Egypt begin work on second Suez Canal which will run alongside the original 145-year-old waterway in five years' time Daily Mail

  The new 45-mile section would run alongside the existing Suez Canal

  Project could be complete in five years at a cost of more than £2.4billion 

  101-mile-long Suez is the fastest shipping link between Europe and Asia 

  New waterway will allow ships to travel in both directions for half that length

  Egyptian authorities believe it will boost annual revenues to $13.5billion  

Egypt is planning to build a new Suez canal alongside the existing 145-year-old waterway in a multi-billion pound bid to boost its economy.

The 45-mile corridor will expand what is the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia and is part of several 'mega projects' designed to breathe new life into the nation.

Warplanes flew overhead in a ceremony broadcast on state television from the canal city of Ismailia as Egypt's president Abdel-Fatteh el-Sisi officially launched the military-led scheme, set to cost £2.4bn.

He said that digging of the new canal will allow ships to travel in both directions for just under half of the canal's 101-mile length. And although the initial time frame for completion was five years, el-Sisi estimated it could be finished in just 12 months.

Egypt is the gatekeeper of the Suez Canal, one of the world's busiest water corridors and the strategic link between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

Read more here:

Scotland 'likely to be worse off after independence' Daily Telegraph

Economic think tank Fiscal Affairs Scotland draws the conclusion after analysing oil and debt figures produced by both the UK and Scottish Governments.

Scotland is far likelier to be worse off as a separate country, according to an impartial analysis published today as the man who hired Fred Goodwin at RBS accused Westminster of scaremongering over the country’s banks.

Fiscal Affairs Scotland said the wide range of estimates for oil revenue and national debt provided by the UK and Scottish Governments made it impossible to predict exactly what would happen following a Yes vote.

But the economic think tank said that for Scotland to be wealthier, it would have to strike a deal with Westminster to repay only half of its population share of the UK’s national debt while receiving almost twice the predicted income from the North Sea.

If Scotland inherited its full population share of the UK’s national debt, as expected, then oil revenues would have to meet the First Minister’s most optimistic possible forecast if it was not to be poorer.

The analysis was conducted in the wake of the Treasury’s claim the Union is worth £1,400 annually for every Scot, while Mr Salmond claimed independence could be worth £1,000 per person after 15 years.

Read more here:

Further Reading:

Alex Salmond's borrowing plans 'prove currency union won't happen'

“Fiscal Affairs Scotland’s independent analysis demonstrates again that the Scottish Government’s fantasy figures do not stand up to scrutiny. A separate Scotland means higher taxes and less money to spend on vital public services.”

Independent Scotland's debt 'would force spending cuts or tax rises'

Scots to to set their own income tax if they reject independence, under deal between Cameron, Clegg and Miliband. Daily Mail

  Joint declaration promises more financial powers if independence is blocked

  David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg have backed the deal

  Comes on the day of a TV debate between Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling

  Scotland currently raises 15 per cent of its £30billion budget

David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg have signed a joint declaration that promises more financial powers for Scotland if it rejects independence.

The move by the leaders of the three main parties is an attempt to rubbish claims by Alex Salmond that Westminster will not deliver more devolution if Scots vote ‘no’.

It comes ahead of tonight's TV debate between Scottish First Minister Mr Salmond and Alistair Darling, the former Labour Chancellor who fronts the pro-union Better Together campaign.

There are just over six weeks to go until voters in Scotland decide whether to remain in the UK or become an independent nation in the September 18 referendum.

Polls have so far failed to show a majority in favour of independence, but both campaigns are hoping to receive a boost as a result of tonight’s TV debate. The six leaders’ declaration states: ‘We support a strong Scottish Parliament in a strong United Kingdom.

‘We now pledge to strengthen further the powers of the Scottish Parliament, in particular in the areas of fiscal responsibility and social security.’

Currently, control over council tax and business rates means the Scottish Government raises about 15 per cent of its £30billion budget, with the majority of public spending funded by a block grant from the UK Treasury.

Read more here:

Scottish Independence, a Vehicle for Alex Salmond's Grandiose Ego ?

