TA Overhaul: Army Reservists Given Benefits

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

Army reservists will receive military pensions and healthcare support as part of a major drive to increase numbers.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond unveiled a £1.8bn overhaul in the Commons aimed at boosting reserve numbers to 30,000 by 2018.

Under the plans, the Territorial Army will become the Army Reserve, with members given 10% more training and better equipment.

Smaller firms employing part-time soldiers will also receive an extra £500 a month when they are away and be given more notice about training and deployments.

Companies discriminating against people wanting to serve will also be more at risk of being sued, with possible new laws to ensure there is no disadvantage.

But better-paid civilians face being frozen out after the Government decided to stop making up the difference between army wages and their normal salaries.

Philip Hammond says employers will benefit from the changes

And dozens of reservist bases are to close across the country as funding is freed up for the expansion in numbers.

The package, outlined in the Reserve White Paper, is expected to cost around £1.8bn over the next decade with a £40m investment in kit brought forward.

It comes nearly three years after the coalition said it would be reducing regular Army numbers from 100,000 to 80,000.

Mr Hammond told MPs the changes were "key" to making sure that Britain has the military capability it needs in the future.

"The job we are asking our reservists to do is changing. The way we organise and train them will also have to change," he said.

Chief of the General Staff Sir Peter Wall told reporters at a briefing earlier that the reforms were "welcome and timely".

"The Territorial Army, as it has been called until now ... is ready for change. It has been waiting for this filip to its vibrance for some years now," he said.

The TA name was felt by senior military officers to have a Dad's Army connotation which would not suit the new, more integral organisation.

As part of the changes, 38 TA centres have been earmarked for closure with 13 due to be opened at new locations. Some £80m will be spent on refurbishing the remaining centres.

The total reserve force, made up of all three services, currently stands at around 22,000, of which around 19,000 are in the Army.

The aim is to expand it to 35,000 members, with 30,000 in the Army and a major marketing drive has been launched with recent adverts broadcast live from Camp Bastion in Afghanistan.

Sir Peter Wall admitted recruitment would be a challenge, but expressed confidence it would be achieved.

"We need to remember that historically we had a big reserve and when I joined the Army a few decades ago it was over 100,000 in the reserve," he told Sky News.

"We also need to remember that other nations make far more use of reserve manpower than we do, particularly the American army."

The Army Reserve will train alongside the regular troops and go on more overseas exercises.

Sergeant Gary Shepard, a lorry driver and a member of the Army Reserve, did not foresee a problem with a closer working relationship.

"I'm actually an ex-regular soldier, but when I joined 1 Para we integrated very easily and within a few weeks they actually forgot we were part-time," he told Sky News.

"What we do is 'beat-up' training prior to going and joining them (the regulars) so that we're on the same level as they are." 

Neil Carberry, the Confederation of British Industry's director of employment and skills, said small businesses were willing to work with the MoD, but fear being told what to do.

"What we want to see is not a 'thou shalt do this' when you employ a reservist from the MoD, but rather a 'let us tell you how we can work together' to make employing a reservist a really enjoyable experience," he said.

The restructuring comes as the regular Army is being slashed to 82,000 troops - the lowest level for more than a century.

The Ministry of Defence escaped the worst of the budget cuts in last week's Spending Review but is still undergoing a major restructuring following the Strategic Defence and Security Review a few years ago.

There will be a fourth and final round of redundancies early next year which will largely affect the Army.

Dan Jarvis, a former soldier and now a Labour MP, has his doubts. He said: "Let's be clear, these decisions are being made not about capability, but about saving money.

"The Government has considerable challenges ahead to recruit the number of reservists it needs.

"We accept and understand that changes do have to be made, but it will be a difficult a process to make all those changes happen smoothly and effectively."

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Wales Approves Organ Donation Opt-Out Law

People in Wales will be presumed to have given consent for organ donations unless they opt out after a vote in favour of the law.

The current system, which operates across the UK, relies on people signing up to a voluntary scheme and carrying a donor card.

