Edward Snowden Letter: US Blocking Asylum

Intelligence services whistleblower Edward Snowden has reportedly accused US officials of waging a campaign to stop him taking up offers of asylum.

The claim was made in a letter sent to a Human Rights Watch official, ahead of a meeting with human rights groups at the Moscow airport where he has been holed up for weeks.

The letter said: "I have been extremely fortunate to enjoy and accept many offers of support and asylum from brave countries around the world. These nations have my gratitude.

"Unfortunately, in recent weeks we have witnessed an unlawful campaign by officials in the US government to deny my right to seek and enjoy this asylum under Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Protesters have shown their support for Snowden

"The scale of threatening behaviour is without precedent: never before in history have states conspired to force to the ground a sovereign president's plane to effect a search for a political refugee."

That remark appears to refer to how Austrian authorities last week searched the Bolivian president's plane when it was diverted to Vienna because the US suspected Snowden was on board.

The letter continues: "This dangerous escalation represents a threat not just to the dignity of Latin America or my own personal security, but to the basic right shared by every living person to live free from persecution."

Snowden is wanted by the US on espionage charges over a series of leaks about spying programmes, with his most recent claims involving collaboration between Microsoft and American intelligence services.

He fled to Moscow from Hong Kong on June 23 and has been in limbo in Sheremetyevo airport's transit area despite three countries - Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia - saying they would be willing to grant him asylum.

It is unclear whether Snowden could fly from Moscow to any of those countries without passing through the airspace of the US or its allies.

The head of Amnesty International in Russia, Sergei Nikitin, confirmed he had been invited to meet the former National Security Agency contractor there and said he planned to attend.

In the letter to Human Rights Watch, Snowden said he wanted to discuss the "next steps forward in my situation" at 2pm UK time.

A top Moscow lawyer, Genri Reznik, said the meeting would be at 1.30pm UK time and that he expected Snowden wanted to explore the idea of getting asylum in Russia.

Snowden's latest evidence concerns the NSA spying on Skype video calls

Snowden is seeking to avoid extradition after divulging embarrassing evidence about the activities of US spies, as well as the British eavesdropping agency GCHQ, to newspapers including The Guardian.

The latest files said Microsoft helped America's National Security Agency (NSA) to circumvent encryption so it could view web chats on the Outlook.com portal, which is replacing Hotmail.

Evidence seen by the paper said Microsoft also worked to give the NSA easier access to its cloud storage service SkyDrive, which has more than 250 million users. And by July 2012, nine months after Microsoft bought Skype, the Prism intelligence programme was collecting triple the amount of Skype video calls.

Major tech firms in Silicon Valley have been calling on the Obama administration to let them reveal more about their co-operation with the NSA, to alleviate customers' privacy concerns.

Microsoft told the paper it only provides information about users when demanded to do so by the government.

Snowden's files revealed the NSA claimed to have access to the servers of web firms including Apple, Google, Facebook and Yahoo, while GCHQ scans vast amounts of internet traffic through a system of fibre optic cables.

The US on Thursday told China it was "disappointed" that Snowden was not handed over before he had a chance to leave Hong Kong. He had fled to the Chinese territory after he began to leak documents.

President Barack Obama expressed his "concern" as he met with Chinese officials in Washington, a month after he and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had agreed to co-operate more on "difficult issues".

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Wrongly Jailed Mum Loses Compensation Fight

A woman who was wrongly jailed for killing her baby son has lost her fight for compensation at the European Court of Human Rights.

Lorraine Allen, 43, was convicted in 2000 of the manslaughter of four-month-old Patrick and sentenced to three years in prison.

He died two years earlier in what had been called a "shaken-baby" case.

A child born while she was serving her sentence was taken away from her and placed for adoption.

The conviction was quashed in 2005 after fresh medical evidence suggested Patrick's injuries could have been caused in other ways, but Ms Allen was denied compensation after arguing she had been the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

Ms Allen, who lives in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, was told she was not entitled to a pay-out because there were no new facts in her case.

She challenged the decision by judicial review, but this was refused by the High Court in 2007 and the subsequent appeal was dismissed in 2008.

The Strasbourg court has now ruled that her right to the presumption of innocence had not been breached.

The court found that UK judges properly considered whether any miscarriage of justice had taken place and concluded that this had not been established beyond reasonable doubt.

The ruling is expected to come as a blow to others who had hoped to get pay-outs after having their convictions overturned.

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Lee Rigby's Funeral: Soldier 'A Gentle Soul'

Drummer Lee Rigby has been remembered as a "gentle soul" who was "larger than life" as thousands of mourners gathered to remember the murdered soldier.

Members of the public applauded the 25-year-old's family, who joined about 800 mourners inside for the private funeral service at Bury Parish Church.

Drummer Rigby's wife Rebecca walked in with the couple's two-year-old son Jack, who wore a T-shirt with the words "My Daddy My Hero" on the back.

On the front of Jack's T-shirt were the words: "My Daddy's A Fusilier. Lee Rigby."

The soldier's comrades and forces veterans were also applauded as they arrived at the church, where comrades had maintained a guard of honour overnight.

Mourners lined the street to the funeral to pay their respects

The father-of-one, a drummer in the 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (2RRF), was killed as he returned to Woolwich barracks from the Tower of London in May.

Ahead of the service, a silence was held at Woolwich before the Last Post was played.

Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson were among dignitaries attending the funeral.

Delivering the eulogy, Drummer Rigby's commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Jim Taylor described him as "an extremely popular soldier".

"A larger-than-life personality, he loved to perform and belonged in the Second Fusiliers' Corps of Drums," he said.

"He was truly charismatic. 

