Royal Mail Sale: Cable Outlines Flotation

Royal Mail staff will get free shares under the Government's plans for the privatisation of the service, despite strong opposition to the sell-off among the workforce.

The Business Secretary Vince Cable confirmed in a statement to MPs the intention to float a majority stake in Royal Mail initially, with the rest following depending on market conditions.

As he announced that staff would hold 10% of the business under proposals first revealed by Sky News, members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) took to an open-top bus in the City to denounce the sell-off.

Royal Mail workers took to a 'protest' bus in London to make their point

Some of the protesters - most of them employees of the postal service - held placards reading: "Save our Royal Mail" or "You own it, don't buy it."

They argued that they cared more about the future of the service, their pensions, jobs and working conditions than the prospect of a windfall worth more than £2,000 each for the 150,000-strong workforce.

The union's deputy general secretary, Dave Ward, dismissed reassurances about future employment rules to warn of the prospect of strikes unless legally-binding agreements were put in place to guarantee his members' conditions.

Chuka Umunna questioned the Government's motives for the sale

Mr Cable had told the Commons: "These shares will be free to eligible employees, recognising that many of them would otherwise find them unaffordable."

He said the flotation, which was expected to value the business at £3bn, would begin over the next year and the shares would be listed on the London Stock Exchange. They will be available to the general public as well as institutional investors.

"This is logical, it is a commercial decision designed to put Royal Mail's future on to a long-term sustainable basis," he said.

"It is consistent with developments elsewhere in Europe where privatised operators in Austria, Germany and Belgium produce profit margins far higher than the Royal Mail but have continued to provide high-quality and expanding services.

"Now the time has come for Government to step back from Royal Mail, allow its management to focus wholeheartedly on growing the business and planning for the future."

Labour said it would oppose the flotation.

Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said: "Having nationalised the organisation's debts by taking on its pension liabilities, they now want to privatise the profit at the very time it is making money.

"There is every sign this treasured national institution is being sold off on the cheap to get income quickly to a Treasury whose economic strategy has failed."

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Deadly West London Flat Fire 'Suspicious'

The Metropolitan Police have said they are treating a fire which led to the deaths of two people and tore through neighbouring flats in Heston, west London, as suspicious.

Some 58 firefighters and officers were called to the blaze, which broke out above a shop near the junction of Church Road and Heston Road, at around 1.40am.

Firefighters said three people jumped out of the burning building

Three people are believed to have jumped from the second floor of the burning building before fire crews arrived.

A woman found in the street was pronounced dead at the scene, while two men, aged 18 and 37, are being treated for multiple injuries at St Mary's Hospital in central London.

Firefighters found the body of another person during a search of the flat.

Local roads have been closed around the flats

The names of those killed in the fire, which was spotted by police officers during a routine patrol, have not yet been released.

Kudzanayi Taziwa, who was in the building at the time, told Sky News: "I heard a loud bang. When I opened the window, I saw some shattered windows on the ground and I thought there had been a car crash. That's when I realised there was a body on the floor."

The cause of the blaze is under investigation by police and fire officers.

London Fire Brigade sent eight fire engines to the scene

It is thought to have started inside one of the flats before spreading to neighbouring properties, damaging half of the roof of the building and parts of the second floor.

Around 50 people who were evacuated from their homes were taken to a nearby village hall.

The local council is attempting to find emergency accommodation for anyone unable to return.

The deadly fire happened overnight

Road closures are also in place while firefighters investigate the blaze.

Officials from Hounslow borough council are at the scene and police officers from the Met's Homicide and Serious Crime Command have been contacted.

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Brit Drugs Suspect Arrested In Athens Sting

A British man wanted in connection with a multimillion-pound drugs seizure has been caught in a sting operation at a pub in Athens.

Kevin Hanley, 50, had just settled down to watch the British and Irish Lions' rugby triumph against Australia when Greek and British officers grabbed him.

Police had been targeting him since November when officers discovered more than £2m in cash and millions of pounds worth of drugs at a property in Fulham, London.

Officers from Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) and Greek police arrested Hanley on suspicion of money-laundering, and conspiracy to supply cocaine, cannabis and amphetamine.