But Welsh ministers keen to drive up low transplant rates say the new scheme - set to come into force in 2015 - will save countless lives.

The new bill for Wales to adopt a system of presumed content passed its final stage in the Welsh Assembly, despite objections from religious groups on moral grounds as well as concerns about it adding to the distress of bereaved families.

Assembly Members voted in favour of the bill by 43 votes to eight, with two abstentions.

The Kidney Wales Foundation welcomed the vote, saying it "gives new hope for all those waiting for a transplant in Wales and will gladden the hearts of those in the UK who see this as a sign that other parts of the UK may follow this vote".

The organisation said one person dies every week in Wales - and three die every day in the UK - while waiting for an organ transplant.

Ministers insist the scheme will be implemented sensitively - saying they will launch a major publicity drive so people are fully informed about which choice to make.

The British Medical Association's spokesman in Wales said: "A few years ago, Wales was ready to lead the UK on banning smoking in public places, but we didn't have the necessary legal powers.

"This time we are delighted that our National Assembly has shown the rest of the UK the way forward and fully support its implementation."

The Welsh government said it hoped the new law would increase donors by a quarter. It will mean people would have to choose not to donate their organs and would apply to over-18s who died in Wales if they had lived in the country for more than a year.

Organs made available under the scheme could be used anywhere in the UK.

Despite five years in the making, the issue was still hotly contested for five hours before the vote with AMs from the Assembly's four parties mulling over more than 70 amendments.

Clwyd West AM Darren Millar voiced his objections saying: "I'm opposed in principle to a system where organ transplantation becomes a passive act, and consent for it is presumed, or as the Bill puts it deemed, by the state."

But his Tory colleague Angela Burns said she was still undecided right up until voting time.

Plaid Cymru's health spokeswoman Elin Jones said the Bill was an "important piece of legislation", but added it needed to be supported by an awareness campaign.

Lib Dem leader Kirsty Williams acknowledged the issue was an "incredibly emotive" one, but said the Bill would save lives.

Celebrity doctor and Embarrassing Bodies TV presenter Christian Jesser tweeted: "Having an opt out system for organ donation has not removed any rights from you. You can still opt out. That's the point!"

However, those views were not shared by campaign group Patient Concern, whose spokeswoman Joyce Robbins said: "This legislation will result in human bodies being treated like clapped-out cars. You strip them of parts for re-use, unless the owner prefers to scrap the whole vehicle."

The Christian Medical Fellowship branded the presumed consent model "unethical". Its chief executive Dr Peter Saunders said: "It should be encouraged as a gift, but this system lays the framework for the taking of organs as a right. That is a very dangerous precedent indeed."

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Pelka Case: Sibling Says Boy Had Head 'Bashed'

The sibling of Daniel Pelka, who died after allegedly being starved to death, has told a court how the four-year-old had his head "bashed" in the bathroom.

The jury at Birmingham Crown Court was played a tape of evidence given by the child, whose age and gender cannot be published for legal reasons.

The prosecution claims Daniel died of head injuries after being subjected to a campaign of "incomprehensible" cruelty at the hands of his mother and stepfather.

Magdelena Luczak and her partner Mariusz Krezolek deny murder and causing or allowing Daniel's death.

During the interviews with police, the sibling claimed that Daniel hit his head on a bath after being pushed over.

Responding to questions from a female police officer, the witness said: "When Mariusz was too much drinking, my brother had a cold bath and I asked Mariusz to stop it.

"I got my brother from the bath and I pulled the plug out and I hugged him."

Asked by the police officer to give further details of the incident, the witness replied: "I was downstairs, I heard him screaming.

"I came upstairs and smashed Mariusz to stop it, and he stopped it.

"I got my brother from the bath and put a towel on him and hugged him."

The child said the last time they saw Daniel he was "sleeping in my bedroom" and they "tried to wake him up ... I listened to his heart ... I couldn't hear his heart ... it couldn't beat".