Mr Johnson and Mr Cameron arrived together

"To be with Lee was to be where it was most fun - the centre of good times and much mischief.

"Lee had a natural swagger and the confidence of someone truly comfortable in their own skin.

"He was always happy. His smile was infectious, as was his enthusiasm for soldiering and his passion for life."

Lieutenant Colonel Taylor said Drummer Rigby joined the Army in 2006 on his third attempt, fulfilling his "lifelong ambition".

He said it was "an early indication of how doggedly determined he was when he set his mind to something".

The Order of Service for the memorial

Ending his eulogy, the commanding officer said: "Today we, his regimental family, salute a fallen comrade.

"A talented soldier and musician. A larger-than-life character. A loyal friend and brother-in-arms. A gentle soul.

"Above all a true Fusilier - daring in all things. We all feel his loss keenly. We will remember him with pride always.

"Today we stand shoulder to shoulder with his family and friends. We will continue to do so in the years to come.

"So, thanks be to God for Lee Rigby - father, husband, son, brother, friend, Fusilier. We will remember him."

Drummer Rigby had served in Afghanistan as a machine gunner and was attached to the regimental recruiting team when he was murdered.

Drummer Rigby with his son

The killing sparked nationwide shock and revulsion and led to an outpouring of support for his family from the public.

The family wanted a private service with mourners asked to show their respects by lining the streets outside.

Mourners heard the service on loudspeakers from inside the church.

The hymns were Who Would True Valour See, Lord Of All Hopefulness and I Vow To Thee My Country, and the choir sang Deep Peace Of The Running Wave.

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Stuart Hall Sentence Goes To Court Of Appeal

The Attorney General has referred the sentence of disgraced BBC presenter Stuart Hall to the Court of Appeal for review after complaints it was too lenient.

The 83-year-old former It's A Knockout presenter was jailed for 15 months in June after admitting indecent assaults on 13 girls.

The attacks spanned three decades and involved children aged as young as nine.

More than 150 people came forward to demand that the Attorney General's Office consider Hall's sentence for referral.

An AGO spokeswoman said: "Having carefully reviewed this case, the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve QC MP, has decided to refer the sentence of Stuart Hall to the Court of Appeal for review.

"The case will in due course be heard by three Court of Appeal judges who will decide whether or not the sentence is unduly lenient and whether they should increase the sentence."

The length of the jail term was immediately criticised as "unduly lenient" by shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry, who urged Mr Grieve to look at the matter.

Hall was given an OBE in 2012

Harriet Harman, deputy leader of the Labour party, also added to calls for the sentence to be referred.

The Court of Appeal usually lists cases referred for being unduly lenient in about five to seven weeks.

Harrowing details of the sex abuse suffered by Hall's victims were described during his trial at Preston Crown Court.

The prosecution told how a 13-year-old victim was assaulted after they had played tennis, when he is said to have told her: "Sometimes thank you was not enough in words."

He told a 10-year-old girl to cuddle him "like she would one of her teddies" after he had given her steak and champagne, the court heard.

He preyed on a nine-year-old girl while she was in bed.

Another victim, who was 17 at the time, was attacked while dressed as a cheerleader for the filming of It's A Knockout.

Hall initially told police his victims were lying as part of a "vendetta" against people in the public eye.

When arrested last December over three claims of indecent assault, he described the allegations as "nonsense".

He told an officer one of the complainants was "a complete and utter liar".

Hall, of Wilmslow, Cheshire, went on to issue an impassioned on-camera denial of any wrongdoing, describing the allegations against him as "cruel".

More women came forward as a result of publicity and Hall later admitted 14 indecent assaults on 13 girls between 1967 and 1987.

Hall was a familiar face and voice in British broadcasting for half a century.

He was last year awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours for his services to television and charity.

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Shard Protest: Activists Climb London Landmark

Six protesters from Greenpeace have evaded security at London's Shard skyscraper and are attempting to climb to the top.

Officers were called at 4.20am when the activists, who are from the UK, Canada, Sweden, Poland, Holland and Belgium, began to ascend the 72-storey building.

A statement from Greenpeace said the action was part of their campaign against oil and gas drilling in the Arctic and that the activists carried out a safety assessment beforehand. 

The climbers scaling the Shard

The women were able to access the Shard from the roof of nearby London Bridge station, after months of planning and training.

The campaigners said they chose the Shard because of its proximity to oil company Shell's three London offices.

"Shell is leading oil companies' drive into the Arctic, investing billions in its Alaskan and Russian drilling programmes," Greenpeace said in a statement.

The lead climbers are understood to be 'free climbing' (scaling the building without assistance) but are fixing safety ropes as they make their way to the summit. 

Greenpeace are streaming live video of the attempt from a camera worn by one of the climbers.

The group of six women began their climb at 4.20am. Pic: Greenpeace

A statement on the Greenpeace UK Twitter account said: "Look up London. We're attempting to scale the Shard, Europe's tallest skyscraper."

The women are understood to be planning to unveil protest artwork "that captures the beauty of the Arctic" if they manage to reach the summit, which could take them all day.

One of the climbers is Victoria Henry, 32, a Canadian living in London. 

They accessed the Shard from London Bridge station. Pic: Greenpeace

"We'll try to hang a huge art installation 310m up that will make Shell think twice before sending their rigs into the Arctic," she said.

"It's going to be really hard work, it's going to be nerve-shredding for all of us and we may not succeed, but we're going to do everything we can to pull it off."

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: "We were called at 4.20am today to a group of protesters attempting to climb up the Shard. We are in attendance and monitoring the situation along with British Transport Police."

