Alps Crash Co-Pilot 'Planned Place In History'

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 28 Maret 2015 | 14.59

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A former girlfriend of the co-pilot accused of deliberately crashing a Germanwings plane is reported to have told how he suffered nightmares and once ominously woke up screaming: "We're going down!"

According to the Bild newspaper, the ex-lover of Andreas Lubitz, identified only as Mary W, said he had told her last year: "One day I will do something that will change the whole system, and then all will know my name and remember it."

She added: "I never knew what he meant, but now it makes sense."

The 26-year-old stewardess said Lubitz had been tormented by nightmares and his behaviour scared her.

"At night, he woke up and screamed: 'We're going down!', because he had nightmares. He knew how to hide from other people what was really going on inside," she told the paper.

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Gallery: The Victims Of The Germanwings Crash

American Emily Selke, a recent graduate, was on the plane with her mother Yvonne. Raymond Selke has described his wife and daughter as 'amazing people'. Pic: Facebook

Iranian sports journalist Hussein Javadi was on his way to Austria to cover a football match. A friend said he was 'a kind, loving, caring man'. Pic: Maysam Bizær/Hossein Javadi

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Argentinian Sebastian Greco was on board with his girlfriend. Pic: Facebook

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Argentinian Gabriela Maumus, 28, was the daughter of a firefighter. Pic: Facebook

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Spanish victim Carles Milla Masanas, 37. The businessman was on his way to a food industry fayre. Pic: Facebook

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Her claims follow revelations by German prosecutors that Lubitz had hidden a sick note declaring him unfit to work on the day of the disaster before boarding the Barcelona to Dusseldorf flight and piloting it into a mountainside in the French Alps.

All 150 people on board the Airbus A320 were killed in the crash.

The prosecutors' office said: "Documents with medical contents were confiscated that point towards an existing illness and corresponding treatment by doctors.

"The fact there are sick notes saying he was unable to work, among other things, that were found torn up, which were recent and even from the day of the crime, support the assumption based on the preliminary examination that the deceased hid his illness from his employer and his professional colleagues."

Germanwings confirmed the sick note was not submitted to the company.

The prosecutors also said the search found no suicide note or confession, "nor was there any evidence of a political or religious background to what happened".

Lubitz lived with his parents, a banker and a church organist, in his small home town of Montabaur in the Rhineland and kept an apartment in Dusseldorf.

Montabaur Mayor Edmund Schaaf urged reporters camped out in the community to show restraint.

"Regardless of whether the accusations against the co-pilot are true, we sympathise with his family and ask the media to be considerate," he said.

German media has reported Lubitz received treatment for a "serious depressive episode" six years ago during his training to become a pilot.

Lufthansa, parent company of Germanwings, said it was aware he had broken off his training in 2009, but said there was nothing in his background to suggest he was a risk.

The company, which also owns Austrian Airlines and Swiss Air, said he passed all the relevant examinations necessary to become a pilot and was deemed "100% airworthy".

Some 75 German people were on board the aircraft. At least 50 Spanish citizens were also on the flight, along with three Britons.

On Friday, a memorial service was held in Dusseldorf for the German victims of the crash and hundreds of other mourners attended a mass in Barcelona for three generations of one family who died.

Lufthansa said family briefings are planned for later today at its family assistance centre in the French city of Marseille.

The airline also announced it would pay up to 50,000 euros (£36,000) in immediate financial assistance per passenger.

Police and rescue workers are still hunting for the aircraft's second black box on the fifth day of recovery operations at the scene of the crash.

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Written By Unknown on Jumat, 27 Maret 2015 | 14.59

By Anushka Asthana, Political Correspondent

David Cameron and Ed Miliband have attempted to convince voters they have what it takes to lead the country into 2020 in the first major showdown of the election campaign.

The two men faced tough questioning from Kay Burley and Jeremy Paxman during the 90-minute Sky News Channel 4 Battle for Number 10 programme.

