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Johnson police officer suspended

Alan JohnsonMr Johnson had faced some criticism for his handling of the shadow chancellor’s brief
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A Metropolitan Police specialist operations officer has been suspended from duty following allegations he had an inappropriate relationship with the wife of Labour politician Alan Johnson.

Mr Johnson stood down unexpectedly as shadow chancellor on Thursday, citing “personal reasons”.

Newspaper reports have suggested that his close protection officer, Pc Paul Rice, had an affair with his wife.

The Met Police’s standards directorate is investigating the allegations.

In a statement on Friday evening, Scotland Yard said: “A Metropolitan Police Service Specialist Operations Police Constable has today, Friday 21 January, been suspended from duty pending the outcome of the Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) investigation into allegations reported in the media regarding an inappropriate relationship.

“A thorough investigation is now under way. As the allegation is subject to investigation, we are not able to comment further at this stage.”

It is understood that Pc Rice was assigned to protect Mr Johnson, 60, and his wife when he was home secretary in the previous Labour government.

Scotland Yard has not confirmed the name of the suspended officer.

Mr Johnson’s decision to quit his shadow cabinet job came as a complete surprise at Westminster, even though he had suffered some criticism for his grasp of its more technical aspects.

He said he had “found it difficult” to cope with the responsibility at the same time as dealing with issues in his private life.

NEW SHADOW CABINETShadow chancellor – Ed BallsShadow home secretary – Yvette CooperShadow foreign secretary – Douglas AlexanderShadow Cabinet Office minister – Tessa JowellShadow work and pensions secretary – Liam ByrneAssessing the political impact In Quotes: Johnson quits reaction At a glance: New shadow cabinet Profile: Alan Johnson Profile: Ed Balls

He will be replaced by Ed Balls, who in turn hands over the shadow home secretary’s brief to his wife, Yvette Cooper.

Mr Johnson, who will remain as MP for Hull West, has refused to comment further on his resignation and has not given any interviews.

The former postman and trade union leader has been married to his second wife Laura for almost 20 years and the couple have a 10-year-old son.

Labour leader Ed Miliband told the BBC he had accepted the resignation “with great regret” and Mr Johnson’s reasons for standing down had “nothing to do with the job” of shadow chancellor.

In an interview earlier this month, he appeared not to know the rate of National Insurance paid by employers, and he was also reported to have clashed with Mr Miliband over the policy of introducing a graduate tax to replace university tuition fees.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

7/7 families will see MI5 officer

The bus bombed in Tavistock SquareSuicide bombers killed 52 victims and injured more than 700 people on public transport in 2005

A “very senior” MI5 officer will give evidence at the inquests for the 7/7 bombings after a ruling by the coroner.

Lady Justice Hallett granted a request from Home Secretary Theresa May for “Witness G” to appear with anonymity.

However, the coroner refused to rule that the witness should be screened from the families of those who died in the terrorist attacks on 7 July 2005.

Witness G will give evidence on whether the attacks on public transport in London could have been prevented.

Lady Hallett told the hearings at the Royal Courts of Justice in London: “The bereaved families have been waiting over five years to see this witness or a witness from the security service give evidence.

“The issue of preventability is exceedingly important to them. It has been at the heart of most of their submissions to me ever since my appointment as coroner.”

Lady Hallett said she was confident that it would make a “considerable difference” to the bereaved families to be able to see the witness give evidence “rather than hear the evidence come from a disembodied voice”.

In the attacks, four suicide bombers detonated homemade devices on Tube trains at Aldgate, Edgware Road and Russell Square, and on a double decker bus at Tavistock Square. They killed 52 victims and more than 700 people were injured.

The inquests are expected to last until March.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

‘Bloodgate’ physio in appeal win

Steph Brennan and Tom WilliamsSteph Brennan (left) has had his dismissal quashed
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Former Harlequins physiotherapist Steph Brennan has won a court appeal against his dismissal for his role in rugby union’s “bloodgate” scandal.

