Public sector workers need 'discipline and fear', says Oliver Letwin

Oliver Letwin says he is determined to 'instil' fear among public sector workers to push productivity. Photograph: David Levene

Oliver Letwin, the coalition's policy minister, has revealed the government's determination to instil "fear" among those working in the public sector, who he claimed had failed for the past 20 years to improve their productivity.

Letwin, architect of the coalition's plans to reform public services, told a meeting at the offices of a leading consultancy firm that the public sector had atrophied over the past two decades.

In controversial comments angering teachers, nurses and doctors, he warned that it was only through "some real discipline and some fear" of job losses that excellence would be achieved in the public sector.

Letwin added that some of those running schools and hospitals would not survive the process and that it was an "inevitable and intended" consequence of government policy.

"You can't have room for innovation and the pressure for excellence without having some real discipline and some fear on the part of the providers that things may go wrong if they don't live up to the aims that society as a whole is demanding of them," he said.

"If you have diversity of provision and personal choice and power, some providers will be better and some worse. Inevitably, some will not, whether it's because they can't attract the patient or the pupil, for example, or because they can't get results and hence can't get paid. Some will not survive. It is an inevitable and intended consequence of what we are talking about."

Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCSU), reacted angrily to Letwin's comments, describing them as "nonsense".

He added: "Public sector workers are already working in fear – fear of cuts to their job, pension, living standards and of privatisation. Far from improving productivity, the cuts are creating chaos in vital public services."

Letwin was speaking at the launch of a liberal thinktank's report at the London headquarters of KPMG, one of the biggest recipients of government cash, which won the first contract for NHS commissioning following the decision to scrap primary care trusts and further open the health service to private companies.

Letwin's recent white paper on public sector reform had been dismissed as watered down earlier this month amid speculation that the Liberal Democrats had vetoed radical change. But Letwin said on Wednesday that he believed he was prosecuting "the most ambitious set of public service reforms that any government in modern Britain has undertaken", adding that productivity had improved across the economy except in the public sector in the past 20 years.

A spokesman for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said he did not know where Letwin had sourced his figures. However, an ONS analysis that works back to 1997, shows that productivity in public services fell on average by 0.3% a year between 1997 and 2008 because the level of inputs, such as staff and equipment, increased faster than the output, such as operations performed and numbers of pupils taught.

Harriet Harman, Labour's deputy leader, said last night that she did not recognise Letwin's portrayal of the public sector. "Death rates in hospitals have been falling, satisfaction levels have been rising," she said. "What hasn't changed is the Tories' antipathy to public services. And the idea that the way to improve public services is to put fear into those who provide them is absolutely grotesque."

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: "It is widely acknowledged that there is a problem with productivity in public services. The government's policy is to improve it and provide the best value for the taxpayer."

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Nobel chairman warns Europe's leaders over 'inflaming far-right sentiment'

David Cameron leaves the Norwegian embassy after signing the book of condolences for the victims of Norway attacks. Photograph: John Stillwell/AFP/Getty Images

Europe's leaders, including David Cameron, have been warned to adopt a more "cautious" approach when discussing multiculturalism. The Norwegian chairman of the Nobel peace prize committee has told them they risk inflaming far-right and anti-Muslim sentiment.

Thorbjorn Jagland, a former prime minister of his country, said leaders such as the British premier would be "playing with fire" if they continued to use rhetoric that could be exploited by extremists.

Four months ago in Munich, Cameron declared that state multiculturalism had failed in Britain, a view immediately praised by Nick Griffin, leader of the BNP, as "a further huge leap for our ideas into the political mainstream". Marine Le Pen, vice-president of the far-right National Front party in France, also endorsed Cameron's view of multiculturalism, claiming that it corroborated her own party's line.

Jagland's comments come in the wake of the Oslo bomb and the massacre on Utoya Island that left 77 people dead. The killer, Anders Behring Breivik, said he was inspired by the right-wing English Defence League. Breivik sent his manifesto, published online hours before the attacks, to about 250 British members of the BNP, the EDL and the Stop Islamisation of Europe group.

Jagland, who is also secretary general of the Council of Europe, told the Observer: "We have to be very careful how we are discussing these issues, what words are used.

"Political leaders have got to defend the fact that society has become more diverse. We have to defend the reality, otherwise we are going to get into a mess. I think political leaders have to send a clear message to embrace it and benefit from it.

