Lynda Bellingham Reveals Cancer Diagnosis

The actress and presenter Lynda Bellingham has been diagnosed with cancer.

The 65-year-old, well-known for her roles on Loose Women and the Oxo television adverts, has postponed a theatre tour, but vowed "nothing's going to stop me coming back next year".

Bellingham, who has two children, had been due to start a tour of Kay Mellor's A Passionate Woman in Sheffield in September.

However, in a statement she said: "I'm devastated not to be able to honour my commitments to the play this year.

Bellingham with her husband Michael Pattemore on the red carpet in April

"But having toured many times before, I'm aware of the sheer stamina needed and I need to prioritise my recovery.

"That said, nothing's going to stop me coming back next year, and I can't wait to be a 'passionate woman'."

No further details of her illness have been given.

Bellingham starred in the Oxo adverts, which ran from 1983 to 1999, as the mother of a squabbling family.

Her acting roles have included parts in All Creatures Great And Small and the sitcom Second Thoughts, which began on BBC Radio 4 in 1988 before transferring to ITV.

She also presents ITV series Country House Sunday and was a regular panellist on talk show Loose Women.

Bellingham, who appeared as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing four years ago, has been a high-profile supporter of Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support since her sister Barbara died from lung cancer.

Sheffield Theatres artistic director Daniel Evans said: "A Passionate Woman is an extraordinary play about an extraordinary woman, and that woman is Lynda Bellingham.

"She is the heart of this production, and it's inconceivable that we would do it without her."

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BBC Savile Sex Scandal Reviews Cost £4.9m

Three reviews set up by the BBC in the wake of the Jimmy Savile sex scandal have so far cost licence fee payers almost £5m, the corporation's annual report has revealed.

The largest of the inquiries - the Pollard Review - which looked into whether the trust's management team failed in its handling of a dropped Newsnight investigation into the Savile allegations, cost £2.8m (inclusive of tax and VAT).

The cost of the review by the former head of Sky News included £101,000 to cover the "legal and related costs" of Helen Boaden, who was heavily criticised in the report.

Lord Patten said it had been a mixed year for the BBC

The then head of BBC News was among the senior executives who were criticised for failing to act while the corporation was plunged into chaos by the scandal.

Total legal costs for witnesses came to £391,120.92 while Mr Pollard was paid a fee of £81,600.

Costs for that review and subsequent investigations into respect at work and the BBC's culture and practices while Savile worked there, came to £4.9m to the end of March.

But the eventual public bill will be even higher because the review into culture and practices is still being conducted by former High Court judge Dame Janet Smith and will be published later this year.

An extra strand of her investigation is under way in light of the conduct of former BBC presenter Stuart Hall, who was recently jailed after admitting the indecent assault of girls as young as nine.

Writing in the report, BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten quoted Charles Dickens to compare the success of the Olympics coverage with the Savile scandal saying, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times".

He said the revelations about the scrapped Newsnight investigation and subsequent departure of director-general George Entwistle were "low points".

He said: "The BBC seriously let down both itself and licence fee payers."

Nick Pollard's review into the Savile scandal has been the most costly

The BBC initially said the Pollard Review would cost £2m but Tim Davie, who stood in as director-general following Mr Entwistle's departure after just 54 days in the top job, said that had been an "estimate".

New director-general Tony Hall defended the cost to licence fee payers of the reviews, telling Sky News it was "absolutely proper" to "examine what lessons there are to be learned from the mistakes made nearly a year ago".

He said the results of the inquiries - into events that took place before he took up his role - had been "very helpful" to him so far.

Lord Hall said he wanted to change the culture at the BBC and called for "greater personal accountability" and a simpler corporation.

In a letter to Lord Patten he said he had been "struck by the complexity of the organisation and inhibiting effect that has on creativity".

New BBC boss Tony Hall has pledged to make the BBC a "simpler" organisation

He added that he was "personally leading a major piece of work to look at how we can simplify our organisation".

He also said he would be working closely with HR executive Lucy Adams, who was heavily criticised by a committee of MPs last week over hefty pay-offs to senior staff, and said he had full confidence in her.

Mr Entwistle was given a £450,000 pay-off despite his short tenure and widespread criticism of his handling of the Savile affair.

The annual report and accounts also reveal that the BBC made £580m of savings during 2012/13.