Mr Brennan’s lawyers accused the Health Professions Council (HPC) of unlawfully imposing a two-year ban for helping winger Tom Williams fake an injury.

It was dubbed “bloodgate” after the player bit into a fake blood capsule

Mr Justice Ouseley, sitting at the High Court, quashed his dismissal and ordered the HPC to reconsider the case.

Mr Brennan’s lawyer, Paul Harris, argued that the HPC had adopted a “one strike and you are out for good” approach and the physio’s ban was of “gross severity”.

Mr Harris argued in court: “We do say that Mr Brennan does merit sanction, but the issue here is the gross severity of one strike and you are out for life. It is a sanction of last resort.”

But Stephen Brassington, for the HPC, said the misconduct “was so egregious and damaging to the reputation of his profession that the only appropriate way to deal with it was striking-off”.

He said: “His [Mr Brennan’s] expressions of remorse and sorrow simply were too little too late.”

The HPC’s lawyer argued that the panel’s order was not open to legal challenge.

Mr Brennan admitted helping Williams fake an injury during Harlequins’ Heineken Cup quarter-final defeat by Leinster in April 2009.

The supposed injury allowed the club to replace the player with a specialist goal-kicker in the last few minutes of the game.

He admitted in total five instances of faking blood injuries, between the rugby club’s 2005-06 season and the 2009 game.

He said on three occasions he had provided players with fake blood capsules for their welfare and the fourth time to get a player on to the pitch after a team-mate had been sent to the sin-bin.

Tom Williams was initially barred from the game for 12 months, a ban reduced to four months after he admitted using the capsule.

The then director of rugby at Harlequins, Dean Richards, was banned by the European Rugby Cup for three years and the club was fined £259,000.

Mr Brennan was due to begin work with the Rugby Football Union as an England physio before this incident. Since the ban was imposed in September he has carried on working in private practice.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Ryanair in boarding pass threat

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'LearyRyanair has appealed against a ruling that found it is breaking international law

Ryanair has threatened to turn away passengers arriving at check in without their pre-printed boarding pass unless a ruling from a Spanish court is overturned.

Currently the airline charges £40 for a boarding pass for those who have not printed out their own.

A judge in Barcelona has ruled that the charge is illegal.

The airline said it might stop issuing boarding passes, hence passengers would not be allowed on the aircraft.

Two years ago, Ryanair abolished the traditional airport check-in.

At the time it announced that all passengers must check-in online and print out their own boarding passes – or face the £40 charge.

Judge Barbara Maria Cordoba Ardao ruled that the company was breaking international law by imposing the charge.

Ryanair has instructed its Spanish lawyers to appeal against the ruling, saying it is “bizarre and unlawful”.

Without the charge, the no frills airline said it would have to re-employ numerous handling agents to issue manual boarding cards for passengers who “forgot” to bring theirs with them.

Simon Calder, the Independent’s travel editor, told BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours that he thinks the airline means business.

“Judging from Ryanair’s previous record of robust reactions to unfavourable court decisions – abandoning airports such as Strasbourg in France and adding a “wheelchair” surcharge to fares after a case involving disabled passengers – it’s absolutely serious,” he said.

“It will dispense with the boarding card reissue fee altogether, and will turn away passengers who arrive at the airport without the agreed pre-printed boarding card.”

Ryanair says more than 99% of people do arrive with a boarding pass and the reissue charge will continue to apply pending the appeal.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Potter star attack brother jailed

Afshan AzadAshraf Azad admitted assaulting Afshan Azad
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The brother of a Harry Potter film actress who assaulted her because her boyfriend was not Muslim has been jailed for six months.

Ashraf Azad hurled abuse at his sister Afshan Azad, who played Padma Patil in the hit films, during a “prolonged and nasty” attack at their Manchester home.

