Putin critic Boris Nemtsov shot dead

28 February 2015 Last updated at 09:56

A leading Russian opposition politician, former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, has been shot dead in Moscow, Russian officials say.

An unidentified attacker in a car shot Mr Nemtsov four times in the back as he crossed a bridge in view of the Kremlin, police say.

He died hours after appealing for support for a march on Sunday in Moscow against the war in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned the murder, the Kremlin says.

President Putin has assumed "personal control" of the investigation into the killing, said his spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Investigators said the murder could have been "a provocation aimed at destabilising the country".

The investigative committee said in a statement that several motives for the killing were being considered including "Islamic extremism".

US President Barack Obama condemned the "brutal murder" and called on the Russian government to conduct a "prompt, impartial and transparent investigation".

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko described Mr Nemtsov as a "bridge between Ukraine and Russia".

"The murderers' shot has destroyed it. I think it is not by accident," he said in a statement published on his administration's Facebook page.

In a recent interview, Mr Nemtsov had said he feared Mr Putin would have him killed because of his opposition to the war in Ukraine.

Mr Nemtsov, 55, served as first deputy prime minister under President Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s.

He had earned a reputation as an economic reformer while governor of one of Russia's biggest cities, Nizhny Novgorod.

Falling out of favour with Yeltsin's successor, Mr Putin, he became an outspoken opposition politician.

Analysis: Sarah Rainsford, BBC Moscow correspondent

A lawyer for Mr Nemtsov reported that he had received death threats over social media in recent months; but for now there's only speculation as to why he was targeted. He openly opposed Moscow's role in the crisis in Ukraine - and the annexation by Russia of Crimea.

He had been planning a rare public protest on Sunday against both things - and a growing economic crisis in this country.

Since his death, social media has been flooded with tributes to a man remembered by friends as decent, honest and a democrat. He had been pushed to the political margins in Vladimir Putin's Russia, but he was still prominent enough for someone to want to kill him.

Profile: Boris Nemtsov

Russian and world reaction

Mr Nemtsov was shot at around 23:40 (20:40 GMT) on Friday while crossing Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge accompanied by a woman, Russia's interior ministry said.

He was shot with a pistol from a white car which fled the scene, a police source told Russia's Interfax news agency.

According to Russian-language news website Meduza, "several people" got out of a car and shot him.

One of the politician's colleagues in his RPR-Parnassus party, Ilya Yashin, confirmed Mr Nemtsov's death.

"Unfortunately I can see the corpse of Boris Nemtsov in front of me now," he was quoted as saying by Russia's lenta.ru news website.

Flowers were left at the site of the shooting through the night.

Violent deaths of Putin opponents

April 2003 - Liberal politician Sergey Yushenkov assassinated near his Moscow home

July 2003 - Investigative journalist Yuri Shchekochikhin died after 16-day mysterious illness

July 2004 - Forbes magazine Russian editor Paul Klebnikov shot from moving car on Moscow street, died later in hospital

October 2006 - Investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya shot dead outside her Moscow apartment

November 2006 - Former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko died nearly three weeks after drinking tea laced with polonium in London hotel

March 2013 - Boris Berezovsky, former Kremlin power broker turned Putin critic, found dead in his UK home

'Putin's aggression'

In his last tweet, Mr Nemtsov sent out an appeal for Russia's divided opposition to unite at an anti-war march he was planning for Sunday.

"If you support stopping Russia's war with Ukraine, if you support stopping Putin's aggression, come to the Spring March in Maryino on 1 March," he wrote.

Speaking earlier this month to Russia's Sobesednik news website, he had spoken of his fears for his own life.

"I'm afraid Putin will kill me," he said in the article (in Russian) on 10 February.

"I believe that he was the one who unleashed the war in the Ukraine," he added. "I couldn't dislike him more."

Mr Putin has been widely accused of fomenting the bloody rebellion in east Ukraine - an accusation he denies. Fighting there followed Russia's annexation of Crimea in March last year.

Almost 5,800 people have died and at least 1.25 million have fled their homes, according to the UN.

The Ukrainian government, Western leaders and Nato say there is clear evidence that Russia is helping the rebels with heavy weapons and soldiers.

Independent experts echo that accusation while Moscow denies it, insisting that any Russians serving with the rebels are "volunteers".

Are you in Russia? What is your reaction to the death of Boris Nemtsov? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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First-time buyers get 20% discount

28 February 2015 Last updated at 08:23 By Joe Lynam Business correspondent, BBC News

First-time buyers under the age of 40 in England can now register to buy new homes at a discount of up to 20% off the normal price.

The offer is part of the government's new "starter homes" scheme to encourage home ownership and construction on previously used "brownfield" land.

The government hopes that 100,000 new houses will be built specifically for first-time buyers by 2020.

Labour said the plans would ring hollow for those priced out of the market.

The 20% discount is achieved because homebuilders on brownfield sites would not have to pay local authority fees of at least £45,000 per dwelling.

The government said there would be no compromise on quality or energy efficiency, but first-time buyers would have to repay the 20% price advantage if they sold within five years.

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Housing minister Brandon Lewis: "It opens up an ability to own a home to a whole new group of people"

Housing minister Brandon Lewis urged first-time buyers to register on the starter homes website from Saturday.

He said: "We're actually at the start of an affordable house building programme that's the fastest build rate in about 20 years.

"And this new starter homes programme is another 100,000 homes on top of everything else that we're doing, allowing those first time buyers, people who want to own that home of their own, to be able to do that - a good design, well-built home, with a 20 per cent discount.

"When you link that with help to buy it opens up the ability to own a home to a whole new group of people."

But Labour said that the government had presided over the lowest levels of house building since the 1920s and home ownership was at its lowest level for three decades.

The number of houses being built in the UK fell during the final three months of 2014 - the first such decline for nearly two years.

The 0.2% drop in new home construction compared with a 6.1% increase in the previous quarter.

Overall, total construction output fell by 2.1% in the quarter, the Office for National Statistics said.

The government introduced a scheme called Help to Buy in England in April 2013.

It was aimed at helping those trying to get on the housing ladder who could afford mortgage repayments but were struggling to raise a deposit.

In March 2014, Chancellor George Osborne announced that the scheme in England would be extended to 2020 rather than December 2016, as planned.

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US avoids homeland security shutdown

28 February 2015 Last updated at 05:53

The US Homeland Security Department has avoided a partial shutdown as Congress passed a one-week funding extension, hours before a midnight deadline.

The House of Representatives voted 357-60 in favour of the short-term bill after it had been passed in the Senate.

President Barack Obama, who said he would back a short-term deal to avert a shutdown, signed it shortly afterwards.

It ensures the department's 250,000 employees will be paid while a longer-term funding agreement is discussed.

The two-thirds majority vote was reached about two hours before the midnight (05:00 GMT Saturday) deadline.

Earlier, Republicans had rejected a similar three-week extension after provisions against President Obama's immigration plan were dropped.

The one-week deal was backed by a majority of Democrats despite many of them voting against the earlier bill in the hope that a longer-term deal could be agreed.

The move came shortly after President Obama had spoken by phone to Democratic leaders in a bid to avert the partial department closure.

The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for securing US borders, airports and coastal waters.

About 200,000 "essential" department employees would have continued to work without pay if the agency's funding had not been secured.

Effects of a Homeland Security shutdown

• Airport security agents required to work without pay
• Employers would not have the ability to use a programme called E-Verify to check if new employees are authorised to work legally in the US
• No grants made to local and state authorities, including for training and new equipment
• Secret Service will not be able to hire agents to protect 2016 presidential candidates
• Civil rights and civil liberties complaint lines and investigations will be shut down

Some Republicans had wanted to use the funding of the department, which includes immigration officials, as a bargaining chip to force President Obama to end policies on immigration.

Last November, Mr Obama used his executive powers to protect about five million undocumented immigrants from deportation. Republicans say Mr Obama overstepped his powers in doing so.

