Work to start on 93 flood defences

7 February 2013 Last updated at 06:46 ET

Construction is to start on 93 new flood defences in England this year to improve protection for more than 64,000 homes, the government has said.

It added that there was extra funding for projects to unlock economic growth.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said that new defences in Exeter, for example, would create more than 1,000 jobs and protect businesses employing 4,700 people.

The government said the new schemes would "bring huge relief".

Defra said that it expected 165,000 homes to be better protected by 2015 - some 20,000 more than its previous target.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said £2.3bn was being invested by government up to 2015, with an additional £148m in partnership funding contributions from local councils, businesses and private investors.

He said: "The 93 schemes given the green light today will bring huge relief to tens of thousands of homes and businesses that have lived with the fear of flood waters hitting their doors.

"They can get on with their daily lives and work knowing that there are well-built defences."

Some of the largest projects include:

• More than £80m on coastal defences at Rossall, Lancashire, improving protection to more than 6,000 homes
• A partnership-funded £50.5m scheme in Leeds that, Defra says, will protect 495 businesses and create 18,000 jobs in the city
• Improved protection for 14,000 homes from £14.5m flood defences at Grimsby Docks in Lincolnshire
• A £28.6m sea defence in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
• New sea defences at Anchorsholme in Lancashire, at a cost of £28.4m
• More than £16m being spent on River Thames tidal defences
• A £10m scheme on the east bank of the River Arun, protecting Littlehampton in West Sussex

Environment minister Richard Benyon said the schemes announced on Thursday were those going ahead in the next financial year, and that more would follow in the future - possibly including areas hit by flooding before Christmas.

"There are a number of schemes that will need to be taken forward in the areas that have had serious flooding, but no scheme goes from commissioning, from the idea of thinking them up, to commissioning in a year," he said.

"These are complicated engineering projects many of them, and we have to be absolutely conscious that we're dealing with taxpayers' money."

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'U-turn' over scrapping of GCSEs

7 February 2013 Last updated at 07:11 ET

Plans to scrap GCSEs in key subjects in England and replace them with English Baccalaureate Certificates are being abandoned by the government.

The reversal was announced by the education secretary in the Commons, alongside curriculum changes.

Michael Gove said plans for the new exams had been "a bridge too far".

He had wanted to bring in what he said were more rigorous exams in some core subjects from 2015, but faced criticism from MPs and teachers.

Labour's Shadow Education Secretary Stephen Twigg told MPs the announcement was a "humiliating climb-down" and exam policy a "total shambles".

The change means plans for the new qualification, announced in September, are being shelved, while GCSEs are retained, despite having been previously condemned by the education secretary.

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Grade inflation

It comes after a damning report by the Commons education committee which said the changes would mean "too much, too fast" and could threaten exam quality.

The new English Baccalaureate Certificate was billed by the government as having a tougher syllabus, with exams at the end of the course in a return to an O-level style traditional qualification.

The plans outlined by Mr Gove continue the reforms to GCSEs already started and include measures to reduce bite-sized and overly structured questions and the role played by coursework.

Mr Gove told the Commons: "Last September we outlined plans for changes to GCSE qualifications designed to address the grade inflation, dumbing down and loss of rigour in those examinations.

"We have consulted on those proposals and there is now a consensus that the system needs to change.

"But one of the proposals I put forward was a bridge too far."

Specifically, he said that proposal had been to let just one exam board set a GCSE for each English Baccalaureate Certificate. The idea behind this was to stop what he had called a "race to the bottom" where he said exam boards might compete to offer easier qualifications.

Continue reading the main story

'A humiliating U-turn' by Michael Gove is how Labour describes what they're calling the #EBacctrack. 'A tweak' says the education secretary's former deputy, fellow Tory Nick Gibb. "

End Quote

Liberal Democrats had opposed the changes, believing they would bring in a two-tier system, which would damage teenagers who were not academic enough to pass the new exams.

A senior Whitehall source told the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson a range of factors conspired to bring an end to the plans, including opposition from the regulator and concerns that introducing a single exam board for each subject could be challenged in the courts under European Union rules.

Lib Dem sources indicated they regarded this as a coalition decision not a policy victory for their party, our correspondent added.

In the Commons, Labour's Stephen Twigg said: "It's simple really, before he announces a bright idea wouldn't it be sensible to check it first with the deputy prime minister".

