McBride defends memoirs on Labour

23 September 2013 Last updated at 19:12 ET

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Damian McBride: "I feel sorry and ashamed to those individuals whose careers I affected"

Gordon Brown's former spin doctor has said he is "sorry and ashamed" about those affected by his actions, as he defended writing about his attacks on the ex-PM's opponents.

Damian McBride told BBC Two's Newsnight that many in the Labour Party regarded him as a "traitor" for serialising his memoirs during its annual conference.

But he added Labour must "learn lessons from his mistakes".

He said the party needed to move on from "destructive" feuds of the past.

Mr McBride has admitted leaking details about the personal lives of Labour ministers seen as a threat to Gordon Brown's ambitions to replace Tony Blair as prime minister after the 2005 election.

The revelations, published in the Daily Mail, have caused anger among senior Labour figures past and present and provided a reminder of the bitter divisions during the Blair-Brown years.

Interviewed live on Newsnight, Mr McBride said: "I do feel ashamed, I do feel sorry to those individuals whose careers I affected and even more so to the sort of innocent bystanders who were caught in the way."

In his book he suggests Mr Brown had been aware of his methods and gave his unspoken approval.

'Exorcise demons'

But he told Newsnight Mr Brown did not know about the "intricacies" of his actions or "understand" how he operated, and current leader Ed Miliband and shadow chancellor Ed Balls "knew even less than Gordon".

"I don't think he (Brown) knew what I was doing a lot of the time," Mr McBride said. "I operated quite a lot in the shadows."

In his first broadcast comments since the serialisation began, Mr McBride also used a recorded section with the programme to defend its timing, suggesting such books "always come out at conference season" and it would have done more damage if it had been published closer to the next election.

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Ed Miliband: "I didn't think that was the way politics should be practised"

He added: "I know many people in the Labour movement think I'm a traitor for publishing a book lifting the lid on some of [the Blair-Brown] feuding, especially at party conference.

"But I believe if Labour's going to avoid repeating its mistakes, it's got to learn from its past, exorcise its demons, and make sure that when it says those days are over, it means it."

Interviewed later on Newsnight in front of Labour activists, Mr McBride said he agreed with Mr Balls, who has said his actions were "despicable".

Describing himself as "still a Labour supporter", Mr McBride said "there's no good time to publish a book like this".

But he added that he had been offered a "much more lucrative contract" than the £100,000-plus he received from the Daily Mail to publish the memoirs just ahead of the 2015 general election.

He said he had left his job with nothing and built up debts which the money from the book would help to pay off.

The book's revelations include claims that Mr McBride:

• held a "black book" of stories about former Home Secretary Lord Reid, who resigned from the cabinet to avoid damaging newspaper allegations

• "orchestrated a briefing war" between Charles Clarke and one of Mr Blair's advisers, leading to the ex-home secretary's sacking

• leaked a damaging story to the News of the World about then Health Minister Ivan Lewis involving a female civil servant in his private office

'Unconscionable'

Mr McBride has also attempted to implicate Mr Miliband in the spin culture that prevailed in parts of the Labour government, suggesting he might "have problems" if email exchanges between Mr Miliband and spin doctor Derek Draper came to light.

Mr Miliband has insisted that although he knew negative briefings were going on, he did not approve of them and had urged Mr Brown to get rid of his aide.

Speaking on Monday, Mr Balls - a close ally of Mr Brown when he was chancellor and prime minister - said "many people", including himself, had been unaware of what Mr McBride was up to.

"What Damian McBride did was wrong and, to be honest, unconscionable," he told BBC News.

"I have never seen people behave in this way - personal, nasty, smeary, made-up stories. I think it is hideous and people are shocked by it."

Meanwhile, Conservative MP Alun Cairns has called for the police to investigate whether Mr McBride may have broken the Official Secrets Act and the Computer Misuse Act after Mr McBride admitted in his book that he had accessed Gordon Brown's email account without authorisation.

