Labour Badly Bruised By UKIP In Stronghold

Why The Only Way For Essex Is UKIP

Updated: 8:12pm UK, Friday 23 May 2014

By Jason Farrell, Political Correspondent

Standing by the roadside in their purple rosettes are two retired Essex men, Malcolm Elliott and Dave Morrish. They are brothers-in-law, both living in Thurrock.

One is a right-wing Thatcherite - the other a former left-wing activist who emigrated when Margaret Thatcher was in power.

They have never agreed on politics until now. Now they are waiting for their hero of the hour to arrive, Nigel Farage.

As the anticipation builds, Malcolm tells me: "I've been a socialist all my life but not anymore because nobody's listening."

"What do you think of Ed Miliband?" I ask.

"I don't frankly. I don't believe in any of them anymore."

His brother-in-law Dave agrees. "I voted Tory for 47 years. But I feel it doesn't matter if you vote Tory, Labour or the Lib Dems, what you're going to get is the EU and that's what I don't want. Renegotiation is a nonsense. Every European treaty states that it's not negotiable."

In the local elections UKIP has increased its number of seats in Thurrock from one to six, meaning the council is no longer controlled by Labour. Thanks to UKIP the Conservatives also lost control of Basildon, Brentwood, Castle Point and Southend: Essex man is becoming UKIP man.

As Mr Farage arrives the activists can hardly reach him for the cameras. The UKIP leader tells reporters his success in Essex does not mean he will stand for a seat here.

He also fields a number of questions about why his party failed to make the same impact down the road in London, where they only got 7% of the vote.

"We have a weak voluntary structure in London," he says. "We haven't built it. We haven't developed it. We haven't had the right local leaders. Once we get the right local Leaders we will start having results like this in London."

In previous elections this seat has seesawed from red to blue. The nearby parade of shops tells its own story of a community in decline. A pound shop, a Boots, a butcher's and a Greggs are among a row of otherwise boarded and shuttered facades. The butcher tells me that in the last five years for every shop that has closed, nothing has replaced them.

In Thurrock more than one in five children live in poverty. There has been a 200% increase in the use of food banks in recent months. If Ed Miliband's message about the "cost of living crisis" were to resonate anywhere, you would think it would be here. But instead they are more interested in what Mr Farage has to say about the EU and immigration.

In the local coffee shop I ask a group of pensioners why that is. "In this area we've swung between Labour and the Conservatives," says one man. "And what have either of them done for us? They've put their pay up 11% while our pensions have gone up 1%." There are six of them round the table and they all support UKIP.

The current MP is conservative Jackie Doyle-Price. With a shock of bleach-blonde hair and an upbringing on a Sheffield estate, she is far from fitting the Tories characterisation of Etonian established elite, and she is not someone to trot out the agreed party message.   

"There's been a definite mood on the doorstep of people saying the political classes don't speak to us anymore and if you look at the Westminster debate it's become very managerial, very bland, and along come UKIP with some populist messages and people say to themselves, let's give the main political parties a good kicking, and they have."

The overall mood is that Thurrock feels neglected and ignored by Westminster and therefore easily swept along by a new political wind. It seems, for many in Essex, the only way is UKIP.

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Thailand Police Confront Anti-Coup Protesters

Police and armed soldiers have been involved in a tense stand-off with protesters marching against the military coup in Thailand.

A group of around 200 demonstrators defied limits on public gatherings imposed since the army took control and refused to obey instructions not to march through Bangkok.

As the protesters marched from a shopping centre in the centre of the city they were met by a line of riot police, backed up by heavily-armed soldiers, and ordered to disperse.

Sky News Asia Correspondent Mark Stone, who is at the scene of the confrontation, said it had been "bloodless, but incredibly tense".

He said: "This is very tense because one of the key conditions the general now in charge of this country made was that he did not want any political gatherings of more than five people."

Soldiers descended from a truck as the situation became more tense

Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was in a "safe place" on Saturday, an aide said, after being held by the army following a coup this week,

The army moved on Thursday after failing to forge a compromise in a power struggle between Ms Yingluck's populist government and the royalist establishment, which brought months of unrest to Bangkok's streets.

The military detained Ms Yingluck on Friday when she and scores of other people, most of them her political allies, were summoned to an army facility in Bangkok. 

Lines of riot police and soldiers confronted the protesters

Thailand has been locked in political crisis since a 2006 military coup that deposed Ms Yingluck's elder brother Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire tycoon who clashed with the royalist establishment.

His Red Shirt supporters had warned that any military overthrow of the government could trigger civil war and all eyes are now on how his movement will respond.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said there was "no justification" for the military takeover.

He said it would have "negative implications" for US relations, and demanded early elections.

British ambassador to Thailand Mark Kent said British citizens should "exercise extreme caution" and follow travel advice and media updates."

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Missing Yacht: Life Raft Discovered Unused

The life raft on the missing yacht Cheeki Rafiki has been found unused in its storage space, the US Coast Guard has said.

The search for the missing British sailors ended at 3am UK time after a search of the capsized boat found the only realistic means of survival had not been deployed.

An RAF Hercules plane has also stopped searching after the discovery, the Foreign Office said.

From left: Andrew Bridge, Steve Warren, James Male and Paul Goslin

US Navy divers found a completely flooded cabin with shattered windows, said the Coast Guard.

"A US Navy warship smallboat crew and surface swimmer captured underwater imagery clearly identifying the raft in its storage space [behind the wheel]. The image was shared with and acknowledged by the families," said a statement.

The raft was found stored in the aft of the boat Pic: US Coast Guard

"The crew and swimmer deployed to investigate the overturned boat after a helicopter crew located it 1,000 miles offshore Massachusetts and within the US Coast Guard's search area.

