One Dead After 'Valentine's Day Massacre Plot'

An alleged plot to kill as many people as possible at a shopping centre on Valentine's Day has been foiled, say Canadian police.

A 19-year-old Canadian man and 23-year-old US woman were suspected of planning to carry out a shooting in Halifax on 14 February before committing suicide.

There could have been a "large loss of life" if the attack had gone ahead, according to authorities.

The pair had access to firearms, were apparently obsessed with death, had many photographs of mass killings, and had been on a chat site, an official said.

The woman was arrested at Halifax's airport and confessed to the plot, said the official, who added she had written a number of messages to be tweeted after her death.

The teenager had shot himself dead after police were tipped off about the plot and surrounded his home, the official went on.

Police had stopped his parents while they were driving and then officers called the suspect.

The suspect took his own life as he made his way out of his house

He said he did not have any guns but then took his own life as he was on his way out of the house, it is believed.

Meanwhile, a 20-year-old man was detained at the airport and a 17-year-old youth, who was wanted for threatening to carry out a gun attack at a school, was arrested elsewhere.

It is thought the pair were also involved in the plot but investigators were still trying to work out what their roles were.

The plot was not related to Islamist extremism, said authorities.

Brian Brennan, from Nova Scotia Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said: "Information gathered suggested that a 19-year-old Timberlea male and a 23-year-old Geneva, Illinois, female had access to firearms.

"And it was their intention to go to a public venue in the Halifax region on February 14 with the goal of opening fire to kill citizens and then themselves.

"Evidence also suggested that two other males, ages 20 and 17, of Halifax and Cole Harbour respectively were involved. Their role is still to be determined as part of the investigation."

He added: "Had they been able to carry out their intentions, the possibility for a large loss of life was definitely there.

"I would classify it as a group of individuals that had some beliefs and were willing to carry out violent acts against citizens. But there is nothing in the investigation to classify it as a terrorist act."

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Glasgow Bin Lorry Crash: Panic Inside The Cab

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Video: Frantic Efforts To Save Bin Lorry

By James Matthews, Scotland Correspondent

Frantic attempts were made to stop a Glasgow bin lorry as it killed six people last December, Sky News has learned.

Two men were inside the cab with the driver at the time, desperately trying to rouse him after he had collapsed.

The pair, who Sky News has chosen not to name, shouted to him that he was killing people and shook him.

But their efforts were hampered by a metal rail inside the cab, which separates the driver and the crew, who sit on a raised bench in the rear.

It presented an obstacle and inflicted injuries on at least one of the pair as they were jostled by the erratic movement of the vehicle.

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1. Gallery: Victims Of Glasgow Bin Lorry Crash

   Jacqueline Morton, 51, who had left work early to collect her granddaughters

Stephenie Tait, 29, was a teacher at St Philomena's Primary school

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Gillian Ewing, 52, was also killed in the accident

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Jack Sweeney, 68, from Dumbarton, was killed along with his wife and granddaughter

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Erin McQuade, 18, with her grandmother Lorraine Sweeney, aged 69

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A succession of collisions meant the driver's weight shifted on the steering wheel which, in turn, caused sudden changes in the lorry's course.

There was an air-brake in the cab which slowly reduces speed but neither of the two crew was trained in how to drive the bin lorry and so neither knew how to bring it to a halt.

The vehicle only came to rest after crashing into the Millennium Hotel in Glasgow's George Square.

The two crew members first realised something was wrong after they had stopped to make the penultimate pick-up of their round outside the Primark store in Queen Street.

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1. Gallery: Images From The Scene In Glasgow After The Bin Lorry Crash

   The lorry crashed into the Millennium Hotel at the top of Queen Street in the city centre

One police officer said it first mounted the pavement 300 metres down the street

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As the vehicle set off again, it swerved and then proceeded on its fatal journey, about 400 metres towards George Square.

The driver has been named as 58-year-old Harry Clarke and he has spoken of how the victims were on his mind "every minute of every day".

Following the incident, a blood sample was taken from him and he tested negative for drink-driving.

He has since reportedly said that he was diagnosed with a heart condition following the crash on 22 December last year.

Video: Aftermath Of The Crash

Examination of on-board monitoring equipment showed it travelled at just over 20mph for roughly 40 seconds as the tragedy unfolded.

As a bin lorry driver, he was routinely required to insert a driver's tacho-card - a digital device that records a driver's details such as hours spent on the road and speed driven - into a dashboard slot.

