British News & Issues

Tens of thousands of postal workers have "solidly supported" a fresh strike, crippling mail deliveries across the UK in the latest motion of walkouts to hit the Royal Mail.

Members of the note Workers Union braved pouring lavish to mount picket lines outside mail centres on the poll consecutive hour of industrial animation in a bitter row over jobs, pay and modernisation.

A confederation official said the likewise proscription was again backed solidly by workers, again insisted members of the governmental were smooth giving strong sustain to the postmen again women.

Around 77,000 delivery and crowd bastinado leave be on strike whereas 24 hours, with fresh action planned in the eventual week unless marathon talks between the two sides produce a breakthrough.

The union has announced a third wave of 24-hour national walkouts prospective Friday, November 6 and Monday November 9, involving all its 121,000 postal members, although frantic efforts were continuing this weekend to find a peace deal.

Negotiators from the union and the troop were considering a series of proposals haggard ripening during talks last week chaired by TUC general secretary Brendan Barber.

The two sides are aiming to resume negotiations early approaching second and said they booked to make no comment this biking on the prospects of determination an agreement.

CWU passable secretary Billy Hayes said: "It is not essential for this strike to take stabilize and the union remains focused on reaching an agreement. We belief that little Mail will again now be equally focused.

"CWU is adamant to perform an agreement or make enough progress to call off query functioning next week."

Mark Higson, managing director of facile Mail condemned the union for calling more strikes, warning existing would "distract" from the stillness efforts.

The foreign secretary, David Miliband, today gave his strong backing to Tony Blair's candidacy to be the first permanent president of the European Union.

But he ruled himself out of the other high-ranking post created by the Lisbon treaty, high representative for foreign affairs, saying: "I am not a candidate for that. I am not available. I have got a job that I am absolutely committed to and proud to do."

Miliband said that a Blair presidency would be "very good for Britain as well as very good for Europe" and said he was "puzzled" by Conservative opposition to the prospect of having a British politician in such a senior European role.

The foreign secretary, a close personal ally of Blair, appeared to suggest that the former prime minister would be interested in the post only if it gave him real political clout in the international arena.

The leaders of the 27 EU member states meet in Brussels on Thursday to thrash out the remit of the new president, with some of the smaller states believed to favour a low-profile role involving little more than chairing meetings.

Miliband indicated that Blair wanted a job in which, when he arrives in foreign capitals, "the traffic does need to stop" and he is guaranteed access to political leaders at the highest level.

The foreign secretary told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: "I think it is very important for Europe that it has a strong figure in that role, it has someone able persuasively to advocate the case that is decided by the 27 member states of the EU.

Miliband said he expected the new president to be selected by the 27 EU leaders soon after the Lisbon treaty is finally signed by Vaclav Klaus, the president of the Czech Republic, the only member state which has not yet ratified.

"I think this is an important moment for Europe. It has got a new commission, hopefully with the passage of the Lisbon treaty a new system of running its affairs, a more efficient system," said the foreign secretary.

"It needs to take that opportunity, otherwise we will find the world run by America and China without any reference to us."

Asked if Blair wanted the job of president of Europe, Miliband told Marr: "It all comes down to what the heads of government want the job to be.

"It's about whether or not Europe wants a strong leader in that position. I think that hasn't yet been resolved in the minds of a number of Europe's leaders.

"My own view is that we need somebody who can do more than simply run through the agenda. We need someone who, when he or she lands in Beijing or Washington or Moscow, the traffic does need to stop and talks do need to begin at a very, very high level. I think Europe has suffered from the lack of that clarity."

Under the terms of the Lisbon treaty, the new president of the European Council will be selected by the heads of government of the 27 member-states, voting by qualified majority. The president will serve for a maximum of two fixed terms of two and a half years, replacing the current system under which each member-state provides a president on a six-month rotating basis.

The treaty provides for the president to chair the council's meetings and co-ordinate its work, but also states that he or she should "ensure the external representation of the union on issues concerning its common foreign and security policy", opening up the possibility of the post becoming the "voice of Europe" in talks with other global powers.

Miliband said that other European leaders found it difficult to understand why a British party such as the Conservatives might oppose having a British politician in the continent's top job.

"In every other country of Europe, they would be delighted if one of their former prime ministers was being nominated by governments around Europe; his case was being pushed by governments around Europe – for a senior European position," he said.

"The Europeans I talk to view with bemusement this argument from the Conservatives that somehow it is bad for Britain to have a former British prime minister in a leading role in Europe. Some of them can't quite believe it.

"It must be good for us to have someone who is a former British prime minister and knows Britain well, who as we know is a powerful advocate for policies agreed in the appropriate democratic processes in the EU. That seems a very good thing, not a bad thing."

Welfare reforms forcing single parents to look for work or risk losing benefits are "family friendly", Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper said.

Lone parents whose youngest children are aged 10 or 11 will be switched from Income Support to the tougher Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) which is paid at the same rate but requires them to attend fortnightly JobCentre interviews and show they have applied for jobs or lose benefits.

Ms Cooper said: "What we want to do is help more parents in to work, but also to do so in a family friendly way."

She said under the new regulations, parents would only have to look for part-time work.

She told GMTV: "They may also be able to look just for work that fits with school hours if they're lone parents as well because I do think it's important often to be able to pick the kids up from school and as a mum I know how important it is to be able to spend time with the children."

She said single parents would be able to access other benefits and that even part-time work could help lift them out of poverty. She added: "I do think it's right that as the children grow older there are more responsibilities on parents to start looking for work. We know that is good for both the parents and children as well."

Single parents' campaign group Gingerbread has accused the Government of failing to provide the necessary support to help them find work.

Parents of children aged 12 or older were switched on to JSA last year, and the change will be extended to all single parents with children aged seven or over in October next year. Plans to remove 300,000 lone parents from Income Support were announced in 2007 as part of a drive to achieve an 80% employment rate, which some critics say is no longer feasible in the light of rising joblessness caused by the recession.

The Department for Work and Pensions promised then the increased obligations to look for work would be matched by "personalised help and support", with greater flexibility for JobCentre staff to respond to individual circumstances.

But Gingerbread released a report suggesting the lone parents who moved on to JSA a year ago did not get the support they needed. Many did not get the meetings with a New Deal adviser to which they are entitled, said the charity. And others felt under pressure to find work and demoralised by repeated rejections.

Thousands of British Airways cabin crew are to be balloted for industrial action in a row over new contracts, it has been announced.

Unite said 14,000 of its members at the airline will vote on whether to launch a campaign of action in protest over the imposition of the employment contracts.

Derek Simpson, the union's joint general secretary, said: "BA management's determination to impose unacceptable contractual changes on cabin crew leaves us no alternative."

He added: "We will strongly support our members if they vote for industrial action, while of course remaining ready to negotiate with the company. Negotiation, not imposition, is the only proper way to conduct industrial relations."

Cabin crew had already decided to hold an emergency meeting next Monday to decide whether to fight plans to cut jobs, freeze pay and introduce worse wages and conditions for new staff.

Thousands of workers are expected to attend the meeting, at Sandown Racecourse in Surrey, two weeks before the cuts come into effect.

