Oil and gas industry in 'bleak' 2014

24 February 2015 Last updated at 06:13

The UK offshore oil and gas industry has reported its worst annual performance for four decades.

Industry body Oil & Gas UK said falling oil prices and rising costs meant the sector spent and invested £5.3bn more than it earned from sales during 2014.

That outflow of cash was the biggest since massive investment in platforms in the 1970s preceded the flow of oil.

The body's annual survey also indicated that investment in the industry is set to fall this year, as well as drilling.

Although drilling of 25 wells was expected last year, only 14 took place, continuing a downward trend. Only 50 million barrels of viable reserves of oil or its gas equivalent were discovered.

This year, Oil & Gas UK members expect between eight and 14 exploratory wells to be drilled, and only five wells to appraise initial discoveries.

This points to a steep drop in investment in developing new reserves and extending current offshore fields.

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The price of oil has halved over the past eight months - but what's the real cost of cheap oil? The BBC's correspondents around the world look at who's benefiting and who's hurting from the shock fall in oil prices. Follow their reports on TV, on radio and online.

Investment last year reached £14.8bn, which was higher than expected due to cost and project over-runs.

It is forecast to fall to between £9.5bn and £11.3bn during this year. Feedback from offshore operators suggests very little new investment is expected to be given the go-ahead during 2015.

Annual investment could fall as low as £2.5bn within three years, once the current wave of large projects enters production.

Production of oil and gas fell by only 1% during 2014, following sharp falls over the previous three years. Due to recent high investment levels, it is expected to rise by 1% during this year.

Operating costs continued to rise during last year, up by 8% to £9.6bn.

'Bleak' findings

The cost per barrel extracted has risen to a record high of £18.50. That is expected to fall as the industry cuts back on its costs, including a controversial move to change rota patterns for offshore workers.

It is claimed that cost and efficiency measures need to improve by up to 40% per barrel of oil if there is to be a sustainable future for the UK's offshore sector.

Oil & Gas UK said the "bleak" findings of its annual survey emphasised the urgency of government action to secure the industry's long-term future.

Chief executive Malcolm Webb said: "Even at $110 per barrel, the ability of the industry to realise the full potential of the UK's oil and gas resource was hamstrung by escalating costs, an unsustainably heavy tax burden and inappropriate regulation.

"At current oil prices, we now see the consequences only too clearly.

"Without sustained investment in new and existing fields, critical infrastructure will disappear, taking with it important North Sea hubs, effectively sterilising areas of the basin and leaving oil and gas in the ground."

From 2010 until mid-2014, world oil prices had been fairly stable, at about $110 a barrel. But since June, prices fell below $50 and have recently been trading at around $60.

This has been driven by weak demand in many countries due to insipid economic growth, coupled with surging US production, and a break from past behaviour by oil exporting nations, by keeping production up rather than cutting it to maintain the price.

'Urgent action'

Responding to the report, a UK government spokesman said: "The Oil & Gas UK report underlines the need for a concerted and joined-up approach between the government, the Oil and Gas Authority and industry to ensure investment and exploration in the UK North Sea continues and is able to get through this difficult period.

"The UK government recognises how important the North Sea is, both in terms of the thousands of jobs it supports and the benefit it brings to the UK economy.

"The package of fiscal changes and initiatives announced by Treasury in early December shows the government understands the challenges and is on the front foot in dealing with them."

Scotland's Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said: "This report highlights the long overdue and urgent action on taxation and regulation, which the UK government must deliver to give the industry the certainty it needs to protect jobs and investment.

"It is encouraging that Oil and Gas UK expect the first annual production increase in 15 years to happen this year.

"However, to sustain North Sea activity over the longer term, exploration levels must improve and long-term investment must be sustained to ensure that sufficient new production comes on stream.

"This should help to protect future tax receipts and ensure a fair return to the nation."

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Firms flouting minimum wage named

24 February 2015 Last updated at 00:22

The government has named 70 companies that have failed to pay workers the minimum wage.

