IVF Treatment For Older Women On The NHS

By Thomas Moore, Health and Science Correspondent

Women aged 40 to 42 will be allowed one cycle of IVF so long as it is their first attempt, the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) says.

Previously Nice only recommended treatment up to the age of 39.

Lesbian couples will also qualify for IVF, as long as they have a diagnosed infertility problem.

People with infectious diseases, such as HIV, or a physical disability that prevents them from having intercourse will also be eligible.

Nice chief executive Sir Andrew Dillon said recent advances in fertility treatment had prompted a review of existing NHS guidelines.

He said: "It is because of these new advances that we have been able to update our guidelines on fertility, ensuring the right support, care and treatment is available to those who will benefit the most."

Same-sex couples have welcomed the change to NHS rules.

Lesbian author Kiki Archer and her civil partner Nicki have two children through private fertility treatment.

She told Sky News the guidelines meant all couples could have children, regardless of income.

"Whenever same-sex couples have children it is carefully thought through," she said.

"This opens another door. It's another option for those families who can't afford fertility clinics."

But there are concerns that the NHS will refuse to implement the guidelines.

It currently funds around 25,000 IVF attempts a year, each costing £3,000.

And a survey in 2011 revealed a postcode lottery, with only a quarter of NHS areas funding the full number of cycles recommended by the existing guidelines.

Dr Sue Avery of the British Fertility Society said: "There is a huge variation in the provision of treatment.

"There are some areas where couples can access three cycles as recommended by Nice. But in other areas couples may get one and some there is no funding at all."

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Councils Told To Curb Staff's £50k Salaries

Councils have been told to "get a grip" on pay after new figures showed more than 28,000 local government staff earn at least £50,000 a year.

The TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA), which campaigns for lower taxes, said this cost almost £1.9bn in 2012.

Local government minister Brandon Lewis said many councils are failing to make "sensible savings" which would allow them to protect services or fund a council tax freeze.

However, councils insisted their pay figures compared favourably with other sectors and stressed the need for "good managers".

The TPA said 28,754 employees at councils were paid more than £50,000 figure, down 3,991 on the previous year - a saving of £279m.

But the group claimed the fall was partly due to the large number of redundancy payments made in 2010/11, which temporarily increased remuneration bills.

Local Government Minister Brandon Lewis said the findings showed local authorities still had "massive scope" to cut costs to protect frontline services.

"For too long the senior local government pay bill has spiralled up and up and taxpayers have been left footing the bill," he said.

"Whilst I commend those councils taking action, there are still many others failing to get a grip on costs.

"This report exposes the fact that town halls still have massive scope to make sensible savings to protect important frontline services and freeze council tax."

TPA chief executive Matthew Sinclair said: "Taxpayers are still paying far too much for bloated bureaucracies that have been established in too many town halls over the last decade."

"Councillors need to insist that their local authority does more to find savings and cut back on staff costs that residents cannot afford."

The Local Government Association, which represents councils, said the fall in the pay bill was "good news" and defended the current level.

"Middle and senior managers make up around 1% of the total local government workforce, which compares favourably with practices elsewhere in the public and private sectors," a spokesman said.

"Councils provide more than 700 local services, from fixing the roads and collecting the bins to caring for the elderly and safeguarding children. We need good managers to make sure those jobs are done well."

The LGA also challenged the claim that the fall was due to the number of redundancy payments in 2010/11, arguing that redundancy costs were probably higher in 2011/12.

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Jimmy Savile: Ex-Policeman 'Acted For Star'

A former police inspector has been accused of acting on behalf of Jimmy Savile by contacting officers before an interview.

The officer was from the West Yorkshire force, which has referred him to the police watchdog, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

He is accused of contacting Surrey Police before they questioned Savile over alleged sexual offences in 2009.

The IPCC said: "The referral follows a direction from the IPCC to record and refer the conduct of the former inspector, identified in a Surrey Police report as 'Inspector 5'.

The watchdog also said it has asked seven forces including West Yorkshire to review whether there are more conduct issues that should be referred to the watchdog over the Savile investigation.

The other six forces are Surrey, Sussex, Thames Valley, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and the Metropolitan police.

The IPCC said: "They have been asked to re-look at all information relating to the late Jimmy Savile. The IPCC has asked that each force provides the relevant documents and, if they decide not to record or refer any matters, the rationale for not doing so."