She was punched repeatedly and dragged around by her hair after being overhead talking to her Hindu boyfriend.

Mr Azad, 28, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Manchester Crown Court previously heard how Miss Azad, 22, was branded a “prostitute” and “slag” and was told: “Marry a Muslim or you die.”

The actress fled the family home in Longsight, south Manchester, through a bedroom window after the attack on 21 May 2010.

The actress, who now lives in London, had pleaded with the court not to jail her older brother.

“This is a sentence that is designed to punish you for what you did and also to send out a clear message to others that domestic violence involving circumstances such as have arisen here cannot be tolerated”

Judge Roger Thomas Manchester Crown Court

But Judge Roger Thomas QC, sentencing, said there were no good or proper reasons to suspend his sentence of six months.

“This persistent attack was accompanied by serious and very hurtful abuse and threats,” he told the defendant.

“It must have been a miserable and frightening experience for your sister which, she suggested, lasted for about three hours or so.

“The background to this offence lies in the concern that you, and perhaps other family members, had about Afshan’s relationship with a young man who was not of the Islamic faith.”

He added: “This is a sentence that is designed to punish you for what you did and also to send out a clear message to others that domestic violence involving circumstances such as have arisen here cannot be tolerated.”

Miss Azad’s character, a witch in the same year as Harry Potter at Hogwarts, first appeared in Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire.

She also features in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final film of the saga, which is being released in two parts.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Stampede death fireman not jailed

Farmer Harold Lee Mr Lee was killed when the cows he was herding stampeded
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A fireman who admitted causing the death of a farmer after his cattle were startled by the fire engine’s siren has been spared jail.

Julian Lawford, 49, pleaded guilty at Exeter Crown Court to causing the death of Harold Lee by careless driving at his trial in December.

Mr Lee, 75, was killed as he walked the cows along a country road near his home in Burtle, Somerset, in August 2009.

Lawford, from Glastonbury, was given a four-month suspended sentence.

He was also banned from driving for 12 months.

At his trial the judge, Mr Justice Roderick Evans, told the fireman he was not considering an immediate custodial sentence and released him on conditional bail.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Iran nuclear talks ‘are positive’

Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, file picTehran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful civilian purposes

Iran and major world powers are gathering in Istanbul, Turkey, for a new round of talks on Tehran’s controversial nuclear programme.

Officials hope to establish a “constructive process” for talks with Iran, but are not expecting major breakthroughs on key issues.

The UN has imposed four rounds of sanctions on Iran in recent years for not fully disclosing its programme.

The West suspects Iran aims to build nuclear weapons, which Tehran denies.

Iran insists its uranium enrichment programme is peaceful and complies with international law.

Negotiators from China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK and US will meet their Iranian counterparts on Friday and Saturday in a restored Ottoman Palace on the edge of the Bosphorous.

The talks will be chaired by European Union foreign policy chief Baroness Catherine Ashton.

Ahead of the summit, US state department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington was “not expecting any big breakthroughs”.

“But we want to see a constructive process emerge that… leads to Iran engaging with the international community in a credible process and engaging and addressing the international community’s concerns about its nuclear programme.”

In recent years these negotiations have achieved almost nothing, says the BBC’s Iran correspondent James Reynolds, in Istanbul.

Because of this, Western diplomats suggest that they have set only one immediate goal for this round of talks.

Nuclear Fuel CycleMined uranium ore is purified and reconstituted into solid form known as yellowcakeYellowcake is chemically processed and converted into uranium hexafluoride gasGas is fed through centrifuges, where its isotopes separate and process is repeated until uranium is enrichedLow-level enriched uranium is used for nuclear fuelHighly enriched uranium can be used in nuclear weaponsIn depth: Nuclear fuel cycle

They want to persuade Iran to start getting rid of its stockpile of low-enriched uranium – estimated to be about three tonnes, our correspondent says.

With further enrichment, this would be enough to make several nuclear weapons.

