Move for 24-hour energy switching

31 October 2013 Last updated at 05:31 ET

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Ed Davey delivers his energy statement in the Commons

Households could be able to switch energy suppliers within 24 hours under proposals being announced by Energy Secretary Ed Davey.

He said it was "completely ludicrous" that switching suppliers could take more than five weeks.

He is setting out details of the plan in the Commons, as part of a review of energy competition and prices.

Labour said the review, which reports next spring, would do nothing to help with soaring winter fuel bills.

The government is under pressure to help people facing higher gas and electricity bills, with Labour calling for a price freeze.

'Massive change'

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The coalition's answer has been to encourage households to switch suppliers - but Mr Davey has accused the "big six" energy companies of anti-competitive practices by "trying to make it more difficult" to do that.

He will promise in his Commons statement to put pressure on those six firms to speed up the switching process.

"My ambition is to try and get it down to 24 hours," he told BBC Breakfast.

"We've got obviously work with the industry to deliver that but I've already talked to one of the leading independent suppliers, First Utility, who believe they can get it down to 24 hours.

"But we've got to make sure the other players are in there. So I am meeting, next month, three of the big six who have come forward, who are willing to work with me.

"And I really think we can make a massive change here and not before time. The big six basically have been trying to prevent people from switching, make it more difficult for them to switch. That is not acceptable."

Smaller energy companies have accused the big six of ripping off bill-payers, particularly those who remain loyal to one firm.

Mr Davey said: "Some of them clearly are making too much on some of their consumers because that's why they can make such big savings if they switch."

Mr Davey is currently delivering the annual energy statement in the Commons.

'Transparency'

The review, to be led by the regulator Ofgem, together with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), is expected to report annually on the state of the energy market.

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Make more energy savings

It will examine the barriers encountered by new suppliers entering the market, scrutinise prices and profitability, and evaluate how easy customers are finding it to switch suppliers.

The review is expected to be complete by spring 2014 and would help to bring "much more transparency" to the sector, according to Mr Davey.

Four of the UK's six main energy companies have recently announced price rises, with an average increase of 9.1%, and the other two are expected to follow suit soon.

The firms say the rises are largely due to increasing wholesale prices, but Ofgem says these have risen by only 1.7% in the past year.

Wholesale costs - the price at which energy companies buy the gas and electricity they provide to customers - make up just under half of the energy bills paid by most customers.

Energy firms dispute Ofgem's figures and say wholesale prices have risen by 4-8% in the past 12 months.

'Stealth poll tax'

Appearing before the Energy and Climate Change Committee of MPs this week, some of the big energy companies blamed the government's social and green policies for driving up prices.

Tony Cocker, chief executive of E.On, called such costs a "stealth poll tax" and said they should be paid through the main tax system, not as part of energy bills.

Mr Cocker also told MPs there should be "a very thorough Competition Commission inquiry" into the way the UK energy market operates.

But Centrica, parent company of British Gas, later said such an inquiry was "unnecessary", adding: "There have been numerous inquiries into the energy market and none have found any evidence of anti-competitive behaviour."

At Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday, Mr Cameron clashed with Labour leader Ed Miliband on the issue of energy bills for the fourth week in a row.

The prime minister said the energy market needed "more competition and lower levies", but Mr Miliband called him "the unofficial spokesman for the energy companies" and said customers needed to "switch the prime minister".

Mr Miliband, who has pledged a 20-month energy bill freeze if Labour wins the 2015 general election, dismissed the government's review.

"How will a review that reports next summer help people to pay their bills this winter?" he asked the PM.

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NoW phone hacking trial resumes

31 October 2013 Last updated at 07:29 ET

News of the World bosses must have approved the contract of a private investigator who later admitted phone hacking, the Old Bailey has heard.

Prosecutor Andrew Edis QC said senior figures would have been involved in the decision to give Glenn Mulcaire a written contract in September 2001.

Former NoW editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson are among eight defendants facing trial.

They deny charges including conspiracy to intercept communications.

Mr Edis said that, other than a few "taskings" by the News of the World in 1999, the first dated instruction to Mulcaire by the now-defunct newspaper was 8 January 2001.

An investigations team was set up by Rebekah Brooks when she became editor, and both Mulcaire and former NoW journalist Greg Miskiw, who has also pleaded guilty to hacking, were part of it.

The jury heard Mulcaire was paid a weekly fee until September 2001 when he moved onto a written contract.

The court heard on Wednesday that the private investigator was paid around £100,000 a year for his services.

"It is if course part of the prosecution case that a contract like that, a big contract, involves the senior management, in this case the editor, the deputy editor and the managing editor, the three defendants whom you have to try for phone hacking in addition to Mr Edmondson [former NoW head of news Ian Edmondson] - that is Rebekah Brooks, Andrew Coulson and Stuart Kuttner," Mr Edis said.

Opening the case on Wednesday, Mr Edis told the jury that celebrity victims of phone hacking are alleged to include Jude Law and Sienna Miller, former home secretary David Blunkett, actress Joanna Lumley, and pop star Will Young.

The court also heard that the newspaper was "intensely interested" in the Royal family, with alleged victims including Lord Frederick Windsor, son of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, and Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, former private secretary to Princes William and Harry, who recently became one of Prince George's godparents.

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Cameras allowed in Court of Appeal

31 October 2013 Last updated at 07:36 ET

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The moment broadcasting began from the Court of Appeal

TV cameras have been allowed to record proceedings in one of the highest courts in England and Wales.

Filming is being allowed at the Court of Appeal for the first time, after a partial lifting of the long-standing ban on cameras in court.

Senior judges and major broadcasters welcomed the move, which the head of BBC News said was a "landmark moment".

Cameras are not yet allowed in crown courts and magistrates' courts.

Live broadcasting is possible in five courtrooms at the Royal Courts of Justice in London after years of campaigning by the BBC, ITN, Press Association and Sky News. Recordings can be made in 13 others.

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Analysis

There has always been something of an "open justice" disconnect between the fact that any member of the public can go and sit in a court but the court's proceedings could not be seen by the wider public watching on television.

However, the cause of cameras in court was not helped by high-profile televised trials abroad, like the sometimes unedifying one of OJ Simpson in America in 1994. It sparked fears of lawyers, judges and even witnesses "showboating" for the cameras, and television coverage focusing on the salacious details of a case at the expense of the evidence as a whole.

The judiciary here has always been particularly concerned that nothing was done that might discourage victims, witnesses and jurors - those vital "cogs" in the justice system that ensure it functions - from taking part in cases. That is why the experiment is being limited initially to the Court of Appeal and is subject to strict limitations.

It marks both an historic change and a cautious first step. But England and Wales remains many years away from a full "OJ Simpson-style" televised criminal trial.

Filming has been banned in courts - with the exception of the UK Supreme Court - since the Criminal Justice Act 1925.

Lawyers' arguments and judges' comments will be allowed to be shown - but defendants, witnesses and victims will not. Only one courtroom will be covered a day.

The most senior judge in England and Wales, Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas, said: "My fellow judges and I welcome the start of broadcasting from the Court of Appeal.

"The Court of Appeal has, of course, been open to the public and to journalists for a long time.

"The change in the law which is now coming into force will permit the recording and broadcasting of the proceedings of the Court of Appeal.

"This will help a wider audience to understand and see for themselves how the Court of Appeal goes about its work."

Safeguards, including a time-delay system operated by a specialist video journalist, will be in place to protect normal court restrictions - such as contempt of court - and broadcasting regulations.

In cases of appeals against conviction where there could eventually be a re-trial, the footage would only be aired once the case was concluded.

BBC director of news and current affairs James Harding said: "This is a landmark moment for justice and journalism.

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Baroness Helena Kennedy says court highlights will be "like goals in a football match"

"It is a significant step on the way to helping millions of viewers gain a greater understanding of how our judicial system works."

BBC deputy director of news Fran Unsworth added: "We've made our cameras very discreet."

ITN chief executive John Hardie said filming in courts would be "for the benefit of open justice and democracy".

