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.

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

In response, the Prime Minister indicated he was open to rethinking Help To Buy, which critics argue contributes to forcing up house prices by fuelling demand, which far outstrips the supply of available homes.

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."

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.

It has been warned the housing market has reached "boiling point"

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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Missing Yachtsmen: Coastguard In New Search

The US Coastguard has resumed the search for a yacht that is thought to have capsized with four Britons on board.

News emerged of the decision after more than 150,000 people signed an online petition, demanding the hunt was relaunched.

The search for the missing Cheeki Rafiki, which ran into difficulties in the Atlantic Ocean, around 620 miles (1,000km) east of Cape Cod, was called off after 53 hours.

An overturned hull of a yacht matching the description of the vessel was spotted and photographed by a cargo ship assisting the search.

And the families of the four yachtsmen - Andrew Bridge, Steve Warren, James Male and Paul Goslin - insist they would have had time to escape onto a life raft.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "My thanks to the US Coastguard, which has resumed its search for our missing yachtsmen."

It has also been confirmed that Foreign Office minister Hugh Robertson and representatives of the US Coastguard are due to meet relatives of the four men.

Mr Warren's sister, Kay Coombes, told Sky News: "I was on the phone to the US Coastguard and I was quite firm with them and asked to speak to somebody that could help me (and who I could ask) why they weren't searching.

"I was put on hold for a few minutes and they came back to say they had decided to start searching again.

"They said to me a plane would be in the air within the hour and also that they were also talking to the air force and the Canadians to see what resources they could spare.

"People-power has been amazing. We've moved a mountain today."

Mr Bridge's grandmother, Valerie, said: "We are delighted. It is at least something and that is all we were asking for, all we wanted was another search.

"It might not come to anything but people want them to do it and they are trying. It seemed too quick, just two days and we were saying 'if only they could do it (search) for a bit longer'. You never know what could happen."

The Foreign Office welcomed the decision and said: "We are very grateful for the extensive efforts the US have made to date but we wanted to make sure that absolutely all options were being explored."

More follows...

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Steel Band Refuses To Play At UKIP Carnival

A steel band that was booked for a UKIP event packed up their gear after discovering they were to be performing for the anti-immigration party.

UKIP had organised a carnival in Croydon, south London, ahead of the European and local elections on Thursday.

But when the band, called Endurance Steel, realised who had hired them, they walked away.

Sky News has contacted UKIP for a comment.

At the same street rally, the party's candidates and supporters clashed with protesters and campaigners.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage

Romanians argued on Croydon High Street with party members about leader Nigel Farage's remarks last week about Romanian neighbours.

Police officers watched over the peaceful but heated clashes outside the Whitgift Shopping Centre.

The party brought an electronic advertising van to act as a centrepiece for the event, which drew around 100 people.

Mr Farage had been due to attend the event on Croydon High Street.

At 3.15pm, the ad van left with no sign of the UKIP leader appearing.

The UKIP leader said he regretted using the words "you know what the difference is" in his interview on LBC radio on Friday when asked what distinction he was drawing between Germans or Romanians living next door.

He said: "That gave people the impression that I was saying, 'A nod a wink, we don't really like Romanians'.

"I regret doing that but I do absolutely insist we must have a proper debate about this."

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Joss Stone Murder Plot Pair Have Sentences Cut

Two men who were convicted of plotting to rob and kill the singer Joss Stone have won appeals against the length of their prison sentences.

Junior Bradshaw, 33, had his 18-year sentence cut to 10 years by three Court of Appeal judges in London. 

Kevin Liverpool, 36, who was originally given a life sentence with a minimum term of 10 years and eight months, had his minimum reduced to six-and-a-half years.

The pair, of St Stephen's Close, Longsight, Manchester, were found guilty of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to rob following a trial at Exeter Crown Court last year.

They drove from Manchester to Miss Stone's home in mid-Devon with an arsenal of weapons, including a samurai sword, to rob and kill her.

When the pair were sentenced, Judge Francis Gilbert, the Recorder of Exeter, branded Liverpool a danger to the public and said he targeted Miss Stone to get more than £1m from her.

The car the men used to drive to Devon

He told him: "You intended to rob her and kill her and dump her body in the river, according to your words, and then leave the country with your accomplice, Junior Bradshaw. You had no reason to target her except that she was a wealthy young woman as she was a successful singer."