The worst offender was care provider East Midlands Crossroads, which owed £37,500 to 184 workers.

Around 100 cases in the care sector are being investigated, which the Government calls the "tip of the iceberg".

Some 160 firms have been named since a new regime came into force in 2013.

Delcom Systems in Salisbury owed £11,730 to staff, while the Apostolic Church in London owed £8,300 and workers at the Young Friends Nursery in Hove had been underpaid by £6,700.

Naming and shaming

Business Minister Jo Swinson said paying less than the minimum wage was illegal, immoral and completely unacceptable.

"Naming and shaming gives a clear warning to employers who ignore the rules, that they will face reputational consequences as well as financial penalties of up to £20,000 if they don't pay the minimum wage," she said.

Legislation is being planned so that the fine can be applied to each underpaid worker, rather than per employer.

"We are helping workers recover the hundreds of thousands of pounds in pay owed to them as well as raising awareness to make sure workers are paid fairly in the first place," Ms Swinson added.

'Cheating bosses'

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady called for more prosecutions and higher fines.

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Cheating bosses who fleece their workers ... must end up in court "

End Quote Frances O'Grady TUC general secretary

"Cheating bosses who fleece their workers out of their hard earned pay must end up in court - and there are still lots of under-paying employers who are getting away with it," she said.

The latest naming and shaming comes a day after the Low Pay Commission recommended a 3% rise in the adult minimum wage from £6.50 an hour to £6.70 an hour from October.

That would be the biggest increase since 2008 if it is accepted by the Government. A decision will be made in the coming weeks.

The rate for 18 to 20-year-olds would go up to £5.30 an hour, £3.87 for 16 and 17-year-olds and £2.80 an hour for apprentices.

Last year the adult minimum wage rose by 3% from £6.31 to £6.50.

Labour leader Ed Miliband said last year that the minimum wage would rise to £8 an hour over the course of the next parliament if his party wins the general election.

Are you being paid less than minimum wage? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your experience. Please include a telephone number if you are willing to be contacted by a BBC journalist.

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Peanut allergy 'cut by early exposure'

23 February 2015 Last updated at 22:46 By James Gallagher Health editor, BBC News website

Eating peanut products as a baby dramatically cuts the risk of allergy, a study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests.

Trials on 628 babies prone to developing peanut allergy found the risk was cut by over 80%.

The King's College London researchers said it was the "first time" that allergy development had been reduced.

But specialists warned at-risk families should not experiment with peanut products without medical advice.

Daily nut

The research team in London had previously found that Jewish children in Israel who started eating peanuts earlier in life had allergy levels 10 times lower than their equivalents in the UK.

The trial focused on babies as young as four months who had already developed eczema - an early warning sign of allergies.

Skin-prick tests were used to identify those who had not yet developed peanut allergy or had only a very mild response.

Children under five should not eat whole peanuts, because of the risk of choking, so half were given a peanut-based snack. The other half continued avoiding peanuts.

The trial indicated that for every 100 children, 14 would normally go on to develop an allergy by the age of five.

But this fell by 86% to just two out of every 100 children with the therapy.

Even the children who were already becoming sensitive to peanuts benefited. Their allergy rates fell from 35% to 11%.

Lead researcher Prof Gideon Lack told the BBC: "[It was] exciting to us to realise for the first time that in allergy, we can actually truly prevent the development of disease.

"It represents a real shift in culture."

He said that high-risk children "need to be evaluated, have skin-prick testing and dietary advice, [before], in most cases, early introduction of peanut".

Prof Lack added: "We realise this goes very much contrary to previous advice, but it is very much essential that we direct our attention to this group of infants and stem this growing epidemic of peanut allergy."

Until 2008, at-risk families were told to actively avoid peanut products and other sources of allergic reactions.

Analysis

By James Gallagher, health editor, BBC News website

Allergy levels are soaring.

In the US, the prevalence has more than quadrupled since 2008, and it's a pattern replicated across much of the Western world as well as parts of Asia and Africa.

This study has generated huge excitement at what it could mean for preventing allergies developing.