This follows a review by the IPCC of reports by Scotland Yard and the NSPCC, the Crown Prosecution Service and Surrey Police as well as information given by forces in West Yorkshire and Sussex.

The watchdog also looked at details given by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, which is preparing a report for the Home Secretary on what the police knew about Savile.

Prosecutors and police have already been criticised for missing the chance to bring the disgraced entertainer to court over the allegations before he died in 2011.

Last month, police revealed the "vast" extent of alleged sexual abuse by Savile - saying his crimes spanning more than 50 years were probably unprecedented in the UK.

The late TV presenter's suspected victims included 28 children aged under 10, including 10 boys aged as young as eight.

A further 63 were girls aged between 13 and 16 and nearly three-quarters of his victims were under 18.

Some 214 criminal offences have been recorded across 28 police forces and 34 rapes have been reported.

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New 4G Phone Operators Announced By Ofcom

4G Auction Is New Blow To Osborne

Updated: 3:49pm UK, Wednesday 20 February 2013

By Ed Conway, Economics Editor

If you cast your mind back to the Autumn Statement last December, there was one moment in the Commons debate that stood out: when the Shadow Chancellor tripped over his words in his response.

Ed Balls was thrown by George Osborne's announcement that, even after a whole load of accounting changes were ignored, the Government would borrow less this year than the year before.

To be precise, it was £1.1bn less, should it hit its £120.3bn borrowing target in 2012/13.

Mr Balls had expected the Chancellor to acknowledge that due to worsening economic conditions, he would have to borrow more than last year's £121.4bn.

He had not reckoned on the fact that the Office for Budget Responsibility would include the proceeds of the 4G spectrum auction in this year's public finance figures.

It was thanks to that extra money, estimated at £3.5bn, that the Chancellor would be able to claim borrowing was still falling rather than rising this fiscal year.

All of which is why the final tally of the proceeds from the 4G auction will come as a real fiscal, not to mention political, blow for the Chancellor.

All else being equal, he will end up borrowing more this year than last because the 4G auction is only generating £2.34bn rather than that expected £3.5bn.

Now, this does not mean he will break any of his fiscal rules - or to be precise the one he's still got left to break - but it is nonetheless a political disappointment.

It is particularly so, given that some within the Treasury had been quietly hoping for a far bigger figure.

After all, back in 2000 the Treasury's internal forecasts were for the 3G auction to raise not much more than £1bn, and it ended up generating £22.5bn.

The recent Irish 4G auction also outperformed expectations.

But now this news more or less eliminates the possibility that there will be a fiscal white knight riding to Mr Osborne's rescue.

Having said that, it is wrong simply to treat these auctions as a way of extracting money from business.

Back in 2000 there was a feeling within the telecom sector that companies had overpaid for their 3G licenses, and that, in turn, may have fed into higher mobile tariffs and undermined investment in phone masts and infrastructure.

This is why Ofcom believes that it is more sensible to consider the long-term economic benefits for the UK, rather than the one-off fiscal impact.

Whether Mr Osborne agrees is another matter.

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Gate Crushes Child: Man Charged Over Death

A man has been charged over the death of a six-year-old girl who was crushed by an electronic gate.

Kriston Kearns, 40, is accused of unlawfully killing Semelia Campbell by gross negligence manslaughter in June 2010.

After being called to reports of a child trapped in an electronic gate in Maine Road, Manchester, officers found Semelia.

Police said she had been crushed between a retaining wall and the gate which was stuck in the closed position.

The youngster was freed by the emergency services and taken to hospital, but she never regained consciousness and later died.

The scene of the tragedy in Manchester

Last July, a memorial to Semelia was unveiled at the scene of her death.

The memorial read: "Daughter and sister sadly missed by family and friends.

"Time we shared seems so short, Memories so few, We miss you dearly, We'll always love you. Gone but never forgotten."

Kearns, of Hazel Grove, will appear before Manchester Magistrates' Court on March 12.

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Murdered Eystna Blunnie 'Repeatedly Threatened'

By Tom Parmenter, Correspondent

A man on trial for murdering the mother of his unborn child has been accused of making multiple threats to kill her.

Tony McLernon is charged with murdering his former partner Eystna Blunnie, who was found battered by a road in Harlow, Essex last June.

