Conservative Party activists are due to gather for their last nationwide meeting before the start of the general election campaign.

The party is holding its two-day spring conference in Brighton at a time when recent polls have suggested that its lead over Labour may be narrowing.

On the eve of the conference, it was revealed that the Tories' election slogan will be "vote for change".

This message is likely to be central to David Cameron's main speech on Sunday.

Labour will use the Tory conference as an opportunity to launch a new poster attacking the shadow chancellor George Osborne.

The Liberal Democrats say only they offer a change to the existing way of conducting politics.

The election must be held by June but is expected to take place on 6 May.

'Unsurprising slogan'

Mr Cameron is likely to use his speech to inspire activists ahead of the upcoming campaign but also to set out the extent of the economic challenges facing the next government.

Revised figures published on Friday confirmed that the UK did emerge from recession slightly stronger than initially thought in the last three months of 2009 but all parties agree the recovery is still fragile.

"For people who want real change, real fairness in Britain there is only one choice: the Liberal Democrats"

Among those giving speeches on Saturday will be Mr Osborne, the party's official election co-ordinator, and shadow foreign secretary William Hague.

The Conservatives are also expected to unveil Professor David Kerr, a leading cancer specialist, as the party's new health adviser.

Prof Kerr was once a prominent supporter of Tony Blair and Labour's health reforms but said on Friday that he believed the Tories were now best placed to take the NHS forward.

BBC political correspondent Gary O'Donoghue said the Tories had been using the word change for months, so their choice of slogan was neither "original nor surprising".

"This weekend's spring conference will see little in the way of new policy announcements," he said.

"[It] will attempt to persuade the voters that a modernised Conservative party is not just able to deliver change, but has also succeeded in really changing itself."

Choice - between Mr Cameron and another five years of Gordon Brown - will also be an important word for the Tories, he added.

The Tory conference begins a week after the prime minister revealed Labour's election slogan of "a future fair for all".

This weekend, the party is releasing more pre-election campaign material. An image of shadow chancellor George Osborne is accompanied by the slogan "Chancer not Chancellor".

Danny Alexander, the Liberal Democrat leader's chief of staff, said the election was not a choice between Mr Brown and Mr Cameron.

"It's between the old way of doing politics and the real change represented by the Liberal Democrats.

"For people who want real change, real fairness in Britain there is only one choice: the Liberal Democrats. Labour has totally failed to make Britain fairer, and the Tories can't be trusted to do."

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Gordon Brown and Carwyn Jones aim to rally their party at the Welsh Labour conference later by warning of the impact of a Conservative government.

The prime minister and Wales' first minister will both address the gathering in Swansea, and each is likely to focus on the economy.

But with a general election looming, Mr Brown told a newspaper he would not "encourage speculation" on the date.

Mr Jones will urge Wales to "nurture our innate entrepreneurial flair".

There has been widespread speculation that the election will be on 6 May, but Mr Brown told the Western Mail that he would not "talk to anybody about the date".

Meanwhile, Mr Jones will make his first speech to a Welsh Labour conference as leader since he replaced Rhodri Morgan last year.

"The trick for Wales in the future is to grow our private sector, to nurture our innate entrepreneurial flair and innovation, to unleash a side of Welshness that has been repressed and understated for far too long"

He will set out his vision for the Welsh economy, and urge voters not to jeopardise Labour's achievements by letting the Conservatives return to power.

He is expected to tell delegates at the Brangwyn Hall: "We need to enlarge the private sector in Wales, and we need to do it quickly in order to provide more and better jobs for our people.

"The trick for Wales in the future is to grow our private sector, to nurture our innate entrepreneurial flair and innovation, to unleash a side of Welshness that has been repressed and understated for far too long."

Election choices

Mr Jones will tell delegates of the decision facing voters at the general election.

He is expected to say: "The choice is absolutely clear. In the one direction lies an economic future overseen by the most effective and experienced team in the world today under Gordon Brown.

"And in the other, under David Cameron, a bunch of dogma-driven disciples of the principles that landed the global economy in difficulties in the first place."

The Welsh Labour leader will call on voters not to jeopardise what Labour has achieved in fields such as education and health.

He will also set out the principles that have defined Welsh Labour, arguing that they will help shape and drive the party in government to tackle the challenges ahead.

Mr Jones will also use his speech to combat what he believes is a myth which has grown up in some sectors that his party is anti-devolutionist.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Protesters angered by the reported £250,000 pay-off given to the chief executive of Shetland Islands Council are set to gather in Lerwick.

The local authority announced on Wednesday that David Clark, who became its chief in June, was leaving by "mutual agreement".

Controversy surrounded Mr Clark's nine months in the job.

The protesters are now calling for the council's leadership to stand down and face re-election.

