White Van Woman 'Held Back By Sexism'

By Clare Fallon, Sky News Reporter

Campaigners are calling for more help to encourage women to enter traditionally male professions, including plumbing, building and plastering.

Despite headlines about the rise of the so-called white van woman and claims a record number of females are working in the trades, industry experts say the proportion is still worryingly low. 

According to Women and Manual Trades, a national organisation which offers support to women, only around 1% of people in skilled trade occupations are female. 

Campaigners say part of the problem is sexist abuse still suffered by some women working in male-dominated professions. 

Hattie Hasan set up Stopcocks, an all-woman plumbing company, after working in the profession for more than two decades. 

She says sexist attitudes are still a problem.

"Unfortunately even after my own 25 years in plumbing things haven't changed much ... girls are still not encouraged to get into the trades.

"Firstly they're not encouraged at school. When I was at school, I just wanted the boys to fancy me, I didn't want to be a plumber and I think that's the pressure for most girls.

Hattie Hassan, who set up her own plumbing firm, calls for more role models

"The second thing is that there are not enough role models. The more female plumbers there are the more there will be because the more people see us the more they'll realise it is a possibility for them.

"There are a lot of things that people say women can't do such as carrying heavy things but health and safety rules mean even if you're a bloke you still can't carry over a certain amount of weight.

"Also I think people seem to forget that women carry babies ... and women do that on a regular basis so I don't think there are barriers where heavy things are concerned."

She added: "The barriers for women are that once women have trained where do they go? The opportunities for getting employment in plumbing are not as widespread as they used to be. It's difficult for lads coming out, but it's even more difficult for girls.

"So really the only route for them is self-employment."

However, there are signs things may improve in the future.

Training centres where construction skills are taught report an increase in the number of women enrolling. 

At Access Training in South Wales, women account for one in 10 of those signing up for courses including plastering, plumbing and electrics.

Mary Henderson swapped her admin job for plumbing

Mary Henderson quit her office job to retrain as a plumber, saying she was fed up being patronised by workmen she had hired. 

"I feel like it's a useful thing to have a trade in this competitive, career-driven industry - it just made sense.

"I used to work in admin, from when I left school, and basically I had a lot of trouble with my own bathroom ... I wanted to do something more practical so plumbing just seemed to pop out at me."

She believes there should be more encouragement for women to get into the trades.

"I don't think practical things are pushed at children leaving education  It's not gender specific, it's just something that boys tend to fall into whereas girls are pushed into the first job that comes and then it just rolls into admin.

"I think there should be more focus on school leavers. I think it's a really good thing to have a trade and it should be suggested to students because exams are forced on them and teachers can't afford to have an interest in what they do after that."

Although she is in a minority, Ms Henderson says she is content being a woman in a man's world.

"There is slight banter and it's a little less PC than what you find in an office, but to be honest I find that refreshing rather than threatening."

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Parents To Be Punished For Kids' Bad Behaviour

Parents have been warned by Education Secretary Michael Gove they will face punishments for failing to ensure their children arrive at school "ready to learn and showing respect for their teacher".

Mr Gove has vowed to raise school standards "higher than ever before" as he set out an uncompromising vision to get rid of what he believes is a culture of low expectations.

In a speech to the Policy Exchange think tank, Mr Gove insisted mothers and fathers have to take responsibility for their children's behaviour or face sanctions.

He also hit out at teachers who "set children up to fail" by refusing to think they might be intellectually curious or capable of greatness.

Mr Gove said: "We need to ensure that those parents who don't play their part in ensuring their children attend school, ready to learn and showing respect for their teacher, face up to their responsibilities.

"We will, later this year, be outlining detailed proposals to ensure parents play their full part in guaranteeing good behaviour and outlining stronger sanctions for those who don't."

Mr Gove wants to eradicate what he thinks is a culture of low expectations

Sky's Darren McCaffrey said: "One idea Michael Gove is considering is deducting money from child benefit payments from parents who repeatedly refuse to pay fines imposed through persistent truancy.

"Although initially resisted by the Liberal Democrats, the Education Secretary wants to strengthen sanctions on parents to 'tackle the root causes of truancy and misbehaviour'."

The Education Secretary's approach has seen him clash numerous times with teaching unions, which have accused him of a "personal ideological crusade".

But Mr Gove rejected suggestions his reforms are too demanding, and added his reforming zeal would not diminish.

"I believe we have to embrace reform, lean in to the future, set standards higher than ever before," he said.

