Unicef: Austerity Risks Children's Prospects

British children's prospects trail behind many of their European neighbours and current Government policies are making it worse, a UN organisation has warned.

Unicef's report on child well-being placed the UK 16th out of 29 developed countries, but it ranked much lower on key indicators including involvement in further education (29th), teenage pregnancy (27th) and youth unemployment (24th).

The children's rights organisation warned that a generation of British teenagers is being "sidelined" by the Government's austerity agenda and called for more state investment in young people.

Anita Tiessen, deputy executive director of Unicef UK, said: "There is no doubt that the situation for children and young people has deteriorated in the last three years, with the Government making policy choices that risk setting children back in their most crucial stages of development.

"With the UK ranking at the bottom, or near the bottom, of the league table on teenage pregnancy and young people not in education, employment or training, we know that many are facing a bleaker future.

"While children and young people will be the first to bear the brunt if we fail to safeguard their well-being, over time society as a whole will pay the price."

The UK has actually crept up the child well-being tables since Unicef's last report in 2007, which branded Britain the worst place in the developed world to be a child.

But the organisation warned that the improvement seen under the previous Labour administration risks being reversed by the Coalition cuts programme.

It cited research by the Family and Parenting Institute and Institute for Fiscal Studies predicting that 400,000 more children will be in poverty by 2015/16 due to austerity measures.

The new report draws on statistics from 2010 and shows a general improvement in children's experiences over the first decade of this century, compared with the previous scorecard, which looked at data from 2001/2.

But the brighter picture for younger children is not matched among teenagers, who remain more likely than their peers in other developed countries to drop out of education and get involved in underage drinking and teenage pregnancy.

The table was topped by the Netherlands, then Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Romania was ranked last.

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Fracking Earthquake Fears Dismissed By Study

Fracking: The Pros And Cons

Updated: 2:51pm UK, Thursday 13 December 2012

Opinion about fracking is bitterly divided amid fears of its environmental impact. Here are the key arguments.

What is fracking?

Hydraulic fracturing - or fracking - involves drilling into the ground. Drills go down and then sideways into areas of gas-bearing shale. Small charges are used to blow holes in the walls of the well before water and chemicals are pumped in at high-pressure to shatter the rock. This releases natural gas, formed from deposits of mud, silt and other matter that is stuck in pores within the rock layers, which is then pumped up to the surface.

The Pros

Energy security: Using Britain's own natural gas could provide a major proportion of Britain's energy needs and reduce the country's reliance on imports. Well operator Cuadrilla Resources estimates the Bowland Basin prospect site in Lancashire contains as much as 200 trillion cubic feet of gas. If even a fraction of that is extracted, Cuadrilla says it could make a significant contribution to Britain's energy supplies.

Availability: Britain has high resources of shale gas in areas including the Pennines. It could be an alternative to other fossil fuels and be worth billions of pounds.

Lower prices: There have been claims that the use of shale gas could result in lower energy costs, although the Government's own advisers have now cast doubt on the prospect.

Economic boost: Cuadrilla, the only company currently with a fracking licence, says it could create tens of thousands of jobs and generate significant tax revenue.

The Cons

Safety fears: Cuadrilla's testing in Lancashire caused small tremors in Blackpool in 2011 although there was no structural damage. Strict measures will now aim to minimise any risks.

Contamination: Environmentalists believe the process risks polluting water suppliers with chemicals. In the US, there have been reports of dangerous methane leaks, toxins from extraction plants escaping, sick animals and tap water turning grey. Cuadrilla denies the British water supply could be spoiled and insists fracturing fluid cannot escape from the rock.

Visual impact: There are concerns about drilling and hydraulic rigs, and general industrial development, in areas of natural beauty - although this also applies to many renewable projects.

Shift of focus: Proponents say shale gas could be a transitional fuel that helps to bridge the energy gap but campaigners insist attention should be on developing renewable energy. Environmental groups also claim fracking will affect efforts to slash carbon emissions.

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Weather: Temp To Hit 20C As Spring Comes

Spring will bloom next week as the cold snap that is winter's last blast moves away, according to forecasters.

Temperatures will reach up to 20C on Sunday in parts of the south and east and will get up to double figures across all of Britain after one of the coldest recorded Marches in history.

Sky News meteorologist Chris England said temperatures are set to rise next week as the jet stream steers away from the Atlantic. The narrow band of very strong winds, which moves weather systems around the globe, has been blamed for the recent bad weather.

