Deadly shell hits Donetsk hospital

4 February 2015 Last updated at 11:53

Three people were killed and many more wounded when a shell hit a hospital in the rebel-held city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

Bodies could be seen under blankets outside the building after the attack.

Nearby schools were also damaged in the blast, city officials said.

Violence has surged in the east in recent weeks, and the pro-Russian rebels have captured territory from government forces outside Donetsk, including the city's airport.

Residential areas of the two main rebel-held cities of Donetsk and Luhansk have regularly been hit by mortar rounds and rocket fire and the separatists have blamed the government for the attacks.

Wednesday's shelling in the south-western Kirovskiy district of the city came as EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called for an immediate ceasefire to enable civilians to leave the conflict zone.

To the north-east of Donetsk, separatists have been trying to encircle government troops in the town of Debaltseve, a key transport hub, prompting local residents to flee.

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Taiwan plane in deadly river crash

4 February 2015 Last updated at 10:12

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Footage of the crash appeared to show the plane clipping a road bridge

A plane carrying mostly Chinese tourists has crashed into a river in Taiwan, killing at least 19 people.

Dramatic video footage emerged showing the TransAsia Airways plane clipping a bridge as it came down shortly after take-off from a Taipei airport.

The plane, carrying 58 people, has broken up and the fuselage is lying half-submerged in the Keelung River. Rescue efforts are ongoing.

Another TransAsia plane crashed in bad weather last July, killing 48 people.

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Cindy Sui reports: ''Many of the people on board are still inside the aircraft''

Rescuers on boats have cut the plane open to gain access, attempting to access passengers reportedly trapped in the front section of the fuselage.

Television footage showed passengers swimming clear of the wreckage, with reports suggesting 15 people had survived the crash and a further 24 were missing.

TransAsia said in a statement that one passenger had already been discharged from hospital but did not confirm the number of survivors.

The ATR-72 turbo-prop plane had just taken off from Taipei Songshan Airport and was heading to the Kinmen islands, just off the coast of the south-eastern Chinese city of Xiamen.

The final communication from the pilots to air traffic control was "Mayday, mayday, engine flame out", according to a recording played on local media. The recording was not immediately verified by aviation officials.

Flight controllers lost contact with the plane at 10:55 local time (02:55 GMT).

Footage of the plane filmed from inside passing cars showed it banking sharply, hitting a taxi and clipping the bridge before crashing into the river.

"I saw a taxi, probably just metres ahead of me, being hit by one wing of the plane," an eyewitness told local media.

"The plane was huge and really close to me. I'm still trembling."

Reports on the number of dead varied, with many citing numbers higher than the 16 confirmed by TransAsia.

TransAsia Airways

• Founded in 1951 as Taiwan's first private civilian-operated domestic airline, later expanded to overseas routes
• Has about 20 planes in its fleet - a mix of Airbus and dual-propeller ATR planes
• Gained popularity due to its low-cost tickets
• Flies many routes between Taiwan and mainland China, and to parts of South East Asia

TV footage showed rescuers standing on large sections of broken wreckage trying to pull passengers out of the plane with ropes.

But officials said some passengers were still trapped inside the wreckage, which appeared to be upside down.

"We're asking the public works department for heavy cranes to be deployed in the hope that the body of the plane can be lifted up," said Wu Jun-Hong, assistant director of Taipei's fire department.

"At the moment, we think a lot of the trapped people are in the head of the plane."

The plane's flight data recorders, also known as black boxes, have been recovered. Footage from the crash site showed them in a car belonging to the rescue services.

The plane was carrying five crew and 53 passengers, including 31 tourists from the south-eastern Chinese city of Xiamen.

TransAsia said it had contacted relatives of all the 22 Taiwanese passengers and was attempting to reach relatives of the Chinese nationals on board.

The BBC's Cindy Sui in Taipei says the Chinese tourists could have been on their way home as many people come to Taiwan through Kinmen island.

TransAsia chief Chen Xinde offered a "deep apology" in a televised news conference, but said his planes had been "under thorough scrutiny" since mid-2014.

