TV lacking satire, says Spitting Image creator John Lloyd
By Ross HawkinsPolitical correspondent, BBC News
One of the creators of Spitting Image has said he does not believe any of the television programmes broadcast in the UK today are truly satirical.
John Lloyd, who also produced QI and Blackadder, said BBC Two's Mock the Week was merely rude.
BBC One's Have I Got News for You provided "great remarks", he said, but there were no "considered" satires.
But Ian Hislop, the editor of Private Eye who was a writer on Spitting Image, said Lloyd was "unduly pessimistic".
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's the World at One, Lloyd said: "I don't see anything I would really call satire on television at the moment.
"Mock the Week can be very funny, but it's just rude boys, isn't it, poking fun at everybody.
"In the 1980s it was conviction politics, the Tories particularly, and Spitting Image was a conviction television programme.
"And it's interesting you don't get either now. There are very few conviction politicians it seems to me and very little conviction television."
A lot of the joy had gone out of television, he said.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the launch of Spitting Image.
At its peak the show, broadcast between 1984 and 1996, drew audiences of 15 million people to ITV.
Hislop said: "I think Lloyd's being unduly pessimistic. I think satire has a tendency to break out all over the place."
He cited the work of Armando Iannucci, Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker as more recent examples of successful TV satire.
Fictional MP Peter Mannion enjoys a team-building exercise on Armando Ianucci's The Thick of It
Spitting Image was, Hislop said, a Punch and Judy affair. "Essentially the puppets couldn't really deliver a line," he said.
"They looked great but they couldn't act."
In many of the sketches he created with co-writer Nick Newman: "We just wrote at the bottom: 'Puppets hit each other over head.'"
Satire was still available on television, said Hislop, but it was presented differently.
"Have I Got News for You is a sort of long-running soap opera and panel show but we manage to get some satire into it. There are other shows that do it as well.
"I think the days when a broadcaster said: 'This is satire now. It's That Was the Week That Was. Put on your dinner jackets and listen.' - You can't really do that any more."
Commentators suggested satire was dead on television in the 1960s after That Was the Week That Was - a satirical show starring David Frost - came to an end on British television.
"I think you have to be careful not to be sort of grumpy old man with a misty-eyed view of how great you were in the past and I don't want to be that," said Hislop.
"I was lucky enough to start work at Private Eye with people who had worked on That Was the Week That Was, and I used to say: 'That was amazing,' and they said: 'It wasn't that good.'
The Scottish and UK governments have set out competing visions for the future of North Sea oil and gas.
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond called for a Norwegian-style approach, under independence.
Prime Minister David Cameron said reserves could be better managed with Scotland as part of the Union.
Both the Scottish and UK government cabinets are meeting separately in the Aberdeen area, to argue the case for their proposals.
The two events came as Westminster ministers said they would fast-track plans to get the most out of remaining UK offshore oil and gas, in the wake of an industry review which included calls to set up a new regulator.
The future of North Sea oil and gas has been a major campaign battleground ahead of the 18 September Scottish independence referendum.
Mr Salmond has outlined plans to earmark about a tenth of oil and gas tax revenues - about £1bn a year - for an oil fund similar to the one operated in Norway.
This, he said, could create a £30bn sovereign wealth pot over a generation.
The first minister, who held a meeting of his cabinet in Portlethen, welcomed the prospect of a new regulator for the oil industry, but rejected Prime Minister David Cameron's claim that the "broad shoulders" of the UK could better support the North Sea oil and gas industry.
He said an independent Scotland would "run oil and gas a great deal better" than Westminster had, and said Scotland needed "the Norwegian approach to things as opposed to the Westminster approach".
£57bn tax revenue predicted by Scottish Government by 2018
38% fall in oil revenue predicted by Office for Budget Responsibility by 2017-18
PA
Asked whether an independent Scotland could withstand volatility in the oil market, Mr Salmond told the BBC: "Of course people in Scotland, in Aberdeen in particular, just look across to Norway where a country smaller than Scotland, more oil and gas dependent than Scotland, has handled its resources infinitely better than Westminster.
"It hasn't been so much the broad shoulders of Westminster as the vast cavern in the Treasury over the last 40 years where they've accumulated massive oil and gas revenues from Scotland.
