Wrongful Arrest Robbed Me Of Chance To Grieve For 3-Year-Old Son, Says Mum

A grieving mother has told of her agony when she was wrongly arrested on suspicion of murder after her three-year-old son died of a chest infection.
















Alfie died of a chest infection aged three.
















Abby Podmore says she was robbed of the chance to say goodbye.

Abby Podmore described how her ‘horrifying’ ordeal had robbed her of the chance to grieve for Alfie, who passed away in his sleep.

An investigation has now been launched by the Independent Police Complaints Committee.

The 20-year-old dental nurse has also received an apology from the hospital which mistakenly sent Alfie home after failing to spot the serious lung infection that killed him.

Ms Podmore told an inquest: ‘I couldn’t believe what was happening – my son had just died and I was being treated like a criminal. Looking back, I feel like I was robbed of a chance to say goodbye to Alfie.

‘I wanted to be with his body, just wanted to be with him.’

The boy was taken ill at nursery on February 2 and seen at Birmingham Children’s Hospital the following day but was discharged after medics said he was only suffering from a gastric virus.

They prescribed antacid medication rather than antibiotics that might have saved him from an ‘aggressive’ bacterial infection of pneumonia.

Alfie died at home on February 6 despite his mother’s attempts to revive him.

But when an ambulance arrived, it was joined by 15 police officers in two riot vans to detain Ms Podmore and her partner.

At Birmingham coroners’ court, Judge Aidan Cotter condemned police for the way in which they showed ‘no compassion’ and that, in her shoes, he ‘probably would have gone round and thumped a police officer’.

Det Insp Moira Blackburn said police arrested Ms Podmore after a neighbour falsely claimed the mother and her partner had been heard arguing.

Recording a narrative verdict, Mr Cotter said Alfie died as a result of failings by the hospital – and that doctors had made a clinical misjudgment.

Hospital bosses accepted liability and apologised to Ms Podmore, insisting lessons had been learnt.

Leveson Phone-Hacking Inquiry: JK Rowling Among 'Core Participants'

Judge names figures who will be able to give evidence to investigation into phone hacking and media ethics and practices.












Leveson phone-hacking inquiry: JK Rowling is among the 46 initial 'core participants'.

Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who famously guards her privacy, is one of a number of prominent public figures expected to give evidence to Lord Justice Leveson's judicial inquiry into phone hacking and media ethics and practices.

Rowling is one of 46 celebrities, politicians, sportsmen, other public figures, and members of the public who believe they have been the victims of media intrusion granted "core participant" status in the inquiry by Leveson on Wednesday.

This will mean Rowling and other core participants can give evidence personally, or via a lawyer, on her experience of alleged media intrusion to the inquiry, which begins in October at London's Royal Courts of Justice.

The Harry Potter author has previously expressed her displeasure with the press. In May 2008, she won a legal battle to secure the privacy of her children after photographs were published in the Sunday Express of her young son as he was wheeled down an Edinburgh street in a push-chair.

Others on the list including Anne Diamond's former husband, Mike Hollingsworth; former nurse turned model and TV presenter Abi Titmuss; Sheryl Gascoigne; and Mark Oaten, the former MP who had to pull out of the Liberal Democrat leadership race after tabloid revelations about his sex life.

The parents of murder victim Diane Watson also in Leveson's initial core participants list, along with the parents and sister of teenage murder victim Milly Dowler, and the parents of Madeleine McCann. The son of mass murderer Harold Shipman is also on the list.

Christopher Jefferies, arrested on suspicion of murdering Joanna Yeates in December but released without charge, has also been granted core participant status. He subsequently sued several newspapers successfully for libel.

Several celebrities who have allegedly had their phones hacked, including Hugh Grant, Sienna Miller and Calum Best, are among the 46 named on Leveson's list of core participants.

MPs Chris Bryant, Tessa Jowell, Denis MacShane, Simon Hughes, and former Labour deputy leader Lord Prescott also feature, along with a smattering of sports stars including jockey Kieron Fallon and former Premiership footballer Garry Flitcroft.

Rebekah Brooks, former News International chief executive and editor of the News of the World and the Sun, has been denied her application to become a core participant as she no longer works for the Murdoch company, but she will be able to give evidence as a witness. She has appointed a lawyer to act on her behalf who will under the rules of the inquiry will be allowed to apply to ask questions.

Jonathan Rees, a private investigator who was at one stage employed by the News of the World, also applied to be a core participant, arguing that there "might be significant criticism of him".

However, Rees was also denied the status of core participant on the grounds that he was not of significant enough interest to the first module of the inquiry. This will focus on the relationship between the press and the public and extends not merely to the allegations of phone hacking but also to other potentially illegal or unethical behaviour.

News International, owner of the paper at the centre of the phone-hacking scandal, the now defunct News of the World, the Sunday Times, the Times and the Sun, has been given core participant status as expected, as has Guardian News & Media, the owner of the Guardian, which has published a series of revelations on phone hacking over the past two years.

Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers and Richard Desmond's Northern & Shell, owner of the Daily Express, the Sunday Express and the Daily Star, will also be core participants.

English PEN, a writers' freedom association, and Index on Censorship were also denied core participant status.

Barrister David Sherborne, who is representing a group of victims suing the News of the World alleged phone hacking, including Hugh Grant and Jemima Khan, had applied to represent 14 people who either believe their voicemail was intercepted or claimed to have their privacy invaded by the press.

However, Leveson said he was not prepared to give core participant status to those who could not be named.

Leveson has also decided the Metropolitan police can be a core participant.

Union Leaders Warn Of 'Long, Hard And Dirty' Battle Over Pensions

Ministers accused the unions of jumping the gun because negotiations on the pension shake-up are continuing.










Delegates at the TUC conference in London voted unanimously for co-ordinated opposition to public-sector pension reform. Leaders of 10 unions subsequently announced their intention to ballot their members on industrial action, and revealed plans for a nationwide 'day of action' on 30 November.

Trade union leaders warned that the dead will be left unburied and rubbish uncollected as they announced plans for the biggest programme of strikes for a generation over the Government's decision to cut public sector pensions.

Officials raised the spectre of the 1978-79 "Winter of Discontent" as another 10 unions announced that they will ballot more than 2m members on industrial action.

The first "day of action" will be held on 30 November, the day after the Chancellor George Osborne unveils his autumn economic statement. Action will include one-day walkouts to lunchtime rallies, and is expected to range from senior civil servants to dustmen.

Workers being balloted include firemen, hospital and ambulance workers, police support staff, teachers and lecturers, care workers, meals-on-wheels staff, prison officers, refuse collectors, street cleaners and cemetery workers.

