Former Co-op Chairman Released On Police Bail

Chancellor George Osborne has announced plans for an independent inquiry into the Co-operative Bank's near collapse, as its former chairman was released by police.

The review uses new powers under the Financial Services Act and follows calls from Prime Minister David Cameron for an inquiry into the bank's ailing finances and the decision to appoint Paul Flowers as chairman.

It will add to an investigation being considered by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), following the regulators' talks with Bank of England governor Mark Carney on Friday.

Mr Osborne announced the review

The Co-op faces a rescue which will see 50 branches close and investors including US hedge funds take control of 70% of the business.

The Treasury-led inquiry will look into mistakes made in the run-up to the Co-op Bank's woes and the £1.5bn black hole in its finances, dating back to at least 2008.

The Treasury said it will investigate actions of the regulators and government in relation to the issues at the bank.

It will also cover the Co-op's takeover of Britannia Building Society at the height of the banking crisis, as well as appointment procedures in light of the scandal surrounding Mr Flowers.

Since Mr Flowers stepped down in June, questions have been asked about his competence in the role.

The 63-year-old Methodist minister was arrested by West Yorkshire Police on Thursday night in Merseyside.

He has been held in connection with an "an ongoing drug supply investigation", police said.

Mr Flowers has been questioned all day by police, and was released on Friday evening.

Asked how Mr Flowers was feeling, his solicitor Andy Hollas said: "I think a rather ponderous frame of mind - I think anyone in his situation would be."

Mr Hollas added: "He's not necessarily guilty of anything, he's not been charged with anything."

Mr Flowers resigned as Co-op chairman in June

Mr Flowers was suspended by both the church and the Labour Party following newspaper allegations that he bought and used illegal drugs.

The Treasury's inquiry will not start until the outcome of criminal investigations into Mr Flowers, or it is clear proceedings will not be prejudiced.

As with the recent review into Royal Bank of Scotland, the probe will be independently chaired, which is seen as vital by the Treasury Select Committee because the role of the regulators will also come under scrutiny.

The FCA said it "fully agrees" the investigation should be led by an independent person.

The Co-op is already at the centre of a barrage of investigations, with the group being grilled by MPs on the Treasury Select Committee into the bank's failed Project Verde bid for 632 Lloyds Banking Group branches.

Sky News has learned that the former Bank of England governor, Lord King, warned of a "political desire" for the Co-op to buy the branches.

It also emerged earlier that the Co-op is seeking to recover £31,000 paid to Mr Flowers since he quit his £132,000-a-year post in June.

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Grieve Warns Of 'Ethnic Corruption' In UK

Politicians need to "wake up" to the problem of corruption in ethnic minority communities, the Government's senior law officer has warned.

Attorney General Dominic Grieve said he was referring "mainly to the Pakistani community" in his comments.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph the Tory MP pointed out that it could also be found in the "white Anglo-Saxon" community but he said it was a growing problem "because we have minority communities in this country which come from backgrounds where corruption is endemic".

"It is something as politicians we have to wake up to," he added

The MP for Beaconsfield said: "I can see many of them have come because of the opportunities that they get. But they also come from societies where they have been brought up to believe you can only get certain things through a favour culture.

"One of the things you have to make absolutely clear is that that is not the case and it's not acceptable."

Baroness Warsi said electoral fraud also affects the Asian community

Asked if he was referring to the Pakistani community in his remarks, Mr Grieve told the newspaper: "Yes, it's mainly the Pakistani community, not the Indian community. I wouldn't draw it down to one. I'd be wary of saying it's just a Pakistani problem."

He added: "I happen to be very optimistic about the future of the UK. We have managed integration of minority communities better than most countries in Europe."

Mr Grieve highlighted electoral fraud as an area of concern, echoing comments made in 2010 by senior Tory Baroness Warsi.

Lady Warsi told the New Statesman magazine there were "at least three seats where we lost, where we didn't gain the seat, based on electoral fraud" and said the problems were "predominantly within the Asian community".

Mr Grieve also said that the UK's infrastructure could be put under strain if significant numbers of Bulgarians and Romanians come to the UK when controls expire in January.

He acknowledged that "the volume of immigrants may pose serious infrastructure issues".

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Miliband Accuses Cameron Of Co-op 'Smear'

The Labour leader has hit back at questions over his relationship with the disgraced former Co-op Bank chairman claiming it is all Tory smears.

