UK train Bangladesh ‘death squad’

A Bangladesh Rapid Action Battalion officer watches an opposition rally in Dhaka in July 2006The Rapid Action Battalion was set up in 2004 to combat crime and terrorism
Related stories

British officials in Bangladesh have confirmed Wikileaks reports that the UK is training a police force in the country accused of being a death squad.

Rapid Action Battalion members have been taught “interviewing techniques” and “rules of engagement” by the UK authorities, said the leaked cables.

One message says the US would not offer tactical training to the RAB because of its alleged human rights violations.

UK officials told the BBC the focus of the training was on human rights.

Set up in 2004, the 9,000-strong RAB is accused of more than 550 killings.

The whistle-blowing website Wikileaks has obtained a cache of about 250,000 US diplomatic cables, which it has released to several newspapers, including the Guardian.

In a cable dating from May 2009 published by the Guardian, the US ambassador to Dhaka, James Moriarty, writes: “The US and UK representatives reviewed our ongoing training to make the RAB a more transparent, accountable and human-rights compliant paramilitary force.

“The British have been training RAB for 18 months in areas such as investigative interviewing techniques and rules of engagement.”

In another cable, Mr Moriarty notes it would be illegal for the US to offer anything other than human rights training to the RAB because of the force’s alleged crimes.

He also notes that despite its record, the RAB had become Bangladesh’s “most respected police unit”.

However, Human Rights Watch says the force is a government death squad.

In a report last year, it said the paramilitary unit had an “operating culture” of extrajudicial killings, which its members perpetrated with impunity.

British High Commission officials in Dhaka told the BBC that the UK training programme for the RAB had begun in early 2008 and was due to finish in March 2011.

“The focus is on human rights. It concentrated on providing the RAB with the skill-set to conduct law enforcement duties in an ethical manner,” said an official, who did not want to be named.

“The areas covered basically include basic human rights training, interview skills, investigation skills, basic scene of crime skills, inclusion on a range of legal and human rights focused events.”

The official declined to comment on whether this training was part of any counter-terrorism effort in Bangladesh.

The Guardian reports that the UK’s National Policing Improvement Agency provided training to the RAB on crime scene management and investigation, via officers from West Mercia Police and Humberside Police.

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

Mauritius sues over marine park

Clownfish off Chagos island (Chas Anderson)Conservationists say the area off the Chagos Islands is a biodiversity hotspot
Related stories

Mauritius has launched a legal action against the UK to contest its creation of a Marine Protection Area around its Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean.

The case comes after a US cable released by Wikileaks revealed UK and US officials discussing the park.

A UK official is quoted as saying it should put an end to any possibility of the displaced islanders returning.

Some 2,000 residents were forced out when the British colony was leased to the US in the 1960s for an air base.

Many of the former residents now live in Mauritius.

They have been campaigning for the right to return for many years and have a case pending at the European Court of Human Rights.

The marine reserve’s creation was announced in April 2010 by then UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

Diego Garcia pictured from SpaceDiego Garcia, the largest island, is the site of the US air base

A US cable from May 2009 quotes a discussion about the park with Foreign Office official Colin Roberts.

“He asserted that establishing a marine park would, in effect, put paid to resettlement claims of the archipelago’s former residents,” the cable said.

The Mauritian Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam said his government had filed a case before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg.

“By creating the protected marine area, Great Britain did not take into account Mauritius’ rights and those of the Chagossians it shamefully evicted from Chagos,” AFP news agency quotes Mr Ramgoolam as saying.

The archipelago in the Indian Ocean is one of the world’s richest marine ecosystems.

Mauritius has for years claimed sovereignty over the islands, which lie about 1,000km (about 600 miles) to its north-east.

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

Apprentice candidate admits fraud

Christopher Farrell leaving Plymouth Magistrates CourtChristopher Farrell pleaded guilty to fraud
Related stories

A former contestant on BBC’s The Apprentice altered mortgage applications to boost his monthly earnings, a court has heard.

Mortgage broker Christopher Farrell, 29, inflated clients’ incomes to help them secure home loans – and earn himself commission.

He pleaded guilty at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court to fraud and will be sentenced on 28 January.

Farrell, of Upton, Wirral, was fired in week eight of The Apprentice.

