News

The number of crimes linked to dating apps Tinder and Grindr has increased seven fold in two years, according to new statistics. Police in England and Wales received more than 400 reports of crimes where Grindr and Tinder was mentioned in the year up to October 2015. That compares to 204 in 2014 and 55 in 2013. Crimes relating to the apps include rape, child sex grooming and attempted murder. Police say users are vulnerable to “sextortion” and urged better awareness on...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Thousands of new homes in the ‘fast track’ UK Government’s housing development zones are in flood zones. This means that these homes could be become uninsurable and in the event of flooding, uninhabitable. These building schemes could become even more unsafe as Government funding for flood controls are uncertain. According to the National Audit Office funding for the Environment Agency fell 10% in real terms during the last government. A Greenpeace investigation used a Freedom...

Yorkshire powerhouse Leeds has been revealed as the best city for a payrise in 2016 according to new data. CV-Library stats show salaries grew by 4.7 per cent in Leeds last year, with its county neighbour Sheffield close by with growth of 4.2 per cent. London saw a 2.5 per cent growth in advertised salaries in 2015 compared with 2014, coming in fourth on the list of top ten salary growers. Proving to be among the best off in the...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor David Cameron was interviewed by Andrew Marr and then band Squeeze came on to sing cradle to the grave. Only they changed the words in the song to "the destruction of the welfare state" and David Cameron still applauded at the end, watch video here.

By Tayler Groom, Groundwork London Groundwork London and the London Community Resource Network (LCRN) have launched innovative new reuse hubs across five London housing estates. Known locally as ‘The Loops’, the hubs will collect, refurbish and redistribute unwanted furniture and household goods, reducing the number of re-useable items going to landfill. Fly-tipping across the capital is increasing every year, costing tax payers an estimated £20 million in 2015 (according to data analysis from UBRS). The aim of the new reuse...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor A police officer has claimed that police improperly destroyed files complied on Green Party Peer Lady Jones. David Williams believes his unit destroyed records to prevent Jenny Jones from uncovering the degree to which her political work had been monitored. Williams claims it was part of a “highly irregular” cover-up. Lady Jones, who is also Deputy Chair of the committee that supervises the Met police, was kept away from the records regarding the surveillance operation...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Like everyone, I know people I agree with and those I don’t. To weigh up how to interact with them, I always go with the “do you prefer them inside the tent pissing out or outside the tent pissing in”. Well for Cameron and Corbyn today the choice was taken from them. For Corbyn it was because after a mammoth reshuffle three Shadow Minsters resigned anyway and in Cameron’s case his tent washed away during...

A new year, a new record-high price for wholesalers in Japan. Around this time every year a big fat tuna sells for an astronomical price in Tokyo's behemoth fish market, bringing a year of prosperity to the buyer. For the fifth time in a row, this year's highest bidder was Kiyoshi Kimura, president of a sushi restaurant chain, who bought a 200kg (440lb) endangered bluefin tuna for 14 million yen ($117,283; £80,000) at the first auction of the year at Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor By his own admission President Obama has accepted he has not done enough to tackle gun control. He has made many passionate speeches on the matter before, but none of them have made any difference to the amount of guns available to Americans. Ironically, when he has made his pleas for gun use restraint after mass shootings; firearms sales actually increase. Now during a passionate speech, where Barack was reduced to tears, he has promised...