Staffing levels across the corporation were reduced from 21,940 to 21,282 over the year, while senior management teams have been cut by 31% since 2009.

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Police Under Fire For Using Dead Children's IDs

Concerns about the use of dead children's names as fake identities for undercover police have been "swept under the carpet", it has been claimed.

The Metropolitan Police came under fire as it released details about the use of 42 deceased children's identities by covert officers.

A newly published report said the bereaved families had not been told because it would put police at risk, although Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe apologised for the "shock and offence" the tactic caused.

Sir Bernard said: "It was never intended or foreseen that any of the identities used would become public, or that any family would suffer hurt as a result.

"At the time this method of creating identities was in use, officers felt this was the safest option."

He said he did not foresee the force confirming or denying which identities were used because to do so would potentially endanger officers who had signed up as undercover police "with the expectation that we would always protect their identity".

Sir Bernard apologised over the 'shock' the tactic caused

But Jules Carey, solicitor for Barbara Shaw who fears that her son Rod Richardson's name was used, said: "The families … deserve better than this.

"They deserve an explanation, a personal apology and, if appropriate, a warning of the potential risk they face, in the exceptional circumstances, that their dead child's identity was used to infiltrate serious criminal organisations.

"Ms Shaw has told me that she feels her complaint has been 'swept under the carpet' and she has instructed me to appeal this outcome."

He said the public had no reason to be reassured by the "hotchpotch" investigation into the deployment of undercover officers.

The identities taken by covert officers were of children born between 1940 and 1975 and it came to be accepted as "standard practice", Tuesday's report revealed.

It said the practice could have been more widely used outside Scotland Yard's Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) and the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU), by police officers and possibly the security services.

Derbyshire Chief Constable Mick Creedon, who is leading a probe into the activities of police moles, said that while the relatives deserve an apology, revealing the names used "would and could put undercover officers at risk".

The report said there was a need for undercover officers to create identities that could "withstand invasive scrutiny by their target".

So far, investigators have found 106 covert names that were used by the SDS between 1968 and 2008, 42 of which are believed to have been based on the details of dead children.

Another 45 were fictitious, and the rest have not yet been categorised.

The force has apologised directly to one family who found out their child's identity had been used.

The earliest confirmed officer to have used such an identity was in the field between 1976 and 1981, the report said.

The practice was phased out from 1994 in the SDS, but potentially used by the NPOIU up to 2003.

Officers are unlikely to face criminal charges for using the identities.

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Swinton Insurance Fined £7m Over Mis-Selling

High street insurance group Swinton has been fined more than £7m over mis-selling products to consumers.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said Swinton's aggressive sales strategy meant that it failed to treat customers fairly in its telephone sales of monthly add-on insurance policies.

It said that between April 2010 and April 2012, Swinton sold personal accident, home emergency and motor breakdown policies, which during the relevant period generated an income for accounting purposes of £92.9m.

The FCA found that Swinton did not provide enough information to customers about the key terms of the policies and also failed to properly monitor its sales calls.

Swinton set aside £11.2 million to repay those customers who were mis-sold, of which £1.9 million has already been paid out.

According to the FCA, the insurance firm has contacted over 650,000 customers it thinks may have been affected.

Swinton has over 500 branches across the UK, employs more than 3,000 people and has been operating for six decades.

Incorporated in 1963, it processes more than 2.5 million policies each year.

The City watchdog said any policyholders who believe they bought monthly cover as a result of mis-selling should contact Swinton directly.

Tracey McDermott, the FCA's director of enforcement and financial crime, said: "Swinton failed its customers. When selling monthly add-on policies, Swinton did not place the consumer at the heart of its business. Instead it prioritised profit.

"At the FCA we have been clear in our expectation that firms must behave in the interests of consumers.

"Today's outcome shows our approach in action and will act as a deterrent for other firms tempted to put profit figures above the fair treatment of customers."

The FCA found Swinton did not explain the cover clearly enough or tell customers the monthly policies were optional and separate from other core insurance products.

It also failed to give enough information about the terms of the policy, including the conditions and limitations, and cancellation process.

The nature of the failings, particularly poor sales scripts, meant that every sale could have been a mis-sale, the FCA said.

In response to the ruling Swinton chief executive Christophe Bardet apologised for the company's procedural policies.