"Both our planes and our flight safety system are following strict regulations, so we also want to know what caused the new plane model to crash, but I don't want to speculate," he said.

Did you witness the incident? Where you near the scene at the time? You can share your thoughts by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. If you would be happy to speak further to a BBC journalist, please include a contact telephone number.

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Chilcot rejects Iraq timetable calls

4 February 2015 Last updated at 11:09

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Sir John Chilcot told MPs he did not want to raise false hopes or expectations by naming a date

The head of the official inquiry into the Iraq War has rejected calls to set a timetable for publication, saying he does not want to "arouse false hopes".

Sir John Chilcot told MPs he had "under-estimated" the time it would take to study up to 150,000 documents.

And he said the process of giving key figures the right to respond to criticism was holding up the process.

He also informed MPs one of the panel members, historian Sir Martin Gilbert, had died following a long illness.

Sir Martin, the author of a best-selling biography of Sir Winston Churchill and one of five members of the inquiry panel, died on Tuesday, Sir John said.

The inquiry, which began in 2009, is considering how UK forces came to participate in the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and its aftermath, which saw UK troops remain in the country for six years.

Appearing for 70 minutes before the Foreign Affairs Committee, Sir John repeated his view that there was no "realistic prospect" of the report being released before the election on 7 May.

'Unprecedented'

He told MPs that the inquiry was "unprecedented in scope" and there had been protracted negotiations with the government over the release of classified documents, including correspondence between former PM Tony Blair and President George W. Bush.

The process by which those likely to be criticised in the report are given the right to respond, known as Maxwellisation, had begun later than planned in the autumn, he said.

And he suggested that completing this successfully was the primary obstacle standing in the way of the report's publication.

He said: "What I can't say, until the Maxwellisation process is complete, is that I will be able to say anything useful to the prime minister or to the families. Once that is complete it is a different matter."

Conservative MP Nadhim Zarhawi said the continued uncertainty was "painful" for the families of the 179 British personnel who died in Iraq.

Sir John acknowledged this but said the Maxwellisation process was "genuinely difficult" because of the need to ensure fairness and confidentiality for all those involved.

He added: "What I am determined to do is to get the report to the prime minister and out as soon as we can."

Sir John insisted the report was not being held back because of concerns about the political consequences of releasing it in the run-up to May's general election.

"I don't believe the timing in relation to a political event, even one as important as a general election, determines the issue," he said.

And he also rejected calls for guidance on when it would eventually be released.

"The risk of either arousing false hopes or false expectations either way outweighs for me the powerful appetite, for all sorts of often good reasons, to know when the report is likely to become available."

The inquiry had a "conscious duty" to get "access to the truth", he told MPs, and moving at a quicker pace could have undermined the "depth" of the final report.

'Deserve answers'

Wednesday's hearing is the first time Sir John Chilcot has been cross-examined about his work since the inquiry began in 2009.

In a Commons debate last week, MPs from all sides called for continued delays to the report to be explained.

Ministers say they are frustrated by the delays but cannot intervene because it is an independent inquiry.

It is not known who has received letters of criticism as part of the Maxwellisation process but key figures in the decision to go to war, including Tony Blair, have rejected claims they are holding up the process and say they want it released as soon as possible.

But Conservative backbencher David Davis suggested that the Civil Service, which has the final say over which documents relating to Iraq can be published, was partly to blame.

"The Sir Humphrey Mafia are being difficult," he told Today. "They have an interest in keeping secrets."

And Lib Dem MP Tim Farron said it was "appalling" that the families of the 179 British personnel who died in Iraq between 2003 and 2009 had had to wait so long to find out why Britain had gone to war.

"This country deserves answers," he told the BBC News Channel. "The people who lost loved ones in Iraq deserve answers."

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Jordan executes convicted jihadists

4 February 2015 Last updated at 11:26

Jordan has executed two convicts, including a female jihadist, following the killing of one of its air force pilots by Islamic State (IS) militants.

The woman, failed suicide bomber Sajida al-Rishawi, and al-Qaeda operative Ziyad Karboli - both Iraqi nationals - were hanged at dawn, officials said.

