Paris Terror Attack: Two Brothers On The Run

Tributes To Muslim Officer Killed By Terrorists

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 09 Januari 2015 | 16.08

Thousands have paid tribute to a Muslim police officer who was killed as he pleaded for his life in the Paris magazine massacre.

Ahmed Merabet was wounded during a gunfight with terrorists outside the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

A harrowing video showed the 42-year-old lying on the pavement before rolling over to face his attackers.

He is seen raising his hand, apparently pleading for mercy.

According to Le Parisien, Mr Merabet was heard saying: "Voulez-vous me tuer? (Do you want to kill me?)."

The gunman responded: "C'est bon chef (It's good chief)."

One of the two men quickens his pace as he reaches the injured officer and, without pausing, shoots him in the head.

Bloggers have picked up on the fact that Mr Merabet was a Muslim in an attempt to defend the community from a backlash to the attack.

The hashtag #JeSuisAhmed (I am Ahmed) - a play on Je Suis Charlie, the catchphrase spawned in the wake of the attack - has been tweeted more than 53,000 times in his memory.

One blogger, Dyab Abou Jahjah, wrote: "I am not Charlie, I am Ahmed the dead cop. Charlie ridiculed my faith and culture and I died defending his right to do so. #JesuisAhmed."

Another, who uses the Twitter handle Kidrauhl, said: "Who kills in the name of Allah is not Muslim is just a murderer who hides behind religion."

Mr Merabet had just been promoted to the Judicial Police, and was described by his union as "someone very discreet and conscientious".

He was one of two police officers killed in the bloodshed.

Police forces across Britain paid tribute to the pair by pausing "in solidarity and sympathy" on Thursday morning.

Eight journalists, a maintenance worker and a visitor were also killed in what was France's worst terror attack since 1961.

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Gallery: Vigils Worldwide For Paris Attack Victims

People hold signs reading "Je suis Charlie" (I am Charlie) in Paris as they observe a minute of silence for the victims of an attack by armed gunmen on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo

Floral tributes are left close to the Charlie Hebdo offices

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16.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

MI5: Al Qaeda Plotting New Massacre In Britain

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

Al Qaeda is plotting to massacre huge numbers of civilians in Britain and other western countries, the head of Mi5 has warned.

Andrew Parker, director general of the security service, told a select group mostly from the Royal United Services Institute at his London headquarters that while the so-called Islamic State is the newest threat to the West and that self-started lone wolf plots are hard to foil, al Qaeda still has ambitions for something more spectacular.

He said: "We know that terrorists based in Syria harbour... ambitions towards the UK - trying to direct attacks against our country, and exhorting extremists here to act independently."

But this was in addition to newly identified plans from al Qaeda to revisit their traditional style of operations.

He said: "…we still face more complex and ambitious plots that follow the now sadly well-established approach of al Qaeda and its imitators: attempts to cause large scale loss of life, often by attacking transport systems or iconic targets.

"We know, for example, that a group of core al Qaeda terrorists in Syria is planning mass casualty attacks against the West."

Al Qaeda experts are known to have moved from Pakistan to Syria, where they may be able to draw on British volunteers to conduct attacks in the UK. Their mission is entirely focussed on plots against the West.

They are known to be led by Muhsin al Fadhli, an expert bomb maker wanted by the FBI who has a $7m price on his head. He moved to Syria two years ago and was unsuccessfully targeted in a coalition air strike last year.

It is also known that British citizens are in the ranks of al Qaeda in Syria and could be used in a major atrocity back home.

The domestic spy chief spoke hours after the UK's COBRA committee ordered a boost to national security.

Home Secretary Theresa May said: "Following the attacks we took the precautionary step yesterday of increasing security at the French-UK border.

"The UK threat level, which is set by the independent Joint Terrorism Advisory Centre, remains at severe; that means a terrorist attack is highly likely and the public should remain vigilant.

"This morning I chaired COBRA to consider Britain's response to the attacks and our own preparedness to a similar attack."

Extra police have already been deployed at British ports and stations serving the Eurostar.

