Energy Crunch: Don't Expect Return To 1970s

Are you ready for winter?

This question is at the heart of today's National Grid Winter Outlook report.

The weather is predicted to reach around 20 degrees in some parts of the UK on the final day of October this year so it's no wonder consumers aren't planning how to manage their energy use for the winter ahead.

But while customer use or demand is an important part of the equation – power supply is the key – and that's where the UK's plan falls apart.

In the past year, several power plants have experienced unexpected shutdowns due to fire, breakdowns and accidents.

Video: Why The Winter Lights Could Go Out

At the same time, the building of new plants has been terribly slow and faced numerable delays.

Which is why today National Grid is warning that our electricity supply margin has narrowed from last year, to the lowest level since 2007.

Which means, technically, the risk of blackouts, and brownout (where power use is limited, but not cut off completely) is increasing.

But asking three, more detailed questions, reveals that there isn't call for panic just yet and the prospect of a return to rolling blackouts last seen in the mid-1970s.

:: What is the likelihood of blackouts actually occurring?

The National Grid says that in the event of the UK experiencing the coldest snap in 20 years,  then electricity supplies would not meet demand for up to two weeks in January.

But there is only a 5% chance of this cold snap even happening. And not meeting demand, is not the same thing as a blackout. Which brings us to the next question.

:: How would it work?

Consumers and businesses would be encouraged to iron-out their electricity consumption across the full day, rather than all pile in at peak times.

This would reduce the likelihood of a total collapse at any one point in the day though whether families want to get up to put the dryer on at 3am is a question not addressed in National Grid's report.

Energy intensive business may be able to reorganise themselves to do this more easily, which leads nicely to – the final question.

:: Are emergency measures put in place by National Grid sufficient?

National Grid had started a programme to PAY some businesses to reduce their energy consumption, and time it more evenly with periods when consumer demand is not lower.

In addition, they are un-mothballing some plants previously marked for closure, to have them on standby should that mythical cold snap happen.

The Grid says these plans will lift the electricity margin back up to 6.1% from the 4.1% it is warning is the level at present.

And though it's not a pleasant thought, consumers must remember that behind all the statistics and warnings there is electricity to be had, no matter how cold the weather gets.

It will just cost more.

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Leeds Kids' Care Report Slams Whistleblowers

By Gerard Tubb, North of England Correspondent

An independent investigation into the temporary closure of children's heart surgery in Leeds last year has blamed a badly-compiled dossier of complaints and poorly-managed medics.

The strongest criticism for the 11-day closure in March 2013 by NHS England over safety concerns is levelled at the rival Newcastle children's heart unit which claimed it was whistleblowing on failings in Leeds.

Surgeon Nihal Weerasena is under investigation by the GMC

Independent investigators have accused medics from Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust and its chief executive Sir Leonard Fenwick of passing on unsubstantiated complaints.

"Reporting the unchecked allegations of others is not whistleblowing, and Newcastle should have made the status of their concerns clearer when they reported them," it said.

Video: Bad Report Halted Kids' Heart Ops

The report blames heart specialists at both units for "disagreements and personality clashes" and says management at both centres could have been better.

"Managers at affected trusts... have a responsibility to ensure that strong, respectful relationships are maintained between staff at 'competing' trusts," it says.

The rivalry between the trusts followed a bitter row over a decision by NHS England to close the Leeds unit and retain the Newcastle service, which has since been placed under review.

The political nature of some complaints from parents in the Newcastle "dossier" were also criticised.

Video: 'Forgotten Families' Of Hospital

"Those receiving the concerns and acting on them should have distinguished between concerns to which parents wanted answers and those being communicated for political purposes," the report says.

NHS England said at the time that the closure was for a "constellation" of reasons including poor data submission and the absence of both senior heart surgeons, one of whom was on holiday, the other under internal investigation.

The report backs NHS England's stance, saying: "Leeds senior management at the time should have ensured that data (on heart surgery patients) was full, accurate and submitted on time."

Sky News revealed last week that the second surgeon, Nihal Weerasena, is now under investigation by the General Medical Council over allegations about his fitness to practise.

Video: Leeds Hospital: Parents' Outrage

The report, described as the final "overarching" review of events that led to the closure has been welcomed by NHS England, which commissioned it.

NHS England's deputy medical director, Dr Mike Bewick, said: "Patients should be reassured that this service has been rigorously scrutinised and has improved as a result.

"Patients and the public can have confidence that this is a well-run unit and is now in a position to go from strength to strength."

The closure came the month after the publication of the Francis report into failings at Mid Staffordshire which warned that the NHS must act on safety concerns.

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Energy Crunch: Plan To Keep The Lights On

National Grid has warned the UK may be forced to resort to emergency measures to keep the lights on if bad weather strikes this winter, with households picking up the bill.

Its annual Winter Outlook report looking at the capacity margin - the gap between total electricity generating capacity and peak demand - was compiled as the country misses output from five key power stations following fires or safety checks.

The network operator put the figure at just 4.1% - its narrowest since 2006/7 - and said that margin of spare capacity could fall further to just 2.8% if weather conditions took a turn for the worse.

Such a scenario would mean the grid failing to meet its "basic reserve requirement" of spare capacity needed to run the system, forcing it to adopt contingencies such as paying factories to shut down and supplying reserves from mothballed power stations.