Greek police said Hanley had taken "extensive precautions" to avoid arrest, with "frequent changes of address, telephones and cars" - using dual-sim mobile phones and coded text messages.

Brendan Foreman, regional head of investigations at Soca, said: "These arrests were a direct result of our close co-operation with the Greek authorities.

"Operations like this remind the public that Soca and its partners will stop at nothing to take down those suspected of being involved in drug trafficking."

In the seizure, police found 44.1lb (20kg) of cocaine, 33.1lb (15kg) of cannabis and 33.1lb of amphetamine, as well as £2.1m in cash.

Five other suspects - four men and one woman - from London, Liverpool, Glasgow and Gloucestershire - have also been arrested in Britain in connection with the operation.

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Mobile Phone Stabbing Murder: Teen Sentenced

A 15-year-old teenager has been jailed for at least 13 years for murdering a "promising" A-level who was trying to recover a stolen smartphone.

Dogan Ismail, 17, died from a single stab wound to the heart as he tried to get back a BlackBerry robbed from another 15-year-old during an altercation two days earlier.

His killer, Dawda Jallow, from Peckham, southeast London, was ordered to serve at least 13 years of a life sentence after he was found guilty of murder.

Before passing sentence at the Old Bailey, Judge Christopher Moss took the unusual step of lifting an order granting him anonymity as a minor.

The judge told Jallow that the attack was carried out with "force and ferocity" but added that he could not be sure whether he intended to kill his victim.

Jallow stared at the ground as his sentence was read out with members of his and his victim's families looking on.

Dogan's mother said her family had been plunged into a 'living nightmare'

He had been caught carrying a knife twice before the attack took place on December 30 last year, the court heard.

His mother had sent him back to Gambia, where they are originally from, to try to keep him out of trouble but when he returned he was "disruptive" at school.

Judge Moss described him as a "troubled boy who appeared to have a difficult background" due to the lack of a relationship with his father.

"You have said you recognise the effect that your actions have had on those who loved him (Dogan) and I can only hope that is the case," he said.

In a victim impact statement read out in court on her behalf, Dogan's mother, Ozel Ismail, said the killing had plunged her and her family into a "living nightmare".

Speaking of the love she felt for her first-born child, she said he had been "worth every sleepless night".

"I had dreams with Dogan - his first job, his first car, his first serious girlfriend," she said. "Those dreams have been stolen from me and have died with Dogan."

Detective Chief Inspector Matt Bonner welcomed the sentence for what he described as an "appalling and violent attack".

"Jallow did all he could to evade capture in the weeks following the attack, until he realised there was nowhere left to run," he said.

"He will now spend a significant amount of time behind bars for the callous crime that he has committed."

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Tour De France: 'Urine' Thrown At Cavendish

British cyclist Mark Cavendish has reportedly been sprayed with urine during a time trial for the latest leg of the Tour de France.

French competitor and friend, Jerome Pineau, wrote on Twitter that Cavendish told him he had been whistled at and had urine thrown at him, possibly by a spectator.

"Yesterday I was so proud to see the support at the race but today I am ashamed," tweeted Pineau.

"Ashamed when my friend @MarkCavendish tells me he has been whistled and even sprayed with urine on the course. It's scandalous."

Cavendish declined to talk when asked about the incident, but a member of his team said with a grin there had "been a smell" when the road-racing professional returned to their bus.

Cavendish was blamed by many fans for a crash in the final 100 metres of Tuesday's stage 10 which sent Tom Veelers crashing to the ground, although he was cleared by race officials.

Omega Pharma team CEO Patrick Lefevere said he believed the clash was the reason for this incident.

"Probably some spectators were not very pleased with what happened yesterday and they yelled to him and then one other idiot threw urine at him," he said.

"Mark is really disappointed because he thinks he didn't deserve this."

Tony Martin set the early pace in the first individual time trial. The world time trial champion completed the 33km course to Mont-Saint-Michel in a time of 36 minutes 29 seconds to sit 39 seconds ahead of the second-best time, set by Vaconsoleil's Thomas De Gendt.

Cavendish set a time of exactly 42 minutes, more than four minutes behind team-mate Martin.