Mr McBride told Newsnight he "would not leak classified comments and I would take pains to avoid doing that... I'd be happy to talk to police if they wanted an explanation of this".

Another Tory MP, Henry Smith, demanded that Mr McBride be stripped of his civil service pension if he was found to have breached the civil service code and the special advisers' code of conduct.

The full interview with Damian McBride will be broadcast on BBC Two's Newsnight at 22:30 BST.

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Police await DNA samples ruling

24 September 2013 Last updated at 01:29 ET By Phil Mackie Reporter, BBC Radio 5 live

DNA samples taken from thousands of former prisoners could be destroyed if police lose a judicial review later.

An ex-prisoner, referred to in court as R, argues that a police force's request to collect his DNA threatens arrest and infringes his human rights.

Under Operation Nutmeg, DNA samples have been collected from prisoners who pre-date routine collection.

Judges will decide if the force's approach was unlawful and if DNA collected in such a way can be kept.

The police force at the centre of the case - which also cannot be named for legal reasons - was trying to collect the sample as part of Operation Nutmeg, a push across England and Wales to collect genetic material from people jailed for serious crimes before 1994.

After that date, people convicted of serious crimes had DNA swabs routinely taken to add to the national database.

Liable to arrest

The aim of the operation is to see if there is any match to unsolved crimes with DNA from the former prisoners.

By July of this year, 6,204 samples had been taken under the scheme, with 111 being matched to crime scenes.

R - who was jailed for manslaughter in the 1980s but after his release was only in trouble for a lesser, non-violent offence - argues that he has turned his life around since 2000.

In a statement read to the court, he said: "I have changed my life over the past 13 years and have earned the right not to come under suspicion."

R was contacted by police in March this year. An officer hand-delivered a pro forma letter which told him that because he had a previous conviction for a serious offence he was being asked to give the officer a DNA sample.

The letter went on to say that if he chose not to, he would be required to attend a police station within seven days and if he failed to do that he could be liable to arrest.

The letter was signed by the chief constable of the force.

The BBC understands such pro forma requests are made by many other forces, as part of Operation Nutmeg.

The force involved in the case sent out 391 such letters, and collected 389 DNA swabs there and then.

'Pure speculation'

R's lawyers told a hearing in July that the letter he received breached national guidelines because the threat of arrest made it a requirement to give the sample, not a request.

They also allege Operation Nutmeg breached section 8 of the Human Rights Act - the right to respect for private life.

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They added that there was no reason to suspect R had committed any other crimes and to ask for his DNA was "pure speculation" in case there was a match on the files.

The judges hearing the review - Lord Justice Pitchford and Mr Justice Hickinbottom - indicated in the earlier hearing that they were inclined to agree that the letter breached the guidelines.

That could mean all the Operation Nutmeg DNA samples collected using similar methods may have to be destroyed, and criminal cases based on such evidence could collapse.

If they agree that the complainant's human rights were breached, it could affect the way DNA samples are collected in the future.

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Miliband vows to cut small firm tax

24 September 2013 Last updated at 02:47 ET

Ed Miliband is to pledge to help about 1.5 million small businesses in England by reversing a planned business rates rise if Labour wins the next election.

The move would be paid for by reversing a planned UK-wide cut in corporation tax for "big business" in 2015.

The Labour leader is due to make the policy pledge in his keynote speech to his party's annual conference in Brighton later.

The Institute of Directors said Mr Miliband was "tinkering at the edges".

The Conservatives said it was "yet more economic incompetence from the same Labour politicians who got us into a mess".

Building on his vision of a One Nation Labour Party, set out in his conference speech last year, Mr Miliband will push the case for an economy based on higher skills and wages - and the "dynamism" of small business.

'Race to the top'

He will tell Labour activists: "David Cameron talks about Britain being in a global race. But what he doesn't tell you is that he thinks the only way Britain can win is for you to lose.

He will say that means "the lowest wages, the worst terms and conditions, and the fewest rights at work - a race to the bottom", adding: "The only way we can win is in a race to the top."

