Fuel Price Misery: AA Demands Action

The AA has accused ministers of failing drivers and businesses by failing to clamp down on what is sees as unfair fuel prices.

The motoring group says while average unleaded prices have gone down from 138.95p a litre in mid October to 135.08p - with diesel dropping from 143.74p to 141.89p - motorists are still being short-changed.

It believes the fall in wholesale petrol prices across Europe should have knocked UK pump prices down by between 10p and 11p a litre instead of by an average 4p.

Despite the signs that the Chancellor is poised to postpone the planned fuel duty rise of 3p a litre due in January, the AA said drivers were facing a series of pressures including a "postcode lottery" in fuel prices.

It found that motorists in one area can be charged as much as 5p a litre more than drivers a few miles away.

AA president Edmund King said: "The Government momentarily had a grip of this monster when the previous Transport Secretary (Justine Greening) called in the industry to agree wholesale price transparency.

"This initiative stalled when the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) called for information on road fuel pricing - to which the industry has responded by pumping up wholesale prices and then not passing on cost savings in a timely fashion.

"The average UK domestic energy bill is £1,252 but the cost of fuel for the average car consuming 1,200 litres a year is over £1,500.

"This week the Government said it was going to tackle high gas and electricity bills, yet lets drivers and businesses down by not reacting swiftly to runaway wholesale and pump prices."

Earlier this week, Treasury Economic Secretary Sajid Javid said the Government understood the pressures facing households and was determined to help with the cost of living.

He said: "The Government is doing all it can to help hard-working families with the cost of living and putting money back into their pockets.

"Action on fuel duty is part of this. Fuel duty is currently 20% lower in real terms compared to its peak in March 2000 and 7% lower compared to May 2010."

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Antibiotics Resistance A Growing Health Threat

By Thomas Moore, Health and Science Correspondent

The Chief Medical Officer has raised the prospect of a future without cures for common infections - unless antibiotics are used more responsibly.

In a stern warning to doctors and patients, Professor Dame Sally Davies said antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest threats to modern health.

"Antibiotics are losing their effectiveness at a rate that is both alarming and irreversible," she said.

"Bacteria are adapting and finding ways to survive the effects of antibiotics, ultimately becoming resistant so they no longer work.

"The more you use an antibiotic, the more bacteria become resistant to it."

In 2000, 4% of serious bloodstream infections of E coli were resistant to the powerful antibiotic ciprofloxacin. That has now risen to 21%.

Penicillin is no longer effective against wound infections caused by the bug staphylococcus.

Professor Dame Sally Davies

And doctors are alarmed by the emergence of an untreatable form of the sexually-transmitted infection gonorrhoea.

Pharmaceutical companies are struggling to find new drugs.

Prof Davies said doctors should take care to prescribe antibiotics appropriately.

And she urged patients not to demand antibiotics for winter ailments.

She told Sky News: "When we get coughs, colds, and sore throats, mostly they are viruses. Antibiotics don't help.

"GPs should help decide when they are needed, prescribe the right drug, and right dose and we as patients need to take the whole course."

A campaign launched to mark European Antibiotic Awareness Day, which features a hedgehog, warns patients not to "get prickly" if doctors refuse to give them a prescription.

According to the Health Protection Agency, 6% of patients keep unused antibiotics to use in future.

But antibiotics should only be used when prescribed by a doctor and should never be shared with anyone else.

Anna Luhar, a London lawyer, developed a deadly form of tuberculosis (TB) that is highly resistant to antibiotics.

She was isolated in hospital for nearly five months while doctors used a cocktail of six drugs to control the infection. It took 18 months to finally eradicate the bug.

She told Sky News: "They really had to search high and low to find drugs that would work.

"Some had to be imported from Germany and the US. One of them - streptomycin - is usually not used.

"They were really at the last line of defence."

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Police Commissioner Polls See Low Turnout

By Emma Birchley, Sky News Correspondent

Conservative Angus Macpherson has become the country's first police and crime commissioner after being elected into office in Wiltshire.

But the Electoral Reform Society have branded the elections a "comedy of errors" after a record low turnout left some polling stations completely unused.

In Wiltshire, the first force area to declare, the overall turnout was 15.8% as Mr Macpherson, a magistrate, won after a second round of voting ahead of Labour's Clare Moody.

Polling stations were unusually quiet across the country as many people opted not to vote in the first ever police and crime commissioner elections.