Calais immigration chief's plans to solve border crisis? Free ferry tickets to Britain and move the French boundary to Dover - as immigrants jump into lorries stuck in traffic to get across the Channel, Daily Mail

  Philippe Mignonet warns the French town is under 'serious pressure

  Wants Britain to share burden of migration so it 'understands problem'

  Predicts up to 5,000 people could be camped in Calais by end of year

  Police delay raids on Jungle 2 camp after tensions erupt into clashes

Migrants massing in Calais should be put on a ferry and sent to Britain, the port’s immigration chief said last night.

Warning that the French town was under ‘serious pressure’ as 1,000 Africans gathered at an illegal camp, Philippe Mignonet also called for the border to be moved from Calais to Dover.

He said he wants Britain to share the burden of migration so it ‘understands how difficult the problem is’.

Last night Mr Mignonet said his town was struggling to cope and predicted that up to 5,000 people could be camped out in Calais by the end of the year.

‘What we want to do is buy the migrants ferry tickets to Britain and let them deal with the problem,’ he said, adding that more than 30 already make their way across the Channel every day.

‘We want the border to be moved from Calais to Dover and Folkestone for one month so Britain understands how difficult the problem is.’

The comments came as the area’s police chief delayed raids on the camp, known as Jungle 2, after tensions erupted into clashes between migrant groups the night before.

Jungle 2 and another camp had been ‘due to be dismantled’ after court orders to evacuate expired yesterday.

Comment:

I don’t understand why the French insist that these ill-legal immigrants should move to the UK, surely the  French or any other European Government that these poor people pass through,  should take  the responsibility to care, support and provide financial assistance for these unfortunate people, why should the British Tax Payer be responsible?

Read more here:

Further Reading here:

A hero for our time: Inspired by the man who built his own toll road? He's one of countless Britons rising up to solve problems the State's too useless to fix Daily Mail

1.      Businessman Mike Watts spent £150,000 of his own money to build toll

2.    It was after part of the A431 in Kelston, Somerset collapsed and closed

3.     He took matters in own hands to solve chaos caused by 14-mile diversion

4.    Mr Watts has shown up council 'jobsworths' who say road can't be fixed

The businessman who has built his own toll road around a road closure in Somerset should be knighted in the next honours’ list. He is an inspiration.

By taking matters into his own hands to solve the chaos caused by a 14-mile diversion on a busy commuter route, Mike Watts has set a shining example to anyone who has ever moaned about public services.

Faced with months of roadworks and upheaval, and the loss of business at the party supplies shop he runs with his wife Wendy in Bath, the pioneering  52-year-old didn’t just complain.

He put his money and his effort where his mouth is, rented a nearby field and built an alternative road to allow traffic to bypass the closure, charging drivers £2 each way.

He spent £150,000 on the gravel track next to the A431 in Kelston and says he will probably spend that again to maintain it. He says he only wants to break even before December when the council is due to re-open the proper road, which was closed after a landslip.

Of course, the council has been quick to question his efforts, citing that mealy-mouthed old staple — health and safety. 

Rather than thanking him, they’ve subjected Mr Watts to all sorts of snooty checks and inspections. Well, they must be furious. They have been utterly humiliated by him.

Mike Watts, British Hero

Businessman sets up private toll road just 340 yards long charging motorists £2 a time to bypass closed section of main road.

Rail commuters are hit by up to 40,000 bogus parking fines: 'Pirates' accused of demanding money from commuters using the wrong law, Daily Mail

  £100 fines handed out when drivers outstayed permitted period at car parks belonging to Chiltern Railways

  MET Parking Services was using the wrong law to issue the parking tickets

  Company also issues fines on behalf of McDonald's car park users

  Firm, which manages car parks on line between Marylebone and Birmingham, admitted that 1,025 tickets were incorrectly issued

  DVLA earns £10m a year from private parking firms for right to access its database

Parking ‘pirates’ are accused of issuing thousands of bogus penalty notices to travellers using railway station car parks on a busy commuter line

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Fines of £100 a time were handed out when drivers stayed beyond the permitted period at car parks belonging to Chiltern Railways.

But MET Parking Services was using the wrong law to issue the tickets, and is now accused of demanding money under false pretences from as many as 40,000 commuters.

The tickets were issued using a law introduced in 2012 which banned the use of wheel clamping on private land, but allowed the owners to issue penalty notices. However railway car parks are covered by different byelaws.

