• Coulson willing to discuss News of the World allegations
• Theresa May to answer urgent Commons question
• John Yates says detectives studying new claims

The Downing Street communications chief, Andy Coulson, told police today that he would be happy to meet them voluntarily to discuss fresh phone-hacking allegations, as Scotland Yard said it was considering whether to reopen the investigation.

John Yates, the assistant Metropolitan police commissioner, said detectives were studying new allegations published by the New York Times last week.

Coulson, who is David Cameron's PR chief, has denied claims in the New York Times that he freely discussed the use of unlawful news-gathering techniques when he was editor of the News of the World. He responded today by saying he was willing to meet police to discuss the allegations.

Friends of Coulson said he had not been contacted by the Met. A spokesman for him said: "Andy Coulson has today told the Metropolitan police that he is happy to voluntarily meet with them following allegations made by [former News of the World reporter] Sean Hoare [in the New York Times].

"Mr Coulson emphatically denies these allegations. He has, however, offered to talk to officers if the need arises and would welcome the opportunity to give his view on Mr Hoare's claims."

The prime minister's spokesman today refused to say whether Cameron believed Coulson's denials. "Andy has made the position clear, and there have been a number of reports over the past few days but none of those reports change anything as far as the prime minister is concerned," the spokesman said.

Pressed on whether this meant Cameron believed Coulson, the spokesman said: "Obviously he accepts the position ... This has been gone over many times in the past. The prime minister accepts the position. He has full confidence in Andy Coulson. And he continues to do his job."

Later the spokesman said there was no signficance in the fact that he said Cameron "accepted" Coulson's statement, instead of saying he believed it. "That means the same thing," he said.

Ministers have been ordered to answer an urgent question on phone hacking in the Commons this afternoon. The question was tabled by the former Labour minister Tom Watson, a member of the Commons culture committee. Theresa May, the home secretary, will respond.

News International and Coulson face the prospect of a fresh parliamentary inquiry after Labour MPs said they planned to press for the issue to be referred to the powerful standards and privileges committee of the House of Commons.

Yates said there had already been a "very, very, thorough [criminal] inquiry" but conceded that there might be cause to revisit it. "We've always said if any new material, any new evidence comes to light, we'll consider it and that's what we are going to do in this case," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Any decision would be taken in consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, Yates added. "This was a very, very thorough inquiry," he said. "It resulted in the conviction of two people, it resulted in a very complex area of law being clarified and it sent an extremely strong deterrent to other people."

Bill Keller, the executive editor of the New York Times, said: "Scotland Yard has declined our repeated requests for interviews and refused to release information we requested months ago under the British freedom of information law. After our story was published, Scotland Yard expressed renewed interest in the case and asked us to provide interview materials and notes; we declined, as we would with any such request from police. Our story speaks for itself and makes clear that the police already have evidence that they have chosen not to pursue."

A number of people whose names appeared on a list of public figures belonging to Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator jailed for stealing secrets from mobile phone voice messages, have been urging the police to reopen the investigation. They include John Prescott, the former deputy prime minister, who has accused police of failing to carry out a proper investigation and is threatening to bring a judicial review against the Met. He is demanding that police tell him whether his phone was hacked by News of the World journalists and has asked for copies of documents obtained by detectives during their investigation.

Yates said he had told Prescott last July, when there was a review of the initial police investigation, that his phone had not been hacked. "The fact that his name is on a private investigator's invoice does not mean his phone has been hacked," said Yates. "I believe there is no evidence that his phone has been hacked."

He added: "We can't just supply willy nilly to people material we have gathered during a criminal investigation for another purpose."

The New York Times investigation featured allegations by Hoare that hacking was widespread at the tabloid and that the then-editor Coulson knew about the practice.

Defending the Met's failure to interview Hoare, Yates said: "He just did not appear in the inquiry. He has come from nowhere. We are surprised of that, that the New York Times didn't avail us of that fact [his evidence] earlier."

Yates dismissed the idea, also carried in the New York Times report, that detectives had not conducted a thorough investigation because of the close police relationship with the News of the World. "To suggest it's improper [the relationship], you'd have to produce some evidence of that," he said.

He said the convictions of Mulcaire and the News of the World's royal editor, Clive Goodman, for phone hacking had "sent an extremely strong deterrent message to people who might get involved in this in future".

