Obama demands security overhaul into syringe bomb fiasco as it emerges Al Qaeda had warned of terror attack just six days ago

By Jason Lewis and Sharon Churcher
Last updated at 10:22 PM on 27th December 2009

• Al Qaeda warned of fresh terror attack on December 21
  
• New security measures will mean increased delays at airport
  
• President Obama orders review of airline security
  
• Alleged bomber was on security database but wasn't considered threat
• Student suspect was barred from Britain

A still from an internet video posted online on December 21, showing a man who calls himself Mohammed al-Kalwi (right), warning of a new terror attack

President Obama ordered an urgent review of airline security tonight, demanding to know how a former British student identified as a terror risk was allowed to board transatlantic plane before attempting to blow it up.

The move came as a second incident on a plane at the same airport caused a major security scare.

A man was removed from the flight after becoming verbally disruptive on landing. It later transpired he posed no security risk.

Tonight it also emerged that Al Qaeda had warned of a terror attack just days before the attempt to bring down the jet carrying 278 passengers.

In a chilling video posted on an extremist internet on December 21, a bearded man in head-dress warned: 'We are carrying a bomb to hit the enemies of God.'

The man, identified as Mohammed al-Kalwi, continued: 'O soldiers, you should learn that we do not want to fight you, nor do we have an issue with you. We only have an issue with America and its agents, and beware of standing in the ranks of America.

Tonight there were question marks over why known radical Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was allowed to evade security, as it became clear just how close he came to downing the jet.

Even his millionaire father had warned authorities that he believed his son may be a risk.

President Obama wants to know how he was allowed to board the plane and also ordered a review of security watch-lists in the US after it emerged the Nigerian was placed on a list as a terror risk.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said on American news channel NBC the President called for 'a review to ... figure out why an individual with the chemical explosive he had on him could get on a plane in Amsterdam and fly into the United States.'

Dr Umaru Abdulmutallab, the rich father of Delta plane attack suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

It has emerged that Abdulmutallab tried to emulate convicted terrorist Richard Reid by using the same PETN high explosive the shoe bomber used in his failed airliner attack in 2001.

After sitting silently for most of the eight-hour flight, he made his move on Christmas morning as the plane approached Detroit.

The 23-year-old son of a wealthy Nigerian banker was charged in hospital last night with attempting to destroy the aircraft during its final approach to Detroit airport on Christmas Day, the US Justice Department said.

Four weeks ago Abdulmutallab's father told the U.S. embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, that he was concerned about his son's religious beliefs. This information was passed on to U.S. intelligence officials.

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A page from the FBI affidavit against Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

The alleged bomber was also on a separate U.S. terror database, but was not considered an immediate threat. His name was absent from 'no-fly' lists.

Abdulmutallab, who had previously been living in a luxury mansion block while studying at University College London, was also charged with with placing a destructive device on the Northwest Airlines Flight 253.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Abdulmutallab had a device attached to his body when he boarded the aircraft in Amsterdam on Christmas Eve.

As the flight was approaching Detroit Airport, he was said to have set off the device, which resulted in a fire and what appears to have been an explosion.

A preliminary FBI analysis found that it contained a high explosive known as PETN or pentaerythritol.
FBI agents were also said recovered what appeared to be the remnants of the syringe found near Abdulmutallab's seat, which is believed to have been part of the device.

More...

• Passengers tell how they grappled with London student who tried to blow up U.S. jetliner
• Al Qaeda terror plot that was born in Africa

The use of small amounts of liquids and powder suggests he managed to circumvent the ban on taking all but limited quantities of liquids on to flights.

As a result, beefed-up security measures have been introduced on flights bound for the US.

They include extra body and hand luggage searches at the departure gate and a requirement that passengers remain seated for the final hour of flight.

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Drama: The moment the bomber was taken into custody, as captured on a mobile phone

Air Canada has also said that during the last hour passengers will not be allowed access to carry-on baggage or to have any items on their laps. Passengers have been told to expect delays.

Meanwhile, the suspect's former teacher revealed his fellow pupils nicknamed him 'The Pope' because he was so well-liked.

But Michael Rimmer, a Briton who taught history at the British International School in Lome, Togo, says that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab also defended the Taliban during a lesson and complaining when Rimmer took classmates to a London pub.

Rimmer also revealed how Abdulmutallab had many Christian friends at the school.

In a telephone interview today, he described the school as a multicultural place where Christians students participated in Islamic feasts and Muslims often sang Christmas carols.

US attorney general Eric Holder said: 'Had this alleged plot to destroy an airplane been successful, scores of innocent people would have been killed or injured.

'We will continue to investigate this matter vigorously, and we will use all measures available to our government to ensure that anyone responsible for this attempted attack is brought to justice.'

According to the affidavit, interviews with the passengers and crew of Flight 253 revealed that before the incident Abdulmutallab went to the aircraft's bathroom for approximately 20 minutes.

When he returned to his seat, he said that he had an upset stomach and pulled a blanket over himself.

Passengers then heard what were described as popping noises similar to firecrackers and some reported seeing Abdulmutallab's trouser leg and the inner wall of the aircraft on fire.

Film producer Jasper Schuringa from Amsterdam was sitting in seat 20G when the device ignited. He leapt over the back of the seat and scrambled over four other passengers to pummel Abdulmutallab.

Hero: Jasper Schuringa who tackled Abdulmutallab on Flight 253

Mr Schuringa then saw a ‘burning object’ – which he said resembled a small, white shampoo bottle – between the student’s legs. Mr Schuringa said: ‘It was smoking and there were flames coming from beneath his legs. I pulled the object from him and tried to extinguish the fire with my hands then threw it away.’

He screamed: ‘Water! Water!’ as he pulled Abdulmutallab out of his seat and dragged him to the front of the plane.

Fellow passengers poured bottles of water on the blaze, while flight attendants tackled the flames with fire extinguishers. Mr Schuringa said Abdulmutallab seemed dazed. ‘He was staring into nothing,’ he said.

The producer said he then stripped off Abdulmutallab’s clothes to make sure he did not have other explosives on his body. A crew member helped handcuff him.

He said other passengers applauded as he walked back to his seat.

‘I don’t feel like a hero,’ he said: ‘It was something that came completely naturally. I had to do something or it would be too late. My hands are pretty burned, but I am fine.

'I am shaken up. I am happy to be here.’

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the suspect in the Detroit bound Delta Airlines plane on Christmas day

A fellow passenger, Stephanie van Herk, 22, who was sitting one row in front of Abdulmutallab, said she heard a loud bang, then saw a flame leap from the student’s lap as smoke filled the air. ‘The flame was higher than the seat,’ she said.

‘Then everyone started screaming. It was panic. Flight attendants shouted, “What are you doing? What are you doing?’’

‘They called for water and the man began pulling down his burning trousers.’

Another passenger, Melinda Dennis, said: ‘Abdulmutallab’s entire leg was burned. But he didn’t show any reaction to the pain.’

Abdulmutallab was to have been 'calm and lucid' throughout the incident.

When one flight attendant asked him what he had had in his pocket, and he replied: 'explosive device.'

On landing, Abdulmutallab was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Centre for treatment to his injuries. He will make his initial court appearance today.

US District Judge Paul Borman read out the charges to Abdulmutallab in a conference room at the medical centre where he is continuing to receive treatment for burns.

Agents brought him into the room in a wheelchair, a blanket over his lap and wearing a green hospital robe.

Abdulmutallab - who was said to have been travelling on a valid US visa - initially boarded a KLM flight in Lagos, Nigeria, before transferring to the Northwest Airlines flight at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.

