Climate impacts 'overwhelming' - UN

31 March 2014 Last updated at 12:35 By Matt McGrath Environment correspondent, BBC News, Yokohama, Japan

The impacts of global warming are likely to be "severe, pervasive and irreversible", a major report by the UN has warned.

Scientists and officials meeting in Japan say the document is the most comprehensive assessment to date of the impacts of climate change on the world.

Some impacts of climate change include a higher risk of flooding and changes to crop yields and water availability.

Humans may be able to adapt to some of these changes, but only within limits.

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An example of an adaptation strategy would be the construction of sea walls and levees to protect against flooding. Another might be introducing more efficient irrigation for farmers in areas where water is scarce.

Natural systems are currently bearing the brunt of climatic changes, but a growing impact on humans is feared.

Members of the UN's climate panel say it provides overwhelming evidence of the scale of these effects.

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"Start Quote

Nobody on this planet is going to be untouched by the impacts of climate change"

End Quote Rajendra Pachauri Chairman, IPCC

Our health, homes, food and safety are all likely to be threatened by rising temperatures, the summary says.

The report was agreed after almost a week of intense discussions here in Yokohama, which included concerns among some authors about the tone of the evolving document.

This is the second of a series from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) due out this year that outlines the causes, effects and solutions to global warming.

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Analysis

The prognosis on the climate isn't good - but the doctor's changing his bedside manner with the people in charge of the planet's health.

The report's chair, Dr Chris Field, is worried that an apocalyptic tone will frighten politicians so much that they'll abandon the Earth to its fate.

There is nothing inevitable about the worst impacts on people and nature, Dr Field says. We can cut emissions to reduce the risks of catastrophe and adapt to some changes that will inevitably occur.

We have to re-frame climate change as an exciting challenge for the most creative minds.

Cutting local air pollution from, say coal, can also reduce carbon emissions that cause warming; creating decent homes for poor people in countries like Bangladesh can improve lives whilst removing them from the path of flood surges.

Some will criticise Dr Field for being too upbeat. But many politicians have gone deaf to the old-style warnings. Maybe it's worth a new approach.

This latest Summary for Policymakers document highlights the fact that the amount of scientific evidence on the impacts of warming has almost doubled since the last report in 2007.

Be it the melting of glaciers or warming of permafrost, the summary highlights the fact that on all continents and across the oceans, changes in the climate have caused impacts on natural and human systems in recent decades.

In the words of the report, "increasing magnitudes of warming increase the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts".

"Nobody on this planet is going to be untouched by the impacts of climate change,'' IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri told journalists at a news conference in Yokohama.

Dr Saleemul Huq, a convening lead author on one of the chapters, commented: "Before this we thought we knew this was happening, but now we have overwhelming evidence that it is happening and it is real."

Michel Jarraud, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization, said that, previously, people could have damaged the Earth's climate out of "ignorance".

"Now, ignorance is no longer a good excuse," he said.

Mr Jarraud said the report was based on more than 12,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies. He said this document was "the most solid evidence you can get in any scientific discipline".

US Secretary of State John Kerry commented: "Unless we act dramatically and quickly, science tells us our climate and our way of life are literally in jeopardy. Denial of the science is malpractice."

He added: "No single country causes climate change, and no one country can stop it. But we need to match the urgency of our response with the scale of the science."

Ed Davey, the UK Energy and Climate Secretary said: "The science has clearly spoken. Left unchecked, climate change will impact on many aspects of our society, with far reaching consequences to human health, global food security and economic development.

"The recent flooding in the UK is a testament to the devastation that climate change could bring to our daily lives."

The report details significant short-term impacts on natural systems in the next 20 to 30 years. It details five reasons for concern that would likely increase as a result of the warming the world is already committed to.

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British winters are likely to become milder and wetter like the last one but cold spells still need to be planned for, says the UK Met Office.

Summers are likely to be hotter and drier, but washouts are still on the cards, it adds.

The assessment of future weather extremes finds the role of human influence is "detectable" in summer heatwaves and in intense rainfall.

However, the Met Office says a lot more work must be done to confirm the links.

If the study is correct, it means everything from gumboots to snowploughs and sunscreen to anoraks will still be needed.

These include threats to unique systems such as Arctic sea ice and coral reefs, where risks are said to increase to "very high" with a 2C rise in temperatures.

The summary document outlines impacts on the seas and on freshwater systems as well. The oceans will become more acidic, threatening coral and the many species that they harbour.

On land, animals, plants and other species will begin to move towards higher ground or towards the poles as the mercury rises.

Humans, though, are also increasingly affected as the century goes on.

Food security is highlighted as an area of significant concern. Crop yields for maize, rice and wheat are all hit in the period up to 2050, with around a tenth of projections showing losses over 25%.

After 2050, the risk of more severe yield impacts increases, as boom-and-bust cycles affect many regions. All the while, the demand for food from a population estimated to be around nine billion will rise.

Many fish species, a critical food source for many, will also move because of warmer waters.

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What is the IPCC?

In its own words, the IPCC is there "to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of knowledge in climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts".

The offspring of two UN bodies, the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme, it has issued four heavyweight assessment reports to date on the state of the climate.

These are commissioned by the governments of 195 countries, essentially the entire world. These reports are critical in informing the climate policies adopted by these governments.

The IPCC itself is a small organisation, run from Geneva with a full time staff of 12. All the scientists who are involved with it do so on a voluntary basis.

In some parts of the tropics and in Antarctica, potential catches could decline by more than 50%.

"This is a sobering assessment," said Prof Neil Adger from the University of Exeter, another IPCC author.

"Going into the future, the risks only increase, and these are about people, the impacts on crops, on the availability of water and particularly, the extreme events on people's lives and livelihoods."

People will be affected by flooding and heat related mortality. The report warns of new risks including the threat to those who work outside, such as farmers and construction workers. There are concerns raised over migration linked to climate change, as well as conflict and national security.

Report co-author Maggie Opondo of the University of Nairobi said that in places such as Africa, climate change and extreme events mean "people are going to become more vulnerable to sinking deeper into poverty".

While the poorer countries are likely to suffer more in the short term, the rich won't escape.

"The rich are going to have to think about climate change. We're seeing that in the UK, with the floods we had a few months ago, and the storms we had in the US and the drought in California," said Dr Huq.

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IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri said the findings in the report were "profound"

"These are multibillion dollar events that the rich are going to have to pay for, and there's a limit to what they can pay."

But it is not all bad news, as the co-chair of the working group that drew up the report points out.

"I think the really big breakthrough in this report is the new idea of thinking about managing climate change as a problem in managing risks," said Dr Chris Field.

"Climate change is really important but we have a lot of the tools for dealing effectively with it - we just need to be smart about it."

There is far greater emphasis to adapting to the impacts of climate in this new summary. The problem, as ever, is who foots the bill?

"It is not up to IPCC to define that," said Dr Jose Marengo, a Brazilian government official who attended the talks.