Climbers Sabine, Sandra, Victo, Ali, Wiola & Liesbeth. Pic: Greenpeace

A Shard spokesman said: "The Shard continues to work with the emergency services and we are in constant discussion with the Greenpeace representatives to ensure the safety of the protestors.

"We have asked them to stop climbing and come back into the building as what they are doing is dangerous. We take security, health and safety of all our occupiers and visitors to the building extremely seriously.

"The protestors have gained access in the early hours of the morning through an adjacent building and what they are doing is extremely dangerous."

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MPs Pay: Watchdog Backs Hike To £74,000

MPs are set for an inflation-busting pay rise to £74,000 under recommendations from the Commons' expenses watchdog.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) called for a hike of more than £7,000, insisting the overall package was "fair".

The massive 11% rise will take effect after the general election in 2015 and will cost the taxpayer an extra £4.6m.

Ipsa insisted the overall cost will only rise by £500,000 once changes to MPs' pensions, "golden goodbyes" and expenses are enforced.

And chairman Sir Ian Kennedy insisted it was "wrong" to keep MPs' pay low, blaming the 2009 expenses scandal on too much restraint.

However, the move to increase salaries at a time when millions of ordinary Britons are battling to stay afloat left members of the public disgusted.

Ipsa boss Sir Ian Kennedy: Changes are "fair"

Callers to a radio show as Sir Ian justified the changes called it "obscene" and asked "what planet are you on?"

Unions immediately demanded a matching increase for their member and threatened strike action and MPs attacked Ipsa for exposing them to public vitriol.

Party leaders Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg vowed to shun the extra money if the rise goes ahead.

David Cameron did not commit himself but Downing Street insisted it would be wrong for politicians to receive more cash when the public sector faces pay curbs until beyond 2015.

A spokesman for Number 10 said: "The cost of politics should go down not up and MPs' pay shouldn't go up while public sector pay is, rightly, being constrained.

"Ipsa is consulting on its proposals, which it will review after the next election as it is obliged to do by statute. It is independent, but the Government will repeat our view on the need for restraint."

Mr Miliband said: "I don't think MPs should be getting a 10% pay rise when nurses and teachers are facing either pay freezes or very low increases and people in the private sector are facing similar circumstances."

Mr Clegg added that a time when millions of public sector workers were working hard despite pay restraint was "about the worst time to advocate that MPs should get a double digit pay increase".

Ipsa rejected claims the current salary was putting off candidates or failing to attract those of a high enough quality, insisting there was no "compelling evidence" to back this view.

And it said any dissatisfaction with the job is more likely to be down to other factors because most politicians regard their work as a vocation and were well aware of the pay packet.

But under the recommendations, MPs will see their pay increase from £66,396 to £74,000 in May 2015.

They will then rise annually in line with average UK earnings, in a move designed to ensure the issue is resolved for the long-term.

Ipsa wants politicians to publish an annual "MoT" explaining the work they have done for the money they receive.

Other changes would see the existing final salary pension scheme downgraded to career average, putting it in line with the rest of the public sector.

Benefits will build up at a rate of 1/51 of salary per year, instead of 1/40, but contributions will drop from 13.75% to 9.2%.

The retirement age will also be the same as for the state pension and death in service benefits will be slashed from 4.25 times salary to double.

Ipsa claims the pension changes will save £2.5m in the first year.

"Golden goodbyes", paid out when MPs lose an election, will still be paid in 2015 and be worth up to £33,000 per politician.

But by 2020 defeated MPs will only be entitled to two weeks' pay for every year of service if they are under 41 and three weeks if they are older.

Expenses face a further clampdown, which Ipsa says will save £178,000 in 2015 with a £15 dinner allowance axed and tighter rules on the use of taxis and hotels.

MPs will also no longer be able to claim for the cost of TV licences and contents insurance on their second homes.

Sir Ian said all MPs would be paid the higher salary, and it would be up to them whether they kept the money.

"We are not going to run 650 employment schemes, that would be daft," he said. "MPs can do what they want to do."

In a statement, he added: "The aim is to have as transparent a system as possible. The public will know what MPs get for their costs and expenses, their salaries and pensions, and what they have done.

"I recognise some will just concentrate on the salary, rather than the package as a whole, and say it's too high; others that it's too low.

"There is no easy way forward on this. We have put together a package of reform which we think is fair and which ends the anomalies of the past."

The watchdog claims changes already made to expenses have saved the taxpayer £35m and that its regime will be £7m-a-year cheaper than the one they inherited.

It is now putting its proposals out for consultation before they are finalised in the autumn. Party leaders cannot stop the watchdog without changing the law.

TaxPayers' Alliance chief executive Matthew Sinclair called the hike "totally unpalatable" and branded Ipsa an "unaccountable quango putting up two fingers to the British public".

"Ipsa is right to be reforming the gold-plated parliamentary pensions and cutting golden goodbyes for retiring or defeated MPs, but it beggars belief that they have come up with a plan that will increase the cost of our politicians when everyone's budgets are under such pressure," he said.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow warned: "Be in no doubt, RMT will be fighting for pay rise parity with MPs in all of our negotiations and will have no hesitation in striking to get for our members what the politicians have got for themselves.

"If inflation-busting pay increases are good enough for the political class then they are good enough for nurses, transport workers, firefighters and the rest of the working class."

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Royal Mail Privatisation Plans To Be Unveiled

The process of selling off the Royal Mail begins today with the promise of free shares for workers weighed against fears about layoffs and higher postage costs.

Business Secretary Vince Cable will outline details of the flotation to MPs in the Commons at 12.30pm.

