Queen To Hail Olympics In 3D Xmas Message

Monarch's Message: From Radio To 3D

Updated: 4:41am UK, Monday 24 December 2012

The Queen's grandfather, King George V, delivered the first royal Christmas broadcast live on the radio from Sandringham more than 75 years ago.

He had reigned since 1910, but it was not until 1932 that he gave his first festive speech.

He was unsure about using the relatively untried medium of the wireless, but eventually agreed and read a message composed by author Rudyard Kipling.

The original idea was suggested by Sir John Reith, the founding father of the BBC, to inaugurate the Empire Service, now the BBC World Service.

The fixed time of 3pm each year was chosen in 1932 because it was considered the best for reaching most of the countries in the British Empire by short wave.

The General Post Office was used to reach Australia, Canada, India, Kenya and South Africa.

George V's eldest son, who became King Edward VIII, never delivered a Christmas speech as his reign lasted less than a year, ending in abdication.

There was no broadcast in 1936 or 1938.

King George VI, Edward's younger brother, made his first broadcast in December 1937 in which he thanked the nation and Empire for their support during the first year of his reign.

It was the outbreak of war in 1939 which firmly established the tradition, when George VI sought to reassure people and boost morale.

Following her father's death, the Queen made her first Christmas broadcast in 1952 and her first televised Christmas broadcast in 1957, live from Sandringham.

She has delivered one every year except for 1969, when she decided the royals had been on TV enough that year following an unprecedented documentary the family made about their life.

Today the speech is available on the television, radio, the Royal Channel on the YouTube website, and in HD.

This year for the first time the national address will also be broadcast in 3D.

The Queen usually does her speech in one take, recording it a couple of weeks before December 25. Accompanying TV footage is gathered throughout the year.

She writes her own message and each one has a religious framework and reflects current issues.

The speech is one of the rare occasions when the Queen does not turn to the Government for advice and is able to voice her own views.

While the Royal Family gathers together round the TV to watch the broadcast on Christmas Day, the Queen sometimes watches it alone, heading off to another room to scrutinise her message in private.

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Charities: Budget Cuts Will Hurt The Homeless

By Becky Johnson, North of England Correspondent

Charities that provide services for homeless people fear their funding will be cut at a time when demand is soaring.

Figures show the number of homeless people has increased dramatically in the last year. Many shelters receive local authority funding and expect they will feel the effects of council budget cuts.

In the last year the number of people sleeping on the streets has risen by 23% in England, according to the charity Crisis.

Homeless charity Shelter says over the same period the number of families forced to live in temporary accommodation has gone up by 51%, and one in every 115 households across England is currently at risk of homelessness.

Research published by Crisis has found more people are becoming homeless in England due to the impact of cuts to housing benefit set against the backdrop of the continuing economic downturn. It says young people and families with children are being hardest hit.

Craig Lowthian, 32, has been sleeping rough on the streets of Liverpool for four years.

He became homeless after a relationship breakdown and says he has no alternative because he can't find work. 

"People knock me back all the time because of my criminal past. You can't win either way whichever way you look at it I can't win," he said.

He admits he has an alcohol problem and said he sees no way out of his situation. "There's nothing I can do about it. Your life just adapts to it."

He is helped by outreach workers from the Whitechapel Centre in Liverpool. They go out on the streets to speak to people and encourage them to visit the centre where they can get warm drinks, food, have a shower and get help finding temporary accommodation.

The bulk of the funding for the centre comes from Liverpool City Council with the rest coming from charitable donations. The council has to save £32m in the next financial year so managers at the Whitechapel Centre say its future is uncertain.

David Carter, CEO of the Whitechapel Centre, is concerned if services like his disappear there will be nowhere for homeless people to get help.

He told Sky News: "We provide a safe space to have something to eat, to get clean and to start that journey out of homelessness. If you take that funding away not only do you take away the opportunity to come indoors and be included - you actually take away people's hope."

Aiden McKevitt, 30, has been sleeping rough since he "ran out of money" three months ago. He's currently applying for jobs and is hoping the Whitechapel Centre will find him somewhere to stay in the meantime.

Describing life on the streets, he told Sky News: "It's cold at night. You wake up in the morning and you can't speak because there's bile in your throat. It's rough in the winter."

"There's a lot of organisations where you can get food during the day and a cup of coffee so you don't freeze to death but they do need help these organisations, some funding."

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Paul Daniels Reveals He 'Kissed Schoolgirl'

Veteran TV magician Paul Daniels has revealed his shock after discovering a girl he picked up as a hitch-hiker more than 40 years ago and began kissing was a schoolgirl.

