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Two houses 100 miles apart have been searched by police after a man was arrested on suspicion of murdering missing university chef Claudia Lawrence.
The 59-year-old man, named locally as Michael Snelling, was arrested yesterday morning at a house in North Shields, Tyneside, on suspicion of murdering Miss Lawrence, who went missing in York in March 2009.
Neighbours said his car was seized as police officers began a search of the semi-detached property.
EASTERN EUROPEAN JOB FIGURES DUE
The numbers of Romanians and Bulgarians who have taken up employment in Britain since access restrictions to the labour market were lifted at the turn of the year will be revealed in official figures published today.
Labour market data, published by the Office for National Statistics, will show how many citizens of the eastern European countries were employed in the UK between January and March this year.
A total of 144,000 Romanians and Bulgarians were employed in the UK between October and December last year, according to the last batch of statistics, an increase of 9,000 from 135,000 in the previous three months
BANK TO ANNOUNCE ECONOMY FORECASTS
The Bank of England delivers its latest forecasts for the UK economy today, with any marked improvement likely to be seen as a signal that interest rates may increase earlier than expected.
Experts have pencilled in a hike in the cost of borrowing from its historic low of 0.5% for the spring of next year.
But the City is likely to bring forward its expectations of a rate rise if the Bank’s quarterly inflation report signals a belief that key economic indicators are showing accelerating improvement.
TOP EARNERS ’DO BEST FROM RECOVERY’
The highest earners have been the biggest winners from the economic recovery so far, according to figures compiled for Labour.
Analysis by the House of Commons Library found the top 1% - around 300,000 people - increased their share of national after-tax income from 8.2% in 2012-13 to 9.8% last year.
Meanwhile, the bottom 90% - some 27 million people - saw their share fall from 71.3% to 70.4%.
LABOUR POLL RATING AT FOUR-YEAR LOW
Another poll has found evidence of a Tory resurgence as the economy recovers.
YouGov research for the Sun put the Conservatives and Labour neck and neck on 34% each.
It is the lowest rating for Labour since July 2010 - before Ed Miliband took over as leader. Ukip were on 15% and the Liberal Democrats 8%.
MINISTER HEADS TO NIGERIA FOR TALKS
A Foreign Office minister will visit Nigeria today for talks on how Britain can help find scores of girls abducted from their school a month ago.
Mark Simmonds will hold high-level meetings amid suggestions that UK drones and other surveillance assets could be used in the hunt.
Downing Street said earlier that David Cameron had watched footage released by Boko Haram militants of around 130 captives, and it had underlined to him the “pure evil” of the crime.
DRIVER HELD OVER FATAL CAR CRASH
The driver of a coach that crashed killing two women continues to be questioned on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
The coach was carrying more than 50 passengers on what is believed to be an Age Concern trip to the popular seaside town of Looe in Cornwall when it careered into a hedge on the A387 at Morval, at around 1pm yesterday, Devon and Cornwall Police said.
A woman died at the scene while a second woman was taken by air ambulance to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth but was pronounced dead on arrival, police said.
GSK EXECUTIVE ACCUSED OF BRIBERY
Drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline is facing fresh allegations of corruption after Chinese police accused a senior executive of bribery.
The UK-based company has been at the centre of a slew of allegations in recent months, including from investigators in China, Iraq and Poland, after they alleged GSK reps paid doctors and hospital officials to prescribe its products ahead of others.
In a statement carried by the official Xinhua News Agency, police in the central city of Changsha said GSK’s Mark Reilly was accused of pressing his sales team to bribe doctors, hospital officials and health institutions.
PARLIAMENT TO CLOSE FOR THREE WEEKS
MPs will leave the Commons for almost three weeks today despite the looming international crisis in Ukraine, provoking warnings Parliament could be “left behind” .
At around 7pm, Leader of the Lords Lord Hill will read a message from the Queen, sparking a constitutional procedure involving tricorn hats and Norman French, proroguing Parliament until the State Opening on June 4.
The event will shut down Parliament and unlike a normal recess, recalling MPs in the event of an emergency is very difficult and would require a Royal Warrant.
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