Alan Henning Beheaded In Islamic State Video

British aid convoy volunteer Alan Henning has been beheaded by an Islamic State militant in a video posted on the internet.

Mr Henning is seen kneeling in front of a knife-wielding militant in a desert setting before being beheaded in front of the camera.

Prime Minister David Cameron said the murder was "brutal" and revealed "just how barbaric and repulsive these terrorists are".

Mr Henning, a 47-year-old former taxi driver, was captured by militants last December while delivering aid in Syria.

Video: IS Hostage Alan Henning Beheaded

Since then family, friends and colleagues have made repeated calls for him to be released.

However, a video. lasting for one minute and 11 seconds and titled "Another Message To America and Its Allies", was posted on YouTube on Friday evening.

It shows Mr Henning, originally from Eccles in Greater Manchester, kneeling down in front of a man with a knife.

Video: Islamic State: Audio Of Threat

The masked killer, who speaks with a British accent and is believed to be the man responsible for previous beheadings, makes a direct statement to Mr Cameron: "The blood of David Haines was on your hands, Cameron. Alan Henning will also be slaughtered, but his blood is on the hands of the British Parliament."

At the end of the video another hostage - a former US soldier - is paraded in front of the cameras.

The hostage is believed to be Peter Edward Kassig who had returned to the region as a charity worker, after serving in Iraq in 2007.

Video: Terry Waite: Beheading 'Tragic'

The militant in the video says Mr Kassig will be the next victim. 

Mr Cameron said: "The brutal murder of Alan Henning by ISIL shows just how barbaric and repulsive these terrorists are.

"My thoughts and prayers tonight are with Alan's wife Barbara, their children and all those who loved him.

Video: Family Appeals 'Were Last Resort'

"Alan had gone to Syria to help get aid to people of all faiths in their hour of need.

"The fact that he was taken hostage when trying to help others and now murdered demonstrates that there are no limits to the depravity of these ISIL terrorists.

"We will do all we can to hunt down these murderers and bring them to justice."

Video: Alan Henning 'Was Clearly Innocent'

US President Barack Obama condemned the "brutal" murder, saying the United States would bring those responsible to justice.

"Standing together with a broad coalition of allies and partners, we will continue taking decisive action to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL," he said in a statement.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg wrote on Twitter: "Barbaric actions of ISIL are held in complete contempt. We are resolved to defeat this evil."

Video: 'IS Call To Send Ground Troops'

British Muslims also joined condemnation of the murder as a "despicable and offensive act" which showed IS had "no regard for Islam".

Dr Shuja Shafi, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: "Alan was a friend of Muslims, and he will be mourned by Muslims.

"Alan Henning's murderers have clearly gone against that spirit of Islam. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family."

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1. Gallery: Profile: Alan Henning

   Alan Henning, 47, was born in Salford, Greater Manchester. Friends gave him the nickname "gadget" due to his love of technology

2. He was married for 23 years and he had a teenage son and daughter

3. He worked as a self-employed taxi driver

4. Mr Henning saw the plight of Syrian people and volunteered with a Muslim charity. He had been to the region at least three times

5. He drove life-saving medical equipment from the UK to Syria in old ambulances. He left in December 2013 to make the 4,000-mile trip

6. He was kidnapped by IS in Syria by masked men. He may have been held in Ad Dana near Aleppo, then Raqqa

Mr Henning was previously seen at the end of a video released last month following the beheading of fellow British captive David Haines.

Mr Haines' brother, Mike, wrote on Facebook last night: "Tonight saw the death of Alan Henning at the hands of ISIL. Alan like David had a proven history of humanitarian work. Our hearts and prayers go to his family, our love too."

Meanwhile, another video has emerged purportedly showing a wounded Islamic State fighter with a British accent.

Video: Wife Pleaded For Henning's Release

In the video the fighter taunts Mr Cameron and other coalition leaders to send troops on the ground rather than "bomb us from the skies".

The footage has not been authenticated, and it is not clear when or where it was filmed.

