Queen singer Freddie Mercury disguised the late Princess Diana as a male model and smuggled her into a notorious gay bar, according to a memoir serialised in Britain's Sunday Times.

Comedian Cleo Rocos describes in her book "The Power of Positive Drinking" how she, Mercury and fellow comedian Kenny Everett dressed Diana in an army jacket, cap and sunglasses for a night out at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, south London, in the late 1980s.

"When we walked in... we felt she was obviously Princess Diana and would be discovered at any minute. But people just seemed to blank her. She sort of disappeared. But she loved it," said Rocos, who co-starred in Everett's television show.

She said she did not know whether Diana was propositioned in the bar in her guise as a male model, but added: "She did look like a beautiful young man."

Published: 31 March 2013

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Disgraced former MP Chris Huhne has been moved to a comfortable open prison after spending seven days in a tough London jail, it has been reported.

The ex-Liberal Democrat Cabinet minister was jailed earlier this month after pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice for asking his wife to take speeding points for him in 2003.

The 58-year-old served his first week at HMP Wandsworth, in south London, but has now been moved to HMP Leyhill in Gloucestershire for the remainder of his eight month term, The Sun has reported.

The Category D jail is described on the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) website as somewhere that prisoners can "assume more responsibility and benefit from opportunities to make decisions for themselves before returning to the outside community".

HMP Leyhill, which has farms and gardens in its grounds, offers a number of courses and employment opportunities for prisoners, such as making door and window frames and prison furniture.

On March 15 Huhne's ex-wife was moved to a "pleasant" open jail after spending only four nights in Holloway prison, according to reports.

Published: 24 March 2013

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Many children would start school hungry without breakfast clubs, teachers have claimed.

A new survey suggests these clubs are the only way many youngsters can get a meal before lessons.

More than half (54%) of the 552 school staff questioned by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) said their school or college provides a breakfast club for pupils.

The overwhelming reason for children to attend these clubs is because their parent or carer goes to work early, cited by 76.8% of those questioned. But other factors, such as lack of money, also play a part. More than two-fifths (44.7%) said they believe the main reason pupils attend a breakfast club is because it is the only way the youngster will get a meal in the morning.

Around a fifth (22.6%) said children attended due to lack of money at home because parents or carers are unemployed and 15.2% cited lack of money at home due to changes or cuts to benefits. Around one in six (17.6%) said pupils mainly attend breakfast clubs to socialise.

The survey found that teachers believe that offering breakfast to pupils often helps improve their concentration and ability to learn. One primary school teacher from Kent told the survey: "Although there is a charge for our breakfast club, we have accessed funding for those pupils on free school meals and the breakfast club had an effect on their attendance, concentration and being in school for the start of lessons."

ATL general secretary Dr Mary Bousted said a nutritious meal at the start of the day has a "huge impact" on pupils' ability to learn.

Published: 22 March 2013

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The written ramblings of one of two men accused of plotting to kill international music star Joss Stone have been shown to a jury.

Kevin Liverpool, 35, wrote down in a diary his thoughts about the Devon-based soul singer. Entries talked of the need to buy a semi-automatic gun, a gun holder, a silencer and infrared equipment, as well as a "ninja sword".

Liverpool had also written a reminder to buy a hooded top, car insurance, a safe and open a bank account, Exeter Crown Court heard. He wrote of "war", "warlord #1" and of "missions" to "rob" and "discipline".

Liverpool and co-accused Junior Bradshaw, 32, are charged with plotting to rob and kill Miss Stone before dumping her body in a river in June 2011.

The defendants, both of St Stephen's Close, Manchester, deny charges of conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm and conspiracy to rob.

The diary was seized by police when they raided Liverpool's one-bedroom flat in Longsight, Manchester, after he had been arrested in Devon.

Published: 21 March 2013

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The Queen is set to carry out her first public engagement in more than a week when she joins the Duchess of Cambridge at an event celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Tube.

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will travel with Kate to Baker Street Underground station in London to mark the transport network's milestone.

The Queen, who had been suffering symptoms of gastroenteritis, has been carrying out her duties within Buckingham Palace but last week cancelled a trip to London's East End to visit Tech City.

The Duke of York, who carried out the engagement without his mother, said she was "not ill" but stayed at home as precaution.

The last time she was seen at an official event was an engagement last Monday evening when she signed the Commonwealth's new charter.

Published: 20 March 2013

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Shares in Marks & Spencer have surged on speculation that the high street retailer is an £8 billion bid target for Middle Eastern investors.

The stock jumped 8% at one stage, adding more than £500 million in value, after The Sunday Times said the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the Gulf state's sovereign wealth fund, is in talks with private equity and banks about an approach.

Despite the scale of the share price movement, there was no official stock market announcement to confirm or deny the speculation.

A bid for the retailer would mark the biggest private equity takeover of a British blue chip firm since Alliance Boots was snapped up by US buyout firm KKR for £11 billion in 2007. It would also see another British name fall into foreign hands after recent high-profile takeovers such as US group Kraft's controversial acquisition of Cadbury.

M&S is often the subject of takeover speculation and there are significant hurdles for any such deal to get the go ahead. Aside from the price tag needed to win over management and investors, M&S has a hefty pension deficit of about £300 million which means the scheme's trustees have a significant say in any deal.