Ed Miliband accused the Prime Minister of taking a "serious situation at the bank" and using it to make a "cheap political point".

He said: "I think what this episode says is more about the character of the Prime Minister than the character of Labour's relationship with the Co-op.

"We have a Prime Minister who, when he sees a serious situation at the bank, turns to make cheap political points rather than sorting out that serious situation.

"And frankly if David Cameron is determined to smear his way through the next 18 months that's wrong and that is not what the British people expect from their Prime Minister."

He said the Conservatives were "throwing around wild accusations" regarding the disclosures that the Labour Party benefitted from up to £18m of "soft loans".

Paul Flowers speaking about trust in the Co-op Bank in 2012

Mr Miliband said: "As soon as I knew about Reverend Flowers' activities he was suspended from the Labour Party and now what needs to be happen is there does need to be a look at the regulatory issues around the regulation of the Co-op and Reverend Flowers' role in that ."

He said the Labour Party had a "historic relationship" with the Co-op that long pre-dated Mr Flowers involvement with the bank.

Electoral Commission documents show a significant number of loans made to the party at more favourable interest rates than those extended to ordinary customers.

One £1.2m loan deal was made just weeks after the ex-Methodist minister Mr Flowers was invited to a meeting at Mr Miliband's office in March this year.

It has also emerged that Mr Flowers was brought on to the Labour Party's business advisory group and the party is under pressure to explain a 2012 £50,000 donation to the shadow chancellor, Ed Balls.

Mr Balls told Sky's Adam Boulton that he had never had a phone call or a meeting with Mr Flowers and stressed that the donation came from the Co-operative Group and not the Co-operative Bank.

Cameron pledges an inquiry into Mr Flowers' appointment to the bank

He said that the Tories had just as many questions to answer saying: "The Treasury, George Osborne and his ministers met Mr Flowers 10, 20, 30 times and the regulator gave them (Co-op Bank) a clean bill of health to buy Lloyds branches - 600 of them."

He also accused Mr Cameron of attempting to smear the Labour leadership over the party's links with the Co-op.

Mr Flowers, who led the Co-op for three years until 2013, is being investigated by the police for allegedly buying and using illegal drugs including crystal meth, crack cocaine and ketamine.

It has also emerged that he was convicted of drink-driving in 1990 and for gross indecency in a toilet with a man in 1981.

In 2011 he resigned his role on Bradford council after being caught with pornography on his council laptop and it has been alleged he falsely claimed £75,000 from a drugs charity when he was chairman of trustees in 2004.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday after pledging an inquiry into Mr Flowers' three years at the helm of the Co-op Bank, Mr Cameron said: "What we can now see is that this bank, driven into the wall by this chairman, has been giving soft loans to the Labour Party, facilities to the Labour Party, donations to the Labour Party, trooped in and out of Downing Street under Labour, still advising the leader of the Labour Party.

Mr Flowers stumbles when answering MPs' questions

"And yet, now we know, all along they knew about his past. Why did they do nothing to bring to the attention of the authorities this man who has broken a bank?"

Mr Flowers has also been accused of incompetence and resigned from his £132,000-a-year post as chair in June after a £1.5bn black hole was discovered in its finances.

The bank found a massive gap following the purchase of Britannia Building Society in 2009 and abortive attempts to take on hundreds of Lloyds branches.

It now faces a rescue which will see 50 branches close and investors including US hedge funds take control of 70% of the business.

During an appearance before the Commons Treasury committee earlier this month, Mr Flowers stumbled over basic facts and figures relating to the bank.

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Women Were 'Kept As Slaves For Over 30 Years'

Two people have been released on bail as part of an investigation into slavery and domestic servitude at a house in London sparked by a report on Sky News.

The inquiry was launched after one of three alleged victims told a charity she had been held against her will for more than 30 years in a house in Lambeth, south London.

She contacted the Freedom Charity after seeing its founder Aneeta Prem in a report last summer about forced marriages.

Scotland Yard said the charity, which advises and supports victims of forced marriages or honour-based violence, got in touch and helped with sensitive negotiations, which revealed the location of the house and led to the rescue of the three women.

Police said two people detained in connection with the investigation - a 67-year-old man and a 67-year-old woman - have been bailed until a date in January, pending further inquiries. 

Police believe the youngest of the alleged victims may have spent her entire life as a domestic slave.

Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland from the Metropolitan Police's human trafficking unit told a news conference at Scotland Yard that the force had "never seen anything of this magnitude".