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They used to say 'a rising tide lifts all boats'. Now the rising tide just seems to lift yachts"

End Quote Ed Miliband

He will pledge to take action on what he has called Britain's "cost of living crisis", setting out an alternative vision of Britain's economy to that pursued by the Conservatives.

"Too many of the jobs we're creating in this country are just too low paid, too many of the gains in our economy are just scooped up by the privileged few, including those big bonuses, and too often you are left being charged over the odds.

"They used to say 'a rising tide lifts all boats'. Now the rising tide just seems to lift yachts."

Mr Miliband will also use the speech to outline what aides call "a roadmap" to tackle the housing crisis by building a new generation of new towns.

Business rates are due to rise in April 2015. If a Labour government came to power in May 2015, it would immediately reverse that rise for small firms so their rates fell back to 2014 levels.

That rate would then be frozen for 2016.

The move would apply automatically only to businesses in England, but money would be given to the devolved governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland so they could follow suit.

Labour says House of Commons Library figures show this "effective tax cut" would cost £250m in 2015/16 and £540m in 2016/17.

Up to 1.5 million businesses with properties worth an annual rent of £50,000 or less would benefit, Labour believes.

The party claims this would save small businesses, such as pubs, shops and hi-tech start-ups, an average of nearly £450 over two years, with some firms saving £2,000.

The party says it would pay for this by reversing a planned cut in corporation tax from 21% to 20% which is due to come into force in April 2015.

It claims this would save the Treasury £340m in 2015/16 and £785m in 2016/17. It says this "effective tax rise" would affect 80,000 large firms.

'Cost jobs'

If the corporation tax cut raised more money than expected, any cash left over would be used to cut business rates further, say Mr Miliband's aides.

The corporation tax change would affect the whole of the UK.

Labour aides said that while small businesses had seen their rates rise in recent years, big businesses had seen their corporation taxes fall by £6bn since 2010.

BBC political editor Nick Robinson said Mr Miliband wanted the proposal to show he was "on the side of the small guy".

But the Institute of Directors said it would apply only to very small firms that had commercial premises with an annual rental value of £50,000.

The business lobby group also expressed concern that even a small rise in corporation tax would send the wrong signal to potential foreign investors.

In recent days, the opposition has announced a series of initiatives intended to relieve what it says is the continuing squeeze on low- and middle-income families, including more free childcare and a commitment to "strengthen" the minimum wage.

But delegates passed a motion on Monday calling on the Labour leadership to reverse its support for the coalition's 1% cap on public sector pay rises.

Ahead of Mr Miliband's speech, former minister David Lammy warned the party had lost momentum over recent months and it could not win the next election unless it improved its economic credibility.

But Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman told the BBC that the momentum was with Labour.

"Since 2010 when we lost the general election, we have won 1,950 new council seats all around the country," she said.

"And if you look at party membership, which has been on a long trajectory of falling across all the political parties, since Ed Miliband became leader we have increased our membership by 14%. Whereas with David Cameron, his party membership has fallen by 40%."

Business Minister Matthew Hancock said: "Ed Miliband is calling for a tax rise on business that would cost jobs.

"And because he would reverse our planning reforms, the only way Ed Miliband could deliver his promise to build more houses is to spend more and borrow more.

"Tax rises on businesses and the same old Labour policy of more borrowing and more debt would undermine the recovery. And it's hardworking people who would pay the price with their jobs, higher taxes and higher mortgage rates."

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UK woman 'among Kenya attackers'

24 September 2013 Last updated at 02:54 ET

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Kenya Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed told US PBS network that one of the militants was a British woman

A British woman is thought to be among militants who killed at least 62 people at a Kenyan shopping centre, the country's foreign minister has said.

Amina Mohamed said the woman had "done this many times before" and "two or three" Americans were also attackers.

Earlier, Kenya's interior minister said all of the militants were men, although some may have been dressed as women.

Six Britons are thought to be among those killed in the attack on the Westgate centre in Nairobi.

