Kids Given Lessons On Dangers Of Social Media

By Emma Birchley, Sky News East of England Correspondent

The danger of posting personal information online is being taught to children as part of a pilot project to keep them safe from criminals.

Pupils at a primary school in Shropshire and a high school in Cambridge have been taking part in the trial launched by the Information Commissioner's Office.

The Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, said: "I think the danger is of jigsaw identification. You can put little bits of information out there and somebody can piece it all together.

"So the name of the game with the primary school kids is to explain to them how the online world works and how there are organisations who make money by getting a hold of your information and selling it on to someone else."

Between January and October 2012, 35 million pieces of personal information were illegally traded online - up from 19 million during the whole of 2011.

As much as 90% of that trade was in the form of login and password details.

It helps to explain why 24% of UK residents have been the victim of identity fraud.

And the need to teach children early in life became even more evident after an expert at the London School of Economics recently estimated a million nine to 12-year-olds already use Facebook, despite the fact they are meant to be 13 before becoming members.

Mark Neighbour has been leading the pilot project at St Bede's School in Cambridge with year nine pupils.

He said: "We want them to think about what type of information could be used by a third party ... Why do they need to know their age for instance? Why do they need to know where they live? Why do they need to know where they shop?

"What we want them to do is question themselves before they put pen to paper or finger to a keyboard because once the information is gone, once they hit return, it's out there and anyone can get to it and use it."

Many children are also unaware that what may be quickly posted on the internet can potentially still be seen by universities or employers checking up on candidates years later.

Melissa, 14, was one of the pupils who attended the lessons.

"The internet is really scary and you should think twice before you start posting things. What you tweet, talk about on Facebook, pictures, things like that ... it's out there forever."

Rebecca, who is 13, thinks all pupils would benefit from the classes.

"It's actually helped everyone understand what we need to be aware of using the internet and what people can do."

Schools already warn children about online safety as part of the IT curriculum but these lessons are said to go into more detail about the importance of protecting personal data on the internet and in everyday life.

If the pilot proves a success, it will be rolled out in schools nationwide.

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Red Tape 'Strangling Youth Jobs Drive'

Attempts to get more than a million young people into work are being hampered by excessive bureaucracy and central government control, council leaders have claimed.

The Local Government Association (LGA) says a new, more local approach to tackling youth unemployment could reduce the number of young jobless people by a fifth.

In a report it complains of an "overly complicated" system of tackling youth unemployment, with 33 different national schemes covering 13 different age boundaries and costing £15bn a year.

The report says more than 94,000 people completed hair and beauty courses last year, even though there were only 18,000 new jobs in the sector.

By contrast, just 123,000 people were trained for around 275,000 advertised jobs in construction - more than two vacancies for every qualified person, said the LGA.

Young people at a jobs fair

David Simmonds of the LGA, said: "Youth unemployment is a worrying trend for us all, particularly long-term youth unemployment which has doubled since 2008 and continues to grow.

"All the evidence in this report points to the success that local organisations, such as councils, businesses and education providers, can achieve when working together... but this is being hampered by successive centrally-driven government approaches."

He added: "Councils are in a unique position and can play a pivotal role in identifying young people that are likely to slip into periods of long-term unemployment.

"But we need to be given the powers to prevent this happening and help equip future jobseekers with the skills, confidence and real-life experience they need to find work in their area."

The LGA said councils should be the main commissioners of employment programmes aimed at young people, not central government.

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Blackpool Murder: Burning Body Found In Alley

Two people have been arrested after the body of a 16-year-old girl was found burning in an alley in Blackpool.

Police have cordoned off the area around Kirby Road, South Shore, where the body was found, and specialist forensic officers were searching a nearby hotel.

A 22-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman were arrested nearby and are being questioned by police.

Lancashire Police said the victim was Sasha Marsden, a student at Blackpool and Fylde College who lived in the Staining area with her parents.

The senior investigating officer is Detective Superintendent Andy Murphy from the Force Major Investigation Team.

He said: "This is an incredibly difficult and complex enquiry and we are working to try and build up a picture of what happened.

Student Sasha Marsden was reportedly set alight (Pic: Facebook)

"From examining the body, it appears to us that someone has attempted to set fire to Sasha and this is a line of enquiry that we are looking into.

"This is an incredibly difficult time for the family and we are keeping them informed of our investigation. Our officers will be supporting them as they attempt to come to terms with what has happened."

A post-mortem examination was planned for Friday evening.

Carl Evans, owner of the nearby Kimber Guest House, told Sky News he spotted the fire when he walked out into his back garden on Thursday evening.

"I heard the alarms going and saw the smoke, but I thought it was just someone burning rubbish," he said.

He added that some residents had attempted to put out the flames before realising it was a body on fire.

"The lass two doors up said someone seemed to have put something out - like a mannequin - but it turned out to be the body of a 16-year-old girl."

Friends paid tribute to the victim on a Facebook page called RIP Sasha Marsden.

Jordan Silkstone wrote: "Way too young, what this town coming too.. R.I.p huni x."

Emma James wrote: "R.I.P Sasha. I didn't know you very long but you was such a good mate.

"I will miss our little facebook chats. You always knew how to cheer me up when I was down. I hope the people who did this to you get what they deserve. Miss you always beautiful. Xxx."

Anyone with information is asked to call the Major Incident Room at Blackpool on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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Police Watchdog 'Woefully' Inadequate, Say MPs

The police watchdog is "woefully under-equipped and hamstrung" and does not have the power or resources to get to the truth, a scathing report reveals.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) should be given a statutory power to require a force to implement its findings, the Home Affairs Select Committee said.

The watchdog is currently investigating the Hillsborough Disaster in the UK's biggest ever inquiry into police misconduct.

And more cases should be investigated independently by the IPCC instead of being referred back to the original police force on a "complaints roundabout".

The watchdog, which was established in 2004 and is chaired by Dame Anne Owers, investigates the most serious complaints against the police.

It also investigates allegations against the Serious Organised Crime Agency, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and the UK Border Agency.

A total of 31,771 officers were subject to a complaint during 2011/2012.

Keith Vaz says the IPCC leaves the public 'frustrated and failthless'

Committee chairman Keith Vaz MP said: "When public trust in the police is tested by complaints of negligence, misconduct and corruption, a strong watchdog is vital to get to the truth - but the IPCC leaves the public frustrated and faithless."

He added: "Nearly a quarter of officers were subject to a complaint last year.

"Many were trivial, but some were extremely serious, involving deaths in custody or corruption - it is an insult to all concerned to do no more than scratch the surface of these alleged abuses.

"The IPCC investigated just a handful and often arrived at the scene late, when the trail had gone cold. The Commission is on the brink of letting grave misconduct go uninvestigated."

The watchdog should have a statutory power to force implementation of its findings, the committee said.

In the most serious cases it should instigate a "year on review" to ensure that its recommendations have been properly carried out, the MPs added.

Any failure to do so would result in an investigation by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and the local Police and Crime Commissioner, as a professional conduct matter relating to the chief constable.

The IPCC told the committee that a backlog of appeals had begun to build since the need to make financial savings had obliged it to reduce its complement of temporary staff.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "The Home Affairs Select Committee is right that the IPCC is not strong enough to tackle the problem when policing goes wrong.

"That is why I called for radical reform of police accountability last year, including replacing the IPCC with a new Police Standards Authority."

Scores of police officers including a serving chief constable are being investigated by the IPCC over the Hillsborough disaster.

The deputy chairwoman of the IPCC, Deborah Glass said that "without a shadow of a doubt" the probe would be the biggest investigation carried out into police behaviour in the UK.

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Flooding: Government 'Too Slow To Act'

The Government has been too slow bringing in measures that will protect homes and businesses from the "shattering" impact of flooding, say MPs.

The Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee said the draft Water Bill would help increase competition in the provision of water supplies for customers.

But ministers are not showing enough urgency in implementing measures that will improve the country's resilience to flooding and drought, the MPs said.

A report from the committee criticised the failure to create sustainable drainage systems to prevent flooding from surface water.

This should be achieved through measures such as stopping people laying impermeable surfaces in back gardens and businesses.

And ministers are taking too long over moves to improve the safety of reservoirs at risk of flooding, the report on the draft Water Bill said.

Concerns were also raised that local authorities and the Environment Agency are not paying enough attention to dredging and maintaining water courses, which can have a major impact on flood risk.

The MPs also called on ministers to provide more information on the solutions being considered to ensure homeowners at high risk of flooding continue to have access to affordable insurance after a deal on the issue expires later this year.

After a year that contained both drought and repeated flooding, the committee said more progress was needed on water efficiency.

Rules for abstracting water from the environment should be reformed and people encouraged to use water meters, the MPs said.

They also warned that the lack of detail in the Water Bill risked uncertainty for investors which could push up costs and lead to higher water bills for customers.

Bill-payers should not have to bear the costs of those who do not pay up, and they should be legally protected from bad debt in the water industry, the MPs added.

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Horse DNA: Burger King Dumps Irish Supplier

Burger King has issued full page newspaper apologies after discovering horse DNA in beefburgers from its supplier in Ireland.

