British Runaway 'Feared Kidnapped In Spain'

A British man who fled to Spain is believed to have been kidnapped by men posing as police officers.

Francis Brennan left the UK ahead of a sentencing date last October for an assault he committed in the Thames Valley area in 2012.

He was last seen in Alicante on January 24. He was in a friend's car when it was stopped by several men who posed as police officers.

The 25-year-old's parents, Carl and Janet, have appealed for information about his disappearance.

"We got a call from one of his friends and his girlfriend back in January to say that Francis had been arrested on January 24 but we later learnt from the Spanish authorities that this was not the case and that he had been taken against his will," they said.

"This has come as an awful shock to us as Francis is our only son and we can still remember him as a fun-loving child who was football-mad in a football-mad family who loved nothing more than playing out with his friends."

They said they pleaded with their son not to leave the country, but he did not listen.

"He told us not to worry and that he would be home after Christmas," they said.

Mr Brennan went missing in Alicante

Mr Brennan's girlfriend, Sophie Staunton, went to Alicante in December to try to persuade him to return home.

"Francis met Sophie, his lovely girlfriend, in 2012 and he seemed to start to grow up and they seemed very settled and happy," Mr Brennan's parents said.

"Sophie went out to Javea in December to try and persuade him to come home but then last month he disappeared and none of us know where. This whole thing has devastated all of us."

Detective Superintendent Richie Carr, from Merseyside Police, said: "Francis's disappearance is completely out of character and because of this, as well as his associations and lifestyle, ourselves and the Spanish police are extremely concerned for his safety.

"We do however believe he has been taken against his will and we and his family are hopeful that someone in the criminal fraternity here in Merseyside has information that could help bring about the safe return of Francis."

:: Anybody with information should call Merseyside Police on 0151 777 8520 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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Free Bus Services For Elderly 'Under Threat'

Free bus services for the elderly and disabled people are under threat as councils struggle to fund the services.

Funding for free, off-peak travel has fallen by 39% since 2010, according to the Local Government Association.

Councils are now being forced to subsidise free travel at the cost of other essential services, the LGA added.

Among the county councils forced to cut back on the services due to funding shortages are Buckinghamshire, Cumbria and Somerset.

Peter Box, the LGA's economy and transport board chairman, said: "The concessionary fares scheme provides a lifeline for our most vulnerable residents to go shopping, pick up medication, attend doctor appointments or socialise with friends. However, it is now under real threat.

"Years of underfunding of the scheme forces councils to spend millions of pounds of taxpayers' money to subsidise the scheme.

"This is now impossible with councils having to make savings while struggling to protect vital services like adult social care, protecting children, filling potholes and collecting bins."

A Government spokeswoman said: "We know that bus services are vital for many older and disabled people.

"That is why the right to free travel is enshrined in law and government provides funding to meet the cost of subsidising off-peak travel for these groups.

"In addition, the Department for Transport provides funding to bus operators to help more services run and keep ticket prices down.

"The current level of this funding is protected until 2015/16."

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Floods Fund: £2m To Support Tourism Firms

Tourism businesses affected by the recent flooding are to get a £2m boost from the Government.

Culture Secretary Maria Miller says the money will fund experts who will visit affected areas and offer practical advice to tourism firms such as how to access business support measures.

The advice sessions will be hosted by VisitEngland and run throughout March.

The fund comes on top of  the £10m set aside by Prime Minister David Cameron last month to help flood-hit businesses generally.

Ms Miller said: "We want to help all those tourism businesses that have been affected by the horrendous floods get back on their feet as quickly as possible.

"Experts will be put on the ground to help small businesses with practical advice and communications while a bespoke Easter marketing will bring people back to the areas hit."

Welcoming the funding, VisitEngland chief executive James Berresford said: "Our message to customers is 'Business as usual'.

"Despite many areas having been affected by bad weather and some travel disruption, the tourism infrastructure is largely unaffected."

VisitBritain chief executive Sandie Dawe said: "International tourism is worth around £1.5bn to the economies of south west England and Wales.

"We are already getting out the message that it is a great time to travel to Britain and will be intensifying that activity over the coming months."

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:: Watch Sky News' special programme 'Battered Britain: From The Air' about the effect of the recent storms on the UK's landscape on Sunday, March 2, at 4pm.

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Police Investigate Leytonstone Double Murder

Police are investigating a double murder after two men were found dead in a car in east London.

Police were called to a road in Leytonstone just before 1am by London Ambulance Service after reports of two injured men in the area.

Met Police officers and paramedics found the pair, believed to be in their twenties, in a vehicle and they were pronounced dead at the scene.

Scotland Yard said an incident room has been set up in Barking and officers are working to identify the victims and inform their families.

Post-mortem examinations are due to take place on Saturday afternoon at Walthamstow mortuary.

There have been no arrests and the investigation is ongoing.

More follows...

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Moazzam Begg Remanded Over Terror Charges

Ex-Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg has appeared in court charged with providing terrorist training and funding terrorism overseas.

The 45-year-old British citizen, from Hall Green, Birmingham, was one of four people arrested earlier this week on suspicion of terrorism offences linked to the Syria conflict.

He appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court today alongside a woman, Gerrie Tahari, 44, of Sparkbrook, Birmingham, who also denied funding terrorism overseas.

Begg was remanded in custody and will next appear at the Old Bailey on March 14.

Both were arrested on Tuesday with two other men held on suspicion of facilitating terrorism overseas.

Begg was released from Guantanamo Bay in January 2005

The pair - a 36-year-old man from Shirley, Solihull, and a 20-year-old man from Sparkhill, Birmingham, who is the son of Tahari - remain in police custody.

Begg was held by the US government at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba for nearly three years after being arrested in Pakistan in February 2002.

He was detained on suspicion of being a member of al Qaeda before being released without charge in January 2005.

He was allowed to return to the UK where he was arrested by police before being released without charge.

Begg is a director of Cage - which campaigns "against the War on Terror" - and has always maintained that he has never been involved in any kind of terrorist activity.

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Hewitt 'Backed Age Of Consent As Low As 10'

Who Were Paedophile Group PIE?

Updated: 1:43pm UK, Tuesday 25 February 2014

A campaign group for lowering the age of consent, a networking group for paedophiles and the publisher of newsletters giving easy access to child porn.

The Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) started life in 1974 as a splinter group - or special interest group - of a Scottish gay rights movement.

It quickly moved to London because that was where the greatest interest in its activities lay and by 1975 had been accepted as an "affiliate" group by the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL).

Run by paedophiles who had "come out" and openly lobbied for child sex to be legalised, the group also provided a means for the like-minded to contact each other.

It also published regular newsletters - which became the now-defunct magazine Magpie, which published pictures of children, paedophilia "jokes", and also assisted paedophiles to obtain child pornography.

The group won support among left-wing groups largely by allying itself with the battle for gay rights and academia.

The freelance journalist Eileen Fairweather, who worked for the feminist magazine, Spare Rib, and who went on to expose abuse in Islington children's homes wrote recently for The Daily Telegraph: "PIE fooled so many on the Left, within academia and in social work, because they adroitly hijacked the language of liberation.

"Little was known then or discussed about the extent or horror of child abuse. PIE members also portrayed themselves as 'child lovers', benign uncle figures who offered tenderness, not rape.

"They claimed that paedophiles, like women, gay men and children, were 'oppressed by the patriarchy'. Therefore we should all make common cause. Spare Rib, to its credit, refused to fall for this self-serving guff. But nor did we condemn it."

In 1975, PIE submitted a 17-page document to the Home Office Criminal Law Revision Committee lobbying for no age of consent.

During this time PIE sent a leaflet to MPs which said: "Paedophiles are ordinary, decent, sensible human beings, no more sexually depraved than yourself, and with a capacity for loving and helping children which is at present being repressed."

In 1977 PIE chairman Tom O'Carroll was allowed to make a speech at the spring conference of the NCCL, giving the group further legitimacy.

In late 2013, the Home Office announced an inquiry into claims that PIE was being inadvertently financed by the Labour administration of the time through grants.

In 1980 O'Carroll published "Paedophilia: the radical case" which argued for "a climate in which children come to view all consensual sex, including consensual paedophilia, positively and without guilt may be necessary for the welfare of everyone".

O'Carroll moved that a relationship between adults and children could proceed on a basis of signals being interpreted saying " … the man might start by saying what pretty knickers the girl was wearing, and he would be far more likely to proceed to the next stage of negotiation if she seemed pleased by the remark".

By 1981 O'Carroll had been jailed for the contact advertisements in PIE publications offering to put people in touch with child pornography distributors.

In 1984 the group was disbanded and in the years that followed a number of its senior members were sentenced for paedophilia offences.

In 2006 the last of the leading PIE associates was jailed. David Joy was sentenced to 18 months after 1,129 of the worst level of child pornography images were found at his Leicestershire home. The images were of children aged between one and 13.

The judge warned him that he may never be eligible for parole because of his commitment to paedophilia.

He said: "It's clear that you hold firmly to a set of beliefs involving sexual activity with adults and children.

"Those beliefs are wholly in variance to the views held by most members of society, views that most of society would find abhorrent."

Many in 2014 find it hard to believe that such a group existed openly but as the Tory MP Nadine Dorries recently pointed out in a tweet: "In 70's following legalisation of homosexuality (rightly) and a decade of 'free love' organisations like PIE genuinely thought they were next."

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Dementia: Shop Staff Will Train To Spot Illness

More than 190,000 high street staff will be trained to spot the signs of dementia under a raft of new measures to help people with the condition.

Workers at Marks & Spencer, Argos, Homebase, Lloyds Bank and Lloyds Pharmacy will become "dementia friends" to provide better support for sufferers.

An estimated 800,000 people have already been diagnosed with dementia, but experts expect this figure to soar to 1.7 million by 2051.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the new package of care would make the UK a world leader in fighting the illness, which he described as "horrific and heartbreaking".

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt

"(This) is about government, clinicians, business, society and investors coming together to raise our game on every front - from speedy diagnosis to compassionate care, and from help on our high streets to the quest for a cure," he said.

