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There have been 10 shootings in the town this year. The latest arrest takes the total for gun-related incidents to 37 since March.

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Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans 'refutes all allegations'

Commons Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans has said he "refutes all allegations" after being arrested on suspicion of three counts of indecent assault.

The 55-year-old answered bail following his arrest in May on suspicion of rape and sexual assault, and was told that he faced the additional allegations.

All the allegations involve men in their 20s.

Mr Evans, Conservative MP for Ribble Valley, will not resume his Speaker duties while inquiries continue.
He has previously denied any wrongdoing.

The original rape and sexual assault allegations are said to have happened in Pendleton between July 2009 and March 2013.

New allegations

The new indecent assault allegations are claimed to have occurred in Blackpool and London between 2003 and 2011.

A Lancashire Police spokesman said: "A 55-year-old man from Pendleton in Lancashire has today answered his bail following his arrest in May on suspicion of rape and sexual assault.

"He has subsequently been further arrested on suspicion of three further offences of indecent assault. He will be interviewed about these allegations at a police station in Lancashire during the course of the day."

He added: "We take all allegations of a sexual nature extremely seriously and understand how difficult it can be for victims to have the confidence to come forward.

"As a constabulary, we are committed to investigating sexual offences sensitively but robustly, recognising the impact that these types of crimes have on victims."


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Another part of West Norfolk’s political map has turned purple after the UK Independence Party claimed its first borough council seat.

The party made its big electoral breakthrough at last month’s county council elections, winning three West Norfolk seats out of the 14 they hold across the county.

And it was announced on Friday that voters in the Watlington ward of the borough council had chosen Ashley Collins to represent them.

In a three-way contest, Mr Collins polled 179 votes, 64 ahead of Conservative candidate John Dobson with 115. Emilia Rust, representing Labour, received 99 votes.

His victory was announced just five weeks after he was narrowly defeated by the borough council’s deputy leader, Brian Long, in the Fincham division during the Norfolk County Council elections.

Mr Collins said: “I was very shocked and very pleased because, with the experience that John Dobson has, I thought he would get in.

“I think people are fed up with the three major parties and decided they wanted change.” At the age of 25, Mr Collins, who is a sales assistant at a Lynn hardware store and lives with his parents in St Germans, is now the youngest member of the borough council.

And he said that voters had welcomed seeing younger candidates standing in the election.

“When we went into Watlington, a lot of people said they were glad that younger people were taking up politics and that someone young was standing.

“I think it’s good for young people to get involved in politics.”

The election was called after the previous councillor, Dr Ian Mack, was forced to resign because of rules that prevent sitting councillors from serving in local health care commissioning groups. Dr Mack currently chairs the West Norfolk body.

And Mr Collins paid tribute to the contribution made by his predecessor.

He said: “I hope I can continue the great work that Ian Mack did.

“He was a terrific councillor and I have a lot of respect for him.”

The result means the Tories stay on 42 councillors, with a majority of 22 over all other parties.

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The Pakistani culture of marrying first cousins is the direct cause of 33 percent of all genetic birth defect children born in this country, a statistic which inflicts massive costs on the NHS-supporting taxpayers and social services, new figures have found.


Official — and out-of-date — birth records show that at the last count Pakistanis were responsible for 3 percent of the births in this country, but make up 33 percent of the 15 to 20,000 children born each year with genetic defects.

In Bradford, 75 percent of Pakistanis are married to first cousins. According to reports, the trend is also evident in Birmingham, where figures show that one in ten of all children born to first cousins died in childhood or suffered from a serious genetic disorder.

Overall, half of all Pakistanis in Britain marry a first cousin. As a result, they are 13 times more likely to produce children with genetic disorders than the general population, according to the Government-sponsored research.

The figures will be officially released by Crossbench peer Baroness Ruth Deech next week. She will call for the Government (i.e the taxpayers) to launch a “campaign to warn migrants of the risks of marriages between cousins.”

Baroness Deech will warn that “such marriages can be a barrier to the integration of minority communities and increases the risk of birth defects in children.”

In the speech, she will say that first cousin marriages are on the rise and the practice is “at odds with freedom of choice, romantic love and integration.”

The practice of first cousin marriages is continuing because of “financial reasons — either to settle debts or provide financial support for relatives abroad; helping relatives to migrate to Britain or wanting to provide a ‘ready-made’ family for an immigrant spouse.”

Meanwhile, British taxpayers must shoulder the burden for this Third World practice imported into Britain as a result of the continuing immigration invasion.

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In one of the biggest changes in the organisation’s 103-year history, the promise to “love my God” is to be replaced with a more individualistic pledge to “be true to myself” and to “develop my beliefs”.

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The rethink followed the appointment of the group’s new chief executive, Julie Bentley, the former head of The Family Planning Association, who described the Guides as “the ultimate feminist organisation”.

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Stephen Evans, campaigns manager at the National Secular Society [read that as the National Satanist Society], said: “By omitting any explicit mention of God or religion the Guide Association has grasped the opportunity to make itself truly inclusive and relevant to the reality of 21st century Britain.

"The new secular promise can now be meaningful and relevant to all guides and potential leaders, whatever their beliefs – and sends a clear signal that Girlguiding is equally welcoming to all girls."

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The chief executive of Girlguiding UK wants the charity to reflect all communities and reveal its feminist streak

Julie Bentley, who became chief executive of Girlguiding UK last November, is perhaps not the most obvious candidate to lead the youth charity for girls. For a start, she was never a Girl Guide herself and knew little about the organisation before she joined.

"Before I came to my first interview, I was expecting the headquarters to be staffed by nice ladies in tweed with blue rinses," she says. "But I was wowed, because it is full of vibrant and dynamic people."

Bentley has worked in the voluntary sector for most of her career and was previously chief executive of the Family Planning Association, a sexual health charity.

She has set herself three main tasks since taking the helm at Girlguiding: to increase its membership, to provide a voice for girls and young women, and to change public perceptions of the organisation.

"There is a myth that Girlguiding is just for nice middle-class girls so, as a nice working-class girl, I was interested to explore that when I got here," says Bentley. "In fact, the organisation is very reflective of the communities it's in. I want to make sure we are there for all girls."

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