Four unions representing civil servants and teachers held a one-day strike in June, and yesterday the University and College Union announced that 77 per cent of its members had voted in favour of action over pensions.

Students at 67 universities could face disruption from next month, including a work-to-rule by lecturers, who may set exams but refuse to mark them.

After the TUC conference in London voted unanimously in favour of co-ordinated action, 24 public sector unions agreed their detailed strategy at a "council of war".

They are preparing for a "long haul" running through to next summer, with warnings that the London Olympics and celebrations to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee could be disrupted.

"We are talking about something that is long and hard and dirty," said Brian Strutton, national secretary for public services at the GMB. "We are assuming this will be a huge setpiece conflict running for a long time."

Ministers accused the unions of jumping the gun because negotiations on the pension shake-up are continuing. They said the talks could continue until December so there was no justification for taking action in November.

Downing Street said the proposed action was "very disappointing", while Mr Osborne appealed to the unions to halt what he called "this deeply irresponsible action".

Ministers said they would not back down on their plans to shave £2.8bn a year off the pensions bill by 2014-15 as this would unsettle the financial markets. But they said they were open to "different ways of cutting the cake".

However, on the final day of the TUC conference, union leaders queued up to condemn the Government's stance and declared that the talks were making no progress.

Brendan Barber, the TUC general secretary, said there was "huge anger" over the pensions proposals and said 30 November would see "the biggest trade union mobilisation in a generation".

He added: "We remain absolutely committed, in good faith, to seeking a fair, negotiated settlement of this dispute so that this action will not be necessary. But the Government needs to understand the strength of unions' resolve."

Labour urged both sides to step back from the brink.

Angela Eagle, the shadow Chief Treasury Secretary, said: "Ministers must show a willingness to conduct proper and meaningful negotiations rather than pursuing a path of deliberate confrontation. But unions should also demonstrate they intend to exhaust every option of reaching a settlement."

Rescued 'Slave' Criticises Police Raid At Bedfordshire Caravan Site

Man helped from Travellers' site brands Leighton Buzzard arrests 'rubbish' as nine men refuse to help investigation












Police guard the Greenacre caravan site in Leighton Buzzard.

The police investigation into a suspected slave camp at a Travellers' site in Bedfordshire has been challenged after nine of the 24 alleged slaves refused to help police with their inquiries.

One of the nine accused the police of heavy-handed tactics and described the five arrests as "complete rubbish".

Police insist that the four-month undercover operation has broken up an "organised crime group", and were questioning 15 alleged victims, who were being treated for malnutrition and other medical problems.

Police continue to question four men and are looking for two further suspects. One heavily pregnant woman, who is expected to give birth imminently, has been released on bail. No charges have yet been brought.

DCI Sean O'Neil, from the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire major crimes unit, said: "Those people who we continue to help are appreciative of the support that is on offer, but it will take some time to work through with them what has happened."

He said he was confident the operation, called Operation Netwing, had broken up a criminal network.

Police have arrested suspects on slavery and servitude offences under section 71 of the Coroners and Justice Act.

"The new legislation has allowed the investigation more scope and takes into account emotional rather than physical harm," O'Neil said. "I am confident that while the investigation is in its early stages this is a family-run 'business' and is an organised crime group that has been broken up by the Netwing operation."

At the well-established Greenacre caravan park in Leighton Buzzard, which has 16 mobile homes, one of the men taken by police, who did not want to be named, said he had been living in a caravan on a Traveller plot for several years, working as a paver and was being paid £50 a day.

"I think it's all a load of rubbish and they just hate Travellers," said the man, who is in his 50s. "Plenty of men who were here wanted to be here and they were getting paid. The police coming in heavy-handed like this is just wrong."

More than 200 police officers raided the site in the early hours of Sunday, aided by a helicopter and dog patrols. Armed officers were also present.

Four men and a woman were arrested on suspicion of slavery offences, while 24 men were taken to a medical centre.

Police said the men had been kept as virtual slaves in appalling conditions, forced to work long hours doing physically demanding jobs without pay.

However, the man told the Guardian he had worked for 15 years with one Traveller family who had provided him with work and accommodation when he had nowhere else to go. After refusing to answer police questions he made his way back to the site.

He said: "The police told me I couldn't come back but I told them it was my home and if I wanted to go back I would go back."

Speaking at the door of her mobile home, one woman – who said she was the wife of one of the arrested men but did not want to be named – said the police claims were "ridiculous".

She added: "The men who were taken were getting paid £30 a day, they had somewhere to live, this is all a load of nonsense."

Police claimed the suspects lured vulnerable men from dole queues and homeless shelters to work at the site. But the woman said they came voluntarily because they knew Travellers would give work to men down on their luck.

"Isn't it better that they have a roof over their head?" she said. "What are they going to do now – when the police have finished with them they will be homeless. It's up to them how they kept their homes, but they could come and go whenever they pleased."

She accused the police of harbouring prejudices against Travellers. "It's complete lies and they are trying to make Travellers look bad. There are two sides to this story," she said.

A police spokeswoman said the 24 men taken from the site were being offered help: "We are giving help to all of the men, but if they do not want it then obviously we are not forcing them to take it."

Paul Donohoe, spokesman for Anti-Slavery International said that, although he could not comment on the details of this particular case, it was not unusual for victims of slavery to resist help from the authorities.

"We do often see the Stockholm syndrome coming into effect – it is not unusual for people who have been 'rescued' to psychologically identify with their enslavers."

Police said on Monday that of the 24 men taken from the site, nine had left the medical reception centre and had chosen not to support the police investigation.

The remaining 15 continue to be assessed for welfare and health needs, and would be interviewed by detectives. Police said it would take a number of days to establish exactly what had happened to them on the site.

Of the men helping police, eight are British, three Polish, one Latvian and one Lithuanian, with two men of unconfirmed nationality.

The youngest person to be found on site was 17. Police said he has rejoined his family.

Profile: Met Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe

Bernard Hogan-Howe, the newly-appointed Metropolitan Police Commissioner, fits the bill for the "single-minded crime fighter" sought by the home secretary.



Theresa May had made the call after his predecessor Sir Paul Stephenson, and his assistant John Yates, quit amid criticism of the Met's role in the phone-hacking scandal.

And the former Merseyside Police chief was well-placed to take on the job of the UK's top police officer, having been called on to act as the Met's deputy commissioner in the wake of the resignations.

During five years on Merseyside to 2009, Mr Hogan-Howe developed a high profile via regular web chats and broadcasts, appearances on local radio phone-ins and horseback rides through the city centre.

And he earned admirers for his tough approach to anti-social behaviour and stance on gun crime in the wake of the fatal shooting of 11-year-old Rhys Jones.

Born in Sheffield, the football enthusiast's rise through the ranks began with South Yorkshire Police in 1979.