The executions came hours after IS posted a video appearing to show pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh being burned alive.

He was seized after crashing during an anti-IS mission over Syria in December.

Jordan had attempted to secure Lt Kasasbeh's release in a swap involving Rishawi, but IS is believed to have killed him a month ago.

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Lt Kasasbeh's father: "I demand Islamic State should be wiped out"

The militants initially sought Rishawi's release as part of a deal to free captive Japanese journalist Kenji Goto, but later killed him.

Rishawi had been on death row for her role in attacks in Jordan's capital, Amman, which killed 60 people in 2005. Karboli was convicted in 2008 of killing a Jordanian national.

The two prisoners were executed at 04:00 local time (02:00 GMT), government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani said on Wednesday morning.

'Revenge will be huge'

The BBC's Paul Adams in Amman says talk of an exchange appears to have been a IS tactic to string Jordan along and foster doubt among Jordanians over its role in the US-led coalition.

Jordan vowed an "earth-shattering" response after IS posted a video online appearing to show the pilot standing in a cage engulfed in flames.

One of the leading authorities in Sunni Islam condemned the killing, saying the burning to death of Lt Kasasbeh violated Islam's prohibition on the mutilation of bodies.

In a statement released on Tuesday night, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar University in Egypt, called for the "killing, crucifixion of IS terrorists".

Mamdouh al-Ameri, a spokesman for the Jordanian armed forces, said on Tuesday that Lt Kasasbeh had "fallen as a martyr", saying their "revenge will be as huge as the loss of the Jordanians."

Safi al-Kasasbeh, the pilot's father, called for the Jordanian government to do "more than just executing prisoners".

The blood of his son was the blood of the nation, he said, "and the blood of the nation must be avenged."

"I call for [IS] to be eliminated completely," he told reporters on Wednesday.

Analysis: Frank Gardner, BBC Security Correspondent

In addition to the horrific voyeurism of the latest hostage murder video from IS, something else stands out: The total inability of the US and its coalition allies to save hostages from the clutches of IS.

For all its multi-billion-dollar intelligence-gathering agencies, its satellites in space, and its highly trained special operations teams, Washington has been unable to mount a successful hostage rescue mission in IS territory.

So this video is not just a warning to Arab pilots taking part in the US-led air strikes, it is a calculated mockery of coalition impotence to stop them murdering their hostages, slowly, in broad daylight, at a time of their choosing.

Everyone knows their base is in Raqqa in northern Syria and it is no secret that other hostages are still in IS hands.

Efforts may now be increased to find them but an earlier US rescue mission failed and planners will be looking at the long odds against another one having any more success.

Jordan's King Abdullah hailed Lt Kasasbeh as a hero, saying Jordan must "stand united" in the face of hardship.

The king decided to cut short a visit to the US after news of the pilot's death, but he met President Barack Obama on Tuesday evening before flying home.

Many in Jordan have questioned its role in the air strikes against IS but the two leaders sought to reaffirm their joint resolve to destroy the group.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reported on Wednesday that the United Arab Emirates suspended its involvement in the anti-IS air strikes after Lt Kasasbeh was captured in December.

It cites US officials as saying the UAE wants the Pentagon to improve its search-and-rescue efforts in Iraq before it resumes bombing missions.

Timeline: Jordanian pilot held hostage

24 December 2014: Jordanian Lt Moaz Youssef al-Kasasbeh captured by IS after his plane crashes

25 December 2014: Pilot's father urges IS to show mercy

20 January 2015: IS threatens to kill two Japanese hostages unless Japan pays $200m ransom within 72 hours

24 January: IS releases video of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto holding a picture apparently showing Haruna Yukawa's decapitated body

24 January: IS calls for release of Sajida al-Rishawi, an Iraqi militant sentenced to death in Jordan

28 January: Jordan offers to release Rishawi in exchange for Lt Kasasbeh

29 January: Deadline to kill Lt Kasasbeh and Mr Goto expires

31 January: Video released appearing to show Kenji Goto's body

3 February: Video released appearing to show Lt Kasasbeh burnt alive, with Jordanian media suggesting he was killed weeks earlier

Profile: Lt Moaz al-Kasasbeh

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NZ judge 'to head child abuse probe'

4 February 2015 Last updated at 12:01

A New Zealand judge is expected to be named as the new head of the inquiry into historical child sex abuse later.

