Cruise Ship Passengers Catch Sickness Bug

Dozens of passengers on board a luxury 12-night cruise have fallen ill with a sickness and diarrhoea bug.

Around 130 people contracted a gastroenteritis-type illness on the Fred Olsen-operated Black Watch which sailed from Fife to Scandinavia and the Russian city of St Petersburg.

The cruise started on September 8 with 778 passengers, and 29 people were still ill when it returned to Rosyth on Friday.

Specialist cleaners and health inspectors have been on board to check and clean the ship.

A spokeswoman for Fred Olsen said: "Representatives from the local health authorities and Rosyth Port Health have been on board the ship this morning and have confirmed that they are satisfied with the containment and preventative measures being undertaken by the ship.

"It is frustrating that even with the extra preventative and containment measures that were put in place, a number of guests on board suffered from this illness which is common in hospitals, schools, hotels, cruise ships and other areas where people are in close proximity.

"Symptoms of the illness include a sudden onset of vomiting and or diarrhoea. Some people may have a temperature, headache and stomach cramps. The sickness usually abates within one or two days and there are no long-term effects.

"The health, safety and well-being of all our guests is paramount and we believe that our systems for preventing the spread of illness on board our ships are amongst the best within the industry."

Fred Olsen said passengers were due to set off on the Black Watch for an Iberian cruise on Friday night and have been informed of the situation.

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Online Daters 'Need Protection' From Stalkers

By Adele Robinson, Sky News Correspondent

Online dating sites are not doing enough to protect women from being targeted by stalkers and violent men, according to an anti-stalking charity.

Paladin, which was set up two months ago, says it has been contacted by people who have been abused by men after meeting them on the internet.

Lack of regulation has meant those with a violent past have been able to join dating sites.

But a new code of conduct and a kitemarking system is to be introduced to the industry to help boost client confidence.

Laura Richards, from Paladin, is urging more websites to join up to the code.

She said: "I think there's a lot of them that are not taking it seriously enough, currently, and certainly with regards to stalking and other serious offences that may be committed by predatory individuals who are using these sites because they know that there are a pool of victims for them to fish within.

"I think the code of practice is definitely a step forward that the public know there is a standard that has to be met."

Sarah, not her real name, met her former boyfriend on a dating website but was unaware he had two previous convictions for violence.

She said: "He threatened me, followed me, made unwanted contact with me, it was extremely terrifying.

"When I finally left the relationship the harassment continued in an email sense."

Her ex-boyfriend was eventually convicted but Sarah said there was no interest when she initially tried to contact the dating website.

"They supposedly had buttons on there to report an abuser, block an abuser but they are not easy to find, and they generate these automatic responses.

"There was no help or assistance available at a time when I was completely frustrated and panicking about the whole situation."

Recent YouGov surveys show one in five relationships in the UK begin online with around nine million people using dating websites in total.

Figures from consumer website Which? reveal that two in five people using dating sites have discovered fake profiles.

So far 13 online dating sites have signed up to the new Online Dating Association including eHarmony, The Dating Lab, Oasis, Match, My Single Friend, Guardian Soulmates, Love and Friends, Dating Factory, Christian Connection, Muddy Matches, Lovestruck, FreeDating and The Single Solution.

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Plane Diverts To Stansted: Pair Arrested

Two men have been arrested after a plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Stansted Airport.

The Sri Lankan Airlines A330 Airbus, which was carrying 267 passengers and crew, was due to land at Heathrow but was diverted to the Essex airport just after 7.30pm on Friday.

Police officers boarded the plane, which had departed from Colombo, and arrested the pair on suspicion of endangering an aircraft.

However, Essex Police said their investigation was a criminal matter rather than a terrorism inquiry.

Both arrested men, aged 49 and 57, are British nationals, the force said.

The 49-year-old is being treated for a medical condition, not an injury, in hospital.

Essex Police added: "The 49-year-old is currently receiving medical treatment in hospital and the other is in custody at Harlow police station.

"They will be interviewed by detectives. The incident is being treated as a criminal investigation."

All of the passengers on board the aircraft left safely and have since travelled to Heathrow by coach.

A spokesman for Stansted confirmed the airport remained open, with all flights arriving and departing as normal.

In May this year, two men were arrested on board a plane from Pakistan carrying 297 passengers that was intercepted and diverted to Stansted by RAF typhoon jets.

Police later said the incident in May was being treated as criminal rather than terrorism-related.

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Prison Smoking Ban 'Could Be Very Risky'

Inmates could soon be banned from smoking inside prisons in England and Wales, the Ministry of Justice has said.

A pilot scheme which will monitor how prisoners react to the move is being planned by the Government but sites have not yet been chosen.

A spokesman for the MoJ said: "We are considering banning smoking across the prison estate and as part of this are looking at possible sites as early adopters."

The pilot scheme is expected to launch in the South West in the spring of next year and if successful the ban would be rolled out across all prisons within 12 months, The Times has reported.

