Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Sunday 29 Sep 2013

1. PM BRINGS FORWARD MORTGAGE SCHEME

David Cameron is bringing forward the second stage of the help to buy scheme. The next phase of the scheme, which allows people in England to get 95% mortgages, was due to begin in January. Instead, it will be launched next week. At the party conference, the Conservatives will also announce a crackdown on police giving cautions for serious criminal offences.

2. SKIN CANCER 'CURE' BREAKTHROUGH

Doctors have announced an historic breakthrough in the search for a cure for skin cancer, says the Mail On Sunday. The treatment, already enjoying “spectacular” effects in curing some seriously ill melanoma patients, could soon be used to defeat other types of cancer. A scientist said trials of the treatment among kidney and lung cancer patients are “very exciting”.

3. TORY PARTY DONORS DEFECT TO UKIP

Key Tory donors have deserted the party and poured nearly a half a million pounds into the Ukip, says the Independent On Sunday. Fourteen donors have have switched support from the Conservatives to Nigel Farage's party since the 2010 election, donating £488,000 to Ukip. The number of individual donors to the Tories overall has halved since the election.

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4. END WAR ON DRUGS SAYS POLICE CHIEF

The war on drugs should be brought to an end says a senior police chief. Writing in The Observer, chief constable Mike Barton of Durham Police said class-a drugs should be decriminalised and drug addicts "treated and cared for not criminalised". Barton added that prohibition had put billions of pounds into the hands of criminals.

5. SCRAPPING HS2 WOULD BE ‘DISASTER’

Scrapping the HS2 rail link would be a national disaster, the transport secretary has warned. Speaking to The Observer, Patrick McLoughlin admits that with mounting opposition from Tory and Labour politicians as well as leading business groups, it would become "more politically difficult" to get the project through parliament if the current cross-party consensus crumbles.

6. EX-MI5 AGENTS TARGET SCHOOL ISLAMISTS

Michael Gove has hired ex-MI5 agents to crack down on extremism in schools following evidence that Islamic fundamentalists are trying to take over some state primaries, reports the Sunday Times. The education secretary warns that “potentially extremist parents” could be flooding the governing bodies of schools that have large numbers of Muslim pupils.

7. THATCHER’S ASHES LAID TO REST

Baroness Thatcher has been laid to rest alongside her late husband, Sir Denis, at a small, private ceremony. Sir Mark and Carol Thatcher attended a short service in the chapel at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea. A solid oak casket containing her ashes was placed in the ground, with a simple headstone bearing the inscription ‘Margaret Thatcher 1925 – 2013’.

8. PARENTS BET ON CHILDREN’S UNI RESULTS

Parents are gambling on their children’s results at university, says the Sunday Times. Since the opportunity was launched by bookmaker Ladbrokes last week, hundreds of parents have placed bets on their offspring’s results. “We’ve been surprised at how many bets are being placed on youngsters getting a first-class degree,” said David Williams of Ladbrokes.

9. DARCY DEAD IN NEW BRIDGET NOVEL

Bridget Jones is a widowed single mother in the latest installment of the book series by Helen Fielding. Mark Darcy proposed to Jones in the final pages of the last novel, setting the couple up for a future of wedded bliss. However, the Sunday Times reveals that Fielding kills off Darcy. The first two installments of the series sold 15m copies in 40 countries.

10. MAN UTD 12TH AFTER ANOTHER DEFEAT

Manchester United have slipped to 12th in the table after losing 2-1 to West Brom at Old Trafford yesterday. The defeat means United have endured their worst start to a league campaign after six games since 1989-90. Manchester City lost 3-2 at Aston Villa while Chelsea and Spurs drew 1-1. Arsenal’s 2-1 victory at Swansea took the Gunners to the top of the table