Watchdog backs MP £6,000 pay rise
By Anonymous on Jul 10, 2013 07:05 pm 10 July 2013 Last updated at 17:00 ET 
Many MPs believe their pay has been held down for years for political reasons
The MPs' expenses watchdog will recommend a £7,500 pay rise for MPs but will say there should be cuts to other allowances, the BBC has learned.
BBC political editor Nick Robinson says Ipsa will propose a salary of about £74,000 - up from the current £66,396.
But it will recommend a less generous pension scheme and cuts to meal allowances and taxi claims.
The proposals, to be unveiled on Thursday, will go to consultation before being finalised later this year.
Any changes will then come into force after the 2015 general election.
'Unthinkable' The proposals will also mean lower "golden goodbyes" for departing MPs, the BBC has learned.
"Resettlement grants" paid under the old expenses scheme were worth up to £64,766 for long-serving MPs still of a working age, the first £30,000 of which was tax-free.
Continue reading the main story "Start Quote
A Labour source pointed out that the law which created Ipsa forces it to review MPs' pay again at the start of the next Parliament, so this pay rise was "pie in the sky" "
End Quote But Nick Robinson said he understood that money saved would not fully offset the increase in MPs' salaries.
Leading politicians have already spoken out against a pay rise for MPs, at a time when there is a pay freeze elsewhere in the public sector. David Cameron has said such a rise would be "unthinkable" and Nick Clegg said he would not take one.
But Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority chairman Sir Ian Kennedy has warned them not to interfere, as putting off difficult decisions was what lay behind the 2009 expenses crisis.
Thursday's recommendations are also expected to include a formula to determine how MPs' pay will rise in future.
In a speech last week, Sir Ian said the watchdog had been "impressed by the idea that MPs' pay should move in line with the fortunes of those they represent, such that MPs' pay would be indexed to movements in national average earnings. If the average wage goes up, MPs' pay would go up. If the average wage falls, MPs' pay would fall."
MPs used to vote on their own pay but from 2008, recommended pay rises were made by the Senior Salaries Review Body which were supposed to take place automatically.
However its recommendation for a 1% rise in 2011-12 was voted down by MPs, at the instigation of the government, because of a two-year pay freeze imposed on the public sector.
In May 2011, powers to set and administer MPs' salaries passed to Ipsa, which went on to freeze MPs' pay for 2012-13.
MPs and members of the public will be able to take part in a consultation before Ipsa publishes its final plans - expected in the autumn - which would then come into force without the need for further legislation.
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NHS 'heading for £30bn funding gap'
By Anonymous on Jul 11, 2013 02:24 am 10 July 2013 Last updated at 20:47 ET By Branwen Jeffreys Health correspondent, BBC News 
The NHS in England needs to take urgent decisions about reorganising hospital and GP care to avoid a growing funding gap, according to its leaders.
In a report, NHS England warns that by 2020-21 the gap between the budget and rising costs could reach £30bn.
The organisation's chief executive, Sir David Nicholson, said services needed to be concentrated in fewer hospitals.
Otherwise he said pressures could lead to another tragedy on the scale of the failings at Stafford Hospital.
In an interview with the BBC, Sir David said trying to maintain services in the same number of hospitals could lead to staffing numbers being cut on every ward.
"That is completely unacceptable to us in the NHS.
"It's a really stark choice for us, do we go for service change, change in the way we deliver services to patients or do we sleepwalk into a position where we reduce the quality for patients."
He warned that: "If we don't tackle these issues now and over the next couple of years - the future for many of our organisations is facing those very dangers that Mid Staffordshire faced during the years it was involved in this terrible tragedy."
NHS England plans to publish a document giving some indication of the scale of reform needed by the end of the year.
It expects most of the new local Clinical Commissioning Groups to come forward with more detailed plans for meeting the financial challenge early in 2014.
The warning of a further £30bn gap between NHS funding and likely costs and demands comes on top of an estimated £20bn the health service is being asked to find by 2014/15.
Controversial Hospital changes have been very controversial in communities across England.
In Stafford, despite the criticisms of the local hospital in the public inquiry, tens of thousands of people took to the streets to object to plans to downgrade some services.
The controversial plans for services in the town have been drawn up rapidly after the involvement of a special administrator appointed by the healthcare regulator Monitor. A final decision about the proposals is expected within weeks.
But the call for a more honest debate about how savings should be made within the health service was welcomed by medical organisations.
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges said it agreed that changing where and how services are delivered was better than other less palatable options.