He said: "It's going to turn warmer as the weather system comes over from the south but the downside is that there'll be rain and wind before we get there."

Billy Payne, a forecaster for the Press Association, said: "We are seeing change on the way through today, with heavy rain pushing north and bringing temperatures up with milder air before things get warmer next week.

"By Sunday and into Monday temperatures should be driving towards 20C in the south east and East Anglia, and double digits in Scotland and the north of England."

A car travels through the snow near Allenheads in Northumberland

The unseasonable weather has caused chaos for farmers, the transport network and homeowners throughout March and the Easter holiday.

In some parts of Britain, the continuously low temperatures have formed rarely seen ice formations.

Hundreds of farmers have lost livestock and wildlife is said to have been hit hard by weather that has left many animals struggling to find food.

Average temperatures between March 1 and 26 were just 2.5C (36.5F), three degrees below the long-term average, the Met Office said.

This would make it the coldest March since 1962 and also the fourth coldest in the UK since records began in 1910.

The coldest March in the UK was in 1962, at 1.9C (35.4F), followed by 1947, 2.2C (35.9F), 1937, 2.4C (36.3F), and 1916 and 1917, 2.5C (36.5F).

Geoff Lee at an ice wall which has formed on Durham Dales

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Thatcher Funeral: Police Search Web For Threats

By Martin Brunt, Crime Correspondent

Police are braced for potential threats to the Thatcher funeral from far-Left groups, obsessive individuals and Irish dissident republicans.

Detectives are scouring internet chatrooms and social media networks for any hint of planned demonstrations and trying to identify individuals who may pose a threat.

In the past police have made pre-emptive arrests, but sources suggest that is unlikely unless there is strong evidence of crimes about to be committed.

A source said: "Someone simply talking about a desire to cause trouble would not be enough to justify an arrest."

The Fixated Threat Assessment Centre (FTAC), a small group of police and psychiatrists,  is monitoring known Thatcher obsessives.

Magaret Thatcher was a very divisive figure

They are concerned about those with mental health  issues who have fallen through the care net.

Scotland Yard's counter-terror chief warned recently that dissident  republicans active in Northern Ireland continue to harbour ambitions to launch attacks on the UK mainland.

On the day of the funeral, thousands of uniformed officers will line the route to protect the cortege from any disruption.

Operation True Blue will involve officers from the Metropolitan force, the City of London and British Transport Police.

Some people celebrated news of Thatcher's death

The security details are being discussed and updated at daily meetings, though the broad plan was formulated more than a year ago.

Within minutes of the announcement of Baroness Thatcher's death on Monday, all new police leave applications were turned down.

Teams of mobile reserves will be on standby for any outbreak of violence, but there are no plans to bring in colleagues from outside London.

One major, unrelated police operation planned for the day of the funeral has been postponed to ensure the maximum number of officers is available.

Forces around the country are also preparing for potential demonstrations, after a wave of "death parties" on Monday night in Bristol, Liverpool, Glasgow and Northern Ireland.

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IVF Pioneer Sir Robert Edwards Dies

IVF pioneer Sir Robert Edwards has died at the age of 87, Cambridge University has announced.

Together with Dr Patrick Steptoe, Sir Robert developed the process that led to the birth of the first test tube baby Louise Brown in 1978.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work in 2010.

Announcing his death, a spokesman for Cambridge University said on behalf of Sir Robert's family: "It is with deep sadness that the family announces that Professor Sir Robert Edwards, Nobel prizewinner, scientist and co-pioneer of IVF, passed away peacefully in his sleep on 10th April 2013 after a long illness.

"He will be greatly missed by family, friends and colleagues. Please respect the family's privacy at this sad time."

Since Louise Brown was born at 11.47pm on July 25, 1978, the technique pioneered by Sir Robert and Dr Steptoe has brought the joy of parenthood to more than 4.3 million couples who thought they would never be able to have children.

Louise Brown with IVF twins celebrating her 25th birthday in 2003

It is some achievement for a man who was never medically trained and for someone who fought fierce opposition to achieve his dream of helping childless couples.

Sir Robert first successfully fertilised eggs in the laboratory in 1968 after this he teamed up with Dr Steptoe, who had been working on collecting eggs from ovaries.

Together they faced fierce opposition to their pioneering work. Among the objections was that it was wrong to treat infertility when the world was over-populated.

The British government refused to fund their work and they were forced to raise the money privately.

