammed al-Ayan, Cage said.

Emwazi was believed to have travelled to Syria around 2013 and later joined IS, which has declared the creation of a "caliphate" in the large swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq it controls.

A spokeswoman for Prime Minister David Cameron would not confirm or deny the latest reports, adding that the police and security services were working hard to find those responsible for the murder of the British hostages.

British police have not commented on his identity, citing ongoing inquiries.

Jihadi John sightings

• August 2014: Video in which US journalist James Foley is apparently beheaded
• 2 September 2014: Video in which US journalist Steve Sotloff is apparently beheaded
• 13 September 2014: Video in which British aid worker David Haines is apparently beheaded
• October 2014: Video in which British aid worker Alan Henning is apparently beheaded
• November 2014: Video in which Jihadi John is shown killing a Syrian soldier in a mass beheading, which also shows body of US aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, also known as Peter Kassig
• 20 January 2015: Video in which Jihadi John is seen standing alongside two Japanese hostages and demanding a ransom in exchange for their release
• 31 January 2015: Video released appearing to show Jihadi John beheading Japanese hostage Kenji Goto

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Labour to confirm tuition fee cut plan

27 February 2015 Last updated at 08:10 By Sean Coughlan Education correspondent

Ed Miliband is to set out Labour's plans to cut £9,000 university tuition fees by a third.

He will reveal how a Labour government would pay for such a reduction - which could include reducing tax relief on pensions for high earners.

The rising level of student debt has been a "disaster", he will say.

A Conservative spokesman said under the current system, the numbers of students from disadvantaged backgrounds were at their "highest ever level".

Universities UK has warned that limiting the fees to £6,000 per year would create a £10bn funding gap over the next five years, threatening "significant damage" to the higher education system.

In a speech in Leeds, Mr Miliband will explain how he believes such a funding gap could be covered.

This could include reducing tax relief on pensions for high earners, which would be used to provide funds for universities to bridge the gap from reduced fees.

It is also expected that the Labour leader will promise more support for students' living costs. There have been concerns that young people from middle-income families do not have access to sufficient student loans.

The announcement of Labour's policy on fees has been much delayed, with reports of disagreements between senior party figures over whether cutting tuition fees should be a priority for investment.

Analysis: Iain Watson, BBC political correspondent

Ed Miliband's opponents - inside as well as outside the Labour party - have urged him to drop plans to reduce the maximum level of tuition fees in England from £9,000 to £6,000, arguing that there is little political or economic benefit in doing so.

So today he'll attempt to answer his critics by denouncing the current system as bad both for graduates and for taxpayers as a whole.

He is determined to press on with his policy despite the scepticism, because he believes it will have an inter-generational appeal.

Labour's private polling suggests that tuition fees isn't just an important issue for young people, but that older voters too dislike the idea of the next generation apparently being saddled with debts.

University heads have also argued that the increase in tuition fees to £9,000 has not deterred applications from poorer students, instead the numbers of poorer students have risen.

Mr Miliband will say that the current system is putting unacceptable levels of debt on to young people and proving expensive to the taxpayer, because so much of student loans has to be written off.

Under the present system, students are being left with an average of £44,000 debt, he will say.

"The government has designed a system which is burdening students with debt today and set to weight down the taxpayer with more debt tomorrow," the Labour leader is expected to say.

"This is a system that will have added an extra £16bn more than predicted to public debt by the end of the next Parliament. If left unchecked, the system will have added £281bn to debt by 2030.

"And much of this money will never be paid back. By the late 2040s, student loan write-offs will be hitting £21bn a year - almost double the entire cost of police services in England and Wales. It must go down as one of the most expensive broken promises in history."

'Failed experiment'

Mr Miliband will say that young people have been "betrayed" by the tuition fees system, leaving them worse off than previous generations.

"This is a disaster for them and a disaster for the future of Britain too - a country where the next generation is doing worse than their parents is the definition of a country in decline."

The Labour leader will seek to reassure university heads that they will not lose out in the proposed changes.

But Universities UK, representing university leaders, has voiced its concern about cuts to fees.

"Cutting the fees cap from £9,00 to £6,000 creates a £10bn funding gap over the next parliament," said Sir Christopher Snowden, vice-chancellor of the University of Surrey and president of Universities UK.

"Such a shortfall, if not met in full from other sources of public finance, could cause significant damage to the economy, to social mobility, to student choice, and to our universities. For universities, it is a funding question, not a fee question.

"One has to ask whether a policy of cutting fees is sensible given the many other pressing demands on public funding. Students are telling us they need assistance with living costs rather than tuition fees," said Sir Christopher.

The National Union of Students has welcomed plans for a cut in fees.

"Forcing debt on to students as a way of funding universities is an experiment that has failed," said NUS vice president, Megan Dunn.

"Higher education is a public good which should be publicly funded and shouldn't involve any additional charges for students or graduates, but lowering tuition fees and a move away from the market in higher education is a positive step forward.

"We would also welcome any improved financial support measures like an increase in maintenance loans, as we know that students are currently in the throes of a cost-of-living crisis."

A Conservative party spokesman said: "Providing access to higher education for all hard-working students, irrespective of their background, is a key objective of the government's 2012 reforms.

"Our reforms have seen a record half a million students enter higher education this year, with entry rates for students from disadvantaged backgrounds increasing by over 10% to their highest-ever level.

"As England's top university vice-chancellors have warned, a cut in fees would damage the economy, impact the quality of students' education and set back work on widening access to higher education.

"Like with so many other issues, Ed Miliband hasn't thought this policy through."

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