Police chief's M4 patrols threat

South Wales Police warned of an effect on routine traffic policing and major events

A chief constable has warned her force will stop responding to accidents on the M4 from April - unless dedicated traffic officers are introduced.

Barbara Wilding said South Wales Police faced a

A New Labour 'golden couple'

The couple met while councillors in Camden, north London

Tessa Jowell and David Mills were often portrayed as the epitome of a successful New Labour couple.

A high-flying minister and a wealthy international lawyer, they shared successful careers and contacts at the highest levels, both in politics and business.

But following weeks of unwelcome media interest in Mr Mills' business links to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in 2006, the couple separated.

Now Mr Mills has been found guilty of accepting money to give false testimony in two court cases involving Mr Berlusconi dating back to the late 1990s.

Mr Mills - who denies the allegations - has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison.

Stark contrast

His current difficulties are in stark contrast to what went before.

Mr Mills was running a highly profitable business, whose clients included Mr Berlusconi's Fininvest company, when Ms Jowell, then a social worker, became a Labour MP in 1992.

Mr Mills - described by acquaintances as "exceptionally clever" - is accomplished in several areas outside law.

He is a well-regarded cook, an expert on art, a clarinettist who plays in various amateur orchestras and can speak four languages.

He is also the brother-in-law of Dame Barbara Mills, the former Director of Public Prosecutions.

Soon after graduating from Oxford, he became a Labour councillor in Camden.

It was here that he met fellow councillor Ms Jowell, a trained social worker who was then assistant director of the charity Mind.

They were both already married, but a relationship developed and they married in 1979.

Before their wedding, Mr Mills - a barrister - retrained as a solicitor to pursue a career in international commercial law.

He set up his own company, Mackenzie Mills, and took on work with a leading Italian law firm.

Olympic focus

The couple, who own houses in Kentish Town in north London and in Warwickshire, have a son and daughter together.

As MP for the south London constituency of Dulwich - and later Dulwich and West Norwood - Ms Jowell rose swiftly through the Labour ranks, becoming a close ally of Tony Blair.

She was appointed public health minister after the 1997 election, was promoted to employment minister and minister for women in 1999, later joining the cabinet as Culture Secretary in 2001.

In that role, she faced political controversy over casinos and pub licensing hours but scored a massive triumph as a key figure in clinching the 2012 Olympics for London.

Seen as a close ally of Tony Blair, she lost her job as culture secretary in Gordon Brown's first reshuffle in 2007 and her political profile has dropped slightly since then.

But she retains responsibility for the Olympics, attending cabinet meetings when the controversial issues of the 2012 budget and its hoped-for legacy are discussed.

Miliband meets troops in Helmand

Mr Miliband met Helmand governor Gulab Mangal

Foreign Secretary David Miliband is visiting British troops in Afghanistan's Helmand Province.

His trip comes days after new US envoy Richard Holbrooke visited the country and discussed the worsening security situation with senior Afghan officials.

Mr Miliband was expected to tour bases in Lashkar Gah, where a British soldier was killed on foot patrol on Monday.

After visiting Helmand he is expected to meet officials for talks in the capital Kabul.

Earlier the Ministry of Defence confirmed the soldier, from the 1st Battalion The Rifles, had died of wounds while on foot patrol south of Lashkar Gah - bringing the total of UK deaths in the country to 145 since 2001.

Mr Miliband met British military and civilian staff in Helmand, as well as governor Gulab Mangal, to discuss development and agricultural issues, the security situation, and efforts to tackle the threat from the Taleban.

Police chief's M4 crashes threat

South Wales Police say they have been warning for two years they were facing cuts without more funding

A senior police officer has said her force will stop responding to accidents on the M4 from April - unless dedicated traffic officers are introduced.

South Wales Police chief constable Barbara Wilding said the force could no longer afford to direct traffic or clear debris after routine crashes.

Ms Wilding also said that without more funds she would have to charge major event promoters full policing costs.

These would include pop concerts, football and rugby matches.

Speaking to BBC Wales, Ms Wilding said she had been telling senior assembly government ministers for two years that the force would be facing cuts in the services it delivers without more money, but to no avail.

The work of dealing with accidents, directing traffic and clearing debris should either be done by new traffic officers from the Highways Agency, or be funded through extra money for policing, she said.

"We will be building a business case to the Welsh Assembly Government to say if you want us to carry on policing the motorway, responding to those issues, then you must pay for it," said Ms Wilding.

"If you don't pay for it, we will no longer be doing it.