Commuter Trevor Carvey took on MET after receiving a ticket in Ruislip, Middlesex. He used the Freedom of Information Act to discover MET was using automatic number plate recognition cameras to identify drivers via the DVLA database, then pursue them for payment – often with the threat of court action.

Read more here:

Further Reading:

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said rogue firms will not be tolerated, and launched Government investigation

A single beam pierces the sky as the lights go out across Britain: Tributes to the fallen a century since World War One was declared. Daily Mail

  Idea inspired by former foreign secretary Sir Edward Grey's famous words when war was declared 100 years ago

  Houses of Parliament, Tower Bridge, St Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace all took part in London

  PM David Cameron urged families to join in the 'gesture of remembrance' by leaving on a single light

The London Eye, 10 Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament were among Britain's landmarks which turned out their lights for an hour at 10pm last night to remember those who died in the First World War.

Homes, businesses and public buildings across the UK were asked to leave on a single light or candle to commemorate the moment then-prime minister Herbert Asquith declared Britain had entered the First World War at 11pm on August 4, 1914.

Buildings around the country yesterday took part in the 'hour of reflection' between 10pm and 11pm, leaving just a light illuminating a window.

The plan was inspired by the words of then-foreign secretary Sir Edward Grey, who said just before the announcement: 'The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.'

Other buildings taking part in an hour-long lights switch-off last night were Broadcasting House in London, the Eden Project in Cornwall, St Paul's and Durham cathedrals, and Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff.

See more here:

The Bewildering Call of God, Oswald Chambers, My Uttermost for His Highest, Daily Devotionals

’. . . and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.’ . . . But they understood none of these things . . . —Luke 18:31, 34

God called Jesus Christ to what seemed absolute disaster. And Jesus Christ called His disciples to see Him put to death, leading every one of them to the place where their hearts were broken. His life was an absolute failure from every standpoint except God’s. But what seemed to be failure from man’s standpoint was a triumph from God’s standpoint, because God’s purpose is never the same as man’s purpose.

Read more here:

I am a part of the fellowship of the Unashamed

The Fellowship of the Unashamed -- Is This for You?

by Dave Brown, WACMM Director and Pastor-at-Large

When Paul wrote "I am not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes..." (Rom 1:16), he took an unyielding, unequivocal stand for the Gospel and became a marked man by ungodly people. But Paul knew the power of the gospel  because  it radically transformed him and it also bring a fallen world from sin and death to victory and eternal life in Christ.. If you've been touched by the power of this gospel, you have no excuse to be ashamed and every reason for hope and joy. Because in Him you have your true identity, legacy and destiny. Life out now who you really are in Christ Jesus.

Dr. Robert Morehead tells the story a young man from Rwanda who was forced by his tribe in 1980 to renounce Christ or face death. He refused to renounce Christ, and he was murdered on the spot. The night before he had written the following commitment which was found in his room: Can you make this kind of commitment for the Gospel of Christ and become a member of the Fellowship of the Unashamed?

"I am a part of the fellowship of the Unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit Power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, mundane talking, chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.

"I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by presence, learn by faith, love by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.

"My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear.

I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

"I won't give up, back up, let up, or shut up until I've preached up, prayed up, paid up, stored up, and stayed up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until He returns, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes.

"And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My colors will be clear for "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.." (Romans 1:16)."

These "No Matter What the Cost" disciples of Jesus Christ are the ones who consider the cost of God's call on their lives and then with perfect freedom and with a clear understanding that this road will be very difficult - overwhelming at times - they choose to answer by saying, ’Here am I Lord! Send me’ (Isaiah 6:8)

The Fellowship of the Unashamed are also the ones who like Paul in Phillippians 3:5-11 boldly proclaimed,

"But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.  I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead".

Does Faith in God Really Combat Sickness?, Charisma Magazine

As a cardiologist, I use every tool at my disposal to help my patients win their battles against heart disease. In addition to cholesterol-lowering drugs, cardiac medications, tests and procedures, I also frequently recommend that my patients give their local church a try. In fact, I've found this to be one of my most effective therapies.

Researchers studying the relationship between high blood pressure and religious activity recently examined 4,000 older adults. Their study, published in the International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, found that those who attended religious services once a week or more and prayed or studied the Bible once a day or more had a 40 percent lower diastolic blood pressure reading than those who attended services and prayed less often.