But there are fears the ban could cause disruption in prisons, with around 80% of inmates in England and Wales believed to smoke, according to the NHS.

Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said it would be "very risky" to implement a blanket ban with no extra support for prisoners.

"You're putting extra pressure on a system that's already under pressure," she said.

Prisons in the pilot scheme have not been identified

Ms Lyon says many prisoners use smoking to help "survive" their sentence. 

She says cuts to staffing and resources are already putting added strain on the prison system, and causing "increasing unrest" amongst inmates.

She does not oppose the proposed ban, but said alternate activities to smoking must be offered.

"If the substitute for smoking were more time with staff, more time outside of your cell, more purposeful activity, more skills training that would be a very different picture," she said.

Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers' Association, told The Times that introducing the ban would be difficult.

"There is no pretending otherwise," he said.

"It could cause disturbances but they have done it successfully in Canada and in young offender institutions in England and Wales."

He added: "We welcome this move. It is our policy to have smoke-free prisons for our members.

"We will work with the ministry to make sure it works effectively."

Mr Gillan said that without a smoking ban the Prison Service risked legal action from a non-smoker claiming to suffer from the effects of passive smoking.

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India: Briton Trampled To Death By Elephant

A British national has died after being trampled to death by an elephant in India.

The man, who has been named as Colin Manell, died at the Masinagudi National Park, in the state of Tamil Nadu.

Local police said Mr Manell and two other men - a guide and an acquaintance - had entered an area of the forest that was out of bounds to tourists so they could take photos.

It was here the elephant attacked, the police said.

Mr Manell was seriously injured and treated at the local Masinagudi hospital before being transferred to Gudalur Government Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The two men with him at the time of the attack have been taken into custody for questioning.

Local guides sought help from the nearby Sagadevan resort, where Mr Manell was staying.

The Foreign Office confirmed the death, saying: "We are aware of the tragic death of a British national in southern India and we are providing consular assistance at this difficult time."

His family has been informed.

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Briton Held In Spain 'For Helping Dale Cregan'

A British man has been arrested on Spain's Costa del Sol on suspicion of assisting jailed police killer Dale Cregan.

Marvin Herbert was held on a European Arrest Warrant at a gym in Puerto Banus, near Marbella, by Spanish police.

He is now awaiting extradition proceedings from Madrid to the UK.

Herbert, 41, who was born in Liverpool, is wanted on suspicion of conspiracy to assist Cregan in the murders of father and son David and Mark Short.

Cregan, 30, killed Mark Short in a Manchester pub on May 25 last year, but failed to kill his father, who was in the toilet.

On August 10, 2012, Cregan, with fellow killer Anthony Wilkinson, shot David Short outside his house in Clayton.

After killing the father and son, Cregan went on the run. He was hunted by the police for 39 days before killing two unarmed officers on September 18 last year.

The one-eyed killer lured them to a house in Hattersley, Greater Manchester, with a hoax call. Within an hour he had gunned them down, then threw a grenade at the dying officers.

Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes were lured to their deaths

Greater Manchester Police paid tribute to WPCs Fiona Bone, 32, and Nicola Hughes, 23, on the first anniversary of their deaths on Wednesday.

Two other men have also been charged with helping Cregan.

Samuel Willbye, 28, from Hannet Road, Manchester, and Jack Willbye, 57, from Chapel Street, Herne Bay, are accused of conspiring to assist an offender.

The pair have been remanded in custody to appear at Manchester Crown Court on September 25.

Cregan was jailed for life at Preston Crown Court in June, and was told he would spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Earlier this month, he was moved to maximum-security Ashworth Hospital - where Moors Murderer Ian Brady is serving his sentence - from Strangeways jail in Manchester because of his behaviour.

While in HMP Manchester, he was segregated from other prisoners for fear of reprisals. Reports suggest there is an underworld bounty of £20,000 on his remaining eye.

In protest, Cregan is said to have have started refusing food. He was put in the hospital wing at the jail before his transfer to Ashworth.

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Rip-Off Pensions: OFT Calls For Shake-Up

The Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) study of the £275bn defined contribution (DC) workplace pensions market has found some schemes offer no value for money.

The trading watchdog, which decided not to refer the market to the Competition Commission or recommend a cap on charges, made a string of recommendations to shake up the sector instead.

The OFT said it had agreed a package of reforms with companies and The Pensions Regulator as the auto-enrolment programme expands.

Workers aged between 22 and the state pension age who are not members of a workplace pension are being signed up to one under the Government's plans to head off a looming retirement savings crisis feared as people live longer but fail to put enough money away for their old age.

As well as examining whether savers were getting value for money, the OFT's investigation also took in the pressure on providers to keep their charges low and looked at the size of pension pot people were likely to end up with at retirement.

The pensions minister Steve Webb has pledged to act on the findings

It said that the Government should consult on improving the transparency and comparability of pension schemes to make it easier for employers to choose a scheme for their workers.

The OFT said employers "often lacked the capability or the incentive to assess value for money."