"We will be on the motorway to keep crime...off the roads, and deny criminals the use of the roads, of course we will, but not for accidents or debris - they must find another way of dealing with that unless they pay for it."

Chief constable Barbara Wilding says South Wales Police will have to stop doing certain things

Ms Wilding also said that without funding increases, she would be forced to charge promoters of major events in Cardiff, such as rugby matches and pop concerts, the full policing costs.

She also suggested the number of events during royal visits to south Wales may have to be scaled back due to pressures on her budget.

"We will start charging for the major events, we will have to, because at the moment, our policing levels are going down to 1974 figures," she said.

Ms Wilding gave an example of the recent Cardiff versus Swansea football match, which she said cost

Cancer waiting times 'best yet'

Ministers want all cancer patients treated within 31 days by 2011

The NHS is getting closer to meeting a target of treating all urgent cancer cases within two months, according to new figures.

The target, set in 2000, requires that 95% of patients begin treatment within 62 days of being urgently referred.

In the three months to September last year 94.6% of patients were treated within the 62 days limit.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said it was the health service's best performance yet.

However, the 95% target was supposed to have been met three years ago in 2005.

Nine out of the 14 NHS boards across Scotland met the target between July and September 2008.

NHS Lothian recorded the best results with 98.1% of patients beginning treatment within the two months target period.

The target needs to be met consistently, in full, in every board across Scotland Nicola Sturgeon Health Secretary

Of the five boards which failed to meet the target, NHS Dumfries and Galloway fared worst, with just 84.1% of patients being treated within 62 days.

Ms Sturgeon said: "It is very welcome to see that the majority of patients diagnosed with cancer, who were urgently referred, are rightly starting their treatment within two months.

"We know how important it is for cancer patients, and for their families, to be treated quickly.

"Boards are tackling the challenge head on and their efforts, supported by Scottish Government's cancer performance support team, have resulted in, substantial progress since 2007.

"In many areas, boards are performing over and above the 95% target and I am hopeful that the advances made to meet the target for breast, lung, ovarian and urology cancers will be extended to all cancers before long.

Tougher target

She added: "The target needs to be met consistently, in full, in every board across Scotland.

"Ensuring that the majority of cancer patients are treated within 62 days of referral is crucial to speeding up the time taken in delivering care and treatment to patients, an essential ambition of Scotland's action plan, Better Cancer Care."

The Scottish Government has announced a new tougher cancer waiting times target.

By 2011 all patients diagnosed with cancer, however they come to be referred, should receive treatment within 31 days from the decision to treat.

Tories propose more city mayors

The Tories say they would free councils from central government

The Conservatives say 12 of England's biggest cities outside London will get a vote on bringing in directly elected mayors if they win power.

Referendums would be held on a single day in cities including Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Sheffield and Liverpool.

The party would also allowing voters to veto big council tax rises, it said.

But Labour said cities could already choose to have elected mayors and there was "little new" in the plans.

Elected mayors were a key plank of Labour's plans to shake-up local democracy but take-up proved patchy.

'One to blame'

For a town or city to hold a referendum on having an elected mayor, it needs a petition signed by 5% of voters - and the majority of areas which held a vote rejected the idea.

Instead the Tory proposals would see a series of referendums held across 12 cities on a single day.

Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Coventry, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Nottingham, Sheffield and Wakefield could get mayors with similar executive powers to London's Boris Johnson.

FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from Today programme

Conservative leader David Cameron said former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine, who carried out a policy review on inner-city regeneration for the party, would help "define the powers of these city mayors".

Mr Cameron told the BBC he was a "big fan" of elected mayors, adding: "I think it helps accountability. People then know there is one person that they can praise when they get it right, that they can blame when they get it wrong."

Funding 'cuts'

Under the Tory plans, caps on council tax rises would be scrapped. Instead, if increases broke a certain threshold, 5% of council tax payers could trigger a local referendum.

The Conservatives also propose making councils publish detailed information on expenditure, including senior staff's pay and perks and guidance to stop "rewards for failure" for sacked workers.

Regional Development Agencies would lose their planning and housing powers to councils and the party says it would scrap the controversial Infrastructure Planning Commission - set up by the government to take decisions on major projects like airports to streamline the planning process.

Mr Cameron says ministers have taken too many powers from local authorities over decades.

But local government minister John Healey said: "Labour has devolved power to councils and the public, reversing the centralisation of the Thatcher years.

"The Tory proposals offer little new - our major cities can already choose to have a mayor.

