World War One: 'Pals' Battalions Remembered

By Mike McCarthy, North of England Correspondent

Hundreds of events are taking place across Britain to remember the "Pals" - groups of friends, neighbours or colleagues who joined up to form their own battalions in World War One.

A century on exhibitions, concerts and church services are being held in memory of those who joined up to defend their country in what became a highly controversial recruitment campaign.

In towns and cities across the country thousands of men responded to a national appeal by Lord Kitchener, the then-Secretary of State for War.

He believed potential soldiers would be more likely to enlist if they knew they would probably be fighting alongside friends.

It was hailed as a huge success with the majority of recruits in the first few years of war made up of "Pals" battalions.

But heavy casualties led to huge losses in some towns or individual industries.

A banner has been erected in Accrington to remember the 'Pals'

Even today, some areas of the country remain shaped by the sudden loss of so many men within relatively small communities.

One of the best known "Pals" battalions was recruited in and around the hilly Lancashire town of Accrington.

Cath Holmes' great-uncle Walter joined up with the original Accrington Pals in 1914. He ended up at Ypres in Belgium where he died in September 1918.  

He was one of hundreds to die from the same battalion, whose proper name was 11th (Service) Battalion (Accrington), East Lancashire Regiment.

A banner has recently been stretched alongside Accrington's town hall in memory of the area's "Pals". 

Cath's voice wavered and tears formed as she recalled seeing a post about it on Facebook.

"I saw a picture of it being part-way up, so I just ran when I saw it all the way into town just to come and have a look at it," she said.

"I am really proud. I just stood there crying."

The Lancashire town of Accrington was shaped by the loss of so many men

Local historian Helen Barrett told Sky News: "At the end of the war there were so many widows, so many women who'd lost their husbands, brothers, fiancees, friends, cousins.

"There was barely a street that remained untouched. Almost every street had houses where the blinds were drawn as a mark of respect. 

"The widows had very little money to live off and had to suffer the indignities of means tests in order to get some money to bring their families up. It was a terrible time for them."

Untold numbers who had enlisted together in a war expected to last just a matter of months died together in a conflict which continued for four years.

Men had marched through their communities in glory as they headed towards what became the slaughter of battle.

Conscription was introduced in 1916. The idea of Britons fighting together as a community of "Pals" became associated with overwhelming and disproportionate bloodshed. It has never been repeated.

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Rolf Harris Spat At In Jail By Fellow Inmate

Disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris who is serving a jail sentence for sex abuse has been spat at in prison.

The 84-year-old was targeted during an incident at HMP Bullingdon in Oxfordshire.

A source said that there was a scuffle and the artist and musician was nearby.

"Someone did aim a spit at him, but he was not spat on, and was not physically hurt," the source added.

News of the incident came as it was announced that Harris has applied for permission to appeal against his convictions for a string of indecent assaults.

A spokesman for the Judicial Office confirmed that lawyers had lodged papers at the Court of Appeal this week.

One of Harris' victims who gave evidence against him during the trial told Sky News: "I perhaps should have expected it but it is still a shock."

The victim who cannot be named added: "It feels like such an insult and just beyond belief for him to do that."

Harris was convicted at London's Southwark Crown Court on June 30 of 12 indecent assaults and sentenced to five years and nine months in jail.

The appeal papers will go before a single judge who will decide initially whether or not Harris has grounds for appeal.

The Judicial Office confirmed to Sky News that no timescale had yet been set for the process.

If permission to appeal is granted then a full hearing at the Court of Appeal would fully assess Harris' case.

If, however, he is denied permission to appeal then he would be able to reapply.

One of the assaults was on an eight-year-old autograph hunter, two on girls in their early teens and another on a close friend of his daughter.

Earlier this week, Attorney General Jeremy Wright confirmed Harris' sentence would not be referred to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that it was too lenient, despite 150 complaints that the jail term was not tough enough.

Harris' offences took place between 1968 and 1986 against girls aged between seven or eight and 18.

He was prosecuted in line with the laws in place at the time of his crimes - when the maximum jail term for indecent assault was two years, or five years if the victim was under 13.

