Knebworth, the stately home which has rocked to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Oasis, faces a "huge hole" in its finances

Knebworth, the stately home which has rocked to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Oasis, faces a "huge hole" in its finances after the cancellation of a festival to have been headlined by Queen.

Martha Lytton-Cobbold, who manages the gothic Hertfordshire mansion which has been home to the Lytton family since 1490, is counting the cost of the decision to axe Sonisphere, a three-day heavy rock event which was due to take place in July. Poor ticket sales contributed to the cancellation of the festival, which was to have been headlined by Queen, with their new singer Adam Lambert, and also feature the bands Kiss and Faith No More.

First employed as a rock venue in the mid-70s, income from events staged at Knebworth Park bowl, which can accommodate 125,000 fans, has provided vital funds for repair work to the home, which was placed on English Heritage's register of buildings at risk in 2010.

English Heritage is encouraging land-owning aristocrats to use live concerts as an income-raising tool. The Duchess of Northumberland invited Status Quo and Jools Holland to play at Alnwick Castle and created a Harry Potter tour to cash in on its role as Hogwarts in the film series.

Profits from Sonisphere, first staged in 2009, are needed to complete a £9.2m restoration programme to halt the decay of Knebworth House and of valuable artefacts in its 28 acres of landscaped gardens. The Cobbold family may have to leave the Grade II* listed building if it cannot maintain the estate.

Mrs Cobbold said: "Losing Sonisphere has left a huge hole in our financial projections. But there is a lot of economic instability which affected ticket sales and the promoters took an intelligent decision to cancel this year."

Proceeds from Robbie Williams' shows at Knebworth in 2003, which sold out, allowed the Cobbolds to build a new mainline sewage connection around the grounds. Further essential work will now have to be delayed.

A Red Hot Chili Peppers show in June is unaffected and the house and gardens will be open to the public in July.

But the proceeds will not make up for the unsold £145 weekend tickets offered to 60,000 heavy metal campers. These appear to have opted instead for Sonisphere's rival, the Download Festival, held at Donington Park in June and featuring Metallica and the return of Ozzy Osbourne's Black Sabbath.

Sonisphere would return in 2013, Mrs Cobbold said. Meanwhile, Live Nation UK, the promoter of Download, revelled in the collapse of its rival. John Probyn, its chief operating officer, tweeted: "Another one bites the dust."

The Big Chill and Glastonbury are among the other big festivals to have been cancelled this year. Steep ticket prices and a glut of competing events, most notably the Olympics, have been blamed for a downturn in the industry.

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The security services have issued an unprecedented public warning

The security services have issued an unprecedented public warning that Akhmed Zakayev — an exile who is a friend of Vanessa Redgrave, the actress — is the target of a murder plot.

On their advice, the Home Secretary has fought a court battle to remove the man MI5 believe would organise the “hit”, who they say is a danger to “national security”.

But The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that judges have allowed him to stay in Britain and fight to remain here.

The case raises serious questions about how Britain can be protected from foreign threats.

The murder plot is disclosed in the wake of the attempted assassination of German Gorbuntsov, the wealthy Russian banker who was shot outside his London flat and who remains seriously ill in hospital.

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petrol stations have already put up the price of unleaded petrol by up to 10p a litre after cheaper stocks of fuel ran out.

The AA said it expects a litre of unleaded petrol to rise by a further penny this week, with the average price predicted at about 142.5p. The timing could not be worse for families planning long motoring journeys this Easter.

The price rise has been caused by petrol stations being forced to buy in more expensive fuel on the wholesale market and by additional charges for extra deliveries. About one in five garages ran out of fuel last week.

In some cases petrol stations have attempted to profiteer from shortages with one garage in the Midlands, according to the AA, hiking up the price of a litre of unleaded to 154.9p.

“Panic buying has speeded up the rise in the cost of petrol,” said Luke Bosdet, an AA spokesman. “Petrol stations are having to buy more expensive petrol more quickly.

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Forced marriage: British girl, 5, could be UK's youngest victim

 

A girl aged five is thought to have become Britain's youngest victim of forced marriage. She was one of an astonishing 400 children helped by the Government's Forced Marriage Unit during the last year, it has emerged. The shocking revelations have come to light as a public consultation into criminalising forced marriage draws to a close today. Amy Cumming, joint head of the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU), told the BBC that more than a quarter - 29 per cent - of the cases it handled in 2011-12 involved minors.