Mr Gove said he knew what "real barriers to success look like".

"I spent the first four months of my life in care," he said.

"Both my parents had to leave school at 15.

"My sister spent all her school career set apart from other children who were just as bright as her in a school for children with special needs.

"And I know what setting children up to fail looks like."

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Hero's Welcome For 'Great Escape' D-Day Veteran

A D-Day veteran who went "AWOL" from his care home to see Friday's commemorations in France has returned to a hero's welcome.

Bernard Jordan, 90, was cheered and hugged by staff waving Union Flags at The Pines nursing home in Hove, Sussex.

"I had a great time. I'm really pleased I did it," he said after the Brittany Ferries ship Normandie arrived in Portsmouth.

Quizzed on whether he would go back next year, he replied: "Yes, I expect so. If I am still here, definitely!"

The former Royal Navy officer said his wife had known about his trip.

Mr Jordan gets a hug from staff at his nursing home

And in a statement issued after his return to The Pines, Mr Jordan said he didn't realise what a "stir" he would cause.

"I want to thank everyone for their kind words and best wishes following my trip to Normandy - I never imagined my visit would cause such a stir!

"I'm delighted to be back at home with my wife and the wonderful staff here at The Pines. I was never banned from going to the commemorations, I just decided to make my own way there."

Brittany Ferries said Mr Jordan enjoyed a breakfast of bacon, two fried eggs, sausage, orange juice and coffee during the seven-hour crossing.

A statement released by Mr Jordan

The pensioner would be given free crossings to the D-Day commemorations for the rest of his life, the company confirmed.

Police were called on Thursday night when staff realised the veteran had gone out at 10.30am and had not been seen since.

Mr Jordan was wearing his medals when he left but covered them up with a grey jacket and secretly boarded a coach to France.

At 10.30pm on Thursday - 12 hours after he was last seen - a younger veteran called to say he had met the pensioner on a coach on the journey to the commemorations.

The 90-year-old waves as his ferry home arrives in Portsmouth

He said the pair were sitting in a hotel in Ouistreham, Normandy, where world leaders have been mingling with veterans to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

Mr Jordan, a former mayor of Hove, was pictured with "Candy Girl" ferry staff on the way back to England.

Staff member Sonia Pittam told Sky News the 90-year-old was "a game old boy".

She said: "He certainly has his wits about him, he didn't say much about the landings, just how pleased he was to be on board and couldn't believe how everyone was looking after them and all the people waving on the route to the harbour entrance."

Mr Jordan pictured on board the ferry home (Pic: Stephen Tuckwell)

His niece Susan Knowles said she was "very proud" of her uncle.

She told Sky News: "The last time I saw him would be at a family funeral that he made his way down to again, and we were all quite amazed that he'd made his way to Bournemouth to this family funeral, on the train, on his own.

"He sort of just came walking up and we were quite surprised to see him there, because of his age and that, we didn't expect him to be there.

"If he's determined to do something he will."

Mr Jordan has been named as the 'AWOL veteran' (Pic: Gracewell Healthcare)

Care home boss Peter Curtis said staff at the home had tried to get Mr Jordan onto an accredited tour with the Royal British Legion but the request ended up being too last-minute.

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Britain Hit By Torrential Thunderstorms

Most of the UK has been hit by torrential rain and lightning strikes as severe weather warnings are issued for flash flooding.

Thundery rain swept up the country on Saturday morning, with up to 3cm (1.2in) falling in just one hour.

The UK monthly average rainfall for the whole of June is 7.3cm (2.9in).

The Met Office issued yellow "be aware" warnings for heavy rain for most areas of the UK, with only northern Scotland and the extreme Southwest of England expected to escape the downpours.

Water had to be pumped off the surface of the M60 near Stockport

Sky Weather Presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar said: "Some torrential downpours are likely, especially across central and southern England and Wales, initially with frequent lightning, then northern England, Northern Ireland and southwest Scotland later.

"The intense downpours are likely to cause localised flooding in places with hail possible and gusty winds.

"Later it should improve across most of England and Wales as the rain clears, therefore becoming drier and brighter across these areas before the end of the day."

Heavy rain is forecast for most of the UK during Saturday

John Curtin, director of incident management at the Environment Agency, said: "There is a low but increased risk of flooding this weekend across the whole of England, as isolated torrential downpours are predicted.

"We are monitoring the situation closely in case things change and will have teams ready to respond 24/7."

Early arrivals at Epsom Downs Racecourse for this year's Derby experienced heavy rain before the racing began.