NHS England is to invest £90m in an attempt to diagnose two-thirds of people with dementia by March next year, targeting areas where it can take up to 25 weeks to carry out a diagnosis.

According to the Alzheimer's Society, one in three people aged over 65 will develop the condition, and two-thirds of sufferers are women.

Jeremy Hughes, chief executive of the charity, said: "(This) is a positive step forward to increasing diagnosis rates and ensuring that no matter where you live you will receive a timely assessment.

"Too often we hear about a lack of suitable services available to people with dementia and their carers.

"We welcome the focus on post-diagnosis support which will provide a vital lifeline to thousands who are currently left in the dark, with nowhere to turn for advice or support."

David Cameron has appointed a World Dementia Envoy following agreement between the G8 countries at a dementia summit in London in December.

The Prime Minister has called for international collaboration to urgently find a cure for the condition.

There are around 800,000 people in the UK who suffer from dementia

However, Labour warned the Government must tackle "poor care standards" in order to combat dementia.

Liz Kendall, the shadow minister for care and older people, said: "If his words are to have real meaning, Mr Cameron must do far more to help people struggling to cope with dementia right now.

"£2.7bn has been cut from council care budgets under this Government, hitting the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of people with dementia and their families."

She added: "The Prime Minister cannot credibly claim to show leadership on dementia unless he tackles poor care standards, like the increasing number of 15-minute home visits which are barely enough time to make a cup of tea, let alone help a frail elderly person with dementia get up, washed, dressed and fed."

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'Boiler Room Fraud' Smashed In Police Raids

Suspected fraudsters who led extravagant lifestyles like Leonardo DiCaprio's character in hit film The Wolf Of Wall Street by conning victims out of millions of pounds have been targeted in an international clampdown.

Police swooped in a series of raids stretching from London and Barcelona to the US and Serbia in a move to smash the so-called boiler room fraud, where investors are duped into buying worthless or non-existent shares.

A total of 110 alleged fraudsters were held in what was one of the biggest anti-fraud operations ever staged.

To date, 850 British victims, many of them pensioners and one of whom killed themselves after being defrauded, have been identified.

They lost a total of around £15m - ranging from between £2,000 and £500,000 per person - but police believe this figure is only "the tip of the iceberg" and suspect thousands more people may have been duped.

A suspect's lavish home in Marbella, Spain. Pic: City of London Police

The operation, which was two years in the making, saw 40 officers from City of London Police join 300 of their Spanish counterparts from the Policia Nacional to target a number of organised crime gangs.

It aimed to take out criminal kingpins, as well as scores of conmen who work for them, including lawyers, money launderers and financiers.

The alleged fraudsters spent their ill-gotten gains on sports cars, designer watches, drugs and prostitutes.

One of the suspects was believed to have been paying £40,000 per month to rent an apartment.

An Aston Martin and Ferrari were among the cars seized by police, along with various watches and £500,000 in cash.

One suspect wrapped watches around his slippers

The raids took place earlier this week, but can only now be revealed after a reporting ban was lifted by a Spanish judge.

Speaking near the site of one of the searches in Barcelona on Tuesday, City of London Police Commander Steve Head said: "You see real victims in real communities whose lives have been devastated. Savings that they thought they could rely on in their old age have gone in a heartbeat."

He added: "These people have no conscience in terms of what they do to people's lives. This is not at all a victimless crime. We've seen lives that have been utterly devastated.

"We have dismantled an international network of fraudsters. Make no mistake, this will make a difference to the ability of fraudsters to operate at this level.

"This network has been dismantled, hopefully we have sent a message to those who think that it's an easy crime that it doesn't matter where you are, we will come after you."

Expensive cars including a Ferrari and an Aston Martin were confiscated

In total, the international team executed 35 warrants on offices from where the fraud is said to have been run, as well as the alleged criminals' luxury homes.

The operation closed down 14 boiler rooms in Spain, two in the UK and one in Serbia.

As well as the fraud, the gangs were also allegedly involved in drug dealing, money laundering and gun crime.

Most of the suspects targeted are British and a main group is expected to be extradited back to the UK to face trial.

Commissioner Jose Luis Andre Vega from the Spanish national police, said: "This sort of crime knows no frontiers or boundaries. It's important to investigate this sort of organised crime on an international level."

Of the 110 arrests, there were 84 in Spain, 20 in the UK, two in the United States and four in Serbia, with most of the suspects arrested on suspicion of money laundering and fraud offences.

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Triple Killer Joanne Dennehy Being Sentenced

Ditch Killer's 'Accomplices' Caught On CCTV

Updated: 8:48pm UK, Wednesday 22 January 2014

CCTV footage of serial killer Joanna Dennehy and her alleged accomplices apparently buying petrol to destroy evidence has been shown to a court.

Dennehy, 31, Gary 'Stretch' Richards, 47, and Leslie Layton, 36, are seen pulling up at a Shell garage near Peterborough in a Vauxhall Astra and Ford Mondeo on March 29 last year before filling up a petrol can.

Earlier that day, Dennehy had stabbed her final two victims - John Chapman, 56, and 48-year-old Kevin Lee - in the heart, Cambridge Crown Court was told.