New witnesses

A row first erupted last summer when Mr Clark tried to do away with the post of assistant chief executive.

He was investigated in October over allegations he verbally threatened a councillor with violence during a phone call.

Although an outside inquiry cleared him, police have now submitted a report to the procurator fiscal, after interviewing two new witnesses.

The planned protest is a second in a less than a week.

Protester Kathy Greaves said: "It is not just this latest debacle over the chief executive's large payout but the many other mistakes they have been making over the past few months and years.

"This is our opportunity to show the council we want them to stand down and stand again for re-election."

The council has so far refused to confirm the details of the payment to Mr Clark.

Council convener Sandy Cluness said he understood the public's concerns but pointed out that an inquiry by Audit Scotland into how the authority handled the matter would be made public in time.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Britain will be "militarily engaged" in Afghanistan for a further five years, the head of the Army has said.

General Sir David Richards told the Daily Telegraph, while on a visit to Helmand, that he expected the military conflict to "trail off in 2011".

But British troops will continue in training and support roles, he said.

He also warned that coalition troops could not afford to fail and said UK forces now "for the first time" had the resources they had wanted.

Sir David said in August that he believed the UK would be committed to Afghanistan "in some manner" for the next 30 or 40 years, possibly through roles in development, governance and security sector reform.

Sir David said: "The combat role will start to decline in 2011, but we will remain military engaged in training and support roles for another five years, and we will remain in a support role for many years to come."

"The Taliban is now beginning to realise that they can lose this war, which was not the view they had a year ago"

Speaking on a visit to Afghanistan during Operation Moshtarak, which is an ongoing offensive to attack the Taliban, he said the campaign was showing some "very optimistic signs".

He added: "A year ago the Taliban thought they had us on the run, but now the tables have turned. They are under relentless pressure and they are now having some serious thoughts about continuing the fight.

"I do not think we can afford to fail in Afghanistan because of the intoxicating effect failure will have on those militants who oppose democracy and our freedoms.

"The Taliban is now beginning to realise that they can lose this war, which was not the view they had a year ago."

Sir David's comments come after the deaths of three British servicemen in three days.

A soldier from 28 Engineer Regiment, attached to the Brigade Reconnaissance Force, died on Friday after being caught in a blast near a check point in Nad Ali, Helmand. He has not yet been named.

Rifleman Martin Kinggett from A Company 4 Rifles was shot dead in Sangin on Thursday and Senior Aircraftman Luke Southgate died in an explosion north of Kandahar airfield on Wednesday.

A total of 266 British service personnel have died since the conflict began.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman's husband has been chosen to contest a Birmingham seat at the next general election, the party has announced.

Party treasurer Jack Dromey is to stand for the Erdington seat vacated by Sion Simon who stood down earlier this month to be Birmingham's first elected mayor.

Mr Dromey is currently the deputy general secretary for the Unite union.

He said he was "honoured" to be chosen and had been working for social justice in the city for the past 25 years.

Labour held Erdington with a majority of 9,575 in the last general election.

The Conservative Party has chosen Robert Alden as their prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) for Erdington.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The Court of Appeal has decided to publish a paragraph criticising MI5 in a judgement involving former Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed.

A senior judge had altered the text following protests from government lawyers who saw the draft version.

The appeal judges said the robust criticism contained in the original wording should be published "in the interests of open justice".

The foreign secretary has previously denied officials had acted unfairly.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie has announced that she intends to seek her party's nomination to succeed Eddie McGrady as MP for South Down.

Ms Ritchie said if elected, she would give her job as social development minister to a party colleague.

She also said she would only take her MP's salary and would give up her second salary as an MLA.

Mr McGrady announced he was standing down on Thursday after representing the constituency at Westminster since 1987.

The 74-year-old said that after 50 years as a councillor, assembly member and MP he had "recently" decided it was time to step down.

Ms Ritchie is a former constituency aide to Mr McGrady.

He said that following the election of Mrs Ritchie as party leader, there was a "new dynamic" within the party which he still hoped to play some part in.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Visitors to the UK could be required to hold health insurance before they can enter the country, the government says.

The move is an attempt to crack down on "health tourists" who come for treatment but fail to pay for it.

In a separate immigration review, the UK could also refuse entry to foreigners owing money for health care.

Ministers said this would stop people from overseas taking advantage, but the Tories said Labour had allowed the problem to develop in the first place.

The NHS in England is paid more than £25m a year by overseas visitors, but writes off another £5m in unpaid bills.

Department of Health figures show that 50% of outstanding bills are not paid within a year of treatment and about 5% of overseas patients had three or more unpaid invoices. One reportedly had 18.