He will be hoping the offer of shares worth £2,000 each to its 150,000 staff, as earlier revealed by Sky News, will stave off fierce opposition to the sale among workers and union ranks.

The Initial Public Offering (IPO) will value the business at up to £3bn while the stake offered to staff would represent a 10% interest.

Moya Greene, chief executive of Royal Mail, has held talks with scores of potential investors in recent months in an attempt to persuade them to back the plans.

But she faces opposition from unions and many employees, who fear privatisation will lead to a shake-up of services, higher prices and job cuts.

Steve Butts, a Royal Mail staff member for the past 32 years, told Sky News: "I think privatisation will only bring a race to the bottom for employees.

"Any private investor would always want to make money and the way they are going to do that is to drive down our terms and conditions."

The scale of resistance will be underlined when the Communication Workers Union delivers a giant postcard to Royal Mail HQ protesting against the move.

Supporters of the privatisation argue that it would raise hundreds of millions of pounds to help modernise the mail system in Britain.

Robert Hammond, director of post and market analysis at Consumer Futures, told Sky News: "I would hope that a privatised Royal Mail would be looking to expand on their products and services, and to make those services ready for 21st century consumers."

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San Francisco Crash: Pilot Warnings 'Ignored'

One of the pilots of Asiana Flight 214 that crashed in San Francisco shouted warnings that were ignored, according to South Korean media.

Sources in the country's transport ministry confirmed Bong Dong Won - who was in the cockpit jump seat - repeatedly yelled "sink rate" in the final minute before the crash, it was reported.

If the sink rate - the rate of decrease in altitude - was checked when Mr Bong raised the alarm, it may have prevented the plane from hitting the seawall as it landed at San Francisco Airport, reports said.

But the two pilots at the controls - Lee Kang Kuk and his instructor Lee Jung Min - apparently did not respond to Mr Bong's shouted warnings, the respected Joongang Daily newspaper said.

The crash killed two Chinese students and left more than 180 injured.

Among those injured were two flight attendants in the back of the plane who survived despite being thrown onto the runway as the plane crashed on Saturday.

The charred remains of the plane remain on the runway

US investigators previously said that just 1.5 seconds before the plane crashed, a member of the flight crew asked to abort the landing, though it was too late to take such action.

However, it is now being reported that Mr Bong started giving warnings 54 seconds before impact.

There was also a fourth pilot - the relief captain - on board, but he was not in the cockpit at the time of the crash. 

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has confirmed that Mr Bong had flown five to six times to San Francisco and previously worked for the Korean air force as a fighter pilot.

Lee Kang Kuk was around halfway through his training for the Boeing 777, but had led 29 flights to San Francisco on Boeing 747s in the past, according to the airline.

Wang Linija (left) and Ye Mengyuan died in the crash

However, his trainer had not flown in that role before, the NTSB said.

At 41, Mr Bong is much younger than the other two pilots in the cockpit.

A Korean Airlines Boeing 747 crashed in Guam in 1997 - a crash that investigators blamed in part on an authoritarian cockpit culture that made newer pilots reluctant to challenge captains.

But since then, the industry has adopted broad training and requirements that mean pilots who are not at the controls should feel free to voice any safety concerns.

Sky News producer Jen Kwon, a South Korean based in Beijing, said: "Even though Bong Dong Won is younger than the other two pilots in the cockpit I do not believe that age or rank would be a reason why people would not respond to a warning.

"Perhaps conservative Korean traditional culture might be a bar to communication in many aspects of Korean life, it is hard to imagine the same happening in a cockpit of a civil airliner after seeing what had happened to their competing airline company, Korean Airlines."

Mr Yoon (centre) has defended the four pilots

South Korean-based Asiana has defended the four pilots as "very competent".

The airline's chief executive, Yoon Young-Doo, lashed out at reports that pilot inexperience may have been to blame for the fatal crash, saying such speculation was "intolerable".

The aircraft went skidding out of control after clipping the seawall, breaking up and bursting into flames when one of its engines caught fire.

The NTSB said the plane was flying far too slowly before the landing. Its investigation is expected to continue for months and it has warned against speculating about the cause of the crash.

But the Air Line Pilots Association International (Alpa) has already criticised the information provided by the NTSB.

"The NTSB's release of incomplete, out-of-context information has fuelled rampant speculation about the cause of the accident," Alpa said.

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Deadly West London Flat Fire 'Suspicious'

The Metropolitan Police have said they are treating a fire which led to the deaths of two people and tore through neighbouring flats in Heston, west London, as suspicious.

Some 58 firefighters and officers were called to the blaze, which broke out above a shop near the junction of Church Road and Heston Road, at around 1.40am.

Firefighters said three people jumped out of the burning building

Three people are believed to have jumped from the second floor of the burning building before fire crews arrived.

An injured woman found in the street was subsequently pronounced dead, while two men, aged 18 and 37, are being treated for multiple injuries at St Mary's Hospital in central London.

Firefighters found the body of another person during a search of the flat.

Local roads have been closed around the flats

The names of those killed in the fire, which was spotted by police officers during a routine patrol, have not yet been released.

Kudzanayi Taziwa, who was in the building at the time, told Sky News: "I heard a loud bang. When I opened the window, I saw some shattered windows on the ground and I thought there had been a car crash. That's when I realised there was a body on the floor."

The cause of the blaze is under investigation by police and fire officers.

London Fire Brigade sent eight fire engines to the scene

It is thought to have started inside one of the flats before spreading to neighbouring properties, damaging half of the roof of the building and parts of the second floor.

Around 50 people who were evacuated from their homes were taken to a nearby village hall.

The local council is attempting to find emergency accommodation for anyone unable to return.