Her first victim, Lukasz Slaboszewski, 31, was killed about 10 days earlier, it is thought.

In the video, Layton is seen getting out of the driver's seat of the Mondeo before filling the can with fuel.

Co-defendant Stretch then gets out of the Astra and pays for the fuel at the counter while swigging from a water bottle. Dennehy remains in the Astra throughout.

Prosecutor Andrew Jackson said the Mondeo was found burnt-out on wasteland in nearby Yaxley later that night.

The next day, Mr Lee's body was found by a farmer in a ditch near Newborough. He was wearing a black sequin dress with five "stab cuts," the jury heard.

He had been covered with some kind of fuel or accelerant, but there was no evidence of any attempt to set fire to his body, according to a post-mortem examination.

The bodies of Mr Chapman and Mr Slaboszewski were found in a ditch at Thorney Dyke on April 3.

Between February 18 and 21 2012, Dennehy had been admitted to a psychiatric ward at Peterborough City Hospital, the court heard.

She was diagnosed with a personality disorder and an obsessive compulsive disorder, Mr Jackson said.

Dennehy, from Orton Goldhay, Peterborough, has admitted murdering the three men.

She then travelled to Hereford where she randomly selected and repeatedly stabbed two men - Robin Bereza and John Rogers - in the street "for fun".

She has admitted their attempted murders and preventing the lawful and decent burial of all three murder victims.

Stretch, real name Gary Richards, from Riseholme, Orton Goldhay, Peterborough, has denied three charges of preventing the lawful burial of all three men and two counts of attempted murder.

Layton, from Bifield, Orton Goldhay, has denied perverting the course of justice and two counts of preventing the lawful burial of the bodies of Mr Chapman and Mr Lee.

A third man, Robert Moore, 55, from Belvoir Way, Peterborough, has admitted assisting an offender and is also awaiting sentence.

The trial continues.

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IRA Letter Scheme A 'Murky Deal', Says Robinson

Northern Ireland's First Minister has condemned the Government's handling of so-called on-the-run Republican terror suspects as a "murky deal" with Sinn Fein.

Peter Robinson's comments come amid a row over whether letters sent to nearly 200 alleged IRA fugitives as part of the ongoing peace process provided them with immunity.

The writing of state-sanctioned letters, which effectively granted immunity from arrest, led to the collapse of the trial of John Downey, who was suspected of involvement in the 1982 Hyde Park bombing.

The scene of the 1982 Hyde Park bombing

Addressing the Northern Ireland Assembly which has been recalled to debate the controversy, he said: "Let me make it clear that this British Government and Sinn Fein scheme is and was wrong.

"Many people considered it had the impact in the Downey case of providing an effective amnesty."

Mr Robinson said the "secret letters" scheme exposed to the full glare of public attention a process that had been agreed well over a decade ago between Sinn Fein and the British Government.

He said he believed only Sinn Fein was aware of an "administrative process and a provision of letters of comfort" to on-the-runs.

And in response to claims by Sinn Fein that the Democratic Unionist Party had "manufactured" a crisis, he told the Stormont assembly the "outrage" was "not synthetic".

"It was on outrage felt by victims, by those within the political process, that they had been bypassed by the British Government and Sinn Fein," he said.

Hyde Park bomb suspect John Downey

In reference to Prime Minister David Cameron's announcement on Thursday of a judge-led inquiry into the arrangement, Mr Robinson said the full investigation could not be "a paper exercise".

He said it needed to "get at the truth of all that went on" in order to restore public confidence which had been "seriously damaged by this murky deal".

Mr Robinson said the issue raised a number of fundamental issues which demanded answers.

"We want to find out who knew what and when about letters being made available to on-the-runs," he said.

"We want to know what happened in the Downey case, never happens again.

"We want to be sure that those who are the recipients of these letters cannot rely on them to avoid questioning or prosecution, or on the basis of information or evidence that is now or may later become available."

Mr Cameron has said the independent judge appointed to oversea the inquiry will have "full access to Government files and officials" and would report by May.

Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers

Earlier, Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers conceded there was "grave concern" about the way the scheme, created by the previous government, was operated.

But she reiterated her pledge that the so-called "amnesty" letters would not prevent suspects from being "questioned or prosecuted".

She told Sky News: "The reason why the judge decided that the trial couldn't go ahead in John Downey's case is that he was sent a letter that was misleading.

"The letter said that police in Northern Ireland didn't believe that Mr Downey was wanted for offences in Northern Ireland or anywhere else in the UK. Unfortunately it turned out at the time that they knew he was wanted by the Metropolitan Police in relation to the Hyde Park bombing.

"It was that inaccuracy in the letter that went out which caused the problem with the trial.

"But the letters themselves do not confirm immunity and that is what I have made very clear."

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NI Assembly Set For Recall Over Bomb Ruling

Hyde Park Bombing Victims' Families 'Angry'

Updated: 7:51pm UK, Tuesday 25 February 2014

The families of the soldiers killed in the Hyde Park IRA bomb blast have criticised Northern Ireland police's "monumental blunder" after an attempt to prosescute suspect John Downey failed.

Downey, 62, of County Donegal, will not face trial at the Old Bailey because he received a "letter of assurance" that he would not face a criminal court.

He had been wanted by the Metropolitan Police for more than 30 years, but officers were unaware Mr Downey - who denies involvement - and dozens of other terrorist suspects had been promised they would not be arrested because of the Northern Ireland peace process.

Police in Northern Ireland have now said they were wrong to make those assurances.

After the ruling by a judge that the prosecution could not go ahead, relatives of the four soldiers killed in the 1982 attack, said in a statement: "It is with great sadness and bitter disappointment that we have received the full and detailed judgment and that a trial will now not take place.

"This news has left us all feeling devastatingly let down, even more so when the monumental blunder behind this judgment lies at the feet of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)."

Career soldier Lieutenant Anthony Daly, then 23, died alongside three other members of his regiment the Blues and Royals, part of the Household Cavalry, when a bomb packed with wire nails and hidden in a parked car was detonated as they passed along South Carriage Drive in London.

Chris Daly - former major in the Blues and Royals - spoke angrily about being "let down" by the authorities, adding there was evidence to suggest the PSNI discovered its error but twice failed to rectify the problem, or inform the province's director of public prosecutions.

He said: "It stems very directly to the issuing of the letter Downey has in his possession where the Government has given him assurance he will not be prosecuted.

"And therefore how did Downey come into possession of this letter?

"It transpires the PSNI issued this letter to Downey in July 2007, thinking that he was not wanted either in Northern Ireland or by any other police force in the United Kingdom.

"This is despite the fact that three months earlier in April the same team within PSNI knew that Downey was wanted by the Metropolitan Police, on the police national computer, so the letter was issued in error.

"A year later this error was flagged up by the PSNI but nothing was done about it.

"Why wasn't something done about it?

"Then a year later, in 2009, again the error of the issuing of the letter was recognised but nothing was done about it."

Mr Daly, who was 18 when his brother died, is now asking for an apology for the victims' families from the police force and a full investigation into what went wrong.

He said the fact Downey would be returning to a normal life was "a torment" for the families left behind, for whom the grief of loss would never end.

The PSNI apologised and accepted "full responsibility" for the botched prosecution.

Northern Ireland Chief Constable Matt Baggott apologised to the families, saying: "I deeply regret these failings, which should not have happened."

Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers said the PSNI should reflect on "the serious error".

President of the Association of Chief Police Officers Sir Hugh Orde, who was chief constable of Northern Ireland at the time of the error, said: "It is a matter of great personal regret that a crucial oversight was made by a senior officer which resulted in erroneous information being sent to Mr Downey by the Northern Ireland Office and thus prejudicing the current indictment."

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Pre-Nups Should Be Legally Binding, Says Report

By Afua Hirsch, Social Affairs Editor

Pre-nuptial agreements should become legally binding in court, according to an influential report.

The body which reviews law in England and Wales wants them to have contractual force, and is calling on parliament to change the law.

"Pre and post-nuptial agreements are becoming more commonplace but the courts will not always follow them and lawyers are therefore not able to give clear advice about their effect," said Professor Elizabeth Cooke, Law Commissioner for property, family and trust law.

"(Our recommendations) would give couples autonomy and control, and make the financial outcome of separation more predictable.

"We have built in safeguards to ensure that they cannot be used to impose hardship on either party, nor to escape responsibility for children or to burden the state."

Pre-nups have traditionally been treated with suspicion by English courts, but have gradually become more and more influential after a series of rulings recognising their terms.

In 2010 the Supreme Court upheld the terms of German heiress Katrin Radmacher's pre-nup in a landmark ruling that lawyers say has made the agreements more popular.

Divorce lawyer Vanessa Lloyd Platt said: "We have seen an increase in pre-nups since Radmacher.

"And what we have especially noticed is an increase in demand for pre-nups from women. They have a property that they have acquired before a marriage, which they want to protect.

"Pre-nups are legal in the US, Australia, and many European countries. But some say that aspects of British culture are unique and make their use more difficult.

"For many English women, money is a dirty word, whereas in America for example, women are comfortable discussing money openly. 90% of the women I see don't have a clue what their husbands are earning and what assets they have.

"I worry that if pre-nups are enforced by the courts, women will be put in a position where they won't want to spoil the wedding by suddenly saying its off because the terms of the pre-nup are unreasonable."

Yet divorce in England and Wales is on the rise. Some 42% of marriages are now expected to end in divorce.

In 2012 the number of couples divorcing increased to 118,140, up from 117,558 the previous year.

The prevalence of divorce has led to more calls for pre-nups to be recognised, provided they are not unfair.

The Law Commission said its recommendations did include the necessary safeguards, and that pre-nups would only be enforced if both parties were provided for.

Prof Cooke said: "We believe that married couples and civil partners should have the power to decide their own financial arrangements, but should not be able to contract out of their responsibilities for each other's financial needs, or for their children."

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'Cut Snobbery' To Get Youth Back In Work

By Rhiannon Mills, Sky News Correspondent

Making it compulsory for young people to improve their maths and English, as well as a Ucas-style website for work-based training, are among the latest Government plans to cut youth unemployment.

In a speech at a school in South London later, Nick Clegg will announce changes to how young people are helped to get into training and employment.

The Deputy Prime Minister will say: "Together, these changes will help us simplify your choices, end the snobbery surrounding vocational education that limits your prospects and support you as you make these decisions.

"We want every young person to be able to follow their chosen path.

"This is my commitment to you - to do whatever we can to ensure you get an equal shot at the life you want."

Nick Clegg will announce the plans in South London

Earlier this week the Lib Dem leader said there are record numbers of people going to university, with the number of people coming from disadvantaged backgrounds rising faster than average.

But this latest announcement will target the six out of ten young people who choose not to go to university and decide instead to go straight to work.

It will include plans for each local area to set up a website similar to the Ucas university application system, but this time dedicated to work-based training including apprenticeships or other vocational courses.

There will also be a focus on basic skills, so any 18-21-year-old who is looking for a job and does not have a C-grade in GCSE maths and English will retake the qualification or be given equivalent training to improve their basic skills.

If people refuse to do this training, they would not get their benefit.

Schools are also being encouraged to give better career advice, and 16 or 17-year-olds will also be able to get advice in job centres.

Work experience will be offered to any young person who has not had a job for six months.

The latest unemployment figures found the number of young people out of work had fallen to 917,000, however the director of the British Chambers of Commerce recently said 16 to 24-year-olds are almost three times more likely to be unemployed than members of the workforce as a whole.

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Rigby's Mum 'Collapsed' After Killers Brawl

Lee Rigby's mother collapsed and needed medical treatment after the dramatic sentencing hearing that saw her son's raging killers bundled out of court by guards.

Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale exploded with anger after judge Mr Justice Sweeney said they had betrayed Islam when they hacked the soldier to death near Woolwich barracks.

The pair were taken to their cells where they continued screaming, and the judge sentenced them in their absence.

Afterwards, Mrs Rigby said her legs "went from underneath me", and an ambulance was called.

Paramedics checked her blood pressure, before deciding she was well enough to return home.

The 47-year-old told The Sun newspaper: "This was the final insult to Lee. It was like they were jumping all over his grave.

"As they started fighting all I could think was that was how it must have been as they hacked and killed my son. I tried to block out the noises and shouting by covering my ears.

"There was so much banging and chaos. I felt so ill I thought I was going to die. I screamed out and the police rushed to protect me and my family.

"I was terrified the glass screen around the dock was going to smash and I couldn't even breathe properly.

"Even when they were dragged downstairs I could still hear them screaming.

"I don't think I have ever felt so frightened. But I was determined to see it through to the end for Lee."

Adebolajo, 29, was given a whole-life term, and Adebowale, 22, was jailed for at least 45 years.

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N Ireland: 'Resignation Would Achieve Nothing'

The resignation of Northern Ireland's first minister over the so-called IRA suspect amnesties would achieve nothing, Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness has said.

The deputy first minister said it was time for "cool heads" and "steady leadership" to continue the peace process, and urged all parties to return to the table for discussions.

On Wednesday, the first minister, the Democratic Unionist Party's Peter Robinson, threatened to resign over the 187 letters sent to Republican paramilitaries, claiming the amnesty deal for "on-the-runs" had been made in secret.

He voiced fury at being "kept in the dark" and demanded a public inquiry, giving the coalition 24 hours to respond - providing the biggest test of David Cameron's leadership on Northern Ireland of his tenure so far.

But Mr McGuinness said: "The question has to be asked: 'What would that achieve?' Absolutely nothing."

He said the problems would still remain after Mr Robinson stepped down and an election had taken place.

Mr McGuinness said the agreement on the so-called "get-out-of-jail-free" letters was widely known, the information was in the public domain and that it had been written about in a book by Tony Blair's former chief of staff, Jonathan Powell. 

"We weren't the only ones who knew about this," he said.

Speaking after a Thursday morning meeting with Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers, Mr McGuinness, confirmed the British Government was considering a judicial review of the letters sent to terror suspects informing them they would not be arrested.

The political crisis was triggered by the collapse of the trial of the Hyde Park bombing suspect John Downey on Tuesday.

Mr Downey is suspected of involvement in the 1982 Hyde Park bombing, which killed four members of the Household Cavalry and seven of their horses.

However, he was told by a judge that he would not be prosecuted because he had been sent a letter by Northern Ireland police in 2007 saying he would not be arrested, despite an outstanding Metropolitan Police arrest warrant for the attack. 

Some 187 letters have been sent out as part of the peace process - 38 have been sent since the coalition came to power in 2010 - although the applications were received before then, and the last was in December 2012.

Mr Robinson maintains he had no knowledge of the letters and has also raised the issue of Royal Pardons, which he said had been used to grant IRA terror suspects an effective amnesty for offences.

He said: "It appears that we are not just dealing with on-the-runs who received letters, but we are also dealing with people who received the Royal Prerogative of Mercy – that indicates there were offences involved.

"So we are not talking just about people who it is believed that the police did not have sufficient evidence to make a prosecution stick – that makes it a very serious matter."

Defence Minister Anna Soubry, a former barrister, has warned there was no chance of a judicial review.