A separate ruling by a federal judge has blocked those policies from starting while a lawsuit by more than two dozen states goes forward.

Some Republicans senators had expressed a desire to fight the executive actions in the courts, rather than threaten the department's funding.

The BBC's Naomi Grimley in Washington says many on Capitol Hill feared a public backlash if the funding had been thrown into doubt at a time of fears about "lone wolf" terrorists.

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Will undocumented people come forward amid uncertainty?

On Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson urged Congress to pass full funding.

"A short-term continuing resolution exacerbates the uncertainty for my workforce and puts us back in the same position, on the brink of a shutdown just days from now," Mr Johnson said.

Last week, the White House said Mr Obama would prefer a full funding bill but would sign a short-term measure to prevent a shutdown.

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UK 'must prepare for Russian threat'

28 February 2015 Last updated at 06:35

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Sir John Sawers spoke to Today's Mishal Hussein

Russia has become a danger to Britain and the country must be prepared to take steps to defend itself and its allies, the former head of MI6 says.

Sir John Sawers, who recently retired after five years as chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Russia poses a "state to state threat".

Sir John said dealing with such threats would require more defence spending.

But he called on issues with Russia to be addressed by "increased dialogue".

He said he was disappointed how, after the end of the Cold War, Russia's and Europe's paths had failed to converge.

Russia's threat was "not necessarily directly to the UK but to countries around its periphery".

"[Russia] keep on reminding us that they have nuclear weapons," he said.

"The one level in which Russia and America are equals is at the nuclear level.

"Now we don't want to have a repeat of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 where we got to the brink of nuclear war.

"We need to be able to address this through increased dialogue."

'Multi-polar world'

His comments come after a year of fighting in eastern Ukraine between government forces and pro-Russian separatists.

"We shouldn't kid ourselves that Russia is on a path to democracy because it isn't," Sir John said.

"One of the aspects of the modern world is that we live in a much more dangerous world these days.

"The stability that we had during the Cold War, or the predominance of the West that we had in the decade or two after the Cold War - that is now changing.

"It's a much sort of flatter world, a much more multi-polar world and there are real dangers associated with that."

Sir John described Russia as always having been an "issue of concern" for security services.

"Europe and Russia are not converging with one another so we're going to have to find a new way to coexist with Russia," he said.

"This crisis at the moment - it's focused on Ukraine but Ukraine is a symptom. It's not the real problem.

"The real problem is how we live with a Russia which feels very exposed. Putin's actions are ones of a leader who believes his own security is at stake.

"And here we've got nuclear bombers approaching the Cornish coast."

Jihadist threat

Sir John said the UK needed to prepare to take defensive measures for itself and the nation's allies, which include the Baltic states and central Europe.

"We've got to have the capability to deal with things like the hybrid warfare that we've seen Russia deploy, first in Crimea and then in the Donbass region, we've got to have the ability to deal with cyberwarfare.

"What's really important is that we're able to fulfil all of our defence commitments and I think that that's going to require a reversal in the trend in defence spending.

"We're going to have to spend more on our defence and our security because the threats are greater."

In a wide-ranging interview, Sir John also discussed the threat from jihadists.

His comments come after Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born British man in his mid-20s and from west London, was identified as "Jihadi John", an individual pictured in the videos of several beheadings of Western hostages.

Sir John said there were two answers to the question of why people became radicalised.

The first is that Muslims "are less well integrated" into UK society "and there are a number of social and economic factors that are related to that".

Secondly, he said, the Islamic religion "as a whole is not well geared to reviving and modernising itself so that it meets the values and the norms of a 21st Century society".

"So there's a big political challenge which can only really be taken up by leaders in the Islamic world... it can't be imposed by the West."

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Most-wanted Mexico drug lord held

28 February 2015 Last updated at 06:55

Mexican police have captured the country's most wanted drug lord, Servando "La Tuta" Gomez.

Mr Gomez, leader of the Knights Templar drug cartel, was arrested in Morelia in Michoacan state without a shot fired.

He was taken to Mexico City, where he was paraded before television cameras, before being flown by helicopter to a maximum security prison.

President Enrique Pena Nieto wrote on Twitter that the rule of law had been strengthened because of the arrest.

Police said they located him by following one of his messengers, part of a close network providing him with food and clothing.

He was captured when he stepped outside his house, wearing a hat and scarf to try to hide his identity.

Eight of his associates and several weapons, including a grenade launcher, were captured too. His brother, Flavio Gomez, who was in charge of the family's finances, was also arrested.

Police spent months gathering intelligence for the operation and reportedly seized nearby properties in the weeks leading up Mr Gomez's capture.

Analysis: Katy Watson, BBC News, Mexico City

For a man who reportedly said he would rather die than be captured, this must be a humiliating end. Paraded in front of millions of Mexicans on live television, he kept his head down as he was marched from a prison van to a police helicopter and flown to a high security prison.

While La Tuta's capture may be a coup for the administration of Enrique Pena Nieto, the fallout in the state of Michoacan is not clear. It is a poor and violent part of the country, the battleground between drugs cartels and vigilantes trying to oust them.

As one security expert told me, this was a man who was not just in charge of a drugs empire - he wanted political power too and in politics you gain as many enemies as you do friends.

Perhaps that is what led to the net closing in in the end?

Meth trade

Previously a school teacher, Mr Gomez became one of Mexico's most powerful drug lords and took control of Michoacan.

Known by his nicknames "La Tuta" and "El Profe", referring to his former job, Mr Gomez ruled over much of Michoacan state as head of the Knights Templar cartel.

Mr Gomez evaded capture for years while other senior members of the gang and rival drug lords were captured or killed.

By the time of his arrest, he had a $2 million (£1.3 million) bounty on his head.

"With this arrest, the rule of law is strengthened in the country and [we] continue moving toward Mexico in Peace," President Pena Nieto tweeted.

The arrest come as the president strives to assuage public anger over the abduction and apparent murder in September of 43 trainee teachers by police accused of being corrupt in concert with criminal gangs.

Knights Templar was primarily a drug cartel and it controlled a large part of the lucrative methamphetamine trade in western Mexico.

But it was also known for mixing in business and politics in the region and even took effective control over the state's international port, Lazaro Cardenas, making millions of dollars from illegal mining of iron ore.

A federal government offensive in 2013 saw the Pena Nieto administration wrest back control of Michoacan state from the Knights Templar and rival gangs.

As leader of the biggest cartel in the region, Mr Gomez became the prime target of Mr Pena Nieto's crackdown.

The administration has been criticised for failing to tackle the drug gangs, with vigilante groups forming to take on the dealers illegally.

Mr Gomez's arrest comes just over a year after the capture of the country's most notorious drug lord, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, head of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Shortly after Guzman's capture, Mexican security forces killed two of Mr Gomez's senior deputies, Enrique "Kike" Plancarte and Nazario Moreno, known as "The Craziest One".

Unlike many rival gang leaders who carefully avoided the limelight, Mr Gomez regularly gave media interviews and railed against the government in Youtube videos.

Mr Gomez began life in the drug trade as an small-time marijuana dealer, before joining a Michoacan gang called La Familia and rising to a senior level. A split in La Familia led him to form Knights Templar.

A father of at least seven, Mr Gomez was also wanted by US authorities in connection with the 2009 murder of 12 Mexican federal police officers.

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MPs call for energy switch 'refunds'

28 February 2015 Last updated at 09:17

Energy price comparison sites should compensate customers who were not given the cheapest deals, MPs have said.

Sites have previously been criticised for not showing the cheapest tariffs, or details of commission they earn.

Now, the Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee says "duped" customers should get some money back.

Mark Todd, of energy switching company Energy Helpline, claimed that forcing comparison sites to show all tariffs could "unravel" the industry.

Last year, the websites were accused of using a mechanism that asked consumers if they wanted to switch gas and electricity suppliers immediately.

