Teachers 'Should Pass MoTs Or Face The Sack'

Teachers should be licensed and will face the sack if they fail to pass checks on their abilities, the Labour party has said.

Shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt said he wants teachers to be reviewed every few years to improve standards in England's state schools.

A similar proposal was floated by the previous Labour government - and dubbed "classroom MoTs" by former schools secretary Ed Balls - but was opposed by some unions and dropped before the 2010 general election.

Mr Hunt told the BBC: "Just like lawyers and doctors they should have the same professional standing which means re-licensing themselves, which means continued professional development, which means being the best possible they can be.

"If you're not a motivated teacher - passionate about your subject, passionate about being in the classroom - then you shouldn't really be in this profession."

Mr Hunt went on to tell The Times: "If we want to re-professionalise the teachers it would be crazy not to do it. If teachers are not re-licensed they will not be allowed to teach."

The Opposition has previously said it would insist on all teachers having Qualified Teacher Status, with staff already working in academies given a deadline to acquire a formal qualification.

A Conservative Party spokesman said the Government was willing to look any proposals which will "genuinely improve the quality of teaching".

He said: "We have already taken action by allowing heads to remove teachers from the classroom in a term, as opposed to a year previously, and scrapping the three-hour limit on classroom observations.

"We are improving teacher training, expanding Teach First and allowing heads to pay good teachers more. Thanks to our reforms, a record proportion of top graduates are entering the profession.

"Fixing the schools system so young people have the skills they need is a key part of our long-term economic plan."

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Flood Warnings As River Levels Set To Rise

Homeowners in southern England have been warned to prepare for further flooding today after heavy rainfall caused the River Thames to burst its banks.

The Environment Agency (EA) has warned people living along the lower reaches of the Thames to be aware of the risk of rising water levels.

Further flooding is expected over the weekend in Oxfordshire, West Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Surrey as recent rainfall flows downstream.

There are also risks of flooding along the River Parret in Somerset and the River Severn in the Midlands.

Residents in Dorset, south Wiltshire, Hampshire and West Sussex have also been warned of likely flooding caused by high groundwater levels.

Flooding seen in the village of Muchelney, in Somerset

The EA has issued 94 flood warnings - meaning immediate action is required due to expected flooding - and 151 flood alerts across England.

The agency estimates that some 570 properties have been flooded since the New Year, while a further 239,000 properties have been protected by flood defences.

"Communities along the River Thames, particularly below Oxford, into Berkshire and through Surrey need to remain vigilant for further flooding," said the agency's head of incident management, John Curtin.

"River levels on the Thames are high and will continue to rise for the next few days and we urge people keep up to date with the latest flood warnings and take action.

"With so much standing water around, we would also remind people to stay out of flood water and not attempt to walk or drive through it."

Flood warnings along the River Thames (Pic: Environment Agency)

The Thames burst its banks on Friday, forcing homeowners to carry out clean-up operations and protect their homes from damage.

Parts of the river, stretching from Buscot in Oxfordshire to Bourne End in Buckinghamshire, were under flood warnings as heavy rain over recent days caused river levels to rise.

Residents were warned on Thursday to expect flooding, with many moving belongings to prevent damage.

Many homes close to the banks are underwater, with flood waters causing damage to ground floors and gardens.

Affected areas included Marlow and Cookham in Buckinghamshire, as well as Shiplake and Wargrave in Berkshire and parts of south Oxford.

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Hospital A&E Patient Numbers On The Rise

By Thomas Moore, Health And Science Correspondent

Figures due to be released later are expected to show a rise in the number of patients seeking emergency treatment.

At Good Hope Hospital in the West Midlands, A&E staff have been dealing with a surge of patients since the New Year.

A new rapid assessment team of senior doctors and nurses checks fresh arrivals within 30 minutes of them coming in, redirecting those who could be seen by a GP or a minor injuries unit.

But a delay in discharging patients from the wards is causing a bottleneck.

By early afternoon, 13 patients are waiting in cubicles to be admitted. Until they are found a bed, patients are having to wait on trolleys for their A&E treatment to start.

A&E matron Anna Howell said the backlog adds to pressure on staff.

"It means we are doing two jobs rather than one," she said.

"There is the A&E workload and then there is the workload of patients who are stable and safe and need to be admitted for specialist treatment. They need different nursing."