Iranian officials suggest that the country is willing to give up some of its stockpile, but for negotiators from the world powers “some” is not enough, our correspondent says.

They want Iran to get rid of most of its stockpile in order to make sure that there is not enough enriched uranium left inside Iran to build even a single bomb.

In an effort to achieve this there are reports that the negotiators are preparing to revive an old offer – a fuel swap.

Under such a deal Iran would give up an agreed amount of its low-enriched uranium. In return the world powers would provide fuel for a research reactor in Tehran.

However, Istanbul would be the third time in the last year-and-a-half that the idea of a uranium-for-fuel swap has been addressed.

A first version of this deal was agreed in October 2009, but collapsed shortly afterwards.

In May 2010, Brazil and Turkey brokered another version on their own with Iran – but the deal was rejected by the West.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Health trust to cut 1,600 posts

Heart of England NHS Trust chief executive Mark NewboldChief executive Mark Newbold said the cuts were manageable without enforced redundancies

Up to 1,600 jobs are to go at an NHS trust in the West Midlands.

The Heart of England NHS Trust, which covers East Birmingham, Solihull and south Staffordshire is to shed the jobs over the next four years.

Chief executive Mark Newbold said the trust was used to making savings of up to 5% per year.

He said 400 staff equated to 4% of the trust’s staff base and he anticipated the cuts could be made without enforced redundancies.

“We are used to making savings of between 3 to 5% a year,” he said.

“So 400 staff is roughly 4% of our staff base.

“We turnover about 600 staff a year so its very manageable without, for instance, enforced redundancies.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

No prosecution over Koran burning

Seven men accused of burning a Koran in a Gateshead pub car park will not be prosecuted, the CPS says.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Blair’s ‘regret’ over Iraq dead

Tony BlairTony Blair was prime minister when the invasion of Iraq took place
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Former Prime Minister Tony Blair is to be questioned for a second time by the Iraq inquiry about his role in the lead-up to the 2003 war.

He is expected to be asked about apparent discrepancies between his previous evidence and comments by former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith.

Lord Goldsmith told the inquiry he was “uncomfortable” about statements made by the then PM before the conflict.

Anti-war demonstrators are expected to protest outside the London inquiry.

The inquiry, led by former civil servant Sir John Chilcot, is looking at the UK’s role in the run-up to the invasion and the aftermath of the war.

When he first appeared before the panel in January 2010, Mr Blair said he had “no regrets” about having taken the UK to war and believed the world was a safer place after Saddam Hussein had been overthrown.

BBC correspondent Peter Hunt said the encounter between Mr Blair and the committee had the potential to be a “testing affair” for both sides.

“Tony Blair is unlikely to want to deviate from the main thrust of last year’s testimony,” he said.

“For their part, the inquiry team will want to prove their critics wrong by effectively cross-examining Mr Blair.”

Mr Blair’s evidence session at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre is to last more than four hours.

The questioning is expected to focus on apparent differences between Mr Blair’s previous evidence on the legality of the war and comments made to the inquiry subsequently by Lord Goldsmith.

Lord Goldsmith, who as Attorney General advised the government on legal matters, advised Mr Blair on 14 January 2003 that UN Security Council resolution 1441 was not enough on its own to justify force against Iraq.

But the next day Mr Blair told MPs that, while a second UN resolution was “preferable”, there were circumstances in which it was “not necessary” – in the event of the use of an “unreasonable veto” by a Security Council member.

According to fresh written evidence released by the inquiry this week, Lord Goldsmith said he was “uncomfortable” about this statement.

The invasion eventually went ahead without a second UN resolution.

Mr Blair’s spokesman has said he will deal with the former attorney general’s comments during his appearance on Friday.

The ex-prime minister is also expected to be asked about private conversations he had with President Bush over Iraq and about intelligence on the threat posed by Iraq.

