GP Plan To Bring In Out-Of-Hours Surgeries

David Cameron has told Sky News he wants doctors' surgeries to be open for longer to ease the pressure on overstretched A&E departments.

The Prime Minister confirmed plans for a £50m trial to have surgeries open from 8am until 8pm, seven days a week.

He insisted the pilot scheme in areas across England, which is expected to cover up to half a million patients, would be properly funded.

Almost one in five patients in a recent NHS survey said inconvenient appointments were a concern, with more than 70% backing weekend and after office opening hours.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt will outline the plans at the Tory conference

The scheme, which was unveiled at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, will offer extra cash to groups of GPs proposing the most effective ways to improve patient access.

As well as extended surgery hours, ministers hope they will pioneer more effective use of technology, such as consultations with patients via video calls, email and by telephone.

Electronic prescriptions, online appointment booking and allowing people to visit a number of different surgeries across an area are among other measures which could be introduced.

Mr Cameron told Sky: "Sometimes people using Accident & Emergency really just need to see a GP but for hard-working people it is often too difficult because you are at work, you can't get an appointment at the time that fits.

"Let's see if we can have GPs' surgeries open 12 hours a day, seven days a week so you can always get that appointment you need.

"We are starting with pilot schemes in nine regions of England. We are spending the money to help GPs achieve this. We will be able to see how it works."

He added: "I believe that will work well and then our ambition is to roll that out across the country. That is good for hard-working people but I also think it is right for our health service.

"If you look at A&E, since 2004 when the GP contract changed we see four million more people a year going to Accident & Emergency so I think we are not getting the balance right at the moment."

The first pilot projects are due to be operating by April 2014.

Similar initiatives are already being trialled in some parts of the country, including parts of Manchester, where some surgeries will move to seven-day opening.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who will talk about the initiative in his speech to the conference, said: "We live in a 24/7 society and we need GPs to find new ways of working so they can offer appointments at times that suit hard-working people.

"Cutting-edge GP practices here in Manchester are leading the way, and we want many more patients across the country to benefit."

Professor Steve Field, Chief Inspector for General Practice, said: "This move towards seven day services is great news for patients and should be embraced by GPs.

"I want to see brilliant access to GP services for patients across the country and will be assessing this in each practice I inspect."

However, shadow health secretary Andy Burnham accused Mr Cameron and his Conservative Party of "taking the NHS backwards".

"This announcement is a major admission of failure and a U-turn of fairly epic proportions," he said.

"Patients are also finding it harder to get appointments, and turning to A&E instead, after he removed Labour's guarantee of an appointment within 48 hours."

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US Shutdown: Deadline Passes Without Approval

A bitterly divided Congress has plunged the US into a partial government shutdown – the first in almost two decades – that will put some 800,000 workers on unpaid leave and close national parks.

A deadline to fund government spending passed without agreement, and the shutdown went into force at 12.01am.

The Democrat-dominated Senate and Republican-controlled House of Representatives refused to back down in a clash over President Barack Obama's controversial healthcare law, known as Obamacare.

The deadlock means non-essential services, including some of America's most famous tourist attractions, will be forced to close.

Workers classified as essential government employees, such as air traffic controllers or Border Patrol agents will continue to work.

Shortly after midnight, Mr Obama tweeted: "They actually did it. A group of Republicans in the House just forced a government shutdown over Obamacare instead of passing a real budget."

It is the first US shutdown in 17 years, with analysts concerned about its potential impact on Wall Street and other global markets.

Some of America's most iconic landmarks will be affected by the shutdown

Mr Obama warned of the possible risks to the economy, saying a shutdown would have "very real economic impact, right away".

He said he had been willing to negotiate, and placed the blame on Republicans, especially hard-line Tea Party conservatives.

"One faction of one party, in one house of Congress, in one branch of government doesn't get to shut down the entire government just to refight the results of an election," Mr. Obama said.

"Keeping the people's government open is not a concession to me."

