Prices up as Centrica profit soars

AROUND 8.5 million households are to be hit with a 6% rise in their energy bills today as British Gas becomes the latest utility giant to hike its tariffs.

The move will add another £80 to the typical annual dual-fuel bill for a British Gas customer, or £1.50 a week.

There was mounting anger over the bill blow – first announced last month – after British Gas parent Centrica said it was set to make profits of £1.4 billion this year.

Hague meets Syria opposition group

WILLIAM Hague will today meet Syrian opposition leaders fighting to oust president Bashar Assad’s brutal regime.

The Foreign Secretary will urge the group to develop a clear plan for political transition in Syria when he opens the London talks, which are being hosted by the UK’s special envoy, Jon Wilks.

He will also press for the need to respect human rights and “win over the middle ground of opinion” in the nation amid the spiralling violence meted out by the regime.

Ashdown urges withdrawal of troops

BRITISH forces must withdraw from Afghanistan as quickly as possible before any more troops are killed, Liberal Democrat former leader Lord Ashdown said today.

In a damning assessment of the campaign in Afghanistan, he said allied forces had failed to build a sustainable state and establish a government which was untainted by corruption.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said British forces will have been withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 but writing in today’s Times, Lord Ashdown said it should be sooner.

AA blasts fuel prices despite fall

PETROL prices have fallen but drivers are still being short-changed, according to the AA.

Average petrol prices have gone down from 138.95p a litre in mid October to 135.08p now, with diesel dropping from 143.74p a litre to 141.89p.

But the fall in wholesale petrol prices across Europe should have knocked UK pump prices down by 10p to 11p a litre, the AA said.