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Cornish tourist denied 'local' fuel by garage on The Lizard

A holidaymaker trying to return to Eastbourne from Cornwall in her motorhome has been denied fuel at a garage because she was not local. Annie, who would not provide her surname, said Kynance Garage on The Lizard would not allow her any fuel because she was not from the area. Garage owner, Henry Johnson, said he was "forced to ration fuel" for account holders and to £10 for locals. Annie said she would not be returning to the county. 'Locals only' She said: "We were due to go home and the campsite owner told us to go to the garage, but he took a look at our motorhome and said 'you're not local are you'?" She said she told Mr Johnson that the vehicle only needed a top-up of diesel to reach Eastbourne but "he said 'no I can't sell you any, locals and account holders only'". Mr Johnson did contact another garage in the area to help the family out but it had run out of fuel. The holidaymakers later managed to get fuel at a supermarket garage. Annie said: "We've spent quite a lot of money in Cornwall, it's where I grew up and it was a trip down memory lane and until that point it had been lovely, but it's put us off completely." The owner said his supplies were "running low" and he was not expecting a delivery of fuel until after the weekend. The distance between Kynance Garage and Eastbourne is 315 miles (507km).

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Panicking over petrol: The silliest country in the world

PITY Britain's politicians. They spend much of their time being ignored as they try to explain important issues to the public. The repetition involved can be numbing: New Labourites used to complain that the moment they became heartily sick of saying something, and convinced that they sounded like interminable bores, was about the moment ordinary people began to catch on. Just occasionally, though, people do listen to politicians. The consequences can be calamitous.  So it has proved over the past couple of days. On March 28th David Cameron condemned a threatened strike by fuel tanker drivers, which could occur in about 10 days’ time. As for ordinary people, he said, they should not respond to the possibility of looming shortages by queuing to buy petrol. But motorists might take the precaution of topping up their fuel tanks over the next few days. Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, added that it could be sensible to keep a few extra litres of fuel in a jerry can.  Telling people not to panic and rush to the nearest petrol station has been quickly followed by a panicked rush to petrol stations. Britain’s newspaper websites are full of stories of lengthening queues, filling stations running out of fuel and angry customers. The Daily Mail's article is particularly detailed, as one would expect from that well-resourced outfit. The panic-buying story is leading the 24-hour news channels, and will surely be on almost all of tomorrow's front pages.  This is, of course, extremely silly. Not individually silly—if there is a run on petrol it makes sense to get in the queue, just as it makes sense to pull all your money out of a bank during a bank run. But it is collectively silly. As motoring groups have pointed out, there is no overall petrol shortage; if everybody behaved normally, there would be plenty to go round, and no queues. Britons will get at least seven days’ notice of a strike (if it comes) so they really do not need to be panicking now. The Guardian is directing readers to post their accounts of panic buying, and has linked to a map which indicates the silliest areas of the country. The commuter belt to the north and west of London is pretty silly, as are parts of the north-west. The south coast is silly. Scotland is not particularly silly.  Why do Britons go in for this sort of silliness? Perhaps it is memories of the 2000 fuel blockades, which caused severe petrol shortages. But the tendency to panic-buy runs deeper. A colleague reminds me that, in the 1970s, there were occasional rumours that stocks of certain foods (such as sugar) were running low. Those rumours invariably provoked panic-buying. Perhaps Britain retains a folk memory of post-war rationing.  Or perhaps it has to do with the peculiarities of Britain’s media market, which is unusual in two ways. First, as is often noted, it is extremely centralised. The main five free-to-air television channels account for 56% of viewing. Unlike in, say, America, they mostly broadcast the same news reports to homes across the country. The press is almost as centralised. Last spring, the National Readership Survey reported that Britain’s 11 national daily newspapers had a collective readership of 24m people (of course, some people read more than one newspaper). Reports of panic buying in one part of the country are thus efficiently transmitted to all other parts of the country.  The second peculiar thing about the British media market sounds like the opposite of the first: it has an extraordinarily well-developed social-media culture. A recent report from the Boston Consulting Group shows that Britain combines unusually high internet penetration with unusually widespread use of social media like Facebook and Twitter. Those social networks are great for amassing eye-witness reports, as well as for spreading news both genuine and phony. Newspaper and television reporters love Twitter, and increasingly use it to provide local colour for their stories. Combine a highly centralised broadcast media with a highly developed social media, and you get an exceedingly efficient device for collecting, sifting and broadcasting bad news. Perfect for stoking something silly, like the panic-buying of fuel.  Yet the silliness of the run on petrol underlines a problem that is not silly at all. Britain’s coalition government is committed to devolving power away from Westminster and towards elected mayors and police commissioners. One big objective of these reforms is to change the direction of public complaint. If something goes wrong with policing in, say, Bristol, that would be a problem for the mayor of Bristol and for the elected commissioner of Avon and Somerset Police, not for the government in Westminster.  The peculiar nature of British media means pulling off that change will be difficult. In Britain, local crises have a tendency to become national crises. A foolish statement about topping up your petrol tank uttered in Westminster is quickly communicated to the country. The resulting fuel shortage in one corner of the country is quickly communicated to the rest of the country, and becomes a national problem. David Cameron, what are you going to do about it?