Home Secretary Theresa May is "shocked by this appalling case," her department said in a statement.

Officers said the two suspects, who are not British, were arrested at 7.30am and taken to a south London police station for questioning.

Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland said the victims were 'highly traumatised'

One of the three alleged victims is a 69-year-old Malaysian woman, the other a 57-year-old Irish woman and the third a 30-year-old Briton.

All three, described by police as "highly traumatised", were taken to a place of safety where they remain.

Sky's Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt said police do not believe the women were sexually assaulted, but they may have been physically and mentally abused.

Ms Prem told Sky News it was the Irish woman who phoned the Freedom Charity after watching her on television.

"I think all of them saw me on the news and made a decision because of the name of the charity and because they had seen me on TV - that gave them the courage to make that phone call," she said.

"I can't go in to too many details but they managed to get to a phone and make a call to us.

"We started to talk to them in depth when we could. It had to be pre-arranged when they were able to make calls to us and it had to be done very secretly because they felt they were in massive danger.

"It was planned that they would be able to walk out of the property. The police were on standby."

The three women were rescued from an address in Lambeth, south London

Police said the British and Irish women left the house and met police at an agreed location on October 25. They helped police find the address, where the third woman was rescued on the same day. 

DI Hyland said the suspects were not immediately arrested as officers had to "establish the facts" from "extremely traumatised" victims.

He said it appeared the three alleged victims had been given "limited freedom" during the three decades they claim to have been held as slaves.

He said he was unable to confirm any relationship between the suspects and the three women who were freed.

"I don't know any relationships between the women in respect of the suspects," he said.

"Clearly, because of the nationalities of the women that have been held victims, it's very unlikely they are related in any way."

He added: "We applaud the actions of Freedom Charity and are working in partnership to support these victims who appear to have been held for over 30 years."

A neighbour said the arrested couple were "very nice".

The neighbour added: "They just kept themselves to themselves and I keep myself to myself. So it was just a case of we'd pass and say hello to each other.

"They just seemed a very normal couple. I just know it's very unfortunate."

A Home Office spokesman said: "The Home Secretary is shocked by this appalling case and while the police need to get to the bottom of exactly what happened here, she's made clear her determination to tackle the scourge of modern slavery."

Met commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe told BBC London radio: "If the allegations are true that someone's been kept against their will or been abused for 30 years that's a horrendous thing and we're all shocked by that."

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Hundreds Of Brits Jailed Abroad On Drug Charges

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2:25am UK, Thursday 21 November 2013

Strict penalties imposed by some countries can come as a shock to Britons

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Paris Shootings: Suspect's DNA Is A Match

DNA collected at one of the scenes of the Paris shootings is a match to a suspect arrested on Wednesday evening.

The man, named by police as Abdelhakim Dekhar, was detained at around 7pm local time (6pm GMT) in a vehicle in an underground  car park in the western suburb of Bois-Colombes.

The office of city prosecutors said the reading of the Mr Dekhar's rights had to be postponed because he was not in a position to be questioned.

Several sources close to the investigation said the suspect was found in a semi-conscious state.

A witness to the arrest told BFM TV: "I don't know if they fired or not to make him stop. He did not move in the ambulance."

Police made the arrest after a tip-off

Police sources told AFP that the man arrested is the same Abdelhakim Dekhar who was convicted in 1998 for his links to a "Bonnie-and-Cyde" style murder spree.

Dekhar was accused of buying a gun used in the 1994 attacks by Florence Rey and her lover Audry Maupin.

Three policemen and a taxi driver were killed in the attacks, in a case that gripped France.

Dekhar protested his innocence at his trial in 1998, claiming he had been recruited by the Algerian secret service to infiltrate the French far-left. Despite that, he was found guilty and sentenced to four years in jail.

Investigators had earlier released CCTV images of the man they were looking for taken in an entrance in the La Defense business area.

They have received hundreds of calls about the case from members of the public.

On Monday, the shooter critically wounded a photographer at the offices of Liberation newspaper.

The suspect was caught on camera in the La Defense area

The photographer was arriving for his first day of freelance work at the newspaper and suffered wounds to his chest and stomach.

After fleeing the newspaper's offices in the east of Paris, the gunman is believed to have crossed over to the western edge of the city, where he fired several shots outside the main office of the Societe Generale bank. No one was hurt.

