Gang jailed for race-hate murder

Four white teenagers will serve long prison sentences for the racially aggravated murder of an Asian taxi driver.

The victim, Mohammed Parvaiz, 41, was kicked and beaten to death after the gang ambushed him in Huddersfield, Leeds Crown Court was told. Christopher Murphy and Michael Hand, both 19, were jailed for life and were told that they would serve a minimum of 25 years and 21 years respectively. Hand is the son of a prison warder. Graeme Slavin, 18, and Steven Utley, 17, must serve 17 years.

Letter-bomb hunt

Police were conducting searches to establish whether Teversham Primary School, Cambridge, had been used to build or test bombs, after the arrest on Monday of its caretaker, Miles Cooper. The children were given the day off. Mr Cooper, 26, was still in custody last night in connection with seven letter bombs sent to organisations linked to motoring enforcement and the “surveillance society”. Police were given a further 24 hours by a magistrate to continue their questioning.

Children in poverty

Britain has the highest number of children in Europe with no working parent, a European Commission report says. Two million live in “jobless households” on state benefits. The 16.2 per cent of under18s with no working parent at home is far higher than both the EU average of 9.5 per cent and the general unemployment rate of 4.8 per cent. The figure reflects the concentration of poverty in parts of Britain as well as the high level of one-parent families, experts say.

Royal marriage Bill

An attempt to repeal a law that prevents heirs to the throne from marrying a Roman Catholic passed unopposed in the Commons. The ten-minute rule Bill of John Gummer, the Conservative MP for Suffolk Coastal, would reverse the Act of Settlement of 1701, and may lead to future legislation.

Mr Gummer said: “My Bill . . . guards against the insidious future discrimination which arises from political correctness, itself a kind of fascism.”

City airport alert

London City airport, in the Docklands area of East London, was closed yesterday after a plane burst its tyres on landing. Loud bangs were heard and the Air France jet was said to have skidded and bounced violently before coming to a halt at the end of the airport's single short runway, which protrudes into the Royal Albert Dock. All of the 55 passengers and the cabin crew disembarked safely. There were no injuries.

Army’s armoured vehicles still stalled

After nine years and millions of pounds spent on research, the Army is no nearer to having its planned new generation of armoured vehicles to protect its troops in war zones, a committee of MPs said yesterday (Michael Evans writes).

The much-heralded FRES project — future rapid effect system — was supposed to provide 3,000 vehicles for 16 battlefield roles at a cost of at least £14 billion to replace vehicles now being used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

MPs on the Commons Defence Committee attacked the MoD for the delays in finding a long-term solution.

£2.5m Prescott

The department of John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, costs the taxpayer more than £2.5 million a year, a rise of £587,000, according to new figures. A spokesman for Mr Prescott said the rise was not new money. A similar amount had been deducted from departments that had given IT and other services.

Diana inquest

The High Court has reserved judgment on whether Baroness Butler-Sloss, the deputy coroner to the Queen’s Household, acted unlawfully when she decided to preside without a jury over the inquests into the deaths of Dodi Fayed and Diana, Princess of Wales. A decision is expected within two weeks.

Poverty gap plan

Council houses should be built next to private homes owned by high earners to halt the polarisation between rich and poor neighbourhoods, a report on social housing has said. Half of all social housing is in the poorest fifth of areas, giving residents few chances to break out of a cycle of deprivation, the report found.

Tourists return

Visitors are returning to Britain’s top tourist attractions after a troubled 2005. Tourism chiefs said that visitor numbers fell dramatically after the July 7 bombings in London. But the latest figures for 2006, released by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, show that the tourists are returning.

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