"The Navy surface swimmer determined the boat's cabin was flooded and windows were shattered, contributing to the complete flooding inside."

It had already been announced that the search would be called off in the early hours of Saturday if no signs of possible survival were discovered.

"None of the current developments" indicate the crew are still alive, said the US Coast Guard.

The search effort involved military aircraft and ships

A statement on behalf of Steve Warren's family said it was an "incredibly difficult" time and that the search effort had been "exceptional".

Rafiki after the sad news its hull has been found with the life-raft unused."

The upturned 40ft yacht had been found on Friday, with divers first knocking on the hull to check for signs of life.

The men's familes had campaigned for the search to go on

The families had said they were still hopeful their loved ones would be found despite the search being only hours from ending.

Relatives of Steve Warren, 52, Andrew Bridge, 22, James Male, 23, and Paul Goslin, 56, said they had been told "endless stories" of people surviving for months at sea.

The vessel ran into difficulties on May 15 and began taking on water while returning to the UK from a regatta in Antigua.

The Cheeki Rafiki had been at a regatta in Antigua

Yacht training and charter company Stormforce Coaching said it had been in contact with the skipper at the time, and that the crew were keeping the situation stable.

The original search was halted after 53 hours amid bad weather but resumed on Tuesday after a request from the UK government and a online petition which collected more than 200,000 names.

The hunt included commercial vessels as well as aircraft from the US Coast Guard, US Navy, US Air Force, the Canadian military and the RAF.

Rescuers scoured more than 21,000 square miles of ocean during their second search for the boat.

Experts had agreed it would be impossible for the crew to survive outside of the life raft in cold, rough seas.

Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted: "My thoughts are with the families of the crew of the Cheeky Rafiki after the sad news its hull has been found with the life-raft unused."

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Symbolic Failure Spells Gloom For Ed Miliband

Early Local Election Results Show UKIP Gains

Updated: 11:22am UK, Friday 23 May 2014

Nigel Farage has claimed his party will win double the number of seats predicted as UKIP makes significant gains across the country.

Early on Friday morning UKIP had already surpassed the 80 seats it had been expected to take, dealing a significant blow to the main parties and leading to claims the country was now in an era of four-party politics.

UKIP took seats off both Labour and the Conservatives in their heartlands, which was particularly damaging to Ed Miliband, who has been accused by his own party of running an "unforgivably unprofessional" campaign.

Labour lost its grip in the north and, in a serious blow, the party lost control of Thurrock, a key marginal for the General Election in 2015, to no overall control, losing two seats to UKIP.

Mr Farage said UKIP would now be "serious players" in the General Election and said the party was expecting to win double the 80 seats that had been predicted.

He said: "The UKIP fox is in the Westminster henhouse" and added: "The idea the UKIP vote just hurts the Tories is going to be blown away by this election." 

However, Mr Farage, who has consistently warned the local and European elections would deliver a UKIP "earthquake", admitted that the party was unlikely to be successful in London.

Ed Miliband defended the party's campaign and said people were turning to UKIP to express their discontent with the way the country is run.

He told Sky News: "I think we ran a good campaign."

He said: "I think in some parts of the country we have had discontent building up for decades about the way the country has been run and about the way our economy works and people feeling that the country just does not work for them and so what you are seeing in some parts of the country is people turning to UKIP as an expression of that discontent and that desire for change."

Mr Miliband added that Labour would be able to provide the answer to the discontent by the 2015 vote.

UKIP made its greatest gains in Essex, where Margaret Thatcher once identified the "Essex Man", a man who moved out of London, once voted Labour but switched to the Tories.

UKIP took seats from Labour in Hartlepool, won 10 seats in Rotherham and polled more than a third of the vote in wards in big cities, such as Sunderland, Birmingham and Hull, where it previously had little or no presence.

According to the latest Sky News projection, the results so far would give a hung parliament at the 2015 General Election.

Sky's election analyst Professor Michael Thrasher said UKIP's success suggested the party would claim at least one seat in the House of Commons next year

Conservative Education Secretary Michael Gove said the results had not been as bad as expected. He categorically ruled out any chance of a pact with UKIP.

Most councils will not declare their results until later on Friday.

As predicted, the Liberal Democrats suffered significant losses, particularly in Kingston-Upon-Thames where it lost control of the council after 12 years to its coaltion partners. In Portsmouth it lost control with UKIP gaining six seats.

However, the party managed to hold on in Eastleigh, where UKIP came second last year in a by-election.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg admitted the party had had a bad night but said: "Actually I think in the areas where we have MPs where we have good organisation on the ground ... we are actually doing well."

:: Follow all the results as they come in on Twitter with @skyelections.

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Local Elections: UKIP Makes Significant Gains

Nigel Farage has claimed his party will win double the number of seats predicted as UKIP makes significant gains across the country.

Early on Friday morning UKIP had already surpassed the 80 seats it had been expected to take, dealing a significant blow to the main parties and leading to claims the country was now in an era of four-party politics.

UKIP took seats off both Labour and the Conservatives in their heartlands, which was particularly damaging to Ed Miliband, who has been accused by his own party of running an "unforgivably unprofessional" campaign.

A ballot box is emptied at Trinity School in Croydon

Labour lost its grip in the north and, in a serious blow, the party lost control of Thurrock, a key marginal for the General Election in 2015, to no overall control, losing two seats to UKIP.

Mr Farage said UKIP would now be "serious players" in the General Election and said the party was expecting to win double the 80 seats that had been predicted.