The deadly fire happened overnight

Road closures are also in place while firefighters investigate the blaze.

Officials from Hounslow borough council are at the scene and police officers from the Met's Homicide and Serious Crime Command have been contacted.

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Miliband Vows To Reform Labour's Union Ties

Ed Miliband has made one of the biggest gambles of his leadership by vowing to radically reform Labour's relationship with the unions.

In a move that could cost his party millions in funding and lost membership, Mr Miliband unveiled steps to weaken union influence.

Under his proposals, sparked by the Falkirk ballot-rigging scandal, union members will no longer be automatically affiliated to Labour when they join.

Members will instead be given the chance to "opt in" to a £3 donation which currently goes straight to the party.

"I do not want any individual to be paying money to the Labour Party in affiliation fees unless they have deliberately chosen to do so," he said.

Mr Miliband is battling to head off a crisis sparked by events in Falkirk, where Unite is accused of trying to use its members to secure selection of a particular candidate.

Labour has given evidence to police in Scotland related to the claims but it has sparked wider questions and put the leader under major pressure to curb union influence.

On Monday, the Tories called on the Met Police to investigate the selection in two more constituencies - this time in Greater London.

Unite, which has given Labour more than £8m since 2010, denies any wrongdoing and branded the move an "obscene" political stunt which would waste police time.

Party sources insist Mr Miliband had always intended to deliver reforms but there was no attempt to deny that the timing of the announcement was linked to the Falkirk scandal.

Crucially, however, it was emphasised that the changes would need to be "carefully implemented in detail and over time" and no explicit timetable has been given.

Mr Miliband's plans to end the "politics of the machine" would see millions of trade union members decide individually whether they wanted to be affiliated to the party.

Spending caps would apply in domestic and European parliamentary elections, covering both would-be candidates and any organisation backing them.

Unite boss Len McCluskey

There would also be a new code of conduct for aspiring candidates, with the prospect of disqualification if they break the rules.

And standard constituency agreements with unions would aim to ensure no one involved in the selection process could be subjected to "undue local pressure".

Mr Miliband also wants to use a system of US-style primaries to pick Labour's next candidate for mayor of London.

The approach could be extended to the selection of parliamentary candidates where the local constituency party is weak.

The Labour leader said: "What we saw in Falkirk is part of the death-throes of old politics. It is a symbol of what is wrong with politics. I want to build a better Labour Party - and build a better politics for Britain."

Officials acknowledge ending automatic affiliation will represent a financial "hit" for the party but Mr Miliband claimed it was also an opportunity to mobilise union members.

"I believe this idea has huge potential for our party and our politics. It could grow our membership from 200,000 to a far higher number, genuinely rooting us in the life of more people of our country," he will say.

Even before the speech was delivered, Unite boss Len McCluskey - who is at the centre of the row - indicated he would oppose the proposals.

He said: "Switching to an 'opt-in' for the political levy wouldn't work. It would require Labour to unite with the Tories to change the law, would debilitate unions' ability to speak for our members and would further undermine unions' status as voluntary, and self-governing, organisations."

Conservative Party Chairman Grant Shapps claimed the plans were meaningless.

"Under Ed Miliband's weak proposals, including a code of conduct that already exists, it would still be the same old Labour Party - bankrolled by the unions, policies rigged by the unions and candidates chosen by the unions," he said.

"The reality is Ed Miliband cannot change Labour because he cannot stand up to the union barons who elected him. That means he's too weak to stand up for hardworking people and too weak to run the country."

But former prime minister and Labour leader Tony Blair told Sky News he believed it was a defining moment for his successor.

"It is bold and strong. It is real leadership," he said. "He is carrying through a process of reform in the Labour Party that is long overdue and frankly probably I should have done it when I was leader.

"At the same time what he is doing is sending a very strong message to the country that in the end he will do what is right and that he will govern for all the country and not simply one section of it."

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Kidlington Siege: Armed Man Frees Daughters

An armed man is holed up in a property where he was holding his two-year-old twin daughters, police have said.

Thames Valley Police said they are in "regular communication" with the 38-year-old, who has released both girls from the property in Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

The first girl was released at around 9.45am, while the second girl emerged from the house just under two hours later.

A Land Rover pulled up at the scene at around 11.30am and team of around six armed officers with shields and helmets got out and went straight into the property, the Oxford Mail reports.

Police are at the scene in Kidlington, central Oxfordshire

They emerged moments later with four officers "carrying the girl sideways", according to the paper.

Police have said the siege is over a "domestic incident" and they believe the man is in possession of "a number of firearms".

A police spokesman said: "Thames Valley Police was called at 3.40am to an address in Morton Avenue to reports that a 38-year-old man was holding twin two-year-old girls at the property.

"The man is believed to be the father of the children, but is estranged from the mother and does not live at that address.

Police said the man did not make any threats to harm the girls.

Armed officers were deployed to the scene and a cordon has been placed around the property.

An ambulance is also parked outside the house.

Area commander Superintendent Christian Bunt said: "It is believed the man is armed, although no indication has been given that he wishes to harm the children.

"We are doing all we can and our officers are determine to bring this situation to a close as soon as is possible."

More follows...

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Dismembered Body Identified: Son Arrested

By James Matthews, Scotland Correspondent

Police have named a woman whose dismembered body was found in a shallow grave in Edinburgh as 66-year-old Phyllis Dunleavy from Dublin.

A 39-year-old man has been arrested and charged in connection with her murder.

Sky News understands that the man arrested is James Dunleavy, the son of the dead woman.

He was arrested in Edinburgh on Monday evening and is due to appear in court later today.

