Economy On Mend As Higher Growth Is Forecast

By Poppy Trowbridge, Business and Economics Correspondent

The UK economy is expected to have picked up sharply in the second quarter of the year, when official figures are published later.

An expected rise of around 0.6% in gross domestic product (GDP) would double the previous increase of 0.3%.

The predicted rise would be the best performance, excluding special events, since the third quarter of 2011.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at Forex.com said: "Most people in the know expect growth to expand, but there's a question mark over how strong that growth will be."

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls says the growth is "long-overdue"

It was just three months ago that it was feared the UK could enter an unprecedented triple-dip recession, however the recovery is still fragile.

Unofficial surveys published since then have suggested continued improvement, while revisions to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data revealed that the double-dip recession from 2011 to 2012 never happened.

But the revisions turned out to be double-edged, confirming that the initial recession following the financial crisis was far worse than first feared.

It meant the economy was still 3.9% below its pre-crisis peak - with the gap previously thought to be 2.6%.

The US and German economies, by contrast, have recovered their per-crisis levels. France is also near that point.

Officials at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have added to the ambivalence, raising their forecast for annual growth from 0.6% to 0.9%, but later issuing a gloomy analysis of the UK's prospects.

Meanwhile, the Bank of England's first significant intervention under new governor Mark Carney saw policymakers apparently taking a less rosy view of the outlook than some in the City.

In a rare note issued after this month's meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee, the Bank said: "There have been further signs that a recovery is in train, although it remains weak by historical standards and a degree of slack is expected to persist for some time."

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls said he expected the figures to show that the economy is showing "welcome and long-overdue" signs of growth.

But he warned that most ordinary families will not feel the benefit of the recovery in GDP, because of wages lagging behind inflation.

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Wonga War: Church Wants To End Payday Lenders

Payday lender Wonga is facing a fight for survival after the Archbishop of Canterbury insisted he wants to "compete" it out of existence.

The Most Rev Justin Welby wants to force it out of business by expanding the Church of England's credit union plans.

Mr Welby said he had delivered the message to Errol Damelin, chief executive of Wonga, one of Britain's best-known payday lenders, during a "very good conversation".

"I've met the head of Wonga and we had a very good conversation and I said to him quite bluntly 'we're not in the business of trying to legislate you out of existence, we're trying to compete you out of existence'," he told Total Politics magazine.

"He's a businessman, he took that well."

The Archbishop's remarks come after he launched a new credit union for clergy and church staff earlier this month at the General Synod in York.

Mr Welby is expanding credit union plans

Mr Welby, who has served on the parliamentary Banking Standards Commission, has said he plans to expand the reach of credit unions as part of a long-term campaign to boost competition in the banking sector.

There are also plans to encourage church members with relevant skills to volunteer at credit unions.

The Government announced an investment of £38m in credit unions in April to help them offer an alternative option to payday lenders.

The entire payday lending industry, worth £2bn, was referred last month for a full-blown investigation by the Competition Commission after the trading watchdog uncovered "deep-rooted" problems with the industry.

Wonga said in March that it welcomed any attempt to encourage responsible lending and that it has been "instrumental" in helping to raise industry standards.

Mr Damelin said: "The Archbishop is clearly an exceptional individual and someone who understands the power of innovation.

"There is mutual respect, some differing opinions and a meeting of minds on many big issues.

"On the competition point, we always welcome fresh approaches that give people a fuller set of alternatives to solve their financial challenges. I'm all for better consumer choice."

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PC Keith Blakelock: Man Charged With Murder

A 44-year-old man has been accused of murdering PC Keith Blakelock, who died during riots in Tottenham, London, in 1985.

Nicholas Jacobs is due to appear in court later after being charged on Tuesday.

PC Blakelock was stabbed dozens of times while trying to protect firefighters as they tackled a blaze at a supermarket during the height of the unrest.

Alison Saunders, chief crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service London, said: "Following a thorough investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service, we have decided that Nicholas Jacobs should be charged with the murder of PC Keith Blakelock during the disorder at Broadwater Farm in October 1985.

Police officers on the Broadwater Farm estate following the 1985 riots

"We have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to prosecute.