He had not done so on the day of the crash.

Whether that was a factor or a minor irregularity that has no relevance to the crash will be a decision for Scotland's Crown Office.

Video: Funeral For Victims Of Lorry Crash

The office is currently considering a police report on the incident. It will also decide whether or not a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) will take place into the circumstances of the crash.

The GMB Union, which represents the two crew members on board the refuse truck, has told Sky News it would welcome an inquiry.

Cal Waterson, regional organiser of GMB Scotland, said: "I wouldn't like to speculate at the moment because we're still waiting for the police report to be published but, obviously, there was pressure being put on the accelerator.

"How would the crew have been expected to prevent that? That's something that I hope a Fatal Accident Inquiry would look into and be able to come up with some recommendations whereby we can put in some overriding device in the rear of the cab or something similar."

Video: Witness: Lorry Knocked People Down

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Video: Frantic Efforts To Save Bin Lorry

By James Matthews, Scotland Correspondent

Frantic attempts were made to stop a Glasgow bin lorry as it killed six people last December, Sky News has learned.

Two men were inside the cab with the driver at the time, desperately trying to rouse him after he had collapsed.

The pair, who Sky News has chosen not to name, shouted to him that he was killing people and shook him.

But their efforts were hampered by a metal rail inside the cab, which separates the driver and the crew, who sit on a raised bench in the rear.

It presented an obstacle and inflicted injuries on at least one of the pair as they were jostled by the erratic movement of the vehicle.

1/5

1. Gallery: Victims Of Glasgow Bin Lorry Crash

   Jacqueline Morton, 51, who had left work early to collect her granddaughters

Stephenie Tait, 29, was a teacher at St Philomena's Primary school

]]>

Gillian Ewing, 52, was also killed in the accident

]]>

Jack Sweeney, 68, from Dumbarton, was killed along with his wife and granddaughter

]]>

Erin McQuade, 18, with her grandmother Lorraine Sweeney, aged 69

]]>

A succession of collisions meant the driver's weight shifted on the steering wheel which, in turn, caused sudden changes in the lorry's course.

There was an air-brake in the cab which slowly reduces speed but neither of the two crew was trained in how to drive the bin lorry and so neither knew how to bring it to a halt.

The vehicle only came to rest after crashing into the Millennium Hotel in Glasgow's George Square.

The two crew members first realised something was wrong after they had stopped to make the penultimate pick-up of their round outside the Primark store in Queen Street.

1/11

1. Gallery: Images From The Scene In Glasgow After The Bin Lorry Crash

   The lorry crashed into the Millennium Hotel at the top of Queen Street in the city centre

One police officer said it first mounted the pavement 300 metres down the street

]]>

As the vehicle set off again, it swerved and then proceeded on its fatal journey, about 400 metres towards George Square.

The driver has been named as 58-year-old Harry Clarke and he has spoken of how the victims were on his mind "every minute of every day".

Following the incident, a blood sample was taken from him and he tested negative for drink-driving.

He has since reportedly said that he was diagnosed with a heart condition following the crash on 22 December last year.

Video: Aftermath Of The Crash

Examination of on-board monitoring equipment showed it travelled at just over 20mph for roughly 40 seconds as the tragedy unfolded.

As a bin lorry driver, he was routinely required to insert a driver's tacho-card - a digital device that records a driver's details such as hours spent on the road and speed driven - into a dashboard slot.

He had not done so on the day of the crash.

Whether that was a factor or a minor irregularity that has no relevance to the crash will be a decision for Scotland's Crown Office.

Video: Funeral For Victims Of Lorry Crash

The office is currently considering a police report on the incident. It will also decide whether or not a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) will take place into the circumstances of the crash.

The GMB Union, which represents the two crew members on board the refuse truck, has told Sky News it would welcome an inquiry.

Cal Waterson, regional organiser of GMB Scotland, said: "I wouldn't like to speculate at the moment because we're still waiting for the police report to be published but, obviously, there was pressure being put on the accelerator.

"How would the crew have been expected to prevent that? That's something that I hope a Fatal Accident Inquiry would look into and be able to come up with some recommendations whereby we can put in some overriding device in the rear of the cab or something similar."

Video: Witness: Lorry Knocked People Down

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5. Ukraine: Fresh Bombing Endangers Peace Deal

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Sham Wedding Groom Forgot Bride's Name

A couple arrested as they attempted to stage a bogus wedding have been jailed for immigration offences - after the would-be groom was unable to remember his bride's name.