The News of the World accused the New York Times today of being motivated by "commercial rivalry".

A spokesperson for the tabloid said in a statement: "The News of the World repeatedly asked the New York Times to provide evidence to support their allegations and they were unable to do so. Indeed, the story they published contained no new credible evidence and relied heavily on anonymous sources, contrary to the paper's own editorial guidelines.

"In so doing they have undermined their own reputation and confirmed our suspicion their story was motivated by commercial rivalry. We reject absolutely any suggestion there was a widespread culture of wrongdoing at the News of the World."

The prospect of a further investigation by the standards and privileges committee emerged after MPs argued that a precedent may have been set by the decision to mount a privileges committee inquiry into the arrest of the Tory MP Damian Green in his Commons office in 2008 over the alleged leaking of documents from the office of the home secretary.

It would be for the Speaker to decide whether to grant an inquiry, but Labour MPs claimed there now appeared to have been a wholesale attempt to break into MPs' phone messages, and the response of the Met had been shown to be inadequate.

CCTV shows Mark Andrews dragging Pamela Somerville across lobby of police station in Wiltshire before shoving her into cell

Dramatic video footage has emerged of a police sergeant dragging a women to a cell and hurling her inside, an incident which has led to his suspension.

Pamela Somerville, 57, was left with blood gushing from a head wound after Sergeant Mark Andrews pulled her by the wrist across the floor of Melksham police station in Wiltshire and threw her into the custody suite. A camera cell showed Somerville lying briefly unconscious after her head hit the floor and then staggering to her feet, dripping blood.

The officer, a former soldier, 37, was convicted of assault causing actual bodily harm at Oxford magistrates court in July, and is due to be sentenced on Tuesday. He faces a formal disciplinary hearing next month and is currently suspended on full pay.

Another officer at the police station reported the incident to a supervisor.

Somerville had been found asleep in her car in July 2008 and denies refusing a breath test. Charges were later dropped, and the police have apologised

Somerville, now 59, told the Mail on Sunday, which published the CCTV footage: "I still find it hard to watch the images of me staggering to my feet with blood pouring from a head wound, because I can remember how terrified I was. I could have died. It seems utterly that an innocent person can be treated in such a horrific and violent way and then be left alone ... the fact that someone may even have been watching the CCTV footage of me not moving on the floor."

The CCTV footage shows Andrews coming back into the cell after Somerville gets to her feet and calling for help. Another person then comes to check her, and paramedics are called.

Somerville was taken to Royal United hospital in Bath, and needed stitches in a gash above her eye.

In a detailed statement, Wiltshire police's assistant chief constable, Patrick Geenty, said: "We are very concerned when anyone is injured in our custody, and the court has decided that this injury was as a result of a criminal assault by Sergeant Mark Andrews, a member of Wiltshire police who was performing duty as a custody sergeant at the time.

"We respect the decision of the court, and the force has formally apologised to the injured lady for the assault she suffered while in our care.

"People have a right to expect that the police will always act by placing the safety and welfare of the public as their first priority.

"This is particularly so when in police custody when, irrespective of the reason for their detention, people should feel and be safe."

He praised the officer who had reported the incident, saying she had "performed her duty in accordance with the highest standards expected of a police officer in bringing this unacceptable incident to the attention of another supervisor".

Geenty said 16,000 people a year were dealt with in Wiltshire custody centres in what could be a hostile environment, adding: "Despite the rigour and effectiveness of our systems and training, it will never be possible to provide a 100% assurance that our guidelines, on occasions, will not be broken.

"Whilst that is unpalatable, the reality is that policing is complex and difficult, and again we repeat [that] there can never be any excuse for excessive behaviour by police officers or police staff."

The assistant chief constable said there had been no other serious assaults of this nature, adding: "Although there have been a total of 13 complaints of assault, none have been substantiated following investigation."

Musician's van collided with bale that tumbled down hill

A former member of the rock group Electric Light Orchestra has been killed by a giant hay bale that crashed into his van while he was driving.

Cellist Mike Edwards died instantly when the 300kg bale landed on the front of the white van after it tumbled down a steep hill in Devon, then smashed through a hedge and on to the road.

Police are now investigating whether the fatal accident on Friday afternoon happened after the bale fell from a tractor working on farmland next to the A381 in Halwell, near Totnes.