Lone wolf plots aimed at the police and military have surged over the last year and these have combined with the Paris killings to cause unease among officers.

"It's a huge worry for us," said Sir Peter Fahy, chief constable of Greater Manchester Police.

"There is a particular increased threat to police officers at the moment and there have been a number of attacks foiled in differed parts of the country, but I can tell you that our officers are very concerned about it… they see what happened in France, and clearly we are an unarmed police force but it is the nature of that threat which is worrying but despite that our officers go out there and do their duty."

Such concerns from front line police reflect similar fears in the intelligence community. Put simply - the world is getting more dangerous.

16.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

France Terror: 'Two Dead Amid Hostage Siege'

The Paris terror suspects are holed up at an industrial building near Charles de Gaulle airport and two people have reportedly been killed.

Reports also say that 20 people have been injured and the pair have taken hostages.

It follows a car chase on the N2 motorway in which gunshots were fired between the men and police as their stolen car headed towards Paris.

Three helicopters are now hovering over the building near the country's busiest airport.

France's interior minister has confirmed that an operation to detain the suspects is under way.

Armed police are ordering members of the media back from the scene.

The number of people killed

The grey Peugot 206 was stolen from the town of Montagny Sainte Felicite this morning between Crepy-en-Valois and Nanteuil-le-Haudoin.

Almost 90,000 terror police across France are involved in the hunt for the men, believed to be behind Wednesday's terror attack in which 12 people died.

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Gallery: Huge Manhunt For Paris Killers

Heavily armed paramilitary forces are working their way through the French countryside as a vast manhunt continues for two brothers accused of kiling 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris. In this image an officer searches in Corcy, northern France

French gendarmes patrol a bridge as they survey the A1 motorway near Survilliers, near Paris. Authorities raised the security alert to the highest possible level in the region of Picardy, to the northeast of Paris

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16.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Paris Terror Attack: Two Brothers On The Run

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 08 Januari 2015 | 16.08

Paris Terror Attack: Two Brothers On The Run

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By Ian Woods, Senior Correspondent, In Paris

A massive manhunt is under way for two suspects in the terror attack on a satirical magazine.

Images have been released of brothers Said Kouachi and Cherif Kouachi, both in their early 30s, who are suspected of being part of the attack that left 12 people dead.

Officials have said the French nationals are linked to a Yemeni terror network.

The youngest of the suspects in the shooting has handed himself in to police after he was named on social media as Hamyd Mourad, 18.

:: Live updates on this story here

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Gallery: Police Carry Out Raid In Reims

Police have carried out raids in the Croix-Rouge area of the French city of Reims following the massacre at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo

They are hunting two men, Said Kouachi and Cherif Kouachi, suspected of carrying out the attack which left 12 people dead

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A police officer aims his weapon during the raid

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French prime minister Manuel Valls said seven people had been arrested in connection with the attacks

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Continue through for more images

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Sky sources say the man, who has been arrested, is the brother-in-law of the suspects at large.

On Wednesday night heavily armoured French police raided an apartment in the city of Reims, east of Paris, as they continued a massive manhunt to find the killers.

French officials say seven people have been detained overnight.

As people continue to leave tributes to the victims near the scene of the shooting, thousands of officers have reportedly been deployed in the hunt for the men behind the attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo.

It has previously been targeted over its portrayal of the Prophet Mohammed.

In Wednesday's attack, masked gunmen stormed the offices and called out their victims by name before opening fire during a morning editorial meeting.

They were armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles and a rocket-propelled grenade.

They were let inside the Charlie Hebdo building by a female employee who was threatened at gunpoint along with her daughter and forced to punch in a security code to allow them inside.

The editor and a cartoonist for the newspaper, who went by the pen names Charb and Cabu, were among those killed.

Radio France chief executive Mathieu Gilet announced that contributor Bernard Maris was also killed.

Two police officers were among the dead, including one assigned as Charb's bodyguard after he had received death threats and another who was shot in the head as he lay wounded on the ground outside the offices.

He has been named as Ahmed Merabet and is believed to be a Muslim.