The fast food chain said sorry to customers as it confirmed it was cutting ties with Silvercrest, the food processing plant that supplied contaminated burgers to UK supermarkets.

Burger King said its own tests for equine DNA in its burgers had come back negative and that four samples from the Silvercrest plant that did test positive were from a product that did not make it into restaurants.

The Miami-based chain said the failure to deliver 100% British and Irish beef patties was a violation of contracts.

The UK newspaper ads include a statement from Diego Beamonte, Burger King Corporation's vice president for global quality, who said: "While the Food Safety Authority of Ireland has stated that this is not a food safety issue, we are deeply troubled by the findings of our investigation and apologise to our guests, who trust us to source only the highest quality 100% beef burgers.

"Our supplier has failed us and in turn we have failed you. We are committed to ensuring that this does not happen again."

The Irish authorities said that their investigations had traced filler product used in the burger processing facility to a supplier in Poland.

It contained a mixture of beef and horse off-cuts.

Experts from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) yesterday told the Commons Environment Committee that they could not be sure whether the contaminated burgers were being sold for more than a year.

Aldi is the latest supermarket to suspend supplies over burger content

Bosses at the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), who identified and publicised the controversy, and Department of Agriculture chiefs have yet to be questioned at a similar level in Dublin.

At least 10 million burgers were put into storage following the scandal. Silvercrest's parent company ABP Food Group initially said they would be destroyed.

Silvercrest had a contract to supply Burger King in the UK, Ireland and Denmark. It is understood the deals with the fast food chain and Tesco were worth in the region of £39m.

The Ballybay processing factory, closed since the scandal broke two weeks ago, employed 112 people.

Burger King said it had carried out its own internal investigation including scientific tests, inspection of the Silvercrest facility and scrutiny of traceability records over the last fortnight.

It has been using approved suppliers from Germany and Italy as a precaution since.

Burger King's apology came after Aldi suspended its contract with beefburger supplier Dalepak, having found small traces of horsemeat DNA in its products.

The supermarket withdrew three beefburger lines earlier this month after traces of pig meat and horsemeat were discovered, and launched an investigation.

"Aldi UK's customers are our absolute priority," a spokesman said. "This is why we immediately withdrew these products until such a time that we could verify that there was no risk to our customers.

"We are deeply angry and feel let down by our supplier and we are pursuing more tests until we are certain that we understand how the production line was contaminated."

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West Coast Mainline Deal: Ministers 'Lied To'

The Transport Department was "irresponsible" over its role in the collapse of the £5bn West Coast Mainline rail contract, a group of MPs has said.

Members of the Transport Committee said the Government department had embarked on an "ambitious, perhaps unachievable" reform in haste, and claimed that ministers and senior officials were lied to.

FirstGroup was told it had won its bid to take over the franchise from Virgin Trains, but the decision was scrapped after the discovery of "significant technical flaws" in the way the procurement was conducted.

Virgin has now been told it can run the service until November 2014, with the fiasco costing taxpayers over £40m.

The mistakes came to light after bidder Virgin Trains, which had run the West Coast Mainline since 1997, launched a legal challenge against the decision.

A Government-commissioned report led by businessman Sam Laidlaw last month gave a damning indictment of how the competition was handled.

Three members of staff at the DfT were suspended over the episode.

Mistakes came to light after a Virgin legal challenge

The Transport Committee said in its report today: "A more direct description of what happened is that ministers and senior officials were lied to about how the outcome of the franchise competition had been reached.

"We cannot categorically rule out the possibility that officials manipulated the outcome of the competition not only to keep First Group in the running for as long as possible, as Mr Laidlaw suggested, but to ensure that First got the contract.

"We recommend that the DfT find a way of undertaking a full email capture, reporting to someone suitably independent, to help get to the bottom of why DfT staff discriminated against Virgin and in favour of First Group during the franchise competition."

Louise Ellman, chair of the committee, added: "We also want to hear from the Secretary of State what lessons he thinks current and future ministers must learn from this episode where policy ambition exceeded his department's capability and resources."

A DfT spokesman said: "We are putting in place measures that will prevent this embarrassing episode from happening again and the Secretary of State has given an undertaking to keep Parliament updated on costs.

"While we are currently working to minimise the impact on the taxpayer, we estimate the failure of the competition and subsequent independent inquiries is around £48m."

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UK's Largest Warship Starts To Take Shape

By David Bowden, Defence Correspondent

They will be the largest warships ever built for the Royal Navy, each weighing 65,000 tonnes and with their length equal to 28 London buses.

