From being vilified for his nearly £1m bonus package, on top of a £1.2m annual salary, RBS chief Stephen Hester is now being held up as a martyr, generating almost pity for waiving his performance-related payout.
Issues of fairness and inequality inevitably accompany the debate on bankers' bonuses - and Mr Hester's pay package is no exception.
Even within banking however, there is huge disparity. In 2009, 2,800 bankers working in 27 banks across London received more than £1m each in bonuses. But Rob Harborn, an economist with the Centre for Economics and Research is keen to point out that this year, 70 per cent of people working in the finance sector get less than £20,000.
The think tank has been monitoring financial pay since the early 1990s when bonuses were steadily rising. "Since then, there's been a reversal of that pattern," says Mr Harborn. "Bonuses have fallen quite dramatically this year and last. That's partially due to big job losses for 2011, as well as bonuses being smaller."
The median UK bonus
The life of big-shot bankers is a world away from the vast majority of UK workers. But figures from the Office of National Statistics show that most of us get some kind of one-off annual payment.
The median bonus for UK employers was £1,000 - down 2.6 per cent since last year, but this figure is heavily weighted by extremes at either end.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, corporate managers - in the public and private sectors - fare the best in comparison with other sectors. Of the nearly 3 million people employed in this industry, the median bonus is £4,000, and while figures on how much the top 10 per cent earn are unavailable, statistics show that 90 per cent get a bonus of less than £28,000.
At the other end of the scale, what the ONS calls the 'elementary administration and service occupation' - basically junior administration roles, postal workers, sorters and couriers - have had to swallow a 64 per cent drop in their bonus since last year. A median bonus in this sector is now around £179.
Bonuses are firmly embedded into the banking and finance sectors, and get exponentially higher as someone moves up their company. But in professional occupations, such as science, health or public service, which employs nearly 3 million people, the median bonus is just £1,800.
As the growth of average earnings falls well below inflation, which currently stands at 2 per cent, have bonuses and other incentives become more important?
The global recruitment company Hays says that bonuses are certainly considered important to employees, but that they can no longer be relied upon as a "guaranteed boost to the salary package".
In the legal sector, where almost half of employers have imposed a universal pay freeze, only 17 per cent of employees said that individual performance-related bonuses are important. In the construction industry, including architects and builders, nearly 60 per cent of empoyers have reduced staff bonuses - but nearly 70 per cent of empoyees said that a benefits package, including bonuses, are very important when looking for a new job.
Even in banking, the bonus culture has changed hugely after the amount rising steadily in the 1990s, Mr Harbron told Channel 4 News: "Bonuses have fallen quite dramatically this year and last - partially due to big job losses for 2011, as well as bonuses being smaller."
However in straitened times, bonuses do not always need to take the form of cold hard cash. Since the introduction of a 50 per cent tax on bonuses over £25,000 in 2010, salaries have tended to increase and banks have changed bonus packages to include shares.
Equality for employees
But shares and performance-related incentives should be considered for employees at every level, not just at the top, Kayte Lawton from the Institute of Public Policy told Channel 4 News.
Her research into relationships between pay, performance and equality found that share option schemes, where individuals have a stake in their employer's success, tend to have the most effect on employee performance, "but only when it's available to everyone," she adds.
Hays' survey of the accountancy sector found that nine out of ten employees are attracted to jobs with share incentive schemes.
Much has been made of the John Lewis co-operative model of business - the "golden boy" of the corporate world. The reason this model is considered so fair among consumers and experts alike, despite its chief executive's ample income of nearly £1m, is because reward is proportional - at John Lewis, bonuses are related to the company's performance, and this year, stood at 18 per cent of each employee's salary.
If anything, the debate about the RBS chief's pay shows just how much importance is placed on the person at the top of an organisation. But that is starting to change, says Ms Lawton.
"It creates the impression that we have to pay a few people at the top an awful lot," she told Channel 4 News. "But a lot of people have started to question this idea that one person is responsible."
'We got a lot for not much effort'
In the property sales sector, one agent told Channel 4 News that the bonus culture had changed hugely in recent years. "When I started working here around eight years ago, there were a huge number of bonuses and incentives.
"I used to earn between a third and two thirds again of my salary in commission and top-ups. The landlords we were working for would sometimes run incentives like higher commissions on certain buildings, or vouchers for restaurants or days out on top of commission.
"That has largely been banned or stopped. In my sector, it was felt that the big providers were using incentives unfavourably. They might still give vouchers now, but it it has to be spread equally among the team.
"In short, the changes benefit the consumer: the brokers working for them are much less motivated by which building the customer chooses, as long as they find a match. And good brokers are better paid because their percentage of commission gets higher the more they do.
"Broadly speaking it's much fairer. Myself and my colleagues recognised that these were the golden years - we got a lot for not much effort. It was ridiculous."
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Friday, April 13, 2012
George Zimmerman, who shot unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, appears in court today to face charges of second degree murder. Now his lawyer says he is concerned about getting a fair trial.
It has taken more than 40 days to reach this point: 45 days, to be exact, since neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin as he walked through a gated community in the Florida town of Sanford. 45 days since the local police chief decided not to arrest Zimmerman because it might violate his human rights.
Last night, after Florida's special prosecutor, Angela Corey, announced that Zimmerman was now in custody and would face a charge of second degree murder, Trayvon Martin's mother Sabrina Fulton was dignified despite her grief. "We simply wanted an arrest," she said, while the teenager's father Tracy Martin added: "We will continue to walk by faith, we will continue to hold hands on this journey. White, black, Hispanic, Latino... we will march until the right thing is done."
George Zimmerman's new lawyer, Mark O'Mara, who is no stranger to appearing in the public eye, expressed his fears that a case which has sparked such a national firestorm about race and crime, could ever allow his client a fair hearing. "He is a client who has a lot of hatred focused on him," he said. "I'm hoping the hatred settles down."
Angela Corey has already taken pains to stress that her decision to prosecute had nothing to do with the public pressure for charges to be bought, yet there is so much evidence and speculation out there, it seems a tough challenge to find a jury that can look at the facts afresh. Since the shooting happened, you could have listened to the original 911 call in full - or a deliberately edited version, for which heads have rolled at one TV network.
Last night, after Florida's special prosecutor, Angela Corey, announced that Zimmerman was now in custody and would face a charge of second degree murder, Trayvon Martin's mother Sabrina Fulton was dignified despite her grief. "We simply wanted an arrest," she said, while the teenager's father Tracy Martin added: "We will continue to walk by faith, we will continue to hold hands on this journey. White, black, Hispanic, Latino... we will march until the right thing is done."
