Plane Diverts To Stansted: Pair Arrested

Two men have been arrested after a plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Stansted Airport.

The Sri Lankan Airlines A330 Airbus, which was carrying 267 passengers and crew, was due to land at Heathrow Airport but was diverted to the Essex airport just after 7.30pm on Friday.

Officers boarded the plane and arrested the pair on suspicion of endangering an aircraft, Essex Police said.

A spokesman for the force said: "The passengers have been removed safely and inquiries are ongoing."

The remaining passengers are being looked after at a reception centre at Stansted and are due to be transferred to Heathrow later this morning.

A spokesman for Stansted said last night: "Stansted Airport can confirm a Sri Lankan Airlines Airbus A330 diverted into Stansted at approximately 19.30 this evening.

"The aircraft, which was flying from Columbo to Heathrow, landed safely with Essex Police in attendance.

"The airport is open and flights are arriving and departing as normal."

In May this year, two men were arrested on board a plane from Pakistan carrying 297 passengers that was intercepted and diverted to Stansted by RAF typhoon jets.

Police later said the incident in May was being treated as criminal rather than terrorism-related.

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Online Daters 'Need Protection' From Stalkers

By Adele Robinson, Sky News Correspondent

Online dating sites are not doing enough to protect women from being targeted by stalkers and violent men, according to an anti-stalking charity.

Paladin, which was set up two months ago, says it has been contacted by people who have been abused by men after meeting them on the internet.

Lack of regulation has meant those with a violent past have been able to join dating sites.

But a new code of conduct and a kitemarking system is to be introduced to the industry to help boost client confidence.

Laura Richards, from Paladin, is urging more websites to join up to the code.

She said: "I think there's a lot of them that are not taking it seriously enough, currently, and certainly with regards to stalking and other serious offences that may be committed by predatory individuals who are using these sites because they know that there are a pool of victims for them to fish within.

"I think the code of practice is definitely a step forward that the public know there is a standard that has to be met."

Sarah, not her real name, met her former boyfriend on a dating website but was unaware he had two previous convictions for violence.

She said: "He threatened me, followed me, made unwanted contact with me, it was extremely terrifying.

"When I finally left the relationship the harassment continued in an email sense."

Her ex-boyfriend was eventually convicted but Sarah said there was no interest when she initially tried to contact the dating website.

"They supposedly had buttons on there to report an abuser, block an abuser but they are not easy to find, and they generate these automatic responses.

"There was no help or assistance available at a time when I was completely frustrated and panicking about the whole situation."

Recent YouGov surveys show one in five relationships in the UK begin online with around nine million people using dating websites in total.

Figures from consumer website Which? reveal that two in five people using dating sites have discovered fake profiles.

So far 13 online dating sites have signed up to the new Online Dating Association including eHarmony, The Dating Lab, Oasis, Match, My Single Friend, Guardian Soulmates, Love and Friends, Dating Factory, Christian Connection, Muddy Matches, Lovestruck, FreeDating and The Single Solution.

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India: Briton 'Trampled By Elephant' Dies

A British national has died after reportedly being trampled to death by an elephant in India.

The man, who has not been named, died at the Masinagudi National Park, in the state of Tamil Nadu.

There are conflicting reports about the moments leading up to the man's death.

He was killed after failing to hear guides and other tourists shout warnings to him as the elephant approached during a trek, it was reported.

Other accounts claimed the man was engrossed in his photography and did not hear two other elephants charge at him from behind.

An inspector at Masinagudi police station told the Times of India that officers had not yet inspected the area where the man was killed.

He said: "We will be able to ascertain whether the place is a reserve forest area or social forestry area only after we inspect the spot where the unfortunate incident happened.

"We will inspect the place overnight and will register a case accordingly."

Local guides sought help from the nearby Sagadevan resort, where the man - reported to be 67 years old and who had flown to the country from London - was staying.

He was treated at the local Masinagudi hospital before being transferred to Gudalur Government Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead, The Times reported.