Mr Bardet said: "We apologise for these shortcomings. They were not compatible with the proud history of Swinton, which since 1957 has been providing peace of mind to people through insurance cover.

"Our focus is now to deliver on our promise of insurance with a personal touch. Swinton is embarking on a £60m investment in growth which puts the customer at the heart of everything we do."

On its website Swinton said its customer service team aims to resolve general complaints within 20 days.

The £7.38m fine reflects the number and seriousness of the issues raised during the investigation, according to the FCA.

The sum was reduced from £10.54m, with a 30% discount applied as Swinton settled at an early stage in the FCA's investigation.

In 2009, Swinton was ordered to offer refunds to 350,000 customers over mis-selling of payment protection insurance.

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Trident Review: Warning Against Downgrade

A review of Britain's nuclear deterrent has concluded there are credible alternatives to a full renewal of the Trident system - despite a call from former defence secretaries for it to be safeguarded.

Liberal Democrat Cabinet minister Danny Alexander's long-awaited Trident Alternatives Review argues the case for a scaled-down Trident force.

Its proposals include reducing the Royal Navy's fleet of nuclear-armed submarines from four to three and an end to 24-hour patrols.

Mr Alexander said this would save around £4bn and be a "big step down the ladder" of nuclear disarmament and allow Britain to "move on from the Cold War", while keeping the country safe.

Mr Alexander has reviewed plans for the fleet

"Trident is the last, unreformed bastion of Cold War thinking. Britain in the 21st century, almost a quarter of a century after the fall of the Berlin Wall, needs to think about nuclear deterrence and disarmament in a fresh way," he said.

But five former defence secretaries and two ex-defence chiefs have voiced their support for a £25bn like-for-like replacement of Trident.

"In an uncertain world, in which the number of nuclear weapons remains high and some states are increasing their holding, we should not take risks with our security by downgrading to a part-time deterrent," they wrote in a letter to the Daily Telegraph.

"We cannot possibly foresee what threats will develop over the next 30 years.

"Reducing our submarine-based Trident capability would weaken our national security for the sake of a very small fraction of the defence budget.

"It is our view that if Britain is to remain a leading global power with strong defences, nothing less than a continuous-at-sea deterrent will do."

The letter was signed by former Conservative defence secretaries Liam Fox and Sir Malcolm Rifkind, alongside Labour's former defence secretaries Bob Ainsworth, Lord Reid and Lord Robertson, who was also a Nato secretary general.

Other signatories were ex-chiefs of defence staff Lord Boyce and Lord Stirrup.

The current Defence Secretary says downgrading Trident would be 'reckless'

Treasury Chief Secretary Mr Alexander's review follows a compromise reached by Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in the 2010 coalition agreement which brought them into government together.

The issue is likely to set a clear dividing line between the parties at the next general election.

The fleet of four Vanguard-class submarines which carry the Trident missiles are due to be replaced from 2028.

The final decision on whether to replace all four boats is due in 2016, after the 2015 election.

On Monday Defence Secretary Philip Hammond warned it would be "reckless" to downgrade Trident, insisting fewer subs would not be able to offer the "continuous at-sea deterrence" which Britain has maintained since the 1960s.

Prime Minister David Cameron has left no doubt of his preference for like-for-like replacement of the ageing Trident fleet, which was also backed by then-Labour PM Tony Blair in a 2006 review.

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Syria Rebels To Get Chemical Weapons Protection

The British Government is to give Syrian opposition forces £656,000 worth of equipment to protect against chemical and biological weapon attacks.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said 5,000 escape hoods will be sent, along with nerve agent pre-treatment tablets and chemical weapons detector paper.

He said the chemical weapons hoods protected against Sarin attacks for up to 20 minutes. Those who wear them are able to move away from an affected area but cannot continue to fight, he said.

The tablets can give those under a chemical weapons attack the time to get to a medical centre to receive atropine, the drug needed to overcome Sarin.

In a written ministerial statement to MPs, Mr Hague said the assistance would be offered to the Supreme Military Council and the Syrian National Coalition.

Bashar al Assad is thought to have used chemical weapons

The cost of the non-lethal assistance would be met from the Government's conflict pool fund.

Mr Hague said the Government needed to "gift" the Syrian opposition fighters the equipment without going through the proper parliamentary procedures because it was "a matter of special urgency" as there was evidence Syrian President Bashar al Assad was using chemical weapons in the conflict.

He said: "We have to be prepared to do more to save lives. There is evidence of attacks using chemical weapons in Syria - including Sarin.

"We believe that the use of chemical weapons is sanctioned and ordered by the Assad regime."

Last week, MPs passed a Commons motion calling on the Government to seek the "explicit" consent of Parliament before deciding to arm rebel fighters in Syria.

The motion - that "this House believes no lethal support should be provided to anti-government forces in Syria without the explicit prior consent of Parliament" - was passed by 114 votes to one.

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Birmingham Stab Murder: Four Teens Arrested

Four teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 15-year-old was stabbed during a fight between two groups.

Two 16-year-olds, a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old were arrested on Monday evening after the teenager was stabbed in a confrontation in Birmingham and died later in hospital.

The teenager was killed in what police described as a "fight which has tragically gone too far" when two groups of young people clashed in the South Yardley area of the city.

Emergency services were called at 5.55pm and officers, who flooded the scene, arrested four teenagers nearby. Further searches of the area were continuing today.

The stabbing victim, who has not been named, was taken to hospital but doctors were unable to save him. His family has been informed of his death.

The incident happened in the South Yardley area of Birmingham

Detective Inspector Tom Chisholm said: "This was a tragic incident and our deepest condolences go out to the young man's family.

"A murder investigation was immediately launched. We have a team of detectives working with local officers to gain an understanding of what happened.

"We are aware that there were groups of young people in the area, some of whom may have left the scene before the police arrived.

"There is some suggestion that this was a fight which has tragically gone too far.

"I would ask that people who were in the park or anyone else with information to contact us immediately."

Officers are examining CCTV cameras which may have captured the stabbing.

:: Anyone with any information about the incident should contact DI Chisholm on 101. Alternatively those who don't want to speak to the police can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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Heathrow Dreamliner Fire Probe Looks At Beacon

By Mark White, Home Affairs Correspondent

Investigators are examining the possibility a battery within an emergency locator component may have been to blame for a fire on an Ethiopian Airlines 787 Dreamliner at Heathrow Airport.

The fire last Friday caused extensive damage to the rear section of the plane, near the tail fin.

A team from Britain's Air Accidents Investigations Branch (AAIB) is looking at a number of components, including the Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT), which is positioned in the upper rear part of the aircraft, near to the spot where the fire broke out.

The ELT is manufactured by the US electronics firm Honeywell.

An AAIB spokesman told Sky News: "We can confirm that Honeywell have been invited to join the investigation.

"The Emergency Locator Transmitter is one of several components being looked at in detail as part of the investigation and it would be premature to speculate on the cause of the incident at this stage."

Dreamliner flights were grounded in January after a battery fault

Although investigators appear to have ruled out a recurrence of faults within the main battery system, which grounded the entire Dreamliner fleet worldwide earlier this year, the battery attached to the Emergency Locator Transmitter is being viewed as a possible source for the fire.

The ELT is designed to send out an emergency signal in the event of an aircraft accident, helping to lead rescuers to the crash site.

The transmitter is powered by a non-rechargeable lithium-manganese battery.

The focus on the emergency beacon will raise concerns among executives at the plane's manufacturer Boeing, who have already had to embark on a hugely expensive exercise to improve to reinforce the Dreamliner's main battery systems in the wake of the earlier faults.

The fire damaged Ethiopian Airlines plane has been moved to a hangar at Heathrow as investigators continue their examination.

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Ray Wilkins 'Told Police He Was A Villain'

Former England and Chelsea footballer Ray Wilkins confessed to being a "villain" and "bang out of order" after he was held for drink driving, a court has heard.

The 56-year-old was allegedly rude and abusive in custody where police conducted breath tests which revealed he was around three times over the legal limit.

But in court he claimed he had drunk just two glasses of red wine before getting behind the wheel and insisted he had been sipping water "all evening" and "felt fine".

The Sky Sports pundit was stopped near his home in Cobham, Surrey, as he returned from an awards ceremony in his Jaguar XJ at 1.45am on May 7 last year.

He was allegedly unable to stand and slurred his words before he was placed in the back of an unmarked patrol car and "passed out" on the way to Reigate police station.

Staines magistrates were shown CCTV footage in which Wilkins unleashed a foul-mouthed tirade after officers insisted he gave breath samples before making a call to his wife.