"We have also concluded that no further action should be taken against five other individuals suspected of taking part in the death of PC Blakelock as there is insufficient evidence to warrant a prosecution."

Three men - Winston Silcott, Mark Braithwaite and Engin Raghip - were convicted in March 1987 of PC Blakelock's murder but all three convictions were quashed four-and-a-half years later after forensic tests on pages of key interview records suggested they had been fabricated.

In 2003, Scotland Yard reopened the murder investigation after a review indicated there were possible new lines of inquiry and in 2010 14 men were arrested in connection with his death and the attempted murder of his colleague PC Richard Coombes.

Nine were told in August 2011 that they would face no further action and Scotland Yard said on Tuesday that another four had also been released from bail.

Prosecutors have advised that a fifth person should also face no further action.

A statement on behalf of PC Blakelock's family said: "The family of PC Keith Blakelock have never given up hope in getting justice for him.

"We welcome this news, and extend our eternal gratitude to the Metropolitan Police Service."

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River Wear Deaths: Teenagers' Bodies Found

Two bodies have been discovered in the River Wear in Washington where two teenage girls had got into difficulties while swimming.

Northumbria Police confirmed the bodies had been found by divers teams searching near Fatfield Bridge on the river and that the operation had now been "scaled down".

An off-duty policeman and a member of the public had earlier tried to save the two girls after they had jumped in.

Onlookers jumped into the river to try and rescue the girls

An eyewitness said the girls had been taking turns to jump from a jetty into the river on Tuesday, according to Sky Tyne and Wear.

Police superintendent Alan Veitch said: "There were two people on the banks who saw the children in difficulty.

"One was an off-duty police officer going for a run who dived in and saved a boy who was trying to save one of the missing girls.

"Another gentleman dived in and swam the width of the river to get to one of the girls but he came up empty-handed. He was distraught as you can imagine."

A statement from Northumbria Police said: "Emergency services including specialist dive teams carried out searches of the river and the local area.

"At just before 9pm search teams found the body of a female. Around 10pm a second female was found.

"The families of both girls have been informed and both bodies have been taken to Sunderland Royal Hospital."

The bodies were recovered on Tuesday evening

Supt Veitch said the river was tidal up to a point further upstream from where the girls went missing and there was a lot of debris and foliage in the water.

He added that the tide may have turned at around the time they got into difficulty.

Paul Cronin, 63, who lives near the scene, said: "This gentleman came running up towards the park and I thought it was strange because he was dressed in his boxer shorts, even though it's warm.

"He had just crawled out of the river and had nearly drowned himself. He was screaming at me 'Can you swim?'."

Fire crews, one in a dinghy searching the river, joined police specialists and a Coastguard team.

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Body-In-Suitcase Murder: Woman Found In Hendon

A woman's body has been discovered inside a suitcase dumped in woodland in north London, police have said.

Detectives have launched a murder investigation after the grisly find near a sports ground at Thornfield Avenue, Hendon, on Sunday afternoon.

The suitcase was hidden among trees and the surrounding area has been cordoned off. The woman, who has been described as a young adult, has yet to be identified.

Sky's crime correspondent Martin Brunt said: "It's officially a murder investigation. Whether that means that police have been able to work out exactly how this woman died and that would point clearly to murder, it's not clear at this stage.

"Clearly the circumstances in which this body has been found would point to a crime. Whether the victim is one of the quarter of a million missing people who go missing every year, it's not clear."

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said a post-mortem examination would be arranged.

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Fire Control Room Overhaul 'Is Still Failing'

A project to build new fire control centres which wasted £482m of taxpayer's cash is still costing millions of pounds three years after it was scrapped, MPs say.

The previous Labour government drew-up plans in 2004 to locate 46 local fire services in nine regional centres.

But after a series of delays and problems the FiReControl plan was dropped by the coalition in 2010.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) made £81m available to support the drive to fill the empty centres and improve existing ones.

But the new programme has already slipped by three months and projected savings are £2m less than originally predicted, the MPs' report said.

Seven of the 22 projects are running late, with two now a year behind schedule.

Four of the nine planned regional centres are still empty and the prospects of finding new tenants "do not look good", with "significant" costs remaining, said the MPs.

The large scale and high specification of the four purpose-built control centres, which are still empty, mean they are very expensive to run, said the report.