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Commonwealth Games Athlete Tested For Ebola

An athlete competing for Sierra Leone at the Commonwealth Games has revealed he spent four days in isolation over fears he had brought the deadly ebola disease into the UK.

Moses Sesay, who came to Scotland to compete in the cycling time trial, fell ill last week and was admitted to hospital.

"I felt tired and listless," he said. "All the doctors were in special suits to treat me. They dressed like I had ebola. I was very scared."

Tests eventually gave Sesay the all-clear and he was allowed to compete in the event, ultimately finishing last.

Medical staff treating ebola patients have to wear special protective suits

But the 32-year-old said he and his team-mates are worried about returning to their homeland once the Games are over.

More than 220 people have died in Sierra Leone after contracting the disease - more than any other country.

"All of us are scared about going back," Sesay told the Mirror.

"We have a three-month visa in our passports and, if I have the opportunity, I will stay here until this ends."

More than 700 people have died after contracting the disease in Africa

Health officials have been warned to be on the lookout for any unexplained illness in people returning from countries where ebola is present.

One union leader said British border, customs and immigration staff feel unprepared to deal with potential cases of the disease, although the Home Office said there was a "well-established plan to deal with different scenarios".

Dr Colin Ramsay, from Health Protection Scotland, said patients could be screened for ebola if they show symptoms including a fever, headache or sore throat, especially if have travelled from an affected area within the last three weeks.

Putting such patients in isolation is a "standard precaution" and not unusual, he added.

Games organisers stressed the athletes' village has not been affected

A spokesman for Glasgow 2014 stressed there is "no ebola in the athletes' village", while Dr Ramsay said there is nothing to suggest there is any risk to sports stars competing in Glasgow.

"People have a misconception about ebola," he said.

"It is spread, primarily, through contact with bodily fluids, not casual conflict, so it wouldn't be sufficient just to share a house with someone.

"There has to have been close contact to have a substantial risk of being infected with the disease."

Meanwhile, a US doctor infected with ebola has insisted the only available dose of an experimental serum go to a fellow American patient in Liberia.

Dr Kent Brantly asked for the unit of blood to go to missionary Nancy Writebol, as the World Health Organisation announced a $100m (£59.2m) plan to tackle the outbreak.

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PM Hails £300m Project To Unlock Power Of DNA

UK scientists are to map 100,000 complete DNA code sequences in a "landmark" project that aims to revolutionise medicine, Prime Minister David Cameron has announced.

Mr Cameron said the 100,000 Genomes Project, funded by a package of deals worth £300m, will "see the UK lead the world in genetic research within years".

The project will sequence the genetic codes of about 75,000 patients with cancer and rare diseases, and those of their close relatives.

Both the healthy and the tumour cells of the cancer patients will be mapped, meaning about 100,000 will be sequenced in total.

Mr Cameron said: "I am determined to do all I can to support the health and scientific sector to unlock the power of DNA, turning an important scientific breakthrough into something that will help deliver better tests, better drugs and above all better care for patients.

"As our plan becomes a reality, I believe we will be able to transform how devastating diseases are diagnosed and treated in the NHS and across the world, while supporting our best scientists and life science businesses to discover the next wonder drug or breakthrough technology."

Scientists hope that identifying tiny changes in the genetic code that can trigger disease will allow for personalised and more effective treatments.

It is hoped more drugs like Herceptin will be designed for specific cancers

One example of such a therapy that already exists is Herceptin, a drug specifically designed for women with a type of breast cancer characterised by over-activity of the Her2 gene.

DNA samples have already been donated by a few hundred participants in a pilot, and about 10,000 are expected to have donated by the end of the year.

The project is expected to be completed by 2017.

Among the cancers due to be targeted are bowel, breast, leukaemia, lung, ovarian, prostate and leukaemia.

Charity the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council and the National Health Service are contributing to the project, which will be overseen by Genomics England, set up by the Department of Health.

The Californian DNA sequencing company Illumina, which won a contract to provide the technology for the project, will also invest about £162m in the project over its lifetime.