George Zimmerman's new lawyer, Mark O'Mara, who is no stranger to appearing in the public eye, expressed his fears that a case which has sparked such a national firestorm about race and crime, could ever allow his client a fair hearing. "He is a client who has a lot of hatred focused on him," he said. "I'm hoping the hatred settles down."
Angela Corey has already taken pains to stress that her decision to prosecute had nothing to do with the public pressure for charges to be bought, yet there is so much evidence and speculation out there, it seems a tough challenge to find a jury that can look at the facts afresh. Since the shooting happened, you could have listened to the original 911 call in full - or a deliberately edited version, for which heads have rolled at one TV network.
The National Trust unveils a list of 50 things a child should do before they are eleven-and-three-quarters as part of a campaign to encourage sofa-bound children to take to the outdoors.
The list which, includes activities like skimming stones, building dens and making mud pies, provides a checklist of simple pleasures for under-12s.
The campaign is in response to a report that the trust commissioned, which highlighted how fewer than one in ten children regularly play in wild places compared to almost half a generation ago.
This report also showed that a third had never climbed a tree, one in ten cannot ride a bike, and three times as many are taken to hospital after falling out of bed, as from falling out of a tree.
The trust has also assembled a group of elite rangers who will share their expert tips on enjoying outdoor adventures. They will offer tips on their specialisms over a free weekend when the trust will open up more than 200 of its houses and gardens.
The initiative has been welcomed by The Scout Association whose assistant director, Simon Carter, said that he has noticed "a great thirst for an adventure" amongst pre-teens and teenagers. "Our membership has gone up for seven years in a row," he said.
But Mr Carter added that he had also noticed that parents ask more questions about the activities that their children will be involved in.
"As an organisation, we have seen that parents are more likely to ask questions like, 'are they lighting fires?, are they sleeping in a tent?' I know that parents are concerned. Not in a nasty way, but in a different way from 10 or 15 years ago."
On health and safety culture, Mr Carter said that parents instinctively know that it is not right to be too protective of their children.
"That is why they send young people to a place they know that they can take risks that are managed in a relatively safe environment."
Richard Williams-Jones, a father-of-one who has blogged about being a stay at home dad, said that television and video games are unfairly maligned. "The quality is pretty good," he said. "For children who live in flats in cities the TV is their window out into the world.
But he welcomed the move. "If the National Trust wants to give people ideas, then that is great. There are only so many times you can go to the park to go on the slide before you go out of your mind."
"It is almost more important to encourage the parents to get out," he added. "You can get isolated really easily."
As No Go Britain examines transport access for the disabled, Sir Philip Craven from the International Paralympic Committee says progress is "tremendous" but concedes full equality might never happen.
Sir Philip, president of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), told Channel 4 News "accessibility for all is good for everybody" and praised the efforts of transport operators. He said: ""I think there's been tremendous progress made... and there's going to be more progress made."
But he hit out at "unrealistic" expectations ahead of the Olympics and Paralympics.
It is estimated as many as 23,000 mobility-impaired sports fans will be travelling into London on the busiest day of the games, which organisers have vowed will be the "most accessible ever".
So far 175 underground stations have been "improved" and virtually all London buses can be lowered to allow wheelchair access.Sir Philip is sceptical about those asking for further guarantees.
"Someone who demands by 2012 that every underground station - some of which were built 150 years ago - is accessible in the seven year period between the granting of the games and the games taking place, I think that's a little bit unfair," he said.
The flare on the Elgin gas platform in the North Sea is still burning, its operator Total confirmed to Channel 4 News, increasing the likelihood that the gas leak may ignite.
David Hainsworth, health, safety and environment manager at Total Exploration and Production UK Ltd, told Channel 4 News: "We have an on-going leak that we have to stop. It is not a disaster, no-one has been injured, the environmental consequences are very low, but clearly we have to stop this leak."
Mr Hainsworth added: "The gas is mainly methane, it is very flammable. The flare is still alight on the main production platform. However, the wind is blowing the gas plume in the opposite direction, away from this flare.
"We know that the weather forecast is such that the wind direction remains the same for the following five to six days, and we're evaluating options to extinguish this flare."
But Jake Malloy, offshore organiser for the RMT union in Aberdeen, warned: "If the gas cloud somehow finds an ignition source we could be looking at complete destruction."
No lives are currently at risk as the platform and neighbouring installations were evacuated. But if the gas cloud around Elgin were to ignite it would likely destroy the platform. That could seriously hamper efforts to stop the leak, which could take up to six months to bring under control.
The Coastguard ordered ships to stay at least two miles away from the rig and Shell UK removed 120 non-essential staff from the company's Shearwater platform and nearby Noble Hans Deul drilling rig. The Shell platforms are about four nautical miles from the Elgin rig.
Total recruited engineers involved in BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill while it considers drilling a relief well which would take up to six months. Total is also considering a quicker option involving a platform intervention to kill the well.
The leak happened during work to plug and abandon the well, which was no longer producing gas, the UK Energy & Climate Change Ministry said in a statement.
Remote monitoring revealed that gas continued to be released. A sheen was observed on the water’s surface near the installations, believed to be gas condensate, a petrol-like substance that typically disperses naturally, the ministry said.
Total were sending a ship carrying a robotic submarine to investigate what went wrong with the gas well beneath the platform. However, any personnel heading to the vicinity of the platform are taking huge risks.
"You wouldn't want to be going anywhere near a huge gas leak like that, basically this sort of situation is unheard of in the North Sea," an industry source who asked not to be named told Channel 4 News.
According to Total, however, until these investigations have been carried out the company will not know the exact cause of the leak and how deal with it.
Mr Hainsworth added: "The gas is mainly methane, it is very flammable. The flare is still alight on the main production platform. However, the wind is blowing the gas plume in the opposite direction, away from this flare.
"We know that the weather forecast is such that the wind direction remains the same for the following five to six days, and we're evaluating options to extinguish this flare."
But Jake Malloy, offshore organiser for the RMT union in Aberdeen, warned: "If the gas cloud somehow finds an ignition source we could be looking at complete destruction."
No lives are currently at risk as the platform and neighbouring installations were evacuated. But if the gas cloud around Elgin were to ignite it would likely destroy the platform. That could seriously hamper efforts to stop the leak, which could take up to six months to bring under control.
The Coastguard ordered ships to stay at least two miles away from the rig and Shell UK removed 120 non-essential staff from the company's Shearwater platform and nearby Noble Hans Deul drilling rig. The Shell platforms are about four nautical miles from the Elgin rig.
Total recruited engineers involved in BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill while it considers drilling a relief well which would take up to six months. Total is also considering a quicker option involving a platform intervention to kill the well.