:: Full coverage now on Sky News – watch Sky 501, Virgin Media 602, Freesat 202, Freeview 132.

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Pill For Heavy Drinkers To Help Curb Cravings

Around 600,000 people in England and Wales who drink have half a bottle of wine a day are to be offered the first-ever licensed drug to help reduce alcohol consumption.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) recommended the nalmefene tablet's use after trials showed it cut drinking by 61% over six months when used with counselling.

Experts claim the drug, which costs £3 a pill, could save as many as 1,854 lives over five years and prevent 43,074 alcohol-related diseases and injuries.

Nalmefene, also known as Selincro, is the only licensed medicine which helps people reduce their drinking rather than aiding them to stop drinking altogether.

Severe alcoholics and those who are able to cut down without help would not be eligible for the drug.

It is administered orally once a day and is taken when people feel the urge drink.

It works by blocking the part of the brain which gives drinkers pleasure from alcohol, stopping them from wanting more than one drink.

Men drinking three to four pints of beer would be eligible for the drug

Men would qualify to receive the treatment if they consume 7.5 units of alcohol per day - around three to four pints of standard strength lager.

It would be offered to women who consume five units a day, which amounts to around half a bottle of wine.

Video: Female Drink-Driver Number Doubles

Professor Carole Longson, at Nice health technology evaluation centre, said: "Alcohol dependence is a serious issue for many people.

"Those who could be prescribed nalmefene have already taken the first big steps by visiting their doctor, engaging with support services and taking part in therapy programmes.

"We are pleased to be able to recommend the use of nalmefene to support people further in their efforts to fight alcohol dependence.

"When used alongside psychosocial support, nalmefene is clinically and cost effective for the NHS compared with psychosocial support alone."

A final decision to roll out the drug on the NHS in England at a cost of £288m a year will be taken in November.

It has been provided to patients in Scotland since October last year.

Video: Thousands Drinking During Pregnancy

Video: New Report On Drinking And Health

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Thai Murders: Two Men Admit Killing Britons

Two Burmese men have confessed to the murders of British backpackers Hannah Witheridge and David Miller in Thailand, police have said.

Mr Miller, 24, from Jersey, died from drowning and a blow to the head, while Miss Witheridge, 23, from Great Yarmouth, died from head wounds on Sairee beach last month.

Their semi-naked bodies were found on the southern island of Koh Tao, near where they were staying, in the early hours of September 15.

A garden hoe with Miss Witheridge's blood on it was discovered nearby, and investigators have been searching for a blunt metal object used on Mr Miller.

Thai National police chief Somyot Poompanmoung said: "DNA test results (from the two men) confirmed that the same DNA was found in the body of the (female) victim."

Video: David Miller Seen On CCTV

Provincial police chief Kiattipong Khaosamang said the two men had also admitted raping Miss Witheridge.

"Both raped the female victim," he said, adding the pair were killed with a wooden stick and a garden hoe, which was found bloodied at the scene.

Thai police have searched for clues and collected DNA samples from more than 100 men on the island in the Gulf of Thailand.

The latest development came as the Phuket Gazette reported a Koh Tao taxi driver had accused police of trying to bribe him into giving a false testimony to frame members of a Thai football team whose DNA samples were also collected for tests.

Police had originally said they believed three men were involved in the attack.

On Wednesday, they revealed Miss Witheridge had been raped by her two killers, while a third man watched.

Two different semen samples were collected from her body.

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1. Gallery: Thailand Beach Murders

   The family of Hannah Witheridge in Thailand. Miss Witheridge was killed alongside David Miller on a beach on Koh Tao

2. Police outside the Ware family home on Jersey. Christopher and James Ware, who were childhood friends of Mr Miller, have been questioned in Thailand as part of the investigation

3. The pair suffered "gruesome" injuries, according to police

4. The victims were staying in this hotel

5. Thai police at the scene of the beach attack

Almost three weeks after the deaths police also announced they were offering a reward of more than £13,000 (700,000 baht) in an effort to catch the killers.