He said: "The UKIP fox is in the Westminster henhouse" and added: "The idea the UKIP vote just hurts the Tories is going to be blown away by this election." 

However, Mr Farage, who has consistently warned the local and European elections would deliver a UKIP "earthquake", admitted that the party was unlikely to be successful in London.

Ed Miliband defended the party's campaign and said people were turning to UKIP to express their discontent with the way the country is run.

He told Sky News: "I think we ran a good campaign."

Joey Essex may have supported Ed Miliband but Essex man voted UKIP

He said: "I think in some parts of the country we have had discontent building up for decades about the way the country has been run and about the way our economy works and people feeling that the country just does not work for them and so what you are seeing in some parts of the country is people turning to UKIP as an expression of that discontent and that desire for change."

Mr Miliband added that Labour would be able to provide the answer to the discontent by the 2015 vote.

UKIP made its greatest gains in Essex, where Margaret Thatcher once identified the "Essex Man", a man who moved out of London, once voted Labour but switched to the Tories.

UKIP took seats from Labour in Hartlepool, won 10 seats in Rotherham and polled more than a third of the vote in wards in big cities, such as Sunderland, Birmingham and Hull, where it previously had little or no presence.

Mr Farage casts his vote in Cudham, Kent

According to the latest Sky News projection, the results so far would give a hung parliament at the 2015 General Election.

Sky's election analyst Professor Michael Thrasher said UKIP's success suggested the party would claim at least one seat in the House of Commons next year

Conservative Education Secretary Michael Gove said the results had not been as bad as expected. He categorically ruled out any chance of a pact with UKIP.

The Camerons and the Milibands cast their votes

Most councils will not declare their results until later on Friday.

As predicted, the Liberal Democrats suffered significant losses, particularly in Kingston-Upon-Thames where it lost control of the council after 12 years to its coaltion partners. In Portsmouth it lost control with UKIP gaining six seats.

However, the party managed to hold on in Eastleigh, where UKIP came second last year in a by-election.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg admitted the party had had a bad night but said: "Actually I think in the areas where we have MPs where we have good organisation on the ground ... we are actually doing well."

:: Follow all the results as they come in on Twitter with @skyelections.

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Election Seats Are 'Breakthrough' For Ukip

By Michael Thrasher, Sky's Election Analyst

Once again Sunderland demonstrated the speed of its vote counting machine by declaring the first ward results. Although Labour's council majority remains formidable the devil lay in the detail.

Close analysis demonstrated UKIP was not only hoovering up the protest vote that once upon a time went to the Liberal Democrats but it was also halting Labour's progress.

Just a few ward results foretold the flavour of the overnight counting in 66 local authorities.

Slowly, UKIP began to translate voter support into seat gains. 

Nigel Farage's party enjoyed a breakthrough night in the polls

At first these were typically victories from the Conservatives, repeating a pattern at last year's county council elections, particularly in southern and eastern England.

Then, after five recounts in Hartlepool, UKIP finally got the headline it needed - a gain from Labour.

Just two votes separated victor and vanquished, but that did not stop the newly elected UKIP councillor from basking in his triumph.

More spectacular still was the outcome in Rotherham. 

At the parliamentary by-election, prompted by the imprisonment of Denis McShane for expenses fraud, UKIP had come a creditable second. 

Now, it had its breakthrough, making ten gains, the majority from Labour.

The balance of gains and losses then took on an unfamiliar theme. 

Instead of showing Conservative/Liberal Democrat losses and Labour gains, at one point it showed all three of the established parties as net losers.

Labour struggled to find the correct line to take. 

It queried predictions that it should be making net gains of about 500 seats, preferring instead its own modest claim that 160 gains would be good news.

That level would certainly not be the launch pad that Ed Miliband needs to take him into Downing Street.

Certainly, Labour's progress was being compromised by UKIP's unexpected bounty of local votes. 

Results from London could provide a better story for Ed Miliband and Labour

Councils such as Tamworth that are critical barometers of the likely outcome of next year's general election provided evidence that Labour's plan A needed revising. 

The Conservatives held on to power there and also in Swindon, the scene of the Labour leader's campaign gaffe.

After 47 of the overnight 66 councils had declared, the table of gains and losses had an unfamiliar look. 

Under normal circumstances the party of opposition would be leading the way in gains but UKIP eclipsed the Labour tally by a sizeable fraction.

The results from London, where a large fraction of the 4,200 seats at stake are located should provide a better story for Labour when they declare their results throughout Friday. 

But even here there could be a surprise or two in store for all of the main parties. 

Most of these wards elect three councillors but UKIP has chosen to field a single candidate in many of them. 

This might have led some voters to remain mostly loyal to their usual party but donate their third local vote to UKIP, thereby boosting an already good night for the party.

For the latest results from around the country as they come in follow Sky's live election blog.

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'Abducted' Girl Is Found After 10 Years

A woman from California who disappeared as a teenager 10 years ago has contacted police saying she was held captive by her mother's boyfriend.

The victim says she was kidnapped in 2004 at the age of 15 by Isidro Garcia, according to Santa Ana police.

Garcia, 41, has been arrested on suspicion of abduction, rape, lewd acts with a minor and false imprisonment.

Investigators say Garcia moved home several times to avoid detection, gave the girl multiple fake identities and obtained night-shift cleaning jobs for himself and the victim so he could keep watch over her.

The victim, who has not been identified, lived with Garcia under what investigators described as "sustained physical and mental abuse".

She is believed to have been sexually abused and bore a child to her captor in 2012, five years after she was forced to marry him.

Police say Garcia lived with the girl's mother in this apartment

Investigators say Garcia had been in a relationship with the girl's mother, who suspected he was sexually abusing her daughter. 