"Tourists will find every one of our national parks and monuments ... immediately closed and of course the communities and small businesses that rely on these national treasures for their livelihoods will be out of customers and out of luck."

New York's Statue of Liberty and the National Zoo in Washington, as well as Yellowstone and other national parks, are among the tourist attractions the shutdown will affect.

The Internal Revenue Service will suspend audits and taxpayer services, programmes for children will be halted and up to 800,000 government employees will be forced to take temporary leave, possibly without pay.

The military's 1.4 million active duty personnel will remain on duty and Mr Obama signed a law on Monday to ensure they would receive their pay on time .

Mr Obama's healthcare law was passed by Congress and signed into law in 2010, despite opposition by the Republican Party, especially Tea Party conservatives.

However, the scheme, which aims to provide greater access to affordable health insurance for poorer sections of society, has yet to be funded.

A protester voices her dissatisfaction outside the Capitol building

In March, the Republicans and Democrats failed to agree on a 2013/14 budget bill that would have funded Obamacare, although they reached a compromise that gave both sides an extra six months - until October 1 - to continue negotiations.

Market reaction was muted following stock market falls across the board on Monday in anticipation of the shutdown.

Japan's Nikkei rose slightly while in Europe the FTSE 100 share index was flat in early trading following the previous day's 0.8% drop.

Dow Jones Futures pointed to a rise on opening in New York.

The dollar dropped slightly against the pound while there was also a move towards safe havens as gold values rose by up to 0.5%.

London-traded Brent Crude fell by 0.4% to 107 dollars a barrel as the shutdown was seen as potentially damaging to US economic growth prospects.

Much of the shutdown's economic impact will depend on how long it takes politicians to find a solution.

The last shutdown, under the Clinton Administration, lasted 28 days between December 1995 and January 1996.

The political dysfunction at the Capitol also raised fresh concerns about whether Congress can meet a crucial mid-October deadline to raise the government's $16.7trn debt ceiling.

This would force the country to default on its obligations, dealing a potentially painful blow to the economy and sending shockwaves around global markets.

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Chancellor: 'Jobless Must Work For The Dole'

The long-term unemployed will have to earn their benefits by doing full-time unpaid community work from next year.

From April, people still without work after two years on the coalition's Work Programme will face three options if they want to remain on the dole.

They will have to do community work such as litter picking, visit a job centre daily or take part in compulsory training to tackle problems like illiteracy.

Those who break the rules of the new Help to Work scheme, for example by failing to turn up without a good reason, could lose their benefit for four weeks.

A second offence would see them lose it for three months.

The Chancellor wants the jobless to earn their benefits

Chancellor George Osborne will unveil the tough US-style initiative in his speech to the Tory conference later today, pledging to end the "something for nothing" culture.

Ahead of his address, he insisted on Sky News that the policy was not a return to the Conservative "nasty party" of old - describing the move as "compassionate".

"This is not about punishment, this is about help," he stressed, but also said: "What we are saying is there is no option of doing nothing any more.

"We are saying we are going to help you into work but we are going to ask for something in return. I think it is a very compassionate approach to people who previous governments just ignored."

Amid concern that job centres will be over-stretched, he added that they would have extra money to police the scheme.

Potentially, around 200,000 long-term Jobseeker's Allowance claimants could be eligible for the new initiative.

But ministers believe the numbers on it will be significantly lower, as many of those working covertly will decide it is no longer worth trying to claim benefits and drop out.

The scheme, devised by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, will cost around £300m - with the money likely to be found from departmental underspends.

Sky's chief political correspondent Jon Craig described the new conditions as "a tough crackdown".

Labour's shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Rachel Reeves, said: "It's taken three wasted years of rising long-term unemployment and a failed Work Programme to come up with this new scheme.

"But this policy is not as ambitious as Labour's compulsory jobs guarantee, which would ensure there is a paid job for every young person out of work for over 12 months and every adult unemployed for more than two years."

