Spending round negotiations conclude

23 June 2013 Last updated at 16:37 ET

Negotiations over the next round of public spending cuts have concluded.

The last minister to settle was Business Secretary Vince Cable who agreed the latest round of cuts for his department in a phone call with the chief secretary to the Treasury this morning.

I understand that the business department will face slightly lower cuts - i.e. less than 8% - than some other Whitehall departments which are facing fresh cuts of over 10%.

Cable and his Lib Dem colleague Danny Alexander spoke at 10.15am just minutes after the chancellor revealed in a BBC interview that he had agreed a settlement with the Ministry of Defence.

The negotiations are said not to have been rancorous despite heavy briefings to this morning's papers suggesting that Cable would take his negotiations to the wire.

Negotiations over the education, transport and local government departments also had to be finalised today - in particular how the government's plans to spend £3bn extra on capital spending would be carved up between departments.

On Wednesday, the chancellor will use his Spending Review to announce £11.5bn worth of additional cuts to department budgets for 2015-16 - the year of the general election.

He will also announce the capital budgets for each Whitehall department.

However, on Thursday, his deputy, Danny Alexander will announce the detailed and long term plans for spending on roads, rail, housing and the like.

Labour has said that they will match the coalition's current spending totals, but would borrow up to £10bn more to spend on capital investment.

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Murray recalls Dunblane shootings

Andy Murray hopes his tennis success has helped the healing in Dunblane, his home town ripped apart by a horrific shooting incident 17 years ago.

Thomas Hamilton killed 16 children and one teacher at Dunblane Primary School on 13 March, 1996.

In a BBC One documentary broadcast on Sunday, Murray, a pupil at the school at the time of the shooting, broke down in tears when recalling what happened.

"You have no idea how tough something like that is," he told Sue Barker.

Cradling his dog on his lap, the emotional Scot, 26, said the incident had affected him deeply but hoped his numerous triumphs on the tennis court had been a positive influence on Dunblane.

"It is just nice being able to do something the town is proud of," said the reigning Olympic and US Open champion, whose elder brother Jamie was also a pupil at Dunblane Primary School.

In the hour-long documentary, Murray's mother, Judy, recalled the day Hamilton entered the school with four handguns, opening fire on a class of five- and six-year-olds in the gymnasium.

He later shot himself dead before he could be captured.

Andy Murray signs autographs on a visit to Dunblane following his Olympic success in 2012

Judy said that Andy had been walking to the gym when the shootings had begun and said her family knew Hamilton, a 43-year-old unemployed former shopkeeper, before the incident took place.

"Andy's class were on their way to the gym, his class were the next ones in the gym," she said. "His class was stopped when somebody went up, when they heard the noise and discovered what had happened."

Struggling to contain her emotions, she explained: "I was one of hundreds of mums that were queuing up at the school gates waiting to find out what had happened, not knowing if your children were alive or not."

She added she still found it difficult visiting the school and purposely avoided the gym where the shootings took place.

"I actually don't go near that part of the building," she said. "When I go up to school now, if I'm doing something, I'll do it in the playground or I do it in the new gym."

In the aftermath of the shooting, Judy said Andy and Jamie had wanted to know why Hamilton had done what he did.

"There were lots and lots of questions from them, mainly I think because they knew the guy who had done it because they used to go to one of his boys' clubs up at the high school," said Judy.

She also revealed that she had given Hamilton "lifts up and down from the train station to the high school", making her sons question the killer's motives even more.

She added that Andy would talk about the incident from "time to time" but that Jamie "never ever talked about it".

Andy added that he had not wanted to know too much about what had happened at the time but that his view had changed.

"It wasn't until a few years ago that I started to actually research it and look into it," he said.

Jamie, 27, was also interviewed in the BBC documentary, titled 'Andy Murray: The Man Behind the Racquet'.

Highlights: Federer beats Murray

A former Grand Slam winner himself, having won the mixed doubles title with Jelena Jankovic in 2007, he agreed that his brother's achievements had helped Dunblane recover from its ordeal.

"It's nice that, after all the negative publicity the town got after what happened so many years ago, that it's able to be shown in a positive light now," he said. "I guess that's a testament to the success that Andy's had."

Andy, currently ranked number two in the world, begins his quest for a first Wimbledon men's singles crown on Monday, when he faces German Benjamin Becker in a first-round match on Centre Court.

The British number one lost in last year's final, beaten in four sets by Roger Federer, who was claiming the title for a seventh time.

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PM calls for Lawrence 'smear' probe

24 June 2013 Last updated at 03:43 ET

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Peter Francis, who says he says he posed as an anti-racism campaigner, served in the Met's now-disbanded Special Demonstration Squad

The prime minister has called for an immediate investigation into reports the police wanted to smear the family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence.

