Lord Sacks blamed Europe’s falling birth rate on a culture of “consumerism and instant gratification”.

He said the continent was “dying” and accused its citizens of not being prepared for parenthood’s “sacrifices”.

He made his comments in a lecture for Christian think tank Theos in central London on Wednesday.

The 61-year-old, who took his seat in the Lords last week, said: “Wherever you turn today - Jewish, Christian or Muslim - the more religious the community, the larger on average are their families.

Colonel Gaddafi accused the international community of “double standards” because Israel is allowed to maintain a barely-hidden nuclear capability while Iran comes under massive pressure not to develop its own.

But it was an important symbolic gesture, which might yet give vital momentum to an as-yet undetailed government peace initiative launched in August.

All day on Monday, Turkish news channels broadcast reports and pictures from the dusty border crossing at Habur. There was not much to see. Just a few dozen police with anti-riot equipment, and the white border-control building in the distance.

The scene on the other side of the border post, though, was much livelier. A group of men - some in military fatigues - women and children were being cheered and clapped as they pushed through a crowd of well-wishers, escorted by Turkish police.

The well-preserved footprints, between 1.5 and two meters in diameter, were discovered in Plagne in the French Jura by a team from Claude Bernard university in Lyon, eastern France.

“It’s an exceptional discovery and unique in the world by virtue of the size of the prints, as well as by the length of the trail,” Pierre Hantzpergue, geology professor at Lyon university, told Reuters on Tuesday.

The decision follows threats to boycott Nestlé products, made after a British Sunday newspaper revealed the purchases, made from a farm seized from a white landowner under Zimbabwe’s land reform programme.

Scott David’s daughter Chloe was tied to a fence at Great Tey Primary School near Colchester, Essex, and hit with a skipping rope by several boys.

Their relationship eventually became sexual, a development the youngster’s parents scathingly condemned as a ‘’complete betrayal’’ of trust.

Major General Nick Carter, who will take charge of 45,000 troops six weeks from now, said there was an opportunity to “make a difference” in the next year but added that forces needed to show “positive trends” as soon as possible.

“I absolutely acknowledge that time is not on our side ... we’ve got to show positive trends as quickly as we possibly can,” Carter told the BBC.

He said he was determined to seize the initiative from the Taliban by separating insurgents from the civilian population both physically and mentally, adding that civilians needed to be persuaded that coalition forces, rather than insurgents, deserved support.

The draconian new powers are intended to tackle an estimated two million uninsured motorists who, the Government says, are responsible for 160 deaths a year.

Margaret Haywood, 58, from Liverpool, has been shortlisted for the Nursing Standard’s Patient’s Choice Award.

She filmed at the Royal Sussex County Hospital for the BBC’s Panorama in 2005, which showed examples of neglect.

In April she was found guilty of misconduct at a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) disciplinary hearing.