Plebgate: Mitchell's Scotland Yard Complaint

Ex-cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell has lodged a formal complaint against Scotland Yard over the apparent leaking of its report into the "Plebgate" affair.

The senior Tory MP has written to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) accusing the Metropolitan Police of a continued campaign to "destroy" his career.

Mr Mitchell took the action after newspaper reports suggested a police file passed to the Crown Prosecution Service contained no evidence that officers lied about his behaviour.

He strongly denies calling officers "plebs" during an altercation over their refusal to allow him to ride his bike through the Downing Street gates last year.

And the politician - who quit as chief whip amid the storm over the incident - claims he is the victim of a conspiracy by officers to "toxify" the Tories and blacken his name.

In a letter to IPCC deputy chairman Deborah Glass, he wrote: "We are deeply dismayed that the Metropolitan Police appear to have leaked part of their Report prepared for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to certain members of the Press and spun it to the advantage of the Police officers involved.

"This was an Enquiry into a dishonest and illicit attempt to blacken my name and destroy my career. It would appear that this police enquiry continues precisely that process."

Keith Vaz, Labour chairman of the Commons home affairs committee, said the latest development showed it was wrong for Scotland Yard to lead the inquiry into its own officers and called for the whole investigation to be taken over by the IPCC.

Scotland Yard is trying to find out how the Sun and Daily Telegraph obtained information about the "Plebgate" row and if it came from police.

It is also looking at a police officer's claim to have witnessed the altercation and allegations by Mr Mitchell that police had lied in a log of the event.

Three officers from the Diplomatic Protection Group have so far been arrested as part of the investigation. All three remain suspended.

Some 30 detectives have taken statements from all 800 officers in the DPG, which is tasked with protecting government officials.

Papers related to the case were passed to prosecutors on Thursday, but the CPS said it was not "a full file of evidence" and that is expected more.

"We now await the conclusion of the police investigation before considering charges," it said in what was seen as a rebuke to the force.

A number of newspapers subsequently reported sources as saying the file did not contain any evidence to back Mr Mitchell's claim of a conspiracy by officers.

Mr Vaz said the committee had argued from the start that Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan Howe was wrong to allow Scotland Yard to conduct the investigation.

Britain's most senior police officer promised a "ruthless" investigation into the alleged conspiracy "no matter where the truth takes us".

It is being supervised by the IPCC and the commissioner invited the Greater Manchester force to provide an external review.

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Richard III: Legal Row Over Leicester Burial

By David Crabtree, Midlands Correspondent

A legal challenge is under way over where the 500-year-old remains of King Richard III should be finally laid to rest.

The bones of the king were discovered under a council car park in Leicester, which was built over a long-demolished friary.

A plan for the last Plantagenet King to be buried in the city's St Martin's Cathedral, only 500 yards away is well advanced.

King Richard III's remains unearthed by archaeologists

But a group called the Plantagenet Alliance, claiming to be the Yorkist King's descendants, has asked lawyers to challenge the process under which the exhumation was carried out by Leicester University.

They say that his remains should be buried in York.

An application for a judicial review is to be lodged. They are bringing the action against the Ministry of Justice, which granted the excavation licence, and is being launched under article 8 of the European Convention, which guarantees the right to a private and family life.

The skull of King Richard III

Leicester's mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, said: "We have had a number of rather silly suggestions, but the particular one that a king who has been buried for 500 years has a human right to a family life is, to put it mildly, rather daft."

The remarkable discovery in the centre of Leicester has led to a 20-fold increase in tourism.

There are daily queues outside a Richard III exhibition and the council has plans to redesign the area around the cathedral before holding an "extraordinary event" to reinter the last English king to die in battle.

Richard III was born in Northamptonshire but grew up in Yorkshire and was called Richard of York before he took to the throne. He died in the Battle of Bosworth outside Leicester in 1485.

The Leicester car park under which the king's remains lay

The Rev Canon David Monteith, Dean-Elect of Leicester, said: "We are working together to plan for a reinterment, hopefully in the spring of 2014.