Prime Minister David Cameron visited a North Sea oil installation ahead of the UK government cabinet meeting
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond led a meeting of his cabinet, also in the Aberdeen area
"The reason they want to hang on to Scotland's resources is that they've done so well out of them over the last 40 years. I think the next 40 years should be Scotland's turn."
The Scottish government's Fiscal Commission, in October 2013, said there was "clear merit" in an independent Scotland setting up two oil funds - a short-term "stabilisation" fund to buffer the effects of volatility in the oil market, and a long-term savings fund to ensure future generations benefited from the wealth.
Norway's oil fund was created by the Norwegian government in 1990 in a bid to protect the country from oil market fluctuations, and is now worth around £500bn.
The fund owns around 1% of all the world's stocks and shares and is being saved for future generations, though the Norwegian government can choose to spend 4% of the fund each year.
The review produced for the UK government by businessman Sir Ian Wood, made several recommendations, including revitalising exploration to ensure recoverable oil and gas resources in the UK are fully explored and exploited.
Westminster ministers said the changes would produce an extra three to four billion more barrels of oil.
The Prime Minister visited a North Sea oil installation ahead of his cabinet meeting, which is being held five miles away from the location of the Scottish government session.
Mr Cameron told the BBC: "What we see with the North Sea is a great success story for the United Kingdom - and now the oil and gas is getting harder to recover it is more important than ever that the North Sea oil and gas industry has the backing of the whole of the United Kingdom.
"I think this family of nations is better off together. We want you to stay. My argument is one that is unremittingly positive about the success of this family of nations.
"It is worth listening to people like Bob Dudley from BP who talk positively about the strengths the UK brings to the North Sea oil industry."
The first North Sea oil came ashore in June 1975 and production is thought to have peaked in 1999, with more than 40 billion barrels extracted so far.
Although the oil and gas are now tougher to extract, the reserves are substantial - between 15 billion and 24 billion barrels of oil equivalent - meaning possibly another 30 to 40 years of production. And there could be new discoveries such as the fields west of Shetland.
But concerns over falling production led the UK government to ask Sir Ian to review the offshore industry.
He said the UK government's Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was "significantly underresourced and far too thinly spread" to effectively manage the increasingly complex business and operating environment.
The Scottish cabinet usually meets in Edinburgh, but regularly holds sessions in towns and cities across Scotland, especially in the summer months.
Mr Cameron's predecessor as prime minister, Gordon Brown, held a meeting of the UK cabinet in Glasgow in 2009.
Before that, the UK cabinet had last met in Scotland in 1921.
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Victims of serial sex attacker Jimmy Savile were not believed when they first confided in others, an NSPCC report has found.
Many were ignored, dismissed or laughed at by those they told shortly after Savile abused them.
Some of them were even told by friends or relatives they were "lucky" the late DJ had paid attention to them.
Meanwhile more than 130 alleged victims are awaiting a court ruling that could affect a compensation scheme.
The NSPCC said the accounts were "heart-rending", and the victims had shown "true courage".
The former presenter of the BBC's Top Of The Pops and Jim'll Fix It died aged 84 in October 2011 - a year before allegations that he had sexually abused children were broadcast in an ITV documentary.
The revelations prompted hundreds of victims to come forward. They said they were attacked at BBC premises or in other institutions, including hospitals.
The report was commissioned by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary to find out why so many victims stayed silent for so long.
The research was carried out by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), which interviewed 26 people. Four were adults when they were abused; the others were children. One of them had reported the matter to police at the time but no action was taken.
A number of victims who were staying in hospital when they were abused told staff at the time but were not taken seriously.
'Hopelessness'
The report says those who did not come forward until decades after the attacks stayed silent for so long because they felt that, as Savile was a celebrity, their word would not be believed over his.
Several had not realised what had happened to them as they were so young, with many saying they had not understood Savile's actions constituted sexual abuse.
The report says: "Some remembered feeling that an elder - particularly a celebrity like Jimmy Savile - must know better than they did.
"There were also cases where participants also remembered feeling conflicted, and wondering if they should feel flattered or grateful that he had 'chosen them'."
Some victims have said Savile abused them at Leeds General Infirmary
There was an "overwhelming belief" that their complaints would not have been accepted at the time.