Following his arrest he was said to have told US investigators that he had been acting on instructions from al Qaeda which instructed him to blow up an airliner over American soil.

Gordon Brown said the Government would take 'whatever action was necessary' to protect airline passengers.

Security sources said that both the police and MI5 were diverting extra staff and resources to the investigation as a matter of priority in order to establish the significance of the 'London link'.

They acknowledged that it was possible that Abdulmutallab may have cropped up in the peripheries of other counter-terrorism investigations.

Earlier in London, police search teams were seen entering the imposing mansion block in Mansfield Road, close to Oxford Street, where Abdulmutallab had been living.

Records showed that flats in the block sold this year for between £1.65 million and £3.15 million.

Both police and college sources confirmed that Abdulmutallab had been enrolled as a student at University College London on a course in mechanical engineering between 2005 and 2008.

Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, a former minister and chairman of First Bank in Nigeria, also confirmed his son Umar had studied in London before going travelling.

He said he was not sure of his son's whereabouts but that he had not lived in London 'for some time'.
Nigeria's This Day newspaper reported family members as saying that Abdulmutallab's father was uncomfortable with his son's extreme Islamic views.

Mr Mutallab was said to have reported his activities to the US embassy in Abuja as well as Nigerian security agencies.

According to reports, the family claim Abdulmutallab was radicalised while attending the British International School in Lome, the capital of Togo.

Briton Michael Rimmer, who claimed to have taught the suspect, told BBC News 24: 'I remember him talking about Afghanistan - when the Taliban were in control, he thought they were OK. It did surprise me.'

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The exclusive block of flats in central London where the suspect lived until 2008

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Police search a propertie in central London after a man was charged with trying to blow up a US airliner

However, a cousin of Abdulmutallab, Mohammed Mutallab, told the Sunday Telegraph that the family believed the alleged bomber had been radicalised in Britain.

A US law enforcement source said Abdulmutallab's name surfaced on at least one US intelligence database but not to the extent that he was placed on a watch list or a no-fly list.

Intelligence and anti-terrorism officials in Yemen were also investigating claims by the suspect that he picked up the explosive device and instructions on how to use it in that country.

Delays were caused at UK airports today as security was stepped up for passengers flying to the US. Questions were raised over how the suspect was able to board the plane in Holland and almost cause catastrophe on Christmas Day.

Mr Brown said he had been contact with Sir Paul Stephenson, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, because of the 'serious potential threat'.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said police were working with their American counterparts to establish the full background to the incident.

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said delays were caused to transatlantic flights as a result of heightened security.

Although general airport security remained the same with no change to luggage and liquid restrictions, passengers travelling to the US were told they could only take one item of hand luggage.

The alleged Christmas Day terrorist had been in one of the U.S. government's many terror databases since November after his father brought him to the attention of embassy officials in Nigeria.

However, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab came to the attention of intelligence officials months before that, according to a U.S. government official involved in the investigation.

Still, none of the information the government had on Abdulmutallab rose to the level of putting him on the official terror watch list or no-fly list.

Abdulmutallab claimed to have received training and instructions from al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen, law enforcement officials said. He is also believed to have had Internet contact with militant Islamic radicals.

While intelligence officials said Saturday that they are taking seriously Abdulmutallab's claims that the plot originated with al-Qaeda's network inside Yemen, several added that they had to yet to see independent confirmation.

Four weeks ago, Abdulmutallab's father told the U.S. embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, that he was concerned about his son's religious beliefs. This information was passed on to U.S. intelligence officials.

Abdulmutallab received a valid U.S. visa in June 2008 that is good through 2010.

His is one of about 550,000 names in the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment database, known as TIDE, which is maintained by the U.S. National Counterterrorism Centre and was created in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Intelligence officials said they lacked enough information to place him in the 400,000-person terror watch list or on the no-fly list of fewer than 4,000 people who should be blocked from air travel.

Government's key adviser on Academies makes millions... from setting up Academies

Leaked documents show ex-physics teacher behind Labour's flagship schools charges £800 a day to set up Academies
By: Jason Lewis

A KEY Government adviser on Labour's flagship City Academy scheme is now earning millions of pounds in fees from the taxpayer by setting up the controversial schools.

The scheme was at the centre of the socalled 'cash for peerages' scandal when police were called in to investigate claims that Labour was offering honours to businessmen who invested in the schools. Now a series of leaked documents, obtained by The Mail on Sunday, reveal how the Government's vision of local business helping to rescue failing schools has been replaced by fat-cat consultancy firms earning huge fees to set them up.

They charge hundreds of pounds to carry out straightforward tasks including opening bank accounts and registering with exam boards.

And they have even set up offshoot firms to become the sole supplier of compulsory school uniform to pupils - which parents complain falls apart in the wash.

One of the main beneficiaries has been Graham McAvoy, a former physics teacher who began working on the Department of Education's Academy programme in January 2001.

He became the Government's 'lead adviser' on the City Academy scheme - and drew up the key 'to do list' for establishing the Academies.

Civil servants and Ministers are banned from moving directly from drawing up Government policy to working for a private company applying for contracts from the same department.

However, the rules do not apply to advisers such as Mr McAvoy and his firm Alligan, which became one of just ten companies on the Schools Department's approved list overseeing the opening of 200 new schools across the UK with a further 100 in the pipeline.

The Academies typically replace a 'failing' school and are funded by central Government and private sponsors.

The total cost of establishing each Academy is between £20 million and £25 million.

Firms such as Alligan oversee the building and setting up of the new school, hire new staff, including the head teacher, and fit it out ready to be handed over to its new independent trustees.

Mr McAvoy set up Alligan in 1995 and the firm began 'implementation' of its first Academy project in Peckham, South London, at the end of 2002. The new school, run by multimillionaire carpet business boss Lord Harris's charitable foundation, opened in September 2003. Mr McAvoy employs a team of more than 30 staff specialising in education project management.

Now documents relating to Alligan show it has claimed fees of more than £1 million from each of the 30 new Academies it has helped set up. Alligan has opened several Academies with Lord Harris and Steve Chalke, who runs the educational charity Oasis Trust.

The confidential papers expose how the consultancy firms cash in on the system, which has been heavily criticised for handing schools to private-sector entrepreneurs, many of whom have no experience in education.

Mr McAvoy wrote the socalled 'Product Breakdown Structure' for the Government which details everything that needs to be done in the run-up to opening a new Academy.

This key document is now used by his and other firms to decide how much they charge the taxpayer in fees for every aspect of their work - however minor.

A detailed breakdown of all the firm's charges, which are understood to be mirrored by the other companies competing for the Academy contracts, shows the taxpayer is being charged hundreds, sometimes thousands, of pounds for simple tasks which are usually carried out by secretarial staff in school offices across the country.

Examples include £585 to open a bank account for the school, £585 to register with exam boards and £1,755 to register with Ofsted, the schools inspectorate.

It also charges £585 to register a change of the school's name and £1,755 to arrange the appointment of school governors. Another large fee is the £11,310 that Mr McAvoy's firm charges to draw up the new school's timetable - usually part of a head teacher's normal duties.

Leaked copies of the firm's full audited accounts, which are not available from Companies House, show it had an £8.5million total turnover during 2006 and 2007 and made profits of £950,000 over the period.

Later figures are not available as Alligan only files abbreviated accounts with Companies House. Mr McAvoy, a former teacher who lives in a flat in fashionable Primrose Hill, North London, where his celebrity neighbours include Daniel Craig and Sadie Frost, was reluctant to discuss how his firm came up with such large fees.