The Foreign Office (FCO) said it was aware of the comments by Kenya's foreign minister, but officials have refused to speculate on the identity of any of the perpetrators.

An FCO spokeswoman said: "We continue to liaise very closely with the Kenyan authorities and to support their investigation into this attack."

Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by al-Shabab - an Islamist group based in neighbouring Somalia, which is part of the al-Qaeda network.

'Animals'

Ms Mohamed's comments have fuelled speculation about the possible involvement in the attack of British terror suspect Samantha Lewthwaite - the widow of 7 July suicide bomber Jermaine Lindsay.

She is known to be in East Africa and is wanted by Kenyan police over alleged links to a terrorist cell that planned to bomb the country's coast.

Ms Mohamed told the PBS NewsHour programme on Monday: "From the information that we have, two or three Americans [were involved] and I think, so far, I have heard of one Brit... a woman ... and I think she has done this many times before."

The Americans are believed to have been aged about 18 or 19, of Somali or Arab origin and lived in "Minnesota and one other place", she said.

Kenyan security forces say they have now taken control of all floors of the shopping centre in Nairobi, although an explosion and gunfire was heard from there on Tuesday morning.

The official death toll stands at 62, with more than 170 injured.

The UK government says five of the dead people have been confirmed as British, with another one thought to be British.

A UK man, who lost his young daughter, told the Daily Telegraph she was killed by "animals" who were using "religion as an excuse".

Louis Bawa, of Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, said he had spoken to his daughter Jennah, eight, and Kenyan-born wife Zahira on Friday but "didn't get a chance to catch up with them" again.

He said they had gone on a regular Saturday shopping trip to the Westgate centre, but added: "This time they didn't come home."

Architect Ross Langdon, who had British-Australian citizenship, has also been named as one of the UK victims although the Foreign Office is still not confirming identities.

Mr Langdon's company, Regional Associates, issued a tribute to him and said he had died alongside his pregnant partner, Elif Yavuz, a Dutch citizen.

British nationals concerned about friends or family can contact the Foreign Office on +44 (0)20 7008 0000.

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Pace of UK shop closures slows

24 September 2013 Last updated at 03:58 ET

The pace of shop closures on the High Street has slowed, offering a glimmer of hope for retailers.

Town centre shops closed at a rate of 18 a day in the first half of the year, compared with 20 a day a year ago, according to the study by PwC and the Local Data Company.

Video and photography shops suffered the worst drops, while hearing aid and charity shops opened the most branches.

There was a net reduction of just 209 shops, compared with 953 a year ago.

The study, which looked at 500 town centres, shows the changing profile of the High Street.

There were nearly 500 net closures of clothing, shoe, furniture, photographic and video shops, but net openings of 97 charity shops, 62 cheque cashing outlets, 53 betting shops and 52 grocery convenience stores.

Mike Jervis, insolvency partner and retail specialist at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the accountancy firm that jointly authored the study, said the results were affected by the collapse into administration of photography shop Jessops and video shop Blockbusters.

"The shifts in multiple retailers' store portfolios are a barometer for changes in our society and its habits," he said.

"Upticks in areas such as cheque cashing and pawnbrokers reflect a society where a sizeable part of the population is forced to turn to these types of borrowing for basic needs."

Matthew Hopkinson, director of the Local Data Company, said it was "good news" that the rate of shop closures was slowing down.

"That said, closer examination of the data shows the significant ongoing decline of traditional shops with food, beverage and entertainment taking their place.

"The pressure from online competitors, supermarkets and 'out of town' providers will only increase."

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Sunderland sack head coach Di Canio

Sunderland have sacked head coach Paolo Di Canio after a poor start to the season left the Black Cats bottom of the Premier League table.

The 45-year-old Italian has won three of his 13 matches since being appointed in March and taken only one point from five league games this campaign.

"An announcement will be made in due course regarding a permanent successor," read a club statement.

In the meantime, coach Kevin Ball will take charge of the first-team squad.

