House transactions in London down 40%
House prices are continuing to rise but sales have slumped by one fifth - with transactions in London down by a staggering 40 per cent, it was announced yesterday. The latest figures from the Land Registry revealed the average house in England and Wales cost £217,928 in November. This represents an annual price increase of 6.7 per cent and a monthly increase of 1.1 per cent on October. However, figures show the number of completed house sales fell in September...
Frozen dead horse found dumped in woodland
A teenage girl was horrified when she found a dead horse was found dumped on a lane - frozen solid. Emily Standen was walking home when she came across the black and white horse that was frozen to the lane - and has been trying to track down the owners ever since. The 16-year-old, from Five Oak Green, Kent, who has been riding horses for 12 years, launched a Facebook appeal to help find the owners - but so far...
Cash strapped hospital forced to scrap healthy eating option
A crisis-hit NHS trust has been forced to stop serving salads to patients because hospitals can no longer afford them. Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust scrapped the healthy food option after telling suppliers they are so much in debt they cannot pay them until April. A leaked memo revealed how the situation had become so bad at the cash-strapped hospitals they could no longer provide the cold food items on menus. Communications officer David Burrows said in the memo: "Unfortunately,...
Hammond’s comments confirm that we voted for Brexit blind
Phillip Hammond's comments this week that Britain could change its economic model after Brexit negotiations have confirmed once and for all that we made the vote to leave the European Union completely blind. Talking to German newspaper Welt am Sonntag he unleashed a thinly veiled threat that Britain could use its corporate tax as a form of leverage in Brexit negotiations, possibly becoming the tax haven of Europe if it is shut out of the EU’s single market. But is that really the...
“Strong political leadership needed at Davos to solve income inequality problem,” says leading academic
As world leaders gather in Davos for the World Economic Forum, Dr Richard Dodgson, Lecturer in International Politics at Newcastle University, is warning that the gap between rich and poor will only be reduced if political leaders are willing to challenge the status quo. He says: “As the World Economic Forum kicks off, the eyes of the world are on Davos. This gathering of the great and the good from across the globe is positioned as an opportunity for the world’s...
The Women’s March in London joins over 400 ‘sister marches’ demanding women’s rights are protected globally
By Jacqui Hunt, Europe Director at Equality Now The US election has been a catalyst for a global grassroots movement that is bringing together many who feel deeply concerned about how the hard-won rights of women and girls are currently under threat or are being denied. On Saturday 21 January, the day after Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, over 200,000 people are expected to take part in the Women’s March in Washington,...
Lifelites, the charity fighting disability with technology
By Simone Enefer-Doy - Chief Executive of Lifelites Technology is an essential part of our daily lives. For many of us, the idea of going a day without our phones or computers, or not being able to use any technology for work or at home would probably fill us with dread. Well, imagine being locked inside a body which prevented you from being able to walk, talk or perhaps even move your arms and legs. This is the everyday reality...
Third of 11 to 16-year-olds isolate themselves because of low body confidence, says study
An academy in east London is waging war against the damaging impact body image anxiety can have on young people by taking on a new body confidence toolkit from the Be Real Campaign. Teachers at the Chobham Academy, which opened in September 2013 on the site of the London Olympic Village, will be teaching pupils how to feel comfortable with their bodies using the Body Confidence Campaign Toolkit for Schools. The toolkit was officially launched today by the Be Real...
UKIP on course to snatch Stoke-on-Trent seat as Paul Nuttall prepares to throw his hat into the ring
UKIP could pull off a surprise election win in Stoke-on-Trent if party leader Paul Nuttall throws his hat into the ring. Odds of UKIP winning the seat, which was recently vacated by Tristram Hunt, have been slashed from 11/4 to 9/4, with Nuttall is 15/8 to be UKIP’s name on the ballot paper, close up in the betting to market leader Mick Harold at 13/8 and Tariq Mahmood at 7/4. Labour remain favourites at 4/6 to retain the traditionally left-leaning constituency, with the...