Asked how he justified charging nearly £600 to open a bank account and similar fees for registering with exam boards, he said: 'This is a matter for the Department for Schools.

'We have contracts with the Department and you must ask them about this.' He said that his firm's large fees for drafting timetables for the new Academies were needed because the process was 'very complicated'.

Mr McAvoy charges the taxpayer £800 for every day he spends working on Academy projects. He claimed his work for the Department for Education was unrelated to the fees his company now charges for advising on Academy projects. He said: 'I was an adviser to the Academies Division of the Department for Education between 2001 and 2003 and helped draw up the structure document which sets out everything which is required to be done to open an Academy.

'But at the time there was no suggestion this document would be used by the Department to cost the Academy programme. It was the Department's decision to use it to cost the projects. There was no relationship with the work I did and the present fees structure.

'When I helped draw up the structure document there was no suggestion it would be used to decide fees. That was the Department's decision.' Recently his firm appears to have struggled to win new contracts.

It is currently overseeing the opening of only one new Academy - in Oldham - and has been forced to lay off staff.

It has also suffered losses from a recent plan to diversify into supplying uniforms for some of its Academies.

It had hoped that the scheme - controlled through another firm owned by Mr McAvoy - would be the sole supplier of uniforms to at least six City Academies and bring in large profits. But the plan was hit by delays in production.

Internal documents show the firm was besieged by parents calling to complain about its failure to supply the uniforms by the start of term.

The report says: 'Due to supply problems and product issues, there was a constant flow of telephone calls to the company office...This led to a sea of angry parents who either could not get through at all or had to leave a message that would not be responded to for some time.

Calls were averaging at 100 an hour and messages at 30 an hour. This led to a very poor view of the company.' Installing an answer machine to deal with the irate parents was suggested but, the report says, this raised 'the issue of confidentiality and the need to prevent parents learning of problems at other Academies'.

Once the uniforms arrived the firm faced more problems when items fell apart or did not fit.

The internal management report, obtained by the Mail on Sunday, reveals the scale of the crisis.

A section headed 'The Poor Quality Of The Product' says: 'The manufacturer specialised in fashion garments. Fashion garments are not very durable and, as a result, the product easily succumbed to wear and tear. The material is also of an unconventional mix that has to be washed at 30C and falls apart after a few machine washes.'

The report continued: 'Choosing the cheapest ties which were cheap because they were smaller and thus did not prove a good fit or look when distributed to Academy pupils.

'Re-dying cloth that had been dyed the wrong colour, resulting in its falling to pieces when the students began to wear it.' It also reported the sleeves on some items were 'the same length irrespective of what size the overall garment was'.

Another problem was 'discrepancies in quality of garment (some thick, some thin) - even though the price remained the same'.

The company's reaction was to shut down the subsidiary selling the uniforms and announce it was 'under new management'.

The Schools Department said it could not discuss individual companies, the contracts it had with firms, or the detailed charges for the establishment of Academies. A spokesman said: 'The process for selecting project management companies is robust.' It also failed to answer questions about Mr McAvoy's involvement with drawing up the Academy Policy and whether this should have barred him from bidding for contracts.

Biggest risk to MoD staff on danger money? Tripping up

By: Jason Lewis

CIVIL servants paid 'danger money' for working at the Ministry of Defence are more likely to be injured typing or tripping on a paving stone than in the line of fire, new figures reveal.

The department, which has been criticised for failing to provide frontline troops with adequate equipment, is also spending £1,000 a day for 'secure cars' for its top Whitehall mandarins.

The revelations come weeks after the Government defended paying MoD civil servants a total of £47million in performancerelated bonuses, citing the 'dangerous' nature of their jobs.

Now, the MoD's own statistics show 330 civil servants were hurt while on duty last year, but none in 'hostile environments'. A separate report reveals the department's insurers have paid out more than £60million in three years to cover staff compensation claims.

Eighty civil servants hurt themselves 'lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling items' including keyboards, ten were hurt in 'physical movement' such as exercise or drills and another ten 'struck against ... something stationary' such as a door.

The biggest risk to MoD staff was tripping, with 90 such injuries recorded, but no one was hurt by ammunition or explosives or in a 'hostile environment'.

Meanwhile, the MoD has revealed that from April to June this year, it spent £87,289 on secure cars for senior officials.

MoD Permanent Secretary Sir Bill Jeffrey's car use cost the taxpayer £14,615 and his deputy Ursula Brennan's car cost £9,045.

A spokesman said they needed official cars because they often carried top-secret documents.

He said: 'Our most senior staff use an official car where this makes good business sense and is justified by the nature of their appointment or command duties.' The spokesman said the MoD was reviewing the 'performance awards' received by 50,000 civilian staff, adding that 'if they are found to be inappropriate, they will be changed' under a new pay deal set for 2011.

Chinese hackers linked to 'Warmergate' climate change leaked emails controversy

By Jason Lewis and Simon Parry
Last updated at 6:42 PM on 27th December 2009

The investigation into the so-called Warmergate emails - the leaked data from the University of East Anglia’s climate change department - took a new twist last night when The Mail on Sunday tracked the stolen messages to a suspect computer which provides internet access to China.

The address used to post the emails is also on an international ‘black list’ which highlights suspicious behaviour on the internet.

The revelation comes after the Russian security service, the FSB – the former KGB – authorised the release of confidential information that allowed us to retrace the route taken by the email traffic.

Revealed: How we broke the story that a computer company in Siberia was used to post the controversial emails

A computer company in Siberia was ultimately used to post the controversial messages - which cast doubt on the reliability of scientists’ global warming claims - on the internet.

The revelation led to claims that the Russians were behind the release of the information.

But, anxious to distance themselves from the leak, the FSB revealed how the data had been sent to Siberia from a computer in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The evidence passed to The Mail on Sunday now raises questions about whether Chinese hackers, backed by the communist regime, are the source of the emails.

Supported by their government and its security and intelligence services, Chinese hackers have been at the centre of huge number of ‘cyber attacks’ in recent years, including attempted computer ‘break-ins’ at the House of Commons and Whitehall departments, including the Foreign Office.

Earlier this year, MI5 chief Jonathan Evans warned 300 British businesses that they were under Chinese cyber-attack. The People’s Liberation Army is reputed to hold an annual competition to recruit the country’s best hackers.

Agenda: An Iceberg projection highlighting the Copenhagen UN summit shows the high level of political interest in climate change - and why scientists may be desperate to prove it is a man-made problem we can solve

Last week, The Mail on Sunday traced the stolen climate change emails to a so-called Open Access server run by Malaysian telecoms giant Telekom Malaysia Berhad.

The Malay government owns more than a third of the company and it supplies internet access to nearby China.

Last night, the company confirmed the leaked emails passed through Kuala Lumpur using its open relay mail server that can be accessed and used to forward mail by internet users without the need for a password.

Company spokesman Saiful Azmi Matmor said: ‘We cannot divulge any confidential information about our customer accounts. However, we are aware of the international stories about the leaked emails and our technicians are looking into this matter now that you have drawn it to our attention.’

A source within the company said: ‘Because this is an open relay mail server, the emails could have been sent through it from anywhere in the world. It is just as likely to
be someone outside Malaysia as someone within the country.’

The internet address used to post the messages is linked to several others used by the Chinese -- one is a Chinese environmental institute, the Research Institute of Forest Ecology and Environment Protection, based near Beijing.

Several professors from this institute are regulars at climate change conferences where they have shared a platform with the University of East Anglia experts.
After our enquiries in Malaysia began, the suspect computer links to China were suddenly cut.