Liverpool and Bradshaw had scouted Miss Stone's home and were on their way to attack her armed with a sword, three knives, two hammers, masks, gloves and a hosepipe when they were arrested in Cullompton in June 2011.

Giving the ruling of the court, Mr Justice Bean said it had dismissed Liverpool's appeal "insofar as it challenges the imposition of a sentence of life imprisonment".

One of the weapons found in the car

It had been argued on his behalf that the "clumsy and badly-planned" conspiracy was not so serious as to qualify Liverpool for a life sentence.

The judge said the court "cannot accept this submission". It was a conspiracy to murder using an "array of weapons", and was persisted in even after the setback of damage to their car.

He added: "When coupled with the finding that the appellant (Liverpool) poses a high risk of serious harm to the public, it leads to the clear conclusion that a life sentence was justified."

Taking into account the 22 months spent in custody before sentencing, Liverpool becomes eligible to apply for parole in December 2017.

But the judges stressed that "we are not ordering that the appellant be released in December 2017".

Turning to Bradshaw's appeal the judge said he was "of exceptionally low intellectual capacity".

As the trial judge had noted, Liverpool was the instigator and Bradshaw was the foot soldier.

Mr Justice Bean said that had he been more intelligent "he would have realised that the chances of a successful and profitable robbery were so remote as not to be worth attempting".

In light of the reduction made in Liverpool's minimum term, and the trial judge's finding "which was clearly correct", that Bradshaw was to be treated as a foot soldier, "a reduction in his sentences should likewise be made".

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SAS Sniper Nightingale Loses Gun Case Appeal

A former SAS sniper has lost his latest battle against his conviction for illegally keeping a gun and ammunition.

Sergeant Danny Nightingale's application to appeal was turned down by three judges at the Court Martial Appeal Court in London.

The 39-year-old was sentenced last July to two years' military detention, suspended for 12 months, by a military court in Bulford, Wiltshire, after being convicted for the second time.

The special forces soldier was found guilty of having a 9mm Glock pistol and more than 300 rounds of ammunition in the bedroom of his shared Army house.

Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas dismissed his application for permission to appeal, ruling that there was nothing in the grounds he wished to argue which affected the safety of his conviction.

Sitting with Mr Justice Hickinbottom and Mr Justice Jeremy Baker, Lord Thomas said there was a "considerable amount" of evidence before the court martial which "supported" the conviction.

Guns and ammunition found at Nightingale's house

He said the appeal court could not see "in any way" how his proposed grounds of appeal - the main one relating to expert evidence - would "affect the conviction".

The pistol was found in Nightingale's wardrobe and ammunition was under his bed in a plastic box. He claimed he had no knowledge of them being in his bedroom.

Nightingale, from Crewe, had pleaded not guilty to possession of a prohibited firearm and also denied possession of the ammunition.

He was originally jailed for 18 months in November 2012 for the offences, but had his sentence cut after appeal judges concluded it was too harsh.

It was reduced to 12 months suspended, resulting in his release. His conviction was then quashed in March 2013 by appeal judges and a fresh trial was ordered.

During a military career starting in 1995 he served in the former Yugoslavia, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. He received a medical discharge, remaining in the Army until it commenced in February.

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M&S Annual Profits Drop For Third Year In A Row

Marks and Spencer has announced that staff and management will be denied bonuses this year, after recording its third straight year of declining profit.

The decision comes as the high street icon revealed a 3.9% drop in full-year underlying pre-tax profit to £623m.

The company said its like-for-like UK sales for general merchandise, which includes clothes and furnishings, were down 1.4% in the year until March 29.

In the same period its like-for-like food sales outperformed the wider market and were up 1.7%.

Mr Bolland has been in the top job at M&S since 2010

M&S has invested heavily during the last three years to try and revive its general merchandise business.

For the first time the profit outcome is below the annual profit made by faster growing fashion rival Next.

Total UK sales were up 2.3% in the year but general merchandise remained at 0%.

Multi-channel sales, including online and mobile, were up 22.8%.

It said the company's newly launched website would take up to six months "to settle in" and therefore revenue for the current quarter is expected to be adversely affected.

Chief executive Marc Bolland said: "We are focused on improving our performance in general merchandise and were pleased to see early signs of improvement.

