The UK could save up to £8bn a year by using electricity better, the government's infrastructure advisers say.

The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) envisages a smart energy revolution with more cables linking the National Grid to mainland Europe.
NIC also says the UK needs to store much more energy from intermittent renewable like wind and solar.
Fridges, freezers and washing machines could play a part, they say.
Experts believe it is the first step to a full-scale "Internet of Energy", with web-enabled home appliances like freezers and washing machines linked to the grid.
Here's how it would work: At a time of peak demand, an energy firm's computer will contact your smart freezer to ask if power can be switched off for a few minutes to allow your neighbour to use some of the energy to cook dinner.
Your well-insulated freezer will stay cold without electricity for a while, so it will agree to power down.
You will be rewarded with a credit on your energy bill.
Multiplied across thousands of homes, smart energy means the grid will need fewer power stations than it was planning to meet peak demand.
The system is already operating with firms like the hotel chain Marriott, which allows its aircon systems to be switched off to save power when electricity demand peaks. The aircon stays cool because of the volume of cold water in it, so guests don't notice.
On the other hand, at times the grid is awash with energy - at night, or when it's very windy or sunny.
In these times of energy plenty, a computer will contact your web-enabled washing machine or dishwasher to ask if they want to turn on to benefit from cheap power.
This is known as demand flexibility - and the infrastructure commission says it must be supported by government.
Lord Adonis, chairman of the commission, said: "Our existing power stations are closing down and their replacements will be radically different as we de-carbonise supply to reduce emissions.
"This represents an enormous challenge, but it leaves the UK uniquely placed to benefit from exciting innovations set to transform the global electricity market.
"The UK can lead the world in harnessing these innovations. We do not call for new subsidies or significant public spending, but rather a level playing field through fairer regulation and a better managed network to allow these exciting new technologies to compete.
"If we get this right, a Smart Power Revolution could save consumers £8bn a year."
The commission wants to see more ideas for storing energy - like using liquid air or pumped hydro power.
The commission's report will be welcomed by many in the energy industry.
The head of the World Energy Council, Christophe Frei, told BBC News there would be two huge advances in energy in the 21st Century: solar power - and the internet.
"Everyone knows about solar power," he said. "But people haven't yet grasped the transformative potential of information systems on the internet to maximize the efficient use of electricity."
The new flexible systems adopt the approach laid out by the technology guru Amory Lovins decades ago.
He proposed that a megawatt of energy saved - which he christened a NEGAwatt -  should be rewarded just as highly as the power generated.
Academics warn that the flexible energy revolution must be enabled because with the future need for cars powered by electricity and homes heated by electricity to save carbon emissions, the existing grid won't cope unless there is change.
Professor Phil Taylor from Newcastle University said: "If you unravelled the National Grid it would stretch to the moon and back. We can't afford to renew it even if we wanted to."
He said he welcomed the report, which may accelerate moves already in the system. The government has a working group on flexible demand, and the regulator Ofgem has forced  electricity providers to show how they will roll out smart energy.
"This report is progressive," he said. "It's the right way to go -  delivering savings through flexibility rather than more infrastructure."
A report for the commission by Goran Strbac from Imperial College concluded that if there's enough flexibility in the system, it can prove cheaper than nuclear power or carbon capture and storage technology.
Follow Roger on Twitter @rharrabin


The French authorities have been carrying out the demolition of one of the biggest refugee camps in Europe known as the "Jungle".

Several thousand people who lived at the camp were moved to new homes around France last week.
However, around 1,500 children still remained living at the camp in temporary shelters.
A week after the demolition first begun, these children have now been taken to special centres around France where they can be properly processed.
But why were these people being made to move? And why were they in Calais in the first place?
The jungle is situated at a place called Calais, which is on the north coast of France, right near to the UK.
Many thousands of people travelled across Europe and arrived at Calais in order to try to cross the English Channel to reach the UK, where they believed they could live a better life.
This is because Calais is one of the main ports for travelling from France to England, with lots of vehicles, ships and trains that travel to England from here.
However, the refugees were being stopped at Calais before they could complete the last part of their journey, as they are not allowed to simply enter the UK without going through an official process.
This means they had to set up temporary homes at Calais. As a result, the jungle had become home to thousands of people, desperate to finish their journey and make a new start in the UK.
Earlier this year, authorities in France announced plans to close the camp and an area of it was cleared. However, the final demolition of the Jungle shelters has now been completed.
The authorities did this because they did not believe it was a situation people should be living in, and they needed to find a better solution.
People had been living in very poor and dirty conditions. Furthermore, there were reports of violence and trouble in the camp, meaning it wasn't always a safe place for people to live.
Local people in Calais had also been campaigning for the Jungle to close down, as they did not want it in their area.
Many of those living in the Jungle had been making desperate attempts to reach the UK quicker, by jumping onto lorries that are travelling to England. This is extremely dangerous and is also illegal.
The thousands of people who lived in the camp have been made to leave their temporary homes behind.
Thousands of migrants have been taken to official centres all over France, where the authorities say the living conditions will be better.
Once they arrive there, French officials will register them and decide where they will go to live after this.
One of the big problems which the authorities faced when trying to sort out the refugees with new homes was the fact that many children travelled across Europe - and were living in the Jungle - on their own.
Around 270 children who have relatives in the UK - or who were considered to be particularly in need of help - have been brought over to the UK to be looked after here.


A former milkman accused of murdering his mother and her friend was found at the scene laughing and covered in blood, a court has been told.

Brett Rogers, 23, allegedly knifed Gillian Phillips, 54, and David Oakes, 60, dozens of times in a fatal attack at her home in Stansted Mountfitchet.
Mr Rogers, of Stansted Mountfitchet, denies two counts of murder.
Chelmsford Crown Court was told Mr Rogers made a 999 call on 22 July, 2015, saying: "There's been a murder."
Read more on this story and other news from Essex
The trial jury heard how Mr Rogers had been jailed for assaulting his father Peter Rogers and was on licence at the time of the killings.
Officers found him standing outside his mother's house in Bentfield Gardens "laughing and covered in blood", the jury was told.
Simon Spence QC, for the prosecution, said: "Gillian Phillips was sprawled across a sofa, already dead and covered in blood."
He said Mr Oakes "was lying on the floor face down, his face and neck covered in blood - although at that time he was still breathing.
"There was copious amounts of blood around the room, and in the kitchen, bathroom and upstairs bedroom."
Mrs Phillips had been stabbed at least 41 times in the head, neck and torso, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mr Oakes was taken to hospital with 56 wounds to his head, face and neck. He died just after midnight from severe head injuries.
Both victims had injuries suggesting they had been stamped on, said Mr Spence.
Mr Rogers lived with his father and worked as a milkman before he was jailed for inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent.
He went to live with his mother after his release in March 2015.
The trial continues.


The public sector pay cap should be scrapped in recognition of the work of the emergency services following recent disasters, says Tim Farron.

The outgoing Lib Dem leader said firefighters, police and medical staff "deserve so much better".
The pay cap, which has been in place since 2012, limits pay rises for public sector workers to 1% a year until 2020.
Ministers have said that wage restraint in the public sector helps protect jobs and repairs the public finances.
But Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said earlier this month he had "a great deal of sympathy" for the case made by nurses for an end to the pay cap because of the "enormous amount of goodwill and time given free of charge" by staff.
Labour and the Lib Dems both pledged to scrap the 1% pay cap in their 2017 manifestos.
In the past few months there have been terror attacks in London and Manchester, and the Grenfell Tower fire disaster.
Mr Farron said the pay cap should be replaced by pay rises in line with inflation.
His party says the cap means that emergency service staff are seeing their wages cut in real terms, with the average firefighter set to be an estimated Â£1,423 a year worse off, in real terms, by 2020-21.
Mr Farron said: "Terror attacks in London and Manchester and the Grenfell Tower tragedy have reminded us how our emergency services deal with the most terrible of events with professionalism and courage. They deserve a pay rise, not a pay cut.
"This is about choices. During the election campaign, Theresa May reacted with indifference when asked why nurses were having to resort to using food banks.
"But in recent months we have seen time and again that our emergency services run towards danger when others run away. They deserve so much better.
"The Liberal Democrats call on the government to stand up for our firefighters, police, doctors and nurses and give them the pay rise they deserve."
Home Secretary Amber Rudd admitted last week that terror attacks in the past three months had left police resources "pulled very tight".
A Treasury spokesperson said: "The whole country truly values the extraordinary professionalism and courage that the police and the emergency services have shown in recent weeks and it is crucial that the public sector continues to recruit, retain and motivate the highest quality staff.
"Pay restraint is one of the many difficult choices the government has had to make to protect jobs while helping to put the UK's public finances back on track.
"The independent Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that our current pay policy will protect 200,000 public sector jobs."


Stormont's Speaker has defended himself against allegations of party political motivation when he allowed his DUP leader, Arlene Foster, to address the assembly on the 'cash-for-ash' scheme.