The name of the judge has not been revealed, but Home Secretary Theresa May is due to make a statement in the House of Commons at 12:30 GMT.

Mrs May's two previous choices for chairman have resigned since the inquiry was announced in July 2014.

BBC home affairs correspondent Tom Symonds said the rest of the panel initially chosen had been "dissolved".

The inquiry, sparked by claims of paedophiles operating in Westminster in the 1980s, will investigate whether "public bodies and other non-state institutions have taken seriously their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse in England and Wales".

Baroness Butler-Sloss, Mrs May's first choice as inquiry chair resigned a week after it was set up. She faced calls to quit because her late brother, Sir Michael Havers, was attorney general in the 1980s.

Her replacement, Lord Mayor of London Fiona Woolf, stood down on 31 October amid questions over her links to former Home Secretary Lord Brittan.

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Litvinenko 'did not poison himself'

3 February 2015 Last updated at 11:24

Former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko did not accidentally kill himself after handling nuclear material, the inquiry into his death has heard.

His widow Marina rejected allegations that he had bought the radioactive substance polonium-210, saying he was a "very legal person'".

She also told the court about an arson attack on their London home and incidents of harassment.

Mr Litvinenko was a vocal critic of the Russian government and spy agency FSB.

Mr Litvinenko, who had British citizenship and worked for the British intelligence services while in the UK, died after drinking tea laced with polonium at a hotel in London in 2006.

Two men - former KGB bodyguard turned politician Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun - were named as the main suspects in 2007. Both deny any involvement and remain in Russia.

Asked about the claims that Mr Litvinenko had acquired the polonium-210 himself, his widow said it was "not possible".

"It's illegal and he will not do any illegal things in this country," she said.

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Crucial vote on three-person babies

3 February 2015 Last updated at 09:12 By James Gallagher Health editor, BBC News website

MPs will hold a crucial vote later to decide whether to allow the creation of babies using DNA from three people.

They will have a free vote on the technique, which is aimed at preventing deadly genetic diseases being passed from mother to child.

The UK would become the first country to introduce laws to allow the creation of babies from three people.

It has sparked fierce ethical debate and senior Church figures have called for the procedure to be blocked.

However, if there is a "yes" vote in the Commons, then the first three-person baby could be born as soon as next year. It could eventually help about 150 couples a year.

The technique, which was developed in Newcastle, should help women like Sharon Bernardi, from Sunderland, who lost all seven of her children to mitochondrial disease.

Mitochondria are the tiny compartments inside nearly every cell of the body that convert food into useable energy. They have their own DNA which does not affect characteristics such as appearance.

Defective mitochondria, which are passed down only from the mother, lead to brain damage, muscle wasting, heart failure and blindness.

The technique uses a modified version of IVF to combine the DNA of the two parents with the healthy mitochondria of a donor woman.

It results in babies with 0.1% of their DNA from the second woman and is a permanent change that would be passed down through the generations.

The government backs the measure in principle.

However, MPs will be given a free vote, as it is an issue of conscience, rather than being forced down party lines.

Prof Doug Turnbull, the director of the Wellcome Trust centre for mitochondrial research where the technique was pioneered, urged MPs to vote in favour.

He told the BBC News website: "This is research that has been suggested by the patients, supported by patients and is for the patients, and that's an important message."

That message was backed up by calls from British Nobel Prize-winning scientists and 40 leading scientists from 14 countries.

But not everyone agrees.

What will happen?

• There will be a 45-minute debate in the House of Commons, expected after 15:00 GMT
• This will be followed by the vote
• The House of Lords will also have to vote, although those close to the issue believe the Commons' vote will be the crucial one
• If the procedure is given the go-ahead, the UK fertility regulator will be able to license fertility clinics

Last week the Catholic and Anglican Churches in England said the idea was not safe or ethical, not least because it involved the destruction of embryos.