Pakistani Zubair Khan, 28, and Hungarian Beata Szilagyi, 33, were detained minutes before the sham marriage ceremony, the Home Office said.

They were exposed after Khan had to make a phone call to the marriage fixer, Khaliq Dad Khan, to check his bride's name during a meeting with the registrar before the wedding was due to go ahead.

Khan as he was arrested at his bogus wedding in Hull

The registrar then notified authorities and the bride and groom were detained on the spot at Hull Register Office last October.

Zubair Khan, of London, was jailed for 20 months and Szilagyi, of Hull, was sentenced to 17 months at Hull Crown Court on Friday.

Szilagyi, of Hull, was jailed for 17 months

They both admitted conspiracy to facilitate a breach of immigration law.

Khaliq Dad Khan, 48, who lived with the groom, was jailed for 20 months after pleading guilty to the same charge.

Marriage fixer Khaliq Dad Khan, 48, was jailed for 20 months

Andy Sharpe, from Immigration Enforcement Criminal Investigations, said: "This was a farcical but nonetheless serious attempt to cheat the UK's immigration laws.

"We continue to crack down on sham marriage abuse, and we work very closely with registrars to identify suspicious marriages. We will not hesitate to act where we believe a relationship is not genuine."

The arrests were made minutes before the ceremony in October

Immigration and Security Minister James Brokenshire said: "The criminal gangs who try to cheat their way around our immigration laws will not escape justice."

He added that investigators had intervened in more than 2,400 suspected sham marriages in 2014 - nearly twice as many as the year before.

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Deadly Shooting At Danish Free Speech Meeting

One person is confirmed to have been killed after shots were fired at a meeting held in a Copenhagen cafe to discuss free speech.

A 40-year-old man died and three police officers are understood to have been injured in the attack on Krudttoenden cafe shortly before 4pm local time on Saturday afternoon.

The event had been organised by Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who had faced a number of threats to his life after caricaturing the Prophet Mohammed in 2007.

About 30 bullet holes were seen in the windows of cafe in the north of the city after the attack and at least two people were seen being taken away on stretchers, local channel TV2 said.

Witnesses said the police returned fire after someone shouted and fired an automatic weapon at the cafe.

Another of the organisers Helle Merete Brix said Mr Vilks was present at the event but not injured. 

She said: "I saw a masked man running past," she said. "A couple of police officers were injured.

Swedish artist Lars Vilks

"I clearly consider this as an attack on Lars Vilks."

The 68-year-old is normally assigned a police guard whenever he travels to Denmark and is understood to have had one with him at the time.

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1. Gallery: One person killed in Shooting At Danish Free Speech Meeting

   The attack on Krudttoenden cafe took place shortly before 4pm local time on Saturday afternoon

Police surround the cafe in Denmark's capital Copenhagen

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Obese Could Lose Benefits Unless They Diet

By Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent

Obese people could lose benefits worth up to £100 a week if they refuse to diet, as a review into sickness payments is ordered by David Cameron.

Drug addicts and alcoholics could also lose benefits if they refuse treatment that would help them get a job, in a move aimed at stopping people claiming as a "lifestyle" choice.

"Too many people are stuck on sickness benefits because of issues that could be addressed but instead are not," said the Prime Minister.

David Cameron has ordered a review into sickness benefits

"Some have drug or alcohol problems, but refuse treatment.

"In other cases people have problems with their weight that could be addressed, but instead a life on benefits rather than work becomes the choice.

Video: Obesity 'Could Bring Down The NHS'

"It is not fair to ask hardworking taxpayers to fund the benefits of people who refuse to accept the support and treatment that could help them get back to a life of work.

"The next Conservative government is determined to make sure that the hardest to help get the support they need to get them back to a fulfilling life."

Ministers estimate there are almost 100,000 people claiming sickness benefits on the grounds of treatable conditions such as drug or alcohol addiction, or obesity.

At present, there is no requirement for such people to undertake treatment, meaning it is possible to claim without making efforts at recovery.

Of the 2.5 million claiming sickness benefits, about 1.5 million have been claiming for more than five years.

Mr Cameron says he has asked Professor Dame Carol Black to undertake a rapid review in to how best to help those suffering from long-term yet treatable conditions back in to work.

"In particular, I have asked her to consider whether people should face the threat of a reduction in benefits if they refuse to engage with a recommended treatment plan," he said.