This does not surprise me. I've written before about one of my patients I call "Alligator Annie," who ran a small country store in the Everglades and kept a shotgun on hand to scare away alligators.

Her high blood pressure was resistant to most medications, and I came to realize that she was suffering from anxiety. I tried a number of techniques to help her lessen her stress, but all failed. Finally, I asked her if it was OK if I prayed for her. She accepted, and eventually, she began to follow a more church-oriented path, going to services and becoming involved in the religious community.

Read more here:

Stonewall boss wants pro-gay books in all preschools

Stonewall boss wants pro-gay books in all preschools

Ruth Hunt, the new head of homosexual lobby group Stonewall, says she wants to put pro-gay storybooks into all preschools.

In what she described as a “radical” campaign, “a suite of books that celebrates difference in all its forms” could be commissioned by the group for under-fives.

Stonewall has previously produced a pack for schools which backed books such as And Tango Makes Three, which is about a penguin chick raised by two male penguins.

Independence: No camp ‘scaremongering’ over banks, The Scotsman

Sir George Mathewson, Ex Rbs Chief Executive.

CAMPAIGNERS for the Union have been accused of “scaremongering” about the impact of independence on Scotland’s financial sector, with a former Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) boss insisting this would be “an opportunity not a threat”.

Sir George Mathewson, a former RBS chief executive and chairman, argued that financial services in Scotland had been “neglected by the Westminster government and its London-centric policy”.

He also claimed that banks such as RBS and Lloyds could “scarcely be described as Scottish banks”, adding that if there was a Yes vote in next month’s referendum it should be the rest of the UK government that should be primarily responsible for dealing with the situation.

Sir George also gave his backing to Scottish Government plans for a currency union with the rest of the UK to be established if there is a Yes vote on September 18, allowing an independent Scotland to continue to use the pound.

These proposals have already been dismissed by the three main Westminster parties and last week First Minister Alex Salmond was accused of a ‘’huge deception’’ over his plan.

Read more here:

Independence: RBS reiterate ‘Yes’ concerns

Scottish independence: Row over banking sector

Showered by a million poppies: Soldiers stand below a huge red cloud to symbolise Great War dead as they re-enact scenes from the conflict Daily Mail.

See more here:

Top Gun pilot probed after crashing £20million jet while flying over home town, Daily Express

AN Italian air force pilot is under investigation for alleged show boating after he crashed his £20 million jet while flying over his home town.

Top Gun Francesco Sferra, 35, was forced to eject from his single seater AMX fighter plane as he swooped low over rooftops but his flight plan should have taken him no where near the built up area.

The jet, which has a top speed of 600mph, smashed into woods close to the town and miraculously no-one was hurt after Sferra steered it away from houses and he parachuted to safety.

Initially he was hailed a hero but local prosecutors are looking at the possibility the AMX crashed due to a technical fault after Sferra had swooped low over his home town of Carovilli near Isernia in central Italy.

The incident is being compared to the "sail by salute" carried out by cruise ship captain Francesco Schettino when he steered the luxury liner the Costa Concordia past the island of Giglio two years ago - only to strike rocks and cost 32 lives.

A source close to the investigation said: "The pilot should have taken off and flown directly north, instead he headed south east we need to know why."

Read more here:

Gays Are 1 in 50, Not 1 in 4, Michael Brown, In the Line of Fire. Charisma Magazine

According to a 2011 Gallup poll, Americans thought that 25 percent of the population was gay (meaning one out of every four people), while those aged 18-29 put the figure at closer to 30 percent (meaning almost one in every three people). The reality is that less than 2 percent of the population is gay (meaning fewer than one in 50 people), and many gay leaders know this is true.

People of America, you have been duped.

For many years, we were told that "one in every 10 Americans" was gay, a figure based on the massively flawed 1948 study of Alfred Kinsey. (Kinsey actually relied on data from male prisoners to come up with his statistics.)

Even though gay activists knew the figure was inflated, they used it as a convenient lie, since, as two leading gay strategists noted in the late 1980s, "there is strength in numbers." (For details, go here.) As expressed by a gay leader a few days ago, "The truth is, numbers matter, and political influence matters."

In other words, if Americans realized that less than 2 percent of the population was gay rather 10 percent (let alone 25 percent), they would have a very different view of "gay rights."