"Doctors would certainly agree that it is unacceptable that the only solution to the financial pressures is to reduce care to patients or charge for services."
Political challenges Prof Chris Ham, chief executive of the Kings Fund think tank said the need for fundamental change was pressing, following the disruption of the recent reorganisation of the NHS in England.
"The government's recent NHS reforms failed to address these challenges.
"This time politicians and policymakers must deliver. This means having the courage to transform services, rather than making further bureaucratic and structural changes."
The very public call by NHS England for backing to make changes which will lead to some hospitals losing services or units will increase the pressure for all political parties to define their future positions on health service funding.
Before the 2010 election, all the main parties agreed with the call from Sir David for £20bn worth of savings in the NHS in England by 2014/15.
Now NHS England is pressing for them to acknowledge the funding gap after the next election may only be bridged with difficult and controversial change.
Christina McAnea, from the union UNISON, said there needed to be a debate about the future of the NHS.
She added: "With funding flat lining and the demand for £20bn in so-called efficiency savings, is it any wonder that the there is potentially a funding gap?
"Realistic levels of funding and a more integrated approach between health and social care is the way forward."
Read in browser » Canada blast missing 'probably dead'
By Anonymous on Jul 11, 2013 12:51 am 11 July 2013 Last updated at 00:51 ET 
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Lac-Megantic resident Adrien Aubert filmed the aftermath of the blast
Canadian police have said 30 people still missing since Saturday's train disaster in a Quebec town are "most probably dead".
Twenty bodies have already been found after a runaway train carrying oil derailed and exploded in Lac-Megantic.
The train operator's boss blamed a local engineer for the accident, saying he had probably failed to set a series of hand brakes.
At least 30 buildings were razed by the fireball from the explosion.
This forced some 2,000 town residents to flee their homes.
'Burnt to ashes' On Wednesday, Quebec police inspector Michel Forget told the families of the missing that their loved ones were "most probably dead in this tragedy".
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Rail World boss Ed Burkhardt: "It is very questionable whether the hand brakes were properly applied. In fact I'll say they weren't."
"It is with great sadness that I give you this news," he said.
Police say one of the 20 recovered bodies has been identified and the victim's relatives have been notified.
No official list of missing people has yet been released, but unofficial accounts have been circulating on social media.
Authorities have asked the relatives of those still missing to provide DNA samples by bringing in toothbrushes, razors and other items.
But the authorities have also warned some of the bodies may have been burnt to ashes in the explosion.
'Serious gaps' Earlier on Wednesday, Rail World chief executive officer Edward Burkhardt was heckled by Lac-Megantic residents as he made his first visit to the town.
Mr Burkhardt revealed that the engineer - who was in charge of driving the train - had been suspended without pay.
"I think he did something wrong," Mr Burkhardt said, flanked by police escorts.
Continue reading the main story At the scene
David Willis BBC News, Lac-Megantic
Ed Burkhardt was no doubt speaking figuratively when he said he would have to wear a bulletproof vest in Lac-Megantic. Yet judging by his reception and the tone of the questions put to him, such concerns may have been relevant.
His candid admission that the train's engineer may have been to blame may have won him kudos with some, but for others it only adds to the growing mistrust of freight train companies. Opponents point out that not only are there more trains carrying potentially hazardous cargo, but the trains are getting longer - the one that exploded into a fireball was made up of more than 70 pressurised oil containers.
Hotel receptionist Charlotte Selby told me she would like to see an end to the oil trains all together. Her 16-year-old daughter Karyne phoned early on Saturday morning and told her: "Mum, Lac-Megantic doesn't exist anymore."
"It's hard to explain why someone didn't do something. We think he applied some hand brakes but the question is: did he apply enough of them?
"He said he applied 11 hand brakes. We think that's not true. Initially we believed him but now we don't."
Meanwhile, Quebec Premier Pauline Marois said the company's response to the crash had been lacking.
"We have realised there are serious gaps from the railway company from not having been there and not communicating with the public," Ms Marois said as she announced a 60m Canadian dollar (£38m; $57m) fund to help victims and to rebuild the town.
Criminal negligence Police are still searching the disaster site, and the heart of the town is being treated as a crime scene.
At the centre of the destruction was the Musi-Cafe, a popular bar that was filled at the time of the explosion.
Police earlier said investigators had ruled out terrorism as a cause of the disaster, but criminal negligence remained under consideration.
The train, carrying 72 cars of crude oil, was parked shortly before midnight on Friday in the town of Nantes about seven miles (11km) away.
