Sea Search For Girl Missing Off Barry Island

Concerns are growing for the safety of a 14-year-old girl who was last seen "in difficulty" in the sea.

Police say the girl was in the water with her friends at Whitmore Bay on Barry Island in south Wales when she got into difficulty.

It is believed she may have been in trouble up to an hour before the first emergency call was made.

"We are dumbfounded that something wasn't said to us earlier and are investigating but our main priority is the search," Steve Jones, rescue centre manager for HM Coastguard Swansea, said.

"If you see someone in difficulty in the water, you should call 999 and ask for the coastguard immediately. Any delay means vital search and rescue time is lost."

Three lifeboats, a police helicopter and an RAF search and rescue helicopter joined the search for the youngster, who is believed to have been on holiday in the area.

"We don't believe she was that far out in the water," Mr Jones said. "We're going on the assumption that she has not come out of the water.

"If she is still in the water, as the time passes by, our concerns grow even deeper."

The missing girl is 5ft 7ins, of average build and with long black hair, and was last seen wearing a multi-coloured dress.

Local councillor Steffan Wiliam said the coastline around Barry Island was "generally very safe, particularly now we have lifeguards", although he added: "You always have to be sensible on the beaches here."

Whitmore Bay is part of an enclosed stretch of coastline although the tidal range - the difference between high and low tide - is one of the highest in the world.

Alun Cairns, MP for the Vale of Glamorgan, said the beach was "relatively busy" on the hottest day of the year so far, despite many families and tourists deciding to stay indoors to watch Andy Murray's match at Wimbledon.

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Jobs Market 'Soaring' In UK, Report Says

Recruitment firms say they are placing the highest number of people into permanent jobs for two years, amid strong evidence of rising wages.

The report by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and professional services group KPMG found that demand for staff was at a three-year high, with vacancies also accelerating.

Pay for permanent staff rose at the fastest pace for two years, the survey suggested, while the position was even healthier for temporary and contract workers.

Bernard Brown of KPMG said: "The latest figures reveal permanent placements enjoying their highest growth rates for over two years and temporary roles being filled at the quickest pace since Christmas.

"Perhaps the sun has finally come out to shine on the jobs market and economy at large."

REC chief executive Kevin Green added: "The UK jobs market has been agile enough to weather the recession and emerge with more people in work than ever before and has performed considerably better than our European counterparts.

"Our main concern is that the soaring success of the jobs market and signs of economic recovery could be undermined if the Government does not do more to address the growing skills gap.

"Roles in engineering and IT are in ever increasing demand as recruiters struggle to source the talent that businesses need to succeed.

"However more roles, such as sales and digital marketing, have been added to this growing list in the last couple of months and show no signs of disappearing."

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Schools' National Curriculum Changes Unveiled

By Emma Birchley, East of England Correspondent

A controversial new national curriculum that puts the emphasis on building a strong knowledge base will be launched later.

The Government says the slimmed-down document will set out only the "essential knowledge that all children should acquire", leaving teachers the freedom to tailor the rest of their lessons as they see fit.

David Cameron hailed the reforms as a "revolution in education" and Education Secretary Michael Gove told Sky News the curriculum would be "more rigorous and more relevant"

But critics warned the timeframe and lack of resources to prepare for the shake-up would lead to classroom "chaos" and that pupils would be forced to learn endless lists of facts.

The changes, which will affect primary and secondary schools in England, are due to come into force in September 2014 but schools will start introducing elements sooner.

They will apply to children aged five to 14, although secondary academies can opt out.

Michael Gove is overseeing radical reforms

History and design and technology (D&T) will see the biggest rewrites because of concerns about the draft syllabuses of the subjects.

Ministers want pupils to learn a complete chronological history of Britain, but primary pupils would only be expected to learn about events up to 1066.

D&T will change after complaints it was too focused on "life skills" like cookery, bike maintenance and gardening than science-based subjects more useful to industry.