But Sir Robert, who had five children with his wife Ruth, was always driven by his belief that people had a right to have help to conceive children.

Louise Brown: born 11.47pm, July 25, 1978

He once said: "I have seen how infertility is a cause of great and lasting human sadness. It demands treatment. People have a right, I believe, to benefit from research whenever possible. The most important thing in life is having a child."

A mature student, he studied zoology and agriculture at Bangor University after leaving the army. He went on to study genetics at Edinburgh before taking up a senior post in the physiology department at Cambridge University in 1963.

It was here that he embarked upon his work fertilising egg cells outside the body and implanting them into the womb.

After the birth of Miss Brown, now 34 with a son of her own, he founded the world's first IVF clinic at Bourn Hall, Cambridge.

By the time he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2010, when he had already become ill, there were criticisms that Britain had done little to recognise his overwhelming achievements.

Dr Steptoe died in 1988.

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Thatcher Football Silence Idea 'A Disgrace'

By Paul Kelso, Sports Correspondent

Calls for a minute's silence at football matches to mark the death of Margaret Thatcher have been dismissed as "a disgrace" by the Hillsborough Family Support Group.

Two Premier League chairmen, Reading's John Madejski and Wigan's Dave Whelan, have called for the former prime minister's death to be commemorated this weekend.

Mr Madejski said while he does not think the silence will happen he had "enormous respect for Lady Thatcher, strutting around on the world stage as she did, she put this country on the map".

"Had we been any other country we probably would have had two weeks of mourning but that's the way we are in this country ... everybody's got a view," he said at the Soccerex conference.

Wigan Athletic owner Dave Whelan also wanted a minute's silence

"I think if you've got a balance sheet to weigh up the good and bad Margaret Thatcher created, the good would outweigh the bad 10 times over."

But Margaret Aspinall, chair of the group that campaigned for more than 20 years for justice for the 96 Liverpool fans who died in 1989, said it would be wholly inappropriate.

Monday sees the 24th anniversary of the disaster, and the first since an independent inquiry revealed the extent of a cover-up by South Yorkshire police that sought to blame Liverpool fans for the deaths.

The Hillsborough Independent Panel report, published last autumn, also revealed Lady Thatcher's reluctance to endorse criticism of the police despite the government being aware of "damning" evidence of their role.

Adding to sensitivities around the issue, Liverpool play at Madjeski's Reading on Saturday, where a minute's silence for the victims of Hillsborough is already planned.

Mrs Aspinall, whose teenage son James died in the tragedy, told Sky News a silence at any fixtures would be "an insult".

Margaret Aspinall (R) lost her son in the Hillsborough disaster

"I think if they have a minute's silence for her at any football ground it would be an insult to all fans. We all know that Margaret Thatcher was no friend of football, everyone knew her feelings," she said.

"I do not want to speak ill of the dead because we have to consider the feelings of her family, but she was part and parcel of what we [the bereaved families] have gone through.

"I think it is a disgrace that they would want to have a minute's silence for her, an absolute disgrace."

Despite Mr Madjeski and Mr Whelan's comments, the Premier League and the FA have said there will not be silences either at league fixtures or the two FA Cup semi-finals staged at Wembley.

Margaret Thatcher's death has been recognised across the world

An FA spokesman said there was "no precedent" for silences following the death of prime ministers and that it wanted the games to remain apolitical.

The FA and Premier League position has been endorsed by the Football Supporters' Federation.

Chairman Malcolm Clarke said: "We believe the football authorities have made the right decision in not holding minute's silences this weekend.

"I think that most fans will be more concerned with marking the Hillsborough anniversary than the passing of Margaret Thatcher."

Privately, the football authorities also doubt that any silence would be respected given the antipathy that existed between the Thatcher government and football during the 1980s.

She was in power when hooliganism was at its height but her attempts to curb it, most notably the football ID cards scheme, were deeply unpopular and eventually rejected.

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Teens Killed 85-Year-Old In Handbag Mugging

Two 15-year-olds have admitted killing an 85-year-old partially-sighted woman as they mugged her for her handbag.

Paula Castle, 85, fell to the ground after she was robbed in a west London alleyway for a handbag, which contained just a "small amount of money".

The teenagers used the cash to buy fast food and top up their mobile phones.

Mrs Castle, who was registered blind and lived alone, died in hospital from head injuries the following day, on November 20.

