Theresa May has today backed down on election pledges to hold a vote on the fox-hunting ban in this parliament. The news will be welcomed by the majority of the population. Recent polling had suggested opposition to hunting in the UK was at an all-time high of 85 per cent, and with such a slender majority in parliament this was clearly deemed as an issue not worthy of upsetting that. Even though the Prime Minister remains strongly pro-hunting, even she knows...

The PM has said that she has decided not to press ahead with her plans to reintroduce foxhunting. May wanted a vote in Parliament, which would have ended the ban on this blood sport, if it had gone the Government’s way. This U-turn could anger rural Tories in Conservative heartlands. She told BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that she had “not changed” her personal view on hunting. She went on to say: “If I look back at the messages that we...

A dad has been spared jail after more than 100 indecent images were seized from his computer. A judge told Adrian Hughes, 48, his viewing of sickening child pornography involving girls as young as three ‘is not curiosity, it’s perversion.’ Hughes was asked to think how he would feel if he had come across an image of his own son being abused. Police went to Hughes’s home in April last year, after indications he had been accessing indecent images online....

A restaurant has been fined £50,000 after it continued to use wooden “plates” which could not be cleaned – despite being served with an improvement notice. Ibrahim’s Grill and Steak House was first visited in October 2016 after an alleged food poisoning outbreak affecting a party of 14. The steakhouse, in Acocks Green, Birmingham, was served with improvement notices by officers. A number of issues of concern were found, including a high-level reliance being placed on the use of disposable...

This weekend McDonalds workers are celebrating winning their biggest pay rise in a decade after staff at restaurants in Cambridge and Crayford went on strike at the end of last year. The high-profile #McStrike campaign was supported by Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn followed similar successful campaigns by McDonalds staff in United States and New Zealand. One staff member posted on social media: "WE WON THIS. Biggest pay rise for 10 years! If 0.001% going on strike can win this imagine...

TLE sources understand that Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho is on the verge of a £142m move to Barcelona after missing the Reds' mid-season break to Dubai. This deal would mark the second biggest deal in football history, second only to Naymar's move from Barca to Paris St-Germain in the Summer. Just before the January transfer window opened at the end of December 2017, Liverpool had already closed the deal for Dutchman Virgil van Dijk with a world record £75m payout...

Fire and Fury, the tell-all book on Donald Trump, is set to be released early in the UK after the president's lawyers tried to shut it down. The book’s author, Michael Wolff, talked to several people about the presidential campaign and Trump's early days in the white house including Steve Bannon, his one-time confidant. About 250,000 copies of the book have already been shipped, with publishers Holt & Co saying there has been "unprecedented demand" for the publication. If you're struggling to...

According to research from the University of Warwick, brandy is the UK’s favourite Christmas spirit – beating gin and whisky. Though Christmas has passed, it’s clear that brandy is an ideal (generally under-appreciated) spirit for the colder months at the beginning of the year. This week’s cocktail recipe – the Courvoisier espresso martini - for instance, replaces switches traditional vodka for brandy, bringing a rich sweetness perfectly paired with coffee. Moreover, the drink is incredibly easy to recreate at home. Ingredients...

The inquiry into the Grenfell Tower Fire has hired multinational consultancy KPMG despite the firm having millions of pounds of contracts with three of the main bodied potentially being investigated by the inquiry. KPMG has lucrative contracts with Rydon – the main contractor in charge of the refurbishment which installed the cladding blamed by many residents for the rapid spread of the blaze; with Celotex – which make the insulation which police said failed safety tests, as well as the...