Climate change will also reportedly feature explicitly in the geography curriculum after a campaign about the lack of a specific reference to it gathered support.

The Prime Minister said: "The curriculum marks a new chapter in British education. From advanced fractions to computer coding to some of the greatest works of literature in the English language, this is a curriculum that is rigorous engaging and tough.

"As a parent this is exactly the kind of thing I want my children to be learning and as Prime Minister I know this revolution in education is critical for British prosperity in the decades to come.

"This is a curriculum to inspire a generation and it will educate the great British engineers scientists writers and thinkers of the future."

Mr Gove said: "I have got every confidence that our own children and our teachers are the equal of anyone in the world but we do need a more rigorous and relevant curriculum to help them to achieve everything of which they are capable."

But Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the Government had "got into an absolute mess" and voiced fears the system would "go into meltdown" because of the number of changes.

"They say they want a slimmed-down curriculum, but then they make key subjects like history, English, maths and science much more prescriptive," she said.

"But that is not the way you should think about curriculum. You should think about the curriculum as a whole.

"You should think about how maths and English and science are going to inform other subjects and how the other subjects are going to inform practical work in maths, English and science."

She added: "Michael Gove is risking total chaos in September, with schools unclear about what they need to be planning for."

Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), added: "We need the Government to  publish a fully developed implementation plan of how it is going to support schools to achieve all of this in 12 months.

"Our young people shouldn't be treated as guinea pigs in an educational laboratory."

Mr Gove insisted: "Given that we have got the best generation of teachers in our classrooms now, I have got every confidence that they will be able to implement this without a hitch.

"It is just a pity that there are one or two union figures who do not have the same confidence in the teaching profession as I do."

Rachel de Souza, executive principal of Ormiston Victory Academy in Norwich, where teachers have been helping draft parts of the document, said her school was ready to embrace the new curriculum.

"I think some of the educational concepts were outmoded in the old one," she said.

"One of the real strengths of this new curriculum is its strong focus on knowledge and on what students need to know to give them a real foundation for their future.

"We are doing children a disservice if we don't teach them the fundamental things about our culture, mathematics and science. With that knowledge they can then go on to 'think'."

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Newlywed Brit Killed In Cancun Hit-And-Run

A newlywed has died in a suspected hit-and-run crash while he was on his honeymoon in Mexico.

Ray Cottam, 55, died in Cancun, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said.

Mr Cottam, of Middlestown, near Wakefield, West Yorkshire, was on holiday with his new wife Karen after they were married at a hotel near Pontefract last Saturday, according to reports.

He reportedly worked for Fox's Biscuits in Batley, but had previously run a fish and chip shop in nearby Ossett.

Janet Barnes, 56, of Ossett, who worked with him at the chip shop and attended his wedding reception, said she was struggling to come to terms with what had happened.

She told the Yorkshire Evening Post: "He was a diamond - a one in a million. He would do anything for anyone.

"Him and Karen were made for each other. It is a total shock and we still can't believe it."

An FCO spokesman said: "We were made aware of the death of a British national in Cancun, Mexico, on June 30.

"We are providing consular assistance to the family at this difficult time."

Mrs Cottam is now back home in Middlestown being comforted by family.

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Police Facing 'Serious Drag' On Morale

By Clare Fallon, Sky News Reporter

Police morale has been significantly undermined not just by cuts but by scandals such as the alleged smear campaign of Stephen Lawrence's family and the Hillsborough cover-up, the Police Minister has suggested.

Damien Green said recent allegations involving the improper behaviour of the police have had a "really serious drag" on serving officers as well as harming public confidence in them.

In an exclusive interview with Sky News, the minister said that despite complaints by the Police Federation that cuts are harming frontline officers, crime is falling.

He added that the historic actions of some members of the police have significantly contributed to discontent among the ranks.

