HMRC Failing To Pursue Big Business, MPs Warn

By Gerard Tubb, Sky News Correspondent

The tax man is too keen to chase small businesses for unpaid tax and is not doing enough to prosecute multi-national firms, according to MPs.

The Public Accounts Committee claimed Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not know how much tax is lost through aggressive tax avoidance and said it should be more willing to pursue prosecutions.

The committee's chair, Margaret Hodge MP, said: "HMRC has not clearly demonstrated that it is on the side of the majority of taxpayers who pay their taxes in full."

She accused the department of allowing the Tax Gap, the theoretical amount that is not collected, to grow by £1bn in 2011/12 and of not doing enough about it.

She said: "HMRC holds back from using the full range of sanctions at its disposal.

"It pursues tax owed by the smaller businesses but seems to lose its nerve when it comes to mounting prosecutions against multinational corporations."

The committee's report said inspectors should be "more willing... to test the boundaries of the law".

"HMRC has not attempted to gather intelligence about how much tax revenue is lost through aggressive tax avoidance schemes," it claimed.

The focus on tax avoidance follows on from high profile cases like Starbucks - which was revealed last year to have only reported taxable profit in the UK once in 15 years.

The company has since promised to pay £20m.

In a statement a spokesman for HMRC said it "strongly disputes the conclusions in the Public Accounts Committee report and challenges the committee's selective and misleading use of figures".

The department said it had secured more than £50bn of additional tax from compliance work since 2010, including £23bn from large businesses.

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Breast Cancer Surgery Concerns: Report Published

By Adele Robinson, Sky News Correspondent

An independent review will be published today into how a breast cancer surgeon was allowed to carry out incomplete mastectomies on hundreds of women.

Ian Paterson performed unregulated "cleavage-sparing" procedures at Solihull Hospital and Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield for 15 years.

The operation leaves breast tissue behind for cosmetic reasons and is against national guidelines.

The independent review, carried out by Sir Ian Kennedy, looked at how the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust responded to concerns raised by staff and patients.

Shirley Moroney's sister Marie Pinfield died following surgery

Kashmir Uppal, from Thompsons solicitors in Birmingham which represents hundreds of patients, said: "He was told to stop carrying out the cleavage-sparing mastectomy in 2007, he gave an undertaking that he would stop but despite that he continued."

An internal report carried out at Solihull Hospital in 2004 highlighted the potential risk of the procedure.

In 2007 there was a review of breast care services at the hospital and Mr Paterson was told to stop performing the operations. However, there is evidence from solicitors suggesting he performed the procedure until 2010.

The NHS Trust said negligent surgery did not cause Ms Pinfield's death

Shirley Moroney's sister Marie Pinfield was operated on twice by Mr Paterson in 2006 and on both occasions he left breast tissue behind.

Ms Pinfield died two years later but the NHS Trust say negligent surgery did not cause her death and her cancer would have returned even with a full mastectomy. 

Ms Moroney believes Mr Paterson had too much power.

"I'd like a cultural change within the NHS that meant that if people were concerned about the way operations were being done that they could have a voice," she said.

"No-one ever questioned him and that's why he was allowed to get away with it as long as he did."

Dr Mark Newbold, chief executive of Heart of England Foundation Trust said: "I would like to re-emphasise that, on behalf of the Trust, I very much regret what has happened to so many women, and our thoughts are with them and their families.

"There is no doubt that mistakes have been made in the past, and this is why since I came into post, have focused on what the patients and staff have been telling us to identify fully what happened and to take every possible action to prevent this from happening again."

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Woolwich: Adebolajo Evidence 'Is No Defence'

The claim by Woolwich murder trial defendant Michael Adebolajo that he is "a soldier of Allah" is no defence to the charge of murder, a jury has been told.

Mr Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale are accused of running down off-duty soldier Lee Rigby with a car and then hacking him to death with a meat cleaver and knives in a street in south-east London. 

Mr Justice Sweeney told the jury at the Old Bailey that nothing said by Mr Adebolajo in his evidence amounts in law to a defence to the charge of murder.

He said: "I have ruled that nothing said by the first defendant and... his evidence - in short he was a soldier of Allah and was justified in doing what he did - amounts in law to a defence to this count.

"So nothing that he has said amounts in law to a defence to count one."

In his closing speech, prosecutor Richard Whittam QC said Islam was not on trial and told the jury: "The action of these two men acting together as they did, crashing their car into and breaking the back of Lee Rigby and then killing him is indefensible in the law of this country.

"Killing to make a political point, to frighten the public or to put pressure on the Government or as an expression of anger is murder."

He added: "It remains murder whether the Government in question is a good one, bad one or a dreadful one. We submit to you, it is clearly murder."

Fusilier Rigby's family were in court as Mr Whittam showed the jury once again images of bloodied knives, and also replayed video clips of the May 22 killing.

Replaying a video clip showing Fusilier Rigby being dragged into the road, Mr Whittam said: "Is this a humane killing?

The jury was again shown images of knives found at the scene of the killing

"Is this a killing with an attempt to decapitate and then deposit the body in the middle of the road causing traffic to stop and turn around?"

Mr Whittam recalled witness accounts previously read to the jury as well as extracts from a note handed to Amanda Donnelly-Martin at the scene.

"What was the purpose of what they have done, killing Lee Rigby in the way the had done, in putting the body there and staying at the scene? To borrow a phrase from the first defendant - carnage."

Mr Adebolajo's defending counsel, David Gottlieb, said a proper charge for his client would have been "treason, terrorism, or maybe manslaughter".

In his closing speech, Mr Gottlieb said: "All deaths outside of lawful deaths are cruel, needless and unnecessary.

"Do you think really that this is the cruellest, most sadistic, most callous, most cowardly killing that's ever occured in our nation's history? It isn't."

Mr Gottlieb said Mr Adebolajo's family were "victims" in the case as much as the family of Fusilier Rigby and told the jury that his client had been "demonised and painted as a monster".

The defending barrister also suggested that Mr Adebolajo was "the most law-abiding terrorist in the history of this country" as his client paid for a parking ticket moments before the alleged murder took place.

Mr Gottlieb later explained that he was using a "Sherlock Holmes" approach, adding: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

He said there were unarmed police near the scene, but Mr Adebolajo chose to wait for armed teams, which would not fit with an intention to kill an officer.

The barrister went on to tell the panel of eight women and four men that the issue of what motivated Mr Adebolajo "raises awkward questions" for the UK's political leaders.

He said: "A person, a human being, can do the most evil act in the world and not actually be evil themselves."

The alleged killers no longer face a charge of conspiracy to murder a police officer after the judge discharged the jury from any further consideration of that count.

Mr Adebolajo, 29 and Mr Adebowale, 22, still face counts of murder and attempted murder of a police officer, which they both deny.

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Jayden Parkinson: Police Searching Graveyard

Police searching for missing teenager Jayden Parkinson are focusing their investigation on a churchyard grave.

Thames Valley Police said the hunt for Jayden has led them to the grounds of All Saints' Church in Didcot, Oxfordshire.

The 17-year-old girl disappeared on December 3 after she was last seen leaving the town's railway station at about 4.30pm.

Officers are acting on a tip-off received this afternoon, and have liaised with the family of the person buried in the grave.

Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Murray said: "This afternoon we received some significant and highly relevant information which leads us to concentrate our search efforts in the Great Western Cemetery.

"We're in the process of securing this grave and would like to emphasise that the family connected with this grave have been informed.

Jayden disappeared on December 3

"We will be here throughout the night and for a number of days. A tent has been erected which covers more than the specific grave we are focusing on.

"The families of those in the graves nearby will be contacted by us and reassured that there will be no disturbance to these graves."

He added that police would be at the site for "a number of days".

Earlier today, Jayden's former boyfriend, 22-year-old Ben Blakeley, of Reading, appeared at Oxford Crown Court charged with her murder and perverting the course of justice.

A 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also appeared before Oxford magistrates charged with perverting the course of justice between December 3 and December 10 by allegedly assisting in the disposal of Jayden's body and other evidence.

Police have searched farmland, woodland and derelict buildings for Jayden

More than 100 uniformed officers and detectives have been working on the case, backed up by specialists from the National Crime Agency.

Mr Murray said there was "no indication" that Jayden was alive, and appealed to the public to get in touch if they remembered seeing the teenager "on her own, or in the company of anybody".

He also repeated an appeal for any information about a man seen struggling with a suitcase just outside the village of Upton, near Didcot, in south Oxfordshire, at about 2am, on December 9.

The same man was later then seen with the same suitcase in the Lydalls Road area of Didcot - where All Saints' is located - at about 3.30am.