The leak happened during work to plug and abandon the well, which was no longer producing gas, the UK Energy & Climate Change Ministry said in a statement.
Remote monitoring revealed that gas continued to be released. A sheen was observed on the water’s surface near the installations, believed to be gas condensate, a petrol-like substance that typically disperses naturally, the ministry said.
Total were sending a ship carrying a robotic submarine to investigate what went wrong with the gas well beneath the platform. However, any personnel heading to the vicinity of the platform are taking huge risks.
"You wouldn't want to be going anywhere near a huge gas leak like that, basically this sort of situation is unheard of in the North Sea," an industry source who asked not to be named told Channel 4 News.
According to Total, however, until these investigations have been carried out the company will not know the exact cause of the leak and how deal with it.
Transport for London tells Channel 4 News it banned an advert which suggests gay people can be converted to heterosexuality because it was "offensive".
The advert - "Not gay! Post-gay, ex-gay and proud. Get over it!" - which had been booked to run on five central London bus routes, was proposed by religious groups Core Issues Trust, an Anglican Christian organisation which assists churches "for ministering to those who have issues of homosexuality", and Anglican Mainstream, a global orthodox Anglican group.
The advert uses the same typeface and black and white lettering on a red background as the current Stonewall campaign, pictured above, which reads "Some people are gay. Get over it!"
Stonewall's advertising campaign was launched to promote equal marriage, and has been carried by 1,000 London buses.
The controversial adverts were pulled days before the posters were due to be pasted on to London's buses. Labour mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone said the adverts should never have been booked in the first place, but a spokesperson for Transport for London (TFL) said they had only just been brought to its attention by TFL's advertising agency, CBS Outdoor.
'Offensive'
While CBS Outdoor felt the adverts were acceptable, TFL found they had breached two clauses of their advertising code: firstly that it was "likely to cause widespread or serious offence to members of the public" and secondly that it contained "messages which relate to matters of public controversy and sensitivity".
TFL's spokesperson told Channel 4 News: "We have an advertising code over what we are comfortable with. In this case we felt it would be offensive to parts of our customer base."
"We have decided that it should not run on London's bus or transport networks. We do not believe that these specific ads are consistent with TFL's commitment to a tolerant and inclusive London."
The advert uses the same typeface and black and white lettering on a red background as the current Stonewall campaign, pictured above, which reads "Some people are gay. Get over it!"
Stonewall's advertising campaign was launched to promote equal marriage, and has been carried by 1,000 London buses.
The controversial adverts were pulled days before the posters were due to be pasted on to London's buses. Labour mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone said the adverts should never have been booked in the first place, but a spokesperson for Transport for London (TFL) said they had only just been brought to its attention by TFL's advertising agency, CBS Outdoor.
'Offensive'
While CBS Outdoor felt the adverts were acceptable, TFL found they had breached two clauses of their advertising code: firstly that it was "likely to cause widespread or serious offence to members of the public" and secondly that it contained "messages which relate to matters of public controversy and sensitivity".
TFL's spokesperson told Channel 4 News: "We have an advertising code over what we are comfortable with. In this case we felt it would be offensive to parts of our customer base."
"We have decided that it should not run on London's bus or transport networks. We do not believe that these specific ads are consistent with TFL's commitment to a tolerant and inclusive London."
One issue has dominated the US election campaign today: women, work and stay-at-home moms. A Democratic operative's comments about Mitt Romney's wife Ann has sparked a political firestorm.
It began with one of those remarks that probably seemed innocuous at the time, but which has suddenly overtaken the US presidential race. Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen was on a panel discussion on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 on Wednesday night, when she criticised the likely Republican candidate Mitt Romney for using his wife Ann as his touchstone for all matters female.
Mrs Romney, Rosen said, "actually never worked a day in her life". And, she went on, "She's never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing."
But it was the first comment that triggered the instant outcry. Right on cue, Ann Romney herself took to Twitter with her debut tweet: "I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work."The off-the-cuff remark was a priceless gift to the Republicans, who wasted no time in putting their spin on the debate, with possibly their most rapid-reaction effort to date. Although Rosen has never been formally linked to any of the campaigns, Romney's spokesman Eric Ferhnstrom described her as an Obama adviser, before accusing her of insulting hard-working moms. The Twittersphere went berserk. Ann Romney's name started trending top, world wide.
The Obama team swung into damage-limitation, through Twitter, of course. Campaign manager Jim Messina declared: "I could not disagree with Hilary Rosen any more strongly. Her comments were wrong, and family should be off limits. She should apologise." Other leading Democrats, including campaign guru David Axelrod, chimed in. Eventually even Michelle Obama tweeted her view, that "every mother works hard."
No matter that Rosen herself has two kids, and that she tweeted back to Romney: "I am raising children too. But most young American women HAVE to BOTH earn a living AND raise children. You know that don't u?" And, she said the issue was really about Mitt Romney describing her as his "expert" on women and the economy.
Television face-off
Inevitably the row, by now dubbed "Rosengate", proved way too big for the realms of social media: by Thursday, both Ann Romney and Hilary Rosen were apearing on television to defend their corner. On Fox News, Romney said she'd made a "career choice" to stay at home and raise her sons, insisting that the choices all women made should be respected. As a breast cancer survivor, she said she did realise what it was like to struggle, insisting Mitt often told her: "Ann, your job is more important than mine."
Rosen herself, despite the pressure to apologise, at first declined to say sorry. Instead, she stressed that she had nothing against stay-at-home moms, saying that "being a mom is the hardest job in the world, and that's the truth of it." What the debate should be about, she declared, was "the waitress in somewhere in Nevada who has two kids and whose daycare is being cut because of the Romney-Ryan budget."
But in the fevered world of news-cycle-driven politics, the point is rarely the point. The Republicans knew very well they were in a bad place when it came to women voters: "suitcase on the lawn" bad, to paraphrase Slate's John Dickerson. The latest ABC/Washington Post poll put Obama almost 20 points ahead of Romney among women.
Republicans sieze their chance
Thanks to their obsession with conservative social issues like birth control and abortion, the GOP seemed unable to escape the charge that they were waging a 'War on Women'. Until now. Conservative blogger Michelle Malkin summed up this sudden reversal of fortunes, mocking Hilary Rosen for managing to do the one thing that had eluded the party so far - uniting the Right around Mitt Romney. "Heckuva job, Hil", she taunted.
RNC co-chair Sharon Day accused the Democrats of "attacking women who make a choice to stay at home and raise a family", trying to ram home the image of a liberal political elite who could barely contain their distain for ordinary mothers. At the same time, the party pushed out a research document claiming Obama's economic policies had hit women disproportionally hard, along with a handy graphic accusing his White House of being a hostile place for women to work. A conference call with reporters mentioned Rosen within the first minute: all four journalists allowed questions asked about her.
