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The latest local and national UK and International news.
Fixed odds machines causing huge welfare losses in most deprived areas in Britain
The trade association for the amusement and gaming machine industry has called for a cut down in fixed odds machines after new research revealed they are causing huge welfare losses in the most deprived areas of Britain. According to new research costs of problem gambling associated with fixed odds machines (FOBTs) has topped £10 million and is concentrated in economically deprived areas. A worrying 121,000 FOBT users could be classes as problem gamblers, each suffering an average annual loss in...
Shocking statistics reveal children as young as ten caught with razor blades, flick-knives and even machetes
Children as young as TEN have been caught in school with knives, razor blades and even MACHETES, shocking police figures have revealed. West Midlands Police reported that 119 children have been caught carrying and using blades in the last 18 months. The force also revealed that two counts of attempted murder were both reported in Birmingham schools since September 2016. Cops received 69 reports of children carrying blades to school in Birmingham - with one 13-year-old found with shards of...
Cradle to the Grave? Big Four were ‘feasting’ on Carillion, says MPs
A joint select committee inquiry into the collapse of outsourcing giant Carillion have criticised the big four accountancy giants. They were accused of “feasting” on the beleaguered company and one of the four had managed “to play all three sides.” Evidence was brought to the inquiry that indicated that these accounting juggernauts have billed for £71m worth of work from Carillion since 2008. KPMG, acted as Carillion’s auditor for 19 years, billed the construction giant £20.2m. PwC, Deloitte, and Ernst and...
This rare banned sex manual from 1720 has been unearthed with some unlikely tips
A rare "sex manual" from 1720 revealing the most bizarre beliefs of Georgian England has been unearthed and could fetch hundreds of pounds at auction. The 300-year-old book offers a fascinating insight into attitudes towards sex at a time in Britain when witches were still burnt at the stake. They include weird tips to help women avoid giving birth to children "with a hairy lip, wry mouth or great blubber-lips". It also advises men to eat meat, blackbirds and sparrows...
Benefits assessments “still failing many people with mental health problems”
Last Friday (9 February), the Work and Pensions Committee released their interim first report into the experiences of disabled people claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), benefits intended to provide support for disabled people to live independently, or to manage the costs related to being out of work. Nearly 3,500 people provided evidence - an ‘unprecedented public response to a departmental select committee inquiry’ – according to the Committee. The report was described by the...
GP quits to become fashion designer after being “broken” by long shifts, phone appointments and so much stress she’d leave work shaking
A GP has quit to become a fashion designer after being "broken" by long shifts, phone appointments and so much stress she'd leave work shaking. Linda Thomas was a salaried GP at a practice in Bristol and quit to work as a locum, before abandoning the medical profession to be an eco-fashion designer. She said changes left her assessing patients over the phone and pressure on appointment times meant she eventually had enough. Research from the University of Exeter Medical...
Theresa May to set out the “Road to Brexit” – 10 months in to the exit process
Prime Minister Theresa May is set to outline what Britain wants from Brexit almost a year after article 50 was triggered and some 19 months after the vote to leave the EU. The Conservatives will outline their vision for Britain over a series of speeches which are set to be kicked off by Foreign minister Boris Johnson next week. Brussels recently called for clarity over what the UK wanted from the EU, saying a transition deal was not a certainty. And according...
British scientists are in a race to study a mysterious ecosystem that has been hidden beneath an Antarctic ice shelf for up to 120,000 years
British scientists are in a race to study a mysterious ecosystem that has been hidden beneath an Antarctic ice shelf for up to 120,000 years. Members of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) are hoping to study creatures and bacteria that lived beneath a giant iceberg four times the size of London. The iceberg known as A68 'calved off' from a long ice shelf in the northwest part of the Weddell Sea, also known as the Larsen Ice Shelf exposing the...
Gin heir in court for allegedly violently pulling his elderly mother out of chair
A gin heir dialled 999 complaining his 95-year-old mother had gone "crazy mad" after she told neighbours he assaulted her following an argument, a court heard. Sir Walter Gavin Gilbey, 68, allegedly 'hurled' his mother, Lady Elizabeth Gilbey, from a chair causing significant bruising on August 26 last year. Lady Gilbey previously told Horsham Magistrates' Court she fled to her neighbours' home after the attack, before police were called by her housekeeper five days later. The court today heard a...