"Our food business had a very strong year, consistently outperforming the market."

Last week Mr Bolland, who has now been in the job four years, announced a new campaign to push 19 million customers online.

He added: "Three years ago, we recognised the scale of investment required to transform our business, investing to strengthen our foundations and improve our customer offer.

"We are making solid progress on this journey and are now focused on delivery."

Sales at M&S were down for the eleventh quarter in a row last quarter, although clothing purchases did rise slightly.

The company was able to reduce its net debut by 6% in the year, to £2.46bn.

It said 2013/14 was a "significant year on our journey" as it seeks to transform itself from a traditional UK chain to "an international, multi-channel retailer".

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Rolf Harris 'Groped Girl As She Sat On His Lap'

By Nick Pisa, Sky News Producer, at Southwark Crown Court

Rolf Harris allegedly indecently assaulted a teenage girl in a pub just hours after she arrived in Britain on a theatre tour, a court has heard.

Tonya Lee, 43, who waived her right to anonymity described how the entertainer groped her under her skirt in front of unsuspecting members of the party in the packed venue.

She described how Harris began to molest her after he had asked her to sit on his lap and tell him about herself.

Mrs Lee, who gave evidence from behind a screen despite waiving her anonymity, said she felt "petrified" and "frozen in fear" after Harris groped her again by a pub toilet.

Jurors at Southwark Crown Court heard Mrs Lee describe how she had arrived in London in 1986, aged 15, with the theatre group as part of a tour and had met Harris at Heathrow.

Later that same day they went for dinner in a London pub where he invited her to sit on his lap, with Mrs Lee saying he said: "Come over here Tonya tell me about yourself."

She said: "One hand started to pat me on the thigh. It started on the outer thigh and he began to move his hand up my inner thigh.

"I started to panic. I was wondering what to do, how to get out of it I was confused."

Rolf Harris denies 12 indecent assault charges

Mrs Lee said she then fled to the toilet in shock and when she came back out found Harris waiting for her.

"I felt intimidated, it felt uncomfortable ... he went to give me a hug. I just wanted to get out of the situation. It was big bear hug, all encompassing, she said.

"It felt very uncomfortable and quite surreal. Things happened so quickly. He then put his hand down my shirt and made contact with my breast."

Mrs Lee added she waned to escape but was unable as he continued to grope her.

Prosecutor Ms Sasha Wass QC asked her how she felt and Mrs Lee replied: "I wanted to burst into tears. I just wanted to run. I was gobsmacked, in complete disbelief."

Mrs Lee, who also told the court she was abused by a relative when she was around four years old, said that as a result of what happened she lost her appetite and later developed bulimia.

Three of the 12 indecent assault charges that Harris, of Bray, Berkshire, faces relate to Mrs Lee and as she testified he listened carefully from the dock.

The veteran entertainer denies the charges, which date between 1968 and 1986, against four women aged between seven and 19 years old.

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World Cup Warning To Fans Over Argentine Gangs

By Paul Kelso, Sports Correspondent

England fans travelling to the World Cup have been warned to avoid protests and beware the threat of gangs of Argentine hooligans which are thought to be targeting the tournament.

The estimated 5,000 England fans who are expected to travel to Brazil will be accompanied by a small team of British police officers who will advise the local authorities.

The UK Football Policing Unit has identified several areas of concern, including the possible presence of gangs of Argentine fans at the tournament.

The Brazilian authorities also view the gangs as a threat and British officers will try to ensure there is no overlap between them and England fans.

Deputy Chief Constable Andy Holt, of South Yorkshire Police, said: "The Brazilians are quite worried about groups and gangs coming across from Argentina, and that some of those engaged in disorder who follow Argentine football might come across.

"We'll be mindful of any crossover between troublesome Argentine supporters (and England fans) because the last thing we want is any confrontation ... given our shared history.

Belgian riot police prepare for possible clashes ahead of an Euro 2000 game

"It might be an area for some issues."

When British police first started attending overseas tournaments it was to help combat hooligans.

Improvements in the atmosphere around the England team means the focus is now on ensuring fans come home safely.

The tasks facing the six-strong team of British officers will be to ensure England fans avoid trouble and are policed "on their current behaviour, rather than on their reputation of 20 years ago".