All this seems like an uncanny echo of the "Mommy Wars" of old: sparked by Hillary Clinton's throwaway comment during her husband's 1992 campaign: "I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was fulfill my profession." That polarised the public too, over the role of work in womens' lives: eventually Mrs Clinton was forced into publishing her very own chocolate chip cookie recipe, as what should have been a considered debate about parenthood, working lives and economic choices, became trivialised beyond belief.
Phoney wars
No cookies in 2012: but an apology, from Rosen, along with an appeal to get beyond the "phoney wars" and return to matters of real substance. That seems highly unlikely. One conservative group has already posted comments sneering at Rosen, who is gay, for adopting children, while "Ann raised 5 of her own".
Nasty stuff. It's like someone, say, accusing a student of being a prostitute for talking about contraception. Oh, wait. That already happened. The debate rages on, dominating the current news cycle at least. On the upside, the important issue of women, work and the economy is suddenly a central part of the election campaign. But if this is what the War on Women looks like, can someone please broker a ceasefire?
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
The heroic role of the Titanic's engineers
With the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic on 15 April 1912 only days away, we are hearing much in the media about the suffering and the loss of life of the passengers and crew on the ship (Report, 9 April). However, little is recorded of the 35 members of the engineering staff, all of whom lost their lives. With no survivors, the official inquiry into the sinking had no first-hand account of the actions and bravery of those men who stayed at their posts and endeavoured to save the ship from sinking.
Importantly, they also maintained electrical power to keep the lights on throughout the ship, thereby reducing the danger of panic among the passengers. Of course, the power to the radio office also enabled the transmission of distress signals until minutes before the ship sank beneath the waves.
The first legacy of this tragedy was the introduction of international requirements dealing with safe navigation, watertight and fire-resistant bulkheads, life-saving appliances, fire protection and firefighting appliances, which are updated under the Solas (Safety of Life at Sea) regulations ensuring safe passage of all ships.
The second was the initiation, by the Daily Chronicle, of the Titanic Engineering Staff Memorial Fund to assist the widows, orphans and dependants of the 35 engineers who lost their lives. The fund was, and is, administered by the Guild of Benevolence of the Institute of Marine Engineers (now the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology). Since the first world war the work of the guild has grown significantly, and it now provides support to marine engineers and their dependants worldwide.
The guild has published a 100th anniversary booklet commemorating the sacrifice made by the engineers of the Titanic – all donations will be used to support the work of the guild for the coming years.
Anthony Muncer
Teenager falls to death from 17th floor flat during police visit
Police and forensics officers attend the scene after a woman fell to her death from a block of flats. Photograph: Ian Nicholson/PA
A teenager who plunged to her death from the 17th floor of a tower block in south-east London fell soon after police entered the flat to make an arrest, Scotland Yard has said.
The Metropolitan police said officers went to the flat on Mulgrave Road, Woolwich, at 9.30am on Tuesday as part of a recall to prison inquiry.
"Shortly after the officers entered the flat, a woman – who is believed to be 18 – fell from a bedroom window on the 17th floor," he said. "She was pronounced dead at the scene."
He added that a man had been arrested by officers "on suspicion of assisting an offender", and was in custody at a south London police station.
He stressed that the officers had not been carrying out a raid but were at the flat on a "pre-planned arrest inquiry".
The spokesman said a formal identification of the woman's body had yet to be made, and that a postmortem examination would be scheduled in due course.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission has been informed of the death – as has the Met's directorate of professional standards, which is investigating the incident.
Prince Langlais, 42-year-old council caretaker, said he knew the victim and the man who had been arrested.
"I knew them to say hello to because I live just around the corner," he said. "They were very friendly people."
"A lot of people round here know each other, they see the same face more or less every day."
Langlais said the event was a tragedy and criticised the police for the time it took them to cover the woman's body.
"There were young kids out there running up and saying 'look at the body and all the blood'," he said.
"The police could have done their job a bit quicker and better than that."
Police later covered the body, which lay on a grassy area next to the block, with a tent.
Forensic officers were examining the scene, and police were patrolling the entrance to the building.
Another neighbour, whose flat is two floors below the one police visited, said his partner had heard a row from inside the flat a few minutes before the incident.
"He heard an argument, he heard shouting and bawling," said Michael Mulkerrins.
"About 10 minutes later she was out of the window. He didn't see the girl but he did see her on the floor."
The 28-year-old carpenter added: "I've seen him quite a lot by himself. It could be his flat and she was staying over."
Mulkerrins said he spoke to the man when they passed in the corridor, and described him as "an alright chap".
The man often had a skateboard, he said, and had lived in the block for about four months.
Another neighbour said the man was in his late teens or early twenties and had been living at the flat for about six months. He said the woman was his girlfriend and regularly stayed there.
"Sometimes I'd knock on the door and ask for a cigarette and she would be there," he said.
On the 17th floor two officers were standing guard where forensic teams were examining the flat.
A representative from the IPCC was also there.
Shard hacking: group sneak to top of Europe's tallest building
Bradley L Garrett climbing the Shard in London. Photograph: Bradley L Garrett
Pictures apparently showing a group of urban thrillseekers posing at the top of the unfinished Shard, Europe's tallest building, have appeared online.
The night-time images, said to be from the summit of the 310-metre (1016ft) Shard in central London, were posted on Place Hacking, the blog of the US student Bradley L Garrett, who said they were taken after he slipped past a lone security guard with two friends.
Garrett said he and the group had climbed the tower "half a dozen" times and could do so again tomorrow in spite of increased security.
One of the images appears to show a man sitting in the cab of a crane at the top of the giant glass skyscraper, which is due to be completed in June, while others show the group climbing ladders running up the side of the towering structure.
A number of aerial views of central London apparently taken from the top of the Shard were also posted.
Garrett said: "It is impossible to secure a site that big. The security guards that work on the site are only human. No one wants to sit there watching cameras 12 hours a day. They are going to have to take breaks. They are going to have to take walks.
"There are going to be times when they are not watching. There are going to be times when they are changing shifts."
But the 31-year-old from Los Angeles, who completed a PhD on urban exploration in February, said he and his group had "done with" the Shard for now.
"We do not break anything, we do not alter anything, 90% of the time no one even knows we have been in and out of the place," he said.
Garrett, who lives in Clapham, south-west London, said his group had first scaled the building to watch New Year's Eve fireworks over London in December 2010.
Describing the night the pictures were taken, Garrett wrote on his blog that a single security officer appeared to be on duty guarding the £435m building. He said he and two friends had climbed on to the site at 2am from a walkway near London Bridge railway station before scaling the building's staircases to the 76th floor.