'Taking advantage'

If the Department of Health's proposals are approved, NHS bosses would provide a list of migrants with treatment debts to immigration officials from later this year.

They would then be turned away by the UK Border Agency if they try to re-enter the country without settling their debt.

The department said that while the unpaid debts were small in relation to overall NHS spending, it was "important that we maximise recovery, not least to discourage deliberate abuse by a small minority of visitors".

"We need a proper assessment of the proposal... to determine the impact on tourism"

The proposals would not cover visitors from the European Economic Area and other countries with whom the UK has reciprocal health agreements.

Ministers have also revealed plans to give free healthcare - at a cost of £9m a year - to thousands of failed asylum seekers if there are "recognised barriers" to them returning home.

But free care will not be given to refugees who refuse to leave after their claims are rejected.

Immigration minister Phil Woolas said: "The government believes that those who take advantage of our hospitality should respect that hospitality or face consequences."

He added: "For the first time the UK's immigration rules would state explicitly that a record of failing to discharge payment obligations to the National Health Service will impact upon a person's ability to enter and stay in this country."

Health minister Mike O'Brien said: "Whilst the NHS has a duty to any person whose life or long-term health is at immediate risk, we cannot afford to be an international health service, providing free treatment for all."

But shadow immigration minister Damian Green said the government's "open-door immigration policy" had placed "significant burdens" on the NHS.

He added: "In July last year, the government announced a review of access to the NHS by foreign nationals, but never published the results. This is unacceptable and cynical."

'Good on paper'

Lib Dem health spokesman Norman Lamb said: "Labour has repeatedly claimed it's going to get tough with health tourism but it's completely failed so far.

"We need a proper assessment of the proposal to force foreign visitors to get health insurance to determine the impact on tourism."

He added: "Cutting NHS treatment for failed asylum seekers may sound good on paper, but are ministers seriously saying they're happy for someone with TB to continue living in the community without treatment"

The Department of Health consultation also proposes relaxing the rules on treatment for UK residents who travel abroad for extended periods.

Currently, they risk losing their entitlements after three months overseas, but under new plans this would be extended to six.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Nearly 140 MPs are standing down at the next election, the largest number for more than 60 years.

In a regular series over the next few weeks, retiring MPs will be reflecting on their decision to say goodbye to Parliament, how they will spend their remaining days at Westminster before the election is called and what life holds for them in the future.

Jane Kennedy was first elected in 1992 and served as a minister under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

She announced last November she would be leaving Parliament in search of a "fresh challenge".

JANE KENNEDY, LABOUR MP FOR LIVERPOOL WAVERTREE

I was glad to be offered the opportunity to write about leaving public life.

I always count the years before Parliament, when I lived my politics through my union NUPE and worked with union and Labour friends such as Jack Straw, Charles Clarke and Adam Ingram to destroy the influence of the Militant tendency during the 1980s, as part of my nearly 30 years in the public spotlight.

Time for me to do something else.

Walking through Childwall meadows near my home in Liverpool, the deep hoar frost has turned the tangled mass of grass and brambles into white latticework. From this vantage point I can see across the plain of Manchester to the Pennines, tinged pink with early winter sunshine and I know retiring from politics was the right thing for me.

It's Tuesday morning and I'm at home instead of London.

New responsibilities

I have never been happier than when in the company of a dog. For nearly 13 years I gave them up for ministerial responsibility.

Last June, when realisation dawned that government was no longer for me, I began my search.

Jack, a Belgian shepherd, joined us three months later and now, still young enough to think he can catch birds, he is also known as Gnasher.

I go back to Parliament and take my seat only when a constituency matter presents itself as needing to be raised, or for the meetings of the all-party group on science and technology in agriculture.

Any anxiety I had that my absence might weaken the government's ability to win votes dissipates as I can see that Tories and Lib Dem members are absent too.

My constituency took the news stoically and after thanks for my service immediately began the debate about who should replace me. Proper order. My only remaining public duty is to the volunteers that have worked so hard for my candidature over the last eighteen years.

They have chosen my successor and I have been deeply impressed with the new energy and life that she has breathed into tired party activists. The least I can do is work as hard as I can to secure her election.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

A key Home Office target of dealing with 90% of asylum applications within six months is "unachievable", an independent watchdog has warned.

The chief inspector of the UK Border Agency, John Vine, said the complexity and volume of cases the agency must deal with had created a backlog.

Ministers want the target met by the end of 2011 but Mr Vine said this would not happen without hiring more staff.

The agency's chief executive Lin Homer said cases were being resolved faster.

Mr Vine's role is to give independent scrutiny of the work of the agency.

In a report published on Friday, he said the agency would have to more than double its current work rate if it was to clear up about 200,000 outstanding cases dating back several years.

He said officials would need to clear 11,000 cases a month but were currently getting through fewer than 5,000.