Detectives have since recovered several suitcases, one of which "may well be significant", Mr Murray said.

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Ticket Rip-Off: Prices 'Marked Up' Online

Theatre-goers and music fans face mark-ups of as much as 38% on the value of some online tickets, according to a Which? study.

Compulsory charges are added to 72% of tickets sold online, said the consumer group, which is launching a campaign to bring down the cost.

Buying online is convenient, offers variety and quick transactions, but nearly half of those surveyed (49%) said the charges had put them off buying tickets for an event altogether.

In one study, only 3% of tickets were being sold at face value without any additional compulsory fees like booking or delivery charges.

Which? says in some cases the practice is illegal.

Which? says that many consumers feel ripped off by ticketing charges

Richard Lloyd, executive director of Which?, said: "Consumers tell us they are feeling ripped off by the level of ticketing charges and the lack of transparency means it is almost impossible for people to compare prices when booking online.

"We want to see the ticketing industry Play Fair on Ticket Fees, so that all charges are displayed up-front and with a clear explanation of what they're for."

A Ticketmaster spokesperson told Sky News: "To suggest that ticket fees are hidden is utterly misleading and factually incorrect. 

"Before a customer purchases a ticket, any additional fee is always displayed clearly.

"The fees cover a wide range of costs to provide the services which ensure the best and easiest possible experience for our customers from purchasing a ticket to accessing the event."

One explanation for the additional fees may be the acts themselves. They want their ticket prices to seem as low as possible, leaving the ticket agency to tack on the fee.

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Prison Efforts To Cut Re-Offending 'Not Working'

Efforts made by prisons in England and Wales to cut re-offending are not working, according to an inspection report.

The damning report also claims the majority of prison staff do not understand what is required to meet the targets set under the Government proposals.

A study of 21 prisons by Liz Calderbank, chief inspector of probation, and Nick Hardwick, chief inspector of prisons, found little progress has been made in offender management and a fundamental review is needed.

It comes as the Government rolls out its Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, including plans for a nationwide "through the prison gate" resettlement service, which would see most offenders given continuous support by one provider from custody into the community.

In a joint statement, the chief inspectors said: "We have come to the reluctant conclusion that the offender management model, however laudable its aspirations, is not working in prisons.

"The majority of prison staff do not understand it and the community-based offender managers, who largely do, have neither the involvement in the process or the internal knowledge of the institutions to make it work.

"It is more complex than many prisoners need and more costly to run than most prisons can afford."

They said the pressures facing the Prison Service mean it would be unlikely to deliver future National Offender Management Service (NOMS) expectations.

"We therefore believe that the current position is no longer sustainable and should be subject to fundamental review."

Offender management involves the assessment, planning and implementation of work with offenders in the community or in custody to address the likelihood of them reoffending and the risk of harm they pose to the public.

Community-based offender managers and staff in prison Offender Management Units have joint responsibility for work with prisoners to address the attitudes, behaviour and lifestyle behind their offending.

The inspectors found organisational changes to offender management units failed to address a culture of poor communication or mistrust between prison departments.

It is the third report to be published from the joint Prisoner Offender Management Inspection programme and draws on findings from inspections undertaken between April 2012 and March 2013.

Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said: "When two highly respected independent chief inspectors of prisons and probation reveal evidence of failures in offender management across 21 prisons and seek a fundamental review, this must surely act as a wake-up call for government."

Justice minister Jeremy Wright said: "More than 600,000 offences were committed last year by prisoners who had broken the law before - despite a £4bn annual spend on prisons and probation.

"This is unacceptable and it's why we are introducing radical plans for change through our Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, which will see all offenders leaving prison receiving targeted through-the-gate support."

:: The following prisons were inspected for the programme: Buckley Hall, Bullingdon, Bullwood Hall, Canterbury, Channings Wood, Drake Hall, Forest Bank, Frankland, Full Sutton, Gloucester, Highpoint, Huntercombe, Leeds, Leyhill, Lewes, Lincoln, Lindholme, Northumberland, Onley, The Verne and Winchester.

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Jayden Parkinson: Man Charged With Murder

A 22-year-old man has been charged with the murder of Oxfordshire teenager Jayden Parkinson, police have said.

Ben Blakeley, of Christchurch Road, Reading, has also been charged with perverting the course of justice.

He has been remanded in custody to appear at Oxford Magistrates' Court later this morning.

A 17-year-old boy, who was also arrested on suspicion of murder, remains in police custody.