The musician, 62, is understood to have swerved into another vehicle as his van was struck at around 12.30pm. The second driver was unhurt in the collision.

Sergeant Steve Walker, of the Devon and Cornwall police traffic unit, said: "This was a tragic accident and we have now identified the victim as Michael Edwards, a founder member of ELO.

"We have used photographs and YouTube footage to identify him but we now need help contacting his family for formal identification. We don't believe he was ever married and we have identified an ex-girlfriend, but she is currently abroad."

Officers were hoping to contact a man named David in the Yorkshire area who is believed to be Edward's brother. The musician is understood to have no immediate family, but may have taught cello in Devon.

The police, who are liaising with the Heath and Safety Executive, have asked his students to contact them if they have any further information about his relations.

From 1972 to 1986, ELO enjoyed a string of top 20 hit singles on both sides of the Atlantic, and sold more than 50 million albums worldwide. Edwards left the band after their fourth studio album, Eldorado, which was released in 1974.

Former prime minister says Northern Ireland will be safe in Tory hands a week after voicing support for handling of economy

Tony Blair is showing growing admiration for David Cameron.

The former prime minister said over the weekend that his proudest achievement – the Northern Ireland peace process – is safe in Cameron's hands.

This is what Blair told the Belfast Telegraph when he was asked whether he was confident that Cameron would do nothing to jeopardise the peace process:

Yes, I would be actually. I'd be completely confident. I'm sure he'll do his level best on it and he should do so with the complete support of the political parties.

Blair's unequivocal support for Cameron contrasts with the way in which Labour warned before the election that the Tories' electoral pact with the Ulster Unionists could destabilise the peace process.

David Miliband, Blair's choice in the Labour leadership contest, has also taken a slightly different approach to his former patron with a pop at Cameron over Northern Ireland. This is what the shadow foreign secretary told the Belfast Telegraph about the coalition's plans to make Northern Ireland less dependent on state subsidies:

The government gives the impression of applying a mathematical approach of treating people as statistics rather than as communities and that is true in Wales and Northern Ireland...There are obviously special circumstances in Northern Ireland, precarious special circumstances that need attention.

Blair's confidence in Cameron is not necessarily a great surprise. The main parties at Westminster have tried to maintain a bipartisan approach to the peace process sinces its earliest days.

Blair used to pay warm tribute to John Major's role in encouraging the peace process. Major even accompanied Blair to Northern Ireland to campaign in favour of a Yes vote in the 1998 referendum on the Good Friday Agreement.

But Blair is showing support for Cameron on the far more contentious issue of how to cut the fiscal deficit. This is what he wrote in the postscript to his memoirs:

If governments don't tackle deficits, the bill is footed by taxpayers, who fear big deficits now mean big taxes in the future, the prospect of which reduces confidence, investment and purchasing power. This then increases the risk of a prolonged slump.

One senior Labour figure believes there is a simple reason to explain why Blair is so concerned about the burden on taxpayers:

You can see why Tony Blair finds the Tories appealing. He has joined the rich set and must be grumbling about all the tax he has to pay.

One member of the shadow cabinet was blunter. Blair's views on the deficit show he is "so right wing".

Tory mayor of London says the consensus around drastic and immediate deficit reduction is in danger of breaking down

Boris Johnson, the Conservative London mayor, today became the highest-profile Tory to raise doubts about the government's deficit reduction plan as he hailed the "compelling argument" put forward by Labour leadership contender Ed Balls.

Johnson, who just six months ago wrote that he wanted to "headbutt" Balls, then education secretary, over his views on the teaching of Latin in state schools, switched today to praising his "old friend".

The mayor claimed Balls was "a man of ideas" with a grasp of economic history, drawing on his warning that the government's rapid deficit reduction programme risked tipping the country into a double-dip recession.

Johnson, who has been pressing the government not to cut funding for major infrastructure projects for the capital, concluded today that the consensus around drastic and immediate deficit reduction is "in danger of breaking down".

Writing in his Daily Telegraph column, Johnson said one the key arguments put forward by the coalition government "no longer looks as strong as it did".

At the weekend, a poll for Conservativehome suggested the Labour leadership contender most feared by the Tories is David Miliband, followed by his fellow frontrunner and younger brother Ed. But Johnson dismissed them as "amiable north London intellectuals" who have never said "anything memorable about anything".