The centre at Castle Donington in the East Midlands, for example, costs £1.8m a year in rental charges, facilities management, utilities and rates, the MPs noted.

Labour MP Margaret Hodge, who chairs the committee, said: "Three years after the project was cancelled, the DCLG still hasn't decided what it is going to do with many of the specially designed, high-specification facilities and buildings which had been built.

"Four of the nine regional control centres are still empty and look likely to remain so.

"Seven of the 22 projects are reportedly running late and two have been delayed by 12 months. We are therefore sceptical that projected savings, benefits and timescales will be achieved."

A DCLG spokesman said: "This Government has taken decisive action to protect taxpayers' interests, cancelling the flawed FiReControl contract, which was over-budget, behind schedule and failed to work."

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Russia Helicopter Crash Probe: Britons Killed

Russian authorities have reportedly launched a criminal investigation into a helicopter crash which killed two British tourists and their guide.

Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry said the Eurocopter helicopter banked on one side and crashed while attempting to take off in Murmansk's Lovozersky district.

NTV Russia footage of the area

It is understood the British pair had travelled to the remote region for an organised river fishing expedition with their Russian translator and were killed by the whirling rotors of the aircraft as it landed on its side.

"The helicopter unloaded the passengers and then ploughed into the ground as it was trying to take off, crushing the people," emergencies minister Oleg Voronov was quoted as saying.

NTV Russia footage of the area

The Life News website described them as "VIP tourists".

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are aware of reports of the deaths of two British nationals in Russia. We are in touch with the local authorities and stand ready to provide consular assistance."

Fishing expeditions to the salmon-rich rivers of the Far North are one of very few tourism attractions of Russia that bring in high-paying foreign tourists to regions beyond Moscow and St Petersburg.

"The foreign tourists were staying in a luxury camp for fishing," a security source told the Interfax news agency.

A distress signal had already been received from the chopper, reportedly owned by the Russian firm Alliance Avia, before it made the crash landing.

The pilot survived but was injured.

Russian investigators examining the scene say the cause of the crash is unclear, and have opened a criminal investigation into the crash, The Sun newspaper said.

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Teenage Grumpiness 'Should Not Be Ignored'

British youngsters are becoming increasingly unhappy - a problem that should not be dismissed as "teen grumpiness", a charity has warned.

Younger teens are the worst affected, according to The Children's Society's Good Childhood Report 2013, and are less likely to be happy about school, their appearance and the amount of choice and freedom they are given.

The Children's Society said for children of all ages, there had been a period of rising well-being from 1994 to 2008 but that this had started to stall and could be declining in more recent years.

Matthew Reed, chief executive of The Children's Society, said: "These startling findings show that we should be paying particular attention to improving the happiness of this country's teenagers.

"These findings clearly show that we can't simply dismiss their low well-being as inevitable 'teen grumpiness'.

"They are facing very real problems we can all work to solve, such as not feeling safe at home, being exposed to family conflict or being bullied."

The charity, which spoke to 42,000 children between the ages of eight and 17 for the report, said those aged 14 and 15 have the lowest life satisfaction of all children.

Psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos said of the report: "Interestingly, this report suggests that, when it comes to well-being, 14 and 15 year olds fare worse. It is so important that we don't simply dismiss this dip as an inevitable part of growing up, that it is just teenagers being teenagers. We really must talk to this generation and listen to what they have to say."

Emma-Jane Cross, founder and chief executive of MindFull, the mental health charity for children and young people, said: "Far too often, people overlook teenage wellbeing and mental health issues because they put the symptoms down to angst or moodiness.

"This damaging attitude can no longer continue when so many are desperately unhappy and struggling with serious issues including self-harm and suicidal thoughts.

"Instead of a nation where young people are supported to be healthy, happy and fulfilled, we have a culture of stigma, misunderstanding and ignorance. Our young people deserve better."

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Terror Suspect Held Over Pensioner Killing

One of two Ukrainian men being held in connection to bomb attacks near three mosques in the West Midlands has been arrested over the murder of a 75-year-old man.

West Midlands Police say the 25-year-old terror suspect was arrested in relation to "a further act of terrorism".

A police spokesman said: "This arrest is in connection with the murder of Mohammed Saleem in Small Heath, Birmingham on Monday April 29."

The stabbing death of Mr Saleem, a highly-regarded and well-known figure in the local community, was described by detectives at the time as a "despicable" attack on a defenceless pensioner.

A joint family statement read during a press conference at West Midlands Police headquarters on May 2 described Mr Saleem as "a much-loved and respected community member".

The statement read: "We can't express our feelings of sadness and devastation.

"It's hard to accept that our beloved father and grandfather has been taken from us in such a brutal way."

Debris from a device was found close to a mosque in Wolverhampton

On Saturday, counter-terrorism officers were granted extra time to question the Ukrainian nationals in connection with the explosions.

A sitting of Westminster Magistrates' Court granted officers up to seven days to question the men, who were initially detained on suspicion of being involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism.

Following the men's arrest, the "seat of an explosion and debris" were found on a roundabout near the Wolverhampton Central Mosque.

Police believe the debris came from a device that exploded on the city's Fiveways roundabout at about 9.15am on June 28.

The remnants of a home-made explosive device were found outside a mosque in Walsall on Saturday June 22, and another device, containing nails, exploded near a mosque in Binfield Road, Tipton, on July 12.

No one was injured by any of the explosions.

Another device containing nails exploded near a mosque in Tipton

Speaking after police were granted further time to question the two suspects, Assistant Chief Consatble Marcus Beale said: "We continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the three explosions and are appealing to anyone who may have seen anything suspicious around these dates to contact us.

"We do not underestimate the impact this will have on communities across the West Midlands.

"The support of all communities has been fantastic with wider faith communities coming together to show solidarity.

"I would appeal to people, if you have the smallest piece of information that my help the investigation then please contact us on 101 at the earliest opportunity."

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Economy Figures To Show 'Positive Growth'

By Tadhg Enright, Business Reporter

Economists are predicting good news when the first estimate of economic growth during April, May and June is revealed next week.

Analysts expect the Office for National Statistics to say that the economy grew by around 0.5% when it reveals its preliminary estimate for Q2 GDP on Thursday.

They point to several important economic indicators which have been positive in recent months.

Consumer confidence was at a 25 months high in June. Business confidence in Q2 was at its highest since 2007.

Retail sales volumes rose by 0.9% between Q1 and Q2. New car sales were 13.4% higher in June compared with the same month last year. 

Economist Vicky Pryce says consumers are more confident in spending money

Former government economic advisor Vicky Pryce told Sky News: "I think what's going on right now is that the consumer is very keen on spending. The consumer has reduced his savings ratio very substantially from about 7% a year ago to about 4% now so they are spending their way out of this recession. 

"It's not because they're earning an awful lot more because of course average earnings have not really moved very much and there all sorts of restrictions in terms of public sector wages so they are suffering a little bit from that. But they are feeling a lot more confident so they're out there spending."

Even the International Monetary Fund, which recently encouraged the Government to ease public spending cuts, has revised upwards its forecast for UK economic growth in 2013 from 0.7% to 0.9%.

However, some of the economy's biggest problems remain with more Government cutbacks still on the horizon, banks still reluctant to lend and consumer prices rising at a faster rate than average wages.

There are also signs of a resurgence in the property market

Howard Archer, chief UK & European economist at IHS Global Insight, said: "There are still significant headwinds to growth which suggest that the upside for growth will be limited for some time to come and that the economy will likely remain prone to periodic losses of momentum.

"While we are encouraged by the recent extended and diverse good news on the UK economy, we currently remain cautious in markedly raising our GDP growth forecasts - especially given the many false dawns that there have been in recent times and the fact that events in the eurozone still pose a significant threat."

There is also mounting evidence of a resurgence in the property market with house prices rising in June and mortgage approvals at a 41 month high in May.

However critics of the Government's homebuying incentives such as Help to Buy have warned that it risks fuelling a property bubble.

Brunel University professor Moorad Choudhry told Sky News: "I'd like to ask why is the Government subsidising house purchases? That is something we got out of years back when we unwound tax relief on mortgages' interest.

"If I inject cheap money into the stock market and it rises, that's not genuine growth. It's conceptually similar to subsidising anything and it's a false growth."

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