Thai authorities have been concerned the killings could lead to a further slump in tourism which has never recovered since the bloody protests on the streets of Bangkok that preceded a military coup in May.

On Tuesday, the country's tourism minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul announced plans to issue tourists with wristbands in the wake of the murders to help identify those who run into trouble.

Party curfews and restrictions on where they can be held are also being considered, as well as the idea of introducing a "buddy system" - pairing tourists with a local minder.

"The next step would be some sort of electronic tracking device, but this has not yet been discussed in detail," said the minister.

However, the Phuket Gazette reported the wristband idea had been dismissed by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

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Children As Young As 11 Caught Drink-Driving

Children as young as 11 have been caught drinking and driving, according to police records.

An 11-year-old was stopped in the Thames Valley area in 2011 and several 12-year-olds were apprehended in Scotland in 2012 and in Manchester in 2008.

An average of 1,000 under-18s have been convicted of drink-driving every year since 2008, according to figures obtained by in-car camera provider Nextbase.

Every week since 2008, an average of five drink-drivers under the age of 18 have been caught, the figures also revealed.

All 43 police forces in the UK have stopped under-18 drink-drivers between 2008 and 2013, with figures from Freedom of Information requests revealing the worst area in England for offenders was Greater Manchester, with 409 people arrested over the period.

Other hotspots included Scotland with 718 offenders, Hampshire with 276 and Devon and Cornwall with 241.

Nextbase said the overall number of underage drink-drive arrests had fallen year-on-year, but a number of areas including South Yorkshire, Northumbria and Kent had seen a rise.

A Department of Transport spokesman said: "Under-age driving is illegal and no person under the age of 17 should be driving a car.

"We have tough laws in place to tackle those caught driving without a licence.

"Drink-driving is a menace that costs lives, and the Government is strengthening the law to help police crack down on this problem."

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McCanns Targeted By 'Venomous' Internet Trolls

By Martin Brunt, Crime Correspondent

The Metropolitan Police is investigating a catalogue of vile internet abuse targeting the family of Madeleine McCann including death threats, Sky News can reveal.

Officers are in talks with the Crown Prosecution Service after being handed a dossier of more than 80 pages of Tweets, Facebook posts and messages on online forums aimed at Kate and Gerry McCann.

Over the past few years hundreds of shocking messages have been posted by 'trolls' who believe - despite no evidence - that the McCanns had some involvement in the disappearance of their daughter in Portugal in 2007.

These include suggestions that the McCanns should be tortured and killed and calls for them to "burn in hell".

Some messages are even directed at Madeleine's younger siblings, now aged nine.

Video: McCanns Targeted By Internet Trolls

Manipulated images involving the McCanns - many of them graphic - are also in wide circulation online.

One troll - who uses the Twitter identity "Sweepyface" and has posted dozens of anti-McCann messages using the #mccann hashtag - was confronted by Sky News.

When asked about her use of social media to attack the couple, she replied: "I'm entitled to."

The dossier - compiled by members of the public alarmed at the online treatment of the McCanns and shown to Sky News - calls on police and MPs to act to crack down on such abuse.

The Met wrote to the campaigners: "In consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service and the McCann family the material will now be assessed and decisions made as to what further action if any should be undertaken."

Among the messages identified in the dossier is an exchange on a message board which reads: "These 2 should burn in hell"; "I will supply the petrol"; "I'll supply the lighter - happily".

Video: Sky's Martin Brunt On McCann Abuse

Other posts include: "We need some numbers for some assassins on taps", "I hope that the McCanns are living in total misery" and "I want to see them smashed up the back of a bus or trampled by horses".

In one of her tweets "Sweepyface" called for the McCanns to suffer "for the rest of their miserable lives".

In addition to threats and abuse, several trolls have claimed to live nearby to the McCanns in Leicestershire and reported on their movements.

The campaigner spearheading the appeal - who has asked to remain anonymous - told Sky News: "We're very worried that it's only going to take somebody to act out of some of these discussions, some of the threats that have been made, and we couldn't live with ourselves if that happened and we had done nothing."