He turned instead to the "compelling argument" Balls made in a recent speech in which he argued that rapid deficit reduction is both unnecessary and "economically very risky indeed".

Johnson wrote: "You may remember that during the election and in the run-up to the June budget, we were told that it was necessary to avoid a Greek-style sovereign debt crisis. We were told we would have to slash the deficit or else the markets would punish us with cripplingly high interest rates.

"Well, the deficit is still more or less what it was, and yet interest rates and bond yields are at historic lows. Of course it is a good thing to bear down on wasteful public spending, and the deficit must certainly be reduced. The question is how far and how fast this can be done without provoking a double dip recession – and the risk is that if there is a serious downturn at the end of the year, it is the coalition that will cop the blame. Balls will be jubilant."

Johnson went on to hedge his bets on the economy, insisting he still "hopes and believes" it will continue to recover. But he warned that banks needed to act to avoid a "combustible contrast" between public sector workers losing their jobs as a result of the cuts, and the doling out of hundred of millions of pounds in Christmas bonuses "to the very people who, collectively if not individually, were responsible for the financial crisis".

Johnson said banks still have time to work out a way of showing restraint to stave off regulatory or fiscal action by the government to appease public indignation, which he said would do long-term damage to the capital.

"If they fail," wrote the mayor, "there will be many who find an unbearable contrast between the fortunes of the bankers and those of the wider public. As John Prescott might put it, we need to nip this train crash in the bud."

Johnson highlighted Balls' thesis on the economic recovery just a week after he was rumoured to be threatening to quit as mayor over transport spending cuts in the capital.

The chancellor, George Osborne, is committed in principle to the £16bn Crossrail project, which will link east and west London, but has signalled it could be scaled back, leaving Johnson with a multimillion pound shortfall.

Johnson, who has no tax-raising powers as mayor and is dependent on central government, councils and fares revenue for funding, last week denied that he had threatened not to stand for re-election in 2012 over the matter.

Despite insisting he had no plan to make his way back into parliament via a byelection, supporters have subsequently been canvassed on www.Boris-Johnson.com for their views on whether Johnson, who cuts a popular figure among the Tory rank and file, should ditch a second mayoral term in favour of a return to the Commons.

A spokesman for the mayor said Boris-Johnson.com is an independent website.

Education secretary Michael Gove has announced the first 16 free schools, which will be set up as early as next September

Almost half the first generation of new schools created by parents, teachers and charities will have a religious ethos, it was revealed today.

The education secretary, Michael Gove, announced the first 16 free schools, which will be set up as early as next September.

Two are Jewish, one is Sikh, one Hindu, one Church of England and two others will have a "Christian ethos".

Several do not yet have buildings, but others have found a church hall or temporary premises in existing schools. One will be based in a library on a council estate in west London.

The schools are in Bedford, Slough, West Sussex, Norfolk, north London, Leicester, Bradford, Suffolk and other areas.

Free schools – an idea taken from the US and Sweden – are one of the flagship Tory plans for education.

Parents and teachers are behind several of the schools, while charities are behind another, the Rivendale free school in Shepherd's Bush, west London.

The government rushed legislation through parliament before MPs' summer break to ensure that the free schools could be established as quickly as possible.

Labour accused Gove of presiding over a "chaotic shambles" after it emerged that only 16 free schools are on track to open next September.

In June, the education secretary hinted that 700 could be established. However, he said today that he was "flattered" by how many groups had applied to set up free schools.

"All of these proposals have been driven by demand from local people for improved choice for their young people," he added. "I am delighted that so many promising proposals have come forward at such an early stage."

The groups must now publish a business plan.

St Comgall's pupil brings in device found on Ballymena Road, and second school searched in security scare

An eight-year-old boy walked into a Northern Ireland primary school today carrying a viable pipe bomb.

The pupil found the device on Ballymena Road, in Antrim, and took it into St Comgall's primary school. Army bomb officers were called in and 400 pupils and staff were moved to a nearby church.

Security sources believe the bomb was left in the area by a group aligned to dissident loyalist terrorists opposed to the peace process.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland said there was another security alert at a school in the Greystone Road area of Antrim. A search of the school was under way.