"Morale is always difficult at a time when you've got difficult spending decisions to be made but also I think recently the various allegations we've seen about the way the police behaved in the past are a really serious drag not just on morale but on public confidence," he said.

"So we will take steps to make sure the police are more transparent, to make sure that there's a proper code of ethics that everyone knows about and everyone knows the detail of how they should be behaving ... so we can carry on changing the culture so again like a modern public service the police are self-confident and open and transparent."

Last year, it emerged that South Yorkshire police officers had attempted to cover up details of their role in the Hillsborough disaster that left 96 Liverpool fans dead in 1989.

The Met Police has been accused of smearing the family of Stephen Lawrence

And last month, the Metropolitan Police was accused of using undercover officers to try to smear the family of the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence during the investigation into his death in 1993.

Both cases are now the subject of investigations.

But the Chairman of the Police Federation - which represents rank and file officers - insists cuts are having a major impact.

Steve Williams told Sky News the police service has shouldered more than its fair share. 

"Bobbies are feeling aggrieved at what they perceive to be attacks by the Government on the service. We're facing the comprehensive spending review second round of cuts and we feel that they've been too deep, too fast - and they've affected service delivery."

Mr Williams concedes though that negative headlines about the conduct of police have also had an impact.

"It doesn't help when things are reported in the media about some misdemeanours ... that (are) police officers in the minority and it's right and proper that we get rid of those. But that said, the media tend to suggest that it's the whole of the police service and that does tend to affect morale. That in conjunction with the attacks on pay, terms and conditions of police officers clearly does have an effect on morale up and down the country."

But Mr Green hit back at the Police Federation claims, saying it has resisted Government cuts and changes to working practices.

"It's a quasi-trade union so you would expect it to say those sorts of things. But actually individual officers going about their day to day business are reforming, are doing things differently.

"We've seen, for instance, forces taking up cameras worn on the body so they can record evidence much more efficiently. It's that kind of willing adoption of new technology that helps to make the police more efficient and that's why crime is falling."

There are 12,500 fewer police officers since the coalition came to power

According to figures released by the Home Office earlier this year, the number of police officers in England and Wales has fallen to its lowest level in 11 years. 

Since the coalition came to power in 2010 there has been a decrease of more than 12,500 police officers. 

Speaking ahead of a major conference this week on the future of the policing, Mr Green said the service needs to be brought into the 21st century. 

"We've been doing hugely radical reform to the police for the past three years and it's working - crime has fallen by more than 10%. And doing that at a time when we all know the squeeze is on public spending and the police have had to bear their share of that - that's huge credit to everyone involved. But that reform needs to carry on. We can't stand still.

"Obviously any change is difficult. Change at a time of austerity is going to be difficult. But the fact is crime has continued to fall despite all the reforms. Some of them have involved painful decisions but nevertheless if you can release the police to do their job by cutting bureaucracy, by organising them better so they can get out on the streets, then what you see is more effective policing. And that's what we've been seeing."

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Abu Qatada Leaves UK And Arrives In Jordan

Radical preacher Abu Qatada has arrived in Jordan after being flown out of Britain in the early hours.

Home Secretary Theresa May told Sky News that she was "very pleased" to have finally succeeded in deporting the cleric.

"He is now where people wanted him to be - which is not in the UK, but back in Jordan," she said.

Qatada left RAF Northolt in west London on a military plane bound for Jordan to stand trial on terror charges.

It is understood Jordanian authorities allowed his family to greet him on his arrival.

Qatada became a household name for all the wrong reasons

It marks the end of an eight-year legal battle to remove the radical cleric, who the Government has described as a "truly dangerous individual" and a "key player" in al Qaeda-related terrorism.

Sky News correspondent Mark White said: "He has been a thorn in the side of five home secretaries who have tried to get rid of him. As far as the British Government and senior politicians are concerned, there will be quiet celebration that he has finally left the country."

Qatada used his human rights to make a series of costly challenges to moves to deport him to his native country.

