UK news round-up: Fraud 'driving up the cost of car insurance'

FRAUD, including "staged accidents", is driving up the cost of motor insurance, according to a report by MPs.

The insurance industry should fund a dedicated police unit to stamp out false car insurance claims, the Commons Transport Committee said.

It also called on the driving test to be more rigorous.

Tragic soldier named

A BRITISH soldier from 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment who was killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan has been named as Lance Corporal Stephen McKee.

L/Cpl McKee, from Co Down, was in the Nad-e Ali district of Helmand when his vehicle hit an Improvised Explosive Device on Wednesday.

Ex-ambassador reveals Duke trade role fears

A FORMER British ambassador has written to the government to express concerns about the Duke of York as scrutiny intensifies around his dealings with a number of controversial characters and his role as Britain's trade envoy.

Retired diplomat Stephen Day, 73, a former ambassador to Qatar and Tunisia, said he had written to Foreign Secretary William Hague. He said: "I wanted to express my concerns about these stories about the Duke's activities."

Whitehall pay bill to rise

THE Civil Service is facing a growing pay bill due to the swelling ranks of Whitehall middle managers.

The National Audit Office said while staff numbers have fallen by one per cent over the past decade, there has been a ten per cent real terms rise in staff costs which now stand at 16.4 billion a year.

Half that increase in costs was accounted for by a two-thirds rise in middle managers.

Kuenssberg takes to air

LAURA Kuenssberg, the BBC's chief political correspondent, has landed a new show on Radio 5 Live.

She will host a two-handed show Double Take with another female presenter, Sam Walker, who has previously worked at BBC Radio Manchester.

Salford: A suspected criminal thought to have been hiding on the Costa del Sol has been arrested in the UK. The Serious Organised Crime Agency said Andrew Spooner, 41, of Leicester, was found in Salford, Greater Manchester. He was placed on a "most wanted" list after failing to appear at Glasgow High Court to face drugs charges linked to ecstasy in 2001.

Hampshire: A 52-year-old man has been arrested after a 54-year-old man was found dead inside a house in the heart of the New Forest. Officers were called to the village of Lyndhurst, just after 7pm yesterday.