News

A sustained period of low interest rates is fuelling widespread investment fraud, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), with over 55s most at risk. With interest rates set to remain at 0.5 per cent well into 2020, savers are adopting riskier investment behaviour to get more bang for their buck. Four in ten people aged over 55 have moved money out of savings and into investments in a bid to get a better rate of return, with 23 per cent saying they are considering investing...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor During the charter renewal process there was no official attempt by Rupert Murdoch to lobby ministers, to stem the reach of the BBC, however the liberal Guardian newspaper did, reports the Independent. The Guardian aired its issue with the BBC’s online expansion and how it was going to impact on the media group’s own commercial interests. The Guardian had warned that the BBC was at the “mercy of a culture secretary who has never hidden...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Another day another claim about Brexit, and what could happen to the UK economy if we decided to leave. Today was the turn of the IFS (Institute for Fiscal Studies) who have said that leaving the EU would mean the Treasury would have to slash billions of pounds from British welfare and public services. The IFS believe that in the case of a “Brexit” there would be years of austerity and tax rises, which would...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor A damning report has just been released which has revealed the harsh effects of benefit cuts on a community. The research has brought to light the every day struggles that benefit sanctions bring on people and their family, pushing them into crime and causing serious mental health issues, even suicide. The Independent reported some research by Salford City Council into the serious negative effects from benefit cuts and sanctions. The report found that reductions in...

"Some members of the traditional bingo community don't like us", proclaim Rebel Bingo, the company that introduced a new, intense and emotional style of bingo to cities across the world. "We're not sure what their stupid problem is. We do our bingo and you do yours. Some people don't like change." There's no doubt about it, bingo is back baby, and it has never been as cool. Away from the warn halls of Mecca and Gala a counter resurgence has gripped...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Government plans targeting suspected extremists are so troubled they could create a “thought police” in the UK. This bold statement comes from Simon Cole, the police boss leading the action to stop people becoming radicalised and possibly leaving to become foreign fighters or taking part in home-grown acts of terrorism. Cole, police lead for the Prevent programme, does not believe that proposals targeting extremists can be enforceable. He thinks the strategy risks making police officers...

“Fossil fuels are so inherently dirty and toxic, that they require sacrificial people and sacrificial places, they always have.” These are the words of environmental activist Naomi Klein, delivering the Edward Said lecture in London earlier this month. As if following her cue, yesterday an alliance of fossil fuel politicians and lobbyists overruled the villages and voices of Northern England. The land and its people have been sacrificed. Underground rock will be drilled and pumped with high pressure chemicals, sand and water. Local communities...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Another day another scandal at G4S, this time it has been claimed that staff made fake calls to a 999 emergency contact centre to ensure they met targets of answering 92 per cent of calls within ten seconds. This dire situation took place between November and December 2015 reports the Daily Mirror. There have been five staff who are now on suspension after they supposedly made over a thousand “test calls” at quiet times to...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor  A brilliant picture has emerged on Twitter regarding a banner battle between a pro-Brexit and Remain neighbours.The two banners were hung on opposite balconies in Gospel Oak, North London.Frank Chalmers, 61, added to the words "Vote Leave" with a homemade slogan: "... If you want to cut workers' rights."The image has proved an online hit after it was posted on Twitter by Frank's son Malcolm, 33.Unlike the Conservative party there is no bad blood between...