Author Anthony Summers, whose book Looking for Madeleine was published last month, said: "There is a campaign of hatred against the parents.

"It is venomous and vitriolic, most of it done by cowards. We are taken aback by the extent of the sheer evil behind it all."

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Timeline: The Month-Long Search For Alice

Scotland Yard has so far followed more than 700 lines of inquiry and spoken to more than 1,000 people during the search for Alice Gross.

The operation has included a reconstruction of Alice's last known movements, which led to 150 calls to police from member of the public.

Here is a timeline of the operation to find the 14-year-old schoolgirl after she went missing on 28 August.

:: 28 August

Alice leaves her home in Hanwell at 1pm. The last sighting of the schoolgirl was made at 4.26pm as she walked along the canal beneath Trumpers Way, heading towards Hanwell.

:: 1 September

Alice's family appeal for her to get in touch, saying they miss her "desperately".

Horse-mounted police search wasteland near the River Brent

:: 3 September

The search operation comes under the command of Scotland Yard's homicide and major crime squad.

:: 4 September

CCTV footage is released showing the last sighting of Alice. Police reveal they have discovered a rucksack she was carrying, with shoes inside.

Alice's family renew their appeals for help. Her mother, Rosalind Hodgkiss, says: "We'd like to say to Alice first of all that we miss her, that we love her and that she's not in any trouble, and we want to know that she's safe. We just want her to come home."

:: 6 September

Police arrest a 25-year-old man in Ealing on suspicion of murder.

A reconstruction of Alice's last movements

:: 7 September

A second man, aged 51, is arrested on suspicion of murder. Police say the two arrests are "independent" of each other.

:: 8 September

Police are given more time to question the first suspect, and release the second suspect with no further action to be taken.

:: 16 September

Detectives reveal they are searching for 41-year-old Latvian builder Arnis Zalkalns in relation to Alice's disappearance.

He was last seen at his home in Ealing, west London, on September 3.

The 25-year-old arrested on suspicion of murder is told he will face no further action.

The schoolgirl was last seen on August 28

:: 18 September

Zalkalns is named as an official suspect in Alice's disappearance.

Detectives stress there is "no evidence that Alice is not alive and no evidence that Alice has come to harm".

:: 19 September

Searches are carried out at Zalkalns' home in Ealing. Police also search a second home where Zalkalns previously lives, and remove a mountain bike.

:: 20 September

Scotland Yard says the search for Alice is the biggest search operations since the 7/7 bombings in 2005.

Hundreds of police have been involved in the search operation

:: 22 September

Police confirm they have formally requested details of the Latvian murder conviction against Zalkalns.

:: 23 September

Detectives have travelled to Latvia in their search for Alice and prime suspect Zalkalns. A knife recovered during a search of waterways is sent for forensic analysis.

:: 24 September

The investigation has so far followed 729 lines of inquiry, spoken to 1,067 people and had more than 1,000 calls. There have been no confirmed sightings since Alice's disappearance.

Police remove a mountain bike during a forensic search

:: 25 September

An emotional plea is made by Alice's family for her to return home. Police also stage a reconstruction of her final movements.

:: 29 September

The search area moves to a National Trust-owned estate near where Alice was last seen.

:: 30 September

Search teams discover a body in the River Brent.

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Alice Gross Police Find Body In River Brent

Police searching for missing teenager Alice Gross have found a body in the River Brent in west London, Scotland Yard has said.

The body has been removed from the scene and the 14-year-old's family are aware of the development.

Scotland Yard said Commander Graham McNulty will make a statement on Wednesday morning.

"Formal identification awaits and a post-mortem examination will be scheduled in due course," a Scotland Yard statement said.

"We ask the media give Alice's family and friends the privacy they require at this difficult time."

Video: Alice's Movements Reconstructed

More than 300 officers have been involved in the hunt for Alice, who failed to return to her home in Hanwell, west London, on 28 August.

She was last seen on CCTV walking along the towpath of the Grand Union Canal towards Hanwell at 4.26pm that day.