Andrew Edis QC, prosecuting, told the Old Bailey: "This is a grave case. These two defendants accosted an 85-year-old woman, Paula Castle, in an alleyway in Greenford in order to rob her of what transpired to be a small amount of money and a bank card which was used in order to by some fast food and to charge mobile phones."

He said that Mrs Castle had been pushed from behind in the attack in Greenford and had fallen forwards and hit her face on the pavement.

The scene where Mrs Castle was mugged

The youths, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were due to go on trial charged with murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

They also admitted robbing Mrs Castle and a second woman, Rose Mohamed, 75, for her handbag, on November 20.

In explaining the decision to accept the pleas, Mr Edis said: "In reality this is a case it would appear whereby these two defendants have jointly used force against an 85-year-old woman who was entirely defenceless placing her further at risk of serious injury.

"But rather than intending to cause really serious injury, they simply did not care what happened to her, and in these circumstances we have taken the view to accept the pleas."

Mr Justice Fulford adjourned the case until sentencing on May 9.

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Prestatyn Fire: 'Accused Made Threats To Kill'

By Nick Martin, Sky News Correspondent

The woman accused of starting a fire that killed two adults and three small children had made death threats, a court has heard.

Melanie Smith, 42, denies five counts of murder following the fatal house fire in Prestatyn, north Wales, on October 19, last year.

On the first day of the trial at Mold Crown Court, the jury heard how Smith, who lived in the flat below the victims, had "demonstrated anger and hostility" towards her neighbour Lee-Anna Shiers, 20. 

Five died in the fire on October 19, 2012

Jurors were told she had threatened to set the house on fire following a series of rows with Ms Shiers.  

The court also heard that Smith had accused Ms Shiers of having an affair with her partner.

Prosecuting Stephen Murphy QC said: "The prosecution says that the fire was deliberately started by the defendant who had been drinking heavily on that day and who, over a period of about two months leading up to the 19th October, had demonstrated anger and hostility towards Lee-Anna and also jealousy.

"It is the prosecution's case that on a number of occasions... the defendant made threats to or about Lee-Anna that she would "set your house on fire with you and your kids inside."

Ms Shiers, her four-year-old nephew Bailey and two-year-old niece Skye died in the blaze at their home.

Firefighters managed to rescue Ms Shiers' 15-month-old son Charlie and his father, Liam Trimble, 23, from their first-floor flat, but they both died later in hospital.

A recording was played to the court of Mr Trimble's desperate call to the emergency services. 

Firefighters were unable to save the family

He was heard shouting: "Help, help. Someone has put it on purpose, we're inside the flat... Oh my god, oh my god, we're gonna die."

The prosecution said Ms Shiers, trapped in an upstairs bedroom with the children, called her father, saying: "Dad, there's a fire downstairs, I can't get out."

Some jurors wiped away tears as the tapes were played and some members of the public gallery wept. 

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Level Crossing Death: Network Rail Fined £450k

Network Rail has been fined £450,000 after a woman died when the car she was in was hit by a train at a level crossing.

The firm and one of its signalmen Adrian Maund were found guilty of breaching health and safety laws over the "entirely preventable" death in the village of Moreton-on-Lugg, Herefordshire.

Jurors convicted Network Rail of failing to ensure the safety of non-employees at the crossing by not installing an automatic barrier locking system.

Maund, from Leominster, Herefordshire, was fined £1,750 and ordered to do 275 hours of community service.

The 42-year-old defendant was convicted in February of failing to take reasonable care for the safety of those using the crossing.

The company will also pay £33,000 and Maund will pay £750 towards prosecution costs.

The victim Jane Harding, 52, died when the car she was a passenger in was hit by a train in January 2010.

Mrs Harding's husband Mark, who was driving the car, suffered serious injuries in the collision which happened when the crossing's barriers were raised by mistake.

Network Rail decided not to install a safety device which would have detected the oncoming train and kept the barriers down, the trial at Birmingham Crown Court heard.

Sentencing, Judge Melbourne Inman QC said there was a "significant fall in standard on behalf of Network Rail. There was a considerable degree of public risk".

The judge said the firm "failed to do everything reasonably practical to avoid tragedy", adding: "Adrian Maund failed to take reasonable care".

More follows...

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Margaret Thatcher's Son: Family Overwhelmed

Baroness Thatcher would be "humbled" that the Queen is attending her funeral, her son has declared as he spoke of her death for the first time.

Sir Mark Thatcher gave a statement on the steps of the former prime minister's home in London after flying in to help arrange next week's ceremony.