Scotland Yard and Norfolk Police are leading the investigation into the email theft at the University of East Anglia.

David Irving

Hitler historian David Irving and the beautiful blonde on the rifle range

By Jason Lewis, Mail on Sunday Security Editor
Last updated at 12:43 PM on 20th December 2009

He is the 71-year-old Right-wing historian who was jailed for ‘glorifying’ Hitler’s Nazi Party. She is a 24-year-old statuesque blonde singer who works as his personal assistant.

Now intimate emails between the pair – in which David Irving declares his affection for the young American – have been leaked on the internet.

The messages, written during a book tour of America last month, also reveal an embarrassing tiff between the historian and Jaenelle Antas, who has been travelling with him.

Neo-Nazi pin-up: American Jaenelle Antas is a 'comely maiden' according to David Irving

Ms Antas, whom Irving refers to as ‘J’, is from Minnesota and has been working for him while also trying to launch herself as an opera singer.

The emails show divorcee Irving is clearly taken with his young helper, who has become a neo-Nazi pin-up after posting pictures of herself on Stormfront, an internet discussion site for ‘pro-White activists and anyone else interested in White survival’.

The photographs, which feature the blonde on a shooting range with an automatic weapon and posing with handguns with her friends, also show her taking a trip with Irving to feed the swans on the River Thames near his Windsor home.

Target: Jaenelle Antas at a shooting range

While the precise nature of the relationship between Irving and Ms Antas is a mystery, Irving is keen to shower her with affection, telling her: ‘You are pure Gold.’

And in an email to a friend, Irving reveals he has been asked about the ‘blonde bombshell’ by a journalist and writes: ‘I emphasise . . . that there is nothing going on between us.’

Irving’s email account and website were hacked by ‘anti-racist activists’ who then posted his credit-card accounts, mobile phone number, private correspondence and email address book on the web.

Embarrassing: Personal emails between David Irving and his assistant Jaenelle Antas have been leaked

The most intriguing emails feature Irving’s relationship with Ms Antas, who at one point threatens to leave the tour.

On November 7, she complains about the way he has been treating her and about being forced to miss a date with one of her friends. Irving replies: ‘Get over it.’

In another email to Ms Antas, he adds: ‘If you want to quit, I can’t stop you. It will not be the first time I have been let down at the last moment.’

Last night Irving said that the hacking came at the end of a campaign of violence and intimidation against him and Ms Antas on the US tour.

At one point she was attacked with pepper spray. Masked men armed with baseball bats tried to force their way into another meeting.

Irving said: ‘The FBI has asked for my assistance in tracking down the hackers. They have done tens of thousands of pounds of damage. Effectively they drove a truck bomb into my online bookstore.’

Asked about the publication of the personal emails between him and Ms Antas, he said: ‘When I told her she went bright red.’

And asked about their relationship, he said: ‘She is 24. She is a comely maiden. She is my personal assistant, nothing more.’

In 1996 Irving brought an unsuccessful libel case against the American historian Deborah Lipstadt and Penguin Books. The court found that he was an active Holocaust denier, anti-Semite and racist.

Irving was arrested during a visit to Austria three years ago and convicted of ‘glorifying and identifying with the German Nazi Party’ and served ten months in jail.

Iran demands freedom of suspected arms dealer in return for lost British sailors

By Jason Lewis and William Lowther
Last updated at 2:06 AM on 13th December 2009

• 
  

Accused: Diplomat Nosratollah Tajik

The Government is considering the release of a senior former Iranian diplomat held in the UK accused of supplying weapons for terrorists.

Tehran is demanding the tit-for-tat release in response to its decision to free a group of British yachtsmen who strayed into Iranian waters last month.

But the extraordinary move has been greeted with anger in America, where the diplomat, Nosratollah Tajik, Iran’s former ambassador to Jordan, stands accused of conspiring to sell military equipment to Islamic extremists.

Tajik, 55, was arrested in 2006 and is currently on bail pending an appeal against extradition to the US.

The final decision on the extradition rests with the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, and any move to block his transfer to the US would ignite a furious row with the Americans.

There is still anger in the US over the release to Libya three months ago of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Al Megrahi from a Scottish jail.

And special treatment for Tajik would cause a renewed outcry among human rights campaigners in the UK, who unsuccessfully lobbied Mr Johnson to veto British computer hacker Gary McKinnon’s proposed transfer to the US for trial.

Tajik - living in Britain after being appointed an honorary fellow of Durham University in 2004 - is accused of being the UK link in an international illegal arms network.

According to a witness at a US House of Representatives inquiry into state-sponsored terrorism in Iran, he has also been identified as one of several diplomats recruiting Palestinians to establish terrorist cells.

Political footballs: The five released sailors who Iran hopes use to bargain with

The Iranians raised Tajik’s case with British diplomats during emergency meetings to try to secure the release of the yachtsmen earlier this month.

They also discussed the issue directly with Foreign Secretary David Miliband earlier this year.

Last night, British diplomatic sources confirmed the Iranians ‘brought the subject up’ every time there are official talks between the two countries.

In 2006, an undercover operation by US agents led to Tajik being accused of trying to supply nightvision weapons sights to Iran - banned under an arms embargo.

An extradition hearing was told how two agents secretly filmed Tajik in a London office allegedly discussing a deal that would have sent the military hardware from the US to Iran via the UK and Turkey.

The court heard the deal was worth $3million (£1.8million).

David Perry QC, for the US government, told an earlier hearing that the Americans tipped off Scotland Yard, leading to Tajik’s arrest.

The Iranian’s lawyers claim the Americans acted illegally by entrapping a man on British soil.

His barrister, Alun Jones QC, said: ‘The sting is standard practice in the US. In English law, the US investigators are guilty of the criminal offence of incitement.

‘The American extradition statementdoes not disclose whether UK authorities knew about this (in which case they too would be guilty) or whether US agents are running amok in London on frolics of their own.’

Details of the case - first revealed by The Mail on Sunday - led to human rights campaigners demanding the Government reveal what it knew about US spies launching this kind of operation in Britain.

Last night the Home Office said: ‘The Home Secretary is currently considering representations from Nosratollah Tajik. The Iranians have consistently lobbied for his release.

‘We have made it clear to the Iranian authorities on several occasions that this was a legal, not a political, process, in which the UK Government has played no role.’

Last night, highly placed sources in Washington confirmed that they were taking a close interest in the developments and made clear they felt strongly that Tajik should not be freed.

The source said: ‘The US is fully aware of what is going on and has asked the British not to make any concessions on this issue.’

The moves come after Iran freed five British yachtsmen held by the country’s feared Revolutionary Guard for a week.

Luke Porter, 21, from Somerset, Oliver Smith, 31, from Southampton, Oliver Young, 21, from Cornwall, Sam Usher, 26, from North Yorkshire, and Bahrain-based David Bloomer, who is believed to be in his 60s, were held on November 25.

Iran’s official news agency said they had been released after authorities established their yacht had entered Iranian waters accidentally while sailing from Bahrain to Dubai for a race.

David Miliband bans envoys from helping the BNP

By Jason Lewis, Mail on Sunday Security Editor
Last updated at 3:17 AM on 13th December 2009

Miliband ordered a ban on helping MEPs who have far right views

David Miliband has secretly banned British embassy staff from giving help to BNP leader Nick Griffin.

The Foreign Secretary has also ordered diplomats not to assist the
far-Right party’s other MEP, former National Front leader Andrew Brons.