Prosecutor David Gittins told the court: “Christopher Farrell started working as a mortgage and insurance adviser with the company, Mortgages for Plymouth, in November 2007 until he was told: ‘You’re fired’ in August 2009.

“After that he took part in the BBC programme The Apprentice until he was fired from that in November.”

Mr Gittins explained Farrell, who earned a salary of £1,600 a month, would make commission if he made sales of more than £5,000 a month.

But, keen to earn more money to support his wife and young family, Farrell started inflating the incomes of clients to ensure their mortgage applications were successful – thereby hitting his sales target.

Farrell, who admitted four charges of fraud, would either alter P60 forms or payslips to show his clients in a more favourable light to a mortgage lender or create fake documents, magistrates were told.

Mr Gittins added: “The clients had no knowledge of what he did.”

Magistrates decided their powers of sentence were insufficient and committed Farrell to Plymouth Crown Court to be sentenced on January 28.

Farrell, who wore a dark pinstripe suit, light-blue shirt with dark blue tie and grey coat and scarf, held a copy of The Times newspaper over his face to hide from photographers as he left court.

The former Royal Marine was fired from The Apprentice but made a guest appearance on Sunday night’s final to help Stella English create an alcoholic drink and win the competition.

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

Obama signs US gay military law

Demonstration calling for lifting of ban - photo 10 DecemberLarge numbers of activists are expected at the signing
Related stories

US President Barack Obama is to sign a landmark law allowing gay people serving in the military to be open about their sexuality.

Mr Obama had campaigned to change the 1993 “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, overturned by Congress last week.

More than 13,000 service members have been dismissed under the policy, enacted under President Bill Clinton in 1993 as a compromise.

Opponents argue that the change will damage troop morale at a time of war.

But earlier this month, a Pentagon report said that allowing openly gay troops would have little impact on the cohesion of US forces fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The outgoing Senate and House of Representatives approved the new law last week, with moderate Republicans joining the Democratic majority.

So many activists are expected at the signing ceremony that the White House has booked a larger room for the event.

But correspondents say that the planned celebration parties by gay rights campaigners and members of the military may be premature.

Guidelines need to be finalised on practical questions ranging from how to educate troops to how sexual preference should be handled when army staff are organising sleeping arrangements in military barracks.

Those guidelines need to be signed off by President Obama, Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

And even once that is complete, the new law will not officially take effect for another 60 days. Until then, the current ban remains in place.

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

Russian spy given party youth job

Anna Chapman, one of the 10 Russian spies deported from the US. File photoAnna Chapman has maintained a high profile since returning to Russia

Anna Chapman, a Russian spy deported this year from the US, has been elected to a top role in the governing party’s youth wing, the BBC has learned.

Ms Chapman was appointed to the public council of the Molodaya Gvardiya (Young Guard) which elected its leadership at a meeting in Moscow.

The glamorous former agent was at the centre of a spy ring uncovered by US authorities in June.

The 10 agents were sent back to Russia in return for four US spies.

Ms Chapman spent only a short time at the youth group’s fourth congress on Wednesday, the BBC understands.

In an address to delegates broadcast on Russian TV, she called on people to adopt a more positive outlook on life.

“We must transform the future, starting with ourselves,” she said.

“If every one of us was joyful, we could do something useful and new.”

Also known as Anya Kushchenko, Anna Chapman is the daughter of a Russian diplomat.

She has made the headlines several times since returning to Russia, posing provocatively for a Russian men’s magazine and turning up for the launch of a Soyuz spacecraft in Kazakhstan.

She has also met Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, as well as becoming a representative of a little-known asset management firm called FondsServiceBank, AFP reports.

The 10 Russian agents received state honours from President Dmitry Medvedev for their services at a ceremony at the Kremlin in October.

They were deported from the US after pleading guilty in New York to “conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign country”. More serious charges were dropped.

Prosecutors said the accused had posed as ordinary citizens, some living together as couples for years, and were ordered by Russia’s External Intelligence Service (SVR) to infiltrate policy-making circles and collect information.

The Molodaya Gvardiya has its roots in the Soviet-era Komsomol youth group and was revived in the late 1990s under Mr Putin.

