The ’extremely efficient’ Lord Black is one of those attempting to frustrate parliament’s plans for press regulationThose who might think that the era of the press baron is over haven’t heard of Lord Black. He may not be a household name but the Conservative peer, director of the company behind the Daily Telegraph and consummate insider is the éminence grise for large sections of the industry, orchestrating an audacious attempt to frustrate parliament’s plans for press regulation with a rival scheme endorsed by the country’s five largest newspaper groups.Not to be confused with the former owner of the Daily Telegraph, Guy Black has been at the heart of a Conservative-press nexus for the best part of two decades. For the most part, it has given him intimate access into the top tier of society, not least at the first official engagement of Prince Charles, Camilla Parker-Bowles and Prince William.The occasion was a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the now discredited Press Complaints Commission, where Black was the director back in 2001. At the time, Camilla’s companionship of the heir to the throne was still a matter of controversy, but like a debutante she allowed herself to be formally introduced to a 600-strong party that included journalists, cabinet ministers, celebrities such as Kylie Minogue, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Richard Branson and his family.For Black and his partner Mark Bolland ? the press secretary to the Prince of Wales ? it was a crowning glory, an elegant confluence of both their interests to brighten up a dark February night in Somerset House. It demonstrated that Buckingham Palace could publicly celebrate Prince Charles’s romantic life and make it acceptable to a public still mourning Diana.For critics though, the party was nothing but a “tacky showbiz event” denounced by the Daily Telegraph as "a frothy Hello!-type party for tabloid celebs ? and cheesy stars such as Carol Vorderman and Richard and Judy."But the then-Telegraph editor Charles Moore was not a fan of either Black or Bolland and the soft power the couple wielded through their network of friends in the tabloid press, including Rebekah Brooks, then-editor of the News of the World and her then-boyfriend EastEnders star Ross Kemp, with whom the couple had holidayed.Twelve years on, fate has gone full circle. Moore is long gone from the paper, and sitting in an office adjacent to the chief executive of the expanded Telegraph Media Group is one Lord Black, executive director reporting to the chief executive Murdoch MacLennan, the former managing director of Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers.Brooks, facing phone-hacking and corrupt payments trials, may have moved out of the trade, but Black has moved on. He also has the ear of Paul Dacre, the editor of the Daily Mail, arguably the most powerful figure in the industry. Insiders at the paper say he always takes Black’s calls and was one of few (along with Brooks and MacLennan) to be invited to his and Bolland’s civil partnership ceremony. News International is also happy to follow his lead.He is seen as the invisible hand behind the prime minister’s decision to delay previously agreed plans with Labour, Lib Dems and Hacked Off and consider the 11th-hour alternative put forward by the press. Even critics of his ? and the rival royal charter ? will freely admit that he is both sharp and shrewd. An executive at a competing newspaper group says: "You have to get up early to outsmart him."Few in newspapers will speak on the record about him, and criticism and praise come in equal measure. He is said by one of his friends to be one of the most “overtly political” animals in the business, “not in party-political sense” but in terms of networking, with his choice of guests at his civil ceremony ? Dacre, MacLennan, Brooks ? cited as evidence of his power-seeking sensibility.And the pressure on Black to deliver is enormous. He was almost jettisoned as the industry’s unofficial ambassador last December in the wake of the publication of the Leveson report because, as the former director of the PCC, he was seen to represent the discredited system of the past. Even now his support base is not complete, which means he will either end up being the kingmaker or the deal-breaker ? some left-leaning newspaper groups, most notably the Guardian are sceptical.Black, 48, was a local Conservative councillor in Essex, where he grew up and went on to work in the Conservative research department after graduating from Cambridge with a double first. In 1986, he became special adviser to John Wakeham, then energy secretary. Later he followed Wakeham, who then took him to the PCC.A brief stint working for Conservative party leader Michael Howard following his work at the PCC in the mid-noughties reportedly cured him of his ambition to be an MP, but it is his closeness to senior Tories that is said to have made him the perfect conduit for the press to No 10. After the 2005 election, he joined the Telegraph Media Group as executive director, a non-editorial role that essentially meant he was the newspaper group’s chief lobbyist.Maintaining contacts was always a priority. His wedding party, held after the civil partnership ceremony in London, was held in the Cotswolds in 2006. It was a swanky affair attended by the great and good and a sprinkling of editors and PRs. Sir Michael Bishop, the former owner of airline BMI, arrived on a private helicopter. Eventually the networking was rewarded with a peerage in July 2010, just months after Cameron’s election victory, sponsored by Wakeham and Lord Marland, a reward for years of service.Against such a background, the