The child said they used to hide and cook food to give to Daniel "because he's not allowed to come down the stairs".

The court heard that the boy's bedroom "smelled disgusting" and the sibling said they had seen bruises on his legs.

The child said: "I love him and I didn't want him to be hurt."

Daniel, whose physical condition was likened by a doctor to that of a concentration camp victim, is alleged to have been deliberately starved over several months.

The primary school pupil was pronounced dead in the early hours of March 3 last year after paramedics were called to his home.

Krezolek, 33, and Luczak, 27, are alleged to have "imprisoned" Daniel in an upstairs room.

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Linzi Ashton Murder: Two More Manhunt Arrests

Two more men have been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender as police continue their manhunt for murder suspect Michael Cope.

He is wanted for the killing of mother-of-two Linzi Ashton, 25, whose body was found at her Salford home by relatives on Saturday.

A post mortem examination found that Ms Ashton, who had young daughters, died from pressure to the neck and multiple injuries in a "sustained and vicious" attack.

Greater Manchester Police said that they arrested two men, 26 and 27, late on Tuesday night.

In total three men are now in custody for helping Cope after police were granted more time to question a 25-year-old man who was arrested on Monday.

Michael Cope caught on CCTV in an Eccles shop on Friday

In a bid to find Cope, 28, CCTV was released showing him buying snacks and drinks from the Best One shop in Liverpool Road, Eccles, on Friday at about 10.45pm.

It is believed that he and Ms Ashton, who had been involved in a brief "acrimonious" relationship, were seen together the same evening.

A £5,000 reward has been offered to anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of Cope.

:: If you have information that could aid the investigation, call police on 0161 856 5092 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

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Ecuador Finds Bug In Its London Embassy

Ecuador has found a hidden microphone inside its London embassy where the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is living.

Foreign minister Ricardo Patino, speaking in his home country, said he would disclose on Wednesday who controls the device.

Mr Patino said the microphone was found in the office of the Ecuadorean ambassador to the United Kingdom, Ana Alban.

It was discovered when Mr Patino visited the embassy on June 16 to meet Mr Assange, who has been hiding out there for a year.

The WikiLeaks boss works in a different room within the building.             

Ecuador's foreign minister Ricardo Patino in Quito this week

The Foreign Office in London declined to comment immediately on the allegation and David Cameron's spokesman said he did not comment on security issues.

Mr Assange has been living at the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden to face allegations by two women of sexual assault and rape, which he denies.

He fears that if sent to Sweden he could be extradited from there to the US to face potential charges over the release of thousands of confidential documents.                           

"We regret to inform you that in our embassy in London we have found a hidden microphone," Patino told a news conference in Quito on Tuesday.             

Julian Assange at the embassy in June

"I didn't denounce this at the time because we didn't want the theme of our visit to London to be confused with this matter.             

"Furthermore, we first wanted to ascertain with precision what could be the origin of this interception device in the office of our ambassador.            

"We are sorry to say so, but this is another instance of a loss of ethics at the international level in relations between governments."             

Ecuador's protection of Mr Assange has strained relations with Britain.

Mr Patino met Foreign Secretary William Hague on June 17 to discuss the situation but officials said afterwards no substantive progress had been made.              

WikiLeaks used its Twitter account to condemn the hidden microphone.            

"Bugging of Ecuador's London embassy and the blockading of Morales' jet shows that imperial arrogance is the gift that keeps on giving," the anti-secrecy group said.

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Hospital Boss Quits Over 'Culture Of Failure'

The chief executive of a scandal-hit hospital has resigned amid accusations she presided over a "prevailing culture of failure".

Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, in Greater Manchester, announced today that Christine Green had "tended her resignation".

The decision was agreed with the Trust's board last week but the decision was announced today - the day that three local MPs renewed their calls for her to step down following revelations about poor patient care.

Medical director Tariq Mahmood has also stepped down but his resignation was agreed in April.

The news comes as the Care Quality Commission's (CQC's) new chiefs admit they should have named the women allegedly involved in suppressing a critical report into its inspections at Furness General Hospital.

The review said the body failed to properly investigate University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust, which runs the hospital where a number of mothers and babies died.

Three senior executives - former chief executive Cynthia Bower, her deputy Jill Finney and media manager Anna Jefferson - have been accused of agreeing the report should be deleted, which they have strenuously denied.

Former CQC chiefs Cynthia Bower and Jill Finney

But when the independent report into the alleged cover-up was first published, the names of the trio were redacted - after egal advice suggested publishing them could breach data protection laws.

Appearing before the Health Select Committee, CQC chairman David Prior said: "I got that call completely wrong. I accept that criticism ... I really bitterly regret that mistake."

Ms Bower and Ms Jefferson are alleged to have "verbally agreed" to cover up the internal report under the instruction of Ms Finney because it was "potentially damaging to the CQC's reputation".

Emails uncovered by James Titcombe, whose son Joshua died at the unit in 2008, showed officials saying the unit should still be monitored.

They said: "We must be vigilant. Firstly, because we want the maternity unit to operate safely and secondly because it is likely to continue to attract some media attention if Mr Titcombe is to continue to update the media."

Correspondence dated 2010 also showed how officials deleted a reference to "systemic issues" and replaced it with "widespread issues".

Concerns have also been raised of a new care crisis at Tameside general hospital.

The Guardian claims it has seen unpublished reports suggesting some patients admitted on a Friday were not seen by a consultant until the following Tuesday.

The reports, which were commissioned by the hospital in March and April 2013, also suggest some patients are being left in pain in corridors because the A&E unit is full.

A shortage of doctors and nurses in key areas highlighted, as well as problems ensuring there are enough staff to cover overnight shifts, as well as a lack of consultants to conduct ward rounds.

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Parents Jailed Over Toddler's Heroin Death

A mother and father who negligently allowed their son to take a heroin overdose in the family home have been jailed.

Simon Jones, 30, was sentenced to six years behind bars after previously admitting manslaughter by gross negligence of 23-month-old Daniel Jones.

Daniel's mother 34-year-old Emma Bradburn was jailed for four years after she admitted allowing the young boy's death.

Sentencing the couple at Wolverhampton Crown Court, Mrs Justice Thirlwall said there was no doubt the two - both long-term heroin addicts - had loved their boy, but added: "It is one thing to risk your own health but quite another matter entirely to risk your son's."

She said: "He (Daniel) was utterly reliant upon you for every aspect of care in his life."

Daniel was pronounced dead after being found collapsed at the family's three-bedroom property in Windsor Avenue, Wolverhampton, on May 29 last year.

His death was initially treated as unexplained but following extensive tests it was determined that he had died from heroin poisoning, caused by an overdose.

Mrs Justice Thirlwall told Jones and Bradburn: "You failed woefully to protect him from the very obvious dangers you exposed him to.

"The danger was mortal danger, as you should have realised."

Jones fully accepted he was responsible for his son ingesting a tiny - yet lethal - amount of heroin, as he had been using the drug around the time Daniel died.

Following his arrest, shortly after the toddler's death, Jones tested positive for the drug while Bradburn did not.

Examination of a sample of Daniel's hair revealed the presence not only of heroin, but also amphetamines, cocaine and cannabis.

Both Jones and Bradburn said they never smoked heroin or cannabis in front of their son.

But it was revealed that Daniel slept in his parents' bed, where police found tin foil stained with a brown residue, empty clingfilm packets and other paraphernalia associated with the transport and use of heroin in the room's bedside tables.

When police searched the rest of the family home, they found a cannabis factory in the loft where more than 30 plants were growing.

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Qatada Expected Back In Jordan On Sunday

Timeline: Qatada Legal Battle

Updated: 3:26pm UK, Wednesday 03 July 2013

Abu Qatada has challenged and ultimately thwarted every attempt by the Government to detain and deport him for many years.

Here is a timeline of the legal battle.

1993: Abu Qatada claims asylum when he arrives in Britain on a forged passport.

1994: Allowed to stay in Britain.

1995: Issues a "fatwa" justifying the killing of converts from Islam, their wives and children in Algeria.

1998: Applies for indefinite leave to remain in Britain.

1999: April - Convicted in his absence on terror charges in Jordan and sentenced to life imprisonment.

October - Speaks in London advocating the killing of Jews and praising attacks on Americans.

2001: February - Arrested by anti-terror police over involvement in a plot to bomb Strasbourg Christmas market. Officers find him with £170,000 in cash, including £805 in an envelope marked "For the mujahedin in Chechnya".

December - Becomes one of Britain's most wanted men after going on the run from his home in west London.

2002: Arrested by police in a council house in south London and detained in Belmarsh high-security jail.

2005: Freed on conditional bail and placed on a control order but arrested again in August under immigration rules as the Government seeks to deport him to Jordan.

2008: April: Court of Appeal rules deportation would breach his human rights because evidence used against him in Jordan might have been obtained through torture.

May - Granted bail by the immigration tribunal but told he must stay inside for 22 hours a day.

June - Released from Long Lartin jail in Worcestershire and moves into a four-bedroom house in west London.

November - He is rearrested after the Home Office tells an immigration hearing of fears he plans to abscond.

December - Qatada's bail is revoked by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) after hearing secret evidence that the risk of him absconding has increased.

2009: Five Law Lords unanimously back the Government's policy of removing terror suspects from Britain on the basis of assurances from foreign governments and it is ruled he can be deported to Jordan to face a retrial on the terror charges.

He is awarded 2,800 euro (£2,500) compensation by the European Court of Human Rights after the judges rule that his detention without trial in the UK under anti-terrorism powers breached his human rights.

2012: January - European judges rule he can be sent to Jordan with diplomatic assurances but not while "there remains a real risk that evidence obtained by torture will be used against him".

February - He is released on strict bail conditions.

April - Rearrested as the Government prepares to deport him after Jordan gives assurances it will "bend over backwards" to ensure he receives a fair trial.

March - Qatada's legal team loses its bid to have the case heard by the Europe's human rights judges, clearing the way for deportation proceedings to continue.

May and August - Siac rejects Qatada's applications for bail.

October - Siac holds appeal hearing.

November - His appeal is granted and he is granted bail.

December - Qatada is moved to a larger residence in the greater London area.

2013:

March 9 - It emerges Qatada has been arrested for allegedly breaching his bail conditions. He is ordered to stay in custody and sent to Belmarsh.

March 21 - Police reveal the cleric is being investigated over extremist material.

March 27 - Home Secretary Theresa May loses her appeal over Siac's decision to allow Qatada to stay in the UK. The Home Office vows to appeal.

April 17 - The Home Office formally announces that it is seeking leave from the Court of Appeal to take the case to the Supreme Court.

April 22 - The Court of Appeal refuses permission to go to the Supreme Court, forcing the Home Office to appeal directly to the highest court in the land.

April 23 - Theresa May tells MPs she has signed a new treaty with Jordan that should pave the way to deportation, but warns it might take "many months".

May 10 - Qatada's barrister says he will go back to Jordan voluntarily if the treaty on the use of evidence obtained by torture, guaranteeing he will not be tortured, is ratified by the Jordanian parliament.

May 20 - Qatada is refused bail by the Special Immigrations Appeals Commission after "jihadist material" is found on a computer memory stick.

July 2 - The new treaty between Jordan and Britain is fully ratified, sparking claims Qatada could be on a plane within days.

July 3 - A Jordanian government official tells AFP the cleric is due back on Sunday.

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Danny Nightingale's Gun Possession 'A Breach'

By David Bowden, Defence Correspondent

An SAS officer has told the trial of a former special forces sniper that the guns and ammunition found in his bedroom would be a "gross breach" of unit rules covering firearms.

The officer, known only as soldier Y, was an Adjutant of Sergeant Danny Nightingale's unit.

The court martial heard that Nightingale's housemate, another SAS soldier, known as N, served in Iraq in both 2003 and 2004, but that Nightingale was not deployed there until 2007.

Soldier Y also disclosed that members of the SAS were operating in Iraq in 2001 - two years before the start of the Iraq war - but gave no details and was not questioned about it.

When discussing SAS deployments after the invasion in 2003, Soldier Y agreed with defence counsel William Clegg QC that the unit would deploy around 30 or 40 men at a time and that each man would be responsible for his own kit.

The court has already heard that police found a pistol and more than 300 rounds of ammunition in Nightingale's bedroom when it was searched in September 2011.

The board of five serving soldiers - the military equivalent of the jury in a civil trial - has heard details of "operation plunder" under which the rules for service personnel bringing back war trophies from operations are laid out.

It prohibits the bringing back to the UK of any weapons from theatre without authorisation.

Soldier Y was asked by Prosecutor Timothy Cray that given they were special forces: "Was there any scope for turning a blind eye to ammunition .... was there a special exemption in terms of members of the unit having firearms for their own use that hadn't been issued by the unit?"

The witness replied: "None whatsoever".

The trial has already heard that in initial police interviews Nightingale said he brought the pistol back from Iraq intending to have it decommissioned and presented to his unit as a trophy, but that never happened.

The court martial has on a number of occasions gone into secret sessions with the public and press excluded, to preserve what the sitting judge deems to be sensitive material.

Nightingale has pleaded not guilty to charges of illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

The court martial continues.

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Dewani: 'Better To Get On With' Extradition

Delaying the extradition to South Africa of the man accused of murdering his wife on their honeymoon could make things worse for him, a court has heard.

Shrien Dewani, who has depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, is accused of orchestrating the death of his 28-year-old wife Anni, who was shot on the outskirts of Cape Town in November 2010.

The 33-year-old strongly denies any involvement in his wife's murder.

Psychiatrist Dr Ian Cumming told London's Westminster Magistrates' Court: "It could be six months, then another six months, then on and on.

Dewani has strongly denied involvment in his wife's murder

"It could make things worse and could be better to get on with it. Actually it may be a kind thing for him - to actually get on."

Dr Cumming has visited South Africa and been reassured that the businessman would be admitted to a general ward at Valkenberg Hospital in Cape Town, rather than a unit where people are sent by the courts.

He is confident the standard of Dewani's ongoing medical treatment will be "robust" and will not drop once he leaves Britain.

"The receiving hospital there will prepare themselves very well," he said. "There will be exchange of information and reports and a handover. It is likely a nurse will accompany him from the UK to South Africa.

"I think they would make it as robust as possible. They would not stop whatever medication he is on - that would be bad practice and they would not do that."

Dewani's post-traumatic stress is severe, his depressive illness is moderate to severe, and his current risk of self-harm is real and significant but not immediate, the court was told.

He has received treatment for his mental condition since his wife's death, most recently at two units near Bristol.

The place where he is currently being treated seems to be a "protective mechanism for him", Dr Cumming noted.

Previously, Dewani's lawyers have expressed concerns he would be a high suicide risk if he returned to the country, and his human rights could be breached because of the risk of violent and sexual assaults in jail, and of contracting HIV.

Newlywed Mrs Dewani was shot when a taxi in which the couple were travelling was hijacked in the Gugulethu township.

Mr Dewani and driver Zola Tongo were ejected from the car before Mrs Dewani was driven away and killed.

She was found dead in the back of the abandoned vehicle with a bullet wound to her neck.

Last year, South African Xolile Mngeni was convicted of premeditated murder for shooting Mrs Dewani.

Prosecutors claimed he was a hit-man hired by Shrien Dewani to kill his new wife, something that Dewani has consistently denied.

Tongo was jailed for 18 years after he admitted his part in the crime, and another accomplice, Mziwamadoda Qwabe, also pleaded guilty to charges over the murder and was handed a 25-year prison sentence.

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