The watchdog also called on ministers to look at preventing schemes being used for automatic enrolment which ramp up management costs for people when they stop contributing to their pension, perhaps because they have changed jobs.

It identified a risk of savers losing out in two parts of the market - in what it said were "old and high charging contract and bundled trust schemes" and in smaller trust-based schemes because of "low levels of trustee engagement and capability."

The Pensions Regulator, the OFT said, had agreed to take "rapid action" to look at whether the smaller schemes were delivering good value and Government had agreed new enforcement powers to clamp down on them.

The Association of British Insurers is to begin an immediate audit of the old and high-charging schemes, which the OFT said contained around £30bn of savings.

Clive Maxwell, OFT chief executive, said: "We have found problems in relying on competition to drive value for money for savers in this market.

"We've therefore worked closely with the Government, regulators and industry to agree a set of measures that we believe are an important step in helping to ensure that savers get better outcomes.

"It is important, particularly given that automatic enrolment is already under way, that these measures are implemented rapidly," he concluded.

Minister for Pensions Steve Webb said: "This report outlines further important ways to help consumers, and we will act on its recommendations.

"In particular, we need to ensure those already in pension schemes are getting good value for money, and will be actively involved in the audit of pension schemes sold prior to 2001.

"We will consult shortly on minimum scheme standards, including further action on charges."

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Tony Blair's Daughter Held Up At Gunpoint

Tony Blair's daughter has escaped unhurt after being held up at gunpoint by two men during an attempted robbery.

Kathryn Blair, 25, was targeted as she walked down a central London street with her boyfriend and a group of friends.

Scotland Yard confirmed two people were targeted by two male suspects with a gun in Ivor Place, Marylebone, at 8.30pm on Monday.

A spokesman said: "The victims were a man and a woman; the suspects were two males."

The attack is being linked with a nearby attempted robbery half-an-hour earlier.

The police spokesman added: "On both occasions a firearm was seen but not used - no shots were fired.

"None of the victims was injured and nothing was stolen during the incidents."

The former prime minister's daughter was pictured alongside her parents last week at the wedding of her older brother, Euan.

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Peru Drugs Accused May Be Jailed In UK

Why Peru Became The Cocaine Hotspot

Updated: 2:26am UK, Sunday 15 September 2013

By Pete Norman, Sky News Online

Peru has overtaken Colombia as the world's leading cocaine producer, according to experts.

Home to the ancient Inca civilisation, Peru is rugged, remote and the ultimate source of the mighty Amazon river.

It is also home to a long-running guerrilla campaign by the leftist Shining Path group.

While urban and coastal inhabitants have benefited greatly from market-focused economic development since the early 1980s, when military rule ended, the rural poor have gained little.

Its hilly, isolated and fertile regions are home to the guerrillas, who rely on cocaine production, hostage-taking and corruption for funds.

According to the CIA, Peru was the world's largest coca leaf producer until 1996, when neighbouring Colombia took the lead.

It says that in 2009 Peru had 100,000 acres under coca leaf production compared to Colombia's 286,000 acres - with the potential to produce 225 metric tons of pure cocaine.

US-supported efforts to reduce or eradicate coca leaf in Colombia have now tipped the scales of production towards Peru.

Aerial spraying of herbicide in Colombia has affected coca crops covering 250,000 acres while manual eradication has been done on another 150,000 acres.

The UN has said Colombia reduced its area under coca cultivation by 25% in 2012 - the biggest annual reduction since the international body began monitoring it in 2001.

Around 30 Britons are now in Peruvian prisons on drug-related convictions, according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The UN Office of Drugs and Crime is expected to release its official 2012 Peru coca crop estimate in September.

Its World Drug Report 2011 said that although the area under coca leaf production was around 75% of the 1990 area, the current yield might be up to a third greater.

While Colombia still supplies virtually all of North America's cocaine, the CIA said much of the drug exported from Peru through land, air and sea routes is destined for Europe and other markets.

North America and Europe cocaine consumption has stabilised in recent years while growth has increased in Oceania and Asia Pacific regions.

It said: "Finished cocaine is shipped out from Pacific ports to the international drug market, (while) increasing amounts of base and finished cocaine, however, are being moved to Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia for … trans-shipment to Europe and Africa."

Smaller quantities are carried through air routes by so-called drug mules, while larger loads travel by sea to west Africa prior to distribution throughout Europe.

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Police Back Private 'Drunk Tanks' For Revellers

By Gerard Tubb, Sky News Correspondent

Police chiefs have backed privately-run drunk tanks where intoxicated revellers are kept overnight and made to pay for their stay.

Chief Constable Adrian Lee, the national policing lead on alcohol harm, said drunken individuals should be held in "welfare centres" run by a commercial company.

Mr Lee, head of Northamptonshire Police, told Sky News' Sunrise programme how the system might work.

He said: "The cost of policing for arresting and taking positive action for people who are drunk and disorderly and bringing them into custody cells is significant and not necessarily the best place for people who are drunk to be.