• Born in Rome, 9 July 1968
• Played in Italy for Lazio, Juventus, Napoli, AC Milan, Cisco Roma
• Played in Britain for Celtic, Sheff Weds, West Ham, Charlton
• Fined £10,000 in 1998 by the FA for pushing referee Paul Alcock to ground after being sent off v Arsenal
• Wins sportsmanship award in 2001 for catching ball and stopping play v Everton to allow keeper Paul Gerrard to receive treatment
• Criticised in 2005 for making fascist salute in Lazio game
• Appointed Swindon boss in May 2011; guides them into League One a year later
• Resigns as Swindon boss in February 2013 citing issues with the club's hierarchy
• Replaces Martin O'Neill as Sunderland boss in March 2013; club avoid relegation
• Sacked after four defeats in five league games of 2013-14

Sunderland are now looking for their sixth permanent manager in less than five years.

The statement added: "The club would like to place on record its thanks to Paolo and his staff and wishes them well for the future."

Ball's opening duty is to prepare the side for Tuesday's home Capital One Cup third-round match against Peterborough United at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland then host Liverpool on Sunday and Manchester United on 5 October, with the Wear-Tyne derby against Newcastle on 27 October.

After guiding Swindon to promotion from League Two in 2012, Di Canio succeeded Martin O'Neill at the Stadium of Light on 31 March but later admitted he feared the sack in the immediate controversy over his arrival.

Embarking upon his first Premier League job, Di Canio had to fend off questions about whether he held fascist beliefs.

He was backed by Sunderland chairman Ellis Short and endeared himself to the fans with a 3-0 victory at Newcastle in his second game as boss.

But Di Canio's men were thrashed 6-1 by Aston Villa and failed to win their final three fixtures, finishing one place above the relegation zone.

This season started with a home loss to Fulham before the Wearsiders drew at Southampton and conceded nine goals in defeats against Crystal Palace, Arsenal and, most recently, West Brom.

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MOTD3 pundits reflect on Paolo Di Canio's sacking at Sunderland

After the 3-0 loss at The Hawthorns on Saturday, Di Canio walked over to face the travelling supporters, who made their feelings clear.

"I absorb the insults as it's part of the game - if I was in their position I'd be furious," he said. "But I'm professional: 24 hours a day I work for this cause. One day their reaction will be a different reaction.

"I knew that they were furious. I went to them because I wanted to see their faces. It's easy to go over when they're clapping or singing your name. I'm responsible but my head is up. I won't give up.

"It's obvious we're still not together. We don't have many leaders in terms of desire to play with a premier style.

"I'm never going to change my regime. I am what I am. My way to manage the team is for the top, top level. I have to be clear to everyone - the board, the chairman, the fans - I'm never going to change.

"One day, if I receive the full support from the players, we will turn the corner."

Di Canio publicly criticised some of his squad at the end of last season and worked with director of football Roberto De Fanti and chief scout Valentino Angeloni to sign 14 new players in the summer.

His buys cost £19m in total and included AZ Alkmaar striker Jozy Altidore, Italy international Emanuele Giaccherini and Arsenal goalkeeper Vito Mannone.

But left-back Danny Rose returned to Tottenham following a loan spell, while Sunderland sold goalkeeper Simon Mignolet to Liverpool and, on transfer deadline day, forward Stephane Sessegnon to West Brom.

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Man charged with police crash death

22 September 2013 Last updated at 19:53 ET

A man has been charged over the death of a police officer who was hit by a car he was trying to stop.

PC Andrew Duncan, 47, was checking vehicle speeds in Sutton, south London, at 00:50 BST on Friday when the Volkswagen Golf struck him.

The father-of-two died in hospital from his injuries.

Gary Bromige, 25, from South Norwood, will appear at South Western Magistrates' Court later charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

Mr Bromige is also charged with failing to stop at the scene of the accident at the junction of Reigate Avenue and Rose Hill, failing to report an accident and driving without insurance.

'Loved job'

Two men aged 19 and 20 who were arrested on Sunday in connection with the investigation remain in custody at a south London police station.