Crime, the significant Brazilian protest movement and the threat of road traffic accidents are among the areas police say fans should be aware of.

Four officers in uniform will act as "spotters" at England games, helping interpret the behaviour of fans for the Brazilian authorities.

They will have no statutory powers, although DCC Holt said they can be a reassuring presence for supporters.

Police hope to avoid a repeat of the ugly clashes of previous tournaments

"We'll be a sort of 'cultural interpreter' for the local police," he said.

"We can say that just because our fans are jumping up and down and getting excited, it doesn't mean it's a precursor to a riot.

"Conversely, if fans are getting rowdy in a bar, perhaps we can send a couple of officers over to calm them down.

"We tend to be well received abroad if we're helping them avoid a night in the cells.

"My personal experience is that England fans abroad are appreciative of seeing a British police officer."

Police will also mount a domestic operation, with more than 2,300 people convicted of football disorder required to hand in their passports for the duration of the tournament.

Local forces will be on alert for disorder around England's games and will also take account of overseas communities that might be marking their teams' games in the World Cup.

During Euro 2012, Lincolnshire Police were caught by surprise by issues arising from the local Polish community celebrating their team's matches and officers are keen to avoid a repeat.

DCC Holt also warned domestic violence can increase during major football tournaments.

He wants forces to ensure they are able to offer an appropriate response.

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Homes Raided After Brit Teen Killed In Syria

The family home of a British teenager killed fighting in Syria is one of four houses searched by counter-terrorism police investigating his death.

Abdullah Deghayes, whose uncle was a detainee at Guantanamo Bay, died in the war-hit country last month after leaving the UK in January.

The 18-year-old's two brothers Jafar and Amer also travelled to Syria, according to their father Abubaker Deghayes.

Abdullah's father, Abubaker Deghayes

Amer had suffered a bullet wound to his stomach in the same battle in which his sibling was killed, Mr Deghayes added.

The homes that were raided were all in the Brighton and Hove area and included Abdullah's property in Arundel Drive East in Saltdean, near Brighton.

He was the nephew of Omar Deghayes, who was held by the US as an enemy combatant at the Guantanamo detention camp from 2002 to 2007 after being arrested in Pakistan.

Sussex Police said the latest searches were linked to inquiries into Abdullah's death and whether any terrorism offences had been committed.

The force added no arrests were anticipated on Tuesday.

Omar Deghayes, Abdullah's uncle, was once held in Guantanamo Bay

Chief Superintendent Nev Kemp, Brighton and Hove divisional commander, said: "This is a necessary part of our continuing work to safeguard communities locally and nationally, including those who have links to Syria.

"Every step is being taken to ensure the operation is carried out sensitively, thoroughly and professionally.

"We understand what a distressing time this is for the family and we do not want to cause further distress to them.

"I can give local people an assurance that this is not in response to any immediate threat to local communities and anyone who does have any concerns can contact our local officers for further reassurance."

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Police Hunt Pair On Run From Open Prison

An armed robber has absconded from an open prison in Doncaster along with another inmate.

Police are warning the public not to approach Damien Burns or Dean Jackson, who went missing from Hatfield Prison on Monday evening.

Burns, 39, originally from Scarborough, North Yorkshire, was serving an indeterminate sentence for knifepoint robbery handed to him in 2007.

Jackson, 27, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, was on remand awaiting sentencing for what police described as "a theft-related matter".

Police think they may try to return to their home turf as they do not have any known contacts near the category D jail.

The incident comes a day after a murderer who stabbed a blind man to death was arrested after going on the run from prison.

Arnold Pickering, 44, who was jailed for life in 1991 for killing a man he wrongly thought to be a paedophile, was tracked down to an address in Oldham.

The 44-year-old had failed to return to HMP Kennet in Merseyside after leaving the Category C jail on day release on Saturday.

Another inmate, swastika-tattooed Thomas Moffett, 51, who is serving an indeterminate sentence for a number of robberies, also failed to return from day release on Saturday but was arrested on Monday night.

The series of escapes comes weeks after notorious armed robber Michael Wheatley - known as the Skullcracker - absconded from Standford Hill open prison on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, while on temporary release.

:: Police are appealing for anyone who sees the pair to call them on 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111, quoting incident number 1009 or 1067 of May 19

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