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New Zealanders have voted to keep the Union Jack in their flag, with preliminary results showing 57 per cent of voters want to keep the Union flag-centred emblem. Only 43 per cent voted in favour of the new proposed design by Kyle Lockwood featuring a silver fern. Deputy prime minister Bill English said: “I acknowledge there will be those who are disappointed with the outcome, but the majority of New Zealanders have spoken and we should all embrace that decision. “This process has...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor A sharp increase in figures for homeless families has meant that David Cameron’s compassionate Conservatism is “dead on arrival.” There has been a 103 per cent rise in people who have been forced into emergency B&B and hostel accommodation, since the Conservatives came to power in 2010. The number in December was 69,140 over 100 per cent higher than 2010. Additionally, the number of homeless households went up from 41,780 in 2009 to 56,500 last...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor BBC's Norman Smith was told live on air that he had to stop filming during a protest by disability groups today. Smith, assistant politics editor, was talking live from the central lobby as the crowd chanted in the background. Then a robed member of Parliamentary staff ordered him to stop filming while the protest took place. Disability campaigners were staging a noisy protest after the PM refused to apologise for trying to slash benefits to disabled people. Police blocked the...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The BMA (British Medical Association) said that strike action next month will be an “all out strike” for the first time in the history of the National Health Service. This escalation in industrial action will mean junior doctors will not be providing any form of emergency care, for two days in a row. The move will anger the Conservative Party and worry patient safety groups. It is also a huge gamble for the junior doctors,...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The old saying is keep your friends close and your enemies closer. I guess it is easier just to make everyone your enemy, then you don’t have to worry where anybody is; takes the pressure off, I suppose. It wasn’t supposed to be this way for Labour today; the Conservative party is crawling from disaster to disaster. The Tories are almost literally taking wheelchairs away from disabled people. Then coming back the next day to...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor It should have been David Cameron's worst PMQs since he became PM, but it wasn't to be. A spreadsheet of Labour MPs and their level of hostility to their own Leader emerged, and was used by Cameron throughout the session. Labour MP John Woodcock was labelled on the list as "hostile" to Corbyn, and from this tweet (he has since deleted)  you can see why. Parental advisory explicit lyrics. Here's the deleted tweet for those...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor A Government commissioned report has found that woman are still discriminated against at work. The research found that nearly 400,000 women have unfairly suffered at work, due to their gender. 75 per cent of pregnant women and new mothers experience discrimination at work and one in nine lose their job as a result they found. Even though pregnancy discrimination is illegal it has risen since 2005, when 45 per cent of women suffered from such discrimination....

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor UKIP leader Nigel Farage has come under fire and been called “disgusting” for “cheap political point scoring,” after he used the carnage in Brussels to back his Brexit campaign. The controversial figure has been branded as “disgusting” for using the deadly Brussels attacks as a reason to quit the European Union. He was called “shameless Brexit scum” after he retweeted a message on Twitter whilst explosions were killing scores of people in the Belgian capital. Allison...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Yesterday Osborne sent his deputy David Gauke to take the hits from the House of his Budget statement. Cowardly George didn’t fancy facing any dissent. Gauke failed to give an answer to how the black hole left by the scrapping of disability benefit cuts would be filled, under sustained attack from opposition MPs. There is now a £4.4bn black hole to fill. Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell was on fine form as he laid into the...