John Ryley, head of Sky News, said: "Seeing justice being done will no longer be restricted to those members of the public who have the opportunity and time to go to court."

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

There should be some awe about it and it shouldn't be turned into entertainment for the masses "

End Quote Baroness Helena Kennedy QC Labour peer

Footage can be used for news and current affairs but not in other contexts such as comedy, entertainment or advertising.

Courts minister Shailesh Vara told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it was a "landmark moment" for the justice system.

"We are trying to ensure there is a balance, so the public can see what is happening, and that will be restricted to what the lawyers put forward and what the judge has to say.

"But on the other hand, we want to ensure that people are not intimidated and understand the justice system and are happy to come forward."

However, Labour peer Baroness Helena Kennedy QC said she was worried the development could undermine respect for the judicial system.

She said: "What I'm concerned about is something much more fragile, which is our liberty as citizens in this country that the legal system should be taken seriously.

"There should be some awe about it and it shouldn't be turned into entertainment for the masses and I don't trust the editors."

Barrister Michael Mansfield QC welcomed the move, saying it was long overdue.

"You have to remember justice is supposed to be public. It is public. You can walk in there today. The problem is that doesn't reach a wide enough audience and we're also subject to the editorial delights of various newspapers as to what they want to report," he said.

In Scotland, broadcasters have been able to apply to televise court proceedings since 1992 but this rarely happens.

Scotland's most senior judge, Lord Gill, has announced the policy will be reviewed to take account of changes in technology.

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Call for Miliband to condemn Unite

31 October 2013 Last updated at 08:03 ET

The Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps has called on Labour leader Ed Miliband to condemn tactics used by the Unite union during the Grangemouth dispute.

It follows the claims of an Ineos manager who said a "mob" was sent by Unite to his home to intimidate him.

Unite said "leverage tactics" were both "legal and legitimate" during an industrial dispute.

It said bad employers should have "nowhere to hide".

But in his letter to Mr Miliband, Mr Shapps described the strategy as "thuggish".

He urged Mr Miliband to condemn the approach, to refuse money from Unite until those responsible were disciplined, and again called on Labour to investigate allegations of vote rigging in the Falkirk constituency.

He claimed Unite, which is the Labour Party's largest donor, sent a group called the Leverage Team to "threaten senior Ineos executives at home, and to seriously intimidate their families".

'Consistent strategy'

He said it was "clear from Unite's website" that the tactics were "not an isolated incident" but a "consistent strategy that they have used across the country".

Mr Shapps wrote: "Unite claim that this kind of behaviour is both 'legal and legitimate'. I'm sure you'll agree with me that it falls way short of decency.

"Last year (Unite leader) Len McCluskey praised this as 'a new, sophisticated, smart way to do business'."

He continued: "The Labour Party, and the Scottish Labour Party, backed Unite and their actions throughout the Grangemouth dispute. You must now accept the consequences of this disastrous misjudgement."

Mr Shapps said there were three questions that Mr Miliband, as leader of the Labour Party, must now answer:

• Will you actively condemn this thuggish leverage strategy, and demand that Unite abandon this unacceptable approach?
• Will you now refuse to accept any more money from Unite until those responsible for threatening innocent families are disciplined?
• Will you open a new inquiry to investigate properly the allegations of selection rigging in Falkirk, and accept that Unite attempted to subvert Labour's internal inquiry?

Mr Shapps said if Mr Miliband failed to answer 'yes' to those three questions it would "send out the message to the British people that you are too weak to stand up to the union bosses that bankroll your party."

Continue reading the main story

Leverage is about the democratic right of the Union to ensure that immoral employers cannot hide behind veils of secrecy "

End Quote Unite website

On Unite's website, the union describes leverage as "a process whereby the union commits resources and time to making all interested parties aware of the treatment received by Unite members at the hands of an employer.

"Those interested parties may include shareholders of the employer; competitors of the employer; communities within which the employer operates; customers of the employer and the market place of the employer.

"We will ask those who object to the behaviour of an immoral employer to conduct in lawful protest against the actions of the employer. Where Unite members are involved in such lawful protest the union will use its best endeavours to ensure such members are aware of their rights of lawful protest."

The website said leverage was about the "democratic right of the union to ensure that immoral employers cannot hide behind veils of secrecy and must conduct their business in an open and transparent fashion and accept the consequences of the moral judgements that may follow".

'Legal and legitimate'

Unite claimed the tactic had secured "landmark victories" in the past against employers such as Honda, London Buses and Mayr Melnhof Packaging.

A spokesman for the union defended its targeting of Ineos managers during the Grangemouth dispute.

The spokesman added: "All the activities referred to are both legal and legitimate in the context of an industrial dispute. Bad employers should have nowhere to hide.

"Of course all campaigning in the context of the Ineos dispute has now ended with the agreement made with the company.

"However, for the workers and their union to be described as 'bullies' is beyond satire."

On Wednesday, Prime Minister David Cameron blamed a "rogue" union official for the Grangemouth dispute, which almost led to the closure of the petrochemical plant at the site, with the loss of 800 jobs.

Speaking in the Commons, the prime minister said the dispute, which was prompted by the suspension of Unite official Stephen Deans over allegations he was involved in attempting to rig the selection of a Labour candidate in Falkirk, had nearly brought the industry "to its knees".

Mr Cameron called on Labour to hold an inquiry.

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Syria chemical equipment destroyed

31 October 2013 Last updated at 08:08 ET

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Jerry Smith, OPCW: "We have personally observed all of the destruction activities"

Syria's declared equipment for producing, mixing and filling chemical weapons has been destroyed, the international watchdog says.

This comes a day before the deadline set by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

The weapons have been placed under seal, an OPCW spokesman said.

Inspectors were sent to Syria following allegations, denied by the government, that its forces had used chemical weapons in civilian areas.

The inspections were agreed between Russia and the US after Washington threatened to use force in Syria.

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Analysis

The achievement of this crucial initial target is an important moment for the chemical weapons destruction effort in Syria.

The inspectors' first task was to move swiftly to prevent the government from producing any more chemical agent and to destroy facilities and equipment used for mixing agents and filling munitions.

Production facilities will be closely monitored to ensure that there are no moves to repair them. The next deadline is mid-November, by which time the OPCW and the Syrians must agree a detailed plan to destroy Syria's chemical weapons stockpile.

All sorts of questions are raised. Where will this destruction be carried out ? Who will provide the necessary equipment and so on?

Western intelligence agencies will be studying Syria's declarations carefully. They will be eager to direct inspectors to additional locations if there are any grounds to believe that Damascus has been less than frank in its disclosures.

Arsenal

Now that the equipment has been put beyond use, Syria has until mid-2014 to destroy the chemical weapons themselves.

Its arsenal is believed to include more than 1,000 tonnes of the nerve gas sarin, the blister agent sulphur mustard and other banned chemicals, stored at dozens of sites.

In a separate development, a large explosion at a Syrian army base has been reported outside the coastal city of Latakia.

Local media say the base was targeted by Israeli forces but this has not been confirmed.

Israel is believed to have targeted the same base in July and is concerned that some weapons in Syria are being moved to Hezbollah militants in neighbouring Lebanon.

OPCW head of field operations Jerry Smith told the BBC that his team had "personally observed all the destruction activities".

"They are not now in a position to conduct any further production or mixing of chemical weapons," he said.

In a statement, the OPCW said its teams had inspected 21 of the 23 chemical weapons sites in Syria.

The other two were too dangerous to visit but the equipment had already been moved to some of the other sites, it said.

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Syria's chemical weapons

• Syria believed to possess more than 1,000 tonnes of chemical agents and pre-cursor chemicals, including blister agent, sulphur mustard, and sarin nerve agent; also thought to have produced most potent nerve agent, VX
• US believes Syria's arsenal can be "delivered by aircraft, ballistic missile, and artillery rockets"
• Syria acceded to Chemical Weapons Convention on 14 September; it signed Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention in 1972 but never ratified

Mr Smith said that verifying the destruction of Syria's weapons production capability had been a "particularly challenging job" because it had to be done in the midst of a conflict, with a tight deadline.