'Fleeing persecution'

Mr Vine said considerable progress had been made since the asylum processing target was first announced three years ago but highlighted the fact that 30,000 cases had already taken longer than six months to resolve.

This was because either because officials had not been able to make a decision or it had proved impossible to remove failed asylum-seekers.

Mr Vine said: "Some of the most vulnerable people in society who are claiming asylum, their cases are not being dealt within the six-month period, and I think that's regrettable.

"These people are fleeing persecution from other countries and it's the responsibility of the British government and the UK Border Agency in particular to make sure their cases are dealt with expeditiously."

Ms Homer, said the agency was working on a plan to deal with claims still outstanding after six months.

She added: "The UK Border Agency is concluding asylum cases faster than ever before, with the majority concluded within six months, down from an average of 22 months in 1997."

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

A prominent supporter of Tony Blair's health reforms is to advise the Conservatives, arguing the party is now "committed" to the NHS.

Professor David Kerr, a leading cancer specialist, will become shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley's principal clinical adviser - a paid role.

He said efforts to increase patient choice under Mr Blair had been affected by a "blizzard" of targets.

But Labour says Tory plans to scrap its patient guarantees will be damaging.

News of Prof Kerr's appointment comes on the eve of the Tories' spring conference in Brighton, where leader David Cameron will seek to rally party supporters ahead of the general election - which must be held by June.

'Bogged down'

The party has made health a central plank of its manifesto in England, promising to protect NHS budgets from future public spending cuts.

The Tories said Prof Kerr's endorsement showed a growing belief that their policies offered the best future for the health service.

"We have got lost in the blizzard of increasingly irrelevant targets"

Currently professor of cancer medicine at the University of Oxford, he was a strong supporter of key reforms, such as maximum waiting times for treatment and foundation hospitals, undertaken by Labour.

He also wrote a number of reports for Labour on cancer treatment and NHS re-organisation.

But he has claimed that the "bold and radical" agenda pursued while Mr Blair was in No 10 had been replaced in recent years by a top-down approach leaving the NHS "bogged down by process driven targets" - many of which were "irrelevant" to better treatment.

He has called for a shift in emphasis from general targets to individual results, focusing on helping patients live longer and in better health.

He has argued that the NHS should publish information about the quality of care and patient experience offered by hospitals and medical practices, including details of mortality and survival rates for some procedures, to help people compare their performance.

The Tories said Prof Kerr would advise Mr Lansley on how to achieve the best clinical outcomes in cancer and other areas and how to use NHS data to help people give patients more choice and drive up standards.

Prof Kerr said he was giving his support to the Tories because he was sure they were "more committed to the NHS we love and understand as free at the point of the access".

"Only that degree of certainty would convince me to go and work for them," he said.

Explaining the switch of allegiance, he suggested NHS reform had lost its way under Gordon Brown.

"We have got lost in the blizzard of increasingly irrelevant targets," he said. "The position now is disenfranchising, dull and disconnected. That is the clinical reality."

'Dogmatic'

Prof Kerr will be paid for the part-time role although the Conservatives stressed that he was not being lined up for a position in government should the party win the election.

Labour says Tory plans to scrap many NHS targets and patient guarantees for diagnosis and treatment are "dogmatic" and could reverse progress in cancer survival rates.

In September, Mr Brown announced that anyone showing symptoms of cancer would have a right to have diagnostic tests and get their results within a week of seeing their GP.

Under the plan, any patient who fails to receive their test results within a week is automatically entitled to be seen elsewhere, either in a different National Health Service facility or a private hospital.

Labour said the guarantee would be accompanied by £1bn of fresh investment in scanners and other equipment.

In a Comres poll of 1,005 people for the Daily Politics, 28% of respondents said they knew what the party stood for and liked it.

Some 36% said they did not know what the party stood for, while another 36% said they did know what it stood for but did not like it.

Six out of 10 respondents said they expected the Tories to win the election. Of those polled, 46% said they would be unhappy if this happened and 41% said they would be happy.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

There are two big questions at Westminster this week. Why is the Conservative poll lead narrowing And what impact will Bullygate and the "forces of hell" have on public opinion

From Labour's point of view, the fall in the Tory lead can be explained by two factors.

As the election approaches, voters are no longer just being asked about whether they like the government or not.

They are now being faced with a choice about whether they want a Conservative government, and as the cliché goes, the Tories haven't sealed the deal.

A series of policy mishaps like the one over tax and marriage hasn't helped.

Then there is the apparent recovery in the economy, strengthened by revised growth figures, which show that gross domestic product in the October to December quarter was 0.3%, an improvement on the 0.1% forecast in the preliminary estimate last month.