However, there are still many unanswered questions.

How regularly do children have to take the peanut snacks? What stage should they start? What happens when the children stop taking the peanut snacks?

How are health care services going to adopt this?

And excitingly, will this work in other types of food allergy?

It is these unknowns that mean no doctors are saying parents should take matters into their own hands.

But as a New England Journal of Medicine editorial states the results are "so compelling and the problem of the increasing prevalence of peanut allergy so alarming, new guidelines should be forthcoming very soon".

The findings have attracted excited responses from other doctors, and there is speculation similar approaches might work with other allergies, such as egg protein.

Prof Simon Murch, from University Hospital Coventry, a spokesman for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said the results were "brilliant".

He said: "It is potentially a very significant moment as it demonstrates that turning around our current approach may give better results.

"Obviously more studies will have to be performed on other potential allergens, but it is a very significant paper and is likely to change practice, at least for peanut, around the world."

He added that it was "unlikely" that previous policies were behind the rising tide of allergies as cleaner homes, modern food and gut bacteria were also likely to be playing a role.

However, he cautioned families not to rush out and buy a jar of peanut butter.

"This has to be looked at very closely by regulatory bodies, it is very possible this will lead to changes in recommendations," he said.

"But this is a single study, although very well conducted, so it is absolutely not at the stage you can recommend to families."

Dr Andrew Clark, a leading allergy specialist at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, found last year that allergic children could be trained to tolerate peanut by slowly exposing them to higher and higher doses.

He said: "This could be a turning point in the way we try to prevent food allergy in the future, it really does prove a principle that it is possible to reduce the prevalence of peanut allergy early in childhood by feeding infants peanut in a careful and controlled way.

"But we should remember this study was carried out at an internationally renowned centre, and they selected children at quite low risk of a severe reaction.

"Don't try this at home."

Do you have children affected by nut allergies? What is your reaction to this new study? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk

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Insurers 'obstructed abuse probes'

24 February 2015 Last updated at 01:35 By Tim Whewell File on 4

A BBC investigation has found evidence that some local authorities in England and Wales may have allowed fear of losing insurance cover to alter their approach to child abuse inquiries.

File on 4 has also been told of cases where insurers attempted to suppress information about abuse allegations.

An ex social services chief called the behaviour of one company "disgusting".

The Association of British Insurers said the investigation "raised a number of serious matters".

When Colin Lambert, then leader of Rochdale Council, proposed an investigation last year into a possible cover-up of child abuse in the town, he was shocked by a response from council officers.

Former pupils at the Knowl View special school for boys have alleged they were victims of sexual assaults by Rochdale's former MP, the late Cyril Smith and others, in the 1970s, '80s, and early '90s.

Mr Lambert says he was told an inquiry could lead to problems with the council's insurers.

"I can recall a conversation with officers that this could lead to the insurers withdrawing cover," he says. "Holding an actual open inquiry would expose exactly who did know what - and therefore the council probably would have been liable. And that then opens up the insurers to claims."

He continued to press for an inquiry - which has now been instituted.

The council has not denied Mr Lambert's account of the conversation about insurance - though it says it "would not be influenced by any pressure, perceived or actual, to either withhold or evidence or not to carry out a full and thorough investigation."

The File on 4 investigation has found other cases across Britain, over many years, in which councils have expressed concern over the danger of losing insurance cover - and some in which insurers have attempted to suppress information about abuse allegations.

Tim Hulbert, former director of social services in Bedfordshire, says insurers "instructed" him on what to do when he was helping set up an inquiry into alleged child abuse at a children's home in the early 1990s.

He said: "I had a phone call from the insurers who were anxious to influence the terms of reference of the inquiry, so they didn't actually produce circumstances which would increase the likelihood of claims.

"I thought it was disgusting."

Hulbert is one of those who called for the national abuse inquiry led by New Zealand High Court judge Lowell Goddard to look at insurance concerns.

"There is actually a conflict between the responsibilities of a local authority to safeguard its finances, which represents the interests of the insurers amongst other people - and the responsibility to protect children in whatever circumstances.