question is whether Black is the man to deliver a consensus across the normally warring Fleet Street elements.One newspaper executive says Black has enormous abilities to bring warring factions together into “a demilitarised zone” between tabloids and broadsheets. "He has this frictionless personality and seems to get on with people weirdly well. He is like Wakeham in that he is smooth and unperturbable."Lord Wakeham says Black has long been able to achieve consensus because of his long experience at the PCC, where broadsheets and tabloids were at loggerheads during their stint together between 1996 and 2003.His former boss is one of the few prepared to go on the record about Black, with whom he worked for 10 years. “There are lots of people poncing about saying things but they haven’t the remotest chance of actually getting anything through,” said Wakeham. The peer regards Black as “an extremely efficient operator” and a “great draughtsman”.Critical in the interminable post-Leveson debate has been Black’s ability to produce reform proposals in an attempt to head of Leveson both before and after publication. Only those who read the documents closely see that he is careful to protect his own position too.Parliament’s royal charter for press regulation bans working peers from participating in the revamped system. But one clause in the press’s royal charter for regulation insists on just the reverse.The confusion created by the emergence of a rival press charter has produced a growing belief that there will be some sort of negotiation to bring together the two documents. Which means, after 17 years at the heart of press regulation, it is quite likely there will be a job behind the scenes for this most connected peer to fill.ProfileName Lord (Guy) BlackBorn 6 August 1964Career 1986: Tory research department1989: Spad to energy secretary John Wakeham1992-96: lobbyist for Westminster Strategy and Lowe Bell1996: Press Complaints Commission director2003: Conservative leader Michael Howard’s press secretary2005-present: executive director, Telegraph Media Group2009-present: chairman of the PCC’s funding body PressBofHigh point Becoming a Tory life peer, Baron Black of Brentwood, shortly after David Cameron became prime minister in 2010Low point Being on the losing side in 2005 general election as Tory leader Michael Howard’s director of communicationsWhat he saysMaiden Lords speech, July 2010: "I must admit to a few nerves... because I realised sitting here last week quite how many of my ex-bosses are on these Benches. There is my noble friend Lord Wakeham, one of my supporters, for whom I worked not just once but twice. Then there is my noble friend Lord Tebbit, who was my first boss in politics, who is joined by my noble friends Lord Brooke, Lord Bell and Lord Saatchi and, since yesterday, my noble friend Lord Howard. So this feels almost like a job interview."What they say about him Lord Wakeham: “Half these people who criticise him are very good at opinions but when it comes to drafting a solution, they don’t deliver. He would canvas people and find a consensus and put it down in language that was comprehensible and readable.” Guy Black Press regulation Conservatives Newspapers & magazines Media law Lisa O’Carroll guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds ? Chief executive says City failed to evolve under Mancini ? Pellegrini expected to be confirmed as City manager on 3 JuneThe incoming Manchester City manager, Manuel Pellegrini, has been told by the club’s chief executive that they are expecting him to preside over an extensive period of success at the Etihad Stadium, which includes wining five trophies in the next five years.Ferran Soriano added that he felt City had underachieved last season and that their football had not “evolved” under Roberto Mancini. Pellegrini is expected to be confirmed as Mancini’s successor on 3 June after finishing the season in Spain with Málaga, and the Chilean has been given no illusions about what is expected of him once he arrives in Manchester."I think that next season is going to be much better. I am convinced about that," Soriano said. "It doesn’t mean we are going to win one or two titles but in the grand scheme of things, if we look at the next five years and I could plan now, I would say I want to win five trophies in the next five years."That may mean we win no trophy one year and two in another but on average I want one title a year. That includes the Champions League, the Premier League or the FA Cup. Is it a realistic aim? I think it is, yes, but I am talking about five years."If next year we don’t win but progress our football and get to the semi-finals of the Champions League, finish second in the Premier League and lose the FA Cup final again that will be fine."What we are asking the new manager to do is build a squad but also a football concept and a way of working that will last for the next 10 years. The manager has a shorter span [than that]. We are asking the manager to win this season, next season and every Sunday."Soriano, who is in the United States with City on their end of season tour, explained the club’s reasoning for sacking Mancini, who ended City’s 35-year wait for major silverware by winning the FA Cup in 2011, and followed it up with the Premier League title in 2012."This was a long-term decision taken with a lot of careful analysis," Soriano said. "We would never fire or change the manager over one or two results. Once you go down the path of change you have to be very sure. Roberto Mancini did very good for the club. He changed the mentality from a club that was not winning to a winning club and that is very hard."In the last