"We should be very cautious now, we should not play with fire. Therefore I think the words we are using are very important because it can lead to much more."

Jagland has also urged leading politicians to change their terminology. He said the word "diversity" was better than multiculturalism because the latter had become defined in different ways by different groups. "We also need to stop using 'Islamic terrorism', which indicates that terrorism is about Islam. We should be saying that terrorism is terrorism and not linked to religion," said Jagland.

Over the years before his attacks, Breivik developed an ultra-radical stance that initially incorporated the forced repatriation of Muslims from Europe, but ultimately targeted Norway's centre-left government, which had encouraged multiculturalism. During his court appearance on terrorism charges, the 32-year-old said he had acted to prevent the "Muslim takeover" of Europe.

It hasemerged that during a 10-hour interrogation, Breivik told police that he also considered attacking other government and Labour party targets in Norway. Police attorney Paal-Fredrik Hjort Kraby revealed that Breivik had again asked interrogators how many people he had killed and "showed no emotion" when they told him.

As Norway struggles to come to terms with the killings, with the first of the dead being buried on Friday, the process of establishing whether Breivik is insane, as his lawyer has asserted, is due to begin. Psychiatrists said the process would involve months of observation, interviews and analysis, insisting that it is hard to fake mental illness. It has also emerged that more than 250 people were picked up by boats from the waters off Utoya Island as Breivik conducted his 90-minute shooting rampage. About 650 people were on the island, of whom at least 68 were killed, most of them teenagers.

During Cameron's Munich speech, which combined a passage on terrorism with one on integration, the prime minister talked extensively about "Islamist extremism" as being the source of terrorism.

Breivik saw David Miliband, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair as worthy of assassination because, according to his 1,500-page manifesto, they had a "friendly attitude" to immigrants.

Jagland says he has sympathy with Cameron's attempt to robustly promote a shared set of British values as an alternative to multiculturalism, if not with his delivery. "We are not searching for a society where we have only different cultures. We also need to have something that holds us together, to respect common values," he said.

Jagland, who last year gave the Nobel peace prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, who was represented by an empty chair at the ceremony in Oslo, added that the immigration debate also needed to be less negative.

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Somali refugees brave fighting in Mogadishu in hope of UN food aid

Despite continued fighting in Mogadishu, thousands of refugees from Somali's drought-hit south are arriving in the capital. Above, refugees queue for food in a camp in the suburbs. Photograph: Mustafa Abdi/AFP/Getty Images

Hit by the worst drought in 60 years, tens of thousands of people are leaving the rural areas of central and southern Somalia for the war-ravaged capital, Mogadishu, where last week the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) started an airlift operation to deliver to 20 feeding centres.

Despite continuing fighting, with troops of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and African Union-led forces battling the Islamic militants of al-Shabaab, more and more people are coming into the city, hoping to find relief from a drought that is affecting 11 million in Somalia alone.

The WFP said it has been able to provide 85,000 meals a day in Mogadishu but with mortar shells frequently hitting civilian areas the TFG military offensive that started last week is likely to hamper the delivery of food.

The UN declared a famine in two southern regions of Somalia on 20 July, but Abdirahman Omar Osman, the Somali government's spokesman, said the emergency is even more serious. Every day about 3,000 people arrive in Ifo, Dagahaley and Hagadera, the three camps at Dadaab in Kenya, which now have more than 380,000 refugees, 100,000 of whom arrived this year.

Barack Obama has said the emergency in east Africa has not had the attention it deserved in the US. Speaking during a meeting with the presidents of Benin, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Niger on Friday, Obama asked Africa to play a bigger role in assisting the people affected by the drought.

The UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs has predicted that famine will spread to all of southern Somalia, parts of which are controlled by al-Shabaab, which banned foreign aid in 2009.

After talks with relief organisations, al-Shabaab has allowed some food to be delivered in the past weeks but so far no regular supplies have reached the areas controlled by the Islamist militants, who are linked to al-Qaida.

Djibouti, eastern Ethiopia and northern Kenya have been badly hit as well. The scale of the crisis has even prompted long-time refugees in Dadaab to join the relief efforts. Mosques and Islamic associations in the camps are collecting food and clothes to give to the newcomers.

"We have also asked the population to give priority to the new refugees at the water points," says Mahmoud Jama Guled, who chairs a section of Ifo camp. He said that in his area one water tank is now serving more than 6,500 families.