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

Jury out in Tommy Sheridan trial

Tommy SheridanMr Sheridan finished his closing speech on Wednesday
Related stories

Tommy Sheridan has finished his speech to the jury at his perjury trial with an emotional appeal to be acquitted of all charges.

The former MSP broke down as he told jurors he was not afraid of political foes but was afraid that the jury could separate him from his family.

Mr Sheridan, 46, denies six charges of perjury at the High Court in Glasgow.

He is accused of lying during his successful defamation case against the News of the World in 2006.

The former Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) leader won £200,000 after the newspaper printed allegations that he had committed adultery and visited a swingers’ club.

After the court action, Mr Sheridan and his wife Gail, both 46, were charged with perjury.

The charges against Mrs Sheridan were withdrawn by the Crown last week and she was acquitted.

During a trial lasting two-and-a-half months, the number of perjury allegations against Mr Sheridan has been reduced by the prosecution from 18 to six.

Mr Sheridan began his five-hour speech to the jury on Tuesday afternoon and finished shortly before lunchtime on Wednesday.

In his final closing remarks, he said he was not afraid of the News of the World.

Addressing the jury, he said: “I’m frightened of you because you can do something that the News of the World will never be able to do.

“You could separate me from my wife, you could make me break my promise to my daughter that I’d spend Christmas with her.

“Never mind the emotion, given what you’ve heard I ask you to believe you’ve heard more than enough reasonable doubt to convince you that I’m innocent of the charges that remain.”

Trial judge Lord Bracadale will now address the jury on points of law before they retire to consider their verdict.

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

Growth of ‘big four’ supermarkets

Related stories

Concern over supermarkets growth

Big four supermarket chainsAt least 577 new big four supermarkets were approved in the past two years

Fears have been voiced about the growth of the ‘big four’ supermarkets after BBC research found at least 577 stores were approved in the UK in two years.

Planning authorities gave Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons permission for at least 480 stores in England in the two years to 1 November.

In Scotland at least 67 stores were approved and there were at least 22 in Wales and eight in Northern Ireland.

Campaigners say the stores are putting independent traders out of business.

The supermarkets insist they carefully consider where they build new stores, adding that their developments create jobs and help regenerate towns and cities.

Despite the number of stores approved, the British Retail Consortium, which represents the big four, said the current rate of growth was lower than that seen earlier in the decade.

And the Usdaw union, which represents many supermarket employees, said the companies were providing crucial jobs during tough economic times.

A UK High Street

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and the the British Retail Consortium’s Stephen Robertson on the big four

But the Farmers For Action (FFA) campaign group said it feared competitive discounting and the way supermarkets traded with food producers would eventually “put British agriculture out of business”.

Meanwhile campaigner Jessie Miller, who is fighting plans for a new supermarket in Oswestry, Shropshire, said the increase in stores was “bad for the character of our country” because it left high streets unable to compete.

Others have criticised the UK’s planning laws, alleging supermarkets are able to exploit them for their own gain, without consulting local communities.

John Walker, national chairman for the Federation of Small Businesses, said the number of stores which had opened in the UK in two years was “a concern”, especially when almost 12,000 independent shops closed their doors in 2009.

However he added that in some areas supermarkets could give towns a boost, attracting more people to the area that may then also use high street shops.

In order to gauge the rate of expansion of the major supermarkets, the BBC contacted planning authorities across the UK to find out how many new stores had been approved between 1 November 2008 and 1 November 2010.

Chart showing planning applications by supermarket

Not all councils responded, but out of those that did Tesco proved to have had the most successful applications with at least 392 stores approved, followed by Sainsbury’s at 111, Morrisons with 41 and Asda at 33.

In England, London had the highest number of proposed new supermarkets with 110, followed by the North West with 63.

A BBC Panorama special programme called Supermarkets: What price cheap food? will be broadcast on BBC One at 2100 GMT on Wednesday and will also investigate the growth of supermarkets.

Chef and food campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall told the programme: “Such is the power of the supermarkets, they are effectively rearranging the entire landscape to suit their business practices.

“You don’t need to explain the attraction of cheap food, everybody likes saving money, but the effect of that simple drive to bring down price – it’s massively altering the way we produce food, the scale on which we produce food.”

FFA chairman David Handley said the British agricultural industry had been in decline for the past 10 years because of the low prices supermarkets paid to farmers.

He said: “They need to be looking at the way they trade, the way they will continue to trade as they get bigger and bigger.

“If they continue the way they are trading at the moment they are going to put British agriculture out of business,” he said.

Oswestry protest against new supermarketAbout 450 people paraded through Oswestry in March to campaign against plans for a supermarket

Campaign group Oswestry 21 has been fighting against a new supermarket in Oswestry for the past two years.

Ms Miller, the group’s secretary, said she was concerned that supermarkets were “just filling in their map” and not caring about what towns needed or wanted.

“We are are seeing more and more supermarkets and the high street just cannot compete,” she said.

Responding to the BBC’s research, Tesco said in a statement: “The BBC figures are incomplete and misleading.

“Most of our new store applications are not for large supermarkets but for small, local convenience stores, the likes of which millions of customers have relied on to get food in the bad weather.

“Neither do the BBC’s figures take into account shops that have closed.

“We always put customers first and we have invested in the UK even during the worst recession in living memory, creating tens of thousands of jobs, many in the most deprived areas of the country.”

A Morrisons spokesperson said: “Morrisons is different from other supermarkets. We are the only one to own much of our own supply chain including meat processing and produce packing.

The Race for Space graphic

“However, there are still many parts of the country where we are under-represented. So an important part of our business plan is to provide Morrisons food for more communities across Britain.”

Asda said that of the big four it had “far fewer stores than anyone else” but it added in terms of sales it was still the second largest.

It said: “Because some parts of the country are dominated by others, we tend to find communities love the idea of an Asda to give them real choice with the lowest prices and ranges such as George.”

And Sainsbury’s said: “Sainsbury’s current expansion plans are based on sound commercial judgements about what is best for our business and our customers in the next five years.

“We take great care to identify the right opportunities to build new stores and extend existing ones.

“Most of our new stores (75%) are being built in areas where we are currently under-represented like the north west of England and Scotland, for example.

“We will have created 13,000 new jobs around the country in two years by March 2011.”

BBC Panorama’s Supermarkets: What price cheap food? will air on BBC One at 2100 GMT and will be available on BBC iPlayer.

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

UN chief warns of Ivory Coast war

UN troops in Abidjan (21/12/10)The UN says pro-Gbagbo forces are harassing its peacekeepers

The UN’s secretary-general has warned there is a “real risk” of a return to civil war in Ivory Coast after the disputed presidential election.

Ban Ki-moon said the incumbent, Laurent Gbagbo, was illegally trying to expel the UN’s peacekeeping force after it recognised Alassane Ouattara as victor.

Earlier, an ally of Mr Gbagbo warned the peacekeepers that they could be treated as rebels if they did not go.

And in his first TV address since the poll Mr Gbagbo stressed his legitimacy.

He also offered to let a panel representing international powers examine the results of the election.

Mr Gbagbo said Mr Ouattara could leave the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, where he has set up his headquarters, protected by the UN.

The army meanwhile announced the lifting of a nightly curfew, so families could “enjoy the end of year holidays and the New Year”.

In a speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Mr Ban said he was worried about the 10,000-strong mission in Ivory Coast (Unoci).

Analysis

Laurent Gbagbo’s offer of an international panel to solve the crisis came as a surprise at the end of a speech which he started by saying that he was the president of Ivory Coast.

His speech has not changed and his mind is set. For him, the opposition has to be blamed for the violence and Alassane Ouattara simply does not want to respect the law. But Mr Gbagbo is someone who likes to surprise people. He made the offer of the election panel sound like a sign of goodwill, or even like a concession to “avoid another war”.

Many consider this latest offer as a chance for Mr Gbagbo to extend a five-year political stalemate during which the election was always postponed and he stayed in power.

Forces loyal to Mr Gbagbo were obstructing Unoci operations, and had blockaded the 800 peacekeepers protecting Mr Ouattara, he warned.

“I am concerned that this disruption of life-support supplies for the mission and the Golf Hotel will put our peacekeepers in a critical situation in the coming days,” he said.

“I therefore strongly appeal to member states who are in a position to do so to prepare to support the mission.

“Facing this direct and unacceptable challenge to the legitimacy of the United Nations, the world community cannot stand by,” he added.

The BBC’s John James in Abidjan says roads leading to the lagoon-side hotel have been blocked and no supplies have been received for days.

Mr Ban said that any attempt to “starve the United Nations mission into submission” would not be tolerated, and warned those who perpetrated such acts would be held accountable under international law.

He also revealed Unoci had confirmed “mercenaries, including freelance former combatants from Liberia, have been recruited to target certain groups in the population”, and that an arms embargo was being broken.

map of Abidjan

The secretary-general added that he had sent a request from Mr Ouattara to the General Assembly’s credentials committee to recognise his choice for permanent representative and rescind the credentials of Mr Gbagbo’s envoy, Alcide Djedje, who he has appointed foreign minister.

Earlier, Mr Gbagbo appeared on state television for the first time since the election to restate his claim to be the country’s legitimate leader.

Laurent Gbagbo (21 December 2010)Mr Gbagbo appeared on state television for the first time since the election

“I won the election with 51.45% of vote,” he said. “I am the president of the Republic of Ivory Coast. I thank Ivorians for renewing their trust in me.”

He attributed responsibility for the recent unrest to his “adversary’s refusal to submit to the law”.

Mr Ouattara and his supporters were nevertheless free to leave the Golf Hotel and “go where they like”, he added.

Mr Gbagbo said he wanted the international community to set up an “evaluation committee”, which would “have the mission to analyse the facts and the electoral process objectively in order to resolve the crisis peacefully”.

He also paid tribute to the police officers killed in the unrest, who he said had died defending the constitution. But he insisted the way forward was through negotiation.

Ivory CoastWorld’s largest cocoa producer1990s: Slipped into internal strife after death of President Felix Houphouet-Boigny2002: New Forces rebels seize north2007: Power-sharing government installed with ex-rebel leader as prime minister2010: First presidential elections in 10 yearsLaurent Gbagbo: President since 2000, southerner, backed by security forcesAlassane Ouattara: Former prime minister, northerner, backed by ex-rebels, UN, West and African UnionWhat can Africa learn from Ivory Coast crisis? Country profile: Ivory Coast

“I don’t want any more blood spilled. I don’t want any more war,” he said.

Mr Ouattara responded to the address by saying that they had had five years of meetings and that no-one was in any doubt who had really won.

At least 50 people have been killed in violence linked to the dispute, the UN says.

Mr Gbagbo has said the election was rigged in rebel-held areas of the north and was declared the winner by the Constitutional Council.

But the UN mission in Ivory Coast, which was involved in organising the election, backed the electoral commission in saying Mr Ouattara had won.

The election, delayed for five years, was supposed to reunify the world’s largest cocoa producer, which has been divided since 2002.

Earlier, the US introduced sanctions on around 30 close associates of Mr Gbagbo, following the lead taken by the European Union on Monday.

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

India anti-sleaze protests held

Protests against ruling Congress party-led government over corruption allegations in IndiaIndia has seen a slew of high-profile corruption investigations in recent months
Related stories

India’s main opposition alliance is due to hold a major demonstration against alleged corruption involving the ruling Congress-party led government.

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party-led group plans to hold anti-sleaze protests in Delhi and across the country.

India has been rocked by a slew of high-profile corruption cases.

Among them is an alleged telecoms scandal in which phone licences were sold for a fraction of their value.

Ex-telecoms minister Andimuthu Raja, who resigned over the scandal, is expected to be questioned soon by India’s top investigation agency, the CBI.

Mr Raja, who denies any wrongdoing, is a member of the DMK party, a member of the Congress-led ruling coalition.

Parliament has been deadlocked over opposition demands for a major inquiry.

Correspondents say that the main opposition Hindu nationalist BJP-led alliance has decided to take to the streets to pin down the government over corruption.

The opposition protest comes days after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he has “nothing to hide” from an investigation into the sale of phone licences.

He told a party meeting he was ready to be questioned by a parliamentary panel in the inquiry.

Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi told the same meeting that graft was a “disease spreading through our society”.

The CBI raided Mr Raja’s premises this month and is expected to question him about claims he issued 2G licences on a first-come, first-served basis instead of auctioning them.

The national auditor said the 2008 sale cost the government up to $37bn (£23bn) in lost revenue.

The other corruption investigations in recent months involve financial malpractices at October’s Commonwealth Games and an alleged housing scam.

Organisers of the Delhi Commonwealth Games have been arrested on charges of swindling millions of dollars before the October event.

The Congress party ordered the chief minister of the western state of Maharashtra to quit over his alleged role in a scam involving homes meant for war widows being given to relatives and bureaucrats.

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

Stranded passengers’ hopes raised

A plane at Heathrow AirportBAA has said it will investigate how Heathrow handled the winter weather

Thousands of rail and air passengers stranded because of snow may finally be on the move as travel operators begin tackling lengthy backlogs.

Heathrow Airport plans to run two-thirds of flights, and Eurostar and the East Coast mainline from London to Scotland expect a near-normal service.

But several airports across the UK are still warning of disruption, including Edinburgh, Birmingham and Gatwick.

Heavy snow warnings remain for Wales, the Midlands and eastern England.

Heathrow reopened its second runway on Tuesday evening, but warned travellers not to expect services to return to normal straight away.

It told passengers to travel to the airport only if their departure was confirmed, and said it was working with airlines to return to a normal schedule as quickly as possible.

The Independent’s travel editor, Simon Calder, said the situation at Heathrow would get worse on Wednesday.

He told BBC Breakfast: “Everybody thinks ‘oh well they’ve got both runways open, things will improve’. I’m afraid the backlog today is only going to increase – by another 60,000 people.”

Cross-channel operator Eurostar said it was planning to run 43 out of 52 services from London St Pancras on Wednesday.

It advised passengers to turn up only if they have a valid ticket, and only an hour before they travel.

WEATHER AND TRAVEL INFO

Get the latest on travel problems and school closures via your local website Check if snow is forecast in your area at BBC Weather Details of motorway and local road closures and public transport disruption are available at BBC Travel News For advice on handling difficult driving conditions, see the Highways Agency website For information about severe weather warnings, see the Met Office website For information about staying healthy in the cold weather, see the NHS Winter Health website

East Coast trains said journeys northwards from London King’s Cross would take an extra 15 minutes after damage to overhead power lines near Huntingdon on Tuesday led it to suspend services between London and Peterborough.

Some trains between King’s Cross and Leeds are cancelled.

Meanwhile, heavy snow has been falling in Wales, Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, causing major problems on the roads.

And there are severe delays on the M5 in Worcestershire and M1 in Northamptonshire.

Forecasters have warned that cold weather is likely to continue in the coming days. In parts of northern Scotland overnight, temperatures plummeted to -20.1C.

In Wales, 70 schools still yet to break up for Christmas are now closed because of the wintry conditions, with around 6in of snow falling across northern areas.

The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for heavy snow in Wales, north-west England, the Midlands, and eastern England.

Heathrow has been criticised for the length of time it took to clear tonnes of snow from runways and plane stands after a blizzard on Saturday dumped 5in (13cm) in one hour.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Prime Minister David Cameron said: “Even BAA’s harshest critics have conceded that given the amount of snow that has fallen, extensive disruption is understandable.

“But if it’s understandable that Heathrow had to close briefly, I’m frustrated on behalf of all those affected that it’s taking so long for the situation to improve.”

He added: “The people stuck here are having an incredibly difficult time, especially just a few days from Christmas, and everything must be done to either get them on holiday or get them home safely.”

Airport operator BAA said it would investigate how airports have coped with the snow once services were back to normal.

The enhanced content on this page requires Javascript and Flash Player 9

UK forecast for 22/12/2010

Map Key

land colour Landcloud colour CloudLakes, Rivers & Sea colour Lakes, Rivers & Sea

Fog Fog Colour Range

Light
Heavy

Frost Frost Colour Range

Light
Heavy

Pressure Fronts

Cold Front IllustrationCold
Warm Front IllustrationWarm
Occluded Front IllustrationOccluded

Rain Rain Colour Range

Light
Heavy
Extreme

Snow Snow Colour Range

Light
Heavy

Temperature tab only

Temperature (°C) Temperature range chart

More details from BBC Weather BBC Weather

Send your pictures and videos to [email protected] or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7725 100 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.

Read the terms and conditions

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

UK economic growth revised down

The UK economy grew by 0.7% between July and September, less than previously estimated, revised figures show.

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