TLE meets: Ritesh Batra
By Linda Marric After the success of highly acclaimed 2013 film The Lunchbox, and the accolades showered on him from film fans and critics alike, Indian director Ritesh Batra is back, this time with this brilliantly accurate and honest adaptation of Julian barnes’ novel The Sense of An Ending. This long awaited production, which stars amongst others, Jim Broadbent, Charlotte Rampling and the excellent Harriet Walter is released this week. The film is sure to attract the attention of fans...
New NHS funding system is disastrous for breast cancer patients
By Danni Manzi, Head of Policy and Campaigns - Breast Cancer Care At the beginning of April, NHS England approved a new funding system for medicines that changes the way drugs, including those for breast cancer, are made available. The pros and cons have been widely debated, both before and after the decision was made, yet the real crux of the matter – the decision to have a £20 million threshold - has still not been explained by NICE or the NHS....
Watch/Listen – Grandparents claim alphabet toy bought for grandchild shouts “F**K”
Stuart and Diane Gravenell bought the LeapFrog Alpha Pup toy for £17 from Boots as a gift for their granddaughter Iris, The toy helps to teach young children the alphabet and phonics, as well as featuring three educational songs. But when the pair's daughter Jessica Sollars took the toy out of the box for Iris she instantly realised one of the songs had X-rated lyrics. A song that is supposed to say “One, two, chew on a shoe, three, four,...
A sad night in Dortmund – Could a more sympathetic compromise have been found?
On Tuesday night, Borussia Dortmund were due to face Monaco in the Champions League quarter final first leg at the Westfalenstadion. As you know, the Dortmund bus was subjected to three bombing attempts which, miraculously, only left one passenger, their Spanish centre back, Marc Bartra, hospitalised with a broken wrist. The game was an eagerly anticipated one – two vibrant, attacking sides spearheaded by talented young forwards without either possessing watertight defensive lines, were set to put on a spectacle...
Bus drivers told by text they were losing their jobs
A group of long-serving bus drivers were informed they no longer had jobs - by text message. Around 20 were given notice of redundancy by telephone - with a few being granted a call. A spokesman for the drivers said: "I know some drivers were told by text, others by the telephone. "A lot of these people have families to feed, and now they don't have jobs or an income - they feel cheated. "It's sad and unfair for all...
VIP escort services have a long, long history
A short journey through the long history of VIP escort services Whatever your moral stance, prostitution is undeniably one of the oldest businesses in the world. Actually, the exchange of sensual pleasures for goods is as old as the concept of religions. Or – to give it an even wider frame – as old as the existence of human cultures. According to a very interesting article about the history of prostitution the Sumerians in Mesopotamia created the concept of prostitution....
Union slams Justine Greening for branding two thirds of children not normal
Families in low paid work, armed forces families and foster children will be surprised to learn they are not ordinary, says GMB union. The Education Secretary has branded 68 per cent of England’s children not normal in a speech to promote grammar schools. Children who are eligible for the pupil premium and free schools meals, including children from armed forces families and families with foster children, are all not ordinary according to the Secretary of State. The Department for Education...
Costa lambasted for strangling independent chains in the “Coffee Capital”
Costa Coffee has been lambasted for strangling independent chains after it opened its eleventh branch in Cheltenham despite 70 per cent of residents saying they don't want it. The High Street giant is about to open a new outlet immediately next door to rivals SOHO Coffee Co at a prime site in the so-called "coffee capital". It will mean a total of 19 big-name coffee shops in the centre of the spa town - in addition to a wide range of independent...
Lorries containing 45,000 litres of fuel burst into flames on industrial estate
Firefighters battled to put out a massive fire after five lorries containing 45,000 litres of fuel burst into flames at an industrial estate. Police were also at the scene to provide a safe cordon around the incident and launched the force helicopter to assist during the incident on Wednesday night. Describing the incident Bryan Stracey, 43, a tanker driver who was parked in a yard behind the fire said: "It was the biggest fire I've ever seen. "The flames were...