Power station fires have hit electricity output

National Grid said it was finalising contracts with three sites, Littlebrook in Kent, Rye House in Hertfordshire and Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, to provide reserve capacity that would widen the margin by 2%.

Having to use these power stations would add £1 to the average family bill, the operator confirmed, as it would cost £25m.

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1. Gallery: Blackout Britain: 1970s Power Cuts

   Paul Caldecott, six, was forced to stay at school because his parents couldn't pick him up

2. Four women work in a Slumberdown office in Bond Street, London, during a miners' strike in 1973

3. A woman breastfeeding her baby during a blackout at St Andrews Hospital, Dollis Hill, northwest London

4. Working for Slumberdown had its advantages, as these women could wrap themselves in quilts to keep warm during a blackout

5. Customers and staff at an HMV shop in Oxford Street, London, during a power cut in December 1973

The prospect of an electricity crunch has risen since the summer, when a key measure of risk, called Loss of Load Expectation (Lole) was forecast at 0.5 hours for the coming winter.

Since then the Lole risk measure has risen to 1.6 hours, factoring in the fires that have caused the permanent shutdown of Ironbridge in Shropshire and the temporary closure of Ferrybridge in West Yorkshire.

A power station in Barking will also close, while a planned return to service for four EDF nuclear reactors at Heysham in Morecambe, Lancashire, and at Hartlepool, will see them return at only 75% capacity.

A fire earlier this month put half of operations out of action at Didcot B power station in Oxfordshire - which has capacity to supply a million homes.

The part of the site affected by the blaze is expected to return to around 50% service this week.

The Grid report said gas supplies were well ahead of expected peak demand but warned of the uncertain impact of tensions over Ukraine, which could strangle availability from the continent.

Video: Warning Expected Over Blackout Risk

The report warned that in the "extreme scenario" of cold winter conditions and Russia cutting off supplies, the UK may have to arrange factory shutdowns as well and rely on expensive imports from markets further afield such as Asia and South America.

Cordi O'Hara, director of market operation, said: "The electricity margin has decreased compared to recent years, but the outlook remains manageable and well within the reliability standard set by Government.

"As system operator, we have taken the sensible precaution to secure additional tools to bolster our response to tighter margins."

Energy Minister Matt Hancock said lights would stay on across the country.

He told BBC Radio 4: "There will be secure energy supplies this winter. There will be no power cuts to householders."

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Lloyds Cuts 9,000 Jobs And 200 Branches

Lloyds Banking Group has confirmed 9,000 job losses and 200 branch closures as it moves to bolster its digital banking offering through a £1bn investment over three years.

The bank - 25%-owned by the taxpayer - said the job and branch cuts would take place as consumers' habits continued to shift towards online banking services.

Lloyds said it would be investing in remote advice services for customers, who would be increasingly expected to use online banking or self-service facilities within branches instead of dealing with staff face to face.

More than 10 million Lloyds Banking Group customers currently bank online while five million use its mobile banking services.

The news was contained in its latest results which showed a nine-month profit before tax of £1.61bn - 5% down on the same period last year.

Antonio Horta-Osorio wants to make Lloyds more efficient

Lloyds said the figure included an extra £900m provision for the costs associated with the payment protection insurance mis-selling scandal.

Sky News reported on Monday night that Lloyds and other major banks were all planning to put aside extra funds, giving them a combined provision of more than £22bn.

Video: How Do You Use Your Bank?

Lloyds accounts for half the total.

Underlying profits for the business, which includes Halifax and Bank of Scotland, rose 41% to £2.2bn in the third quarter.

Sources at the bank told Sky News it had already shed 45,000 jobs since its bailout at the height of the banking crisis.

Video: The Cost Of Banking To The Banks

The latest cuts represent around 10% of its current workforce of 88,000 and form part of its plans to "digitise" the bank.

Earlier this year, the British Bankers' Association published research showing that UK-based customers conducted almost 40 million mobile and internet banking transactions each week in 2013, a huge increase on the previous year.

The branch closures will mainly affect urban areas where there are already high concentrations of Lloyds branches.

Video: 1964: Banking For the Ladies

Chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said: "Over the last three years the successful delivery of our strategy has ensured that we have become a safe, highly efficient, UK-focused retail and commercial bank.

"The next phase of our strategy will use these strong foundations as a basis for meeting the rapidly-changing needs of our customers, and sets out how we will grow the business in a way that will deliver increasing and sustainable returns for our shareholders."

Shares have been under pressure since the results of a European stress test to see how lenders would cope in maintaining the buffer of capital they hold in the event of a financial crisis.

Video: Banks To Use Twitter Cash Transfers

Lloyds passed the test but performed the least well among UK banks, adding to fears that it may struggle when details of a further exercise by the Bank of England are published in December.

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US Ebola Nurse Slams Quarantine Process

An American nurse who has been treating Ebola patients in Africa has criticised quarantine rules that keep her isolated despite testing negative.

Doctors Without Borders worker Kaci Hickox returned to the US from Sierra Leone on Friday and was taken to a New Jersey hospital in case she had the killer virus.

She has now been told she is free from the disease, but will be unable to leave quarantine for another 21 days.

Illinois joined New York and New Jersey on Saturday night in introducing a mandatory 21-day quarantine period for anyone who has been involved in treating victims in west Africa.

