General news

• Jeremy Corbyn pledges to consider more federalised UK

  15-05-2017 23:35
  
  Jeremy Corbyn is to promise that a Labour government would investigate reorganising the UK on federal lines as part of reforms to reduce Westminster’s dominance, the Guardian can reveal.In a major switch in the party’s thinking, its general election manifesto will say that a new constitutional convention it is establishing later this year will “consider the option of a more federalised country”.The official manifesto, being published on Tuesday, will also commit Labour to
  
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• Labour reveals 'fat cat' tax pledge aimed at reining in excessive pay

  15-05-2017 23:31
  
  Jeremy Corbyn will lay out plans for a “fat cat” tax under which big businesses, city banks and Premier League clubs will have to pay a levy if they offer workers hefty pay packages, the Guardian has learned.The full Labour manifesto, to be published on Tuesday, will include a proposal that aims to disincentivise excessive pay by charging companies a 2.5% levy on earnings above £330,000 and 5% on those above £500,000.Labour will justify the move – that will hit empl
  
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• Ian Brady obituary

  15-05-2017 23:28
  
  Few murderers have so haunted the public imagination as did Ian Brady, who has died aged 79.There was the tape recording they made of the last tormented hours of 10-year-old Lesley Ann Downey, as she begged for her mother.
  
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• Ian Brady, the Moors murderer, dies aged 79

  15-05-2017 23:13
  
  Ian Brady, who has died aged 79.Ian Brady, the “Moors murderer”, has died in high-security hospital aged 79, an NHS spokesman has said.Brady, who revealed he had a lung and chest condition in December, had been receiving palliative care from cancer nurses at Ashworth psychiatric hospital on Merseyside.
  
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• Cable: Lib Dems have clear spending pledges

  15-05-2017 21:25
  
  Sir Vince Cable has criticised Labour's spending commitments for not being 'precised'.
  
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• Lib Dems pledge extra £1.2bn for police forces and attack Tory 'cuts'

  15-05-2017 21:24
  The Liberal Democrats are promising £1.2bn of extra funding for police in England and Wales.The money is being pledged over a five-year period with individual forces deciding how to spend it.The party claimed figures from the National Audit Office show that under Theresa May at the Home Office, and now as Prime Minister, the police have suffered over £2.2bn worth of cuts in real terms.
  
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• Royal Free 'committed' to protecting patient data

  15-05-2017 21:20
  
  Professor Stephen Powis has said he understands patients expect their data to be treated with confidentiality - and said the Royal Free is committed to protecting their privacy when embracing new technology.
  
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• Ex-weatherman Fred Talbot 'assaulted pupil in tent on camping trip'

  15-05-2017 21:15
  A man has told a court he was "shocked" and "repulsed" after former TV weatherman Fred Talbot allegedly indecently assaulted him on a school trip.The witness said Talbot, then a teacher at a Cheshire grammar school, had asked if he could join him in his tent during an excursion to southern Scotland.Talbot brought his sleeping bag into the tent and laid down between him and another pupil, the man said.
  
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• Google received 1.6 million NHS patients' data on an 'inappropriate legal basis'

  15-05-2017 21:10
  Google's artificial intelligence arm received the personally identifying medical records of 1.6 million patients on an "inappropriate legal basis", according to the most senior data protection adviser to the NHS.Sky News has obtained a letter sent to Professor Stephen Powis, the medical director of the Royal Free Hospital in London, which provided the patients' records to Google DeepMind.It reveals that the UK's most respected authority on the protection of NHS patients' data believes the legal
  
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• Very few voters to spoil Theresa May's day as she chills on Facebook Live | John Crace

  15-05-2017 20:52
  
  Theresa May answers questions from the public in a Facebook Live broadcast hosted by Robert Peston of ITV News.After a gruelling morning in Abingdon on Monday, where she accidentally met a couple of people who were not convinced by her supremacy, the Supreme Leader retreated to ITV’s Facebook page for the afternoon so that she could happily talk to herself without any fear of interruption.With between 13,000 and 14,500 viewers tuning in throughout its 45 minutes, Theresa May’s Facebo
  