Two former sections of the Transport and General Workers Union - Bassa and Cabin Crew 89 - have joined forces for the first time in over 20 years to hold the joint meeting.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh met with Unite leaders earlier this month after which the airline issued a statement which said: "The discussion, about cabin crew pay and productivity issues, was open and frank."

Unite have complained that the changes being introduced next month constituted a "fundamental attack" on the jobs, wages and career prospects of all 14,000 cabin crew members of the union. "They will not only hit the customer service core of the business, but will forever undermine BA's international reputation as a premier airline with premier crew providing a premier service.

"You are now being bullied into the very real possibility of accepting inferior contracts in just a few weeks' time," union leaders said in a letter to workers earlier this month. While we accept these are tough times for aviation generally, we do not accept that this is a company on its knees. This is still a prestigious airline with a high reputation to uphold not only at home, but also around the globe."

More than a quarter of school staff (28%) have had a false allegation made against them by a pupil, according to a survey.

One in six (17%) have had a false claim made against them by a member of a pupil's family, according to the study by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL).

One half (50%) of school staff said they or a colleague had had a false allegation made against them in their current school or college by a pupil or a member of a pupil's family.

These were the key findings of a survey of 1,155 ATL members working as support staff, teachers, department heads and school leaders in state and private schools around the UK.

In half the cases the allegation was immediately dismissed by the school, and the police were notified in only 16% of instances.

ATL general secretary Dr Mary Bousted said: "School staff are having their careers blighted by false allegations and their private lives damaged as a result of the stress. We are losing good teachers, heads and support staff to the detriment of children's education. We all accept the protection of children is paramount, but that should not be at the expense of natural justice - school staff have rights too.

"This survey suggests huge numbers of staff are facing false allegations every week. It's time the balance was redressed so that school staff are not presumed guilty until proven innocent. The right to anonymity should be re-examined, to reduce the damage to the lives of innocent staff and make it less difficult to reintegrate into school.

"We would also like heads to avoid putting an automatic bar on staff having contact with colleagues, because cutting contact with colleagues compounds stress and feelings of isolation so makes a return to school less likely even when allegations are proved false."

ATL executive member Louise Davies said: "There are serious concerns that staff are at risk of allegations by a few pupils and copycat claims by others. If a pupil has a record of making allegations then staff should be aware of this so they can be extra vigilant for their own safety.

"The pupil may also need to be professionally supported as to why they make such claims."

A scrap dealer is being questioned over the disposal of a car linked to the murder of Surrey schoolgirl Milly Dowler.

He is understood to be Nirmal Gharu, 40, of west London, who was interviewed by police on August 4 over the same matter, and was arrested at 9.30am after voluntarily attending a police station.

Police believe a red Daewoo Nexia car could have been used to transport the 13-year-old's body.

Amanda Dowler, who was known to family and friends as Milly, vanished while walking home from school in Walton-on-Thames on March 21, 2002.

Six months later, her skeletal remains were found 30 miles away by mushroom pickers in Yateley Heath, Hampshire. Her death remains one of Britain's most notorious unsolved crimes.

Earlier this month, divers searched Bedford Lake, near London's Heathrow Airport, for the Daewoo Nexia but said they found "nothing of any relevance". Investigators received new information suggesting the car had been dumped there but said after the search they had no plans to return to the lake.

Despite extensive searches over the past four years there are still no signs of the car. Prime suspect Levi Bellfield has admitted driving the car but claims he was carrying building materials. Officers have been painstakingly building a case against Bellfield since he was arrested by the Metropolitan Police in November 2004 over other matters.

The 41-year-old was told last year that he would die in jail after he was found guilty of murdering students Marsha McDonnell, 19, and Amelie Delagrange, 22. He was also convicted of the attempted murder of schoolgirl Kate Sheedy, 18. All of the women were attacked near bus stops in south west London.

Bellfield, a former nightclub bouncer and wheelclamper, was arrested and interviewed over Milly's death four years ago. Officers believe they have compelling circumstantial evidence which links him to the crime.

Last month, Crown Prosecution Service solicitors were handed a dossier of evidence by Surrey Police and are now considering whether to charge Bellfield with murder. It emerged that detectives investigating Milly's murder obtained new evidence, which cannot be disclosed for legal reasons, last December.

Shadow chancellor George Osborne has called for emergency action to ban banks from paying big cash bonuses and force them to lend the money to hard-pressed firms and families instead.

He said premier Gordon Brown and Chancellor Alistair Darling's plans to ease the credit crunch and reform the banks had failed.

Mr Osborne told an audience in the City: "It is time for the Government to act - and act decisively."

He added: "We cannot wait for the Prime Minister's promised land of a new responsible bonus culture which looks more remote than ever. We need to take emergency steps to support bank lending and move the economy forward this winter. The banks have to understand that we are all in this together.

"I am today calling on the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority to combine forces and stop retail banks - in other words the banks that lend directly to businesses and families - paying out profits in significant cash bonuses. Full stop. That includes their investment banking arms. Then the cash that would have been paid out should be put on to banks' balance sheets explicitly to support new lending."

Mr Osborne stressed he was not trying to block cash bonuses for low-paid counter staff or call centre workers. And he said where firms needed to award bonuses to high-flyers to remain competitive they should be paid in new shares in the companies.

The shadow chancellor said Britain would then be in step with President Barack Obama's administration: "The Obama administration's new policy will see the cash remuneration of the top bankers cut by 90%, and banks have been told to pay out in shares instead. America is acting. Britain at the moment is not. We are a party that believes in enterprise and a competitive economy.

"We know financial services have a huge role to play in Britain's future. The politics of envy will play no part in our plans. But we do need the politics of common sense. There can be no justification for using taxpayer support and guarantees to pay cash into the bank accounts of bankers when the rest of the economy is in such desperate need of that cash."

The shadow chancellor also urged the introduction of new, smaller banks to lend "responsibly" to families and businesses and said the country urgently needed a plan for growth and to restore economic confidence.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liam Byrne said: "George Osborne made the wrong call on saving the bank system - and now he's trying to play catch-up. The problem is he's playing it badly. The bonus plans he's floating are weaker, not stronger than the change we've already put in place."

Union bosses have launched a renewed attack on the Government as crucial talks aimed at averting further postal strikes began.

Dave Ward, of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), said ministers could not continue "sitting on the sidelines" as negotiations continue in the deadlocked row over jobs, pay and modernisation.

Leaders of the CWU were meeting Royal Mail bosses after TUC general secretary Brendan Barber invited the two sides to hold talks.

Up to 120,000 workers are set to stage a fresh round of strikes from Thursday unless progress is made.

Mr Ward, before entering the latest discussions, said the dispute was "fundamentally" about jobs and workers' terms and conditions.

"The change that postal workers are facing is on a scale that's greater than any other UK industry at the present time and I think what we are going to do today is end that confusion about what this dispute is about," he said.

He said the issue of the Royal Mail's pension deficit - thought to total about £10 billion - needed to be resolved urgently.

"There's no prospect of us building a successful future for the Royal Mail and for the workforce unless the Government actually deal with that issue," he said.

"That's why we keep saying the Government can't keep sitting on the sidelines."

He added: "We will deal with the issues around the industrial side of the Royal Mail but there are things that the Government have to deal with. Unless we fund a solution to the pensions deficit very quickly then this company has no prospect of building a successful future."