Miss Blunnie was days away from giving birth and their baby was also killed in the attack.

Opening the case prosecutor Andrew Jackson said: "He repeatedly kicked and stamped on her in an act of brutal and sustained violence.

"He knew he was not only killing her but their unborn child as well."

Jury members were told that shortly after the attack McLernon hid in nearby woods and texted his father.

The message read: "Scared, please call me."

In the subsequent conversation it is alleged McLernon told his father: "I think I have killed Eystna."

The jury was also told that McLernon had previously attacked and made threats towards Miss Blunnie.

In one incident before her death he is accused of saying: "I'm going to ******* kill her, I'm going to stab her."

The prosecution said in another text message he wrote: "I ******* swear bro I'm going to knife Eystna soon."

In another message to a cousin he is accused of texting: "I swear I'm going to prison Monday."

The court heard the couple's relationship began over a year before Miss Blunnie's death and there had been many violent episodes.

Mr Jackson told the jury they would hear from relatives of Miss Blunnie's who would tell them how they saw bruises on her body with "outlines of knuckles."

The 20-year-old catering student had been excited about becoming a mother and used the ultrasound image of her baby as her Facebook profile picture.

McLernon, 24, from North Grove, Harlow, Essex denies murder and the destruction of an unborn child.

The trial is expected to last four weeks.

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Axminster Carpets To Appoint Administrators

Axminster Carpets is the latest household name that is close to collapse by confirming its intention to appoint administrators.

The 250-year old company - based in Axminster in Devon with more than 400 people at its headquarters - blamed difficult trading and resulting financial problems.

Its statement said: "Axminster Carpets Limited ("the Company") continues to trade while the Company explore all potential rescue / restructuring options.

The Company's board of director confirm that a notice of intention to appoint administrators has been filed with respect to the Company.  The notice was filed in order to provide the Company and its creditors with a moratorium period during which the various rescue options being explored can continue."

It continued: "The notice of intention to appoint administrators nominates Benjamin Wiles, Geoff Bouchier and David Whitehouse of Duff & Phelps as Joint Administrators."

The Company's Director, Joshua Dutfield, commented: "Trading has been difficult and the management has been working with key suppliers, creditors and the lenders in an attempt to resolve the Company's financial difficulties. We continue to be committed to working to achieve the best possible outcome for all concerned and most importantly the staff and suppliers."

Axminster, which produces several styles of carpet and rugs, uses 90% of British wool in its trademark Axminster carpet which is woven using traditional loom production methods.

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Vicky Pryce Jury Fails To Reach A Verdict

Pryce Trial: Jury's Questions

Updated: 3:58pm UK, Wednesday 20 February 2013

Here are the 10 questions the jury in the Vicky Pryce case put to the judge on Tuesday.

1. Can a juror come to a verdict based on a reason that was not presented in court and has no facts or evidence to support it, either from the prosecution or defence?."

Judge: "No."

2. "Can you speculate about the events at the time Ms Pryce signed the form or what was in her mind at that time?"

Judge: "No."

3. "If there is debatable evidence supporting the prosecution's case, can inferences be drawn to arrive at a verdict?"

Judge: "The drawing of inferences is a permissible process, speculation is not."

4. Can we infer anything from the fact that the defence did not bring witnesses from the time of the alleged offence, such as an au pair or neighbours?

Judge: "You must not speculate on what witnesses who have not been called might have said or draw inferences from their absence. Her evidence is that no one else, other than Mr Huhne, was present when she signed the form."

5. Is the defendant obliged to present a defence?

The judge said: "There is no burden on the defendant to prove her innocence. On the contrary there is no burden on the defendant to prove anything at all."

6. Can you define "reasonable doubt"?

The judge replied: "A reasonable doubt is a doubt which is reasonable."These are ordinary English words that the law doesn't allow me to help you with beyond the written directions that I have already given."

7. Can you expand on the definition of the defence of marital coercion, providing examples, and whether it requires violence or physical acts?

The judge said it did not require violence or physical threats and meant a woman was so affected by pressure from her husband that she was "impelled" to commit an offence and truly believed she had no real choice.

8. Would religious conviction be a good enough reason for a wife to feel she had no choice, because she promised to obey her husband in wedding vows?

The judge said the question was not about the case, and Pryce had not suggested any such reasoning was behind her decision to take Huhne's points.