That will probably put pay to any talk of an early election as there is less need to cut and run before the next set of growth figures come out.

Labour also thinks it is beginning to get credit for having the right solutions to the credit crunch.

Momentum for change

The Conservative perspective is, of course, very different.

"Being portrayed as a bully with demonic hordes as spin doctors can't do Gordon Brown much good"

PM denies 'forces of hell' attack

Official denies Brown bully talk

There is nervousness about the change in the polls and some are perplexed about what's been causing it.

One shadow cabinet member I spoke to this week thinks that part of the problem has been the expenses scandal, which means that voters think "a plague on all your houses".

His view is that "politics is totally bust in this country", but nonetheless it is impossible to believe that voters will contemplate having Gordon Brown back as prime minister for another five years.

In other words, the momentum of "Time for a Change" is unstoppable.

Those around David Cameron are adamant that they shouldn't be deflected from their modernising strategy by the opinion poll falls and urge that the party must hold its nerve.

One of the modernisers made the point to me that the message they are sending out this time is more fuzzy than clear themes of the past - like Save The Pound and Tough on Immigration - which appeal to the party's core vote.

But there will be pressure on the leadership to change its tack from those in the party who have never been totally convinced by the Cameron Project.

Today the website ConservativeHome is urging a campaign which features strongly the issues of immigration and spending cuts.

And so, what impact will the claims about Gordon Brown's alleged bullying, and of vicious briefing by his aides, have on this volatile political scene

You can argue that the essential allegations have long been in the public domain and that the public has already made its mind up.

Labour optimists will also try to play some of this as "strong" leadership.

But in a character-based campaign, which will be enhanced by the TV debates, being portrayed as a bully with demonic hordes as spin doctors can't do Gordon Brown much good.

However, the real damage for Labour may come from a loss of momentum - that all this will stall the slippage in the Conservative lead - but we'll need a few more polls before we know that for certain.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Chancellor Alistair Darling has said the upward revision in the UK's growth figures is "encouraging", but warned against cutting spending too soon.

Figures show the economy grew by 0.3% in the last quarter of 2009, better than the earlier estimate of 0.1%.

For the Conservatives, shadow chancellor George Osborne also welcomed the news, but said it strengthened his call to begin cuts.

Lib Dem Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said the economy was still "fragile".

The initial estimate of 0.1% growth released last month showed that the UK had emerged from recession, but only just.

This better-than-expected revision confirms the economy is in recovery, but analysts say there is still a chance it could contract again in the current quarter.

The recent recession was the longest on record in the UK and saw public borrowing increase to an estimated £178bn.

'Utter madness'

The chancellor told the BBC he welcomed the upward revision, but there was still "a lot of uncertainty" about the economy.

"What I say is that we are coming through recession, we are moving towards a recovery, but it's absolutely essential for us to maintain support for the economy.

"The economy is still very fragile. This is not a good figure"

UK growth revised upward

"To remove it now as the Tories suggest would be utter madness."

He said other European countries like Germany and Italy had seen growth slow or even contract, adding: "We're not out of the woods yet."

The Tories have said there would be no "swingeing cuts" during their first year in government, but stressed that the UK should make a start now on cutting the deficit.

Mr Osborne said in a statement on Friday: "This upward revision of last year's growth figures is welcome.

"It strengthens the Conservative argument that we must now make a start on dealing with with the debts that Gordon Brown has run up.

"That is how we will bring back confidence to the economy and deliver a proper, sustainable, job-creating recovery."

But Mr Cable told the BBC growth was still a long way off what could be considered healthy.

"The economy is still very fragile," he said. "This is not a good figure. It was also buoyed up by the fact the VAT cut was still in place."

The "political significance" of the figures was that they reinforced the need for caution, he added.

"It underlines the folly of the idea of rushing into very rapid cuts in public spending which would, of course, send the economy back into recession and create an even bigger budget deficit."

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Welsh victims of the thalidomide scandal are to be given money to help improve their care as part of £1.9m of funding from the assembly government.

The cash will be distributed among the 31 known Welsh survivors to minimise any deterioration in their health.

It will be in addition to the £20m UK government compensation package given to the Thalidomide Trust to help survivors around Britain last month.

Babies were born with limb deformities after their mothers took the drug.

Pregnant women were prescribed it in the 1950s and 1960s as a treatment for morning sickness or insomnia.

It was withdrawn from sale in 1961 after babies were born with severe physical disabilities.

The assembly government funding, which will be available from April, will be given to the Thalidomide Trust to distribute to thalidomiders - as survivors call themselves - to improve their care and support.

"While survivors in Wales will have access to a share of the funding announced by the Department of Health, I wanted to provide additional funding"

In January, the UK government expressed its "sincere regret" and "deep sympathy" to 400 UK victims of the thalidomide scandal ahead of unveiling its £20m compensation package.