The OPCW earlier this month won the Nobel Peace Prize but Mr Smith said his team had been too busy to celebrate because of their work in Syria.

"All stocks of chemical weapons and agents have been placed under seals that are impossible to break," OPCW spokesman Christian Chartier told the AFP news agency.

"These are 1,000 tonnes of chemical agents [which can be used to make weapons] and 290 tonnes of chemical weapons," he said.

The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says the OPCW's task is far from finished.

More than 1,000 tonnes of chemical precursors - the raw materials - remain to be removed and destroyed by the middle of next year, which our correspondent says will be a delicate and difficult process.

The first step is for the weapons watchdog and the Syrian government to agree a timetable for the destruction of the chemical weapons stockpile - this should be done within the next two weeks.

The US says more than 1,400 people were killed when government forces used a nerve agent to attack Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus on 21 August.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian allies have said rebel groups were responsible.

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Shortly after the Ghouta attack, Bridget Kendall looked at how it unfolded, mainly through extremely distressing videos posted online

The OPCW announcement comes as human rights group Amnesty International says that hundreds of Syrian refugees are being turned away at the borders of Jordan and other countries.

Jordan has denied the accusation, saying its border is open to Syrian refugees.

More than 100,000 people have been killed in the fighting that has ravaged Syria for two-and-a-half years, according to the UN.

A further two million people have fled Syria and some 4.5 million have been displaced internally.

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Small energy firms 'escape levies'

30 October 2013 Last updated at 07:47 ET

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The head of one of the UK's biggest energy companies has suggested that smaller providers have an unfair cost advantage.

Tony Cocker, the chief executive of E.On, said small companies were excused from paying some of the environmental and social levies.

Such levies make up between 8% to 9% of the average bill.

The news come amid speculation that the Prime Minister may order a Competition Commission inquiry into the market.

On Tuesday, Mr Cocker told MPs that there should be a full investigation. He and seven other company bosses were called before the Energy and Climate Change Committee to justify recent price rises.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Once an investigation is launched - and I am told that the prime minister is very close to initiating one - a cloud of expensive uncertainty will descend on the industry"

End Quote

Speaking to the BBC's Today programme, Mr Cocker said: "The small companies are exempt from a number of environmental and social obligations. Not all, but some of them."

Energy firms with less than 250,000 customers do not have to pay the Energy Companies Obligation (ECO), or the Warm Home Discount. Together those account for £58 on an average bill.

Prices

Stephen Fitzpatrick, the managing director of Ovo Energy, claimed that his firm could cut bills for many consumers.

"I can tell you, of the four companies that have raised their prices, we are around £160 cheaper. So that's about 12% to 13% for a customer of average consumption," Mr Fitzpatrick told the BBC.

Ovo raised its prices by 5.8% in April 2013.

So far this month, British Gas, SSE, Scottish Power and Npower have raised prices by an average of 9.1%.

Social and environmental levies
Levy	Use	Cost to customer per year
source: DECC
Energy Companies Obligation (ECO)	Energy-saving measures for low income homes	£47
Warm Home Discount	Rebate to low-income households	£11
Renewables Obligation	Requires companies to buy green energy	£30
European Trading Scheme	Sets cap on emissions	£8
Carbon Price Floor	Tax on use of fossil fuels	£5
Feed in Tariffs	Subsidy for green energy generation	£7
Smart meters and better billing	To cut use of estimated bills	£3

The regulator, Ofgem, estimates that levies add about £107 a year to an average bill, or 8%.

The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) puts the figure at £112, or about 9%.

The Prime Minister has already pledged to consider "rolling back" some of the levies.

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Germans in US talks over spy claims

30 October 2013 Last updated at 07:55 ET

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A summary of US spying allegations brought about by Edward Snowden's leak of classified documents

A German delegation of intelligence officials is in Washington for talks at the White House on Wednesday following claims that the US monitored Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone.

The chancellor's foreign policy adviser and Germany's intelligence co-ordinator will hold talks at the White House.

The head of US intelligence has defended the monitoring of foreign leaders as a key goal of operations.

The US is facing growing anger over reports it spied on its allies abroad.

It has also been reported that the National Security Agency (NSA) monitored French diplomats in Washington and at the UN, and that it conducted surveillance on millions of French and Spanish telephone calls, among other operations against US allies.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

The measure of how seriously Chancellor Merkel takes the matter is that she has sent two of the most important people in her immediate circle of advisers: her foreign policy adviser, Christoph Heusgen, and the German government's intelligence coordinator, Guenter Heiss.

Next week, the heads of the actual spying agencies go to meet their opposite numbers in Washington.

This week's meetings are more about how to rebuild trust, while next week's agenda will be more about the detail of how the two countries' agencies might or might not work more in harmony.

The US has an agreement to share intelligence with Britain, New Zealand, Australia and Canada. It is not clear if Germany wants to be part of that.

There have been commentators in America saying that Germany is in a different position from the other countries mentioned because its future relationship with China is not clear.

On this argument, Germany's close trade links with China might make it loath to support the US in any future trans-Pacific confrontation.

However, NSA director Gen Keith Alexander said "the assertions... that NSA collected tens of millions of phone calls are completely false".

The revelations stem from documents leaked by fugitive ex-US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who now lives in Russia and is wanted in the US in connection with the unauthorised disclosures.

German media have reported that the US bugged German Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone for more than a decade - and that the surveillance only ended a few months ago.

Germany's delegation includes Christoph Heusgen, Mrs Merkel's foreign policy adviser, and Guenter Heiss, the secret service co-ordinator, NSA spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said.

US National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Lisa Monaco, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, are also expected to take part.

Ms Hayden said the meeting was part of the agreement reached between President Barack Obama and Chancellor Merkel last week to deepen US-German cooperation on intelligence matters.

'Basic tenet'

The meeting comes just hours after Mr Clapper and Gen Alexander testified before the intelligence panel of the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

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How intelligence is gathered

• Accessing internet company data
• Tapping fibre optic cables
• Eavesdropping on phones
• Targeted spying

Gen Alexander said much of the data cited by non-US news outlets was actually collected by European intelligence services and later shared with the NSA.

Meanwhile, Mr Clapper told lawmakers that discerning foreign leaders' intentions was "a basic tenet of what we collect and analyse".

He said that foreign allies spy on US officials and intelligence agencies as a matter of routine.

Mr Clapper said the torrent of disclosures about American surveillance had been extremely damaging and that he anticipated more.

But he said there was no other country that had the magnitude of oversight that the US had, and that any mistakes that had been made were human or technical.

The BBC's Jonny Dymond in Washington says if anyone was expecting apologies or embarrassment from the leaders of America's intelligence community, they were in for a disappointment.

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James Clapper said knowing what foreign leaders were thinking was critical to US policymaking

The intelligence pair were not given a tough time by the committee but that sentiment is turning within Congress toward tightening up the reach of American intelligence agencies, our correspondent says.

Meanwhile, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied that Moscow used free USB memory sticks and mobile phone charging cables to spy on delegates attending the G20 Summit in St Petersburg last September.

Reports in two Italian newspapers suggested that the USB sticks and cables had bugs on them that could steal data from the delegates.

Spokesman Dmitri Peskov said the reports were an attempt to distract from the problems between European countries and the US.

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Press in legal bid to stop charter

30 October 2013 Last updated at 05:54 ET

Newspaper and magazine publishers are seeking a last-minute injunction to stop the proposed royal charter on press regulation being approved later.

They will argue at the High Court that the Privy Council failed to consult the industry adequately or to consider its own proposed charter properly.

The Times's Roger Alton said the deal "stitched up" by politicians and lobbyists would be resisted.

The row follows the phone-hacking affair and subsequent Leveson Inquiry.

Newspaper and magazine publishers fear the charter agreed by political parties means the end of a free press - which its supporters deny.

BBC media correspondent David Sillito said the charter proposed by the three main political parties was on the verge of approval after "months of wrangling".

The Press Standards Board of Finance (Pressbof), which raises money from the newspaper industry to fund the current regulator, the Press Complaints Commission, said that process had been unfair and wants a judicial review.

At the High Court, Pressbof will ask two senior judges for permission to seek a judicial review of the Privy Council's decision to reject the press-backed royal charter.

Pressbof claims the application was not dealt with fairly, that the government and Privy Council failed to consult with the press and that the procedures used were "irrational".

'Proper and fair'

Lord Black of Brentwood, chairman of Pressbof, said the decision to go to court had been made because of the "enormous ramifications for free speech" of the case.

Last week a newspaper industry source told the BBC he hoped the court action would put the politicians' plan on hold, but the government said it would push ahead.

Media commentator Steve Hewlett told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that what the newspapers were hoping to do now tactically was to induce delay.

"The whole point is if they can induce enough delay they hope that when Ipso (Independent Press Standards Organisation) - their self-regulator - is up and running, as time goes by the political pressure for further reform as we approach an election in 2015 will begin to evaporate.

"So to that extent it becomes a game of chicken, because they're gambling that no party will want to go into the election waving press reform, which may turn out not to be right."

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Maria Miller told Parliament there must be a "fair system" of press regulation

Lawyers for Culture Secretary Maria Miller will oppose the legal challenge.

A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said the industry royal charter had been considered in "an entirely proper and fair way" and Mrs Miller had secured significant changes to the cross-party charter to address press concerns.

"The government is working to bring in a system of independent press self-regulation that will protect press freedom while offering real redress when mistakes are made," the spokesman said.

The rival royal charters are similar in some respects, with both proposing a "recognition panel" to oversee a press self-regulation committee with powers to impose fines of up to £1m on newspapers for wrongdoing.

But while the press charter would require industry-wide approval for any amendments, the politicians' version could be changed by a two-thirds majority in Parliament - and some in the media claim this could let governments encroach on press freedom.

Mr Alton - who is the executive editor of the Times - told the Today programme that Ipso would be an "extremely tough" regulator.

"You sign a contract into the regulator and you are liable for extremely severe fines," he said.

"The idea that somehow a deal stitched up between a few politicians over pizzas and a handful of lobbyists from Hacked Off, which is essentially an anti-newspaper group, the idea that such a deal is the thing that now controls the press, which is one of the most vital safeguards in our democracy, I find extraordinarily depressing, very sad ... It will be resisted."

Various forms of press regulation have been proposed following the Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practice and ethics of the press, set up in the wake of revelations about phone hacking by journalists.

The Privy Council, whose active members must be government ministers, meets in private to formally advise the Queen to approve "Orders" which have already been agreed by ministers.

Royal charters are granted by the Privy Council to "bodies that work in the public interest" - in this case a proposed press regulator.

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Government loses work scheme appeal

30 October 2013 Last updated at 07:14 ET

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Employment minister Esther McVey says the judges rejected "forced labour" accusations

The government has lost a Supreme Court appeal over a ruling its flagship "back to work" schemes were legally flawed.

Ministers failed in a bid to overturn an earlier ruling that regulations underpinning the schemes were invalid.

The case was brought by graduate Cait Reilly. She also claimed that requiring her to work for nothing at a Poundland store breached her human rights.

But the judges rejected claims that the schemes were "exploitative" and amounted to "forced labour".

Critics have said the sector-based work academy scheme and the community action programme - introduced in 2011 -are unfair because they involve work without pay and cuts in jobseeker's allowance (JSA) for those who failed to comply with the rules.

Five Supreme Court justices upheld a Court of Appeal decision which went against the government in February, because of shortcomings in the way the schemes were explained to those taking part.

They ruled the government had not provided a "sufficient detailed prescribed description" of the schemes and what would happen if people refused to take part.

But the Supreme Court rejected a counter-appeal against the scheme and upheld the Court of Appeal's ruling in the government's favour that the regulations did not constitute forced or compulsory labour.

They said the schemes came "nowhere close to the type the exploitative conduct" prohibited under the European Convention of Human Rights since the conditions attached to payment of JSA were "directly linked to its purpose".

'Won the argument'

Ministers brought in new rules allowing the unpaid schemes to continue pending the outcome of the appeal.

BBC correspondent Andy Moore said Wednesday's ruling made clear that the government was entitled to ask people to take part in the schemes and it would not have to further amend existing legislation.

Ms McVey rejected suggestions that the ruling was in any way a blow for the government, describing it as a "victory for common sense".

She told the BBC that the government had listened to the concerns about the schemes and would introduce further safeguards to clarify what was expected of those taking part.

But she insisted that judges had backed the fundamental basis of the scheme - to give people experience of holding down a job - and the potential use of sanctions.

"First and foremost, it is about getting people into work and supporting them the best we can and we are doing a very good job of that," she said.

'Something wrong'

In a statement, the Department of Work and Pensions said the Supreme Court had "unanimously upheld our right to require those claiming jobseeker's allowance to take part in programmes which will help get them into work".

"We have always said that it was ridiculous to say that our schemes amounted to forced labour, and yet again we have won this argument," Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said.

Ms Reilly - who now works part-time in a supermarket - said she hoped the judgement would "serve to improve the current system and assist jobseekers who have been unfairly stripped of their benefits".

"I brought these proceedings because I knew that there was something wrong when I was stopped from doing voluntary work in a local museum and instead forced to work for Poundland for free."

"It must be time for the government to rethink its strategy and actually do something constructive to help lift people out of unemployment and poverty."

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Man stabbed on final pizza delivery

30 October 2013 Last updated at 08:07 ET

A pizza delivery man found stabbed to death at the wheel of his car was making his final delivery before starting a new job.

Thavisha Lakindu Peiris, 25, was found dead by colleagues in his car in Southey Crescent, Sheffield, at 22:30 GMT on Sunday.

South Yorkshire Police said he had just accepted a new job as an IT consultant.

Det Supt Lisa Ray said he had lost his life in the "most brutal of fashions" in an apparently motiveless crime.

'Absolute tragedy'

Mr Peiris, who was born in Sri Lanka, had been working at Domino's Pizza in Halifax Road after completing a degree in IT at Sheffield Hallam University in 2011.

Ms Ray said more than fifty officers were working on the case.

"He was a bright, hard-working, intelligent and caring man who had worked hard to develop his career in Sheffield.

"His murder is an absolute tragedy and has caused untold grief for his mother, father and brother in Sri Lanka and for his many friends in Sri Lanka and in Sheffield," she added.

Mr Peiris left the restaurant at 21:50 to make a delivery in Southey Crescent and when he failed to turn up, colleagues set off to find him.

They found him dead in his Toyota Yaris outside the address where he was due to make the delivery.

A post-mortem examination found Mr Peiris died from stab wounds.

Ms Ray said: "It is urgent that anyone who saw him, or his car, or anything that they now regard as suspicious, comes forward without delay.

"A family is grieving for a young man who whose life has been taken from him in the most brutal of fashions, and we owe it to him and his family to find the person or persons responsible".

Ms Ray said his relatives were preparing to travel to Sheffield from Sri Lanka.

A spokesman for Domino's Pizza said: "All at Domino's Pizza are shocked and saddened by his death and our thoughts and prayers go out to his colleagues, friends and family."

The company said it was doing all it could to assist the police investigation.

South Yorkshire Police said a number of men arrested had been questioned and released without charge.

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Soldiers jailed for Westgate looting

29 October 2013 Last updated at 07:12 ET

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Security camera footage which emerged shows Kenyan soldiers taking away white shopping bags, as the BBC's Rebecca Donovan reports

Two Kenyan soldiers have been sacked and jailed for looting during last month's attack on the Westgate shopping centre, the army chief has said.

Julius Karangi said that a third soldier was under investigation.

He has previously said that soldiers had only taken water during the four-day siege, despite CCTV footage seeming to show them helping themselves to goods in a supermarket.

Somali Islamist group al-Shabab says it was behind the attack, which killed 67.

At the same news conference, Police Criminal Investigation Department head Ndegwa Muhoro said that a phone call had been made to Norway during the siege.

One of the suspected attackers has been named as 23-year-old Somalia-born Norwegian national, Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow.