To be sure, it is wrong to bully or oppress or mistreat anyone based on gender or ethnicity or romantic attractions, so that is not the question. And whether gays are 1 percent of the population or 90 percent, they should not be mistreated.

Read more here:

Further Reading:

Equal Marriage : Just Plain Wrong: A Christian Perspective on the Gay Marriage Debate in the UK Equal Marriage; Just Plain Wrong.

Horror beyond imagination: The most haunting account of the trenches you'll ever read - from a brilliant anthology by Birdsong author Sebastian Faulks . Daily Mail

  Some teenagers clamoured for excitement of war - before realising the truth

  Fast-moving warfare in 1914 quickly bogged down into war of attrition

  Haunting accounts tell of seeing comrades blown apart by artillery fire

  Others speak of fields coated with corpses, whose stench filled everything

  Eyewitness accounts collected in new a book of stories from the front 

One hundred years ago exactly, in the summer of 1914, teenager Len Thompson was thrilled by the prospect of war.

It was a month since the assassination of the Austrian archduke in Sarajevo, and now Russia and Germany were mobilising their armies. Britain was being drawn into the conflict.

‘We were all delighted when war broke out on August 4,’ he would recall, ‘bursting with happiness.’

It was not that the hardy, blue-eyed teenager from East Anglia was particularly blood-thirsty. Or politically minded. Or jingoistic. But soldiering for King and Country held prospects for him that were otherwise far beyond his poverty-stricken reach.

‘There were ten of us in the family and my father was a farm labourer earning 13 shillings [65p] a week. I left school when I was 13 and helped my mother pulling up docks in the Big Field for a shilling an acre.

Thompson’s account of his recruitment - included in a profoundly moving new anthology of memoirs and contemporary letters and diaries collected by Birdsong author Sebastian Faulks and professor of English Hope Wolf reminds us that the eagerness with which a generation of young men offered themselves up for sacrifice was both appalling and fascinating.

In the beginning, the youthful wish for excitement was as important as the rush of bash-Kaiser-Bill patriotism. It would be over by Christmas - everyone said so - so don’t be left behind, get in quickly and grab your piece of the action.

Go with your mates, don the khaki, pick up a rifle, impress the girls.

Or there was, as in Thompson’s case, the prospect of three square-ish meals a day for the first time in his life and less back-breaking labour than he was used to.

Either way, the war that lured in eager recruits from city and shire was presented as a positive experience that a man would be proud to tell his children and grandchildren about.

Read more here:

Twitter row as Ed Miliband is ridiculed for stark message on WWI centenary wreath in contrast to David Cameron's handwritten note. Daily Mail

  Labour Leader's wreath message said: 'From the Leader of the Opposition'

  His supporters claim he was handed the wreath and note seconds earlier

  David Cameron and Prince Charles left handwritten messages at Cenotaph 

Ed Miliband was ridiculed today after laying a wreath honouring the First World War dead with a scruffy message that read: 'From the Leader of the Opposition'

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The note, scrawled with a black marker, was left at the Cenotaph in Glasgow today and has been branded 'pathetic' and 'distasteful'.

But the Labour leader's team say he was denied the chance to write his own message and was only handed the wreath by organisers moments before he put it down.  

In contrast David Cameron's message read: 'Our most enduring legacy is our liberty. We must never forget' and was signed personally by the Prime Minister.

The Prince of Wales also wrote his own note, which said: 'In everlasting memory, Charles'.  

Nick Clegg also put down a wreath with a note in the same handwriting, which only said: 'From the Deputy Prime Minister'. 

The incident has led to a row online with some calling Mr Miliband 'pathetic' and others claiming he had been 'stitched up'. 

Sarah Cochrane wrote: 'I think Ed Miliband's message on the wreath is pathetic. He couldn't even be bothered to write his own name'.

Read more here:

Alex Salmond's must-win fight for independence played out on live TV as Alistair Darling is urged to 'keep it boring' Daily Mail

 

  First Minister to go head-to-head with former Chancellor tomorrow night

  Salmond wanted debate with Cameron but Darling is leading No campaign

  Voters have their say in the independence referendum on September 18 

Alex Salmond will tomorrow face one of the biggest tests of his political career as he prepares for a TV showdown that he must win to have any hope of referendum victory.

The First Minister is under intense pressure going into the STV debate, with a new poll revealing that only a quarter of No voters expect Mr Darling to win the contest.

