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Labour Received £600k From Hedge Fund Donor

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 21 Maret 2015 | 23.17

Ed Miliband is facing embarrassment after it emerged one of the Labour Party's largest donors is a hedge fund manager.

It has been disclosed that a "mystery" donor who has given the party nearly £600,000 is Martin Taylor, who describes himself as "a born and bred Londoner, who also happens to be a hedge fund manager".

The revelation will be particularly awkward for Mr Miliband, who routinely criticises the Conservatives over their reliance on funding from hedge fund mangers and businessmen.

Last month during a heated exchange in the Commons Mr Miliband dubbed the Tories "the party of Mayfair hedge funds and Monaco tax avoiders".

Electoral Commission records show Mr Taylor has made eight donations, totaling £591,000, to Labour since 2012, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

His identity had been unclear because parties need only to provide a name for donors of amounts above £7,500 and not further details.

This makes it difficult for the public to fully identify those people on the donors' register who have a common name.

In a statement on Friday, Mr Taylor, of Nevsky Capital, insisted there was "no mystery" about his donations and said his family had always been Labour, including his father, who was a councillor in Lewisham.

He said: "This Martin Taylor is me. I am a born and bred Londoner, who also happens to be a hedge fund manager. And I am proud to support the Labour Party.

"This may seem a bit odd to many people. It is commonly believed that everyone in the financial sector supports the Conservative Party, in a quest to pay ever lower levels of tax ...

"I believe very strongly that everyone should contribute to society and those who are lucky enough to earn a lot more should contribute more than others.

"This principle has become particularly important since the global financial crisis in 2008 threw Western economies into recession, reduced living standards and sparked a wave of cutbacks on government spending: cutbacks that have hit those with the least hardest."

He added that he also supported Labour's controversial mansion tax policy, which has recently drawn fire from the pop stars Cheryl Fernandez Versini and Myleene Klass.

A Labour Party spokesman said: "We are grateful to people from all walks of life who support the Labour Party and our better plan.

"Unlike David Cameron and the Conservatives who increasingly rely on the money of an exclusive group of donors - the same people who they have rewarded with tax breaks - Ed Miliband will enter Downing Street owing nothing to anybody."


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Police Concerns For Missing 12-Year-Old

A young girl has gone missing from her Sussex home, prompting a police appeal to find her.

Jasmine Coleman, 12, was last seen in her bedroom at her home in Lancing, West Sussex, around 11.30pm, possibly talking to someone on FaceTime.

A further check at 2am found she had vanished.

Jasmine is described as white, 5ft 8in, slim, with long blonde hair and blue eyes and is said to look older than her 12 years.

She may be carrying a large black handbag, wearing black riding trousers and a polo-neck top or a Paisley-pattern backless dress.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: "It is thought Jasmine may have gone off in a car with an older man, travelling towards London on the A24, or may have travelled somewhere by train.

"Sussex Police officers are working with colleagues from Surrey Police, British Transport Police and the Metropolitan Police in an urgent effort to trace Jasmine."

Police say their latest inquiries suggest Jasmine may be in the Croydon area but they appealed for any information on her whereabouts.

Anyone who can help should email 101@sussex.pnn.police.uk or phone 101, quoting serial 145 of 21/3.


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'Supertides' Draw Crowds In Western Europe

Higher-than-usual tides are expected across the southern coast of England and the north of France due to a rare alignment of the sun and moon that happens only every 18 years.

The most spectacular scenes are expected at the picturesque French island of Mont Saint-Michel.

Perched on a rocky island topped with a Gothic Benedictine abbey, the Unesco World Heritage Site is exposed to some of Europe's strongest tides.

But the high tide due on Saturday evening is expected to be exceptional because of Friday's solar eclipse, with predictions that the water could reach as high as 14.15 metres.

On Friday police struggled to control a crowd of around 10,000 people drawn to what experts had described as "the highest tide of the century".

They were mainly disappointed because, despite a big enough surge of water to leave the only access road impassable, the waves fell a few inches short of expectations.

Officials at France's Navy Oceanic and Hydrological Service urged caution, warning that the high tide around 8pm GMT, "will come in faster than a running man" and would pose a danger to people venturing out too far.