In June 2004, he allegedly attacked the mother before drugging the girl and driving her to a house in Compton where he locked her in a garage.

According to police, the accused imprisoned her in a garage and told her that her family had stopped looking for her and they would be deported if she went to police.

Garcia with his victim

"You're talking about a 15-year-old girl that's in a new country," police Corporal Anthony Bertagna said of the victim, who had entered the US illegally from Mexico and spoke no English.

"She's got nowhere to go."

But after being locked up at first, she eventually began to lead what appeared from the outside to be a normal life.

"Even with the opportunity to escape, after years of physical and mental abuse, the victim saw no way out of her situation," police said in a statement.

Neighbours said they were stunned at the news and described the two as a normal couple who went to church, hosted parties for their friends and appeared to love their child. 

"He treats her like a queen, he does his best to do whatever she wants," neighbour Maria Sanchez said.

Reports suggested the woman may not have tried to escape earlier due to a case of Stockholm syndrome, in which victims of kidnappings sympathise with their abductors.

After years of physical and emotional abuse, the victim, now 25, approached police after finding her sister on Facebook, say investigators.

She initially reported a case of domestic violence, but then the full story started to emerge.

The case has similarities to the Cleveland kidnapping where three women were subjected to rape and beatings by their abductor Ariel Castro during about a decade in captivity.

Castro committed suicide in prison last summer.

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Man Shot In Police Incident In Liverpool

A man has been shot and wounded in Liverpool in an incident involving Merseyside Police.

Merseyside Police said no police officers had been injured in the shooting, which happened in Shellingford Road in the Dovecot area of the city.

Craig Chadwick, who witnessed the incident, told Sky News: "I seen the man at the window with a knife to this woman's throat, and then I walked back to take the dogs to my Mum's.

"I came back out and the armed response was all outside and then they threw the gas bombs in the house and then the unit moved in.

"I heard shots fired.

"Then it went quiet for a minute and then I heard another shot fired. About half an hour later they brought the body out to the ambulance. And he had like a white blanket over him so you couldn't see him."

The Independent Police Complaints Commission said it had opened an investigation.

It said: "Following a non-fatal police shooting involving Mersey Police in Dovecot we have declared an independent investigation."

More follows...

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Thailand's Army Chief Announces Military Coup

Thailand's army chief has announced his armed forces are taking control of the government after months of deadly clashes.

General Prayut Chan-O-Cha said on live TV: "In order for the country to return to normal quickly the National Peace Keeping Committee comprised of the army, the Thai armed forces, the Royal Air Force and the police need to seize power as of May 22 at 4.30 pm."

He added: "All Thais must remain calm and government officials must work as normal."

The National Peace Keeping Committee that imposed martial law on Tuesday will now take full control of the country to prevent the conflict escalating, he said.

Troops pictured on the streets of Thailand on Thursday

The military coup - the country's 19th since the fall of absolute monarchy in 1932 - follows two days of meetings between rival political leaders that failed to break the deadlock.

Politicians at the talks, held at a heavily-guarded military HQ in the capital Bangkok, were seen being taken away by soldiers.

It was unclear whether they had been formally detained.

Acting Prime Minister Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan - who replaced Yingluck Shinawatra after she was removed from office by the Thai Supreme Court earlier this year - did not attend because he was busy, according to a government official.

Thai soldiers have set up checkpoints in the country

After martial law was introduced, armed troops were sent on to the streets and shut down TV stations, raising concerns about democracy in Thailand.

Social media and other websites were told not to distribute "provocative" material or criticism of the military.

General Prayut Chan-O-Cha said his forces would "provide protection" for foreigners in Thailand, which is visited by around one million Britons a year.

British ambassador to Thailand Mark Kent said: "British citizens should exercise extreme caution and follow travel advice and media updates."

The coup is Thailand's 19th since the fall of absolute monarchy in 1932

On Wednesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement urging "full respect for democratic principles and engagement in democratic processes", while the European Union called for "a clear timetable" for a snap election.

Red Shirt supporters of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled in a coup, and his sister Yingluck, have been on the streets since November last year.

Facing off against them have been former anti-government protesters demanding political reforms ahead of elections which had been scheduled for later this year. 

More follows...

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Police To Patrol More Than 100 Polling Stations

By Jason Farrell, Senior Political Correspondent

Police will be stationed at more than 100 polling stations to combat voter intimidation and fraud at the local and European elections on Thursday, Sky News has learned.

The Electoral Commission has identified 16 areas as being at "high risk" for vote-rigging and bullying. 

This includes Tower Hamlets, which in response has introduced what the council described as "the strongest measures to prevent fraud of any authority in London - and one of the most robust in the country".

'High risk' areas are concentrated around Lancashire and in The Midlands

The council said: "On polling day, police officers will be stationed at all 125 polling stations in the borough for the whole 15 hours of the poll (from 7am to 10pm) to deal with any alleged malpractice or public order issues."

Returning Officer John Williams said they were responding to allegations of intimidation during previous elections.

He said: "In general it has been enthusiastic campaigners gathering outside polling stations and trying to convince electors as they are coming in to vote who they should be voting for and sometimes that can be intimidating for people."

Councils are also investigating irregularities on nomination, voter registration and postal vote forms.

In Tower Hamlets they are not just screening signatures and birth dates on postal votes, but also visiting houses with high numbers of registered voters.

More than 5,000 names have been removed from the electoral register since February.

Pendle, in Lancashire, is another area identified.

Police will be at all 125 polling stations in Tower Hamlets

Conservative council candidate Abdullah Zaid said activists have in the past coerced vulnerable voters on the doorstep.