Local firefighters were later called to put out a fire on the train.
While tackling that blaze, they shut down a locomotive that had apparently been left running to keep the brakes engaged.
Shortly afterwards the train began moving downhill in an 18-minute journey, gathering speed until it derailed in Lac-Megantic and exploded.
The fire department and the train's owners have appeared in recent days to point the finger at one another over the disaster.
Mr Burkhardt suggested on Tuesday evening that firefighters shared some of the blame.
The train was carrying oil from the Bakken oil region in the US state of North Dakota to a refinery on the east coast of Canada.
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Read in browser » US-Egypt fighter jet deal 'on track'
By Anonymous on Jul 11, 2013 03:24 am 10 July 2013 Last updated at 20:04 ET 
Supporters continue to gather outside Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, demanding Mr Morsi's release
Ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is being held in a "safe place", a foreign ministry spokesman says.
Badr Abdul Atti told reporters on Wednesday he did not know where the 61-year-old Islamist was, but he was being treated in a "very dignified manner".
Arrest warrants have been issued for the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and nine senior figures.
Meanwhile, gunmen have reportedly attacked a senior military commander's car in the restive Sinai peninsula.
The commander emerged unharmed from the attack, which took place near the border with the Gaza Strip, a security official told the AFP news agency.
It is the latest in a string of attacks "targeting the army and the police in recent days with the aim of sowing chaos and harming the stability and national security of Egypt," the army said.
'Dire consequences' In another army crackdown, Egypt's state prosecutor charged Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie and nine others with inciting Monday's deadly violence in Cairo.
More than 50 people were killed outside the Presidential Guard barracks, where Morsi supporters had gathered to demand his reinstatement.
The foreign ministry spokesman also said on Wednesday that no charges had been levelled against the ousted president.
Continue reading the main story Analysis
Wyre Davies BBC News, Cairo
Muslim Brotherhood spokesmen were almost baffled by the prosecutor's move to issue arrest warrants for Mohammed Badie.
Mr Badie is the movement's general or supreme guide, to whom every new member is required to pledge an oath of allegiance. So, his detention would enrage the thousands of Brotherhood supporters camped outside Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, where they are vowing to remain until President Mohammed Morsi is released and reinstated.
Mr Badie and a handful of other Brotherhood leaders escaped arrest when the army deposed Mr Morsi a week ago. He has since addressed the crowd at the mosque and vowed not to give an inch until the democratically elected government is restored.
The real danger is that the move to arrest Mr Badie completely undermines efforts by the interim president to form a government of national unity, ahead of proposed elections next year. Less than 24 hours ago, Adly Mansour's office was reporting that it had offered positions to the Brotherhood.
But any attempt to arrest those senior Brotherhood figures not yet in detention would almost certainly inflame what is already a volatile situation in Egypt.
Mr Morsi was being detained "for his own safety", he added, "and for the safety of the country, it is better to keep him in a safe place. Otherwise, the consequences will be dire".
He reportedly denied that Mr Morsi was being detained at the Presidential Guard barracks in Cairo, as many believe.
Many Brotherhood members are already in detention and warrants are said to have been been issued for hundreds more.
The Brotherhood, to which Mr Morsi belongs, says his ousting by the military a week ago amounted to a coup.
Its supporters have since been staging protests outside the capital's Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, not far from the barracks, demanding his release and reinstatement.
The movement's political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), has said it will not accept an offer to join the cabinet being set up by interim Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi, a 76-year-old economist and former finance minister who was appointed on Tuesday.
The arrest warrants could scupper any attempts to persuade the Brotherhood to participate in the transitional political process.
'Remain peaceful' Spokesman Gehad el-Haddad said the charges against Mr Badie, known as the General Guide, and other senior leaders, were "nothing more than an attempt by the police state to dismantle the Rabaa protest".
Prosecutors also said they had ordered 200 people - believed to be Brotherhood members - to be held in custody for at least 15 days pending further investigation into accusations of murder, incitement to violence, carrying unlicensed weapons and disrupting public order. Another 450 have been released on bail.
There are conflicting reports about what happened on Monday, when more than 50 Brotherhood supporters were killed, as well as a soldier and two policemen.
The Brotherhood says the army fired on peaceful demonstrators and is accusing the interim authorities of a cover up. The military, however, say they acted in self-defence after being attack by armed assailants.
On Wednesday, 15 leading Egyptian human rights groups expressed their "strong condemnation of the excessive use of force" against Brotherhood supporters, and called for an independent investigation into Monday's violence.