Robin Newton has written to all MLAs, setting out his reasons for permitting her to make a statement last month, without Martin McGuinness's approval.
Mrs Foster and Mr McGuinness held joint office until he resigned on Monday.
Mr Newton said he took the impartiality of his role "extremely seriously".
The DUP MLA, who was elected Speaker in May last year, faced a walk-out protest by opposition parties over his handling of an emergency sitting of the assembly on 19 December.
The chamber emptied as Mrs Foster made a statement about her role in setting up the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme, which has left taxpayers with an unexpected Â£490m bill.
Members complained that Mr Newton had undermined the principles of power-sharing by permitting the first minister to make a statement to the chamber without the agreement of the deputy first minister.
He faced calls for his resignation as Speaker and will be the subject of a no confidence motion when the assembly reconvenes on Monday.
In a detailed letter to MLAs, Mr Newton said: "I have been deeply saddened by allegations that I was motivated by any party political factors in how business was conducted on 19 December.
"I reject that entirely in the case of this or any decision I have ever taken as Speaker. The independence and impartiality of the role of Speaker is something I have taken extremely seriously."
He wrote that, five days before Mrs Foster's statement, the Speaker's office received a "valid notice seeking the recall of the assembly" which bore the signatures of both the first and deputy first ministers.
However, on the night before the emergency sitting, his office received an "unsigned email in the name of the deputy first minister" which stated that Mrs Foster's statement did not reflect the views of Mr McGuinness and that he was "withdrawing his agreement".
The Speaker said he received advice that the initial recall of the assembly was valid as both the first and deputy first ministers had agreed to it, but that Mr McGuinness could not then act alone to prevent the recall.
"What was done jointly by the first and deputy first minister cannot be undone unilaterally," Mr Newton wrote.
The Speaker insisted that he did not consult anyone from the DUP about the situation and had "acted solely on the basis of official advice".
However, he acknowledged that it had been a "very difficult day" and that "business could have been managed better".
"I admit that I was not prepared for the extent of the frustrations which were exhibited in the chamber from that point on the day."
Mr Newton also added that he was "disappointed that no recognition has been given to the role of the Executive Office in creating this scenario".
He said the first and deputy first ministers should not "lightly seek the recall of the assembly without ensuring that agreement is secured and maintained on the business to be transacted".
In November, Mr Newton apologised to the assembly for not declaring his links to the east Belfast organisation Charter NI, when he made an earlier ruling against an urgent debate on its funding.
The Speaker denied being an adviser to Charter NI, but he said he had offered it advice in the past.


Usain Bolt has been named male World Athlete of the Year for a fifth time.

The 27-year-old Jamaican, who also won last year, clinched 100m, 200m and 100m relay gold in the World Championships in Moscow in August.
Fellow Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce took the women's award after winning the same three golds as Bolt in Russia.
100m: 2008, 2012 Olympics; 2009, 2013 World Championships
200m: 2008, 2012 Olympics; 2009, 2011, 2013 World Championships
4x100m: 2008, 2012 Olympics; 2009, 2011, 2013 World Championships
Earlier this week, the 27-year-old said she will refuse to run in major events unless Jamaica's athletics authorities "stand by" their athletes.
Bolt, who beat Britain's double world champion from Moscow Mo Farah to the award, became the most successful athlete in the history of the World Championships this year with his eighth gold and 10th medal in total.
At the awards ceremony in Monaco, he said his 2014 target was to beat his 200m world record of 19.19 seconds.
"That has always been my dream; that has always been my aim," he said. "This season will be the season when I will be going for world records because there are no major [outdoor] championships.
Media playback is not supported on this device
"The 200m is much easier than the 100m to try for a record and that would be my main focus this season."
Bolt has previously said he could retire after the 2016 Olympics - but he added he might yet compete at the World Championships in London the following year.
"I was having some talk about this with my coach, and he was saying people had said I should go for another year," he said.
Fraser-Pryce has now won seven medals at World Championships to add to her four Olympic medals.
Men's finalists: Usain Bolt (Jamaica, sprinter), Bohdan Bondarenko (Ukraine, high jumper), Mo Farah (GB, distance runner).
Women's finalists: Valerie Adams (New Zealand, shot put), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica, sprinter), Zuzana Hejnova (Czech Republic, 400m hurdles).


The UK has "little to fear from leaving the EU", the chairman of JCB has said.

Lord Bamford, who supported Brexit, said the business community "needed to look to the future".
"European markets are important to many UK businesses, including JCB, and this will not change," he said.
"We should look ahead to opportunities to trade more freely with the rest of the world, as well as building on existing trading relationships with customers and suppliers in Europe."
The boss of the heavy equipment firm said: "The UK is the world's fifth largest trading nation. We therefore have little to fear from leaving the EU."
Brexit: Five areas to watch on the economy
Jack: The great business referendum snub
City shock at referendum result
UK interest rate 'likely to hit zero'
Business calls for stability and direction
Results in full
While some economists have warned that Britain could be heading towards a recession as the result of a leave vote, others predict stronger growth.
"We can look forward to faster rates of economic growth as we embrace the world economy," John Hearn, economist at the London Institute of Banking and Finance said.
"The fall in the exchange rate benefits UK exporters by lowering prices and helps the domestic producer by making their products more price competitive and does not affect the rate of inflation: win win win for the UK economy."
Peter Hargreaves, a founding partner of retail investment company Hargreaves Lansdown, said Britain could encourage the right type of immigration. Mr Hargreaves has been a prominent campaigner for the leave campaign and a major donor, although the firm he co-founded has remained neutral on the vote.
"We need immigrants, lots of them," he told the BBC.
"But we need to make sure it's the type of immigration we want so we can be selective and take the people that will make us prosper."
Other business figures that campaigned for a British departure from the EU included vacuum entrepreneur James Dyson and Tim Martin of the JD Wetherspoon pub chain.
Most leaders of the UK's largest firms came out in favour of a 'Remain' vote.
But some well-known voices have suggested that the British economy will not be adversely affected in the long term by leaving the EU. The investor Neil Woodford wrote in his blog that the vote to leave was not 'as negative a development' as the market's first reaction indicated.
The FTSE 100 initially fell by around 8% on Friday morning, but regained some of its value later in the day to close 3.15% down. The pound ended the day 7.5% down against the dollar.


A man has been arrested after a cyclist was critically injured in a suspected "hit-and-run" crash in Hampshire on Sunday.

The male cyclist, who is in his 40s, was struck by a vehicle near the Folly Roundabout, Redon Way, Andover, at about 00:45 GMT.
He suffered life-threatening injuries.
A 28-year-old man from Andover has been arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and bailed until 28 June.
Sgt Adrienne Jerram said: "The victim has been left in an extremely critical condition in hospital and his family are with him at his bedside."


Greenland sharks are now the longest-living vertebrates known on Earth, scientists say.

Researchers used radiocarbon dating to determine the ages of 28 of the animals, and estimated that one female was about 400 years old.
The team found that the sharks grow at just 1cm a year, and reach sexual maturity at about the age of 150.
The research is published in the journal Science.
Lead author Julius Nielsen, a marine biologist from the University of Copenhagen, said: "We had our expectations that we were dealing with an unusual animal, but I think everyone doing this research was very surprised to learn the sharks were as old as they were."
The former vertebrate record-holder was a bowhead whale estimated to be 211 years old.
But if invertebrates are brought into the longevity competition, a 507-year-old clam called Ming holds the title of most aged animal.
Greenland sharks are huge beasts, that can grow up to 5m in length.
They can be found, swimming slowly, throughout the cold, deep waters of the North Atlantic.
With this leisurely pace of life and sluggish growth rate, the sharks were thought to live for a long time.  But until now, determining any ages was difficult.
For some fish, scientists are able to examine ear bones called otoliths, which when sectioned, show a pattern of concentric rings that scientists can count as they would the rings in a tree.
Sharks are harder, but some species, such as the Great White, have calcified tissue that grows in layers on their back bones, that can also be used to age the animals.
"But the Greenland shark is a very, very soft shark - it has no hard body parts where growth layers are deposited. So it was believed that the age could not be investigated," Mr Nielsen told the BBC.
However the team found a clever way of working out the age.
"The Greenland shark's eye lens is composed of a specialised material - and it contains proteins that are metabolically inert," explained Mr Neilson.
"Which means after the proteins have been synthesised in the body, they are not renewed any more.  So we can isolate the tissue that formed when the shark was a pup, and do radiocarbon dating."
The team looked at 28 sharks, most of which had died after being caught in fishing nets as by-catch.
Using this technique, they established that the largest shark - a 5m-long female - was extremely ancient.
Because radiocarbon dating does not produce exact dates, they believe that she could have been as "young" as 272 or as old as 512. But she was most likely somewhere in the middle, so about 400 years old.
It means she was born between the years of 1501 and 1744, but her most likely date of birth was in the 17th century.
"Even with the lowest part of this uncertainty, 272 years, even if that is the maximum age, it should still be considered the longest-living vertebrate," said Mr Nielsen.
Conversely, if her age is at the upper end of the scale, she will have out-lived Ming the clam - although her age has a greater probability of lying in the middle.
The team believes the animals only reach sexual maturity when they are 4m-long. And with this new, very lengthy age-range, it suggests this does not occur until the animals are about 150 years old.
The researchers say this has consequences for future conservation of the animals.
Because of their extreme longevity, Greenland sharks may still be recovering from being over-fished before WW2.
The sharks' livers were once used for machine oil, and they were killed in great numbers before a synthetic alternative was found and the demand fell.
"When you evaluate the size distribution all over the North Atlantic, it is quite rare that you see sexually mature females, and quite rare that you find newborn pups or juveniles," Mr Nielsen explained.
"It seems most are sub-adults. That makes sense: if you have had this very high fishing pressure, all the old animals - they are not there any more. And there are not that many to give birth to new ones.
"There is, though, still a very large amount of 'teenagers', but it will take another 100 years for them to become sexually active."
Another author of the study, Prof Christopher Ramsey, director of Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit at the University of Oxford, said that radiocarbon dating could be used to determine the ages of other animals, but was not likely to be chosen as the primary method.
"For many animals we have other methods to determine age," he said.
"Also, the radiocarbon method is not very precise, and so is only really relevant for very long-lived species."
He added that the statistical method used to determine the sharks' ages was  Bayesian statistics.
"Bayesian statistics were first worked out by the Rev Bayes in the 18th Century.  This means he will have been working on this when some of these oldest sharks were young."
Follow Rebecca on Twitter @BBCMorelle.


A former Olympian has taken a day of rest to end a 52-year running streak of at least one mile every single day.

Ron Hill, who competed at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 and Munich in 1972, has put on his running shoes every day since 20 December 1964 - a total of 52 years and 39 days.
The 78-year-old won marathon gold medals at the European Championships in 1969 and the 1970 Commonwealth Games.
He said he felt a pain in his chest while out running.
"After 400m my heart started to hurt and by the time I got to the one mile (1.6km) point I thought I was going to die," he added.
"I was in such pain and I thought 'no, hang on, this isn't going anywhere at the moment', and really in respect of my wife, two sons and friends I need to stop this."
His Facebook page said he "decided to take a day off" due to illness.
Paying tribute to his achievements on the social media page, David Hope said: "An amazing achievement and an amazing and lovely fella. Well done, Ron."
Julie O'Brien wrote: "We're wishing you a speedy recovery Ron, you're a total legend and inspire many many people."
Born in Accrington, Dr Ron Hill MBE was the first Briton to win the Boston Marathon in 1970.
In the same year, he claimed a marathon time of two hours nine minutes 28 seconds in the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.
Off the track he established Ron Hill Sports, pioneering use of synthetic fabrics in sportswear, and was given the Freedom of Accrington in 2012.
A street in the town - Ron Hill Way - was named after him two years later.
When he reached 50 years of running, the distance recorded in his log book added up to 160,000 miles - the equivalent of running around the world more than six times.


An energy firm appealing against a decision to refuse fracking said the inquiry was not about the "rights or wrongs" of shale gas extraction.

Cuadrilla was refused permission to extract shale gas at the sites in Little Plumpton and Roseacre Wood.
Lancashire County Council rejected both planning applications last year on the grounds of noise and traffic impact.
Cuadrilla disputed those reasons at the inquiry in Blackpool, but the council said it was "democracy in action".
Fracking - or hydraulic fracturing - was suspended in the UK in 2011 following earth tremors in Blackpool, where Cuadrilla previously drilled.
Nathalie Lieven QC, representing Cuadrilla, told the public inquiry night-time noise would be short and affect only a handful of homes.
At Roseacre, the traffic would be a maximum of 50 HGV movements a day for 12 weeks, she said.
"Self-evidently that process is controversial. However, this is not an inquiry into the rights or wrongs of shale gas extraction and how it relates to the UK's climate change obligations," Ms Lieven said.
"Ultimately these are proposed developments where the government has stated that there is a national need, and where the planning impacts are very limited."
The hearing at Blackpool Football Club's conference suite was told the council turned down the planning application at Little Plumpton against the advice of planning officials.
Alan Evans, representing Lancashire County Council, suggested that was "local democracy in action".
Activists on both sides of the debate gathered outside Bloomfield Road, each side - pro and anti-fracking - trying to make more noise than the other.
Chants of "Don't frack Lancashire" came from a crowd made up of local residents and members of environmental organisations, such as Friends of the Earth.
A group calling themselves Backing Fracking were among the pro-fracking group, whose members held placards with slogans like "Give shale a chance in Lancs". They told me they "believe Lancashire is for shale and will keep showing that".
Protesters later disappeared but the inquiry will go on for the next five weeks.
The government has decided Communities Secretary Greg Clark will make the final decision because the proposals are "of more than local significance".
A government spokesman said: "Local communities remain fully involved in planning decisions over any shale application - whether decided by councils or government - and strict planning rules that ensure shale development happens only at appropriate sites remain unchanged."
Ahead of the hearing, pro and anti-fracking protesters gathered outside the football club.
Jasber Singh, from Frack Free Lancashire, said: "We are not going to gain anything from fracking apart from air, noise, land and water pollution that's bad for our health and the health of the climate."
In London, Greenpeace activists installed a life-like 33ft (10m) fracking rig and drill at Parliament Square as a protest to coincide with the first day of the inquiry in Lancashire.
The move has prompted the term #Frackminster to trend on Twitter.


Hate crimes against Muslims in London have risen by 70% in the past year, according to Met Police statistics.

Figures for the 12 months up to July showed 816 Islamophobic crimes, compared with 478 for the previous 12-month period.
Tell MAMA, an organisation that monitors Islamophobic attacks, claimed women were the primary targets.
The group told Inside Out London women wearing a face veil were victims of more "aggressive incidents".
The Met define Islamophobic crime as any offence intended to affect those known or perceived to be Muslim. Reported incidents ranged from cyber-bullying and assaults to extreme violence.
One of the highest increases was in Merton, south west London, which saw a rise from eight incidents in the year to July 2014 up to 29 in the subsequent 12-month period - an increase of 263%.
The borough with the highest number of incidents in the year 2014-15 was Westminster, which had 54 Islamophobic crimes, according to Scotland Yard's figures.
Tell MAMA said about 60% of Islamophobia victims were women.
Fiyaz Mughal, director of the organisation, said: "We realised that at a street level Muslim women who were visible, and wore the Hijab or the headscarf, were suffering more targeted abuse.
"We also realised quite early on that women who wear Niqab, the face veil, suffered more aggressive incidents - there was something about the face veil that in a way brought out the worst in the perpetrator."
The charity said female victims often avoided contacting the police because they feared it could make matters worse.
The Met does not have a breakdown of the gender of victims of Islamophobic crime but said they believed the overall increase in attacks were due to "improved methods of recording crime".
Cdr Mak Chishty, the force's lead for hate crime, said: "There are a number of reasons why Muslim women are targeted more than men.
"Their physical attire obviously says they are Muslim, they are normally by themselves and with children and the cowardice shown by perpetrators is that it is easier to attack a women with children than it is a man."
Muslim convert and mother-of-two Joni Clark moved her family from Penge in south east London, to Whitechapel in east London, after suffering several Islamophobic incidents.
"I receive abuse every single day," she said.
"The attacks affect my children deeply and I fear for their safety so I feel I have no choice but to move."
BBC Inside Out London is on BBC One in the London region on Monday 7 September at 19:30 BST, nationwide on the BBC News Channel at 20:30 and on the BBC iPlayer for 28 days thereafter.


1922 - The Council of the League of Nations recognizes Transjordan as a state under British supervision.
1946 - The United Nations recognizes Jordan as an independent sovereign kingdom.
1948 - State of Israel created in British-mandate Palestine. Thousands of Palestinians flee Arab-Israeli fighting to West Bank and Jordan.
1950 - Jordan annexes West Bank.
1951 July - King Abdullah assassinated by Palestinian gunman angry at his apparent collusion with Israel in the carve-up of Palestine.
1952 August - Hussein proclaimed king after his father, Talal, is declared mentally unfit to rule.
1957 - British troops complete their withdrawal from Jordan.
1967 - Israel takes control of Jerusalem and West Bank during Six-Day War, major influx of refugees into Jordan.
1970 - Major clashes break out between government forces and Palestinian guerrillas resulting in thousands of casualties in civil war remembered as Black September.
1972 - Attempted military coup thwarted.
Palestinian guerillas tried to overthrow the king but were eventually expelled
1974 - King Hussein recognises PLO as sole legitimate representative of Palestinian people.
1986 - Hussein severs political links with the PLO and orders its main offices to shut.
1988 - Hussein publicly backs the Palestinian uprising, or intifada, against Israeli rule.
1989 - Rioting in several cities over price increases.
1989 - First general election since 1967, contested only by independent candidates because of the ban on political parties in 1963.
1990 - Jordan comes under severe economic and diplomatic strain as a result of the Gulf crisis following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
1994 - Jordan signs peace treaty with Israel, ending 46-year official state of war.
King Hussein ruled Jordan for 46 years - between 1953 and 1999
Jordan makes peace with Israel
Obituary
1996 - Food price riots after subsidies removed under economic plan supervised by the International Monetary Fund.
1997 - Parliamentary elections boycotted by several parties, associations and leading figures.
1998 - King Hussein treated for lymphatic cancer in United States.
1999 January - After six months of treatment King Hussein returns home to a rousing welcome, but flies back to the US soon after for further treatment.
1999 February - King Hussein dies. More than 50 heads of state attend his funeral. His eldest son Crown Prince Abdullah succeeds to the throne.
2000 September - A military court sentences six men to death for plotting attacks against Israeli and US targets.
2001 March - King Abdullah and presidents Bashar al-Assad of Syria and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt inaugurate a $300m (Â£207m) electricity line linking the grids of the three countries.
Amman is one of world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. In ancient times it was known as Rabbath-Ammon and Philadelphia
2002 January - Riots erupt in the southern town of Maan, the worst public disturbances in more than three years, following the death of a youth in custody.
2002 August - Spat with Qatar over a programme on Qatar-based Al-Jazeera TV which Jordan says insulted its royal family. Jordan shuts down Al-Jazeera's office in Amman and recalls its ambassador in Qatar.
2002 September - Jordan and Israel agree on a plan to pipe water from the Red Sea to the shrinking Dead Sea. The project, costing $800m, is the two nations' biggest joint venture to date.
2002 October - Senior US diplomat Laurence Foley is gunned down outside his home in Amman, in the first assassination of a Western diplomat in Jordan. Scores of political activists are rounded up.
2003 June - First parliamentary elections under King Abdullah II. Independent candidates loyal to the king win two-thirds of the seats.
2003 August - Bomb attack on Jordan's embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad kills 11 people, injures more than 50.
2003 September - Jordan's Central Bank retracts its decision to freeze accounts belonging to leaders of Hamas.
2003 October - A new cabinet is appointed following the resignation of Prime Minister Ali Abu al-Ragheb. Faisal al-Fayez is appointed prime minister. The king also appoints the three female ministers.
2004 February - Jordan's King Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad launch the Wahdah Dam project at a ceremony on the River Yarmuk.
2004 April - Eight Islamic militants are sentenced to death for killing a US government official in 2002.
Authorities seize cars filled with explosives and arrest several suspects said to be linked to al-Qaeda and planning chemical bomb attack on intelligence services HQ in Amman.
2005 March - Jordan returns its ambassador to Israel after a four-year absence. Amman recalled its envoy in 2000 after the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising.
2005 April - A new cabinet is sworn in, led by Prime Minister Adnan Badran, after the previous government resigns amid reports of the king's unhappiness over the pace of reforms.
2005 August - Three missiles are fired from the port of Aqaba. Two of them miss a US naval vessel; a third one lands in Israel. A Jordanian soldier is killed.
Suicide bombings at three Amman hotels killed 60, including members of a wedding party
2005 November - Sixty people are killed in suicide bombings at three international hotels in Amman. Al-Qaeda in Iraq claims responsibility. Most of the victims are Jordanians. A day of mourning is declared.
2006 June - Iraq's prime minister announces that Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, has been killed in an air strike.
2006 August - King Abdullah criticises the United States and Israel over the fighting in Lebanon.
2007 July - First local elections since 1999. The main opposition party, the Islamist Action Front, withdraws after accusing the government of vote-rigging.
2007 November - Parliamentary elections strengthen position of tribal leaders and other pro-government candidates. Fortunes of the opposition Islamic Action Front decline. Political moderate Nader Dahabi appointed prime minister.
2008 August - King Abdullah visits Iraq. He is the first Arab leader to visit the country since the US invasion in 2003.
2009 July - Military tribunal sentences an Al-Qaeda militant to death for his involvement in the 2003 killing of US diplomat Laurence Foley in Amman.
2009 November - King dissolves parliament half-way through its four-year term
2009 December - King Abdullah appoints new premier to push through economic reform.
2010 May - New electoral law introduced. Pro-reform campaigners say it does little to make system more representational.
2010 October - Leader of Islamist militant group jailed for plotting attacks on the army.
2010 November - Parliamentary elections, boycotted by the opposition Islamic Action Front. Riots break out after it is announced that pro-government candidates have won a sweeping victory.
2011 January - Tunisian street protests which unseat the president encourage similar demonstrations in other countries, including Jordan.
2011 February - Against a background of large-scale street protests, King Abdullah appoints a new prime minister, former army general Marouf Bakhit, and charges him with carrying out political reforms.
2011 October - Protests continue through the summer, albeit on a smaller scale, prompting King Abdullah to replace Prime Minister Bakhit with Awn al-Khasawneh, a judge at the International Court of Justice.
2012 April - Prime Minister Awn al-Khasawneh resigns abruptly, have been unable to satisfy either demands for reform or establishment fears of empowering the Islamist opposition. King Abdullah appoints former prime minister Fayez al-Tarawneh to succeed him.
2012 October - King Abdullah calls early parliamentary elections for January. The Muslim Brotherhood's political wing, the Islamic Action Front, decides to continue to boycott them in protest at unequal constituency sizes and lack of real parliamentary power. The King appoints Abdullah Ensour, a former minister and vocal advocate of democratic reform, as prime minister.
King Abdullah also appoints a new ambassador to Israel, filling a post that has been vacant for two years.
2012 November - Clashes between protesters and supporters of the king follow mass demonstrations in Amman against the lifting of fuel subsidies, at which calls for the end of the monarchy are heard. Three people are killed.
2013 January - Pro-government candidates victorious in parliamentary elections which are boycotted by the main opposition Islamic Action Front.
2013 March - New government sworn in, with incumbent Abdullah Ensour reinstalled as prime minister following unprecedented consultation between the king and parliament.
2013 July - Britain deports Muslim cleric Abu Qatada to Jordan, where he faces terrorism charges, after an eight-year legal battle.
2014 May - Jordan expels Syrian ambassador over accusations that Jordan harbours Syrian rebels.
2014 June - Radical Muslim preacher Abu Qatada, deported from the UK after a long legal battle,  is found not guilty of terrorism offences by a court in Jordan over an alleged plot in 1998.
2014 September - Jordan is one of four Arab states to take part, together with the US, in air strikes on Islamic State militants in Syria.
2014 November - Jordanian authorities arrest the deputy head of the country's Muslim Brotherhood organisation, in the first arrest of a major opposition figure in Jordan for several years.
2014 December - Jordan executes eleven men convicted of murder, ending a moratorium on the death penalty.
2015 February - Islamic State (IS) publishes a video purporting to show captured Jordanian pilot Muath Kasasbeh being burned alive. Jordan responds by stepping up its anti-IS air campaign, and executing prisoners.
European Union says it is providing 100 million euros ($113 million) in loans to Jordan to help it deal with the fallout from crises in Syria and Iraq.
2015 March - Jordan takes part in Saudi-led air strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen.
2016 February - King Abdullah says Jordan has reached saturation point in its ability to take in more Syrian refugees.
2016 September - First parliamentary elections under proportional representation since 1989.
2016 December - Ten people, including a tourist, are killed in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group at a Crusader castle in the town of Karak.
2017 March - Jordan hangs 15 people, including convicts held responsible for an attack on a Roman theatre in which a British tourist was killed.


Police have been granted extra time to question a 40-year-old man arrested in connection with the murder of an elderly couple in County Armagh.

The man was arrested in the Springfields area of Portadown after the murder of Michael and Majorie Cawdery on Friday.
The couple, both 83, were found in their Upper Ramone Park home in Portadown by a relative.
Police said they had been killed in a "very brutal attack".
They are reported to have been stabbed.
The extension was granted by a court on Sunday.
Police have said their enquiries are ongoing.
In a statement, the Cawdery family described the couple as "wonderful people" and their murder as "awful and incomprehensible".


Gregor Townsend described himself as "very pleased" after recording victory over Italy in his first match in charge of Scotland.

The Scots won 34-13 in the Singapore heat and have Australia and Fiji still to play on their summer tour.
Ali Price and Tim Visser scored first-half tries and Ross Ford got two after the break before Damien Hoyland also crossed.
"To make the breakthrough at half-time gave us a big boost," said Townsend.
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"We scored a couple of really good tries in the second half.
"As a coach, if you get a win and there's a few things to work on, you're very pleased.
"We knew it was going to be tough in the conditions, first time this team had played together but I was really pleased with the effort the guys put in throughout the game, especially defensively around the maul area, around the set piece, which is a bring strength of Italy's. We did that very well.
"It wasn't perfect. Sometimes how we wanted to attack, we saw that being transferred, other times we weren't there yet but I felt the guys kept working at it."
Ford doubled his tally of Scotland tries with his brace of scores.
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"He had a little challenge the other day. Him and John Barclay had to commentate on tries that they had scored for Scotland and we had to dig quite deep in the history books to get Fordie's out - maybe that gave him a bit of good luck," Townsend told BBC Scotland.
"Really pleased he got his two tries and for Damien and Ali Price - first tries for Scotland, it's a special moment."
Ford said he "managed to pop up at the right times" and explained: "Five metres out seems to be my distance.
"We showed what we're about in this game."
And captain Barclay commented: "The intent from the boys was there. We're really happy with it."
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The Scots' focus will now turn to Sydney and their meeting with the Wallabies, who beat Fiji 37-14 on Saturday.
"You don't get a tougher Test than playing in these conditions in training here this week and really pushing yourself to the limit and they came through very well," added Townsend.
"Obviously, there were some tired bodies - players that haven't played for a few months were pretty tired but they stuck in. This will be of huge benefit as we look to Australia and then Fiji.
"We watched Australia play today and they were outstanding. They're a quality side - World Cup finalists. They've always been floating around the top two, three, four in the world and they play really good, attacking rugby but they've also got an outstanding defence.
"It's a brilliant game for us to play in but we know we have to play close to our best to win that one."


Police in Hungary say increasing numbers of migrants are breaching a razor wire fence built to stop them crossing the border from Serbia.

In January, 550 people were caught getting through - up from 270 in December. More than 1,200 were caught in the first 20 days of February.
Hungary caused controversy with the 4m (13ft) barrier, completed in September.
However, several other countries have since introduced tough border controls to stop the influx of migrants.
The number of people crossing from Serbia dropped after Hungary built the fence along the 175km (110-mile) border with its neighbour last year.
But police say migrants are now increasingly getting through, mostly by cutting through or climbing over the barrier.
Migrants feel chill of tighter borders
EU migration: Crisis in seven charts
John Simpson: This migrant crisis is different from all others
Most are from Pakistan, Iran and Morocco, who are no longer admitted through other routes.
It follows moves by Austria, Slovenia, and Balkan countries to limit the nationalities and the numbers of those being allowed through.
More than a million people arrived in the EU in 2015, creating Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War Two.
The majority of migrants and refugees have headed for countries like Germany and Sweden via Hungary and Austria after crossing from Turkey to Greece. Many are fleeing the conflict in Syria.
Far fewer migrants are entering Hungary than Austria but the sharply increasing trend of people breaching the border fence is alarming the authorities, reports the BBC's Central Europe correspondent, Nick Thorpe.
More people crossed from Serbia into Hungary in the first 20 days of February than in the same period in 2015, before a fence was even contemplated, our correspondent adds.
Once in Hungary, they face criminal charges or deportation.
Meanwhile Interior Minister Sandor Pinter has renewed the closure of three railway crossings to Croatia, for fear that migrants and refugees will again start walking down the tracks into Hungary.
On Friday Austria introduced a daily cap on the number of migrants and refugees allowed into the country.
Just 80 asylum applications will be accepted each day at the country's southern border, in a move condemned by critics as incompatible with European law.
The huge number of migrants and refugees arriving illegally in Europe has left countries struggling to cope and put the EU's Schengen passport-free travel zone at risk.
A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.


Nigeria has closed its main airport in the capital, Abuja, for six weeks to allow badly needed repairs to be carried out.

It comes after airlines threatened to stop flying there because of safety concerns over the state of the runway.
From now, those wishing to travel to Abuja are being encouraged to instead fly to the northern city of Kaduna, 190km (120 miles) away.
But all but one international airline has refused to fly there.
Ethiopian Airlines is currently the only company offering international flights to Kaduna, which has been hit recently by a spate of kidnappings.
The government has set up a dedicated Abuja Airport Closure website, where passengers can book free bus tickets for the two-hour journey by road.
"The runway has deteriorated to such an extent that it requires complete reconstruction," the government said.
"This cannot be done at night. Furthermore, the runway has been maintained mostly through closure at night in the past several years, but is has reached a state where that method will not work anymore."
All domestic flights are being rerouted to Kaduna, a small regional airport.
The shuttle bus to Abuja  will take two hours on a good day, more with traffic. Like most Nigerian roads it is bumpy but the government has undertaken some repairs on it in preparation for the airport commuters.
On the international front however there are not many options.
Most international airlines said they were worried about security. Some also expressed concern that the equipment at Kaduna airport was not of a high enough standard.
Henrietta Yakubu from the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that plans had been put in place to protect passengers and to transfer them in luxury buses.
"The police boss has assured members of the public that for each luxury bus on the highway, there will a police patrol vehicle on the front and behind," she said.
"A police checkpoint will also be set up every one kilometre on the road between Kaduna and Abuja."
In February two German archaeologists were kidnapped while working on a dig near the Kaduna-Abuja road. That sounded the final death knell on efforts by the Nigerian government to convince international airlines to fly there.
The government has promised extra security on the Abuja-to-Kaduna highway but that will not reassure many passengers or airline bosses.
Even in Lagos and Abuja they hire police escorts for their crew. Southern Kaduna has also been in the news recently over ethnic clashes between farmers and Fulani herdsmen which may put some passengers off travelling there.
However that conflict is further west in very rural areas and unlikely to spread to the Abuja-Kaduna road.
The airport in the commercial capital, Lagos, has more international flights than Abuja but it would be a 12-hour drive to Abuja, at the very least. Though it may be safer, the Abuja-to-Lagos road is in terrible disrepair.
Some embassies in Abuja have talked about the possibility of flying to Enugu, a six-hour road trip from Abuja, in case of an emergency.
It is hard to tell just what impact the closure will have or how many people will choose not to fly. Nigeria's biggest airline Arik has introduced a reduced schedule.
But flying in Nigeria is incredibly unpredictable anyway, with flights often delayed for hours and then cancelled.
Nigerian air travellers are already extremely resilient and will most likely weather this latest storm just fine.
However, it is also likely to affect Nigeria's postal service, as 40% of the country's international mail is transported through Abuja.
It is bad. There are two major holes in the runway and several serious cracks and bumps.
In August a South African Airways plane damaged its landing gear when it hit one of the potholes. Although no-one was injured, the plane was out of commission for four days.
Many of the major airlines threatened to stop flying if the runway wasn't fixed.
Successive governments have ignored the problem for more than 15 years. The runway was supposed to be upgraded in 2002 - it was built in 1982 and was only meant to have a 20-year lifespan.
That is because of a cocktail of corruption and incompetence on the part of those in charge. But with gaping potholes now posing a real danger, the problem is impossible to ignore.


Sir Bradley Wiggins refused to confirm whether he plans to retire after winning the Ghent Six Day event alongside fellow Briton Mark Cavendish.

Wiggins, 36, had hinted the race in the city of his birth could be his last, but afterwards said he was "not sure yet" what his plans are.
"I don't know, I've still got really good legs," he said.
"This might not be my last race. This for sure is my last ever race with Mark Cavendish, though."
The 2012 Tour de France winner added that he "just wants to enjoy this moment".
Wiggins' admission follows his comments after last month's London Six Day, when he hinted he could be tempted to race there again next year.
Wiggins and Cavendish claimed overall victory in Ghent after winning the final madison event.
The pair also contested the Ghent Six in 2007 and won madison gold together at the World Track Championships in London in March.
They competed together in the madison at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, finishing joint eighth.
"We've had an incredible 12 years and have achieved so much together. It's been a pleasure," Wiggins added.


Russian President Vladimir Putin has laughed off speculation about his health after making his first appearance in public since 5 March.

Life "would be boring without gossip", he told Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev at talks in St Petersburg.
The 62-year-old appeared relaxed and smiled before the television cameras.
His disappearance from public view had sparked rumours that he might have fallen ill, died, been removed in a coup, or once again become a father.
Earlier on Monday, Mr Putin ordered the Russian navy's Northern Fleet on to a state of full combat readiness in the Arctic.
It came as more than 45,000 troops, as well as warplanes and submarines, started major military exercises across northern Russia.
A brief video of Mr Putin's meeting with his Kyrgyz counterpart at the Constantine Palace in Russia's second city was broadcast by state television without sound.
There was no obvious sign that Mr Putin had been or still was suffering from any medical condition, says the BBC's Richard Galpin in Moscow.
Asked by reporters about the speculation on his health, the Russian leader replied: "It would be boring without gossip."
Finally the mysterious Mr Putin has been found.
It is now official: he is neither dead nor would it seem has he been stricken by some life-threatening illness. In fact he looked reasonably healthy in the video broadcast of the meeting with his Kyrgyz counterpart Almazbek Atambayev in St Petersburg.
But while the Kremlin press office is having the last laugh about all the wild rumours of the past week, it's still saying nothing about why he cancelled meetings and was not seen in public for what was, for him, a long absence.
And so at least some of the rumours may persist about what was happening behind the scenes.
What is known is that on this the day of his return to the limelight, he has ordered the northern fleet of the Russian navy to conduct a massive combat readiness exercise.
This comes as the US continues to deliver military equipment to the Baltic states and Poland, and while Nato navy exercises continue in the Black Sea. So it's straight back to business as usual.
Where has Putin been? The best of the memes
Mr Atambayev, for his part, said Mr Putin had driven him around the palace for 20 minutes before the meeting. "I can confirm that he's in excellent form," he was quoted by one journalist as saying.
Mr Putin's last public appearance was on 5 March when he met Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
Last week, he cancelled a number of scheduled events, including a visit to Kazakhstan that was due to take place on Thursday and Friday, and the signing of an agreement with South Ossetia.
As speculation about Mr Putin's disappearance mounted, the hashtag #Putinumer (#Putinisdead) trended on Twitter. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was forced to counter questions about each rumour, dismissing them as "March madness".
"So everyone has now seen the paralysed president captured by a general who has just returned from Switzerland where he was delivering a baby?" Mr Peskov asked journalists sarcastically on Monday.
He said Mr Putin and Mr Atambayev had met at the Constantine Palace because the Kyrgyz leader's daughter was studying nearby.
Mr Putin's reappearance coincides with the first anniversary of a controversial referendum in Crimea, which Russia used as justification for annexing the Ukrainian peninsula.
In a pre-recorded interview which aired on Sunday, Mr Putin said he had been ready to put nuclear Putin laughs off absence rumours weapons on standby at the time.
The EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, issued a sharp statement on Crimea on Monday, condemning Russia's actions.
"The EU reaffirms its deep concern at the continuous military build-up and deterioration of the human rights situation in the Crimean peninsula, including the denial of free speech and the persecution of persons belonging to minorities," she said in a statement.
The Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko urged the European Union on Monday to renew its threat of further sanctions against Russia if Moscow does not implement the Minsk agreement.
The accord calls for a ceasefire and demilitarised buffer zones in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russian-backed rebels.
Mr Poroshenko was speaking after talks in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who had helped negotiate the ceasefire deal.
He said if the commitments were not fulfilled, he hoped that EU leaders would say very clearly at their summit on Thursday that sanctions would "be stepped up".


Tax evaders would face bigger fines as part of Labour's plan to raise an extra £7.5bn a year, if the party wins the general election.

The policy is likely to form a central part of Labour's election manifesto, which is due to be launched on Monday.
Ed Balls said Labour would carry out an immediate review of the tax collection system to close loopholes if it wins power in May.
The Tories said they would claw back £5bn from tax avoiders and evaders.
Labour claims Chancellor George Osborne has not set out how this would be done.
But Paul Johnson, the director of the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies, has said both main parties are "making up numbers" in terms of what they can raise from tax avoidance and evasion.
Speaking to the Radio 4's The World this Weekend, he said: "The Conservatives are committed to getting £5bn a year extra. Labour are trumping that by saying £7.5bn. It's almost impossible to know upfront actually what you can achieve from cracking down on avoidance and evasion."
Main pledges
Policy guide: Where the parties stand
Under the Labour plan, there would be an assessment of the powers currently held by HM Revenue and Customs followed by moves to beef up the agency's powers.
The party wants to change the so-called "carried interest" rules which allow private equity managers to pay lower rates of Capital Gains Tax - instead of income tax - even when they are not investing much of their own money.
Labour also want to prevent disguised self-employment and close loopholes used by hedge funds to avoid stamp duty.
Shadow chancellor Mr Balls said: "We will close loopholes the Tories won't act on, increase transparency, toughen penalties and abolish the non-dom rules. And our first budget will make sure that following an immediate review of HMRC, it has the powers and resources it needs to come down hard on tax avoidance and evasion.
"Working people who are paying more in tax want everyone to pay their fair share. And there shouldn't be one rule for a few and another rule for everybody else."
Mr Balls will on Sunday set out his party's ten-point plan to tackle tax avoidance, which includes pushing a draft Finance Bill through parliament, and asking the Bank of England to "focus on risks from the informal economy".
David Gauke, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, for the Conservatives, said: "Ed Miliband and Ed Balls turned a blind eye to aggressive tax avoiding and evading for 13 years when they were in charge - they were the tax avoiders' friends.
"Ed Miliband has no economic plan to secure Britain's future - and it's hard-working taxpayers who will pay the price."
He said the coalition had clawed back £7bn a year in lost revenue and planned to go further.
The latest Opinium poll for the Observer gives the Tories a two-point lead over Labour. The Conservatives are on 36% up 3 points, while Labour is up 1 point on 34%.


The BBC is to cut 1,000 jobs because of a £150m budget gap in its licence fee income.

An unexpected increase in the number of households saying they do not watch live TV so do not pay for a licence has been blamed for the shortfall.
Many cuts are to come from professional and support areas, while management structures will be streamlined.
BBC director general Tony Hall says this will save around £50m a year so more cuts will come.
Lord Hall said the BBC was facing "difficult choices" because of the tough financial climate.
He said more than one million fewer people had a television set than was predicted in 2011, when a previous round of efficiency savings was implemented, so extra savings had to be found.
"Despite the progress already made, and the realities of the licence fee being frozen for seven years, a new financial challenge means additional savings must now be found," he said.
He added decision-making had become too complicated in recent times, as new services have been introduced, and that he wanted to cut these back to make things simpler, which "inevitably would lead to fewer decision-makers".
Professional and support departments such as IT, human resources and engineering will be looked at closely to see where there is duplication, with the possibility of merging divisions across the BBC and its commercial arm, BBC Worldwide.
In announcing more than 1,000 jobs cuts, Lord Hall said he recognised "this is a tough message".
He said the BBC had already made £1.5bn in savings, but because of the shortfall in licence fee income, more needs to be done.
The four key areas for making the savings are:
The BBC licence fee of £145.50 has been frozen for seven years, and the process of charter renewal is getting under way, which will decide how the BBC is run when its current royal charter runs out at the end of 2016.
Broadcast union Bectu said while it supports the BBC's ambitions of "simplification and standardisation", it is opposed to any compulsory redundancies.
General secretary Gerry Morrissey said: "We welcome the aims and the commitment to cutting the layers of management between the DG and programme makers, for example.
"That said it is essential, as in any programme of cuts, that staff and unions are fully involved in the consultation and that where jobs are closed that redeployment opportunities are maximised."


Former Labour leader Ed Miliband has issued a "call to arms", urging young people to register to vote in next month's EU referendum.

The absence of millions of young voters from the electoral register could lead to a victory for the Leave camp in the EU referendum, he warned.
Mr Miliband said their "optimistic generation" can keep Britain in the EU.
But Leave campaigner, Conservative MP James Cleverly, said Mr Miliband's "cynical" comments would "fool no-one".
Mr Miliband said in a speech in London on Saturday that 1.5 million of the six million 18-24 year olds eligible to vote are not registered, nor are a quarter of the eight million 25-35 year olds.
They have until 7 June to register to vote in the UK's referendum on its membership of the EU, which takes place on 23 June.
Mr Miliband said: "Today is a call to arms to all young people to register to vote.
"Let's be clear about the danger - a decision not to vote is a decision to let someone else decide your future.
"Young people can decide this referendum. If they don't use their vote, the danger is this referendum will be lost."
The UK's EU vote: All you need to know
EU referendum issues guide: Explore the arguments
Mr Miliband, who resigned as leader of the Labour Party following its defeat in the 2015 general election, said the Leave side offered a "narrow" future which pretended to be about national freedom.
He added: "When the Leave campaign is asked about the future - future jobs, future opportunities, future growth - they have one answer: they just don't know.
"Those words should ring in the ears of every child, student and parent. Not knowing is not a path to prosperity, not knowing is the road to recession."
Mr Miliband also told BBC Breakfast that polls suggested younger people were more likely to vote to remain in the EU by three to one, and that older people should "heed the wisdom of the young".
He added: "All round the world young people are kicking against the establishment, and yet young people want to back Remain.
"That shows Remain is a future-orientated, positive, optimistic idea, because I think young people take for granted that we've got to work with other countries, and not isolate ourselves."
Mr Cleverly said Mr Miliband's "cynical" attempt to reach young people "will fool no-one".
"After his failed efforts to court the youth vote via Russell Brand last year, you'd think he would know better."
He also told the BBC that he "absolutely" wanted young people to vote in the referendum.
"When I talk to young people, actually I find that they are very concerned about the costs of EU membership, about how it limits our ability to trade with the developing world, and how it impinges on our democracy."
Meanwhile, pro-Brexit employment minister Priti Patel launched an attack on the economic predictions of her government colleagues in the Treasury.
While out campaigning she told the BBC its forecasts have "been questioned heavily" and that Vote Leave was "making the positive economic case as to why we should leave the European Union".
"Of course we can take back control of the money we send to Europe and spend that growing our economic base and invest that in our economic prosperity in future," she said.
And despite their increasingly personalised battle, David Cameron indicated he still regards Leave campaigner Boris Johnson as a "substantial" potential future successor.
Mr Cameron said he would not reconsider comments he made that Mr Johnson, George Osborne and Theresa May were all figures who could step into his shoes when he steps down, which he has promised to do before the next general election.


The handling of eight further child abuse cases is to be investigated in addition to 30 cases already being looked into, a police force has said.

Essex Police apologised to alleged victims after it found problems with investigations involving 59 children.
Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh said the force has now referred additional matters to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
The cases relate to an investigation team covering the north of Essex.
Mr Kavanagh confirmed the additional cases were about the same issues as the other referrals - child sexual exploitation, the use of intelligence and the quality of response officers.
Speaking to BBC Essex, Mr Kavanagh said there had been a "range of shortfalls" by 12 officers involved in investigating the cases.
One officer has been suspended and 11 have been put on restrictive duties, the force said.
When Essex Police became concerned about the handling of some child abuse investigations, an experienced retired detective was brought in to review the "live" investigations being conducted in the north of the force area.
Speaking last week, Nick Alston, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex, said the IPCC was conducting two independent investigations and a "managed investigation of referrals" relating to the handling of 28 child abuse investigations reported between April 2011 and November 2014.
The IPCC was already reviewing two investigations by the same team.
Mr Kavanagh said some of the cases involved "allegations of a lack of honesty or integrity by officers".
"When we were concerned about shortfalls, we put the victims at the front of this," Mr Kavanagh said.
"We've written to them all, we've spoken to them all.
"These are our own referrals, none of those are complaints from victims - this is us holding ourselves to the highest possible standards."


Mae Heddlu Dyfed Powys yn dweud fod seiclwr wedi cael ei ladd mewn gwrthdrawiad yn Llandrindod ddydd Iau.

Digwyddodd y gwrthdrawiad ar yr A483, Heol y Deml am tua 19:40, rhwng dau gar a'r beic, a bu'r ffordd ar gau am rai oriau.
Dywedodd yr heddlu bod y dyn 67 oed fu farw yn dod o Landrindod.
Maen nhw wedi apelio ar unrhyw un welodd y digwyddiad i gysylltu â nhw, gan gynnwys dau berson oedd yn y car Peugeot 307 oedd yn rhan o'r gwrthdrawiad ond wnaeth adael cyn i'r heddlu gyrraedd.


Romanian prosecutors have started questioning Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who is suspected of forgery, tax evasion and money laundering.

The case, concerning Mr Ponta's work as a lawyer in 2007-2008, is being handled by the anti-corruption agency DNA.
He allegedly used forged invoices from a law firm to buy two luxury apartments and a Mitsubishi Lancer car, Romanian media report.
The DNA has arrested several well-known politicians in recent months.
Former government ministers, media moguls, judges and prosecutors are all under investigation.
They include Elena Udrea, a former minister of tourism and former presidential candidate.
The DNA investigation has also spread to Mr Ponta's mother, sister, brother-in-law Iulian Hertanu and senator Ilie Sarbu, who is his father-in-law.
Mr Ponta took office in 2012, leading the centre-left Social Democratic Party (PSD). It is the largest group in parliament, and emerged out of the old Communist Party.


Prince William will visit New Zealand and Australia next week to tour areas devastated by recent natural disasters, St James's Palace has said.

The prince will travel to Christchurch, New Zealand, where more than 160 people died in an earthquake last month.
He will also go to Greymouth, near the site of the Pike River mine disaster in New Zealand in which 29 people died.
William will then travel to Australia, where he will visit areas hit by flooding in Queensland and Victoria.
The prince will visit the two countries on behalf of the Queen following invitations from the prime ministers of New Zealand and Australia
He will not be accompanied by his fiancee Kate Middleton on the trip which takes place from 17-21 March.
The prince will meet those affected by the recent disasters, and members of the emergency and other support services.
William will attend a national memorial service in Christchurch as well as carrying out other engagements in the area.
In Australia, he will go to several locations in Queensland over two days followed by a visit to north-west Victoria.
A St James's Palace spokesman said: "The prince's visit comes after an invitation from the prime ministers of New Zealand and Australia.
"William will be travelling on behalf of the Queen and the wider Royal Family."
The spokesman added: "The Royal Family have been watching the natural disasters with the same shock and sadness as everyone else.
"They wanted to show their solidarity with the people of New Zealand and Australia, and the decision was taken with the prime ministers' offices and the royal household that Prince William should attend and visit the countries."
The magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck the city of Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island on 22 February this year.
Also on the South Island, 29 miners became trapped by a gas explosion at the Pike River coal mine in Atarau on 19 November last year.
Parts of Australia were affected torrential rains starting in November last year, forcing rivers to burst their banks.
Prince William was last in New Zealand in January 2010, when he represented the Queen in Auckland and Wellington.
He made a private visit to Sydney and Melbourne in Australia the same month. He first visited Australia as a baby on his parents' tour in 1983.


James Norwood's first-half brace was enough to give Tranmere a 2-0 win at Bromley to start their 2016-17 National League campaign in style.

The 25-year-old, who scored 19 goals for the Prenton Park outfit last year, got Rovers off to a dream start after nine minutes, firing past Alan Julian from Connor Jennings' pinpoint cross.
Blair Turgott missed a gilt-edged chance to equalise for the hosts from six yards after 40 minutes. Tobi Sho-Silva seemingly did all the hard work, ghosting past Tranmere's backline, but the West Ham youth product hit his effort wide.
Four minutes later Norwood made it 2-0, prodding home Andy Cook's flick from Liam Ridehalgh's cross and that was enough for the Merseysiders to make their 500-mile round trip a fruitful one.
Report supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Bromley 0, Tranmere Rovers 2.
Second Half ends, Bromley 0, Tranmere Rovers 2.
Substitution, Tranmere Rovers. Jake Kirby replaces James Norwood.
Corner,  Tranmere Rovers.
Substitution, Bromley. Rob Swaine replaces Joe Howe.
Substitution, Tranmere Rovers. Adam Mekki replaces Andy Cook.
Substitution, Bromley. George Porter replaces Reece Prestedge.
Connor Jennings (Tranmere Rovers) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Corner,  Bromley.
Michael Ihiekwe (Tranmere Rovers) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Substitution, Bromley. Connor Dymond replaces Max Porter.
Corner,  Bromley.
Corner,  Tranmere Rovers.
Corner,  Bromley.
Corner,  Bromley.
Corner,  Bromley.
Second Half begins Bromley 0, Tranmere Rovers 2.
First Half ends, Bromley 0, Tranmere Rovers 2.
Goal!  Bromley 0, Tranmere Rovers 2. James Norwood (Tranmere Rovers).
Corner,  Bromley.
Dave Martin (Bromley) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Reece Prestedge (Bromley) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Corner,  Bromley.
Corner,  Bromley.
Corner,  Tranmere Rovers.
Goal!  Bromley 0, Tranmere Rovers 1. James Norwood (Tranmere Rovers).
Corner,  Tranmere Rovers.
Corner,  Bromley.
First Half begins.
Lineups are announced and players are warming up.


An MP has called for a law forcing schools to have defibrillators to save people who have cardiac arrests.

Lewes MP Maria Caulfield said survival rates were "dismal" outside hospital as she proposed a bill in Parliament.
A petition for defibrillators in all schools drew 110,000 signatures after Liverpool schoolboy Oliver King suffered a cardiac arrest in 2011.
MPs were told that 30,000 heart attacks occur outside hospital every year, but fewer than one in ten victims survive.
Oliver King, 12, died after his heart stopped during a school swimming lesson at the city's King David High School.
"He died when no defibrillator was available and when paramedics took 24 minutes to get to the scene," said Ms Caulfield.
Campaigners say every year an average of 270 children die at school from Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome -  the condition that led to Oliver's death.
In 2013, The Oliver King Foundation helped secure a change in government policy where all schools are recommended - but not obliged - to purchase a defibrillator.
Ms Caulfield warned there was a "postcode lottery" in current provision and demanded every community be given the kit and training in how to use it.
Her Defibrillators (Availability) Bill would require all schools, sports centres and other public facilities to have a defibrillator and train staff to use it.
After the motion was passed in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Mr King said he was "over the moon".
"It's mixed emotions because nothing that happens will bring my Olly back but we can stop it happening to other families.
"It's taken five years' hard work... but the real work starts today."
Catherine Kelly from the British Heart Foundation, called on all secondary schools to create "a nation of lifesavers by applying for our free CPR training and defibrillator awareness package".
"This will give young people the confidence to step in and try to save a life when they are faced with the ultimate medical emergency of a cardiac arrest."
The bill is due to be debated in the Commons on 27 January next year, but it is unlikely to proceed without government support.
What is a defibrillator?
Source: British Heart Foundation


Concerns are being raised about the effects of detention on men held at an immigration removal centre in Dorset.

There are nearly 500 men at The Verne in Portland and campaigners say many have little or no indication about how long they will be there.
The Verne Visitors Group said the indefinite nature of detention caused "despair and distress" and was against British principles of justice.
The Home Office said it detained people for the minimum time possible.
The visitors group, which offers support to detainees, said men were typically held for issues such as expired visas or were failed asylum seekers, while others were criminals awaiting deportation.
Chairman Charles Campion-Smith said: "It's the indefinite nature we are particularly concerned about. Detention is an extreme response - depriving people of their liberty who are not criminals in most cases.
"The regime at Portland is humane so our criticism is not of those who implement the policy."
He said detainees sometimes questioned whether "life was worth living".
"We hope some will feel affronted that people are held indefinitely, without trial and that's against many principles of British justice."
A Home Office spokeswoman said: "Detention and removal are essential parts of effective immigration controls but it is vital they are carried out with dignity and respect.
"When people are detained, it is for the minimum time possible and the welfare of those in our care is of the utmost importance.
"No-one is detained indefinitely and the law is clear that the detention power can only be exercised if there is a reasonable prospect of removal within a reasonable timeframe.
"Individuals are able to apply for immigration bail and challenge their detention in the courts."
The visitors group is holding a public meeting at Dorchester's Corn Exchange at 19:00 GMT.


Swiss 18-year-old Belinda Bencic secured her second career title by winning the Rogers Cup as Simona Halep retired hurt in the final.

Bencic, who beat Serena Williams in the semi-final, came through 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (4-7) 3-0 in Toronto.
Second seed Halep required treatment as she struggled with a leg injury and the extreme heat.
The Romanian said: "Sorry that I couldn't finish the match. I tried very much but it wasn't possible."
Bencic, who accounted for four of the top six seeds this week - Halep, Williams, Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic - said on BT Sport 2: "Even if I would have lost it would have been an amazing experience."
Halep broke back from 5-3 down in the second set and won the tie-break to huge applause, but retired after losing her serve twice in the third set.
Bencic, who claimed her first title at Eastbourne in June, has won 21 of her past 25 matches and will move from 20th to 12th when the world rankings are announced on Monday.


Large numbers of Yemenis have taken part in a demonstration in the capital Sanaa in support of Houthi rebels and their allies, who control the city.

Demonstrators backed a new governing council announced by the rebels.
Shortly afterwards, bombs were reported to have been dropped nearby by planes of the Saudi-led coalition backing the internationally recognised government.
The Saudis have been repeatedly criticised over civilian deaths in air strikes in Yemen.
On Thursday the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said it was withdrawing staff from six hospitals in north Yemen after a coalition air strike hit one of its buildings, killing 19 people.
Separately, the US military has cut the number of its advisers directly supporting the Saudis' air war in Yemen from about 45  to five, US officials announced. However they said this was not related to growing international concern over civilian casualties.
In another development, Saudi officials said one person had been killed and six others injured in cross-border rocket fire from Yemen that hit the city of Najran. It was the third such attack in a week.
Sanaa-based political analyst Hisham al-Omeisy, who was at Saturday's rally, told the BBC it was attended by nearly 100,000 people.
"Suddenly the Saudi jets started circling on top of us, and as always, we thought they would just fly by, just trying to scare the crowd," he said, speaking to the World Service's Newshour programme.
"Suddenly they started bombing and the crowd started running. I basically bolted out of the area. People started screaming... Because everybody's very well armed, they started shooting their AK-47s and their machine guns into the sky."
AP news agency said the presidential palace in the city and other areas had been hit in coalition airstrikes, leaving an unknown number of casualties.
Yemen's Mareb Press website said coalition planes had raided al-Nahdein mountain, overlooking the palace.
The Saudi-led force has been carrying out air strikes in Yemen since March 2015 to try to oust the rebels and defend the internationally recognised government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
The UN says more than 6,500 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since then. It estimates that more than 80% of the population needs humanitarian aid.
UN figures also suggest that forced displacement across Yemen is on the rise, affecting more than two million people.


The humpback whale is known for its loud haunting songs, which can be heard 20 miles away.

However, new recordings show mothers and calves "whisper" to each other, seemingly to avoid attracting predators.
The quiet grunts and squeaks can be heard only at close range.
By calling softly to its mother, the calf is less likely be overheard and preyed on by killer whales, scientists believe.
Dr Simone Videsen of Aarhus University in Denmark is part of a team of scientists who tracked eight baby whales and two mothers to learn more about the first months of a humpback whale's life.
They used special sound and movement recorders, which were attached to the whale's skin via suction cups.
"We were really surprised because humpback whales are really vocal normally and they have these long songs," she said.
"But when you look at the communication pattern between mother and calf you see that they're often silent and they do produce these weaker signals."
She said it was the first time that communication signals between mother and calf had been recorded in this way.
The researchers believe mothers and calves communicate quietly to avoid being overheard by killer whales or male humpback whales who are in search of a mate.
Calves must stay close to their mother to feed and grow before they set off on their long annual migration to the food-rich waters of the Antarctic.
The nursery grounds of tropical waters are key to their survival. Here, they must feed and build up fat stores to sustain them as they travel 5,000 miles across open water in rough seas.
The findings will help in the conservation of this habitat, say the researchers, who studied a population of whales outside Exmouth Gulf off West Australia.
"From our research, we have learned that mother-calf pairs are likely to be sensitive to increases in ship noise," said Dr Videsen.
"Because mother and calf communicate in whispers, shipping noise could easily mask these quiet calls."
There are two major humpback whale populations, one in the northern hemisphere and the other in the south.
Both breed in tropical waters and then migrate to the Arctic or Antarctic to feed.
Humpback whales are slow to reproduce; pregnancy lasts for 11 months and calves stay with their mothers until they are one-year-old.
The research is published in the journal, Functional Ecology.
Follow Helen on Twitter.


Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies has joined other Welsh party leaders in publishing his tax affairs.

A document posted to Facebook showed his tax bill last year came to £23,080 on an income of £121,738.
Leaders of the Welsh Lib Dems, Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru followed the prime minister earlier this week in releasing details on what they pay in tax.
But UKIP Wales leader Nathan Gill said he would not "jump on the bandwagon".
Information about David Cameron's 2009-15 tax and earnings was released on Sunday in an attempt to defuse a row about his investment in his late father's offshore fund.
The row was sparked by a leak of documents from Panamanian firm Mossack Fonseca.
Mr Davies, who made the disclosure on Wednesday, said: "Hopefully we can all now focus on the assembly campaign and the issues affecting people the length and breadth of Wales."
The document, titled a "personal tax computation", shows Mr Davies' income for 2014/15 came to £121,738, including £49,495 understood to relate to his farming income.
He had income tax due of £41,949, but after deductions of £20,639.60 his total liability came to £23,080.
Earlier this week it was disclosed that Labour leader Carwyn Jones had to pay £41,147 on a total income of £119,184.
Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood also took to Facebook to show she was charged £9,045 on a total income of £48,547.
Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Kirsty Williams faced a bill of £15,281 on income of £64,143.
Mr Jones', Ms Williams' and Ms Wood's disclosures also cover the tax year 2014/15.


More than 200 Met Police officers have taken part in a simulated terrorist attack on the River Thames in London.

Half a dozen "terrorists" hijacked a pleasure craft heading towards London from Kent taking dozens of people hostage in the Met's first big training operation on water.
The boat was intercepted by firearms officers near the Isle of Dogs.
The Met said the exercise was not in response to any specific threat to the river or the capital.
Just after 11:00 GMT, elite police marksmen in two small boats drew alongside the "highjacked" vessel, opened fire, boarded the craft and "neutralised" the threat.
Cdr BJ Harrington, the officer in charge of the operation, said the aim was to test the capability of many parts of the Met and other emergency services while operating in a "dangerous working environment" on the Thames.
"We want to make sure we're all working together so that London's got a really good response should this terrible incident happen," he said.
A report last year, found security measures on the river Thames needed to be strengthened.
The report's author Lord Harris called for "a comprehensive review of safety and security on the River, commissioned by the Mayor, to report by May 2017."
The exercise started just after 09:00 GMT and was expected to last a couple of hours.
Officers taking part had not been told what the nature of the simulated attack would be.
The Metropolitan Police tweeted a training exercise was under way and that people should not be alarmed.
Teams from the Met's specialist firearms unit SCO19, the Marine Policing Unit and the Dog Support Unit were all involved.
Other agencies including the Port of London Authority, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, RNLI, London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance also took part.
In June 2015, more than a thousand police officers and soldiers took part in Operation Strong Tower which simulated a terrorist firearms attack in central London.
The threat level in the UK has been rated "severe" - meaning an attack is highly likely - since August 2014.
On the 10th anniversary of the 2005 London bombings, the country's top counterterrorism officer told the BBC about 50 plots had been thwarted since the 7/7 attacks.


When Brexit talks formally begin, the UK will have two years to negotiate its departure from the EU.

Ministers hope to have parallel talks about our future trading relationship during that period - but what happens if they take longer?
To avoid a "cliff-edge" scenario, the chairman of the Brexit select committee in the Commons, Hilary Benn, is among those who has argued for a transitional agreement.
What might that look like? One possibility would be for the UK to seek membership of the European Economic Area (EEA) like Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
That would allow the UK to trade goods and services freely with the EU in exchange for financial contributions and the continued acceptance of free movement of people.
But it would take the UK out of the common agriculture and fisheries policies and the customs union, allowing it to strike its own trade deals with non-EU countries.
To join the EEA, ministers would first need to apply for membership of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).
At a meeting of EFTA countries in Geneva, the current chair, Iceland's foreign minister Lilja Alfredsdottir, told the BBC her country would be keen to see a UK membership application, even if only on a temporary basis.
"From an Icelandic point of view, yes we would welcome that," she said, "because I believe EFTA would be stronger with the UK inside".
Norway's trade minister, Monica Maeland, said there had been "no signal" from the UK that it would want to join EFTA.
If the UK did submit an application, she said there would be a willingness in EFTA to discuss it.
Ms Maeland also indicated that she had discussed the potential need for the UK to have transitional arrangements with Lord Price, who is a minister in Liam Fox's new Department for International Trade.
"That was something Price was talking about... what are we going to do in the meantime? So, we are hoping to discuss several solutions."
Yet the UK government has not yet formally acknowledged that forging new trading relationships might have to be achieved in phases.
Downing Street declined to confirm if that's what the prime minister meant when she spoke of avoiding a "cliff-edge" in her address to the CBI.


Rob Sinclair remembers the moment when he asked to go part-time at work.

"There were a few eyebrows raised when I suggested it," the 33-year-old dad-of-two recalls. "I think it was a big surprise to people."
Rob's career had always been successful and demanding. As a forensic accountant in Birmingham, he specialised in large scale corporate fraud and corruption, a career which took him to far flung corners of the world often at short notice.
His wife works for the same company and her job is just as demanding.
But with two small boys under five, the couple realised that something had to give.
"It was just proving too much of a challenge for us to keep both our careers progressing as they had been whilst also making sure we actually spent time with the boys."
It is a scenario that will sound familiar to many couples juggling work and family. But it was Rob who decided to cut his hours.
"It seemed to make sense for me to move down to working part-time, to give me more time for the boys, let my wife continue with her career and allow more time for me to write."
Rob was the first full-time male in his department to seek part-time work.
"There definitely is a stigma, but I ignore it,"
"Certainly I have had a lot of raised eyebrows within the office from some of the more senior men in the organisation and I am sure there have been whispers about it. But it doesn't affect me at all as it is something I decided to do and my wife supports me."
Since October last year, he has been working three days a week and is now the main carer for their two children. The move has also allowed him to develop his passion for writing thrillers. He has a book due out in spring.
Although he has had a small income from his writing, the family, from Sutton Coldfield, has had to make do with less income. It has not been easy, but Rob believes in the long term it will be worth it as his wife can dedicate herself to climbing the corporate career ladder. He also hopes his writing career will take off.
So far, he says he has absolutely no regrets, "I feel much more relaxed, life is on a more even keel.
That is exactly what Richard Steele had in mind when he went part time.
He had been working flat out in retail for 10 years and decided to change his pace of life.
"With emails, tablets and mobile phones it meant there was no barrier to when work finished," explains Richards.
He now works as finance director for the frozen foods business, Cook, based in Kent. He takes Fridays off.
"It is a sort of transition from a very busy week to re-charging and having time for me and to build-up again so that I can spend quality time with the family at the weekend."
Those extra hours also allow him to really enjoy time with his three boys at the weekend as well as do voluntary work, including a role as a school governor.
Richard sees it as flexible working instead of part-time.
It is women, of course, who do the vast majority of part-time work. But more and more men are choosing to do fewer hours.
The number of men choosing to work part-time has tripled since 1995. Over the past two years the pace has picked up with the figure leaping 100,000.
It now stands at 994,000, according to the Office for National Statistics.
"This is the future of work as we know it and it is refreshing. Those who choose to work flexibly - be it reducing their hours or increasing their home working - are shaking up the status quo for both businesses and employees," says Karen Mattison, the joint chief executive of Timewise.
Her organisation helps businesses and workers to work flexible hours.
"The challenge we face is debunking the myth of the outdated perception of what flexible working means and for whom. Just as there is no one reason for needing flexibility, there is no one gender who needs it either," she says.
But according to the Office for National Statistics, it is older men who are driving this trend.
Some 38% of those choosing to work part-time are men in their 50-60s.
Most of the men who choose to work fewer hours are in public administration - which includes the vast majority of public sector workers - education and health.  Banking, finance, insurance and other business services is the second most popular area followed by distribution, retail, hotels and restaurants.
Opting for part-time work is something that older men may find easier to do.
Bernard Brody could have retired two years ago after a long and varied career, latterly in the motor trade.
But he chooses to work three six-hour days at B&Q in Stockport and loves it.
"The money helps and I can't sit around doing nothing," Bernard chirps as he helps customers find what they are looking for.
Bernard has no intention of stopping anytime soon. And there are seven others aged over 65 working alongside him.
Bernard, Rob and Richard are three men with very different personal stories about why they chose to work part-time.
They also give a glimpse into how the way we work is changing in today's demanding world.


Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood promised to rid the club of its "losing mentality" after suffering a 4-0 defeat by Arsenal in the FA Cup final.

Sherwood took over in February with Villa in the bottom three and led the club to Premier League safety and 17th.
"We gave the fans nothing to cheer about today but I promise them it will get better," Sherwood told BBC Sport.
"We've stayed in the division but we have a losing mentality. We don't want to be scraping relegation next season."
Villa were outclassed by Arsenal, whose victory at Wembley saw them become the most successful club in FA Cup history with a 12th title.
Sherwood acknowledged his side "came up short" against the Gunners, adding that his players "need to learn how to be winners".
Media playback is not supported on this device
"Of course we believed we could win this but I can't make any excuses," the 46-year-old added. "It's a learning curve and we need to build a new team.
"Some of the boys have already been told they won't be here next year or they can find other clubs. I want to be honest with players and don't want to be stringing experienced players along.
"But it's not just new additions to the squad but also getting some of the players we do have to play in a different way, to change the mentality of a few of them."
Villa captain Fabian Delph agreed Arsenal had been worthy winners and also stressed the importance of Villa finding a "winning mentality" next season.
"We were up against it, we tried to dig deep but their quality shone through and we struggled," the 25-year-old said.
"The manager said that we had it in us to cause an upset but we couldn't find the performance. But a few weeks ago we would have snapped your hand off to stay in the league and get to this final. Now it's important that we get a winning mentality.
"We have to forget about today, some players will come through the door to strengthen us and I am sure we will get better and better."