"You can't judicially review the decision," she said.

"You can appeal it, the prosecution can appeal it. The Crown Prosecution Service has taken the view that these are not the right circumstances to appeal it."

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Harman 'Did Not Act' Over Paedophile Group

Who Were Paedophile Group PIE?

Updated: 1:43pm UK, Tuesday 25 February 2014

A campaign group for lowering the age of consent, a networking group for paedophiles and the publisher of newsletters giving easy access to child porn.

The Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) started life in 1974 as a splinter group - or special interest group - of a Scottish gay rights movement.

It quickly moved to London because that was where the greatest interest in its activities lay and by 1975 had been accepted as an "affiliate" group by the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL).

Run by paedophiles who had "come out" and openly lobbied for child sex to be legalised, the group also provided a means for the like-minded to contact each other.

It also published regular newsletters - which became the now-defunct magazine Magpie, which published pictures of children, paedophilia "jokes", and also assisted paedophiles to obtain child pornography.

The group won support among left-wing groups largely by allying itself with the battle for gay rights and academia.

The freelance journalist Eileen Fairweather, who worked for the feminist magazine, Spare Rib, and who went on to expose abuse in Islington children's homes wrote recently for The Daily Telegraph: "PIE fooled so many on the Left, within academia and in social work, because they adroitly hijacked the language of liberation.

"Little was known then or discussed about the extent or horror of child abuse. PIE members also portrayed themselves as 'child lovers', benign uncle figures who offered tenderness, not rape.

"They claimed that paedophiles, like women, gay men and children, were 'oppressed by the patriarchy'. Therefore we should all make common cause. Spare Rib, to its credit, refused to fall for this self-serving guff. But nor did we condemn it."

In 1975, PIE submitted a 17-page document to the Home Office Criminal Law Revision Committee lobbying for no age of consent.

During this time PIE sent a leaflet to MPs which said: "Paedophiles are ordinary, decent, sensible human beings, no more sexually depraved than yourself, and with a capacity for loving and helping children which is at present being repressed."

In 1977 PIE chairman Tom O'Carroll was allowed to make a speech at the spring conference of the NCCL, giving the group further legitimacy.

In late 2013, the Home Office announced an inquiry into claims that PIE was being inadvertently financed by the Labour administration of the time through grants.

In 1980 O'Carroll published "Paedophilia: the radical case" which argued for "a climate in which children come to view all consensual sex, including consensual paedophilia, positively and without guilt may be necessary for the welfare of everyone".

O'Carroll moved that a relationship between adults and children could proceed on a basis of signals being interpreted saying " … the man might start by saying what pretty knickers the girl was wearing, and he would be far more likely to proceed to the next stage of negotiation if she seemed pleased by the remark".

By 1981 O'Carroll had been jailed for the contact advertisements in PIE publications offering to put people in touch with child pornography distributors.

In 1984 the group was disbanded and in the years that followed a number of its senior members were sentenced for paedophilia offences.

In 2006 the last of the leading PIE associates was jailed. David Joy was sentenced to 18 months after 1,129 of the worst level of child pornography images were found at his Leicestershire home. The images were of children aged between one and 13.

The judge warned him that he may never be eligible for parole because of his commitment to paedophilia.

He said: "It's clear that you hold firmly to a set of beliefs involving sexual activity with adults and children.

"Those beliefs are wholly in variance to the views held by most members of society, views that most of society would find abhorrent."

Many in 2014 find it hard to believe that such a group existed openly but as the Tory MP Nadine Dorries recently pointed out in a tweet: "In 70's following legalisation of homosexuality (rightly) and a decade of 'free love' organisations like PIE genuinely thought they were next."

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Cyclist Causes Chaos On M25 Rush Hour Ride

A cyclist caused travel chaos when he chose to pedal along Britain's busiest motorway during rush hour while following a sat nav app on his phone.

He ended up cycling for several miles on the southern section of the M25 in Surrey.

Drivers tweeted about the man as they were caught up in long hold-ups on the motorway.

One police officer tweeted that the cyclist had been seen between junctions 12 and 13 of the motorway. He was eventually removed and given a £50 fine.

The man cycles across slip roads at junctions along the motorway

One tweet said: "A male was looking for a shorter route to cycle home from work. Phone app sent him on motorway so thought it OK."

Another read: "Nice chap but unaware of the rules of the road, believed it OK to ride/walk on hard shoulder - struggled to see why not.

"Genuine mistake I'm sure but could have stopped at bottom of slip road! Most children know not to stray on to a motorway."

He was fined £50 and removed from the motorway

Sergeant Phil Dix, from Surrey Police roads policing unit, said: "The cyclist was apparently taking a short cut home and was following a satellite navigation system on his mobile phone.

"It is extremely fortunate that there was a safe outcome and that the cyclist was not injured, or worse - especially as he had crossed several slip roads coming off the motorway."

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Co-op Hits 6,500 Staff With Job Uncertainty

The Co-operative Group has confirmed it may sell its pharmacy business, employing 6,500 staff, as part of its strategic review.

It is also looking to offload 15 farms it owns, which have an estimated land value of £49m.