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Plane from New York crashes at Guyana airport

A Caribbean Airlines jet carrying 140 passengers from New York crashed and broke in half on landing in Guyana, injuring several people but causing no deaths.

The Boeing 737-800 reportedly overshot the 7,400ft (2,200m) runway at Cheddi Jagan international airport in rainy weather, just missing a 200ft ravine that would have made fatalities more likely, according to the Guyanese president, Bharrat Jagdeo.

"We are very, very grateful that more people were not injured," he said as authorities closed the airport, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded and delaying dozens of flights.

Authorities struggled at first to remove passengers without adequate field lights and other emergency equipment. About 100 people received medical attention, with four treated for serious injuries, said Devant Maharaj, transportation minister in Trinidad, where Caribbean Airlines is based.

He said the company was sending a team to Guyana to help investigate the crash. No further details were available. Maharaj spoke at a press conference in Trinidad and took no questions, saying the investigation is ongoing.

Among the injured was Geeta Ramsingh, 41, of Philadelphia, who said passengers had just started to applaud the touchdown "when it turned to screams", she said, pointing to bruises on her knees. She said she hopped onto the wing and then onto the dirt road outside the runway fence.

"I am upset that no one came to rescue us in the dark, but a taxi driver appeared from nowhere and charged me $20 to take me to the terminal. I had to pay, but in times of emergencies, you don't charge people for a ride," she said, sitting on a chair in the arrival area surrounded by relatives. She was returning to her native country for only the second time in 30 years. The plane had left New York and made a stop in Trinidad before landing in Guyana.

Jagdeo said he has asked the US National Transportation Safety Board to help investigate the crash. He said crews were pushing to reopen the airport as soon as possible.

The crash of Flight BW523 is the worst in recent history in Guyana, and only one of the few serious incidents involving the Trinidad-based airline. It is the single largest carrier in the region, operating at least five daily flights.

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China rail crash families accept compensation as Beijing moves to silence furore

China's premier Wen Jiabao places flowers as he mourns the victims who died during the high-speed train crash at Wenzhou, in Zhejiang province. Photograph: Str/AFP/Getty Images

Relatives bereaved by China's high-speed rail crash have accepted compensation after the government doubled its original offer, as authorities tried to silence the furore over the disaster. Ten families have agreed to the deal – 915,000 yuan (?87,000) per victim – the state news agency reported. The death toll is now 40, with another 190 injured.

Other relatives say the compensation is insufficient and that the ministry of railways, which has apologised for last weekend's disaster, should take more responsibility. "Our deceased relatives were in the prime of their lives; they have children and senior parents to support," said Chen Engfen. He said he would not accept less than ?141,000.

The crash, near Wenzhou in Zhejiang province, happened when one train ploughed into the back of another. Six coaches were derailed, with four plunging from a viaduct. Officials have blamed design flaws in signalling and are checking the equipment at 58 other stations.

The disaster, and the government's handling of it, unleashed an outpouring of anger. Many see the crash as epitomising the problems facing China in its headlong rush towards development, including the lack of transparency.

However, unusually aggressive reporting has come to an abrupt halt. "Some newspapers have been told not to run articles, or had prepared far harder coverage but at the last minute had the rug pulled out from under them," said David Bandurski of Hong Kong University's China Media Project.

China has seen a similar pattern in previous disasters, with censors shutting down discussion and relatives coming under pressure to sign compensation deals and stop raising questions about the incident.

Japan's Asahi Shimbun reported a relative as saying the family stopped protesting about the crash "because pressure was applied privately".

Chinese journalists have said that a television producer was disciplined after his programme asked searching questions about the crash. A note on Wang Qinglei's microblog said that "as long as a country has journalists who resist pressure… it still has a soul".

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US debt crisis: talks to avoid default make 'significant progress'

Negotiations to raise the US debt ceiling and avert the country's first ever default continued through the night on Saturday as Republicans and Democrats tried to reach a deal before markets open on Monday. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images

The White House and Republican leaders in Congress have made significant progress toward a deal to raise the US debt ceiling and avert a potentially catastrophic default, according to officials familiar with the talks.

Under a plan negotiated late on Saturday night, the ceiling would be raised in two steps by about $2.4tn (?1.5tn) and spending would be cut by a slightly larger amount, the officials said. The first stage – to raise the ceiling by about $1tn – would take place immediately and the second later in the year.