Number 10 said David Cameron was "deeply concerned" by the allegations in the Guardian made by former officer Peter Francis.

The newspapers claims Mr Francis went under cover to infiltrate the family's campaign for justice in 1993.

Scotland Yard has refused to confirm or deny the reports.

But a spokesman said the Metropolitan Police shared the Lawrence family's concerns.

Former Home Secretary Jack Straw told the BBC he would be asking the Independent Police Complaints Commission to investigate the allegations.

Mr Francis told the Guardian and Channel 4's Dispatches programme he had posed as an anti-racism campaigner in a hunt for "disinformation" to use against those criticising the police.

'Tarring the campaign'

He said the Metropolitan Police were concerned the reaction to the Lawrence murder might result in rioting similar to that following the beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles.

Working as part of the Met's now-disbanded Special Demonstration Squad, which specialised in gathering intelligence on political activists, he said he came under pressure to find "any intelligence that could have smeared the campaign" - including whether any of the family were political activists, involved in demonstrations or drug dealers.

Mr Francis, who used the name Peter Black while under cover, says the aim of his operation was to ensure that the public "did not have as much sympathy for the Stephen Lawrence campaign" and to persuade "the media to start maybe tarring the campaign".

A Number 10 spokesman said: "The prime minister is deeply concerned by reports that the police wanted to smear Stephen Lawrence's family and would like the Metropolitan Police to investigate immediately."

Doreen Lawrence said she was shocked and angry at the disclosure. She said: "Out of all the things I've found out over the years, this certainly has topped it."

"It just makes me really, really angry that all of this has been going on and all the time trying to undermine us as a family.

"Somebody sitting somewhere, calculating what, you know, what they'd be doing to look at and infiltrate, our family. It's like, we're treated as if to say we're not human beings.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

At some point it will fall upon this generation of police leaders to account for the activities of our predecessors, but for the moment we must focus on getting to the truth"

End Quote Metropolitan Police spokesman

"Nothing can justify the whole thing about trying to discredit the family and people round us."

The Metropolitan Police would not confirm or deny the account given by Mr Francis, but admitted "the claims in relation to Stephen Lawrence's family will bring particular upset to them and we share their concerns".

An independent investigation into a number of allegations against former undercover police officers, codenamed Operation Herne is under way.

In a statement the Met said: "Any actions by officers working on or with the Special Demonstration Squad need to be understood by Operation Herne in terms of the leadership, supervision, support, training, legal framework, tasking and reporting mechanisms that were in place at the time."

'Morally reprehensible'

But the force gave the same response to allegations that another undercover officer had helped write the leaflets at the centre of the McLibel trial in the mid 1980s.

The statement said: "At some point it will fall upon this generation of police leaders to account for the activities of our predecessors, but for the moment we must focus on getting to the truth."

Continue reading the main story

Stephen Lawrence profile

Brought up in Plumstead, south-east London, the 18-year-old's family life was based on education and religious faith. Friends say he had a good and trusting nature.

He was born on 13 September, 1974 - the first of three children to Doreen and Neville who emigrated from Jamaica in the 1960s.

Neville was a carpenter, upholsterer, tailor and plasterer. Doreen took a university course and became a special needs teacher.

Stephen was studying A-levels in English, craft, design and technology and physics at Blackheath Bluecoat School.

He was keen on becoming an architect, and a local firm had already offered him a job.

He loved athletics and, like many teenagers, liked going out, girls and music. He had never been involved in crime.

Mr Francis told the Guardian he had come forward because of the "morally reprehensible" way in which under cover officers had sometimes worked.

He is particularly angry his role was never discussed by the Stephen Lawrence public inquiry chaired by retired High Court judge Sir William Macpherson. He claims senior officers deliberately chose to withhold the information from the inquiry.

Stephen Lawrence, a black teenager, was killed as he waited for a bus in April 1993.

More than 18 years later, in January 2012, Gary Dobson and David Norris were found guilty of his murder by an Old Bailey jury after a review of the forensic evidence.

Dobson and Norris had first been arrested in connection with the murder just weeks after it happened, but the case against them collapsed.

In 1999, the Macpherson inquiry into the killing and its aftermath published a report accusing the police of institutional racism.

Sir William said during the investigation the Lawrences had been patronised, treated with "insensitivity and lack of sympathy", and kept in the dark.

Dispatches is broadcast on Channel 4 on Monday 24 June at 20:00 BST.

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Ex-CQC executive denies 'cover-up'

24 June 2013 Last updated at 04:07 ET

A former deputy chief executive of the Care Quality Commission says she was not involved in any decision to delete a critical internal review.

Last week an independent report into the CQC's investigation of the deaths of babies at Furness General Hospital found evidence of a possible cover-up.

But Jill Finney told the BBC that she and two other senior colleagues did not decide to suppress the review.

She said they agreed it "required much further work" before being published.

More than 30 families have now taken legal action against the hospital in relation to baby and maternal deaths and injuries from 2008.

Police are investigating the 2008 death of one baby, Joshua Titcombe, nine days after he was born at Furness General. An inquest ruled Joshua died as a result of natural causes, but staff missed opportunities to save him.

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The CQC had given the hospital - run by Morecambe Bay NHS Trust - a clean bill of health in 2010, but an internal review was eventually ordered by the regulator in 2011 into how the deaths and injuries had gone unnoticed.

'Not satisfactory'

That review was not made public - and according to accountants Grant Thornton, was buried because it was too critical of the CQC.

Grant Thornton said it was suppressed following a meeting involving Ms Finney, then chief executive Cynthia Bower and media manager Anna Jefferson in March 2012 with the review's author.

Ms Finney told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "At that meeting we reviewed the report and the report concluded that the activity that CQC had undertaken at Morecambe Bay was satisfactory.

"It was quite clear on reading the report that it was not satisfactory and CQC should have done more. So at that meeting we agreed that the report required much further work.

"There was not a decision at that meeting to delete that report, nor was there an instruction."

Ms Finney said Grant Thornton had refused to listen to her - or to Ms Bower and Ms Jefferson - when they attempted to put their side of the story.

"We made several representations to Grant Thornton about the accuracy of the way in which they were recording the information, and the way in which they were beginning to treat one allegation as fact.

"In spite of those representations, Grant Thornton did not reply, and did not change the way in which the allegations were presented."

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Ms Bower has said she "gave no instruction to delete" the internal review, but added that as the boss of the healthcare watchdog: "The buck stops with me."

Ms Jefferson, who is still an employee of the CQC, said she "would never have conspired to cover up anything which could have led to a better understanding of what went wrong in the regulation of this hospital".

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said the CQC was "fundamentally flawed" when it was set up four years ago and there should be "very, very serious consequences" for anyone found guilty of a cover-up.

Robert Francis QC, who reported on the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundational Trust scandal, said there needed to be a "change in attitude" at the CQC.

But the leader of the British Medical Association, Dr Mark Porter, said changes already made to the CQC should be allowed to bed in and ministers should resist the temptation to step in, despite the current crisis.

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Mutilation victim 'aged just seven'

24 June 2013 Last updated at 04:20 ET By Judith Burns BBC News family reporter

A girl of seven was the youngest victim of female genital mutilation (FGM) treated by the NHS in the past two years, according to new data.

Some 1,700 women and girls were treated by specialist FGM clinics but this masks a bigger problem says the NSPCC.

A UK-wide helpline to protect girls at risk of ritual cutting, practised by some African, Middle Eastern and Asian communities, goes live on Monday.

The victims "are hidden behind a wall of silence", said Lisa Harker of NSPCC.

The helpline is run by NSPCC child protection experts who have had training and advice from experts who work with women and girls who have undergone this form of ritual mutilation.

Extreme pain

The charity describes the practice as "illegal and life-threatening" and says that it results in extreme pain as well as physical and psychological problems that can continue into adulthood.

Female genital mutilation, sometimes known as female circumcision has been illegal in the UK since 1985 - but still continues in secret, often carried out without anaesthetic.

Some communities from parts of Africa and the Middle East, from both Muslim and Christian traditions, believe it is a necessary part of becoming a woman, that it reduces female sex drive and therefore the chances of sex outside marriage.

Sometimes girls are sent abroad to have it done. Sometimes it is done in the UK.

It involves the partial or total removal of the female genital organs, sometimes only leaving a small hole for urination or menstruation. The NSPCC says that victims are usually aged between four and 10 but some are younger.

Comfort Momoh, a midwife at Guys and St Thomas's Hospital in London, collated the figures from the specialist clinics.

She told BBC news that many women are not identified until they become pregnant and are examined by medical staff.

Others suffer recurrent urinary tract infections and abdominal pain.

"Many people are not aware they have had it done as it was carried out when they were babies."

'Anonymous'

The NSPCC says the free 24-hour helpline is aimed at anyone concerned that a child's welfare is at risk because of female genital mutilation, particularly teachers and medical staff, but they are also hoping that relatives will come forward.

They stress that callers can remain anonymous but information on children at risk will be passed to police and social services.