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• Most UK patients saw no change on Monday after cyber attack - minister

  15-05-2017 20:19
  Most patients saw no change to hospital services on Monday and all local doctors' surgeries opened after a cyber attack hit dozens of computers in Britain's health service, Home Secretary Amber Rudd said."The vast majority of patients have noticed no difference," Rudd told BBC television, describing the work of Britain's National Health Service over the weekend as "heroic".Only two health trusts were still "impacted" by the attack on Monday, far fewer than the 47 on Friday, Rudd said.
  
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• End of an era at the Sun tabloid as veteran provocateur dropped

  15-05-2017 20:08
  
  By Estelle ShirbonLONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top-selling newspaper the Sun has turned a page in its colourful history by dropping provocative columnist Kelvin MacKenzie, a favourite of owner Rupert Murdoch, over an article that likened a soccer player to a gorilla.MacKenzie had been suspended on April 15 over the column, which was widely criticised as racist, and on Monday Murdoch's British newspaper business said his contract had been terminated by mutual consent.As editor of the Sun from 198
  
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• Power-hunger and doublethink; Scottish politicians use Orwell to sling barbs

  15-05-2017 19:55
  The leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson used British writer George Orwell, a darling of the left, to attack her Scottish nationalist adversaries on Monday, saying no one party could purport to be the authentic voice of the nation."We must remain vigilant against nationalisms' seductive simplicities - and always be ready to embrace the complex, the difficult, the other," said Davidson.Davidson, an English literature graduate, was speaking as the first Conservative chosen to deliver
  
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• Sky News to host Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn in live Q&A special

  15-05-2017 19:28
  Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn will face questions from a live studio audience for the first time in the election campaign on Sky News on Monday 29 May.The Conservative leader and the Labour leader will be interviewed during the joint Sky News and Channel 4 programme May v Corbyn Live: The Battle For Number 10 - starting at 8.30pm.The 90-minute show, to be broadcast from Sky's west London studios, will open with one of the leaders facing an audience Q&A hosted by Sky News Political Editor Fai
  
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• Noel Edmonds accuses Lloyds of 'foot dragging' on fraud claim

  15-05-2017 19:21
  Noel Edmonds has accused Lloyds Banking Group of dragging its feet in compensating victims of a fraud by bank staff.The former host of TV's Deal Or No Deal and Noel's House Party confirmed he was seeking £50m in compensation from the bank last week, claiming he suffered "immense economic loss" and "public humiliation".It emerged on Monday he was demanding to meet Lloyds' chairman, Lord Blackwell, to discuss his claim and had been left disappointed by the bank's response - accusing it of "f
  
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• May confronted over disability benefit cuts

  15-05-2017 19:20
  
  A woman with learning difficulties has confronted the Prime Minister over cuts to her disability living allowance.
  
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• English MP says swearing at a Scottish schoolgirl just 'a joke'

  15-05-2017 19:20
  (This story contains strong language in first paragraph)EDINBURGH (Reuters) - An English MP from the ruling Conservatives who told a schoolgirl supporter of Scottish independence to "fuck off back to Scotland" and said he meant that as a joke, drew criticism on Monday from Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.Independence is a major plank of Sturgeon's Scottish National Party (SNP) campaign for the June 8 election, and anything that reinforces Scottish resentment over perceived English arro
  
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• History will be the judge of what makes a good leader | Letters

  15-05-2017 19:13
  
  Your editorial berating the current Tory high command for its incessant repetition of “inane slogans” (Leadership means spelling it out, 13 May) rather misses the point that this has always been the core principle of Tory electioneering.The constant refrain “strong and stable” versus “coalition of chaos” is just the latest variation on the age-old theme that Labour is not competent to govern.What is unusual this time around is that Labour seems hellbent on per
  
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• Unexploded WWII bomb causes travel mayhem in Birmingham

  15-05-2017 19:12
  An unexploded WWII bomb is causing travel chaos in Birmingham, with some major road and rail links shut down at the urging of bomb disposal experts.The Aston Expressway is expected to be closed until Tuesday morning as the German shell, which weighs up to 250kg (551lbs), is removed from a nearby construction site.Hundreds of homes and businesses within a 500-metre area have also been evacuated, and West Midlands Police says the cordon may have to be widened.
  