Other states, including Virginia and Georgia, are also considering whether to impose the same regime.

Video: '10,000 Ebola Orphans By Christmas'

It follows 33-year-old doctor Craig Spencer falling ill with ebola having spent several days travelling around New York, riding the subway and visiting a bowling alley.

Writing in the Dallas Morning News, Ms Hickox said: "This is not a situation I would wish on anyone, and I am scared for those who will follow me.

"I am scared about how health care workers will be treated at airports when they declare that they have been fighting Ebola in West Africa.

"I am scared that, like me, they will arrive and see a frenzy of disorganisation, fear and, most frightening, quarantine."

Video: Ebola Response: Science Not Fear

She said on telling a border official she had just arrived back, she was immediately ushered into a private room before having questions "barked" at her.

She said she was made to wait hours with little to eat, only to later test negative for the virus.

Despite the test, she must wait in a secure facility in New Jersey until it is certain she has not contracted the disease.

She said: "I... thought of many colleagues who will return home to America and face the same ordeal. Will they be made to feel like criminals and prisoners?

Video: New York Fears After New Ebola case

"The US must treat returning health care workers with dignity and humanity."

The number of Ebola cases worldwide has now exceeded 10,000, with nearly 5,000 not surviving.

President Barack Obama urged Americans on Saturday to be guided by the facts about Ebola and "not fear".

Dr Spencer, who is being held at the Bellevue Hospital Center in New York, was described by officials overnight on Saturday as "entering the next phase of his illness".

Video: Cured Texas Ebola Nurse 'Blessed'

A health service statement said: "The patient is awake and communicating. In addition to the required supportive therapy, we initiated antiviral therapy within hours of admission. We also administered plasma therapy yesterday."

Meanwhile, in Sierra Leone, a team from the British Army has started training residents in how to use protective equipment to reduce the spread of the disease.

Many of the locals who have volunteered to help fight the virus have no medical background.

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Afghanistan: Britain Never Had Enough Soldiers

By Stuart Ramsay, Chief Correspondent

It is hot. Hot as hell. Driving a Jackal long-distance reconnaissance truck and dragging another broken one behind.

My cameraman Jim Foster is at the wheel as we career across the desert on the outskirts of an Afghan village full of Taliban.

They have been firing at us for at least half an hour and we know it is going to get a lot worse. It's the summer of 2008.

"RPG! RPG! Hold tight!" Jim shouts.

To our left, in near slow-motion, I see a Talib lift his rocket-propelled grenade.

In my mind, I am screaming, but I am silent. Trying to work a camera. I am all fingers and thumbs. I know this is really, really bad. I remember thinking I hope it doesn't f****** hurt. He is so near he surely can't miss.

Video: On Patrol In Helmand

I heard the whoosh. It passes between us, just above our heads. Then explodes in the air behind us.

"Christ," I shout at Jim.

Then I see three more Jackals driven by Pathfinders from the Parachute regiment manoeuvre around us. Guns blazing towards the Taliban positions.

They are protecting us. They smash the Taliban and we surge forward over a final hillock and into the desert.

We pull over and form a circle as mortars and rounds crash into the desert a short distance behind us.

I pass Jim a bottle of water. Boiling hot from the sun, but still cooler than us.

He drinks the lot, smiles, and taps me on the leg.

"That was interesting," he says, smiling. "You did well son, very well mate."

I wanted to cry. Afghan embeds can be like this. Awful.

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1. Gallery: A Timeline In Pictures

   October 7, 2001: US President George W Bush announces the US and Britain have started bombing Afghanistan

2. March 26, 2006: The first regular British troops of the Helmand Task Force unload their kit after arriving by helicopter to an American-run base in Lashkar Gah in Helmand

3. April 25, 2006: Defence Secretary John Reid announces Britain's GR7 Harriers would stay on in Afghanistan until at least 2007

4. January 2, 2008: Prince Harry sits with a group of Gurkha soldiers after firing a machine gun from the observation post on JTAC Hill, close to forward operating base Delhi, in Helmand Province

5. February 21, 2008: Prince Harry riding an abandoned motorcycle past his Spartan armoured vehicle, in the desert in Helmand

6. The Ministry of Defence announced in February 2008 that the then 23-year-old Prince, an officer in the Household Cavalry regiment, had spent the past 10 weeks secretly serving in Helmand

7. February 20, 2008: Prince Harry sitting below the turret of his Spartan armoured vehicle as he communicates with other units by radio

8. July 13, 2009: US Marine Sergeant Anthony Zabala runs to safety as an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explodes in Garmsir district of Helmand

9. 2009 saw the most IED attacks of the war so far, with 7,228 IED attacks killing 280 coalition soldiers

10. November 10, 2009: Friends and family react as hearses carrying the coffins of six dead soldiers pass mourners lining the High Street in Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire

11. November 14, 2010: Prince William salutes the memorial to the British soldiers killed in Afghanistan, during a remembrance day ceremony at Camp Bastion

12. Capt Judith Gallagher with the Dragon Runner developed by Qinetiq which can remotely disarm IEDs and can be carried by a soldier in a back pack

13. July 20, 2010: Soldiers from Scots Guards during an operation at an Afghan National Police base on Punjab hill, Helmand