The eight-year-old boy, Brendan Shannon, said he had spotted a "golden pipe bomb" while arriving to school on his bike. He brought the device in to a teacher who called the police.

His father, Gerard, said: "I am trying not to think of the consequences that could have been."

The school's principal, Hilary Cush, said it was "despicable that anybody would put children at risk".

Chief Inspector Simon Walls, the area commander for the district, said: "I cannot express enough my disgust at the cowards involved in these alerts today. To target the general public is never acceptable by any means but to take away the secure feelings of innocent children and to put them at risk like this is beyond despicable."

The SDLP said those responsible for the two alerts were trying to stoke up sectarian tensions. Thomas Burns, an assembly member, said: "There is obviously a group which is determined to cause mayhem in our town with these regular pipe bomb incidents, and until we know otherwise, we have to operate on the basis that they are prepared to cause murder as well.

"This is an attack on our whole community and the whole community must respond by working with our community policing service."

Paedophile Derek Slade ordered boarding school pupils to write about 'whackings I have had'

A former boarding school headteacher convicted of abusing male pupils, both sexually and physically, during the 1970s and 1980s was today imprisoned for 21 years.

Derek Slade, 61, of Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, had been convicted of more than 50 offences. A jury found him guilty of sexually assaulting and beating 12 boys aged between eight and 13 between 1978 and 1983, following a trial at Ipswich crown court.

Jurors heard that Slade ran St George's private school, which was initially based in Wicklewood, Norfolk, then moved to Great Finborough, Suffolk, in 1980.

Prosecutors said Slade hit boys with a slipper, a table tennis bat and his bare hand, then ordered youngsters to write about "whackings I have had".

Slade was arrested after former pupils complained two years ago. One victim said he had never told his parents what had happened. Another described Slade's assaults as "reigns of terror".

He had admitted assault, indecent assault and child pornography offences. He denied other allegations of assault and indecent assault, but was found guilty.

Slade admitted being a paedophile and told jurors that there was a sexual motive behind the corporal punishment he inflicted. But he denied more serious sexual assaults, including prosecution allegations that he hosted "midnight feasts" where boys would be abused.

Alex Salmond wants to postpone proposed referendum vote until after Scottish elections in May

Cabinet ministers in Alex Salmond's Scottish nationalist government are expected to endorse a decision to drop plans for a referendum on independence in the current parliament.

Salmond wants to shelve the proposed referendum vote until after the Scottish elections in May, and will tell his cabinet tomorrow that the move would strengthen his party's campaign for a second term in office.

To derision from opposition parties, the first minister has decided to drop the proposal – one of the Scottish National party's strongest pledges in the 2007 manifesto – because he knows it would be comprehensively defeated in a Holyrood vote.

Salmond fears that allowing opposition parties to vote on the referendum bill and defeat it before the election would lead many voters to believe the referendum issue was dead. The bill will still be published – Salmond is to unveil this year's legislative programme on Wednesday – but not put to a vote.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland this morning, Nicola Sturgeon, the deputy first minister, said: "The opposition parties have made it very clear that they want to block a referendum bill.

"[The] decision for us is whether we let that bill fall foul of opposition game-playing or whether we take it to the people of Scotland at the next election and let them be the ones to decide."

Iain Gray, the Scottish Labour leader, said it was a "humiliating" decision and the latest in a series of broken manifesto promises from the SNP.

Ministers knew voters would be furious at wasting further public money on a referendum doomed to fail in the midst of a recession, he said.

"Nicola Sturgeon is hopelessly out of touch with the country and guilty of wasting public funds. It is jobs and the economy that Scots are worried about, not the constitution," he added.

"The SNP have wasted over £2m on the National Conversation [a government consultation on independence] and are guilty of abusing government money for their own party political interest, using the bill as part of their election campaign next year.

"Alex Salmond just does not get it. The Scottish government is there to serve the country, not just the SNP and his own political career. He has lost his nerve."

A YouGov opinion poll in the Mail on Sunday put the SNP 10 points behind Labour – the widest margin in recent years, confirming other polls, and May's general election result, which suggest Labour support is hardening.

Salmond will go into the next Scottish election campaign unable to offer any of the expensive but popular incentives to voters which helped bring the SNP to power in 2007 because of the UK coalition government's spending cuts.

