The ban, introduced in the Health Act 2006, is widely cited as being a major contributing factor to the loss of one-fifth of pub jobs as more and more Great British Pubs are forced to close their doors.

After an amendment to the legislation, the Excel Exhibition Centre in Docklands, East London, will open certain smoking rooms for foreign dignitaries, despite denying private members bars and clubs the same right.

Anne Widdecombe, Conservative MP for Maidstone and the Weald, said: ‘It’s one law for one, and one for another, and I think that sums up this government’.

With nearly 6 pubs closing every day, the Conservative Party has launched a campaign to call on the Government to Save the Great British Pub.

For more information, and to sign the petition, head over to Conservatives.com.

The two Air Cadets who died in the AEF collision yesterday have been named by the Ministry of Defence.

Cousins Katie-Jo Davies, 14, and Nikkita Marie Walters, 13, died alongside their pilots Flying Officer Andrew Marsh, 24, and Flying Officer Hilton Price, 63, when their two Grob Tutors collided yesterday morning.

Both girls were from Gilfach Goch, Rhondda,? and attended Tonyrefail Comprehensive School. The other pupils were told of their deaths at a special assembly on Thursday.

Russell Roberts, the Leader of Rhondda Cynon Taff Council, also a school governor, said, “We are devastated and in shock. Our sympathies are with the girls’ families at this tragic time.”

In a statement, the girls’ families said:

Words cannot describe how devastated we are by the loss of our girls.

Nikkita and Katie-Jo were both much loved and will be so sorely missed. We are all grieving and would appeal for privacy at this time to come to terms with our loss.

We will not be making any further comment at this time. We need time alone to deal with what has happened.

Group Captain Andrew Naismith added to yesterday’s statement, by saying:

“Yesterday’s tragic accident took the lives of four members of the RAF family. As I said yesterday, our thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of those who died.

The aircraft involved in yesterday’s incident were two Grob Tutor T1 training aircraft. These aircraft are supplied and operated by VT AE and have been in use as an elementary flying training aircraft by the RAF since 1999.

The RAF is working closely with the Air Accident Investigation Branch and South Wales Police as part of a tripartite investigation. An MOD Service Investigation is already underway and all the data gleaned will be shared to enable us to determine the facts which led to yesterday’s tragic accident.

For this reason, you will appreciate that we cannot speculate about the causal factors which led to this accident. We must gather the facts to reach the proper conclusion.

Members of the Emergency Services, the Environment Agency, Local Authority and the communities involved have provided unstinting support throughout last night’s bitterly cold weather and, for their selfless contributions, I thank them for this and for the immense compassion everyone concerned has shown.

The loss of four members of the RAF family is one that is felt acutely.

A Grob Tutor does Aerobatics at a public display. Photo: Tom Williams (pterodaktyl on Flickr). Some rights reserved.

Two female Air Cadets and two RAF pilots were killed when they collided in the skies over South Wales yesterday.

The two Cadets, whose families do not wish to name publicly until they have come to terms with the events but who are believed to be cousins, were on Air Experience Flights with the Air Training Corps.

The wreckage of the two Grob Tutors, which collided just before 11:00 on Wednesday, February 11, was spread over half a mile, near a nature reserve close to Port Talbot in the Vale of Glamorgan. The flights had taken off from MOD St Athan.

Three separate inquiries are now underway, including one being carried out by the Ministry of Defence. Group Captain Andrew Naismith, who is in charge of Flight Training at the parent headquarters, RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire, said:

We would like to learn what lessons we can from this tragic incident

Four members of the RAF family have tragically lost their lives following an accident which took place near Porthcawl just before lunchtime today. Those who died were two members of the RAF and two Air Training Corps cadets.

I would like to hereby thank all members of the emergency services for their rapid and caring response and once again ask for the media to exercise restraint at this most difficult time for the families.

Supt Tim Jones, of South Wales Police, added:

A major incident room has been set up at police headquarters in Bridgend and a response is being co-ordinated from there.

Clearly, the scene is expansive and we will be needing to protect the scene tonight to maintain the integrity of the investigation and we would appeal to members of the public to avoid the area tonight.

In addition to the Police and MoD, the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) will also be conducting their own inquiry into the crash.

The event, which takes place on June 27 every year from 2009, salutes the bravery and sacrifice of Britain’s Armed Forces in a move which has been a long time coming.

Mr Jones said “Our armed forces and veterans rightly deserve the nation?s support and recognition”.

This means that senior Royals, top military officials and hundreds of Armed Forces personnel will descend upon the Dockyard for the main event, with hundreds of smaller events taking place across the Country.

To view a video of the announcement go to the Medway Messenger’s website

Mirroring Hilary Clinton’s early campaign tactics, Mr Cameron will launch the policy to turn Britain into a low carbon economy live online at 13:30, being interviewed by leading environmental journalist Geoffrey Lean and answering questions from the public, submitted via email, live chat and Twitter.

The policy launch will last for around 30 minutes and more information on how to get involved can be found here.

Born on September 23, 1900 , as the tenth of fourteen children, Mr Stone enlisted in the Royal Navy on his 18th birthday and although he saw no action in the First World War, he was in training during the conflict.

The Devon-born veteran then continued to serve up until September 18, 1945, rising to the rank of Chief Petty Officer and serving the full length of the Second World War on the ships HMS Salamander (1937-1941) and HMS Newfoundland (1941-1945).

Whilst on the HMS Salamander, he took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk, making five shuttle trips and picking up over 1,000 men. He later told the Oxford Mail:

Dunkirk was the worst experience of my life … I saw hundreds of people killed in front of me. Some had no clothes on and were shot and bombed as they swam out to boats. There were oil tanks burning, ships sinking and hundreds of soldiers lined up on the beaches.

After he left active service he ran his own barber’s shop. He married Lily in 1938, a marriage which lasted until her death in 1995, and the couple had one daughter, Anne (now Davidson), who described him as “very determined character [...] a man of great faith and his recipe for long life was: ‘Clean living, contented mind and trust in God.’ His motto: ‘Keep going.”

He sadly passed away on Saturday, January 10, 2009, and his funeral is expected to be later in January at St Leonard’s Church Watlington. His passing leaves just three remaining World War One veterans from the five million men who served in the British Armed Forces.

I would like to offer my condolences to the family and friends of a true British hero.

Now, the Conservative Party has released the following campaign video, slamming the Government’s appalling decisions.

On Saturday customers had been coming in asking for top-ups, only to be advised that if they were to pay us ?10 they would receive a ?10 top-up, yet if they were to pay Woolworths ?10 they would receive a ?20 top-up.

One customer even announced that he had just topped-up ?100 on his phone, to the personal expense of just ?50.

Quite a contrast to the latest High Street victim Zavvi, who are now unable to offer top-ups at all.