"We are working flat out to make sure that is going to be an extraordinary event. We are going to make history that day and the whole world is going to be watching Leicester.

"We are here to serve the whole people of the community and Richard's arrival here with us, enables us to do that better.

St Martin's Cathedral, Leicester, where King Richard III is to be buried

"We have looked at him, he has looked at us for the last 500 years.

"As it were we are now becoming more acquainted and we are really looking forward to him being reinterred here in the heart of the cathedral."

Those in Leicester are confident of fighting off any legal challenges. They are hoping that a senior member of the Royal Family will attend the event in spring next year.

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Mercury 'Took Diana To Gay Bar In Drag'

Queen frontman Freddie Mercury disguised Princess Diana as a male model and smuggled her into a gay bar during the 1980s, according to a comedienne's memoir.

Rocos reveals the incident in her memoir The Power Of Positive Drinking

Cleo Rocos, whose book The Power Of Positive Drinking is being serialised in the Sunday Times, recalls 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.

Rocos, who co-starred in Everett's TV show, said: "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."

Rocos says she did not know whether Diana was propositioned in the bar in her guise, but adds: "She did look like a beautiful young man."

The presence of Mercury, Everett and Rocos diverted revellers' attention and Diana was able to order drinks undetected, Rocos says.

The Princess of Wales died in a car crash in Paris in 1997. Mercury died in 1991 of an Aids-related illness.

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Benefits Shake-Up 'To Cost Families Hundreds'

By Tadhg Enright, Sky Reporter

Changes to the welfare system will cost the average family £891 over the next year, according to research by Labour and the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The Conservatives have responded by saying the biggest shake-up of the welfare state in history has already had an effect with a third of those claiming incapacity benefit giving it up to avoid a medical to prove their entitlement.

From Monday, millions of low income families will see an increase in their council tax bills.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls says millions of families will lose out

The so-called bedroom "tax" will see housing benefit cut for council house tenants with more bedrooms than they need. Those with one spare room will be deducted 14% and those with more lose a quarter. 

And from next Saturday, the annual increase in tax credits and other working-age benefits will be cut to just 1%, well below the rate of inflation.

The personal income tax allowance for those aged under 65 will rise to £9,440 but the higher rate threshold will fall to £41,450.

The top rate of income tax will also fall from 50p to 45p which Labour claims will shave £100,000 off the annual tax bills of 13,000 people who earn more than £1m a year.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls said: "These shocking figures show the huge hit millions of families are facing at the very same time as David Cameron and George Osborne are giving millionaires an average £100,000 tax cut.

"And while Ministers trumpet the small rise in the income tax personal allowance, they should admit that it is hugely outweighed by things like cuts to tax credits and child benefit, higher VAT, the bedroom tax and the granny tax.

"They are giving with one hand, but taking away much more with the other."

Mum-of-two Emma Kingsbury is one of 660,000 council house tenants who will have to pay the so-called bedroom tax because she needs only two of the three bedrooms in her home,

She told Sky News: "I've only ever needed two bedrooms and now, after placing us in this three bedroom when I didn't need or ask for it, they want us to pay for this room that we rarely use."

The bedroom tax will cost Emma and her boys £15 a week.

The 'bedroom tax' has prompted a number of protests

"The boys will have to stop some of their extra curricular activities, outings for Easter," she said.

"They haven't given anybody any time to try and downsize. I've had a month."

The Government insists it is vital to break the cycle of dependency on benefits and has claimed that welfare reforms have already succeeded in reducing spurious claims.

Out of 1.44 million medical assessments carried out on claimants of incapacity benefit, 837,000 were found to be fit enough to return to work.

A further 878,300 chose to give up their benefit instead of facing a medical to prove their entitlement.

Among them were people on benefits because of blisters, acne and sprains.

Conservative party chairman Grant Shapps said: "I think it's really important that we do have a system where people are supported in work and where when somebody works they know they are always going to be better off than on benefits.