"It is vital that people who would benefit from treatment get the medical help they need."

Professor Black, a leading Government adviser on health, work and welfare, said: "I am deeply interested in trying to overcome the challenges these types of benefit claimants pose. 

"These people, in addition to their long-term conditions and lifestyle issues, suffer the great disadvantage of not being engaged in the world of work, such an important feature of society."

Explaining the reasons for the threat to axe benefits from the obese, drug addicts and alcoholics, a Government source said: "As well as the unwarranted expense, this represents an unproductive waste of human potential."

Tam Fry from the National Obesity Forum told Sky News: "Obesity is the issue which might bring down the NHS.

"We have the most appalling problem and so far the coalition government have done absolutely nothing serious about it. If this is a sign they are taking obesity serious then I think this is something they should be considering."

He added: "You've got to be very careful about how you do it because all those people who are fat because they have a metabolic and a medical syndrome attached to it, they have got to be protected.

"But for the people who just eat and eat and eat and refuse to take any kind of treatment, then I think there is a salvo that has to be fired across their bows."

However, disability campaigner Ellen Clifford was outraged by Mr Cameron's proposal, telling Sky News: "If you threaten taking away people's benefits that's not actually going to help people. It didn't work in the Victorian times, it's not going to work now.

"That isn't going to suddenly snap people out of an enduring condition. It's punitive and it's savage."

And former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell, who had a well-publicised battle with booze and is an Alcohol Concern ambassador, criticised the proposal as a "stupid little stunt".

He said the Prime Minister was "pathetic" and was not taking the problem of addiction seriously.

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Ukraine: Fresh Bombing Endangers Peace Deal

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Video: Shelling May Hit Ukraine Ceasefire

Ukraine's president has warned that fresh shelling in the east of the country is putting the impending ceasefire in danger.

At least 13 civilians have been killed and dozens wounded in fighting in the last 24 hours in the east of the country.

Seven Ukrainian service personnel have also been killed as the new peace deal brokered by Germany and France in Minsk is due to come into force at 10pm UK time.

Sky's Senior Correspondent Stuart Ramsay, in Kiev, said an explosion had been reported in central Donetsk on Saturday, with two people killed.

A newly mobilised soldier trains in the Chernihiv region

He said the fighting could be a "sort of last-ditch land grab by the two sides to try and get their positions that they have been trying to get to for the last week or so, try and make it before the deadline, and then observe the ceasefire."

The fiercest fighting is said to be taking place around the strategic railway town of Debaltseve, which has come under sustained artillery fire.

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1. Gallery: Ukraine Crisis Continues

   Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine agreed a deal on Thursday that offers a "glimmer of hope" for an end to fighting in eastern Ukraine after marathon overnight talks

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko (L) addresses journalists as he takes part in peace talks on resolving the Ukrainian crisis in Minsk

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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (L) shakes hands with European Council President Donald Tusk (R) during a European Union leaders summit in Brussels

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Mr Poroshenko told a news conference in Brussels on Thursday that the process of implementation in east Ukraine of a ceasefire agreed at a summit in Minsk will be difficult

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Debaltseve has been the scene of huge fighting

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Fierce clashes have also been reported near the port city of Mariupol.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said: "After what we reached in Minsk, this is not just an attack of Ukrainian civilians, on Ukrainian living centre.

"This is an attack on Minsk results and without any explanations because, unfortunately after Minsk the offensive operation of Russia intensified insignificantly.

"And we still think that the Minsk agreement is under big danger."

The ceasefire envisages a withdrawal of the heavy weapons responsible for many of the 5,000 casualties in the conflict that broke out almost a year ago.

Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of pushing weapons and troops into the country to bolster the separatist push to seize more territory in the east of the country.

Video: Ukraine Fighting After Peace Deal

Moscow has repeatedly denied the charges, but the rebels have the modern heavy weaponry of a regular army.

Mr Poroshenko is due to speak with US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande later on Saturday. The UN Security Council is also expected to meet on Sunday for an emergency session.

Mr Obama has warned he could start weapons supplies to Ukraine if the new peace deal collapses. Ms Merkel has also threatened further sanctions on Russia if the truce fails.

Both sides have to begin withdrawing heavy weapons from the frontline within two days of the ceasefire, which will establish a buffer zone of between 31 and 87 miles wide.

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe will monitor the ceasefire and will increase the number of observers it has in the country to 350.