He said: "They say, 'how do we know you're voting for us? To assure us you need to do the postal vote applications (now).'

"Then they do the applications themselves and get their signatures and send off the postal votes."

Lib Dem Councillor Tony Greaves, who has campaigned on the issue and sits in the House of Lords, said: "Fiddling postal votes has happened at every local election in Pendle since 2002 and it has taken this long for people and the police to sit up and take notice.

Pendle is one of 16 areas identified by the Electoral Commission

"It is a disgrace to British democracy and I will not stop saying so, both in Pendle and in the House of Lords, until it is stamped out."

Labour Leader Mohammad Iqbal said it can be as bad at polling stations.

"One of the reasons that people chose postal voting in Pendle is because they were fed up of certain political activists - and this is across all parties both Labour, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives," he said.

"The activists used to stand outside polling stations and harass people and that was one of the reasons why people took up postal voting."

Most councils said they would respond as situations arose

The at-risk areas are mostly Asian communities.

The others are: Hyndburn, Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley and Oldham, Kirklees, Bradford, Calderdale, Derby, Walsall, Birmingham, Coventry, Peterborough, Slough, and Woking.

Apart from Tower Hamlets, no other council is planning to police every polling station.

Most said they would respond to situations as they arose.

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Prince Charles 'Compares Putin To Hitler'

Prince Charles has reportedly compared Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler over his actions in Ukraine.

The Prince of Wales' alleged remark about Mr Putin came during a four-day tour of Canada when he spoke to a woman who fled the Nazis and lost family members in the Holocaust.

A spokesman for Clarence House said: "We do not comment on private conversations.

"But we would like to stress that the Prince of Wales would not seek to make a public political statement during a private conversation."

Charles was being shown around the Museum of Immigration in Halifax, Nova Scotia, along with Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.

The royal couple paid tribute to World War Two veterans and their families, and during the course of the visit they spoke to museum volunteer Marianne Ferguson.

Ms Ferguson told the Prince she fled to Canada with her family in 1939, not long before Hitler annexed the Baltic coastal Free City of Gdansk.

Prince Charles and Camilla in Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island

After meeting Charles, the 78-year-old told the Daily Mail: "The Prince said 'And now Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler'.

"I must say that I agree with him and am sure a lot of people do.

"But I was very surprised that he made the comment as I know they [members of the Royal Family] aren't meant to say these things.

"I told the Prince that while my family and I were lucky to get a permit to travel, many members of my relatives had permits but were unable to get out before the war broke out on September 1.

"They were sent to the concentration camps and died."

The Mail reported that the Prince made his comments while surrounded by media and they were heard by several witnesses.

Mr Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov told Sky News: "I don't know anything about it. I can't really trust the Daily Mail as a source."

Protesters in Kiev have also compared Putin to Hitler

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg backed Prince Charles on his LBC Radio phone-in, saying: "Prince Charles should be perfectly entitled to express views in the confidence that he's expressing them privately."

But Labour (Co-op) MP Mike Gapes, who represents Ilford South, said the Prince "should abdicate" if he wants to make controversial statements.

He said on Twitter: "If Prince Charles wants to make controversial statements on national or international issues he should abdicate and stand for election.

"In constitutional monarchy, policy and diplomacy should be conducted by parliament and government. Monarchy should be seen and not heard."

UKIP leader Nigel Farage, who has backed Mr Putin's anti-EU stance in the past, said: "Prince Charles has made those comments - I know some people feel that way about Putin.

"I think there's a difference. The difference is right from the very start Hitler was expansionist, and we haven't see very much evidence of that until now from Putin and arguably, what's happened in the Ukraine is because he's been poked with a stick by the rest of the world."

Mr Putin is in Shanghai meeting with Xi Jinping and other world leaders

Charles and the Russian leader are due to meet next month when they attend the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy on June 6.

Mr Putin has faced international anger over Russia's actions in neighbouring Ukraine, including the controversial annexation of Crimea.

In March, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reportedly said Mr Putin's claim to be be defending ethnic Russians in Crimea was "what Hitler did back in the '30s".

She later backtracked, claiming she was not making a direct comparison but that Russia's behaviour was "reminiscent" of Germany in the build-up to the Second World War.

Prince Charles has been known for speaking his mind on issues such as architecture and the environment, but he rarely makes his feelings known on diplomatic matters.

There is an ongoing legal battle over the publication of letters he has sent to politicians, with the attorney general concerned their release could compromise the Prince's neutrality and create constitutional problems.

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Missing Yachtsmen: Coastguard Steps Up Search

The sister of one of the four sailors missing after their yacht capsized in the Atlantic Ocean believes there is every chance he will be found alive.

Kay Coombes, the sister of Steve Warren, also spoke of her relief that the search for the crew of the Cheeki Rafiki, which was returning to the UK from a regatta in Antigua, had resumed after a public campaign.

The US Coast Guard in Boston is coordinating the hunt. Pic: US Coast Guard

She was speaking as the US Coast Guard stepped up the hunt, which now involves four ships and three planes.

A further three vessels and an aircraft are en route to the search area, about 1,000 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

An RAF Hercules is also on its way to join the hunt.

Air crews on the scene have scoured a total of 2,878 square miles since the search resumed.

The overturned hull of a yacht spotted by a cargo ship

Speaking from Somerset, Ms Coombes told Sky News: "We are all sticking together at this point. We are amazed by the public support we have had.

"We are very thankful to the US Coast Guard that they have started searching again.

"We are being realistic about what's happening but we are still hopeful at this point.

"Knowing my brother like I do - he's very very strong, physically strong, mentally strong - there's every chance he's still alive.

