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Police issued an apology after around 80 football supporters were prevented from attending a match at Manchester United's Old Trafford ground.
The Stoke City fans, who had travelled from Staffordshire to attend the away game in November, were sent back home after Greater Manchester Police (GMP) received intelligence about planned violence between hooligan groups.
Following complaints from a number of Stoke City fans, and criticism from the Football Supporters' Federation and the human rights group Liberty, the GMP has apologised to six of the supporters who it now acknowledges did not pose any threat.
Assistant Chief Constable Justine Curran said: "On the day in question we were faced with intelligence that around 80 fans were intent on causing trouble and we had a duty to keep public order.
"Subsequent detailed inquiries have shown that a small proportion of those people were not part of the group causing the problems. As a result we have apologised to them individually and will reimburse them for the cost of their match tickets."
Police went to the Railway Inn in Irlam, Greater Manchester, on Saturday November 15 and told the assembled band of Stoke fans that they would not be attending the match. The fans were issued with Section 27 orders - which allow police to move people on who pose a risk of alcohol-related disorder - and sent back to Staffordshire on two coaches.
The assistant chief constable said that the GMP would be reviewing its use of Section 27 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act.
She said: "Having listened to concerns that have been raised in relation to this incident I have also commissioned a review of our use of Section 27 direction to leave in order to ensure that we utilise it only when it is necessary and appropriate."
Michael Brunskill from the Football Supporters' Federation said: "We're pleased that the GMP have acknowledged that their use of Section 27 was unjust and we hope that they compensate the fans and wipe clean any records they have on the matter." He continued: "The Stoke fans we've spoken to were not going to cause any trouble whatsoever - the pub landlord has said he was happy with their behaviour and he would welcome them back."
Mr Brunskill added that his organisation was hoping to take the matter to judicial review.
-Nova
Business minister Baroness Vadera insisted the Government was in no way complacent about the depth of the recession after claiming to have seen some "green shoots" of economic recovery.
The peer - a senior Treasury adviser to Gordon Brown before joining the Government - told ITV News: "I am seeing a few green shoots but it's a little bit too early to say exactly how they'd grow."
She made clear that she was not predicting the end of the current downturn.
But political opponents said her comments showed ministers were "out of touch and insensitive" and living in a "parallel universe" as thousands more jobs were axed or threatened. The phrase has been politically charged since it was prematurely used by former Tory Chancellor Norman Lamont in an earlier downturn, which continued for a long time afterwards.
She said she had not meant to cause any offence.
"I spend, as a business minister, all of my time focusing on how we help businesses, employers and therefore people - and I would not want to be insensitive about that phrase, which we know has issues," she told the BBC.
"But let me be clear: we are under no circumstances complacent and indeed that is why we announced what we did just this morning (a package of help for small businesses) and we will carry on working and doing absolutely everything that we can because we know this is a difficult time."
Changes in the bonds market were said to be the positive signs she had identified.
In his Pre-Budget Report in November, Chancellor Alistair Darling forecast a return to growth in the second half of this year, though subsequent indicators have prompted speculation that he may be forced to revise this assessment in the spring Budget.
Lady Vadera was asked on ITV's Lunchtime News when she believed the UK could expect to see "green shoots". She replied: "It's a very uncertain world right now globally... I wouldn't want to be the one predicting it. I am seeing a few green shoots but it's a little bit too early to say exactly how they'd grow."
-Nova
The Government was on a collision course with Labour MPs as ministers stood firm over controversial plans to part-privatise the Royal Mail amid hints of a new light-touch regulatory regime in the postal industry.
Opposition from Labour backbenchers was growing, with more than 70 MPs backing moves to reject plans to sell a minority stake in the postal group, threatening Gordon Brown with his biggest Commons revolt.
The Communication Workers Union will step up pressure by staging a protest in Westminster calling on Labour to keep the Royal Mail wholly publicly owned.
General secretary Billy Hayes said plans backed by Business Secretary Lord Mandelson to sell a minority stake in Royal Mail posed a "serious threat" to the UK's postal service, adding: "Labour MPs understand the importance of keeping Royal Mail in the public sector.
"There is no need to privatise and sell stakes in key public sector businesses to get government assets, particularly Royal Mail, to perform. Labour can safely steer the country through this recession without falling into the trap of socially damaging neo-liberal economic action."
Lord Mandelson stressed there was "no question" of privatising the Royal Mail - but he made clear the Government was pressing ahead with its plans.
Appearing before the Commons Business and Enterprise Committee before meeting with the Labour rebels, Lord Mandelson expressed "regret" at the way the postal market had been opened up to competition in 2006.
He said he was prepared to consider making "adjustments" when responsibility for regulation passed from Postcom to the communications industry watchdog, Ofcom, under the Government's planned changes.
"I am not an unqualified admirer of all aspects of the regulation and liberalisation of this market," he told the committee. I have got my own views on that and I think that in the course of transferring responsibility from Postcom to Ofcom, I think it would be desirable to take a look and possibly to make some adjustments in that.
