Snow, Sleet And Rain Set To Move Southwards

Wintry showers are expected continue to cause dangerous road conditions over the weekend, forecasters have warned.

After snow blanketed parts of the North of England, sleet and heavy downpours are set to spread southwards into Saturday.

The Met Office has issued two yellow weather warnings for ice and snow in Scotland and the South East until 9am today, as clear skies this evening will see temperatures plunge below freezing.

The mercury will slowly rise above freezing across England, before peaking at around 6C by midday.

In the far south, brighter spells throughout the morning will see temperature highs of 8C.

In the Midlands, wet snow is likely to create adverse driving conditions well into this afternoon.

The Met Office warned motorists to allow extra time for journeys because of hazardous road conditions.

On Friday, more than 50 schools in Oldham, Greater Manchester, up to 50 schools in East Lancashire, 28 in West Yorkshire and eight in Leeds were closed.

Leeds Bradford Airport was also temporarily shut as crews worked to clear the runway.

Sky News Weather Presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar said: "The wintry outbreaks will slowly spread to central and southern England as well as the North East.

"However, East Anglia and the South East should stay dry, as well as Ireland, but Scotland and the north and west of England and Wales will see some rain and snow showers.

"On Saturday the rain, sleet and snow showers will continue moving slowly eastwards across England.

"The rest of the UK and Ireland will see some wintry showers in between some bright or sunny spells. 

"Sunday will be mainly dry and bright, but some showers are expected across coastal areas and it will continue to feel cold."

Strong, northeasterly winds and wintry showers in many places will ensure temperatures remain below normal at least until the middle of next week.

Forecasters are predicting more settled, spring-like weather after that.

Armed Guards Surround Sick Hatton Garden Raider

has condemned the armed police guard around Hatton Garden heist ringleader Brian Reader as he lies seriously ill in hospital.

A short video sent to Sky News shows three gun-toting officers guarding bedridden Reader, 76, as he is wheeled through a corridor after a cancer scan.

His lawyer Hesham Puri said: "We accept there must be some security around him, but that level is quite inappropriate.

"He is very ill and this is not helping him get better. We've asked for the security to be reduced, but had no response from the police."

A witness said: "Why on Earth does a sick, old man like that need to have armed policemen? Do they really think he's going to try and escape? He looked unconscious to me.

"He also had a heavy chain wrapped round his arm and connected to a pole on the bed. It was sad and pathetic."

The witness was in a waiting area for cancer patients when armed police suddenly appeared at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, on Monday night.

She said: "There was no warning, no explanation and it was really frightening for all of us waiting to go in. I still get tearful thinking about it now."

Reader is one of seven gang members waiting to be sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court next week.

His legal team do not know whether he will be well enough to attend court and may ask to have his hearing postponed.

Reader and three others - Danny Jones, Terry Perkins and John Collins - pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit vault over the Easter weekend last year.

The gang drilled through a concrete wall and stole £14m worth of jewellery, gold and cash, most of which is still missing.

For their guilty pleas, the ringleaders should get a third off the maximum 10-year jail sentence and they will have to serve only half of the time.

With another 10 months deducted for time served since their arrest, they could be freed in little more than two-and-a-half years.

But they are likely to spend many more years in jail because of penalties under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

At a later hearing they will be asked to pay back the missing £10m and if they don't, they could be jailed for up to another 14 years, with no remission, on top of the burglary sentence.

Former chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal said: "There is a lot of stolen property missing and the judge will ask them to give it back. If they don't, they will get hit really hard. They could spend 17 years in prison."

Two other men - Carl Wood and William Lincoln - who pleaded not guilty but were convicted of two charges could get even longer sentences.

Plumber Hugh Doyle, 48, who was convicted of laundering the stolen loot after letting the gang use his workshop forecourt to transfer bags of jewellery between vehicles, said he was hoping to be given a time-served sentence and walk free from court.

Armed Guards Surround Sick Hatton Garden Raider

has condemned the armed police guard around Hatton Garden heist ringleader Brian Reader as he lies seriously ill in hospital.

A short video sent to Sky News shows three gun-toting officers guarding bedridden Reader, 76, as he is wheeled through a corridor after a cancer scan.

His lawyer Hesham Puri said: "We accept there must be some security around him, but that level is quite inappropriate.

"He is very ill and this is not helping him get better. We've asked for the security to be reduced, but had no response from the police."

A witness said: "Why on Earth does a sick, old man like that need to have armed policemen? Do they really think he's going to try and escape? He looked unconscious to me.

"He also had a heavy chain wrapped round his arm and connected to a pole on the bed. It was sad and pathetic."

The witness was in a waiting area for cancer patients when armed police suddenly appeared at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, on Monday night.

She said: "There was no warning, no explanation and it was really frightening for all of us waiting to go in. I still get tearful thinking about it now."

Reader is one of seven gang members waiting to be sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court next week.

His legal team do not know whether he will be well enough to attend court and may ask to have his hearing postponed.

Reader and three others - Danny Jones, Terry Perkins and John Collins - pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit vault over the Easter weekend last year.

The gang drilled through a concrete wall and stole £14m worth of jewellery, gold and cash, most of which is still missing.

For their guilty pleas, the ringleaders should get a third off the maximum 10-year jail sentence and they will have to serve only half of the time.

With another 10 months deducted for time served since their arrest, they could be freed in little more than two-and-a-half years.

But they are likely to spend many more years in jail because of penalties under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

At a later hearing they will be asked to pay back the missing £10m and if they don't, they could be jailed for up to another 14 years, with no remission, on top of the burglary sentence.

Former chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal said: "There is a lot of stolen property missing and the judge will ask them to give it back. If they don't, they will get hit really hard. They could spend 17 years in prison."

Two other men - Carl Wood and William Lincoln - who pleaded not guilty but were convicted of two charges could get even longer sentences.

Plumber Hugh Doyle, 48, who was convicted of laundering the stolen loot after letting the gang use his workshop forecourt to transfer bags of jewellery between vehicles, said he was hoping to be given a time-served sentence and walk free from court.

Armed Guards Surround Sick Hatton Garden Raider

has condemned the armed police guard around Hatton Garden heist ringleader Brian Reader as he lies seriously ill in hospital.

A short video sent to Sky News shows three gun-toting officers guarding bedridden Reader, 76, as he is wheeled through a corridor after a cancer scan.

His lawyer Hesham Puri said: "We accept there must be some security around him, but that level is quite inappropriate.

"He is very ill and this is not helping him get better. We've asked for the security to be reduced, but had no response from the police."

A witness said: "Why on Earth does a sick, old man like that need to have armed policemen? Do they really think he's going to try and escape? He looked unconscious to me.

"He also had a heavy chain wrapped round his arm and connected to a pole on the bed. It was sad and pathetic."

The witness was in a waiting area for cancer patients when armed police suddenly appeared at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, on Monday night.

She said: "There was no warning, no explanation and it was really frightening for all of us waiting to go in. I still get tearful thinking about it now."

Reader is one of seven gang members waiting to be sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court next week.

His legal team do not know whether he will be well enough to attend court and may ask to have his hearing postponed.

Reader and three others - Danny Jones, Terry Perkins and John Collins - pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit vault over the Easter weekend last year.

The gang drilled through a concrete wall and stole £14m worth of jewellery, gold and cash, most of which is still missing.

For their guilty pleas, the ringleaders should get a third off the maximum 10-year jail sentence and they will have to serve only half of the time.

With another 10 months deducted for time served since their arrest, they could be freed in little more than two-and-a-half years.

But they are likely to spend many more years in jail because of penalties under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

At a later hearing they will be asked to pay back the missing £10m and if they don't, they could be jailed for up to another 14 years, with no remission, on top of the burglary sentence.

Former chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal said: "There is a lot of stolen property missing and the judge will ask them to give it back. If they don't, they will get hit really hard. They could spend 17 years in prison."

Two other men - Carl Wood and William Lincoln - who pleaded not guilty but were convicted of two charges could get even longer sentences.

Plumber Hugh Doyle, 48, who was convicted of laundering the stolen loot after letting the gang use his workshop forecourt to transfer bags of jewellery between vehicles, said he was hoping to be given a time-served sentence and walk free from court.

Harvard Law School Drops 'Slavery' Crest

Harvard Law School has announced it will scrap its official emblem because of its links to an 18th century slaveholder.

The shield, which says "Veritas" and shows three sheaths of wheat, was modelled on the family crest of plantation owner Isaac Royall.

The prestigious Massachusetts school set up a committee in November of staff, students and alumni to review the crest, amid protests by student campaigners.

The panel announced on Friday it had recommended 10 to two that the shield be axed.

Harvard Law School graduates celebrate. File pic

"We believe that if the law school is to have an official symbol, it must more closely represent the values of the law school, which the current shield does not," the committee said in a report.

A bequest from Royall endowed the first chair of law at Harvard and the crest was adopted as the law school's symbol in the 1930s.

He was the son of an Antiguan slaveholder known to have treated his slaves with extreme cruelty, including burning 77 people to death, the law school said.

Dean Martha Minow endorsed the departure of the crest.

"Its association with slavery does not represent the values and aspirations of the Harvard Law School," she said in a message to campus.

Last week Harvard also retired use of the title "house master" to denote staff who lead undergraduate residences.

They will refer to them instead as "faculty deans" after students protested the old term had undertones of slavery.

Harvard Law School is the alma mater of a number of prominent US politicians and lawyers, including President Barack Obama.

There have been demonstrations about race on campuses in the US and the UK.

In January campaigners were angry when Oxford University's Oriel College refused to remove a statue of 19th century imperialist Cecil Rhodes.

Rhodes, who founded Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, endowed the Rhodes Scholarship, whose alumni include former US President Bill Clinton.