First Minister Carwyn Jones, who was making the funding announcement while meeting thalidomide survivors in Gorseinon, Swansea, said: "I believe that addressing the ongoing needs of thalidomiders rests with the UK government as it authorised the use of thalidomide.

"While survivors in Wales will have access to a share of the funding announced by the Department of Health, I wanted to provide additional funding to ensure that people affected by thalidomide in Wales receive the care and support they need.

"I am pleased that the UK government has expressed its sincere regret and deep sympathy for the injury and suffering endured by all those affected when expectant mothers took the drug between 1958 and 1961.

"The funding I am announcing today will help thalidomiders manage the continuing and increasing health needs as they get older.

"We will be working with the Thalidomide Trust on how this funding will be distributed to maximise the benefits for individuals."

Nick Dobrik, representative of the National Advisory Group for the Thalidomide Trust and leading campaigner, said: "On behalf of the thalidomide community, we would like to thank the Welsh Assembly Government for its speed and generosity in contributing to helping thalidomiders maintain their independence."

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

UK Independence Party MEP Nigel Farage has defended calling Belgium "a non-country", saying it is "an artificial construction" which is "breaking up".

Appearing on the BBC's Question Time, he said he did not regret his comments and felt they were "very moderate".

The Euro MP also defended disparaging remarks he made to the EU President Herman Van Rompuy.

Welsh Secretary Peter Hain, who also appeared on Question Time, said the outburst was "beneath contempt".

Mr Farage is the former leader of the UK Independence Party, but stood down in September 2009 to focus on trying to win a UKIP seat in Westminster.

He plans to challenge Tory MP and Commons Speaker Jon Bercow in his Buckingham constituency.

'Not a diplomat'

Mr Farage drew jeers on Wednesday when he told the chamber of the European Parliament that Mr Van Rompuy had "the charisma of a damp rag" and the appearance of a "low-grade bank clerk".

He accused Mr Van Rompuy, who was in the chamber, of having "a loathing for the very concept of the existence of nation states", adding: "Perhaps that's because you come from Belgium, which is pretty much a non-country."

"I think it was frankly insulting"

On Thursday, Mr Farage, whose party wants the UK to withdraw from the EU, told Question Time he had no regrets: "If I'd been summoned as a diplomat working for the Foreign Office then clearly one wouldn't have made comments like that.

"But I'd been summoned as one of 72 MEPs from the UK to something that calls itself a Parliament, but actually, it isn't a Parliament because it doesn't believe that any voice of opposition should exist whatsoever."

Mr Farage defended his remarks about Belgium by claiming that divisions between its two major linguistic and regional groups, the Flemish and the Walloons, would soon lead to a permanent split in the country.

"The country was an artificial construction and we're now at a point where the Flems and the Walloons are barely on speaking terms.

"Belgium is a prototype for the entire European Union. Belgium is going to split, it'll do it within the next few years... and when you criticise Belgium, you criticise the flawed European Union model, and that's why they're really upset with me."

Accused by fellow panellist Janet Street-Porter of being racist, Mr Farage replied: "Racist towards who The Flems or the Walloons"

Mr Hain was one of several politicians also to condemn the comments.

Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox said: "I think it was frankly insulting... the sort of caricature and cartoonish approach of UKIP is not acceptable in this country."

Mr Farage has been summoned by the head of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, to a meeting next Tuesday and is likely to face some form of reprimand, possibly a suspension.

Mr Buzek is said to consider Mr Farage's outburst to have been "completely undignified", while Mr Van Rompuy said he held the comments "in contempt".

Meanwhile, the BBC has announced that Question Time will feature an all-female audience next month for the first time in its 30-year history.

The special programme, to be filmed in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, is timed to coincide with International Women's Week.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The charity at the centre of a row over claims of bullying at Downing Street has reopened.

The National Bullying Helpline was suspended on Wednesday amid a row after chief executive Christine Pratt said staff from No 10 had contacted her.

Ms Pratt was widely criticised for going public and has offered to resign.

The Charity Commission has said it will prevent any more details of calls being disclosed and is also investigating the helpline after getting 160 complaints.

Mrs Pratt spoke out last weekend following allegations in a book about Gordon Brown's temper and behaviour towards staff.

'Public trust'

She insisted the calls she received from No 10 did not relate to Mr Brown but all four patrons of the helpline resigned in protest at her actions, saying she had breached the confidentiality of those involved.

The helpline was temporarily suspended on Wednesday, after the charity said it was considering its future, but a message on its website said it had now reopened.

Announcing its inquiry on Thursday, the Charity Commission said it had a duty to "promote public trust and confidence in charities".

It said it would ensure the helpline's trustees "continue to protect this confidential and sensitive information" and would not allow any information to be disclosed, including details about the nature and source of the confidential calls it has received, without its approval.

On Tuesday, the publicist Max Clifford said he had spoken to Mrs Pratt and told her she needed to provide evidence of her allegations.

The row began on Sunday with a story in the Observer - based on a book by journalist Andrew Rawnsley - alleging that Mr Brown grabbed staff by the lapels, shoved them aside and shouted at them.

No 10 has flatly denied Mr Brown ever acted in a bullying or intimidating way towards civil servants.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Games consoles and mobiles should be sold with parental filters switched on to limit children's exposure to sexual imagery, a Home Office review says.

The study says that children are increasingly being exposed to material their parents do not know about.

The report calls for tougher regulation of sexual imagery in adverts and a ban on "lads' mags" for the under-16s.

Author Dr Linda Papadopoulos said there was a clear link between sexualised imagery and violence towards girls.

The report says all the available research shows that children in the UK are being exposed to an ever-increasing amount of "sexualised" material in the media and that parents had limited opportunities to prevent it.

The material, said the report, ranged from the growth of lads' mags and pornography on mobile phones, through to big-name fashion brands using sexual imagery to advertise clothes targeted at young teenagers.

'Distorting perceptions'

The report said this "drip-drip" exposure was distorting young people's perceptions of themselves, encouraging boys to become fixated on being macho and dominant while girls in turn presented themselves as sexually available and permissive.

One outcome had been the rise of sexual bullying in which girls felt compelled to post topless or naked pictures on social networks, it added.

"Unless sexualisation is accepted as harmful, we will miss an important opportunity … to broaden young people's beliefs about where their value lies," said Dr Papadopoulos, a psychologist.

"Both the images we consume and the way we consume them are lending credence to the idea that women are there to be used and that men are there to use them"

The report's 36 recommendations include calling for games consoles, mobile phones and some computers to be sold with parental controls already switched on.

This would allow families to automatically filter which on-demand services and online material their children can use.

Dr Papadopoulos said there should also be symbols to show that a published photograph had been digitally altered - such as pictures of celebrities manipulated to make them appear thinner.

Lads' mags should be sold only to over-16s, a recommendation aimed at moving them closer to top-shelf, adult pornography.

The report also recommends giving the Advertising Standards Authority the power to act against sexualised imagery appearing within commercial websites, such as provocative photo-shoots used by clothing chains targeting teenagers.

Link to violence

Dr Papadopoulos said: "The evidence gathered in the review suggests a clear link between consumption of sexualised images, tendency to view women as objects and the acceptance of aggressive attitudes and behaviour as the norm.

"Both the images we consume and the way we consume them are lending credence to the idea that women are there to be used and that men are there to use them."

The review forms part of the Home Office's broader attempts to have a louder public debate about how to combat violence against women and girls.

Both Labour and the Conservatives are examining the issues. Tory leader David Cameron said earlier this month that he would clamp down on irresponsible advertising targeted at children.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said: "We know that parents are concerned about the pressures their children are under at a much younger age, which is why we have already committed to a number of the recommendations in this report.

"Changing attitudes will take time but it is essential if we are going to stop the sexualisation which contributes to violence against women and girls."

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The 30-year rule for publishing secret government papers is to be reduced to 20 years, the government has announced.

It falls short of the 15 years proposed by a government review but was welcomed by Freedom of Information campaigners.

Papers relating to senior royals will be exempt from Freedom of Information Act requests and will be kept secret for 20 years.

But ministers have dropped their objection to Cabinet papers being released early.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will announce losses for 2009 of about £5bn on Thursday, after it struggled with billions of pounds of bad loans.

The bank is also expected to reveal that it will pay a total of £1.3bn in bonuses to its staff.

The UK taxpayer owns 84% of RBS after the government was forced to bail out the bank at the end of 2008.

RBS is the second major UK bank to report 2009 results, after Barclays announced record profits of £11.6bn.

Unlike RBS, and Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays did not take any money directly from the government to help it through the financial crisis.

Lloyds - also part-owned by taxpayers - will release its results on Friday.

Ruined reputation

Announcing losses of about £5bn is usually career-ending for any company's chief executive.

And yet RBS boss Stephen Hester will be trumpeting this figure when the bank publishes its annual results on Thursday morning.

Compared with a loss of £24bn in 2008, anticipated losses of a fifth of that appear to be a major turnaround.

Not that Mr Hester will be rewarded greatly for his efforts - he has already declined to take up his anticipated bonus, worth almost £1.6m.

When Mr Hester took the helm of RBS in October 2008, the world's sixth-largest bank at the time was imploding under the weight of its own reckless investments.