"It provides the scientific basis to say this is the bill, somebody has to pay, and with the scientific grounds it is relatively easier now to go to the climate negotiations in the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and start making deals about who will pay for adaptation."

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New inquests to probe fans' deaths

31 March 2014 Last updated at 12:00

Fresh inquests into the deaths of 96 football fans who lost their lives in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster have begun in Warrington.

The inquests were ordered in December 2012 when the High Court quashed the original accidental death verdicts that had stood for more than 20 years.

It came after new evidence was revealed by the Hillsborough Independent Panel about Liverpool FC's FA Cup semi-final where the men, women and children died.

The inquests are set to last a year.

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"Over the coming year new light will be shone on Britain's worst sporting disaster", reports Judith Moritz

All the victims were Liverpool supporters watching their team play Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday's ground.

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The coroner, a serving Lord Justice of Appeal, a very senior judge, is being assisted by five lawyers, five counsel to the inquest, three solicitors and of course there are lawyers representing all the families of those who died who wish to be represented, the authorities, the police, the emergency services and so on.

When the coroner selects individual jurors they will be told they have to set aside up to a year. They will not be sitting continuously for that period, they will have to take a break, but nevertheless it is a considerable period of time.

Obviously, they will be asked about any particular connections to the tragedy at Hillsborough and they will be checked to make sure that they really can serve this considerable period of time.

The coroner could record a verdict of natural causes; accidental death, unlawful killing; an open verdict; or these days, they often give a narrative verdict, where they set out in some detail what they believe to have happened.

The inquests, being heard by a jury, are being held in a purpose-built courtroom, the biggest in England and Wales, in an office building in Birchwood Park, in Warrington.

Unseen footage

Proceedings will begin with the selection of 11 jurors who are expected be sworn in on Tuesday.

Lord Justice Goldring, a Court of Appeal judge who is acting as coroner, will open the hearing with a statement to the court.

Families of the victims will be invited to read out "background statements" - or what they are calling "pen portraits" - of their loved ones.

The hearing will then break for several weeks for lawyers to consider new pathological evidence into how each of the 96 died.

Over the course of the inquests, jurors are expected to hear evidence on themes including stadium safety, emergency planning, crowd management and the response of the emergency services.

The court will also be shown hitherto unseen BBC footage recorded on the day.

Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool's manager at the time of the disaster, said: "We were there, we experienced it, but what about the families, the mothers and the fathers who were watching it on television? What a horrible experience that must have been."

Margaret Aspinall, who lost her son James in the disaster, said: "A lot of the families will find out an awful lot of things that they did not know about before, and I think that's going to be a very difficult time for them."

There are two separate inquiries running alongside the inquests.

Operation Resolve, led by former Chief Constable of Durham Jon Stoddart, is a criminal investigation into events leading up to the disaster, as well as the disaster itself.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is looking into allegations of police misconduct arising from the aftermath of the tragedy.

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'Cinderella' cruelty law considered

31 March 2014 Last updated at 11:36

The government is considering whether to introduce a new offence of emotional cruelty to children, it has been confirmed.

The proposed change to neglect laws in England and Wales would see parents who deny their children affection face prosecution for the first time.

It follows a campaign for a "Cinderella Law" from charity Action for Children.

The government said child cruelty was an abhorrent crime which should be punished.

Social workers have a definition of child cruelty that they work on but because it is not written into law, this makes it difficult for the police to gather evidence.

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CHILD NEGLECT

• Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child's basic physical and/or psychological needs
• It includes forcing a child to witness domestic violence, scapegoating them, humiliation and degrading punishments
• It can lead to life-long mental health problems and, in some cases, to suicide.
• Currently social workers operate guidance in civil law that does recognise emotional abuse of children
• But police are limited because criminal law only recognises physical harm

Action for Children's chief executive, Sir Tony Hawkhead, said the change would be a "monumental step forward for thousands of children".

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Robert Buckland, a Conservative MP who has backed the charity's campaign, said the current law was outdated as it is based largely on legislation first introduced 150 years ago.

And he stressed that non-physical abuse could cause "significant harm" to children.

"You can look at a range of behaviours, from ignoring a child's presence, failing to stimulate a child, right through to acts of in fact terrorising a child where the child is frightened to disclose what is happening to them," Mr Buckland told BBC Radio 5 live.

"Isolating them, belittling them, rejecting them, corrupting them, as well, into criminal or anti-social behaviour."

Continue reading the main story

COLLETTE'S STORY

Collette, whose father is black, was frequently told by her white mother and stepfather that she had been "a mistake".

"When my mother met my stepfather and had children with him, I was in the way.

"My stepfather was racist and she had no excuse for having a mixed-raced child.

"The result was me being treated like Cinderella but without the ball and happy ending.

"I felt like I shouldn't have been born, I'd been told often enough.

"I would watch how my parents would be so different with my younger siblings and burn with anger and jealousy.

"I was placed under the mental health act and have been receiving help ever since.

"I was finally diagnosed with severe depression, post-traumatic stress, bipolar and anxiety."

Source: Action for Children

He said the new law would not criminalise parents for being nasty, but for their criminal behaviour.

"This proposal is not about widening the net, it's about making the net stronger so that we catch those parents and carers who are quite clearly inflicting significant harm on their children, whereas they should be nurturing them and loving them," Mr Buckland said.

He added that it would also give police a "clearer way" in which to work, he said.

The campaign was also backed by Liberal Democrat MP Mark Williams, who introduced a private member's bill on the issue last year, the late Labour MP Paul Goggins and Baroness Butler-Sloss, a former judge who was president of the family division of the High Court.

'Abhorrent crime'

The Children and Young Persons Act of 1933 provides for the punishment of a person who treats a child "in a manner likely to cause him unnecessary suffering or injury to health (including injury to or loss of sight, or hearing, or limb, or organ of the body, and any mental derangement)".

Mr Williams's bill would add a further category of harm for which the perpetrator could be punished: impairment of "physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development".

Child neglect was made a punishable offence by the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1868.

The Ministry of Justice confirmed they were "considering ways the law can support" protecting children from this sort of harm.

A spokesman said protecting children from harm was "fundamental" and that child cruelty was an "abhorrent crime which should be punished".

Ministers are looking to introduce the measure ahead of the next election, possibly in the Queen's Speech, but sources told the BBC it was not yet a done deal.

But it is understood this might not be the case as such a change would not require a separate piece of legislation - it could instead be added on to an existing bill.

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Osborne to target 'full employment'

31 March 2014 Last updated at 13:10

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George Osborne: "Our work is not done"

George Osborne has committed the Conservatives to targeting "full employment", saying that tax and welfare changes would help achieve it.

The chancellor said "unemployment is never a price worth paying, but artificial jobs paid for with borrowed money doesn't work either".

The Conservatives broke with the post-war consensus on seeking full employment during the Thatcher years.

Labour has its own "jobs guarantee" and targets full employment as a goal.