"We would arrest them, they would go to a welfare centre and when they were sober the police would return to deal with the criminality of their behaviour and there might well be a bill to pay.

"I think the impact of that would be a deterrent effect on people who choose to go out and get so drunk that they're incapable of looking after themselves."

He said the number of extra officers his own force used to police town centres on Friday and Saturday nights had increased from five to as many as 18 in the last 10 years because of binge drinking.

At the launch of a week-long campaign aimed at highlighting alcohol harm, Mr Lee also criticised the Government for failing to implement minimum pricing for a unit of alcohol in England and Wales.

Police officers have called for binge drinkers to be billed for their care

Sir Peter Fahy, vice president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), said binge-drinking was putting a massive strain on police and health services.

"Cheap drink and later opening hours only adds to the problem," he said.

The drunk tank idea came as it emerged that bouncers in pubs and clubs across the UK will be trained to protect people who are too drunk to look after themselves.

The Home Office has told the Security Industry Authority to teach all 100,000 licensed door-staff how to prevent "vulnerable" people from coming to harm.

Bouncers, who must be trained by the SIA to work in licensed premises, will be given a checklist of actions.

These include reuniting people with friends, helping them get a taxi home and, as a last resort, calling the police.

On the streets of Newcastle, where the new training for bouncers was developed, late-night drinkers admitted they "pre-loaded" with cheap booze before coming out.

Marie Thompson (R) criticised high drink prices for people with children

At 11pm, 34-year-old Donna Davison showed Sky News a half-litre bottle of vodka she had brought from home to top up her glass during the night.

She said: "I bought (a bigger bottle) at the corner shop, filled it up and brought it with us."

Her friend Marie Thompson, 40, who claimed to have drunk a litre of vodka before arriving in the city centre at 9pm, described drink prices in clubs as "extortionate".

She said: "People on poverty who've got kids, it's not fair really, because they charge £6 for one single drink.

"We like to go out and have a good night, that's why we bring our own, it's cheaper."

Acting Superintendent Bruce Storey, from Northumbria Police, said the new training for bouncers had helped reduce crime in Newcastle since being introduced earlier in the year.

He said: "If people have had too much to drink, quite clearly their inhibitions go, their ability to be aware of their surroundings tends to be diminished and the consequences of that are obvious."

Bouncer Chris Woodcock described the training as a form of customer service.

He said: "It's being aware of vulnerable people and making sure that everyone has a good night and they get to go home safely."

But his colleague Paul Faetz, 50, who has 32 years working on the doors in Newcastle, says binge drinkers have made the job unbearable and he is retiring.

He said: "It's been over the last five years (that) people have become more and more heavy drinkers.

"I don't really want to be around that. Now with drugs and drink, it's not a nice place to work."

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Grand Theft Auto V Robbery: Teens Arrested

Three teenagers have been arrested after a man was stabbed and robbed of his copy of the Grand Theft Auto V video game in north London.

The man, 23, was attacked in the early hours of Tuesday after he left an Asda store in Colindale just an hour and 20 minutes after the notoriously violent game went on sale at midnight.

He was hit with a brick, stabbed and stripped of his mobile phone, watch and his copy of GTA V near the supermarket.

The three males - aged 15, 17 and 18 - are being held on suspicion of robbery at a north London police station.

The man bought the game from an Asda store moments after it went on sale

The victim is now recovering in hospital where he is said to be in a stable condition.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "The motive for the attack is unclear at this stage.

"The victim had been shopping and was on his way home when he was hit with a brick.

"He was then stabbed and robbed."

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Manu Tuilagi: Lions Star Sorry For PM Prank

A Lions and England rugby player has apologised to David Cameron after making a "bunny ears" gesture behind his head during a photocall.

Manu Tuilagi, 22, played the prank while standing next to the Prime Minister as the British and Irish Lions team posed for pictures in Downing Street.

The players were invited to Number 10 after their series victory over Australia this summer, which they won 2-1.

The 22-year-old later apologised for the prank

As they gathered on the steps outside, with a large toy lion on the floor in front of them, Tuilagi reached out to hold his fingers behind Mr Cameron's head.

After the event, the Leicester Tigers player took to his Twitter page to express his remorse.

He wrote: "Apologies for messing around on Lions photo. No offence intended. Great Day at Downing Street. Thanks to Prime Minister for hosting us."

It is not the first time that Tuilagi, who was born in Samoa, has been at the centre of controversy.

He was fined £3,000 by the Rugby Football Union for jumping from a ferry during England's World Cup campaign in New Zealand in 2011.

He was cautioned by police on that occasion and disciplined by then England coach Martin Johnson.

After the Downing Street prank, teammates also reacted through Twitter.

Ben Youngs, a fellow Lions, England and Leicester player, wrote: "The man @Manutuilagi just couldn't stop himself."

Gloucester fly-half Freddie Burns tweeted: "Great bottle from Manu Tuilagi! Haha. #chief."

