Missing Girls' Families Slam Police Over Letter

The families of three London schoolgirls feared to have fled to Syria to become jihadi brides have accused the Metropolitan Police of failing to pass on a crucial letter.

They say a letter from the force requesting to interview the girls in relation to a classmate who ran away to Syria last year should have been handed directly to the families.

However, the letters were hidden by the girls in their school textbooks and their families never saw them.

Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and 15-year-old Amira Abase, who attended Bethnal Green Academy in east London, sparked a police hunt after they flew to Istanbul from Gatwick Airport last month. They are now believed to be in Syria.

Abase Hussein, the father of Amira, insisted that if he had seen the police letter he would have talked his daughter out of leaving and taken away her passport.

Video: Missing Amira's Dad: 'Come Home'

Halima Khanom, sister of Kadiza Sultana, said: "We wouldn't have been here today doing this if we'd got that letter and known what was going on."

Scotland Yard confirmed that it sent letters out to the three girls after their friend disappeared in December and that they were also spoken to by officers as part of a "routine inquiry".

A Metropolitan Police statement said: "The Metropolitan Police Service has been engaged with staff at the girls' school since December 2014 as part of the routine inquiry by officers investigating the disappearance of their friend.

Video: London Schoolgirls 'In Syria'

"There was nothing to suggest at the time that the girls themselves were at risk and indeed their disappearance has come as a great surprise, not least to their own families.

"The girls were spoken to in December 2014 as part of the routine inquiry by officers investigating the disappearance of their friend.

"We continue to liaise with the school and local education authority in connection with this ongoing investigation."

Video: Shamima's Sister: 'We Need You'

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Big Firms Forced To Reveal Gender Pay Gap

Thousands of large companies will be forced to share details of the difference between what they pay their male and female workers.

The Government has agreed to implement the Liberal Democrat measure despite years of Tory opposition to it.

The move will mean companies employing more than 250 people will be required to publish the gap between average pay for their male and female workers.

More than 10 million people across the UK are currently working at firms covered by the legislation.

The current approach, which is voluntary, has seen only five out of around 7,000 large companies publish their gender pay gap.

Video: Dec: Gender Pay Gap

The new measure, which will come into force within 12 months, could result in fines of up to £5,000 for firms that do not reveal the details.

Equalities Minister Jo Swinson said she was "delighted" her party won the "argument in Government".

She said the move "will force companies to ask themselves difficult questions about how they are valuing the contribution of women in their workforce and act to address problems".

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: "These measures will shine a light on a company's policy so that women can rightly challenge their employer where they are not being properly valued and rewarded."

The legislation will be debated in the Lords on Wednesday, with the Government tabling an amendment to the Small Business Bill.

A Government spokesman said: "Under this Government the gender pay gap is the lowest ever and has virtually been eliminated for those working full time under 40.

"However the pay gap persists, so we think it's time to move forward, so we can create the conditions to ensure that there is equality in workplaces across the country."

Video: Dec: Gemma Arterton On Equal Pay

Shadow equalities minister Gloria De Piero said: "This is fantastic news for women but why have they waited so long?

"The reality is that it's only when the Government realised they would be defeated on this issue by Labour in the House of Lords that they saw the need to act."

The move comes as the head of the UN agency promoting equality for women said not a single country has reached gender parity.

UN Women executive director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka made the comments 20 years after a groundbreaking conference in Beijing where 189 nations adopted a blueprint to achieve equality for women.

Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka said that although progress had been made since Beijing, there are still fewer than 20 female heads of state and government.

She said the number of female politicians increased from 11% to just 22% in the past 20 years.

Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka also said "the sheer scale of the use of rape that we've seen post-Beijing", especially in conflict situations, "tells us that the women's bodies are viewed not as something to respect, but as something that men have the right to control and to abuse."

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Will Protesters Have To Pay To March?

By Katie Spencer, Sky News Reporter

Protests are in danger of becoming privatised, campaigners have told Sky News.

Thousands of people will gather later to join the Campaign Against Climate Change's march through central London, but its organisers have told Sky News they were shocked to be told by the Met Police that they would have to pay thousands towards road closures and for private security.

