Forest victory

Watched by a jubiliant crowd, Baroness Jan Royall removed the last Hands off our Forest sign at Speech House to mark the government's complete "yew-turn" on privatisation, reports the HOOF campaign.

"HOOF has always pledged that when the Forest was safe we would remove all the signs and yellow ribbons and return the Forest to its natural beauty.

"The Forest may not be completely out of the woods yet, so to speak, as the HOOF statement here explains, but for the time being at least the threat to dispose of our Forest and all the other publicly owned forests of England has been removed."