The Foreign Office confirmed the death, saying: "We are aware of the tragic death of a British national in southern India and we are providing consular assistance at this difficult time."

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Barclays Cyber Theft: Arrests After £1.3m Stolen

Eight men have been arrested after a gang stole more than £1m from a high street bank by taking control of one of its computers.

The money was stolen from a Barclays branch in Swiss Cottage, London, earlier this year, using a device known as a "keyboard, video and mouse" (KVM) switch.

The hardware, which can be purchased online for as little as £10, allowed the gang to transmit the contents of the computer's desktop and take control of the machine remotely.

It is believed the device was installed by a man who pretended to be an IT engineer to gain access to the branch.

A KVM device similar to the one used to steal money from Barclays accounts

Some £1.3m was withdrawn from accounts, although much of the money has since been recovered.

The men, aged between 24 and 47, are currently in custody at various police stations in London.

Detective Inspector Mark Raymond, of the Metropolitan Police's Central e-Crime Unit, said: "Those responsible for this offence are significant players within a sophisticated and determined organised criminal network, who used considerable technical abilities and traditional criminal know-how to infiltrate and exploit secure banking systems."

The arrests come after four men appeared in court accused of a failed attempt to take control of computers at a Santander branch in southeast London, again using a KVM device.

Police said they foiled a "very significant and audacious cyber-enabled offence" that would have cost the bank millions of pounds. 

More follows...

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Police Back Private 'Drunk Tanks' For Revellers

By Gerard Tubb, Sky News Correspondent

Police chiefs have backed privately-run drunk tanks where intoxicated revellers are kept overnight and made to pay for their stay.

Chief Constable Adrian Lee, the national policing lead on alcohol harm, said drunken individuals should be held in "welfare centres" run by a commercial company.

Mr Lee, head of Northamptonshire Police, told Sky News' Sunrise programme how the system might work.

He said: "The cost of policing for arresting and taking positive action for people who are drunk and disorderly and bringing them into custody cells is significant and not necessarily the best place for people who are drunk to be.

"We would arrest them, they would go to a welfare centre and when they were sober the police would return to deal with the criminality of their behaviour and there might well be a bill to pay.

"I think the impact of that would be a deterrent effect on people who choose to go out and get so drunk that they're incapable of looking after themselves."

At the launch of a week-long campaign aimed at highlighting alcohol harm, Mr Lee also criticised the Government for failing to implement minimum pricing for a unit of alcohol in England and Wales.

Police officers have called for binge drinkers to be billed for their care

Sir Peter Fahy, vice president of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), said binge-drinking was putting a massive strain on police and health services.

"Cheap drink and later opening hours only adds to the problem," he said.

The drunk tank idea came as it emerged that bouncers in pubs and clubs across the UK will be trained to protect people who are too drunk to look after themselves.

The Home Office has told the Security Industry Authority to teach all 100,000 licensed door-staff how to prevent "vulnerable" people from coming to harm.

Bouncers, who must be trained by the SIA to work in licensed premises, will be given a checklist of actions.

These include reuniting people with friends, helping them get a taxi home and, as a last resort, calling the police.

On the streets of Newcastle, where the new training for bouncers was developed, late-night drinkers admitted they "pre-loaded" with cheap booze before coming out.

Police say they should not be responsible for dealing with drunks overnight

At 11pm, 34-year-old Donna Davison showed Sky News a half-litre bottle of vodka she had brought from home to top up her glass during the night.

She said: "I bought (a bigger bottle) at the corner shop, filled it up and brought it with us."

Her friend Marie Thompson, 40, who claimed to have drunk a litre of vodka before arriving in the city centre at 9pm, described drink prices in clubs as "extortionate".

She said: "People on poverty who've got kids, it's not fair really, because they charge £6 for one single drink.

"We like to go out and have a good night, that's why we bring our own, it's cheaper."

Acting Superintendent Bruce Storey, from Northumbria Police, said the new training for bouncers had helped reduce crime in Newcastle since being introduced earlier in the year.