"For that reason, it needs to be dealt with as part of the whole examination of what influences have allowed the cover-ups of child abuse for so long."

At another council, Hereford and Worcester, in the same period, former child protection manager Peter McKelvie says council lawyers warned him not to admit the authority's liability at an inquiry into abuse at Rhydd Court school for boys, near Malvern.

"I could talk about the abuse that children suffered, but I was not to talk about how it could have been prevented," he said. Mr McKelvie believes insurance concerns lay behind the instruction.

The insurers, Municipal Mutual, told the BBC it denies "any suggestion that it acted to the detriment of pupils" at the school. The company repudiated cover in the case on the grounds that the council had breached its policy conditions by taking too long to inform them of the allegations.

In North Wales in 1996, Clwyd County Council refused to publish the report of an inquiry it had set up into abuse in its children's homes following legal advice that it would risk losing its insurance cover.

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The issues raised impinge on the democratic and constitutional arrangements of England and Wales"

End Quote Jillings Report

The government-appointed Waterhouse Tribunal on North Wales abuse later said the insurers had "acted throughout with the honourable intention" of preventing the council acting in such a way that they would be forced to repudiate liability for claims.

But when the Clwyd report by John Jillings was eventually published on a BBC Freedom of Information request in 2013, it revealed that the insurers had objected to the panel's proposal for notices in the press appealing for information about abuse.

'Bandwagon'

The insurers said: "Such notices only encourage a 'bandwagon' of claims together with adverse publicity."

The Jillings report said: "The issues raised by those advising the insurers impinge on the established democratic and constitutional arrangements of England and Wales."

The Association of British Insurers said: "Any survivor of abuse should be able to have confidence that their case will be dealt with fairly and openly by all parties and we will work with our members to ensure that the role of insurers in these sensitive processes is well framed and understood."

For more on this story listen to File on 4 on BBC Radio 4 at 20:00 on Tuesday 24 February.

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Rifkind 'under pressure' to step down

24 February 2015 Last updated at 07:42

Sir Malcolm Rifkind is coming under pressure to step down as chairman of an important Commons committee over "cash-for-access" claims.

Ex-Labour MP Kim Howells, a former chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, said its reputation must not be "dragged down".

Sir Malcolm was secretly filmed apparently offering his services to a private firm for cash.

Sir Malcolm and the other MP in the affair, Jack Straw, deny wrongdoing.

Further claims about Labour's Jack Straw have been made in Tuesday's Daily Telegraph. The paper claims the former foreign secretary also told its reporters he acted on behalf of Lancashire-based furniture company Senator International.

Mr Straw told the Telegraph he had not been paid by Senator but acknowledged he had discussed joining its board when he stands down as an MP.

'Sting operation'

Sir Malcolm and Mr Straw were filmed holding discussions over paid employment by reporters for the Daily Telegraph and Channel 4's Dispatches, who were posing as staff of a fake Chinese firm.

Both MPs have referred themselves to Parliament's standards watchdog and both deny breaching House of Commons rules.

Sir Malcolm, who is MP for Kensington, has said he would not stand down as security committee chairman, unless his colleagues wanted him to.

He pointed out that none of the matters raised in the newspaper sting was to do with intelligence or security.

However, in an interview with the BBC's Newsnight, Mr Howells said the committee - which oversees the work of Britain's intelligence and security agencies - cannot afford to be "dragged down" by the row because it is "too important".

And he warned that its reputation "isn't being improved when it looks as if the chair of the committee is the victim of a sting operation".

Asked if Sir Malcolm should resign, Mr Howells told Newsnight: "It's going to be very difficult for him, but the decision has got to be made by the committee."

He warned that "if the intelligence and security services are not properly overseen and accountable to parliament and the people, then all hell can break loose."

And he added that he was "a bit bewildered" that Sir Malcolm suggested he had the time to take on the role being offered by the undercover reporters because "the amount of reading on that committee is phenomenal, so much classified material comes across the desks of the ISC, and you have to read it in the offices of the ISC".