"We were very surprised to be told that we need to hire a private traffic management firm to close the roads for us," organiser Claire James told Sky News.

"The costs to organisations like ourselves is really significant. It's an important democratic right to protest and it should be something the state facilitates.

"We're really worried it could create a situation where the right to protest ends up being limited to those that can afford to pay those costs."

The Met Police has traditionally always taken the lead when it comes to helping organisers prepare for protest marches.

But it recently said campaign groups must be prepared to contribute more towards the costs, like producing a traffic plan which can be more than £10,000 and hiring certified road stewards, which can be around £120 a day per steward.

Two marches planned for this weekend - the Campaign Against Climate Change and the Million Women Rise march - were expected to be among the first to have to pay.

However, the Met has now agreed to help with resources.

In a statement, it said: "We have been discussing this issue for some years with our partners, including Transport for London and local authorities.

"We will continue to engage with our partners and protest groups to ensure everyone is clear where responsibilities lie.

"Many protest events take place throughout the year without the need for any policing presence, leaving police officers in local communities where people want to see them."

Campaigners insist few groups could afford to pay the costs.

However, with drastic cuts to policing budgets, it is an area where many forces are keen to make savings.

Chris Armitt, the national police lead for protests, told Sky News forces they are having to "weigh up" where resources are most needed.

"We will facilitate lawful and peaceful protests as it's a fundamental right of democracy, but if that starts to be prohibitively expensive for the police service, for the local authority and for anyone else, then you've got to ask the question, is it proportional?

"I think it's quite realistic to say to organisers 'we need you to do things in different ways, we need you to consider whether you can provide some of the supervision and stewarding for the event'."

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Shotgun Certificates Issued To Hundreds Of Kids

By Siobhan Robbins, West Of England Correspondent

Figures obtained exclusively by Sky News have revealed that eight-year-olds have been issued shotgun certificates by police in England.

A Freedom of Information request to all police forces in England and Wales shows in the last five years, eight-year-olds have received the certificates in Devon and Cornwall, Lancashire, Sussex and Kent.

Chief Superintendent Jim Nye from Devon and Cornwall Police said: "The Firearms Act of 1968 allows someone of that age to have a shotgun.

"Devon and Cornwall is very much a rural community, and the young persons who are asking for a certificate to be granted are generally brought up in a farming community where it's tradition and we don't give them out without (a) substantial amount of checks."

Sky News' Freedom of Information request showed more than 670 under 14s have been given shotgun certificates by police in the last five years.

Video: Gun Safety For A Six Year Old

Every force in the country was able to provide a five-year breakdown for under 14s except Greater Manchester, North Yorkshire, the Metropolitan Police, South Yorkshire, Essex and Sussex Police.

There is no minimum age for applying for a shotgun certificate in the UK, with the chief constable of each force deciding whether to issue the licence.

The law still prohibits people under 18 from owning or buying a shotgun, or using one without supervision.

Police recorded 7,709 offences involving firearms in 2013/14, down from 8,135 the year before.

However some campaigners fear that introducing children to guns at a young age may mean they turn to them in a crisis.

Christine Hall from Gun Control Network said: "The danger is it poses in the mind-set of the child that it's fun to kill things.

Video: BASC Young Shots Ambassador's View

"It seems strange that a child can't go into a pub and have a pint but they can have access to a shotgun."

The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) is Britain's largest shooting organisation.

They actively encourage young people to try shooting sports.

A BASC spokesperson told Sky News that it supports the Home Office in guidance on firearms law, which has said: "It is in the interests of safety that a young person who is to handle firearms should be properly taught at a relatively early age."

They added: "For many children growing up in families where shooting is a part of life, acquiring a shotgun certificate is part of training in shooting safely which emphasises responsibility and self-discipline.

"This can only be to the public benefit and as the police confirm is no threat to public safety."

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New Parking Ticket Rules End 'War On Drivers'

Drivers are to get ten minutes' grace before being given a ticket if they stay too long on council parking spots.

