Careless talk warning

Downing Street has warned senior civil servants against loose talk after the leak of plans to help families with fuel bills.

The apparent existence of the £1 billion plan to give special fuel payments to more than seven million recipients of child benefit emerged after a passenger on a Leeds to London train overheard Sir Brian Bender, Permanent Secretary at the Business Department, explaining the proposals to a colleague.

Bridgend death

A man has been found hanged in Bridgend, the 23rd such death in the South Wales town in 20 months. Rhys Davies, 23, a part-time disc jockey, lived in Bettws, the same part of the town as three of the recent victims — all men aged between 19 and 28. Police said that the deaths were not connected. Mr Davies had been due to fly out to Benidorm with friends for a holiday in several days’ time.

Briton’s racism win

An English pipe fitter who was racially abused and taunted in his Irish workplace has been awarded ¤20,000 (£15,630) in compensation by an equality tribunal in Dublin. The unnamed man, who worked for an engineering company on a building site in Dublin, claimed that colleagues called him names and frequently ganged up on him to sing Irish rebel songs.

Comedy chief dies

Sir Bill Cotton, the former controller of BBC One who commissioned iconic comedy programmes such as Monty Python’s Flying Circus, died yesterday at the age of 80. The former BBC executive, whose era is seen as one of the most popular in the history of BBC light entertainment, also oversaw the commissioning of The Two Ronnies. Obituary, page 53

Gum disease clue

Scientists at King’s College London have found a new species of bacterium that they believe encourages gum disease and tooth decay in humans. The germ, named Prevotella histicola by its discoverers, is among hundreds of species of bacteria that thrive in the mouth. The finding may help scientists to understand changes in bacterial activity that lead to oral disease.

Tories to cut red tape for police surveillance

The Conservatives would make it easier for police to use surveillance cameras and to conduct plain-clothes patrols under plans released today. Officers would no longer need to seek permission to conduct CCTV and other operations using thermal and X-ray imaging or unmarked patrols.

The proposals follow growing concern among officers at the level of paperwork prompted by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

Nick Gargan, of Thames Valley Police, has previously told MPs that officers had to fill in a 17-page authorisation form to turn a CCTV camera to face a parade of shops where several windows had been broken.

Fatal crash hearing

Nicolas Walls, 19, of Parson Drove, Cambridgeshire, denied causing death by dangerous driving after careering off a road near Wisbech, killing Jacqueline Fletcher, 39, and Danielle, her daughter, 13. His trial continues at Cambridge Crown Court.

Test results published

Key Stage 3 results for thousands of teenagers will be published today, although nearly 10 per cent of papers were unmarked when the data was compiled. ETS Europe, the firm responsible for marking, is expected to be relieved of its £156 million contract.

Protesters charged

Police have charged 46 people after the Camp for Climate Action near Kingsnorth power station in Kent. A group of 29 protesters who stopped a coal train heading for Drax power station, in North Yorkshire, have also been charged.

Judge’s spelling anger

An Old Bailey judge labelled a prosecution worker an “illiterate idiot” after spotting the word “grievous” spelt wrongly four times in court papers. Judge David Paget said: “To have an indictment drawn up by some illiterate idiot is just not good enough.”

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