Other groups, including Human Genetics Alert, say the move would open the door to further genetic modification of children in the future - so-called designer babies, genetically modified for beauty, intelligence or to be free of disease.

David King, from the campaign group, said: "Once you cross the ethical line, it is very hard not to take the next step of designer babies.

"All our experience says we are pushed down slopes by thousands of people who are paid to make sure we go that way."

Dr Gillian Lockwood, a reproductive ethicist, told the BBC it was a "small change" in the legislation.

"The biggest problem is that this has been described as three-parent IVF. In fact it is 2.001-parent IVF," she said.

"Less than a tenth of one per cent of the genome is actually going to be affected. It is not part of what makes us genetically who we are.

"It doesn't affect height, eye colour, intelligence, musicality. It simply allows the batteries to work properly."

Safety concerns

A review by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, as well as a public consultation by the fertility regulator, argued the creation of three-person babies was ethical.

Three scientific reviews by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) suggest the technique is "not unsafe".

Yet some scientists argue those reviews were flawed.

Dr Ted Morrow, from the University of Sussex, believes there are still uncertainties.

"I have some concerns about the safety, I'm really not happy that the reviews have been as exemplary as other people think they are."

Prof Lisa Jardine, former chair of the HFEA, said the safety issue was a "red herring".

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Rachel Kean has a family history of mitochondrial disease and says the technique could be hugely beneficial

"All of those issues have been investigated," she said. "The scientific committees have said there is no evidence this procedure is unsafe but like all good scientists, they say it will require careful progress."

Bishop of Swindon Dr Lee Rayfield said this procedure was a "massive step" and some of his colleagues were concerned about how it was going to be regulated once approved.

"If the safeguards are there, the Church of England will be behind this," he added.

Rachel Kean, whose aunt died from mitochondrial disease, told BBC Breakfast that a yes vote would "prevent some of the cruellest and most devastating diseases, not just for the next generation but generations after".

She said there had been an "unprecedented" amount of scrutiny into the regulation and a lot of misinformation about "designer babies".

If politicians vote it through, then the HFEA is expected to give Newcastle a licence to carry out the procedure.

The first attempt could take place this year, which could lead to the first birth in 2016.

What are your thoughts on this type of treatment? Would you consider using the three-person baby technique? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your experience.

Please include a telephone number if you are willing to be contacted by a BBC journalist.

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Court rejects Balkan genocide claims

3 February 2015 Last updated at 11:09

The International Court of Justice has ruled that Serbia and Croatia did not commit acts of genocide against each other during the Croatian war of secession from Yugoslavia.

The Croatian government had alleged that Serbia committed genocide in the town of Vukovar and elsewhere in 1991.

Serbia later filed a counter-claim over the expulsion of more than 200,000 Serbs from Croatia.

About 20,000 people died during the 1991-1995 war, mostly Croatians.

The Croatian town of Vukovar was devastated when it was occupied by Serbs for three months in 1991. Tens of thousands of ethnic Croats were displaced, and about 260 Croat men were detained and killed.

Four years later, the Croatian military's Operation Storm bombarded the majority ethnic-Serb Krajina area, forcing about 200,000 people from their homes.

Speaking in court on Tuesday, Judge Peter Tomka dismissed both the Croatian claim and the Serbian counter-claim.

Forces on both sides had carried out violent acts during the war, Judge Tomka said. However, neither side had provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate the "specific intent required for acts of genocide".

UN 1948 Genocide Convention

• Act committed with intent to destroy in whole or part a national, ethnical, racial or religious group
• Killing members of the group
• Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
• Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring physical destruction
• Imposing measures intended to prevent births
• Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

Croatia filed its initial case with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) - the top UN court - in 1999, accusing Serbs, led by President Slobodan Milosevic, of targeting ethnic Croats during the conflict.

It wanted Serbia to pay compensation for damages "to persons and properties as well as to the Croatian economy and environment".

In 2010, Serbia responded to Croatia's case with a countersuit, saying that ethnics Serbs were expelled when Croatia launched its 1995 operation to retake territory captured by Serbs.