His new charge had just been all but nationalised, its reputation in ruins, and Britain was in the midst of the longest and deepest recession on record.

But, blessed with £200bn of quantitative easing from the Bank of England, RBS, alongside most other banks, managed to turn a nightmare 2008 into a busy 2009.

Blame game

While it is pleasing that a bank 84%-controlled by taxpayers will have dramatically cut its losses, it will irritate quite a few that RBS is set to pay out bonuses worth more than £1.3bn to its investment bankers.

That will be unpalatable for the thousands of firms and individuals who were refused credit by RBS last year.

Then again, the staff at the Edinburgh-based bank are getting used to being blamed for almost everything.

Depending on the pressure group, they should not have funded Kraft's purchase of Cadbury. They should not have acted on behalf of Kingsnorth coal plant. And they should not have indirectly invested in Burma.

Next year may turn out to be the one in which RBS does its time and gets paroled. It will start the sell-off process of RBS branches in England, its insurance business (Green Flag and Churchill) in the UK and multiple businesses overseas.

Government intervention

In the meantime, RBS's investment banking division - the part of the bank that nearly destroyed it - has been holding its own in the market under intense political and commercial pressure.

Commercially, RBS is not in a position to do very much without the blessing of UK Financial Investments (UKFI) - the government body that runs taxpayers' stakes in banks such as RBS, Lloyds Banking Group and Bradford & Bingley.

When asked about what it was like dealing with UKFI, one RBS wit said it was like dealing with a particularly attentive fund manager, but with nuclear weapons.

Unless the bank can start making a profit, however, it will have to put up with such interference for another year at the very least.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Heard the one about the zero tax rate for small companies

A bright idea, yes Except that it led to a rush of self-employed people turning themselves into companies to avoid tax.

Bad policy can cost ministerial jobs.

The media and opposition pounce. We are a bloodthirsty lot when it comes to mistakes, taking tribal pleasure in cock-ups, gaffes, humiliating U-turns and blunders. The language of error is unforgiving.

But political mistakes have a habit of repeating themselves. Failure to spot perverse incentives, for example, is a recurring theme.

So is there a way, for the sake of a better governed country - whoever is in power - of reducing the amount of bad policy

For Radio 4's Analysis programme, we canvassed opinion among commentators, former advisers and policy makers about why things go wrong and what can be done to improve the chances of policies succeeding.

Fewer policies

We invite you to contribute your own ideas below - no party-political axe-grinding please.

Former Treasury and Department of Education adviser Paul Johnson believes the answer is simple and abrupt: Less policy.

Too often, the rush to be seen to be doing something ends in that something being badly thought-through, he says.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAMME

• AnalysisBBC Radio 4, Sunday 28 February at 2130 GMT
• Or listen via theBBC iPlayer
• Or subscribe to thepodcast

"Ministers respond to what they see happening and if they see their colleagues are getting their names up in lights because they're doing six different policies in a year, being promoted, then they're going to carry on doing the same thing.

"So it's a difficult thing to imagine, but I think a brave prime minister could implement it."

Promoted for doing less. Now that would be refreshing.

Fraser Nelson, editor of the Spectator, has a different view.

He thinks ministers should get a reputation for being the kind of politician who says: 'If I make a mistake, I will scrap the policy and say sorry.'

Such a commitment from Ken Livingstone over the congestion charge, he says, made him more likely to vote for a man he might have been expected to think of as political poison.

Know when to stop

Almost everyone we spoke too agreed that politicians should resist the temptation to flog dead horses.

Beware persevering with bad ideas by letting them become a test of your authority - like the poll tax, said one - or hanging too much of your ideology on them.

But all also agreed that this was tough for people driven by conviction or ego.

Another approach suggested by former cabinet minister Estelle Morris and former No 10 adviser David Halpern is to pay attention to the research about what actually works.

Too often, they say, policy runs on a belief in what ought to work, not a test of what does.

Finally, how about a suggestion from other professions

A checklist of any or all the above and who knows what else besides - the things you should always do before starting anything, like a pilot in a cockpit or a surgeon in an operating theatre.

Faced with complexity - and few things in life are more complex than government - think about what goes wrong most often and instead of simply glorying in the gore of other people's failures, work out the checks that would most helpfully guard against them.

Because when we asked people about the systematic study of patterns and trends in policy error, most replied: "What study" They didn't know of any.

Mistakes in politics seem a personal blood sport we would rather enjoy than a systematic cost to avoid.

Michael Blastland explores failure for BBC Radio 4's Analysisprogramme on Sunday 28 February at 2130 GMT. Or listen again via the BBC iPlayer.You can also subscribe to the podcast.

What do you think can be done to stop bad policy being developed Send us your comments using the form below: