Lord Gilmour, Tory rebel, dies aged 81

Lord Gilmour of Craigmillar, the former Conservative Cabinet minister, died last night, aged 81. His eldest son, David Gilmour, said that he died at the West Middlesex Hospital, West London, after a short illness.

Ian Gilmour was Defence Secretary in Edward Heath’s Government in the 1970s and was Lord Privy Seal in Margaret Thatcher’s first Government. However, relations with Mrs Thatcher were strained and after being dubbed the “wettest of the wets” he became the first minister to be sacked by her in 1981. He responded by declaring that she was steering “full speed ahead for the rocks”.

Before entering Parliament as MP for Central Norfolk in 1967, he had been Editor of The Spectator magazine from 1954 to 1959. He leaves four sons and a daughter.

Rail journeys set to beat postwar record

Britain has the fastest-growing railway in Europe, with passenger journeys having risen 43.6 per cent in the past decade, a study has found (Ben Webster writes). If the rate of growth so far this year continues to the end of 2007, the distance travelled by British passengers will reach a postwar high, the Association of Train Operating Companies said.

Last year passengers travelled 45.6 billion kilometres on the railways – 6.5 per cent up on 2005. Growth so far this year is about 7 per cent, so the record of 47 billion kilometres set in 1946 could be surpassed.

Britain still lags well behind other European countries in the average annual distance travelled by train per person. Switzerland is No 1, with each member of its population travelling an average of 1,901km last year. Britain is ninth, on 776km per person.

‘Nail bomb’ at school

A “nail bomb” exploded underneath a car parked outside a school yesterday afternoon. Merseyside Police said that nobody was hurt when the device went off outside St Edward’s College in West Derby, Liverpool, at around 2.50pm. Unconfirmed reports suggest the car belonged to a teacher.

Cost of strikes

The Department for Work and Pensions spent £2.6 million on delivering benefit cheques by private courier during the summer postal strikes after postal staff rejected a 2.5 per cent pay offer. The Communication Workers’ Union has called two more 48-hour strikes on October 5 and October 8.

Man in death plunge

A man plunged to his death from the 19th floor of a hotel after a three-hour stand-off. Police negotiators were unable to prevent the man, in his 20s, falling from the London Hilton on Park Lane. A witness said he saw the man sitting on a ledge talking to himself, ignoring pleas from his girlfriend and police.

Langham defended

The wife of the disgraced actor Chris Langham, who was jailed for 10 months last week for downloading sadistic child pornography, has insisted that he is not a paedophile. Chrissie Langham, 54, said that their two children Emily, 13, and Harry, 10. have been banned from visiting, calling or writing to Langham.

Jail goes straight

A Victorian prison once nicknamed “the university of terrorism” begins a new life today as a tourist attraction and museum. Some of the most dangerous men involved in Northern Ireland’s Troubles were prisoners at Crumlin Road jail, Belfast, which has undergone a £1 million refurbishment.

Paedophile used ‘military’ software

A computer analyst used “military-grade” software to hide child pornography at his home, Harrow Crown Court was told.

Police seized more than 150,600 indecent photographs and 1,600 movie files from the home of Jeremy Bowen, 49, in Hayes, West London. The court was told that he also exposed himself to girls aged 8 to 13 in parks and at school gates.

Bowen admitted 34 offences of indecency towards children and possession of indecent images. Sentencing was adjourned.

Examination déjà vu

Pupils will be allowed to retake their A-level modules an unlimited number of times, government exam chiefs say. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority ruling remains, despite criticism that it is easier to get better grades by sitting and retaking modules in “bite-sized” chunks. A limit on how many times students could resit A-level and AS-level examinations was lifted in 2003.

Drive-by shooting

A teenager was injured in an apparent drive-by shooting in Sheffield. The 16-year-old boy was expected to have surgery yesterday to remove a bullet from his arm after the incident in Carlisle Street. The injury was not thought to be life-threatening. South Yorkshire Police said that a 23-year-old man and a youth aged 15 had been arrested in connection with the incident.

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