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5. Body Of AirAsia Victim Identified As Briton

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Video: Shelling May Hit Ukraine Ceasefire

Ukraine's president has warned that fresh shelling in the east of the country is putting the impending ceasefire in danger.

At least 13 civilians have been killed and dozens wounded in fighting in the last 24 hours in the east of the country.

Seven Ukrainian service personnel have also been killed as the new peace deal brokered by Germany and France in Minsk is due to come into force at 10pm UK time.

Sky's Senior Correspondent Stuart Ramsay, in Kiev, said an explosion had been reported in central Donetsk on Saturday, with two people killed.

A newly mobilised soldier trains in the Chernihiv region

He said the fighting could be a "sort of last-ditch land grab by the two sides to try and get their positions that they have been trying to get to for the last week or so, try and make it before the deadline, and then observe the ceasefire."

The fiercest fighting is said to be taking place around the strategic railway town of Debaltseve, which has come under sustained artillery fire.

1/11

1. Gallery: Ukraine Crisis Continues

   Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine agreed a deal on Thursday that offers a "glimmer of hope" for an end to fighting in eastern Ukraine after marathon overnight talks

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko (L) addresses journalists as he takes part in peace talks on resolving the Ukrainian crisis in Minsk

]]>

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (L) shakes hands with European Council President Donald Tusk (R) during a European Union leaders summit in Brussels

]]>

Mr Poroshenko told a news conference in Brussels on Thursday that the process of implementation in east Ukraine of a ceasefire agreed at a summit in Minsk will be difficult

]]>

Debaltseve has been the scene of huge fighting

]]>

Fierce clashes have also been reported near the port city of Mariupol.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said: "After what we reached in Minsk, this is not just an attack of Ukrainian civilians, on Ukrainian living centre.

"This is an attack on Minsk results and without any explanations because, unfortunately after Minsk the offensive operation of Russia intensified insignificantly.

"And we still think that the Minsk agreement is under big danger."

The ceasefire envisages a withdrawal of the heavy weapons responsible for many of the 5,000 casualties in the conflict that broke out almost a year ago.

Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of pushing weapons and troops into the country to bolster the separatist push to seize more territory in the east of the country.

Video: Ukraine Fighting After Peace Deal

Moscow has repeatedly denied the charges, but the rebels have the modern heavy weaponry of a regular army.

Mr Poroshenko is due to speak with US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande later on Saturday. The UN Security Council is also expected to meet on Sunday for an emergency session.

Mr Obama has warned he could start weapons supplies to Ukraine if the new peace deal collapses. Ms Merkel has also threatened further sanctions on Russia if the truce fails.

Both sides have to begin withdrawing heavy weapons from the frontline within two days of the ceasefire, which will establish a buffer zone of between 31 and 87 miles wide.

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe will monitor the ceasefire and will increase the number of observers it has in the country to 350.

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5. Body Of AirAsia Victim Identified As Briton

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Body Of AirAsia Victim Identified As Briton

A body recovered after an AirAsia airliner crashed into the Java Sea has been identified as Briton Choi Chi Man.

A Foreign Office spokesman said his family had been informed.

Mr Choi, who was 48, is thought to have been travelling on flight QZ8501 with his daughter Zoe when it came down on 28 December.

He is believed to have held a British passport, but lived in Singapore with his family.

All 155 passengers and seven crew on board died when the plane crashed during bad weather en route from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore.

Video: Plane Fuselage Found

At least 47 bodies have so far been recovered from the crash site.

The plane's black boxes were found last month and analysis revealed the French co-pilot Remi Plesel was in control when stall warnings began to sound.

Indonesian authorities said that the plane climbed abruptly from its cruising height before stalling.

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1. Gallery: AirAsia Jet Tail Pulled From Sea

   Search teams have recovered a section of the tail of crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501 from bottom of the Java Sea. Continue through for more images of the recovery...

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Explosion At House Leaves Man Seriously Hurt

A man is undergoing surgery after suffering serious injuries in an explosion at a house.

The blast happened in Coleford, in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire.

The 43-year-old was on his own at the house and was rescued by fire crews.

His neighbours were evacuated after the explosion, which was reported at around 7.40am.

This car also appears to have been damaged in the blast

A police spokesman said: "A 43-year-old Gloucestershire man was found at the property in High Nash with serious injuries and taken to Southmead Hospital in Bristol. He is currently undergoing surgery.

"The property is being examined by structural engineers and the cause of the explosion is being investigated."