The Kenyan army has said that all four of the attackers died.

Mr Muhoro said that Interpol was helping to analyse the bodies to confirm their identities, reports the AFP news agency.

Officials had initially said there were 10-15 attackers.

Mr Muhoro said that five other people were in detention over the attack and would be charged soon.

Several shop-owners have said that their premises were looted during the siege.

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Shoesmith's Baby P payout 'stinks'

29 October 2013 Last updated at 07:56 ET

The six-figure payout to the former head of Haringey children's services Sharon Shoesmith "stinks", a former government minister has said.

Conservative MP Tim Loughton said the settlement would "leave a really bad taste in taxpayers' mouths".

In 2011, Ms Shoesmith, who earned £133,000 a year, won a ruling that she was unfairly sacked after a damning report about the death of Baby Peter.

BBC Newsnight revealed the payout could cost Haringey Council up to £600,000.

Peter Connelly, who was 17 months old, died in 2007 after months of abuse.

The boy had more than 50 injuries, despite being on the at-risk register and receiving 60 visits from social workers, police and health professionals over eight months.

'Botched job'

Continue reading the main story

• 3 August 2007: One-year-old Peter Connelly (Baby P) found dead in his cot
• 11 November 2008: Peter's mother, Tracey Connelly, boyfriend Steven Barker and brother Jason Owen convicted of causing his death
• 13 November 2008: Ed Balls orders inquiry into role of the local authority, the health authority and the police
• 8 December 2008: Ms Shoesmith is sacked with immediate effect
• 22 May 2009: Connelly, Owen and Barker all get lengthy jail sentences
• 15 September 2010: Ms Shoesmith asks a House of Commons committee why the police and health services had not also been made to take responsibility
• 27 May 2011: The Court of Appeal rules in favour of Ms Shoesmith
• Oct 2013: Ms Shoesmith agrees a six-figure payout with Haringey Council

Three people were jailed in 2009, including his mother.

The Court of Appeal concluded Ms Shoesmith had been "unfairly scapegoated" and her removal from office in December 2008 by the then Children's Secretary Ed Balls had been "intrinsically unfair and unlawful".

One government source told BBC Newsnight that the cost to Haringey Council could be as high as £600,000, although Ms Shoesmith is expected to receive a lower sum.

The exact figure may not emerge as there are confidentiality clauses preventing its disclosure but it will be significantly short of the £1m figure it had been reported she was seeking.

However, it would appear the package is more than the minimum suggested by senior judge Lord Neuberger in a 2011 ruling in the Court of Appeal. He suggested Ms Shoesmith was entitled to a minimum of three months' salary plus pensions contributions.

Three months' salary would have been about £33,000.

Mr Loughton, a former children's minister, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the payout became "inevitable" after the Court of Appeal ruled that Mr Balls "had made a complete botched job of her dismissal".

But he added: "This is going to leave a really bad taste in taxpayers' mouths that a not insubstantial amount of public money is being used to pay off somebody who presided over a dysfunctional department in Haringey [where] a 17-month-old boy died in horrific circumstances.

"We are effectively rewarding failure and when you are appointed a director of children's services... the buck has to stop somewhere and somebody has to take responsibility, and you don't expect that person... to get a large cheque on the back of it as well."

Gove 'furious'

A statement from Haringey Council confirmed it had reached a settlement with Ms Shoesmith but that the terms of the settlement were confidential and it was unable to comment further.

Some of the cash will come from central government, but Haringey council will foot most of the bill, it is understood. An exact figure is yet to be agreed.

The Department for Education declined to comment on the story when contacted by the BBC.

But one source told Newsnight that Education Secretary Michael Gove was "furious" about the secrecy over the amount paid to Ms Shoesmith, believing it to be "indefensible".

Lawyers representing Haringey Council and Ms Shoesmith had been in lengthy discussions regarding a settlement since the May 2011 ruling.

Ms Shoesmith had been due to return to court later this week, seeking a declaration that she remained employed by Haringey Council.

That action has now been dropped and the settlement reached between the two parties is understood to be a final one.

Peter Connelly's mother, Tracey Connelly, her boyfriend, Steven Barker, and his brother, Jason Owen, were jailed in May 2009 for causing or allowing the child's death.

Earlier this month it was reported that Connelly was due to be released from prison on parole.

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Many still without power after storm

29 October 2013 Last updated at 07:39 ET

Over 57,000 homes are still without power after a storm battered Britain.

Engineers restored supplies to 100,000 homes overnight after heavy rainfall and winds of more than 70mph (112 km/h) hit parts of the country.

Four people are known to have have died in the storm which brought major rail and road disruption to commuters in southern Britain on Monday.

Most rail companies say services have returned to normal, but there is still disruption on some routes.

Bethany Freeman, 17, suffered fatal injuries when a tree came down on the caravan she was sleeping in in Hever, near Edenbridge, Kent, at about 07:20 GMT.

Donal Drohan, 51, from Harrow, was pronounced dead at the scene after a tree crushed a red Peugeot 307 at Lower High Street in Watford, Hertfordshire, at 06:50 GMT.

And a man and woman died in west London following a suspected gas explosion after a tree fell during high winds in Hounslow.

The Energy Networks Association said more than 660,000 homes in total had lost supply during the storm. Some 48,000 properties in the East and 9,600 in the South East still have no electricity.

BBC News correspondent Duncan Kennedy, reporting from Berkshire, said engineers had had trouble reaching some of the more remote areas in southern England because of fallen trees and it could be a few days before power supplies were restored to all locations.

Network Rail said the damage to infrastructure had been "worse than expected", with more than 100 trees on lines.

Train operators - who cancelled hundreds of services because of the bad weather - have resumed normal services on Tuesday but some travel disruption remains:

• Greater Anglia says disruption and cancellations are expected on a number of routes until approximately 12:00 GMT on Tuesday and is advising passengers not to travel unless necessary
• Stansted Express services have resumed with a half-hourly service
• First Capital Connect is running a full service but with some delays
• C2C says a near-normal service has resumed but buses will be replacing trains from Barking to Grays via Rainham
• East Coast says it is operating a near-normal service but delays of up to 30 minutes are occurring through Peterborough and between Stevenage and King's Cross
• Southeastern is running a normal service on all routes with some delays
• Chiltern Railways is running a normal service but says there may be some delays and short-notice cancellations
• London Midland is running a normal service with one exception - buses will replace trains between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey until Wednesday

Continue reading the main story

Ferry crossings and flights were also affected as the storm moved across the UK.

The Environment Agency had dozens of flood warnings in place on Monday - in areas of south-west England, East Anglia and the Midlands where flooding was expected - but there are no longer any in place.

Initial estimates of the level of financial damage caused by the storm are not expected until later this week, the Association of British Insurers said.

BBC weather forecasters said in more populous areas including Lyneham, near Swindon; Yeovilton in Somerset and Hurn, near Bournemouth, speeds of 74-75mph (119-121km/h) had been recorded.

The strongest gust of 99mph during the storm was recorded at Needles Old Battery, Isle of Wight, at 05:00 GMT.

Wind speeds of 115mph were recorded during the so-called Great Storm of October 1987.

Eight people died as the storm swept through France, Germany and the Netherlands after it moved out of the UK shortly after 12:00 GMT.

The search for the 14-year-old boy - who has been named as Dylan Alkins - who was swept away in Newhaven, East Sussex on Sunday is continuing.

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HS2 benefit to UK revised down

29 October 2013 Last updated at 07:44 ET

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Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin: "I hope very much it comes below budget"

The government's latest business case for the HS2 high-speed rail link has slightly lowered the amount of benefit it predicts relative to the cost.

The expected benefit-cost ratio (BRC) has fallen from £2.50 to £2.30 in benefits for every pound spent.

That fall is mainly due to a £10bn rise in the scheme's projected £42.6bn cost, which was added earlier this year.

The report is the latest update on questions such as who benefits and by how much.

It also has revised an earlier assumption that business people do not get much work done on trains, a view that was widely criticised at the time.