year I think it’s fair to say that our football did not progress or evolve as we hoped. If you play good football you will win and we have a fantastic squad."The squad we have is capable of winning the Premier League and is not a squad that should be kicked out at the first group stage of the Champions League. You know, these things can happen ? this is football and we all understand football. But we have better players than that."The Spaniard, who became City’s chief executive in July 2012, said that the City board were concerned about the image of the club during Mancini’s often fractious three-and-a-half-year reign, and cited his training-ground clash with the tempestuous Mario Balotelli, who was sold to Milan in January, as a clear example of a lack of unity within the camp."I was worried about the image we were giving to the world," Soriano said. "What we want is not the image of unity ? we want the unity ? with the new manager, we are asking him that the dressing room has as much harmony as possible, knowing total harmony is impossible."With the kind of squad we have, we want a senior manager at this point. We want a manager who knows about football but we want somebody who knows about man-management. It is impossible for us to win the Champions League if we don’t have a group that behaves like a family."He also wants a team half of whom are homegrown. "I have seen it at Barcelona and at Manchester United."Soriano confirmed that Sergio Agüero will not be sold this summer, despite speculation that the Argentina forward is unhappy in Manchester."He is not leaving," Soriano said. “This speculation has gone on and on and on but we have had discussions with Sergio and his agent about several things and he has never expressed a willingness to go. We have never had an offer and even if we had an offer we would say no.” Manchester City Manuel Pellegrini Paul Chronnell guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Report finds evidence of a high correlation between exposure to violent and sadistic images and behaviourChildren are exposed to violent and sadistic imagery which risks distorting their attitudes towards relationships and sex, according to the children’s commissioner for England.A report released on Thursday by the commissioner’s office found that children who watch pornography are more likely to develop sexually risky behaviour and become sexually active at a younger age.It called for urgent action to “develop children’s resilience to pornography” after discovering that a significant number have access to sexually explicit images. It also called on the Department for Education to ensure all schools delivered effective relationship and sex education, including how to use the internet safely."We are living at a time when violent and sadistic imagery is readily available to very young children ? even if they do not go searching for it, their friends may show it to them or they may stumble on it while using the internet," said the commissioner, Maggie Atkinson."For years we have applied age restrictions to films at the cinema but now we are permitting access to far more troubling imagery via the internet. It is a risky experiment to allow a generation of young people to be raised on a diet of pornography."The report, based on a review of academic research, also found that pornography could influence children’s sexual attitudes, foster a negative attitude towards relationships and lead them to engage in risky behaviours such as unprotected anal sex, sex at a younger age and the use of alcohol and drugs during sex.Sue Berelowitz, the deputy children’s commissioner, said compulsory education was the only way to ensure children were guarded “against the possible impact of pornography on them and their relationships”. She said: "As part of our inquiry into the sexual exploitation of children in gangs and groups we have seen that young perpetrators of sexual abuse describe their activity as ’like having been in a porn film’. This report provides the evidence to support there being a high correlation between exposure to pornography and it influencing children’s behaviour and attitudes."Miranda Horvath, senior lecturer at Middlesex University, which led the review of academic evidence, said: "When pornography is discussed, it is often between groups of people with polarised moral views on the subject. Rather than adopting a particular ideological stance, this report uses evidence-based research to draw its conclusions and further the debate."The report’s recommendations echo calls made by the End Violence Against Women coalition to make sex and relationships education compulsory in secondary schools. A recent survey by the National Association of Head Teachers found many parents believe schools should teach about the dangers of pornography as soon as children are old enough to use the internet. Sex education Pornography Internet Schools Alexandra Topping guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Report says culture of complacency within the local authority allowed paedophile gangs to prey on girlsRochdale borough council has apologised for letting down victims of child sexual exploitation after a damning report laid bare a catalogue of failures and a culture of complacency within the authority that allowed paedophile gangs to prey on the area’s most vulnerable girls. The independent report found that the council’s former chief executive Roger Ellis “did not appear to be interested in children’s social care issues” and said there was no evidence that he had any intention of investigating the events that led to the jailing of nine men in May last year for offences including trafficking, rape