Potential loophole

Mr Straw has suspended himself from the Labour Party and the Tory whip has been withdrawn from Sir Malcolm, also a former foreign secretary.

Sir Malcolm is reported to have claimed he could arrange "useful access" to every British ambassador in the world.

He was recorded as saying: "I am self-employed - so nobody pays me a salary. I have to earn my income."

He said his usual fee for half a day's work was "somewhere in the region of £5,000 to £8,000".

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Sir Malcolm Rifkind: "My conscience is entirely clear"

He said he had never accepted an offer from the fake firm, saying it was a "preliminary" discussion "about what they had in mind".

He is paid £67,000 a year as an MP and he said telling the reporters he was not paid a salary was a "silly thing to say" although it was a reference "to my business interests, from none of which I receive a salary".

Blackburn MP Mr Straw, who has already announced his intention to stand down from Parliament in May, said he was "mortified" that he had fallen into the reporters' "trap" but that he had said nothing "improper".

During his 36 years as an MP he had been "absolutely scrupulous" about observing the rules, he said, adding that the entire discussion had been around what he would do after leaving Parliament.

It is claimed he was recorded describing how he operated "under the radar" and had used his influence to change EU rules on behalf of a firm which paid him £60,000 a year.

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Jack Straw MP: "I have acted with complete probity and integrity throughout my parliamentary career"

On the subject of payment, Mr Straw is heard saying: "So normally, if I'm doing a speech or something, it's £5,000 a day, that's what I charge."

After the story was published, Mr Straw confirmed he had taken on one consultancy role since his ministerial career ended in 2010, with commodity suppliers, ED&F Man (Holdings) Ltd, saying it was done in accordance with the MPs' Code of Conduct.

According to Tuesday's Daily Telegraph, Mr Straw's relationship with Senator International highlights a potential loophole in Parliamentary rules which allows MPs to "lobby" for companies they will later join.

But the paper reports Mr Straw as saying he helped Senator only because it employed a large number of people from his constituency and his involvement with the company was therefore "entirely appropriate".

A spokesman for Mr Straw is quoted by the Telegraph as saying: "The help which he provided was not in expectation of any employment or financial advantage but because Mr Straw was a constituency MP performing his parliamentary duties."

The chairman of Senator International, Colin Mustoe, denied the Telegraph's claims that Mr Straw had assisted him in securing government contracts.

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Cameron in pensioner benefits pledge

23 February 2015 Last updated at 03:17

Universal benefits for pensioners will once again be protected if the Conservatives win May's general election, David Cameron will say later.

Mr Cameron promised at the 2010 election not to introduce means testing for benefits such as bus passes, TV licences and the winter fuel allowance.

In a speech, he will repeat that pledge for the next Parliament.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats have said they would remove some benefits from better-off pensioners.

"In 2010, I looked down the barrel of the camera and made a clear commitment to the British people that I would keep these things," Mr Cameron will say.

"And that wasn't a commitment for five years - it was a commitment for as long as I was prime minister."

'Fundamental duty'

He will add: "If you've worked hard during your life, saved, paid your taxes, done the right thing, you deserve dignity when you retire.

"These people have fought wars, seen us through recessions - made this the great country it is today.

"They brought us into the world and cared for us, and now it's our turn - our fundamental duty - to care for them."

BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith said: "The decision follows the announcement earlier this month by the chancellor that the amount of money set aside for pensioner bonds was to be extended, fuelling claims that the Conservatives are deliberately targeting older voters - because they are more likely to vote."

Universal benefits for older people include free prescriptions and eye tests.

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Some Church jobs below living wage

23 February 2015 Last updated at 07:46

The Church of England pays some staff less than the living wage - despite calling on employers to pay at least that amount - it has been revealed.

The living wage, calculated from the basic cost of UK life, is currently £7.85 an hour outside London.

But the Sun newspaper reports a Church job advertised at £6.50 an hour - something an MP called "astonishing".