'Red light'

The proposals for the new qualifications were met by intense criticism from teaching unions.

The original plan had been for the first candidates to start courses in 2015 and take the new-look exams two years later, initially in three core subject areas - English, maths and sciences - with an extension later to history, geography and languages.

There was a plan to have one exam board for each subject and this is also set to be scrapped.

Doubts had been raised about the feasibility of awarding the franchises for subjects within the timetable set for the new qualifications, which were to be taught from autumn 2015.

Exam regulator Ofqual had written to Mr Gove suggesting this should not go ahead at the same time as the other changes planned for GCSEs and A-levels.

Last week a report from the Commons Education Select Committee issued a "red light" warning to the government, urging it to slow down and rethink its proposed changes to GCSEs and the exam system.

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The cross-party report warned the proposed changes were being rushed and risked damaging the exam system.

MPs' criticisms had been echoed by teachers and head teachers' unions.

Mr Gove is expected to announce changes to the performance measures used in school league tables.

There will be a new eight-subject measure of GCSEs, including English and maths, three subjects out of sciences, languages, history and geography and three other subjects, such as art, music or RE.

Russell Hobby, leader of the National Association of Head Teachers, said the government had "slammed on the brakes just before the cliff face".

He said it would have been impossible to implement what had been planned.

The announcements on abandoning the new qualifications come alongside the publication of changes to the curriculum for primary and secondary schools.

Continue reading the main story

Angela Harrison Education correspondent, BBC News

---

The English Baccalaureate Certificate (EBC) was a key part of Michael Gove's plans to shake up England's exams system and "restore rigour" to it.

It hit the buffers for political, practical and commercial reasons and in the face of strong opposition, not least from exams regulator Ofqual and MPs on the education select committee.

The idea of an exam which was not for everyone was very unpopular with the Liberal Democrats and with teaching unions, who all warned of a move to a "two-tier" system or a return to the divisions of O-levels and CSEs.

Pupils were due to begin studying for EBCs in some key subjects in 2015. They won't now, but other changes remain, such as the move towards exams at the end of two years rather than being taken in chunks and towards fewer resits.

Read Angela Harrison's analysis

Mr Gove has already set out principles arguing there should be a clear set of core information pupils should learn in areas such as maths, science, history and literature.

'Entirely wrong'

Labour's shadow education secretary Stephen Twigg, who said Mr Gove should have heeded the advice of head teachers and business leaders, attacked the exam plans as having been put together "on the back of an envelope".

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This is a humiliating climb-down for Michael Gove but more important than that it is really good news for education.

"The proposal risked turning the clock back to the kind of exam system that we had when I was at school that wrote a lot of young people off at 14 but it also crowded out a lot of very important parts of the curriculum."

Mr Twigg added that he was in favour of "tough rigorous exams alongside tough rigorous assessment", but that moving to purely exams in every course did not make sense.

The general secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), Christine Blower, said she was delighted Mr Gove had made a U-turn.

"We have amassed a very big coalition of our own around the fact that introducing the Ebacc was entirely the wrong thing to do, certainly in the kind of timescale that Mr Gove had in mind, so we think this is a very good move and we're very pleased."

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EU set for crucial budget summit

7 February 2013 Last updated at 07:06 ET

European Union leaders are gathering for a two-day summit in Brussels to try to strike a deal on the next seven years of EU spending.

The formal meeting has been delayed, apparently to allow more time for discussions on a compromise.

High EU expenditure at a time of cutbacks and austerity across the continent is the main issue dividing the 27 member states.

They failed to reach a compromise at a similar summit in November.

European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso has urged leaders to negotiate "in a spirit of responsibility".

"Further delays will send out a very negative message at this time of fragile economic recovery," he said. "The risk is that positions will harden and will be even more difficult to overcome."

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

The mood now remains cautiously optimistic but the Germans, who like to downplay expectations ahead of summits, are saying the talks will be "difficult and divisive""

End Quote

The Commission - the EU's executive body - had originally wanted a budget ceiling of 1.025tn euros (£885bn; $1.4tn) for 2014-2020, a 5% increase. In November that was trimmed back to 973bn euros and later revised down to 943bn euros.

But with other EU spending commitments included, that would still give an overall budget of 1.011tn euros.

The UK, Germany and other northern European nations want to lower EU spending to mirror the cuts being made by national governments across the continent.