Wellcome Trust director Jeremy Farrar said genome sequencing could transform medicine.

"Twenty years from now academics and industry will have developed therapies which will be targeted at you and specific forms of cancer," he said.

"We will look back in 20 years' time and the blockbuster chemotherapy drugs that gave you all those nasty side effects will be a thing of the past."

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NHS Hospital Paid £1,800 A Day For Nurse

By Thomas Moore, Science and Health Correspondent

NHS hospitals are so short staffed on public holidays they are paying almost £150 an hour for nurses to work, a Sky News investigation has found.

On May Day Bank Holiday this year a locum agency was paid more than £1,800 to supply a nurse for a 12-hour shift, new figures show.

And one hospital paid £2,500 for a doctor to work that day.

The statistics - obtained through a Freedom of Information request - lay bare how much the NHS is relying on private locum staff on public holidays.

In one hospital, half of the doctors who worked on May 5 were locum medics.

And at another, almost one third of the nursing staff was supplied by a private agency.

Experts say that using locum staff unfamiliar with the hospitals they are working in can put patient care at risk.

With the NHS under increasing financial pressure, a nursing body wants the amount hospitals pay agencies to be reviewed.

One trust paid nearly £1,800 for a mental health nurse shift. Pic: File

Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said: "These figures are truly shocking.

"Many (of the nurses) will never have been to that ward before and will probably never be there again.

"It says nothing about continuity of care. Even finding your way round the ward, the geography, it makes life really difficult.

"Agency nurses do not provide good value for money … and the employers who use these extraordinary levels should be held to account for it."

"This is public money that is not being well spent. This is something that should be looked at with the utmost urgency."

Eighty of the 150 NHS trusts in England replied to a Sky News request asking how many locum staff they employed and at what rates on May 5 this year.

At the Heart of England NHS Trust in the West Midlands, half the doctors working that day were temporary locum medics, the figures show.

Experts say a large percentage of locum staff can put patient care at risk

More than one in three nurses at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust and at Southend NHS Trust were from agencies.

Meanwhile, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay (NHS Foundation Trust) paid an agency £2,500 for a locum doctor to work single shift.

University Hospitals Bristol (NHS Foundation Trust) paid £1,800 for a nurse on a shift of just over 12 hours - equivalent to almost £150 an hour.

Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust paid almost as much (£1,798) for a middle grade nurse specialising in mental health - almost a month's pay for the average nurse.

Separate figures published in April suggested that the NHS has spent £2bn on agency staff since 2010/11.

A Department of Health spokesperson said: "We now have 6,700 more doctors and 6,200 more nurses directly employed by NHS organisations than in 2010.

"The figures … are not a full picture of staffing in the NHS, but we encourage all trusts to maintain a tight grip on their staff costs and we will hold poor performers to account."

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Eastbourne Pier Blaze Investigation Under Way

Fire investigators were due to return to Eastbourne Pier this morning in a bid to find out what started a blaze that ripped through the historic landmark.

A large part of the 144-year-old Grade II-listed structure was reduced to a skeleton after plumes of smoke rose high into the sky above the resort on Wednesday.

The blaze started at about 3pm in an amusement arcade.

Up to 80 firefighters attended, pumping water on to the burning structure from the coast, the beach and from underneath.

The RNLI said lifeboats from Eastbourne, Hastings and Newhaven were also sent to help firefighters tackle the fire.

The glow from the blaze continued until after darkness fell

It was eventually brought under control shortly before 8pm and around 30 firefighters stayed at the scene overnight, the fire service said.

Sussex Police said the fire was not believed to be suspicious "at this time" and a councillor said it may have been started by an electrical fault.

David Tutt, leader of Eastbourne Council, said it appeared firefighters had managed to save two thirds of the structure.

He said: "Our understanding is the fire appears to have started in wall panelling which would lead you to believe it was electrical.

"We are offering whatever help we can to the owners if there are weddings booked and so on, to find new locations, so nobody is disappointed."

The main building was left a skeleton of warped and heat damaged metal

The blaze came at the height of the all-important summer tourist season for resort.

Chief Fire Officer Des Prichard said: "Our firefighters have worked very hard in difficult conditions to stop the fire from spreading.

"Sadly one building on the pier is now a shell and other smaller buildings have been damaged but the remaining buildings on the pier are being protected.

"This couldn't have been achieved without the assistance of a number of other organisations."

The Government's fire minister Penny Mordaunt said she planned to meet residents and community leaders in Eastbourne "as a priority" following the blaze.

Eastbourne is due to host its biggest tourist event, the annual Airbourne air show, on the seafront in a fortnight.

Before the fire, the pier had a large number of attractions including an arcade, cafe bar, tea rooms and Atlantis nightclub.

The smoke could be seen many miles away

Eastbourne is just the latest in a series of Victorian piers to suffer major fire damage.

In 2003, the 148-year-old West Pier in Brighton was reduced to a mangled mass of metal by two major blazes within two months.

And in Eastbourne's neighbouring town of Hastings, the Grade II-listed pier was almost destroyed in a fire in 2010 following years of neglect.

Southend Pier in Essex was badly damaged by fire in 2005 and Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare was badly damaged by a blaze in 2008.

Tim Wardley, chairman of the National Piers Society, said: "Piers are at risk of … suffering fire damage - they are constantly under onslaught from Mother Nature.

"That's a testament to the 61 which survive proudly after withstanding that onslaught over the last two centuries."

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PM: 'We Will Find You And Send You Home'

David Cameron has put illegal immigrants on notice telling them: "When we find you - and we will find you - we will make sure you are sent back to the country you came from."

Announcing a number of new measures to tackle problems of immigration, Mr Cameron said he wanted to send a clear message that those in the UK illegally would not be able to work or have a home.

He was speaking after attending a raid on illegal immigrants in Slough and said: "We want an immigration system that puts Britain first."

It came after he unveiled a new policy that would mean EU migrants would be able to claim benefits for only three months - half the current time - unless they had serious job prospects.

David Cameron says Britain is 'not a soft touch' for EU migrants

In another pledge to safeguard jobs for British people he said he would limit to 500,000 the number of UK jobs being advertised across the EU through a jobseekers' website - down from 1.1 million jobs currently on offer.

There will also be curbs on "bogus colleges" which offer studying visas for cash.

Outlining his plans in The Daily Telegraph, David Cameron wrote: "Taken together, this is about building a different kind of Britain - a country that is not a soft touch, but a place to play your part; a nation where those who work hard can get on."

The number of Europeans currently claiming benefits is unclear. However, Government estimates from 2013 suggest only 6.7% of non-UK nationals (397,000) claimed benefits, of which 62,000 were Europeans and 58,000 from EU accession countries.

In contrast 16.4% of UK nationals claim benefits.

All job centre posts are advertised across Europe

Sky News' Deputy Political Editor Joey Jones said: "Welfare and immigration are two touchstone issues for the General Election. The idea of benefits tourism, whether real or not, is where the two collide. 

"All the evidence is the Tories have been outflanked by UKIP on this territory, but in the General Election the main objective is to steal a march on Labour. That's what these announcements are all about."

The benefits plan builds on changes laid out in January to make EU migrants wait three months after arriving in Britain before claiming out-of-work benefits.

Mr Cameron has previously been warned restricting benefits conflicts with the EU agreement on freedom of movement.

Yvette Cooper says the Government has 'failed' on immigration

Currently more than a million British posts are advertised on European Commission jobs website called Eures, which is partly funded by the UK taxpayer.

Britain's job centres automatically upload available posts to the site. However, Mr Cameron has pledged this will now be limited to 500,000 roles and will only be included if an employer requests it is shared across the EU.

A number of employers, particularly in manufacturing and agriculture, have routinely complained they are unable to find British recruits and have to fill the posts with workers from across Europe.

It is unclear how many EU residents actually find jobs through the website.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "We need less talk from the Prime Minister on immigration and more action.

"It's almost a year-and-a-half since Labour called for benefit restrictions on new migrants. In that time we've had reannouncement after reannouncement from the Tories but little in the way of firm action."

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Driverless Cars 'On UK Roads By January'

By Tom Cheshire, Technology Correspondent

The government is today announcing plans to put driverless cars on public roads as early as January 2015.

The British Army already uses autonomous vehicles, supplied by automotive design specialist MIRA, which is also developing systems for civilian use.

Researchers in Oxford have also developed an autonomous car that can be controlled using an iPad.

Tim Edwards, principal engineer at MIRA, told Sky News the UK had some "very advanced technologies and some fairly unique know-how".

Google is already testing driverless cars on roads in California

But he said: "Where we lag behind is actually getting the technology into some real field trials."

Trials on public roads have already been held in Japan, Singapore and Germany, and Sweden will soon follow suit.

In California, driverless cars are already road legal. Google's self-driving cars have already logged 700,000 miles.

In May, the web giant unveiled a new model - without pedals.

Nick Connor, Managing Director of Volvo UK, said: "We warmly welcome this initiative from the government and will be looking into the detail with keen interest.

Volvo is also testing them in Sweden

"Support of national and local government is crucial if we are to demonstrate the real, life-changing potential of this technology and encourage adoption from the public."

But the main obstacles may not be technological, but legal.

Suzie Mills, a lawyer at Ashfords, told Sky News: "That's going to be one of the areas that consumers want to know about - what does their insurance cover? Is it going to affect premiums?

"That's going to come down to clarifying exactly where responsibility sits. And that is something the government's going to need to look at and definitely insurance companies are going to want to know about."

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Families Of British MH17 Victims To Meet PM

Families of British MH17 crash victims are to meet David Cameron in Downing Street, according to Sky sources.

Ten of the 298 people aboard the doomed Malaysia Airlines plane which was shot down over eastern Ukraine were UK citizens.

The PM is expected to meet relatives at Number 10 on Tuesday.

A Ukraine security official earlier claimed data from the airliner's black boxes revealed it suffered "massive explosive decompression" after being struck by shrapnel from a missile.

Western countries blame rebels for shooting down the airliner, mistaking it for a Ukrainian plane, but the separatists deny any involvement.

Investigators at the site of the crash last week

The UN has said the attack on the passenger aircraft may amount to a war crime.

Meanwhile, world aviation chiefs are due to meet to discuss the risk to passenger planes flying over war zones following the shooting down of MH17.

The event will be held at the Montreal headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

The ICAO said: "This meeting will discuss the appropriate actions to be pursued in order to more effectively mitigate potential risks to civil aviation arising from conflict zones."

The black boxes from flight MH17

At the weekend, Malaysia Airlines commercial director Hugh Dunleavy said: "For too long, airlines have been shouldering the responsibility for making decisions about what constitutes a safe flight path, over areas in political turmoil around the world.

"We are not intelligence agencies but airlines, charged with carrying passengers in comfort between destinations.

"Against the backdrop of increasingly volatile political situations around the world, such as Ukraine and Gaza, we as an industry must act now to create a system of approval that guarantees safe air passage for all commercial airlines."

Mr Dunleavy added: "This tragedy has taught us that, despite following the guidelines and advice set out by the governing bodies, the skies above certain territories are simply not safe."

The Dutch Safety Board (DSB) , which is in overall charge of the investigation into the MH17 crash, said its probe would include "an investigation into the decision-making process regarding flight paths and the risk assessment that was conducted when choosing to fly over eastern Ukraine".

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Kate's Got A Real Fan At Commonwealth Games

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will be hoping the home nations' gold rush continues as they return to the Commonwealth Games in Scotland where they spent a fun-packed day.

Kate and William joined Prince Harry and Prince Edward as they saw several English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish competitors take part in a games that is proving highly successful for the four countries.

The pair laughed, joked and grimaced - and at one point William fanned his wife with her identity pass, as she pulled a funny face. 

Host nation Scotland won its 13th gold medal, taking it way beyond the 11 golds it won in Melbourne in 2006. England has 27 golds and Wales has three.

With 31 golds up for grabs on Tuesday, the Royals will be looking forward to a standard of sport equalling what they saw on Monday when they joined the audience for gymnastics, boxing, hockey and swimming.

At the Glasgow National Hockey Centre, they met members of the Australian and English teams.

Both the Duke and Duchess fan themselves while watching swimming.

Prince Harry met two Australian players whose selfie of them and the Queen went viral last week.

Jayde Taylor was posing for a photo with team-mate Brooke Peris when the Queen moved into the background as she took the snap.

Taylor said: "We asked [William] if he would do a selfie with us so we could add it to our collection, but he said 'I hate selfies but I will definitely do a photo with you'."

Kate, William and Harry went on to join the Earl of Wessex to watch Scotland take on Wales in the women's hockey.

At one point the Duke and Duchess looked concerned as the action on the pitch reached a tense moment.

Kate played hockey as a student at St Andrews University and appeared to pay close attention to the result, which ended in victory for Scotland.

Harry is photographed with the England women's hockey team.

Later, at the Tollcross Swimming Centre, two members of the Australian team came over and passed a kangaroo mascot to William and Kate before taking some photos

Kate ditched the navy blazer she had been wearing earlier, but still appeared hot in trousers and a sleeveless blouse, at one point being fanned by her husband, who used a pass to cool her down.

Earlier, the royals had watch gymnasts from across the Commonwealth compete in the men's and women's team finals, and individual qualifying rounds.

They were seen chatting and laughing as the crowd sang and clapped along to the Proclaimers' I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles).

Kate, William and Harry then walked to the nearby SECC arena to watch boxing, where they were pictured grimacing as they saw the competitors land blows.

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Clegg: Russia Should Be Stripped Of World Cup

Russia should be stripped of the 2018 World Cup in the wake of the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine, says Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

He said it was "unthinkable" at present that the tournament could go ahead in the country blamed by the West for supplying arms to pro-Russian separatists suspected of shooting down the jet.

Football's world governing body Fifa this week ruled out calls from some German politicians for Russia to be boycotted, insisting the tournament could be "a force for good".

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg

Fifa President Sepp Blatter has already dismissed calls to strip Russia of the World Cup after Moscow annexed Crimea earlier this year.

But Mr Clegg told The Sunday Times that allowing it to go ahead without a change of course by Russian President Vladimir Putin would make the world look "so weak and so insincere" in its condemnation of Moscow's annexation of Crimea and support for the rebels.

"If there's one thing that Vladimir Putin cares about, as far as I can see, it's his sense of status," he said.

"Maybe reminding him that you can't retain the same status in the world if you ignore the rest of the world, maybe that will have some effect on his thinking."

Mr Clegg also said Russia should not host a Formula One Grand Prix in October, but F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has said that will go ahead as scheduled.

Part of the fuselage from the plane

Douglas Alexander, Labour's spokesman on foreign affairs, says stripping Russia of the World Cup is an option if its complicity in the downing of MH17 is proven.

"Fifa should be considering contingencies now, and any discussion should happen quickly, so that if necessary, alternative plans are in place in time for teams and fans from around the world," he said in a statement.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said he prefers to avoid mixing sport and politics and to use other means, such as EU asset freezes and sanctions on individuals and entities, to punish Russia.

A Number 10 spokesman said: "The Prime Minister does not believe we should reach immediately for boycotts, but it is also not surprising, given Russian behaviour, that people are starting to raise the issue. 

This map shows the flight path of MH17 before it crashed

"It shows the importance of Russia changing course, before its international standing is damaged even further."

Moscow has reacted angrily to additional sanctions imposed by the EU, saying they will hamper co-operation on security issues and undermine the fight against terrorism and organised crime.

Russia's foreign ministry also accused the US of contributing to the conflict in Ukraine through its support for the pro-Western government in Kiev.

The majority of those on board the Malaysia Airlines plane were Dutch, and the country's football association has said it will decide whether or not to take part in qualifying for the tournament.

It comes as an international team cancelled a trip to the crash site in eastern Ukraine due to intensifying fighting in the area between Ukrainian government forces and the rebels.