During his speech later, Mr Osborne is not expected to unveil specific action on living standards, despite pressure to respond to Labour leader Ed Miliband's energy price freeze pledge last week.

Instead, the Chancellor will stress the need to stick with the coalition's economic plans, warning that the UK still has not fully recovered from the credit crunch.

He told Sky: "Our economic plan is helping Britain turn a corner. We have dealt with the problems we inherited, we have still got a long way to go ...

"By contrast the Labour party got us into this mess and all I hear from them is that they want more borrowing and more spending. A set of gimmicky announcements isn't going to cover up the fact that they don't have a credible economic policy."

:: The Chancellor's speech to the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester will be broadcast live from 11.30am on Sky News.

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Knox Back On Trial Over Meredith Murder

An Italian judge could order new DNA tests on evidence as Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito go back on trial in Florence for the 2007 murder of British student Meredith Kercher.

Lawyers said the court may order tests on a tiny biological trace on a knife suspected of being used in the killing which was overlooked during earlier trials.

In 2009, American student Knox, and Sollecito, an Italian IT graduate, were convicted of killing Miss Kercher in her student flat in Perugia, only to be released from jail when an appeal court cleared them in 2011, citing weaknesses in DNA evidence.

But Italy's supreme court overturned the acquittal in March, suggesting Rudy Guede, a drifter also convicted for the murder, did not act alone, and describing "shortcomings, contradictions and inconsistencies" in the appeal court's verdict.

A new appeal verdict will now be reached, possibly by Christmas, before the case returns to the supreme court.

Sollecito at his appeal hearing in 2011

If Knox - who has said she will not attend the retrial - is found guilty and the supreme court upholds the verdict, she may face an extradition request, although the US would probably refuse to hand her over.

Francesco Maresca, a lawyer representing the Kercher family, said it was possible the new presiding judge would order a DNA test on a tiny biological trace found on the alleged murder knife alongside other traces, which was only discovered by appeal court-appointed experts.

"It was considered too small to test at the time, but there are new kits now," he said. "Let's see how well it was conserved."

Mr Maresca said the experts appointed by the appeal court who questioned DNA evidence found on the knife and on Miss Kercher's bra clasp, had been rightly challenged by the supreme court.

"They were unprepared for something that important and probably influenced by the defence," he said.

Meredith Kercher was murdered in Perugia in 2007

Carlo Dalla Vedova, a lawyer for Knox, defended the experts' work and said he would ask that they be summoned to defend their work at the new trial.

"The supreme court's criticisms of the acquittal are all wrong," he said.

Giulia Bongiorno, a lawyer representing Sollecito, said she would request an examination of a stain found on Miss Kercher's pillow, suspected to be sperm, which was never tested.

After giving a stream of interviews in recent weeks in which she has proclaimed her innocence, Knox, now 26, has said she will not travel from her home in Seattle for the trial, while Ms Bongiorno said Sollecito would attend later hearings.

"Knox's justification of her absence suggests she considers herself a victim of Italian justice, which is intolerable," said Mr Maresca.

Knox has said she would like to visit Miss Kercher's grave, but Miss Kercher's family said last week she should stay away from her former flatmate's final resting place.

Mr Maresca said Miss Kercher's sister Stephanie had planned to attend the hearing, but had decided to stay with her parents in Coulsdon, south London, because "they need her support".

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Police Chief: 'Make Class A Drugs Legal'

One of England's top police officers has called for class A drugs such as heroin and cocaine to be legalised.

Durham chief constable Mike Barton claimed the war on drugs had failed and decriminalisation was the best way to strip power away from criminal gangs.

Writing in The Observer, the national intelligence leader for the Association of Chief Police Officers also suggested the NHS should supply class A drugs to addicts.

He said: "Not all crime gangs raise income through selling drugs, but most of them do in my experience. So offering an alternative route of supply to users cuts off the gang's income stream.

