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Independent chair of the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board Maggie Blyth is outlining a catalogue of failures. Parents weren't listened to, children were treated as though they had consented to the abuse. While there was "no disregard of clear warnings" at a top level, there were "unacceptable delays" in reacting to what was going on that allowed perpetrators to get away with their crimes, she goes on.

tweets:, external There was a professional tolerance of children having sex with older men

Alan Bedford, the author of the independent review, wrote: "What happened to the child victims of the sexual exploitation in Oxfordshire was indescribably awful.

"The child victims and their families feel very let down. Their accounts of how they perceived professional work are disturbing and chastening."

As many as 373 girls might have suffered abuse in Oxfordshire, the report has found.

tweets:, external Serious case review finds no evidence of 'wilful professional neglect' despite girls being trafficked & raped for a decade

The report into child sexual abuse in Oxfordshire has just been released and a news conference on its findings is about to begin.

Labour say they will introduce legislation to allow the family and friends of deceased men to apply to the Home Office to quash convictions made under the historic gross indecency law. The Protection of Freedom Act (2012) currently allows individuals still alive to apply to have their convictions quashed, but at present, no such redress is available for the relatives of those now dead.

tweets:, external Ed Miliband pledges to introduce "Turing's Law" - posthumous pardons for gay men convicted under historic indecency laws

Ed Miliband has told Gay Times Magazine, external he would fight to obtain pardons for all men convicted as criminals for being gay under the UK's now repealed gross indecency law. It follows the pardon for WW2 codebreaker Alan Turing. "I think it's a stain on our society, frankly," he told the magazine. "I think it's right what's been done in relation to Alan Turing and his family, but there are also other families that will have had relatives who were convicted... simply because of the person they love... I think we owe it to the LGBT community to make this move."

tweets:, external 2 UQs today: A Smith to Home Sec re Child Sexual Exploitation in Oxfordshire & K Vaz to Home Sec re Yarl's Wood immigration detention centre

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Liz Dux, a lawyer at Slater and Gordon who represents victims, wants the government to introduce mandatory reporting of child abuse allegations. She says: "What concerns me about today is that it'll be a half-way house. The burden of proof for wilful neglect is very high. The burden would be on the prosecutors to show that a member of staff had knowledge and deliberately didn't pass it on.

"We don't want people prosecuted for this, we want to stop the paedophiles. No-one wants to see a raft of litigation against social services - what we want to do is change the culture. So something is reported to you and you automatically know, you have no choice, you have to pass it on."

BBC Radio 4

Earlier on Today, the chief executive of Save the Children apologised for giving Tony Blair a global legacy award. Justin Forsyth said he was "very sorry" to the supporters and volunteers who were "upset" by the honour, given Mr Blair's involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Admitting the row had "in part" damaged the charity, he added: "This has been really an unnecessary distraction." This was our original story about the award.

In Parliament, Bank of England governor Mark Carney is answering questions from the Treasury select committee on its monitoring of the foreign exchange industry. The Bank has accepted that recent misconduct allegations in financial markets have increased the need to strengthen its oversight regime.

tweets:, external Theresa May's decision to make child sex abuse part of the strategic policing requirement puts it on par with terrorism & organised crime

Buzzfeed

Nicky Morgan, who also serves as equalities minister in addition to her job as education secretary, has given an interview to BuzzFeed, external about her views on homosexuality. She infamously voted against gay marriage in February 2013 but says her experience in the job has changed her mind. "Doing this role as equalities minister means you learn a lot," Mrs Morgan says. "You speak to a lot of people and yeah, hence very much I think if the vote was held now I would do it differently."

tweets:, external Theresa May says her failed net migration target will be in Tory manifesto. Again. No ifs, no buts. Who does she think she is kidding?

Image source, EPA and Getty

"Her favourite David is David Walliams" - that's what the PM has told a Downing Street party about his wife, Samantha. According to the Daily Mail,, external Mr Cameron told a St David's Day reception: "She sat next to him at a charity function and said he was the funniest man she'd ever met so I'm going to have to learn to live with that."

Today's strategy, Nicola Sturgeon continues, is "based on the key pillars of investment, innovation, inclusive growth and internationalisation".

Nicola Sturgeon says Scotland's economy has made progress since 2007 but it can still be improved. Today's economic strategy will promote "equality and competitiveness together as two sides of the same coin", she says. The Scottish government will pursue fair work and a living wage, encourage more women and disabled people into the labour market, and make key investments in health and educational attainment.

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Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is now on her feet launching her economic strategy for Scotland in Linlithgow. You can watch her on the News Channel by clicking on the tabs above.