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Domestic Abusers Get Off With 'Slap On Wrist'

By Ashish Joshi, Sky News Correspondent

The victims of domestic abuse are being failed by the Government and their abusers getting away with little more than a "slap on the wrist", claims Labour.

The Opposition claims more than 10,000 perpetrators have not faced justice because police forces are wrongly using community resolutions to deal with violence against women.

Community resolutions were introduced to deal with low level crime such as vandalism and anti-social behaviour. They are supposed to be used as an alternative to ending up in court.

Victims are asked what they would like to see happen - it could end with an apology, compensation or remedial action like cleaning up graffiti.

In the words of West Midlands Police: "Community resolutions mean children and adults with no previous convictions need not be criminalised for one stupid mistake."

But shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper claims the use of community resolutions to deal with domestic violence has more than doubled in the past five years from 1,337 in 2009 to 3,305 in 2013.

"These figures are deeply worrying. Domestic violence is an incredibly serious crime. Two women a week are killed by their partner or an ex and 750,000 children will grow up witnessing domestic violence.

Yvette Cooper says community resolutions are often used inappropriately

"For the police to simply take a violent abuser home to apologise risks making domestic violence worse, and makes it even harder for victims to escape a cycle of abuse.

"Labour has called on the Government previously to prevent the use of Community Resolutions for serious crimes, including domestic violence. Today's figures reveal that nothing has been done."

But the Home Office has rejected Labour's claim that violent partners are escaping justice.

It said: "No government has done more to tackle the abhorrent crime of domestic abuse than this government. Our groundbreaking Claire's Law will help protect women from abusive relationships, while domestic violence protection orders are cracking down on the destructive cycle of repeated abuse.

"It is not acceptable for the police to use out of court settlements for serious criminality and that is why the government is already reviewing how they are used."

But Labour says an inspectorate report "looked at 66 police cases of informal resolution, and judged that the resolution was inappropriate in 14".

Women's charities and campaigners against  domestic violence have backed Labour's claims. They are worried community resolutions trivialise violence against women.

Jane Keeper from Refuge said: "Anyone with experience in domestic violence knows that most perpetrators regularly apologise.

"It's a feature of the violence, they abuse, batter, they control, and in the middle of it every now and again they say sorry and they'll never do it again.

"To have police encouraging this with perpetrators and keeping them away from being held accountable, is just playing right into hands of those who perpetrate violence."

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Homes Evacuated Over 'Volatile Substance'

Up to 200 people have been asked to leave their homes after a "potentially volatile" substance was found in a flat.

Police are working with council emergency planners to move families from homes within 100m of the find in Newhall, South Derbyshire, as a precaution.

A 55-year-old man was arrested after the substance was discovered during a search of the flat in Belvoir Crescent on Saturday afternoon.

Superintendent Paul Markham, who is in charge of the operation, said: "We are not looking for anyone else in connection with this matter and we are hoping that people will not be inconvenienced for too long.

"The evacuation is purely a precaution to ensure everybody's safety and residents will be allowed back home as soon as possible."

More follows...

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Didcot Power Station Set For Webcam Demolition

Three 100m tall power station cooling towers are due to be demolished by more than 180kg of explosives.

The three southern towers at Didcot A in Oxfordshire are due to be brought down between 3-5am - angering locals who have complained that they wanted to watch the explosions.

Power company RWE npower chose the time for health and safety reasons and has asked residents to watch the landmarks disappear via a webcam. 

The town council has voiced its disappointment and a petition set up by Christine Reardon, 44, asking for the time to be changed, attracted more than 3,000 signatures.

Npower said it had consulted with organisations including the Health and Safety Executive, Network Rail, the Highways Agency, Oxfordshire County Council and Thames Valley Police.

A spokesman said experts considered the risk of people getting too close to the explosion, and the impact of the dust cloud on local roads and a nearby rail line before deciding the timing of the demolition.

He said: "Explosive demolition can be dangerous if not managed in a professional and co-ordinated manner; it is with this in mind that we would advise people not to attend the demolition.

"Explosive demolitions can also cause a cloud of dust which will travel in the direction of the wind, which can change at any time."

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