Sir John said earlier this week the inquiry panel was “disappointed” the government would not allow the public release of details of these talks.

Mr Blair’s previous appearance prompted demonstrations at Westminster, although the former prime minister arrived hours before the start and avoided any confrontation.

Similar protests are expected later.

Chris Nineham, from Stop the War, said: “Evidence has now emerged at Chilcot showing Blair lied to public and Parliament about the legality of an attack on Iraq.

“Finally it has been confirmed that the war in Iraq was criminal as well as catastrophic.

“There is no more excuse for Blair to escape justice, and certainly no possible argument for him to continue as UN Peace Envoy in the Middle East.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

We are united on deficit – Balls

Ed Balls

Mr Balls said the most important thing is pulling the country out of the economic crisis

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Ed Miliband has said there will be no change in Labour’s economic policy, after Ed Balls replaced Alan Johnson as shadow chancellor.

Mr Johnson resigned on Thursday for personal reasons.

Mr Balls, who ran against Mr Miliband for the party leadership, has argued that Labour’s pledge to halve the deficit in four years was a “mistake”.

Mr Miliband said he would bring great expertise to the role adding: “Actually Ed and I have similar views.”

It comes as a policeman who protected Mr Johnson when he was home secretary is referred to Scotland Yard’s standards directorate, following newspaper allegations he had an affair with Mr Johnson’s wife.

Mr Johnson said on Thursday he was resigning for “personal reasons to do with my family”. His appointment to the shadow cabinet just three months ago came as a surprise.

Mr Balls, who was Gordon Brown’s chief economics adviser at the Treasury for years – and his wife Yvette Cooper, a former chief secretary to the Treasury – had been seen as front runners for the job.

BBC political editor Nick Robinson said the reason was partly because Ed Balls and Ed Miliband had worked together for years, with Mr Balls always the senior partner, and because he was known as a combative politician who was closely associated with Gordon Brown.

Mr Balls has argued against deep spending cuts to tackle the deficit and has criticised the approach set out by former Labour chancellor Alistair Darling to halve the deficit within four years.

In an interview with the BBC during the Labour leadership contest last July, Mr Balls said: “Halving the deficit in four years by cutting public spending… I think was a mistake.

“In government at the time in 2009 I always accepted collective responsibility, but at the time in 2009 I thought the pace of deficit reduction through spending cuts was not deliverable, I didn’t think it could have been done.”

“Actually Ed and I have similar views”

Ed Miliband Labour leader

He also said on a previous occasion it “made no sense” for Labour not to rule out raising VAT ahead of the election.

On Thursday, Ed Miliband said: “Ed brings great expertise to this role and I look forward to working with him on the direction Alan and I have set out.

“Economic policy is unchanged. Actually Ed and I have similar views.”

Mr Balls has also said he plans to “carry on” the work started by Mr Johnson.

Asked about his relationship with Mr Miliband and comparisons to that between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, Mr Balls said he had worked closely with Mr Miliband for 17 years and were a “partnership”.

He added: “Also we have lived very directly through difficult periods when personalities didn’t get on and I think both of us have learned the right lesson from that period, which is stick together, do it together.

“There is a bigger purpose than Ed Miliband or me. The bigger purpose is what’s good for the country, what’s good for our party but in particular taking this argument that the Tory-led coalition are getting it wrong.

“It’s not about ego, it’s about us together doing the job and I am totally 100% confident together we will do that really really well.”

But the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats said Mr Balls’s appointment marked a return to strength for Gordon Brown’s old guard.

Conservative Party deputy chairman Michael Fallon said: “It beggars belief that Ed Balls has been appointed as shadow chancellor of the Exchequer.

“The man who is responsible for Britain’s economic mess has returned. The Labour Party has learnt nothing and is now led entirely by Gordon Brown’s old team.”

And Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes said Mr Balls was “the man who can be pinned with the responsibility for the mega-debt that we are all having to pay off”.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.