A stretch of canal was searched in the hope of finding possessions such as her iPhone - but no new leads were discovered.

Later the RAF was drafted in to help identify new search areas.

On Saturday, officers revealed that footage from 300 CCTV cameras within a six-square-mile radius was being analysed.

Video: Missing Girl's Parents' Anguish

Police received 150 phone calls after staging a reconstruction of the teenager's last-known movements.

On Monday, the operation moved to the National Trust-owned Osterley Park, in west London.

Alice's mother, Rosalind Hodgkiss, said last week: "This has obviously been a very distressing time for the whole family and every morning as Alice's disappearance grows longer and longer brings new agony, new anguish.

"We're coping as best we can and we're trying to keep hopeful.

"We've had a lot of support from the community, our family and friends, the Facebook page and the police, and we're making an appeal today to Alice, if she can hear us, that we want her to come home, that we miss her and love her."

Video: Latvia Asked For Help Over Alice

Convicted murderer Arnis Zalkalns, who was filmed cycling along the same route behind Alice, has emerged as the prime suspect in the case.

The Latvian builder was reported missing within days of her disappearance, but police stress he is just "one line of enquiry".

Zalkalns worked at a building site in Isleworth, west London, and is thought to have come to the UK in 2007.

Authorities have been criticised for apparently holding no record of his conviction for bludgeoning and stabbing his wife Rudite to death in Latvia.

He is described as white, 5ft 10in and stocky, with dark brown hair that he normally wears tied in a ponytail.

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British 'Islamic State Recruiter' Arrested

A British man has been arrested in Bangladesh on suspicion of recruiting people to fight alongside Islamic State militants in Syria.

Samiun Rahman, who is from London, arrived in the country in February to find fighters for both IS and the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, according to Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of the Detective and Criminal Intelligence Division (DCID).

"He has plans to recruit and send a team from Bangladesh to fight in Syria," Commissioner Monirul said.

Islamic State fighters have seized large parts of Iraq and Syria

Rahman, whose parents are from a town northeast of the capital Dhaka, has confessed to trying to recruit fighters for the groups, police said, although it is not clear if his efforts were successful.

He told police he had joined the Nusra Front in Syria last September and fought with the group until December 2013.

Police say Rahman returned to Britain at some point and visited other countries to recruit jihadis before going to Bangladesh to do the same.

Foreigners have travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight with IS

IS has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria in recent months, and fighting is reportedly continuing around the capital, Baghdad.

An explosion at a makeshift IS hospital has killed at least three fighters in Baquba, Diyala province on Monday, according to Sky sources.

There has also been intense fighting between Kurdish rebels and IS militants close to the Turkish border.

The US has been conducting airstrikes in Iraq since last month in a bid to reverse IS gains, and recently expanded their campaign to neighbouring Syria.

Britain joined the mission last week when MPs approved military action against the Islamists in Iraq.

Although RAF Tornados have flown a number of missions over northern Iraq since then, they have yet to fire any missiles.

Kurdish peshmerga fighters in position in Jalawla

But, a former IS fighter has told Sky News the airstrikes are backfiring, bringing extremist groups closer together.

A key part of the effort against IS are the Kurdish peshmerga battling the group in the north.

A peshmerga commander has also told Sky's Stuart Ramsey that airstrikes alone will not be enough to defeat the group.

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GP Practices Face Closure Over Dangerous Care

By Thomas Moore, Health Correspondent

Up to 200 GP practices across England face the threat of closure for providing potentially dangerous care to thousands of patients, the chief inspector of family doctors has warned.

In his first major broadcast interview, Professor Steve Field told Sky News that a handful of surgeries would be shut down straight away after being found guilty of "serious failings".

And he said scores more would be given a year to improve - or face being closed down as well.

The warning comes as the Conservatives promise to invest an extra £100m a year to provide seven-day GP cover.

Prof Field said most severe problems were found in single doctor practices

Prof Field, the Chief Inspector of GPs for the Care Quality Commission (CQC), said preliminary inspections suggested that up to 200 of the 8,000 practices in England are failing.