Business Leader Suspended Over Brexit Remarks

The boss of a leading business organisation has reportedly been suspended after telling Sky News he favoured leaving the EU.

In an interview on Thursday, John Longworth, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said Britain would be better off if voters decided to leave the EU.

"With the reforms that we have received so far, the UK would be better off taking a decision to leave the European Union," he told Sky News.

His comments were at odds with the majority of BCC members, who are in favour of staying in the EU, according to the organisation's own research.

The Financial Times reports that the BCC was forced to hold an emergency board meeting on Friday to discuss how to reconcile the divergence in views between the director-general and many of his members.

A BCC spokesman told Sky News: "Still no official comment from us at this time. As and when we do, I'll be sure to share it."

But Sky News understands the BCC's president, Nora Senior, instigated the suspension and members have now been told that Mr Longworth has been temporarily suspended for breaching the group's official position of neutrality.

Several senior members told the Financial Times Mr Longworth's view did not reflect that of the majority of member chambers.

"Quite a few people are very unhappy about his position. They think he has massively overstepped the mark and abused his role," said one.

A recent survey by the BCC of 2,000 of its members found that 60% would vote to stay in the EU, while only 30% would vote for the "Out" camp, with 10% undecided.

Mr Longworth later clarified that his comments were made only in a personal capacity, but that was not enough to reassure some of his members.

Phil Smith, managing director of Business West, the largest chamber, said he was "appalled" by Mr Longworth's "very public" recommendation that Britain should vote to leave the EU.

"Chambers up and down the country are at this time carefully listening to their members' views and ensuring that we properly represent our business community in this very important and complicated issue," said Mr Smith, whose members cover Bristol, Bath, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.

"I don't believe that John had a mandate from the 50 or so British accredited chambers of commerce that he is supposed to represent."

Richard Swart, a member of the northeast chamber, described the interviews as a "dereliction of duty to most members' views".

Mr Longworth gave several interviews on Thursday explaining his decision to be the first leader of any major business organisation to back Brexit.

In his speech to the London conference, Mr Longworth said that the UK could create a "brighter economic future for itself" outside the EU.

The long-term risks of staying in the EU were "likely to be as daunting as the short-term risks of leaving", he added.

Afterwards his spokesman said: "The BCC's director-general has been very clear where his remarks reflect his personal assessment, rather than the position of the BCC."

The organisation had previously said that it would not campaign in the run-up to the referendum on 23 June.

It is set to carry out another survey of member companies in the coming weeks.

Business Leader Suspended Over Brexit Remarks

The boss of a leading business organisation has reportedly been suspended after telling Sky News he favoured leaving the EU.

In an interview on Thursday, John Longworth, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said Britain would be better off if voters decided to leave the EU.

"With the reforms that we have received so far, the UK would be better off taking a decision to leave the European Union," he told Sky News.

His comments were at odds with the majority of BCC members, who are in favour of staying in the EU, according to the organisation's own research.

The Financial Times reports that the BCC was forced to hold an emergency board meeting on Friday to discuss how to reconcile the divergence in views between the director-general and many of his members.

A BCC spokesman told Sky News: "Still no official comment from us at this time. As and when we do, I'll be sure to share it."

But Sky News understands the BCC's president, Nora Senior, instigated the suspension and members have now been told that Mr Longworth has been temporarily suspended for breaching the group's official position of neutrality.

Several senior members told the Financial Times Mr Longworth's view did not reflect that of the majority of member chambers.

"Quite a few people are very unhappy about his position. They think he has massively overstepped the mark and abused his role," said one.

A recent survey by the BCC of 2,000 of its members found that 60% would vote to stay in the EU, while only 30% would vote for the "Out" camp, with 10% undecided.

Mr Longworth later clarified that his comments were made only in a personal capacity, but that was not enough to reassure some of his members.

Phil Smith, managing director of Business West, the largest chamber, said he was "appalled" by Mr Longworth's "very public" recommendation that Britain should vote to leave the EU.

"Chambers up and down the country are at this time carefully listening to their members' views and ensuring that we properly represent our business community in this very important and complicated issue," said Mr Smith, whose members cover Bristol, Bath, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.

"I don't believe that John had a mandate from the 50 or so British accredited chambers of commerce that he is supposed to represent."

Richard Swart, a member of the northeast chamber, described the interviews as a "dereliction of duty to most members' views".

Mr Longworth gave several interviews on Thursday explaining his decision to be the first leader of any major business organisation to back Brexit.

In his speech to the London conference, Mr Longworth said that the UK could create a "brighter economic future for itself" outside the EU.

The long-term risks of staying in the EU were "likely to be as daunting as the short-term risks of leaving", he added.

Afterwards his spokesman said: "The BCC's director-general has been very clear where his remarks reflect his personal assessment, rather than the position of the BCC."

The organisation had previously said that it would not campaign in the run-up to the referendum on 23 June.

It is set to carry out another survey of member companies in the coming weeks.