and sexual assault .Ellis, who stepped down while the court case was ongoing, presided over a council with “a lack of consistent senior leadership, or a lack of vision and direction in relation to child sexual exploitation (CSE)”, according to the report’s author, independent consultant Anna Klonowski.Frontline staff “did not know what to do about CSE and how to deal with it”. Furthermore, the 135-page report stated that social workers within the service “did not have a working knowledge of effective risk assessment”.Ellis’s successor as chief executive, Jim Taylor, said: "It is clear from this review that some children were let down by Rochdale council. On behalf of the council, I am deeply sorry these young people did not get the care and support they deserved."We must never forget that the sexual exploitation of children is an appalling crime carried out by the worst kind of criminals. But keeping children safe from harm is the most important thing a local authority does, and we accept the conclusions and recommendations in the report."This review paints a poor picture of the way elements of Rochdale council has previously been run. Hard-working, dedicated staff were also let down by some senior managers who appear to have shown no leadership and taken no responsibility. I am absolutely determined to ensure these mistakes are never repeated."The report makes 16 recommendations, including that the council review the ways it suspends and/or revokes licences for taxi drivers and fast food establishments, helping to disrupt the environments in which the 2012 trial found that the abusers operated.Klonowski also urged Taylor to ensure that any necessary disciplinary investigations against individuals relating to CSE be finalised and the “appropriate actions” taken.Rochdale’s MP, Simon Danczuk, said it was wrong that senior officers such as Ellis had been allowed to escape disciplinary action by taking early retirement and called for systems to be put in place that would allow their pension funds to be clawed back."This report shows that there were alarm bells going off all over the place and they were ignored," he said. "Senior officers turned a blind eye to child abuse and didn’t want to know. The perpetrators of these terrible crimes and some senior council officers have brought shame on our town."Danczuk also criticised what he called “appalling complacency” after it emerged that senior managers viewed CSE as being “no more or less prevalent in Rochdale than in other local authorities”. At one point a senior officer ? believed to be the former executive director for children’s services, Terry Piggott ? is quoted as saying that they viewed CSE “as part of the combined evils that many children faced”.Danczuk said: "The council now needs to tell us what package Roger Ellis and other implicated senior officers left with. If Roger Ellis has one iota of decency, he will return this money."Jim Taylor has a very difficult job but he has decided to grasp the nettle that his predecessor ignored," he said. "He has inherited a completely dysfunctional children’s services department and it will take time to turn it around."Ellis was unreachable for comment on Thursday night. Rochdale child sex ring Crime Child protection Children Social care Mark Smith guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Culture secretary Maria Miller has been urged not to permit the press industry to ’write its own rulebook’Some of the most prominent victims of phone-hacking have written to the culture secretary, Maria Miller, urging her to reject the royal charter proposed by the press industry, saying that it is unacceptable for “those responsible for the damage to our lives and the lives of others [to] seek to shrug off responsibility and once again write their own rulebook”.Miller is holding a consultation on whether the press industry’s royal charter should be considered formally first by the Privy Council as opposed to one initially drawn up by the government with the support of Labour. The consultation ends this week, and government departments, as well as the Privy Council secretariat, will now take a further two weeks to decide its next step. Miller now has to decide if the industry’s royal charter meets the criteria.The Press Standards Board of Finance (PressBof) petitioned the Privy Council with its version of the charter on 30 April, and has made some adjustments to its proposals partly in a bid to win over the Financial Times, Independent and Guardian.In their letter, some of the most prominent victims of press misconduct including J K Rowling, Gerry and Kate McCann, and Sheryl Gascoigne say they object to the draft Royal Charter drawn up by the PressBof on behalf of the newspapers, saying “it demonstrates once again the press industry thinks it is above the law”.They also claim it lacks any democratic legitimacy, pointing out the Leveson-compliant royal charter for self-regulation by the press has the backing of the main political parties. "We were subject to intrusion, bullying, harassment, intimidation, libel and other forms of abuse by some newspapers, and they were allowed to get away with it for a very long time because of the lax, self-regulatory system in place."They add that the prime minister had said he wanted the new system of regulation to enjoy the support of the victims, citing David Cameron’s evidence to Leveson on 14 June that "the test of the system is: is it going to provide proper protection to ordinary families who? get caught up in these media maelstroms and get completely mistreated?"In their letter the victims claim: "There is no legitimate reason for the industry to be given a veto on a system which