Jayden has been missing for nearly two weeks and is thought to have been killed.

She was last seen leaving Didcot Parkway train station, in Oxfordshire, at 4.27pm on December 3 - and did not return home that evening as planned.

The police search is continuing

Specialist search teams backed by helicopters and police dogs have continued searching an area of farmland just outside the village of Upton, near Didcot, where they appear to be focusing on a small patch of woodland near the church.

The police's inquiry team has now grown to more than 100 officers as the force tries to discover what has happened to the teenager.

Oxfordshire police commander Superintendent Christian Bunt said officers were also continuing to sift a grassy area of wasteland in the Lydalls Road area of Didcot.

Residential addresses have also been searched and a recycling bin was earlier removed for further examination.

Supt Bunt thanked the public for their help with the inquiry so far, but urged people not to carry out their own searches as these could prove a risk to the ongoing police investigation.

Jayden was living in a hostel in Oxford before she disappeared

Jayden recently left home in Didcot to live in Oxford.

In a heartfelt plea, her mother Samantha Shrewsbury posted a message on social media site Facebook on Sunday saying: "My baby, my princess, my heart is so heavy, baby girl.

"I just want to see you walk through my door with a 'ta-dar'. I need you little lady, my heart feels so empty without you."

Police have pieced together her movements in the run-up to her disappearance, and believe she walked up Oxford's High Street through the town centre, arriving at the train station at 4.07pm, where she then boarded a train to Didcot.

The very last sighting of her is when she left Didcot train station at about 4.27pm.

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Slavery Bill Promises Life Terms For Traffickers

Human traffickers could be given maximum life sentences in jail under new anti-slavery laws published today.

The Modern Slavery Bill contains provisions to give automatic life sentences to offenders who already have convictions for very serious sexual or violent offences.

The draft Bill, announced by Home Secretary Theresa May at the Conservative Party conference in September, pulls together into a single act the offences used to prosecute slave drivers.

It also introduces Trafficking Prevention Orders to restrict the activity and movement of convicted traffickers and stop them from committing further offences.

And a new anti-slavery commissioner will be appointed to hold law enforcement and other organisations to account.

The founder of human trafficking charity Hope for Justice, Ben Cooley, welcomed the move.

He said: "We've learnt from experience that victim welfare is inextricably linked to the prosecution of perpetrators. When victims are supported from rescue right through to the courtroom, their testimonies make all the difference in seeing justice served. Sadly, we don't always see that happen in the UK and Hope for Justice exists to stand in those gaps.

"This Bill is a critical step towards ending slavery in our country but going forwards we must all ensure that victims are supported so they don't disappear on the other side of initial after-care provision just to be re-trafficked."

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the legislation should do more to provide protection for child victims of trafficking.

Two-thirds of children found by authorities after being held as slaves go missing again because the system to protect them is not strong enough, Ms Cooper added.

She said: "Failed once by those who betrayed them into slavery, they are failed again by the state in not protecting them. Trafficked children should have access to a trusted and independent advocate, or guardian, who is legally responsible for them and their interests.

"There is a growing coalition of support behind this new policy, from the charities and frontline practitioners to campaigners in Parliament. We need tough action to stop traffickers, but prosecutions will fail, justice will be denied and slavery will continue unless there is more support for victims too."

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NHS Chief Calls For Quality Seven-Day Service

Hospitals in England could face multi-million pound fines if they fail to maintain standards seven days a week, the NHS's medical director has warned.

Sir Bruce Keogh is set to announce his recommendations after a year-long inquiry into NHS care, amid concerns over higher death rates for patients treated on Saturdays or Sundays.

He told the Sunday Times a seven-day NHS "would undo more than 50 years of accumulated custom and practice which have failed to put the interests of patients first". 

The obligation to run a full service 24/7 will be written in to hospital trusts' contractual agreements, with breaches leading to potential fines of up to 2.5% on budgets that can be more than £500m.

Sir Bruce will also publish clinical standards, which set out the level of care that patients can expect in any NHS hospital at the weekend.

He added: "Two things are key to this. One is the availability of diagnostic tests at the weekend, because the key to treating somebody is a diagnosis.

"Then you need someone experienced to interpret those tests and to institute the right treatment." 

Sir Bruce plans to end the practice of junior doctors staffing hospitals at weekends without consultants present and hospitals that fail to adapt will face losing the right to use junior doctors altogether.