14. January 28, 2011: Mr Miliband arrives at Camp Bastion in Helmand for his first visit to Afghanistan

15. January 29, 2011: Labour leader Ed Miliband, shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy and shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander watch a landmine detection exercise at Camp Bastion

16. April 9, 2011: British troops, most of whom are new in theatre starting their tour, travel in a chinook helicopter to Lashkar Gah in Helmand

17. April 10, 2011: A Chinook makes a delivery at Patrol Base Attal in Helmand

18. July 20, 2011: Afghan elders wait for beginning of a handing over ceremony of control of security in the town of Lashkar Gah to the Afghan police and army

19. July 27, 2011: Cpl Ryan Wordsworth of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando Royal Marines, brushes his teeth at Patrol Base Kalang in Afghanistan

20. November 14, 2011: A soldier from the Alpha (Grenadier) company, the 3rd Battalion Royal regiment for Scotland meets a young child on a patrol in Nad e-Ali

21. March 22, 2012: Sergeant Jon Van Zyl of the Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment stands in front of two Mastiff vehicles and beneath Venus and Jupiter in the clear Helmand desert sky

22. December 18, 2012: The Princess Royal talks to Lieutenant Colonel Ben Wrench, Major Angus Watson and Sergeant Gardner in Camp Tombstone during her visit to Camp Bastion

23. January 21, 2013: Prince Harry does a pre-flight check of his Apache helicopter after starting his 12 hour VHR (very high ready-ness) shift

24. Harry scrambles to his Apache

25. April 2, 2013: Petty Officers inspect a Chinook airframe for small arms fire damage as part of the ongoing battlefield maintenance and repair on Camp Bastion

26. October 5, 2013: Soldiers approach a Chinook aircraft in the Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand

27. October 11, 2013: An Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier from 3 Brigade 209 Kandak looks through his rifle scope as he is trained on marksmanship skills at ANA Camp Shorabak, Helmand

28. December 23, 2013: Private Zina Saunders, a dog handler, gives Hazel Christmas presents which were sent by the handler's friends and family in the UK

29. December 23, 2013: Soldiers based at Patrol Base Lash Durai, Afghanistan get into the festive spirit

30. October 3, 2014: David Cameron addresses British troops at Camp Bastion in Helmand for the final time before troops wind down their mission in Afghanistan

Every year since 2001 I have reported from Afghanistan in various capacities.

Often on embeds with the British and American forces and often as a civilian, meeting the Taliban, covering elections and reporting on this country of no real importance to the UK, apart from its place as the crucible of al Qaeda and the birthplace of terror-related stories that have dominated most of my life ever since 9/11.

The embed is a much talked about and often misrepresented phenomenon. They can be horrendously annoying, bureaucratic and plain dumb.

But in an era where war reporting, and the protagonists in the fight, be they the armies of Western governments or the forces aligned against them such as the Taliban or al Qaeda, see reporters as very much part of the battle; being embedded became a part of reality.

If we want to see what is happening at the pointy end of the conflict then embedding was the only way to achieve this.

I am told I held the record for embeds in Afghanistan. I doubt it's true but I did loads. To be honest I can't say I ever actually enjoyed them but I will forever cherish the memories and the many friends I made in the armed forces.

The soldiers, along with all the military personnel who fought in Afghanistan, risked their lives, lost their lives and limbs over all these years, did so without ever missing a single opportunity to bitch and moan.

But they served with a remarkable sense of pride and professionalism.

I never saw a man or a woman scared of the battle, never miss the opportunity to engage the enemy and never doubt that they were doing a job that deserved their full commitment.

Video: Meeting The Taliban IED Killers

Doubt and questioning was for people like me, not them.

When their comrades died they did not, as has often been reported, let their morale drop.

In my experience the death of a friend or a colleague spurred them on.

What better way to honour the fallen than to take their place over the wire, to follow their path, where every step could be your last, where every contact could take your life?

In truth, Britain never had enough soldiers on the ground.

I was deployed on a US Marine embed to cover the presidential elections in 2009.

We came across a ramshackle, half-destroyed government building that was the main base in the area. It had been set up by the British military.

In three rooms I found the British military presence. There were 22 of them, if I recall correctly, and they had held the building and 200 meters of road for four months.

Re-supplied by helicopter they were attacked by the Taliban every single day.

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1. Gallery: Life In Camp Bastion

   Soldiers from 2nd Royal Tank Regiment relax in transit accommodation as they prepare to leave Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, Afghanistan after a gruelling six month tour

2. British troops cross themselves during prayer as they stand at ease on the parade square at Camp 501, Camp Bastion

3. The coffin containing the body of British Army soldier L/cpl Paul "Sandy" Sandford is carried by his fellow soldiers during his repatriation ceremony

4. Troops from various regiments including Sandford's, the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment held a repatriation ceremony for the British soldier killed in action on 6 June, 2007

5. British soldiers play a game of Scrabble as they watch the live broadcast of the Royal wedding

6. Soldiers wait to talk to then Chancellor Gordon Brown, with a cross in the foreground - part of a monument in the memory of fallen comrades

7. Merlin Pilot Wing Commander Nigel Colman Officer Commanding 78 Squadron sits at the back of a Merlin at Camp Bastion

8. Troops observe the minute's silence at Camp Bastion during a special Armistice Day Parade on the 93rd anniversary of the end of the First World War