9. Which facts in the court bundle can we consider when reaching a verdict?

The judge said: "You decide the case on the evidence. That means it is for you to review all of the evidence and decide which of it you consider to be important, truthful and reliable, and then decide what conclusions, common sense conclusions, you can safely draw by way of inference from that evidence."

10. "In the scenario where the defendant may be guilty but there is not enough evidence provided by the prosecution at the material time when she signed the Notice of Intended Prosecution between May 3-7, 2003, to feel sure beyond reasonable doubt, what should the verdict be, not guilty or unable/unsafe to provide a verdict?"

The judge told them they could only convict if at least 10 of them were sure Pryce was guilty.

He added: "If for whatever reason any one or more of you feel less than confident that you understand and are able to apply my directions of law then it will be wholly wrong for any juror in that position to reach a verdict one way or the other.

"If after further consideration you find yourselves in a position that you are simply not able to agree no matter how much longer you continue to debate and that's going to remain the position, then you must of course have the courage to say so by your foreman sending me a note to that effect."

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Ben Fogle Hospital Scare After Drink Spiked

TV presenter and adventurer Ben Fogle has taken to Twitter to recount an incident which left him in hospital at the weekend after his drink was spiked.

"Whoever spiked my drink with mind altering drugs and put me in A&E with a psychotic fit. Did you think of the damage you would cause?" the 39-year-old tweeted.

He revealed earlier how he had suffered what he described as a "full-on psychotic episode" on Friday night when he returned from a pub in Gloucestershire, where he was staying with friends.

Fogle explained how he had been fine when he returned from the pub, having had no more than half a bottle of wine.

Fogle was one of last year's Olympic torch bearers

But, on going to check his children, he realised something was not right.

"I started feeling hypersensitive and I knew something was wrong," he told the Daily Mail. "I picked my daughter up and she felt incredibly light, like a grain of rice.

"I suddenly had this compulsion to jump through a window."

Fogle asked his wife Marina if she was all right and she said she was. Then, he said, he "just flipped ... I was ranting, marching up and down, hitting walls, trying to jump out of windows".

Marina and his friends "corralled" him into the sitting room and kept him there until an ambulance arrived.

Fogle spent about 12 hours in A&E, but because the hospital did not do toxicology tests he was not able to say for sure that the cause of his behaviour was definitely down to a spiked drink.

However, he then spent three days having tests on his heart and brain and being seen by psychiatrists. They have ruled out a neurological or psychological problem, he said, and believe his "turn" was brought about because of a spiked drink.

From what he has now learned - Fogle said he had never taken recreational drugs - he thinks the most likely drug was the hallucinogenic drug LSD.

"Why would someone do it?" he asked. "I have no idea. It seems a bit of a coincidence that I was out with my wife and friends and I was the only person targeted."

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Now Magazine 'Sorry' Over Cheryl Cole Story

Now magazine has apologised to Cheryl Cole for publishing false claims that she had a secret relationship with rapper MC Harvey.

It said the emails it based its story on had in fact been sent by a hoaxer who was masquerading as the singer.

MC Harvey, a former member of So Solid Crew, was also apparently taken in by the hoax and last year got into a public Twitter row with Cole after she denied the claims.

Cole tweeted at the time: "Was this 'relationship' happening in your head @harveyofficial?! Are you smoking something?"

MC Harvey - whose real name is Michael Harvey Jr - tweeted back insisting that the singer had been emailing him.

Now magazine, which features celebrity news and gossip, has set the record straight in its latest edition and admitted its February 2012 story was without foundation.

"Sorry Cheryl. There was no romance with Harvey - we got it wrong," reads its front cover.

Inside the apology continues: "Although we have seen several hundred emails, written over a six-month period, apparently between Cheryl, her mother and Michael, we are now satisfied that the emails from Cheryl and her mother are not genuine.

"They appear to be the work of a calculated and meticulous hoaxer masquerading as Cheryl who went to great lengths to deceive Mr Harvey."

It added: "We're sorry, Cheryl, for any embarrassment and upset we have caused you. We have agreed to pay Cheryl damages and legal costs."

In response to the apology Cole tweeted to her 3.5 million followers: "Here you go.. #apology and I am now satisfied that you are ******* LIARS!!!!!"

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