"The Tories say they back councils but are set to cut cash for local authorities, meaning increases to council tax bills or cuts to local services, at a time when people need real help the most."

And the National Housing Federation, which represents housing associations in England, said it would be a mistake to scrap all house-building targets.

Chief executive David Orr said: "Targets ensure there's a clear link between priorities and government spending. They also ensure that, as a nation, we have a clear assessment of the scale of need, and they help to concentrate the minds of central and local government and house-builders alike."

Obama must hold nerve - Mandelson

Lord Mandelson says recovery will involve a complex process

The US and UK economies are in an "uncomfortable place" and both nations must hold a "steady nerve", Lord Mandelson is expected to say.

The business secretary will warn an audience in New York that recovery will take a long time, and urge opposition politicians not to create a "frenzy".

Lord Mandelson will say governments should not make "hurried judgements".

Congress has approved US President Barack Obama's $787bn (

Verdict due in Mills bribery case

Mr Mills denies taking a bribe from Mr Berlusconi

A verdict is expected later in Italy in the trial of British tax lawyer David Mills, who is accused of taking bribes from Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi.

It is alleged Mr Mills took more than

Ministers 'using fear of terror'

Stella Rimington has often been critical of the government

A former head of MI5 has accused the government of exploiting the fear of terrorism to restrict civil liberties.

Dame Stella Rimington, 73, said people in Britain felt as if they were living "under a police state" because of the fear being spread by ministers.

In an interview with Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia and published in the Daily Telegraph, she also attacks the approach taken by the United States.

"The US has gone too far with Guantanamo and the tortures," she said.

"MI5 does not do that. Furthermore it has achieved the opposite effect - there are more and more suicide terrorists finding a greater justification."

She said the British security services were "no angels," but they did not kill people.

Dame Stella, who stood down as the director general of the security service in 1996, has previously been critical of the government's policies, including its attempts to extend pre-charge detention for terror suspects to 42 days and the controversial plan to introduce ID cards.

It is time to take stock and to repeal abusive laws and policies enacted in recent years Mary RobinsonInternational Commission of Jurists

"It would be better that the government recognised that there are risks, rather than frightening people in order to be able to pass laws which restrict civil liberties, precisely one of the objects of terrorism - that we live in fear and under a police state," she said.

Dame Stella's comments come as a study is published by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) that accuses the US and the UK of undermining the framework of international law.

'Take stock'

Former Irish president Mary Robinson, the president of the ICJ said: "Seven years after 9/11 it is time to take stock and to repeal abusive laws and policies enacted in recent years.

"Human rights and international humanitarian law provide a strong and flexible framework to address terrorist threats."

The Conservatives said the government's push to extend the detention time limit for terror suspects was the kind of measure condemned by the report.

Shadow security minister Baroness Neville-Jones said: "The Conservative Party is committed to ensuring that security measures are proportionate and adhere to the rule of law."

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Ed Davey said: "This is damning testament to just how much liberty has been ineffectually sacrificed in the 'war on terror'."

Dame Stella became the first female head of MI5 in 1992.

Stroke services are 'UK's worst'

Specialist services for stroke patients in Powys are said to be scarce

Services for stroke victims in Wales are the worst in the UK, a leading stroke expert has claimed.

Dr Tony Rudd, who assessed services in Wales, England and Northern Ireland two years ago, said services in Wales were "scandalously bad".

He makes the claim in BBC Wales' current affairs programme Week In Week Out which investigated the issues with stroke treatment provision in Wales.

However, the Wales Stroke Alliance said improvements had been made to services.

Dr Rudd has kept tabs on any improvements to the stroke services in Wales since his assessment in 2007

He said they had "remained virtually stationary" in Wales over the 10 years he had been assessing them.

Welsh politicians should be ashamed of themselves for letting the situation drift, he said.

Brain scan

The Week In Week Out investigation of stroke treatment provision in Wales found that specialist services in Powys were particularly scarce.

The programme also found there are too few hospital staff available in Wales to scan or assess stroke victims at weekends.

Many hospitals do not meet the best practice guidelines of administering a brain scan within 24 hours and administering physiotherapy within 72 hours, Week In Week Out discovered.

However, Dr Ann Freeman, chair of the Wales Stroke Alliance, said improvements had been made over the last year.

She said there were now three hospitals offering special clot-busting drugs for stroke victims compared with none two years ago.

The Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant near Cardiff has also developed a service with 24/7 scanning for stroke victims.