A woman arrested on Saturday on suspicion of perverting the course of justice has been bailed.

Earlier, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said: "Andy was a hard working and courageous policeman. He served the community as both a police officer and as a scouting volunteer.

"The night he was injured, he was doing a job that he loved and we all had every right to expect he would return safely to his home and family - tragically that was not the case."

PC Duncan was married and had a son and a daughter.

He joined the Met in 1990 and worked in Battersea, Hammersmith and Fulham, before joining the South-West Traffic Unit in 2004.

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Group denies Britons among attackers

23 September 2013 Last updated at 03:27 ET

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The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse: "It is in this supermarket that at least some of the attackers are now believed to be holed up"

A commander with the group believed to behind the attack on a Kenyan shopping centre has told the BBC reports some of the militants were British are untrue.

The Foreign Office is investigating claims after a Twitter account - purporting to be from al-Shabab - said one of the gunmen was from London.

Sixty-eight people have been killed, including three Britons.

Prime Minister David Cameron is cutting short a visit to Balmoral to chair an emergency meeting later.

Families of the victims have been informed, the Foreign Office said.

Media reports suggest fugitive Samantha Lewthwaite, widow of 7 July bomber Jermaine Lindsay, was involved in the attack but the Foreign Office says it has no evidence and is unwilling to speculate.

At least 170 people were also injured since the attack began in Kenya's capital Nairobi on Saturday.

Between 10 and 15 attackers - thought to be militants from the Somali al-Shabab movement - are still inside the Westgate shopping centre.

The al-Shabab military commander told the BBC that reports some of the attackers were from the UK or US were baseless - as were reports that women had also stormed the shopping centre.

The Foreign Office has said it expects the number of British fatalities to rise.

Mr Cameron called the attack "an absolutely sickening and despicable attack of appalling brutality".

"These appalling terrorist attacks that take place where the perpetrators claim they do it in the name of a religion - they don't," he said.

"They do it in the name of terror, violence and extremism and their warped view of the world. They don't represent Islam or Muslims in Britain or anywhere else in the world."

The British government's emergency response committee, Cobra, has already met twice to discuss the attacks.

On Monday, the prime minister tweeted: "I'm cutting short a visit to Balmoral to return to Downing St to chair Cobra late this afternoon, dealing with the Kenya terror attacks."

A Cobra meeting is a get together of ministers, civil servants, the police, intelligence officers and others appropriate to whatever they are looking into.

British nationals concerned about friends or family can contact the Foreign Office on +44 (0)20 7008 0000.

Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.

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Labour promise more free childcare

23 September 2013 Last updated at 03:56 ET

Working parents of three and four-year-olds in England would get 25 hours of free childcare a week if Labour wins the next general election.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls plans to raise the banking levy by £800m a year to fund the move.

Three and four-year-olds currently receive 15 hours of free care a week, but Mr Balls wants to increase this.

Meanwhile, Mr Balls has asked the government's spending watchdog to review his party's economic plans.

Money would be provided for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but it would be up to the governments there to decide whether to spend it in the same way as England.

Extra 10 hours

At the Labour Party conference later, the shadow chancellor will claim families have lost £1,500 a year in childcare support under the current government.

The extra 10 hours of free childcare proposed by Mr Balls would be made available to households where all parents are in work - whether single parents or couples.

Ahead of his speech, Mr Balls told the BBC the policy would be "a huge change and really welcome for families getting out to work".

"That's a clear and costed commitment showing that even in tough times, when there's going to be less money around, we will make a difference," he added.

He is expected to say later that "for the first time" parents would be able to work part-time "without having to worry about the cost of childcare".

"Childcare is a vital part of our economic infrastructure that, alongside family support and flexible working, should give parents the choice to stay at home with their children when they are very small and to balance work and family as they grow older.

"But for many families, high childcare costs mean that it doesn't even add up to go to work. So to make work pay for families, we must act."

Bank levy

Mr Balls will claim the government's banking levy has raised £1.6bn less than expected.

