Paul Knaggs
Labour Leadership: We’re backing Burgon
We're backing Richard Burgon for Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
When Richard Burgon pitched himself as a unity candidate for deputy leader of the party. The Labour Heartlands breathed a small sigh of relief knowing a champion of the working class, a standard bearer in the fight for both civil and workers rights had thrown his hat into the...
Assange’s Solitary Confinement Ends Following Pressure From Fellow Prisoners
Prisoners' revolt and pressure from legal team and campaigners forces Belmarsh to move Assange out of solitary.
Assange's forced isolation and lack of access to proper medical care in Belmarsh prison has been heavily criticised by the UN expert on torture, as well as by dozens of medical professionals who have demanded that he be transferred to a proper...
Coronavirus outbreak: First confirmed cases in Europe as France declares two infections
France confirmed on Friday its first two cases of the Wuhan coronavirus, with one patient being hospitalised in Paris and the other in the southwestern city of Bordeaux.
Health Minister Agnes Buzyn told a news conference these were the first two confirmed cases in Europe and that more cases were likely to occur in France.
Earlier, the charity SOS Medecins said it...
Labour leadership: Unite endorses Rebecca Long-Bailey
Labour leadership contender Rebecca Long-Bailey has won the endorsement of the Unite trade union, taking her one step closer to the members’ ballot.
Unite’s general secretary, Len McCluskey, emerged from an all-day meeting of the union’s ruling executive to say it was their overwhelming view that “Becky has both the brains and the brilliance to take on Boris Johnson.
“She’s incredibly...
Morrisons supermarket axes 3,000 managers in huge shake-up
British supermarket group Morrisons plans to cut 3,000 management jobs as part of a workforce restructuring that will create 7,000 frontline jobs in its stores, it said on Thursday.
All of the company's 492 UK stores will retain an overall manager but departmental roles - such as beers, wines and spirits managers - will be axed and managerial responsibilities for...
Brexit bill receives royal assent and becomes law
Brexit bill receives royal assent and becomes law as EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Act
The Brexit bill has received royal assent.
It is now an act of parliament, the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Act.The United Kingdom has passed the legislation to make the current Brexit deal with the European Union official UK law, paving the way for the country’s exit from the EU...
EU president the former German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen says: Europe needs ‘credible military capabilities’
In a key speech the EU president von der Leyen made a pitch for an EU Army
Von der Leyen said: The EU is a master of rebuilding but must develop hard power — “credible military capabilities” — to influence world events, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the World Economic Forum on Wednesday.
She stressed that these capabilities...
China’s Wuhan shuts down transport as global alarm mounts over virus spread
The latest death toll in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, rose to 17
Deaths from China's new flu-like virus rose to 17 on Wednesday, with more than 540 cases confirmed, leading the city at the centre of the outbreak to close transport networks and urge citizens not to leave as fears rose of the contagion spreading.
The previously...
European shares drop from record high on threat of U.S. auto tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to impose high tariffs on imports of cars from the European Union if the bloc doesn't agree to a trade deal.
Trump has previously made threats to place duties on European automobile imports, with the intent of receiving better terms in the U.S.-Europe trade relationship. Trump has delayed imposing the tariffs a number...
South Western Railway ‘not sustainable’ and could come into public sector
South Western Railway's (SWR) finances indicate it is "not sustainable in the long term", Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said.
The operator's financial performance has been "significantly below expectation" since the franchise began in August 2017, he said, blaming poor punctuality and reliability combined with slower revenue growth.
Whilst warning that SWR, which made a pre-tax loss of £139m in the...