"As of December 2011 the Shard claimed the title of 'tallest building in the European Union', stretching 310 metres into the clouds from London Bridge," Garrett wrote.
"It has also been said that is it the most secure site in the city outside of the 2012 Olympic Park. I have never measured the building so I can't testify to the validity of the first claim but I'm happy to respond to the second, as usual."
Describing how they did it, Garrett wrote: "We waited for the guard to finish his current round and go into his hut.
"It took a few minutes of lingering before the walkway was clear of people – we grabbed on to the scaffolding pipes and swung off the bridge.
"Hanging on the freezing pipes, we pulled ourselves on top of the walkway and laid down out of view, waiting for a reaction in case anyone had seen or heard us. It didn't seem so.
"Staying low, we then descended the other side of the scaffolding, right behind the security hut where we could see the guard watching TV, not the cameras.
"Quickly, we scampered across the yard and found the central staircase, again pausing to see if there was any reaction from the yard, phones ringing or doors opening. It was silent."
Describing the moment they reached the top of the skyscraper, Garrett wrote: "We were so high I couldn't see anything moving at street level. No buses, no cars, just rows of lights and train lines that looked like converging river systems, a giant urban circuit board."
A spokesman for Sellar Property Group, the developer, and Mace, the main contractor, declined to comment on Garrett's claim that it was still possible to scale the building or that the group had climbed up the building half a dozen times.
"We believe this is an incident which took place around December 2010 when we were undertaking both ground and structure works," he said.
"The breach was discovered very soon afterwards and security immediately tightened.
"Today security on the site is tight with 14 night-time security guards on duty continuously who cover all areas, as well as 25 CCTV cameras in operation together with a ground-floor-level laser alarm system."
Scotland Yard said it had not received any complaints about the alleged break-in.
The Shard has become the tallest building in the European Union and the 45th tallest in the world.
It surpassed the previous record-holder for the capital, One Canada Square at Canary Wharf, which stands at 235 metres (773ft) and was completed in 1991.
Riots may be controlled with chemicals
Police look at firing chemical irritants at rioters in search for 'less lethal' weapons, such as plastic bullets, to deal with civil disorder
Riot police are seen in front of fires during a demonstration against government spending cuts in London. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA Archive/PA Ima
Future riots could be quelled by projectiles containing chemical irritants fired by police using new weapons that are now in the final stages of development.
The Discriminating Irritant Projectile (Dip) has been under development by the Home Office's centre for applied science and technology (Cast) as a potential replacement for plastic bullets.
Documents obtained by the Guardian reveal that last summer's riots in England provided a major impetus to Home Office research into new-generation riot control technology, ranging from the Dip to even more curious weaponry described by Cast technicians as "skunk oil".
The briefing by Cast for the Police Service of Northern Ireland says that last year's disorder sparked a surge of ideas to the Home Office from the public as well as companies manufacturing police technology. To capitalise on the interest, Cast convened a "brainstorming" event in October. Participants included police from London and Northern Ireland, the Police Federation, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) and the Ministry of Defence's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.
"No ideas too stupid or 'off the wall' to consider," the briefing notes record.
The November briefing, The Development of New Less Lethal Technologies, suggests that the Dips would be loaded into guns used to fire the existing generation of plastic bullets. They would be intended to be accurate at a range of up to 65 metres.
It is understood that the Dip, which was originally supposed to have been introduced in 2010, would be loaded with CS gas, pepper spray or another irritant.
Other parts of the briefing, released under the Freedom of Information Act, refer to a need in the short term by police to develop "counter laser dazzle" technology to protect officers from being dazzled by people using lasers like those used in recent Greek riots.
Large sections of the briefing were redacted by the Home Office, which designated them as "commercially sensitive". However, the Guardian understands that the "less lethal" technology discussed included heat rays and sound weapons. One weapon that particularly interested police officers was something Cast technicians referred to as "skunk oil".
The system would involve pellets containing foul-smelling liquids being fired from weapons similar to paintball guns. Such would be the smell that individuals hit by the pellets would want to go home to change their clothes, while associates would be reluctant to stay close to them.
The Guardian has also obtained figures illustrating the extent of recent spending by police forces around the country on the existing generation of plastic bullets, now referred to as attenuating energy projectiles (AEPs).
Some forces appear to have decided to considerably boost their stocks. Leicestershire constabulary spent £19,630 buying AEPs in 2010-11, doubling its spending on the previous year. So far in 2011-12 it has spent more than £10,000. Even a relatively small force, Avon and Somerset, which faced serious disorder in Bristol last year during the English riots and on a previous occasion amid anger over a controversial Tesco store, has spent more than £70,000 in the last three years. It also currently possesses 28 AEP launchers. That is 16 more than the larger West Midlands police, which still nevertheless spend more than £53,000 stocking up on AEPs in the last three years.
Gloucestershire police, whose territory was the scene of one of the more surprising outbreaks of rioting last summer, decided to considerably boost its AEP stocks last year. It spent £32,060 doing so, more than double its combined spending in 2009 and 2010. Elsewhere, Greater Manchester said it had sufficient supplies last year after spending more than £76,000 in the previous two years, while Nottinghamshire has spent £74,000 in the past three years.
A number of forces, including Merseyside and West Yorkshire, declined to provide information. Merseyside used the Home Office's claim that terrorism remains a "substantial" threat as a reason for not providing the information.
A final response has not been provided by the Metropolitan police. The Met commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe, told a meeting of the Metropolitan police authority last November that the force authorised the deployment of plastic bullets on at least 22 different dates last year.
Another freedom of information request from the Guardian found that the Home Office supplied £4.4m worth of AEPs between 2007 and March last year to police forces across England and Wales. The projectiles are supplied to the Home Office by the Ministry of Defence for police use.
While the Home Office invoiced forces for £700,000 worth in 2007-08, this rose to £1.2m in each of the following years and to £1.3m in 2010-11.
Riot police are seen in front of fires during a demonstration against government spending cuts in London. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA Archive/PA Ima
Future riots could be quelled by projectiles containing chemical irritants fired by police using new weapons that are now in the final stages of development.
The Discriminating Irritant Projectile (Dip) has been under development by the Home Office's centre for applied science and technology (Cast) as a potential replacement for plastic bullets.
Documents obtained by the Guardian reveal that last summer's riots in England provided a major impetus to Home Office research into new-generation riot control technology, ranging from the Dip to even more curious weaponry described by Cast technicians as "skunk oil".
The briefing by Cast for the Police Service of Northern Ireland says that last year's disorder sparked a surge of ideas to the Home Office from the public as well as companies manufacturing police technology. To capitalise on the interest, Cast convened a "brainstorming" event in October. Participants included police from London and Northern Ireland, the Police Federation, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) and the Ministry of Defence's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.
"No ideas too stupid or 'off the wall' to consider," the briefing notes record.
The November briefing, The Development of New Less Lethal Technologies, suggests that the Dips would be loaded into guns used to fire the existing generation of plastic bullets. They would be intended to be accurate at a range of up to 65 metres.
It is understood that the Dip, which was originally supposed to have been introduced in 2010, would be loaded with CS gas, pepper spray or another irritant.
Other parts of the briefing, released under the Freedom of Information Act, refer to a need in the short term by police to develop "counter laser dazzle" technology to protect officers from being dazzled by people using lasers like those used in recent Greek riots.
Large sections of the briefing were redacted by the Home Office, which designated them as "commercially sensitive". However, the Guardian understands that the "less lethal" technology discussed included heat rays and sound weapons. One weapon that particularly interested police officers was something Cast technicians referred to as "skunk oil".
The system would involve pellets containing foul-smelling liquids being fired from weapons similar to paintball guns. Such would be the smell that individuals hit by the pellets would want to go home to change their clothes, while associates would be reluctant to stay close to them.
The Guardian has also obtained figures illustrating the extent of recent spending by police forces around the country on the existing generation of plastic bullets, now referred to as attenuating energy projectiles (AEPs).
Some forces appear to have decided to considerably boost their stocks. Leicestershire constabulary spent £19,630 buying AEPs in 2010-11, doubling its spending on the previous year. So far in 2011-12 it has spent more than £10,000. Even a relatively small force, Avon and Somerset, which faced serious disorder in Bristol last year during the English riots and on a previous occasion amid anger over a controversial Tesco store, has spent more than £70,000 in the last three years. It also currently possesses 28 AEP launchers. That is 16 more than the larger West Midlands police, which still nevertheless spend more than £53,000 stocking up on AEPs in the last three years.
Gloucestershire police, whose territory was the scene of one of the more surprising outbreaks of rioting last summer, decided to considerably boost its AEP stocks last year. It spent £32,060 doing so, more than double its combined spending in 2009 and 2010. Elsewhere, Greater Manchester said it had sufficient supplies last year after spending more than £76,000 in the previous two years, while Nottinghamshire has spent £74,000 in the past three years.
A number of forces, including Merseyside and West Yorkshire, declined to provide information. Merseyside used the Home Office's claim that terrorism remains a "substantial" threat as a reason for not providing the information.
A final response has not been provided by the Metropolitan police. The Met commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe, told a meeting of the Metropolitan police authority last November that the force authorised the deployment of plastic bullets on at least 22 different dates last year.
Another freedom of information request from the Guardian found that the Home Office supplied £4.4m worth of AEPs between 2007 and March last year to police forces across England and Wales. The projectiles are supplied to the Home Office by the Ministry of Defence for police use.
While the Home Office invoiced forces for £700,000 worth in 2007-08, this rose to £1.2m in each of the following years and to £1.3m in 2010-11.
Man charged with attempted murder of four-year-old boy
The four-year-old boy was taken to the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, where he is conscious and in a stable condition. Photograph: Emma Coles/PA
A 51-year-old man has appeared in court charged with the attempted murder of a four-year-old boy who was found in the street with stab wounds.
Steve Frogg, of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, was remanded in custody after a brief hearing at the town's magistrates court.
His alleged victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found seriously injured in Mansfield on Monday afternoon. He is conscious and in a stable condition at the Queen's medical centre in Nottingham, police said.
Frogg will next appear at Nottingham crown court on 25 April.
Abu Hamza can be extradited to US, human rights court rules
Radical cleric can be sent to US to face terrorism charges, along with four other men held in Britain
European court of human rights says the radical cleric can be extradited to the US to face terrorism charges Link to this video
Abu Hamza, the radical cleric who became the face of violent extremism in Britain, can be extradited to the US to face terrorism charges, the European court of human rights has ruled.
The court in Strasbourg said the human rights of Hamza and four other men held in Britain – Babar Ahmad, Syed Talha Ahsan, Adel Abdel Bary and Khaled al-Fawwaz – would not be violated if sent to the US to stand trial. European judges decided they needed more information about the mental health of Haroon Aswat, an aide to Hamza, before reaching a decision on him.
The ruling clears the last realistic obstacle to Hamza's extradition.
The men have the right to appeal to the grand chamber of the European court and have three months to make an application.
Babar Ahmad's sister said they would appeal the ruling. An appeal has only a slim chance of success, but it could delay extradition for months.
Nazia Ahmad, 27, told the Guardian: "I think we will be taking that avenue." She said the family, from Tooting, south London, would fight on. "We're very disappointed, we're going to carry on fighting for Babar," she said.
Ahmad said her brother should be prosecuted in the UK, and claimed the Crown Prosecution Service had not considered significant parts of the evidence against him, when it decided he should not face charges in Britain.
She said: "His case should have been dealt with by the authorities in the UK. They gathered the evidence, they gave it to the US, and they should have looked at it and decided if he should be put on trial in the UK."
Ahmad said her brother's case represented a "serious abuse of process". She called for a public inquiry and for ministers to answer her famiy's questions.
David Cameron welcomed the court's ruling. Speaking during a trade mission to south-east Asia, he said: "I am very pleased with the news. It is quite right that we have proper legal processes, although sometimes one can get frustrated with how long they take."
The home secretary, Theresa May, said the government "will work to ensure that the suspects are handed over to the US authorities as quickly as possible".
Hamza, who controlled the Finsbury Park mosque in north London and turned it into a factory for violent jihad, was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment in Britain after being convicted in 2006 of inciting hatred.
The previous government had wanted him sent to the US before his jail term had been completed, but the extradition was halted after his lawyers went to the European court.
The European court of human rights halted extradition proceedings in July 2010, arguing it needed more time to consider complaints that transferring Hamza and others wanted in the US risked breaching their rights by exposing them to possible life imprisonment without parole and solitary confinement.
Ahmad, who the US claims ran a website allegedly raising funds for Islamic extremists, is a computer expert from south London. He has been on remand and refused bail since his arrest in August 2004 on a US extradition warrant.
He was awarded £60,000 in compensation because of the violence British police used during his arrest in December 2003, during which he was punched, kicked and throttled. His case has been supported by the former transport minister Sadiq Khan, who is a family friend and Labour frontbencher.
In the Hamza case, the US has had to given written assurances that it will not impose the death penalty or place the suspects before Guantánamo Bay-style military tribunals.