He said: "If people have had too much to drink, quite clearly their inhibitions go, their ability to be aware of their surroundings tends to be diminished and the consequences of that are obvious."

Bouncer Chris Woodcock described the training as a form of customer service.

He said: "It's being aware of vulnerable people and making sure that everyone has a good night and they get to go home safely."

But his colleague Paul Faetz, 50, who has 32 years working on the doors in Newcastle, says binge-drinkers have made the job unbearable and he is retiring.

He said: "It's been over the last five years (that) people have become more and more heavy drinkers.

"I don't really want to be around that. Now with drugs and drink, it's not a nice place to work."

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Syria: New Evidence 'Implicates Rebels'

Syria has new materials which it claims implicate rebels in the country's chemical attack, says a senior Russian minister.

According to Russian news agencies, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said: "The corresponding materials were handed to the Russian side.

"We were told that they were evidence that the rebels are implicated in the chemical attack."

Mr Ryabkov also said Russia was disappointed with the United Nations report into the attack.

"Without a full picture ... we cannot describe the character of the conclusions as anything other than politicised, biased and one-sided," he said.

Mr Ryabkov was talking after meeting Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem in Damascus.

The UN report into the August 21 attack, which was published earlier this week, said chemical weapons had been used on a "relatively large scale" - but did not lay any blame for the atrocity.

However, photographs taken by the inspectors appeared to show possible Cyrillic, or Russian, engravings on one of the rocket casings.

Rockets tested at the attack site in Damascus were found to contain sarin, while the area in which they landed was contaminated with the deadly gas.

Blood and urine samples taken from patients injured in the attack tested positive for sarin, while survivors said they had experienced symptoms including loss of consciousness, shortness of breath and blurred vision, all of which are consistent with intoxication.

More follows...

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Washington Gunman Alexis 'Had 9/11 PTSD'

US Deadliest Shootings

Updated: 10:49pm UK, Monday 16 September 2013

The shooting at the Washington navy yard has been described by Barack Obama as "yet another mass shooting". It is part of a grim list in modern US history.

:: Sandy Hook, Connecticut, December 14, 2012:

Adam Lanza, 20, killed his mother before opening fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, killing 20 children and six adults. He then turned the gun on himself.

It is the worst school shooting in America's history and second only to the Virginia Tech massacre in terms of the country's deadliest ever attacks.

Both attacks make up a grim history of mass murders using firearms in the US.

:: Aurora, Colorado, July 20, 2012:

A masked gunman burst in on the Century 16 cinema during a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises throwing tear gas before opening fire.

He killed 12 and injured 58. James Eagan Holmes, 24, is the sole suspect and was arrested at the scene. He will appear in court in January.

:: Fort Hood, Killeen, Texas, November 5, 2009:

A 42-year-old US Army Major, serving as a psychiatrist, opened fire inside the US military base killing 13 and wounding 29 in an attack deemed an act of terrorism. Hasan was shot and captured and is paralysed from the waist down.

Before the killing he had been in touch with the late al Qaeda recruiter Anwar al Awlaki to ask whether he would be considered a martyr if he died shooting US soldiers.

:: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, April 16, 2007:

Seung-Hui Cho, 23, killed 32 and injured 17 in America's deadliest shooting. He launched two separate attacks at the campus two hours apart before killing himself.

Cho had a history of mental illness and was in therapy through his school years.

:: Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, October 2, 2006:

Charles Carl Roberts shot dead five and injured five in an attack at an Amish school. The 32-year-old dish washer at a local restaurant then killed himself.

He was driven by anger at God over the death of his premature daughter.

:: Red Lake Indian Reservation, March 21, 2005:

Sixteen-year-old Jeffrey Weise killed his grandfather and grandfather's companion before opening fire at Red Lake High School. He killed nine and injured seven, then took his own life.

He blamed years of school bullying for the attack.

:: Forth Worth, Sept 25, 1999:

Unemployed white supremacist Larry Gene Ashbrook opened fire on the congregation of Wedgwood Baptist Church, killing seven and wounding seven. He then turned the gun on himself.