Congress would be required to vote on a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, but none of the debt limit increase would be contingent on its approval.

President Barack Obama is seeking legislation to raise the government's $14.3tn debt limit by enough to tide the US treasury over until after the 2012 elections. He has threatened to veto any proposals that might lead to a recurrence of the current crisis next year but has agreed to Republican demands that deficits be cut – without tax increases – in exchange for authorising additional US borrowing.

Without a compromise in place by Tuesday, administration officials say the treasury will run out of funds to pay the nation's bills.

The subsequent default, which would be the first in US history, could prove catastrophic for the US economy by causing interest rates to rise and financial markets to sink, and sending shockwaves around the world. With financial markets closed for the weekend, the parties to the negotiations had a little breathing space, but not much. Asian markets open for the new working week late Sunday afternoon Washington time.

"There is very little time," Obama said in his weekly radio and internet address on Saturday. He called for an end to political gamesmanship, saying: "The time for compromise on behalf of the American people is now."

One official commenting on the late night negotiations said the two sides had settled on general concepts, but that there were numerous details to be worked out – and no assurance of a final agreement.

"There are many elements to be finalised," Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leader in the Senate said. "There is still a distance to go."

Still, word of significant progress after weeks of stalemate offered the strongest indication yet that a default might be averted.

Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, said at a joint news conference with the House speaker John Boehner that he was confident a deal could be reached "in the very near future".

After a meeting at the White House with Obama and the House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, Reid initially disagreed with that optimistic assessment.

Past increases in the US debt ceiling have been routine, but Republicans, citing the giant US deficit, have demanded huge spending cuts as a condition for approving the increase this time.

After weeks of intense partisanship, there was renewed talk of compromise as both the House and Senate convened for extraordinary Saturday sessions.

McConnell and Boehner held their news conference shortly after the House of Representatives had rejected a Senate Democratic bill drafted by Reid to raise the government's debt limit by $2.4tn and cut spending by $2.2tn.

The House vote was 246-173, mostly along party lines and after a bitter debate. The vote was unusual in that Republicans lined up to kill Reid's legislation before it had even cleared the Senate. It was orchestrated as political payback because late on Friday Reid had engineered the demise of Republican proposals hours after it they were passed in the House.

Before the House vote, Republicans said Reid's proposals were full of gimmicks and would make unacceptable reductions in defence spending.

Pelosi said Boehner had chosen "to go to the dark side" when he changed his own legislation to satisfy the Tea Party movement and other critics, who insist taxes must not be raised to cut into federal deficits, even for the wealthiest US companies and individuals.

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Norway attacks: live coverage

Injured people lay on the ground at the site of an explosion near the government buildings in Norway's capital Oslo. Photograph: Holm Morten/AFP1.09pm: My colleague Peter Beaumont has been examing what is known about Anders Behring Breivik, who has been arrested over yesterday's attacks.

One of the few who knew him, who have spoken so far, was an anonymous friend who told the Norwegian newspaper VG that Breivik had been a far right winger since at least his late twenties, when he had begun posting a series of controversial opinions on Facebook.

What has emerged so far paints a disturbing picture: a Christian fundamentalist with a deep hatred of multiculturalism in his country, of the left and of Muslims who had written disparagingly of prominent Norwegian politicians. A far of violent video games as well who some former neighbours have told Norwegian media had sometimes been seen in
"military-style" clothing.

In the pictures that have so far emerged of him Breivik appears well dressed, slender and clean-shaven, a picture of the young entrepreneur he wanted to be.

Breivik's businesses, however, were not much of a success, each one of them being dissolved after a short while after making a loss until he established his farm business in 2009 and moved out of Oslo.

But the man who listed Kafka and George Orwell's 1984 as his favourite books on Facebook, made little secret to the friends he had, or others on the Christian fundamentalist and far right websites that he frequented, of his racist views.

The darkest side of all was revealed not only in the killings but in how he undertook them, not least on the island teaming with several hundred teenagers, where wearing earplugs and a police uniform he calmly called over his victims to join him so he could begin his
executions.

A Freemason, reportedly a body builder and a hunter with two registered weapons – a Glock pistol and an automatic rifle - it has been Breivik's online profile that has, so far supplied the most public information.