The woman's remains were discovered last month by a cyclist on Corstorphine Hill, overlooking Edinburgh.

In an effort to establish who she was, detectives published the image of a facial reconstruction.

They also displayed pictures of rings that were found with the woman's body and published details of her dental work in dentist trade magazines.

Police identified the body as Phyllis Dunleavy several days ago but her name has only just been made public.

Sky sources say that Ms Dunleavy was identified after relatives in Ireland recognised her from the facial reconstruction put together by scientists at Dundee University.

They produced the facial likeness using the dead woman's skull.

Detectives highlighted the fact that she had undergone extensive dental treatment, pointing out that her teeth had veneers and implants.

The investigation team received more than 30 calls from members of the public as far afield as Israel after releasing the reconstruction image.

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San Francisco Crash Survivors Tell Of Horror

Survivors have spoken of the terrifying moment a pilot tried to abort a plane landing seconds before it crashed onto the runway in San Francisco.

Two Chinese teenagers died after the Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 in the impact, shortly after the jet reportedly hit a sea wall.

Benjamin Levy said: "The nose of the plane, as you know, goes up a little bit. And then full throttle starts hitting hard and then we felt that we were going up again, so that's why I said maybe the guy is about to pull one of those almost mislandings and go back up.

"But it didn't happen, we just crashed back. So as I say - if we flipped, none of us would be here to talk about it."

Xu Da, a product manager from China, was sitting with his wife and teenage son near the back of the plane.

He stood up and saw a gaping hole through the back of the plane where its galley was torn away along with the tail.

The tail of the plane was torn away. Pic. NTSB/Twitter

Xu and his family escaped through the opening. Once on the tarmac, they watched the plane catch fire, and firefighters hose it down.

In the chaotic moments after the landing, Wen Zhang grabbed her four-year-old son, who hit the seat in front of him and broke his leg.

Spotting a hole at the back of the jumbo jet where the bathroom had been, she carried her boy to safety.

"I had no time to be scared," she said.

Eugene Rah said: "The seat I was sitting in, it has one more strap coming across my chest here in addition to the one that goes around the waist because It was a sleeper seat. If I did not have that, I would have hit the ceiling: that's how hard the impact was."

Oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling during the crash. Pic. NTSB/Twitter

Fred Hayes filmed the crash from around a mile away: "I was watching it come in and I did notice that nose being up in the air. My initial reaction was that it was trying to abort the landing and go back up.

"There was big boom and then it pitched forward and bounced off its nose," he told CNN.

One of the flight attendants on the flight described the chaos as she and her colleagues began their evacuation of more than 300 people.

Sky's Asia correspondent Mark Stone said Lee Yoon Hae told South Korean media that she first went to the cockpit to see if the pilots were alive. She then made three announcements telling the 291 passengers to remain calm and prepare to evacuate.

There were four pilots on the plane: two in the cockpit and two more reserve pilots in the main cabin. One of the reserve pilots opened the front door with an axe and ordered the evacuation.

Video showed hundreds of people running down emergency chutes

Stone said Mrs Lee, 40, explained how one of her colleagues had a leg trapped. She helped to release her leg and at the same time tried to calm the passengers, some of whom were panicking.

Mrs Lee said that many of the passengers were confused and disorientated.

She shouted to the Chinese passengers to evacuate immediately. Many of them tried to take their hand baggage with them but she said she was forced to order them not to.

Mrs Lee said several fires broke out within the cabin and she was not aware that the tail of the plane had broken off because the ceiling between her and the rear of the aircraft had collapsed.

She helped one badly injured female passenger to the emergency slide and then returned back into the aircraft to help others and was one of the last to leave the aircraft.

Mrs Lee, who has already been given 14 awards for her work at Asiana Airlines, broke her coccyx in the accident but was unaware of her injuries until she arrived at the hospital.

Related stories

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Zara and Mike Tindall Expecting First Child

The Queen's granddaughter Zara Tindall is expecting a baby with her husband Mike Tindall.

"Both families are delighted with the news," confirmed the Queen's press secretary.

"Mr and Mrs Mike Tindall are very pleased to announce that Zara Tindall is expecting a baby in the New Year," said the official statement.

"The Princess Royal and Captain Mark Phillips, Mr Phillip and Mrs Linda Tindall, and members of both families are delighted with the news.

"This baby will be the first child for Mike and Zara and the third grandchild for The Princess Royal."

The birth will follow the keenly anticipated arrival of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's baby, which is expected in the coming days.

Mike and Zara Tindall married in Edinburgh in July 2011

Former England rugby international Tindall married Princess Anne's daughter in a private ceremony in July 2011.

Zara, 32, is also an accomplished sportswoman and last year won an Olympic silver medal as part of the equestrian eventing team.

She competed this weekend at Barbury International Horse Trials, says Sky News' Royal Correspondent Paul Harrison.

The child will Princess Anne's third grandchild, as her son, Peter Phillips, has two daughters.

Zara Tindall is currently 14th in line to the throne.

More follows...

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Video Shows Aftermath Of San Francisco Crash

The dramatic evacuation of a Boeing 777 that crashed onto the runway in San Francisco has been captured on film.

Two teenagers were killed and around 180 people were injured, many of them seriously, when Asiana Airlines flight 214 slammed into the runway.

The plane spun as it hit the ground. Pic. CNN/Fred Hayes

The pilot who was flying the plane when it came down had just 43 hours' experience flying that type of aircraft, aviation officials have said.

The amateur video taken immediately after the crash shows black smoke billowing from the plane as the 305 passengers and crew evacuated using the emergency chutes.

It also clearly shows that the aircraft's tail has been torn off and other parts of the plane were significantly damaged.

