CHARLES ’COMPARED PUTIN TO HITLER’
The Prince of Wales has compared the actions of Russian leader Vladimir Putin to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, it has been claimed.
Charles appeared to back growing international anger from the West at Russia’s actions in Ukraine during his tour of Canada when he spoke to a woman who fled the Nazis and lost family members during the Holocaust.
His remark came during a tour of the Museum of Immigration in Halifax, Nova Scotia, when the Prince and the Duchess of Cornwall paid tribute to Second World War veterans and their families.
US RESUMES HUNT FOR MISSING SAILORS
Air crews hunting for four British sailors missing in the Atlantic Ocean have scoured almost 3,000 square miles since resuming their search.
The US Coast Guard initially called off its search for the missing men on Sunday after spending two days hunting for the capsized vessel, the 40ft Cheeki Rafiki.
But it decided to resume its efforts after pressure from the UK Government, the families of the crew, figures from across the world of sailing and an online petition that attracted more than 200,000 signatures.
LABOUR, UKIP ’THREAT TO FREE TRADE’
George Osborne will launch a stinging attack on Labour and Ukip, warning they are threatening the political consensus in place since Thatcherism that Britain should be an open market economy.
The Chancellor will say that since the fall of the Berlin Wall, governments have championed free trade and welcomed foreign investment, a situation now threatened by “parties on the left and populist right”.
In a speech to the CBI, Mr Osborne will apparently take aim at Opposition policies such as an energy price freeze and indexing the minimum wage to average earnings, claiming Labour wants to “pretend that they can re-establish control over all aspects of the economy”.
PARTING SHOT FROM FEDERATION BOSS
The outgoing chairman of the embattled Police Federation will today defend his organisation as being “more than stories about Plebgate” as it faces one of the most turbulent periods in its history.
Steve Williams, who will step down after the conference, will address the Federation’s annual conference in Bournemouth after a year in which the staff association has suffered huge damage to its reputation.
The behaviour of Federation representatives in the wake of the so-called Plebgate row involving former Tory chief whip Andrew Mitchell led to severe criticism of the organisation’s agenda.
CONCERNS OVER ONLINE EXTREMISM
Fears have been raised about online extremism a year after the death of soldier Lee Rigby, as jihadist material remains widely available online.
The young soldier was mown down in a car and hacked to death on May 22 last year by Muslim fanatics Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, prompting a Government taskforce to propose greater powers to block access to extremist websites.
Material from US-born radical Anwar al-Awlaki was seized from both men’s houses, and is available on YouTube, something highlighted by MP Keith Vaz last year.
FRAUD TRIAL CHALLENGE RULING DUE
Leading judges give their ruling today on a challenge against a decision to throw out a multimillion-pound fraud trial after defendants said they could not get representation because of cuts to legal aid.
They have been urged to overturn a judge’s ruling made at London’s Southwark Crown Court after the Prime Minister’s brother, Alexander Cameron QC, successfully argued that the case should be halted because controversial Ministry of Justice reforms meant the five defendants could not find barristers of “sufficient competence”.
Judge Anthony Leonard stayed the proceedings on May 1, but City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently challenged his decision at the Court of Appeal.
COURT TO RULE OVER SEAGULL CULLING
The High Court is ruling on a legal challenge over Government backing for the culling of thousands of seagulls.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is concerned that the cull is setting a dangerous precedent for bird conservation in the UK.
An RSPB legal team is asking a judge to quash the Environment Secretary’s decision to sanction the cull in the Ribble Estuary on the Lancashire coast, at the request of aerospace firm BAE Systems.
WOMAN IN COURT OVER ABANDONED BABY
A woman accused of abandoning a newborn baby girl in a park will appear before a Crown Court judge today.
The defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, faces a single count of child neglect in connection with the discovery of the infant, named Baby Jade by hospital staff.
It is alleged that the baby was abandoned “in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to health” in the Stechford area of Birmingham in October last year.
INQUEST INTO SAILOR’S DEATH TO OPEN
An inquest into the death of Olympic sailing gold medallist Andrew “Bart” Simpson will take place this afternoon.
The world of sailing was left in shock when Simpson, of Sherborne in Dorset, was killed in San Francisco Bay on May 9 last year.
Simpson, 36, respected at home and abroad as a talented but fierce competitor, died while training for the America’s Cup with Artemis Racing
MILIBAND IN WHIRLWIND POLL CAMPAIGN
Ed Miliband is to make a whirlwind campaign tour of 10 locations in five regions of England in a day, on the eve of tomorrow’s council and European elections.
Aides said the Labour leader will use each of the 10 visits - taking him from London to his Doncaster constituency via towns in the South East, East of England, East Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside - to highlight one of the 10 pledges from his “cost-of-living contract” with voters.
Urging voters to “vote Labour to make your family better off”, Mr Miliband will say that his party has used the campaign for the elections to English councils and the European Parliament to unveil “positive” policies on rent caps, zero-hours contracts, guaranteed access to GPs and boosting the minimum wage.