The BBC's Anna Holligan in The Hague says although genocide is the most serious of international crimes, it is also the hardest to prove.

'End of a process'

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Anna Holligan explains the background to the cases being heard at the ICJ

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic earlier described the verdict as "one of perhaps the most important events for our bilateral relations with Croatia".

"It will probably be the end of a process that has lasted for 15-20 years [and] will put an end to both sides' fight to prove who the worst criminal is," he told reporters on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Croatian Justice Minister Orsat Miljenic has previously said that the government's main goal is to "present what happened in the war and that was aggression against Croatia".

"Expectations have already been met" through the case being discussed at the ICJ, Mr Miljenic added.

Relations between the two countries have improved in recent years but in 2012 Serbia was outraged when Operation Storm commander Ante Gotovina, was cleared on appeal by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Last week, ahead of the verdict, Vukovar resident Kata Lozancic told Reuters news agency that she believed genocide had taken place in her town.

"Everything from cultural and natural sites, to people, everything was destroyed," she said. "The town and its vicinity are full of former camp sites, places where they held people in detention, searched them, tortured them."

Meanwhile, a refugee in Serbia, identified only as Dragica, expressed unhappiness at the Croatian government's claims.

"They expelled us Serbs, and now they [claim they] are not criminals, and we are," she told Reuters.

"[They say] we ran away... [but] who would be crazy enough to run away from their own home, leaving everything behind, everything we worked so hard for."

Former Yugoslavia was a Socialist state created after World War Two. It consisted of six republics: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.

The federation began falling apart in the early 1990s. Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Macedonia declared independence, sparking conflicts with the Serb-dominated Yugoslav army. All four countries were eventually recognised as independent by the UN.

In 2006, Montenegro also emerged as a sovereign state after a referendum for independence, ending the former Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

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England will control own tax - Hague

3 February 2015 Last updated at 11:43

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William Hague: "It would be an evolution, an important one, in the Westminster Parliament"

MPs for Scottish seats would be stripped of the power to "impose" income tax rate changes on England under Conservative plans.

MPs for English seats would have a veto on tax, and issues like schools and health, which only affect England.

The plan falls short of the English Parliament demanded by some Tory MPs.

But Commons leader William Hague said it was a "fair solution". Labour is calling for a cross-party investigation into the matter.

Scotland is set to be given the power to set its own income tax rates and bands - and Air Passenger Duty rates - under proposals drawn up by the The Smith Commission in the wake of November's independence referendum.

'Stitch-up'

Prime Minister David Cameron promised a new settlement for England at the same time.

Critics say it is unfair that Scottish MPs should help decide how things such as schools and the health service are run in England, when English MPs have no such say over how they are run in Scotland.

But attempts at cross-party talks to resolve the so-called "West Lothian Question" were boycotted by Labour - which could struggle to get key legislation through the Commons if it won the election without its Scottish MPs - as a "stitch up".

How Hague's plan would work

• Before a Bill or parts of a Bill affecting only England is put to its final Commons vote, English MPs would meet separately to consider it
• The Bill could not proceed without the backing of a majority of this English Grand Committee
• In addition, only MPs for English constituencies would be allowed to take part in the committee stage, where the fine details are thrashed out and amendments proposed
• But MPs from all parts of the UK would be entitled to take part in the final Commons vote passing the Bill into law

Mr Hague's plan would give an effective veto to MPs for English seats - and Wales on some policies - for matters decided in the Scottish Parliament, but would still require a majority of all UK MPs to pass legislation.

He said it was the least radical of three options to resolve demands for "English votes for English laws" but would bring "fairness and accountability to England without without breaking up the unity and integrity of the UK Parliament".

He told BBC Breakfast: "MPs from all parts of the UK would continue to debate, as they do now, anything they want. It is just that they would only be able to pass measures relating only to England with the agreement of the English MPs."

Analysis BBC's deputy political editor, James Landale

Conservative MPs have in recent weeks maintained discipline and kept friendly fire on their leadership to a minimum.

But soon David Cameron will have to announce his plans to give English MPs a vote over English laws - and beneath the surface a ferocious debate is raging.

The latest contribution comes from respected senior Conservative Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Commons Treasury Committee and longstanding constitutional reformer.

He has emailed a 48-page document to all of his Tory colleagues, entitled "Voice and Veto - Answering the West Lothian Question", which argues strongly for English MPs to have a veto over English legislation in the House of Commons.

Read the full article

Mr Hague said the Commons Speaker would probably have the job of deciding which measures should be treated as England only.

He said the proposals were unlikely to become law before May's general election but they would be in the Conservative manifesto and he was keen for MPs to debate them before the election.

'Leverage'

But some Conservative MPs say the plan will still give MPs for Scottish constituencies too much influence.

Former Cabinet Minister John Redwood told The Daily Telegraph: "It gives them leverage. If you had a lot of Nationalist MPs, for example, who wanted something for Scotland then presumably they would all gang up and try to block an English proposal until we cave in on what they wanted. It would be perfectly legitimate political tactics."

He said Tory MPs would not back Mr Hague's proposals.

In December Labour said an English, or English and Welsh, committee stage would give those MPs "a key role" in considering the legislation in question, while MPs as a whole would have the final say.

Labour said this and other ideas should be considered by a constitutional convention after May's general election.

The Liberal Democrats favour a grand committee of English MPs, with the right to veto legislation applying only to England, with its members based on the share of the vote.

But Lib Dem Deputy Commons Leader Tom Brake said it would be a "major mistake" to "rush through" changes without a constitutional convention.

UKIP Deputy Leader Paul Nuttall said: "Cameron has spoken of English votes for English laws but these proposals will fail to deliver anything but chaos."

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Courts can impose whole-life terms

3 February 2015 Last updated at 11:49

British courts do have the right to impose whole-life tariffs on prisoners who are jailed for life, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled.

The court had said in 2013 that whole-life sentences breached human rights because it was not clear if there was the chance of a review of such cases.

Judges have now said this is not the case with murderer Arthur Hutchinson, who challenged his whole-life sentence.

The UK was considered to be in line with human rights laws, they added.

'Exceptional release'

The European court had previously said there had to be the possibility of a review at some stage and that current laws allowing for release in exceptional circumstances were unclear.

The Court of Appeal in the UK then said in 2014 that the law in England and Wales "is clear as to 'possible exceptional release of whole-life prisoners'".

It said the justice secretary had the power to release a prisoner on licence if they were satisfied exceptional circumstances existed that justified it on compassionate grounds.

The Strasbourg-based court ruled that in Hutchinson's case there had been no violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which relates to inhuman and degrading treatment.

Analysis By Clive Coleman, legal affairs correspondent, BBC News

The ruling is perhaps more significant politically than it is legally.

In 2013, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights ruled that whole-life sentences passed on the most heinous murderers were incompatible with human rights and amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment. The reason was the lack of a proper review and so the lack of hope, however remote, of eventual release.

That caused political ructions. It was cited by the Conservatives in proposals published last year to scrap the Human Rights Act in favour of a British Bill of Rights and to ensure that Parliament was not bound by Strasbourg rulings. The whole-life sentence ruling, along with that on prisoner votes, were seen by many as examples of expansionist European judges straying beyond their original human rights brief.

However, last year the Court of Appeal clarified the justice secretary's power to review whole life sentences in "exceptional circumstances".

It had previously been used to review cases and release prisoners with weeks to live on compassionate grounds, but the Court of Appeal said it was broader and was compatible with human rights.

Strasbourg agreed with that. An example of a sensible dialogue between national courts and the ECHR? If so, it takes away the some of the justification for renegotiating the UK's relationship with the European Court of Human Rights.

The judges said in a written ruling: "In the circumstances of this case where, following the Grand Chamber's judgment in which it expressed doubts about the clarity of domestic law, the national court has specifically addressed those doubts and set out an unequivocal statement of the legal position, the court must accept the national court's interpretation of domestic law."

Hartlepool-born Hutchinson was jailed in 1984 for stabbing Basil and Avril Laitner to death after breaking into their Sheffield home on the night of their daughter's wedding, then killing one of their sons.

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