Mr Miliband attempted to show his credentials by telling Paxman: "Hell yes, I'm tough enough" to run the country.

He said he had stood up to the "leader of the free world", US President Barack Obama, over military action in Syria.

Mr Miliband said he had been "underestimated" many times but he was not worried about the opinion of newspapers or a "bloke on the tube".

And he said he didn't care if people just thought he was a "north London geek".

Immigration was a key issue under discussion during the programme, which took place at Sky's studios in west London.

Mr Cameron admitted he has failed to honour a commitment to reduce the number of people coming to Britain, while Mr Miliband refused to set any limit on immigration.

The Prime Minister edged ahead in the early polls after the event came to an end.

An early ICM/Guardian poll gave victory to Mr Cameron with 54% of the 2,000 people asking saying he had performed best, but it was close and 46% gave the win to Mr Miliband.

Responding to questions about whether he was up to the country's top job, Mr Miliband insisted that he was the right person to take on the fight.

He said he felt he had a better chance than his Blairite brother, David Miliband, of moving beyond New Labour.

During his interview with Paxman, Mr Cameron looked uncomfortable when faced with questions about rising food bank use and zero-hour contracts.

Mr Cameron revealed that he would not be able to live on an "exclusive zero hours contract".

He also admitted that he did not ask former HSBC chief, Lord Green, questions about tax avoidance before appointing him as a Government minister in 2010, despite information in the public domain.

On immigration, he appeared to admit for the first time that he had failed to meet his promise to reduce levels to the "tens of thousands".

But the issue was also tough for Mr Miliband who was pressed on what level was acceptable, answering "I'm not going to pluck a figure out of thin air".

One senior Tory adviser said Mr Miliband had faced a "torrid" time from the studio audience, while Labour spinners insisted that the Prime Minister's comments on zero-hour contracts would haunt him.

Despite the PM's slightly better performance in the polls, the Labour team - which is launching its election campaign today - were pleased with the outcome for their leader.

Some commentators argued that he would have seen his popularity boost among potential Labour supporters, while members of the studio audience told Sky News that they felt he was passionate and human in his responses.

But Conservative supporters in the audience were less impressed with one saying he failed to tackle difficult questions on the country's finances.

:: Highlights of the Battle For Number 10 can be seen on Sky News today at 9.30am and 9.30pm and all digital platforms.

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'Significant Find' At French Alps Co-Pilot's Home

By Mike McCarthy, Sky News Correspondent

An investigation is under way into the life of the co-pilot who has been blamed for causing the French Alps plane crash.

Andreas Lubitz, 27, has been accused of deliberately flying the Airbus A320 into a mountainside shortly after preventing the captain from re-entering the cockpit.

All 150 people aboard the aircraft died in the crash.

Police have carried out thorough searches of Lubitz's flat in Dusseldorf and the home he shared with parents in the historic town of Montabaur.

For several hours investigators took away cases and boxes from both addresses. In Dusseldorf police said that they were "looking for clues as to what the co-pilot's motivation might have been".

In Montabaur neighbours reacted with disbelief when the heard of Lubitz's involvement.

One man, who did not want to be named, said that he had known the pilot since childhood.

He told Sky News: "I cannot imagine that he has done it with intention.

"This does not fit in this picture I have of him. It is a very upright family, very helpful and I cannot understand what has happened.

"I knew the children when they were small boys."

Lubitz grew up dreaming of becoming a pilot.

As a teenager he gained his glider's licence after training with LSC Westerwald flying club in his hometown.

Klaus Radke, the chairman of the gliding club, said: "Over the time he was with us he was a very calm, responsible man.

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Gallery: Rescue Teams Resume Search After Plane Crash

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (3R) arrives near the crash site of Germanwings Airbus A320 near Seyne-les-Alpes, France

Gendarmerie and French mountain rescue teams fly in a helicopter near the site of the Germanwings plane crash near the French Alps

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Challenge Facing Search Teams At Alps Crash Site

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 26 Maret 2015 | 14.59

By Katie Stallard, Sky News Correspondent, French Alps

The crash site is located in a remote mountain range in the southern Alps. It's extremely difficult to access - through treacherous terrain, and at altitude.