'Tough stance'

He worked as a traffic officer, detective and district commander, gaining an MA in law from Oxford University and a diploma in applied criminology from Cambridge University along the way.

In 1997 he moved to Merseyside police and four years later joined the Met as an assistant commissioner, before returning to Liverpool in 2004.

During that time, crime dropped by a third, and the force claims anti-social behaviour rates were cut in half through a zero-tolerance approach.

Bernard Hogan-Howe's career

1979: South Yorkshire Police

1997: Assistant Chief Constable, Merseyside

2001: Assistant Commissioner, Metropolitan Police

2004: Chief Constable of Merseyside

2009: HM Inspectorate of Constabulary

He hit the headlines in 2006 for sprinting after a suspected drink-driver after spotting him from his chauffeur-driven car.

Mr Hogan-Howe was the man in charge in 2007, when 11-year-old Rhys Jones was shot dead as he walked home from football practice.

The killing horrified the nation and there were grumblings from some in the media when there was no immediate arrest.

But Mr Hogan-Howe got his man in December 2008 when Sean Mercer, 18, was jailed for life and several members of his gang were also locked up.

'Clear philosophy'

That year, he accused some judges of being lenient on gun crime by overlooking mandatory five-year sentences for possession of a firearm.

He also called for those shielding gun criminals from police to be evicted from homes.

Mr Hogan-Howe set up the specialist Matrix team to tackle gun crime - the first of its kind outside London.









The home secretary and London mayor were "of one mind" in appointing Mr Hogan-Howe.

The unit's former head, Det Supt Geoff Sloane, said: "When he came he had a clear philosophy. It was to tackle organised crime, gang-related crime but also to make sure victims were properly supported, which was backed up by strong neighbourhood policing."

Before leaving Merseyside, he applied to succeed Sir Hugh Orde as chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

However, he withdrew from the application process to take up a role with Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabularies.

He was called back to the Met in July to support Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin - later a rival for the top job - in bringing stability to the force after Sir Paul Stephenson's resignation.

The home secretary and London Mayor Boris Johnson said they were "of one mind" in their decision to appoint Mr Hogan-Howe.

Mrs May cited his "excellent track-record" in reducing crime had proven the deciding factor.

May Warned That Rioters Could Target 2012 Games

Gangs involved in last month's riots could attempt to disrupt the 2012 London Olympics, Theresa May, the Home Secretary, was told yesterday.











Fears over attempts to disrupt the Games have been privately relayed by a former police officer to the Commons home affairs select committee, which is examining the worse wave of unrest to hit England for 30 years.

MPs on the committee confronted her with the warning from a recently retired officer who served on Operation Trident, the Met's operation against gun crime in the black community. Ms May, appearing before the committee, acknowledged the danger that the gangs could use the Olympics as a catalyst for looting and violence.

She said the team planning Olympic security was examining the riots to see if there were implications for the safe staging of the Games. David Cameron originally blamed gangs for much of the trouble and said he was seeking advice from Bill Bratton, the US police chief, on tackling the problem.

However, Ms May accepted the proportion of gang members involved in the unrest was "not as high as people first thought". But she added: "There is some evidence that obviously there was some gang activity taking place in terms of encouraging people to take part in these events and as we saw, some of that encouragement was being propagated on social media."

She announced she was staging an international conference next month to share ideas for the best way of tackling gang culture. Ms May refused to be drawn on the causes of the sudden outbreak of rioting.

Soldier Jailed After Rape Victim Left Samples Of DNA In Her Attacker's Car

Teenager left her hair and saliva in Jonathan Haynes' vehicle leading to indefinite sentence for the 'clever, cunning predator'.












Jonathan Haynes, 30, a lance ­corporal with the Royal Logistics Corps, has been jailed indefinitely for raping three teenagers.

A brave and quick thinking teenage rape victim helped police trap a serial sex attacker by spitting in his car and leaving a strand of hair hidden in the vehicle.

The girl yanked out strands of her hair and pushed them down the seat of soldier Jonathan Haynes' car. She also spat in the vehicle to make sure traces of her DNA could be found.

Haynes was jailed indefinitely for raping three teenagers and trying to abduct two schoolgirls.

He raped two of the teenagers after seizing them from the streets of a market town in Wiltshire and bundling them into his car. Haynes, a lance corporal with the Royal Logistic Corps, attacked the third teenager after breaking into a university halls of residence.

Haynes tried to grab the two 14-year-old schoolgirls from a country lane.

Following the sentencing, police said they believed Haynes, 30, could be responsible for more attacks and appealed for any other potential victims to come forward.

Haynes was given an indeterminate sentence for public protection and ordered to serve at least 11 years' imprisonment but warned he may never be released. Judge Neil Ford QC, the Recorder of Bristol, called him a "clever and cunning predator".

A jury at Bristol crown court was told that Haynes, who was based at a barracks near Chippenham, Wiltshire, planned his attacks meticulously.

The first kidnap and rape happened in September 2009 in Chippenham as the 16-year-old victim made her way home from a night out.

Just 13 days later he raped an 18-year-old student after forcing entry to her halls of residence in Pontypridd, south Wales.

The following February, he attempted to snatch the two schoolgirls late at night from a country lane near Chippenham.

Weeks later Haynes kidnapped an 18-year-old girl off the streets of Chippenham and repeatedly raped her. She had the presence of mind to yank out strands of her own hair and leave them in the car and spit in the seat – something she had seen on television crime shows.

Speaking outside court when Haynes was convicted last month, she said: "I thought there's going to be an investigation and I wanted to help.

"When I was in the car I pulled out some of my own hair and I made sure I spat on the seat, so if it was ever found there was proof I had been in the car.

"It still surprises me now, it sounds silly, but I have always been a fan of CSI programmes. I've watched so many of them, I know what to do and how things work."

She said it was terrible to see Haynes in court lying about his offences. "It was horrible and as I stood there I was thinking how someone could make up such detailed lies.

"I'm just disgusted by him. For a human being to have any thoughts like that, to do something to someone ... it's horrible.

"I am so relieved that it is over. It has felt like a very long time that this has gone on for. A huge weight has been lifted."

Following the hearing the victim of the first attack, who asked to be known by the pseudonym of Abbi, said she felt guilty that she had not been able to help the police prevent further assaults.

She said: "I just want girls, not just young girls but girls of all ages, to be aware of the sort of people that are out there.

"I thought I was safe, only seconds away from my house. I learnt the hard way, I wouldn't want anyone else to.

"It's harder to trust men, just because of one sick individual, which is sad.

"I felt really bad when I'd heard someone else had been attacked, I blamed myself for not being able to give more information to help catch him.