The changes in the law in England are expected to come in within weeks and will apply to all on-street and off-street council parking spots.

Other measures in the Deregulation Bill include a right for residents and local firms to demand their council reviews parking in their area.

CCTV camera cars that automatically issue parking fines are to be made illegal - apart from in areas near schools and in bus lanes.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: "We are ending the war on drivers who simply want to go about their daily business.

Video: Councils' Parking Revenue Soars

"For too long parking rules have made law-abiding motorists feel like criminals, and caused enormous damage to shops and businesses.

"Over-zealous parking enforcement undermines our town centres and costs councils more in the long term."

Fines at out-of-order parking meters when there is no alternative way to pay will also be scrapped.

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1. Gallery: How To Appeal A Parking Fine

   Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) are usually issued by local councils or Transport For London for alleged contraventions in council-owned car parks or on-street parking infringements.

If you pay within 14 days, you usually receive a 50 per cent discount. Any appeal should be made within this period so that even if your appeal is unsuccessful, you will still pay the reduced fee.

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Half A Million Migrants To England Since 2011

More than half a million people are believed to have come to England from abroad over the past three years, according to Oxford University research.

And two-thirds of the 565,000 migrants believed to have arrived between 2011 and 2014 are EU citizens, the study by the university's Migration Observatory said.

The estimated numbers were put together to provide an up-to-date idea of the migrant populations across England.

They come in advance of official estimates from the Office for National Statistics, due in June.

London is the city which has absorbed most of the new migrants, with almost 200,000 more living in the capital than in 2011.

Video: 'Take Back Control Of Our Borders'

And behind London is the rest of the South East, with a rise of 79,000.

The North East trails behind in popularity with only 26,000 migrants choosing to relocate there.

Madeleine Sumption, Director of the Migration Observatory, said the aim of the study was to give insight ahead of the General Election.

Video: Costs And Benefits Of Immigration

"These data show how different local experiences of migration have been across the UK," she said.

"There are large variations in the size of migrant populations, as well as the share that come from EU countries.

"We have undertaken this analysis to provide a resource for anyone looking to understand local demographics of migration in the run-up to the General Election."

Video: Immigration: The Economic Impact

These latest figures come a week after official figures revealed net migration - the difference between people coming to the UK and those leaving - has risen from 210,000 to 298,000 over the past year.

Prime Minister David Cameron had said at the start of his premiership that he wanted to reduce the net number to "tens of thousands".

The subject of immigration is expected to be one of the key debating issues in the run-up to the General Election on 7 May.

Video: 2011: PM's Net Migration Pledge

Video: Nick Clegg On EU Migration

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Scientists Need Public Cash To Fund LSD Study

By Thomas Moore, Health And Science Correspondent

Scientists are asking the public to step in and fund a controversial study into the effect of LSD on the brain.

So far 20 volunteers have had brain scans while high on the hallucinogenic drug as part of a study that was given a small amount of funding by Imperial College London and the Beckley Foundation.

But the researchers, led by former government drugs tsar Professor David Nutt, need a further £25,000 to analyse the scans.

Prof Nutt launched an appeal on the science crowdfunding site Walacea.com after traditional research councils and other groups refused to fund the study because it involved an illegal recreational drug.

He said: "Despite the incredible potential of this drug to further our understanding of the brain, political stigma has silenced research.

"We must not play politics with promising science that has so much potential for good."

Prof Nutt said research in the 1960s suggested LSD could be used to treat addiction, depression and chronic pain.

Yet since being made illegal in 1967 there has only been one clinical study and two neuroscience studies.

"That is an absurd amount of censorship," said Prof Nutt, who was sacked as the government's chief drugs advisor after saying ecstasy and LSD were less harmful than alcohol.

The 20 volunteers in the new study were injected with a "moderate" dose of LSD.

None of the participants reported having a bad experience, though three said they had some anxiety and temporary paranoia.

Another of the researchers, Dr Robin Carhart-Harris of Imperial College London, said: "What's especially intriguing is that people can have a very challenging experience yet afterwards they seem to be somehow psychologically refreshed by the experience."