The BBC's Norman Smith said that by targeting full employment, Mr Osborne was "parking his tanks on traditional Labour territory".

In his speech in Essex, the chancellor said governments which tried to guarantee people a job were "doomed to fail" - as they ended up increasing spending to unsustainable levels, resulting in taxes going up and jobs being lost.

There are a number of different definitions of full employment:

• Sir William Beveridge, the architect of the welfare state, thought it should be 3% of the economically active workforce
• Other economists have spoken of a higher "natural rate" of unemployment, where nobody stays out of work for long, with joblessness fluctuating at between 5% and 6%
• The lowest recorded level of unemployment was 215,800, or 1%, in July 1955. The most recent figures this year put the unemployment rate at 7.2% of the population.
• Mr Osborne declined to define full employment, but said people between jobs or unable to work or with caring responsibilities would not be included
• However his goal was to have the highest employment rate in the G7, and as part of his plan he expected those who can work to take the jobs available

BBC political editor Nick Robinson said the chancellor's aim was "to identify an economic ambition which people can connect with emotionally; one which is forward looking and which highlights the surprise success of the British economy since the banks crashed".

Speaking at Tilbury docks, Mr Osborne said: "You can't abolish boom and bust. There are always going to be ups and downs to the economic cycle."

However, repudiating a phrase attributed to former Chancellor Lord Lamont in 1992, Mr Osborne said "mass unemployment was not a price worth paying" to achieve other economic objectives.

He said he was committed to securing the "fullest" possible level of employment by helping business to create new jobs and cutting taxes.

"That's why today I'm making a new commitment - a commitment to fight for full employment in Britain."

He said there was "no reason why Britain shouldn't aim to have the highest employment rate of any of the world's leading economies - to have more people working than any of the other countries in the G7 group".

Pressed on what an unacceptable level of unemployment was, Mr Osborne did not mention a specific figure but said his ambition was to make the UK "the best place in the world to create a job; to get a job; to keep a job; to be helped to look for another job if you lose one".

"A modern approach to full employment means backing business. It means cutting the tax on jobs and reforming welfare."

'Scar'

Shadow treasury chief secretary Chris Leslie said the government should have backed the idea a long time ago.

"A lot of this rhetoric is not matched by the reality. He (George Osborne) should tell this to the 900,000 young people who have been out of the work for more than 12 months or more".

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• July 1955 - 215,800 (1%)
• July 1965 - 309,800 (1.3%)
• July 1975 - 1,193,000 (4.6%)
• July 1985 - 3,139,000 (11.3%)
• July 1995 - 2,439,000 (8.6%)
• July 2005 - 1,423,000 (4.7%)
• July 2011 - 2,566,000 (8.1%)

Source: ONS figures but first two are not comparable

"Long term youth unemployment has doubled under his watch. Actually it's an apology he should have been giving so far."

Mr Leslie said Labour "absolutely" supported the idea of full employment, describing long-term or prolonged unemployment as a "scar on the economy".

There are a number of different definitions of full employment.

Sir William Beveridge, the architect of the welfare state, thought it should be 3% of the economically active workforce but other economists have spoken of a higher "natural rate" of unemployment, where nobody stays out of work for long, with joblessness fluctuates between 5% and 6%

Tax changes

In his speech, Mr Osborne said cuts to personal and business taxes due to take effect this week were the "largest for two decades".

The rise in the personal tax allowance from £6,500 to £10,000 since May 2010, enabled people to keep £700 more of their income, describing it as a "big moment" in the history of the UK tax system.

"This week you will keep more of the money you earn. This week your business can keep more of the money it makes, so you can invest, expand and create new jobs."

Mr Osborne said the government was capping rises in benefits and obliging people to look for work for a week before getting unemployment benefit to tackle a "deeply entrenched benefits culture" in parts of the UK.

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Police 'damaged but not broken'

31 March 2014 Last updated at 12:47 By Dominic Casciani Home affairs correspondent, BBC News

Policing in England and Wales has been damaged - but not broken - by scandals, an annual assessment has concluded.

HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Tom Winsor said loss of trust in the police was corrosive to the British model of policing by consent.

In his annual report to Parliament, he said it was the responsibility of chief constables to repair the damage.

Mr Winsor's report identifies five events linked to allegations of malpractice, wrongdoing or corruption.

'Severely shaken'

Continue reading the main story

The police service should be as ruthless and uncompromising with officers guilty of discreditable and dishonest conduct as are professions such as law and medicine"

End Quote Tom Winsor

The report said: "It is very much to be regretted that the confidence of the public in their ability to trust the police has been so severely shaken by controversies which have recently achieved public prominence, and ones which have been the subject of public concern and criticism for many years.

"They include those concerning Hillsborough, Orgreave Colliery, the investigation of the murder of Stephen Lawrence and how police conducted themselves afterwards, the enforced resignation of a cabinet minister as a result of the actions of at least one dishonest police officer, the sexual deception of citizens who trusted undercover police officers, and others."

The report was published on the morning that fresh inquests into the Hillsborough disaster were opening in Warrington. Those hearings will look at allegations of police misconduct arising from the aftermath of the tragedy.

Former miners and their families are demanding an inquiry into their claims that they were victims of miscarriages of justice after clashes with police during the 1984-85 miner's strike. The home secretary has separately announced a public inquiry into undercover policing.

The report said that some of the allegations, particularly around the Lawrence case, were so serious that they already justified "severe criticism and public disquiet".

'Corrosive'

"Loss of trust in the police is corrosive to the heart of the British model of policing by consent by a predominantly unarmed service. Police officers require and depend upon the consent of the community," it said.

Mr Winsor said: "Controversies and revelations of a serious and negative nature in relation to the conduct of some police officers, both past and present, have hurt public confidence in the police, and the morale of the very great majority of honest, hardworking, committed and brave police officers has suffered as a consequence.

"The police service has been damaged, but it is certainly not broken. It is primarily the responsibility of the leadership of the police to repair the damage.

"It is my view and that of the Inspectors of Constabulary that honest, professional police officers are disgusted and distressed at instances of police corruption - for that is what dishonesty is - and are rightly deeply offended and hurt when the media and others attempt to disparage all on the basis of the discreditable actions of few."

The report said that despite budget cuts forces were performing well and most had "credible plans" to balance their books. It added that forces had taken "substantial steps" to protect front line roles.

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Missing plane search for 122 objects

26 March 2014 Last updated at 12:02

A further 122 objects potentially from the missing Malaysian plane have been identified by satellite, the country's acting transport minister has said.

The images, taken on 23 March, showed objects up to 23m (75ft) in length, Hishammuddin Hussein said.

Some of the objects identified by the Airbus company appeared bright and were possibly of solid material.

Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared on 8 March with 239 people on board.

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Jon Donnison reports from Fremantle Port in Perth, where much of the search operation is based

The objects were spotted in a 400 sq km area around 2,557km (1588 miles) from Perth in Western Australia, Mr Hishammuddin said.