He then reportedly hijacked a car driven by a priest and forced him to drop him off close to the Champs-Elysees in the centre of the city.

The shootings prompted a massive manhunt across Paris. The motive for the attacks remains unknown.

The same man is also suspected to have previously entered the offices of French TV station BFM carrying a gun.

The attacks led to French police arranging guards at Paris media outlets.

The photographer's assistant, who has not been named, is understood to be awake and off life support.

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Gibraltar: Spanish Ship Leaves After Standoff

A Spanish ship that refused to leave Gibraltar's waters for 20 hours has finally departed after the Foreign Office summoned Spanish ambassador Federico Trillo.

The survey vessel came within 250 metres of the entrance to the Gibraltar Port on Monday and refused direct orders from British Royal Navy patrol boats to leave.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "The RN Gibraltar Squadron's Fast Patrol Boats HMS Sabre and HMS Scimitar ... challenged the Ramon Margalef's presence by issuing appropriate warnings and preventing the deployment of the Ramon Margalef's oceanographic surveying probe.

"There was no damage to any Royal Navy or Spanish equipment or vessels and no injuries were incurred.

A Navy vessel had pulled alongside the Spanish ship

"The actions of the Royal Navy were fully in accordance with Her Majesty's Government's commitment to uphold the sovereignty of Gibraltar with a range of proportionate responses."

In a statement, Prime Minister David Cameron's office said: "Our view on this, about the importance of the territorial integrity of our sovereign waters, is unchanged.

"It's very important. We have communicated that to the Spanish government."

The spokesman said that although Britain's relationship with Spain was important, it the Government would not compromise on Gibraltar.

"Clearly our relations with the Spanish government are important to us. We work with them in a number of areas. Where we have differences we will make those very clear and intend to do that," he said.

Spain lays claim to Gibraltar which was ceded to Britain 300 years ago

The Gibraltar government called the Spanish state vessel's movements an "intolerable intrusion" and a "clear violation" of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

A spokesman said: "The Government takes a very serious view of this development which represents yet another escalation of Spain's campaign against Gibraltar on land and at sea." 

The ship sailed within "dangerous" proximity of other ships in the harbour which prompted the Gibraltar Port Authority to issue a safety warning, the spokesman added.

It is the latest incident in a long-running row between Spain and the British territory.

The European Commission last week cleared Spain of any wrongdoing after it set up stringent border checks on the Gibraltar border crossing.

Motorists queue to cross the border between Spain and Gibraltar

Travellers faced delays of several hours over the summer following a war of words between Spain and the UK.

Spanish authorities said the tightened controls were an attempt to crack down on tobacco smuggling, but Mr Cameron claimed the checks were "politically motivated".

The increased border security came shortly after the construction of an artificial reef by the Gibraltar government which angered Spanish fishermen.

Spain lays claim to Gibraltar, which has a population of just 30,000 and was ceded to Britain 300 years ago.

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Tory Rebels To Block Army Restructure Plan

By Becky Johnson, North of England Correspondent

Tory rebels are preparing to vote against controversial Government plans to axe 20,000 army jobs and replace them with reservists.

Under the plans the newly-named Army Reserve, formally known as the Territorial Army (TA), would increase in size to 30,000 personnel by 2020.

However, led by Basildon MP John Baron, rebel Conservative backbenchers will attempt to block the move.

Mr Baron told Sky News the Government's plan needs to be "properly scrutinised" to see if they are viable and cost effective.

"There are so many questions that remain unanswered, let's stop for a moment, let's properly scrutinise these plans and if they pass that scrutiny test by Parliament then, fine, they can proceed," he said.

Armed Forces reservists sign up

This week soldiers from the 1st Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers were cheered by crowds in Rochdale and Bury as they marched through the towns following their return from a six-month tour of Afghanistan.

They face the possibility of job losses as the Government restructuring proposals involve axing their sister Battalion, the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, and merging the two together.

Captain Rex Anderton told Sky News: "There's a lot of disappointment but we're a very reactive force, we've learnt to deal with change as it comes, that's one of the good things about the British army is that we adapt and overcome whatever the decisions are made at a higher level."

Veteran Fusilier Stephen Taylor was watching the troops parade through Bury.

A gunner carrying out a training exercise

He served six years in the regular army and 10 years in the TA.

He told Sky News he believes reservists cannot replace full time soldiers.

"When you're a regular you're training every day of your life, seven days a week. When you're in the TA you're allowed to go home.