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Missing Teen Hollie: Body Found In Sea

Police investigating the disappearance of a 14-year-old girl who was last seen in difficulty in the sea have recovered a body.

Hollie McClymont, from Glasgow, was reported missing after going swimming off Barry Island in South Wales on Sunday.

More than 40 specialist officers were deployed in the search for the missing teenager, as well as a helicopter and coastguards.

Chief Inspector Marc Lamerton, of South Wales Police, confirmed that a body had been recovered in Fontygary, a small seaside village three miles southwest of Barry.

"The body has not been formally identified," he said.

"But the family of Hollie McClymont, who was reported missing on Sunday afternoon, have been informed of this development and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time."

Steffan Wiliam, a Barry resident and Plaid Cymru councillor at the local Vale of Glamorgan Council, said: "This is awful, awful news - the nightmare scenario we have all been worrying about.

"If it is confirmed that it is the missing teenager, this is the most awful news we could have had."

Hollie had gone to South Wales with her mother, Sarah, for a holiday.

Police said they chose the area because they have relatives there.

The teenager was seen getting into difficulty at about 2.45pm on Sunday at Whitmore Bay, a popular destination for sun-seekers.

Coastguards said they were not alerted for an hour, something they said they were "dumfounded" by.

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Fake Ecstasy: Seventh Death Linked To Pills

A teenager has died after taking "dangerous" fake ecstasy tablets - the seventh reported death linked to the pills.

Police say the tablets circulating in Scotland contain toxic chemicals with potentially fatal effects.

In the latest case, an 18-year-old woman died in Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire, on Tuesday morning.

Three male friends aged 18, 21 and 25 were admitted to the Royal Alexandra Hospital. Doctors are still treating the 25-year-old.

In recent weeks there has been a rise in the number of people who have died after taking a tablet that they thought was ecstasy. The majority of these were people in their early 20s.

Police in the west of Scotland have identified the pills as green in colour and stamped with a crown logo and say some have been found to contain a dangerous stimulant called Methoxyamphetamine, also known as PMA.

They are also warning of a white pill with the Mitsubishi logo imprinted on it, found to contain the chemicals 5IT or AMT, and a yellow tablet with a star logo.

Officers in the north of Scotland recovered a large quantity of fake ecstasy tablets at a house in Aberdeen on Tuesday. These tablets are also green but with the Heineken logo.

There are also warnings of a white pill with a Mitsubishi logo

Superintendent Grahame Clarke, from Police Scotland's western division, said: "An investigation is under way and our inquiries have so far revealed that the woman, along with three friends, had taken what they thought were ecstasy tablets.

"The tablets were described as green with a Rolex crown logo stamped on them.

"Public warnings have been issued recently in relation to the dangers of taking ecstasy, or indeed tablets being passed off as ecstasy. They are illegal and could contain a cocktail of toxic ingredients.

"We have yet to establish if this particular pill is to blame for the death of this young woman, but the fact that she and her friends took pills described as green and with a Rolex stamp on it causes us real concern.

"The exact contents of the pills are unknown but they could contain dangerous chemicals."

People taking the fake pills can experience symptoms including high temperature, aggression and muscle pains as well as hallucinations and excitability, medics said.

Richard Stevenson, a doctor in emergency medicine at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, said: "These symptoms are treatable if help is sought early. I would urge anyone who begins to feel unwell or feels a more intense high than usual after taking any drug which they think is ecstasy or not to seek immediate medical help."

Police are keen to get the warning across ahead of this weekend's T in the Park music festival in Balado, Perth and Kinross.

Drugs "amnesty bins" will be available at the entrance to the campsites where illegal substances can be disposed of without risk of prosecution, police said.

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Danny Nightingale Guilty Of Gun Possession

A former special forces sniper has been found guilty of illegally possessing a Glock 9mm pistol and 338 rounds of ammunition.

Sergeant Danny Nightingale was convicted by a five-person court martial board in Bulford, Wiltshire.

He had pleaded not guilty to possession of a prohibited firearm between November 26, 2007 and September 16, 2011, and had also denied possession of the ammunition on or about September 16, 2011.

The 38-year-old of Crewe, Cheshire, said afterwards he thought his case was strong enough to clear his name and that the verdict "came as a great shock".