The Church said each parish, diocese and cathedral was a separate legal entity which made its own decisions.

According to the Sun, Canterbury Cathedral advertised for a kiosk assistant to be paid £6.70 an hour. The £6.50 advertisement was for "waiting-on staff" at Lichfield Cathedral.

Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke told the newspaper: "It's astonishing that the Church of England can call for the living wage to be paid by employers but don't pay it themselves."

His Tory colleague Philip Davies said many small businesses "might have considerably more difficulty raising wages" than the Church.

'Market pressures'

In a letter to all Church members last week, the House of Bishops said it backed the living wage, which ensured people earned enough to "live decently".

"It represents the basic principle that people are not commodities and that their lives cannot adapt infinitely in response to market pressures," the letter added.

In a statement, the Church of England said it was made of independent parts but added: "The vast majority of those employed by or sub-contracted to the central institutions are already paid at least the living wage and all will be by April 2017.

"The Diocese of Canterbury and the Pensions Board of the Church of England are committed to moving to paying the living wage and hope to be at that point within the next 2 years. As charities both institutions require time to increase giving levels prior to ensuring delivery of the living wage."

BBC religious affairs correspondent Caroline Wyatt said: "The intentions are there, and this is what the Church is aiming to do, but in the meantime we have probably not seen the end of this spat between politicians and the bishops."

The Living Wage Foundation says the hourly rate, revised yearly, is "calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK".

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HSBC chief holds Swiss bank account

23 February 2015 Last updated at 02:24

HSBC has confirmed that its chief executive Stuart Gulliver uses a Swiss bank account to hold his bonuses.

The bank was responding to a report in the Guardian that Mr Gulliver has £5m in the account which he controls using a Panamanian company.

The bank pointed out that Mr Gulliver lives in Hong Kong and pays taxes there and has also paid any taxes required in the UK.

The statement did not mention the Panamanian company.

The details about Mr Gulliver's tax arrangements have emerged on the same day that HSBC publishes its annual results.

The Guardian article does not suggest any wrongdoing on Mr Gulliver's behalf, but it will add to the questions over HSBC's activities in the tax advisory business.

Allegations emerged earlier this month that HSBC had helped people evade UK tax using hidden HSBC accounts in Geneva.

The Financial Conduct Authority, HMRC, Swiss prosecutors and MPs on the Treasury Committee are looking into the allegations.

Last weekend the bank published an apology - signed by Stuart Gulliver - to its customers and staff adding that it had completely overhauled how it conducted its business since 2008.

Legal threat

The former director of public prosecutions, Lord Ken Macdonald, has said HSBC has left itself open to criminal charges in the UK over the tax-dodging scandal.

The QC said there were strong grounds to investigate the bank for "cheating" HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

He added that HMRC's decision not to prosecute was "seriously flawed".

In a legal opinion prepared for consumer group SumOfUs, Lord Macdonald said: "It seems clear, from the evidence we have seen, that there exists credible evidence that HSBC Swiss and/or its employees have engaged over many years in systematic and profitable collusion in serious criminal activity against the exchequers of a number of countries.

"The corporate and wholesale nature of HSBC Swiss's apparent involvement in what amounts to grave cross border crime makes it all the more obvious that the relevant evidence, once it came the attention of HMRC, should have been the subject of urgent and sustained criminal investigation."

Despite the evidence being in the hands of HMRC for nearly five years, no action has so far been taken against the bank.

Bonuses

Along with its results HSBC will also be publishing the amount of bonuses to be paid to senior staff.

Mr Gulliver is under pressure from some MPs and some shareholders to refuse his bonus, which could reach £1.3m.

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Eddie Redmayne wins best actor Oscar

23 February 2015 Last updated at 06:20

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Highlights of the 2015 Academy Awards ceremony

British actor Eddie Redmayne has won the best actor Oscar for The Theory of Everything, while Julianne Moore picked up best actress for Still Alice.

Redmayne thanked his "staggering partner in crime", co-star Felicity Jones, and his "ferocious but incredibly kind director James Marsh".

Dark comedy Birdman won best film and best director for Mexican film-maker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

It also won best cinematography and best original screenplay.

The film sees Michael Keaton play a former movie superhero actor, who hopes to revive his washed-up career by putting on a Broadway play.

Find out all the updates throughout the night on our Oscars 2015: Live page

Moore used her speech to raise awareness for Alzheimer's disease - in Still Alice, she plays a 50-year-old who has early on-set Alzheimer's.

"I'm so happy, I'm thrilled that we were able to shine a light on Alzheimer's disease," she said.

"So many people who have this disease feel marginalised. People who have Alzheimer's disease deserve to be seen so we can find a cure."

Redmayne was honoured for his portrayal of physicist Stephen Hawking, who has motor neurone disease (ALS).

Accepting his award, he thanked the Hawking family, including Jane Hawking on whose book the film is based, and said his award belonged "to all of the people around the world battling ALS".

Richard Linklater's Boyhood won just one award from six nominations - best supporting actress - which went to Patricia Arquette.

Arquette thanked "her Boyhood family" and "every woman who gave birth".

"To every woman... we have fought for everybody else's equal rights. It's our time to have wage equality," she added, to huge applause from the audience.

JK Simmons won best supporting actor for Whiplash, in which he played a strict drumming teacher at a music conservatory.

Whiplash also won the award for best editing and best sound mixing.

The Grand Budapest Hotel picked up best costume design (Milena Canonero), as well as best hair and make-up (British duo Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier). It also won best score and production design.

Hannon thanked absent actor Bill Murray - who has a cameo in the film - for introducing her to director Wes Anderson on the set of his film Rushmore 17 years earlier.

Another British duo, Matt Kirkby and James Lucas, picked up the award for best live short action film, The Phone Call, starring Sally Hawkins and Jim Broadbent.

Alan Turing drama The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, won best adapted screenplay.

Best foreign language film went to Polish black and white family drama Ida.

John Legend and Common's track Glory, from civil rights drama Selma, won best song.

Legend used his time on stage to deliver a political message, saying: "We live in the most incarcerated country in the world... people are marching with our song... we are with you, march on."

Emmanuel Lubezko's win for best cinematography for Birdman was his second Oscar in as many years - in 2014, he won the same award for his work on Gravity.

Citizenfour, which chronicles one of the biggest intelligence leaks in American history, won best documentary feature.

It shows former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden at the very moment he made his sensational revelations detailing extensive internet and phone surveillance by the US government.

Best documentary short was won by Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1, about the counsellors who work with military veterans on a 24-hour phone helpline.

Clint Eastwood's Iraq war drama American Sniper won the award for best sound editing.

The 87th Academy Awards took place at Hollywood's 3,300-seat Dolby Theatre.

Performers at this year's ceremony included Lady Gaga - who sang a medley of Sound of Music songs to celebrate the classic film's 50th year - Jennifer Hudson and Anna Kendrick.

Host Neil Patrick Harris kicked off with a song which paid homage to Hollywood's film industry, accompanied by Kendrick and Jack Black.

There were eight contenders for best picture:

Birdman and Wes Anderson's quirky comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel began the night with nine nominations each. The Imitation Game had eight.

Clint Eastwood's true-life Iraq war tale American Sniper and Boyhood had six apiece.

The best picture prize was widely predicted to either go to Birdman or Boyhood - both of which had been named best film at the many ceremonies leading up to Hollywood's biggest night.

The directors of both films did their best on the red carpet to play down any rivalry with Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who eventually won for Birdman, calling the supposed competition "so silly" and Linklater saying he loved Birdman.

"It's a real tribute for two films that aren't traditional stories, crazy stories," said Linklater, who filmed the coming of age movie over 12 years with the same actors.

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Secretly-filmed MPs deny wrongdoing

23 February 2015 Last updated at 08:33

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Both MPs deny any wrongdoing, as Robin Brant reports

Former Foreign Secretaries Jack Straw and Sir Malcolm Rifkind say they have broken no rules after being secretly filmed apparently offering their services to a private company for cash.