"Reservists can only do so much. You need the regular army to train the other people up but the reservists can only do half the job."

However, among the crowds lining the streets was 18-year-old Army cadet Chris Hall who believes joining the Army Reserve is an attractive option.

Regular and reserve army units prepare for operations in Afghanistan

"For me it means I can follow a career other than the army, I can do pharmaceutical research or go into medicine, and it still means I can be part of the army... I can follow a career myself and still serve my country."

Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Peter Wall, said: "The Army is committed to delivering Army 2020.

"It will provide a coherent, integrated force of Regulars and Reserves that will deliver the capability the Government requires of us. We are well on our way to implementing this plan.

"To reverse course at this stage would be destabilising and damaging. Increasing and rebuilding the Army Reserve is crucial to delivering the fighting force of the future.

"To do otherwise would leave a gap in our capability and deprive talented young people of an opportunity to benefit from military service."

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Bodies In Ditches: Woman Admits Three Murders

A woman has admitted murdering three men whose stabbed bodies were found in remote ditches in Cambridgeshire.

Joanna Dennehy pleaded guilty to killing Kevin Lee, Lukasz Slaboszewski and John Chapman between March and April this year.

The 30-year-old, from Peterborough, also pleaded guilty to preventing the lawful and decent burial of all three victims, as well as the attempted murders of two other men, Robin Bereza and John Rogers.

The bodies were found close to Peterborough, Cambridgeshire

She was arrested after a police hunt, during which officers distributed her picture and described the distinctive star tattoo she has under her right eye.

Appearing at the Old Bailey, Dennehy told the judge, Mr Justice Sweeney: "I've pleaded guilty and that's that."

Her barrister, Nigel Lickley QC, said: "The course of the arraignment is not one we had anticipated."

Mr Slaboszewski (L) and Mr Chapman were found with stab wounds on April 3

The bodies of Mr Slaboszewski, 31, who was stabbed in the heart, and Mr Chapman, 56, who died from neck and chest wounds, were found at Thorney Dyke, near Peterborough, on April 3.

Four days earlier, Mr Lee, 48, was discovered in a ditch in Newborough, around 10 miles away. He had been stabbed in the chest.

He was last seen on Good Friday and reported missing later that day when his Ford Mondeo was found burned out near a farm in Yaxley.

Mr Lee's body was discovered in a village north of Peterborough

In a statement released after his death, his family described him as a "wonderful husband, father, loving brother and son".

They said he had a "naturally infectious personality (that) touched everyone who knew him", adding: "He will be hugely missed by all his friends and family."

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Supermarket Offers Cited By Consumer Group

By Poppy Trowbridge, Business And Economics Correspondent

Some of Britain's biggest supermarkets have been accused of running so-called special offers that often see customers "paying over the odds".

Consumer group Which? analysed more than 70,000 grocery prices and found examples of what they call misleading multibuys and dodgy discounts.

Richard Lloyd, executive director, told Sky News: "People are at best paying what they would have done, or often we have found paying over the odds, paying extra when they think they are getting a discount. That can't be fair.

"These special offers simply aren't special at all. That is why we need to see the rules change to force the supermarkets to play fair."

Rising food prices are one of the top worries for consumers as inflation has outpaced average wage growth for about five years.

Which? is wants the Government to make the rules for special offers simpler, clearer and stricter.

The consumer group says if these changes are not made swiftly, it will consider using its formal legal powers to ensure the practice is tackled.

In the meantime shoppers should look carefully at the special offers, Richard Lloyd added.

"Make sure that you are not getting misled into buying something that you think is a good deal when that is just not the case."

The British Retail Consortium, which represents the supermarket industry, said in a statement: "Across the tens of thousands of promotions available every day, regrettably, occasional errors do slip through.

"Retailers work very quickly to rectify these mistakes whenever they are found."

Both Asda and Sainsbury also issued statements apologising for what they called pricing errors.

Sainsbury's said: "We are absolutely committed to fair and transparent promotions and carry out regular audits and thorough training on this."

Asda's statement said: "We take pricing seriously, and we've recently employed a new team within the business that looks at all aspects of our pricing process and pricing practices in store and online.

"Sometimes mistakes can happen, but we would never deliberately mislead our customers ... "

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US Midwest Hit By Severe Tornadoes: Three Dead

At least five people have been killed as powerful tornadoes sweep through the US Midwest, tearing through communities and destroying homes.