"I think incapacity benefit and some of these other benefits were used by previous governments to ensure that people didn't sign on to the dole queue. In fact it was a very dishonest way of going about things.

"The great thing now is that people know they don't have to study the Jobcentre computer for an hour and a half, they know they when they go out to work they will always be better off working than on benefits. That's a good thing for them, it's a good thing for society."

Mr Shapps said that families often shared rooms in their homes and that his two sons did the same. It later emerged that Mr Shapps, who has three children, lives in a four bedroom house but uses one of the rooms as a study.

The Government reforms will cause queues at food banks to get longer and increase homelessness, according to charity Crisis.

It said the unemployed and disabled would bear the brunt of the cuts and that it had "serious concerns" about the replacement of

disability living allowance (DLA) with a  personal independence payment (PIP),

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Tennant And Piper Back For Doctor Who's 50th

Doctor Who's last two incarnations are getting together this week to begin filming a one-off special episode to mark the show's 50th anniversary.

The tenth Doctor, David Tennant, and current Time Lord Matt Smith, will be joined by Billie Piper who played companion Rose Tyler for two series.

Tennant took over from Christopher Eccleston and filled the iconic TV role from 2005 to 2010 before handing over to Smith, the youngest ever Doctor.

Current Doctor Who Matt Smith took over from David Tennant. BBC picture

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Alien and Harry Potter actor John Hurt will also co-star in the 3D anniversary show.

As a new series began its run on BBC One, the plot of the special was firmly under wraps.

Writer Steven Moffat said recently that he was keeping the script "on my computer under lock and key".

He said he had forbidden anyone to hand him a copy: "I make sure I don't get a script, because I will lose it."

Smith promised fans they "will not be disappointed" by the story.

First Doctor William Hartnell feels the bald heads of two 1965 co-stars

"I read it and I clapped at the end. I think it's hilarious, it's epic and it's vast," he said at a Doctor Who series launch.

"It manages to pay homage to everything - and look forward."

The first ever episode of Doctor Who, An Unearthly Child, with William Hartnell as the Doctor, was broadcast on November 23, 1963.

As part of the anniversary events, BBC Two will also broadcast An Adventure In Space And Time - a one-off drama written by Mark Gatiss looking at how the sci-fi show came to be made.

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Policewoman Sues Man Who Called 999

A man who dialled 999 fearing a burglary at his petrol station is being sued by the policewoman who answered the call because she fell on the premises.

The officer, Kelly Jones, tripped over a kerbstone when she went to the station in Thetford, Norfolk, owned by Steve Jones last August.

Her lawyers say she was hurt and argue that he failed to keep her safe while she was investigating the possible break-in.

Mr Jones says the move raises bigger questions about Britain's culture of compensation.

"I think it's the compensation culture gone a little too far, this is one step too far. Something needs to be done.

"I feel we need a minister of the common sense in this country," he told Sky News.

Mr Jones said he felt "astounded, worried, slightly anxious" upon receiving notification of the lawsuit last week.

"It's implying that I virtually should have done her job for her, it's implying I didn't keep her safe on my premises," Mr Jones said.

"We really need the police to be on our side right now," he added, citing what he says is an increased numbers of shoplifters or people who drive off without paying after filling up the tank.

The kerb at the Norfolk petrol station where the incident occurred

Ms Jones could not immediately be reached.

But Norfolk Police said in a statement that they had been "wholly unaware of this litigation which appears to be instigated privately by the individual officer".

The statement added: "We have a duty of care to any officer injured whilst on duty, to support their continued health and well-being and fitness to return to work. Officers can, in addition, receive further support from their staff association, as well as pursuing private treatment."

Mr Jones was called out late at night in August 25 after an alarm went off at the petrol station. Fearing a burglary, he called the police for backup.

"We were walking around to see if there had been any signs of entry in the premises and she tripped over the kerb," Mr Jones recalled.

"She got up and we carried on," he said, adding that the officer did not mention anything at the time and that she seemed to be "more embarrassed than hurt".

