Former Tory minister to bow out
The former Conservative Education Secretary Gillian Shephard announced that she is to quit Parliament at the next general election “for family health reasons”. Mrs Shephard, 64, who has represented South West Norfolk since 1987 and commands a majority of 9,366, is married with two stepsons. She did not expand on her reasons.
A vote in February to readopt her as candidate was unanimous.
Mrs Shephard was appointed by Tony Blair to the Committee for Standards in Public Life in 2003, and is a member of the governing Council of the University of Oxford.
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Crew of 12 rescued as boat burns
Twelve crew members of a support vessel sailing 20 miles northeast of Aberdeen were forced to abandon ship yesterday when a fire broke out on board.
A rescue helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth was scrambled to the scene and the crewmen were winched to safety. Nobody was injured, although three were believed to be suffering the effects of smoke inhalation.
Lifeboats from Peterhead and Aberdeen also attended, with commercial vessels sailing nearby put on standby to assist in the rescue operation.
The 44-metre Viking Victor was heading for an oil rig in the North Sea when the fire broke out.
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Drugs errors
British, American and Australian forensic experts claim in the British Medical Journal that measuring the concentration of drugs in a dead body is an inexact science that leaves post-mortem results open to dispute and has almost certainly led to miscarriages of justice.
Songs of praise
A new television series called Priest Idol is to be broadcast by Channel 4 next year. Would-be clergy stars are being auditioned, and the successful candidate will be put in charge of a failing Church of England parish near Wakefield and given 12 months to turn it round.
RAF jobs move
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A total of 340 service personnel are to be redeployed from the Scottish RAF base at Lossiemouth, Moray, and 50 civilian workers will be made redundant. The affected posts are those involved in the maintenance of Tornado jets.