Now the hull of one of these two mammoth aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth, will be in one piece for the first time as construction continues in Scotland.

Sky News was given exclusive access to the site Rosyth just outside Edinburgh as the latest phase of the £5.5bn project was being completed.

HMS Queen Elizabeth is the first of two new aircraft carriers being put together there.

The carrier, which is three times the size of any Royal Navy ship now in service, has been built in modules at shipyards across the country.

Its final assembly is using the heaviest lift crane in the UK, itself built specially for the project by the Chinese and nicknamed Goliath.

The forward section weighs around 30,000 tonnes (Pic: QE Class Carriers)

Putting together the various hull sections with an accuracy of just millimetres has been the most demanding aspect of the programme so far.

Programme director Ian Booth said: "Most people ask about how we know all the bits will join up because we are making massive sections of aircraft carrier in yards all over the UK and then all the components that go inside are being made in different places in the UK.

"So far everything we've put together has aligned fantastically."

Each of the ships is much bigger and more powerful than anything the Navy has seen before. They will have more than a thousand miles of cabling and engines that will generate enough power to run a town the size of Swindon.

With a crew of up to 1,600 and 12 to 36 brand new F35 fighter jets on board, they will provide a floating airfield the like of which Britain has never seen before.

Only one of the two vessels will be operational at any one time and even then not before 2020. Queen Elizabeth will be finished in the construction phase by the end of this year and launched in 2014.

How the aircraft carrier will look at sea (Pic: QE Class Carriers)

It will be another three years until she begins sea trials and a year after that before the first jets are flying from her deck.

Despite the time lag, the ship does already have a skeleton crew, another first for the Royal Navy.

Commander Steve Lynn said: "There are already naval guys on board doing test and commissioning work. It is something unique for a ship in build.

"The second thing is that this ship is huge. It is bigger than anything we have ever had in the Royal Navy or are ever likely to have in the Royal Navy and it is going to take us a while to understand how to best operate this vessel."

The carrier will be longer than the Houses of Parliament

For old hands at the shipyard, the sight of such a mammoth hull coming together before their eyes is a source of immense pride.

Willie Richards has been at Rosyth for 30 years and worked on dozens of naval vessels, but never anything like this.

"I've done Ark Royal, HMS Invincible, HMS Illustrious, worked on all the destroyers, HMS Glasgow, HMS Edinburgh, but this is definitely the flagship of the Navy and it is a privilege to be part of it," he said.

The decision to build the two carriers at such vast expense to the nation, especially at a time of austerity, was controversial but the cost of abandoning the project now would be greater than completing it.

So whilst the Royal Navy finds itself in what many believe is the embarrassing position of having no current aircraft carrier capability, it also has the prospect of taking delivery of two of the biggest and most advanced warships in the world in the next decade.

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Man Arrested Over Pimlico Teenager's Killing

A 20-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder by police investigating the killing of a teenager in Pimlico, London.

More follows...

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OFT Fuel Price Probe Findings To Be Released

By Poppy Trowbridge, Business & Economics Correspondent

The Office of Fair Trading today releases its findings on the state of Britain's £32bn retail fuel market.

The regulator must assess whether serious competition concerns exist within the industry and make a call on whether to launch a full-blown investigation.

Brian Madderson, chairman of the Retail Motor Industry Federation's (RMI) petrol division, said: "It's not transparent at all.

"They must make a full-market study under the Competition Act so that we can see exactly how this market is working."

Motorists see prices at the pump rise rapidly when markets surge.

But there is concern that, when markets move lower, oil and gas companies are not passing on savings to retailers and motorists as quickly as they could.

This prompted the Government to call upon regulators late last year to take up the issue.

The last time the OFT conducted an enquiry into the UK retail fuel market was in 1998.

According to the RMI, the UK wholesale price of petrol has gone up by more than 7p per litre since Christmas.

Around 1.5p of that rise is because the pound has not performed well since. But the RMI says motorists have still been left to face an increase of 5.5p per litre in the space of a just a few weeks.

Asked whether fuel prices were fixed or fair, Malcolm Graham-Wood, oil analyst at VSA Capital Limited, said: "It's an efficient market working as it should do.

"What you are doing in the petrol price at the pump is seeing a reflection of what the oil price was a few months ago, in the last few months it hasn't changed very much."

Projecting how prices might perform in the year to come, he added: "I think the oil price will be relatively stable and I don't see the currency changing very much either. Accordingly, I would have thought the petrol price would be down, not up."

Any investigation that did result in changes to the current system will certainly have consequences for consumers.

But, with Britain's retail fuel market worth around £32bn, it would also have an impact on businesses and the economy as a whole.

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