the public so urgently needs and which has been fairly and reasonably designed."They add the initiative is “an attempt by a small number of newspaper proprietors to continue to run the system for their own ends, claiming it has been led by Associated Newspapers, News International and the Telegraph Group, who have for many years dominated the discredited system of regulation run by the PCC”.The victims also claim the PressBoF Charter “dilutes one of ? Leveson’s core recommendations, the creation of a cheap arbitration panel to resolve disputes and save parties the burden of legal costs”.The letter states the “PressBof charter does not make any provision for directing (or even requiring) apologies at all ? this would enable newspapers to continue burying ? apologies in the back of a newspaper, having defamed an innocent person on the front page.” Press regulation Maria Miller Newspapers & magazines Judicial committee of the privy council Leveson inquiry Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Fumes from a generator spread into the cabin where Kelly Webster, 36, and daughter Laura Thornton, 10, were asleepA mother and her 10-year-old daughter died after inhaling carbon monoxide fumes as they slept on a moored motor cruiser on Lake Windermere, marine accident investigators have confirmed.Fumes from a generator, whose improvised exhaust and silencer system had become detached, had spread into the cabin where Kelly Webster, 36, and daughter Laura Thornton, who were on an Easter boating holiday, were asleep. The boat belonged to Matthew Eteson, who was Webster’s partner, 39, who was on board but survived the incident."The boat’s carbon monoxide sensor system did not alarm because it was not connected to a power supply," said an interim report by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB).The MAIB’s report said: "A bank holiday weekend on board an 11-year-old Bayliner 285 motor cruiser ended tragically when a mother and her 10-year-old daughter died. Initial findings indicate the deceased were poisoned by carbon monoxide."It went on: "A ’suitcase’-type, portable, petrol-driven generator had been installed in the motor cruiser’s engine bay to supply the boat with 240V power. The generator had been fitted with an improvised exhaust and silencer system which had become detached from both the generator and the outlet on the vessel’s side. As a result, the generator’s exhaust fumes filled the engine bay and spread through gaps in an internal bulkhead into the aft cabin where the mother and daughter were asleep."When the owner of the boat awoke in the boat’s forward cabin, he was suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, but was able to raise the alarm. The mother and daughter could not be revived."The boat’s carbon monoxide sensor system did not alarm because it was not connected to a power supply."The MAIB said the incident raised a number of safety issues. The bulletin said portable air-cooled petrol generators were readily available and inexpensive, but were usually intended for use in the open air.It added that “the use or permanent installation of these engines on boats, particularly in enclosed spaces or below decks, increases the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning”.The bulletin said it was essential that engine exhaust systems were fitted by qualified engineers and maintained to direct poisonous fumes outside the vessel clear of ventilation intakes and accommodation spaces.The MAIB also warned boaters to be vigilant and recognise the signs of carbon monoxide poisoning. It added that the correct positioning and the regular testing of carbon monoxide sensors was essential. A full MAIB report into the incident will follow later. guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Officials say fixed sites can offer Wi-Fi, making it easier to attract young donors, while travelling units may not be value for moneyThe tradition of volunteers going to the village hall or community centre to give blood may become less common, with more permanent clinics, complete with free Wi-Fi and bedside iPod docks, attracting a new cohort of younger donors, experts have said.As the blood service for England and north Wales examines whether it should reduce the minimum time between donations, a senior official has also questioned whether the sending of mobile units to rural areas always represents value for money.Lorna Williamson of NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) and Dana Devine of the Canadian Blood Services discuss ways of increasing blood supply in the Lancet medical journal as the world’s richer countries look at ways of ensuring they have enough donors as their populations age.Now email, text messaging, Facebook, Twitter, Spotify and interactive websites are commonplace, they say, online discussion boards, appointments and news sections could increase donor loyalty."With further development, this approach could also allow donors to complete health-check questionnaires online at home, avoiding a wasted journey if they are ineligible to donate," they say.Although travelling long distances to collect donations might be socially desirable, it can be expensive to cart kit around the country, Williamson said."Blood services need to examine whether blood collection efforts can continue to be spread thinly, or should be concentrated on areas where more people are likely to donate ? Blood collection in village halls and local schools is possible, but limits what can be done to improve the donor experience. Fixed donor sites potentially offer more digital-age facilities, such as free Wi-Fi and iPod docks at each bed."NHSBT already has 25 permanent