The BBC's Jim Muir, in Cairo, says the protest now covers several square kilometres of the capital, and to clear it out forcibly would almost certainly involve further bloodshed.
There is a feeling among the protesters that they have returned to the situation they were in under former President Hosni Mubarak, when the movement was banned and its members hunted down, our correspondent adds.
The timetable for new elections, announced in a constitutional declaration by interim President Adly Mansour on Monday evening, laid out plans to set up a panel to amend the suspended constitution within 15 days.
The changes would then be put to a referendum - to be organised within four months - which would pave the way for parliamentary elections, possibly in early 2014.
Continue reading the main story Adly Mansour's transition timeline
- Panel formed within 15 days to review constitution
- Constitutional amendments to be finalised and put to referendum in four months
- Parliamentary elections to be held by early 2014
- Presidential elections to be called once new parliament convenes
Once the new parliament convenes, elections would be called to appoint a new president.
A spokesman for Mr Mansour said posts in the cabinet would be offered to the FJP, but senior party official Mohamed Kamal told the BBC: "We will never take part in any cabinet as long as Morsi is not back as a president."
The FJP's deputy chairman, Essam al-Erian, earlier said the constitutional declaration had been issued "by a man appointed by putschists". The text does make clear that Mr Mansour and his government draw their authority only from the commander of the armed forces, who deposed President Morsi.
The grassroots Tamarod protest movement, which organised the demonstrations that led to Mr Morsi's overthrow, said the decree gave too much power to Mr Mansour.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait - who are opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood - have promised Egypt's interim government $12bn (£8bn) in grants, loans, and gas and oil.
Lyse Doucet: The struggle to save Egypt's revolution
Frank Gardner: Is Egypt heading for holy war?
Key players in the Egyptian crisis
Egypt clashes: Divided views
Read in browser » Trident base 'could stay part of UK'
By Anonymous on Jul 10, 2013 11:44 pm 10 July 2013 Last updated at 23:44 ET 
The UK's nuclear submarines have been based at Faslane since the mid 1990s
Ministry of Defence officials are exploring the idea of retaining a Scottish naval base as sovereign UK territory if there is a yes vote in next year's independence referendum.
Faslane, in Argyll and Bute, is home to the Trident nuclear missile submarines.
A government source told the BBC the idea was "interesting" because of the huge costs of relocating the base.
The SNP reacted angrily to the suggestion, accusing Westminster of trying to bully Scotland.
Voters in Scotland will decide whether or not to remain part of the United Kingdom in September 2014.
Nuclear weapons are a key point of division for the two sides of the independence debate - with the SNP promising to abandon Trident.
Reports in the Guardian newspaper on Thursday suggested the UK government could give Faslane - where 6,000 people are employed - a status similar to that of British military bases in Cyprus, designated as sovereign territory.
The move would be designed to maintain access for the Trident fleet to the the open seas via the Firth of Clyde, the newspaper said.
'No contingency plans' An MoD spokesman said it was confident Scotland would remain part of the UK and that the scale and cost of relocating the base in the event of a yes vote would be "enormous".
"No contingency plans are being made to move Trident out of Scotland," the spokesman said.
A government source added: "It would cost a huge amount of money, running into tens of billions of pounds, to decommission Faslane.
"Those costs would be factored into any negotiations on an independence settlement. The sovereign base area is an option - it is an interesting idea because the costs of moving out of Faslane are eye-wateringly high."
But the SNP said the idea was "an extraordinary attempt" to bully Scotland.
Angus Robertson, the party's leader at Westminster, said: "Neither the people nor parliament of Scotland want nuclear weapons dumped here, and we are clear that Trident would have to be removed as quickly as possible."
He said only a vote for independence would empower Scotland to remove the submarines.
One former armed forces minister, Liberal Democrat Sir Nick Harvey, told the Guardian re-designating Faslane on a "Cyprus-type arrangement" was the most practical and likely outcome should Scotland leave the UK.
Read in browser » Protesters attempt to scale Shard
By Anonymous on Jul 11, 2013 03:09 am 11 July 2013 Last updated at 02:29 ET 
Six people are said to be scaling the building
Six protesters are attempting to scale the tallest building in western Europe, The Shard.
The Met Police said the group accessed the building in central London by climbing onto the roof of nearby London Bridge Station. Officers were called to the scene at 04:25 BST.
Greenpeace has confirmed the protesters are from the charity.
The Shard skyscraper stands at 310m (1,016ft) and has 87 storeys. It was officially opened in February.
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