The 74-year-old entertainer, writing in his blog The Life and Times of Paul Daniels, said he gave the girl a lift after spotting her as he drove home from a late-night show on a country lane, The Sun newspaper reported.

He wrote: "I kissed her goodnight and it got a bit more passionate.

"Thank God it didn't get too passionate because something she said sent a shiver down my spine - she said she was still at school.

"I had her out of the car as fast as I could and I drove off with the lights off so she couldn't see my number plate! I felt sick."

In his blog, Daniels said the encounter occurred when he was 30. The blog has since been taken down.

The Sun reported that the magician described showbusiness in the 1970s as plagued by teenage "groupies" and added it was difficult to know their age.

He added: "The super-short mini-skirts, the teetering high heels, the full slap made it, as I say, impossible.

"Did I have such a life? Yes. I would be lying if I said I didn't. Were they all over 16? OMG I hope so. Can I remember them? No."

The father-of-three, married to former assistant Debbie McGee, 54, added that performers and pop stars were surrounded by female fans in the 1970s.

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Edinburgh Car Crash Leaves Three Men Dead

Three men have died and three other people were injured in a car crash near Edinburgh.

Witnesses to the crash are being asked to contact police

The accident happened about 1.5 miles south of Pathhead, Midlothian, at around 7.30am.

A gold-coloured Nissan Note carrying five people was in collision with a silver Skoda Octavia and ended up on its roof, Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue said.

The accident happened on the A68

The female driver of the Nissan managed to get out before emergency services arrived and fire crews cut one man free. Three male passengers sitting in the back of the Nissan died at the scene.

The man cut free from the overturned car was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary along with the female driver and the male driver of the Skoda.

Three people with injuries were taken to hospital after the accident

Their injuries are not life-threatening. The A68 is closed while officers investigate the crash.

Inspector Simon Bradshaw said: "This is a tragic incident and we are currently in the process of carrying out inquiries in order to establish the full circumstances of the collision.

Rescue workers cut one man free from the vehicle

"At this time I am appealing to anyone who noticed the gold-coloured Nissan Note or the silver Skoda Octavia on the A68 this morning to get in touch."

Anyone with information about the accident was asked to contact Lothian and Borders Police on 0800 555111.

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Weather: Rain Hits Roads And Rail Amid Floods

Flood victims are facing a festive washout as people hoping to get home to friends and family for Christmas are warned rain could prompt travel misery.

Persistent downpours across large parts of the UK caused widespread flooding over the weekend, with a number of routes still affected.

Southwest England, Wales and northeast Scotland have been worst affected, although the Midlands is also on high alert.

Almost 400 flood warnings have been issued by the Environment Agency - which said up to 30mm of rain was expected to fall between midnight and noon - contributing further to the possibility of flooding.

Sky News Weather Presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar "We're really looking at unsettled weather for the rest of the year.

"Rain this morning will move north-eastwards across southern and central England, Wales, the Midlands and up to Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

"It should clear off into the North Sea just after midday but this rain will add further to the flooding problems in the west as it falls on already saturated ground."

CrossCountry, East Midlands Trains, First Great Western and First TransPennine Express are all experiencing major delays, according to National Rail.

Flooding in Stonehaven

In the South West there were no trains running between Bristol Parkway and Swindon because of flooding, while services between London Paddington and Swansea were diverted.

Trains will not run between Exeter St Davids and Tiverton Parkway until Friday at the earliest, with replacement buses and diverted routes offering passengers some alternatives.

But First Great Western warned that poor road conditions mean that buses will not be able to travel on many routes.

London Midland is also facing disruption on most of its routes today - this time because of a shortage of train crew - while flooding means services between Derby and Nottingham are suspended.

Network Rail (NR) yesterday said it was working closely with the Environment Agency and its weather service to try and keep things moving where possible.

Environment Minister Richard Benyon praised the response to the floods but said there was always room for improvement.

"I'm really impressed with the way the emergency services, the Environment Agency, the local authorities are working together, and humbled by the incredible community spirit in places like Broughton," he told BBC Radio 4's The World At One.

"But we all have to realise that whatever we spend and whatever we do, there are 5.2 million homes in this country that are at some sort of flood risk.

"There are going to be houses flooded in the future, we have just got to be better at warning people, we have got to be smarter at how we build defences (and) what defences we build.

"Government is doing a lot better, we have always got to learn from every single flood and realise it's the most miserable experience for people to have their homes flooded, and it's very damaging to the economy as well."

Meanwhile, numerous roads were flooded, many of them in areas which were under water only a few weeks ago.

Worcestershire was one of the worst-hit counties, with roads also closed due to floods in Worcester, Bromsgrove and Evesham.

It comes as a clean-up continues in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, after flooding forced dozens of people out of their homes and a rest centre set up at Mackie Academy to keep the victims safe and warm.

Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse was due to visit the town to speak to residents and thank people for the efforts to mitigate and clean up the damage.

Devon and Cornwall were also among the worst-hit regions, with RNLI flood rescue teams across the area.

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Hospital's £400,000 Payout Over Care Failings

A hospital has apologised and paid out more than £400,000 for 38 cases of failings in patient care.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he was "disgusted and appalled" at the accounts of suffering and neglect at Redditch's Alexandra Hospital.

Health bosses are now writing to all of the families involved to apologise, after legal action exposed years of bad practice.

Claims ranged from nurses taunting patients to leaving an elderly woman unwashed for 11 weeks.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he was 'disgusted and appalled'

In one case, a man had starvation recorded as the cause of his death after being treated at the hospital for two months.

Many of the families are to receive compensation for cases that their lawyer described as "appalling".

In total the hospital has paid out £410,000 in 38 separate cases, five to people who survived, the rest to those whose relatives died.

The hospital did not admit liability but agreed to apologise fully to the families.

A spokesman for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said the hospital has massively improved.

"Whilst the Trust has accepted that certain aspects of the care afforded to some patients fell below the standard that they were entitled to expect, all of the cases cited are several years old, in many incidences, more than a decade old.

"This Trust now has the sixth best standard hospital mortality index (SHMI) in the Midlands and East Strategic Health area based on 2012/13 figures which put the figure at 97 - which is below the national average.

"A number of very serious allegations made by the families of deceased patients are not borne out by the medical records.

"Nevertheless, the Trust accepts that, the care afforded to some patients, some years ago - between 2002 and 2009 - fell below the requisite standard and has apologised for the shortcomings."

Mr Hunt said the Government was acting to ensure failings in care were detected more quickly.

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Sally Bercow's Twitter Account Hacked Again

Sally Bercow's Twitter account has been hacked for the second time in two months.

The controversial wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons had signed off to her followers for Christmas.

However, hours later her account had been hacked and a stream of offensive, sexually explicit messages posted.

The hacker, who struck at 2.20am, criticised the strength of her password in the first post tweeting: "Berkow [sic] password got it. So ******* obvio0us she is a bint."

Mrs Bercow had bid her followers goodbye for the Christmas break saying: "kids break up today & I'm aiming 4 an old-fashioned, twitter-free Xmas. Yes, really".

Her Twitter account was taken down hours after the hack attack, although it was not clear whether it was removed by the hacker, the social networking site or Mrs Bercow herself.

Sally Bercow arrives to take part in Celebrity Big Brother

Mrs Bercow, who has courted notoriety by posing naked but for a strategically placed bedsheet and appearing on Celebrity Big Brother, was previously hacked in November.

It followed a series of gaffes she had made on the social networking site, including breaching a court order by naming a schoolgirl and linking Lord McAlpine to the flawed Newsnight programme about child abuse.

She had been advised by both her lawyers and her husband not to continue to use Twitter and posted a message saying: "Looking at tweets but (sadly) can't reply (#lawyerswhippedmyass #asdidMrB). So text/email/DM if you're a mate. Hope 2 b back soon.xx"

Days later she was hacked by a user who called her a "stupid woman" and again criticised how easy it was to crack her password.

She closed down her account immediately after but returned to the social networking site just over a week later.

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Queen Misses Sandringham Church Service

The Queen has missed a Sunday church service on the Sandringham estate because she is suffering from a cold.

Buckingham Palace said that the monarch was getting over the end of the cold and wanted to make sure it was "over and done with by Christmas" so stayed away from the service.

A spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace said: "The Queen was getting over the tail end of a cold. We are expecting business as usual next week."

The Queen usually visits St Mary Magdalene Church each Sunday when she is in Norfolk.

The Royal Family attends church at Sandringham on Christmas Day last year

However, the Duke of Edinburgh, 91, did attend the service at the church, which is just a few hundred yards from the house, with the Duke of York and his daughters and the Earl and Countess of Wessex and their daughter.

Dozens of well-wishers had gathered outside the church to watch the Royal Family attend the service.

Mary Relph, 78, said that she has waited outside the church to spot the Queen every time the monarch has attended a service since 1988.

"I don't remember her ever missing it," she said.

The Duchess of Cambridge greets crowds outside the church last Christmas

"I remember her going around the back once. I am disappointed but I hope she is OK."

However, the Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said this was not the first time the Queen had missed a church service on the Sunday before Christmas.

The Queen traditionally spends the festive period with her family at her Norfolk estate.

However, this year the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have announced they are planning to spend Christmas at the Middleton family home.

And Prince Harry is currently serving as an Apache pilot in Afghanistan.

Princess Eugenie and the Queen with children at the church last Christmas

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Boat Capsize: Missing Person Search Called Off

An intensive air and sea search for a person believed to be missing in the water after a small boat capsized, has been abandoned.

The Coastguard said the alarm was raised after two people were found holding on to the side of an overturned vessel in Poole Harbour, Dorset.

The boat capsized near Brownsea Island and members of the public on the shore dialled 999 and the men were rescued by helicopter and taken to Poole Hospital.

One man was reportedly rescued from the water while the other was found clinging to a bouy.

Lifeboats had worked alongside Coastguard helicopters in a search for the third person believed to have been on board.

Portland Coastguard coordinated an intensive air and sea search of the harbour over three hours but the man was not found. 

A marker bouy placed in the location of the capsized boat indicated that a casualty in the water would have remained within the harbour area during the search.

Volunteers searched the shore and several private boats joined Coastguards to assist in the search.

A Coastguard spokesperson said: "Portland Coastguard received 999 calls shortly before 11am reporting that there were people in the water from a small capsized boat in the Whitley Lake area just inside the harbour entrance.

"Both coastguard rescue helicopters were on exercise nearby and were on scene quickly".

The search involved two coastguard rescue helicopters, RNLI lifeboats from Poole and Swanage, Coastguard rescue teams from Swanage and Poole as well as local vessels and other members of the emergency services.

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Flood Warnings Amid More Travel Misery

Scores of flood warnings are in place across the country after days of heavy rainfall, as homeowners, businesses and travellers suffer more disruption.

Around 160 flood warnings have been issued for England and Wales, along with 31 in Scotland, which means flooding is expected and immediate action is required.

There are also almost 300 alerts where flooding is possible, and one severe warning remains active at Helston in Cornwall - meaning there is a danger to life.

Further heavy downpours are predicted during the day. In the Stonehaven area of Aberdeenshire, dozens of homes are being evacuated due to "significant flooding".

Many residents in the South West of England face Christmas with floodwater in their homes, and communities across the UK are on alert.

In Cornwall, Lostwithiel residents looked on helplessly overnight as flood water lapped at the sandbags protecting their homes, although water levels have been steadily dropping there.

And in Stoke Canon, Devon, 30 properties have been flooded after the River Exe burst its banks - with 20 residents moved to safety.

Flooding in Stonehaven. Aberdeenshire, (Pic: COLINTHIRD1969)

For train passengers, the chances of getting home for Christmas could be hampered by the effects of the heavy downpours.

Those unable to travel on Saturday because of cancelled services will put further pressure on the network as they reschedule their journeys.

Dozens of routes have been affected by heavy rain in recent days, and flooding was so bad in the South West that First Great Western advised passengers not to travel west of Taunton unless their journeys were essential.

Several train operators struggled to provide replacement buses due to flooded roads and a lack of available vehicles.

Most of the flood warnings are in the South West, Midlands and the Anglian region.

Engineers work on the flooded railway line in Exeter (pic: Mike Yearworth)

There will be some heavy rain in Scotland today, while England, Wales and Ireland will have drier conditions during the day.

However, it will turn wet later, with outbreaks of rain moving into the South West of England and then heading north.

Sky News weather presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar said: "Tonight outbreaks of rain will move into the south-west of England and then spread to all of the south, including southern Wales by midnight.

"The rain will continue spreading further north into the rest of Wales, central England, the Midlands, the Republic of Ireland and as far north as Yorkshire and Lancashire.

"Some of the rain will be heavy, especially for south-west England and southern Wales."

In Looe, Cornwall, heavy rain caused two landslides which cut off the nearby the village of Hannafore.

In Umberleigh, Devon, a police helicopter helped in the search and rescue of a woman who had been swept away from her vehicle during flooding in the area.

A woman is rescued from flood water in Devon (pic: Devon & Cornwall Police)

She was found clinging to branches of a tree on the banks of the swollen River Taw.

Her husband and son were rescued by passers-by while the woman had tried to clamber to safety onto the top of the car but was swept away.

She managed to grab hold of a branch and clung on while a police helicopter hovered overhead. Robin Goodlad, the RNLI's incident commander said the rescue had been an "heroic" effort.

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