Turnout was expected to be as low as 10% in some areas, according to Labour.

It has been confirmed as 11.42% in Wigan, 12% in Rochdale, 12.59% in Oldham and 12.49% in Manchester. The turnout for Greater Manchester as a whole was 13.46%.

In a straw poll of 30 people in Birmingham only a third said they would be voting, with the number even lower in Yarmouth.

In Humberside, former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott's candidacy raised the profile of the election, leading to a turnout of 19.48%, according to East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

Elections were held in 41 police areas outside London.

The newly-elected police and crime commissioner will have the power to control budgets, set policing priorities, and hire and fire chief constables.

The Electoral Reform Society predicted a turnout of 18.5%, which would be below the previous record low in a national poll in peacetime - 23% in the 1999 European elections.

Lord Prescott is hoping to be elected in Humberside

The society's chief executive, Katie Ghose, said: "This election has been a comedy of errors from start to finish.

"The Home Office has operated under the assumption that 'if you build it they will come'. Democracy just doesn't work that way.

"There have been avoidable errors at every step, and those responsible should be held to account."

The decision to hold the vote in the dark and chilly month of November is seen as part of the reason.

But it seems the biggest problem is that people are not prepared to put a cross beside the name of someone they know little, if anything, about.

Glenda Adcock from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk said she always votes, but not this time.

"I know nothing about the candidates or anything really so I'm not bothering," she said,

And while Bernard Jennings had decided he would take part, he agreed the information had been poor.

"I think they could have done a lot more to help people out so you have a better understanding of what everyone stands for," he said.

The build-up to the election has been a huge disappointment for Policy Exchange, the think-tank which came up with the idea of police commissioners.

"The Government didn't come out with a free mailshot for candidates," said research fellow, Ed Boyd.

"They've spent a lot of time and effort getting this changed to the point that they have done and this wasn't the time to penny-pinch.

"This was the time to make sure people knew what was happening and knew what candidates there were."

The fact many people opted for postal votes may be part of the reason the polling stations seemed so quiet.

But there are those who fear this election may well result in the lowest turnout in a national poll in the country's history.

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Alcohol In Pregnancy 'Can Lower Child's IQ'

Women who drink even moderate amounts of alcohol while pregnant may risk harming their child's intelligence levels, according to a new study.

Advice to pregnant women about drinking is contradictory, with some guidelines recommending no alcohol at all and others suggesting the odd drink now and then is safe.

But researchers using genetic analysis of more than 4,000 mothers and children found that drinking between one and six units of alcohol a week during pregnancy can lead to lower Intelligence Quotient (IQ) scores by the time a child is eight.

"Even at levels of alcohol consumption which are normally considered to be harmless, we can detect differences in childhood IQ which are dependent on the ability of the foetus to clear this alcohol," Sarah Lewis of Bristol University, who led the study, said.

"This is evidence that even at these moderate levels, alcohol is influencing foetal brain development."

Mother-of-one Toni Denholme, 26, from Newcastle, said doctors gave her mixed messages on drinking during pregnancy.

"The doctors kind of said it was OK to drink in moderation, it wasn't as harmful as smoking or anything, but ideally not to, but there wasn't a 'don't, definitely don't drink'."

Gwen Jones, who is expecting her first child in April, said: "There's so much ambiguous advice out there what you can do what you can't do what you should and shouldn't do, so something that comes out medically and says 'definitely do not do it, it's going to harm your child', I think is brilliant."

The study used genetic data from women and children who were part of another study called the Children of the 90s study.

Since the individual genetic variations that people have in their DNA are not connected to lifestyle and social factors, this kind of study avoids potential complications.

"This is a complex study but the message is simple, even moderate amounts of alcohol during pregnancy can have an effect on future child intelligence," said Ron Gray of Oxford University, who was part of Ms Lewis's team.

David Nutt, a professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, said: "Even though the IQ effects are small, if at all possible women should avoid ethanol in pregnancy as it's a known toxin."

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Lord McAlpine Poised To Settle With The BBC

The former Tory wrongly linked to a child sex abuse scandal because of a botched Newsnight investigation is poised to reach a settlement with the BBC.

Lord McAlpine's lawyers are in talks with the corporation and they have indicated they could agree terms as early as today.

His solicitor has also warned anyone who named the peer on Twitter "we know who you are" and revealed specialist firms had recorded each offending post.