centres, mainly for donating platelets ? blood components vital for patients undergoing chemotherapy or organ transplantation or who have severe bleeding or blood disorders. The process requires more heavy equipment than so-called “whole blood” donation.Donation practices have already changed radically in the 50 years since Tony Hancock’s famous blood donor sketch . Volunteers rest in a semi-sitting position on equipment more resembling a dentist’s chair than a bed. Yet more than 90% of the near 2m “whole blood” donations from 1.6 million donors each year are still collected outside fixed sites, even if use of “bloodmobiles” visiting large employers or business parks, with donation happening in the vehicle, is less common than it used to be.Only 4% of the population donates blood and only about 15% of those are between 17 and 24. The upper age limit for donation has been scrapped, but Williamson, NHSBT’s medical and research director, said attracting more young blood donors was vital. "We expect to see an increase in demand for blood over the next 10 years as a result of an ageing population requiring more complex procedures, such as joint replacements and cancer therapies."Attracting younger blood donors for the future is key, and we are doing a lot of work to modernise and attract such donors, for example, by developing mobile applications and making it easier for donors to interact with us online."Williamson said rural collections would probably continue but might happen less often and last for longer.NHSBT and scientists at Oxford and Cambridge universities are already conducting research involving up to 50,000 donors in what they say is the first study of its kind to see if the length of time between donations can be tailored depending on age, weight, diet and other factors. In England and Wales, the minimum period is 12 weeks for men and 16 for women, but in Scotland it is 16 weeks for both sexes. In other countries, it is as low as eight weeks. Donating blood can lower iron levels. NHS Health James Meikle guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds John Steele, 38, was found by prison guards hanging in his cell on Tuesday, four days after being remanded in custodyA Briton arrested on suspicion of organised fraud has been found hanged in a French jail. John Steele, 38, was found by prison guards hanging in his cell on Tuesday, four days after he was remanded in custody.Steele, who had lived near Paris for some years, was believed to be behind a scheme which took more than £1 million in loans from French banks.A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are aware of the death of a British national in France on 21 May and we stand ready to provide consular assistance.” France Europe Crime guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Those who knew Michael Adebolajo recall his typical London childhood, before his student days saw persue the path to jihadThe mother of one of the suspects in the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby moved her family out of London in an attempt to remove him from the influence of a gang.But Michael Adebolajo returned to the capital to go to university and it was while he was a student that he appears to have set foot on the path that took him from being a schoolboy to an alleged extremist intent on jihad. His tutor, it is claimed, was Omar Bakri Mohammed, leader of the now banned al-Muhajiroun."He was on our ideological wavelength," said Anjem Choudary, a senior figure in the organisation. Adebolajo, whose family are Christians, sealed his conversion to Islam by taking the name Mujaahid ? meaning one who engages in jihad.The 28-year-old was a regular at the al-Muhajiroun stall outside the HSBC branch on Woolwich high street, handing out extremist literature, and one witness said he was recently seen outside Plumstead community centre encouraging an audience to go to Syria to fight.For the last eight years his activities have been such that he featured in several counter-terrorist investigations, always as a peripheral figure and not the central subject of the inquiry. Sources said there was nothing in his activities which indicated that he might carry out such an attack."You would see them there every week," Atma Singh, a Sikh leader said, speaking on Thursday outside Woolwich’s neo-classical Victorian town hall. "They were there over a period of several years, handing out radical literature. They were about eight to 10 of them."They stopped coming at some point but I was quite annoyed that they were able to do this for so long. Nobody tried to shut the stall down."Six addresses were searched yesterday, three in south-east London, one in east London, one in north London and one in Lincolnshire. The impact of the investigation on Adebolajo’s family was seen in searches at London addresses where relatives lived and 150 miles away in Saxilby, Lincolnshire, at the semi-detached modern home where his mother, Tina, had moved her family in an attempt to remove her son from bad influences.Adebolajo himself was being held under armed guard in hospital, where counter-terrorist police were waiting to interview him over the hacking to death of 25-year-old Rigby.The second suspect ? believed to be a 22-year-old British man ? was being held in a different hospital, also under armed guard. One of the addresses searched in south-east London was believed to be his home; neighbours said they had recognised the man as the suspect, that he lived with his mother and that he disappeared for a period and when he returned had converted to Islam and appeared more “distant”. It is not known whether the second suspect was linked to al-Muhajiroun ? Choudary said