The Saturday 17.35 Paddington to Plymouth train, operated by First Great Western, was derailed when it hit a car on a level crossing near Ufton, just before Aldermaston, Berkshire; the car driver and train driver and five passengers were killed and 150 of the 300 aboard injured. Three soldiers of the Black Watch were killed in a suicide bombing ambush 30 miles south-west of Baghdad, and another soldier in the regiment was killed later. Mr Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, flew off eagerly to Washington for talks with President George Bush. The full scale of the rejection in a referendum of plans by Mr John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, to saddle the North-East with its own regional assembly was announced; 197,310 voted Yes and 696,519 voted No, with none of the 23 areas voting by less than two to one against the scheme. The Scottish Cabinet planned to impose fines of £3,600 on anyone who smokes in a pub or restaurant there.
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