Written By Unknown on Minggu, 08 Maret 2015 | 23.39
By Joey Jones, Deputy Political Editor
In the Borders constituency of Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, the Liberal Democrats are hoping to negotiate the turbulent waters of post-referendum politics and hold off the dual challenges of the Conservatives and the SNP.
The seat was held by Michael Moore by more than 5,000 votes in 2010 but Lib Dem fortunes have dwindled since, and the Scottish National Party (SNP) resurgence leaves a whole new set of problems on the party's plate.
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The bulk of people in this region voted 'no' in the referendum, but as we have seen in other parts of Scotland that is not necessarily a barrier to electoral success for the Scottish nationalists.
In the battle of spin that is going on between the three parties, the Conservatives and SNP talk about a collapse in the Lib Dem vote; the Lib Dems are dismissive of the nationalists' claims in particular and while acknowledging a Tory threat maintain they can beat the Conservatives back.
Video:The Scottish Revolution
I tested the claims by travelling to Coldstream, where the Tories told me they were strong (their candidate John Lamont lives in the town).
I found substantial but not overwhelming Tory support - a number of people were sceptical about all the parties, and there were also Lib DemsI I bumped into on the main street.
Galashiels is a town where the Lib Dems told me they expect to perform strongly.
Video:SNP Surge Provides Uncertainty
Here there were indeed Michael Moore supporters in evidence, virtually no Tories and a decent smattering of Scottish nationalists.
My impression was of a constituency where the Lib Dems remain the party to beat.
Only if the SNP up their game significantly in the seat might the Tories convincingly be able to argue that people should rally behind their candidate to see off the nationalist threat.
Aston Villa's win over West Bromwich Albion in a heated FA Cup quarterfinal was marred by crowd trouble, with seats thrown by visiting fans and home supporters invading the field during and after the game.
Villa beat its Midlands rival in a 2-0 victory thanks to second-half goals by Fabian Delph and Scott Sinclair. Each side had a player sent off in the closing minutes.
There were worrying scenes toward the end of the derby, as West Brom fans threw seats into the section of the crowd below them containing Villa supporters.
Some Villa supporters jumped over the hoardings and ran onto the pitch during stoppage time in premature celebration, before several hundred fans invaded the field of play as the final whistle sounded.
Some Villa players were mobbed by supporters celebrating the win for the club, while other players from both teams scrambled to get off the field.
Delph said his captain's armband and left boot were removed, and that some fans "tried to kiss me and were biting me... it was scary".
West Brom manager Tony Pulis said. "It's disgraceful. We don't want to see those scenes. They've beaten us, and for that to happen, that's just mindless idiots."
He criticised the stewarding at Villa Park and felt the players' safety was in jeopardy, but confirmed his squad were fine.
"It puts players at danger and you don't want to see that. We were seeing that in the 1970s and 1980s, we don't want to go back to that," Pulis said.
The Football Association is set to investigate and Villa have said sorry for the problems.
"We are very disappointed that what should have been a very memorable and proud moment for our fans was marred by the actions of those who could not control themselves," a statement from Villa read.
"They have let both themselves and their club down."
A future Labour government would take legal steps to ensure televised leaders' debates become permanent features in general election campaigns, the party has said.
Labour leader Ed Miliband wants to put "fair and impartial leaders' debates" on a statutory footing in an effort to avoid them becoming subject to political wrangling, according to The Observer.
Mr Miliband has previously accused David Cameron of "chickening out", saying the Prime Minister is "running scared" by only agreeing to appear in one of three debates.
Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman told Sky News' Murnaghan Programme there should be a legal framework underpinning the TV debates similar to that for pre-election broadcasts and election spending.
She said: "I think the debates are an important part of our democracy, in which case let's not have the prime minister of the day ducking and weaving because he is afraid of actually justifying his record.
Video:Will Cameron Pay Price For TV Snub?
"Let's have a legal framework set out and then we won't have this all over again next time round.