An elderly man and his sister were killed when a tornado hit their farmhouse in the town of New Minden, in rural southern Illnois.

And a third person was killed when a tornado struck the city of Washington in Illnois, and authorities confirmed two other deaths.

The devastation left behind by a tornado in Washington, Illnois

Tornadoes and damaging winds have already hit and caused extensive damage in a number of communities in Illnois, Kentucky, Indiana and Missouri, but authorities say as many as 10 states could be affected.

Homes have been flattened, cars overturned, trees uprooted and dozens of people injured.

One hospital in Peoria, Illinois, reported 24 patients in the emergency room. Eight of those patients were trauma victims, some with head injuries and broken bones.

The storm caused major damage

Forecasters warned of a "very dangerous" and fast-moving weather system across the US Midwest threatening 53 million people.

"We obviously have a very dangerous situation on our hands and it's just getting started," said Laura Furgione, deputy director of the National Weather Service.

They said there was a possibility of intense tornadoes, large hail up to two inches in diameter, and damaging winds reaching speeds of more than 80mph.

Anthony Khoury described what happened where he lived in Washington, Illnois, as a twister ripped through the city.

A car stands crushed beneath a fallen tree in Pekin, Illnois

He told Sky News: "Most of my neighbourhood is completely destroyed, everything has been demolished.

"Families have lost their homes, people don't have anywhere to sleep and the electricity has gone."

A large tornado struck outside Peoria, Illinois, meteorologists said, and the community of Washington in central Illinois has also been particularly hard-hit. 

One resident said his neighbourhood was wiped out in a matter of seconds by what appeared to be a tornado.

Ten states may be affected by the storms (Pic: National Weather Service)

"I stepped outside and I heard it coming. My daughter was already in the basement, so I ran downstairs and grabbed her, crouched in the laundry room and all of a sudden I could see daylight up the stairway and my house was gone," Michael Perdun said.

"The whole neighbourhood's gone, (and) the wall of my fireplace is all that is left of my house."

Jeff Leeman was working in his backyard when a tornado struck Pekin, Illnois, south of Peoria.

He said: "My son said, 'there it is', and in a matter of seconds we turned around and it was right on top of us. We hustled in the house and before we knew it, it was gone. It was that fast."

The Baltimore Ravens' game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field was temporarily suspended in the first quarter due to lightning in the area.

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Google Agrees To Block Child Abuse Images

Google has agreed to introduce measures backed by Prime Minister David Cameron to block child sex abuse content across its search engines.

The groundbreaking move will soon prevent illegal images and videos from appearing in more than 100,000 search terms associated with child sex abuse.

Google says it has also developed technology that will allow illegal videos to be 'tagged' so that all duplicate copies can be removed across the internet.

The changes will apply across the world in more than 150 languages.

Microsoft, which operates search engines Bing and powers Yahoo, will reportedly confirm at a Downing Street summit on online pornography today that it is introducing similar reforms.

Google chairman Eric Schmidt, writing in the Daily Mail ahead of the No 10 talks, says: "We've listened."

He added: "We've fine-tuned Google Search to prevent links to child sexual abuse material from appearing in our results."

Mr Cameron has welcomed the move as "a really significant step forward", but he threatened to bring forward new legislation if search engine companies failed to deliver on their promises.

Mr Cameron told the Daily Mail: "We learnt from cases like the murder of Tia Sharp and April Jones that people will often start accessing extreme material via a simple search in one of the mainstream search engines."

Senior figures from Google, Microsoft and BT were summoned to Parliament for a meeting with Culture Secretary Maria Miller in June where they told they must do more to crackdown on child porn.

The announcement comes Mr Cameron is set to reveal at today's summit that Britain's National Crime Agency is to join America's FBI to tackle online child abuse.

The UK's National Crime Agency is to join forces with America's FBI

The transatlantic taskforce is being established by the US assistant attorney general and the British to target criminals who use the internet to hide from the law, Downing Street says.

It will be specifically tasked with tracking down offenders who use the "dark web" - secret and encrypted networks that are increasingly being exploited by paedophiles and other criminals.

The NCA estimates that the number of UK daily users of secret or encrypted networks will have risen to 20,000 by the end of the year.

While some will be using them for legitimate purposes, UK law enforcement and intelligence agencies believe that paedophiles involved in distributing child abuse material are using them to hide their identities.

At the same time a group of industry experts is being set up to look at new technical solutions for removing child abuse material from the the internet.