The pistol found in Sgt Nightingale's wardrobe

He thanked his family and supporters, saying: "I think at the moment we need it more than ever. There is a bit of David and Goliath going on.

"If I didn't have such a strong family we'd be broken," he said, adding that they were "close to financial ruin".

His wife Sally, who has attended the proceedings throughout, added: "He isn't guilty and he is not a criminal."

The items, said to be brought back from Iraq, were recovered by civilian police in September 2011 in the rented house the father-of-two shared with another SAS soldier, known only as Soldier N.

The pistol was found in Sgt Nightingale's wardrobe and the ammunition was under his bed in a plastic box.

Sgt Nightingale, who was serving in Afghanistan at the time, said he had no knowledge of them being in his bedroom and said someone else had put them there.

"I have physical or tangible memory. I have no recollection of receiving the gun," he told the court martial.

He said he was a "diligent" soldier who would not have "randomly" stored ammunition at home.

The Crown said Sgt Nightingale had put the public at risk by having the lethal arsenal stored in an insecure house.

Prosecutor Timothy Cray told the trial: "No soldier, no matter what his experience is or what unit he is attached to, is above the law.

"On the specific facts alleged - that is, the defendant's attitude to the retention of arms and ammunition - is that he made a series of mistakes that put the public at risk and that is why he now comes before this court martial.

The ammunition recovered by civilian police from Sgt Nightingale's bedroom

"No matter how he tries to deny it, the gun and ammunition were there in his bedroom because he put them there and he kept them there."

Mr Cray accused the soldier of changing his story after originally telling police the pistol was a "trophy" brought back from Iraq in 2007 and that he had accumulated the ammunition from training sessions in the UK.

But Sgt Nightingale insisted his confusion followed a serious brain injury he suffered while taking part in an endurance event in Brazil in 2009, which had significantly affected his memory.

William Clegg QC, defending, suggested Soldier N had brought the Glock pistol to the UK from Iraq.

Soldier N was sentenced to two years' military detention last year after admitting possessing a Glock 9mm pistol, which he brought back from Iraq in 2003.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing ammunition that was recovered by police at the house he shared with Sgt Nightingale.

Mr Clegg said Soldier N had good reason to disassociate himself from the second pistol as having two would have looked like he was collecting them.

"One can be a souvenir; two begins to suggest a collection," he suggested.

During the trial, which began last week, several members of the SAS gave evidence anonymously.

One serviceman said the storing of weapons in accommodation was a "gross breach" of Army regulations, while Soldier N said bringing back trophies from overseas operations was "part of the course".

Sgt Nightingale had originally pleaded guilty to the two charges in November last year and was sentenced to 18 months' military detention.

He appealed against that sentence and it was reduced to 12 months' imprisonment, suspended for a year.

The Court of Appeal later quashed Sgt Nightingale's original convictions and a fresh trial was ordered.

The ex-SAS sniper was released on bail after Wednesday's verdict.

Sentencing was adjourned to a later date pending a Court of Appeal judgement on the sentencing powers of the court.

Colonel Charles Barnett, from the Services Prosecuting Authority, said Sgt Nightingale's "fine record as a soldier is a matter that will no doubt be considered carefully when the board considers his sentence".

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Cafe: No Entry If 'Allergic To Black People'

A cafe owner in a West Yorkshire market town has put up a sign warning customers not to come in if they are "allergic to black people."

Martha-Renee Kolleh, who runs the Caribbean and British-themed Yeanon Cafe in Ossett, said she put up the message because she was fed up of people leaving when they had seen her.

The sign on the entrance reads: "Attention. Everyone be aware I am a black woman, and always will be. If you are allergic to black people, don't come in.

"But if you prefer quality wholesome meals in a pleasant and clean environment, come in. I don't bite. Thanks, Martha-Renee."

Ms Kolleh, a single mother-of-three who has owned the high-street cafe for almost two and a half years, said customers were reacting differently to her than to white members of staff.

She said: "I put the sign up last Tuesday to vent my frustration and I was just expressing the way I felt at that moment.

"People would come in, open the door, look at me and turn round and go outside.

"At first I said to myself 'Maybe I'm being paranoid.' It's not like I've got two heads or something."

She said the market town of Ossett, which has a population of 16,000, of whom 97% are white, was not a racist place.

She said: "I've encountered some people who've been exceptionally nice. But I would say I've met some extremely horrible people too.

"It's not about who's racist and who's not. I'm just expressing the way I feel."

Customer Spike Falloon said he could understand why Ms Kolleh had made the sign. But he added: "Ossett is a lovely little town. It's never known any racist problems at all."

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BBC Boss 'Shocked' Over Bumper Pay-Offs

BBC bosses have been grilled by MPs over how senior staff were given hefty pay-offs that often breached the corporation's own guidelines.

Director-general Tony Hall and chairman of the BBC Trust Lord Patten appeared before the Public Accounts Committee, along with human resources director Lucy Adams and trust member Anthony Fry.

The session in the House of Commons came after a National Audit Office (NAO) report showed huge payments, of hundreds of thousands of pounds in some cases, were made even though executives were not always entitled to the money.

Lord Patten began by telling the group of cross-party MPs that it was "a question of shock and dismay for us" when it emerged that staff had been paid more than they were contractually owed in some cases.

George Entwistle was paid £450,000 for being in the top job for 54 days

Asked why he did not know some pay-offs had gone beyond what was contractually needed, Lord Patten appeared to suggest former director-general Mark Thompson should be called to give evidence.

He told the committee: "If you call a previous director general of the BBC I will be as interested as you are why we didn't know."

Speaking about Mr Thompson's eventual successor George Entwistle, who stood down after a few weeks in the job amid the Jimmy Savile sex scandal, Lord Patten said his pay-off of £450,000 was necessary to prevent a potentially larger bill if they had got bogged down in legal argument.

He said: "We would have fetched up paying more than we in fact had to pay him."

The pay-offs to Mark Byford and Caroline Thompson have been criticised

Lord Patten admitted Mr Entwistle was paid for an extra 20 days work for the BBC to help manage the transition to a new director-general but "as it happened he wasn't required to do anything".

Lord Patten also revealed that the BBC Trust has been pressing for an overall pay reduction since 2009.

He suggested to the MPs that some of the payments had been approved to "get people out of the door" after the BBC decided to cut the number of senior managers it employed.

He agreed with committee member Austin Mitchell MP that the size of some of the payments had discredited the licence fee and said: "It's not only the licence fee payer that has been shocked by what's happened, it's people who work for the BBC".

Roly Keating handed back his pay-off

According to the NAO in the three years up to last December, the BBC spent £25m on severance payments for 150 high-ranking staff.

And since 2005, the corporation has made payments totaling £60m to more than 400 senior managers.

Among the pay-offs criticised was one to former chief operating officer Caroline Thomson, who left last year with £670,000 - more than twice her salary.

And former deputy director-general Mark Byford was paid £949,000 when he left two years ago.

But the former BBC2 controller, Roly Keating, who was given a £375,000 pay-off, returned the money after learning it had not been properly authorised.

Lord Patten says he was shocked at the NAO's findings

Ms Adams, who is paid a salary of £320,000, said Mr Byford had an expectation of a payment in lieu of notice of 12 months because it had become "custom and practice" at the BBC.

She said she raised the possibility of a cap on redundancy payments in 2011, adding: "I was well aware this was unsustainable".

Mr Hall said the issue was not just with the human resources department, but a broader problem with the culture at the BBC and "the amount of control at the centre over what was going on was simply not good enough".

He added that he was working to make the BBC a "simpler" organisation and it was "over-complex, over-layered".

Mr Hall said: "Culturally I think we'd lost the plot, we lost the way", but added he had faith in Ms Adams to continue in her role.

Mr Fry told the committee that some BBC staff were "out to lunch" in regard to how much they expected senior executives to be paid, and some people had got "unreasonable" salaries and pay-offs.

He said members of the trust, which is the governing body of the BBC, were not always included in all decision making.

There were times when "people like me were asked in not particularly pleasant words to get back into our box," he added.

Lord Patten said the BBC would publish the full cost of the Pollard review into a dropped Newsnight investigation which featured allegations of sexual abuse by the late TV presenter Savile next Tuesday.

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