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Gallery: Magazine Victims Identified

Bernard Maris was a journalist and shareholder in Charlie Hebdo

Bernard Velhav was a contributer to the magazine. Pic: Georges Seguin

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French President Francois Hollande has declared today a national day of mourning and a nationwide minute of silence is planned for noon.

In a televised address on Wednesday he said: "We have to respond according to the crime, first of all by finding the authors of this infamy and we have to ensure that they are arrested, judged... and punished very severely."

With the country on maximum terror alert, more than 800 extra soldiers are helping to guard media offices, places of worship and other sensitive areas.

Tens of thousands of people have staged silent protests in France and across the world.

Social media users have used the hashtag #jesuischarlie to show solidarity for the victims of the shooting, with the Charlie Hebdo website also using the image as its masthead.

In the wake of the attack, the British Government is holding an emergency Cobra meeting chaired by the Home Secretary this morning.

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Gallery: The Pencil Is Mightier Than The Gun

Cartoonists all over the world have been picking up their pencils to show their support for the murdered artists on Charlie Hebdo magazine. This was by Carlos Latuff, posted on @LatuffCartoons latuffcartoons.wordpress.com

By David Pope @davpope. Political cartoonist at The Canberra Times

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Meanwhile, two police officers were wounded in a shoot-out in southern Paris overnight, but it is not being linked to the attack on the magazine.

:: Sky News is running a poll on social media today: "Should the media publish satirical religious cartoons?". You can vote on Facebook or Twitter using hashtags #SkyPollYes or #SkyPollNo

:: Watch the Sky News Debate: Is Freedom Of Speech More Important Than Religion? live on skynews.com, our mobile apps and on channels Sky 501, Virgin Media 602, Freesat 202, Freeview 132. You can join in from 10.30am by tweeting us on @skynews - including the phrase #skydebate - texting on 84501 or emailing news@sky.com.

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Written By Unknown on Rabu, 07 Januari 2015 | 16.08

AirAsia Crash: Missing Plane's Tail Discovered

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The tail of the missing AirAsia plane has been found underwater in the Java Sea, according to Indonesian officials.

The find is vital because the cockpit voice and flight data recorders, or black boxes, are located in the aircraft's tail, and will be crucial to investigators trying to establish why the plane crashed.

"We have successfully obtained part of the plane that has been our target," search and rescue agency chief Bambang Soelistyo said.

"The tail portion has been confirmed found."

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Gallery: The Search For The Missing AirAsia Plane

Relatives at Surabaya airport weep as they receive news that bodies have been found in the hunt for the missing AirAsia plane

There were 162 passengers on board, including one British man, Chi Man Choi, and his two-year-old daughter

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Officials carry a family member of one of the passengers after she collapsed at Surabaya airport

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The Indonesian air force shows objects retrieved from the sea

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The search had included 30 ships and 21 aircraft from South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Indonesia

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The section of plane was identified using an underwater remote operated vehicle.

Images shown at a news conference after the discovery appeared to show an upside down 'A' on a piece of metal and mechanical parts under the water.

Flight QZ8501 came down on 28 December during a storm en route from Indonesia's second city Surabaya to Singapore.

Before take-off, the pilot had asked to fly at a higher altitude to avoid the storm, but permission was denied because of the number of planes above him on the busy route.

Forty bodies and debris from the plane have been recovered from the surface of the waters off Borneo, but strong winds and high waves have prevented divers from reaching larger pieces of suspected wreckage detected by sonar on the sea floor.

It is thought to include parts of the fuselage, where many of the bodies of victims may still be trapped.

Mr Soelistyo stressed the main priority was recovering more bodies along with the black boxes.

In his last communication, Captain Iriyanto, an experienced former air force pilot, said he wanted to change course to avoid the storm system.

Soon after all contact was lost, about 40 minutes after the Airbus A320-200 had taken off.

Of the 162 passengers and crew on board, 155 were Indonesian and three South Korean. The other four were from Singapore, Malaysia, Britain and France.

Following the disaster, Indonesia has reassigned some airport and air traffic control officials who allowed the flight to take off, and has tightened rules on pre-flight procedures.