"We also are realistic. All we can do is hope and pray, and keep everything crossed that we can that we have a positive outcome.

Rear Admiral Dan Abel discusses the search operation. Pic: US Coast Guard

"People are out there now looking for them, so if they are out there there's a good chance they are going to be found now."

Mr Warren's daughter Laura Carpenter said: "Obviously we are so pleased the search is back on again now."

The RAF Hercules plane will begin combing the ocean on Thursday and will be able to search for up to four hours at a time.

Mr Warren, 52, Andrew Bridge, 22, James Male, 23, and Paul Goslin, 56, were on board the 40ft yacht when it ran into difficulties.

The US Coast Guard called off the search for them last weekend after two days, but the decision was reversed after more than 150,000 people signed an online petition.

A sailor who survived for five days after being shipwrecked in the mid-Atlantic told Sky News he believes the crew are still alive.

Rory Nugent told US Correspondent Amanda Walker: "I was declared dead twice by the US Coast Guard and the US Navy and eventually got apology letters from both.

"I think human nature and these guys' desire to live will keep them alive and keep them going."

Rory Nugent was declared dead twice

The Cheeki Rafiki's crew had sent out locator beacons 1,000 miles east of Massachusetts and the Coast Guard estimated the survival time for the Britons was 20 hours after "the time of distress".

The capsized hull of a yacht was spotted by the crew of cargo ship Maersk Kure, which was assisting in the search.

But they did not attempt to climb down to the stricken vessel and insisted there were no signs of life on board and no life raft.

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Pistorius Ordered To Go To Psychiatric Hospital

Pistorius' Mental Health At Heart Of Trial

Updated: 9:56pm UK, Wednesday 14 May 2014

By Emma Hurd, Sky Correspondent, in Pretoria

In a hasty, whispered exchange with his lawyer, Oscar Pistorius was given the news of the judge's ruling just moments before she delivered it in court.

His expression - grim resignation - said it all: the defence had lost their legal fight to prevent the South African athlete being ordered to undergo a full evaluation of his mental health.

Judge Thokozile Masipa said she had a duty to refer the athlete for tests by a panel of government psychiatrists after one of the defence's own witnesses raised the issue of his mental condition.

From the defence's perspective, it was an unintended and undesirable consequence of their decision to call psychiatrist Merryl Vorster to the witness box.

She had told the court the athlete suffered from "Generalised Anxiety Disorder", a condition that might have influenced his actions on the night he shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

The prosecution leapt on the diagnosis and immediately demanded the full, independent evaluation, warning that without it any conviction could be vulnerable to appeal.

The judge agreed and, suddenly, the 10-week long murder trial that was inching to a conclusion was adjourned.

The details of process will be determined when the court reconvenes on Tuesday.

But it is expected - likely much to the athlete's relief - that he will be examined as an "out-patient" rather than admitted to a psychiatric facility for observation.

The panel of assessors will be made up of at least three psychiatrists and clinical psychologists.

The usual period of observation is 30 days and it could then take a similar amount of time for the report to be compiled.  

The key, in terms of the case, is whether the psychiatrists diagnose any disorder which might indicate "diminished capacity".

In layman's terms - that the athlete's mental problems meant he could not be held responsible for the shooting.

That seems unlikely, but even a lesser "condition" might be a factor in the case and the court cannot proceed until the matter is settled so the trial may be delayed for months.

What has baffled many watching the trial - criminal lawyers among them - is why this was not all dealt with at the beginning of the case if it was a consideration.

And why Pistorius' own lawyers did not realise the implications of the evidence their own psychiatrist would give?

Some argue, and this is an allegation that's been raised by the prosecution, that the athlete's legal team is so concerned by how the case is going that the net has been cast wide for any new defence - including his mental state.

Alternatively, they had hoped to introduce the "anxiety disorder" not as a determining factor in the case but simply as context for the events of the shooting on Valentine's Day last year.

Either way, the athlete's mental health is now right at the heart of the trial and only verdict that matters, at least for now, is that of the psychiatrists.

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'Several Dead' As Trains Collide Near Moscow

Several people have been reported killed in a crash involving two trains near Russian capital Moscow.

According to a preliminary report from Russia's Interior Ministry, five people died and 15 were seriously injured when a freight locomotive crashed into a passenger train.

The collision happened on the Bekasovo-Nara line, near the town of Naro-Fominsk and 24 miles from central Moscow.

Several of the goods train's carriages derailed immediately before the crash, Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported.

In a statement, Russia's Emergencies Ministry said: "Keep calm, do not panic."

Itar-Tass reported that police had said 16 carriages on the freight train derailed and smashed into the passenger train.

Three carriages holding people on the passenger train, which was en route from Chisnau to Moscow, reportedly overturned in the crash.

Rescue coordinator Vadim Andronov told Itar-Tass that the death toll was likely to rise.

"One of the carriages of the passenger train was crushed by the freight train wagons," he said.

"Rescuers are working to pull out injured people being crushed by the wagon."

Service on the line has been suspended.

More follows...

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House Prices Up As PM Mulls Help To Buy Future

House prices have risen 8% in the year to March, figures have shown, as David Cameron said he would "consider" changes to the Help To Buy scheme if advised to do so by the Bank of England.

While the increase is down on the 9.2% rise announced in February, according to the Office for National Statistics, the continued strong price growth, particularly in London and the South East, is set to fuel criticism of the Government scheme which underwrites home loans for people without large deposits.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney told Sky News at the weekend that the housing market had "deep, deep" problems.

In an interview with Sky's Murnaghan show, Mr Carney warned rising house prices represented the biggest current risk to the economy.

In response, the Prime Minister indicated he was open to rethinking Help To Buy.

