Andy Burnham has announced his intentions to run in the first election for Mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017. The Labour frontbencher has been MP for Leigh in Greater Manchester since 2001 and announced his intentions in an interview with the Guardian. Speaking to students in Altrincham today, he said: "The North has been playing second fiddle for far too long. “The new role of Mayor of Greater Manchester would give the North a new voice and it is something that...

If you are planning to have your property renovated or you are just starting the process of getting the builders (or yourself) in to make your home your dream home, then the upheaval and inconvenience that is just around the corner is probably going to come as a shock to you. No matter how quickly the job is completed or just how good the builders are, this is just going to be unavoidable. Having work done on your home, from...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Activists have said that of the 218 girls who were abducted from a secondary school in Nigeria in April 2014, one has finally been found. The BBC were told that Amina Ali Nkek was found by a vigilante group on Tuesday in the Sambisa Forest, close to the Cameroonian border. The vigilante group member who recognised the girl is from the (JTF) Civilian Joint Task Force. The group was set up to protect their communities...

A pan-European study has revealed Brits are the least likely to sample local food abroad. A survey of 14,000 people in 14 countries revealed that we stick to what we know away from home, eschewing continental for the full English experience. Just 57 per cent of UK adults will eat unknown food or indulge in local dishes – putting us bottom of the list of 14 countries studied and well below the 79 per cent European average. The Spanish and French...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Half the reason I got a degree was to throw the cap into the air afterwards, I knew my degree wasn’t going to get me a job, so the thrill of watching a oddly shaped cap fly into the sky seemed to make up for it…a bit. Well some students at the UEA (University of East Anglia) are not allowed that morsel of use from their degree. A class of law students at the Uni...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Dennis Skinner interrupted the Queen's speech, again, this time with a shout of "Hands off the BBC." Not bad and leads to the BBC correspondent Huw Edwards, to say "I better not comment on that." Here are a list of some of his other great put downs over the years 1990 “It tolls for thee, Maggie” As Thatcher faced the exit from Number 10 1991 “I bet he drinks Carling Black Label!” Famous lager slogan...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor 51 Muslim states have stopped 11 LGBT groups from being part of a meeting at the UN on ending Aids across the world. The move has been met with vocal protests from the EU, Canada, and the US. There have been a series of issues involving perceived discrimination against LGBT groups at the UN, over a number of years. This is another issue in a long line of attempts to stifle LGBT rights at the...

The Queen is set to deliver her most futuristic speech ever this afternoon. Setting out the government’s programme for the next session of parliament, the Queen is to unveil the Right to High-Speed Broadband for every household and a Modern Transport Bill for new spaceports, driverless cars and drones. Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to deliver 'fast broadband' to all UK homes and businesses by 2020, introducing a  "universal service obligation" for broadband, giving the public a legal right to...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor It is widely accepted there is a housing crisis across the country especially in the capital, with the chance for people to own their homes out of reach from even the professional class. So in an effort to alleviate some of the pressure on the housing market, a new programme is helping communities by assisting them to build their own homes. The scheme has been launched by Locality, using funding from the Nationwide Foundation. Locality...