The authorities in Jakarta have also suspended all AirAsia flights between Surabaya and Singapore - the route where the plane went missing - after it emerged the aircraft had not been authorised to fly on the day it came down.

The budget airline was not permitted to make the journey on Sundays, although the transport ministry said this had no bearing on the accident.

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Written By Unknown on Selasa, 06 Januari 2015 | 16.08

Accident and emergency departments in England have fallen to a new low for waiting times over the festive period, figures are expected to reveal later.

Already this winter has seen waiting times in A&E departments hit record levels, with many hospitals failing to meet the target of dealing with 95% of patients within four hours.

The latest figures, which cover October to December, are expected to be the worst since this target was introduced a decade ago.

Once all beds are full, ambulance queues build up outside departments with patients waiting on trolleys for extended periods of time before they are seen by doctors.

The new figures are to be released by NHS England as emergency units up and down the country struggle to deal with a surge in demand.

The University Hospitals of North Midlands, which operates in Staffordshire, has declared a major incident because of unprecedented demand for healthcare services.

It follows a similar decision by Scarborough Hospital in North Yorkshire, and hospitals in Cheltenham and Gloucester which have also activated major incident plans.

Last month, Sir Bruce Keogh, the medical director of the NHS in England, admitted accident and emergency departments were under pressure.

"The system is creaking, it is under pressure at the moment," he said.

"A&Es are having to address increasing demand, the ambulance services are struggling in many parts of the country and we have a number of issues to deal with, which we are tackling."

16.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Father's Perilous Missions To Save Syria Jihadis

By Mark White, Home Affairs Correspondent

A father who rescued his own jihadi son from the clutches of Syrian rebels is now travelling back to the country to track down other young foreign fighters.

Dimitri Bontinck risked his life on a perilous 10-month quest to find his teenage son, travelling to Syria three times before the pair were eventually reunited in late 2013.

Despite the continuing danger, the former Belgian soldier is now helping other families, including some from the UK, in the search for their loved ones in the war-torn country.

Mr Bontinck told Sky News: "I have no other choice than to help those going through the same kind of trauma and nightmare I experienced."

He claims the Belgian, British and many other western governments are adding to that trauma by refusing to help in the search for those who have gone to Syria and Iraq - and for criminalising those who return from the region.

"It's so sad that parents like me and so many thousands of parents worldwide are standing alone, that nobody's helping them. It's disgusting really, it's selfish," he said.

Mr Bontinck claims he approached the police and other agencies in Belgium on numerous occasions after his son Jejoen converted to Islam and later began to show signs of radicalisation.

"We asked for help from everyone, from the police, from the authorities and youth organisations ... because we see that something is going wrong, we see that it's no good for his future - and they were just watching," he said.

"The reply from all those we asked for help was the same: 'We are living in a democracy, you have freedom of speech, you have freedom of religion'. So it was very sad for us."

Jejoen Bontinck was a popular teenager in his native Antwerp, an accomplished breakdancer who appeared in a number of music videos, but according to his parents he became increasingly radical in his religious and political views and eventually ran off to join rebel groups in Syria.

After the Belgian authorities told him they were unable to help track down his son, Dimitri Bontinck took the extraordinary decision to travel to the region himself to try to find the teenager.

"I followed a father's instinct, I followed my heart. I couldn't stay here just watching, not taking action and responsibility," he said.

On repeated trips to Syria he befriended local people and many rebel fighters who helped in the search for his son. "It was a danger mission, believe me. I risked my life and met many fighting groups. At times, there were snipers above my head; bombs and attacks."

Although the vast majority of rebel fighters he met were very friendly, Dimitri said he was held captive at one point, suspected of spying. "They put a cap over my head and handcuffed me. They were beating me on the head and I was thinking 'Is it all worth it?'

"Then another part of me thought 'I believe in my son, there is love for my son, if there is a God, they'll release me.' And they did."

On his third trip to Syria, he was reunited with his son, who he claimed was happy to return to Belgium because he realised he had been "naive" and that he "had been used" by others.

Dimitri Bontinck says he is in contact with dozens of other families and is now actively trying to help them find their loved ones.

Ozana Rodrigues, whose son ran off to fight with Islamic State in Syria more than a year ago, said Dimitri was the only person willing to help her.

In a cafe in central Antwerp, she told Sky News: "Dimitri talks to people, parents that have lost their kids - but the authorities don't want to help. They don't care and there is no support, while we're suffering."

She said Dimitri had made contact with her son Brian, but that so far, he is refusing to return home.

"When Dimitri went to Syria to get his son, I was praying to God that he would see my son and bring him back but it didn't work out that way," she said.

Although Dimitri's son is safely back in Antwerp, the 19-year-old is now at the centre of a huge terrorism trial in Belgium, one of more than 40 people being prosecuted for membership of a banned organisation.

His father is deeply critical of the Belgian government's decision to prosecute.

"With this wrong attitude and stigmatisation they're creating more frustration against the West," he said.

"They're creating more violence against the West. It's totally wrong."

Despite the prospect that other young Europeans he rescues from Syria will also be prosecuted, Dimitri Bontinck said he still feels compelled to help.

"I thought I would never return to Syria, but when mothers are calling me and crying on the phone because nobody's helping them ... when they ask to meet me, I'm not going to say no," he said.

Dimitri Bontinck has now risked his life eight times travelling to Syria. He has just returned from his latest trip there and says he plans to return to the region again in the weeks ahead.

:: Watch the full report on Sky News at 2.30pm, 4.30pm and 8.30pm, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media 602, Freesat 202 and Freeview 132.

16.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

In The Margins: Crucial Election Battlegrounds

Written By Unknown on Senin, 05 Januari 2015 | 16.08

Sky's Joey Jones is travelling the country looking at the issues that matter to voters in some of the marginal constituencies.

Here he focuses on 11 of the 150 seats that could play a deciding role in May's General Election.

:: Glasgow East

Scotland feels like uncharted territory politically at the moment. The polls are suggesting an unprecedented SNP breakthrough, and a cataclysmic result for Labour.

I went to Glasgow East because people in this constituency have a history of voting SNP (the nationalists won a by-election in 2008), but Labour beat them back with a thumping win in 2010 and defeat would seem, based on previous wisdom, to be unthinkable.

Read Faisal Islam's exclusive interview with Lord O'Donnell here

The constituency is not uniform tower blocks and concrete by any means, but Easterhouse, where I spoke to people, is the sort of area you would traditionally expect people to vote Labour or not vote at all.

The conversations I had reflected an electorate that is definitely thinking of switching to the SNP mainly because of disenchantment with Labour.

Perhaps most worryingly for Ed Miliband and Jim Murphy, there was not much of a sense among local people that a vote either way would make a massive difference to their lives. The key task for the new Labour leader in Scotland is to reverse that perception.

:: Sutton and Cheam

Sutton and Cheam is a traditionally Conservative seat that has been held by Paul Burstow of the Liberal Democrats since 1997.

At every election since then it has been in the Conservatives' sights. It was one of the seats I travelled to with David Cameron during the 2010 campaign, and at that time the Tories felt reasonably confident of success.

Based on the Liberal Democrats' collapse in support in the current parliament, one might imagine that in 2015 the seat would finally fall.

But Lord Ashcroft's most recent polling shows a swing of 7% from the Conservatives to the Lib Dems, a barely believable situation given the Lib Dems' current predicament.

We often talk about how the Lib Dems manage to "dig in" in seats like this, and I wanted to ask local people what that actually means from their point of view. When we talk of the effect of incumbency, what does that mean for voters?

What came through is that a concentration on local issues, a lot of hard work, and the ability to forge what feels to voters a personal connection creates a bond that even a collapse in national support for the Liberal Democrats may not erode significantly.

But to be honest, if it were as simple as that then a lot more hardworking MPs might manage to withstand national trends than do. It's as though there's a sort of alchemy at play that frankly I have yet to put my finger on.

:: Brighton Pavilion

The impact of the Green Party in May 2015 may be felt more in seats other than Brighton, their initial beachhead.