Reporters for the Daily Telegraph and Channel 4's Dispatches posed as staff of a fake Chinese firm.

Mr Straw said he had fallen into a "very clever trap" while Sir Malcolm said his comments had been "silly".

The MPs have referred themselves to Parliament's standards watchdog.

It is claimed that Mr Straw was recorded describing how he operated "under the radar" and had used his influence to change EU rules on behalf of a firm which paid him £60,000 a year.

On the subject of payment, Mr Straw is heard saying: "So normally, if I'm doing a speech or something, it's £5,000 a day, that's what I charge."

Sir Malcolm is reported to have claimed he could arrange "useful access" to every British ambassador in the world.

The Conservative MP for Kensington and chairman of Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee was recorded saying: "I am self-employed - so nobody pays me a salary. I have to earn my income."

He said his usual fee for half a day's work was "somewhere in the region of £5,000 to £8,000".

Analysis

By Robin Brant, BBC political correspondent

Jack Straw and Sir Malcolm Rifkind have both referred themselves to Parliament's commissioner for standards. A full investigation could take months.

But there the similarities end.

Mr Straw has been suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party at his own request. Ed Miliband is unlikely to feel much sympathy for the retiring MP.

Sir Malcolm is not facing any suspension.

He told me the allegations had no bearing on his very significant role as chairman of the parliamentary committee that oversees the work of MI5 and MI6.

Downing Street has not offered any view on that. A source said it is for the Commons and other members of that committee to decide.

Sir Malcolm told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he had "nothing to be embarrassed about". He said the allegations were "unfounded" and he vowed to fight them "with all my strength".

He said he had never accepted an offer from the fake firm, saying it was a "preliminary" discussion "about what they had mind".

Sir Malcolm is paid £67,000 a year and he said telling the company he was not paid a salary was a "silly thing to say".

"Of course I receive a salary as a Member of Parliament but I was referring to my business interests, from none of which I receive a salary. I receive payment for services I provide," he said.

About 200 MPs have business interests, he said, and everything he earns is detailed in the Register of Members' Interests.

Sir Malcolm is due to meet the Conservative chief whip later on Monday. He said he would not stand down as security committee chairman, unless his committee colleagues wanted him to.

"One's got nothing to do with the other," he said. "None of the matters are remotely to do with intelligence or security."

He said he had a letter from Channel 4, accepting he had not offered access to any privileged or secret information.

Mr Straw, who had already announced his intention to stand down as an MP in May, said he was "mortified" that he had fallen into the reporters' "trap" but that he had said nothing "improper".

"Since I ceased to be a minister in 2010, I have taken on a number of outside activities, including writing, speaking engagements, and one consultancy - with the long-established commodity suppliers, ED&F Man (Holdings) Ltd," he said.

"All of this has been undertaken fully in accordance with the MPs' Code of Conduct."

'Disturbing allegations'

He said he had declined all other approaches to do consultancy work before May, but had considered "a number" of requests to work after that.

"The bogus company were told at the outset that any discussions with them were about what I might do once I left the Commons, not whilst I was still a serving MP," he said.

Mr Straw has suspended himself from the Parliamentary Labour Party, and the party said it was aware of the "disturbing allegations" against him.

Sir Malcolm and Mr Straw both said they had requested copies of the recording transcripts, but that Channel 4 and the Telegraph had not provided them.

The undercover reporters had created a fictitious communications agency called PMR, which they said was based in Hong Kong.

A statement on Channel 4's website said 12 MPs with "significant outside interests" were invited to apply for jobs with PMR, which had "plenty of money" and wanted to hire "influential British politicians to join its advisory board".

"Not all politicians are for hire," the statement added.

"Half of those approached didn't respond. One said he wanted to check us out in Hong Kong so we took it no further. And another said he just wasn't that interested. Of the others, two stood out - Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Jack Straw."

The documentary, called Politicians for Hire, will be broadcast on Channel 4 at 20:00 GMT.

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