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Woman seriously burned decanting petrol at Acomb house

A woman suffered 40% burns when petrol ignited as she was decanting it in her kitchen in York with the cooker on. Diane Hill, 46, was pouring petrol into a glass jug at her home in Moorgate, Acomb, on Thursday evening after her daughter's car ran out of fuel. She was "critical but stable" at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield. A fire service spokesman said: "Her daughter asked her mum for petrol because she had run out. The cooker was on and the fumes ignited." The accident came two days after government minister Francis Maude suggested that motorists take the "sensible precaution" of filling up jerry cans and keeping them in the garage. It has prompted the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) to urge the government to make an urgent public safety announcement highlighting the dangers of petrol in the home. FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: "The public do not understand the extreme dangers posed by petrol handling or storage and they must be advised as a matter of urgency. Fire safety consultant Bob Parkin told the BBC that the fumes from petrol cause the biggest danger "Government needs to issue urgent professionally-based advice to warn the public before we have another incident, perhaps with far worse consequences." Fire station manager Lee Smith, whose Acomb crew attended the fire shortly after 18:00 BST on Thursday, said: "The people were cooking their tea and dispensing petrol from a container to a glass jug. "The vapour then ignited, the jug was then spilt which obviously ignited as well and the person involved in the decanting was consumed by the flames. "Her daughter phoned 999 and was obviously extremely distressed." The woman, who suffered 40% burns to her whole body, was treated by ambulance personnel in her kitchen before being taken to Pinderfields. Two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus extinguished the fire in the kitchen and removed the remaining petrol. A North Yorkshire Fire Service spokesman said: "Members of the public should take extreme care when handling and storing petrol and be aware of the risks associated with incorrect use and storage of fuel. "Never bring petrol inside your home. If you do smell petrol fumes in a garage or outbuilding ventilate the area and make sure nobody smokes or turns electrical switches on or off. "The slightest spark could cause an explosion." It is not known if the woman had been storing petrol in advance of the threat of industrial action by tanker drivers but news of the dispute was followed by Mr Maude advising motorists to fill up jerry cans in case of a strike. This was subsequently clarified by Transport Minister Mike Penning who said jerry cans could store 20 litres, more than the amount advised for safe home storage.

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Extradition treaty with US needs radical overhaul, say MPs

 

An urgent review of the “one-sided” rules is needed because it is easier to extradite Briton to America than vice versa and public confidence in the treaty has been shattered, according to the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee. It calls for immediate and dramatic changes, including the introduction of an “evidence test” that would require some of the case against the person to be submitted as part of the extradition bid. The Government should also implement a “forum bar”, which would make it easier for an individual to be tried in their own country. The damning report was last night welcomed by campaigners fighting for a change in the 2003 Extradition Treaty between the UK and US. There is growing concern in the wake of a series of high profile cases including that of alleged computer hacker Gary McKinnon and retired businessman Christopher Tappin.

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petrol delivery backlog reaches two to three days, warns motor trade union

The Government was accused of presiding over a "shambles" after urging motorists to stockpile fuel and keep tanks two thirds full in anticipation of a walkout. It prompted long queues at filling stations with many forced to close after running dry. Brian Maddison, chairman of the Retail Motor Industry (RMI) Petrol, said sales of unleaded had soared by 170 per cent with diesel up by almost 80 per cent as a result of the warnings from ministers, criticised as premature by some. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he warned the rush for fuel had caused a backlog among hauliers. Asked how soon extra supplies could be delivered, he replied: "It's not going to be very easy at all. I think we're probably heading towards some difficulty this weekend just because the backlog is starting to approach two to three days."

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Labour inquest after Galloway win

 