The review - ordered in the wake of the financial crisis at its bank - is yet to be completed.

But a short statement on Wednesday said: "As part of the wider strategic review of all of its businesses, The Co-operative Group has decided that its farms are non-core and has started a process that is expected to lead to a sale of the business.

"In addition, it is exploring options for the future of the pharmacy business; this could include the sale in whole or part of the business."

The Co-op operates 15 farms, three in Scotland and the rest in England, covering 50,000 acres in total with an estimated land value of £49m.

The division also owns three packing sites.

They are seen as surplus to requirements because the cereals and vegetables they produce only make up a small proportion of produce for Co-op supermarkets.

The chemists business, which operates out of 750 outlets, has suffered in recent times amid Government attempts to reduce its prescription costs.

The group ordered the strategic review after a huge £1.5bn capital black hole emerged in its banking arm, resulting in control passing to bondholders including US hedge funds.

The problems at the bank are currently subject to a number of inquiries.

The scandal also brought the appointment of Paul Flowers, now ex-chairman of the bank, into the spotlight amid questions about his lack of banking experience.

Just nine days ago the Co-op Group launched an online poll to help shape its future, admitting the mutual had lost touch with its customers and members.

Group chief executive Euan Sutherland said it would listen to suggestions and the results would feed into the strategic review.

The Co-op operates a wide variety of businesses, including supermarkets and funeral services.

Its 2013 results - due to be released in late March - are expected to confirm growing losses.

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Cameron Criticised On Flood Defence Spending

The boss of the country's biggest insurance firm, Legal & General, has told Sky News he is concerned about a lack of spending on flood defences.

As the industry faces Government pressure to pay out quickly on the costs of the winter storms, Nigel Wilson also spoke out against policy on home building in flood-prone areas.

He said: "We've had a housing policy that has encouraged too much building in flood plains area. And we've been on and on about this.

"There's an issue in the UK. We're not building enough and where we're building them is in the wrong place.

"So we've got a multi-phased approach in actually increasing housing supply.

L&G is facing a multi-million pound flood bill

"The Government needs to focus much more attention on housing supply and where that supply is."

He was speaking hours after David Cameron's boast that flood defence spending will increase under his leadership was contradicted by the UK's statistics watchdog, which claimed the budget had actually been cut by £250m.

Sir Andrew Dilnot, head of the UK Statistics Authority, called on the Government to publish its real-term figures "in the public interest."

Mr Cameron claimed at Prime Minister's Questions that spending between 2011 and 2015 would be higher than in the previous four years under Labour.

The results of the wettest winter on Met Office records

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson went further, saying the Government is "providing more than any previous government in this spending review".

The discrepancy stems from the Government including money spent by private firms and other third parties in its figures.

Flood defence spending was £2.37bn between 2007 and 2011, according to House of Commons library figures.

Between 2011 and 2015 it will be £2.34bn - a £247m cut in real terms.

The Army was called in to help tackle the rising waters

Sir Andrew believes the House of Commons numbers are more credible than those being stated by Mr Cameron and his colleagues.

He said: "We agree with their finding that, as of January 2014, government funding for flood defences was expected to be lower in both nominal and real terms during the current spending period than during the last spending period.

"Our analysis also supports the conclusion that the statement 'over the current spending review period, more is being spent than ever before' is supported by the statistics if the comparison is made in nominal terms and includes external funding, but is not supported by the statistics if the comparison is made in real terms or if external funding is excluded."

Labour and Friends of the Earth say the cuts contributed to the damage endured across swathes of the country this winter - and the issue will be debated by MPs on Wednesday.

Mr Paterson has already apologised for "any offence" caused by his flood defence spending claims, but denied there had been any "manipulation of figures".

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "Figures on flood defence spending are published. The Government is spending £2.4bn on flood management and protection from coastal erosion which is more than ever before.

"The Prime Minister also recently announced £130m extra for flood defence repairs following the extreme weather."

All this comes as the Institution of Civil Engineers called on Chancellor George Osborne to use next month's  Budget to return spending on flood risk management to pre-2010 levels.

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Attorney General Looks Into Punch Jail Sentence

The Attorney General is considering referring a jail sentence over a punch which left a man dead to the Court of Appeal.

The four-and-a-half year sentence, handed down to Lewis Gill, 20, from Bournemouth, for the punch which led to the death of a man, may have been unduly lenient, Attorney General Dominic Grieve's office revealed.

His decision to review the matter comes after a number of complaints about the sentence - only way complaint is required to trigger the process.

Mr Grieve has until until March 21 to decide whether or not to refer it to the Court of Appeal.

Lewis Gill, from Sutton, Surrey, pleaded guilty to manslaughter

Andrew Young, 40, died after falling to the ground following the punch by Gill in November last year.

Gill was an acquaintance of the cyclist to whom Mr Young spoke about cycling on the pavement.

CCTV cameras recorded the attack outside a Tesco Metro store, with the footage showing Mr Young talking to the cyclist and then being punched by Gill as the cyclist walked away.

Mr Young, who suffered from Asperger's syndrome, died the next day in hospital.

The victim's family have described the sentence as an "absolute joke".

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