Continue reading the main story

When I spoke to the people who wrote this latest business case, they said things like, "We've listened" and "We haven't over-egged it".

For example, in the last four business cases, the government's been ridiculed for assuming people don't get much work done on trains. Plainly unrealistic in the world of mobile phones and laptops.

So to tackle that, they've now cut by a third the value of business time lost on a train (from £47.18 an hour to £31.96 an hour, if you're interested).

They were also heavily criticised for using a 12-year-old survey for some of their data. They've updated that.

But the reality is, the last four cases have failed to convince enough influential people, people like shadow chancellor Ed Balls for example, that HS2 is worth the money.

And no Ed Balls, no HS2.

The new study has cut by one-third the value put on saving an hour's worth of time getting between meetings or workplaces on a quicker train, to reflect that productive work is also done while travelling.

Closures

BBC transport correspondent Richard Westcott says the new report is an attempt to shift the focus away from a controversial assumption of people not working on trains, and towards the benefits of providing lots of extra capacity on the rail network.

One part of the report, which came out a day earlier, argued that the alternative to HS2 would mean 14 years of route closures and longer journeys.

A study, prepared by Network Rail and the management consultancy Atkins for the government, said that without the project, there would have to be 2,770 weekend closures on the East Coast, West Coast and Midland main lines for the same intended capacity of HS2.

This could lead to travel times between London and Leeds doubling.

'Play politics'

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said without the new line, the West Coast, East Coast and Midland Main Lines were likely to be overwhelmed.

He said it would also bring benefits for regional and commuter services, as well as increasing the amount of freight that could be carried by rail.

But he warned it needed broad political consensus or it would end in nothing: "You can't play politics with our prosperity. The new North-South line is a multi-billion, multi-year investment in the future of Britain."

Shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh said: "We must address the capacity problems that mean thousands of commuters face cramped, miserable journeys into cities like Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and London. But there can be no blank cheque and ministers must get a grip on costs."

Penny Gaines from the Stop HS2 organisation said: "The big flaw in the government's argument is that phase one of HS2 won't open to the travelling public until about 2027, meaning there would be no change for passengers until the middle of the next decade.

"But building HS2 would cause years of disruption at [London] Euston, and other places on the rail network as well as chaos along the route of HS2, with roads being diverted during the build and in some places permanently shut."

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Accused former BBC driver found dead

29 October 2013 Last updated at 08:06 ET

A former BBC driver accused of sex offences has been found dead.

David Smith, 67, from Lewisham, south-east London, had been due to stand trial at Southwark Crown Court for allegedly abusing a boy, 12, in 1984.

A warrant was issued for his arrest on Monday after he failed to attend court.

Smith was charged with two counts of indecent assault, two of indecency and one of a serious sexual offence as part of Operation Yewtree. The cause of his death is not yet known.

Smith was the first person to be charged under the investigation into historical cases of abuse, which was originally set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

It was alleged Smith met his victim at a swimming pool and invited him back to his flat, where he sexually abused him.

Continue reading the main story

What sort of checks did the BBC carry out on David Smith? Was it aware of his criminal record?

He was due to stand trial on Monday accused of sex offences carried out in 1984, but he already had a string of convictions.

In the 1970s, while working as a milkman, Smith committed offences against boys as young as two and eight, and later went on to abuse boys at a table tennis club.

There are also questions for the police. Why couldn't they trace Smith when the victim of the 1984 attack came forward in 2002? He was serving a jail sentence, so they must have had access to prison records.

Finally, should more have been done when the 67 year-old failed to turn up at court?

It might be thought that a defendant in a high-profile trial involving allegations of sexual offences against a child should have been closely monitored

He also took the boy on a visit to the BBC studios at White City, in west London. During the journey, the boy claimed, he was indecently assaulted.

Historical abuse

The alleged victim's partner contacted police after she saw his response to the ITV documentary Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile, which was broadcast on 3 October 2012.

A previous attempt to track down Smith in 2002 had failed when police could not find him - even though he was in prison at the time.

Smith was a prolific sex offender whose first conviction was in 1966. He had 22 convictions for sexual offences against young boys.

His barrister became concerned on Monday when Smith failed to appear at court.

Police found him at his home address at about 14:20 GMT and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The cause of death is not yet known and a post-mortem examination will take place.

Yewtree is an inquiry into allegations of historical sexual abuse linked to the entertainment industry.

The operation has three strands. One concerns Savile's crimes exclusively, while a second strand relates to allegations against Savile and others.

The third strand concentrates on accusations that emerged as a result of the publicity surrounding Savile, but which are unconnected to him.

Smith was investigated under the third strand.

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Phone hacking trial due to begin

28 October 2013 Last updated at 05:31 ET

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Phone hacking trial to begin

The trial of ex-News of the World journalists accused of phone hacking is due to begin at the Old Bailey.

Rebekah Brooks, former News International chief executive, and Andy Coulson, former News of the World editor, are accused of conspiring with others to listen to voicemails.

It is also alleged that Ms Brooks and Mr Coulson conspired to commit misconduct in a public office.

The trial of eight defendants who deny the charges begins with jury selection.

The trial concerns allegations of wrongdoing at the News of the World before it was closed down in July 2011 after claims that journalists had hacked the mobile phone of murder victim Milly Dowler.

Ms Brooks was editor of the newspaper between 2000 and 2003 before being made editor of The Sun. She went on to become the chief executive of News International.

It is alleged that she conspired with others at the newspaper to intercept communications between October 2000 and August 2006 by listening to mobile phone messages.

She faces two further counts of allegedly making corrupt payments to public officials and two final accusations that she allegedly conspired to pervert the course of justice by removing and concealing evidence.

Mr Coulson faces the same alleged phone hacking charge as Ms Brooks. He and Clive Goodman, the newspaper's former royal editor, face two counts of conspiring to make corrupt payments to public officials.

Ian Edmondson and Stuart Kuttner, the newspaper's former head of news and managing editor respectively, are also accused of involvement in the same alleged phone hacking.

The final three defendants are Ms Brooks' husband, Charlie, her former personal assistant at News International Cheryl Carter, and Mark Hanna, the company's head of security.

They are accused alongside Ms Brooks of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

Once the jury is selected, the trial is expected to last many months.

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NSA 'monitored 60m Spanish calls'

28 October 2013 Last updated at 07:36 ET

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Demands are growing in Europe for explanations over US monitoring activities

The US National Security Agency (NSA) secretly monitored 60 million phone calls in Spain in one month, Spanish media say.

The reports say the latest allegations came from documents provided by the fugitive US analyst Edward Snowden.

They say the NSA collected the numbers and locations of the callers and the recipients, but not the calls' content.

This comes as an EU parliamentary delegation is due to meet officials in Washington to convey concerns.

The officials from the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs will speak to members of the US Congress to gather information.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

So far, it appears that the allegations that Spanish communications were intercepted en masse by the NSA have not caused the level of public anger in Spain that similar claims caused in Germany and France. And that lack of popular pressure to date manifested itself in the words of Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

Reacting at last week's European summit, which was overshadowed by the European-US spying row, to more general allegations of US spying published in the Spanish media last week, Mr Rajoy said he had no proof that Washington had been spying on his government.

However, the latest, more explicit revelations in El Mundo newspaper, on the same day that the US ambassador to Madrid has been summoned by the government for talks on the issue, inevitably puts more pressure on the Spanish government, not only via the Spanish media, but also from Spain's European allies, to condemn the alleged spying.

In Madrid, the US ambassador to Spain has been summoned to meet government officials to discuss earlier allegations about US spying on Spanish citizens and politicians.

It is not clear how the alleged surveillance was carried out, whether it was from monitoring fibre-optic cables, data (including metadata) obtained from telecoms companies, or other means.

Citizens

Meanwhile, a Japanese news agency says the NSA asked the Japanese government in 2011 to help it monitor fibre-optic cables carrying personal data through Japan, to the Asia-Pacific region.

The reports, carried by the Kyodo news agency, say that this was intended to allow the US to spy on China - but Japan refused, citing legal restrictions and a shortage of personnel.