"But anyone that goes to the police is doing their bit. It is hard but it's worth it in the end."

Forensic analysis of Haynes' laptop seized from his room at the barracks showed he carried out hundreds of searches on the internet for information relating to the attacks. He would even search for the names of his victims on social networking sites such as Facebook and Friends Reunited.

Haynes, from Northampton, was found guilty of rape, kidnap and attempted kidnap. He was also charged with child pornography offences but the crown decided not to proceed with the prosecution.Speaking after the hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Bob Hamlin, of Wiltshire police, said there could be many more victims and his team were now examining other unsolved cases in the area.

He said: "We are investigating more cases that are unsolved but it is hard to put a figure on just how many more offences this dangerous man could have committed.

"He is one of the most evil men I've dealt with in 32 years of work. The horror the victims suffered can never be forgotten."

The Ministry of Defence has confirmed Haynes is no longer a serving soldier.

May To Hold Summit On Gang Culture

Theresa May, home secretary, is to host an international summit on how the country should deal with gangs, as part of the government’s response to last month’s riots.












Ms May, who appeared in front of MPs at the home affairs select committee on Thursday, conceded that only about a quarter of those involved in the violence in August are now thought to have had gang affiliations – fewer than thought. However, she said it was still vital to bring the problem under control.

“We are looking as widely as possible at what has worked [elsewhere] to make sure that what has worked is put in process,” Ms May said.

The home secretary reiterated that the government will also be canvassing the views of organisers of successful gang projects in the UK, such as the Strathclyde police scheme in Glasgow and another council-funded initiative in Waltham Forest, north London.

The prime minister has already announced that Bill Bratton, former chief of both New York and Los Angeles police departments, will be flying to the UK to give advice at the event in October.

However David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham – the borough in which the rioting started after the fatal police shooting of local resident Mark Duggan – suggested the focus should be on reassuring communities that the police would be able to restrain criminals more effectively in the future.

“We must never, ever allow criminals and gang members to run the streets,” he told the committee in an impassioned outburst. “The advances in community policing were important, but it needed to go further.”

Mr Lammy said he had concerns about Operation Trident, the Metropolitan Police’s campaign to reduce gun crime in the black community, which organised the operation when Mr Duggan was shot.

“When police come in from outside the borough, things can go wrong,” Mr Lammy said.

The MP added that he had seen evidence that riot perpetrators had been inciting violence on BlackBerry Messenger days before the disorder in Tottenham began. “I am deeply worried that the police seemed unaware of these networks,” Mr Lammy told the committee.

Separately, in a speech at the children’s charity Barnardo’s, Sadiq Khan, shadow justice secretary, castigated Ken Clarke, justice secretary, for making “simplistic assertions” when he called rioters a “feral underclass”.

“This kind of language absolves people from responsibility for their actions, implying that somehow they had no self-control or no choice,” Mr Khan said.

“Instead we will be looking at how we can make young people responsible citizens who understand the consequences of their actions and have the opportunities and the means to stay away from crime.”

NI Police Ombudsman Al Hutchinson To Stand Down In June

Police Ombudsman Al Hutchinson has told an assembly committee he will stand down at the start of June next year.









Police Ombudsman Al Hutchinson will appear before the justice committee.

His contract expires in November 2014, but he had previously indicated he would stand down in December 2012.

Mr Hutchinson is addressing the justice committee after a third scathing report about his office.

The Criminal Justice Inspectorate (CJI) report, commissioned by the ombudsman himself, found the independence of his office had been compromised.

Following the report's publication on Monday, Mr Hutchinson said he would quit his job earlier than planned.

Mr Hutchinson said the report had not questioned his office's handling of its day to day business of dealing with complaints against the police, only its handling of historic cases.

He said he was not biased towards the police, but was biased towards good policing. He added that his integrity was intact.

"Reports were not altered to limit criticisms of the police," he said.

Mr Hutchinson said others had sought to attack him and the work of his office.

"After a decade of commitment to improvement of policing in Northern Ireland, I will not let those who want to undermine progress for their own narrow agendas to succeed in destroying this office or indeed in shaping its future to their own ends," he said.

Replying to a question from Sinn Fein's Raymond McCartney about the CJI report's criticism of his office, the ombudsman said he had neither been "asleep at the wheel" nor had anyone else been driving.

Sinn Fein's Jennifer McCann said she was sad Mr Hutchinson was not standing down straight away.

Mr Hutchinson called in the CJI inspectors after the chief executive of his office resigned and criticised how business was done.

Speaking to the committee before Mr Hutchinson's appearance, the Criminal Justice Inspectorate's Dr Michael Maguire told MLAs that investigations into historic cases were compromised by emerging findings being revealed while work was not finished.

David Cameron: A Professional Who Plays Like Anmateur

Who will trip David Cameron up? The most likely answer is “himself”.












The Prime Minister’s scorn for his opponent, and laughter at his own jokes, suggest a man without a care in the world.

The ease with which Mr Cameron dominates Ed Miliband is becoming a bit offensive. It is like watching a one-sided cricket match: any spectator of a sporting disposition is bound to wish for a closer game.

The Labour leader runs in to bowl six of the most awkward deliveries he can devise – this week to do with police commissioners and NHS waiting times – but is met by an impregnable defence.

Mr Miliband’s questions are not bad, but Mr Cameron’s retorts are better. The Prime Minister has a long training in this not very glorious kind of warfare: in September 1988, straight out of Oxford, he joined the Conservative Research Department, where much effort was devoted to digging out quotations which could be used to suggest that the Labour Party was mired in a set of absurd contradictions.

So when Mr Miliband said elected police commissioners are a waste of money, Mr Cameron hit him with a remark by Gordon Brown: “The Home Secretary will bring forward proposals for directly elected representatives to give local people more control over policing.”

Mr Brown said this in the Commons on 14 May 2008, but Mr Cameron cleverly implied that it had been in the Labour manifesto of May 2010, written by Mr Miliband, whom he proceeded to accuse of “a complete U-turn”.

When Mr Miliband switched to the NHS, Mr Cameron was once more ready and waiting with an inconvenient quotation, this time by John Healey, the shadow Health Secretary, who had apparently opined that “what Labour says matters less than what almost anyone else says”.

Mr Cameron’s professional technique is hidden by the swagger with which he plays his shots. The Prime Minister’s scorn for his opponent, and laughter at his own jokes, suggest a man without a care in the world. At one stage he committed the atrocious mistake of referring to “my housing minister”: the man is the Queen’s housing minister.

Confidence can easily degenerate into over-confidence, which is why Mr Cameron could one day get himself out by attempting a ludicrously risky shot. He is not averse to taking risks, as he showed in a reply to one of his backbenchers.