Policies similar to the SNP leader's pledges to pay off student debts, introduce free prescriptions, abolish bridge tolls and freeze council tax will be extremely difficult to implement. The UK-wide cuts are expected to result in his spending power falling by £3.7bn over four years.

Knowing the cuts will be deeply unpopular and lead to significant public sector job losses, Salmond wants to convert public anger against the government in London into a grievance against the UK, strengthening his party's claim that independence would liberate Scotland.

His officials also made clear that the SNP hoped to exploit the "hypocrisy" of the Tories and Liberal Democrats, who at UK level want a referendum on the alternative voting system next May and another in Wales on increasing the Cardiff assembly's powers, while denying one in Scotland.

Salmond's switch in tactics will increase pressure on the coalition government to implement a new bill strengthening the Scottish parliament's tax-raising and legal powers, originally proposed in the Calman commission set up in 2008 by the three UK parties.

A new Scotland bill is being drafted, in consultation with the Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs. It is expected to be published in November, some days before the St Andrew's Day target date set by Salmond for the release of his referendum bill.

The Lib Dems, in particular, are keen to introduce greater autonomy for Holyrood on tax-raising, alongside greater legal powers over firearms legislation, drink-driving and speed limits. However, it remains unclear whether the Scotland bill will start going through Westminster before May's election.

"It is clear that we will now have to appeal over their heads of the unionist MSPs to the people of Scotland next May," Salmond's official spokesman said.

"The hypocrisy of all the London parties will be well and truly exposed, as will their lack of any coherent policy to generate new wealth to offset public spending cuts.

"In these circumstances, we wish to make the right of the people to have their say on independence, and the absolute requirement for economic and financial powers for Scotland's parliament, the transcending issue of the election campaign.

"Tactically, we are deciding whether to introduce a bill to allow the unionist parties to vote it down or to publish the bill and concentrate on canvassing public support.

"A new, re-elected SNP government will be in a powerful position to secure passage of the referendum, having successfully mobilised the people over the blocking tactics of the unionist parties."

The Liberal Democrats said this gambit would backfire. "We welcome the SNP fighting next year's election solely on the grounds of independence," a spokeswoman said.

"Alex Salmond has said that he is now going to do this, and this is very welcome territory for us."

A former boarding school head convicted of abusing boy pupils during the 1970s and 1980s has been handed a 21-year jail term.

Home Secretary Theresa May will be forced to answer MPs' questions over newspaper phone-hacking allegations as David Cameron's communications chief offered to meet police to discuss the case.

A principal hit out today after 400 children were sent home because of a security alert at a Northern Ireland school.

A Church of England vicar has been jailed for four years for his part in Britain's biggest sham marriage fraud to help hundreds of illegal immigrants stay in Britain.

Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson has told police that he would be happy to meet them voluntarily to discuss fresh phone-hacking allegations.

Labour leader hopeful David Miliband shares tea and cake with party members as he hits the campaign trail.

Five young men have suffered multiple stab wounds in an apparent knife fight.

Wayne Rooney has flown to Switzerland with the England squad as lurid allegations about his private life threatened once again to overshadow his performance on the pitch.

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has flown to Switzerland with the England squad as lurid allegations about his private life threatened once again to overshadow his performance on the pitch.

Police investigating the death of British code-breaker Gareth Williams today appealed for help to trace two people seen near his Government flat.

A mental health nurse started a relationship with a former patient through Facebook just two weeks after she left his care, a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) disciplinary hearing was told today.

A newlywed who killed his wife after five months of marriage enjoyed "gymnastic" sex sessions with another woman, a court heard today.

A former boarding school head who sexually and physically abused boy pupils during the late 1970s and early 1980s was today given a 21-year jail term.

A former boarding school head convicted of abusing boy pupils during the 1970s and 1980s was today given a 21-year jail term.

Officers investigating the death of British code-breaker Gareth Williams, whose decomposing body was found padlocked shut in a holdall in his bath, today released CCTV footage of him as they appealed for the public's help.

A Church of England vicar was jailed for four years today for his part in Britain's biggest sham marriage fraud to help hundreds of illegal immigrants stay in Britain.

Home Secretary Theresa May will be forced to answer MPs' questions over newspaper phone-hacking allegations today as David Cameron's communications chief offered to meet police to discuss the case.

A principal hit out today after 400 children were sent home because of a security alert at a Northern Ireland school.