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Police Hunt Man Over Sex Assault On Boy, 6

Police have released CCTV footage of a man they want to speak to after a six-year-old boy was sexually assaulted at a community centre in central London.

The boy was attacked as he went to the toilet at the Calthorpe Project on 1 July last year.

After he told his mother, a staff member at the centre in Grays Inn Road attempted to follow the suspect, but lost him on the street outside, police said.

Police believe the suspect was "heavily intoxicated".

Detective Inspector Neil Rawlinson said it was "a particularly upsetting sexual assault on a young boy by a complete stranger".

He said the video had been made public because inquiries held in the months since the attack had failed to identify any individuals.

The suspect is described as white, aged between 55 and 65, with a large stomach and long, dark hair with fair ends. He spoke with an Irish accent.

He was wearing beige trousers, a checked shirt and a yellow patterned baseball cap.

:: Anyone who recognises the man is urged to contact investigators on 020 8733 5999 or if they wish to remain anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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Ex-Tory MP's Home Searched In Sex Abuse Inquiry

The home of former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor is being examined by officers investigating claims of sex abuse against boys by establishment figures.

A Met Police spokesman confirmed to Sky News that a property in Grantham was being searched by officers from Operation Midland.

Operation Midland is investigating allegations that a paedophile ring of high-profile figures - including politicians, law enforcement and military officials - operated in the 1970s and 80s.

Mr Proctor lives on the Belvoir Castle estate. Pic: Nancy/Wiki Commons

Detectives are also investigating claims the murders of three boys, aged between seven and 16, are linked to the alleged abuse centred on Dolphin Square in Westminster.

Mr Proctor told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he found himself "in a very Kafka-esque fantasy situation".

"I have never attended sex parties at Dolphin Square or anywhere else," he said.

"I have not been part of any rent-boy ring with Cabinet ministers, other MPs or generals or the military. I conducted my private life in a discreet manner, it wasn't I who outed myself, it was the press who did an assortment of things to out me."

Mr Proctor represented Basildon from 1979 to 1983 and Billericay from 1983 to 1987.

The 68-year-old currently lives on the Duke and Duchess of Rutland's estate at Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire, and works for the family.

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Embarrassment For Prince At Elephant Sanctuary

By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent

Prince William's trip to China has been marred by embarrassment after he visited an animal sanctuary while elephants are forced to perform for tourists nearby.

At the same moment that the Prince was being photographed with an elephant, others were waiting in enclosures a kilometre away with their legs shackled.

The Prince appeared unaware of the performances when questioned by Sky News

The prince is in Yunnan Province on the last leg of his tour of China. His visit to this far south western province was supposed to help highlight a cause close to him: the fight to conserve and save endangered species and highlight the trade in endangered wildlife.

Sky News spent an hour at the show in which we watched tourists sitting on elephants trunks, and riding on them. The animals, some wearing giant spectacles, sat down and balanced on tiny stools. Others kicked around footballs.

The show lasts an hour, happens twice a day and is watched by hundreds of Chinese tourists.

Sky News asked the Prince if he was aware the elephant entertainment was taking place down the road. He turned around but didn't respond.

Some 250 elephants live in Wild Elephant Valley near a town called Xishuangbanna. They represent the only 'wild' Asian elephants in China. However from what Sky News witnessed, many of them cannot be classed as living in the wild.

Prince William, who is the patron of the Tusk Trust, wanted to use his last day here to learn more about China's role in fighting the illegal trade in wildlife.

Conservation groups agree that China is the main protagonist in the trade, with tonnes of ivory smuggled into the country from Africa.

While there is no suggestion that the elephant William met or those performing are affected by the illegal trade, they are not living in the wild and are trained to entertain.

Conservationists Sky News spoke to expressed surprise that palace officials would allow William to be seen to endorse a centre at which elephants perform.

A three-year study by the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) in 2014 into the welfare of captive elephants in Asia concluded that entertainment venues where elephants are forced into unnatural performances often causes them pain and suffering.

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