27/12/2016 BBC News

Some voters in England are to be asked to provide photographic

proof of identity before being allowed to vote.

The measure is to be piloted as part of efforts to curb electoral fraud.

A Government-commissioned report published in August concluded

that the authorities sometimes turned a blind eye to fraud in areas

with large Pakistani or Bangladeshi communities

because of "over-sensitivities about ethnicity and religion".

An election victory, but one steeped in claims of corruption. This man

became mayor of Tower Hamlets two years ago. The people of this

borough will judge me on my record. He was judged instead by an election

court, which threw him out of office. It heard claims of voter

fraud and intimidation. The case helped want a wider review of

election practice carried out by the former divinity Secretary Sir Eric

Pickles. He called for the introduction of ID checks at polling

stations in England. Today the Government backed his proposals.

Electoral fraud has the potential to undermine confidence in our system,

which is why we need to ensure that when it comes to full noble

individuals in certain committees who want to be able to exercise

their individual right to vote, they are given the opportunity of doing

so without the possibility of intimidation. The report said

authorities were turning a blind eye to corruption, what he called the

worrying and covert spread of electoral fraud. He accused some

bodies of a state of the Nile and failing to challenge alleged vote

rigging because of political correctness. He saw evidence of

pressure put on full noble people to vote according to the will of elders

in some communities of Pakistani and Bangladeshi background. The plans

mean voters will have to bring photo ID, like a passport or proof of

address, in a trial areas of England at local elections in 2018. But

Labour said changes to the voting register had already harmed the

party and some claimed the announcement today would make things

worse. The people most likely not to have a passport or driving licence

are going to be the poorest, and I suspect that is going to, like the

decision to knock a lot of people off the electoral register, hit the

Labour Party. The number of voter fraud claims is relatively low. The

Government hopes today's plans will help reduce them further.

The Children's Commissioner for England says the vast majority

of young carers receive no support from local-authority

Anne Longfield says four out of five young carers,

who look after sick and disabled family members, are invisible

The Local Government Association says funding cuts mean councils

are being forced to make difficult decisions.

This is Daniel, one of thousands of young carers in England.

He's ten and lives with his mum, Florella, who has a brain tumour.

When he's not at school, he helps around the house,

but he constantly worries about his mum when he isn't there.

I started becoming more responsible and I started doing the cleaning.

I started paying more attention to what my mum was doing.

Then, because I wasn't around, I was always

Today's report by the Children's Commissioner found, of the 160,000

young carers in England, just over 128,000 children aged five

to 17 may not be known to local authorities.

And councils identified 160 young carers in England

This is often systematic support for vulnerable family members

who may have mental illness or physical disabilities.

They need to be able to flourish at school,

they need to be able to enjoy childhood and grow up,

whilst they're still offering the familial support that

The Local Government Association says funding cuts to children's

services means councils are being forced to make difficult

decisions about what support they are able to provide.

But it says all young carers should receive an assessment to find

A senior police officer has defended the Government's

anti-extremism programme, known as Prevent, saying some

criticism of the initiative has been hysterical.

Simon Coles, who is responsible for implementing the strategy,

said Prevent is "absolutely fundamental" in helping

England's chief nursing officer has urged the NHS to invest more

Jane Cummings says money is being wasted on keeping elderly

She says reform is needed to make sure patients don't get caught

between different parts of the system.

Rescue teams have recovered one of the flight recorders

from a Russian military plane that crashed into the Black Sea shortly

The Russian defence ministry said an engine, landing gear and parts

All 92 people on board the aircraft are thought to have died when it

Recovered from the seabed, twisted and broken, part

Thousands of people are still involved in the search, scouring

the area where the 30-year-old Tupolev 154 came down.

Specialist teams have found one of the plane's flight recorders.

The military flight from Moscow to Letakia in Syria had more than 90

It touched down to refuel in Sochi, but crashed after taking off again.

Across Russia, there have been services to pray for the dead.

A day of national mourning was declared.

On board were more than 60 members of the Russian

Their base in Moscow has become a shrine.

In Sochi, recovery teams use the latest technology.

Pilot error or mechanical failure, a focus for investigators.

Terrorism has been all but ruled out.

So, in the waters of the Black Sea, the search for answers continues.

The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is in Hawaii for an historic

visit which will see him pay his respects at the site

of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941.

Shinzo Abe will be accompanied by the US President Barack Obama,

making the visit the first by the leaders of both

Japan's Prime Minister will pray for the dead,

The Magistrates Association has expressed concern about plans

to allow people to go online to enter a guilty plea, or pay fines

It says an internet-only system could lower public confidence.

The Ministry of Justice said it received "a significant number"

of responses to a consultation about the plans, which it

The actress Liz Smith, best known for playing Nana

in the BBC sitcom The Royle Family, has died at the age of 95.

She acted in numerous television series and films,

and won a Bafta for her role in A Private Function in 1985.

Daniela Relph looks back at her life.

Could she have wafer-thin ham, Barbara?

Liz Smith was the eccentric, loveable centre of The Royle Family.

I put in a bit of promise a lot as well!

In The Vicar Of Dibley, more of her perfect comic timing.

A single mother of two children, in a series of part-time jobs.

She didn't start acting properly until she was 50.

It was like a wonderful realisation that at last

She owed that first acting role to the director, Mike Leigh.

She loved being batty old ladies because in a way she was a batty

old lady, except that underneath the eccentricity

she was a really focussed person, but she loved it.

Does this think play cassettes as well?

She may have started late, but made up for it.

The last time it was just like Jeremy Clarkson.

Liz Smith at her scatty and brilliant best.

The actress Liz Smith, who has died at the age of 95.

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