Hundreds Of British Troops To Be Sent To Iraq

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondence

Hundreds of British soldiers are to be sent to Iraq to help the fight against Islamic State, Sky News understands.

The soldiers - expected to number a few hundred - will go to the region "within weeks" senior military sources have said.

The National Security Council is expected to rubber-stamp the mission when it meets on Tuesday.

Although small groups of British troops have conducted similar missions over the past few months, this will be much greater in size and on a more permanent basis.

A team of military advisors recently went to the country to scope out options.

Video: Troops Return To Iraq For IS Fight

It's believed the mission will be largely split between the capital Baghdad and Irbil in the Kurdish controlled north.

It hasn't been confirmed which regiments the troops will be drawn from.

The UK government has repeatedly insisted that any such training mission would not constitute 'boots-on-the-ground' although British Special Forces are operating in the region.

In October a dozen soldiers from The Yorkshire Regiment were dispatched to Irbil to train the Kurds to use heavy machine guns.

An advisory team has also been embedded in the Iraqi military HQ, working alongside the Americans.

Video: October - Reaper Drones Footage

A Ministry of Defence spokesman wouldn't confirm the specifics of the latest mission but did say: "The Defence Secretary announced the intention to provide further training to the Iraqi military in early November.

"No decisions on troop numbers, units or locations have been made, so this is purely speculation at this stage."

The British contribution will fit into a wider mission involving a number of nations.

Earlier this week, the most senior US Commander Lt Gen James Terry revealed that the coalition training mission would involve around 1,500 soldiers.

US special operations troops have already set up a training base at the Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar Province.

Video: British Troops Back In Iraq

Germany recently pledged around 100 soldiers to help train the Peshmerga in northern Iraq. That mission, if approved, will begin early next year.

NATO has also said it would explore options if the Iraqi government came forward with an official request.

The Alliance said that any training mission wouldn't necessarily be based in Iraq. Neighbouring Jordan has been used for similar projects.

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Investigation Into Air Traffic Control 'Glitch'

An investigation is under way into why Britain's air traffic control system malfunctioned for the second time in two years, causing transport chaos for thousands of people.

The focus of the probe will be hardware and software connected to the flight data system, which is believed to control the flight plans of the planes. The company has ruled out a power outage as the cause, however.

Air traffic control service NATS said: "Following a technical fault with the flight data system used by air traffic controllers at Swanwick, NATS can confirm that the system has been restored to full operational capability and a thorough investigation is continuing, to identify the root cause.

"Although operational restrictions applied during the failure have been lifted, it will take time for flight operations across the UK to fully recover."

More than 300 flights were cancelled or delayed after a computer failure at NATS headquarters in Swanwick, Hampshire, on Friday afternoon.

Video: Flights Delayed In London Airspace

By Saturday morning, timetables were returning to normal, although Heathrow said 38 flights had been cancelled before 9.30am and Gatwick Airport cancelling a handful of flights.

Friday night's problems came just over a year after hundreds of flights were affected when problems arose with a telephone system at NATS in early December 2013.

There were reports passengers on some flights were unable to collect their luggage and were told that it would be sent on to them by courier.

Other airports where travellers suffered delays on Friday included Manchester, Birmingham, Stansted and Luton, but airports as far north as Aberdeen and Edinburgh were affected.

Video: November: How Busy Is UK Airspace?

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the disruption was unacceptable.

He said: "Disruption on this scale is simply unacceptable and I have asked NATS for a full explanation of this evening's incident. I also want to know what steps will be taken to prevent this happening again."

Experts said part of the problem was that the system is operating at full capacity and anything that goes wrong has a huge impact.

Professor Martyn Thomas, visiting professor of Software Engineering at the University of Oxford, said: "Some of NATS' computer systems are very old - the National Airspace System that performs flight data processing is software that dates from the 1960s.

Video: Air Traffic Problem Delays Flights

"Interfacing new systems to this old software can create difficulties."

Air traffic control safety expert Philip Butterworth-Hayes said: "Swanwick ... has an incredibly complicated, customised software system, where you have to upgrade things all the time. A small upgrade can cause all sorts of problems.

"The issue we have in the UK, especially in the south eastern UK, is there's very little spare capacity, because the system is running at such high rates, it only needs a small little glitch to create a large problem."

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What Is The Weather Bomb Heading To UK?

It's not unusual to have big Atlantic storms barrelling towards Scotland at this time of year.

But this is a weather bomb, a rapidly intensifying depression - with the pressure plunging in the eye of the storm by at least 24 millibars in 24 hours.

And it's leading to exceptionally high seas, with wave heights in excess of 50 feet or 16 metres.

That's more than twice the height of an average house.

The biggest waves will be in the deeper water.

Video: Huge Waves Hit Scottish Coast

But the islands and western and northern coasts of Scotland will be battered overnight and through Wednesday.

The atrocious weather is being fuelled by a strong trans-Atlantic jet stream.

The high altitude winds are racing along at 230mph.

Video: Sky News Weather Forecast

They spawned this storm and now they're steering it headlong into the Scottish coast.