The White House has so far declined to comment on Monday's claims about US spying in Spain, published in the newspapers El Pais and El Mundo.

It is alleged that the NSA tracked millions of phone calls, texts and emails from Spanish citizens between 10 December 2012 and 8 January 2013.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

It's about scale and proportionality"

End Quote Claude Moraes Head of the EU delegation

The allegations follow German media reports that the US was bugging Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone for more than a decade - and that the surveillance only ended a few months ago.

Mrs Merkel is sending her country's top intelligence chiefs to Washington this week to "push forward" an investigation into the spying allegations, which have caused outrage in Germany.

Mass surveillance

Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on Friday that the NSA had monitored the phones of 35 world leaders. Again Mr Snowden was the source of the report.

Continue reading the main story

What is metadata?

• In emails, it is generally used to mean the sender and recipient email addresses, their IP addresses, the message file size, and sometimes the top or subject line of the message
• With phones, it means the numbers of the two parties to the call, its duration, time, date and location (for mobiles, determined by which mobile signal towers relayed the call or text)
• The contents of the conversation itself, however, are not covered, US intelligence officials say. The NSA has suggested it does not usually store the geo-locational information for mobile phone calls

The head of the European Parliament's delegation, British MEP Claude Moraes, told the BBC it was the scale of the NSA's alleged surveillance that was worrying.

"The headline news, that 35 leaders had their phones tapped, is not the real crux of the issue," he said.

"It really is the El Mundo type story, that millions of citizens of countries... had their landlines and other communications tapped. So it's about mass surveillance. It's about scale and proportionality."

He said a priority of the European mission was to discuss the impact of American spying on EU citizens' fundamental right to privacy.

The BBC's Europe correspondent Chris Morris says that with every new allegation, demands are growing in Europe - and in Germany in particular - for explanations and for guarantees of a change in culture.

EU leaders have said that distrust of the US over spying could harm the fight against terrorism.

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David Bowie leads Lou Reed tributes

28 October 2013 Last updated at 06:11 ET

Rock legend David Bowie has led the tributes to US singer and former Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed, who died on Sunday aged 71.

Bowie's Facebook page said of his "old friend", considered one of the most influential singers and songwriters in rock: "He was a master."

Reed's second solo album Transformer, featuring Perfect Day and Walk on the Wild Side, was co-produced by Bowie.

Reed's literary agent said he died of a "liver-related ailment".

The last tweet posted on his official Twitter account, hours before the news of his death, simply stated: "The Door". The tweet links through to a photograph of a door, with a poster of Reed on it and the words "Papa Loves Baby" scrawled underneath.

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Reed's former Velvet Underground bandmate John Cale wrote on his website: "The world has lost a fine songwriter and poet… I've lost my 'school-yard buddy.'"

Other stars paying tribute included The Who, who tweeted: "RIP Lou Reed. Walk on the peaceful side." Iggy Pop said it was "devastating news".

An admitted hard drinker and drug user for many years, Reed had a liver transplant this May after suffering liver failure.

"I am a triumph of modern medicine," Reed posted on his website on 1 June.

But Reed's literary agent Andrew Wylie said the musician, who died at his home in Long Island, New York, on Sunday morning, had not been well "for a few months".

British music journalist Charles Shaar Murray told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Reed "completely changed the cultural landscape we inhabit".

He said that although Velvet Underground were "spectacularly unsuccessful", The Beatles and Bowie were "huge fans" of Reed, and that he "exercised huge influence on glam rock and punk and everything that grew out of those phenomena".

Continue reading the main story

• Born in Brooklyn in 1942
• Co-founded the rock band Velvet Underground, who influenced generations of musicians with such songs as Heroin and Sweet Jane
• Andy Warhol was the group's manager
• Reed's subsequent solo career spanned decades, and included tracks such as Walk on the Wild Side and Perfect Day
• He was a heavy drinker and drug user and developed liver problems earlier this year

Mr Murray added that Reed "did not suffer fools... or journalists gladly", adding that "he was not considered a likeable man, except by his closest friends".

He used the "deliberate withholding of charm as a weapon" and "performed to a smallish but loyal audience sufficient in number to sustain a comfortable lifestyle".

Many musicians paid homage to the influence Reed had on their own careers.

Nikki Sixx of heavy metal band Motley Crue tweeted: "RIP Lou Reed. Thank you for your beautiful/dark lyrics/music and stance on life. You inspired me from my teenage years right up till today."

US singer Cyndi Lauper added that she was grateful for "his music and the influence he had on my music".

Tom Morello, of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, said: "My intro to Lou Reed/Velvet Underground was Jane's Addiction cover of 'Rock n Roll'. He was a singular, unique talent. RIP Lou and thanks."

Reed's individuality was also hailed by Paul Stanley of Kiss, who called him "a musician, artist and trailblazer who played by his own rules".

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Lizo Mzimba looks back at the life of Lou Reed

The Velvet Underground became renowned for their fusion of art and music and for collaborating with Andy Warhol.

However, the band never achieved commercial success during their 1960s existence, but their influence on music in later decades was widely recognised.

The glam, punk and alternative rock movements of the 1970s, 80s and 90s were all indebted to Reed, whose songs were covered by the likes of REM, Bowie, Nirvana, Patti Smith and countless others.

Music producer Brian Eno once summed up their influence by saying: "The first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band."

The group were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

US actress Mia Farrow, whose career also began in the 1960s, simply said: "Deepest Gratitude Lou Reed. Peace. "

British author Salman Rushdie expressed his loss by tweeting: "My friend Lou Reed came to the end of his song. So very sad. But hey, Lou, you'll always take a walk on the wild side. Always a perfect day."

US actress Whoopi Goldberg, paid tribute, saying: "The great & amazing Lou Reed has died my condolences 2 his wife Laurie Anderson. Lou was 1 of a kind & this colored girl still says dededede...".

US actor Samuel L Jackson added: "R.I.P. Lou Reed. Just met at the GQ Awards. The music of my generation. Still Relevant!"

British comic and actor Ricky Gervais described Reed as was "one of the greatest artists of our time", while presenter and broadcaster Jonathan Ross said of the musician: "A great talent, a nice man, a sad day."

After quitting The Velvet Underground in 1970, Reed released his self-titled debut in 1972, but it wasn't until the Bowie-produced LP Transformer later that year that he achieved chart success.

Perfect Day enjoyed a revival in 1996 when it was featured in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting, and again a year later when it was re-recorded by a celebrity cast for a BBC charity single.

Ian Broudie from the Lightning Seeds, who sang on the single, told the BBC Reed was able to convey life in New York.

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Backing singer Casey Synge describes working with Reed on Walk on the Wild Side

"His lyrics are poetry, really. And he seemed to deal with things that no other writer seemed to really deal with in songs. The Velvet Underground would probably be dealing with drugs, sexuality, everything."

As a solo artist, he released 20 studio albums. His last, Hudson River Wind Meditations, was released in 2007.

Reed is survived by his second wife, the musician and performing artist Laurie Anderson.

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'Years of disruption' if no HS2

28 October 2013 Last updated at 07:04 ET

A government-commissioned report says the alternative to a new HS2 high speed rail link would see 14 years of weekend route closures and longer journeys.

The report, by Network Rail and Atkins, says upgrading existing rail lines would severely affect the East Coast, Midland and West Coast mainlines.

It says that would double travel times between Leeds and London.

The study will inform the government's updated business case for HS2, which will be presented on Tuesday.

It will be the fifth official presentation given by the government on HS2.

Dispute

HS2 is designed to shorten journey times between London and the Midlands and the north of England, but has attracted stiff opposition from some quarters because of doubts that the cost - last estimated at £42.6bn - will bring sufficient benefit.

Those living along its route also fear the disruption it will bring to their areas.

A previous report in September, by the consultants KPMG, said the project would be markedly beneficial to the UK economy, and boost overall growth by 0.8%.

However, that report failed to convince critics and KPMG itself included a caveat which said it had made the "implicit assumption" that transport connectivity was the only supply-side constraint to business location, and that it had ignored other possible constraints to growth, like labour or land shortages.