9. Lieutenant Chris Millen, serving with 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, relaxes in his bedspace in transit accommodation as he prepares leave Camp Bastion

10. Capt Robbie Robertson (left) and Capt Olly Denning spar at Camp Bastion

11. Troops from 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards with a Scimitar tank

12. Trooper Ben Rakestrow (right), 21, from Egypt squadron, 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, sits on his rather colourful bedspread with friends in transit accommodation at Camp Bastion

13. Royal Military Police (RMP) as they clear their vehicle and its shelter of snow following a rare snow shower

14. British soldier Jamie Anderson lifts weights as he passes time at Camp Bastion

15. A British soldier controls the ball during a football match as comrades (background), and an Afghan National Army soldier, right, look on during a football training session at Camp Bastion

They were never given more support and they were told to carry on trying to impose security on the town and get the market working. It was hopeless, but they never gave in.

The Americans agreed with their job, they just disagreed with the way it was being done. So they took over.

Our 22 soldiers were replaced with 2,200 Marines. Security in the town improved immediately. The Taliban left. The market opened the next day. I think that says it all.

In 2010 my colleague Alex Crawford and I finally met the Taliban for a series of meetings. They explained their thinking, they showed us how they made and laid roadside bombs and they revealed to us how they were entwined with Afghan society.

We, personally, and Sky News, as an organisation, were widely condemned for our decision to talk to the "enemy".

Within months, talking to the Taliban by governments and military had become common place.

As the British combat role draws to an end gauging the success or otherwise of this campaign begins.

The coalition aim to destroy al Qaeda's ability to plan attacks across the world from the safety of Afghanistan was undoubtedly achieved.

But as attention drifted to Iraq, with its own military objectives and problems, the collective focus on Afghanistan stuttered and eventually failed.

Video: Key Moments In The Conflict

Opium production soared, funding the insurgency in the country, and a decision to try to build an Afghanistan that had never existed was almost always going to be too big a project and was probably always going to fail.

This year's presidential elections were a success and the new co-operative government is making the right noises about the future, with a heavy focus on getting rid of endemic corruption. But these are early days.

Without foreign military, the government would probably fail. It still might. For certain the Taliban have not gone away.

As with Iraq our military leave a country with many, many problems but that is not their fault.

They served with integrity and purpose and did as they were asked. They let me experience that. It is an honour to have been there.

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Afghan Fighting Was 'Fruitless And Expensive'

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

Two men, successive commanders of the Special Air Service, gave the same advice to their superiors.

One even drove the length of Helmand in an unarmoured Land Rover to seek out the truth.

The first to conduct the reconnaissance, in late 2005, met with tribal elders, drug khans and ordinary farmers, and reported back with these words: "There isn't an insurgency in Helmand - but we can give you one."

The next, who also toured the southern Afghan province where opium farmers quietly produced some 70% of the world's heroin base, came back more specific advice.

He told the Ministry of Defence the military estimate of a light brigade of about 3,000 men was only just adequate to secure a British presence in one town, Lashkagar.

"Anything beyond that risked sparking a conflict that we had no way to control," the former SAS commander said.

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1. Gallery: Life In Camp Bastion

   Soldiers from 2nd Royal Tank Regiment relax in transit accommodation as they prepare to leave Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, Afghanistan after a gruelling six month tour

2. British troops cross themselves during prayer as they stand at ease on the parade square at Camp 501, Camp Bastion

3. The coffin containing the body of British Army soldier L/cpl Paul "Sandy" Sandford is carried by his fellow soldiers during his repatriation ceremony

4. Troops from various regiments including Sandford's, the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment held a repatriation ceremony for the British soldier killed in action on 6 June, 2007

5. British soldiers play a game of Scrabble as they watch the live broadcast of the Royal wedding

6. Soldiers wait to talk to then Chancellor Gordon Brown, with a cross in the foreground - part of a monument in the memory of fallen comrades

7. Merlin Pilot Wing Commander Nigel Colman Officer Commanding 78 Squadron sits at the back of a Merlin at Camp Bastion

8. Troops observe the minute's silence at Camp Bastion during a special Armistice Day Parade on the 93rd anniversary of the end of the First World War

9. Lieutenant Chris Millen, serving with 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, relaxes in his bedspace in transit accommodation as he prepares leave Camp Bastion

10. Capt Robbie Robertson (left) and Capt Olly Denning spar at Camp Bastion

11. Troops from 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards with a Scimitar tank

12. Trooper Ben Rakestrow (right), 21, from Egypt squadron, 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, sits on his rather colourful bedspread with friends in transit accommodation at Camp Bastion

13. Royal Military Police (RMP) as they clear their vehicle and its shelter of snow following a rare snow shower

14. British soldier Jamie Anderson lifts weights as he passes time at Camp Bastion

15. A British soldier controls the ball during a football match as comrades (background), and an Afghan National Army soldier, right, look on during a football training session at Camp Bastion

Smarting from the failure to secure Basra in southern Iraq, senior British officers appeared to both SAS bosses as anxious to recover the forces reputation but blind to the potential costs and the resources kicking the Helmand hornet's nest would need.