He will say: "At a time when resources are tight and families are under pressure, that cannot be right. So I can announce today the next Labour government will increase the bank levy rate to raise an extra £800m a year."

In June 2010, Chancellor George Osborne announced that banks operating in the UK would be subject to a levy - an annual tax on their balance sheets - in a joint move between the UK, France and Germany.

The idea was to raise more than £8bn for the Treasury over four years, and Mr Osborne it was "fair and right" that banks should contribute to the economic recovery given that the financial crisis began in banking.

Labour's policy pledge comes shortly after the government announced that all pupils at infant schools in England will get free school lunches from next September.

Economic 'stunt'

Labour has already promised all parents of primary school children will be able to get "wraparound" childcare - meaning children can be left at school from 8am to 6pm - if it wins the 2015 election.

On Saturday, Ed Miliband said he would "legislate for a primary school guarantee that every school is an 8am to 6pm school", although party officials said schools could band together to offer the opening hours between them.

They said the scheme would be paid for from existing schools budgets, which Labour said had already been raised for the purpose by the last government.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Balls reiterated his pledge not to increase borrowing to fund day-to-day government spending.

But asked about so-called capital spending - on building and infrastructure projects - he said: "We won't make that decision until we see where we are on the economy in a year and a half's time."

In a separate move, Mr Balls said on Sunday that he had written to the Office for Budget Responsibility to ask it to review his pledges for the economy - although it would have to have its remit changed to be able to do so.

Andrew Tyrie, Conservative chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, said such a review could "improve the quality of public debate" but Treasury minister Sajid Javid called Labour's request a "stunt".

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Funds withdrawn in Richard III row

23 September 2013 Last updated at 04:25 ET

Members of the Richard III Society have withdrawn funding meant for the king's tomb at Leicester Cathedral because they are unhappy with the design.

The cathedral's plans were unveiled last week with the chairman of the society describing them as "inspired".

However, Philippa Langley, who sparked the search for the remains, said it was unfit for a "medieval warrior king".

The cathedral said it understood the group's concerns but "could not be held hostage" to the money.

Members of the society had pledged about £40,000 to go towards the tomb but Ms Langley said they had contacted her to ask for their money back.

The remains of the king, who died in battle in 1485, were discovered by archaeologists under a Leicester car park in September 2012.

Church authorities originally wanted a flat slab to mark the burial site but changed the plans because of feedback, revealing the raised tomb on Friday.

Continue reading the main story

• Tomb of Swaledale fossil limestone
• Rose carved in white limestone
• Rose surrounded by a band of dark Kilkenny limestone
• Band carved with king's name, dates (1452-1485), motto (Loyaulte me Lie 'Loyalty binds Me') and boar badge
• Area will be defined by wooden screens

However, Ms Langley said unhappy international members of the society had contacted her.

"They think it is a very difficult design," she said.

She added: "The feeling is that it is too modern and stylised, and designed with a cathedral in mind - not a medieval warrior king.

"I pretty much agree with them."

However, she said she hoped the group could continue talks with the cathedral.

On Friday, when the new design was unveiled, the society chairman Dr Phil Stone said it was "beautiful".

"I think it is inspired," he said then.

"I was surprised at the depth of the cross but have been reassured by the thinking behind it."

'Not at any price'

Canon Peter Hobson said it appeared some of the "Richard III devotees" were only approaching the design from their own perspective whereas the cathedral had to consider all aspects.

That includes planning restrictions placed by the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England as well as keeping it as a place of worship.

"Philippa, and those writing to her, bring just a particular perspective. We understand it but we don't think it can be the last word," he said.

"We would [rather have the support of the Richard III Society] but I suppose if you put it that way I would have to say not at any price."

He added that the cathedral had never relied on the offer of money from the society to pay for the tomb .

The reburial of Richard is further overshadowed by a legal challenge by distant relatives who want him in York.

The cathedral's proposals will now go before the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England, a national planning body, with a final decision expected in late October.

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