Asked if he would look at reducing the programme's £600,000 threshold, Mr Cameron said: "Of course, we will consider any changes that are proposed by Mark Carney.

"But, as he said, this is a well-targeted scheme and it's helped tens of thousands of people get on the housing ladder and to have mortgages."

Mr Cameron says Help To Buy has helped tens of thousands of people

The PM was speaking ahead of the release of the ONS report which said property values continued to increase "strongly across most parts of the UK".

The ONS said annual house price rises in England were being driven by a 17% year-on-year increase in London, a 6.6% hike in the East and a 6.1% rise in the South East.

The average house price in London has reached £459,000, while the average price in the UK as a whole now stands at £252,000, slightly down on the £253,000 peak in February.

The 0.5% drop marks the first time property values have fallen month-on-month in just over a year.

However, first-time buyers now face having to pay 10% more than they did a year ago, with the average price of a starter home standing at £193,000 in March, according to ONS figures.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said: "These figures are yet more proof that our housing market is reaching boiling point.

"With every rise in house prices leaving more people priced out or stuck in cramped homes, rollercoaster house prices are rapidly losing their feel-good factor."

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Carney signalled he is ready to take action to cool the housing market.

He said the Bank could adopt a range of measures, including imposing a new "affordability test" for borrowers and advising the Government to curb the Help to Buy scheme.

Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said: "Help to Buy doesn't change any of those, the qualifying criteria that people need to follow in order to get a mortgage, but what it does do is help to open up the housing market to people who otherwise would be excluded from it.

"I think that's a good policy objective but, of course, if the Bank of England suggest reforms to that we will certainly listen to that in the weeks and months to come."

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Woman Killed, Four Children Hurt In Stabbing

Police have launched a murder investigation after a woman was killed and four children injured in a stabbing attack.

Officers called to a domestic incident in Huddersfield found a 37-year-old woman with a "serious stab injury" and a nine-year-old boy outside the property with an injury to his arm.

The woman was taken to hospital after the attack on Sunday evening, but she later died.

The boy was also taken to hospital for treatment to his injury.

Another nine-year-old boy, a boy of 11 and a six-month-old baby girl, who were also at the address in Reinwood Road, were treated for minor injuries.

Det Chief Insp Ady Taylor said: "A 39-year-old man was detained at the scene and is being treated in hospital for serious injuries.

"We are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident.

"Enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident and Neighbourhood Policing Team officers are patrolling the area, offering support and reassurance to local residents."

:: Anyone with information is asked to contact Protective Services Crime on the non emergency number 101 or Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111.

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Missing Yachtsmen: 'Give Sailors Another Chance'

The father of one of four yachtsmen missing in the Atlantic Ocean has pleaded for the search for them to be resumed saying the sailors needed to be "given a chance".

David Bridge told Sky News he was "devastated" to hear the US Coastguard had called off the rescue mission on Sunday due to treacherous weather conditions.

He said the group had set off a personal locator beacon suggesting the group were in a life raft.

Contact with Andrew Bridge, 21, James Male, 23, Steve Warren, 52, and Paul Goslin, 56, was lost in the early hours of Friday while they were diverting to the Azores.

The overturned hull of a yacht matching the description of the Cheeki Rafiki was spotted and photographed by a cargo vessel assisting the search.

It reported no there were no signs of life on board and no life raft, however no one from the Greek-registered 1,000ft container ship Maersk Kure tried to climb down to the yacht to check if anyone was trapped alive inside.

The yacht reportedly capsized on the way back from the Caribbean

The crew was returning from Antigua Sailing Week in the 40ft yacht when it ran into difficulties 620 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Mr Bridge said he last heard from Andrew, 21, as they prepared to leave Antigua.

Speaking from Farnham, Surrey he told Sky News: "They were just happy to be on their way.

"He's very experienced, he's done a lot of offshore racing. I think he's equipped as anybody would be."

He had been told in conference calls with the American authorities that they felt "they have done enough" after searching more than 4,000 square miles of the ocean for pings from the vessel's personal locator beacons over two days.

But he said the search should be resumed while doubts over their fate remain. 

"They need to go out there and carry on searching.They should give them another chance," he said.

And Mr Bridge's aunt, Georgie Bridge, told Sky News the sailor's family remains hopeful that the crew will be found alive.

L-R: Andrew Bridge, Steve Warren, James Male, Paul Goslin

"Obviously the family are really concerned that the search has been suspended and we are really hoping that it will be resumed," she said.

"We are hopeful that they were able to launch a life raft and that they are still on board that, so we would just really like the search to be resumed."

The US Coastguard said it cancelled the search, involving American and Canadian aircraft and three merchant vessels after failing to receive any transmissions from the locator beacons.

A spokesman also defended the actions of the crew of the cargo vessel which spotted what was thought to be the yacht, saying it did not the capabilities to search or pick up the Cheeki Rafiki.

Andrew Bridge was being paid by the Southampton-based yacht training and charter company Stormforce Coaching for his role as captain, a spokeswoman for the firm said.

Stormforce director Doug Innes said that the yacht had first started taking on water on Thursday, but the skipper was in contact and the crew were keeping the situation stable.

"Although the search efforts co-ordinated by Boston were exceptional we are devastated that the search has now been called off so soon," Mr Innes said.

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Rolf Harris 'Tongue-Kissed Sick 11-Year-Old'

By Nick Pisa, Sky News Reporter

Rolf Harris kissed a girl of 11 or 12 while she was off school "so he could be her first," a court has heard.

The woman, who is in her fifties and cannot be named for legal reasons, said she was left "frozen" and "repulsed" by what happened.