It was kicked in 2006. Within weeks of their deployment in Helmand many in 16th Air Assault Brigade were fighting in Forward Operating Bases for their lives.

In Musa Qala, Now Zad, Sangin and along a chain of 'platoon houses', units came close to being overrun and massacred.

Besieged for weeks that stretched into months, they ran perilously close to running out of food, water and ammunition.

The landscape beyond their walls was torn and smashed by wave upon wave of airstrikes against insurgents.

Video: Key Moments In The Conflict

This set the pattern for the next three years.

Tough infantry fighting gave ample opportunity for winning medals and the testing of British fighting spirit. It did nothing for the lives of Helmandis but bring violence.

The troops loved it. The media, myself among them, loved it too. But it was, in the end, entirely fruitless, expensive, bloody and the result of military hubris.

Too few troops were sent, too lightly armed, without sufficient helicopters to do the job.

Proof of this is that by 2010 the province was so angry that about 40,000 troops, 30,000 of them American, were fighting across Helmand and peace was brought to none of it.

Video: Fallon: Afghanistan Now Safer Place

As NATO forces have been withdrawn large chunks of the province have already slipped away from limited government control. Musa Qala and Now Zad have gone, Afghan troops are hanging on to a small base in Sangin.

And the drug khans are enjoying an unprecedented boom. Opium revenues are up by a third this year to $3bn.

Now the Union flag has been lowered, and the last troops pulled out of Camp Bastion, Helmand is to be left to the Afghans to deal with.

NATO's boot is being pulled out of the nest. Let's hope the hornets go back to it.

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Britain's War In Afghanistan Comes To An End

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

Britain's war in Afghanistan is officially over.

In a symbolic ceremony at Camp Bastion, the Union Flag was lowered for the last time, marking the formal handover of power to Afghan Forces.

That simple act brought the 13-year war to an end for British forces - the longest conflict in modern times.

At a peak, 9,500 British military personnel were based in Afghanistan as part of Operation Herrick.

Camp Bastion was the epicentre of operations. A further 136 smaller bases were dotted around Helmand Province in the south of the country.

Towns such as Musa Qala, Sangin and Nad Ali, were scenes of bloody fighting. They became infamous in Britain for the toll fighting took on British forces.

Video: Key Moments In The Conflict

In total, 453 British lives were lost fighting the Taliban. Thousands more were injured, many permanently.

The deadliest year was 2009, when 108 British troops were killed.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told Sky News: "Afghanistan is now a safer, most prosperous and democratic place than when we started.

"We've not eliminated the insurgency but what we have done, through the British troops' sacrifice, is given Afghanistan the best possible chance of a safer future by training a 300,000-strong Afghan army and security force."

Video: Fallon: Afghanistan Now Safer Place

Camp Bastion grew out of nothing to become a monstrous fortress in Helmand to accommodate ever-growing numbers of troops and the increasing demands of a vicious fight against the Taliban insurgency.

Early on the British Government sought to wipe out the illegal opium poppy trade, but that failed and the mission moved on.

An 11,500 ft runway was built allowing the largest transport planes to fly in at any time of the day or night. Bastion became the third busiest British airport after Heathrow and Gatwick.

The first rotations of troops deployed with sub-standard equipment, when the initial emphasis was on reconstruction.

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1. Gallery: A Timeline In Pictures

   October 7, 2001: US President George W Bush announces the US and Britain have started bombing Afghanistan

2. March 26, 2006: The first regular British troops of the Helmand Task Force unload their kit after arriving by helicopter to an American-run base in Lashkar Gah in Helmand

3. April 25, 2006: Defence Secretary John Reid announces Britain's GR7 Harriers would stay on in Afghanistan until at least 2007

4. January 2, 2008: Prince Harry sits with a group of Gurkha soldiers after firing a machine gun from the observation post on JTAC Hill, close to forward operating base Delhi, in Helmand Province

5. February 21, 2008: Prince Harry riding an abandoned motorcycle past his Spartan armoured vehicle, in the desert in Helmand

6. The Ministry of Defence announced in February 2008 that the then 23-year-old Prince, an officer in the Household Cavalry regiment, had spent the past 10 weeks secretly serving in Helmand

7. February 20, 2008: Prince Harry sitting below the turret of his Spartan armoured vehicle as he communicates with other units by radio

8. July 13, 2009: US Marine Sergeant Anthony Zabala runs to safety as an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explodes in Garmsir district of Helmand

9. 2009 saw the most IED attacks of the war so far, with 7,228 IED attacks killing 280 coalition soldiers

10. November 10, 2009: Friends and family react as hearses carrying the coffins of six dead soldiers pass mourners lining the High Street in Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire

11. November 14, 2010: Prince William salutes the memorial to the British soldiers killed in Afghanistan, during a remembrance day ceremony at Camp Bastion

12. Capt Judith Gallagher with the Dragon Runner developed by Qinetiq which can remotely disarm IEDs and can be carried by a soldier in a back pack

13. July 20, 2010: Soldiers from Scots Guards during an operation at an Afghan National Police base on Punjab hill, Helmand

14. January 28, 2011: Mr Miliband arrives at Camp Bastion in Helmand for his first visit to Afghanistan

15. January 29, 2011: Labour leader Ed Miliband, shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy and shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander watch a landmine detection exercise at Camp Bastion