The US alleges Hamza was in contact with Taliban and al-Qaida terrorists and aided the taking of 16 western tourists as hostages in Yemen in December 1998, an incident that ended in the deaths of three Britons. He is also charged with attempting to set up a training camp for "violent jihad" in Oregon in 1999, along with Aswat.
The court in Strasbourg had considered the cases of the four men for over four years.
In a press release, the court said: "The European court of human rights held, unanimously, that there would be: no violation of article three (prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment) of the European convention on human rights as a result of conditions of detention at ADX Florence (a "supermax" prison in the US) – if Mr Ahmad, Mr Ahsan, Mr Abu Hamza, Mr Bary and Mr Al-Fawwaz were extradited to the USA; and, no violation of article three of the convention as a result of the length of their possible sentences if Mr Ahmad, Mr Ahsan, Abu Hamza, Mr Bary and Mr Al-Fawwaz were extradited."
The court said it wanted more information on Aswat before reaching a judgment: "The court adjourned its examination of Mr Aswat's application as it required further submissions from the parties, on the relevance of his schizophrenia and detention at Broadmoor hospital to his complaint concerning detention at ADX."
European court of human rights says the radical cleric can be extradited to the US to face terrorism charges Link to this video
Abu Hamza, the radical cleric who became the face of violent extremism in Britain, can be extradited to the US to face terrorism charges, the European court of human rights has ruled.
The court in Strasbourg said the human rights of Hamza and four other men held in Britain – Babar Ahmad, Syed Talha Ahsan, Adel Abdel Bary and Khaled al-Fawwaz – would not be violated if sent to the US to stand trial. European judges decided they needed more information about the mental health of Haroon Aswat, an aide to Hamza, before reaching a decision on him.
The ruling clears the last realistic obstacle to Hamza's extradition.
The men have the right to appeal to the grand chamber of the European court and have three months to make an application.
Babar Ahmad's sister said they would appeal the ruling. An appeal has only a slim chance of success, but it could delay extradition for months.
Nazia Ahmad, 27, told the Guardian: "I think we will be taking that avenue." She said the family, from Tooting, south London, would fight on. "We're very disappointed, we're going to carry on fighting for Babar," she said.
Ahmad said her brother should be prosecuted in the UK, and claimed the Crown Prosecution Service had not considered significant parts of the evidence against him, when it decided he should not face charges in Britain.
She said: "His case should have been dealt with by the authorities in the UK. They gathered the evidence, they gave it to the US, and they should have looked at it and decided if he should be put on trial in the UK."
Ahmad said her brother's case represented a "serious abuse of process". She called for a public inquiry and for ministers to answer her famiy's questions.
David Cameron welcomed the court's ruling. Speaking during a trade mission to south-east Asia, he said: "I am very pleased with the news. It is quite right that we have proper legal processes, although sometimes one can get frustrated with how long they take."
The home secretary, Theresa May, said the government "will work to ensure that the suspects are handed over to the US authorities as quickly as possible".
Hamza, who controlled the Finsbury Park mosque in north London and turned it into a factory for violent jihad, was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment in Britain after being convicted in 2006 of inciting hatred.
The previous government had wanted him sent to the US before his jail term had been completed, but the extradition was halted after his lawyers went to the European court.
The European court of human rights halted extradition proceedings in July 2010, arguing it needed more time to consider complaints that transferring Hamza and others wanted in the US risked breaching their rights by exposing them to possible life imprisonment without parole and solitary confinement.
Ahmad, who the US claims ran a website allegedly raising funds for Islamic extremists, is a computer expert from south London. He has been on remand and refused bail since his arrest in August 2004 on a US extradition warrant.
He was awarded £60,000 in compensation because of the violence British police used during his arrest in December 2003, during which he was punched, kicked and throttled. His case has been supported by the former transport minister Sadiq Khan, who is a family friend and Labour frontbencher.
In the Hamza case, the US has had to given written assurances that it will not impose the death penalty or place the suspects before Guantánamo Bay-style military tribunals.
The US alleges Hamza was in contact with Taliban and al-Qaida terrorists and aided the taking of 16 western tourists as hostages in Yemen in December 1998, an incident that ended in the deaths of three Britons. He is also charged with attempting to set up a training camp for "violent jihad" in Oregon in 1999, along with Aswat.
The court in Strasbourg had considered the cases of the four men for over four years.
In a press release, the court said: "The European court of human rights held, unanimously, that there would be: no violation of article three (prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment) of the European convention on human rights as a result of conditions of detention at ADX Florence (a "supermax" prison in the US) – if Mr Ahmad, Mr Ahsan, Mr Abu Hamza, Mr Bary and Mr Al-Fawwaz were extradited to the USA; and, no violation of article three of the convention as a result of the length of their possible sentences if Mr Ahmad, Mr Ahsan, Abu Hamza, Mr Bary and Mr Al-Fawwaz were extradited."
The court said it wanted more information on Aswat before reaching a judgment: "The court adjourned its examination of Mr Aswat's application as it required further submissions from the parties, on the relevance of his schizophrenia and detention at Broadmoor hospital to his complaint concerning detention at ADX."
UK Border Agency unable to fulfil its basic functions, MPs warn
The UK Border Agency risks raising suspicions it is trying to mislead the public, according to the MPs. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA
The UK Border Agency (UKBA) must rid itself of its "bunker mentality" or risk raising suspicions that it is trying to mislead parliament and the public, MPs have warned.
The Commons home affairs select committee criticised the agency for providing data it said was so unclear even the agency's own chief executive, Rob Whiteman, had difficulty in following it.
"It is difficult to see how senior management and ministers can be confident that they know what is going on if the agency cannot be precise in the information it provides to this committee," the report said.
It added that the agency was failing to fulfil its basic tasks, and risked damaging public trust in the government.
"The agency must rid itself of its bunker mentality and focus on ensuring that parliament and the public understands its work," MPs said.
"Confusion over figures only risks suspicion that the agency is attempting to mislead parliament and the public over its performance and effectiveness.
"The only way the Home Office can allay and remove these fears is to clean up and clarify all the figures that are used in these reports."
Dame Helen Ghosh, the permanent secretary to the Home Office, should also set out how she "intends to clean up the use of statistics within the department", the committee said, adding that the agency was, in fact, "an integral part of the Home Office".
The wide-ranging report showed a fifth of foreign prisoners who finished their jail terms in 2010/11 – 1,060 criminals – had still not been deported by November last year.
But the agency was unclear over which obstacles were blocking deportation, and over the rights of more than 520 other foreign criminals who had been allowed to remain in the UK, the committee said.
It also found that six years after 1,013 foreign nationals were released from prison without being considered for deportation, only 397 have been removed or deported.
"Six years is far too long for this situation to be resolved, and these cases should have been concluded long ago," the committee said.
It called for the authorities to ensure foreign defendants have the necessary travel documentation as soon as they are sentenced so they can be deported once they have served their jail terms.
Almost 20,000 asylum cases also remained unresolved and 120,000 immigration cases were being written off because the applicants could no longer be found, it added.
Keith Vaz, the committee's chairman, said: "The reputation of the Home Office, and by extension the UK government, is being tarnished by the inability of the UK Border Agency to fulfil its basic functions.
"The foreign national prisoner issue and the asylum backlog were scandals which first broke in 2006, six years ago.
"UKBA appears unable to focus on its key task of tracking and removing illegal immigrants, overstayers or bogus students from the country."
He continued: "The so-called controlled archive, the dumping ground for cases where the UK Border Agency has lost track of the applicant, will take a further four years to clear, at the current rate of resolution. This is unacceptable."
The committee also questioned why 700,000 migrants were applying for multiple visas each year.
Its figures were based on records showing 120,841 of the 443,841 visa applications in August and September last year were from applicants who had applied previously.
The MPs questioned "whether an applicant could have legitimate reasons for applying for three or more visas" and called for the agency to assess "the implications of imposing a limit on the number of times an individual can apply for a visa".
They also criticised the agency's refusal to recognise the term "bogus colleges", and the fact that it gives advance warning of half of its college inspections. All inspections of colleges sponsoring foreign students hoping to study in the UK should be unannounced in future, the committee said.
It added that the mothballing of £9.1m Iris scanners at airports just five years after they were introduced "should not be repeated".
Any data collected on e-Gates - electronic border gates – trials should be published "to ensure it does not suffer the same costly investment in equipment which will not last", the report said.
The immigration minister, Damian Green, said: "At the same time as clearing up the mistakes of the past, we are taking the action necessary to ensure the same errors will not be allowed to happen in the future.
"We are starting the deportation process earlier and removing foreign criminals more quickly than ever.
"We are now making better asylum decisions, ensuring cases are properly tracked, improving intelligence and speeding up removals.
"This government has chosen to publish more information than ever before, information which members of the public and parliament can use to analyse our performance and hold us to account."
Titanic memorial cruise passenger airlifted to hospital
MS Balmoral turns back to allow helicopter to retrieve man, as bad weather that delayed arrival in Ireland continues
An Irish coastguard helicopter winches a man from the Titanic memorial cruise ship MS Balmoral. Photograph: Chris Helgren/Reuters
A cruise ship retracing the route sailed by the Titanic suffered its second setback in two days when a critically ill passenger had to be airlifted to hospital.
High winds had already delayed the Titanic memorial cruise reaching its first stop at the Irish town of Cobh on Monday, the last call made by the original Titanic before it hit an iceberg 100 years ago.
On Tuesday the ship was motoring towards the spot in the north Atlantic where the Titanic sank when the captain announced the journey was being interrupted because a passenger had to be rushed to hospital by helicopter.
The man, who works for the BBC as a cameraman, was named by the corporation as Tim Rex, 56. A spokeswoman said: "Unfortunately a BBC staff member was taken seriously ill while covering the cruise to the site of the Titanic. Following advice from the ship's doctors he has been taken ashore to receive urgent medical treatment."
Miles Morgan, managing director of Miles Morgan Travel, said the ship would go back about 20 nautical miles to get within helicopter range. "The passenger's condition is not thought to be life-threatening," he said.
The MS Balmoral is carrying 1,309 passengers – including relatives of some of the more than 1,500 Titanic passengers who died – to recreate the Titanic experience, minus the disaster.
The cruise was scheduled to last 12 nights, including a ceremony due to take place above the wreckage site at exactly the time the Titanic sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912. Morgan was unable to say immediately whether the delay would affect the ship's ability to reach the site on time.
The bad weather that hit the ship as it sailed from Southampton to Brighton continued on Tuesday afternoon, forcing the cancellation of a floor show due to safety concerns for the performers.
The cruise has been five years in the making and organisers have tried to make it as authentic to the era as possible. Passengers from 28 countries, who have paid £2,600-£8,000 each, are being offered dishes served on the Titanic and onboard lectures about the ship.
In a statement released on Tuesday night, the cruise operator said: "The safety and wellbeing of all guests and crew is paramount, and this decision has been made in conjunction with Titanic Memorial Cruises, as charterer of Balmoral for this voyage. Once the guest is off the ship for medical treatment the cruise will resume as scheduled."
An Irish coastguard helicopter winches a man from the Titanic memorial cruise ship MS Balmoral. Photograph: Chris Helgren/Reuters
A cruise ship retracing the route sailed by the Titanic suffered its second setback in two days when a critically ill passenger had to be airlifted to hospital.
High winds had already delayed the Titanic memorial cruise reaching its first stop at the Irish town of Cobh on Monday, the last call made by the original Titanic before it hit an iceberg 100 years ago.
On Tuesday the ship was motoring towards the spot in the north Atlantic where the Titanic sank when the captain announced the journey was being interrupted because a passenger had to be rushed to hospital by helicopter.
The man, who works for the BBC as a cameraman, was named by the corporation as Tim Rex, 56. A spokeswoman said: "Unfortunately a BBC staff member was taken seriously ill while covering the cruise to the site of the Titanic. Following advice from the ship's doctors he has been taken ashore to receive urgent medical treatment."
Miles Morgan, managing director of Miles Morgan Travel, said the ship would go back about 20 nautical miles to get within helicopter range. "The passenger's condition is not thought to be life-threatening," he said.
The MS Balmoral is carrying 1,309 passengers – including relatives of some of the more than 1,500 Titanic passengers who died – to recreate the Titanic experience, minus the disaster.
The cruise was scheduled to last 12 nights, including a ceremony due to take place above the wreckage site at exactly the time the Titanic sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912. Morgan was unable to say immediately whether the delay would affect the ship's ability to reach the site on time.
The bad weather that hit the ship as it sailed from Southampton to Brighton continued on Tuesday afternoon, forcing the cancellation of a floor show due to safety concerns for the performers.
The cruise has been five years in the making and organisers have tried to make it as authentic to the era as possible. Passengers from 28 countries, who have paid £2,600-£8,000 each, are being offered dishes served on the Titanic and onboard lectures about the ship.
In a statement released on Tuesday night, the cruise operator said: "The safety and wellbeing of all guests and crew is paramount, and this decision has been made in conjunction with Titanic Memorial Cruises, as charterer of Balmoral for this voyage. Once the guest is off the ship for medical treatment the cruise will resume as scheduled."
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