He said: "Historically at the weekend our service has been delivered largely by junior doctors in training and now we are changing that."

The practice of junior doctors staffing hospitals at weekends could end

The intention is that within three years all patients admitted as an emergency at the weekend will be seen by a consultant within 14 hours.

Those already in hospital at the weekend will have their condition reviewed by a consultant every 24 hours, while routine surgery will be available at weekends for minor conditions such as hernias.

X-ray, ultrasound, CT and MRI scans will carry on at the same level as during the week, while heart checks, biopsies and blood tests will also be available seven days a week.

The hospital support network of pharmacies, physiotherapy and occupational therapy will run every day.

Sir Bruce said the NHS lacked compassion by failing patients at the weekend. "People are still kept waiting at the weekend for a diagnosis. We have a system that is not built around the convenience of patients and is not compassionate to patients for part of the week.

"Why should somebody have to take time off work, why should someone else have to take time off work to take them to and from hospital, when, if they were to have their operations on a Saturday, they could spend Sunday recovering and, in many cases, get back to work sooner?"

The inquiry team believe the change will cost about 2% of the NHS's annual operating bill of £97bn, but could be less after potential savings.

Blood tests, heart checks and biopsies would be available seven days a week

Critics suggest the cost could be billions more, but Sir Bruce believes the system of having theatres, consulting rooms and recovery wards lying empty at the weekend could be tackled to cut costs.

The BMA said it supports high quality seven-day patient care.

A spokeswoman said: "Doctors firmly believe that patient outcomes should not be affected by what day of the week they fall ill.

"The BMA is in discussions with the Government on how to develop working patterns which deliver more services across seven days while safeguarding the need for a healthy and productive work-life balance for doctors.

"This is a complicated problem which will not be easily resolved by one single 'quick fix' solution."

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "Patients should be at the heart of the NHS and be able to depend on it every day - not just Monday to Friday.

"I want the NHS to expand to provide seven-day services so that more patients get the right care, when they need it. It is great news that Sir Bruce Keogh will be setting out his plans for the NHS to provide seven day services."

Labour shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: "This idea is right in principle but, with the NHS in increasing financial distress, the Government must set out clearly how it will be paid for."

:: Watch NHS medical director Sir Bruce Keogh live on Sky News at 11am on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602 and Freeview channel 82.

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Jayden Parkinson: Police Launch Murder Inquiry

Police investigating the disappearance of teenager Jayden Parkinson now believe she was murdered.

Jayden, 17, from Oxford, was last seen leaving Didcot Parkway train station at 4.27pm on December 3 - and did not return home that evening as planned.

In a news conference, Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Murray revealed that police have upgraded the case to a murder investigation and are looking for a man who was seen in an open field near Upton on December 9 at 2am.

"The father in me would like to think that Jayden is still out there, but I'm afraid the detective in me leads me to conclude that Jayden may well have been murdered," said Mr Murray. 

Jayden Parkinson has been missing for 12 days

The man spotted in Upton was carrying a large suitcase in the rural area and notably struggling to "manage" the heavy case.

"This man was having difficulty wheeling that suitcase," said Mr Murray.

He said the same man was seen in Didcot around 30 minutes later with the same suitcase, and police are appealing for sightings of the man or the case. 

The man is described as a white male in his early 20s, with short dark hair and of medium to slim build. 

The case was approximately 3ft long and 2ft wide, likely a pale blue colour, and had an extendable handle and wheels, said Mr Murray. 

A Sky graphic of the man and suitcase based on police descriptions

Police said a recycling bin has been recovered as part of the investigation from the former Crown Pub in Queensway in Didcot. 

An address in Abbott Road, Didcot, is also cordoned off by police while a search is carried out on the property.

Thames Valley Police are currently holding two people - a 22-year-old man and 17-year-old boy - in relation to the case.

Police said earlier this week that the 22-year-old was in a relationship with Jayden. 

Jayden was living with her mother in Didcot until November this year, when she found herself homeless.

Didcot and Upton

The teenager relocated to an Oxford service called One Foot Forward, which offers assisted and supported accommodation for young people.

Police said Jayden has made no financial transactions, or accessed the internet or her phone since she went missing 12 days ago.

A team of 50 detectives are currently assisting with the case and specialist teams will be scouring the Upton area for the next week.

Anyone with information has been urged to contact Thames Valley Police on 101 and quote URN 542 10/12, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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