A letter, entitled ‘Handling Extremist MEPs’ and marked ‘Restricted’, was circulated to the heads of Britain’s European embassies after the pair were elected to the European Parliament in June.

Written by Matthew Rycroft, the UK’s top European Union diplomat, it says far-Right MEPs, like other British members of the European Parliament, can be sent ‘factual written briefings’ on policy issues but nothing else.

British MEPs from mainstream parties can normally expect private briefings from officials and to be offered the chance to meet diplomats and Ministers.

Mr Rycroft wrote: ‘FCO Ministers have decided that there should be
no other contact with MEPs of any nationality who represent racist or extremist views.’

The letter adds that other Government offices have also been advised to restrict help.
As a direct consequence of the policy – revealed after a Freedom of Information Act request – the BNP MEPs have not been invited to two Foreign Office receptions.

Last night, the Foreign Office said the letter was to remind diplomats of the ‘longstanding’ policy on those who represent racist views.

The disclosure follows the row over Mr Miliband’s attack on the Conservatives’ alliance with the Latvian Fatherland And Freedom Party and one of its MEPs who, the Foreign Secretary said, had an ‘anti-Semitic, neo-Nazi past’.

But it also comes after Labour’s decision to abandon its policy of not sharing the same platform with the BNP – paving the way for Nick Griffin’s controversial appearance on Question Time with Justice Secretary Jack Straw.

Can we see your documents please, Your Majesty... Queen faces anti-terror checks every time she leaves UK

By Jason Lewis, Mail on Sunday Security Editor
Last updated at 10:08 PM on 05th December 2009

No exemptions: The Queen and Prince Philip at Heathrow

The Queen is to be forced to go through an identity check every time she flies into and out of Britain.

For the first time, Her Majesty will be compelled to give her full name, age, address, nationality, gender and place of birth to immigration officials, who will then check that she is not on a list of wanted terrorists.

Foreign heads of state, including US President Barack Obama, and other members of the Royal Family will also have to submit to the security checks under new border controls, called e-Borders.

It is unclear how the Queen will be asked for her personal information as she is not required to carry a passport and would normally be met off the aircraft by her chauffeur-driven car. The new system asks for a passport number, expiry date and details of where the passport was issued.

Buckingham Palace has been warned that the Queen will not be exempt from providing 'Travel Document Information' (TDI), which will then be uploaded on to the £750million computer system at the National Border Targeting Centre near Manchester Airport.

The system will provide a comprehensive record of everyone crossing the UK border by plane, sea or via the Channel Tunnel to 'strengthen the security of those who live in and visit our country'.

All passengers are checked against terrorist and criminal watch lists, and the computer analyses travel patterns to highlight suspicious movements.

Controversially, the information is also due to be shared with America, European security agencies and other 'friendly' nations.

A confidential document from Trusted Borders, the private consortium developing the e-Borders project for the Home Office, makes it clear that the Queen and other VIPs will be subject to the same new restrictions as other travellers.

The document, written by lead contractor Raytheon Systems and obtained by The Mail on Sunday, contains a list of questions relating to the new system that may be raised by those implementing it, such as airlines.

One reads: 'We carry a variety of VIPs; Heads of State, Royal Family members among others, for whom security is paramount and for whom we are not provided with all TDI. How do we report these individuals?'

The UK Border Agency response is unequivocal: 'Answer: The UK authorities require that TDI must be provided for all passengers without exception.'

The move will end the current practice of allowing VIPs, including senior members of the Royal Family, to travel under a pseudonym on commercial flights.

At the moment staff at Britain's airports are alerted to expect a senior Royal or other dignitaries by a message that 'Mr Confidential' is expected for a flight.

Ground staff would usually enter a false name on the flight manifest to protect their identity, but under the new system this practice will be banned and real names entered.

Last night a senior airport security source warned: 'The reason for entering a false name in the system is to protect the individual's security. Putting a VIP's real name in the system will alert people that someone important is on a particular flight and may, if the information falls into the wrong hands, make the flight a terrorist target. It is plainly ridiculous.'

Tory MP Patrick Mercer, former adviser to Security Minister Admiral West, agreed the new rules would increase the security risk to the Royal Family and said the system needed to be flexible to be effective.

Last night Royal sources said that members of the Royal Family would comply with whatever security procedures the Government decided upon.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: 'As a British passport is issued in the name of Her Majesty, it is unnecessary for the Queen to possess one. All other members of the Royal Family, including the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales, have passports.'

The Home Office refused to discuss the contents of the Trusted Borders document.

Brodie Clark, head of the Border Force, said: 'For security reasons we will not be commenting on how e-Borders will affect Royal travel protocols. It should be clear, however, that the Head of State for the UK does not require a passport.'

Senior Judges to ‘simplify’ Court of Protection

By Jason Lewis
Last updated at 10:07 PM on 05th December 2009

Justice Secretary Jack Straw leaving Downing Street last month

Two senior judges have been appointed to ‘simplify’ the running of the Court of Protection, which controls the finances of some of society’s most vulnerable people.

The court, which bars the media and the public from its deliberations and rarely publishes its judgments, has faced nearly 4,000 complaints since it was set up two years ago.

Mr Justice Charles and Mrs Justice Proudman will chair a committee to examine whether the court provides an ‘effective service’.

Their appointments follow the intervention of Justice Secretary Jack Straw after The Mail on Sunday highlighted huge flaws with the court’s system.

The court is also accused of mismanaging the £2.7billion it controls on behalf of vulnerable people – including those suffering from dementia and other forms of mental incapacity.

The court’s president Sir Mark Potter said: ‘The Court of Protection has faced a number of difficulties in its first two years and court users have complained that court procedure is too formal particularly in relation to straightforward financial matters which are not contentious.

‘My aim is to create a set of rules, practice directions and forms that are clear and simple for lay and professional users to understand.

'Where possible, the committee should simplify the handling of routine property and affairs cases, for example by slimming down some of the procedures.’

Did Iran's president take part in a demo during a brutal afternoon in London (or was it a man who looked exactly like him?)

By Jason Lewis
Last updated at 11:45 AM on 03rd December 2009

The features are unmistakable, the fervour irrepressible as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad turns against a crowd of opponents.

But despite the uncanny likeness, officially this is not the President of Iran who oversaw the bloody suppression of his country’s democracy movement.

This picture was taken in London in 1984 and raises puzzling queries over Mr Ahmadinejad, 53.

Much of his rise to Iran’s presidency is shrouded in the secrecy which surrounds what has gone on in the pariah state since the Iranian Revolution in 1979 swept the late Ayatollah Khomeini to power.

Protest: But a spokesman for the Iranian Embassy said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wasn't in London in the 1980s

Now this photograph, unearthed by The Mail on Sunday, suggests a young Mr Ahmadinejad spent time in London and took part in a notorious incident which demonstrated his and the Iranian regime’s repressive and sometimes violent nature.

The picture, first published by the Daily Mail on April 27, 1984, shows a smart-suited man on the balcony of the Iranian consulate in Kensington, his fist raised in a menacing salute as he harangues anti-Khomeini demonstrators in the street below.

The man, who reports described as a diplomat, had stepped on to the balcony hours after protesters opposed to the Islamic regime stormed the building as part of synchronised worldwide action.

As demonstrators burst in chanting anti-Khomeini slogans, consulate staff, including members of the notorious Republican Guard, locked them in the reception room.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad now

According to reports at the time, and witnesses who spoke to The Mail on Sunday last week, the Iranian staff then returned in numbers, armed with wooden and iron clubs. Inside, the 11 unarmed protesters were taken prisoner.

Some reports suggested they were tortured to discover the names of relatives and friends still living in Iran.

The late investigative reporter Paul Foot said: ‘The protesters were bound, interrogated and beaten. Two were beaten unconscious. One recovered but could not lift his head because it was stuck to the carpet in congealed blood.’ He said the beating went on for seven hours. Then at 6pm, a diplomat, and it is unclear if this was Mr Ahmadinejad, appeared on the balcony and announced that the protesters had been ‘dealt with’.

The demonstrators were then thrown out of the building with placards hung around their necks accusing them of being terrorists in the pay of the US and France. No one from the consulate faced charges.

Last week the Foreign Office said it had no record of Mr Ahmadinejad being at the Iranian consulate in the Eighties. The Diplomatic List for 1984 contains no reference to the name Ahmadinejad, which he adopted after his family moved to Tehran when he was a boy, or to his real name Mahmoud Saborjhian. Yesterday the Iranian Embassy added that it ‘didn’t think it was right’ that he had ever been based in London.

Two people who took part in the protest, who spoke to The Mail on Sunday last week, also said they had no recollection of him that day.

Mr Ahmadinejad was also alleged to have taken part in the beating of American diplomats at its embassy in Tehran after it was taken over by students in 1979.

A photograph purportedly showed Mr Ahmadinejad escorting a blindfolded US hostage.

But the Iranians produced a picture of the President as a young man which appeared to look little like the hostage-taker.

We passed the picture to photo-analysis firm OmniPerception, who regularly aid police. It said: ‘A database of several thousand people was complemented with four recent images of the President. A comparison using the 1984 image was made. The result indicated the four pictures to be the most likely match of all subjects in the database. If this was a police inquiry, this would give cause for further investigation.’

A spokesman for Iran's Embassy in London said: 'We strongly denounce any claim that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the man in your picture of protests at the Iranian Embassy in 1984. In fact he did not visit the UK in 1980s.'

Mother dies after cancer screening machine blunder

By Jason Lewis
Last updated at 1:42 AM on 29th November 2009

One woman has died and hundreds of other cancer patients put at risk after a crucial machine used to test for the best way to treat the killer disease developed a fault that was not repaired for at least a month.

The NHS hospital at the centre of the blunder failed to tell patients their results may have been wrong due to the broken equipment.

It also did not report the incident to the medical authorities – an apparent breach of Department of Health rules designed to protect patients and alert doctors to problems.

Last month, mum Tracey Kindley, 43, died of breast cancer after learning her treatment had been based on inaccurate test results.

Tracey Kindley with her son Max. She died last month after learning her cancer treatment had been based on inaccurate test results

She was being treated at a private hospital in North London after she discovered a suspicious lump in March 2005.

Her doctors performed a biopsy and sent it to a local NHS Trust’s pathology department, which confirmed her cancer. But one of the machines used at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, in Welwyn Garden City, crucial in assisting her doctors in deciding the best treatment for the cancer, was not working correctly.

The machine – used to test hormone levels – gave a ‘false negative reading’ for oestrogen, meaning she was not prescribed certain life-saving drugs because it was thought they would have no effect on her cancer.

Her doctors spotted the error only when she failed to respond to treatment and the cancer spread.

One of the machines used at the Queen Elizabeth II hospital was not working correctly

The doctors ordered new laboratory tests on the original biopsy and these results showed very high oestrogen levels in the cancer cells, alerting them to a major error.

Health service managers at the Queen Elizabeth II ordered checks and discovered the machine had developed a fault around the time of the tests on Mrs Kindley.

A service report on the equipment shows a ‘critical repair’ was carried out on May 6, 2005. The managers claim the machine was ‘fixed within days’ of the problem being identified, but crucially Mrs Kindley’s tests were carried out on April 8 – almost a month before the fault was spotted.

The East and North Herts NHS Trust, which oversees the hospital, re-examined the results of other patients whose samples were tested on days either side of Mrs Kindley’s.

However, an internal investigation concluded the incident was a ‘one-off’ and that despite testing hundreds of patients during the period, no other patients could have been affected.

The conclusion meant patients tested when the machine is known to have been malfunctioning – a period of around four weeks – were never alerted that they, too, may have been given the wrong results.

In the weeks before her death, Mrs Kindley began a legal action against the hospital. Her lawyer Hugh Johnson, of Stewarts Law, believes that had she been given the right treatment, she would have had a 70 per cent chance of making a full recovery.

In his letter to the Trust, Dr Nihal Shah, Mrs Kindley’s consultant clinical oncologist, wrote that she ‘had concerns that a similar scenario does not arise for other patients’.

Mrs Kindley died on October 28. Yesterday, her husband said he blamed the test errors for his wife’s death. ‘I believe they robbed me of my wife. The right results would have opened up other forms of treatment and I believe she would be with me and her son Max now.’

Last night, the Trust acknowledged the tests carried out had given a ‘partial false negative result’ and it has apologised that this should have happened. It admitted that the problem had not been reported to the Medicines and Healthcare product Regulatory Agency. ‘That decision is now being reviewed.’

Anger as students, not soldiers, will guard stars from terror threat at 2012 London Olympics

By Jason Lewis, Mail on Sunday Security Editor
Last updated at 11:02 AM on 15th November 2009

Olympic security chiefs have ruled out using the Army to protect competitors and spectators at the 2012 Games – and instead they will rely on thousands of teenagers taking a 30-hour events safety course.

The move has provoked anger among military figures, who believe Army expertise is needed to ensure the London Olympics are safe from a potential terrorist outrage.

It also comes after Army Chief of Staff, General Sir David Richards, said worry over Olympic security ‘kept him awake at night’.

Fears: Security Minister Lord West said the Olympics would be faced with the 'greatest security challenge' since World Ward Two with a threat from terrorism

Whitehall sources have revealed that the military will be called upon only to carry out ‘niche roles’.

The task of protecting the Olympic Park will rely on private security staff and 6,000 16 to 19-year-olds taking a specially developed BTEC qualification.

The military would be required only in ‘extreme situations’ where Special Forces troops might be needed.

Sources said they might also be used to supplement police and civilian services or ‘to aid the civilian community’ in a similar way to their use during the 2007 floods.

In charge: Sir Ian Johnston said the event would need many more private security guards

General Richards has privately told commanding officers to expect an increase in their security role in Britain.

In a private briefing paper, obtained by The Mail on Sunday, he wrote: ‘I believe that this role will increase in importance as the 2012 Olympics approaches.’

But last week Sir Ian Johnston, the Director of Security for the Olympic Organising Committee, said policing the event would require thousands of private security guards.

The former Chief Constable of British Transport Police said to provide the extra staff needed, 50 colleges were being encouraged to set up courses that would supply 6,000 students to patrol Olympic sites.

The Level 2 BTEC diploma would give young people 30 hours of training in ‘keeping people safe at events’, ‘communicating’ and ‘dealing with large numbers of people’.

Official documents say: ‘The Home Office, the police and public will be given confidence that a secure, vetted, licensed and trained supply line of labour will be available to the appointed private security contractors to support stewarding and carry out other important tasks at the Games.’

Speaking at a conference on Olympic Security last week, Security Minister Lord West said the Olympics presented the ‘greatest security challenge’ since the Second World War.

The level of terrorist threat is expected to be severe, the second-highest level, he added.

Shadow Security Minister Dame Pauline Neville-Jones said the Army should have a role at the Games, but stressed this did not necessarily mean it should conduct high-profile patrols.