In nearby Saint-Malo, crowds gathered by the beach to see waves lap at the town's stone walls.

Similar high waters are expected in parts of the UK's southern coast, where the Environment Agency moved to reassure people that the risk of flood remained "very low for the next few days".

A spokesman said: "High tides this weekend may lead to spray on promenades in some exposed coastal locations.

"We always monitor the flood risk situation closely, working alongside partners, including the Met Office and local authorities, and issue alerts and warnings if required."

The extreme spring tides were welcomed by surfers, however, as more than 100 headed to surf the River Severn's tidal bore.

Sky News Midlands correspondent Adele Robinson, in Minsterworth, Gloucestershire, said the bore is one of the largest in the world and waves reached 6ft 2in.

It is the second of three tidal bores expected this year, making 2015 a year of unusually-high tidal surges.

"It's essentially the incoming tide, which is pushing against the current of the river in the opposite direction, which creates waves that can travel a considerable distance."

The moon's gravitational pull and the rare alignment between the sun and the moon also have an effect on the rare high tide, she said.

One of those surfing the bore was Gary Wells, who managed to stay on his board for "about a minute-and-a-half", adding that it was "a bit trickier than you think."


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E-Sports Arena To Boost Spectator Gaming

By Nick Ravenscroft, Sky Reporter

The UK's first eSports arena will open this weekend allowing hundreds of spectators to watch professional gamers take part in contests.

The tournaments will be held at a converted multiplex cinema in Fulham, west London, over seven months.

eSports - or electronic sports - are popular video games played over the internet.

Internet developments in the past 10 years have meant millions of people worldwide can follow top players gaming live, in real time, and hear their commentaries on their performance.

In countries like South Korea, where eGaming is virtually a national sport, with huge stadiums packed with up to 40,000 spectators, the best players are celebrities.

Currently the numbers of fans eGaming in the UK is thought to be around five million. Those behind the UK arena think the UK scene is about to take off.

Neville Upton, from Gfinity, told Sky News: "The growth is phenomenal. The last big event we did we got 8.7 million people watching just over a weekend.

"Twitch TV is the main platform where we actually stream all our events. This time last year they had 45 million people watching every month - that figure is now a hundred million."

The revenue from sponsorship and advertising is already impressive as the eSports demographic is mainly men in their teens and twenties - a key, hard-to-reach demographic.

And that money is making some of the best young players precociously wealthy.

Sky News asked 20-year-old Nathan 'NBK' Schmitt how much he earned in a typical year.

"Including all the tournaments, sponsorship and extras it's currently hundreds of thousands of dollars… me and my team mates. Yes. Wow."


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Girls 'Keen On Syria' Barred From Leaving UK

Five teenage girls who are said to have shown an interest in going to Syria have been barred by a High Court judge from travelling abroad.

The two 15-year-olds and three 16-year-olds were made wards of court by Mr Justice Hayden.

The judge's decision prevents them from leaving the jurisdiction of England and Wales.

He made the ruling at a hearing in London after Tower Hamlets local authority raised concerns.

The judge, who said the girls could not be identified, also made orders removing their passports and those of a number of adults involved in their care.

Mr Justice Hayden said he made the order involving the adults because of evidence that, in at least one other case, young girls had travelled on passports belonging to members of their family.

More importantly, there was evidence suggesting the family members in the case had not been full and frank with social services, and that the girls had been moving to a more radicalised position.

He said: "It seems to me that that must have been known to the parents and they deliberately did not share it with the authorities who were keen to protect these vulnerable young girls."

The judge, who made a similar order in relation to a 16-year-old boy earlier this week, admitted it was a "draconian" step, as was the removal of a passport.

He said: "But the risk contemplated here is as grave as it can be for it is common knowledge that so many have lost their lives in Syria and so many have gone knowing that would be likely."

The girls and adults concerned, who were not in court, can challenge the emergency ruling at a future date if they wish.

Three girls who attended Bethnal Green Academy in east London disappeared last month and are believed to have travelled to Syria to join Islamic State militants.

Shamima Begum, Amira Abase, both 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, took flights to Istanbul in February.