There was no burglary so Mr Jones said he didn't think about the incident until receiving the letter months later.

The lawsuit said the policewoman had suffered wrist and leg injuries.

Her lawyers say the area was not properly lit. Mr Jones counters that some lights were on and some more light was coming from a back street.

If successful, the claim could put people off calling emergency services. But Mr Jones said this was an isolated incident.

"On the whole the police do a great job."

The Police Federation said in a statement that "the Constables Central Committee is funding this particular case and the decision making for this lies with them."

It said most officers have public protection rather than any potential risk to themselves as their top priority.

It added: "On occasion private prosecutions and civil claims are made by police officers - and they must be treated each on their own merits.

"However, we share the public view that policing is a job that carries with it a reasonable amount of risk, at times much higher than that."

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Archbishop Welby Warns Against 'Hero Culture'

The Archbishop of Canterbury has launched an attack on society's belief that things can improve through change without God, in his first Easter message.

The Most Rev Justin Welby warned against 'vain human optimism' in change as it would lead to cynicism, and only joyfulness through faith in God would lead to 'radical expectation in the future'.

Taking on the issues of the present he said that a sense that hero leaders could bring about improvement showed people had failed to learn the lessons of the Easter story.

The Archbishop told a congregation at Canterbury Cathedral: "I wonder how many people ... think that the future will be better than the past and all problems can be solved if we put our minds to it?

"It's a general sense, one in which most of our society works and it goes with the feeling that if that does not happen, then it ought to and if it doesn't happen, then someone must be doing something to stop it.

"Illusion is replaced by disappointment. And they are both equally wrong."

He said that the culture of the 'hero leader' was equally flawed.

The Most Rev Justin Welby arrives at Canterbury Cathedral

Mr Welby said: "A political party gets a new leader and three months later there is a comment about disappointment; an economy suffers the worst blow in generations with a debt crisis and economic downturn and the fact that not everything is perfect within five years is seen as total failure.

"Complexity and humanity are ignored. And we end up, at least in public perception, unreasonably disappointed with every institution, group and policy, from politicians to the NHS, from local government, education and the environment and the sense that there must be a conspiracy somewhere, if only we could spot it.

"Holy Week and Easter show us the reality of God and human beings. It is a reality that equips us for action in the world - action that is based on hope and realism, not on cynicism and fear.

"The disciples pinned all their hopes on Jesus as their leader and on Israel's leaders recognising him as such.

"They made a double mistake. As human beings we tend to live in the present. Societies that cling to the present, or some golden age in the past, fall prey to fear. And groups that cling to power, sink into oppression.

The Queen receives flowers from well-wishers after a service at Windsor

"As well as fear, a false view of people leads to hero leaders who always fail."

He said the solution was to: "Put not your trust in new leaders, better systems, new organisations or regulatory reorganisations. They may be good and well and necessary, but they will to some degree fail."

And that: "Assuming that any organisation is able to have such good systems that human failure will be eliminated is always naive. We have to know God as well as human beings or we are left with cynical despair."

Providing a possible sign of what his tenure as leader of the Anglican community will be like for the coming few years, he challenged media speculation that he could fix the Church's problems.

He said: "On Friday, a newspaper reported that only 40% of churchgoers ... are convinced that the new Archbishop of Canterbury can resolve the problems of the Church of England. Eat your heart out.

Princess Eugenie arrives for the Easter service at St George's Chapel

"I do hope that means that the other 60% thought the idea so barking mad that they didn't answer the question."

He said by disagreeing "gracefully", the Church could be beacon for others.

:: The Queen attended the traditional Easter Sunday service at Windsor Castle today with other members of the Royal Family.

She was joined by the Earl and Countess of Wessex and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie for the Matins service at St George's Chapel, conducted by the Dean of Windsor, the Right Rev David Conner.

In Leicester, the day was especially memorable for a handful of people who were baptised outdoors as the UK was in the grip of one of the coldest Easters in living memory.