The case became a national embarrassment, which critics of European human rights legislation claim has rendered UK politicians powerless to remove someone who they believed to be a clear threat to national security.

Ms May said: "Abu Qatada was deported today to his home country of Jordan to face terrorism charges.

"His departure marks the conclusion of efforts to remove him since 2001 and I believe this will be welcomed by the British public."

Theresa May believes his departure will be widely welcomed

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "I am absolutely delighted. This is something this Government said it would get done and we have got it done.

"It is an issue, like for the rest of the country, has made my blood boil. That this man, who has no right to be in our country, who is a threat to our country, and that it took so long and was so difficult to deport him.

"But we've done it, he's back in Jordan, that's excellent news."

The Home Office spent a total of £1.7m on legal fees from the many court proceedings.

Mrs May added: "I am glad that this government's determination to see him on a plane has been vindicated and that we have at last achieved what previous governments, Parliament and the British public have long called for.

"This dangerous man has now been removed from our shores to face the courts in his own country.

The military plane with Qatada on board

"I am also clear that we need to make sense of our human rights laws and remove the many layers of appeals available to foreign nationals we want to deport. We are taking steps - including through the new Immigration Bill - to put this right."

It was a treaty signed between the UK and Jordan that finally secured Qatada's departure, giving him the assurances he needed to leave his taxpayer-funded home behind.

The agreement, announced by Mrs May earlier this year, aimed to allay fears that evidence extracted through torture will be used against the father of five at a retrial.

In a shock decision, Qatada pledged in May to leave Britain - with his family in tow - if and when the treaty was fully ratified, a process that to the relief of many concluded earlier this week.

After landing at an isolated airstrip near the Jordanian capital Amman, Qatada was being transferred to the maximum security Muwaqqar prison, which houses dozens of convicted terrorists.

It is understood he will be held in solitary confinement at the jail, until the Jordanian authorities can put him on trial.

Qatada was taken from Belmarsh to RAF Northolt under police escort

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "Abu Qatada should have made this decision to face justice in Jordan before, as this has dragged on far too long, but it is extremely welcome news that this saga is now at an end."

Qatada originally fled the Middle East and arrived in the UK in 1993. He was granted asylum the following year.

His increasingly radical sermons caught the attention of the security services in Britain and in numerous other countries.

A Spanish judge described him as the "spiritual head of the mujaheddin in Britain".

A number of people arrested on terrorism offences, including British born "shoe-bomber" Richard Reid, admitted seeking religious advice from him.

His sermons were found in the Hamburg flat used by a number of the 9/11 hijackers.

In 2001, on the eve of tough new British anti-terror laws allowing for the detention without trial of foreign terror suspects, Qatada went on the run, before later being arrested and held in Belmarsh prison.

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Abu Qatada To Finally Be Deported To Jordan

Timeline: Qatada Legal Battle

Updated: 6:39am UK, Saturday 06 July 2013

Abu Qatada has challenged and ultimately thwarted every attempt by the Government to detain and deport him for many years.

Here is a timeline of the legal battle.

1993: Abu Qatada claims asylum when he arrives in Britain on a forged passport.

1994: Allowed to stay in Britain.

1995: Issues a "fatwa" justifying the killing of converts from Islam, their wives and children in Algeria.

1998: Applies for indefinite leave to remain in Britain.

1999: April - Convicted in his absence on terror charges in Jordan and sentenced to life imprisonment.

October - Speaks in London advocating the killing of Jews and praising attacks on Americans.

2001: February - Arrested by anti-terror police over involvement in a plot to bomb Strasbourg Christmas market. Officers find him with £170,000 in cash, including £805 in an envelope marked "For the mujahedin in Chechnya".

December - Becomes one of Britain's most wanted men after going on the run from his home in west London.

2002: Arrested by police in a council house in south London and detained in Belmarsh high-security jail.