Breivik was also a former "a youth member" of his country's conservative Progress Party – a party he criticised in one posting for embracing "multi-culturalism" and "political correctness" rather than taking an "idealistic stand". Despite that, those who knew him in the party then, described him as "calm and quiet", his extremism coming later.

12.54pm: The king, queen and crown prince of Norway, along with the with prime minister, are meeting relatives of the shooting victims at the Sundvollen hotel now, Neil Perry writes.

The Queen is hugging everyone and the King appears to be wiping away tears. In typical Norwegian style, it is all very unfussy and personal.

12.48pm: Frank Mersland, a journalist with FVN TV, says Anders Behring Breivik, who has been arrested over yesterday's attacks, has been linked to the anti-immigration Progress party.

He writes via email: "The suspect, Anders Behring Breivik, has been tagged as a former member of the right winged political party Frp (Progress party). It's the second largest political party in Norway and their main issues are lower taxes and a much stricter policy on immigration. The Frp-leader, Siv Jensen, verified his membership on Norwegian TV2 a little while ago."

12.44pm: Here's AP's report on the arrest of a man outside a hotel where Norway's prime minister was meeting families of Utoya shooting victims.

The man told reporters he was detained "because I have a knife."

The man, who appeared to be around 20 years old, was standing outside the hotel next to reporters when two officers apprehended him and led him to a police car.

The man told reporters he was a member of the Labor Party's youth wing and was carrying a knife "because I feel unsafe."

12.42pm: Around 19 victims of the Utoya shootings are having surgery for gunshot wounds, according to Norwegian media reports.

12.37pm: Journalist Liss Goril Anda says the attacks were "squarely aimed at the values Norwegians treasure most (...) openness, freedom of expression and feeling of safety."

You can read here comment on the BBC website here.

12.32pm: The second man was arrested outside the Sundvollen hotel, where prime minister Jens Stoltenberg is due to give a press conference about yesterday's attacks.

12.25pm: The Norwegian paper Dagbladet has more information about the man arrested in Sundvollen.

Neil Perry in Oslo has sent me this from the reports:

Police Inspector Einar Aas of Oslo police said that the police in Ringerike have arrested a man in Sundvollen.

The police threw themselves on him. He was then taken into a car and driven away.

When asked by reporters why he was armed, he said, "because there are so many weird people here. I do not trust anyone. "

Before the man was pushed into the police car, he stated that he was a member of the AUF (the Labour Party youth organisation), Dagbladet reporter Jonas Sverrison Rasch said.

The man was wearing shorts and t-shirt. He had dark hair. He smiled as he was led into the police car, according to TV2.

12.17pm: A second man has been arrested and taken into custody, according to Norwegian media reports.

It is reported that he had a knife on him.

Neil Perry in Oslo has sent through this update about the arrest:

"Police walked up to a young man stood in the street outside the hotel in Sundvollen where
the survivors have been taken and arrested him."

Here is an article (in Norwegian) about the arrest from the Norwegian Broadcasting Company, known as NRK.

12.11pm: Here's an edited version of PA's timeline of the attacks in Norway (times in BST).

Friday July 22:

1430: A loud explosion shatters windows and leads to evacuations of office buildings near the government headquarters in Oslo city centre. The buildings include the office of prime minister Jens Stoltenberg, who is soon confirmed to be safe, as he was working at home.

1545: There are reports that at least one person has been killed in the explosion.

1615: It is confirmed that the explosion was caused by a bomb.

1645: It is confirmed that there are injuries in addition to the death and some people are trapped at the bomb site.

1700: Police confirm two people are dead and 15 injured.

1745: Police say they are sending anti-terror police to a youth camp on an island outside Oslo after reports of a shooting there. The news site VG reports that a man dressed in a police uniform has opened fire at the camp at Utoya, and several people are injured.

1815: Norway Labour Party spokesman Per Gunnar Dahl says a man has been shooting at youths assembled for the party's annual youth camp at Utoya. Unconfirmed reports are that five people were hit. He says around 700 people, mostly teenagers aged 14 to 18, were assembled for the camp.

1835: It is reported that one person has been arrested after the youth camp shooting.

1850: Police say they suspect the two incidents in Norway are linked.

1900: It is confirmed that seven people died in the bomb blast.

1945: An eyewitness to the shootings says he saw more than 20 bodies.

2050: Police say the man arrested after the shooting is linked to the bombing in Oslo. It emerges that Stoltenberg had been due to speak at the summer camp on Saturday.