he did not know him.Adebolajo attended meetings and demonstrations run by al-Muhajiroun for at least five years, from around 2005 to 2011, where he heard an interpretation of Islam preached by Bakri Mohammed, which many Muslims would consider extreme. Bakri Mohammed told the Guardian that he had known Adebolajo, who had attended many meetings. These included al-Muhajiroun events at community centres and a mosque in the Woolwich area.Bakri Mohammed, now banned from Britain, said as a new convert Adebolajo received special attention: "In 2004 Muslims were feeling a lot of pressures from new laws and from Iraq."Adebolajo asked the group when violence may be justified. “He asked these type of questions, like many others,” said Bakri Mohammed: “He was asking what to do, he was most likely affected by the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan.” Adebolajo appears to have later attended events organised by successor groups to al-Muhajiroun until around 2011.These interests contrast with the accounts of the normal boy that Adebolajo was described as in his earlier life. Born in Lambeth on 10 December 1984 to a family of Nigerian heritage, he grew up in Romford, played football and was said to be a joker within a large group of friends.His family lived in Eastern Avenue in the town and attended the local church. He has a sister, Blessing, and a brother, Jeremiah.Both boys went to Marshalls Park school in Romford until at 16 Michael moved to Havering sixth form college. He later attended Greenwich University, where he lived in student accommodation in 2004 and 2005.Friends at Marshalls Park school talked of how he was an ordinary student until he became involved with a local gang and began “jacking” phones and carrying a knife, they said.Louise, 26 from Romford, said she knew Adebolajo and Jeremiah from Marshalls Park, where Michael was known as “Naan” and his brother “Jel”."Naan was two years older than us ? Jel was a nice boy. Quite quiet," she said. "We were all really close because there was quite a few who used to hang around together."She said Jeremiah was “obsessed with the Harry Potter books”. She described Michael as clever, popular and extremely funny. “He was a down-to-earth, nice guy, there was nothing out of the ordinary, nothing ? [that would make you] have thought, obviously this would have happened,” she said.Louise, who did not want to give her full name, said Adebolajo’s mother was strict and dressed in traditional West African clothes to go to church most Sundays. "They were strong on their beliefs."Louise said that as he headed into his final years at Marshalls Park and then Havering sixth form, Adebolajo became involved with a criminal gang."As he got older he started mixing with other people from outside [the school]."We used to go around the house and there used to be 20 black guys and they would walk around the streets ? they were stealing people’s phones and that and they had knives."She said Adebolajo would carry a knife, not just for protection but as part of his criminal activities.It was then that his parents decided to get the boys out of Romford. "His mum and dad clocked on to that and they moved him away."No one has spoke to them since they moved because his mum wanted to get them away from everyone."Other friends from Marshalls Park conversed on social media to express their shock that Adebolajo was at the centre of a counter-terrorist investigation."We left year 2001," one said. "And he was always a good guy at school, do anything for anyone ."Another added: "They used to live down the eastern avenue two minutes from marshals, they had a garage on the side of the house and Jel had a little telly an that in there and loads of people uses to go round there, from what I remember they were nice boys."A former neighbour of the family remembered them as friendly and welcoming churchgoers.The man, who asked not to be named, said his wife used to give Adebolajo’s mother ? whom he remembered as working for social services ? a lift to church. “They were very pleasant, a very ordinary normal family,” he said.However Graham Silverton, 63, who has lived in the street for 25 years, said that when Adebolajo was a teenager he was unruly and would get into trouble. He claimed one of the neighbours’ children, a teenage girl, had once gone to the Adebolajos’ door to retrieve a ball kicked into their garden and was insulted and punched by Michael.Kemi Ibrahim-Adeoti, 45, described Adebolajo as a typical teenager growing up. She said: "Michael was older than my son, I knew him from when he was about 17. He used to come around and play with my son and I didn’t have any problems with him coming around."Michael was just a typical teenager, you know, he would rebel against his parents once or twice that I know of."In 2004 Michael’s mother, Tina, moved her son away to Lincoln but he later returned to the capital, where he became a student at Greenwich University.Addresses in Greenwich where he lived as a student were searched by counter terrorist police on Thursday, as was the home where Adebolajo’s sister lived in Romford.Another address in Greenwich ? thought to be that of the second suspect ? was also sealed off and searched early on Thursday. The small flat is on the fourth floor of a block, Macey House, about four miles from the site of Wednesday’s attack . It is registered as the home of a 22-year-old British man, also of Nigerian descent, who lived in the property with his mother.Neighbours at the scene said he lived there with his mother and went to a local college ? although this has not been confirmed by police.One neighbour, Madeleine Edwards, said the man at the flat had been involved