Problems included:

:: Late referrals for patients suspected of suffering from cancer, with potentially fatal consequences

:: Wrong medicines being prescribed to patients

:: Over-prescription of antibiotics

:: Child vaccinations not being stored in fridges, putting hundreds at risk

:: Out of date and unhygienic premises

:: Staff shortages and "chaotic management"

Prof Field said that the most severe problems were found in isolated, single doctor practices. "The writing is on the walls" for these type of practices, he said.

Up to 200 GP practices across England are facing the threat of closure

In many of these cases he said the problems had been known about for years, but authorities had not acted.

Prof Field's team have been carrying out pilot checks on surgeries for the past year.

Last December it was revealed that one such check had found maggots at a surgery in Nottinghamshire.

Prof Field said that preliminary results following this process suggested that 2% were failing with large variations in standards of care.

He added that when the inspections were first launched almost one third of practices were struggling to achieve all of the basic standards.

That number had now dropped to below 20%, he said.

Prof Field vowed to act against unsafe surgeries even if politicians protested at the closure of their local practices.

"While there is a small number of practices which are very worrying - probably looking at only about 2% - they can affect hundreds or thousands of patients potentially. So this is very serious.

Many other practices will be given a year to improve

"For the small number of practices [providing unsafe care] they will either improve or they will cease to practice. We will remove their registration."

Prof Field said that the 160 to 200 surgeries found to be failing would be given extra support from NHS England to help them improve.

"Unfortunately there are some ... which have gone on for years failing and people haven't drawn a line and said enough is enough. For those we will take urgent action.

"General Practice is the jewel in our crown and we're undermined by a small percentage of GPs who are not providing the care our patients deserve."

All 8,000 practices in England face inspections from next month and the CQC's findings will be published under a new Ofsted-style regime.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chair of BMA GP committee, said: "We know that  a lot of GPs are working in an environment that is extremely difficult and challenging, in premises that are not fit for purpose.

"And yet they cannot find another place to work in because there are no funds to relocate them. It would not be right to criticise or blame them for factors outside their control."

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Radiologist Warned Ashya's Parents About NHS

By Siobhan Robbins, Sky News Reporter

The parents of Ashya King claim a doctor treating their son warned them the only treatment available on the NHS would leave the five-year-old with life-long disabilities.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Brett and Naghmeh King say Ashya is already making remarkable progress from proton beam therapy - the treatment they decided to give their son against doctors' advice.

Speaking to the newspaper, Mr King says he took Ashya out of hospital in Southampton against doctors' orders because he couldn't get the proton treatment on the NHS and experts warned radiotherapy could leave his son severely disabled.

He told the newspaper a UK radiologist said: "If you're asking me about quality of life, proton is superior.

"With radiotherapy, your son will get secondary tumours, have hearing problems, growth problems and special needs for the rest of his life."

His parents sparked an international police hunt when they removed their son from Southampton General Hospital on August 28 without medical consent.

The NHS has now agreed to pay for Ashya's treatment in Prague

Brett and Naghemeh King faced a legal battle to get their child to Prague's Proton Therapy Centre (PTC), with a High Court judge approving the move after they had been released from police custody in Spain.

The NHS has now agreed to pay for the proton therapy at the Prague clinic.

The University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Southampton General, says the family was always offered the option of a second opinion and help organising treatment abroad.

However, Mr King told the Daily Mail when he originally discussed proton therapy with doctors in Southampton he was told: "If you continue with these questions your rights to make decisions about Ashya will be taken away from you.

"We will apply to the family court to have your parental rights removed and then we will give him any treatment we want."

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust has always said Ashya's welfare was their priority but they were not available for comment on the claims.

A spokesman for NHS England said: "Now that Ashya is in Prague, it is clearly best that Ashya continues to be treated uninterrupted so the NHS has agreed to fund this care, as requested by his parents, in accordance with relevant European cross-border arrangements."

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Chancellor To Abolish 'Death Tax' On Pensions

UKIP Defections: PM Did Too Little, Too Late

Updated: 10:09pm UK, Saturday 27 September 2014

By Anushka Asthana, Political Correspondent

During the 2010 election, I travelled to Rochester and Strood in Kent, where I met the Tory candidate Mark Reckless.

One thing that struck me as I watched him take to the doorsteps, was the number of constituents raising the issue of immigration.

One awkward incident involved an elderly man ranting about why he supported the far-right National Front. Mr Reckless backed off, embarrassed.

He certainly didn't share those extreme views. But it was clear then that he was a politician who was worried about immigration and angry about Europe.

I remember another conversation with Mr Reckless last year in the Commons.

Tory backbenchers were nervous about immigration, he told me. They felt David Cameron hadn't done enough, and the looming prospect of transitional controls lifted on Bulgarians and Romanians was of particular concern. 

Things could get tetchy in January 2015, he said.

Mr Cameron knew about these misgivings among his MPs and tried to act on them.

Late last year he unveiled a toughening up in the rhetoric on immigration – bringing in new rules to crack down on the access that new EU migrants would get to benefits. Then came the pledge of an EU referendum.

The hope was to appease the concerns of people like Mr Reckless, and you might have thought it was working.

After all, following the defection to UKIP of Douglas Carswell many asked the MP if he would be next. He insisted not.

When I texted Tracey Crouch, a neighbouring MP in Kent, about his decision to leave the Tories, she replied: "Nothing I can say right now would be becoming of a lady. I'm so angry. He looked me in the eye and promised he wasn't going to defect."

Others pointed out that he was openly supportive of the Conservatives as recently as yesterday.

Then he tweeted: "Good to lead coach for Team2015 campaigning in Birmingham Northfield on Sunday + will be followed by our Clacton action next Thursday."

That is why Tory sources say they are "surprised". Other MPs told me they felt "let down", "frustrated" and "fed up".

"Another battle when we should be fighting Labour," said one.

Others argued that although he had behaved irresponsibly, giving a leg-up to Ed Miliband, that a number of backbenchers were angry with the party's position on Europe.

They believe that Mr Cameron hasn't done enough to prove he can loosen Britain's ties to the EU. They want to see the issue addressed at his conference speech this week.

The problem for men like Mr Reckless is they don't share the Prime Minister's views on Europe.

Mr Cameron wants to reform the UK's relationship with the continent and then – ideally – campaign for us to stay IN.

And that is the sticking point with Mr Reckless.

The former Tory MP was clear today that he believes in an independent Britain, and wants to follow the Scotland Yes campaign with what he said was a positive, patriotic message for voters.

He wants OUT – and UKIP is the only party that is fully with him.

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Runners To Wear Yellow Ribbons For Alice

By Rhiannon Mills, Sky News Reporter

As the search for Alice Gross enters its fifth week, thousands of runners in west London are being asked to think of the missing 14-year-old.

Organisers of the Ealing Half-Marathon have been working with the #FindAlice campaign and will be giving away yellow ribbons to the 6,000 competitors to wear as they take on the course.

Ribbons have also been tied to trees and fences along the route, which runs close to where Alice was last seen.

Kelvin Walker, race director for the event, told Sky News: "We thought it would be a really good idea to give some runners bows to run around the course. The course is now covered in ribbons and it's quite an emotional sight to see, so we're just really happy to be involved in helping them."

The schoolgirl, from Hanwell, disappeared a month ago on 28 August. She was filmed on CCTV walking along the towpath of the Grand Union Canal towards Hanwell at 4.26pm, but has not been seen since.

On Saturday, police revealed that footage from 300 CCTV cameras is now being analysed, taken from a six-square-mile radius.

Resources from around 20 police forces are now involved in the search.

Police are continuing to search areas around the Grand Union Canal

Detective Superintendent Carl Mehta said: "CCTV is clearly crucial in our investigation, but we still need the public's help and I want to hear from anyone who saw Alice during the afternoon of the Thursday she was last seen.

"Our searches are continuing in the local area, and there are extra officers involved. I'd like to thank the community who have been so supportive and patient.

"In over 30 years of policing I have never seen such a strong community reaction, this is a community that is totally behind the search to find Alice and bring her home."

Investigators said an area of disturbed earth at Elthorne Park in west London, which runs beside the canal towpath, was no longer of interest.

Convicted murderer Arnis Zalkalns, the prime suspect in her disappearance, who has also vanished, was filmed cycling the same route behind the teenager.

Det Supt Mehta stressed that the Latvian, who was also accused of molesting a 14-year-old girl in 2009, was just "one line of inquiry".

A reward of up to £20,000 is being offered for anyone who has information that leads police to find Alice.

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Cameron Wants To Make Case For Syria Airstrikes

A day after RAF fighter jets joined the mission to beat Islamic State in Iraq, David Cameron has said he also wants to make the case for targeting Syria.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, the Prime Minister revealed he would argue that targeting Syria is both legal and appropriate.

"There are complications but there aren't legal difficulties," he said.

He said he would respond to the challenge thrown down by Ed Miliband to seek a UN resolution supporting attacks in Syria, if only to show that his request is impossible.

"We have to demonstrate to people that we'd like a UN security council resolution but it's very difficult to get one and to demonstrate that what we propose is legal. Attempts have been made but there's the existence of a Russian veto."

His comments come as two former senior military commanders have questioned Mr Cameron's policy of isolated air attacks.

Lord Richards of Herstmonceux, a former head of the UK military who stepped down as chief of the defence staff last year, said a campaign involving ground troops would be needed to crush IS.

"Ultimately you need a land army to achieve the objectives we've set ourselves - all air will do is destroy elements of Isis, it won't achieve our strategic goal," he told the Sunday Times.

"The only way to defeat Isis is to take back land they are occupying which means a conventional military operation. The only way to do it effectively is to use western armies but I understand the political resistance."

Richard Williams, a former commanding officer of the SAS who served in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, wrote in the Independent on Sunday the deployment of RAF bombers was a "military sugar rush" that "risks looking fearful and half-cocked".

Lieutenant Colonel Williams said the sending in of RAF bombers had "taken on a military and political significance out of all proportion to their real military value".

He wrote: "They provide us and our leaders, desperate to do something, with a military sugar rush, to be followed inevitably in six months' time with the 'war-downer' reality that things are not going as we wish them to, and that the long-term costs of our involvement are escalating, in ways that will need to be explained, or hidden, during a general election."

RAF crew at the base on Saturday morning

On Saturday, two RAF Tornado GR4 fighter bombers carried out their first sortie over Iraq since Parliament gave the green light for airstrikes on IS militants without finding any targets to attack.

They returned to their base at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus at the end of a seven-hour mission with their weapons payload intact.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "Although on this occasion no targets were identified as requiring immediate air attack by our aircraft, the intelligence gathered by the Tornados' highly sophisticated surveillance equipment will be invaluable to the Iraqi authorities and their coalition partners in developing the best possible understanding of Isil's disposition and help acquire potential targets for future operations, either by aircraft or Iraqi ground forces."

Ministers had cautioned not to expect a campaign of "shock and awe" and that after weeks of US airstrikes in the area it could take time to identify new targets.

A member of the aircrew prepares to depart on the first mission. Pic: MOD

Mr Cameron insisted the involvement of RAF combat aircraft showed Britain was there to "play our part" in the international coalition being assembled against IS.

"We are one part of a large international coalition," the Prime Minister said during a visit to Didcot, Oxfordshire, ahead of the Conservative Party conference.

"But the crucial part of that coalition is that it is led by the Iraqi government, the legitimate government of Iraq, and its security forces. We are there to play our part and help deal with this appalling terrorist organisation."

:: Sky's Dermot Murnaghan will be talking live to Defence Secretary Michael Fallon from 10am this morning. Watch on Sky News Sky 501, Virgin Media 602, Freesat 202 and Freeview 132.

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