News

In the first two of a series of trials over the next few weeks, nine out of ten activists were found guilty of Obstruction of a Highway today (12 January 2018) at Stratford Magistrates Court. Over 100 people were arrested in September 2017 outside the Excel Centre in east London, during the DSEI (Defence & Security Equipment International) arms fair, which takes place every two years. Likely the largest event in the world, the fair attracts international arms dealers from...

Tragic example of failures of privatisation and outsourcing requires Government to intervene to protect public sector work, says GMB. GMB, the UK’s general union, demands the Government intervene and protect Carillion workers’ jobs and pensions – rather than focussing on bailing out a failing private company. Carillion, one of the government's biggest contractors, is struggling under £1.5bn of debt, including a pension shortfall of £587m. The government is meeting Carillion and the Pensions Regulator today (Friday) to discuss the services...

An activist who camped in a tree to protest a hotel development is facing a crippling legal bill of up to £50,000 after losing his appeal against a court ruling. Simon Byrom, 49, lived 20 feet above ground in a sycamore tree for a week to demonstrate against a 225-bedroom hotel being built in a historic part of town. The community councillor slept in a leaky tent which overhung wooden hoardings around the perimeter of the site in the Cowgate...

Donald Trump today tweeted that he has cancelled a trip to the UK because he is unhappy with the “sale” of the US embassy in Mayfair. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/951679619341737986 The President was expected to cut the ribbon at the new state-of-the-art development in Nine Elms, but blamed the Obama Administration for overseeing the sale of the embassy for peanuts only to build a new one in an “off location”. However, commentators have since pointed out that the excuse Donald Trump gave is rather...

Former Mayor of London Boris Johnson has engaged in a battle of words with his predecessor over the visit of Donald Trump to the UK - calling the Labour politician a "puffed up pompous popinjay". Sadiq Khan said President Trump's decision to cancel his planned trip to the UK shows he "got the message" from Londoners who "find his policies and actions the polar opposite of our city's values". Speaking shortly after Trump's announcement that he wouldn't be opening the new...

The Government of Botswana has today made public a press release condemning Donald Trump's alleged terming of African nations as "shithole countries". According to reports Trump expressed frustration behind closed doors with people coming to the US from places such as Africa and Haiti. He said: "Why do we want all these people from 'shithole countries' coming here?" A statement released by the government in Botswana has moved to ridicule the comments, calling them "highly irresponsible, reprehensible and racist". It reads: "The Government of...

An EU diplomat has told the UK to "stop dicking around" following news that a second referendum may be on the cards. Nigel Farage yesterday sparked rumours that the UK may go back to the polls over the decision to leave the EU. The former UKIP leader said: "I’m reaching the point of thinking that we should have a second referendum on EU membership" on Channel 5's the Wright Stuff. But although a second vote could lead to the UK...

Donald Trump today tweeted that he has cancelled a trip to the UK because he is unhappy with the "sale" of the US embassy in Mayfair. The President was expected to cut the ribbon at the new state-of-the-art development in Nine Elms, but blamed the Obama Administration for overseeing the sale of the embassy for peanuts only to build a new one in an "off location". However, commentators have since pointed out that the announcement is littered with fake news. The...

A new report published today by Cambridge Econometrics on behalf of the Mayor of London has revealed that a hard Brexit would increase inequality between London and the rest of the UK. It says that the effects of leaving the Single Market and the Customs Union would be “noticeably more severe for the rest of the UK than for London, which implies that the rest of the UK will be much worse off than London following Brexit.” Commenting, Ben Bradshaw...