"I think if somebody is saying I want to be prime minister, I want to be in Number 10 Downing Street, but by the way I'm not going to go out there and debate it, it's not acceptable."
According to The Observer, the proposed new system would work on similar lines to the current rules for planning the number, length and timing of party political broadcasts.
It would mean parties are consulted but not given the right to veto the debates taking place.
Video:PM 'Should Have The Guts' To Debate
A Labour government would set a deadline of 2017 for changes to be put in place, giving more than enough time to plan the debates for a 2020 election.
The four broadcasters - the BBC, ITV, Sky and Channel 4 - have said they will stick to their previously-announced plans for three debates during the campaign ahead of the General Election on May 7 this year.
On Saturday, Ed Miliband pledged to take part in all three proposed leaders debates.
Mr Cameron's chief spin doctor Craig Oliver has stated the Prime Minister's "final position" is for a single debate to take place in the week starting 23 March.
Video:Clegg Hits Out At 'Arrogant Tories'
Liberal Democrat minister Lynne Featherstone restated Nick Clegg's offer to take part in the debates.
She told the Murnaghan Programme: "If Cameron's not willing to do it, then Nick is up for it."
Conservative Education Secretary Nicky Morgan used her slot on the programme to accuse the broadcasters of making a "real hash" of trying to organise the debates.
She told Sky News: "The prime minister has made a very clear offer. The prime minister has made a very clear offer - get seven parties in the same place, have a 90-minute debate before the campaign starts.
Video:PM 'Should Be In Two-Way Debate'
"Otherwise, all we are doing all the way through the campaign itself is talking about the debates.
"I think actually we ought to be ... getting out of Westminster, getting out of the TV studios ... talking to people on the campaign trail."
Broadcasters are planning a seven-way debate involving Mr Cameron, Mr Miliband, Mr Clegg and the leaders of the Greens, UKIP, Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru on ITV on 2 April, followed by a second show on BBC featuring the same line-up on 16 April.
A final one-on-one clash between the Tory and Labour leaders would be broadcast on Sky News and Channel 4 on 30 April - exactly a week before the 7 May election.
Thousands of large companies will be forced to share details of the difference between what they pay their male and female workers.
The Government has agreed to implement the Liberal Democrat measure despite years of Tory opposition to it.
The move will mean companies employing more than 250 people will be required to publish the gap between average pay for their male and female workers.
More than 10 million people across the UK are currently working at firms covered by the legislation.
The current approach, which is voluntary, has seen only five out of around 7,000 large companies publish their gender pay gap.
Video:Clegg On Gender Pay Gap
The new measure, which will come into force within 12 months, could result in fines of up to £5,000 for firms that do not reveal the details.
Equalities Minister Jo Swinson said she was "delighted" her party won the "argument in Government".
She said the move "will force companies to ask themselves difficult questions about how they are valuing the contribution of women in their workforce and act to address problems".
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: "These measures will shine a light on a company's policy so that women can rightly challenge their employer where they are not being properly valued and rewarded."
The legislation will be debated in the Lords on Wednesday, with the Government tabling an amendment to the Small Business Bill.
Video:Dec: Gender Pay Gap
A Government spokesman said: "Under this Government the gender pay gap is the lowest ever and has virtually been eliminated for those working full time under 40.
"However the pay gap persists, so we think it's time to move forward, so we can create the conditions to ensure that there is equality in workplaces across the country."
Shadow equalities minister Gloria De Piero said: "This is fantastic news for women but why have they waited so long?
"The reality is that it's only when the Government realised they would be defeated on this issue by Labour in the House of Lords that they saw the need to act."
The move comes as the head of the UN agency promoting equality for women said not a single country has reached gender parity.
Video:Dec: Gemma Arterton On Equal Pay
UN Women executive director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka made the comments 20 years after a groundbreaking conference in Beijing where 189 nations adopted a blueprint to achieve equality for women.
Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka said that although progress had been made since Beijing, there are still fewer than 20 female heads of state and government.
She said the number of female politicians increased from 11% to just 22% in the past 20 years.
Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka also said "the sheer scale of the use of rape that we've seen post-Beijing", especially in conflict situations, "tells us that the women's bodies are viewed not as something to respect, but as something that men have the right to control and to abuse."
"You lost one son but you have earned thousands of other sons."
That is the message from the editor of the UK's only Kurdish newspaper, Aladdin Sinayic, to the family of the first British person to die fighting Islamic State extremists.
Ex-Royal Marine Konstandinos Erik Scurfield, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, travelled to Syria in December to fight alongside Kurdish forces but was killed on Monday.
Mr Scurfield died fighting alongside Kurdish forces
It is believed he quit his military career in order to join the fight against IS alongside Kurdish forces.
At the Kurdish Community Centre (KCC) in Haringey, north London, he is considered a hero.
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One visitor to the centre told Sky News: "We think that these people must be very, very sensitive about Kurds and very intellectual. They have a big heart for us."
Another said: "When Erik's body is returned to the UK, we would like to do something special for his family - we want to invite them here and have a ceremony for them."
London is home to thousands of Kurds - a community united not by statehood but by language and culture.
Haringey is more than 3,000 miles from the fight against IS but the suffering of their people in the geocultural region of Kurdistan is at the forefront of their minds.
The walls of the KCC are plastered with pictures of Kurdish martyrs, many of whom have family in London.
"As long as we are awake we talk about these issues," says one man.
"It is part of our lives. Our minds have never been free of thinking about what is going on in Kurdistan."
Video:American Fighting With The Kurds
Another added: "We came here two hours ago together, we are having our tea but at the same time we are talking about what is going on in Kurdistan.
"What, for example, is going to happen tomorrow?"
Telegraf editor Mr Sinayic believes the country's Kurdish community would like to see more Westerners travel to the Middle East to take on IS.
"When you see Britons or other nationalities going there and being in the fight, this is something very very important for us," he says.
"They are honourable."
But one British Kurd who has fought IS does not want to see other Brits risking their lives.
Security guard Yasir Abdullah is originally from Iraq but lives in West Yorkshire with his wife and four children.
Video:Brit Killed Fighting Islamic State
Twice he has gambled everything by returning to his village to fight alongside other Kurds.
"I see on the TV what they're doing to the Kurdish or Arabs, or executing, everything, the bad things they do and we thought, we have to stand up to fight against this enemy of humanity," he said.
"But we don't want anyone coming over there to help us.
"We thank everybody - if they want to come over we thank them to not come over there.
"If they want to help us, tell the British Government and American Government more weapons. This is what we want."
Authorities go to great lengths to prevent UK nationals travelling to join IS but those wanting to fight against Islamist extremists seem to be free to do so.
But people who succeed in reaching the battlefield are held in high regard by a community that until recently has felt largely abandoned by the West.
Former prime minister Margaret Thatcher knew about politicians sexually abusing children - but failed to act against them, an MP has told Sky News.
Simon Danczuk, who exposed Sir Cyril Smith as a prolific child abuser, said: "There is no doubt about it now, from what we know, that she turned a blind eye to people who were quite clearly paedophiles. That is absolutely clear.
"It is a real stain on Margaret Thatcher's legacy and I don't get any pleasure from saying that, but she turned a blind eye to it."
The Rochdale MP also claimed the Government is refusing to publish at least four other files on historic child abuse because it was worried about what information may come out before May's General Election.
He added: "(The Cabinet Office) have resisted publishing these documents for over 12 months - that's not acceptable.
Smith was not charged during his lifetime
"They refused to tell the public who nominated Cyril Smith for a knighthood. A journalist managed to get that out of them after going to the Information Commissioner. It was indeed David Steel.
"And we now know they are resisting publishing at least four other files relating to historic child sexual abuse.
Video:'Cabinet Files Should Be Published'
"We have to ask the question: Is the Cabinet Office fit for purpose?"
Asked whether Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg were colluding in a "cover-up", he said: "You can't really reach any other conclusion, can you.
"Cameron has spoken on this issue and said we'll leave no stone unturned. But his lack of action says otherwise.
"Nick Clegg has failed continually to really put any action in place. He's the Deputy Prime Minister. David Cameron is the Prime Minister.
"They are at the top of government. The buck stops with them. Why aren't they calling for all these documents to be published? Why aren't they insisting on more action?
"The reality of it is, this is the truth of the matter, we are approaching the General Election. This isn't party political, but they are concerned about what information is going to come out before the General Election, that's the truth of it.
"And the second point is they're more concerned about protecting legacies - the legacies of previous politicians. That's just not acceptable. We need less polishing of halos and more lifting of stones."
Video:2014: 'Cover-Up' To Be Investigated
The Cabinet Office has denied trying to cover up information about Downing Street's knowledge of Smith's abuse of young boys before he was knighted.
Documents show Mrs Thatcher was made aware of the claims about the Liberal MP before he was handed the honour in 1988.
The 19-page dossier of information on the decision to give Smith the knighthood contains several letters, including an undated one from a Political Honours Scrutiny Committee member to the then prime minister.
In the letter, marked secret, Lord Shackleton said police investigated Smith in 1970 for "indecent assault against teenage boys" between 1961 and 1966.
But, the letter noted, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) decided "there was no reasonable prospect of conviction".
The letter to Mrs Thatcher said the case was reported in the Rochdale Alternative Press and Private Eye, adding: "One may regret this kind of press reporting but it could be revived if an award to Mr Smith were made."
Lord Shackleton also said it would be "slightly unfortunate" if this "episode" stopped Smith, who died aged 82 in 2010, receiving the knighthood.
Video:2012: 'Smith Abused Me As A Child'
But he added: "We felt it right to warn the honours system would be at some risk if the award were to be made and announced."
The documents were released to the Mail on Sunday following repeated demands for disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act since April last year.
The documents were only made public on Friday after an intervention by the Information Commissioner, the paper said.
Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone told Sky's Murnaghan programme: "Those Cabinet files, in my view, should without doubt be published.
"We have to get to the bottom of this, high or low, it doesn't matter. Wherever we find it, we have to root out sexual abuse, child sexual abuse, child sexual exploitation."
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: "There is no cover-up nor was the Cabinet Office forced to release this information by the Information Commissioner.
"This is a sensitive and complex case and it is right that we considered advice from a range of officials. After considering the advice, the Cabinet Office decided to disclose information."
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The millionaire politician has pledged £106,000 to help Labour win victory
A Labour parliamentary candidate has rejected a £1,000 donation from former prime minister Tony Blair.
Mr Blair has pledged more than £100,000 to help Labour win May's General Election, with £1,000 going to local campaigns in 106 key battleground seats.
However, Lesley Brennan, Labour's candidate in Dundee East, said her constituency would not be accepting the millionaire politician's money.
She tweeted: "Received donation from Tony Blair. Instinct was to not accept. Discussed with team. Dundee East is not accepting the £1,000."
When the donation was announced last week, a Labour spokesman said the party was "delighted" Mr Blair had put his own money behind efforts to get Ed Miliband into No 10.
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Gallery: Protests At Tony Blair's Chilcot Appearances In 2010 And 2011
Protesters gather outside Westminster's Queen Elizabeth II building for Tony Blair's appearances before the Chilcot Inquiry in 2010 and 2011
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In a letter to candidates, Mr Blair said: "I know how hard it can be to raise money to fund a local campaign, but for you, in one of our 106 battleground seats, it is even more vital.
"This is where the election will be won for Labour and that is why I am making a donation to all 106 campaigns.
"As one of our key seat candidates you know better than most the scale of the challenge we face, but I have every confidence that with your drive, determination and organisational skills, you will deliver a successful local campaign that will also see our party returned to government."
Video:2011: Blair At Chilcot Inquiry
Ms Brennan's decision not to take the cash was praised by many, with her message forwarded hundreds of times on social media.
One tweeter, Jon L Foster, wrote: "So good to hear. I think if Labour officially distanced themselves from Blair, they'd win a huge amount of votes back."
However another, Steve Spear, said: "How principled of you, you know best, after all this is the guy who won 3 elections for Labour minimum wage etc."
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The millionaire politician has pledged £106,000 to help Labour win victory
A Labour parliamentary candidate has rejected a £1,000 donation from former prime minister Tony Blair.
Mr Blair has pledged more than £100,000 to help Labour win May's General Election, with £1,000 going to local campaigns in 106 key battleground seats.
However, Lesley Brennan, Labour's candidate in Dundee East, said her constituency would not be accepting the millionaire politician's money.
She tweeted: "Received donation from Tony Blair. Instinct was to not accept. Discussed with team. Dundee East is not accepting the £1,000."
When the donation was announced last week, a Labour spokesman said the party was "delighted" Mr Blair had put his own money behind efforts to get Ed Miliband into No 10.
1/13
Gallery: Protests At Tony Blair's Chilcot Appearances In 2010 And 2011
Protesters gather outside Westminster's Queen Elizabeth II building for Tony Blair's appearances before the Chilcot Inquiry in 2010 and 2011
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In a letter to candidates, Mr Blair said: "I know how hard it can be to raise money to fund a local campaign, but for you, in one of our 106 battleground seats, it is even more vital.
"This is where the election will be won for Labour and that is why I am making a donation to all 106 campaigns.
"As one of our key seat candidates you know better than most the scale of the challenge we face, but I have every confidence that with your drive, determination and organisational skills, you will deliver a successful local campaign that will also see our party returned to government."
Video:2011: Blair At Chilcot Inquiry
Ms Brennan's decision not to take the cash was praised by many, with her message forwarded hundreds of times on social media.
One tweeter, Jon L Foster, wrote: "So good to hear. I think if Labour officially distanced themselves from Blair, they'd win a huge amount of votes back."
However another, Steve Spear, said: "How principled of you, you know best, after all this is the guy who won 3 elections for Labour minimum wage etc."
Two boys, aged 13 and 14, were killed when the car they were travelling in left the road and hit a tree.
The pair were passengers in the car along with two other teenagers, who are in critical condition, and the 21-year-old driver, who is also seriously ill in hospital.
All the boys are understood to have been in the car without permission from their parents.
The accident happened on the A62 Gelderd Road, in Morley, Leeds, close to the CAT Finning facility, at around 1.50pm on Saturday.
The two boys who died have been named locally as George Wharton and Rhys Baker. They were from the Leeds area, police said.
Map of the approximate crash site on the A62 near Gildersome
Superintendent Sam Millar, of West Yorkshire Police, said: "This is a terrible tragedy for two young boys who had their whole lives ahead of them.
"Specially trained officers are currently investigating the exact circumstances of the incident and helping the families in what is a terrible time for them.
"The two boys were from the local area and attended the Bruntcliffe Secondary School and Morley Academy and we are also supporting the schools at this difficult time.
"It is thought that a 21-year-old man picked the four boys up from their homes without the permission of their parents.
"We are appealing for any witnesses to how the car - a blue coloured Peugeot - was being driven before the incident.
"We believe the car overtook another vehicle at speed and then collided with a tree on Gelderd Road near to the Finning premises. The car was being driven in the direction of Gildersome at the time.
"The driver remains in hospital in a serious but stable condition. We are appealing for any witnesses to the specific incident but also the movements and behaviour of the car during the rest of the day.
"We are particularly keen to speak to anyone who saw the vehicle at the Tesco Express store.
"I would also like to praise a number of members of the public who stopped at the scene of the incident and helped in whatever way they could."
Policed asked for any witnesses to the crash to get in touch on 101.