Labour denied it had neglected northern voters as the inquest into George Galloway's sensational by-election victory in Bradford West began. Respect candidate Mr Galloway swept to a dramatic win in the poll, securing a 10,000-plus majority in what he called a "massive rejection" of mainstream parties. His party leapt from fifth place at the 2010 general election to a commanding victory for the ex-Labour anti-war campaigner against his former party on a swing of 36.59%. Mr Galloway, who claimed it was "the most sensational result in British by-election history bar none", won 18,341 votes to the 8,201 for Labour candidate Imran Hussain. The result is a serious blow for Labour, which entered polling day as overwhelming favourite to retain the seat at the end of a fraught week for the Government. Instead, it became the first Opposition party to slump to defeat in a mid-term poll since the Liberal Democrats took Romsey from the Tories in 2000. Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman admitted: "It is a very bad result, there's no denying it," but added: "I don't think it's true to say this is a case of us taking a constituency for granted, that's not what happened here. I think we are going to have to learn lessons. We are going to have to have very, very thorough discussions with all the local Labour people and the local community up in Bradford so we can learn lessons and we have to rebuild from here." Labour went into the contest - sparked by the resignation due to ill health of Marsha Singh - the overwhelming favourite with bookmakers. Some closed their books on Thursday, however, after receiving a late flurry of large bets that Mr Galloway would cause a serious upset. As he did in the 2005 general election, when he dramatically swiped an east London seat from his former party, Mr Galloway targeted the votes of a large Asian community. Turnout in the poll was just over 50% - considered high for such a contest, especially in an urban area. Ms Harman defended Labour's fight in the constituency, saying: "There had been active campaigning over a long period of time, but something did go very badly wrong and our connections, roots and engagement with the local community and people up and down that constituency obviously were not deep enough, not strong enough. We need to review that and understand what happened and learn lessons. But the idea we were simply neglectful and absent is not the case, it's actually more complicated than that." The Conservatives polled 2,746 votes, suffering a swing of -22.78%, but party chairman Baroness Sayeeda Warsi attacked Labour leader Ed Miliband for failing to capitalise on the Government's recent difficulties. "If Ed Miliband can't get his act together after a week like this, when is he going to get his act together?" she told BBC Radio 4. "This is a Labour seat, has been for many, many decades and last night they lost it in spectacular fashion. We saw Bradford West saying, 'You (Labour) can't take us for granted, we're no longer going to vote for you'." Unlike after his 2005 election victory in Bethnal Green and Bow, where Mr Galloway said he would serve only one term, he said he hoped to be MP for Bradford for the long term.

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Facebook App Lets You Add Enemies Online

 

Forget friending. A new Facebook app allows users of the social network to identify and share people, places and things as “enemies” for all to see. The app, called EnemyGraph, lets you list anything with a Facebook presence — ranging from “friends,” to foods, to products, movies or books — as an enemy. Since the app launched March 15, it’s seemed to appeal especially to users with a liberal bent. Some of its most-selected nemeses so far include Rick Santorum, Westboro Baptist Church and Fox News. The app was developed by a professor and two students at the University of Texas at Dallas. Dean Terry, who directs the school’s emerging media program, helped conceptualize the project, while graduate student Bradley Griffith and undergraduate Harrison Massey built the app. Griffith said EnemyGraph has so far accumulated some 400 users. But more importantly, its creators say, press coverage has helped meet the team’s goal of sparking a larger conversation about the nature of social media and Facebook in particular. “One thing that has always struck me is the enforced niceness culture,” Terry told Mashable. “We wanted to give people a chance to express dissonance as well. We’re using the word enemy about as accurately as Facebook uses the word friend.” But the app has utility beyond simply sparking a philosophical debate, Terry adds. Researchers and marketers have long gathered information on social media users based on what they support, but at the expense of possibly overlooking another valuable data source. “You can actually learn a lot about people by what they’re upset about and what they don’t like,” Terry says. “And the second thing is that if you and I both don’t like something, that actually creates a social bond that hasn’t been explored in social media at all, except with Kony and some big examples like that.” Terry and Griffith teamed up last year to create Undetweetable, a service allowing Twitter users’ deleted tweets to be uncovered posthumously. That project gained some attention as well but Twitter quickly forced it to shut down. Terry wouldn’t be surprised if EnemyGraph meets a similar fate from Facebook. “My guess is it goes against their social philosophy and purpose,” he says. “It is a critique of their social philosophy for sure.” Do you like the EnemyGraph idea? Let us know in the comments.

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socially disruptive narcissists More Facebook Friends You Have, the More Unhappy You Are

 

A  study has discovered a direct link between the number of friends you have on Facebook and how much of a “socially disruptive narcissist” you are—giving us one more reason to tone down our Facebook addictions. Researchers at Western Illinois studied 294 college students and found that those with more friends on Facebook tended to score higher on the Narcissistic Personality Inventory questionnaire. They tended to respond more aggressively to comments, change their profile pictures more often, and updated their news feeds more regularly than others. This may not be all that surprising, but it does provide a bit of motivation to re-evaluate what Facebook does for you, if you fit into one of these categories (and if not, at least you can stop feeling bad about not having very many Facebook friends—it’s probably a good thing). None of this is to say Facebook is inherently bad, of course. It’s still a great way to keep in touch with family and friends, especially after you’ve fixed all of its annoyances—you might just want to dial back on all the photo tagging. While you’re at it, you can also move some of those friends to your Acquaintances list using Facebook’s new tool, which will hide them from your news feed more often.

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