UK news

David Cameron has come under fire from fellow Conservatives in the aftermath of the drawn-out controversy over Andrew Mitchell's foul-mouthed confrontation with Downing Street police.

In a blow to the Prime Minister, who had backed his chief whip to remain in post, Mr Mitchell finally quit on Friday night after realising the row had cost him his authority among Tory MPs. The decision came at the end of a week of conversations with parliamentary colleagues in which many made clear they felt he had to go.

Home Secretary Theresa May would not deny on Sunday that she had been one of those telling him to resign, although hostility from a significant section of the newer 2010 intake of Tory MPs appears to have been as important to his decision as the views of Cabinet ministers.

Ministers hoped that Mr Mitchell's resignation would at last draw a line under the issue but criticism emerged on Sunday of Mr Cameron's handling of the issue and of the sense that the Government is lurching from one poorly-managed embarrassment to another.

Mr Mitchell's resignation came hours after Chancellor George Osborne was accused of trying to sit in a first-class rail carriage with a standard ticket, and in the same week Mr Cameron announced a fuel bill policy that his energy ministers appeared to know nothing about.

Conservative peer Lord Tebbit said the Government had allowed an impression of incompetence to set in. Writing in The Observer, the Thatcherite former minister said: "This dog of a coalition government has let itself be given a bad name and now anybody can beat it.

Published: 21 October 2012

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A jury trying Metropolitan Police Constable Alex MacFarlane, who admitted calling a black suspect a "n*****", has been discharged after failing to reach a verdict.

The defendant, a policeman for 18 years, was charged with causing racially aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress to Mauro Demetrio, 22.

The officer, 53, admitted telling Demetrio: "The problem with you is you will always be a n*****."

But he claimed it was not intended as racist abuse and he only used the term - which was recorded on the suspect's mobile - because Demetrio had done so first as he was taken into custody on suspicion of drink or drug-driving in east London on August 11 last year.

The jury of five men and seven women at Southwark Crown Court retired to consider its verdict on Wednesday.

After more than a day's deliberation, the jury foreman told Judge Michael Gledhill QC there was no manoeuvrability on reaching a verdict. The case will be retried on Monday with a new jury.

The trial had heard that Demetrio had become "abusive" to officers after he claimed to have been strangled and pushed up against the window of a police van following his arrest.

Demetrio was not charged following the arrest. He used his mobile phone to record the exchange with officers.

Published: 18 October 2012

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Ministers have been requested to face the Commons over the Prime Minister's surprise announcement on energy bills.

Commons Speaker John Bercow has granted shadow energy secretary Caroline Flint an urgent question on the plans, which Labour said are "unravelling by the minute".

David Cameron announced during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday that energy companies would be required in law to give customers the cheapest available deal.

However, there was little detail about how such a scheme would work and the Department for Energy and Climate Change appeared to have been taken by surprise by the announcement.

"This is a policy unravelling by the minute," a Labour source said.

Published: 18 October 2012

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The House of Commons Speaker John Bercow is trying to block the publication of details of MPs' expenses which could show if they are renting their taxpayer-funded homes to each other, it has been reported.

Mr Bercow has written to the regulator urging it not to release documents revealing the identities of MPs' landlords for security reasons, according to The Daily Telegraph.

The newspaper said disclosure would expose the extent to which MPs are taking advantage of a "loophole" which allows them to rent properties to each other.

It said the concession meant MPs could still build up property nest eggs at the taxpayer's expense, despite moves to stamp out the practice follow the expenses scandal.

However Mr Bercow was said to have written to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) warning that its plan to reveal the identities of MPs' landlords had given rise to "grave concerns" about security.

The Telegraph quoted the letter as saying: "The processing of the data ... could involve causing unwarranted damage and distress. I should be grateful if you and your colleagues would reconsider such a plan."

Labour MP John Mann said the attempt to prevent the publication of the details appeared to be a "return to the bad old days". He told the paper: "If MPs are renting from past or current MPs it is right and proper the public is able to know that."

"There is nothing wrong with that, and there is nothing wrong in it being out there in the open. I have no problem in MPs renting it (a flat) out but the public is entitled to know that."

Published: 18 October 2012

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The number of people in work has reached a record high, although more are in part-time jobs than ever, official figures have revealed.

Employment grew in the quarter to August by 212,000 to 29.59 million, the highest since records began in 1971.

Unemployment fell by 50,000 in the same period to 2.53 million, the lowest since the spring, giving a jobless rate of 7.9%.

The numbers claiming jobseeker's allowance fell by 4,000 in September to 1.57 million, the third consecutive monthly fall and the lowest total since July 2011.

The Office for National Statistics also reported that part-time employment increased by 125,000 between March and May to a record high of 8.13 million.

The number of people in part-time jobs because they could not find full-time work was close to a record high at 1.4 million.

Youth unemployment fell by 62,000 to 957,000, the lowest figure for over a year. Self-employment has also increased, up by 35,000 to 4.2 million, while the number of unpaid workers in a family business rose by 2,000 to 112,000.

The data also showed a rise of 13,000 in the number of people on Government-supported training and employment programmes to 158,000. Economic inactivity, including those looking after a sick relative or who have given up looking for work, fell by 138,000 in the latest quarter to just over nine million.

Published: 17 October 2012

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MPs face having their gold-plated pensions slashed as part of a root-and-branch review of their pay and perks, it has been revealed.

A consultation says politicians must work longer before retiring and get lower benefits to save the taxpayer £2 million a year.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) document also pours cold water on the idea that MPs' pay should be linked to higher-earning jobs such as GPs or headteachers.

But it does raise the possibility of increasing their salaries to three or even four times national average earnings - potentially up to £90,000.

The watchdog signalled it did not back proposals for regionalising pay, pointing out that "most MPs live and work in London for a large part of the week when Parliament is sitting".

It also rejected the notion of basing remuneration on performance or time served in the Commons, and suggested matching people's pre-parliamentary salaries would "disadvantage some candidates" who had been unemployed or low-paid.

The document highlighted the idea of having two salary levels - one for the dozens of MPs who hold second jobs, and another for those who give up extra work.

But despite reports that Ipsa's management favours the plan, the consultation merely stated: "We invite views on this issue."

Published: 15 October 2012

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