"If an addict were able to access drugs via the NHS or some similar organisation, then they would not have to go out and buy illegal drugs.

"Drugs should be controlled. They should not, of course, be freely available.

"I think addiction to anything - drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc - is not a good thing, but outright prohibition hands revenue streams to villains."

Under Mr Barton's direction, Durham Constabulary launched Operation Sledgehammer, a sustained campaign  to "get in the faces" of organised crime gangs.

He has previously claimed to seek inspiration in the way notorious Prohibition-era mafioso Al Capone was finally brought down not for bootlegging, but tax evasion.

The officer, who has served for nearly 34 years, said he had witnessed a worsening drug addiction problem since prohibition began in 1971 with the Misuse of Drugs Act.

He argued that pushers had made billions from adulterated drugs, transforming them into local folk heroes for young people.

"Decriminalising their commodity will immediately cut off their income stream and destroy their power," he said.

"Making drugs legal would tackle the supply chain much more effectively and much more economically than we can currently manage."

Mr Barton said that offering drugs therapeutically through the NHS and similar organisations would avoid the spread of HIV and hepatitis C among needle users.

But he underlined that he was in favour of their use in a controlled environment, rather than a "free for all".

"I am saying that people who encourage others to take drugs by selling them are criminals, and their actions should be tackled," he said.

"But addicts, on the other hand, need to be treated, cared for and encouraged to break the cycle of addiction. They do not need to be criminalised."

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Cameron Launches State-Backed Mortgages Plan

David Cameron will announce 95% government-backed mortgages to help people get on to the property ladder will start within days - three months earlier than planned.

The scheme was due to start in January next year but the Prime Minister will say at the Conservative Party conference today that people will be able to start applying for the new mortgage guarantee from next week.

It is widely being seen as a response to Ed Miliband's Labour conference crowd-pleasing announcement that the party would freeze energy prices for two years as conference season has shaped up as a "battle over the consumer".

Mr Cameron says the 'earlier the better' for the scheme's launch

The mortgage guarantees will allow buyers to acquire a newly built home or an existing property worth up to £600,000 with a deposit of only 5%.

The second stage of the Help to Buy scheme aims to boost mortgage availability by reducing the risk for lenders because the Government takes on the risk of default when it guarantees a proportion of a loan.

Mr Cameron believes that will help solve the skewed market that means people on good wages struggle to buy even modest properties because they cannot scrape together the massive deposits needed or find a mortgage.

The Prime Minister said: "You take a nurse married to a teacher. They're both earning £25,000 - that's pretty close to average full time earnings. If they want to buy a £200,000 house, they're going to have to find a £40,000 deposit.

"Now, they can't do that, unless they've got rich parents. That's not right. That's not an aspiration nation."

Sky News Political Correspondent Anushka Asthana said bringing forward the mortgage plan and the announcement, on Saturday, of tax breaks for married couples was an attempt to give Conservatives something to "take to the doorsteps".

She said: "This is also about Mr Cameron looking outwards and thinking about the public and trying to come back on some of the ideas that Labour and the Liberal Democrats have put forward over the past few weeks.

"People are calling this the battle over the consumer. At the Lib Dems we have free school meals and then Ed Miliband promises to freeze energy prices. The Tories have tried to rubbish that idea but at the same time they are clearly worried."

A YouGov poll for The Sunday Times put Labour on a 42%, with the Conservatives at 31%, UKIP on 13% and the Liberal Democrats trailing on 9%.

Mr Balls says the Government focus should be on affordable homes

The 95% mortgage scheme has attracted widespread concern, with some claiming it may lead to more problems than it solves.

Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable warned the scheme "could inflate the market" and said he feared there was a "danger of getting into another housing bubble".

Former Bank of England governor Lord King said the scheme is "too close for comfort" to a general scheme to guarantee mortgages.