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• Theresa May confronted by angry woman over disability benefit cuts

  15-05-2017 19:12
  Cathy Mohan, who said she has a mild learning disability, challenged the PM as she was campaigning in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.Many people say the move from disability allowances to PIPs (Personal Independence Payment) has left them struggling to get by.
  
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• The sad demise of trees in our streets | Letters

  15-05-2017 19:12 via theguardian.com
  
  The privatisation of public space through redevelopment is the main culprit, writes Michael Ball. Plus additional letters from Marie Paterson, Professor Steven Rose and Beryl WilkinsRe Ian Jack (We hardly notice them. But street trees are monuments to city life, 13 May), part of the Victorian heritage of the public realm were 8 million trees, greening public streets which had formerly been private roads on great land-owning estates. Ian Jack sets out the threat to this heritage, from disease and
  
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• A man was arrested for drink-driving after his car reported his crash to the police

  15-05-2017 18:52
  
  The car is on the right side of the law.
  
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• Foster 'sexist' blonde remark sparks social media anger

  15-05-2017 18:33 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Sinn Féin accuses the DUP leader of being sexist about Michelle O'Neill; critics say it is an over-reaction.
  
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• 'Grime 4 Corbyn' website is offering tickets to a secret party if you register to vote

  15-05-2017 18:28
  
  Register to vote and get tickets to a secret rave.
  
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• Emmanuel Macron has appointed Edouard Philippe as French Prime Minister - but who is he?

  15-05-2017 18:16
  
  He belongs to the Republican Party
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn calls out Theresa May as she is interviewed on Facebook Live

  15-05-2017 18:14
  
  “Do you not think the British people deserve to see us debate, live and on TV?”
  
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• Stormzy donates £9,000 to a student's Harvard crowdfunding campaign

  15-05-2017 18:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The grime artist gives money to an Oxford University student so she can afford to study at Harvard.
  
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• General election 2017: Workers' rights protections promised by Tories

  15-05-2017 18:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Tories pledge a workplace rights expansion, but Labour says they are "taking people for fools".
  
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• Tories set to become more Eurosceptic, campaign group says

  15-05-2017 17:57
  
  Boris Johnson campaigning to support Nick de Bois, left, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Enfield North.Incoming Conservative MPs are considerably more Eurosceptic than their predecessors, according to new analysis that challenges the widespread assumption that a large Tory majority will lead to a softer Brexit.The study of Westminster’s likely next crop of backbenchers suggests instead that the party will continue its recent swing to the right on European matters, a factor that co
  
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• Kelvin MacKenzie leaves the Sun

  15-05-2017 17:51
  
  Kelvin MacKenzie was editor of the Sun from 1981 until 1994.The Sun has confirmed that its former editor Kelvin MacKenzie has left the newspaper after he was suspended for writing a column comparing the footballer Ross Barkley to a gorilla.News UK, the publisher of the Sun and the Times, said on Monday that MacKenzie, who edited the Sun between 1981 and 1994 and has written a weekly column since 2015, would not return to work after being suspended in April.
  
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• Kelvin MacKenzie leaves the Sun 'by mutual consent'

  15-05-2017 17:49 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The columnist's contract is terminated, the paper says, after a piece on footballer Ross Barkley.
  
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• Boris Johnson: UK won't 'stand in way' of EU defence co-operation

  15-05-2017 17:45
  Boris Johnson has denied claims Britain is seeking to block closer EU military co-operation despite reports of a row.The Foreign Secretary insisted the UK is "not going to stand in their way" as EU member states prepared to discuss moves to enhance the bloc's collaboration on defence.EU foreign ministers were meeting in Brussels on Monday to push forward plans for a military headquarters in the Belgian capital.
  
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• NHS cyber-attack: No 'second spike' but disruption continues

  15-05-2017 17:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Jeremy Hunt says a lack of new attacks is "encouraging", but 16 hospital trusts are still affected.
  
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• Danielle Jones murder inquiry re-opens with garages search

  15-05-2017 17:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Police resume their search for her a murdered teenage girl, 15 years after her uncle was jailed.
  
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• Targeting core Labour voters, May promises more workers' rights

  15-05-2017 17:12
  
  By Elizabeth PiperLONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May promised on Monday to extend British workers' rights in the workplace and the boardroom, part of a push to win over traditional working class supporters of the opposition Labour Party in next month's election.May, appointed prime minister after Britain voted to leave the European Union last June, wants to seal a decisive victory for her Conservative Party in the June 8 election to strengthen her hand in the Brexit talks, but opposit
  
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• UK infrastructure projects could be hit by European Investment Bank concerns

  15-05-2017 17:04
  
  The chancellor, Philip Hammond, chats to staff and students at the Advanced Engineering Centre at Dudley College in the West Midlands.The government’s ‘Midlands engine’ strategy was due to be funded by the EIB.The EU bank funding Theresa May’s flagship “Midlands engine” project is to make it tougher for large British infrastructure projects and City of London investors to access its multimillion-pound loans in light of the continuing uncertainty caused by Brex
  
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• 'I’m angry': voter confronts Theresa May over disability benefit cuts

  15-05-2017 16:50
  
  Theresa May has been berated by a voter with a learning disability who has suffered cuts to her benefits, as the prime minister mingled with members of the public in Oxfordshire.The Conservative leader was tackled by Cathy Mohan in Abingdon market, who said she could not live on her remaining benefits of £100 a month after the replacement of the disability living allowance with the personal independence payment.May said her government had “a lot of plans for people with mental health
  
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• English lawmaker says swearing at a Scottish schoolgirl just 'a joke'

  15-05-2017 16:29
  (This story contains strong language in first paragraph)EDINBURGH (Reuters) - An English lawmaker from the ruling Conservatives who told a schoolgirl supporter of Scottish independence to "fuck off back to Scotland" and said he meant that as a joke, drew criticism on Monday from Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.Independence is a major plank of Sturgeon's Scottish National Party (SNP) campaign for the June 8 election, and anything that reinforces Scottish resentment over perceived Englis
  
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• Brendan Duddy obituary

  15-05-2017 16:07
  
  Brendan Duddy played a critical role in reducing tensions between loyalist marchers and residents in Derry.The businessman Brendan Duddy’s life was in many ways intertwined with the fortunes of his fellow Derry citizen Martin McGuinness, the former IRA chief of staff turned republican negotiator.Duddy, who has died aged 80, was trusted enough by McGuinness to establish what became known as “the link” and later as “the back channel”, between the IRA leadership in Der
  
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• Labour must view Tory voters as 'our friends', says Jonathan Ashworth

  15-05-2017 16:04
  
  Ashworth admitted that the opinion polls were challenging.The shadow health secretary has urged Labour to see Conservative voters as the party’s “friends and neighbours and relatives” rather than portraying those who are attracted to Theresa May’s offer as the enemy.In an interview with the Guardian, Jonathan Ashworth hit back at the prime minister’s claim that the Tories are the party of the working classes, and said Labour had to urgently persuade people that was
  
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• Online gambling firm 888 investigated by industry watchdog

  15-05-2017 15:43
  
  The announcement sent shares in 888 down 7% on the London Stock Exchange.Online gambling company 888 is being investigated by the industry regulator, which has the power to strip betting firms of their licence to do business, amid concern over the tools it uses to help problem gamblers.The Gambling Commission is examining 888’s “self-exclusion” regime, a system betting firms use to allow customers to bar themselves voluntarily from gambling.
  
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• Bafta TV awards: Adeel Akhtar is first non-white best actor winner

  15-05-2017 15:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Adeel Akhtar is the first non-white winner of the best actor prize in the awards' history.
  
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• Westminster attacker had record of increasingly violent attacks

  15-05-2017 15:25
  
  Khalid Masood’s CRB file showed he had allegedly stabbed a man in the face and was involved in cutting a man’s throat in prison.Police had warned that the Westminster killer Khalid Masood seemed to have a violent temper and displayed escalating levels of violence, in a report written years before the attack in which five people died.Sussex police wrote in the report: “Khalid Masood seems to have a violent temper which he has demonstrated in a number of crimes between 1998 and 2
  
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• Cyber worm attack propels health funding to centre of British election campaign

  15-05-2017 15:22
  
  By Guy Faulconbridge and Michael HoldenLONDON (Reuters) - The most disruptive cyber attack in the history of Britain's National Health Service propelled a debate over state hospital funding to the centre of the election campaign on Monday, though officials said there had been no second wave of infections.The "WannaCry" worm global attack, which locks computers and demands a $300 ransom, sowed chaos on Friday through the computer systems of some NHS hospitals which cancelled operations and reduce
  
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• Could Farage turn UKIP's fortunes around?

  15-05-2017 15:15
  
  It appears UKIP is struggling to find its purpose after the Brexit referendum. So is it time for them to get their star player, Nigel Farage, back on the stage. Sky's Tom Rayner reports from Ramsgate.
  
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• UKIP accuses Theresa May of stealing the party's policies

  15-05-2017 15:11
  UKIP has accused Theresa May of stealing its policies, and vowed to remain a political force even if it fails to win any seats in the General Election.The party's economic spokesman, Patrick O'Flynn, said there was "still a stench in the political air" over favouring the rich and powerful despite the Prime Minister's recent attempts to woo Labour and UKIP voters.Issuing a series of challenges to the Conservatives over their plans for the economy, Mr O'Flynn said more should be done to tackle big
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn vows to help underpaid and overworked nurses

  15-05-2017 15:11
  
  Jeremy Corbyn said Labour would pay for a £37bn increase in NHS funding by raising taxes for the richest 5% of the country.Jeremy Corbyn has told nurses they are underpaid, overworked and that their jobs are too stressful, as he went on the stump at the Royal College of Nursing’s annual conference.The Labour leader pledged to introduce legally enforceable staffing levels in hospitals and bring back training bursaries for nurses.
  
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• Are Tories the workers' party? Labour polling figures suggest they are

  15-05-2017 15:07
  
  Theresa May’s ‘workers’ party’ claims can be seen as an attempt to distance herself from David Cameron’s cabinet of public schoolboys.Theresa May first made clear her ambition to rebrand the Conservatives as “the workers’ party” in her first speech as prime minister to the Tory party conference in 2016.In that speech the comprehensive-school educated May’s repeated emphasis on “ordinary, working-class people” was taken as an attem
  
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• ECB's Nouy flags 'additional discussions' about Monte dei Paschi losses

  15-05-2017 15:06
  
  By Francesco CanepaFRANKFURT (Reuters) - A failure to review Monte dei Paschi di Siena's assets before stress tests last year is opening up "additional discussions" about whether private money covers all losses it incurred, the European Central Bank's chief supervisor said on Monday.Based on the stress test result, the ECB - as the euro zone's top banking watchdog - set Monte dei Paschi'scapital shortfall at 8.8 billion euros (£7.4 billion) in December, when the struggling Tuscan bank appl
  
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• David Squires on ... Theresa May meeting voters, hip-hop IDS and aspirational foxes

  15-05-2017 15:01
  
  David Squires
  
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