By clicking "yes" to that question, all the deals that did not earn the company a commission were filtered out.

Only if a consumer clicked "no" were they shown other deals, which could be cheaper.

Rates of commission earned by the different websites from suppliers varied from £22 to £30 for a single switch, or £44 to £60 for a "duel fuel" if a customer switched both gas and electricity supplier, the report said.

Tim Yeo, the committee's chairman, said it was "perfectly proper" that sites earned a commission, but they must be open and honest about their practices.

"Some energy price comparison sites have been behaving more like backstreet market traders than the trustworthy consumer champions they make themselves out to be in adverts on TV.

"Some comparison sites have used misleading language to dupe consumers into opting for default options that only display commission-earning deals.

"And others have previously gone so far as to conceal deals that do not earn them commission behind multiple drop-down web options."

Continue reading the main story

Millions of pounds have been saved by using price comparison sites to switch - by shopping around people can make sure they find the best energy deal available"

End Quote Department of Energy and Climate Change

By the end of March, websites signed up to its consumer confidence code will have to show all the tariffs on offer, unless customers choose to see a more limited range.

Mr Todd, co-founder of Energy Helpline, which powers Compare the Market and Go Compare, said his sites now show all available tariffs by default - but claimed forcing all sites to do so could have repercussions.

"If everyone is forced to do that, it could undermine the whole market. It could become so great, that the whole thing could unravel," he said.

"If everyone is forced to show everything, what is the benefit of a supplier paying a commission to a price comparison?"

He also claimed energy comparison sites gave "much better coverage in price comparison" than other sectors, such as flight or hotel booking sites.

"Don't believe it's everything, unless it says it's everything. Because most comparison sites don't show you things they don't earn a commission on," he said.

Confidence code

The committee is calling on energy regulator Ofgem to consider requiring price comparison sites and other third parties to disclose the amount of commission they get for each customer switch made, at the point of sale.

The regulator also forwarded the issue to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which is now considering the role of price comparison sites as part of its wider review of the energy market.

In a statement, the comparison site uSwitch said that it had helped households save £112m on energy bills last year but it said that it had made compensation payments to some customers.

Steve Weller, uSwitch chief executive, said: "What is important now is that all switching services - be they price comparison sites, collective switching schemes or offline switching services - are required to meet the same high standards."

A Department of Energy and Climate Change spokesman said: "Millions of pounds have been saved by using price comparison sites to switch - by shopping around people can make sure they find the best energy deal available.

"Consumer trust and confidence in price comparison sites is important and, with Ofgem's strengthened confidence code, people will be able to have greater confidence than ever before that, by switching, they'll save."

Do you use price comparison websites? Have you been "duped" by one? If you are happy to speak to a BBC journalist about the issue email us Haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk and remember to include a contact number.

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Obama leads Leonard Nimoy tributes

28 February 2015 Last updated at 10:55

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The BBC's David Sillito looks back at the life of Leonard Nimoy

President Obama has led tributes to Leonard Nimoy, the US actor who played Mr Spock in the cult sci-fi series Star Trek, who has died aged 83.

"I loved Spock," said Mr Obama.

Nimoy died in Los Angeles on Friday. His son Adam said he died of end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which is often caused by smoking.

His career took in acting, directing, writing and photography, but he was best known for portraying the half-human, half-Vulcan character Spock.

Obama said in a statement: "Long before being nerdy was cool, there was Leonard Nimoy.

"Leonard was a lifelong lover of the arts and humanities, a supporter of the sciences, generous with his time and talents.

"And of course, Leonard was Spock. Cool, logical, big-eared and level-headed, the centre of Star Trek's optimistic, inclusive vision of humanity's future."

Obama's approach to politics has been described as Spock-like. He greeted Nimoy with a four fingered Vulcan salute when the pair met in 2007.

Among the torrent of tributes on Twitter was a message from Nasa crediting Nimoy and Star Trek as an inspiration.

Other Star Trek cast members gave their praise too. William Shatner, who as Captain Kirk acted alongside Nimoy for years in Star Trek, said he loved the actor "like a brother".

George Takei, who played Hikaru Sulu said "he was an extraordinarily talented man but he was also a very decent human being."

Zachary Quinto, who played Spock in a Star Trek prequel, said: "My heart is broken."

More than a Vulcan

Nimoy played the Spock in all three of the original series of the programme and later in several big-screen spin offs.

He did have success outside of his Spock costume, in both acting and directing, and he pursued music, painting, and photography.

After the end of Star Trek's initial run, he played master of disguise Paris in the hit adventure series Mission Impossible.

Later he directed two of the Star Trek films, The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home, and in 1987 helmed the hit comedy Three Men and a Baby, one of the highest-grossing films of that year.

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Madonna 'suffered whiplash' at Brits

27 February 2015 Last updated at 08:30

Pop star Madonna says she suffered whiplash as a result of her "nightmare" accident at Wednesday's Brit Awards.

The 56-year-old was pulled backwards off stage by a cape, which was supposed to fall from her shoulders.

In an interview on The Jonathan Ross Show, taped on Thursday, the star said: "I had a little bit of whiplash, I smacked the back of my head.

"And I had a man standing over me with a flashlight until about 3am to make sure I was compos mentis."

She added: "I know how to fall, I have fallen off my horse many times."

The singer blamed her fall on a wardrobe malfunction, saying her cape had been tied too tightly, meaning it could not be unfastened in time.

"Everyone was worried my cape would slide off, so they tied it really tight around my neck," explained the singer.

"I got to the top of the stairs and I pulled the silky string, and it wouldn't come undone.

"I had two choices: I could either be strangled or fall, and I chose to fall."

The star recovered and finished her performance, which was the finale of the Brit Awards - where Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith were the big winners.

She refused to watch a replay of the incident on Jonathan Ross's show, which will be broadcast on ITV on Saturday 14 March.

"It was a nightmare," she said, "I actually created a horror show for everyone."

The star added that she would not be recreating the performance on her forthcoming tour.

"No more capes. Cape fear is over."

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Labour pledges £6,000 tuition fees

27 February 2015 Last updated at 12:17 By Sean Coughlan Education correspondent

Ed Miliband is announcing Labour's plan to cut university tuition fees in England to £6,000 per year.

He says a Labour government would pay for the fee cut by reducing tax relief on pensions for those earning over £150,000 per year.

The rising level of student debt has been a "disaster", the Labour leader said in a speech in Leeds.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said cutting fees is "completely financially illiterate".

A Conservative spokesman said under the current system, the numbers of students from disadvantaged backgrounds were at their "highest ever level".

The Labour leader is also expected to promise more support for loans and grants to cover students' living costs. There have been concerns that young people from middle-income families do not have access to sufficient student loans.

Living costs

Universities UK has warned that limiting the fees to £6,000 per year would create a £10bn funding gap over the next five years, threatening "significant damage" to the higher education system.

But Mr Miliband will explain how he believes cutting fees could be funded without reducing universities' income.

This could include reducing tax relief on pensions for high earners, which would be used to provide funds for universities to bridge the gap from reduced fees.

The announcement of Labour's policy on fees has been much delayed, with reports of disagreements between senior party figures over whether cutting tuition fees should be a priority for investment.

Analysis: Iain Watson, BBC political correspondent

Ed Miliband's opponents - inside as well as outside the Labour party - have urged him to drop plans to reduce the maximum level of tuition fees in England from £9,000 to £6,000, arguing that there is little political or economic benefit in doing so.

So today he'll attempt to answer his critics by denouncing the current system as bad both for graduates and for taxpayers as a whole.

He is determined to press on with his policy despite the scepticism, because he believes it will have an inter-generational appeal.

Labour's private polling suggests that tuition fees isn't just an important issue for young people, but that older voters too dislike the idea of the next generation apparently being saddled with debts.

University heads have also argued that the increase in tuition fees to £9,000 has not deterred applications from poorer students, instead the numbers of poorer students have risen.