Labour's shadow chancellor Ed Balls said: "If David Cameron is serious about helping first-time buyers he should be bringing forward investment to build more affordable homes. Rising demand for housing must be matched with rising supply, but under this government housebuilding is at its lowest level since the 1920s.

"Unless David Cameron acts now to build more affordable homes, as Labour has urged, then soaring prices risk making it even harder for first time buyers to get on the housing ladder.

"You can't deal with the cost of living crisis without building more homes, so it's no wonder that for millions of families this is no recovery at all."

The first stage of Help To Buy was launched in April and offers loans to give people the chance to buy a new-build home with a deposit of just 5%. The scheme has been credited with spurring a surge in home sales and driving up prices.

:: Watch Conservative Party conference coverage on Sky News from 2pm

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US And Iran Leaders In Historic Conversation

The leaders of the US and Iran have spoken on the telephone - the first conversation between presidents of the two countries in more than 30 years.

The exchange between Barack Obama and Hassan Rouhani could reflect a major step in resolving global concerns over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.

Mr Obama said he had a constructive conversation, adding: "While there will surely be important obstacles to moving forward and success is by no means guaranteed, I believe we can reach a comprehensive solution."

The fact it had been so long since American and Iranian presidents had spoken to each other reflected the "deep mistrust between our countries", the US leader said.

But it also indicated the opportunity for moving forward, he went on. "I do believe there is a basis for a resolution," he said.

Both leaders will now direct their teams to work quickly to find an agreement after the first direct verbal communication between the nations' presidents since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Earlier, Mr Rouhani said he hoped talks with the US and other world powers over its nuclear programme will lead to results in "a short period of time".

He said Iran would present its plan for a resolution to the nuclear issue at discussions with the six countries scheduled for Geneva on October 15 and 16.

The six are the five permanent UN Security Council members - Britain, China, France, the United States and Russia - and Germany, known as P5+1.

Iran has insisted its nuclear programme is a peaceful attempt to generate electricity but America and its allies including Israel have long demanded a halt to Tehran's uranium enrichment, fearing it could secretly build nuclear warheads.

Mr Rouhani addressed the UN General Assembly

Uranium enriched to low levels can be used as fuel for nuclear energy but at higher levels it can be used to make a nuclear weapon.

Mr Rouhani vowed his country would not build a nuclear bomb, adding his government would be transparent and had the backing of authorities at home to handle the nuclear issue.

And earlier this week, he said he would like to see a deal with world powers in three to six months.

In his latest comments, he said: "We say explicitly that we will be transparent; we say explicitly that we will not build a bomb. Through the P5+1 we want to provide even more assurances."

He added: "I think that any result this government reaches, it will have the support of other powers (power centres) in Iran. On the nuclear issue, the government has total discretion."

It comes after the highest-level talks between Iran and the US in a generation, and Mr Rouhani said the atmosphere was "quite different from the past".

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met US Secretary of State John Kerry along with representatives from the other P5+1 powers. That was followed by a brief bilateral meeting between Mr Zarif and Mr Kerry.

The two sides said the tone was positive but they remained cautious about resolving the long-running stand-off over Tehran's nuclear programme.

John Kerry of the US meets Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

The Iranian president, who came to power last month, said he hoped nuclear talks "will yield, in a short period of time, tangible results".

But he also slammed "illegal" sanctions crippling his country's economy, saying they were just a means by some nations to pursue a "short-sighted" foreign policy.

Mr Rouhani and Mr Zarif, both in New York this week to attend the UN General Assembly, have said they are eager to clinch an agreement quickly that could bring relief from sanctions.

The sanctions have slashed Iran's vital oil exports by more than half, restricted its international bank transfers, devalued its currency and sent inflation surging.

On Friday in separate talks, Iran and the UN nuclear agency IAEA held "constructive" discussions and made plans to meet again on October 28, adding to momentum for a negotiated end to the nuclear standoff.

The talks would be nearly two weeks after the P5+1 discussions, as European Union foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton called it an "ambitious timetable" to address Western concerns.

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