The peer took legal action against the BBC after the programme led to him being mistakenly implicated in a paedophile ring that targeted a Welsh care home.

Although Newsnight did not name him and only referred to a senior Conservative from the Thatcher era, it quickly led to him being identified online.

The fallout fuelled an existing crisis at the corporation sparked by the Jimmy Savile abuse allegations and led to the resignation of director-general George Entwistle.

The Newsnight show led to George Entwistle (L) quitting as director-general

Indications of an early settlement came as Lord McAlpine spoke directly about the affair for the first time, and said it had left him devastated.

He pointed out that the whole situation could have been avoided if BBC investigators had called him before airing the claims.

"They could have saved themselves a lot of agonising, and money actually, if they had just made that telephone call," he told BBC Radio 4's The World At One.

"They should have called me and I would have told them exactly what they learned later on - that it was complete rubbish and that I had only ever been to Wrexham once in my life."

He added: "It gets into your bones, it makes you angry, and that's extremely bad for you to be angry, and it gets into your soul and you just think there is something wrong with the world."

Lord McAlpine's solicitor Andrew Reid indicated he is seeking a smaller payout because of the inevitable impact on the British public.

"Lord McAlpine is more than aware that the ultimate people who will paying for any monies that he may receive are in fact the licence payers, the people who really own the BBC," he said.

The BBC was already in turmoil because of the Jimmy Savile scandal

"He is very much aware of this and hence any agreement that is reached is tempered in the light of that."

He also urged those who had named the peer on Twitter to apologise, saying: "We know exactly the extent of what you have done. It's easiest to come forward, because that is the cheapest and best way."

An official report into the Newsnight programme, published this week, concluded staff had failed to complete "basic journalistic checks" ahead of the show on November 2.

It contained an interview with Steve Messham, an abuse victim who claimed that a senior political figure of the time had abused him.

He was not shown a picture of the man he pinpointed and, although legal advice was sought over the report, no right of reply was given to Lord McAlpine.

There was also confusion about the chain of command and who had ultimate responsibility for signing off the show because editors had stepped aside in the wake of the Savile scandal.

After rampant speculation prompted the peer to issue an extraordinary statement protesting his innocence, Mr Messham was shown a picture and confirmed he had made a mistake.

Newsnight made a full, on air apology for the broadcast and its own presenters openly wondered whether the flagship programme would now face the axe.

Mr Entwistle stood down on Saturday and BBC director of news Helen Boaden and her deputy Stephen Mitchell have stepped aside while the inquiries take their course.

Acting director general Tim Davie has vowed to "get a grip of the situation".

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April Jones Search Expected To End In Weeks

By Mike McCarthy, Sky News Correspondent

The search for April Jones is understood to be approaching its final stages.

Officers are still searching areas around the town of Machynlleth, where the five-year-old went missing, but police say the effort is now expected to last weeks rather than months.

Community leaders are preparing to celebrate Christmas as normally as possible, despite the fact April's body has still not been found.

But they accept that her disappearance has had a profound effect on life in the town.

Machynlleth became the focus of national media attention when April went missing six weeks ago.

Now it is trying to strike a balance between remembering the schoolgirl and moving on for the sake of hundreds of other children in the town.

Mayor Gareth Jones said it was important to make efforts to recapture the routine of normal life.

"I think by now people have a sense that they wish to try to move on as much as possible," he said.

"Obviously that doesn't mean that April and her family are any further away from our thoughts than they were at the very beginning.

"There's just a sense that people see that we owe it to our young people to try to get some semblance of normality back into the way we are living our lives."

Pink ribbons can be seen throughout Machynlleth

Pink ribbons still adorn the town as a mark of support for April Jones' family.

Hundreds are tied to fences, gateposts and door handles. Many people in the town still wear one every day.

Mr Jones said that the effect on the people of Machynlleth remains profound and will probably last a generation.

"People have become a little more wary of their children's whereabouts," he said.

"They are thinking twice about letting their children play outside. It will take a time for people to get back to the way it was."

The sentiment was echoed at Wheeler Fabrics in the centre of town, the store that supplied most of the pink ribbons.

Sam Wheeler said: "The way that families treat their children, what they let them do and the freedom that they let them have.

"It's going to be talked about in more detail than it used to be, which is a shame because future generations of kids might lose out on the freedom that they had."

A pink candle has been lit at St. Peter's Church where five weeks ago hundreds of people gathered for a service in April's memory.

Vicar Kathleen Rogers said it would remain lit until April's body is found. 

Referring to the huge turnout of volunteers who helped with the search for April, she said: "At the beginning there was a lot of urgency.

"It was a hive of activity. Now there is a deep sense of sadness. People are preparing for Christmas and it will go ahead as it always does, but there will be a part of every [church] service that will be for April."

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Tory MP 'Backed Rival In Anti-Wind Farm Plot'

The Tory MP running the party's by-election campaign in Corby has been secretly filmed apparently encouraging a rival to stand in the contest.

Chris Heaton-Harris was the subject of a sting by Greenpeace, who recorded him admitting he had wanted the anti-wind farm independent James Delingpole to join the race.

He said Mr Delingpole, a Daily Telegraph journalist and climate change sceptic, had put his name forward as part of a "plan" to "cause some hassle", according to the footage.

"Please don't tell anybody ever," he begged, believing he was speaking to the representative of a fictional lobbying group called Windefensible.

He was actually talking to undercover film-maker Chris Atkins, who made contact with him at the Tory Party conference last month.

The sting is embarrassing for the Tories, who are set to lose the by-election and are already at loggerheads with their Lib Dem coalition partners over energy policy.

In the film, Mr Heaton-Harris, said:  "There's a bit of strategy behind what's going on. I'm running the Corby by-election for the Tories... and Delingpole, who is my constituent, and a very good friend... put his head above the parapet but won't put his deposit down... It's just part of the plan."

There are coalition tensions over wind farm policy

In another section that is only partly audible, the MP for Daventry appears to admit that he "suggested" the move to his friend Mr Delingpole - conceding this was "awkward".

"Please don't tell anybody ever. But he will not be putting his deposit down. He just did it because it's a long campaign, it's six weeks to cause some hassle and get... people talking," he said.

Asked if he was trying to put the anti-wind farm campaign on the agenda, he replied: "Exactly. And it will go through way past the Corby by-election stuff. I'm trying to write it into the DNA of the Tory party."

Mr Delingpole did later pull out of the race, the day after the Tory Energy Minister John Hayes controversially declared "enough is enough" about the spread of wind farms.

Mr Atkins met Mr Heaton-Harris a second time, on that same day, according to The Guardian.

The MP confirmed Mr Delingpole was pulling out of the election - calling the timing "contrived" - and said he would now write in support of the Tories in The Telegraph.

Just 24 hours later, the journalist did exactly that, praising Mr Hayes' comments. Mr Heaton-Harris said it would be a "nice piece for the boss to see".

After the sting was revealed, the MP denied supporting Mr Delingpole's candidacy because pulling out before submitting a deposit means he was never technically a candidate.

"There was no conspiracy or 'conspiring with an opposition candidate'," he said.

James Delingpole praised comments by Energy Minister John Hayes

He later issued another statement on his website, saying: "The quotes attributed to me range from factually correct statements to me bragging about things beyond my control, which has so often before been the failing of politicians.

"The implication that I choreographed any sort of 'secret plan' is simply not the case and I apologise if that is the impression given.

"It can hardly be said that my wanting to 'put this on the agenda' is new. I have spent years fighting onshore wind, getting over 100 MPs to sign a letter to the Prime Minister, securing debates and raising questions in Parliament and touring the country speaking to anti-wind groups.

"It is a subject I am passionate about and will continue to work on until communities across my constituency, Northamptonshire and the country have the protection they deserve."

Michael Dugher MP, Labour's shadow minister without portfolio, said: "This is yet more evidence of the Conservative Party in chaos.

"It is astonishing that a Conservative MP appears to have encouraged a rival candidate to run in a by-election in order to campaign against wind farms. David Cameron needs to get a grip on his divided and out-of-touch party."

The Corby contest was sparked when Tory Louise Mensch quit her job to move to the US with her family and Labour are expected to win comfortably.

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Treatment Of Schizophrenia Patients 'Shameful'

By Thomas Moore, Health and Science Correspondent

Standards of care in some mental health units are so poor that they make patients worse, not better, a new report claims.

An independent inquiry into schizophrenia describes the care given to some patients on secure wards as "shameful".

The Schizophrenia Commission found staff in some units are burnt out and demoralised, and are shut away in offices doing paperwork rather than talking to patients.

The commission's report, An Abandoned Illness, says patients are given drug treatments and then left to watch television, when they should be receiving psychological help, such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.

On average a stay on an acute mental health unit costs more than £12,000.

Professor Robin Murray, who chaired the commission, said more money should instead be aimed at better - and cheaper - intervention in the early stages of illness, which can reduce the likelihood of patients deteriorating to the point that they need acute care.

"People are being badly let down by the system in every area of their lives," he said.

"People with psychosis need to be given the hope that it is perfectly possible to live a fulfilling life after diagnosis.

"We have no doubt that this is achievable."

Schizophrenia affects more than 220,000 people in England alone. One in six people will have symptoms of psychosis, such as hallucinations, at some stage of their lives.

The Commission calls for clearer warnings on the use of cannabis, to reduce the risk of schizophrenia.

It also says psychiatrists should improve their prescribing to ensure patients are on effective treatment with the minimum of side effects.

Laura Sherlock used to be a professional trombone player and toured the world, despite suffering delusions and feeling suicidal.

She was put on anti-psychotic treatment that left her unable to play music.

"I felt numb, deathly tired and barely able to move or think," she said.

"When I stopped taking my tablets I was given medication by injections - I had no say in my own treatment."

Paul Jenkins, of the charity Rethink Mental Illness, said: "It is a scandal that in 2012 people with schizophrenia are dying 15 to 20 years earlier than the general population and that only 7% are able to get a job.

"Too many people are falling through the gaps in the system and ending up in prison or homeless."

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Energy Firm SSE Defends 38% Profits Rise

The energy firm SSE has defended a 38% rise in half year profits at a time when its gas and electricity bills are rising by 9% on average.

The company, formerly known as Scottish & Southern Energy, made an adjusted profit before tax of £397.5m in the six months to September 30.

SSE's retail business, which supplies electricity and gas to homes and businesses, reported an operating profit of £75.7m for the first-half after posting an operating loss of £101.4m a year ago.

Lord Smith of Kelvin, the firm's chairman, said: "While some observers may choose to criticise SSE for making a profit and paying a dividend (of 25.2p per share - a rise of 5%) I believe that profit and dividend allow SSE to employ people, pay tax, provide services that customers need, make investments that keep the lights on and create jobs while providing an income return that shareholders like pension funds need."

In August SSE became the first of the so-called 'big six' energy firms to announce inflation-busting increases to household bills.

It blamed "sustained increases" in the cost of using the electricity and gas networks, costs associated with mandatory Government schemes and the price it had paid for energy in the wholesale markets for the 9% rise, which came into effect last month.

Wholesale gas charges had risen 14% year-on-year, the group said and its bill increase would add another £8.53 a month on to the typical monthly direct debit, dual fuel customer - taking the average annual bill to £1,274.

In its statement today SSE said that despite the rise its retail profit margin was just 1.5%.

"The prices achieved for generating electricity have been weak and higher gas and non-energy costs unfortunately had to be reflected in the increase in household energy prices."

Adam Scorer, Director of Policy and External Affairs at Consumer Focus, suggested energy firms only had themselves to blame for criticism of profits.

"The furore over wholesale costs, energy pricing and company profits has deepened consumer distrust in the energy industry.

"Energy companies need to make profit so they can invest in our energy infrastructure. But if confidence is to be rebuilt in this market, the information that all energy firms are required to provide must be fully transparent, comparable, and include profit and trading information from across the whole of their business."

SSE's share price opened up slightly when trading began on the FTSE 100.

At the same time, rival npower - another of the 'big six' confirmed an operating profit of £238m for its first nine months.

That represented a 2% fall on the same period last year, the company said.

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Crane Hoists Injured Worker 75ft To Safety

An injured building worker was hoisted 75ft into the air by a crane to lift him out of a construction site to a waiting ambulance.

The casualty, a man in his 50s, was winched out of Birmingham's Frankley Waterworks using a specialist stretcher because it was the only way to extract him from the site.

Rescuers said the only way to rescue the man was by using a crane

It is believed the man was getting ready to pour concrete for a new water tank when a cherry-picker overturned at about 8.25am on Monday.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: "One man in his 40s was treated for a bump to his head, but a second had leg and back pain.

"Due to the location, the only way to get him out was to use a crane at the site.

"This patient and one of the hazardous area response team paramedics were then lifted over 75 feet into the air from the location and then transported to the waiting ambulance by the crane on site."

Both casualties were then taken to Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

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