Downing Street said on Wednesday that Prime Minister David Cameron was intent on seeking an agreement to lower EU spending, while accepting this would be difficult.

An EU source told BBC News any extra cut would probably be made to growth-related spending in areas such as energy, transport, the digital economy and research.

The biggest spending areas - agriculture and regional development - are largely ring-fenced because of strong national interests, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The BBC's Europe editor Gavin Hewitt notes that whatever is agreed has still to go to the European Parliament, and MEPs are big backers of EU spending.

Compromises

Scheduled to begin at 14:00 GMT on Thursday, the summit has been put back to 16:30. "We needed more time to work on the compromise proposal," an unnamed EU official told AFP news agency.

A grouping led by France and Italy wants to maintain spending but target it more at investment likely to create jobs.

French President Francois Hollande told reporters on Sunday that conditions were "not yet in place" for a deal but also signalled that Paris was prepared to make compromises.

He and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks in Paris on Wednesday before attending a France-Germany football match.

Continue reading the main story

How far they can go

• The European Commission's original proposal for a budget of 1.025tn euros was whittled down to 943bn at the November summit
• An EU source has told BBC News that a further reduction is now likely, bringing the budget down to 920bn
• The UK has argued for a figure as low as 886bn and its calls for restraint are backed by Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden
• France and Italy favour the November figure but want spending refocused on investment for growth
• Poland, the biggest of the new member-states which benefit significantly from subsidies, has said further deep cuts to the budget are "inconceivable"
• The European Parliament, which can vote down the budget, is likely to oppose any deep cuts
• If the new seven-year budget is blocked, the 2013 budget will be rolled over into 2014, creating uncertainty over future EU spending

Mrs Merkel's spokesman said she and President Hollande had had "a short but intense meeting... to see what kind of agreement could be made".

Mrs Merkel - seen as the powerbroker in the summit - has already acknowledged that the talks will be "very difficult".

In Brussels, a European Parliament spokesman warned that more severe cuts would leave the commission unable to do its job as the EU integrated more deeply in response to the financial crisis.

"How can we imagine that an EU institution can ensure a proper banking union with a budget that is cut by whatever billions in figures we hear, here and there?" said spokesman Olivier Bailly.

"At the moment, there is a need for a reality check between the requests that are sent to the Commission, the Council, the Parliament, or the European Central Bank, and the budget - the means - that are given to these institutions to fulfil their commitments."

The split in the EU reflects the gap between richer European countries and those that rely most on EU funding.

The argument for higher spending is supported by many countries that are net beneficiaries, including Poland, Hungary and Spain.

Others, mostly the big net contributors, argue it is unacceptable at a time of austerity.

Germany, the UK, France and Italy are the biggest net contributors to the budget, which amounts to about 1% of the EU's overall GDP.

Analysts say failure to reach an agreement on its seven-year budget would mean the EU falling back on more expensive annual budgets.

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Huhne's ex-wife 'very hurt woman'

7 February 2013 Last updated at 07:08 ET

Chris Huhne's ex-wife Vicky Pryce was "a very hurt woman" who felt he "did not deserve to be in the position of responsibility" as an MP, a journalist has told Southwark Crown Court.

Sunday Times political editor Isabel Oakeshott said Ms Pryce revealed how she had taken his speeding points when the women met after the couple split.

Ms Pryce denies perverting the course of justice.

Huhne admitted the same charge on Monday and has resigned as an MP.

Ex-Liberal Democrat cabinet minister Huhne and Ms Pryce, an economist, were charged over an incident in March 2003 when his car was caught by a speed camera on the motorway between Stansted Airport in Essex and London.

It is alleged that between 12 March and 21 May 2003, Ms Pryce falsely informed police that she was the driver of the car so Huhne could avoid prosecution.

'Serious allegation'

Ms Oakeshott told the court she had met Ms Pryce in the queue for a Lib Dem conference in 2010 after the couple had separated over Huhne's extra-marital affair.

"Vicky Pryce had been a senior government economist so she was interesting in her own right to me for her views on the economy," she said.

"Secondly, she was at that time still married, although their relationship had disintegrated, to a cabinet minister, so I was interested in her relationship to him and how it had broken down...

"We talked a bit about the breakdown of her marriage and during that conversation she mentioned to me towards the end of the meal that she had taken speeding points on behalf of her husband, she had been pressured to do that.