Other bidders have tried and failed to bag M&S in the past, with BHS and Topshop tycoon Sir Philip Green launching an unsuccessful hostile £10 billion bid in 2004. Private equity firm CVC, which owns Formula One, is said to have considered a bid for M&S last summer but pulled out after its plans were made public.

Published: 18 March 2013

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More than £3.9 million has been spent by public bodies in the last two years on paying private investigators for surveillance work - including snooping on their own staff.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is among a range of public organisations that have paid private firms to spy on their behalf, while it has been claimed some 14 bodies, including 10 councils, may have commissioned potentially illegal surveillance.

The findings, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by civil liberties and privacy campaigners Big Brother Watch (BBW), revealed that four organisations paid other public bodies to undertake surveillance and four councils used private investigators to spy on their own employees.

BBW director Nick Pickles said the revelations prove that surveillance laws are "not fit for purpose". He said: "The Government has acted to control surveillance by local councils but this research shows more than ever before public bodies are using private detectives to do their snooping. The law is at breaking point and public bodies shouldn't be able to dodge the legal checks on them by using private investigators."

A total of 29 organisations - 27 councils, one public authority and one government department, the DfT - paid private firms to undertake surveillance using powers under Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa) in the years 2010/11 and 2011/12.

But some 1 4 organisations - 10 councils and four public authorities - paid private firms to undertake surveillance that was not covered by Ripa - meaning they commissioned potentially illegal activity. Two public authorities and two councils paid other public bodies to spy on their behalf at a cost of £7,600, while four councils - Caerphilly, Dudley, Leicestershire and York - used private investigators to monitor their own staff.

Mr Pickles went on: "This research has uncovered cases where it looks like the law has not been followed and it's essential they are urgently investigated. Unlike the US, British law isn't strong enough to stop evidence obtained by illegal surveillance being used in court and the punishments for people deliberately flouting the law are trivial."

Published: 17 March 2013

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The owner of British Airways has backed a compromise deal that will limit the number of job cuts at Spain's ailing carrier Iberia to just over 3,000.

International Airlines Group, which was created from the merger of the two airlines in 2011, originally proposed 3,800 redundancies but has accepted a government-appointed mediator's recommendation that 3,141 workers should go.

The response of Iberia's unions to the revised proposals, which include severance pay of 35 days a year rather than 20, is still not known.

IAG chief executive Willie Walsh said recently that Iberia "must adapt to survive", having made a loss of 351 million euros (£303.5 million) last year.

But despite three months of negotiations, no agreement on a way forward has been reached between the airline and its unions. Iberia workers have already held two strikes and are planning further industrial action this month.

Published: 11 March 2013

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Lord Sugar has condemned "claim culture" as he accused a winner of his TV show The Apprentice of lying and taking him to a tribunal "to extract money from me".

Stella English, 34, who won series six of the BBC1 show fronted by the millionaire peer in 2010, is suing him for constructive dismissal.

She was given a £100,000 role with Lord Sugar's IT division Viglen as her prize but resigned in May 2011 and complained that her role there was that of an "overpaid lackey".

Ms English, of Whitstable, Kent, said she felt pressurised into taking up a new position at Lord Sugar's internet set-top box company YouView. She told a hearing in east London that Lord Sugar then advised her, in an unscheduled meeting on September 28, 2011, that he would not be renewing her contract and that he told her he did not "give a s***".

Reading out his own statement, Lord Sugar said: "She is a suspicious, untrusting person and one who believes she has always been done down and places blame with others. I believe this claim, together with its publication in the media, is simply an attempt to extract money from me."

Lord Sugar said Ms English was under the impression he would pay her off to avoid having to attend the hearing. But he told the tribunal: "I have no intention to pay her any money unless told to do so by the law." Lord Sugar said within days of Ms English suddenly leaving her job in October 2011, interviews with her appeared in newspapers. "She was desperate for money," Lord Sugar told the hearing.

Published: 07 March 2013

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David Cameron has been urged to use the UK's presidency of the G8 this year to make an "ambitious and transformative" difference to the lives of millions of the world's poorest people in Africa.

Britain's previous stint at the head of the group of rich nations in 2005 delivered "major progress" in the fight against extreme poverty, and the UK is again in a "unique leadership position" to drive the cause of development forward, said a report from campaign group One.

In an audit of progress on the commitments made by the G8 at Gleneagles in 2005, One concluded that "increases in financing for development, through aid, debt relief and a huge rise in domestically generated resources have had a direct impact on the lives of some of the poorest people in the world".

The report found that, since Gleneagles, sub-Saharan Africa has made "remarkable headway", with: 21 million more children enrolled in primary school; New HIV infections down by 37%; Child mortality down by 18%; Annual GDP growth averaging 5%; Access to the internet increasing by 547% to 110 million.

Despite the failure to meet some Gleneagles commitments, aid to Africa from G7 nations - the G8 excluding Russia - has increased by 11 billion US dollars (£7.2 billion) annually and 35 poor countries have had debt totalling 35.5 billion dollars (£23.4 billion) written off, found the report.

Published: 03 March 2013

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