But despite the rain, temperatures remained warm with highs of 25C in London and the South East.

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Madeleine Police Identify New Search Area

By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent

The renewed search for clues into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is to move to a new area outside of Praia Da Luz, Sky News has learned.

Portuguese police have told Sky News a new dig will begin on land somewhere between Praia Da Luz and the town of Lagos on Wednesday.

The development comes as search teams appear to have discounted parts of the site in Praia Da Luz where digging has been taking place all week.

Several areas of scrubland have been filled in

Officers used shovels and wheelie bins to fill in some of the holes they dug on scrubland as the search entered its sixth day on Saturday.

Some of the small yellow flags that were placed on areas of interest within the site earlier this week were removed.

Sniffer dogs from South Wales Police are again on site with their handlers working in different sections of the scrubland.

The search, not far from the holiday complex where the McCanns were staying in 2007, will continue throughout the weekend.

The search resumed in Praia da Luz on Saturday

Meanwhile, the family of missing Ben Needham have told Sky News their "thoughts and prayers" are with the McCanns as the investigation steps up in Portugal.

Some of the experts involved in the renewed search were also deployed to the island of Kos in Greece in 2012 when South Yorkshire Police led a review into Ben's disappearance.

Ben vanished in 1991 when he was 21 months old, after his mother and grandparents moved there from Sheffield.

Speaking to Sky News, the Needham family said: "Our thoughts are with the McCanns in this search for Madeleine.

Ben Needham (left) and Madeleine McCann (right)

"We ourselves know that this sort of investigation will be a very difficult time for the family.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with them."

Officers have been allowed to continue their work through the weekend in Praia da Luz after the Portuguese authorities granted them extra time.

The resort of Praia da Luz in Portugal

Forensic archaeologists, anthropologists, dog search teams and various specialist police officers from several UK forces have been working on the site.

The Metropolitan Police has not revealed why it has chosen to search the area of scrubland or any details of what it has found so far.

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Rape Convictions Boost Bid 'Not Enough'

By Frazer Maude, Sky News Reporter

A new action plan to increase the proportion of successful rape convictions has been announced by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

But it has already been criticised by one rape support group.

Women Against Rape claims not enough is being done to encourage victims to report the crimes against them.

The group said: "We're outraged to see the rape action plan announced in a press release today by the CPS and police given that they are at the same time going after women reporting rape for so-called false allegations, with more vigour and resources than we ever see them go after rapists."

In the past year there has been an overall rise in the number of police referrals, prosecutions and convictions for rape. 

But the proportion of court cases that result in conviction has fallen by 4.2%.

To try to improve conviction rates the CPS's new action plan includes:

:: Updating the joint police and CPS national rape protocol

:: The monitoring of police decisions to take no further action in rape cases

:: New practical guidance for frontline police officers and prosecutors

Announcing the new plans, Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions, said: "I am determined to ensure our long-term progress to tackle rape continues, particularly in dispelling the myths and stereotypes surrounding these types of cases.

"The new action plan makes very clear that, as with cases of child sexual abuse, the focus of any investigation and case preparation should not be on the credibility of the victim but on the credibility of the overall allegation, including the actions of the suspect."

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt, National Policing Lead on Adult Sex Offences, said: "This is absolutely about helping victims of rape. This is about showing, and continuing to show, our commitment to improving the way we deal with rape."

Some estimates suggest there are as many as 85,000 rapes committed every year in England and Wales, only 10% of which are reported to police. 

One victim told Sky News there are still "myths" surrounding rape.

She said: "But I think the big problem is the prosecutors in court are still allowed to use myths, as are the defendants.

"I actually wrote to Alison Saunders after there were serious flaws in my case and I never got a response.

"I did say to her changes should begin in the justice system before you tackle the myths of the general person in the street."

When asked what she thought of the latest measures, she said: "We've heard it all before.

"I now campaign for Women Against Rape, from their history and the short time I've been there, every year or every so often we see these guidelines are going to be brought out or there's a press release saying we're going to do things better and nothing ever changes."

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May And Gove Could Be Quizzed In Spat Probe

David Cameron has instructed the Cabinet Secretary to get to the bottom of "who said what to whom" in the spat between Theresa May and Michael Gove.

Sir Jeremy Heywood is now expected to interview both ministers in an attempt to "establish the facts" behind the row over how the Government tackles Islamic fundamentalism.

Mr Gove accused the Home Office of failing to adequately deal with extremism, particularly in relation to the alleged infiltration by hardline Islamists of Birmingham schools.