2055: Police say that nine or 10 people were killed in the shooting.

2150: Norway's justice minister says the gunman is Norwegian.

Saturday July 23:

0040: It emerges that bomb disposal teams are searching for unexploded devices on Utoya. A police source says there is at least one device at the camp which is being disarmed. The gunman is named in media reports as Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik, 32. The suspect is said to have acted alone, with no links to international terrorist organisations.

0250: At least 80 people were killed in the shooting, police say.

0450: Police say the suspect had right-wing and anti-Muslim views, but the motive for the attacks was unclear. They warn the death toll from the shootings could rise, and others are severely injured.

0850: The suspect posted on websites with Christian fundamentalist tendencies, police say. The man is co-operating with police and wants to explain himself, they add.
The death toll from the shooting stands at 84 and with the bombing it is 91.

12.05pm: AP has more dramatic eye-witness accounts of the shootings on Utoya:

A 15-year-old camper named Elise who was on Utoya said she heard gunshots, but then saw a police officer and thought she was safe. Then he started shooting people right before her eyes.

"I saw many dead people," said Elise. "He first shot people on the island. Afterward he started shooting people in the water."

Elise said she hid behind the same rock that the killer was standing on. "I could hear his breathing from the top of the rock," she said.

She said it was impossible to say how many minutes passed while she was waiting for him to stop.

At a hotel in the village of Sundvollen, where survivors of the shooting were taken, 21-year-old Dana Berzingi wore pants stained with blood. He said the fake police officer ordered people to come closer, then pulled weapons and ammunition from a bag and started shooting.

Several victims "had pretended they were dead to survive," Berzingi said. But after shooting the victims with one gun, the gunman shot them again in the head with a shotgun, he said.

"I lost several friends," said Berzingi, who used the cell phone of one of those friends to call police.

11.54am: Reuters has more about the suspect Anders Behring Breivik buying six tonnes (four tons) of fertiliser in May.

The suspect placed the order through his company, the supplier Felleskjopet said.

"These are goods that were delivered on May 4," Oddny Estenstad, a spokeswoman at agricultural supply chain Felleskjopet Agri, told Reuters, without giving the exact type of fertiliser purchased.

"It was 6 tonnes of fertiliser, which is a small, normal order for a standard agricultural producer."

"I do not know him or the company, except that it is a company that has contacted us in a normal manner and ordered fertiliser and had it delivered," she said.

11.46am: An link purported to show Anders Behring Breivik's Facebook page has been posted on Twitter.

We cannot verify the accuracy of this post.

11.41am: Felleskjopet, a farm supply chain, has said the suspect bought 6 tons of fertiliser on May 4, Reuters reports. This confirms earlier reports in the Norwegian media and on Twitter.

11.33am: Journalist Ketil B Stensrud has posted a comment from the Norwegian police regarding the reports of a second gunman>

He Tweeted: "We've just received the same information about a possible second shooter. We're working hard to determine if there is indeed a second shooter," the spokesman said to VG.

He has also posted a link to an article in the VG paper that mentions a second gunman.

11.27am: The Norwegian newspaper VG has interviewed witnesses of the Utoya shooting who believe there was a second gunman.

Norwegian journalist Ketil B Stensrud has Tweeted about the reports: "Utoya eye-witness: "I'm certain that I heard shooting from two different directions. Then I saw another man, about 180 cm tall."

11.17am: Here's the latest Guardian gallery of the Norway attacks.

11.03am: The Norwegian tabloid Dagbladet has posted footage from the rescue operation at Utoya on its website. Please be advised this footage does contain some graphic imagery.

10.55am: A survivor of the shooting on Utoya says their attacker shouted he would "kill everyone".

In a telephone interview with CNN, county registrar Adrian Pracon, from Skien, described how he and two others lay on the ground among the bodies and pretended to be dead.

I was perhaps seven feet away from him when he shouted that he would kill everyone, and everyone would die. He charged at me with a gun, but did not shoot. I could feel his breath. I could hear his shoes.

Pracon, who says he also saw the attacker chase his panic-stricken young victims, also described how he jumped into the water to escape from the carnage:

I had swallowed a lot of water, after I jumped in the water. I had no time to take off my clothes, and felt that I was heavy my clothes went down while I was swimming.

10.42am: Reuters has an interview with two people who came to the aid of shooting victims on the island of Utoya yesterday.

