Media

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 Nicky Morgan flounced out of an interview yesterday (Friday) when she was asked wether the government would u-turn on its £4bn plan to cut benefits to disabled people. She was asked why during ‘Question Time‘ this week she said the Budget cuts to the most vulnerable in society were only a “suggestion”. The TV presenter from Sky News asked: “The Chancellor says he’s committed to disability benefit cuts. Why did you say it’s a suggestion?”...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Senior Tory Nicky Morgan struggled on Question Time when she was asked a series of questions about the Government's £4.4bn cut to PIP (Personal Independence Payments) to disabled people, while offering tax cuts to middle class households and big business. Morgan, who is the Education Secretary, seemed to suggest the plan was just a "consultation," and a "suggestion" when it is well beyond that stage. Increasingly Tory MPs are trying to push back on these...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Probably the most famous dancer in the UK, Happy Mondays member Bez, has be slapped with a £1,800 fine for failing to register his election expenses. Bez, whose real name is Mark Berry, stood for parliament in last May’s general election, with his very own We Are The Reality Party. Maracas-wielding Bez stood for the seat of Salford and Eccles on an anti-fracking ticket. He came way back in sixth place, with a grand total of...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The BBC has unveiled a new CBBC logo and its controller admitted it “doesn’t scream ‘children’s TV’”. CBBC was given its first makeover for nine years on Monday, replacing the familiar green and black logo introduced in 2007. Additionally, the new look for BBC3 doesn’t actually say BBC3  and neither does the new-look CBBC logo. New BBC3 logo CBBC controller Cheryl Taylor said: “Our new logo is not overt, it doesn’t scream ‘children’s TV’ but its...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Salford Council have brought a in Public Space Protection Order to cover the Salford Quays area hoping to curb anti-social behaviour. If anyone uses “foul and abusive language,” it will deemed a criminal offence due to the workings of the order. However, it does not stipulate what words are “foul and abusive.” If anyone is nabbed doing it, they will be slapped with an on-the-spot fine. This order will impact on Manchester United fans on...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor A new law will hugely extend the already feared snooper’s charter, which will give additional power to the police that were originally intended to fight terrorism. Police will be given the power to hack into your phone and computer and retrieve your web-browsing history, under the new law proposed by Home Secretary Theresa May. This massive expansion of the spying powers was originally drawn up to assist the security services battle against terrorism, but mission...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The PM told Corbyn to "put on a proper suit," but the Labour leader was more than happy to have a laugh at his own dress sense during a TV skit. Corbyn became a meme-creator's wet dream when he was spotted wearing a grey tracksuit in November. He was asked to create an ideal front page headline on the ITV panel show The Agenda. His response was a mocked-up image of his grey-clad self strutting on a catwalk with...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The social media giant received 113 times more of taxpayers’ money to advertise on the site than the social network paid back in corporation tax. Various government departments spent a whopping £489,329 in 20014-15 on adverts with Facebook in the UK. In return the multi-billion dollar company gave the public purse £4,327, a lot less than most people in the UK paid in tax for the same period. Astonishingly, Facebook claimed they only needed to...