The Home Secretary responded by leaking a letter she had written to Mr Gove questioning why his Education Department had not responded to claims of an Islamist takeover of the city's schools in 2010, when they had been raised.

Sir Jeremy Heywood will help to establish the facts of the Gove/May spat

The row between the two threatened to overshadow the Queen's Speech on Wednesday as it played out overnight on Tuesday and is said to have angered the Prime Minister.

"The Prime Minister has asked Downing Street, and that includes the Cabinet Secretary, to establish the facts  - who said what to whom - in the arguments we have seen over the past few days", Chancellor George Osborne told Radio 4's Today programme.

Mr Gove believes extremism can be the gateway to terrorism and has made it clear he feels the Home Office fails to deal with the problem early enough.

His views were "leaked" to The Times newspaper and on Tuesday night Mrs May's camp responded by counter-leaking her letter.

21 Birmingham schools are being investigated by Ofsted

It is expected that a tweet in which the link to her letter on the Home Office website was contained will be considered as part of the inquiry into how events unfolded.

On Wednesday, Mr Gove and Mrs May issued three statements insisting they worked well together.

Earlier this week, Sky News revealed one of the schools had been found to be "inadequate" after failing to protect pupils from extremism.

Inspectors found: "Students have a scant understanding of other religions, the focus is primarily on Islam."

Some 21 schools in Birmingham have been the subject of an Ofsted investigation after a letter, which is widely believed to be a hoax, referred to an alleged plot by hardline Muslims to seize control of governing boards in the city.

Ofsted will publish the findings of its investigation into the Birmingham schools next week, while retired senior police officer Peter Clarke, who is spearheading a full inquiry into the allegations, is expected to report back in July.

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Parents Arrested Over Obese 11-Year-Old Son

The parents of an 11-year-old boy who weighs 15 stone have been arrested on suspicion of neglect for allowing their son to become obese.

The man and woman, who have not been named, were interviewed under caution on the grounds of child cruelty.

The child's mother has claimed the family had been trying to get the boy to lose weight by encouraging him to play more active games on his Wii games console.

She also said her family was predisposed to being overweight.

The woman, from King's Lynn in Norfolk, told The Sun newspaper: "The idea they could take away my son scares me so much.

"His weight isn't that much of a big deal.

"I'm chubby and the whole of my husband's side of the family is big. It's genetics - you can be genetically fat."

Police have defended their decision to arrest the parents, saying officers from the child abuse investigation unit worked closely with health and social services to deal with "sensitive issues such as obesity and neglect of a child".

A spokesman said: "While it is inappropriate to comment on this case specifically, it is important to stress that intervention at this level is very rare and will only occur where other attempts to protect the child have been unsuccessful."

It is understood the arrest was made after doctors at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn raised their concerns with officers after treating the boy, who is already known to social services.

The 5ft 1in boy has a body mass index of 41.9, which means he is classified as very overweight or obese.

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IMF Sees Housing Market Threat To Recovery

Osborne Should Heed IMF House Market Warning

Updated: 11:57am UK, Friday 06 June 2014

By Ed Conway, Economics Editor

What would you like first: the good news or the bad?

Well, if you're George Osborne, the good news is that the long battle with the International Monetary Fund - the one that began last year when chief economist Olivier Blanchard told Sky News the Chancellor was "playing with fire" on economic policy - is over.

We knew as much in Washington earlier this spring, when Blanchard acknowledged that the Fund's forecasts for Britain had been overly pessimistic.

But today the saga has come to its end, with the Fund also giving the Chancellor's fiscal plans (those precise plans Blanchard had criticised) a ringing endorsement.

"The planned fiscal adjustment this year is appropriate," the IMF says in its annual survey of the UK economy - the so-called Article IV report.

This is a shift from last year, when the Article IV recommended that the Chancellor bring forward spending plans to try to boost the economy. So cause for celebration at the Treasury?

Not altogether, for there is also some bad news. The criticisms of the Treasury's tax-and-spend plans may have dissolved away, but they have been replaced with concerns of another variety: about the housing market.

Such concerns are hardly new: the European Commission already recommended earlier this week that the Government take action to prevent a housing bubble.

However, the Fund is a touch more authoritative - and more specific. Its suggestions are as follows: The Bank of England should leave interest rates on hold for the time being; it should impose limits on how much mortgage companies can lend homebuyers in relation to their incomes; it should also consider outright caps on loan-to-income levels and loan-to-value ratios.

On top of this, the Government should "consider whether [Help to Buy] should be modified or even remains necessary for the full three years of the policy. And as the volume of high-LTV transactions rises, the FPC will need to evaluate if the program is contributing to financial risks."

Like the Commission (and, well, every economist out there), it suggests that Britain needs to build more homes. However, there are no silver bullets in this enterprise, and it acknowledges that all of the above "can only be temporary palliatives to an underlying problem."

The best it can suggest is that the Government reconsider "unnecessary constraints on brownfield and greenfield developments; tax policies that discourage the most economically-efficient use of property; and underdeveloped rental markets with relatively short lease terms."

Some might see the final point as a note of support for the rental reforms recently suggested by Ed Miliband. The problem for politicians of every stripe is that the housing market's structural problems are no secret: but mending them will take many years.

Reforms to the planning system have been desperately needed for decades, but only now are they being implemented; changes to green belt regulations are an economist's dream but a local politician's nightmare – so are unlikely to be implemented before the election, if at all.

However, it is clear that the Chancellor would be foolhardy to ignore the tone of the IMF's report. For there is a growing risk of a housing bubble, and with it the political risk that George Osborne could be remembered not as the austerity Chancellor who got it right, but the man who generated yet another housing market bust.

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D-Day: World Leaders Join Commemorations

David Cameron has said world leaders should set aside their differences on the "incredibly moving" 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

As veterans, politicians and members of the Royal Family gathered in Normandy, the Prime Minister told Sky News that amid ongoing tensions with Russia, the events of June 6, 1944, "show the importance of standing up together ... for freedom and security".

Mr Cameron and Russian President Vladimir Putin have both travelled to northern France to remember an event that changed the course of the Second World War.

Soldiers landing on Juno Beach in Bernieres-sur-Mer on June 6, 1944

They will join the Queen and a host of other world leaders for a service at Sword Beach in Ouistreham, where the moment 150,000 Allied troops came ashore will be re-enacted.

Mr Cameron said: "Yes, we have our disagreements with Russia but we should never forget the Soviet Union was an ally of the forces that liberated this continent from the tyranny of Nazism and enabled generations to come to live in democracy, freedom and prosperity," he said.

"Today is all about the magnificent feat of arms that saw young men ... do incredibly brave things to liberate this continent and to give us a chance of peace and democracy. We did that together."

War veterans arrive for the service at Bayeux Cathedral

Described by wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill as "undoubtedly the most complicated and difficult (operation) that has ever taken place", D-Day proved to be a pivotal moment of the Second World War.

It marked the start of an 80-day campaign to liberate Normandy, a daunting task that involved three million troops and cost some 250,000 lives.

Services marking their sacrifice are being held at beaches and war cemeteries across the region.

In Colleville-sur-Mer, Barack Obama joined his French counterpart Francois Hollande for a service at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, where more than 9,000 soldiers are buried.

The Queen joined world leaders to mark the 70th anniversary

"These men waged war so that we might know peace, they sacrificed so that we may be free, they fought in hope of a day that we would no longer need to fight and we are grateful to them," the US President said.

"We don't just commemorate victory, as proud of victory as we are. We don't just honour sacrifice, as grateful as the world is. We come to remember why America and our allies gave so much ... and remember the stories of the men and women of the war."

In nearby Bayeux, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery, where 4,144 soldiers, 338 of them unidentified, are buried.

Cemeteries along the French coast are a focal point for the commemorations

An earlier service at the town's cathedral heard from Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch, the national chaplain of the Royal British Legion, who told the congregation: "We come to remember those who, from the air, in the water and on the beaches, made the supreme sacrifice."

Further along the coast in Arromanches, the Normandy Veterans' Association has organised a day of events.

This anniversary will be the group's last as it plans to disband later this year.

Commemorations began at midnight when Mr Cameron attended a memorial at Pegasus Bridge, the first strategic landmark to be captured.

D-Day veteran Jock Hutton is met by Prince Charles after his parachute jump

At the exact time the first gliders landed, a champagne toast was raised at Cafe Gondree, the restaurant next to the bridge, which became the first house to be liberated in France.

American veterans gathered at dawn on Omaha Beach, where a statue of two soldiers was unveiled.

On Thursday, a commemorative parachute jump honoured the soldiers who dropped into France in the early hours of June 6 as part of the crucial airborne invasion.

D-Day veteran Jock Hutton, aged 89, jumped with The Red Devils, the Paratroop Regiment's free-fall display team.

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