2005: Freed on conditional bail and placed on a control order but arrested again in August under immigration rules as the Government seeks to deport him to Jordan.

2008: April: Court of Appeal rules deportation would breach his human rights because evidence used against him in Jordan might have been obtained through torture.

May - Granted bail by the immigration tribunal but told he must stay inside for 22 hours a day.

June - Released from Long Lartin jail in Worcestershire and moves into a four-bedroom house in west London.

November - He is rearrested after the Home Office tells an immigration hearing of fears he plans to abscond.

December - Qatada's bail is revoked by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) after hearing secret evidence that the risk of him absconding has increased.

2009: Five Law Lords unanimously back the Government's policy of removing terror suspects from Britain on the basis of assurances from foreign governments and it is ruled he can be deported to Jordan to face a retrial on the terror charges.

He is awarded 2,800 euro (£2,500) compensation by the European Court of Human Rights after the judges rule that his detention without trial in the UK under anti-terrorism powers breached his human rights.

2012: January - European judges rule he can be sent to Jordan with diplomatic assurances but not while "there remains a real risk that evidence obtained by torture will be used against him".

February - He is released on strict bail conditions.

April - Rearrested as the Government prepares to deport him after Jordan gives assurances it will "bend over backwards" to ensure he receives a fair trial.

March - Qatada's legal team loses its bid to have the case heard by the Europe's human rights judges, clearing the way for deportation proceedings to continue.

May and August - Siac rejects Qatada's applications for bail.

October - Siac holds appeal hearing.

November - His appeal is granted and he is granted bail.

December - Qatada is moved to a larger residence in the greater London area.

2013:

March 9 - It emerges Qatada has been arrested for allegedly breaching his bail conditions. He is ordered to stay in custody and sent to Belmarsh.

March 21 - Police reveal the cleric is being investigated over extremist material.

March 27 - Home Secretary Theresa May loses her appeal over Siac's decision to allow Qatada to stay in the UK. The Home Office vows to appeal.

April 17 - The Home Office formally announces that it is seeking leave from the Court of Appeal to take the case to the Supreme Court.

April 22 - The Court of Appeal refuses permission to go to the Supreme Court, forcing the Home Office to appeal directly to the highest court in the land.

April 23 - Theresa May tells MPs she has signed a new treaty with Jordan that should pave the way to deportation, but warns it might take "many months".

May 10 - Qatada's barrister says he will go back to Jordan voluntarily if the treaty on the use of evidence obtained by torture, guaranteeing he will not be tortured, is ratified by the Jordanian parliament.

May 20 - Qatada is refused bail by the Special Immigrations Appeals Commission after "jihadist material" is found on a computer memory stick.

July 2 - The new treaty between Jordan and Britain is fully ratified, sparking claims Qatada could be on a plane within days.

July 3 - A Jordanian government official tells AFP the cleric is due back on Sunday.

July 7 - Due to be flown from RAF Northholt to Jordan

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Paul Gascoigne Arrested Over 'Drunken Assault'

Paul Gascoigne has been arrested after an alleged drunken assault at a train station.

The former football star, who left rehab in the US earlier this year, was held after the incident in Hertfordshire.

A Hertfordshire Police spokeswoman said: "Police were called to a report of a man allegedly being drunk and disorderly at Stevenage railway station at 10.30pm on Thursday July 4.

"Officers attended the location and arrested a 46-year-old male on suspicion of common assault and being drunk and disorderly."

He was taken into custody but was not charged, police said.

The Mirror reported that Gascoigne had grabbed a security guard by the throat before attacking ex-wife Sheryl Gascoigne when she tried to step in.

According to the newspaper, he was bailed after being held in a police cell for 12 hours overnight.

Earlier this year, Gascoigne said he wanted to "get back to reality" after the latest health scare in his battle with alcohol addiction.

In March, the ex-England and Newcastle player told Sky Sports News: "When I'm drinking I forget about everyone.