Lise Berit Aronsen and Ole Haugen, who were on holiday in Nes camp nearby, said they jumped into a boat when they heard about the shooting on the news.

The couple told the VG newspaper, they were met with shocking scenes. Aronsen said they were met by police and explained that they wanted to help. They went on to picked up four survivors from the water and 12 people who had sought safety in the caves and cliffs nearby.

We were told to find people in the water. The first thing we found were four children, two boys and two girls, who swam in the water. They shouted for help. They were powerless and could barely lift her arms.

There were people crying for help everywhere. We saw children who hid in caves and on cliffs. They dared not come out until we said that the person who shot was taken. Then they wept freely.

One of them we picked up had seen the person that shot. He stood on top of the cliffs, and fired those who were at or in the water.

One person had seen someone shot in the head, and we also saw several dead bodies in the water.

Because we had such a small boat, we could not take many with us at a time. We were there early, so it was frustrating, but fortunately there were several boats eventually.

It is absolutely unbelievable what has happened.

10.27am: Norwegian daily Verdens Gang has quoted a friend of the suspect Anders Behring Breivikis as saying he became a right-wing extremist in his late 20s.

The paper said he expressed strong nationalistic views in online debates and had been a strong opponent of the idea that people of different cultural backgrounds can live alongside each other.

Breivik's Facebook page appeared to have been blocked by late Friday, Reuters reports.

The news agency said it had listed interests including bodybuilding, conservative politics and freemasonry.

Norwegian media said Breivik had set up a Twitter account a few days ago.

There is only one post on it, dated July 17, saying: "One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests."

10.22am: The Queen has written to the King of Norway to express her shock and sadness at the attacks in his country, Buckingham Palace said today.

She said her and the Duke of Edinburgh's thoughts were with the Norwegian people.

Her message to King Harald read:

I am deeply saddened and shocked by the tragic loss of life of so many people on the island of Utoya and in Oslo.

Prince Philip joins me in extending our heartfelt sympathy to Your Majesty and the people of Norway. Our prayers and thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by the dreadful atrocity.

The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Belgrave Square, central London, was open today, its flag flying at half mast.

A spokesman said: "We're open for any Norwegians who might need someone to speak to or feel the need to be with someone."

But he said most Norwegians living in the UK are currently on holiday. The embassy has mainly been dealing with enquiries from Britons concerned about loved ones in Norway, he added.

Between 20,000 and 40,000 Norwegians are estimated to be either living or visiting the UK at any given time.

10.19am: The bombing of the government building in Oslo has already drawn comparison with Timothy McVeigh's attack on the Oklahoma City federal building 16 years ago.

The explosion at the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995 killed 168 people and injured more than 600.

The US Army veteran and security guard was 26 when he carried out the attack by detonating a lorry bomb outside the building. McVeigh was convicted on federal murder charges and executed in 2001.

10.13am: The twin attacks in Norway are the worst in Europe since the 2004 Madrid train bombings when 191 people were killed.

Prime minister Jens Stoltenberg said he knew many of the victims of the shooting on Utoya personally:

I know the young people and I know their parents. And what hurts more is that this place where I have been every summer since 1979, and where I have experienced joy, commitment and security, has been hit by brutal violence - a youth paradise has been transformed into a hell.

What happened at Utoya is a national tragedy. Not since World War Two has our country seen a greater crime.

10.10am: My colleague Peter Beaumont has more on the attacks, including reactions from survivors:

Survivors of the island attack, which took place barely two hours after a huge bomb was detonated close to the offices of Norway's prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, described how the gunmen moved across the small, wooded Utoya holiday island on Friday firing at random as young people scattered in fear.

Teenagers at the lakeside camp organised by Stoltenberg's ruling Labour party fled screaming in panic, many leaping into the water or climbing trees to save themselves, when the attacker began spraying them with gunfire.

Witnesses and survivors of the island attack described scenes of horror and panic.

"I just saw people jumping into the water, about 50 people swimming towards the shore. People were crying, shaking, they were terrified,"

said Anita Lien, 42, who lives by Tyrifjord lake, a few hundred metres from Utoya.

"They were so young, between 14 and 19 years old."

Survivor Jorgen Benone said: "It was total chaos...I think several lost their lives as they tried to get over to the mainland.

"I saw people being shot. I tried to sit as quietly as possible. I was hiding behind some stones. I saw him once, just 20, 30 metres away from me. I thought 'I'm terrified for my life', I thought of all the people I love.

"I saw some boats but I wasn't sure if I could trust them. I didn't know who I could trust any more."

"We had all gathered in the main house to talk about what had happened in Oslo. Suddenly we heard shots. First we thought it was nonsense.

Then everyone started running," one survivor, a 16-year-old called Hana, told Norway's Aftenposten.

"I saw a policeman stand there with earplugs. He said 'I'd like to gather everyone'. Then he ran in and started shooting at people. We ran down towards the beach and began to swim."

Hana said the gunman fired at people in the water.

You can read the full story here.

10.05am: The Norwegian police have released more details about their response to the attacks.

Police official Johan Fredriksen said a SWAT team was put on standby after a bombing in Oslo.

He added that it took the team around 30 minutes to arrive at the island of Utoyo after the shooting began.

Police initially said about 10 were killed at the forested camp on the island but that death toll rose considerably overnight.

Police director Oystein Maeland said the death toll could rise even more. He said others were severely wounded, but police didn't know how many were hurt.

10.00am: deputy police chief Roger Andresen said police are still searching for victims of the shooting on Utoya.

"At Utoya, the water is still being searched for more victims," he told a press conference.

9.50am: Norway has not changed its threat level after attacks on the capital and Utoya, said justice minister Knut Storberget.

But he told a news conference the situation was under assessment: "The debate on the threat level is ongoing."

9.43am: At a press conference this morning, Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg said he had spent many summers on the island of Utoya, which was hosting a youth retreat for his party.

Utoya is "my childhood paradise that yesterday was transformed into Hell," he said.

9.49am: David Cameron has expressed outrage over the attacks in Norway, and pledged Britain's help in overcoming the "evil" behind them.

Meanwhile Britons in Norway have been urged to stay indoors in the wake of the attacks.

Foreign Office travel advice warned there was a high threat from terrorism and called on British nationals to take extra care, PA reports:

In a statement on its website, the Foreign Office said: "On the afternoon of 22 July there was an explosion in the centre of Oslo resulting in a number of casualties.

"This was followed by a further attack at a youth camp on Utoya Island, 40km west of Oslo.

"We recommend that British nationals stay indoors for the time being. British nationals are advised to exercise caution, monitor local media reporting and follow advice given by the emergency services."

The Foreign Office said that although it had reviewed it, its overall level of travel advice had not changed and there were no travel restrictions in place in Norway.

About 250,000 British tourists visit the country every year.

9.23am: Deputy police chief Roger Andresen has told reporters that a suspect was in custody and being questioned over both attacks.

AP reports that the suspect, named by Norwegian national broadcaster NRK as Anders Behring Breivikis, is co-operating with the investigators:

Though police did not release his name, and said police searched his Oslo apartment overnight. NRK and other Norwegian media posted pictures of the blond, blue-eyed Norwegian.

"He is clear on the point that he wants to explain himself," said Andresen.

National police chief Sveinung Sponheim told NRK that the suspected gunman's Internet postings "suggest that he has some political traits directed toward the right, and anti-Muslim views, but whether that was a motivation for the actual act remains to be seen."

Andersen said the suspect posted on websites with Christian fundamentalist tendencies.

A police official said the suspect appears to have acted alone in both attacks, and that "it seems like this is not linked to any international terrorist organisations at all." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because that information had not been officially released by Norway's police.

"It seems it's not Islamic-terror related," the official said. "This seems like a madman's work."

9.10am: This is David Batty bringing you the latest on the twin attacks in Norway yesterday in which at least 91 people have been confirmed killed.

• At least 84 people were shot dead by gunman at a youth summer camp on the island of Utoya, after an explosion at government buildings in Oslo killed at least seven. Many others have been injured.

• Police have charged Anders Behring Breivik, a 32-year-old Norwegian man, over both attacks. Oslo police say Breivik's website indicates he is a right-wing Christian fundamentalist.

• Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg, whose offices were among those badly hit by the Oslo bomb blast, said the attacks were "like a nightmare". He was due to have been on Utoya a few hours after the attacks began.

• Survivors of the Utoya shooting said the gunman shot his victims twice to make sure they were dead.

• Concerned relatives should call 004723132700.

The Guardian has a gallery of the attacks here.

You can follow me on Twitter at David_Batty.

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