In all, seven men and women were fully submerged and baptised by the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Rev Tim Stevens, today in a special service at the city's cathedral.

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Easter Sunday Is The Coldest On Record

This Easter Sunday was the coldest on record after temperatures fell to -12.5C in Braemar, central Scotland.

The previous coldest temperature for Easter Sunday was -9.8C recorded in 1986 after modern record-keeping began in 1960.

Sky News weather producer Joanna Robinson said: "It looks like we've seen the coldest start to Easter Sunday on record, with an exceptional -12.5 Celsius recorded at Braemar.

"By some way, it beats the previous record which was set in 1986 at Lagganlia in Inverness-shire.

"In terms of the snowiest Easter, the greatest snow depth recorded stands at 33cm at Strathdearn in Inverness-shire on the April 3, 2010. At least this year, it was mainly dry."

However, snow remained on the ground in some areas as the cold weather kept it around.

Joanna Robinson added: "Further afield, the Mediterranean has seen a very unsettled Easter Weekend so far, with strong winds and heavy rain in places.

"On the whole, March has been very cold across a large part of Europe, and it's set to become the coldest in more than 50 years for the UK.

"As we move into April, below average temperatures are expected to continue across the UK for at least the first week. Most places will be dry though, with some sunshine."

Braemar is the third coldest low-lying place in the UK with an average temperature of 6.81C. The little village has broken UK weather records twice before, with lows of -27.2C recorded on two occasions.

But despite today's record, winter temperatures in Braemar are relatively warm when compared to places of the same latitude (such as Moscow) due to much of Britain's weather being controlled by the Gulf Stream.

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Belfast Pizza Delivery Shooting Victim Named

A pizza delivery man shot dead outside a Domino's takeaway in Belfast has been named as Kieran McManus, aged 26.

He is understood to have been hit twice during the attack at Kennedy Way in the west of the city on Saturday night.

DCI Karen Baxter from the Police Service of Northern Ireland said: "What we know is that at 11.20pm last night Kieran was with a number of friends when he was shot at short range by what we believe was a lone gunman.

"We are asking for anyone with information, who was in and around the pizza place last night to come forward.

Mr McManus was taken to hospital after the attack but died a short time later.

DCI Baxter added: "Kieran was known to police, however what I would say is that nothing justifies the brutal attack on Kieran and the death of a young man.

"Today we have, on Easter Sunday, a mother mourning the loss of her son and I think this is a very sad state of affairs."

Asked if the shooting could have been a sectarian attack, she said: "We haven't ruled out any motives at this stage, it is much too early."

Police have also appealed for information about a dark red Vauxhall Astra found near the scene.

Paul Maskey, Sinn Fein MP for West Belfast, condemned the perpetrators of the fatal shooting.

He said: "My thoughts are with the family of the young man murdered on Kennedy Way."

 Mr Maskey said: "Those who carried out this shooting should be ashamed of themselves.

"People are shocked that this is the Easter holiday period and people were in good form and someone last night was willing to go out and take the life of another individual."

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Glencoe Avalanche: Rescue Teams Find Body

Police searching for a skier missing after an avalanche struck near Glencoe in Scotland have found a body.

Daniel Maddox, from Clackmannanshire, was skiing in an off-piste area behind Glencoe Ski Centre with his friend when the avalanche struck at about 1pm yesterday.

The 41-year-old, who was said to be an experienced skier, was swept away and buried under the snow.

About 30 people from Glencoe and Lochaber mountain rescue teams, police, the mountain resort's ski patrol and a helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth all helped with the operation in the Etive Glades.

The avalanche was the second serious incident at Glencoe this year

John Grieve, leader of Glencoe Mountain Team, said the avalanche travelled about 1,000ft down the rocky face of the slope.

"The avalanche has actually gone into a gully, and in some places the snow is about 40ft deep," he said. "It's not like a normal ski slope where it is mainly smooth and straight. There are a lot of rocks around and it is more dangerous."

The missing skier's friend was not thought to have been hurt in the incident.

More follows...

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