Joanna Shields, the chief executive of Tech City UK, said it would be looking to spot the "threats of future" to protect the most vulnerable in society.

"It's vital that governments and industry work together to eradicate child abuse content from the internet, and that we mobilise the best and brightest in the technology industry to come up with innovative solutions to tackling this problem," she said.

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Body Found In Well: Seven Held In Murder Probe

Seven men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a body was found in a well 7ft below ground in several feet of water.

Police were called to the scene - in the front garden of a large house in Warlingham, Surrey - on Friday afternoon.

The body of the white adult was discovered by two gardeners who were doing clearing work at the property, which is in an acre of grounds in an affluent area.

It has now been removed from the well by specialist officers.

Earlier, detective Chief Inspector Cliff Lyons said: "The body presents a number of logistical challenges.

"The well is 2ft in diameter, it is 7ft deep to the water line, and the water is approximately 4ft deep.

"We need a police marine diving team, with breathing apparatus, and we need to recover the body intact to preserve forensic evidence.

Officers from the Underwater and Confined Space Search Team

DCI Lyons told Sky News: "It is clear to me the body has been placed in the well as opposed to falling in the well and therefore it is a murder investigation."

He added: "It is not possible to ascertain with accuracy the gender of the body but, judging by the size, it is most likely to be an adult, not a child. The person is white.

"It's not been there for an extended period of time, it will be a matter of weeks at the most."

He appealed for anyone who had concerns about a person who has gone missing, especially if they had connections to that area, to come forward.

Anyone with information is urged to call police on 020 8721 4961 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

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Unions Probe: Review Into Intimidation Claims

David Cameron has set himself on a collision course with the unions by announcing an independent review into allegations of intimidation and bullying.

The move follows claims of sabotage and harassment related to the bitter industrial dispute which almost led to the closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland.

Downing Street said the wide-ranging review, headed by Bruce Carr QC, will investigate allegations of the use of so-called "leverage" tactics by the unions as well as the impact of such disputes on the critical national infrastructure.

However, in a sign of renewed coalition tensions, the Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable made clear he had only agreed to the inquiry on the basis that it would also examine the practices of employers.

The Unite union dismissed the review as a "Tory election stunt" and warned that no trade union would be prepared to "collaborate" with it.

The review follows claims that Unite sought to intimidate executives from Ineos, the refinery's owners, including sending "mobs" of demonstrators to protest outside their homes and premises associated with Ineos chairman, Jim Ratcliffe.

In recent weeks the Prime Minister has repeatedly attacked the union in the Commons, challenging Labour leader Ed Miliband to hold an inquiry into claims of vote-rigging in the Falkirk constituency party in an attempt to secure the selection of Unite's favoured candidate for parliament.

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey has always denied any intimidation or bullying on the part of the union, insisting that it was acting within the law.

As part of his remit, Mr Carr will consider whether existing laws are sufficient to prevent what Government sources described as "inappropriate or intimidatory actions" in trade disputes as well as the response of the police to complaints.

Unite claimed Grangemouth employees had been bullied during the dispute

More generally, the review will look at the underlying causes of industrial relations difficulties in affected industries, the potential impact on the UK's critical national infrastructure and the consequences for investor confidence in key sectors.

It will also make recommendations on the respective roles of government, employers and employee representatives in ensuring effective workforce relationships.

Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude, a Conservative, said: "Allegations about trade union industrial intimidation tactics, including attempts to sabotage businesses supply chains and harass employers' families are deeply concerning.

"That's why we need an independent review to get to the bottom of these activities, as well as to look at the role played by government, employers and employees in industrial disputes.

"This forms part of our long-term plan to ensure Britain remains competitive and to secure an economic recovery for hard-working people."

Mr Cable, in contrast emphasised that Britain had generally enjoyed good industrial relations for the past two decades while strikes were at a historically low level.

"There were clearly some very serious matters going on in Grangemouth. That is why I have agreed to a proportionate and rational review of industrial disputes, including leverage and other tactics used by both unions and employers," he said.

"There are rogue unions but there are also rogue employers, some of whom have in the past engaged in illegal tactics like blacklisting. This Government will tolerate neither"

A Unite spokesman said: "This review is a sorry attempt by the coalition to divert attention from the cost of living crisis. Vince Cable may not have noticed but the Grangemouth dispute has been settled.

"This review is nothing more than a Tory election stunt which no trade unionist will collaborate with."

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