Nadine Dorries (C, Mid-Bedfordshire) complained that “the Liberal Democrats make up 8.7 per cent of this Parliament and yet they seem to be influencing our free school policy, health and many issues including immigration and abortion”, after which she issued a challenge: “Does the Prime Minister think it is about time he told the Deputy Prime who is the boss?”

Mr Cameron began, “I know the honourable lady is extremely frustrated,” whereupon he was interrupted by rude laughter in which he joined, after which he ended: “I’m going to give up on this one.”

The Prime Minister had not answered the question. Since it was an unanswerable question, or unanswerable without insulting Nick Clegg who was sitting next to him, perhaps that was the best way to leave it.

Tory backbenchers complain that Mr Cameron listens more to Mr Clegg than to them. Mark Reckless (C, Rochester and Strood) demanded that the Prime Minister “now listen to Conservative colleagues and take the opportunity to hold a referendum on Europe”.

Mr Cameron refused to do so. Perhaps it is his own side who will one day trip him up.

Scrap 'Reckless And Needless' Public Sector Reforms, Says Ed Miliband

Labour leader tells PM that money spent on elected police chiefs and NHS shakeup could be better spent recruiting frontline staff.



Ed Miliband and David Cameron clash at PMQs.

The prime minister, David Cameron, admitted that stand-alone elections for police commissioners will cost an additional £25m as he faced a barracking from Labour's Ed Miliband over "reckless and needless" public sector reforms.

Cameron faced accusations of "wasting money" which could be better used to recruit thousands of extra police officers, as he sought to defend moves to introduce elected police commissioners.

A plan to bring in elected police chiefs is set to go ahead after Liberal Democrat peers, who had been delaying the Tory initiated policy, accepted safeguards introduced into the legislation.

In a move likely to irritate many on the Conservative benches who feel their party is making too many concessions to Lib Dems and too few to their own side, the legislative delay will mean voting for the new posts will take place in November 2012 instead of at the same time as local elections in May.

The Labour leader told Cameron he was "making a bad policy worse by wasting money" after the prime minister said staging separate elections in November would cost £25m – money Cameron stressed would not come out of police budgets.

As MPs prepared to debate amendments to the health and social care bill on Wednesday afternoon, Miliband also criticised the NHS shakeup and urged the prime minister to "scrap both of these disruptive and dangerous plans".

Miliband told Cameron at the close of a heated exchange: "The truth is, under this government we are seeing two reckless and needless reorganisations of our public services, police numbers down and waiting lists up.

"Under Labour we saw police officers up and waiting lists down. Why don't you do the right thing for the future of our public services and scrap both of these disruptive and dangerous plans?"

Miliband seized on reforms to health and policing as MPs gathered for the first prime minister's questions session since July.

Regarding the cost of delaying the elections for police commissioners, Cameron told Miliband: "It is important to get this policy right and to make sure it works."

Turning the tables on Miliband, Cameron asked him why Labour was "so frightened of elections".

Cameron said the plan involved scrapping police authorities, which would save money, and accused Labour of making a "U-turn".

Labour previously had plans for "directly elected representatives to give local people more control over policing", said Cameron.

Miliband said: "We know what the public up and down this country know: this is the wrong priority for the country. What did we see during the riots? We saw visible, effective policing."

He went on: "The prime minister tells us we cannot afford the current police budget, we have got to cut the number of police officers by 16,000.

"But he tells the country it can afford £100m and more as a result of his decision to waste money on 42 elected politicians earning over £120,000 a year. That could pay for 2,000 extra police officers.

"Isn't the truth that this is the wrong priority at the wrong time for the country?"

As Miliband later moved on to the controversial health reforms, Cameron joked: "I'm not surprised you want to change subjects because on policing you were having your collar felt because you have done a complete U-turn on the policy you used to be committed to."

The Labour leader said the number of people who had to wait more than six months for an operation had gone up by more than 60% since Cameron entered Downing Street.

Cameron insisted the amount of time people were waiting for an outpatient operation had "actually gone down".

"As you know, we have targets for 90% of people to get their treatment within 18 weeks and those targets are being met," he said.

And he insisted the health reforms were now backed by a number of leading professional health groups as well as former Labour health minister and surgeon Lord Darzi – to the dismay of Miliband, who accused him of being "on another planet".

The Labour leader said the British Medical Association, the Royal College of GPs and the Royal College of Midwives "all rejected your bill".

Shopkeeper Florist Raid Case: Ministers Plan Overhaul Of Self Defence Laws

Pressure is mounting on the government to speed up new legislation on self defence clarifying the law on self-defence in England in the wake of cases such as those of shopkeeper Cecil Coley












72-year-old shopkeeper Cecil Coley.












Police officers guard a house in Salford after a suspected burglar was stabbed to death during a break-in.












Police officers at the murder scene on Ethel Avenue in Salford.

Ministers are planning to clarify the law on self-defence in England, after a string of cases where home owners have faced prosecution for defending their property.

The arrest of Mr Coley, 72, on suspicion of murder following the death of Gary Mullings, 30, who had broken into his shop in Old Trafford placed the issue back in the national media spotlight.

Last month’s stabbing came just days after the Crown Prosecution Service decided no charges should be brought against householder Peter Flanagan, 59, who was arrested on suspicion of murder after the fatal stabbing of a burglar.

John Bennell, 27, was attacked after he broke into his home in, Pendlebury, Salford, in June.

The incident occurred just a few miles from Mr Coley's store in Old Trafford, Manchester.

The incidents led to calls for the Government to speed up new legislation clarifying the law on self-defence in England.

Kenneth Clarke, the Justice Secretary, had earlier said that householders who used “whatever force necessary” against intruders would not be committing a criminal offence .

David Cameron has also promised that the new Justice Bill would "put beyond doubt that home owners and small shopkeepers who use reasonable force to defend themselves or their properties will not be prosecuted".

Under the current law, home owners who use “reasonable force” – which is no more than is absolutely necessary – to protect themselves against intruders should not be prosecuted.

In late June Mr Clarke spelt out the sort of action that would be permitted under the new regime.

He made clear that it would remain illegal to pursue intruders to attack them or to shoot them as they fled.

Speaking about a person’s right to self-defence in their homes, Mr Clarke said there was "constant doubt" about the issue and the proposed legislation would make this "much clearer".

The Justice Secretary said: "It's quite obvious that people are entitled to use whatever force is necessary to protect themselves and their homes.

"If an old lady finds she has got an 18 year-old burgling her house and she picks up a kitchen knife and sticks it in him, she has not committed a criminal offence and we will make that clear.

“We will make it quite clear you can hit the burglar with the poker if he's in the house and you have a perfect defence when you do so."

He added: “We all know what we mean when we say a person has an absolute right to defend themselves and their home and reasonable force.

"Nobody should prosecute and nobody should ever convict anybody who takes those steps."

Labour said the law was "already clear" and the remarks were a "smokescreen" to hide confusion over sentencing changes.

Metropolitan Police To Use Sick Leave Officers For Office Roles

Britain’s biggest police force plans to fill back-office roles with injured officers to boost the number of officers available for frontline duty in the wake of the riots, it was revealed today.












Boris Johnson arrives at the Home Affairs Select Committee to answer questions about the recent riots in London.

The plan, announced by London Mayor Boris Johnson, comes after the Metropolitan Police was severely criticised for not having enough officers on the streets to cope with the disorder sweeping London last month.

Outnumbered by rioters, the police was forced to allow looters to steal from shops in what became one of the largest scenes of social disobedience ever witnessed in Britain.

Giving evidence to MPs about the riots in London, the acting Scotland Yard commissioner Tim Godwin admitted: “We ran out of police officers” and added: "The thin blue line is quite thin on occassions."

Mr Johnson told the home affairs select committee that he had drawn up plans to try an increase the number of frontline officers available to the Metropolitan Police.

“One of the things we are doing is looking at getting officers who are on long term sick leave to come in and do some of these functions that are currently being done by warranted officers in order to allow the warranted officers out there on the street,” he said.

“Out of these events good must come.”

The riots in London began on Saturday 6 August and continued until the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Police increased the numbers of officers on the streets of the capital from 6,000 to 16,000 on the Tuesday evening to prevent a fourth night of rioting.

Mr Godwin, who is bidding to become the new Metropolitan Police commissioner following Sir Paul Stephenson’s departure, said he wished he had increased the number of officers sooner.

He said: “You would want the benefit of hindsight as foresight. Had I had that then I wish I had lots more police officers on duty on Sunday into Monday.”

It was also announced that of the 1,630 people charged during the riots, 83 per cent have had prior contact with the police while 77 per cent had criminal records.

The justice secretary Kenneth Clarke said that the figures highlighted a “broken penal system”.

Mr Godwin said that the statistics were “a wake up call for the criminal justice system”.

He added: “The amount of people that have previous convictions does pose questions for us and I think that we at the Met, working with the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office, have got to learn from that.”

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said reoffending rates were "ludicrous" but that none of those involved was "beyond help".He said: “What has so much gone missing inside the criminal justice system is that the reoffending rates in the UK are ludicrous and what we end up doing is arresting and re-arresting and re-re-arresting the same people for different crimes.

"Rehabilitation...is a critical component to changing the communities we are talking about."

Mr Johnson said that the justice system must also plan for the huge numbers of extra prisoners it will receive in the wake of the riots. He added: “You cannot simply abandon them there [in prison].”

Mr Johnson also revealed that the Metropolitan Police would submit a bill for £74million to the Government for the cost of policing the riots.

It was also estimate that the cost on other parts of the country came to £50 million, meaning the total nationwide cost is £124million.

Lynne Owens, the Scotland Yard assistant commissioner in charge of policing the riots, also revealed that the forces still has more than 20,000 hours of CCTV footage to view, suggesting many more arrests, on top of the 2,343 the force has already made, are likely.

Man In Court Over Killing Wife And Mum-In-Law

A man charged with murdering his wife and his mother-in-law at their home in Oxfordshire has appeared in court.












Turkish national Ensar Gol with his 28-year-old British wife Michaela.

Ensar Gol, 21, smiled at photographers as he was escorted, wearing handcuffs, by police into Oxford Magistrates' Court.

The Turkish national is accused of killing Michaela Gol, 28, and 50-year-old Julie Sahin in their home on Ireton Court, Thame.

The two women were found with fatal injuries by officers at the house in the early hours of Sunday morning.


















The suspect being escorted to Oxford Magistrates' Court.

Gol is also charged with the attempted murder of his wife's family friend, 19-year-old Casey Wilson who is in a stable condition in hospital.

He was detained by officers in Thame Market Place shortly after the bodies of Mrs Gol and Ms Sahin were found.

Post-mortem examinations will be conducted to determine how the women died.












The housing development where two women were found dead.

In court, Gol spoke through a Turkish interpreter only to confirm his name and date of birth during the brief hearing.

Prosecutions Sarah Mackay told the court that Gol had only just recently arrived in the UK. She added that he had no right to apply for bail.

Chair of the bench David Simmons told Gol he was sending him to trial and remanded him to appear before Oxford Crown Court on Wednesday.

Met Police Considering More Riot Training

The Met Police is considering doubling the number of officers trained to deal with riots, its acting head has said.









Mayor Boris Johnson backed decisions by Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin.

Tim Godwin said the number of police given specialist "level 2" public order training could rise to 6,000.

And he admitted the force made mistakes in the aftermath of the police shooting in Tottenham of a man whose death sparked last month's disturbances.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson defended police handling of the riots, saying the "crisis" caught everyone unawares.

Both men appeared before MPs on Tuesday to discuss the riots which spread across London.

Mr Godwin said with hindsight more officers would have been deployed on the streets after the shooting of Mark Duggan by police in Tottenham.

"The number of sites of disorder was something we hadn't experienced in the city before - and that did take us by surprise," he said.

He said with the benefit of hindsight he "wished he had had lots more police officers on duty on the Sunday and then into the Monday."

Mr Godwin defended the force's actions saying that decisions on tactics and numbers were taken on the basis of the best evidence available.

He said he wished he had more officers available by the third day of incidents - but nobody had foreseen "22 boroughs of serious disorder" driven by "copycat" criminality.

Regarding riot training, he said: "Looking ahead at what might come in the future, I think we're going to need to increase it."

He said that 43 of the force's officers had received commendations for their "extreme bravery" and 282 had been injured.

But Mr Godwin also rejected suggestions that his commanders had used the wrong tactics or were lacking specific tools, such as water cannon or baton rounds, also known as rubber bullets.



"We had a full range of tactics," he told MPs. "It was purely numbers [of officers] that was the inhibitor."

"Baton rounds were available but I think we would have been having a different conversation [if they had been used and people had been injured].

"I take pride in the fact that we filled up prison places instead of hospital beds, and I think that's the British way."

Mr Johnson declined to agree with the prime minister that police had got their tactics wrong.

The mayor said lessons could be learned with the benefit of hindsight - but disorder had been contained.

The mayor and the Met's acting chief echoed Justice Secretary Ken Clarke's views that the riots were the legacy of a broken penal system.

Mr Godwin told the committee: "I think this is a wake-up call for the criminal justice system.

"We have in London been seeking to speed up justice, make it more relevant, make it more relevant to communities, and that's something that we need to do.

"The amount of people who have previous convictions does pose questions for us."

UNIFORMED POLICE ON STREETS DURING LONDON RIOTS

* SAT 6 AUG: 3,000
* SUN 7 AUG: 3,000 (then upped to 4,200)
* MON 8 AUG: 6,000
* TUES 9 AUG: 16,000 (total on duty 24,300)
* Source: Met Police

Giving evidence to the Commons Home Affairs committee, Mr Johnson said that the Metropolitan Police and the city's authorities had been completely surprised by the scale of the disorder in August that spread from one incident in Tottenham to other boroughs.

"I think with 20/20 hindsight people may feel that it would have been wiser to upscale the police presence.

"But if you look overall at what the police did on [the first] night and on successive nights and what they are doing now … the riots were contained and there were remarkably few casualties"

During the emergency recall of Parliament last month, Prime Minister David Cameron told MPs that there had been far too few police on the streets and they had used the wrong tactics.

Asked by the committee if he agreed with the prime minister, Mr Johnson said: "It's self-evidence that there was a difficulty, a crisis, on the Sunday and Monday that caught everyone unawares."

Mr Johnson compared the scenes in London to those in Paris six years ago. He said that the police had to rely on emergency powers to restore order in the French capital - whereas the British approach had ended the disorder within a week.

The Metropolitan Police has told the committee in a letter that policing the disorder cost £74m and they now have 500 officers working on investigations.

The force also said that its commanders took the decisions to increase the number of officers deployed over the course of the disorder and later informed the home secretary and prime minister. The decision to increase numbers had been taken before police chiefs met ministers in an emergency Whitehall meeting.

Gangs

The MPs were hearing from the Mayor and police chiefs as new figures emerged about people who took part in the rioting and looting.

The Metropolitan Police says that the proportion of rioters with links to gangs has dropped from almost a third to 19%, almost certainly because detectives had arrested known suspects before targeting others filmed on CCTV.

Figures indicate that eight out of 10 offenders were known to the police and 75% of them had a criminal record.

In an article published in the Guardian on Tuesday morning, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke blamed the "broken penal system" for the riots.

He said the Ministry of Justice's latest statistics showed that the hardcore of those involved had previous convictions and the criminal justice system had failed to stop them reoffending.

Moat's Brother Tells Of Plea

The brother of gunman Raoul Moat appealed to police to be allowed to talk to him in the hours before he shot himself in Rothbury in Northumberland.















Moat went on the run in July 2010 after shooting and seriously injuring his former partner Sam Stobbart, murdering her boyfriend Chris Brown, and blinding PC David Rathband.

Angus Moat told the inquest into his brother's death that he telephoned the police because he thought he might be able to "talk Raoul down".

He told the court in Newcastle: "I was completely appalled by his actions. But I didn't want him to die."

The 41-year-old tax inspector said he had not spoken to his brother for at least seven years and described their family as "very fragmented".

"Raoul thought everybody in his own family would be against him and I wanted to show him that was not the case," he told the jury.

"I thought if I could speak to him it could change the way he was feeling and the way he would act."

Police officers assessing potential helpers, or third party intermediaries, had told him by phone that his presence could put the police negotiators at risk.

Mr Moat acknowledged the police had a better idea than he did of "all the emotional triggers" affecting his brother's behaviour.

Much of the evidence on the second day of the inquest focused on who should have been involved in the negotiations to try to prevent Moat from shooting himself or others.

Security Tight As Terrorist Trial Begins In Northern Ireland

Belfast, Northern Ireland (CNN) -- One of Northern Ireland's biggest terrorist trials in decades started Tuesday at Belfast Crown Court amid tight security.











Police walk into the front of Belfast Court on September 6, 2011, ahead of the trial of 14 alleged paramilitary members.

Fourteen alleged members of the pro-British or loyalist paramilitary group known as the Ulster Volunteer Force are accused of a total of 97 offenses. The men range in age from 32 to 46.

Nine defendants are charged with murder in the October 2000 slaying of rival paramilitary leader Tommy English. The 40-year-old Ulster Defence Association member was gunned down in front of his wife and young children on Halloween night during a bloody feud between the rival groups.

The Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Defence Association were responsible for the killings of hundreds of people during the conflict between pro-British and pro-Irish forces in Northern Ireland over a 30-year period known as the Troubles. Most of their victims were Catholic civilians. The groups have remained active since the signing of the Good Friday peace agreement in 1998.

Two brothers -- David and Robert Stewart -- are giving evidence against their alleged former colleagues in the Ulster Volunteer Force. The Stewarts admitted to their part in English's killing and agreed to testify to get a reduced sentence.

One of the accused is Mark Haddock, 42, named as a police agent in a 2007 report on the Ulster Volunteer Force by former Northern Ireland police ombudsman Nuala O'Loan. O'Loan said an Ulster Volunteer Force gang based in the Mount Vernon estate in north Belfast had been involved in up to 15 murders and that the Northern Ireland police special branch unit had allowed informers within the Mount Vernon group to act with impunity.

At trial, Haddock is sitting separately from the 13 other defendants, surrounded by prison officers for his own safety. Two of his co-defendants were previously charged with trying to kill Haddock in 2006, but murder charges were dropped when he refused to give evidence. A prosecutor opened the case Tuesday, saying Haddock had ordered English's murder.

Robert Stewart, 37, then started testifying Tuesday. He also said Haddock ordered the killing and told the gunman to try to avoid shooting the rest of English's family.

Supporters of the accused men staged a protest outside the court against the use of "supergrasses," or slang for informers. The term was first used in Northern Ireland in the 1980s when a number of terrorist suspects were convicted on the evidence of former comrades.

The trial is being held under 2005 legislation introduced by the United Kingdom -- the Serious Organized Crime and Police Act -- which allows a suspect to enter a written agreement to give evidence against other alleged criminals.

Victims' relatives are being given protection from supporters of the Ulster Volunteer Force attending the trial at Laganside courts in Belfast. Families are able to watch proceedings by video link in a separate, secure venue. Large numbers of police officers are inside and outside the court complex.

The trial could last three months and will be one of the most expensive ever in Northern Ireland. Police fear there could be unrest in Protestant/loyalist districts as the trial progresses.

Saline Deaths: Freed Nurse 'Was A Scapegoat'

A nurse who spent more than six weeks in custody after being accused of tampering with saline drips at a Stockport hospital was made a "scapegoat", according to her lawyer.











The hospital says heightened security measures will remain in place.

On Friday, police announced they were releasing Rebecca Leighton and dropping all charges in connection with deaths on two wards at Stepping Hill Hospital.

Her solicitor Carl Richmond said he felt police had "jumped the gun" in arresting Miss Leighton.