He said his mother had been blessed with "a long life, and a very full one" but that her death was "without doubt a very sad moment".

He also expressed gratitude for the messages the family had received "from far and wide", which he said would be a source of strength in the days ahead.

Margaret Thatcher died on Monday

Sir Mark is the first member of the family to speak publicly about Lady Thatcher since she died on Monday at the Ritz in central London.

His statement came moments before a special Parliamentary session allowing MPs and peers to pay tribute began.

In it, Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute to Lady Thatcher, describing her as an "extraordinary woman".

He said: "She made the political weather, she made history and - let this be her epitaph - she made our country great again."

Lord Tebbit, one of Lady Thatcher's key allies in Cabinet and her former party chairman, paid an emotional tribute for the support he received after he and his wife were injured by an IRA bomb in Brighton in 1984.

He said: "She was brought down in the end not by the electorate, but by her colleagues."

More details were released about her ceremonial funeral, which will be held next Wednesday at St Paul's Cathedral.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are breaking with protocol by attending the service, which is not an official state ceremony.

Tony and Cherie Blair will be at the funeral next week

Sir Mark said: "I would like to say how enormously proud and deeply grateful we are that Her Majesty has agreed to attend the service next week at St Paul's and I know my mother would be greatly honoured as well as humbled by her presence.

"By any measure, my mother was blessed with a long life and a very full one. However, the inevitability or the inevitable conclusion may appear of the recent illness that she suffered, it is no easier for us to bear in what is without doubt a very sad moment.

"We have quite simply been overwhelmed by messages of support and condolence of every type, from far and wide, and I know that my mother would be pleased they have come from people of all walks of life."

He said many of the messages contained personal stories related to "the journey of my mother's life".

Former ally Lord Tebbit paid an emotional tribute in the House of Lords

"We are all enormously grateful for the warmth that these messages convey and they will be a source of encouragement and strength as we face the inevitable days ahead," he said.

Britain's longest-serving prime minister and the only woman ever to hold the role is being given a ceremonial funeral, one below a state occasion.

More than 700 members of the armed forces from all three services, including those with links to the Falklands war, will take part.

A public holiday has been declared on the Falkland Islands next Wednesday to allow people to watch Lady Thatcher's funeral and to attend a memorial service in Stanley.

Members of the Honourable Artillery Company will fire procession minute guns from Tower Wharf at the Tower of London.

Representatives of all three services will also line the funeral route, while three military bands play - their drums draped in black as a mark of respect.

A huge security operation costing millions is expected in central London during the ceremony amid fears of protests and disruption.

Lady Thatcher's estate will contribute but the rest of the money will be provided from the public purse.

Downing Street is refusing to give details of its total cost ahead of the service and ministers have defended the expense.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "The rebate she negotiated for this country from the EU has brought us so far £75bn - which is twice the size of our annual defence budget.

"I think that puts money in perspective ... so I think we can afford to contribute to a funeral."

Plans for the ceremony have been dubbed Operation True Blue and Lady Thatcher is to be given full military honours.

Units linked to the Falklands war will play key roles at the ceremony

Tony Blair and his wife Cherie as well as Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah will be at the ceremony, which will be one of the largest public funerals of recent decades.

Lady Thatcher's coffin will be transferred to the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft in the Palace of Westminster on Tuesday ahead of the ceremony.

There will be a short service following its arrival before the coffin rests in the chapel overnight.

The streets will then be cleared for a procession taking the former leader's body from parliament to Church of St Clement Danes, the RAF Chapel on the Strand.

At the church, it will be transferred to a gun carriage drawn by the King's Troop Royal Artillery.

The streets will be cleared for the procession on to St Paul's and members of all three services will line the route, as well as bands from each.

The Gun Carriage will be drawn by six horses, three of which are mounted, with a sergeant riding alongside, an officer riding in front and three dismounted troops on foot.

A Bearer Party made up of all three services will walk alongside the coffin, and will include those from ships, units and stations notable for their service during the Falklands campaign.

Outside St Paul's there will be a Guard of Honour of 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, as well as the Welsh Guards Band.

For the coffin's arrival, there will also be a Step Lining party made up of 18 personnel from all three services.

These will include six Navy, six members of the Blues and Royals, Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, and six RAF, plus Chelsea Pensioners of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

Ten members of staff from the Ritz, where Lady Thatcher had been staying since Christmas, have also been invited in recognition of the care she received at the hotel.

The public will not be able to attend the funeral service itself but will be able to line the route of the procession.

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