Air crash investigators said the crew tried to abort the landing less than two seconds before impact.

Although the captain, Lee Gang-guk, had spent nearly 10,000 hours at the controls of other planes, he had never landed at San Francisco before.

He was sitting alongside another pilot who had flown 3,200 hours in 777s and around 12,000 hours in total.

The mangled interior of the Boeing 777. Pic: NTSB/Twitter

Meanwhile, officials are looking at whether one of the two teenagers killed in the crash was run over by a rescue vehicle.

It is not clear whether she died during the crash or whether she was knocked down as emergency crews rushed to the scene.

As air crash investigators continue to look for the cause of the crash, they published a series of pictures, including one taken inside the wreckage of the plane, showing oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling of the cabin and seats bent at various angles.

The plane's landing gear was separated from the fuselage. Pic: NTSB/Twitter

They have recovered both "black box" in-flight recorders from the 777, which should reveal exactly why the aircraft came down.

Deborah Hersman, head of the National Transportation Safety Board, said the plane was travelling well below its target speed of 157mph.

She said a piece of safety equipment that warns pilots of an impending stall went off moments before the crash.

Investigators study the aircraft's tail fin. Pic: NTSB/Twitter

Cockpit voice recordings revealed the crew's desperate attempts to climb back into the sky but did not suggest any mechanical problems.

No warnings were issued to air traffic controllers until seven seconds before impact.

Although the cause of the crash is yet to be confirmed, one theory is that the plane clipped a sea wall at the end of the runway as it came in to land.

Amateur video obtained by CNN shows the plane landing on the runway and then appearing to spin counter-clockwise before crashing down again with black smoke billowing from its tail.

Meanwhile, further tales from those on the flight from Shanghai, which travelled to San Francisco via a stop-off in Seoul, have emerged.

Fei Xiong, who was taking her eight-year-old son on a trip to Disneyland, said: "My son told me 'The plane will fall down, it's too close to the sea'. I told him,'Baby, it's OK, we'll be fine'."

Xu Da, who was sitting near the back of the plane with his wife and teenage son, described seeing sparks - possibly from exposed electrical wires - and a gaping hole through which he could see the runway.

Wen Zhang climbed from the wreckage with her four-year-old son, who hit the seat in front of him and broke his leg in the crash.

"I had no time to be scared," she said.

The two pilots - part of a crew of 16 - had around 22,000 flying hours between them.

There were 291 passengers on board, many of whom were Chinese.

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Saatchi To Divorce Nigella After Neck Row

Art collector Charles Saatchi has announced he has filed for divorce from Nigella Lawson - citing her refusal to defend his reputation after he was pictured with his hand around her neck at a restaurant.

In a statement, the 70-year-old told The Mail On Sunday: "I am sorry to announce that Nigella Lawson and I are getting divorced.

"I feel that I have clearly been a disappointment to Nigella during the last year or so, and I am disappointed that she was advised to make no public comment to explain that I abhor violence of any kind against women, and have never abused her physically in any way."

The couple were pictured on June 9 during an argument at Scott's restaurant in Mayfair, central London.

Images showed Mr Saatchi with his hand around the 53-year-old celebrity chef's throat.

Ms Lawson, the daughter of former chancellor Lord Lawson, was reportedly seen weeping following the episode. She did not make a complaint to police.

Mr Saatchi voluntarily attended a central London police station and accepted a caution, saying he did not want the incident "hanging over all of us".

But he claimed his wife has refused to answer calls after apparently leaving the family home with her two children, Cosima, 19, and Bruno, 17, from her previous marriage to journalist John Diamond, who died of throat cancer in 2001.

Mr Saatchi, who made his name in advertising, said: "This is heartbreaking for both of us as our love was very deep, but in the last year we have become estranged and drifted apart.

"The row photographed at Scott's restaurant could equally have been Nigella grasping my neck to hold my attention - as indeed she has done in the past."

Mr Saatchi insisted his actions were not violent, saying that while he had his hands around Ms Lawson's neck, "there was no pressure applied to her".

He said the pictures gave a "wholly different and incorrect implication", adding: "I am sorry that we had a row. I am sorry she was upset. I am even more sorry that this is the end of our marriage."

Ms Lawson became a household name in 1998 with her first cookery book, How To Eat. She married Mr Saatchi in 2003.

Her spokesman said: "There is no comment from Nigella."

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Asiana Plane Crash Lands: 'No Engine Problems'

A passenger plane which crash landed at San Francisco International Airport, killing at least two people, had no engine or mechanical problems, according to the airline's boss.

Around 180 people were injured after the South Korean Asiana Airlines jet slammed into the runway, broke off its tail and then the aircraft caught fire. 

The Boeing 777, which originated in Shanghai then flew to Seoul before heading to the US, was believed to be carrying 291 passengers and 16 crew members.

The San Francisco Fire Department, said 181 people were taken to various hospitals - 49 of whom are in a serious condition.

The debris of the aircraft's tail is seen on the runway after the crash

The dead were female Chinese teenagers, aged around 16 or 17, who were seated at the back of the plane. They were found outside the aircraft.

Asiana Airlines chief executive Yoon Young-Doo said: "We purchased this airplane in March 2006... currently we understand that there are no engine or mechanical problems."

Mr Yoon said the crew had made an in-flight broadcast as usual, "asking passengers to buckle up for landing. There was no emergency alarm".

He declined to comment directly on whether the crash on Flight 214 was due to pilot error.

But he said the two pilots had been fully trained in compliance with Korean regulations and had more than 10,000 flying hours of experience between them.