"Jimmy Savile was a powerful and influential adult, who was seen as a 'charitable, good guy' raising a lot of money for charity," the report says.
"This led to feelings of hopelessness and inferiority in his victims, who felt there was no way that their word would have been believed over his."
Many also thought that crimes had to be reported by an adult, rather than a child.
Flashbacks
The report found that Savile's abuse caused wide-ranging repercussions throughout victims' lives, including mental health problems, substance abuse and thoughts of suicide.
Years after being attacked, a "significant number" of the victims, who were aged between eight and 26 at the time of the abuse, have still not told family and friends.
Those interviewed by the NSPCC said media reports of others coming forward played a part in their subsequent decision to report the crimes.
The report says: "Crucially, all participants said that they would not have come forward now, had they not seen the stories of other victims in the press."
The NSPCC's John Cameron says many victims felt they were dismissed
However, some revealed that seeing images of their abuser in coverage of the scandal triggered flashbacks and made them feel physically sick.
Most victims felt police were helpful when they came forward - but one reported feeling she was to blame when an officer commented: "I think I would have pushed him off."
All of those interviewed said they did not believe police intended to be unhelpful or inconsiderate.
NSPCC director of national services Peter Watt said: "The responses these victims received when they first revealed Savile's sickening crimes make heart-rending reading.
"They were ignored, dismissed, not believed, laughed at and astonishingly told in some cases they should feel lucky he had paid them attention."
Mr Watt said everyone should be aware of signs of abuse to "ensure there is never a repeat of the Savile scandal".
'Pain and anguish'
He praised the victims' "true courage" in talking about their experiences, adding: "Half a century on, the world finally discovered just how dreadful his crimes were - something these men and women had known all that time but felt powerless to do anything about."
The report also covers calls by the victims for the introduction of new ways for people to report sexual abuse and for additional specialist training for police officers investigating such crimes.
One of HM Inspectors of Constabulary, Drusilla Sharpling, said the report "vividly portrays the pain and anguish suffered by Savile's victims".
DPP Alison Saunders: "People delay reporting for all sorts of reasons"
"Despite the difficulties they have faced, victims have highlighted important ways in which police responses can be improved," she added.
"We owe it to them to make sure that the police service responds positively and ensures victims are supported, listened to and treated with compassion."
Chief Constable Simon Bailey of the Association of Chief Police Officers said there had been a change in the way society reacts to child abuse since Savile committed his crimes.
He said: "We know that reporting is always going to be emotional and difficult for victims of sexual abuse but, partly following the allegations against Jimmy Savile and other high profile child sexual exploitation cases, across society there is a much greater understanding of child abuse and an intolerance of it."
'Redress'
The High Court hearing in London, expected to last three days, is being held to decide who should be the executor of Savile's £4m estate.
NatWest bank is the current executor, but the Jimmy Savile Charity Trust, the major beneficiary of the estate, wants it to be replaced.
Lawyers representing victims said the ruling could affect those who have made compensation claims. A compensation scheme with NatWest has already been agreed and is supported by the NHS and the BBC, they added.
Liz Dux of law firm Slater Gordon, who represents some of Savile's victims, said in a statement: "It is not about amounts or cold hard cash, but redress. The victims suffered some horrific abuse, often in silence.
"It is right and proper that their suffering is now recognised. I urge everyone involved in the process to make it as smooth and pain-free as possible in order to guard against any further suffering."
BBC Technology Correspondent Mark Gregory is shown the new X range of Nokia smartphones at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona
Nokia has unveiled its first family of Android phones at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona.
The X, X+ and XL will range in price from 89 euros (£74) to 109 euros.
Up until now Nokia's suite of smartphones has used the Windows operating system. The announcement had been widely expected despite Microsoft detailing plans to buy Nokia's mobile division at the end of 2013.
Analysts have called the announcement a "perplexing strategic move".
The entry-level X model will feature a 4in (10.2cm) screen with 512MB Ram and a three-megapixel camera. The X+ will have 768MB Ram and a 4GB MicroSD card.
The top-end XL will have a 5in screen, a front-facing two-megapixel camera and a rear five-megapixel camera.
The X will go on sale immediately in several territories including Europe and Asia Pacific. The X+ and XL will launch in April.
Users who buy one of the X models will be able to use Microsoft's free cloud-storage system, OneDrive. The software giant's email software, Outlook, will also ship as standard on all models.
'Bitter pill'
The messaging service BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) will be pre-installed on the phones as will social network Twitter, video app Vine and the game Plants vs. Zombies 2.
More than 1.1 million devices running Android are expected to ship this year compared with 360,000 using the Windows operating system, according to data from research analysts Gartner.
Microsoft agreed to buy Nokia's mobile phone business in a deal worth 5.4bn euros ($7.2bn; £4.6bn).
At the time, the company's then chief executive, Steve Ballmer, called the deal a "big, bold step forward", adding the company was in the process of transforming itself from one that "was known for software and PCs, to a company that focuses on devices and services".
Critics say Microsoft has been too slow to respond to the booming market for mobile devices.
Nokia hopes the phones will appeal to customers in emerging markets
Nokia was once a leader in mobile phones but has struggled in recent years.
The growth area for mobile phone companies is now in emerging markets, where low-cost Android models sell particularly well.
Analysts CCS Insight head of research Ben Wood said: "Nokia was caught between a rock and a hard place.
"Non-participation in the low-cost smartphone market where Android is rampant leaves a lot of money on the table but turning to Android must have been a bitter pill to swallow.
"If you stand back, for a soon-to-be Microsoft-owned company to embrace Android is a perplexing strategic move.
"I believe it was a decision where Nokia felt it had few other options given Android's entry-level dominance in phones and apps, particularly in emerging markets," he added.
Nokia runs Windows on its Lumia range of smartphones
The deal between Microsoft and Nokia has not yet been finalised, and at a Microsoft press conference on Sunday the vice-president of operating systems for Windows, Joe Belfiore, was asked what he thought about Nokia's decision to launch an Android phone.
He replied: "Some things we're excited about, some things we're less excited about. Whatever they do, we're very supportive of them."
Mr Wood believes that despite Monday's announcement Nokia's primary focus remains its Windows phones.
"Given its looming ownership by Microsoft, it will be doing everything it can to get Microsoft to push Windows Phone down to the entry-level smartphone space and will be hoping it's flirtation with Android does not dilute this," he said.
Nokia's senior vice president Stephen Elop confirmed that the Lumina remains "our primary smartphone platform" and that the X range would be used as a "feeder system",
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signs anti-gay bill
There was applause as Yoweri Museveni claimed: "Society can do something about it to discourage the trend"
Uganda's leader has signed into law a bill toughening penalties for gay people but without a clause criminalising those who do not report them.
A proposed sentence of up to 14 years for first-time offenders has also been removed.
US President Barack Obama had cautioned the bill would be a backward step.
Mr Museveni had previously agreed to put the bill on hold pending US scientific advice.
Homosexual acts are already illegal in Uganda.
In December, a gay rights campaigner spoke of her fears about the legislation
The new law allows life imprisonment as the penalty for acts of "aggravated homosexuality" and also criminalises the "promotion" of homosexuality".
The bill passed by parliament in December made it a crime not to report gay people - in effect making it impossible to live as openly gay - but this clause has been removed from the legislation signed by the president.
Lesbians are covered by the bill for the first time.
Gay activists say they will challenge the new laws in court.
The bill originally proposed the death penalty for some homosexual acts, but that was later removed amid international criticism.
'Very scared'
Government officials clapped after Mr Museveni signed the bill at a news conference at State House.
The BBC's Catherine Byaruhanga, in Uganda, says it is rare for the president to assent to bills so publicly.
But the anti-gay bill has become so controversial that the media were invited to witness its signing, she says.
Gay activists say they will challenge the new laws in court
Earlier, government spokesman spokesman Ofwono Opondo told the Reuters news agency Mr Museveni wanted "to demonstrate Uganda's independence in the face of Western pressure and provocation".
The sponsor of the bill, MP David Bahati, insisted homosexuality was a "behaviour that can be learned and can be unlearned".
"Homosexuality is just bad behaviour that should not be allowed in our society," he told the BBC's Newsday programme.
But a gay rights activist in Uganda told the programme that he was "very scared" about the new bill.
"I didn't even go to work today [Monday]. I'm locked up in the house. And I don't know what's going to happen now."
Our correspondent says although Mr Museveni had been apprehensive about signing the bill, he could not convince his party, religious groups and many of his citizens that it was not needed.
His signature is an apparent U-turn from a recent pledge to hold off, pending advice from the US.
In a statement, Mr Museveni had said: "I... encourage the US government to help us by working with our scientists to study whether, indeed, there are people who are born homosexual.
"When that is proved, we can review this legislation."
President Obama described it as "more than an affront, and a danger to, Uganda's gay community. It will be a step backwards for all Ugandans."
He warned it could "complicate" Washington's relations with Uganda, which receives a reported $400m (£240m) in annual aid from the US.
Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel 'to downsize US Army'
The Pentagon reportedly plans to eliminate an entire class of Air Force attack jets, though it is unclear which one could face the axe
The Pentagon will reportedly unveil plans later to shrink the nation's army to its smallest size since after World War Two, in a cost-cutting drive.
An entire class of Air Force attack jets is tipped to be axed under plans, as Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel outlines his 2015 budget.
He is expected to propose trimming the Army to about 440,000 personnel from a post-9/11 attacks peak of 570,000.
The US military is under pressure to downsize after two costly foreign wars.
The number of active-duty US Army members is already expected to be pared down to 490,000, as the US prepares to end its combat role in Afghanistan later this year.
'Tough choices'
"We have to face the realities of our time," Pentagon press secretary Navy Rear Admiral John Kirby told the Associated Press news agency.
"We must be pragmatic, we can't escape tough choices. He and the [military service] chiefs are willing to make those choices."
According to the Wall Street Journal, Mr Hagel will also recommend reducing housing allowances and other benefits, limiting pay raises and increasing healthcare premiums.
However, the military cost-cutting drive would probably cause ructions on Capitol Hill, which is gearing up for November's midterm elections.
The plan is said to take into account government cutbacks as well as US President Barack Obama's pledge to end land wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"You have to always keep your institution prepared, but you can't carry a large land-war defence department when there is no large land war," a senior Pentagon official told the New York Times.
Under the proposed cuts, the military would still be able to defeat any adversary, unnamed officials told that newspaper, but be too small to engage in protracted foreign occupations.
Paedophile priest admits abusing children in East Midlands
Francis Paul Cullen abused children in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire while serving as a priest in several parishes
An 85-year-old Catholic priest has pleaded guilty to a series of child-related sex offences after being extradited from Tenerife.
In a hearing at Derby Crown Court, Francis Paul Cullen admitted 21 counts of indecent assault on seven children.
The abuse of boys and girls aged six to 16 took place from 1957 to 1991.
Cullen, born in Dublin, worked in Scunthorpe, Leicester, Nottingham and Alfreton, Buxton and Mackworth, Derbyshire.
'Terrible crimes'
A spokesman for the Diocese of Nottingham said he was pleased Cullen had "taken responsibility for his terrible crimes".
Cullen was first arrested in Nottingham in 1991, but he skipped bail and fled to Tenerife in Spain where he lived for more than 20 years.
Cullen will be sentenced on 24 March.
Father Andrew Cole, spokesman for the Diocese of Nottingham, said: "I would like to offer our sympathy to those who have been affected by this tragedy in any way and assure them that we will do whatever we can to support them.
"I also wish to thank Cullen's victims for their bravery in coming forward after many years of silence; it is due to them that Cullen has pleaded guilty.
'Inconceivable'
"Nothing can take away the horror of what happened to them, but I hope that today's verdict will help them in some small way to find peace."
Derbyshire Police urged any other victims who have not yet come forward to contact them.
"Given the length of the offending history of this investigation, which lasted from 1955 to 1991, I believe it is inconceivable that there are not more victims of this man's crimes," Det Con Matt Goodwin said.
Cullen worked as a priest at the Mackworth parish of Christ the King in Derbyshire between 1960 and 1978.
He was parish priest in Buxton from 1978-87 and in Hyson Green, Nottingham from 1988-91.
Fictional MP Peter Mannion enjoys a team-building exercise on Armando Ianucci's The Thick of It 
Will you be voting in the 18 September independence referendum? Are you concerned over the future of the North Sea oil and gas industry? Please send us your comments using the form below.