Birmingham Post

Us Interest Brings Market Move a Step Closer

The relocation of Birmingham Wholesale Market from Digbeth to a new site elsewhere in the city has moved a step nearer with a US development company understood to be involved in discussions with the city council. Hines Europe has already held some preliminary meetings with officials but last night a spokesman at its London offices declined to provide a statement.

Labour has Plans for Real 'Granny State', Says Harman ; Exclusive

Labour is to launch plans for a "granny state", with new benefits aimed at people caring for older relatives, at its Spring Conference in Birmingham. Harriet Harman, the party's Deputy Leader and Minister for Women, told The Post the Government would reform the benefits system to allow carers to work and claim financial help at the same time.

Superbug Cases Blight Midlands

Deaths linked to the hospital superbug clostridium difficile (C diff) doubled in the Midlands for the second year - making it the worst region in the UK - according to new Government figures. In England and Wales there was a sharp rise in C diff deaths from 3,757 in 2005 to 6,480 in 2006, up 72 per cent.

A Safe Haven for Injured Soldiers' Families to Stay ; Tucked Away in a Secluded and Select Surrey Suburb, a Newly- Converted Multi-Million Pound Home has Started to Receive Its First Guests. Health Correspondent Emma Brady Takes a Look Around Norton House, the Blueprint for a Pounds 1.7 Million Military Families' Project in Birmingham

Given its leafy location, a short stroll away from Ashstead village, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a City worker's country crash-pad. Even as I walk up the gravel driveway, there are no clues as to the pounds 1.8 million property's real purpose.

Jersey Care Home Finds Back Up Victims' Abuse Claims

Detectives investigating a child abuse scandal at a former Jersey care home yesterdaysaid they had discovered "finds of some significance" - and there could be three secret chambers where victims were abused. Officers are searching for human remains at Haut de la Garenne after the discovery of a child's skull on Saturday.

'I Hope My Mum Would Have Been Proud of My Service'

Prince Harry hopes he would have made his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, proud by serving in Afghanistan. Harry, 23, who was just 12 when his mother was killed in a car crash in Paris in August 1997, said he believed she was looking down on him, "having a giggle" when things went wrong.

Spartan Life Replaces the Silver Spoon for Harry

The first time he was pictured peering through the hatch of a tank Prince Harry was just eight, on his first official royal engagement. Now, nearly 15 years later and several feet taller, the young Household Cavalry officer has been back in the turret for real, commanding Spartan light tanks in the dusty plains of Afghanistan's Helmand Province.

How Prince Is the Latest in Line of Royal Combatants

Prince Harry is among a long line of royals who have served on the front line in modern times. The 23-year-old, an officer in the Household Cavalry, is fulfilling a dream other members of the British monarchy have achieved.

'I Could Be Top Terror Target'

Prince Harry admits he could be a "top target" for terrorists in the UK after fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. The 23-year-old army officer said he accepted the possibility that home-grown extremists sympathetic to the Taliban could try to "slot" him on his return.

Front Line Firing in Taliban Clash

This is Prince Harry firing at the Taliban during a front line clash in Afghanistan. Manning a powerful .50 calibre machine gun for the first time, Harry helped Gurkha troops repel an insurgent attack on the southernmost British position in Helmand. Crouching on sandbags, an open box of ammunition at the ready next to him, the prince pumped rounds across 500 metres of cratered no man's land using only distant puffs of smoke as his target.

Work Abroad Scheme Launch ; Volunteers

Young British adults from deprived backgrounds will be offered the chance to work as volunteers in developing countries, the Government was due to announce today. Over the next three years 2,500 people aged 18 to 25 will be sponsored under the pounds 10 million scheme, which also aims to raise awareness of development issues in the UK.

New Call for Witchcraft Pardon ; Petition

Campaigners yesterday submitted a petition to the Scottish Parliament calling for the last woman convicted under the Witchcraft Act to be pardoned. Another petition calls for the pardon of all people convicted in Scotland under witchcraft legislation.

Conservative Supporters to Earn Blue Bonus Points

Conservatives will launch a loyalty card allowing supporters to claim discounts in high street shops. The scheme, launched fully next month, is the brainchild of Tory Chair Caroline Spelman, MP for Meriden.

Yard Won't Get Look at Conway Case

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair has demanded to know why the case of disgraced MP Derek Conway has not been referred to Scotland Yard. Sir Ian has written to John Lyon, who is responsible for standards in the House of Commons, to ask whether his officers will be brought in.

12,000 Government Jobs to Go in Spending Cuts

The Government's biggest department is to axe around 12,000 jobs over the next three years because of spending cuts, it was announced yesterday. The Department for Work and Pensions, which has cut up to 30,000 posts in the past three years, gave details of the cuts just hours after signalling a bigger role for the private and voluntary sectors in helping people find work.

Words to Leftie Anthem Flagged Up for Minister

Business Secretary John Hutton was offered singing lessons yesterday after he admitted being unsure of the lines to the party's traditional anthem The Red Flag. Mr Hutton said he was not sure he could "get beyond the first line" when invited by Tory Richard Ottaway (Croydon S) to take on the "Luddite, Red Flag singing" elements of his own party.

Candidate Lied to Get Council Housing Grant, Court Is Told

A Liberal Democrat election candidate submitted dishonest applications for housing improvement grants, dramatically exaggerating illnesses supposedly suffered by him and his wife, in order to improve his house at the expense of Birmingham City Council, a court heard yesterday. Saeed Aehmed obtained pounds 16,000 to which he was not entitled with a view to paying for a ground floor bathroom, an extra bedroom and other improvements at 91 Bevington Road, Aston, it was claimed.

Anti-Freeze Poisoning Wife Given 30-Year Sentence

A housewife who left her husband blind and deaf by poisoning him with anti-freeze was beginning a 30-year jail sentence last night. Kate Knight, 28, used "premeditated planning of a most callous kind" when she attempted to murder Lee Knight by lacing his food with ethylene glycol on their seventh wedding anniversary, Stafford Crown Court was told.

Failing Schools Must Be Forced to Merge, Balls Will Tell Conference

Councils must be bold and force failing schools to merge, the Schools Secretary will announce in Birmingham today. Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, will issue the uncompromising message when he speaks at Labour's Spring Conference in the city today.

Police Hunting Gang of Four

Police are hunting a gang behind a spate of robberies across Birmingham in which a stun gun was used to threaten victims. Four men have struck at shops and threatened staff with knives, pepper spray and a stun gun. A "substantial amount" was said to have been stolen from commercial properties in Quinton, Hamstead and Handsworth, since an unsuccessful attempt to rob a bookmakers in Winson Green on January 29. CCTV footage captured the criminals who wore hoods, hats and caps.