Dartford Crossing Bomb Hoax: Man Detained

A 27-year-old man arrested in connection with a bomb hoax which led to the Dartford Crossing being closed and severe delays on the M25 has been detained under the Mental Health Act.

The incident led to drivers being caught in nine-mile-long tailbacks after both the QE2 Bridge and Dartford Tunnels were closed for almost seven hours during rush-hour traffic on Friday evening, while traffic was also stopped from using the A20 at Dover.

The suspect, from Bournemouth in Dorset, is alleged to have made bomb threats.

He was arrested on Saturday and has now been taken to a secure unit under the care of the Health Authority, Kent Police said.

Police said they recovered a cylindrical device with wires heavily sealed inside a bag from a coach.

Traffic was stuck in nine-mile tailbacks

It was found after the force was called at 4.03pm to a report of a male pedestrian behaving unusually. He had alighted from a coach which was Dover-bound and run to a rough area nearby, police said.

Security personnel at a nearby distribution depot detained the man and officers arrested him at 4.15pm before he was taken to a police station where he made threats as to a suspicious device on board the coach.

The vehicle, which had just gone through the toll booths, was evacuated along with the immediate surrounding area, which was extremely busy at the time.

Bomb disposal experts attended the scene and a robotic device was deployed to examine the device more closely.

Police said the detained man made further threats that there was an explosive device on another coach and officers then stopped a coach on the A20 at Dover at 6pm.

The Dartford Crossing was closed for several hours

It was evacuated and the road was closed before being reopened at around 10.45pm after no threat was found. The Dartford Crossing was reopened at around 11.45pm.

Assistant Chief Constable Rob Price said: "We were dealing with a very challenging situation, with two scenes in extremely busy areas. Our main priority was to ensure the safety of the public, our officers and our partners at the scene.

"We had received threats of a very serious nature that required regional and national co-ordination and declared this as a critical incident.

"Obviously a lot of people were caught up in long delays but this could not be avoided as we had to ensure public safety and as soon as clearance was obtained the road was immediately opened.

"We would like to thank the public for their patience ... and also thank our partners, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team, South East Coast Ambulance Service, the Highways Agency, Kent Fire and Rescue Service, Kent County Council and others who all worked to ensure the safety of everyone involved."

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Duke Of York Challenged In Palace Grounds

Prince Andrew has been challenged by police in the gardens of Buckingham Palace after returning from an engagement in London.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that a man was ordered to verify his identity by two officers at around 6pm on Wednesday.

The Duke of York had been at an event in Piccadilly to support new business ventures.

Two men were arrested over a break-in at Buckingham Palace on Monday

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: "On Wednesday, September 4, at approximately 6pm two uniformed officers approached a man in the gardens of Buckingham Palace to verify his identity.

"The man was satisfactorily identified. No weapons were drawn and no force was used."

The confrontation came after an intruder was able to scale a fence and get inside the palace on Monday night, before being arrested by police.

A security review has been launched following Monday's suspected burglary.

None of the Royal family were at home during the suspected burglary

Police said the man had been found shortly before 10.30pm "in an area currently open to the public during the day" and arrested for burglary, trespass and criminal damage.

A second man was arrested outside the Palace for conspiracy to commit burglary.

The Met Police spokesman said: "Both men have been bailed to return to a central London police station and enquiries continue.

"A review of the specific circumstances of this incident is being carried out. No members of the Royal Family were at Buckingham Palace at the time of the incident."

The spokesman added that security would form part of the review.

The Queen made her traditional appearance at a Highland Games on Saturday, as details of the break-in emerged.

She was joined by the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales at the Braemar Gathering in Aberdeenshire, where the Royal party watched pipe bands and dancers perform in front of a large crowd.

The Queen has been spending her summer break at Balmoral Castle since the beginning of August and is not expected to return to the Palace until October.

The break-in is one of the most serious security breaches at the Palace since 1982, when Michael Fagan evaded guards to get inside the Queen's private chambers while she was still in bed.

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TUC: Miliband To Press On With Reforms

Labour leader Ed Miliband is to use his speech to the TUC on Tuesday to say he is "absolutely determined" to continue reforming Labour's relationship with the unions - despite warnings that more unions will pull the plug financially.

Mr Miliband is fighting fresh Tory claims that the unions are "pulling the strings" of his party after a disciplinary process found no rules had been breached in the Scottish constituency of Falkirk where there had been allegations of candidate selection-rigging.

Would-be Falkirk MP Karie Murphy has been reinstated to the party after an internal investigation cleared both her and the Unite union of the claims.

Before the investigation, a bitter public row broke out between Unite boss Len McCluskey and Mr Miliband, who was pushed to propose radical changes to Labour's historic links with the union movement.

Mr McCluskey will appear on Sky News' Murnaghan programme after 10am.

One union, the GMB, has responded by slashing its affiliation fees by more than £1m and others could follow, leaving Labour with a huge black hole in its finances.

But Mr Miliband is to tell the conference: "We need to build a party truly rooted in the lives of all the working people of Britain once more.

"That is what my reforms are about. It is the right thing to do. We have to change.

"And I am absolutely determined to make this change happen."

Labour has stressed that its Falkirk findings came after "key evidence" was withdrawn - with Falkirk MP Eric Joyce claiming people were "prevailed upon" to do so.

Senior MP Tom Watson - who quit his shadow cabinet post over the row - said Ms Murphy was owed an apology for the way she had been treated.

But a senior Labour source insisted: "There is no prospect of an apology."

Elsewhere, the conference agenda will focus on unemployment with the TUC claiming the number of jobless could be almost double the official total.

It says that, as well as the 2.5 million official jobless figure, a further 2.26 million people want a job but are not classified as unemployed.

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Sex Education: Online Porn 'Should Be Included'

Sex and relationship education in schools must address the issue of internet porn, David Cameron has insisted.

But the Prime Minister said there was no need for wholesale reform and parents must learn more about how to protect their children from accessing pornography on the internet.

Mr Cameron admitted he was still "grappling" with how to talk with his own children about online dangers.

Mr Cameron is "grappling" with how to teach his own children

He said: "We need to make sure we are up to date on the problems of the internet.

"Where I absolutely agree with the Education Secretary is that I am not looking for wholesale reform of the curriculum on sex education.

"We should be alert to those points and make those changes, but I don't think we need wholesale reform."

He added: "We have all got to get involved because of the internet. We all have to learn more about the internet, the dangers of the internet, the issue of access for children."

Parents had to be ready to talk to their children about pornography and to educate themselves about the use of parental controls to limit what their children can access, he said.

Mr Cameron added: "Because so much computer access goes on in the home, I am afraid we are all going to have to get better at understanding all these issues around parental controls."

It comes after Education Secretary Michael Gove ruled out an overhaul of the Government's guidance on sex education, hours after Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg publicly called for it to be updated.

Mr Gove said the guidance had been recently reviewed, but experts suggested there was no point altering it because "technology changes so rapidly".

The guidance has remained the same for more than a decade and critics claim it has been overtaken by technological changes.

Campaigners want schoolchildren to be taught about internet pornography, social media and relationships as well as the practicalities of how reproduction works.

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Buckingham Palace Break-In: Two Arrested

Security Scares For Royal Family

Updated: 6:27am UK, Saturday 07 September 2013

The break-in at Buckingham Palace is the latest in a series of security scares involving the Royal Family.

:: In March 2011, a car carrying the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall was mobbed by demonstrators who had split from a protest against higher university tuition fees.

Camilla was visibly distressed after being poked in the ribs with a stick through an open window in the distinctive Rolls-Royce Phantom VI as she and Charles travelled to the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium.

:: In 2003, comedian Aaron Barschak managed to get into Prince William's 21st birthday party at Windsor Castle.

The self-styled "comedy-terrorist" set off a series of alarms and was caught on CCTV before he joined 300 guests at the bash and was removed.

:: In 1994, student David Kang charged at Charles while firing a starting pistol during a ceremony in Sydney, Australia.

Kang was wrestled to the ground by New South Wales premier John Fahey and another man, while Charles was praised for his calm reaction.

:: In 1981, six blank shots were fired from the crowd while the Queen rode during the Trooping the Colour ceremony.

The Queen's horse was startled but she managed bring it back under control while police rushed to grab the shooter.

:: In 1974, Princess Anne was the target of an apparent kidnap attempt in The Mall near Buckingham Palace.

Four people, including her bodyguard, Jim Beaton, were injured after shots were fired when their car was forced to halt by another vehicle which blocked their route.

A police officer chased the driver, Ian Ball, and brought him to the ground before arresting him.

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Millions 'Should Not Be In A&E' - Exclusive

By Thomas Moore, Health Correspondent

Up to 6.5 million patients every year should avoid going to A&E and be treated by GPs, paramedics and even chemists instead, the doctor leading the review of NHS emergency services claims today.

Around one third of all people who visit A&E each year could be diverted away from hospital under plans to be unveiled shortly by NHS chiefs.

In an exclusive interview with Sky News, the doctor in charge of re-shaping emergency services in England said family doctors, ambulance staff and pharmacists could treat them instead to relieve the pressure on A&E.

Indicating for the first time how he hopes to radically reform A&E, Professor Keith Willett, the national director for Acute Episodes of Care, said: "We know that 15% to 30% of people who turn up to be treated at A&E could have been treated in general practice.

"They did not know that because the system did not obviously make itself available to them."

He said patients with routine medical problems are going to A&E because they cannot get a quick enough appointment with their GP. Others are frustrated by out-of-hours services.

Prof Willett says a long-term solution is needed

"We can look at the way primary care is available to people," he said.

"By changing the way we deliver services we can start to address the demand. We can do the same thing in terms of the ambulance services and how much, how many patients they treat, at the scene, rather than transfer and that's about them having the right information.

"We would look to the public to understand the issues and when the situation does get difficult, to take the advice that I've suggested about phoning first, to get the right advice, to go to the right place, to think of using your general practitioner or indeed your pharmacist, (who) give a lot of advice for minor ailments."

Professor Willett and the medical director for NHS England, Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, will publish their plan for reforming emergency services later this autumn. It is expected to be implemented two years from now.

The plan will acknowledge that demand for care will continue to rise with an ageing population. But it will set out a series of measures for reducing pressure on A&E departments.

They are expected to include:

:: A&E units will have to ensure a consultant is available seven days a week

:: Other senior doctors, such as elderly care specialists, will be expected to help assess and treat patients arriving at A&E

:: Paramedics will treat more patients at home or by the roadside so they don't need hospital care

:: Patients will be encouraged to 'ring first', using the NHS111 helpline to be directed towards appropriate care.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt wants GPs to be more proactive

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has also said GPs must take on a bigger role. Next week he will call on GPs to do more to prevent patients with chronic conditions, such as diabetes, from suffering emergency complications.

In an interview for State Of Emergency, Sky News' 24 hours of live coverage from Nottingham's Queen Medical Centre which begins today at 5pm, Mr Hunt said: "The role of GPs in caring for older people needs to be proactive - checking up on people, finding out how they are, heading off problems before they happen - rather than reactive.

"GPs are busy, so to make that happen we have to find ways of getting more capacity in the system and that is a big challenge.

"But we have to address that. In the end, if the NHS is to be sustainable, it has to be about prevention as much as cure."

But GPs say they are already doing what they can.

Professor Mike Pringle, president of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said: "They are overwhelmed by the workload they are expected to deliver.

"We have got to start to build general practice, not blame it, not victimise it.

"We have to invest in it if we are going to solve these problems. And I am sure the Secretary of State recognises that."

England's A&E departments were under severe pressure last winter.

Waiting times reached their worst in nine years between January and March 2013, with more than 300,000 patients waiting more than four hours for treatment.

The Government has given the NHS an extra £500m over two years to find short-term solutions to the likely rise in demand for emergency care in the winter months.

Hospitals could bring GPs into A&E departments to see patients with more minor problems and more locum A&E doctors are likely to be employed to fill vacancies.

Only half the training posts for emergency medicine have been filled in the last two years, and more than a third of hospital trusts have vacancies for A&E consultants.

Professor Willett said a long-term solution is required.

"We do have to address the emergency medicine workforce," he said.

"But that will not produce new consultants for several years. So we have to manage the situation and take away from emergency medicine teams those patients who could be managed by other parts of the system.

"Defaulting to seeing an emergency medicine consultant is not necessary for many of those patients and it is frustrating to wait."

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Police Chief: 60% Of Crimes Not Investigated

The head of Britain's second largest police force has admitted that 60% of all crimes reported in his area are not investigated.

Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy said his officers are only able to follow up about 40% of offences.

He said his force targets persistent offenders who commit the most crimes.

His admission comes against a backdrop of huge cuts to police spending, which will see force budgets slashed by 20% in real terms by 2015.

Sir Peter, who is vice-president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said: "In the same way that the health service concentrates on the most serious illnesses and the treatments likely to have most effect, the police have to concentrate on the most serious crimes and those where there are lines of investigation likely to produce evidence of the offender.

Sir Peter Fahy says officers are only able to follow up about 40% of crimes

"In practice, this translates into about 40% of crime being actively pursued at any time.

"We look at all crimes to identify patterns of offending and to build the picture of where we need to target police patrols. In many crimes there are no witnesses, no CCTV and no forensic opportunities."

Blackley and Broughton Labour MP Graham Stringer criticised his comments and said taxpayers expect officers to investigate criminal behaviour.

"That sounds like bureaucratic gobbledegook. De-prioritising the majority of crime is bound to lead to a loss of confidence in the police force," he told the Manchester Evening News.

"I think those victims (whose crimes aren't investigated) have every right to be angry. They have an expectation, having paid their council tax, that they have a better service from the police force."

Javed Khan, chief executive of independent charity Victim Support, said: "It is clearly for the police to decide how best to catch criminals, and prioritise their resources in line with this.

"However, for victims and the public to have confidence in the police, they need to know that, when they make a report, it will be taken seriously and adequately assessed.

"Likewise, any decisions to pursue or otherwise must be properly explained to them."

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Teachers To Stage New Strikes Over Pay Row

Teachers are planning a fresh round of strikes in October in a move that will affect hundreds of schools.

Two teaching unions have announced their members will walk out in eight areas of England next month in a long-running row over pay, pensions and workload.

A national walkout is likely to follow before Christmas.

The new strikes, on two days in October, are the latest move in the campaign by the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the NASUWT over Government education reforms.

The Government has condemned the unions' rolling campaign of walkouts and said it is disruptive to pupils' education.

NUT and NASUWT members in the East Midlands, West Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside and the Eastern region will take part in a walkout on October 1.

Those in the North East, London, the South East and the South West will strike on October 17.

Teachers are "angry, frustrated and concerned" about the Government's reforms, the unions said.

No strike dates have been announced for Wales because the Welsh government has sought to engage with teachers over the key issues, the NUT and NASUWT added.

Education Secretary Michael Gove wrote to both unions in March to say he was willing to meet them to discuss their dispute, but also insisted that the "direction of travel" on both their key issues was "fixed".

Under the Government's reforms, due to come into effect from this autumn, teachers' pay will be linked to performance in the classroom - with schools setting salaries rather than following a national framework.

Changes have also been made to public sector pensions.

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Sheppey Crash: 100 Cars Collide On Bridge

More than 100 vehicles have been involved in a pile-up in misty conditions on the New Sheppey Crossing bridge.

Police say there are no reports of fatalities, but "there could be people trapped" in their cars following the collision about 7.15am today.

A Kent Police spokeswoman said visibility was a problem over the bridge at the time, but it was not clear whether that caused the pile-up.

Five people have been cut free from their cars (Pic: Chris Buckingham)

"There have been some injuries but we cannot say at the moment how serious they are," the spokeswoman said.

There are reports that six people have been seriously injured, with another 200 suffering minor injuries.

Up to 30 medical response vehicles are on the scene and motorists have been warned to avoid the area.

Driver Joe Ford told Sky News: "You don't often see fog at the top of the bridge, but the bridge is over a river and marshland so there is often fog at the lower levels."

The crash occurred on the New Sheppey Crossing bridge in Kent

Martin Stammers, a witness to the crash, said: "I was very, very lucky. I was the last car out of it.

"As I came to the top of the hill there were about five cars all smashed up.

"I hit my brakes hard and I parked about 100 yards down the road, and from then on all you could hear was the screeching of car tyres."

A statement from the Kent Fire and Rescue Service said: "There are no fatalities but ambulance crews are dealing with a large number of walking wounded casualties.

"Firefighters have used hydraulic cutting equipment to release five people from their vehicles."

A statement from Kent Police said: "Emergency services are currently at the scene dealing with the incident.

"Officers are urging motorists to avoid the area but if a journey to the Island is essential, the old Kingsferry Bridge remains open but expect long delays."

More follows...

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Young Brits 'Could Miss Digital Jobs Boom'

Up to 750,000 jobs could be created in the next five years to fuel Britain's "burgeoning" digital economy, a report has predicted.

Mobile phone giant O2 said the continued growth of the digital sector offers "fantastic opportunities for tech-savvy young people", but warned not enough was being done to harness their skills.

Ronan Dunne, chief executive of the company's parent firm Telefonica, told Sky News: "If we don't generate those jobs using British youngsters with the right skills, businesses will have to look overseas.

"With the situation in the UK, where one million young people are out of work, we have to make sure we get the schooling elements right, the employer elements right and the readiness for work right."

Research by O2 suggests that 20% of the 750,000 possible vacancies would be entry-level jobs, suitable for people entering the world of work for the first time.

Many roles would be linked to the nationwide roll-out of 4G technology, which offers faster mobile internet speeds.

However, Mr Dunne said employers must show a greater willingness to recruit school leavers in order for the digital jobs boom to have a noticeable impact on youth unemployment.

"The onus cannot be on the Government alone," he said.

"Businesses must proactively seek out opportunities to collaborate to maximise the digital growth opportunity and harness the potential of the next generation.

"As digital natives, young people possess valuable skills that will be the future fuel of our economy, but not enough is being done to harness them."

Mr Dunne's comments came at the opening of Campus Party Europe, one of the world's biggest technology festivals.

Up to 60,000 young people are expected to attend the week-long event at The O2 in London.

As well as 100 guest speakers, the event features a digital skills marketplace, where school leavers can meet potential employers, and a hackathon, which aims to teach young people basic coding skills.

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