She added that as a result she still felt "frazzled" whenever she was kissed, saying it caused her "panic attacks".

The woman, from the Northern Territory, was the first Australian witness to give evidence on day six of the trial at Southwark Crown Court.

There is no charge against Harris regarding the woman and her evidence is being used to support the prosecution's case.

The woman told the court she was assaulted in 1969 and was staying with friends when she woke up, came downstairs in her pyjamas and found Harris polishing wood.

She told the court: "He asked me how old I was and he said he wanted to be the first one to introduce me to a tongue kiss.

"I stood there. I didn't think anything. I just froze. I didn't think he was being serious. Then he walked up towards me."

She said Harris ran his hands up her body, bent down and kissed her.

She added: "I was scared. It seemed to last forever but it must have been very quick. He put his tongue inside my mouth."

When asked how she felt afterwards the woman replied: "I was quite repulsed, absolutely. He just stopped and then said 'look at what I have been doing.'

The woman, who has been married three times, told the court the alleged incident had repercussions in her adult life as she found it difficult to tongue kiss.

She said: "It upset me a lot. I think it's a hang-up left over by Mr Harris. I told them (partners) not to pull me towards you. It makes me feel frazzled and scared, I almost have panic attacks."

The woman said she had not told her parents about what happened and friends did not believe her when she later told them her "first tongue kiss was with Rolf Harris".

She told the court she went to police after reports of the investigation against him emerged in the Australian media.

Harris, 84, from Bray in Berkshire, listened to proceedings from the glass-fronted dock, dressed in a black suit, striped shirt and tie. He occasionally made notes and glanced at the woman as she gave evidence.

His wife Alwen was in the public gallery along with other friends and relatives.

Harris denies 12 counts of indecent assault allegedly carried out between 1968 and 1986.

The trial continues.

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Carney: 'House Prices Biggest Risk To Economy'

By Ed Conway, Economics Editor

The British housing market has "deep, deep" problems, according to the Governor of the Bank of England.

In an interview with Sky's Murnaghan show to be broadcast in full later this morning, Mark Carney warns that rising house prices represents the biggest current risk to the economy.

And the number of large mortgages being approved to house buyers is on the rise, he adds.

Mr Carney says that the UK is in need of new house building.

He says that compared to his home country of Canada, for example, the UK built half the number of new homes every year despite having twice the population. 

Canada builds around 200,000 new homes a year compared to just 133,000 similar properties that were built in the UK last year.

Mr Carney said: "The issue around the housing market in the UK … is there are not sufficient (numbers of) houses (being) built."

Mark Carney has issued a warning over the UK housing market

Asked if more houses need to be built, Mr Carney replied: "That would help us out.

"We're not going to build a single house at the Bank of England. We can't influence that.

"What we can influence … is whether the banks are strong enough. Do they have enough capital against risk in the housing market?"

Mr Carney said they could also check lending procedures "so people can get mortgages if they can afford them but they won't if they can't".

"By reinforcing both of those we can reduce the risk that comes from a housing market that has deep, deep structural problems," he added.

Mr Carney said there was evidence that large mortgages, where lenders approve loans of more than four times people's salaries, are on the rise again.

"We don't want to build up another big debt overhang that is going to hurt individuals and is very much going to slow the economy in the medium term," he said.

"We'd be concerned if there was a rapid increase in high loan-to-value mortgages across the banks. We've seen that creeping up and it's something we're watching closely."

In an separate interview for Murnaghan David Cameron admitted the Government needed to build more houses and said Mr Carney was "absolutely right".

However, he added: "The building of houses is going up. If you talk to any housing developer at the moment or builder they will tell you that the help to buy scheme the Government has put in place has been hugely helpful in bringing forward more development or house building.

"We are training apprentices in the building trade to make sure that we can deliver on these houses but we do need more, yes."

Last week, Mr Carney surprised many by playing down the chances of an imminent rise in interest rates despite fears of a growing house price bubble.

But he admitted the issue was the biggest current threat to the economy.

"The biggest risk to financial stability, and therefore to the durability of the expansion, centres on the housing market and that's why we're focused on that," he said.

Prices are currently rising at more than 10% a year across the country.

Analysis by Sky News has shown the number of £1m properties has doubled since 2008.

Earlier this month, the OECD think tank called on the Bank of England to impose measures to help quell rising house prices.

Both the coalition and Labour are committed to building hundreds of thousands of new homes.

However, construction still lags behind Government targets.

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North Korea Apology After Apartments Collapse

An apartment building housing around 90 families has collapsed in North Korea, potentially killing hundreds of people.

State officials offered a rare public apology after the collapse, saying the accident was "serious" and had upset leader Kim Jong-Un.

A report from North Korea's Central News Agency said the apartment block was under construction in capital Pyongyang when the collapse happened on Tuesday but gave no details of the numbers killed or injured.

A North Korea official salutes in front of residents at the site

The report said it occurred in the Phyongchon district on Tuesday "as the construction of an apartment house was not done properly and officials supervised and controlled it in an irresponsible manner".

In South Korea a government official speaking on condition of anonymity said the 23-story apartment building was presumed to have housed 92 families.

That could mean that the casualties could run into hundreds because a typical North Korean family has four members.

It is not unusual for people to start living in apartments before the construction is complete.

According to state media, the rescue operation ended on Saturday and officials apologised to bereaved families and district residents.

The report cited one official as saying Kim Jong-Un "sat up all night, feeling painful after being told about the accident".

The authoritarian regime's tightly-controlled media rarely report news that might be considered negative.

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The Murnaghan Programme: Catch-Up

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12:03pm UK, Sunday 18 May 2014

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