"I don't realise the hurt I'm doing to others but, you know, I've got to think about the hurt I was doing to myself.

"People come up (and say) 'never touch a drink again'. I don't know (if) I'm going to touch a drink again. I just know that I'm not drinking today."

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Father In Court Over Daughter's Murder

The father of an 11-year-old girl found strangled at her home has appeared in court charged with her murder.

Rebecca Thompson was discovered at the house in Holmefield Road, Bushey, Hertfordshire, on Saturday, June 22.

Her father Simon Thompson, 52, was taken to hospital after being involved in a car crash in the early hours of the same day.

He has now appeared at Hatfield Magistrates' Court, where he was remanded in custody.

Rebecca's headteacher paid tribute to the schoolgirl.

In a statement, Rita Cooper, head of Sacred Heart Primary School, said: "It is with great sadness that we heard of the death of Rebecca who was in Year Six at Sacred Heart.

"Rebecca was a lovely girl who was hard-working and did well in her learning. She was looking forward to secondary school.

"The whole school is very distressed by this tragedy and our thoughts are with her family and friends."

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James Bulger's Parents 'Horrified' Over Ruling

The father of Merseyside toddler James Bulger has said the announcement that one of his killers is to be freed from prison "fills him with terror".

Ralph Bulger, in a statement issued through his solicitor Robin Makin, said the family was "disappointed and dismayed" by the decision to release Jon Venables.

He said: "In 2011 the Parole Board determined that it was 'not safe' for Jon Venables to be released. It is not known what has changed. No reasons for the decision have been given.

"The decision to release Jon Venables is misguided and fills Ralph with terror.

"Ralph fears that an innocent person may be mistaken for Jon Venables and be injured or even killed.

James Bulger was tortured and left dead on railway tracks in Liverpool

"If such occurs then Ralph will feel guilty of not having done enough to have prevented such an obvious tragedy.

"For Ralph and his family the living nightmare continues and is exacerbated by the problems now created by the reckless decision to free Jon Venables without any publicly disclosed safeguards."

Venables, now in his 30s, was jailed in 2010 after admitting downloading and distributing indecent images of children while on parole from his life sentence for killing two-year-old James.

He was originally jailed for life alongside 10-year-old classmate Robert Thompson in 1993 for the abduction, torture and murder of James in Bootle. This year marks the 20th anniversary of James's murder.

The two boys were released on licence with new identities in 2001.

James's mother Denise Fergus is dismayed by the decision to free Venables

Earlier this year James' father and mother, Denise Fergus, both addressed Venables' parole hearing and pushed for him to remain in prison.

Mrs Fergus, who broke the news of Venables' release on her Twitter page, said: "I got a call from the Probation Service, but they only told me that the parole has been approved and that preparations are being made for his release.

"I have not been told what conditions they are going to impose and even whether he will still be banned from entering the county of Merseyside."

She added: "I've been fighting for justice for James for 20 years now and I will continue to do so."

A spokesman for the Parole Board said today: "We've had confirmation that all parties have been told and we can confirm that it was a release decision. He (Venables) will be released."

Ralph Bulger addressed Venables parole hearing earlier this year

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "The re-release of life-licensed offenders is directed by the independent Parole Board once they are satisfied they can be safely managed in the community.

"Their life licence lasts for the rest of their lives, and they may be recalled to prison at any time for breaching their licence conditions.

"Additionally, they will be subject to strict controls and restrictions for as long as their risk requires them."

Venables' former solicitor Laurence Lee said: "My thoughts go out to Denise Fergus and the rest of James Bulger's family.

"But the Parole Board have decided that he can be freed and he can't be kept inside forever.

"Jon Venables may be at liberty but he will never be free."

Mr Bulger released a book - titled My James - earlier this year in which he described blaming his former wife for letting their son out of her sight.

He also said he drank two bottles of whisky a day to escape the pain and that he considered suicide after his son's murder.

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