It would definitely be a blow for Labour if they fail to retake the seat Caroline Lucas won in 2010, but the real fear in Labour HQ is that the Greens may have the sort of effect on Labour that we always used to assume UKIP would have on the Tories - sucking away enough of the voters they had imagined would support them and thereby handing their opponents victory.

I went to Brighton itself because I wanted to know how people who have had experience of Green politicians in power (the Greens are also in the majority on the council) would advise voters elsewhere who are now considering voting Green.

There has been a lot of talk that council incompetence and mismanagement has created a backlash against the Greens. I specifically sought out people who had voted Green to see if there is any sense of disenchantment, and found none. Every individual I spoke to said they would vote Green again.

Not so long ago the idea the Greens could be a significant factor in the election could have been readily dismissed, but given the unprecedented support for UKIP and the SNP and the volatility of the current situation, nothing should be ruled out.

Click here for Sky's In The Margins console

:: Southampton Itchen

Southampton Itchen was a close-run thing for Labour in 2010.

The long-serving MP John Denham won by less than 200 votes. Now he is standing down, and Labour's vulnerability in the south of England as demonstrated in local elections gives the Tories grounds for hope. It is a must-hold seat for Labour - the party cannot afford to be losing seats at all.

If Ed Miliband is to become Prime Minister, they need to be winning new seats, not worrying about shoring up ground they already hold.

I went to the broadly working class Thornhill Estate to see what people think of Mr Miliband (not much, it seems), and how resilient support for the party is.

The news for Labour was bad. There is a real flirtation with UKIP going on here, but it could have been worse. There was no great enthusiasm for the Conservatives either. In short, Labour should be worried, but not panicked.

:: Hendon

The Tories hold Hendon by 100 votes. It is the sort of seat Labour have to win, and probably will.

A couple of things interested me here. There has been a lot of talk about the Conservatives' difficulties in attracting black and ethnic minority voters.

Hendon is an ethnically diverse seat and I asked people who were black or from another ethnic minority whether they would ever consider voting Tory.

Every person I spoke to said no, almost in a heartbeat. The only good news for CCHQ is that when I asked why they would not, the answers were generally unspecific - there was a lot of "I just wouldn't".

That suggests that if people could be jolted into having a second look at the party, there is room for progress - Boris Johnson managed this, and won votes in this very area in the mayoral election that his party failed to match in the London assembly elections.

It doesn't look like anything along those lines will happen in 2015 though, which leaves the sitting Conservative MP Matthew Offord with a mountain to climb.

:: Watford

Watford looks like it will be a nail-biter right to the wire.

All three main parties are in with a shout (and UKIP are not way behind either).

This was the only seat where I chose to speak to candidates, as I was interested in how such an unpredictable campaign might play out.

Much of what the three candidates said was very familiar: Labour talking cost of living; the Tories on the economy; and Lib Dems on their local record (their candidate, the mayor, pointed out that the Liberal Democrats had jumped in the most recent Lord Ashcroft polling, subsequent to her candidacy being announced).

My suspicion based on speaking to voters all over the UK is that the excitement of the Westminster class at such a close race will not be matched by similar enthusiasm among voters.

Generally people are very grumpy about mainstream politicians, and there is every chance that the parties will feel obliged to try to play on that disenchantment and channel it to their own purposes - whatever the candidates' best efforts to avoid negative campaigning, the current political environment dictates that knocking chunks off one's Westminster opponents is not just tempting, it is an imperative.

:: Birmingham Edgbaston

Incumbency is the word that gives hope to MPs who are fearful of being swept away in this most turbulent of political environments.

It suggests there is an elusive quality that can allow sitting MPs to hold back apparently irresistible forces.

Gisela Stuart is a case in point, having beaten off the Tory challenge in Birmingham Edgbaston time and again since 1997. Politicians of all parties view her as an example of how one individual's force of personality can overcome the odds - so much so that you would be hard pressed now to find a political commentator optimistic she will be beaten in 2015 even in what demographics would suggest should be a pretty straightforward Conservative seat.

I met her during the usual flurry of Friday (constituency day) engagements and she explained how a successful MP will want to mould hard work into a more enduring project. If they don't, she warns, the voters will be unforgiving.

:: Cardiff North

The rise of UKIP, unprecedented SNP support and the growing confidence of the Green party make many more seats far harder to call in the past, but straight Labour/Tory marginals like Cardiff North will still point the way to Downing Street for either Ed Miliband or David Cameron.

Neither man will have a significant chance of forging a Commons majority if their party is not winning bellwether seats like this.

I was interested to see how national issues are playing out at the local level. On the NHS Mr Cameron is caustic about the Welsh Labour government's handling of the NHS - talking to people heading into Heath hospital, that approach did not seem to be doing him any favours.

A good number of the people I spoke to were public sector workers who might not be inclined to vote Tory anyway, but it was notable that the PM had really got their backs up. Senior Tories in Wales have told me they fear the aggressive language directed at the Welsh NHS might be counterproductive, and that seemed to be borne out by the people I spoke to.

On another issue, public spending cuts, the picture is much more mixed. Everybody I met outside Whitchurch Library wanted to talk about its possible closure, the result of financial pressures. But blame was not apportioned by local people only one way by any means.

Some blamed the government, but there was just as much criticism for the Labour council, and a feeling that belt-tightening was unavoidable. The closure of much-loved local services might normally be expected to offer an opposition party an easy win - not so in this case at least.

:: Taunton Deane

If David Cameron is to become Prime Minister, he needs to profit from the collapse in Lib Dem support and that means winning seats like Taunton Deane. In October 2014 his task got easier when the sitting MP Jeremy Browne said he was standing down.

To get a sense of what a blow his departure is for the Liberal Democrats, you only have to speak to people on the street. The level of recognition for the MP was, in my opinion, fairly remarkable. A significant majority of the people I spoke to knew their MP by name. Given that half the time when we go out on the street with pictures of the party leaders and encounter blank faces all round, this represents sterling work by the Lib Dem incumbent.

All in all, with a very slim majority, you would have to put your money on the Tories here now, but I would say that the people of Taunton seemed remarkably politically engaged. I suspect any candidate that expects them to fall into his or her lap will have another thing coming. They will need wooing!

:: Exeter

Change is a big underlying theme of this election, and it is the reason I went to Exeter. One of the big drivers of UKIP success is people's resistance to change - particularly when it comes to immigration, but also things like insecurity in work, global forces that seem to have little connection to people's lives and in some cases a longing to go back to a time when things felt more straightforward.

Exeter has changed a lot. Every time I go back to see my family I see more building, more people, more cars on the road. Some streets that I remember as thriving shopping centres are deserted; others are bursting with activity.

My assumption was that local people might feel uncomfortable with change but - I hold my hands up - my conversations suggest I was wrong.

In this boom town, most people seem to feel that they have an investment in the city's success. From people on the street to business owners, the overall mood was of unaccustomed optimism compared with what I encountered in other parts of the country.

There was the odd grumble and gripe, but if bad traffic is the worst people have to complain about, there is not all that much traction for UKIP to work with. The only other potential complicating factor is if the Greens come into play.

Broadly, though, the chances are that Exeter will remain a Labour/Tory fight - and given boundary changes have broadly helped the Labour incumbent, the task is a difficult one for the Conservatives.

:: Great Grimsby

Great Grimsby shows the protean nature of the UKIP threat. Not so long ago - honestly, it was not that long - conventional wisdom was that UKIP was a gift for Labour because it sucked votes from the Tories, allowing them to win seats where they might otherwise have struggled.

Now in Grimsby UKIP is damaging the Tories all right, but what was not in the script is that the party has Labour in its sights, and a serious chance of winning.

The picture is fascinating. Lord Ashcroft's constituency polling shows Labour's share of the vote has increased. You have to assume Labour has lost some support to UKIP.

So right now they are relying on the Lib Dems turning to Labour en masse, but that is a finite resource. If the UKIP charge continues, Labour will need some former Tories to support them as well to win.

What was undoubtedly the case when I spoke to local people is that Labour's grip on its core vote has waned. I suspect this is an ongoing process, and the danger for Labour is that casting around for Lib Dem defectors (or anyone else for that matter), may only corrode faith in the party's ability to protect its core values still further.

A word about vox pops from Joey Jones:

"Vox pops" - short for vox populi, or "voice of the people" - tend to be viewed as the lowest of the low in broadcasting, the lazy option, twisting people's views to fit the ends of a journalist who asks only as many individuals as it takes to get the answer he or she wanted from the outset.

I can understand why that perception has set in, and have not been immune to it myself in recent years, but in 2014/15 I am renewing my vows - I have fallen back in love with the vox pop as an essential way of getting to grips with this most compelling of elections.

There is no polling value to vox pops; I make no claim they are scientific - I don't attempt to seek out a "representative sample". However, at the same time, I don't go to any of these constituencies with a definite preconception as to what people will say (with one exception - Exeter - and there my perception based on having been brought up in the city turned out to be wrong!). When it comes to people's views I take as I find and endeavour to present them fairly.

The vox pops in these reports should be viewed as nothing more nor less than conversations with voters. Talking to voters is what we journalists should be doing a lot of - possibly all the time, but certainly in a campaign where people are searching for alternatives to the usual political parties and the rule book is being thrown out.

There is no better way to get a feel for what is so different about this election than getting away from Westminster and asking people what they think.

:: Follow Joey Jones' journey to more of the country's marginal constituencies throughout the day on Sky News, skynews.com and our mobile apps - channels Sky 501, Virgin Media 602, Freesat 202, Freeview 132.

16.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Joey's Journey: Tour The UK's Marginal Seats

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Election 'Winner' May Not Get Keys To No 10

By Faisal Islam, Political Editor

Britain's next Prime Minister might not be the leader of the party which wins the most seats at the General Election, Britain's former top civil servant has told Sky News.

Lord O'Donnell, who as Cabinet Secretary arranged the negotiations that led to the current Coalition, says that voters should not necessarily expect the 'winner' of the election to lead coalition talks.

And the process this time round could be so complicated - potentially involving a deal with three parties - that it may take "rather longer" than the five days the last agreement took.

:: Click here for the In The Margins console

In an exclusive interview, Lord O'Donnell denied that there would be "political chaos" but said that there could be "an unusual outcome" to the election.

"When the result comes out, some people think that x gets first go," he said.

"There isn't a written constitutional requirement that the party with the most seats go first.

"It's up to the parties to negotiate."

Lord O'Donnell was speaking as Sky News launched its multi-media project In The Margins, in which we will focus on the 150 marginal constituencies that could decide the outcome of the election in May.

When asked if voters should expect the leader of the largest party to be Prime Minister, he said: "There's no constitutional requirement for that to happen, so it could well be that we do have a situation where the Prime Minister is leader of a party which has fewer seats than one of the others."

The former top civil servant says that such outcomes were the "inevitable consequence" of voters not concentrating their vote on the two main parties.

"It's a more complex world... People should be ready for the fact that it might take rather longer to form a government than the five days last time."

Negotiations of the formation of a Government in May could lead to much looser agreements between parties, simultaneous negotiations, and more "agreements to disagree" warned Lord O'Donnell.

In 2015, the fixed term parliament, pre-election media scrutiny of 'red lines', the requirement of party leaders to get the backing of backbenchers and the lack of a market crisis, might all require "patience".

"It may be a rather more complicated situation: an agreement with two parties and a side deal with SNP on a case by case basis ... When I look back on [2010] I think I had it easy."

The Cabinet Manual, published in 2011, did not have any reference to the so-called Clegg rule. In 2010 the Lib Dem leader decided that first negotiations should occur with the strongest party in the House of Commons.

:: Follow Sky News presenters and correspondents through the day as we launch In The Margins - examining 150 key seats across the country that could help decide the election. Watch live on Sky News, skynews.com and our mobile apps - channels Sky 501, Virgin Media 602, Freesat 202, Freeview 132.

16.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

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