Secret court is told to open its doors after probe by the MoS

By Jason Lewis, Mail On Sunday Whitehall Editor
Last updated at 10:04 PM on 14th November 2009

Secretive: The Court of Protection in north London

The secretive Court of Protection - which controls the finances of some of Britain's most vulnerable people - has been ordered to open its proceedings to media scrutiny.

The court, already facing an internal review after nearly 4,000 complaints in just two years, has been told that it can no longer hold all its hearings in private. The move comes after a Mail on Sunday investigation highlighted widespread concerns about the way the court is run.

A test case last week ruled that the court should allow the media to attend one of its private hearings, which govern the money and care of people suffering from dementia and others lacking mental capacity. This is set to open the way for reporting of many more of the court's previously secret cases.

The public will still be barred from the court in North London but the media will be allowed to attend the hearing as they showed they can provide 'good reason' to do so.

The case was brought by lawyers for Associated Newspapers, publishers of The Mail on Sunday, and other newspaper groups.

The landmark decision by High Court judge Mr Justice Hedley comes following a legal case to decide the control of the affairs of an 'internationally famous' disabled man.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was described in court as a young adult 'who is severely disabled, resulting in severe learning difficulties which render him incapable of making decisions as to any significant issue in his life'.

The Court of Protection is involved because, the judge said, 'he is and is likely to remain dependent on others for his care and he is currently cared for in accommodation provided by a national charity.

'However, he also possesses remarkable gifts and the practice of those have brought him to public, indeed international, attention.'

Cases in the Court of Protection, set up two years ago, had, until now, been heard in private and reporting of most of its rulings are banned.

Campaign: The Mail on Sunday's front page headline

But last week Mr Justice Hedley ordered that the media could report details of the case after the hearing, including the identity and background of the disabled but gifted individual, but some information about his finances should remain secret.

Alastair Pitblado, the Official Solicitor who acts for people who cannot make their own decisions, said that he would go to the Court of Appeal in his client's best interests.

He added: 'The rules [for the Court of Protection] were recently made by Parliament and the default position is privacy.'

Justice Secretary Jack Straw has ordered a judge to review the workings of the court after The Mail on Sunday revealed the problems faced by the families of those put under its protection.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice, which oversees the court, said: 'We have always said that it is open to the Press to make an application to attend the Court of Protection on a case-by-case basis, and this is what has happened.'

British UN scientist's death was 'not suicide', Gordon Brown is told

By Jason Lewis
Last updated at 11:22 PM on 14th November 2009

Intervention: Gordon Brown is being urged to investigate Timothy Hampton's death further

Gordon Brown is being urged to intervene in an investigation into the mysterious death of British scientist Timothy Hampton.

The nuclear expert fell to his death from the 17th floor of a UN building in Vienna last month.

Local police and UN officials have suggested that the 47-year-old, who was involved in monitoring illegal nuclear tests by Iran and North Korea, killed himself.

But tests commissioned by his family have raised doubts about the findings of a first post-mortem examination and suggest that Mr Hampton, from Newbury, may have been murdered.

One theory is the scientist could have been strangled, carried from his workplace on the sixth floor and thrown to his death.

Richard Benyon, Mr Hampton’s MP, said: ‘I have grave misgivings about this case. I am told Mr Hampton was not suicidal.

'He was happy in his work, loved living in Vienna and was devoted to his partner and three-year-old child.

‘Yet his death seems to be being swept under the carpet. I am asking the PM not to allow this to happen.’

Earlier this week, the UN denied claims that Mr Hampton, who worked for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation, was involved in talks discussing nuclear testing in Iran.

Civil servants being given time off for shopping trips and cake-baking competitions

By Jason Lewis
Last updated at 5:54 PM on 08th November 2009

Government officials are being given time off for Christmas shopping trips, days at the races, and to compete in Whitehall jam-making and cake-baking competitions – all subsidised by the taxpayer.

The events are being offered by the Civil Service Sports Council with the help of a £1.4million-a-year grant from Government funds.

The organisation is also investing millions of pounds building luxury health clubs on former civil service sports grounds – only to charge the public up to £70 a month for membership.

Bags of work: Staff from HMRC's Worthing office on a shopping trip to Southampton

Last week, the CSSC, whose vice-president is Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell, Britain’s most senior mandarin, offered members the chance to enter an angling competition, go for a day out at the races or see a West End show.

Many of the events took place during the working day, with the CSSC encouraging managers to give civil servants ‘time off for sports days, and national and regional activity’.

The CSSC, which was set up in the Twenties, provides gyms for staff inside Whitehall departments and facilities across the country, charging civil servants just £3.25 a month to join.

On Friday, it helped to organise a craft show at the Department for Business’s gym in Whitehall, which included baking, jam-making, and knitting and painting competitions.

Staff from Peter Mandelson’s department along with those from Ed Miliband’s Department of Energy and Climate Change were given ‘the time off they will require to attend the show as an official duty’.

Competitors from regional government offices were also able to claim a refund on their travel costs from Whitehall funds.

The competition was open to staff from the Home Office, the Department for Transport and the Communities and Local Government Department.

Other events last week saw staff from HM Revenue & Customs’ Worthing office take time out for a shopping trip to Southampton.

Staff were charged £5 for the coach trip, which collected them from the HMRC office at 8am. After lunch in a pizza restaurant, they returned late that afternoon clutching bags from Ikea, Primark, and Marks & Spencer. Some purchases appeared to be so heavy that they required two people to carry them.

'Special leave' to take part in events

Meanwhile, civil servants based near Heathrow went on a discounted trip to see the hit musical Jersey Boys in the West End. Members paid £15 despite the cheapest seats costing £20 and most between £32 and £60.

And a trip to a Sheffield dog track for Leeds-based civil servants cost members £9 with ‘prices including the coach trip, entry, food, free pint or glass of wine and a bet’. Owlerton Greyhound Stadium charges £15 a head for group tickets.

A Cabinet Office spokesman confirmed that staff could get ‘special leave’ to take part in events but insisted the decision was ‘left to the discretion of departments and managers’.

‘The health and well being of staff is an important issue for all employers,’ he added. ‘The Civil Service is no exception.’ But he admitted the Government grant to the CSSC was ‘under review’. The Mail on Sunday understands one of the reasons for this is the commercial activities of the CSSC.

Over the past few years, the organisation has closed a number of its sports grounds and, in partnership with a venture capital firm, has built five luxury health clubs and a series of five-a-side football centres on former civil service facilities.

The decision was taken by the CSSC board, which is made up of serving and retired civil servants, without the approval of Ministers. The health clubs are open to the public and charge members between £30 and £70 a month for use of facilities including swimming pools, spas and gyms.

The commercial arm, which includes five Roko health clubs, had a turnover of £13.4million last year. It borrowed £30million to set the clubs up and is running at a £4million loss.

Last night, Marian Holmes, CSSC chief executive, denied that taxpayers’ cash was being invested in the scheme.

And she added: ‘Some of our activities are during the working week. Time off is a matter for individual departments and individual managers.

‘There is nothing wrong with staff taking a day off together. This sort of activity does wonders for staff morale and helps them work more efficiently and effectively together.’

A spokesman for the Department for Business said staff who attended the craft fair had done so ‘during their lunch break’.

Secret court takes four months to give elderly their own money, and then charges £400 for the privilege

By Jason Lewis
Last updated at 3:06 AM on 08th November 2009

The secretive and controversial Court of Protection – which controls the finances of some of Britain’s most vulnerable people – is taking an average of four months to release people’s cash, while charging them £400 to apply for it.

The latest shocking revelation about the court comes in the wake of a Mail on Sunday investigation into widespread concerns about the way it is run.