16. April 9, 2011: British troops, most of whom are new in theatre starting their tour, travel in a chinook helicopter to Lashkar Gah in Helmand

17. April 10, 2011: A Chinook makes a delivery at Patrol Base Attal in Helmand

18. July 20, 2011: Afghan elders wait for beginning of a handing over ceremony of control of security in the town of Lashkar Gah to the Afghan police and army

19. July 27, 2011: Cpl Ryan Wordsworth of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando Royal Marines, brushes his teeth at Patrol Base Kalang in Afghanistan

20. November 14, 2011: A soldier from the Alpha (Grenadier) company, the 3rd Battalion Royal regiment for Scotland meets a young child on a patrol in Nad e-Ali

21. March 22, 2012: Sergeant Jon Van Zyl of the Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment stands in front of two Mastiff vehicles and beneath Venus and Jupiter in the clear Helmand desert sky

22. December 18, 2012: The Princess Royal talks to Lieutenant Colonel Ben Wrench, Major Angus Watson and Sergeant Gardner in Camp Tombstone during her visit to Camp Bastion

23. January 21, 2013: Prince Harry does a pre-flight check of his Apache helicopter after starting his 12 hour VHR (very high ready-ness) shift

24. Harry scrambles to his Apache

25. April 2, 2013: Petty Officers inspect a Chinook airframe for small arms fire damage as part of the ongoing battlefield maintenance and repair on Camp Bastion

26. October 5, 2013: Soldiers approach a Chinook aircraft in the Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand

27. October 11, 2013: An Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier from 3 Brigade 209 Kandak looks through his rifle scope as he is trained on marksmanship skills at ANA Camp Shorabak, Helmand

28. December 23, 2013: Private Zina Saunders, a dog handler, gives Hazel Christmas presents which were sent by the handler's friends and family in the UK

29. December 23, 2013: Soldiers based at Patrol Base Lash Durai, Afghanistan get into the festive spirit

30. October 3, 2014: David Cameron addresses British troops at Camp Bastion in Helmand for the final time before troops wind down their mission in Afghanistan

Very quickly they found themselves in close-quarter fights. New technology had to hurried through to protect against the Taliban's maturing tactics, principally roadside IEDs.

A shortage of helicopters to move troops, equipment and supplies, was finally addressed after considerable public and media pressure on the government and senior military chiefs.

The hospital in Bastion became a world leader in trauma medicine, attracting and training the brightest surgeons and nurses from the military and NHS.

If a casualty made it to the hospital within an hour of being wounded on the battlefield they had an incredible 98% chance of survival.

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1. Gallery: Life In Camp Bastion

   Soldiers from 2nd Royal Tank Regiment relax in transit accommodation as they prepare to leave Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, Afghanistan after a gruelling six month tour

2. British troops cross themselves during prayer as they stand at ease on the parade square at Camp 501, Camp Bastion

3. The coffin containing the body of British Army soldier L/cpl Paul "Sandy" Sandford is carried by his fellow soldiers during his repatriation ceremony

4. Troops from various regiments including Sandford's, the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment held a repatriation ceremony for the British soldier killed in action on 6 June, 2007

5. British soldiers play a game of Scrabble as they watch the live broadcast of the Royal wedding

6. Soldiers wait to talk to then Chancellor Gordon Brown, with a cross in the foreground - part of a monument in the memory of fallen comrades

7. Merlin Pilot Wing Commander Nigel Colman Officer Commanding 78 Squadron sits at the back of a Merlin at Camp Bastion

8. Troops observe the minute's silence at Camp Bastion during a special Armistice Day Parade on the 93rd anniversary of the end of the First World War

9. Lieutenant Chris Millen, serving with 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, relaxes in his bedspace in transit accommodation as he prepares leave Camp Bastion

10. Capt Robbie Robertson (left) and Capt Olly Denning spar at Camp Bastion

11. Troops from 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards with a Scimitar tank

12. Trooper Ben Rakestrow (right), 21, from Egypt squadron, 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, sits on his rather colourful bedspread with friends in transit accommodation at Camp Bastion

13. Royal Military Police (RMP) as they clear their vehicle and its shelter of snow following a rare snow shower

14. British soldier Jamie Anderson lifts weights as he passes time at Camp Bastion

15. A British soldier controls the ball during a football match as comrades (background), and an Afghan National Army soldier, right, look on during a football training session at Camp Bastion

Although combat operations are now over, British involvement in Afghanistan will continue for a number of years.

A few hundred will be based at the Qargha Officer Training Academy outside Kabul.

It has been nicknamed "Sandhurst in the Sand" and is Britain's contribution to Operation Resolute Support, the name for the training and advisory mission to Afghan forces.

Special Forces operations will also continue in the country for the foreseeable future. 

When asked if British troops could return in a combat role, Lord Dannatt, the former Chief of The General Staff, told Sky News: "You can't rule anything in, you can't rule anything out. If my judgment of the Prime Minister's feeling on this is correct, I wouldn't see a situation in which British combat troops would go back in."

And questioned about the change seen in the once warring nation, the former Head of the Army, Gen Sir Mike Jackson, told the Murnaghan programme: "Is Afghanistan perfect? No, of course it isn't. Has it got a long way to go? I suspect it has. But I do think it is a better place." 