Ashbrook, 47, was a member of a group that advocated killing minorities.

:: Atlanta, July 29, 1999:

Mark Orrin Barton, a trader, opened fire in two investment offices killing nine and wounding 12. He killed himself after a six-hour police manhunt.

The 44-year-old had been upset by big financial losses.

:: Columbine High School, Colorado, April 20, 1999:

Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, opened fire on schoolmates after bombs they had planted in the cafeteria failed to go off. They killed 13 and injured 21 before killing themselves.

The students were motivated by their anger at society. Harris had a history of depression.

:: McDonald's, San Ysidro, California, July 18 1984:

Welder James Huberty walked into a McDonald's and opened fire killing 21 people and wounding 19 before being shot by a police sniper.

The 51-year-old thought society was about to collapse. When asked where he was going as he left the house for the killing, he told his wife: "hunting humans".

:: University of Texas, Austin, August 1, 1966:

Engineering student Charles Joseph Whitman, 25, opened fire on students from the 28th floor of the main campus building. He killed 13 and wounded 32 before being shot dead by a police marksman. He also killed his wife and mother.

In a note he said he was suffering irrational thoughts and wanted to relieve his wife and mother from suffering but offered no explanation for the university attack.

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Daniel Pelka Report: 'No One Suspected Abuse'

By Lisa Dowd, Midlands Correspondent

Chance after chance was missed to intervene in the case of a four-year-old boy who was beaten to death by his mother and stepfather.

A serious case review into the death of Daniel Pelka found repeated failures by agencies set up to safeguard children's welfare.

But it concluded that nobody could have predicted his death at the hands of an abusive mother and stepfather last year.

The report's author, Ron Lock, said: "No one professional, with what they knew of Daniel's circumstances, suspected or could have predicted that he would be killed.

"This was a complex and tragic case.

"Daniel's mother seemed plausible in her concerns about him, and no concerns were expressed by neighbours or the wider community.

Magdelena Luczak and Mariusz Krezolek were both jailed for life

"Strong concerns nevertheless emerged about Daniel's circumstances and his care, although at no point were practitioners who had contact with him prepared to think the unthinkable and consider that he might be suffering abuse.

"But if professionals had used more enquiring minds, and been more focused in their intentions to address concerns, it's likely that Daniel would have been better protected from the people who killed him."

Daniel was brought up in a chaotic family where violence and heavy drinking were the norm. He was known to police, social services, teachers and doctors.

But the report found that not one professional asked him what was going on at home.

Mr Lock said: "He didn't speak good English. His self-esteem was so low, he was a very isolated little boy so people found it hard to engage him.

"His mother often spoke on his behalf, as did his sibling, so rather than ask Daniel others were asked what he was thinking and to ask his mum and sibling was not going to give the correct answers."

Daniel was terrorised at his home in Coventry by his mother Magdelena Luczak and his stepfather Mariusz Krezolek.

He was starved, beaten and force-fed salt. At school he rooted through bins for food and once turned up with two black eyes. He later died from a serious head injury on March 3, 2012.

The four-year-old had 40 injuries on his body when he died

The review found the couple misled authorities by lying about his injuries and pretending he had an eating disorder, rendering Daniel "invisible" to health professionals.

But it also highlighted how stretched children's services were in the city.

It described overworked staff who were "naive", who were not "inquisitive" and assumed others were "intervening".

It noted missed opportunities to help Daniel, including 27 reports of domestic violence to police.

In January 2011 he went to hospital with a broken arm - a spiral fracture suggested twisting -  but professionals were too ready to accept it was accidental.

In September, when Daniel started school, teachers noticed a pattern of injuries which they failed to record or act on.

In February 2012 he saw a community paediatrician - his weight loss was not recognised and child abuse was not even considered.

A few weeks later the four-year-old was dead. He had 40 injuries and a doctor said he looked like a concentration camp victim.

Martin Reeves, chief executive of Coventry City Council, said: "Professionals didn't have the whole picture. Daniel's voice wasn't heard at all.

"Arguably they are basic errors, but we have to put this against a backdrop of social care workers, police, health colleagues working every day making what some would argue are impossible judgement calls on child protection, so I think our key now is how do we learn from those issues."

The review, by the Coventry Safeguarding Children Board, has published 15 recommendations aimed at preventing such a failure happening again.

Luczak and Krezolek, both originally from Poland, were convicted of Daniel's murder in a trial earlier this year and are now both serving minimum 30-year terms in prison.

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Syria Chemical Weapons Report Due For Release

Doctors' Plea For Syria Medical Aid

Updated: 7:15am UK, Monday 16 September 2013

British doctors have written an open letter in the Lancet medical journal calling for attacks on hospitals and medics to halt in Syria. This is the letter in full:

The conflict in Syria has led to what is arguably one of the world's worst humanitarian crises since the end of the Cold War.

An estimated 100 000 people have been killed, most of them civilians, and many more have been wounded, tortured, or abused.

Millions have been driven from their homes, families have been divided, and entire communities torn apart; we must not let considerations of military intervention destroy our ability to focus on getting them help.

As doctors and medical professionals from around the world, the scale of this emergency leaves us horrified.

We are appalled by the lack of access to health care for affected civilians, and by the deliberate targeting of medical facilities and personnel.

It is our professional, ethical, and moral duty to provide treatment and care to anyone in need.

When we cannot do so personally, we are obliged to speak out in support of those risking their lives to provide life-saving assistance.

Systematic assaults on medical professionals, facilities, and patients are breaking Syria's health-care system and making it nearly impossible for civilians to receive essential medical services.

According to WHO, 37% of Syrian hospitals have been destroyed and a further 20% severely damaged.

Makeshift clinics have become fully fledged trauma centres struggling to cope with the injured and sick.

According to the Violations Documentation Centre, an estimated 469 health workers are currently imprisoned, and about 15 000 doctors have been forced to flee abroad according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Of the 5,000 physicians in Aleppo before the conflict started, only 36 remain.

The targeted attacks on medical facilities and personnel are deliberate and systematic, not an inevitable nor acceptable consequence of armed conflict.

Such attacks are an unconscionable betrayal of the principle of medical neutrality.

The number of people requiring medical assistance is increasing exponentially, as a direct result of conflict and indirectly because of the deterioration of a once-sophisticated public health system and the lack of adequate curative and preventive care.

Horrific injuries are going untended; women are giving birth with no medical assistance; men, women, and children are undergoing life-saving surgery without anaesthetic; and victims of sexual violence have nowhere to turn to.

The Syrian population is vulnerable to outbreaks of hepatitis, typhoid, cholera, and dysentery.

The lack of medical pharmaceuticals has already exacerbated an outbreak of cutaneous leishmaniasis, a severe infectious skin disease that can cause serious disability, there has been an alarming increase in cases of acute diarrhoea, and in June aid agencies reported a measles epidemic sweeping through districts of northern Syria.

In some areas, children born since the conflict started have had no vaccinations, meaning that conditions for an epidemic, which have no respect for national borders, are ripe.

With the Syrian health system at breaking point, patients battling chronic illnesses including cancer, diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, and requiring long-term medical assistance have nowhere to turn for essential medical care.

The majority of medical assistance is being delivered by Syrian medical personnel but they are struggling in the face of massive need and dangerous conditions.

Governmental restrictions, coupled with inflexibility and bureaucracy in the international aid system, is making things worse.

As a result, large parts of Syria are completely cut off from any form of medical assistance.

Medical professionals are required to treat anyone in need to the best of their ability. Any wounded or sick person must be allowed access to medical treatment.

As doctors and health professionals we urgently demand that medical colleagues in Syria be allowed and supported to treat patients, save lives, and alleviate suffering without the fear of attacks or reprisals.

To alleviate the effect on civilians of this conflict and of the deliberate attacks on the health-care system, and to support our medical colleagues, we call on the Syrian Government and all armed parties to refrain from attacking hospitals, ambulances, medical facilities and supplies, health professionals and patients; allow access to treatment for any patient; and hold perpetrators of such violations accountable according to internationally recognised legal standards.

We call on all armed parties to respect the proper functions of medical professionals and medical neutrality by allowing medical professionals to treat anyone in need of medical care and not interfering with the proper operation of health-care facilities.

Governments that support parties to this civil war should demand that all armed actors immediately halt attacks on medical personnel, facilities, patients, and medical supplies and allow medical supplies and care to reach Syrians, whether crossing front lines or across Syria's borders.

We call on the UN and international donors to increase support to Syrian medical networks, in both government and opposition areas, where, since the beginning of the conflict, health professionals have been risking their lives to provide essential services in an extremely hostile environment.

We declare that we have no conflicts of interest.

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Costa Concordia Salvage Operation Under Way

By Tom Kington, in Giglio

Salvage officials have begun the mammoth task of righting the crippled Costa Concordia as jacks hoist it off rocks near the Tuscany coast.

The daring operation was delayed by about three hours due to bad weather, and began at 9am local time (8am).

"All checks have been carried out and the operation has begun," said Fabrizio Curcio, the deputy Civil Protection chief.

The rescue effort, which is expected to last about 12 hours, will see the giant ship gradually rotated and rolled upright.

Five hundred engineers and divers are working on the salvage

The officials have warned the stranded vessel will bend and suffer enormous internal damage during the €600m (£503m) operation, known as "parbuckling".

But they are confident the ship's hull will remain intact as 56 massive chains tighten around it, avoiding the nightmare scenario of the 114,000-ton vessel shattering and spilling its contents into the waters around the Italian island of Giglio.

Sergio Girotto, project manager for Micoperi - the Italian firm that has teamed up with US company Titan to raise the Concordia - said: "The ship will probably bend during the operation and metal inside will buckle."

"We have 12,000 tons of pressure to use, which would lift two Eiffel Towers, but I hope we will only need five or six thousand."

The cruise liner capsized in shallow water 20 months ago after smashing into rock, causing the deaths of 32 passengers.

Two bodies are still missing, and officials hope they will now be found.

Much will depend on how firmly the ship is wedged onto two pinnacles of underwater granite where it came to rest on the night of January 13, 2012, prompting the evacuation of 4,200 passengers and crew.

Experts have said there is little danger of pollution

The two outcrops, which are embedded six metres into the hull of the ship, are the great unknown at the heart of the operation, which will see the ship hoisted by jacks on to a bed of 1,000 cement bags and six underwater platforms bigger than a football pitch.

Franco Gabrielli, who has supervised the Italian government's role in the operation, told reporters ahead of the salvage attempt that the operation had a 100% chance of success.

The ship is due to be hauled 65 degrees back to upright position.

Within the first hour or two, the ship should be wrenched free from the two granite outcrops it is impaled on, said Franco Porcellacchia, an engineer working on the salvage for ship owner Costa Cruises.

Four to five hours will then be needed to pull the ship upwards before gravity takes over, and its final descent into an upright position, also taking four to five hours, is controlled by adjusting the buoyancy of the massive metal tanks attached to its sides.

A 12-man team will control the pulleys and tanks from a barge close to the wreck.

How the ship will look if it is successfully righted

Marine biologist Giandomenico Ardizzone, who has been monitoring the sea bed for the ship's operator Costa Crociere, said he had dived under the vessel on Saturday to fix cameras on the points where the rocks plunge into the hull.

"We have been told to get ready for loud noises during the lifting," said Mr Ardizzone.

He added that 29,000 tons of water will pour out of the ship as it is pulled upright, an even greater amount, 43,000 tons, will enter the ship.

"That means less of the ship will be visible out of the water after the parbuckling," he said.

What does come out will be polluted water that has swilled inside the ship for months in a mix of residual fuels, heavy metals and rotten food, including more than three tons of melon, 500 litres of olive oil, 14,000 packets of cigarettes, 18,000 bottles of wine, eight tons of beef and over 11 tons of fish.

Mr Ardizzone said the quantities of heavy metals and fuels were too small to create concern for the surrounding protected marine park, a view shared by Maria Sargentini, the head of a public commission set up to monitor the operation.

:: Live Coverage on Sky News

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School Uniform Costs 'Must Be Cut' - Minister

Schools are being urged to avoid branded uniforms to cut costs for cash-strapped parents.

Schools minister David Laws said the cost of clothing was often "unnecessarily high" at a time when family budgets were being squeezed.

An Office of Fair Trading investigation last year suggested that three quarters of schools placed restrictions on where uniforms could be bought.

That typically added £5 to the price tag for each item, leaving parents an estimated £52m a year worse off.

Speaking at the Liberal Democrat conference in Glasgow, Mr Laws announced new guidance for schools.

Exclusive single supplier contracts should not be used, unless regular tendering processes are run to ensure firms provide value for money.

They should also not enter into 'cashback' agreements with shops.

Compulsory items of uniform should be available relatively cheaply, and branding should be kept "to a minimum", under the guidelines.

Schools are urged to avoid changing specifications frequently.

Mr Laws said: "Costs at the start of a school term can quickly add up, particularly for families with several school age children.

"School uniforms can be an important sign of identity and pride, but at a time when many family budgets are squeezed parents should not be forced to spend more than they need to.

"We will send a strong signal to schools that it is vital to secure value for money for parents before changing or introducing new school uniforms.

"Parents need to be able to shop around to find the best deal.

"I want to see fewer schools using single suppliers and branded items, which keep costs unnecessarily high."

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Peru Drugs: Melissa Reid 'To Plead Guilty'

Why Peru Became The Cocaine Hotspot

Updated: 2:26am UK, Sunday 15 September 2013

By Pete Norman, Sky News Online

Peru has overtaken Colombia as the world's leading cocaine producer, according to experts.

Home to the ancient Inca civilisation, Peru is rugged, remote and the ultimate source of the mighty Amazon river.

It is also home to a long-running guerrilla campaign by the leftist Shining Path group.

While urban and coastal inhabitants have benefited greatly from market-focused economic development since the early 1980s, when military rule ended, the rural poor have gained little.

Its hilly, isolated and fertile regions are home to the guerrillas, who rely on cocaine production, hostage-taking and corruption for funds.

According to the CIA, Peru was the world's largest coca leaf producer until 1996, when neighbouring Colombia took the lead.

It says that in 2009 Peru had 100,000 acres under coca leaf production compared to Colombia's 286,000 acres - with the potential to produce 225 metric tons of pure cocaine.

US-supported efforts to reduce or eradicate coca leaf in Colombia have now tipped the scales of production towards Peru.

Aerial spraying of herbicide in Colombia has affected coca crops covering 250,000 acres while manual eradication has been done on another 150,000 acres.

The UN has said Colombia reduced its area under coca cultivation by 25% in 2012 - the biggest annual reduction since the international body began monitoring it in 2001.

Around 30 Britons are now in Peruvian prisons on drug-related convictions, according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The UN Office of Drugs and Crime is expected to release its official 2012 Peru coca crop estimate in September.

Its World Drug Report 2011 said that although the area under coca leaf production was around 75% of the 1990 area, the current yield might be up to a third greater.

While Colombia still supplies virtually all of North America's cocaine, the CIA said much of the drug exported from Peru through land, air and sea routes is destined for Europe and other markets.

North America and Europe cocaine consumption has stabilised in recent years while growth has increased in Oceania and Asia Pacific regions.

It said: "Finished cocaine is shipped out from Pacific ports to the international drug market, (while) increasing amounts of base and finished cocaine, however, are being moved to Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia for … trans-shipment to Europe and Africa."

Smaller quantities are carried through air routes by so-called drug mules, while larger loads travel by sea to west Africa prior to distribution throughout Europe.

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