Continue reading the main story

We want this helpline to be a safe space for families who are against their daughter having female genital mutilation but feel powerless to stop it"

End Quote Lisa Harker NSPCC

Ms Harker said: "There is also a huge pressure within these communities to keep quiet about female genital mutilation, with some people even being threatened with violence if they speak out.

"We want this helpline to be a safe space for families who are against their daughter having female genital mutilation but feel powerless to stop it. Anyone from these communities can speak to us to get advice and help about female genital mutilation without fear of reprisal."

Some 20,000 girls in England and Wales are thought to be at risk, according to government estimates, but there is a lack of accurate figures.

Ms Momoh hopes that another benefit of the helpline will be to "generate more robust information and data".

Crime prevention minister Jeremy Browne described the helpline as "a vital step towards eradicating this horrendous crime".

"It builds on the work we have already undertaken through our violence against women and girls action plan to raise awareness, identify potential victims and prevent this form of child abuse."

Det Ch Supt Keith Niven of the Metropolitan Police Service added: "This practice cannot be disguised as being part of any culture, it is child abuse and offenders will be relentlessly pursued."

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Shot artist 'may not paint again'

22 June 2013 Last updated at 13:49 ET

The wife of a war artist attached to the Army, who was shot by a Taliban sniper in Afghanistan, has said she fears he may not paint again.

Graeme Lothian, 53, from Sevenoaks in Kent, was flown back to the UK on Wednesday and is recovering at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

The former paratrooper underwent a third operation on Friday for injuries to his left arm and hand.

Sameena Shakoor said it was too early to say whether it had been successful.

'Very positive'

"The tragic thing is that he was a fine artist - his painting is his life - and he is left handed," she said.

"He had fantastic care in Afghanistan and then here but the worrying thing is that he may not make an adequate enough recovery to go back to his painting."

Her husband went on his fourth tour in Afghanistan as one of the Armed Forces' official war artists on 6 June.

Dr Shakoor, a consultant paediatrician, said: "He's still very positive about what the army are doing out there and still wants to record what the men are doing.

"He'll always have a connection to the military."

After he was attacked last Sunday, Mr Lothian had initial surgery in Afghanistan.

He underwent a further operation at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Wednesday, before Friday's procedure to put a plate on to broken bones in his hand.

He could be discharged at some point next week but may need further surgery in the future, Dr Shakoor added.

Mr Lothian has painted in places including Jordan, Syria, Oman, India and Australasia.

He works part time as a postman to supplement his income from art.

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UK economy 'leaving intensive care'

22 June 2013 Last updated at 20:13 ET

The UK economy is "leaving intensive care", Chancellor George Osborne will say as he unveils his spending plans for 2015-16.

Mr Osborne will outline £11.5bn of Whitehall cuts when he delivers his spending review on Wednesday.

But Mr Osborne will announce investment in infrastructure projects, including roads, railways, education and science.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls has said the government should do more to boost the economy to avoid the need to make cuts.

'Rescue to recovery'

Mr Osborne will announce an infrastructure plan to "power Britain back into the economic premier league".

The chancellor is expected to tell MPs: "Britain is moving from rescue to recovery. But while the British economy is leaving intensive care; now we need to secure that recovery.

"Full recovery won't be easy, but I won't let up in my determination to put right what went so badly wrong.

"We are already making progress; the economy is growing, more than a million new jobs have been created by British businesses and the amount the government has to borrow each year - the deficit - is down by one third.

"But there's more we have to do - it's time for the next stage of our economic plan."

Scale of cuts

And he will launch an attack on the opposition, saying: "Three years ago Labour tried to scare the country about the pain to come if any government actually dared to cut spending and borrowing. But their predictions haven't come true."

Mr Osborne will use fines from the Libor bank interest rate-fixing scandal to benefit war veterans and their families.

The chancellor is still in negotiations with some government departments over the scale of cuts required.

Labour leader Ed Miliband has announced that he would not be able to afford to reverse Mr Osborne's cuts should his party come to power at the next election in 2015.

Writing in the Sunday Mirror, Mr Balls said: "Instead of planning more cuts two years ahead, they should use this week's spending review to boost growth and living standards this year and next year.

"More growth now would bring in more tax revenues and mean our public services would not face such deep cuts in 2015."

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Archbishop on visit to Middle East

22 June 2013 Last updated at 20:44 ET

The Archbishop of Canterbury is leaving for the Middle East on a five-day tour to meet Christian minority groups.

The Most Reverend Justin Welby will visit Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

BBC religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott said the trip was partly intended as support for hard-pressed Christian minorities.

Archbishop Welby said he was "deeply concerned" about the "pressures on Christian communities" in the region.

Lambeth Palace said the archbishop wanted to go to the Middle East so soon after his appointment because of the significance of the region in relationships between religions.

Officials said the archbishop was "keenly aware of the particular pressures" there at the moment and "deeply concerned for justice and for the security of all peoples of the region".

'Devastating conflict'

Our correspondent said the political turmoil that has followed the national revolutions of the Arab Spring and the conflict in Syria has undermined Christian communities.

Christian minorities have suffered violent attacks and harassment in Iraq, Syria and Egypt, among other countries, and many Christians have fled the region, he added.

The archbishop will meet the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt, Pope Tawadros II, and Anglican bishops in Jerusalem, as well as Muslim and Jewish leaders.

Archbishop Welby - who spent his honeymoon in the Holy Land - will be accompanied on the trip by his wife Caroline.

Lambeth Palace said in a statement: "Archbishop Justin is making this trip early in his ministry because of the significance of the region, the importance of the relationships that his office has there and because he is keenly aware of the particular pressures on the region at the moment, not least the devastating conflict in Syria and its impact more widely."

In Jerusalem, he will visit the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Temple Mount, and Israel's Holocaust memorial.

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'Supermoon' lights up night sky

23 June 2013 Last updated at 01:30 ET

The night sky has been illuminated by what appears to be a much bigger and brighter Moon.

The so-called "supermoon" occurs when the Moon reaches its closest point to earth, known as a perigee full moon.

The effect makes the Moon seem 14% bigger and 30% brighter than when it is furthest from the planet.

Skywatchers who miss the phenomenon this weekend because of cloudy skies will have to wait until August 2014 for the next one.

Space expert Heather Couper said "supermoons" were the result of coincidence.

"The Moon goes round in an oval orbit so it can come very close to us, and if that coincides with a full moon, then it can look absolutely enormous," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

She explained that when the Moon was high in the sky, it looked normal.

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But as it got closer to the horizon, a "kind of optical illusion" occurred where it looked bigger when compared with trees or houses, she said.

She suggested it might be possible to dispel the illusion by turning away from the Moon, bending over and looking at the sky from between your legs.

Writing in Sky and Telescope about the "myth of the supermoon", Shari Balouchi said much of what we called the supermoon was just our eyes playing tricks on us.

"The supermoon might look bigger than normal if you see it in the evening when the Moon's just rising, but the real size difference isn't big enough to notice."

BBC Weather's Darren Bett said he was confident most people in the UK would have been able to see the Moon at some point on Saturday night, even if only fleetingly.

Sunday night should be better, he added, with people in south-west England and south Wales likely to have the clearest views of the Moon.

However Marek Kukula, public astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, said people should not expect the supermoon to look that much bigger than normal.

"It won't fill the sky," he said.

"It's at its most impressive when the Moon is close to the horizon, ie when it's rising or setting - people will need to check online for rising and setting times for their locality."

Dr Kukula said the US Naval Observatory and HM Nautical Almanac Office had online tools for checking the moon's rising and setting times.

Scientists have dismissed the idea that the perigee can cause strange behaviour, like lycanthropy or natural disasters.

Dr Couper said the tides this weekend would be unaffected.

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Roads shut down for car-free Sunday

23 June 2013 Last updated at 04:18 ET

Roads in part of Bristol city centre have been closed in the city's first car-free Sunday.

Baldwin Street, King Street and Corn Street are shut to traffic in Mayor George Ferguson's Make Sunday Special initiative.

It is the first of five monthly events aimed at opening up the centre of Bristol for pedestrians.

But some people claim Mr Ferguson - who is closing the roads from 09:00 -18:00 BST - is anti-motorist.

The city has been crowned the European Green Capital for 2015 and the traffic free Sunday idea was part of the bid.

Similar schemes exist in Bordeaux and Bogota.

A range of performers, including circus acts and community choirs, will take to the streets in the area surrounding St Nicholas Market.

There will also be sports games, tours and alfresco café lounges.

"This is about the city and how we bring it alive," said Mr Ferguson who aims to extend the scheme beyond October if it proves popular.

'Totally confused'

People will still be able to drive into the city as there will be routes to the main car parks, Mr Ferguson added.

There is also provision for disabled drivers and public transport is largely unaffected.

But some taxi drivers told the BBC that they are not happy about the plans.

One said: "It's ridiculous. The passengers that want to go to the city centre, just the other side, they can't go there so you have to go all the way around."

Another claimed: "Everybody gets totally confused with it."

The scheme was originally due to run weekly, but will run once a month due to operating costs of £195,000 for all five days.

The money will pay for some of the entertainment and marshalling the road closures.

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