Mr Miliband will say that the current system is putting unacceptable levels of debt on to young people and proving expensive to the taxpayer, because so much of student loans has to be written off.

Under the present system, students are being left with an average of £44,000 debt, he will say.

"The government has designed a system which is burdening students with debt today and set to weight down the taxpayer with more debt tomorrow," the Labour leader is expected to say.

"This is a system that will have added an extra £16bn more than predicted to public debt by the end of the next Parliament. If left unchecked, the system will have added £281bn to debt by 2030.

"And much of this money will never be paid back. By the late 2040s, student loan write-offs will be hitting £21bn a year - almost double the entire cost of police services in England and Wales. It must go down as one of the most expensive broken promises in history."

'Failed experiment'

Mr Miliband will say that young people have been "betrayed" by the tuition fees system, leaving them worse off than previous generations.

"This is a disaster for them and a disaster for the future of Britain too - a country where the next generation is doing worse than their parents is the definition of a country in decline."

The Labour leader will seek to reassure university heads that they will not lose out in the proposed changes.

But Universities UK, representing university leaders, has voiced its concern about cuts to fees.

"Cutting the fees cap from £9,000 to £6,000 creates a £10bn funding gap over the next parliament," said Sir Christopher Snowden, vice-chancellor of the University of Surrey and president of Universities UK.

"Such a shortfall, if not met in full from other sources of public finance, could cause significant damage to the economy, to social mobility, to student choice, and to our universities. For universities, it is a funding question, not a fee question.

"One has to ask whether a policy of cutting fees is sensible given the many other pressing demands on public funding. Students are telling us they need assistance with living costs rather than tuition fees," said Sir Christopher.

The current tuition fee system

• In England, fees up to £9,000 per year, repayments begin once students graduate and earn above £21,000. Unpaid debt written off after 30 years
• In Scotland, no fees for students from Scotland
• In Wales, fees for students from Wales, £3,810
• In Northern Ireland, fees for students from Northern Ireland £3,805

Pam Tatlow, chief executive of the Million+ group of new universities, said lowering fees made "good economic sense".

"Lower tuition fees potentially benefit everyone. Students graduate with less debt. Graduates have less to pay off and taxpayers will have less to write-off in the future."

The National Union of Students has welcomed plans for a cut in fees.

"Forcing debt on to students as a way of funding universities is an experiment that has failed," said NUS vice president, Megan Dunn.

"Higher education is a public good which should be publicly funded and shouldn't involve any additional charges for students or graduates, but lowering tuition fees and a move away from the market in higher education is a positive step forward.

"We would also welcome any improved financial support measures like an increase in maintenance loans, as we know that students are currently in the throes of a cost-of-living crisis."

Vince Cable, Liberal Democrat business secretary, rejected cutting fees as showing "staggering ignorance of how university finance works".

He said cutting fees "would wreck the financial sustainability of universities, reduce the support for disadvantaged students and benefit only the richest".

A Conservative party spokesman said: "Providing access to higher education for all hard-working students, irrespective of their background, is a key objective of the government's 2012 reforms.

"Our reforms have seen a record half a million students enter higher education this year, with entry rates for students from disadvantaged backgrounds increasing by over 10% to their highest-ever level.

"As England's top university vice-chancellors have warned, a cut in fees would damage the economy, impact the quality of students' education and set back work on widening access to higher education."

What is your view on university fees? Are you at university or have you recently left? You can share your thoughts by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

If you would be happy to speak further to a BBC journalist, please include a contact telephone number.

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Age-related leukaemia cases may soar

27 February 2015 Last updated at 03:17 By James Gallagher Health editor, BBC News website

It is "almost inevitable" that your blood will take the first steps towards leukaemia as you age, researchers show.

The cancer is often associated with children, but some types become more common with age.

The study, published in the journal Cell Reports, showed 70% of healthy people in their 90s had genetic errors that could lead to leukaemia.

The researchers warn that the number of cases could soar as life expectancy increases.

The team at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, outside Cambridge, analysed the blood of 4,219 people.

They focused on accurately testing for errors in the DNA that are linked to the blood cancers. If one blood cell in a hundred carried such a mutation they would pick it up.

The results were a surprise.

They suggest 20% of people in their 50s have potentially cancerous mutations rising to 70% in people in their 90s.

One of the researchers, Dr George Vassiliou, told the BBC News website: "We had suspected people had these mutations, but didn't expect they would be an almost inevitable consequence of ageing.

"What it is saying is that a lot more people than expected are starting on the path to leukaemia, but thankfully only a few make it to the end."

Dramatic impact

While progression to leukaemia is currently rare, the scientists believe it could become more common as life expectancy increases.

Dr Vassiliou added: "There is one warning for the future, if there was a significant extension of life expectancy then there could be a significant increase in leukaemia.

"We don't know what percentage of people would go on to develop leukaemia, it might be one in 1,000 or even one in 100 or more and that would have a dramatic impact."

One in three girls and one in four boys born today are expected to live to 100.

Stem cells in the bone marrow manufacture blood.

It takes multiple mutations to transform one from a normal cell into a cancerous one.

With enough mutations it can dominate the production of blood either producing defective blood cells, or one just one type to the exclusion of others.

The researchers believe that searching the blood for such mutations may identify people at high risk of developing leukaemia who may, in the future, be targeted with preventative therapies.

Dr Kat Arney, from Cancer Research UK, said: "We know that the risk of developing most types of cancer increases with age.

"This is a fascinating and important study highlighting how the genetic makeup of blood cells changes as we get older, and may contribute to the development of leukaemia.

"It will be interesting to see if this kind of technique can be applied to other types of cancer too."

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Lloyds to resume dividend payments

27 February 2015 Last updated at 10:34

Lloyds Banking Group has confirmed that it will resume paying dividends to shareholders for the first time since the financial crisis in 2008.

The announcement came as it reported full-year statutory profits of £1.8bn.

Lloyds is now 23.9% state-owned after the government sold another parcel of shares in the bank earlier this week, raising £500m.

The government's stake had been as high as 41% when it ploughed in £20bn to prop the bank up in 2008.

Lloyds said it would pay a dividend of 0.75 pence per share, amounting to £535m to be split among the bank's three million shareholders.

The largest share, £130m, will go to the government.

The bank added that it had made a further £700m provision in the fourth quarter to settle cases arising from mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI), bringing the total set aside for the year to £2.2bn.

It also made a £925m provision for other regulatory matters during the year, including £150m to cover the mis-selling of interest rate hedging products to small and medium-sized businesses.

Lloyds' profit for the year represents a big improvement on its performance in 2013, when it made £415m.

The bank's shares were up 1.1% in morning trading following the announcement.

Incentive plan

The bank said it would be paying out discretionary annual bonuses worth £369.5m for 2014.

Its chief executive, Antonio Horta-Osorio, is set to receive a total remuneration package of £11m, consisting of basic pay of £1m, an £800,000 bonus and the payout of a three-year long-term incentive plan, which gives him 535,083 shares.

BBC business editor Kamal Ahmed says there will be controversy over the level of Mr Horta-Osorio's pay, particularly the share plan, which was agreed by the government in 2012 and completes, or "vests", this year.

Our editor points out that because Lloyds' share price has risen so rapidly on the back of the bank's successful turnaround, the shares that the chief executive will receive are much more valuable: 78p each, as against 35p in 2008.

He has been told that Mr Horta-Osorio will pledge not to cash in any of those shares until the government has "substantially" sold the rest of its stake and the taxpayer has been paid back the money used to bail out the bank.

Mr Horta-Osorio told our business editor that he was "really pleased" his bank had resumed dividend payments.

"We went from a very, very negative position in terms of profitability to a position where we generated £7.8bn of underlying profitability [and] we generated £1.8bn of pre-tax profit," he added.

Continue reading the main story

Banking analyst Alex Potter told BBC Radio 5 live's Wake Up to Money that the resumption of dividend payments indicated that Lloyds had returned to health.

"Actually, an awful lot of [investment] funds haven't been able to buy Lloyds shares at all while they haven't been paying a dividend, so actually, just the allowance of those potential shareholders on to the [share] register again is going to be a pretty good thing," he said.

'Progress is possible'

Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers, described Lloyds' results as "something of a breath of fresh air".

He described the return to a dividend payment as "a sign of confidence in future prospects", although the new PPI provision was "somewhat disappointing".

"Nonetheless, the bank is riding the wave of a resurgent UK economy and, along with its own measures to improve metrics across the board, the market consensus of the shares as a buy has been vindicated by these numbers," he added.

John Cridland, director general of employers' organisation the CBI, said: "It is encouraging to hear some good news from the banking sector. All of our major banks are on difficult turnaround journeys and Lloyds have shown that progress is possible.

"It is right in these circumstances that the hard work of staff is recognised. The CBI has been clear that rewards for failure are unacceptable, but legitimate financial rewards for success should not be vilified."

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Widow wants 'Jihadi John' alive

27 February 2015 Last updated at 10:49

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The masked militant first appeared in numerous gruesome videos put out by Islamic State, as Lucy Manning reports

The widow of a man killed by a masked Islamic State militant known as "Jihadi John" says she wants him caught alive.

Dragana Haines said the "last thing" she wanted for the man who had killed her husband, British aid worker David Haines, was an "honourable death".

The militant, pictured in the videos of the beheadings of Western hostages, has been named as Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born Briton from west London.

Mr Haines' daughter said she wanted to see "a bullet between his eyes".

Emwazi, who is in his mid-20s and was previously known to British security services, first appeared in a video last August, when he apparently killed the US journalist James Foley.

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Dragana Haines, wife of slain hostage David: "I hope he will be caught alive... He needs to be put to justice"

He was later thought to have been pictured in the videos of the beheadings of Mr Haines, US journalist Steven Sotloff, British taxi driver Alan Henning, and American aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, also known as Peter.

Mrs Haines told the BBC she wanted him to be caught alive and not have an "honourable death" by being killed in action.

She added: "I think he needs to be put to justice, but not in that way."

However Mr Haines' daughter, Bethany, told ITV News: "I think all the families will feel closure and relief once there's a bullet between his eyes."

There have been questions about how Emwazi was able to travel to Syria and how he may have been radicalised.

Emwazi graduated from the University of Westminster in 2009 and it has been suggested he may have come into contact with extremists while he was a student there.

Student Rights, a group tackling extremism on university campuses, told BBC News it had found a number of events at the university that featured extremist Islamist preachers, and large amounts of extremist material had been shared with students.

Rupert Sutton, the group's director, said: "Given that he travelled so soon after graduating, it's entirely possible he picked up the views that led him to travel whilst he was studying."

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

As a mum I forgive him"

End Quote Diane Foley Mother of IS murder victim James Foley

A spokesman from the University of Westminster said it "condemned the promotion of radicalisation, terrorism and violence or threats against any member of our community".

It said the Education Act placed two competing responsibilities on universities to promote free speech and a duty to protect students from harm, but it was working with the government's Prevent strategy to tackle extremism.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner told Radio 4's Today programme there were questions for the security services about how "someone on a terror watch list, somebody of real concern, was able to slip out of this country and turn up in Syria like that unhindered".

While Chris Phillips, former head of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office, said the case demonstrated the need for security services to have increased powers, including access to phone records, proposed in the so-called "snoopers' charter".

He said: "It's clear also that TPIMs (Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures) and control orders just don't work. We need to have a way of dealing with people in this kind of situation.

"The numbers are growing and the police resources are not."

Analysis: Frank Gardner, BBC News

US and British counter-terrorism officials discovered the identity of "Jihadi John" as far back as last September. The FBI, Britain's MI5 and other intelligence agencies used a combination of voice-recognition software, interviews with former hostages and on-the-ground research in London to build up a profile of the man now revealed to be Mohammed Emwazi.

They have always declined to reveal the name for "operational reasons". Now that it's out in the public domain, it's emerged that Emwazi was well known to MI5 and that it even tried to recruit him as an informer, years before he went off to Syria to eventually join Islamic State.

The practice by intelligence agencies of approaching jihadist sympathisers to work for them is likely to continue. It's believed both Britain and the US have informers inside the Islamic State "capital" of Raqqa. Yet this seems to have been little help in stopping the actions of Mohammed Emwazi, or bringing him to justice.

Profile: Mohammed Emwazi

Jihadist's 'typical trajectory'

Dr Afzal Ashraf, a counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency expert who advised the government on the Prevent strategy between 2009 and 2011, said people were more likely to be radicalised by groups they believed could be successful.

"One of the reasons we don't have Nazis and right-wing extremists in great numbers doing what they do is because Nazism and right-wing extremism has been discredited.

"Not many people believe they are going to change the world into that format.

"The problem is that al-Qaeda, and now IS, has demonstrated a degree of success as far as these people are concerned and they actually believe there is a possibility of success."

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

These people are inhumane dogs"

End Quote Kasim Jameel Friend of IS murder victim Alan Henning

In each of the videos Emwazi appeared in, the militant was dressed in a black robe with a black balaclava covering all but his eyes and top of his nose.

Speaking with a British accent, he taunted Western powers before holding his knife to the hostages' necks, appearing to start cutting before the film stopped. The victims' decapitated bodies were then shown.

Earlier this month, a video in which the Japanese journalist Kenji Goto appeared to be beheaded featured the militant.

Hostages released by IS said he was one of three British jihadists guarding Westerners abducted by the group in Syria. They were known collectively as "the Beatles".

A spokesman for the family of Steven Sotloff said: "We want to sit in a courtroom, watch him sentenced and see him sent to a super-max prison."

Mr Foley's mother Diane told the Times that she forgave her son's killer.

"It saddens me, [Emwazi's] continued hatred," she said. "He felt wronged, now we hate him - now that just prolongs the hatred. We need to end it.

"As a mum I forgive him. You know, the whole thing is tragic - an ongoing tragedy."

Kasim Jameel, a friend of Mr Henning, told The Times he wanted Emwazi dead.

Mr Jameel, who led an aid convoy that was joined by Mr Henning, said: "He needs to be annihilated. I wouldn't believe in an eye for an eye but he murdered my best friend and he should be eradicated."

He added: "These people are inhumane dogs, they are worse than any other terrorist group and I don't care how he's killed, whether it's by the security services or a US drone, it might finally bring some closure."

Mohammed Emwazi's movements before heading to Syria

• 1. Aug 2009, refused entry to Tanzania: travels to Tanzania with two friends, but is refused entry at Dar es Salaam. Tanzanian police have denied Emwazi's name is on their database of suspected foreign criminals detained and deported in 2009, as he had claimed. Emwazi and his friends are put on flight to Amsterdam, where they are questioned. They return to Dover and are questioned again.
• 2. Sept 2009, travels to Kuwait for work: leaves the UK for Kuwait for work.
• 3. May/June 2010, returns to UK for holiday: he returns to the UK for an eight-day visit.
• 4. July 2010, refused re-entry to Kuwait: Emwazi returns to the UK once more for a couple of days. He is stopped at Heathrow on his return to Kuwait and told he cannot travel as his visa has expired.
• 5. 2013, travels to Syria: Emwazi changes his name to Mohammed al-Ayan and attempts to travel to Kuwait but is stopped and questioned. Three days later, he heads abroad. Police later inform his family he has travelled to Syria.

Source: Cage

'Jihadi John' movement mapped

In a news conference on Thursday, Asim Qureshi, the research director of the London-based lobby group Cage, which had been in contact with Emwazi over a number of years, detailed the difficulties Emwazi had faced with security services in the UK and overseas.

Mr Qureshi said Emwazi, who is understood to be about 27, had been "extremely kind, gentle and soft-spoken, the most humble young person I knew".

But Cage was told by Emwazi that he was "harassed" by security services, with later emails suggesting he was "witnessing perceived injustices everywhere", Mr Qureshi said.

However, Rafaello Pantucci, author of We Love Life As You Love Death, said the suggestion the security services may have driven Emwazi to carry out his killings was "disproportionate".

He said: "Security services asking questions and making your life a little bit difficult and ending up murdering people in this very cold-blooded way seems a very disproportionate causal link."

Profile: Cage

Cage, formerly known as Cageprisoners, is an advocacy group set up by former Guantanamo detainee Moazzem Begg.

It describes itself as "an independent organisation working to empower communities impacted by the War on Terror".

Cage has spoken out against the UK's anti-terrorism laws, describing them as draconian and targeting Muslims.

Cage campaigned for the release of the Salford taxi driver Alan Henning, before he was murdered by Islamic State militants in Syria last October.

Cage has also worked with family of Michael Adebolajo, who was convicted of killing Fusilier Lee Rigby in Woolwich in 2013.

Emwazi 'claimed harassment'

According to Cage, Emwazi had travelled to Tanzania in May 2009 following his graduation in computer programming from the University of Westminster.

Mr Qureshi said Emwazi and two friends had planned to go on a safari but once they landed in Dar es Salaam they were detained by police and held overnight.

Tanzanian police appeared to contradict this account and said Mohammed Emwazi's name was not in their database of suspected foreign criminals detained and deported in 2009, though they said he might have been using another identity or forged travel

Emwazi then ended up flying to Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, where he claimed to be met by British intelligence agents from MI5 who accused him of trying to travel to Somalia, where the jihadist group al-Shabab operates. He denied the accusation and said the agents had tried to recruit him before allowing him to return to the UK.

In early 2013, at his father's suggestion, Emwazi changed his name by deed poll to Mohammed al-Ayan, Cage said.

Emwazi was believed to have travelled to Syria around 2013 and later joined IS, which has declared the creation of a "caliphate" in the large swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq it controls.

A spokeswoman for Prime Minister David Cameron would not confirm or deny the latest reports, adding that the police and security services were working hard to find those responsible for the murder of the British hostages.

British police have not commented on the identity of the militant known as "Jihadi John", citing ongoing inquiries.

Jihadi John sightings

• August 2014: Video in which US journalist James Foley is apparently beheaded
• 2 September 2014: Video in which US journalist Steve Sotloff is apparently beheaded
• 13 September 2014: Video in which British aid worker David Haines is apparently beheaded
• October 2014: Video in which British aid worker Alan Henning is apparently beheaded
• November 2014: Video in which Jihadi John is shown killing a Syrian soldier in a mass beheading, which also shows body of US aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, also known as Peter Kassig
• 20 January 2015: Video in which Jihadi John is seen standing alongside two Japanese hostages and demanding a ransom in exchange for their release
• 31 January 2015: Video released appearing to show Jihadi John beheading Japanese hostage Kenji Goto

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US-Bangladesh writer hacked to death

27 February 2015 Last updated at 11:01

A knife-wielding mob has hacked to death a US-Bangladeshi blogger whose writing on religion had brought threats from Islamist hardliners.

Avijit Roy, an atheist who advocated secularism, was attacked in Dhaka as he walked back from a book fair with his wife, who was hurt in the attack.

No-one has been arrested but police say they are investigating a local Islamist group that praised the killing.

Hundreds of students gathered in Dhaka to mourn the blogger's death.

Mr Roy's family say he had received threats after publishing articles promoting secular views, science and social issues on his Bengali-language blog, Mukto-mona, or Free Mind.

The website was inaccessible on Friday.

He defended atheism in a recent Facebook post, calling it "a rational concept to oppose any unscientific and irrational belief".

The killing of another secular blogger in early 2013, which was blamed on religious hardliners, sparked protests from free-speech supports and counter-protests from Islamists.

The police said the attack on Mr Roy was similar to the 2013 murder.

A group of men ambushed the couple, who live in the US and were visiting Dhaka only to attend the book festival, as they walked toward a roadside tea stall.

At least two of the attackers hit them with meat cleavers, police chief Sirajul Islam told the AP news agency.

The attackers dropped their weapons and ran away, disappearing into the crowds.

The police told the BBC they were investigating a local hard-line religious group that had praised the killing in an online message.

Death threats against atheist writers and bloggers are nothing new in Bangladesh.

Prominent writer Taslima Nasreen had to leave Bangladesh after she received death threats from hard-line Islamists in the mid-1990s.

She wrote on her blog: "Avijit Roy has been killed the way other free thinker writers were killed in Bangladesh. No freethinker is safe in Bangladesh.

"Islamic terrorists can do whatever they like. They can kill people with no qualms whatsoever."

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Gary Glitter jailed for 16 years

27 February 2015 Last updated at 12:16

Former singer Gary Glitter has been jailed for a total of 16 years for sexually abusing three young girls between 1975 and 1980.

Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was sentenced for attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one of having sex with a girl under 13.

Sentencing, Judge Alistair McCreath said he could find "no real evidence" that Gadd had atoned for his crimes.

The 70-year-old showed no emotion as he left the dock at Southwark Crown Court.

Judge McCreath told Gadd that it was clear his victims "were all profoundly affected" by his abuse of them.

"You did all of them real and lasting damage and you did so for no other reason than to obtain sexual gratification for yourself of a wholly improper kind," he said.

Sallie Bennett-Jenkins QC, defending, told the court that Gadd had been subject to a "very high degree of vilification" and "demonification" in the press after being jailed in Vietnam in 2006 for molesting two girls aged 11 and 12.

She said he had led "an increasingly isolated life" for the last decade and had been unable to walk down the street "without being the subject of vilification".

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UK net migration rises to 298,000

26 February 2015 Last updated at 12:05

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Immigration minister James Brokenshire: "The ambition remains to see that migration numbers do come down"

Net migration to the UK has risen to 298,000, according to the final set of figures before the election.

The numbers, for the year ending in September 2014, is now well above the level of migration when David Cameron came to power in 2010.

The Tories, who had hoped to get it to below 100,000, said the figures were "disappointing" and blamed a rise in EU migration - and Lib Dem "constraints".

Labour said Mr Cameron's "grand promises" were "now in tatters".

Home Office Minister James Brokenshire said: "We have been blown off course by net migration from within the EU, which has more than doubled since 2010.

"That's why we need to continue to crack down on the abuse of EU free movement and continue our reforms to make our welfare system fairer and less open to abuse.

"We have also been constrained in government by Liberal Democrats who don't have that same aim and focus on reducing net migration."

Employment agencies

He declined to say whether the party would repeat their goal of cutting net migration to the "tens of thousands" at the coming election, instead saying their goal remained getting migration down to long-term sustainable levels.

Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper told BBC News: "No wonder people don't have trust in the immigration system when they have these kinds of promises being broken."

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Yvette Cooper claims the government's "grand promises" on net migration are now "in tatters"

She said the Conservatives had been wrong to focus on net migration and should have strengthened border controls to tackle illegal immigration, "where enforcement has got worse".

"Theresa May's obsession with the target has led her to target valuable university students, who bring billions into Britain whilst doing nothing to make the labour market fairer for local workers, preventing undercutting by exploitative employers or putting in place proper border controls so we can count people in and out to enforce the rules," she said.

UKIP, which campaigns for Britain to leave the EU and wants an Australian-style work permit system, said the government "should be ashamed of its abject failure to keep control of the constantly rising numbers of those arriving here".

The party's migration spokesman Steven Woolfe MEP said: "Migration is one of the top concerns going into this election and it is clear that UKIP is the only party trusted to deal with it."

'Very embarrassing'

Net migration is the difference between the number of people who come to live in the UK for at least a year and the number who are leaving for at least a year

It peaked at 320,000 in the year to June 2005. At the time of the 2010 election it was 252,000.

The big increase in the latest set of figures was driven by a "statistically significant" rise in immigrants arriving in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Immigration was up to 624,000 in the year to September from 530,000 in the previous 12 months. About 327,000 people emigrated from the UK in the same period.

The increase was driven by a rise in the number of people coming to the UK for work, with experts suggesting the growing strength of the UK economy and job creation had drawn people in.

Oxford University's Migration Observatory's director Madeleine Sumption said: "If the UK's economic performance compared to the rest of the EU had been poor, then we might well have seen net migration fall, but that has not happened."

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, whose party opposed the net migration target, said the figures were "very embarrassing for the Conservatives".

"They made a huge fanfare about it and they were warned, warned by me and others privately don't do this it doesn't make any sense," the deputy prime minister told LBC radio.

"They've made a commitment and they have failed spectacularly to deliver it."

'Economic growth'

Some key points from the latest migration figures include:

• A total of 271,000 people came to the UK for work-related reasons, according to the latest figures, up from 217,000 the previous year. Of those, 57% were EU citizens and 25% from outside the EU
• Of those moving to live in the UK for work-related reasons, 62% (167,000) came with a definite job to go to and 38% (104,000) came to look for work
• A total of 37,000 Romanian and Bulgarian citizens moved to the UK in the year, a "statistically significant" increase from 24,000 in the previous 12 months
• The biggest increase in net migration was from outside the EU.
• It was 190,000 in the year ending September 2014, up from 138,000 in the previous year
• Net migration of EU citizens saw an increase to 162,000 from 130,000 the previous year

Measures introduced by the government to reduce net migration include capping visas for skilled non-EU workers and introducing a minimum income threshold of £18,600 for anyone planning to sponsor a non-EU family member, such as a spouse, to come to the UK.

The government has also cracked down on abuses of the student visa system by closing "bogus" colleges.

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RBS reports £3.5bn loss for 2014

26 February 2015 Last updated at 12:09

UK state-owned bank RBS has reported a loss of £3.5bn for 2014, down from a £9bn loss the previous year.

The results were hit by a £4bn writedown on the sale of its US business, Citizens.

The bank's chief executive Ross McEwan confirmed he would not receive a bonus this year.

But RBS will still pay out bonuses from a pool of £421m, which is some 21% smaller than in 2013.

'Fair pay' Continue reading the main story

Mr McEwan defended the size of the bonus pool.

Speaking on the Today programme he described it as "fair pay" and said it was necessary to pay bonuses to attract people to carry out "fairly technical jobs".

The bank is 79%-owned by the British taxpayer after a government-led rescue in 2008.

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has written a letter to the new chairman of the bank, Howard Davies, saying he expected the bank not to give bonuses to senior executives.

He wrote: "I would also expect that, as in the past, no executive directors or members of the executive committee will receive bonuses, despite improved profitability.

"Given the extraordinary support it has enjoyed in the past from taxpayers, I know you recognise that RBS must remain a backmarker on pay and continue to show responsibility and restraint."

Thursday's results show that after one-off costs are stripped out operating profits were £3.5bn last year, the highest since 2010.

Analysis: Kamal Ahmed, Business Editor

Ross McEwan, when he's waded through the arguments about why bankers are paid lots of money, is running a bank that in many respects is on the road to recovery.

Its core operation is actually making a profit of more than £3bn.

That is for two reasons.

The bank has removed itself from a lot of tricky, low profit investment banking activities in countries where returns were volatile.

And, given its UK focus, it is gaining from the improvement in the economy.

RBS is now focused on providing relatively vanilla services to individuals and businesses in the UK and Western Europe, with a small operation in Asia.

And as the economy grows, those can be pretty lucrative businesses.

More from Kamal: The shrinking bank

Cost cuts

RBS is in the midst of a major reorganisation.

The bank said it had reduced costs by some £1.1bn and will cut another £800m this year.

It is cutting back its corporate and institutional banking network from 38 countries at the end of last year to 13.

It will end investment banking in the Middle East and Africa and "significantly" reduce its presence in Asia and the US, concentrating instead on the UK and western Europe.

RBS said it was building a bank that was "stronger, simpler and better for both customers and shareholders".

However, Britain's biggest union Unite said it was seeking an urgent meeting with RBS for clarification over the impact the restructuring would have on jobs.

"Unite is deeply concerned that the announcement ... of further restructuring will unfairly impact low paid and administration staff" said senior union official Rob MacGregor.

"Already over 30,000 jobs have been cut from across RBS since the bailout in 2008."

Fines and compensation

RBS has put aside £2.2bn to cover "litigation and conducts costs".

These include fines and compensation payments for the mis-selling of payment protection insurance, a massive computer failure, the mis-selling of interest rate products to small businesses and the manipulation of the foreign exchange market.

The bank is also liable to face fines over its involvement in American mortgage products which were at the heart of the US financial crisis.

Shares fall

RBS shares were down 3.6% in late morning trading.

Richard Hunter, Head of Equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers said: "There is little doubt that RBS is making progress.

"Even so, with the finished product still some way off and no dividend to encourage investment in the meantime, the general consensus on the shares as a sell is likely to remain intact for now."

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Victoria Cross for Afghan raid hero

26 February 2015 Last updated at 08:21

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L/Cpl Joshua Leakey shares his story with the BBC's Sian Lloyd

A paratrooper who showed "complete disregard" for his own safety during a Taliban attack in Afghanistan has been awarded the Victoria Cross - the highest British military honour.

L/Cpl Joshua Leakey, 27, of the Parachute Regiment, was recognised for his valour during the 2013 attack.

He is the third serviceman - and the first living servicemen - to receive the medal for service in Afghanistan.

L/Cpl Leakey, from Hampshire, said he was "deeply honoured".

He has been recognised with the VC almost 70 years after another member of his family was awarded the same honour.

L/Cpl Leakey's second cousin twice removed, Sergeant Nigel Gray Leakey, was a posthumous recipient of the VC in November 1945, for his actions while fighting in Africa during the Second World War.

'Bullets ricocheting'

He has been awarded the medal for his bravery during an assault on a Taliban stronghold in Helmand province, on 22 August 2013.

Despite coming under enemy fire, L/Cpl Leakey twice came to the aid of a wounded US Marine Corps captain and helped forces regain the initiative after they had been pinned down by fire and surrounded by insurgents.

Analysis By Sian Lloyd, BBC News

The Victoria Cross is the highest award for gallantry in the presence of the enemy and can be given to all ranks of the services and civilians.

Introduced in 1856 by Queen Victoria to honour acts during the Crimean War, it has been awarded 1,356 times. But this is only the 15th time since the end of World War Two.

L/Cpl Leakey is the third British soldier to receive a VC from the conflict in Afghanistan. On the two previous occasions, it was given posthumously - in 2013 to L/Cpl James Ashworth from 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, and in 2006 to Cpl Bryan Budd of 3 Para.

Until now Pte Johnson Beharry from 1st Battalion the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment was the only non-posthumous British military recipient since 1965, for two separate acts of gallantry in Iraq.

Each medal is made from the bronze of Russian guns captured at the siege of Sevastopol during the Crimea War, although modern research suggests Chinese guns may have been used at various times.

After dismounting from helicopters, a group of UK and US forces came under attack from around 20 insurgents armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

Soldiers from the group became pinned down by fire on the side of the hill and surrounded by insurgents.

L/Cpl Leakey ran to the top of a hill, despite enemy fire, to assess the situation and provided first aid to a wounded US Marine Corps captain.

He then ran back up the hill to reposition a machine gun and began firing at the insurgents, despite bullets "ricocheting" off the machine gun's frame.

Despite the danger, he returned to the injured captain - drawing enemy fire again - to retrieve a second machine gun, before running back to the crest of the hill once more, where he managed to help regain the initiative.

During the battle, 11 insurgents were killed and four were wounded.

L/Cpl Leakey said the only thing he was scared of during the fire fight was "letting my cap badge down".

'Best position'

"You don't really think what could happen to yourself, you think 'how is what I'm doing now going to improve the situation?'," he said.

"It's part of the very nature of being in the Army, and especially the Parachute Regiment, that we have to adapt to situations you don't expect to happen."

He told the BBC: "In that particular incident I was in the best position to do that. If it had been any of my mates they would be in this position now."

"I don't look at it about being about me in particular, I look at this as representing everyone from my unit, from my battalion, who was involved in the campaign in Afghanistan," he added.

In a statement, his parents said they were "hugely proud" of their son.

"As Josh's parents we are so thankful to God that he survived that day - along with many other occasions during his three operational tours in Afghanistan.

"Our hearts go out to so many other parents whose sons and daughters did not survive that long conflict."

L/Cpl Leakey's medal was announced during a ceremony at St James's Palace on Wednesday, before recipients of military awards were welcomed at 10 Downing Street.

L/Cpl Leakey "epitomised valour with his actions on that hillside in Helmand", Prime Minister David Cameron said.

"When you hear how events unfolded and the intensity of enemy fire, it is difficult to imagine how one wouldn't be frozen to the spot and yet L/Cpl Leakey risked his life to run across that barren hillside not just once, but multiple times, to turn the battle and save the lives of comrades."

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EU-US trade deal text leaked to BBC

26 February 2015 Last updated at 02:14 By Glenn Campbell Political correspondent, BBC Scotland

A leaked draft of what the European Union wants excluded from a new trade deal with the United States has been obtained by the BBC.

The document describes itself as the EU's "initial offer" in negotiations over the transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP).

It includes the wording that UK ministers have said will protect the NHS from privatisation.

Anti-TTIP campaigners say a specific exemption for the NHS is still needed.

The 103-page document is headed "trade in services and investment: schedule of specific commitments and reservations".

It was produced before the most recent round of TTIP negotiations in Brussels were held at the beginning of this month.

On health, the document states: "The EU reserves the right to adopt or maintain any measure with regard to the provision of all health services which receive public funding or State support in any form".

The wording is the same as that used in a similar free trade agreement between the EU and Canada (CETA).

The UK trade minister, Lord Livingston, said last week that this text ensured "publicly funded health services are excluded".

The European Commission has also previously said TTIP would not affect how NHS services are provided, whether in Scotland or the rest of the UK.

But the trade union Unite said "real risks" remained because of the dispute resolution mechanism TTIP is expected to include.

The union's Scottish regional secretary, Pat Rafferty said: "Last week Lord Livingston tried to pull the wool over the eyes of the Scottish people.

"Now this leaked document has confirmed Unite's expert legal advice, that NHS services in Scotland and the rest of the UK do fall within the scope of the TTIP.

"This means that American investors in NHS services that are privatised now or in the future will be able to use TTIP to sue the government if it tries to bring them back into public hands".

Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has backed Unite's call for the UK government to veto TTIP unless the NHS is "fully and clearly exempted".

She also raised concerns with the prime minister, David Cameron, at a meeting in London in December.

Labour and the Scottish Greens have also endorsed Unite's campaign.

Ian Murray, who is Labour's Shadow Trade Minister, said: "The EU Commission and Conservative government have been dragged kicking and screaming by the public to exclude the NHS and public services from TTIP.

"If they are so confident that the NHS is protected then why don't they specifically add it to the list of exclusions? By not doing so Scots will be suspicious that TTIP could threaten our NHS and other public services."

Appearing before a Scottish Parliament committee last week, Lord Livingston said he was worried the NHS was being used as a "political football".

He said: "Some people are getting fearful, largely because there are people going around saying 'the Tories are going to sell off the health service to Americans'.

"We are saying 'no, it is not true'. The operation of the health services will not be affected by TTIP.

"The decisions about how they are operated will continue to be that for the democratically elected government of the individual area."

'Political football'

Lord Livingston also highlighted a letter from EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, which offers similar assurances.

She said: "There is no reason to fear either for the NHS as it stands today or for changes to the NHS in future, as a result of TTIP."

The EU document lists reservations from TTIP proposed by the EU as a whole and by individual member states.

It makes clear that "where appropriate" member states can seek opt-outs on behalf of parts of their territory.

In the EU-Canada agreement, Belgium did this in relation to the issuing of taxi licences in the Flemish, Walloon and Brussels capital regions.

That could prompt calls for the UK government to seek a specific exemption for NHS Scotland, even if it chooses not to do so for the NHS more generally

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No future for TV licence, MPs say

26 February 2015 Last updated at 11:21

The TV licence does not have a long-term future and is likely to be replaced by a new levy within the next 15 years, a group of MPs has said.

The fee is "becoming harder and harder to justify" given changes in the media, according to the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee.

The MPs suggested every household could pay a new compulsory levy instead.

The BBC said it agreed the licence fee needed to be modernised.

The select committee's proposals were made in a new report about the future of the BBC.

Catch-up changes

Committee chairman John Whittingdale said: "In the short term, there appears to be no realistic alternative to the licence fee, but that model is becoming harder and harder to justify and sustain."

In light of changing technology and audience habits, the committee said "we do not see a long-term future for the licence fee in its current form".

Any "profound changes" - such as abolishing the licence fee - should not be rushed, the report said. But it did say the BBC "must prepare for the possibility of a change in the 2020s.

"We recommend that as a minimum the licence fee must be amended to cover catch-up television as soon as possible."

It should also no longer be a criminal offence to avoid paying the licence fee, the report said.

The licence fee currently costs £145.50 per year for every household where people watch or record live TV.

A TV licence is not required to watch catch-up TV, using services such as the BBC iPlayer.

One option to replace the licence fee would be to make some BBC services available by subscription.

But the committee said choosing which programmes remained available subscription-free would require careful thought.

The best alternative to the licence fee, the report concluded, would be a compulsory broadcasting levy paid by all households, regardless of whether they watch TV, or how they watch.

The BBC's director of strategy James Purnell, said it was "a very serious and important report".

He said: "They are saying the licence fee should continue for the next years and think the BBC should continue for the next 10 years when its comes up for charter renewal after the election.

"We actually agree with them that the licence fee should be modernised. We have said this should extend to catch-up services, when people are watching catch-up for example on their tablets.

"They have come up with a more radical solution with a broadcast levy where every household would pay."

Such a system was introduced in Germany in 2013 and would do away with the need to detect and prosecute those who avoid buying a TV licence, the committee said.

Other proposals made by the committee include:

• The BBC Trust should be abolished because it has mishandled crises like the Jimmy Savile scandal and is too close to the BBC management
• Instead, a new Public Service Broadcasting Commission should monitor the corporation's performance, with an ultimate sanction of being able to withhold some funding from the BBC
• Media regulator Ofcom - not the BBC Trust - should be the final arbiter of complaints about the corporation's impartiality and accuracy
• Part of the licence fee (or future broadcasting levy) should be used to support non-BBC public service broadcasting, such as local news and children's programmes
• The planned BBC One +1 channel does not represent "public service value", and the airwaves should be used for something else
• The BBC should no longer attempt to offer "something for everyone" and should not stray into areas that are well catered for by commercial broadcasters
• The BBC World Service must remain strong to ensure the UK does not lose ground to countries like China and Russia in the "global information war"

BBC 'disasters'

Mr Whittingdale, the Conservative MP for Maldon, said the BBC had suffered from "a succession of disasters of its own making" in recent years, yet remained "a widely admired and trusted institution".

The committee's report will feed into the negotiations over the corporation's next royal charter, which will begin after the general election in May.

A statement from the BBC Trust, which was set up in 2007 to be the corporation's arms-length regulator, said the report highlighted "a number of issues and challenges that the Trust recognises and that we are seeking to address".

It added: "We agree that there must be robust internal governance and independent regulatory oversight of the BBC. Charter Review will be when this and other issues are debated thoroughly, but we welcome this thoughtful and considered early contribution."

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