The house is close to the town's fire station.

A Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said officers were waiting for the building to be declared safe before going in to begin the investigation.

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Tax Avoidance Row: Miliband 'Not Backing Down'

By Darren McCaffrey, Politics Reporter

Ed Miliband has pledged not to "back down" in his campaign on tax avoidance, and accused David Cameron of "turning a blind eye" to the benefit of the rich and powerful.

The Labour leader insisted he would govern "without fear or favour" after a week of bitter political wrangling over claims HSBC helped wealthy clients avoid or evade tax through its Swiss private banking arm.

He was speaking as it was announced Lord Green, the former chairman of HSBC, was to step down from a financial services industry body.

The ex-Tory trade minister, who is quitting as chairman of TheCityUK's Advisory Council, has faced considerable pressure to answer questions about the behaviour of the bank's Swiss division.

In a speech to the Welsh Labour conference in Swansea, Mr Miliband said: "It doesn't matter how much I get attacked for this, I'm not backing down.

Video: Miliband Turns Up Heat In Tax Row

"I will stand up to all those who stand in the way of success for working families.

"A Labour government led by me will ensure that the same rules apply to everyone, not matter how rich or how powerful they are."

Mr Miliband has faced questions about his own tax affairs, with allegations that split ownership of his parents' former home after his father's death was used to cut inheritance tax liabilities.

He also drew attention to his clashes with Boots boss Stefano Pessina and Tory donor Lord Fink, in a battle he judges is popular with voters.

"Two weeks ago, the British people were being told how to vote by a billionaire who doesn't even pay tax in the United Kingdom and has moved the HQ of his company, Boots, from Nottingham to Switzerland," he said.

"Last weekend I promised the next Labour government would tackle the scourge of tax avoidance, setting a six-month deadline for tax havens operating in UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to open up their books or face being blacklisted.

"This week, there were a series of revelations over industrial scale tax avoidance at HSBC in Switzerland which this government had known about even when it appointed its chairman as a trade minister.

"And then just on Thursday the man appointed to be Treasurer of the Conservative Party first threatened to sue me for saying he was a tax avoider then announced that 'everyone is a tax avoider' and he was just guilty of 'vanilla tax avoidance'.

"As always, this becomes a story of Westminster games: who's up, who's down, political knockabout. But in fact, this isn't really about Lord Fink, Stefano Pessina, David Cameron or me. It is about something bigger and deeper about our economy, our society and kind of country we want to live in."

Mr Miliband also outlined plans for fresh penalties and new means of closing tax avoidance loopholes.

A Conservative spokesman said: "The culture and practices of HMRC went wrong under Labour - when top bankers paid lower tax rates than their cleaners, foreigners didn't pay capital gains tax and the richest people routinely avoided paying stamp duty.

"It's David Cameron who has been clearing up Labour's mess - investing in HMRC to increase the number of prosecutions of tax dodgers, putting reform of the way multinational companies are taxed at the top of the G8 agenda and closing loopholes that the richest were exploiting under Labour."

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Four Die In Coach Crash And Motorway Pile-Up

Four people have been killed in two major accidents on two of the country's busiest motorways.

Three men were killed after a double-decker coach collided with their stationary car on the M1 in Bedfordshire.

Their vehicle was on the hard shoulder between junctions 12 and 13 when the collision occurred at 6.46am this morning. 

A fourth man has been taken to a hospital in Oxford with serious injuries, but nobody on board the coach was hurt. The northbound carriageway of the M1 has now reopened to the public.

The coach driver has been arrested in connection with the crash, and is being interviewed by police in Luton.

Meanwhile, one man has died in a pile-up on the M40, with another fighting for their life in hospital. Six people were seriously hurt, and as many as 45 people have been left with minor injuries.

The crash occurred just before 7.50am this morning on the northbound carriageway between junctions 9 and 10 in Bicester, Oxfordshire. An estimated 30 cars were involved.

The M40 remains closed, while the northbound stretch on the M1 has reopened

That stretch of the motorway has now reopened, after being closed by the emergency services for nine hours.

Zara Smith, who was travelling to Stockport when traffic came to a standstill, described the scene as "carnage".

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1. Gallery: 'Carnage' As Four People Die In Motorway Crashes

   The pile-up on the M40 involved as many as 40 cars, according to Thames Valley Police

Foggy conditions will play a "major part" in the investigation. One eyewitness described the scene as "carnage" and said she saw "a sea of metal"

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