Failure to land a killer blow could end Mr Salmond's hopes of splitting the United Kingdom, and he is receiving help from taxpayer-funded civil servants and a lifestyle guru in a last throw of the dice before the referendum.

Campaign leaders in both camps are taking the two-hour TV programme very seriously, right down to the colour of tie the two politicians should wear, and the broadcaster is hoping for an audience in seven figures. However, experts have warned such programmes rarely reshape the political landscape.

As an uneasy truce for the Commonwealth Games comes to an end, there will now be open warfare between both sides for the final few weeks of the referendum battle, with families set to be bombarded by mailshots costing taxpayers more than £850,000.

Time is running out for the SNP, with a new poll for The Scottish Mail on Sunday showing Unionist campaign's lead has increased slightly in recent days.

The findings are a massive humiliation for Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who used a Sunday newspaper interview yesterday to claim that Scotland's stunning success in the Commonwealth Games could give the Yes campaign the 'momentum' to win the referendum. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg last night accused her of 'sullying' the Games.

Read more here:

Further Reading:

Alex Salmond must leave Alistair Darling 'on the floor' in independence TV debate

Scottish Independence, a Vehicle for Alex Salmond's Grandiose Ego ?

Comment:

To put it quite simply,  Scottish Independence would be both an economic and financial disaster for Scotland and it’s people,  The SNP have no sound economic plan and can’t even decide what currency they want to use,  without the Westminster  Block Grant and the Pound,  any post independence  Scottish Government would either have to borrow heavily from the International Financial Markets and/or raise Taxation. 

Blair Humphreys

Hospitals urged to sack parking pirate squads after it emerges three-quarters of trusts use them to patrol car parks. Daily Mail

  Firms targeting patients with extortionate 'fines' during appointments

  Trusts also using private companies to hound patients for payments

  Government announces formal investigation into parking cowboys

  Politicians call on hospitals to sack companies issuing unfair tickets

Hospitals last night faced huge pressure to sack pirate parking squads after it emerged more than three quarters of NHS  trusts are using them to police their car parks.

Rogue firms have been given free rein across the majority of the country, allowing them to target patients with extortionate ‘fines’ during their medical appointments.

A Daily Mail survey found many trusts are also using private companies to hound patients for payments, with threats of court hearings.

Politicians and campaigners last night called on hospitals to sack firms found to be issuing unfair tickets.

Sarah Wollaston, chairman of the Commons health select committee, said: ‘If they are behaving in an unscrupulous way, targeting the most vulnerable patients, then they should be stripped of their contracts.’ 

The former GP and Tory MP for Totnes added: ‘Patients may end up with fines for something that is no fault of their own. I don’t think the NHS can wash their hands of responsibility.’

Conservative MP Andrew Percy, also on the committee, described tactics used in NHS car parks as ‘totally unacceptable’, adding: ‘The problem the trusts have is that they have to upgrade the parking facilities and if they don’t charge it will come out of the NHS budget.

‘But what they are doing is contracting this work out and then washing their hands of it.’

Campaigner Roger Goss, from Patient Concern, added: ‘We understand they are desperate to raise more money but this is a disreputable way of going about it.’

Read more here:

Further Reading:

We will curb the parking cowboys, says Cabinet Minister: Victory for Mail campaign as official probe is launched into bully boys, Daily Mail

We've lost the faith of public on immigration, says Clegg: Deputy PM thinks people do not believe what ministers tell them as it doesn't tally with what they see on the ground. Daily Mail

  Deputy Prime Minister due to give a speech on immigration tomorrow

  He will say people are 'repeatedly told one thing only to see another'

  Clegg will speak out in favour of free movement of European citizens

  But he will seek reforms ensuring fewer Eastern Europeans move here if more countries are admitted to the EU in future

  Labour's Rachel Reeves will also call for reforms to freedom of movement

The public has lost faith in government claims about tackling immigration because it does not tally with what they see on the ground, Nick Clegg will admit. 

In a speech on immigration tomorrow, the Deputy Prime Minister will say it is ‘no wonder’ that people do not believe what ministers tell them when they have been ‘repeatedly told one thing only to then see another’.

He will speak out in favour of the free movement of European citizens but seek reforms to ensure that fewer Eastern Europeans move here if more countries are admitted to the EU in future.

Read more here:

Further Reading: