The European Court of Human Rights has fined Russia for banning gay parades in Moscow, in an important victory for the country's gay community.

A leading activist, Nikolai Alexeyev, brought the case after the city authorities repeatedly rejected his requests to organise marches.
The Moscow authorities had argued the parades would cause a violent reaction.
But the court in Strasbourg said Russia had discriminated against Mr Alexeyev on grounds of sexual orientation.
It said that by refusing to allow the parades, the authorities had "effectively approved of and supported groups who had called for (their) disruption".
"The mere risk of a demonstration creating a disturbance was not sufficient to justify its ban," the court said.
It ordered Russia to pay Mr Alexeyev 29,510 euros ($41,090) in damages and for legal fees.
"This is a crippling blow to Russian homophobia on all accounts," Mr Alexeyev said after the verdict was announced.
"The authorities now have to ensure the security of peaceful gay activists, and must allow our protests to take place in Moscow or any other city in Russia. We will be applying to hold a sixth gay pride event in Moscow in May 2011," he told the BBC's Russian service.
"We'll be taking the former Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov to court: he broke the law by blocking our protests. We'll also be looking to hold to account those judges who continuously came to unlawful verdicts against us."
Gay rights campaigners say that in recent years, the authorities in Moscow and other major cities have rejected hundreds of requests for parades.
Some activists who have tried marching in the capital without permission have come under attack from right-wing and religious groups, or were beaten up by police.
Yuri Luzhkov, who was mayor of Moscow for 18 years before he was sacked last month by President Dmitry Medvedev, described homosexuals as "satanic".
The ruling by the European Court of Human Rights referred specifically to Mr Luzhkov's views.
"The court could not disregard the strong personal opinions publicly expressed by the Moscow mayor and the undeniable link between those statements and the bans," it said.
Analysts say it is not yet clear if the new mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, will take a softer line on gay rights.


National League club Woking have signed goalkeeper Michael Poke.

The 30-year-old has joined the Cards following a short spell at Eastleigh, who signed him in January after he was released by Portsmouth.
Poke made three appearances for Woking while on loan from Southampton - where he started his career - during the 2006-07 season.
He has also had spells at Brighton and Torquay United and has been on loan at Oldham, Northampton and Bristol Rovers.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe is proof of the need for tough asylum policies.

Mr Abbott told Australian media that the only way to prevent people dying at sea was to "stop the boats".
Australia detains any migrants trying to reach its shores by boat, and takes them to offshore processing camps to be eventually resettled elsewhere.
On Thursday, the New York Times described the policy as "brutal".
In an editorial, the newspaper said the "ruthlessly effective" policy was "inhumane, of dubious legality and strikingly at odds with the country's tradition of welcoming people fleeing persecution and war".
It said it would be "unconscionable" for European leaders to consider adopting similar policies, as Mr Abbott has previously suggested.
Australia has not responded to the editorial, but on Friday Mr Abbott said the image of Syrian three-year-old Alan Kurdi, who died trying to reach Greece by boat with his family, was "very sad".
"If you want to stop the deaths, if you want to stop the drownings you have got to stop the boats," he told ABC Radio.
"Thankfully, we have stopped that in Australia because we have stopped the illegal boats."
On Thursday, Mr Abbott angered Australian Jewish groups by saying the so-called Islamic State (IS), from which many of the migrants to Europe are fleeing, was worse than the Nazis.
"The Nazis did terrible evil, but they had a sufficient sense of shame to try to hide it," he told Sydney Radio 2GB.
But IS militants, he said, "boast about their evil, this is the extraordinary thing".
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry Robert Goot said the comment was "injudicious and unfortunate", saying there was "a fundamental difference between organised acts of terrorism and a genocide systematically implemented by a state as essential policy".
"The crimes of Islamic State are indeed horrific but cannot be compared to the systematic round-up of millions of people and their despatch to purpose-built death camps for mass murder," he told Australian media.
Mr Abbott later said he stood by his comments, but that he was not in the "business of ranking evil".


Warrington Wolves went top of Super League with a 52-18 thrashing of bottom side Leeds Rhinos.

The hosts, 18-12 up at half-time, ran in six tries after the break, including a second for Gene Ormsby, two from Daryl Clark and Kurt Gidley's score.
Warrington knocked Hull FC off top spot thanks to a better points difference.
The loss of Zak Hardaker with a shoulder problem was another blow for defending champions Leeds, who have now gone six matches without a win.
Brian McDermott's side have not won at the Halliwell Jones Stadium since their historic play-off semi final victory in 2011 and, despite a promising opening quarter, were never in the game.
They made a flying start through Jimmy Keinhorst's score but were put under immense pressure by the home team, who scored three tries of their own.
Returning playmaker Chris Sandow was at the heart of their efforts, notably supplying Tom Lineham with a beautifully weighted kick for his try.
The visitors showed character to drag the game back to six points at the break but the loss of Hardaker shortly before half-time compounded their considerable injury problems in 2016.
After the break Warrington flexed their muscles with 34 points, but there was also an ugly punch-up between Ashton Sims and Brad Singleton that will likely see both facing a suspension.
Warrington Wolves: Ratchford, Ormsby, Evans, Atkins, Lineham, Gidley, Sandow, Hill, Clark, Sims, Currie, Westwood, Westerman.
Replacements: Dwyer, King, Jullien, Bailey.
Leeds Rhinos: Hardaker, Golding, Watkins, Keinhorst, Handley, Sutcliffe, McGuire, Galloway, Burrow, Singleton, Cuthbertson, Ferres, Delaney.
Replacements: Jones-Buchanan, Garbutt, Achurch, Lilley.
Referee: R Silverwood.


A shop found itself at the centre of a barrage of online criticism after a vlogger urged his followers to leave bad reviews.

Dogfish Menswear was criticised by Levi Jed Murphy on his Facebook page, followed by nearly 416,000 people.
But fellow businesses rallied around the Norwich store and responded with a succession of positive reviews.
Mr Murphy, who said he received "faulty clothing", claimed the store should not have shared details of the incident.
Read more on this and other news from across Norfolk
Store manager Levi de Belgeonne, based in The Lanes, said the store had been targeted by a "social media bully".
He said he did not want to speak about Mr Murphy's online criticism, but thanked local businesses for their support.
"The Lanes did just unite and share posts and shine a lot of positive light on the business," he said.
"It would have been a shame if due to a social media bully - in a word - that we would have had that light changed."
The group of independent traders encouraged their followers to help restore Dogfish's star rating after it dived to a one-star average.
The shop received 275 reviews over 24 hours this week.
Mr Murphy, 19, of Norwich, has gained a huge online following for his video posts on observations about life.
On Wednesday, he published a Facebook status encouraging fans to give the shop a "bad review as they sold me faulty clothing and won't refund the money" and said he would then add them as a friend.
Minutes later the store started to receive dozens of one-star reviews and disparaging comments.
In a statement, Mr Murphy said he had not aimed his comments at a "particular person" and denied "bullying".
He said the business "told many people about the situation, which they shouldn't have".
Mr Murphy, who claimed he got a refund on the clothing from the manufacturer, said he had since received "abuse" on his Instagram profile and had deleted his original Facebook status.


A rare butterfly once declared extinct in the UK is now being seen in record numbers after being reintroduced.

Conservationists said there was a population of more than 10,000 large blue butterflies on reserves in Gloucestershire and Somerset.
The last large blue butterfly colony was on Dartmoor in Devon and it was declared extinct in 1979.
The population in the UK is now believed to be largest concentration of the species anywhere in the world.
The butterfly, with a wingspan of more than two inches, was brought back from the dead with the reintroduction of stock from Sweden in 1984 and has thrived since then.
The key to the success of the programme was an understanding of the butterfly's bizarre life-cycle which is similar to that of the cuckoo.
The caterpillar tricks red ants into believing it is one of their own grubs and is carried underground.
It feeds on the larvae around it until it emerges 10 months later to live for just a few weeks as a butterfly.
Conservationists said the story of the large blue showed that the decline of globally threatened species could be reversed.


Blackpool have signed ex-York defender Eddie Nolan on a one-year deal.

The former Scunthorpe, Sheffield Wednesday and Preston player worked with Blackpool manager Gary Bowyer as a trainee at Blackburn.
The 27-year-old was released by York in January after making 18 appearances for the League Two side.
"I've played against some of the lads before - there are some good players, and some good signings have been made this summer," he told the club website.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


Three-time Olympic medallist Louis Smith has apologised after comments he made about the judges at the recent British Championships led to a rebuke by the national governing body.

Having lost out on gold to Max Whitlock, Smith tweeted: "I am actually really bitter. The cut is open and deep and the judges are rubbing salt in it."
British Gymnastics issued a statement saying he was "extremely remorseful".
Smith, 26, said he realised it was wrong to have "aired my frustrations".
He added: "Having had time to cool off and following conversations with British Gymnastics, who have helped me see the consequences of my actions, I realise the way that I expressed my feelings was wrong and it should never have happened.
"I want to say sorry to my team-mates, to my fans, to the judges involved and to British Gymnastics for any offence caused."


Joe Schmidt will remain as Ireland coach until at least June 2017 after signing a one-year contract extension.

The Irish RFU were keen to retain the services of the 49-year-old after back-to-back Six Nations Championship wins.
Ireland would probably have preferred to tie Schmidt into a longer deal, knowing his record with Leinster and Ireland makes him a man in demand.
"I am looking forward to the next two challenging years with the national team," said Schmidt.
"It has been great to be involved in such a player-driven environment, along with such a skilled and positive staff, to support them in their quest to be as competitive as possible."
Media playback is not supported on this device
Schmidt guided Leinster to two Heineken Cup triumphs, two Pro12 titles and a European Challenge Cup success during his three seasons with the province.
After taking over from Declan Kidney in the summer of 2013, he led Ireland to the Six Nations Championship during his first 12 months in charge and his team retained that title in 2015 following a successful autumn campaign which included wins over South Africa and Australia.
Overall,  Ireland have won 16 of the 20 Tests they have played under Schmidt.
The announcement of their coach's contract extension came just 17 days before Ireland face an opening World Cup warm-up game against Wales in Cardiff.
"We believe that Joe is one of the leading coaches in world rugby, so we are delighted that he has extended his contract and will continue to work in Irish rugby until the end of the 2016/17 season," IRFU performance director David Nucifora said.
"Outside of his national team duties, Joe has contributed to the development of indigenous coaches across the provincial and under-age structures, as well as having a positive input into the Ireland Under-20 and women's squads."


Former Thai PM Abhisit Vejjajiva has been charged with murder over the death of a taxi driver shot by soldiers during political violence.

Mr Abhisit was prime minister when thousands of protesters took to the streets in 2010 demanding his government step down.
He gave orders allowing troops to use live ammunition on protesters, who had shut down parts of Bangkok.
He denies the charge, which supporters say is politically motivated.
More than 90 people, both civilians and soldiers, were killed in the protests, which went on for over two months.
Mr Abhisit and his deputy at the time, Suthep Thaugsuban, are the first officials to face charges in connection with the deaths.
The move was announced last week, after a court ruled in September that taxi driver Phan Kamkong had been killed by troops.
Now the leader of the opposition, Mr Abhisit has defended his order for live ammunition to be used, saying government forces had "very little option" but to act when live fire was used against them.
"We tried to negotiate with the protesters, and they wouldn't accept any of the deals that we offered them," he told the BBC. "It was our duty to restore order, and that's what we were trying to do."
Mr Abhisit said he would fight to prove he was not guilty.
Elections held after the protests, in July 2011, were won by the party led by Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted prime minister whom many of the protesters backed.
Twenty-four protest leaders are also being prosecuted on terrorism charges.


Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has set out a number of Mid-East peace proposals at the UN but PM Benjamin Netanyahu said the speech had not been cleared.

Mr Lieberman said a permanent Mid-East settlement could take decades and pressed a plan for transferring Israeli Arabs to any Palestinian state.
He said Iran controlled militant groups such as Hamas and could foil any deal.
Mr Netanyahu said the speech did not reflect Israel's official position.
"The content of the foreign minister's speech at the United Nations was not co-ordinated with the prime minister," his office said in a statement.
"The various issues of the peace deal will be discussed and determined only at the negotiating table and nowhere else."
Mr Lieberman's comments come amid uncertainty about the US-brokered negotiations, which only resumed last month, after a partial freeze on the construction of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank expired.
In his speech, the leader of the right-wing nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict hinged not just on practical issues but on "emotional problems", such as the "utter lack of confidence".
"That is why the solution should also be a two-staged one," he said. "We should focus on coming up with a long-term intermediate agreement, something that could take a few decades."
"We need to raise an entire new generation that will have mutual trust and will not be influenced by incitement and extremist messages."
He also said the guiding principle for a final agreement should not be "land for peace, but rather exchange of populated territory".
"We are not talking about population transfer but about defining borders so as best to reflect the demographic reality," he added.
Mr Lieberman said the "other misguided argument is the claim that the Palestinian issue prevents a determined international front against Iran".
"In truth, the connection between Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is precisely reversed. Iran can exist without Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, but the terrorist organizations cannot exist without Iran."
"Relying on these proxies Iran can, at any given time, foil any agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, or with Lebanon."
The speech caused a walkout by Palestinian delegates at the UN.
"The remarks were so offensive that one cannot tolerate them," Permanent Observer Riyad Mansour told the Reuters news agency. "This man is completely detached from political reality."
The BBC's Barbara Plett, at the United Nations, says that as foreign minister, Mr Lieberman could have been expected to speak for Israel's government while addressing the General Assembly.
His decision to strike out on his own therefore exposes the serious disagreements within Mr Netanyahu's coalition on the current peace talks, and illustrates the hardline pressures he faces, our correspondent says.
Jerusalem
Borders and settlements
Refugees
Water
On Monday the US said it was "disappointed" by Israel's decision not to extend the 10-month freeze on settlement building in the West Bank, which expired on Sunday.
Construction resumed in several settlements, but was reportedly slow because of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
Despite the end of the freeze, Mr Netanyahu called on the Palestinians to continue direct peace talks - which recently resumed after a 20-month pause.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he would make a decision about continuing with the talks after a meeting of Arab leaders in Cairo next Monday.
Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and is not taking part in the talks with Israel, has urged Mr Abbas to withdraw from them.
US President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, has been sent to the region to try to salvage the negotiations.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since the Middle East war of 1967, settling some 500,000 Jews in more than 100 settlements which are held to be illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this. About 2.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank.


Muslim leaders from around the world have taken part in an unprecedented trip to Germany and Poland to see and hear for themselves about the horrors of the Jewish Holocaust.

The 11 imams, sheiks and religious teachers from nine countries met a Holocaust survivor and Poles whose families risked execution to save Jews from the Nazis, in the Polish capital's Nozyk Synagogue as part of the tour.
They have been around museums, including the recently opened Museum of the History of Polish Jews on the site of the former Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw. And they also visited the Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps.
"The main aim is to get Muslims who are leaders all over the world, particularly in the Middle East, to acknowledge the reality of what happened here and to be able to teach it to the people that they lead," said trip organiser Rabbi Jack Bemporad, who is executive director of the US-based Center for Interreligious Understanding.
He was standing underneath the red brick watchtower over the main entrance to Birkenau, the largest of more than 40 camps that made up the Auschwitz complex. This was where the Nazis installed four gas chambers and crematoria to speed up the murder and disposal of people, who were mostly Jews, from across Europe.
Auschwitz-Birkenau, set up by the Germans in Nazi-occupied Poland, is largely intact and is now a museum. Historians estimate 1.1 million people were killed there - one million of them were Jews but there were also Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and others.
"I think that when someone wants to deny the Holocaust or think that it is exaggerated, which many of them do and certainly many of their followers do, when they come here and see it, their experience is such that they can no longer think that," Rabbi Bemporad said.
Beside the ruins of one of the gas chambers - the Germans blew them up as they retreated, in an effort to hide their crimes - the Muslim leaders paused for a moment's silence.
"You may read every book about the Holocaust but it's nothing like when you see this place where people were burned," said Mohamed Magid, president of the Islamic Society of North America.
"This is the building, the bricks. If they were to speak to you and I, they would tell you how many cries and screams they have heard."
Mr Magid, who is originally from Sudan, first visited Auschwitz-Birkenau during a trip organised for American imams in 2010. He said the experience had led him to hold an annual Seder, a Jewish ceremonial meal, at his mosque in Virginia where he invites people to listen to the story of a Holocaust survivor who was saved by a Muslim family.
"We go back more committed to human rights and more understanding of conflicts and how to resolve them, but also to be careful of a curriculum that teaches racism and hatred," he said.
Earlier, the group had taken photos as they walked around an exhibition in the red brick barrack blocks at Auschwitz, about 2 miles (3kms) from Birkenau.
They made comments such as "Can you imagine?" and "It's beyond comprehension" as they saw a great pile of hair shorn from women prisoners that was used to make rudimentary textiles. They shook their heads as they saw faded children's shoes and dolls in glass cases.
After they had seen just two of the 14 exhibition blocks, some of the group asked for a break and they knelt in prayer beside the camp's execution wall.
Barakat Hasan, a Palestinian imam and director of the Center for Studies and Islamic Media in Jerusalem, said he "didn't know many details about the Holocaust" before the trip.
"I felt my heart bleeding when I was looking at all this. I was fighting back tears," he said through an interpreter. "As a Palestinian living under occupation, I feel sympathy for the pain and injustice that was inflicted on the Jews," he added.
Mr Hasan said he did not believe there were people in the Muslim world who denied the Holocaust happened, but he said there was discussion in his community about whether the commonly quoted figure of six million Jewish victims was correct.
"Maybe now after seeing what I've seen, maybe the numbers are correct also," he said, adding that he would write articles and mention his trip on Facebook.
As he walked along the railway line and unloading ramp at Birkenau - where the trains hauling cattle cars crammed with Jews arrived - Ahmet Muharrem Atlig, a Turkish imam and secretary general of the Journalists and Writers Foundation in Istanbul, said he wept when he saw a photograph that showed children looking scared as they got off a train.
"Unfortunately the Muslim communities and congregation don't know much about the Holocaust," he said.
"Yes, we've heard something. But we have to come and see what happened here. It's not just about Jews, or Christians, this is all about human beings because the human race suffered here."


Mark Warburton says the stature of Nottingham Forest and the potential at the club means becoming the 26th man to take charge since Brian Clough left in 1993 is a risk worth taking.

The ex-Rangers manager is the 10th appointment made by owner Fawaz Al Hasawi in less than five years.
Forest are just two points clear of the Championship relegation zone.
"The size, quality, expectation and tradition of the club must excite you," Warburton told BBC Nottingham Sport.
"I know there is a job to be done but there is no doubt about the potential here. Our job is to add some stability."
Warburton, 54, who has been out of work since leaving Rangers on 10 February, insisted he was "comfortable" with the assurances he has been given by the owners at the City Ground despite the ongoing upheaval.
Al Hasawi has twice tried to sell the club since last summer, but Warburton said he was not put off by the uncertainty and owner's reputation for sacking managers.
"You take everything into consideration," he added. "It's a pleasure and privilege to be here.
"You have to take risks; you can't always play safe - far from it. I'm confident we are moving forward and we have the support from the board we need to have."
Warburton is eager to see Gary Brazil, who had been in interim charge, remain at the club.
Academy director Brazil and academy coach Jack Lester have both mulling over offers to revert to their roles with the youth set-up, which has seen players like Ben Brereton, Matty Cash, Ben Osborn, Joe Worrall and Oliver Burke progress into the first team.
Warburton met Brazil and Lester on Thursday morning and was "hopeful" they would stay on.
"They have done tremendous work in the academy," Warburton added. "Academies exist to get players into the first-team squad and you look at the first-team squad and they have done a very good job. There is no doubt about that.
"They stepped into a difficult role and I am full of respect for the work they did.
"I had a good chat with them this morning after meeting them for the first time. I look forward to them hopefully continuing the work in the academy. I was delighted with the chat. The quality of the work was there for all to see."
The future of Brazil and Lester will be handled by Forest's new director of football Frank McParland, who Mark Warburton has worked with at both Brentford and Rangers
Warburton was thrilled to have a familiar face in such an "important" role.
"I have known Frank very well over a number of years," Warburton said. "I have watched him work, have watched the quality of his work, the quality of his recruitment, his eye for a player and his knowledge of football clubs so I am full of respect for him.
"He is an outstanding individual - one of the best in the business.
"Frank coming in early gave us a real insight into where the club was, the players and the staff. That really helped us. It was a very swift decision, but was helped by the fact Frank was here first."
Forest are 19th in the Championship, having lost five of their past seven matches, and face fierce local rivals Derby County at home on Saturday.
The Rams also have a new manager in charge, meaning it will be the fifth consecutive East Midlands derby with a different manager in charge of both clubs.
Warburton said: "These are the games players must relish and understand the emotions and passion that is involved. We know exactly what it means to supporters. It is a huge game for a number of reasons.
"I understand the significance of this game, what it means to people in the area. It is important for the players to get the balance right.
"You have to go out and perform and enjoy the pressure. But they must understand what the game means to people."
Warburton said his immediate priority was ensuring survival in the second tier of English football. But he is already thinking further afield.
"We have to get the club back to where it needs to be in the short, medium and long term," he said.
"We need to stay in the division. We have to steady the ship, get the performances in and the points we require on the board then then we need a solid pre-season to try to fine-tune the squad and add quality in key areas.
"The Premier League is the promised land and that is where we have to get to. A club of this stature has to be in the Premier League. That has to be a very clear and realistic ambition."
BBC Scotland sport reporter Alasdair Lamont
Warburton brings a very specific ethos about football and how it should be played. To some extent that was welcomed at Rangers especially as he won the Championship in his first season - the second tier in Scotland. He won that at a canter playing some very attractive football.
Rangers played this short passing game and scored a lot of goals. It was very effective and he made a lot of good signings at that level and they were promoted without any fuss whatsoever.
The downside of that particular brand of football was that Warburton always said Plan B for me is to do Plan A better.
What happened then was when their opponents began to learn how to combat that style of play he wouldn't then knock it long and try a more direct style, which is commendable in some respects.
Mark Warburton wouldn't compromise his ethos but ultimately that began to cost him results, especially when he moved up to the the Premiership when they were were coming up against better teams and better organised defences and Rangers found it much more difficult to score this season. I guess that is one of the factors that ultimately cost him his job.
The players will, by and large, buy into what he is trying to achieve because it is an exciting brand of football he wants to play and is pleasant on the eye
Ultimately it will come down to results and can he keep Nottingham Forest up? It did seem initially he was on to a good thing and Rangers fans really bought into what he was trying to achieve.
But things turned sour and some fans turned things like always making substitutions on the hour mark. He has his own way of doing things and will not relish being moved away from that.


Former F1 driver Rubens Barrichello's son is following in his dad's footsteps.

14 August 2017 Last updated at 14:02 BST
15-year-old Eduardo decided to take his dad out in a racing car to show him what he could do.
It all got a bit too much for the F1 champ and he became a bit overwhelmed as many proud dads do.
Bet you've seen your grown-up crying at key moments in your life!


Justice Secretary Michael Gove has said he wants to reduce the prison population in England and Wales.

Addressing the Howard League for Penal Reform's conference, Mr Gove said he hoped numbers would "fall over time".
He also indicated there could be major reforms to sentencing - but added that he did not want to "leap to any conclusions".
The use of body-worn cameras, currently being trialled, would improve prison staff behaviour, he also said.
"If prison officers are wearing body-worn cameras, that does mean they're less likely to be assaulted.
"It also means that they are more likely - and I don't think that this is as much of a problem as it was 20 years ago - but it also means that any individual prison officer is more likely to behave appropriately and decently as well", he told the central London conference.
The justice secretary was directly asked by a panel member whether the prison population, currently 85,000, needed to be cut.
He replied: "Obviously I'd like to see the prison population fall over time.
"I believe the best way we can do that is by dealing effectively with those offenders who are in our care at the moment, through effective rehabilitation."
Like his predecessor, Chris Grayling, Michael Gove does not like to use the word "crisis" to describe the state of the prison system.
Nevertheless, he was remarkably frank about the "deeply concerning" problems in jails - highlighting rising levels of violence, high self-harm rates, poor sanitation in some establishments, lack of purposeful activity, drug misuse and staff corruption.
Unlike some of those who've held the prison brief before, Mr Gove spoke openly about his desire to reduce the jail population.  This is significant.
It confirms the change in direction in crime and punishment policy, described by the justice secretary as "a new era"; it sends a message to magistrates and judges to explore alternatives to custody, where possible; and it prepares the ground for sentencing reform, possibly next year, which might see fewer people locked up.
Mr Gove's remarks echoed David Cameron's comments at the Conservative Party conference last month, in which the prime minister called for an end to the sterile "lock 'em up or let 'em out" debate.
The justice secretary said he wanted to "transcend the old divisions that used to bedevil the debate".
BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said that in recent years government minsters had tended to shy away from answering questions about wanting to reduce prison numbers, worried that they could appear "soft" or that their aims would not be achieved.
Mr Gove also indicated that there could be major reforms of sentencing.
"We do need to look at our whole sentencing framework," he said, adding that he did not want to "leap to any conclusions".
He said more research was needed on the effectiveness of sentencing before devising plans as to how a "more sensitive" regime could be achieved and said it was "worth analysing" the impact of short sentences.
Other options ministers are understood to be looking at include greater use of electronic tagging as an alternative to imprisonment, and reducing the number of inmates who are recalled to jail for beaching the terms of their release.
The Howard League conference was also told about the justice secretary's plans to give prison governors more control and the sell-off of older prisons, which he said had support at the "heart" of government.


Revellers celebrating the New Year in central London will be able to "taste" the atmosphere with flavoured mist, "snow" and confetti released.

About 150,000 people are expected to attend the annual fireworks display on the banks of the River Thames.
Clouds of apple and cherry mist and peach snow will be released into the air and people will also get scratch 'n' sniff programmes and fruit sweets.
The mayor said it was among the world's "most dazzling firework displays".
Boris Johnson said: "There is no better way to celebrate the highs of 2013 and the start of an exciting new year."
BBC London weather forecaster Sara Thornton said there would be scattered showers at midnight .
A spokesperson for the mayor's office said contingency plans were in place to cope with changes to the weather, including reducing the number and type of fireworks which would go off.
Up to 100,000 people in key viewing areas by the Thames will be given the scratch 'n' sniff programmes, LED wristbands and seven kinds of fruit-flavoured sweets that link to the tastes and smells of the multi-sensory display.
The fireworks display on the Southbank, which begin as Big Ben strikes midnight, will be shown live on BBC One and will take place alongside a specially created musical soundtrack.
In his New Year's message Mr Johnson said: "We are saying goodbye to 2013, which was another exciting and memorable year for our city and the whole of the country.
"Let's continue to strive and to work together to ensure the future success of our great city."
Buses, the Tube, DLR, tram and some National Rail services in Greater London will run all night and will be mostly free from 23:45 GMT until 04:30.


On Saturday the five nominees for the BBC African Footballer of the Year 2016 will be revealed and voting will open.

The names will be announced in a live show on BBC World TV and BBC World Service radio, starting at 18:00 GMT.
Fans of African football worldwide will be able to vote via the BBC African football website from 18:50.
Voting will close at 18:00 on Monday, 28 November and the winner revealed live on Focus on Africa TV and radio on Monday 12 December at 17:35.
A panel of former African internationals and football experts will be in attendance at the special show on Saturday.
Hosted by Peter Okwoche, the show will include an interview with a former winner of the award, discussion of the 2016 nominees and a review of the year in African football.
And you will also have the chance to watch behind-the-scenes footage on the BBC Africa and BBC Sport Facebook pages and on Instagram.
BBC Sport will also be live-tweeting the launch as it happens on BBC Africa and BBC Sport Twitter accounts.
Users of social media can stay up to date with the competition via #BBCAFOTY.


Wales has faced pre-Christmas disruptions after winds of up to 75mph from Storm Barbara swept in on Friday.

Part of a school roof was ripped off at Rhosgadfan near Caernarfon, Gwynedd, while hundreds of homes across Wales experienced power cuts.
The day saw train delays, speed and lane restrictions on major bridges and power cuts for hundreds of homes.
It followed a yellow 'be aware' warning for wind across Wales, which was in force until midnight on Friday.
Friday has been one of the busiest days of the festive season on UK roads as the Christmas getaway combined with the end of the working week.
The highest gusts of wind were recorded on Friday afternoon at Mona on Anglesey.
Irish Ferries cancelled six of its fast sailings between Holyhead and Dublin due to "adverse weather conditions" on the Irish Sea, transferring passengers to their cruise ferry services.
Arriva Trains Wales warned of "speed restrictions and possible delays" for all services between Llandudno Junction to Holyhead due to the winds.
The National Trust also closed Erddig Hall and Chirk Castle in Wrexham due to the expected high winds.
Winds eased into Friday evening, with earlier restrictions on both the A55 Britannia Bridge in north Wales and the M48 Severn Bridge in Monmouthshire lifted.
But a blustery forecast for the Christmas weekend has seen at least one festive event postponed - Rhyl's Boxing Day Dip in the sea in Denbighshire will now go ahead 24 hours later, on Tuesday, 27 December.
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Cheltenham Town have signed midfielder Harry Pell, with the length of the contract yet to be finalised.

Pell, 23, joined Eastleigh in January after his contract was cancelled by AFC Wimbledon.
He joined Wimbledon from Hereford in January 2013 and made 65 appearances in total for the club.
"I am pleased to bring Harry in because he was one of our first thoughts this summer," said Cheltenham manager Gary Johnson.
Pell started his professional career with Bristol Rovers and also had a spell at Cambridge United.


Rotherham United have appointed Hibernian boss Alan Stubbs as their new manager on a three-year contract.

The 44-year-old was given permission to speak to the Championship club on Monday but resigned from his Hibs role, according to Rotherham, to take over.
He leaves Hibs less than two weeks after guiding the Easter Road side to a first Scottish Cup win in 114 years.
And his exit comes despite the two clubs having yet to reach an agreement over compensation.
The former Celtic and Everton defender replaces Neil Warnock at the New York Stadium.
Warnock kept the Millers in the second tier last season but left at the end of the campaign, saying it would have been "wrong" of him to sign a new deal.
Stubbs took over at Hibs in June 2014 following their relegation from the Scottish Premiership.
They finished second and third in his two seasons in charge but were unable to gain promotion via the play-offs on both occasions.
He will be joined at Rotherham by assistant John Doolan, who also resigned from his position as first-team coach at Hibs.


A sex offender who fled the UK during his trial has been sentenced after police tracked him down first to Albania and then to Kosovo.

Blerim Hajdarmataj, 24, of Chelmsford, was found guilty of sex offences by a jury in his absence last September.
His 18-year-old female victim, from Hornchurch, was left bruised and bitten after the attack.
Chelmsford Crown Court jailed him for eight years after he was caught under a European arrest warrant.
Hajdarmata was flown back to the UK last Friday and sentenced on Monday.
The trial jury was told how he had bought a drink for his victim in a Chelmsford bar in September 2014.
She had refused his request to go home with him but awoke the following day in his bed.
The woman fled and flagged down a passing motorist for help.
Det Insp Terry Balding said: "Hajdarmataj took advantage of a vulnerable woman in the most horrendous and vile way.
"He has shown no remorse for his actions, which have had a lasting effect on the victim.
"By fleeing the country during his trial, he put her through more fear and pain.
"I would like to thank her for her strength in providing evidence throughout the case."


The chancellor has indicated that highly skilled workers may be exempt from the government's planned immigration controls.

Philip Hammond said he could not see why firms should be restricted from recruiting "high level" workers.
The public was not concerned about controls on "computer programmers, brain surgeons, bankers", he said.
The chancellor said voters wanted restrictions on those migrants competing for "entry level jobs".
"I cannot conceive of any circumstances in which we would be using those migration controls to prevent banks, companies moving highly qualified, highly skilled people between different parts of their businesses," he said.
Giving evidence to MPs on the Treasury Select Committee, Mr Hammond did not dispel suggestions that he supported students being taken out of the target for reducing net migration.
Mr Hammond's comments will fuel growing speculation that the government wants to introduce a work visa scheme aimed at low-skilled migrants.
On Tuesday night Downing Street released details of the aims of the government's immigration sub-committee, which included a commitment to introduce a "targeted visa scheme".
Elsewhere, Mr Hammond - who supported the remain campaign - appeared critical of some of his pro-Brexit cabinet colleagues.
He said those seeking "hard decisions" risked undermining the prime minister's negotiations with the European Union.
The chancellor also criticised some of the recent briefing against him: "It would be far more helpful if we could conduct negotiations privately without leaks to newspapers."
The chancellor has said controversial Treasury analysis of the economic shock the UK might face if it left the European Union is now "partially invalid".
It is a significant break with his predecessor, George Osborne, and with what became known by critics of the Remain campaign as "Project Fear".
Philip Hammond said some of the assumptions behind the document - which suggested a significant drop in economic growth - had been superseded by events.
Those close to the chancellor made it clear the models were not wrong for the time, but the circumstances had now changed.
It is also clear that Treasury officials still believe that there will be an economic slowdown as Britain negotiates its exit from the EU, a position backed by the Bank of England.
Read Kamal's blog in full
MPs on the select committee also questioned the chancellor about the impact of Brexit on the economy.
Mr Hammond said they were right to identify that "uncertainty is the big challenge in the next phase of this process", adding: "It's a challenge to our economy - there will be a period inevitably of uncertainty until we know the outcome of the negotiations."
He also tried to calm fears that the financial services sector would be hit hard by Brexit by saying that retaining passporting was important and "would be the ideal outcome".
Passporting refers to the sector maintaining the same access to the EU's financial services market as it enjoys under the UK's membership of the union.
"The reality is that financial services remains our single largest sector; it is responsible for a very large number of jobs straight across the United Kingdom, it's not London-based industry," Mr Hammond said.
"The industry knows that we regard it as extremely important, the industry knows that we understand that it has a particular set of challenges as we go into this period of negotiation with the European Union. And I hope the industry knows - it certainly should know - that helping to address these challenges and taking account of these challenges will be a very high priority for the government."
However, the Chancellor admitted that some banks and financial firms were being "realistic and are looking at other options beyond passporting to protect their interests".
Mr Hammond also insisted that the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, which sets interest rates, would remain responsible for monetary policy.
That stance was called into question after Mrs May made a surprise attack on the Bank in her speech to the Tory Party conference this month, saying that "a change has got to come".
The Bank's actions - such as maintaining low interest rates since the financial crash - had meant those with assets such as property had got richer, while those without had suffered, Mrs May said.
Mr Hammond was asked what Mrs May's promised "change" referred to if it was not monetary policy.
He said: "There will be no change in monetary policy. Monetary policy is independently determined, that will continue to be the case."


Full reports of official investigations into recent notorious cases of crimes against children are to be published, ministers have confirmed.

Children's Minister Tim Loughton said the serious case reviews into the deaths of Baby Peter and Khyra Ishaq would be released in full.
The cases of the Edlington brothers and Shannon Matthews would also be published, Mr Loughton confirmed.
Publication will ensure the children involved remained anonymous, he said.
In an interview with Children and Young People Now, Mr Loughton said: "When you read some of these reviews it becomes clear that a lot of fault can be laid at the door of other agencies.
"Yet it is always social workers who take the brunt of the criticism.
"Actually, this is a way of helping to restore some of the lost confidence in social workers."
A spokesperson for the Department  for Education said there was no timeline at present as to when these case reviews will published.
In the run up to the election, both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had said they would publish serious case reviews in full and this commitment was restated in the coalition agreement.
They are now set to retrospectively publish reviews from high-profile cases.
Baby Peter, from Haringey in London, died at the age of 17 months at the hands of his mother, her boyfriend and their lodger.
He had had 60 contacts with the authorities over eight months.
Khyra Ishaq died in May 2008 after getting an infection following months of starvation at her home in Handsworth, Birmingham.
It emerged that Birmingham City Council was aware of concerns about the child's welfare almost five months before her death.
Schoolgirl Shannon Matthews was kidnapped and hidden by her own mother Karen Matthews in an attempt to claim thousands of pounds in reward money in February 2008.
Karen Matthews was jailed for her part in the kidnapping, along with her former partner's uncle, Michael Donovan.
And in January, two brothers were jailed for an "appalling and terrible" attack on two boys, then aged nine and 11, in Edlington, near Doncaster in South Yorkshire.
The case provoked widespread criticism of agencies involved with the family.


President Francois Hollande has threatened Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron with the sack after he came close to declaring a challenge for the presidency.

In a TV interview to coincide with France's Bastille Day holiday, Mr Hollande said: "If you don't respect the rules, you're out".
Mr Macron held the first rally of his new political movement this week.
After he had given a speech, the crowd chanted "Macron, president!"
A former investment banker who became an adviser to President Hollande before securing the economy brief, Mr Macron has annoyed Socialist cabinet colleagues with his presidential ambitions.
His movement "En Marche" (On the Move) was set up in April as a centrist group to foster ideas.
However, he is widely seen as harbouring hopes of running for the presidency in 2017 elections. The Socialist primaries are only six months away and Mr Hollande continues to struggle in the polls.
The president's patience with Mr Macron finally snapped after days of discord in the cabinet.
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The cabinet row burst into the open on Tuesday. Shortly before Mr Macron addressed his movement's first rally, Prime Minister Manuel Valls told reporters forcefully that "it's time to put a stop to all this".
Then, the pro-business economy minister said during an hour-long speech that France had been "worn down by broken promises" and that he realised how much "the system did not want to change".
Mr Valls responded by accusing him of not living up to his responsibilities. "You can't condemn a so-called system and give in to the temptations of populism, when you yourself are the perfect product of France's elite," he said.
Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian stepped up the attack on Mr Macron on Thursday morning, speaking of the government as a football team, with the prime minister as captain and the president as coach.
"Then there are players who have to play as a team," he told RTL radio. "If the best player plays by himself, he won't score. So I wish he'd play as part of the team."
Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the last thing France needed was a political crisis when it was in the middle of terrorist threat. And then, hours later, President Hollande threatened the economy minister with the sack.
"There are rules," he said. "Solidarity and teamwork come first; then there can be no personal initiatives, and even less presidential ones. You simply have to serve to the end."
While praising Mr Macron's ability, he said that if he failed to respect the rules of staying in the government, he would have to go.
As the political row played out across the air waves on France's day of independence, opposition Republican leader Nicolas Sarkozy weighed in by suggesting it all pointed to a complete loss of authority on the part of President Hollande.


British singer and drummer Phil Collins has confirmed reports he is to retire from the music business.

"I am stopping so I can be a full time father to my two young sons on a daily basis," he wrote on his website.
His decision, he said, was not down to "dodgy reviews", "bad treatment in the press" or "because I don't feel loved".
Collins' announcement was in response to a series of "distorted" articles that had erroneously painted him as "a tormented weirdo", he added.
"There's no need for the straitjacket!" joked the 60-year-old, whose hits include In the Air Tonight and Another Day in Paradise.
A former member of rock band Genesis, Collins went on to achieve huge success as a solo performer, including hit albums as No Jacket Required and ...But Seriously.
The winner of seven Grammy awards was also the recipient of an Academy award for his soundtrack for the Disney animated film Tarzan.
Last year he topped the UK album chart with Going Back, a collection of Motown and soul covers.
The singer has two sons, Nicholas and Matthew, with his third wife Orianne Cevey, whom he divorced in 2008.


The final episode of Downton Abbey was watched by an average of 8.4 million viewers, overnight figures show.

Viewing peaked at 9.2 million at the start of the extended 95-minute episode at 21:00 GMT, with 8.5 million seeing it through to the end.
Although billed as the final episode, there will be a Christmas special which fans hope will tie up some loose ends before the drama officially ends.
The series, which first began in 2010, has been a hit around the world.
Although ratings had fallen over the course of the sixth series, Sunday night's episode was the highest viewed since November 2013.
Critics generally praised the finale, with The Guardian's Sam Wollaston saying "farewell to a pretty splendid posh soap opera".
"This [episode] is rammed to the ramparts with excitement and (melo)drama. Television will be a dowdier place without it," he said.
The Telegraph's Allison Pearson added: "Thankfully, the finale, which came at the end of a dull series, was an absolute corker. That trademark recipe of low comedy and high melodrama was served up on a silver salver."
However other critics were left unsatisfied, complaining of loose ends.
The Daily Express's Neela Debnath said it felt like "there's still so much left unresolved".
"It feels as if [creator Julian Fellowes] had so many more plans for Downton but has had to cut it short and cram all of his ideas into this one episode. The result is far from the satisfying ending that Downton aficionados were hoping for," she said.
"Perhaps the real finale will be delivered at Christmas and leave us begging for another series of our favourite Sunday night period drama. But tonight falls short of the mark."
Meanwhile, The Huffington Post's Caroline Frost described the episode as a "misjudged finale".
"This finale, and sixth series as a whole, has most certainly proved the wisdom of Lord Fellowes' decision to put his pen down and consign the residents of this gothic pile to their colourful but ultimately inconsequential history," she said.


Cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, the brother of Lord Lloyd-Webber, is to retire due to a neck injury which has left him unable to play.

Lloyd Webber said he was "devastated" to end his career as a musician.
The 63-year-old said a herniated disc in his neck had reduced the power in his right arm, with which he holds his bow.
Lloyd Webber's acclaimed performance of his brother's Variations album was used as the theme to The South Bank Show.
He was also celebrated for his performance of Elgar's Cello Concerto and was elected president of the Elgar Society in 2009.
Lloyd Webber said: "I am devastated. There were so many exciting plans that cannot now come to fruition.
"I have had an immensely fulfilling career and feel privileged to have worked with so many great musicians and orchestras but now I have to move on."
His last album, A Tale of Two Cellos was a compilation of more than 20 duets for two cellos and piano and featured Lloyd Webber performing with his wife, Jiaxin Cheng.
His final concert as a performer is to take place at the Forum Theatre, Malvern, with the English Chamber Orchestra on 2 May.
"After 2 May, my cello will fall silent," he said, adding he had "no intention of enduring a forced retirement".
"I would like to use the knowledge I have gained through my life as a musician and an educator to give back as much as I can to the music profession which has given me so much over the years," he said.
He added he needed "time to reflect and to consider this sudden and distressing life-changing situation".
Lloyd Webber made his professional debut at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London in 1972 when he gave the first London performance of the Cello Concerto by Sir Arthur Bliss.
His Brit award-winning Elgar Cello Concerto, conducted by Yehudi Menuhin was selected by BBC Music Magazine as the finest ever version.
In May 2001, he was granted the first busker's licence on the London Underground.
"It is good to have variety in life," Lloyd Webber said at the time. "I like to play to people but the next stop will be the Royal Albert Hall."
His older brother, musical impresario Lord Lloyd-Webber, paid tribute, saying he "had known of Julian's difficulties for some while and, like him, I was hoping this would not come to pass.
"Music has lost one of its finest performers."


A man in his 20s is in hospital after being stabbed several times in County Donegal.

It followed an altercation between a number of people on the Ramelton Road area of Letterkenny at about 04:00 local time on Thursday.
A woman who intervened is also being treated for a knife wound to her arm. GardaÃ have arrested a man in his 30s.
Both victims were taken to Letterkenny University Hospital for non-life threatening injuries.


Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has signed into law a bill aimed at curbing anti-government protests.

The bill was passed in parliament on Thursday with a quick show of hands by MPs loyal to the president, rather than the usual system of electronic voting.
The changes include a ban on unauthorised tents in public areas and criminal responsibility for slandering government officials.
The move has sparked uproar among the opposition, who say it is illegal.
They have accused the ruling party of a coup.
The US and several EU countries expressed deep concern over the new bills.
As well as signing into law a series of bills, President Yanukovych also fired his long-time chief of staff, Sergiy Lyovochkin, on Friday.
Mr Lyovochkin was rumoured to have wanted to step down after riot police broke up a rally at the end of November - a move that brought tens of thousands of protesters on to the streets the following day.
In a tweet on Thursday following the events in parliament, EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele said he was "profoundly concerned by new legislation limiting freedoms".
He said the move contradicted Ukraine's "European aspirations" and its commitments in the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which President Yanukovych abruptly refused to sign in November, amid Russian economic pressure.
The Ukrainian opposition warned the new measures would further inflame the protest movement, and called for a big gathering in the capital Kiev on Sunday.
Anti-government protesters have been camping out behind extensive barricades in Kiev's Independence Square - known as the Euromaidan - for nearly two months in the freezing cold.
The mass demonstrations were initially triggered by President Yanukovych's last-minute rejection of the EU partnership deal.
But the protesters' demands later widened to include the fight against what they said was widespread government corruption and abuse of power.
On Thursday, MPs from Mr Yanukovych's Party of the Regions, together with the communists and a number of independents, passed the laws amid scenes of chaos in parliament.
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The measures were pushed through in a matter of minutes when lawmakers simply raised their hands, despite the protests of opposition deputies who had earlier blocked the speaker's platform to try to disrupt the voting.
One of the laws bans any unauthorised installation of tents, stages or amplifiers in public places. Those who violate the law now face a hefty fine or detention.
Another bill provides a punishment of one year of corrective labour for slandering government officials.
Protests involving more than five vehicles in "Automaidan" motorcades were also banned. This followed such demonstrations outside government offices - including Mr Yanukovych's countryside residence - in recent days.
Party of the Regions MP Oleh Tsariov said the laws aimed to prevent further escalation of the ongoing political crisis.
But the three main opposition leaders described the move as "illegitimate", saying the pro-presidential MPs had decided to use voting by a show of hands after realising they did not have enough support.
Udar party leader Vitali Klitschko condemned it as a "coup d'etat", while Arseniy Yatsenyuk, one of the leaders of the Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) party, warned that Ukraine was now bracing for another "wave of protests".
In Washington, the US state department voiced its "deep concern" that the controversial measures had been passed.
"We believe deeply that the people of Ukraine want to affiliate and want to be associated with Europe and they want to turn in that direction," Secretary of State John Kerry said.
"And the steps that were taken yesterday are anti-democratic. They're wrong. They are taking from the people of Ukraine their choice and their opportunity for the future."
The new laws were also criticised by foreign ministers from Sweden and Poland.
The EU's ambassador to Ukraine, Jan Tombinsky, said "norms should be adopted through proper procedures, otherwise the credibility of democratic institutions and of the legal system is at stake".


A third person has been arrested after a teenager was stabbed to death in Cheltenham.

Gloucestershire Police said a 31-year-old woman from the town was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.
Camran Green, 17, was attacked at a property on Shakespeare Road on Sunday. He died in hospital the following day.
Detectives have been given more time to question a 31-year-old man, who was arrested on Wednesday.
A 44-year-old woman, who was arrested at the same time on suspicion of assisting an offender, has been bailed until 1 November.


GPs in England are being encouraged by the NHS advisory body to nearly double the number of patients referred for hospital cancer tests.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said delays in spotting symptoms could be costing thousands of lives each year
About 1.2 million people are currently referred annually, but this figure could rise to 2 million.
GPs said they were already "doing a very good job" at referrals.
Research has suggested that up to 10,000 people die every year because their cancer is diagnosed late, NICE said.
A survey for the NHS last year suggested that a quarter of all people eventually diagnosed with cancer in England had to visit their doctor at least three times before being referred to hospital for tests, it said.
"It is not always easy for GPs to spot cancer," said NICE clinical practice director Prof Mark Baker.
"There are more than 200 different types of the disease so it is unrealistic to expect them to know every single sign and symptom of each one, especially when they only see a handful of new cases a year.
"The problem is that a lot of cancer symptoms can be very general and similar to those of other conditions.
"For example, many people who smoke have a cough associated with chronic lung disease. These are the same people most likely to develop lung cancer, but may well dismiss their symptoms as 'normal for them'," he added.
However, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) said that GPs were "doing a very good job" of referring patients.
"An average GP might only see eight new cases of cancer for every 8,000 patient consultations, yet 75% of referrals made after one or two GP consultations lead to a positive diagnosis," said the RCGP's Dr Maureen Baker.
"When you consider that as well as being rare, many potential symptoms of cancer could be confused with other conditions that GPs see every day, GPs are doing a very good job of appropriately referring our patients that we suspect of having cancer."
She said that the draft NICE guidance was a "welcome step", but added: "What is really needed is giving GPs easier access to diagnostics such as CT and MRI scans and ultrasound that could make a real difference to our patients."
Investment was also needed for more GPs and support staff.
Sara Hiom, Cancer Research UK's director of early diagnosis, also welcomed the guidelines, but said: "To be truly effective, doctors need better access to diagnostic tests and speedy results."
The draft NICE guidance looks at symptoms, links them to possible cancer type and recommends referral procedures, in the form of a table.
It has been put together to supersede 2005 guidelines, which are organised by cancer type and are laid out as text.
"Early referral and diagnosis can help save lives," said NICE's Prof Baker.
Referrals are expected to increase for:
The increase in referrals is expected to cost the NHS between Â£17.8m and Â£36.3m, NICE added.
The draft guidance also includes recommendations about "safety netting" - how to review people with symptoms associated with cancer who do not meet the criteria for referral, to help ensure cancer is not missed.


The arrival in Edinburgh of the men from the International Monetary Fund was one of the scary prospects offered up last year by critics of independence.

The 'no' majority hasn't kept them at bay.
I met one of them at Edinburgh University earlier this month.
To be clear, Carlo Cottarelli wasn't there to impose draconian conditions to a bail-out of Scotland's finances. Nor was he speaking on behalf of the IMF.
He was invited to explain how taxation and spending works in federal countries, having recently co-authored a study of 13 nation states where 'sub-national regions' have extensive powers - as with the American, Australian and Indian states, Canadian provinces and German lander.
They looked also at Austria and Spain, which aren't quite federal systems, but have elements of sharing taxation and government spending from which it's worth learning.
And while this academic tome was directed towards informing the hugely complex question of how the eurozone can co-ordinate its governments' finances better, it's not hard to see the implications for future fiscal relations between Holyrood and Westminster, if the Smith Commission is to be enacted.
Or rather, a close reading of it might indicate that there are bits of the Smith Commission that might be better not enacted, or at least re-thought, at a more careful pace.
The book, Designing a European Fiscal Union, published by Routledge, Â£88, takes some digesting.
For a more readable (and cheaper) guide to devolved tax, the Scottish Parliament's research service, SPICE, is worth a look.
It helps to put the changing position of Scotland's tax autonomy into some international perspective.
The conclusion of the IMF study is that there is no one way to skin the federal cat.
The share of tax raised by 'sub-national' regions ranges from 31% in Austria to 67% in Canada. Germany is at 39%; the USA at 60%.
But if you take out shared taxes, over which the sub-national region has limited control, the picture is different. Only Canada, the US and Switzerland are above a third.  In Austria, Germany and Mexico, it's under 10%.
The study calculates a transfer dependency, a measure of how much sharing and pooling of resources goes on within each country, and that also ranges widely.
It accounts for 88% of regional spend in Mexico, 16% in Canada, and 18% in the US. Among countries more similar to the UK, figures include Austria 45%, Belgium 64%, Germany 54% and Spain 50%.
The IMF economists show that systems are, of course, shaped by the history of how countries were drawn together.
They can be changed - as is the case with the eurozone - by the often bruising experience of shocks for which their rules were not prepared.
And they depend on one commodity that is not immediately evident from the current state of Holyrood-Westminster relations: a mutual desire for co-operation and stability. That is, you can get systems that work, but all sides have to buy into them and must want to make them work.
What these arrangements require are fiscal rules, recognised by both sides. The obvious ones are around the scale of deficits and debts.
And if two governments have a different approach to taxing, spending and cutting their way out of recession - as between the Westminster coalition and the Scottish government in recent years - then there's an obvious problem.
For those who break the rules, there have to be meaningful sanctions. And as the eurozone has found (it didn't take a genius to see this problem coming), countries that run rule-breaking deficits are not well placed to pay big fines as a penalty for doing so - not without borrowing more and running a bigger deficit.
Achieving flexibility and consistency is a tricky balancing act. Co-ordinating across the economic cycle, and applying that famous economic stabiliser, requires thinking in advance of the point when the downturn hits home.
There's a long history of ad hoc arrangements being put in place when there are such crises. Together, they offer some worthwhile lessons for those trying to plan ahead for a robust system.
And there's borrowing: when should it be allowed, to what extent, by what means, who carries the risk, how much should a central government signal its willingness or unwillingness to leave its smaller partner hanging out to dry in the bond markets?
A crucial part of any federal system is the extent to which it shares risks and transfers money from the rich to the poor, from the buoyant to those fallen on relatively harder times.
All of these issues require inter-government bodies to negotiate the share-out of powers, inter-government grants, the application of rules and borrowing quotas. Both or all sides have to be politically committed to these bodies.
We're yet to see the machinery that the UK Treasury sets up which gives devolved administrations some parity of esteem in such negotiations, as the IMF indicate you ought to be able to find in Belgium, Mexico, Argentina and the USA.
That will, or would, be a big challenge to the culture and the sovereign will of Treasury ministers and mandarins. The Barnett Formula has, for 36 years, been a way of avoiding such discussions.
The IMF survey found that the answer is typically through income tax. And that is a bit of a problem, because income tax is the main pillar on which the Smith Commission built its further devolution of powers to Holyrood.
If the Scottish Parliament is to depend on buoyant income tax take, it is going to have to have very much sounder data on which to base its forecasting.
And that income tax departure from the federalised norm is a reminder that the Smith Commission seems to be based on very little assessment of what doesn't work elsewhere, before committing to what it thinks will work.
This may become clearer today as we get the draft clauses of the legislation being built on the Smith Commission foundations.
One aspect of those plans that grabbed the attention of academics discussing the IMF study with Sr Cottarelli is something called the 'no detriment' principle. It's significant because the expert in these federal systems knew of no other country which has it.
It's in the Smith Commission report, page nine, section seven, subsection five, and it goes like this: "The package of powers agreed through the Smith Commission process, when taken together, should not cause detriment to the UK as a whole nor to any of its constituent parts".
It goes on to say the further devolution should cause "neither the UK Government nor the Scottish Government to gain or lose financially simply as a consequence of devolving a specific power".
I'm hazarding a guess that you'll probably hear more about this, because if it's interpreted literally, it means that the use of any tax power which gets an advantage over another part of the UK requires compensation to the disadvantaged side.
Whatever one side gains, to the disadvantage of the other, it has to refund.
That looks fiendishly difficult to calculate in a way that either side of such negotiations could agree upon, as the impact could be felt over many years.
And whether it's designed to look this way or not, the implication is that a lot of policy divergence would be rendered pointless. And if you can't diverge policy to make a difference, why bother having the power?
Indeed, this problem is already being seen in the assumptions being made about the devolution of stamp duty to Holyrood, and the impact that has on the Scottish block grant.
We've seen problems and anomalies arise around this sort of thing before - for instance, when the funding of English students diverged from Scotland's, when water boards were privatised but not in Scotland, and when free personal care in Scotland didn't align with the UK-wide attendance allowance.
To return to the debate before 18 September 2014, would independence avoid such difficult circumstances? Possibly. But remember the need for negotiations to share the pound sterling as the continuing currency for Scotland?
A lot of the challenges facing federal systems would crop up in these talks too. The book is, after all, about the choices facing independent countries which share the euro.


The land of clocks and chocolates is the world's happiest country, according to a new survey.

Switzerland topped the third annual World Happiness index produced by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), an initiative under the United Nations.
It was closely followed by Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Canada.
Togo, Burundi, Benin and Rwanda, with civil-war wracked Syria, were least happy.
The survey was released on the eve of presidential elections in Togo, where one family has been in power for 48 years.
The World Happiness Report examined 158 countries and is aimed at influencing government policy.
The study bases its rankings on data from the Gallup World Poll and takes into account variables such as real GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, corruption levels and social freedoms.
"Increasingly happiness is considered a proper measure of social progress and goal of public policy," the report said.
"A rapidly increasing number of national and local governments are using happiness data and research in their search for policies that could enable people to live better lives".
The SDSN comprises people from academia, government and the private sector and was first launched in 2012.


Inverness defender Lewis Horner has received a suspended eight-match ban for betting on football.

The 25-year-old breached the Scottish FA's zero-tolerance rules on gambling by placing 12 bets in 2011-12 and 343 bets this term, including one against a "team from his own club".
But Horner will not serve any punishment if he proves he has beaten his gambling problem.
The Newcastle-born full-back will be offered help to overcome his problem.
An SFA disciplinary tribunal issued the eight-match ban, but it will only be applied if Horner fails to comply with three conditions: that he does not breach the betting rules again in the next 18 months; that he attends for "treatment, support or counselling at NECA Gambling Services" or a similar group for the next year and co-operates fully; and that he produces reports from the organisation confirming his co-operation halfway through his treatment and at the end of the 12-month period.
Caley Thistle boss Richie Foran said earlier this month that former Hibernian, East Stirlingshire and Blyth Spartans player Horner needs help to beat his gambling addiction.
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A planned rally by Germany's "anti-Islamisation" Pegida group has been called off after police received a threat against one of the organisers.

Pegida announced the measure shortly before police said the threat was "concrete" and no demonstrations would be allowed in Dresden on Monday.
Pegida has held a series of rallies, attracting record numbers last week.
Similar protests have taken place elsewhere in the country and have been condemned by German leaders.
Writing on its Facebook page, Pegida said it had no choice but to cancel the rally to ensure protesters' safety.
It urged supporters to hang flags out of their windows and light candles instead.
Meanwhile in the western city of Essen about 50 demonstrators from the far-right Hooligans Against Salafists group (Hogesa) were outnumbered by more than 2,000 counter-protesters on Sunday.
The Hogesa demonstration was banned by police and those attending were detained.
German magazine Der Spiegel reported on Friday that intelligence agencies had intercepted messages from known jihadists planning strikes against the group.
Pegida last week defied calls from German leaders to stay at home, following the deadly attacks by Islamists in France.
Justice Minister Heiko Maas urged organisers not to "misuse" the attacks.
However the rally went ahead, with a record 25,000 people attending in Dresden.
Anti-Pegida rallies drew tens of thousands in Dresden, Leipzig, Munich and Hanover.
What is Pegida?


The scope of an independent review of undercover policing in Scotland has been set out.

It will examine what procedures and safeguards Police Scotland uses in relation to the practice.
The review was ordered by the Scottish government last year. It came after the UK government refused to extend a similar review in England and Wales.
The reviews follow numerous allegations across the UK that undercover police have abused their positions.
Justice Secretary Michael Matheson directed Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland to investigate the actions of undercover officers.
This strategic review will be led by HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland Derek Penman.
He said: "To maintain public confidence in policing, the tactics employed in undercover operations must be lawful, proportionate and necessary.
"They must also be subject to appropriate governance and oversight and police officers engaged in this specialist area of policing must comply with the law as well as the associated codes of practice."
He added: "Our report will provide assurance on whether undercover police operations are operating effectively and efficiently within Scotland, as well as assessing the contribution they make to public safety.
"In terms of safeguards, we will balance the requirement for visibility and transparency of undercover policing in Scotland with the need to protect sensitive covert policing techniques and operational deployments."
The terms of the review call for it to:
Victims of police spying had called for a Scottish inquiry to be set up.
Holyrood's parties had been united in calling for an extension to the Pitchford Inquiry, which was set up in England and Wales to investigate allegations of misconduct by undercover officers.
There are allegations that undercover Metropolitan Police officers had fathered children and caused miscarriages of justice, with claims of this activity extending to Scotland.
Mark Kennedy, one of five officers known to have had relationships with women while undercover, is alleged to have infiltrated environmental groups ahead of the G8 summit at Gleneagles in 2005.


A brother who choked his sister to death with his bare hands in Fife has been convicted of her murder.

Charles Gordon, 52, was found guilty of killing his Elizabeth Bowe, 50, at her St Andrews flat on 17 September last year.
Gordon, who denied murder, claimed he only grabbed his sister by the neck after she threatened to claim he raped her.
He was originally accused of raping her, but that charge was withdrawn.
He will be sentenced next month.
The jury convicted him of murdering her by compressing her neck, placing a dressing gown round her neck and a bag over her head.
Judge John Morris deferred sentence on Gordon until July for background reports.
The judge said: "This is a very tragic case. "
Prosecutor Iain McSporran QC said: "Elizabeth's family are clearly distraught with their loss. Her son is having difficulty coming to terms with the loss of his mother."
The High Court in Glasgow heard Gordon strangled his sister and then called the police at 21:24.
He told a 999 operator: "I think I've killed my sister. She's dead and I'm alive."
Police who arrived at the scene found Gordon calmly smoking a cigarette while his dying sister, who was naked from the waist down, lay just feet away from him with blood coming from her mouth and a blue dressing gown wrapped round her neck.
Torn pieces of a plastic bag, one of which had Ms Bowe's blood on it, were nearby.
She was taken to Ninewells hospital in Dundee where she died on 20 September last year.
Pathologist Dr David Sadler told the court that Ms Bowe died from strangulation.
In evidence, Gordon admitted killed his sister, but not murdering her.
He said: "I grabbed hold of her by the throat with my left hand. I kept a hold of her until she hit the floor. She slumped and went down. When she went down I let her go."


Ghana forward Asamoah Gyan will miss the 2018 World Cup showdown against Egypt on 13 November.

The Black Stars captain is not expected to recover in time from the knock he picked up while training with his UAE club, Al Ahli on Tuesday.
The 30-year-old is Ghana's all-time top scorer with 48 goals but has had a rough time with injuries recently.
Black Stars coach Avram Grant was hoping to have Gyan back for the must-win game against the Pharaohs.
The Israeli coach has called up Andy Yiadom from English Championship side Barnsley. Yiadom has been in terrific form for the Reds this season.
Egypt will host the Black Stars at Alexandria's Borg El-Arab Stadium.
Ghana were held to a goalless draw by visiting Uganda in their opening Group E World Cup qualifier in October while Egypt's 2-1 win away in Congo Brazzaville leaves them top of the table.
Uganda will host Congo on 12 November in Kampala - only the group winners will qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Ghana squad:
Goalkeepers: Razak Braimah (Cordoba, Spain), Adam Kwarasey (Rosenborg, Norway) Richard Ofori (Wa All Stars)
Defenders: Harrison Afful (Columbus Crew, USA), Andy Yiadom (Barnsley, England), Baba Rahman (Schalke 04, Germany), Daniel Amartey, Jeffery Schlupp (Lesicester City), John Boye (Sivasspor, Turkey), Jonathan Mensah (Anzhi, Russia), Edwin Gyimah (Orlando Pirates (South Africa)
Midfielders: Agyemang-Badu (Udinese, Italy), Afriyie Acquah (Torino, Italy), Thomas Partey (Athletico Madrid, Spain), Mubarak Wakaso (Panathinaikos, Greece), Frank Acheampong (Anderlecht, Belgium),  Christian Atsu (Newcastle United, England), Alhassan Wakaso (Rio Ave, Portugal),  Samuel Tetteh (Liefering, Austria)
Forwards: Jordan Ayew (Aston Villa, England), Abdul-Majeed Waris  (Lorient, France), Andre Ayew (West Ham, England), Ebenezer Assifuah (FC Sion, Switzerland)


USA superstar Simone Biles has won all-around gymnastics gold in the Rio Olympics.

She was the favourite to win gold and didn't disappoint with her routine showing off her power and agility.
Biles went ahead straight away, scoring 15.866 on vault, but she dropped back to second place with 14.966 on the uneven bars.
She then wowed the crowd with an acrobatic beam routine to score 15.433 before a floor routine to samba music, including the famous "Biles" move.
She scored 15.933 and burst into tears when the gold medal was confirmed.
It's Simone's second gold medal of the games, with teammate Alexandra Raisman getting silver and Russia's Aliya Mustafina taking the bronze.
The United States have now won the event four times in a row: Carly Patterson in 2004, Nastia Liukin in 2008 and Gabrielle Douglas in 2012.
Great Britain's Ellie Downie came 13th, just missing out on becoming the best performing female British gymnast in an Olympic all-around final.
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A proposal to allow Church of Scotland ministers to carry out gay marriages will come before the Church of Scotland's General Assembly later.

The report will say there are no longer grounds to deny ministers the authority to preside over gay weddings.
It will also recommend that the Kirk apologises for failing to recognise and protect the Christian vocation of gay people.
Scotland has allowed same-sex couples to marry since 2014.
However, individual church traditions can each decide whether to participate.
Equal marriage has remained a divisive issue within the Church of Scotland.
The report prepared for the General Assembly invited the church to take stock of its history of discrimination against gay people and to apologise "individually and corporately".
The Scottish Episcopal Church, part of Anglican tradition, is expected to approve same-sex marriage when its General Synod meets later this year.
The Church of England will not conduct gay marriages, or allow clergy to be in a same-sex marriage.
The Scottish Episcopal Church move could intensify the split within the wider Anglican Communion of 85 million Christians.
Last year the Communion sanctioned the US Episcopal Church when it decided to allow gay marriage in church.


A man accused of murdering a teenager has told a jury he played no part in the killing.

Suhaib Mohammed, 19, was wounded at a house in Osprey Close, Milton Keynes, but died later in hospital.
Mohamed Noor, 33, of Radworthy, and Albert Prempeh, 35, of Langland Road, deny murder.
Giving evidence at Luton Crown Court, Mr Prempeh said he was force to go to Osprey Close after Mr Noor allegedly put a gun to his head.
The court has previously heard Noor, who last week admitted manslaughter but denies murder, fired the revolver while Mr Prempeh acted as a lookout.
Mr Prempeh told the jury he walked with Noor to Osprey Close, but denied he went through the back gate and on to the property.
He said: "He [Noor] had the gun in his hand. He walked in the gate. I heard gun go off. I heard him running behind me."
The trial continues.


Swansea must back up their shock 2-1 win at Arsenal with victory over rivals Norwich City on Saturday, according to captain Ashley Williams.

Wales skipper Williams scored a 74th-minute winner at the Emirates Stadium to lift the Swans six points clear of the Premier League relegation places.
He feels they have to do the same again against the struggling Canaries.
"If we don't win that, we don't back up the win today, then we're back to square one," Williams told BBC Wales.
"Everyone was looking at the next three games, but after winning here we have to try and build on it and go into the Norwich game.
"It should give us the confidence to know we can beat a team that's going for the title so we can beat anyone.
"It's a massive win and we seem to enjoy coming here, for whatever reason."
Swansea have recorded three wins and a draw in their last four visits to the Emirates Stadium, and the result dented Arsenal's title aspirations as they missed a chance to move level with second-placed Tottenham.
Swansea's next three matches are all against teams in the bottom six - Norwich at home, Bournemouth away and bottom club Aston Villa at home.
Williams acknowledges their importance, but believes there is a lot of football to be played before the end of the season.
"It's just not the next three games," he added.
"There are five or six after that, that we can get points from - from now until the end of the season we need to get momentum, put runs together and get as many points as was can and get ourselves away from this situation."
First-team coach Alan Curtis took charge of the team against Arsenal after head coach Francesco Guidolin was admitted to hospital with a chest infection earlier on Wednesday.
Williams confirmed that the manager had sent the team a message before the game and that he had spoken to the Italian on the phone after the match.
"He's very happy so we wish him all the best, hopefully he's back in Swansea soon and it's just nice to get a win and cheer him up a little bit," added Williams.
"Hopefully we'll see him in Swansea on Friday."


Prop Joe Marler has been cited for allegedly striking an opponent in England's Six Nations win over Wales.

The incident happened in the 15th minute of Saturday's match at Twickenham, which England won 25-21.
Marler has already apologised to Wales prop Samson Lee for calling him a "Gypsy boy" in the same game.
The 25-year-old forward, who plays his club rugby with Premiership side Harlequins, faces an independent disciplinary committee later this week.
Former England centre Jeremy Guscott said Marler needed to be punished for his "Gypsy Boy" comment and said it would be "inappropriate" if his half-time apology was deemed sufficient.
Joseph Jones, a spokesperson for the Gypsy Council, told BBC Radio Wales that Marler had "put himself in a bad position".
"When comments are overheard by other people, even if the person saying them isn't saying them with pure racism at heart, it's going to be interpreted that way," said Jones. "He's put himself in a bad position."


A Turkish court has dropped a case against four Israeli military officials charged over a deadly raid on a ship in an aid flotilla bound for Gaza in 2010.

Arrest warrants for the four were also dropped, a lawyer for the victims said.
Ten Turkish activists lost their lives as a result of the raid, in which Israeli commandos stormed the lead ship in the convoy to Gaza.
Dropping the charges was a key part of a deal agreed between Israel and Turkey this June to normalise bilateral ties.
Under a deal reached this year, Israel agreed to pay $20m (Â£15.9) in compensation to the victims of the raid. In return, Israeli nationals would not be held criminally or financially liable for the incident.
The officials, including former military chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi, went on trial in absentia in 2012.
The deal allowed Turkey and Israel to restore normal relations in June, mending a six-year rift that followed the flotilla incident.
It also allows Turkey to send aid to Gaza and carry out infrastructure projects in the Palestinian territory.
Turkey was once Israel's closest ally in the region, and the two countries share many strategic interests.
The Turkish-owned ship Mavi Marmara was part of a flotilla attempting to breach an Israeli blockade of Gaza when it was intercepted by Israeli commandos on 31 May 2010.
Ten pro-Palestinian Turkish activists, one of them a dual American citizen, were killed and dozens wounded as clashes broke out after the commandos boarded the ship, descending on ropes from helicopters.
The two sides had blamed each other for the violence.
A UN inquiry was unable to determine at exactly which point the commandos used live rounds.
Correction 10 December 2016: This article mistakenly said the Mavi Mamara was an aid ship. It was a passenger ship that was part of an aid flotilla.


A man prosecuted for failing to look after his pig has lodged a complaint against the RSPCA for putting it down.

Mr Pig had a large tumour on his face and was seized by RSPCA officers, who said he had been suffering "in a huge amount of pain".
Bob Skinner, of Corfe Mullen, Dorset, said his 20-year-old kunekune "was old but wasn't ready to be put down".
Mr Skinner, who was found to be in breach of animal welfare laws, has complained to Dorset Trading Standards.
The RSPCA took Mr Skinner to court after he failed to seek veterinary treatment for Mr Pig.
In a statement the charity said: "We have received a complaint regarding our investigations and are currently looking in to the matter."
The RSPCA has previously defended its decision to put the pig down, which it said had "been suffering significantly for three to four weeks".
Mr Skinner said: "Mr Pig was taken and put down for no apparent reason other than he had an ulcer on his face. I'm not quite sure where it went wrong."
He described Mr Pig as his "only companion", adding: "He made my days."
In a statement, Dorset Trading Standards - which gave the RSPCA permission to put Mr Pig down - said: "The vet certified that the animal was being caused suffering.
"Using our powers under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, we permitted the RSPCA to seize the animal for further checks.
"The following day, an RSPCA vet requested that the pig be put down."
The RSPCA said it had arranged to return Mr Pig's body to Mr Skinner.


Tourism leads an upbeat new assessment of the Scottish economy, with strong signs of recent growth and expectations of a positive start to 2017.

The Royal Bank of Scotland Business Monitor shows transport and communications also performing well.
About 400 firms across a range of sectors in the Scottish economy were questioned.
The findings contradict other recent survey evidence suggesting confidence being hit by Brexit uncertainty.
The RBS survey was carried out by the Fraser of Allander Institute at Strathclyde University, and balances those firms with positive results against those reporting negatively.
That way, 36% of firms reported an increase in total volume of business during the last quarter, compared to 25% which reported a fall.
There were similar measures for new business, though firms in north-east Scotland reflected the continuing difficulties of winning business amid the downturn in the oil and gas sector.
The figures were strongest for the central belt and the Highlands and Islands.
Despite the pound weakening, which should make it easier to export, this survey went against the signals seen in other evidence, by reporting a seventh consecutive quarter of weak overseas sales.
Just 12% reported export activity rising, with 26% saying they saw a fall in the last quarter.
Unlike the Purchasing Managers Index, published at the start of this week, it also found manufacturing doing worse than other sectors.
The rise in the legal minimum wage has put up costs across the economy, and particularly in construction, tourism and distribution.
And in capital investment - seen as vital to maintaining growth momentum through next year - the RBS survey found 40% of firms reporting a rise compared to 16% saying there has been a fall. The positive gap between those two is the widest in more than two years.
Stephen Boyle, chief economist with the Royal Bank of Scotland commented: "This Christmas we can raise a festive glass for Scotland's economy that's more than half full.
"Our businesses are ending the year on a positive note, with solid if unspectacular growth. They expect more of the same in the first half of 2017.
"Particularly encouraging is strongly rising capital investment, a sign both of confidence in the future and of businesses' ability to look beyond political uncertainty. If the New Year brings any hangovers they are likely to come from rising cost pressures - brought about by the weaker pound and the National Living Wage - and continued poor export performance."
Prof Graeme Roy, director of the Fraser of Allander Institute, added: "The volume of business activity is at its highest level in over a year with businesses reporting turnover at its highest level in over two years.
"That being said, expectations for turnover and investment are down on the quarter suggesting that the outlook for 2017, whilst improved, remains uncertain."


Music videos account for nine of the 10 most-watched videos online, and their popularity shows no sign of slowing down.

8 December 2016 Last updated at 17:01 GMT
Video streaming site Vevo says its users watched more than 200 billion videos this year - and the UK's top 10 most-watched artists include Adele, Zayn and Justin Bieber.
But who was number one? Music reporter Mark Savage has the countdown.


Party leaders are touring the UK on the last day of campaigning before voters go to the polls on Thursday.


The family of a brewery worker who died after an ammonia leak have paid tribute to the father-of-two who "always had a smile on his face".

David Chandler, 45, of Bridgnorth in Shropshire, was working at the Carlsberg plant in Northampton on 9 November when the leak happened.
Post-mortem tests found Mr Chandler's death was caused by inhaling ammonia.
His family said in a statement Mr Chandler was a "happy person" and "always happy to help others".
Mr Chandler leaves behind a wife, two daughters aged one and five, two sisters and his father.
The statement added that Mr Chandler "was a really lovely, happy family man, with a beautiful family. He was always happy, funny and bright".
Fifty firefighters were called to the factory to deal with the leak and 22 people needed hospital treatment.
After the incident, Julian Momen, chief executive officer of Carlsberg UK, said: "We are deeply, deeply saddened by today's tragic incident and subsequent fatality.
"Our immediate thoughts are with the individual's family, friends and colleagues at this very difficult time and we will support them in every way we can."


Detectives are investigating an assault on a woman in North Lanarkshire which they say may have had a sexual motive.

The 23-year-old was attacked in New Stevenston, Motherwell, in the early hours of Monday.
She was approached by a man as she walked along Quarry Street between 02:00 and 03:00. Her next recollection is waking up on the ground injured and bruised.
Police have urged anyone with information to come forward.
Detectives said she made her way to a friend's house nearby and called police.
She was then taken to Wishaw General Hospital and was released after treatment.
Det Insp Julie Mullen said: "At this time the young woman doesn't know how she came about her injuries - she just remembers being approached by a man at an entrance to the parkland on Quarry Street and then waking up with a head injury and bruised.
"Officers have still to establish what happened to her but one line of inquiry is that there may have been a sexual motive to the attack - but this has still to be confirmed.
"Extensive inquiries are under way to establish the full circumstances of the incident. It is absolutely imperative that we speak to anyone who was in the surrounding area in the early hours of Monday morning."
She added: "If you were there, whether you think you saw anything or not, please come forward as something you may not believe to be important could prove vital to our investigation."


Bob Marley once said: "One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain".

And it appears as though patients at the renal unit of Wrexham Maelor Hospital would agree.
Kidney patients undergoing dialysis treatment there are being offered personal performances by members of the locally-based NEW Sinfonia orchestra.
Numbers requested have ranged from The Beatles and Frank Sinatra, to musicals and traditional Welsh tunes.
The project, part of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board's arts in health and wellbeing' programme, is led by violinist Robert Guy and his clarinettist brother Jonathan, who established NEW Sinfonia to make classical music more accessible to audiences across north Wales.
Robert, who is also a critically-acclaimed conductor, said: "We really enjoy coming and we find it's quite a humbling experience for us.
"We always have two musicians and vary the players who come along. Today it's been myself on violin and my brother Jonathan on clarinet but other times we'll have someone playing cello or flute."
His brother Jonathan, who has also played with the BBC Philharmonic, said: "We like to play anything that helps to lighten the atmosphere and we also do requests.
"In fact, one patient recently asked for something by an English jazz clarinettist called Monty Sunshine who worked with some of the big names back in the 1950s and 1960s.
"I had to work quite hard to find it but when I did we played it for him and he really enjoyed it."
Last year a study by Brunel University found music could reduce some post-operative pain by up to 77%.
But for others the performances are more about adding quality of life.
Gwendoline Evans, from Llay, has been on dialysis for seven years and says the music helps make her sessions more enjoyable.
"The dialysis sessions, which I have three times a week, are essential but they can be boring, so I look forward to hearing the musicians when they come in," she said.
"I ask for requests and they always try to play them for me. I really like songs from the shows and I try to sing along with them."