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Person behind loon comments 'should be reprimanded'
Conservative MP John Redwood has said that if the "swivel-eyed loons" comments are found to be true then the person responsible "should be reprimanded".
He told BBC1's Andrew Marr show that he is "very glad" the comments have been "strenuously denied".
Tory MP: Cameron has a 'very united party behind him'
The Conservative MP John Redwood has said that his party is "very united" behind the Prime Minister on his strategy in Europe.
He told the BBC 1's Andrew Marr show that he, and other eurosceptic MPs, support David Cameron's policy of trying to renegotiate Britain's position within the EU before seeking a referendum.
"We're very happy with the policy of negotiate and decide," he added.
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Tory activists warn PM over stance on gay marriage
Tory activists have attacked David Cameron's support for gay marriage, claiming it had made winning the next general election "virtually impossible".
In a letter to the Prime Minister, more than 30 present and former local party chairmen warned that Mr Cameron's backing for a change in the law had led to voters switching their support to UKIP.
They wrote that many of the lost supporters would not return unless legislation for gay marriages was abandoned "or the party leadership changed".
The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill returns to the Commons tomorrow for two days of debate, with many Tory MPs expected to oppose it on a free vote.
Police warn against visiting scene of Swindon road crash
Friends and relatives of the two women who were killed when their car left the road in Swindon have been warned by police to avoid leaving flowers at the crash scene for their own safety.
"We have had one or two people pulling up at the scene to pay their respects," a police spokesman said.
Read: Wiltshire police names women killed in Swindon crash
"This stretch of road is a clearway with traffic travelling at speeds of up to 70mph.
"Anyone who attempts to stop, no matter how briefly, could be putting themselves and others at risk of serious injury.
Flax bed sheets 'could help prevent spread of MRSA'
Researchers believe a plant first used by prehistoric man could help prevent the spread of bacteria, including MRSA, in hospital bed linen.
They found that fibres from the common flax plant can kill bacteria efficiently when treated with special light-sensitive dyes and exposed to red light.
Academics at the University of Brighton found that flax absorbs some light-sensitive dyes with a greater capacity than the most commonly used material, cotton. After stimulation with red light, the dyes produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) that kill bacteria.
The ROS attacks bacteria in a number of ways meaning that it is less likely to build up resistance, unlike with treatment by antibiotics.
'Terminator 2' actor arrested in West Hollywood
Star of 'Terminator 2' Edward Furlong has been arrested on suspicion of violating a restraining order filed by his ex-girlfriend.
Police say they found Furlong in West Hollywood hiding in a nearby property. He was released yesterday after being held on £65,000 bail. In March, the 35-year-old actor was sentenced to six months in jail for violating a similar restraining order.
He has been the subject of such orders taken out by both his ex-wife and ex-girlfriend.
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Grant Schapps doubts 'loon' remarks were ever made
The Conservative co-chairman, Grant Schapps, has cast doubt on reports in two newspapers that a senior Tory aide described party activists as "mad, swivel-eyed loons".
Asked who was behind the alleged comments, he told Channel 4:
Unfortunately I can't reveal the answer to that, simply because I was not there and as far as we are aware it was not even said, but we just don't know.
I don't believe anyone senior would say this type of thing, it's not an attitude or a view I have ever heard expressed in No 10, in Central Office. We respect and work with people who work incredibly hard as volunteers, unpaid, for the party.
– Grant Shapps, Conservative Party ChairmanI'm trying to make clear, I don't believe it's ever been said. You can always run a story that said there were 250 people in a room and one of them said this.
The trouble is with this story we don't know who is supposed to have said it.
Single ticket wins £390 million US lottery
A single ticketholder in the United States has beaten extraordinary odds to win the highest ever Powerball lottery jackpot, worth an estimated £390 million. The ticket was bought at a supermarket in Florida and so far the winner has not been named.
The chances of winning are extremely low at 1 in 175.2 million which reflects how many different ways players can combine the numbers. Officials estimate that about 80% of the possible combinations have been bought recently.
One in 10 British motorists 'fall asleep at the wheel'
More than three million British drivers have fallen asleep behind the wheel in the last year. New research shows that almost one in 10 of the UK's more than 38 million motorists have nodded off while driving.
Tiredness contributed to at least 3,357 fatigue-related accidents which have been recorded over the past five years, according to official police figures obtained by LV car insurance.
Among the main causes were long and monotonous roads, a lack of sleep, driving long distances to a holiday destination or after a late work shift.
Howe: Anti-Europeanism has 'infected the soul' of party
Lord Howe has launched a scathing attack on the Conservative party leadership. In an opinion piece in the Observer, he writes:
Sadly, by making it clear in January that he opposes the current terms of UK membership of the EU, the prime minister has opened a Pandora's box politically and seems to be losing control of his party in the process.
The ratchet-effect of Euroscepticism has now gone so far that the Conservative leadership is in effect running scared of its own backbenchers, let alone Ukip, having allowed deep anti-Europeanism to infect the very soul of the party.
– lord howe, former chancellorThe risk now is that, if it loses the next general election – a far from negligible possibility – the Conservative party will move to a position of simply opposing Britain's continued membership, with or without a referendum.