He said: "I got the feeling there had to be a scapegoat because there was absolute chaos at the hospital and it could not function because of all the speculation.

"I was imploring the police to bail her while they continued their inquiries but the decision was made to charge," Mr Richmond said.

Miss Leighton was first arrested on suspicion of murder and then formally accused of causing criminal damage with intent to endanger life.











Rebecca Leighton could sue for as much as £1m, according to newspaper reports.

The alarm was raised when a higher than normal number of patients were reported to have "unexplained" low blood sugar levels amid fears saline solution had been contaminated with insulin.

After reports in some newspapers that Miss Leighton could sue police for as much as £1m, Mr Richmond told Sky News such speculation was "premature".

He said the 27-year-old nurse would probably meet with her legal team later this week in order to discuss the options available, but had not yet decided whether legal action was appropriate.











Miss Leighton will not immediately be able to return to work.

Mr Richmond said, with her family's support, Miss Leighton was "bearing up reasonably well" after what had been a very stressful period in custody.

The nurse has said she felt she was "living in hell" since her arrest.

She will not be able to return to work as an interim order suspending her from the Nursing and Midwifery Council's register remains in place.

Meanwhile, police have vowed to leave "no stone unturned" in their investigation into the deaths of seven patients.

They have said they are planning to interview at least another 500 witnesses - including staff, patients and visitors.

It is thought more than 700 people could have had access to the area where the bags of saline were being kept.

A spokeswoman for the hospital said tight security measures remain in place and would continue for the foreseeable future.

EDL Protest In East London Sees 60 Arrested

Sixty people have been arrested after English Defence League (EDL) members clashed with police in east London.









EDL demonstrators were led along Tower Bridge as police tried to disperse them.

Police said 16 arrests were made during a demonstration by the group, while 44 people on a coach were held later on suspicion of violent disorder.

The protest went ahead despite a ban on marches in the area, with police estimating 1,000 EDL supporters and 1,500 counter-protesters had gathered.

Missiles were thrown by activists as 3,000 police tried to maintain control.

The supporters of the EDL, which says it is protesting against Islamic extremism in the UK, assembled near Aldgate Tube station, with the counter-protesters gathering in nearby Whitechapel Road.

'Altercation with locals'

The EDL protesters were later led to Tower Bridge by police to disperse.

The 16 arrests during the demonstration were for offences including assault on a police officer, common assault, drunk and disorderly and affray.

The later arrests came after a coach taking EDL supporters away following the protest broke down outside Stepney Green Tube station, at about 18:30 BST.

Police said there had already been one altercation with local youths after the vehicle stopped in Whitechapel Road and some passengers got off the coach.









There were clashes between police and protesters.

When the coach broke down outside the station there was a further disturbance, the Metropolitan Police said, and all the passengers were arrested.

Officers from London were joined in patrolling the protests by colleagues from around the UK. Vans from forces as far away as Cumbria, Lancashire and Grampian were in action, with riot police, mounted officers and dogs also employed.

EDL founder Stephen Lennon, 28, breached his bail conditions by attending the protest in Aldgate, but was not one of those arrested.

He stood to address the crowd disguised in a wide-brimmed hat and fake beard before revealing his identity.

He said: "I'm meant to sign on at a police station on a Saturday, I'm not doing that.

"I'm not allowed to go to a demonstration, I'm not doing that.

"The credible outcome is I will be put on remand in prison for my democratic right."

'Wrong message'

Lennon was convicted in July of leading a street brawl with 100 football fans in August last year.

Home Secretary Theresa May had imposed a ban on marching in Newham, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Islington, Hackney and the City of London.

The EDL had claimed the ban on marching sent out "completely the wrong message" and insisted a static demonstration would go ahead.

The activists were supposedly prevented from chanting or waving their flags while walking as that would constitute a march.

The protest was moved however, at the behest of police, as the EDL protesters were led towards Tower Bridge by mounted and riot police. They were held on the bridge for about 40 minutes before being allowed to disperse.

Police had not requested powers to stop marches in London since the Brixton riots 30 years ago.

Racist Thugs Shall Not Pass

Thousands of anti-fascists took to the streets of east London on Saturday to oppose a planned demonstration by the racist English Defence League in one of the capital's most diverse areas.












In the wake of last month's disturbances the EDL had cynically attempted to exploit the riot, claiming it was defending the streets of the capital.

But on the streets of east London on Saturday the message was loud and clear as a community united in opposition to the ultra right-wing group. Some in the crowd chanting: "They shall not pass," making reference to the Battle of Cable Street against Oswald Mosley's fascists in 1936.

A proposed march by the EDL down Whitechapel Road and past the east London mosque had been banned by the Home Secretary so only a static demonstration could take place.

But in an attempt to bypass the ban hundreds of EDL members arrived in different areas of the capital to march to the site of the static protest near Aldgate Tube station.

The racists and fascists of the EDL had bragged that they were coming to the heart of Tower Hamlets - "marching into the lion's den" in the multiracial, multicultural borough.

In the event the day was very much won by the anti-fascists and the people of Whitechapel who overwhelmingly rejected the EDL's hate-filled message.

EDL chants of "whose streets? Our streets." could not have been more ironic.

Only around 600 - police estimate 1,000 - EDL members made it to their final rally point - at Aldgate, outside the Tower Hamlets borough boundary.

The largely incoherent rabble chanted anti-Muslim slogans and attempted to sing God Save the Queen but apparently, did not know the words to the national anthem. Most appeared drunk.

At one point one skin-headed member began to abuse and push a young Asian man who had found himself within the police cordon.

But on the whole a massive policing operation had effectively isolated the group from all but a few bemused passers by.

A total of 60 EDL protesters were arrested as scuffles broke out and bottles and firecrackers were thrown as more than 3,000 riot police and mounted police tried to maintain control.

Further skirmishes broke out during the afternoon as EDL leader Stephen Lennon addressed a crowd, telling them he had broken his bail conditions to be at the protest. He was not one of those arrested.

On Whitechapel Road thousands of anti-fascists - police estimated 1,500 - trade-unionist and religious groups congregated in a carnival atmosphere.

The counter-demonstration organised by Unite Against Fascism and the United East End Coalition was addressed by CWU deputy general secretary Tony Kearns, East London Mosque's Dilowar Khan, veteran local anti-fascist Phil Maxwell and other local trade union and community representatives.

Former mayor of London Ken Livingstone sent a message of support, saying: "This is a fitting response to those who peddle hatred and fear."

Speaking on Saturday evening UAF national officer Martin Smith said: "Today we have won. We haven't had anybody arrested. We have stopped the EDL coming into this borough.

"We have marched on the streets today, the EDL have gone and we have won."