Wilkins was awarded an MBE in 1993

When questioned about it he said he could not recall being offensive or saying he was "bang out of order" or a "villain".

Earlier the court heard he had handed out medals to children during a ceremony in Bournemouth the previous evening.

He left the event at around 11pm and was pulled over when a police constable spotted his car "weaving" down the road shortly after it allegedly hit a traffic island close to his home.

Wilkins rejected suggestions that he "passed out" in the officer's car as he was being driven to the police station and that he had drunk "a lot of alcohol".

He told the court: "I was extremely tired after a long day, a lot of driving and I was a tired person".

Wilkins, who won 84 England caps, was charged after tests revealed he had 104 and 102 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath - almost three times the legal limit.

Wilkins, who also played for Manchester United and was awarded an MBE in 1993 for services to football, denies drink driving.

The trial continues.

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NHS Report: Teams Sent In To 11 Failing Trusts

The Health Secretary has revealed that 11 hospital trusts listed in a shocking report of care failures have been placed under "special measures".

After the publication of Professor Sir Bruce Keogh's review into 14 trusts, Jeremy Hunt, speaking in the Commons, said we can "no longer ignore mediocre treatment".

All of the trusts have been ordered to act on recommendations made by health officials.

The review found that none of the hospitals investigated were providing "consistently high quality care to patients".

Sir Bruce Keogh said 'mediocrity is simply not good enough'

Mr Hunt told MPs: "No statistics are perfect but mortality rates suggest that since 2005, thousands more people may have died than would normally be expected at the 14 trusts reviewed.

"Worryingly, in half of those trusts, the Care Quality Commission - the regulator specifically responsible for patient safety and care - failed to spot any real cause for concern, rating them as 'compliant' with basic standards."

The trusts in special measures will be assessed, senior managers "not up to the job will be removed" and each hospital will be given a high performing organisation as a mentor, Mr Hunt said.

He also sought to blame former health secretary Andy Burnham for the failings, telling MPs the findings represented Labour's "darkest moment".

But Mr Burnham hit back, accusing the Health Secretary of "playing politics with people's lives", adding that the report was based on trust performances in 2011 and 2012, after the coalition had taken office.

Jeremy Hunt said he was 'deeply proud' of the NHS

Tameside General Hospital in Greater Manchester was one of the worst trusts in England.

The investigation found "insufficient levels of nursing staff", "poor supervision of junior doctors by consultants" and a "lack of compassion" from staff dealing with patient complaints.

Interim chief executive Karen James apologised to patients unhappy with the care they had received at the hospital.

"I feel disappointed that they have been unable to provide positive feedback," she told Sky News.

"However, what I want to do is involve patients in the next stage of our improvement programmes, so we need to take on board what they are saying about our services.

"What they feel and what they experience is absolutely key to us in actually addressing the fundamentals," she added.

Mr Hunt said where failures have been found in hospitals like Tameside "they have been confronted straight away".

Former health secretary Andy Burnham

Other examples of problems included patients being left unmonitored on trolleys for excessive periods, staff working up to 12 days in a row and low levels of clinical cover, especially out of hours.

Sir Bruce, NHS England's medical director, was asked to conduct a series of 'deep-dive' reviews into other hospitals with mortality rates which have been consistently high for two years or more after the Francis report into failures at the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust.

He said: "Higher mortality rates do not always point to deaths which could have been avoided but they do act as a 'smoke alarm' indicator that there could be issues with the quality of care.

"Not one of these trusts has been given a clean bill of health by my review teams. These reviews have been highly rigorous and uncovered previously undisclosed problems.

"I felt it was crucial to provide a clear diagnosis, to write the prescription, and, most importantly, to identify what help these organisations might need to support their recovery or accelerate improvement."

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) welcomed the review and is calling for the recommendations to be implemented as a matter of urgency.

Karen James, interim chief executive at Tameside Hospital

Dr Peter Carter, chief executive and general secretary, said: "There's an undeniable link between nurse staffing levels and patient mortality and we can't keep failing to address this issue.

"Only with the right numbers of nurses, with the right skills, can we ensure patients are looked after with dignity and compassion."

Hospitals in special measures:

North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, Medway NHS Foundation Trust.

Hospitals not in special measures:

Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust, The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

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