The court, which has attracted nearly 4,000 complaints from the public in the past two years, oversees money belonging to people with dementia or other forms of mental incapacity.

Call for inquiry: Jack Straw has ordered a judge to review the workings of the court

It holds a £2.7billion fund at the Bank of England, in an account paying just half a per cent interest. It costs people an average of £400

to have their applications for access to the money processed.

Asked how long it could take to release funds – which relatives might need to pay for care fees or bills – officials said it ‘only’ took 16 weeks on average. That is inside the court’s 21-week target for ruling on most issues concerning the management of the finance and welfare of people unable to make their own decisions.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw has ordered a judge to review the workings of the court after The Mail on Sunday revealed the huge problems faced by the families of those put under its protection. People complained to us about how:

• Court officials paid the proceeds of a house sale into the wrong account.

• l A relative was accused of abusive behaviour towards a court official on a visit to his home – even though the official had never visited him.

• l One claimant was charged £4,100 in legal fees to withdraw £5,800 of their own money.

• l Elderly clients died before requests for cash were agreed.

Last night, a spokeswoman for the court said that since new laws came into force in 2007, the new Court of Protection had generally allowed ‘deputies’ – those permitted to access a person’s money on their behalf – more freedom than in the past.

She said: ‘Most deputies have been able to keep money in any account they choose and access it with no restrictions.

‘This is a great improvement on the previous system, when greater restrictions were in place.’

She added: ‘The Court of Protection receives approximately 1,800 applications a month – this includes applications to appoint a deputy or to make decisions in relation to the property, affairs, health care and personal welfare of adults and children who lack capacity.

‘Our published standard for all applications is 21 weeks, which includes time for notification and response, and we are currently processing all applications within an average of 16 weeks.’

The spokeswoman added that recent applications to move funds out of the court’s account at the Bank of England have usually been much quicker.

‘We have had around 190 such applications since August and they are taking, on average, about seven weeks to process. There is no backlog of applications to take funds.’

The secret court of living hell: Straw promises to review Court of Protection after MoS exposes shocking catalogue of flaws

By Jason Lewis, Mail On Sunday Whitehall Editor
Last updated at 10:28 PM on 31st October 2009

Under fire: How The Mail On Sunday exposed activities of the Court Of Protection, which is based in this London office block

Justice Secretary Jack Straw has pledged to re-examine the workings of the secretive Court of Protection after a Mail on Sunday investigation exposed huge flaws in the system designed to look after some of Britain’s most vulnerable people.

His promise comes as more scandalous details of how the court governs the financial affairs of vulnerable people are revealed by this newspaper – a week after we exposed widespread concerns.

Mr Straw has ordered High Court judge Sir Mark Potter, president of the Family Division, to examine the court rules ‘to ensure they provide an efficient and effective service’ and said last night: ‘The Mail on Sunday has been right to raise these issues and I commend you for doing so.’

Today, the court – which bars the media and the public from its deliberations and rarely publishes its judgments – is accused of mismanaging the £2.7billion it controls on behalf of vulnerable people.

We can also disclose that the Office of the Public Guardian, which ensures families comply with the court’s judgments, faced 889 complaints in the past six months – bringing the total number of complaints in the two years since the system was overhauled by Labour to almost 4,000.

The huge sums controlled by the court are held in a Bank of England account, paying just 0.5 per cent interest a year to families of vulnerable people, which works out at a total of £13.5million a year.

Critics say the money should be held at High Street banks, which would offer at least three per cent interest and realise £81million.

The Ministry of Justice claimed it would be accused of ‘irresponsible decision-making’ if it moved the money from the Bank of England, where it is protected. But Opposition politicians said this claim was ‘ridiculous’, particularly after the Government propped up the banks last year.

It leaves some families, even those controlling multi-million-pound medical negligence awards, not earning enough interest to cover their needs and having to spend money set aside to fund a lifetime of care.

Enlarge

Caring family: Colin with mother Alison, father Colin Snr and brothers Cavan and Cedwyn, right

Following our investigation last week, more than 350 people left comments on The Mail on Sunday’s website and another 100 people wrote letters and emails. Relatives, friends and lawyers of people suffering Alzheimer’s or other mental incapacity due to old age, accidents or illness, exposed a catalogue of flaws in the system.

Among the cases highlighted were:

• Court officials paying the proceeds of a house sale into the wrong account.

• A young father of an eight-year-old cerebral palsy victim being accused of abusive behaviour to an official on a visit to his home – even though the official had never visited him.

• A former lawyer being charged £4,100 in legal fees to withdraw £5,800 of her own money.

• Fees of £42,000 charged to transfer a daughter’s care from her father to her mother after the father died.

• Complaints that simple applications to the court – which has just three full-time judges – took up to ten months.

Several clients died before their cases were decided.

The largest proportion of complaints regarded the interest rates, which were cut from from six per cent to just 0.5 per cent after the banking collapse last year.

Shadow Justice Secretary Henry Bellingham, who is calling for a Parliamentary debate on the ‘creaking’ system, said: ‘It is ridiculous that the Government cannot offer a better interest rate – and nonsense to say that this money would be at risk in one of the big High Street banks. The banking crisis showed that the Treasury would not let anything happen to them.’

Enlarge

Mr Straw revealed how he had become involved personally in the debate, as a direct result of our investigation.

He said: ‘Only yesterday, during one of my constituency surgeries in Blackburn, a family came to see me regarding the sorts of issues you raised in your article last week.

'I understand that you have been contacted by many readers following your article and can assure you that we take this very seriously. I will be examining the points raised carefully.

'I have therefore agreed for Sir Mark Potter, President of the Court of Protection, to set up a committee to review the current Court of Protection Rules to ensure they provide an efficient and effective service.

‘I do not underestimate the frustration and sometimes anger of the people in the cases you have highlighted.

My pledge is that we are listening and where changes are needed, we will make them.’

The Government has urged everyone to establish a so-called last power of attorney, or living will, to nominate someone to look after their affairs should they become incapacitated.

The system is just so cumbersome and incompetent

• Ian Johnson has managed the affairs of his aunt Eva, who suffers from dementia, since her husband died and she moved into a care home. Money from their house sale went into a Court of Protection account. When Mr Johnson got a £35,000 bill for Eva’s care costs he applied to the court for access to some money. It took five months to get it and when it came it was £10,000 short. Mr Johnson, of Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, said: ‘They are incompetent. You never speak to the same person twice. I agree someone should keep an eye on us but does it need this cumbersome Government department?’
• After Martyn Chisnall’s mother Frieda descended into dementia at 98, he expected the court to quickly grant him responsibility for her and her modest savings, given that he had cared for her for 20 years – and was paying £525 a week in nursing home fees. But instead he had to wait three months. The retired fitter, of Christchurch, Dorset, said: ‘They took so long that two weeks after allowing me to access her savings, she died.’
  
• Linda Maunder moved to Portugal with her brain-damaged 21-year-old adopted daughter.
  Her husband Tony had looked after their daughter’s affairs but when he died after a brain tumour,
  Mrs Maunder applied to the court to take over control of a £1.6million criminal compensation award for the injuries her daughter suffered as a baby. Mrs Maunder said: ‘Every time pen touches paper at the Office of the Public Guardian you are charged. My daughter ended up paying around £42,000
  to solicitors, barristers and accountants.’
  
• Christine from Suffolk sold her aunt’s home after she moved into a care home suffering from dementia. When she needed some of the £165,000 in the court fund to pay care fees, she found out officials had transferred the cash to the account of another woman who shared her aunt’s name.