A plume of smoke rose from the plane after the crash landing

Mr Yoon also declined to say whether he believed the crash could have been caused by an error by air traffic controllers at San Francisco.

Terrorism had been ruled out as a cause of the accident, the FBI confirmed.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing the plane's tail section break off during the crash. South Korea's transportation ministry said the tail hit the runway before it crashed.

A fire started when the plane landed and passengers were forced to use emergency inflatable slides to escape the aircraft, witnesses added.

Parts of the tail and the landing gear were strewn across the runway. TV footage showed the top of the fuselage had been burned away and one engine appeared to have broken off.

David Eun, believed to be a passenger on the aircraft, posted on Twitter: "I just crash landed at SFO. Tail ripped off. Most everyone seems fine. I'm ok. Surreal."

The wreckage is visible next to one of the runways at the airport

He added: "Fire and rescue people all over the place. They're evacuating the injured."

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown said the Boeing 777 was supposed to land on runway 28 left at San Francisco International Airport.

She said the sequence of events was still unclear, but it appeared the plane landed and then crashed.

Debbie Hersman, chairman of the Transport Safety Board, said: "Teams are going to be focused on operations, human performance, survival factors, the airport, airport operations and they are going to be focussing on the aircraft - the systems, the structures and the power plants.

"It's still too early for us to tell (what happened).

A statement from San Francisco General Hospital said 10 patients from the crash - eight adults and two children - were in a critical condition.

Asiana is second in size to the South Korean national carrier Korean Air. 

It has recently tried to expand its presence in the United States, and joined the Star Alliance, which is anchored in America by United Airlines.

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Abu Qatada Leaves UK And Arrives In Jordan

Radical preacher Abu Qatada has arrived in Jordan after being flown out of Britain in the early hours.

Home Secretary Theresa May told Sky News that she was "very pleased" to have finally succeeded in deporting the cleric.

"He is now where people wanted him to be - which is not in the UK, but back in Jordan," she said.

Accompanied by four police officers, Qatada left RAF Northolt in west London on a military plane bound for Jordan to stand trial on terror charges.

It is understood Jordanian authorities allowed his family to greet him on his arrival.

The military plane carrying Qatada arrives at Amman Airport in Jordan

It marks the end of an eight-year legal battle to remove Qatada, described by the Government as a "truly dangerous individual" and a "key player" in al Qaeda-related terrorism.

Sky News correspondent Mark White said: "He has been a thorn in the side of five home secretaries who have tried to get rid of him. As far as the British Government and senior politicians are concerned, there will be quiet celebration that he has finally left the country."

Qatada used his human rights to make a series of costly challenges to moves to deport him to his native country.

The case became a national embarrassment, with critics of European human rights legislation claiming it rendered UK politicians powerless to remove someone who they believed to be a clear threat to national security.

Qatada's relatives wait for him outside the State Security Court in Amman

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "I am absolutely delighted. This is something this Government said it would get done and we have got it done.

"It is an issue, like for the rest of the country, has made my blood boil. That this man, who has no right to be in our country, who is a threat to our country, and that it took so long and was so difficult to deport him.

"But we've done it, he's back in Jordan, that's excellent news."

The Home Office spent a total of £1.7m on legal fees from the many court proceedings.

Qatada glances out of the military plane flying him to Jordan

Mrs May said the Jordanian cleric's departure marked "the conclusion of efforts to remove him since 2001 and I believe this will be welcomed by the British public".

She added: "I am glad that this government's determination to see him on a plane has been vindicated and that we have at last achieved what previous governments, Parliament and the British public have long called for.

"This dangerous man has now been removed from our shores to face the courts in his own country.

"I am also clear that we need to make sense of our human rights laws and remove the many layers of appeals available to foreign nationals we want to deport. We are taking steps - including through the new Immigration Bill - to put this right."

Qatada was taken from Belmarsh to RAF Northolt under police escort

It was a treaty signed between the UK and Jordan that finally secured Qatada's departure, giving him the assurances he needed to leave his taxpayer-funded home behind.

The agreement, announced by Mrs May earlier this year, aimed to allay fears that evidence extracted through torture will be used against the father-of-five at a retrial.

In a shock move, Qatada pledged in May to leave Britain with his family if and when the treaty was fully ratified, a process that to the relief of many concluded earlier this week.

After landing at an isolated airstrip near the Jordanian capital Amman, Qatada was driven by police escort to the State Security Court from where he will be transferred to the maximum security Muwaqqar prison, which houses dozens of convicted terrorists.

Qatada had became an object of hate to many

It is understood he will be held in solitary confinement at the jail, until the Jordanian authorities can put him on trial.

Jordanian information minister Mohammed Momani said the country "is keen on credibility and transparency" in handling Qatada.

He added the deportation of the Palestinian-born cleric "sends a message to all fugitives that they will face justice in Jordan".

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "Abu Qatada should have made this decision to face justice in Jordan before, as this has dragged on far too long, but it is extremely welcome news that this saga is now at an end."

Qatada originally fled the Middle East and arrived in the UK in 1993. He was granted asylum the following year.

Theresa May believes Qatada's departure will be widely welcomed

His increasingly radical sermons caught the attention of the security services in Britain and in numerous other countries.

A Spanish judge described him as the "spiritual head of the mujaheddin in Britain".

A number of people arrested on terrorism offences, including British born "shoe-bomber" Richard Reid, admitted seeking religious advice from him.

His sermons were found in the Hamburg flat used by a number of the 9/11 hijackers.

In 2001, on the eve of tough new British anti-terror laws allowing for the detention without trial of foreign terror suspects, Qatada went on the run, before later being arrested and held in Belmarsh prison.

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