The schoolgirls are thought to be staying at a house in the IS stronghold of al Raqqa, Sky sources have said.

Their disappearance led to criticism from Turkey's deputy prime minister, who said officials had not been given enough warning about them going missing.

Three young British men suspected of planning to join IS militants in Syria were arrested in Turkey earlier this week.

CCTV video of the teenagers was taken at an airport in Istanbul just before they were stopped allegedly heading to the Syria border.

The trio, two aged 17 and one aged 19, were arrested and flown back to the UK but have since been released on bail.

Security services estimate 600 Britons have gone to Syria or Iraq to join militant groups, including Mohammed Emwazi, also known as "Jihadi John", who has appeared in several IS beheading videos.


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Senior Lib Dem Quits Over New Fundraising Row

The Liberal Democrats have called in a standards watchdog following allegations that a donation "bought" access to Nick Clegg.

The party has referred the matter to the Electoral Commission after it allegedly accepted the gift from the 'stepfather' of a Daily Telegraph journalist posing as a businessman.

It is claimed that Lib Dem peer Lord Strasburger was secretly filmed discussing how to keep the donation secret by sidestepping disclosure rules.

Nick Clegg has also reportedly been filmed by Channel 4's Dispatches programme meeting the undercover reporter.

It comes as the party's former chief fundraiser Ibrahim Taguri stands accused of bypassing party funding laws and has stepped down as an election candidate while the claims are looked into.

A Lib Dem spokesman said: "It is common practice for senior party figures from all parties to meet with potential and current donors.

"Dispatches has raised important questions about one particular donation, which the party is taking seriously.

"The Party had no reason to believe that the donation was made by anyone other than the person who signed the cheque.

"When we were alerted to the claim that this donation may, without our knowledge, have been made on someone else's behalf, we referred this matter to the Electoral Commission, and requested their advice on whether the donation should be handed to the Commission or returned to the donor.

"We shall comply fully with their investigation and any recommendations they may make as a result.

"The party has also introduced an additional level of scrutiny to donations to the federal party, over and above legal requirements. This will apply with immediate effect."

Lord Strasburger has resigned the Lib Dem whip in the House of Lords while an investigation takes place and he has accused Channel 4 of "entrapment".

He said: "In the last few months I have been very active in the House of Lords fighting to protect the freedom of the press, but I never had in mind the sort of cynical and contrived entrapment-style journalism to which I have been personally subjected by Channel 4.

"I am a retired businessman, I am not a career politician... In a purely voluntary capacity, I have been helping the party with fundraising. I have gained no personal benefit in doing so.

"Whatever Channel 4 may say in their Dispatches programme, I do not think I have committed any offence. 

"Having said that, I believe that we should all be accountable for what we do, so I have invited the Electoral Commission to carry out an investigation into my actions."


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Fears Raised Over Meningitis Vaccine Delay

The Government has been accused by a charity of dragging its heels over a new meningitis vaccine that could "save lives now".

The Department of Health was told by its immunisation advisory body it should make the new meningitis B vaccination available to children a year ago.

However, the department has been wrangling with the drugs company over the price of the Bexsero MenB vaccine since August.

The Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor John Watson, said he hoped a "cost effective price" could be reached quickly but warned that NHS funds must be used "as effectively as possible".

Last week health official announced a plan to launch an immunisation programme to protect teenagers against the meningitis W after a sharp increase in cases.

The charity Meningitis Now welcomed the announcement but said it was "deeply concerned" about the delay with the meningitis B vaccine, which would also offer children protection against meningitis W.

There are an average of 3,223 cases of meningitis in the UK every year, one in ten of those results in death. Of the total 1,761 cases are meningitis B.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said that the new vaccine should be made available to children at two, four and 12 months.

Sue Davie, of charity Meningitis Now, said: "We also note the JCVI's recognition that the Men B vaccine is likely to provide direct protection to infants against the Men W strain, but remain deeply concerned that the introduction of the Men B vaccine continues to be held up in negotiations, some eight months after they began.

"Surely now we will see the negotiations between the Government and vaccine producer being concluded and the Men B vaccine introduced to save lives now and protect babies not only against MenB but MenW as well."

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the manufacturers had not been offering a "fair price" but said they had made a lower offer and he hoped there would be a deal in the near future.

He said an independent body advised the Government on how much to pay for vaccines to ensure taxpayers' money was correctly spent.

Mr Hunt told Sky News: "No healthcare system in the world can buy every single new drug or new vaccine that comes out."

Dr Ian Maconichie, from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, told the BBC: "One year on, we appeal that a decision is made imminently, so should the vaccine be introduced, it can begin to save children's lives and spare some from severe preventable disability as soon as possible."


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IS Runaways' Parents Must Share Blame - Top Cop

One of Britain's most senior counter-terrorism officers has said the families of those who travel to Iraq and Syria to fight should take "prime responsibility" for their welfare.

The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Sir Peter Fahy said it was "ill-advised" for relatives of youngsters who had gone to join Islamic State extremists to blame the police or other authorities.

His comments come after the families of London schoolgirls Kadiza Sultana, Amira Abase and Shamima Begum, who are feared to have joined Islamic State, claimed police had "failed to act appropriately".

But Sir Peter said: "What is ill-advised is to just blame the police, blame the authorities, blame the school, when the absolute prime responsibility for the welfare of children lies with the parents.

"I'm not saying that is easy. But it creates the conditions for a backlash, which again is not positive."

He tells The Times: "I think there's a real danger that we put this into a box labelled Muslim and say it is just about Muslim parents. No. From what we see, all parents are absolutely struggling with this.

"How do you get a balance between allowing your youngster some freedom, knowing all this material is being streamed into their bedroom, (and) at the time trying to safeguard them."

Meanwhile, a 21-year-old British woman has been detained in Turkey on suspicion of trying to travel to Syria to join the IS terror group.

The woman was detained at a bus station in the capital Ankara on Monday and is being held pending deportation hearings.

Five teenage girls who are said to have shown an interest in going to Syria have also been barred by a High Court judge from travelling abroad.

The developments come as footage emerged of three British teenagers suspected of planning to join IS militants in Syria.

The CCTV video of the young men was taken at an airport in Istanbul just before they were stopped allegedly heading to the border with Syria.

The teenagers, two aged 17 and one aged 19, were arrested and flown back to the UK but have since been released on bail.

Their arrests came amid heightened tensions between UK police and Turkish officials following the disappearance of the three girls who attended Bethnal Green Academy in east London.

The trio are believed to be staying at a house in al Raqqa.

Security services estimate 600 Britons have gone to Syria or Iraq to join militant groups, including Mohammed Emwazi, also known as "Jihadi John", who has appeared in several IS beheading videos.


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Amazon Criticised Over Sale Of 'Slap Her' Mugs

Women's rights campaigners have criticised Amazon after Sky News revealed products promoting domestic violence were being sold on the firm's website.

Amazon UK have now pulled the items but other sellers on its international sites are still offering products which appear to contavene the company's listings policy.

The controversial merchandise withdrawn by the retailer after being contacted by Sky News were mugs bearing the slogan "Don't Keep Calm Slap That Bitch, Hard!"

Priced from £5.99 and offered by at least two sellers on the retail site, they were described as: "An ideal special gift or you can just keep the mug for yourself!"

Feminist writer Kate Smurthwaite told Sky News: "We have had this problem before with Amazon.

"They have sold things with horribly inappropriate violence-encouraging slogans.

"We have made a fuss and they have dealt with it and taken it down.

"I just don't understand why they haven't put a process in place, that before these things go live there's a button that says 'Hold on we need to check, lets make sure that this is an appropriate thing to be selling'."

And the story sparked an immediate backlash on Twitter, with one post stating: "Shame on you Amazon for accepting the products in the first place."

Lady Of Lorien tweeted: "This is why we need feminism."

Linda Bee said in a post: "Despicable that Amazon accepted them to sell but who makes the trash."

Catherine Coles said: "Wow there are some things that should never make a company money."

And Imran said: "@AmazonUK oh dear! Massive #fail."

After removing the items from sale, Amazon said in a statement to Sky News: "The product to which you refer is not available at Amazon.co.uk."

Amazon have sparked controversy previously after offering rape T-shirts and 'Hit Her' tops which they were forced to take down after a public backlash.

It later emerged the 'Hit Her' T-shirts had remained for sale on some international Amazon sites including in Germany.

And on Saturday, Amazon.com were offering phone cases for sale with the slogan: "Don't Keep Calm Slap the B***h Hard."

The Amazon UK website lists details of prohibited items which include: "Products that promote or glorify hatred, violence, racial, sexual or religious intolerance or promote organisations with such views."

Amazon typically charges companies 7% of the price, postage and any taxes to list and sell items through its website.

Amazon has come under fire previously from MPs over tax avoidance.


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Cameron And Miliband TV Battle Confirmed

By Anushka Asthana, Political Correspondent

Britain's political leaders will take part in a series of televised election programmes, including a seven-way debate, and starting with a live question and answer session hosted by Sky News and Channel 4.

David Cameron and Ed Miliband will both appear in the first event, held on Thursday 26 March and jointly presented by Kay Burley and Jeremy Paxman, but there will be no head-to-head as originally proposed by the broadcasters.

The only full debate will be on 2 April, and hosted by ITV, involving seven party leaders including those from UKIP, the Greens, the SNP and Plaid Cymru.

:: Be part of the studio audience

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has not been invited to a third event to be held on 16 April that will see all the "opposition" leaders clash.

However, he will be part of a final question time session on 30 April, one week before polling day, in which the leaders of the Lib Dems, Conservatives and Labour will be separately grilled by a studio audience.

Although the leaders will all turn up at the events, a number have expressed frustration about the process and the final outcome.

A Labour source said it was "ludicrous" that Mr Cameron and Mr Miliband would attend the same programme and take questions from the same audience, but not debate face-to-face. They accused the Prime Minister of "cowardice" for dodging a head to head.

A Lib Dem source said the process had been a "farce" but said the party had always been clear that Mr Clegg would turn up to any debates that he was invited to.

He accused other parties, led by the Conservatives, of trying to "duck" the clashes, and admitted he would have preferred it if the Lib Dem leader was invited to the debate between opposition leaders.

That event was proposed originally as a "challengers debate", excluding the Conservatives, Labour, and Lib Dems, but it is understood that Mr Miliband insisted on taking part.

However, the Lib Dems were not also invited - perhaps because that would appear to empty chair the Prime Minister.

Nigel Farage, the UKIP leader, launched a tirade on twitter, writing: "#TVdebates are now so far from the original proposals. Broadcasters should be ashamed. They've kowtowed to manipulation from Downing Street."

He added: "Public deserve proper #TVdebates but now fobbed off, playing into hands of 1 party. It's a smack in the face of democracy and I am appalled."

He and others felt too much had been compromised for the Prime Minister since the first proposal from broadcasters for a two-way, three-way and four-way debate, including Labour, the Tories, Lib Dems and UKIP.

Mr Cameron started by insisting on the Green party taking part, leading to a new proposal including two seven-way debates. He then said that he would not take part in events during the short election campaign.

Although he had said a head-to-head debate was credible, he finally said he would only sign up to one multi-party debate before the campaign starts on Monday 30 March.

A Number 10 source was happy with the final result.

"If anything, this is an improvement on the deal we were offered last week. The PM has always believed too many debates would suck the life out of the campaign. In all these formats, we are confident the choice between competence and chaos will be clear," he said.

John Ryley, Head of Sky News, said: "We are extremely pleased that the Conservative and Labour party leaders have agreed to take part in a programme that will kick start the election campaign and put the two people most likely to be the next Prime Minister under scrutiny in front of millions of viewers across the UK."

The event that will most closely resemble the 2010 election debates will be held on 2 April, and aired on ITV.

But instead of including just three leaders it will have seven, including the Nick Clegg, Nigel Farage, the Greens' Natalie Bennett, SNP's Nicola Sturgeon and Leanne Wood from Plaid Cymru.

A spokesperson for the broadcasters said: "We're delighted that there will be a debate with all the party leaders during the election campaign. The debate on 2nd April will build on the success of the 2010 TV debates which were so highly valued by viewers. 

"We're very pleased to be able to offer viewers an extensive range of programmes, across the four channels, featuring the party leaders interacting directly with voters during the campaign."


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