"Obviously that's a very serious allegation against a serving government minister."

The jury has been told Ms Pryce planned to use a special legal defence available only to wives, saying that she was coerced by him into taking the points.

Ms Oakeshott told the jury in a later conversation Ms Pryce said the first she had known about the speeding points was when she received a letter saying she had been nominated as the driver by the owner of the vehicle.

Ms Pryce "had been shocked to receive this letter because she had not been driving the car at the time, and she didn't even know where that area was where the speeding offence had taken place," she said.

"He had filled the form out nominating her without any consultation with her. This had had put her in an extremely difficult situation and she was extremely upset about it," said Ms Oakeshott.

The pair later discussed how Huhne's secret could become a story for the Sunday Times.

"Vicky was very much interested in telling her side of the story," Ms Oakeshott told the court.

"Vicky was a very, very hurt woman and she was quite clear that she felt that Chris, her former husband, did not deserve to be in the position of immense responsibility he had at that time.

"I think it was very clear that she wanted to expose what she saw as his true character."

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Stuart Hall to fight sex charges

7 February 2013 Last updated at 07:08 ET

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Broadcaster Stuart Hall described his "living nightmare" outside court

BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall has said he will fight charges of rape and indecent assault after appearing in court.

The 83-year-old, from Wilmslow in Cheshire, spoke only to confirm his name and address during the hearing.

The appearance at Preston Magistrates' Court related to an alleged rape of a 22-year-old woman and 14 indecent assaults of 10 girls aged nine to 16.

Speaking outside, he added that he had considered taking his own life as a result of the allegations.

Mr Hall has previously denied three other charges of indecent assault.

'Living nightmare'

The presenter was bailed to appear at Preston Crown Court on 1 March. He is due to face trial over the three charges of indecent assault in April.

Speaking outside court, Mr Hall said he would "fight the charges and regain my reputation" after going through a "living nightmare".

Lancashire Police said the rape was alleged to have taken place in 1976 and the indecent assaults related to incidents said to have happened between 1967 and 1986.

Mr Hall is best known for his distinctive style of sports reporting on BBC Radio 5 live and his work on the 1970s TV show It's A Knockout.

He has been a familiar face and voice in British broadcasting for half a century and was appointed OBE in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to broadcasting and charity.

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Dog microchip date set for England

6 February 2013 Last updated at 06:03 ET

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Clarissa Baldwin: "It's not going to cure all, but it will be a huge help"

Every dog owner in England will have to microchip their animal from 2016 under plans intended to cut a rise in strays.

The microchips will be coded with owners' details, and owners who do not comply could face fines of up to £500.

A legal loophole may also be closed, meaning owners could be prosecuted over an attack by their dog on private land.

The RSPCA welcomed the proposals, but said it doubted that they alone would "make owners more responsible or ensure fewer dogs bite people".

Government figures reveal that more than 100,000 dogs are dumped or lost each year, at a cost of £57m to the taxpayer and welfare charities.

Ministers hope the change in the law will help reunite owners with lost or stolen pets and relieve some of the burden on animal charities and local authorities.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said: "It's ludicrous that in a nation of dog-lovers, thousands of dogs are roaming the streets or stuck in kennels because the owner cannot be tracked down."

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

People will be able to get their dogs back far more easily"

End Quote Clarissa Baldwin Chief executive, Dogs Trust

He added: "Microchipping is a simple solution that gives peace of mind to owners. It makes it easier to get their pet back if it strays and easier to trace if it's stolen."

The change in the law will be effective from 6 April 2016. Any owner whose dog is found without a chip and can be traced by local authorities will have a short period of time to have the dog microchipped.

Laws governing dog attacks will also be extended to cover private property, closing a loophole which has meant that dog owners whose animals have attacked people on private property are immune from prosecution.

Welfare warnings

David Bowles, the RSPCA's head of public affairs, said: "Compulsory microchipping and extending the law to cover private property as well as public spaces is a welcome move.

"However, on their own we don't believe they will make owners more responsible or ensure fewer dogs bite people or other animals."

He said that the number of warnings issued to dog-owners because of poor welfare last year had been up 12% on 2011, while in the last four years there had been a 26% rise in the number dog bites requiring hospitalisation.

Continue reading the main story

What is microchipping?

• A small chip, the size of a grain of rice, is inserted between the shoulder blades of a dog using a sterile needle
• The procedure does not require an anaesthetic and is no more painful than a standard vaccination
• The chip is coated in a bio-compatible glass, the same material used in human pacemakers, which is not rejected by the dog's body
• The device fuses to the dog's bodily tissue, meaning it will not move around

"If the government are trying to tackle these, we don't see how compulsory microchipping will help reduce either of these figures," he said.

Eight children and six adults have been killed in dog attacks since 2005, with many of these incidents taking place in the home, figures from the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs show.

In the past 12 months, more than 3,000 postal workers were attacked by out-of-control dogs, with 70% of these attacks happening on private property.

But householders will be protected from prosecution if their dog attacks a burglar or trespasser on their land.

Currently some animal charities, such as the Dogs Trust, Blue Cross and Battersea Dogs and Cats home, offer a free microchipping service to owners.

The procedure, which costs about £20-£30 at a private veterinary clinic, involves inserting a sterile chip the size of a grain of rice between a dog's shoulder blades.

Free microchips, donated by the Dogs Trust, will be circulated to veterinary clinics, although it is currently unclear whether vets will charge for the service.

Updating information

Clarissa Baldwin, chief executive of the Dogs Trust charity, said the scheme would make "a huge difference".

Most of the 16,000 dogs looked after by the trust each year had not been microchipped, she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"We could get those dogs back to their worried owners if they have a microchip and are identifiable," she said.

"With a register, kept up to date, people will be able to get their dogs back far more easily."

But Beverley Cuddy, editor of Dogs Today magazine, said the scheme was flawed because many owners did not keep their information up to date.

"The National Dog Warden Association says 40% of the dogs they pick up that are chipped have got incomplete or inaccurate data, meaning they can't be returned," she said.

"People don't know how to update their records. The chip is invisible - once it's in there people forget it's there. "

Compulsory microchipping was introduced in Northern Ireland in April 2012.

Similar plans were considered in Wales in 2012, although no formal policy announcement has yet been made.

The Scottish government has said that, while it recognised the benefits of microchipping, there was "no evidence compulsory microchipping would effectively tackle welfare issues".

A spokesman added that Holyrood would watch developments in the rest of the UK and "may consider the matter further in future".

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NHS must 'fundamentally change'

6 February 2013 Last updated at 06:36 ET By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News

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Julie Bailey was appalled by the treatment her mother received at Stafford Hospital, where she said patients were drinking flower water from vases

There needs to be a "fundamental change" in the culture of the NHS to ensure patients are cared for properly, a public inquiry says.

The conclusion by the Francis inquiry comes after a £13m investigation into the Stafford Hospital scandal.

Previous investigations have already established in harrowing detail the abuse and neglect that contributed to the deaths of hundreds of patients.

This inquiry said the failings went from the top to the bottom of the NHS.

The 1,781-page report catalogued missed opportunities at every turn between 2005 and 2008 - and said the findings still had relevance today four years after they first came to light in a 2009 report by the Healthcare Commission.

Continue reading the main story

Time to care?

James Moore, who has left the NHS after working in A&E for 15 years, said reports of abuse made him "ashamed to be a nurse".

He blamed poor management rather than nurses no longer caring.

He drew parallels with being a waitress: "The restaurant gets busier, the waitress works harder and harder with the same resources and things start getting missed, she drops a meal here or there and people don't get their food on time and complaints are made".

Instead of dealing with the workload he said managers made the problem worse: "They'll ask the waitress to fill out more forms to tick that she's done certain things, then the restaurant gets busier and busier and the nurse has more and more forms to fill out."

While it is well-known the trust management ignored patients' complaints, local GPs and MPs also failed to speak up for them, the inquiry said.

The local primary care trust and regional health authority were too quick to trust the hospital's management and national regulators were not challenging enough.

Meanwhile, the Royal College of Nursing was highlighted for not doing enough to support its members who were trying to raise concerns.

'Remote'

The Department of Health was also criticised for being too "remote" and embarking on "counterproductive" reorganisations.

The report said the failings created a culture where the patient was not put first.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

This is a story of appalling and unnecessary suffering of hundreds of people"

End Quote Robert Francis QC

But the inquiry - chaired by Robert Francis QC - said the change needed did not require further reform.

Instead, it urged everyone from "porters and cleaners to the secretary of state" to work together to shift the culture.