Continue reading the main story

• 8 March - Malaysia Airlines Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flight carrying 239 people disappears
• Plane's transponder, which gives out location data, was switched off as it left Malaysian airspace
• Satellite 'pings' indicate plane was still flying seven hours after satellite contact was lost
• 16 March - first satellite image of potential debris in southern Indian Ocean
• 24 March - Based on new calculations, Malaysian PM says "beyond reasonable doubt" that plane crashed in southern Indian Ocean with no survivors

He said that it was not possible to tell whether the potential objects were from the missing aircraft, but called them "another new lead that will help direct the search operation".

The images were passed on to the Australian Rescue and Co-ordination Centre in Perth on Tuesday, he said.

The latest images are the fourth known collection of satellite pictures showing possible debris in the southern Indian Ocean. No pieces have yet been recovered in the search area, which has now been split into an east and west section.

The transport minister said Malaysia Airlines was "now taking a lead in communicating with the families" and would be conducting its own press conferences.

Weather improves

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa), co-ordinating the search, said on Wednesday that flights had resumed and conditions had improved after rough seas and heavy rain forced air and sea operations to be suspended the previous day.

It said seven military and five civilian planes were taking part and a total of six countries were now involved - Australia, New Zealand, the US, Japan, China and the South Korea.

The commander of the Chinese search operation, Dong Yan, said his ships were looking for an object spotted by a plane earlier on Wednesday.

"The focus is on searching for floating objects, oil slicks, floating parts of the external layer of the plane and people that may have fallen into the water," he told Chinese television.

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Hishammuddin Hussein: "This is another new lead that will help direct the search operation"

Australian authorities said on Wednesday that three more objects had been spotted by a civilian aircraft involved in the search.

However, it could not be confirmed whether they were related to the missing aircraft.

The search for debris from the missing plane is taking place in one of the world's remotest regions.

If debris confirmed to be from the plane is found, the search area will narrow further.

However, experts say the aircraft's locator beacons, which will help guide ships to the wreckage, now have less than two weeks of battery life remaining.

Specialised equipment which can help locate the beacon is being flown to the search area.

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Daniel Tan says he will "not give up hope" that his brother is alive until a wreckage is found

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SSE freezes energy prices until 2016

26 March 2014 Last updated at 09:55

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SEE's price freeze is good news for consumers, says Energy Secretary Ed Davey

Energy supplier SSE says it will freeze domestic gas and electricity prices at their current levels until 2016.

The move comes after many of the "big six" UK energy firms raised their tariffs at the end of last year.

SSE, whose companies include Swalec, said the freeze would lower profits, but it would "streamline" its business to cover the shortfall.

The company announced it would cut 500 jobs and shelve three planned offshore wind farm developments.

As a result, SSE hopes to make annual operational cost savings of £100m.

The BBC's industry correspondent, John Moylan, says the freeze has echoes of Labour's flagship energy policy, which promises to keep prices at the same level for 20 months after the next election if Labour are elected.

Continue reading the main story

Clearly, it [SSE] is responding to public, regulatory and political pressure to bear down on prices"

End Quote

The proposal has been heavily criticised by many in the industry.

But SSE chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies said "delivering the lowest possible energy prices" to customers was "central to everything we do".

"One of biggest concerns they [customers] have is that energy prices may well be going up again," Mr Phillips-Davies told the BBC. "The most important thing for our customers over the next couple of years is freezing prices."

Green taxes

The boss of the UK's second biggest supplier also called on the government to take energy taxes out of bills and retrieve them through general taxation instead.

The move would make sure tax "is paid for fairly in a way that is proportionate to people's income and protects the vulnerable", he added.

The company has written to the leaders of UK political parties on the subject of green levies, he said.

"We're looking to do whatever we can to bring down prices for consumers," Mr Phillips-Davies said.

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SSE, which is based in Perth, said it would legally separate its retail and wholesale businesses by March 2015, in order to "improve transparency".

"I hope that people will start to recognise SSE is not part of the problem but part of the solution," Mr Phillips-Davies said.

Energy Secretary Ed Davey said: "This shows that the big six are starting to realise they need to take big action if they want to keep their customers, who have been switching suppliers in record numbers.

"SSE have shown today that the big energy firms are able to cut their costs and profits, and be confident about their ability to weather potential uncertainty in the wholesale markets, to give bill payers long-term price security.

"Customers of the others will be asking whether their suppliers will do the same."

Regulators are this week expected to give their verdict on whether there should be a full investigation into the competitive practices of energy companies.

Mr Phillips-Davies said that SSE had been working on the price freeze for some time, and that changes to its business were not linked to the upcoming verdict.

Clare Francis, editor-in-chief at Moneysupermarket, said that other energy suppliers have price-freeze tariffs that could help consumers save money.

"The political spotlight is on the energy industry at the moment and it would not surprise me if we see other firms act to try and quash feelings that this is a market that is broken and not working in the customers' interests," she said.

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Classes disrupted as teachers strike

26 March 2014 Last updated at 10:28

Pupils in England and Wales are facing disrupted classes as teachers join rallies and picket lines in a strike over pay, pensions and conditions.

Members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) are taking part in the action, leaving many schools closed to some or all pupils.

Union leaders said the national walkout was a "last resort".

The Department for Education (DfE) said it believed "well under a quarter" of schools in England were closed.

The union said the strike action on Wednesday was covered by two ballots held in May 2011 and June 2012.

The turnout for the ballot was 40% and 92% of these members voted in favour of strike action. The NUT has 326,930 members in England and Wales.

Ongoing dispute

Continue reading the main story

Today's action is being taken by the NUT alone. The NASUWT, which had taken part in industrial action prior to the government agreeing to talks, has decided not to take part in this latest strike.

The NUT has 326,930 members across England and Wales. There are some 24,330 schools in England and 1,700 in Wales - around 26,030 in total.

It is difficult to gauge the scale of the disruption of today's action, as individual schools will have made their own arrangements for the day, depending on how many of their staff have gone on strike.

For working families affected, the strike means having to pay for additional childcare, asking favours of family members or using up annual leave.

Education Secretary Michael Gove is currently holding discussions about performance-related pay, pensions and conditions with seven teaching unions - NASUWT, ATL, ASCL, NAHT, UCAC and Voice, as well as the NUT.

The NUT has been embroiled in its current dispute with the government for more than two years, and staged a series of regional strikes, together with the NASUWT teaching union, last year.

A proposed one-day national walkout in November by the two unions was called off in the wake of talks with the government and the NASUWT has decided not to take part in this latest strike because the government had engaged in a debate.

But NUT general secretary Christine Blower told the BBC that the talks had not produced the right outcomes and that teaching was becoming "unmanageable" with primary school teachers working 60-hour weeks and secondary school teachers working 56 hours.

"We don't feel that enough progress has been made, actually we feel that no progress has been made," she said.

Ms Blower said the union would go back to the talk after this strike.

She admitted that strike action was "regrettable" and said: "We do recognise the fact that young people are having their education disrupted and that parents are experiencing difficulties today."

'No basis for strike'

But Schools Minister David Laws told the BBC that there was no basis for the strike.

He said: "I do not understand why the NUT are taking this industrial action in the middle of talks."

Mr Laws said he was currently in talks with seven trade unions, but only the NUT had chosen to strike.

He admitted that he was "concerned" about the amount of hours teachers were working per week, and he said that he wanted to try to reduce this by cutting the amount of bureaucracy and red tape teachers had to face.

NUT deputy general secretary Kevin Courtney said: "Striking is our last resort.

"We have been trying to persuade [Education Secretary] Michael Gove to change his mind, he is unwilling. Michael Gove's policies are exhausting and demoralising teachers and that's very bad and disruptive for education.

"Thousands of good people are leaving the profession, we are building up to a teacher shortage and our children deserve energetic and enthusiastic teachers not demoralised and exhausted ones."

Mr Courtney said the union wanted Mr Gove to change his policies on school accountability, which the NUT said was leading to "enormous" workloads for teachers, performance-related pay and pensions.

Gove's letter

On Tuesday, Mr Gove wrote to seven union bosses, setting out the progress he believed had been made in an ongoing programme of talks between the DfE and these teaching unions.

In the letter, he said he wanted to underline his commitment to the talks process.

"I have been following the progress of the weekly talks closely and am encouraged by reports from the meetings so far," Mr Gove wrote.

Condemning Wednesday's industrial action, a DfE official said: "Parents will struggle to understand why the NUT is pressing ahead with strikes over the government's measures to let heads pay good teachers more.

"They called for talks to avoid industrial action, we agreed to their request, and talks have been taking place weekly.

"Despite this constructive engagement with their concerns, the NUT is taking action that will disrupt parents' lives, hold back children's education and damage the reputation of the profession."

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Ukraine to dominate Obama EU talks

26 March 2014 Last updated at 10:46

US President Barack Obama is in Brussels for talks with leaders of the European Union and Nato to discuss Ukraine and other transatlantic issues.

In a major speech, he is due to stress the importance of European security to the US, and warn Russia against threatening international stability.

He began his visit with a visit to a cemetery in Flanders, where US soldiers killed in World War One are buried.

It is Mr Obama's first official trip to the EU's headquarters in Belgium.

He flew in on Tuesday evening from the Dutch city of The Hague where he attended a summit on nuclear security with other world leaders.

Security is high in the Belgian capital, with police cordoning off areas near the EU headquarters and Mr Obama's hotel.

'Ripples of anxiety'

The talks will focus on free trade deals and on lingering concern caused by allegations of American spying on EU allies, the BBC's Chris Morris, in Brussels, reports.

But the visit has been overshadowed by the startling speed of events in Crimea.

The southern peninsula was annexed by Russia earlier this month after a referendum which Kiev and the West consider illegal.

As a result, Mr Obama's Brussels agenda is likely to be dominated by discussion of Russia and Ukraine, our correspondent says.

Crimea's annexation and the ripples of anxiety it sent across Eastern Europe served as a reminder that security is at the heart of the transatlantic alliance, he adds.

On Tuesday, Mr Obama said Russia was acting "not out of strength, but out of weakness" in Ukraine. He also warned of the possibility of further sanctions against Russia if it encroached further into Ukraine.

Mr Obama said he was encouraged by the willingness of EU countries to consider tough measures that could possibly hurt them as well. The US has already imposed sanctions on Russian individuals following Crimea's annexation.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine continue to run high. Moscow accused Ukrainian officials on Wednesday of preventing Russian commercial pilots and crew from disembarking at Kiev International Airport.

Millions spent on security

Ahead of the EU and Nato talks, Mr Obama paid tribute to fallen US soldiers at the American Cemetery and Memorial in Waregem, to mark 100 years since the start of WW1. Belgian King Philippe and Prime Minister Elio di Rupo were also in attendance.

Mr Obama is then scheduled to hold midday talks in Brussels with the presidents of the EU Council and Commission, Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso.

In the early afternoon, Mr Obama will meet Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

The US president is expected to give his closing speech at 17:00 local time (16:00 GMT).

Some extra 800 police officers have been deployed on Brussels streets for the duration of Mr Obama's visit.

In total, Belgium has spent 10m euros (£8.35m) on increased security.

The US president will stay in Brussels for less than 24 hours before travelling to Rome for a meeting with Pope Francis.

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Man wins 16-year laptop wrangle

26 March 2014 Last updated at 12:06

A man has won a 16-year dispute over a laptop which he bought from the Aberdeen branch of PC World.

Richard Durkin claimed the HFC bank ruined his credit rating after he tried to pull out of a credit agreement when he returned the £1,499 computer.

Mr Durkin, 44, took his case to court and initially won damages of £116,000 but that ruling was overturned.

The Supreme Court in London has now allowed his appeal and ruled he should receive £8,000 in damages.

Mr Durkin said the ruling was a victory for the consumer but a blow for him personally.

He had handed over £50 and signed a credit agreement with HFC in 1998, but said he was told by a sales assistant at the store in Aberdeen that the laptop could be returned if it had a problem.

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Lord Hodge delivers the judgement

He discovered the laptop did not have an inbuilt modem.

Mr Durkin was eventually paid back the £50 by PC World but HFC said he was still required to make payments under the terms of the credit agreement.

Continue reading the main story

Richard Durkin is far from victorious today.

In the kitchen of his modest terraced house in Aberdeen he shook his head repeatedly as he watched the Supreme Court judgment.

This battle has dominated 16 years of his life and the stress it has caused him is clear in his eyes.

Mr Durkin directs his anger at PC World, HFC bank and the justice system.

He says he is "a quarter of a million pounds down," and the award of £8,000 will make little difference to him.

Above all he says he is struggling to understand how the Supreme Court can rule in his favour and yet fail to right the wrongs of his case.

In 2008 Aberdeen Sheriff Court ruled that he was entitled to reject the laptop and cancel the sale and the credit agreement and awarded damages of £116,000.

The decision was overturned later by judges at the Court of Session in Edinburgh when Mr Durkin himself appealed against that figure.

Delivering the Supreme Court conclusion, Lord Hodge ruled: "I would allow the appeal and declare that Mr Durkin was entitled to rescind and validly rescinded the credit agreement by giving notice to HFC in about February 1999.

"Damages resulting from HFC's breach of its duty of care are confined to injury to Mr Durkin's credit in the sum of £8,000.

"I would give the parties an opportunity to agree the date from which interest should run and the rate or rates of interest to be applied."

Lord Hodge said the Supreme Court did not have the power to restore the original award.

Mr Durkin said: "I am disappointed that the Supreme Court was unable to restore to me the full damages awarded by the sheriff - even though it was clear that they were sympathetic to my position on this.

"This decision is a great victory for all consumers and I am proud to have been the driving force behind it.

"As a result of the decision, no consumer will have to endure again what I had to put up with - the loss of the ability to buy a family home because of wrongful blacklisting of me."

He added: "Taking a case to any court is a huge stress, but taking it to the highest court in the land with all the risks that go with it was the most stressful thing that anyone could voluntarily put themselves through.

"But sometimes you have to do what is right, and not what is easy."

Mr Durkin said: "I am grateful to my legal team, and to the Law Society of Scotland who funded the court fees which I could not afford.

"But I am most grateful for an end to this matter now, having fought a long and difficult battle which at last is over."

A statement from HFC parent company HSBC said: "We note the court's judgement and are pleased that this matter has finally been resolved."

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Co-op Bank to raise extra £400m

24 March 2014 Last updated at 08:02

The Co-op Bank plans to raise another £400m by issuing new shares following the discovery of additional costs related to past misconduct and poor documentation.

The biggest part of the additional costs relates to PPI mis-selling and lapses in the provision of mortgages.

The bank said the discovery meant it would make a loss of £1.2bn to £1.3bn for 2013.

It will release its full accounts in April.

"The starting capital position of the bank for the four to five year recovery period is weaker than in the plan announced last year," said chief executive Niall Booker.

Continue reading the main story

One important question is why these misconduct costs did not come to light last year"

End Quote

Mr Booker said the issues had already been discovered in its Liability Management Exercise prospectus, but said it was only now quantifying the financial impact of some of the risks.

"When I heard about this my jaw dropped because I did think that at last this was a bank on the way to recovery," said BBC economics editor Robert Peston.

Rescue

The Co-op Bank had to be rescued last year after it was left with a £1.5bn capital shortfall, with many of its troubles stemming from the merger with the Britannia building society in 2009.

In November last year, it announced that a group of private investors, made up mostly of hedge funds, would inject nearly £1bn into the bank in exchange for a 70% ownership stake.

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Later that year the company was hit by a separate scandal when its chairman Paul Flowers was arrested in connection with a drugs supply investigation.

The group is cutting staff and selling off parts of its business in an effort to survive.

'Simplify'

The Co-operative Bank said that as of the end of 2013, it had cut 1,000 staff equating to about 14% of its total.

It also said it had reduced its non-core assets by around £2bn.

It said raising the extra £400m would enable it to continue with the execution of its original business plan.

"We have started to simplify the business, reduce costs and de-risk assets as we drive the change needed to return to our roots as a bank focused on our retail and SME customers," added Mr Booker.

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Egypt court sentences 528 to death

24 March 2014 Last updated at 10:09

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Footage shows relatives screaming in despair after the verdict, as Orla Guerin reports

A court in Egypt has sentenced to death 528 supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

They were convicted of charges including murdering a policeman and attacks on people and property.

The group is among over 1,200 supporters of Mr Morsi on trial, including senior Brotherhood members.

Authorities have cracked down harshly on Islamists since Mr Morsi was removed by the military in July. Hundreds have been killed and thousands arrested.

They are expected to appeal.

The verdict now goes to Egypt's supreme religious authority, the Grand Mufti (a senior Islamic scholar), for approval or rejection, says the BBC's Orla Guerin in Cairo.

Campaigners say that while death sentences are often handed down in Egypt, few have been carried out in recent years.

The final trial session will not be held until 28 April. so there is some time left before the sentence is confirmed and there will be time to appeal in that period, our correspondent adds.

The Muslim Brotherhood's spokesman in London, Abdullah el-Haddad, told the BBC the sentences showed that Egypt was now a dictatorship.

"It may be just a threat message and there will be appeals to the court and the decision of the court will change, but this is the new Egypt after the coup. This is the new dictatorship that [army chief and defence minister Field Marshal] Abdul Fattah al-Sisi is trying to establish."

Mr Haddad said the Muslim Brotherhood's general guide Mohammed Badie was among those convicted, though other reports say Mr Badie is only due in court on Tuesday.

In absentia

The court in Minya, south of the capital, Cairo, issued its ruling after only two sessions in which the defendants' lawyers complained they had no chance to present their case.

Lawyers have accused the presiding judge of "veering away from all legal norms" and denying justice to the accused, our correspondent adds.

They were convicted, among other charges, of the murder of the deputy commander of the Matay district police station in Minya.

Some 147 suspects were in court for the trial - the others were convicted in absentia, reports say.

The court also acquitted 16 other defendants.

The attacks took place in August after security forces broke up two camps of pro-Morsi supporters in Cairo, killing hundreds of people.

Mr Morsi was ousted by the military last July following mass street protests against his government. He is facing four separate trials

There has since been a severe crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood group, as well as on other activists seen as hostile to the military-backed interim government.

The Brotherhood has been declared a terrorist organisation and authorities have punished any public show of support for it.

A second group of 700 Morsi supporters is due to go on trial on Tuesday.

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Police incompetent, says acid victim

24 March 2014 Last updated at 10:19

A woman left scarred by an acid attack has accused Scotland Yard of incompetence, saying police initially claimed she had done it to herself.

Naomi Oni suffered severe burns when Mary Konye, who has since been jailed for 12 years, threw acid in her face.

She told BBC's Today programme police had been slow to act on information she gave them about the 2012 attack.

The Metropolitan Police said they had considered all lines of enquiry in the early stages of their investigation.

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Speaking to Today's Mishal Husain, 22-year-old Ms Oni said it almost felt like she had "been accused of lying" after her then-friend attacked her in Dagenham, east London.

She said police had been incompetent "to kind of accuse me of doing it to myself, when I've said somebody has followed me from my workplace to my home".

'Nobody has answers'

Ms Oni added: "When I was in court and I saw the CCTV footage, I just looked at it and I thought: 'Well, you can blatantly see that what I said is what happened, so where did that decision come from?'"

Konye, also 22, of Canning Town, east London, allegedly attacked Ms Oni because she had called her ugly.

CCTV footage showed her wearing a veil and secretly following Ms Oni home from her job at a Victoria's Secret shop in December 2012.

Initially, police did not act on what Ms Oni had told them about the circumstances, she has alleged.

"I even got told that they watched the CCTV footage and they saw no-one following me," she said.

"We've all seen the CCTV footage. There was a person in a veil following me.

"Why was this not found in the beginning? Nobody has answers to tell me."

It was argued in court that Ms Oni was trying to find fame and fortune following a similar incident in which model and TV presenter Katie Piper was partially blinded.

But she told the BBC the reason she looked up the case on the internet was that she had seen a documentary on Miss Piper and found it "a moving and touching story".

'Jealous and obsessed'

She broke down in tears as she described her attacker as an "evil person", and recalled how Konye had been "jealous and obsessed" and had bullied her.

The two had been in contact before the attack and Konye even called her victim while she was in hospital, Ms Oni said.

She "couldn't eat for days" after being told who had attacked her, she added .

"I didn't want to believe it, it didn't make sense", she said.

Ms Oni needed skin grafts and has suffered permanent scars to her leg, chest, stomach and arms and was almost blinded in one eye.

She has to wear a face mask and faces further reconstructive surgery.

She said she had been left feeling "isolated" and "alone" since the attack.

"My life isn't so normal at the moment," she added.

'Complex investigation'

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: "All lines of enquiry were considered in the early stages of the investigation.

"The investigation was detailed and complex and officers had a duty to explore every avenue of enquiry and retain an open mind about the circumstances.

"They carried out numerous actions including door-to-door enquiries, leaflet drops, searches, interviews and forensic analyses.

"The CCTV evidence took some time to collate and analyse but then clearly showed a veiled suspect trailing the victim before the attack. Konye was arrested as the investigation progressed."

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Plane search race to recover debris

24 March 2014 Last updated at 12:10

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Footage from the Royal Australian Air Force P-3 Orion aircraft shows a smoke marker next to one of the objects

An Australian plane has spotted two objects in the hunt for the missing Malaysia plane, and a ship has arrived in the area to find them.

The objects could be picked up in the southern Indian Ocean in a few hours, Malaysia's transport minister said.

One object was circular and grey or green, and the other rectangular and orange, Australian PM Tony Abbott said.

Mr Abbott said it was not known whether the objects were from flight MH370, and could be flotsam.

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Australian PM Tony Abbott: "The first [is a] grey or green circular object, and the second an orange rectangular object"

The two objects were different, he said, from several white, square-shaped objects spotted earlier by Chinese military planes.

"The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has advised that objects have been located by a Royal Australian Air Force P3 Orion. And I can advise the House that HMAS Success is on scene and is attempting to locate and recover these objects," Mr Abbott told the Australian parliament.

Those objects were spotted some 2,500km (1,550 miles) south-west of Perth, western Australia, at about 14:45 local time (06:45 GMT).

Continue reading the main story

Day five of the Australian-led surveillance mission in the southern Indian Ocean has potentially been its most dramatic so far. Both Australian and Chinese air force crews have reported spotting debris in the search for flight MH370. The unidentified objects have been seen in separate parts of the vast search area.

Immense challenges lie ahead for the Australian navy ship charged with finding the two items seen by its air force colleagues.

HMAS Success will have to navigate through some of the world's most treacherous and remote waters before its crew can find and retrieve clues that might help solve this baffling and distressing mystery.

The multinational search effort 2,500km south-west of Perth could be hampered in the coming days by ocean storms.

A US Navy Poseidon plane, a second Royal Australian Air Force Orion and a Japanese Orion were also en route to or were in the search area, he added.

Investigators could be closer to resolving "one of the great mysteries of our time", he said.

Speaking at a daily news briefing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein confirmed the missing airliner had been carrying wooden pallets, but said there was no connection yet to a reported Australian sighting of pallets floating in the search zone.

Flight MH370 disappeared on 8 March with 239 people on board.

Ten planes were scheduled to scour the southern Indian Ocean area on Monday for possible debris picked up earlier by radar echoes and satellite imagery.

Two Chinese military planes flew out to the search area on Monday morning, while two Japanese P-3 Orion aircraft set off later in the day.

The search for flight MH370 has been taking place in two large corridors - one stretching to the north-west of the last known location in the Malacca Strait and one to the south-west.

However, none of the countries on the northern corridor have reported any radar contact, and the Australian and Chinese satellite images of possible debris in the south Indian Ocean have concentrated the search there.

They joined six other planes, including US and Australian military planes, in searching a 68,500 sq km (26,000 sq miles) area in the ocean.

Several Chinese ships are also on their way.

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Ukraine orders Crimea withdrawal

24 March 2014 Last updated at 11:59

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Mark Lowen reports from Crimea on five ways the region is becoming Russian

Ukraine's interim President Olexander Turchynov says he has ordered the withdrawal of armed forces from Crimea.

The decision was taken because of Russian threats to the lives of military staff and their families, the president announced.

Russian troops have seized most of Ukraine's bases in the peninsula, including the naval base at Feodosia.

Earlier this month, Russia annexed Crimea after a referendum which Ukraine and the West considered illegal.

The G7 group of industrialised countries is to consider a collective response to the crisis during talks in The Hague.

G7 leaders are meeting on the sidelines of a long-planned summit on global threats to nuclear security.

Continue reading the main story

Ultimately Russia's weakness is its economy: Europe has the means to turn the screw, to isolate Russian financial institutions from the markets and to freeze assets"

End Quote

Speaking ahead of the talks, US President Barack Obama said Europe and America were united in their support of the Ukrainian government and its people.

Alongside Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Mr Obama said the US and Europe were also "united in imposing a cost on Russia for its actions (in Ukraine) so far".

'Pressure and aggression'

"The national security and defence council has reached a decision, under instructions from the defence ministry, to conduct a redeployment of military units stationed in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea," interim President Turchynov said.

"The cabinet of ministers has instructions to resettle the families of soldiers as well as everyone else who today is forced to leave their homes under the pressure and aggression of the Russian army's occupying forces."

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The flags of Crimea and Sevastopol are added to Russia's parliament during a ceremony

A Ukrainian defence official has told the BBC that every military base in Crimea is now under Russian control, with just two naval ships and a single police base still flying the Ukrainian flag.

Russian defence officials earlier said that the tricolour of Russia had been hoisted at 189 Ukrainian military units and facilities in Crimea.

Earlier on Monday, Russian troops captured the naval base at Feodosia, the third such takeover in 48 hours.

Defence spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov said the Russians had attacked the base from two directions using armoured personnel carriers and stun grenades.

The BBC's Mark Lowen in Crimea says the order to withdraw is hugely significant and can be regarded as a de facto military surrender, although Kiev would never admit it.

Our correspondent says this is now the end of the battle for Ukraine, with its military presence in Crimea almost completely crushed.

Nato's military commander in Europe warned on Sunday that Russian forces on Ukraine's eastern borders were capable of mounting an operation all the way to Moldova.

In other developments:

• Several parts of Crimea were hit by power cuts on Sunday evening, which officials blamed on technical problems

• There is still no confirmation of the whereabouts of Col Yuli Mamchur, the commander of Belbek base, which fell on Saturday. He was taken by Russian forces reportedly to a military prison. The interim Ukrainian president has demanded his immediate release

Moscow's annexation of Crimea on 16 March came after protesters overthrew pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych in February.

Russia said it had acted to protect its "compatriots" in Crimea from "fascists" moving in from mainland Ukraine.

The US and EU have responded with a series of sanctions targeting those individuals including senior officials whom they accuse of involvement in Crimea's annexation.

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'Threat of extinction' to GP service

23 March 2014 Last updated at 12:06

A funding crisis and increased demand for care means general practice as patients know it in the UK is "under severe threat of extinction", the head of the Royal College of GPs has warned.

The royal college's president, Dr Maureen Baker, said failing to properly fund GP surgeries could have an impact on the sustainability of the NHS.

Some practices were already closing due to lack of staff, she said.

The Department of Health said it recognised the "vital" job GPs do.

Continue reading the main story

We are fiddling while Rome burns and the four Governments of the UK must wake up to the critical state that general practice is now in"

End Quote Dr Maureen Baker RCGP chairwoman

While general practice deals with 90% of patient contact, it only receives 8.39% of the overall NHS budget, the RCGP said.

Dr Baker urged governments in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast to take action to address the "huge and historic imbalance in funding".

"General practice as we know it is now under severe threat of extinction," said Dr Baker. "It is imploding faster than people realise and patients are already bearing the brunt of the problem."

She said: "For generations, GPs have been the bedrock of the NHS and provided excellent care for patients.

"But we can no longer guarantee a future for general practice as our patients know it, rely on it - and love it.

"GPs are doing all they can but we are being seriously crippled by a toxic mix of increasing workloads and ever-dwindling budgets, which is leaving patients waiting too long for an appointment and not receiving the time or attention they need and that GPs want to give them."

'Grave concerns'

Funding for GPs is vital to protect the future of the NHS as a whole, Dr Baker said.

"Cutting funding to the bone is a false economy - by investing in general practice, we are shoring up the rest of the NHS from collapse," she added.

"We are fiddling while Rome burns and the four governments of the UK must wake up to the critical state that general practice is now in."

If there is not sufficient funding in the 2014/15 budget rounds, the RCGP has "grave concerns for the sustainability of the NHS", according to its president.

The royal college says that funding for general practice in England has fallen by £400m in real terms over the past three years.

In October, it published a report saying that £8.5bn had been invested in 2012-13, compared with £8.3bn in 2009-10, which is the equivalent of £8.9bn in 2012-13 prices.

'Just not safe'

And in November, it published figures with the National Association for Patient Participation showing GP funding across the UK at a nine-year low.

Between 2004-05 and 2011-12, the proportion of the NHS budget spent on general practice had fallen from 9.47% to 7.78% in Scotland and from 8.58% to 7.77% in Wales, it said.

In Northern Ireland, the figure dropped from 8.22% in 2010-11 to 8.1% in 2011-12.

Dr Baker told BBC Radio 5 live that while budgets had dwindled over the past three years, demand for GP services was increasing - from 300 million consultations in 2008 to 340 million in 2012.

She warned that "in some areas, we believe that some practices are already shutting down".

She welcomed government moves to train more medical staff, but called for immediate action "to shore up the service in the next few years, until these new doctors, nurses and support staff come on stream".

Increase in trainees

An RCGP survey found that 62% of 1,007 people questioned thought the number of consultations carried out by GPs each day, believed to be between 40 and 60 in most cases, risks the standard of patient care they provide.

More than a quarter, 28%, said the last time they tried to book an appointment with their doctor they could not get one in the same week.

Four in 10 were worried that the amount of time they have to wait to see their GP could affect their health.

The poll, carried out by ComRes, also showed that 60% of the public want funding moved to general practice from other parts of the health service.

Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said it was "simply unacceptable" that some patients had to wait up to a week for a GP appointment.

He said this was putting pressure on hospital accident and emergency departments.

A DoH spokesperson said: "We recognise the vital job that GPs do.

"This is why we have cut GPs' targets by more than a third to free up more time with patients, and are dramatically increasing trainees so that GP numbers continue to grow faster than the population."

NHS England said its funding for GP services had increased by a third in real terms since 2002-03. It said recent changes to the GP contract would free up doctors' time by removing "rigid performance targets".

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Gang girls 'leading desperate lives'

23 March 2014 Last updated at 09:58

Girls in gangs are leading "desperate lives" in which "rape is used as a weapon and carrying drugs and guns is seen as normal", a think tank has said.

The Centre for Social Justice said the "daily suffering" of thousands of women and girls "goes largely unnoticed".

Girls as young as eight are being used to carry drugs, it added.

The CSJ called for youth workers to be embedded in hospital trauma units to identify victims, and for more support to be given to help girls leave gangs.

The CSJ - a right-leaning think tank established by current cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith when he was Conservative Party leader - carried out the research with the London youth charity XLP, speaking to current and former gang members, voluntary organisations and government agencies.

Targets

Researchers producing the Girls and Gangs report heard that:

• Female gang members in their teens are being pressured to have sex with boys as young as 10 to initiate males into gangs
• In one case a schoolgirl was abducted and sexually assaulted by nine males because she criticised a gang member
• Young women associated with rival gangs are targets, in some cases forced to take part in a "line up", where they are made to perform sexual acts on several men in a row
• Girls and young women are frequently used to hide weapons and drugs - sometimes in pushchairs - because they are less likely to be stopped and searched by police

Involvement in gang culture has a detrimental impact on the education of girls and young women, researchers said, suggesting that some schools had turned a blind eye to gang activity in order to protect their reputations.

Continue reading the main story

We see increasing numbers of girls dragged into this appalling world of exploitation, criminality and hopelessness"

End Quote Patrick Regan XLP youth charity

One headteacher told the study: "We can't compete with the attraction of fast cars, sex and drugs."

The CSJ will host a conference on girls and gangs in London on Monday.

Rape as weapon

Deputy policy director, Edward Boyd, said the report had discovered a "brutal underworld" where sexual exploitation and carrying guns and drugs were "almost commonplace".

"They live in a parallel world where rape is used as a weapon and carrying drugs and guns is seen as normal."

Mr Boyd told the BBC that the way police carry out stop-and-search may be inadvertently leading to girls carrying illegal items, since 95% of those stopped were male.

Former gang member Tracey Miller said she got involved with gangs due to her bad home life.

Ms Miller, who said she was convicted of stabbing someone, said she had carried a knife for protection.

"I think I got away with so much for so long because I was a female," she said.

The report said a Home Office gangs strategy launched in 2011 had not made enough progress.

It called for:

• A scheme adopted by King's College and St Thomas' Hospitals in London to place youth workers on trauma wards to be expanded
• More support for women and girls when their boyfriends are arrested and imprisoned for gang activity
• Urgent research to be carried out to identify the true scale of the problem

Patrick Regan, chief executive of the report's co-author, XLP, said the biggest issue with girls in gangs was that "we simply don't know the full extent of the problem".

A recent report by the Office of the Children's Commissioner suggested almost 2,500 children were known to be victims of child sexual exploitation by gangs and groups.

But Mr Regan said the data "is merely the tip of the iceberg".

Crime Prevention Minister Norman Baker said the government was leading "ground breaking work" to identify women and girls who can get drawn into gangs.

"Girls associated with gangs can face sexual violence and we have provided £1.2 million for 13 Young People's Advocates to support those at risk," he said.

He said the government had set up a network of more than 70 people with experience of dealing with gangs to work with 33 of the worst affected areas of the country, including 20 in London.

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