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Britain Braces For Severe 'Weather Bomb'

Forecasters have issued widespread weather warnings across Britain as the country braces for a so-called "weather bomb".

Major travel disruptions are expected as winds of up to 80mph strike some areas and huge waves hit northern coastal regions.

The Met Office has issued amber weather alerts for western Scotland, the Highlands, Northern Ireland, Orkney and Shetland and Strathclyde regions.

Yellow weather warnings have also been issued across England's South East, South West, North East, North West, Yorkshire and Humber, as well as in northern Wales and several other areas.

The rapid cyclogenesis - known colloquially as a "weather bomb" - is a deep low pressure system moving slowly eastwards between Scotland and Iceland.

Video: Sky Man Gets Weather Bombed

Steve Willington, chief meteorologist at the Met Office, said: "Very strong winds are likely to affect northern and central parts of the UK from early Wednesday and last through until early Thursday as a very deep low pressure system moves slowly eastwards between Scotland and Iceland.

"A period of severe gales is likely over northern and central Britain, as well as the potential for storm force winds over north-western coastal areas of Scotland."

Police have warned that travel conditions in the worst-hit areas of Scotland could be "hazardous".

Drivers are being told to expect disruption to both morning and evening rush hours.

Video: What Is A Weather Bomb?

The freezing winds will peak today, but more southerly areas of the UK are likely to be hit by a second storm due to roll in from the Atlantic on Thursday night.

Ferry services in Scotland have already been disrupted as the winds whipped up unusually high waves, with sea swells of up to 12m in parts.

The Forth, Kessock and Skye bridges have been closed to high-sided vehicles because of the rising wind speeds.

Several train services will also be cancelled as a safety precaution, Network Rail and ScotRail have announced.

Video: Huge Waves Hit Scottish Coast

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Sexual Abuse A 'National Health Epidemic'

By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent

There could be more than 11 million survivors of sexual abuse in the UK, a Government adviser has told Sky News.

Experts say they are now dealing with a "national health epidemic", while there has been a huge surge in people looking for support since the Jimmy Savile scandal.

Some are related to recent high-profile cases, but sexual abusers are more likely to be people who are already known to the victim.

Founder of the Lantern Project on Merseyside, Graham Wilmer, told Sky News: "There are potentially about 11.7 million victims out there at the moment who have not disclosed, and many of those people will start to come forward in very significant numbers."

Mr Wilmer, who was recently appointed to the Government's Independent Panel Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, explained that the figures are based on accepted statistics that suggest one in six boys under the age of 16 have been sexually abused - for girls the figure is one in four.

Video: Breaking Down the Pieces Of Abuse

"You are dealing with a massive, massive problem. From what we have seen, if you don't provide the right level of support and intervention to support people when they come forward you see very significant health problems, mental health and physical health, which have a direct cost to us as a society.

"We look upon child abuse and its impact now as a national health epidemic."

There are around 130 similar groups offering support around the country that sit under the umbrella organisation The Survivors Trust - but access to services is still patchy in some parts of the UK.

Psychotherapist Brian Mynott, a survivor himself, runs the Real Dawn group in West Yorkshire and says there is a desperate need for more people to be properly trained to offer professional help.

He told Sky News: "It is a million miles from being enough.

"There is only one of me when there should be about a dozen of me in the Wakefield area alone, and that is not me validating myself that is what is missing.

"I have absolutely no shame in recording to anybody that I have been a victim but to get to that point is a journey that cannot be covered by volunteers alone."

Video: New Hope For Child Abuse Probe

He added: "It is very sad that when people phone me up I can't refer them on somewhere and is very sad when people can't get my services because I am booked up and these are people that need help now."

Mr Mynott is now also working with Leeds Trinity University to ensure students are aware of the growing demand for his services.

The Home Office, the Department of Health and the NHS have all committed to continue improving services for abuse survivors.

Mr Wilmer said investing in the support system is more important than the precise number of victims.

"All of the forces of law, and the forces of support work that are available are all gearing towards saying this number is a big number, whether it is 11.5 million or 11.1 actually isn't really relevant," he said.

"The fact is that it is a massive number and because it is a massive problem we are now focusing on it and we are going to do something about it."

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Nuisance Calls A 'Modern-Day Menace' - Report

Company bosses should be held accountable for nuisance calls made to customers, according to a Government task force.

The expert panel said more than a billion unwanted calls are estimated to be made every year and are causing considerable distress to some people.

Complaints to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) reached 18,594 for live calls and 22,072 for automated messages between April and June.

Most related to accident claims, payday loans and debt management.

Businesses must prioritise the issue at board level and ministers should review the ICO's powers to hold executives to account if their firm breaks the rules, updating the law if needed, said the Nuisance Calls Task Force.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd, who headed the panel, said: "(Consumers) are often confused or misled by requests for consent to being contacted, so today we set out recommendations to introduce tougher rules and more action from businesses, the regulators and the Government.

"Only through concerted and co-ordinated action will we put people back in control of their data and help bring this modern day menace to an end."

High numbers of calls and text messages are still being sent in breach of the existing legislation, according to the report.

It said consumers often do not realise they have given permission to receive messages and called for them to be able to easily withdraw consent.

Companies should ensure any sales leads they buy have been fairly and legally obtained and records of what consent has been obtained, as well as how and when, must be kept.

Culture minister Ed Vaizey said: "For too long nuisance calls have plagued consumers, often at very inconvenient times of the day and in some cases leaving vulnerable people like the elderly too scared to answer the phone.

"That's why we're determined to tackle this scourge through the first ever nuisance calls action plan.

"We've already made progress including making it easier for Ofcom to share information with the ICO about companies breaking the rules, and we're currently looking at lowering or removing the legal threshold before firms could be hit with fines of up to £500,000."

Justice minister Simon Hughes said: "We have already increased the level of fines available to punish rogue companies.

"We now want to make it easier for the Information Commissioner to take action against these companies which break the law.

"Those responsible should be held to account, and we will review how they are made to answer for any wrongdoing."

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Osborne: Lib Dems Would Cause 'Economic Chaos'

By Anushka Asthana, Political Correspondent

George Osborne has placed himself on a collision course with the Lib Dems - warning that they, as well as Labour, would trigger "economic chaos" in Britain.

The Chancellor has also accused Nick Clegg's party of wanting to place "hefty income rises" on families.

The intervention could tip the Coalition into open civil war after a week in which the Lib Dem leader failed to turn up to watch Mr Osborne deliver his Autumn Statement, and a senior colleague criticised the scale of cuts that were unveiled.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Mr Osborne says: "The Liberal Democrats are now arguing with themselves, so it's hard to work out exactly what they think."

He said the party wants tax rises instead of cuts but can't find the money needed through a property tax alone.

Video: Osborne Defends 'Balanced' Plan

"If you want higher taxes to do the heavy lifting, you'd also need to increase taxes like income tax or national insurance."

He admitted that, under his plans, there would be cuts for departments but also big reductions in the welfare bill.

Suggestions being put forward include pushing single parents to return to work a year earlier than at present, when their child turns two, and restricting child benefit to the first two children in the family.

Video: Osborne Reveals Boost For Buyers

"There's a clear choice: a competent plan to stay on course to prosperity with us; or a return to economic chaos with all the alternatives," he writes.

The article is likely to infuriate Mr Osborne's Treasury colleague, the Lib Dem chief secretary Danny Alexander, as well as the leader, Mr Clegg.

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Archbishop Welby Warns Hunger Stalks The UK

The Archbishop of Canterbury says he was left more shocked at the plight of poor families in the UK being forced to rely on food banks than the suffering in African refugee camps.

Hunger "stalks large parts of the country" while the scale of waste was "astonishing", said the Most Rev Justin Welby.

His made his comments ahead of the publication on Monday of a parliamentary report he has backed that sets out a series of proposals aimed at preventing people going hungry, and urges swift action by the Government and food industry.

The sharp increase in food banks has led to fierce political rows

In an article in The Mail on Sunday Archbishop Welby said, although less "serious", the situation of a family having to turn to food bank in the UK had shocked him more than terrible suffering in Africa because it was so unexpected.

He wrote: "In one corner of a refugee camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo was a large marquee.

Video: Food Banks Help One Million Britons

"Inside were children, all ill. They had been separated from family, friends, those who looked after them.

"Perhaps, mostly having disabilities, they had been abandoned in the panic of the militia attack that drove them from their homes. Now they were hungry.

"It was deeply shocking but, tragically, expected.

"A few weeks later in England, I was talking to some people - a mum, dad and one child - in a food bank.

"They were ashamed to be there. The dad talked miserably.

"He said they had each been skipping a day's meals once a week in order to have more for the child, but then they needed new tyres for the car so they could get to work at night, and just could not make ends meet.

Video: Red Cross To Help Britain's Hungry

"So they had to come to a food bank. They were treated with respect, love even, by the volunteers from local churches. But they were hungry, and ashamed to be hungry.

" I found their plight more shocking. It was less serious, but it was here.

"And they weren't careless with what they had - they were just up against it. It shocked me that being up against it at the wrong time brought them to this stage. There are many like them. But we can do something about it."

The sharp increase in the number of food banks across the country in recent years has proved politically divisive.

Earlier this year, ministers were accused of "taking food from the mouths of children" after blocking millions of pounds of European funding agreed for British food banks.

Cash to help people suffering extreme poverty across the EU was backed in a vote at the European Parliament but the Government said food aid was better decided nationally rather than by Brussels.

Video: Cameron's Secret Visit To Food Bank

Archbishop Welby has called for changes to allow food companies to pass on goods they could no longer sell.

Under the current system it costs retailers to give away surplus food to the the hungry.

He added: "At least some of the food being sent to the incinerator should be used as a force for good to help (the poor) out of the rut in which they find themselves.

"We need to make it easier for food companies to give edible surplus food to charities and still encourage them to send inedible food for energy production.

"The big names in the food business know they have a moral obligation to they communities they work in.

"We need to make sure that the financial incentives in their industry don't act against their moral instincts."

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