In particular, it recommended:

• The merger of the regulation of care into one body - two are currently involved
• Senior managers to be given a code of conduct and the ability to disqualify them if they are not fit to hold such positions
• Hiding information about poor care to become a criminal offence
• A statutory obligation on doctors and nurses for a duty of candour so they are open with patients about mistakes
• An increased focus on compassion in the recruitment, training and education of nurses, including an aptitude test for new recruits and regular checks of competence as is being rolled out for doctors

Mr Francis said: "This is a story of appalling and unnecessary suffering of hundreds of people.

"They were failed by a system which ignored the warning signs and put corporate self-interest and cost control ahead of patients and their safety.

"I have today made 290 recommendations designed to change this culture and make sure that patients come first.

"We need a patient-centred culture, no tolerance of non-compliance with fundamental standards, openness and transparency, candour to patients, strong cultural leadership, caring compassionate nursing, and useful and accurate information about services."

In a letter to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt accompanying his report, Mr Francis said there needed to be a "fundamental change" in culture.

Target driven

The "appalling" levels of care that led to needless deaths have already been well documented by a 2009 report by the Healthcare Commission and an independent inquiry in 2010, which was also chaired by Mr Francis.

They both criticised the cost-cutting and target-chasing culture that had developed at the Mid Staffordshire Trust, which ran the hospital.

Receptionists were left to decide which patients to treat, inexperienced doctors were put in charge of critically ill patients and nurses were not trained how to use vital equipment.

Continue reading the main story

The Mid Staffs public inquiry

• The public inquiry is the fifth major investigation into what happened
• It has focused mainly on the commissioning, supervision and regulation of the trust from 2005 to 2009 - something campaigners felt had not been properly covered before
• It was chaired by Robert Francis QC, who also led the fourth major investigation
• It sat between November 2011 and December 2012 and cost £13m
• More than 160 witnesses appeared at the hearings and one million pages of evidence have been sifted through

Cases have also been documented of patients left crying out for help because they did not get pain relief and food and drinks being left out of reach.

Some staff have said they tried to raise the alarm but were silenced by senior managers.

Helene Donnelly, who worked as an A&E nurse at the hospital, said: "It went right to the top. People didn't want to know and that is why things got so extreme."

Data shows there were between 400 and 1,200 more deaths than would have been expected between 2005 and 2008, although it is impossible to say all of these patients would have survived if they had received better treatment.

While the Francis inquiry has solely focused on what happened at Stafford Hospital, there is mounting concern in the wider NHS about basic standards of care.

Recent reports by the Patients Association and Care Quality Commission have both raised the issue.

At the start of the year prime minister David Cameron said he wanted to make improving care one of his top priorities for 2013. He is due to make a statement on the latest report later.

Mr Cameron pointed to the money being made available for training, particularly around dementia, the extra ward rounds being introduced in hospitals and the roll-out of the new "family and friends" test patient survey as evidence of this.

BBC West Midlands special investigation, The Hospital That Didn't Care, on BBC One at 10.35pm on Wednesday 6 February.

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Arrests over guest house 'abuse'

6 February 2013 Last updated at 06:38 ET

Police investigating allegations of child abuse at a south-west London guest house in the early 1980s have arrested two men.

The Operation Fernbridge inquiry is looking at claims that senior political figures and others sexually abused boys at the Elm Guest House in Barnes.

Officers held a 66-year-old in Norfolk and a 70-year-old in East Sussex, the first arrests in the investigation.

Police began the probe after receiving information from Labour MP Tom Watson.

Scotland Yard say the allegations are not connected with current residents of the property, which has been converted into residential flats.

It is also investigating links between the guest house and the now-closed nearby Grafton Close children's care-home run by Richmond Council.

BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said the police investigation centred around claims that the guest house was used by people to abuse boys from the home.

The allegations were investigated at the time but resurfaced in October after Mr Watson raised the case in Parliament and called for further inquiries.

Our correspondent said he understood that neither of the arrested men were household names or politicians.

'Utmost priority'

Commander Peter Spindler, head of the Metropolitan Police's Specialist Crime Investigations unit, said the "complex multi-agency investigation" was supported by the NSPCC charity, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre and Richmond Social Services.

Continue reading the main story

We will assist the police in gathering evidence and supporting those who come forward"

End Quote Peter Watt NSPCC

He said anyone affected by, or has information about, activity in the early 1980s at the guest house or care home should contact the NSPCC or police.

In a statement, Richmond Council said it considered "the safeguarding of all children and young people as an utmost priority and we take any allegations of abuse very seriously".

A spokesman added: "We are offering our full support and co-operation to the police during their investigation. As the investigation is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time."

The NSPCC said its helpline number 0800 800 5000 was staffed by trained counsellors 24 hours a day. People with information could also use the email address help@nspcc.org.uk to contact them.

NSPCC helpline director Peter Watt said: "We will assist the police in gathering evidence and supporting those who come forward. It's important we recognise the massive impact abuse has on children and young people, often well into their adult life."

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RBS Libor fines of £400m expected

6 February 2013 Last updated at 06:43 ET

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is expected to be fined a total of about £400m ($625m) by UK and US regulators later as a result of the Libor scandal.

The head of RBS's investment banking arm since 2008, John Hourican, is also expected to step down.

However, there is no suggestion he was involved in the scandal.

RBS is accused of colluding with other banks to rig Libor rates during the global financial crisis. Barclays and UBS have already received fines.

Speaking to the BBC, Business Secretary Vince Cable said the government had made it clear to RBS that the fines should be paid from staff bonuses, saying that neither taxpayers nor bank customers should bear the cost.

The government has an 81% stake in RBS following the part-nationalisation of the bank during the financial crisis.

"The problem is that these are global banks and if they've committed breaches of the law in the US they have to be punished accordingly," Mr Cable told BBC Radio 5 live. "It is absolutely galling for UK taxpayers to be asked to stump up for it."

But he acknowledged that the government could not force RBS to act, despite its majority stake.

Settlement talks

In a statement released on Wednesday morning, RBS said it was still in "late-stage settlement discussions" with US and UK authorities over "potential settlements".

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"Although the settlements remain to be agreed, RBS expects they will include the payment of significant penalties as well as certain other sanctions," the bank said.

Those discussions are taking place with the Financial Services Authority in the UK, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the US Department of Justice.

The greater proportion of the fines are expected to be imposed by the US authorities.

Swiss bank UBS admitted to wire fraud charges against its Tokyo office as part of its £940m settlement with international regulators in December.

Barclays, the first bank to admit to its role in rigging Libor, paid a total of £290m.

It is not clear if RBS bankers will face criminal charges, but the Serious Fraud Office in the UK is continuing an investigation into the wider scandal.

Mr Hourican, who earned £3.5m for last year's work, is expected to lose his bonus for 2012 along with his position as head of RBS's investment bank. He is also expected to forego £4m of bonuses from previous years.

In a memo to RBS staff on Tuesday, the bank's chief executive Stephen Hester called the Libor scandal "the biggest disappointment of our legacy and clean-up job to date".

He said he would not be "ducking difficult questions" relating to the scandal, and would ensure that "wrongdoers have been punished".

He added that the bank must accept the close scrutiny that came with government ownership.

In a speech to journalists on Wednesday morning, Mr Cable said the prospect of selling the government's stakes in RBS and Lloyds back to the private sector now looked like "a distant dream".

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People-smuggling network 'disrupted'

6 February 2013 Last updated at 06:46 ET

Authorities believe they have disrupted a major people-smuggling network after carrying out dozens of co-ordinated raids in the UK, France and Belgium.

UK Border Agency officers raided 35 addresses in England and Scotland on Wednesday, while about 40 raids were carried out in France and Belgium.

More than 150 UKBA officers joined the crackdown on gangs trafficking illegal immigrants in the back of lorries.

It is understood many of the immigrants are from Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.

UKBA's Chris Foster said: "We believe this to be one of the biggest operations of its kind ever undertaken in the UK, involving officers the length and breadth of the country."

He added: "We believe we have successfully disrupted a significant organised network suspected of being involved in a systematic attempt to evade the UK's immigration controls."

Officers made 20 arrests, and another six in relation to other suspected offences including immigration breaches.

The raids took place in London, Hampshire, Peterborough, Birmingham, Coventry, Smethwick, Leamington Spa, and Stoke-on-Trent.

Warrants were also executed in Manchester, Sheffield, Lancashire and Glasgow.

Immigration minister Mark Harper said: "The organised criminal gangs involved in people smuggling prey on the desperation of others in order to line their own pockets.

"They are also a major factor involved in illegal immigration to the UK."

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