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Scottish Labour Row May Cost Miliband Dearly

If Ed Miliband allowed himself to gloat over David Cameron being ambushed at the EU summit, and the Tories' battle with UKIP becoming even harder, he would have been foolish and even more out of touch than his critics claim he is.

Margaret Thatcher famously said that "in politics, the unexpected always happens". And the Labour leader probably wasn't expecting his party to be plunged into a civil war by the resignation of its leader in Scotland – just 24 hours after the Prime Minister was exploding in fury in Brussels.

But Johann Lamont's resignation, after what her critics claimed was a lacklustre performance in the Scottish referendum campaign, wasn't unexpected. Mr Miliband and many Scottish Labour MPs at Westminster say they knew earlier this week that it was coming.

What was unexpected was the ferocity of her onslaught on Mr Miliband and the Labour leadership in her valedictory interview in Scotland's Daily Record, triggering tartan turmoil in the party and revealing splits, rows and bitterness between Westminster and Holyrood.

She accused the Labour leadership in Westminster of treating the Scottish party as a "branch office" and branded some Westminster Labour MPs "dinosaurs… who think nothing has changed".

She complains that the party's Scottish general-secretary was ousted without her being consulted, making her position "untenable".

And, I'm told, she also wanted Eric Joyce kicked out of Parliament after his Westminster bar room brawl, rather than be allowed to remain as an MP sitting as an independent.

Johann Lamont surprised many MPs with her critical newspaper interview

Many will agree that she's right about Westminster "dinosaurs". Many Scottish Labour MPs are still guilty of shocking complacency, despite Alex Salmond winning an overall majority in the Scottish Parliament in the election of 2011, just before Johann Lamont became leader.

Those same Scottish Labour MPs, although no doubt mightily relieved by the No vote in the referendum, still don't seem to grasp the real threat that the SNP poses to Labour in many of its heartlands in the 2015 General Election, based on strong Yes votes in some of those strongholds in the referendum.

Video: Lamont's 'Stinging' Labour Attack

Labour currently holds 41 of the 59 Westminster seats in Scotland. And, leaving aside the row over "English votes for English laws", it needs to hold on to those – or even make a few gains – if Ed Miliband is to have any chance of becoming Prime Minister.

Yet it's estimated that one in three Labour supporters voted Yes in the referendum. And if that haemorrhaging of support was repeated in the General Election, Labour's 41 seats would be down to about 30. That could make the difference between Labour being in Government and staying in the Opposition.

In other words, however well Labour does against the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in English and Welsh marginals, Labour losses to the SNP could rob Mr Miliband of an overall majority, or of leading the largest party in the Commons.

So the Labour disarray, rancour and infighting unleashed by the departing Johann Lamont won't just send shock waves throughout Scotland. It threatens to change the landscape in the whole of the UK.

Video: Miliband: Debates Must Take Place

If there was any gloating by Ed Miliband at David Cameron's Euro-nightmare, it will now have been brought to an abrupt end.

And just who will succeed Johann Lamont? Anas Sarwar? Jim Murphy? Gordon Brown? The job is beginning to look like a poisoned chalice.

The one person who is gloating this weekend, despite falling short of victory in last month's referendum, is the cocky Alex Salmond, who couldn't resist pointing out that Scottish Labour is now going to have its fifth leader since he become Scotland's First Minister in 2007.

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Google Executive Sets New Freefall Jump Record

By Sean Dilley, Sky News Reporter

A senior Google executive has set a new record for the highest parachute jump at more than 135,000 feet (41,000 metres).

Fifty-seven-year-old Alan Eustace was lifted from an abandoned runway at an airport in New Mexico to the edge of space by a balloon filled with 35,000 cubic feet (990 cubic metres) of helium.

It broke the previous record, a 128,100 foot freefall achieved by 45-year-old Felix Baumgartner in October 2012.

Unlike the former record holder, who was 14 years his junior when he set the previous record, Google's senior vice president of knowledge chose to make his attempt in secret.

Mr Eustace set new record. Pic: Paragon Space Development Corporation

Mr Eustace spent two hours and seven minutes climbing to an altitude of 136,401 feet (41,575m or nearly 26 miles). He began his freefall at 135,890 feet.

Wearing a self-contained space suit similar to those used in the international space station, the computer scientist used an explosive device to separate himself from the balloon which elevated him.

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1. Gallery: Google Executive In Sky Dive Record Attempt

   Alan Eustace prepares to lift off. Pictures: Paragon Space Development Corporation

2. The Helium balloon is filled at a New Mexico airport

3. Mr Eustace is carried into the starting position

5. Mr Eustace is carried into space

7. Mr Eustace is protected by a pressurised suit

He descended towards the earth at speeds which peaked at more than 800mph, breaking the sound barrier and creating a sonic boom.

After landing, he said: "You could see the darkness of space and you could see the atmosphere, which I had never seen before.

"It was a wild, wild ride."

Mr Eustace has spent 34 months of secret planning and training with a team from Paragon Space Development Corporation to prepare for his four-and-a-half minute freefall.

Company CEO Grant Anderson said: "Together, Alan and the team extended human space flight to the stratosphere in an important step to solidify the safety of future human endeavours."

"This has opened up endless possibilities for humans to explore previously seldom visited parts of our atmosphere."

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