Dr Freeman said she hoped that by 2010, stroke patients in Wales would get a service as good as that found in England.

Leadership

In 2007, the Welsh Assembly Government committed

Government accused over terrorism

Stella Rimington has often been critical of the government

A former head of MI5 has accused the government of exploiting the fear of terrorism to restrict civil liberties.

Dame Stella Rimington, 73, stood down as the director general of the security service in 1996.

In an interview with Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia and published in the Daily Telegraph, she also attacks the approach taken by the United States.

"The US has gone too far with Guantanamo and the tortures. MI5 does not do that," she said.

"Furthermore it has achieved the opposite effect - there are more and more suicide terrorists finding a greater justification."

Dame Stella has previously been critical of the government's policies, including its attempts to extend pre-charge detention for terror suspects to 42 days and the controversial plan to introduce ID cards.

"It would be better that the government recognised that there are risks, rather than frightening people in order to be able to pass laws which restrict civil liberties, precisely one of the objects of terrorism - that we live in fear and under a police state," she said.

The BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner, said that Dame Stella's comments come as a study is published by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) that accuses the US and the UK of undermining the framework of international law.

'Take stock'

Former Irish president Mary Robinson, the president of the ICJ said: "Seven years after 9/11 it is time to take stock and to repeal abusive laws and policies enacted in recent years.

"Human rights and international humanitarian law provide a strong and flexible framework to address terrorist threats."

The Conservatives said the government's push to extend the detention time limit for terror suspects was the kind of measure condemned by the report.

Shadow security minister Baroness Neville-Jones, said: "The Conservative Party is committed to ensuring that security measures are proportionate and adhere to the rule of law."

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Ed Davey said: "This is damning testament to just how much liberty has been ineffectually sacrificed in the 'war on terror'."

Tories propose more council power

The Tories say they would free councils from central government

Council chiefs should publish their pay and perks to make them more accountable to local people, the Tories say.

The party is due to publish proposals which it says would take more power from central government and give it to local authorities in England.

It also says it would issue new guidance to stop large payouts to sacked staff.

Caps on council tax rises would be scrapped, allowing people to veto excessive rises in local referendums.

The Conservatives will produce what they call their green paper on decentralisation on Tuesday - which includes plans to give people "real influence" over local councils.

Planning

It includes proposals to make councils publish detailed information on expenditure, including senior staff's pay and perks and guidance to stop "rewards for failure" for sacked workers.

The party also says it would scrap the controversial Infrastructure Planning Commission - set up by the government to take decisions on major projects like airports to streamline the planning process.

The Tories argue that the government plans to use it to "force through the environmentally damaging Heathrow expansion".

Other plans include allowing councils to benefit financially from building more houses and from encouraging new businesses in their area.

Regional Development Agencies would lose their planning and housing powers to local councils and the Tories say they would end Whitehall's ability to cap council tax rises - instead allowing local people to veto excessive rises using local referendums.

Tory leader David Cameron has previously described capping bills in England and Wales as "an old-fashioned idea straight out of the bureaucratic age".

Anti-terror tactics 'weaken law'

The law experts said many anti-terror measures breached human rights

The UK and the US have "actively undermined" international law in the way they fight terrorism, a report by judges and lawyers has said.

The independent International Commission of Jurists carried out a three-year global study.

It concluded that many measures introduced to fight terrorism were illegal and counter-productive.

It called for justice systems to be strengthened and warned that temporary measures should not become permanent.

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is a non-governmental organisation which promotes the observance of the rule of law and the legal protection of human rights.

After a painstaking study carried out over three years in several countries, the panel of eminent lawyers and judges concluded that the framework of international law that existed before the 9/11 attacks on the US was robust and effective.

Lack of safeguards

But now, it said, it was being actively undermined by many states and liberal democracies like the US and the UK.

The report remarks upon the extent to which undemocratic regimes with poor human rights records have referred to counter-terror practices of countries like the US to justify their own abusive policies.

Many governments... have allowed themselves to be rushed into hasty responses to terrorism that have undermined cherished values and violated human rights Arthur ChaskelsonPanel chairman

The report will make uncomfortable reading for many in governments on both sides of the Atlantic, says BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner.

The panel said the legal systems put in place after World War II were "well-equipped to handle current terror threats".

It said countries should use civilian legal systems to try suspects and "not resort to ad-hoc tribunals or military courts to try terror suspects".

The report's authors expressed concern at the lack of adequate safeguards in the use of control orders, the weakness of diplomatic assurances in relation to deportations and "excessive detention without charge".

Public protection

Britain's pre-trial detention time limit of 28 days is one of the longest in the world.

The British Home Office said the UK faced a severe threat from terrorism.

INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS Promotes understanding and observance of international law and principles that advance human rights Founded in Berlin in 1952 Comprised of up to 60 lawyers, including senior judges, attorneys and academics Reflects geographical diversity of the world and its many legal systems Current president is Mary Robinson, former Irish president and UN Human Rights Commissioner

"We recognise clearly our obligations to protect the public from terrorist atrocities whilst upholding our firm commitment to human rights and civil liberties," it said in a statement.

"Our policies strike that balance, with new legislation facing rigorous scrutiny through external consultation and in Parliament as well as being subject to the Human Rights Act, which the UK government enacted."

The ICJ report recommended an urgent review of counter-terrorism laws and policies to prevent serious and permanent damage to fundamental human rights principles.

Fear of terrorism

The panel reviewed counter-terrorism measures in over 40 countries, and heard from government officials, victims of terror attacks, and from people detained on suspicion of terrorism.

It found that many states have used the fear of terrorism to introduce measures which are illegal such as torture, detention without trial, and enforced disappearance.

Some of the world's top international law experts served on the ICJ panel, including Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and former United Nations human rights commissioner, and Arthur Chaskelson, former president of the constitutional court of south Africa.

FROM THE BBC WORLD SERVICE More from BBC World Service

Mr Chaskelson, chairman of the panel, said: "In the course of this inquiry, we have been shocked by the extent of the damage done over the past seven years by excessive or abusive counter-terrorism measures in a wide range of countries around the world.

"Many governments, ignoring the lessons of history, have allowed themselves to be rushed into hasty responses to terrorism that have undermined cherished values and violated human rights.

"The result is a serious threat to the integrity of the international human rights legal framework."

The report also called on the US administration of President Barack Obama to repeal any policies that were instigated under the "'war on terror' paradigm" that were inconsistent with international human rights law.

"In particular, it should renounce the use of torture and other proscribed interrogation techniques, extraordinary renditions, and secret and prolonged detention without charge or trial," the report recommended.

It added that the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay should be closed in a "human rights compliant manner", with inmates either released or charged.

President Obama ordered the closure of Guantanamo Bay within hours of becoming president last month, as well as ordering a review of military trials for terror suspects and a ban on harsh interrogation methods.

Farm wildlife cash 'could return'

Set-aside was introduced to try to end food over-production

Farmers could once again receive payments for leaving uncultivated land to wildlife, the government has said.

The European Commission effectively abandoned the compulsory "set-aside" scheme last year for farmers receiving the Single Payment Scheme.

This followed widespread flooding and concerns about high global food prices.

But Environment Secretary Hilary Benn is looking at a replacement voluntary scheme, promising a "better approach" for farmers and the environment.

In a speech to the National Farmers' Union in Birmingham, he called for innovative ways to reintroduce "set-aside".

Mr Benn said he was prepared to consider voluntary, compulsory or incentive-based options. A final decision on the scheme is expected in the summer.

'Very proud'

Environmental groups have raised concern that the lack of uncultivated land deprives birds and other wild creatures of food and refuge.

Introduced in the early 1990s, the system of paying farmers to set aside land from production was designed to discourage over-production after years in which Europe produced mountains of surplus food and drink, threatening commodity prices.

Mr Benn secured agreement last year from fellow EU ministers that individual countries could pay farmers to restore some set-aside land.

In his speech he he said: "I'm very proud of what British farming does for our country. Farmers do so much for the environment out of love of the land.

"And we're working together to see how we can best retain the advantages of set aside, while settling on a better approach for farmers.

"Set-aside delivered important environmental benefits and over time these benefits will be vital to maintaining levels of production."

The European Commission introduced the set-aside scheme in 1992, stipulating that at least 15% of farmers' land which was not used for growing crops had to be left for wildlife.

But it announced in July 2007 that it wanted to reduce the requirement to 0% - effectively abolishing the programme. This move was intended to deal with shortages in the EU cereals market.

Smith to scrap police timesheet

Ms Smith said the timesheet would be scrapped immediately

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has said a police survey in England and Wales will be scrapped to free up time.

The annual survey requires about 50% of officers to document every 15 minutes of their working day over two weeks.

Ms Smith's announcement comes as former Police Federation boss Jan Berry is due to publish the interim findings of a review of red tape.

Ms Smith told the BBC she did not feel under pressure - after newspapers speculated she could face the axe.

The Sunday Times suggested there were concerns about her track record and question marks over her chances of keeping her job in any summer reshuffle - last week she also defended her use of "second home" expenses for the house she shares with her husband and children.

Asked if she was concerned people were briefing against her, she told the BBC: "I'm home secretary. I quite often feel under pressure but not from things like that - from things like keeping the country safe, making sure the police are back on the streets, protecting this country from terrorism and keeping our borders safe."

Technology

Two reports will be published later - the interim findings of Ms Berry's inquiry into police bureaucracy and top civil servant Sir David Normington's review of data collected by officers.

Ms Smith is expected to announce several measures aimed at reducing police bureaucracy, including a panel of officers to examine the impact of any new policies on staff.

She is also expected to say central government will make fewer information requests to police and announce changes to charging practices and more use of technology - like hand-held computers.

Ms Smith told the BBC central government could be blamed for some of the bureaucracy.

Asked about the annual survey, she said: "I think that's wrong. I don't think we should expect the police to fill in the sort of timesheets that we have previously. That's why one of the things I will be saying today is that we are ending that, as of now."

Ms Smith said her priority was that police forces reported to "local people rather than up to Whitehall" and drove up confidence locally by "dealing with the issues that actually matter to people".

Scrapping the timesheet should free up 260,000 hours of police officers' time every year, the government says.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Tom Brake said: "Actions speak louder than words. The government talks the talk when it comes to cutting bureaucracy, yet police officers are struggling under a growing mountain of forms.

"We need officers on the street, not at their desks struggling to complete convoluted tick box forms.

"The government must wean itself off its addiction to centralised police targets and its obsession with creating new offences to allow police forces to concentrate on policing."

Irish may get earlier Lisbon vote

The Irish 'No' vote last June sent shockwaves through the EU

The Irish government is considering whether it would be logistically possible to bring forward the date for a second Lisbon Treaty referendum.

"All options are being considered," an Irish government spokesman told the BBC News website on Monday.

Republic of Ireland voters rejected the EU reform treaty in a referendum last June. October 2009 had been given as the likely month for a new referendum.

The EU has given Ireland sovereignty "guarantees" to reassure voters.

An Irish Times/TNS mrbi opinion poll published on Monday suggests that 51% of voters in the Republic of Ireland would back the controversial treaty now, with 33% saying they would vote "No". It put the number of undecided voters at 16%.

The poll was conducted last Monday and Tuesday among a sample of 1,000 voters across the country.

Correspondents say the economic crisis has boosted support for the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland.

We want to make sure the wording of the guarantees is robust, so that they can stand up to legal challenge Irish government spokesman

The treaty, aimed at strengthening EU institutions, has to be ratified by all 27 member states to take effect. Ireland was the only country to hold a referendum on it.

The Czech Republic and Poland have not yet ratified the treaty either. And in Germany, a legal challenge has sent the treaty to the constitutional court.

Opponents say the treaty is part of a federalist EU agenda that threatens national sovereignty. The also say it differs little from the ill-fated EU constitution, rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005.

Legal discussions

The Irish government spokesman, who declined to be named, said it was "considering whether it is logistically possible" to bring forward the referendum date from October.

He did not rule out that the referendum re-run could coincide with the European Parliament election. The date for that in Ireland is 5 June.

He said the EU "guarantees" for Ireland "are still being worked on", and that "it depends whether they can be signed off in March" by EU leaders.

"We want to make sure the wording of the guarantees is robust, so that they can stand up to legal challenge," he added.

The EU has pledged not to impose rules on Ireland concerning taxation, "family" issues - such as abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage - and the traditional Irish state neutrality.

In last June's referendum on the reform treaty, 53.4% voted "No" to Lisbon, and 46.6% "Yes".

Smith to scrap police time sheet

Ms Smith said the time sheet would be scrapped immediately

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has said a police survey in England and Wales will be scrapped to free up time.

The annual survey requires about 50% of officers to document every 15 minutes of their working day over two weeks.

Ms Smith's announcement comes as former Police Federation boss Jan Berry publishes the interim findings of a review of red tape.

Ms Smith told the BBC she did not feel under pressure - after newspapers speculated she could face the axe.

She said: "I'm home secretary. I quite often feel under pressure but not from things like that - from things like keeping the country safe, making sure the police are back on the streets, protecting this country from terrorism and keeping our borders safe."

Technology

Two reports will be published later - the interim findings of Ms Berry's inquiry into police bureaucracy and top civil servant Sir David Normington's review of data collected by officers.

Ms Smith is expected to announce several measures aimed at reducing police bureaucracy - including a new panel of officers to examine the impact of any new policies on police bureaucracy.

She is also expected to say central government will make fewer information requests to police and announce changes to charging practices and more use of technology - like hand-held computers.

Ms Smith told the BBC central government could be blamed for some of the bureaucracy.

Asked about the annual survey, she said: "I think that's wrong. I don't think we should expect the police to fill in the sort of time sheets that we have previously. That's why one of the things I will be saying today is that we are ending that, as of now."

Ms SMith said her priority was that police forces reported to "local people rather than up to Whitehall" and drove up confidence locally by "dealing with the issues that actually matter to people".

Scrapping the time sheet should free up 260,000 hours of police officers' time, the government says.

Lloyds bonuses 'completely wrong'

The Tory leader said that executives should not get bonuses

Giving bonuses to executives at Lloyds Bank would be "completely wrong", Tory leader David Cameron has said.

Payments totalling

British MPs granted Gaza access

The MPs want to visit UN aid facilities in Gaza

A cross-party delegation of British MPs has been allowed into Gaza to assess the effects of the recent Israeli military offensive.

Members of the Britain-Palestine All Party Parliamentary Group were granted entry by the Israeli Defence Force.

They hope to spend the afternoon being taken around sites damaged during Israel's three-week operation.

Last month Israel mobilised its forces to stop militants firing rockets at its towns from Gaza.

About 1,300 Palestinians are understood to have died in the conflict, while thirteen Israelis died.

The MPs say they want to speak directly to people affected and hope to visit international aid operations, including UN-run sites.

They plan to stay there until at least Tuesday.

As the UK delegation arrived in the region, hopes were dashed that a formal truce could soon be announced between Israel and Hamas, after both sides announced separate ceasefires on 18 January.

The Israeli government announced that a captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, would have to be released before such a deal was struck, not as part of a subsequent prisoner swap.

The parliamentary group's chairman Richard Burden, the Labour MP for Birmingham Northfield, is leading the six-strong team.

'Grim' situation

The MPs want to take witness accounts of what happened during the incursion as well as visiting UK-funded reconstruction projects.

The danger is that people will forget as it goes off of our TV screens. But the families are still living in very difficult circumstances Jasmine Whitbread Save the Children

Mr Burden's was one of the loudest voices calling for a ceasefire during the conflict.

He later tabled a Commons motion - signed by more than 170 MPs - criticising the BBC and Sky News for refusing to broadcast an appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee for funds to provide aid in Gaza.

The MPs' visit has been welcomed by the charity Save the Children.

Chief executive Jasmine Whitbread told the BBC the humanitarian situation was "grim".

"We think that up to 100,000 people have been displaced. Over 90% of the population is dependent on food aid, and it'll be shocking for them I'm sure," she said.

"The danger is that people will forget as it goes off of our TV screens. But the families are still living in very difficult circumstances. So I think it helps to keep the attention on this."

This weekend, a convoy of more than 100 vehicles left the UK for Gaza, where aid worth

Profile: Sir David Freud

Sir David's biggest deals were the subject of fierce criticism

Sir David Freud, a government adviser on welfare reform, has quit to become a frontbench spokesman for the Conservatives.

It is the latest twist in a colourful career that has taken the great-grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund from journalism to the City and now politics.

His involvement in raising

Lloyds bonuses 'reward failure'

Lloyds insists it is right to offer financial rewards to staff who hit targets

Lloyds Banking Group should not pay bonuses to staff who have "failed", the Liberal Democrats have said.

Payments totalling

Ministers reject ID card roll-out

Identity cards were rolled out to foreign nationals last year

The Scottish Government has told Westminster it remains "completely opposed" to its plans to roll out identity cards across the UK.

In a letter to the Home Office, Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing said the cards posed an "unacceptable threat" to civil liberties.

He was responding to a consultation on a code of practice relating to the scheme, which is a reserved matter.

The rules must be in place before the first cards are issued to UK citizens.

Mr Ewing told junior Home Office minister Meg Hillier that money allocated to the scheme would be better spent on more "worthy" causes, such as schools and hospitals.

He said: "Given the current financial climate, the UK Government should have better uses for the vast sums of money being spent on this scheme, which presents an unacceptable threat to citizens' privacy and civil liberties, with little tangible evidence to suggest it will do anything to safeguard against crime and terrorism."

Clarification sought

His letter also sought "clarification" on some of the detail of the proposed regulations and queried the legality of the national identity register under European human rights rules.

Mr Ewing said the overall costs of the scheme could be

AM to become humanist celebrant

Lorraine Barrett says she is conducting more and more funerals

Assembly Member Lorraine Barrett is to quit politics at the next election in 2011 to become a humanist celebrant.

Mrs Barrett, 58, has been an AM for Cardiff South and Penarth since 1999 but said she now wants to spend the next decade "on herself".

She plans to expand her growing role conducting non-religious funerals and civil partnerships.

"I just feel the time is right. I have achieved quite a lot behind the scenes," said Mrs Barrett.

Before her election as an AM, the Rhondda-born coal miner's daughter was a nurse and a Vale of Glamorgan councillor.

She also worked as an assistant to Cardiff South and Penarth MP Alun Michael for 12 years.

My life has now taken a new path with my celebrant's work and I am looking forward to new challenges Lorraine Barrett AM

Mrs Barrett, who informed her constituency party of her decision last week, said she would be committed to her constituency work until she retires from politics in 2011.

She is a member of the health and sustainability committees at the assembly and also chairs the all-party animal welfare group and all party co-operative.

She has also been an assembly commissioner since 2007.

"I have taken this decision because I trained last summer with the British Humanist Association as a humanist celebrant and I now conduct humanist or non-religious funeral ceremonies," she said.

She said she mainly conducted the funerals around her political commitments, on Mondays and Fridays and during recesses.

"It's going very well and I get huge satisfaction in being able to do something so special for families at the most difficult time of their lives.

New path

"I want to develop my work as a celebrant to do baby-namings, weddings and civil partnerships.

"I also want to do more work with the British Humanist Association and the National Secular Society. It is for that reason that I have decided not to stand at the next election.

"My life has now taken a new path with my celebrant's work and I am looking forward to new challenges."

She said that one of her plans was to do more with the Marie Curie Hospice in Penarth, where she is the patron.

Mrs Barrett's husband Paul is a rock and roll agent who used to manage Shakin' Stevens.

They have two children, drum and bass DJ High Contrast (Lincoln Barrett) and Satellite City actress Shelley Barrett, and two grandchildren and lives in Penarth.

She is also an honorary associate of the National Secular Society.

Anger at advice to stop oil claim

North Sea oil began pumping from the middle of 1975

Nationalists have hit out after documents from the 1970s revealed strategies to stop Scotland laying claim to North Sea oil.

The Whitehall briefings suggest delaying a referendum on devolution and redrawing the boundaries of Scotland's coastal waters.

First Minister Alex Salmond condemned what the SNP called "deceit and desperation" by UK governments.

Labour said the views had not been its policy and it had delivered devolution.

Billions of barrels of oil have been pumped from the North Sea since 1975 and experts believe between 25 and 30 billion barrels could still be recovered over the next 40 years.

The documents obtained by the Times newspaper indicate there were proposals to prevent Scotland laying claim to the North Sea reserves in the event of independence.

We now see a UK Government dragging Scotland into recession and cutting Scotland's funding to pay for their record levels of debt Stewart HosieSNP Treasury spokesman

It quotes extracts from a paper written in 1975 by Sir David Walker, the then Assistant Secretary at the Treasury.

Sir David said that "progress toward devolution should be delayed for as long as possible", despite a referendum being a Labour manifesto commitment at the time.

Advisors also suggested the boundaries of Scotland's coastal waters should be redrawn and a new sector created to "neutralise" Scotland's claim.

One official even proposed a local campaign for independence in Orkney and Shetland in order to split territorial claims to oil production.

First Minister Alex Salmond said: "These papers are proof positive of the bad faith of successive UK Governments - Labour and Tory - in depriving Scotland of access to our own North Sea resources for nakedly political reasons."

SNP Treasury spokesman Stewart Hosie said: "The UK Government has conspired to keep Scotland from her oil wealth and her independence for over 30 years.

There is a Scottish Parliament, delivered by Labour, and Orkney and Shetland remain integral parts of Scotland Michael ConnartyLabour MP

"These new revelations of plots and plans to change the border, delay devolution and manipulate the position of Shetland and Orkney expose the lengths to which successive UK Government's have gone."

Sir David Walker is currently investigating the banking crisis and bonus payments for the UK Government.

Mr Hosie added: "Where we now see a UK Government dragging Scotland into recession and cutting Scotland's funding to pay for their record levels of debt, Norway's oil fund is worth over