Search and rescue teams are using helicopters to transport workers and equipment to the scene.

Sky News has managed to reach the area by trekking eight hours through the mountains on foot.

The journey involved negotiating sections of dense undergrowth and steep uphill climbs, and was only possible with the help of an experienced local mountaineer.

The wreckage is concentrated in an isolated ravine at an altitude of around 2,000 metres.

From a vantage point overlooking the scene we could see debris from the Germanwings plane, including what appeared to be part of the landing gear.

We saw bright yellow life jackets scattered across the hillside.

Amongst the dark rocks of the steep ravine are hundreds, perhaps thousands of tiny fragments - the last traces of the 150 lives that ended here.

Emergency workers have secured the site - to preserve any possible forensic evidence, and the dignity of those who were on board.

We watched police helicopters working in relay until darkness fell, flying back and forth to the scene.

This will be a long and extremely challenging operation, but all those involved understand the importance of finding the answers the families so desperately need.

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Gallery: Alps Plane Crash: The Victims

Maria Radner, Oleg Bryjak and Greig and Carol Friday

Martyn Matthews, of Wolverhampton, with his family. Mr Matthews, 50, was travelling on business for the German automotive manufacturer Huf

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Pilot Locked Out Of Crash Jet's Cockpit: Report

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One of the pilots of a jet that crashed in the Alps killing all 150 people on board was locked out of the cockpit before it started its descent, according to US media.

Investigators have not revealed details of conversations on the cockpit voice recorder black box recovered from the crash site.

But the New York Times quoted a senior military source involved in the probe as saying one of the two Germanwings pilots appeared to have left the cockpit and then been unable to get back in.

The source said: "The guy outside is knocking lightly on the door and there is no answer. And then he hits the door stronger and no answer.

"There is never an answer. You can hear he is trying to smash the door down."

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Gallery: Alps Plane Crash: The Victims

Maria Radner, Oleg Bryjak and Greig and Carol Friday

Martyn Matthews, of Wolverhampton, with his family. Mr Matthews, 50, was travelling on business for the German automotive manufacturer Huf

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Paul Andrew Bramley, 28, originally from Hull. He was studying hospitality and hotel management in Lucerne, Switzerland

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Filmmaker Marina Bandres, who came from Jaca in the Spanish Pyrenees and lived in Manchester, was travelling on the plane with her baby Julian Pracz-Bandres

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Sixteen exchange students from the same German school were also on board the plane

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The official added: "We don't know yet the reason why one of the guys went out.

"But what is sure is that at the very end of the flight, the other pilot is alone and does not open the door."

The source said conversation between the pilots during the early part of the flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf had been "very smooth, very cool."

In January a Delta Air Lines flight was forced to make an emergency landing after a pilot was accidentally locked out of the cockpit.

The door malfunctioned leaving the first officer to land the plane at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

Cockpit doors have been reinforced since the September 11 attacks in 2001, to stop intruders from reaching the crew and controls.

The New York Times report emerged after a bus carrying the first relatives to the area where their loved ones lost their lives left Barcelona on Wednesday evening.

The group of 14 will meet with other family members who chose to fly from Barcelona to Marseille this morning.

The crash investigation is likely to focus on why there was no distress call from the plane, which went into a slow descent shortly after reaching its 38,000ft cruising altitude and continued along its flight path for some eight minutes before smashing into mountains with such force that it was "pulverised", according to one official.

Theories include the complete incapacity of the cockpit crew, possibly after a windscreen blow-out.

Asked about reports that the second black box - the flight data recorder which indicates how an aircraft's systems were working - had been found but was too badly damaged to be of use, a French air investigation bureau spokesman said this was not the case.

"We have not located the second black box," he said.

Earlier, Germanwings parent company Lufthansa said the plane, piloted by two experienced captains, was "technically flawless", while the firm's CEO Carsten Spohr, himself a pilot, described the crash as "inexplicable".

Lufthansa said: "We cannot comprehend how a technically flawless airplane steered by two experienced pilots could encounter such a situation at cruising altitude.

"All of us at Lufthansa are working to ensure that such an incident will never occur again. We cannot believe that this has happened. We are doing everything to support the families."

A spokesman for the French air investigation bureau, the BEA, said that "usable" material had been extracted from the black box cockpit voice recorder found at the crash site.

He said it covered the entire flight but would not say what conversations, if any, between the pilots had been captured on the recording, nor what language they had been conducted in.

Three Britons - Martyn Matthews, 50, Paul Bramley, 26, and Marina Bandres Lopez Belio, 37 - were among 150 on the Airbus A320 plane to have lost their lives.

While some nationalities were still to be verified, Germanwings said the dead included 72 Germans, 35 Spaniards and two Australians.

Two Americans are also known to have been on the plane

Other countries with passengers on the flight included Iran, Israel, Japan, Denmark, Belgium and Colombia.

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Written By Unknown on Rabu, 25 Maret 2015 | 14.59

Recovery teams are resuming work in the Alps as investigators work to establish what caused a packed plane to smash into mountains, killing all 150 people on board.

All passengers and crew on the jet are thought to have died after it plummeted into a remote area in France and "disintegrated".

Images of the area show the plane was obliterated, with the fuselage smashed into small pieces, the largest of which is about the size of a small car.

Recovery teams have been flown in by helicopter and one of the black box flight recorders - crucial in piecing together what happened - has been found although reports say it has been damaged.

A number of British nationals are "sadly likely" to have been on board the Germanwings aircraft which crashed in the French Alps, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has said.

The Airbus A320 plane was en route from Barcelona in Spain, to Dusseldorf, Germany, when it came down yesterday morning less than an hour into its flight at Meolans-Revels, between Barcelonnette and Digne.

People who live in the region are reported to have said the noise of the crash sounded like an avalanche.

A total of 144 passengers, including two babies, as well as two pilots and four cabin crew were on board the 24-year-old jet, operated by Lufthansa's budget airline.

Some 16 children and two teachers from the same school in Haltern Am See in Germany were on the plane, returning home after an exchange visit.

Officials said flight 4U 9525, which took off at 10.01am (9.01am UK time), had started descending one minute after reaching its cruising height.

It then plummeted from 38,000ft to 6,800ft in eight minutes before crashing - dropping about 4,000ft a minute.

French aviation authorities said the plane did not issue a distress call and had lost radio contact with air traffic controllers at 10.53am.

Germanwings said the plane had a normal service at Dusseldorf on Monday and its last major check-up was in the summer of 2013. Experts have said the A320 has a relatively good safety record.

Meanwhile, some Lufthansa crews are refusing to fly "for personal reasons" which has led to a number of flights being cancelled, the airline admitted.

The company said it was working on the assumption that the crash was an accident and any other theory was "speculation".

German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was flown over the site and called it "a picture of horror".

Gilbert Sauvan, from the local council, told Les Echos newspaper: "The plane is disintegrated. The largest debris is the size of a car."

And Jean Louis Bietrix, a hiker who was accompanying a rescue team to the site, said: "There are no pieces anymore, there is nothing, there is nothing. The plane has totally disappeared."

Mr Hammond said: "It is sadly likely that there were some British nationals on board the flight. We are providing consular assistance and will give further help as more information becomes available."

There were believed to be 67 people from Germany on the aircraft, including the school children and German opera singers Oleg Bryjak and Maria Radner. Ms Radner had been flying with her husband and baby, said a Spanish opera house.

Forty-five of the passengers are thought to be Spanish and two were Australian.

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Gallery: School Head Weeps After 16 Students Die

Mourners gathered outside Joseph-Koenig in the German town of Haltern after news 16 children and two teachers from the school died in the French Alps plane crash.

School Principal Ulrich Wessel grieves with students in front of the secondary school.

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Doomed Jet's Black Box Is Damaged But 'Useable'

The black box recovered from the Airbus crash site has been damaged but the information stored on it is still "useable", the French interior minister has said.

Bernard Cazaneuve also said that while no firm cause of the crash has been ruled out, terrorism is not considered likely.

Senior French official Segolene Royal said that establishing what happened in the seconds between 10.30am and 10.31am when the pilot stopped responding is vital to the investigation.

The black box, recovered between Barcelonnette and Digne in the French Alps, could provide the answer.

The Germanwings A320 plane suddenly plummeted from 38,000ft to 6,000ft without making a distress call.

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Gallery: Rescue Teams And Relatives Wait After Plane Crash

French Police and Gendarmerie Alpine rescue units gather on a field as they prepare to reach the crash site of an Airbus A320, near Seyne-les-Alpes, in the French Alps

French fire brigade rescue units gather in a field near a farm building as they prepare to reach the crash site

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NHS Paid Â£3,258 For One Doctor's A&E Shift

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 24 Maret 2015 | 14.59

By Thomas Moore, Health and Science Correspondent

An NHS hospital paid more than £3,200 for a locum doctor to cover a single 24-hour A&E shift over the Christmas and New Year crisis, a Sky News investigation has found.

So short staffed were some trusts between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day that more than half the shifts in their emergency departments were worked by locum medics, often at huge expense.

Figures obtained by Sky News show that four hospitals paid more than £2,000 for A&E consultants to work a shift, with the highest bill being the £3,258 paid by United Lincolnshire NHS Trust for a doctor to work for 24 hours.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust paid the equivalent of more than £230 an hour for one doctor.

Three hospitals paid more than £1,700 for nurses on single shifts.

At Royal Berkshire, one agency was paid £1,875 for a nurse to work 12 hours on New Year's Day, the equivalent of £156.25 an hour.

Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust paid £156 an hour for a nurse and North Bristol NHS Trust paid £144.

At Airedale NHS Foundation Trust almost three quarters - 71% - of the shifts over that period were covered by a locum doctor.

Some 58% of shifts were filled by locums at Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust and 52% at Royal Bolton Hospital.

Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust had to find agency nurses for 43% of shifts, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust used them for 32% of shifts and Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust for 25%.

The figures were obtained by a Freedom of Information request.

Some 75 out of the 140 trusts replied to questions about how their emergency departments were staffed between 24 December 2014 and 1 January.

In February this year, MPs on the Public Accounts Committee claimed senior A&E doctors were profiting from staff shortages by working for locum agencies.

Experts said that competition between hospitals to fill shifts during what was the busiest Christmas period on record meant that the prices being charged by locum agencies soared.

Dr Clifford Mann, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said: "Market forces really are quite extreme currently, with the lack of permanent people to employ.

"It means hospitals are desperate to try to find people to fill these slots and are having to pay super premium rates for that to happen.

"It can be very demoralising to be working alongside somebody with much less experience, much more junior, who is earning a multiple income compared to you in terms of the pounds paid per hour."

Mick Corti, of the London Procurement Partnership which negotiates on behalf of the capital's hospitals to drive costs down, said that agencies were sometimes collecting fees of up to £100 an hour before paying the doctors and nurses themselves.

"There is almost competition on what you are able to pay and by paying more you think you can increase the supply of the agency nurse or doctor, but you are not - you are pinching that nurse or doctor from wherever else they might have worked and then they have a problem.

"You get an inflationary spiral where one trust is competing against another, and that is what the NHS needs to move away from and try to hold firm. Pay appropriate rates and stick to it."

:: Top Five Doctor Payments:

United Lincolnshire NHS Trust -- £3,257

Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust -- £2,142

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust -- £2,099

Croydon Health Services -- £2,000

University Hospital South Manchester -- £1,625

:: Top Five Nurse Payments:

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust -- £1,875

Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust -- £1,798

North Bristol NHS Trust -- £1,728

West Middlesex University Hospital -- £1,462

University Hospitals of Leicester -- £1,416

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Jolie Has Ovaries Removed In Cancer Scare

Angelina Jolie has revealed she has had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed after doctors detected possible signs of cancer.

The Oscar-winning actress has written about the surgery, which she had last week, in an opinion piece entitled Diary of a Surgery in the New York Times.

"It is not possible to remove all risk, and the fact is I remain prone to cancer," she writes.

She also had a double mastectomy in 2013 after it was found she had the faulty BRCA1 gene, which sharply increased the chance of her developing breast and ovarian cancer.

Jolie, who is married to actor Brad Pitt and has six children, also wrote about her decision to have that procedure.

She says having her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed was "a less complex surgery than the mastectomy, but its effects are more severe."

The operation, called laparoscopic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, brings on early menopause, which she writes about.

"Regardless of the hormone replacements I'm taking, I am now in menopause," she says.

"I will not be able to have any more children, and I expect some physical changes.

"But I feel at ease with whatever will come, not because I am strong but because this is a part of life. It is nothing to be feared."

She says she decided to have her second round of preventative surgery when doctors told her that "a number of inflammatory markers ... are elevated, and taken together they could be a sign of early cancer."

She writes: "I went through what I imagine thousands of other women have felt.

"I told myself to stay calm, to be strong, and that I had no reason to think I wouldn't live to see my children grow up and to meet my grandchildren."

After having the procedure, doctors found Jolie had a "small benign tumour" on one of her ovaries "but no signs of cancer in any of the tissues".

Her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died in 2007 after fighting cancer for 10 years. Her grandmother and aunt also died of cancer.

Jolie writes: "I feel feminine, and grounded in the choices I am making for myself and my family.

"I know my children will never have to say, 'Mom died of ovarian cancer'."

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Osborne And Balls Prepare For Live TV Showdown

Written By Unknown on Senin, 23 Maret 2015 | 14.59

By Anushka Asthana, Political Correspondent

George Osborne and Ed Balls are preparing to face questions from a live audience on Sky News, in an event that could decide which party voters trust with the public finances.

"Ask The Chancellors", which will be held at the headquarters of Facebook in London, follows on from similar question and answer sessions for party leaders including David Cameron and Ed Miliband.

The two men face a grilling on their economic plans from an audience of key opinion formers, including entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Ask The Chancellors will be broadcast live on Sky News and all its platforms as well as live streamed to millions on the Sky News Facebook page and YouTube channel.

The clash comes at a crucial time, with the latest Sky News projection of seat numbers in the House of Commons suggesting both main parties are well short of the 326 seats they need for an overall majority.

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Gallery: Sky Projection: Main Parties Well Short Of Overall Majority

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Ahead of the showdown, political insiders have revealed the pair "get on" well, despite their very public political clashes.

Conservative activist and commentator Tim Montgomerie told Sky News that the men have a "good private relationship", while Damian McBride, who once worked with Mr Balls in the Treasury, said they like each other on a "personal level".

Mr McBride revealed the two men's private relationship to the Murnaghan show. He later added that there was common ground because both men have so many interests and hobbies outside of politics.

He said: "It is very rare that you meet politicians with so many outside interests that don't want to talk about politics all the time. (Ed Balls) would rather be talking about football or the theatre or what he watched on TV last night so he is that kind of personality and I think that is why he gets on with George Osborne."

However, he admitted that they "fundamentally" disagreed on politics.

He praised Mr Balls for effectively "running the Treasury" when he was a key adviser to Gordon Brown, crediting him with giving independence to the Bank of England and keeping Britain out of the Euro.

As for the Chancellor, Mr Montgomerie suggested he was misunderstood.

He argued that if you asked 10 people in the street if they would rather spend time with Mr Osborne or the Prime Minister nine out of 10, including Mr Montgomerie's "mum" would say David Cameron.

He added: "But in my experience, the livelier, chattier, warmer person is certainly George Osborne – he is great company, great fun to be with, he actually has quite a good private relationship with Ed Balls but it doesn't come over on the TV and in the TV age that hurts him."

Mr Montgomerie also revealed that the Chancellor was deeply upset by the "awful" incident in 2012 when he was booed at the Paralympic Games, with his children present.

Before that he had been known as the "submarine Chancellor" he said, who did his work invisibly, below the surface.

Mr Montgomerie said: "But after that horrible experience he decided he needed to repair his image somewhat he had his hair restyled, he lost some weight, he had a new image adviser, and his ratings have slowly improved, they've tracked the improvements in the economy so that now he is actually a more popular figure than Nick Clegg or Ed Miliband in some opinion polls."

The Chancellor has famously lost weight through jogging and the 5-2 fasting diet, but Mr Montgomerie argued that the upturn in popularity would not have come without the changing economic situation in Britain.

As for the warm relationship between Mr Balls and Mr Osborne behind the scenes, the same cannot be said about the shadow Chancellor and Mr Cameron.

The Prime Minister has called Mr Balls the "most annoying person in modern-day politics" and criticised his famous House of Commons gestures.

:: Get involved with the event via the Stand Up Be Counted and Sky News Facebook pages using the hashtag #AskTheChancellors.

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Ask The Chancellors: How They Line Up

By Darren McCaffrey, Political Correspondent

As Ed Balls and George Osborne prepare to take questions, here is how the two political bruisers line up.

:: George Osborne

EDUCATION: Privately educated at St Paul's School, London and then Magdalen College, Oxford where he studied modern history.

FAMILY LIFE: Married to Lord Howell's daughter Frances. They have two children.

FIGHTING WEIGHT: He may physically be a lightweight but has proven an astute political operator.

POTTED HISTORY: A career politician, he worked at Conservative Central Office before becoming a MP in 2001. As Chancellor he has imposed an austere programme of cuts, presided over what was described as an "omnishambles" budget but ultimately has led the UK economy to become the fastest growing in the G7 with falling unemployment and low inflation.

HARDEST BLOW: The pasty tax, the caravan tax, the church tax - the budget of 2012 was viewed as a disaster for the Conservatives which allowed Labour to gain a lead again in the polls, something which has largely remained unchanged since.

GLASS CHIN: That the cuts have been too austere, too unfair and the recovery too unbalanced.

MOST LIKELY MOVE: You will hear "long-term economic plan" more times than you can count.

LEAST LIKELY MOVE: To move away from deficit reduction, even when under severe pressure to change tack, the Chancellor has at least stuck to the rhetoric if not always the letter of his original Plan A.

:: Ed Balls

EDUCATION: Privately educated at all-boys Nottingham High School. He went on to attend Keble College, Oxford where he gained a first in Philosophy, Politics, Economics.

FAMILY LIFE: Married to shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper. They have three children.

FIGHTING WEIGHT: The ultimate political heavyweight and not just because of appearance.

POTTED HISTORY: At Gordon Brown's side for years, he effectively ran the Treasury on a day-to-day basis, stopped Britain joining the euro, made the Bank of England Independent and helped oversee huge increases in public spending. But is always widely associated as being one of the people in charge when the UK nose-dived in the world economic crash.

HARDEST BLOW: Abolishing 10p tax rate in 2007, Balls has subsequently described it as a mistake saying "people understandably thought Labour was no longer on the side of the hard-working people we have always sought to help".

GLASS CHIN: While people do listen to Ed Balls, he does manage to divide opinion and is not trusted by many to run the economy again.

MOST LIKELY MOVE: That for many, the wider economic recovery is not being felt. A Conservative recovery is unfair and unbalanced.

LEAST LIKELY MOVE: To argue against any form of continued austerity. Economic credibility means a commitment to cuts.

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Afzal Amin: Patriotic Tory's Humble Beginnings

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 22 Maret 2015 | 14.59

Until he was suspended Afzal Amin was to become the Conservative Party's first new ethnic minority candidate to fight in the May General Election.

His rise within the party belies the fact he left school with few qualifications.

After being brought up and schooled in the Black Country town of Smethwick in Staffordshire, he attended Sandwell College before working as a waiter and finance clerk.

He spent 11 years in the military and rose to the rank of captain in the Army's education service, where he taught Princes Harry and William in Windsor, according to Mr Amin's website.

He claims to have been selected to attend Sandhurst's Royal Military Academy in 2001, and has seen operational service in Iraq and three times in Afghanistan.

"There is no greater expression of service to one's country and compatriots than being willing to lay down one's own life to protect and defend others," he wrote in November last year.

He is a former chairman of the Armed Forces Muslim Association and has given lectures to foreign government officials on how to combat homegrown radicalisation.

When Fusilier Lee Rigby was murdered in May 2013, Mr Amin said he believed members of the British military from all racial backgrounds would unite to condemn the "horrific and brutal" attack.

Mr Amin was hoping to win the Dudley North constituency seat on 7 May which is currently held by incumbent Austin Mitchell, who has a Labour majority of 649.

He has been married to wife Michelle for 20 years and the couple have two teenage children.

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Tory Candidate Suspended Over 'EDL Plot'

A Tory election candidate has been suspended for allegedly plotting to win votes by taking credit for stopping an EDL protest.

Afzal Amin is accused by the Mail on Sunday of collaborating with the English Defence League (EDL) to announce a protest march against the building of a "mega-mosque".

The plan was for the protest to be scrapped with Mr Amin taking credit for defusing the situation, the newspaper reports.

The candidate is said to have outlined his plan to former EDL leader Tommy Robinson and current EDL chairman Steve Eddowes at an Indian restaurant in Birmingham on Monday, weeks after a real EDL demonstration in Dudley which led to 30 arrests.

"This is my fantasy," he says in secretly recorded footage. "If I could demonstrate to the people in Dudley that I can be a positive voice for community cohesion... then that would help me a lot in the forthcoming election."

The Muslim candidate, who had been selected to stand in the Dudley North constituency which has a Labour majority of 649, was also recorded promising he would subsequently be an "unshakeable ally" for the EDL in parliament.

In a recorded phone call with Mr Robinson, Mr Amin also says he needs two "white" canvassers to help his campaign for election.

"I need two white, working class lads to go round those areas to say to people, 'You support the Army, if you support the troops then vote for this guy'. That's what I need," he said.

When Mr Robinson raises the question of payment Mr Amin makes it clear it is illegal to pay people to canvass during elections.

But when it is suggested the men can be paid indirectly through Mr Robinson, Mr Amin replies: "Yes of course, of course".

Sky's political correspondent Anushka Asthana said: "He was filmed doing something extraordinary; trying to persuade the EDL to say they are going to hold a rally against a mega-mosque in Dudley then getting them to call it off so he can take the credit for it.

"He suggested paying EDL members to help get him support in the area and the party have suspended him after an emergency meeting of the committee that deals with selections for candidates.

"He will have a chance to make his case on Tuesday but, as I understand it, the Prime Minister will support whatever decision it comes to. They are taking it seriously and this is clearly bad news for them."

A Conservative Party spokesman confirmed Mr Amin had been suspended as a candidate following an emergency meeting, adding the party viewed the matter as "extremely serious".

Mr Amin had been due to take on sitting Labour MP Ian Austin in the election on 7 May.

Four days ago Mr Amin tweeted: "This General Election could be one of the most important of our lifetime. Now is not the time to lose faith in politics."

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