Alice Mills, who turns 100 later this month, is one of those needing a bed.

She has breathing problems and doctors suspect she has an infection.

Her daughter Lesley Partridge said that although staff were busy, they were still caring.

"She was scared about coming into hospital," she said.

"But everybody has reassured her, joked with her and calmed her. It's exactly what she needed."

The problem with bed-blocking at Good Hope is common around the NHS.

Figures released earlier this week by NHS England showed that almost 2,700 beds are occupied by patients who are better. That is up on this time last year.

Abimbola Otesile, an A&E doctor at Good Hope, said the work rarely stops.

"As soon as you finish one patient you see the next one almost immediately, so you get very tired by the end of the day," he said.

:: All this week Sky News will have live coverage examining the crisis in the NHS. Watch 'A Matter Of Life And Death' on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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Teen Hero Dies Tackling School Suicide Bomber

A teenager has been hailed as a hero in Pakistan after he was killed while chasing down a suicide bomber outside a school.

Aitzaz Hasan died when an Islamist militant detonated a device outside the school in the village of Hangu, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

A teacher at the school told police he saw 17-year-old Hasan running after the bomber before being killed by the explosion.

Hundreds of people have attended the teenager's funeral to pay their respects and a Facebook tribute page has been set up in his honour.

Hasan's father Mujahid Ali returned to Pakistan from the UAE, where he was working, to celebrate his son's life.

"My son made his mother cry but saved hundreds of mothers from crying for their children," he told the English-language Express Tribune newspaper.

Local resident Miqdar Khan said many people in the district have hailed Hasan as a hero, adding that the teen was known for openly criticising militants.

"Aitzaz Hasan used to tell all that one day he would capture some suicide bomber and his class fellows used to laugh," he said.

"But this boy proved what he said and I am sad that he left us too early."

Suicide bombings and killings have become a regular occurrence in many regions of Pakistan.

A study by the Islamabad-based Pak Institute for Peace Studies found that the number of terrorist attacks increased by 9% in 2013 compared to the previous year.

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Duggan Killing: Armed Police To Wear Cameras

Firearms officers will trial the use of body-worn video cameras to improve public confidence in the wake of the Mark Duggan killing.

Mr Duggan, whose death sparked protests that led to riots and looting across the country, was shot and killed when police stopped the taxi in which he was travelling in Tottenham, north London, in August 2011.

Following a four-month inquest, on Wednesday the jury found that although the 29-year-old had a gun in the cab, he probably threw it onto a nearby grass verge as soon as the car came to a stop.

Senior officers want to use the camera technology from April, to avoid the dispute and uncertainty which has dogged the Duggan investigation.

An aerial shot shows the taxi in which Mr Duggan was travelling

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, who will be speaking on Sky News after 8am, said earlier: "There are great benefits to having these incidents on video. Look at the Lee Rigby case - everyone knows what happened.

"We don't need all these different opinions and conjecture - it's much easier to get to the facts."

The cameras are already used by some US police forces.

Wednesday's verdict sparked angry scenes outside the Royal Courts of Justice, which Mr Duggan's family called "perverse", claiming he had been "executed" by the police.

Mr Duggan's aunt Carole Duggan said: "The majority of the people in this country know that Mark was executed. We are going to fight until we have no breath left in our body for Mark and his children."

Their solicitor Marcia Willis-Stewart said: "On August 4, 2011 an unarmed man was shot down in Tottenham. Today we have had what we can only call a perverse judgement.

Assistant commissioner Mark Rowley was heckled as he spoke outside court

"The jury found that he had no gun in his hand and yet he was gunned down. For us that's an unlawful killing."

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said the shooting had led to a "significant reduction in trust" between the capital's black communities and the police.

He said: "I know that we have much work to do with black Londoners to build trust and confidence in the Metropolitan Police.

"My officers do not set out to run an operation that results in someone dying. They are brave people who risk their own lives to keep the public safe."

The Independent Police Complaints Commission said it was looking at new evidence that had emerged from the inquest, and the Duggan family are now considering whether to try to get the inquest conclusion judicially reviewed.

Mr Duggan was being followed by officers who believed he planned to pick up a gun from another man, Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, and then move on to Broadwater Farm, also in Tottenham.

Hutchinson-Foster has since been found guilty of supplying a gun to Mr Duggan.

:: Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley will be speaking on Sky News after 8am.  Watch it live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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Norfolk Helicopter Crash: Bodies To Be Moved

The bodies of four American service personnel who were killed in a helicopter crash in north Norfolk are expected to be removed from the site later.

Captains Christopher Stover and Sean Ruane, Technical Sergeant Dale Mathews and Staff Sergeant Afton Ponce died when their Pave Hawk helicopter came down on a marsh near Cley-next-the-Sea on Tuesday night.

RAF Lakenheath, where the US Air Force's 48th Fighter Wing is based, said Capt Stover and Capt Ruane were the pilots during the routine training flight.

Tech Sgt Mathews and SSgt Ponce were acting as special mission aviators.

Colonel Kyle Robinson, 48th Fighter Wing commander, said: "We continue to think of the loved ones who are experiencing such a tragic, sudden loss.

"The Liberty Wing feels as though it has lost members of its family, and we stand by to support one another and these airmen's families during this difficult time."

The scene of the crash in north Norfolk

Air accident, RAF and US investigators spent Wednesday at the scene of the tragedy, where debris was strewn across an area the size of a football pitch.

The investigation has been hampered by the live ammunition the helicopter had been carrying, with bullets scattered around the scene. A 400m police cordon is expected to remain in place until Monday.

Norfolk Police Chief Superintendent Bob Scully said: "You would be very much mistaken if you thought this would be a quick process.

"It all hinges on our ability to establish what happened and the removal of the casualties, who are sadly deceased, could disrupt the evidence so this must be done methodically step by step."

The Pave Hawk - a derivative of the US Army's more famous Black Hawk - gets its name from the PAVE acronym, which stands for Precision Avionics Vectoring Equipment.

The helicopter is used for combat search and rescue, mainly to recover downed aircrew or other isolated personnel.

:: A statement from the US military is expected at RAF Lakenheath at 8am. Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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US Helicopter Crashes On North Norfolk Coast

Four crew members have died after a US military helicopter crashed in Norfolk during a training mission.

The Pave Hawk was taking part in a low-flying exercise when it came down in Cley Next the Sea at around 7pm on Tuesday.

The aircraft was carrying ammunition at the time of the crash, and police are investigating if it poses any risk to the public.

A 400-metre cordon has been set up around the site, which was at a nature reserve. Residents were allowed to stay in their homes, although pedestrians and motorists were cleared from the scene.

Norfolk Constabulary Assistant Chief Constable Sarah Hamlin said: "As our inquiry moves on today and the recovery of the aircraft begins, I would urge the public to stay away from the area.

The military helicopter crashed in Cley Next The Sea in North Norfolk

"The cordon and road closures are in place to allow our experts to carry out these processes safely and there is no risk to members of the public if this section of marshland is avoided."

The helicopter was based at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.

The 48th Air Wing of the US Air Force, based at RAF Lakenheath, said: "US military officials are co-ordinating the recovery efforts with the UK police and the Ministry of Defence.

"The aircraft, assigned to the 48th Fighter Wing, was performing a low-level training mission along the coast when the crash occurred."

Around a dozen emergency vehicles from the fire brigade, coastguard and police were on the scene.

Cley artist Rachel Lockwood said: "We had never seen so many police cars and fire engines, so went to have a look.

Two US HH-60 Pave-Hawk helicopters seen flying in France in 2010

"The beach road to Cley is sealed off. There are lots of fire engines near the Dun Cow pub at Salthouse.

"A helicopter is hovering over the marsh with a light beaming down."

The Norfolk Wildlife Trust said the helicopter crashed on the shingle bank at the Cley Marshes nature reserve.

A spokesman for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) said: "We were asked for three lifeboats to respond to reports that an aircraft had possibly ditched in the sea.

"Lifeboats Wells, Sheringham and Cromer were launched at the request of the coastguard, but were stood down when it was confirmed that the aircraft had come down over land."

A derivative of the more famous Black Hawk helicopter, the Pave Hawk gets its name from the PAVE acronym standing for Precision Avionics Vectoring Equipment.

They are used for combat search and rescue, mainly to recover downed aircrew or other isolated personnel.

They have a four-man crew and can carry up to 12 troops.

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