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Daniel Pelka Report: 'No One Suspected Abuse'

By Lisa Dowd, Midlands Correspondent

Chance after chance was missed to intervene in the case of a four-year-old boy who was beaten to death by his mother and stepfather.

A serious case review into the death of Daniel Pelka found repeated failures by agencies set up to safeguard children's welfare.

But it concluded that nobody could have predicted his death at the hands of an abusive mother and stepfather last year.

The report's author, Ron Lock, said: "No one professional, with what they knew of Daniel's circumstances, suspected or could have predicted that he would be killed.

"This was a complex and tragic case.

"Daniel's mother seemed plausible in her concerns about him, and no concerns were expressed by neighbours or the wider community.

Magdelena Luczak and Mariusz Krezolek were both jailed for life

"Strong concerns nevertheless emerged about Daniel's circumstances and his care, although at no point were practitioners who had contact with him prepared to think the unthinkable and consider that he might be suffering abuse.

"But if professionals had used more enquiring minds, and been more focused in their intentions to address concerns, it's likely that Daniel would have been better protected from the people who killed him."

Daniel was brought up in a chaotic family where violence and heavy drinking were the norm. He was known to police, social services, teachers and doctors.

But the report found that not one professional asked him what was going on at home.

Mr Lock said: "He didn't speak good English. His self-esteem was so low, he was a very isolated little boy so people found it hard to engage him.

"His mother often spoke on his behalf, as did his sibling, so rather than ask Daniel others were asked what he was thinking and to ask his mum and sibling was not going to give the correct answers."

Daniel was terrorised at his home in Coventry by his mother Magdelena Luczak and his stepfather Mariusz Krezolek.

He was starved, beaten and force-fed salt. At school he rooted through bins for food and once turned up with two black eyes. He later died from a serious head injury on March 3, 2012.

The four-year-old had 40 injuries on his body when he died

The review found the couple misled authorities by lying about his injuries and pretending he had an eating disorder, rendering Daniel "invisible" to health professionals.

But it also highlighted how stretched children's services were in the city.

It described overworked staff who were "naive", who were not "inquisitive" and assumed others were "intervening".

It noted missed opportunities to help Daniel, including 27 reports of domestic violence to police.

In January 2011 he went to hospital with a broken arm - a spiral fracture suggested twisting -  but professionals were too ready to accept it was accidental.

In September, when Daniel started school, teachers noticed a pattern of injuries which they failed to record or act on.

In February 2012 he saw a community paediatrician - his weight loss was not recognised and child abuse was not even considered.

A few weeks later the four-year-old was dead. He had 40 injuries and a doctor said he looked like a concentration camp victim.

Martin Reeves, chief executive of Coventry City Council, said: "Professionals didn't have the whole picture. Daniel's voice wasn't heard at all.

"Arguably they are basic errors, but we have to put this against a backdrop of social care workers, police, health colleagues working every day making what some would argue are impossible judgement calls on child protection, so I think our key now is how do we learn from those issues."

The review, by the Coventry Safeguarding Children Board, has published 15 recommendations aimed at preventing such a failure happening again.

Luczak and Krezolek, both originally from Poland, were convicted of Daniel's murder in a trial earlier this year and are now both serving minimum 30-year terms in prison.

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Lloyds Stake Sale Raises £3.2bn For Taxpayer

The initial sale of taxpayer-owned shares in Lloyds Banking Group has raised £3.21bn for the Treasury - representing a small profit.

UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the body which oversees the public's stakes in Lloyds and RBS following their bailouts, said 6% of Lloyds Banking Group was sold to institutional investors at a placing price of 75p per share.

It means the taxpayer stake in Lloyds - rescued after its disastrous acquisition of Halifax Bank of Scotland at the height of the financial crisis - has been reduced from 38.7% to 32.7%.

The sale price represents a £61m cash profit on the 73.6p average price paid by the Labour Government in 2008 but it will register as a paper profit of £586m on the Treasury's books because its stake in Lloyds is recorded in the public finances as 61p per share.

George Osborne says the money raised will help reduce national debt

The reduced cost took into account the fact that the Treasury had already received £2.5bn for insurance fees from Lloyds under the now-disbanded Asset Protection Scheme.

UKFI confirmed that no further sale of the taxpayer's remaining 32.7% stake would take place for a further 90 days.

The public is expected to be given a chance to buy Lloyds stock in future sales.

Chancellor George Osborne kicked off the initial share sale on Monday night, five years after Lloyds was left needing a £20bn bailout.

He said today: "Five years ago the previous government forced British taxpayers to put a huge sum of money into bailing out the banks.

"That was a big ask of the British public. I have been determined ever since I became Chancellor to get that money back for taxpayers."

"I can confirm this morning that we have sold 6% of Lloyds Bank at 75p a share. That is a profit for taxpayers, and rightly so. The money will be used to reduce the national debt by over half a billion pounds.

Lloyds shares are trading below pre-crash levels (price correct at 08.14)

"This is another step in the long journey in putting right what went so badly wrong in the British economy; it's another step in repairing the banks; it's another step in getting the money back for the taxpayer; and it's another step in reducing our national debt.

"All of those things together are good news.

"If you look at what has happened over the last 12 hours with Lloyds, you have investors from around the world  investing in a British bank. That is a sign the British economy is turning a corner," he concluded.

Lloyds shares were more more than 2.2% down in early trading on the FTSE 100 on Tuesday - still changing hands at more than 60% below their pre-financial crisis peak.

Nevertheless, the start of the re-privatisation marks a milestone for Lloyds, which hailed its recovery earlier this summer after swinging out of the red with half-year profits of more than £2bn.

Last week the bank re-launched TSB with a spin-off of more than 600 branches, which it was obliged to dispose of under European laws on state aid, which is expected to result in a flotation next year.

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Benefit Cheats Face Up To 10 Years In Jail

Benefit cheats will face increased jail terms of up to 10 years in a crackdown on those who "flout the system", Britain's most senior prosecutor has said.

Keir Starmer QC warned it was time for a "tough stance" against the perpetrators of benefit and tax credit fraud as he set out new guidelines for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

The Director of Public Prosecutions said the £1.9bn annual cost of the crime to the taxpayer should be at the "forefront of lawyers' minds" when considering whether a prosecution was in the public interest.

Suspects can now be charged under the Fraud Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, the CPS said.

In the past, benefit cheats have often been pursued under specific social security legislation which carries a maximum term of seven years.

A financial threshold which prevented benefit fraud cases of less than £20,000 from being sent to crown court will also be abolished, the CPS said.

Keir Starmer says the CPS saw more than 8,600 prosecutions last year

"It is a myth that 'getting one over on the system' is a victimless crime: the truth is we all pay the price," Mr Starmer said.

"It is vital that we take a tough stance on this type of fraud and I am determined to see a clampdown on those who flout the system."

Under the new guidelines, prosecutors in England and Wales will be told to seek tough penalties in cases with aggravating features such as multiple offences, abuse of position or substantial loss to public funds.

Professionally planned frauds, the use of a false or stolen identity and cases involving attempts to dispose of the evidence will also be targeted.

Benefit fraud of less than £20,000 was previously automatically allocated to magistrates courts, which can hand out maximum sentences of only 12 months.

The financial threshold will now be abolished, bringing the prosecution of benefit fraud in line with the prosecution of other fraud cases, the CPS said.

Last year, the CPS saw more than 8,600 prosecutions in benefit and tax credit cases, along with 4,000 in the first five months of this year, Mr Starmer said.

The current conviction rate is 89.7%, he added.

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New Zealand: British Climber Killed In Fall

A British man has been killed after falling around 2,000ft while climbing in New Zealand.

Robert Buckley, 32, was climbing to a small hut on Mount Sefton in the Aoraki-Mt Cook National Park on Saturday.

He was wearing crampons but was inexperienced, local police inspector Dave Gaskin said.

His body was recovered by a team of rescuers on Sunday afternoon after previous attempts proved unsuccessful.

Three climbers who were with Mr Buckley were rescued after spending the night on the mountain.

They were also released after being examined by medics.

Mr Gaskin said: "There was a lot of snow and ice in very steep conditions.

"It appears as if the party were insufficiently equipped and inexperienced for the climb they had undertaken."

Mr Buckley's death came a day after 36-year-old Duncan Raite died when he slipped and fell around 200ft from a ridge in the same national park.

The New Zealand-born man, who lived in Australia, had been dropped off by helicopter and was walking to a hut when he fell in the Tasman Glacier area.

Mr Gaskin said the deaths were a reminder that climbers needed to use extreme caution.

He said: "I can't speak for the first death, but in this case it looks like to be a lack of experience."

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We are aware of the death of a British man in New Zealand.

"We are providing consular assistance at this time."

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Jeremy Browne Wants Veil Ban In Public

A ban on Muslim girls and young women wearing veils in public places should be considered by the Government, according to a Lib Dem minister.

Home Office Minister Jeremy Browne called for a national debate on whether the state should step in to prevent young women having the veil imposed upon them.

Party leader Nick Clegg told Sky News he did not think the full veil was appropriate for airport security or the classroom, but said he strongly felt people in Britain should not be told how to dress.

"My own opinion is that I strongly believe we should not be issuing edicts about what people can and can't wear in this country," the Deputy Prime Minister said.

Mr Browne's intervention came after a row erupted over the decision by Birmingham Metropolitan College to drop a ban on the wearing of full-face veils amid public protests.

The minister said he was "instinctively uneasy" about restricting religious freedoms, but said there may be a case to act to protect girls who were too young to decide for themselves whether they wished to wear the veil or not.

Mr Browne has been accused of 'double standards'

"I think this is a good topic for national debate. People of liberal instincts will have competing notions of how to protect and promote freedom of choice," he told The Daily Telegraph.

"I am instinctively uneasy about restricting the freedom of individuals to observe the religion of their choice. That would apply to Christian minorities in the Middle East just as much as religious minorities here in Britain.

"But there is genuine debate about whether girls should feel a compulsion to wear a veil when society deems children to be unable to express personal choices about other areas like buying alcohol, smoking or getting married.

"We should be very cautious about imposing religious conformity on a society which has always valued freedom of expression."

It is thought that Mr Browne, who is attending his party's annual conference in Glasgow, is the first senior Lib Dem to voice such concerns in public.

However there are signs that his views are shared by a number of Conservative MPs who were dismayed at the way the Birmingham Metropolitan College case was handled.

The college had originally banned niqabs and burkas from its campuses eight years ago on the grounds that students should be easily identifiable at all times.

But when a 17-year-old prospective student complained to her local newspaper that she was being discriminated against, a campaign sprang up against the ban, attracting 8,000 signatures to an online petition in two days.

After the college's decision to withdraw it, Downing Street said David Cameron would support a ban in his children's schools, although the decision should rest with the head teacher.

The Prime Minister has been coming under growing pressure from his own MPs for a rethink on current Department for Education guidelines to protect schools and colleges from being "bullied".

Tory backbencher Dr Sarah Wollaston, writing in The Daily Telegraph, said the veils were "deeply offensive" and were "making women invisible", and called for the niqab to be banned in schools and colleges.

Mr Clegg, speaking at the Lib Dem party conference on Monday, said: "I think one of the great things about our country is that ... we allow people to express their identity, their faith, the communities to which they belong in the way in which they dress.

"There are some exceptions clearly. I don't for instance think it is appropriate to have the full veil through security checks at airports.

"I think there is an issue about teachers having the right to address their pupils and their students face-to-face and make face contact.

"But otherwise I really do think it is important that we protect the British principle that as long as people are law-abiding citizens going about their business in a law-abiding fashion, we shouldn't be telling people what garments of clothing they can wear."

Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, said he was "disgusted" by Mr Browne's comments.

"This is another example of the double standards that are applied to Muslims in our country by some politicians," he said.

"Whatever one's religion, they should be free to practise it according to their own choices."

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Leicester Fire: Father's Grief As Five Held

The husband and father of a family killed in a house fire in Leicester has spoken of his grief as police continue to question five people over the suspected arson attack.

Neurosurgeon Muhammad Taufiq al Sattar said he would "deeply miss" his "beautiful" wife, daughter and two teenage sons, and called for justice to prevail.

Shehnila Taufiq, who was in her 40s, died in the fire at her terraced home in Wood Hill, in the Spinney Hills area of Leicester, in the early hours of Friday.

The couple's children, 19-year-old daughter Zainab and sons Jamal, 17, and Bilal, 15, also died in their bedrooms.

Police said three women - aged 19, 20 and 27 - and two men aged 19 and 49 were detained by officers on Saturday in connection with the fire.

Five people have been detained in connection with the house blaze

Speaking at the Jame Mosque in Leicester, Dr Taufiq said: "All of you know the tragic incident in ... which my entire family has passed away.

"I deeply miss my beautiful wife and three beautiful children. What has happened has happened, and nothing can be reversed.

"But I hope justice will prevail and in future this should not happen to any family in the UK."

Sky News understands that Leicestershire Police are investigating whether the victims of the blaze were mistakenly targeted in a revenge attack.

About half a mile away on Thursday afternoon, a man in his 20s, named locally as Antoin Akpom, was found injured by police officers in Kent Street.

He was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary where he later died.

Three people, a man and two women, all aged 19, were arrested in connection with the Kent Street murder, though police have now released the two women without charge.

Police have confirmed that there is no evidence to connect the four members of Dr Taufiq's family with the death in Kent Street.

Kent Street attack victim Antoin Akpom

Dr Taufiq returned to Leicester from Ireland, where he works.

He had been working at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin and with private hospitals in the city, the Blackrock and Hermitage clinics.

A representative of Leicester's Jame Mosque, Mohammad Uwais, said Dr Taufiq had addressed members of the mosque on Saturday afternoon.

"He said that he's been comforted by the condolences he's received not just from Leicester, from the UK, from Ireland, but from the world," Mr Uwais told reporters.

"He accepts what God has destined for him and for his family, and that he thanks God in times of joy and also times of tribulation."

The family, originally from Pakistan, had a home in Ireland for at least 15 years before the children moved to the UK with their mother about five years ago for Islamic education.

Police on Saturday appealed to residents with information to come forward to help them find the perpetrators of the attacks which they said had left two families "devastated by events of the past 48 hours".

Police have said the house fire and a nearby murder may be linked

Roger Bannister, Assistant Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police, said: "While we are investigating links between the two crimes there is absolutely no evidence to suggest those who died in the fire, or indeed anyone else who lives in that property, was involved in the assault in Kent Street.

"Because of the close proximity - in terms of time and location - of the two incidents, it is right that we look at whether there are links between the two crimes.

"However, at this stage in our investigations we have found nothing to suggest the residents of the house devastated by the fire had anything to do with the Kent Street incident.

"We have three people in custody in relation to the murder of the young man in Kent Street and we continue with the complex forensic investigations at Wood Hill.

"However, we know there are local people who know more about both incidents and the people responsible and we would appeal to their consciences. Two families have been devastated by events of the past 48 hours. Please help us to find those responsible."

Anyone with information about either attack can speak to their local beat team, call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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Mums-To-Be 'Risking Dangers' To Stay Slim

By Gemma Morris, Sky News Reporter

Experts are calling for better detection of eating disorders among pregnant women over fears the number of mums-to-be resorting to dangerous methods to stay slim could be increasing.

The condition, dubbed by some as 'pregorexia', can affect women who have never before suffered with an eating disorder, as well as those who have battled anorexia or bulimia in the past.

A study for the National Institute of Health Research of 739 women attending their first ultrasound scan found one in 13 had an eating disorder.

One of the psychiatrists behind the research, Dr Nadia Micali, said sufferers do not tend to admit they have a problem for fear of being stigmatised or having their babies taken into care.

She wants to see changes in the way the issue is tackled.

"Many healthcare professionals are not aware of eating disorders and certainly I believe that we should improve our efforts at detecting eating disorders in pregnancy."

Some sufferers resort to extreme methods such as food restriction, over-exercising, using laxatives and self-induced vomiting.

Christina Kelly's babies were induced because of stunted growth in the womb

Mother-of-two Christina Kelly, from Bradford, had anorexia during both of her pregnancies after having suffered from the illness for a number of years.

"The thoughts I would get when confronted with food would be "You are fat', "You are not allowed it", "You are shameful and disgusting".

Her children suffered growth problems in the womb and had to be induced early.

"The guilt I experienced was incredible and the support I received at the specialist unit was essential during my pregnancy."

Consultant obstetrician Dr Pat O'Brien, from University College London Hospital, warned about the effects of eating disorders.

"There is an increased risk of miscarriage in the early part of pregnancy, there's also increased risk of poor growth of the baby, so the baby doesn't get enough nutrition and therefore doesn't grow very well, and for that reason might have to be delivered early."

Some experts say high-profile pregnancies are adding to pressure

There is a belief that factors such as media scrutiny of high-profile pregnancies can also create unrealistic pressure on women, something Dr O'Brien said is unfair.

"The body is made to gain weight during pregnancy partly for the health of the woman but also to deposit some stores there that will feed the baby if the woman's breast-feeding afterwards. A good rule of thumb is that if it's taken you nine months to gain this weight, it often takes nine months to lose it."

The charity B-eat said eating disorders are treatable and recovery is possible.

Chief executive Susan Ringwood said: "Everyone we speak to who has recovered says how grateful they were that someone noticed, spoke to them and felt they were worth helping, even if at the time their reaction gave a different impression."

:: Anyone worried about their eating habits should see their GP or midwife. B-eat also has a range of support services.

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School Uniform Costs 'Must Be Cut' - Minister

Schools are being urged to avoid branded uniforms and allow parents to "shop around" to cut costs for cash-strapped families.

Schools minister David Laws said the cost of clothing was often "unnecessarily high" at a time when family budgets were being squeezed.

An Office of Fair Trading investigation last year suggested that three quarters of schools placed restrictions on where uniforms could be bought.

That typically added £5 to the price tag for each item, leaving parents an estimated £52m a year worse off.

Mr Laws announced the new guidance for schools at the Liberal Democrat conference in Glasgow.

Exclusive single supplier contracts should not be used, unless regular tendering processes are run to ensure firms provide value for money.

They should also not enter into 'cashback' agreements with shops.

Compulsory items of uniform should be available relatively cheaply, and branding should be kept "to a minimum", under the guidelines.

Schools are urged to avoid changing specifications frequently.

Mr Laws told Sky News the revised guidance on uniforms would end the "over-reliance" by schools on single supplier agreements.

"It ought to be possible for parents to shop around, to get good quality school uniforms but from different suppliers," he said.

"Schools should avoid changing their school uniforms too often and requiring parents to buy different items.

"They ought to keep in mind what is specified in a school uniform and keep it as cheap as possible.

"And they ought to enable standard items like trousers and shirts and so forth to be bought from some of the big supermarkets and other shops where actually those items can be bought very cheaply.

"I think schools can actually do this and give parents a better deal but without actually compromising on quality."

Asked why the guidelines were not being pushed further, the minister said he did not think it was necessary for ministers to legislate and "set out hundreds of pages of bureaucracy in order to get schools to do what is the right thing".

He said he expected schools to follow the guidance, but if they failed to, the Government would respond to parental complaints.

According to an Ipsos Mori put out by Mumsnet, female support for the Lib Dems has fallen by 15% since 2010.

Asked if the move was a bid to win the female vote at the next general election, Mr Laws said households were facing "living cost" challenges across the country and that his party would be making a series of announcements this week on "actions that we are going to take to help hard-pressed families".

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