Political Rebels

Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government was in crisis on Wednesday on the eve of local elections and a key EU vote after four ministers in 24 hours indicated they would step down. Communities Secretary Hazel Blears came out publicly to say she was quitting so she could "return to the grassroots" and "help the Labour Party reconnect with the British people". Her bombshell came after Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's aides briefed reporters on Tuesday she would step down in Brown's next cabinet reshuffle, expected as early as Friday. Cabinet Office minister Tom Watson and children's minister Beverley Hughes -- who unlike Blears and Smith ... Read Full Story

A cabinet minister pledged to repay thousands of pounds of property tax in the latest fall-out of an expenses row that Prime Minister Gordon Brown said must be met with "extreme" action. Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said she would pay 13,332 pounds (about 20,000 dollars, 15,000 euros) in tax that leaked expenses claims suggested she should have already paid when she sold her London flat in August 2004. Her decision came after a fifth day of newspaper revelations about MPs' lavish claims on taxpayers' money prompted Brown to take decisive action. In a round of television interviews, the premier announced an independent review of ... Read Full Story

A British cabinet minister pledged to repay thousands of pounds of property tax in the latest fall-out of an expenses row that Prime Minister Gordon Brown said must be met with "extreme" action. Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said she would pay 13,332 pounds (about 20,000 dollars, 15,000 euros) in tax that leaked expenses claims suggested she should have already paid when she sold her London flat in August 2004. Her decision came after a fifth day of newspaper revelations about MPs' lavish claims on taxpayers' money prompted Brown to take decisive action. In a round of television interviews, the premier announced an independent review ... Read Full Story

A 33-year-old man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for raping a teenager and engaging in a series of webcam-related sex crimes involving 60 girls. * Girl, 14, gang raped on internet date (20 Aug 09) * Woman, 32, found guilty of raping woman (7 Aug 09) * Preschools warned of paedophile blogger (6 Aug 09) The man was sentenced by Uppsala district court for a list of 65 charges of sexual offences including aggravated child exploitation through sexual posing, child rape, and sexual coercion. The 33-year-old father of two was also ordered to pay a total of 1 million kronor ($140,400) ... Read Full Story

A man who used public phone boxes to groom young girls and persuade them to perform sexual acts has been sentenced to 12 years in prison. Derek Hindmarch, 46, from Humberside would lie in wait near telephone boxes and choose a victim from among the girls who walked near by. When they reached the phone box he would attract their attention by ringing the telephone. Once he had established contact with the girl he would begin grooming them and encourage them to create indecent images of themselves. His approach was “methodical and predatory” officers in charge of the case said today. Hindmarch had at ... Read Full Story