A man accused of assaulting pop star Leona Lewis is not fit to attend court, a judge was told.

Peter Kowalczyk, 29, was charged with striking the Bleeding Love singer during a book signing.

A hearing at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court heard he has been sectioned under the Mental Health Act and is being examined by psychiatrists.

After a short hearing of legal argument, District Judge Daphne Wickham adjourned the case until November 23 at the same court. Kowalczyk did not appear in the dock and remains in secure accommodation at Lambeth Hospital in south London.

Kowalczyk's solicitor, Mark Fidler, said the results of the psychiatric tests would dictate what approach is taken to the case. The court heard Kowalczyk is on unconditional bail but is unable to leave hospital because of an order under Section 3 of the Mental Health Act.

Kowalczyk, of Waterloo, south London, was arrested at Waterstone's book shop in Piccadilly on October 14.

Witnesses said Lewis was struck by a fan as she signed copies of her autobiography.

The 24-year-old had been signing autographs for about 90 minutes when a man lashed out, leaving her with bruising to the side of her head. Security officers stepped in and held the man on the floor until police officers arrived and arrested him.

Lewis was taken to see a doctor as a precaution, but needed no further treatment. The star cancelled a day-long promotional visit to Germany the next day as she recovered from the ordeal.

She later thanked fans for their support and said the incident left her "extremely hurt and upset".

Owen will be centre of attention on Sunday as he makes his first return to Liverpool - the club which nurtured him and for whom he scored 158 goals - as a player for their fiercest rivals.

Manchester United's signing of the one-time Anfield hero raised some eyebrows in the summer but the 29 year-old repaid some of Ferguson's faith with a dramatic derby winner against Manchester City last month.

Now United will be hoping he can repeat the trick in a Premier League game which Liverpool, after four successive defeats in all competitions, can ill afford to lose.

"That will never be forgotten," Ferguson said. "I don't know if it puts him in the history books but it will certainly never be forgotten.

"He is only just starting with us. He has only been here a few months and I hope the boy is here for a long time.

"I think he is well capable of doing that. He is showing he is a terrific professional, he lives his life the right way and there are no complications with him."

Owen has largely been restricted to substitute's duties since moving to Old Trafford and got another 20 minutes in Wednesday's Champions League win at CSKA Moscow.

But with Wayne Rooney still a doubt for Sunday due to a calf injury, he could be in line for a start despite the likelihood of a hostile reception.

Ferguson added: "When he came on on Wednesday I think he did very well, his movement troubles opponents.

"There is nobody better at holding the line in the last third than him, he is very seldom offside. That is experience, of course, but also talent."

After an injury-ravaged spell at Newcastle, the opportunity for Owen to join United came as a surprise.

With an England World Cup place to aim for, Owen is hoping the move can resurrect his international career.

His injury record is a factor Ferguson had to take into consideration and the player can perhaps be grateful to a former Newcastle team-mate and ex-United star for helping secure the move.

"Michael is capable of scoring in any type of match at the highest level," Ferguson said. "He has proved that, we knew that.

"Looking at his CV, I think any club in the world would have taken him. The issue was his playing record over the last two or three years and that obviously put some clubs off.

"But I spoke to one or two people about him - Nicky Butt was almost forcing me to sign him, he had so much good to say about the lad.

"I think it was good advice and I took that on board."

Rooney's fitness will be assessed at training on Saturday, his 24th birthday.

The former Everton star was injured during England's World Cup qualifier in Ukraine a fortnight ago.

Darren Fletcher is another doubt for the game but Ryan Giggs and Patrice Evra return after suffering knocks against Bolton last week.

Victory for United would extend their advantage over Liverpool in the table to 10 points.

The 64-year-old wore a white skirt and black jacket to collect the Silver Marc Aurelio Jury Award at the Auditorium Parco della Musica on Friday.

A Danish movie about a gay love affair between two members of a neo-Nazi group won top honors while Meryl Streep picked up a career achievement award.

The winning movie, "Brotherhood," takes a hard look at the neo-Nazi group that the leading character, Lars, joins after leaving the army.

The group carries out raids on homosexuals, but Lars and his mentor in the group, Jimmy, begin a love affair that they try to keep secret.

"Brotherhood" is the first feature film by Nicolo Donato, a 35-year-old who previously worked as a fashion photographer.

The jury handing out the awards was headed by Oscar-winning director Milos Forman.

The best actor award went to Italy's Sergio Castellitto, who played a single parent and blue-collar worker dreaming that his son will become a boxing champ in the movie "Alza la Testa."

The festival paid homage to Streep through the career award and a retrospective of her work.

Her cooking flick "Julie & Julia," in which she plays Julia Child, was shown out of competition and was chosen to close the festival.

At the award ceremony, a black-clad Streep was presented with the career achievement prize by Giuseppe Tornatore, the Italian director who won an Oscar for best foreign film with "Cinema Paradiso."

President Obama will almost certainly not travel to the Copenhagen climate change summit in December and may instead use his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech to set out US environmental goals, The Times has learnt.

With healthcare reform clogging his domestic agenda and no prospect of a comprehensive climate treaty in Copenhagen, Mr Obama may disappoint campaigners and foreign leaders, including Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband, who have urged him to attend to boost the hopes of a breakthrough.

The White House would not comment on Mr Obama’s travel plans yesterday, but administration officials have said privately that “Oslo is plenty close” — a reference to the Nobel ceremony that falls on December 10, two days into the Copenhagen meeting.

The White House confirmed that the President would be in Oslo to accept the prize, but a source close to the Administration said it was “hard to see the benefit” of his going to Copenhagen if there was no comprehensive deal for him to close or sign. Another expert, who did not want to be named, said he would be “really, really shocked” if Mr Obama went to Copenhagen, adding that European hopes about the power of his Administration to transform the climate change debate in a matter of months bore little relation to reality. The comprehensive climate change treaty that for years has been the goal of the Copenhagen conference was now an “unrealistic” prospect, Yvo de Boer, the UN official guiding the process, said last week.

Chinese and Indian resistance to mandatory carbon emission limits has so far proved an insurmountable obstacle to crafting a successor to the Kyoto Protocol that is acceptable to the US. America has also slowed the process through its reluctance to accept climate change science or the carbon cap-and-trade mechanism to combat global warming.

Only 57 per cent of Americans believe that there is strong evidence that the world has grown warmer in recent decades, down from 71 per cent a year ago, according to a new poll. Partly as a result, the White House is having to wage a vote-by-vote battle in Congress for a climate change Bill that would embrace cap-and-trade. The Bill will not be signed into law until next year at the earliest but is considered essential for any global deal.

Mr Obama flew to Boston yesterday to make the case for a wholesale American switch to clean energy, and to launch a six-week drive to persuade the world that the US is at last serious about joining international efforts to combat climate change.

He will have his work cut out. As a presidential candidate, he held out the hope of signing a cap-and-trade Bill in time for Copenhagen. Since then, a deep recession and months of delays on healthcare reform have pushed climate change into third place on the domestic US agenda, after financial regulatory reform. That reform is seen as essential for cap-and-trade because of the need to rebuild trust in complex financial instruments after “an incredible nativist backlash against new markets” caused by the banking crisis, according to Paul Bledsoe, a former White House official at the National Commission on Energy Policy.

For Mr Obama to travel to Copenhagen would be “completely out of keeping” with the American political climate and with precedent, Mr Bledsoe said. The most senior White House official to attend a past UN climate conference was Vice-President Al Gore in 1997. He signed the Kyoto Protocol, but the failure by Congress to ratify it since has been a defining theme of a decade of climate change talks.

In Mr Obama’s absence, the US delegation will be led by Todd Stern, the Administration’s special envoy on climate change. Analysts believe Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, could fly in at the last moment, but as one analyst said of both Mrs Clinton and Vice-President Joe Biden: “They only want to be associated with success, not failure.”

The gap between hopes of what Mr Obama can do and reality was on show this week when another Nobel Peace Prize winner, Rajendra Pachauri of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said he thought the President should be doing more. Instead, the Obama Administration is seeking to lower expectations before Copenhagen by drawing attention to its short tenure in office, the long years of US foot-dragging on climate change under his predecessor and recent progress on domestic climate change legislation.

The Duke implied criticism of ministers for failing to adequately to make the case for the conflict.

“It all comes back to leadership. They [the soldiers] want to know the leadership is interested and concerned in their welfare. They are tremendously loyal people fighting in a campaign.”

The Duke, the fourth in line to the throne who served on the front line in the Falklands War flying Royal Navy helicopters, said: “They are being remarkably more successful at it than is being adequately communicated.”

While he understood the public misgivings over the military operation, which has claimed the lives of more than 220 British military personnel, the government he said had been right to fight the Taleban.

He said: “If we were not to try to make a change and difference in Afghanistan then it would affect our nation state. At the time in 2003 there was a clear and present danger to the UK.”

In the wide ranging interview the Duke also defended his use of helicopters on official engagements which has earned him the unwelcome nickname of “Airmiles Andy”. He said: “It’s the most cost-effective and sensible way to maximise the use of the time I have available. I probably use the helicopter less than other members of the Royal Family.”

The Duke, the UK special representative for trade and investment, also insisted that the financial sector should not be demonised because of the latest wave of bankers’ bonuses. “They are not all evil or bad.”

In his reports to the Prime Minister and ministers in his trade ambassador role he has privately warned that there was a danger of driving investment away from Britain because of the plans to close tax loopholes enjoyed by millionaire non-domiciled residents.

The Duke, who is colonel-in-chief of a number of regiments, has made a number of trips to Afghanistan since the conflict began. “There are families who are having to suffer the ultimate sacrifice of losing one of their sons, brother, or loved one, They, particularly the troops on the ground, need to know there are people who think that the job that they are doing is thankless and unbelievable. It should come from everyone, not just the government.

A £20million, decade-long investigation overseen by the World Health Organisation (WHO) will publish evidence that heavy users face a higher risk of developing brain tumours later in life,

The conclusion, while not definitive, will undermine assurances from the government that the devices are safe and is expected to put ministers under pressure to issue stronger guidance.

A preliminary breakdown of the results found a “significantly increased risk” of some brain tumours “related to use of mobile phones for a period of 10 years or more” in some studies.

The head of the Interphone investigation said that the report would include a “public health message”.

Britain’s Department of Health has not updated its guidance for more than four years. It says that “the current balance of evidence does not show health problems caused by using mobile phones”, and suggests only that children be “discouraged” from making “non-essential” calls while adults should “keep calls short”.

In contrast, several other countries, notably France, have begun strengthening warnings and American politicians are urgently investigating the risks.

The Interphone inquiry has been investigating whether exposure to mobile phones is linked to three types of brain tumour and a tumour of the salivary gland.

Its head, Dr Elisabeth Cardis, backed new warnings.

“In the absence of definitive results and in the light of a number of studies which, though limited, suggest a possible effect of radiofrequency radiation, precautions are important,” she said.

“I am therefore globally in agreement with the idea of restricting the use by children, though I would not go as far as banning mobile phones as they can be a very important tool, not only in emergencies, but also maintaining contact between children and their parents and thus playing a reassurance role.

“Means to reduce our exposure (use of hands-free kits and moderating our use of phones) are also interesting.”

The project conducted studies in 13 countries, interviewing tumour sufferers and people in good health to see whether their mobile phone use differed. It questioned about 12,800 people between 2000 and 2004.

Previous research into the health effects of mobile phones, in the short time they have been in use, has proved inconclusive. However, a breakdown of the latest findings, seen by The Daily Telegraph, shows that six of eight Interphone studies found some rise in the risk of glioma (the most common brain tumour), with one finding a 39 per cent increase.

Two of seven studies into acoustic neurinoma (a benign tumour of a nerve between the ear and brain) reported a higher risk after using mobiles for 10 years. A Swedish report said it was 3.9 times higher.

A summary said a definitive link could not be proved because of difficulties with subjects’ memories.

An Israeli study found heavy users were about 50 per cent more likely to suffer tumours of the parotid salivary gland.

The Interphone inquiry has faced criticism for including people who made just one call a week, and leaving out children, which some experts said could underplay the risks. Some results for short-term use appeared to show protection against cancer, suggesting flaws in the study.

The final paper, funded partly by the industry, has been delayed as its authors argued over how to present the conclusions. But it has been sent to a scientific journal and will be published before the end of the year.

A spokesman for the Health Protection Agency said there was “no hard evidence at present” of harm to health. Use by children for non-essential calls should be discouraged, he added.

A spokesman for the Mobile Operators Association said more than 30 scientific reviews had found no adverse health effects.

Lord Mandelson today denied union claims that he was orchestrating the postal strike.

The Business Secretary described CWU's accusations as "complete stuff and nonsense from beginning to end".

Lord Mandelson spoke out as he toured the new headquarters of eaga, in Gosforth, Newcastle.

He was officially opening their HQ, called Partnership House, which used to be known as the Northern Rock Tower.

Refuting the union claims he said: "The CWU know that is complete stuff and nonsense from beginning to end.

"What is at the heart of this dispute is the nature and speed of change at the Royal Mail and the modernisation that is necessary to secure its future.

"Of course Government support that, and indeed we have put £1.2 billion on the table to help bring it about, but there is no substitute for the management and workforce agreeing on the detail of how change is going to be implemented.

"That relationship, certainly between the management and parts of the CWU has broken down, and they have got to put it back together again and they have got to do so by talking, by negotiation rather than strike action.

"I hope we will see very intensive discussions between the two sides to avert further strike action next week."

Earlier this week, CWU general secretary Billy Hayes accused Lord Mandelson of being "extremely unhelpful" by "repeating the management mantra that is blatantly untrue".

He added: "While the CWU and management are working hard to reach an agreement, Lord Mandelson is misrepresenting the facts to Parliament and undermining any progress being made in the talks."

Less than a year ago, Chancellor Alistair Darling was predicting a return to growth in the second half of this year in his Pre-Budget Report.

He forecasted falling output for the first two quarters of this year, but said he then expected the economy "to start to recover" thanks to stimulus measures such as his temporary VAT cut.

Mr Darling's prediction - along with those of many experts - have been blown out of the water by the extent of the recession, which has been far from the "shorter and shallower" downturn first envisaged.

By April's Budget, the Chancellor was expecting growth to return "towards the end of the year" and now the spotlight will be on the latest round of forecasts in next month's Pre-Budget Report.

If the current 3.5 per cent contraction for the economy this year is revised lower in November, it will reverberate across the entire public finances.

The current record £175 billion in net borrowing is likely to rise as tax receipts fall short of predictions and estimated benefit payments increase, heaping more pressure on the public purse.

The 1.25 per cent growth also predicted for next year and much stronger 3.5 per cent advance pencilled in for 2011 will also come under extreme pressure - meaning that the Government will have to borrow more for longer and making attempts to tackle the country's structural deficit that much harder.

Mr Darling currently forecasts growth "at the turn of the year" - a form of words open to wide interpretation which gives him room to manoeuvre should the economy continue to flounder.

As the first Chancellor since Norman Lamont to oversee a recession, he is sticking to his guns on Government support for the economy to prevent an even deeper slump - but will be desperately hoping the recovery begins sooner rather than later.

A cross-party group of MPs today demanded an urgent review of the guidelines for newspapers and magazines with "sexually graphic" front covers.

The MPs, including Tory former Home Office minister Ann Widdecombe (Maidstone and the Weald) and ex-Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell (Fife NE), said the review should consider whether pornographic magazines should be concealed in bags instead of displayed on the top shelf of newsagents.

They also called for the inquiry to examine whether a cinema-style age rating system should be introduced for magazines.

In a Commons motion tabled by Labour's Lindsay Roy (Glenrothes), the MPs state that "politicians, retailers, publishers and distributors have a collective responsibility to protect children and young people from displays of sexually graphic material that they are not emotionally equipped to deal with".

The motion calls for an urgent review of existing guidelines drawn up between the Home Office and the National Federation of Retail Newsagents.

The MPs said a review "must consider the availability of sexually graphic publications to children and young people, the positioning of these publications on the shelves of retailers, the potential for concealing these publications in bags and consider the question of age-rating such publications".

They warn that failure to follow the revised guidelines could lead to calls for legislation covering all aspects of the availability and display of sexually graphic material to children and young people throughout the retail and publishing industries.

So far 11 MPs from the three main parties have signed Mr Roy's motion.

A man who murdered his boss and tried to kill three other people "in acts of callous wickedness, cruelty and inhumanity" was sentenced to life in prison today.

Russell Carter, 53, was found guilty of killing Kingsley Monk and three counts of attempted murder after a three-week trial last month.

He was told today he would serve 30 years in prison before he is eligible to apply for release.

Mr Monk, 45, was strangled, probably with his own tie, at Driverline 247 in New Inn, Pontypool, south Wales, last October, Newport Crown Court heard.

He was bound and gagged by Carter, who repeatedly kicked him and beat him with a piece of pipe.

Three other men, Gethin Heal, Nathan Taylor and Robert Lewis, were also tied up and doused with fuel as they arrived for work.

Carter, of Rumney, Cardiff, launched the lethal attack at the office, brandishing what he was later to claim was a toy gun and claiming he was owed £3,000.

He fled the office after setting it on fire with the intention of killing the three witnesses still inside.

Sentencing, Recorder of Cardiff Judge Nicholas Cooke QC told Carter: "These crimes were acts of callous wickedness, cruelty and inhumanity which beggar belief.

"The murder was frenzied and horrific. You terrorised Mr Monk before killing him. Your intention was to kill and you killed."

Addressing the attempted murders of the other men, the judge said: "Here your intention was evil. The fate you meant for these three men was horrific.

"It showed your unfeeling cruelty. You wanted them to die, either by being burnt alive or by asphyxiation as they lay bound and helpless.

"Whatever your grievance with Mr Monk, these men had done you no conceivable harm. That you intended so terrible an end to those who had done you no harm identifies you as both extremely dangerous and thoroughly bad."

After returning its verdicts, the jury - nine of whom were in court to hear the sentencing - was told that Carter committed a violent armed bank robbery in the US years before he returned to Britain and killed his boss.

But because no formal agreement exists to alert the UK of his criminal past, the authorities here did not know until the Newport trial was already under way.

It meant Carter was able to work as a lorry driver while in breach of parole in the US after serving part of a 20-year jail term there.

The defendant, who delayed proceedings for an hour because he said he could not summon the dignity required, remained impassive throughout as the judge sentenced him to 25 years for the attempted murders and 10 years for false imprisonment, to run concurrent with his sentence for the murder.

The judge acknowledged he would probably die in prison.

The Growth Enterprises Market (GEM) will open with 28 businesses selected by regulators to debut on the Shenzhen-based exchange, including China’s first listed film company.

The market, which opens for trading on October 30, is aimed at nurturing small and medium-sized Chinese enterprises that have traditionally struggled to raise funds from a banking sector that favours state-controlled behemoths.

Beijing, which has talked about launching a market to rival the Nasdaq or London’s AIM for more than a decade, hopes that the Shenzhen GEM will spur indigenous creativity as China seeks to reduce its traditional reliance on export manufacturing.

Companies specialising in computer software, medicine, ship design and bio-engineering have been selected in the first batch of 10 initial public offerings, many of which are reported to be oversubscribed.

They have announced plans to raise almost £600m, with analysts calculating average share prices at 55 times 2008 earnings, compared with an average price-earnings ration of 36 times on China’s main boards so far this year.

Regulators also said they had installed new checks to reduce the risk of the new market driving speculation among China’s 100 million stock-broking account holders. The market is not open to foreign investors.

IPO launches in China have often followed a pattern of steep price rises followed by even steeper falls as investors took quick profits.

In the new market shares that increase or decrease by 80 per cent on its first day of trading will be suspended until 3 minutes before the market closing time.

Analysts have remained sceptical as to whether Chinese small businesses will be sufficiently strong to emulate the success of some Nasdaq enterprises.

They point to the relative failure of the Hong Kong GEM market which launched 10 years ago during the dot.com bubble period but currently has a total market capitalisation of just £6.6bn, or 0.6pc of the value of the main board.

The study, released by a congressional advisory panel, found cases suggesting that China's elite hacker community has ties to the Beijing government, although there is little hard evidence.

The commission report details a cyberattack against a US company several years ago that appeared to either originate in or come through China and was similar to other incidents also believed to be connected to the country.

According to the analysis, the company noticed that over several days, data from its network was being sent to multiple computers in the US and overseas.

While the report does not identify the company, it contends that the attackers targeted specific data, suggesting a very coordinated and sophisticated operation by people who had the expertise to use the high-tech information.

An internet protocol (IP) address located in China was used at times during the episode.

Barring proof, the study by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission warns that the sort of expansive and sophisticated computer resources that have been seen in cyberattacks on the US and other countries "is difficult at best without some type of state sponsorship."

The study contends that the Chinese, long reported to be stoking a massive military build up, has also made computer warfare a priority.

The Chinese government is said to view such cyberprowess as critical for victory in future conflicts - similar to the priority on offensive cyber abilities stressed by some U.S. officials.

Potential Chinese targets in the US, according to the report, would likely include Pentagon networks and databases to disrupt command and control communications, and possibly corrupt encrypted data.

The report notes, however, that penetrating such classified systems would be time consuming and difficult.

"The US Embassy in Bern submitted the formal extradition request to the Federal Office of Justice on 22 October 2009, within the deadline of 40 days stipulated under the bilateral extradition treaty," the Swiss Federal Office of Justice said in a statement.

The request would be forwarded to the canton of Zurich, where Polanski was detained upon his arrival on September 26 to collect an award at the city's film festival.

A local court will then hold a hearing and, "based on the results of the hearing and the information provided by Polanski's lawyer," the justice office will decide if it should accept the extradition request.

"The authorities in Zurich will take charge of the Roman Polanski hearing. They will hold a verbal hearing that would be transmitted to us," Folco Galli, spokesman for the justice office, said.

If the federal justice office accepted the extradition request, Polanski can appeal against the decision before the country's top criminal court.

He will also have a further chance to appeal to the federal supreme court.

Polanski's lawyer Herve Temime said the film director will fight the US request.

"Mr Polanski is not changing course. He will not accept the US extradition request," Temime told AFP.

The director of "Rosemary's Baby", "Chinatown" and "The Pianist" has been regarded as a fugitive by US authorities since he fled the United States in 1978 after admitting to sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Polanski had initially been charged with rape and five other felonies before later pleading guilty to a lesser charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.

But he fled the United States before sentencing and has never returned, even missing the Oscar award for "The Pianist" in 2003.

Following his arrest in Switzerland, he has asked to be released on bail pending extradition, but Switzerland's top criminal court on Tuesday rejected the request, saying there was a "high" risk that he could flee the country.

The 76-year-old film-maker had put up his property in the luxury Swiss ski resort of Gstaad as bail, according to court documents.

His lawyers have also argued that given his age and in view of his two children who are still in school, Polanski would not put at risk over half of his assets by jumping bail.

However, Switzerland's federal criminal court assessed that the bail was not in line with requirements set by the law.

Highlighting the high risk of flight, the court noted Polanski's dual French and Polish nationalities.

It pointed out he could travel across the borderless Schengen zone, which includes Switzerland and its neighbours, "without problem and without travel documents."

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne claimed that "Gordon Brown’s recession plan has not worked," after the economy unexpectedly shrank 0.2pc in three months to September. Economists had expected the economy to have seen its first growth since the start of last year.

Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, hit back and stuck to his forecast that the economy will be growing again by the end of the year.

“We’ve always said that we remain cautious as a result of the high degree of economic uncertainty," he said.

The sixth straight quarter of contraction means that Britain has now endured its worst recession since records began, and the weakness showed across all sectors. Production and construction industries shrank as expected, but a 0.2pc fall in output in the dominant services industry was a surprise.

The figures are “desperately disappointing” according to John Philpott, chief economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. “This recession looks more like a depression. For most UK workers the pain of recession goes on and the subsequent ‘jobs light-pay tight’ recovery won’t feel much better.”

A combination of rising house prices, rising equity markets, positive business surveys, and a slowing rate of unemployment growth, had buoyed hopes that Britain would join France, Germany and Japan in emerging from the global downturn.

Sterling, which has risen sharply in the past few days, fell nearly 2 cents against the dollar to $1.6503 after the data were published.

The economy remains mired in the downturn despite a blitz of measures designed to prevent it tipping into depression that began with the injection of £47bn into Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group in October last year.

The data, according to experts, made it more likely that the Bank of England would extend the life support currently helping to prop up the economy, by expanding its £175bn money printing programme next month

Former Conservative Chancellor Lord Lamont said: “I am not surprised by this grim figure. We have a long stony road ahead.

"The problem ahead is that the economy is dependent on the stimulus and the stimulus cannot go on forever,” he said.

“These figures make sobering reading, both for the Government and for British businesses,” said Adam Marshall, director of policy at the British Chambers of Commerce. “Continued intervention - including help for businesses to access finance, and incentives to promote investment - is still needed. Above all else, business confidence must be nurtured, to ensure that recovery is not further delayed.”

The third quarter figures were the first estimate from the ONS and could be revised once it has gathered more data.

“Previous GDP figures have tended to be revised up more than down and the same may well apply here,” said Michael Saunders, economist at Citigroup.

A man leapt from the dock of a court and escaped custody just minutes after being convicted of rape, police said today.

Byron Toner, 26, had been found guilty of repeatedly assaulting a 19-year-old woman during a five-hour attack.

His two-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court was told he left his victim with 58 injuries, including a broken jaw.

Toner, of Culme Road, West Derby, Liverpool, was remanded in custody by Judge Adrian Lyon following the guilty verdict yesterday afternoon.

But as a security guard stood to escort him to the cells, Toner jumped out of the dock and ran out of the third-floor courtroom.

He then fled the building through a fire escape.

Merseyside Police said he took a taxi to the Walton area of the city.

A spokesman said: "Toner has been convicted of rape and a violent assault and police are urging anybody who does see him not to approach him."

Anybody who knows Toner's whereabouts should contact Merseyside Police on 0151 777 4065 or Crimestoppers on 088 555 111.

Civil servants are being obsessed time off during their working day - to join in a tug-of-war contest, live was revealed today.

Home connection officials can exploit for five hours off work to take part in the department's "Winter Games" to act as held next month, according to a leaked email.

It invites masculine and female staff for games of "mixed" tug-of-war besides non-contact rugby in the middle of the working day.

Outrage over the event was compounded by revelations that the official running it, Ashley Robinson, is responsible for tracking down illegal immigrants.

On Tuesday UK margin Agency officials obvious they had without 40,000 immigrants conceit to have no germane to be in this country.

Chief executive Lin Homer said finished was no register of whether they had left consequent being told their visas were not being renewed.

In an email to officials, published by the blogger Guido Fawkes, Mr Robinson, who works in UKBA's national arrest team wrote: "I leave be organising Mixed touch Rugby and Mixed creation of War at the Home function L&SE (London further South East) Winter Games on Thursday 26th November 2009 11-4 Metropolitan Police Sports Ground...

"SPECIAL bequeath lie low PAY seeing national nine-to-five staff hoopla inside London & South East - subject to line-management authorisation can be applied for. Are you agog to enter a team/event?"

Critics oral the event was an "absolute disgrace".

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' association said: "The fact that the Home engagement thinks taxpayers should pay whereas their mace to scrum down effect work hours is an absolute disgrace, and the fact we're flourishing likewise for their fun just adds insult to injury.

"There are thus multifold areas that need more attention from Home line staff, it's rigid to know where to begin.

"It's no amaze the department has been falling short of the label if they are prioritising recreational sports days over tackling immigration problems and prison reform."

Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said: "This is proper not good enough.

"Our immigration system has been shambolic for years, and far exceptionally few people refused the belonging to stay here credit without reservation been deported.

"If this is discriminative of what is happening leadership the family Office, therefore intrinsic really does need indispensable changes."

Three years ago then home secretary John Reid oral Britain's immigration system was "not fit for purpose", after it emerged fresh than 1,000 foreign prisoners had been released and not deported.

Lawyers acting for the sacked Haringey children's boss Sharon Shoesmith have demanded that Ofsted release key documents that would shed light on claims that it deliberately "manipulated" performance data in the wake of the Baby Peter furore.

The Guardian revealed on Saturday that a whistleblower had claimed an official report on Haringey children's services was secretly downgraded from "good" to "inadequate" – prompting a call by Barry Sheerman, chairman of the Commons children's committee, for an inquiry to establish whether Ofsted had been under pressure to ensure the council did not get a clean bill of health.

Today Shoesmith's legal team wrote to government lawyers demanding that Ofsted immediately release successive drafts of the 2008 annual performance assessment (APA) report, which is believed to have gone through at least three revisions between November and December 2008, being marked down each time.

They also demanded Ofsted produce copies of the draft versions of a separate Joint Area Review (JAR) report into child protection services in Haringey, which was prepared by Ofsted in November last year at the request of Ed Balls, the children's seceretary. This was highly critical of child safeguarding procedures at Haringey council and in the local NHS.

Shoesmith's legal team claim that Ofsted has so far refused to hand over the drafts of the reports, which they argue would shed light on what changes were made and why.

The former Haringey director of children's services is at the High Court to claim that she was unlawfully dismissed. She alleges that Ofsted failed to allow her to comment on the critical JAR report before it was published, and that its handling of both the JAR and APA reports reflected pressure from the children's secretary, Ed Balls.

She claims that Balls' decision to remove her from her post in December 2008, on the day the JAR was published, was a "kneejerk" reaction to a tabloid media campaign to have her sacked.

Sheerman wrote to Ofsted's chief inspector, Christine Gilbert, last week to demand an explanation for the APA changes. His letter says: "The information provided to me alleges that, at a very senior level, the inspection team were asked to re-evaluate their assessment using the same statistics and information and with no further visits. The report was rewritten with a very different set of scores and commentary."

According to Sheerman, the whistleblower said he had come forward because he had been troubled by Ofsted's behaviour. "Senior managers at Ofsted instructed inspectors to rewrite the report on the same information, changing everything because they were more interested in protecting Ofsted than protecting children," the MP said.

Ofsted said its refutes the allegation that it manipulated any results and said no pressure was put on inspectors to downgrade APA ratings.

Baby Peter died on 3 August 2007. His mother, her boyfriend and his brother were convicted on 11 November 2008 of causing his death, after which media scrutiny turned to the performance of Haringey social services.

The case continues.

Jacqui Smith, the former home secretary, is expected to apologise to the Commons today after being criticised by a committee of MPs for using the second home allowance to fund her family home.

In a report, the Commons standards and privileges committee said Smith had been in breach of the rules between 2004 and 2009 because she claimed that a house in London she shared with her sister was her main home.

This meant she could use the parliamentary second home allowance to fund costs associated with her family home in her Redditch constituency.

Between June 2007 and March 2009 Smith was actually spending more nights at her constituency home than in London, the committee said. This contradicts claims made by Smith when the complaints about her claims were first raised.

The MPs accepted that Smith had been told by the parliamentary authorities that it was "reasonable" to nominate the London property as her main home. In the light of the "mitigating circumstances", the MPs did not propose any punishment beyond recommending that Smith should apologise to the Commons.

The MPs also claimed that it could not be established "with any certainty" that the taxpayer lost out as a result of the arrangement.

In their report, they also said that Smith had wrongly claimed for pay-per-view films when submitting claims for a cable television service at her family home. This came to light when it emerged that she had claimed for two pornographic films watched while her husband was in the house.

At the time Smith said she would repay the cost of the films. But today's report reveals that she wrongly claimed £185.20 in relation to cable and internet services, and that she actually repaid £400 to cover the cost of what she thought were unjustified claims.

The MPs recommended no further action in relation to this complaint because Smith repaid the money.

Smith, in evidence to the inquiry, said she was "disappointed" that the investigation into her conduct had not led to "a fairer set of conclusions".

Smith was one of the first MPs to face severe criticism over her expenses because details of her claims were leaked to the media before the Daily Telegraph started publishing revelations about all MPs. As well as the claim for two pornographic films, she was attacked for claiming more than £20,000 a year to fund her family home and for including receipts detailing items such as a bath plug in her claims.

The controversy over her claims contributed to her decision to tell Gordon Brown that she wanted to leave the cabinet ahead of the reshuffle earlier this year. She was replaced by Alan Johnson.

MPs are meant to use the second home allowance to fund a second home, not their main one. But until February 2004 ministers had to designate their London home as their main home and John Lyon, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, who investigated the case for the committee on standards and privileges, concluded that there was nothing wrong with Smith designating her Redditch home as her second home up until that point.

Lyon said that an MP's main home is normally the one where he or she spends the most nights. Lyon found that, from June 2007 to March 2009, Smith spent more nights at her constituency home than at her London home – even though, when the complaints about her expenses first surfaced, she said that she spent most of her time in London.

But Lyon told the committee that Smith should have identified her Redditch home as her main home from 2004, and not just from June 2007, because that was consistent with a "normal understanding" of the rules.

"In my judgment, Ms Smith misdirected herself by focusing on the nature and location of her job (where she spent her long working day) and not the nature and location of her overnight accommodation (where she went whenever her working life allowed). As a result, Ms Smith reached a mistaken interpretation of the term 'main home' which, on any objective view, did not fit her personal circumstances and which was therefore contrary to the purpose as well as to the letter of the rule," Lyon said in the report on the case he submitted to the committee.

Lyon also said that the "gravitational pull in terms of family and property" suggested that Redditch was Smith's main home, not London.

In June 2007 Smith checked her arrangements with the department of finance and administration in the Commons and she was told it was "reasonable to continue to claim the allowance" against her constituency home because her ministerial job meant she had to spend most of her time in Westminster.

But the standards and privileges committee said this advice was "flawed". The committee concluded: "Whilst we acknowledge that there are mitigating circumstances, Ms Smith clearly breached the rules of the house by wrongly designating her main home from 2004 to 2009. We recommend that Ms Smith apologise to the house by means of a personal statement."

Smith told the committee she did not think this was fair. "I am disappointed that this process has not led to a fairer set of conclusions, based on objective and consistent application of the rules as they were at the time."

Smith claimed £22,110 from the second home allowance in 2006-07, £22,948 in 2007-08 and £19,182 in 2008-09. But the committee concluded that the taxpayer had not necessarily lost out, even though Commons rules meant that Smith could not have used the second home allowance to pay her London rent because her London home belongs to her sister and MPs cannot use allowances to benefit a family member.

"However, she could have bought her own home in London; she could have rented a home in London from a non-relative; or from June 2007 she could presumably have used a taxpayer-funded grace-and-favour residence in central London, as many previous home secretaries have done. Any of these courses could have resulted in a different claim on additional costs allowance, but it is impossible to quantify what the difference in such claims might have been. We do not believe it can be established with any certainty whether the taxpayer is any worse or any better off as a result of Ms Smith's nomination of her main home and subsequent claims against additional costs allowance than would otherwise have been the case," the committee said.

After it emerged that Smith had inadvertently claimed for the cost of watching two pornographic films, Smith said she had repaid the money. But today's report show reveals that she has repaid £400 of the £553,20 she had claimed for her cable television package.

The committee said that, when MPs claim telephone, television and internet services as part of a package, they should take care only to claim for parts of the package. MPs are entitled to claim for news channels, but not for sport or entertainment.

Tributes from the world of pop music and beyond have poured in for the Boyzone singer Stephen Gately, who died in Majorca yesterday.

Gately, who was 33, died at his holiday home in Port Andratx, where he was staying with his civil partner, Andrew Cowles. Spanish police said there were "no signs of suspicious circumstances".

Gately joined Boyzone in 1993 after answering an advert in Dublin to audition for Ireland's first boyband. The band were hugely successful, enjoying six number-one singles before they split up in 2000.

Gately, who shared lead vocals with Ronan Keating, came out as gay 10 years ago, shocking the band's legion of adoring female fans but retaining their support.

The Boyzone tour website said that members of the band were flying out to Spain following the news. The band – Keating, Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham and Shane Lynch – said in a statement: "We are completely devastated by the loss of our friend and brother, Stephen.

"We have shared such wonderful times together over the years and were all looking forward to sharing many more.

"Stephen was a beautiful person in both body and spirit. He lit up our lives and those of the many friends he had all over the world.

"Our love and sympathy go out to Andrew and Stephen's family. We love you and will miss you forever, 'Steo'."

The band's manager, Louis Walsh, cancelled his scheduled appearance as a judge on the live X Factor show tonight . Walsh, who had been with Gately at an awards ceremony last Monday, said he was "in complete shock". "We will rally around each other this week," he told the News of the World. "He was a great man."

Sir Elton John was among the pop music legends who expressed sadness at the death of Gately. "Stephen was the kindest, gentlest soul," he said. "We send our love and condolences to his partner, Andy, and to all his friends everywhere."

The veteran broadcaster and music historian Paul Gambaccini said: "This wasn't supposed to happen. This was not in the script."

Gately was born in Dublin. Before joining Boyzone he had worked as a barman and shopping assistant and landed a small part in the cult film The Commitments. By the time he came out in 1999, the band had already enjoyed 13 consecutive top five singles. He made the announcement to fans after discovering that someone was planning to sell a story revealing his sexuality to a newspaper.

Despite the band's pin-up status, he received an overwhelmingly positive response from fans who flooded the band's website with messages of support. In 2006, Gately married Cowles in a civil union.

After Boyzone split, Gately embarked on a solo career. He had three top 20 singles but was dropped by his label, Polydor, in 2001.

He went on to have success on the theatre circuit, including taking the lead role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and playing the child catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Lloyd Webber described Gately as "enormously talented" today.

In 2007, Gately appeared on the ITV1 show Dancing on Ice. Boyzone reunited the same year but a recent 19-date tour failed to fill stadiums, despite offers of free tickets.

The former taoiseach Bertie Ahern, whose daughter Georgina is married to Nicky Byrne of the boyband Westlife, was also among those who paid tribute to Gately. He said he knew the pop star, whose family were in his constituency.

"Boyzone and Stephen, they've all been part of Irish life and far wider than that, the last 15 years, and so successful, so it's a huge, huge tragedy. It's so sad," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr show.

"He was 33 years of age, 15 years at the top, a fine musician, it's just a huge tragedy to Irish entertainment, Irish music and further afield as well."

The members of Westlife said Gately helped pave the way for them in the music industry and was a "friendly, positive spirit and a passionate performer".

On Twitter, Stephen Fry wrote: "He was loveable and sweet-natured and will be hugely missed."

Foreign secretary David Miliband today accuses the Tories of putting Britain's relations with the world's leading powers at serious risk by allying the Conservative party to far-right European politicians with neo-Nazi and antisemitic links.

Writing in today's Observer, Miliband expresses astonishment that William Hague, his Conservative opposite number, can describe as a "good friend" a Polish politician who reiterated last week his opposition to an unconditional apology by his countrymen for the massacre in 1941 of at least 300 Polish Jews.

In a blistering attack that takes the row over the Tories' rightwing partners in Europe to new levels, Miliband warns there will be serious repercussions for Britain's reputation abroad if the Conservatives were to win power while allied to such far-right parties.

"There will be incredulity in Washington, Beijing and Delhi, never mind Berlin and Paris, that a party aspiring to government in Britain – the party of Winston Churchill, no less – chooses allies like this," he says.

Today Miliband will meet Hillary Clinton on her first solo visit to London since becoming US secretary of state. The foreign secretary, who is from a Polish Jewish family, demands that Cameron suspend his party's membership of the new European Conservatives and Reformists group (ECR) in which the 25 Tory MEPs sit in the European parliament, alongside controversial Polish, Latvian and Lithuanian partners.

Miliband launched his latest criticism after reading comments by the ECR group's chairman, the Polish MEP Michal Kaminski, in which he suggested in an interview with the Jewish Chronicle that the murder of hundreds of Jews in Jedwabne by their countrymen should be considered a lesser crime than atrocities by the Nazis during the Holocaust.

"I think that it's unfair comparing it [the Jedwabne massacre] with Nazi crimes and putting it with the same level as the Nazi policy," Kaminski told the paper, adding that he opposed a national apology for the Jedwabne massacre unless Jews apologised for what he said were their crimes during the Soviet occupation of eastern Poland.

Last week's Tory party conference was overshadowed by arguments over Kaminski's attendance, and that of another member of the ECR group, Latvian Roberts Zile of the For Fatherland and Freedom party – some of whose members support commemorations of the Latvian Waffen SS. Their alliance with the Conservatives is causing increasing unease at senior levels of the Jewish community.

Miliband told the Observer he was deeply shocked and "astounded" by Kaminski's comments and by a letter sent recently by Hague to expelled Tory MEP Edward McMillan-Scott, in which he described Kaminski as "a good friend of the Conservative party". Hague also insisted that all the allegations that Kaminski had antisemitic leanings had been "proven untrue".

Miliband, whose mother is a Polish Jew from a family that lost 80 members in the Holocaust, said: "There isn't room for hair-splitting when it comes to the Jedwabne massacre. Nor when it comes to understanding what is at stake in framing our international alliances."

Last night there were signs that links with Europe's right were hitting the Tories' standing with voters. Support for Cameron's party has plummeted among the gay community, according to a new poll. A survey by PinkNews.co.uk found that only 22% of respondents would vote Tory if there was a general election tomorrow compared to 39% in June. Most of the voters who deserted the Conservatives moved over to Labour, the poll of 600 subscribers found.

The Observer has established that senior members of Kaminski's Law and Justice party have made openly homophobic comments including comparing homosexuality to a disease and bestiality. Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, the former Law and Justice prime minister, was reported in 2005 as saying that homosexuality was "unnatural" and believed that if a person "tries to infect others with their homosexuality, then the state must intervene in this violation of freedom". A year later, he added that he "did not want homosexuals to teach in public schools" and that he "would not want a gay cabinet member in your government".

Mark Francois, the Conservatives' spokesman for Europe, said last night: "People of goodwill in Poland took different views of the then president's apology for the Jedwabne atrocity. Some, like Michal Kaminski, did not agree with it. Others did.

"Michal Kaminski has always said that what happened at Jedwabne was a terrible crime. He has been defended by the editor of the Jewish Chronicle. He is not an antisemite, as his record of combating antisemitism in Poland shows. After the Latvian government had formally complained that David Miliband's remarks about them were unacceptable and misleading, we had thought the foreign secretary would have learned not to insult political leaders from EU and Nato allies for purely partisan purposes."