in gangs when he was younger. She said he had left the property for about a year after giving evidence in a murder trial."His mother said he had to disappear," said Edwards.When he came back Edwards had converted to Islam, she said, and had become “distant”."He could see my disdain at the direction he had gone in," she said.Another neighbour, Jonathan Ackworth, 42, said: "I was so shocked when I saw his picture on the television ? I used to see him coming and going and would say hello ? he seemed perfectly pleasant."Two uniformed officers stood guard outside the top-floor flat as plainclothes officers and forensics detectives went in and out of the property yesterday.Many neighbours in the block ? which sits close to the banks of the Thames ? were visibly shaken. One said she did not want to talk because she feared reprisals from rightwing groups."This is a good block and people can’t quite believe this has happened right on our doorstep ? a lot of the neighbours are in tears today," said Ackworth.One woman, who did not want to be named, said officers had knocked on the door and asked if they could use her flat to watch the property, which was raided several hours later. Woolwich attack Crime London Peter Walker Shiv Malik Matthew Taylor Sandra Laville Vikram Dodd Ben Quinn Luke Harding guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Another fine mess. Another big contract? There’s no way back from the bungling of a £284m contract with the government, one would have thought. And certainly the future looks less than bright for G4S’s departing chief executive Nick Buckles, who presided over the Olympic security fiasco . But in the privatisation-crazed 21st century, one never says never. Last week while G4S was, not very reassuringly, replacing the aptly named Buckles with a man called Ashley Almanza ? who had joined the company only three weeks before ? Barry Sheerman MP was asking a question in parliament. How much was the Foreign Office paying G4S? Quite a lot, it turns out. “The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has over 40 contracts with G4S globally,” replied the minister David Lidington. “For the current financial year, these are valued at £36m approximately per annum. The highest value centrally managed contracts are for the provision of armed static and mobile security services in Afghanistan (£25m this financial year), guarding services in the UK (£4.5m per annum) and armed mobile security services in Somalia (over £1m per annum).” In total, £112m since 2009. That’s just from one department. So Nick passes on but everything else stays much the same.? Unexpected repercussions flow from Wednesday’s dreadful terrorist atrocity in Woolwich. Already, those who yearn for even more burdensome anti-terrorism legislation see opportunity. Trouble too for the energy company EDF, for its reputation means everything. As the far-right English Defence League (EDL) descended on Woolwich, the utility company was forced to defend itself on social media. “If you are referring to Woolwich, the protest was from the English Defence League (EDL), not EDF Energy,” it said . With revenues of £8.4bn last year, EDF has little to protest about anyway.? More rumblings among Green activists. On Wednesday we flagged up the controversy over the party’s “flawed” selection process to find MEPs in London . Today, the issue is population. The party policy says: “There is a limit to the level of ecological impact the Earth can sustain. The number of people on the planet, their levels of consumption and their local and global impacts are key factors determining how far the Earth’s ability to renew its resources and to support all life is compromised. Even within this limit, high rates of population growth, as well as local depopulation can have a damaging effect on sustainability, equity and justice.” But what has many members distressed and perplexed is this email fired off by deputy leader Will Duckworth. “I personally believe that the Earth could comfortably accommodate twice the current population if we all lead a more sustainable lifestyle,” said Duckworth. “I feel that undue concentration on numbers of people excuses the greedy western lifestyles which are dozens of times more destructive than others. When you look at the land in this country, for instance, devoted to grass and non-productive trees it illustrates that we are not trying to produce our own food in this country.” Few Greens are willing to contemplate a doubling of the Earth’s population, but then the deputy leader leads by example. And as members tend to like trees ? even the “non-productive” ones ? one fears trouble ahead.? Much to admire in a lecture at Cambridge University by the celebrated philosopher Judith Butler , whose influential work Gender Trouble challenged and reshaped society’s view of gender. The gender issue follows her everywhere. She recently stayed in a hotel, she said. There was a knock on the door. “I’m here to check the minibar, madam, mister, madam, mister, madam, mister,” said the man with the trolley. “I thought about putting him out of his misery,” she told students. “But instead I said ’I’m quite sure it’s not necessary to designate my gender for you to check the mini-bar’.” One assumes he was out of there quite quickly.? Finally, why the top TV anchor never jumps to conclusions. “I guess, you gotta thank the Lord, right?” said CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, empathising with a survivor of the Oklahoma tornado. “Do you thank the Lord?” "I’m actually an atheist," she replied . God Bless America. God bless Wolf.Twitter: @hugh_muir Hugh Muir guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds