Real World News

Labour vows to close 'North-South divide' in public spending 4 February 2017 From the section UK Politics Image copyright ALAMY Labour has vowed to "close the gap" between spending in the north and south of England and end the "bias" it says there has been in transport investment. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said in a speech that London and the South East have disproportionately benefited from projects such as Crossrail. He said a Labour government would act to prevent regional imbalances. Th…

Labour vows to close 'North-South divide' in public spending 4 February 2017 From the section UK Politics Image copyright ALAMY Labour has vowed to "close the gap" between spending in the north and south of England and end the "bias" it says there has been in transport investment. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said in a speech that London and the South East have disproportionately benefited from projects such as Crossrail. He said a Labour government would act to prevent regional imbalances. Th…

Staff arrested amid electronic tag tampering claims 4 February 2017 From the section England Image caption Security staff were paid to fit electronic tags loosely, the Sun newspaper claims Three people have been arrested by police investigating the alleged misuse of electronic tags used to monitor criminals. The probe relates to allegations that Electronic Monitoring Service (EMS) employees were paid to fit the devices loosely so they could be removed, The Sun said. The news…

Staff arrested amid electronic tag tampering claims 4 February 2017 From the section England Image caption Security staff were paid to fit electronic tags loosely, the Sun newspaper claims Three people have been arrested by police investigating the alleged misuse of electronic tags used to monitor criminals. The probe relates to allegations that Electronic Monitoring Service (EMS) employees were paid to fit the devices loosely so they could be removed, The Sun said. The news…

Private cancer therapy 'crowdfunding rise' 4 February 2017 From the section Health Image caption Liz Sheppard has been crowdfunding treatment for cancer There has been a big leap in the number of cancer patients turning to crowdfunding to pay for treatments not available on the NHS, figures seen by BBC Radio 5 live suggest. Data from JustGiving shows that 2,348 appeals were set up by cancer patients or their loved ones in 2016, a seven-fold rise on the number for 2015. Over …

Royal Marine Maxwell pleads guilty to terror charge 3 February 2017 From the section Northern Ireland Image copyright Facebook Image caption Ciaran Maxwell pleaded guilty to preparing acts of terrorism A Royal Marine from Northern Ireland has pleaded guilty to offences related to dissident republican terrorism, including bomb-making and storing stolen military weapons. Ciarán Maxwell, 31, appeared via video link at the Old Bailey …

Shooting incident at Louvre in Paris 3 February 2017 From the section Europe Image copyright PA A French soldier on guard at the Louvre in Paris has opened fire on a suspected attacker, media reports say. A man shouting "Allahu Akbar" is reported to have tried to attack the soldier with a knife and was seriously injured when the soldier responded. The attacker is said to have been trying to enter the museum's underground shop. A big security operation is under way and the interior ministry has…

Russian hacking aims to destabilise West, Sir Michael Fallon says 3 February 2017 From the section UK Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Vladimir Putin has chosen to become a "strategic competitor" of the West Russia is carrying out a sustained campaign of cyber attacks targeting democracy and critical infrastructure in the West, UK Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has warned. Moscow was "weaponising misinformation" in…

Deal ends Southern rail dispute 2 February 2017 From the section England Image copyright PA Image caption Aslef called off planned strike action in January to go into talks A train driver's union has reached a deal with the operators of the Southern network, ending crippling strike action by its members. The Aslef Union called off three days of strikes and went into 10 days of talks with Govia Thameslink in January. TUC general s…

Brexit: White paper to reveal government strategy 2 February 2017 From the section UK Politics Media captionWhen MPs voted to back Article 50 billThe government's strategy for Brexit will face scrutiny from politicians and the public for the first time when a white paper is published later. The paper, which comes after MPs voted to allow the PM to begin the Brexit process, will outline Downing Street's negotiating aims for leaving the EU. MPs backed the European Union Bill by 498 votes to 114 on Wednesday night. The bill will now face more debate before it can become law, with L…

President Trump and Australia PM have 'worst call' 2 February 2017 From the section Australia Image copyright European Photopress Agency A phone call between US President Donald Trump and Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull has called into question a refugee resettlement deal. The Washington Post reported Mr Trump called the conversation "the worst by far" of his calls with world leaders that day, and cut it short. Mr Trump later tweeted that he would "study this dumb deal". Struck with the Obama admi…

MPs overwhelmingly back Brexit bill 1 February 2017 From the section UK Politics MPs have voted by a majority of 384 to allow Theresa May to get Brexit negotiations under way. They backed the government's European Union Bill, supported by the Labour leadership, by 498 votes to 114. But the Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrat leadership opposed the bill, while several Labour MPs and Tory ex-chancellor Ken Clarke rebelled. The bill now faces further scrutiny in the Commons and the House of Lords before it can become law. The prime…

Brexit: George Osborne warns of 'constitutional crisis' if Article 50 blocked 1 February 2017 From the section UK Politics comments Media captionGeorge Osborne: Economy not government's Brexit priorityA "deep constitutional crisis" would be caused if MPs vote against triggering Brexit, former chancellor George Osborne has warned. Mr Osborne said rejecting the government's Article 50 bill could "pit Parliament against people". He was speaking as MPs began a second day of debating the draft legislation that will allow formal talks to begin. The government is expected to win…

Sir Ivan Rogers: Brexit talks to be on humongous scale 1 February 2017 From the section UK Politics Brexit talks be on a "humongous scale" involving "difficult trade-offs", the UK's former EU ambassador says. Sir Ivan Rogers predicted that after the current "phoney war period" there would be an "extremely feisty atmosphere" with much of the talks "to be conducted very publicly". He also said European leaders expected a UK-EU trade deal would not be ratified until the early to mid 2020s. Sir Ivan, who had been due to leave his post in October,…