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I've managed to get hold of this small taster of what's in tomorrow's new official business case for HS2.

I understand it will say that beefing up the UK's three main north-south train lines, instead of building a new one, will cost about half as much, but will cause years of weekend travel chaos.

And it will only add between a third and a half of the extra seats provided by HS2.

There's a lot riding on the government's business case tomorrow. It'll be the fifth one since the scheme began.

The last four have been ridiculed by critics for using flimsy assumptions and 12-year-old data.

Some critics of HS2 see a plan to improve the existing lines as a better use of public money. But the report says that, in total, this would require 2,770 weekend closures involving 144,000 hours of work.

The BBC's transport correspondent, Richard Westcott, says he has been told it would cost £20bn to upgrade the UK's three existing north-south train lines.

Modelling a typical weekend, the report argues that the journey time from London to Leeds could be increased by two hours and 10 minutes to more than four and a half hours while the work is going on.

A journey between Huntingdon and Peterborough would be doubled to an hour.

Atkins has also concluded that residential and commercial demolitions would be required.

'Hellish'

Hilary Wharf, director of the campaign group HS2 Action Alliance, said the report was seriously flawed and that upgrading the existing lines would bring bigger benefits to more passengers.

"This government-funded report is a complete fabrication. The main alternative to HS2 involves longer trains and reduced first-class capacity to provide more standard class seats," she said.

"No work is required at Euston to deliver the necessary capacity increase. Work is only required at three locations on the WCML [West Coast Main Line], and this is comparable to the work being carried out on the route at present."

A government source said: "We need to do something because our railways are nearly full, but the alternative to HS2 is a patch and mend job that would cause 14 years of gridlock, hellish journeys and rail replacement buses.

"The three main routes to the north would be crippled and the economy would be damaged."

And the British Chambers of Commerce said changing tack now would be bad for businesses: "Politicians flirting with a U-turn on HS2 are guilty of electoral short-termism and opportunism of the worst kind.

"Business communities in dozens of cities and towns, from many parts of the UK, remain strongly supportive of HS2."

On Sunday, the Treasury Minister, Danny Alexander, told the BBC's Andrew Marr programme that he was "very confident" the HS2 high speed rail project would be delivered within its £42.6bn budget.

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Two die as storm hits southern UK

28 October 2013 Last updated at 08:06 ET

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"Trees flattened as winds gust in places up to 99mph," reports Philippa Young

A teenager in Kent and a man in Watford have been killed by falling trees as a storm batters parts of Britain.

Around 270,000 homes are without power, while rail services across much of southern Britain have been cancelled as high winds brought down trees.

Network Rail said the damage was "worse than expected," while 130 flights have been cancelled at Heathrow airport.

The Met Office said a gust of 99mph (159km/h) was recorded at Needles Old Battery, Isle of Wight, at 05:00 GMT.

A 17-year-old girl suffered fatal injuries when the tree came down where she was sleeping in Edenbridge, at about 07:20 GMT.

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Graham Satchell spoke to commuters at Paddington Station in London

A man in his 50s was pronounced dead at the scene after a tree crushed a red Peugeot 307 at Lower High Street in Watford, Hertfordshire, at 6:50 GMT. Next-of-kin have been informed.

BBC forecaster Steve Cleeton said the storm was "pretty much over" in the UK.

The Environment Agency has issued 12 flood warnings - in south-west England, East Anglia and the Midlands, there are also 132 flood alerts across England and Wales.

UK Energy Networks, which represents power companies across the UK, confirmed 270,000 homes are without power.

A spokesman said 30,000 people who lost power earlier had been reconnected, but more people had been cut off as the storm moved north and eastwards.

Network Rail said more than 100 fallen trees have been found on lines, and several hundred staff have been working to monitor conditions and react to any damage.

Robin Gisby, Network Rail's managing director of network operations, said: "While conditions were as forecast during the early part of the morning, the damage caused by the storm has been more severe than expected as it has tracked eastwards to the north of London and across to East Anglia.

"As a result, the West Coast, East Coast and Midland main lines are all currently blocked at their southern ends as a result of fallen trees and damage to power lines and all services are currently suspended on the Anglia route, where the storm is currently."

Prime Minister David Cameron said the deaths caused by the storm were "hugely regrettable".

"We have to make sure the emergency services can act as fast as they can to help people."

In other developments:

• Three houses have collapsed and two others have been damaged following a gas explosion caused by a fallen tree on Bath Road in Hounslow, London Fire Brigade says. Three people escaped before firefighters arrived and an elderly woman was taken to hospital
• Coastguards say they will not start searching for the 14-year-old boy - who has been named as Dylan Alkins - who was swept away in Newhaven, East Sussex on Sunday
• A double-decker bus "rolled over" in Suffolk, injuring the driver and several passengers. Witnesses told police the vehicle blew over at 08:00 GMT, rolling onto its side and coming to a stop in a field in Hadleigh
• Both reactors in Dungeness power station's B units have been automatically shut down after power to the site was cut off. The site's own generators are providing power to the site
• The Metropolitan Police says it received 792 calls to its 101 and 999 numbers between 06:00 and 08:00 GMT, compared with the 200 it would normally expect. The most common call was for "tree in road"
• Sussex Police say 125 trees have fallen across Sussex - including one on a taxi in Eastbourne, from which the driver climbed out uninjured
• The helter-skelter at Clacton Pier in Essex has blown down, but the structure has not fallen into the sea
• London Mayor Boris Johnson has chaired an emergency resilience meeting involving all emergency services and relevant agencies - and later made a statement thanking them for their hard work "dealing with one of the fiercest storms of the last few years"
• Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has cancelled his monthly press conference because of a crane collapsed on the roof of the Cabinet Office

Other travel warnings include:

• South West Trains says it is hoping to gradually get services back to normal as conditions ease
• East Coast has no trains running south of Peterborough due to flooding in the tunnel at Potters Bar, and trees on the line at Barnet and Hertford.
• First Great Western says it is running services on most routes, with delays and alterations
• Virgin West Coast is starting to run limited services out of Euston
• First Capital Connect and C2C said services are suspended until further notice. Greater Anglia and Stansted Express have also said services will not run until after 12:00 GMT. Southern and Gatwick Express said the Brighton mainline has now been cleared of trees and services will resume
• London Overground is operating a limited service with severe delays, while Southeastern is operating a limited service on some lines but says most of its lines do not have services
• Transport for London (TfL) said there was disruption due to debris from the storm on the tracks with the Bakerloo and District lines suffering severe delays
• Meanwhile, Chiltern Railways, which earlier said it was hoping to run a near normal timetable, has cancelled services
• Airports including Heathrow and Gatwick are warning of possible disruption to flights, advising passengers to check with airlines
• Gatwick Airport reports seven cancellations
• Although Dover port was reopened, P&O Ferries warned of delays of up to two hours on some sailings
• Both the Severn crossings are now open, but flooding is still affecting roads in Wales
• The A249 Sheppey Crossing in Kent and the Queen Elizabeth II bridge on the M25 have both reopened. The Tamar Bridge which joins Cornwall and Devon has reopened
• The Highways Agency is advising motorists to check the weather forecast and road conditions before they travel

BBC weather forecasters said in more populous areas including Lyneham, near Swindon; Yeovilton in Somerset and Hurn, near Bournemouth, speeds of 74-75mph (119-121km/h) had been recorded.

BBC forecaster Steve Cleeton said the rapidly moving weather system had travelled east and was now just north of Holland.

"The severe damaging winds have gone now," he said, adding that the day would remain blustery.

Meanwhile the Met Office has released figures showing the strongest winds and heaviest rainfall during the storm - with Otterbourne in Hampshire receiving 50mm of rain.

Wind speeds of 115 mph were recorded during the so-called Great Storm of October 1987.

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There is more information about the forecasts for Monday on the BBC Weather, Met Office and Environment Agency websites. See BBC Travel News for up to date travel information and the Highways Agency and Traffic Wales websites for details about road conditions. BBC Local has information from your area.

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