"I happen to believe that if you are going to open a market, if you are going to liberalise it and open it to greater competition, then the existing player has to be in a position to take on that competition. I regret that the modernisation, the increased productivity and efficiency of the Royal Mail has not gone ahead as speedily as we would have liked which would have better equipped it to take on that competition in a liberalised market."
-Nova
Almost 3,000 job losses were announced within hours of the Government unveiling a multi-billion pound rescue package aimed at unblocking lending to smaller firms hit by the financial crisis.
The biggest losses were at banking giant Barclays, which said it planned to cut 2,100 jobs at its retail and commercial banking business, while car-maker Jaguar Land Rover said it would axe 450 jobs, including 300 managers, as part of a cost-cutting exercise.
Meanwhile administrators for music, DVD and games retailer Zavvi closed another 18 UK stores with the loss of 353 jobs.
But Ernst & Young confirmed a deal that will see high street rival HMV buy 14 of the firm's remaining 74 stores, saving more than 200 Zavvi jobs.
The losses were the latest in a growing tide of redundancies which are bringing increased levels of misery to workers across the country.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown's spokesman said: "Obviously, the Government is disappointed to hear this news. All company job losses are of course regrettable. Jaguar Land Rover's decision reflects the continued downturn in the market and that is a reflection of what is happening more generally in the global economy.
"The Jobcentre Plus rapid response teams will offer support and work to offer a package of measures to help those facing redundancy to find other work as quickly as possible."
The move by Barclays came less than 24 hours after it confirmed proposals to cut a similar number of posts at its investment banking, Barclays Capital, and Barclays Global Investors businesses. The latest cuts, which could affect staff in high street branches, bring the total number of job cuts announced this week by Barclays to more than 4,000.
Later, home shopping giant Grattan raised fears that up to 3,800 jobs will be axed after unveiling "wide-ranging" proposals aimed at stemming losses.
The firm, which employs staff in Bradford, Sheffield, Peterborough and London, said all its employees had been informed that their jobs may be affected.
-Nova
Tory leader David Cameron has accused the Prime Minister of "running round like a headless chicken" in his response to the growing financial crisis.
Mr Cameron said "bogus" initiatives by the Government would do nothing to boost confidence, just hours after Business Secretary Lord Mandelson announced a multi-billion pound support package for small businesses,
He told Gordon Brown that "wasting" £12.5 billion on a VAT cut was storing up debt for Britain's children "in a vain attempt to save your own skin".
But Mr Brown hit back again accusing the Tories of being the "do nothing" party, who would leave people "defenceless in the face of a global financial crisis".
Hailing the package to unblock lending to small firms as "real help now to deal with specific problems", he pledged: "We won't walk by on the other side."
Mr Cameron repeatedly accused the Prime Minister of "copying" Tory policies to tackle the downturn.
But Mr Brown denied this and insisted the Conservatives were "out of touch with the rest of the world" and "completely isolated" in wanting public spending cuts.
The measures announced by Lord Mandelson include a £10 billion working capital scheme, securing up to £20 billion of short-term bank lending to companies with a turnover of up to £500 million.
Lord Mandelson said: "UK companies are the lifeblood of the economy and it is crucial that Government acts now to provide real help to support them through the downturn and see them emerge stronger on the other side.
"We know that some companies are struggling to secure the finance they need, not because of any failure in their business but due to the tougher credit conditions. That is why we have designed a package of measures addressing different forms of credit and providing real help for businesses."
-Nova
Rhys Jones' killer has applied for leave to appeal against his conviction and sentence, it was confirmed.
A spokeswoman in the appeals office, criminal division, of the Court of Appeal said: "We have received a request for leave for an appeal against the conviction and sentence of Sean Mercer."
Teenage gunman Mercer, 18, was jailed for a minimum of 22 years in December after a jury unanimously convicted him of the murder of the 11-year-old schoolboy. The shaven headed thug had 28 days from conviction to lodge his appeal.
The application is the first stage in the appeal process which will be reviewed by a judge before permission to launch a full appeal is granted.
A spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service in Merseyside said: "We will be resisting this appeal and we expect it to be listed for a hearing in due course."
Mercer was convicted on December 15 of gunning down the schoolboy in August 2007.
Last month the judge in the murder trial launched a blistering criticism of the teenager as he sentenced him.
He told the killer and his fellow Croxteth Crew gang members: "You have no discipline, no training, no honour. You do not command respect. You may think you do, but that is because you cannot tell the difference between respect and fear. You are selfish, shallow criminals, remarkable only by the danger you pose to others."
Mercer, of Good Shepherd Close, Croxteth, shot Rhys through the neck as the youngster walked home from football training on a sunny summer evening. The murderer, just 16 at the time, was shooting at rival members of the Norris Green gang who hail from just a mile down the road.
He fired three bullets. His first shot hit a steel container behind Rhys and the second entered the boy's back and exited through his neck. Remarkably, after seeing Rhys fall to the floor, Mercer blasted another shot at his enemies, who were on the opposite side of the Fir Tree pub car park.
-Nova